PRESENTED  TO  THE  LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 PRINCETON  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 
 
 BY 
 
 ffivs.  Alexander  Proudfit. 
 
 BX  5137   .B876  1833 
 Burnet,  Gilbert,  1643-1715. 
 Exposition  of  the  Thirty- 
 nine  articles  of  the  Churc 
 
Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
 in  2015 
 
 https://archive.org/details/expositionofthir00burn_1 
 
EXPOSITION 
 
 OF  THE 
 
 THIRTY-NINE  ARTICLES. 
 
Printed  by  Walker  &  Greig, 
 Edinburgh. 
 
AN 
 
 EXPOSITION 
 
 OF  THE 
 
 THIRTY-NINE  ARTICLES 
 
 OF  THE 
 
 CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 
 
 WRITTEN  BY 
 
 GILBERT,  BISHOP  OF  SARUM. 
 
 A  NEW  EDITION. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED  FOR  T.  T.  &  J.  TEGG,  73.  CHEAPSIDE; 
 R.  GRIFFIN  &  CO.  GLASGOW  ;   AND  W.  F.  WAKEMAN, 
 DUBLIN. 
 
 MDCCCXXXIII. 
 
TO 
 
 THE  KING. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 The  title  of  Defender  of  the  Faith,  the  noblest 
 of  all  those  which  belong  to  this  imperial  Crown,  that  has 
 received  a  new  lustre  by  your  Majesty's  carrying  it,  is  that 
 which  you  have  so  gloriously  acquired,  that  if  your  Majesty 
 had  not  found  it  among  them,  what  you  have  done  must  have 
 secured  it  to  yourself  by  the  best  of  all  claims.  We  should 
 be  as  much  ashamed  not  to  give  it  to  your  Majesty,  as  we 
 were  to  give  it  to  those  who  had  been  fatally  led  into  the  de- 
 sign of  overturning  that,  which  has  been  beyond  all  the  ex- 
 amples in  history  preserved  and  hitherto  maintained  by  your 
 Majesty. 
 
 The  Reformation  had  its  great#t  support  and  strength 
 from  the  Crown  of  England ;  while  two  of  your  renowned 
 Ancestors  were  the  chief  Defenders  of  it  in  foreign  parts. 
 The  blood  of  England  mixing  so  happily  with  theirs  in  your 
 Royal  Person,  seemed  to  give  the  world  a  sure  prognostic  of 
 what  might  be  looked  for  from  so  great  a  conjunction.  Your 
 Majesty  has  outdone  all  expectations;  and  has  brought  mat- 
 ters to  a  state  for  beyond  all  our  hopes. 
 
 But  amidst  the  laurels  that  adorn  you,  and  those  applauses 
 that  do  every-where  follow  you,  suffer  me.  Great  Sir.  in  nil 
 
vi 
 
 EPISTLE  DEDICATORY. 
 
 humility  to  tell  you,  that  your  work  is  not  yet  done,  nor  your 
 glory  complete,  till  you  have  employed  that  power  which 
 God  has  put  in  your  hands,  and  before  which  nothing  has 
 been  able  hitherto  to  stand,  in  the  supporting  and  securing 
 this  Church,  in  the  bearing  down  infidelity  and  impiety,  in 
 the  healing  the  wounds  and  breaches  that  are  made  among 
 those  who  do  in  common  profess  this  faith,  but  are  unhappily 
 disjointed  and  divided  by  some  differences  that  are  of  less 
 importance ;  and,  above  all  things,  in  the  raising  the  power 
 and  efficacy  of  this  religion,  by  a  suitable  reformation  of  our 
 lives  and  manners. 
 
 How  much  soever  men's  hearts  are  out  of  the  reach  of 
 human  authority,  yet  their  lives,  and  all  outward  appearan- 
 ces, are  governed  by  the  example  and  influences  of  their 
 Sovereigns. 
 
 The  effectual  pursuing  of  these  designs,  as  it  is  the  great- 
 est of  all  those  glories  of  which  mortals  are  capable,  so  it  seems 
 to  be  the  only  thing  that  is  now  wanting,  to  finish  the  bright- 
 est and  perfectest  character  that  will  be  in  history. 
 
 It  was  in  order  to  the  promoting  these  ends  that  I  under- 
 took this  work  ;  which  I  do  now  most  humbly  lay  before  your 
 Majesty,  with  the  profoundest  respect  and  submission. 
 
 May  God  preserve  your  Majesty,  till  you  have  gloriously 
 finished  what  you  have  so  wonderfully  carried  on.  All  that 
 you  have  hitherto  set  about,  how  small  soever  the  beginnings 
 and  hopes  were,  has  succeeded  in  your  hands,  to  the  amaze- 
 ment of  the  whole  world :  the  most  desperate  face  of  affairs 
 has  been  able  to  give  you  no  stop. 
 
 Your  Majesty  seems  born  under  an  ascendant  of  Provi- 
 dence; and  therefore,  how  low  soever  all  our  hopes  are, 
 either  of  raising  the  power  of  religion,  or  of  uniting  those  who 
 profess  it,  yet  we  have  been  taught  to  despair  of  nothing  that 
 is  once  undertaken  by  your  Majesty. 
 
EPISTLE  DEDICATORY. 
 
 vii 
 
 This  will  secure  to  you  the  blessing  of  the  present  and  of 
 all  succeeding  ages,  and  a  full  reward  in  that  glorious  and 
 immortal  state  that  is  before  you :  to  which,  that  your  Ma- 
 jesty may  have  a  sure,  though  a  late  admittance,  is  the  daily 
 and  most  earnest  prayer  of, 
 
 May  it  please  your  Majesty, 
 Your  Majesty's  most  loyal, 
 most  obedient,  and  most 
 
 devoted  Subject  and  Servant, 
 
 GI.  SARUM,  C.  G. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 It  has  been  often  reckoned  among  the  things  that  were 
 wanting,  that  we  had  not  a  full  and  clear  explanation  of  the 
 Thirty-nine  Articles,  which  are  the  sum  of  our  doctrine,  and 
 the  confession  of  our  faith.  The  modesty  of  some,  and  the 
 caution  of  others,  may  have  obliged  them  to  let  alone  an  un- 
 dertaking, that  might  seem  too  assuming  for  any  man  to  ven- 
 ture on,  without  a  command  from  those  who  had  authority 
 to  give  it.  It  has  been  likewise  often  suggested,  that  those 
 Articles  seemed  to  be  so  plain  a  transcript  of  St  Austin's  doc- 
 trine, in  those  much  disputed  points  concerning  the  Decrees 
 of  God  and  the  Efficacy  of  Grace,  that  they  were  not  ex- 
 pounded by  our  Divines  for  that  very  reason :  since  the  far 
 greater  number  of  them  is  believed  to  be  now  of  a  different 
 opinion. 
 
 I  should  have  kept  within  the  same  bounds,  if  I  had  not 
 been  first  moved  to  undertake  this  work  by  that  great  Pre- 
 late who  then  sate  at  the  helm  :  and,  after  that,  determined 
 in  it  by  a  command  that  was  sacred  to  me  by  respect,  as  well 
 as  by  duty.  Our  late  Primate  lived  long  enough  to  see  the 
 design  finished.  He  read  it  over  with  an  exactness  that  was 
 peculiar  to  him.  He  employed  some  weeks  wholly  in  per- 
 using- it :  and  he  corrected  it  with  a  care  that  descended  even 
 to  the  smallest  matters,  and  was  such  as  he  diought  became 
 the  importance  of  this  work.  And  when  that  was  done,  he 
 returned  it  to  me  with  a  letter,  that,  as  it  was  the  last  I  ever 
 had  from  him,  so  it  gave  the  whole  such  a  character,  that  how 
 much  soever  that  might  raise  its  value  with  true  judges,  yet 
 in  decency  it  must  be  suppressed  by  me,  as  being  far  beyond 
 what  any  performance  of  mine  could  deserve.  He  gave  so 
 favourable  an  account  of  it  to  our  late  blessed  Queen,  that 
 
X 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 she  was  pleased  to  tell  me  she  would  find  leisure  to  read  it ; 
 and  the  last  time  that  I  was  admitted  to  the  honour  of  wait- 
 ing on  her,  she  commanded  me  to  bring  it  to  her.  But  she 
 was  soon  after  that  carried  to  the  source,  to  the  fountain  of 
 life,  in  whose  light  she  now  sees  both  light  and  truth.  So 
 great  a  breach  as  was  then  made  upon  all  our  hopes,  put  a 
 stop  upon  this,  as  well  as  upon  much  greater  designs. 
 
 This  work  has  lain  by  me  ever  since ;  but  has  been  often 
 not  only  reviewed  by  myself,  but  by  much  better  judges. 
 The  late  most  learned  Bishop  of  Worcester  read  it  very 
 carefully.  He  marked  every  thing  in  it  that  he  thought 
 needed  a  review ;  and  his  censure  was  in  all  points  submitted 
 to.  He  expressed  himself  so  well  pleased  with  it  to  myself, 
 and  to  some  others,  that  I  do  not  think  it  becomes  me  to 
 repeat  what  he  said  of  it.  Both  the  most  reverend  Arch- 
 bishops, with  several  of  the  Bishops,  and  a  great  many  learned 
 Divines,  have  also  read  it.  I  must,  indeed,  on  many  ac- 
 counts own,  that  they  may  be  inclined  to  favour  me  too 
 much,  and  to  be  too  partial  to  me ;  yet  they  looked  upon 
 this  work  as  a  thing  of  that  importance,  that  I  have  reason 
 to  believe  they  read  it  over  severely ;  and  if  some  small  cor- 
 rections may  be  taken  for  an  indication  that  they  saw  no 
 occasion  for  greater  ones,  I  had  this  likewise  from  several  of 
 them. 
 
 Yet  after  all  these  approbations,  and  many  repeated  de- 
 sires to  me  to  publish  it,  I  do  not  pretend  to  impose  this 
 upon  the  reader  as  the  work  of  authority.  For  even  our 
 most  reverend  Metropolitans  read  it  only  as  private  divines, 
 without  so  severe  a  canvassing  of  all  particulars  as  must  have 
 been  expected,  if  this  had  been  intended  to  pass  for  an  au- 
 thorised work  under  a  public  stamp.  Therefore  my  design 
 in  giving  this  relation  of  the  motives  that  led  me  first  to 
 compose,  and  now  to  publish  this,  is  only  to  justify  myself, 
 both  in  the  one  and  in  the  other,  and  to  shew  that  I  was  not 
 led  by  any  presumption  of  my  own,  or  with  any  design  to 
 dictate  to  others. 
 
 In  the  next  place,  I  will  give  an  account  of  the  method  in 
 which  I  executed  this  design.    When  I  was  a  Professor  of 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 xi 
 
 Divinitv,  thirty  years  ago,  I  was  then  obliged  to  run  over  a 
 great  many  of  the  systems  and  bodies  of  divinitv  that  were 
 writ  bv  the  chief  men  of  the  several  divisions  of  Christendom. 
 I  found  many  things  among  them  that  I  could  not  like :  the 
 stiffness  of  method,  the  many  dark  terms,  the  niceties  of 
 loo-ic.  the  artificial  definitions,  the  heaviness  as  well  as  the 
 sharpness  of  style,  and  the  diffusive  length  of  them,  disgusted 
 me :  I  thought  the  whole  inight  well  be  brought  into  less 
 compass,  and  be  made  shorter  and  more  clear,  less  laboured, 
 and  more  simple.  I  thought  many  controversies  might  be 
 cut  off,  some  being  only  disputes  about  words,  and  founded 
 on  mistakes :  and  others  being  about  matters  of  little  conse- 
 quence, in  which  errors  are  less  criminal,  and  so  they  may 
 be  more  easily  borne  with.  This  set  me  then  on  composing 
 a  great  work  in  divinitv :  but  I  staved  not  long  enough  in 
 that  station  to  go  through  above  the  half  of  it.    I  entered 
 
 c  c 
 
 upon  the  same  design  again,  but  in  another  method,  during 
 my  stay  at  London,  in  the  privacy  that  I  then  enjoyed, 
 after  I  had  finished  the  history  of  our  Reformation.  These 
 were  advantages  which  made  this  performance  much  the 
 easier  to  me :  and  perhaps  the  late  Archbishop  might,  from 
 what  he  knew  of  the  progress  I  had  made  in  them,  judge  me 
 the  more  proper  for  this  undertaking.  For  after  I  have  said 
 so  much  to  justify  my  own  engaging  in  such  a  work,  I  think 
 I  ought  to  say  all  I  can  to  justify,  or  .at  least  to  excuse,  his 
 making  choice  of  me  for  it. 
 
 When  I  had  resolved  to  try  what  I  could  do  in  this  me- 
 thod, of  following  the  thread  of  our  Articles,  I  considered, 
 that  as  I  was  to  explain  the  Articles  of  this  Church,  so  I 
 ought  to  examine  the  writings  of  the  chief  Divines  that  lived 
 either  at  the  time  in  which  they  were  prepared,  or  soon  after 
 it.  When  I  was  about  the  history  of  our  Reformation,  I 
 had  laid  out  for  all  the  books  that  had  been  writ  within  the 
 time  comprehended  in  that  period :  and  I  was  confirmed  in 
 my  having  succeeded  well  in  that  collection,  by  a  printed 
 catalogue,  that  was  put  out  by  one  Mansel  in  the  end  of 
 Queen  Elizabeth's  reign,  of  all  the  books  that  had  been 
 printed  from  the  time  that  printing-presses  were  first  set  up 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 in  England  to  that  year.  This  I  had  from  the  present  Lord 
 Archbishop  of  York ;  and  I  saw  by  it,  that  very  few  books 
 had  escaped  my  search.  Those  that  I  had  not  fallen  on, 
 were  not  writ  by  men  of  name,  nor  upon  important  subjects. 
 I  resolved,  in  order  to  this  work,  to  bring  my  inquiry  fur- 
 ther down. 
 
 The  first,  and  indeed  the  much  best  writer  of  Queen 
 Elizabeth's  time,  was  Bishop  Jewel — the  lasting  honour  of 
 the  See  in  which  the  providence  of  God  has  put  me,  as  well 
 as  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived ;  who  had  so  great  a  share  in 
 all  that  was  done  then,  particularly  in  compiling  the  second 
 Book  of  Homilies,  that  I  had  great  reason  to  look  on  his 
 works  as  a  very  sure  commentary  on  our  Articles,  as  far  as 
 they  led  me.  From  him  I  carried  down  my  search  through 
 Reynolds,  Humphreys,  Whitaker,  and  the  other  great  men 
 of  that  time. 
 
 Our  Divines  were  much  diverted  in  the  end  of  that  reign 
 from  better  inquiries,  by  the  discijrtinarian  controversies  ; 
 and  though  what  Whitgift  and  Hooker  writ  on  those  heads 
 was  much  better  than  all  that  came  after  them,  yet  they 
 neither  satisfied  those  against  whom  they  writ,  nor  stopped 
 the  writings  of  their  own  side.  But  as  waters  gush  in  when 
 the  banks  are  once  broken,  so  the  breach  that  these  had 
 made,  proved  fruitful.  Parties  were  formed,  secular  inter- 
 ests were  grafted  upon  them,  and  new  quarrels  followed  those 
 that  first  began  the  dispute.  The  contests  in  Holland  con- 
 cerning fredestination  drew  on  another  scene  of  contention 
 among  us  as  well  as  them,  which  was  managed  with  great 
 heat.  Here  was  matter  for  angry  men  to  fight  it  out,  till 
 they  themselves  and  the  whole  nation  grew  weary  of  it.  The 
 question  about  the  morality  of  the  Fourth  Commandment, 
 was  an  unhappy  incident  that  raised  a  new  strife.  The 
 controversies  with  the  Church  of  Rome  were  for  a  long  while 
 much  laid  down.  The  Archbishop  of  Spalata's  works  had 
 appeared  with  great  pomp  in  King  James's  time,  and  they 
 drew  the  observation  of  the  learned  world  much  after  them  : 
 though  his  unhappy  relapse,  and  fatal  catastrophe,  made 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 them  be  less  read  afterwards  than  they  well  deserved  to  have 
 been. 
 
 When  the  progress  of  the  house  of  Austria  began  to  give 
 their  neighbours  great  apprehensions,  so  that  the  Protest- 
 ant religion  seemed  to  come  under  a  very  thick  cloud,  and 
 upon  that  jealousies  began  to  arise  at  home  in  King  Charles's 
 reign,  this  gave  occasion  to  two  of  the  best  books  that  we  yet 
 have  :  the  one  set  out  by  Archbishop  Laud,  writ  with  great 
 learning,  judgment,  and  exactness;  the  other  by  Chilling- 
 worth,  writ  with  so  clear  a  thread  of  reason,  and  in  so  lively 
 a  style,  that  it  was  justly  reckoned  the  best  book  that  had 
 been  writ  in  our  language.  It  was  about  the  nicest  point  in 
 Popery,  that  by  which  they  had  made  the  most  proselytes, 
 and  that  had  once  imposed  on  himself,  concerning  the  infal- 
 libility of  the  Church,  and  the  motives  of  credibility. 
 
 Soon  after  that,*  we  fell  into  the  confusions  of  civil  war, 
 in  which  our  Divines  suffered  so  much,  that,  while  they  were 
 put  on  their  own  defence  against  those  that  had  broke  the 
 peace  of  the  Church  and  State,  few  books  were  written  but 
 on  those  subjects  that  were  then  in  debate  among  ourselves, 
 concerning  the  government  of  the  Church,  and  our  Liturgy 
 and  ceremonies.  The  disputes  about  the  decrees  of  God 
 were  again  managed  with  a  new  heat.  There  were  also 
 great  abstractions  set  on  foot  in  those  times  concerning  justi- 
 fication by  faith;  and  these  were  both  so  subtile,  and  did  seem 
 to  have  such  a  tendency  not  only  to  a?itinomianism,  but  to  a 
 libextine  course  of  life,  that  many  books  were  writ  on  those 
 subjects.  That  noble  work  of  the  Polyglot  Bible,  together 
 with  the  collection  of  the  critics,  set  our  Divines  much  on 
 the  study  of  the  Scriptures  and  the  oriental  tongues,  in 
 which  Dr  Pocock  and  Dr  Lightfoot  were  singularly  eminent. 
 In  all  Dr  Hammond's  writings,  one  sees  great  learning  and 
 solid  judgment;  a  just  temper  in  managing  controversies; 
 and,  above*  all,  a  spirit  of  true  and  primitive  piety,  with 
 great  application  to  the  right  understanding  of  the  Scriptures, 
 and  the  directing  of  all  to  practice.  Bishop  Pearson  on  the 
 Creed,  as  far  as  it  goes,  is  the  perfectest  work  we  have.  His 
 learning  was  profound  and  exact,  his  method  good,  and  his 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 style  clear :  he  was  equally  happy  both  in  the  force  of  his 
 arguments  and  in  the  plainness  of  his  expressions. 
 
 Upon  the  restoration  of  the  Royal  Family  and  the  Church, 
 the  first  scene  of  writing  was  naturally  laid  in  the  late  times, 
 and  with  relation  to  conformity.  But  we  quickly  saw  that 
 Popery  was  a  restless  thing,  and  was  the  standing  enemy  of 
 our  Church  :  so  soon  as  that  shewed  itself,  then  our  Divines 
 returned  to  those  controversies,  in  which  no  man  bare  a 
 greater  share,  and  succeeded  in  it  with  more  honour,  than 
 Bishop  Stillingfleet,  both  in  his  vindication  of  Archbishop 
 Laud,  and  in  the  long-continued  dispute  concerning  the 
 idolatry  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  When  the  dangers  of  Po- 
 pery came  nearer  us,  and  became  sensible  to  all  persons, 
 then  a  great  number  of  our  Divines  engaged  in  those  contro- 
 versies. They  writ  short  and  plain,  and  yet  brought  toge- 
 ther, in  a  great  variety  of  small  tracts,  the  substance  of  all 
 that  was  contained  in  the  large  volumes,  writ  both  by  our 
 own  Divines  and  by  foreigners.  There  was  in  these  a  soli- 
 dity of  argument,  mixed  with  an  agreeableness  in  the  way  of 
 writing,  that  both  pleased  and  edified  the  nation ;  and  did 
 very  much  confound,  and  at  last  silence,  the  few  and  weak 
 writers  that  were  of  the  Romish  side.  The  inequality  that 
 was  in  this  contest  was  too  visible  to  be  denied ;  and  there- 
 fore they  who  set  it  first  on  foot,  let  it  fall :  for  they  had 
 other  methods,  to  which  they  trusted  more  than  to  that  un- 
 successful one  of  writing.  In  those  treatises,  the  substance 
 of  all  our  former  books  is  so  fully  contained,  and  so  well 
 delivered,  that  in  them  the  doctrines  of  our  Church,  as  to  all 
 controverted  points,  are  both  clearly  and  copiously  set  forth. 
 
 The  perusing  of  all  this  was  a  large  field ;  and  yet  I  thought 
 it  became  me  to  examine  all  with  a  due  measure  of  exact- 
 ness. I  have  taken  what  pains  I  could  to  digest  every  thing 
 in  the  clearest  method,  and  in  the  shortest  compass  into  which 
 I  could  possibly  bring  it.  So  that  in  what  I  have  done,  I 
 am,  as  to  the  far  greatest  part,  rather  an  historian  and  a 
 collector  of  what  others  have  writ,  than  an  author  myself. 
 This  I  have  performed  faithfully,  and  I  hope  with  some 
 measure  of  diligence  and  exactness ;  yet  if,  in  such  a  variety, 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 XV 
 
 some  important  matters  are  forgot,  and  if  others  are  mis- 
 taken, I  am  so  far  from  reckoning  it  an  injury  to  have  those 
 discovered,  that  I  will  gladly  receive  any  advices  of  that 
 kind :  I  will  consider  them  carefully,  and  make  the  best  use 
 of  them  I  can,  for  the  undeceiving  of  others,  as  soon  as  I  am 
 convinced  that  I  have  misled  them. 
 
 If  men  seek  for  truth  in  the  meekness  of  Christ,  they  will 
 follow  this  method  in  those  private  and  brotherly  practices 
 recommended  to  us  by  our  Saviour.  But  for  those  that  are 
 contentious,  and  do  not  obey  the  truth,  I  shall  very  little  re- 
 gard any  opposition  that  may  come  from  them.  I  had  no 
 other  design  in  this  work,  but  first  to  find  out  the  truth  my- 
 self, and  then  to  help  others  to  find  it  out.  If  I  succeed  to 
 any  degree  in  this  design,  I  will  bless  God  for  it ;  and  if  I 
 fail  in  it,  I  will  bear  it  with  the  humility  and  patience  that 
 becomes  me.  But  as  soon  as  I  see  a  better  work  of  this  kind, 
 I  shall  be  among  the  first  of  those  who  shall  recommend  that, 
 and  disparage  this. 
 
 There  is  no  part  of  this  whole  work  in  which  I  have  la- 
 boured with  more  care,  and  have  writ  in  a  more  uncommon 
 method,  than  concerning  predestination.  For,  as  my  small 
 reading  had  carried  me  further  in  that  controversy  than  in 
 any  other  whatsoever,  both  with  relation  to  ancients  and  mo- 
 derns, and  to  the  most  esteemed  books  in  all  the  different 
 parties;  so  I  weighed  the  Article  with  that  impartial  care 
 that  I  thought  became  me ;  and  have  taken  a  method,  which 
 is,  for  aught  I  know,  new,  of  stating  the  arguments  of  all 
 sides  with  so  much  fairness,  that  those,  who  knew  my  own 
 opinion  in  this  point,  have  owned  to  me,  that  they  could  not 
 discover  it  by  any  thing  that  I  had  written.  They  were  in- 
 clined to  think  that  I  was  of  another  mind  than  they  took 
 me  to  be,  when  they  read  my  arguings  of  that  side.  I  have 
 not,  in  the  explanation  of  that  Article,  told  what  my  own  opi- 
 nion was :  yet  here  I  think  it  may  be  fitting  to  own,  that  I 
 follow  the  doctrine  of  the  Greek  Church,  from  which  St  Aus- 
 tin departed,  and  formed  a  new  system.  After  this  declara- 
 tion, I  may  now  appeal  both  to  St  Austin's  disciples,  and  to 
 the  Calvinists,  whether  I  have  not  stated  both  their  opinions 
 
xvi 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 and  arguments,  not  only  with  truth  and  candour,  but  with  all 
 possible  advantages. 
 
 ,  One  reason,  among  others,  that  led  me  to  follow  the  me- 
 thod I  have  pursued  in  this  controversy,  is  to  offer  at  the 
 best  means  I  can  for  bringing  men  to  a  better  understanding 
 of  one  another,  and  to  a  mutual  forbearance  in  these  matters. 
 This  is  at  present  the  chief  point  in  difference  between  the 
 Lutherans  and  the  Calvinists.  Expedients  for  bringing  them 
 to  an  union  in  these  heads,  are  projects  that  can  never  have 
 any  good  effect :  men  whose  opinions  are  so  different,  can 
 never  be  brought  to  an  agreement ;  and  the  settling  on  some 
 equivocal  formularies,  will  never  lay  the  contention  that  has 
 arisen  concerning  them :  The  only  possible  way  of  a  sound 
 and  lasting  reconciliation,  is  to  possess  both  parties  with  a 
 sense  of  the  force  of  the  arguments  that  lie  on  the  other  side ; 
 that  they  may  see  they  are  no  way  contemptible,  but  are  such 
 as  may  prevail  on  wise  and  good  men.  Here  is  a  foundation 
 laid  for  charity :  and  if  to  this,  men  would  add  a  just  sense  of 
 the  difficulties  on  their  own  side,  and  consider,  that  the  ill 
 consequences  drawn  from  opinions  are  not  to  be  charged  on 
 all  that  hold  them,  unless  they  do  likewise  own  those  conse- 
 quences ;  then  it  would  be  more  easy  to  agree  on  some  gene- 
 ral propositions  by  which  those  ill  consequences  might  be  con- 
 demned, and  the  doctrine  in  general  settled;  leaving  it  free 
 to  the  men  of  the  different  systems  to  adhere  to  their  own 
 opinions,  but  withal  obliging  them  to  judge  charitably  and 
 favourably  of  others,  and  to  maintain  communion  with  them 
 notwithstanding  that  diversity. 
 
 It  is  a  good  step  even  to  the  bringing  men  over  to  an 
 opinion,  to  persuade  them  to  think  well  of  those  who  hold  it. 
 This  goes  as  it  were  half  way ;  and  if  it  is  not  possible  to  bring 
 men  quite  to  think  as  we  do,  yet  a  great  deal  is  done,  both 
 towards  that  and  towards  the  healing  those  wounds  in  which 
 the  Church  lies  a-bleeding,  when  they  come  to  join  in  the 
 same  communion,  and  in  such  acts  of  worship  as  do  agree 
 with  their  different  persuasions.  For  as  in  the  sacrament  of 
 the  Eucharist,  both  Lutherans  and  Calvinists  agreeing  in  the 
 same  devotions  and  acts  of  worship,  a  mere  point  of  specula- 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 xvii 
 
 tion  concerning  the  manner  in  which  Christ  is  present  ought 
 not  to  divide  those  who  agree  in  every  tiling  else  that  relates 
 to  the  Sacrament ;  every  one  may  in  that  be  left  to  the  free- 
 dom of  his  own  thoughts,  since  neither  opinion  has  any  influ- 
 ence on  practice,  or  on  any  part  either  of  public  worship  or 
 of  secret  devotion. 
 
 Upon  the  same  account  it  may  be  also  suggested,  that 
 when  all  parties  acknowledge  that  God  is  the  sovereign  Lord 
 of  the  universe;  that  he  governs  it  by  a  providence,  from 
 which  nothing  is  hid,  and  to  which  nothing  can  resist ;  and 
 that  he  is  likewise  holy  and  just,  true  and  faithful,  merciful 
 and  gracious  in  all  his  ways ;  those  who  agree  about  all  this 
 should  not  differ,  though  they  cannot  fall  into  the  same 
 methods  of  reconciling  these  together.  And  if  they  do  all 
 agree  to  bless  God  for  all  the  good  that  they  either  do  or  re- 
 ceive, and  to  accuse  themselves  for  all  the  ill  that  they  either 
 do  or  suffer ;  if  they  agree  that  they  ought  to  be  humble,  and 
 to  mistrust  their  own  strength,  to  pray  earnestly  to  God  for 
 assistance,  and  to  depend  on  him,  to  trust  to  him,  and  like- 
 wise to  employ  their  own  faculties  with  all  possible  care  and 
 diligence,  in  the  cleansing  their  hearts,  and  governing  their 
 words  and  actions ;  here  the  great  truths  of  both  sides  are 
 safe,  every  thing  that  has  an  influence  on  practice  is  agreed 
 on,  though  neither  side  can  meet  in  the  same  ways  of  joining 
 all  these  together. 
 
 In  the  Church  of  Rome  the  difference  is  really  the  same 
 between  St  Austin's  disciples  and  the  followers  of  Molina; 
 and  yet,  how  much  soever  they  may  differ  and  dispute  in  the 
 schools,  their  worship  being  the  same,  they  do  all  join  in  it. 
 We  of  this  Church  are  very  happy  in  this  respect;  we 
 have  all  along  been  much  divided,  and  once  almost  bro- 
 ken to  pieces,  while  we  disputed  concerning  these  matters  : 
 but  now  we  are  much  happier ;  for,  though  we  know  one 
 another's  opinions,  we  live  not  only  united  in  the  same  wor- 
 ship, but  in  great  friendship  and  love  with  those  of  other  per- 
 suasions. And  the  boldness  of  some  among  us,  who  have  re- 
 flected in  sermons,  or  otherwise,  on  those  who  hold  Calvin's 
 system,  has  been  much  blamed,  and  often  censured  by  those 
 
 b 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 who,  though  they  hold  the  same  opinions  with  them,  yet  are 
 both  more  charitable  in  their  thoughts'  and  more  discreet  in 
 their  expressions. 
 
 But  till  the  Lutherans  abate  of  their  rigidity  in  censuring 
 the  opinions  of  the  Calvinists,  as  charging  God  with  all  those 
 blasphemous  consequences  that  they  think  follow  the  doctrine 
 of  absolute  decrees ;  and  till  the  Calvinists  in  Holland,  Swit- 
 zerland, and  Geneva,  abate  also  of  theirs,  in  charging  the 
 others  as  enemies  to  the  grace  of  God,  and  as  guilty  of  those 
 consequences  that  they  think  follow  the  doctrine  of  condi- 
 tionate  decrees — it  is  not  possible  to  see  that  much  wished-for 
 agreement  come  to  any  good  effect. 
 
 He  who  believes  that  an  ill  consequence  is  justly  drawn 
 from  any  opinion,  is  in  the  right,  when  he  is  by  that  deter- 
 mined against  it.  But  because  he  thinks  he  sees  that  the  con- 
 sequence is  clear,  and  cannot  be  avoided,  he  ought  not  for 
 that  to  judge  so  ill  of  those  who  hold  the  opinion,  but  declare 
 at  the  same  time  that  they  abhor  the  consequence,  that  they 
 prevaricate  in  that  declaration,  and  that  they  both  see  the 
 consequence,  and  own  it,  though  for  decency's  sake  they  dis- 
 claim it.  He  ought  rather  to  think,  that  either  they  do  not 
 see  the  consequence,  but  satisfy  themselves  with  some  of  those 
 distinctions  with  which  it  is  avoided ;  or,  that  though  they  do 
 see  it,  yet  they  look  on  that  only  as  an  objection  which  in- 
 deed they  cannot  well  answer.  They  may  think,  that  a  point 
 of  doctrine  may  be  proved  by  such  convincing  arguments  that 
 they  may  be  bound  to  believe  it,  though  there  lie  objections 
 against  it  which  they  cannot  avoid,  and  consequences  seem 
 to  follow  on  it  which  they  abhor,  and  are  sure  cannot  be  true, 
 though  they  cannot  clear  the  matter  so  well  as  they  wish 
 they  could  do.  In  that  case,  when  a  man  is  inclined  by  strong 
 arguments  to  an  opinion,  against  which  he  sees  difficulties 
 which  he  cannot  resolve,  he  ought  either  to  suspend  his  as- 
 sent, or,  if  he  sees  a  superiority  of  argument  of  one  side,  he 
 may  be  determined  by  that,  though  he  cannot  satisfy  even 
 himself  in  the  objections  that  are  against  it :  In  that  case,  he 
 ought  to  reflect  on  the  weakness  and  defects  of  his  faculties, 
 which  cannot  rise  up  to  full  and  comprehensive  ideas  of  things, 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 xix 
 
 especially  in  that  which  relates  to  the  attributes  of  God,  and 
 to  his  counsels  or  acts.  If  men  can  be  brought  once  to  ap- 
 prehend this  rightly,  it  may  make  propositions  for  peace  and 
 union  hopeful  and  practicable ;  and  till  they  are  brought  to 
 this,  all  such  propositions  may  well  be  laid  aside ;  for  men's 
 minds  are  not  yet  prepared  for  that  which  can  only  reconcile 
 this  difference,  and  heal  this  breach. 
 
 I  shall  conclude  this  Preface  with  a  reply  that  a  very  emi- 
 nent Divine  among  the  Lutherans  in  Germany  made  to  me, 
 when  I  was  pressing  this  matter  of  union  with  the  Calvinists 
 upon  him,  with  all  the  topics  with  which  I  could  urge  it,  as 
 necessary  upon  many  accounts,  and  more  particularly  with 
 relation  to  the  present  state  of  affairs.  He  said,  he  wonder- 
 ed much  to  see  a  Divine  of  the  Church  of  England  press  that 
 so  much  on  him,  when  we,  notwithstanding  the  danger  we 
 were  then  in,  (it  was  in  the  year  1686),  could  not  agree  our 
 differences.  They  differed  about  important  matters,  con- 
 cerning the  attributes  of  God,  and  his  providence ;  concern- 
 ing the  guilt  of  sin,  whether  it  was  to  be  charged  on  God  or 
 on  the  sinner :  and  whether  men  ought  to  make  good  use  of 
 their  faculties,  or  if  they  ought  to  trust  entirely  to  an  irre- 
 sistible grace  ?  These  were  matters  of  great  moment ;  but,  he 
 said,  we  in  England  differed  only  about  forms  of  government 
 and  worship,  and  about  things  that  were  of  their  own  nature 
 indifferent ;  and  yet  we  had  been  quarrelling  about  these  for 
 above  an  hundred  years,  and  we  were  not  yet  grown  wiser 
 by  all  the  mischief  that  this  had  done  us,  and  by  the  immi- 
 nent danger  we  were  then  in.  He  concluded,  let  the  Church 
 of  England  heal  her  own  breaches,  and  then  all  the  rest  of 
 the  reformed  Churches  will  with  great  respect  admit  of  her 
 mediation  to  heal  theirs.  I  will  not  presume  to  tell  how  I 
 answered  this  ;  but  I  pray  God  to  enlighten  and  direct  all 
 men,  that  they  may  consider  well  how  it  ought  to  be  an- 
 swered. 
 
ARTICULI  RELIGIONIS, 
 
 Anno  1562. 
 
 The  Articles  of  our  Church  were  at  the  same 
 time  prepared  both  in  Latin  and  English  ;  so  that 
 both  are  equally  authentical :  it  is  therefore  proper 
 to  give  them  here  in  Latin,  since  the  English  of 
 them  is  only  inserted  in  the  following  Work.  This 
 is  the  more  necessary,  because  many  of  the  collations 
 set  down  at  the  end  of  the  Introduction  relate  to 
 the  Latin  text. 
 
 Articuli  de  quibus  convenit  inter  Archiepiscopos  et 
 Episcopos  utriusque  Provincial,  et  Clerum  Univer- 
 sum  in  Sgnodo,  Londini,  Anno  1562,  secundum 
 computationem  Ecclesiae  Anglicance,  ad  tollendam 
 opinionum  dissentionem,  et  consensum  in  vera  RelU 
 gione  Jirmandum.  Editi  Auctoritate  serenissimce 
 Reginae.    Londini,  apud  Johannem  Day,  lojl. 
 
 I.  De  Jtde  in  sacrosanct  am  Trinitatem. 
 
 Unus  est  vivus  et  verus  Deus,  aeternus,  incorporeus,  im- 
 partibilis,  impassibilis,  immensae  potentiae,  sapientiae  ac  boni- 
 tatis,  creator  et  conservator  omnium,  turn  visibilium,  turn  in- 
 visibilium.  Et  in  unitate  hujus  divinae  naturae  tres  sunt  per- 
 sonam, ejusdem  essentiae,  potentias  ac  seternitatis,  Pater,  Filius, 
 et  Spiritus  Sanctus. 
 
 II.  De  verbo,  sive  Filio  Dei,  qui  verus  homo  /actus  est. 
 
 Filius,  qui  est  verbum  Patris,  ab  aeterno  a  Patre  genitus, 
 verus  et  aeternus  Deus,  ac  Patri  consubstantialis,  in  utero 
 beatae  virginis,  ex  illius  substantia  naturam  humanam  as- 
 sumpsit :  ita  at  duae  naturae,  divina  et  humana,  integre  atque 
 
xxii 
 
 ARTICULI  RELIGIONIS. 
 
 perfecte  in  imitate  personae  fuerint  inseparabiliter  conjunctae, 
 ex  quibus  est  unus  Christus,  verus  Deus  et  verus  homo,  qui 
 vere  passus  est,  crucifixus,  mortuus,  et  sepultus,  ut  patrem 
 nobis  reconciliaret,  essetque  hostia,  non  tantum  pro  culpa 
 originis,  verum  etiam  pro  omnibus  actualibus  hominum  pec- 
 catis. 
 
 III.  De  descensu  Christi  ad  Inferos. 
 
 Quemadmodum  Christus  pro  nobis  mortuus  est,  et  sepul- 
 tus, ita  est  etiam  credendus  ad  Inferos  descendisse. 
 
 IV.  De  resurrectione  Christi. 
 
 Christus  vere  a  mortuis  resurrexit,  suumque  corpus  cum 
 carne,  ossibus,  omnibusque  ad  integritatem  humanae  naturae 
 pertinentibus,  recepit :  cum  quibus  in  ccelum  ascendit,  ibique 
 residet,  quoad  extremo  die  ad  judicandos  homines  reversurus 
 sit. 
 
 V.  De  Spititu  Sancto. 
 
 Spiritus  Sanctus,  a  Patre  et  Filio  procedens,  ejusdemest 
 cum  Patre  et  Filio  essentiae,  majestatis,  et  gloriae,  verus  ac 
 ae tern  us  Deus. 
 
 VI.  De  divinis  Scripturis,  quod  siifficiant  ad  salutem. 
 
 Scriptura  sacra  continet  omnia,  quae  ad  salutem  sunt 
 necessaria,  ita  ut  quicquid  in  ea  nec  legitur,  neque  inde  pro- 
 bari  potest,  non  sit  a  quoquam  exigendum,  ut  tanquam  ar- 
 ticulus  fidei  credatur,  aut  ad  salutis  necessitatem  requiri 
 putetur. 
 
 Sacrae  Scriptura?  nomine,  eos  Canonicos  libros  Veteris  et 
 Novi  Testamenti  intelligimus,  de  quorum  auctoritate,  in 
 Ecclesia  nunquam  dubitatum  est. 
 
 De  nominibus  et  numero  librorum  sacra  Canonicce  Scriptura 
 Veteris  Testamenti. 
 
 Genesis. 
 
 Exodus. 
 
 Leviticus. 
 
 Numeri. 
 
 Deuteron. 
 
 Josuae. 
 
 Judicum. 
 
 Ruth. 
 
 Prior  liber  Samuelis. 
 
 Secuhdus  liber  Samuelis. 
 Prior  liber  Regum. 
 Secundus  liber  Regum. 
 Prior  liber  Paralipom. 
 Secundus  liber  Paralipom. 
 Primus  liber  Esdrac. 
 Secundus  liber  Esdra?. 
 Liber  Hester. 
 Liber  Job. 
 
ARTICULI  RELIGIONIS. 
 
 xxiii 
 
 Psalmi.  Cantica  Solornonis. 
 
 Proverbia.  IV  Propheta?  Majores. 
 
 Ecclesiastes  vel  Concionator.       XII  Propheta?  Minores. 
 
 Alios  autem  libros  ( ut  ait  Hio  onyjnus )  legit  quidem  Ecclesia, 
 ad  exempla  vitcE^  et  formandos  mores:  illos  tamen  ad  dog- 
 mata confirmanda  non  adhibct,  ut  sunt 
 
 Tertius  liber  Esdra?. 
 Quartus  liber  Esdra?. 
 Liber  Tobia?. 
 Liber  Judith. 
 Reliquum  libri  Hester. 
 Liber  Sapientia?. 
 Liber  Jesu  filii  Sirach. 
 
 Baruch  propheta. 
 
 Canticum  trium  puerorum. 
 
 Historia  Susanna?. 
 
 De  Bel  et  Dracone. 
 
 Oratio  Manassis. 
 
 Prior  liber  Machabeorum. 
 
 Seeundus  liber  Machabeorum. 
 
 Xovi  Testamenti  omnes  libros  (ut  vulgo  recepti  sunt)  re- 
 cipimus,  et  habemus  pro  Canonicis. 
 
 VII.  De  Veteri  Testameixto. 
 
 Testamextum  Vetus  Novo  contrarium  non  est,  quando- 
 quidem  tam  in  Veteri.  quam  in  Novo,  per  Christum,  qui 
 unicus  est  Mediator  Dei  et  hominum,  Deus  et  homo,  sterna 
 vita  humano  generi  est  proposita.  Quare  male  sentiunt,  qui 
 veteres  tantum  in  promissiones  temporarias  sperasse  confin- 
 gunt.  Quanquam  lex  a  Deo  data  per  Mosen  (quoad  ca?re- 
 monias  et  ritus)  Christianos  non  astringat,  neque  civilia  ejus 
 praecepta  in  aliqua  republiea  neeessario  recipi  debeant.  aihil- 
 ominus  tamen  ab  obedientia  mandatorum  (quae  moralia  vo- 
 cantur)  nullus  (quantumvis  Christianas)  est  solutus. 
 
 VIII.  De  tribus  Symbol  is. 
 
 Symbola  tria,  Nieaenum,  Athanasii,  et  quod  vulgo  Apos- 
 tolorum  appellatur,  omnino  reeipienda  sunt,  et  credenda,  nam 
 firmissimis  Scripturarum  testimoniis  probari  possunt. 
 
 IX.  De  peccato  originali. 
 
 Peccatum  originis  non  est  (ut  fabulantur  Pelagiani)  in 
 imitatione  Adami  situm,  sed  est  vitium,  et  depravatio  naturae, 
 cujuslibet  hominis  ex  Adamo  naturaliter  propagati :  qua  fit, 
 ut  ab  originali  justitia  quam  longissime  distet,  ad  milium  sua 
 natura  propendeat,  et  caro  semper  adversus  spiritiun  concu- 
 piscat,  unde  in  unoquoque  nascentium,  iram  Dei  atque  dam- 
 nationem  meretur.  Manet  etiam  in  renatis  ha?c  natura? 
 depravatio.  Qua  fit,  ut  aflfectus  carnis,  Graece  <J>;s»>;a*  <rxfx*s, 
 (quod  alii  sapientiam,  alii  sensum,  alii  affectum,  alii  stadium 
 carnis  interpretantur).  legi  Dei  non  subjiciatur.    Et  quan- 
 
xxiv 
 
 ARTICULI  RELIGIONIS. 
 
 quam  renatis  et  credentibus  nulla  propter  Christum  est  con- 
 demnatio,  peccati  tamen  in  sese  rationem  habere  concupis- 
 centiam,  fatetur  Apostolus. 
 
 X.  De  libero  arbitrio. 
 
 Ea  est  hominis  post  lapsum  Adae  conditio,  ut  sese  natu- 
 ralibus  suis  viribus,  et  bonis  operibus,  ad  fidem  et  invoca- 
 tionem  Dei  convertere  ac  praeparare  non  possit.  Quare 
 absque  gratia  Dei  (quae  per  Christum  est)  nos  praeveniente, 
 ut  velimus,  et  cooperante,  dum  volumus,  ad  pietatis  opera 
 facienda,  quae  Deo  grata  sunt  et  accepta,  nihil  valemus. 
 
 XI.  De  hominis  justificati one. 
 
 Tantum  propter  meritum  Domini  ac  Servatoris  nostri 
 Jesu  Christi,  per  fidem,  non  propter  opera,  et  merita  nostra, 
 justi  coram  Deo  reputamur.  Quare  sola  fide  nos  justificari 
 doctrina  est  saluberrima,  ac  consolationis  plenissima,  ut  in 
 homilia  de  justificatione  hominis  fusius  explicatur. 
 
 XII.  De  bonis  operibus. 
 
 Bona  opera,  quae  sunt  fructus  fidei,  et  justificatos  sequun- 
 tur,  quanquam  peccata  nostra  expiare,  et  divini  judicii  seve- 
 ritatem  ferre  non  possunt ;  Deo  tamen  grata  sunt,  et  accepta 
 in  Christo,  atque  ex  vera  et  viva  fide  necessario  profluunt,  ut 
 plane  ex  illis,  aeque  fides  viva  cognosci  possit,  atque  arbor  ex 
 fructu  judicari. 
 
 XIII.  De  operibus  ante  justificationem. 
 
 Opera  quae  fiunt  ante  gratiam  Christi,  et  spiritus  ejus 
 afflatum,  cum  ex  fide  Jesu  Christi  non  prodeant,  minime 
 Deo  grata  sunt,  neque  gratiam  (ut  multi  vocant)  de  congruo 
 merentur.  Immo  cum  non  sunt  facta  ut  Deus  ilia  fieri  vo- 
 luit  et  praecepit,  peccati  rationem  habere  non  dubitamus. 
 
 XIV.  De  operibus  super erogationis. 
 
 Opera  quae  supererogationis  appellant,  non  possunt  sine 
 arrogantia  et  impietate  praedicari.  Nam  illis  declarant  ho- 
 mines, non  tantum  se  Deo  reddere,  quae  tenentur,  sed  plus 
 in  ejus  gratiam  facere,  quam  deberent,  cum  aperte  Christus 
 dicat ;  Cum  feceritis  omnia  quaccunque  praecepta  sunt  vobis, 
 dicite,  Servi  inutiles  sumus. 
 
ARTICL'LI  RELIGIONIS. 
 
 XXV 
 
 XV.  De  Christo,  qui  solas  est  sine  peccato. 
 
 Christus  in  nostras  naturae  veritate,  per  omnia  similis 
 foetus  est  nobis,  excepto  peccato,  a  quo  prorsus  erat  immu- 
 nis,  turn  in  carne,  turn  in  spiritu.  Venit  ut  agnus,  absque 
 macula,  qui  mundi  peccata  per  immolationem  sui  semel  fac- 
 tum tolleret,  et  peccatum  (ut  inquit  Johannes)  in  eo  non 
 erat :  sed  nos  reliqui  etiam  baptizati,  et  in  Christo  regenerati, 
 in  multis  tamen  offendimus  omnes.  Et  si  dixerimus,  quod 
 peccatum  non  habemus,  nos  ipsos  seducimus,  et  Veritas  in 
 nobis  non  est. 
 
 XVI.  De  peccato  post  Baptismum. 
 
 Non  omne  peccatum  mortale  post  Baptismum  voluntarie 
 perpetratum,  est  peccatum  in  Spiritum  Sanctum,  et  irremis- 
 sibile.  Proinde  lapsis  a  Baptismo  in  peccata,  locus  pceniten- 
 tia?  non  est  negandus.  Post  acceptum  Spiritum  Sanctum 
 possumus  a  gratia  data  recedere,  atque  peccare,  denuoque 
 per  gratiam  Dei  resurgere,  ac  resipiscere ;  ideoque  ill i  dam- 
 nandi  sunt,  qui  se,  quamdiu  hie  vivant,  amplius  non  posse 
 peccare  affirmant,  aut  vere  resipiscentibus  veniae  locum  de- 
 negant. 
 
 XVII.  De.  prcedestinatione  et  elect ione. 
 
 Pr^edestinatio  ad  vitam,  est  aeternum  Dei  propositum, 
 quo  ante  jacta  mundi  fundamenta,  suo  consilio,  nobis  quidem 
 occulto,  constantur  decrevit,  eos  quos  in  Christo  elegit  ex 
 hominum  genere,  a  maledicto  et  exitio  liberare,  atque  (ut 
 vasa  in  honorem  efficta)  per  Christum,  ad  seternam  salutem 
 adducere.  Unde  qui  tarn  prasclaro  Dei  beneflcio  sunt  do- 
 nati,  illi  spiritu  ejus,  opportuno  tempore  operante,  secundum 
 propositum  ejus  vocantur,  vocationi  per  gratiam  parent,  jus- 
 tificantur  gratis,  adoptantur  in  filios  Dei,  unigeniti  ejus  Jesu 
 Christi  imagini  efficiuntur  conformes,  in  bonis  operibus  sancte 
 ambulant,  et  demum  ex  Dei  misericordia  pertingunt  ad  sem- 
 piternam  felicitatem. 
 
 Quemadmodum  praedestinationis  et  electionis  nostras  in 
 Christo  pia  consideratio,  dulcis,  suavis,  et  ineffabilis  conso- 
 lationis  plena  est  vere  piis,  et  his  qui  sentiunt  in  se  vim 
 spiritus  Christi,  facta  carnis,  et  membra,  quae  adhuc  sunt 
 super  terram,  mortificantem,  animumque  ad  ccelestia  et  su- 
 perna  rapientem ;  turn  quia  fidem  nostram  de  aeterna  salute 
 consequenda  per  Christum  plurimum  stabilit  atque  confir- 
 mat,  turn  quia  amorem  nostrum  in  Deum  vehementer  accen- 
 dit :  ita  hominibus  curiosis,  carnalibus,  et  spiritu  Christi 
 destitutis,  ob  oculos  perpetuo  versari  praedestinationis  Dei 
 
xxvi 
 
 ARTICULI  RELIGIONIS. 
 
 sententiam,  perniciosissimum  est  praecipitium,  unde  illos  dia- 
 bolus  protrudit,  vel  in  desperationem,  vel  in  aeque  pernicio- 
 sam  impurissimae  vitae  securitatem ;  deinde  promissiones  di- 
 vinas  sic  amplecti  oportet,  ut  nobis  in  sacris  Uteris  generaliter 
 propositae  sunt,  et  Dei  voluntas  in  nostris  actionibus  ea  se- 
 quenda  est,  quam  in  verbo  Dei  habemus,  diserte  revelatam. 
 
 XVIII.  De  speranda  ceterna  salute  tantum  in  nomine 
 Christi. 
 
 Sunt  et  illi  anathematizandi,  qui  dicere  audent  unum- 
 quemque  in  lege  aut  secta  quam  profitetur  esse  servandum, 
 modo  juxta  illam  et  lumen  naturae  accurate  vixerit,  cum 
 sacrae  literae  tantum  Jesu  Christi  nomen  praedicent,  in  quo 
 salvos  fieri  homines  oporteat. 
 
 XIX.  De  Ecclesia. 
 
 Ecclesia  Christi  visibilis  est  ccetus  fidelium,  in  quo  verbum 
 Dei  purum  praedicatur,  et  sacramenta,  quoad  ea  quae  neces- 
 sario  exigantur,  juxta  Christi  institutum  recte  administrantur. 
 Sicut  erravit  Ecclesia  Hierosolymitana,  Alexandrina,  et  An- 
 tiochena ;  ita  et  erravit  Ecclesia  Romana,  non  solum  quoad 
 agenda,  et  caeremoniarum  ritus,  verum  in  his  etiam  quae  cre- 
 denda  sunt. 
 
 XX.  De  Ecclesia;  auctoritate. 
 
 Habet  Ecclesia  ritus  sive  caeremonias  statuendi  j  us,  et  in 
 fidei  controversiis  auctoritatem ;  quamvis  Ecclesiae  non  licet 
 quicquam  instituere,  quod  verbo  Dei  scripto  adversetur,  nec 
 unum  scripturae  locum  sic  exponere  potest,  ut  alteri  contra- 
 dicat.  Quare  licet  Ecclesia  sit  divinorum  librorum  testis  et 
 conservatrix,  attamen  ut  adversus  eos  nihil  decernere,  ita 
 praeter  illos  nihil  credendum  de  necessitate  salutis  debet  ob- 
 trudere. 
 
 XXI.  De  auctoritate  Conciliorum  Generalium. 
 
 Generalia  Concilia  sine  jussu  et  voluntate  Principum 
 congregari  non  possunt;  et  ubi  convenerint,  quia  ex  homini- 
 bus  constant,  qui  non  omnes  spiritu  et  verbo  Dei  reguntur, 
 et  errare  possunt,  et  interdum  errarunt  etiam  in  his  quae  ad 
 Deum  pertinent;  ideoque  quae  ab  illis  constituuntur,  ut  ad 
 salutem  necessaria,  neque  robur  habent,  neque  auctoritatem, 
 nisi  ostendi  possint  e  sacris  Uteris  esse  desumpta. 
 
AltTICULI  RELIGIONIS. 
 
 xxvii 
 
 XXII.  De  Purgatorio. 
 
 Doctrina  Romanensium  de  purgatorio,  de  indulgentiis, 
 de  veneratione,  et  adoratione,  turn  imaginum  turn  reliquiarum, 
 nec  non  de  invocatione  sanctorum,  res  est  futilis,  inaniter 
 conficta,  et  nullis  Scripturarum  testimoniis  innititur :  immo 
 verbo  Dei  contradicit. 
 
 XXIII.  De  ministrando  in  Ecclesia. 
 
 Non  licet  cuiquam  sumere  sibi  munus  publice  praedicandi, 
 aut  administrandi  Sacramenta  in  Ecclesia,  nisi  prius  fuerit  ad 
 haec  obeunda  legitime  vocatus  et  missus.  Atque  illos  legitime 
 vocatos  et  missos  existimare  debemus,  qui  per  homines,  quibus 
 potestas  vocandi  ministros,  atque  mittendi  in  vineam  Domini, 
 publice  concessa  est  in  Ecclesia,  cooptati  fuerint,  et  adsciti  in 
 hoc  opus. 
 
 XXIV.  De  loqnendo  in  Ecclesia  lingua  quam  populas 
 intelligit. 
 
 Lingua  populo  non  intellecta,  publicas  in  Ecclesia  preces 
 peragere,  aut  Sacramenta  administrare,  verbo  Dei,  et  primi- 
 tivae  Ecclesia?  consuetudini  plane  repugnat. 
 
 XXV.  De  Sacramentis. 
 
 Sacramenta  a  Christo  instituta,  non  tantum  sunt  notae 
 professionis  Christianorum,  sed  certa  quaedam  potius  testi- 
 monia,  et  efficacia  signa  gratiae  atque  bouse  in  nos  voluntatis 
 Dei,  per  quae  invisibiliter  ipse  in  nos  operatur,  nostramque 
 fidem  in  se  non  solum  excitat,  verum  etiam  confirmat. 
 
 Duo  a  Christo  Domino  nostro  in  Evangelio  instituta  sunt 
 Sacramenta :  scilicet,  Baptismus,  et-  Ccena  Domini. 
 
 Quinque  ilia  vulgo  nominata  Sacramenta :  scilicet,  confir- 
 matio,  pcenitentia,  ordo,  matrimonium,  et  extrema  unctio, 
 pro  Sacramentis  Evangelicis  habenda  non  sunt,  ut  quae,  par- 
 tim  a  prava  Apostolorum  imitatione  profluxerunt,  partim 
 vitas  status  sunt  in  Scripturis  quidem  probati :  sed  sacramen- 
 torum  eandem  cum  Baptismo  et  Ccena  Domini  rationem  non 
 habentes,  ut  quae  signum  aliquod  visibile,  seu  caeremoniam, 
 a  Deo  institutam,  non  habeant. 
 
 Sacramenta  non  in  hoc  instituta  sunt  a  Christo  ut  spec- 
 tarentur,  aut  circumferrentur,  sed  ut  rite  illis  uteremur,  et 
 in  his  duntaxat  qui  digne  percipiunt  salutarem  habent  effec- 
 tum :  Qui  vero  indigne  percipiunt,  damnatioiiem  (ut  inquit 
 Paul  us)  sibi  ipsis  acquirunt. 
 
xxviii 
 
 ARTICULI  RELIGIONIS. 
 
 XXVI.  De  vi  institutionum  divinarum,  quod  earn  non  tollat 
 malitia  Ministrorum. 
 
 Quamvis  in  Ecclesia  visibili,  bonis  mali  semper  sunt  ad- 
 mixti,  atque  interdum  ministerio  verbi  et  Sacramentorum 
 administrationi  praesint;  tamen  cum  non  suo,  sed  Christi 
 nomine  agant,  ej  usque  mandato  et  auctoritate  ministrent, 
 illorum  ministerio  uti  licet,  cum  in  verbo  Dei  audiendo,  turn 
 in  Sacramentis  percipiendis.  Neque  per  illorum  malitiam 
 effectus  institutorum  Christi  tollitur,  aut  gratia  donorum  Dei 
 minuitur,  quoad  eos  qui  fide  et  rite  sibi  oblata  percipiunt,  quae 
 propter  institutionem  Christi  et  promissionem  efficacia  sunt, 
 licet  per  malos  administrentur. 
 
 Ad  Ecclesiae  tamen  disciplinam  pertinet,  ut  in  malos  mi- 
 nistros  inquiratur,  accusenturque  ab  his,  qui  eorum  flagitia 
 noverint,  atque  tandem  justo  convicti  judicio  deponantur. 
 
 XXVII.  De  Baptismo. 
 
 Baptismus  non  est  tan  turn  professionis  signum,  ac  dis- 
 criminis  nota,  qua  Christiani  a  non  Christianis  discernantur, 
 sed  etiam  est  signum  regenerationis,  per  quod,  tanquam  per 
 instrumentum,  recte  baptismum  suscipientes,  Ecclesiae  inse- 
 runtur,  promissiones  de  remissione  peccatorum,  atque  adop- 
 tion e  nostra  in  Alios  Dei  per  Spiritum  Sanctum  visibili ter 
 obsignantur,  fides  confirmatur,  et  vi  divinae  invocationis  gratia 
 augetur. 
 
 Baptismus  parvulorum  omnino  in  Ecclesia  retinendus  est, 
 ut  qui  cum  Christi  institutione  optime  congruat. 
 
 XXVIII.  De  Ccena  Domini. 
 
 Ccena  Domini  non  est  tan  turn  signum  mutuae  benevo- 
 lentiae  Christianorum  inter  sese,  verum  potius  est  Sacramen- 
 tum  nostrae  per  mortem  Christi  redemptionis. 
 
 Atque  adeo,  rite,  digne,  et  cum  fide  sumentibus,  panis 
 quern  frangimus  est  communicatio  corporis  Christi :  similiter 
 poculum  benedictionis  est  communicatio  sanguinis  Christi. 
 
 Panis  et  vini  transubstantiatio  in  Eucharist ia  ex  sacris 
 literis  probari  non  potest.  Sed  apertis  Scripturae  verbis  ad- 
 versatur,  Sacramenti  naturam  evertit,  et  multarum  supersti- 
 tionum  dedit  occasionem. 
 
 Corpus  Christi  datur,  accipitur,  et  manducatur  in  Ccena, 
 tantum  ccelesti  et  spirituali  ratione.  Medium  autem,  quo 
 corpus  Christi  accipitur  et  manducatur  in  Ccena,  fides  est. 
 
 Sacramentum  Eucharistiac  ex  institutione  Christi  non  ser- 
 vabatur,  circumferebatur,  elevabatur,  nec  adorabatur. 
 
ARTICUL1  RELIGIONIS. 
 
 xxix 
 
 XXIX.  De  manducatione  corporis  Christie  ei  impios  illud 
 iwn  manducare. 
 
 I.mpii,  et  fide  viva  destituti,  licet  carnaliter  et  visibiliter 
 (ut  Augustinus  loquitur)  corporis  et  sanguinis  Christi  Sacra- 
 men  turn  dentibus  premant,  nullo  tamen  modo  Christi  par- 
 ticipes  efficiuntur.  Sed  potius  tantas  rei  Sacr  amen  turn,  seu 
 symbolum,  ad  judicium  sibi  manducant  et  bibunt. 
 
 XXX.  De  utraque  specie. 
 
 Calix  Domini  laicis  non  est  denegandus,  utraque  enim 
 pars  Dominici  Sacramenti,  ex  Christi  institutione  et  pra^cepto, 
 omnibus  Christianis  ex  aequo  administrari  debet. 
 
 XXXI.  De  unica  Christi  oblatione  in  cruce  perfecta. 
 
 Oblatio  Christi  semel  facta,  perfecta  est  redemptio,  pro- 
 pitiatio,  et  satisfactio  pro  omnibus  peccatis  totius  mundi,  tarn 
 originalibus  quam  actualibus ;  neque  praeter  illam  unicam 
 est  ulla  alia  pro  peccatis  expiatio :  unde  missarum  sacriflcia, 
 quibus  vulgo  dicebatur,  sacerdotem  offerre  Christum  in  re- 
 missionem  pcense,  aut  culpae,  pro  vivis  et  defunctis,  blasphema 
 figmenta  sunt,  et  perniciosae  imposturae. 
 
 XXXII.  De  conjugio  Sacerdotum. 
 
 E pi sco pis,  presbyteris,  et  diaconis  nullo  mandato  divino 
 praeceptum  est,  ut  aut  ccelibatum  voveant,  aut  a  matrimonio 
 abstineant.  Licet  igitur  etiam  illis,  ut  caeteris  omnibus  Chris- 
 tianis, ubi  hoc  ad  pietatem  magis  facere  judicaverint,  pro  suo 
 arbitratu  matrimonium  contrahere. 
 
 XXXIII.  De  excommunicatis  vitandis. 
 
 Qui  per  publicam  Ecclesiee  denunciationem  rite  ab  unitate 
 Ecclesiae  praecisus  est,  et  excommunicatus,  is  ab  universa  fide- 
 lium  multitudine  (donee  per  pcenitentiam  publice  reconcilia- 
 tus  fuerit  arbitrio  judicis  competentis)  habendus  est  tanquam 
 ethnicus  et  publicanus. 
 
 XXXIV.  De  tr  adit  ion  ibus  Ecclesiasticis. 
 
 Traditioxes  atque  caeremonias  easdem,  non  omnino  ne- 
 cessarium  est  esse  ubique,  aut  prorsus  consimiles.  Nam  ut 
 variae  semper  fuerunt,  et  mutari  possunt,  pro  regionum,  tern- 
 
XXX 
 
 ARTICULI  RELIGIONIS. 
 
 porum,  et  morum  diversitate,  modo  nihil  contra  verbum  Dei 
 instituatur. 
 
 Traditiones,  et  caeremonias  ecclesiasticas,  quae  cum  verbo 
 Dei  non  pugnant,  et  sunt  auctoritate  publica  institutae  atque 
 probata?,  quisquis  privato  consilio  volens,  et  data  opera,  pub- 
 lice  violaverit,  is  ut  qui  peccat  in  publicum  ordinem  Ecclesiae, 
 quique  laedit  auctoritatem  Magistratus,  et  qui  infirmorum 
 fratrum  conscientias  vulnerat,  publice,  ut  caeteri  timeant, 
 arguendus  est. 
 
 Quaelibet  Ecclesia  particularis,  sive  nationalis,  auctorita- 
 tem habet  instituendi,  mutandi,  aut  abrogandi  caeremonias, 
 aut  ritus  ecclesiasticos,  humana  tantum  auctoritate  institutos, 
 modo  omnia  ad  aedificationem  fiant. 
 
 XXXV.  De  Homiliis. 
 
 Tomus  secundus  Homiliarum,  quarum  singulos  titulos  huic 
 Articulo  subjunximus,  continet  piam  et  salutarem  doctrinam, 
 et  his  temporibus  necessariam,  non  minus  quam  prior  Tomus 
 Homiliarum,  quae  editae  sunt  tempore  Edwardi  sexti :  Itaque 
 eas  in  Ecclesiis  per  ministros  diligenter,  et  clare,  ut  a  populo 
 intelligi  possint,  recitandas  esse  judicavimus. 
 
 De  nominibus  Homiliarum. 
 
 Of  the  right  Use  of  the  Church. 
 
 Against  peril  of  Idolatry. 
 
 Of  repairing  and  keeping  clean  of 
 Churches. 
 
 Of  good  Works. 
 
 First, — Of  Fasting. 
 
 Against  Gluttony  and  Drunken- 
 ness. 
 
 Against  Excess  in  Apparel. 
 Of  Prayer. 
 
 Of  the  Place  and  Time  of  Prayer. 
 
 That  Common  Prayers  and  Sac- 
 raments ought  to  be  ministered 
 in  a  known  Tongue. 
 
 Of  the  reverent  Estimation  of 
 
 God's  Word. 
 Of  Alms-doing. 
 Of  the  Nativity  of  Christ. 
 Of  the  Passion  of  Christ. 
 Of  the  Resurrection  of  Christ. 
 Of  the  worthy  receiving  of  the 
 
 Sacrament  of  the  Body  and 
 
 Blood  of  Christ. 
 Of  the  Gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
 Of  the  Rogation-Days. 
 Of  the  state  of  Matrimony. 
 Of  Repentance. 
 Against  Idleness. 
 Against  Rebellion. 
 
 XXXVI.  De  Episcoporum  et  Ministrorum  consecratione. 
 
 Libellus  de  consecratione  Archiepiscoporum,  et  P^pisco- 
 porum,  et  de  ordinatione  Presbyterorum  et  Diaconorum, 
 editus  nuper  temporibus  Edwardi  VI.  et  auctoritate  Parlia- 
 ment! illis  ipsis  temporibus  confirmatus,  omnia  ad  ejusmodi 
 consecrationem  et  ordinationem  necessaria  continet,  et  nihil 
 habet,  quoxl  ex  se  sit,  aut  superstitiosum,  aut  impium  :  itaque 
 
ARTICULI  RELIGIONIS. 
 
 xxxi 
 
 quicunque  juxta  ritus  illius  libri  consecrati  aut  ordinati  sunt, 
 ab  anno  secimdo  praedicti  regis  Edwardi,  usque  ad  hoc  tem- 
 pus,  aut  in  posterum  juxta  eosdem  ritus  consecrabuntur,  aut 
 ordinabuntur,  rite  atque  ordine,  atque  legitime  statuimus.esse, 
 et  fore  consecratos  et  ordinatos. 
 
 XXXVII.  Dc  civilibus  Masistratibus. 
 
 o 
 
 Regia  Majestas  in  hoc  Anglia?  regno,  ac  caeteris  ejus  do- 
 miniis,  summam  habet  potestatem,  ad  quam  omnium  statu- 
 um  hujus  regni,  sive  illi  ecclesiastici  sint,  sive  civiles,  in  om- 
 nibus causis,  suprema  gubernatio  pertinet,  et  nulli  externa? 
 jurisdictioni  est  subjecta,  nec  esse  debet. 
 
 Cum  Regire  Majestati  summam  gubernationem  tribuimus, 
 quibus  titulis  intelligimus  animos  quorundam  calumniatorum 
 offendi,  non  damus  Reijibus  nostris.  aut  verbi  Dei.  aut  Sacra- 
 mentorum  administrationem,  quod  etiam  Injunctiones  ab 
 Elizabetha  Regina  nostra,  nuper  edita?,  apertissime  testantur  : 
 sed  earn  tan  turn  praerogativam,  quam  in  sacris  Scripturis  a 
 Deo  ipso,  omnibus  piis  Principibus,  videmus  semper  fuisse 
 attributam :  hoc  est,  ut  omnes  status  atque  ordines  fidei  sure 
 a  Deo  commissos,  sive  illi  ecclesiastici  sint,  sive  civiles,  in  offi- 
 cio contineant,  et  contumaces  ac  delinquentes  gladio  civili 
 coerceant. 
 
 Romamis  pontifex  nullam  habet  jurisdictionem  in  hoc  reg- 
 no Anglia?. 
 
 Leges  regni  possunt  Christianos  propter  capitalia,  et  gravia 
 crimina.  morte  punire. 
 
 Christianis  licet,  ex  mandato  magistratus,  anna  portare,  et 
 justa  bella  administrare. 
 
 XXXVIII.  De  illicita  bonorum  communications 
 
 Facultates  et  bona  Christianorum  non  sunt  communia, 
 quoad  jus  et  possessionem,  (ut  quidam  Anabaptista?  falso  jac- 
 tant) ;  debet  tainen  quisque  de  his  quae  possidet,  pro  faculta- 
 tum  ratione.  pauperibus  eleemosynas  benigne  distribuere. 
 
 XXXIX.    Dc  jurejurando. 
 
 Quemadmodum  juramentum  vanum  et  temerarium  a  Do- 
 mino nostro  Jesu  Christo,  et  Apostolo  ejus  Jacobo,  Chris- 
 tianis hominibus  interdictum  esse  fatemur  :  ita  Christianorum 
 Religionem  minime  prohibere  censemus,  quin  jubente  magis- 
 tratu  in  causa  fidei  et  cbaritatds  jurare  liceat,  modo  id  fiat 
 juxta  Propheta1  doctrinam.  in  justitia,  in  judicio,  et  veritate. 
 
xxxii 
 
 ARTICULI  RELIGIONIS. 
 
 Confirmatio  Articulorum. 
 
 Hie  liber  antedictorum  Articulorum  jam  denuo  approba- 
 tes est,  per  assensum  et  consensum  Serenissimae  Reginae 
 Elizabethan  Dominae  nostrae,  Dei  gratia  Angliae,  Franciae,  et 
 Hibernian  Reginae,  defensoris  fldei,  &c.  re  tin  end  us,  et  per 
 totum  regnum  Angliae  exequendus.  Qui  Articuli  et  lecti 
 sunt,  et  denuo  confirmati  subscriptione  D.  Archiepiscopi  et 
 Episcoporum  superioris  domus,  et  totius  Cleri  inferioris  do- 
 mus,  in  Convocatione,  Anno  Domini  1571. 
 
 a 
 
 4 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Introduction,  -  1 
 Heresies  gave  the  rise  to  larger  Articles,  -  ib. 
 A  form  of  doctrine  settled  by  the  Apostles,  -  2 
 Bishops  sent  round  them  a  declaration  of  their  faith,  3 
 These  were  afterwards  enlarged,  -  -  ib. 
 This  done  at  the  Council  of  Nice,  -  -  ib. 
 Many  wild  Sects  at  the  beginning  of  the  Reformation,  4 
 And  many  complying  Papists  put  them  on  framing  this  col- 
 lection, -  -  -  -  5 
 The  Articles  set  out  at  first  by  the  King's  authority,  6 
 A  question  whether  they  are  only  Articles  of  peace  or  doc- 
 trine, 7 
 They  bind  the  consciences  of  the  Clergy,  -  ib. 
 The  Laity  only  bound  to  peace  by  them,  -  ib. 
 The  subscription  to  them  imports  an  assent  to  them,  and 
 
 not  only  an  acquiescing  in  them,  8 
 But  the  Articles  may  have  different  senses  ;  and  if  the  words 
 will  bear  them,  there  is  no  prevarication  in  subscribing 
 
 them  so,            -----  10 
 
 This  illustrated  in  the  Third  Article,            -          -  ib. 
 
 The  various  readings  of  the  Articles  collated  with  the  MSS,  11 
 
 An  account  of  those  various  readings,           -           -  18 
 
 ARTICLE  I. 
 
 That  there  is  a  God,  proved  by  the  consent  of  mankind,  19 
 Obj.  1.  Some  nations  do  not  believe  a  Deity.    This  is  an- 
 swered, 20 
 Obj.  2.  It  is  not  the  same  belief  among  them  all.    This  is 
 
 answered,          -          -           -           -           -  ib. 
 
 The  visible  world  proves  a  Deity,          -          -  21 
 
 Time  nor  number  cannot  be  eternal  nor  infinite,           -  22 
 
 Moral  arguments  to  prove  that  the  world  had  a  beginning,  23 
 
 Such  a  regular  frame  could  not  be  fortuitous,            -  ib. 
 
 Objection  from  the  production  of  insects  answered,        -  24 
 
 Argument  from  miracles  well  attested,  25 
 
 Argument  from  the  idea  of  God  examined,         -         -  ib. 
 
 God  is  eternal,  and  necessarily  exists,           -            -  26 
 
 The  unity  of  the  Deity,  27 
 
 God  is  without  body,           -  28 
 
 c 
 
xxxiv 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Outward  manifestations  only  to  declare  his  presence  and 
 
 authority,            -  29 
 
 No  successive  acts  in  God,  30 
 
 Question  concerning  God's  immanent  acts,  -        -  ib. 
 
 God  has  no  passions,  31 
 
 Phrases  in  Scripture  of  these  explained,          -  ib. 
 
 Some  thoughts  concerning  the  power  and  wisdom  of  God,  ib. 
 
 True  ideas  of  the  goodness  of  God,          -  -  33 
 
 Of  creation  and  annihilation,  35 
 
 Of  the  providence  of  God,          -          -  ib. 
 
 Objections  against  it  answered,  ib. 
 
 Whether  God  does  immediately  produce  all  things,  -  38 
 
 Thought  and  liberty  not  proper  to  matter,  39 
 
 Whether  beasts  think,  or  are  only  machines,  -       -  ib. 
 
 How  bodies  and  spirits  are  united,           -  40 
 
 The  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  42 
 
 Whether  revealed  in  the  Old  Testament,  or  not,  -  ib. 
 
 The  doctrine  stated,            -            -  43 
 
 Argument  from  the  form  of  baptism,  44 
 
 Other  arguments  for  it,  ib. 
 
 This  was  received  in  the  first  ages  of  Christianity,  -  46 
 
 Some  attempt  to  the  stating  true  ideas  of  God,  -  47 
 
 ARTICLE  II. 
 
 Christ,  how  the  Son  of  God,  - 
 Argument  from  the  beginning  of  St  John's  Gospel, 
 Reflections  on  the  state  of  the  world  at  that  time, 
 Arguments  from  the  Epistle  to  the  Philippians, 
 Other  arguments  complicated,  -  -  - 
 
 Argument  from  adoration  due  to  him, 
 
 The  silence  of  the  Jews  proves  this  was  not  then  thought  to 
 
 be  idolatry  by  them,  - 
 Argument  from  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews, 
 God  and  man  in  Christ  made  one  Person, 
 An  account  of  Nestorius's  doctrine, 
 Christ  was  to  us  an  expiatory  sacrifice, 
 An  account  of  expiatory  sacrifices, 
 The  agonies  of  Christ  explained,  - 
 
 ARTICLE  III. 
 
 Ruffin  first  published  this  in  the  Creed,           -  -  65 
 
 Several  senses  put  on  this  Article,           -           -  -  ib. 
 
 A  local  descent  into  hell,             -  66 
 
 What  may  be  the  true  sense  of  the  Article,  -  68 
 
 ARTICLE  IV. 
 
 The  proof  of  Christ's  resurrection,            -  -  (J8 
 
 The  Jews  in  that  time  did  not  disprove  it,  -  70 
 
 Several  proofs  of  the  incredibility  of  a  forgery  in  this  matter,  71 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 \xxv 
 
 Page 
 
 The  nature  and  proof  of  a  miracle,  73 
 
 What  must  be  ascribed  to  good  or  evil  spirits,  -  ib. 
 
 The  Apostles  could  not  be  imposed  on,  74 
 
 Nor  could  they  have  imposed  on  the  world,  -  ib. 
 
 Of  Christ's  ascension,           -  -  76 
 
 Curiosity  in  these  matters  taxed,          -          -  ib. 
 
 The  authority  with  which  Christ  is  now  vested,  -  78 
 
 ARTICLE  V. 
 
 The  senses  of  the  word  Holy  Ghost,            -  79 
 
 It  stands  oft  for  a  person,  80 
 
 Curiosities  to  be  avoided  about  procession,  -  ib. 
 
 The  Holy  Ghost  is  truly  God,  82 
 
 ARTICLE  VI. 
 
 The  controversy  about  oral  tradition,  84 
 
 That  was  soon  corrupted,          -          -  85 
 
 Guarded  against  by  Revelation,  86 
 
 Tradition  corrupted  among  the  Jews,            -  -  ib. 
 
 The  Scripture  appealed  to  by  Christ  and  the  Apostles,  87 
 
 What  is  well  proved  from  Scripture,  89 
 Objections  from  the  darkness  of  Scripture  answered,       -  ib. 
 
 No  sure  guard  against  error,  nor  against  sin,        -  -  91 
 
 The  proof  of  the  Canon  of  the  Scripture,  92 
 
 Particularly  of  the  New  Testament,  ib. 
 
 These  books  were  early  received,          -          -  95 
 
 The  Canon  of  the  Old  Testament  proved,  96 
 
 Concerning  the  Pentateuch,            -  _98 
 
 Objections  against  the  Old  Testament  answered,  -  99 
 
 Concerning  the  various  readings,         -           -  -  100 
 
 The  nature  and  degrees  of  inspiration,          -  -  101 
 
 Concerning  the  historical  parts  of  Scripture,       -  -  103 
 
 Concerning  the  reasonings  in  Scripture,          -  -  ib. 
 
 Of  the  apocryphal  books,         -         -          -  -  104 
 
 ARTICLE  VII. 
 
 No  difference  between  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  107  # 
 
 Proofs  in  the  Old  Testament  of  the  Messias,        -  -  ib. 
 
 In  the  Prophets  ;  chiefly  in  Daniel,            -  -  109 
 
 The  proofs  all  summed  up,           -           -  -  112 
 
 Objections  of  the  Jews  answered,         -         -  -  113 
 
 The  hopes  of  another  life  in  the  Old  Testament,  -  114 
 Our  Saviour  proved  the  resurrection  from  the  words  to 
 
 Moses,            -            -           -           -  -  116 
 
 Expiation  of  sin  in  the  old  dispensation,          -  -  117 
 
 Sins  then  expiated  by  the  blood  of  Christ,         -  -  ib. 
 
 Of  the  rites  and  ceremonies  among  the  Jews,       -  -  118 
 
 Of  their  judiciary  laws,           -  120 
 
 Of  the  moral  law,          -          -          -          -  •      -  ib. 
 
xxxvi 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 The  principles  of  morality,         -  120 
 
 Of  idolatry,            -            -            -            -           -  121 
 
 Concerning  the  Sabbath,         -  123 
 
 Of  the  Second  Table,  124 
 
 Of  not  coveting  what  is  our  neighbour's,          -         -  125 
 
 ARTICLE  VIII. 
 
 Concerning  the  Creed  of  Athanasius,           -           -  126 
 
 And  the  condemning  clauses  in  it,         -          -         -  ib. 
 
 Of  the  Apostles' Creed,          -          -          -  128 
 
 ARTICLE  IX. 
 
 Different  opinions  concerning  original  sin,         -         -  129 
 
 All  men  liable  to  death  by  it,           -           -  130 
 
 A  corruption  spread  through  the  whole  race  of  Adam,  131 
 
 Of  the  state  of  innocence,            -  132 
 
 Of  the  effects  of  Adam's  fall,  133 
 
 God's  justice  vindicated,           -  134 
 
 Of  the  imputation  of  Adam's  sin,         -                   -  135 
 
 St  Austin's  doctrine  in  this  point,         ...  136 
 
 This  is  opposed  by  many  others,          ...  138 
 
 Both  sides  pretend  their  doctrines  agree  with  the  Article,  140 
 
 ARTICLE  X. 
 
 The  true  notion  of  liberty,            -  141 
 
 The  feebleness  of  our  present  state,         -  ib. 
 
 Inward  assistances  promised  in  the  New  Covenant,       -  143 
 
 The  effect  that  these  have  on  men,         -         -         -  145 
 
 Concerning  preventing  grace,           ...  146 
 
 Of  its  being  efficacious  or  universal,           -           -  147 
 
 ARTICLE  XL 
 
 Concerning  justification,           -           -           -           -  •  148 
 
 Concerning  faith,  -  149 
 The  difference  between  the  Church  of  England  and  the 
 
 Church  of  Rome  in  this  point,           -           -         -  151 
 
 The  conditions  upon  which  men  are  justified,           -  153 
 
 The  use  to  be  made  of  this  doctrine,         -         -  155 
 
 ARTICLE  XII. 
 
 The  necessity  of  holiness, 
 
 Concerning  merit, 
 
 Of  the  defects  of  good  works, 
 
 155 
 150 
 157 
 
 ARTICLE  XIII. 
 
 Actions  in  themselves  good,  yet  may  be  sins  in  him  who 
 does  them,  -  -  -  -  159 
 
CONTENTS.  xxxvii 
 
 Page 
 
 Of  the  seventh  chapter  to  the  Romans,  -  -  160 
 
 This  is  not  a  total  incapacity,  -  -  -  161 
 
 ARTICLE  XIV. 
 
 Of  the  great  extent  of  our  duty, 
 No  counsels  of  perfection, 
 Many  duties  which  do  not  bind  at  all  times, 
 It  is  not  possible  for  man  to  supererogate, 
 Objections  against  this  answered, 
 The  steps  by  which  that  doctrine  prevailed, 
 
 ARTICLE  XV. 
 
 Christ's  spotless  holiness,         ...  -  168 
 
 Of  the  imperfections  of  the  best  of  men,  -  -  169 
 
 ARTICLE  XVI. 
 
 Concerning  mortal  and  venial  sin, 
 Of  the  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost, 
 Of  the  pardon  of  sin  after  baptism, 
 
 That  as  God  forgives,  the  Church  ought  also  to  forgive, 
 Concerning  apostasy,  and  sin  unto  death, 
 
 ARTICLE  XVII. 
 
 The  state  of  the  question,            -            -            -  177 
 
 The  doctrine  of  the  Supralapsarians  and  Sublapsarians,  178 
 
 The  doctrine  of  the  Remonstrants  and  the  Socinians,  ib. 
 
 This  is  a  controversy  that  arises  out  of  natural  religion,  179 
 The  history  of  this  controversy  both  in  ancient  and  modern 
 
 times,  ib. 
 
 The  arguments  of  the  Supralapsarians,           -           -  186 
 
 The  arguments  of  the  Sublapsarians,           -            -  194 
 
 The  arguments  of  the  Remonstrants,            -            -  195 
 
 They  affirm  a  certain  prescience,           -  199 
 
 The  Socinians'  plea,           -  203 
 
 General  reflections  on  the  whole  matter,  -  -  ib. 
 The  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  both  sides,  and  the 
 
 faults  of  both,           ....           -  204 
 
 In  what  both  do  agree,           -           -           -           -  206 
 
 The  sense  of  the  Article,          -  207 
 
 The  cautions  added  to  it,          -          -          -          -  208 
 
 Passages  in  the  Liturgy  explained,            -           -  -  209 
 
 ARTICLE  XVIII. 
 
 Philosophers  thought  men  might  be  saved  in  all  religions,  210 
 
 So  do  the  Mahometans,           -           -           -           -  ib. 
 
 None  are  saved  but  by  Christ,  -  -  -  211 
 Whether  some  may  not  be  saved  by  him,  who  never  heard  of 
 
 him,            -  212 
 
 162 
 163 
 164 
 ib. 
 165 
 167 
 
 170 
 171 
 173 
 ib. 
 174 
 
xxxviii 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 None  are  in  covenant  with  God,  but  through  the  knowledge 
 
 of  Christ,  -  213 
 But  for  others,  we  cannot  judge  of  the  extent  of  the  mercies 
 
 of  God,  -  -  -  -  -  -  ib. 
 
 Curiosity  is  to  be  restrained,          -           -           -  214 
 
 ARTICLE  XIX. 
 
 We  ought  not  to  believe  that  any  are  infallible,  without  good 
 
 authority,           -           -            -            -           -  215 
 
 Just  prejudices  against  some  who  pretend  to  it,          -  216 
 
 No  miracles  brought  to  prove  this,             -            -  217 
 
 Proofs  brought  from  Scripture,  ib. 
 
 Things  to  be  supposed  previous  to  these,              -  218 
 
 A  circle  is  not  to  be  admitted,           -  ib. 
 
 The  notes  given  of  the  true  Church,           -            -  219 
 
 These  are  examined,           -           -  ib. 
 
 And  whether  they  do  agree  to  the  Church  of  Rome,  220 
 
 The  truth  of  doctrine  must  be  first  settled,        -        -  221 
 
 A  society  that  has  a  true  baptism,  is  a  true  Church,  ib. 
 
 Sacraments  are  not  annulled  by  every  corruption,        -  222 
 We  own  the  baptism  and  orders  given  in  the  Church  of 
 
 Rome,          -          -          -          -  223 
 
 And  yet  justify  our  separating  from  them,           -         -  ib. 
 
 Objections  against  private  judging,            -            -  224 
 
 Our  reasons  are  given  us  for  that  end,           -           -  ib. 
 
 Our  minds  are  free  as  our  wills  are,            -           -  225 
 
 The  Church  is  still  visible,  but  not  infallible,           -  226 
 
 Of  the  Pope's  infallibility,           -           -  227 
 
 That  was  not  pretended  to  in  the  first  ages,        -        -  ib. 
 
 The  dignity  of  Sees  rose  from  the  cities,          -         -  228 
 
 Popes  have  fallen  into  heresy,  ib. 
 
 Their  ambition  and  forgeries,           ...  229 
 
 Their  cruelty,           -           -           -           -           -  -  ib. 
 
 The  power  of  deposing  Princes  claimed  by  them  as  given 
 
 them  by  God,          ....  230 
 
 This  was  not  a  corruption  only  of  discipline,  but  of  doc- 
 trine,          -           -           -           -           -  231 
 
 Arguments  for  the  Pope's  infallibility,           -           -  232 
 
 No  foundation  for  it  in  the  New  Testament,            -  233 
 
 St  Peter  never  claimed  it,           -  ib. 
 
 Christ's  words  to  him  explained,           ...  234 
 
 Of  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,           -           -  235 
 
 Of  binding  and  loosing,  ib. 
 
 ARTICLE  XX. 
 
 Of  Church  power  in  rituals,            -            -            -  237 
 
 The  practice  of  the  Jewish  Church,           -           -  238 
 
 Changes  in  these  sometimes  necessary,          -          -  239 
 
 The  practice  of  the  Apostles,           -  ib. 
 
 Subjects  must  obey  in  lawful  things,          -           -  240 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 \xxix 
 
 Page 
 
 But  superiors  must  not  impose  too  much,           -         -  240 
 
 The  Church  has  authority,  though  not  infallible,        -  241 
 
 Great  respect  due  to  her  decisions,            -           -  242 
 
 But  no  absolute  submission,            -         -  -           -  243 
 
 The  Church  is  the  depositary  of  the  Scriptures,         -  ib. 
 
 The  Church  of  Rome  run  in  a  circle,          -          -  244 
 
 ARTICLE  XXI. 
 
 Councils  cannot  be  called,  but  by  the  consent  of  Princes,  245 
 
 The  first  were  called  by  the  Roman  Emperors,           -  ib. 
 
 Afterwards  the  Popes  called  them,            -            -  246 
 
 Then  some  Councils  thought  on  methods  to  fix  their  meet- 
 ing,          ------  ib. 
 
 What  makes  a  Council  to  be  General,          -           -  247 
 
 What  numbers  are  necessary,            -            -           -  ib. 
 
 How  must  they  be  cited,           -           -           -           -  ib. 
 
 No  rules  given  in  Scripture  concerning  their  constitution,  ib. 
 
 Nazianzen's  complaints  of  Councils,            -            -  248 
 
 Councils  have  been  contrary  to  one  another,        -        -  ib. 
 
 Disorders  and  intrigues  in  Councils,            -           -  249 
 
 They  judge  not  by  inspiration,           -           -           -  ib. 
 
 The  Churches  may  examine  their  ^proceedings,  and  judge 
 
 of  them,           -  ib. 
 
 Concerning  the  Pope's  bull  confirming  them,            -  ib. 
 
 They  have  an  authority,  but  not  absolute,         -         -  250 
 
 Nor  do  they  need  the  Pope's  bulls,             -            -  ib. 
 
 The  several  Churches  know  their  traditions  best,         -  251 
 
 The  Fathers  do  argue  for  the  truth  of  the  decisions,  but  not 
 
 from  their  authority,           -  ib. 
 
 No  prospect  of  another  General  Council,         -          -  ib. 
 
 Popes  are  jealous  of  them,            -            -            -  252 
 
 And  the  world  expects  little  from  them,           -           -  ib. 
 
 Concerning  the  words,  Tell  the  Church,           -           -  ib. 
 
 How  the  Church  is  the  pillar  and  ground  of  truth,         -  ib. 
 
 Christ's  promise,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  to  the  end  of 
 
 the  world,            ...            -           -  253 
 
 Of  that,  It  seemed  good  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  to  us,  ib. 
 
 Some  General  Councils  have  erred,           -           -  254 
 
 ARTICLE  XXII. 
 
 The  doctrine  of  purgatory,           -              -  256 
 
 Sins  once  pardoned  are  not  punished,           -           -  ib. 
 
 Unless  with  chastisements  in  this  life,           -            -  ib. 
 
 No  state  of  satisfaction  after  death,             -           -  258 
 
 No  mention  made  of  that  in  Scripture,           -    '      -  259 
 
 But  it  is  plain  to  the  contrary,              -               -  ib. 
 
 Different  opinions  among  the  ancients.           -           -  261 
 
 The  original  of  purgatory,           ...  ib 
 
 A  passage  in  Maccabees  considered,           -            -  ib. 
 
 A  passage  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  considered.  263 
 
xl 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 The  progress  of  the  belief  of  purgatory,  -  -  264 
 Prayers  for  the  dead  among  the  ancients,  -  ib. 
 Endowments  for  redeeming  out  of  purgatory,  -  266 
 Whether  these  ought  to  be  sacred,  or  not,  -  268 
 The  doctrine  of  pardons  and  indulgences,  -  269 
 It  is  only  the  excusing  from  penance,  -  -  270 
 No  foundation  for  it  in  Scripture,  -  -  ib. 
 General  rules  concerning  idolatry,  -  -  271 
 Of  the  idolatry  of  Heathens,  -  -  272 
 Laws  given  to  the  Jews  against  it,  -  -  ib. 
 The  expostulations  of  the  Prophets,  -  -  273 
 Concerning  the  golden  calf,  -  274 
 And  the  calves  at  Dan  and  Bethel,  -  -  ib. 
 The  Apostles  opposed  all  idolatry,  -  -  275 
 St  Paul  at  Athens,  and  to  the  Romans,  -  -  ib. 
 The  sense  of  the  primitive  Fathers  upon  it,  -  277 
 The  first  use  of  images  among  Christians,  -  278 
 Pictures  in  Churches  for  instruction,  -  -  ib. 
 Were  afterwards  worshipped,  -  -  279 
 Contests  about  that,  -  -  -  -  ib. 
 Images  of  the  Deity  and  Trinity,  -  -  280 
 On  what  the  worship  of  images  terminates,  -  281 
 The  due  worship  settled  by  the  Council  at  Trent,  -  282 
 Images  consecrated,  and  how,  -  -  ib. 
 Arguments  for  worshipping  them  answered,  -  283 
 Arguments  against  the  use  or  worship  of  images,  -  ib. 
 The  worship  of  relics,  -  285 
 A  due  regard  to  the  bodies  of  martyrs,  -  -  ib. 
 The  progress  of  superstition,  ib. 
 No  warrant  for  this  in  Scripture,  -  -  286 
 Hezekiah  broke  the  brazen  serpent,  -  -  ib. 
 The  memorable  passage  concerning  the  body  of  St  Poly- 
 carp,  -  -  _  -  ib. 
 Fables  and  forgeries  prevailed,  -  -  287 
 The  souls  of  the  martyrs  believed  to  hover  about  their 
 
 tombs,  288 
 Nothing  of  this  kind  objected  to  the  first  Christians,      -  289 
 
 Disputes  between  Vigilantius  and  St  Jerome,  -  ib. 
 
 No  invocation  of  Saints  in  the  Old  Testament,  -  291 
 The  invocating  Angels  condemned  in  the  New  Testament,  292 
 
 No  Saints  invocated,  Christ  only,              -  -  ib. 
 
 No  mention  of  this  in  the  three  first  ages,  -  293 
 
 In  the  fourth,  Martyrs  were  invocated,           -  -  ib. 
 
 The  progress  that  this  made,           -  294 
 
 Scandalous  offices  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  -  ib. 
 
 Arguments  against  this  invocation,              -  -  296 
 
 An  apology  for  those  who  began  it,              -  -  ib. 
 
 The  scandal  given  by  it,              -              -  298 
 
 Arguments  for  it  answered,              -  299 
 
 Whether  the  Saints  see  all  things  in  God,  ib. 
 
 This  no  part  of  the  communion  of  Saints,           -  -  ib. 
 
CONTENTS.  xli 
 
 Page 
 
 Prayers  ought  to  be  directed  only  to  God,  -  300 
 
 Revealed  religion  designed  to  deliver  the  world  from  ido- 
 latry, -  -  -  ib. 
 
 ARTICLE  XXIII. 
 
 A  succession  of  pastors  ought  to  be  in  the  Church,  -  301 
 
 This  was  settled  by  the  Apostles,              -  -  ib. 
 
 And  must  continue  to  the  end  of  the  world,  -  303 
 
 It  was  settled  in  the  first  age  of  the  Church,  -  ib. 
 
 The  danger  of  men's  taking  to  themselves  this  authority 
 
 without  a  due  vocation,              -  -  304 
 
 The  difference  between  means  of  salvation,  and  precepts 
 
 for  order's  sake,              -  -  305 
 
 What  is  lawful  authority,  ib. 
 
 What  may  be  done  upon  extraordinary  occasions,  -  307 
 
 Necessity  is  above  rules  of  order,              -  -  ib. 
 
 The  High-priests  in  our  Saviour's  time,  -           -  308 
 
 Baptism  by  women,  ib. 
 
 ARTICLE  XXIV. 
 
 The  chief  end  of  worshipping  God, 
 
 The  practice  of  the  Jews,  ... 
 
 Rules  given  by  the  Apostles, 
 
 The  practice  of  the  Church, 
 
 Arguments  for  worship  in  an  unknown  tongue  answered, 
 ARTICLE  XXV. 
 
 Difference  between  sacraments  and  rites,           -  -  315 
 
 Sacraments  do  not  imprint  a  character,           -  -  ib. 
 
 But  are  not  mere  ceremonies,           -           -  -  317 
 
 What  is  necessary  to  constitute  a  sacrament,  -  ib. 
 
 That  applied  to  Baptism,              -          -  -  -  318 
 
 And  to  the  Eucharist,  ib. 
 No  mention  of  seven  sacraments  before  Peter  Lombard,  319 
 
 Confirmation  no  sacrament,               -             -  -  ib. 
 
 How  practised  among  us,              -              -  320 
 
 The  use  of  Chrism  in  it  is  new,               -  -  321 
 
 Oil  early  used  in  Christian  rituals,              -  -  ib. 
 
 Bishops  only  consecrated  the  Chrism,           -  -  322 
 
 In  the  Greek  Church  Presbyters  applied  it,  -  ib. 
 This  used  in  the  Western  Church,  but  condemned  by  the 
 
 Popes,              -  ib. 
 
 Disputes  concerning  confirmation,            -  -  323 
 
 Concerning  penance,              -  -  ib. 
 
 The  true  notion  of  repentance,           -  324 
 
 Confession  not  the  matter  of  a  sacrament,  -  ib. 
 
 The  use  of  confession,              -  -  325 
 
 The  Priest's  pardon  ministerial,            -           -  -  ib. 
 
 And  restrained  within  bounds,           -  32(i 
 
 309 
 310 
 311 
 312 
 ib. 
 
xlii  CONTENTS. 
 
 •  Page 
 
 Auricular  confession  not  necessary,           -  -  327 
 
 Not  commanded  in  the  New  Testament,          -  -  328 
 
 The  beginnings  of  it  in  the  Church,            -  -  ib. 
 
 Many  canons  about  penance,               -               -  ib. 
 
 Confession  forbid  at  Constantinople,              -  -  330 
 
 The  ancient  discipline  slackened,              -  -  331 
 
 Confession  may  be  advised,  but  not  commanded,  -  ib. 
 
 The  good  and  bad  effects  it  may  have,          -  -  ib. 
 
 Of  contrition  and  attrition,            -  .  333 
 
 The  ill  effects  of  the  doctrine  of  attrition,          -  -  ib. 
 
 Of  doing  the  penance  or  satisfaction,              -  -  334 
 
 Concerning  sorrow  for  sin,              -              -  -  ib. 
 
 Of  the  ill  effects  of  hasty  absolution,              -  -  335 
 
 Of  fasting  and  prayer,              -                          -  336 
 
 Of  the  form,  I  absolve  thee,               -               -  337 
 
 Of  holy  orders,            -  333 
 
 Of  the  ancient  form  of  ordinations,              -  -  ib. 
 
 Of  delivering  the  vessel,             -  339 
 
 Orders  no  sacrament,              -             -             -  340 
 
 Whether  Bishops  and  Priests  are  of  the  same  order,  ib. 
 
 Of  marriage,              -  341 
 
 It  can  be  no  sacrament,              -              -  -  ib. 
 
 Intention  not  necessary,              -              -  -  ib. 
 
 How  marriage  is  called  a  mystery  or  sacrament,  -  342 
 
 Marriage  dissolved  by  adultery,           -  343 
 
 The  practice  of  the  Church  in  this  matter,       -  -  344 
 
 Of  extreme  unction,            -  345 
 
 St  James's  words  explained,            -  -  ib. 
 
 Oil  much  used  in  ancient  rituals,           -           -  347 
 
 Pope  Innocent's  Epistle  considered,            -  -  348 
 
 Anointing  used  in  order  to  recovery,            -  -  349 
 
 Afterwards  as  the  sacrament  of  the  dying,         -  -  350 
 
 The  sacraments  are  to  be  used,           -  -  ib. 
 
 And  to  be  received  worthily,           -           -  -  351 
 
 ARTICLE  XXVI. 
 
 Sacraments  are  not  effectual  as  prayers  are,            -  352 
 
 Of  the  doctrine  of  intention,            -  354 
 
 The  ill  consequences  of  it,  ib. 
 
 Of  a  just  severity  in  discipline,           ...  355 
 
 Particularly  towards  the  Clergy,          -          -  -  356 
 
 ARTICLE  XXVII. 
 
 Concerning  St  John's  baptism,           -  356 
 
 The  Jews  used  baptism,          -  357 
 
 The  Christian  baptism,           -  ib. 
 
 The  difference  between  it  and  St  John's,         -  -  358 
 
 The  necessity  of  baptism,            -            -            -  359 
 
 It  is  a  precept,  but  not  a  mean  of  salvation,            -  ib. 
 
 Baptism  unites  us  to  the  Church,          -          -  -  360 
 
CONTENTS.  xliii 
 
 Page 
 
 It  also  saves  us,  -  -  -  -  361 
 
 St  Peter's  words  explained,  -  -  -  362 
 
 St  Austin's  doctrine  of  baptism,  ib. 
 Baptism  is  a  federal  stipulation,  -  -  -  363 
 
 In  what  sense  it  was  of  more  value  to  preach  than  to  baptize,  ib. 
 Of  infant  baptism,  -  364 
 It  is  grounded  on  the  law  of  nature,  -  -  ib. 
 
 And  the  law  of  Moses,  and  warranted  in  the  New  Testament,  ib. 
 In  what  sense  children  can  be  holy,  -  -  -  -  365 
 It  is  also  very  expedient,         -  366 
 
 ARTICLE  XXVIII. 
 
 The  change  made  in  this  Article  in  Queen  Elizabeth's  time,  368 
 The  explanation  of  our  doctrine,  -  369 
 
 Of  the  rituals  in  the  Passover,  ...  ib. 
 
 Of  the  words,  This  is  my  body,  -  370 
 
 And,  This  cup  is  the  New  Testament  in  my  blood,  -  ib. 
 Of  the  horror  the  Jews  had  at  blood,  -  -  371 
 
 In  what  sense  only  the  Disciples  could  understand  our  Sa- 
 viour's words,  -  -  -  -  -  ib. 
 The  discourse,  John  vi.,  explained,  -  -  372 
 It  can  only  be  understood  spiritually.  -  -  373 
 Bold  figures  much  used  in  the  East,  -  -  374 
 A  plain  thing  needs  no  great  proof,  -  -  375 
 Of  unworthy  receivers,  and  the  effect  of  that  sin,  -  376 
 Of  the  effects  of  worthy  receiving,  -  377 
 Of  federal  symbols,  -  -  -  -  ib. 
 Of  the  communion  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  -  378 
 Of  the  like  phrases  in  Scripture,  -  379 
 Of  our  sense  of  the  phrase  Real  Presence,  -  -  380 
 Transubstantiation  explained,  -  -  -  ib. 
 Of  the  words  of  consecration,  -  382 
 Of  the  consequences  of  Transubstantiation,  -  ib. 
 The  grounds  upon  which  it  was  believed,  -  -  383 
 This  is  contrary  to  the  testimony  of  all  our  faculties,  both 
 
 sense  and  reason,  ib. 
 We  can  be  sure  of  nothing,  if  our  senses  do  deceive  us,  384 
 The  objection  from  believing  mysteries  answered,  -  386 
 The  end  of  all  mysteries  considered,  -  -  ib. 
 
 Our  doctrine  of  a  mystical  presence  is  confessed  by  those 
 
 of  the  Church  of  Rome,  -  3S7 
 
 St  Austin's  rule  about  figures,  -  -  -  ib. 
 
 Presumptions  concerning  the  belief  of  the  ancients  in  this 
 
 matter,  ....  .  3gg 
 
 They  had  not  that  philosophy  which  this  doctrine  has  forced 
 
 on  the  Church  of  Rome,  ...  ggo. 
 
 This  was  not  objected  by  Heathens,  -  -  391 
 
 No  heresies  or  disputes  arose  upon  this,  as  they  did  on  all 
 
 other  points,  -  -  -  -  -  392 
 
 Many  new  rituals  unknown  to  them,  have  sprung  out  of  this 
 
 doctrine.  -  ib. 
 
xliv 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 In  particular,  the  adoring  the  sacrament,          -         -  393 
 Prayers  in  the  masses  of  the  Saints  inconsistent  with  it,  ib. 
 They  believed  the  elements  were  bread  and  wine  after  con- 
 secration,          -  394 
 Many  authorities  brought  for  this,           -         -         -  ib. 
 Eutychians  said,  Christ's  humanity  was  swallowed  of  his  di- 
 vinity, 396 
 The  Fathers  argue  against  this  from  the  doctrine  of  the  Eu- 
 charist,           -            -  ib. 
 The  force  of  that  argument  explained,           -           -  397 
 The  Fathers  say  our  bodies  are  nourished  by  the  sacrament,  398 
 The}'  call  it  the  type,  sign,  and  figure  of  the  body  and  blood 
 
 of  Christ,            -  399 
 
 The  prayer  of  consecration  calls  it  so,           -           -  401 
 
 That  compared  with  the  prayer  in  the  Missal,           -  ib. 
 
 The  progress  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Corporal  Presence,  402 
 
 Reflection  on  the  ages  in  which  it  grew,  -  -  ib. 
 The  occasion  on  which  it  was  advanced  in  the  Eastern 
 
 Church,           ...           _           .  405 
 
 Paschase  Radbert  taught  it  first,          -          -          -  ib. 
 
 But  many  wrote  against  him,           -  ib. 
 
 Afterwards  Berengarius  opposed  it,            -            -  407 
 
 The  Schoolmen  descanted  on  it,           ...  ib. 
 
 Philosophy  was  corrupted  to  support  it,            -           -  408 
 
 Concerning  consubstantiation,           -  409 
 
 It  is  an  opinion  that  may  be  borne  with,           -           -  ib. 
 
 The  adoration  of  the  Eucharist  is  idolatry,         -         -  410 
 
 The  plea  against  that  considered,          -          -          -  ib. 
 
 Christ  is  not  to  be  worshipped,  though  present,           -  ib. 
 
 Concerning  reserving  the  sacrament,           -           -  411 
 
 Concerning  the  elevation  of  it,           -  413 
 
 ARTICLE  XXIX. 
 
 The  wicked  do  not  receive  Christ,           -           -        -  414 
 
 The  doctrine  of  the  Fathers  in  this  point,           -           -  ib. 
 
 More  particularly  St  Austin's,           ...  415 
 
 ARTICLE  XXX. 
 
 The  chalice  was  given  to  all,           -           -            -  416 
 
 Not  to  the  disciples  as  Priests,           -           -           -  417 
 
 The  breaking  of  bread  explained,           -              -  ib. 
 
 Sacraments  must  be  given  according  to  the  institution,  ib. 
 No  arguments  from  ill  consequences  to  be  admitted,  unless 
 
 in  cases  of  necessity,              -              -              -  418 
 
 Concomitance  a  new  notion,              -           -           -  ib. 
 
 Universal  practice  for  giving  the  chalice,  419 
 
 The  case  of  the  Aquarii,              -                -  i!>. 
 
 The  first  beginning  of  taking  away  the  cup,              -  420 
 
 The  decree  of  the  Council  of  Constance,           -          -  421 
 
CONTEXTS. 
 
 xlv 
 
 ARTICLE  XXXI. 
 
 Page 
 
 The  term  sacrifice  of  a  large  signification,  -  422 
 
 The  primitive  Christians  denied  that  they  had  any  sacri- 
 fices, -  423 
 
 The  Eucharist  has  no  virtue  but  as  it  is  a  communion,      -  ib. 
 
 Strictly  speaking,  there  is  only  one  Priest  and  one  Sacrifice 
 in  the  Christian  religion,  -  -  -  425 
 
 The  Fathers  did  not  think  the  Eucharist  was  a  propitiatory 
 sacrifice,  -  42G 
 
 But  call  it  a  sacrifice  in  a  larger  sense,  -  -  ib. 
 
 Masses  without  a  communion  not  known  then,  -  427 
 
 None  might  be  at  mass,  who  did  not  communicate,        -  ib. 
 
 The  importance  of  the  controversies  concerning  the 
 
 Eucharist,  -  -  -  228 
 
 ARTICLE  XXXII. 
 
 No  divine  law  against  a  married  Clergy, 
 Neither  in  the  Old  or  New  Testament,  but  the  contrary, 
 The  Church  has  not  power  to  make  a  perpetual  law  against 
 it, 
 
 The  ill  consequences  of  such  a  law, 
 
 No  such  law  in  the  first  ages, 
 
 When  the  laws  for  the  celibate  began, 
 
 The  practice  of  the  Church  not  uniform  in  it, 
 
 The  progress  of  these  laws  in  England, 
 
 The  good  and  the  bad  of  celibate  balanced, 
 
 It  is  not  lawful  to  make  vows  in  this  matter, 
 
 Nor  do  they  bind  when  made,  -  - 
 
 Oaths  ill  made  are  worse  to  be  kept, 
 
 ARTICLE  XXXIII. 
 
 A  temper  to  be  observed  in  Church  discipline,  -  438 
 
 The  necessity  of  keeping  it  up,              -  -  439 
 
 Extremes  in  this  to  be  avoided,               -  -  440 
 
 Concerning  the  delivering  any  to  Satan,  -  ib. 
 
 The  importance  of  an  Anathema,              -  -  441 
 
 Of  the  effect  of  Church  censures,              -  -  442 
 
 What  it  is  when  they  are  wrong  applied,  -  ib. 
 
 The  causeless  jealousy  of  Church  power,  -  443 
 
 How  the  Laity  was  once  taken  into  the  exercise  of  it,  ib. 
 
 The  Pastors  of  the  Church  have  authority,  -  444 
 
 Defects  in  this  no  just  cause  of  separation,  -  445 
 
 All  these  brought  in  by  Popery,  -  -  ib. 
 A  correction  of  them  intended  at  the  Reformation,       -  446 
 
 430 
 ib. 
 
 431 
 432 
 433 
 
 ib. 
 434 
 
 ib. 
 435 
 436 
 437 
 
 ib. 
 
xlvi 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 ARTICLE  XXXIV. 
 
 Page 
 
 The  obligation  to  obey  Canons  and  Laws,              -  447 
 
 The  great  sin  of  schism  and  disobedience,              -  ib. 
 
 The  true  notion  of  scandal,  -  -  448 
 The  fear  of  giving  scandal,  no  warrant  to  break  established 
 
 laws,                -  449 
 
 Human  laws  are  not  unalterable,              -             -  ib. 
 
 The  respect  due  to  ancient  Canons,              -          -  450 
 
 The  corruptions  of  the  Canon  Law,            -            -  ib. 
 
 Great  varieties  in  rituals,              -              -           -  451 
 
 Every  Church  is  a  complete  body,             -          -  ib. 
 
 ARTICLE  XXXV. 
 
 The  occasion  of  compiling  the  Homilies,           -       -  452 
 
 We  are  not  bound  to  every  thing  in  them,              -  453 
 
 But  only  to  the  doctrine,              -  ib. 
 
 This  illustrated  in  the  charge  of  idolatry,               -  ib. 
 
 What  is  meant  by  their  being  necessary  for  those  times,  454 
 
 ARTICLE  XXXVI. 
 
 The  occasion  of  this  Article,               -               -  454 
 
 An  explanation  of  the  words,  Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost,  455 
 
 ARTICLE  XXXVII. 
 
 Queen  Elizabeth's  Injunctions  concerning  the  supremacy,  457 
 The  Pope's  universal  jurisdiction  not  warranted  by  any  of 
 
 the  laws  of  Christ,              -  458 
 
 Nor  acknowledged  in  the  first  ages,              -           -  ib. 
 
 Begun  on  the  occasion  of  the  Arian  controversy,        -  460 
 
 Contested  in  many  places,           -  ib. 
 
 The  progress  that  it  made,  -  -  »  -  461 
 The  Patriarchal  authority  founded  on  the  division  of  the 
 
 Roman  empire,  sunk  with  it,  -  -  462 
 The  power  exercised  by  the  Kings  of  Judah  in  religious 
 
 matters,              -                                             -  463 
 
 That  is  founded  on  Scriptures,              -               -  ib. 
 
 Practised  in  all  ages,              -  464 
 
 And  particularly  in  England,  -  -  ib. 
 Methods  used  by  Popish  princes  to  keep  the  ecclesiastical 
 
 authority  under  the  civil,               -               -  465 
 
 The  temporal  power  is  over  all  persons,           -         -  466 
 
 And  in  all  causes,  ib. 
 
 The  importance  of  the  term  Head,              -            -  467 
 
 The  necessity  of  capital  punishments,           -           -  468 
 
 The  measure  of  these,              ...  469 
 
 The  lawfulness  of  war,              -  ib. 
 
 Our  Saviour's  words  explained,              -               -  470 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 xlvii 
 
 Page 
 
 In  what  cases  war  is  just,              -             -  -  471 
 
 Warranted  by  the  laws  of  God,              -  -  ib. 
 
 How  a  subject  may  serve  in  an  unlawful  war,  -  472 
 
 ARTICLE  XXXVIII. 
 
 Concerning  property  and  charity,              -  -  472 
 
 The  proportion  of  charity  to  the  poor,           -  -  473 
 
 ARTICLE  XXXIX. 
 
 The  lawfulness  of  oaths  proved,          ...  474 
 
 From  natural  religion  and  the  Scriptures,  -  475 
 
 The  form  of  swearing  among  the  Jews,           -  -  ib. 
 
 Our  Saviour's  words,  and  St  James's,  against  all  swearing, 
 
 explained,              -  477 
 
 When  oaths  may  be  lawfully  taken,            -  -  478 
 
EXPOSITION 
 
 OF 
 
 THE  ARTICLES 
 
 OF  TH£ 
 
 CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND. 
 
 Articles  whereupon  it  was  agreed  by  the  Archbishops  and 
 Bishops  of  both  Provinces  and  the  VL'hole  Cleargie,  in  the 
 Convocation  holden  at  London  in  the  year  of  our  Lorde 
 God  156*2,  according  to  the  Computation  of  the  Church  of 
 Englande.  for  the  avoyding  of  the  Diversities  of  Opinions, 
 and  for  the  stablishing  of  Consent  touching  true  Religion. 
 Put  forth  by  the  Queen's  Authoritie. 
 
 The  Title  of  these  Articles  leads  me  to  consider,  1st,  The  time, 
 the  occasion,  and  the  design  of  compiling  them :  2dly,  The 
 authority  that  is  stamped  upon  them  both  by  Church  and 
 State:  and  the  obligation  that  lies  upon  all  of  our  communion 
 to  assent  to  them,  and  more  particularly  the  importance  of  the 
 subscription  to  which  the  Clergy  are  obliged.  As  to  the  first, 
 it  may  seem  somewhat  strange  to  see  such  a  collection  of  tenets 
 made  the  standard  of  the  doctrine  of  a  Church,  that  is  deserv- 
 edly valued  by  reason  of  her  moderation  i  this  seems  to  be  a 
 departing  from  the  simplicity  of  the  first  ages,  which  yet  we 
 pretend  to  set  up  for  a  pattern.  Among  them,  the  owning 
 the  belief  of  the  Creeds  then  received  was  thought  sufficient : 
 and  when  some  heresies  had  occasioned  a  great  enlargement 
 to  be  made  in  the  Creeds,  the  third  General  Council  thought 
 fit  to  set  a  bar  against  all  further  additions ;  and  yet  all  those 
 Creeds,  one  of  which  goes  far  beyond  the  Ephesine  standard, 
 make  but  one  Article  of  the  Thirty-nine  of  which  this  book 
 consists.  Many  of  these  do  also  relate  to  subtile  and  abstruse 
 points,  in  which  it  is  not  easy  to  form  a  clear  judgment  ;  and 
 much  less  can  it  be  convenient  to  impose  so  great  a  collection 
 of  tenets  upon  a  whole  Church,  to  excommunicate  such  as 
 affirm  any  of  them  to  be  erroneous,  and  to  reject  those  from 
 the  service  of  the  Church,  who  cannot  assent  to  every  one  of 
 these.    The  negative  Articles  of  Xo  Infallibility,  Xo  Supre- 
 
THE  INTRODUCTION. 
 
 macy  in  the  Pope,  No  Transubstantiation,  No  Purgatory,  and 
 the  like,  give  yet  a  farther  colour  to  exceptions ;  since  it  may 
 seem  that  it  was  enough  not  to  have  mentioned  these,  which 
 implies  a  tacit  rejecting  of  them.  It  may  therefore  appear  to 
 be  too  rigorous,  to  require  a  positive  condemning  of  those 
 points ;  for  a  very  high  degree  of  certainty  is  required,  to  affirm 
 a  negative  proposition. 
 
 In  order  to  the  explaining  this  matter,  it  is  to  be  confessed, 
 that  in  the  beginnings  of  Christianity,  the  declaration  that  was 
 required  even  of  a  Bishop's  faith  was  conceived  in  very  general 
 terms.    There  was  a  form  settled  very  early  in  most  Churches  : 
 this  St  Paul  in  one  place  calls,  the  form  of  doctrine  that  was 
 delivered,  Rom.  vi.  17.  1  Tim.  iv.  6.  vi.  3.;  in  another  place, 
 the  form  of  sound,  words,  2  Tim.  i.  13. ;  which  those  who  were 
 fixed  by  the  Apostles  in  particular  Churches  had  received  from 
 them.    These  words  of  his  do  import  a  standard,  or  fixed  for- 
 mxdary,  by  which  all  doctrines  were  to  be  examined.  Some 
 have  inferred  from  them,  that  the  Apostles  delivered  that  Creed 
 which  goes  under  their  name,  every-where  in  the  same  form  of 
 words.    But  there  is  great  reason  to  doubt  of  this,  since  the 
 first  apologists  for  Christianity,  when  they  deliver  a  short  ab- 
 stract of  the  Christian  faith,  do  all  vary  from  one  another,  both 
 as  to  the  order  and  as  to  the  words  themselves ;  which  they 
 would  not  have  done,  if  the  Churches  had  all  received  one 
 settled  form  from  the  Apostles.    They  would  all  have  used  the 
 same  words,  and  neither  more  nor  less.    It  is  more  probable, 
 that  in  every  Church  there  was  a  form  settled,  which  was  de- 
 livered to  it  by  some  Apostle,  or  companion  of  the  Apostles, 
 with  some  variation :  of  which  at  this  distance  of  time,  con- 
 sidering how  defective  the  history  of  the  first  ages  of  Christi- 
 anity is,  it  is  not  possible,  nor  very  necessary  for  us  to  be  able 
 to  give  a  clear  account.    For  instance ;  in  the  whole  extent  or 
 neighbourhood  of  the  Roman  empire,  it  was  at  first  of  great 
 use  to  have  this  in  every  Christian's  mouth,  that  our  Saviour 
 suffered  under  Pontius  Pilate;  because  this  fixed  the  time,  and 
 carried  in  it  an  appeal  to  records  and  evidences,  that  might 
 then  have  been  searched  for.    But  if  this  religion  went  at  first 
 far  to  the  eastward,  beyond  all  commerce  with  the  Romans, 
 there  is  not  that  reason  to  think  that  this  should  have  been  a 
 part  of  the  shortest  form  of  this  doctrine ;  it  being  enough  that 
 it  was  related  in  the  Gospel.    These  forms  of  the  several 
 Churches  were  preserved  with  that  sacred  respect  that  was  due 
 to  them  :  this  was  esteemed  the  depositum  or  trust  of  a  Church, 
 which  was  chiefly  committed  to  the  keeping  of  the  bishop. 
 In  the  first  ages,  in  which  the  bishops  or  clergy  of  the  several 
 Churches  could  not  meet  together  in  synods  to  examine  the 
 doctrine  of  every  new  bishop,  the  method,  upon  which  the  cir- 
 cumstances of  those  ages  put  them,  was  this :  The  new  bishop 
 
THE  INTRODUCTION. 
 
 3 
 
 sent  round  him,  and  chiefly  to  the  bishops  of  the  more  eminent 
 sees,  the  profession  of  his  faith,  according  to  the  form  that  was 
 fixed  in  his  Church  ;  and  when  the  neighbouring  bishops  were 
 satisfied  in  this,  they  held  communion  with  him,  and  not  only 
 owned  him  for  a  bishop,  but  maintained  such  a  commerce  with 
 him  as  the  state  of  that  time  did  admit  of. 
 
 But  as  some  heresies  sprung  up,  there  were  enlargements 
 made  in  several  Churches,  for  the  condemning  those,  and  for 
 excluding  such  as  held  them  from  their  communion.  The 
 Council  of  Nice  examined  many  of  those  Creeds,  and  out  of 
 them  they  put  their  Creed  in  a  fuller  form.  The  addition 
 made  by  the  Council  of  Constantinople  was  put  into  the  Creeds 
 of  some  particular  Churches,  several  years  before  that  Council 
 met.  So  that  though  it  received  its  authority  from  that  Coun- 
 cil, yet  they  rather  confirmed  an  Article  which  they  found 
 in  the  Creeds  of  some  Churches,  than  made  a  new  one.  It 
 had  been  an  invaluable  blessing,  if  the  Christian  religion  had 
 been  kept  in  its  first  simplicity.  The  Council  of  Ephesus  took 
 care  that  the  Creed,  by  which  men  profess  their  Christianity, 
 should  receive  no  new  additions,  but  be  fixed  according  to  the 
 Constantinopolitan  standard ;  yet  they  made  decrees  in  points 
 of  faith,  and  the  following  Councils  went  on  in  their  steps, 
 adding  still  new  decrees,  with  anathematisms  against  the  con- 
 trary doctrines ;  and  declaring  the  assertors  of  them  to  be  under 
 an  anathema,  that  is,  under  a  very  heavy  curse  of  being  totally 
 excluded  from  their  communion,  and  even  from  the  communion 
 of  Jesus  Christ.  And  whereas  the  new  bishops  had  formerly 
 only  declared  their  faith,  they  were  then  required,  besides  that, 
 to  declare,  that  they  received  such  councils,  and  rejected  such 
 doctrines,  together  with  such  as  favoured  them ;  who  were  some- 
 times mentioned  by  name.  This  increased  daily.  We  have  a 
 full  account  of  the  special  declaration  that  a  bishop  was  obliged 
 to  make,  in  the  first  Canon  of  that  which  passed  for  the  fourth 
 Council  of  Carthage.  But  while,  by  reason  of  new  emergen- 
 cies, this  was  swelling  to  a  vast  bulk,  general  and  more  impli- 
 cit formularies  came  to  be  used,  the  bishops  declaring  that  they 
 received  and  would  observe  all  the  decrees  and  traditions  of 
 holy  Councils  and.  Fathers.  And  the  Papacy  coming  after- 
 wards to  carry  every  thing  before  it,  a  formal  oath,  that  had 
 manv  loose  and  indefinite  words  in  it,  which  were  very  large 
 and  comprehensive,  was  added  to  all  the  declarations  that  had 
 been  formerly  established.  The  enlargements  of  Creeds  were 
 at  first  occasioned  by  the  prevarications  of  heretics ;  who  hav- 
 ing put  senses  favouring  their  opinions  to  the  simpler  terms 
 in  which  the  first  Creeds  were  proposed,  therefore  it  was 
 thought  necessary  to  add  more  express  words.  And  this  was 
 absolutely  necessary  as  to  some  points ;  for  it  being  necessary 
 to  shew  that  the  Christian  religion  did  not  bring  in  that  idolatry 
 
•  THE  INTRODUCTION. 
 
 which  it  condemned  in  heathens,  it  was  also  necessary  to  state 
 this  matter  so  that  it  should  appear,  that  they  worshipped  no 
 creature ;  but  that  the  Person  to  whom  all  agreed  to  pay  divine 
 adoration  was  truly  God  :  and  it  being  found  that  an  equivoca- 
 tion was  used  in  all  other  words  except  that  of  the  same  sub- 
 stance, they  judged  it  necessary  to  fix  on  it,  besides  some  other 
 words  that  they  at  first  brought  in,  but  which  were  afterwards 
 corrupted  by  the  glosses  that  were  put  on  them.  At  all  times 
 it  is  very  necessary  to  free  the  Christian  religion  from  the  im- 
 putations of  idolatry ;  but  this  was  never  so  necessary,  as  when 
 Christianity  was  engaged  in  such  a  struggle  with  Paganism : 
 and  since  the  main  article  then  in  dispute  with  the  heathens 
 was  idolatry,  and  the  lawfulness  of  worshipping  any  besides 
 the  great  and  eternal  God,  it  was  of  the  last  importance  to  the 
 Christian  cause  to  take  care,  that  the  heathens  might  have  no 
 reason  to  believe  that  they  worshipped  a  creature.  There  was 
 therefore  just  reason  given  to  secure  this  main  point,  and  to 
 put  an  end  to  equivocation,  by  establishing  a  term  which,  by 
 the  confession  of  all  parties,  did  not  admit  of  any.  It  had  been 
 a  great  blessing  to  the  Church,  if  a  stop  had  been  put  here ; 
 and  that  those  nice  descan tings,  that  were  afterwards  so  much 
 pursued,  had  been  more  effectually  discouraged  than  they  were. 
 But  men  ever  were  and  ever  will  be  men.  Factions  were 
 formed,  and  interests  were  set  up.  Heretics  had  shewed  so 
 much  dissimulation  when  they  were  low,  and  so  much  cruelty 
 when  they  prevailed,  that  it  was  thought  necessary  to  secure 
 the  Church  from  the  disturbances  that  they  might  give  them  : 
 and  thus  it  grew  to  be  a  rule  to  enlarge  the  doctrines  and  de- 
 cisions of  the  Church.  So  that,  in  stating  the  doctrines  of  this 
 Church  so  copiously,  our  Reformers  followed  a  method  that  had 
 been  used  in  a  course  of  many  ages. 
 
 There  were,  besides  this  common  practice,  two  particular 
 circumstances  in  that  time,  that  made  this  seem  to  be  the  more 
 necessary.  One  was,  that  at  the  breaking  out  of  that  light, 
 there  sprang  up  with  it  many  impious  and  extravagant  sects, 
 which  broke  out  into  most  violent  excesses.  This  was  no  ex- 
 traordinary thing,  for  we  find  the  like  happened  upon  the  first 
 spreading  of  the  Gospel ;  many  detestable  sects  grew  up  with 
 it,  which  tended  not  a  little  to  the  defaming  of  Christianity, 
 and  the  obstructing  its  progress.  I  shall  not  examine  what 
 influence  evil  spirits  might  have  both  in  the  one  and  the  other; 
 but  one  visible  occasion  of  it  was,  that  by  the  first  preaching 
 of  the  Gospel,  as  also  upon  the  opening  the  Reformation,  an 
 inquiry  into  the  matters  of  religion  being  then  the  subject 
 of  men's  studies  and  discourses,  many  men  of  warm  and  ill- 
 governed  imaginations,  presuming  on  their  own  talents,  and 
 being  desirous  to  signalize  themselves  and  to  have  a  name  in 
 the  world,  went  beyond  their  depth  in  study,  without  the  neces- 
 
THE  INTRODUCTION. 
 
 sary  degrees  of  knowledge,  and  the  yet  more  necessary  disposi- 
 tions of  mind  for  arriving  at  a  right  understanding  of  divine 
 matters.  This  happening  soon  after  the  Reformation  was  first 
 set  on  foot^  those  whose  corruptions  were  struck  at  by  it,  and 
 who  both  hated  and  persecuted  it  on  that  account,  did  not  fail 
 to  lay  hold  of  and  to  improve  the  advantage  which  these  sects 
 gave  them.  They  said,  that  the  sectaries  had  only  spoke  out 
 what  the  rest  thought ;  and  at  last  they  held  to  this,  that  all 
 sects  were  the  natural  consequences  of  the  Reformation,  and  of 
 shaking  off  the  doctrine  of  the  infallibility  of  the  Church.  To 
 stop  those  calumnies,  the  Protestants  in  Germany  prepared 
 that  Confession  of  their  Faith  which  they  offered  to  the  Diet  at 
 Augsburg,  and  which  carries  its  name.  And,  after  their  ex- 
 ample, all  the  other  Churches  which  separated  from  the  Ro- 
 man communion  published  the  Confessions  of  their  Faith,  both 
 to  declare  their  doctrine  for  the  instruction  of  their  own  mem- 
 bers, and  for  covering  them  from  the  slanders  of  their  adver- 
 saries. 
 
 Another  reason  that  the  first  Reformers  had  for  their  de- 
 scending into  so  many  particulars,  and  for  all  those  negatives 
 that  are  in  their  Confessions,  was  this :  they  had  smarted  long 
 under  the  tyranny  of  Popery,  and  so  they  had  reason  to  secure 
 themselves  from  it,  and  from  all  those  who  were  leavened  with 
 it.  They  here  in  England  had  seen  how  many  had  complied 
 with  every  alteration  both  in  King  Henry  and  King  Edward's 
 reign,  who  not  only  declared  themselves  to  have  been  all  the 
 while  Papists,  but  became  bloody  persecutors  in  Queen  Mary's 
 reign :  therefore  it  was  necessary  to  keep  all  such  out  of  their 
 body,  that  they  might  not  secretly  undermine  and  betray  it. 
 Now,  since  the  Church  of  Rome  owns  all  that  is  positive  in  our 
 doctrine,  there  could  be  no  discrimination  made,  but  by  con- 
 demning the  most  important  of  those  additions  that  they  have 
 brought  into  the  Christian  religion,  in  express  words  :  and 
 though  in  matters  of  fact,  or  in  theories  of  nature,  it  is  not  safe 
 to  affirm  a  negative,  because  it  is  seldom  possible  to  prove  it ; 
 yet  the  fundamental  article,  upon  which  the  whole  Reforma- 
 tion and  this  our  Church  depends,  is  this, — that  the  whole  doc- 
 trines of  the  Christian  religion  are  contained  in  the  Scripture, 
 and  that  therefore  we  are  to  admit  no  article  as  a  part  of  it 
 till  it  is  proved  from  Scripture,  This  being  laid  down,  and 
 well  made  out,  it  is  not  at  all  unreasonable  to  affirm  a  negative 
 upon  an  examination  of  all  those  places  of  Scripture  that  are 
 brought  for  any  doctrine,  and  that  seem  to  favour  it,  if  they 
 are  found  not  at  all  to  support  it,  but  to  bear  a  different,  and 
 sometimes  a  contrary  sense,  to  that  which  is  offered  to  be 
 proved  by  them.  So  there  is  no  weight  in  this  cavil,  which 
 looks  plausible  to  such  as  cannot  distinguish  common  matters 
 from  points  of  faith.    This  may  serve  in  general  to  justify  the 
 
6 
 
 THE  INTRODUCTION. 
 
 largeness  and  the  particularities  of  this  Confession  of  our  Faith. 
 There  were  some  steps  made  to  it  in  King  Henry's  time,  in  a 
 large  book  that  was  then  published  under  the  title  of  The  Ne- 
 cessary Erudition,  that  was  a  treatise  set  forth  to  instruct  the 
 nation.  Many  of  the  errors  of  Popery  were  laid  open  and  con- 
 demned in  it ;  but  none  were  obliged  to  assent  to  it,  or  to  sub- 
 scribe it.  After  that,  the  worship  was  reformed,  as  being  that 
 which  pressed  most ;  and  in  that  a  foundation  was  laid  for  the 
 Articles  that  came  quickly  after  it.  How  or  by  whom  they 
 were  prepared,  we  do  not  certainly  know  :  by  the  remains  of 
 that  time  it  appears,  that  in  the  alterations  that  were  made 
 there  was  great  precaution  used,  such  as  matters  of  that  nature 
 required ;  questions  were  framed  relating  to  them ;  these  were 
 given  about  to  many  bishops  and  divines,  who  gave  in  their 
 several  answers,  that  were  collated  and  examined  very  ma- 
 turely ;  all  sides  had  a  free  and  fair  hearing  before  conclusions 
 were  made. 
 
 In  the  fermentation  that  was  working  over  the  whole  nation 
 at  that  time,  it  was  not  possible  that  a  thing  of  that  nature 
 could  have  passed  by  the  methods  that  are  more  necessary  in 
 regular  times ;  and  therefore  they  could  not  be  offered  at  first 
 to  synods  or  convocations.  The  corruptions  complained  of 
 were  so  beneficial  to  the  whole  body  of  the  Clergy,  that  it  is 
 justly  to  be  wondered  at  that  so  great  a  number  was  prevailed 
 with  to  concur  in  reforming  them ;  but  without  a  miracle  they 
 could  not  have  been  agreed  to  by  the  major  part.  They  were 
 prepared,  as  is  most  probable,  by  Cranmer  and  Ridley,  and 
 published  by  the  regal  authority.  Not  as  if  our  kings  had  pre- 
 tended to  an  authority  to  judge  in  points  of  faith,  or  to  decide 
 controversies :  but  as  every  private  man  must  choose  for  him- 
 self, and  believe  according  to  the  convictions  of  his  reason  and 
 conscience,  (which  is  to  be  examined  and  proved  in  its  pro- 
 per place) ;  so  every  prince  or  legislative  power  must  give  the 
 public  sanction  and  authority  according  to  his  own  persua- 
 sion. This  makes  indeed  such  a  sanction  to  become  a  law, 
 but  does  not  alter  the  nature  of  things,  nor  oblige  the  con- 
 sciences of  the  subjects,  unless  they  come  under  the  same  per- 
 suasions. Such  laws  have  indeed  the  operation  of  all  other 
 laws ;  but  the  doctrines  authorized  by  them  have  no  more  truth 
 than  they  had  before,  without  any  such  publication.  Thus  the 
 part  that  our  princes  had  in  the  Reformation  was  only  this, 
 that  they,  being  satisfied  with  the  grounds  on  which  it  went, 
 received  it  themselves,  and  enacted  it  for  their  people.  And 
 this  is  so  plain  and  just  a  consequence  of  that  liberty  which 
 every  man  has  of  believing  and  acting  according  to  his  own 
 convictions,  that  when  this  is  well  made  out,  there  can  be  no 
 colour  to  question  the  other.  It  was  also  remarkable,  that 
 the  law  which  stood  first  in  Justinian's  Code,  was  an  edict  of 
 
THE  INTRODUCTION. 
 
 7 
 
 Theodosius's ;  who,  finding  the  Roman  empire  under  great 
 distractions  by  the  diversity  of  opinions  in  matter  of  religion, 
 did  appoint  that  doctrine  to  be  held  which  was  received  by 
 Damasus  bishop  of  Rome,  and  Peter  bishop  of  Alexandria : 
 Such  an  edict  as  that  being  put  in  so  conspicuous  a  part  of  the 
 law,  was  a  full  and  soon  observed  precedent  for  our  princes  to 
 act  according  to  it. 
 
 The  next  thing  to  be  examined  is  the  use  of  the  Articles, 
 and  the  importance  of  the  subscriptions  of  the  Clergy  to  them. 
 Some  have  thought  that  they  are  only  Articles  of  Union  and 
 Peace ;  that  they  are  a  standard  of  doctrine  not  to  be  contra- 
 dicted or  disputed ;  that  the  sons  of  the  Church  are  only  bound 
 to  acquiesce  silently  to  them ;  and  that  the  subscription  binds 
 only  to  a  general  compromise  upon  those  Articles,  that  so  there 
 may  be  no  disputing  nor  wrangling  about  them.  By  this  means 
 they  reckon,  that  though  a  man  should  differ  in  his  opinion 
 from  that  which  appears  to  be  the  clear  sense  of  any  of  the 
 Articles ;  yet  he  may  with  a  good  conscience  subscribe  them, 
 if  the  Article  appears  to  him  to  be  of  such  a  nature,  that 
 though  he  thinks  it  wrong,  yet  it  seems  not  to  be  of  that  con- 
 sequence but  that  it  may  be  borne  with,  and  not  contradicted. 
 I  shall  not  now  examine  whether  it  were  more  fit  for  leaving 
 men  to  the  due  freedom  of  their  thoughts,  that  the  subscrip- 
 tion did  run  no  higher,  it  being  in  many  cases  a  great  hard- 
 ship to  exclude  some  very  deserving  persons  from  the  service 
 of  the  Church,  by  requiring  a  subscription  to  so  many  parti- 
 culars, concerning  some  of  which  they  are  not  fully  satisfied : 
 I  am  only  now  to  consider  what  is  the  importance  of  the  sub- 
 scription now  required  among  us,  and  not  what  might  be 
 reasonably  wished  that  it  should  be. 
 
 As  to  the  laity,  and  the  whole  body  of  the  people,  certainly 
 to  them  these  are  only  the  Articles  of  Church- Communion ; 
 so  that  every  person  who  does  not  think  that  there  is  some 
 proposition  in  them  that  is  erroneous  to  so  high  a  degree  that 
 he  cannot  hold  communion  with  such  as  hold  it,  may  and  is 
 obliged  to  continue  in  our  communion  :  for  certainly  there 
 may  be  many  opinions  held  in  matters  of  religion,  which  a 
 man  may  brieve  to  be  false,  and  yet  may  esteem  them  to  be 
 of  so  little  importance  to  the  chief  design  of  religion,  that  he 
 may  well  hold  communion  with  those  whom  he  thinks  to  be  so 
 mistaken.  Here  a  necessary  distinction  is  to  be  remembered 
 between  Articles  of  Faith  and  Articles  of  Doctrine :  the  one 
 are  held  necessary  to  salvation,  the  other  are  only  believed  to 
 be  true ;  that  is,  to  be  revealed  in  the  Scriptures,  which  is  a 
 sufficient  ground  for  esteeming  them  true.  Articles  of  Faith 
 are  doctrines  that  are  so  necessary  to  salvation,  that  without 
 believing  them  there  is  not  a  federal  right  to  the  covenant  of 
 grace:  these  are  not  many:  and  in  the  establishment  of  any 
 
8 
 
 THE  INTRODUCTION. 
 
 doctrine  for  such,  it  is  necessary  both  to  prove  it  from  Scrip- 
 ture, and  to  prove  its  being  necessary  to  salvation,  as  a  mean 
 settled  by  the  covenant  of  grace  in  order  to  it.  We  ought 
 not  indeed  to  hold  communion  with  such  as  make  doctrines, 
 that  we  believe  not  to  be  true,  to  pass  for  Articles  of  Faith ; 
 though  we  may  hold  communion  with  such  as  do  think  them 
 true,  without  stamping  so  high  an  authority  upon  them.  To 
 give  one  instance  of  this  in  an  undeniable  particular.  In  the 
 days  of  the  Apostles  there  were  Judaizers  of  two  sorts :  some 
 thought  the  Jewish  nation  was  still  obliged  to  observe  the 
 Mosaical  law ;  but  others  went  further,  and  thought  that  such 
 an  observation  was  indispensably  necessary  to  salvation.  Both 
 these  opinions  were  wrong,  but  the  one  was  tolerable,  and  the 
 other  was  intolerable;  because  it  pretended  to  make  that  a 
 necessary  condition  of  salvation,  which  God  had  not  command- 
 ed. The  apostles  complied  with  the  Judaizers  of  the  first  sort, 
 as  they  became  all  things  to  all  men,  that  so  they  might  gain 
 some  (1  Cor.  ix.  19 — 23.)  of  every  sort  of  men;  yet  they  de- 
 clared openly  against  the  other,  and  said,  that  if  men  were 
 circumcised,  or  were  willing  to  come  under  such  a  yoke,  Christ 
 profited  them  nothing :  and  upon  that  supposition  he  had  died 
 in  vain.  From  this  plain  precedent  we  see  what  a  difference 
 we  ought  to  make  between  errors  in  doctrinal  matters,  and 
 the  imposing  them  as  Articles  of  Faith.  We  may  live  in 
 communion  with  those  who  hold  errors  of  the  one  sort,  but 
 must  not  with  those  of  the  other.  This  also  shews  the  tyranny 
 of  that  Church,  which  has  imposed  the  belief  of  every  one  of 
 her  doctrines  on  the  consciences  of  her  votaries,  under  the 
 highest  pains  of  anathemas,  and  as  Articles  of  Faith.  But 
 whatever  those  at  Trent  did,  this  Church  very  carefully  avoid- 
 ed the  laying  that  weight  upon  even  those  doctrines  which  she 
 receives  as  true ;  and  therefore,  though  she  drew  up  a  large 
 form  of  doctrine,  yet  to  all  her  lay-sons  this  is  only  a  standard 
 of  what  she  teaches,  and  they  are  no  more  to  them  than  Articles 
 of  Church- Communion.  The  citations  that  are  brought  from 
 those  two  great  primates,  Laud  and  Bramhall,  go  no  further 
 than  this :  they  do  not  seem  to  relate  to  the  clergy  that  sub- 
 scribe them,  but  to  the  laity  and  body  of  the  people.  The 
 people,  who  do  only  join  in  communion  with  us,  may  well 
 continue  to  do  so,  though  they  may  not  be  fully  satisfied  with 
 every  proposition  in  them ;  unless  they  should  think  that  they 
 struck  against  any  of  the  Articles,  or  foundations  of  Faith  : 
 and,  as  they  truly  observe,  there  is  a  great  difference  to  be 
 observed  in  this  particular  between  the  imperious  spirit  of  the 
 Church  of  Rome,  and  the  modest  freedom  which  ours  allows. 
 
 But  I  come  in  the  next  place  to  consider  what  the  Clergy  is 
 bound  to  by  their  subscriptions.  The  meaning  of  every  sub- 
 scription is  to  be  taken  from  the  design  of  the  imposer,  and 
 
THE  INTRODUCTION. 
 
 9 
 
 from  the  words  of  the  subscription  itself.  The  title  of  the 
 Articles  bears,  that  they  were  agreed  upon  in  convocation, 
 for  the  avoiding  of  diversities  of  opinions,  and  for  the  stablish- 
 ing  consent  touching  true  religion;  where  it  is  evident,  that 
 a  consent  in  opinion  is  designed.  If  we  in  the  next  place  con- 
 sider the  declaration  that  the  Church  has  made  in  the  Canons, 
 we  shall  find,  that  though  by  the  fifth  Canon,  which  relates  to 
 the  whole  body  of  the  people,  such  are  only  declared  to  be  ex- 
 communicated ipso  facto  who  shall  affirm  any  of  the  Articles 
 to  be  erroneous,  or  such  as  he  may  not  with  a  good  conscience 
 subscribe  to ;  yet  the  36  th  Canon  is  express  for  the  Clergy, 
 requiring  them  to  subscribe  willingly,  and  ex  animo;  and  ac- 
 knowledge all  and  every  Article  to  be  agreeable  to  the  word  of 
 God:  upon  which  Canon  it  is  that  the  form  of  the  subscription 
 runs  in  these  words,  which  seem  expressly  to  declare  a  man's 
 own  opinion,  and  not  a  bare  consent  to  an  Article  of  Peace, 
 or  an  engagement  to  silence  and  submission.  The  statute  of 
 the  13th  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  cap.  12.,  which  gives  the  legal 
 authority  to  our  requiring  subscriptions  in  order  to  a  man's 
 being  capable  of  a  benefice,  requires  that  every  Clergyman 
 should  read  the  Articles  in  the  Church,  with  a  declaration  of 
 his  unfeigned  assent  to  them.  These  things  make  it  appear 
 very  plain,  that  the  subscriptions  of  the  Clergy  must  be  con- 
 sidered as  a  declaration  of  their  own  opinion,  and  not  as  a  bare 
 obligation  to  silence.  There  arose  in  King  James  the  First's 
 reign  great  and  warm  disputes  concerning  the  decrees  of  God, 
 and  those  other  points  that  were  settled  in  Holland  by  the 
 synod  of  Dort  against  the  Remonstrants.  Divines  of  both 
 sides  among  us  appealed  to  the  Articles,  and  pretended  they 
 were  favourable  to  them :  for  though  the  first  appearance  of 
 them  seems  to  favour  the  doctrine  of  absolute  decrees,  and  the 
 irresistibility  of  grace;  yet  there  are  many  expressions  that 
 have  another  face,  and  so  those  of  the  other  persuasion  pleaded 
 for  themselves  from  these.  Upon  this  a  royal  declaration  was 
 set  forth,  in  which,  after  mention  is  made  of  those  disputes,  and 
 that  the  men  of  all  sides  did  take  the  Articles  to  be  for  them,- 
 order  is  given  for  stopping  those  disputes  for  the  future;  and 
 for  shutting  them  in  God's  promises,  as  they  be  generally  set 
 forth  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  the  general  meanijig  of  the 
 Articles  of  the  Church  of  England,  according  to  them  ;  and 
 that  no  man  thereafter  should  put  his  own  sense  or  comment  to 
 be  the  meaning  of  the  Article,  but  should  take  it  in  the  literal 
 and  grammatical  sense.  In  this  there  has  been  such  a  general 
 acquiescing,  that  the  fierceness  of  these  disputes  has  gone  off, 
 while  men  have  been  left  to  subscribe  the  Articles  according 
 to  their  literal  and  grammatical  sense.  From  which  two  things 
 are  to  be  inferred  :  the  one  is,  that  the  subscription  does  import 
 an  assent  to  the  Article ;  and  the  other  is,  that  an  Article  being 
 
10 
 
 THE  INTRODUCTION. 
 
 conceived  in  such  general  words  that  it  can  admit  of  different 
 literal  and  grammatical  senses,  even  when  the  senses  given  are 
 plainly  contrary  one  to  another,  yet  both  may  subscribe  the 
 Article  with  a  good  conscience,  and  without  any  equivocation. 
 To  make  this  more  sensible,  I  shall  give  an  instance  of  it  in  an 
 Article  concerning  which  there  is  no  dispute  at  present. 
 
 The  third  Article  concerning  Christ's  descent  into  hell  is 
 capable  of  three  different  senses,  and  all  the  three  are  both 
 literal  and  grammatical.  The  first  is,  that  Christ  descended 
 locally  into  hell,  and  preached  to  the  spirits  there  in  prison : 
 and  this  has  one  great  advantage  on  its  side,  that  those  who 
 first  prepared  the  Articles  in  King  Edward's  time  were  of  this 
 opinion ;  for  they  made  it  a  part  of  it,  by  adding  in  the  Article 
 those  words  of  St  Peter  as  the  proof  or  explanation  of  it.  Now 
 though  that  period  was  left  out  in  Queen  Elizabeth's  time, 
 yet  no  declaration  was  made  against  it ;  so  that  this  sense  was 
 once  in  possession,  and  was  never  expressly  rejected :  besides 
 that,  it  has  great  support  from  the  authority  of  many  Fathers, 
 who  understood  the  descent  into  hell  according  to  this  expla- 
 nation. A  second  sense,  of  which  that  Article  is  capable,  is, 
 that  by  hell  is  meant  the  grave,  according  to  the  signification 
 of  the  original  word  in  the  Hebrew :  and  this  is  supported  by 
 the  words  of  Christ's  descending  into  the  lower  parts  of  the 
 earth;  as  also  by  this,  that  several  Creeds  that  have  this  Ar- 
 ticle, have  not  that  of  Christ's  being  buried;  and  some,  that 
 mention  his  burial,  have  not  this  of  his  descent  into  hell,  A 
 third  sense  is,  that  by  hell,  according  to  the  signification  of  the 
 Greek  word,  is  to  be  meant  the  place  or  region  of  spirits  sepa- 
 rated from  their  bodies :  so  that  by  Christ's  descent  into  hell  is 
 only  to  be  meant,  that  his  soul  was  really  and  entirely  disunit- 
 ed from  his  body,  not  lying  dead  in  it  as  in  an  apoplectical  fit ; 
 not  hovering  about  it,  but  that  it  was  translated  into  the  seats 
 of  departed  souls.  All  these  three  senses  differ  very  much  from 
 one  another,  and  yet  they  are  all  senses  that  are  literal  and 
 grammatical ;  so  that  in  which  of  these  soever  a  man  conceives 
 the  Article,  he  may  subscribe  it,  and  he  does  no  way  prevari- 
 cate in  so  doing.  If  men  would  therefore  understand  all  the 
 other  Articles  in  the  same  largeness,  and  with  the  same  equity, 
 there  would  not  be  that  occasion  given  for  unjust  censure  that 
 there  has  been.  Where  then  the  Articles  are  conceived  in 
 large  and  general  words,  and  have  not  more  special  and  re- 
 strained terms  in  them,  we  ought  to  take  that  for  a  sure  indi- 
 cation, that  the  Church  does  not  intend  to  tie  men  up  too 
 severely  to  particular  opinions,  but  that  she  leaves  all  to  such 
 a  liberty  as  is  agreeable  with  the  purity  of  the  faith. 
 
 And  this  seems  sufficient  to  explain  the  title  of  the  Articles, 
 and  the  subscriptions  that  are  required  of  the  Clergy  to  them. 
 
 The  last  tiling  to  be  settled  is  the  true  reading  of  the  Ar- 
 
THE  INTRODUCTION. 
 
 11 
 
 tides ;  for  there  being  some  small  diversity  between  the  printed 
 editions  and  the  manuscripts  that  were  signed  by  both  houses 
 of  Convocation,  I  have  desired  the  assistance  both  of  Dr  Green, 
 the  present  worthy  Master  of  Corpus  Christi  College  in  Cam- 
 bridge, and  of  some  of  the  learned  Fellows  of  that  body,  that 
 they  would  give  themselves  the  trouble  to  collate  the  printed 
 editions,  and  their  manuscripts,  with  such  a  scrupulous  exact- 
 ness as  becomes  a  matter  of  this  importance :  which  they  were 
 pleased  to  do  very  minutely.  I  will  set  down  both  the  colla- 
 tions as  they  were  transmitted  to  me;  beginning  with  that 
 which  I  had  from  the  Fellows  four  years  ago. 
 
 These  words,  said  to  be  left 
 out)  are  found  in  the  original 
 Articles,  signed  by  the  chief 
 Clergy  of  both  provinces,  now 
 extant  in  the  manuscript  libra- 
 vies  of  C.  C.  C.  C.  in  the  book 
 called  Synodalia:  but  distin- 
 guished from  the  rest  with  lines 
 of  minium ;  which  lines  plain- 
 ly appear  to  have  been  done 
 afterwards,  because  the  leaves 
 and  lines  of  the  original  are 
 exactly  numbered  at  the  end ; 
 which  number  without  these 
 lines  were  manifestly  false. 
 
 In  the  original  these  words 
 only  are  found,  Testamentum 
 vetus  novo  contrarium  non  est, 
 quandoquidem,  fyc. 
 
 The  Latin  of  the  original 
 is,  Et  quanquam  renatis  et  cre- 
 dentibus  nulla  propter  Chris- 
 tum est  condemnatio. 
 
 This  Article  is  not  found  in 
 the  original. 
 
 Article  III. 
 
 Of  the  going  down  of  Christ 
 into  Hell. 
 
 As  Christ  died  for  us,  and 
 was  buried ;  so  also  it  is  to  be 
 believed,  that  he  went  down 
 into  Hell.  ["  for  his  Body 
 "  lay  in  the  Grave  till  his  Re- 
 "  surrection  ;  but  his  Soul  be- 
 "  ing  separate  from  his  Body, 
 "  remained  with  the  Spirits 
 "  which  were  detained  in  Pri- 
 "  son ;  that  is  to  say,  in  Hell, 
 "  and  there  preached  unto 
 «  them."] 
 
 Article  VI. 
 
 The  Old  Testament  is  not 
 to  be  rejected  as  if  it  were 
 contrary  to  the  New,  but  to 
 be  retained.  Forasmuch  as, 
 &c. 
 
 Article  IX. 
 
 And  although  there  is  no 
 Condemnation  to  them  that 
 believe,  and  are  baptized,  &c. 
 
 Article  X. 
 
 Of  Grace. 
 
 The  Grace  of  Christ,  or  the 
 Holy  Ghost,  which  is  given  by 
 him,  doth,  &c. 
 
12 
 
 THE  INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Article  XVI. 
 
 This  is  not  found. 
 
 This  is  not  found. 
 
 Blasphemy  against  the  Holy 
 Ghost. 
 
 The  Blasphemy  against  the 
 Holy  Ghost  is  then  committed, 
 when,  &c. 
 
 Article  XIX. 
 
 All  men  are  bound  to  keep 
 the  Precepts  of  the  Moral 
 Law,  although  the  Law  given 
 from  God,  &c. 
 
 This  Article  agrees  with  the 
 original ;  but  these  words,  The 
 Church  hath  power  to  decree 
 Rites  and  Ceremonies,  and 
 Authority  in  Controversies  of 
 Faith,  supposed  to  begin  the 
 Article,  are  not  found  in  any 
 part  thereof 
 
 In  the  fourteenth  line  of  this 
 Article,  immediately  after  these 
 words  (But  yet  have  not  like 
 nature  with  Baptism  and  the 
 Lord's  Supper)  folloivs,  quo- 
 modo  nec  pcenitentia,  which 
 being  marked  underneath  with 
 minium,  is  left  out  in  the  trans- 
 lation. 
 
 Article  XX. 
 
 Of  the  Authority  of  the  Church. 
 
 It  is  not  lawful  for  the 
 Church  to  ordain  any  thing 
 that  is  contrary  to  God's 
 Words  written,  &c. 
 
 Article  XXVI. 
 
 Of  the  Sacraments. 
 
 Sacraments  ordained  of 
 Christ,  &c. 
 
 Article  XXIX. 
 Of  the  Lord's  Supper. 
 
 The  Supper  of  the  Lord 
 is  not  only  a  sign  of,  &c. 
 
 This  Article  agrees  with  the 
 original,  as  far  as  these  words, 
 (and  hath  given  occasion  to 
 many  Superstitions),  where fol- 
 lows, Christus  in  ccelum  as- 
 
 cendens,  corpori  suo  immortalitatem  dedit,  naturam  non  abstu- 
 lit,  humanae  enim  naturae  veritatem  (juxta  Scripturas)  perpetuo 
 retinet,  quam  uno  et  definito  loco  esse,  et  non  in  multa  vel 
 omnia  simul  loca  diffundi  oportet;  quum  igitur  Christus  in 
 ccelum  sublatus,  ibi  usque  ad  finem  saecuJi  sit  permansurus, 
 atque  inde,  non  aliunde  (ut  loquitur  Augustinus)  venturus 
 sit,  ad  judicandum  vivos  et  mortuos,  non  debet  quisquam 
 
THE  INTRODUCTION. 
 
 J  3 
 
 fidelium,  carnis  et  ejus  et  sanguinis  realem,  et  corporate m  (ut 
 loquuntur)  praesentiam  in  Eucharistia  vel  credere  vel  profiteri. 
 These  words  are  marked  and  scrawled  over  with  minium,  and 
 the  words  immediately  following  (Corpus  tamen  .Christi  datur, 
 accipitur,  et  manducatur  in  coena,  tantum  ccelesti  et  spirituali 
 ratione)  are  inserted  in  a  different  hand  just  before  them,  in  a 
 line  and  a  half  left  void ;  which  plainly  appears  to  be  done 
 afterwards,  by  reason  the  same  hand  has  altered  the  first  num- 
 ber of  lines,  and,  for  viginti  quatuor,  made  quatuordecim. 
 
 The  three  last  Articles,  viz.  the  39th,  Of  the  Resurrection  of 
 the  Dead ;  the  40th,  that  the  Souls  of  Men  do  neither  perish 
 with  their  bodies  (neque  otiosi  dormiant  is  added  in  the  origi- 
 nal ) ;  and  the  42d,  that  all  shall  not  be  saved  at  last,  are 
 found  in  the  original,  distinguished  only  with  a  marginal  line  of 
 minium  :  but  the  41st,  Of  the  Millenarians,  is  wholly  left  out. 
 
 The  number  of  Articles  does  not  exactly  agree,  by  reason  some 
 are  inserted,  which  are  found  only  in  King  Edward's  Articles, 
 but  none  are  wanting  that  are  found  in  the  original. 
 
 Corpus  Christi  Col.    Feb.  4th,  1695-6. 
 Upon  examination  we  judge  these  to  be  all  the  material  dif- 
 ferences, that  are  unobserved,  between  the  original  manuscripts 
 and  the  B.  of  Salisbury's  printed  copy.     Witness  our  hands, 
 Jo.  Jaggard,  ~\ 
 
 Rob.  Mosse,  V  Fellows  of  the  said  College. 
 Will.  Limn,  j 
 
 After  I  had  procured  this,  I  was  desirous  likewise  to  have 
 the  printed  editions  collated  with  the  second  publication  of  the 
 Articles  in  the  year  1571 ;  in  which  the  Convocation  reviewed 
 those  of  1562,  and  made  some  small  alterations :  and  these 
 were  very  lately  procured  for  me  by  my  reverend  friend,  Dr 
 Green,  which  I  will  set  down  as  he  was  pleased  to  communi- 
 cate them  to  me. 
 
 iNote,  MS.  stands  for  Manuscript,  and  Pr.  for  Print.] 
 
 Art.  1.  MS.  and  true  God,  and  he  is  everlasting,  without  body.  • 
 
 Pr.  and  true  God,  everlasting,  without  body. 
 Art.  2.  MS.  but  also  for  all  actual  sins  of  men. 
 
 Pr.   but  also  for  actual  sins  of  men. 
 Art.  3.  MS.  so  also  it  is  to  be  believed. 
 
 Pr.   so  also  is  it  to  be  believed. 
 Art.  4.  MS.  Christ  did  truly  arise  again. 
 
 Pr.    Christ  did  truly  rise  again. 
 
 MS.  until  he  return  to  judge  all  men  at  the  last  day. 
 
 Pr.   until  he  return  to  judge  men  at  the  last  day. 
 
14 
 
 THE  INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Art.  6.  MS.  to  be  believed  as  an  Article  of  the  Faith. 
 
 Pr.   to  be  believed  as  an  Article  of  Faith. 
 
 MS.  requisite  as  necessary  to  salvation. 
 
 Pr.  '  requisite  or  necessary  to  salvation. 
 
 MS.  in  the  name  of  holy  Scripture. 
 
 Pr.   in  the  name  of  the  holy  Scripture. 
 
 MS.  but  yet  doth  it  not  apply. 
 
 Pr.   but  yet  doth  not  apply. 
 
 MS.  Baruch. 
 
 Pr.   Baruch  the  prophet. 
 
 MS.  and  account  them  for  canonical. 
 
 Pr.   and  account  them  canonical. 
 Art.  8.  MS.  by  most  certain  warranties  of  holy  Scripture. 
 
 Pr.   by  most  certain  warrant  of  holy  Scripture. 
 Art.  9.  MS.  but  it  is  the  fault. 
 
 Pr.   but  is  the  fault. 
 
 MS.  whereby  man  is  very  far  gone  from  his  original 
 
 righteousness. 
 Pr.   whereby  man  is  far  gone  from  original  righteous- 
 
 ness. 
 
 MS.  in  them  that  be  regenerated. 
 Pr.   in  them  that  are  regenerated. 
 
 Art.  De  Gratia,  non  habetur  in  MS. 
 
 Art.  10.  MS.  a  good  will  and  working  in  us. 
 
 Pr.   a  good  will  and  working  with  us. 
 Art.  14.  MS.  cannot  be  taught  without  arrogancy  and  impiety. 
 
 Pr.   cannot  be  taught  without  arrogancy  and  iniquity. 
 
 MS.  we  be  unprofitable  servants. 
 
 Pr.   we  are  unprofitable  servants. 
 Art.  15.  MS.  sin  only  except. 
 
 Pr.   sin  only  excepted. 
 
 MS.  to  be  the  Lamb  without  spot. 
 
 Pr.   to  be  a  Lamb  without  spot. 
 
 MS.  but  we  the  rest,  although  baptized,  and  born  again 
 
 in  Christ,  yet  we  all  offend. 
 Pr.   but  all  we  the  rest,  although  baptized,  and  if  born 
 
 in  Christ,  yet  offend. 
 
 Art.  De  Blasphemia  in  Sp.  Sanct.  non  est  in  MS. 
 
 Art.  16.  MS.  wherefore  the  place  for  penitence. 
 
 Pr.   wherefore  the  grant  of  repentance. 
 Art.  17.  MS.  so  excellent  a  benefit  of  God  given  unto  them,  be 
 called  according. 
 
 Pr.   So  excellent  a  benefit  of  God,  be  called  according. 
 
 MS.  as  because  it  doth  fervently  kindle  their  love. 
 
 Pr.   as  because  it  doth  frequently  kindle  their  love. 
 
THE  INTRODUCTION. 
 
 15 
 
 Art.  0 nines  obligantur,  fyc.  non  est  in  MS. 
 
 Art.  18.  MS.  to  frame  his  life  according  to  the  law  and  the  light 
 of  nature. 
 
 Pr.   to  frame  his  life  according  to  that  law,  and  the 
 light  of  nature. 
 
 Art.  19.  MS.  congregation  of  faithful  men  in  the  which  the 
 pure  Word. 
 
 Pr.   congregation  of  faithful  men  in  which  the  'pure 
 Word. 
 
 Art.  20.  MS.  The  Church  hath  power  to  decree  rites  or  cere- 
 monies, and  authority  in  controversies  of  faith. 
 And  yet. 
 
 These  words  are  not  in  the  original  MS. 
 
 MS.  ought  it  not  to  enforce  any  thing. 
 
 Pr.   it  ought  not  to  enforce  any  thing. 
 Art.  21.  MS.  and  when  they  be  gathered  together  (forasmuch. 
 
 Pr.   and  when  they  be  gathered  (forasmuch. 
 Art.  22.  MS.  is  a  fond  thing  vainly  invented. 
 
 Pr.  'is  a  fond  thing  vainly  feigned. 
 AH.  24.  MS.  in  a  tongue  not  understanded  of  the  people. 
 
 Pr.    in  a  tongue  not  understood  of  the  p>eople. 
 Art.  25.  MS.  and  effectual  signs  of  grace  and  God's  good-will 
 towards  us. 
 
 Pr.   and  effectual  signs  of  grace  and  God's  will  towards 
 us. 
 
 MS.  and  extream  annoyling. 
 Pr.   and  extream  unction. 
 Art.  26.  MS.  in  their  own  name,  but  do  minister  by  Christ's 
 
 commission  and  authority. 
 Pr.   in  their  oxvn  name,  but  in  Christ's,  and  do  minister 
 
 by  his  commission  and  authority. 
 MS.  and  in  the  receiving  of  the  Sacraments. 
 Pr.   and  in  the  receiving  the  Sacraments. 
 MS.  and  rightly  receive  the  Sacraments. 
 Pr.   and  rightly  do  receive  the  Sacraments. 
 Art.  27.  MS.  from  others  that  be  not  christned,  but  is  also  a 
 
 sign. 
 
 Pr.  from  others  that  be  not  christned,  but  it  is  also  a 
 sign. 
 
 MS.  forgiveness  of  sin,  and  of  our  adoption. 
 Pr.  forgiveness  of  sin,  of  our  adoption. 
 Art.  28.  MS.  to  have  amongst  themselves. 
 Pr.   to  have  among  themselves. 
 
 partaking 
 
 MS.  the  bread  which  we  break  is  a  communion  of  the 
 body  of  Christ. 
 
[6 
 
 THE  INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Pr.  the  bread  which  we  break  is  a  partaking  of  the 
 body  of  Christ. 
 
 partaking 
 
 MS.  and  likewise  the  cup  of  blessing  is  a  communion 
 of  the  blood  of  Christ. 
 
 Pr.  and  likewise  the  cup  of  blessing  is  a  partaking  of 
 the  blood  of  Christ. 
 
 MS.  or  the  change  of  the  substance  of  bread  and  wine 
 into  the  substance  of  Christ's  body  and  blood 
 cannot  be  proved  by  holy  writ,  but  is  repugnant. 
 
 Pr.  or  the  change  of  the  substance  of  bread  and  wine  in 
 the  supper  of  the  Lord  cannot  be  proved  by  holy 
 writ,  but  it  is  repugnant. 
 
 MS.  but  the  mean  whereby  the  body  of  Christ  is  re- 
 ceived. 
 
 Pr.  and  the  mean  whereby  the  body  of  Christ  is  re- 
 ceived. 
 
 MS.  lifted  up  or  worshipped. 
 Pr.   lifted  up  and  worshipped. 
 Art.  31.  MS.  is  the  perfect  redemption. 
 
 Pr.    is  that  perfect  redemption. 
 
 MS.  to  have  remission  of  pain  or  guilt  were  forged 
 fables. 
 
 Pr.   to  have  remission  of  pain  and  guilt  were  blasphe- 
 mous fables. 
 Art.  33.  MS.  that  hath  authority  thereto. 
 
 Pr.   that  hath  authority  thereunto. 
 Art.  34.  MS.  diversity  of  countries,  times,  and  men's  manners. 
 Pr.   diversity  of  countries  and  metis  manners. 
 MS.  and  be  ordained  and  appointed  by  common  au- 
 thority. 
 
 Pr.  and  be  ordained  and  approved  by  common  au- 
 thority. 
 
 MS.  the  consciences  of  the  weak  brethren. 
 
 Pr.   the  consciences  of  weak  brethren. 
 Art.  35.  MS.  of  homilies,  the  titles  whereof  we  have  joined  under 
 this  article,  do  contain. 
 
 Pr.  of  homilies,  the  several  titles  whereof  we  have  join- 
 ed under  this  aiiicle,  doth  contain. 
 
 MS.  wholesome  doctrine,  and  necessary  for  this  time, 
 as  doth  the  former  book  which  was  set  forth. 
 
 Pr.  wholesome  doctrine,  necessary  for  these  times,  as 
 doth  the  former  book  of  homilies  which  were 
 set  forth. 
 
 MS.  and  therefore  are  to  be  read  in  our  churches  by 
 the  ministers,  diligently,  plainly,  and  distinctly, 
 that  they  may  be  understanded  of  the  people. 
 
THE  INTRODUCTION. 
 
 17 
 
 Pr.  and  therefore  wc  judge  them  to  be  read  in  churches 
 by  the  ministers,  diligently  and  distinctly,  that 
 they  may  be  understood  of  the  people. 
 
 MS.  ministred  in  a  tongue  known. 
 
 Pr.   ministred  in  a  known  tongue. 
 
 Art.  De  Libro  Precationum,  fyc.  non  est  in  MS. 
 
 Art.  36.  MS.  in  the  time  of  the  most  noble  K.  Edward  the 
 Sixth. 
 
 Pr.   in  the  time  of  Edward  the  Sixth. 
 
 MS*  superstitious  or  ungodly. 
 
 Pr.   superstitious  and  ungodly. 
 Art.  37.  MS.  whether  they  be  ecclesiastical  or  not. 
 
 Pr.   whether  they  be  ecclesiastical  or  civil. 
 
 MS.  the  minds  of  some  slanderous  folks  to  be  offended. 
 
 Pr.   the  minds  of  some  dangerous  folks  to  be  offended. 
 
 MS.  we  give  not  to  our  princes. 
 
 Pr.   we  give  not  our  princes. 
 
 MS.  or  of  sacraments. 
 
 Pr.   or  of  the  sacraments. 
 
 MS.  the  injunctions  also  lately  set  forth. 
 
 Pr.   the  injunctions  also  set  forth. 
 
 MS.  and  serve  in  the  wars. 
 
 Pr.   and  serve  in  lawful  wars. 
 Art.  38.  MS.  every  man  oughteth  of  such  things. 
 
 Pr.   every  man  ought  of  such  things. 
 
 Art.  39.  Edw.  VI.  et  qui  sequuntur,  non  sunt  in  MS. 
 
 We  tfr  Archbishops  and  Bishops  of  either  Province  of  this 
 Kealm  of  England,  lawfully  gathered  together  in  this  Provin- 
 cial Synod  holden  at  London,  with  Continuations  and  Proroga- 
 tions of  the  same,  do  receive,  profess,  and  acknowledge  the 
 xxxviii  Articles  before  written  in  xix  Pages  going  before,  to 
 contain  true  and  sound  Doctrine,  and  do  approve  and  ratify 
 the  same  by  the  subscription  of  our  hands  the  xith  Day  of  May 
 in  the  Year  of  our  Lord  1571,  and  in  the  Year  of  the  Reign  of 
 our  Sovereign  Lady  Elizabeth  by  the  Grace  of  God  o/"England, 
 France,  and  Ireland,  Queen,  D  fender  of  the  Faith,  &c.  the 
 thirteenth.  Matthue  Cantuar.         N.  Bangor. 
 
 Rob.  Win  ton.  Ri.  Cicestren. 
 
 Jo.  Heref.  Thorn.  Lincoln. 
 
 Richarde  Ely.  Wilhelmus  Exon. 
 
 Nic.  Wigorn. 
 
 Jo.  Sarisburien. 
 
 Edm.  Roffen. 
 
 B 
 
Is 
 
 THE  INTRODUCTION. 
 
 From  these  diversities  a  great  difficulty  will  naturally  arise 
 about  this  whole  matter.  The  manuscripts  of  Corpus  Christ! 
 are  without  doubt  originals. 
 
 The  hands  of  the  subscribers  are  well  known  :  They  belong- 
 ed to  Archbishop  Parker,  and  were  left  by  him  to  that  college, 
 and  they  are  signed  with  a  particular  care ;  for  at  the  end  of 
 them  there  is  not  only  a  sum  of  the  number  of  the  pages,  but 
 of  the  lines  in  every  page.  And  though  this  was  the  work  only 
 of  the  Convocation  of  the  province  of  Canterbury,  yet  the 
 Archbishop  of  York,  with  the  Bishops  of  Duresme  and  Ches- 
 ter, subscribed  them  likewise ;  and  they  were  also  subscribed 
 by  the  whole  Lower  House.  But  we  are  not  sure  that  the 
 like  care  was  used  in  the  Convocation  anno  1571 ;  for  the 
 Articles  are  only  subscribed  by  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
 and  ten  Bishops  of  his  province ;  nor  does  the  subscription  of 
 the  Lower  House  appear.  These  Articles  were  first  printed 
 in  the  year  1563,  conform  to  the  present  impressions  which 
 are  still  in  use  among  us.  So  the  alterations  were  then  made 
 while  the  thing  was  fresh  and  well  known  ;  therefore  no  fraud 
 nor  artifice  is  to  be  suspected,  since  some  objections  would 
 i  have  been  then  made,  especially  by  the  great  party  of  the  com- 
 plying papists  who  then  continued  in  the  Church :  they  would 
 not  have  failed  to  have  made  much  use  of  this,  and  to  have 
 taken  great  advantages  from  it,  if  there  had  been  any  occasion 
 or  colour  for  it ;  and  yet  nothing  of  this  kind  was  then  done. 
 
 One  alteration  of  more  importance  was  made  in  the  year 
 1571.  Those  words  of  the  20th  Article,  The  Church  hath 
 -power  to  decree  rites  or  ceremonies^  and  authority  in  controver- 
 sies of  faith,  were  left  out  both  in  the  manuscripts  and  in  the 
 printed  editions,  but  were  afterwards  restored  according  to 
 the  Articles  printed  anno  1563.  I  cannot  find  out  in  what 
 year  they  were  again  put  in  the  printed  copies.  They  appear 
 in  two  several  impressions  in  Queen  Elizabeth's  time,  which 
 are  in  my  hands :  It  passes  commonly  that  it  was  done  by 
 Archbishop  Laud ;  and  his  enemies  laid  this  upon  him  among 
 other  things,  that  he  had  corrupted  the  doctrine  of  this  Church 
 by  this  addition  :  but  he  cleared  himself  of  that,  as  well  he 
 might,  and,  in  a  speech  in  the  Star-Chamber,  appealed  to  the 
 original,  and  affirmed  these  words  were  in  it. 
 
 The  true  account  of  this  difficulty  is  this.  When  the  Articles 
 were  first  settled,  they  were  subscribed  by  both  Houses  upon 
 paper ;  but  that  being  done,  they  were  afterward  ingrossed  in 
 parchment,  and  made  up  in  form  to  remain  as  records.  Now, 
 in  all  such  bodies,  many  alterations  are  often  made  after  a  mi- 
 nute or  first  draught  is  agreed  on,  before  the  matter  is  brought 
 to  full  perfection ;  so  these  alterations,  as  most  of  them  are 
 small  and  inconsiderable,  were  made  between  the  time  that 
 they  were  first  subscribed,  and  the  last  voting  of  them.  But 
 
THE  INTRODUCTION. 
 
 19 
 
 the  original  records,  which  if  extant  would  have  cleared  the 
 whole  matter,  having  been  burnt  in  the  fire  of  London,  it  is 
 not  possible  to  appeal  to  them ;  yet  what  has  been  proposed 
 may  serve,  I  hope,  fully  to  clear  the  difficulty. 
 
 I  now  go  to  consider  the  Articles  themselves. 
 
 ARTICLE  I. 
 
 OF  FAITH  IN  THE  HOLY  TRINITY. 
 
 There  is  but  one  living  and  true  God,  everlasting,  without  bodie, 
 -parts  or  passions,  of  iiifinite  power,  wisdom,  and  goodness, 
 the  maker  and  preserver  of  all  things,  both  visible  and  invisir 
 ble and  in  the  unity  of  this  Godhead  there  be  three  Persons 
 of  one  substance,  power,  and  eternity,  the  Father,  the  Son, 
 and  the  Holy  Ghost. 
 
 The  natural  order  of  things  required,  that  the  first  of  all 
 Articles  in  Religion  should  be  concerning  the  Being  and  At- 
 tributes of  God  :  for  all  other  doctrines  arise  out  of  this.  But 
 the  title  appropriates  this  to  the  Holy  Trinity;  because  that 
 is  the  only  part  of  the  Article  which  peculiarly  belongs  to  the 
 Christian  Religion ;  since  the  rest  is  founded  on  the  principles 
 of  natural  Religion. 
 
 There  are  six  heads  to  be  treated  of,  in  order  to  the  full 
 opening  of  all  that  is  contained  in  this  Article. 
 
 1.  That  there  is  a  God. 
 
 2.  That  there  is  but  one  God. 
 
 3.  Negatively,  That  this  God  hath  neither  body,  parts,  nor 
 passions. 
 
 4.  Positively,  That  he  is  of  infinite  power,  wisdom,  and 
 goodness. 
 
 5.  That  he  at  first  created,  and  does  still  preserve  all  things, 
 not  only  what  is  material  and  visible,  but  also  what  is  spiritual 
 and  invisible. 
 
 6.  The  Trinity  is  here  asserted. 
 
 These  being  all  points  of  the  highest  consequence,  it  is  very 
 necessary  to  state  them  as  clearly,  and  to  prove  them  as  fully, 
 as  may  be. 
 
 The  first  is,  That  there  is  a  God.  This  is  a  proposition 
 which  in  all  ages  has  been  so  universally  received  and  believ- 
 ed, some  very  few  instances  being  only  assigned  of  such  as 
 either  have  denied  or  doubted  of  it,  that  the  very  consent  of 
 so  many  ages  and  nations,  of  such  different  tempers  and  lan- 
 
20 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Aiit.  I. 
 
 guages,  so  vastly  remote  from  one  another,  has  been  long  es- 
 teemed a  good  argument  to  prove,  that  either  there  is  somewhat 
 in  the  nature  of  man,  that  by  a  secret  sort  of  instinct  does  dic- 
 tate this  to  him ;  or  that  all  mankind  has  descended  from  one 
 common  stock ;  and  that  this  belief  has  passed  down  from  the 
 first  man  to  all  his  posterity.  If  the  more  polite  nations  had 
 only  received  this,  some  might  suggest,  that  wise  men  had  in- 
 troduced it  as  a  mean  to  govern  human  society,  and  to  keep  it  in 
 order ;  or,  if  only  the  more  barbarous  had  received  this,  it  might 
 be  thought  to  be  the  effect  of  their  fear,  and  their  ignorance : 
 but  since  all  sorts,  as  well  as  all  ages  of  men  have  received  it, 
 this  alone  goes  a  great  way  to  assure  us  of  the  being  of  a  God. 
 
 To  this  two  things  are  objected — first,  That  some  nations, 
 such  as  Soldania,  Formosa,  and  som%  in  America,  have  been 
 discovered  in  these  last  ages,  that  seem  to  acknowledge  no 
 Deity.  But  to  this  two  things  are  to  be  opposed  :  1st,  That 
 those  who  first  discovered  these  countries,  and  have  given  that 
 account  of  them,  did  not  know  them  enough,  nor  understand 
 their  language  so  perfectly  as  was  necessary  to  enable  them  to 
 comprehend  all  their  opinions.  And  this  is  the  more  probable, 
 because  others,  that  have  writ  after  them,  assure  us,  that  they 
 are  not  without  all  sense  of  religion,  which  the  first  discoverers 
 had  too  hastily  affirmed :  some  prints  of  religion  begin  to  be 
 observed  among  those  of  Soldania,  though  it  is  certainly  one 
 of  the  most  degenerated  of  all  nations.  But  a  second  answer 
 to  this  is,  That  those  nations,  of  whom  these  reports  are  given 
 out,  are  so  extremely  sunk  from  all  that  is  wise  or  regular, 
 great  and  good  in  human  nature,  so  rude  and  untractable,  and 
 so  incapable  of  arts  and  discipline,  that  if  the  reports  concern- 
 ing them  are  to  be  believed,  and  if  that  weakens  the  argument 
 from  the  common  consent  of  mankind  on  the  one  hand,  it 
 strengthens  it  on  another,  while  it  appears  that  human  nature, 
 when  it  wants  this  impression,  it  wants  with  it  all  that  is  great 
 or  orderly  in  it,  and  shews  a  brutality  almost  as  low  and  base 
 as  is  that  of  beasts.  Some  men  are  born  without  some  of  their 
 senses,  and  others  without  the  use  of  reason  and  memory  :  and 
 yet  those  exceptions  do  not  prove,  that  the  imperfections  of 
 such  persons  are  not  irregularities  against  the  common  course 
 of  things ;  the  monstrousness  as  well  as  the  miseries  of  persons 
 so  unhappily  born,  tend  to  recommend  more  effectually  the 
 perfection  of  human  nature.  So  if  these  nations,  which  are 
 supposed  to  be  without  the  belief  of  a  God,  are  such  a  low  and 
 degenerated  piece  of  human  nature,  that  some  have  doubted 
 whether  they  are  a  perfect  race  of  men  or  not,  this  does  not 
 derogate  from,  but  rather  confirms  the  force  of  this  argument, 
 from  the  general  consent  of  all  nations. 
 
 A  second  exception  to  this  argument  is,  That  men  have  not 
 agreed  in  the  same  notions  concerning  the  Deity:  some  be- 
 
Art.  I. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 21 
 
 lieving  two  Gods,  a  good  and  a  bad,  that  are  in  a  perpetual 
 contest  together ;  others  holding  a  vast  number  of  Gods,  either 
 all  equal  or  subaltern  to  one  another ;  and  some  believing  God 
 to  be  a  corporeal  being,  and  that  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars, 
 and  a  great  many  other  beings,  are  Gods :  since  then,  though 
 all  may  acknowledge  a  Deity  in  general,  they  are  yet  subdivided 
 into  so  many  different  conceits  about  it,  no  argument  can  be 
 drawn  from  this  supposed  consent;  which  is  not  so  great  in 
 reality  as  it  seems  to  be.  But,  in  answer  to  this,  we  must 
 observe,  that  the  constant  sense  of  mankind  agreeing  in  this, 
 that  there  is  a  superior  Being  that  governs  the  world,  shews, 
 that  this  fixed  persuasion  has  a  deep  root ;  though  the  weak- 
 ness of  several  nations  being  practised  upon  by  designing  men, 
 they  have  in  many  things  corrupted  this  notion  of  God.  That 
 might  have  arisen  from  the  tradition  of  some  true  doctrines 
 vitiated  in  the  conveyance.  Spirits  made  by  God  to  govern 
 the  world  by  the  order  and  under  the  direction  of  the  Supreme 
 Mind,  might  easily  come  to  be  looked  on  as  subordinate  dei- 
 ties :  some  evil  and  lapsed  spirits  might  in  a  course  of  some 
 ages  pass  for  evil  Gods.  The  apparitions  of  the  Deity  under 
 some  figures  might  make  these  figures  to  be  adored :  and  God 
 being  considered  as  the  supreme  Light,  this  might  lead  men 
 to  worship  the  sun  as  his  chief  vehicle ;  and  so  by  degrees  he 
 might  pass  for  the  supreme  God.  Thus  it  is  easy  to  trace  up 
 these  mistakes  to  what  may  justly  be  supposed  to  be  their  first 
 source  and  rise.  But  still  the  foundation  of  them  all  was,  a 
 firm  belief  of  a  superior  Nature  that  governed  the  world. 
 Mankind  agreeing  in  that,  an  occasion  was  thereby  given  to 
 bad  and  designing  men  to  graft  upon  it  such  other  tenets  as 
 might  feed  superstition  and  idolatry,  and  furnish  the  managers 
 of  those  impostures  with  advantages  to  raise  their  own  autho- 
 rity. But  how  various  soever  the  several  ages  and  nations  of 
 the  world  may  have  been  as  to  their  more  special  opinions  and 
 rites,  yet  the  general  idea  of  a  God  remained  still  unaltered, 
 even  amidst  all  the  changes  that  have  happened  in  the  parti- 
 cular forms  and  doctrines  of  religion. 
 
 Another  argument  for  the  being  of  a  God  is  taken  from  the 
 visible  world,  in  which  there  is  a  vast  variety  of  beings  curi- 
 ously framed,  and  that  seem  designed  for  great  and  noble 
 ends.  In  these  we  see  clear  characters  of  God's  eternal  power 
 and  wisdom.  And  that  is  thus  to  be  made  out.  It  is  certain, 
 that  nothing  could  give  being  to  itself ;  so  the  things  which 
 we  see,  either  had  their  being  from  all  eternity,  or  were  made 
 in  time :  and  either  they  were  from  all  eternity  in  the  same 
 state,  and  under  the  same  revolutions  of  the  heavens,  as  they 
 are  at  present,  or  they  fell  into  the  order  and  method  in  which 
 they  do  now  roll  by  some  happy  chance ;  out  of  which  all  the 
 
22 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  I. 
 
 beauty  and  usefulness  of  the  creation  did  arise.  But  if  all 
 these  suppositions  are  manifestly  false,  then  it  will  remain,  that 
 if  things  neither  were  from  all  eternity  as  they  now  are,  nor 
 fell  into  their  present  state  by  chance,  then  there  is  a  superior 
 Essence,  that  gave  them  being,  and  that  moulded  them  as  we 
 see  they  now  are.  The  first  branch  of  this,  that  they  were 
 not  as  now  they  are  from  all  eternity,  is  to  be  proved  by  two 
 sorts  of  arguments ;  the  one  intrinsecal,  by  demonstrating  this 
 to  be  impossible ;  the  other  moral,  by  shewing  that  it  is  not 
 at  all  credible.  As  to  the  first,  it  is  to  be  considered,  that  a 
 successive  duration  made  up  of  parts,  which  is  called  Time,  and 
 is  measured  by  a  successive  rotation  of  the  heavens,  cannot 
 possibly  be  eternal.  For  if  there  were  eternal  revolutions  of 
 Saturn  in  his  course  of  thirty  years,  and  eternal  revolutions  of 
 days  as  well  as  years,  of  minutes  as  well  as  hours,  then  the  one 
 must  be  as  infinite  as  the  other ;  so  that  the  one  must  be  equal 
 to  the  other,  both  being  infinite ;  and  yet  the  latter  are  some 
 millions  of  times  more  than  the  other :  which  is  impossible. 
 Further :  of  every  past  duration,  as  this  is  true,  that  once  it 
 was  present,  so  this  is  true,  that  once  it  was  to  come;  this 
 being  a  necessary  affection  of  every  thing  that  exists  in  time : 
 If,  then,  all  past  durations  were  all  once  future,  or  to  be,  then 
 we  cannot  conceive  such  a  succession  of  durations  eternal,  since 
 once  every  one  of  them  was  to  come.  Nor  can  all  this,  or  any 
 part  of  it,  be  turned  against  us  who  believe  that  some  beings 
 are  immortal,  and  shall  never  cease  to  be ;  for  all  those  future 
 durations  have  never  actually  been,  but  are  still  produced  of 
 new,  and  so  continued  in  being.  This  argument  may  seem  to 
 be  too  subtile,  and  it  will  require  some  attention  of  mind  to 
 observe  and  discover  the  force  of  it ;  but  after  we  have  turned 
 it  over  and  over  again,  it  will  be  found  to  be  a  true  demon- 
 stration. The  chief  objection  that  lies  against  it  is,  that  in 
 the  opinion  of  those  who  deny  that  there  are  any  indivisible 
 points  of  matter,  and  that  believe  that  matter  is  infinitely  divi- 
 sible, it  is  not  absurd  to  say,  that  one  infinite  is  more  than 
 another :  for  the  smallest  crum  of  matter  is  infinite,  as  well  as 
 the  whole  globe  of  the  earth :  and  therefore  the  revolutions 
 of  Saturn  may  be  infinite,  as  well  as  the  revolutions  of  days, 
 though  the  one  be  vastly  more  numerous  than  the  other.  But 
 there  is  this  difference  betwixt  the  succession  of  time,  and  the 
 composition  of  matter,  that  those  who  deny  indivisibles  say, 
 that  no  one  point  can  be  assigned:  for  if  points  could  be  assigned 
 or  numbered,  it  is  certain  that  they  could  not  be  infinite ;  for 
 an  infinite  number  seems  to  be  a  contradiction :  but  if  the 
 series  of  mankind  were  infinite,  since  this  is  visibly  divided  into 
 single  individuals,  as  the  units  in  that  series,  then  here  arises 
 an  infinite  number  composed  of  units  or  individuals  that  can 
 be  assigned.    The  same  is  to  be  said  of  minutes,  hours,  days, 
 
Art.  I. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 23 
 
 and  years ;  nor  can  it  be  said  with  equal  reason,  that  every 
 portion  of  time  is  divisible  to  infinity,  as  well  as  every  parcel 
 of  matter.  It  seems  evident,  that  there  is  a  present  time ; 
 and  that  past,  present,  and  to  come,  cannot  be  said  to  be  true 
 of  any  thing  all  at  once :  therefore  the  objection  against  the 
 assigning  points  in  matter  does  not  overthrow  the  truth  of  this 
 argument.  But  if  it  is  thought  that  this  is  rather  a  sleight  of 
 metaphysics  that  entangles  one,  than  a  plain  and  full  convic- 
 tion, let  us  turn  next  to  such  reasonings  as  are  more  obvious, 
 and  that  are  more  easily  apprehended. 
 
 The  other  moral  arguments  are  more  sensible  as  well  as 
 they  are  of  a  more  complicated  nature ;  and  proceed  thus : 
 The  history  of  all  nations,  of  all  governments,  arts,  sciences, 
 and  even  instituted  religions,  the  peopling  of  nations,  the  pro- 
 gress of  commerce  and  of  colonies,  are  plain  indications  of  the 
 novelty  of  the  world ;  no  sort  of  trace  remaining,  by  which  we 
 can  believe  it  to  be  ancienter  than  the  books  of  Moses  represent 
 it  to  be.  For  though  some  nations,  such  as  the  Egyptians 
 and  the  Chinese,  have  boasted  of  a  much  greater  antiquity, 
 yet  it  is  plain  we  hear  of  no  series  of  history  for  all  those  ages  ; 
 so  that  what  they  had  relating  to  them,  if  it  is  not  wholly  a 
 fiction,  might  have  been  only  in  astronomical  tables,  which 
 may  be  easily  run  backwards  as  well  as  forward.  The  very 
 few  eclipses  which  Ptolemy  could  hear  of,  is  a  remarkable  in- 
 stance of  the  novelty  of  history;  since  the  observing  such  an 
 extraordinary  accident  in  the  heavens,  in  so  pure  an  air,  where 
 the  sun  was  not  only  observed,  but  adored,  must  have  been 
 one  of  the  first  effects  of  learning  or  industry.  All  these 
 characters  of  the  novelty  of  the  world  have  been  so  well  con- 
 sidered by  Lucretius,  and  other  atheists,  that  they  gave  up 
 the  point,  and  thought  it  evident  that  this  present  frame  of 
 things  had  certainly  a  beginning. 
 
 The  solution  that  those  men,  who  found  themselves  driven 
 from  this  of  the  world's  being  eternal,  have  given  to  this  dif- 
 ficulty, by  saying  that  all  things  have  run  by  chance  into  the 
 combinations  and  channels  in  which  we  see  nature  run,  is  so 
 absurd,  that  it  looks  like  men  who  are  resolved  to  believe  any 
 thing,  how  absurd  soever,  rather  than  to  acknowledge  religion. 
 For  what  a  strange  conceit  is  it  to  think,  that  chance  could 
 settle  on  such  a  regular  and  useful  frame  of  things,  and  con- 
 tinue so  fixed  and  stable  in  it ;  and  that  chance  could  do  so 
 much  at  once,  and  should  do  nothing  ever  since  ?  The  con- 
 stancy of  the  celestial  motions;  the  obliquity  of  the  zodiac,  by 
 which  different  seasons  are  assigned  to  different  climates ;  the 
 divisions  of  this  globe  into  sea  and  land,  into  hills  and  vales ; 
 the  productions  of  the  earth,  whether  latent,  such  as  mines, 
 minerals,  and  other  fossils;  or  visible,  such  as  grass,  grain, 
 herbs,  flowers,  shrubs  and  trees:  the  small  beginnings,  and 
 
24 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  I. 
 
 the  curious  compositions  of  them :  the  variety  and  curious 
 structure  of  insects ;  the  disposition  of  the  bodies  of  perfecter 
 animals ;  and,  above  all,  the  fabric  of  the  body  of  man,  especi- 
 ally the  curious  discoveries  that  anatomy  and  microscopes  have 
 given  us ;  the  strange  beginning  and  progress  of  those ;  the 
 wonders  that  occur  in  every  organ  of  sense,  and  the  amazing 
 structure  and  use  of  the  brain — are  all  such  things,  so  artificial, 
 and  yet  so  regular,  and  so  exactly  shaped  and  fitted  for  their 
 several  uses,  that  he  who  can  believe  all  this  to  be  chance, 
 seems  to  have  brought  his* mind  to  digest  any  absurdity. 
 
 That  all  men  should  resemble  one  another  in  the  main 
 things,  and  yet  that  every  man  should  have  a  peculiar  look, 
 voice,  and  way  of  writing,  is  necessary  to  maintain  order  and 
 distinction  in  society :  by  these  we  know  men,  if  we  either  see 
 them,  hear  them  speak  in  the  dark,  or  receive  any  writing  from 
 them  at  a  distance ;  without  these,  the  whole  commerce  of  life 
 would  be  one  continued  course  of  mistake  and  confusion.  This, 
 I  say,  is  such  an  indication  of  wisdom,  that  it  looks  like  a  vio- 
 lence to  nature  to  think  it  can  be  otherwise. 
 
 The  only  colour  that  has  supported  this  monstrous  conceit, 
 that  things  arise  out  of  chance,  is,  that  it  has  long  passed  cur- 
 rent in  the  world,  that  great  varieties  of  insects  do  arise  out  of 
 corrupted  matter.  They  argue,  that  if  the  sun's  shining  on  a 
 dunghill  can  give  life  to  such  swarms  of  curious  creatures,  it  is 
 but  a  little  more  extraordinary  to  think,  that  animals  and  men 
 might  have  been  formed  out  of  well-disposed  matter,  under  a 
 peculiar  aspect  of  the  heavens.  But  the  exacter  observations 
 that  have  been  made  in  this  age  by  the  help  of  glasses,  have 
 put  an  end  to  this  answer,  which  is  the  best  that  Lucretius  and 
 other  atheists  found  to  rest  in.  It  is  now  fully  made  out,  that 
 the  production  of  all  insects  whatsoever  is  in  the  way  of  gene- 
 ration :  heat  and  corruption  do  only  hatch  those  eggs,  that 
 insects  leave  to  a  prodigious  quantity  every- where*  So  that 
 this,  which  is  the  only  specious  thing  in  the  whole  plea  for 
 atheism,  is  now  given  up  by  the  universal  consent  of  all  the 
 inquirers  into  nature. 
 
 And  now  to  bring  the  force  of  this  long  argument  to  a  head  : 
 If  this  world  was  neither  from  all  eternity  in  the  state  in  which 
 it  is  at  present,  nor  could  fall  into  it  by  chance  or  accident, 
 then  it  must  follow,  that  it  was  put  into  the  state  in  which  we 
 now  see  it,  by  a  Being  of  vast  power  and  wisdom.  This  is 
 the  great  and  solid  argument  on  which  religion  rests ;  and  it 
 receives  a  vast  accession  of  strength  from  this,  that  we  plainly 
 see  matter  has  not  motion  in  or  of  itself — every  part  of  it  is  at 
 quiet  till  it  is  put  in  motion,  that  is  not  natural  to  it;  for  many 
 parts  of  matter  fall  into  a  state  of  rest  and  quiet ;  so  that  mo- 
 tion must  be  put  in  them  by  some  impulse  or  other.  Matter, 
 after  it  has  passed  through  the  highest  i  (  finings  and  rectifying? 
 
Aht.  I. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 25 
 
 possible,  becomes  only  more  capable  of  motion  than  it  was 
 before ;  but  still  it  is  a  passive  principle,  and  must  be  put  in 
 motion  by  some  other  being.  This  has  appeared  so  necessary 
 even  to  those  who  have  tried  their  utmost  force  to  make  God 
 as  little  needful  as  possible  in  the  structure  of  the  universe, 
 that  they  have  yet  been  forced  to  own,  that  there  must  have 
 been  once  a  vast  motion  given  to  matter  by  the  Supreme  Mind. 
 
 A  third  argument  for  the  being  of  a  God  is,  that,  upon  some 
 great  occasions,  and  before  a  vast  number  of  witnesses,  some 
 persons  have  wrought  miracles ;  that  is,  they  have  put  nature 
 out  of  its  course,  by  some  words  or  signs,  that  of  themselves 
 could  not  produce  those  extraordinary^  effects :  and  therefore 
 such  persons  were  assisted  by  a  Power  superior  to  the  course 
 of  nature;  and  by  consequence  there  is  such  a  Being,  and 
 that  is  God.  To  this  the  atheists  do  first  say,  that  we  do  not 
 know  the  secret  virtues  that  are  in  nature :  the  loadstone  and 
 opium  produce  wonderful  effects :  therefore,  unless  we  knew 
 the  whole  extent  of  nature,  we  cannot  define  what  is  super- 
 natural and  miraculous,  and  what  is  not  so.  But  though  we 
 cannot  tell  how  far  nature  may  go,  yet  of  some  things  we  may, 
 without  hesitation,  say,  they  are  beyond  natural  powers.  Such 
 were  the  wonders  that  Moses  wrought  in  Egypt  and  in  the 
 wilderness,  by  the  speaking  a  few  words,  or  the  stretching  out 
 of  a  rod.  We  are  sure  these  could  not  by  any  natural  efficiency 
 produce  those  wonders.  And  the  like  is  to  be  said  of  the  mi- 
 racles of  Christ,  particularly  of  his  raising  the  dead  to  life  again, 
 and  of  his  own  resurrection.  These  we  are  sure  did  not  arise 
 out  of  natural  causes.  The  next  thing  atheists  say  to  this,  is 
 to  dispute  the  truth  of  the  facts :  but  of  that  I  shall  treat  in 
 another  place,  when  the  authority  of  revealed  religion  comes 
 to  be  proved  from  those  facts.  All  that  is  necessary  to  be  added 
 here  is,  that  if  facts,  that  are  plainly  supernatural,  are  proved 
 to  have  been  really  done,  then  here  is  another  clear  and  full 
 argument  to  prove  a  Being  superior  to  nature,  that  can  dis- 
 pose of  it  at  pleasure ;  and  that  Being  must  either  be  God,  or 
 some  other  invisible  Being  that  has  a  strength  superior  to  the 
 settled  course  of  nature.  And  if  invisible  Beings,  superior  to 
 nature,  whether  good  or  bad,  are  once  acknowledged,  a  great 
 step  is  made  to  the  proof  of  the  Supreme  Being. 
 
 There  is  another  famed  argument  taken  from  the  idea  of 
 God ;  which  is  laid  thus :  that  because  one  frames  a  notion  of 
 infinite  perfection,  therefore  there  must  be  such  a  Being,  from 
 whom  that  notion  is  conveyed  to  us.  This  argument  is  also 
 managed  by  other  methods,  to  give  us  a  demonstration  of  the 
 being  of  a  God.  I  am  unwilling  to  say  any  thing  to  derogate 
 from  any  argument  that  is  brought  to  prove  this  conclusion ; 
 but  when  he,  who  insists  on  this,  lays  all  other  arguments  aside, 
 or  at  least  slights  them  as  not  strong  enough  to  prove  the  point, 
 
26 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  I. 
 
 this  naturally  gives  jealousy,  when  all  those  reasons,  that  had 
 for  so  many  ages  been  considered  as  solid  proofs,  are  neglected, 
 as  if  this  only  could  amount  to  a  demonstration.  But,  besides, 
 this  is  an  argument  that  cannot  be  offered  by  any  to  another 
 person,  for  his  conviction ;  since,  if  he  denies  that  he  has  any 
 such  idea,  he  is  without  the  reach  of  the  argument.  And  if  a 
 man  will  say  that  any  such  idea,  which  he  may  raise  in  himself, 
 is  only  an  aggregate  that  he  makes  of  all  those  perfections  of 
 which  he  can  form  a  thought,  which  he  lays  together,  separat- 
 ing from  them  every  imperfection  that  he  observes  to  be  often 
 mixed  with  some  of  those  perfections;  if,  I  say,  a  man  will 
 affirm  this,  I  do  not  see  that  the  inference  from  any  such  thought 
 that  he  has  formed  within  himself,  can  have  any  great  force  to 
 persuade  him  that  there  is  any  such  Being.  Upon  the  whole, 
 it  seems  to  be  fully  proved,  that  there  is  a  Being  that  is  supe- 
 rior to  matter,  and  that  gave  both  being  and  order  to  it,  and 
 to  all  other  things.  This  may  serve  to  prove  the  being  of  a 
 God : — It  is  fit  in  the  next  place  to  consider,  with  all  humble 
 modesty,  what  thoughts  we  can,  or  ought  to  have  of  the  Deity. 
 
 That  Supreme  Being  must  have  its  essence  of  itself  neces- 
 sarily and  eternally;  for  it  is  impossible  that  any  thing  can 
 give  itself  being ;  so  it  must  be  eternal.  And  though  eternity 
 in  a  succession  of  determinate  durations  was  proved  to  be  im- 
 possible, yet  it  is  certain  that  something  must  be  eternal ;  either 
 matter,  or  a  Being  superior  to  it,  that  has  not  a  duration  de- 
 fined bv  succession,  but  is  a  simple  essence,  and  eternally  was, 
 is,  and  shall  be  the  same.  There  is  nothing  contradictory  to 
 itself  in  this  notion :  it  is  indeed  above  our  capacity  to  form  a 
 clear  thought  of  it ;  but  it  is  plain  it  must  be  so,  and  that  this 
 is  only  a  defect  in  our  nature  and  capacity,  that  we  cannot  dis- 
 tinctly apprehend  that  which  is  so  far  above  us.  Such  a  Being 
 must  have  also  necessary  existence  in  its  notion ;  for  whatsoever 
 is  infinitely  perfect,  must  necessarily  exist;  since  we  plainly 
 perceive,  that  necessary  existence  is  a  perfection,  and  that  con- 
 tingent existence  is  an  imperfection,  which  supposes  a  being 
 that  is  produced  by  another,  and  that  depends  upon  it :  and  as 
 this  superior  Being  did  exist  from  all  eternity,  so  it  is  impossi- 
 ble it  should  cease  to  be ;  since  nothing,  that  once  has  actually 
 a  being,  can  ever  cease  to  be,  but  by  an  act  of  a  superior  Being- 
 annihilating  it.  But  there  being  nothing  superior  to  the  Deity, 
 it  is  impossible  that  it  should  ever  cease  to  be :  what  was  self- 
 existent  from  all  eternity,  must  also  be  so  to  all  eternity;  and 
 it  is  as  impossible  that  a  simple  essence  can  annihilate  itself,  as 
 that  it  can  make  itself. 
 
 So  much  concerning  the  first  and  capital  article  of  all  re- 
 ligion, the  existence  and  being  of  a  God ;  which  ought  not  to 
 be  proved  by  any  authorities  from  Scripture,  unless  from  the 
 recitals  that  are  given  in  it  concerning  miracles,  as  was  already 
 
Art.  [. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 27 
 
 hinted  at.  But  as  to  the  authority  of  such  passages  in  Scrip- 
 ture which  affirm  that  there  is  a  God,  it  is  to  be  considered, 
 that  before  we  can  be  bound  to  submit  to  them,  we  must  be- 
 lieve  three  propositions  antecedent  to  that  : — 1.  That  there  is 
 a  God :  2.  That  all  his  words  are  true  :  3.  That  these  are  his 
 words.  What  therefore  must  be  believed  before  we  acknow- 
 ledge the  Scriptures,  cannot  be  proved  out  of  them.  It  is  then 
 a  strange  assertion  to  say,  that  the  being  of  a  God  cannot  be 
 proved  by  the  light  of  nature,  but  must  be  proved  by  the  Scrip- 
 tures ;  since  our  being  assured  that  there  is  a  God,  is  the  first 
 principle  upon  which  the  authority  of  the  Scriptures  depends. 
 
 The  second  proposition  in  the  Article  is,  That  there  is  but 
 one  God.  As  to  this,  the  common  argument  by  which  it  is 
 proved,  is  the  order  of  the  world ;  from  whence  it  is  inferred, 
 that  there  cannot  be  more  Gods  than  one,  since  where  there 
 are  more  than  one,  there  must  happen  diversity  and  confusion. 
 This  is  by  some  thought  to  be  no  good  reason ;  for  if  there  are 
 more  Gods,  that  is,  more  beings  infinitely  perfect,  they  will 
 always  think  the  same  thing,  and  be  knit  together  with  an  en- 
 tire love.  It  is  true,  in  things  of  a  moral  nature  this  must  so 
 happen  ;  for  beings  infinitely  perfect  must  ever  agree.  But  in 
 physical  things,  capable  of  no  morality — as  in  creating  the  world 
 sooner  or  later,  and  the  different  systems  of  beings,  with  a 
 thousand  other  things  that  have  no  moral  goodness  in  them — 
 different  beings  infinitely  perfect  might  have  different  thoughts. 
 So  this  argument  seems  still  of  great  force  to  prove  the  unity 
 of  the  Deity. — The  other  argument  from  reason  to  prove  the 
 unity  of  God,  is  from  the  notion  of  a  Being  infinitely  perfect. 
 For  a  superiority  over  all  other  beings  comes  so  naturally  into 
 the  idea  of  infinite  perfection,  that  we  cannot  separate  it  from 
 it.  A  Being,  therefore,  that  has  not  all  other  beings  in- 
 ferior and  subordinate  to  it,  cannot  be  infinitely  perfect; 
 whence  it  is  evident,  that  there  is  but  one  God.  But  besides 
 all  tins,  the  unity  of  God  seems  to  be  so  frequently  and  so 
 plainly  asserted  in  the  Scripture,  that  we  see  it  was  the  chief 
 design  of  the  whole  Old  Testament,  both  of  Moses  and  the 
 Prophets,  to  establish  it,  in  opposition  to  the  false  opinions  of 
 the  heathen  concerning  a  diversity  of  Gods.  This  is  often 
 repeated  in  the  most  solemn  words,  as,  Hear,  O  Israel s  the 
 Lord  our  God  is  one  God,  Deut.  vi.  4.  It  is  the  first  of  the 
 Ten  Commandments,  Thou  shalt  have  no  other  Gods  but  nic. 
 And  all  things  in  heaven  and  earth  are  often  said  to  be  made 
 by  this  one  God.  Negative  words  are  also  often  used :  There 
 is  none  other  God  but  one :  besides  me  there  is  none  else,  and  I 
 know  no  other,  Isa.  xliv.  6.  8. :  the  going  after  other  Gods,  is 
 reckoned  the  highest  and  the  most  unpardonable  act  of  idi  h 
 latry.  The  New  Testament  goes  on  in  the  same  strain. 
 Christ  speaks  of  the  only  true  God,  and  that  he  alone  ought  to 
 
28 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Am.  I. 
 
 be  worshipped  and  served.  All  the  Apostles  do  frequently  af- 
 firm the  same  thing;  (Johnxvii.  3.  Matt.  iv.  10.  1  Cor.  viii.  5, 
 6.) ;  they  make  the  believing  of  one  God,  in  opposition  to  the 
 many  Gods  of  the  heathens,  the  chief  article  of  the  Christian 
 religion ;  and  they  la}'  down  this  as  the  chief  ground  of  our 
 obligation  to  mutual  love  and  union  among  ourselves,  That 
 there  is  one  God,  one  Lord,  one  Faith,  one  Baptism,  Eph.  jy. 
 4,  5,  6.  Now,  since  we  are  sure  that  there  is  but  one  Messias, 
 and  one  doctrine  delivered  by  him,  it  will  clearly  follow,  that 
 there  must  be  but  one  God. 
 
 So  the  unity  of  the  Divine  Essence  is  clearly  proved,  both 
 from  the  order  and  government  of  the  world,  from  the  idea  of 
 infinite  perfection,  and  from  those  express  declarations  that  are 
 made  concerning  it  in  the  Scriptures ;  which  last  is  a  full  proof 
 to  all  such  as  own  and  submit  to  them. 
 
 The  third  head  in  this  Article  is  that  which  is  negatively  ex- 
 pressed, that  God  is  without  body,  parts,  or  passions.  In  ge- 
 neral, all  these  are  so  plainly  contrary  to  the  ideas  of  infinite 
 perfection,  and  they  appear  so  evidently  to  be  imperfections, 
 that  this  part  of  the  Article  will  need  little  explanation.  We 
 do  plainly  perceive  that  our  bodies  are  clogs  to  our  minds ;  and 
 all  the  use,  that  even  the  purest  sort  of  body,  in  an  estate  con- 
 ceived to  be  glorified,  can  be  of  to  a  mind,  is  to  be  an  instru- 
 ment of  local  motion,  or  to  be  a  repository  of  ideas  for  memory 
 and  imagination  :  but  God,  who  is  every-where,  and  is  one  pure 
 and  simple  act,  can  have  no  such  use  for  a  body.  A  mind 
 dwelling  in  a  body,  is  in  many  respects  superior  to  it;  yet  in 
 some  respects  is  under  it.  We  who  feel  how  an  act  of  our 
 mind  can  so  direct  the  motions  of  our  body,  that  a  thought  sets 
 our  limbs  and  joints  agoing,  can  from  thence  conceive,  how 
 the  whole  extent  of  matter  should  receive  such  motions  as 
 the  acts  of  the  Supreme  Mind  give  it ;  but  yet  not  as  a  body 
 united  to  it,  or  that  the  Deity  either  needs  such  a  body,  or  can 
 receive  any  trouble  from  it.  Thus  far  the  apprehension  of  the 
 thing  is  very  plainly  made  out  to  us.  Our  thoughts  put  some 
 parts  of  our  body  in  a  present  motion,  when  the  organization 
 is  regular,  and  all  the  parts  are  exact,  and  when  there  is  no 
 obstruction  in  those  vessels,  or  passages,  through  which  that 
 heat  and  those  spirits  do  pass  that  cause  the  motion.  We  do 
 in  this  perceive,  that  a  thought  does  command  matter ;  but  our 
 minds  are  limited  to  our  bodies,  and  these  do  not  obey  them, 
 but  as  they  are  in  an  exact  disposition  and  a  fitness  to  be  so 
 moved.  Now  these  are  plain  imperfections ;  but  removing 
 them  from  God,  we  can  from  thence  apprehend  that  all  the 
 matter  in  the  universe  may  be  so  entirely  subject  to  the  Divine 
 Mind,  that  it  shall  move  and  be  whatsoever  and  wheresoever 
 he  will  have  it  to  be.  This  is  that  which  all  men  do  agree 
 in. 
 
Art.  I. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 -29 
 
 But  many  of  the  philosophers  thought  that  matter,  though 
 it  was  moved  and  moulded  by  God  at  his  pleasure,  yet  was 
 not  made  by  him,  but  was  self-existent,  and  was  a  passive 
 principle,  but  coexistent  to  the  Deity,  which  they  thought  was 
 the  active  principle :  from  whence  some  have  thought  that 
 the  belief  of  two  Gods,  one  good  and  another  bad,  did  spring  ; 
 though  others  imagine,  that  the  belief  of  a  bad  God  did  arise 
 from  the  corruption  of  that  tradition  concerning  fallen  angels, 
 as  was  before  suggested.  The  philosophers  could  not  appre- 
 hend that  things  could  be  made  out  of  nothing,  and  therefore 
 thev  believed  that  matter  was  coeternal  with  God.  But  it  is 
 as  hard  to  apprehend  how  a  mind  by  its  thought  should  give 
 motion  to  matter,  as  how  it  should  give  it  being.  A  being  not 
 made  by  God  is  not  so  easily  conceivable  to  be  under  the  acts 
 of  his  mind,  as  that  which  is  made  by  him.  This  conceit 
 plainly  destroys  infinite  perfection,  which  cannot  be  in  God,  if 
 all  beings  are  not  from  him,  and  under  his  authority ;  besides 
 that  successive  duration  has  been  already  proved  inconsistent 
 with  eternity.  This  opinion  of  the  world's  being  a  body  to 
 God,  as  the  mind  that  dwells  in  it,  and  actuates  it,  is  the  foun- 
 dation of  atheism  :  for  if  it  be  once  thought  that  God  can  do 
 nothing  without  such  a  body,  then  as  this  destroys  the  idea  of 
 infinite  perfection,  so  it  makes  way  to  this  conceit,  that  since 
 matter  is  visible,  and  God  invisible,  there  is  no  other  God  but 
 the  vast  extent  of  the  universe.  It  is  true,  God  has  often 
 shewed  himself  in  visible  appearances ;  but  that  was  only  his 
 putting  a  special  quantity  of  matter  into  such  motions,  as  should 
 give  a  great  and  astonishing  idea  of  his  nature,  from  that  ap- 
 pearance :  which  was  both  the  effect  of  his  power,  and  the 
 symbol  of  his  presence.  And  thus  what  glorious  representa- 
 tions soever  were  made  either  on  Mount  Sinai,  or  in  the  pillar 
 of  the  cloud,  and  cloud  of  glory,  those  were  no  indications  of 
 God's  having  a  body ;  but  were  only  manifestations,  suited  to 
 beget  such  thoughts  in  the  minds  of  men,  that  dwelt  in  bodies, 
 as  might  lay  the  principles  and  foundations  of  religion  deep  in 
 them.  The  language  of  the  Scriptures  speaks  to  the  capacities 
 of  men,  and  even  of  rude  men  in  dark  times,  in  which  most  of 
 the  Scriptures  were  writ :  but  though  God  is  spoke  of  as  hav- 
 ing a  face,  eyes,  ears,  a  smelling,  hands  and  feet,  and  as  com- 
 ing down  to  view  things  on  earth,  all  this  is  expressed  after  the 
 manner  of  men,  and  is  to  be  understood  in  a  way  suitable  to  a 
 pure  Spirit.  For  the  great  care  that  was  used,  even  under  the 
 most  imperfect  state  of  Revelation,  to  keep  men  from  framing 
 any  image  or  similitude  of  the  Deity,  shewed  that  it  was  far 
 from  the  meaning  of  those  expressions,  that  God  had  an  orga- 
 nized body.  These  do  therefore  signify  only  the  several  vari- 
 eties of  Providence.  When  God  was  pleased  with  a  nation, 
 his  face  was  said  to  shine  upon  it :  for  so  a  man  looks  towards 
 
30 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  I. 
 
 those  whom  he  loves.  The  particular  care  he  takes  of  them, 
 and  the  answering  their  prayers,  is  expressed  by  figures  bor- 
 rowed from  eyes  and  ears ;  the  peculiar  dispensations  of  rewards 
 and  punishments  are  expressed  by  his  hands ;  and  the  exact- 
 ness of  his  justice  and  wisdom  is  expressed  by  coming  down  to 
 view  the  state  of  human  affairs.  Thus  it  is  clear  that  God  has 
 no  body ;  nor  has  he  parts,  for  we  can  apprehend  no  parts  but 
 of  a  body :  so,  since  it  is  certain  that  God  has  no  body,  he  can 
 have  no  parts.  Something  like  parts  does  indeed  belong  to 
 spirits,  which  are  their  thoughts  distinct  from  their  being,  and 
 they  have  a  succession  of  them,  and  do  oft  change  them.  But 
 infinite  perfection  excludes  this  from  the  idea  of  God;  suc- 
 cessive thoughts,  as  well  as  successive  duration,  seem  inconsist- 
 ent both  with  eternity  and  with  infinite  perfection.  Therefore 
 the  essence  of  God  is  one  perfect  thought,  in  which  he  both 
 views  and  wills  all  things :  and  though  his  transient  acts  that 
 pass  out  of  the  divine  essence,  such  as  creation,  providence,  and 
 miracles,  are  done  in  a  succession  of  time ;  yet  his  immanent 
 acts,  his  knowledge  and  his  decrees,  are  one  with  his  essence. 
 Distinct  thoughts  are  plainly  an  imperfection,  and  argue  a  pro- 
 gress in  knowledge,  and  a  deliberation  in  council,  which  carry 
 defect  and  infirmity  in  them.  To  conceive  how  this  is  in  God, 
 is  far  above  our  capacity ;  who,  though  we  feel  our  imperfection 
 in  successive  acts,  yet  cannot  apprehend  how  all  things  can  be 
 both  seen  and  determined  by  one  single  thought.  But  the  Di- 
 vine Essence  being  so  infinitely  above  us,  it  is  no  wonder  if  we 
 can  frame  no  distinct  act  concerning  its  knowledge  or  will. 
 
 There  is  indeed  a  vast  difficulty  that  arises  here ;  for  those 
 acts  of  God  are  supposed  free ;  so  that  they  might  have  been 
 otherwise  than  we  see  they  are:  and  then  it  is  not  easy  to 
 imagine  how  they  should  be  one  with  the  Divine  Essence ;  to 
 which  necessary  existence  does  certainly  belong.  It  cannot  be 
 said  that  those  acts  are  necessary,  and  could  not  be  otherwise ; 
 for  since  all  God's  transient  acts  are  the  certain  effects  of  his 
 immanent  ones,  if  the  immanent  ones  are  necessary,  then  the 
 transient  must  be  so  likewise,  and  so  every  thing  must  be  ne- 
 cessary :  a  chain  of  necessary  fate  must  run  through  the  whole 
 order  of  things ;  and  God  himself  then  is  no  free  being,  but 
 acts  by  a  necessity  of  nature.  This  some  have  thought  was  no 
 absurdity :  God  is  necessarily  just,  true,  and  good,  not  by  any 
 extrinsic  necessity,  for  that  would  import  an  outward  limita- 
 tion, which  destroys  the  idea  of  God ;  but  by  an  intrinsic  ne- 
 cessity, that  arises  from  his  own  infinite  perfection.  Some 
 have  from  hence  thought,  that,  since  God  acts  by  infinite  wis- 
 dom and  goodness,  things  could  not  have  been  otherwise  than 
 they  are ;  for  what  is  infinitely  wise  or  good  cannot  be  altered, 
 or  made  either  better  or  worse.  But  this  seems  on  the  other 
 hand  very  hard  to  conceive :  for  it  would  follow  from  thence, 
 
Art.  t. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 31 
 
 that  God  could  neither  have  made  the  world  sooner  nor  later, 
 nor  any  other  way  than  now  it  is ;  nor  could  he  have  done  any 
 one  thing  otherwise  than  as  it  is  done.  This  seems  to  establish 
 fate,  and  to  destroy  industry  and  all  prayers  and  endeavours. 
 Thus  there  are  such  great  difficulties  on  all  hands  in  this  mat- 
 ter, that  it  is  much  the  wisest  and  safest  course  to  adore  what 
 is  above  our  apprehensions,  rather  than  to  inquire  too  curiously, 
 or  determine  too  boldly  in  it.  It  is  certain  that  God  acts  both 
 freely  and  perfectly ;  nor  is  he  a  Being  subject  to  change,  or 
 to  new  acts ;  but  he  is  what  he  is,  both  infinite  and  incompre- 
 hensible :  we  can  neither  apprehend  how  he  made,  nor  how  he 
 executes  his  decrees.  So  we  must  leave  this  difficulty,  without 
 pretending  that  we  can  explain  it,  or  answer  the  objections 
 that  arise  against  all  the  several  ways  by  which  divines  have 
 endeavoured  to  resolve  it. 
 
 The  third  thing  under  the  head  I  now  consider  is,  God's 
 being  without  passions.  That  will  be  soon  explained.  Passion 
 is  an  agitation  that  supposes  a  succession  of  thoughts,  together 
 with  a  trouble  for  what  is  past,  and  a  fear  of  missing  what  is 
 aimed  at.  It  arises  out  of  a  heat  of  mind,  and  produces  a  ve- 
 hemence of  action.  Now  all  these  are  such  manifest  imperfec- 
 tions, that  it  does  plainly  appear  they  cannot  consist  with  infinite 
 perfection.  Yet  after  all  this,  there  are  several  passions,  such 
 as  anger,  fury,  jealousy  and  revenge,  bowels  of  mercy,  compassion 
 and  pity,  joy  and  sorrow,  that  are  ascribed  to  God  in  the  com- 
 mon forms  of  speech  that  occur  often  in  Scripture,  as  was  for- 
 merly observed,  with  relation  to  those  figures  that  are  taken 
 from  the  parts  of  a  human  body.  Passion  produces  a  vehe- 
 mence of  action ;  so,  when  there  is  in  the  providences  of  God 
 such  a  vehemence  as  according  to  the  manner  of  men  would 
 import  a  passion,  then  that  passion  is  ascribed  to  God  :  When 
 he  punishes  men  for  sin,  he  is  said  to  be  angry :  when  he  does 
 that  by  severe  and  redoubled  strokes,  he  is  said  to  be  full  of 
 fury  and  revenge :  when  he  punishes  for  idolatry,  or  any  dis- 
 honour done  himself,  he  is  said  to  be  jealous:  when  he  changes 
 the  course  of  his  proceedings,  he  is  said  to  repent:  when  his 
 dispensations  of  providence  are  very  gentle,  and  his  judgments 
 come  slowly  from  him,  he  is  said  to  have  bowels.  And  thus 
 all  the  varieties  of  Providence  come  to  be  expressed  by  all  that 
 variety  of  passions,  which  among  men  might  give  occasion  to 
 such  a  variety  of  proceeding. 
 
 The  fourth  head  in  this  article  is  concerning  the  power,  wis- 
 dom, and  goodness  of  God ;  that  he  is  infinite  in  them.  If  he 
 can  give  being  to  things  that  are  not,  and  can  also  give  all  the 
 possibilities  of  motion,  size,  and  shape,  to  beings  that  do  exist, 
 here  is  power  without  bounds.  A  power  of  creating  must  be 
 infinite,  since  nothing  can  resist  it.  If  some  things  are  in  their 
 own  nature  impossible,  that  does  not  arise  from  the  want  of 
 
3S 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  I. 
 
 power  in  God,  which  extends  to  every  thing  that  is  possible. 
 But  that  which  is  supposed  to  be  impossible  of  its  own  nature, 
 canliot  actually  be :  otherwise  a  thing  might  both  be  and  not 
 be ;  and  it  is  perceptible  to  every  man  that  this  is  impossible. 
 It  is  not  want  of  power  in  God,  that  he  cannot  lie  nor  sin :  it 
 is  the  infinite  purity  of  the  Divine  Nature  that  makes  this  im- 
 possible, by  reason  of  his  infinite  perfection.  Nor  is  it  a  want 
 of  power  in  God,  that  the  truth  of  propositions  concerning 
 things  that  are  past,  as  that  yesterday  once  was,  is  unalterable. 
 Among  impossibilities,  one  is,  to  take  from  any  being  that 
 which  is  essential  to  it.  God  can  annihilate  every  being  at  his 
 pleasure ;  for  as  he  gave  being  with  a  thought,  so  he  can  de- 
 stroy it  with  another :  and  this  does  fully  assert  the  infinite 
 power  of  God.  But  if  he  has  made  beings  with  such  peculiar 
 essences,  as  that  matter  must  be  extended  and  impenetrable, 
 and  that  it  is  capable  of  peculiar  surfaces  and  other  modes, 
 which  are  only  its  diffeffent  sizes  and  shapes,  then  matter  can- 
 not be  and  yet  not  be  extended ;  nor  can  these  modes  subsist, 
 if  the  matter  of  which  they  are  the  modes  is  withdrawn.  The 
 infinite  power  of  God  is  fully  believed  by  those  who  acknow- 
 ledge both  his  power  of  creating  and  annihilating;  together 
 with  a  power  of  disposing  of  the  whole  creation,  according  to 
 the  possibilities  of  every  part  or  individual  of  it ;  though  they 
 cannot  conceive  a  possibility  of  separating  the  essential  pro- 
 perties- of  any  being  from  itself — that  is  to  say,  that  it  may  both 
 be,  and  not  be,  at  the  same  time ;  since  an  essential  property  is 
 that  which  cannot  be  without  that  substance  to  which  it  belongs. 
 
 The  wisdom  of  God  consists  first  in  his  seeing  all  the  possi- 
 bilities of  things,  and  then  in  his  knowing  all  things  that  either 
 are,  or  ever  were,  or  shall  be :  The  former  is  called  the  know- 
 ledge of  simple  intelligence  or  apprehension ;  the  other  is  called 
 the  knowledge  of  vision.  The  one  arises  from  the  perfection 
 of  the  Divine  Essence,  by  which  he  apprehends  whatever  is 
 possible ;  the  other  arises  from  his  own  decrees,  in  which  the 
 whole  order  of  things  is  fixed.  But  besides  these  two  ideas 
 that  we  can  frame  of  the  knowledge  of  God,  some  have  ima- 
 gined a  third  knowledge,  which,  because  it  is  of  a  middle  order 
 betwixt  intelligence  and  vision,  they  have  called  a  middle  know- 
 ledge;  which  is  the  knowing  certainly  how,  according  to  all 
 the  possibilities  of  circumstances  in  which  free  agents  might  be 
 put,  they  should  choose  and  act.  Some  have  thought  that  this 
 was  a  vain  and  needless  conceit ;  and  that  it  is  impossible  that 
 such  knowledge  should  be  certain,  or  more  than  conjectural  ; 
 and  since  conjecture  implies  doubt,  it  is  an  imperfect  act,  and 
 so  does  not  become  a  Being  of  infinite  perfection.  But  others 
 have  thought,  that  the  infinite  perfection  of  the  Divine  Mind 
 must  go  so  far  as  to  foresee  certainly  what  free  creatures  are  to 
 do;  since  upon  this  foresight  only  they  imagine  that  the  jus- 
 
Art.  L 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 33 
 
 tice  or  goodness  of  God  in  his  providence  can  be  made  out  or 
 defended.  It  seemed  fit  to  mention  this  upon  the  present  oc- 
 casion; but  it  will  be  then  proper  to  inquire  more  carefully 
 about  it,  when  the  article  of  predestination  is  explained. 
 
 It  is  necessary  to  state  the  idea  of  the  goodness  of  God  most 
 carefully ;  for  we  naturally  enough  frame  great  and  just  ideas 
 of  power  and  wisdom ;  but  we  easily  fall  into  false  conceits  of 
 goodness.    This  is  that  of  all  the  divine  perfections  in  which 
 we  are  the  most  concerned,  and  so  we  ought  to  be  the  most 
 careful  to  frame  true  ideas  of  it :  it  is  also  that,  of  all  God's 
 attributes,  of  which  the  Scriptures  speak  most  copiously. 
 Infinite  goodness  is  a  tendency  to  communicate  the  divine 
 perfections  to  all  created  beings,  according  to  their  several 
 capacities.    God  is  original  goodness,  all  perfect  and  happy 
 in  himself,  acting  and  seeing  every  thing  in  a  perfect  light ; 
 and  he  having  made  rational  beings  capable  of  some  degrees 
 of  his  light,  purity,  and  perfection,  the  first  and  primary 
 act  of  goodness  is  to  propose  to  them  such  means  as  may 
 raise  them  to  these,  to  furnish  them  with  them,  to  move  them 
 oft  to  them,  to  accept  and  to  assist  their  sincere  endeavours 
 after  them.    A  second  act  of  goodness,  which  is  but  in  order 
 to  the  first,  is  to  pity  those  miseries  into  which  men  fall,  as  long- 
 as  there  is  any  principle  or  possibility  left  in  them  of  their  be- 
 coming good ;  to  pardon  all  such  sins  as  men  have  committed, 
 who  turn  to  the  purposes  of  becoming  seriously  good,  and  to 
 pass  by  all  the  frailties  and  errors  of  those  who  are  truly  and 
 upon  the  main  good,  though  surprise  and  strong  temptations 
 prove  often  too  hard  for  them.    These  two  give  us  as  full  an 
 idea  as  we  can  have  of  perfect  goodness;  whose  first  aim  must 
 be  the  making  us  good,  and  like  to  that  original  goodness ; 
 pity  and  pardon  coming  in  but  in  a  subsidiary  way,  to  carry 
 on  the  main  design  of  making  men  truly  good.    Therefore  the 
 chief  act  and  design  of  goodness  is  the  making  us  truly  good ; 
 and  when  any  person  falls  below  that  possibility,  he  is  no  more 
 the  object  of  pity  or  pardon,  because  he  is  no  more  capable  of 
 becoming  good.    Pardon  is  offered  on  design  to  make  us  really 
 good ;  so  it  is  not  to  be  sought  for,  nor  rested  in,  but  in  order 
 to  a  further  end,  which  is  the  reforming  our  natures,  and  the 
 making  us  partakers  of  the  divine  nature.    We  are  not  there- 
 fore to  frame  ideas  of  a  feeble  goodness  in  God,  that  yields  to 
 importunate  cries,  or  that  melts  at  a  vast  degree  of  misery. 
 Tenderness  in  human  nature  is  a  great  ornament  and  perfec- 
 tion, necessary  to  dispose  us  to  much  benignity  and  mercy : 
 but  in  the  common  administration  of  justice,  this  tenderness 
 must  be  restrained ;  otherwise  it  would  slacken  the  rigour  of 
 punishment  too  much,  which  might  dissolve  the  order  and  peace 
 of  human  societies.    But  since  we  cannot  see  into  the  truth  of 
 men's  hearts,  a  charitable  disposition  and  a  compassionate  tem- 
 
 c 
 
34 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  I. 
 
 per  are  necessary,  to  make  men  sociable  and  kind,  gentle  and 
 humane.  God,  who  sees  our  hearts,  and  is  ever  assisting  all 
 our  endeavours  to  become  truly  good,  needs  not  this  tender- 
 ness, nor  is  he  indeed  capable  of  it ;  for  after  all  its  beauty  with 
 relation  to  the  state  wherein  we  are  now  put,  yet  in  itself  it 
 implies  imperfection.  Nor  can  the  miseries  and  howlings  of 
 wicked  beings,  after  all  the  seeds  and  possibilities  of  goodness 
 are  utterly  extinguished  in  them,  give  any  pity  to  the  Divine 
 Being.  These  are  no  longer  the  object  of  the  primary  act  of 
 his  goodness,  and  therefore  they  cannot  come  under  its  second- 
 ary acts.  It  is  of  such  great  consequence  to  settle  this  notion 
 right  in  our  minds,  that  it  well  deserves  to  be  so  copiously 
 opened ;  since  we  now  see  in  what  respects  God's  goodness  is 
 without  bounds,  and  infinite;  that  is,  it  reaches  to  all  men, 
 after  all  sins  whatsoever,  as  long  as  they  are  capable  of  becom- 
 ing good.  It  is  not  a  limitation  of  the  divine  goodness  to  say, 
 that  some  men  and  some  states  are  beyond  it ;  no  more  than 
 it  is  a  limitation  of  his  power  to  say,  that  he  cannot  sin,  or  can- 
 not do  impossibilities :  for  a  goodness  towards  persons  not  ca- 
 pable of  becoming  good,,  is  a  goodness  that  does  not  agree  with 
 the  infinite  purity  and  holiness  of  God.  It  is  such  a  goodness, 
 that  if  it  were  proposed  to  the  world,  it  would  encourage  men 
 to  live  in  sin,  and  to  think  that  a  few  acts  of  homage  offered  to 
 God,  perhaps  in  our  last  extremities,  could  so  far  please  him, 
 as  to  bribe  and  corrupt  him. 
 
 This  is  that  which  makes  idolatry  so  great  a  sin,  so  often 
 forbid  by  God,  and  so  severely  punished,  not  only  as  it  is  in- 
 jurious to  the  majesty  of  God,  but  because  it  corrupts  the  ideas 
 or  notions  of  God.  Those  ideas  rightly  formed  are  the  basis 
 upon  which  all  Religion  is  built.  The  seeds  and  principles  of 
 a  new  and  godlike  nature  spring  up  in  us  as  we  form  ourselves 
 upon  the  true  ideas  or  notions  of  God.  Therefore,  when  God 
 is  proposed  to  be  adored  by  us  under  a  visible  shape  or  image, 
 all  the  acts  of  Religion  offered  to  it  are  only  so  many  pieces  of 
 pageantry,  and  end  in  the  flatterings  and  the  magnify  ings  of  it 
 with  much  pomp,  cruelty,  or  lasciviousness,  according  to  the 
 different  genius  of  several  nations.  So  the  forming  a  false  no- 
 tion of  the  goodness  of  God,  as  a  tenderness  that  is  to  be  over- 
 come with  importunities  and  howlings,  and  other  submissions, 
 and  not  to  be  gained  only  by  becoming  like  him,  is  a  capital 
 and  fundamental  error  in  religion. 
 
 The  next  branch  of  this  Article  is,  God's  creating  and  pre- 
 serving of  all  things;  and  that  both  material  substances,  which 
 are  visible,  and  immaterial  and  spiritual  substances,  which  are 
 invisible.  God's  creating  all  things  has  been  already  made  out. 
 If  matter  could  neither  be  eternal,  nor  give  itself  a  being,  then 
 it  must  have  its  being  from  God.  Creating  does  naturally  im- 
 port infinite  power;  for  that  power  is  clearly  without  bounds 
 
Art.  I. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 35 
 
 that  can  make  things  out  of  nothing :  a  bounded  power,  which 
 can  only  shape  and  mould  matter,  must  suppose  it  to  have  a 
 being,  before  it  can  work  upon  it.  We  cannot  indeed  form  a 
 distinct  thought  of  creation,  for  we  cannot  apprehend  what 
 nothing  is.  The  nearest  approach  we  can  bring  ourselves  to 
 a  true  idea  of  this  is,  the  considering  our  own  thoughts  ;  espe- 
 cially our  ideas  of  mathematical  proportions,  and  the  other  af- 
 fections of  bodies :  those  ideas  are  the  modes  of  a  spiritual  sub- 
 stance; and  there  is  no  likeness  nor  resemblance  between  them 
 and  the  modes  of  material  substances,  which  are  only  the  occa- 
 sions of  our  having  those  ideas,  and  not  in  any  wise  the  matter 
 out  of  which  they  are  formed.  Here  seems  to  be  a  sort  of  beings 
 brought  out  of  nothing ;  but,  after  all,  this  is  vastly  below  crea- 
 tion, and  is  only  a  faint  resemblance  of  it. 
 
 With  the  power  of  creating  we  must  also  join  that  of  anni- 
 hilating, which  is  equal  to  it,  and  must  necessarily  be  supposed 
 to  be  in  God,  because  we  plainly  perceive  it  to  be  a  perfection. 
 The  recalling  into  nothing  a  being  brought  out  of  nothing,  is 
 a  necessary  consequence  of  infinite  power,  when  it  thinks  fit  so 
 to  exert  itself.  There  is  a  common  notion  in  the  world,  that 
 things  would  fall  back  into  nothing  of  themselves,  if  they  were 
 not  preserved  by  the  same  infinite  Power  that  made  them ;  but 
 without  question  it  is  an  act  of  the  same  infinite  Power  to 
 reduce  a  being  to  nothing,  that  it  is  to  bring  a  being  out  of 
 nothing :  so  whatever  has  once  a  being,  must  of  its  nature  con- 
 tinue still  to  be,  without  any  new  causality  or  influence.  This 
 must  be  acknowledged,  unless  it  can  be  said,  that  a  tendency 
 to  annihilation  is  the  consequent  of  a  created  being.  But  as 
 this  would  make  the  preservation  of  the  world  to  be  a  continued 
 violence  to  a  natural  tendency  that  is  in  all  things ;  so  there  is 
 no  more  reason  to  imagine  that  beings  have  a  tendency  to  an- 
 nihilation, than  that  nothing  had  a  tendency  to  creation.  It 
 is  absurd  to  think  that  any  thing  can  have  a  tendency  to  that 
 which  is  essentially  opposite  to  itself,  and  is  destructive  of  it. 
 
 The  preservation  of  things,  is  the  keeping  the  frame  of  na- 
 ture and  the  order  of  the  universe  in  such  a  state  as  is  suitable 
 to  the  purposes  of  the  Supreme  Mind.  It  is  true,  natural  agents 
 must  ever  keep  the  course  in  which  they  are  once  put ;  and  the 
 great  heavenly  orbs,  as  well  as  all  smaller  motions,  must  ever 
 have  rolled  on  in  one  constant  channel,  when  they  were  once 
 put  into  it :  so  in  this  respect  it  may  seem  that  conservation 
 by  a  special  act  is  not  necessary.  But  we  perceive  a  freedom 
 in  our  own  natures,  and  a  power  that  our  minds  have,  not  only 
 to  move  our  own  bodies,  but  by  them,  and  by  the  help  of  such 
 engines  as  we  can  invent,  we  make  a  vast  change  in  this  earth 
 from  what  it  would  be,  if  it  were  left  unwrought.  In  a  course 
 of  some  ages,  the  whole  world,  by  the  natural  progress  of  things, 
 would  be  a  forest.    Both  earth  and  air  are  very  much  different 
 
$6 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  I. 
 
 from  what  they  would  be,  if  men  were  not  free  agents,  and  did 
 not  cultivate  the  earth,  and  thereby  purify  the  air.  The  work- 
 ing of  mines,  minerals,  and  other  fossils,  makes  also  a  great 
 change  in  its  bowels ;  it  gives  vent  to  some  damps  which  might 
 much  affect  the  air,  and  it  frees  the  earth  from  earthquakes. 
 Thus  the  industry  of  man  has  in  many  respects  changed  both 
 earth  and  air  very  sensibly  from  what  they  would  have  been,  if 
 the  world  had  not  those  inhabitants  in  it.  Nor  do  we  know 
 what  natural  force  other  spirits  inhabiting  in  or  about  it,  or  at 
 least  using  subtiler  bodies,  may  have,  or  in  what  influences  or 
 operations  they  may  exert  that  force  on  material  substances. 
 Upon  all  these  accounts  it  is,  that  the  world  could  not  be  pre- 
 served in  a  constant  and  regular  state,  if  the  Supreme  Mind 
 had  not  a  direction  both  of  men's  wills  and  actions,  and  of  the 
 course  of  nature :  for  unless  it  is  thought  that  man  is  really  no 
 free  agent,  but  acts  in  a  chain  as  certainly  as  other  natural 
 agents  do,  it  must  be  acknowledged,  that  by  the  interposition 
 of  men's  minds,  together  with  their  power  over  matter,  the 
 course  of  the  first  motion  that  was  given  to  the  universe  is  so 
 changed,  that  if  there  is  not  a  constant  providence,  the  frame 
 of  nature  must  go  out  of  the  channel  into  which  God  did  at  first 
 put  it.  The  order  of  things  on  this  earth  takes  a  great  turn 
 from  the  wind,  both  as  to  the  fruitfulness  of  the  earth  and  to 
 the  operations  on  the  sea,  and  has  likewise  a  great  influence  on 
 the  purity  of  the  air,  and,  by  consequence,  on  men's  good  or  ill 
 health  ;  and  the  wind,  or  the  agitation  of  the  air,  turns  so  often 
 and  so  quick,  that  it  seems  to  be  the  great  instrument  of  Pro- 
 vidence upon  which  an  unconceivable  variety  of  things  does 
 naturally  depend.  I  do  not  deny  but  that  it  may  be  said,  that 
 all  those  changes  in  the  air  arise  from  certain  and  mechanical, 
 though  to  us  unknown  causes ;  which  may  be  supported  from 
 this,  that  between  the  tropics,  where  the  influence  of  the  hea- 
 venly bodies  is  stronger,  the  wind  and  weather  are  more  regu- 
 lar ;  though  even  that  admits  of  great  exceptions :  yet  it  has 
 been  the  common  sense  of  mankind,  that,  besides  the  natural 
 causes  of  the  alterations  in  the  air,  they  are  under  a  particular 
 influence  and  direction  of  Providence ;  and  it  is  in  itself  highly 
 probable,  to  say  no  more  of  it.  This  may  either  be  managed 
 immediately  by  the  acts  of  the  Divine  Mind,  to  which  nature 
 readily  obeys,  or  by  some  subaltern  mind,  or  angel,  which  may 
 have  as  natural  an  efficiency  over  an  extent  of  matter  propor- 
 tioned to  its  capacity,  as  a  man  has  over  his  own  body,  and  over 
 that  compass  of  matter  that  is  within  his  reach.  Which  way 
 soever  God  governs  the  world,  and  what  influence  soever  he  has 
 over  men's  minds,  we  are  sure  that  the  governing  and  preserving 
 his  own  workmanship  is  so  plainly  a  perfection,  that  it  must  be- 
 long to  a  Being  infinitely  perfect :  and  there  is  such  a  chain  in 
 things,  those  of  the  greatest  consequence  arising  often  from  small 
 
Aur.  I. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 37 
 
 and  inconsiderable  ones,  that  we  cannot  imagine  a  Providence, 
 unless  we  believe  everv  thins  to  be  within  its  care  and  view. 
 
 The  only  difficulty  that  has  been  made  in  apprehending  this, 
 has  arisen  from  the  narrowness  of  men's  minds,  who  have  mea- 
 sured God  rather  by  their  own  measure  and  capacity,  than  by 
 that  of  infinite  perfection,  which,  as  soon  as  it  is  considered, 
 will  put  an  end  to  all  further  doubtings  about  it.  When  we 
 perceive  that  a  vast  number  of  objects  enter  in  at  our  eye  by  a 
 very  small  passage,  and  yet  are  so  little  jumbled  in  that  crowd 
 that  they  open  themselves  regularly,  though  there  is  no  great 
 space  for  that  neither ;  and  that  they  give  us  a  distinct  appre- 
 hension of  many  objects  that  lie  before  us,  some  even  at  a  vast 
 distance  from  us,  both  of  their  nature,  colour,  and  size  ;  and 
 by  a  secret  geometry,  from  the  angles  that  they  make  in  our 
 eye,  we  judge  of  the  distance  of  all  objects,  both  from  us  and 
 from  one  another  :  if  to  this  we  add  the  vast  number  of  figures 
 that  we  receive  and  retain  long  and  with  great  order  in  our 
 brains,  which  we  easily  fetch  up  either  in  our  thoughts  or  in  our 
 discourses ;  we  shall  find  it  less  difficult  to  apprehend  how  an 
 infinite  mind  should  have  the  universal  view  of  all  things  ever 
 present  before  it.  It  is  true,  we  do  not  so  easily  conceive  how 
 free  minds  are  under  this  Providence,  as  how  natural  agents 
 should  always  move  at  its  direction  ;  but  we  perceive  that  one 
 mind  can  work  upon  another.  A  man  raises  a  sound  of  words, 
 which  carry  such  signs  of  his  inward  thoughts,  that  by  this  mo- 
 tion in  the  air  another  man's  ear  is  so  struck  upon  that  thereby 
 an  impression  is  made  upon  his  brain,  by  which  he  not  only 
 conceives  what  the  other  man's  thought  was,  but  is  very  power- 
 fully inclined  to  consent  to  it,  and  to  concur  with  it.  All  this 
 is  a  great  way  about,  and  could  not  be  easily  apprehended  by 
 us,  if  we  had  not  a  clear  and  constant  perception  of  it.  Now 
 since  all  this  is  brought  about  by  a  motion  upon  our  brains, 
 according  to  the  force  with  which  we  are  more  or  less  affected, 
 it  is  very  reasonable  for  us  to  apprehend  that  the  Supreme 
 Mind  can,  besides  many  other  ways  to  us  less  known,  put  such 
 motions  in  our  brain,  as  may  give  us  all  such  thoughts  as  it 
 intends  to  impress  upon  us,  in  as  strong  and  effectual  a  man- 
 ner as  may  fully  answer  all  its  purposes. 
 
 The  great  objection  that  lies  against  the  power  and  the  good- 
 ness of  Providence,  from  all  that  evil  that  is  in  the  world  which 
 God  is  either  not  willing  or  not  able  to  hinder,  will  be  more 
 properly  considered  in  another  place :  at  present  it  is  enough 
 in  general  to  observe,  that  God's  providence  must  carry  on  every 
 thing  according  to  its  nature ;  and  since  he  has  made  some  free 
 beings  capable  of  thought,  and  of  good  and  evil,  we  must  be- 
 lieve, that  as  the  course  of  nature  is  not  oft  put  out  of  its  chan- 
 nel, unless  when  some  extraordinary  thing  is  to  be  done,  in 
 order  to  some  great  end;  so,  in  the  government  of  free  agents, 
 
38 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  I. 
 
 they  must  be  generally  left  to  their  liberty,  and  not  put  too  oft 
 off  their  bias.  This  is  a  hint  to  resolve  that  difficulty  by,  con- 
 cerning all  the  moral  evil  which  is,  generally  speaking,  the 
 occasion  of  most  of  the  physical  evil  that  is  in  the  world.  A 
 providence  thus  settled,  that  extends  itself  to  all  things  both 
 natural  and  free,  is  necessary  to  preserve  religion,  to  engage 
 us  to  prayers,  praises,  and  to  a  dependence  on  it,  and  a  sub- 
 mission to  it.  Some  have  thought  it  was  necessary  to  carry  this 
 further,  and  so  they  make  God  to  be  the  first  and  immediate 
 cause  of  every  action  or  motion.  This  some  modern  writers 
 have  taken  from  the  schools,  and  have  dressed  it  in  new  phrases 
 of  general  laws,  particular  wills,  and  occasional  causes ;  and  so 
 they  express  or  explain  God's  producing  every  motion  that  is 
 in  matter,  and  his  raising  every  sensation,  and,  by  the  same 
 parity  of  reason,  every  cogitation  in  minds :  This  they  think 
 arises  out  of  the  idea  of  infinite  perfection,  and  fully  answers 
 these  words  of  the  Scriptures,  that  in  God  we  live,  move,  and 
 have  our  being.  To  others  all  this  seems  first  unnecessary ;  for 
 if  God  has  made  matter  capable  of  motion,  and  capable  of  re- 
 ceiving it  from  the  stroke  or  impulse  that  another  piece  of  mat- 
 ter gives  it ;  this  comes  as  truly  from  God,  as  if  he  did  imme- 
 diately give  every  motion  by  an  act  of  his  own  will.  It  seems 
 more  suitable  to  the  beauty  of  his  workmanship,  to  think  that 
 he  has  so  framed  things  that  they  hold  on  in  that  course  in 
 which  he  has  put  them,  than  to  make  him  perpetually  produce 
 every  new  motion.  And  the  bringing  God  immediately  into 
 every  thing,  may,  by  an  odd  reverse  of  effects,  make  the  world 
 think  that  every  thing  is  done  as  much  without  him,  as  others 
 are  apt  to  imagine  that  every  thing  is  done  by  him.  And 
 though  it  is  true,  that  we  cannot  distinctly  apprehend  how  a 
 motion  in  our  brain  should  raise  such  a  thought  as  answers  to 
 it  in  our  minds,  yet  it  seems  more  reasonable  to  think  that  God 
 has  put  us  under  such  an  order  of  being  from  which  that  does 
 naturally  follow,  than  that  he  himself  should  interpose  in  every 
 thought.  The  difficulty  of  apprehending  how  a  thing  is  done, 
 can  be  no  prejudice  to  the  belief  of  it,  when  we  have  the  infi- 
 nite power  of  God  in  our  thoughts,  who  may  be  as  easily  con- 
 ceived to  have  once  for  all  put  us  in  a  method  of  receiving  such 
 sensations,  by  a  general  law  or  course  of  nature,  as  to  give  us 
 new  ones  at  every  minute.  But  the  greatest  difficulty  against 
 this  is,  that  it  makes  God  the  first  physical  cause  of  all  the  evil 
 that  is  in  the  world ;  which,  as  it  is  contrary  to  his  nature,  so 
 it  absolutely  destroys  all  liberty  :  and  this  puts  an  end  to  all  the 
 distinctions  between  good  and  evil,  and  consequently  to  all  reli- 
 gion. And  as  for  those  large  expressions  that  are  brought  from 
 Scripture,  every  word  in  Scripture  is  not  to  be  stretched  to  the 
 utmost  physical  sense  to  which  it  can  be  carried :  it  is  enough 
 if  a  sense  is  given  to  it,  that  agrees  to  the  scope  of  it ;  which  is 
 
Art.  I 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 39 
 
 folly  answered  by  acknowledging,  that  the  power  and  provi- 
 dence of  God  is  over  all  things,  and  that  it  directs  every  thing 
 to  wise  and  good  ends — from  which  nothing  is  hid,  by  which 
 nothing  is  forgot,  and  to  which  nothing  can  resist.  This 
 scheme  of  providence  fully  agrees  with  the  notion  of  a  Being 
 infinitely  perfect,  and  with  all  that  the  Scriptures  affirm  con- 
 cerning it ;  and  it  lays  down  a  firm  foundation  for  all  the  acts 
 and  exercises  of  religion. 
 
 As  to  the  power  and  providence  of  God  with  relation  to  in- 
 visible beings,  we  plainly  perceive  that  there  is  in  us  a  principle 
 capable  of  thought  and  liberty,  of  which,  by  all  that  appears  to  • 
 us.  matter  is  not  at  all  capable :  after  its  utmost  refinings  by 
 fires  and  furnaces,  it  is  still  passive,  and  has  no  self-motion, 
 much  less  thought,  in  it.  Thought  >etms  plainly  to  arise  from 
 a  single  principle,  that  has  no  parts,  and  is  quite  another  thing 
 than  the  motion  of  one  subtile  piece  of  matter  upon  another 
 can  be  supposed  to  be.  If  thought  is  only  motion,  then  no  part 
 of  us  thinks,  but  as  it  is  in  motion ;  so  that  only  the  moving  par- 
 ticles, or  rather  their  surfaces,  that  strike  upon  one  another,  do 
 think  :  but  such  a  motion  must  end  quickly,  in  the  dissipation 
 and  evaporation  of  die  whole  thinking  substance :  nor  can  any 
 of  the  quiescent  parts  have  any  perception  of  such  thoughts,  or 
 any  reflection  upon  them.  And  to  say  that  matter  may  have 
 other  affections  unknown  to  us  besides  motion,  by  which  it  may- 
 think,  is  to  affirm  a  thing  without  any  sort  of  reason :  it  is  ra- 
 ther a  riving  from  an  argument,  than  an  answering  it :  no  man 
 has  any  reason  to  affirm  this,  nor  can  he  have  any.  And  be- 
 sides, all  our  cogitations  of  immaterial  things,  proportions,  and 
 numbers,  do  plainly  shew  that  we  have  a  being  in  us  distinct 
 from  matter,  that  rises  above  it,  and  commands  it :  we  perceive 
 we  have  a  freedom  of  moving  and  acting  at  pleasure.  All  these 
 things  give  us  a  clear  perception  of  a  being  that  is  in  us  distinct 
 from  matter,  of  which  we  are  not  able  to  form  a  complete  idea; 
 we  having  only  four  perceptions  of  its  nature  and  operations  : — 
 1.  That  it  tlvinks  :  *2.  That  it  has  an  inward  power  of  choice : 
 
 3.  That  by  its  will  it  can  move  and  command  the  body :  and, 
 
 4.  That  it  is  in  a  close  and  entire  union  with  it ;  that  it  has  a 
 dependence  on  it,  as  to  many  of  its  acts,  as  well  as  an  authority 
 over  it  in  many  other  things.  Such  a  being  that  has  no  parts 
 must  be  immortal  in  its  nature,  for  every  single  being  is  immor- 
 tal. It  is  only  the  union  of  parts  that  is  capable  of  being  dis- 
 solved ;  that  winch  has  no  parts  is  indissoluble.  To  this  two 
 objections  are  made  : — One  is,  that  beasts  seem  to  have  both 
 thought  and  freedom,  though  in  a  lower  order :  if  then  matter 
 can  be  capable  of  this  in  any  degree,  how  low  soever,  a  higher 
 rectification  of  matter  may  be  capable  of  a  higher  degree  of  it. 
 It  is  therefore  certain,  that  either  beasts  have  no  thought  or 
 liberty  at  all,  and  are  only  pieces  of  .finely  organized  matter. 
 
ftO 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  I. 
 
 capable  of  many  subtile  motions  that  come  to  them  from  ob- 
 jects without  them,  but  that  they  have  no  sensation  nor  thought 
 at  all  about  them ;  or,  (since  how  prettily  soever  some  may  have 
 dressed  up  this  notion,  it  is  that  which  human  nature  cannot 
 receive  or  bear),  there  being  such  evident  indications  of  even 
 high  degrees  of  reason  among  the  beasts,  it  is  more  reasonable 
 to  imagine,  that  there  may  be  spirits  of  a  lower  order  in  beasts, 
 that  have  in  them  a  capacity  of  thinking  and  choosing ;  but 
 that  so  entirely  under  the  impressions  of  matter,  that  they  are 
 not  capable  of  that  largeness,  either  of  thought  or  liberty,  that 
 is  necessary  to  make  them  capable  of  good  or  evil,  of  rewards 
 and  punishments ;  and  that  therefore  they  may  be  perpetually 
 rolling  about  from  one  body  to  another.  Another  objection  to 
 the  belief  of  an  immaterial  substance  in  us  is,  that  we  feel  it  de- 
 pends so  entirely  on  the  fabric  and  state  of  the  brain,  that  a  dis- 
 order, a  vapour,  or  humour  in  it,  defaces  all  our  thoughts,  our 
 memory,  and  imagination ;  and  since  we  find  that  which  we  call 
 mind  sinks  so  low  upon  a  disorder  of  the  body,  it  may  be  rea- 
 sonable to  believe,  that  it  evaporates,  and  is  quite  dissipated 
 upon  the  dissolution  of  our  bodies  :  so  that  the  soul  is  nothing 
 but  the  livelier  parts  of  the  blood,  called  the  animal  spirits.  In 
 answer  to  this,  we  know  that  those  animal  spirits  are  of  such  an 
 evanid  and  subtile  nature,  that  they  are  in  a  perpetual  waste, 
 new  ones  always  succeeding  as  the  former  go  off ;  but  we  per- 
 ceive at  the  same  time  that  our  soul  is  a  stable  and  permanent 
 being,  by  the  steadiness  of  its  acts  and  thoughts — we  being  for 
 many  years  plainly  the  same  beings ;  and  therefore  our  souls 
 cannot  be  such  a  loose  and  evaporating  substance  as  those 
 spirits  are.  The  spirits  are  indeed  the  inward  organs  of  the 
 mind,  for  memory,  speech,  and  bodily  motion ;  and  as  these 
 flatten  or  are  wasted,  the  mind  is  less  able  to  act.  As  when 
 the  eye  or  any  other  organ  of  sense  is  weakened,  the  sensa- 
 tions grow  feeble  on  that  side;  and  as  a  man  is  less  able  to 
 work,  when  all  those  instruments  he  makes  use  of  are  blunt- 
 ed ;  so  the  mind  may  sink  upon  a  decay  or  disorder  in  those 
 spirits,  and  yet  be  of  a  nature  wholly  different  from  them. 
 How  a  mind  should  work  on  matter,  cannot,  I  confess,  be 
 clearly  comprehended.  It  cannot  be  denied  by  any  that  is 
 not  a  direct  atheist,  that  the  thoughts  of  the  Supreme  Mind 
 give  impressions  and  motions  to  matter.  So  our  thoughts  may 
 give  a  motion,  or  the  determination  of  motion,  to  matter,  and 
 yet  rise  from  substances  wholly  different  from  it.  Nor  is  it  in- 
 conceivable, that  the  Supreme  Mind  should  have  put  our  minds 
 likewise  under  such  a  subordination  to  some  material  motions, 
 that  out  of  them  peculiar  thoughts  should  arise  in  us.  And 
 though  this  union  is  that  which  we  cannot  distinctly  conceive ; 
 yet  there  is  no  difficulty  in  it,  equal  to  that  of  our  imagining  that 
 matter  can  think  or  move  itself.    We  perceive  that  we  our- 
 
Art.  I. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 selves  and  the  rest  of  mankind  have  thinking  principles  within 
 us;  so  from  thence  it  is  easy  enough  to  us  to  apprehend,  that 
 there  may  be  other  thinking  beings,  which  either  have  no 
 bodies  at  all,  but  act  purely  as  intellectual  substances;  or,  if 
 they  have  bodies,  that  they  are  so  subtilized  as  to  be  capable 
 of  a  vast  quickness  of  motion,  such  in  proportion  as  we  per- 
 ceive to  be  in  our  animal  spirits,  which,  in  the  minute  that  our 
 minds  command  them,  are  raising  motions  in  the  remotest 
 parts  of  our  bodies.  Such  bodies  may  also  be  so  thin  as  to  be 
 invisible  to  us  :  and  as  among  men  some  are  good  and  some 
 bad,  and  of  the  bad  some  seem  to  be  determinedly,  and,  as  to 
 all  appearance,  incurably  bad ;  so  there  may  have  been  a  time 
 and  state  of  liberty,  in  which  those  spirits  were  left  to  their 
 choice,  whether  they  would  continue  in  their  innocency,  or  fall 
 from  it :  and  such  as  continued  might  be  for  ever  fixed  in  that 
 state,  or  exalted  to  higher  degrees  in  it ;  and  such  as  fell  from 
 it  might  fall  irrecoverably  into  a  state  of  utter  apostasy  from 
 God,  and  of  rebellion  against  him.  There  is  nothing  in  this 
 theory  that  is  incredible  ;  therefore,  if  the  Scriptures  have  told 
 us  any  thing  concerning  it,  we  have  no  reason  to  be  prejudiced 
 against  them  upon  that  account :  besides  that,  there  are  innu- 
 merable histories  in  many  several  countries  and  ages  of  the 
 world,  of  extraordinary  apparitions,  and  other  unaccountable 
 performances,  that  could  only  have  been  done  by  invisible 
 powers.  Many  of  those  are  so  well  attested,  that  it  argues  a 
 strange  pitch  of  obstinacy  to  refuse  to  believe  a  matter  of  fact 
 when  it  is  well  vouched,  and  when  there  is  nothing  in  reason 
 to  oppose  it  but  an  unwillingness  to  believe  invisible  beings. 
 It  is  true,  this  is  an  argument  in  which  a  fabulous  humour  will 
 go  far,  and  in  which  some  are  so  credulous  as  to  swallow  down 
 every  thing ;  therefore  all  wise  men  ought  to  suspend  their  be- 
 lief, and  not  to  go  too  fast :  but  when  things  are  so  undeniably 
 attested,  that  there  is  no  reason  to  question  the  exactness  or 
 the  credit  of  the  witnesses,  it  argues  a  mind  unreasonably  pre- 
 possessed to  reject  all  such  evidence. 
 
 All  those  invisible  beings  were  created  by  God,  and  are  not 
 to  be  considered  as  emanations  or  rays  of  his  essence,  which 
 was  a  gross  conceit  of  such  philosophers  as  fancied  that  the 
 Deity  had  parts.  They  are  beings  created  by  him,  and  are 
 capable  of  passing  through  various  scenes,  in  bodies  more  or 
 less  refined.  In  this  life,  the  state  of  our  minds  receives  vast 
 alterations  from  the  state  of  our  bodies,  which  ripen  gradually  : 
 and  after  they  are  come  to  their  full  growth,  they  cannot  hold 
 in  that  condition  long,  but  sink  down  much  faster  than  they 
 grew  up ;  some  humours  or  diseases  discomposing  the  brain, 
 which  is  the  seat  of  the  mind,  so  entirely,  that  it  cannot  serve 
 it,  at  least  so  far  as  to  reflex  acts.  So  in  the  next  state  it  is 
 possible  that  we  may  at  first  be  in  a  less  perfect  condition  by 
 
42 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  I. 
 
 reason  of  this,  that  we  may  have  a  less  perfect  body,  to  which 
 we  may  be  united  between  our  death  and  the  general  resurrec- 
 tion ;  and  there  may  be  a  time,  in  which  we  may  receive  a  vast 
 addition  and  exaltation  in  that  state,  by  the  raising  up  of  our 
 former  bodies,  and  the  reuniting  us  to  them,  which  may  give 
 us  a  greater  compass,  and  a  higher  elevation. 
 
 These  things  are  only  proposed  as  suppositions  that  have 
 no  absurdity  in  them :  so  that  if  they  should  happen  to  be  the 
 parts  of  a  revealed  religion,  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  of  it, 
 or  to  reject  it,  on  such  an  account. 
 
 The  last  branch  of  this  Article  is,  the  assertion  of  that  great 
 doctrine  of  the  Christian  Religion  concerning  the  Trinity,  or 
 Three  Persons  in  one  divine  essence.  It  is  a  vain  attempt 
 to  go  about  to  prove  this  by  reason :  for  it  must  be  confessed, 
 that  we  should  have  had  no  cause  to  have  thought  of  any  such 
 thing,  if  the  Scriptures  had  not  revealed  it  to  us.  There  are 
 indeed  prints  of  a  very  ancient  tradition  in  the  world,  of  three 
 in  the  Deity ;  called  the  Word  or  the  Wisdom,  and  the  Spirit 
 or  the  Love,  besides  the  fountain  of  both  these,  God :  this  was 
 believed  by  those  from  whom  the  most  ancient  philosophers 
 had  their  doctrines.  The  author  of  the  Book  of  Wisdom, 
 Philo,  and  the  Chaldee  paraphrasts,  have  many  things  that 
 shew  that  they  had  received  those  traditions  from  the  former 
 ages ;  but  it  is  not  so  easy  to  determine  what  gave  the  first  rise 
 to  them. 
 
 It  has  been  much  argued,  whether  this  was  revealed  in  the 
 Old  Testament  or  not.  Some,  from  the  plural  termination  of 
 Elohim,  which  is  joined  to  singular  verbs,  and  from  that  of  the 
 Lord  raining  fire  from  the  Lord  upon  Sodom,  (Jehovah  from 
 Jehovah) ;  from  the  description  of  the  Wisdom  of  God  in  the 
 viiith  of  the  Proverbs,  as  a  Person  with  God  from  all  eternity ; 
 and  from  the  mention  that  is  often  made  of  the  Spirit,  as  well 
 as  the  Word  of  God  that  came  to  the  Prophets ;  they  have,  I 
 say,  from  all  these  places,  and  some  others,  concluded,  that  this 
 is  contained  in  the  Old  Testament.  Others  have  doubted  of 
 this,  and  have  said  that  the  name  Elohim,  though  of  a  plural 
 termination,  being  often  joined  to  a  singular  verb,  makes  it 
 reasonable  to  think  it  was  a  singular,  which  by  somewhat  pe- 
 culiar to  that  language  might  be  of  a  plural  termination.  Nor 
 have  they  thought,  that  since  angels  carry  the  name  of  God, 
 when  they  went  on  special  deputations  from  him,  the  angels 
 being  called  Jehovah  could  be  very  confidently  urged.  That 
 sublime  description  of  the  Wisdom  of  God  in  the  Proverbs 
 seems  not  to  them  to  be  a  full  proof  in  this  matter ;  for  the 
 Wisdom  there  mentioned  seems  to  be  the  Wisdom  of  crea- 
 tion and  providence,  which  is  not  personal,  but  belongs  to  the 
 essence.  Nor  do  they  think  that  those  places  in  the  Old  Tes- 
 tament in  which  mention  is  made  of  the  Word,  or  of  the  Spirit 
 
Art.  I. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 43 
 
 of  God,  can  settle  this  point ;  for  these  may  only  signify  God's 
 revealing  himself  to  his  prophets.  Therefore,  whatever  secret 
 tradition  the  Jews  might  have  had  among  them  concerning 
 this,  from  whom  perhaps  the  Greeks  might  have  also  had  it, 
 vet  many  do  not  pretend  to  prove  this  from  passages  in  the  Old 
 Testament  alone :  Though  the  expositions  given  to  some  of 
 them  in  the  New  Testament  prove  to  us,  who  acknowledge  it, 
 what  was  the  true  meaning  of  those  passages ;  yet  take  the  Old 
 Testament  in  itself  without  the  New,  and  it  must  be  confessed, 
 that  it  will  not  be  easy  to  prove  this  Article  from  it. 
 
 But  there  are  very  full  and  clear  proofs  of  it  in  the  New 
 Testament ;  and  they  had  need  be  both  full  and  clear,  before 
 a  doctrine  of  this  nature  can  be  pretended  to  be  proved  by 
 them.  In  order  to  the  making  this  mystery  to  be  more  dis- 
 tinctly intelligible,  different  methods  have  been  taken.  By  One 
 Substance  many  do  understand  a  numerical  or  individual  unity 
 of  substance  ;  and  by  Three  Persons  they  understand  three  dis- 
 tinct subsistences  in  that  essence.  It  is  not  pretended  by  these, 
 that  we  can  give  a  distinct  idea  of  Person  or  Subsistence ;  only 
 they  hold  it  imports  a  real  diversity  in  one  from  another,  and 
 even  such  a  diversity  from  the  substance  of  the  Deity  itself, 
 that  some  things  belong  to  the  Person  which  do  not  belong  to 
 the  Substance :  for  the  Substance  neither  begets,  nor  is  begot- 
 ten ;  neither  breathes,  nor  proceeds.  If  this  carries  in  it  some- 
 thing that  is  not  agreeable  to  our  notions,  nor  like  any  thing 
 that  we  can  apprehend ;  to  this  it  is  said,  that  if  God  has  re- 
 vealed that  in  the  Scripture  which  is  thus  expressed,  we  are 
 bound  to  believe  it,  though  we  can  frame  no  clear  apprehen- 
 sion about  it.  God's  eternity,  his  being  all  one  single  act,  his 
 creating  and  preserving  all  things,  and  his  being  every-where, 
 are  things  that  are  absolute  riddles  to  us  :  we  cannot  bring  our 
 minds  to  conceive  them,  and  yet  we  must  believe  that  they  are 
 so ;  because  we  see  much  greater  absurdities  must  follow  upon 
 our  conceiving  that  they  should  be  otherwise.  So,  if  God  has 
 declared  this  inexplicable  thing  concerning  himself  to  us,  we 
 are  bound  to  believe  it,  though  we  cannot  have  any  clear  idea 
 how  it  truly  is.  For  there  appear  as  strange  and  unanswera- 
 ble difficulties  in  many  other  things,  which  yet  we  know  to  be 
 true  :  so  if  we  are  once  well  assured,  that  God  has  revealed  his 
 doctrine  to  us,  we  must  silence  all  objections  against  it,  and 
 believe  it ;  reckoning  that  our  not  understanding  it,  as  it  is  in 
 itself,  makes  the  difficulties  seem  to  be  much  greater  than  other- 
 wise they  would  appear  to  be,  if  we  had  light  enough  about  it, 
 or  were  capable  of  forming  a  more  perfect  idea  of  it  while  we 
 are  in  this  depressed  state. 
 
 Others  give  another  view  of  this  matter,  that  is  not  indeed 
 so  hard  to  be  apprehended:  but  that  has  an  objection  against 
 it,  that  seems  as  great  a  prejudice  against  it,  as  the  difficulty 
 
14 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  ti 
 
 of  apprehending  the  other  way  is  against  that :  It  is  this — they 
 do  hold,  that  there  are  three  Minds ;  that  the  first  of  these 
 three,  who  is  from  that  called  the  Father,  did  from  all  eternity 
 by  an  emanation  of  essence  beget  the  Son,  and  by  another 
 emanation  that  was  from  eternity  likewise,  and  was  as  essential 
 to  him  as  the  former,  both  the  first  and  the  second,  did  jointly 
 breathe  forth  the  Spirit;  and  that  these  are  three  distinct 
 Minds,  every  one  being  God  as  much  as  the  other :  only  the 
 Father  is  the  fountain,  and  is  only  self-originated.  All  this  is 
 in  a  good  degree  intelligible :  but  it  seems  hard  to  reconcile  it 
 both  with  the  idea  of  unity,  which  seems  to  belong  to  a  Being 
 of  infinite  perfection,  and  with  the  many  express  declarations 
 that  are  made  in  the  Scriptures  concerning  the  unity  of  God. 
 Instead  of  going  farther  into  explanations  of  that  which  is  cer- 
 tainly very  far  beyond  all  our  apprehensions,  and  that  ought 
 therefore  to  be  let  alone,  I  shall  now  consider  what  declarations 
 are  made  in  the  Scriptures  concerning  this  point. 
 
 The  first  and  the  chief  is  in  that  charge  and  commission 
 which  our  Saviour  gave  to  his  Apostles,  to  go  and  make  dis- 
 ciples to  him  among  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the  name  of 
 the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  Matt,  xxviii.  19. 
 By  name  is  meant  either  an  authority  derived  to  them,  in  the 
 virtue  of  which  all  nations  were  to  be  baptized ;  or  that  the  per- 
 sons so  baptized  are  dedicated  to  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
 Ghost.  Either  of  these  senses,  as  it  proves  them  all  to  be  Per- 
 sons,  so  it  sets  them  in  an  equality  in  a  thing  that  can  only  be- 
 long to  the  Divine  Nature.  Baptism  is  the  receiving  men  from  a 
 state  of  sin  and  wrath  into  a  state  of  favour,  and  into  the  rights 
 of  the  sons  of  God,  and  the  hopes  of  eternal  happiness,  and  a 
 calling  them  by  the  name  of  God.  These  are  things  that  can 
 only  be  offered  and  assured  to  men  in  the  name  of  the  great 
 and  eternal  God  ;  and  therefore,  since,  without  any  distinction 
 or  note  of  inequality,  they  are  all  three  set  together  as  Persons 
 in  whose  name  this  is  to  be  done,  they  must  be  all  three  the 
 true  God;  otherwise  it  looks  like  a  just  prejudice  against  our 
 Saviour,  and  his  whole  gospel,  that  by  his  express  direction 
 the  first  entrance  to  it,  which  gives  the  visible  and  federal  right 
 to  those  great  blessings  that  are  offered  by  it,  or  their  initiation 
 into  it,  should  be  in  the  name  of  two  created  beings,  (if  the  one 
 can  be  called  properly  so  much  as  a  being,  according  to  their 
 hypothesis),  and  that  even  in  an  equality  with  the  Supreme 
 and  increated  Being.  The  plainness  of  this  charge,  and  the 
 great  occasion  upon  which  it  was  given,  makes  this  an  argu- 
 ment of  such  force  and  evidence,  that  it  may  justly  determine 
 the  whole  matter. 
 
 A  second  argument  is  taken  from  this,  that  we  find  St  Paul 
 begins  or  ends  most  of  his  Epistles  with  a  salutation  in  the 
 form  of  a  wish,  which  is  indeed  a  prayer,  or  a  benediction,  in 
 
Art.  I. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES, 
 
 the  name  of  those  who  are  so  invocated ;  in  which  lie  wishes  the 
 churches  Grace,  Mercy,  and  Peace,  from  God  the  Father,  and 
 the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  ;*  which  is  an  invocation  of  Christ  in 
 conjunction  with  the  Father,  for  the  greatest  blessings  of  favour 
 and  mercy :  that  is  a  strange  strain,  if  he  was  only  a  creature ; 
 which  yet  is  delivered  without  any  mitigation  or  softening  in 
 the  most  remarkable  parts  of  his  Epistles.  This  is  carried  far- 
 ther in  the  conclusion  of  the  Second  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  ; 
 The  Grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Love  of  God,  and  the 
 Fellowship  of  the  Holy  Ghost  be  with  you,  2  Cor.  xiii.  14.  It 
 is  true,  this  is  expressed  as  a  wish,  and  not  in  the  nature  of  a 
 prayer,  as  the  common  salutations  are :  but  here  three  great 
 blessings  are  wished  to  them  as  from  three  fountains,  which  im- 
 ports that  they  are  three  different  Persons,  and  yet  equal;  for 
 though  in  order  the  Father  is  first,  and  is  generally  put  first, 
 yet  here  Christ  is  named,  which  seems  to  be  a  strange  revers- 
 ing of  things,  if  they  are  not  equal  as  to  their  essence  or  sub- 
 stance. It  is  true,  the  second  is  not  named  here  The  Father, 
 as  elsewhere,  but  only  God:  yet  since  he  is  mentioned  as  dis- 
 tinct from  Christ  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  it  must  be  understood  of 
 the  Father ;  for  when  the  Father  is  named  with  Christ,  some- 
 times he  is  called  God  simply,  and  sometimes  God  the  Father. 
 
 This  argument  from  the  threefold  salutation  appears  yet  strong- 
 er in  the  words  in  which  St  John  addresses  himself  to  the  seven 
 Churches  in  the  beginning  of  the  Revelations  :  Grace  and  peace 
 from  him  which  is,  which  was,  and  which  is  to  come ;  and  from 
 the  seven  spirits  which  are  before  his  throne  i  and  from  Jesus 
 Christ,  Rev.  i.  4,  5.  By  the  seven  spirits  must  be  meant  one  or 
 more  persons,  since  he  wishes  or  declares  grace  and  peace  from 
 them  :  now  either  this  must  be  meant  of  angels,  or  of  the  Holv 
 Ghost.  There  are  nowhere  prayers  made,  or  blessings  given, 
 in  the  name  of  angels :  this  were  indeed  a  worshipping  them ; 
 against  which  there  are  express  authorities,  not  only  in  the  other 
 books  of  the  New  Testament,  but  in  this  book  in  particular : 
 nor  can  it  be  imagined  that  angels  could  have  been  named 
 before  Jesus  Christ.  So  then  it  remains,  that  seven  being  a 
 number  that  imports  both  variety  and  perfection,  and  that  was 
 the  sacred  number  among  the  Jews,  this  is  a  mystical  expres- 
 sion ;  which  is  no  extraordinary  thing  in  a  book  that  is  all  over 
 mysterious  :  and  it  imports  one  Person,  from  whom  all  that 
 variety  of  gifts,  administrations,  and  operations  that  were  then 
 in  the  Church,  did  flow  ;  and  this  is  the  Holy  Ghost.  But  as 
 to  his  being  put  in  order  before  Christ,  as  upon  the  supposi- 
 tion of  an  equality,  the  going  out  of  the  common  order  is  no 
 
 •  Rom.  i.  7.  Rom.  xvi.  20.  24-.  1  Cor.  xvi.  23.  1  Cor.  i.  3.  2  Cor.  i.  3. 
 Gal.  i.  3.  Gal.  vi.  18.  Eph.  i.  2.  Eph.  vi.  23.  Phil.  i.  2.  Phil.  it.  23. 
 Col.  i.  2.  1  Thess.  i.  1.  1  Thess.  v.  28.  2  Thess.  i.  2.  2  Thess.  iii.  18. 
 1  Tim.  i.  2.    2  Tim.  i.  2.     Tit.  i.  4-.     Philem.  3.  25.    2  John  i.  3. 
 
10 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  r 
 
 great  matter ;  so,  since  there  was  to  come  after  this  a  full  period 
 that  concerned  Christ,  it  might  be  a  natural  way  of  writing  to 
 name  him  last.  Against  all  this  it  is  objected,  that  the  designa- 
 tion that  is  given  to  the  first  of  these  in  a  circumlocution  that 
 imports  eternity,  shews  that  the  great  God,  and  not  the  person 
 of  the  Father,  is  to  be  meant :  But  then  how  could  St  John, 
 writing  to  the  churches,  wish  them  grace  and  peace  from  the 
 other  two?  A  few  verses  after  this,  the  same  description  of 
 eternal  duration  is  given  to  Christ,  and  is  a  strong  proof  of  his 
 eternity,  and  by  consequence  of  his  divinity :  so  what  is  brought 
 so  soon  after  as  a  character  of  the  eternity  of  the  Son,  may  be 
 also  here  used  to  denote  the  eternal  Father.  These  are  the 
 chief  places  in  which  the  Trinity  is  mentioned  altogether. 
 
 I  do  not  insist  on  that  contested  passage  of  St  John's  Epistle, 
 1  John  v.  7. :  there  are  great  doubtings  made  about  it;  the 
 main  ground  of  doubting  being  the  silence  of  the  Fathers,  who 
 never  made  use  of  it  in  the  disputes  with  the  Arians  and  Ma- 
 cedonians. There  are  very  considerable  things  urged  on  the 
 other  hand,  to  support  the  authority  of  that  passage;  yet  I 
 think  it  is  safer  to  build  upon  sure  and  indisputable  grounds : 
 so  I  leave  it  to  be  maintained  by  others  who  are  more  fully 
 persuaded  of  its  being  authentical.  There  is  no  need  of  it. 
 This  matter  is  capable  of  a  very  full  proof,  whether  that  passage 
 is  believed  to  be  a  part  of  the  canon  or  not. 
 
 It  is  no  small  confirmation  of  the  truth  of  this  doctrine,  that 
 we  are  certain  it  was  universally  received  over  the  whole  Chris- 
 tian church,  long  before  there  was  either  a  Christian  prince  to 
 support  it  by  his  authority,  or  a  council  to  establish  it  by  con- 
 sent. And  indeed  the  Council  of  Nice  did  nothing  but  declare 
 what  was  the  faith  of  the  Christian  church,  with  the  addition 
 only  of  the  word  comubstantial :  for  if  all  the  other  words  of 
 the  Creed  settled  at  Nice  are  acknowledged  to  be  true,  that  of 
 the  Three  Persons  being  of  one  substance  will  follow  from 
 thence  by  a  just  consequence.  We  know,  both  by  what  Tertul- 
 lian  and  Novatian  writ,  what  was  the  faith  both  of  the  Roman 
 and  the  African  churches.  From  Irenaeus  we  gather  the  faith 
 both  of  the  Gallican  and  the  Asiatic  churches.  And  the  whole 
 proceedings  in  the  case  of  Samosatenus,  that  was  the  solemnest 
 business  that  passed  while  the  church  was  under  oppression  and 
 persecution,  give  us  the  most  convincing  proof  possible,  not 
 only  of  the  faith  of  the  Eastern  churches  at  that  time,  but  of 
 their  zeal  likewise  in  watching  against  every  breach  that  was 
 made  in  so  sacred  a  part  of  their  trust  and  deposition. 
 
 These  things  have  been  fully  opened  and  enlarged  on  by 
 others,  to  whom  the  reader  is  referred — I  shall  only  desire  him 
 to  make  this  reflection  on  the  state  of  Christianity  at  that  time  : 
 The  disputes  that  were  then  to  be  managed  with  the  heathens, 
 against  the  deifying  or  worshipping  of  men,  and  those  extra- 
 
Art.  I. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES, 
 
 vagant  fables  concerning  the  genealogies  of  their  Heroes  and 
 Gods,  must  have  obliged  the  Christians  rather  to  have  silenced 
 and  suppressed  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  than  to  have  owned 
 and  published  it :  so  that  nothing  but  their  being  assured  that 
 it  was  a  necessary  and  fundamental  article  of  their  faith,  could 
 have  led  them  to  own  it  in  so  public  a  manner ;  since  the  ad- 
 vantages that  the  heathen  would  have  taken  from  it,  must  be 
 too  visible  not  to  be  soon  observed.  The  heathens  retorted 
 upon  them  their  doctrine  of  a  man's  being  a  God,  and  of  God's 
 having  a  Son ;  and  every  one  who  engaged  in  this  controversy 
 framed  such  answers  to  these  objections  as  he  thought  he  could 
 best  maintain.  Tins,  as  it  gave  rise  to  the  errors  which  some 
 brought  into  the  church,  so  it  furnishes  us  with  a  copious  proof 
 of  the  common  sense  of  the  Christians  of  those  ages,  who  all 
 agreed  in  general  to  the  doctrine,  though  they  had  many  dif- 
 ferent, and  some  very  erroneous  ways  of  explaining  it  among 
 them. 
 
 I  now  come  to  the  special  proofs  concerning  each  of  the 
 Three  Persons ;  but  there  being  other  Articles  relating  to  the 
 Son  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  proofs  of  these  two  will  belong 
 more  properly  to  the  explanation  of  those  Articles  :  Therefore, 
 all  that  belongs  to  this  article  is  to  prove  that  the  Father  is 
 truly  God :  but  that  needs  not  be  much  insisted  on,  for  there 
 is  no  dispute  about  it — none  deny  that  he  is  God ;  many  think 
 that  he  is  so  truly  God,  that  there  is  no  other  that  can  be  call- 
 ed God  besides  him,  unless  it  be  in  a  larger  sense  of  the  word  : 
 and  therefore  I  will  here  conclude  all  that  seems  necessary  to  be 
 said  on  this  first  article ;  on  which  if  I  have  dwelt  the  longer,  it 
 was  because  the  stating  the  idea  of  God  right  being  the  funda- 
 mental  article  of  all  religion,  and  the  key  into  every  part  of  it, 
 this  was  to  be  done  with  all  the  fulness  and  clearness  possible. 
 
 In  a  word,  to  recapitulate  a  little  what  has  been  said :  The 
 liveliest  way  of  framing  an  idea  of  God,  is  to  consider  our  own 
 souls,  which  are  said  to  be  made  after  the  image  of  God.  An 
 attentive  reflection  on  what  we  perceive  in  ourselves,  will  carry 
 us  further  than  any  other  diing  whatsoever,  to  form  just  and 
 true  thoughts  of  God.  We  perceive  what  thought  is,  but  with 
 that  we  do  also  perceive  the  advantage  of  such  an  easy  thought 
 as  arises  out  of  a  sensation,  such  as  seeing  or  hearing,  which 
 gives  us  no  trouble.  We  think  without  any  trouble  of  many  of 
 the  objects  that  we  see  all  at  once,  or  so  near  all  at  once,  that 
 the  progression  from  one  object  to  another  is  scarce  percep- 
 tible :  but  the  labour  of  study  and  of  pursuing  consequences 
 wearies  us:  though  the  pleasure  or  the  vanity  of  having  found 
 them  out  compensates  for  the  pain  they  gave  us,  and  sets  men 
 on  to  new  inquiries.  We  perceive  in  ourselves  a  love  of  truth, 
 and  a  vexation  when  we  see  we  are  in  error,  or  are  in  the  dark  ; 
 and  we  feel  that  we  act  the  most  perfectly,  when  we  act  upon 
 
AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  I. 
 
 the  clearest  views  of  truth,  and  in  the  strictest  pursuance  of  it ; 
 and  the  more  present  and  regular,  the  more  calm  and  steady 
 that  our  thoughts  of  all  things  are,  that  lie  in  our  compass  to 
 know,  present,  past,  or  to  come,  we  do  plainly  perceive  that 
 we  do  thereby  become  perfecter  and  happier  beings.  Now  out 
 of  all  this  we  can  easily  rise  up  in  our  thoughts  to  an  idea  of  a 
 Mind  that  sees  all  things  by  a  clear  and  full  intuition,  without 
 the  possibility  of  being  mistaken ;  and  that  ever  acts  in  that 
 light,  upon  the  surest  prospect,  and  with  the  perfectest  reason ; 
 and  that  does  therefore  always  rejoice  in  every  thing  it  does, 
 and  has  a  constant  perception  of  all  truth  ever  present  to  it. 
 This  idea  does  so  genuinely  arise  from  what  we  perceive  both 
 of  the  perfections  and  the  imperfections  of  our  own  minds,  that 
 a  very  little  reflection  will  help  us  to  form  it  to  a  very  high 
 degree. 
 
 The  perception  also  that  we  have  of  goodness,  of  a  desire  to 
 make  others  good,  and  of  the  pleasure  of  effecting  it, — of  the 
 joy  of  making  any  one  wiser  or  better,  of  making  any  one's 
 life  easy,  and  of  raising  his  mind  higher, — will  also  help  us  in 
 the  forming  of  our  ideas  of  God.  But  in  this  we  meet  with 
 much  difficulty  and  disappointment.  So  this  leads  us  to  ap- 
 prehend how  diffusive  of  itself  infinite  goodness  must  needs  be  ; 
 and  what  is  the  eternal  joy  that  infinite  love  has,  in  bringing 
 so  many  to  that  exalted  state  of  endless  happiness.  We  do 
 also  feel  a  power  issuing  from  us  by  a  thought,  that  sets  our 
 bodies  in  motion :  the  varieties  in  our  thoughts  create  a  vast 
 variety  in  the  state  of  our  bodies ;  but  with  this,  as  that  power 
 is  limited  to  our  own  bodies,  so  it  is  often  checked  by  disorders 
 in  them,  and  the  soul  suffers  a  great  deal  from  those  painful 
 sensations  that  its  union  with  the  body  subjects  it  to.  From 
 hence  we  can  easily  apprehend  how  the  Supreme  Mind  can  by 
 a  thought  set  matter  into  what  motions  it  will,  all  matter  being 
 constantly  subject  to  such  impressions  as  the  acts  of  the  Divine 
 Mind  give  it.  This  absolute  dominion  over  all  matter  makes 
 it  to  move,  and  shapes  it  according  to  the  acts  of  that  Mind ; 
 and  matter  has  no  power,  by  any  irregularity  it  falls  into,  to 
 resist  those  impressions  which  do  immediately  command  and 
 govern  it;  nor  can  it  throw  any  uneasy  sensations  into  that 
 perfect  Being. 
 
 This  conduces  also  to  give  us  a  distinct  idea  of  miracles.  All 
 matter  is  uniform ;  and  it  is  only  the  variety  of  its  motions  and 
 texture,  that  makes  all  the  variety  that  is  in  the  world.  Now, 
 as  the  acts  of  the  Eternal  Mind  gave  matter  its  first  motion, 
 and  put  it  into  that  course  that  we  do  now  call  the  course  of 
 nature ;  so  another  act  of  the  same  Mind  can  either  suspend, 
 stop,  or  change  that  course  at  pleasure,  as  he  who  throws  a 
 bowl  may  stop  it  in  its  course,  or  throw  it  back  if  he  will ;  this 
 being  only  the  altering  that  impulse  which  himself  gave:  so  if 
 
Art.  E. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 1,9 
 
 one  act  of  the  Infinite  Mind  puts  things  in  a  regular  course, 
 another  act  interposed  may  change  that  at  pleasure.  And  thus, 
 with  relation  to  God,  miracles  are  no  more  difficult  than  any 
 other  act  of  Providence :  they  are  only  more  amazing  to  us, 
 because  they  are  less  ordinary,  and  go  out  of  the  common  and 
 regular  course  of  things.  By  all  this  it  appears,  how  far  the 
 observation  of  what  we  perceive  concerning  ourselves  may 
 carry  us  to  form  livelier  and  clearer  thoughts  of  God. 
 
 So  much  may  suffice  upon  the  First  Article. 
 
 ARTICLE  II. 
 
 OF  THE  WORD  OR  SOX  OF  GOD,  WHICH  WAS  MADE  VERY  31  AX. 
 
 The  Son  which  is  the  Word  of  the  Father,  begotten  from  Ever- 
 lasting of  the  Father ;  the  very  and  Eternal  God,  of  one 
 Substance  with  the  Father,  took  Man's  Nature  in  the  Womb 
 of  the  Blessed.  Virgin  of  her  Substance ;  so  that  two  whole 
 and  perfect  Natures,  that  is,  the  Godhead  and  Manhood, 
 were  joined  together  in  one  Person,  never  to  be  divided : 
 thereof  is  one  Christ,  very  God  and  very  Man  ;  who  truly 
 suffered,  was  dead  and  buried,  to  reconcile  his  Father  to  us, 
 and  to  be  a  Sacrifice  not  only  for  Original  Guilt,  but  also 
 for  actual  Sins  of  Men. 
 
 There  are  in  this  Article  five  heads  to  be  explained. 
 
 1.  That  the  Son  or  Word  is  of  the  same  substance  with  the 
 Father,  begotten  of  him  from  all  eternity. 
 
 2.  That  he  took  man's  nature  upon  him  in  tfce  womb  of  the 
 blessed  Virgin,  and  of  her  substance. 
 
 3.  That  the  two  natures  of  the  Godhead  and  Manhood, 
 both  still  perfect,  were  in  him  joined  in  one  person  never  to 
 be  divided. 
 
 4.  That  Christ  truly  suffered,  was  crucified,  dead,  and  buried. 
 
 5.  That  he  was  our  sacrifice  to  reconcile  the  Father  to  us ; 
 and  that  not  only  for  original  guilt,  but  for  actual  sins. 
 
 The  first  of  these  leads  me  to  prosecute  what  was  begun 
 in  the  former  Article ;  and  to  prove,  that  the  Son,  or  Word, 
 was  from  all  eternity  begotten  of  the  same  substance  with  the 
 Father.  It  is  here  to  be  noted,  that  Christ  is  in  two  respects 
 the  Son,  and  the  only  begotten  Son  of  God.  The  one  is,  as  he 
 was  man  ;  the  miraculous  overshadowing  of  the  blessed  Virgin 
 by  the  Holy  Ghost,  having,  without  the  ordinary  course  of 
 nature,  formed  the  first  beginnings  of  Christ's  human  body  in 
 
 u 
 
50 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Akt.  II. 
 
 the  womb  of  the  Virgin,  Thus  that  miracle  being  instead  of 
 a  natural  begetting,  he  may  in  that  respect  be  called  the  be- 
 gotten,  and  tlie  only  begotten  Son  of  God.  The  other  sense  is, 
 that  the  Word,  or  the  Divine  Person,  was  in  and  of  the  sub- 
 stance of  the  Father,  and  so  was  truly  God.  It  is  also  to  be 
 considered,  that  by  the  word  one  substance  is  to  be  under- 
 stood, that  this  second  Person  is  not  a  creature  of  a  pure  and 
 excellent  nature,  like  God,  holy  and  perfect,  as  we  are  called 
 to  be ;  but  is  truly  God  as  the  Father  is.  Begetting  is  a  term 
 that  naturally  signifies  the  relation  between  the  Father  and 
 the  Son  :  but  what  it  strictly  signifies  here,  is  not  possible  for 
 us  to  understand  till  we  comprehend  this  whole  matter  :  nor 
 can  wre  be  able  to  assign  a  reason  why  the  emanation  of  the 
 Son,  and  not  that  of  the  Holy  Ghost  likewise,  is  called  beget- 
 ting. In  this  we  use  the  Scripture  terms,  but  must  confess  we 
 cannot  frame  a  distinct  apprehension  of  that  which  is  so  far 
 above  us.  This  begetting  was  from  all  eternity  :  if  it  had  been 
 in  time,  the  Son  and  Holy  Ghost  must  have  been  creatures ; 
 but  if  they  are  truly  God,  they  must  be  eternal,  and  not  pro- 
 duced by  having  a  being  given  them,  but  educed  of  a  substance 
 that  was  eternal,  and  from  which  they  did  eternally  spring. 
 All  these  are  the  natural  consequences  of  the  main  Article 
 that  is  now  to  be  proved ;  and  when  it  is  once  proved  clearly 
 from  Scripture,  these  do  follow  by  a  natural  and  necessary 
 deduction. 
 
 The  first  and  great  proof  of  this  is  taken  from  the  words 
 with  which  St  John  begins  his  Gospel.  In  the  beginning  was 
 the  Word,  and  the  Word  was  with  God,  and  the  Word  was 
 God;  the  same  was  in  the  beginning  with  God.  All  things 
 were  made  by  him  ;  and  without  him  was  not  any  thing  made 
 that  was  made,  John  i.  1,  2,  3.  Here  it  is  to  be  observed, 
 that  these  words  are  set  down  here,  before  St  John  comes  to 
 speak  of  Christ's  being  made  in  our  nature :  this  passage  be- 
 longs to  another  precedent  being  that  he  had.  The  beginning 
 also  here  is  set  to  import,  that  it  was  before  creation  or  time. 
 Now  a  duration  before  time  is  eternal :  so  this  beginning  can 
 be  no  other  than  that  duration  which  was  before  all  things  that 
 were  made.  It  is  also  plainly  said,  over  and  over  again,  that 
 all  things  were  made  by  this  Word.  A  power  to  create  must 
 be  infinite ;  for  it  is  certain,  that  a  power  which  can  give  being 
 is  without  bounds.  And  although  the  word  make  may  seem 
 capable  of  a  larger  sense,  yet  as,  in  other  places  of  the  New 
 Testament,  the  stricter  word  create  is  used  and  applied  to 
 Christ  as  the  Maker  of  all  things  in  heaven  and  earth,  visible 
 and  invisible,  so  the  word  make  is  used  through  the  Old  Tes- 
 tament for  create ;  so  that  God's  making  the  heaven  and  the 
 earth  is  the  character  frequently  given  of  him  to  distinguish 
 him  from  Idols  and  false  Gods.    And  of  this  Word  it  is  like- 
 
Art.  II. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 5  i 
 
 wise  said,  that  he  was  with  God,  and  was  God.    These  words 
 seem  very  plain,  and  the  place  where  they  are  put  by  St  John, 
 in  the  front  of  his  Gospel,  as  it  were  an  inscription  upon  it,  or 
 an  introduction  to  it,  makes  it  very  evident,  that  he,  who  of 
 all  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament  has  the  greatest  plainness 
 and  simplicity  of  style,  would  not  have  put  words  here,  such 
 as  were  not  to  be  understood  in  a  plain  and  literal  significa- 
 tion, without  any  key  to  lead  us  to  any  other  sense  of  them. 
 This  had  been  to  lay  a  stone  of  stumbling  in  the  very  threshold ; 
 particularly  to  the  Jews,  who  were  apt  to  cavil  at  Christianity, 
 and  were  particularly  jealous  of  every  thing  that  savoured  of 
 idolatry,  or  of  the  plurality  of  Gods.    And  upon  this  occasion 
 I  desire  one  thing  to  be  observed,  with  relation  to  all  those 
 subtile  expositions  which  those  who  oppose  this  doctrine  put 
 upon  many  of  those  places  by  which  we  prove  it ;  that  they 
 represent  the  Apostles  as  magnifying  Christ  in  words  that  at 
 first  sound  seem  to  import  his  being  the  true  God,  and  yet 
 they  hold,  that  in  all  these  they  had  another  sense,  and  a  re- 
 serve'of  some  other  interpretation,  of  which  their  words  were 
 capable.    But  can  this  be  thought  fair  dealing  ?  Does  it  look 
 like  honest  men  to  write  thus ;  not  to  say,  men  inspired  in 
 what  they  preached  and  writ ;  and  not  rather  like  impostors, 
 to  use  so  many  sublime  and  lofty  expressions  concerning  Christ 
 as  God,  if  all  these  must  be  taken  down  to  so  low  a  sense  as 
 to  signify  only  that  he  was  miraculously  formed,  and  endued 
 with  an  extraordinary  power  of  miracles,  and  an  authority  to 
 deliver  a  new  religion  to  the  world ;  and  that  he  was,  in  con- 
 sideration of  his  exemplary  death  which  he  underwent  so  pa- 
 tiently, raised  up  from  the  grave,  and  had  divine  honours 
 conferred  upon  him?  In  such  an  hypothesis  as  this,  the 
 world  going  in  so  naturally  to  the  excessive  magnifying,  and 
 even  the  deifying  of  wonderful  men,  it  had  been  necessary  to 
 have  prevented  any  such  mistakes,  and  to  have  guarded 
 against  the  belief  of  them,  rather  than  to  have  used  a  con- 
 tinued strain  of  expressions  that  seem  to  carry  men  violently 
 into  them,  and  that  can  hardly,  nay  very  hardly,  be  softened, 
 by  all  the  skill  of  critics,  to  bear  any  other  sense.    It  is  to 
 be  considered  further,  that  when  St  John  writ  his  Gospel 
 there  were  three  sorts  of  men  particularly  to  be  considered  : — 
 The  Jews,  who  could  bear  nothing  that  savoured  of  idolatry ; 
 so  no  stumbling-block  was  to  be  laid  in  their  way,  to  give 
 them  deeper  prejudices  against  Christianity.    Next  to  these 
 were  the  Gentiles;  who,  having  worshipped  a  variety  of 
 Gods,  were  not  to  be  indulged  in  any  thing  that  might  seem 
 to  favour  their  polytheism.    In  fact,  we  find  particular  caution 
 used  in  the  New  Testament  against  the  worshipping  angels  or 
 saints.    How  can  it  therefore  be  imagined  that  words  would 
 have  been  used,  that,  in  the  plain  signification  that  did  arise  out 
 
52 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  II. 
 
 of  the  first  hearing  of  them,  imported  that  a  man  was  God,  if 
 this  had  not  been  strictly  true?  The  Apostles  ought,  and  must 
 have  used  a  particular  care  to  have  avoided  all  such  expressions, 
 if  they  had  not  been  literally  true.  The  third  sort  of  men  in 
 St  John's  time  were  those  of  whom  intimation  is  frequently 
 given  through  all  the  Epistles,  who  were  then  endeavouring  to 
 corrupt  the  purity  of  the  Christian  doctrine,  and  to  accommo- 
 date it  so,  both  to  the  Jew  and  to  the  Gentile,  as  to  avoid  the 
 cross  and  persecution  upon  the  account  of  it.  Church  history, 
 and  the  earliest  writers  after  St  John,  assure  us,  that  Ebion  and 
 Cerinthus  denied  the  divinity  of  Christ,  and  asserted  that  he 
 was  a  mere  man.  Controversy  naturally  carries  men  to  speak 
 exactly ;  and  among  human  writers,  those  who  let  things  fall 
 more  carelessly  from  their  pens,  when  they  apprehend  no 
 danger  or  difficulty,  are  more  correct,  both  in  their  thoughts 
 and  in  their  expressions,  when  things  are  disputed :  therefore, 
 if  we  should  have  no  other  regard  to  St  John,  but  as  an  ordi- 
 nary, cautious,  and  careful  man,  we  must  believe  that  he 
 weighed  all  his  words  in  that  point  which  was  then  the  matter 
 in  question ;  and  to  clear  which,  we  have  good  ground  to  be- 
 lieve, both  from  the  testimony  of  ancient  writers,  and  from  the 
 method  that  he  pursues  quite  through  it  all,  that  he  writ 
 his  Gospel ;  and  that  therefore  every  part  of  it,  but  this  be- 
 ginning of  it  more  signally,  was  writ,  and  is  to  be  understood 
 in  the  sense  which  the  words  naturally  import — that  the  Word 
 'which  took Jlesh,  and  assumed  the  human  nature,  had  a  being 
 before  the  worlds  were  made,  and  that  this  Word  was  God,  and 
 made  the  world. 
 
 Another  eminent  proof  of  this  is  in  St  Paul's  Epistle  to  the 
 Philippians ;  in  which,  when  he  is  exhorting  Christians  to  hu- 
 mility, he  gives  an  argument  for  it  from  our  Saviour's  example  : 
 Phil.  ii.  6,  7,  8,  9,  10,  11.  He  begins  with  the  dignity  of  his 
 Person,  expressed  thus, — that  he  was  in  the  form  of  God,  and 
 that  he  thought  it  no  robbery  to  be  equal  with  God :  then  his 
 humiliation  comes,  that  he  made  himself  of  no  repidaiion,  but 
 took  on  him  the  form  of  a  servant,  (the  same  word  with  that 
 used  in  the  former  verse)  :  after  which  follows  his  exaltation, 
 and  a  name  or  authority  above  every  name  or  authority  is  said 
 to  be  given  him;  so  that  all  in  heaven,  earth,  and  under  the 
 earth,  (which  seems  to  import  angels,  men,  and  devils),  should 
 bow  at  his  name,  and  confess  that  he  is  the  Lord.  Now  in  this 
 progress  that  is  made  in  these  words,  it  is  plain,  that  the  dig- 
 nity of  Christ's  Person  is  represented  as  antecedent  both  to  his 
 humiliation  and  to  his  exaltation.  It  was  that  which  put  the 
 value  on  his  humiliation,  as  his  humiliation  was  rewarded  by 
 his  exaltation.  This  dignity  is  expressed  first,  that  he  was  in 
 the  form  of  God  before  he  humbled  himself :  He  was  certainly 
 in  the  form  of  a  servant,  that  is,  really  a  servant,  as  other  ser- 
 
Art.  II. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 53 
 
 vants  are ;  he  was  obedient  to  his  parents ;  he  was  under  the 
 authority  botli  of  the  Romans,  of  Herod,  and  of  the  San- 
 hedrim :  therefore,  since  his  being  really  a  servant  is  expressed 
 by  his  being  in  the  form  of  a  servant*  his  being  in  the  form  of 
 God  must  also  import  that  he  was  truly  God.    But  the  fol- 
 lowing words,  that  he  thought  it  not  robbery  to  be  equal,  or  be 
 held  equal  (for  so  the  word  may  be  rendered)  with  God,  carry 
 such  a  natural  signification  of  his  being  neither  a  made  nor 
 subordinate  God,  and  that  his  divinity  is  neither  precarious  nor 
 by  concession,  that  fuller  words  cannot  be  devised  for  express- 
 ing an  entire  equality.    Those  who  deny  this  are  aware  of  it, 
 and  therefore  they  have  put  another  sense  on  the  words,  in  the 
 form  of  God.     They  think,  that  they  signify  his  appearing  in 
 the  world,  as  one  sent  in  the  name  of  God,  representing  him, 
 working  miracles,  and  delivering  a  lawT  in  his  name :  and  the 
 words  rendered,  he  thought  it  no  robbery,  they  render,  he  did 
 not  catch  at,  or  vehemently  desire  to  be  held  in  equal  honour 
 with  God.    And  some  authorities  are  found  in  eloquent  Greek 
 authors,  who  use  the  words  rendered  he  thought  it  not  robbery, 
 in  a  figurative  sense,  for  the  earnestness  of  desire,  or  the  pur- 
 suing after  a  thing  greedily,  as  robbers  do  for  their  prey. 
 This  rendering  represents  St  Paul  as  treating  so  sacred  a 
 point  in  the  figures  of  a  high  and  seldom  used  rhetoric,  which 
 one  would  think  ought  to  have  been  expressed  more  exactly. 
 But  if  even  this  sense  is  allowed,  it  will  make  a  strange  period, 
 and  a  very  odd  sort  of  an  argument  to  enforce  humility  upon 
 us,  because  Christ,  though  working  miracles,  did  not  desire, 
 or  snatch  at  divine  adorations,  in  an  equality  with  God.  The 
 sin  of  Lucifer,  and  the  cause  of  his  fall,  is  commonly  believed 
 to  be  his  desire  to  be  equal  to  God ;  and  yet  this  seems  to  be 
 such  an  extravagant  piece  of  pride,  that  it  is  scarce  possible  to 
 think  that  even  the  sublimest  of  created  beings  should  be  ca- 
 pable of  it.    To  be  next  to  God,  seems  to  be  the  utmost  height 
 to  which  even  the  diabolical  pride  could  aspire :  so  that  here, 
 by  the  sense  which  the  Socinians  put  on  those  words,  they  will 
 import,  that  we  are  persuaded  to  be  humble  from  the  example 
 of  Christ,  who  did  not  affect  an  equality  with  God.    The  bare 
 repeating  of  this  seems  so  fully  to  expose  and  overthrow  it, 
 that  I  think  it  is  hot  necessary  to  say  more  upon  this  place, 
 
 The  next  head  of  proof  is  made  up  of  more  particulars. 
 All  the  names,  the  operations,  and  even  the  attributes  of 
 God,  are  in  full  and  plain  words  given  to  Christ.  He  is  called 
 God;  his  blood  is  said  to  be  the  blood  of  God ;  God  is  said  to 
 have  laid  down  his  life  for  us  ;  Christ  is  called  the  true  God, 
 the  great  God,  the  Lord  of  glory,  the  King  of  kings,  and  the 
 Lord  of  lords j  (Acts  xx.  28. ;  1  John  hi.  16.  v.  20. ;  Titus  ii. 
 1.3.;  James  ii.  1.;  Rev.  i.  8.  xix.  16.) ;  and  more  particularly 
 the  name  Jehovah  is  ascribed  to  him  in  the  same  word 
 
54 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  II, 
 
 in  which  the  LXX  Interpreters  had  translated  it  through- 
 out the  whole  Old  Testament.  So  that  this  constant  uni- 
 formity of  style  between  the  Greek  of  the  New,  and  that  trans- 
 lation of  the  Old  Testament  which  was  then  received,  and  was 
 of  great  authority  among  the  Jews,  and  was  yet  of  more  autho- 
 rity among  the  first  Christians,  is  an  argument  that  carries 
 such  a  weight  with  it,  that  this  alone  may  serve  to  determine 
 the  matter.  The  creating,  the  preserving,  and  the  governing 
 of  all  things,  is  also  ascribed  to  Christ  in  a  variety  of  places, 
 but  most  remarkably  when  it  is  said,  that  by  him  were  all  things 
 created,  that  are  in  heaven,  and  that  are  in  earth,  visible  and 
 invisible ;  whether  they  be  thrones,  or  dominions,  or  principali- 
 ties, or  powers:  all  things  were  created  by  him,  and  for  him: 
 and  he  is  before  all  things,  and  by  him  all  things  consist.  He 
 is  said  to  have  known  what  was  in  man,  to  have  known  men's 
 secret  thoughts,  and  to  have  known  all  things :  that  as  the  Fa- 
 ther was  known  of  none  but  of  the  So?i ;  so  none  knew  the  Son 
 but  the  Father.  He  pardons  sin,  sends  the  Spirit,  gives  grace 
 and  eternal  life ;  and  he  shall  raise  the  dead  at  the  last  day : 
 (Col.  i.  16,  17.;  John  ii.  25.;  Matt.  xi.  27.  ix.  6.:  John  xv. 
 26.  xiv.  13.  v.  25,  26.  vi.  39,  40.)  When  all  these  things 
 are  laid  together  in  that  variety  of  expressions  in  which  they 
 lie  scattered  in  the  New  Testament,  it  is  not  possible  to  re- 
 tain any  reverence  for  those  books,  if  we  imagine  that  they  are 
 writ  in  a  style  so  full  of  approaches  to  the  deifying  of  a  mere 
 man,  that  without  a  very  critical  studying  of  languages  and 
 phrases,  it  is  not  possible  to  understand  them  otherwise.  Ido- 
 latry, and  a  plurality  of  Gods,  seem  to  be  the  main  things 
 that  the  Scriptures  warn  us  against ;  and  yet  here  is  a  pursued 
 thread  of  passages  and  discourses  that  do  naturally  lead  a  man 
 to  think  that  Christ  is  the  true  God,  who  yet,  according  to 
 these  men,  only  acted  in  his  name,  and  has  now  a  high  honour 
 put  on  him  by  him. 
 
 This  carries  me  to  another  argument  to  prove  that  the  Word 
 that  was  made  flesh  was  truly  God.  Nothing  but  the  true  God 
 can  be  the  proper  object  of  adoration.  This  is  one  of  those 
 truths  that  seems  almost  so  evident,  that  it  needs  not  to  be 
 proved.  Adoration  is  the  humble  prostration  of  ourselves  be- 
 fore God,  in  acts  that  own  our  dependence  upon  him,  both  for 
 our  being,  and  for  all  the  blessings  that  we  do  either  enjoy  or 
 hope  for,  and  also  in  earnest  prayers  to  him  for  the  continuance 
 of  these  to  us.  This  is  testified  by  such  outward  gestures  and 
 actions  as  are  most  proper  to  express  our  humility  and  submis- 
 sion to  God.  All  this  has  so  clear  and  so  inseparable  a  relation 
 to  the  only  true  God  as  its  proper  object,  that  it  is  scarce  pos- 
 sible to  apprehend  how  it  should  be  separated  from  him,  and 
 given  to  any  other.  And  as  this  seems  evident  from  the  nature 
 of  things,  so  it  is  not  possible  to  imagine  how  any  thing  could 
 
Art.  II. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 o5 
 
 have  been  prohibited  in  more  express  and  positive,  and  in  more 
 frequently  repeated  words,  and  longer  reasonings,  than  the 
 offering  of  divine  worship,  or  any  part  of  it,  to  creatures.  The 
 chief  design  of  the  Mosaical  religion  was  to  banish  all  idolatry 
 and  polytheism  out  of  the  minds  of  the  Jews,  and  to  possess 
 them  with  the  idea  of  one  God,  and  of  one  object  of  worship. 
 The  reasons  upon  which  those  prohibitions  are  founded  are  uni- 
 versal :  which  are,  the  unity-  of  God's  essence,  and  his  jealousy 
 in  not  giving  his  honour  to  another.  It  is  not  said,  that  they 
 should  not  worship  any  as  God,  till  they  had  a  precept  or  de- 
 claration for  it :  there  is  no  reserve  for  any  such  time ;  but 
 they  are  plainly  forbid  to  worship  any  but  the  great  God,  be- 
 cause lie  was  one,  and  was  jealous  of  his  glory.  The  New 
 Testament  is  writ  in  the  same  strain :  Christ,  when  tempted  of 
 the  Devil,  answered,  Thou  shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy  God,  and 
 him  only  shalt  thou  serve.  Matt.  iv.  10.  The  Apostles  charg- 
 ed all  idolaters  to forsake  those  idols,  and  to  serve  the  living  God, 
 Acts  xiv.  15.  xvii.  29.  1  Thess.  i.  9.  The  Angel  refused  St 
 John's  worship,  commanding  him  to  worship  God,  Rev.  xix. 
 10.  The  Christian  faith  does  in  every  particular  raise  the 
 ideas  of  God  and  of  religion  to  a  much  greater  purity  and  su- 
 blimity than  the  Mosaical  dispensation  had  done  ;  so  it  is  not 
 to  be  imagined,  that  in  the  chief  design  of  revealed  religion, 
 which  was  the  bringing  men  from  idolatry  to  the  worship  of 
 one  God,  it  should  make  such  a  breach,  and  extend  it  to  a 
 creature.  All  this  seems  fully  to  prove  the  first  proposition  of 
 this  argument,  that  God  is  the  only  proper  object  of  adoration. 
 The  next  is,  that  Christ  is  proposed  in  the  New  Testament  as 
 the  object  of  divine  worship.  I  do  not  in  proof  of  this  urge 
 the  instances  of  those  who  fell  down  at  Christ's  feet  and  wor- 
 shipped him,  while  he  was  on  earth;  for  it  may  be  well  an- 
 swered to  that,  that  a  prophet  was  worshipped  with  the  civil 
 respect  of  falling  down  before  him,  among  the  Jews :  as  appears 
 in  the  history  of  Elijah  and  Elisha :  nor  does  it  appear  that 
 those  who  worshipped  Christ  had  any  apprehension  of  his  be- 
 ing God :  they  only  considered  him  as  the  Messias,  or  as  some 
 eminent  prophet.  But  the  mention  that  St  Luke  (xxiv.  5*2.) 
 makes  in  his  Gospel,  of  the  disciples  worshipping  Christ  at  his 
 ascension,  comes  more  home  to  this  matter.  ■  All  those  saluta- 
 tions in  the  beginning  and  conclusion  of  the  Epistles,  in  which 
 grace,  mercy,  and  peace,  are  wished  from  God  the  Father,  and 
 the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  are  implied  invocations  of  him.  It  is 
 also  plain,  that  it  was  to  him  that  St  Paul  praye d,  (2  Cor.  xii. 
 8,  9.),  when  he  was  under  the  temptations  of  the  Devi],  as  they 
 are  commonly  understood.  Every  knee  must  bow  to  him  :  the 
 angels  of  God  norship  him,  Phil.  ii.  10.  Heb.  i.  5.  All  the 
 hosts  in  heaven  are  represented  in  St  John's  visions,  ( Rev.  v.  8. 
 to  the  end),  as  falling  down  prostrate  before  him,  and  worship- 
 
56 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  II. 
 
 ping  him  as  they  worship  the  Father.  He  is  proposed  as  the 
 object  of  our  faith,  hope,  and  love ;  as  the  Person  whom  we  are 
 to  obey,  to  pray  to,  and  to  praise ;  so  that  every  act  of  wor- 
 ship, both  external  and  internal,  is  directed  to  him  as  to  its 
 proper  object.  But  the  instance  of  all  others  that  is  the  clearest 
 in  this  point,  is  in  the  last  words  of  St  Stephen,  who  was  the 
 first  martyr,  and  whose  martyrdom  is  so  particularly  related  by 
 St  Luke :  he  then,  in  his  last  minutes,  saw  Christ  at  the  right 
 hand  of  God :  and  in  his  last  breath  he  worshipped  him  in  two 
 short  prayers,  that  are  upon  the  matter  the  same  with  those  in 
 which  our  blessed  Saviour  worshipped  his  Father  on  the  cross ; 
 Lord  Jesus,  receive  my  spirit ;  Lord,  lay  not  this  sin  to  their 
 charge,  Acts  vii.  59,  60.  From  this  it  seems  very  evident, 
 that  if  Christ  was  not  the  true  God,  and  equal  to  the  Father, 
 then  this  protomartyr  died  in  two  acts  that  seem  not  only  ido- 
 latrous but  also  blasphemous ;  since  he  worshipped  Christ  in 
 the  same  acts  in  which  Christ  had  worshipped  his  Father.  It 
 is  certain,  from  all  this  deduction  of  particulars,  that  his  human 
 nature  cannot  be  worshipped ;  therefore  there  must  be  another 
 nature  in  him,  to  which  divine  worship  is  due,  and  on  the  ac- 
 count of  which  he  is  to  be  worshipped. 
 
 It  is  plain,  that  when  this  religion  was  first  published,  toge- 
 ther with  these  duties  in  it  as  a  part  of  it,  the  Jews,  though 
 implacably  set  against  it,  yet'  never  accused  it  of  idolatry  ; 
 though  that  charge  of  all  others  had  served  their  purposes  the 
 best,  who  intended  to  blacken  and  blast  it.  Nothing  would 
 have  been  so  well  heard,  and  so  easily  apprehended  as  a  just 
 prejudice  against  it,  as  this.  The  argument  would  have  ap- 
 peared as  strong  as  it  was  plain  :  and  as  the  Jews  could  not  be 
 ignorant  of  the  acts  of  the  Christian  worship,  when  so  many 
 fell  back  to  them  from  it,  who  were  offended  at  other  parts  of 
 it ;  so  they  had  the  books,  in  which  it  was  contained,  in  their 
 hands.  Notwithstanding  all  which,  we  have  all  possible  reason 
 to  believe  that  this  objection  against  it  was  never  made  by  any 
 of  them  in  the  first  age  of  Christianity :  upon  all  which  I  say, 
 it  is  not  to  be  imagined  that  they  could  have  been  silent  on  this 
 head,  if  a  mere  man  had  been  thus  proposed  among  the  Chris- 
 tians as  the  object  of  divine  worship.  The  silence  of  the  apos- 
 tles, in  not  mentioning  nor  answering  this,  is  such  a  proof  of 
 the  silence  of  the  Jews,  that  it  would  indeed  disparage  all  their 
 writings  if  we  could  think,  that,  while  they  mentioned  and  an- 
 swered the  other  prejudices  of  the  Jews,  which  in  comparison  to 
 this  are  small  and  inconsiderable  matters,  they  should  have  pass- 
 ed over  this,  which  must  have  been  the  greatest  and  the  plau- 
 siblest  of  them  all,  if  it  was  one  at  all.  Therefore,  as  the  silence 
 of  the  Apostles  is  a  clear  proof  that  the  Jews  were  silent  also, 
 and  did  not  object  this;  and  since  their  silence  could  neither 
 How  from  their  ignorance,  nor  their  undervaluing  of  this  reli- 
 
Art.  II. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 57 
 
 gion  ;  it  seems  to  be  certain,  that  the  first  opening  of  the  Chris- 
 tian doctrine  did  not  carry  any  thing  in  it  that  could  be  called 
 the  worshipping  of  a  creature.  It  follows  from  hence,  that  the 
 Jews  must  have  understood  this  part  of  our  religion  in  such  a 
 manner  as  agreed  with  their  former  ideas.  So  we  must  exa- 
 mine these  :  They  had  this  settled  among  them,  that  God  dwelt 
 in  the  cloud  of  glory,  and  that,  by  virtue  of  that  inhabitation, 
 divine  worship  was  paid  to  God  as  dwelling  in  the  cloud  :  that 
 it  was  called  God,  God's  Throne,  his  Holiness,  his  Face,  and 
 the  Light  of  his  Countenance :  they  went  up  to  the  temple  to 
 worship  God,  as  dwelling  there  bodily,  that  is  substantially,  so 
 bodily  sometimes  signifies,  or  in  a  corporeal  appearance.  This 
 seems  to  have  been  a  Person  that  was  truly  God,  and  yet  was 
 distinct  from  that  which  appeared  and  spake  to  Moses ;  for  this 
 seems  to  be  the  importance  of  these  words:  Behold,  I  send  an 
 Angel  before  thee  to  keep  thee  in  the  way,  and  to  bring  thee  to 
 the  place  which  I  have  prepared  :  beware  of  him,  and  obey  his 
 voice,  provoke  him  not ;  for  he  will  not  pardon  your  transgres- 
 sions ;  for  my  name  is  in  him,  Exod.  xxiii.  20.  These  words 
 do  plainly  import  a  person  to  whom  they  belong ;  and  yet  they 
 are  a  pitch  far  above  the  angelical  dignity.  So  that  Angel 
 must  here  be  understood,  in  a  large  sense,  for  one  sent  of  God ; 
 and  it  can  admit  of  no  sense  so  properly,  as,  that  the  Eternal 
 Word,  which  dwelt  afterwards  in  the  man  Christ  Jesus,  dwelt 
 then  in  that  cloud  of  glory.  It  was  also  one  of  the  prophecies 
 received  by  the  Jews,  that  the  glory  of  the  second  temple  was 
 to  exceed  the  glory  of  the  first,  Hag.  ii.  9.  The  chief  charac- 
 ter of  the  glory  of  the  first  was  that  inhabitation  of  the  divine 
 presence  among  them :  from  hence  it  follows,  that  such  an 
 inhabitation  of  God  in  a  creature,  by  which  that  creature  was 
 not  only  called  God,  but  that  adoration  was  due  to  it  upon 
 that  account,  was  a  notion  that  could  not  have  scandalized  the 
 Jews,  and  was  indeed  the  only  notion  that  agreed  with  their  for- 
 mer ideas,  and  that  could  have  been  received  by  them  without 
 difficulty  or  opposition.  This  is  a  strong  inducement  to  be- 
 lieve, that  this  great  article  of  our  Religion  was  at  that  time 
 delivered  and  understood  in  that  sense. 
 
 If  the  Son  or  Word  is  truly  God,  he  must  be  from  all  eter- 
 nity, and  must  also  be  of  the  same  substance  with  the  Father, 
 otherwise  lie  could  not  be  God;  since  a  God  of  another  sub- 
 stance, or  of  another  duration,  is  a  contradiction. 
 
 The  last  argument  that  I  shall  offer  is  taken  from  the  begin- 
 ning  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews :  to  the  apprehending  the 
 force  of  which,  this  must  be  premised,  that  all  those  who  ac- 
 knowledge that  Christ  ought  to  be  honoured  and  worshipped 
 as  the  Father,  must  say  that  this  is  due  to  him  either  because 
 he  is  truly  God,  or  because  he  is  a  person  of  such  a  high  and 
 exalted  dignity,  that  God  has,  upon  the  consideration  of  that. 
 
SB 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  II. 
 
 appointed  him  to  be  so  worshipped.  Now  this  second  notion 
 may  fall  under  another  distinction :  that  either  he  was  of  a 
 very  sublime  order  by  nature,  as  some  angelical  being,  that, 
 though  he  was  created,  yet  had  this  high  privilege  bestowed 
 upon  him ;  or  that  he  was  a  prophet  illuminated  and  autho- 
 rized in  so  particular  a  manner  beyond  all  others,  that,  out  of 
 a  regard  to  that,  he  was  exalted  to  this  honour  of  being  to  be 
 worshipped.  One  of  these  must  be  chosen  by  all  who  do  not 
 believe  him  to  be  truly  God :  and  indeed  one  of  these  was  the 
 Arian,  as  the  other  is  the  Socinian  hypothesis.  For  how  much 
 soever  the  Arians  might  exalt  him  in  words,  yet,  if  they  believed 
 him  to  be  a  creature  made  in  time,  so  that  once  he  was  not, 
 all  that  they  said  of  him  can  amount  to  no  more  but  that  he 
 was  a  creature  of  a  spiritual  nature ;  and  this  is  plainly  the  no- 
 tion which  the  Scripture  gives  us  of  angels.  Artemon,  Samo- 
 satenus,  Photinus,  and  the  Socinians  in  our  days,  consider  our 
 Saviour  as  a  great  prophet  and  lawgiver ;  and  into  this  thev 
 resolve  his  dignity.  In  opposition  to  both  these,  that  Epistle 
 begins  with  expressions  that  are  the  more  severe,  because  they 
 are  negative,  which  are  to  be  understood  more  strictly  than 
 positive  words.  Christ  is  not  only  preferred  to  angels,  but  is 
 set  in  opposition  to  them,  as  one  of  another  order  of  beings  : — 
 Made  so  much  better  than  angels,  as  he  hath  by  inheritance  ob- 
 tained a  more  excellent  ?iame  than  they.  For  unto  which  of  the 
 angels  said  he  at  any  time,  Thou  art  my  Son,  this  day  have  I 
 begotten  thee  ?  When  he  bringeth  in  the  Jirst-be gotten  into  the 
 world,  he  saith,  And  let  all  the  angels  of  God  worship  him. 
 Of  the  angels  he  saith,  Who  maketh  his  angels  spirits,  and  his 
 ministers  a  fame  off  re.  But  unto  the  Son  he  saith,  Thy  throne, 
 O  God,  is  for  ever  and  ever. — And,  Thou,  Lord,  in  the  beginning 
 hast  laid  the  foundation  of  the  earth  ;  and  the  heavens  are  the 
 works  of  thy  hands.  Thou  art  the  same,  and  thy  years  shall 
 not  fail.  But  to  which  of  the  angels  said  he  at  any  time,  Sit  on 
 ray  right  hand,  till  I  make  thine  enemies  thy  footstool  ?  Are  they 
 not  all  ministering  spirits,  sent  forth  to  minister  for  them  who 
 shall  be  heirs  of  salvation  ?  Heb.  i.  4 — 8.  10 — 14.  This  op- 
 position is  likewise  carried  on  through  the  whole  second  chap- 
 ter ;  one  passage  in  it  being  most  express  to  shew  both  that  his 
 nature  had  a  subsistence  before  his  incarnation,  and  that  it  was 
 not  of  an  angelical  order  of  beings,  since  he  took  not  on  him  the 
 nature  of  angels,  but  the  seed  of  Abraham,  Heb.  ii.  16.  Thus, 
 in  a  great  variety  of  expressions,  the  conceit  of  Christ's  being 
 of  an  angelical  nature  is  very  fully  condemned.  From  that  the 
 writer  goes  next  to  the  notion  of  his  being  to  be  honoured, 
 because  he  was  an  eminent  prophet;  on  which  he  enters  with 
 a  very  solemn  preface,  inviting  them  to  consider  the  Apostle 
 and  High-priest  of  our  profession,  Heb.  iii.  1.:  then  he  com- 
 pares Moses  to  him,  as  to  the  point  of  being  faithful  to  him 
 
Art.  II. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 59 
 
 who  had  appointed  him.  But  how  eminent  soever  Moses  was 
 above  all  other  prophets,  and  how  harshly  soever  it  must  have 
 sounded  to  the  Jews,  to  have  stated  the  difference  in  terms  so 
 distant  as  that  of  a  servant  and  a  son,  of  one  who  built  the  house, 
 and  of  the  house  itself ;  yet  we  see  the  Apostle  does  not  only 
 prefer  Christ  to  Moses,  but  puts  him  in  another  order  and 
 rank ;  which  could  not  be  done  according  to  the  Socinian  hy- 
 pothesis. From  all  which  this  conclusion  naturally  follows,  that, 
 if  Christ  is  to  be  worshipped,  and  that  this  honour  belongs  to 
 him  neither  as  an  angel  nor  as  a  prophet,  that  then  it  is  due 
 to  him  because  he  is  truly  God.  • 
 
 The  second  branch  of  this  Article  is,  that  he  took  man's 
 nature  upon  him  in  the  womb  of  the  blessed  Virgin,  and  of  her 
 substance.  This  will  not  need  any  long  or  laboured  proof, 
 since  the  texts  of  Scripture  are  so  express,  that  nothing  but 
 wild  extravagance  can  withstand  them.  Christ  was  in  all  things 
 like  unto  us,  except  his  miraculous  conception  by  the  Virgin : 
 he  was  the  Son  of  Abraham  and  of  David.  But  among  the 
 frantic  humours  that  appeared  at  the  Reformation,  some,  in 
 opposition  to  the  superstition  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  studied 
 to  derogate  as  much  from  the  blessed  Virgin  on  the  one  hand, 
 as  she  had  been  over-exalted  on  the  other ;  so  they  said,  that 
 Christ  had  only  gone  through  her.  But  this  impiety  sunk  so 
 soon,  that  it  is  needless  to  say  any  thing  more  to  refute  it. 
 
 The  third  branch  of  the  Article  is,  that  these  two  natures 
 were  joined  in  one  Person,  never  to  be  divided.  What  a  person 
 is  that  results  from  a  close  conjunction  of  two  natures,  we  can 
 only  judge  of  by  considering  man,  in  whom  there  is  a  material 
 and  a  spiritual  nature  joined  together.  They  are  two  natures 
 as  different  as  any  we  can  apprehend  among  all  created  beings ; 
 yet  these  make  but  one  man.  The  matter  of  which  the  body 
 is  composed  does  not  subsist  by  itself — is  not  under  all  those 
 laws  of  motion  to  which  it  would  be  subject  if  it  were  mere 
 inanimated  matter  ;  but,  by  the  indwelling  and  actuation  of  the 
 soul,  it  has  another  spring  within  it,  and  has  another  course  of 
 operations.  According  to  this  then,  to  subsist  by  another,  is 
 when  a  being  is  acting  according  to  its  natural  properties,  but 
 yet  in  a  constant  dependence  upon  another  being ;  so  our 
 bodies  subsist  by  the  subsistence  of  our  souls.  This  may  help 
 us  to  apprehend,  how  that,  as  the  body  is  still  a  body,  and 
 operates  as  a  body,  though  it  subsists  by  the  indwelling  and 
 actuation  of  the  soul ;  so  in  the  Person  of  Jesus  Christ  the 
 human  nature  was  entire,  and  still  acted  according  to  its  own 
 character ;  yet  there  was  such  an  union  and  inhabitation  of  the 
 eternal  Word  in  it,  that  there  did  arise  out  of  that  a  commu- 
 nication of  names  and  characters,  as  we  find  in  the  Scriptures. 
 A  man  is  called  tall,  fair,  and  healthy,  from  the  state  of  his 
 body  :  and  learned,  wise,  and  good,  from  the  qualities  of  his 
 
60 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  II. 
 
 mind  :  so  Christ  is  called  holy,  harmless,  and  undefiled  ;  is 
 said  to  have  died,  risen,  and  ascended  np  into  heaven,  with 
 relation  to  his  human  nature  :  he  is  also  said  to  be  in  the  form 
 of  God,  to  have  created  all  things,  to  be  the  brightness  of  the 
 Fathers  glory r,  and  the  express  image  of  his  person,  (Phil.  ii.  6. 
 Col.  i.  16.  Heb.  i.  3.),  with  relation  to  his  divine  nature.  The 
 ideas  that  we  have  of  what  is  material  and  what  is  spiritual, 
 lead  us  to  distinguish  in  a  man  those  descriptions  that  belong 
 to  his  body  from  those  that  belong  to  his  mind ;  so  the  diffe- 
 rent apprehensions  that  we  have  of  what  is  created  and  un- 
 created, must  be  our  thread  to  guide  us  into  the  resolution  of 
 those  various  expressions  that  occur  in  the  Scriptures  concern- 
 ing Christ. 
 
 The  design  of  the  definition  that  was  made  by  the  Church, 
 concerning  Christ's  having  one  person,  was  chiefly  to  distin- 
 guish the  nature  of  the  indwelling  of  the  Godhead  in  him,  from 
 all  prophetical  inspirations.  The  Mosaical  degree  of  prophecy 
 was  in  many  respects  superior  to  that  of  all  the  subsequent 
 prophets ;  yet  the  difference  is  stated  between  Christ  and 
 Moses,  in  terms  that  import  things  quite  of  another  nature — 
 the  one  being  mentioned  as  a  servant,  the  other  as  the  Son 
 that  built  the  house.  It  is  not  said  that  God  appeared  to 
 Christ,  or  that  he  spoke  to  him ;  but  God  was  ever  with  him, 
 and  in  him  ;  and  while  the  Word  was  made  flesh,  yet  still  his 
 glory  was  as  the  glory  of  the  only  begotten  Son  of  God,  John  i. 
 14.  The  glory  that  Isaiah  saw,  was  called  his  glory ;  and  on 
 the  other  hand,  God  is  said  to  have  purchased  his  Church  with 
 his  own  blood.  If  Nestorius,  in  opposing  this,  meant  only,  as 
 some  think  it  appears  by  many  citations  out  of  him,  that  the 
 blessed  Virgin  was  not  to  be  called  simply  the  Mother  of  God, 
 but  the  Mother  of  him  that  was  God ;  and  if  that  of  making- 
 two  persons  in  Christ  was  only  fastened  on  him  as  a  conse- 
 quence, we  are  not  at  all  concerned  in  the  matter  of  fact, 
 whether  Nestorius  was  misunderstood  and  hardly  used,  or  not : 
 but  the  doctrine  here  asserted  is  plain  in  the  Scriptures,  that 
 though  the  human  nature  in  Christ  acted  still  according  to  its 
 proper  character,  and  had  a  peculiar  will ;  yet  there  was  such 
 a  constant  presence,  indwelling,  and  actuation  on  it  from  the 
 eternal  Word,  as  did  constitute  both  human  and  divine  nature 
 one  Person.  As  these  are  thus  so  entirely  united,  so  they  are 
 never  to  be  separated.  Christ  is  now  exalted  to  the  highest 
 degrees  of  glory  and  honour ;  and  the  characters  of  Blessing, 
 Honour,  and  Glory,  are  represented  in  St  John's  visions  as 
 offered  to  the  Lamb  for  ever  and  ever,  Rev.  v.  13.  It  is  true, 
 St  Paul  speaks  as  if  Christ's  mediatory  office  and  kingdom 
 were  to  cease  after  the  day  of  judgment,  and  that  then  he  was 
 1o  deliver  up  all  to  the  Father.  But  though,  when  the  full 
 number  of  the  elect  shall  be  gathered,  the  full  end  of  his  death 
 
Art.  H. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 61 
 
 will  be  attained ;  and  when  these  saints  shall  be  glorified  with 
 him  and  by  him,  his  office  as  Mediator  will  naturally  come  to 
 an  end ;  yet  his  own  personal  glory  shall  never  cease  :  and  if 
 every  saint  shall  inherit  an  everlasting  kingdom,  much  more 
 shall  he  who  has  merited  all  that  to  them,  and  has  conferred  it 
 on  them,  be  for  ever  possessed  of  his  glory. 
 
 The  fourth  branch  of  the  Article  is  concerning  the  truth  of 
 Christ's  crucifixion,  his  death  and  burial.  The  matter  of  fact 
 concerning  the  death  of  Christ  is  denied  by  no  Christian  ;  the 
 Jews  do  all  acknowledge  it :  the  first  enemies  to  Christianity 
 did  all  believe  this,  and  reproached  his  followers  with  it.  This 
 was  that  which  all  Christians  gloried  in  and  avowed  ;  so  that 
 no  question  was  made  of  his  death,  except  by  a  small  number 
 called  Doceta?,  who  were  not  esteemed  Christians,  till  Maho- 
 met denied  it  in  his  Alcoran,  who  pretends  that  he  was  with- 
 drawn, and  that  a  Jew  was  crucified  in  his  stead.  But  this 
 corruption  of  the  history  of  the  Gospel  came  too  late  afterwards 
 to  have  any  shadow  of  credit  due  to  it :  nor  was  there  any  sort 
 of  proof  offered  to  support  it.  So  this  doctrine  concerning  the 
 death  of  Christ  is  to  be  received  as  an  unquestionable  truth. 
 There  is  no  part  of  the  Gospel  writ  with  so  copious  a  particu- 
 larity, as  the  history  of  his  sufferings  and  death  ;  as  there  was 
 indeed  no  part  of  the  Gospel  so  important  as  this  is. 
 
 The  fifth  branch  of  the  Article  is,  that  he  was  a  true  sacri- 
 fce  to  reconcile  the  Father  to  us,  and  that  not  only  for  original, 
 but  for  actual  sins.  The  notion  of  an  expiatory  sacrifice,  which 
 was  then,  when  the  New  Testament  was  writ,  well  understood 
 all  the  world  over,  both  by  Jew  and  Gentile,  was  this,  that  the 
 sin  of  one  person  was  transferred  on  a  man  or  beast,  who  was 
 upon  that  devoted  and  offered  up  to  God,  and  suffered  in  the 
 room  of  the  offending  person :  and  by  this  oblation,  the  pu- 
 nishment of  the  sin  being  laid  on  the  sacrifice,  an  expiation  was 
 made  for  sin,  and  the  sinner  was  believed  to  be  reconciled  to 
 God.  This,  as  appears  through  the  whole  book  of  Leviticus, 
 was  the  design  and  effect  of  the  sin  and  trespass-offerings  among 
 the  Jews,  and  more  particularly  of  the  goat  that  was  offered  up 
 for  the  sins  of  the  whole  people  on  the  day  of  atonement.  This 
 was  a  piece  of  religion  well  known  both  to  Jew  and  Gentile, 
 that  had  a  great  many  phrases  belonging  to  it, — such  as  the 
 sacrifices  being  offered  for,  or  instead  of,  sin,  and  in  the  name, 
 or  on  the  account,  of  the  sinner ;  its  bearing  of  sin,  and  be- 
 coming sin,  or  the  sin-offering ;  its  being  the  reconciliation,  the 
 atonement,  and  the  redemption  of  the  sinner,  by  which  the  sin 
 was  no  more  imputed,  but  forgiven,  and  for  which  the  sinner 
 was  accepted.  When  therefore  this  whole  set  of  phrases,  in  its 
 utmost  extent,  is  very  often,  and  in  a  great  variety,  applied  to 
 the  death  of  Christ,  it  is  not  possible  for  us  to  preserve  any 
 reverence  for  the  New  Testament,  or  the  writers  of  it,  so  far 
 
62 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  II. 
 
 as  to  think  them  even  honest  men,  not  to  say  inspired  men,  if 
 we  can  imagine,  that,  in  so  sacred  and  important  a  matter,  they 
 could  exceed  so  much  as  to  represent  that  to  be  our  sacrifice 
 which  is  not  truly  so.  This  is  a  point  which  will  not  bear  figures 
 and  amplifications ;  it  must  be  treated  of  strictly,  and  with  a 
 just  exactness  of  expression.  Christ  is  called  the  Lamb  of  God 
 that  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world:  he  is  said  to  have  borne 
 our  sins  on  his  own  body ;  to  have  been  made  sin  for  us:  it  is 
 said,  that  he  gave  his  life  a  ransom  for  many ;  that  he  was  the 
 propitiation  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world;  and  that  we  have 
 redemption  through  his  blood,  even  the  remission  of  our  sins.  It 
 is  said,  that  he  hath  reconciled  us  to  his  Father  in  his  cross,  and 
 in  the  body  of  his  flesh  through  death;  that  he  by  his  own  blood 
 entered  in  once  into  the  holy  place,  having  obtained  eternal  re- 
 demption for  us,-  that  once  in  the  end  of  the  world  hath  he  ap- 
 peared to  put  away  sin,  by  the  sacrifce  of  himself;  that  he  was 
 once  offered  to  bear  the  sins  of  many :  that  we  are  sanctified  by 
 the  offering  of  the  body  of  Christ  once  for  all;  and  that,  after 
 he  had  offered  one  sacrifice  for  sin,  he  sat  down  for  ever  on  the 
 right  hand  of  God.  It  is  said,  that  we  enter  into  the  holiest  by 
 the  blood  of  Christ,  that  is  the  blood  of  the  new  covenant,  by 
 which  we  are  sanctified:  that  he  hath  sanctified  the  people  with 
 his  own  blood;  and  was  the  great  shepherd  of  his  people,  through 
 the  blood  of  the  everlasting  covenant:  that  we  are  redeemed  with 
 the  precious  blood  of  Christ,  as  of  a  Lamb  without  blemish  and 
 without  spot;  and  that  Christ  suffered  once  for  sins,  the  just 
 for  the  unjust,  that  he  might  bring  us  to  God  *  In  these,  and 
 in  a  great  many  more  passages  that  lie  spread  in  all  the  parts 
 of  the  New  Testament,  it  is  as  plain  as  words  can  make  any 
 thing,  that  the  death  of  Christ  is  proposed  to  us  as  our  sacrifice 
 and  reconciliation,  our  atonement  and  redemption.  So  it  is 
 not  possible  for  any  man  that  considers  all  this  to  imagine, 
 that  Christ's  death  was  only  a  confirmation  of  his  gospel,  a 
 pattern  of  a  holy  and  patient  suffering  of  death,  and  a  necessary 
 preparation  to  his  resurrection ;  by  which  he  gave  us  a  clear 
 proof  of  a  resurrection,  and  by  consequence  of  eternal  life,  as 
 by  his  doctrine  he  had  shewed  us  the  way  to  it.  By  this,  all 
 the  high  commendations  of  his  death  amount  only  to  this,  that 
 he  by  dying  has  given  a  vast  credit  and  authority  to  his  gos- 
 pel, which  was  the  powerfullest  mean  possible  to  redeem  us 
 from  sin,  and  to  reconcile  us  to  God.  But  this  is  so  contrary 
 to  the  whole  design  of  the  New  Testament,  and  to  the  true 
 importance  of  that  great  variety  of  phrases  in  which  this  mat- 
 ter is  set  out,  that,  at  this  rate  of  expounding  Scripture,  we  can 
 never  know  what  we  may  build  upon,  especially  when  the  great 
 
 *  John  i.  29.  1  Pet.  ii.  24.  2  Cor.  v.  21.  Matt.  xx.  28.  Rom.  iii.  2a. 
 1  John  ii.  2.  Eph.  i.  7.  Col.  i.  I  I.  20,  21,  22.  Heb.  ix.  1 1,  12,  13,  11.  2C.  28. 
 x.  10.  12.  I  k  19.  29.  xiii.  12.  20.     1  Pet.  i.  19.  ii.  24.  iii.  18. 
 
Abt.  II. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 63 
 
 importance  of  this  thing,  and  of  our  having  right  notions  con- 
 cerning it,  is  well  considered.  St  Paul  does,  in  his  Epistle  to 
 the  Romans,  state  an  opposition  between  the  death  of  Christ 
 and  the  sin  of  Adam :  the  ill  effects  of  the  one  being  removed 
 by  the  other :  but  he  plainly  carries  the  death  of  Christ  much 
 further  than  that  it  had  only  healed  the  wound  that  was  given 
 by  Adam's  sin  :  for  as  the  judgment  nas  of  one  (sin)  to  condem- 
 nation, the  free  gift  is  of  many  offences  to  justif cation,  Rom. 
 v.  12.  to  the  end.  But  in  the  other  places  of  the  New  Testa- 
 ment, Christ's  death  is  set  forth  so  fully  as  a  propitiation  for 
 the  sins  of  the  whole  world,  that  it  is  a  very  false  way  of  argu- 
 ing to  infer,  that  because  in  one  place  that  is  set  in  opposition 
 to  Adam's  sin,  that  therefore  the  virtue  of  it  was  to  go  no 
 farther  than  to  take  away  that  sin.  It  has  indeed  removed 
 that,  but  it  has  done  a  great  deal  more  besides. 
 
 Thus  it  is  plain,  that  Christ's  death  was  our  sacrifice  :  the 
 meaning  of  which  is  this,  that  God,  intending  to  reconcile  the 
 world  to  himself,  and  to  encourage  sinners  to  repent  and  turn 
 to  him,  thought  fit  to  offer  the  pardon  of  sin,  together  with  the 
 other  blessings  of  his  gospel,  in  such  a  way  as  should  demon- 
 strate both  the  guilt  of  sin  and  his  hatred  of  it ;  and  yet.  with 
 that,  his  love  of  sinners,  and  his  compassions  towards  them.  A 
 free  pardon  without  a  sacrifice  had  not  been  so  agreeable,  nei- 
 ther to  the  majesty  of  the  great  Governor  of  the  world  nor  the 
 authority  of  his  laws,  nor  so  proper  a  method  to  oblige  men  to 
 that  strictness  and  holiness  of  life  that  he  designed  to  bring 
 them  to  ;  and  therefore  he  thought  fit  to  offer  his  pardon,  and 
 those  other  blessings,  through  a  Mediator,  who  was  to  deliver 
 to  the  world  this  new  and  holy  rule  of  life,  and  to  confirm  it 
 by  his  own  unblemished  life :  and  in  conclusion,  when  the  rage 
 of  wicked  men,  who  hated  him  for  the  holiness  both  of  his  life 
 and  of  his  doctrine,  did  work  them  up  into  such  a  fury  as  to 
 pursue  him  to  a  most  violent  and  ignominious  death,  he,  in  com- 
 pliance with  the  secret  design  of  his  Father,  did  not  onlv  go 
 through  that  dismal  series  of  sufferings,  with  the  most  entire 
 resignation  to  his  Father's  will,  and  with  the  highest  charity 
 possible  towards  those  who  were  his  most  unjust  and  malicious 
 murderers ;  but  he  at  the  same  time  underwent  great  agonies 
 in  his  mind,  which  struck  him  with  such  an  amazement  and 
 sorrow  even  to  the  death,  that  upon  it  he  did  sweat  great  drops 
 of  blood,  and  on  the  cross  he  felt  a  withdrawing  of  those  com- 
 forts that  till  then  had  ever  supported  him,  when  he  cried  out, 
 My  God,  my  God,  shy  hast  thou  forsaken  me?  It  is  not  easv  for 
 us  to  apprehend  in  what  that  agony  consisted :  for  we  under- 
 stand only  the  agonies  of  pain,  or  of  conscience :  which  last 
 arise  out  of  the  horror  of  guilt,  or  the  apprehension  of  the 
 wrath  of  God.  It  is  indeed  certain,  that  he  who  had  no  sin 
 could  have  no  such  horror  in  him  :  and  yet  it  is  as  certain,  that 
 
04- 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  II. 
 
 lie  could  not  be  put  into  such  an  agony  only  through  the  appre- 
 hension and  fear  of  that  violent  death  which  he  was  to  suffer 
 next  day :  therefore  we  ought  to  conclude,  that  there  was  an 
 inward  suffering  in  his  mind,  as  well  as  an  outward  visible  one 
 in  his  body.  We  cannot  distinctly  apprehend  what  that  was, 
 since  he  was  sure  both  of  his  own  spotless  innocence,  and  of  his 
 Father's  unchangeable  love  to  him  :  we  can  only  imagine  a 
 vast  sense  of  the  heinousness  of  sin,  and  a  deep  indignation  at 
 the  dishonour  done  to  God  by  it ;  a  melting  apprehension  of 
 the  corruption  and  miseries  of  mankind  by  reason  of  sin,  toge- 
 ther with  a  never  before  felt  withdrawing  of  those  consolations 
 that  had  always  filled  his  soul.  But  what  might  be  further  in 
 his  agony,  and  in  his  last  dereliction,  we  cannot  distinctly  ap- 
 prehend ;  only  this  we  perceive,  that  our  minds  are  capable  of 
 great  pain  as  well  as  our  bodies  are.  Deep  horror,  with  an  in- 
 consolable sharpness  of  thought,  is  a  very  intolerable  thing. 
 Notwithstanding  the  bodily  or  substantial  indwelling  of  the  ful- 
 ness of  the  Godhead  in  him,  yet  he  was  capable  of  feeling  vast 
 pain  in  his  body :  So  that  he  might  become  a  complete  sacrifice, 
 and  that  we  might  have  from  his  sufferings  a  very  full  and 
 amazing  apprehension  of  the  guilt  of  sin,  all  those  emanations 
 of  joy,  with  which  the  indwelling  of  the  eternal  Word  had  ever 
 till  then  filled  his  soul,  might  then,  when  he  needed  them  most, 
 be  quite  withdrawn,  and  he  be  left  merely  to  the  firmness  of 
 his  faith,  to  his  patient  resignation  to  the  will  of  his  heavenly 
 Father,  and  to  his  willing  readiness  of  drinking  up  that  cup 
 which  his  Father  had  put  in  his  hand  to  drink. 
 
 There  remains  but  one  thing  to  be  remembered  here,  though 
 it  will  come  to  be  more  especially  explained  when  other  Ar- 
 ticles are  to  be  opened;  which  is,  that  this  reconciliation, 
 which  is  made  by  the  death  of  Christ,  between  God  and  man, 
 is  not  absolute  and  without  conditions.  He  has  established  the 
 covenant,  and  has  performed  all  that  was  incumbent  on  him, 
 as  both  the  priest  and  the  sacrifice,  to  do  and  to  suffer ;  and 
 he  offers  this  to  the  world,  that  it  may  be  closed  with  by  them 
 on  the  terms  on  which  it  is  proposed  ;  and  if  they  do  not  ac- 
 cept of  it  upon  these  conditions,  and  perform  what  is  enjoined 
 them,  they  can  have  no  share  in  it. 
 
Art.  in. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 65  • 
 
 ARTICLE  III. 
 
 OF  THE  GOING  DOWN  OF  CHRIST  INTO  HELL. 
 
 As  Christ  died  for  as  and  was  buried,  so  also  is  it  to  be  believed, 
 that  he  went  down  into  Hell. 
 
 This  was  much  fuller  when  the  Articles  were  at  first  pre- 
 pared and  published  in  King  Edward's  reign ;  for  these  words 
 were  added  to  it,  That  the  body  of  Christ  lay  in  the  grave  until 
 his  resurrection  ;  but  his  spirit,  which  he  gave  up,  was  with  the 
 spirits  which  were  detained  in  prison,  or  in  hell,  and  preached 
 to  them,  as  the  place  in  St  Peter  testifieth.  Thus  a  determined 
 sense  was  put  upon  this  Article,  which  is  now  left  more  at  large, 
 and  is  conceived  in  words  of  a  more  general  signification.  In 
 order  to  the  explaining  this,  it  is  to  be  premised,  that  the 
 Article  in  the  Creed,  of  Christ's  descent  into  hell,  is  mentioned 
 by  no  writer  before  Ruffin,  who  in  the  beginning  of  the  fifth 
 century  does  indeed  speak  of  it ;  but  he  tells  us,  that  it  was 
 neither  in  the  symbol  of  the  Roman,  nor  of  the  Oriental 
 Churches ;  and  that  he  found  it  in  the  symbol  of  his  own  Church 
 at  Aquileia.  But  as  there  was  no  other  Article  in  that  sym- 
 bol that  related  to  Christ's  burial ;  so  the  words  which  he  gives 
 us,  descendit  ad  inferna,  he  descended  to  the  lower  parts,  do 
 very  naturally  signify  burial,  according  to  these  words  of  St 
 Paul,  He  ascended ;  what  is  it,  but  that  he  also  descended  Jirst 
 to  the  lower  parts  of  the  earth  ?  Eph.  iv.  9.  And  Rufnn  him- 
 self understood  these  words  in  that  sense. 
 
 None  of  the  fathers  in  the  first  ages,  neither  Irenseus,  Ter- 
 tullian,  Clemens,  nor  Origen,  in  the  short  abstracts  that  they 
 give  us  of  the  Christian  faith,  mention  any  thing  like  this :  and 
 in  all  that  great  variety  of  Creeds  that  was  proposed  by  the 
 many  councils  that  met  in  the  fourth  century,  this  is  not  in 
 any  one  of  them,  except  in  that  which  was  agreed  to  at  Ari- 
 mini,  and  was  pretended,  though  falsely,  to  have  been  made 
 at  Sirmium :  in  that  it  is  set  down  in  a  Greek  word  that  does 
 exactly  answer  Rufnn's  Inferna,  Kxrx^ovix ;  and  it  stood  there 
 instead  of  buried.  When  it  was  put  in  the  Creed  that  carries 
 Athanasius's  name,  though  made  in  the  sixth  or  seventh  cen- 
 tury, the  word  was  changed  to  'A&is,  or  Hell :  but  yet  it  seems 
 to  have  been  understood  to  signify  Christ's  burial,  there  being 
 no  other  word  put  for  it  in  that  Creed.  Afterwards  it  was 
 put  into  the  symbol  of  the  Western  Church :  that  was  done 
 at  first  in  the  words  in  which  Ruffin  had  expressed  it,  as  ap- 
 pears by  some  ancient  copies  of  Creeds  which  were  published 
 
 E 
 
66 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  III. 
 
 by  the  great  Primate  Usher.  We  are  next  to  consider,  what 
 the  importance  of  these  words  in  themselves  is ;  for  it  is  plain 
 that  the  use  of  them  in  the  Creed  is  not  very  ancient  nor  uni- 
 versal. We  have  a  most  unquestionable  authority  for  this, 
 that  our  Saviour's  soul  was  in  hell.  In  the  Acts  of  the  Apos- 
 tles, St  Peter,  in  the  first  sermon  that  was  preached  after 
 the  wonderful  effusion  of  the  Spirit  at  Pentecost,  applies  those 
 words  of  David,  concerning  God's  not  leaving  his  soul  in  hell, 
 nor  suffering  his  Holy  One  to  see  corruption,  to  the  resurrection 
 of  Christ.  Now  since,  in  the  composition  of  a  man,  there  is  a 
 body  and  a  spirit,  and  since  it  is  plain  that  the  raising  of  Christ 
 on  the  third  day  was  before  that  his  body  in  the  course  of  na- 
 ture was  corrupted,  the  other  branch  seems  to  relate  to  his 
 soul ;  though  it  is  not  to  be  denied,  but  that  in  the  Old  Testa- 
 ment soul  in  some  places  stands  for  a  dead  body.  But  if  that 
 were  the  sense  of  the  word,  there  would  be  no  opposition  in 
 the  two  parts  of  this  period ;  the  one  will  be  only  a  redundant 
 repetition  of  the  other ;  therefore  it  is  much  more  natural  to 
 think,  that  this  other  branch,  concerning  Christ's  soul  being 
 left  in  hell,  must  relate  to  that  which  we  commonly  understand 
 by  soul.  If  then  his  soul  was  not  to  be  left  in  hell,  then  from 
 thence  it  plainly  follows,  that  once  it  was  in  hell,  and  by  con- 
 sequence that  Christ's  soul  descended  into  hell. 
 
 Some  very  modern  writers  have  thought,  that  this  is  to  be 
 understood  figuratively  of  the  wrath  of  God  due  for  sin,  which 
 Christ  bore  in  his  soul,  besides  the  torments  that  he  suffered 
 in  his  body ;  and  they  think,  that  these  are  here  mentioned  by 
 themselves,  after  the  enumeration  of  the  several  steps  of  his 
 bodily  sufferings :  and  this  being  equal  to  the  torments  of  hell, 
 as  it  is  that  which  delivers  us  from  them,  might  in  a  large  way 
 of  expression  be  called  a  descending  into  hell.  But  as  neither 
 the  word  descend,  nor  hell,  are  to  be  found  in  any  other  place 
 of  Scripture  in  this  sense,  nor  in  any  of  the  ancients,  among 
 whom  the  signification  of  this  phrase  is  more  likely  to  be  found 
 than  among  moderns  ;  so  this  being  put  after  buried,  it  plainly 
 shews  that  it  belongs  to  a  period  subsequent  to  his  burial :  there 
 is  therefore  no  regard  to  be  had  to  this  notion. 
 
 Others  have  thought,  that  by  Christ's  descent  into  hell  is 
 to  be  understood,  his  continuing  in  the  state  of  the  dead  for 
 some  time ;  but  there  is  no  ground  for  this  conceit  neither, 
 these  words  being  to  be  found  in  no  author  in  that  signification. 
 
 Many  of  the  fathers  thought,  that  Christ's  soul  went  locally 
 into  hell,  and  preached  to  some  of  the  spirits  there  in  prison  ; 
 that  there  he  triumphed  over  Satan,  and  spoiled  him,  1  Pet.  iii. 
 19.  and  carried  some  souls  with  him  into  glory.  But  the 
 account  that  the  Scriptures  give  us  of  the  exaltation  of  Christ, 
 begins  it  always  at  his  resurrection :  nor  can  it  be  imagined, 
 that  so  memorable  a  transaction  as  this  would  have  been  passed 
 
Art.  III. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 g; 
 
 over  by  the  three  first  Evangelists,  and  least  of  all  by  St  John, 
 who,  coming  after  the  rest,  and  designing  to  supply  what  was 
 wanting  in  them,  and  intending  particularly  to  magnify  the 
 glory  of  Christ,  could  not  have  passed  over  so  wonderful  an 
 instance  of  it.  We  have  no  reason  to  think,  that  such  a  mat- 
 ter would  have  been  only  insinuated  in  general  words,  and 
 not  have  been  plainly  related.  The  triumph  of  Christ  over 
 principalities  and  powers  is  ascribed  by  St  Paul  to  his  cross, 
 and  was  the  effect  and  result  of  his  death.  The  place  of  St 
 Peter  seems  to  relate  to  the  preaching  to  the  Gentile  world,  by 
 virtue  of  that  inspiration  that  was  derived  from  Christ ;  which 
 was  therefore  called  his  Spirit  :  and  the  spirits  in  prison  were 
 the  Gentiles,  who  were  shut  up  in  idolatry  as  in  prison,  and 
 so  were  under  the  power  of  the  Prince  of  the  power  of  the  air, 
 Eph.  ii.  2.,  who  is  called  the  God  of  this  world,  2  Cor.  iv. 
 4. ;  that  is,  of  the  Gentile  world ;  it  being  one  of  the  ends  for 
 which  Christ  was  anointed  of  his  Father,  to  open  the  prisons 
 to  them  that  were  bound,  Isa.  lxi.  1.  So  then,  though  there 
 is  no  harm  in  this  opinion,  yet  it  not  being  founded  on  any 
 part  of  the  history  of  the  Gospel,  and  it  being  supported  only 
 by  passages  that  may  well  bear  another  sense,  we  may  lay  it 
 aside,  notwithstanding  the  reverence  we  bear  to  those  that  as- 
 serted it ;  and  that  the  rather,  because  the  first  fathers  that 
 were  next  the  source  say  nothing  of  it. 
 
 Another  conceit  has  had  a  great  course  among  some  of  the 
 latest  fathers  and  the  schoolmen  :  They  have  fancied  that  there 
 was  a  place  to  which  they  have  given  a  peculiar  name,  Limbus 
 Patrum,  a  sort  of  a  partition  in  hell,  where  all  the  good  men 
 of  the  old  dispensation,  that  had  died  before  Christ,  were  de- 
 tained ;  and  they  hold  that  our  Saviour  went  thither,  and  emp- 
 tied that  place,  carrying  all  the  souls  that  were  in  it  with  him 
 into  heaven.  Of  this  the  Scriptures  say  nothing ;  not  a  word 
 either  of  the  patriarchs  going  thither,  or  of  Christ's  delivering 
 them  out  of  it :  and  though  there  are  not  in  the  Old  Testament 
 express  declarations  and  promises  made  concerning  a  future 
 state,  Christ  having  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light  through 
 his  gospel ;  yet  all  the  hints  given  of  it  shew  that  they  looked 
 for  an  immediate  admission  to  blessedness  after  death.  So 
 David,  Thou  wilt  shew  me  the  path  of  life  :  in  thy  presence  is 
 fulness  of  joy,  and  at  thy  right  hand  are  pleasures  for  evermore. 
 Thou  shalt  guide  me  here  by  thy  counsel,  and  afterwards  receive 
 me  to  glory;  Psal.  xvi.  11.  Acts  ii.  31.  Psal.  lxxiii.  24.  Isaiah 
 (lvii.  2.)  says,  that  the  righteous  when  they  die  enter  into  peace. 
 In  the  New  Testament  there  is  not  a  hint  given  of  this ;  for 
 though  some  passages  may  seem  to  favour  Christ's  delivering 
 some  souls  out  of  hell,  yet  there  is  nothing  that  by  any  man- 
 agement can  be  brought  to  look  this  way. 
 
AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  III. 
 
 There  is  another  sense  of  which  these  words  {descended  into 
 heU~\  are  capable :  By  hell  may  be  meant  the  invisible  place  to 
 see  Bisho  which  departed  souls  are  carried  after  death  :  for 
 Pearson  on  though  the  Greek  word  so  rendered  does  now  com- 
 the  creed.  mon]y  stand  for  the  place  of  the  damned,  and  for 
 many  ages  has  been  so  understood ;  yet  at  the  time  of  writing 
 the  New  Testament,  it  was  among  Greek  authors  used  indiffe- 
 rently for  the  place  of  all  departed  souls,  whether  good  or  bad ; 
 and  by  it  were  meant  the  invisible  regions  where  those  spirits 
 were  lodged.  So  if  these  words  are  taken  in  this  large  sense,  we 
 have  in  them  a  clear  and  literal  account  of  our  Saviour's  send 
 descending  into  hell :  it  imports,  that  he  was  not  only  dead  in  a 
 more  common  acceptation,  as  it  is  usual  to  say  a  man  is  dead 
 when  there  appear  no  signs  of  life  in  him ;  and  that  he  was 
 not  as  in  a  deep  ecstasy  or  fit  that  seemed  death,  but  that  he 
 was  truly  dead :  that  his  soul  was  neither  in  his  body,  nor 
 hovering  about  it,  ascending  and  descending  upon  it,  as  some 
 of  the  Jews  fancied  souls  did  for  some  time  after  death ;  but 
 that  his  soul  was  really  moved  out  of  his  body,  and  carried  to 
 those  unseen  regions  of  departed  spirits,  among  whom  it  con- 
 tinued till  his  resurrection.  That  the  regions  of  the  blessed 
 were  known  then  to  the  Jews  by  the  name  of  Paradise,  as 
 hell  was  known  by  the  name  of  Gehenna,  is  very  clear  from 
 Christ's  last  words,  To-day  thou  shall  be  with  me  in  Paradise ; 
 and,  Into  thy  hands  do  I  commend  my  spirit,  Luke  xxiii.  43. 
 46.  This  is  a  plain  and  full  account  of  a  good  sense  that  may 
 be  well  put  on  the  words;  though,  after  all,  it  is  still  to  be  re- 
 membered, that  in  the  first  Creeds  that  have  this  Article,  that 
 of  Christ's  burial  not  being  mentioned  in  them,  it  follows  from 
 thence,  as  well  as  from  Ruffin's  own  sense  of  it,  that  they  un- 
 derstood this  only  of  Christ's  burial, 
 
 ARTICLE  IV. 
 
 OF  THE  RESURRECTION  OF  CHRIST. 
 
 Christ  did  truly  rise  again  from  Death,  and  took  again  his 
 Body,  with  Flesh,  Bones,  and  all  things  appertaining  to  the 
 Perfection  of  Man's  Nature,  wherewith  he  ascended  into 
 Heaven,  and  there  sitteth,  until  he  return  to  judge  all  Men  at 
 the  Last  Day. 
 
 There  are  four  branches  of  this  Article  : — The  first  is  con- 
 cerning the  truth  of  Christ's  resurrection  :  The  second  con- 
 cerning the  completeness  of  it;  that  he  took  to  him  again  his 
 
Art.  IV. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 69 
 
 whole  body :  The  third  is  concerning  his  ascension  and  con- 
 tinuance in  heaven :  And  the  fourth  is.  concerning  his  return- 
 ing to  judge  all  men  at  the  last  day.  These  things  are  all  so 
 expressly  affirmed,  and  that  in  so  particular  a  manner,  in  the 
 New  Testament,  that  if  the  authority  of  that  book  is  once  well 
 proved,  little  doubting  will  remain  concerning  them. 
 
 It  is  punctually  told  in  it,  that  the  body  of  Christ  was  laid 
 in  the  sepulchre  :  that  a  stone  was  laid  to  the  mouth  of  it :  that 
 it  was  rolled  away,  and  upon  that  Christ  arose  and  left  the 
 death-clothes  behind  him :  that  those,  who  viewed  the  sepul- 
 chre, saw  no  body  there  :  that  in  the  same  body  Christ  shewed 
 himself  to  his  disciples,  so  that  they  all  knew  him ;  he  talked 
 with  them,  and  they  did  eat  and  drink  with  him,  and  he  made 
 Thomas  feel  to  the  print  of  the  nails  and  spear.  It  is  as  plainly 
 told,  that  the  Apostles  looked  on,  and  saw  him  ascend  up  to 
 heaven,  and  that  a  cloud  received  him  out  of  their  sight.  It 
 is  also  said  very  plainly,  that  he  shall  come  again  at  the  last 
 day,  and  judge  all  men,  both  the  quick  and  the  dead.  So  that 
 if  the  truth  of  the  gospel  is  once  fully  proved,  it  will  not  be 
 necessary  to  insist  long  upon  the  special  proof  of  these  particu- 
 lars :  somewhat  will  only  be  necessary  to  be  said  in  explanation 
 of  them. 
 
 The  gospel  was  first  preached,  and  soon  after  put  in  writ- 
 ing ;  in  which  these  particulars  are  not  only  delivered,  but  are 
 set  forth  with  many  circumstances  relating  to  them.  The 
 credit  of  the  whole  is  put  on  that  issue  concerning  the  truth 
 of  Christ's  resurrection ;  so  that  the  overthrowing  the  truth  of 
 that,  was  the  overturning  the  whole  gospel,  and  struck  at  the 
 credit  of  it  all.  This  was  transacted  as  well  as  first  published 
 at  Jerusalem,  where  the  enemies  of  it  had  all  possible  advan- 
 tages in  their  hands :  their  interest  was  deeply  concerned,  as 
 well  as  their  malice  was  much  kindled  at  it.  They  had  both 
 power  and  wealth  in  their  hands,  as  well  as  credit  and  autho- 
 rity among  the  people.  The  Romans  left  them  at  full  liberty, 
 as  they  did  the  other  nations  whom  they  conquered,  to  order 
 their  own  concerns  as  they  pleased.  And  even  the  Romans 
 themselves  began  quickly  to  hate  and  persecute  the  Christians : 
 they  became  the  objects  of  popular  fury,  as  Tacitus  tells  us. 
 The  Romans  looked  upon  Christ  as  one  that  set  on  the  Jews 
 to  those  tumults  that  were  then  so  common  among  them,  as 
 Suetonius  affirms  :  which  shews  both  how  ignorant  they  were 
 of  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  and  how  much  they  were  prejudiced 
 against  it.  Yet  this  gospel  did  spread  itself,  and  was  believed 
 by  great  multitudes,  both  at  Jerusalem  and  in  all  Judea ;  and 
 from  thence  it  was  propagated  in  a  very  few  years  to  a  great 
 many  remote  countries. 
 
 Among  all  Christians  the  article  of  the  Resurrection  and 
 Ascension  of  Christ  was  always  looked  on  as  the  capital  one 
 
70 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  IV. 
 
 upon  which  all  the  rest  depended.  This  was  attested  by  a 
 considerable  number  of  men,  against  whose  credit  no  objection 
 was  made ;  who  affirmed,  that  they  all  had  seen  him,  and  con- 
 versed frequently  with  him  after  his  resurrection ;  that  they  saw 
 him  ascend  up  into  heaven ;  and  that,  according  to  a  promise 
 he  had  made  them,  they  had  received  extraordinary  powers 
 from  him  to  work  miracles  in  his  name,  and  to  speak  in  divers 
 languages.  This  last  was  a  most  amazing  character  of  a  super- 
 natural power  lodged  with  them ;  and  was  a  thing  of  such  a 
 nature,  that  it  must  have  been  evident  to  every  man  whether 
 it  was  true  or  false :  so  that  the  Apostles  relating  this  so  posi- 
 tively, and  making  such  frequent  appeals  to  it,  that  way  of 
 proceeding  carries  a  strong  and  undeniable  evidence  of  truth 
 in  it.  These  wonders  were  gathered  together  in  a  book,  and 
 published  in  the  very  time  in  which  they  were  transacted :  The 
 Acts  of  the  Apostles  were  writ  two  years  after  St  Paul  was  car- 
 ried prisoner  to  Rome ;  and  St  Luke  begins  that  book  with 
 the  mention  of  the  Gospel  that  he  had  formerly  writ,  as  that 
 Gospel  begins  with  the  mention  of  some  other  Gospels  that 
 were  writ  before  it.  Almost  all  the  Epistles  speak  of  the 
 temple  of  Jerusalem  as  yet  in  being ;  of  the  Jews  as  then  in 
 peace  and  prosperity,  hating  and  persecuting  the  Christians 
 every- where :  they  do  also  frequently  intimate  the  assurance 
 they  had  of  a  great  deliverance  that  was  to  happen  quickly  to 
 the  Christians,  and  of  terrible  judgments  that  were  to  be  poured 
 out  on  the  Jews ;  which  was  soon  after  that  accomplished  in 
 the  most  signal  manner  of  any  thing  that  is  recorded  in  history. 
 
 These  things  do  clearly  prove,  that  all  the  writings  of  the 
 New  Testament  were  both  composed  and  published  in  the  age 
 in  which  that  matter  was  transacted.  The  Jews,  who  from  all 
 the  places  of  their  dispersion  went  frequently  to  Jerusalem,  to 
 keep  the  great  festivities  of  their  religion  there,  had  occasion 
 often  to  examine,  upon  the  place,  the  truth  of  the  resurrection 
 and  ascension  of  Christ,  and  of  the  effusion  of  the  Holy  Ghost : 
 yet,  even  in  that  infancy  of  Christianity,  in  which  it  had  so 
 little  visible  strength,  no  proof  was  so  much  as  ever  pretended 
 in  opposition  to  those  great  and  essential  points ;  which  being 
 matters  of  fact,  and  related  with  a  great  variety  of  circumstan- 
 ces, had  been  easily  confuted,  if  there  had  been  any  ground 
 for  it.  The  great  darkness  at  the  time  of  Christ's  death ;  the 
 rending  the  vail  of  the  temple  in  two,  as  well  as  what  was 
 more  public,  the  rending  of  the  rocks  at  his  death ;  his  being 
 laid  in  a  new  sepulchre,  and  a  watch  being  set  about  it — and 
 the  watchmen  reporting,  that  while  they  slept  the  body  of 
 Christ  was  carried  away ;  the  Apostles  breaking  out  all  of  the 
 sudden  into  that  variety  of  tongues  on  Pentecost;  the  miracles 
 that  they  wrought,  and  the  proceedings  of  the  Sanhedrim  with 
 them ;  were  all  things  so  publicly  done,  that  as  the  discovery 
 
Abt.  IV. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 7J 
 
 of  falsehood  in  any  one  of  these  was  in  the  power  of  the  Jews, 
 if  any  such  was,  so  that  alone  had  most  effectually  destroyed 
 the  credit  of  this  religion,  and  stopped  its  progress. 
 
 The  writings  of  the  New  Testament  were  at  that  time  no 
 secrets ;  they  were  in  all  men's  hands,  and  were  copied  out 
 freely  by  every  one  that  desired  it.  We  find  within  an  hun- 
 dred years  after  that  time,  both  by  the  Epistle  of  the  church  of 
 Smyrna,  by  Justin  and  Irenceus,  not  to  mention  Clemens  of 
 Rome,  who  lived  in  that  time,  or  Ignatius  and  Polycarp,  who 
 lived  very  near  it,  that  the  authority  of  these  writings  was 
 early  received  and  submitted  to  ;  that  they  were  much  read, 
 and  well  known  ;  and  that  they  began  very  soon  to  be  read  at 
 the  meetings  of  the  Christians  for  worship ;  and  were  esteemed 
 by  the  several  churches  as  the  great  trust  and  deposition  that 
 was  lodged  with  them.  So  that  though,  bv  the  nesliaence  of 
 copiers,  some  small  variations  might  happen  among  some  of 
 the  copies ;  yet  as  they  do  all  agree  in  the  main,  and  most 
 signally  in  those  particulars  that  are  mentioned  in  this  Article, 
 so  it  was  not  possible  for  any,  that  should  have  had  the  wicked- 
 ness to  set  about  it,  to  have  corrupted  the  New  Testament  by 
 any  additions  or  alterations — it  being  so  early  spread  into  so 
 many  hands,  and  that  in  so  many  different  places. 
 
 YVhen  all  this  matter  is  laid  together,  it  appears  to  have  as 
 full  an  evidence  to  support  it  as  any  matter  of  fact  can  possi- 
 bly have.  The  narration  gave  great  scope  to  a  variety  of  in- 
 quiries ;  it  raised  much  disputing,  opposition,  and  persecution ; 
 and  yet  nothing  was  ever  pretended  to  be  proved  that  could 
 subvert  its  credit.  Great  multitudes  received  this  doctrine,  and 
 died  for  it,  in  the  age  in  winch  the  matters  of  fact  upon  which 
 its  credit  was  built  were  well  attested,  and  in  winch  the  truth 
 or  falsehood  of  them  might  have  been  easily  known  :  winch  it 
 is  reasonable  to  believe  that  all  men  would  carefully  examine, 
 before  they  embraced  and  assented  to  that  winch  was  like  to 
 draw  on  them  sufferings  that  would  probably  end  in  death. 
 Those  who  did  spread  tins  doctrine,  as  well  as  those  who  first 
 received  it,  had  no  interest  beside  diat  of  truth  to  engage  diem 
 to  it.  They  could  expect  neither  wealth  nor  greatness  from 
 it  :  they  were  obliged  to  travel  much,  and  to  labour  hard  :  to 
 wresde  through  great  difficulties,  and  to  endure  many  indigni- 
 ties. They  saw  others  die  on  die  account  of  it,  and  had  rea- 
 son to  look  for  the  like  usage  themselves. 
 
 The  doctrine  that  they  preached  related  either  to  the  facts 
 concerning  the  person  of  Christ,  or  to  die  rules  of  life  which 
 they  delivered.  These  were  all  pure,  just,  and  good  :  they 
 tended  to  settle  the  world  upon  the  foundations  of  truth  and 
 sincerity,  and  that  sublime  pitch  of  righteousness,  of  doing  as 
 they  would  be  done  by  :  they  tended  to  make  men  sober  and 
 temperate,  chaste  and  modest,  meek  and  humble,  merciful  and 
 
72 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  IV. 
 
 charitable ;  so  that  from  thence  there  was  no  colour  given  for 
 suspecting  any  fraud  or  design  in  it.  The  worship  of  God  in 
 this  religion  was  pure  and  simple,  free  from  cost  or  pomp,  from 
 theatrical  shows  as  well  as  idolatrous  rites,  and  had  in  it  all 
 possible  characters  becoming  the  purity  of  the  Supreme  Mind. 
 When  therefore  so  much  concurs  to  give  credit  to  a  religion, 
 there  ought  to  be  evident  proofs  brought  to  the  contrary,  before 
 it  can  be  disbelieved  or  rejected.  So  many  men  forsaking  the 
 religion  in  which  they  were  born  and  bred,  which  has  always 
 a  strong  influence  even  upon  the  greatest  minds ;  and  there 
 being  so  many  particular  prejudices,  both  upon  Jews  and  Gen- 
 tiles, by  the  opinions  in  which  they  had  been  bred,  and  the 
 impressions  which  had  gone  deep  in  them — it  could  be  no  slight 
 matter  that  could  overcome  all  that. 
 
 The  Jews  expected  a  conqueror  for  their  Messias,  who  should 
 have  raised  both  the  honour  of  their  law  and  their  nation,  and 
 so  were  much  possessed  against  one  of  a  mean  appearance;  and 
 when  they  saw  that  their  law  was  to  be  superseded,  and  that 
 the  Gentiles  were  to  be  brought  into  equal  privileges  with  them- 
 selves, they  could  not  but  be  deeply  prejudiced  both  against 
 the  person  and  doctrine  of  Christ. 
 
 The  Philosophers  despised  divine  inspiration,  and  secret 
 assistances,  and  had  an  ill  opinion  of  miracles  :  and  the  herd 
 among  the  Gentiles  were  so  accustomed  to  pomp  and  show  in 
 their  religious  performances,  that  they  must  have  nauseated 
 the  Christian  simplicity,  and  the  corruption  of  their  morals 
 must  have  made  them  uneasy  at  a  religion  of  so  much  strict- 
 ness. All  sorts  of  men  lay  under  very  strong  prejudices  against 
 this  religion ;  nor  was  there  any  one  article  or  branch  of  it 
 that  flattered  any  of  the  interests,  appetites,  passions,  or  vani- 
 ties of  men,  but  all  was  very  much  to  the  contrary.  They  were 
 warned  to  prepare  for  trials  and  crosses,  and,  in  particular,  for 
 a  severe  and  fiery  trial  that  was  speedily  to  come  upon  them. 
 
 There  was  nothing  of  the  way  or  manner  of  impostors  that 
 appeared  in  the  methods  in  which  the  gospel  was  propagated. 
 When  the  Apostles  saw  that  some  were  endeavouring  to  lessen 
 them  and  their  authority,  they  took  no  fawning  ways  :  they 
 neither  flattered  nor  spared  those  Churches  that  were  under 
 their  care ;  they  charged  them  home  with  their  faults,  and  as- 
 serted their  own  character  in  a  strain  that  shewed  they  were 
 afraid  of  no  discoveries.  They  appealed  to  the  miracles  that 
 they  had  wrought,  and  to  those  gifts  and  divine  virtues  of 
 which  they  were  not  only  possessed  themselves,  but  which  were 
 by  their  ministry  conferred  on  others.  The  demonstration  of 
 the  Spirit,  (1  Cor.  ii.  4.),  or  inspiration  that  was  in  them,  ap- 
 peared in  t\\e  power,  that  is,  in  the  miracles  which  accompanied 
 it ;  and  those  they  wrought  openly  in  the  sight  of  many  wit- 
 
Art.  IV. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 73 
 
 nesses.  An  uncontested  miracle  is  the  fullest  evidence  that  can 
 be  given  of  a  divine  commission. 
 
 A  miracle  is  a  work  that  exceeds  all  the  known  powers  of 
 nature,  and  that  carries  in  it  plain  characters  of  a  power  supe- 
 rior to  any  human  power.  We  cannot  indeed  fix  the  bounds 
 of  the  powers  of  nature ;  but  yet  we  can  plainly  apprehend 
 what  must  be  beyond  them.  For  instance,  we  do  not  know 
 what  secret  virtues  there  may  be  in  plants  and  minerals ;  but 
 we  do  know  that  bare  words  can  have  no  natural  virtue  in  them 
 to  cure  diseases,  much  less  to  raise  the  dead  :  we  know  not 
 what  force  imagination  or  credulity  may  have  in  critical  dis- 
 eases ;  but  we  know  that  a  dead  man  has  no  imagination  :  we 
 know  also,  that  blindness,  deafness,  and  an  inveterate  palsy, 
 cannot  be  cured  by  conceit :  Therefore,  such  miracles  as  the 
 giving  sight  to  a  man  born  blind,  speech  to  the  deaf  and  dumb, 
 and  strength  to  the  paralytic ;  but,  most  of  all,  the  giving  life 
 to  the  dead,  and  that  not  only  to  persons  laid  out  as  dead,  but 
 to  one  that  was  carried  out  to  be  buried,  and  to  another  that 
 had  been  four  days  dead,  and  in  his  grave ; — all  this  was  done 
 with  a  bare  word,  without  any  sort  of  external  application  :  this, 
 I  say,  as  it  is  clearly  above  the  force  of  imagination,  so  it  is 
 beyond  the  powers  of  nature. 
 
 These  things  were  not  done  in  the  dark,  nor  in  the  presence 
 of  a  few,  in  whom  a  particular  confidence  was  put ;  but  in  full 
 day-light,  and  in  the  sight  of  great  numbers,  enemies  as  well  as 
 friends  :  and  some  of  those  enemies  were  both  the  most  enraged, 
 and  the  most  capable  of  making  all  possible  exceptions  to  what 
 was  done.  Such  were  the  rulers  of  the  synagogues,  and  the 
 Pharisees  in  our  Saviour's  time ;  and  yet  they  could  neither 
 deny  the  facts,  nor  pretend  that  there  was  any  deceit  or  jug- 
 glery in  them.  We  have  in  this  all  possible  reason  to  con- 
 clude, that  both  the  things  were  truly  done  as  they  are  related, 
 and  that  no  just  exception  was  or  could  be  made  to  them. 
 
 If  it  is  pretended,  that  those  wonderful  things  were  done  by 
 the  power  of  an  evil  spirit,  that  does  both  acknowledge  the 
 truth  of  the  relation,  and  also  its  being  supernatural.  This 
 answer  taken  from  the  power  of  evil  spirits,  is  sometimes  to  be 
 made  use  of,  when  extraordinary  things  are  well  attested,  and 
 urged  in  proof  of  that  which  upon  other  reasons  we  are  assured 
 is  false.  It  is  certain,  that  as  we  have  a  great  power  over  vast 
 quantities  of  gross  and  heavy  matter,  which  by  the  motion  of  a 
 very  subtile  body,  our  animal  spirits,  we  can  master  and  ma- 
 nage ;  so  angels,  good  or  bad,  may,  by  virtue  of  subtile  bodies, 
 in  which  they  may  dwell,  or  which  upon  occasion  they  may 
 assume,  do  many  things  vastly  above  either  our  force  to  do,  or 
 our  imagination  to  apprehend  how  it  is  done  by  them.  There- 
 fore an  action,  that  exceeds  all  the  known  powers  in  nature, 
 may  yet  be  done  by  an  evil  spirit  that  is  in  rebellion  against  its 
 
74- 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  IV. 
 
 Maker,  and  that  designs  to  impose  upon  us  by  such  a  mighty 
 performance.  But  then  the  measure  by  which  we  must  judge 
 of  this,  is  by  considering  what  is  the  end  or  design  driven  at  in 
 such  a  wonderful  work :  if  it  is  a  good  one,  if  it  tends  to  reform 
 the  manners  of  men,  and  to  bring  them  off  from  magic,  ido- 
 latry, and  superstition,  to  the  worship  of  one  pure  and  eternal 
 Mind ;  and  if  it  tends  to  reform  their  actions,  as  well  as  their 
 speculations  and  their  worship ;  to  turn  them  from  immorality, 
 falsehood  and  malice,  to  a  pure,  a  sincere,  and  a  mild  temper ; 
 if  it  tends  to  regulate  society,  as  well  as  to  perfect  the  nature 
 and  faculties  of  every  single  man ; — then  we  may  well  conclude, 
 that  no  evil  spirit  can  so  far  depart  from  its  own  nature,  as  to 
 join  its  forces,  and  co-operate  in  such  a  design ;  for  then  the 
 kingdom  of  Satan  could  not  stand,  if  he  were  thus  divided  against 
 himself.  Matt.  xii.  25,  26.,  according  to  what  our  Saviour  said, 
 when  this  was  objected  against  the  miracles  that  he  wrought. 
 
 These  are  all  the  general  considerations  that  concur  to  prove 
 the  truth  of  the  history  of  the  gospel,  of  which  the  Resurrec- 
 tion and  Ascension  of  Christ  are  the  two  main  articles ;  for 
 they,  being  well  proved,  give  authority  to  all  the  rest.  As  to 
 the  Resurrection  in  particular,  it  is  certain  the  Apostles  could 
 not  be  deceived  in  that  matter :  They  saw  Christ  frequently 
 after  he  arose  from  the  dead ;  they  met  him  once  with  a  great 
 company  of  five  hundred  with  them ;  they  heard  him  talk  and 
 argue  with  them ;  he  opened  the  Scriptures  to  them  with  so 
 peculiar  an  energy,  that  they  felt  their  hearts  set  on  fire,  even 
 when  they  did  not  yet  perceive  that  it  was  he  himself :  they  did 
 not  at  first  either  look  for  his  resurrection,  nor  believe  those 
 who  reported  him  risen ;  they  made  all  due  inquiry,  and  some 
 of  them  went  beyond  all  reasonable  bounds  in  their  doubting : 
 so  far  were  they  from  an  easy  and  soon  imposed  on  credulity. 
 His  sufferings  and  their  own  fears  had  so  amazed  them,  that 
 they  were  contriving  how  to  separate  and  disperse  themselves, 
 when  he  at  first  appeared  to  them.  Men  so  full  of  fear,  and 
 so  far  from  all  hope,  are  not  apt  to  be  easy  in  believing.  So 
 it  must  be  concluded,  that  either  the  account  which  the  Apos- 
 tles gave  the  world  of  Christ's  resurrection  is  true,  or  they  were 
 gross  impostors ;  since  it  is  clear,  that  the  circumstances  and 
 numbers  mentioned  in  that  history  shew  there  could  be  no  de- 
 ception in  it.  And  it  is  as  little  possible  to  conceive  that  there 
 could  be  any  imposture  in  it ;  for,  not  to  repeat  again  what 
 has  been  already  said,  that  they  were  under  no  temptations  to 
 set  about  any  such  deceit,  but  very  much  to  the  contrary ;  and 
 that  there  is  no  reason  to  think  they  were  either  bad  enough 
 to  enter  upon  such  a  design,  or  capable  and  skilful  enough 
 to  manage  it — they  being  many  of  them  illiterate  fishermen 
 of  Galilee,  who  had  no  acquaintance  at  Jerusalem  to  furnish 
 them  with  that  which  might  be  necessary  for  executing  such  a 
 
Art.  IV. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 75 
 
 contrivance ;  the  circumstances  of  that  transaction  are  to  be 
 well  examined,  and  then  it  will  appear,  that  no  number  of  bold 
 and  dexterous  men,  furnished  with  all  advantages  whatsoever, 
 could  have  effected  this  matter. 
 
 Great  numbers  had  been  engaged  in  the  procuring  our  Sa- 
 viour to  be  crucified :  the  whole  Sanhedrim,  besides  multitudes 
 of  the  people,  who  upon  all  occasions  are  easily  drawn  in  to 
 engage  in  tumultuary  commotions :  all  these  were  concerned 
 to  examine  the  event  of  this  matter.  He  was  buried  in  a  new 
 sepulchre  lately  hewed  out  of  a  rock,  so  that  there  was  no 
 coming  at  it  by  any  secret  ways :  a  watch  was  set :  and  all  this 
 at  a  time,  in  which  the  full-moon  gave  a  great  light  all  the 
 night  long  :  and  Jerusalem  being  very  full  of  people,  who  were 
 then  there  in  great  numbers  to  keep  the  Passover,  that  being 
 the  second  night  of  so  vast  a  rendezvous,  it  is  reasonable  to 
 think  that  great  numbers  were  walking  in  the  fields,  or  at 
 least  might  be  so,  some  later,  and  some  earlier.  Now  if  an 
 imposture  was  to  be  set  about,  the  guard  was  to  be  frighted  or 
 mastered,  which  could  not  be  done  without  giving  the  alarm ; 
 and  that  must  have  quickly  brought  a  multitude  upon  them. 
 Christ's  body  must  have  been  disposed  of;  some  other  tomb 
 was  to  be  looked  for  to  lodge  it  in ;  the  wounds  that  were  in 
 it  would  have  made  it  to  be  soon  known  if  found. 
 
 Here  a  bold  attempt  was  to  be  undertaken  by  a  company 
 of  poor  irresolute  men,  who  must  trust  one  another  entirely, 
 otherways  they  knew  all  might  be  soon  discovered.  One  of 
 their  number  had  betrayed  Christ  a  few  days  before,  another 
 had  forsworn  him,  and  all  had  forsaken  him ;  and  yet  these 
 men  are  supposed  all  of  the  sudden  so  firm  in  themselves,  and 
 so  sure  of  one  another,  as  to  venture  on  the  most  daring  thing 
 that  was  ever  undertaken  by  men,  when  not  a  circumstance 
 could  ever  be  found  out  to  fix  upon  them  the  least  suspicion. 
 The  Priests  and  the  Pharisees  must  be  thought  a  strange  stupid 
 sort  of  creatures,  if  they  did  not  examine  where  the  Apostles 
 were  all  that  night ;  besides  many  other  particulars,  which  might 
 have  been  a  thread  to  lead  them  into  strict  inquiries,  unless  it 
 was  because  they  believed  the  report  that  the  watch  had  brought 
 them  of  Christ's  rising  again.  When  they  had  this  certain 
 reason  to  believe  it,  and  yet  resolved  to  oppose  it,  the  only 
 thing  they  could  do  was  to  seem  to  neglect  the  matter,  and 
 only  to  decry  it  in  general  as  an  imposture,  without  going  into 
 particulars ;  which  certainly  they  would  not  have  done,  if  thev 
 
 themselves  had  not  been  but  too  sure  of  the  truth  of  it. 
 
 When  all  this  is  laid  together,  it  is  the  most  unreasonable 
 thing  imaginable  to  think  that  there  was  an  imposture  in  this 
 matter,  when  no  colour  nor  shadow  of  it  ever  appeared,  and 
 when  all  the  circumstances,  and  not  only  probabilities  but. 
 
 even  moral  possibilities,  are  so  full  to  the  contrary. 
 
76 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  IV. 
 
 The  Ascension  of  Christ  has  not  indeed  so  full  a  proof ; 
 nor  is  it  capable  of  it,  neither  does  it  need  it;  for  the  resur- 
 rection well  proved,  makes  that  very  credible.  For  this  we 
 have  only  the  testimony  of  the  Apostles,  who  did  all  attest  that 
 they  saw  it,  being  all  together  in  an  open  field :  when  Christ 
 was  walking  and  discoursing  with  them,  and  when  he  was 
 blessing  them,  he  was  parted  from  them  :  they  saw  him  ascend, 
 till  a  cloud  received  him,  and  took  him  out  of  their  sight : 
 and  then  two  angels  appeared  to  them,  and  assured  them, 
 that  he  should  come  again  in  like  manner  as  they  had  seen  him 
 ascend^  Acts  i.  11.  Here  is  a  very  particular  relation,  with 
 many  circumstances  in  it,  in  which  it  was  not  possible  for  the 
 Apostles  to  be  mistaken ;  so  that  there  being  no  reason  to  sus- 
 pect their  credit,  this  rests  upon  that  authority.  But,  ten  days 
 after,  it  received  a  much  clearer  proof ;  when  the  Holy  Ghost 
 was  poured  out  on  them  in  so  visible  a  manner,  and  with  most 
 remarkable  effects.  Immediately  upon  it  they  spoke  with  divers 
 tongues,  and  wrought  many  miracles,  and  all  in  the  name  of 
 Christ.  They  did  often  and  solemnly  disclaim  their  doing  any 
 of  those  wonderful  things  by  any  power  of  their  own :  they 
 owned  that  all  they  had  or  did  was  derived  to  them  from  Jesus 
 of  Nazareth,  of  whose  resurrection  and  ascension  they  were 
 appointed  to  be  the  witnesses;  Acts  hi.  12.  16. 
 
 Christ's  coming  again  to  judge  the  world  at  the  last  day  is  so 
 often  affirmed  by  himself  in  the  Gospel,  and  is  so  frequently 
 mentioned  in  the  writings  of  his  Apostles,  that  this  is  a  main 
 part  of  his  doctrine:  so  that  his  resurrection,  ascension,  to- 
 gether with  the  effusion  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  having  in  general 
 proved  his  mission  and  his  whole  doctrine,  this  is  also  proved 
 by  them.  Enough  seems  to  be  said  in  proof  of  all  the  parts  of 
 this  Article;  it  remains  only  that  somewhat  should  be  added 
 in  explanation  of  them. 
 
 As  to  the  resurrection,  it  is  to  little  purpose  to  inquire, 
 whether  our  Saviour's  body  was  kept  all  the  while  in  a  com- 
 plete organization,  that  so  by  this  miracle  it  might  be  pre- 
 served in  a  natural  state  for  his  soul  to  re-enter  it;  or  whether, 
 by  the  course  of  nature,  the  vast  number  of  the  inward  con- 
 veyances that  were  in  the  body  were  stopped ;  and  if,  all  of  a 
 sudden,  when  the  time  of  the  resurrection  came,  all  was  again 
 put  in  a  vital  state,  fit  to  be -animated  by  his  soul.  There 
 must  have  been  a  miracle  either  way ;  so  it  is  to  little  purpose 
 to  inquire  into  it.  The  former,  though  a  continued  miracle, 
 yet  seems  to  agree  more  fully  to  these  words,  Thou  wilt  not 
 suffer  thy  Holy  One  to  see  corruption.  It  is  to  as  little  pur- 
 pose to  inquire  how  our  Saviour's  new  body  was  supplied  with 
 blood,  since  he  had  lost  the  greatest  part  of  it  on  the  cross  : 
 whether  that  was  again,  by  the  power  of  God,  brought  back 
 into  his  veins;  or  whether,  as  he  himself  had  formerly  said 
 
Art.  IV. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 77 
 
 that  man  lives  not  by  bread  alone,  but  by  every  word  that  pro- 
 ceeds out  of  the  mouth  of  God,  blood  was  supplied  by  miracle ; 
 or  whether  his  body,  that  was  then  of  the  nature  of  a  glorified 
 bodv,  though  yet  on  earth,  needed  the  supplies  of  blood  to 
 furnish  new  spirits  for  serving  the  natural  functions — he  eat- 
 ing and  drinking  so  seldom,  that  we  may  well  believe  it  was 
 done  rather  to  satisfy  his  Apostles,  than  to  answer  the  necessi- 
 ties of  nature :  these  are  curiosities  that  signify  so  little,  if  we 
 could  certainly  resolve  them,  that  it  is  to  no  purpose  to  in- 
 quire about  them,  since  we  cannot  know  what  to  determine  in 
 them.  This  in  general  is  certain,  that  the  same  soul  returned 
 back  to  the  same  body ;  so  that  the  same  man  who  died,  rose 
 again  :  and  that  is  our  faith.  We  need  not  trouble  ourselves 
 with  inquiring  how  to  make  out  the  three  days  of  Christ's 
 being  in  a  grave ;  days  stand,  in  the  common  acceptation,  for 
 a  portion  of  a  day.  We  know  the  Jews  were  very  exact  to 
 the  rest  on  the  Sabbath,  so  the  body  was  without  question  laid 
 in  the  grave  before  the  sunset  on  Friday ;  so  that  was  the  first 
 day  :  the  Sabbath  was  a  complete  one ;  and  a  good  part  of  the 
 third  day,  that  is,  the  night,  with  which  the  Jews  began  to 
 count  the  day,  was  over  before  he  was  raised  up. 
 
 As  for  his  stay  on  earth  forty  days,  we  cannot  pretend  to 
 give  an  account  of  it:  whether  his  body  was  passing  through 
 a  slow  and  physical  purification,  to  be  meet  for  ascending ;  or 
 whether  he  intended  to  keep  a  proportion  between  his  gospel 
 and  the  law  of  Moses ;  that  as  he  suffered  at  the  time  of  their 
 killing  the  Passover,  so  the  effusion  of  the  Holy  Ghost  was 
 fixed  for  Pentecost,  and  that  therefore  he  would  stay  on  earth 
 till  that  time  was  near,  not  to  put  his  Apostles  upon  too  long 
 an  expectation  without  his  presence ;  winch  might  be  neces- 
 sary to  animate  them,  till  they  should  be  endued  with  power 
 from  on  high.  As  to  the  manner  of  his  ascension,  it  is  also 
 questioned  whether  the  body  of  Christ,  as  it  ascended,  was  so 
 wonderfully  changed  as  to  put  on  the  subtilty  and  purity  of 
 an  ethereal  body ;  or  whether  it  retains  still  the  same  form  in 
 heaven  that  it  had  on  earth  ;  or  if  it  put  on  a  new  one :  it  is 
 more  probable  that  it  did ;  and  that  the  wonderful  glory  that 
 appeared  in  his  whole  countenance  and  whole  person  at  his 
 transfiguration,  was  a  manifestation  of  that  more  permanent 
 glory  to  which  it  was  to  be  afterwards  exalted.  It  seems 
 probable  from  what  St  Paul  says,  (that  flesh  and  blood  shall 
 not  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God,  which  relates  to  our  glorified 
 bodies,  when  We  shall  bear  the  image  of  the  second  and  the 
 heavenly  Adam,  1  Cor.  xv.  50.),  that  Christ's  body  has  no 
 more  the  modifications  of  flesh  and  blood  in  it ;  and  that  the 
 glory  of  the  celestial  body  is  of  another  nature  and  texture  than 
 that  of  the  terrestrial,  1  Cor.  xv.  40.  It  is  easily  imagined 
 how  this  may  be,  and  yet  the  body  to  be  numerically  the 
 
78 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  IV. 
 
 same ;  for  all  matter  being  uniform,  and  capable  of  all  sort  of 
 motion,  and  by  consequence  of  being  either  much  grosser  or 
 much  purer,  the  same  portion  of  matter  that  made  a  thick  and 
 heavy  body  here  on  earth,  may  be  put  into  that  purity  and 
 fineness  as  to  be  no  longer  a  fit  inhabitant  of  this  earth,  or  to 
 breathe  this  air,  but  to  be  meet  to  be  transplanted  into  ethereal 
 regions. 
 
 Christ,  as  he  went  up  into  heaven,  so  he  had  the  whole  go- 
 vernment of  this  world  put  into  his  hands,  and  the  whole  mi- 
 nistry of  angels  put  under  his  command,  even  in  his  human 
 nature ;  so  that  all  things  are  now  in  subjection  to  him,  1  Cor. 
 xv.  27,  28.  All  power  and  authority  is  derived  from  him,  and 
 he  does  whatsoever  he  pleases  both  in  heaven  and  earth.  In 
 him  all  fulness  dwells.  And  as  the  Mosaical  tabernacle  being 
 filled  with  glory,  the  emanations  of  it  did  by  the  Urim  and 
 Thummim  enlighten  and  direct  that  people;  so  out  of  that 
 fulness  that  dwelt  bodily  in  Christ,  there  is  a  constant  emana- 
 tion of  his  grace  and  spirit  descending  on  his  Church.  He 
 does  also  intercede  for  us  at  his  Father's  right  hand,  where  he 
 is  preparing  a  place  for  us.  The  meaning  of  all  which  is  this, — 
 that  as  he  is  vested  with  an  inconceivably  high  degree  of  glory, 
 even  as  man,  so  the  merit  of  his  death  is  still  fresh  and  entire ; 
 and  in  the  virtue  of  that,  the  sins  of  all  that  come  to  God 
 through  him,  claiming  to  his  death  as  to  their  sacrifice,  and 
 obeying  his  gospel,  are  pardoned,  and  they  are  sealed  by  his 
 Spirit  until  the  day  of  redemption.  In  conclusion,  when  all 
 God's  design  with  this  world  is  accomplished,  it  shall  be  set  on 
 fire,  and  all  the  great  parts  of  which  it  is  composed,  as  of  ele- 
 ments, shall  be  melted  and  burnt  down ;  and  then,  when  by 
 that  fire  probably  the  portion  of  matter  which  was  in  the  bo- 
 dies of  all  who  have  lived  upon  earth  shall  be  so  far  refined  and 
 fixed  as  to  become  both  incorruptible  and  immortal,  then  they 
 shall  be  made  meet  for  the  souls  that  formerly  animated  them, 
 to  re-enter  every  one  into  his  own  body,  which  shall  be  then 
 so  moulded  as  to  be  a  habitation  fit  to  give  it  everlasting  joy  or 
 everlasting  torment. 
 
 Then  shall  Christ  appear  visibly  in  some  very  conspicuous 
 place  in  the  clouds  of  heaven,  where  every  eye  shall  see  him : 
 he  shall  appear  in  his  own  glory,  Luke  ix.  26.,  that  is,  in  his 
 human  glorified  body :  he  shall  appear  in  the  glory  of  his  an- 
 gels, having  vast  numbers  of  these  about  him,  attending  on 
 him :  but,  which  is  above  all,  he  shall  appear  in  his  Father's 
 glory ;  that  is,  there  shall  be  then  a  most  wonderful  manifes- 
 tation of  the  eternal  Godhead  dwelling  in  him ; — and  then  shall 
 he  pass  a  final  sentence  upon  all  that  ever  lived  upon  earth, 
 according  to  all  that  they  have  done  in  the  body,  whether  it  be 
 good  or  bad.  The  righteous  shall  ascend  as  he  did,  and  shall 
 meet  him  in  the  clouds,  and  be  for  ever  with  him ;  and  the 
 
Art.  IV. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 70 
 
 wicked  shall  sink  into  a  state  of  darkness  and  misery,  of  un- 
 speakable horror  of  mind,  and  everlasting  pain  and  torment. 
 
 ARTICLE  V. 
 
 OF  THE  HOLY  GHOST. 
 
 The  Holy  Ghost  proceeding  from  the  Father  and  the  Son,  is 
 of  one  Substance,  Majesty,  and  Glory,  with  the  Father  and 
 the  Son,  very  and  eternal  God. 
 
 In  order  to  the  explaining  this  Article,  we  must  consider, 
 first,  The  importance  of  the  term  Spirit  or  Holy  Spirit :  se- 
 condly, His  Procession  from  the  Father  and  the  Son :  and, 
 thirdly,  That  he  is  truly  God,  of  the  same  substance  with  the 
 Father  and  the  Son.  Spirit  signifies  wind  or  breath ;  and  in 
 the  Old  Testament  it  stands  frequently  in  that  sense :  the 
 Spirit  of  God,  or  Wind  of  God,  stands  sometimes  for  a  high 
 and  strong  wind ;  but  more  frequently  it  signifies  a  secret  im- 
 pression made  by  God  on  the  mind  of  a  prophet :  so  that  the 
 Spir  it  of  God  and  the  Spirit  of  Prophecy,  are  set  in  opposition 
 to  the  vain  imaginations,  the  false  pretences,  or  the  diabolical 
 illusions,  of  those  who  assumed  to  themselves  the  name  and  the 
 authority  of  a  prophet,  without  a  true  mission  from  God.  But 
 when  God  made  representations,  either  in  a  dream  or  in  an 
 ecstasy,  to  any  person,  or  imprinted  a  sense  of  his  will  on  their 
 minds,  together  with  such  necessary  characters  as  gave  it  proof 
 and  authority,  this  was  an  illapse  from  God,  as  a  breathing 
 from  him  on  the  soul  of  the  prophet. 
 
 In  the  New  Testament  this  word  Holy  Ghost  stands  most 
 commonly  for  that  wonderful  effusion  of  those  miraculous  vir- 
 tues that  was  poured  out  at  Pentecost  on  the  Apostles;  by 
 which  their  spirits  were  not  only  exalted  with  extraordinary 
 degrees  of  zeal  and  courage,  of  authority  and  utterance,  but 
 they  were  furnished  with  the  gifts  of  tongues  and  of  miracles. 
 And  besides  that  first  and  great  effusion,  several  Christians  re- 
 ceived particular  talents  and  inspirations,  which  are  most  com- 
 monly expressed  by  the  word  Spirit  or  Inspiration.  Those 
 inward  assistances,  by  which  the  frame  and  temper  of  men's 
 minds  are  changed  and  renewed,  are  likewise  called  the  Spirit, 
 or  the  Holy  Spirit,  or  Holy  Ghost.  So  Christ  said  to  Nico- 
 demus,  that  except  a  man  ivas  born  of  Water  and  of  the  Spirit, 
 he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God,  John  iii.  3.  5.  6.;  and  that 
 his  heavenly  Father  would  give  the  Holy  Spirit  to  every  one  that 
 asked  him,  Luke  xi.  13.    By  these  it  is  plain,  that  extraor- 
 
80 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Aht.  V. 
 
 dinary  or  miraculous  inspirations  are  not  meant,  for  these  are 
 not  every  Christian's  portion  :  There  is  no  question  made  of  all 
 this. 
 
 The  main  question  is,  whether  by  Spirit,  or  Holy  Spirit,  we 
 are  to  understand  one  Person,  that  is  the  fountain  of  all  those 
 gifts  and  operations ;  or  whether  by  one  Spirit  is  only  to  be 
 meant  the  power  of  God  flowing  out  and  shewing  itself  in 
 many  wonderful  operations.  The  adversaries  of  the  Trinity 
 will  have  the  Spirit,  or  Holy  Spirit,  to  signify  no  person,  but 
 only  the  divine  gifts  or  operations.  But  in  opposition  to  this  it 
 is  plain,  that  in  our  Saviour's  last  and  long  discourse  to  his  dis- 
 ciples, in  which  he  promised  to  send  them  his  Spirit,  he  calls  him 
 another  Comforter,  John  xiv.  16.26.,  to  be  sent  in  his  stead,  or  to 
 supply  his  absence ;  and  the  whole  tenor  of  the  discourse  runs 
 on  him  as  a  Person:  —  He  shall  abide  with  you:  he  shall  guide 
 you  into  all  truth ;  and  shew  you  things  to  come.  He  shall 
 bring  all  things  into  your  remembrance:  he  shall  convince  the 
 world  of  sin,  of  righteousness,  and  of  judgment,  John  xvi.  8.  13. 
 In  all  these  places  he  is  so  plainly  spoken  of,  not  as  a  quality 
 or  operation,  but  as  a  Person,  and  that  without  any  key  or 
 rule  to  understand  the  words  otherwise,  that  this  alone  may 
 serve  to  determine  the  matter  now  in  dispute.  Christ's  com- 
 mission to  preach  and  baptize  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  the 
 Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  does  plainly  make  him  a  Person,  since 
 it  cannot  be  said  that  we  are  to  be  called  by  the  name  of  a  vir- 
 tue or  operation.  St  Paul  (1  Cor.  xii.  4.  8.  9.  11.  13.)  does 
 also,  in  a  long  discourse  upon  the  diversity  of  gifts,  administra- 
 tions, and  operations,  ascribe  them  all  to  one  Spirit,  as  their 
 author  and  fountain ;  of  whom  he  speaks  as  of  a  Person,  dis- 
 tributing these  in  order  to  several  ends,  and  in  different  mea- 
 sures. He  speaks  of  the  Spirit's  searching  all  things,  of  his 
 interceding  for  us,  of  our  grieving  the  Spirit,  by  which  we  are 
 sealed;  1  Cor.  ii.  10.  Rom.viii.  26.  This  is  the  language  used 
 concerning  a  Person,  not  a  quality.  All  these,  says  he,  work- 
 eth  that  one  and  the  self-same  Spirit,  dividing  to  every  man  se- 
 verally as  he  will,  Eph.  iv.  30.  Now  it  is  not  to  be  conceived, 
 how  that  both  our  Saviour  and  his  Apostles  should  use  the 
 phrase  of  a  Person  so  constantly  in  speaking  of  the  Spirit,  and 
 should  so  critically  and  in  the  way  of  argument  pursue  that 
 strain,  if  he  is  not  a  Person :  they  not  only  insist  on  it,  and 
 repeat  it  frequently,  but  they  draw  an  argument  from  it  for 
 union  and  love,  and  for  mutual  condescension  and  sympathy. 
 Upon  all  these  grounds  it  is  evident,  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is  in 
 the  Scripture  proposed  to  us  as  a  Person,  under  whose  econo- 
 my all  the  various  gifts,  administrations,  and  operations  that 
 are  in  the  Church,  are  put. 
 
 The  second  particular  relating  to  this  Article  is,  the  Pro- 
 cession of  this  Spirit  from  the  Father  and  the  Son.   The  word 
 
Art.  V. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 81 
 
 Procession,  or,  as  the  schoolmen  term  it,  Spiration,  is  only 
 made  use  of  in  order  to  the  naming  this  relation  of  the  Spirit 
 to  the  Father  and  Son,  in  such  a  manner  as  may  best  answer 
 the  sense  of  the  word  Spirit :  for  it  must  be  confessed  that  we 
 can  frame  no  explicit  idea  of  this  matter;  and  therefore  we 
 must  speak  of  it  either  strictly  in  Scripture  words,  or  in  such 
 words  as  arise  out  of  them,  and  that  have  the  same  signi- 
 fication with  them.  It  is  therefore  a  vain  attempt  of  the 
 schoolmen  to  undertake  to  give  a  reason  why  the  second 
 Person  is  said  to  be  generated,  and  so  is  called  Son,  and  the 
 third  to  proceed,  and  so  is  called  Spirit.  All  these  subtilties 
 can  have  no  foundation,  and  signify  nothing  towards  the  clear- 
 ing this  matter,  which  is  rather  darkened  than  cleared  by  a 
 pretended  illustration.  In  a  word,  as  we  should  never  have 
 believed  this  mystery  if  the  Scripture  had  not  revealed  it  to 
 us,  so  we  understand  nothing  concerning  it  besides  what  is 
 contained  in  the  Scriptures ;  and  therefore,  if  in  any  thing,  we 
 must  think  soberly  upon  those  subjects.  The  Scriptures  call 
 the  second  Son,  and  the  third  Spirit;  so  generation  and  pro- 
 cession  are  words  that  may  well  be  used,  but  they  are  words 
 concerning  which  we  can  form  no  distinct  conception :  we 
 only  use  them  because  they  belong  to  the  words  Son  and  Spirit. 
 The  Spirit,  in  things  that  we  do  understand,  is  somewhat  that 
 proceeds,  and  the  Son  is  a  Person  begotten ;  we  therefore,  be- 
 lieving that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  a  Person,  apply  the  word  pro- 
 cession to  the  manner  of  his  emanation  from  the  Father; 
 though  at  the  same  time  we  must  acknowledge  that  we  have  no 
 distinct  thought  concerning  it.  So  much  in  general  concern- 
 ing procession.  It  has  been  much  controverted,  whether  the 
 Holy  Spirit  proceeds  from  the  Father  only,  or  from  the  Father 
 and  the  Son. 
 
 In  the  first  disputes  concerning  the  divinity  of  the  Holy 
 Ghost  with  the  Macedonians,  who  denied  it,  there  was  no  other 
 contest,  but  whether  he  was  truly  God  or  not.  When  that 
 was  settled  by  the  council  of  Constantinople,  it  was  made  a 
 part  of  the  Creed ;  but  it  was  only  said  that  he  proceeded  from 
 the  Father:  and  the  council  of  Ephesus  soon  after  that  fixed 
 on  that  Creed,  decreeing  that  no  additions  should  be  made  to 
 it;  yet  about  the  end  of  the  sixth  century,  in  the  Western 
 Church,  an  addition  was  made  to  the  Article,  by  which  the 
 Holy  Ghost  was  affirmed  to  proceed  from  the  Son  as  well  as 
 from  the  Father.  And  when  the  Eastern  and  Western  Churches, 
 in  the  ninth  century,  fell  into  an  humour  of  quarrelling  upon 
 the  account  of  jurisdiction,  after  some  time  of  anger,  in  which 
 they  seem  to  be  searching  for  matter  to  reproach  one  another 
 with,  they  found  out  this  difference — The  Greeks  reproached 
 the  Latins  for  thus  adding  to  the  faith,  and  corrupting  the 
 ancient  symbol,  and  that  contrary  to  the  decree  of  a  general 
 
 F 
 
82 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  V. 
 
 council :  The  Latins,  on  the  other  hand,  charged  them  for 
 detracting  from  the  dignity  of  the  Son :  and  this  became  the 
 chief  point  in  controversy  between  them. 
 
 Here  was  certainly  a  very  unhappy  dispute ;  inconsiderable 
 in  its  original,  but  fatal  in  its  consequences.  We  of  this 
 Church,  though  we, abhor  the  cruelty  of  condemning  the  East- 
 ern Churches  for  such  a  difference,  yet  do  receive  the  Creed 
 according  to  the  usage  of  the  Western  Churches :  and  there- 
 fore, though  we  do  not  pretend  to  explain  what  procession  is, 
 we  believe  according  to  the  Article,  that  the  Holy  Ghost  pro- 
 ceeds  both  from  the  Father  and  the  Son ;  because  in  that  dis- 
 course of  our  Saviour's  that  contains  the  promise  of  the  Spirit, 
 and  that  long  description  of  him  as  a  Person,  Christ  not  only 
 says  that  the  Father  will  send  the  Spirit  in  his  name,  John  xiv. 
 26.,  but  adds,  that  he  will  send  the  Spirit;  and  though  he  says 
 next,  who  proceedeth  from  the  Father,  John  xv.  26.,  yet  since 
 he  sends  him,  and  that  he  was  to  supply  his  room,  and  to  act 
 in  his  name,  this  implies  a  relation,  and  a  sort  of  subordination 
 in  the  Spirit  to  the  Son.  This  may  serve  to  justify  our  ad- 
 hering to  the  Creeds  as  they  had  been  for  many  ages  received 
 in  the  Western  Church;  but  we  are  far  from  thinking,  that 
 this  proof  is  so  full  and  explicit  as  to  justify  our  separating 
 from  any  Church,  or  condemning  it,  that  should  stick  exactly 
 to  the  first  Creeds,  and  reject  this  addition. 
 
 The  third  branch  of  the  Article  is,  that  this  Holy  Ghost  or 
 Person,  thus  proceeding,  is  truly  God,  of  the  same  substance 
 with  the  Father  and  the  Son.  That  he  is  God,  was  formerly 
 proved  by  those  passages  in  which  the  whole  Trinity  in  all  the 
 three  Persons  is  affirmed :  but  besides  that,  the  lying  to  the 
 Holy  Ghost  by  Ananias  and  Sapphira,  is  said  to  be  a  lying  not 
 unto  men  but  to  God,  Acts  v.  34. :  his  being  called  another 
 Comforter ;  his  teaching  all  things;  his  guiding  into  all  truth; 
 his  telling  things  to  come ;  his  searching  all  things,  even  the  deep 
 things  of  God ;  his  being  called  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord,  in  oppo- 
 sition to  the  spirit  of  a  man ;  his  making  intercession  for  us  ; 
 his  changing  us  into  the  same  image  with  Christ, — are  all  such 
 plain  characters  of  his  being  God,  that  those  who  deny  that, 
 are  well  aware  of  this,  that  if  it  is  once  proved  that  he  is  a  Per- 
 son, it  will  follow  that  he  must  be  God ;  therefore  all  that  was 
 said  to  prove  him  a  Person,  is  here  to  be  remembered  as  a  proof 
 that  he  is  truly  God.  So  that  though  there  is  not  such  a  va- 
 riety of  proofs  for  this,  as  there  was  for  the  Divinity  of  the  Son, 
 yet  the  proof  of  it  is  plain  and  clear.  And  from  what  was  said 
 upon  the  first  Article  concerning  the  Unity  of  God,  it  is  also 
 certain,  that  if  he  is  God,  he  must  be  of  one  substance,  ma- 
 jesty, and  glory,  with  the  Father  and  the  Son. 
 
Art.  Vf. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 S3 
 
 ARTICLE  VI. 
 
 OF  THE  SUFFICIENCY  OF  HOLY  SCRIPTURES  FOR  SALVATION. 
 
 Holy  Scripture  containeth  all  things  necessary  to  Salvation  :  so 
 that  whatsoever  is  not  read  therein,  nor  may  be  proved  thereby, 
 is  not  to  be  required  of  any  Man,  that  it  should  be  believed 
 as  an  Article  of  Faith,  or  to  be  thought  requisite  or  necessary 
 to  Salvation.  In  the  name  of  the  Holy  Scripture  we  do  tin- 
 derstand  those  Canonical  Books  of  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
 merit,  of  whose  Authority  was  never  any  doubt  in  the  Church. 
 
 OF  THE  NAMES  AND  NUMBER  OF  THE  CANONICAL  BOOKS. 
 
 Genesis. 
 
 Exodus. 
 
 Leviticus. 
 
 Numbers. 
 
 Deuteronomy. 
 
 Joshua. 
 
 Judges. 
 
 Ruth. 
 
 The  First  Book  of  Samuel. 
 The  Second  Book  of  Samuel. 
 The  First  Book  of  Kings. 
 The  Second  Book  of  Kings. 
 
 The  First  Book  of  Chronicles. 
 The  Second  Book  of  Chronicles. 
 The  First  Book  of  Esdras. 
 The  Second  Book  of  Esdras. 
 The  Book  of  Esther. 
 The  Book  of  Job. 
 The  Psalms. 
 The  Proverbs. 
 Ecclesiasies  or  Preacher. 
 Cantica  or  Song  of  Solomon. 
 Four  Prophets  the  greater. 
 Twelve  Prophets  the  less. 
 
 And  the  other  Books  (as  Hierom  saith)  the  Church  doth  read 
 for  Example  of  Life,  and  Instruction  of  Manners ;  but  yet 
 it  doth  not  apply  them  to  establish  any  Doctrine.    Such  are 
 these  following: — 
 
 The  Third  Book  of  Esdras. 
 
 The  Fourth  Book  of  Esdras. 
 
 The  Book  of  Tobias. 
 
 The  Book  of  Judith. 
 
 The  rest  of  the  Book  of  Esther. 
 
 The  Book  of  Wisdom. 
 
 Jesus  the  Son  of  Syrach. 
 
 Baruch  the  Prophet. 
 
 The  Song  of  the  Three  Children. 
 
 The  History  of  Susanna. 
 
 Of  Bel  and  the  Dragon. 
 
 The  Prayer  of  Manasses. 
 
 The  First  Book  of  Maccabees. 
 
 The  Second  Book  of  Maccabees. 
 
 All  the  Books  of  the  New  Testament  as  they  are  commonly  re- 
 ceived, we  do  receive,  and  account  them  Canonical. 
 
 In  this  Article  there  are  two  important  heads,  and  to  each 
 of  them  a  proper  consequence  does  belong.  The  first  is,  that 
 the  Holy  Scriptures  do  contain  all  things  necessary  to  salva- 
 tion :  the  negative  consequence  that  ariseth  out  of  that  is,  that 
 no  article  that  is  not  either  read  in  it,  or  that  may  not  be  proved 
 
AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  VI. 
 
 by  it,  is  to  be  required  to  be  believed  as  an  article  of  faith,  or 
 to  be  thought  necessary  to  salvation.  The  second  is,  the  set- 
 tling the  canon  of  the  Scripture  both  of  the  Old  and  New  Tes- 
 tament ;  and  the  consequence  that  arises  out  of  that  is,  the  re- 
 jecting the  books  commonly  called  Apocryphal,  which,  though 
 they  may  be  read  by  the  Church  for  example  of  life,  and  in- 
 struction of  manners,  yet  are  no  part  of  the  Canon,  nor  is 
 any  doctrine  to  be  established  by  them. 
 
 After  the  main  foundations  of  religion  in  general,  in  the  be- 
 lief of  a  God,  or  more  specially  of  the  Christian  religion  in  the 
 doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  and  of  the  Death,  Resurrection,  and 
 Ascension  of  Christ,  are  laid  down  ;  the  next  point  to  be  settled 
 is,  what  is  the  ride  of  this  faith,  where  is  it  to  be  found,  and  with 
 whom  is  it  lodged? — The  Church  of  Rome  and  we  do  both 
 agree,  that  the  Scriptures  are  of  divine  inspiration.  Those  of 
 that  communion  acknowledge,  that  every  thing  which  is  con- 
 tained in  Scripture  is  true,  and  comes  from  God ;  but  they  add 
 to  this,  that  the  books  of  the  New  Testament  were  occasionally 
 written,  and  not  with  the  design  of  making  them  the  full  rule 
 of  faith,  but  many  things  were  delivered  orally  by  the  Apostles, 
 which,  if  they  are  faithfully  transmitted  to  us,  are  to  be  receiv- 
 ed by  us  with  the  same  submission  and  respect  that  we  pay  to 
 their  writings :  and  they  also  believe,  that  these  traditions  are 
 conveyed  down  infallibly  to  us,  and  that,  to  distinguish  betwixt 
 true  and  false  doctrines  and  traditions,  there  must  be  an  infal- 
 lible authority  lodged  by  Christ  with  his  Church.  We  on  the 
 contrary  affirm,  that  the  Scriptures  are  a  complete  rule  of  faith, 
 and  that  the  whole  Christian  religion  is  contained  in  them,  and 
 nowhere  else  :  and  although  we  make  great  use  of  tradition, 
 especially  that  which  is  most  ancient  and  nearest  the  source,  to 
 help  us  to  a  clear  understanding  of  the  Scriptures ;  yet  as  to 
 matters  of  faith  we  reject  all  oral  tradition,  as  an  incompetent 
 mean  of  conveying  down  doctrines  to  us,  and  we  refuse  to 
 receive  any  doctrine,  that  is  not  either  expressly  contained  in 
 Scripture,  or  clearly  proved  from  it. 
 
 In  order  to  the  opening  and  proving  of  this,  it  is  to  be  con- 
 sidered, what  God's  design,  in  first  ordering  Moses,  and  after 
 him  all  inspired  persons,  to  put  things  in  writing,  could  be  ?  It 
 could  be  no  other  than  to  free  the  world  from  the  uncertainties 
 and  impostures  of  oral  tradition.  All  mankind  being  derived 
 from  one  common  source,  it  seems  it  was  much  easier  in  the  first 
 ages  of  the  world  to  preserve  the  tradition  pure,  than  it  could 
 possibly  be  afterwards  :  There  were  only  a  few  tilings  then  to  be 
 delivered  concerning  God  ;  as,  That  he  was  one  spiritual  Being, 
 that  he  had  created  all  things,  that  he  alone  was  to  be  worship- 
 ped and  served ;  the  rest  relating  to  the  history  of  the  world,  and 
 chiefly  of  the  first  man  that  was  made  in  it.    There  were  also 
 
Art.  VI. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 B5 
 
 great  advantages  on  the  side  of  oral  tradition — the  first  men  were 
 very  long-lived,  and  they  saw  their  own  families  spread  extreme- 
 ly ;  so  that  they  had  on  their  side  both  the  authority  which  long 
 life  always  has,  particularly  concerning  matters  of  fact,  and  the 
 credit  that  parents  have  naturally  with  their  own  children,  to 
 secure  tradition.  Two  persons  might  have  conveyed  it  down 
 from  Adam  to  Abraham ;  Methuselah  lived  above  three  hun- 
 dred years  while  Adam  was  yet  alive,  and  Sem  was  almost  an 
 hundred  when  he  died,  and  he  lived  much  above  an  hundred 
 years  in  the  same  time  with  Abraham,  according  to  the  He- 
 brew. Here  is  a  great  period  of  time  filled  up  by  two  or  three 
 persons;  and  yet  in  that  time  the  tradition  of  those  very  few- 
 things,  in  which  religion  was  then  comprehended,  was  so  uni- 
 versally and  entirely  corrupted,  that  it  was  necessary  to  correct 
 it  by  immediate  revelation  to  Abraham  :  God  intending  to  have 
 a  peculiar  people  to  himself  out  of  his  posterity,  commanded 
 him  to  forsake  his  kindred  and  country,  that  he  might  not  be 
 corrupted  with  an  idolatry,  that  we  have  reason  to  believe  was 
 then  but  beginning  among  them.  We  are  sure  his  nephew 
 Laban  was  an  idolater;  and  the  danger  of  mixing  with  the 
 rest  of  mankind  was  then  so  great,  that  God  ordered  a  mark 
 to  be  made  on  the  bodies  of  all  descended  from  him,  to  be  the 
 seal  of  the  covenant,  and  the  badge  and  cognizance  of  his  posr 
 terity.  By  that  distinction,  and  by  their  living  in  a  wandering 
 and  unfixed  manner,  they  were  preserved  for  some  time  from 
 idolatry ;  God  intending  afterwards  to  settle  them  in  an  insti- 
 tuted religion.  But  though  the  beginnings  of  it,  I  mean  the 
 promulgation  of  the  law  on  Mount  Sinai,  was  one  of  the  most 
 amazing  things  that  ever  happened,  and  the  fittest  to  be  orally 
 conveyed  down,  the  law  being  very  short,  and  the  circumstances 
 in  the  delivery  of  it  most  astonishing;  and  though  there  were 
 many  rites,  and  several  festivities,  appointed  chiefly  for  the  car- 
 rying down  the  memory  of  it ;  though  there  was  also  in  that 
 dispensation  the  greatest  advantage  imaginable  for  securing  this 
 tradition,  all  the  main  acts  of  their  religion  being  to  be  perform- 
 ed in  one  place,  and  by  men  of  one  tribe  and  family ;  as  they 
 were  also  all  the  inhabitants  of  a  small  tract  of  ground,  of  one 
 language,  and  by  their  constitutions  obliged  to  maintain  a  con- 
 stant commerce  among  themselves  :  they  having  further  a  con- 
 tinuance of  signal  characters  of  God's  miraculous  presence 
 among  them — such  as  the  operation  of  the  water  of  jealousy ; 
 the  plenty  of  the  sixth  year  to  supply  them  all  the  Sabbatical 
 year,  and  till  the  harvest  of  the  following  year ;  together  with 
 a  succession  of  Prophets  that  followed  one  another,  either  in  a 
 constant  course,  or  at  least  soon  after  one  another ;  but  above 
 all,  the  presence  of  God,  which  appeared  in  the  cloud-  of  glory, 
 and  in  those  answers  that  were  given  by  the  Urim  and  Thum- 
 mim — all  which  must  be  confessed  to  be  advantages  on  the  side 
 
86 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  VI. 
 
 of  tradition,  vastly  beyond  any  that  can  be  pretended  to  have 
 been  in  the  Christian  Church ;  yet,  notwithstanding  all  these, 
 God  commanded  Moses  to  write  all  their  Law,  as  the  Ten  Com- 
 mandments were  by  the  immediate  power  or  finger  of  God 
 writ  on  tables  of  stone.  When  all  this  is  laid  together  and 
 well  considered,  it  will  appear,  that  God  by  a  particular  eco- 
 nomy intended  them  to  secure  revealed  religion  from  the  doubt- 
 fulness and  uncertainties  of  oral  tradition. 
 
 It  is  much  more  reasonable  to  believe,  that  the  Christian  re- 
 ligion, which  was  to  be  spread  to  many  remote  regions,  among 
 whom  there  could  be  little  communication,  should  have  been 
 fixed  in  its  first  beginnings  by  putting  it  in  writing,  and  not 
 left  to  the  looseness  of  reports  and  stories.  We  do  plainly  see, 
 that  though  the  methods  of  knowing  and  communicating  truth 
 are  now  surer  and  better  fixed  dian  they  have  been  in  most  of 
 the  ages  which  have  passed  since  the  beginnings  of  this  religion  ; 
 yet  in  every  matter  of  fact  such  additions  are  daily  made,  as  it 
 happens  to  be  reported,  and  every  point  of  doctrine  is  so  va- 
 riously stated,  that  if  religion  had  not  a  more  assured  bottom 
 than  tradition,  it  could  not  have  that  credit  paid  to  it  that  it 
 ought  to  have.  If  we  had  no  greater  certainty  for  religion  than 
 report,  we  could  not  believe  it  very  firmly,  nor  venture  upon  it : 
 so  in  order  to  the  giving  this  doctrine  such  authority  as  is  neces- 
 sary for  attaining  the  great  ends  proposed  in  it,  the  conveyance 
 of  it  must  be  clear  and  unquestionable ;  otherwise,  as  it  would 
 grow  to  be  much  mixed  with  fable,  so  it  would  come  to  be  look- 
 ed on  as  all  a  fable.  Since  then  oral  tradition,  when  it  had  the 
 utmost  advantages  possible  of  its  side,  failed  so  much  in  the  con- 
 veyance both  of  natural  religion  and  of  the  Mosaical,  we  see 
 that  it  cannot  be  relied  on  as  a  certain  method  of  preserving 
 the  truths  of  revealed  religion. 
 
 In  our  Saviour's  time,  tradition  was  set  up  on  many  occasions 
 against  him ;  but  he  never  submitted  to  it :  on  the  contrary,  he 
 reproached  the  Jews  wTith  this,  that  they  had  made  the  laws  of 
 God  of  no  effect  by  their  traditions ;  and  he  told  them,  that  they 
 worshipped  God  in  vain,  when  they  taught  for  doctrines  the  com- 
 mandments of  men,  Matt.  xv.  3.  6.  9.  In  all  his  disputes  with  the 
 Pharisees  he  appealed  to  Moses  and  the  Prophets :  he  bade  them 
 search  the  Scriptures ;  for  in  them,  said  he,  ye  think  ye  have  eter- 
 nal life,  and  they  are  they  which  testify  of  me.  Ye  think,  is,  by  the 
 phraseology  of  that  time,  a  word  that  does  not  refer  to  any  par- 
 ticular conceit  of  theirs ;  but  imports,  that  as  they  thought,  so  in 
 them  they  had  eternal  life.  Our  Saviour  justifies  himself  and 
 his  doctrine  often  by  words  of  Scripture,  but  never  once  by  tra- 
 dition. We  see  plainly,  that  in  our  Saviour's  time  the  tradi- 
 tion of  the  resurrection  was  so  doubtful  among  the  Jews,  that 
 the  Sadducees,  a  formed  party  among  them,  did  openly  deny 
 it.    The  authority  of  tradition  had  likewise  imposed  two  very 
 
Art.  VI. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 *7 
 
 mischievous  errors  upon  the  strictest  sect  of  the  Jews,  that  ad- 
 hered the  most  firmly  to  it :  The  one  was,  that  they  understood 
 the  prophecies  concerning  the  Messias  sitting  on  the  throne  of 
 David  literally :  they  thought  that,  in  imitation  of  David,  he 
 was  not  only  to  free  his  own  country  from  a  foreign  yoke,  but 
 that  he  was  to  subdue,  as  David  had  done,  all  the  neighbour- 
 ing nations.  This  was  to  them  a  stone  of  stumbling  and  a 
 rock  of  offence ;  so  their  adhering  to  their  traditions  proved 
 their  ruin  in  all  respects.  The  other  error,  to  which  the  au- 
 thority of  tradition  led  them,  was  their  preferring  the  rituals  of 
 their  religion  to  the  moral  precepts  that  it  contained :  this  not 
 only  corrupted  their  own  manners,  while  they  thought  that  an 
 exactness  of  performing,  and  a  zeal  in  asserting,  not  only  the 
 ritual  precepts  that  Moses  gave  their  fathers,  but  those  addi- 
 tions to  them  which  they  had  from  tradition,  that  were  account- 
 ed hedges  about  the  law ;  that  this,  I  say,  might  well  excuse  or 
 atone  for  the  most  heinous  violations  of  the  rules  of  justice  and 
 mercy :  but  this  had  yet  another  worse  effect  upon  them,  while 
 it  possessed  them  with  such  prejudices  against  our  Saviour  and 
 his  Apostles,  when  they  came  to  see  that  they  set  no  value 
 on  those  practices  that  were  recommended  by  tradition,  and 
 that  they  preferred  pure  and  sublime  morals  even  to  Mosaical 
 ceremonies  themselves,  and  set  the  Gentiles  at  liberty  from 
 those  observances.  So  that  the  ruin  of  the  Jews,  their  reject- 
 ing the  Messias,  and  their  persecuting  his  followers,  arose 
 chiefly  from  this  principle  that  had  got  in  among  them,  of  be- 
 lieving tradition,  and  of  being  guided  by  it. 
 
 The  Apostles,  in  all  their  disputes  with  the  Jews,  make  their 
 appeals  constantly  to  the  Scriptures :  they  set  a  high  charac- 
 ter on  those  of  Berea  for  examining  them,  (Actsxvii.  11.),  and 
 comparing  the  doctrine  that  they  preached  with  them.  In  the 
 Epistles  to  the  Romans,  Galatians,  and  Hebrews,  in  which  they 
 pursue  a  thread  of  argument  with  relation  to  the  prejudices 
 that  the  Jews  had  taken  up  against  Christianity,  they  never 
 once  argue  from  tradition,  but  always  from  the  Scriptures: 
 they  do  not  pretend  only  to  disparage  modern  tradition,  and 
 to  set  up  that  which  was  more  ancient ;  they  make  no  such  dis- 
 tinction, but  hold  close  to  the  Scriptures.  When  St  Paul  sets 
 out  the  advantages  that  Timothy  had  by  a  religious  education, 
 he  mentions  this,  that  of  a  child  he  had  known  the  holy  Scrip- 
 tures, which  were  able  to  make  him  wise  unto  salvation,  through 
 faith  which  was  in  Christ  Jesus,  2  Tim.  iii.  15,  16. ;  that  is,  the 
 belief  of  the  Christian  religion  was  a  key  to  give  him  a  right 
 understanding  of  the  Old  Testament :  and  upon  this  occasion 
 St  Paul  adds,  All  Scripture  (that  is,  the  whole  Old  Testament) 
 is  given  by  divine  inspiration ;  or,  as  others  render  the  words, 
 all  the  divinely  inspired  Scripture  is  profit  able  for  doctrine,  for 
 reproof  for  correction,  for  instruction  in  righteousness,  that  the 
 
88 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  VI. 
 
 man  of  God  may  be  perfect,  thoroughly  furnished  unto  all  good 
 works.  The  New  Testament  was  writ  on  the  same  design  with 
 the  Old ;  that,  as  St  Luke  expresses  it,  we  might  know  the  cer- 
 tainty of  those  things  wherein  we  have  been  instructed,  Luke 
 i.  4.  These  things  were  written,  saith  St  John,  that  ye  might 
 believe  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God;  and  that  be- 
 lieving ye  might  have  life  through  his  name,  John  xx.  31. 
 When  St  Peter  knew  by  a  special  revelation  that  he  was  near 
 his  end,  he  writ  his  Second  Epistle,  that  they  might  have  that 
 as  a  mean  of  keeping  those  things  always  in  remembrance  after 
 his  death,  2  Pet.  i.  15.  Nor  do  the  Apostles  give  us  any  hints 
 of  their  having  left  any  thing  with  the  Church,  to  be  conveyed 
 down  by  an  oral  tradition,  which  they  themselves  had  not  put 
 in  writing.  They  do  sometimes  refer  themselves  to  such  things 
 as  they  had  delivered  to  particular  Churches ;  but  by  tradition 
 in  the  Apostles'  days,  and  for  some  ages  after,  it  is  very  clear, 
 that  they  meant  only  the  conveyance  of  the  faith,  and  not  any 
 unwritten  doctrines :  they  reckoned  the  faith  was  a  sacred  de- 
 positum,  which  was  committed  to  them,  and  that  was  to  be 
 preserved  pure  among  them.  But  it  were  very  easy  to  shew, 
 in  the  continued  succession  of  all  the  Christian  writers,  that 
 they  still  appealed  to  the  Scriptures,  that  they  argued  from 
 them,  that  they  condemned  all  doctrines  that  were  not  con- 
 tained in  them ;  and  when  at  any  time  they  brought  human 
 authorities  to  justify  their  opinions  or  expressions,  they  con- 
 tented themselves  with  a  very  few,  and  those  very  late  autho- 
 rities. So  that  their  design  in  vouching  them  seems  to  be  rather 
 to  clear  themselves  from  the  imputation  of  having  innovated 
 any  thing  in  the  doctrine,  or  in  the  ways  of  expressing  it,  than 
 that  they  thought  those  authorities  were  necessary  to  prove 
 them  by :  for  in  that  case  they  must  have  taken  a  great  deal 
 more  pains  than  they  did,  to  have  followed  up  and  proved  the 
 tradition  much  higher  than  they  went. 
 
 We  do  also  plainly  see  that  such  traditions  as  were  not 
 founded  on  Scripture  were  easily  corrupted,  and  on  that  account 
 were  laid  aside  by  the  succeeding  ages.  Such  were  the  opi- 
 nion of  Christ's  reign  on  earth  for  a  thousand  years ;  the  saints 
 not  seeing  God  till  the  resurrection ;  the  necessity  of  giving 
 infants  the  Eucharist ;  the  divine  inspiration  of  the  Seventy 
 Interpreters ;  besides  some  more  important  matters,  which  in 
 respect  to  those  times  are  not  to  be  too  much  descanted  upon. 
 It  is  also  plain,  that  the  Gnostics,  the  Valentinians,  and  other 
 heretics,  began  very  early  to  set  up  a  pretension  to  a  tradition 
 delivered  by  the  Apostles  to  some  particular  persons,  as  a  key 
 iren.  l.iii.  for  understanding  the  secret  meanings  that  might  be 
 Tertuf.de' &  m  Scripture ;  in  opposition  to  which,  both  Irenaeus, 
 2oreir25P"  Tertullian  and  others,  make  use  of  two  sorts  of  ar- 
 27,28.         guments — the  one  is,  the  authority  of  the  Scripture 
 
Art.  VI. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 itself,  by  which  they  confuted  their  errors ;  the  other  is  a  point 
 of  fact,  that  there  was  no  such  tradition.  In  asserting  this, 
 they  appeal  to  those  Churches  which  had  been  founded  by  the 
 Apostles,  and  in  which  a  succession  of  Bishops  had  been  con- 
 tinued down :  They  say,  in  these  we  must  search  for  aposto- 
 lical tradition.  This  was  not  said  by  them  as  if  they  had  de- 
 signed to  establish  tradition  as  an  authority  distinct  from,  or 
 equal  to,  the  Scriptures ;  but  only  to  shew  the  falsehood  of 
 that  pretence  of  the  heretics,  and  that  there  was  no  such  tra- 
 dition for  their  heresies  as  they  gave  out. 
 
 When  this  whole  matter  is  considered  in  all  its  parts,  such 
 as,  1st,  That  nothing  is  to  be  believed  as  an  article  of  faith, 
 unless  it  appears  to  have  been  revealed  by  God ;  2dly,  That 
 oral  tradition  appears,  both  from  the  nature  of  man,  and  the 
 experience  of  former  times,  to  be  an  incompetent  conveyer  of 
 truth  ;  3dly,  That  some  books  were  written  for  the  conveyance 
 of  those  matters,  which  have  been  in  all  ages  carefully  preserved 
 and  esteemed  sacred ;  4thly,  That  the  writers  of  the  first  ages 
 do  always  argue  from,  and  appeal  to,  these  books ;  and,  5thly, 
 That  what  they  have  said  without  authority  from  them  has 
 been  rejected  in  succeeding  ages; — the  truth  of  this  branch  of 
 our  Article  is  fully  made  out. 
 
 If  what  is  contained  in  the  Scripture  in  express  words  is  the 
 object  of  our  faith,  then  it  will  follow,  that  whatsoever  may  be 
 proved  from  thence,  by  a  just  and  lawful  consequence,  is  also 
 to  be  believed.  Men  may  indeed  err  in  framing  these  conse- 
 quences and  deductions ;  they  may  mistake  or  stretch  them  too 
 far  :  but  though  there  is  much  sophistry  in  the  world,  yet  there 
 is  also  true  logic,  and  a  certain  thread  of  reasoning.  And  the 
 sense  of  every  proposition  being  the  same,  whether  expressed 
 always  in  the  same  or  in  different  words ;  then,  whatsoever  ap- 
 pears to  be  clearly  the  sense  of  any  place  of  Scripture,  is  an 
 object  of  faith,  though  it  should  be  otherwise  expressed  than  as 
 it  is  in  Scripture,  and  every  just  inference  from  it  must  be  as 
 true  as  the  proposition  itself  is  :  therefore  it  is  a  vain  cavil  to 
 ask  express  words  of  Scripture  for  every  Article.  That  was 
 the  method  of  all  the  ancient  heretics.  Christ  and  his  Apostles 
 argued  from  the  words  and  passages  in  the  Old  Testament,  to 
 prove  such  things  as  agreed  with  the  true  sense  of  them,  and 
 so  did  all  the  fathers ;  and  therefore  so  may  we  do. 
 
 The  great  objection  to  this  is,  that  the  Scriptures  are  dark  ; 
 that  the  same  place  is  capable  of  different  senses,  the  literal 
 and  the  mystical ;  and  therefore,  since  we  cannot  understand 
 the  true  sense  of  the  Scripture,  we  must  not  argue  from  it,  but 
 seek  for  an  interpreter  of  it,  on  whom  we  may  depend.  All 
 sects  argue  from  thence,  and  fancy  that  they  find  their  tenets 
 in  it ;  and  therefore  this  can  be  no  sure  way  of  finding  out 
 sacred  truth,  since  so  many  do  err  that  follow  it. — In  answer 
 
90 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  VI. 
 
 to  this,  it  is  to  be  considered,  that  the  Old  Testament  was  de- 
 livered to  the  whole  nation  of  the  Jews ;  that  Moses  was  read 
 in  the  synagogue,  in  the  hearing  of  the  women  and  children  ; 
 that  whole  nation  was  to  take  their  doctrine  and  rules  from  it ; 
 all  appeals  were  made  to  the  Law  and  to  the  Prophets  among 
 them :  and  though  the  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament  were 
 in  their  st}  le  and  whole  contexture  dark,  and  hard  to  be  under- 
 stood ;  yet  when  so  great  a  question  as  this,  who  was  the  true 
 Messias  ?  came  to  be  examined,  the  proofs  urged  for  it  were 
 passages  in  the  Old  Testament.  Now  the  question  was,  how 
 these  were  to  be  understood  ?  No  appeal  was  here  made  to 
 tradition,  or  to  church  authority,  but  only  by  the  enemies  of 
 our  Saviour.  Whereas  he  and  his  disciples  urge  these  pas- 
 sages in  their  true  sense,  and  in  the  consequences  that  arose 
 out  of  them.  They  did  in  that  appeal  to  the  rational  faculties 
 of  those  to  whom  they  spoke.  The  Christian  religion  was  at 
 first  delivered  to  poor  and  simple  multitudes,  who  were  both 
 illiterate  and  weak :  the  Epistles,  which  are  by  much  the 
 hardest  to  be  understood  of  the  whole  New  Testament,  were 
 addressed  to  the  whole  Churches,  to  all  the  Faithful  or  Saints  ; 
 that  is,  to  all  the  Christians  in  those  Churches.  These  were 
 afterwards  read  in  all  their  assemblies.  Upon  this  it  may  rea- 
 sonably be  asked,  were  these  writings  clear  in  that  age,  or 
 were  they  not?  If  they  were  not,  it  is  unaccountable  why 
 they  were  addressed  to  the  whole  body,  and  how  they  came 
 to  be  received  and  entertained  as  they  were.  It  is  the  end 
 of  speech  and  writing,  to  make  things  to  be  understood ;  and 
 it  is  not  supposable,  that  men  inspired  by  the  Holy  Ghost 
 either  could  not  or  would  not  express  themselves  so  as  that 
 they  should  be  clearly  understood.  It  is  also  to  be  observed, 
 that  the  new  dispensation  is  opposed  to  the  old,  as  light  is  to 
 darkness,  an  open  face  to  a  veiled,  and  substance  to  shadows. 
 Since  then  the  Old  Testament  was  so  clear,  that  David,  both  in 
 the  19th,  and  most  copiously  in  the  119th  Psalm,  sets  out  very 
 fully  the  light  which  the  laws  of  God  gave  them  in  that  darker 
 state,  we  have  much  more  reason  to  conclude,  that  the  new 
 dispensation  should  be  much  brighter.  If  there  was  no  need 
 of  a  certain  expounder  of  Scripture  then,  there  is  much  less 
 now :  nor  is  there  any  provision  made  in  the  New  for  a  sure 
 guide ;  no  intimations  are  given  where  to  find  one  :  From  all 
 which  we  may  conclude,  that  the  books  of  the  New  Testament 
 were  clear  in  those  days,  and  might  well  be  understood  by  those 
 to  whom  they  were  at  first  addressed.  If  they  were  clear  to 
 them,  they  may  be  likewise  clear  to  us :  for  though  we  have  not 
 a  full  history  of  that  time,  or  of  the  phrases  and  customs,  and 
 particular  opinions  of  that  age ;  yet  the  vast  industry  of  the  suc- 
 ceeding ages,  of  these  two  last  in  particular,  has  made  such  dis- 
 coveries, besides  the  other  collateral  advantages  which  learning 
 
Art.  VI. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 91 
 
 and  a  niceness  in  reasoning  has  given  ns,  that  we  may  justly 
 reckon,  that  though  some  hints  in  the  Epistles,  which  relate  to 
 the  particulars  of  that  time,  may  be  so  lost  that  we  can  at  best 
 but  make  conjectures  about  them,  yet,  upon  the  whole  matter, 
 we  may  well  understand  all  that  is  necessary  to  salvation  in  the 
 Scripture. 
 
 We  may  indeed  fall  into  mistakes  as  well  as  into  sins ;  and 
 into  errors  of  ignorance,  as  well  as  into  sins  of  ignorance. 
 God  has  dealt  with  our  understandings  as  he  hath  dealt  with 
 our  wills :  he  proposes  our  duty  to  us,  with  strong  motives  to 
 obedience ;  he  promises  us  inward  assistances,  and  accepts  of 
 our  sincere  endeavours;  and  yet  this  does  not  hinder  many 
 from  perishing  eternally,  and  others  from  falling  into  great 
 sins,  and  so  running  great  danger  of  eternal  damnation  ; — and 
 all  this  is  because  God  has  left  our  wills  free,  and  does  not  con- 
 strain us  to  be  good.  He  deals  with  our  understandings  in 
 the  same  manner :  he  has  set  his  will  and  the  knowledge  of 
 salvation  before  us,  in  writings  that  are  framed  in  a  simple  and 
 plain  style,  in  a  language  that  was  then  common  and  is  still 
 well  understood,  that  were  at  first  designed  for  common  use ; 
 they  are  soon  read,  and  it  must  be  confessed  that  a  great  part 
 of  them  is  very  clear :  so  we  have  reason  to  conclude,  that  if  a 
 man  reads  these  carefully  and  with  an  honest  mind ;  if  he  prays 
 to  God  to  direct  him,  and  follows  sincerely  what  he  apprehends 
 to  be  true,  and  practises  diligently  those  duties  that  do  un- 
 questionably appear  to  be  bound  upon  him  by  them,  that  then 
 he  shall  find  out  enough  to  save  his  soul ;  and  that  such  mis- 
 takes as  lie  still  upon  him,  shall  either  be  cleared  up  to  him  by 
 some  happy  providence,  or  shall  be  forgiven  him  by  that  in- 
 finite mercy,  to  which  his  sincerity  and  diligence  is  well  known. 
 That  bad  men  should  fall  into  grievous  errors,  is  no  more 
 strange  than  that  they  should  commit  heinous  sins;  and  the 
 errors  of  good  men,  in  which  they  are  neither  wilful  nor  inso- 
 lent, will  certainly  be  forgiven,  as  well  as  their  sins  of  infirmity. 
 Therefore  all  the  ill  use  that  is  made  of  the  Scripture,  and  all 
 the  errors  that  are  pretended  to  be  proved  by  it,  do  not  weaken 
 its  authority  or  clearness.  This  does  only  shew  us  the  danger 
 of  studying  them  with  a  biassed  or  corrupted  mind,  of  reading 
 them  too  carelesslv,  of  beims  too  curious  in  goino;  farther  than 
 as  they  open  matters  to  us,  and  in  being  too  implicit  in  ad- 
 hering to  our  education,  or  in  submitting  to  the  dictates  of 
 others. 
 
 So  far  I  have  explained  the  first  branch  of  this  Article. 
 The  consequence  that  ari^s  out  of  it  is  so  clear,  that  it  needs 
 Hot  be  proved :  That  therefore  nothing  ought  to  be  esteemed  an 
 Article  of  Faith,  but  what  may  be  found  in  it,  or  proved  from 
 it.  If  this  is  our  rule,  our  entire  and  only  rule,  then  such 
 doctrines  as  are  not  in  it  ought  to  be  rejected  :  and  any  Church 
 
92 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  VI. 
 
 that  adds  to  the  Christian  religion,  is  erroneous  for  making 
 such  additions,  and  becomes  tyrannical  if  she  imposes  them 
 upon  all  her  members,  and  requires  positive  declarations,  sub- 
 scriptions, and  oaths,  concerning  them.  In  so  doing  she  forces 
 such  as  cannot  have  communion  with  her,  but  by  affirming 
 what  they  believe  to  be  false,  to  withdraw  from  that  which 
 cannot  be  had  without  departing  from  the  truth.  So  all  the 
 additions  of  the  five  sacraments,  of  the  invocation  of  angels 
 and  saints,  of  the  worshipping  of  images,  crosses,  and  relics ; 
 of  the  corporal  presence  in  the  Eucharist;  of  the  sacrifice  of- 
 fered in  it  for  the  dead  as  well  as  for  the  living,  together  with 
 the  adoration  offered  to  it,  with  a  great  many  more,  are  cer- 
 tainly errors,  unless  they  can  be  proved  from  Scripture :  And 
 they  are  intolerable  errors,  if  as  the  Scripture  is  express  in  op- 
 position to  them,  so  they  defile  the  worship  of  Christians  with 
 idolatry ;  but  they  become  yet  most  intolerable,  if  they  are  im- 
 posed upon  all  that  are  in  that  communion,  and  if  creeds  or 
 oaths  in  which  they  are  affirmed  are  required  of  all  in  their 
 communion.  Here  is  the  main  ground  of  justifying  or  form- 
 ing ourselves  into  a  distinct  body  from  the  Roman  Church; 
 and  therefore  it  is  well  to  be  considered.  The  further  discuss- 
 ing of  this  will  come  properly  in,  when  other  particulars  come 
 to  be  examined. 
 
 From  hence  I  go  to  the  second  branch  of  this  Article,  which 
 gives  us  the  Canon  of  the  Scripture.  Here  I  shall  begin  with 
 the  New  Testament;  for  though  in  order  the  Old  Testament 
 is  before  the  New,  yet  the  proof  of  the  one  being  more  distinctly 
 made  out  by  the  concurring  testimonies  of  other  writers  than 
 can  possibly  be  pretended  for  the  other,  and  the  New  giving 
 an  authority  to  the  Old,  by  asserting  it  so  expressly,  I  shall 
 therefore  prove  first  the  Canon  of  the  New  Testament.  I  will 
 not  urge  that  of  the  testimony  of  the  Spirit,  which  many  have 
 had  recourse  to :  this  is  only  an  argument  to  him  that  feels  it, 
 if  it  is  one  at  all ;  and  therefore  it  proves  nothing  to  another 
 person.  Besides,  the  utmost  that  with  reason  can  be  made  of 
 this  is,  that  a  good  man,  feeling  the  very  powerful  effects  of 
 the  Christian  religion  on  his  own  heart,  in  the  reforming  his 
 nature,  and  the  calming  his  conscience,  together  with  those 
 comforts  that  arise  out  of  it,  is  convinced  in  general  of  the 
 whole  of  Christianity,  by  the  happy  effects  that  it  has  upon  his 
 own  mind  :  but  it  does  not  from  this  appear,  how  he  should 
 know  that  such  books,  and  such  passages  in  them,  should  come 
 from  a  divine  original,  or  that  he  should  be  able  to  distinguish 
 what  is  genuine  in  them  from  what  is  spurious.  To  come 
 therefore  to  such  arguments  as  may  be  well  insisted  upon  or 
 maintained : — 
 
 The  Canon  of  the  New  Testament,  as  we  now  have  it,  is 
 fully  proved  from  the  quotations  out  of  the  books  of  the  New 
 
Art.  VI. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 93 
 
 Testament,  by  the  writers  of  the  first  and  second  centuries ; 
 such  as  Clemens,  Ignatius,  Justin,  Irenaeus,  and  several  others. 
 ^Papias,  who  conversed  with  the  disciples  of  the  Apostles,  is 
 cited  by  Eusebius  in  confirmation  of  St  Matthew's    Lib  iU 
 Gospel,  which  he  says  was  writ  by  him  in  Hebrew  :    Hist  c- 39 
 he  is  also  cited  to  prove  that  St  Mark  writ  his  Gospel    c- 25- 
 from  St  Peter's  preaching;  which  is  also  confirmed  by  Cle- 
 mens of  Alexandria;  not  to  mention  later  writers.  Irenaeus 
 says  St  Luke  writ  his  Gospel  according  to  St  Paul's    Eus.  L  ,t 
 preaching  ;  which  is  supported  by  some  words  in  St    Hist- c- 15- 
 Paul's  Epistles  that  relate  to  passages  in  that  Gospel ;  yet  cer- 
 tainly he  had  likewise  other  vouchers — those  who  from  the  be- 
 ginning were  eye-witnesses  mid  ministers  of  the  word ;  though 
 the  whole  might  receive  its  full  authority  from  St  Paul's  ap- 
 probation.   St  John  writ  later  than  the  other  three;  so  the 
 testimonies  concerning  his  Gospel  are  the  fullest  and  the  most 
 particular.    Irenaeus  has  laboured  the  proof  of  this    Lib  HL  cap 
 matter  with  much  care  and  attention  :  he  lived  within    11  • 
 an  hundred  years  of  St  John,  and  knew  Poly  carp  that  was  one 
 of  his  disciples:  after  him  come  Tertullian  and  Ori-    Tert.  i.iv. 
 gen,  who  speak  very  copiously  of  the  four  Gospels ;    cap1  iMar' 
 and  from  them  all  the  ecclesiastical  writers  have  with-  EusgiibPUv1 
 out  any  doubting  or  controversy  acknowledged  and    caP-  *»■ 
 cited  them,  without  the  least  shadow  of  any  opposition,  except 
 what  was  made  by  Marcion  and  the  Manichees. 
 
 Next  to  these  authorities,  we  appeal  to  the  catalogues  of  the 
 books  of  the  New  Testament  that  are  given  us  in  the  third  and 
 fourth  centuries  by  Origen,  a  man  of  great  industry,  and  that 
 had  examined  the  state  of  many  churches ;  by  St  Atha-    Athan  .n 
 nasius,  by  the  council  of  Laodicea  and  Carthage ;  and  synops*. 
 after  these  we  have  a  constant  succession  of  testimo-    60.  earth.* 
 nies,  that  do  deliver  these  as  the  Canon  universally  U1C-47- 
 received.    All  this  laid  together  does  fully  prove  this  point; 
 and  that  the  more  clearly,  when  these  particulars  are  consider- 
 ed:— 1st,  That  the  books  of  the  New  Testament  were  read  in 
 all  their  churches,  and  at  all  their  assemblies ;  so  that  this  was 
 a  point  in  which  it  was  not  easy  for  men  to  mistake :  2dly, 
 That  this  was  so  near  the  fountain,  that  the  originals  them- 
 selves of  the  Apostles  were  no  doubt  so  long  preserved  :  3dly, 
 That  both  the  Jews,  as  appears  from  Justin  Martyr,  and  the 
 Gentiles,  as  appears  by  Celsus,  knew  that  these  were  the  books 
 in  which  the  faith  of  the  Christians  was  contained :    Dial  cum 
 4thly,  That  some  question  was  made  touching  some  ,Jryi)ho- 
 of  them,  because  there  was  not  that  clear  or  general  knowledge 
 concerning  them,  that  there  was  concerning  the  others;  yet 
 upon  fuller  inquiry  all  acquiesced  in  them.    No  doubt  was  ever 
 made  about  thirteen  of  St  Paul's  Epistles ;  because  there  were 
 
94 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  VI. 
 
 particular  churches  or  persons  to  whom  the  originals  of  them 
 Tertui.  de  were  directed  :  but  the  strain  and  design  of  that  to 
 Presc.  c.36.  j-^g  Hebrews  being  to  remove  their  prejudices,  that 
 high  one,  which  they  had  taken  up  against  St  Paul  as  an 
 enemy  to  their  nation,  was  to  be  kept  out  of  view,  that  it  might 
 not  blast  the  good  effects  which  were  intended  by  it ;  yet  it  is 
 cited  oftener  than  once  by  Clemens  of  Rome :  and  though  the 
 ignorance  of  many  of  the  Roman  Church,  who  thought  that 
 orig.  EP.  ad  some  passages  in  it  favoured  the  severity  of  the  No- 
 o?gcaExh.  vatians,  that  cut  off  apostates  from  the  hopes  of  re- 
 SisebfSut.  pentance,  made  them  question  it,  of  which  mention 
 ilieroif'Ep  *s  made  both  by  Origen,  Eusebius,  and  Jerome,  who 
 cyrDcadte?h  frequently  affirm  that  the  Latin  Church,  or  the  Ro- 
 iv.  man,  did  not  receive  it ;  yet  Athanasius  reckons  both 
 
 this  and  the  seven  General  Epistles  among  the  canonical  writ- 
 ings. Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  who  had  occasion  to  be  well  informed 
 about  it,  says,  that  he  delivers  his  catalogue  from  the  Church, 
 as  she  had  received  it  from  the  Apostles,  the  ancient  bishops, 
 and  the  governors  of  the  Church ;  and  reckons  up  in  it  both 
 the  seven  General  Epistles,  and  the  fourteen  of  St  Paul.  So 
 does  Ruffin,  and  so  do  the  councils  of  Laodicea  and  Car- 
 thage ;*  the  Canons  of  the  former  being  received  into  the  body 
 of  the  Canons f  of  the  Universal  Church.  Irenaeus,  Origen, 
 and  Clemens  of  Alexandria, £  cite  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 
 frequently.  Some  question  was  made  of  the  Epistle  of  St 
 James,  the  Second  of  St  Peter,  the  Second  and  Third  of  St 
 John  and  St  J  tide's  Epistle :  But  both  Clemens  of  Rome,§  Ig- 
 natius, and  Origen,  cite  St  James's  Epistle;  Eusebius |j  says  it 
 was  known  to  most,  and  read  in  most  Christian  Churches :  the 
 like  is  testified  by  St  Jerome.f  St  Peter's  Second  Epistle  is  cited 
 by  Origen  and  Firmilian;**  and  Eusebius ff  says  it  was  held 
 very  useful  even  by  those  who  held  it  not  canonical :  but  since 
 the  First  Epistle  was  never  questioned  by  any,  the  Second  that 
 carries  so  many  characters  of  its  genuineness,  such  as  St  Peter's 
 name  at  the  head  of  it,  the  mention  of  the  transfiguration,  and 
 of  his  being  an  eye-witness  of  it,  are  evident  proofs  of  its  being 
 writ  by  him.  The  Second  and  Third  Epistles  of  St  John  are 
 cited  by  Irenaeus,  Clemens  and  Dennis  of  Alexandria,  and  by 
 Tertullian.^  The  Epistle  of  St  Jiide  is  also  cited  by  Tertul- 
 lian.  Some  of  those  General  Epistles  were  not  addressed  to 
 any  particular  body,  or  church,  that  might  have  preserved  the 
 
 *  Apud  Hieron.  f  Can.  60.  Can.  47. 
 
 \  Iren.  I.  iii.  c.  38.  Orig.  1.  iii.  et  vii.  cont.  Cels.  Dial.  con.  Marc,  et  Ep.  ad 
 Afric.  Clem.  Alex. 
 
 §  Ignat.  Ep.  ad  Eph.  Orig.  Horn.  13.  in  Genes. 
 
 ||  Eus.  Hist.  1.  ii.  c.  22.  1.  iii.  c.  24,  25.  %  Hieron.  Pref.  in  Ep.  Jac. 
 
 **  Orig.  cont.  Marcion.    Firmil.  Ep.  75.  ad  Cypr.      ff  Eus.  Hist.  1.  iii.  c.  3. 
 \\  Iren.  1.  i.  c.  13.   Clem.  Alex.  Strom.  2.   Tertui.  dc  Carne  Chr.  c.  24.  Eus. 
 Hist.  1.  vi.  c.  24.  Tertui.  de  Cultu  Fnem. 
 
Art.  VI. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 95 
 
 originals  of  them,  but  were  sent  about  in  the  nature  of  circular 
 letters ;  so  that  it  is  no  wonder  if  they  were  not  received  so 
 early?  and  with  such  an  unanimity,  as  we  find  concerning  the 
 four  Gospels,  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  and  thirteen  of  St  Paul's 
 Epistles.    These  being  first  fixed  upon  by  an  unquestioned  and 
 undisputed  tradition,  made  that  here  was  a  standard  once  as- 
 certained to  judge  the  better  of  the  rest :  so  when  the  matter 
 was  strictly  examined,  so  near  the  fountain  that  it  was  very 
 possible  and  easy  to  find  out  the  certainty  of  it,  then  in  the  be- 
 ginning of  the  fourth  century  the  Canon  was  settled,  and  uni- 
 versally agreed  to.    The  style  and  matter  of  the  Revelation, 
 as  well  as  the  designation  of  Divine  given  to  the  author  of  it, 
 gave  occasion  to  many  questions  about  it :  Clemens   Clem  in  Ep 
 of  Rome  cites  it  as  a  prophetical  book ;  Justin  Martyr  jjst°,r  c0nt 
 says  it  was  writ  by  John,  one  of  Christ's  twelve  Jjggbon. 
 Apostles;  Irenaeus  calls  it  the  Revelation  of  St  John,  c3a 
 the  disciple  of  our  Lord,  writ  almost  in  our  own  age,   lw.  c.24. 
 in  the  end  of  Domitian's  reign.    Melito  writ  upon  1%.  c.  is. 
 it:  Theophilus  of  Antioch,  Hippolytus,  Clemens  and  l  vl,  c-27- 
 Dennis  of  Alexandria,  Tertullian,  Cyprian,  and  Origen,  do 
 cite  it.    And  thus  the  Canon  of  the  New  Testament  seems  to  - 
 be  fully  made  out  by  the  concurrent  testimony  of  the  several 
 Churches  immediately  after  the  apostolical  time. 
 
 Here  it  is  to  be  observed,  that  a  great  difference  is  to  be 
 made  between  all  this  and  the  oral  tradition  of  a  doctrine,  in 
 which  there  is  nothing  fixed  or  permanent,  so  that  the  whole 
 is  only  report  carried  about  and  handed  down ;  whereas  here 
 is  a  book  that  was  only  to  be  copied  out,  and  read  publicly  and 
 by  all  persons — between  which  the  difference  is  so  vast,  that  it 
 is  as  little  possible  to  imagine  how  the  one  should  continue 
 pure,  as  how  the  other  should  come  to  be  corrupted.  There 
 was  never  a  book  of  which  we  have  that  reason  to  be  assured 
 that  it  is  genuine,  that  we  have  here.  There  happened  to  be 
 constant  disputes  among  Christians  from  the  second  century 
 downward,  concerning  some  of  the  most  important  parts  of  this 
 doctrine ;  and  by  both  sides  these  books  were  appealed  to  :  and 
 though  there  might  be  some  variations  in  readings  and  transla- 
 tions, yet  no  question  was  made  concerning  the  Canon,  or  the 
 authenticalness  of  the  books  themselves ;  unless  it  were  by  the 
 Manichees,  who  came  indeed  to  be  called  Christians  by  a  very 
 enlarged  way  of  speaking;  since  it  is  justly  strange  how  men 
 who  said  that  the  Author  of  the  universe,  and  of  the  Mosaical 
 dispensation,  was  an  evil  God ;  and  who  held  that  there  were 
 two  supreme  Gods,  a  good  and  an  evil  one — how  such  men,  I 
 say,  could  be  called  Christians. 
 
 The  authority  of  those  books  is  not  derived  from  any  judg- 
 ment that  the  Church  made  concerning  them;  but  from  this, 
 that  it  was  known  that  they  were  writ,  either  by  men  who  were 
 
96 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  VI. 
 
 themselves  the  Apostles  of  Christ,  or  by  those  who  were  their 
 assistants  and  companions,  at  whose  order,  or  under  whose  di- 
 rection and  approbation,  it  was  known  that  they  were  written 
 and  published.  These  books  were  received  and  known  for 
 such,  in  the  very  apostolical  age  itself ;  so  that  many  of  the 
 apostolical  men,  such  as  Ignatius  and  Polycarp,  lived  long 
 enough  to  see  the  Canon  generally  received  and  settled.  The 
 suffering  and  depressed  state  of  the  first  Christians  was  also 
 such,  that  as  there  is  no  reason  to  suspect  them  of  imposture, 
 so  it  is  not  at  all  credible  that  an  imposture  of  this  kind  could 
 have  passed  upon  all  the  Christian  Churches.  A  man  in  a 
 corner  might  have  forged  the  Sibylline  oracles,  or  some  other 
 pieces  which  were  not  to  be  generally  used ;  and  they  might 
 have  appeared  soon  after,  and  credit  might  have  been  given 
 too  easily  to  a  book  or  writing  of  that  kind :  but  it  cannot  be 
 imagined,  that  in  an  age  in  which  the  belief  of  this  doctrine 
 brought  men  under  great  troubles,  and  in  which  miracles  and 
 other  extraordinary  gifts  were  long  continued  in  the  Church — 
 that,  I  say,  either  false  books  could  have  been  so  early  obtruded 
 on  the  Church  as  true,  or  that  true  books  could  have  been  so 
 vitiated  as  to  lose  their  original  purity,  while  they  were  so  uni- 
 versally read  and  used,  and  that  so  soon ;  or  that  the  writers 
 of  that  very  age  and  of  the  next  should  have  been  so  generally 
 and  so  grossly  imposed  upon,  as  to  have  cited  spurious  writings 
 for  true.  These  are  things  that  could  not  be  believed  in  the 
 histories  or  records  of  any  nation ;  though  the  value  that  the 
 Christians  set  upon  these  books,  and  the  constant  use  they 
 made  of  them,  reading  a  parcel  of  them  every  Lord's  day, 
 make  this  much  less  supposable  in  the  Christian  religion,  than 
 it  could  be  in  any  other  sort  of  history  or  record  whatsoever. 
 The  early  spreading  of  the  Christian  religion  to  so  many  re- 
 mote countries  and  provinces,  the  many  copies  of  these  books 
 that  lay  in  countries  so  remote,  the  many  translations  of  them 
 that  were  quickly  made,  do  all  concur  to  make  the  impossibility 
 of  any  such  imposture  the  more  sensible.  Thus  the  Canon 
 of  the  New  Testament  is  fixed  upon  clear  and  sure  grounds. 
 
 From  thence,  without  any  further  proof,  we  may  be  con- 
 vinced of  the  Canon  of  the  Old  Testament.  Christ  does  fre- 
 quently cite  Moses  and  the  Prophets ;  he  appeals  to  them ; 
 and  though  he  charged  the  Jews  of  that  time,  chiefly  their 
 teachers  and  rulers,  with  many  disorders  and  faults,  yet  he 
 never  once  so  much  as  insinuated  that  they  had  corrupted  their 
 law,  or  other  sacred  books ;  which,  if  true,  had  been  the  great- 
 est of  all  those  abuses  that  they  had  put  upon  the  people. 
 Our  Saviour  cited  their  books  according  to  the  translation 
 that  was  then  in  credit  and  common  use  amongst  them.  When 
 one  asked  him  which  was  the  great  commandment,  he  answer- 
 ed, How  reddest  thou  ?  And  he  proved  the  chief  things  relating 
 
Art.  VI. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 97 
 
 to  himself,  his  death  and  resurrection,  from  the  prophecies  that 
 had  gone  before ;  which  ought  to  have  been  fulfilled  in  him. 
 He  also  cites  the  Old  Testament,  by  a  threefold  division  of  the 
 Law  of  Moses,  the  Prophets,  and  the  Psalms,  (Luke  xxiv. 
 44.),  according  to  the  three  orders  of  books  into  which  the 
 Jews  had  divided  it.  The  Psalms,  which  was  the  first  among 
 the  holy  writings,  being  set  for  that  whole  volume,  St  Paul 
 says,  that  to  the  Jews  were  committed  the  oracles  of  God,  Rom. 
 iii.  2. :  he  reckons  that  among  the  chief  of  their  privileges, 
 but  he  never  blames  them  for  being  unfaithful  in  this  trust ; 
 and  it  is  certain  that  the  Jews  have  not  corrupted  the  chief  of 
 those  passages  that  are  urged  against  them  to  prove  Jesus  to 
 have  been  the  Christ.  So  that  the  Old  Testament,  at  least 
 the  translation  of  the  LXX  interpreters,  which  was  in  common 
 use  and  in  high  esteem  among  the  Jews  in  our  Saviour's  time, 
 was,  as  to  the  main,  faithful  and  uncorrupted.  This  might  be 
 further  urged  from  what  St  Paul  says  concerning  those  Scrip- 
 tures which  Timothy  had  learned  of  a  child  :  these  could  be 
 no  other  than  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament.  Thus,  if  the 
 writings  of  the  New  Testament  are  acknowledged  to  be  of 
 divine  authority,  the  full  testimony  that  they  give  to  the  books 
 of  the  Old  Testament,  does  sufficiently  prove  their  authority 
 and  genuineness  likewise.   But  to  carry  this  matter  yet  further. 
 
 Moses  wrought  such  miracles,  both  in  Egypt,  in  passing 
 through  the  Red  Sea,  and  in  the  wilderness,  that,  if  these  are 
 acknowledged  to  be  true,  there  can  be  no  question  made  of 
 his  being  sent  of  God,  and  authorized  by  him  to  deliver  his 
 will  to  the  Jewish  nation.  The  relation  given  of  those  miracles 
 represents  them  to  be  such  in  themselves,  and  to  have  been 
 acted  so  publicly,  that  it  cannot  be  pretended  they  were  tricks, 
 or  that  some  bold  assertors  gained  a  credit  to  them  by  affirming 
 them.  They  were  so  publicly  transacted,  that  the  relations 
 given  of  them  are  either  downright  fables,  or  they  were  clear 
 and  uncontested  characters  of  a  prophet  authorized  of  God. 
 Nor  is  the  relation  of  them  made  with  any  of  those  arts  that 
 are  almost  necessary  to  impostors.  The  Jewish  nation  is  all 
 along  represented  as  froward  and  disobedient,  apt  to  murmur 
 and  rebel.  The  laws  it  contains,  as  to  the  political  part,  are 
 calculated  to  advance  both  justice  and  compassion,  to  awaken 
 industry,  and  yet  to  repress  avarice.  Liberty  and  authority 
 are  duly  tempered.  The  moral  part  is  pure,  and  suitable  to 
 human  nature,  though  with  some  imperfections  and  tolerances 
 which  were  connived  at,  but  yet  regulated :  and  for  the  reli- 
 gious part,  idolatry,  magic,  and  all  human  sacrifices,  were  put 
 away  by  it.  When  we  consider  what  remains  are  left  us  of  the 
 idolatry  of  the  Egyptians,  and  what  was  afterward  among  the 
 Greeks  and  Romans,  who  were  polite  and  well  constituted  as 
 to  their  civil  laws  and  rules,  and  may  be  esteemed  the  most 
 
 G 
 
98 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  VI. 
 
 refined  pieces  of  heathenism;  we  do  find  a  simplicity  and 
 purity,  a  majesty  and  gravity,  a  modesty  with  a  decency  in 
 the  Jewish  rituals,  to  which  the  others  can  in  no  sort  be  com- 
 pared. 
 
 In  the  books  of  Moses,  no  design  for  himself  appears :  his 
 posterity  were  but  in  the  crowd,  Levites  without  any  character 
 of  distinction  ;  and  he  spares  neither  himself  nor  his  brother, 
 when  there  was  occasion  to  mention  their  faults,  no  more  than 
 he  does  the  rest  of  his  countrymen.  It  is  to  be  further  con- 
 sidered, that  the  laws  and  policy  appointed  by  Moses  settled 
 many  rules  and  rights  that  must  have  perpetuated  the  remem- 
 brance of  them.  The  land  was  to  be  divided  by  lot,  and 
 every  share  was  to  descend  in  an  inheritance :  the  frequent 
 assemblies  at  Jerusalem  on  the  three  great  festivals,  the  sab- 
 baths, the  new  moons,  the  sabbatical  year,  and  the  great 
 jubilee,  the  law  of  the  double  tithe,  the  sacrifices  of  so  many 
 different  kinds,  the  distinctions  of  meats,  the  prohibition  of 
 eating  blood,  together  with  many  other  particulars,  were  all 
 founded  upon  it.  Now  let  it  be  a  little  considered,  whether 
 the  foundation  of  all  this,  I  mean  the  five  books  of  Moses, 
 could  be  a  forgery  or  not  ?  If  the  Pentateuch  was  delivered 
 by  Moses  himself  to  the  Jews,  and  received  by  them  as  the 
 rule  both  of  their  religion  and  policy,  then  it  is  not  possible 
 to  conceive,  but  that  the  recital  of  all  that  is  contained  from 
 the  book  of  Exodus  to  the  end  of  Deuteronomy,  was  known 
 by  them  to  be  true;  and  this  establishes  the  credit  of  the 
 whole.  But  if  this  is  not  admitted,  then  let  it  be  considered, 
 in  what  time  it  can  possibly  be  supposed  that  this  imposture 
 could  have  appeared  ?  There  is  a  continued  series  of  books 
 of  their  history,  that  goes  down  to  the  Babylonish  captivity  ; 
 so,  if  there  was  an  imposture  of  this  sort  set  on  foot  in  that 
 time,  all  that  history  must  have  been  made  upon  it,  and  an 
 account  must  have  been  given  of  the  discovery  of  those  books ; 
 otherwise  the  imposture  must  have  been  too  weak  to  have 
 gained  credit?  whereas,  on  the  contrary,  the  whole  thread 
 of  their  history  represents  these  books  to  have  been  always 
 amongst  them. 
 
 The  discovery  made  in  the  reign  of  Josias  cannot  be  sup- 
 posed to  be  of  this  sort ;  since  how  much  disorder  soever  the 
 long  and  wicked  reign  of  Manasses  might  have  brought  them 
 under,  and  what  havoc  soever  might  have  been  made  of  the 
 writings  that  were  held  sacred  among  them,  yet  it  was  impos- 
 sible that;  a  series  of  forged  laws  and  histories  could  have  been 
 put  upon  them,  of  which  there  was  still  a  continued  memory 
 preserved  among  them ;  and  that  they  could  be  brought  to 
 believe,  that  a  book  and  a  law  full  of  so  much  history,  and  of 
 so  many  various  and  unusual  rites  founded  upon  it,  had  been 
 held  sacred  among  them  for  many  ages,  if  it  was  but  a  new 
 
Art.  VI. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 invention.  Therefore  this  is  an  extravagant  conceit :  so  that 
 the  book  that  was  then  found  in  the  Temple,  (2  Chron.  xxxiv. 
 14.),  was  either  the  original  of  the  Law  written  by  Moses's 
 own  hand ;  for  so  the  words  may  be  rendered ;  or  it  may  be  un- 
 derstood of  some  of  the  last  chapters  of  Deuteronomy,  (chap, 
 xxvi.  16.  to  end  of  Deut.),  which  seem  by  the  tenor  of  them  to 
 have  been  at  first  a  book  by  themselves,  though  afterwards 
 joined  to  the  rest  of  Deuteronomy ;  and  in  the  collection  that 
 Josias  was  making,  these  might  be  wanting  at  first;  and  in 
 these  there  are  such  severe  threatenings,  (Deut.  xxviii.  36.  to 
 the  end),  that  it  was  no  wonder  if  a  heart  so  tender  as  Josias's 
 was  very  much  affected  at  the  reading  them. 
 
 Upon  the  whole  matter,  there  is  no  period  in  the  whole  his- 
 tory of  the  Jews  to  which  any  suspicion  of  such  an  imposture 
 can  be  fastened,  before  the  Babylonish  captivity ;  so  it  must 
 be  laid  either  upon  the  times  of  the  captivity,  or  soon  after 
 their  return  out  of  it.  Now,  not  to  observe  that  men  in  such 
 circumstances  are  seldom  capable  of  things  of  that  nature,  can 
 it  be  imagined  that  a  series  of  books,  that  run  through  many  • 
 ages,  could  have  been  framed  so  particularly,  and  yet  so  ex- 
 actly, that  nothing  in  any  concurrent  history  could  ever  be 
 brought  to  disprove  any  part  of  it  ?  That  such  a  thing  could 
 pass  in  so  short  a  time  upon  a  whole  nation,  while  so  many 
 men  remembered,  or  might  well  remember,  what  they  had 
 been  before  the  captivity,  if  they  had  not  all  known  that  it  was 
 true,  is  a  most  inconceivable  thing.  These  books  were  so  far 
 from  being  disputed,  though  we  see  their  neighbours  the  Sama- 
 ritans were  inclined  enough  to  contest  every  thing  with  them, 
 that  all  acquiesced  in  them :  and  in  that  second  beginning  of 
 their  being  a  state,  as  it  is  opened  in  the  books  of  Esdras  and 
 Nehemiah,  and  in  Daniel  and  the  three  Prophets  of  the  second 
 Temple,  all  the  other  books  were  received  among  them  with- 
 out dispute ;  and  their  law  was  in  such  high  esteem,  that  about 
 two  hundred  years  after  that,  the  king  of  Egypt  did,  with 
 much  entreat}7,  and  at  a  vast  charge,  procure  a  translation  of 
 it  to  be  made  in  Greek. 
 
 The  Jewish  nation,  as  they  live  much  within  themselves, 
 where  it  is  safe  for  them  to  profess  their  religion,  so  they  have 
 had  the  divine  authority  of  their  books  so  deeply  infused  in 
 them  from  age  to  age,  that  now  above  sixteen  hundred  years, 
 though  it  is  not  possible  for  them  to  practise  the  main  parts 
 of  their  religion,  and  though  they  suffer  much  for  professing 
 it,  yet  they  do  still  adhere  to  it,  and  practise  as  much  of  it  as 
 they  can  by  the  law  itself,  which  ties  the  chief  performances 
 of  that  religion  to  one  determinate  place.  This  is  a  firmness 
 which  has  never  yet  appeared  in  any  other  religion  besides  the 
 Jewish  and  the  Christian ;  for  all  the  several  shapes  of  hea- 
 thenism have  often  changed,  and  they  all  went  off"  ns  soon  as 
 
100 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  VI. 
 
 the  government  that  supported  them  fell,  and  that  another 
 came  in  its  place :  whereas  these  have  subsisted  long,  not 
 only  without  the  support  of  the  civil  power,  but  under  many 
 severe  persecutions ;  which  is  at  least  a  good  moral  argument 
 to  prove,  that  these  religions  had  another  foundation,  and  a 
 deeper  root,  than  any  other  religion  could  ever  pretend  to. 
 Yet,  after  all,  it  is  not  to  be  denied,  but  that  in  the  collection 
 that  was  made  of  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament  after  the 
 captivity,  by  Ezra  and  others,  or  after  that  burning  of  many 
 of  the  books  of  their  law  under  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  men- 
 tioned in  the  book  of  Maccabees,  (1  Mace.  i.  56.),  that  some 
 disorder  might  happen ;  that  there  might  be  such  regard  had 
 to  some  copies,  as  not  to  alter  some  manifest  faults  that  were 
 in  them,  but  that,  instead  of  that,  they  might  have  marked  on 
 the  margin  that  which  was  the  true  reading ;  and  a  supersti- 
 tious conceit  might  have  afterwards  crept  in,  and  continued  in 
 after  ages,  of  a  mystery  in  that  matter,  upon  their  first  letting 
 these  faults  continue  in  the  text  with  the  marginal  annotation 
 •  of  the  correction  of  them.  There  might  be  also  other  margi- 
 nal annotations  of  the  modern  names  of  places  set  against  the 
 ancient  ones,  to  guide  the  reader's  judgment ;  and  afterwards 
 the  modern  name  might  have  been  writ  instead  of  the  ancient 
 one.  These  are  things  that  might  naturally  enough  happen ; 
 and  will  serve  to  resolve  many  objections  against  the  text  of 
 the  Old  Testament.  All  the  numbers  of  persons  as  well  as 
 of  years  might  also  have  been  writ  in  numerical  letters,  though 
 afterwards  they  came  all  to  be  set  down  in  words  at  large : 
 and  while  they  were  in  letters,  as  some  might  have  been  worn 
 out  and  lost  in  ancient  copies,  so  others  were,  by  the  resem- 
 blance of  some  letters,  very  like  to  be  mistaken;  nor  could 
 men's  memories  serve  them  so  well  to  correct  mistakes  in  num- 
 bers as  in  other  matters.  This  may  shew  a  way  to  reconcile 
 many  seeming  differences  between  the  accounts  that  are  vari- 
 ously stated  in  some  of  the  books  of  the  Bible,  and  between 
 the  Hebrew  and  the  Septuagint.  In  these  matters  our  Church 
 has  made  no  decision ;  and  so  divines  are  left  to  a  just  freedom 
 in  them. 
 
 In  general  we  may  safely  rely  upon  the  care  and  providence 
 of  God,  and  the  industry  of  men,  who  are  naturally  apt  to 
 preserve  things  of  that  kind  entire  which  are  highly  valued 
 among  them  :  and  therefore  we  conclude,  that  the  books  of  the 
 Old  Testament  are  preserved  pure  down  to  us,  as  to  all  those 
 things  for  which  they  were  written  ;  that  is,  in  every  thing  that 
 is  either  an  object  of  faith,  or  a  rule  of  life :  and  as  to  lesser 
 matters,  which  visibly  have  no  relation  to  either  of  these,  there 
 is  no  reason  to  think  that  every  copier  was  so  divinely  guided 
 that  no  small  error  might  surprise  him.  In  fact,  we  know 
 that  there  are  many  various  readings,  which  might  have  arisen 
 
Art.  VI. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 101 
 
 from  the  haste  and  carelessness  of  copiers,  from  their  guessing 
 wrong  that  which  appeared  doubtful  or  imperfect  in  the  copy, 
 and  from  a  superstitious  adhering  to  some  apparent  faults, 
 when  they  found  them  in  copies  of  a  venerable  antiquity.  But 
 when  all  those  various  readings  are  compared  together,  it  ap- 
 pears, that  as  they  are  inconsiderable,  so  they  do  not  concern 
 our  faith  nor  our  morals ;  die  setting  which  right  was  the 
 main  end  of  revelation.  The  most  important  diversity  relates 
 to  chronology :  but  the  account  of  time,  especially  in  the  first 
 ages,  is  of  no  consequence  to  our  believing  right,  or  to  our 
 living  well  ;  and  therefore,  if  some  errors  or  mistakes  should 
 appear  to  be  among  those  different  readings,  these  give  no  just 
 cause  to  doubt  of  the  whole.  And  indeed,  considering  the 
 many  ages  through  which  those  books  have  passed,  we  have 
 much  more  reason  to  wonder  that  they  are  brought  down  to 
 us  so  entire,  and  so  manifestly  genuine  in  all  their  main  and 
 important  parts,  than  that  we  should  see  some  prints  of  the 
 frailty  of  those  who  copied  and  preserved  them. 
 
 It  remains  only  upon  this  head  to  consider,  what  inspiration 
 and  an  inspired  book  is,  and  how  far  that  matter  is  to  be  car- 
 ried. When  we  talk  with  one  another,  a  noise  is  made  in  the 
 air  that  strikes  with  such  vibrations  on  the  ears  of  others,  that, 
 by  the  motion  thereby  made  on  the  brain  of  another,  we  do 
 convey  our  thoughts  to  another  person ;  so  that  the  impres- 
 sion made  on  the  brain  is  that  which  communicates  our  thoughts 
 to  another.  By  this  we  can  easily  apprehend  how  God  may 
 make  such  impressions  on  men's  brains,  as  may  convey  to 
 them  such  things  as  he  intends  to  make  known  to  them. 
 
 This  is  the  general  notion  of  inspiration :  in  which  the 
 maimer  and  degree  of  the  impression  may  make  it  at  the  least 
 as  certain  that  the  motion  comes  from  God,  as  a  man  may  be 
 certain  that  such  a  thing  was  told  him  by  such  a  person,  and 
 not  by  any  other.  Now  there  may  be  different  degrees,  both 
 of  the  objects  that  are  revealed,  and  of  the  manner  of  the  re- 
 velation. To  some  it  may  be  given  in  charge  to  deliver  rules 
 and  laws  to  men :  and  because  that  ought  to  be  expressed  in 
 plain  words,  without  pomp  or  ornament,  therefore  upon  such 
 occasions  the  imagination  is  not  to  be  much  agitated  ;  but  the 
 impression  must  be  made  so  naked,  that  the  understanding 
 may  clearly  apprehend  it ;  and  by  consequence,  that  it  may 
 be  plainly  expressed.  In  others,  the  design  may  be  only  to 
 employ  them  in  order  to  the  awakening  men  to  observe  a  law 
 already  received  and  owned :  that  must  be  done  with  such 
 pompous  visions  of  judgments  coming  upon  the  violation  of 
 those  laws,  as  may  very  much  alarm  those  to  whom  they  are 
 sent ;  both  the  representations  and  the  expressions  must  be 
 fitted  to  excite  men,  to  terrify,  and  so  to  reform  them.  Xow, 
 because  the  imagination,  whether  when  we  are  transport*  <1 
 
102 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  VI. 
 
 in  our  thoughts  being  awake,  or  in  dreams,  is  capable  of  having 
 those  scenes  acted  upon  it,  and  of  being  so  excited  by  them  as 
 to  utter  them  with  pompous  figures,  and  in  a  due  rapidity ; 
 this  is  another  way  of  inspiration  that  is  strictly  called  prophecy 
 in  the  Old  Testament.  A  great  deal  of  the  style  used  in  this 
 must  relate  to  the  particulars  of  the  time  to  which  it  belongs : 
 many  allusions,  hints,  and  forms  of  speech  must  be  used,  that 
 are  lively  and  proverbial ;  which  cannot  be  understood,  unless 
 we  had  all  those  concurrent  helps  which  are  lost  even  in  the 
 next  age,  if  not  preserved  in  books,  and  so  they  must  be  quite 
 lost  after  many  ages  are  past,  when  no  other  memorials  are 
 left  of  the  time  in  which  they  were  transacted.  This  must 
 needs  make  the  far  greater  part  of  all  the  prophetic  writings 
 to  be  very  dark  to  us ;  not  to  insist  upon  the  peculiar  genius 
 of  the  language  in  which  the  Prophets  wrote,  and  on  the  com- 
 mon customs  of  those  climates  and  nations  to  this  day,  that 
 are  very  different  from  our  own. 
 
 A  third  degree  of  inspiration  might  be,  when  there  were 
 no  discoveries  of  future  events  to  be  made,  but  good  and  holy 
 men  were  to  be  inwardly  excited  by  God,  to  compose  such 
 poems,  hymns,  and  discourses,  as  should  be  of  great  use  both 
 to  give  men  clearer  and  fuller  apprehensions  of  divine  things, 
 and  also  insensibly  to  charm  them  with  a  pleasant  and  exalted 
 way  of  treating  them.  And  if  the  providence  of  God  should 
 so  order  them,  in  the  management  of  their  composures,  that  it 
 may  afterwards  appear  that  predictions  were  intermixed  with 
 them,  yet  they  are  not  to  be  called  prophets,  unless  God  had 
 revealed  to  them  the  mystical  intent  of  such  predictions ;  so 
 that  though  the  Spirit  of  God  prophesied  in  them,  yet  they 
 themselves  not  understanding  it,  are  not  to  be  accounted  pro- 
 phets. Of  this  last  sort  are  the  books  of  the  Psalms,  Job, 
 Proverbs,  Ecclesiastes,  &c 
 
 According  to  the  different  order  of  these  inspirations  was 
 the  Old  Testament  divided  into  three  volumes.  The  inspira- 
 tion of  the  New  Testament  is  all  to  be  reduced  to  the  first  sort, 
 except  the  Revelation,  which  is  purely  and  strictly  prophetical. 
 The  other  parts  of  the  New  Testament  are  writ  after  a  softer 
 and  clearer  illumination,  and  in  a  style  suitable  to  it.  Now, 
 because  enthusiasts  and  impostors  may  falsely  pretend  to  divine 
 commissions  and  inspirations,  it  is  necessary  (both  for  the  un- 
 deceiving of  those  who  may  be  misled  by  a  hot  and  ungoverned 
 imagination,  and  for  giving  such  an  authority  to  men  truly 
 inspired  as  may  distinguish  them  from  false  pretenders)  that 
 the  man  thus  inspired  should  have  some  evident  sign  or  other, 
 either  some  miraculous  action  that  is  visibly  beyond  the  powers 
 of  nature,  or  some  particular  discovery  of  somewhat  that  is  to 
 come,  which  must  be  so  expressed  that  the  accomplishment 
 of  it  may  shew  it  to  be  beyond  the  conjectures  of  the  most 
 
Art.  VI. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 103 
 
 sagacious  :  by  one  or  both  of  those  a  man  must  prove,  and  the 
 world  must  be  convinced,  that  he  is  sent  and  directed  by  God. 
 And  if  such  men  deliver  their  message  in  writing,  we  must  re- 
 ceive such  writings  as  sacred  and  inspired. 
 
 In  these  writings,  some  parts  are  historical,  some  doctrinal, 
 and  some  elenchtical  or  argumentative.  As  to  the  historical 
 part,  it  is  certain,  that  whatsoever  is  delivered  to  us  as  a  mat- 
 ter truly  transacted,  must  be  indeed  so  :  but  it  is  not  necessary, 
 when  discourses  are  reported,  that  the  individual  words  should 
 be  set  down  just  as  they  were  said ;  it  is  enough  if  the  effect 
 of  them  is  reported :  nor  is  it  necessary  that  the  order  of  time 
 should  be  strictly  observed,  or  that  all  the  conjunctions  in  such 
 relation  should  be  understood  severely  according  to  their  gram- 
 matical meaning.  It  is  visible  that  all  the  sacred  writers  write 
 in  a  diversity  of  style,  according  to  their  different  tempers, 
 and  to  the  various  impressions  that  were  made  upon  them.  In 
 that,  the  inspiration  left  them  to  the  use  of  their  faculties,  and 
 to  their  previous  customs  and  habits.  The  design  of  revelation, 
 as  to  this  part  of  its  subject,  is  only  to  give  such  representations 
 of  matters  of  fact,  as  may  both  work  upon  and  guide  our  belief; 
 but  the  order  of  time  and  the  strict  words  having  no  influence 
 that  way,  the  writers  might  dispose  diem  and  express  them 
 variously,  and  yet  all  be  exactly  true  :  For  the  conjunctive  par- 
 ticles do  rather  import  that  one  passage  comes  to  be  related 
 after  another,  than  that  it  was  really. transacted  after  it. 
 
 As  to  the  doctrinal  parts,  that  is,  the  rules  of  life,  which  these 
 books  set  before  us,  or  the  propositions  that  are  offered  to  us 
 in  them,  we  must  entirely  acquiesce  in  these,  as  in  the  voice  of 
 God,  who  speaks  to  us  by  the  means  of  a  person,  whom  he,  by 
 his  authorizing  him  in  so  wonderful  a  manner,  obliges  us  to 
 hear  and  believe.  But  when  these  writers  come  to  explain  or 
 argue,  they  use  many  figures  that  were  well  known  in  that  age  : 
 but  because  the  signification  of  a  figure  is  to  be  taken  from 
 common  use,  and  not  to  be  carried  to  the  utmost  extent  that 
 the  words  themselves  will  bear,  we  must  therefore  inquire,  as 
 much  as  we  can,  into  the  manner  and  phraseology  of  the  time 
 in  which  such  persons  lived :  which  with  relation  to  the  New 
 Testament  will  lead  us  far :  and  by  this  we  ought  to  govern  the 
 extent  and  importance  of  these  figures. 
 
 As  to  their  arguings,  we  are  further  to  consider,  that  some- 
 times they  argue  upon  certain  grounds,  and  at  other  times  they 
 go  upon  principles  acknowledged  and  received  by  those  with 
 whom  they  dealt.  It  ought  never  to  be  made  the  only  way  of 
 proving  a  thing,  to  found  it  upon  the  concessions  of  those  with 
 whom  we  deal ;  yet  when  a  thing  is  once  truly  proved,  it  is  a 
 just  and  usual  way  of  confirming  it,  or  at  least  of  silencing  those 
 who  oppose  it,  to  shew  that  it  follows  naturally  from  those  opi- 
 nions and  principles  that  are  received  among  them.  Since 
 
104 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  VI. 
 
 therefore  the  Jews  had,  at  the  time  of  the  writing  of  the  New 
 Testament,  a  peculiar  way  of  expounding  many  prophecies  and 
 passages  in  the  Old  Testament,  it  was  a  very  proper  way  to 
 convince  them,  to  allege  many  places  according  to  their  key  and 
 methods  of  exposition.  Therefore,  when  divine  writers  argue 
 upon  any  point,  we  are  always  bound  to  believe  the  conclusions 
 that  their  reasonings  end  in,  as  parts  of  divine  revelation :  but 
 we  are  not  bound  to  be  able  to  make  out,  or  even  to  assent  to, 
 all  the  premises  made  use  of  by  them  in  their  whole  extent ; 
 unless  it  appears  plainly  that  they  affirm  the  premises  as  ex- 
 pressly as  they  do  the  conclusions  proved  by  them. 
 
 And  thus  far  I  have  laid  down  such  a  scheme  concerning 
 inspiration  and  inspired  writings,  as  will  afford,  to  such  as  ap- 
 prehend it  aright,  a  solution  to  most  of  those  difficulties  with 
 which  we  are  urged  on  the  account  of  some  passages  in  the 
 sacred  writings.  The  laying  down  a  scheme  that  asserts  an 
 immediate  inspiration,  which  goes  to  the  style,  and  to  every 
 tittle,  and  that  denies  any  error  to  have  crept  into  any  of  the 
 copies,  as  it  seems  on  the  one  hand  to  raise  the  honour  of  the 
 Scriptures  very  highly,  so  it  lies  open  on  the  other  hand  to 
 great  difficulties,  which  seem  insuperable  in  that  hypothesis  : 
 whereas  a  middle  way,  as  it  settles  the  divine  inspiration  of  these 
 writings,  and  their  being  continued  down  genuine  and  unvi- 
 tiated  to  us,  as  to  all  that  for  which  we  can  only  suppose  that 
 inspiration  was  given ;  so  it  helps  us  more  easily  out  of  all  dif- 
 ficulties, by  yielding  that  which  serves  to  answer  them,  with- 
 out weakening  the  authority  of  the  whole. 
 
 I  come  in  the  last  place  to  examine  the  negative  consequence 
 that  arises  out  of  this  head,  which  excludes  those  books  com- 
 monly called  apocryphal,  that  are  here  rejected,  from  being  a 
 part  of  the  Canon :  and  this  will  be  easily  made  out.  The 
 chief  reason  that  presses  us  Christians  to  acknowledge  the  Old 
 Testament,  is  the  testimony  that  Christ  and  his  Apostles  gave 
 to  those  books,  as  they  were  then  received  by  the  Jewish 
 Church ;  to  whom  'were  committed  the  oracles  of  God,  Now 
 it  is  not  so  much  as  pretended,  that  ever  these  books  were  re- 
 ceived among  the  Jews,  or  were  so  much  as  known  to  them. 
 None  of  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament  cite  or  mention 
 them ;  neither  Philo  nor  Josephus  speaks  of  them.  Josephus 
 on  the  contrary  says,  they  had  only  twenty-two  books  that  de- 
 served belief;  but  that  those  which  were  written  after  the  time 
 of  Artaxerxes  were  not  of  equal  credit  with  the  rest ;  and  that 
 in  that  period  they  had  no  prophets  at  all.  The  Christian 
 Church  was  for  some  ages  an  utter  stranger  to  those  books. 
 Melito,  Bishop  of  Sardis,  being  desired  by  Onesimus  to  give 
 him  a  perfect  catalogue  of  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament, 
 took  a  journey  on  purpose  to  the  East,  to  examine  this  matter 
 at  its  source  ;  and  having,  as  he  says,  made  an  exact  inquiry, 
 
Art.  VI. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 105 
 
 he  sent  him  the  names  of  them  just  as  we  receive  the  Canon  ; 
 of  which  Eusebius  says  that  he  has  preserved  it,  be-  E}lseb  Hist 
 cause  it  contained  all  those  books  which  the  Church  1  iv  c- 26 
 owned.    Origen  gives  us  the  same  catalogue  according  to  the 
 tradition  of  the  Jews,  who  divided  the  Old  Testament     p  al  . 
 into  twenty-two  books,  according  to  the  letters  of 
 their  alphabet.    Athanasius  reckons  them  up  in  the  inSynop. 
 same  manner  to  be  twenty-two ;  and  he  more  distinct- 
 ly says,  "  that  he  delivered  those,  as  they  had  re-  inEp.Pasch. 
 ceived  them  by  tradition,  and  as  they  were  received 
 by  the  whole  Church  of  Christ,  because  some  presumed  to  mix 
 apocryphal  books  with  the  divine  Scriptures ;  and  therefore  he 
 was  set  on  it  by  the  orthodox  brethren,  in  order  to  declare  the 
 canonical  books  delivered  as  such  by  tradition,  and  believed  to 
 be  of  divine  inspiration.    It  is  true,"  he  adds,  "  that  besides 
 these  there  were  other  books  which  were  not  put  into  the 
 Canon,  but  yet  were  appointed  by  the  fathers  to  be  read  by 
 those  who  first  come  to  be  instructed  in  the  way  of  piety  :"  and 
 then  he  reckons  up  most  of  the  apocryphal  books.    Here  is 
 the  first  mention  we  find  of  them,  as  indeed  it  is  very  probable 
 they  were  made  at  Alexandria,  by  some  of  those  Jews  who 
 lived  there  in  great  numbers.    Both  Hilary  and  Cyril  of  Jeru- 
 salem give  us  the  same  catalogue  of  the  books  of  the  Old  Tes- 
 tament, and  affirm,  that  they  delivered  them  thus  according  to 
 the  tradition  of  the  ancients.    Cyril  says,  that  all  other  books 
 are  to  be  put  in  a  second  order.    Gregory  Xazianzen  reckons 
 up  the  twenty-two  books,  and  adds,  that  none  besides    „    L  , 
 
 i  •  m  11  i        A  Catech.  4. 
 
 them  are  genuine.     Ine  words  that  are  in  the  Ar- 
 ticle are  repeated  by  St  Jerome  in  several  of  his  prefaces ;  and 
 that  which  should  determine  this  whole  matter  is,  that  the 
 council  of  Laodicea  by  an  express  canon  delivers  the    can.  95, 
 catalogue  of  the  canonical  books  as  we  do,  decreeing    and  60" 
 that  these  only  should  be  read  in  the  Church.   Now  the  canons 
 of  this  council  were  afterwards  received  into  the  code  of  the 
 Canons  of  the  universal  Church ;  so  that  here  we  have  the  con- 
 curring sense  of  the  whole  Church  of  God  in  this  matter. 
 
 It  is  true,  the  book  of  the  Revelation  not  being  reckoned 
 in  it,  this  may  be  urged  to  detract  from  its  authority :  but  it 
 was  already  proved,  that  that  book  was  received  much  earlier 
 into  the  Canon  of  the  Scriptures ;  so  the  design  of  this  Canon 
 being  to  establish  the  authority  of  those  books  that  were  to  be 
 read  in  the  Church,  the  darkness  of  the  Apocalypse  making  it 
 appear  reasonable  not  to  read  it  publicly,  that  may  be  the  rea- 
 son why  it  is  not  mentioned  in  it,  as  well  as  in  some  later  cata- 
 logues. 
 
 Here  we  have  four  centuries  clear  for  our  Canon,  in  exclu- 
 sion to  all  additions.  It  were  easy  to  carry  this  much  further 
 down,  and  to  shew  that  these  books  were  never  by  any  express 
 
106 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  VI. 
 
 definition  received  into  the  Canon,  till  it  was  done  at  Trent ; 
 and  that  in  all  the  ages  of  the  Church,  even  after  they  came  to 
 be  much  esteemed,  there  were  divers  writers,  and  those  gene- 
 rally the  most  learned  of  their  time,  who  denied  them  to  be  a 
 part  of  the  Canon.  At  first,  many  writings  were  read  in  the 
 Churches,  that  were  in  high  reputation,  both  for  the  sake  of 
 the  authors  and  of  the  contents  of  them,  though  they  were 
 can  47  never  looked  on  as  a  part  of  the  Canon; — such  were 
 Clemens's  Epistle,  the  books  of  Hermas,  the  Acts  of 
 the  Martyrs,  besides  several  other  things  which  were  read  in 
 particular  churches ; — and  among  these  the  apocryphal  books 
 came  also  to  be  read,  as  containing  some  valuable  books  of  in- 
 struction, besides  several  fragments  of  the  Jewish  history,  which 
 were  perhaps  too  easily  believed  to  be  true.  These  therefore 
 being  usually  read,  they  came  to  be  reckoned  among  canonical 
 Scriptures :  for  this  is  the  reason  assigned  in  the  third  council 
 of  Carthage  for  calling  them  canonical,  because  they  had  re- 
 ceived them  from  their  fathers  as  books  that  were  to  be  read 
 in  churches :  and  the  word  canonical  was  by  some  in  those 
 ages  used  in  a  large  sense,  in  opposition  to  spurious ;  so  that  it 
 signified  no  more  than  that  they  were  genuine.  So  much  de- 
 pends upon  this  Article,  that  it  seemed  necessary  to  dwell  fully 
 upon  it,  and  to  state  it  clearly. 
 
 It  remains  only  to  observe  the  diversity  between  the  Articles 
 now  established,  and  those  set  forth  by  King  Edward.  In  the 
 latter  there  was  not  a  Catalogue  given  of  the  books  of  Scripture, 
 nor  was  there  any  distinction  stated  between  the  canonical  and 
 the  apocryphal  books.  In  those  there  is  likewise  a  paragraph, 
 or  rather  a  parenthesis,  added  after  the  words  proved  thereby, 
 in  these  words,  Although  sometimes  it  may  be  admitted  by  God's 
 faithful  people  as  pious,  and  conducing  unto  order  and  decency : 
 which  are  now  left  out,  because  the  authority  of  the  Church 
 as  to  matters  of  order  and  decency,  which  was  only  intended 
 to  be  asserted  by  this  period,  is  more  fully  explained  and  stated 
 in  the  35th  Article. 
 
 ARTICLE  VII. 
 
 OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT. 
 
 The  Old  Testament  is  not  contrary  to  the  New :  for  both  in  the 
 Old  and  New  Testament  Everlasting  Life  is  offered  to  Man- 
 kind  by  Christ,  who  is  the  only  Mediator  between  God  and 
 Man,  being  both  God  and  Man.     Wherefore  they  arc  not  to 
 
Art.  VII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 107 
 
 be  heard,  which  feign  that  the  Old  Fathers  did  look  only  for 
 Transitory  Promises. 
 Although  the  Lazv  given  from  God  by  Moses,  as  touching  Cere- 
 monies and  Rites,  do  not  bind  Christian  Men,  nor  the  Civil 
 Precepts  thereof  ought  of  necessity  to  be  received  in  any  Com- 
 monwealth, yet  notwithstanding  no  Christian  Man  whatsoever 
 is  free  from  the  Obedience  of  the  Commandments  which  are 
 called  Moral. 
 
 This  Article  is  made  up  of  the  Sixth  and  the  Nineteenth  of 
 King  Edward's  Articles  laid  together ;  only  the  Nineteenth  of 
 King  Edward's  has  these  words  after  Moral :  Wherefore  they 
 are  not  to  be  heard,  which  teach  that  the  Holy  Scriptures  were 
 given  to  none  but  to  the  weak ;  and  brag  continually  of  the 
 Spirit,  by  which  they  do  pretend  that  all  whatsoever  they  preach 
 is  suggested  to  them ;  though  manifestly  contrary  to  the  Holy 
 Scriptures.  This  whole  Article  relates  to  the  Antinomians,  as 
 these  last  words  were  added  by  reason  of  the  extravagance  of 
 some  enthusiasts  at  that  time ;  but  that  madness  having  ceased 
 in  Queen  Elizabeth's  time,  it  seems  it  was  thought  that  there 
 was  no  more  occasion  for  those  words. 
 
 There  are  four  heads  that  do  belong  to  this  Article : — First, 
 That  the  Old  Testament  is  not  contrary  to  the  New  :  Secondly, 
 That  Christ  was  the  Mediator  in  both  dispensations,  so  that 
 salvation  was  offered  in  both  by  him :  Thirdly,  That  the  cere- 
 monial and  the  judiciary  precepts  in  the  Law  of  Moses  do  not 
 bind  Christians :  Fourthly,  That  the  Moral  Law  does  still  bind 
 all  Christians. 
 
 To  the  first  of  these — The  Manichees  of  old,  who  fancied  that 
 there  was  a  bad  as  well  as  a  good  God,  thought  that  these  two 
 great  Principles  were  in  a  perpetual  struggle ;  and  they  be- 
 lieved the  Old  Dispensation  was  under  the  bad  one,  which  was 
 taken  away  by  the  New,  that  is  the  work  of  the  good  God. 
 But  they  who  held  such  monstrous  tenets  must  needs  reject 
 the  whole  New  Testament,  or  very  much  corrupt  it — since 
 there  is  nothing  plainer,  than  that  the  Prophets  of  the  Old 
 foretold  the  New  with  approbation ;  and  the  writers  of  the 
 New  prove  both  their  commission  and  their  doctrine  from 
 passages  of  the  Old  Testament.  This  therefore  could  not  be 
 affirmed  without  rejecting  many  of  the  books  that  we  own,  and 
 corrupting  the  rest.    So  this  deserves  no  more  to  be  considered. 
 
 Upon  this  occasion  it  will  be  no  improper  digression  to 
 consider,  what  revelation  those  under  the  Mosaical  Law,  or 
 that  lived  before  it,  had  of  the  Messias.  This  is  an  important 
 matter :  it  is  a  great  confirmation  of  the  truth  of  the  Christian 
 religion,  as  it  will  furnish  us  with  proper  arguments  against 
 the  Jews.  It  is  certain  they  have  long  had,  and  still  have,  an 
 expectation  of  a  Messias:  Now  the  characters  and  predictions 
 
108 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  VII. 
 
 concerning  this  person  must  have  been  fulfilled  long  ago,  or 
 the  prophecies  will  be  found  to  be  false ;  and  if  they  do  meet 
 and  were  accomplished  in  our  Saviour's  person,  and  if  no  other 
 person  could  ever  pretend  to  this,  then  that  which  is  under- 
 taken to  be  proved  will  be  fully  performed.  The  first  promise 
 to  Adam  after  his  sin,  speaks  of  an  enmity  between  the  seed  of 
 the  serpent  and  the  seed  of  the  woman  :  It  shall  bruise  thy 
 head,  and  thou  shalt  bruise  his  heel,  Gen.  hi.  15.  The  one 
 might  hurt  the  other  in  some  lesser  instances,  but  the  other 
 was  to  have  an  entire  victory  at  last ;  which  is  plainly  signified 
 by  the  figures  of  bruising  the  heel,  and  bruising  the  head, 
 which  was  to  be  performed  by  one  who  was  to  bear  this  char- 
 acter of  being  the  woman's  seed.  The  next  promise  was  made 
 to  Abraham,  In  thee  shall  all  the  families  of  the  earth  be  bless- 
 ed, Gen.  xii.  3.  xxii.  18.  xxvi.  24.  xxviii.  14. :  this  was  lodg- 
 ed in  his  seed  or  posterity,  upon  his  being  ready  to  offer  up 
 his  son  Isaac.  That  promise  was  renewed  to  Isaac,  and  after 
 him  to  Jacob :  when  he  was  dying,  it  was  lodged  by  him  in  the 
 tribe  of  Judah,  when  he  prophesied,  that  the  sceptre  should  not 
 depart  from  Judah,  nor  the  lawgiver  from  between  his  feet,  till 
 Shiloh  should  come ;  and  the  gathering  of  the  people,  that  is,  of 
 the  Gentiles,  was  to  be  to  him,  Gen.  xlix.  10.  It  is  certain 
 the  Ten  Tribes  were  lost  in  their  captivity,  whereas  the  tribe 
 of  Judah  was  brought  back,  and  continued  to  be  a  political 
 body  under  their  own  laws,  till  a  breach  was  made  upon  that 
 by  the  Romans  first  reducing  them  to  the  form  of  a  province, 
 and  soon  after  that  destroying  them  utterly :  so  that  either  that 
 prediction  was  not  accomplished,  or  the  Shiloh,  the  Sent,  to 
 whom  the  Gentiles  were  to  be  gathered,  came  before  they  lost 
 their  sceptre  and  laws. 
 
 Moses  told  the  people  of  Israel,  that  God  was  to  raise  up 
 among  them  a  Prophet  like  unto  him,  to  whom  they  ought  to 
 hearken,  otherwise  God  would  require  it  of  them,  Deut.  xviii. 
 15.  The  character  of  Moses  was,  that  he  was  a  lawgiver,  and 
 the  author  of  an  entire  body  of  instituted  religion  ;  so  they  were 
 to  look  for  such  a  one.  Balaam  prophesied  darkly  of  one  whom 
 he  saw  as  at  a  great  distance  from  his  own  time ;  and  he  spoke 
 of  a  Star  that  should  come  out  of  Jacob,  and  a  Sceptre  out  of 
 Israel,  Numb.  xxiv.  17. :  some  memorial  of  which  was  probably 
 preserved  among  the  Arabians.  In  the  book  of  Psalms  there 
 are  many  things  said  of  David,  which  seem  capable  of  a  much 
 auguster  sense  than  can  be  pretended  to  be  answered  by  any 
 thing  that  befell  himself.  What  is  said  in  the  2d,  the  16th, 
 the  22d,  the  45th,  the  102d,  and  the  110th  Psalms,  affords  us 
 copious  instances  of  these.  Passages  in  these  Psalms  must  be 
 stretched  by  figures  that  go  very  high,  to  think  they  were  all 
 fulfilled  in  David  or  Solomon  :  but  in  their  literal  and  largest 
 sense  they  were  accomplished  in  Christ,  to  whom  God  said, 
 
Art.  VJI. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 109 
 
 Thou  art  my  Son,  this  day  have  I  begotten  thee.  In  him  that 
 was  verified,  Thou  wilt  not  leave  my  soul  in  hell,  neither  wilt 
 thou  suffer  thy  Holy  One  to  see  corruption.  His  hands  and  his 
 feet  were  pierced,  and  lots  were  cast  upon  his  vesture.  Of  him 
 it  may  be  strictly  said,  Thy  throne,  O  God,  is  for  ever  and 
 ever.  To  him  that  belonged,  The  Lord  said  unto  my  Lord, 
 Sit  thou  on  my  right  hand,  till  I  make  thine  enemies  thy  foot- 
 stool :  And,  The  Lord  sware  and  will  not  repent,  Thou  art  a 
 priest  for  ever  after  the  order  of  Melchisedeck. 
 
 The  Prophets  gave  yet  more  express  predictions  concerning 
 the  Messias.  Isaiah  did  quiet  the  fears  of  Ahaz,  and  of  the 
 house  of  David,  by  saying,  The  Lord  himself  shall  give  you  a 
 sign,  Behold,  a  virgin  shall  conceive  and  bear  a  son,  Isa.  viii. 
 14.  It  was  certainly  no  sign  for  one  that  was  a  virgin  to 
 conceive  afterwards  and  bear  a  son ;  therefore  the  sign  or  ex- 
 traordinary thing  here  promised  as  a  signal  pledge  of  God's 
 care  of  the  house  of  David,  must  lie  in  this,  that  one  still  re- 
 maining a  virgin  should  conceive  and  bear  a  son ;  not  to  insist 
 upon  the  strict  signification  of  the  word  in  the  original.  The 
 same  Prophet  did  also  foretell,  that  as  this  Messias,  or  the 
 Branch,  should  spring  from  the  stem  of  Jesse,  so  also  he  was  to 
 be  full  of  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord ;  and  that  the  Gentiles  should 
 seek  to  him,  Isa.  xi.  1,  2.  10.  In  another  place  he  enume- 
 rates many  of  the  miracles  that  should  be  done  by  him  :  he  was 
 to  give  sight  to  the  blind,  make  the  deaf  to  hear,  the  lame  to 
 walk ;  Isa.  xxxv.  5,  6.  He  does  further  set  forth  his  character  ; 
 not  that  of  a  warrior  or  conqueror ;  on  the  contrary,  He  was 
 not  to  cry  nor  strive,  nor  break  the  bruised  reed,  or  quench  the 
 smoking  fax  :  he  was  to  bring  forth  judgment  to  the  Gentiles, 
 and  the  isles  were  to  wait  for  his  law,  Isa.  xlii.  1,  2,  3,  4.  There 
 is  a  whole  chapter  (Isa.  liii.)  in  the  same  Prophet,  setting  forth 
 the  mean  appearance  that  the  Messias  was  to  make,  the  con- 
 tempt he  was  to  fall  under,  and  the  sufferings  he  was  to  bear ; 
 and  that  for  the  sins  of  others,  which  were  to  be  laid  on  him  ; 
 so  that  his  soul  or  life  was  to  be  made  an  offering  for  sin,  in  re- 
 ward of  which  he  was  to  be  highly  exalted.  In  another  place 
 (Isa.  lxi.)  his  mission  is  set  forth,  not  in  the  strains  of  war  or 
 of  conquest,  but  of  preaching  to  the  poor,  setting  the  prisoners 
 free  as  in  a  year  of  jubilee,  and  comforting  the  afflicted  and 
 such  as  mourned.  In  the  two  last  chapters  of  that  Prophet 
 mention  is  made  more  particularly  of  the  Gentiles  that  were  to 
 be  called  by  him,  and  the  isles  that  were  afar  off,  out  of  whom 
 God  was  to  take  some  for  Priests  and  Levites :  which  shewed 
 plainly,  that  a  new  dispensation  was  to  be  opened  by  him,  in 
 which  the  Gentiles  were  to  be  Priests  and  Levites,  which  could 
 not  be  done  while  the  Mosaical  Law  stood,  that  had  tied  these 
 functions  to  the  tribe  of  Levi,  and  to  the  house  of  Aaron. 
 Jeremy  renewed  the  promise  to  the  house  of  David,  of  a  King 
 
110 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  VII. 
 
 that  should  reign  and  prosper ;  in  whose  days  Judah  and  Israel 
 were  to  dwell  safely,  whose  name  was  to  be,  The  Lord  our 
 Righteousness,  Jer.  xxiii.  5.  It  is  certain  this  promise  was  never 
 literally  accomplished ;  and  therefore  recourse  must  be  had  to 
 a  mystical  sense.  The  same  Prophet  gives  a  large  account  of 
 a  new  covenant  that  God  was  to  make  with  the  house  of  Israel, 
 not  according  to  the  covenant  that  he  made  with  their  fathers, 
 when  he  brought  them  out  of  Egypt,  Jer.  xxxi.  31.  We  have 
 also  two  characters  given  of  that  covenant :  one  is,  that  God 
 would  put  his  law  in  their  inward  parts,  and  write  it  in  their 
 hearts ;  that  he  would  be  their  God,  and  that  they  should  all  be 
 taught  of  him  :  the  other  is,  that  he  would  forgive  their  iniqui- 
 ties, and  remember  their  sin  no  more.  One  of  these  is  in  oppo- 
 sition to  their  Law,  that  consisted  chiefly  in  rituals,  and  had  no 
 promises  of  inward  assistances ;  and  the  other  is  in  opposition 
 to  the  limited  pardon  that  was  offered  in  that  dispensation,  on 
 the  condition  of  the  many  sacrifices  that  they  were  required  to 
 offer.  There  is  a  prediction  to  the  same  purpose  in  Ezek.  xxxvi. 
 25.  Joel  (ii.  28.)  prophesied  of  an  extraordinary  effusion  of  the 
 Spirit  of  God  on  great  numbers  of  persons,  old  and  young,  that 
 was  to  happen  before  the  great  and  terrible  day  of  the  Lord  ; 
 that  is,  before  the  final  destruction  of  Jerusalem.  Micah,  (v. 
 2.),  after  he  had  foretold  several  things  of  the  dispensation  of 
 the  Messiah,  says  that  he  was  to  come  out  of  Bethlehem  Eph- 
 ratah.  Haggai  (ii.  6 — 9.)  encouraged  those  who  were  trou- 
 bled at  the  meanness  of  the  Temple  which  they  had  raised 
 after  their  return  out  of  the  captivity :  It  had  neither  the  out- 
 ward glory  in  its  fabric  that  Solomon's  Temple  had,  nor  the 
 more  real  glory  of  the  Ark,  with  the  Tables  of  the  Law ;  of  fire 
 from  heaven  on  the  altar ;  of  a  succession  of  prophets;  of  the 
 Urim  and  Thummim,  and  the  cloud  between  the  cherubims; 
 which  last,  strictly  speaking,  was  the  glory ;  all  which  had  been 
 in  Solomon's  Temple,  but  were  wanting  in  that.  In  opposi- 
 tion to  this,  the  Prophet  in  the  name  of  God  promised,  that 
 he  would  in  a  little  while  shake  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  and 
 shake  all  nations — words  that  import  some  surprising  and  great 
 change ;  upon  which  the  desire  of  all  nations  should  come,  and 
 God  would  fill  the  house  with  his  glory :  and  the  glory  of  this 
 latter  house  should  exceed  the  glory  of  the  former,  for  in  that 
 place  God  would  give  peace.  Here  is  a  plain  prophecy,  that 
 this  Temple  was  to  have  a  glory,  not  only  equal,  but  superior 
 to  the  glory  of  Solomon's  Temple.  These  words  are  too  august 
 to  be  believed  to  have  been  accomplished  when  Herod  rebuilt 
 the  Temple  with  much  magnificence ;  for  that  was  nothing  in 
 comparison  of  the  real  glory,  of  the  symbols  of  the  presence  of 
 God,  that  were  wanting  in  it :  This  cannot  answer  the  words, 
 that  the  desire  of  all  nations  was  to  come,  and  that  God  would 
 give  peace  in  that  place.    So  that  either  this  prophecy  was 
 
Art.  VII 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES, 
 
 111 
 
 never  fulfilled,  or  somewhat  must  be  assigned  during  the  second 
 Temple  that  will  answer  those  solemn  expressions,  which  are 
 plainly  applicable  to  our  Saviour,  who  was  the  expectation  of 
 the  Gentiles,  by  whom  peace  was  made,  and  in  whom  the  eter- 
 nal Word  dwelt  in  a  manner  infinitely  more  august  than  in 
 the  cloud  of  glory.  Zechary  (ix.  9.)  prophesied,  that  their 
 King,  by  which  they  understood  the  Messias,  was  to  be  meek 
 and  lowly,  and  that  he  was  to  make  his  entrance  in  a  very  mean 
 appearance,  riding  on  an  ass ;  but  yet,  under  that,  he  was  to 
 bring  salvation  to  them,  and  they  were  to  rejoice  greatly  in  him. 
 Malachi  (iii.  1.)  told  them,  that  the  Lord  whom  they  sought, 
 erven  the  messenger  of  the  covenant  in  whom  they  delighted, 
 should  suddenly  come  into  his  Temple and  that  the  day  of  his 
 coming  was  to  be  dreadful  :  that  he  was  to  refine  and  purify, 
 in  particular,  the  sons  of  Levi ;  and  a  terrible  destruction  is 
 denounced  after  that.  One  character  of  his  coming  was,  that 
 Elijah  the  Prophet  was  to  come  before  that  great  and  dreadful 
 day,  (Mai.  iv.  1.).  who  should  convert  many,  old  and  young. 
 Now  it  is  certain  that  no  other  person  came,  during  the  second 
 Temple,  to  whom  these  words  can  be  applied ;  so  that  they 
 were  not  accomplished,  unless  it  was  in  the  person  of  our  Sa- 
 viour, to  whom  all  these  characters  do  well  agree. 
 
 But  to  conclude  with  that  prophecy  which  of  all  others  is 
 the  most  particular:  When  Daniel,  (ix.  24 — 27.),  at  the  end 
 of  seventy  years'  captivity,  was  interceding  for  that  nation, 
 an  angel  was  sent  to  him  to  tell  him,  that  they  were  to  have 
 a  new  period  of  seventy  weeks,  that  is,  seven  times  seventy 
 years,  490  years ;  and  that  after  sixty-two  weeks  Messiah  the 
 Prince  was  to  come,  and  to  be  cut  off;  and  that  then  the  people 
 of  a  prince  should  destroy  the  city  and  the  sanctuary :  and  the 
 end  of  these  was  to  be  as  with  a  flood  or  inundation,  and  deso- 
 lations were  determined  to  the  end  of  the  war.  They  were  to 
 be  destroyed  by  abominable  armies,  that  is,  by  idolatrous 
 armies  ;  they  were  to  be  made  desolate,  till  an  utter  end  or 
 consummation  should  be  made  of  them.  The  pomp  with 
 which  this  destruction  is  set  forth,  plainly  shews,  that  the  final 
 ruin  of  the  Jews  by  the  Roman  armies  is  meant  by  it.  From 
 which  it  is  justly  inferred,  not  only  that  if  that  vision  was  really 
 sent  from  God  by  an  angel  to  Daniel,  and  in  consequence  to 
 that  was  fulfilled,  then  the  Messiah  did  come,  and  was  cut  off 
 during  the  continuance  of  Jerusalem  and  the  Temple;  but 
 that  it  happened  within  a  period  of  time  designed  in  that  vision. 
 Time  was  then  computed  more  certainly  than  it  had  been  for 
 many  ages  before.  Two  great  measures  were  fixed;  one  at 
 Babylon  by  Xabonasser,  and  another  in  Greece  in  the  Olym- 
 piads. Here  a  prediction  is  given  almost  five  hundred  years 
 before  the  accomplishment,  with  many  very  nice  reckonings  in 
 it.     I  will  not  now  enter  upon  the  chronology  of  this  matter, 
 
112 
 
 AX  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  VII. 
 
 on  which  some  great  men  have  bestowed  their  labours  very 
 happily.  Archbishop  Usher  has  stated  this  matter  so,  that  the 
 interval  of  time  is  clearly  four  hundred  eighty-six  years.  The 
 covenant  was  to  be  confirmed  with  many  for  one  week,  in  the 
 midst  of  which  God  was  to  cause  the  sacrifice  and  oblation  for 
 sin  to  cease ;  which  seems  to  be  a  mystical  way  of  describing 
 the  death  of  Christ,  that  was  to  put  an  end  to  the  virtue  of 
 the  Judaical  sacrifices ;  so  sixty-nine  weeks  and  a  half  make 
 just  four  hundred  eighty-six  years  and  a  half.  But  without 
 going  further  into  this  calculation,  it  is  evident,  that  during 
 the  second  Temple  the  Messias  was  to  come,  and  to  be  cut 
 off,  and  that  soon  after  that  a  prince  was  to  send  an  army  to 
 destroy  both  city  and  sanctuary.  The  Jews  do  not  so  much 
 as  pretend  that  during  that  Temple  the  Messias  thus  set  forth 
 did  come,  or  was  cut  off ;  so  either  the  prediction  failed  in  the 
 event,  or  the  Messias  did  come  within  that  period. 
 
 And  thus  a  thread  of  the  prophecies  of  the  Messias  being 
 carried  down  through  the  whole  Old  Testament,  it  seems  to 
 be  fully  made  out,  that  he  was  to  be  of  the  seed  of  Abraham, 
 and  of  the  posterity  of  David :  that  the  tribe  of  Judah  was  to 
 be  a  distinct  policy,  till  he  should  come :  that  he  should  work 
 many  miracles :  that  he  was  to  be  meek  and  lowly :  that  his 
 function  was  to  consist  in  preaching  to  the  afflicted,  and  in 
 comforting  them :  that  he  was  to  call  the  Gentiles,  and  even 
 the  remote  islands,  to  the  knowledge  of  God :  that  he  was  to 
 be  born  of  a  virgin,  and  at  Bethlehem :  that  he  was  to  be  a 
 new  lawgiver,  as  Moses  had  been :  that  he  was  to  settle  his  fol- 
 lowers upon  a  new  covenant,  different  from  that  made  by 
 Moses :  that  he  was  to  come  during  the  second  Temple :  that 
 he  was  to  make  a  mean,  but  a  joyful  entrance  to  Jerusalem : 
 that  he  was  to  be  cut  off:  that  the  iniquities  of  us  all  were  to 
 be  laid  on  him ;  and  that  his  life  was  to  be  made  an  offering 
 for  sin ; — but  that  God  was  to  give  him  a  glorious  reward  for 
 these  his  sufferings ;  and  that  his  doctrine  was  to  be  internal, 
 accompanied  with  a  free  offer  of  pardon,  and  of  inward  assist- 
 ances ;  and  that  after  his  death  the  Jews  were  to  fall  under  a 
 terrible  curse,  and  an  utter  extirpation.  When  this  is  all  sum- 
 med up  together — when  it  appears,  that  there  was  never  any 
 other  person  to  whom  those  characters  did  agree,  but  that  they 
 did  all  meet  in  our  Saviour — we  see  what  light  the  Old  Testa- 
 ment has  given  us  in  this  matter.  Here  a  nation  that  hates  us 
 and  our  religion,  who  are  scattered  up  and  down  the  world, 
 who  have  been  for  many  ages  without  their  temple  and  with- 
 out their  sacrifices,  without  priests  and  without  their  genealo- 
 gies, who  yet  hold  those  books  among  them  in  a  due  veneration 
 which  furnish  us  with  so  full  a  proof  that  the  Messiah  whom 
 they  still  look  for  is  the  Lord  Jesus  whom  we  worship.  We 
 do  now  proceed  to  other  matters. 
 
Art.  VII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 The  Jews  pretend,  that  it  is  a  great  argument  against  the 
 authority  of  the  New  Testament,  because  it  acknowledges  the 
 Old  to  be  from  God,  and  yet  repeals  the  far  greater  part  of 
 the  laws  enacted  in  it ;  though  these  laws  are  often  said  to  be 
 laws  for  ever,  and  throughout  all  generations.  Now  they  seem 
 to  argue  with  some  advantage  who  say,  that  what  God  does 
 declare  to  be  a  law  that  shall  be  perpetual  by  any  one  prophet, 
 cannot  be  abrogated  or  reversed  by  another,  since  that  other 
 can  have  no  more  authority  than  the  former  prophet  had ;  and 
 if  both  are  of  God,  it  seems  the  one  cannot  make  void  that 
 which  was  formerly  declared  by  the  other  in  the  name  of  God. 
 But  it  is  to  be  considered,  that  by  the  phrases  of  a  statute  for 
 ever,  or  throughout  all  generations,  can  only  be  meant  that 
 such  laws  were  not  transient  laws,  such  as  were  only  to  be  ob- 
 served whilst  they  marched  through  the  wilderness,  or  upon 
 particular  occasions ;  whereas  such  laws  which  were  constantly 
 and  generally  to  be  observed,  were  to  them  perpetual.  But 
 that  does  not  import,  that  the  Lawgiver  himself  had  parted  with 
 all  the  authority  that  naturally  belongs  to  him  over  his  own 
 laws :  it  only  says,  that  the  people  had  no  power  over  such 
 laws  to  repeal  or  change  them ;  they  were  to  bind  them  always ; 
 but  that  puts  no  limitation  on  the  Lawgiver  himself,  so  that  he 
 might  not  alter  his  own  constitutions.  Positive  precepts,  which 
 have  no  real  value  in  themselves,  are  of  their  own  nature  altera- 
 ble :  and  as  in  human  laws  the  words  of  enacting  a  law  for  all 
 future  times  do  only  make  that  to  be  a  perpetual  law  for  the 
 subjects,  but  do  not  at  all  limit  the  legislative  power,  which  is 
 as  much  at  liberty  to  abrogate  or  alter  it  as  if  no  such  words 
 had  been  in  the  law ;  there  are  also  many  hints  in  the  Old 
 Testament,  which  shew  that  the  precepts  of  the  Mosaical  law 
 were  to  be  altered  :  many  plain  intimations  are  given  of  a  time 
 and  state,  in  which  the  knowledge  of  God  was  to  be  spread 
 over  all  the  earth ;  and  that  God  was  every-where  to  be  wor- 
 shipped. Now  this  was  impossible  to  be  done  without  a  change 
 in  their  law  and  rituals ;  it  being  impossible  that  all  the  world 
 should  go  up  thrice  a-year  to  worship  at  Jerusalem,  or  could 
 be  served  by  priests  of  the  Aaron ical  family.  Circumcision  was 
 a  distinction  of  one  particular  race,  which  needed  not  to  be 
 continued  after  all  were  brought  under  one  denomination,  and 
 within  the  same  common  privileges. 
 
 These  things  hitherto  mentioned  belong  naturally  to  this 
 part  of  the  Article :  yet,  in  the  intention  of  those  who  framed 
 it,  these  words  relate  to  an  extravagant  sort  of  enthusiasts  that 
 lived  in  those  days,  who,  abusing  some  ill-understood  phrases 
 concerning  justification  by  Christ  without  the  works  of  the 
 law,  came  to  set  up  very  wild  notions,  which  were  bad  in 
 themselves,  but  much  more  pernicious  in  their*  consequences. 
 They  therefore  fancied  that  a  Christian  was  tied  by  no  law,  as 
 
114  AN  EXPOSITION  OF  Art.  VII. 
 
 a  rule  or  yoke ;  all  these  being  taken  away  by  Christ.  They 
 said,  indeed,  that  a  Christian  by  his  renovation  became  a  law 
 to  himself ;  he  obeyed  not  any  written  rule  or  law,  but  a  new 
 inward  nature :  and  thus  as  it  is  said  that  Sadocus  mistook  his 
 master  Antigonus,  who  taught  his  disciples  to  serve  God,  not 
 for  the  hope  of  a  reward,  but  without  any  expectations,  as  if 
 he  by  that  affectation  of  sublimity  had  denied  that  there  was 
 any  reward,  and  from  thence  sprung  the  sect  of  the  Sadducees ; 
 so  these  men,  perhaps  at  first  mistaking  the  meaning  of  the 
 New  Testament,  went  wrong  only  in  their  notions,  and  still 
 meant  to  press  the  necessity  of  true  holiness,  though  in  another 
 set  of  phrases,  and  upon  other  motives  :  yet  from  thence  many 
 wild  and  ungoverned  notions  arose  then,  and  were  not  long 
 ago  revived  among  us ;  all  which  flowed  from  their  not  under- 
 standing the  importance  of  the  word  Law  in  the  New  Testa- 
 ment, in  which  it  stands  most  commonly  for  the  complex  of 
 the  whole  Jewish  religion,  in  opposition  to  the  Christian ;  as 
 the  word  Law,  when  it  stands  for  a  book,  is  meant  of  the  five 
 Books  of  Moses. 
 
 The  maintaining  the  whole  frame  of  that  dispensation,  in 
 opposition  to  that  liberty  which  the  Apostles  granted  to  the 
 Gentiles  as  to  the  ritual  parts  of  it,  was  the  controversy  then 
 in  debate  between  the  Apostles  and  the  Judaizing  Christians. 
 The  stating  that  matter  aright  is  a  key  that  will  open  all  those 
 difficulties,  which  with  it  will  appear  easy,  and  without  it  in- 
 superable. In  opposition  to  those  who  thought  then  that  the 
 Old  Testament,  having  brought  the  world  on  to  the  know- 
 ledge of  the  Messias,  was  now  of  no  more  use,  this  Article  was 
 framed. 
 
 The  second  part  of  the  Article  relates  to  a  more  intricate 
 matter ;  and  that  is,  whether  in  the  Old  Testament  there  were 
 any  promises  made  other  than  transitory  or  temporal  ones, 
 and  whether  they  might  look  for  eternal  salvation  in  that  dis- 
 pensation, and  upon  what  account  ?  Whether  Christ  was  the 
 Mediator  in  that  dispensation,  or  if  they  were  saved  by  virtue 
 of  their  obedience  to  the  laws  that  were  then  given  them  ? 
 Those  who  deny  that  Christ  was  truly  God,  think  that,  in 
 order  to  the  raising  him  to  those  great  characters  in  which  he 
 is  proposed  in  the  New  Testament,  it  is  necessary  to  assert 
 that  he  gave  the  first  assurances  of  eternal  happiness,  and  of  a 
 free  and  full  pardon  of  all  sins,  in  his  gospel ;  and  that  in  the 
 Old  Testament  neither  the  one  nor  the  other  were  certainly 
 and  distinctly  understood. 
 
 It  is  true,  that  if  we  take  the  words  of  the  covenant  that 
 Moses  made  between  God  and  the  people  of  Israel  strictly  and 
 as  they  stand,  they  import  only  temporal  blessings :  that  was 
 a  covenant  with  a  body  of  men  and  with  their  posterity,  as  they 
 were  a  people  engaged  to  the  obedience  of  that  law.    Now  a 
 
Art.  VII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 11a 
 
 national  covenant  could  only  be  established  in  temporal  pro- 
 mises of  public  and  visible  blessings,  and  of  a  long  continuance, 
 of  them  upon  their  obedience,  and  in  threatenings  of  as  signal 
 judgments  upon  the  violation  of  them  :  but  under  those  general 
 promises  of  what  was  to  happen  to  them  collectively,  as  they 
 made  up  one  nation,  every  single  person  among  them  might, 
 and  the  good  men  among  them  did,  gather  the  hopes  of  a 
 future  state.  It  is  clear  that  Moses  did  all  along  suppose  the 
 being  of  God,  the  creation  of  the  world,  and  the  promise  of  the 
 Messias,  as  things  fully  known  and  carried  down  by  tradition 
 to  his  days ;  so  it  seems  he  did  also  suppose  the  knowledge  of 
 a  future  state,  which  was  then  generally  believed  by  the  Gen- 
 tiles as  well  as  the  Jews,  though  they  had  only  dark  and  con- 
 fused notions  about  it.  But  when  God  was  establishing  a  co- 
 venant with  the  Jewish  nation,  a  main  part  of  which  was  his 
 giving  them  the  land  of  Canaan  for  an  inheritance,  it  was  not 
 necessary  that  eternal  rewards  or  punishments  should  be  then 
 proposed  to  them  :  but  from  the  tenor  of  the  promises  made  to 
 their  forefathers,  and  from  the  general  principles  of  natural 
 religion,  not  yet  quite  extinguished  among  them,  they  might 
 gather  this,  that,  under  those  carnal  promises,  blessings  of  a 
 higher  nature  were  to  be  understood.  And  so  we  see  that 
 David  had  the  hope  of  arriving  at  the  presence  of  God,  and  at 
 his  right  handy  where  he  believed  there  was  a  fulness  of  joy  y  and 
 pleasures  for  evermore,  Psal.  xvi.  11.;  and  he  puts  himself  in 
 this  opposition  to  the  wicked,  that  whereas  their  portion  was  in 
 this  life,  and  they  left  their  substance  to  their  children;  he  says, 
 that  as  for  him,  he  should  behold  God's  face  in  righteousness, 
 and  should  be  satisfied  when  he  awaked  with  his  likeness,  Psal. 
 xvii.  14,  15. ;  which  seems  plainly  to  relate  to  a  state  after  this 
 life,  and  to  the  resurrection.  He  carries  this  opposition  fur- 
 ther in  another  Psalm,  where,  after  he  had  said  that  men  in 
 honour  did  not  continue,  but  were  like  the  beasts  that  perished — 
 that  none  of  them  could  purchase  immortality  for  his  brother — 
 that  he  should  still  live  for  ever,  and  not  see  corruption  :  They 
 all  died  and  left  their  wealth  to  others,  and  like  sheep  they  were 
 laid  in  the  grave,  where  death  shoidd  feed  on  them  :  in  opposi- 
 tion to  which  he  says,  that  the  upright  should  have  dominion 
 over  them  in  the  morning,  Psal.  xlix.  14,  15.;  which  is  clearly 
 a  poetical  expression  for  another  day  that  comes  after  the  night 
 of  death.  As  for  himself  in  particular,  he  says,  that  God  shall 
 redeem  my  soul  (that  is,  his  life,  or  his  body,  for  in  those  senses 
 the  word  soul  is  used  in  the  Old  Testament)  from  the  power  of 
 the  grave  :  that  is,  from  continuing  in  that  state  of  death ;  for 
 he  shall  receive  me.  This  does  very  clearly  set  forth  David's 
 belief,  both  of  future  happiness,  and  of  the  resurrection  of  his 
 body.    To  which  might  be  added  some  other  passages  in  the 
 
116 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  VII. 
 
 Psalms,  Ecclesiastes,  Isaiah,  and  Daniel;*  in  all  which  it  ap- 
 pears, that  the  holy  men  in  that  dispensation  did  understand, 
 that  under  those  promises  in  the  Books  of  Moses  that  seemed 
 literally  to  belong  to  the  land  of  Canaan,  and  other  temporal 
 blessings,  there  was  a  spiritual  meaning  hid,  which  it  seems  was 
 conveyed  down  by  that  succession  of  Prophets  that  was  among 
 them  as  the  mystical  sense  of  them. 
 
 It  is  to  this  that  our  Saviour  seems  to  appeal,  when  the  Sad- 
 ducees  came  to  puzzle  him  with  that  question  of  the  seven  bre- 
 thren who  had  all  married  one  wife :  he  first  tells  them,  they 
 erred,  not  knowing  the  Scriptures,  Matt.  xxii.  29.;  which  plainly 
 imports,  that  the  doctrine  which  they  denied  was  contained  in 
 the  Scriptures :  and  then  he  goes  to  prove  it,  not  from  those 
 more  express  passages  that  are  in  the  Prophets  and  holy 
 writers,  which  as  some  think  the  Sadducees  rejected,  but  from 
 the  Law,  which  being  the  source  of  their  religion,  it  might 
 seem  a  just  prejudice  against  any  doctrine,  especially  if  it  was 
 of  great  consequence,  that  it  was  not  contained  in  the  Law. 
 Therefore  he  cites  those  words  that  are  so  often  repeated,  and 
 that  were  so  much  considered  by  the  Jews  as  containing  in 
 them  the  foundation  of  God's  love  to  them,  that  God  said 
 upon  many  occasions,  particularly  at  his  first  appearance  to 
 Moses,  /  am  the  God  of  Abraham,  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the 
 God  of  Jacob,  Matt.  xxii.  32.  Exod.  iii.  6. ;  which  words  im- 
 ported, not  only  that  God  had  been  their  God,  but  still  was 
 their  God.   Now  when  God  is  said  to  be  a  God  to  any,  by  that 
 is  meant,  that  he  is  their  benefactor,  or  exceeding  rich  reward, 
 as  was  promised  to  Abraham ;  and  that  therefore  Abraham, 
 Isaac  and  Jacob,  lived  unto  God,  that  is,  were  not  dead ;  but 
 were  then  in  a  happy  state  of  life,  in  which  God  did  reward 
 them,  and  so  was  their  God.    Whether  this  argument  rests 
 here,  our  Saviour  designing  only  to  prove,  against  the  main 
 error  of  the  Sadducees,  that  we  have  souls  distinct  from  our 
 bodies,  that  shall  outlive  their  separation  from  them,  or  if  it 
 goes  further  to  prove  the  rising  of  the  body  itself,  I  shall  not 
 determine.   On  the  one  hand,  our  Saviour  seems  to  apply  him- 
 self particularly  to  prove  the  resurrection  of  the  body ;  so  we 
 must  see  how  to  find  here  an  argument  for  that,  to  answer  the 
 scope  of  the  whole  discourse :  yet  on  the  other  hand  it  may  be 
 said,  that  he  having  proved  the  main  point  of  the  soul's  sub- 
 sisting after  death,  which  is  the  foundation  of  all  religion ;  the 
 other  point,  which  was  chiefly  denied  because  that  was  thought 
 false,  would  be  more  easily  both  acknowledged  and  believed. 
 
 As  for  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  all  that  can  be  brought 
 from  hence  as  an  argument  to  prove  it  is,  that  since  God 
 was  the  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  and  by  conse- 
 
 *  Psal.  lxxxiv.  11.  lxxxvii.  6.  xc.  17.  xcvi.  13.  Eccl.  xi.  9.  xii.  14.  Is».  xxv. 
 8.  xxvi.  19.  Dan.  xii.  2. 
 
Art.  VI  f. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 117 
 
 quence  their  benefactor  and  rewarder,  and  yet  they  were  pil- 
 grims on  this  earth,  and  suffered  many  tossings  and  troubles, 
 that  therefore  they  must  be  rewarded  in  another  state  :  or 
 because  God  promised  that  to  them  he  would  give  the  land  of 
 Canaan,  as  well  as  to  their  seed  after  them,  and  since  they 
 never  had  any  portion  of  it  in  their  own  possession,  that  there- 
 fore they  shall  rise  again,  and  with  the  other  saints  reign  on 
 earth,  and  have  that  promise  fulfilled  in  themselves. 
 
 From  all  this  the  assertion  of  the  Article  is  as  to  one  main 
 point  made  good. — that  the  old  fathers  looked  for  more  than 
 transitory  promises :  it  is  also  clear,  that  they  looked  for  a 
 further  pardon  of  sin  than  that  which  their  law  held  forth  to 
 them  in  the  expiation  made  by  sacrifices.  Sins  of  ignorance, 
 or  sins  of  a  lower  sort,  were  those  only  for  which  Sin  or 
 Trespass-Offerings  (Heb.  x.  *28.)  were  appointed.  The  sins 
 of  a  higher  order  were  punished  by  death,  by  the  hand  of  hea- 
 ven, or  by  cutting  off:  so  that  such  as  sinned  in  that  kind 
 were  to  die  without  mercy :  yet  when  David  had  fallen  into 
 the  most  heinous  of  those  sins,  he  prays  to  God  for  a  pardon, 
 (Psal.  li.  Ij  '2.  16,  17.),  according  to  God's  loving-kindness, 
 and  the  multitude  of  his  tender  mercies ;  for  he  knew  that 
 they  were  beyond  the  expiation  by  sacrifice.  The  Prophets 
 do  often  call  the  Jews  to  repent  of  their  idolatry  and  other 
 crying  sins,  such  as  oppression,  injustice,  and  murder  ;  with 
 the  promise  of  the  pardon  of  them,  even  though  they  were 
 of  the  deepest  dye,  as  crimson  and  scarlet  ;  Isa.  i.  18.  Since 
 then  for  lesser  sins  an  expiation  was  appointed  by  sacrifice, 
 besides  their  confessing  and  repenting  of  it :  and  since  it  seems, 
 by  St  Paul's  way  of  arguing,  that  they  held  it  for  a  maxim, 
 that  without  shedding  of  blood  there  izas  no  remission  of  sins ; 
 this  might  naturally  lead  them  to  think,  that  there  was  some 
 other  consideration  that  was  interposed  in  order  to  the  pardon- 
 ing of  those  more  heinous  sins :  for  a  greater  degree  of  guilt 
 seems  by  a  natural  proportion  to  demand  a  higher  degree  of 
 sacrifice  and  expiation.  But  after  all,  whatsoever  Isaiah, 
 (chap,  liii.),  Daniel,  (chap,  ix.),  or  any  other  Prophet  might 
 have  understood  or  meant  by  those  sacrificatory  phrases  that 
 they  use  in  speaking  of  the  Messiah,  yet  it  cannot  be  said  from 
 the  Old  Testament,  that  in  that  dispensation  it  was  clearly 
 revealed  that  the  Messias  was  to  die,  and  to  become  a  sacrifice 
 for  sin.  The  Messias  was  indeed  promised  under  general 
 terms;  but  there  was  not  then  a  full  and  explicit  revelation  of 
 his  being  to  die  for  the  redemption  of  mankind  :  yet,  since  the 
 most  heinous  sins  were  then  pardoned,  though  not  by  virtue 
 ot  the  sacrifices  of  that  covenant,  nor  by  the  other  means  pre- 
 scribed in  it,  we  have  good  reason  to  affirm,  that,  according  to 
 this  Article,  life  was  offered  to  mankind  in  the  old  dispensa- 
 tion by  Chri>t,  who  was.  with  relation  to  obtaining  the  favour 
 
118 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  VII. 
 
 of  God  and  everlasting  life,  the  Mediator  of  that  as  well  as  of 
 the  new  dispensation.  In  the  New  Testament  he  is  set  in  op- 
 position to  the  old  Adam,  that  as  in  the  one  all  died,  so  in  the 
 other  all  were  made  alive :  nor  is  it  any  way  incongruous  to 
 say,  that  the  merit  of  his  death  should  by  an  anticipation  have 
 saved  those  who  died  before  he  was  born ;  for  that  being,  in 
 the  view  of  God,  as  certain  before  as  after  it  wTas  done,  it  might 
 be  in  the  divine  intention  the  sacrifice  for  the  old,  as  well  as 
 it  is  expressly  declared  to  be  the  sacrifice  for  the  new  dispen- 
 sation. And  this  being  so,  God  might  have  pardoned  sins  in 
 consideration  of  it,  even  to  those  who  had  no  distinct  appre- 
 hensions concerning  it.  For  as  God  applies  the  death  of 
 Christ,  by  the  secret  methods  of  his  grace,  to  many  persons 
 whose  circumstances  do  render  them  incapable  of  the  express 
 acts  of  laying  hold  on  it,  the  want  of  those  (for  instance,  in 
 infants  and  ideots)  being  supplied  by  the  goodness  of  God ; 
 so,  though  the  revelation  that  was  made  of  the  Messias  to  the 
 fathers  under  the  old  dispensation,  was  only  in  general  and 
 prophetical  terms,  of  which  they  could  not  have  a  clear  and 
 distinct  knowledge ;  yet  his  death  might  be  applied  to  them, 
 and  their  sins  pardoned  through  him,  upon  their  performing 
 such  acts  as  were  proportioned  to  that  dispensation,  and  to  the 
 revelation  that  was  then  made  :  And  so  they  were  reconciled 
 to  God  even  after  sins,  for  which  no  sacrifices  were  appointed 
 by  their  dispensation,  upon  their  repentance,  and  obedience  to 
 the  federal  acts  and  conditions  then  required,  which  supplied 
 the  want  of  more  express  acts  with  relation  to  the  death  of 
 Christ,  not  then  distinctly  revealed  to  them.  But  though  the 
 old  fathers  had  a  conveyance  of  the  hope  of  eternal  life  made 
 to  them,  with  a  resurrection  of  their  bodies,  and  a  confidence 
 in  the  mercy  of  God  for  pardoning  the  most  heinous  sins ;  yet 
 it  cannot  be  denied  but  that  it  was  as  a  light  that  shined  in  a 
 dark  place,  till  the  Day-star  did  arise,  and  that  Christ  brought 
 life  and  immortality  to  light  by  his  gospel,  2  Pet.  i.  19. ;  giving 
 us  fuller  and  clearer  discoveries  of  it,  both  with  relation  to 
 our  souls  and  bodies ;  and  that  by  him  also  God  has  declared 
 his  righteousness  for  the  remission  of  sins,  through  the  forbear- 
 ance of  God,  through  the  redemption  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus, 
 and  through  faith  in  his  blood,  Rom.  iii.  24,  25. 
 
 The  third  branch  of  this  Article  will  not  need  much  expla- 
 nation, as  it  will  bear  no  dispute,  except  with  Jews,  who  do 
 not  acknowledge  the  New  Testament.  The  ceremonial  parts 
 of  the  Mosaical  Law,  which  comprehends  all  both  the  nega- 
 tive and  the  positive  precepts,  were  enjoined  the  Jews  either 
 with  relation  to  the  worship  of  God  and  service  at  the  Tem- 
 ple, or  to  their  persons  and  course  of  life. 
 
 That  which  is  not  moral  of  its  own  nature,  or  that  had 
 no  relation  to  civil  society,  was  commanded  them,  to  separate 
 
Art.  VII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 119 
 
 them  not  only  from  the  idolatrous  and  magical  practices  of 
 other  nations,  but  to  distinguish  them  so  entirely  as  to  all  their 
 customs,  even  in  the  rules  of  eating  and  of  cleanness,  that  they 
 might  have  no  familiar  commerce  with  other  nations,  but  live 
 within  and  among  themselves ;  since  that .  was  very  likely  to 
 corrupt  them,  of  which  they  had  very  large  experience.  Some 
 of  those  rituals  were  perhaps  given  them  as  punishments  for 
 their  frequent  revolts,  and  were  as  a  yoke  upon  them,  who 
 were  so  prone  to  idolatry.  They  were  as  rudiments  and  re- 
 membrances to  them  :  they  were  as  it  were  subdued  by  a  great 
 variety  of  precepts,  which  were  matter  both  of  much  charge 
 and  great  trouble  to  them  :  By  these  they  were  also  amused ; 
 for  it  seems  they  did  naturally  love  a  pompous  exterior  in  re- 
 ligion :  they  were  also,  by  all  that  train  of  performances  which 
 were  laid  on  them,  kept  in  mind  both  of  the  great  blessings  of 
 God  to  them,  and  of  the  obligations  that  lay  on  them  towards 
 God;  and  many  of  those,  particularly  their  sacrifices  and 
 washings,  were  typical.  All  this  was  proper  and  necessary  to 
 restrain  and  govern  them,  while  they  were  the  only  people  in 
 the  world  that  renounced  idolatry,  and  worshipped  the  true 
 God  :  and  therefore,  so  soon  as  that  of  which  they  had  an  em- 
 blem in  the  structure  of  their  Temple  (of  a  court  of  the  Gen- 
 tiles separated  with  a  middle  wall  of  partition  from  the  place 
 in  which  the  Israelites  worshipped)  was  to  be  removed,  and 
 that  the  house  of  God  was  to  become  a  house  of  'prayer  to  all 
 nations^  then  all  those  distinctions  were  to  be  laid  aside,  and 
 all  that  service  was  to  determine  and  come  to  an  end.  The 
 Apostles  did  declare,  that  the  Gentiles  were  not  to  be  brought 
 under  that  heavy  yoke,  which  their  fathers  were  not  able  to 
 bear ;  yet  the  Apostles  themselves,  as  born  Jews,  and  while 
 they  lived  among  the  Jews,  did  continue  in  the  observance  of 
 their  rites,  as  long  as  God  seemed  to  be  waiting  for  the  rem- 
 nant of  that  nation  that  was  to  be  saved,  before  his  wrath  came 
 upon  the  rest  to  the  uttermost.  They  went  to  the  Temple, 
 they  purified  themselves,  and,  in  a  word,  to  the  Jeivs  they 
 became  Jews ;  and  in  this  compliance  the  first  converts  of  the 
 Jewish  nation  continued  till  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem ;  after 
 which  it  became  impossible  to  observe  the  greatest  part  of 
 their  most  important  rituals,  even  all  those  that  were  tied  to 
 the  Temple.  But  that  nation  losing  its  genealogies,  and  all 
 the  other  characters  that  they  formerly  had  of  a  nation  under 
 the  favour  and  protection  of  God,  could  no  more  know,  after 
 a  few  ages,  whether  they  were  the  seed  of  Abraham  or  not, 
 or  whether  there  were  any  left  among  them  of  the  tribe  of 
 Levi,  or  of  the  family  of  Aaron  :  So  that  now  all  those  cere- 
 monies are  at  an  end ;  many  of  them  are  become  impossible, 
 and  the  rest  useless.  As  the  whole  was  abrogated  by  the  autho- 
 rity of  the  Apostles,  who  being  sent  of  God,  and  proving  their 
 
120 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  VII. 
 
 mission  by  miracles  as  well  as  Moses  had  done  his,  they  might 
 well  have  loosed  and  dissolved  those  precepts  upon  earth,  upon 
 which,  according  to  our  Saviour's  words,  they  are  to  be  es- 
 teemed as  loosed  in  heaven. 
 
 The  judiciary  parts  of  the  Law  were  those  that  related  to 
 them  as  they  were  a  society  of  men,  to  whom  God,  by  a  special 
 command,  gave  authority  to  drive  out  and  destroy  a  wicked 
 race  of  people,  and  to  possess  their  land ;  which  God  appointed 
 to  be  divided  equally  among  them,  and  that  every  portion 
 should  be  as  a  perpetuity  to  a  family ;  so  that  though  it  might 
 be  mortgaged  out  for  a  number  of  years,  yet  it  was  afterwards 
 to  revert  to  the  family.  Upon  this  bottom  they  were  at  first 
 set ;  and  they  were  still  to  be  preserved  upon  it ;  so  that  many 
 laws  were  given  them  as  they  were  a  civil  society,  which  can- 
 not belong  to  any  other  society :  and  therefore  their  whole 
 judiciary  law,  except  when  any  parts  of  it  are  founded  on  moral 
 equity,  was  a  complicated  thing,  and  can  belong  to  no  other 
 nation,  that  is  not  in  its  first  and  essential  constitution  made 
 and  framed  as  they  were.  For  instance;  the  prohibition  of 
 taking  use  for  money,  being  a  mean  to  preserve  that  equality 
 which  was  among  them,  and  to  keep  any  of  them  from  becom- 
 ing excessively  rich,  or  others  from  becoming  miserably  poor, 
 this  is  by  no  means  to  be  applied  to  other  constitutions,  where 
 men  are  left  to  their  industry,  and  neither  have  their  inheri- 
 tance by  a  grant  from  heaven,  nor  are  put  by  any  special  ap- 
 pointment of  God  all  upon  a  level.  So  that  it  is  certain,  and 
 can  bear  no  debate,  that  the  Mosaical  dispensation,  as  to  all 
 the  parts  of  it  that  are  not  of  their  own  nature  moral,  is  deter- 
 mined and  abrogated  by  the  gospel.  The  decisions  which  the 
 Apostles  made  in  this  matter  are  so  clear,  and  for  the  proof  of 
 them  the  whole  tenor  of  the  Epistles  to  the  Galatians  and  the 
 Hebrews  is  so  full,  that  no  doubt  can  rest  concerning  this,  with 
 any  man  who  reads  them. 
 
 The  last  branch  of  this  Article  that  remains  to  be  considered, 
 is  concerning  the  Moral  Law,  by  which  the  Ten  Command- 
 ments are  meant,  together  with  all  such  precepts  as  do  belong 
 to  them,  or  are  corollaries  arising  out  of  them.  By  Moral 
 Law  is  to  be  understood,  in  opposition  to  Positive,  a  law  which 
 has  an  antecedent  foundation  in  the  nature  of  things,  that 
 arises  from  eternal  reason,  is  suitable  to  the  frame  and  powers 
 of  our  souls,  and  is  necessary  for  maintaining  of  human  society. 
 All  such  laws  are  commanded,  because  they  are  in  themselves 
 good,  and  suitable  to  the  state  in  which  God  has  put  us  here. 
 The  two  sources,  out  of  which  all  the  notions  of  morality  flow, 
 are,  first  the  consideration  of  ourselves  as  we  are  single  indivi- 
 duals, and  that  with  relation  both  to  soul  and  body ;  and  next, 
 the  consideration  of  human  society,  what  is  necessary  for  the 
 peace  and  order,  the  safety  and  happiness,  of  mankind.  There 
 
Aiit.  VII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 121 
 
 are  two  orders  of  moral  precepts :  some  relate  to  things  that 
 of  their  own  nature  are  inflexibly  good  or  evil,  such  as  truth 
 and  falsehood ;  whereas  other  things,  by  a  variety  of  circum- 
 stances, may  so  change  their  nature,  that  they  may  be  either 
 morally  good  or  evil.  A  merciful  or  generous  temper  is  always 
 a  good  moral  quality,  and  yet  it  may  run  to  excesses :  there 
 may  be  many  things  that  are  not  unalterably  moral  in  them- 
 selves, which  yet  may  be  fit  subjects  of  perpetual  laws  about 
 them.  For  instance ;  in  the  degrees  of  kindred  with  relation 
 to  marriage,  there  are  no  degrees  but  direct  ascendants  or  de- 
 scendants, that  is,  parents  and  children,  that  by  an  eternal  rea- 
 son can  never  marry ;  for  where  there  is  a  natural  subordina- 
 tion, there  can  never  be  such  an  equality  as  that  state  of  life 
 requires  :  but  collateral  degrees,  even  the  nearest,  brothers  and 
 sisters,  are  not  by  any  natural  law  barred  marriage,  and  there- 
 fore in  a  case  of  necessity  they  might  marry ;  yet,  since  their 
 intermarrying  must  be  attended  with  vast  inconveniences,  and 
 would  tend  to  the  defilement  of  all  families,  and  hinder  the 
 conjunction  of  mankind  by  the  intermixture  of  different  fami- 
 lies, it  becomes  therefore  a  fit  subject  for  a  perpetual  law,  to 
 strike  a  horror  at  the  thought  of  such  commixtures,  and  so  to 
 keep  the  world  pure ;  which,  considering  the  freedoms  in  which 
 those  of  the  same  family  do  live,  could  not  be  preserved  with- 
 out such  a  law.  It  is  also  the  interest  of  mankind,  and  neces- 
 sary for  the  careful  education  of  the  rising  generation,  that 
 marriages  should  be  for  life ;  for  if  it  were  free  for  married 
 persons  to  separate  at  pleasure,  the  issue  of  marriages  so  broken 
 would  be  certainly  much  neglected :  and  since  a  power  to  break 
 a  marriage  would  naturally  inflame  such  little  quarrellings  as 
 may  happen  among  all  persons  that  live  together,  which  will 
 on  the  contrary  be  certainly  repressed  when  they  know  that 
 the  marriage  cannot  be  dissolved,  and  when,  by  such  a  disso- 
 lution of  marriages,  the  one-half  of  the  human  species,  I  mean 
 woman-kind,  is  exposed  to  great  miseries,  and  subject  to  much 
 tyranny,  it  is  a  fit  subject  for  a  perpetual  law ;  so  that  it  is 
 moral  in  a  secondary  order.  It  were  easy  to  give  instances  of 
 this  in  many  more  particulars,  and  to  shew,  that  a  precept  may 
 be  said  to  be  moral,  when  there  is  a  natural  suitableness  in  it 
 to  advance  that  which  is  moral  in  the  first  order,  and  that  it 
 cannot  be  well  preserved  without  such  a  support.  It  will  ap- 
 pear what  occasion  there  is  for  this  distinction,  when  we  con- 
 sider the  Ten  Commandments ;  which  are  so  many  heads  of 
 morality,  that  are  instanced  in  the  highest  act  of  a  kind ;  and 
 to  which  are  to  be  reduced  all  such  acts  as  by  the  just  propor- 
 tions of  morality  belong  to  that  order  and  series  of  actions. 
 
 The  foundation  of  morality  is  religion.  The  sense  of  God, 
 that  he  is,  and  that  he  is  both  a  rewarder  and  a  punisher,  is 
 the  foundation  of  religion.     Now  this  must  be  supposed  as  an- 
 
122 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  VII. 
 
 tecedent  to  his  laws,  for  we  regard  and  obey  them  from  the 
 persuasion  that  is  formed  in  us  concerning  the  being  and  the 
 justice  of  God.  The  two  first  Commandments  are  against  the 
 two  different  sorts  of  idolatry ;  which  are,  the  worshipping  of 
 false  Gods,  or  the  worshipping  the  true  God  in  a  corporeal 
 figure  :  the  one  is  the  giving  the  honour  of  the  true  God  to  an 
 idol,  and  the  other  is  the  depressing  the  true  God  to  the  resem- 
 blance of  an  idol.  These  were  the  two  great  branches  of  ido- 
 latry, by  which  the  true  ideas  of  God  were  corrupted.  Reli- 
 gion was  by  them  corrupted  in  its  source.  Nobody  can  ques- 
 tion but  that  it  is  immoral  to  worship  a  false  God;  it  is  a  trans- 
 ferring the  honour,  which  belongs  immediately  and  singly  to 
 the  great  God,  to  a  creature,  or  to  some  imaginary  thing  which 
 never  had  a  real  existence.  This  is  the  robbing  God  of  what 
 is  due  to  him,  and  the  exalting  another  thing  to  a  degree  and 
 rank  that  cannot  belong  to  it.  Nor  is  it  less  immoral  to  pro- 
 pose the  great  and  true  God  to  be  worshipped  under  appear- 
 ances that  are  derogatory  to  his  nature,  that  tend  to  give  us 
 low  thoughts  of  him,  and  that  make  us  think  him  like,  if  not 
 below  ourselves.  This  way  of  worshipping  him  is  both  un- 
 suitable to  his  nature,  and  unbecoming  ours ;  while  we  pay  our 
 adorations  to  that  which  is  the  work  of  an  artificer.  This  is 
 confirmed  by  those  many  express  prohibitions  in  Scripture,  to 
 which  reasons  are  added,  which  shew  that  the  thing  is  immoral 
 in  its  own  nature ;  it  being  often  repeated,  that  no  similitude 
 of  God  was  ever  seen ;  and  to  whom  will  ye  liken  me  ?  All 
 things  in  heaven  and  earth  are  often  called  the  work  of  his 
 hands ;  which  are  plain  indications  of  a  moral  precept,  when 
 arguments  are  framed  from  the  nature  of  things  to  enforce  obe- 
 dience to  it.  The  reason  given  in  the  very  command  itself,  is 
 taken  from  the  nature  of  God,  who  is  jealous,  that  is,  so  ten- 
 der of  his  glory,  that  he  will  not  suffer  a  diminution  of  it  to  go 
 unpunished :  and  if  this  precept  is  clearly  founded  upon  natu- 
 ral justice,  and  the  proportion  that  ought  to  be  kept  between 
 all  human  acts  and  their  objects,  then  it  must  be  perpetual ; 
 and  that  the  rather,  because  we  do  plainly  see  that  the  Gospel 
 is  a  refining  upon  the  Law  of  Moses,  and  does  exalt  it  to  a 
 higher  pitch  of  sublimity  and  purity ;  and  by  consequence,  the 
 ideas  of  God,  which  are  the  first  seeds  and  principles  of  religion, 
 are  to  be  kept  yet  more  pure  and  undented  in  it,  than  they 
 were  in  a  lower  dispensation. 
 
 The  third  precept  is  against  false  swearing,  Exod.  iii.  1. ;  for 
 the  word  vain  is  often  used  in  the  Scripture  in  that  sense :  and 
 since  in  all  the  other  Commandments,  (Lev.  xix.  12.  &c),  the 
 sin  which  is  named  is  not  one  of  the  lowest,  but  of  the  chief 
 sins  that  relate  to  that  head,  Matt.  v.  33.,  there  is  no  reason 
 therefore  to  think,  that  vain  or  idle  swearing,  which  is  a  sin  of 
 a  lower  order,  should  be  here  meant,  and  not  rather  false  swear- 
 
Art.  VII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 123 
 
 ing,  which  is  the  highest  sin  of  the  kind.  The  morality  of  this 
 command  is  very  apparent;  for  since  God  is  the  God  of  truth, 
 and  every  oath  is  an  appeal  to  him,  therefore  it  must  be  a  gross 
 wickedness  to  appeal  to  God.  or  to  call  him  to  vouch  for  our 
 lies. 
 
 The  fourth  Commandment  cannot  be  called  moral  in  the 
 first  and  highest  sense ;  for  .from  the  nature  of  things  no  rea- 
 son can  be  assigned,  why  the  seventh  day,  rather  than  the  sixth, 
 or  the  eighth,  or  any  other  day,  should  be  separated  from  the 
 common  business  of  life,  and  applied  to  the  service  of  God. 
 But  it  is  moral  that  a  man  should  pay  homage  to  his  Maker, 
 and  acknowledge  him  in  all  his  works  and  ways ;  and  since  our 
 senses  and  sensible  objects  are  apt  to  wear  better  things  out  of 
 our  thoughts,  it  is  necessarv  that  some  solemn  times  should  be  set 
 
 O  7  tf 
 
 apart  for  full  and  copious  meditations  on  these  subjects.  This 
 should  be  universal,  lest,  if  the  time  were  not  the  same  every- 
 where, the  business  of  some  men  might  interfere  with  the  devo- 
 tions of  others.  It  ought  to  have  such  an  eminent  character 
 on  it,  like  a  cessation  from  business :  which  may  both  awaken 
 a  curiosity  to  inquire  into  the  reason  of  that  stop,  and  also  may 
 give  opportunity  for  meditations  and  discourses  on  those  sub- 
 jects. It  is  also  clear,  that  such  days  of  rest  must  not  return 
 so  oft,  that  the  necessary  affairs  of  life  should  be  stopped  by 
 them,  nor  so  seldom,  that  the  impressions  of  religion  should 
 wear  out,  if  they  were  too  seldom  awakened :  but  what  is  the 
 proper  proportion  of  time,  that  can  best  agree  both  with  men's 
 bodies  and  minds,  is  only  known  to  the  great  Author  of  nature. 
 Howsoever,  from  what  has  been  said,  it  appears,  that  this  is  a 
 very  fit  matter  to  be  fixed  by  some  sacred  and  perpetual  law, 
 and  that  from  the  first  creation ;  because  there  being  then  no 
 other  method  for  convevino;  down  knowledge,  besides  oral  tra- 
 
 u         ~  O  7 
 
 dition,  it  seems  as  highly  congruous  to  that  state  of  mankind, 
 as  it  is  agreeable  to  the  words  in  Genesis,  to  believe  that  God 
 should  then  have  appointed  one  day  in  seven  for  commemo- 
 rating the  creation,  and  for  acknowledging  the  great  Creator 
 of  all  things.  But  though  it  seems  very  clear,  that  here  a  per- 
 petual law  was  given  the  world  for  the  separating  the  seventh 
 day  :  yet  it  was  a  mere  circumstance,  and  does  not  at  all  be- 
 long to  the  standing  use  of  the  law,  in  what  end  of  the  week 
 this  day  was  to  be  reckoned,  whether  the  first  6r  the  last :  so 
 that  even  a  less  authority  than  the  Apostles,  and  a  less  occa- 
 sion than  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  might  have  served  to  have 
 transferred  the  day.  There  being  in  this  no  breach  made  on 
 the  good  and  moral  design  of  this  law,  which  is  all  in  it  that  we 
 ought  to  reckon  sacred  and  unalterable ;  the  degree  of  the  rest 
 might  be  also  more  severely  urged  under  the  Mosaical  Law, 
 than  either  before  it  or  after  it.  Our  Saviour  having  given 
 plain  intimations  of  an  abatement  of  that  rigour  by  this  gene- 
 
124 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  VII. 
 
 ral  rule,  that  the  Sabbath  was  made  for  man,  and  not  man  for 
 the  Sabbath,  Mark  ii.  27.,  we,  who  are  called  to  a  state  of 
 freedom,  are  not  under  such  a  strictness  as  the  Jews  were.  Still 
 the  law  stands  for  separating  a  seventh  day  from  the  common 
 business  of  life,  and  applying  it  to  a  religious  rest;  for  acknow- 
 ledging at  first  the  Creator,  and  now,  by  a  higher  relation,  the 
 Redeemer  of  the  world. 
 
 These  four  Commandments  make  the  first  Table,  and  were 
 generally  reckoned  as  four  distinct  Commandments,  till  the 
 Roman  Church,  having  a  mind  to  make  the  second  disappear, 
 threw  it  in  as  an  appendix  to  the  first,  and  then  left  it  quite 
 out  in  her  catechisms ;  though  it  is  plain  that  these  Command- 
 ments relate  to  two  very  different  matters,  the  one  being  in  no 
 sort  included  in  the  other.  Certainly  they  are  much  more  dif- 
 ferent than  the  coveting  the  neighbour's  wife  is  from  the  covet- 
 ing any  of  his  other  concerns ;  wrhich  are  plainly  two  different 
 acts  of  the  same  species :  and  the  house  being  set  before  the 
 wife  in  Exodus,  xx.  17.,  (though  it  comes  after  it  in  Deute- 
 ronomy, v.  21.,  which,  being  a  repetition,  is  to  be  governed 
 by  Exodus,  and  not  Exodus  by  it),  stands  for  the  whole  sub- 
 stance, which  is  afterwards  branched  out  in  the  particulars; 
 and  so  it  is  clear  that  there  is  no  colour  for  dividing  this  in  two  : 
 but  the  first  two  Commandments  relating  to  things  of  such  a 
 different  sort,  as  is  the  worshipping  of  more  Gods  than  one, 
 and  the  worshipping  the  true  God  in  an  image,  ought  still  to 
 be  reckoned  as  different :  and  though  the  reason  given  for  the 
 jealousy  and  justice  of  God  may  relate  equally  to  both,  yet  that 
 does  not  make  them  otherwise  one,  than  as  both  might  be  re- 
 duced to  one  common  head  of  idolatry,  so  that  both  were  to 
 be  equally  punished. 
 
 In  the  second  Table  this  order  is  to  be  observed.  There 
 are  four  branches  of  a  man's  property,  to  which  every  thing 
 that  he  can  call  his  own  may  be  reduced — his  person,  his  wife 
 and  children,  his  goods,  and  his  reputation ;  so  there  is  a  ne- 
 gative precept  given  to  secure  him  in  every  one  of  these, 
 against  killing,  committing  adultery,  stealing,  and  bearing  false 
 witness :  to  which,  as  the  chief  acts  of  their  kind,  are  to  be 
 reduced  all  those  acts  that  may  belong  to  those  heads;  such  as 
 injuries  to  a  man  in  his  person,  though  not  carried  on  nor  de- 
 signed to  kill  him ;  every  temptation  to  uncleanness,  and  all 
 those  excesses  that  lead  to  it ;  every  act  of  injustice,  and  every 
 lie  or  defamation.  To  these  four  are  added  two  fences;  the 
 one  exterior,  the  other  interior.  The  exterior  is  the  settling 
 the  obedience  and  order  that  ought  to  be  observed  in  families, 
 according  to  the  law  of  nature :  and,  by  a  parity  of  reason,  if 
 families  are  under  a  constitution,  where  the  government  is  made 
 as  a  common  parent,  the  establishing  the  obedience  to  the  civil 
 powers,  or  to  such  orders  of  men  who  may  be  made  as  parents 
 
Art.  VII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 125 
 
 with  relation  to  matters  of  religion ;  this  is  the  foundation  of 
 peace  and  justice,  of  the  security  and  happiness  of  mankind. 
 And  therefore  it  was  very  proper  to  begin  the  second  Table, 
 and  those  laws  that  relate  to  human  society,  with  this ;  without 
 which  the  world  would  be  like  a  forest,  and  mankind  like  so 
 many  savages  running  wildly  through  it. 
 
 The  last  Commandment  is  an  inward  fence  to  the  Law ;  it 
 checks  desires,  and  restrains  the  thoughts.  If  free  scope  should 
 be  given  to  these,  as  they  would  very  often  carry  men  to  unlaw- 
 ful actions,  for  a  man  is  very  apt  to  do  that  which  he  desires, 
 so  they  must  give  great  disturbance  to  those  that  are  haunted 
 or  overcome  by  them.  And  therefore,  as  a  mean  both  to  secure 
 the  quiet  of  men's  minds,  and  to  preserve  the  world  from  the 
 ill  effects  which  such  desires  might  naturally  have,  this  special 
 law  is  given,  Thou  shalt  not  covet.  It  will  not  be  easy  to  prove 
 it  moral  in  the  strictest  sense,  yet  in  a  secondary  order  it  may 
 be  well  called  moral ;  the  matter  of  it  being  such,  both  with 
 relation  to  ourselves  and  others,  that  it  is  a  very  proper  subject 
 for  a  perpetual  law  to  be  made  about  it.  And  yet,  as  St  Paul 
 (Rom.  vii.  7.)  says,  he  had  not  known  it  to  be  a  sin,  if  it  had  not 
 been  for  the  law  that  forbids  it ;  for,  after  all  that  can  be  said, 
 it  will  not  be  easy  to  prove  it  to  be  of  its  own  nature  moral. 
 Thus,  by  the  help  of  that  distinction  of  what  is  moral  in  a 
 primary  and  in  a  secondary  order,  the  morality  of  the  Ten 
 Commandments  is  demonstrated. 
 
 That  this  law  obliges  Christians  as  well  as  Jews,  is  evident 
 from  the  whole  scope  of  the  New  Testament.  Instead  of  de- 
 rogating from  the  obligation  of  any  part  of  that  law,  our  Sa- 
 viour, after  he  had  affirmed  that  he  came  not  to  dissolve  the  Law, 
 but  to  fulfil  it,  and  that  heaven  and  earth  might  pass  away,  but 
 that  one  tittle  of  the  law  should  not  pass  away,  Matt.  v.  17,  18.; 
 he  went  through  a  great  many  of  those  laws,  and  shewed  how 
 far  he  extended  the  commentary  he  put  upon  them,  and  the 
 obligations  that  he  laid  upon  his  disciples,  beyond  what  was 
 done  by  the  Jewish  rabbies:  all  the  rest  of  his  Gospel,  and 
 the  writings  of  his  Apostles,  agree  with  this,  in  which  there  is 
 not  a  tittle  that  looks  like  a  slackening  of  it,  but  a  great  deal  to 
 the  contrary — a  strictness  that  reaches  to  idle  words,  to  pas- 
 sionate thoughts,  and  to  all  impure  desires,  being  enjoined  as 
 indispensably  necessary ;  for  without  holiness  no  man  can  see 
 the  Lord. 
 
 And  thus  every  thing  relating  to  this  Article  is  considered, 
 and  I  hope  both  explained  and  proved. 
 
\2G 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  01- 
 
 Art.  VIII. 
 
 ARTICLE  VIII. 
 
 OF  THE  THREE  CREEDS. 
 
 The  Three  Creeds,  Nice  Creed,  Athanasius'  Creed,  and  that 
 which  is  commo7ily  called  the  Apostles'  Creed,  ought  through- 
 ly to  be  received  arid  believed ;  for  they  may  be  proved  by 
 most  certain  Warrants  of  Holy  Scripture. 
 
 Although  no  doubt  seems  to  be  here  made  of  the  names 
 or  designations  given  to  those  Creeds,  except  of  that  which  is 
 ascribed  to  the  Apostles,  yet  none  of  them  are  named  with  any 
 exactness  :  since  the  article  of  the  Procession  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
 _  .   ,        and  all  that  follows  it,  is  not  in  the  Nicene  Creed,  but 
 
 In  Anchoreto.  .      .  7  .  ... 
 
 was  used  m  the  Church  as  a  part  of  it ;  for  so  it  is  in 
 Epiphanius,  before  the  second  General  Council  at  Constanti- 
 nople ;  and  it  was  confirmed  and  established  in  that  Council : 
 only  the  article  of  the  Holy  Ghost's  proceeding  from  the  Son, 
 was  afterwards  added  first  in  Spain,  anno  447,  which  spread 
 itself  over  all  the  West ;  so  that  the  Creed  here  called  the  Nice 
 Creed  is  indeed  the  Constantinopolitan  Creed,  together  with 
 the  addition  of flioque  made  by  the  Western  Church.  That 
 which  is  called  Athanasius's  Creed  is  not  his  neither ;  for  as  it 
 is  not  among  his  works,  so,  that  great  article  of  the  Christian 
 religion  having  been  settled  at  Nice,  and  he  and  all  the  rest  of 
 the  orthodox  referring  themselves  always  to  the  Creed  made  by 
 that  Council,  there  is  no  reason  to  imagine  that  he  would  have 
 made  a  Creed  of  his  own ;  besides,  that  not  only  the  Macedo- 
 nian, but  both  the  Nestorian  and  the  Eutychian  heresies,  are 
 expressly  condemned  by  this  Creed  :  and  yet  those  authorities 
 never  being  urged  in  those  disputes,  it  is  clear  from  thence, 
 that  no  such  Creed  was  then  known  in  the  world ;  as  indeed  it 
 was  never  heard  of  before  the  eighth  century ;  and  then  it  was 
 given  out  as  the  Creed  of  Athanasius,  or  as  a  representation 
 of  his  doctrine,  and  so  it  grew  to  be  received  by  the  Western 
 Church — perhaps  the  more  early,  because  it  went  under  so 
 great  a  name,  in  ages  that  were  not  critical  enough  to  judge  of 
 what  was  genuine  and  what  was  spurious. 
 
 There  is  one  great  difficulty  that  arises  out  of  several  ex- 
 pressions in  this  Creed,  in  which  it  is  said,  that  whosoever  will 
 be  saved,  must  believe  it ;  that  the  belief  of  it  is  necessary  to 
 salvation  ;  and  that  such  as  do  not  hold  it  pure  and  undefiled, 
 shall  without  doubt  perish  everlastingly :  where  many  explana- 
 tions of  a  mystery  hard  to  be  understood  are  made  indispensa- 
 bly necessary  to  salvation;  and  it  is  affirmed,  that  all  such  as  do 
 
Art.  VIII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 127 
 
 not  so  believe  must  perish  everlastingly.  To  this  two  answers 
 are  made :  1.  That  it  is  only  the  Christian  faith  in  general  that 
 is  hereby  meant,  and  not  every  period  and  article  of  this  Creed ; 
 so  that  all  those  severe  expressions  are  thought  to  import  only 
 the  necessity  of  believing  the  Christian  religion  :  but  this  seems 
 forced;  for  the  words  that  follow,  and  the  Catholic  faith  is, 
 do  so  plainly  determine  the  signification  of  that  word  to  the 
 explanation  that  comes  after,  that  the  word  Catholic  faith,  in 
 the  first  verse,  can  be  no  other  than  the  same  word,  as  it  is 
 defined  in  the  third  and  following  verses ;  so  that  this  answer 
 seems  not  natural.  2.  The  common  answer  in  which  the  most 
 eminent  men  of  this  Church,  as  far  as  the  memory  of  all  such 
 as  I  have  known  could  go  up,  have  agreed,  is  this,  that  these 
 condemnatory  expressions  are  only  to  be  understood  to  relate 
 to  those  who,  having  the  means  of  instruction  offered  to  them, 
 have  rejected  them,  and  have  stifled  their  own  convictions, 
 holding  the  truth  in  unrighteousness,  and  choosing  darkness 
 rather  than  light :  upon  such  as  do  thus  reject  this  great  arti- 
 cle of  the  Christian  doctrine,  concerning  one  God  and  Three 
 Persons,  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  and  that  other  con- 
 cerning the  Incarnation  of  Christ,  by  which  God  and  man  was 
 so  united  as  to  make  one  person,  together  with  the  other  doc- 
 trines that  follow  these,  are  those  anathemas  denounced ;  not 
 so  as  if  it  were  hereby  meant,  that  every  man  who  does  not 
 believe  this  in  every  tittle  must  certainly  perish,  unless  he  has 
 been  furnished  with  sufficient  means  of  conviction,  and  that  he 
 has  rejected  them,  and  hardened  himself  against  them.  The 
 wrath  of  God  is  revealed  against  all  sin,  and  the  wages  of  sin 
 is  death ;  so  that  every  sinner  has  the  wrath  of  God  abidino- 
 on  him,  and  is  in  a  state  of  damnation  :  yet  a  sincere  repent- 
 ance delivers  him  out  of  it,  even  though  he  lives  and  dies  in 
 some  sins  of  ignorance :  which,  though  they  may  make  him 
 liable  to  damnation,  so  that  nothing  but  true  repentance  can 
 deliver  him  from  it,  yet  a  general  repentance,  when  it  is  also 
 special,  for  all  known  sins,  does  certainly  deliver  a  man  from 
 the  guilt  of  unknown  sins,  and  from  the  wrath  of  God  due  to 
 them.  God  only  knows  our  hearts,  the  degrees  of  our  know- 
 ledge, and  the  measure  of  our  obstinacy,  and  how  far  our 
 ignorance  is  affected  or  invincible ;  and  therefore  he  will  deal 
 with  every  man  according  to  what  he  has  received.  So  that 
 we  may  believe  that  some  doctrines  are  necessarv  to  salvation, 
 as  well  as  that  there  are  some  commandments  necessarv  for 
 practice ;  and  we  may  also  believe  that  some  errors  as  well  as 
 some  sins  are  exclusive  of  salvation; — all  which  imports  no 
 more  than  that  we  believe  such  things  are  sufficiently  revealed, 
 and  that  they  are  necessary  conditions  of  salvation  :  but  by  this 
 we  do  not  limit  the  mercies  of  God  towards  those  who  are  un- 
 der such  darkness  as  not  to  be  able  to  see  through  it,  and  to 
 
128 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  VIII. 
 
 discern  and  acknowledge  these  truths.  It  were  indeed  to  be 
 wished,  that  some  express  declaration  to  this  purpose  were 
 made  by  those  who  have  authority  to  do  it;  but  in  the  mean 
 while,  this  being  the  sense  in  which  the  words  of  this  Creed 
 are  universally  taken,  and  it  agreeing  with  the  phraseology  of 
 the  Scripture  upon  the  like  occasions,  this  is  that  which  may 
 be  rested  upon.  And  allowing  this  large  explanation  of  these 
 severe  words,  the  rest  of  this  Creed  imports  no  more  than  the 
 belief  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  which  has  been  already 
 proved  in  treating  of  the  former  Articles. 
 
 As  for  the  Creed  called  the  Apostles'  Creed,  there  is  good 
 reason  for  speaking  so  doubtfully  of  it  as  the  Article  does,  since 
 it  does  not  appear  that  any  determinate  Creed  was  made  by 
 them :  none  of  the  first  writers  agree  in  delivering  their  faith 
 in  a  certain  form  of  words ;  every  one  of  them  gives  an  abstract 
 of  his  faith,  in  words  that  differ  both  from  one  another  and 
 from  this  form.  From  thence  it  is  clear,  that  there  was  no 
 common  form  delivered  to  all  the  Churches;  and  if  there  had 
 been  any  tradition,  after  the  times  of  the  Council  of  Nice,  of 
 such  a  Creed  composed  by  the  Apostles,  the  Arians  had  cer- 
 tainly put  the  chief  strength  of  their  cause  on  this,  that  they 
 adhered  to  the  Apostles'  Creed,  in  opposition  to  the  innova- 
 tions of  the  Nicene  Fathers.  There  is  therefore  no  reason  to 
 believe  that  this  Creed  was  prepared  by  the  Apostles,  or  that 
 it  was  of  any  great  antiquity,  since  Ruffin  was  the  first  that 
 published  it:  it  is  true,  he  published  it  as  the  Creed  of  the 
 Church  of  Aquileia ;  but  that  was  so  late,  that  neither  this  nor 
 the  other  Creeds  have  any  authority  upon  their  own  account. 
 Great  respect  is  indeed  due  to  things  of  such  antiquity,  and 
 that  have  been  so  long  in  the  Church ;  but,  after  all,  we  re- 
 ceive those  Creeds,  not  for  their  own  sakes,  nor  for  the  sake  of 
 those  who  prepared  them,  but  for  the  sake  of  the  doctrine  that 
 is  contained  in  them;  because  we  believe  that  the  doctrine 
 which  they  declare  is  contained  in  the  Scriptures,  and  chiefly 
 that  which  is  the  main  intent  of  them,  which  is  to  assert  and 
 profess  the  Trinity,  therefore  we  do  receive  them ;  though  we 
 must  acknowledge  that  the  Creed  ascribed  to  Athanasius,  as  it 
 was  none  of  his,  so  it  was  never  established  by  any  General 
 Council. 
 
Ahi.  IX. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 J>9 
 
 ARTICLE  IX. 
 
 OF  ORIGINAL  OR  BIRTH-SIN. 
 
 Original  Sin  standeth  not  in  the  following  of  Adam,  f  as  the 
 Pelagians  do  vainly  talk  J,  but  it  is  the  fault  or  corruption  of 
 the  nature  of  every  man,  that  naturally  is  engendered  of  the 
 Offspring  of  Adam,  thereby  man  is  very  far  gone  from  Ori- 
 ginal Righteousness,  and  is  of  his  own  nature  inclined  to  evil, 
 so  that  the  Flesh  lusteth  always  contrary  to  the  Spirit,  and 
 therefore  in  every  Person  bom  into  the  World  it  deserveth 
 God's  Wrath  and  Damnation  :  And  this  It  feet  ion  of  Nature 
 doth  remain,  yea  in  them  that  are  regenerated,  whereby  the 
 Lust  of  the  Flesh  ( called  in  Greek  <p^n**  o-x^y.oc,  which  some 
 do  expound  the  Wisdom,  some  Sensuality,  some  the  Affection, 
 some  the  Desire  of  the  Flesh  J  is  not  subject  to  the  Lan  of 
 God.  And  though  there  is  no  Condemnation  for  them  that 
 believe  and  are  baptized,  yet  the  Apostle  doth  confess,  That 
 Concupiscence  and  Lust  hath  of  itself  the  nature  of  Sin. 
 
 After  the  first  principles  of  the  Christian  religion  are 
 stated,  and  the  rule  of  faith  and  life  was  settled,  the  next  thing 
 that  was  to  be  done,  was  to  declare  the  special  doctrines  of  this 
 religion ;  and  that  first  with  relation  to  all  Christians,  as  they 
 are  sino-le  individuals,  for  the  directing  every  one  of  them  in 
 order  to  the  working  out  of  his  own  salvation — which  is  done 
 from  this  to  the  nineteenth  Article ;  and  then  with  relation  to 
 them  as  they  compose  a  society  called  the  Church — which  is 
 carried  on  from  the  nineteenth  to  the  end. 
 
 In  all  that  has  been  hitherto  explained,  the  whole  Church 
 of  Eno-land  has  been  all  alon^  of  one  mind.  In  this  and  in 
 some  that  follow  there  has  been  a  greater  diversity  of  opinion ; 
 but  both  sides  have  studied  to  prove  their  tenets  to  be  at  least 
 not  contrary  to  the  Articles  of  the  Church.  These  different 
 parties  have  disputed  concerning  the  decrees  of  God,  and  those 
 assistances  which  pursuant  to  his  decrees  are  afforded  to  us. 
 But  because  the  foundation  of  those  decrees,  and  the  necessity 
 of  those  assistances,  are  laid  in  the  sin  of  Adam,  and  in  the 
 effects  it  had  on  mankind,  therefore  these  controversies  begin 
 on  this  head.  The  Pelagians  and  the  Socinians  agree  in  sav- 
 ing,  that  Adam's  sin  was  personal ;  that  by  it,  as  being  the  first 
 sin,  it  is  said  that  sin  entered  into  the  world,  Rom.  v.  1*2. :  but 
 that  as  Adam  was  made  mortal,  and  had  died  whether  he  had 
 sinned  or  not ;  so  they  think  the  liberty  of  human  nature  is 
 still  entire,  and  that  every  man  is  punished  for  his  own  sins, 
 
 I 
 
130 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  IX. 
 
 and  not  for  the  sin  of  another :  to  do  otherwise,  they  say,  seems 
 contrary  to  justice,  not  to  say  goodness. 
 
 In  opposition  to  this,  judgment  is  said  to  have  come  upon 
 many  to  condemnation  through  one  (either  man  or  sin).  Death 
 is  said  to  have  reigned  by  one,  and  by  one  man's  offence ;  and 
 many  are  said  to  be  dead  through  the  offence  of  one,  Rom.  v.  15. 
 All  these  passages  do  intimate  that  death  is  the  consequence  of 
 Adam's  sin ;  and  that  in  him,  as  well  as  in  all  others,  death  was 
 the  wages  of  sin,  so  also  that  we  die  upon  the  account  of  his 
 sin.  We  are  said  to  bear  the  image  of  the  frst  Adam,  as  true 
 Christians  bear  the  image  of  the  second,  1  Cor.  xv.  49. :  now 
 we  are  sure  that  there  is  both  a  derivation  of  righteousness,  and 
 a  communication  of  inward  holiness  transferred  to  us  through 
 Christ.  So  it  seems  to  follow  from  thence,  that  there  is  some- 
 what both  transferred  to  us,  and  conveyed  down  through  man- 
 kind, by  the  first  Adam ;  and  particularly,  that  by  it  we  are 
 all  made  subject  to  death ;  from  which  we  should  have  been 
 freed  if  Adam  had  continued  in  his  first  state,  and  that  by 
 virtue  of  the  Tree  of  Life,  Gen.  iii.  22. :  in  which  some  think 
 there  was  a  natural  virtue  to  cure  all  diseases,  and  relieve  against 
 all  accidents,  while  others  do  ascribe  it  to  a  divine  blessing,  of 
 which  that  tree  was  only  the  symbol  or  sacrament;  though  the 
 words  said  after  Adam's  sin,  as  the  reason  of  driving  him  out 
 of  Paradise,  lest  he  put  forth  his  hand  and  take  of  the  Tree  of 
 Life,  and  eat,  and  live  for  ever,  seem  to  import  that  there  was 
 a  physical  virtue  in  the  tree,  that  could  so  fortify  and  restore 
 life  as  to  give  immortality.  These  do  also  think,  that  the 
 threatening  made  to  Adam,  that  upon  his  eating  the  forbidden 
 fruit  he  should  surely  die,  is  to  be  taken  literally,  and  is  to  be 
 carried  no  further  than  to  a  natural  death.  This  subjection  to 
 death,  and  to  the  fear  of  it,  brings  men  under  a  slavish  bon- 
 dage, many  terrors,  and  other  passions  and  miseries  that  arise 
 out  of  it,  which  they  think  is  a  great  punishment ;  and  that  it 
 is  a  condemnation  and  sentence  of  death  passed  upon  the  whole 
 race ;  and  by  this  they  are  made  sinners,  that  is,  treated  as 
 guilty  persons,  and  severely  punished. 
 
 This  they  think  is  easily  enough  reconciled  with  the  notions 
 of  justice  and  goodness  in  God,  since  this  is  only  a  temporary 
 punishment  relating  to  men's  persons :  and  we  see  in  the  com- 
 mon methods  of  Providence,  that  children  are  in  this  sort  often 
 punished  for  the  sins  of  their  fathers;  most  men  that  come  un- 
 der a  very  ill  habit  of  body,  transmit  the  seeds  of  diseases  and 
 pains  to  their  children.  They  do  also  think  that  the  commu- 
 nication of  this  liableness  to  death  is  easily  accounted  for ;  and 
 they  imagine,  that  as  the  Tree  of  Life  might  be  a  plant  that 
 furnished  men  with  an  universal  medicine,  so  the  forbidden 
 fruit  might  derive  a  slow  poison  into  Adam's  body,  that  might 
 have  exalted  and  inflamed  his  blood  very  much,  and  might, 
 
Art.  IX. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 131 
 
 though  by  a  slower  operation,  certainly  have  brought  on  death 
 at  the  last.    Our  being  thus  adjudged  to  death,  and  to  all  the 
 miseries  that  accompany  mortality,  they  think  may  be  well 
 called  the  wrath  of  God,  and  damnation :  so  temporary  judg- 
 ments are  often  expressed  in  Scripture.  And  to  this  they  add, 
 that  Christ  has  entirely  redeemed  us  from  this,  by  the  promise 
 he  has  given  us  of  raising  us  up  at  the  last  day :  and  that  there- 
 fore, when  St  Paul  is  so  copiously  discoursing  of  the  resurrec- 
 tion, he  brings  this  in,  that  as  we  have  borne  the  image  of  the 
 first  Adam,  who  vcas  earthly,  so  we  shall  also  bear  the  image  of 
 the  Heavenly i  and  since  by  man  came  death,  by  man  came  also 
 the  resurrection  from  the  dead;  and  that  as  in  Adam  all  die,  so 
 in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive,  1  Cor.  xv.  21,  22. ;  and  that 
 this  is  the  universal  redemption  and  reparation  that  all  man- 
 kind shall  have  in  Christ  Jesus.    All  this  these  divines  In  Ep  ad 
 apprehend  is  conceivable,  and  no  more ;  therefore  Rom'  ^&siva- 
 they  put  original  sin  in  this  only,  for  which  they  pretend  they 
 have  all  the  Fathers  with  them  before  St  Austin,  and  par- 
 ticularly St  Chrysostom  and  Theodoret,  from  whom  all  the 
 later  Greeks  have  done  little  more  than  copied  out  their  words. 
 This  they  do  also  pretend  comes  up  to  the  words  of  the  Article : 
 for  as  this  general  adjudging  of  all  men  to  die  may  be  called, 
 according  to  the  style  of  the  Scriptures,  God's  wrath  and  dam- 
 nation; so  the  fear  of  death,  which  arises  out  of  it,  corrupts 
 men's  natures,  and  inclines  them  to  evil. 
 
 Others  do  so  far  approve  of  all  this,  as  to  think  that  it  is  a 
 part  of  original  sin ;  yet  they  believe  it  goes  much  farther,  and 
 that  there  is  a  corruption  spread  through  the  whole  race  of 
 mankind,  which  is  born  with  every  man.    This  the  experience 
 of  all  ages  teaches  us  but  too  evidently ;  every  man  feels  it 
 in  himself,  and  sees  it  in  others.     The  Philosophers  who  were 
 sensible  of  it,  thought  to  avoid  the  difficulty  that  arises  from  it 
 when  it  might  be  urged,  that  a  good  God  could  not  make  men 
 to  be  originally  depraved  and  wicked  :  they  therefore  fancied, 
 that  all  our  souls  pre-existed  in  a  former  and  a  purer  state, 
 from  which  they  fell  by  descending  too  much  into  corporeal 
 pleasure,  and  so  both  by  a  lapse  and  for  a  punishment  they 
 sunk  into  grosser  bodies,  and  fell  differently,  according  to  the 
 different  degrees  of  the  sins  they  had  committed  in  that  state  : 
 and  they  thought,  that  a  virtuous  life  did  raise  them  up  to  their 
 former  pitch,  as  a  vicious  one  would  sink  them  lower  into  more 
 depraved  and  more  miserable  bodies.    All  this  may  seem  plau- 
 sible ;  but  the  best  that  can  be  said  for  it  is,  that  it  is  an  hypo- 
 thesis that  saves  some  difficulties,  but  there  is  no  sort  of  proofs 
 to  make  it  appear  to  be  true.    We  neither  perceive  in  our- 
 selves any  remembrances  of  such  a  state,  nor  have  we  any 
 warning  given  us,  either  of  our  fall  or  of  the  means  of  recover- 
 ing out  of  it ;  so,  since  there  is  no  reason  to  affirm  this  to  bo 
 
132 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  IX. 
 
 true,  we  must  seek  for  some  other  source  of  the  corruption  of 
 human  nature.  The  Manichees  imputed  it  to  the  evil  God, 
 and  thought  it  was  his  work ;  which  some  say  might  have  set 
 on  St  Austin  the  more  earnestly  to  look  for  another  hypothesis 
 to  reconcile  all. 
 
 But  before  we  go  to  that,  it  is  certain,  that  in  Scripture  this 
 general  corruption  of  our  nature  is  often  mentioned.  The 
 imaginations  of  man's  thoughts  are  only  evil  continually :  What 
 man  is  he  that  liveth  and  sinneth  not?  The  just  man  falleth 
 seven  times  a  day:  The  heart  of  man  is  deceitful  above  all 
 things,  and  desperately  wicked;  who  can  know  it?  All  that 
 are  in  Christ  must  become  new  creatures:  old  things  must  be 
 done  away,  and  every  thing  must  become  new.  God  made  man 
 upright,  but  he  sought  out  to  himself  many  inventions.  The 
 flesh  is  weak:  The  flesh  lusteth  against  the  spirit:  The  carnal 
 mind  is  enmity  to  the  law  of  God,  and  is  not  subject  to  the  law 
 of  God,  neither  indeed  can  be  :  and  they  that  are  in  the  flesh 
 cannot  please  God:*  where  by  flesh  is  to  be  meant  the  natural 
 state  of  mankind,  according  to  those  words,  That  which  is  born 
 of  the  flesh  is  flesh;  and  that  which  is  born  of  the  Spirit  is 
 spirit,  John  iii.  6.  These,  with  many  other  places  of  Scrip- 
 ture to  the- same  purpose,  when  they  are  joined  to  the  univer- 
 sal experience  of  all  mankind  concerning  the  corruption  of 
 our  whole  race,  lead  us  to  settle  this  point,  that  in  fact  it  has 
 overrun  our  whole  kind,  the  contagion  is  spread  over  all.  Now 
 this  being  settled,  we  are  next  to  inquire  how  this  could  happen. 
 We  cannot  think  that  God  made  men  so ;  for  it  is  expressly 
 said,  that  God  made  man  after  his  own  image,  Gen.  i.  27. 
 
 The  surest  way  to  find  out  what  this  image  was  at  first,  is 
 to  consider  what  the  New  Testament  says  of  it,  when  we  come 
 to  be  restored  to  it.  We  must  put  on  the  neiv  man,  after  the 
 image  of  him  that  created  him;  or  as  elsewhere,  the  new  man 
 in  righteousness  and  true  holiness,  Eph.  iv.  22.  24.  This  then 
 was  the  image  of  God,  in  which  man  was  at  first  made.  Nor 
 ought  the  image  of  God  to  be  considered  only  as  an  expres- 
 sion that  imports  only  our  representing  him  here  on  earth,  and 
 having  dominion  over  the  creatures;  for  in  Genesis  (i.  27,  28.) 
 the  creation  of  man  in  the  image  of  God  is  expressed  as  a  thing 
 different  from  his  dominion  over  the  creatures,  which  seems  to 
 be  given  to  him  as  a  consequent  of  it.  The  image  of  God 
 seems  to  be  this — that  the  soul  of  man  was  a  being  of  another 
 sort  and  order  than  all  those  material  beings  till  then  made, 
 which  were  neither  capable  of  thought  nor  liberty,  in  which 
 respect  the  soul  was  made  after  the  image  of  God.  But 
 Adam's  soul  being  put  in  his  body,  his  brain  was  a  tabula  rasa, 
 as  white  paper,  had  no  impressions  in  it,  but  such  as  either 
 
 *  Gen.  vi.  5.  viii.  21.    1  Kings  viii.  46.    Prov.  xxiv.  16.    Jer.  xvii.  9.    2  Cor. 
 v.  17.    Eccl.  vii.  29.    Gal.  v.  17.    Rom.  viii.  7,  8. 
 
Art.  IX. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 133 
 
 God  put  in  it,  or  such  as  came  to  him  by  his  senses.  A  man 
 born  deaf  and  blind,  newly  come  to  hear  and  see,  is  not  a 
 more  ignorant  and  amazed-like  creature  than  Adam  must  have 
 been,  if  God  had  not  conveyed  some  great  impressions  into 
 him ;  such  as  first  the  acknowledging  and  obeying  him  as  his 
 Maker,  and  then  the  managing  his  body  so  as  to  make  it  an 
 instrument,  by  which  he  could  make  use  of  and  observe  the 
 creation.  There  is  no  reason  to  think  that  his  body  was  at 
 first  inclined  to  appetite,  and  that  his  mind  was  apt  to  serve  his 
 body,  but  that  both  were  restrained  by  supernatural  assistances. 
 It  is  much  more  natural,  and  more  agreeable  to  the  words  of 
 the  xvise  man,  to  think  that  God  made  man  upright;  that  his 
 body  craved  modestly,  and  that  his  mind  was  both  judge  and 
 master  of  those  cravings  :  and  if  a  natural  hypothesis  may  be 
 offered,  but  only  as  an  hypothesis,  it  may  be  supposed,  that  a 
 man's  blood  was  naturally  low  and  cool,  but  that  it  was  ca- 
 pable of  a  vast  inflammation  and  elevation,  by  which  a  man's 
 powers  might  be  exalted  to  much  higher  degrees  of  knowledge 
 and  capacity.  The  animal  spirits  receiving  their  quality  from 
 that  of  the  blood,  a  new  and  a  strong  fermentation  in  the 
 blood  might  raise  them,  and  by  consequence  exalt  a  man  to  a 
 much  greater  sublimity  of  thought :  but  with  that  it  might 
 dispose  him  to  be  easily  inflamed  by  appetites  and  passions  ; 
 it  might  put  him  under  the  power  of  his  body,  and  make  his 
 body  much  more  apt  to  be  fired  at  outward  objects,  which 
 might  sink  all  spiritual  and  pure  ideas  in  him,  and  raise  gross 
 ones  with  much  fury  and  rapidity.  Hereby  his  whole  frame 
 might  be  much  corrupted  :  and  that  might  go  so  deep  in  him, 
 that  all  those  who  descended  from  him  might  be  defiled  by  it, 
 as  we  see  madness  and  some  chronical  diseases  pass  from  pa- 
 rents to  their  children. 
 
 All  this  might  have  been  natural,  and  as  much  the  physical 
 effect  of  eating  the  forbidden  fruit,  as  it  seems  immortality 
 would  have  been  that  of  eating  the  fruit  of  the  Tree  of  Life  : 
 this  might  have  been  in  its  nature  a  slow  poison,  which  must 
 end  in  death  at  last.  It  may  be  very  easy  to  make  all  this 
 appear  probable  from  physical  causes.  A  very  small  accident 
 may  so  alter  the  whole  mass  of  the  blood,  that  in  a  very  few 
 minutes  it  may  be  totally  changed  :  so  the  eating  the  forbid- 
 den fruit  might  have,  by  a  natural  change  of  things,  produced 
 all  this.  But  this  is  only  an  hypothesis,  and  so  is  left  as  such. 
 All  the  assistance  that  revealed  religion  can  receive  from  philo- 
 sophy is  to  shew,  that  a  reasonable  hypothesis  can  be  offered, 
 upon  physical  principles,  to  shew  the  possibility,  or  rather  pro- 
 bability, of  any  particulars  that  are  contained  in  the  Scriptures. 
 This  is  enough  to  stop  the  mouths  of  deists,  which  is  all  the 
 use  that  can  be  made  of  such  schemes. 
 
134 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  IX. 
 
 To  return  to  the  main  point  of  the  fall  of  Adam : — He  him- 
 self was  made  liable  to  death :  but  not  barely  to  cease  to  live ; 
 for  death  and  life  are  terms  opposite  to  one  another  in  Scrip- 
 ture. In  treating  upon  these  heads,  it  is  said,  that  the  wages 
 of  sin  is  death,  but  the  gift  of  God  is  eternal  life,  Rom.  vi.  23. 
 And  though  the  addition  of  the  word  eternal  makes  the  signi- 
 fication of  the  one  more  express,  yet,  where  it  is  mentioned 
 without  that  addition,  no  doubt  is  to  be  made  but  that  it  is  to 
 be  so  meant :  as  where  it  is  said,  that  to  be  carnally  minded  is 
 deaths  but  to  be  spirihially  minded  is  life  and  peace,  Rom.  viii. 
 6. :  And  believing,  we  have  life  through  his  name,  John  xx.  31.  : 
 Ye  will  not  come  unto  me,  that  ye  may  have  life,  John  v.  40. 
 So,  by  the  rule  of  opposites,  death  ought  to  be  understood  as 
 a  word  of  a  general  signification,  which  we,  who  have  the  com- 
 ment of  the  New  Testament  to  guide  us  in  understanding  the 
 Old,  are  not  to  restrain  to  a  natural  death;  and  therefore, 
 when  we  are  said  to  be  the  servan  ts  of  sin  unto  death,  we  un- 
 derstand much  more  by  it  than  a  natural  death.  So  God's 
 threatening  of  Adam  with  death,  ought  not  to  be  restrained 
 to  a  natural  death ;  Adam  being  thus  defiled,  all  emanations 
 from  him  must  partake  of  that  vitiated  state  to  which  he  had 
 brought  himself.  But  then  the  question  remains,  How  came 
 the  souls  of  his  posterity  to  be  defiled  ?  for  if  they  were  created 
 pure,  it  seems  to  be  an  unjust  cruelty  to  them,  to  condemn 
 them  to  such  an  union  to  a  defiled  body  as  should  certainly 
 corrupt  them.    All  that  can  be  said  in  answer  to  this  is, — 
 
 That  God  has  settled  it  as  a  law  in  the  creation,  that  a  soul 
 should  inform  a  body  according  to  the  texture  of  it,  and  either 
 conquer  it,  or  be  mastered  by  it,  as  it  should  be  differently 
 made :  and  that  as  such  a  degree  of  purity  in  the  texture  of  it 
 might  make  it  both  pure  and  happy ;  so  a  contrary  degree  of 
 texture  might  have  very  contrary  effects :  And  if9  with  this, 
 God  made  another  general  law,  that  when  all  things  were  duly 
 prepared  for  the  propagation  of  the  species  of  mankind,  a  soul 
 should  be  always  ready  to  go  into  and  animate  those  first 
 threads  and  beginnings  of  life; — those  laws  being  laid  down, 
 Adam,  by  corrupting  his  own  frame,  corrupted  the  frame  of 
 his  whole  posterity,  by  the  general  course  of  things,  and  the 
 great  law  of  the  creation.  So  that  the  suffering  this  to  run 
 through  all  the  race,  is  no  more  (only  different  in  degrees  and 
 extent)  than  the  suffering  the  folly  or  madness  of  a  man  to  in- 
 fect his  posterity.  In  these  things  God  acts  as  the  Creator  of 
 the  world  by  general  rules :  and  these  must  not  be  altered  be- 
 cause of  the  sins  and  disorders  of  men ;  but  they  are  rather  to 
 have  their  course,  that  so  sin  may  be  its  own  punishment.  The 
 defilement  of  the  race  being  thus  stated,  a  question  remains, 
 whether  this  can  be  properly  called  a  sin,  and  such  as  deserves 
 God's  wrath  and  damnation  ?  On  the  one  hand  an  opposition 
 
Art.  IX. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 135 
 
 of  nature  to  the  Divine  nature  must  certainly  be  hateful  to 
 God,  as  it  is  the  root  of  much  malignity  and  sin.  Such  a  na- 
 ture cannot  be  the  object  of  his  love,  and  of  itself  it  cannot  be 
 accepted  of  God :  now  since  there  is  no  mean  in  God,  between 
 love  and  wrath,  acceptation  and  damnation,  if  such  persons  are 
 not  in  the  first  order,  they  must  be  in  the  second. 
 
 Yet  it  seems  very  hard,  on  the  other  hand,  to  apprehend, 
 how  persons  who  have  never  actually  sinned,  but  are  only 
 unhappily  descended,  should  be,  in  consequence  to  that,  under 
 so  great  a  misery.  To  this  several  answers  are  made :  Some 
 have  thought  that  those  who  die  before  they  commit  any  ac- 
 tual sin,  have  indeed  no  share  in  the  favour  of  God,  but  yet 
 that  they  pass  unto  a  state  in  the  other  world  in  which  they 
 suffer  little  or  nothing.  The  stating  this  more  clearly,  will 
 belong  to  another  opinion,  which  shall  be  afterwards  explained. 
 
 There  is  a  further  question  made,  whether  this  vicious  incli- 
 nation is  a  sin,  or  not  ?  Those  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  as  they 
 believe  that  original  sin  is  quite  taken  away  by  baptism,  so, 
 finding  that  this  corrupt  disposition  still  remains  in  us,  they  do 
 from  thence  conclude,  that  it  is  no  part  of  original  sin ;  but 
 that  this  is  the  natural  state  in  which  Adam  was  made  at  first, 
 only  it  is  in  us  without  the  restraint  or  bridle  of  supernatural 
 assistances,  which  was  given  to  him,  but  lost  by  sin,  and  re- 
 stored to  us  in  baptism.  But,  as  was  said  formerly,  Adam  in  his 
 first  state  was  made  after  the  image  of  God,  so  that  his  bodily 
 powers  were  perfectly  under  the  command  of  his  mind  :  this  re- 
 volt, that  we  feel  our  bodies  and  senses  are  always  in,  cannot  be 
 supposed  to  be  God's  workmanship.  There  are  great  disput- 
 ing raised  concerning  the  meaning  of  a  long  discourse  of  St 
 Paul's  in  the  seventh  of  the  Romans,  concerning  a  constant 
 struggle  that  he  felt  within  himself ;  which  some,  arguing  from 
 the  scope  of  the  whole  Epistle  and  the  beginning  of  that  chap- 
 ter, understand  only  of  the  state  that  St  Paul  represents  him- 
 self to  have  been  in  while  yet  a  Jew,  and  before  his  conversion  ; 
 whereas  others  understand  it  of  him  in  his  converted  and  re- 
 generated state.  Very  plausible  things  have  been  said  on  both 
 sides ;  but,  without  arguing  any  thing  from  words  the  sense  of 
 which  is  under  debate,  there  are  other  places  which  do  mani- 
 festly express  the  struggle  that  is  in  a  good  man  : — The  Jiesh  is 
 weak,  though  the  spirit  is  willing :  the  jiesh  lusteth  against  the 
 spirit,  as  the  spirit  lusteth  against  the  Jiesh,  Gal.  v.  17.  :  we 
 ought  to  be  still  mortifying  the  deeds  of  the  body ;  and  we  feel 
 many  sins  that  do  so  easily  beset  us,  (Rom.  viii.  13.),  that  from 
 these  things  we  have  reason  to  conclude,  that  there  is  a  cor- 
 ruption in  our  nature  which  gives  us  a  bias  and  propensity  to 
 sin.  Now  there  is  no  reason  to  think  that  baptism  takes  away 
 all  the  branches  and  effects  of  original  sin :  it  is  enough  if  we 
 are  by  it  delivered  from  the  wrath  of  God,  and  brought  into 
 
136 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  IX. 
 
 a  state  of  favour  and  acceptation :  We  are  freed  from  the  curse 
 of  death,  by  our  being  entitled  to  a  blessed  resurrection ;  and 
 if  we  are  so  far  freed  from  the  corruption  of  our  nature,  as  to 
 have  a  federal  right  to  such  assistances  as  will  enable  us  to 
 resist  and  repress  it,  though  it  is  not  quite  extinct  in  us  so  long 
 as  we  live  in  these  frail  and  mortal  bodies,  here  are  very  great 
 effects  of  our  admission  to  Christianity  by  baptism,  though 
 this  should  not  go  so  far  as  to  root  all  inclinations  to  evil  out 
 of  our  nature.  The  great  disposition  that  is  in  us  to  appetite 
 and  passion,  and  that  great  heat  with  which  they  inflame  us ; 
 the  aversion  that  we  naturally  have  to  all  the  exercises  of  re- 
 ligion, and  the  pains  that  must  be  used  to  work  us  up  to  a 
 tolerable  degree  of  knowledge  and  an  ordinary  measure  of  vir- 
 tue, shews  that  these  are  not  natural  to  us :  whereas  sloth  and 
 vice  do  grow  on  us  without  any  care  taken  about  them ;  so 
 that  it  appears  that  they  are  the  natural,  and  the  other  the 
 forced,  growth  of  our  souls.  These  ill  dispositions  are  so  uni- 
 versally spread  through  all  mankind,  and  appear  so  early,  and 
 in  so  great  a  diversity  of  ill  inclinations,  that  from  hence  it 
 seems  reasonable  and  just  to  infer,  that  this  corruption  is  spread 
 through  our  whole  nature  and  species  by  the  sin  and  disobe- 
 dience of  Adam.  And  beyond  this  a  great  many  among  our- 
 selves think  that  they  cannot  go,  in  asserting  of  original  sin. 
 
 But  there  is  a  farther  step  made  by  all  the  disciples  of  St  i 
 Austin,  who  believe  that  a  covenant  was  made  with  all  man- 
 kind in  Adam,  as  their  first  parent ;  that  he  was  a  person  con- 
 stituted by  God  to  represent  them  all ;  and  that  the  covenant 
 was  made  with  him  so,  that,  if  he  had  obeyed,  all  his  posterity 
 should  have  been  happy  through  his  obedience ;  but  by  his 
 disobedience  they  were  all  to  be  esteemed  to  have  sinned  in 
 him,  his  act  being  imputed  and  transferred  to  them  all.  St 
 Austin  considered  all  mankind  as  lost  in  Adam,  and  in  that  he 
 made  the  decree  of  election  to  begin ;  there  being  no  other  re- 
 probation asserted  by  him,  than  the  leaving  men  to  continue 
 in  that  state  of  damnation  in  which  they  were  by  reason  of 
 Adam's  sin  ;  so  that  though  by  baptism  all  men  were  born 
 again,  and  recovered  out  of  that  lost  state,  yet,  unless  they 
 were  within  the  decree  of  election,  they  could  not  be  saved, 
 but  would  certainly  fall  from  that  state,  and  perish  in  a  state 
 of  sin ;  but  such  as  were  not  baptized  were  shut  out  from  all 
 hope.  These  words  of  Christ's,  Except  ye  be  born  again  of 
 water  and  of  the  Spirit,  ye  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
 God,  John  iii.  3.  5.,  being  expounded  so  as  to  import  the  in- 
 dispensable necessity  of  baptism  to  eternal  salvation,  all  who 
 were  not  baptized  were  reckoned  by  him  among  the  damned ; 
 yet  this  damnation,  as  to  those  who  had  no  actual  sin,  was  so 
 mitigated,  that  it  seemed  to  be  little  more  than  an  exclusion 
 out  of  heaven,  without  any  suffering  or  misery,  like  a  state  of 
 
Art.  IX. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 13? 
 
 sleep  and  inactivity.  This  was  afterwards  dressed  up  as  a  di- 
 vision or  partition  in  hell,  called  the  Limbo  of  Infants;  so  by 
 bringing  it  thus  low,  they  took  away  much  of  the  horror  that 
 this  doctrine  might  otherwise  have  given  the  world. 
 
 It  was  not  easy  to  explain  the  way  how  this  was  propagated  : 
 they  wished  well  to  the  notion  of  a  soul's  propagating  a  soul ; 
 but  that  seemed  to  come  too  near  creation ;  so  it  was  not  re- 
 ceived as  certain.    It  was  therefore  thought,  that  the  body 
 being  propagated  defiled,  the  soul  was  created  and  infused  at 
 the  time  of  conception :  and  that  though  God  did  not  create  it 
 impure,  yet  no  time  was  interposed  between  it*  creation  and 
 infusion;  so  that  it  could  never  be  said  to  have  been  once 
 pure,  and  then  to  have  become  impure.   All  this,  as  it  afforded 
 an  easy  foundation  to  establish  the  doctrine  of  absolute  decrees 
 upon  it,  no  care  being  taken  to  shew  how  this  sin  came  into 
 the  world,  whether  from  an  absolute  decree  or  not,  so  it  seemed 
 to  have  a  great  foundation  in  that  large  discourse  of  St  Paul's, 
 where,  in  the  fifth  of  the  Romans,  he  compares  the  blessings 
 that  we  receive  by  the  death  of  Christ,  with  the  guilt  and  mi- 
 sery that  was  brought  upon  us  by  the  sin  of  Adam.    Now  it 
 is  confessed,  that  by  Christ  we  have  both  an  imputation  or  com- 
 munication of  the  merits  of  his  death,  and  likewise  a  purity  and 
 holiness  of  nature  conveyed  to  us  by  his  doctrine  and  spirit. 
 In  opposition  then  *  to  this,  if  the  comparison  is  to  be  closely 
 pursued,  there  must  be  an  imputation  of  sin,  as  well  as  a  cor- 
 ruption of  nature,  transfused  to  us  from  Adam.    This  is  the 
 more  considerable  as  to  the  point  of  imputation,  because  the 
 chief  design  of  St  Paul's  discourse  seems  to  be  levelled  at  that, 
 since  it  is  begun  upon  the  head  of  reconciliation  and  atone- 
 ment; upon  which  it  follows,  that  as  by  one  man  sin  entered 
 into  the  worlds  and  death  by  sin,  and  so  death  passed  upon  all 
 men,  for  that  (or,  as  others  render  it,  in  whom)  all  have  sinned, 
 Rom.  v.  12.  to  the  end.    Now  they  think  it  is  all  one  to  their 
 point,  whether  it  be  rendered  for  that  or  in  whom  ;  for  though 
 the  latter  words  seem  to  deliver  their  opinion  more  precisely, 
 yet  it  being  affirmed  that,  according  to  the  other  rendering, 
 all  who  die  have  sinned,  and  it  being  certain  that  many  in- 
 fants die  who  have  never  actually  sinned,  these  must  have  si?i- 
 ned  in  Adam,  they  could  sin  no  other  way.    It  is  afterwards 
 said  by  St  Paul,  that  by  the  offence  of  one  many  were  dead: 
 that  the  judgment  was  by  one  to  condemnation:  that  by  one 
 man's  offence  death  reigned  by  one :  that  by  the  offence  qf  one, 
 judgment  came  upon  all  men  to  condemnation:  and  that  by  one 
 man's  disobedience  many  were  made  sinners.    As  these  words 
 are  positive,  and  of  great  importance  in  themselves,  so  all  this 
 is  much  the  stronger,  by  the  opposition  in  which  every  one  of 
 them  is  put  to  the  effects  and  benefits  of  Christ's  death ;  par- 
 ticularly to  our  justification  through  him,  in  which  there  is 
 
138 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  IX. 
 
 an  imputation  of  the  merits  and  effects  of  his  death,  that  are 
 thereby  transferred  to  us :  so  that  the  whole  effect  of  this  dis- 
 course is  taken  away,  if  the  imputation  of  Adam's  sin  is  denied. 
 And  this  explication  does  certainly  quadrate  more  entirely  to 
 the  words  of  the  Article,  as  it  is  known  that  this  was  the  tenet 
 of  those  who  prepared  the  Articles,  it  having  been  the  gene- 
 rally received  opinion  from  St  Austin's  days  downward. 
 
 But  to  many  other  divines  this  seems  a  harsh  and  uncon- 
 ceivable opinion  ;  it  seems  repugnant  to  the  justice  and  good- 
 ness of  God,  to  reckon  men  guilty  of  a  sin  which  they  never 
 committed,  and  to  punish  them  in  their  souls  eternally  for  that 
 which  is  no  act  of  theirs :  and  though  we  easily  enough  con- 
 ceive how  God,  in  the  riches  of  his  grace,  may  transfer  merit 
 and  blessing  from  one  person  to  many,  this  being  only  an  eco- 
 nomy of  mercy,  where  all  is  free,  and  such  a  method  is  taken 
 as  may  best  declare  the  goodness  of  God ;  but  in  the  imputa- 
 tion of  sin  and  guilt,  which  are  matters  of  strict  justice,  it  is 
 quite  otherwise.  Upon  that  head,  God  is  pleased  often  to  ap- 
 peal to  men  for  the  justice  of  all  his  ways;  and  therefore  no 
 such  doctrine  ought  to  be  admitted,  that  carries  in  it  an  idea 
 of  cruelty  beyond  what  the  blackest  tyrants  have  ever  invented ; 
 besides  that  in  the  Scripture  such  a  method  as  the  punishing 
 children  for  their  fathers'  sins  is  often  disclaimed,  Jer.  xxxi. 
 29.,  and  it  is  positively  affirmed,  that  every  man  that  sins  is 
 punished,  Ezek.  xviii.  20.  Now  though,  in  articles  relating 
 to  the  nature  of  God,  they  acknowledge  it  is  highly  reasonable 
 to  believe  that  there  may  be  mysteries  which  exceed  our  ca- 
 pacity ;  yet  in  moral  matters,  in  God's  federal  dealings  with 
 us,  it  seems  unreasonable,  and  contrary  to  the  nature  of  God, 
 to  believe  that  there  may  be  a  mystery  contrary  to  the  clearest 
 notions  of  justice  and  goodness — such  as  the  condemning  man- 
 kind for  the  sin  of  one  man,  in  which  the  rest  had  no  share ; 
 and  as  contrary  to  our  ideas  of  God ;  and  upon  that  to  set  up 
 another  mystery  that  shall  take  away  the  truth  and  fidelity  of 
 the  promises  of  God — justice  and  goodness  being  as  inseparable 
 from  his  nature,  as  truth  and  fidelity  can  be  supposed  to  be. 
 This  seems  to  expose  the  Christian  religion  to  the  scoffs  of  its 
 enemies,  and  to  objections  that  are  much  sooner  made  than 
 answered:  and  since  the  foundation  of  this  is  a  supposed  cove- 
 nant with  Adam  as  the  representative  head  of  mankind,  it  is 
 strange  that  a  thing  of  that  great  consequence  should  not  have 
 been  more  plainly  reported  in  the  history  of  the  creation ;  but 
 that  men  should  be  put  to  fetch  out  the  knowledge  of  so  great 
 and  so  extraordinary  a  thing,  only  by  some  remote  consequen- 
 ces. It  is  no  small  prejudice  against  this  opinion,  that  it  was 
 so  long  before  it  first  appeared  in  the  Latin  Church ;  that  it 
 was  never  received  in  the  Greek ;  and  that  even  the  Western 
 Church,  though  perhaps  for  some  ignorant  ages  it  received  it, 
 
Aux.  IX. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 139 
 
 as  it  did  every  thing  else,  very  implicitly,  yet  has  been  very 
 much  divided,  both  about  this  and  many  other  opinions  related 
 to  it,  or  arising  out  of  it. 
 
 As  for  those  words  of  St  Paul's,  that  are  its  chief,  if  not  its 
 only  foundation,  they  say  many  things  upon  them.    First,  it  is 
 a  single  proof.    Now,  when  we  have  not  a  variety  of  places 
 proving  any  point,  in  which  one  gives  light  and  leads  us  to  a 
 sure  exposition  of  another,  we  cannot  be  so  sure  of  the  mean- 
 ing of  any  one  place,  as  to  raise  a  theory  or  found  a  doctrine 
 upon  it.    They  say  farther,  that  St  Paul  seems  to  argue,  from 
 that  opinion  of  our  having  sinned  in  Adam,  to  prove  that  we 
 are  justified  by  Christ.    Now  it  is  a  piece  of  natural  logic  not 
 to  prove  a  thing  by  another,  unless  that  other  is  more  clear  of 
 itself,  or  at  least  more  clear  by  its  being  already  received  and 
 believed.    This  cannot  be  said  to  be  more  clear  of  itself,  for  it 
 is  certainly  less  credible  or  conceivable  than  the  reconciliation 
 by  Christ :  nor  was  this  clear  from  any  special  revelation  made 
 of  it  in  the  Old  Testament :  therefore  there  is  good  reason  to 
 believe,  that  it  was  then  a  doctrine  received  among  the  Jews,  as 
 there  are  odd  things  of  this  kind  to  be  found  among  the  Cab- 
 balists,  as  if  all  the  souls  of  all  mankind  had  been  in  Adam's 
 body.    Now  when  an  argument  is  brought  in  Scripture  to 
 prove  another  thing  by,  though  we  are  bound  to  acknowledge 
 the  conclusion,  yet  we  are  not  always  sure  of  the  premises ;  for 
 they  are  often  founded  upon  received  opinions.    So  that  it  is 
 not  certain  that  St  Paul  meant  to  offer  this  doctrine  to  our  be- 
 lief as  true,  but  only  that  he  intended  by  it  to  prove  our  being- 
 reconciled  to  God  through  the  death  of  Christ;  and  the  me- 
 dium by  which  he  proved  it  might  be,  for  aught  that  appears 
 from  the  words  themselves,  only  an  opinion  held  true  among 
 those  to  whom  he  writes.    For  he  only  supposes  it,  but  says 
 nothing  to  prove  it ;  which  it  might  be  expected  he  would  have 
 done,  if  the  Jews  had  made  any  doubt  of  it.    But  farther  they 
 say,  that  when  comparisons  or  oppositions,  such  as  this,  are 
 made  in  Scripture,  we  are  not  always  to  carry  them  on  to  an 
 exact  equality :  we  are  required  not  only  to  be  holy  as  God  is 
 holy,  but  to  be  perfect  as  he  is  perfect ,  1  Pet.  i.  15,  16.  Matt.  v. 
 48. ;  where  by  the  as  is  not  to  be  meant  a  true  equality,  but 
 some  sort  of  resemblance  and  conformity.    Therefore  those 
 who  believe  that  there  is  nothing  imputed  to  Adam's  posterity 
 on  the  account  of  his  sin,  but  this  temporary  punishment  of 
 their  being  made  liable  to  death,  and  to  all  those  miseries  that 
 the  fear  of  it,  with  other  concerns  about  it,  bring  us  under,  say 
 that  this  is  enough  to  justify  the  comparison  that  is  there 
 stated ;  and  that  those  who  will  carry  it  to  be  an  exact  paral- 
 lel, make  a  stretch  beyond  the  phraseology  of  the  Scripture, 
 and  the  use  of  parables,  and  of  the  many  comparisons  that  go 
 
140 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  IX. 
 
 only  to  one  or  more  points,  but  ought  not  to  be  stretched  to 
 every  thing. 
 
 These  are  the  things  that  other  great  divines  among  us  have 
 opposed  to  this  opinion.  As  to  its  consonancy  to  the  Article, 
 those  who  oppose  it  do  not  deny  but  that  it  comes  up  fully  to 
 the  highest  sense  that  the  words  of  the  Article  can  import ;  nor 
 do  they  doubt,  but  that  those  who  prepared  the  Articles,  being 
 of  that  opinion  themselves,  might  perhaps  have  had  that  sense 
 of  the  words  in  their  thoughts :  but  they  add,  that  we  are  only 
 bound  to  sign  the  Articles  in  a  literal  and  grammatical  sense ; 
 since  therefore  the  words,  God's  wrath  and  damnation,  which 
 are  the  highest  in  the  Article,  are  capable  of  a  lower  sense, 
 temporary  judgments  being  often  so  expressed  in  the  Scrip- 
 tures, therefore  they  believe  the  loss  of  the  favour  of  God,  the 
 sentence  of  death,  the  troubles  of  life,  and  the  corruption  of 
 our  faculties,  may  be  well  called  God's  wrath  and  damnation. 
 Besides,  they  observe,  that  the  main  point  of  the  imputation  of 
 Adam's  sin  to  his  posterity,  and  its  being  considered  by  God 
 as  their  own  act,  not  being  expressly  taught  in  the  Article, 
 here  was  that  moderation  observed  which  the  compilers  of  the 
 Articles  have  shewed  on  many  other  occasions.  It  is  plain 
 from  hence,  that  they  did  not  intend  to  lay  a  burthen  on  men's 
 consciences,  or  oblige  them  to  profess  a  doctrine  that  seems  to 
 be  hard  of  digestion  to  a  great  many.*  The  last  prejudice  that 
 they  offer  against  that  opinion  is,  that  the  softening  the  terms 
 of  God's  wrath  and  damnation,  that  was  brought  in  by  the  fol- 
 lowers of  St  Austin's  doctrine,  to  such  a  moderate  and  harm- 
 less notion"as  to  be  only  a  loss  of  heaven  with  a  sort  of  inac- 
 tive sleep,  was  an  effect  of  their  apprehending  that  the  world 
 could  very  ill  bear  an  opinion  of  so  strange  a  sound,  as  that 
 all  mankind  were  to  be  damned  for  the  sin  of  one  man ;  and 
 that  therefore,  to  make  this  pass  the  better,  they  mitigated 
 damnation  far  below  the  representation  that  the  Scriptures 
 generally  give  of  it,  which  propose  it  as  the  being  adjudged  to 
 a  place  of  torment,  and  a  state  of  horror  and  misery. 
 
 Thus  I  have  set  down  the  different  opinions  in  this  point 
 with  that  true  indifference  that  I  intend  to  observe  on  such 
 other  occasions,  and  which  becomes  one  who  undertakes  to  ex- 
 plain the  doctrines  of  the  Church,  and  not  his  own ;  and  who 
 is  obliged  to  propose  other  men's  opinions  with  all  sincerity, 
 and  to  shew  what  are  the  senses  that  the  learned  men,  of  dif- 
 ferent persuasions  in  these  matters,  have  put  on  the  words  of 
 the  Article :  In  which  one  great  and  constant  rule  to  be  ob- 
 served is,  to  represent  men's  opinions  candidly,  and  to  judge 
 as  favourably  both  of  them  and  their*  opinions  as  may  be :  to 
 
 *  Exod.  xxxii.  10.  and  through  the  whole  Old  Testament.  Matt.  iii.  7.  1  Thess. 
 ii.  16.  Euke  xxiii.  40.  1  Cor.  xi.  29.  I  Pet.  iv.  17.  Rom.  xiii.  2.  2  Cor. 
 vii.  3.     John  viii.  10,  LI.     Rom.  xiv.  23. 
 
Art.  IX. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 141 
 
 bear  with  one  another,  and  not  to  disturb  the  peace  and  union 
 of  the  Church  by  insisting  too  much  and  too  peremptorily 
 upon  matters  of  such  doubtful  disputation ;  but  willingly  to 
 leave  them  to  all  that  liberty  to  which  the  Church  has  left 
 them,  and  which  she  still  allows  them. 
 
 ARTICLE  X. 
 
 OF  FREE-WILL. 
 
 The  Condition  of  Man  after  the  Fall  of  Adam  is  such  that  he 
 cannot  turn  and  prepare  himself,  by  his  own  natural  strength 
 and  good  works,  to  Faith  and  calling  upon  God.  Wherefore 
 we  have  no  power  to  do  good  works  pleasant  and  acceptable  to 
 God,  without  the  Grace  of  God  by  Christ  preventing  us  that 
 we  may  have  a  good  will,  and  working  with  us  ivhe?i  we  have 
 that  good  will. 
 
 We  shall  find  the  same  moderation  observed  in  this  Article 
 that  was  taken  notice  of  in  the  former ;  where  all  disputes  con- 
 cerning the  degree  of  that  feebleness  and  corruption,  under 
 which  we  are  fallen  by  the  sin  of  Adam,  are  avoided,  and  only 
 the  necessity  of  a  preventing  and  a  co-operating  grace  is  assert- 
 ed, against  the  Semipelagians  and  the  Pelagians.  But  before  we 
 enter  upon  that,  it  is  fitting  first  to  state  the  true  notion  of  free- 
 will, in  so  far  as  it  is  necessary  to  all  rational  agents,  to  make 
 their  actions  morally  good  or  bad ;  since  it  is  a  principle  that 
 seems  to  rise  out  of  the  light  of  nature,  that  no  man  is  account- 
 able, rewardable,  or  punishable,  but  for  that  in  which  he  acts 
 freely,  without  force  or  compulsion :  and  so  far  all  are  agreed. 
 
 Some  imagine,  that  liberty  must  suppose  a  freedom  to  do, 
 or  not  to  do,  and  to  act  contrariwise  at  pleasure.  To  others 
 it  seems  not  necessary  that  such  a  liberty  should  be  carried  to 
 denominate  actions  morally  good  or  bad.  God  certainly  acts 
 in  the  perfectest  liberty,  yet  he  cannot  sin :  Christ  had  the 
 most  exalted  liberty,  in  his  human  nature,  of  which  a  creature 
 was  capable,  and  his  merit  was  the  highest,  yet  he  could  not 
 sin  :  Angels  and  glorified  saints,  though  no  more  capable  of 
 rewards,  are  perfect  moral  agents,  and  yet  they  cannot  sin ; 
 and  the  devils,  with  the  damned,  though  not  capable  of  farther 
 punishment,  yet  are  still  moral  agents,  and  cannot  but  sin  : — so 
 this  indifferency  to  do,  or  not  to  do,  cannot  be  the  true  notion 
 of  liberty.  A  truer  one  seems  to  them  to  be  this,  that  a  ra- 
 tional nature  is  not  determined  as  mere  matter,  by  the  impulse 
 and  motion  of  other  bodies  upon  it,  but  is  capable  of  thought, 
 
H-2 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  X. 
 
 and,  upon  considering  the  objects  set  before  it,  makes  reflec- 
 tion, and  so  chooses.  Liberty  therefore  seems  to  consist  in  this 
 inward  capacity  of  thinking,  and  of  acting  and  choosing  upon 
 thought.  The  clearer  the  thought  is,  and  the  more  constantly 
 that  our  choice  is  determined  by  it,  the  more  does  a  man  rise 
 up  to  the  highest  acts  and  sublimest  exercises  of  liberty. 
 
 A  question  arises  out  of  this,  whether  the  will  is  not  always 
 determined  by  the  understanding,  so  that  a  man  does  always 
 choose  and  determine  himself  upon  the  account  of  some  idea 
 or  other  ?  If  this  is  granted,  then  no  liberty  will  be  left  to  our 
 faculties.  We  must  apprehend  things  as  they  are  proposed 
 to  our  understanding ;  for  if  a  thing  appears  true  to  us,  we 
 must  assent  to  it ;  and  if  the  will  is  as  blind  to  the  understand- 
 ing, as  the  understanding  is  determined  by  the  light  in  which 
 the  object  appears  to  it,  then  we  seem  to  be  concluded 
 under  a  fate,  or  necessity.  It  is,  after  all,  a  vain  attempt  to 
 argue  against  every  man's  experience :  We  perceive  in  ourselves 
 a  liberty  of  turning  our  minds  to  some  ideas,  or  from  others ; 
 we  can  think  longer  or  shorter  of  these,  more  exactly  and 
 steadily,  or  more  slightly  and  superficially,  as  we  please ;  and 
 in  this  radical  freedom  of  directing  or  diverting  our  thoughts, 
 a  main  part  of  our  freedom  does  consist.  Often  objects  as  they 
 appear  to  our  thoughts  do  so  affect  or  heat  them,  that  they  do 
 seem  to  conquer  us,  and  carry  us  after  them ;  some  thoughts 
 seeming  as  it  were  to  intoxicate  and  charm  us.  Appetites  and 
 passions,  when  much  fired  by  objects  apt  to  work  upon  them, 
 do  agitate  us  strongly ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  impressions 
 of  religion  come  often  into  our  minds  with  such  a  secret  force, 
 so  much  of  terror  and  such  secret  joy  mixing  with  them,  that 
 they  seem  to  master  us :  yet  in  all  this  a  man  acts  freely,  be- 
 cause he  thinks  and  chooses  for  himself ;  and  though  perhaps 
 he  does  not  feel  himself  so  entirely  balanced  that  he  is  indif- 
 ferent to  both  sides,  yet  he  has  still  such  a  remote  liberty,  that 
 he  can  turn  himself  to  other  objects  and  thoughts,  so  that  he 
 can  divert,  if  not  all  of  the  sudden  resist,  the  present  impres- 
 sions that  seem  to  master  him.  We  do  also  feel,  that  in  many 
 trifles  we  do  act  with  an  entire  liberty,  and  do  many  things 
 upon  no  other  account,  and  for  no  other  reason,  but  because 
 we  will  do  them ;  and  yet  more  important  things  depend  on 
 these. 
 
 Our  thoughts  are  much  governed  by  those  impressions  that 
 are  made  upon  our  brain  :  When  an  object  proportioned  to  us 
 appears  to  us  with  such  advantages  as  to  affect  us  much,  it 
 makes  such  an  impression  on  our  brain,  that  our  animal  spirits 
 move  much  towards  it ;  and  those  thoughts  that  answer  it  arise 
 oft  and  strongly  upon  us,  till  either  that  impression  is  worn  out 
 and  flatted,  or  new  and  livelier  ones  are  made  on  us  by  other 
 objects.    In  this  depressed  state  in  which  we  now  are,  the  ideas 
 
Art.  X. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 143 
 
 of  what  is  useful  or  pleasant  to  our  bodies  are  strong ;  they  are 
 ever  fresh,  being  daily  renewed ;  and,  according  to  the  differ- 
 ent construction  of  men's  blood  and  their  brains,  there  arises  a 
 great  variety  of  inclinations  in  them.  Our  animal  spirits,  that 
 are  the  immediate  organs  of  thought,  being  the  subtiler  parts 
 of  our  blood,  are  differently  made  and  shaped,  as  our  blood 
 happens  to  be  acid,  salt,  sweet,  or  phlegmatic ;  and  this  gives 
 such  a  bias  to  all  our  inclinations,  that  nothing  can  work  us 
 off  from  it,  but  some  great  strength  of  thought  that  bears  it 
 down :  so  learning,  chiefly  in  mathematical  sciences,  can  so 
 swallow  up  and  fix  one's  thought,  as  to  possess  it  entirely  for 
 some  time ;  but  when  that  amusement  is  over,  nature  will  re- 
 turn and  be  where  it  was,  being  rather  diverted  than  overcome 
 by  such  speculations. 
 
 The  revelation  of  religion  is  the  proposing  and  proving  many 
 truths  of  great  importance  to  our  understandings,  by  which 
 they  are  enlightened,  and  our  wills  are  guided  ;  but  these  truths 
 are  feeble  things,  languid  and  unable  to  stem  a  tide  of  nature, 
 especially  when  it  is  much  excited  and  heated :  so  that  in  fact 
 we  feel,  that,  when  nature  is  low,  these  thoughts  may  have  some 
 force  to  give  an  inward  melancholy,  and  to  awaken  in  us  pur- 
 poses and  resolutions  of  another  kind ;  but  when  nature  reco- 
 vers itself,  and  takes  fire  again,  these  grow  less  powerful.  The 
 giving  those  truths  of  religion  such  a  force  that  they  may  be 
 able  to  subdue  nature,  and  to  govern  us,  is  the  design  of  both 
 natural  and  revealed  religion.  So  the  question  comes  now- 
 according  to  the  Article  to  be,  whether  a  man,  by  the  powers 
 of  nature  and  of  reason,  without  other  inward  assistances,  can 
 so  far  turn  and  dispose  his  own  mind,  as  to  believe  and  to  do 
 sorks  pleasant  and  acceptable  to  God?  Pelagius  thought  that 
 man  was  so  entire  in  his  liberty,  that  there  was  no  need  of  any 
 other  grace  but  that  of  pardon,  and  of  proposing  the  truths  of 
 religion  to  men's  knowledge,  but  that  the  use  of  these  was  in 
 every  man's  power.  Those  who  were  called  Semipelagians 
 thought,  that  an  assisting  inward  grace  was  necessary  to  enable 
 a  man  to  go  through  all  the  harder  steps  of  religion ;  but  with 
 that  they  thought,  that  the  first  turn  or  conversion  of  the  will 
 to  God  was  the  effect  of  a  man's  own  free  choice. 
 
 In  opposition  to  both  which,  this  Article  asserts  both  an 
 assisting  and  a  preventing  grace.  That  there  are  inward  assist- 
 ances given  to  our  powers,  besides  those  outward  blessings  of 
 Providence,  is  first  to  be  proved.  In  the  Old  Testament,  it  is 
 true,  there  were  not  express  promises  made  by  Moses  of  such 
 assistances ;  yet  it  seems  both  David  and  Solomon  had  a  full 
 persuasion  about  it.  David's  prayers  do  every-where  relate  to 
 somewhat  that  is  internal :  he  prays  God  to  open  and  turn  his 
 eyes;  to  unite  and  incline  his  heart;  to  quicken  him ;  to  make 
 him  to  go ;  to  guide  and  lead  him  :  to  create  in  him  a  clean 
 
14-4  AN  EXPOSITION  OF  Art.  X. 
 
 hearty  and  renew  a  right  spirit  within  him,  Psal.  cxix.  18.  27. 
 32.  35.  li.  10.  Solomon  says,  that  God  gives  wisdom ;  that  he 
 directs  men's  paths,  and  giveth  grace  to  the  lowly.  In  the  pro- 
 mise that  Jeremy  gives  of  a  new  covenant,  this  is  the  character 
 that  is  given  of  it ;  /  will  put  my  law  in  their  inward  parts, 
 and  write  it  in  their  hearts :  they  shall  all  know  me,  from  the 
 least  of  them  unto  the  greatest,  Jer.  xxxi.  33,  34.  Like  to  that 
 is  what  Ezekiel  promises ;  A  new  heart  also  will  I  give  you, 
 and  a  new  spirit  will  I  put  within  you:  and  I  will  take  away 
 the  stony  heart  out  of  your  Jlesh,  and  I  will  give  you  an  heart 
 of  jlesh;  and  I  will  put  my  spirit  within  you,  and  cause  you  to 
 walk  in  my  statutes,  and  ye  shall  keep  my  judgments,  and  do 
 them,  Ezek.  xxxvi.  26,  27.  That  these  prophecies  relate  to  the 
 new  dispensation,  cannot  be  questioned,  since  Jeremy's  words, 
 to  which  the  other  are  equivalent,  are  cited  and  applied  to  it 
 in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews.  Now  the  opposition  of  the  one 
 dispensation  to  the  other,  as  it  is  here  stated,  consists  in  this, 
 that  whereas  the  old  dispensation  was  made  up  of  laws  and 
 statutes  that  were  given  on  tables  of  stone  and  in  writing,  the 
 new  dispensation  was  to  have  somewhat  in  it  beside  that  exter- 
 nal revelation,  which  was  to  be  internal,  and  which  should  dis- 
 pose and  enable  men  to  observe  it. 
 
 A  great  deal  of  our  Saviour's  discourse  concerning  the  Spirit, 
 which  he  was  to  pour  on  his  disciples,  did  certainly  belong  to 
 that  extraordinary  effusion  at  Pentecost,  and  to  those  wonderful 
 effects  that  were  to  follow  upon  it :  yet  as  he  had  formerly  given 
 this  as  an  encouragement  to  all  men  to  pray  that  his  heavenly 
 Father  woidd  give  the  Holy  Spirit  to  every  one  that  asked  him, 
 Luke  xi.  13.,  so  there  are  many  parts  of  that  his  last  discourse 
 that  seem  to  belong  to  the  constant  necessities  of  all  Christians. 
 It  is  as  unreasonable  to  limit  all  to  that  time,  as  the  first  words 
 of  it,  I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you;  and  because  I  live,  ye 
 shall  live  also,  John  xiv.  2.  The  prayer  which  comes  after  that 
 discourse,  being  extended  beyond  them  to  all  that  should  be- 
 lieve in  his  name  through  their  word,  we  have  no  reason  to  limit 
 these  words,  I  will  manifest  myself  to  him;  My  Father  and  I 
 will  make  our  abode  zvith  him;  In  me  ye  shall  have  peace — to 
 the  Apostles  only:  so  that  the  guidance,  the  conviction,  the 
 comforts  of  that  Spirit,  seem  to  be  promises  which  in  a  lower 
 order  belong  to  all  Christians.  St  Paul  speaks  of  the  love  of 
 God  shed  abroad  in  their  hearts  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  Rom.  v.  5. : 
 when  he  was  under  temptation,  and  prayed  thrice,  he  had  this 
 answer,  My  grace  is  sufficient  for  thee-,  my  strength  is  made 
 perfect  in  weakness,  2  Cor.  xii.  9.  He  prays  often  for  the 
 Churches  in  his  Epistles  to  them,  that  God  would  stablish, 
 comfort,  and  perfect  them,  enlighten  and  strengthen  them ;  and 
 this  in  all  that  variety  of  words  and  phrases  that  import  inward 
 assistances.    This  is  also  meant  by  Christ's  living  and  dwelling 
 
Art.  X. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 in  us,  and  by  our  being  rooted  and  grounded  in  him;  our 
 being  the  temples  of  God,  a  holy  habitation  to  him  through  his 
 Spirit;  our  being  sealed  by  the  Spirit  of  God  to  the  day  of  re- 
 demption; by  all  those  directions  to  pray  for  grace  to  help  in 
 time  of  need,  and  to  ask  wisdom  of  God,  that  gives  liberally  to 
 all  men;  as  also  by  the  phrases  of  being  born  of  God,  and  the 
 having  his  seed  abiding  in  us:  (Eph.  iii.  17.  2  Cor.  vL  16.  Heb. 
 iv.  16.  James  i.  5.  1  John  iii.  9.)  These  and  many  more  places, 
 which  return  often  through  the  New  Testament,  seem  to  put 
 it  beyond  all  doubt,  that  there  are  inward  communications 
 from  God  to  the  powers  of  our  souls ;  by  which  we  are  made 
 both  to  apprehend  the  truths  of  religion,  to  remember  and  re- 
 flect on  them,  and  to  consider  and  follow  them  more  effectually. 
 
 How  these  are  applied  to  us  is  a  great  difficulty  indeed,  but 
 it  is  to  little  purpose  to  amuse  ourselves  about  it.  God  may 
 convey  them  immediately  to  our  souls,  if  he  will ;  but  it  is  more 
 intelligible  to  us  to  imagine  that  the  truths  of  religion  are  by 
 a  divine  direction  imprinted  deep  upon  our  brain;  so  that 
 naturally  they  must  affect  us  much,  and  be  oft  in  our  thoughts  : 
 and  this  may  be  an  hypothesis  to  explain  regeneration  or  habi- 
 tual grace  by.  When  a  deep  impression  is  once  made,  there 
 may  be  a  direction  from  God,  in  the  same  way  that  his  pro- 
 vidence runs  through  the  whole  material  world,  given  to  the 
 animal  spirits  to  move  towards  and  strike  upon  that  impression, 
 and  so  to  excite  such  thoughts  as  by  the  law  of  the  union  of 
 the  soul  and  body  do  correspond  to  it :  this  may  serve  for  an 
 hypothesis  to  explain  the  conveyance  of  actual  grace  to  us : 
 But  these  are  only  proposed  as  hypotheses,  that  is,  as  methods 
 or  possible  ways  how  such  things  may  be  done,  and  which  may 
 help  us  to  apprehend  more  distinctly  the  manner  of  them. 
 Now  as  this  hypothesis  has  nothing  in  it  but  what  is  truly 
 philosophical,  so  it  is  highly  congruous  to  the  nature  and  .attri- 
 butes of  God,  that  if  our  faculties  are  fallen  under  a  decay  and 
 corruption,  so  that  bare  instruction  is  not  like  to  prevail  over 
 us,  he  should  by  some  secret  methods  rectify  this  in  us.  Our 
 experience  tells  us  but  too  often,  what  a  feeble  thing  knowledge 
 and  speculation  is,  when  it  engages  with  nature  strongly  as- 
 saulted ;  how  our  best  thoughts  fly  from  us  and  forsake  us : 
 whereas  at  other  times  the  sense  of  these  things  lies  with  a  due 
 weight  on  our  minds,  and  has  another  effect  upon  us.  The 
 way  of  conveying  this  is  invisible :  our  Saviour  compared  it  to 
 the  wind  that  bloweth  where  it  listcth  no  man  knows  whence 
 it  conies,  and  whither  it  goes,  John  iii.  8. :  no  man  can  give 
 an  account  of  the  sudden  changes  of  the  wind,  and  of  that  force 
 with  which  the  air  is  driven  by  it,  which  is  otherwise  the  most 
 yielding  of  all  bodies;  to  which  he  adds,  so  is  every  one  that  is 
 bom  of  the  Spirit.  This  he  brings  to  illustrate  the  meaning 
 of  what  he  had  said,  that  except  a  man  was  bom  again  of  water 
 
146 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  X. 
 
 and  of  the  Sjririt,  he  could  not  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God : 
 and  to  shew  how  real  and  internal  this  was,  he  adds,  that  which 
 is  born  of  the  fesh  isfesh ;  that  is,  a  man  has  the  nature  of 
 those  parents  from  whom  he  is  descended,  by  flesh  being  un- 
 derstood the  fabric  of  the  human  body,  animated  by  the  soul : 
 in  opposition  to  which  he  subjoins,  that  which  is  born  of  the 
 Spirit  is  spirit ;  that  is  to  say,  a  man  thus  regenerated  by  the 
 operation  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  comes  to  be  of  a  spiritual  nature. 
 
 With  this  I  conclude  all  that  seemed  necessary  to  be  proved, 
 that  there  are  inward  assistances  given  to  us  in  the  new  dispen- 
 sation. I  do  not  dispute  whether  these  are  fitly  called  grace, 
 for  perhaps  that  word  will  scarce  be  found  in  that  sense  in  the 
 Scriptures ;  it  signifying  more  largely  the  love  and  favour  of 
 God,  without  restraining  it  to  this  act  or  effect  of  it.  The 
 next  thing  to  be  proved  is,  that  there  is  a  preventing  grace,  by 
 which  the  will  is  first  moved  and  disposed  to  turn  to  God.  It 
 is  certain  that  the  first  promulgation  of  the  gospel  to  the 
 Churches  that  were  gathered  by  the  Apostles,  is  ascribed 
 wholly  to  the  riches  and  freedom  of  the  grace  of  God.  This 
 is  fully  done  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  in  which  their 
 former  ignorance  and  corruption  is  set  forth  under  the  figures 
 of  blindness,  of  being  without  hope  and  without  God  in  the 
 world,  and  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins ;  they  following  the  course 
 of  this  world,  and  the  prince  of  the  power  of  the  air,  and  being 
 by  nature  children  of  wrath,  Eph.  ii.  2,  3.  12.;  that  is,  under 
 wrath.  I  dispute  not  here  concerning  the  meaning  of  the 
 word  by  nature,  whether  it  relates  to  the  corruption  of  our  na- 
 ture in  Adam,  or  to  that  general  corruption  that  had  over- 
 spread heathenism,  and  was  become  as  it  were  another  nature 
 to  them.  In  this  single  instance  we  plainly  see,  that  there  was 
 no  previous  disposition  to  the  first  preaching  of  the  gospel  at 
 Ephesus :  many  expressions  of  this  kind,  though  perhaps  not 
 of  this  force,  are  in  the  other  Epistles.  St  Paul,  in  his  Epistle 
 to  the  Romans,  puts  God's  choosing  of  Abraham  upon  this, 
 that  it  was  of  grace,  not  of  debt,  otherwise  Abraham  might  have 
 had  whereof  to  glory^  Rom.  iv.  2.  And  when  he  speaks  of 
 God's  casting  off  the  Jews,  and  grafting  the  Gentiles  upon  that 
 stock  from  which  they  were  cut  off,  he  ascribes  it  wholly  to  the 
 goodness  of  God  towards  them,  and  charges  them  not  to  be 
 high-minded,  but  to  fear,  Rom.  xi.  20.  In  his  Epistle  to  the 
 Corinthians  he  says,  that  not  many  wise,  mighty nor  noble, 
 were  chosen,  but  God  had  chosen  the  foolish,  the  weak,  and  the 
 base  things  of  this  xvorld,  so  that  no  fesh  should  glory  in  his 
 presence,  1  Cor.  i.  26,  27.  29. :  and  he  urges  this  farther,  in 
 words  that  seem  to  be  as  applicable  to  particular  persons  as  to 
 communities  or  churches :  Who  maketh  thee  to  differ  from 
 another  ?  and  what  hast  thou,  that  thou  didst  not  receive  ? 
 Now  if  thou  didst  receive  it,  why  dost  thou  glory  as  if  thou 
 
Art.  X. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 147 
 
 hadst  not  received  it  ?  1  Cor.  iv.  7.  From  these  and  many 
 more  passages  of  the  like  nature  it  is  plain,  that,  in  the  pro- 
 mulgation of  the  gospel,  God  was  found  of  them  that  sought 
 not  to  him,  and  heard  of  them  that  called  not  upon  him,  Isa. 
 Ixv.  1. ;  that  is,  he  prevented  them  by  his  favour,  while  there 
 were  no  previous  dispositions  in  them  to  invite  it,  much  less  to 
 merit  it.  From  this  it  may  be  inferred,  that  the  like  method 
 should  be  used  with  relation  to  particular  persons. 
 
 We  do  find  very  express  instances  in  the  New  Testament 
 of  the  conversion  of  some  by  a  preventing  grace  :  it  is  said,  that 
 God  opened  the  heart  of  Lydia,  so  that  she  attended  to  the 
 things  that  were  spoken  of  Paul,  Acts  xvi.  14.  The  conversion 
 of  St  Paul  himself  was  so  clearly  from  a  preventing  grace,  that 
 if  it  had  not  been  miraculous  in  so  many  of  its  circumstances, 
 it  would  have  been  a  strong  argument  in  behalf  of  it.  These 
 words  of  Christ  seem  also  to  assert  it :  Without  me  ye  can  do 
 7iothing :  ye  have  not  chosen  me,  but  I  you  ;  and  no  man  can 
 come  to  me,  except  the  Father  which  has  sent  me  draw  him. 
 John  xv.  5.  16.  Those  who  received  Christ  were  born  not  of 
 blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of 
 the  will  of  God,  John  i.  13.  God  is  said  to  work  in  us  both  to  will 
 and  to  do  of  his  own  good  pleasure,  Phil.  ii.  13. :  the  one  seems 
 to  import  the  first  beginnings,  and  the  other  the  progress  of  a 
 Christian  course  of  life.  So  far  all  among  us,  that  I  know  of, 
 are  agreed,  though  perhaps  not  as  to  the  force  that  is  in  all 
 those  places  to  prove  this  point. 
 
 There  do  yet  remain  two  points  in  which  they  do  not  agree. 
 The  one  is,  the  efficacy  of  this  preventing  grace  : — Some  think 
 that  it  is  of  its  own  nature  so  efficacious,  that  it  never  fails  of 
 converting  those  to  whom  it  is  given ;  others  think  that  it  only 
 awakens  and  disposes,  as  well  as  it  enables  them  to  turn  to 
 God,  but  that  they  may  resist  it,  and  that  the  greater  part  of 
 mankind  do  actually  resist  it.  The  examining  of  this  point, 
 and  the  stating  the  arguments  on  both  sides,  will  belong  more 
 properly  to  the  seventeenth  Article.  The  other  head,  in 
 which  many  do  differ,  is  concerning  the  extent  of  this  prevent- 
 ing grace ;  for  whereas  such  as  do  hold  it  to  be  efficacious  of 
 itself,  restrain  it  to  the  number  of  those  who  are  elected  and 
 converted  by  it ;  others  do  believe,  that  as  Christ  died  for  all 
 men,  so  there  is  an  universal  grace  which  is  given  in  Christ  to 
 all  men,  in  some  degree  or  other,  and  that  it  is  given  to  all 
 baptized  Christians  in  a  more  eminent  degree :  and  that  as  all 
 are  corrupted  by  Adam,  there  is  also  a  general  grace  given  to 
 all  men  in  Christ.  This  depends  so  much  on  the  former  point, 
 that  the  discussing  the  one  is  indeed  the  discussing  of  both  : 
 and  therefore  it  shall  not  be  further  entered  upon  in  this  place. 
 
lis 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XI. 
 
 ARTICLE  XL 
 
 OF  THE  JUSTIFICATION  OF  MAN. 
 
 We  are  accounted  Righteous  before  God  only  for  the  Merit  of 
 our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  by  Faith,  and  not  for 
 our  own  Works  or  Deservings.  Wherefore,  that  we  are  justi- 
 fied by  faith  only,  is  a  most  wholesome  Doctrine,  and  very 
 full  of  Comfort,  as  more  largely  is  expressed  in  the  Homily 
 of  Justification  . 
 
 In  order  to  the  right  understanding  this  Article,  we  must 
 first  consider  the  true  meaning  of  the  terms  of  which  it  is  made 
 up;  which  are,  Justification,  Faith,  Faith  only,  and  Good. 
 Works  i  and  then,  when  these  are  rightly  stated,  we  will  see 
 what  judgments  are  to  be  passed  upon  the  questions  that  do 
 arise  out  of  this  Article.  Just,  or  justified,  are  words  capable 
 of  two  senses  : — The  one  is,  a  man  who  is  in  the  favour  of  God 
 by  a  mere  act  of  his  grace,  or  upon  some  consideration  not 
 founded  on  the  holiness  or  the  merit  of  the  person  himself : 
 the  other  is,  a  man  who  is  truly  holy,  and  as  such  is  beloved 
 of  God.  The  use  of  this  word  in  the  New  Testament  was 
 probably  taken  from  the  term  Chasidim  among  the  Jews — a 
 designation  of  such  as  observed  the  external  parts  of  the  Law 
 strictly,  and  were  believed  to  be  upon  that  account  much  in 
 the  favour  of  God ;  an  opinion  being  generally  spread  among 
 them,  that  a  strict  observance  of  the  external  parts  of  the  Law 
 of  Moses  did  certainly  put  a  man  in  the  favour  of  God.  In 
 opposition  to  which,  the  design  of  a  great  part  of  the  New 
 Testament  is  to  shew,  that  these  things  did  not  put  men  in  the 
 favour  of  God.  Our  Saviour  (John  iii.  18.)  used  the  word 
 saved  in  opposition  to  condemned ;  and  spoke  of  men  who  were 
 condemned  already,  as  well  as  of  others  who  were  saved.  St 
 Paul  enlarges  more  fully  into  many  discourses ;  in  which  our 
 being  justified,  and  the  righteousness  of  God,  or  his  grace  to- 
 wards us,  are  all  terms  equivalent  to  one  another.  His  design 
 in  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  was  to  prove  that  the  observance 
 of  the  Mosaical  Law  could  not  justify,  that  is,  could  not  put  a 
 man  under  the  grace  or  favour  of  God,  or  the  righteousness  of 
 God,  that  is,  into  a  state  of  acceptation  with  him,  as  that  is 
 opposite  to  a  state  of  wrath  or  condemnation  :  he  upon  that 
 shews  that  Abraham  was  in  the  favour  of  God  before  he  was 
 circumcised,  upon  the  account  of  his  trusting  to  the  promises 
 of  God,  and  obeying  his  commands ;  and  that  God  reckoned 
 upon  these  acts  of  his,  as  much  as  if  they  had  been  an  entire 
 course  of  obedience;  for  that  is  the  meaning  of  these  words, 
 
Art.  XI. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 149 
 
 And  it  "iias  imputed  to  him  for  righteousness,  Gen.  xv.  6.  Rom. 
 iv.  3.  22.  These  promises  were  freely  made  to  him  by  God, 
 when  by  no  previous  works  of  his  he  had  made  them  to  be  due 
 to  him  of  debt ;  therefore  that  covenant  which  was  founded  on 
 those  promises,  was  the  justifying  of  Abraham  freely  by  grace. 
 Upon  which  St  Paul,  in  a  variety  of  inferences  and  expres- 
 sions, assumes,  that  we  are  in  like  manner  justified  freely  by 
 grace  through  the  redemption  in  Christ  Jesus,  Rom.  iii.  24. : 
 that  God  has  of  his  own  free  goodness  offered  a  new  covenant, 
 and  new  and  better  promises,  to  mankind  in  Christ  Jesus, 
 which  whosoever  believe  as  Abraham  did,  they  are  justified  as 
 he  was.  So  that  whosoever  will  observe  the  scope  of  St  Paul's 
 Epistles  to  the  Romans  and  Galatians,  will  see  that  he  always 
 uses  justification  in  a  sense  that  imports  our  being  put  in  the 
 favour  of  God.  The  Epistle  to  the  Galatians  was  indeed  writ 
 upon  the  occasion  of  another  controversy,  which  was,  whether, 
 supposing  Christ  to  be  the  Messias,  Christians  were  bound  to 
 observe  the  Mosaical  Law,  or  not :  whereas  the  scope  of  the  first 
 part  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  is  to  shew,  that  we  are  not 
 justified  nor  saved  by  the  Law  of  Moses,  as  a  mean  of  its  own 
 nature  capable  to  recommend  us  to  the  favour  of  God,  but  that 
 even  that  Law  was  a  dispensation  of  grace,  in  which  it  was  a 
 true  faith  like  Abraham's  that  put  men  in  the  favour  of  God : 
 yet  in  both  these  Epistles,  in  which  justification  is  fully  treated 
 of,  it  stands  always  for  the  receiving  one  into  the  favour  of  God. 
 
 In  this,  the  consideration  upon  which  it  is  done,  and  the  con- 
 dition upon  which  it  is  offered,  are  two  very  different  things. 
 The  one  is  a  dispensation  of  God's  mercy,  in  which  he  has 
 regard  to  his  own  attributes,  to  the  honour  of  his  laws,  and  his 
 government  of  the  world :  the  other  is  the  method  in  which  he 
 applies  that  to  us ;  in  such  a  manner,  that  it  may  have  such 
 ends  as  are  both  perfective  of  human  nature,  and  suitable  to  an 
 infinitely  holy  Being  to  pursue.  We  are  never  to  mix  these 
 two  together,  or  to  imagine  that  the  condition  upon  which 
 justification  is  offered  to  us,  is  the  consideration  that  moves 
 God ;  as  if  our  holiness,  faith,  or  obedience,  were  the  moving 
 cause  of  our  justification;  or  that  God  justifies  us,  because  he 
 sees  that  we  are  truly  just :  for  though  it  is  not  to  be  denied 
 but  that,  in  some  places  of  the  New  Testament,  justification 
 may  stand  in  that  sense,  because  the  word  in  its  true  significa- 
 tion will  bear  it ;  yet  in  these  two  Epistles,  in  which  it  is  largely 
 treated  of,  nothing  is  plainer,  than  that  the  design  is  to  shew 
 us  what  it  is  that  brings  us  to  the  favour  of  God,  and  to  a  state 
 of  pardon  and  acceptation  :  so  that  justif  cation  in  those  places 
 stands  in  opposition  to  accusation  and  condemnation. 
 
 The  next  term  to  be  explained  is  faith ;  which  in  the  New 
 Testament  stands  generally  for  the  complex  of  Christianity,  in 
 opposition  to  the  Law,  which  stands  as  generally  for  the  com- 
 
150 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XI. 
 
 plex  of  the  whole  Mosaical  dispensation.  So  that  the  faith  of 
 Christ  is  equivalent  to  this,  the  gospel  of  Christ;  because 
 Christianity  is  a  federal  religion,  founded,  on  God's  part,  on 
 the  promises  that  he  has  made  to  us,  and  on  the  rules  he  has 
 set  us ;  and  on  our  part,  on  our  believing  that  revelation,  our 
 trusting  to  those  promises,  and  our  setting  ourselves  to  follow 
 those  rules.  The  believing  this  revelation,  and  that  great  article 
 of  it,  of  Christ's  being  the  Son  of  God,  and  the  true  Messias 
 that  came  to  reveal  his  Father's  will,  and  to  offer  himself  up 
 to  be  the  sacrifice  of  this  new  covenant,  is  often  represented  as 
 the  great  and  only  condition  of  the  covenant  on  our  part ;  but 
 still  this  faith  must  receive  the  whole  gospel,  the  precepts  as 
 well  as  the  promises  of  it,  and  receive  Christ  as  a  Prophet  to 
 teach,  and  a  King  to  rule,  as  well  as  a  Priest  to  save  us. 
 
 'By  faith  only,  is  not  to  be  meant  faith  as  it  is  separated  from 
 the  other  evangelical  graces  and  virtues ;  but  faith,  as  it  is  op- 
 posite to  the  rites  of  the  Mosaical  Law  :  for  that  was  the  great 
 question  that  gave  occasion  to  St  Paul's  writing  so  fully  upon 
 this  head ;  since  many  Judaizing  Christians,  as  they  acknowledg- 
 ed Christ  to  be  the  true  Messias,  so  they  thought  that  the  Law 
 of  Moses  was  still  to  retain  its  force — in  opposition  to  whom  St 
 Paul  says,  that  we  are  justified  by  faith,  without  the  works  of  the 
 Law,  Rom.  iii.  28.  Gal.  ii.  16.  Rom.  ii.  12.  It  is  plain  that  he 
 means  the  Mosaical  dispensation,  for  he  had  divided  all  mankind 
 into  those  who  were  in  the  Law,  and  those  who  were  without  the 
 Law :  that  is,  into  Jews  and  Gentiles.  Nor  had  St  Paul  any 
 occasion  to  treat  of  any  other  matter  in  those  Epistles,  or  to 
 enter  into  nice  abstractions,  which  became  not  one  that  was  to 
 instruct  the  world  in  order  to  their  salvation.  Those  metaphy- 
 sical notions  are  not  easily  apprehended  by  plain  men  not 
 accustomed  to  such  subtilties,  and  are  of  very  little  value  when 
 they  are  more  critically  distinguished :  yet  when  it  seems  some 
 of  those  expressions  were  wrested  to  an  ill  sense  and  use,  St 
 James  (ii.  24.)  treats  of  the  same  matter,  but  with  this  great 
 difference,  that  though  he  says  expressly  that  a  man  is  justified 
 by  his  works,  and  not  by  faith  only  ;  yet  he  does  not  say,  by  the 
 works  of  the  Law:  so  that  he  does  not  at  all  contradict  St 
 Paul,  the  works  that  he  mentions  not  being  the  circumcision 
 or  ritual  observances  of  Abraham,  but  his  offering  up  his  son 
 Isaac,  which  St  Paul  had  reckoned  a  part  of  the  faith  of  Abra- 
 ham.  This  shews  that  he  did  not  intend  to  contradict  the  doc- 
 trine delivered  by  St  Paul,  but  only  to  give  a  true  notion  of 
 the  faith  that  justifies — that  it  is  not  a  bare  believing,  such  as 
 devils  are  capable  of,  but  such  a  believing  as  exerted  itself  in 
 good  works.  So  that  the  faith  mentioned  by  St  Paul  is  the 
 complex  of  all  Christianity  ;  whereas  that  mentioned  by  St 
 James  is  a  bare  believing,  without  a  life  suitable  to  it.  And 
 as  it  is  certainly  true,  that  we  are  taken  into  the  favour  of  God 
 
Art.  XI. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 151 
 
 upon  our  receiving  the  whole  gospel,  without  observing  the 
 Mosaical  precepts ;  so  it  is  as  certainly  true,  that  a  bare  pro- 
 fessing or  giving  credit  to  the  truth  of  the  gospel,  without  our 
 living  suitably  to  it,  does  not  give  us  a  right  to  the  favour  of 
 God.  And  thus  it  appears  that  these  two  pieces  of  the  New 
 Testament,  when  rightly  understood,  do  in  no  wise  contradict, 
 but  agree  well  with  one  another. 
 
 In  the  last  place,  we  must  consider  the  signification  of  good 
 works.  By  them  are  not  to  be  meant  some  voluntary  and  as- 
 sumed pieces  of  severity,  which  are  nowhere  enjoined  in  the 
 gospel,  that  arise  out  of  superstition,  and  that  feed  pride  and 
 hypocrisy ; — these  are  so  far  from  deserving  the  name  of  good 
 works,  that  they  have  been  in  all  ages  the  methods  of  imposture, 
 and  of  impostors,  and  the  arts  by  which  they  have  gained  credit 
 and  authority.  By  good  works,  therefore,  are  meant  acts  of  true 
 holiness,  and  of  sincere  obedience  to  the  laws  of  the  gospel. 
 
 The  terms  being  thus  explained,  I  shall  next  distinguish  be- 
 tween the  questions  arising  out  of  this  matter,  that  are  only 
 about  words,  and  those  that  .are  more  material  and  important. 
 If  any  man  lancy  that  the  remission  of  sins  is  to  be  considered 
 as  a  thing  previous  to  justification,  and  distinct  from  it,  and 
 acknowledge  that  to  be  freely  given  in  Christ  Jesus ;  and  that 
 in  consequence  of  this  there  is  such  a  grace  infused,  that  there- 
 upon the  person  becomes  truly  just,  and  is  considered  as  such 
 by  God ; — this,  which  must  be  confessed  to  be  the  doctrine  of 
 a  great  many  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  which  seems  to  be 
 that  established  at  Trent,  is  indeed  very  visibly  different  from 
 the  style  and  design  of  those  places  of  the  New  Testament  in 
 which  this  matter  is  most  fully  opened.  But  yet,  after  all,  it  is 
 but  a  question  about  words;  for  if  that  which  they  call  remis- 
 sion of  sins,  be  the  same  with  that  which  we  call  justification, 
 and  if  that  which  they  call  justification,  be  the  same  with  that 
 which  we  call  sanctification,  then  here  is  only  a  strife  of  words  : 
 yet  even  in  this  we  have  the  Scriptures  clearly  of  our  side;  so 
 that  we  hold  the  form  of  sound  words,  from  which  they  have 
 departed.  The  Scripture  speaks  of  sanctification,  as  a  thing 
 different  from,  and  subsequent  to,  justification.  Now  ye  are 
 washed,  ye  are  sanctified,  ye  are  justified,  1  Cor.  vi.  11.  And 
 since  justification,  and  the  being  in  the  love  and  favour  of  God, 
 are  in  the  New  Testament  one  and  the  same  thing,  the  remis- 
 sion of  sins  must  be  an  act  of  God's  favour :  for  we  cannot 
 imagine  a  middle  state  of  being,  neither  accepted  of  him  nor 
 yet  under  his  wrath,  as  if  the  remission  of  sins  were  merely  an 
 extinction  of  the  guilt  of  sin,  without  any  special  favour.  If 
 therefore  this  remission  of  sins  is  acknowledged  to  be  given 
 freely  to  us  through  Jesus  Christ,  this  is  that  which  we  affirm 
 to  be  justification,  though  under  another  name :  we  do  also 
 acknowledge  that  our  natures  must  be  sanctified  and  renewed, 
 
152 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XI. 
 
 that  so  God  may  take  pleasure  in  us  when  his  image  is  again 
 visible  upon  us ;  and  this  we  call  sanctification ;  which  we  ac- 
 knowledge to  be  the  constant  and  inseparable  effect  of  justifi- 
 cation :  so  that  as  to  this  we  agree  in  the  same  doctrine,  only 
 we  differ  in  the  use  of  the  terms ;  in  which  we  have  the  phrase 
 of  the  New  Testament  clearly  with  us. 
 
 But  there  are  two  more  material  differences  between  us :  It 
 is  a  tenet  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  that  the  use  of  the  sacra- 
 ments, if  men  do  not  put  a  bar  to  them,  and  if  they  have  only 
 imperfect  acts  of  sorrow  accompanying  them,  does  so  far  com- 
 plete those  weak  acts  as  to  justify  us.  This  we  do  utterly 
 deny,  as  a  doctrine  that  tends  to  enervate  all  religion ;  and  to 
 make  the  sacraments,  that  were  appointed  to  be  the  solemn  acts 
 of  religion,  for  quickening  and  exciting  our  piety,  and  for  con- 
 veying grace  to  us  upon  our  coming  devoutly  to  them,  become 
 means  to  flatten  and  deaden  us ;  as  if  they  were  of  the  nature 
 of  charms,  which  if  they  could  be  come  at,  though  with  ever  so 
 slight  a  preparation,  would  make  up  all  defects.  The  doctrine 
 of  Sacramental  Justification  is  justly  to  be  reckoned  among  the 
 most  mischievous  of  all  those  practical  errors  that  are  in  the 
 Church  of  Rome.  Since  therefore  this  is  nowhere  mentioned 
 in  all  those  large  discourses  that  are  in  the  New  Testament 
 concerning  justification,  we  have  just  reason  to  reject  it:  since 
 also  the  natural  consequence  of  this  doctrine  is  to  make  men 
 rest  contented  in  low  imperfect  acts,  when  they  can  be  so  easily 
 made  up  by  a  sacrament,  we  have  just  reason  to  detest  it  as 
 one  of  the  depths  of  Satan ;  the  tendency  of  it  being  to  make 
 those  ordinances  of  the  gospel,  which  were  given  us  as  means 
 to  raise  and  heighten  our  faith  and  repentance,  become  engines 
 to  encourage  sloth  and  impenitence. 
 
 There  is  another  doctrine  that  is  held  by  many,  and  is  still 
 taught  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  not  only  with  approbation,  but 
 favour— that  the  inherent  holiness  of  good  men  is  a  thing  of  its 
 own  nature  so  perfect,  that,  upon  the  account  of  it,  God  is  so 
 bound  to  esteem  them  just,  and  to  justify  them,  that  he  were 
 unjust  if  he  did  it  not.  They  think  there  is  such  a  real  con- 
 dignity  in  it,  that  it  makes  men  God's  adopted  children  : 
 whereas  we  on  the  other  hand  teach,  that  God  is  indeed  pleas- 
 ed with  the  inward  reformation  that  he  sees  in  good  men,  in 
 whom  his  grace  dwells,  that  he  approves  and  accepts  of  their 
 sincerity ;  but  that  with  this  there  is  still  such  a  mixture,  and 
 in  this  there  is  still  so  much  imperfection,  that  even  upon  this 
 account,  if  God  did  straitly  mark  iniquity,  none  could  stand 
 before  him :  so  that  even  his  acceptance  of  this  is  an  act  of 
 mercy  and  grace.  This  doctrine  was  commonly  taught  in  the 
 Church  of  Rome  at  the  time  of  the  Reformation,  and,  together 
 with  it,  they  reckoned  that  the  chief  of  those  works  that  did 
 justify,  were  either  greal  or  rich  endowments,  or  excessive  de- 
 
Art.  XI. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 \o3 
 
 votions  towards  images,  saints,  and  relics ;  by  all  which  Christ 
 was  either  forgot  quite,  or  remembered  only  for  form  sake, 
 esteemed  perhaps  as  the  chief  of  saints  ;-  not  to  mention  the 
 impious  comparisons  that  were  made  between  him  and  some 
 saints,  and  the  preferences  that  were  given  to  them  beyond 
 him.  In  opposition  to  all  this,  the  Reformers  began,  as  they 
 ought  to  have  done,  at  the  laying  down  this  as  the  foundation 
 of  all  Christianity,  and  of  all  our  hopes, — that  we  were  recon- 
 ciled to  God  merely  through  his  mercy,  by  the  redemption  pur- 
 chased by  Jesus  Christ ;  and  that  a  firm  believing  the  gospel, 
 and  a  claiming  to  the  death  of  Christ  as  the  great  propitiation 
 for  our  sins,  according  to  the  terms  on  which  it  is  offered  us  in 
 the  gospel,  was  that  which  united  us  to  Christ ;  that  gave  us 
 an  interest  in  his  death,  and  thereby  justified  us.  If,  in  the 
 management  of  this  controversy,  there  was  not  so  critical  a 
 judgment  made  of  the  scope  of  several  passages  of  St  Paul's 
 Epistles,  and  if  the  dispute  became  afterwards  too  abstracted 
 and  metaphysical,  that  was  the  effect  of  the  infelicity  of  that 
 time,  and  was  the  natural  consequence  of  much  disputing  : 
 Therefore,  though  we  do  not  now  stand  to  all  the  arguments, 
 and  to  all  the  citations  and  illustrations  used  by  them ;  and 
 though  we  do  not  deny  but  that  many  of  the  writers  of  the 
 Church  of  Rome  came  insensibly  off  from  the  most  practical 
 errors  that  had  been  formerly  much  taught,  and  more  practised 
 among  them  :  and  that  this  matter  was  so  stated  by  many  of 
 them,  that,  as  to  the  main  of  it,  we  have  no  just  exceptions  to 
 it :  yet,  after  all,  this  beginning  of  the  Reformation  was  a  great 
 blessing  to  the  world,  and  has  proved  so  even  to  the  Church 
 of  Rome,  by  bringing  her  to  a  juster  sense  of  the  atonement 
 made  for  sins  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  and  by  taking  men  off 
 from  external  actions,  and  turning  them  to  consider  the  inward 
 acts  of  the  mind,  faith  and  repentance,  as  the  conditions  of 
 our  justification.  And  therefore  the  approbation  given  here  to 
 the  homily,  is  only  an  approbation  of  the  doctrine  asserted  and 
 proved  in  it ;  which  ought  not  to  be  carried  to  every  particular 
 of  the  proofs  or  explanations  that  are  in  it.  To  be  justified, 
 and  to  be  accounted  righteous,  stand  for  one  and  the  same  thing 
 in  the  Article ;  and  both  import  our  being  delivered  from  the 
 guilt  of  sin,  and  entitled  to  the  favour  of  God.  These  dirfer 
 from  God's  intending  from  all  eternity  to  save  us,  as  much  as 
 a  decree  differs  from  the  execution  of  it. 
 
 A  man  is  then  only  justified,  when  he  is  freed  from  wrath, 
 and  is  at  peace  with  God  :  and  though  this  is  freely  offered  to 
 us  in  the  gospel  through  Jesus  Christ,  yet  it  is  applied  to  none 
 but  to  such  as  come  within  those  qualifications  and  condition- 
 set  before  us  in  the  gospel.  That  God  pardons  sin,  and  re- 
 ceives us  into  favour  only  through  the  death  of  Christ,  is  so 
 fully  expressed  in  the  gospel,  as  was  already  made  out  upon 
 
154 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XI. 
 
 the  second  Article,  that  it  is  not  possible  to  doubt  of  it,  if  one 
 does  firmly  believe,  and  attentively  read  the  New  Testament. 
 Nor  is  it  less  evident,  that  it  is  not  offered  to  us  absolutely,  and 
 without  conditions  and  limitations.  These  conditions  are,  Re- 
 pentance, with  which  remission  of  sins  is  often  joined;  and 
 Faith,  but  a  faith  that  worketh  by  love,  that  purifies  the  heart, 
 and  that  keeps  the  commandments  of  God;  Gal.  v.  6.  Luke 
 xxiv.  47.  Acts  ii.  38. ;  such  a  faith  as  shews  itself  to  be  alive 
 by  good  works,  by  acts  of  charity,  and  every  act  of  obe- 
 dience; by  which  we  demonstrate,  that  we  truly  and  firmly 
 believe  the  divine  authority  of  our  Saviour  and  his  doctrine. 
 Such  a  faith  as  this  justifies,  but  not  as  it  is  a  work  or  meri- 
 torious action,  that  of  its  own  nature  puts  us  in  the  favour 
 of  God,  and  makes  us  truly  just;  but  as  it  is  the  condition 
 upon  which  the  mercy  of  God  is  offered  to  us  by  Christ  Jesus ; 
 for  then  we  correspond  to  his  design  of  coming  into  the  world, 
 that  he  might  redeem  us  from  all  iniquity,  that  is,  justify  us ;  and 
 purify  unto  himself  a  peculiar  people,  zealous  of  good  works, 
 Tit.  ii.  14.  that  is,  sanctify  us.  Upon  our  bringing  ourselves 
 therefore  under  these  qualifications  and  conditions,  we  are  ac- 
 tually in  the  favour  of  God ;  our  sins  are  pardoned,  and  we  are 
 entitled  to  eternal  life. 
 
 Our  faith  and  repentance  are  not  the  valuable  considerations 
 for  which  God  pardons  and  justifies ;  that  is  done  merely  for 
 the  death  of  Christ;  which  God  having  out  of  the  riches  of 
 his  grace  provided  for  us,  and  offered  to  us,  justification  is 
 upon  those  accounts  said  to  be  free there  being  nothing  on 
 our  part  which  either  did  or  could  have  procured  it.  But  still 
 our  faith,  which  includes  our  hope,  our  love,  our  repentance, 
 and  our  obedience,  is  the  condition  that  makes  us  capable  of 
 receiving  the  benefits  of  this  redemption  and  free  grace.  And 
 thus  it  is  clear  in  what  sense  we  believe  that  we  are  justified 
 both  freely  and  yet  through  Christ ;  and  also  through  faith, 
 as  the  condition  indispensably  necessary  on  our  part. 
 
 In  strictness  of  words,  we  are  not  justified  till  the  final  sen- 
 tence is  pronounced ;  till  upon  our  death  we  are  solemnly  ac- 
 quitted of  our  sins,  and  admitted  into  the  presence  of  God ;  this 
 being  that  which  is  opposite  to  condemnation :  yet  as  a  man,  who 
 is  in  that  state  that  must  end  in  condemnation,  is  said  to  be  con- 
 demned already,  and.  the  wrath  of  God  is  said  to  abide  upon  him, 
 John.  hi.  18.,  though  he  be  not  yet  adjudged  to  it;  so,  on  the 
 contrary,  a  man  in  that  state  which  must  end  in  the  full  en- 
 joyment of  God,  is  said  now  to  he  justified,  and  to  be  at  peace 
 with  God ;  because  he  not  only  has  the  promises  of  that  state 
 now  belonging  to  him,  when  he  does  perform  the  conditions 
 required  in  them ;  but  is  likewise  receiving  daily  marks  of 
 God's  favour,  the  protection  of  his  providence,  the  ministry  of 
 angels,  and  the  inward  assistances  of  his  grace  and  Spirit. 
 
Art.  XI. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 155 
 
 This  is  a  doctrine  full  of  comfort ;  for  if  we  did  believe 
 that  our  justification  was  founded  upon  our  inherent  justice, 
 or  sanctification,  as  the  consideration  on  which  we  receive  it, 
 we  should  have  just  cause  of  fear  and  dejection  ;  since  we  could 
 not  reasonably  promise  ourselves  so  great  a  blessing,  upon  so 
 poor  a  consideration  :  but  when  we  know  that  this  is  only  the 
 condition  of  it,  then,  when  we  feel  it  is  sincerely  received  and 
 believed,  and  carefully  observed  by  us,  we  may  conclude  that 
 we  are  justified  ;  but  we  are  by  no  means  to  think,  that  our 
 certain  persuasion  of  Christ's  having  died  for  us  in  particular, 
 or  the  certaintv  of  our  salvation  through  him,  is  an  act  of 
 saving  faith,  much  less  that  we  are  justified  by  it.  Many 
 things  have  been  too  crudely  said  upon  this  subject,  which  have 
 given  the  enemies  of  the  Reformation  great  advantages,  and 
 have  furnished  them  with  much  matter  of  reproach.  We  ought 
 to  believe  firmly,  that  Christ  died  for  all  penitent  and  convert- 
 ed sinners;  and  when  we  feel  these  characters  in  ourselves, 
 we  may  from  thence  justly  infer  that  he  died  for  us,  and  that 
 we  are  of  the  number  of  those  who  shall  be  saved  through  him  : 
 but  yet  if  we  may  fall  from  this  state  in  which  we  do  now  feel 
 ourselves,  we  may  and  must  likewise  forfeit  those  hopes ;  and 
 therefore  we  must  work  out  our  salvation  with  fear  and  trem- 
 bling. Our  believing  that  we  shall  be  saved  by  Christ,  is  no 
 act  of  divine  faith ;  since  every  act  of  faith  must  be  founded  on 
 some  divine  revelation :  it  is  only  a  collection  and  inference 
 that  we  may  make  from  this  general  proposition,  that  Christ 
 is  the  propitiation  for  the  sins  of  those  who  do  truly  repent 
 and  believe  his  gospel ;  and  from  those  reflections  and  obser- 
 vations that  we  make  on  ourselves,  by  which  we  conclude  that 
 we  do  truly  both  repent  and  believe. 
 
 ARTICLE  XII. 
 
 OF  GOOD  WORKS. 
 
 Albeit  that  Good  Works,  which  are  the  fruits  of  Faith,  and  fol- 
 low after  Justif  cation,  cannot  put  away  our  Sins,  and  endure 
 the  severity  of  God's  Judgment;  yet  are  they  pleasing  and 
 acceptable  to  God  and  Christ,  and  do  spring  out  necessarily 
 of  a  true  and  lively  Faith,  insomuch  that  by  them  a  lively  Faith 
 may  be  as  evidently  known,  as  a  Tree  discerned  by  the  fruit. 
 
 That  good  works  are  indispensably  necessary  to  salvation  ; 
 that  without  holiness  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord ;  is  so  fully  am! 
 frequently  expressed  in  the  Gospel,  that  no  doubt  can  be  made 
 
lo6 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XII. 
 
 of  it  by  any  who  reads  it :  and  indeed  a  greater  disparagement 
 to  the  Christian  religion  cannot  be  imagined,  than  to  propose 
 the  hopes  of  God's  mercy  and  pardon  barely  upon  believing, 
 without  a  life  suitable  to  the  rules  it  gives  us.  This  began 
 early  to  corrupt  the  theories  of  religion,  as  it  still  has  but  too 
 great  an  influence  upon  the  practice  of  it.  What  St  James 
 writ  upon  this  subject  must  put  an  end  to  all  doubting  about 
 it ;  and  whatever  subtilties  some  may  have  set  up,  to  separate 
 the  consideration  of  faith  from  a  holy  life,  in  the  point  of  just ifi- 
 cation,  yet  none  among  us  have  denied  that  it  was  absolutely  ne- 
 cessary to  salvation ;  and  so  it  be  owned  as  necessary,  it  is  a  nice 
 curiosity  to  examine  whether  it  is  of  itself  a  condition  of  justi- 
 fication, or  if  it  is  the  certain  distinction  and  constant  effect  of 
 that  faith  which  justifies.  These  are  speculations  of  very  little 
 consequence,  as  long  as  the  main  point  is  still  maintained — 
 that  Christ  came  to  bring  us  to  God,  to  change  our  natures,  to 
 mortify  the  old  man  in  us,  and  to  raise  up  and  restore  that 
 image  of  God  from  which  we  had  fallen  by  sin.  And  there- 
 fore, even  where  the  thread  of  men's  speculations  of  these  mat- 
 ters may  be  thought  too  fine,  and  in  some  points  of  them  wrong 
 drawn :  yet  so  long  as  this  foundation  is  preserved,  that  every 
 one  who  nameth  the  name  of  Christ  does  depart  from  iniquity, 
 2  Tim.  ii.  19.,  so  long  the  doctrine  of  Christ  is  preserved  pure 
 in  this  capital  and  fundamental  point. 
 
 There  do  arise  out  of  this  Article  only  two  points,  about 
 which  some  debates  have  been  made.  1st,  Whether  the  good 
 works  of  holy  men  are  in  themselves  so  perfect  that  they  can 
 endure  the  severity  of  God's  judgment,  so  that  there  is  no  mix- 
 ture of  imperfection  or  evil  in  them,  or  not  ?  The  Council  of 
 Trent  has  decreed,  that  men  by  their  good  works  have  so  fully 
 satisfied  the  law  of  God,  according  to  the  state  of  this  life,  that 
 nothing  is  wanting  to  them.  The  second  point  is,  Whether 
 these  good  works  are  of  their  own  nature  meritorious  of  eter- 
 nal life,  or  not  ?  The  Council  of  Trent  has  decreed  that  they 
 are ;  yet  a  long  softening  is  added  to  the  decree,  importing, 
 That  none  oug/it  to  glory  in  himself  but  in  the  Lord ;  whose 
 goodness  is  such,  that  he  makes  his  own  gifts  to  us  to  be  merit 
 in  us  :  and  it  adds,  That  because  in  many  things  we  offend  all, 
 every  one  ought  to  consider  the  justice  and  severity,  as  well  as 
 the  mercy  and  goodness  of  God ;  and  not  to  judge  himself,  even 
 though  he  should  know  nothing  by  himself  So  then  that  in 
 which  all  are  agreed  about  this  matter  is,  1.  That  our  works 
 cannot  be  good  or  acceptable  to  God  but  as  we  are  assisted  by 
 his  grace  and  Spirit  to  do  them ;  so  that  the  real  goodness  that 
 is  in  them  flows  from  those  assistances  which  enable  us  to  do 
 them.  2.  That  God  does  certainly  reward  good  works :  lie 
 has  promised  it,  and  he  is  faithful,  and  cannot  lie;  nor  is  he 
 unrighteous  to  Jorgct  our  labour  of  love.    So  the  favour  of  God 
 
Art.  XII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 157 
 
 and  eternal  happiness  is  the  reward  of  good  works,  Mention 
 is  also  made  of  a  full  reward of  the  reward  of  a  righteous  man, 
 and  of  a  prophet's  reward,  Matt.  x.  41,  42.  3.  That  this  re- 
 ward is  promised  in  the  gospel,  and  could  not  be  claimed  with- 
 out that,  by  any  antecedent  merit  founded  upon  equality  ;  since 
 our  light  affliction,  which  is  but  for  a  moment,  worketh  for  us  a 
 far  more  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  glory,  2  Cor.  iv.  17. 
 
 The  points  in  which  we  differ  are,  1.  Whether  the  good 
 works  of  holy  men  are  so  perfect,  that  there  is  no  defect  in 
 them;  or  whether  there  is  still  some  such  defect  mixed  with 
 them,  that  there  is  occasion  for  mercy,  to  pardon  somewhat 
 even  in  good  men  ?  Those  of  the  Church  of  Rome  think  that 
 a  work  cannot  be  called  good,  if  it  is  not  entirely  good;  and 
 that  nothing  can  please  God  in  which  there  is  a  mixture  of 
 sin :  whereas  we,  according  to  the  Article,  believe  that  human 
 nature  is  so  weak  and  so  degenerated,  that  as  far  as  our  natural 
 powers  concur  in  any  action,  there  is  still  some  allay  in  it;  and 
 that  a  good  work  is  considered  by  God  according  to  the  main 
 both  of  the  action  and  of  the  intention  of  him  that  does  it ;  and 
 as  a  father  pities  his  children,  so  God  passes  over  the  defects 
 of  those  who  serve  him  sincerely,  though  not  perfectly.  The 
 imaginations  of  the  heart  of  man  are  only  evil  continually,  Gen. 
 vi.  5. :  In  many  things  we  offend  all,  says  St  James,  (iii.  2.) ;  and 
 St  Paul  reckons  that  he  had  not  yet  apprehended,  but  was  for- 
 getting the  things  behind,  and  reaching  to  those  before,  and  still 
 pressing  forward,  Phil.  iii.  13,  14. 
 
 We  see,  in  fact,  that  the  best  men  in  all  ages  have  been  com- 
 plaining and  humbling  themselves  even  for  the  sins  of  their 
 holy  things,  for  their  vanity  and  desire  of  glory,  for  the  distrac- 
 tion of  their  thoughts  in  devotion,  and  for  the  affection  which 
 they  bore  to  earthly  things.  It  were  a  doctrine  of  great  cruelty, 
 which  might  drive  men  to  despair,  if  they  thought  that  no  action 
 could  please  God,  in  which  they  were  conscious  to  themselves  of 
 some  imperfection  or  sin.  The  midwives  of  Egypt  feared  God, 
 yet  they  excused  themselves  by  a  lie :  but  God  accepted  of 
 what  was  good,  and  passed  over  what  was  amiss  in  them,  and 
 built  them  houses,  Exod.  i.  21.  St  Austin  urges  this  frequently, 
 that  our  Saviour,  in  teaching  us  to  pray,  has  made  this  a  stand- 
 ing petition,  Forgive  us  our  trespasses,  as  well  as  that,  Give 
 us  this  day  our  daily  bread ;  for  we  sin  daily,  and  do  always 
 need  a  pardon.  Upon  these  reasons  we  conclude,  that  some- 
 what of  the  man  enters  into  all  that  men  do :  we  are  made  up 
 of  infirmities,  and  we  need  the  intercession  of  Christ,  to  make 
 our  best  actions  to  be  accepted  of  by  God :  For  if  he  should 
 straitly  mark  iniquity,  who  can  stand  before  him  ?  but  mercy 
 is  with  him,  and  forgiveness,  Psal.  exxx.  3,  4.  So  that  with 
 Hezekiah  we  ought  to  pray,  that  though  we  are  not  purified 
 according  to  the  purification  of  the  sanctuary,  yet  the  good  Lord 
 
158 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XII. 
 
 would  pardon  every  one  that  prepareth  his  heart  to  seek  God, 
 2  Chron.  xxx.  18,  19. 
 
 The  second  question  arises  out  of  this,  concerning  the  merit 
 of  good  works :  for  upon  the  supposition  of  their  being  com- 
 pletely good,  that  merit  is  founded;  which  will  be  acknow- 
 ledged to  be  none  at  all,  if  it  is  believed  that  there  are  such 
 defects  in  them  that  they  need  a  pardon ;  since  where  there 
 is  guilt,  there  can  be  no  pretension  to  merit.  The  word  merit 
 has  also  a  sound  that  is  so  daring,  so  little  suitable  to  the  humi- 
 lity of  a  creature,  to  be  used  towards  a  Being  of  infinite  majesty, 
 and  with  relation  to  endless  rewards,  that  though  we  do  not 
 deny  but  that  a  sense  is  given  to  it  by  many  of  the  Church  of 
 Rome  to  which  no  just  exception  can  be  made,  yet  there  seems 
 to  be  somewhat  too  bold  in  it,  especially  when  condignity  is 
 added  to  it :  and  since  this  may  naturally  give  us  an  idea  of  a 
 buying  and  selling  with  God,  and  that  there  has  been  a  great 
 deal  of  this  put  in  practice,  it  is  certain  that  on  many  respects 
 this  word  ought  not  to  have  been  made  use  of.  There  is  some- 
 what in  the  nature  of  man  apt  to  swell  and  to  raise  itself  out  of 
 measure,  and  to  that  no  indulgence  ought  to  be  given  in  words 
 that  may  flatter  it;  for  we  ought  to  subdue  this  temper  by  all 
 means  possible,  both  in  ourselves  and  others.  On  the  other 
 hand,  though  we  confess  that  there  is  a  disorder  and  weakness 
 that  hangs  heavy  upon  us,  and  that  sticks  close  to  us,  yet  this 
 ought  not  to  make  us  indulge  ourselves  in  our  sins,  as  if  they 
 were  the  effects  of  an  infirmity  that  is  inseparable  from  us. 
 To  consent  to  any  sin,  if  it  were  ever  so  small  in  itself,  is  a 
 very  great  sin :  we  ought  to  go  on,  still  cleansing  ourselves  more 
 and  more  from  all  Jilthiness  both  of  the  flesh  and  of  the  spirit, 
 and  perfecting  holiness  in  the  fear  of  God,  2  Cor.  vii.  1.  Our 
 readiness  to  sin  should  awaken  both  our  diligence  to  watch 
 against  it,  and  our  humility  under  it.  For  though  we  grow 
 not  up  to  a  pitch  of  being  above  all  sin,  and  of  absolute  per- 
 fection, yet  there  are  many  degrees  both  of  purity  and  perfection 
 to  which  we  may  arrive,  and  to  which  we  must  constantly  aspire. 
 So  that  we  must  keep  a  just  temper  in  this  matter,  neither  to 
 ascribe  so  much  to  our  own  works  as  to  be  lifted  up  by  reason 
 of  them,  or  to  forget  our  daily  need  of  a  Saviour  both  for  par- 
 don and  intercession ;  nor  on  the  other  hand  so  far  to  neglect 
 them,  as  to  take  no  care  about  them.  The  due  temper  is  to 
 make  our  calliiig  and  election  sure,  and  to  work  out  our  own 
 salvation  with  fear  and  trembling,  Phil.  ii.  12.;  but  to  do  all 
 in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  ever  trusting  to  him,  and  giving 
 thanks  to  God  by  him,  Col.  iii.  17. 
 
Art.  XIII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 1 59 
 
 ARTICLE  XIII. 
 
 OF  WORKS  BEFORE  JUSTIFICATION. 
 
 Works  done  before  the  Grace  of  Christ,  and  the  Inspiration  of 
 his  Spirit,  are  not  pleasant  to  God;  forasmuch  as  they  spring 
 not  of  Faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  neither  do  they  make  men  meet 
 to  receive  Grace,  or  (as  the  School- Authors  say)  deserve 
 Grace  of  Congruity:  Yea  rather,  for  that  they  are  not  done 
 as  God  hath  commanded  and  willed  them  to  be  done,  xsoe  doubt 
 not  but  that  they  have  the  nature  of  Sin. 
 
 There  is  but  one  point  to  be  considered  in  this  Article, 
 which  is,  whether  men  can,  without  any  inward  assistances  from 
 God,  do  any  action  that  shall  be  in  all  its  circumstances  so  * 
 good,  that  it  is  not  only  acceptable  to  God,  but  meritorious  in 
 his  sight,  though  in  a  lower  degree  of  merit.  If  what  was  for- 
 merly laid  down  concerning  a  corruption  that  was  spread  over 
 the  whole  race  of  mankind,  and  that  had  very  much  vitiated 
 their  faculties,  be  true,  then  it  will  follow  from  thence,  that 
 unassisted  nature  can  do  nothing  that  is  so  good  in  itself  that 
 it  can  be  pleasant  or  meritorious  in  the  sight  of  God.  A  great 
 difference  is  here  to  be  made  between  an  external  action  as  it 
 is  considered  in  itself,  and  the  same  action  as  it  was  done  by 
 such  a  man.  An  action  is  called  good,  from  the  morality  and 
 nature  of  the  action  itself;  so  actions  of  justice  and  charity  are 
 in  themselves  good,  whatsoever  the  doer  of  them  may  be  :  but 
 actions  are  considered  by  God  with  relation  to  him  that  does 
 them,  in  another  light ;  his  principles,  ends,  and  motives,  with 
 all  the  other  circumstances  of  the  action,  come  into  this  ac- 
 count ;  for  unless  all  these  be  good,  let  the  action  in  its  own 
 abstracted  nature  be  ever  so  good,  it  cannot  render  the  doer 
 acceptable  or  meritorious  in  the  sight  of  God. 
 
 Another  distinction  is  also  to  be  made  between  the  methods 
 of  the  goodness  and  mercy  of  God,  and  the  strictness  of  jus- 
 tice :  for  if  God  had  such  regard  to  the  feigned  humiliation  of 
 Ahab,  as  to  grant  him  and  his  family  a  reprieve  for  some  time 
 from  those  judgments  that  had  been  denounced  against  them 
 and  him,  (1  Kings  xxi.  29.) ;  and  if  Jehu's  executing  the  com- 
 mands of  God  upon  Ahab's  family,  and  upon  the  worshippers 
 of  Baal,  procured  him  the  blessing  of  a  long  continuance  of  the 
 kingdom  in  his  family,  (2  Kings  x.  30,  31.),  though  he  acted  in  it 
 with  a  bad  design,  and  retained  still  the  idolatry  of  the  calves 
 set  up  by  Jeroboam;  then  we  have  all  reason  to  conclude,  ac- 
 cording to  the  infinite  mercy  and  goodness  of  God,  that  no 
 man  is  rejected  by  him,  or  denied  inward  assistances,  that  is 
 
160 
 
 AN  EXrOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XIII. 
 
 making  the  most  of  his  faculties,  and  doing  the  best  that  he 
 can ;  but  that  he  who  is  faithful  in  his  little,  shall  be  made 
 ruler  over  more. 
 
 The  question  is  only,  whether  such  actions  can  be  so  pure 
 as  to  be  free  from  all  sin,  and  to  merit  at  God's  hand  as  being 
 works  naturally  perfect  ?  For  that  is  the  formal  notion  of  the 
 merit  of  congruity,  as  the  notion  of  the  merit  of  condignity  is, 
 that  the  work  is  perfect  in  the  supernatural  order. 
 
 To  establish  the  truth  of  this  Article,  beside  what  was  said 
 upon  the  head  of  original  sin,  we  ought  to  consider  what  St 
 Paul's  words  in  the  viith  of  the  Romans  do  import.  Nothing 
 was  urged  from  them  on  the  former  Articles,  because  there  is 
 just  ground  of  doubting  whether  St  Paul  is  there  speaking  of 
 himself  in  the  state  he  was  in  when  he  writ  it,  or  whether  he  is 
 personating  a  Jew,  and  speaking  of  himself  as  he  was  while  yet 
 a  Jew.  But  if  the  words  are  taken  in  that  lowest  sense,  they 
 prove  this,  that  an  unregenerate  man  has  in  himself  such  a 
 principle  of  corruption,  that  even  a  good  and  a  holy  law  re- 
 vealed to  him  cannot  reform  it ;  but  that,  on  the  contrary,  it 
 will  take  occasion  from  that  very  law  to  deceive  him,  and  to  slay 
 him,  Rom.  vii.  11.  So  that  all  the  benefit  that  he  receives  even 
 from  that  revelation  is,  that  sin  in  him  becomes  exceeding  sinfid, 
 ver.  13.,  as  being  done  against  such  a  degree  of  light,  by  which 
 it  appears  that  he  is  carnal,  and  sold  under  sin,  ver.  14. ;  and 
 that  though  his  understanding  may  be  enlightened  by  the  re- 
 velation of  the  law  of  God  made  to  him,  so  that  he  has  some 
 inclinations  to  obey  it,  yet  he  does  not  that  which  he  would,  but 
 that  which  he  would  not ;  and  though  his  mind  is  so  far  con- 
 vinced, that  he  consents  to  the  law  that  it  is  good,  yet  he  still 
 does  that  which  he  woidd  not,  ver.  16. ;  which  was  the  effect  of 
 sin  that  dwelt  in  him,  ver.  17. :  and  from  hence  he  knew,  that 
 in  him,  that  is  in  his  flesh,  in  his  carnal  part  or  carnal  state, 
 there  dwelt  no  good  thing,  ver.  18. ;  for  though  to  will,  that  is, 
 to  resolve  on  obeying  the  law,  was  present,  yet  he  found  not  a 
 way  how  to  perform  that  which  was  good:  the  good  that  he 
 wished  to  do,  that  he  did  not;  but  he  did  the  evil  that  he 
 wished  not  to  do ;  which  he  imputed  to  the  sin  that  dwelt  in 
 him.  He  found  then  a  law,  a  bent  and  bias  within  him,  that 
 when  he  wished,  resolved,  and  endeavoured  to  do  good,  evil 
 was  present  with  him,  ver.  21.,  it  sprung  up  naturally  within 
 him ;  for  though  in  his  rational  powers  he  might  so  far  ap- 
 prove the  law  of  God  as  to  delight  in  it,  yet  he  found  ano- 
 ther law  arising  upon  his  mind  from  his  body,  which  warred 
 against  the  law  of  his  mind,  and  brought  him  into  captivity  to 
 the  law  of  sin  which  was  in  his  members,  ver.  23. :  all  this  made 
 him  conclude,  that  he  was  carnal,  and  sold  under  sin;  and  cry 
 out,  O  wretched  man  that  I  am,  who  shall  deliver  me  from  the 
 body  of  this  death?  ver.  24.    For  this  he  thanks  God,  through 
 
Art.  XIII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 1(31 
 
 our  Lord  Jesus  Christ :  and  he  sums  all  up  in  these  words,  So 
 then,  with  the  mind  I  myself  serve  the  law  of  God,  but  with  the 
 Jiesh  the  laiv  of  sin,  ver.  25. 
 
 If  all  this  discourse  is  made  by  St  Paul  of  himself,  when  he 
 had  the  light  which  a  divinely  inspired  law  gave  him,  he  being 
 educated  in  the  exactest  way  of  that  religion,  both  zealous  for 
 the  law,  and  blameless  in  his  own  observance  of  it ;  we  may 
 from  thence  conclude,  how  little  reason  there  is  to  believe  that 
 a  heathen,  or  indeed  an  unregenerated  man,  can  be  better  than 
 he  was,  and  do  actions  that  are  both  good  in  themselves,  which 
 it  is  not  denied  but  that  he  may  do,  and  do  them  in  such  a 
 manner  that  there  shall  be  no  mixture  or  imperfection  in  them, 
 but  that  they  shall  be  perfect  in  a  natural  order,  and  be  by 
 consequence  meritorious  in  a  secondary  order. 
 
 By  all  this  we  do  not  pretend  to  say,  that  a  man  in  that 
 state  can  do  nothing ;  or  that  he  has  no  use  of  his  faculties : 
 he  can  certainly  restrain  himself  on  many  occasions ;  he  can 
 do  many  good  works,  and  avoid  many  bad  ones  ;  he  can  raise 
 his  understanding  to  know  and  consider  things  according  to 
 the  light  that  he  has ;  he  can  put  himself  in  good  methods  and 
 good  circumstances ;  he  can  pray,  and  do  many  acts  of  devo- 
 tion, which  though  they  are  all  very  imperfect,  yet  none  of 
 them  will  be  lost  in  the  sight  of  God,  who  certainly  will  never 
 be  wanting  to  those  who  are  doing  what  in  them  lies  to  make ' 
 themselves  the  proper  objects  of  his  mercy,  and  fit  subjects  for 
 his  grace  to  work  upon.  Therefore  this  Article  is  not  to  be 
 made  use  of  to  discourage  men's  endeavours,  but  only  to  in- 
 crease their  humility ;  to  teach  them  not  to  think  of  themselves 
 above  measure,  but  soberly ;  to  depend  always  on  the  mercy  of 
 God,  and  ever  to  fly  to  it. 
 
 ARTICLE  XIV. 
 
 OF  WORKS   OF  SUPEREROGATION. 
 
 Voluntary  Works,  besides,  over  and  above  God's  Commandments, 
 which  they  call  Works  of  Supererogation,  cannot  be  taught 
 without  Arrogancy  and  Impiety.  For  by  them  Men  do  de- 
 clare, That  they  do  not  only  render  unto  God  as  much  as 
 they  are  bound  to  do :  but  that  they  do  more  for  his  sake  than 
 of  boundcu  Duty  is  required :  Whereas  Christ  saith  plainly, 
 when  ye  have  done  all  that  are  commanded  to  you,  say,  We 
 are  unprofitable  Servants. 
 
 There  are  two  points  that  arise  out  of  this  Article  to  be 
 considered, —  1st,  Whether  there  are  in  the  New  Testament 
 
 L 
 
162 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XIV. 
 
 counsels  of  perfection  given ;  that  is  to  say,  such  rules,  which 
 do  not  oblige  all  men  to  follow  them  under  the  pain  of  sin, 
 (Luke  xvii.  10.),  but  yet  are  useful  to  carry  them  on  to  a  sub- 
 limer  degree  of  perfection  than  is  necessary  in  order  to  their 
 salvation :  2d,  Whether  men  by  following  these  do  not  more 
 than  they  are  bound  to  do,  and  by  consequence,  whether  they 
 have  not  thereby  a  stock  of  merit  to  communicate  to  others. 
 The  first  of  these  leads  to  the  second ;  for  if  there  are  no  such 
 counsels,  then  the  foundation  of  Supererogation  fails. 
 
 We  deny  both  upon  this  ground,  that  the  great  obligations 
 of  loving  God  with  all  our  heart,  soul,  strength,  and  mind,  and 
 our  neighbour  as  otirselves,  which  are  reckoned  by  our  Saviour 
 the  two  great  Commandments  on  which  hang  all  the  Law  and 
 the  Prophets,  (Matt.  xxii.  36 — 40.),  are  of  that  extent,  that  it 
 seems  not  possible  to  imagine  how  any  thing  can  be  acceptable 
 to  God  that  does  not  fall  within  them.  Since,  if  it  is  acceptable 
 to  God,  then  that  obligation  to  love  God  so  entirely  must  bind 
 us  to  it ;  for  if  it  is  a  sin  not  to  love  God  up  to  this  pitch,  then 
 it  is  a  sin  not  to  do  every  thing  that  we  imagine  will  please 
 him  :  and  by  consequence,  if  there  is  a  degree  of  pleasing  God, 
 whether  precept  or  counsel,  that  we  do  not  study  to  attain  to, 
 we  do  not  love  him  in  a  manner  suitable  to  that.  It  seems  a 
 great  many  in  the  Church  of  Rome  are  aware  of  this  conse- 
 quence, and  therefore  they  have  taken  much  pains  to  convince 
 the  world  that  we  are  not  bound  to  love  God  at  all,  or,  as 
 others  more  cautiously  word  it,  that  we  are  only  bound  to  value 
 him  above  all  things,  but  not  to  have  a  love  of  such  a  vast 
 intention  for  him.  This  is  a  proposition  that,  after  all  their 
 softening  it,  gives  so  much  horror  to  every  Christian,  that  I 
 need  not  be  at  any  pains  to  confute  it. 
 
 We  are  farther  required  in  the  New  Testament,  to  cleanse 
 ourselves  from  all  Jilthiness  both  of  the  flesh  and  spirit,  perfect- 
 ing holiness  in  the  fear  of  God,  2  Cor.  vii.  1.;  and  to  reckon 
 ourselves  his,  and  not  our  own,  and  that  we  are  bought  with  a 
 price;  and  that  therefore  we  ought  to  glorify  him  both  in  our 
 bodies  and  in  our  spirits,  which  are  his,  1  Cor.  vi.  20.  These 
 and  many  more  like  expressions  are  plainly  precepts  of  general 
 obligation,  for  nothing  can  be  set  forth  in  more  positive  words 
 than  these  are :  and  it  is  not  easy  to  imagine  how  any  thing 
 can  go  beyond  them;  for  if  we  are  Christ's  property,  pur- 
 chased by  him,  then  we  ought  to  apply  ourselves  to  every  thing 
 in  which  his  honour,  or  the  honour  of  his  religion,  can  be  con- 
 cerned, or  which  will  be  pleasing  to  him. 
 
 Our  Saviour  having  charged  the  Pharisees  so  often  for  add- 
 ing  so  many  of  their  ordinances  to  the  laws  of  God,  teaching 
 his  fear  by  the  precepts  of  men,  and  the  Apostles  condemning  a 
 shew  of  will-worship  and  voluntary  humility,  (Col.  ii.  18.),  seem 
 to  belong  to  this  matter,  and  to  be  designed  on  purpose  to 
 
Art.  XIV.  THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES.  163 
 
 repress  the  pride  and  singularities  of  affected  hypocrites.  Our 
 Saviour  said  to  him  that  asked  what  he  should  do  that  he  might 
 have  eternal  life?  Keep  the  Commandments,  Matt.  xix.  16,  17. 
 These  words  I  do  the  rather  cite,  because  they  are  followed 
 with  a  passage  that,  of  all  others  in  the  New  Testament,  seems 
 to  look  the  likest  a  counsel  of  perfection ;  for  when  he  who 
 made  the  question  replied,  upon  our  Saviour's  answer,  that 
 he  had  kept  all  these  from  his  youth  up,  and  added,  what  lack  I 
 yet?  to  that  our  Saviour  answered,  If  thou  wilt  be  perfect,  go 
 sell  all  that  thou  hast,  and  give  to  the  poor,  and  thou  shalt  have 
 treasure  in  heaven  ;  and  come  and follow  me,  Matt.  xix.  20,  21.  : 
 and  by  the  words  that  follow,  of  the  difficulty  of  a  rich  man's 
 entering  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  this  is  more  fully  explain- 
 ed. The  meaning  of  all  that  whole  passage  is  this : — Christ 
 called  that  person  to  abandon  all,  and  come  and  follow  him, 
 in  such  a  manner  as  he  had  called  his  Apostles.  So  that  here 
 is  no  counsel,  but  a  positive  command  given  to  that  particular 
 person  upon  this  occasion.  By  perfect  is  only  to  be  meant  com- 
 plete, in  order  to  that  to  which  he  pretended,  which  was  eter- 
 nal life.  And  that  also  explains  the  word  in  that  period, 
 treasures  in  heaven,  another  expression  for  eternal  life,  to  com- 
 pensate the  loss  which  he  would  have  made  by  the  sale  of  his 
 possessions.  So  that  here  is  no  counsel,  but  a  special  com- 
 mand given  to  this  person,  in  order  to  his  own  attaining  eternal 
 
 Hfe, 
 
 Nor  is  it  to  be  inferred  from  hence,  that  this  is  proposed'  to 
 others  in  the  way  of  a  counsel ;  for  as  in  cases  either  of  a  fa- 
 mine or  persecution,  it  may  come  to  be  to  some  a  command 
 to  sell  all  in  order  to  the  relief  of  others,  as  it  was  in  the  first 
 beginnings  of  Christianity ;  so  in  ordinary  cases  to  do  it,  might 
 be  rather  a  tempting  of  Providence  than  a  trusting  to  it,  for 
 then  a  man  should  part  with  the  means  of  his  subsistence, 
 which  God  has  provided  for  him,  without  a  necessary  and 
 pressing  occasion.  Therefore  our  Saviour's  words,  Sell  that 
 ye  have,  and  give  alms,  Luke  xii.  33.,  as  they  are  delivered 
 in  the  strain  and  peremptoriness  of  a  command,  so  they  must 
 be  understood  to  bind  as  positive  commands  do ; — not  so  con- 
 stantly as  a  negative  command  does,  since  in  every  minute  of 
 our  life  that  binds ;  but  there  is  a  rule  and  order  in  our  obey- 
 ing positive  commands.  We  must  not  rest  on  the  Sabbath 
 day,  if  a  work  of  necessity  or  charity  calls  us  to  put  to  our 
 hands :  we  must  not  obey  our  parents  in  disobeying  a  public- 
 law  :  so  if  we  have  families,  or  the  necessities  of  a  feeble  body 
 and  a  weak  constitution,  for  which  God  hath  supplied  us  with 
 that  which  will  afford  us  food  convenient  for  us,  (Prov.  xxx.  8.), 
 we  must  not  throw  up  those  provisions,  and  cast  ourselves 
 upon  others.    Therefore  that  precept  must  be  moderated  and 
 
164 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XIV. 
 
 expounded,  so  as  to  agree  with  the  other  rules  and  orders  that 
 God  has  set  us. 
 
 A  distinction  is  therefore  to  be  made  between  those  things 
 that  do  universally  and  equally  bind  all  mankind,  and  those 
 things  that  do  more  specially  bind  some  sorts  of  men,  and  that 
 only  at  some  times.  There  are  greater  degrees  of  charity, 
 gravity,  and  all  other  virtues,  to  which  the  Clergy  for  instance 
 are  more  bound  than  other  men ;  but  these  are  to  them  pre- 
 cepts, and  not  counsels.  And  in  the  first  beginnings  of  Chris- 
 tianity there  were  greater  obligations  laid  upon  all  Christians, 
 as  well  as  greater  gifts  were  bestowed  on  them.  It  is  true,  in 
 the  point  of  marriage,  St  Paul  does  plainly  allow,  that  such  as 
 marry  do  well,  bid  that  such  as  marry  not  do  better,  1  Cor.  vii. 
 38. :  but  the  meaning  of  that  is  not  as  if  an  unmarried  life  were 
 a  state  of  perfection,  beyond  that  which  a  man  is  obliged  to ; 
 but  only  this — that  as  to  the  course  of  this  life,  and  the  present 
 distress,  and  as  to  the  judgment  that  is  to  be  made  of  men  by 
 their  actions,  no  man  is  to  be  thought  to  do  amiss  who  marries ; 
 but  yet  he  who  marries  not,  is  to  be  judged  to  do  better.  But 
 yet  inwardly  and  before  God  this  matter  may  be  far  otherwise ; 
 for  he  who  marries  not  and  burns,  certainly  does  worse  than 
 he  who  marries  and  lives  chastely.  But  he  who,  finding  that 
 he  can  limit  himself  without  endangering  his  purity,  though 
 no  law  restrains  him  from  marrying,  yet  seeing  that  he  is  like 
 to  be  tempted  to  be  too  careful  about  the  concerns  of  this  life 
 if  he  marries,  is  certainly  under  obligations  to  follow  that  course 
 of  life  in  which  there  are  fewer  temptations,  and  greater  oppor- 
 tunities to  attend  on  the  service  of  God. 
 
 With  relation  to  outward  actions,  and  to  the  judgments  that 
 from  visible  appearances  are  to  be  made  of  them,  some  actions 
 may  be  said  to  be  better  than  others,  which  yet  are  truly  good  : 
 but  as  to  the  particular  obligations  that  every  man  is  under, 
 with  relation  to  his  own  state  and  circumstances,  and  for  which 
 he  must  answer  at  the  last  day,  these  being  secret,  and  so  not 
 subject  to  the  judgments  of  men,  certainly  every  man  is  strictly 
 bound  to  do  the  best  he  can ;  to  choose  that  course  of  life  in 
 which  he  thinks  he  may  do  the  best  services  to  God  and  man. 
 Nor  are  these  free  to  him  to  choose  or  not ;  he  is  under  obli- 
 gations, and  he  sins  if  he  sees  a  more  excellent  thing  that  he 
 might  have  done,  and  contents  himself  with  a  lower  or  less 
 valuable  thing.  St  Paul  had  wherein  to  glory;  for  whereas  it 
 was  lawful  for  him  as  an  Apostle  to  suffer  the  Corinthians  to 
 supply  him  in  temporals,  when  he  was  serving  them  in  spi- 
 ritual things ;  yet  he  chose  rather,  for  the  honour  of  the  gos- 
 pel, and  to  take  away  all  occasion  of  censure  from  those  who 
 sought  for  it,  to  work  with  his  own  hands,  and  not  to  be  bur- 
 densome to  them,  Acts  xx.  34.  1  Cor.  ix.  18.  2  Cor.  xii.  13.  But 
 in  that  state  of  things,  though  there  was  no  law  or  outward 
 
Art.  XIV. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 165 
 
 obligation  upon  him  to  spare  them,  he  was  under  an  inward  law 
 of  doing  all  things  to  the  glory  of  God ;  and  by  this  law  he  was 
 as  much  bound  as  if  there  had  been  an  outward  compulsory 
 law  lying  upon  him. 
 
 This  distinction  is  to  be  remembered,  between  such  an  ob- 
 ligation as  arises  out  of  a  man's  particular  circumstances,  and 
 such  other  motives  as  can  be  only  known  to  a  man  himself,  and 
 such  an  obligation  as  may  be  fastened  on  him  by  stated  and 
 general  rules:  he  may  be  absolutely  free  from  the  latter  of 
 these,  and  yet  be  secretly  bound  by  those  inward  and  stronger 
 constraints  of  the  love  of  God  and  zeal  for  his  glory.  Enough 
 seems  to  be  said  to  prove  that  there  are  no  counsels  of  perfec- 
 tion in  the  Gospel ;  that  all  the  rules  set  to  us  in  it  are  in  the 
 style  and  form  of  precepts ;  and  that,  though  there  may  be  some 
 actions  of  more  heroical  virtue,  and  more  sublime  piety,  than 
 others,  to  which  all  men  are  not  obliged  by  equal  or  general 
 rules,  yet  such  men,  to  whose  circumstances  and  station  they 
 do  belong,  are  strictly  obliged  by  them,  so  that  they  should  sin 
 if  they  did  not  put  them  in  practice. 
 
 This  being  thus  made  out,  the  foundation  of  works  of  su- 
 pererogation is  destroyed.  But  if  it  should  be  acknowledged 
 that  there  were  such  counsels  of  perfection  in  the  Scripture, 
 there  are  still  two  other  clear  proofs  to  shew,  that  there  can  be 
 no  such  thing  as  supererogating  with  God.  First,  every  man 
 not  only  has  sinned,  but  has  still  so  much  corruption  about 
 him,  as  to  feel  the  truth  of  that  of  St  James,  in  many  things  we 
 offend  all,  James  iii.  2.  Now,  unless  it  can  be  supposed  that, 
 b}T  obeying  those  counsels,  a  man  can  compensate  with  Al- 
 mighty God  for  his  sins,  there  is  no  ground  to  think  that  he 
 can  supererogate.  He  must  first  clear  his  own  score,  before 
 he  can  imagine  that  any  thing  upon  his  account  can  be  for- 
 given or  imputed  to  another :  and  if  the  guilt  of  sin  is  eternal, 
 and  the  pretended  merit  of  obeying  counsels  is  only  temporary, 
 no  temporary  merit  can  take  off  an  eternal  guilt.  So  that  it 
 must  first  be  supposed,  that  a  man  both  is  and  has  been  per- 
 fect as  to  the  precepts  of  obligation,  before  it  can  be  thought 
 that  he  should  have  an  overplus  of  merit. 
 
 The  other  clear  argument  from  Scripture  against  works  of 
 supererogation  is,  that  there  is  nothing  in  the  whole  New  Tes- 
 tament that  does  in  any  sort  favour  them  :  we  are  always  taught 
 to  trust  to  the  mercies  of  God,  and  to  the  death  and  interces- 
 sion of  Christ,  and  to  work  out  our  own  salvation  with  fear  and 
 trembling,  Phil.  ii.  12. ;  but  we  are  never  once  directed  to  look 
 for  any  help  from  saints,  or  to  think  that  we  can  do  any  thing 
 for  another  man's  soul  in  this  way.  The  Psalm  (xlix.  7.)  has 
 it,  No  man  can  by  any  means  give  a  ransom  for  his  brother's 
 soul :  the  words  of  Christ  cited  in  the  Article  are  full  and  ex- 
 press against  it. 
 
166 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Akt.  XIV. 
 
 The  words  in  the  parable  of  the  five  foolish  virgins  and  the 
 five  wise,  may  seem  to  favour  it,  but  they  really  contradict  it ; 
 for  it  was  the  foolish  virgins  that  desired  the  wise  to  give  them 
 of  their  oil ;  which  if  any  will  apply  to  a  supposed  communi- 
 cation of  merit,  they  ought  to  consider  that  the  proposition  is 
 made  by  the  foolish,  and  the  answer  of  the  wise  virgins  is  full 
 against  it:  Not  so,  lest  there  be  not  enough  for  lis  and  you, 
 Matt.  xxv.  9.  What  follows,  of  bidding  them  go  to  them  that 
 sell,  and  buy  for  themselves,  is  only  a  piece  of  the  fiction  of  the 
 parable,  which  cannot  enter  into  any  part  of  the  application  of 
 it.  What  St  Paul  says  of  his  filling  up  that  which  was  be- 
 hind of  the  afflictions  of  Christ  in  his  flesh,  for  his  body's  sake, 
 which  is  the  Church,  (Col.  i.  24.),  is,  as  appears  by  the  words 
 that  follow,  whereof  I  am  made  a  minister,  only  applicable  to 
 the  edification  that  the  Church  received  from  the  sufferings 
 of  the  Apostles;  it  being  a  great  confirmation  to  them  of 
 the  truth  of  the  gospel,  when  those  who  preached  it  suffered 
 so  constantly  and  so  patiently  for  it;  by  which  they  both 
 confirmed  what  they  had  preached,  and  set  an  example  to 
 others  of  adhering  firmly  to  it.  And  since  Christ  is  related  to 
 his  Church,  as  a  head  to  the  members,  it  is  in  some  sort  his 
 suffering  himself,  when  his  members  suffer :  and  that  confor- 
 mity which  they  ought  to  express  to  him  as  their  head,  was 
 necessary  to  make  up  the  due  proportion  that  ought  to  be 
 between  the  head  and  the  members.  So  St  Paul  rejoiced  in 
 his  being  made  conformable  to  him :  and  this,  as  it  is  a  sense 
 that  the  words  will  well  bear,  so  it  is  certain  they  are  capable 
 of  no  other  sense ;  for  if  the  sufferings  of  the  Apostles  were 
 meritorious  in  behalf  of  the  other  Christians,  some  plain  ac- 
 count must  have  been  given  of  this  in  the  New  Testament,  at 
 least  to  do  honour  to  the  memory  of  such  Apostles  as  had  then 
 died  for  the  faith.  If  it  is  suggested,  that  the  living  Apostles 
 were  too  modest  to  claim  it  to  themselves,  that  will  not  satisfy ; 
 all  runs  quite  in  a  contrary  style — the  mercies  of  God  and  the 
 blood  of  Christ  being  always  repeated,  whereas  these  are  never 
 once  named.  Now,  to  imagine  that  there  can  be  any  thing  of 
 such  great  use  to  us,  in  which  the  Scripture  should  be  not  only 
 silent,  but  should  run  in  a  strain  totally  different  from  it,  is 
 not  conceivable ;  for  if  in  any  thing,  the  gospel  ought  to  be 
 full  and  explicit  in  all  that  which  concerns  our  peace  and  re- 
 conciliation with  God,  and  the  means  of  our  escaping  his  wrath, 
 and  obtaining  his  favour. 
 
 There  is  another  doctrine  that  does  also  belong  to  this  head, 
 which  is  Purgatory,  that  is  not  to  be  entered  on  here,  but  is 
 referred  to  its  proper  place.  Thus  it  appears,  how  ill  this 
 doctrine  of  works  of  supererogation  is  founded ;  and  upon  how 
 many  accounts  it  is  evidently  false :  and  yet  upon  it  has  been 
 built  not  only  a  theory  of  a  communication  of  those  merits,  and 
 
Anx.  XIV. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 167 
 
 a  treasure  in  the  Church,  but  a  practice  of  so  foul  a  nature, 
 that  in  it  the  words  of  our  Saviour  spoken  to  the  Jews,  My 
 house  is  a  house  of  prayer,  but  ye  have  made  it  a  den  of  thieves, 
 (Mark  xi.  17.),  are  accomplished  in  a  high  and  most  scandalous 
 manner.  It  has  been  pretended  that  this  was  of  the  nature  of 
 a  bank,  of  which  the  Pope  was  the  keeper ;  and  that  he  could 
 grant  such  bills  and  assignments  upon  it  as  he  pleased  :  This 
 was  done  in  so  base  and  so  crying  a  manner,  that  all  who  had 
 any  sense  of  probity  in  their  own  Church  were  ashamed  of  it. 
 
 In  the  primitive  Church  there  were  very  severe  rules  made, 
 obliging  all  that  had  sinned  publicly  (and  they  were  afterwards 
 applied  to  such  as  had  sinned  secretly)  to  continue  for  many 
 years  in  a  state  of  separation  from  the  Sacrament,  and  of  pe- 
 nance and  discipline.  But  because  all  such  general  rules  admit 
 of  a  great  variety  of  circumstances,  taken  from  men's  sins,  their 
 persons,  and  their  repentance,  there  was  a  power  given  to  all 
 Bishops  by  the  Council  of  Nice  to  shorten  the  time,  and  to 
 relax  the  severity  of  those  Canons ;  and  such  favour  as  they 
 saw  cause  to  grant,  was  called  indulgence.  This  was  just  and 
 necessary,  and  was  a  provision  without  which  no  constitution 
 or  society  can  be  well  governed.  But  after  the  tenth  century, 
 as  the  Popes  came  to  take  this  power  in  the  whole  extent  of  it 
 into  their  own  hands,  so  they  found  it  too  feeble  to  carry  on 
 the  great  designs  that  they  grafted  upon  it. 
 
 They  gave  it  high  names,  and  called  it  a  plenary  remission, 
 and  the  pardon  of  all  sins  :  which  the  world  was  taught  to  look 
 on  as  a  thing  of  a  much  higher  nature  than  the  bare  eX- 
 cusing  of  men  from  discipline  and  penance.  Purgatory  was 
 then  got  to  be  firmly  believed,  and  all  men  were  strangely  pos- 
 sessed with  the  terror  of  it :  so  a  deliverance  from  purgatory, 
 and  by  consequence  an  immediate  admission  into  heaven,  was 
 believed  to  be  the  certain  effect  of  it.  And  to  support  all  this, 
 the  doctrine  of  counsels  qf  perfection,  of  works  of  supererogation, 
 and  of  the  communication  of  those  merits,  was  set  up ;  and  to 
 that  this  was  added,  that  a  treasure  made  up  of  these  was  at 
 the  Pope's  disposal,  and  in  his  keeping.  The  use  that  this  was 
 put  to,  was  as  bad  as  the  forgery  itself.  Multitudes  were  by 
 these  means  engaged  to  go  to  the  Holy  Land,  to  recover  it  out 
 of  the  hands  of  the  Saracens :  afterwards  they  armed  vast  num- 
 bers against  the  heretics,  to  extirpate  them :  they  fought  also 
 all  those  quarrels  which  their  ambitious  pretensions  engaged 
 them  in  with  emperors  and  other  princes,  by  the  same  pay  ; 
 and  at  last  they  set  it  to  sale  with  the  same  impudence,  and 
 almost  with  the  same  methods,  that  mountebanks  use  in  the 
 vending  of  their  secrets. 
 
 This  was  so  gross  even  in  an  ignorant  age,  and  among  the 
 ruder  sort,  that  it  gave  the  first  rise  to  the  Reformation :  and 
 as  the  progress  of  it  was  a  very  signal  work  of  God,  so  it  was 
 
168 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XIV. 
 
 in  a  great  measure  owing  to  the  scandals  that  this  shameless 
 practice  had  given  the  world.  And  upon  this  single  reason  it 
 is  that  this  matter  has  been  more  fully  examined  than  was  ne- 
 cessary ;  for  the  thing  is  so  plain,  that  it  has  no  sort  of  difficulty 
 in  it. 
 
 ARTICLE  XV. 
 
 OF  CHRIST  ALONE  WITHOUT  SIN. 
 
 Christ  in  the  truth  of  our  nature  was  made  like  unto  us  in  all 
 things  ( sin  only  except )  from  which  he  was  clearly  void  both 
 in  his  Flesh  and  in  Spirit.  He  came  to  be  a  Lamb  without 
 spot,  who,  by  sacrifice  of  himself  once  made,  should  take  away 
 the  Sins  of  the  World :  and  sin,  as  St  John  saith,  was  not  in 
 him.  But  all  we  the  rest  ( although  baptized  and  born  again 
 in  Christ )  yet  offend  in  many  things ;  and  if  we  say  we  have 
 no  sin,  we  deceive  ourselves,  and  the  truth  is  not  in  us. 
 
 This  Article  relates  to  the  former,  and  is  put  here  as  ano- 
 ther foundation  against  all  works  of  supererogation :  for  that 
 doctrine,  with  the  consequences  of  it,  having  given  the  first 
 occasion  to  the  Reformation,  it  was  thought  necessary  to  over- 
 throw it  entirely ;  and  because  the  perfection  of  the  saints  must 
 be  supposed,  before  their  supererogating  can  be  thought  on, 
 that  was  therefore  here  opposed. 
 
 That  Christ  was  holy,  without  spot  and  blemish,  harmless, 
 undefiled,  and  separate  from  sinners,  Heb.  vii.  26. ;  that  there 
 was  no  guile  in  his  mouth  ;  that  he  never  did  amiss,  but  went 
 about  always  doing  good,  and  was  as  a  lamb  without  spot,  1  Pet. 
 i.  19.,  is  so  oft  affirmed  in  the  New  Testament,  that  it  can  ad- 
 mit of  no  debate.  This  was  not  only  true  in  his  rational  powers, 
 the  superior  part  called  the  spirit,  in  opposition  to  the  lower 
 part,  but  also  in  those  appetites  and  affections  that  arise  from 
 our  bodies,  and  from  the  union  of  our  souls  to  them,  called  the 
 flesh.  For  though  in  these  Christ,  having  the  human  nature 
 truly  in  him,  had  the  appetites  of  hunger  in  him,  yet  the  devil 
 could  not  tempt  him  by  that  to  distrust  God,  or  to  desire  a 
 miraculous  supply  sooner  than  was  fitting :  he  overcame  even 
 that  necessary  appetite,  whensoever  there  was  an  occasion  given 
 him  to  do  the  will  of  his  heavenly  Father,  John  iv.  34. :  he  had 
 also  in  him  the  aversions  to  pain  and  suffering,  and  the  horror 
 at  a  violent  and  ignominious  death,  which  are  planted  in  our 
 natures;  and  in  this  it  was  natural  to  him  to  wisli  and  to  pray 
 that  the  cup  might  pass  from  him.     But  in  this  his  purity 
 
Art.  XV. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 160 
 
 appeared  the  most  eminently,  that  though  he  felt  the  weight  of 
 his  nature  to  a  vast  degree,  he  did,  notwithstanding  that,  limit 
 and  conquer  it  so  entirely,  that  he  resigned  himself  absolutely 
 to  his  Father's  will:  Not  my  will,  but  thy  will  be  done. 
 
 Besides  all  that  has  been  already  said  upon  the  former  Ar- 
 ticles, to  prove  that  some  taint  and  degree  of  the  original  cor- 
 ruption remains  in  all  men ;  the  peculiar  character  of  Christ's 
 holiness  so  oft  repeated,  looks  plainly  to  be  a  distinction  proper 
 to  him,  and  to  him  only.  We  are  called  upon  to  follow  him, 
 to  learn  of  him,  and  to  imitate  him  without  restriction ;  where- 
 as we  are  required  to  foil  on  the  Apostles,  only  as  they  were  the 
 followers  of  Christ,  1  Cor.  xi.  1.  :  and  though  we  are  com- 
 manded to  be  holy  as  he  was  holy  in  all  maimer  of  conversation, 
 1  Pet.  i.  15.,  that  does  no  more  prove  that  any  man  can  arrive 
 at  that  pitch,  than  our  being  commanded  to  be  perfect  as  our 
 heavenly  Father  is  perfect,  Matt.  v.  48.,  will  prove  that  we  may 
 become  as  perfect  as  God  is;  the  importance  of  these  words 
 being  only  this,  that  we  ought  in  all  things  to  make  God  and 
 Christ  our  patterns ;  and  that  we  ought  to  endeavour  to  imi- 
 tate and  resemble  them  all  we  can. 
 
 There  seems  to  be  a  particular  design  in  the  contexture  and 
 writing  of  the  Scriptures,  to  represent  to  us  some  of  the  failings 
 of  the  best  men :  for  though  Zacharias  and  Elizabeth  are  said 
 to  have  been  blameless,  Luke  i.  6.,  that  must  only  be  meant  of 
 the  exterior  and  visible  part  of  their  conversation,  that  it  was 
 free  from  blame,  and  of  their  being  accepted  of  God  :  but  that 
 is  not  to  be  carried  to  import  a  sinless  purity  before  God ;  for 
 we  find  the  same  Zachary  guilty  of  misbelieving  the  message  of 
 the  Angel  to  him,  to  such  a  degree,  that  he  was  punished  for  it 
 with  a  dumbness  of  above  nine  months'  continuance,  ver.  20. 
 Perhaps  the  Virgin's  question  to  the  Angel  had  nothing  blame- 
 worthy in  it ;  but  our  Saviour's  answers  to  her,  both  when  she 
 came  to  him  in  the  Temple,  when  he  was  twelve  years  old, 
 Luke  ii.  49.  and  more  particularly  when  she  moved  him,  at  the 
 marriage  in  Cana,  to  furnish  them  with  wine,  look  like  a  repri- 
 mand, John  ii.  4.  The  contentions  among  the  Apostles  about 
 the  pre-eminence,  and  in  particular  the  ambition  of  James  and 
 John,  cannot  be  excused,  Matt  xx.  20 — 24. ;  St  Peter's  dis- 
 simulation at  Antioch  in  the  judaizing  controversy,  and  the 
 sharp  contention  that  happened  between  Paul  and  Barnabas, 
 a :e  recorded  in  Scripture ;  (Gal.  ii.  11 — 14.  Acts  xv.  39.) ;  and 
 they  are  both  characters  of  the  sincerity  of  those  who  penned 
 them,  and  likewise  marks  of  the  frailties  of  human  nature,  even 
 in  its  greatest  elevation,  and  with  its  highest  advantages.  So 
 that  all  the  high  characters  that  are  given  of  the  best  men,  are 
 to  be  understood  either  comparatively  to  others  whom  they 
 exceeded,  or  with  relation  to  their  outward  actions,  and  the 
 visible  parts  of  their  life  ;  or  they  are  to  be  meant  of  their  zeal 
 
170 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XV. 
 
 and  sincerity,  which  is  valued  and  accepted  of  God,  and,  as  it 
 was  to  Abraham,  is  imputed  to  them  for  righteousness. 
 
 Yet  this  is  not  to  be  abused  by  any  to  be  an  encouragement 
 to  live  in  sin  ;  for  we  may  carry  this  purity  and  perfection  cer- 
 tainly very  far,  by  the  grace  of  God.  In  every  sin  that  we  com- 
 mit, we  do  plainly  perceive  that  we  do  it  with  so  much  freedom, 
 that  we  might  not  have  done  it :  here  is  still  just  matter  for 
 humiliation  and  repentance.  By  this  doctrine  our  Church  in- 
 tends only  to  repress  the  pride  of  vain-glorious  and  hypocritical 
 men,  and  to  strike  at  the  root  of  that  filthy  merchandise  that 
 has  been  brought  into  the  house  of  God,  under  the  pretence 
 of  the  perfection,  and  even  the  over-doing  or  supererogating, 
 of  the  saints. 
 
 ARTICLE  XVI. 
 
 OF  SIN  AFTER  BAPTISM. 
 
 Not  every  deadly  sin  willingly  committed  after  Baptism  is  the 
 Sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  unpardonable.  Wherefore 
 the  grant  of  repentance  is  not  to  be  denied  to  such  as  fall  into 
 sin  after  Baptism.  After  we  have  received  the  Holy  Ghost, 
 we  may  depart  from  grace  given,  and  fall  into  sin,  and  by 
 the  grace  of  God  we  may  arise  again  and  amend  our  lives. 
 And  therefore  they  are  to  be  condemned,  which  say  they  can 
 no  more  sin  as  long  as  they  live  here,  or  deny  the  ptlace  of  for- 
 giveness to  such  as  truly  repent. 
 
 This  Article,  as  it  relates  to  the  sect  of  the  Novatians  of 
 old,  so  it  is  probable  it  was  made  a  part  of  our  doctrine,  upon 
 the  account  of  some  of  the  enthusiasts  who  at  that  time,  as 
 well  as  some  do  in  our  days,  might  boast  their  perfection,  and 
 join  with  that  part  of  the  character  of  a  Pharisee,  this  other 
 of  an  unreasonable  rigour  of  censure  and  punishment  against 
 offenders.  By  deadly  sin  in  the  Article,  we  are  not  to  under- 
 stand such  sins  as  in  the  Church  of  Rome  are  called  mortal,  in 
 opposition  to  others  that  are  venial:  as  if  some  sins,  though 
 offences  against  God,  and  violations  of  his  law,  could  be  of 
 their  own  nature  such  slight  things,  that  they  deserved  only 
 temporal  punishment,  and  were  to  be  expiated  by  some  piece 
 of  penance  or  devotion,  or  the  communication  of  the  merits  of 
 others.  The  Scripture  nowhere  teaches  us  to  think  so  slightly 
 of  the  majesty  of  God,  or  of  his  law.  There  is  a  curse  upon 
 every  one  that  continueth  not  in  all  things  which  are  written  in 
 the  book  of  the  law  to  do  them,  Gal.  iii.  10. ;  and  the  same  curse 
 
Art.  XVI. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 171 
 
 must  have  been  on  us  all,  if  Christ  had  not  redeemed  us  from 
 it :  The  wages  of  sin  is  death.  And  St  James  asserts,  that  there 
 is  such  a  complication  of  all  the  precepts  of  the  law  of  God, 
 both  with  one  another,  and  with  the  authority  of  the  Lawgiver, 
 that  he  who  offends  in  one  jioint  is  guilty  of  all,  James  ii.  10,  11. 
 So  since  God  has  in  his  Word  given  us  such  dreadful  apprehen- 
 sions of  his  wrath,  and  of  the  guilt  of  sin,  we  dare  not  soften 
 these  to  a  degree  below  the  majesty  of  the  eternal  God,  and 
 the  dignity  of  his  most  holy  laws.  But,  after  all,  we  are  far 
 from  the  conceit  of  the  Stoics,  who  made  all  sins  alike  :  We 
 acknowledge  that  some  sins  of  ignorance  and  infirmity  may  con- 
 sist with  a  state  of  grace ;  which  is  either  quite  destroyed,  or  at 
 least  much  eclipsed  and  clouded  by  other  sins,  that  are  more 
 heinous  in  their  nature,  and  more  deliberately  gone  about.  It 
 is  in  this  sense  that  the  word  deadly  sin  is  to  be  understood  in 
 the  Article:  for  though  in  the  strictness  of  justice  every  sin  is 
 deadly,  yet,  in  the  dispensation  of  the  gospel,  those  sins  are  only 
 deadly,  that  do  deeply  wound  the  conscience,  and  that  drive 
 away  grace. 
 
 Another  term  in  the  Article  needs  also  to  be  a  little  explain- 
 ed— the  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost ;  concerning  which,  since 
 there  is  so  severe  a  sentence  pronounced  by  Christ,  it  is  neces- 
 sary that  it  be  rightly  understood  ;  and  that  can  only  be  done 
 by  considering  the  occasion  of  those  words,  as  well  as  the  wrords 
 themselves.  Christ  wrought  such  miracles  in  the  sight  of  his 
 enemies,  that  when  there  was  no  room  left  for  any  other  cavil, 
 they  betook  themselves  to  that,  that  he  did  not  cast  out  devils 
 but  by  Beelzebub,  the  prince  of  devils,  Matt.  xii.  24.  31.  And 
 this  was  the  occasion  that  led  our  Saviour  to  speak  of  the  sin 
 of  blasphemy  against  the  Holy  Ghost.  It  was  their  rejecting 
 the  clearest  evidence  that  God  could  give  to  prove  any  thing 
 by :  The  power  by  which  those  miracles  were  wrought,  and 
 which  was  afterwards  communicated  to  the  Aposties,  is  called, 
 through  the  whole  New  Testament,  the  Holy  Ghost.  By  which 
 is  not  to  be  meant  here  the  third  Person  of  the  Trinity,  but  the 
 wonderful  effusion  of  those  extraordinary  gifts  and  powers  that 
 were  then  communicated^  the  economy  and  dispensation  of 
 which  is  said  to  be  derived  from  that  one  Spirit.  This  was  the 
 utmost  proof  that  could  be  given  of  truth :  and  when  men  set 
 themselves  to  blaspheme  this,  and  to  ascribe  the  works  of  Christ 
 to  a  collusion  with  the  devil,  they  did  thereby  so  wilfully  op- 
 pose God,  and  reproach  his  power,  they  did  so  stifle  their  own 
 conviction,  and  set  themselves  against  the  conviction  of  others, 
 that  nothing  could  be  done  farther  for  their  conviction;  this 
 being  the  highest  degree  of  evidence  and  proof :  and  this  was 
 so  high  an  indignity  to  God,  when  he  descended  so  far  to  sa- 
 tisfy their  scruples,  that  it  was  not  to  be  pardoned  :  as  their 
 
17« 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XVI. 
 
 impenitence  and  incredulity  was  so  obstinate  as  not  to  be  over- 
 come. 
 
 Upon  this  occasion  given,  our  Saviour  makes  a  difference 
 between  their  blaspheming  him,  and,  instead  of  owning  him  to 
 be  the  Messias,  calling  him  a  deceiver,  a  glutton,  and  a  wine- 
 bibber;  of  which,  upon  hearing  his  doctrine,  and  seeing  his  life, 
 they  were  still  guilty :  This  was  indeed  a  great  sin ;  but  yet 
 there  were  means  left  of  convincing  them  of  the  truth  of  his 
 being  the  great  Prophet  sent  of  God ;  and  by  these  they  might 
 be  so  far  prevailed  on  as  to  repent  and  believe,  and  so  to  ob- 
 tain pardon  :  But  when  they  had  those  means  set  before  them  ; 
 when  they  saw  plain  and  uncontested  miracles  done  before 
 them ;  and  when,  instead  of  yielding  to  them,  they  set  up  such 
 an  opposition  to  them,  which  might  have  been  as  reasonably 
 said  of  every  miracle  that  could  have  been  wrought,  then  it  was 
 not  possible  to  convince  them.  This  is  an  impious  rejecting 
 of  the  highest  method  that  God  himself  uses  for  proving  a  thing 
 to  us.  The  scorn  put  upon  it,  as  it  flows  from  a  nature  so  de- 
 praved that  it  cannot  be  wrought  on,  so  it  is  a  sin  not  to  be 
 pardoned. — All  things  of  extreme  severity  in  a  doctrine  that  is 
 so  full  of  grace  and  mercy  as  the  gospel  is,  ought  to  be  restrain- 
 ed as  much  as  may  be.  From  thence  we  infer,  that  those 
 dreadful  words  of  our  Saviour  ought  to  be  restrained  to  the 
 subject  to  which  they  are  applied,  and  ought  not  to  be  carried 
 farther.  Since  miracles  have  ceased,  no  man  is  any  more  ca- 
 pable of  this  sin. 
 
 These  terms  being  thus  explained,  the  question  in  the  Ar- 
 ticle is  now  to  be  explained.  There  are  words  in  St  John's 
 Epistle,  and  elsewhere,  that  seem  to  import,  that  men  born  of 
 God,  that  is  to  say,  baptized  or  regenerated  Christians,  sin  not  : 
 Whosoever  abideth  in  him,  sinneth  not:  Whosoever  sinneth  hath 
 v  not  seen  him,  neither  known  him :  Whosoever  is  born  of  God  doth 
 not  commit  sin,  for  his  seed  remaineth  in  him,-  and  he  cannot 
 sin,  for  he  is  born  of  God,  1  John  iii.  6.  9.  This  is  again  re- 
 peated in  the  end  of  that  Epistle,  (v.  18.),  together  with  these 
 words,  He  that  is  begotten  of  God  keepeth  himself,  and  that 
 wicked  one  toucheth  him  not.  As  these  words  seem  to  import 
 that  a  true  Christian  sins  not,  so  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 
 it  is  said  to  be  impossible  to  renew  again,  by  repentance,  those 
 who  fall  away  after  they  had  been  once  enlightened,  arid  had 
 tasted  of  the  heavenly  gift,  had  been  made  partakers  of  the  Holy 
 Ghost,  and  had  tasted  the  good  word  of  God,  and  the  powers  of 
 the  world  to  come,  Heb.  vi.  4,  5,  6.  Upon  these  expressions, 
 and  some  others,  though  not  quite  of  their  force,  it  was,  that 
 in  the  primitive  Church  some  that  fell  after  baptism  were  cast 
 out  of  the  communion  of  the  Church  ;  and  though  they  were 
 not  cut  off  from  all  hopes  of  the  mercy  of  God,  yet  they  were 
 never  restored  to  the  peace  of  the  Church.    This  was  done  in 
 
Art.  XVI. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 173 
 
 Tertullian's  time,  if  what  he  says  on  this  subject  is  not  to  be 
 reckoned  as  a  piece  of  his  Montanism. 
 
 But  soon  after  there  were  great  contests  upon  this  head, 
 while  the  Novatians  withdrew  from  the  communion  of  the 
 Church,  and  believed  it  was  defiled  by  the  receiving  of  apos- 
 tates into  it:  though  that  was  not  done  so  easily  as  some 
 proposed,  but  after  a  long  separation  and  a  severe  course  of 
 penance.  Upon  this  followed  all  those  penitentiary  Canons 
 concerning  the  several  measures  and  degrees  of  penance,  and 
 that  not  only  for  acts  of  apostasy  from  the  Christian  religion, 
 but  for  all  other  crying  sins.  According  to  what  has  been 
 already  said  upon  the  former  Articles,  it  has  appeared,  that 
 the  sanctification  of  regenerated  men  is  not  so  perfected  in  this 
 life,  but  that  there  is  still  a  mixture  of  defects  and  imperfections 
 left  in  them  :  and  the  state  of  the  new  covenant  is  a  continu- 
 ance of  repentance  and  remission  of  sins ;  for  as  oft  as  one  sins, 
 if  he  repents  truly  of  it,  and  forsakes  his  sins,  there  is  a  stand- 
 ing offer  of  the  pardon  of  all  sins ;  and  therefore  Christ  has 
 taught  us  to  pray  daily,  Forgive  us  our  si?is.  If  there  were 
 but  one  general  pardon  offered  in  baptism,  this  would  signify 
 little  to  those  who  feel  their  infirmities,  and  the  sins  that  do 
 so  easily  beset  them,  so  apt  to  return  upon  them.  It  was  no 
 wonder  if  the  entertaining  this  conceit  brought  in  a  supersti- 
 tious error  in  practice  among  the  ancient  Christians,  of  delay- 
 ing baptism  till  death ;  as  hoping  that  all  sins  were  then  cer- 
 tainly pardoned — a  much  more  dangerous  error  than  even  the 
 fatal  one  of  trusting  to  a  death- bed  repentance.  For  baptism 
 might  have  been  more  easily  compassed,  and  there  was  more 
 offered  in  the  way  of  argument  for  building  upon  it,  than  has 
 been  offered  at  for  a  death-bed  repentance. 
 
 St  Peter's  denial,  his  repentance,  and  his  being  restored  to 
 his  apostolical  dignity,  seem  to  be  recorded  partly  on  this  ac- 
 count, to  encourage  us,  even  after  the  most  heinous  offences, 
 to  return  to  God,  and  never  to  reckon  our  condition  desperate, 
 were  our  sins  ever  so  many,  but  as  we  find  our  hearts  hardened 
 in  them  into  an  obstinate  impenitency.  Our  Saviour  has  made 
 our  pardoning  the  offences  that  others  commit  against  us,  the 
 measure  upon  which  we  may  expect  pardon  from  God  :  and 
 he  being  asked,  what  limits  he  set  to  the  number  of  the  faults 
 that  we  were  bound  to  pardon  by  the  day,  if  seven  was  not 
 enough,  he  carried  it  up  to  seventy  times  seven — a  vast  number, 
 far  beyond  the  number  of  offences  that  any  man  will  in  all 
 probability  commit  against  another  in  a  day.  But  if  they 
 should  grow  up  to  all  that  vast  number  of  490,  yet  if  our  bro- 
 ther still  turns  again  and  repents,  (Luke  xvii.  4.),  we  are  still 
 bound  to  forgive.  Now  since  this  is  joined  with  what  lie  de- 
 clared, that  if  we  pardoned  our  brother  his  offences,  our  hea- 
 venly Father  would  also  forgive  us,  (Matt,  xviii.  35.),  then  we 
 
174 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XVI. 
 
 may  depend  upon  this,  that  according  to  the  sincerity  of  our 
 repentance,  our  sins  are  always  forgiven  us.  And  if  this  is  the 
 nature  of  the  new  Covenant,  then  the  Church,  which  is  a 
 society  formed  upon  it,  must  proportion  the  rules  both  of  her 
 communion  and  censure  to  those  set  in  the  Gospel :  a  heinous 
 sin  must  give  us  a  deeper  sorrow,  and  higher  degrees  of  repent- 
 ance ;  scandals  must  also  be  taken  off  and  forgiven,  when  the 
 offending  persons  have  repaired  the  offence  that  was  given  by 
 them,  with  suitable  degrees  of  sorrow.  St  Paul  in  the  begin- 
 nings of  Christianity,  in  which  it,  being  yet  tender  and  not 
 wrell  known  to  the  world,  was  more  apt  to  be  both  blemished 
 and  corrupted,  did  yet  order  the  Corinthians  to  receive  back 
 into  their  communion  the  incestuous  person,  whom  by  his  own 
 directions  they  had  delivered  to  Satan,  1  Cor.  v.  5. :  they  had 
 excommunicated  him,  and,  by  way  of  reverse  to  the  gifts  of  the 
 Holy  Ghost  poured  out  upon  all  Christians,  he  was  possessed 
 or  haunted  with  an  evil  spirit ;  and  yet  as  St  Paul  declares 
 that  he  forgave  him,  so  he  orders  them  to  forgive  him  likewise; 
 and  he  gives  a  reason  for  this  conduct,  from  the  common  prin- 
 ciples of  pity  and  humanity,  lest  he  should  be  swalloived  up  by 
 overmuch  sorrow,  2  Cor.  ii.  7.  What  is  in  that  place  men- 
 tioned only  in  a  particular  instance,  is  extended  to  a  general 
 rule  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians  :  If  any  one  is  overtaken  in 
 a  faulty  ye  which  are  spiritual  restore  such  a  one  in  the  spirit  of 
 meekness,  consideri?ig  thyself,  lest  thou  also  be  tempted,  Gal.  vi.. 
 1. :  where  both  the  supposition  that  is  made,  and  the  reason 
 that  is  given,  do  plainly  insinuate  that  all  men  are  subject  to 
 their  several  infirmities ;  so  that  every  man  may  be  overtaken 
 in  faults.  The  charge  given  to  Timothy  and  Titus  (2  Tim. 
 iv.  2.  Tit.  i.  13.)  to  rebuke  and  exhort,  does  suppose  that 
 Christians,  and  even  Bishops  and  Deacons,  were  subject  to 
 faults  that  might  deserve  correction. 
 
 In  that  passage  cited  out  of  St  John's  Epistle,  (v.  16.),  as 
 mention  is  made  of  a  sin  unto  death  for  which  they  were  not 
 to  pray,  so  mention  is  made,  both  there  and  in  St  James's 
 Epistle,  (v.  15,  16.),  of  sins  for  which  they  were  to  pray,  and 
 which  upon  their  prayers  were  to  be  forgiven.  All  which 
 places  do  not  only  express  this  to  be  the  tenor  of  the  new  Co- 
 venant, that  the  sins  of  regenerated  persons  were  to  be  par- 
 doned in  it,  but  they  are  also  clear  precedents  and  rules  for 
 the  Churches  to  follow  them  in  their  discipline.  And  there- 
 fore those  words  in  St  John,  that  a  man  born  of  God  doth  not 
 and  cannot  sin,  must  be  understood  in  a  larger  sense,  of  their 
 not  living  in  the  practice  of  known  sins ;  of  their  not  allowing 
 themselves  in  that  course  of  life,  nor  going  on  deliberately 
 with  it. 
 
 By  the  sin  unto  death  is  meant  the  same  thing  with  that 
 apostasy  mentioned  in  the  vith  of  the  Hebrews.    Among  the 
 
Art.  XVI. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 175 
 
 Jews  some  sins  were  punished  by  a  total  excision  or  cutting  oft', 
 and  this  probably  gave  the  rise  to  that  designation  of  a  sin  unto 
 death.  The  words  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  (vi.  6.),  do 
 plainly  import  those  who,  being  not  only  baptized,  but  having 
 also  received  a  share  of  the  extraordinary  effusion  of  the  Holy 
 Ghost,  had  totally  renounced  the  Christian  religion,  and  apos- 
 tatized from  the  faith,  which  was  a  crucifying  of  Christ  anew. 
 Such  apostates  to  Judaism  were  thereby  involved  in  the  crime 
 and  guilt  of  the  crucifying  of  Christ,  and  the  putting  him  to 
 open  shame.  Now  persons  so  apostatizing  coidd  not  be  re- 
 newed again  by  repentance,  it  not  being  possible  to  do  any 
 thing  toward  their  conviction  that  had  not  been  already  done ; 
 and  they,  hardening  themselves  against  all  that  was  offered  for 
 their  conviction,  were  arrived  at  such  a  degree  in  wickedness, 
 that  it  was  impossible  to  work  upon  them ;  there  was  nothing 
 left  to  be  tried,  that  had  not  been  already  tried,  and  proved  to 
 be  ineffectual.  Yet  it  is  to  be  observed,  that  it  was  an  unjusti- 
 fiable piece  of  rigour  to  apply  these  words  to  all  such  as  had 
 fallen  in  a  time  of  trial  and  persecution  :  for  as  they  had  not 
 those  miraculous  means  of  conviction,  which  must  be  acknow- 
 ledged to  be  the  strongest,  the  sensiblest,  and  the  most  easily 
 apprehended  of  all  arguments ;  so  they  could  not  sin  so  hein- 
 ously as  those  had  done,  who,  after  what  they  had  seen  and 
 felt,  revolted  from  the  faith. 
 
 Great  difference  is  also  to  be  made  between  a  deliberate  sin, 
 that  a  man  goes  into  upon  choice,  and  in  which  he  continues  ; 
 and  a  sin,  that  the  fears  of  death  and  the  infirmities  of  human 
 nature  betray  him  into,  and  out  of  which  he  quickly  recovers 
 himself,  and  for  which  he  mourns  bitterly.  There  was  no 
 reason  to  apply  what  is  said  in  the  New  Testament  against  the 
 wicked  apostates  of  that  time,  to  those  who  were  overcome  in 
 the  persecution.  The  latter  sinned  grievously ;  yet  it  was  not 
 in  the  same  kind,  nor  are  they  in  any  sort  to  be  compared  to 
 the  former.  All  affectations  of  excessive  severity  look  like 
 pharisaical  hypocrisy  :  whereas  the  spirit  of  Christ,  which  is 
 made  up  of  humility  and  charity,  will  make  us  look  so  severely 
 to  ourselves,  that  on  that  very  account  we  will  be  gentle  even 
 to  the  failings  of  others. 
 
 Yet,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Church  ought  to  endeavour  to 
 conform  herself  so  far  to  her  head,  and  to  his  doctrine,  as  to 
 note  those  who  obey  not  the  gospel,  and  to  have  no  company 
 With  them,  that  they  may  be  ashamed:  yet  not  so  as  to  hate 
 such  a  one,  or  count  him  as  an  enemy,  but  to  admonish  him  as  a 
 brother,  "2  Thess.  iii.  6.  14,  15.  Into  what  neglect  or  prostitu- 
 tion soever  any  Church  may  have  fallen  in  this  great  point  of 
 separating  offenders,  of  making  them  ashamed,  and  of  keeping 
 others  from  being  corrupted  with  their  ill  example  and  bad  in- 
 fluence, that  must  be  confessed  to  be  a  very  great  defect  and 
 
176 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XVI. 
 
 blemish.  The  Church  of  Rome  had  slackened  all  the  ancient 
 rules  of  discipline,  and  had  perverted  this  matter  in  a  most 
 scandalous  manner ;  and  the  world  is  now  sunk  into  so  much 
 corruption,  and  to  such  a  contempt  of  holy  things,  that  it  is 
 much  more  easy  here  to  find  matter  for  lamentation,  than  to 
 see  how  to  remedy  or  correct  it. 
 
 ARTICLE  XVII. 
 
 OF  PREDESTINATION  AND  ELECTION. 
 
 Predestination  to  life  is  the  everlasting  purpose  of  God,  whereby 
 (before  the  foundations  of  the  World  were  laid )  he  hath  con- 
 stantly decreed  by  his  Counsel,  secret  to  us,  to  deliver  from 
 curse  and  damnation  those  whom  he  hath  chosen  in  Christ 
 out  of  mankind,  and  to  bring  them  by  Christ  unto  everlasting 
 Salvation  as  vessels  made  to  honour.  Wherefore  they  which 
 be  endued  with  so  excellent  a  benefit  of  God,  be  called  ac- 
 cording to  God's  purpose,  by  his  Spirit  working  in  due  sea- 
 son. They  through  grace  obey  the  calling,  they  be  justified 
 freely,  they  be  made  Sons  of  God  by  adoption,  they  be  made 
 like  the  Image  of  his  only  begotten  Son  Jesus  Christ :  They 
 walk  religiously  in  good  works,  and  at  length  by  God's  mercy 
 they  attain  to  everlasting  felicity. 
 
 As  the  godly  consideration  of  Predestination  and  our  Election 
 in  Christ  is  full  of  siveet,  pleasant,  and  unspeakable  comfort 
 to  godly  persons,  and  such  as  feel  in  themselves  the  working 
 of  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  mortifying  the  works  of  the  flesh  and 
 their  earthly  members,  and  drawing  up  their  mind  to  high 
 and  heavenly  things,  as  well  because  it  doth  greatly  establish 
 and  confirm  their  faith  of  eternal  Salvation  to  be  enjoyed 
 through  Christ,  as  because  it  doth  fervently  kindle  their  love 
 towards  God:  So  for  curious  and  carnal  persons,  lacking  the 
 Spirit  of  Christ,  to  have  continually  before  their.  Eyes  the 
 sentence  of  God's  Predestination,  is  a  most  dangerous  down- 
 fall) whereby  the  Devil  doth  thrust  them  either  into  despera- 
 tion, or  into  wretchlesness  of  most  unclean  living,  no  less 
 perilous  than  desperation. 
 
 Furthermore,  we  must  receive  God's  promises  in  such  wise,  as 
 they  be  generally  set  forth  to  us  in  holy  Scripture :  And  in 
 our  doings,  that  Will  of  God  is  to  be  followed,  which  we  have 
 expressly  declared  unto  us  in4he  Word  of  God. 
 
 There  are  many  things  in  several  of  the  other  Articles 
 which  depend  upon  this;  and  therefore  I  will  explain  it  more 
 
Am.  xvii. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 177 
 
 fully :  for  as  this  has  given  occasion  to  one  of  the  longest,  the 
 subtilest,  and  indeed  the  most  intricate  of  all  the  questions  in 
 divinity,  so  it  will  be  necessary  to  open  and  examine  it  as 
 fully  as  the  importance  and  difficulties  of  it  do  require.  In 
 treating  of  it,  I  shall, 
 
 First,  State  the  question,  together  with  the  consequences 
 that  arise  out  of  it. 
 
 Secondly,  Give  an  account  of  the  differences  that  have 
 arisen  upon  it* 
 
 Thirdly,  I  shall  set  out  the  strength  of  the  opinions  of  the 
 contending  parties,  with  all  possible  impartiality  and  exactness. 
 
 Fourthly,  I  shall  shew  how  far  they  agree,  and  how  far  they 
 differ ;  and  shall  shew  what  reason  there  is  for  bearing  with 
 one  another's  opinions  in  these  matters ;  and  in  the 
 
 Fifth  and  last  place,  I  shall  consider  how  far  we  of  this 
 Church  are  determined  by  this  Article,  and  how  far  we  are  at 
 liberty  to  follow  any  of  those  different  opinions. 
 
 The  whole  controversy  may  be  reduced  to  this  single  point 
 as  its  head  and  source: — Upon  what  views  did  God  form  his 
 purposes  and  decrees  concerning  mankind  ?  Whether  he  did 
 it  merely  upon  a  design  of  advancing  his  own  glory,  and  for 
 manifesting  his  own  attributes,  in  order  to  which  he  settled 
 the  great  and  universal  scheme  of  his  whole  creation  and  pro- 
 vidence? or  whether  he  considered  all  the  free  motions  of 
 those  rational  agents  that  he  did  intend  to  create,  and,  accord- 
 ing to  what  he  foresaw  they  would  choose  and  do  in  all  the 
 various  circumstances  in  which  he  might  put  them,  formed  his 
 decrees  ?  Here  the  controversy  begins ;  and  when  this  is  settled, 
 the  three  main  questions  that  arise  out  of  it  will  be  soon  de- 
 termined. 
 
 The  first  is,  Whether  both  God  and  Christ  intended  that 
 Christ  should  only  die  for  that  particular  number  whom  God 
 intended  to  save  ?  or  wrhether  it  was  intended  that  he  should 
 die  for  all ;  so  that  every  man  that  would,  might  have  the  be- 
 nefit of  his  death,  and  that  no  man  was  excluded  from  it,  but 
 because  he  willingly  rejected  it  ? 
 
 The  second  is,  Whether  those  assistances,  that  God  gives 
 to  men  to  enable  them  to  obey  him,  are  of  their  own  nature 
 so  efficacious  and  irresistible  that  they  never  fail  of  producing 
 the  effect  for  which  they  are  given  ?  or,  whether  they  are  only 
 sufficient  to  enable  a  man  to  obey  God;  so  that  their  efficacy 
 comes  from  the  freedom  of  the  will,  that  either  may  co-operate 
 with  them,  or  may  not,  as  it  pleases  ? 
 
 The  third  is,  Whether  such  persons  do,  and  must  certainly 
 persevere,  to  whom  such  grace  is  given  ?  or,  whether  they 
 may  not  fall  away  both  entirely  and  finally  from  that  state  ? 
 
 There  are  also  other  questions  concerning  the  true  notion 
 of  liberty,  concerning  the  feebleness  of  out-  powers  in  this 
 
 INI 
 
178 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XVII. 
 
 lapsed  state,  with  several  lesser  ones ;  all  which  do  necessarily 
 take  their  determination  from  the  decision  of  the  first  and  main 
 question — about  which  there  are  four  opinions. 
 
 The  first  is  of  those  commonly  called  Supralapsarians,  who 
 think  that  God  does  only  consider  his  own  glory  in  all  that  he 
 does ;  and  that  whatever  is  done  arises,  as  from  its  first  cause, 
 from  the  decree  of  God :  that  in  this  decree  God,  considering 
 onlv  the  manifestation  of  his  own  glory,  intended  to  make  the 
 world,  to  put  a  race  of  men  in  it,  to  constitute  them  under 
 Adam  as  their  fountain  and  head :  that  he  decreed  Adam's 
 sin,  the  lapse  of  his  posterity,  and  Christ's  death,  together  with 
 the  salvation  or  damnation  of  such  men  as  should  be  most  for 
 his  own  glory :  that  to  those  who  were  to  be  saved  he  decreed 
 to  give  such  efficacious  assistances  as  should  certainly  put  them 
 in  the  way  of  salvation ;  and  to  those  whom  he  rejected  he 
 decreed  to  give  such  assistances  and  means  only  as  should  ren- 
 der them  inexcusable :  that  all  men  do  continue  in  a  state  of 
 grace,  or  of  sin,  and  shall  be  saved,  or  damned,  according  to 
 that  first  decree :  so  that  God  views  himself  only,  and  in  that 
 view  he  designs  ail  things  singly  for  his  own  glory,  and  for  the 
 manifesting  of  his  own  attributes. 
 
 The  second  opinion  is  of  those  called  the  Sublapsarians,  who 
 say,  that  Adam  having  sinned  freely,  and  his  sin  being  imputed 
 to  all  his  posterity,  God  did  consider  mankind,  thus  lost,  with 
 an  eye  of  pity ;  and  having  designed  to  rescue  a  great  number 
 out  of  this  lost  state,  he  decreed  to  send  his  Son  to  die  for 
 them,  to  accept  of  his  death  on  their  account,  and  to  give  them 
 such  assistances  as  should  be  effectual  both  to  convert  them  to 
 him,  and  to  make  them  persevere  to  the  end :  but  for  the  rest, 
 he  framed  no  positive  act  about  them,  only  he  left  them  in 
 that  lapsed  state,  without  intending  that  they  should  have  the 
 benefit  of  Christ's  death,  or  of  efficacious  and  persevering  as- 
 sistances. 
 
 The  third  opinion  is  of  those  who  are  called  Remonstrants, 
 Arminians,  or  Universalists,  who  think  that  God  intended  to 
 create  all  men  free,  and  to  deal  with  them  according  to  the 
 use  that  they  should  make  of  their  liberty :  that  therefore  he, 
 foreseeing  how  every  one  would  use  it,  did  upon  that  decree 
 all  things  that  concerned  them  in  this  life,  together  with  their 
 salvation  and  damnation  in  the  next :  that  Christ  died  for  all 
 men :  that  sufficient  assistances  are  given  to  every  man,  but 
 that  all  men  may  choose  whether  they  will  use  them,  and  per- 
 severe in  them,  or  not. 
 
 The  fourth  opinion  is  of  the  Socinians,  who  deny  the  certain 
 prescience  of  future  contingencies;  and  therefore  they  think  the 
 decrees  of  God  from  all  eternity  were  only  general :  that  such 
 as  believe  and  obey  the  gospel  shall  be  saved,  and  that  such  as 
 live  and  die  in  sin  shall  be  damned;  but  that  there  were  no 
 
Art.  XVII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 171 
 
 special  decrees  made  concerning  particular  persons,  these  being 
 only  made  in  time,  according  to  the  state  in  which  they  are : 
 thev  do  also  think,  that  man  is  by  nature  so  free  and  so  entire 
 that  he  needs  no  inward  grace ;  so  they  deny  a  special  predes- 
 tination from  all  eternity,  and  do  also  deny  inward  assistances. 
 
 This  is  a  controversy  that  arises  out  of  natural  religion  :  for 
 if  it  is  believed  that  God  governs  the  world,  and  that  the  wills 
 of  men  are  free ;  then  it  is  natural  to  inquire  which  of  these  is 
 subject  to  the  other,  or  how  they  can  be  both  maintained? 
 whether  God  determines  the  will ;  or  if  his  Providence  follows 
 die  motions  of  the  will  ?  Therefore  all  those  that  believed  a 
 Providence  have  been  aware  of  this  difficulty.  The  Stoics  put 
 all  things  under  a  fate ;  even  the  Gods  themselves  :  If  this  fate 
 M  ils  a  necessary  series  of  things,  a  chain  of  matter  and  motion 
 that  was  fixed  and  unalterable,  then  it  was  plain  and  downright 
 atheism.  The  Epicureans  set  all  things  at  liberty,  and  either 
 thought  that  there  was  no  God,  or  at  least  that  there  was  no 
 Providence.  The  Philosophers  knew  not  how  to  avoid  this 
 difficulty,  by  which  we  see  Tolly  and  others  were  so  differently 
 moved,  that  it  is  plain  they  despaired  of  getting  out  Joseph 
 of  it.  The  Jews  had  the  same  question  among  them  :  Jj^5£ 
 for  thev  could  not  believe  their  Law,  without  ac-  c.a 
 
 *  .  De  Bell 
 
 knowledging  a  Providence;  and  yet  the  Sadducees  Jud.iib.'ii. 
 among  them  asserted  liberty  in  so  entire  a  manner, 
 that  they  set  it  free  from  all  restraints  :  On  the  other  hand,  the 
 Essenes  put  all  things  under  an  absolute  fate ;  and  the  Phari- 
 sees took  a  middle  way — they  asserted  the  freedom  of  the  will, 
 but  thought  that  all  things  were  governed  by  a  Providence. 
 There  are  also  subtile  disputes  concerning  this  matter  among 
 the  Mahometans,  one  sect  asserting  liberty,  and  another  fate, 
 which  generally  prevails  among  them. 
 
 In  the  first  ages  of  Christianity,  the  Gnostics  fancied  that 
 the  souls  of  men  were  of  different  ranks,  and  that  thev  sprang 
 from  different  principles,  or  Gods,  who  made  them.  Some 
 were  carnal,  that  were  devoted  to  perdition ;  others    Iren.  adv. 
 were  spiritual,  and  were  certainly  to  be  saved ;  others    Jf*  hb' 
 were  animal,  of  a  middle  order,  capable  either  of  hap- 
 piness  or  misery.    It  seems  that  the  Marcionites  and  p^™^1- 
 Maniehees  thought  that  some  souls  were  made  by    c.6. "  ' 
 the  bad  God,  as  others  were  made  by  the  good.    In  Schoif™' 
 opposition  to  all  these,  Origen  asserted,  that  all  souls  ^ScSl10" 
 were  by  nature  equally  capable  of  being  either  good  u?XEpna<i 
 or  bad  ;  and  that  the  difference  among  men  arose  Rom- 
 merely  from  the  freedom  of  the  will,  and  the  various  use  of 
 that  freedom :  that  God  left  men  to  this  liberty,  and  rewarded 
 and  punished  them  according  to  the  use  of  it ;  yet  he  asserted 
 a  Providence :  But  as  he  brought  in  the  Platonical  doctrine 
 of  pre-existence  into  the  government  of  the  world  :  and  as  he 
 
180 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XVII. 
 
 explained  God's  loving  Jacob,  and  his  hating  of  Esau,  before 
 they  were  born,  and  had  done  either  good  or  evil,  by  this  of  a 
 regard  to  what  they  had  done  formerly ;  so  he  asserted  the  fall 
 of  man  in  Adam,  and  his  being  recovered  by  grace;  but  he 
 still  maintained  an  unrestrained  liberty  in  the  will.  His  doc- 
 trine, though  much  hated  in  Egypt,  was  generally  followed 
 over  all  the  East,  particularly  in  Palestine  and  at  Antioch. 
 St  Gregory  Nazianzen  and  St  Basil  drew  a  system  of  divinity 
 out  of  his  works,  in  which  that  which  relates  to  the  liberty  of 
 the  will  is  very  fully  set  forth :  that  book  was  much  studied  in 
 orig.  phiio-  the  East.  Chrysostom,  Isidore  of  Damiete,  and 
 eas.  Theodoret,  with  all  their  followers,  taught  it  so  co- 
 
 piously, that  it  became  the  received  doctrine  of  the  Eastern 
 Church.  Jerome  was  so  much  in  love  with  Origen,  that  he 
 translated  some  parts  of  him,  and  set  Ruffin  on  translating  the 
 rest.  But  as  he  had  a  sharp  quarrel  with  the  bishops  of  Pales- 
 tine, so  that  perhaps  disposed  him  to  change  his  thoughts  of 
 Origen ;  for,  ever  after  that,  he  set  himself  much  to  disgrace 
 his  doctrine,  and  he  was  very  severe  on  Ruffin  for  translating 
 
 him ;  though  Ruffin  confesses,  that,  in  translating  his 
 Per^'in  works,  he  took  great  liberties  in  altering  several  pas- 
 orig  £""'  sages  that  he  disliked.  One  of  Origen's  disciples  was 
 Ep^d  Pelagius,  a  Scottish  monk,  in  great  esteem  at  Rome, 
 chry's.  Ep.  4.  both  for  his  learning  and  the  great  strictness  of  his 
 Isid.  Pelus.  life.  He  carried  these  doctrines  farther  than  the 
 Lib.  l  Ep.     Gree^  Church  had  done ;  so  that  he  was  reckoned 
 
 to  have  fallen  into  great  errors  both  by  Chrysostom 
 and  Isidore,  (as  it  is  represented  by  Jansenius,  though  that  is 
 denied  by  others,  who  think  they  meant  another  of  the  same 
 name).  He  denied  that  we  had  suffered  any  harm  by  the  fall 
 of  Adam,  or  that  there  was  any  need  of  inward  assistances  ; 
 and  he  asserted  an  entire  liberty  in  the  will.  St  Austin, 
 though  in  his  disputes  with  the  Manichees  he  had  said  many 
 things  on  the  side  of  liberty,  yet  he  hated  Pelagius's  doctrine, 
 which  he  thought  asserted  a  sacrilegious  liberty,  and  he  set 
 himself  to  beat  down  his  tenets,  which  had  been  but  feebly 
 attacked  by  Jerome.  Cassian,  a  disciple  of  St  Chrysostom, 
 came  to  Marseilles  about  this  time,  having  left  Constantinople, 
 perhaps  when  his  master  was  banished  out  of  it.  He  taught  a 
 middle  doctrine,  asserting  an  inward  grace,  but  subject  to  the 
 freedom  of  the  will ;  and  that  all  things  were  both  decreed  and 
 done  according  to  the  prescience  of  God,  in  which  all  future 
 contingents  were  foreseen  :  he  also  taught,  that  the  first  con- 
 version of  the  soul  to  God  was  merely  an  effect  of  its  free  choice ; 
 so  that  all  preventing  grace  was  denied  by  him ;  which  came 
 to  be  the  peculiar  distinction  of  those  who  were  afterwards  call- 
 ed the  Semipelagians.  Prosper  and  Hilary  gave  an  account 
 of  this  system  to  St  Austin,  upon  which  he  writ  against  it ;  and 
 
Aar.  XVIL 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 1SI 
 
 his  opinions  were  defended  by  Prosper,  Fulgentius,  Orosius, 
 and  others,  as  Cassian's  were  defended  by  Faustus,  Vincentius, 
 and  Gennadius.  In  conclusion,  St  Austin's  opinions  did  gene- 
 rally prevail  in  the  West;  only  Pelagius,  it  seems,  retiring  to 
 his  own  country,  he  had  many  followers  among  the  Britains : 
 but  German  and  Lupus,  being  sent  over  once  and  again  from 
 France,  are  said  to  have  conquered  them  so  entirely,  that  they 
 were  all  freed  from  those  errors.  Whatever  they  did  by  their 
 arguments,  the  writers  of  their  legends  took  care  to  adorn  their 
 mission  with  many  very  wonderful  miracles,  of  which  the  ga- 
 thering all  the  pieces  of  a  calf,  some  of  which  had  been  dressed, 
 and  the  putting  them  together  in  its  skin,  and  restoring  it  again 
 to  life,  is  none  of  the  least.  The  ruin  of  the  Roman  Empire, 
 and  the  disorders  that  the  Western  Provinces  fell  under  by 
 their  new  and  barbarous  masters,  occasioned  in  those  ages  a 
 great  decay  of  learning ;  so  that,  few  writers  of  fame  coming 
 after  that  time,  St  Austin's  great  labours  and  piety,  and  the 
 many  vast  volumes  that  he  had  left  behind  him,  gave  him  so 
 great  a  name,  that  few  durst  contest  what  had  been  so  zealously 
 and  so  copiously  defended  by  him  :  and  though  it  is  highly 
 probable  that  Celestine  was  not  satisfied  with  his  doctrine,  yet 
 both  he  and  the  other  Bishops  of  Rome,  together  with  many 
 provincial  synods,  have  so  often  declared  his  doctrine  in  those 
 points  to  be  the  doctrine  of  the  Church,  that  this  is  very  hardly 
 got  over  by  those  of  that  communion. 
 
 The  chief  and  indeed  the  only  material  difference  that  is 
 between  St  Austin's  doctrine  and  that  of  the  Sublapsarians  is, 
 that  he,  holding  that  with  the  sacrament  of  baptism  there  was 
 joined  an  inward  regeneration,  made  a  difference  between  the 
 regenerate  and  the  predestinate,  which  these  do  not ;  he  thought 
 persons  thus  regenerate  might  have  all  grace,  besides  that  of 
 perseverance ;  but  he  thought  that  they,  not  being  predestinat- 
 ed, were  certainly  to  fall  from  that  state,  and  from  the  grace 
 of  regeneration.  The  other  differences  are  but  forced  strains, 
 to  represent  him  and  the  Calvinists  as  of  different  principles : 
 He  thought  that  overcoming  delectation,  in  which  he  put  the 
 efficacy  of  grace,  was  as  irresistible,  though  he  used  not  so 
 strong  a  word  for  it,  as  the  Calvinists  do ;  and  he  thought  that 
 the  decree  was  as  absolute,  and  made  without  any  regard  to 
 what  the  free-will  would  choose,  as  any  of  these  do.  So  in  the 
 main  points — the  absoluteness  of  the  decree,  the  extent  of  Christ's 
 death,  the  efficacy  of  grace,  and  the  certainty  of  perseverance — 
 their  opinions  are  the  same,  though  their  ways  of  expressing 
 themselves  do  often  differ.  But  if  St  Austin's  name  and  the 
 credit  of  his  books  went  far,  yet  no  book  was  more  read  in  the 
 following  ages  than  Cassian's  Collations.  There  was  in  them 
 a  clear  thread  of  good  sense,  and  a  very  high  strain  of  piety 
 that  run  through  them;  and  they  were  thought  the  be^t  insti- 
 
182 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  Oh 
 
 Art.  XVII. 
 
 tutions  for  a  monk  to  form  his  mind,  by  reading  them  atten- 
 tively :  so  they  still  carried  down,  among  those  who  read  them, 
 deep  impressions  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Greek  Church. 
 
 This  broke  out  in  the  ninth  century,  in  which  Godescalcus, 
 a  monk,  was  severely  used  by  Hincmar,  and  by  the  Church  of 
 Rhemes,  for  asserting  some  of  St  Austin's  doctrines;  against 
 which  Scotus  Erigena  wrote,  as  Bertram,  or  Ratramne,  wrote 
 for  them.  Remigius,  bishop  of  Lyons,  with  his  Church,  did 
 zealously  assert  St  Austin's  doctrine,  not  without  great  sharp- 
 ness, against  Scotus.  After  this  the  matter  slept,  till  the  school- 
 divinity  came  to  be  in  great  credit ;  and  Thomas  Aquinas  being 
 accounted  the  chief  glory  of  the  Dominican  order,  he  not  only 
 asserted  all  St  Austin's  doctrine,  but  added  this  to  it, — that 
 whereas  formerly  it  was  in  general  held  that  the  providence  of 
 God  did  extend  itself  to  all  things  whatsoever,  he  thought  this 
 was  done  by  God's  concurring  immediately  to  the  production 
 of  every  thought,  action,  motion,  or  mode ;  so  that  God  was 
 the  first  and  immediate  cause  of  every  thing  that  was  done. 
 And  in  order  to  the  explaining  the  joint  production  of  every 
 thing  by  God  as  the  first,  and  by  the  creature  as  the  second 
 cause,  he  thought,  at  least  as  his  followers  have  understood  him, 
 that  by  a  physical  influence  the  will  was  predetermined  by  God 
 to  all  things,  whether  good  or  bad ;  so  that  the  will  could  not 
 be  said  to  be  free  in  that  particular  instance  in  sensu  composite?, 
 though  it  was  in  general  still  free  in  all  its  actions  in  sensu 
 diviso:  a  distinction  so  sacred,  and  so  much  used  among  them, 
 that  I  choose  to  give  it  in  their  own  terms,  rather  than  trans- 
 late them.  To  avoid  the  consequence  of  making  God  the 
 author  of  sin,  a  distinction  was  made  between  the  positive  act 
 of  sin,  which  was  said  not  to  be  evil,  and  the  want  of  its  con- 
 formity to  the  law  of  God,  which  being  a  negation  was  no  po- 
 sitive being,  so  that  it  was  not  produced.  And  thus,  though 
 the  action  was  produced  jointly  by  God  as  the  first  cause,  and 
 by  the  creature  as  the  second,  yet  God  was  not  guilty  of  the 
 sin,  but  only  the  creature.  This  doctrine  passed  down  among 
 the  Dominicans,  and  continues  to  do  so  to  this  day.  Scotus, 
 who  was  a  Franciscan,  denied  this  predetermination,  and  as- 
 serted the  freedom  of  the  will.  Durandus  denied  this  imme- 
 diate concourse ;  in  which  he  has  not  had  many  followers,  ex- 
 cept Adola,  and  some  few  more. 
 
 When  Luther  began  to  form  his  opinions  into  a  body,  he 
 clearly  saw,  that  nothing  did  so  plainly  destroy  the  doctrine  of 
 merit  and  justification  by  works,  as  St  Austin's  opinions :  he 
 found  also  in  his  works  very  express  authorities  against  most 
 of  the  corruptions  of  the  Roman  Church ;  and  being  of  an 
 order  that  carried  his  name,  and  by  consequence  was  accus- 
 tomed to  read  and  reverence  his  works,  it  was  no  wonder  if  he, 
 without  a  strict  examining  of  the  matter,  espoused  all  his  opi- 
 
Am.  XVII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 J  83 
 
 nions.  Most  of  those  of  the  Church  of  Rome  who  wrote  against 
 him  being  of  the  other  persuasions,  any  one  reading  the  books 
 of  that  age  would  have  thought  that  St  Austin's  doctrine  was 
 abandoned  by  the  Church  of  Rome;  so  that  when  Michael 
 Baius,  and  some  others  at  Louvain,  began  to  revive  it,  that 
 became  a  matter  of  scandal,  and  they  were  condemned  at  Rome  : 
 yet  at  the  Council  of  Trent  the  Dominicans  had  so  much  credit, 
 that  great  care  was  taken,  in  the  penning  their  decrees,  to  avoid 
 all  reflections  upon  that  doctrine.  It  was  at  first  received  by 
 the  whole  Jesuit  order,  so  that  Bellarmine  formed  himself  upon 
 it,  and  still  adhered  to  it;  but,  soon  after,  that  order  changed 
 their  mind,  and  left  their  whole  body  to  a  full  liberty  in  those 
 points,  and  went  all  quickly  over  to  the  other  hypothesis,  that 
 differed  from  the  Semipelagians  only  in  this,  that  they  allowed 
 a  preventing  grace,  but  such  as  was  subject  to  the  freedom  of 
 the  will. 
 
 Molina  and  Fonseca  invented  a  new  way  of  explaining  God's 
 foreseeing  future  contingents,  which  they  called  a  middle  or 
 mean  science by  which  they  taught,  that  as  God  sees  all  things 
 as  possible  in  his  knowledge  of  simple  apprehe?isio?2,  and  all 
 things  that  are  certainly  future,  as  present  in  his  knowledge  of 
 vision;  so  by  this  knowledge  he  also  sees  the  chain  of  all  con- 
 ditionate  futurities,  and  all  the  connexions  of  them,  that  is, 
 whatsoever  would  follow  upon  such  or  such  conditions.  Great 
 jealousies  arising  upon  the  progress  that  the  order  of  the  Jesuits 
 was  making,  these  opinions  were  laid  hold  on  to  mortify  them ; 
 so  they  were  complained  of  at  Rome  for  departing  from  St 
 Austin's  doctrine,  which  in  these  points  was  generally  received 
 as  the  doctrine  of  the  Latin  Church ;  and  many  conferences 
 were  held  before  Pope  Clement  VIII.  and  the  Cardinals,  where 
 the  point  in  debate  was  chiefly,  What  was  the  doctrine  and 
 tradition  of  the  Church  ?  The  advantages  that  St  Austin's  fol- 
 lowers had  wrere  such,  that  before  fair  judges  they  must  have 
 triumphed  over  the  other :  Pope  Clement  had  so  resolved ;  but 
 he  dying,  though  Pope  Paul  V.  had  the  same  intentions,  yet  he 
 happening  then  to  be  engaged  in  a  quarrel  with  the  Venetians 
 about  the  ecclesiastical  immunities,  and  having  put  that  repub- 
 lic under  an  interdict,  the  Jesuits  who  were  there  chose  to  be 
 banished  rather  than  to  break  the  interdict:  and  their  adhering 
 so  firmly  to  the  Papal  authority,  when  most  of  the  other  orders 
 forsook  it,  was  thought  so  meritorious  at  Rome,  that  it  saved 
 them  the  censure;  so,  instead  of  a  decision,  all  sides  were  com- 
 manded to  be  silent,  and  to  quarrel  no  more  upon  those  heads. 
 
 About  forty  years  after  that,  Jansenius,  a  doctor  of  Louvain, 
 being  a  zealous  disciple  of  St  Austin,  and  seeing  the  progress 
 that  the  contrary  doctrines  were  making,  did  with  great  indus- 
 try, and  an  equal  fidelity,  publish  a  voluminous  system  of  St 
 Austin's  doctrine  in  all  the  several  branc/ies  of  the  controversy  : 
 
184 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OI 
 
 Art.  XVII. 
 
 and  he  set  forth  the  Pelagians  and  the  Semipelagians  in  that 
 work  under  very  black  characters ;  and,  not  content  with  that, 
 he  compared  the  doctrines  of  the  modern  innovators  with  theirs. 
 This  book  was  received  by  the  whole  party  with  great  applause, 
 as  a  work  that  had  decided  the  controversy.  But  the  Author 
 having  writ  with  an  extraordinary  force  against  the  French 
 pretensions  on  Flanders,  which  recommended  him  so  much 
 to  the  Spanish  Court  that  he  was  made  a  Bishop  upon  it, 
 all  those  in  France  who  followed  St  Austin's  doctrine,  and 
 applauded  this  book,  were  represented  by  their  enemies  as 
 being  in  the  same  interest  with  him,  and  by  consequence  as 
 enemies  to  the  French  greatness ;  so  that  the  Court  of  France 
 prosecuted  the  whole  party.  This  book  was  at  first  only  pro- 
 hibited at  Rome,  as  a  violation  of  that  silence  that  the  Pope 
 had  enjoined :  afterwards,  articles  were  picked  out  of  it,  and 
 condemned,  and  all  the  Clergy  of  France  were  required  to 
 sign  the  condemnation  of  them.  These  articles  were  certainly 
 in  his  book,  and  were  manifest  consequences  of  St  Austin's 
 doctrine,  which  was  chiefly  driven  at ;  though  it  was  still 
 declared  at  Rome,  that  nothing  was  intended  to  be  done  in 
 prejudice  of  St  Austin's  doctrine.  Upon  this  pretence  his 
 party  have  said,  that  those  articles  being  capable  of  two  senses, 
 the  one  of  which  was  strained  and  was  heretical,  the  other  of 
 which  was  clear  and  according  to  St  Austin's  doctrine,  it  must 
 be  presumed  it  was  not  in  that  second,  but  in  the  other  sense, 
 that  they  were  condemned  at  Rome,  and  so  they  signed  the 
 condemnation  of  them ;  but  then  they  said,  that  they  were  not 
 in  Jansenius's  book  in  the  sense  in  which  they  condemned  them. 
 
 Upon  that  followed  a  most  extravagant  question  concerning 
 the  Pope's  infallibility  in  matters  of  fact :  it  being  said  on  the 
 one  side,  that  the  Pope  having  condemned  them  as  Jansenius's 
 opinions,  the  belief  of  his  infallibility  obliged  them  to  conclude 
 that  they  must  be  in  his  book ;  whereas  the  others  with  great 
 truth  affirmed,  that  it  had  never  been  thought  that  in  matters 
 of  fact  either  Popes  or  Councils  were  infallible.  At  last  a 
 new  cessation  of  hostilities  upon  these  points  was  resolved  on ; 
 yet  the  hatred  continues,  and  the  war  goes  on,  though  more 
 covertly  and  more  indirectly  than  before. 
 
 Nor  are  the  Reformed  more  of  a  piece  than  the  Church  of 
 Rome  upon  these  points.  Luther  went  on  long,  as  he  at  first 
 set  out,  with  so  little  disguise,  that  whereas  all  parties  had 
 always  pretended  that  they  asserted  the  freedom  of  the  will,  he 
 plainly  spoke  out,  and  said  the  will  was  not  free,  but  enslaved : 
 yet  before  he  died  he  is  reported  to  have  changed  his  mind ; 
 for  though  lie  never  owned  that,  yet  Melancthon,  who  had 
 been  of  the  same  opinion,  did  freely  retract  it ;  for  which  he 
 was  never  blamed  by  Luther.  Since  that  time  all  the  Luthe- 
 rans have  gone  into  the  Semipelagian  opinions  so  entirely  and 
 
Via.  XVII.  THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES.  18J 
 
 so  eagerly,  that  they  will  neither  tolerate  nor  hold  communion 
 with  any  of  the  other  persuasion.  Calvin  not  only  taught  St 
 Austin's  doctrine,  but  seemed  to  go  on  to  the  Supralapsarian 
 way ;  which  was  more  openly  taught  by  Beza,  and  was  gene- 
 rally followed  by  the  Reformed;  only  the  difference  between 
 the  Supralapsarians  and  the  Sublapsarians  was  never  brought 
 to  a  decision,  divines  being  in  all  the  Calvinist  Churches  left 
 to  their  freedom  as  to  that  point. 
 
 In  England  the  first  Reformers  were  generally  in  the  Sub- 
 lapsarian  hypothesis ;  but  Perkins  and  others  having  asserted 
 the  Supralapsarian  way,  Arminius,  a  professor  in  Leyden,  writ 
 against  him :  upon  tins  Gomarus  and  he  had  many  disputes ; 
 and  these  opinions  bred  a  great  distraction  over  all  the  United 
 Provinces.  At  the  same  time,  another  political  matter  occa- 
 sioning a  division  of  opinion,  whether  the  war  should  be  carried 
 on  with  Spain,  or  if  propositions  for  a  peace  or  truce  should 
 be  entertained?  it  happened  that  Arminius's  followers  were 
 all  for  a  peace,  and  the  others  were  generally  for  carrying  on 
 the  war ;  which  being  promoted  by  the  Prince  of  Orange,  he 
 joined  to  them  ;  and  the  Arminians  were  represented  as  men 
 whose  opinions  and  affections  leaned  to  Popery :  so  that  this, 
 from  being  a  doctrinal  point,  became  the  distinction  of  a  party, 
 and  by  that  means  the  differences  were  inflamed.  A  great 
 synod  met  at  Dort ;  to  which  the  divines  were  sent  from  hence, 
 as  well  as  from  other  Churches.  The  Arminian  tenets  were 
 condemned;  but  the  difference  between  the  Supralapsarians 
 and  Sublapsarians  was  not  meddled  with.  The  divines  of  this 
 Church,  though  very  moderate  in  the  way  of  proposing  their 
 opinions,  yet  upon  the  main  adhered  to  St  Austin's  doctrine. 
 So  the  breach  was  formed  in  Holland ;.  but  when  the  point  of 
 state  was  no  more  mixed  with  it,  these  questions  were  handled 
 with  less  heat. 
 
 Those  disputes  quickly  crossed  the  seas,  and  divided  us :  the 
 Abbots  adhered  to  St  Austin's  doctrine ;  while  Bishop  Overal, 
 but  chiefly  Archbishop  Laud,  espoused  the  Arminian  tenets. 
 All  divines  were  by  proclamation  required  not  to  preach  upon 
 these  heads ;  but  those  that  favoured  the  new  opinions  wrere 
 encouraged,  and  the  others  were  depressed :  and  unhappy 
 disputes  falling  in  at  that  time  concerning  the  extent  of  the 
 royal  prerogative  beyond  law,  the  Arminians  having  declared 
 themselves  highly  for  that,  they  were  as  much  favoured  at 
 Court  as  they  were  censured  in  the  Parliament;  which  brought 
 that  doctrine  under  a  very  hard  character  over  all  the  nation. 
 
 Twisse  carried  it  high  to  the  Supralapsarian  hypothesis, 
 which  grew  to  be  generally  followed  by  those  of  that  side  :  but 
 that  sounded  harshly;  and  Hobbes  grafting  afterwards  a  fate 
 and  absolute  necessity  upon  it,  the  other  opinions  were  again 
 revived:  and  no  political  interests  falling  in  with  them,  as  all 
 
186 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XVII. 
 
 prejudices  against  them  went  off,  so  they  were  more  calmly 
 debated,  and  became  more  generally  acceptable  than  they  were 
 before.  Men  are  now  left  to  their  liberty  in  them,  and  all  anger 
 upon  those  heads  is  now  so  happily  extinguished,  that  diversity 
 of  opinions  about  them  begets  no  alienation  nor  animosity. 
 
 So  far  have  I  prosecuted  a  short  view  of  the  history  of  this 
 controversy.  I  come  now  to  open  the  chief  grounds  of  the 
 different  parties ;  and,  first,  for  the  Supralapsarians. 
 
 They  lay  this  down  for  a  foundation,  that  God  is  essentially 
 perfect  and  independent  in  all  his  acts ;  so  that  he  can  consi- 
 der nothing  but  himself  and  his  own  glory :  that  therefore  he 
 designed  every  thing  in  and  for  himself :  that  to  make  him  stay 
 his  decrees  till  he  sees  what  free  creatures  will  do,  is  to  make 
 him  decree  dependently  upon  them ;  which  seems  to  fall  short 
 of  infinite  perfection :  that  he  himself  can  be  the  only  end  of 
 his  counsels;  and  that  therefore  he  could  only  consider  the 
 manifestation  of  his  own  attributes  and  perfection  :  that  infinite 
 wisdom  must  begin  its  designs  at  that  which  is  to  come  last  in 
 the  execution  of  them ;  and  since  the  conclusion  of  all  things 
 at  the  last  day  will  be  the  manifestation  of  the  wisdom,  good- 
 ness, and  justice  of  God,  we  ought  to  suppose,  that  God  in  the 
 order  of  things  designed  that  first,  though  in  the  order  of  time 
 there  is  no  first  nor  second  in  God,  this  being  supposed  to 
 be  from  all  eternity.  After  this  great  design  was  laid,  all  the 
 means  in  order  to  the  end  were  next  to  be  designed.  Crea- 
 tures in  the  sight  of  God  are  as  nothing,  and  by  a  strong  figure 
 are  said  to  be  less  than  nothing,  and  vanity.  Now  if  we  in 
 our  designs  do  not  consider  ants  or  insects,  not  to  say  straws 
 or  grains  of  sand  and  dust,  then  what  lofty  thoughts  soever  our 
 pride  may  suggest  to  us,  we  must  be  confessed  to  be  very  poor 
 and  inconsiderable  creatures  before  God ;  therefore  he  himself 
 and  his  own  glory  can  only  be  his  own  end  in  all  that  he  de- 
 signs or  does. 
 
 This  is  the  chief  basis  of  their  doctrine,  and  so  ought  to  be 
 well  considered.  They  add  to  this,  that  there  can  be  no  cer- 
 tain prescience  of  future  contingents :  they  say  it  involves  a 
 contradiction,  that  things  which  are  not  certainly  to  be,  should 
 be  certainly  foreseen ;  for  if  they  are  certainly  foreseen,  they 
 must  certainly  be :  so  while  they  are  supposed  to  be  contin- 
 gent, they  are  yet  affirmed  to  be  certain,  by  saying  that  they 
 are  certainly  foreseen.  When  God  decrees  that  any  thing 
 shall  be,  it  has  from  that  a  certain  futurition,  and  as  such  it  is 
 certainly  foreseen  by  him :  an  uncertain  foresight  is  an  act  of 
 its  nature  imperfect,  because  it  may  be  a  mistake,  and  so  is  in- 
 consistent with  the  divine  perfection.  And  it  seems  to  imply 
 a  contradiction  to  say  that  a  thing  happens  freely,  that  is,  may 
 be,  or  may  not  be,  and  yet  that  it  is  certainly  foreseen  by  God. 
 God  cannot  foresee  things  but  as  lie  decrees  them,  and  so 
 
Art.  XVII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 181 
 
 gives  them  a  futurition;  and  therefore  this  prescience  antece- 
 dent to  his  decree,  must  be  rejected  as  a  thing  impossible. 
 
 They  say  farther,  that  conditionate  decrees  are  imperfect  in 
 their  nature,  and  that  they  subject  the  will  and  acts  of  God  to 
 a  creature :  that  a  conditionate  decree  is  an  act  in  suspense, 
 whether  it  shall  be  or  not :  which  is  inconsistent  with  infinite 
 perfection.  A  general  will,  or  rather  a  willing  that  all  men 
 should  be  saved,  has  also  plain  characters  of  imperfection  in  it : 
 as  if  God  wished  somewhat  that  he  could  not  accomplish,  so 
 that  his  goodness  should  seem  to  be  more  extended  than  his 
 power.  Infinite  perfection  can  wish  nothing  but  what  it  can 
 execute ;  and  if  it  is  fit  to  wish  it,  it  is  fit  also  to  execute  it : 
 therefore  all  that  style  that  ascribes  passions  or  affections  to 
 God,  must  be  understood  in  a  figure ;  so  that  when  his  provi- 
 dence exerts  itself  in  such  acts  as  among  us  men  would  be  the 
 effects  of  those  passions,  then  the  passions  themselves  are  in  the 
 phrase  of  the  Scripture  ascribed  to  God.  They  say  we  ought 
 not  to  measure  the  punishments  of  sin  by  our  notions  of  jus- 
 tice :  God  afflicts  many  good  men  very  severely,  and  for  many 
 years  in  this  life,  and  tins  only  for  the  manifestation  of  his  own 
 glory,  for  making  their  faith  and  patience  to  shine :  and  yet 
 none  think  that  this  is  unjust.  It  is  a  method  in  which  God 
 will  be  glorified  in  them.  Some  sins  are  punished  with  other 
 sins,  and  likewise  with  a  course  of  severe  miseries.  If  we  trans- 
 fer this  from  time  to  eternity,  the  whole  will  be  then  more 
 conceivable :  for  if  God  may  do  for  a  little  time  that  which  is 
 inconsistent  with  our  notions,  and  with  our  rules  of  justice,  he 
 may  do  it  for  a  longer  duration :  since  it  is  as  impossible  that 
 he  can  be  unjust  for  a  day,  as  for  all  eternity. 
 
 As  God  does  every  thing  for  himself  and  his  own  glory,  so 
 the  Scriptures  teach  us  every-where  to  offer  up  all  praise  and 
 glory  to  God ;  to  acknowledge  that  all  is  of  him,  and  to 
 humble  ourselves  as  being  nothing  before  him.  Now,  if  we 
 were  elected  not  by  a  free  act  of  his,  but  by  what  he  foresaw 
 that  we  would  be,  so  that  his  grace  is  not  efficacious  by  its  own 
 force,  but  by  the  good  use  that  we  make  of  it,  then  the  glorv 
 and  praise  of  all  the  good  we  do,  and  of  God's  purposes  to  us, 
 were  due  to  ourselves  : — he  designs,  according  to  the  other  doc- 
 trine, equally  well  to  all  men ;  and  all  the  difference  among 
 them  will  arise  neither  from  God's  intentions  to  them,  nor  from 
 his  assistances,  but  from  the  good  use  that  he  foresaw  they 
 would  make  of  those  favours  that  he  was  to  give  in  common  to 
 all  mankind  : — man  should  have  whereof  to  giory,  and  he  might 
 say,  that  he  himself  made  himself  to  differ  from  others.  The 
 whole  strain  of  the  Scriptures,  in  ascribing  all  good  things  to 
 God,  and  in  charging  us  to  offer  up  the  honour  of  all  to  him, 
 seems  very  expressly  to  favour  this  doctrine ;  since,  if  all  our 
 good  is  from  God,  and  is  particularly  owing  to  his  grace,  then 
 
1B8 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XVII. 
 
 good  men  have  somewhat  from  God  that  bad  men  have  not ; 
 for  which  they  ought  to  praise  him.  The  style  of  all  the 
 prayers  that  are  used  or  directed  to  be  used  in  the  Scripture, 
 is  for  a  grace  that  opens  our  eyes,  that  turns  our  hearts,  that 
 makes  us  to  go,  that  leads  us  not  into  temptation,  but  delivers 
 us  from  evil.  All  these  phrases  do  plainly  import  that  we  de- 
 sire more  than  a  power  or  capacity  to  act,  such  as  is  given  to 
 all  men,  and  such  as,  after  we  have  received  it,  may  be  still  in- 
 effectual to  us.  For  to  pray  for  such  assistances  as  are  always 
 given  to  all  men,  and  are  such  that  the  whole  good  of  them 
 shall  wholly  depend  upon  ourselves,  would  sound  very  oddly ; 
 whereas  we  pray  for  somewhat  that  is  special,  and  that  we  hope 
 shall  be  effectual.  W e  do  not  and  cannot  pray  earnestly  for 
 that  which  we  know  all  men,  as  well  as  we  ourselves,  have  at  all 
 times. 
 
 Humility  and  earnestness  in  prayer  seem  to  be  among  the 
 chief  means  of  working  in  us  the  image  of  Christ,  and  of  de- 
 riving to  us  all  the  blessings  of  heaven.  That  doctrine  which 
 blasts  both,  which  swells  us  up  with  an  opinion  that  all  comes 
 from  ourselves,  and  that  we  receive  nothing  from  God  but 
 what  is  given  in  common  with  us  to  all  the  world,  is  certainly 
 contrary  both  to  the  spirit  and  to  the  design  of  the  gospel. 
 
 To  this  they  add  observations  from  Providence.  The  world 
 was  for  many  ages  delivered  up  to  idolatry;  and  since  the 
 Christian  religion  has  appeared,  we  see  vast  tracts  of  countries 
 which  have  continued  ever  since  in  idolatry  :  others  are  fallen 
 under  Mahometanism ;  and  the  state  of  Christendom  is  in  the 
 Eastern  parts  of  it  under  so  much  ignorance,  and  the  greatest 
 part  of  the  West  is  under  so  much  corruption,  that  we  must 
 confess  the  far  greater  part  of  mankind  has  been  in  all  ages 
 left  destitute  of  the  means  of  grace ; — so  that  the  promulgating 
 the  gospel  to  some  nations,  and  the  denying  it  to  others,  must 
 be  ascribed  to  the  unsearchable  ways  of  God,  that  are  past 
 finding  out.  If  he  thus  leaves  whole  nations  in  such  darkness 
 and  corruption,  and  freely  chooses  others  to  communicate  the 
 knowledge  of  himself  to  them,  then  we  need  not  wonder  if  he 
 should  hold  the  same  method  with  individuals  that  he  does 
 with  whole  bodies :  for  the  rejecting  of  whole  nations  by  the 
 lump  for  so  many  ages,  is  much  more  unaccountable  than  the 
 selecting  of  a  few,  and  the  leaving  others  in  that  state  of  igno- 
 rance and  brutality.  And  whatever  may  be  said  of  his  extend- 
 ing mercy  to  some  few  of  those  who  have  made  a  good  use  of 
 that  dim  light  which  they  had ;  yet  it  cannot  be  denied  but 
 their  condition  is  much  more  deplorable,  and  the  condition  of 
 the  others  is  much  more  hopeful :  so  that  great  numbers  of  men 
 are  born  in  such  circumstances,  that  it  is  morally  impossible 
 that  they  should  not  perish  in  them  ;  whereas  others  are  more 
 happily  situated  and  enlightened. 
 
Am.  XVI r. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 189 
 
 This  argument,  taken  from  common  observation,  becomes 
 much  stronger  when  we  consider  what  the  Apostle  says,  parti- 
 cularly in  the  Epistles  to  the  Romans  (ix.  ]  1.)  and  the  Ephe- 
 sians,  even  according  to  the  exposition  of  those  of  the  other 
 side :  For  if  God  loved  Jacob,  so  as  to  choose  his  posterity  to  be 
 his  people,  and  rejected  or  hated  Esau  and  his  posterity,  and 
 if  that  was  according  to  the  purpose  and  design  of  his  election  ; 
 if  by  the  same  purpose  the  Gentiles  were  to  be  grafted  upon 
 that  stock,  from  which  the  Jews  were  then  to  be  cut  off;  and 
 if  the  counsel  or  purpose  of  God  had  appeared  in  particular  to 
 those  of  Ephesus,  though  the  most  corrupted,  both  in  magic, 
 idolatry,  and  immorality,  of  any  in  the  East ;  then  it  is  plain, 
 that  the  applying  the  means  of  grace  arises  merely  from  a 
 great  design  that  was  long  hid  in  God,  which  did  then  break 
 out.  It  is  reasonable  to  believe,  that  there  is  a  proportion  be- 
 tween the  application  of  the  means,  and  the  decree  itself  con- 
 cerning the  end.  The  one  is  resolved  into  the  unsearchable 
 riches  of  God's  grace,  and  declared  to  be  free  and  absolute. 
 God's  choosing  the  nation  of  the  Jews  in  such  a  distinction  be- 
 yond all  other  nations,  is  by  Moses  and  the  Prophets  frequently 
 said  not  to  be  on  their  own  account,  or  on  the  account  of  any 
 thing  that  God  saw  in  them,  but  merely  from  the  goodness  of 
 God  to  them.  From  all  this  it  seems,  say  they,  as  reasonable 
 to  believe  that  the  other  is  likewise  free,  according  to  those 
 words  of  our  Saviour,  /  thank  thee,  O  Father,  Lord  of  heaven 
 and  earth,  because  thou  hast  hid  these  things  from  the  wise  and 
 prudent,  and  hast  revealed  them  unto  babes,  Matt.  xi.  25,  26. ; 
 the  reason  of  which  is  given  in  the  following  words,  Even  so, 
 Father,  for  it  seemed  good  in  thy  sight,  ver.  21,  22,  23.  What 
 goes  before,  of  Tyre  and  Sidon,  and  the  land  of  Sodom,  that 
 would  have  made  a  better  use  of  his  preaching  than  the  towns 
 of  Galilee  had  done  among  whom  he  lived,  confirms  this,  that 
 the  means  of  grace  are  not  bestowed  on  those  of  whom  it  was 
 foreseen  that  they  would  have  made  a  good  use  of  them ;  or 
 denied  to  those  who,  as  was  foreseen,  would  have  made  an  ill 
 use  of  them :  the  contrary  of  this  being  plainly  asserted  in 
 those  words  of  our  Saviour.  It  is  farther  observable,  that  he 
 seems  not  to  be  speaking  here  of  different  nations,  but  of  the 
 different  sorts  of  men  of  the  same  nation  :  the  more  learned  of 
 the  Jews,  the  wise  and  prudent,  rejected  him,  while  the  simpler, 
 but  better  sort,  the  babes,  received  him ;  so  that  the  difference 
 between  individual  persons  seems  here  to  be  resolved  into  the 
 good  pleasure  of  God. 
 
 It  is  farther  urged,  that  since  those  of  the  other  side  confess, 
 that  God  by  his  prescience  foresaw  what  circumstances  might 
 be  happy,  and  what  assistances  might  prove  efficacious  to  bad 
 men ;  then  his  not  putting  them  in  those  circumstances,  but 
 giving  them  such  assistances  only,  which,  how  effectual  soever 
 
190 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XVII. 
 
 they  might  be  to  others,  he  saw  would  have  no  efficacy  on 
 them,  and  his  putting  them  in  circumstances,  and  giving  them 
 assistances,  which  he  foresaw  they  would  abuse,  if  it  may  seem 
 to  clear  the  justice  of  God,  yet  it  cannot  clear  his  infinite  ho- 
 liness and  goodness ;  which  must  ever  carry  him,  according  to 
 our  notions  of  these  perfections,  to  do  all  that  may  be  done, 
 and  that  in  the  most  effectual  way,  to  rescue  others  from  mi- 
 sery, to  make  them  truly  good,  and  to  put  them  in  a  way  to  be 
 happy.  Since  therefore  this  is  not  always  done,  according  to 
 the  other  opinion,  it  is  plain  that  there  is  an  unsearchable 
 depth  in  the  ways  of  God,  which  we  are  not  able  to  fathom. 
 Therefore  it  must  be  concluded,  that  since  all  are  not  actually 
 good,  and  so  put  in  a  way  to  be  saved,  that  God  did  not  in- 
 tend that  it  should  be  so ;  for  who  hath  resisted  his  will  ?  Rom. 
 ix.  19.  The  counsel  of  the  Lord  standeth  fast,  and  the  thoughts 
 of  his  heart  to  all  generations,  Psal.xxxiii.il.  It  is  true,  his 
 laws  are  his  will  in  one  respect :  he  requires  all  to  obey  them ; 
 he  approves  them,  and  he  obliges  all  men  to  keep  them.  All 
 the  expressions  of  his  desire  that  all  men  should  be  saved,  are 
 to  be  explained  of  the  will  of  revelation,  commonly  called  the 
 sign  of  his  will.  When  it  is  said,  What  more  could  have  been 
 done  ?  Isa.  v.  4.,  that  is  to  be  understood  of  outward  means 
 and  blessings :  but  still  God  has  a  secret  will  of  his  good  plea- 
 sure, in  which  he  designs  all  things ;  and  this  can  never  be 
 frustrated. 
 
 From  this  they  do  also  conclude,  that  though  Christ's  death 
 was  to  be  offered  to  all  Christians,  yet  that  intentionally  and 
 actually  he  only  died  for  those  whom  the  Father  had  chosen 
 and  given  to  him  to  be  saved  by  him.  They  cannot  think  that 
 Christ  could  have  died  in  vain,  which  St  Paul  (Gal.  ii.  21.) 
 speaks  of  as  a  vast  absurdity.  Now  since,  if  he  had  died  for  all, 
 he  should  have  died  i?i  vain  with  relation  to  the  far  greater  part 
 of  mankind,  who  are  not  to  be  saved  by  him,  they  from  thence 
 conclude,  that  all  those  for  whom  he  died  are  certainly  saved 
 by  him.  Perhaps  with  relation  to  some  subaltern  blessings, 
 which  are  through  him  communicated,  if  not  to  all  mankind, 
 yet  to  all  Christians,  he  may  be  said  to  have  died  for  all ;  but 
 as  to  eternal  salvation,  they  believe  his  design  went  no  farther 
 than  the  secret  purpose  and  election  of  God ;  and  this  they  think 
 is  implied  in  these  words,  All  that  are  given  me  of  my  Father  : 
 thine  they  were,  and  thou  gavest  them  me.  He  also  limits  his 
 intercession  to  those  only :  /  pray  not  for  the  world,  but  for 
 those  that  thou  hast  given  me;  for  they  arc  thine:  and  all  thine 
 are  mine,  and  mine  are  thine,  John  xvii.  9,  10.  They  believe 
 that  he  also  limited  to  them  the  extent  of  his  death,  and  of  that 
 sacrifice  which  he  offered  in  it. 
 
 It  is  true,  the  Christian  religion  being  to  be  distinguished 
 from  the  Jewish  in  this  main  point,  that  whereas  the  Jewish 
 
Art.  XVII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 191 
 
 was  restrained  to  Abraham's  posterity,  and  confined  within  one 
 race  and  nation,  the  Christian  was  to  be  preached  to  every  crea- 
 ture,- universal  words  are  used  concerning  the  death  of  Christ : 
 but  as  the  words,  preaching  to  every  creature,  and  to  all  the 
 worlds  (Mark  xvi.  15.),  are  not  to  be  understood  in  the  utmost 
 extent, — for  then  they  have  never  been  verified,  since  the  gos- 
 pel has  never  yet,  for  aught  that  appears  to  us,  been  preached 
 to  every  nation  under  heaven, — but  are  only  to  be  explained 
 generally  of  a  commission  not  limited  to  one  or  more  nations, 
 none  being  excluded  from  it;  the  Apostles  were  to  execute  it 
 in  going  from  city  to  city,  as  they  should  be  inwardly  moved 
 to  it  by  the  Holy  Ghost :  So  they  think  that  those  large  words 
 that  are  applied  to  the  death  of  Christ,  are  to  be  understood  in 
 the  same  qualified  manner ;  that  no  nation  or  sort  of  men  are 
 excluded  from  it,  and  that  some  of  all  kinds  and  sorts  shall  be 
 saved  by  him.  And  this  is  to  be  carried  no  farther,  without 
 an  imputation  on  the  justice  of  God  :  for  if  he  has  received  a 
 sufficient  oblation  and  satisfaction  for  the  sins  of  the  whole 
 world,  it  is  not  reconcileable  to  justice  that  all  should  not  be 
 saved  by  it,  or  should  not  at  least  have  the  offer  and  promul- 
 gation of  it  made  them,  that  so  a  trial  may  be  made  whether 
 they  will  accept  of  it  or  not. 
 
 The  grace  of  God  is  set  forth  in  Scripture  by  such  figures 
 and  expressions  as  do  plainly  intimate  its  efficacy ;  and  that  it 
 does  not  depend  upon  us  to  use  it,  or  not  to  use  it,  at  pleasure. 
 It  is  said  to  be  a  creation ;  we  are  created  unto  good  works,  and 
 we  become  new  creatures :  it  is  called  a  regeneration,  or  a  new 
 birth;  it  is  called  a  quickening  and  a  resurrection,  as  our  for- 
 mer state  is  compared  to  a  feebleness,  a  blindness,  and  a  death. 
 God  is  said  to  work  in  us  both  to  will  and  to  do :  His  people 
 shall  be  willing  in  the  day  of  his  power:  He  will  write  his  laws 
 in  their  hearts,  and  make  them  to  walk  in  them.  Mankind  is 
 compared  to  a  mass  of  clay  in  the  hand  of  the  potter,  who  of 
 the  same  lump  makes  at  his  pleasure  vessels  of  honour  or  of  dis- 
 honour *  These  passages,  this  last  in  particular,  do  insinuate 
 an  absolute  and  a  conquering  power  in  grace ;  and  that  the 
 love  of  God  constrains  us,  as  St  Paul  speaks  expressly. 
 
 All  outward  co-action  is  contrary  to  the  nature  of  libertv  ; 
 and  all  those  inward  impressions  that  drove  on  the  Prophets, 
 so  that  they  had  not  the  free  use  of  their  faculties,  but  felt 
 themselves  carried  they  knew  not  how,  are  inconsistent  with 
 it ;  yet  when  a  man  feels  that  his  faculties  go  in  their  method, 
 and  that  he  assents  or  chooses  from  a  thread  of  inward  convic- 
 tion and  ratiocination,  he  still  acts  freely,  that  is,  by  an  inter- 
 nal principle  of  reason  and  thought.  A  man  acts  as  much 
 according  to  his  faculties  when  lie  assents  to  a  truth,  as  when 
 
 *  Eph.  ii.  10.  2  Cor.  v.  17.  Phil.  ii.  13.  Psal.  ex.  3.  Jer.  xxxi.  33.  31. 
 Ezek.  xxxvi.  26,  27.     Rom.  ix.  21. 
 
iy-2 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XVII. 
 
 he  chooses  what  he  is  to  do  :  and  if  his  mind  were  so  enlighten- 
 ed, that  he  saw  as  clearly  the  good  of  moral  things  as  he  per- 
 ceives speculative  truths,  so  that  he  felt  himself  as  little  able  to 
 resist  the  one  as  the  other,  he  would  be  no  less  a  free  and  a 
 rational  creature  than  if  he  were  left  to  a  more  unlimited  range: 
 nay,  the  more  evidently  that  he  saw  the  true  good  of  things, 
 and  the  more  that  he  were  determined  by  it,  he  should  then  act 
 more  suitably  to  his  faculties,  and  to  the  excellence  of  his  na- 
 ture. For  though  the  saints  in  heaven,  being  made  perfect  in 
 glory,  are  no  more  capable  of  farther  rewards,  yet  it  cannot  be 
 denied  but  they  act  with  a  more  accomplished  liberty,  because 
 they  see  all  things  in  a  true  light,  according  to  that,  in  thy  light 
 we  shall  see  light,  Psal.  xxxvi.  9. :  and  therefore  they  conclude, 
 that  such  an  overcoming  degree  of  grace,  by  which  a  man  is 
 made  willing  through  the  illumination  of  his  understanding, 
 and  not  by  any  blind  or  violent  impulse,  is  no  way  contrary  to 
 the  true  notion  of  liberty. 
 
 After  all,  they  think,  that  if  a  debate  falls  to  be  between  the 
 sovereignty  of  God,  his  acts  and  his  purposes,  and  the  freedom 
 of  man's  will,  it  is  modest  and  decent  rather  to  make  the  abate- 
 ment on  man's  part  than  on  God's.  But  they  think  there  is 
 no  need  of  this  :  they  infer,  that  besides  the  outward  enlighten- 
 ing of  a  man  by  knowledge,  there  is  an  inward  enlightening  of 
 the  mind,  and  a  secret  forcible  conviction  stamped  on  it ;  other- 
 wise what  can  be  meant  by  the  prayer  of  St  Paul  for  the  Ephe- 
 sians,  who  had  already  heard  the  gospel  preached,  and  were 
 instructed  in  it,  that  the  eyes  of  their  understanding  being  en- 
 lightened, they  might  know  what  was  the  hope  of  his  calling,  and 
 what  the  riches  of  the  glory  of  his  inheritance  in  the  saints,  and 
 what  was  the  exceeding  greatness  of  his  power  towards  them  that 
 believed,  Eph.  i.  17 — 19.  This  seems  to  be  somewhat  that  is 
 both  internal  and  efficacious.  Christ  compares  the  union  and 
 influence  that  he  communicates  to  believers,  to  that  union  of  a 
 head  with  the  members,  and  of  a  root  with  the  branches,  which 
 imports  an  internal,  a  vital,  and  an  efficacious  influence.  And 
 though  the  outward  means  that  are  offered  may  be,  and  always 
 are,  rejected,  when  not  accompanied  with  this  overcoming 
 grace,  yet  this  never  returns  empty :  these  outward  means 
 coming  from  God,  the  resisting  of  them  is  said  to  be  the  resist- 
 ing God,  the  grieving  or  quenching  his  Spirit,  Acts  vii.  51. 
 Eph.  iv.  30. ;  and  so  in  that  sense  we  resist  the  grace  or  favour 
 of  God;  but  we  can  never  withstand  him  when  he  intends  to 
 overcome  us. 
 
 As  for  perseverance,  it  is  a  necessary  consequence  of  abso- 
 lute decrees  and  of  efficacious  grace ;  for  since  all  depends  upon 
 God,  and  that,  as  of  his  own  will  he  begat  us,  so  with  him  there 
 is  neither  variableness  nor  shadoxv  of  turning,  (James  i.  17,  18.)  ; 
 whom  he  loves  he  loves  to  the  end,  (John  xiii.  1.) ;  and  he  has 
 
Art.  XVII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 193 
 
 promised  that  he  will  never  leave  nor  forsake  those  to  idiom  he 
 becomes  a  God,  (Heb.  xiii.  5.) ;  we  must  from  thence  conclude, 
 that  the  purpose  and  calling  of  God  is  without  repentance.  And 
 therefore,  though  good  men  may  fall  into  grievous  sins,  to  keep 
 them  from  which  there  are  dreadful  things  said  in  Scripture 
 against  their  foiling  away,  or  apostasy ;  yet  God  does  so  uphold 
 them,  that  though  he  suffers  them  often  to  feel  the  weight  of 
 their  natures,  yet,  of  all  that  are  given  by  the  Father  to  the  Son 
 to  be  saved  by  him,  none  are  lost. 
 
 Upon  the  whole  matter  they  believe,  that  God  did  in  him- 
 self, and  for  his  own  glory,  foreknow  such  a  determinate  num- 
 ber, whom  he  pitched  upon,  to  be  the  persons  in  whom  he 
 would  be  both  sanctified  and  glorified :  that  having  thus  fore- 
 known them,  he  predestinated  them  to  be  holy,  conformable  to 
 the  image  of  his  Son :  that  these  were  to  be  called,  not  by  a 
 general  calling  in  the  sense  of  these  words,  many  are  called  but 
 few  are  chosen,  Matt.  xx.  16.,  but  to  be  called,  according  to  his 
 purpose,  Rom.  viii.  29,  30. ;  and  those  he  justified  upon  their 
 obeying  that  calling;  and  he  will  in  conclusion  glorify  them. 
 Nor  are  these  words  only  to  be  limited  to  the  sufferings  of 
 good  men  ;  they  are  to  be  extended  to  all  the  effects  of  the  love 
 of  God,  according  to  that  which  follows,  that  nothing  can  sepa- 
 rate us  from  the  love  of  God  in  Christ,  Rom.  ix.  18.  The  whole 
 reasoning  in  the  ixth  of  the  Romans  does  so  plainly  resolve  all 
 the  acts  of  God's  mercy  and  justice,  his  hardening  as  well  as 
 his  pardoning,  into  an  absolute  freedom  and  an  unsearchable 
 depth,  that  more  express  words  to  that  effect  can  hardly  be 
 imagined. 
 
 It  is  in  general  said,  that  the  children  being  yet  unborn,  nei- 
 ther having  done  good  or  evil,  that  the  purpose  of  God  accord- 
 ing to  election  might  stand,  not  of  works,  but  of  him  that  calleth, 
 Jacob  was  loved,  and  Esau  hated,  Rom.  ix.  11.  13.;  that  God 
 raised  up  Pharaoh,  that  he  might  shew  his  power  in  him,  ver. 
 17.:  and  when  an  objection  is  suggested  against  all  this,  in- 
 stead of  answering  it,  it  is  silenced  with  this,  Who  art  thou,  O 
 man,  that  repliest  against  God  ?  ver.  20. :  and  all  is  illustrated 
 with  the  figure  of  the  potter,  and  concluded  with  this  solemn 
 question,  What  if  God,  willing  to  shew  his  wrath,  and  to  make 
 his  power  known,  endured  with  much  long-suffering  the  vessels 
 of  wrath  fitted  to  destruction  ?  ver.  22.  This  carries  the  reader 
 to  consider  what  is  so  often  repeated  in  the  book  of  Exodus, 
 concerning  God's  hardening  the  heart  of  Pharaoh,  so  that  he 
 would  not  let  his  people  go)  Exod.  iv.  21.  x.  20.  xi.  10.  xiv.  8. 
 It  is  said,  that  God  has  made  the  wicked  man  for  the  day  of 
 a  il,  Prov.  xvi.  4.  ;  as  it  is  written  on  the  other  hand,  that  as 
 many  believed  the  gospel  as  were  appointed  to  eternal  life,  Acts 
 xiii.  48.  Some  are  said  to  be  written  in  the  book  of  life  of  the 
 Lamb  slain  before  the  foundation  of  the  world,  or  according  to 
 
 N 
 
19i 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XVII. 
 
 God"1  s  purpose  before  the  world  began  ;  Rev.  xiii.  8.  iii.  5.  xx.  12. 
 xxi.  27.  Ungodly  men  are  said  to  be  of  old  ordained  to  con- 
 demnation, and  to  be  given  up  by  God  unto  vile  affections,  and 
 to  be  given  over  by  him  to  a  reprobate  mind,  Rom.  i.  26.  28. 
 Therefore  they  think  that  reprobation  is  an  absolute  and  free 
 act  of  God,  as  well  as  election,  to  manifest  his  holiness  and 
 justice  in  them  who  are  under  it,  as  well  as  his  love  and  mercy 
 is  manifested  in  the  elect.  Nor  can  they  think  with  the  Sub- 
 lapsarians,  that  reprobation  is  only  God's  passing  by  those 
 whom  he  does  not  elect :  this  is  an  act  unworthy  of  God,  as  if 
 he  forgot  them,  which  does  clearly  imply  imperfection.  And 
 as  for  that  which  is  said  concerning  their  being  fallen  in  Adam, 
 they  argue,  that  either  Adam's  sin,  and  the  connexion  of  all 
 mankind  to  him  as  their  head  and  representative,  was  abso- 
 lutely decreed,  or  it  was  not :  If  it  was,  then  all  is  absolute — 
 Adam's  sin  and  the  fall  of  mankind  were  decreed,  and  by  con- 
 sequence all  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  are  under  a  conti- 
 nued chain  of  absolute  decrees ;  and  then  the  Supralapsarian 
 and  the  Sublapsarian  hypothesis  will  be  one  and  the  same,  only 
 variously  expressed.  But  if  Adam's  sin  was  only  foreseen  and 
 permitted,  then  a  conditionate  decree  founded  upon  prescience 
 is  once  admitted,  so  that  all  that  follows  turns  upon  it ;  and 
 then  all  the  arguments,  either  against  the  perfection  of  such 
 acts  or  the  certainty  of  such  a  prescience,  turn  against  this ;  for 
 if  they  are  admitted  in  any  one  instance,  then  they  may  be  ad- 
 mitted in  others  as  well  as  in  that. 
 
 The  Sublapsarians  do  always  avoid  to  answer  this;  and  it 
 seems  they  do  rather  incline  to  think  that  Adam  was  under  an 
 absolute  decree;  and  if  so,  then,  though  their  doctrine  may 
 seem,  to  those  who  do  not  examine  things  nicely,  to  look  more 
 plausible,  yet  really  it  amounts  to  the  same  thing  with  the  other. 
 For  it  is  all  one  to  say  that  God  decreed  that  Adam  should 
 sin,  and  that  all  mankind  should  fall  in  him,  and  that  then  God 
 should  choose  out  of  mankind,  thus  fallen  by  his  decree,  such 
 as  he  would  save,  and  leave  the  rest  in  that  lapsed  state  to 
 perish  in  it;  as  it  is  to  say  that  God,  intending  to  save  some 
 and  to  damn  others,  did,  in  order  to  the  carrying  this  on  in  a 
 method  of  justice,  decree  Adam's  fall,  and  the  fall  of  mankind 
 in  him,  in  order  to  the  saving  of  his  elect,  and  the  damning  of 
 the  rest.  All  that  the  Sublapsarians  say  in  this  particular  for 
 themselves  is,  that  the  Scripture  has  not  declared  any  thing 
 concerning  the  fall  of  Adam  in  such  formal  terms,  that  they 
 can  affirm  any  thing  concerning  it.  A  liberty  of  another  kind 
 seems  to  have  been  then  in  man,  when  he  was  made  after  the 
 image  of  God,  and  before  he  was  corrupted  by  sin  :  And  there- 
 fore, though  it  is  not  easy  to  clear  all  difficulties  in  so  intricate 
 a  matter,  yet  it  seems  reasonable  to  think,  that  man  in  a  state 
 of  innocency  was  a  purer  and  a  freer  creature  to  good  than 
 
Art.  XVI  r. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 195 
 
 now  he  is.  But,  after  all,  this  seems  to  be  only  a  fleeing  from 
 the  difficulty,  to  a  less  offensive  way  of  talking  of  it ;  for  if  the 
 prescience  of  future  contingents  cannot  be  certain  unless  they 
 are  decreed,  then  God  could  not  certainly  foreknow  Adam's 
 sin,  without  he  had  made  an  absolute  decree  about  it ;  and  that, 
 as  was  just  now  said,  is  the  same  thing  with  the  Supralapsarian 
 hypothesis; — of  which  I  shall  say  no  more,  having  now  laid 
 together  in  a  small  compass  the  full  strength  of  this  argument. 
 I  go  next  to  set  out,  with  the  same  fidelity  and  exactness,  the 
 Remonstrants'  arguments. 
 
 They  begin  with  this,  that  God  is  just,  holy,  and  merciful : 
 that,  in  speaking  of  himself  in  the  Scripture  with  relation  to 
 those  attributes,  he  is  pleased  to  make  appeals  to  men,  to  call 
 them  to  reason  with  him :  thus  his  Prophets  did  often  bespeak 
 the  Jewish  nation  : — the  meaning  of  which  is,  that  God  acts  so 
 that  men,  according  to  the  notions  that  they  have  of  those  at- 
 tributes, may  examine  them,  and  will  be  forced  to  justify  and 
 approve  them.  Nay,  in  these  God  proposes  himself  to  us  as 
 our  pattern :  we  ought  to  imitate  him  in  them,  and  by  conse- 
 quence we  may  frame  just  notions  of  them.  We  are  required 
 to  be  holy  and  merciful,  as  he  is  merciful :  What  then  can  we 
 think  of  a  justice  that  shall  condemn  us  for  a  fact  that  we  never 
 committed,  and  that  was  done  many  years  before  we  were 
 born  ?  as  also,  that  designs  first  of  all  to  be  glorified  by  our 
 being  eternally  miserable,  and  that  decrees  that  we  shall  com- 
 mit sins,  to  justify  the  previous  decree  of  our  reprobation?  If 
 those  decrees  are  thus  originally  designed  by  God,  and  are 
 certainly  effectuated,  then  it  is  inconceivable  how  there  should 
 be  a  justice  in  punishing  that  which  God  himself  appointed  by 
 an  antecedent  and  irreversible  decree  should  be  done :  so  this 
 seems  to  lie  hard  upon  justice.  It  is  no  less  hard  upon  infinite 
 holiness  to  imagine,  that  a  Being  of  purer  eyes  than  that  it  can 
 behold  iniquity,  (Hab.  i.  13.),  should  by  an  antecedent  decree 
 fix  our  committing  so  many  sins,  in  such  a  manner  that  it  is 
 not  possible  for  us  to  avoid  them :  this  is  to  make  us  to  be  born 
 indeed  under  a  necessity  of  sin ;  and  yet  this  necessity  is  said 
 to  flow  from  the  act  and  decrees  of  God.  God  represents  him- 
 self always  in  the  Scriptures  as  gracious,  merciful,  slow  to  anger, 
 and  abundant  in  goodness  and  truth,  Exod.  xxxiv.  6. :  it  is  often 
 said,  that  he  desires  that  no  man  should  perish,  but  that  all  should 
 come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  2  Pet.  iii.  9. :  and  this  is  said 
 sometimes  with  the  solemnity  of  an  oath — As  I  live,  saith  the 
 Lord,  I  take  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  sitmers,  Ezek.  xviii. 
 32.  xxxiii.  11.  They  ask,  what  sense  can  such  words  bear,  if 
 we  can  believe  that  God  did  by  an  absolute  decree  reprobate  so 
 many  of  them  ?  If  all  things  that  happen  do  arise  out  of  the 
 decree  of  God  as  its  first  cause,  then  we  must  believe  that  God 
 takes  pleasure  both  in  his  own  decrees  and  in  the  execution 
 
190 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XVII. 
 
 of  them;  and,  by  consequence,  that  he  takes  pleasure  in  the 
 death  of  sinners,  and  that  in  contradiction  to  the  most  express 
 and  most  solemn  words  of  Scripture.  Besides,  what  can  we 
 think  of  the  truth  of  God,  and  of  the  sincerity  of  those  offers 
 of  grace  and  mercy,  with  the  obtestations,  the  exhortations,  and 
 expostulations  upon  them,  that  occur  so  often  in  Scripture,  if  we 
 can  think,  that  by  antecedent  acts  of  God  he  determined  that 
 all  these  should  be  ineffectual ;  so  that  they  are  only  so  many 
 solemn  words  that  do  indeed  signify  nothing,  if  God  intended 
 that  all  things  should  fall  out  as  they  do,  and  if  they  do  so  fall 
 out  only  because  he  intended  it  ?  The  chief  foundation  of  this 
 opinion  lies  in  this  argument  as  its  basis, — that  nothing  can  be 
 believed  that  contradicts  the  justice,  holiness,  the  truth  and 
 purity  of  God ;  that  these  attributes  are  in  God  according  to 
 our  notions  concerning  them,  only  they  are  in  him  infinitely 
 more  perfect,  since  we  are  required  to  imitate  them :  whereas 
 the  doctrine  of  absolute  decrees  does  manifestly  contradict  the 
 clearest  ideas  that  we  can  form  of  justice,  holiness,  truth,  and 
 goodness. 
 
 From  the  nature  of  God  they  go  to  the  nature  of  man ;  and 
 they  think  that  such  an  inward  freedom,  by  which  a  man  is  the 
 master  of  his  own  actions,  and  can  do  or  not  do  what  he  pleases, 
 is  so  necessary  to  the  morality  of  our  actions,  that  without  it 
 our  actions  are  neither  good  nor  evil,  neither  capable  of  re- 
 ward or  punishment.  Mad  men,  or  men  asleep,  are  not  to  be 
 charged  with  the  good  or  evil  of  what  they  do;  therefore  at 
 least  some  degrees  of  liberty  must  be  left  with  us,  otherwise 
 why  are  we  praised  or  blamed  for  any  thing  that  we  do  ?  If  a 
 man  thinks  that  he  is  under  an  inevitable  decree,  as  he  will 
 have  little  remorse  for  all  the  evil  he  does,  while  he  imputes  it 
 to  that  inevitable  force  that  constrains  him,  so  he  will  naturally 
 conclude  that  it  is  to  no  purpose  for  him  to  struggle  with  im- 
 possibilities ;  and  men  being  inclined  both  to  throw  all  blame 
 off  from  themselves,  and  to  indulge  themselves  in  laziness  and 
 sloth,  these  practices  are  too  natural  to  mankind  to  be  en- 
 couraged by  opinions  that  favour  them.  All  virtue  and  reli- 
 gion, all  discipline  and  industry,  must  arise  from  this  as  their 
 first  principle, — that  there  is  a  power  in  us  to  govern  our  own 
 thoughts  and  actions,  and  to  raise  and  improve  our  faculties. 
 If  this  is  denied,  all  endeavours,  all  education,  all  pains,  either 
 on  ourselves  or  others,  are  vain  and  fruitless  things.  Nor  is  it 
 possible  to  make  a  man  believe  other  than  this ;  for  he  does  so 
 plainly  perceive  that  he  is  a  free  agent,  he  feels  himself  balance 
 matters  in  his  thoughts,  and  deliberate  about  them  so  evidently, 
 that  he  certainly  knows  he  is  a  free  being. 
 
 This  is  the  image  of  God  that  is  stamped  upon  his  nature: 
 and  though  he  feels  himself  often  hurried  on  so  impetuously, 
 that  he  may  seem  to  have  lost  his  freedom  in  some  turns  and 
 
Art.  XVII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 197 
 
 upon  some  occasions,  yet  he  feels  that  he  might  have  restrained 
 that  heat  in  its  first  beginnings  :  he  feels  he  can  divert  his 
 thoughts,  and  master  himself  in  most  things,  when  he  sets  him- 
 self to  it :  he  finds  that  knowledge  and  reflection,  that  good 
 company  and  good  exercises,  do  tame  and  soften  him,  and  that 
 bad  ones  make  him  wild,  loose,  and  irregular.  From  all  this 
 they  conclude,  that  man  is  free,  and  not  under  inevitable  fate, 
 or  irresistible  motions  either  to  good  or  evil.  All  this  they 
 confirm  from  the  whole  current  of  the  Scripture,  that  is  full  of 
 persuasions,  exhortations,  reproofs,  expostulations,  encourage- 
 ments, and  terrors;  which  are  all  vain  and  theatrical  things, 
 if  there  are  no  free  powers  in  us  to  which  they  are  addressed. 
 To  what  purpose  is  it  to  speak  to  dead  men,  to  persuade  the 
 blind  to  see,  or  the  lame  to  run  ?  If  we  are  under  an  impo- 
 tence till  the  irresistible  grace  comes,  and  if,  when  it  comes, 
 nothing  can  withstand  it,  then  what  occasion  is  there  for  all 
 those  solemn  discourses,  if  they  can  have  no  effect  on  us  ?  They 
 cannot  render  us  inexcusable,  unless  it  were  in  our  power  to 
 be  bettered  by  them ;  and  to  imagine  that  God  gives  light  and 
 blessings  to  those  whom  he  before  intended  to  damn,  only  to 
 make  them  inexcusable,  when  they  could  do  them  no  good, 
 and  they  will  serve  only  to  aggravate  their  condemnation,  gives 
 so  strange  an  idea  of  that  infinite  goodness,  that  it  is  not  fit  to 
 express  it  by  those  terms  which  do  naturally  arise  upon  it. 
 
 It  is  as  hard  to  suppose  two  contrary  wills  in  God — the  one 
 commanding  us  our  duty,  and  requiring  us  with  the  most  so- 
 lemn obtestations  to  do  it,  and  the  other  putting  a  certain  bar 
 in  our  way,  by  decreeing  that  we  shall  do  the  contrary.  This 
 makes  God  look  as  if  he  had  a  will  and  a  will ;  though  a  heart 
 and  a  heart  import  no  good  quality,  when  applied  to  men : 
 the  one  will  requires  us  to  do  our  duty,  and  the  other  makes 
 it  impossible  for  us  not  to  sin :  the  will  for  the  good  is  ineffec- 
 tual, while  the  will  that  makes  us  sin  is  infallible.  These  things 
 seem  very  hard  to  be  apprehended ;  and  whereas  the  root  of 
 true  religion  is  the  having  right  and  high  ideas  of  God  and  of 
 his  attributes,  here  such  ideas  arise  as  naturally  give  us  strange 
 thoughts  of  God :  and  if  they  are  received  by  us  as  originals, 
 upon  which  we  are  to  form  our  own  natures,  such  notions  may 
 make  us  grow  to  be  spiteful,  imperious,  and  without  bowels, 
 but  do  not  seem  proper  to  inspire  us  with  love,  mercy,  and 
 compassion  ;  though  God  is  always  proposed  to  us  in  that  view. 
 All  preaching  and  instruction  does  also  suppose  this :  for  to 
 what  purpose  are  men  called  upon,  taught,  and  endeavoured 
 to  be  persuaded,  if  they  are  not  free  agents,  and  have  not  a 
 power  over  their  own  thoughts,  and  if  they  are  not  to  be  con- 
 vinced and  turned  by  reason  ?  The  oifers  of  peace  and  pardon 
 that  are  made  to  all  men  are  delusorv  things,  if  they  are  by 
 
]98 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XVII. 
 
 an  antecedent  act  of  God  restrained  only  to  a  few,  and  all  others 
 are  barred  from  them. 
 
 It  is  farther  to  be  considered,  say  they,  that  God  having 
 made  men  free  creatures,  his  governing  them  accordingly,  and 
 making  his  own  administration  of  the  world  suitable  to  it,  is 
 no  diminution  of  his  own  authority ;  it  is  only  the  carrying  on 
 of  his  own  creation  according  to  the  several  natures  that  he 
 has  put  in  that  variety  of  beings  of  which  this  world  is  com- 
 posed, and  with  which  it  is  diversified :  therefore,  if  some  of  the 
 acts  of  God,  with  relation  to  man,  are  not  so  free  as  his  other 
 acts  are,  and  as  we  may  suppose  necessary  to  the  ultimate  per- 
 fection of  an  independent  Being,  this  arises  not  from  any  defect 
 in  the  acts  of  God,  but  because  the  nature  of  the  creature  that* 
 he  intended  to  make  free  is  inconsistent  with  such  acts. 
 
 The  Divine  Omnipotence  is  not  lessened,  when  we  observe 
 some  of  his  works  to  be  more  beautiful  and  useful  than  others 
 are ;  and  the  irregular  productions  of  nature  do  not  derogate 
 from  the  order  in  which  all  things  appear  lovely  to  the  Divine 
 Mind.  So,  if  that  liberty  with  which  he  intended  to  endue 
 thinking  beings  is  incompatible  with  such  positive  acts,  and  so 
 positive  a  Providence  as  governs  natural  things  and  this  mate- 
 rial world,  then  this  is  no  way  derogatory  to  the  sovereignty 
 of  his  mind.  This  does  also  give  such  an  account  of  the  evil 
 that  is  in  the  world,  as  does  no  way  accuse  or  lessen  the  purity 
 and  holiness  of  God ;  since  he  only  suffers  his  creatures  to  go 
 on  in  the  free  use  of  those  powers  that  he  has  given  them ; 
 about  which  he  exercises  a  special  providence,  making  some 
 men's  sins  to  be  the  immediate  punishments  of  their  own  or  of 
 other  men's  sins,  and  restraining  them  often  in  a  great  deal  of 
 that  evil  that  they  do  design,  and  bringing  out  of  it  a  great 
 deal  of  good  that  they  did  not  design;  but  all  is  done  in  a  way 
 suitable  to  their  natures,  without  any  violence  to  them. 
 
 .  It  is  true,  it  is  not  easy  to  shew  how  those  future  contin- 
 gencies, which  depend  upon  the  free  choice  of  the  will,  should 
 be  certain  and  infallible.  But  we  are  on  other  accounts  cer- 
 tain that  it  is  so ;  for  we  see  through  the  whole  Scriptures  a 
 thread  of  very  positive  prophecies,  the  accomplishment  of  which 
 depended  on  the  free  will  of  man ;  and  these  predictions,  as 
 they  were  made  very  precisely,  so  they  were  no  less  punctually 
 accomplished.  Not  to  mention  any  other  prophecies,  all  those 
 that  related  to  the  death  and  sufferings  of  Christ  were  fulfilled 
 by  the  free  acts  of  the  priests  and  people  of  the  Jews :  they 
 sinned  in  doing  it,  which  proves  that  they  acted  in  it  with  their 
 natural  liberty.  By  these  and  all  the  other  prophecies  that 
 are  in  both  Testaments,  it  must  be  confessed  that  these  things 
 were  certainly  foreknown ;  but  where  to  found  that  certainty, 
 cannot  be  easily  resolved.  The  infinite  perfection  of  the  Divine 
 Mind  ought  here  to  silence  all  objections.    A  clear  idea,  by 
 
Art.  XVII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 199 
 
 which  we  apprehend  a  thing  to  be  plainly  contrary  to  the  at- 
 tributes of  God,  is  indeed  a  just  ground  of  rejecting  it;  and 
 therefore  they  think  that  they  are  in  the  right  to  deny  all  such 
 to  be  in  God,  as  they  plainly  apprehend  to  be  contrary  to 
 justice,  truth,  and  goodness :  but  if  the  objection  against  any 
 thing  supposed  to  be  in  God  lies  only  against  the  manner  and 
 the  unconceivableness  of  it,  there  the  infinite  perfection  of  God 
 answers  all. 
 
 It  is  farther  to  be  considered,  that  this  prescience  does  not 
 make  the  effects  certain,  because  they  are  foreseen ;  but  they 
 are  foreseen,  because  they  are  to  be :  so  that  the  certainty  of 
 the  prescience  is  not  antecedent  or  causal,  but  subsequent  and 
 eventual.  Whatsoever  happens,  was  future  before  it  happened ; 
 and  since  it  happened,  it  was  certainly  future  from  all  eternity ; 
 not  by  a  certainty  of  fate,  but  by  a  certainty  that  arises  out  of 
 its  being  once,  from  which  this  truth,  that  it  was  future,  was 
 eternally  certain :  therefore  the  Divine  prescience  being  only 
 the  knowing  all  things  that  were  to  come,  that  does  not  infer 
 a  necessity  or  causality. 
 
 The  Scripture  plainly  shews  on  some  occasions  a  conditionate 
 prescience  :  God  answered  David,  (1  Sam.  xxiii.  11,  12.),  that 
 Saul  was  come  to  Keilah,  and  that  the  men  of  Keilah  were  to 
 deliver  him  up ;  and  yet  both  the  one  and  the  other  was  upon 
 the  condition  of  his  staying  there ;  and  he  going  from  thence, 
 neither  the  one  nor  the  other  ever  happened :  here  was  a  con- 
 ditionate prescience.  Such  was  Christ's  saying,  (Matt.  xi.  21. 
 23.),  that  those  of  Tyre  and  Sidon,  Sodom  and  Gomorrah, 
 would  have  turned  to  him,  if  they  had  seen  the  miracles  that 
 he  wrought  in  some  of  the  towns  of  Galilee.  Since  then  this 
 prescience  may  be  so  certain,  that  it  can  never  be  mistaken, 
 nor  misguide  the  designs  or  providence  of  God ;  and  since  by 
 this  both  the  attributes  of  God  are  vindicated,  and  the  due 
 freedom  of  the  will  of  man  is  asserted,  all  difficulties  seem  to 
 be  easily  cleared  this  way. 
 
 As  for  the  giving  to  some  nations  and  persons  the  means  of 
 salvation,  and  the  denying  these  to  others,  the  Scriptures  do 
 indeed  ascribe  that  wholly  to  the  riches  and  freedom  of  God's 
 grace ;  but  still  they  think,  that  he  gives  to  all  men  that  which 
 is  necessary  to  the  state  in  which  they  are,  to  answer  the  obli- 
 gations they  are  under  in  it;  and  that  this  light  and  common 
 grace  is  sufficient  to  carry  them  so  far,  that  God  will  either 
 accept  of  it,  or  give  them  farther  degrees  of  illumination  :  from 
 which  it  must  be  inferred,  that  all  men  are  inexcusable  in  his 
 sight,  and  that  God  is  always  just  and  clear  when  he  judges, 
 Psal.  li.  4. ;  since  every  man  had  that  which  was  sufficient,  if 
 not  to  save  him,  yet  at  least  to  bring  him  to  a  state  of  salvation. 
 But  besides  what  is  thus  simply  necessary,  and  is  of  itself  suf- 
 
200 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 AM.  XVII. 
 
 ficient,  there  are  innumerable  favours,  like  largesses  of  God's 
 grace  and  goodness ;  these  God  gives  freely  as  he  pleases. 
 
 And  thus  the  great  designs  of  Providence  go  on  according  to 
 the  goodness  and  mercy  of  God.  None  can  complain,  though 
 some  have  more  cause  to  rejoice  and  glory  in  God  than  others. 
 What  happens  to  nations  in  a  body,  may  also  happen  to  indi- 
 viduals :  some  may  have  higher  privileges,  be  put  in  happier 
 circumstances,  and  have  such  assistances  given  them  as  God 
 foresees  will  become  effectual,  and  not  only  those  which,  though 
 they  be  in  their  nature  sufficient,  yet  in  the  event  will  be  in- 
 effectual: every  man  ought  to  complain  of  himself  for  not  using 
 that  which  was  sufficient,  as  he  might  have  done ;  and  all  good 
 men  will  have  matter  of  rejoicing  in  God,  for  giving  them  what 
 he  foresaw  would  prove  effectual.  After  all,  they  acknowledge 
 there  is  a  depth  in  this,  of  God's  not  giving  all  nations  an  equal 
 measure  of  light,  nor  putting  all  men  into  equally  happy  cir- 
 cumstances, which  they  cannot  unriddle;  but  still  justice,  good- 
 ness, and  truth,  are  saved ;  though  we  may  imagine  a  goodness 
 that  may  do  to  all  men  what  is  absolutely  the  best  for  them  : 
 and  there  they  confess  there  is  a  difficulty,  but  not  equal  to 
 those  of  the  other  side. 
 
 From  hence  it  is  that  they  expound  all  those  passages  in  the 
 New  Testament,  concerning  the  purpose,  the  election,  the  fore- 
 knowledge, and  the  predestination  of  God,  so  often  mentioned. 
 All  those,  they  say,  relate  to  God's  design  of  calling  the  Gentile 
 world  to  the  knowledge  of  the  Messias :  this  was  kept  secret, 
 though  hints  of  it  are  given  in  several  of  the  Prophets ;  so  it 
 was  a  mystery ;  but  it  was  then  revealed,  when,  according  to 
 Christ's  commission  to  his  Apostles  to  go  and  teach  all  nations, 
 they  went  preaching  the  gospel  to  the  Gentiles.  This  was  a 
 stumbling-block  to  the  Jews,  and  it  was  the  chief  subject  of 
 controversy  betwixt  them  and  the  Apostles  at  the  time  when 
 the  Epistles  were  writ ;  so  it  was  necessary  for  them  to  clear 
 this  very  fully,  and  to  come  often  over  it.  But  there  was  no 
 need  of  amusing  people  in  the  beginnings  of  Christianity,  and 
 in  that  first  infancy  of  it,  with  high  and  unsearchable  specula- 
 tions concerning  the  decrees  of  God :  therefore  they  observe 
 that  the  Apostles  shew,  how  that  Abraham  at  first,  Isaac  and 
 Jacob  afterwards,  were  chosen  by  a  descriminating  favour,  that 
 they  and  their  posterity  should  be  in  covenant  with  God :  and 
 upon  that  occasion  the  Apostle  goes  on  to  shew,  that  God  had 
 always  designed  to  call  in  the  Gentiles,  though  that  was  not 
 executed  but  by  their  ministry. 
 
 With  this  key  one  will  find  a  plain  coherent  sense  in  all  St 
 Paul's  discourses  on  this  subject,  without  asserting  antecedent 
 and  special  decrees  as  to  particular  persons.  Things  that  hap- 
 pen under  a  permissive  and  directing  Providence,  may  be  also 
 in  a  largeness  of  expression  ascribed  to  the  will  and  counsel  of 
 
Art.  XVII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 201 
 
 God ;  for  a  permissive  and  directing  will  is  really  a  will,  though 
 it  be  not  antecedent  nor  causal.  The  hardening  Pharaoh's 
 heart  (Exod.  vii.  22.)  may  be  ascribed  to  God,  though  it  is 
 said  that  his  heart  hardened  itself]  Exod.  viii.  15.  19.  32.;  be- 
 cause he  took  occasion,  from  the  stops  God  put  in  those  plagues 
 that  he  sent  upon  him  and  his  people,  to  encourage  himself 
 when  he  saw  there  was  a  new  respite  granted  him  ;  and  he, 
 who  was  a  cruel  and  bloody  prince,  deeply  engaged  in  idolatry 
 and  magic,  had  deserved  such  judgments  for  his  other  sins;  so 
 that  he  may  be  well  considered  as  actually  under  his  final  con- 
 demnation, only  under  a  reprieve,  not  swallowed  up  in  the  first 
 plagues,  but  preserved  in  them,  and  raised  up  out  of  them,  to 
 be  a  lasting  monument  of  the  justice  of  God  against  such  har- 
 dened impenitency.  Whom  he  will  he  hardeneth,  (Rom.  ix.  18.), 
 must  be  still  restrained  to  such  persons  as  that  tyrant  was. 
 
 It  is  endless  to  enter  into  the  discussion  of  all  the  passages 
 cited  from  the  Scripture  to  this  purpose ;  this  key  serving,  as 
 they  think  it  does,  to  open  most  of  them.  It  is  plain  these 
 words  of  our  Saviour  concerning  those  whom  the  Father  had 
 given  him,  John  xviL  12.,  are  only  to  be  meant  of  a  dispensa- 
 tion of  Providence,  and  not  of  a  decree ;  since  he  adds,  And  I 
 have  lost  none  of  them,  except  the  son  of  perdition :  for  it  can- 
 not be  said  that  he  was  in  the  decree,  and  yet  was  lost.  And 
 in  the  same  period  in  which  God  is  said  to  wo?~k  in  us  both  to 
 will  and  to  do,  Phil.  ii.  13.,  we  are  required  to  work  out  our 
 own  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling,  Phil.  ii.  12.  The  word 
 rendered  ordained  to  eternal  life,  Acts  xiii.  48.,  does  also  sig- 
 nify, fitted  or  predisposed  to  eternal  life.  That  question,  Who 
 made  thee  to  differ?  1  Cor.  iv.  7.,  seems  to  refer  to  those  gifts 
 which,  in  different  degrees  and  measures,  were  poured  out  on 
 the  first  Christians ;  in  which  men  were  only  passive,  and  dis- 
 criminated from  one  another  by  the  freedom  of  those  gifts, 
 without  any  thing  previous  in  them  to  dispose  them  to  them. 
 
 Christ  is  said  to  be  the  propitiation  for  the  sins  of  the 
 whole  world,  1  John  ii.  2. ;  and  the  wicked  are  said  to  deny  the 
 Lord  that  bought  them,  2  Pet.  ii.  1.;  and  his  death,  as  to  its 
 extent  to  all  men,  is  set  in  opposition  to  the  sin  of  Adam :  so 
 that  as  by  the  offence  of  one,  judgment  came  upon  all  men  to 
 condemnation;  so  by  the  righteousness  of  one,  the  free  gift  came 
 upon  all  men  to  justification  of  life,  Rom.  v.  18.  The  all  of 
 the  one  side  must  be  of  the  same  extent  with  the  all  of  the 
 other :  so  since  all  are  concerned  in  Adam's  sin,  all  must  be 
 likewise  concerned  in  the  death  of  Christ.  This  they  urge 
 farther  with  this  argument,  that  all  men  are  obliged  to  believe 
 in  the  death  of  Christ,  but  no  man  can  be  obliged  to  believe  a 
 lie ;  therefore  it  follows  that  he  must  have  died  for  all.  Nor 
 can  it  be  thought  that  grace  is  so  efficacious  of  itself  as  to  deter- 
 mine us ;  otherwise,  why  are  we  required  not  to  grieve  God's 
 
202 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Aet.  XVII. 
 
 Spirit?  Why  is  it  said,  Ye  do  always  resist  the  Holy  Ghost; 
 as  your  fathers  did,  so  do  ye,  Acts  viL  51.:  How  often  would 
 I  have  gathered  you  under  my  wings,  but  ye  would  not?  Matt, 
 xxiii.  37.:  What  more  could  I  have  done  in  my  vineyard,  that 
 has  not  been  done  in  it?  Isa.  v.  4.  These  seem  to  be  plain 
 intimations  of  a  power  in  us,  by  which  we  not  only  can,  but 
 often  do,  resist  the  motions  of  grace. 
 
 If  the  determining  efficacy  of  grace  is  not  acknowledged,  it 
 will  be  yet  much  harder  to  believe  that  we  are  efficaciously  de- 
 termined to  sin.  This  seems  to  be  not  only  contrary  to  the 
 purity  and  holiness  of  God,  but  is  so  manifestly  contrary  to 
 the  whole  strain  of  the  Scriptures  that  charges  sin  upon  men, 
 that  in  so  copious  a  subject  it  is  not  necessary  to  bring  proofs. 
 O  Israel,  thou  hast  destroyed  thyself;  but  in  me  is  thy  help, 
 Hos.  xiii.  9.;  and,  Ye  will  not  come  unto  me,  that  ye  may  have 
 life,  John  v.  40. :  Why  will  you  die,  O  house  of  Israel?  Ezek. 
 xxxiii.  11.  And  as  for  that  nicety  of  saying,  that  the  evil  of 
 sin  consists  in  a  negation,  which  is  not  a  positive  being,  so  that 
 though  God  should  determine  men  to  the  action  that  is  sinful, 
 yet  he  is  not  concerned  in  the  sin  of  it;  they  think  it  is  too 
 metaphysical  to  put  the  honour  of  God  and  his  attributes 
 upon  such  a  subtilty :  for  in  sins  against  moral  laws,  there 
 seems  to  be  an  antecedent  immorality  in  the  action  itself,  which 
 is  inseparable  from  it.  But  suppose  that  sin  consisted  in  a 
 negative,  yet  that  privation  does  immediately  and  necessarily 
 result  out  of  the  action,  without  any  other  thing  whatsoever 
 intervening :  so  that  if  God  does  infallibly  determine  a  sinner 
 to  commit  the  action  to  which  that  guilt  belongs,  though  that 
 should  be  a  sin  only  by  reason  of  a  privation  that  is  dependent 
 upon  it,  then  it  does  not  appear  but  that  he  is  really  the  author 
 of  sin ;  since,  if  he  is  the  author  of  the  sinful  action,  on  which 
 the  sin  depends  as  a  shadow  upon  its  substance,  he  must  be 
 esteemed,  say  they,  the  author  of  sin. 
 
 And  though  it  may  be  said,  that  sin  being  a  violation  of 
 God's  law,  he  himself,  who  is  not  bound  by  his  lawy  cannot  be 
 guilty  of  sin ;  yet  an  action  that  is  immoral  is  so  essentially  op- 
 posite to  infinite  perfection,  that  God  cannot  be  capable  of  it, 
 as  being  a  contradiction  to  his  own  nature :  Nor  is  it  to  be 
 supposed,  that  he  can  damn  men  for  that  which  is  the  neces- 
 sary result  of  an  action  to  which  he  himself  determined  them. 
 
 As  for  perseverance,  the  many  promises  made  in  the  Scrip- 
 tures to  them  that  overcome,  that  continue  steadfast  and  faith- 
 fid  to  the  death,  (Rev.  ii.  and  iii.),  seem  to  insinuate,  that  a  man 
 may  fall  from  a  good  state.  Those  famous  words  in  the  vith 
 of  the  Hebrews  do  plainly  intimate,  that  such  men  may  so  fall 
 away,  that  it  may  be  impossible  to  renew  them  again  by  repen- 
 tance. And  in  that  Epistle  (x.  38.)  where  it  is  said,  The  just 
 shall  live  by  faith;  it  is  added,  But  if  he  draw  back,  [any  man 
 
Art.  XVII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 203 
 
 is  not  in  the  original),  my  soul  shall  have  no  pleasure  in  him. 
 And  it  is  positively  said  by  the  Prophet,  When  the  righteous 
 turncth  away  from  his  righteousness,  and  committeth  iniquity, 
 all  his  righteousness  that  he  hath  done  shall  not  be  mentioned ; 
 in  his  sin  that  he  hath  sinned  shall  he  die,  Ezek.  xviii.  24. 
 These  suppositions,  with  a  great  many  more  of  the  same  strain 
 that  may  be  brought  out  of  other  places,  do  give  us  all  pos- 
 sible reason  to  believe  that  a  good  man  may  fall  from  a  good 
 state,  as  well  as  that  a  wicked  man  may  turn  from  a  bad  one. 
 In  conclusion,  the  end  of  all  things,  the  final  judgment  at  the 
 last  day,  which  shall  be  pronounced  according  to  what  men 
 have  done,  whether  good  or  evil,  and  their  being  to  be  rewarded 
 and  punished  according  to  it,  seems  so  effectually  to  assert  a 
 freedom  in  our  wills,  that  they  think  this  alone  might  serve  to 
 prove  the  whole  cause. 
 
 So  far  I  have  set  forth  the  force  of  the  argument  on  the  side 
 of  the  Remonstrants.  As  for  the  Socinians,  they  make  their 
 plea  out  of  what  is  said  by  the  one  and  by  the  other  side. 
 They  agree  with  the  Remonstrants  in  all  that  they  say  against 
 absolute  decrees,  and  in  urging  all  those  consequences  that  do 
 arise  out  of  them :  and  they  do  also  agree  with  the  Calvinists 
 in  all  that  they  urge  against  the  possibility  of  a  certain  prescience 
 of  future  contingents  :  so  that  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  set 
 forth  their  plea  more  specially,  nor  needs  more  be  said  in  oppo- 
 sition to  it,  than  what  was  already  said  as  part  of  the  Remon- 
 strants' plea.  Therefore,  without  dwelling  any  longer  on  that, 
 I  come  now  to  make  some  reflections  upon  the  whole  matter. 
 
 It  is  at  first  view  apparent,  that  there  is  a  great  deal  of 
 weight  in  what  has  been  said  of  both  sides :  so  much,  that  it  is 
 no  wonder  if  education,  the  constant  attending  more  to  the  dif- 
 ficulties of  the  one  side  than  of  the  other,  and  a  temper  some 
 way  proportioned  to  it,  does  hx  men  very  steadily  to  either  the 
 one  or  the  other  persuasion.  Both  sides  have  their  difficulties, 
 so  it  will  be  natural  to  choose  that  side  where  the  difficulties 
 are  least  felt :  but  it  is  plain  there  is  no  reason  for  either  of  them 
 to  despise  the  other,  since  the  arguments  of  both  are  far  from 
 being  contemptible. 
 
 It  is  farther  to  be  observed,  that  both  sides  seem  to  be  chiefly 
 concerned  to  assert  the  honour  of  God,  and  of  his  attributes. 
 Both  agree  in  this,  that  whatever  is  fixed  as  the  primary  idea 
 of  God,  all  other  things  must  be  explained  so  as  to  be  consist- 
 ent with  that.  Contradictions  are  never  to  be  admitted;  but 
 things  may  be  justly  believed,  against  which  objections  may  be 
 formed  that  cannot  be  easily  answered. 
 
 The  one  side  think,  that  we  must  begin  with  the  idea  of  in- 
 finite perfection,  of  independency,  and  absolute  sovereigntv  : 
 and  if  in  the  sequel  difficulties  occur  which  cannot  be  cleared, 
 that  ought  not  to  shake  us  from  this  primary  idea  of  God. 
 
204- 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XVII. 
 
 Others  think,  that  we  cannot  frame  such  clear  notions  of  in- 
 dependency, sovereignty,  and  infinite  perfection,  as  we  can  do 
 of  justice,  truth,  holiness,  goodness,  and  mercy:  and  since  the 
 Scripture  proposes  God  to  us  most  frequently  under  those  ideas, 
 they  think  that  we  ought  to  fix  on  these  as  the  primary  ideas 
 of  God,  and  then  reduce  all  other  things  to  them. 
 
 Thus  both  sides  seem  zealous  for  God  and  his  glory  :  both 
 lay  down  general  maxims  that  can  hardly  be  disputed;  and 
 both  argue  justly  from  their  first  principles.  These  are  great 
 grounds  for  mutual  charity  and  forbearance  in  these  matters. 
 
 It  is  certain,  that  one  who  has  long  interwoven  his  thoughts 
 of  infinite  perfection  with  the  notions  of  absolute  and  unchange- 
 able decrees,  of  carrying  on  every  thing  by  a  positive  will,  of 
 doing  every  thing  for  his  own  glory,  cannot  apprehend  decrees 
 depending  on  a  foreseen  free  will,  a  grace  subject  to  it,  a  merit 
 of  Christ's  death  that  is  lost,  and  a  man's  being  at  one  time 
 loved,  and  yet  finally  hated  of  God,  without  horror.  These 
 things  seem  to  carry  in  them  an  appearance  of  feebleness,  of 
 dependence,  and  of  changeableness. 
 
 On  the  other  hand,  a  man  that  has  accustomed  himself  to 
 think  often  on  the  infinite  goodness  and  mercy,  the  long-suf- 
 fering, patience,  and  slowness  to  anger,  that  appears  in  God ; 
 he  cannot  let  the  thought  of  absolute  reprobation,  or  of  deter- 
 mining men  to  sin,  or  of  not  giving  them  the  grace  necessary  to 
 keep  them  from  sin  and  damnation,  enter  into  his  mind,  with- 
 out the  same  horror  that  another  feels  in  the  reverse  of  all  this. 
 
 So  that  the  source  of  both  opinions  being  the  different  ideas 
 that  they  have  of  God,  and  both  these  ideas  being  true — men 
 only  mistaking  in  the  extent  of  them,  and  in  the  consequences 
 drawn  from  them;  here  are  the  clearest  grounds  imaginable 
 for  a  mutual  forbearance,  for  not  judging  men  imperiously, 
 nor  censuring  them  severely  upon  either  side.  And  those  who 
 have  at  different  times  of  their  lives  been  of  both  opinions,  and 
 who  upon  the  evidence  of  reason,  as  it  has  appeared  to  them, 
 have  changed  their  persuasions,  can  speak  more  affirmatively 
 here ;  for  they  know,  that  in  great  sincerity  of  heart  they  have 
 thought  both  ways. 
 
 Each  opinion  has  some  practical  advantages  of  its  side.  A 
 Calvinist  is  taught,  by  his  opinions,  to  think  meanly  of  himself, 
 and  to  ascribe  the  honour  of  all  to  God ;  which  lays  in  him  a 
 deep  foundation  for  humility :  he  is  also  much  inclined  to  secret 
 prayer,  and  to  a  fixed  dependence  on  God ;  which  naturally 
 both  brings  his  mind  to  a  good  state,  and  fixes  it  in  it :  and  so, 
 though  perhaps  he  cannot  give  a  coherent  account  of  the 
 grounds  of  his  watchfulness  and  care  of  himself,  yet  that  tem- 
 per arises  out  of  his  humility,  and  his  earnestness  in  prayer.  A 
 Remonstrant,  on  the  other  hand,  is  engaged  to  awaken  and 
 improve  his  faculties,  to  fill  his  mind  with  good  notions,  to  raise 
 
Art.  XVII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 205 
 
 them  in  himself  by  frequent  reflection,  and  by  a  constant  atten- 
 tion to  his  own  actions :  lie  sees  cause  to  reproach  himself  for 
 his  sins,  and  to  set  about  his  duty  to  purpose ;  being  assured 
 that  it  is  through  his  own  fault  if  he  miscarries :  he  has  no 
 dreadful  terrors  upon  his  mind ;  nor  is  he  tempted  to  an  undue 
 security,  or  to  swell  up  in  (perhaps)  an  imaginary  conceit  of 
 his  being  unalterably  in  the  favour  of  God. 
 
 Both  sides  have  their  peculiar  temptations  as  well  as  their 
 advantages :  the  Calvinist  is  tempted  to  a  false  security,  and 
 sloth ;  and  the  Arminian  may  be  tempted  to  trust  too  much 
 to  himself,  and  too  little  to  God :  so  equally  may  a  man  of  a 
 calm  temper,  and  of  moderate  thoughts,  balance  this  matter 
 between  both  the  sides,  and  so  unreasonable  it  is  to  give  way 
 to  a  positive  and  dictating  temper  in  this  point.  If  the  Armi- 
 nian is  zealous  to  assert  liberty,  it  is  because  he  cannot  see  how 
 there  can  be  good  or  evil  in  the  world  without  it :  he  thinks 
 it  is  the  work  of  God,  that  he  has  made  for  great  ends ;  and 
 therefore  he  can  allow  of  nothing  that  he  thinks  destroys  it. 
 If  on  the  other  hand  a  Calvinist  seems  to  break  in  upon  liberty, 
 it  is  because  he  cannot  reconcile  it  with  the  sovereignty  of  God, 
 and  the  freedom  of  his  grace ;  and  he  grows  to  think  that  it  is 
 an  act  of  devotion  to  offer  up  the  one  to  save  the  other. 
 
 The  common  fault  of  both  sides  is,  to  charge  one  another 
 with  the  consequences  of  their  opinions,  as  if  they  were  truly 
 their  tenets :  whereas  they  are  apprehensive  enough  of  these 
 consequences ;  they  have  no  mind  to  them ;  and  they  fancy  that 
 by  a  few  distinctions  they  can  avoid  them.  But  each  side 
 thinks  the  consequences  of  the  other  are  both  worse,  and  more 
 certainly  fastened  to  that  doctrine,  than  the  consequences  that 
 are  urged  against  himself  are ;  and  so  they  think  they  must 
 choose  that  opinion  that  is  the  least  perplexed  and  difficult : 
 not  but  that  ingenuous  and  learned  men  of  all  sides  confess, 
 that  they  feel  themselves  very  often  pinched  in  these  matters. 
 
 Another  very  indecent  way  of  managing  these  points  is,  that 
 both  sides  do  too  often  speak  very  boldly  of  God.  Some  pe- 
 tulant wits,  in  order  to  the  representing  the  contrary  opinion 
 as  absurd  and  ridiculous,  have  brought  in  God,  representing 
 him,  with  indecent  expressions,  as  acting  or  decreeing,  accord- 
 ing to  their  hypothesis,  in  a  manner  that  is  not  only  unbecom- 
 ing, but  that  borders  upon  blasphemy.  From  which,  though 
 they  think  to  escape  by  saying  that  they  are  only  shewing  what 
 must  follow  if  the  other  opinion  were  believed,  yet  there  is  a 
 solemnity  and  gravity  of  style  that  ought  to  be  most  religiously 
 observed,  when  we  poor  mortals  take  upon  us  to  speak  of  the 
 glory  or  attributes,  the  decrees  or  operations,  of  the  great  God 
 of  heaven  and  earth ;  and  every  thing  relating  to  this,  that  is 
 put  in  a  burlesque  air,  is  intolerable.  It  is  a  sign  of  a  very 
 daring  presumption,  to  pretend  to  assign  the  order  of  all  the 
 
200 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XVII. 
 
 acts  of  God,  the  ends  proposed  in  them,  and  the  methods  by 
 which  they  are  executed.  We,  who  do  not  know  how  our 
 thoughts  carry  our  bodies  to  obey  and  second  our  minds,  should 
 not  imagine  that  we  can  conceive  how  God  may  move  or  bend 
 our  wills.  The  hard  thing  to  digest  in  this  whole  matter,  is 
 reprobation  :  They  who  think  it  necessary  to  assert  the  freedom 
 of  election,  would  fain  avoid  it :  they  seek  soft  words  for  it, 
 such  as  the  passing  by  or  leaving  men  to  perish  :  they  studv  to 
 put  that  on  Adam's  sin,  and  they  take  all  the  methods  they 
 can  to  soften  an  opinion  that  seems  harsh,  and  that  sounds  ill  : 
 but,  howsoever,  they  will  bear  all  the  consequences  of  it,  rather 
 than  let  the  point  of  absolute  election  go. 
 
 On  the  other  side,  those  who  do  once  persuade  themselves 
 that  the  doctrine  of  reprobation  is  false,  do  not  see  how  they 
 can  deny  it,  and  yet  ascribe  a  free  election  to  God.  They  are 
 once  persuaded  that  there  can  be  no  reprobation  but  what  is 
 conditionate,  and  founded  on  what  is  foreseen  concerning  men's 
 sins;  and  from  this  they  are  forced  to  say  the  same  thing  of 
 election.  And  both  sides  study  to  begin  the  controversy  with 
 that  which  they  think  they  can  the  most  easily  prove ;  the  one 
 at  the  establishing  of  election,  and  the  other  at  the  overthrow- 
 ing of  reprobation.  Some  have  studied  to  seek  out  middle 
 ways ;  for  they,  observing  that  the  Scriptures  are  writ  in  a  great 
 diversity  of  style  in  treating  of  the  good  or  evil  that  happens 
 to  us,  ascribing  the  one  to  God  and  imputing  the  other  to  our- 
 selves, teaching  us  to  ascribe  the  honour  of  all  that  is  good  to 
 God,  and  to  cast  the  blame  of  all  that  is  evil  upon  ourselves, 
 have  from  thence  concluded,  that  God  must  have  a  different 
 influence  and  causality  in  the  one,  from  what  he  has  in  the 
 other :  but  when  they  go  to  make  this  out,  they  meet  with 
 great  difficulties ;  yet  they  choose  to  bear  these  rather  than  to 
 involve  themselves  in  those  equally  great,  if  not  greater  diffi- 
 culties, that  are  in  either  of  the  other  opinions.  They  wrap  up 
 all  in  two  general  assertions,  that  are  great  practical  truths, 
 Let  us  arrogate  no  good  to  ourselves,  and  impute  no  evil  to  God, 
 and  so  let  the  whole  matter  rest.  This  may  be  thought  by  some 
 the  lazier,  as  well  as  the  safer  way;  which  avoids  difficulties, 
 rather  than  answers  them :  whereas  they  say  of  both  the  con- 
 tending sides,  that  they  are  better  at  the  starting  of  difficulties 
 than  at  the  resolving  of  them. 
 
 Thus  far  I  have  gone  upon  the  general,  in  making  such  re- 
 flections as  will  appear  but  too  well  grounded  to  those  who 
 have  with  any  attention  read  the  chief  disputants  of  both  sides. 
 In  these  great  points  all  agree — That  mercy  is  freely  offered  to 
 the  world  in  Christ  Jesus :  that  God  did  freely  offer  his  Son  to 
 be  our  propitiation,  and  has  freely  accepted  the  sacrifice  of  his 
 death  in  our  stead ;  whereas  he  might  have  condemned  every 
 
Art.  XVII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 207 
 
 man  to  have  perished  for  his  own  sins :  that  God  does,  in  the 
 dispensation  of  his  gospel,  and  the  promulgation  of  it  to  the 
 several  nations,  act  according  to  the  freedom  of  his  grace,  upon 
 reasons  that  are  to  us  mysterious  and  past  finding  out :  that 
 every  man  is  inexcusable  in  the  sight  of  God  :  that  all  men  are 
 so  far  free  as  to  be  praiseworthy  or  blameworthy  for  the  good 
 or  evil  that  they  do  :  that  every  man  ought  to  employ  his  facul- 
 ties all  he  can,  and  to  pray  and  depend  earnestly  upon  God 
 for  his  protection  and  assistance :  that  no  man  in  practice 
 ought  to  think  that  there  is  a  fate  or  decree  hanging  over  him, 
 and  so  become  slothful  in  his  duty ;  but  that  every  man  ought 
 to  do  the  best  he  can,  as  if  there  were  no  such  decree,  since, 
 whether  there  is  or  is  not,  it  is  not  possible  for  him  to  know  what 
 it  is :  that  every  man  ought  to  be  deeply  humbled  for  his  sins 
 in  the  sight  of  God,  without  excusing  himself  by  pretending  a 
 decree  was  upon  him,  or  a  want  of  power  in  him  :  that  all  men 
 are  bound  to  obey  the  rules  set  them  in  the  Gospel,  and  are  to 
 expect  neither  mercy  nor  favour  from  God,  but  as  they  set 
 themselves  diligently  about  that :  and  finally,  that  at  the  last 
 day  all  men  shall  be  judged,  not  according  to  secret  decrees, 
 but  according  to  their  own  works.  In  these  great  truths,  of 
 which  the  greater  part  are  practical,  all  men  agree.  If  they 
 would  agree  as  honestly  in  the  practice  of  them,  as  they  do  in 
 confessing  them  to  be  true,  they  would  do  that  which  is  much 
 more  important  and  necessary  than  to  speculate  and  dispute 
 about  niceties ;  by  which  the  world  would  quickly  put  on  a  new 
 face,  and  then  those  few,  that  might  delight  in  curious  searches 
 and  arguments,  would  manage  them  with  more  modesty  and 
 less  heat,  and  be  both  less  positive  and  less  supercilious. 
 
 I  have  hitherto  insisted  on  such  general  reflections  as  seemed 
 proper  to  these  questions ; — I  come  now,  in  the  last  place,  to  ex- 
 amine how  far  our  Church  hath  determined  the  matter,  either 
 in  this  Article  or  elsewhere :  how  far  she  hath  restrained  her 
 sons,  and  how  far  she  hath  left  them  at  liberty.  For  those 
 different  opinions  being  so  intricate  in  themselves,  and  so  apt 
 to  raise  hot  disputes,  and  to  kindle  lasting  quarrels,  it  will  not 
 be  suitable  to  that  moderation  which  our  Church  hath  observed 
 in  all  other  things,  to  stretch  her  words  on  these  heads  beyond 
 their  strict  sense.  The  natural  equity  or  reason  of  things 
 ought  rather  to  carry  us,  on  the  other  hand,  to  as  great  a  com- 
 prehensiveness of  all  sides,  as  may  well  consist  with  the  words 
 in  which  our  Church  hath  expressed  herself  on  those  heads. 
 
 It  is  not  to  be  denied  but  that  the  Article  seems  to  be  framed 
 according  to  St  Austin's  doctrine  :  it  supposes  men  to  be  under 
 a  curse  and  damnation,  antecedently  to  predestination,  from 
 which  they  are  delivered  by  it ;  so  it  is  directly  against  the 
 Supralapsarian  doctrine  :  nor  does  the  Article  make  any  men- 
 tion of  reprobation,  no,  not  in  a  hint ;  no  definition  is  made 
 
208 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Aut.  XVII. 
 
 concerning  it.  The  Article  does  also  seem  to  assert  the  effi- 
 cacy of  grace  :  that  in  which  the  knot  of  the  whole  difficulty 
 lies,  is  not  defined ;  that  is,  whether  God's  eternal  purpose  or 
 decree  was  made  according  to  what  he  foresaw  his  creatures 
 would  do,  or  purely  upon  an  absolute  will,  in  order  to  his  own 
 glory.  It  is  very  probable,  that  those  who  penned  it  meant 
 that  the  decree  was  absolute ;  but  yet,  since  they  have  not  said 
 it,  those  who  subscribe  the  Articles  do  not  seem  to  be  bound 
 to  any  thing  that  is  not  expressed  in  them :  and  therefore,  since 
 the  Remonstrants  do  not  deny  but  that  God,  having  foreseen 
 what  all  mankind  would,  according  to  all  the  different  circum- 
 stances in  which  they  should  be  put,  do  or  not  do,  he  upon 
 that  did,  by  a  firm  and  eternal  decree,  lay  that  whole  design  in 
 all  its  branches  which  he  executes  in  time ;  they  may  subscribe 
 this  Article  without  renouncing  their  opinion  as  to  this  matter. 
 On  the  other  hand,  the  Calvinists  have  less  occasion  for  scru- 
 ple; since  the  Article  does  seem  more  plainly  to  favour  them. 
 The  three  cautions  that  are  added  to  it  do  likewise  intimate,  that 
 St  Austin's  doctrine  was  designed  to  be  settled  by  the  Article : 
 for  the  danger  of  men's  having  the  sentence  of  God's  predesti- 
 nation always  before  their  eyes,  which  may  occasion  either  des- 
 peration on  the  one  hand,  or  the  wretchlesness  of  most  unclean 
 living  on  the  other,  belongs  only  to  that  side ;  since  these  mis- 
 chiefs do  not  arise  out  of  the  other  hypothesis.  The  other  two, 
 of  taking  the  promises  of  God  in  the  sense  in  which  they  are 
 set  forth  to  us  in  holy  Scriptures,  and  of  following  that  will  of 
 God  that  is  expressly  declared  to  us  in  the  word  of  God,  relate 
 very  visibly  to  the  same  opinion :  though  others  do  infer  from 
 these  cautions,  that  the  doctrine  laid  down  in  the  Article  must 
 be  so  understood  as  to  agree  with  these  cautions ;  and  there- 
 fore they  argue,  that  since  absolute  predestination  cannot  con- 
 sist with  them,  that  therefore  the  Article  is  to  be  otherwise 
 explained.  They  say,  the  natural  consequence  of  an  absolute 
 decree  is  either  presumption  or  despair ;  since  a  man  upon  that 
 bottom  reckons,  that  which  way  soever  the  decree  is  made,  it 
 must  certainly  be  accomplished.  They  also  argue,  that  be- 
 cause we  must  receive  the  promises  of  God  as  conditional,  we 
 must  also  believe  the  decree  to  be  conditional;  for  absolute 
 decrees  exclude  conditional  promises.  An  offer  cannot  be  sup- 
 posed to  be  made  in  earnest  by  him  that  has  excluded  the  great- 
 est number  of  men  from  it  by  an  antecedent  act  of  his  own : 
 and  if  we  must  only  follow  the  revealed  will  of  God,  we  ought 
 not  to  suppose  that  there  is  an  antecedent  and  positive  will  of 
 God,  that  has  decreed  our  doing  the  contrary  to  what  he  has 
 commanded. 
 
 Thus  the  one  side  argues,  that  the  Article  as  it  lies,  in  the 
 plain  meaning  of  those  who  conceived  it,  does  very  expressly 
 establish  their  doctrine  :  and  the  other  argues,  from  those  cau- 
 
Art.  XVII. 
 
 rHE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 tions  that  are  added  to  it,  that  it  ought  to  be  understood  so  as 
 that  it  may  agree  with  these  cautions :  and  both  sides  find  in 
 the  Article  itself  such  grounds,  that  they  reckon  they  do  not 
 renounce  their  opinions  by  subscribing  it.  The  Remonstrant 
 side  have  this  farther  to  add,  that  the  universal  extent  of  the 
 death  of  Christ  seems  to  be  very  plainly  affirmed  in  the  most 
 solemn  part  of  all  the  offices  of  the  Church ;  for  in  the  office 
 of  Communion,  and  in  the  Prayer  of  Consecration,  we  own, 
 that  Christ,  by  the  one  oblation  of  himself  once  offered,  made 
 there  a  full,  perfect,  and  sufficient  sacrifice,  oblation,  and  satis- 
 faction, for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world :  though  the  others 
 say,  that  by  full,  perfect,  and  sufficient,  is  not  to  be  understood 
 that  Christ's  death  was  intended  to  be  a  complete  sacrifice  and 
 satisfaction  for  the  whole  world)  but  that  in  its  own  value  it 
 was  capable  of  being  such.  This  is  thought  too  great  a  stretch 
 put  upon  the  words.  And  there  are  yet  more  express  words 
 in  our  Church  Catechism  to  this  purpose ;  which  is  to  be  con- 
 sidered as  the  most  solemn  declaration  of  the  sense  of  the 
 Church,  since  that  is  the  doctrine  in  which  she  instructs  all 
 her  children ;  and  in  that  part  of  it  which  seems  to  be  most 
 important,  as  being  the  short  summary  of  the  Apostles'  Creed, 
 it  is  said,  God  the  Son,  who  hath  redeemed  me  and  all  man- 
 kind;  where  all  must  stand  in  the  same  extent  of  universality 
 as  in  the  precedent  and  in  the  following  words;  the  Father, 
 who  made  me  and  all  the  world;  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  sancti- 
 feth  me  and  all  the  elect  people  of  God ;  which  being  to  be 
 understood  severely,  and  without  exception,  this  must  also  be 
 taken  in  the  same  strictness.  There  is  another  argument 
 brought  from  the  office  of  baptism,  to  prove  that  men  may  fall 
 from  a  state  of  grace  and  regeneration ;  for  in  the  whole  office, 
 more  particularly  in  the  Thanksgiving  after  the  Baptism,  it  is 
 affirmed,  that  the  person  baptized  is  regenerated  by  God's 
 Holy  Spirit,  and  is  received  for  his  own  child  by  adoption  • 
 now,  since  it  is  certain  that  many  who  are  baptized  fall  from 
 that  state  of  grace,  this  seems  to  import  that  some  of  the  re- 
 generate may  fall  away  ;  which,  though  it  agrees  well  with  St 
 Austin's  doctrine,  yet  it  does  not  agree  with  the  Calvinists' 
 opinions. 
 
 Thus  I  have  examined  this  matter  in  as  short  a  compass  as 
 was  possible ;  and  yet  I  do  not  know  that  I  have  forgot  any 
 important  part  of  the  whole  controversy,  though  it  is  large, 
 and  has  many  branches.  I  have  kept,  as  far  as  I  can  perceive, 
 that  indifference  which  I  proposed  to  myself  in  the  prosecuting 
 of  this  matter  ;  and  have  not  on  this  occasion  declared  my 
 own  opinion,  though  I  have  not  avoided  the  doing  it  upon  other 
 occasions.  Since  the  Church  has  not  been  peremptory,  but 
 that  a  latitude  has  been  left  to  different  opinions,  I  thought  it 
 
210 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XVII. 
 
 became  me  to  make  this  explanation  of  the  Article  such :  and 
 therefore  I  have  not  endeavoured  to  possess  the  reader  with 
 that  which  is  my  own  sense  in  this  matter,  but  have  laid  the 
 force  of  the  arguments,  as  well  as  the  weight  of  the  difficulties 
 of  both  sides  before  him,  with  all  the  advantages  that  I  had 
 found  in  the  books  either  of  the  one  or  of  the  other  persuasion. 
 And  I  leave  the  choice  as  free  to  my  reader,  as  the  Church 
 has  done. 
 
 ARTICLE  XVIII. 
 
 OF  OBTAINING  ETERNAL  SALVATION  ONLY  BY  THE  NAME 
 OF  CHRIST. 
 
 They  also  are  to  be  accursed,  that  presume  to  say,  That  every 
 man  shall  be  saved  by  the  Law  or  Sect  which  he  professeth  ; 
 so  that  he  be  dilige?it  to  frame  his  Life  according  to  that  Law, 
 and  the  Light  of  Nature :  For  Holy  Scripture  doth  set  out 
 unto  us  only  the  Name  of  Jesus  Christ,  whereby  men  must  be 
 saved. 
 
 The  impiety  that  is  condemned  in  this  Article,  was  first 
 taught  by  some  of  the  Heathen  orators  and  philosophers  in  the 
 fourth  century,  who,  in  their  addresses  to  the  Christian  empe- 
 rors for  the  tolerance  of  paganism,  started  this  thought,  that, 
 how  lively  soever  it  may  seem  when  well  set  off  in  a  piece  of 
 eloquence,  will  not  bear  a  severe  argument — That  God  is  more 
 honoured  by  the  varieties  and  different  methods  of  worship- 
 ping and  serving  him,  than  if  all  should  fall  into  the  same  way ; 
 that  this  diversity  has  a  beauty  in  it,  and  a  suitableness  to  the 
 infinite  perfections  of  God ;  and  it  does  not  look  so  like  a  mu- 
 tual agreement  or  concert,  as  when  all  men  worship  him  one 
 way.    But  this  is  rather  a  flash  of  wit  than  true  reasoning. 
 
 The  Alcoran  has  carried  this  matter  farther,  to  the  asserting, 
 that  all  men  in  all  religions  are  equally  acceptable  to  God,  if 
 they  serve  him  faithfully  in  them.  The  infusing  this  into  the 
 world,  that  has  a  shew  of  mercy  in  it,  made  men  more  easy  to 
 receive  their  law;  and  they  took  care  by  their  extreme  severity 
 to  fix  them  in  it,  when  they  were  once  engaged :  for  though 
 they  use  no  force  to  make  men  Mussel  mans,  yet  they  punish 
 with  all  extremity  every  thing  that  looks  like  apostasy  from  it, 
 if  it  is  once  received.  The  doctrine  of  Leviathan,  that  makes 
 law  to  be  religion  and  religion  to  be  law,  that  is,  that  obliges 
 subjects  to  believe  that  religion  to  be  true,  or  at  least  to  follow 
 that  which  is  enacted  by  the  laws  of  their  country,  must  be 
 
Akt.  XVIII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 built  either  on  this  foundation,  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as 
 revealed  religion,  but  that  it  is  only  a  political  contrivance,  or 
 that  all  religions  are  equally  acceptable  to  God. 
 
 Others  having  observed  that  it  was  a  very  small  part  of  man- 
 kind that  had  the  advantages  of  the  Christian  religion,  have 
 thought  it  too  cruel  to  damn  in  their  thoughts  all  those  who 
 have  not  heard  of  it,  and  yet  have  lived  morally  and  virtuously, 
 according  to  their  light  and  education.  And  some,  to  make 
 themselves  and  others  easy,  in  accommodating  their  religion  to 
 their  secular  interests,  to  excuse  their  changing,  and  to  quiet 
 their  consciences,  have  set  up  this  notion,  that  seems  to  have  a 
 largeness  both  of  good-nature  and  charity  in  it;  looks  plausible, 
 and  is  calculated  to  take  in  the  greatest  numbers ;  they  there- 
 fore suppose,  that  God  in  his  infinite  goodness  will  accept 
 equally  the  services  that  all  his  creatures  offer  to  him,  accord- 
 ing to  the  best  of  their  skill  and  strength. 
 
 In  opposition  to  all  which,  they  are  here  condemned  who 
 think  that  every  man  shall  be  saved  by  the  law  or  sect  which 
 he  professeth :  where  a  great  difference  is  to  be  observed  be- 
 tween the  words  saved  by  the  law,  and  saved  in  the  law;  the 
 one  is  condemned,  but  not  the  other.  To  be  saved  by  a  law 
 or  sect,  signifies,  that  by  the  virtue  of  that  law  or  sect  such  men 
 who  follow  it  may  be  saved :  whereas  to  be  saved  in  a  law 
 or  sect  imports  only,  that  God  may  extend  his  compassions  to 
 men  that  are  engaged  in  false  religions.  The  former  is  only 
 condemned  by  this  Article,  which  affirms  nothing  concerning 
 the  other.  In  sum  ;  if  we  have  fully  proved  that  the  Christian 
 religion  was  delivered  to  the  world  in  the  name  of  God,  and 
 was  attested  by  miracles,  so  that  we  believe  its  truth,  we  must 
 believe  every  part  and  tittle  of  it ;  and  by  consequence,  those 
 passages  which  denounce  the  wrath  and  judgments  of  God 
 against  impenitent  sinners,  and  that  promise  mercy  and  salva- 
 tion only  upon  the  account  of  Christ  and  his  death  :  Wc  must 
 believe  with  our  hearts,  and  confess  it  with  our  mouths,  Rom.  x. 
 9,  10. ;  We  must  not  be  ashamed  of  Christ,  or  of  his  words,  lest 
 he  should  be  ashamed  of  us,  when  he  comes  in  the  glory  of  his 
 Father,  with  his  holy  angels,  Mark  viii.  38.  This,  I  say,  being 
 a  part  of  the  gospel,  must  be  as  true  as  the  gospel  itself  is;  and 
 these  rules  must  bind  all  those  to  whom  they  are  proposed, 
 whether  they  are  enacted  by  law  or  not :  for  if  we  are  assured 
 that  they  are  a  part  of  the  law  of  the  King  of  kings,  we  are 
 bound  to  believe  and  obey  them,  whether  human  laws  do  favour 
 them  or  not ;  it  being  an  evident  thing,  that  no  subordinate 
 authority  can  derogate  from  that  which  is  superior  to  it :  so  if 
 the  laws  of  God  are  clearly  revealed,  and  certainly  conveyed 
 down  to  us.  we  are  bound  by  them,  and  no  human  law  can 
 dissolve  this  obligation.  If  God  has  declared  his  will  to  us,  it 
 can  never  be  supposed  to  be  free  to  us  to  choose  whether  we 
 
212 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XVIII. 
 
 will  obey  it  or  not,  and  serve  him  under  that  or  under  another 
 form  of  religion,  at  our  pleasure  and  choice.  We  are  limited 
 by  what  God  has  declared  to  us,  and  we  must  not  fancy  our- 
 selves to  be  at  liberty  after  he  has  revealed  his  will  to  us. 
 
 As  to  such  to  whom  the  Christian  religion  is  revealed,  there 
 no  question  can  be  made,  for  it  is  certain  they  are  under  an  in- 
 dispensable obligation  to  obey  and  follow  that  which  is  so  gra- 
 ciously revealed  to  them :  they  are  bound  to  follow  it  accord- 
 ing to  what  they  are  in  their  consciences  persuaded  is  its  true 
 sense  and  meaning.  And  if  for  any  secular  interest  they 
 choose  to  comply  with  that  which  they  are  convinced  is  an  im- 
 portant error,  and  is  condemned  in  the  Scripture,  they  do 
 plainly  shew  that  they  prefer  lands,  houses,  and  life,  to  the  au- 
 thority of  God,  in  whose  will,  when  revealed  to  them,  they  are 
 bound  to  acquiesce. 
 
 The  only  difficulty  remaining  is  concerning  those  who  never 
 heard  of  this  religion ;  whether,  or  how  can  they  be  saved  ?  St 
 Paul  having  divided  the  world  into  Jews  and  Gentiles,  called 
 by  him  those  who  were  in  the  law,  and  who  were  without  law ; 
 he  says,  those  who  sinned  without  law,  that  is,  out  of  the  Mo- 
 saical  dispensation,  shall  be  judged  without  law,  Rom.  ii.  12. 
 14,  15,,  that  is,  upon  another  foot.  For  he  adds,  when  the 
 Gentiles,  which  have  not  the  law,  do  by  nature  the  things  con- 
 tained in  the  law,  (that  is,  the  moral  parts  of  it),  these,  having 
 not  the  law,  are  a  law  unto  themselves ;  (that  is,  their  con- 
 sciences are  to  them  instead  of  a  written  law) ;  which  shew  the 
 work  of  the  law  written  in  their  hearts,  their  conscience  also 
 bearing  witness,  and  their  thoughts  the  mean  while  accusing  or 
 else  excusing  one  another.  This  implies,  that  there  are  either 
 seeds  of  knowledge  and  virtue  laid  in  the  nature  of  man,  or  that 
 such  notions  pass  among  them  as  are  carried  down  by  tradi- 
 tion. The  same  St  Paul  says,  How  can  they  call  on  him  in 
 whom  they  have  not  believed  ?  and  how  can  they  believe  in  him 
 of  whom  they  have  not  heard  ?  and  how  can  they  hear  without 
 a  preacher?  Rom.  x.  14.:  which  seems  plainly  to  intimate, 
 that  men  cannot  be  bound  to  believe,  and  by  consequence  can- 
 not be  punished  for  not  believing,  unless  the  gospel  is  preached 
 to  them.  St  Peter  said  to  Cornelius,  Of  a  truth  I  perceive  that 
 God  is  no  respecter  of  persons  ;  but  i?i  every  nation  he  that fear- 
 eth  God,  and  worketh  righteousness,  is  accepted  of  him,  Acts  x. 
 34,  35.  Those  places  seem  to  import,  that  those  who  make 
 the  best  use  they  can  of  that  small  measure  of  light  that  is  given 
 them,  shall  be  judged  according  to  it;  and  that  God  will  not 
 require  more  of  them  than  he  has  given  them.  This  also 
 agrees  so  well  with  the  ideas  which  we  have  both  of  justice  and 
 goodness,  that  this  opinion  wants  not  special  colours  to  make 
 it  look  well.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  pardon  of  sin,  and 
 the  favour  of  God,  are  so  positively  limited  to  the  believing  in 
 
Art.  XVIII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 213 
 
 Christ  Jesus ;  and  it  is  so  expressly  said,  that  there  is  no  salva- 
 tion in  any  other,  and  that  there  is  none  other  name  (or  au- 
 thority) tinder  heaven  given  among  men,  whereby  we  must  be 
 saved,  Acts  iv.  12. ;  that  the  distinction  which  can  only  be  made 
 in  this  matter  is  this,  that  it  is  only  on  the  account,  and  in  the 
 consideration  of  the  death  of  Christ,  that  sin  is  pardoned,  and 
 men  are  saved. 
 
 This  is  the  only  sacrifice  in  the  sight  Gf  God :  so  that  who- 
 soever  are  received  into  mercy,  have  it  through  Christ  as  the 
 channel  and  conveyance  of  it.  But  it  is  not  so  plainly  said, 
 that  no  man  can  be  saved,  unless  he  has  an  explicit  knowledge 
 of  this,  together  with  a  belief  in  it.  Few  in  the  old  dispensa- 
 tion could  have  that :  infants  and  innocents,  or  idiots,  have  it 
 not ;  and  yet  it  were  a  bold  thing  to  say,  that  they  may  not  be 
 saved  by  it.  So  it  does  not  appear  to  be  clearly  revealed,  that 
 none  should  be  saved  by  the  death  of  Christ,  unless  they  do 
 explicitly  both  know  it  and  believe  in  it ;  since  it  is  certain, 
 that  God  may  pardon  sin  only  upon  that  score,  without  oblig- 
 ing all  men  to  believe  in  it,  especially  when  it  is  not  revealed 
 to  them.  And  here  another  distinction  is  to  be  made,  which 
 will  clear  this  whole  matter,  and  all  the  difficulties  that  arise 
 out  of  it. 
 
 A  great  difference  is  to  be  made  between  a  federal  certainty 
 of  salvation,  secured  by  the  promises  of  God,  and  of  this  new 
 covenant  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  the  extent  to  which  the  goodness 
 and  mercy  of  God  may  go.  None  are  in  the  federal  state  of 
 salvation  but  Christians :  to  them  is  given  the  covenant  of 
 grace,  and  to  them  the  promises  of  God  are  made  and  offered; 
 so  that  they  have  a  certainty  of  it  upon  their  performing  those 
 conditions  that  are  put  in  the  promises.  All  others  are  out  of 
 this  promise,  to  whom  the  tidings  of  it  were  never  brought ; 
 but  yet  a  great  difference  is  to  be  made  between  them,  and 
 those  who  have  been  invited  to  this  covenant,  and  admitted  to 
 the  outward  profession  and  the  common  privileges  of  it,  and 
 that  yet  have  in  effect  rejected  it :  these  are  under  such  posi- 
 tive denunciations  of  wrath  and  judgment,  that  there  is  no  room 
 left  for  any  charitable  thoughts  or  hopes  concerning  them;  so 
 that  if  any  part  of  the  gospel  is  true,  that  must  be  also  true, 
 that  they  are  under  condemnation,  for  having  loved  darkness 
 more  than  light,  John  hi,  19.,  when  the  light  shone  upon 
 them,  and  visited  them.  But  as  for  them  whom  God  has  left 
 in  darkness,  they  are  certainly  out  of  the  covenant,  out  of  those 
 promises  and  declarations  that  are  made  in  it ;  so  that  they 
 have  no  federal  right  to  be  saved,  neither  can  we  affirm  that 
 they  >hall  be  saved  :  but,  on  the  other  hand,  they  are  not  under 
 those  positive  denunciations,  because  they  were  never  made  to 
 them ;  therefore,  since  God  has  not  declared  that  they  shall  be 
 damned,  no  more  ought  we  to  take  upon  us  to  damn  them, 
 
2U 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XVIII. 
 
 Instead  of  stretching  the  severity  of  justice  by  an  inference, 
 we  may  rather  venture  to  stretch  the  mercy  of  God,  since  that 
 is  the  attribute  which  of  all  others  is  the  most  magnificently 
 spoken  of  in  the  Scriptures ;  so  that  we  ought  to  think  of  it  in 
 the  largest  and  most  comprehensive  manner.  But  indeed  the 
 most  proper  way  is  for  us  to  stop  where  the  revelation  of  God 
 stops,  and  not  to  be  wise  beyond  what  is  written ;  but  to  leave 
 the  secrets  of  God  as  mysteries  too  far  above  us  to  examine,  or  to 
 sound  their  depth.  We  do  certainly  know  on  what  terms  we 
 ourselves  shall  be  saved  or  damned ;  and  we  ought  to  be  con- 
 tented with  that,  and  rather  study  to  work  out  our  own  salvation 
 with  fear  and  trembling,  than  to  let  our  minds  run  out  into 
 uncertain  speculations  concerning  the  measures  and  the  con- 
 ditions of  God's  uncovenanted  mercies :  we  ought  to  take  all 
 possible  care  that  we  ourselves  come  not  into  condemnation, 
 rather  than  to  define  positively  of  others,  who  must,  or  who 
 must  not,  be  condemned. 
 
 It  is  therefore  enough  to  fix  this  according  to  the  design  of 
 the  Article,  that  it  is  not  free  to  men  to  choose  at  pleasure 
 what  religion  they  will,  as  if  that  were  left  to  them,  or  that  all 
 religions  were  alike ;  which  strikes  at  the  foundation,  and  un- 
 dermines the  truth  of  all  revealed  religion.  None  are  within 
 the  covenant  of  grace  but  true  Christians ;  and  all  are  excluded 
 out  of  it,  to  whom  it  is  offered,  who  do  not  receive  and  believe 
 it,  and  live  according  to  it.  So,  in  a  word,  all  that  are  saved, 
 are  saved  through  Christ ;  but  whether  all  these  shall  be  called 
 to  the  explicit  knowledge  of  him,  is  more  than  we  have  any 
 good  ground  to  affirm.  Nor  are  we  to  go  into  that  other 
 question,  whether  any  that  are  only  in  a  state  of  nature,  live 
 fully  up  to  its  light  ?  This  is  that  about  which  we  can  have  no 
 certainty,  no  more  than  whether  there  may  be  a  common  grace 
 given  to  them  all,  proportioned  to  their  state,  and  to  the  obli- 
 gations of  it.  This  in  general  may  be  safely  believed,  that 
 God  will  never  be  wanting  to  such  as  do  their  utmost  endea- 
 vours in  order  to  the  saving  of  their  souls ;  but  that,  as  in  the 
 case  of  Cornelius,  an  angel  will  be  sent,  and  a  miracle  be 
 wrought,  rather  than  such  a  person  shall  be  left  to  perish.  But 
 whether  any  of  them  do  ever  arrive  at  that  state,  is  more  than 
 we  can  determine ;  and  it  is  a  vain  attempt  for  us  to  endeavour 
 to  find  it  out. 
 
Abt.  XIX. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 21a 
 
 ARTICLE  XIX. 
 
 OF  THE  CHURCH. 
 
 The  Visible  Church  of  Christ  is  a  Congregation  of  faithful  Men, 
 in  the  "which  the  pure  Word  of  God  is  preached,  and  the  Sa- 
 craments be  duly  administered  according  to  Christ's  Ordinance, 
 in  all  those  things  that  of  necessity  are  requisite  to  the  same. 
 
 As  the  Church  of  Jerusalem,  Alexandria,  and  Antioch,  have 
 erred,  so  also  the  Church  of  Rome  hath  erred,  not  only  in 
 their  living  and  manner  of  Ceremonies,  bid  also  in  matters  of 
 Faith. 
 
 This  Article,  together  with  some  that  follow  it,  relates  to 
 the  fundamental  difference  between  us  and  the  Church  of 
 Rome  ; — they  teaching  that  we  are  to  judge  of  doctrines  by  the 
 authority  and  the  decisions  of  the  Church ;  whereas  we  affirm, 
 that  we  are  first  to  examine  the  doctrine,  and  according  to 
 that  to  judge  of  the  purity  of  a  Church.  Somewhat  was  al- 
 ready said  on  the  Sixth  Article  relating  to  this  matter :  what 
 remains  is  now  to  be  considered. 
 
 The  whole  question  is  to  be  reduced  to  this  point, — Whether 
 we  ought  to  examine  and  judge  of  matters  of  religion,  accord- 
 ing to  the  light  and  faculty  of  judging  that  we  have ;  or  if  we 
 are  bound  to  submit  in  all  things  to  the  decision  of  the  Church  ? 
 Here  the  matter  must  be  determined  against  private  judgment 
 by  very  express  and  clear  authorities,  otherwise  the  other  side 
 proves  itself.  For  we  having  naturally  a  faculty  of  judging 
 for  ourselves,  and  using  it  in  all  other  things,  this  freedom 
 being  the  greatest  of  all  our  other  rights,  must  be  still  asserted, 
 unless  it  can  be  made  appear  that  God  has  in  some  things  put 
 a  bar  upon  it  by  his  supreme  authority. 
 
 That  authority  must  be  very  express,  if  we  are  required  to 
 submit  to  it  in  a  point  of  such  vast  importance  to  us.  We  do 
 also  see  that  men  are  apt  to  be  mistaken,  and  are  apt  likewise 
 willingly  to  mistake,  and  to  mislead  others ;  and  that,  particu- 
 larly in  matters  of  religion,  the  world  has  been  so  much  impos- 
 ed upon  and  abused,  that  we  cannot  be  bound  to  submit  to  any 
 sort  of  persons  implicitly,  without  very  good  and  clear  grounds 
 that  do  assure  us  of  their  infill ibili ty :  otherwise  we  have  just 
 reason  to  suspect,  that  in  matters  of  religion,  chiefly  in  points 
 in  which  human  interests  are  concerned,  men  may  either 
 through  ignorance  and  weakness,  or  corruption  and  on  de- 
 sign, abuse  and  mislead  us  :  So  that  the  authorities  or  proofs 
 of  this  infallibility  must  be  very  express  ;  since  we  are  sure  no 
 
216 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XIX. 
 
 man,  nor  body  of  men,  can  have  it  among  them  but  by  a  privi- 
 lege from  God  ;  and  a  privilege  of  so  extraordinary  a  nature 
 must  be  given,  if  at  all,  in  very  plain,  and  with  very  evident 
 characters ;  since,  without  these,  human  nature  cannot  and 
 ought  not  to  be  so  tame  as  to  receive  it.  We  must  not  draw 
 it  from  an  inference,  because  we  think  we  need  it,  and  cannot  be 
 safe  without  it,  that  therefore  it  must  be  so,  because,  if  it  were 
 not  so,  great  disorders  would  arise  from  the  want  of  it.  This 
 is  certainly  a  wrong  way  of  arguing.  If  God  has  clearly  re- 
 vealed it,  we  must  acquiesce  in  it,  because  we'  are  sure,  if  he 
 has  lodged  infallibility  any-^where,  he  will  certainly  maintain 
 his  own  work,  and  not  require  us  to  believe  any  one  implicitly, 
 and  not  at  the  same  time  preserve  us  from  the  danger  of  being 
 deceived  by  him.  But  we  must  not  presume,  from  our  notions 
 of  things,  to  give  rules  to  God.  It  were,  as  we  may  think, 
 very. necessary  that  miracles  should  be  publicly  done  from  time 
 to  time,  for  convincing  every  age  and  succession  of  men ;  and 
 that  good  men  should  be  so  assisted  as  generally  to  live  without 
 sin :  these  and  several  other  things  may  seem  to  us  extremely 
 convenient,  and  even  necessary ;  but  things  are  not  so  ordered 
 for  all  that.  It  is  also  certain,  that  if  God  has  lodged  such  an 
 infallibility  on  earth,  it  ought  not  to  be  in  such  hands  as  do 
 naturally  heighten  our  prejudices  against  it.  It  will  go  against 
 the  grain  to  believe  it,  though  all  outward  appearances  looked 
 ever  so  fair  for  it ;  but  it  will  be  an  inconceivable  method  of 
 Providence,  if  God  should  lodge  sq  wonderful  an  authority  in 
 hands  that  look  so  very  unlike  it,  that  of  all  others  we  should 
 the  least  expect  to  find  it  with  them. 
 
 If  they  have  been  guilty  of  notorious  impostures  to  support 
 their  own  authority,  if  they  have  committed  great  violences  to 
 extend  it,  and  have  been  for  some  ages  together  engaged  in  as 
 many  false,  unjust,  and  cruel  practices,  as  are  perhaps  to  be 
 met  with  in  any  history — these  are  such  prejudices,  that  at 
 least  they  must  be  overcome  by  very  clear  and  unquestionable 
 proofs ;  and,  finally,  if  God  has  settled  such  a  power  in  his 
 Church,  we  must  be  distinctly  directed  to  those  in  whose  hands 
 it  is  put,  so  that  we  may  fall  into  no  mistake  in  so  important  a 
 matter.  This  will  be  the  more  necessary,  if  there  are  different 
 pretenders  to  it :  we  cannot  be  supposed  to  be  bound  to  be- 
 lieve an  infallibility  in  general,  unless  we  have  an  equal  evi- 
 dence directing  us  to  those  with  whom  it  rests,  and  who  have 
 the  dispensing  of  it.  These  general  considerations  are  of  great 
 weight  in  deciding  this  question,  and  will  carry  us  far  into  some 
 preliminaries,  which  will  appear  to  be  indeed  great  steps  to- 
 wards the  conclusion  of  the  matter. 
 
 There  are  three  ways  by  which  it  may  be  pretended  that 
 infallibility  can  be  proved  : — The  one  is  the  way  of  Moses  and 
 the  Prophets,  of  Christ  and  his  Apostles,  who,  by  clear  and 
 
Art.  XIX. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 211 
 
 unquestionable  miracles  publicly  done  and  well  attested,  or  by 
 express  and  circumstantiated  prophecies  of  things  to  come,  that 
 came  afterwards  to  be  verified,  did  evidently  demonstrate  that 
 they  were  sent  of  God.  Wheresoever  we  see  such  characters, 
 and  that  a  miracle  is  wrought  by  men  who  say  they  are  sent 
 of  God,  which  cannot  be  denied  nor  avoided ;  and  if  what  such 
 persons  deliver  to  us  is  neither  contrary  to  our  ideas  of  God, 
 and  of  morality,  nor  to  any  thing  already  revealed  by  God ; 
 there  we  must  conclude  that  God  has  lodged  an  infallible  au- 
 thority with  them,  as  long  and  as  far  as  that  character  is  stamp- 
 ed upon  it. 
 
 That  is  not  pretended  here ;  for  though  they  study  to  per- 
 suade the  world  that  miracles  are  still  among  them,  yet  they 
 do  not  so  much  as  say  that  the  miracles  are  wrought  by  those 
 with  whom  this  infallibility  is  lodged,  and  that  they  are  done 
 to  prove  them  to  be  infallible.  For  though  God  should  be- 
 stow the  gift  of  miracles  upon  some  particular  persons  among 
 them,  that  is  no  more  an  argument  that  their  Church  is  infal- 
 lible, than  the  miracles  that  Elijah  or  Elisha  wrought  were 
 arguments  to  prove  that  the  Jewish  Church  was  infallible. 
 Indeed  the  public  miracles  that  belonged  to  the  whole  body, 
 such  as  the  cloud  of  glory,  the  answers  by  the  Urim  and  Thum- 
 mim,  the  trial  of  jealousy,  and  the  constant  plenty  of  the  sixth 
 year  as  preparatory  to  the  sabbatical  year,  seem  more  reason- 
 ably to  infer  an  infallibility ;  because  these  were  given  to  that 
 whole  church  and  nation.  But  yet  the  Jewish  Church  was 
 far  from  being  infallible  all  that  while ;  for  we  see  they  fell  all 
 in  a  body  into  idolatry  upon  several  occasions  :  Those  public 
 miracles  proved  nothing  but  that  for  which  they  were  given, 
 which  was,  that  Moses  was  sent  of  God,  and  that  his  law  was 
 from  God,  which  they  saw  was  still  attested  in  a  continuance 
 of  extraordinary  characters.  If  infallibility  had  been  promised 
 by  that  law,  then  the  continuance  of  the  miracles  might  have 
 been  urged  to  prove  the  continuance  of  the  infallibility ;  but 
 that  not  being  promised,  the  miracles  were  only  a  standing 
 proof  of  the  authority  of  their  law,  and  of  God's  being  still 
 among  them.  And  thus,  though  we  should  not  dispute  the 
 truth  of  the  many  legends  that  some  are  daily  bringing  forth, 
 which  yet  we  may  well  do,  since  they  are  believed  to  be  true 
 by  few  among  themselves,  they  being  considered,  among  the 
 greater  part  of  the  knowing  men  of  that  Church,  as  arts  to 
 entertain  the  credulity  and  devotion  of  the  people,  and  to 
 work  upon  their  fears  and  hopes,  but  chiefly  upon  their  purses: 
 all  these,  I  say,  when  confessed,  will  not  serve  to  prove  that 
 there  is  an  infallibility  among  them,  unless  they  can  prove  that 
 these  miracles  are  wrought  to  prove  this  infallibility. 
 
 The  second  sort  of  proofs  that  they  may  bring  is  from  some 
 passages  in  Scripture,  that  seem  to  import  that  it  was  given  by 
 
2\Q 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XIX. 
 
 Christ  to  the  Church.  But  though  in  this  dispute  all  these 
 passages  ought  to  be  well  considered  and  answered,  yet  they 
 ought  not  to  be  urged  to  prove  this  infallibility,  till  several 
 other  things  are  first  proved ; — such  as,  that  the  Scriptures  are 
 the  word  of  God ;  that  the  book  of  the  Scriptures  is  brought 
 down  pure  and  uncorrupted  to  our  hands ;  and  that  we  are 
 able  to  understand  the  meaning  of  it :  for  before  we  can  argue 
 from  the  parts  of  any  book,  as  being  of  divine  authority,  all 
 these  things  must  be  previously  certain,  and  be  well  made  out 
 to  us ;  so  that  we  must  be  well  assured  of  all  those  particulars, 
 before  we  may  go  about  to  prove  any  thing  by  any  passages 
 drawn  out  of  the  Scriptures.  Further,  these  passages  suppose 
 that  those  to  whom  this  infallibility  belongs  are  a  Church :  We 
 must  then  know  what  a  Church  is,  and  what  makes  a  body  of 
 men  to  be  a  Church,  before  we  can  be  sure  that  they  are  that 
 society  to  whom  this  infallibility  is  given ;  and  since  there  may 
 be,  as  we  know  that  in  fact  there  are,  great  differences  among 
 several  of  those  bodies  of  men  called  Churches,  and  that  they 
 condemn  one  another  as  guilty  of  error,  schism,  and  heresy, 
 we  are  sure  that  all  these  cannot  be  infallible ;  for  contradic- 
 tions cannot  be  true.  So  then  we  must  know  which  of  them 
 is  that  society  where  this  infallibility  is  to  be  found.  And  if 
 in  any  one  society  there  should  be  different  opinions  about  the 
 seat  of  this  infallibility,  those  cannot  be  all  true,  though  it  is 
 very  possible  that  they  may  be  all  false :  We  must  be  then  well 
 assured  in  whom  this  great  privilege  is  vested,  before  we  can 
 be  bound  to  acknowledge  it,  or  to  submit  to  it.  So  here  a 
 great  many  things  must  be  known,  before  we  can  either  argue 
 from,  or  apply  those  passages  of  Scripture  in  which  it  is  pre- 
 tended that  infallibility  is  promised  to  the  Church :  and  if  pri- 
 vate judgment  is  to  be  trusted  in  the  inquiries  that  arise  about 
 all  these  particulars,  they  being  the  most  important  and  most 
 difficult  matters  that  we  can  search  into,  then  it  will  be  thought 
 reasonable  to  trust  it  yet  much  further. 
 
 It  is  evident,  by  their  proceeding  this  way,  that  both  the 
 authority  and  the  sense  of  the  Scriptures  must  be  known  ante- 
 cedently to  our  acknowledging  the  authority  or  the  infallibility 
 of  any  Church :  for  it  is  an  eternal  principle  and  rule  of 
 reason,  never  to  prove  one  thing  by  another,  till  that  other  is 
 first  well  proved ;  nor  can  any  thing  be  proved  afterwards  by 
 that  which  was  proved  by  it.  This  is  as  impossible,  as  if  a 
 father  should  beget  a  son,  and  should  be  afterwards  begotten 
 by  that  son.  Therefore  the  Scriptures  cannot  prove  the  in- 
 fallibility of  the  Church,  and  be  afterwards  proved  by  the  tes- 
 timony of  the  Church.  So  the  one  or  the  other  of  these  must 
 be  first  settled  and  proved,  before  any  use  can  be  made  of  it 
 to  prove  the  other  by  it. 
 
Art.  XIX. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 219 
 
 The  last  way  they  take  to  find  out  this  Church  by,  is  from 
 some  notes  that  they  pretend  are  peculiar  to  her ; —  Bellar.  Contr 
 such  as  the  name  catholic;  antiquity;  extent;  dura-  t0™-21*- 
 lion;  successio?i  of  bishops;  union  among  themselves,  and  with 
 their  head;  conformity  of  doctrine  with  former  times;  miracles; 
 prophecy;  sanctity  of  doctrine  ;  holiness  of  life;  temporal felicity; 
 curses  upon  their  enemies;  and  a  constant  progress  or  efficacy 
 of  doctrine;  together  with  the  confession  of  their  adversaries: 
 and  they  fancy,  that  wheresoever  we  find  these,  we  must  be- 
 lieve that  body  of  men  to  be  infallible.    But  upon  all  this 
 endless  questions  will  arise ;  so  far  will  it  be  from  ending  con- 
 troversies, and  settling  us  upon  infallibility.    If  all  these  must 
 be  believed  to  be  the  marks  of  the  infallible  Church,  upon  the 
 account  of  which  we  ought  to  believe  it,  and  submit  to  it,  then 
 two  inquiries  upon  every  one  of  these  notes  must  be  discussed, 
 before  we  can  be  obliged  to  acquiesce  in  the  infallibility :  First, 
 whether  that  is  a  true  mark  of  infallibility,  or  not  ?  And  next, 
 whether  it  belongs  to  the  Church  which  they  call  infallible,  or 
 not  ?  And  then  another  very  intricate  question  will  arise  upon 
 the  whole,  whether  they  must  be  all  found  together  ?  or,  how 
 many,  or  which  of  them  together,  will  give  us  the  entire  cha- 
 racters of  the  infallible  Church  ? 
 
 In  discussing  the  questions,  whether  every  one  of  these  is  a 
 true  mark,  or  not,  no  use  must  be  made  of  the  Scriptures ;  for 
 if  the  Scriptures  have  their  authority  from  the  testimony,  or  ra- 
 ther the  decisions,  of  the  infallible  Church,  no  use  can  be  made 
 of  them  till  that  is  first  fixed.  Some  of  these  notes  are  such  as 
 did  not  at  all  agree  to  the  Church  in  the  best  and  purest 
 times ;  for  then  she  had  but  a  little  extent,  a  short-lived  dura- 
 tion, and  no  temporal  felicity ;  and  she  was  generally  reproach- 
 ed by  her  adversaries.  But  out  of  which  of  these  topics  can 
 one  hope  to  fetch  an  assurance  of  the  infallibility  of  such  a 
 body?  Can  no  body  of  men  continue  long  in  a  constant 
 series,  and  with  much  prosperity,  but  must  they  be  concluded 
 to  be  infallible  ?  Can  it  be  thought  that  the  assuming  a  name 
 can  be  a  mark  ?  Why  is  not  the  name  Christian  as  solemn  as 
 Catholic  ?  Might  not  the  Philosophers  have  concluded  from 
 hence  against  the  first  Christians,  that  they  were,  by  the  con- 
 fession of  all  men,  the  true  lovers  of  wisdom ;  since  they  were 
 called  Philosophers  much  more  unanimously  than  the  Church 
 of  Rome  is  called  Catholic  ? 
 
 If  a  conformity  of  doctrine  with  former  times,  and  a  sanctity 
 of  doctrine,  are  notes  of  the  Church,  these  will  lead  men  into 
 inquiries  of  such  a  nature,  that  if  they  are  once  allowed  to  go 
 so  far  with  their  private  judgment,  they  may  well  be  suffered 
 to  go  much  further.  Some  standard  must  be  fixed  on,  by 
 which  the  sanctity  of  doctrine  may  be  examined ;  they  must 
 also  be  allowed  to  examine  what  was  the  doctrine  of  former 
 
220 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XIX. 
 
 times :  and  here  it  will  be  natural  to  begin  at  the  first  times — 
 the  age  of  the  Apostles.  It  must  therefore  be  first  known  what 
 was  the  doctrine  of  that  age,  before  we  can  examine  the  con- 
 formity of  the  present  age  with  it.  A  succession  of  bishops  is 
 confessed  to  be  still  kept  up  among  corrupted  Churches.  An 
 union  of  the  Church  with  its  head  cannot  be  supposed  to  be  a 
 note,  unless  it  is  first  made  out  by  some  other  topics  that  this 
 Church  must  have  a  head,  and  that  he  is  infallible :  for  unless 
 it  is  proved  by  some  other  argument  that  she  ought  to  have  a 
 head,  she  cannot  be  bound  to  adhere  to  him,  or  to  own  him ; 
 and  unless  it  is  also  proved  that  he  is  infallible,  she  cannot  be 
 bound  absolutely,  and  without  restrictions,  to  adhere  to  him. 
 Holiness  of  life  cannot  be  a  mark,  unless  it  is  pretended  that 
 those  in  whom  the  infallibility  is  are  all  holy.  A  few  holy 
 men  here  and  there  are  indeed  an  honour  to  any  body ;  but  it 
 will  seem  a  strange  inference,  that  because  some  few  in  a  so- 
 ciety are  eminently  holy,  that  therefore  others  of  that  body  who 
 are  not  so,  but  are  perhaps  as  eminently  vicious,  should  be  in- 
 fallible. Somewhat  has  been  already  said  concerning  miracles  : 
 the  pretence  to  prophecy  falls  within  the  same  consideration ; 
 the  one  being  as  wonderful  a  communication  of  omniscience 
 as  the  other  is  of  omnipotence.  For  the  confession  of  adver- 
 saries, or  some  curses  on  them — these  cannot  signify  much, 
 unless  they  were  universal.  Fair  enemies  will  acknowledge 
 what  is  good  among  their  adversaries ;  but  as  that  Church  is 
 the  least  apt  of  any  society  we  know,  to  speak  good  of  those 
 who  differ  from  her,  so  she  has  not  very  much  to  boast  as  to 
 others  saying  much  good  of  her.  And  if  signal  providences 
 have  now  and  then  happened,  these  are  such  things,  and  they 
 are  carried  on  with  such  a  depth,  that  we  must  acquiesce  in  the 
 observation  of  the  wisest  men  of  all  ages,  that  the  race  is  not  to 
 the  swift,  nor  the  battle  to  the  strong;  but  that  time  and  chance 
 happeneth  to  all  things,  Eccl.  ix.  11. 
 
 And  thus  it  appears,  that  these  pretended  notes,  instead  of 
 giving  us  a  clear  thread  to  lead  us  up  to  infallibility  and  to 
 end  all  controversies,  do  start  a  great  variety  of  questions,  that 
 engage  us  into  a  labyrinth  out  of  which  it  cannot  be  easy  for 
 any  to  extricate  themselves.  But  if  we  could  see  an  end  of 
 this,  then  a  new  set  of  questions  will  come  on,  when  we  go  to 
 examine  all  Churches  by  them — Whether  the  Church  of  Rome 
 has  them  all?  and  if  she  alone  has  them  so  that  no  other 
 Church  has  them  equally  with  her,  or  beyond  her? 
 
 If  all  these  must  be  discussed  before  we  can  settle  this  ques- 
 tion, Which  is  the  true  infallible  Church  ?  a  man  must  stay  long 
 ere  he  can  come  to  a  point  in  it. 
 
 Therefore  there  can  be  no  other  way  taken  here,  but  to 
 examine,  first,  what  makes  a  particular  Church?  and  then, 
 since  the  Catholic  Church  is  an  united  body  of  all  particular 
 
Art.  XIX. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 831 
 
 Churches,  when  the  true  notion  of  a  particular  Church  is  fix- 
 ed, it  will  be  easy  from  that  to  form  a  notion  of  the  Catholic 
 Church. 
 
 It  would  seem  reasonable  by  the  method  of  all  Creeds,  in 
 particular  of  that  called  the  Apostles'  Creed,  that  we  ought 
 first  to  settle  our  faith  as  to  the  great  points  of  the  Christian 
 religion,  and  from  thence  go  to  settle  the  notion  of  a  true 
 Church ;  and  that  we  ought  not  to  begin  with  the  notion  of  a 
 Church,  and  from  thence  go  to  the  doctrine* 
 
 The  doctrine  of  Christianity  must  be  first  stated,  and  from 
 this  we  are  to  take  our  measures  of  all  Churches ;  and  that 
 chiefly  with  respect  to  that  doctrine  which  every  Christian  is 
 bound  to  believe.  Here  a  distinction  is  to  be  made  between 
 those  capital  and  fundamental  Articles,  without  which  a  man 
 cannot  be  esteemed  a  true  Christian,  nor  a  Church  a  true 
 Church ;  and  other  truths,  which  being  delivered  in  Scripture, 
 all  men  are  indeed  obliged  to  believe  them,  yet  they  are  not 
 of  that  nature  that  the  ignorance  of  them,  or  an  error  in  them, 
 can  exclude  from  salvation. 
 
 To  make  this  sensible :  It  is  a  proposition  of  another  sort, 
 that  Christ  died  for  sinners,  than  this,  that  he  died  at  the  third 
 or  at  the  sixth  hour.  And  yet  if  the  second  proposition  is 
 expressly  revealed  in  Scripture,  we  are  bound  to  believe  it, 
 since  God  has  said  it,  though  it  is  not  of  the  same  nature  with 
 the  other. 
 
 Here  a  controversy  does  naturally  arise  that  wise  people  are 
 unwilling  to  meddle  with, — What  Articles  are  fundamental, 
 and  what  are  not? 
 
 The  defining  of  fundamental  Articles  seems,  on  the  one 
 hand,  to  deny  salvation  to  such  as  do  not  receive  them  all, 
 which  men  are  not  willing  to  do. 
 
 And,  on  the  other  hand,  it  may  seem  a  leaving  men  at 
 liberty,  as  to  all  other  particulars  that  are  not  reckoned  up 
 among  the  fundamentals. 
 
 But  after  all,  the  covenant  of  grace,  the  terms  of  salvation, 
 and  the  grounds  on  which  we  expect  it,  seem  to  be  things  of 
 another  nature  than  all  other  truths,  which,  though  revealed, 
 are  not  of  themselves  the  means  or  conditions  of  salvation. 
 Wheresoever  true  baptism  is,  there  it  seems  the  essentials 
 of  this  covenant  are  preserved  :  for  if  we  look  on  baptism  as  a 
 federal  admission  into  Christianity,  there  can  be  no  baptism 
 where  the  essence  of  Christianity  is  not  preserved.  As  far  then 
 as  we  believe  that  any  society  has  preserved  that,  so  far  we  are 
 bound  to  receive  her  baptism,  and  no  further.  For  unless  we 
 consider  baptism  as  a  sort  of  a  charm,  that  such  words  joined 
 with  a  washing  with  water  make  one  a  Christian  ; — which  seems 
 to  be  expressly  contrary  to  what  St  Peter  says  of  it,  that  it  is 
 not  the  washing  away  the Jilth  of  the Jtcsh,  but  the  answer  of  a 
 
AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XIX. 
 
 good  conscience  towards  God  that  saves  us,  1  Pet.  iii.  21. ; — we 
 must  conclude,  that  baptism  is  a  federal  thing,  in  which,  after 
 that  the  sponsions  are  made,  the  seal  of  regeneration  is  added. 
 
 From  hence  it  will  follow,  that  all  who  have  a  true  baptism, 
 that  makes  men  believers  and  Christians,  must  also  have  the 
 true  faith  as  to  the  essentials  of  Christianity  :  the  fundamentals 
 of  Christianity  seem  to  be  all  that  is  necessary  to  make  baptism 
 true  and  valid.  And  upon  this  a  distinction  is  to  be  made, 
 that  will  discover  and  destroy  a  sophism  that  is  often  used  on 
 this  occasion.  A  true  Church  is,  in  one  sense,  a  society  that 
 preserves  the  essentials  and  fundamentals  of  Christianity;  in 
 another  sense,  it  stands  for  a  society,  all  whose  doctrines  are 
 true,  that  has  corrupted  no  part  of  this  religion,  nor  mixed 
 any  errors  with  it.  A  true  man  is  one  who  has  a  soul  and  a 
 body,  that  are  the  essential  constituents  of  a  man  ;  whereas,  in 
 another  sense,  a  man  of  sincerity  and  candour  is  called  a  true 
 man.  Truth  in  the  one  sense  imports  the  essential  constitu- 
 tion, and  in  the  other  it  imports  only  a  quality  that  is  acciden- 
 tal to  it.  So  when  we  acknowledge  that  any  society  is  a  true 
 Church,  we  ought  to  be  supposed  to  mean  no  other,  than  that 
 the  covenant  of  grace  in  its  essential  constituent  parts  is  pre- 
 served entire  in  that  body ;  and  not  that  it  is  true  in  all  its 
 doctrines  and  decisions. 
 
 The  second  thing  to  be  considered  in  a  Church  is,  their  asso- 
 ciation together  in  the  use  of  the  sacraments  :  For  these  are 
 given  by  Christ  to  the  society,  as  the  rites  and  badges  of  that 
 body.  That  which  makes  particular  men  believers,  is  their  re- 
 ceiving the  fundamentals  of  Christianity ;  so  that  which  consti- 
 tutes the  body  of  the  Church,  is  the  profession  of  that  faith, 
 and  the  use  of  those  sacraments,  which  are  the  rites  and  dis- 
 tinctions of  those  who  profess  it. 
 
 In  this  likewise  a  distinction  is  to  be  made  between  what  is 
 essential  to  a  sacrament,  and  what  is  the  exact  observance  of  it 
 according  to  the  institution.  Additions  to  the  sacraments  do 
 not  annul  them,  though  they  corrupt  them  with  that  adulterate 
 mixture.  Therefore,  where  the  sponsions  are  made,  and  a  wash- 
 ing with  water  is  used  with  the  words  of  Christ,  there  we  own 
 that  there  is  a  true  baptism;  though  there  may  be  a  large  ad- 
 dition of  other  rites,  which  we  reject  as  superstitious,  though 
 we  do  not  pretend  that  they  null  the  baptism.  But  if  any  part 
 of  the  institution  is  cut  off,  there  we  do  not  own  the  sacrament 
 to  be  true ;  because,  it  being  an  institution  of  Christ's,  it  can 
 no  more  be  esteemed  a  true  sacrament,  than  as  it  retains  all 
 that  which  by  the  institution  appears  to  be  the  main  and  essen- 
 tial part  of  the  action. 
 
 Upon  this  account  it  is,  that  since  Christ  appointed  bread 
 and  wine  for  his  other  sacrament,  and  that  he  not  only  blessed 
 both,  but  distributed  both,  with  words  appropriated  to  each 
 
Art.  XIX. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 kind,  we  do  not  esteem  that  to  be  a  true  sacrament,  in  which 
 either  the  one  or  the  other  of  these  kinds  is  withdrawn. 
 
 But,  in  the  next  place,  there  may  be  many  things  necessary 
 in  the  way  of  precept  and  order,  both  with  relation  to  the  sacra- 
 ments and  to  the  other  public  acts  of  worship,  in  which,  though 
 additions  or  defects  are  erroneous  and  faulty,  yet  they  do  not 
 annul  the  sacraments. 
 
 We  think  none  ought  to  baptise  but  men  dedicated  to  the 
 service  of  God,  and  ordained  according  to  that  constitution  that 
 was  settled  in  the  Church  by  the  Apostles ;  and  yet  baptism  by 
 laics,  or  by  women,  such  as  is  most  commonly  practised  in  the 
 Roman  Church,  is  not  esteemed  nuh  by  us,  nor  is  it  repeated  : 
 because  we  make  a  difference  between  what  is  essential  to  a 
 sacrament,  and  what  is  requisite  in  the  regular  way  of  using  it. 
 
 None  can  deny  this  among  us,  but  those  who  will  question 
 the  whole  Christianity  of  the  Roman  Church,  where  the  mid- 
 wives  do  generally  baptize  ;  but  if  this  invalidates  the  baptism, 
 then  we  must  question  all  that  is  done  among  them :  persons 
 so  baptized,  if  their  baptism  is  void,  are  neither  truly  ordained, 
 nor  capable  of  any  other  act  of  Church  communion.  There- 
 fore men's  being  in  orders,  or  their  being  duly  ordained,  is  not^ 
 necessary  to  the  essence  of  the  sacrament  of  baptism,  but  only 
 to  the  regularity  of  administering  it ;  and  so  the  want  of  it  does 
 not  void  it,  but  does  only  prove  such  men  to  be  under  some 
 defects  and  disorder  in  their  constitution. 
 
 Thus  I  have  laid  down  those  distinctions  that  will  guide  us 
 in  the  right  understanding  of  this  Article.  If  we  believe  that 
 any  society  retains  the  fundamentals  of  Christianity,  we  do  from 
 that  conclude  it  to  be  a  true  Church,  to  have  a  true  baptism, 
 and  the  members  of  it  to  be  capable  of  salvation.  But  we  are 
 not  upon  that  bound  to  associate  ourselves  to  their  communion  ; 
 for  if  they  have  the  addition  of  false  doctrines,  or  any  unlaw- 
 ful parts  of  worship  among  them,  we  are  not  bound  to  join  in 
 that  which  we  are  persuaded  is  error,  idolatry,  or  superstition. 
 
 If  the  sacraments  that  Christ  has  appointed  are  observed  and 
 ministered  by  any  Church,  as  to  the  main  of  them,  according 
 to  his  institution,  we  are  to  own  those  for  valid  actions :  but  we 
 are  not  for  that  bound  to  join  in  communion  with  them,  if  they 
 have  adulterated  these  with  many  mixtures  and  additions. 
 
 Thus  a  plain  difference  is  made  between  our  owning  that  a 
 Church  may  retain  the  fundamentals  of  Christianity,  a  true 
 baptism,  and  true  orders,  which  are  a  consequent  upon  the  for- 
 mer, and  our  joining  with  that  Church  in  such  acts  as  we  think 
 are  so  far  vitiated  that  they  become  unlawful  to  us  to  do  them. 
 Pursuant  to  this,  we  do  neither  repeat  the  baptism  nor  the 
 ordinations  of  the  Church  of  Rome  :  we  acknowledge,  that  our 
 forefathers  were  both  baptized  and  ordained  in  that  commu- 
 nion ;  ami  we  derive  our  present  Christianity  or  baptism,  and 
 
224 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XIX. 
 
 our  orders,  from  thence  :  yet  we  think,  that  there  were  so  many 
 unlawful  actions,  even  in  those  rituals,  besides  the  other  cor- 
 ruptions of  their  worship,  that  we  cannot  join  in  such  any  more. 
 
 The  being  baptized  in  a  Church  does  not  tie  a  man  to  every 
 thing  in  that  Church ;  it  only  ties  him  to  the  covenant  of  grace. 
 The  stipulations  which  are  made  in  baptism,  as  well  as  in  ordi- 
 nation, do  only  bind  a  man  to  the  Christian  faith,  or  to  the 
 faithful  dispensing  of  that  gospel,  and  of  those  sacraments,  of 
 which  he  is  made  a  minister :  so  he  who,  being  convinced  of 
 the  errors  and  corruptions  of  a  Church,  departs  from  them, 
 and  goes  on  in  the  purity  of  the  Christian  religion,  does  pur- 
 sue the  true  effect  both  of  his  baptism  and  of  his  ordination 
 vows.  For  these  are  to  be  considered  as  ties  upon  him  only 
 to  God  and  Christ,  and  not  to  adhere  to  the  other  dictates  of 
 that  body  in  which  he  had  his  birth,  baptism,  and  ordination. 
 
 The  great  objection  against  all  this  is,  that  it  sets  up  a  pri- 
 vate judgment,  it  gives  particular  persons  a  right  of  judging 
 Churches ;  whereas  the  natural  order  is,  that  private  persons 
 ought  to  be  subject  and  obedient  to  the  Church. 
 
 This  must  needs  feed  pride  and  curiosity,  it  must  break  all 
 order,  and  cast  all  things  loose,  if  every  single  man,  according 
 to  his  reading  and  presumption,  will  judge  of  Churches  and 
 Communions. 
 
 On  this  head  it  is  very  easy  to  employ  a  great  deal  of  popu- 
 lar eloquence,  to  decry  private  men's  examining  of  Scriptures, 
 and  forming  their  judgments  of  things  out  of  them,  and  not 
 submitting  all  to  the  judgment  of  the  Church.  But  how  ab- 
 surd soever  this  may  seem,  all  parties  do  acknowledge  that  it 
 must  be  done. 
 
 Those  of  the  Church  of  Rome  do  teach,  that  a  man  born  in 
 the  Greek  Church,  or  among  us,  is  bound  to  lay  down  his 
 error,  and  his  communion  too,  and  to  come  over  to  them ;  and 
 yet  they  allow  our  baptism,  as  well  as  they  do  the  ordinations 
 of  the  Greek  Church. 
 
 Thus  they  allow  private  men  to  judge,  and  that  in  so  great  a 
 point,  as  what  Church  and  what  communion  ought  to  be  chosen 
 or  forsaken.  And  it  is  certain,  that  to  judge  of  Churches  and 
 Communions  is  a  thing  of  that  intricacy,  that  if  private  judg- 
 ment is  allowed  here,  there  is  no  reason  to  deny  it  its  full  scope 
 as  to  all  other  matters. 
 
 God  has  given  us  rational  faculties  to  guide  and  direct  us; 
 and  we  must  make  the  most  of  these  that  we  can :  we  must 
 judge  with  our  own  reasons,  as  well  as  see  with  our  own  eyes : 
 neither  can  we,  or  ought  we,  to  resign  up  our  understandings 
 to  any  others,  unless  we  are  convinced  that  God  has  imposed 
 this  upon  us,  by  his  making  them  infallible,  so  that  we  are 
 secured  from  error  if  we  follow  them. 
 
Art.  XIX. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 225 
 
 All  this  we  must  examine,  and  be  well  assured  of  it,  other- 
 wise it  will  be  a  very  rash,  unmanly,  and  base  thing  in  us,  to 
 muffle  up  our  own  understandings,  and  to  deliver  our  reason 
 and  faith  over  to  others  blindfold.  Reason  is  God's  image  in 
 us :  and  as  the  use  and  application  of  our  reason,  as  well  as  of 
 the  freedom  of  our  wills,  are  the  highest  excellencies  of  the  ra- 
 tional nature ;  so  they  must  be  always  claimed,  and  ought  never 
 to  be  parted  with  by  us,  but  upon  clear  and  certain  authorities 
 in  the  name  of  God,  putting  us  implicitly  under  the  dictates  of 
 others. 
 
 We  may  abuse  the  use  of  our  reason  as  well  as  the  liberty  of 
 our  will,  and  may  be  damned  for  the  one  as  well  as  the  other. 
 But  when  we  set  ourselves  to  make  the  best  use  we  can  of  the 
 freedom  of  our  wills,  we  may  and  do  upon  that  expect  secret 
 assistances.  We  have  both  the  like  promises,  direction  to  the 
 like  prayers,  and  reason  to  expect  the  same  illumination,  to 
 make  us  see,  know,  and  comprehend  the  truths  of  religion,  that 
 we  have  to  expect  that  our  powers  shall  be  inwardly  strengthen- 
 ed to  love  and  obey  them.  David  prays  that  God  may  open 
 his  eyes,  as  well  as  that  he  may  make  him  to  go  in  his  ways, 
 Psal.  cxix.  18.  35.  The  promises  in  the  Prophets  concerning 
 the  gospel  dispensation,  carry  in  them  the  being  taught  of  God, 
 as  well  as  the  being  made  to  walk  in  his  ways ;  and  the  en- 
 lightening the  mind,  and  the  eyes  of  the  mind,  to  know,  is  prayed 
 for  by  St  Paul,  as  well  as  that  Christ  may  dwell  in  their  hearts, 
 Eph.  i.  18.  hi.  17. 
 
 Since,  then,  there  is  an  assistance  of  the  Divine  grace  given 
 to  fortify  the  understanding  as  well  as  to  enable  the  will,  it 
 follows,  that  our  understanding  is  to  be  employed  by  us  in  or- 
 der to  the  finding  out  of  the  truth,  as  well  as  our  will  in  order 
 to  the  obeying  of  it.  And  though  this  may  have  very  ill  con- 
 sequences, it  does  not  follow  from  thence  that  it  is  not  true. 
 No  consequences  can  be  worse  than  the  corruption  that  is  in 
 the  world,  and  the  damnation  that  follows  upon  sin ;  and  yet 
 God  permits  it,  because  he  has  made  us  free  creatures.  Nor 
 can  any  reason  be  given,  why  we  should  be  less  free  in  the  use 
 of  our  understanding  than  we  are  in  the  use  of  our  will ;  or 
 why  God  should  make  it  to  be  less  possible  for  us  to  fall  into 
 errors,  than  it  is  to  commit  sins.  The  wrath  of  God  is  as  much 
 denounced  against  men  that  hold  the  truth  in  unrighteousness 
 (Rom.  i.  18.  24.  26.)  as  against  other  sins;  and  it  is  reckoned 
 among  the  heaviest  of  curses,  to  be  given  up  to  strong  delusions, 
 to  believe  a  lie,  2  Thess.  ii.  11.  Upon  all  these  reasons,  there- 
 fore, it  seems  clear,  that  our  understandings  are  left  free  to  us 
 as  well  as  our  wills;  and  if  we  observe  the  style  and  method  of 
 the  Scriptures,  we  shall  find  in  them,  all  over,  a  constant  appeal 
 to  a  man's  reason,  and  to  his  intellectual  faculties. 
 
 P 
 
226 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XIX. 
 
 If  the  mere  dictates  of  the  Church,  or  of  infallible  men,  had 
 been  the  resolution  or  foundation  of  faith,  there  had  been  no 
 need  of  such  a  long  thread  of  reasoning  and  discourse,  as  both 
 our  Saviour  used  while  on  earth,  and  as  the  Apostles  used  in 
 their  writings.  We  see  the  way  of  authority  is  not  taken,  but 
 explanations  are  offered,  proofs  and  illustrations  are  brought 
 to  convince  the  mind ;  which  shews  that  God,  in  the  clearest 
 manifestation  of  his  will,  would  deal  with  us  as  with  reasonable 
 creatures,  who  are  not  to  believe  but  upon  persuasion,  and  are 
 to  use  our  reason  in  order  to  the  attaining  that  persuasion. 
 And  therefore,  upon  the  whole  matter,  we  ought  not  to  believe 
 doctrines  to  be  true  because  the  Church  teaches  them ;  but  we 
 ought  to  search  the  Scriptures,  and  then,  according  as  we  find 
 the  doctrine  of  any  Church  to  be  true  in  the  fundamentals,  we 
 ought  to  believe  her  to  be  a  true  Church ;  and  if,  besides  this, 
 the  whole  extent  of  the  doctrine  and  worship,  together  not  only 
 with  the  essential  parts  of  the  sacraments,  but  the  whole  ad- 
 ministration of  them  and  the  other  rituals  of  any  Church,  are 
 pure  and  true — then  we  ought  to  account  such  a  Church  true 
 in  the  largest  extent  of  the  word  true  :  and  by  consequence  we 
 ought  to  hold  communion  with  it. 
 
 Another  question  may  arise  out  of  the  first  words  of  this 
 Article,  concerning  the  visibility  of  this  Church,  Whether  it 
 must  be  always  visible  ?  According  to  the  distinction  hitherto 
 made  use  of,  the  resolution  of  this  will  be  soon  made.  There 
 seem  to  be  promises  in  the  Scriptures,  of  a  perpetual  duration 
 of  the  Christian  Church :  /  will  be  with  you  alway,  even  to  the 
 end  of  the  world,  Matt,  xxviii.  20. ;  and,  The  gates  of  hell  shall 
 not  prevail  against  the  Church,  Matt.  xvi.  18.  The  Jewish 
 religion  had  a  period  prefixed,  in  which  it  was  to  come  to  an 
 end :  but  the  prophecies  that  are  among  the  Prophets  con- 
 cerning the  new  dispensation,  seem  to  import  not  only  its  con- 
 tinuance, but  its  being  continued  still  visible  in  the  world.  But 
 as  the  Jewish  dispensation  was  long  continued,  after  they  had 
 fallen  generally  into  some  very  gross  errors,  so  the  Christian 
 Church  may  be  visible  still,  though  not  infallible.  God  may 
 preserve  the  succession  of  a  true  Church,  as  to  the  essentials 
 and  fundamentals  of  faith,  in  the  world,  even  though  this  so- 
 ciety should  fall  into  error.  So  a  visible  society  of  Christians 
 in  a  true  Church,  as  to  the  essentials  of  our  faith,  is  not  con- 
 troverted by  us:  we  do  only  deny  the  infallibility  of  this  true 
 Church ;  and  therefore  we  are  not  afraid  of  that  question, 
 Where  was  your  Church  before  Henry  the  Eighth  ?  We  answer, 
 It  was  where  it  is  now,  here  in  England,  and  in  the  other  king- 
 doms of  the  world ;  only  it  was  then  corrupted,  and  it  is  now 
 pure.  There  is  therefore  no  sort  of  inconvenience  in  owning  the 
 constant  visibility  of  a  constant  succession  and  Church  of  true 
 Christians — true  as  to  the  essentials  of  the  covenant  of  grace, 
 
Art.  XIX. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 227 
 
 though  not  true  in  all  their  doctrines.  This  seems  to  be  a  part 
 of  the  glory  of  the  Messias,  and  of  his  kingdom,  that  he  shall 
 be  still  visibly  worshipped  in  the  world  by  a  body  of  men  called 
 by  his  name.  But  when  visibility  is  thus  separated  from  in- 
 fallibility, and  it  is  made  out  that  a  Church  may  be  a  true 
 Church,  though  she  has  a  large  allay  of  errors  and  corruptions 
 mixed  in  her  constitution  and  decisions,  there  will  be  no  man- 
 ner of  inconvenience  in  owning  a  constant  visibility,  even  at 
 the  same  time  that  we  charge  the  most  eminent  part  of  this 
 visible  body  with  many  errors,  and  with  much  corruption. 
 
 So  far  has  the  first  part  of  this  Article  been  treated  of :  From 
 it  we  pass  to  the  second ;  which  affirms,  That  as  the  other  Pa- 
 triarchal and  Apostolical  Churches,  such  as  Jerusalem,  Alex- 
 andria, and  Antioch,  have  erred,  so  the  Church  of  Rome  has 
 likewise  erred,  and  that  not  only  in  their  living,  and  manner 
 of  ceremonies,  but  also  in  matters  of faith. 
 
 It  is  not  questioned  but  that  the  other  Patriarchal  Churches 
 have  erred ;  both  that  where  our  Saviour  himself  first  taught, 
 and  which  was  governed  by  two  of  the  Apostles  successively, 
 and  those  which  were  founded  by  St  Peter  in  person,  or  by 
 proxy,  as  Church  history  represents  Alexandria  and  Antioch 
 to  have  been.  Those  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  by  whom  they 
 are  at  this  day  condemned  both  of  heresy  and  schism,  do  not 
 dispute  this  :  nor  do  they  dispute  that  many  of  their  Popes 
 have  led  bad  and  flagitious  lives  :  they  deny  not  that  the  canons, 
 ceremonies,  and  government  of  the  Church,  are  very  much 
 changed  by  the  influence  and  authority  of  their  Popes :  but 
 the  whole  question  turns  upon  this,  Whether  the  See  of  Rome 
 has  erred  in  matters  of  faith,  or  not?  In  this,  those  of  that 
 communion  are  divided.  Some,  by  the  Church  or  See  of 
 Rome,  mean  the  Popes  personally ;  so  they  maintain,  that  they 
 never  have,  and  never  can  fall  into  error :  whereas  others,  by 
 the  See  of  Rome,  mean  that  whole  body  that  holds  communion 
 with  Rome,  which  they  say  cannot  be  tainted  with  error.  And 
 these  separate  this  from  the  personal  infallibility  of  Popes :  for 
 if  a  Pope  should  err,  they  think  that  a  General  Council  has 
 authority  to  proceed  against  him,  and  to  deprive  him;  and 
 thus,  though  he  should  err,  the  See  might  be  kept  free  from 
 error.  I  shall  upon  this  Article  only  consider  the  first  opi- 
 nion, reserving  the  consideration  of  the  second  to  the  Article 
 concerning  General  Councils. 
 
 As  to  the  Popes,  their  being  subject  to  error,  that  must  be 
 confessed,  unless  it  can  be  proved  that,  by  a  clear  and  express 
 privilege  granted  them  by  God,  they  are  excepted  out  of  the 
 common  condition  of  human  nature.  It  is  further  highly  pro- 
 bable that  there  is  no  such  privilege,  since  the  Church  con- 
 tinued for  many  ages  before  it  was  so  much  as  pretended  to ; 
 and  that  in  a  time  when  that  See  was  not  only  claiming  all  the 
 
228 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XIX. 
 
 rights  that  belonged  to  it,  but  challenging  a  great  many  that 
 were  flatly  denied  and  rejected — such  as  the  right  of  receiving- 
 appeals  from  the  African  Churches;  in  which  reiterated  in- 
 stances, and  a  bold  claim  upon  a  spurious  canon,  pretended 
 to  be  of  the  Council  of  Nice,  were  long  pursued :  but  those 
 Churches  asserted  their  authority  of  ending  all  matters  within 
 themselves.  In  all  this  contest  infallibility  was  never  claimed ; 
 no  more  than  it  had  been  by  Victor,  when  he  excommunicated 
 the  Asian  Churches  for  observing  Easter  on  the  fourteenth  day 
 of  the  moon,  and  not  on  the  Lord's  day  after,  according  to  the 
 custom  of  the  Roman  as  well  as  of  other  Churches. 
 
 When  Pope  Stephen  quarrelled  with  St  Cyprian  about  the 
 rebaptizing  of  heretics,  Cyprian  and  Firmilian  were  so  far 
 from  submitting  to  his  authority,  that  they  spake  of 
 Ecci.  i  v.ls '  him  with  a  freedom  used  by  equals,  and  with  a  seve- 
 cyi?r.  Ep25'  rity  that  shewed  they  were  far  from  thinking  him  in- 
 HrmiiJ'  fallible.  When  the  whole  East  was  distracted  with 
 c°3'eSt7d'  tne  disputes  occasioned  by  the  Arian  controversy, 
 there  was  so  much  partiality  in  all  their  councils,  that 
 it  was  decreed  that  appeals  should  be  made  to  Pope  Julius, 
 and  afterwards  to  his  successors :  though  here  was  an  occasion 
 given  to  assert  this  infallibility,  if  it  had  been  thought  on,  yet 
 none  ever  spoke  of  it.  Great  reverence  was  paid  to  that 
 Church,  both  because  they  believed  it  was  founded  by  St  Peter 
 and  St  Paul,  and  chiefly  because  it  was  the  imperial  city ;  for 
 we  see  that  all  other  Sees  had  that  degree  of  dignity  given 
 them,  which  by  the  constitution  of  the  Roman  empire  was 
 lodged  in  their  cities :  and  so  when  Byzance  was  made  the 
 imperial  city,  and  called  New  Rome,  though  more  commonly 
 Constantinople,  it  had  a  patriarchal  dignity  bestowed  on  it, 
 and  was  in  all  things  declared  equal  to  Old  Rome,  only  the 
 point  of  rank  and  order  excepted.  This  was  decreed  in  two 
 General  Councils,  the  second  and  the  fourth,  in  so  express  a 
 manner,  that  it  alone,  before  equitable  judges,  would  fully  shew 
 the  sense  of  the  Church  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  century  upon 
 con.  const,  this  head.  When  Pope  Liberius  condemned  Athana- 
 con!  c'hai.  sius,  and  subscribed  to  Semi- Arian  ism,  this  was  never 
 ced.  c.  28.  considered  as  a  new  decision  in  that  matter,  so  that  it 
 altered  the  state  of  it.  No  use  was  made  of  it,  nor  was  any 
 argument  drawn  from  it.  Liberius  was  universally  condemned 
 for  what  he  had  done ;  and  when  he  repented  of  it  and  retract- 
 ed it,  he  was  again  owned  by  the  Church. 
 
 We  have  in  the  sixth  century  a  most  undeniable  instance  of 
 the  sense  of  the  whole  Church  in  this  matter.  Pope  Honorius 
 was  by  the  Sixth  General  Council  condemned  as  a  Monothe- 
 lite ;  and  this  in  the  presence  of  the  Pope's  legates ;  and  he  was 
 anathematized  by  several  of  the  succeeding  Popes.  It  is  to  no 
 purpose  here  to  examine  whether  he  was  justly  or  unjustly  con- 
 
Art.  XIX. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 229 
 
 demned ;  it  is  enough  that  the  sense  both  of  the  Eastern  and 
 Western  Church  appeared  evidently  in  that  age  upon  these 
 two  points — that  a  Pope  might  be  a  heretic ;  and  that,  cone.  sinu. 
 being  such,  he  might  be  held  accursed  for  it :  and  in  ffi^m.3?3' 
 that  time  there  was  not  any  one  that  suggested,  that  Conc 
 either  he  could  not  fall  into  heresy,  since  our  Saviour  had  pray- 
 ed that  St  Peter's  faith  might  not  fail,  or  that,  if  he  had  fallen 
 into  it,  he  must  be  left  to  the  judgment  of  God,  but  that  the 
 holy  See  (according  to  the  fable  of  P.  Marcellin)  could  be 
 judged  by  nobody.  The  confusions  that  followed  for  some 
 ages  in  the  western  parts  of  Europe,  more  particularly  in  Italy, 
 gave  occasion  to  the  bishops  of  Rome  to  extend  their  authority. 
 
 The  emperors  at  Constantinople,  and  their  exarchs  at  Ra- 
 venna, studied  to  make  them  sure  to  their  interest,  yet  still 
 asserting  their  authority  over  them.  The  new  conquerors  stu- 
 died also  to  gain  them  to  their  side ;  and  they  managed  their 
 matters  so  dexterously,  that  they  went  on  still  increasing  and 
 extending  their  authority,  till,  being  much  straitened  by  the 
 kings  of  the  Lombards,  they  were  protected  by  a  new  con- 
 quering family  that  arose  in  France  in  the  eighth  century: 
 who,  to  give  credit  both  to  their  usurpation  of  that  crown,  and 
 to  the  extending  their  dominions  into  Italy,  and  the  assuming 
 the  empire  of  the  West,  did  both  protect  and  enrich  them,  and 
 enlarged  their  authority — the  greatness  of  which  they  reckoned 
 could  do  them  no  hurt,  as  long  as  they  kept  the  confirmation  of 
 their  election  to  themselves.  That  family  became  quickly  too 
 feeble  to  hold  that  power  long,  and  then  an  imposture  was  pub- 
 lished, of  a  volume  of  the  Decretal  Epistles  of  the  Popes  of  the 
 first  ages ;  in  which  they  were  represented  as  acting  according 
 to  those  high  claims  to  which  they  were  then  beginning  to  pre- 
 tend. Those  ages  were  too  blind  and  too  ignorant  to  be  capa- 
 ble of  searching  critically  into  the  truth  of  this  collection :  it 
 quickly  passed  for  current ;  and  though  some  in  the  beginning 
 disputed  it,  yet  that  was  soon  borne  down,  and  the  credit  of 
 that  work  was  established.  It  furnished  them  with  precedents, 
 that  they  were  careful  enough  not  only  to  follow  but  to  outdo. 
 Thus  a  work,  which  is  now  as  universally  rejected  by  the  learn- 
 ed men  of  their  own  body  as  spurious,  as  it  was  then  implicitl}- 
 taken  for  genuine,  gave  the  chief  foundation  during  many  ages 
 to  their  unbounded  authority  :  and  this  furnishes  us  with  a  very 
 just  prejudice  against  it,  that  it  was  managed  with  so  much 
 fraud  and  imposture;  to  which  they  added  afterwards  much 
 cruelty  and  violence — the  two  worst  characters  possible,  and 
 the  least  likely  to  be  found  joined  with  infallibility :  for  it  is 
 reasonable  enough  to  apprehend,  that  if  God  had  lodged  such 
 a  privilege  anywhere,  he  would  have  so  influenced  those  who 
 were  the  depositaries  of  it,  that  they  should  have  appeared 
 somewhat  like  that  authority  to  which  they  laid  claim  j  and  thai 
 
230 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XIX. 
 
 he  would  not  have  forsaken  them  so,  that  for  above  eight  hun- 
 dred years  the  Papacy,  as  it  is  represented  by  their  own  writers, 
 is  perhaps  the  worst  succession  of  men  that  is  to  be  found  in 
 history. 
 
 But  now,  to  come  more  close  to  prove  what  is  here  asserted 
 in  this  part  of  the  Article.  If  all  those  doctrines  which  were 
 established  at  Trent,  and  that  have  been  confirmed  by  Popes, 
 and  most  of  them  brought  into  a  new  creed,  and  made  parts 
 of  it,  are  found  to  be  gross  errors — or  if  but  any  one  of  them 
 should  be  found  to  be  an  error — then  there  is  no  doubt  to  be 
 made  but  that  the  Church  of  Rome  hath  erred ;  so  the  proof 
 brought  against  every  one  of  these  is  likewise  a  proof  against 
 their  infallibility.  But  I  shall  here  give  one  instance  of  an 
 error,  which  will  not  be  denied  by  the  greater  part  of  the 
 Church  of  Rome.  They  have  now  for  above  six  hundred 
 years  asserted,  that  they  had  an  authority  over  princes,  not 
 only  to  convict  and  condemn  them  of  heresy,  and  to  proceed 
 against  them  with  Church  censures ;  but  that  they  had  a  power 
 to  depose  them,  to  absolve  their  subjects  from  their  oaths  of 
 allegiance,  and  to  transfer  their  dominions  to  such  persons  as 
 should  undertake  to  execute  their  sentences.  This  they  have 
 often  put  in  execution,  and  have  constantly  kept  up  their  claim 
 to  it  to  this  day.  It  will  not  serve  them  to  get  clear  here,  to 
 say,  that  these  were  the  violent  practices  of  some  Popes :  what 
 they  did  in  many  particular  instances  may  be  so  turned  off, 
 and  left  as  a  blemish  on  the  memories  of  some  of  them ;  but 
 the  point  at  present  in  question  is,  Whether  they  have  not  laid 
 claim  to  this,  as  a  right  belonging  to  their  See,  as  a  part  of 
 DictPapae,  St  Peter's  authority  descended  to  them?  Whether 
 ep"  Greg.  7.  they  have  not  founded  it  on  his  being  Christ's  Vicar, 
 post  EP.  55.  wj10  wag  tjie  King  qJ  kings,  and  Lord  of  lords,  to  whom 
 all  power  in  heaven  and  in  earth  was  given  ?  Whether  they 
 Extravag  nave  not  f°unded  ^  on  Jeremy's  being  set  over  na- 
 de^Majo^et  tions  and  kingdoms,  to  root  out,  pluck  down,  and  to 
 destroy  ?  and  on  other  places  of  Scripture ;  not  for- 
 getting that  the  first  words  of  the  Bible  are,  In  the  beginning, 
 and  not  In  the  beginnings  ;  from  which  they  inferred,  that  there 
 is  but  one  principle  from  whence  all  power  is  derived;  and 
 that  God  made  two  great  lights,  the  Sun  to  rule  by  day — which 
 they  applied  to  themselves. 
 
 This,  I  say,  is  the  question :  Whether  they  did  not  assume 
 this  authority  as  a  power  given  them  by  God  ?  As  for  the  ap- 
 plying it  to  particular  instances,  to  those  kings  and  emperors 
 whom  they  deposed,  that  is,  indeed,  a  personal  thing,  whether 
 they  were  guilty  of  heresy,  or  of  being  favourers  of  it,  or  not  ; 
 and  whether  the  Popes  proceeded  againSt  them  with  too  much 
 violence,  or  not  ? 
 
Art.  XIX. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 231 
 
 The  point  now  in  question  is.  Whether  they  declared  this 
 to  be  a  doctrine — that  there  was  an  authority  lodged  with  their 
 See  for  doing  such  things :  and  whether  they  alleged  Scripture 
 and  Tradition  for  it  ? 
 
 Now  this  will  appear  evident  to  those  who  will  read  their 
 bulls ;  in  the  preambles  of  which  those  quotations  will   Conc  ^ 
 be  found,  as  some  of  them  are  in  the  body  of  the  Canon  CocnapfJ; 
 Law :  and  it  is  decreed  in  it,  that  the  belief  of  this  is   *  c»  s. 
 absolutely  necessary  to  salvation. 
 
 This  was  pursued  in  a  course  of  many  ages.  General  Coun- 
 cils, as  they  are  esteemed  among  them,  have  concurred  with 
 the  Popes  both  in  general  decrees  asserting  this  power  to  be  in 
 them,  and  in  special  sentences  against  princes.  This  became  the 
 universally  received  doctrine  of  those  ages :  no  univer-  Card  Per. 
 sity  nor  nation  declaring  against  it ;  not  so  much  as  one  J^"3^ 
 divine,  civilian,  canonist,  or  casuist,  "xrit  against  it,  as  "ersetat. 
 Card.  Perron  truly  said.  It  was  so  certainly  believed,  that 
 those  writers  whom  the  deposed  princes  got  to  undertake  their 
 defence,  do  not  in  any  of  their  books  pretend  to  call  the  doc- 
 trine in  general  in  question. 
 
 Two  things  were  disputed :  one  was,  Whether  Popes  had  a 
 direct  power  in  temporals  over  princes:  so  that  they  were  as 
 much  subject  to  them  as  feudatory  princes  were  to  their  supe- 
 rior lords?  This,  to  which  Boniface  the  Eighth  laid  claim, 
 was  indeed  contradicted.  The  other  point  was.  Whether  those 
 particulars  for  which  princes  had  been  deposed,  such  as  the 
 giving  the  investiture  to  bishoprics,  were  heresies  or  not  ?  This 
 was  much  contested:  but  the  power,  in  the  case  of  manifest 
 heresy,  or  of  favouring  it,  to  depose  princes,  and  transfer  their 
 crowns  to  others,  was  never  called  in  question.  This  was  cer- 
 tainly a  definition  made  in  the  chair,  ex  cathedra  :  for  it  was 
 addressed  to  all  their  community,  both  laity  and  clergy : 
 plenary  pardons  were  bestowed  with  it  on  those  who  executed 
 it :  the  clergy  did  generally  preach  the  eroisades  upon  it. 
 Princes  that  were  not  concerned  in  him  that  was  deposed,  gave 
 way  to  the  publication  of  those  bulls,  and  gave  leave  to  their 
 subjects  to  take  the  cross,  in  order  to  the  executing  of  them: 
 and  the  people  did  in  vast  multitudes  gather  about  the  stand- 
 ards that  were  set  up  for  leading  on  armies  to  execute  them : 
 while  many  learned  men  writ  in  defence  of  this  power,  and  not 
 one  man  durst  write  against  it. 
 
 This  argument  lies  not  only  against  the  infallibility  of  Popes, 
 but  against  that  of  General  Councils  likewise ;  and  also  against 
 the  authority  of  oral  tradition  :  for  here,  in  a  succession  of  mam- 
 ages,  the  tradition  was  wholly  changed  from  the  doctrine  of 
 former  times,  which  had  been,  that  the  clergy  were  subject  to 
 princes,  and  had  no  authority  over  them  or  their  crowns.  Nor 
 can  it  be  said  that  that  was  a  point  of  discipline  :  for  it  was 
 
232 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XIX. 
 
 founded  on  an  article  of  doctrine,  whether  there  was  such  a 
 power  in  the  Popes  or  not  ?  The  prudence  of  executing  or  not 
 executing  it,  is  a  point  of  discipline  and  of  the  government  of 
 the  Church ;  but  it  is  a  point  of  doctrine,  whether  Christ  has 
 given  such  an  authority  to  St  Peter  and  his  followers?  And 
 those  points  of  speculation,  upon  which  a  great  deal  turns  as 
 to  practice,  are  certainly  so  important,  that  in  them,  if  in  any 
 thing,  we  ought  to  expect  an  infallibility :  For  in  this  case  a 
 man  is  distracted  between  two  contrary  propositions ; — the  one 
 is,  that  he  must  obey  the  civil  powers,  as  set  over  him  by  an 
 ordinance  of  God ;  so  that  if  he  resists  them,  he  shall  receive  in 
 himself  damnation :  the  other  is,  that  the  Pope  being  Christ's 
 Vicar,  is  to  be  obeyed  when  he  absolves  him  from  his  former 
 oath  and  allegiance ;  and  that  the  new  prince  set  up  by  him,  is 
 to  be  obeyed  under  the  pain  of  damnation  likewise. 
 
 Here  a  man  is  brought  into  a  great  strait,  and  therefore  he 
 must  be  guided  by  infallibility,  if  in  any  thing. 
 
 So  the  whole  argument  comes  to  this  head, — That  we  must 
 either  believe  that  the  deposing  power  is  lodged  by  Christ  in  the 
 See  of  Rome;  or  we  must  conclude,  with  the  Article,  that  they 
 have  erred,  and  by  consequence,  that  they  are  not  infallible : 
 for  the  erring  in  any  one  point,  and  at  any  one  time,  does  quite 
 destroy  the  claim  of  infallibility. 
 
 Before  this  matter  can  be  concluded,  we  must  consider  what 
 is  brought  to  prove  it :  what  was  laid  down  at  first  must  be  here 
 remembered,  that  the  proofs  brought  for  a  thing  of  this  nature 
 must  be  very  express  and  clear.  A  privilege  of  such  a  sort, 
 against  which  the  appearances  and  prejudices  are  so  strong, 
 must  be  very  fully  made  out  before  we  can  be  bound  to  believe 
 it :  nor  can  it  be  reasonable  to  urge  the  authority  of  any  pas- 
 sages from  Scripture,  till  the  grounds  are  shewn  for  which  the 
 Scriptures  themselves  ought  to  be  believed. 
 
 Those  who  think  that  it  is  in  general  well  proved  that  there 
 must  be  an  infallibility  in  the  Church,  conclude  from  thence 
 that  it  must  be  in  the  Pope  :  for  if  there  must  be  a  living  speak- 
 ing judge  always  ready  to  guide  the  Church,  and  to  decide 
 controversies,  they  say  this  cannot  be  in  the  diffusive  body  of 
 Christians,  for  these  cannot  meet  to  judge ;  nor  can  it  be  in 
 a  General  Council,  the  meeting  of  which  depends  upon  so  many 
 accidents,  and  on  the  consent  of  so  many  princes,  that  the  in- 
 fallibility will  lie  dormant  for  some  ages,  if  the  General  Council 
 is  the  seat  of  it.  Therefore  they  conclude,  that  since  it  is  cer- 
 tainly in  the  Church,  and  can  be  nowhere  else  but  in  the  Pope, 
 therefore  it  is  lodged  in  the  See  of  Rome  :  Whereas  we,  on 
 the  other  hand,  think  this  is  a  strong  argument  against  the  in- 
 fallibility in  general,  that  it  does  not  appear  in  whom  it  is  vest- 
 ed :  and  we  think  that  every  side  does  so  effectually  confute  the 
 other,  that  we  believe  them  all  as  to  that ;  and  think  they  argue 
 
Art.  XIX. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 233 
 
 much  stronger  when  they  prove  where  it  cannot  be,  than  when 
 they  pretend  to  prove  where  it  must  be. 
 
 This,  in  the  point  now  in  hand,  concerning  the  Pope,  seems 
 as  evident  as  any  thing  can  possibly  be ;  it  not  appearing,  that, 
 after  the  words  of  Christ  to  St  Peter,  the  other  Apostles  thought 
 the  point  was  thereby  decided,  who  among  them  should  be  the 
 greatest ;  for  that  debate  was  still  on  foot,  and  was  canvassed 
 among  them  in  the  very  night  in  which  our  Saviour  was  betray- 
 ed. Nor  does  it  appear,  that,  after  the  effusion  of  the  Holy 
 Ghost,  which  certainly  inspired  them  with  the  full  understand- 
 ing of  Christ's  words,  they  thought  there  was  any  thing  pecu- 
 liarly given  to  St  Peter  beyond  the  rest.  He  was  questioned 
 upon  his  baptizing  Cornelius ;  he  was  not  singly  appealed  to 
 in  the  great  question  of  subjecting  the  Gentiles  to  the  yoke  of 
 the  Mosaical  Law ;  he  delivered  his  opinion  as  one  of  the  Apos- 
 tles ;  after  which  St  James  summed  up  the  matter,  and  settled 
 the  decision  of  it.  He  was  charged  by  St  Paul  as  guilty  of  dis- 
 simulation in  that  matter,  for  which  St  Paul  withstood  him  to 
 his  face ;  and  he  justifies  that  in  an  Epistle  that  is  confessed  to 
 be  writ  by  divine  inspiration.  St  Paul  does  also  in  the  same 
 Epistle  plainly  assert  the  equality  of  his  own  authority  with  his ; 
 and  that  he  received  no  authority  from  him,  and  owed  him  no 
 dependence :  nor  was  he  ever  appealed  to  in  any  of  the  points 
 that  appear  to  have  been  disputed  in  the  times  that  the  Epistles 
 were  written.  So  that  we  see  no  characters  of  any  special  in- 
 fallibility that  was  in  him,  besides  that  which  was  the  effect  of 
 the  inspiration  that  was  in  the  other  Apostles  as  well  as  in  him  : 
 nor  is  there  a  tittle  in  the  Scripture,  not  so  much  as  by  a  re- 
 mote intimation,  that  he  was  to  derive  that  authority,  whatso- 
 ever it  was,  to  any  successor,  or  to  lodge  it  in  any  particular 
 city  or  see. 
 
 The  silence  of  the  Scripture  in  this  point  seems  to  be  a  full 
 proof  that  no  such  thing  was  intended  by  God ;  otherwise  we 
 have  all  reason  to  believe  that  it  would  have  been  clearly  ex- 
 pressed. St  Peter  himself  ought  to  have  declared  this :  and 
 since  both  Alexandria  and  Antioch,  as  well  as  Rome,  pretend 
 to  derive  from  him,  and  that  the  succession  to  those  sees  began 
 in  him,  this  makes  a  decision  in  this  point  so  much  the  more 
 necessary. 
 
 When  St  Peter  writ  his  Second  Epistle,  in  which  he  men- 
 tions a  revelation  that  he  had  from  Christ  of  his  approaching 
 dissolution,  though  that  was  a  very  proper  occasion  for  declar- 
 ing such  an  important  matter,  he  says  nothing  that  relates  to 
 it,  but  gives  only  a  new  attestation  of  the  truth  of  Christ's 
 divine  mission,  and  of  what  he  himself  had  been  a  witness  to 
 in  the  Mount,  when  he  saw  the  excellent  glory,  and  heard  the 
 voice  out  of  it,  2  Pet.  i.  17.  He  leaves  a  provision  in  writing 
 for  the  following  noes,  but  says  nothing  of  any  succession  or 
 
234 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XIX. 
 
 see.  So  that  here  the  greatest  of  all  privileges  is  pretended  to 
 be  lodged  in  a  succession  of  bishops,  without  any  one  passage 
 in  Scripture  importing  it. 
 
 Another  set  of  difficulties  arise,  concerning  the  persons  who 
 have  a  right  to  choose  these  Popes  in  whom  this  right  is  vested, 
 and  what  number  is  necessary  for  a  canonical  election?  how 
 far  simony  voids  it,  and  who  is  the  competent  judge  of  that? 
 or  who  shall  judge  in  the  case  of  two  different  elections,  which 
 has  often  happened  ?  We  must  also  have  a  certain  rule  to  know 
 when  the  Popes  judge  as  private  persons,  and  when  they  judge 
 infallibly ;  with  whom  they  must  consult,  and  what  solemnities 
 are  necessary  to  make  them  speak  ex  cathedra,  or  infallibly. 
 For  if  this  infallibility  comes  as  a  privilege  from  a  grant  made 
 by  Christ,  we  ought  to  expect,  that  all  those  necessary  circum- 
 stances to  direct  us  in  order  to  the  receiving  and  submitting  to 
 it,  should  be  fixed  by  the  same  authority  that  made  the  grant. 
 Here  then  are  very  great  difficulties :  let  us  now  see  what  is 
 offered  to  make  out  this  great  and  important  claim. 
 
 The  chief  proof  is  brought  from  those  words  of  our  Saviour, 
 when,  upon  St  Peter's  confessing  that  he  was  the  Christ,  the 
 Son  of  the  living  God,  he  said  to  him,  Thou  art  Peter,  and 
 upon  this  Rock  I  will  build  my  Church,  and  the  gates  of  hell 
 shall  not  prevail  against  it.  I  will  give  unto  thee  the  keys  of 
 the  kingdom  of  heaven  ;  and  whatsoever  thou  shalt  bind  on  earth 
 shall  be  bound  in  heaven,  and  whatsoever  thou  shalt  loose  on 
 earth  shall  be  loosed  in  heaven,  Matt.  xvi.  16.  18,  19.  This 
 begins  with  an  allusion  to  his  name ;  and  discourses  built  upon 
 such  allusions  are  not  to  be  understood  strictly  or  grammati- 
 cally. By  the  Rock  upon  which  Christ  promises  to  build  his 
 Church,  many  of  the  Fathers  have  understood  the  person  of 
 Christ,  others  have  understood  the  confession  of  him,  or  faith  in 
 him,  which  indeed  is  but  a  different  way  of  expressing  the  same 
 thing.  And  it  is  certain  that,  strictly  speaking,  the  Church  can 
 only  be  said  to  be  founded  upon  Christ,  and  upon  his  doctrine  : 
 But  in  a  secondary  sense  it  may  be  said  to  be  founded  upon 
 the  Apostles,  and  upon  St  Peter  as  the  first  in  order ;  which 
 is  not  to  be  disputed. 
 
 Now  though  this  is  a  sense  which  was  not  put  on  these  words 
 for  many  ages ;  yet,  when  it  should  be  allowed  to  be  their  true 
 sense,  it  will  not  prove  any  thing  to  have  been  granted  to  St 
 Peter  but  what  was  common  to  the  other  Apostles,  who  are 
 all  called  the  foundations  upon  which  the  Church  is  built,  Eph. 
 ii.  20.  That  which  follows,  of  the  gates  of  hell  not  being  able 
 to  prevail  against  the  Church,  (Rev.  xxi.  14.),  maybe  either 
 understood  of  death,  which  is  often  called  the  gate  to  the  grave, 
 which  is  the  sense  of  the  word  that  is  rendered  hell;  and  then 
 the  meaning  of  these  words  will  be,  that  the  Church  which 
 Christ  was  to  raise  should  never  be  extinguished,  nor  die,  or 
 
Art.  XIX. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 23j 
 
 come  to  a  period,  as  the  Jewish  religion  then  did ;  or,  accord- 
 ing to  the  custom  of  the  Jews  of  holding  their  courts  and 
 councils  about  their  gates,  by  the  gates  of  hell  may  be  under- 
 stood the  designs  and  contrivances  of  the  powers  of  darkness, 
 which  should  never  prevail  over  the  Church  to  root  it  out,  and 
 destroy  it :  for  the  word  rendered  prevail  does  signify  an  en- 
 tire victory :  this  only  imports,  that  the  Church  should  be  still 
 preserved  against  all  the  attempts  of  hell,  but  does  not  intimate 
 that  no  error  was  ever  to  get  into  it. 
 
 By  the  words  kingdom  of  heaven*  generally  through  the  whole 
 Gospel,  the  dispensation  of  the  Messias  is  understood.  This 
 appears  evidently  from  the  words  with  which  both  St  John 
 Baptist  and  our  Saviour  began  their  preaching,  Repent,  for 
 the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand,  Matt.  hi.  2.  iv.  17.;  and  the 
 many  parables  and  comparisons  that  Christ  gave  of  the  king- 
 dom of  heaven,  can  only  be  understood  of  the  preaching  of  the 
 gospel.  This  being  then  agreed  to,  the  most  natural  and  the 
 least  forced  exposition  of  those  words  must  be,  that  St  Peter 
 was  to  open  the  dispensation  of  the  gospel.  The  proper  use 
 of  a  key  is  to  open  a  door  :  and  as  this  agrees  with  these  words, 
 He  that  hath  the  key  of  the  house  of  David,  that  openeth  and 
 no  man  shutteth,  and  shutteth  and  no  man  openeth,  Rev.  iii.  7. ; 
 and  with  the  phrase  of  the  key  of  knoidedge,  Luke  xi.  5*2.,  by 
 which  the  lawyers  are  described;  for  they  had  a  key  with  writ- 
 ing-tables given  them,  as  the  badges  of  their  profession :  so  it 
 agrees  with  the  accomplishment  of  this  promise  in  St  Peter, 
 who  first  opened  the  gospel  to  the  Jews,  after  the  wonderful 
 effusion  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  more  eminently  when  he  first 
 opened  the  door  to  the  Gentiles,  preaching  to  Cornelius,  and 
 baptizing  him  and  his  household,  to  which  the  phrase  of  the 
 kingdom  of  heaven  seems  to  have  a  more  particular  relation. 
 This  dispensation  was  committed  to  St  Peter,  and  seems  to  be 
 claimed  by  him  as  his  peculiar  privilege  in  the  council  at  Jeru- 
 salem. This  is  a  clear  and  plain  sense  of  these  words.  For 
 those  who  would  carry  them  further,  and  understand  by  the 
 kingdom  of  heaven  our  eternal  happiness,  must  use  many  dis- 
 tinctions ;  otherwise,  if  they  expound  them  literally,  they  will 
 ascribe  to  St  Peter  that  which  certainly  could  only  belong  to 
 our  Saviour  himself :  though  at  the  same  time  it  is  not  to  be 
 denied,  but  that,  under  the  figure  of  keys,  the  power  of  discip- 
 line, and  the  conduct  and  management  of  Christians,  may  be 
 understood.  But  as  to  this,  all  the  pastors  of  the  Church  have 
 their  share  in  it;  nor  can  it  be  appropriated  to  any  one  person. 
 As  for  that  of  binding  and  loosing,  and  the  confirming  in  heaven 
 what  he  should  do  in  earthy  whatever  it  may  signify,  it  is  no 
 special  grant  to  St  Peter ;  for  the  same  words  are  spoken  by 
 our  Saviour  elsewhere  to  all  the  Apostles :  so  this  is  given 
 equally  to  them  all.     The  words  binding  and  loosing  are  used 
 
236 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XIX. 
 
 by  the  Jewish  writers,  in  the  sense  of  affirming  or  denying  the 
 obligation  of  any  precept  of  the  Law  that  might  be  in  dispute. 
 So,  according  to  this  common  form  of  speech,  and  the  sense 
 formerly  given  to  the  words  kingdom  of  heaven,  the  meaning  of 
 these  words  must  be,  that  Christ  committed  to  the  Apostles  the 
 dispensing  his  gospel  to  the  world,  by  which  he  authorized  them 
 to  dissolve  the  obligation  of  the  Mosaical  Law,  and  to  give 
 other  laws  to  the  Christian  Church,  which  they  should  do  under 
 such  visible  characters  of  a  divine  authority,  empowering  and 
 conducting  them  in  it,  that  it  should  be  very  evident  that  what 
 they  did  on  earth  was  also  ratified  in  heaven.  These  words, 
 thus  understood,  carry  in  them  a  clear  sense,  which  agrees  with 
 the  whole  design  of  the  gospel.  But  whatsoever  their  sense 
 may  be,  it  is  plain  that  there  was  nothing  given  peculiarly  to 
 St  Peter  by  them,  which  was  not  likewise  given  to  the  rest  of 
 the  Apostles.  Nor  do  these  words  of  our  Saviour  to  St  Peter 
 import  any  thing  of  a  successive  infallibility  that  was  to  be  de- 
 rived from  him  with  any  distinction  beyond  the  other  Apostles  ; 
 unless  it  were  a  priority  of  order  and  dignity :  and  whatever 
 that  was,  there  is  not  so  much  as  a  hint  given,  that  it  was  to 
 descend  from  him  to  any  See  or  succession  of  Bishops. 
 
 As  for  our  Saviour's  praying  that  St  Peter's  faith  might  not 
 fail,  Luke  xxii.  32. ;  and  his  restoring  him  to  his  apostolical 
 function,  by  a  thrice  repeated  charge,  Feed  my  sheep,  feed  my 
 lambs,  John  xxi.  15,  16,  17.;  that  has  such  a  visible  relation 
 to  his  fall,  and  to  his  denying  him,  that  it  does  not  seem  neces- 
 sary to  enlarge  further  on  the  making  it  out,  or  on  shewing 
 that  these  words  are  capable  of  no  other  signification,  and  can- 
 not be  carried  further. 
 
 The  importance  of  this  argument,  rather  than  the  difficulty 
 of  it,  has  made  it  necessary  to  dwell  fully  upon  it.  So  much 
 depends  upon  it,  and  the  missionaries  of  the  Church  of  Rome 
 are  so  well  instructed  in  it,  that  it  ought  to  be  well  consider- 
 ed ;  for  how  little  strength  soever  there  may  be  in  the  argu- 
 ments brought  to  prove  this  infallibility,  yet  the  colours  are 
 specious,  and  they  are  commonly  managed  both  with  much 
 art  and  great  confidence. 
 
Art.  XX. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 237 
 
 ARTICLE  XX. 
 
 OF  THE  AUTHORITY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 
 
 The  Church  hath  Power  to  decree  Rites  or  Ceremonies,  and 
 Authority  in  Matters  of  Faith.  And  yet  it  is  not  lawful  for 
 the  Church  to  ordain  any  thing  that  is  contrary  to  God's 
 Word,  written ;  neither  may  it  so  expound  one  place  of  Scrip- 
 hire,  that  it  be  repugnant  to  another.  Wherefore,  although 
 the  Church  be  a  Witness  and  Keeper  of  Holy  Writ,  yet  as 
 it  ought  not  to  decree  any  thing  against  the  same,  so  besides 
 the  same  ought  it  not  to  enforce  any  thing  to  be  believed  for 
 necessity  of  Salvation. 
 
 This  Article  consists  of  two  parts : — The  first  asserts  a  power 
 in  the  Church  both  to  decree  rites  and  ceremonies,  and  to  judge 
 in  matters  of  faith ;  the  second  limits  this  power  over  matters 
 of  faith  to  the  Scriptures ;  so  that  it  must  neither  contradict 
 them,  nor  add  any  articles  as  necessary  to  salvation  to  those 
 contained  in  them.  This  is  suitable  to  some  words  that  were 
 once  in  the  Fifth  Article,  but  were  afterwards  left  out ;  instead 
 of  which  the  first  words  of  this  Article  were  put  in  this  place, 
 according  to  the  printed  editions ;  though  they  are  not  in  the 
 original  of  the  Article  signed  by  both  Houses  of  Convocation, 
 that  are  yet  extant. 
 
 As  to  the  first  part  of  the  Article,  concerning  the  power  of 
 the  Church  either  with  relation  to  ceremonies  or  points  of  faith, 
 the  dispute  lies  only  with  those  who  deny  all  Church  power, 
 and  think  that  Churches  ought  to  be  in  all  things  limited  by 
 the  rules  set  in  Scripture ;  and  that,  where  the  Scriptures  are 
 silent,  there  ought  to  be  no  rules  made,  but  that  all  men  should 
 be  left  to  their  liberty ;  and  in  particular,  that  the  appointing 
 new  ceremonies  looks  like  a  reproaching  of  the  Apostles,  as  if 
 their  constitutions  had  been  so  defective,  that  those  defects 
 must  be  supplied  by  the  inventions  of  men  :  which  they  oppose 
 so  much  the  more,  because  they  think  that  all  the  corruptions 
 of  Popery  began  at  some  rites  which  seemed  at  first  not  only 
 innocent  but  pious ;  but  were  afterwards  abused  to  supersti- 
 tion and  idolatry,  and  swelled  up  to  that  bulk  as  to  oppress 
 and  stifle  true  religion  with  their  number  and  weight. 
 
 A  great  part  of  this  is  in  some  respect  true ;  yet  that  we 
 may  examine  the  matter  methodically,  we  shall  first  consider 
 what  power  the  Church  has  in  those  matters;  and  then,  what 
 rules  she  ought  to  govern  herself  by  in  the  use  of  that  power. 
 It  is  very  visible,  that  in  the  Gospels  and  Epistles  there  are 
 
238 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XX. 
 
 but  few  rules  laid  down  as  to  ritual  matters.  In  the  Epistles 
 there  are  some  general  rules  given,  that  must  take  in  a  great 
 many  cases — such  as,  Let  all  things  be  done  to  edification,  to 
 order,  and  to  peace,  Rom.  xiv.  19.;  and,  in  the  Epistles  to 
 Timothy  and  Titus,  many  rules  are  given  in  such  general 
 words  as,  Lay  hands  suddenly  on  no  man,  1  Cor.  xiv.  40. — that 
 in  order  to  the  guiding  of  particular  cases  by  them,  many  dis- 
 tinctions and  specialties  were  to  be  interposed  to  the  making 
 them  practicable  and  useful.  In  matters  that  are  merely  ritual, 
 the  state  of  mankind  in  different  climates  and  ages  is  apt  to 
 vary;  and  the  same  thing  that  in  one  scene  of  human  nature 
 may  look  grave,  and  seem  fit  for  any  society,  may  in  another 
 age  look  light,  and  dissipate  men's  thoughts.  It  is  also  evident 
 that  there  is  not  a  system  of  rules  given  in  the  New  Testament 
 about  all  these ;  and  yet  a  due  method  in  them  is  necessary  to 
 maintain  the  order  and  decency  that  become  divine  things. 
 This  seems  to  be  a  part  of  the  gospel  liberty,  that  it  is  not  a 
 law  of  ordinances,  (Gal.  ii.  4.  iv.  9.  v.  1.);  these  things  being 
 left  to  be  varied  according  to  the  diversities  of  mankind. 
 
 The  Jewish  religion  was  delivered  to  one  nation,  and  the 
 main  parts  of  it  were  to  be  performed  in  one  place.  They  were 
 also  to  be  limited  in  rituals,  lest  they  might  have  taken  some 
 practices  from  their  neighbours  round  about  them,  and  so  by 
 the  use  of  their  rites  have  rendered  idolatrous  practices  more 
 familiar  and  acceptable  to  them  :  and  yet  they  had  many  rites 
 among  them  in  our  Saviour's  time,  which  are  not  mentioned 
 in  any  part  of  the  Old  Testament ; — such  was  the  whole  consti- 
 tution of  their  synagogues,  with  all  the  service  and  officers  that 
 belonged  to  them :  they  had  a  Baptism  among  them,  besides 
 several  rites  added  to  the  Paschal  service.  Our  Saviour  re- 
 proved them  for  none  of  these ;  he  hallowed  some  of  them  to 
 be  the  federal  rites  of  his  new  dispensation ;  he  went  to  their 
 synagogues ;  and,  though  he  reproved  them  for  overvaluing 
 their  rites,  for  preferring  them  to  the  laws  of  God,  and  making 
 these  void  by  their  traditions,  yet  he  does  not  condemn  them 
 for  the  use  of  them  :  and  while  of  the  greater  precepts  he 
 says,  These  things  ye  ought  to  have  doile,  he  adds,  concerning 
 their  rites  and  lesser  matters,  and  not  to  have  left  the  other  un- 
 done, Matt,  xxiii.  23. 
 
 If  then  such  a  liberty  was  allowed  in  so  limited  a  religion, 
 it  seems  highly  suitable  to  the  sublimer  state  of  the  Christian 
 liberty,  that  there  should  be  room  left  for  such  appointments 
 or  alterations  as  the  different  state  of  times  and  places  should 
 require.  In  hotter  countries,  for  instance,  there  is  no  danger 
 in  dipping ;  but  if  it  is  otherwise  in  colder  climates,  then,  since 
 mercy  is  better  than  even  sacrifice,  (Hos.  vi.  6.  Matt.  xii.  7.),  a 
 more  sparing  use  may  be  made  of  water — aspersion  may  answer 
 the  true  end  of  baptism.    A  stricter  or  gentler  discipline  of 
 
Art.  XX. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 >3\) 
 
 offenders  must  be  also  proportioned  to  what  the  times  will  bear, 
 and  what  men  can  be  brought  to  submit  to.  The  dividing  of 
 Christians  into  such  districts,  that  they  may  have  the  best  con- 
 veniences to  assemble  themselves  together  for  worship,  and  for 
 keeping  up  of  order,  the  appointing  the  times  as  well  as  the 
 places  of  worship,  are  certainly  to  be  fixed  with  the  best  regard 
 to  present  circumstances  that  may  be.  The  bringing  Christian 
 assemblies  into  order  and  method  is  necessary  for  their  solem- 
 nitv,  and  for  preventing  that  dissipation  of  thought  that  a  diver- 
 sity of  behaviour  might  occasion.  And  though  a  kiss  of  peace, 
 and  an  order  of  deaconesses,  were  the  practices  of  the  aposto- 
 lical time ;  yet  when  the  one  gave  occasion  to  raillery,  and  the 
 other  to  scandal,  all  the  world  was,  and  still  is,  satisfied  with 
 the  reasons  of  letting  both  fall. 
 
 Now  if  Churches  may  lay  aside  apostolical  practices  in  mat- 
 ters that  are  ritual,  it  is  certainly  much  easier  to  justify  their 
 making  new  rules  for  such  things ;  since  it  is  a  higher  attempt 
 to  alter  what  was  settled  by  the  Apostles  themselves,  than  to 
 set  up  new  rules  in  matters  which  they  left  untouched.  Habits 
 and  postures  are  the  necessary  circumstances  of  all  public  meet- 
 ings : — the  times  of  fasting  and  of  prayer,  the  days  of  thanks- 
 giving and  communions,  are  all  of  the  same  nature.  The  public 
 confession  of  sins  by  scandalous  persons ;  the  time  and  manner 
 of  doing  it ;  the  previous  steps  that  some  Churches  have  made 
 for  the  trial  of  those  who  were  to  be  received  into  holy  orders, 
 that  so  by  a  longer  inspection  into  their  behaviour,  while  in 
 lowrer  orders,  they  might  discover  how  fit  they  were  to  be  ad- 
 mitted into  the  sacred  ones ;  and  chiefly  the  prescribing  stated 
 forms  for  the  several  acts  of  religious  worship,  and  not  leaving 
 that  to  the  capacities  or  humours,  to  the  inventions,  and  often 
 to  the  extravagancies  of  those  who  are  to  officiate ; — all  these 
 things,  I  say,  fall  within  those  general  rules  given  by  the  Apos- 
 tles to  the  Churches  in  their  time ;  where  we  find  that  the  Apos- 
 tles had  their  customs  as  well  as  the  Churches  of  God,  1  Cor. 
 xii.  16.;  which  were  then  opposed  to  the  innovating  and  the 
 contentious  humours  of  some  factious  men.  And  such  a  pattern 
 have  the  Apostles  set  us  of  complying  with  those  things  that 
 are  regularly  settled,  wheresoever  we  are,  that  we  find  they 
 became  all  things  to  all  men  :  to  the  Jews  they  became  Jews, 
 1  Cor.  ix.  19 — 23.  Though  that  was  a  religion  then  extin- 
 guished in  its  obligation  by  the  promulgation  of  the  gospel, 
 and  was  then  fallen  under  great  corruption ;  yet,  in  order  to 
 the  gaining  of  some  of  them,  such  was  the  spirit  of  charity  and 
 edification  with  which  the  Apostles  were  actuated,  that  while 
 they  were  among  them  they  complied  in  the  practice  of  those 
 abrogated  rites,  though  they  asserted  both  the  liberty  of  the 
 Gentiles,  and  even  their  own,  in  that  matter :  It  was  only  a 
 compliance,  and  not  a  submission,  to  their  opinions,  that  made 
 
240 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XX. 
 
 them  observe  days,  and  distinguish  meats,  while  among  them. 
 If  then  such  rites,  and  the  rites  of  such  a  Church,  were  still 
 complied  with  by  inspired  men,  this  is  an  infallible  pattern  to 
 us ;  and  lets  us  see,  upon  how  much  stronger  reasons  we,  who 
 are  under  those  obligations  to  unity  and  charity  with  all  Chris- 
 tians, ought  to  maintain  the  unity  of  the  body,  and  the  decency 
 and  order  that  is  necessary  for  peace  and  mutual  edification. 
 
 Therefore,  since  there  is  not  any  one  thing  that  Christ  has 
 enjoined  more  solemnly  and  more  frequently  than  love  and 
 charity,  union  and  agreement  amongst  his  disciples ;  since  we 
 are  also  required  to  assemble  ourselves  together,  (Heb.  x.  25.), 
 to  constitute  ourselves  in  a  body,  both  for  worshipping  God 
 jointly,  and  for  maintaining  of  order  and  love  among  the  society 
 of  Christians, — we  ought  to  acquiesce  in  such  rules  as  have  been 
 agreed  on  by  common  consent,  and  which  are  recommended 
 to  us  by  long  practice,  and  that  are  established  by  those  who 
 have  the  lawful  authority  over  us.  Nor  can  we  assign  any  other 
 bounds  to  our  submission  in  this  case,  than  those  that  the  Gos- 
 pel has  limited.  We  must  obey  God  rather  than  man,  Acts  v. 
 29. ;  and  we  must  in  the  first  place  render  to  God  the  things 
 that  are  God's,  and  then  give  to  Ctesar  the  things  that  arc 
 Ctesar's,  Matt.  xxii.  21.  So  that  if  either  Church  or  State 
 have  power  to  make  rules  and  laws  in  such  matters,  they  must 
 have  this  extent  given  them — that  till  they  break  in  upon  the 
 laws  of  God  and  the  Gospel,  we  must  be  bound  to  obey  them. 
 A  mean  cannot  be  put  here ;  either  they  have  no  power  at  all, 
 or  they  have  a  power  that  must  go  to  every  thing  that  is  not 
 forbid  by  any  law  of  God.  This  is  the  only  measure  that  can 
 be  given  in  this  matter. 
 
 But  a  great  difference  is  here  to  be  made  between  those 
 rules  that  both  Church  and  State  ought  to  set  to  themselves  in 
 their  enacting  of  such  matters,  and  the  measures  of  the  obedi- 
 ence of  subjects.  The  only  question  in  the  point  of  obedience 
 must  be,  lawful  or  unlawful :  for  expedient  or  inexpedient 
 ought  never  to  be  brought  into  question,  as  to  the  point  of 
 obedience ;  since  no  inexpediency  whatsoever  can  balance  the 
 breaking  of  order,  and  the  dissolving  the  constitution  and  so- 
 ciety. This  is  a  consideration  that  arises  out  of  a  man's  ap- 
 prehensions of  the  fitness  or  usefulness  of  things ;  in  which, 
 though  he  might  be  in  the  right  as  to  the  antecedent  fitness  of 
 them,  (and  yet  even  there  he  may  be  in  the  wrong,  and  in  com- 
 mon modesty  every  man  ought  to  think  that  it  is  more  likely 
 that  he  should  be  in  the  wrong  than  the  governors  and  rulers 
 of  the  society)  ;  yet,  I  say,  allowing  all  this,  it  is  certain  that 
 order  and  obedience  are,  both  in  their  own  nature  and  in 
 their  consequences,  to  be  preferred  to  all  the  particular  consi- 
 derations of  expediency  or  inexpediency.  Yet  still  those  in 
 whose  hands  the  making  of  those  rules  is  put,  ought  to  cany 
 
Art.  XX. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 2il 
 
 their  thoughts  much  farther :  They  ought  to  consider  well  the 
 genius  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  therefore  they  are  to  avoid 
 every  thing  that  may  lead  to  idolatry,  or  feed  superstition; 
 every  thing  that  is  apt  to  be  abused  to  give  false  ideas  of  God, 
 or  to  make  the  world  think  that  such  instituted  practices  may 
 balance  the  violation  of  the  laws  of  God.  They  ought  not  to 
 overcharge  the  worship  of  God  with  too  great  a  number  of 
 them :  the  rites  ought  to  be  grave,  simple,  and  naturally  ex- 
 pressive of  that  which  is  intended  by  them.  Vain  pomp  and 
 indecent  levity  ought  to  be  guarded  against ;  and,  next  to  the 
 honour  of  God  and  religion,  the  peace  and  edification  of  the 
 society  ought  to  be  chiefly  considered.  Due  regard  ought  to 
 be  had  to  what  men  can  bear,  and  what  may  be  most  suitable 
 to  the  present  state  of  the  whole ;  and  finally,  a  great  respect 
 is  due  to  ancient  and  established  practices.  Antiquity  does 
 generally  beget  veneration ;  and  the  very  changing  of  what  has 
 been  long  in  use  does  naturally  startle  many,  and  discompose 
 a  great  part  of  the  body.  So  all  changes,  unless  the  expe- 
 diency of  making  them  is  upon  other  accounts  very  visible, 
 labour  under  a  great  prejudice  with  the  more  staid  sort  of 
 men ;  for  this  very  reason,  because  they  are  changes.  But  in 
 this  matter  no  certain  or  mathematical  rules  can  be  given : 
 every  one  of  these  that  has  been  named  is  capable  of  that  va- 
 riety, by  the  diversity  of  times  and  other  circumstances,  that 
 since  prudence  and  discretion  must  rule  the  use  that  is  to  be 
 made  of  them,  that  must  be  left  to  the  conscience  and  prudence 
 of  every  person  who  may  be  concerned  in  the  management  of 
 this  authority.  He  must  acr  as  he  will  answer  it  to  God  and 
 to  the  Church ;  for  he  must  be  at  liberty  in  applying  those 
 general  rules  to  particular  times  and  cases.  And  a  temper 
 must  be  observed :  we  must  avoid  a  sullen  adhering  to  things 
 because  they  were  once  settled,  as  if  points  of  honour  were  to 
 be  maintained  here,  and  that  it  looked  like  a  reproaching  a 
 constitution,  or  the  wisdom  of  a  former  age,  to  alter  what  thev 
 did ;  since  it  is  certain,  that  what  was  wisely  ordered  in  one 
 time,  may  be  as  wisely  changed  in  another :  as,  on  the  other 
 hand,  all  men  ought  to  avoid  the  imputation  of  a  desultory 
 levity ;  as  if  they  loved  changes  for  changes'  sake.  This  might 
 give  occasion  to  our  adversaries  to  triumph  over  us,  and  might 
 also  fill  the  minds  of  the  weaker  among  ourselves  with  appre- 
 hensions and  scruples. 
 
 The  next  particular  asserted  in  this  Article  is,  That  the 
 Church  hath  authority  in  matters  of  faith.  Here  a  distinction 
 is  to  be  made  between  an  authority  that  is  absolute,  and  founded 
 on  infallibility,  and  an  authority  of  order.  The  former  is  very 
 formally  disclaimed  by  our  Church ;  but  the  second  may  be 
 well  maintained,  though  we  assert  no  unerring  authority. 
 Every  single  man  has  a  right  to  search  the  Scriptures,  and  to 
 
 Q 
 
U2 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XX. 
 
 take  his  faith  from  them ;  yet  it  is  certain  that  he  /may  be  mis- 
 taken in  it.  It  is  therefore  a  much  surer  way  for  numbers  of 
 men  to  meet  together,  and  to  examine  such  differences  as  hap- 
 pen to  arise ;  to  consider  the  arguments  of  all  hands,  with  the 
 importance  of  such  passages  of  Scripture  as  are  brought  into 
 the  controversy ;  and  thus  to  inquire  into  the  whole  matter  : 
 in  which,  as  it  is  very  natural  to  think  that  a  great  company 
 of  men  should  see  further  than  a  less  number,  so  there  is  all 
 reason  to  expect  a  good  issue  of  such  deliberations,  if  men  pro- 
 ceed in  them  with  due  sincerity  and  diligence — if  pride,  faction, 
 and  interest,  do  not  sway  their  councils — and  if  they  seek  for 
 truth  more  than  for  victory. 
 
 But  what  abuses  soever  may  have  crept  since  into  the  public 
 consultations  of  the  Clergy,  the  Apostles  at  first  met  and  con- 
 sulted together  upon  that  controversy  which  was  then  moved 
 concerning  the  imposing  the  Mosaical  Law  upon  the  Gentiles  : 
 they  ordered  the  pastors  of  the  Church  to  be  able  to  convince 
 gainsayers,  (Titus  i.  9.  hi.  10.),  and  not  to  reject  a  man  as  a 
 heretic,  till  after  a  first  and  a  second  admonition.  The  most 
 likely  method,  both  to  find  out  the  truth  and  to  bring  such  as 
 are  in  error  over  to  it,  is  to  consult  of  these  matters  in  com- 
 mon ;  and  that  openly  and  fairly.  For  if  every  good  man, 
 that  prays  earnestly  to  God  for  the  assistance  and  direction  of 
 his  Spirit,  has  reason  to  look  for  it ;  much  more  may  a  body 
 of  pastors,  brought  together  to  seek  out  the  truth  in  any  point 
 under  debate,  look  for  it,  if  they  bring  with  them  sincere  and 
 unprejudiced  minds,  and  do  pray  earnestly  to  God.  In  that 
 case,  they  may  expect  to  be  directed  and  assisted  of  him. 
 But  this  depends  upon  the  purity  of  their  hearts,  and  the  ear- 
 nestness of  their  endeavours  and  prayers. 
 
 When  any  synod  of  the  Clergy  has  so  far  examined  a  point 
 as  to  settle  their  opinions  about  it,  they  may  certainly  decree 
 that  such  is  their  doctrine;  and  as  they  judge  it  to  be  more  or 
 less  important,  they  may  either  restrain  any  other  opinion,  or 
 may  require  positive  declarations  about  it,  either  of  ail  in  their 
 communion,  or  at  least  of  all  whom  they  admit  to  minister  in 
 holy  things. 
 
 This  is  only  an  authority  of  order  for  the  maintaining  of 
 union  and  edification ;  and  in  this  a  body  does  no  more,  as  it  is 
 a  body,  than  what  every  single  individual  has  a  right  to  do  for 
 himself.  He  examines  a  doctrine  that  is  laid  before  him,  he 
 forms  his  own  opinion  upon  it,  and,  pursuant  to  that,  he  must 
 judge  with  whom  he  can  hold  communion,  and  from  whom  he 
 must  separate. 
 
 When  such  definitions  are  made  by  the  body  of  the  pastors 
 of  any  Church,  all  persons  within  that  Church  do  owe  great 
 respect  to  their  decision.  Modesty  must  be  observed  in  de- 
 scanting upon  it,  and  in  disputing  about  it,    Every  man  that 
 
Art.  XX. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 M3 
 
 finds  his  own  thoughts  differ  from  it,  ought  to  examine  the 
 matter  over  again,  with  much  attention  and  care,  treeing  him- 
 self all  he  can  from  prejudice  and  obstinacy ;  with  a  just  dis- 
 trust of  his  own  understanding,  and  an  humble  respect  to  the 
 judgment  of  his  superiors. 
 
 Tins  is  due  to  the  considerations  of  peace  and  union,  and  to 
 that  authority  which  the  Church  has  to  maintain  it.  But  if, 
 after  all  possible  methods  of  inquiry,  a  man  cannot  master  his 
 thoughts,  or  make  them  agree  with  the  public  decisions,  his 
 conscience  is  not  under  bonds ;  since  this  authority  is  not  ab- 
 solute, nor  grounded  upon  a  promise  of  infallibility. 
 
 This  is  a  tenet  that,  with  relation  to  national  Churches  and 
 their  decisions,  is  held  by  the  Church  of  Rome  as  well  as  by 
 us:  for  they  place  infallibility  either  in  the  Pope,  or  in  the 
 universal  Church.  But  no  man  ever  dreamt  of  infallibility  in  a 
 particular  or  national  Church :  and  the  point  in  this  Article  is 
 only  concerning  particular  Churches :  for  the  head  of  General 
 Councils  comes  in  upon  the  next.  That  no  Church  ca?i  add 
 any  thing  as  necessary  to  salvation,  has  been  already  considered 
 upon  the  Sixth  Article. 
 
 It  is  certain,  that  as  we  owe  our  hopes  of  salvation  only  to 
 Christ,  and  to  what  he  has  done  for  us ;  so  also  it  can  belong 
 only  to  him,  who  procured  it  to  us,  to  fix  the  terms  upon  which 
 we  may  look  for  it :  nor  can  any  power  on  earth  clog  the  offers 
 that  he  makes  us  in  the  Gospel,  with  new  or  other  terms  than 
 those  which  we  find  made  there  to  us.  There  can  be  no  dis- 
 pute about  this :  for  unless  we  believe  that  there  is  an  infallible 
 authority  lodged  in  the  Church,  to  explain  the  Scripture,  and 
 to  declare  tradition ;  and  unless  we  believe  that  the  Scriptures 
 are  both  obscure  and  defective,  and  that  the  one  must  be  helped 
 by  an  infallible  commentary,  and  the  other  supplied  by  an  au- 
 thentical  declarer  of  tradition  :  we  cannot  ascribe  an  authority 
 to  the  Church,  either  to  contradict  the  Scripture,  or  to  add 
 necessary  conditions  of  salvation  to  it. 
 
 We  own,  after  all,  that  the  Church  is  the  depository  of  the 
 whole  Scriptures,  as  the  Jews  were  of  the  Old  Testament :  but 
 in  that  instance  of  the  Jews  we  may  see,  that  a  body  of  men 
 may  be  faithful  in  the  copying  of  a  book  exactly,  and  in  die 
 handing  it  down  without  corrupting  it,  and  yet  they  may  be 
 mistaken  in  the  true  meaning  of  that  which  they  preserve  so 
 faithfully.  They  are  expressly  called  the  keepers  of  the  oracles 
 of  God,  Rom.  iii.  *2. :  and  are  nowhere  reproved  for  having 
 attempted  upon  this  Deposition :  and  yet  for  all  that  fidelity 
 diey  fell  into  great  errors  about  some  of  the  most  important 
 parts  of  their  religion ;  which  exposed  them  to  the  rejecting 
 the  Messias,  and  to  their  utter  ruin. 
 
 The  Church's  being  called  the  witness  of  holy  writ,  is  not 
 to  be  resolved  into  any  judgment  that  they  pass  upon  it  as  a 
 
AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XX. 
 
 body  of  men  that  have  authority  to  judge  and  give  sentence, 
 so  that  the  canonicalness  or  the  uncanonicalness  of  any  book 
 shall  depend  upon  their  testimony ;  but  is  resolved  into  this, 
 that  such  successions  and  numbers  of  men,  whether  of  the  laity 
 or  clergy,  have  in  a  course  of  many  ages  had  these  books  pre- 
 served and  read  among  them — so  that  it  was  not  possible  to 
 corrupt  that  upon  which  so  many  men  had  their  eyes,  in  all 
 the  corners  and  ages  of  Christendom. 
 
 And  thus  we  believe  the  Scriptures  to  be  a  book  written  by 
 inspired  men,  and  delivered  by  them  to  the  Church,  upon  the 
 testimony  of  the  Church  that  at  first  received  it,  knowing  that 
 those  great  matters  of  fact,  contained  and  appealed  to  in  it, 
 were  true ;  and  also  upon  the  like  testimony  of  the  succeeding 
 ages,  who  preserved,  read,  copied,  and  translated  that  book, 
 as  they  had  received  it  from  the  first. 
 
 The  Church  of  Rome  is  guilty  of  a  manifest  circle  in  this 
 matter :  for  they  say  they  believe  the  Scriptures  upon  the  au- 
 thority of  the  Church,  and  they  do  again  believe  the  authority 
 of  the  Church,  because  of  the  testimony  of  the  Scripture  con- 
 
 cerning it. 
 
 This  is  as  false  reasoning  as  can  be  imagined  :  for  nothing 
 can  be  proved  by  another  authority,  till  that  authority  is  first 
 fixed  and  proved ;  and  therefore,  if  the  testimony  of  the  Church 
 is  believed  to  be  sacred  by  virtue  of  a  divine  grant  to  it,  and 
 that  from  thence  the  Scriptures  have  their  credit  and  authority, 
 then  the  credit  due  to  the  Church's  testimony  is  antecedent  to 
 the  credit  of  the  Scripture,  and  so  must  not  be  proved  by  any 
 passages  brought  from  it ;  otherwise  that  is  a  manifest  circle. 
 But  no  circle  is  committed  in  our  way,  who  do  not  prove  the 
 Scriptures  from  any  supposed  authority  in  the  Church  that 
 has  handed  them  down  to  us,  but  only  as  they  are  vast  com- 
 panies of  men,  who  cannot  be  presumed  to  have  been  guilty  of 
 any  fraud  in  this  matter ;  it  appearing  further  to  be  morally 
 impossible  for  any  that  should  have  attempted  a  fraud  in  it,  to 
 have  executed  it.  When  therefore  the  Scripture  itself  is  proved 
 by  moral  arguments  of  this  kind,  we  may,  according  to  the 
 strictest  rules  of  reasoning,  examine  what  authority  the  Scrip- 
 ture gives  to  the  pastors  of  the  Church  met  in  lesser  or  greater 
 Councils. 
 
Art.  XXI. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 2io 
 
 ARTICLE  XXI. 
 
 OF  THE  AUTHORITY  OF  GENERAL  COUNCILS. 
 
 General  Councils  may  not  be  gathered  together  without  the 
 Commandment  and  Will  of  Princes,  And  when  they  be 
 gathered  together  (forasmuch  as  they  be  an  Assembly  of  Men 
 whereof  all  be  not  governed  with  the  Spirit  and  Word  of 
 God  J  they  may  err,  and  sometimes  have  erred  even  in  things 
 pertaining  unto  God.  Wherefore  things  ordained  by  them 
 as  necessary  to  Salvation,  have  neither  Strength  nor  Autho- 
 rity, unless  it  may  be  declared  that  they  are  taken  out  of 
 Holy  Scriptures. 
 
 There  are  two  particulars  settled  in  this  Article: — The  one 
 is,  the  power  of  calling  of  Councils,  at  least,  an  assertion  that 
 they  cannot  be  called  without  the  will  of  Princes ;  the  other  is, 
 the  authority  of  General  Councils,  that  they  are  not  infallible, 
 and  that  some  have  erred :  and  therefore  the  inference  is  justly 
 made,  that  whatever  authority  they  may  have  in  the  rule  and 
 government  of  the  Church,  their  decisions  in  matters  necessary 
 to  salvation  ought  to  be  examined  by  the  Word  of  God,  and 
 are  not  to  be  submitted  to,  unless  it  appears  that  they  are  con- 
 form to  the  Scripture. 
 
 The  first  of  these  is  thus  proved: — Clergymen  are  subject  to 
 their  princes,  according  to  these  words,  Let  every  soul  be  sub- 
 ject to  the  higher  powers,  Rom.  xiii.  1. :  if  they  are  then  sub- 
 ject to  diem,  they  cannot  be  obliged  to  go  out  of  their  domi- 
 nions upon  the  summons  of  any  other;  their  persons  being 
 under  the  laws  and  authority  of  that  country  to  which  they 
 belong. 
 
 This  is  plain,  and  seems  to  need  no  other  proof.  It  is  very 
 visible  how  much  the  peace  of  kingdoms  and  states  is  concerned 
 in  this  point :  for  if  a  foreign  power  should  call  their  Clergy 
 away  at  pleasure,  they  might  be  not  only  left  in  a  great  desti- 
 tution as  to  religious  performances,  but  their  Clergy  might  be 
 practised  upon,  and  sent  back  to  them  with  such  notions,  and 
 upon  such  designs,  that,  chiefly  supposing  the  immunity  of  their 
 persons,  they  might  become,  as  they  often  were  in  dark  and 
 ignorant  ages,  the  incendiaries  of  the  world,  and  the  disturbers 
 and  betrayers  of  their  countries.  This  is  confirmed  by  the 
 practice  of  the  first  ages,  after  the  Church  had  the  protection 
 of  Christian  magistrates  :  In  these  the  Roman  Emperors  called 
 the  first  General  Councils,  which  is  expressly  mentioned,  not 
 only  in  the  Histories  of  the  Councils,  but  in  their  Acts;  where 
 
246 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXI. 
 
 we  find  both  the  writs  that  summoned  them,  and  their  letters, 
 sometimes  to  the  Emperors,  and  sometimes  to  the  Churches, 
 which  do  all  set  forth  their  being  summoned  by  the  sacred 
 authority  of  their  Emperors,  without  mentioning  any  other. 
 In  calling  some  of  these  Councils,  it  does  not  appear  that  the 
 Popes  were  much  consulted ;  and  in  others  we  find  Popes  in- 
 deed supplicating  the  Emperors  to  call  a  Council,  but  nothing 
 that  has  so  much  as  a  shadow  of  their  pretending  to  an  autho- 
 rity to  summon  it  themselves. 
 
 This  is  a  thing  so  plain,  and  may  be  so  soon  seen  into  by 
 any  person  who  will  be  at  the  pains  to  turn  to  the  editions  of 
 the  first  four  General  Councils  made  by  themselves,  not  to 
 mention  those  that  followed  in  the  Greek  Church,  that  the 
 confidence  with  which  it  has  been  asserted  that  they  were 
 summoned  by  the  Popes,  is  an  instance  to  shew  us  that  there 
 is  nothing  at  which  men,  who  are  once  engaged,  will  stick 
 when  their  cause  requires  it.  But  even  since  the  Popes  have 
 got  this  matter  into  their  own  hands,  though  they  summon  the 
 Council,  yet  they  do  not  pretend  to  it,  nor  expect  that  the  world 
 would  receive  a  Council  as  general,  or  submit  to  it,  unless  the 
 Princes  of  Christendom  should  allow  of  it,  and  consent  to  the 
 publication  of  the  bull.  So  that,  by  reason  of  this,  Councils 
 are  now  become  almost  unpracticable  things. 
 
 When  all  Christendom  was  included  within  the  Roman 
 empire,  then  the  calling  of  a  Council  lay  in  the  breast  and 
 power  of  one  man ;  and,  during  the  ages  of  ignorance  and  su- 
 perstition, the  world  was  so  subjected  to  the  Pope's  authority, 
 that  Princes  durst  seldom  oppose  their  summons,  or  deny  their 
 Bishops  leave  to  go  when  they  were  so  called.  But  after  the 
 scandalous  schism  in  the  Popedom,  in  which  there  were  for  a 
 great  while  two  Popes,  and  at  last  three  at  a  time,  Councils 
 began  to  pretend  that  the  power  of  governing  the  Church,  and 
 of  censuring,  depriving,  and  making  of  Popes,  was  radically 
 in  them,  as  representing  the  universal  Church :  so  they  fell  upon 
 methods  to  have  frequent  Councils,  and  that  whether  both 
 Popes  and  Princes  should  oppose  it  or  not ;  for  they  declared 
 both  the  one  and  the  other  to  be  fallen  from  their  dignity, 
 that  should  attempt  to  hinder  it.  Yet  they  carried  the  claim 
 of  the  freedom  of  elections,  and  of  the  other  ecclesiastical  im- 
 munities, so  high,  that  all  that  followed  upon  this  was,  that 
 the  Popes  being  terrified  with  the  attempts  begun  at  Constance, 
 and  prosecuted  at  Basil  and  Pisa,  took  pains  to  have  Princes 
 on  their  side,  and  then  made  bargains  and  concordates  with 
 them,  by  which  they  divided  all  the  rights  of  the  Church,  at 
 least  the  pretensions  to  them,  between  themselves  and  the 
 Princes.  Matters  of  gain  and  advantage  were  reserved  to  the 
 See  of  Rome  ;  but  the  points  of  power  and  jurisdiction  were 
 generally  given  up  to  the  Princes.    The  temporal  authority 
 
Art.  XXI. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 247 
 
 has  by  that  means  prevailed  over  the  spiritual,  as  much  as  the 
 spiritual  authority  had  prevailed  over  the  temporal  for  several 
 ages  before.  Yet  the  pretence  of  a  General  Council  is  still  so 
 specious,  that  all  those  in  the  Roman  communion  that  do  not 
 acknowledge  the  infallibility  of  their  Popes,  do  still  support 
 this  pretension,  that  the  infallibility  is  given  by  Christ  to  his 
 Church ;  and  that  in  the  interval  of  Councils  it  is  in  the  com- 
 munity of  the  Bishops  and  Pastors  of  the  Church ;  and  that 
 when  a  Council  meets,  then  the  infallibility  is  lodged  with  it  ; 
 according  to  that,  It  seemed  good  to  the  Holy  Ghost  and  to  us, 
 Acts  xv.  28. 
 
 The  first  thing  to  be  settled  in  every  question  is  the  mean- 
 ing of  the  terms  :  so  we  must  begin  and  examine  what  makes 
 a  General  Council  ?  whether  all  the  Bishops  must  be  present 
 in  person,  or  by  proxy  ?  and  what  share  the  laity,  or  the 
 Princes  that  are  thought  to  represent  their  people,  ought  to 
 have  in  a  Council  ?  It  is  next  to  be  considered,  Whether  a 
 general  citation  is  enough  to  make  a  Council  general,  were 
 the  appearance  of  the  Bishops  ever  so  small  at  their  first 
 opening  ?  It  is  next  to  be  considered,  Whether  any  come 
 thither  and  sit  there  as  representing  others  ;  and  if  votes  ought 
 to  be  reckoned  according  to  the  numbers  of  the  Bishops,  or  of 
 the  others  who  depute  and  send  them  ?  and  whether  nations 
 ought  to  vote  in  a  body  as  integral  parts  of  the  Church ;  or 
 every  single  Bishop  by  himself?  And,  finally,  Whether  the 
 decisions  of  Councils  must  be  unanimous,  before  they  can  be 
 esteemed  infallible  ?  or  whether  the  major  vote,  though  ex- 
 ceeding only  by  one;  or  if  some  greater  inequality  is  necessary, 
 such  as  two-thirds,  or  any  other  proportion  ?  That  there  may 
 be  just  cause  of  raising  scruples  upon  every  one  of  these,  is 
 apparent  at  first  view.  It  is  certain,  a  bare  name  cannot  qua- 
 lify a  number  of  Bishops  sitting  together  to  be  this  General 
 Council.  The  number  of  Bishops  does  it  not  neither.  A 
 hundred  and  fifty  was  a  small  number  at  Constantinople  : 
 even  the  famous  three  hundred  and  eighteen  at  Nice  were  far 
 exceeded  by  those  at  Arimini.  All  the  first  General  Councils 
 were  made  up,  for  the  most  part,  of  Eastern  Bishops ;  there 
 being  a  very  inconsiderable  number  of  the  Western  among 
 any  of  them  ;  scarce  any  at  all  being  to  be  found  in  some.  If 
 this  had  been  the  body  to  whom  Christ  had  left  this  infalli- 
 bility, it  cannot  be  imagined  but  that  some  definition  or  de- 
 scription of  the  constitution  of  it  would  have  been  given  us  in 
 the  Scripture  :  and  the  profound  silence  that  is  about  it  gives 
 just  occasion  to  think,  that  how  wise  and  how  good  soever  such 
 a  constitution  may  be,  if  well  pursued,  yet  it  is  not  of  a  divine 
 institution ;  otherwise  somewhat  concerning  so  important  a 
 head  as  this  is  must  have  been  mentioned  in  the  Scripture. 
 
AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXI. 
 
 The  natural  idea  of  a  General  Council,  is  a  meeting  of  all 
 the  Bishops  of  Christendom,  or  at  least  of  proxies  instructed 
 by  them  and  their  clergy.  Now  if  any  will  stand  to  this  de- 
 scription, then  we  are  very  sure  that  there  was  never  yet  a  true 
 General  Council ;  which  will  appear  to  every  one  that  reads 
 the  subscriptions  of  the  Councils.  Therefore  we  must  con- 
 clude, that  General  Councils  are  not  constituted  by  divine 
 authority ;  since  we  have  no  direction  given  us  from  God,  by 
 which  we  may  know  what  they  are,  and  what  is  necessary  to 
 their  constitution.  And  we  cannot  suppose  that  God  has 
 granted  any  privileges,  much  less  infallibility,  which  is  the  great- 
 est of  all,  to  a  body  of  men,  of  whom,  or  of  whose  constitution, 
 he  has  said  nothing  to  us.  For  suppose  we  should  yield  that 
 there  were  an  infallibility  lodged  in  general  in  the  Church  dif- 
 fusive, so  that  the  Church  in  some  part  or  other  shall  be  always 
 preserved  from  error ;  yet  the  restraining  this  to  the  greater 
 number  of  such  Bishops  as  shall  happen  to  come  to  a  Council, 
 they  living  perhaps  near  it,  or  being  more  capable  and  more 
 forward  to  undertake  a  journey,  being  healthier,  richer,  or 
 more  active  than  others;  or,  which  is  as  probable,  because  it 
 has  often  fallen  out,  they  being  picked  out  by  parties  or  princes 
 to  carry  on  cabals,  and  manage  such  intrigues  as  may  be  on 
 foot  at  the  Council ; — the  restraining  the  infallibility,  I  say,  to 
 the  greater  number  of  such  persons,  unless  there  is  a  divine 
 authority  for  doing  it,  is  the  transferring  the  infallibility  from 
 the  whole  body  to  a  select  number  of  persons,  who  of  them- 
 selves are  the  least  likely  to  consent  to  the  engrossing  this  pri- 
 vilege to  the  majority  of  their  body,  it  being  their  interest  to 
 maintain  their  right  to  it  free  from  intrigue  or  management. 
 
 We  need  not  wonder  if  such  things  have  happened  in  the 
 latter  ages,  when  Nazianzen  laments  the  corruptions,  the  am- 
 bition, and  the  contentions  that  reigned  in  those  assemblies 
 in  his  own  time ;  so  that  he  never  desired  to  see  any  more  of 
 them.  He  was  not  only  present  at  one  of  the  General  Coun- 
 cils, but  he  himself  felt  the  effects  of  jealousy  and  violence  in  it. 
 
 Further,  it  will  appear  a  thing  incredible,  that  there  is  an 
 infallibility  in  Councils  because  they  are  called  General,  and 
 are  assembled  out  of  a  great  many  kingdoms  and  provinces, 
 when  we  see  them  go  backward  and  forward,  according  to  the 
 influences  of  courts,  and  of  interests  directed  from  thence. 
 We  know  how  differently  Councils  decreed  in  the  Arian  con- 
 troversies, and  what  a  variety  of  them  Constantius  set  up 
 against  that  at  Nice.  So  it  was  in  the  Eutychian  heresy,  ap- 
 proved in  the  second  Council  at  Ephesus,  but  soon  after  con- 
 demned at  Chalcedon.  So  it  was  in  the  business  of  images, 
 condemned  at  Constantinople  in  the  East ;  but  soon  after,  upon 
 another  change  at  court,  maintained  in  the  second  at  Nice ; 
 and  not  long  after  condemned  in  a  very  numerous  Council  at 
 
Art.  XXI. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES, 
 
 249 
 
 Francfort.  And  in  the  point  in  hand,  as  to  the  authority  ot 
 Councils,  it  was  asserted  at  Constance  and  Basil,  but  con- 
 demned in  the  Lateran ;  and  was  upon  the  matter  laid  aside 
 at  Trent.  Here  were  great  numbers  of  all  hands ;  both  sides 
 took  the  name  of  General  Councils. 
 
 It  will  be  a  further  prejudice  against  this,  if  we  see  great 
 violence  and  disorders  entering  into  the  management  of  some 
 Councils,  and  craft  and  artifice  into  the  conduct  of  others. 
 Numbers  of  factious  and  furious  monks  came  to  some  Councils, 
 and  drove  on  matters  by  their  clamours  :  so  it  was  at  Ephesus. 
 We  see  gross  fraud  in  the  second  at  Nice,  both  in  the  persons 
 set  up  to  represent  the  absent  patriarchs,  and  in  the  books  and 
 authorities  that  were  vouched  for  the  worship  of  images.  The 
 intrigues  at  Trent,  as  they  are  set  out  even  by  Cardinal  Palla- 
 vicini,  were  more  subtile,  but  not  less  apparent,  nor  less  scan- 
 dalous. Nothing  was  trusted  to  a  session,  till  it  was  first  can- 
 vassed in  congregations — which  were  what  a  committee  of  the 
 whole  house  is  in  our  Parliaments — and  then  every  man's  vote 
 was  known ;  so  that  there  was  hereby  great  occasion  given  for 
 practice.  This  alone,  if  there  had  been  no  more,  shewed 
 plainly  that  they  themselves  knew  they  were  not  guided  by  the 
 Spirit  of  God,  or  by  infallibility ;  since  a  session  was  not  thought 
 safe  to  be  ventured  on,  but  after  a  long  previous  canvassing. 
 
 Another  question  remains  yet  to  be  cleared,  concerning  their 
 manner  of  proceeding : — Whether  the  infallibility  is  affixed  to 
 their  vote,  whatsoever  their  proceedings  may  be  ?  or  whether 
 they  are  bound  to  discuss  matters  fully  ?  The  first  cannot  be 
 said,  unless  it  is  pretended  that  they  vote  by  a  special  inspira- 
 tion :  If  the  second  is  allowed,  then  we  must  examine  both 
 what  makes  a  full  discussion,  and  whether  they  have  made  it  ? 
 
 If  we  find  opinions  falsely  represented ;  if  books  that  are 
 spurious  have  been  relied  on ;  if  passages  of  Scripture,  or  of 
 the  Fathers,  on  which  it  appears  the  stress  of  the  decision  has 
 turned,  have  been  manifestly  misunderstood  and  wrested,  so 
 that  in  a  more  enlightened  age  no  person  pretends  to  justify  the 
 authority  that  determined  them,  can  we  imagine  that  there 
 should  be  more  truth  in  their  conclusions,  than  we  do  plainly 
 see  was  in  the  premises  out  of  which  they  were  drawn  ? — So  it 
 must  either  be  said  that  they  vote  by  an  immediate  inspiration, 
 or  all  persons  cannot  be  bound  to  submit  to  their  judgment 
 till  they  have  examined  their  methods  of  proceeding,  and  the 
 grounds  on  which  they  went :  and  when  all  is  done,  the  ques- 
 tion comes  concerning  the  authority  of  such  decrees  after  thev 
 are  made, — whether  it  follows  immediately  upon  their  beino- 
 made,  or  must  stay  for  the  confirmatory  bulls?  If  it  must  stay 
 for  the  bull,  then  the  infallibility  is  not  in  the  Council :  and 
 that  is  only  a  more  solemn  way  of  preparing  matters,  in  order 
 to  the  laying  them  before  the  Pope.     If  they  are  infallible 
 
250 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Abt.  XXI. 
 
 before  the  confirmation,  then  the  infallibility  is  wholly  in  the 
 Council ;  and  the  subsequent  bull  does,  instead  of  confirming 
 their  decrees,  derogate  much  from  them  :  for  to  pretend  to  con- 
 firm them,  imports  that  they  wanted  that  addition  of  authority 
 which  destroys  the  supposition  of  their  infallibility — since  what 
 is  infallible  cannot  be  made  stronger :  and  the  pretending  to 
 add  strength  to  it,  implies  that  it  is  not  infallible.  Human 
 constitutions  may  be  indeed  so  modelled,  that  there  must  be  a 
 joint  concurrence  before  a  law  can  be  made :  and  though  it  is 
 the  last  consent  that  settles  the  law,  yet  the  previous  consents 
 were  necessary  steps  to  the  giving  it  the  authority  of  a  law. 
 
 And  thus  it  is  not  to  be  denied,  but  that,  as  to  the  matters 
 of  government,  the  Church  may  cast  herself  into  such  a  model, 
 that  as  by  a  decree  of  the  Council  of  Nice  the  Bishops  of  a 
 province  might  conclude  nothing  without  the  consent  of  the 
 Metropolitan,  so  another  decree  might  even  limit  a  General 
 Council  to  stay  for  the  consent  of  one  or  more  Patriarchs. 
 But  this  must  only  take  place  in  matters  of  order  and  govern- 
 ment, which  are  left  to  the  disposal  of  the  Church,  but  not  in 
 decisions  about  matters  of  faith.  For  if  there  is  an  infallibility 
 in  the  Church,  it  must  be  derived  from  a  special  grant  made 
 by  Christ  to  his  Church :  and  it  must  go  according  to  the  na- 
 ture of  that  grant,  unless  it  can  be  pretended  that  there  is  a 
 clause  in  that  grant  empowering  the  Church  to  dispose  of  it, 
 and  model  it  at  pleasure.  For  if  there  is  no  such  power,  as  it 
 is  plain  there  is  not,  then  Christ's  grant  is  either  to  a  single 
 person,  or  to  the  whole  community :  If  to  a  single  person,  then 
 the  infallibility  is  wholly  in  him,  and  he  is  to  manage  it  as  he 
 thinks  best :  for  if  he  calls  a  Council,  it  is  only  an  act  of  his 
 humility  and  condescension  to  hear  the  opinions  of  many  in 
 different  corners  of  the  Church,  that  so  he  may  knowT  all  that 
 comes  from  all  quarters ;  it  may  also  seem  a  prudent  way  to 
 make  his  authority  to  be  the  more  easily  borne  and  submitted 
 to,  since  what  is  gently  managed  is  best  obeyed :  But,  after  all, 
 these  are  only  prudential  and  discreet  methods — the  infalli- 
 bility- must  be  only  in  him,  if  Christ  has  by  the  grant  tied  him 
 to  such  a  succession.  Whereas,  on  the  other  hand,  if  the  in- 
 fallibility is  granted  to  the  whole  community,  or  to  their  repre- 
 sentatives, then  all  the  applications  that  they  may  make  to  any 
 one  See  must  only  be  in  order  to  the  execution  of  their  decrees, 
 like  the  addresses  that  they  make  to  princes  for  the  civil 
 sanction :  But  still  the  infallibility  is  where  Christ  put  it — it 
 rests  wholly  in  their  decision,  and  belongs  only  to  that :  and 
 any  other  confirmation  that  they  desire,  unless  it  be  restrained 
 singly  to  the  execution  of  their  decrees,  is  a  wound  given  by 
 themselves  to  their  own  infallibility,  if  not  a  direct  disclaiming 
 of  it. 
 
Art.  XXI. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 231 
 
 When  the  confirmation  of  the  Council  is  over,  a  new  diffi- 
 culty arises  concerning  the  receiving  the  decrees.  And  here  it 
 may  be  said,  that  if  Christ's  grant  is  to  the  whole  community, 
 so  that  a  Council  is  only  the  authentical  declarer  of  the  tra- 
 dition, the  whole  body  of  the  Church  that  is  possessed  of  the 
 tradition,  and  conveys  it  down,  must  have  a  right  to  examine 
 the  decision  that  the  Council  has  made,  and  so  is  not  bound 
 to  receive  it,  but  as  it  finds  it  to  be  conformable  to  tradition. 
 
 Here  it  is  to  be  supposed,  that  every  Bishop,  or  at  the  least 
 all  the  Bishops  of  any  national  Church,  know  best  the  tradi- 
 tion of  their  own  Church  and  Nation ;  and  so  they  will  have 
 a  right  to  re-examine  things  after  they  have  been  adjudged  in 
 a  General  Council. 
 
 This  will  entirely  destroy  the  whole  pretension  to  infallibi- 
 lity;  and  yet  either  this  ought  to  have  been  done  after  the 
 Councils  at  Arimini,  or  the  second  of  Ephesus,  or  else  the 
 world  must  have  received  Semi-arianism  or  Eutychianism 
 implicitly  from  them.  It  is  also  no  small  prejudice  against 
 this  opinion,  that  the  Church  was  constituted,  the  Scriptures 
 were  received,  many  heresies  were  rejected,  and  the  persecu- 
 tions were  gone  through,  in  a  course  of  three  centuries ;  in  all 
 which  time  there  was  nothing  that  could  pretend  to  be  called 
 a  General  Council.  And  when  the  ages  came  in  which  Coun- 
 cils met  often,  neither  the  Councils  themselves,  who  must  be 
 supposed  to  understand  their  own  authority  best,  nor  those  who 
 wrote  in  defence  of  their  decrees,  who  must  be  supposed  to  be 
 inclined  enough  to  magnify  their  authority,  being  of  the  same 
 side ;  neither  of  these,  I  say,  ever  pretended  to  argue  for  their 
 opinions,  from  the  infallibility  of  those  Councils  that  decreed 
 them. 
 
 They  do  indeed  speak  of 'them  with  great  respect,  as  of 
 bodies  of  men  that  were  guided  by  the  Spirit  of  God ;  and  so 
 do  we  of  our  Reformers,  and  of  those  who  prepared  our  Litur- 
 gy :  but  we  do  not  ascribe  infallibility  to  them,  and  no  more 
 did  they.  Nor  did  they  lay  the  stress  of  their  arguments  upon 
 the  authority  of  such  decisions :  they  knew  that  the  objection 
 might  have  been  made  as  strong  against  them,  as  they  could 
 put  the  argument  for  them ;  and  therefore  they  offered  to  waive 
 the  point,  and  to  appeal  to  the  Scripture,  setting  aside  the  de- 
 finitions that  had  been  made  in  Councils  both  ways. 
 
 To  conclude  this  argument. 
 
 If  the  infallibility  is  supposed  to  be  in  Councils,  then  the 
 Church  may  justly  apprehend  that  she  has  lost  it :  for  as  there 
 has  been  no  Council  that  has  pretended  to  that  title,  now  dur- 
 ing one  hundred  and  thirty  years,  so  there  is  no  great  proba- 
 bility of  our  ever  seeing  another.  The  charge  and  noise,  the 
 expectations  and  disappointments  of  that  at  Trent,  has  taught 
 the  world  to  expect  nothing  from  one :  They  plainly  see  that 
 
2o2 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXI. 
 
 the  management  from  Rome  must  carry  every  thing  in  a 
 Council :  neither  princes  nor  people,  no  nor  the  bishops  them- 
 selves, desire  or  expect  to  see  one. 
 
 The  claim  set  up  at  Rome  for  infallibility,  makes  the  de- 
 mand of  one  seem  not  only  needless  there,  but  to  imply  a 
 doubting  of  their  authority,  when  other  methods  are  looked 
 after,  which  will  certainly  be  always  unacceptable  to  those  who 
 are  in  possession,  and  act  as  if  they  were  infallible :  nor  can  it 
 be  apprehended,  that  they  will  desire  a  Council  to  reform  those 
 abuses  in  discipline,  which  are  all  occasioned  by  that  absolute 
 and  universal  authority  of  which  they  are  now  possessed.  ^ 
 
 So,  by  all  the  judgments  that  can  be  made  from  the  state  of 
 things,  from  the  interests  of  men,  and  the  last  management  at 
 Trent,  one  may  without  a  spirit  of  prophecy  conclude,  that, 
 unless  Christendom  puts  on  a  new  face,  there  will  be  no  more 
 General  Councils.  And  so  here  infallibility  is  at  an  end,  and 
 has  left  the  Church  at  least  for  a  very  long  interval. 
 
 It  remains  that  those  passages  should  be  considered  that  are 
 brought  to  support  this  authority.  Christ  says,  Tell  the 
 Church  ;  and  if  he  neglects  to  hear  the  Church,  let  him  be  unto 
 thee  as  a  heathen  man,  and  a  publican,  Matt,  xviii.  17. 
 
 These  words  in  themselves,  and  separated  from  all  that  went 
 before,  seem  to  speak  this  matter  very  fully ;  but  when  the  oc- 
 casion of  them,  and  the  matter  that  is  treated  of  in  them,  are 
 considered,  nothing  can  be  plainer  than  that  our  Saviour  is 
 speaking  of  such  private  differences  as  may  arise  among  men, 
 and  of  the  practice  of  forgiving  injuries,  and  composing  their 
 differences.  If  thy  brother  sin  against  thee — first,  private  en- 
 deavours were  to  be  used;  then  the  interposition  of  friends 
 was  to  be  tried ;  and,  finally,  the  matter  wras  to  be  referred  to 
 the  body,  or  assembly,  to  which  they  belonged :  and  those  who 
 could  not  be  gained  by  such  methods,  were  no  more  to  be 
 esteemed  brethren,  but  were  to  be  looked  on  as  very  bad  men, 
 like  heathens.  They  might  upon  such  refractoriness  be  ex- 
 communicated, and  prosecuted  afterwards  in  temporal  courts, 
 since  they  had  by  their  perverseness  forfeited  all  sort  of  right 
 to  that  tenderness  and  charity  that  is  due  to  true  Christians. 
 
 This  exposition  does  so  fully  agree  to  the  occasion  and  scope 
 of  these  words,  that  there  is  no  colour  of  reason  to  carry  them 
 further. 
 
 The  character  given  to  the  Church  of  Ephesus,  in  St  Paul's 
 First  Epistle  to  Timothy,  (hi.  15.),  that  it  was  the  pillar  and 
 ground  of  truth,  is  a  figurative  expression ;  and  it  is  never  safe  to 
 build  upon  metaphors,  much  less  to  lay  much  weight  upon  them. 
 
 The  Jews  described  their  synagogues  by  such  honourable 
 characters,  in  which  it  is  known  how  profuse  all  the  Eastern 
 nations  are.  These  are  by  St  Paul  applied  to  the  Church  of 
 Ephesus ;  for  he  there  speaks  of  the  Church  where  Timothy 
 
Art.  XXI. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 •2j3 
 
 was  then,  in  which  he  instructs  him  to  behave  himself  welL 
 It  has  visibly  a  relation  to  those  inscriptions  that  were  made  on 
 pillars  which  rested  upon  firm  pedestals :  but,  whatsoever  the 
 strict  importance  of  the  metaphor  may  be.  it  is  a  metaphor,  and 
 therefore  it  can  be  no  argument.  Christ's  promise  of  the 
 Spirit  to  his  Apostles,  that  should  lead  them  into  all  truth. 
 relates  visibly  to  that  extraordinary  inspiration  by  which  they 
 were  to  be  acted,  and  that  was  to  shrs  them  things  to  come* 
 John  xvi.  13. ;  so  that  a  succession  of  prophecy  may  be  inferred 
 from  these  words,  as  well  as  of  infallibility. 
 
 Those  words  of  our  Saviour,  with  which  St  Matthew  con- 
 cludes his  Gospel.  Lo,  I  am  ivith  you  always,  even  to  the  end 
 of  the  zcorld,  Matt,  xxviii.  '20.  infer  no  infallibility,  but  only  a 
 promise  of  assistance  and  protection :  which  was  a  necessary 
 encouragement  to  the  Apostles,  when  they  were  sent  upon  so 
 laborious  a  commission,  that  was  to  involve  them  in  so  much 
 danger.  God's  being  Xiith  any,  his  talking  nith  them,  his  being 
 in  the  midst  of  them,  his  nezvr  leaving  nor  forsaking  them,  are 
 expressions  often  used  in  the  Scripture.  (2  Cor.  vi.  16.  Heb. 
 xiii.  b.).  which  signify  no  more  but  God's  watchful  providence, 
 guiding,  supporting,  and  protecting  his  people :  all  this  is  far 
 from  infallibility. 
 
 The  last  objection  to  be  proposed  is  that  which  seems  to 
 relate  most  to  the  point  in  hand,  taken  from  the  decree  made 
 bv  a  Council  at  Jerusalem,  which,  begins,  //  seemed  good  to  the 
 Holy  Ghost,  and  to  us,  Acts  xv. -28.:  from  which  they  infer, 
 that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  present  with  Councils,  and  that  what 
 seems  good  to  them  is  also  approved  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  But 
 it  will  not  be  easy  to  prove,  that  this  was  such  a  Council  as  to 
 be  a  pattern  to  succeeding  ones  to  copy  after  it.  We  find  Bre- 
 thren are  here  joined  with  the  Apostles  themselves  :  now.  since 
 these  were  no  other  than  the  laity,  here  an  inference  will  be 
 made  that  will  not  easily  go  down.  If  they  sate  and  voted  with 
 the  Apostles,  it  will  seem  strange  to  deny  them  the  same  privi- 
 lege among  Bishops.  By  Elders  here  it  seems  Presbyters  are 
 meant ;  and  this  will  give  them  an  entrance  into  a  General 
 Council,  out  of  which  they  cannot  be  well  excluded,  if  the 
 laity  are  admitted.  But  here  was  no  citation,  no  time  given  to 
 all  Churches  to  send  their  Bishops  or  proxies — it  was  an  oc- 
 casional meeting  of  such  of  the  Apostles  as  happened  to  be 
 then  at  Jerusalem,  who  called  to  them  the  Elders  or  Presbyters, 
 and  other  Christians  at  Jerusalem :  for  the  Holy  Ghost  was 
 then  poured  out  so  plentifully  on  so  many,  that  no  wonder  if 
 there  were  then  about  that  truly  Mother  Church  a  great  main 
 of  both  sorts,  who  were  of  such  eminence  that  the  Apostles 
 might  desire  them  to  meet  and  to  join  with  them. 
 
 The  Apostles  were  divinely  assisted  in  the  delivering  that 
 commission  which  our  Saviour  gave  them  in  charge,  to  preach 
 
254. 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXI. 
 
 to  every  creature,  Mark  xvi.  15.,  and  so  were  infallibly  assisted 
 in  the  executing  of  it ;  yet,  when  other  matters  fell  in  which 
 were  no  parts  of  that  commission,  they  no  doubt  did  as  St 
 Paul,  who  sometimes  writ  by  permission,  as  well  as  at  other 
 times  by  commandment ;  of  which  he  gives  notice  by  saying, 
 It  is  I,  and  not  the  Lord,  1  Cor.  vii.  6.  12.  He  suggested  ad- 
 vices, which  to  him,  according  to  his  prudence  and  experience, 
 seemed  to  be  well  founded ;  and  he  offered  them  with  great 
 sincerity :  for  though  he  had  some  reason  to  think  that  what  he 
 proposed  flowed  from  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord,  ver.  40.,  from 
 that  inspiration  that  was  acting  him ;  yet,  because  that  did  not 
 appear  distinctly  to  him,  he  speaks  with  reserves,  and  says  he 
 gives  his  judgment  as  one  that  had  obtained  mercy  of  the  Lord 
 to  be  faithful,  ver.  25.  So  the  Apostles  here,  receiving  no  in- 
 spiration to  direct  them  in  this  case,  but  observing  well  what 
 St  Peter  put  them  in  mind  of,  concerning  God's  sending  him 
 by  a  special  vision  to  preach  to  the  Gentiles,  and  that  God  had 
 poured  out  the  Holy  Ghost  on  them,  even  as  he  had  done  upon 
 the  Apostles,  who  were  Jews  by  nature,  and  that  he  did  put  no 
 difference  in  that  between  Jews  and  Gentiles,  purifying  the 
 hearts  of  the  Gentiles  by  faith,  Acts  xv.  9. ;  they  upon  this  did 
 by  their  judgment  conclude  from  thence,  that  what  God  had 
 done  in  the  particular  instance  of  Cornelius,  was  now  to  be  ex- 
 tended to  all  the  Gentiles.  So  by  this  we  see  that  those  words, 
 seemed  good  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  relate  to  the  case  of  Cornelius; 
 and  those  words,  seemed  good  to  us,  import  that  they  resolved 
 to  extend  that  to  be  a  general  rule  to  all  the  Gentiles. 
 
 This  gives  the  words  a  clear  and  distinct  sense,  which  agrees 
 with  all  that  had  gone  before :  whereas  it  will  otherwise  look 
 very  strange  to  see  them  add  their  authority  to  that  of  the 
 Holy  Ghost ;  which  is  too  absurd  to  suppose :  nor  will  it  be 
 easy  to  give  any  other  consisting  sense  to  these  words. 
 
 Here  is  no  precedent  of  a  Council,  much  less  of  a  General 
 one ;  but  a  decision  is  made  by  men  that  were  in  other  things 
 divinely  inspired,  which  can  have  no  relation  to  the  judgments 
 of  other  Councils.  And  thus  it  appears,  that  none  of  those 
 places  which  are  brought  to  prove  the  infallibility  of  Councils, 
 come  up  to  the  point :  for  so  great  and  so  important  a  matter 
 as  this  is,  must  be  supposed  to  be  either  expressly  declared  in 
 the  Scriptures,  or  not  at  all. 
 
 The  Article  affirming  that  some  General  Councils  have  erred, 
 must  be  understood  of  Councils  that  pass  for  such ;  and  that 
 may  be  called  General  Councils  much  better  than  many  others 
 that  go  by  that  name :  for  that  at  Arimini  was  both  very  nu- 
 merous, and  was  drawn  out  of  many  different  provinces.  As 
 to  the  strict  notion  of  a  General  Council,  there  is  great  reason 
 to  believe  that  there  was  never  any  assembly  to  which  it  will 
 be  found  to  agree.    And  for  the  four  General  Councils,  which 
 
Art.  XXI. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 255 
 
 this  Church  declares  she  receives,  they  are  received  only  be- 
 cause we  are  persuaded  from  the  Scriptures  that  their  decisions 
 were  made  according  to  them  : — That  the  Son  is  truly  God,  of 
 the  same  substance  with  the  Father :  That  the  Holy  Ghost  is 
 also  truly  God :  That  the  divine  nature  was  truly  united  -to 
 the  human  in  Christ ;  and  that  in  one  person :  That  both  na- 
 tures remained  distinct ;  and  that  the  human  nature  was  not 
 swallowed  up  of  the  divine.  These  truths  we  find  in  the  Scrip- 
 tures, and  therefore  we  believe  them.  We  reverence  those 
 Councils  for  the  sake  of  their  doctrine ;  but  do  not  believe  the 
 doctrine  for  the  authority ^of  the  Councils.  There  appeared 
 too  much  of  human  frailty  in  some  of  their  other  proceedings, 
 to  give  us  such  an  implicit  submission  to  them,  as  to  believe 
 things  only  because  they  so  decided  them. 
 
 ARTICLE  XXII. 
 
 OF  PURGATORY. 
 
 The  Romish  Doctrine  concerning  Purgatory,  Pardons,  Wor- 
 shipping and  Adoration  as  well  of  Images  as  of  Reticles,  and 
 also  Invocation  of  Saints,  is  a  fond  thing,  vainly  invented, 
 and  grounded  upon  no  Warrant  of  Scripture,  but  rather  re- 
 pugnant to  the  Word  of  God. 
 
 There  are  two  small  variations  in  this  Article,  from  that 
 published  in  King  Edward's  reign.  What  is  here  called  the 
 Romish  doctrine,  is  there  called  the  doctrine  of  schoolmen.  The 
 plain  reason  of  this  is,  that  these  errors  were  not  so  fully 
 espoused  by  the  body  of  the  Roman  Church,  when  those  Ar- 
 ticles were  first  published,  so  that  some  writers  that  softened 
 matters  threw  them  upon  the  schoolmen ;  and  therefore  the 
 Article  was  cautiously  worded,  in  laying  them  there :  but  be- 
 fore these  that  we  have  now  were  published,  the  decree  and 
 canons  concerning  the  mass  had  passed  at  Trent,  in  which 
 most  of  the  heads  of  this  Article  are  either  affirmed  or  sup- 
 posed ;  though  the  formal  decree  concerning  them  was  made 
 some  months  after  these  Articles  were  published.  This  will 
 serve  to  justify  that  diversity.  The  second  difference  is  only 
 the  leaving  out  of  a  severe  word.  Perniciously  repugnant  to 
 the  Word  of  God  was  put  at  first;  but  perniciously  being  con- 
 sidered to  be  only  a  hard  word,  they  judged  very  right  in  the 
 second  edition  of  them,  that  it  was  enough  to  say  repugnant  to 
 the  Word  of  God. 
 
 There  are  in  this  Article  five  particulars,  that  are  all  ingre- 
 dients in  the  doctrine  and  worship  of  the  Church  of  Rome — 
 
256 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 AiiT.  XXII. 
 
 Purgatory,  Pardons,  the  Worship  of  Images,  and  of  Relics, 
 and  the  Invocation  of  Saints — that  are  rejected  not  only  as  ill- 
 grounded,  brought  in  and  maintained  without  good  warrants 
 from  the  Scripture,  but  as  contrary  to  it. 
 
 The  first  of  these  is  Purgatory ;  concerning  which  the  doc- 
 trine of  the  Church  of  Rome  is,  that  every  man  is  liable  both 
 to  temporal  and  to  eternal  punishment  for  his  sins :  that  God, 
 upon  the  account  of  the  death  and  intercession  of  Christ,  does 
 indeed  pardon  sin  as  to  its  eternal  punishment ;  but  the  sinner 
 is  still  liable  to  temporal  punishment,  which  he  must  expiate 
 by  acts  of  penance  and  sorrow  in  this  world,  together  with  such 
 other  sufferings  as  God  shall  think  fit  to  lay  upon  him :  but  if 
 he  does  not  expiate  these  in  this  life,  there  is  a  state  of  suffer- 
 ing and  misery  in  the  next  world,  where  the  soul  is  to  bear  the 
 temporal  punishment  of  its  sins ;  which  may  continue  longer  or 
 shorter,  till  the  day  of  judgment:  and  in  order  to  the  shorten- 
 ing this,  the  prayers  and  supererogations  of  men  here  on  earth, 
 or  the  intercession  of  the  saints  in  heaven,  but  above  all  things 
 the  sacrifice  of  the  mass,  are  of  great  efficacy.  This  is  the  doc- 
 trine of  the  Church  of  Rome,  asserted  in  the  Councils  of  Flo- 
 rence and  Trent.  What  has  been  taught  among  them  con- 
 cerning the  nature  and  the  degrees  of  those  torments,  though 
 supported  by  many  pretended  apparitions  and  revelations,  is 
 not  to  be  imputed  to  the  whole  body ;  and  is  indeed  only  the 
 doctrine  of  schoolmen,  though  it  is  generally  preached  and  in- 
 fused into  the  consciences  of  the  people.  Therefore  I  shall 
 only  examine  that  which  is  the  established  doctrine  of  the  whole 
 Roman  Church.  And  first  as  to  the  foundation  of  it,  that  sins 
 are  only  pardoned,  as  to  their  eternal  punishment,  to  those 
 who  being  justified  by  faith  have  peace  with  God  through  our 
 Lord  Jesus  Christ,  Rom.  v.  1.,  there  is  not  a  colour  for  it  in 
 the  Scriptures.  Remission  of  sins  is  in  general  that  with  which 
 the  preaching  of  the  gospel  ought  always  to  begin ;  and  this  is 
 so  often  repeated  without  any  such  reserve,  that  it  is  a  high 
 assuming  upon  God,  and  his  attributes  of  goodness  and  mercy, 
 to  limit  these  when  he  has  not  limited  them,  but  has  expressly 
 said  that  this  is  a  main  part  of  the  new  covenant,  that  he  will 
 remember  our  sins  and  iniquities  no  more,  Jer.  xxxi.  34.  Heb. 
 viii.  12.  Now  it  seems  to  be  a  maxim,  not  only  of  the  law  of 
 nations,  but  of  nature,  that  all  offers  of  pardon  are  to  be  un- 
 derstood in  the  full  extent  of  the  words,  without  any  secret  re- 
 serves or  limitations,  unless  they  are  plainly  expressed.  An 
 indemnity  being  offered  by  a  prince  to  persuade  his  subjects  to 
 return  to  their  obedience,  in  the  fullest  words  possible,  without 
 any  reserves  made  in  it,  it  would  be  looked  on  as  a  very  perfi- 
 dious thing,  if,  when  the  subjects  came  in  upon  it,  trusting  to  it, 
 they  should  be  told  that  they  were  to  be  secured  by  it  against 
 capital  punishments,  but  that,  as  to  all  inferior  punishments, 
 
Art.  XX 11. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 they  were  still  at  mercy.  We  do  not  dispute  whether  God,  if 
 he  had  thought  fit  so  to  do,  might  not  have  made  this  dis- 
 tinction ;  nor  do  we  deny  that  the  grace  of  the  gospel  had  been 
 infinitely  valuable*  if  it  had  offered  us  only  the  pardon  of  sin 
 with  relation  to  its  eternal  punishment,  and  had  left  the  tempo- 
 ral punishment  on  us,  to  be  expiated  by  ourselves.  But  then 
 we  say,  this  ought  to  have  been  expressed;  the  distinction 
 ought  to  have  been  made  between  temporal  and  eternal ;  and 
 we  ought  not  to  have  been  drawn  into  a  covenant  with  God, 
 by  words  that  do  plainly  import  an  entire  pardon  and  oblivion, 
 upon  which  there  lay  a  limited  sense,  that  was  not  to  be  told 
 the  world  till  it  was  once  well  engaged  in  the  Christian  reli- 
 gion. Upon  these  reasons  it  is  that  we  conclude,  that  this  doc- 
 trine not  being  contained  in  the  Scriptures,  is  not  only  without 
 any  warrant  in  them,  but  that  it  is  contrary  to  those  full  offers 
 of  mercy,  peace,  and  oblivion,  that  are  made  in  the  gospel ;  it 
 is  contrary  to  the  truth  and  veracity,  and  to  the  justice  and 
 goodness  of  God,  to  affirm  that  there  are  reserves  to  be  under- 
 stood for  punishments,  when  the  offers  and  promises  are  made 
 to  us  in  such  large  and  unlimited  expressions. 
 
 Thus  we  lay  our  foundation  in  this  matter,  which  does  very 
 fully  overthrow  theirs.  We  do  not  deny  but  that  God  does  in 
 this  world  punish  good  men  for  those  sins  which  yet  are  for- 
 given them  through  Christ,  according  to  those  words  in  the 
 Psalm,  Thou  wast  a  God  that  forgavest  them,  though  thou 
 tookest  vengeance  of  then-  inventions,  Psal.  xcix.  8. ;  but  this  is 
 a  consideration  quite  of  another  nature.  God,  in  the  govern- 
 ment of  this  world,  thinks  fit,  by  his  Providence,  sometimes  to 
 interpose  in  visible  blessings  as  well  as  judgments,  to  shew  how 
 he  protects  and  favours  the  good,  and  punishes  the  bad ;  and 
 that  the  bad  actions  of  good  men  are  odious  to  him,  even  though 
 he  has  received  their  persons  into  his  favour.  He  has  also  in 
 the  gospel  plainly  excepted  the  government  of  this  world,  and 
 the  secret  methods  of  his  providence,  out  of  the  mercy  that  he 
 has  promised,  by  the  warnings  that  are  given  to  all  Christians 
 to  prepare  for  crosses  and  afflictions  in  this  life.  He  has  made 
 faith  and  patience  in  adversities  a  main  condition  of  this  New 
 Covenant :  he  has  declared,  that  these  are  not  the  punishments 
 of  an  angry  God,  but  the  chastisements  of  a  kind  and  merci^ 
 ful  Father,  who  designs  by  them  both  to  shew  to  the  world  the 
 impartiality  of  his  justice  in  punishing  some  crying  sins  in  a 
 very  signal  manner,  and  to  give  good  men  deep  impressions  of 
 their  odiousness,  to  oblige  them  to  a  severer  repentance  for 
 them,  and  to  a  greater  watchfulness  against  them  ;  as  also,  to 
 ive  the  world  such  examples  of  resignation  and  patience  lin- 
 er them,  that  they  may  edify  others  by  that,  as  much  as  by 
 their  sins  they  mav  have  offended  them.     So  that,  upon  all 
 
 It 
 
258 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXII. 
 
 these  accounts,  it  seems  abundantly  clear,  that  no  argument 
 can  be  drawn  from  the  temporal  punishments  of  good  men  for 
 their  sins  in  this  world,  to  a  reserve  of  others  in  another  state : 
 The  one  are  clearly  mentioned  and  reserved  in  the  offers  of 
 mercy  that  are  made  in  the  gospel,  whereas  the  others  are  not. 
 This  being  the  most  plausible  thing  that  they  say  for  this  dis- 
 tinction of  those  twofold  punishments,  it  is  plain  that  there  is 
 no  foundation  for  it. 
 
 As  for  those  words  of  Christ,  Ye  shall  not  come  out  till  ye 
 have  paid  the  uttermost  farthing.  Matt.  v.  *26. ;  from  which  they 
 would  infer,  that  there  is  a  state  in  which,  after  we  shall  be  cast 
 into  prison,  we  are  paying  off  our  debts ;  this,  if  an  argument 
 at  all,  will  prove  too  much — that  in  hell  the  damned  are  clear- 
 ing scores,  and  that  they  shall  be  delivered  when  all  is  paic^  off : 
 For  by  prison  there,  that  only  can  be  meant,  as  appears  by 
 the  whole  contexture  of  the  discourse,  and  by  other  parables 
 of  the  like  nature.  It  is  a  figure  taken  from  a  man  imprisoned 
 for  a  great  debt ;  and  the  continuance  of  it,  till  the  last  farthing- 
 is  paid,  does  imply  their  perpetual  continuance  in  that  state, 
 since  the  debt  is  too  great  to  be  ever  paid  off".  From  a  phrase 
 in  a  parable,  no  consequence  is  to  be  drawn  beyond  that  which 
 is  the  true  scope  of  the  parable,  which  in  this  particular  is  only 
 intended  by  our  Saviour  to  shew  the  severe  punishment  of 
 those  who  hate  implacably ;  which  is  a  sin  that  does  certainly 
 deserve  Hell,  and  not  Purgatory. 
 
 Our  Saviour's  words  concerning  the  sin  against  the  Holy 
 Ghost,  that  it  is  neither  forgiven  in  this  life,  nor  in  that  which 
 is  to  come,  Matt.  xii.  32.,  is  also  urged  to  prove,  that  some 
 sins  are  pardoned  in  the  next  life,  which  are  not  pardoned  in 
 this.  But  still  this  will  seem  a  stronger  argument  against  the 
 eternity  of  Hell  torments,  than  for  Purgatory ;  and  will  rather 
 import,  that  the  damned  may  at  last  be  pardoned  their  sins, 
 since  these  are  the  only  persons  whose  sins  are  not  pardoned 
 in  this  world;  for  of  those  who  are  justified,  it  cannot  be  said 
 that  their  sins  are  not  forgiven  them,  and  such  only  go  to  Pur- 
 gatory :  therefore,  either  this  is  only  a  general  way  of  speaking, 
 to  exclude  all  hopes  of  pardon,  and  to  imply  that  God's  judg- 
 ments will  pursue  such  blasphemers,  both  in  this  life  and  in 
 the  next;  or,  if  we  will  understand  them  more  critically,  by 
 this  life,  or  this  age,  and  the  next,  according  to  a  common 
 opinion  and  phrase  of  the  Jews  which  is  founded  on  the  pro- 
 phecies, are  to  be  understood  the  dispensation  of  the  Law,  and 
 the  dispensation  of  the  Messias;  the  age  to  come  being  a  com- 
 mon phrase  for  the  times  of  the  Messias,  according  to  those 
 words  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  (ii.  5.)  He  hath  not  put 
 in  subjection  to  angels  the  world  to  come.  By  the  Mosaical  Law, 
 sacrifices  were  only  received,-  and  by  consequence  pardon  was 
 offered,  for  sins  of  a  less  heinous  nature;  but  those  that  were 
 
Art.  XXII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 259 
 
 more  heinous  were  to  be  punished  by  death,  or  by  cutting  off 
 without  mercy  ;  whereas  a  full  promise  of  the  pardon  of  all  sins 
 is  offered  in  the  gospel :  so  that  the  meaning  of  these  words  of 
 Christ's  is,  that  such  a  blasphemy  was  a  sin  not  only  beyond 
 the  pardon  offered  in  the  Law  of  Moses,  which  was  the  age 
 that  then  was,  but  that  it  was  a  sin  beyond  that  pardon  which 
 was  to  be  offered  by  the  Messias  in  the  age  to  come,  that  is,  in 
 the  kingdom  of  heaven,  that  was  then  at  hand.  But  these 
 words  can  by  no  means  be  urged  to  prove  this  distinction  of 
 temporal  and  eternal  punishment ;  therefore  we  must  conclude, 
 that  since  repentance  and  remission  of  sins  (Luke  xxiv.  47.) 
 are  joined  together  in  the  first  commission  to  preach  the  gos- 
 pel, and  since  life,  peace,  and  salvation,  are  promised  to  such 
 as  believe,  that  all  this  is  to  be  understood  simply  and  plainly, 
 without  any  other  limitation  or  exception  than  that  which  is 
 expressed,  which  is  only  of  such  chastisements  as  God  thinks 
 fit  to  exercise  <jood  men  with  in  this  life. 
 
 o 
 
 In  the  next  place,  we  shall  consider  what  reason  we  have  to 
 reject  the  doctrine  of  Purgatory ;  as  we  have  already  seen  how 
 weak  the  foundation  is  upon  which  it  is  built.  The  Scripture 
 speaks  to  us  of  two  states  after  this  life — of  happiness  and  misery; 
 and  as  it  divides  all  mankind  into  good  and  bad,  into  those  that 
 do  good  and  those  that  do  evil,  into  believers  and  unbelievers, 
 righteous  and  sinners ;  so  it  proposes  always  the  end  of  the  one 
 to  be  everlasting  happiness,  and  the  end  of  the  other  to  be  ever- 
 lasting punishment,  without  the  least  hint  of  any  middle  state 
 after  death.  So  that  it  is  very  plain  there  is  nothing  said  in 
 Scripture  of  men  too  good  to  be  damned,  but  not  so  good  as 
 to  be  immediately  saved.  Now,  if  there  had  been  yet  a  great 
 deal  to  be  suffered  after  death,  and  that  there  were  many  very 
 effectual  ways  to  prevent  and  avoid,  or  at  least  to  shorten  those 
 sufferings;  and  if  the  apostles  knew  this,  and  yet  said  not  a  word 
 of  it,  neither  in  their  first  sermons  nor  in  their  epistles — here 
 was  a  great  treachery  in  the  discharge  of  their  function,  and 
 that  to  the  souls  of  men,  not  to  warn  them  of  their  danger,  nor 
 to  direct  them  to  the  proper  methods  of  avoiding  it ;  but,  on  the 
 contrary,  to  speak  and  write  to  them  just  as  we  can  suppose 
 impostors  would  have  done,  to  terrify  those  who  would  not  re- 
 ceive their  gospel  with  eternal  damnation,  but  not  to  say  a 
 word  to  those  who  received  it  of  their  danger,  in  case  they 
 lived  not  up  to  that  exactness  that  their  religion  required,  and 
 yet  upon  the  main  adhered  to  it  and  followed  it.  This  is  a 
 method  that  does  not  agree  with  common  honesty,  not  to  say 
 inspiration.  A  fair  way  of  proceeding  is  to  make  men  sensible 
 of  dangers  of  all  sorts,  and  to  shew  them  how  to  avoid  them  : 
 The  Apostles  told  their  converts,  that  through  much  tribulation 
 ne  must  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  Acts  xiv.  '2'2.  :  they 
 assured  them,  that  their  p>  esent  sufferings  were  not  worthy  to 
 
AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Abt.  XXII. 
 
 be  compared  to  the  glory  that  was  to  be  revealed,  Rom.  viii.  18. ; 
 and  that  those  light  afflictions,  which  are  for  a  moment,  wrought 
 for  them  a  far  more  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  glory, 
 2  Cor.  iv.  17.  Here,  if  they  knew  any  thing  of  Purgatory,  a 
 powerful  consideration  was  passed  over  in  silence,  that  by 
 these  afflictions  they  should  be  delivered  from  those  torments. 
 
 This  argument  goes  further  than  mere  silence ;  though  that 
 is  very  strong.  The  Scriptures  speak  always  as  if  the  one  did 
 immediately  follow  the  other;  and  that  the  saints,  or  true 
 Christians,  pass  from  the  miseries  of  this  state  to  the  glories 
 of  the  next.  So  does  our  Saviour  represent  the  matter  in  the 
 parable  of  Lazarus  and  the  rich  glutton ;  whose  souls  were 
 presently  carried  to  their  different  abodes — the  one  to  be  com- 
 forted, as  the  other  was  tormented.  He  promised  also  to  the 
 repenting  thief,  To-day  thou  shalt  be  with  me  in  Paradise, 
 Luke  xxiii.  43.  St  Paul  comforts  himself,  in  the  apprehension 
 of  his  dissolution  that  was  approaching,  with  the  prospect  of 
 the  crown  of  righteousness  that  should  be  given  him  after  death, 
 2  Tim.  iv.  8. ;  and  so  he  states  these  two  as  certain  consequents 
 one  of  another,  to  be  dissolved  and  to  be  with  Christ,  to  be  ab- 
 sent from  the  body  and  present  with  the  Lord,  Phil.  i.  23. 
 2  Cor.  v.  6.  8.  :  and  he  makes  it  appear  that  it  was  no  peculiar 
 privilege  that  he  promised  to  himself,  but  that  which  all  Chris- 
 tians had  a  right  to  expect ;  for  he  says  in  general,  This  we  know, 
 that  if  our  earthly  house  of  this  tabernacle  be  dissolved,  we  have 
 a  building  of  God,  a  house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in 
 the  heavens,  2  Cor.  v.  1,  2.  In  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  the 
 Patriarchs  under  the  old  dispensation  are  represented  as  look- 
 ing for  that  city  whose  builder  and  founder  is  God,  Heb.  xi. 
 10. ;  though  in  that  state  the  manifestations  of  another  life 
 were  more  imperfect  than  in  this,  in  which  life  and  immorta- 
 lity are  brought  to  light,  they  being  veiled  and  darkened  in 
 that  state.  And  finally,  St  John  heard  a  voice  commanding 
 him  to  write,  Blessed  are  the  dead  who  die  in  the  Lord  (that  is, 
 being  true  Christians)  from  henceforth  (or  immediately)  :  Yea, 
 saith  the  Spirit,  that  they  may  rest  from  their  labours;  and 
 their  works  do  follow  them,  Rev.  xiv.  13.  From  the  solemnity 
 with  which  these  words  are  delivered,  they  carry  in  them  an 
 evidence  sufficient  to  determine  the  whole  matter.  So  that  we 
 must  have  very  hard  thoughts  of  the  sincerity  of  the  writers  of 
 the  New  Testament,  and  very  much  disparage  their  credit,  not 
 to  say  their  inspiration,  if  we  can  imagine  that  there  are  scenes 
 of  suffering,  and  those  very  dismal  ones,  to  be  gone  through, 
 of  which  they  gave  the  world  no  sort  of  notice,  but  spoke  in 
 the  same  style  that  we  do,  who  believe  no  such  dismal  interval 
 between  the  death  of  good  men  and  their  final  blessedness. 
 The  Scriptures  do  indeed  speak  of  a  full  reward,  2  John 
 vcr.  8.,  and  of  different  degrees  of  glory,  as  one  stai-  exceeds 
 
Art.  XXII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 261 
 
 another,  1  Cor.  xv.  41.;  they  do  also  represent  the  day  of 
 judgment,  upon  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  as  that  which 
 gives  the  full  and  entire  possession  of  blessedness  ;  so  that  from 
 hence  some  have  thought,  upon  very  probable  grounds,  that 
 the  blessed,  though  admitted  to  happiness  immediately  upon 
 their  death,  yet  were  not  so  completely  happy  as  they  shall  be 
 after  the  resurrection  :  and  in  this  there  arose  a  diversity  of 
 opinions,  which  is  very  natural  to  all  who  will  go  and  form 
 systems  out  of  some  general  hints.  Some  thought  that  the 
 souls  of  good  men  were  at  rest,  and  in  a  good  measure  happy, 
 but  that  they  did  not  see  God  before  the  resurrection.  Others 
 thought  that  Christ  was  to  come  down  and  reign  visibly  upon 
 earth  a  thousand  years  before  the  end  of  the  world ;  and  that 
 the  saints  were  to  rise  and  to  reign  with  him,  some  sooner  and 
 some  later.  Some  thought  that  the  last  conflagration  was  so 
 to  affect  all,  that  every  one  was  to  pass  through  it,  and  that 
 it  was  to  give  the  last  and  highest  purification  to  those  bodies 
 that  were  then  to  be  glorified ;  but  that  the  better  Christians 
 that  any  had  been,  they  should  feel  the  less  of  the  pain  of  that 
 last  fire.  These  opinions  were  very  early  entertained  in  the 
 Church:  an  itch  of  intruding  too  far  into  things  which  men 
 did  not  thoroughly  understand,  concerning  angels,  began  to 
 disturb  the  Church  even  in  the  days  of  the  Apostles;  which, 
 made  St  Paul  charge  the  Colossians  to  beware  of  vain  philo- 
 sophy. Plato  thought  there  was  a  middle  sort  of  men,  who, 
 though  they  had  sinned,  yet  had  repented  of  it,  and  were  in 
 a  curable  condition,  and  that  they  went  down  for  some  time 
 into  hell,  to  be  purged  and  absolved  by  grievous  torments. 
 The  Jews  had  also  a  conceit,  that  the  souls  of  some  men  con- 
 tinued for  a  year  going  up  and  down  in  a  state  of  purgation. 
 From  these  opinions  somewhat  of  a  curiosity  in  describing 
 the  degrees  of  the  next  state  began  pretty  early  to  enter  into 
 the  Church. 
 
 As  for  that  opinion  of  the  Platonists,  and  the  fictions  of 
 Homer  and  Virgil,  setting  forth  the  complaints  of  souls  de*- 
 parted  for  their  not  being  relieved  by  prayers  and  sacrifices, 
 though  these  perhaps  are  the  true  sources  of  the  doctrine  of 
 Purgatory,  and  of  redeeming  souls  out  of  it,  yet  we  are  not  so 
 much  concerned  in  them  as  in  what  is  represented  to  us  by 
 the  author  of  the  second  book  of  the  Maccabees,  concerning 
 the  sacrifice  that  was  offered  by  Judas  Maccabeus  for  those 
 about  whom,  after  they  were  killed,  they  found  such  things  as 
 shewed  that  they  had  defiled  themselves  with  the  idolatry  of 
 the  heathens.  All  this  is  of  less  authority  with  us,  who  do*not 
 acknowledge  that  book  to  be  canonical ;  according  to  what  was 
 set  out  in  its  proper  place.  And  although  we  set  a  due  value 
 upon  some  of  the  apocryphal  books,  yet  others  are  of  a  lower 
 character.    The  first  book  of  Maccabees  is  a  very  grave  history, 
 
262 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXII. 
 
 writ  with  much  exactness  and  a  true  judgment;  but  the  second 
 is  the  work  of  a  mean  writer :  he  wras  an  abridger  of  a  larger 
 work ;  and  as  he  has  the  modesty  to  ask  his  readers'  pardon  for 
 his  defects,  so  it  is  very  plain  to  every  one  that  reads  him,  that 
 he  needs  often  many  grains  of  allowance.    So  that  this  book 
 is  one  of  the  least  valuable  pieces  of  the  Apocrypha ;  and  there 
 are  very  probable  reasons  to  question  the  truth  of  that  relation 
 concerning  those  who  were  thus  prayed  for.    But  because  that 
 would  occasion  too  long  a  digression,  we  are  to  make  a  differ- 
 ence between  the  story  that  he  relates,  and  the  author's  own 
 reflections  upon  it;  for  as  we  ought  not  to  make  any  great  ac- 
 count of  his  reflections,  these  being  only  his  private  thoughts, — 
 who  might  probably  have  imbibed  some  of  the  principles  of  the 
 Greek  philosophy,  as  some  of  the  Jews  had  done,  or  he  might 
 have  believed  that  notion  which  is  now  very  generally  received 
 by  the  Jews,  that  every  Jew  shall  have  a  share  in  the  world  to 
 come,  but  that  such  as  have  lived  ill  must  be  purged  before 
 they  arrive  at  it ; — it  is  of  much  more  importance  to  consider 
 what  Judas  Maccabeus  did,  2  Mace.  xii.  40. ;  which  even  by 
 that  relation  seems  to  be  no  more  than  this,  that  he,  finding 
 some  things  consecrated  to  the  idols  of  the  Jamnites  about  the 
 bodies  of  those  who  were  killed,  concluded  that  to  have  been 
 the  cause  of  their  death ;  and  upon  this  he  and  all  his  men  be- 
 took themselves  to  prayer,  and  besought  God  that  the  sin  might 
 be  wholly  put  out  of  remembrance :  he  exhorted  his  people  to 
 keep  themselves,  by  that  example,  from  the  like  sin ;  and  he 
 made  a  collection  of  a  sum  of  money,  and  sent  it  to  Jerusa- 
 lem to  offer  a  sin-offering  before  the  Lord.    So  far  the  matter 
 agrees  well  enough  with  the  Jewish  dispensation.    It  had  ap- 
 peared in  the  days  of  Joshua,  (chap,  vii.),  how  much  guilt  the 
 sin  of  Achan,  though  but  one  person,  had  brought  upon  the 
 whole  congregation ;  and  their  law  had  upon  another  occasion 
 prescribed  a  sin-offering  for  the  whole  congregation,  to  expiate 
 blood  that  was  shed,  when  the  murderer  could  not  be  discover- 
 ed ;  that  so  the  judgments  of  God  might  not  come  upon  them, 
 by  reason  of  the  cry  of  that  blood.   And,  by  a  parity  of  reason, 
 Judas  might  have  offered  such  an  offering,  to  free  himself  and 
 his  men  from  the  guilt  which  the  idolatry  of  a  few  might  have 
 brought  upon  greater  numbers.   Such  a  sacrifice  as  this  might, 
 according  to  the  nature  of  that  law,  have  been  offered ;  but  to 
 offer  a  sin-offering  for  the  dead  was  a  new  thing,  without 
 ground,  or  any  intimation  of  any  thing  like  it,  in  their  law :  so 
 there  is  no  reason  to  doubt,  but  that,  if  the  story  is  true,  Judas 
 offered  this  sin-offering  for  the  living,  and  not  for  the  dead. 
 If  they  had  been  alive  then,  by  their  law  no  sin-offering  could 
 have  been  made  for  them ;  for  idolatry  was  to  be  punished  by 
 cutting  off]  and  not  to  be  expiated  by  sacrifice :  what  then 
 could  not  have  been  done  for  them  if  alive,  could  much  less  be 
 
Art.  XXII. 
 
 THE  XXXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 263 
 
 done  for  them  after  their  death.  So  we  have  reason  to  con- 
 clude that  Judas  offered  this  sacrifice  only  for  the  living ;  and 
 we  are  not  much  concerned  in  the  opinion  which  so  slight  a 
 writer  as  the  author  of  that  book  had  concerning  it.  But 
 whatever  might  be  his  opinion,  it  was  far  from  that  of  the  Ro- 
 man Church.  By  this  instance  of  the  Maccabees,  men  who 
 died  in  a  state  of  mortal  sin,  and  that  of  the  highest  nature, 
 had  sacrifices  offered  for  them ;  whereas,  according  to  the  doc- 
 trine of  the  Church  of  Rome,  Hell,  and  not  Purgatory,  is  to 
 be  the  portion  of  all  such :  so  this  will  prove  too  much,  if  any 
 thing  at  all,  that  sacrifices  are  to  be  offered  for  the  damned. 
 The  design  of  Judas's  sending  to  make  an  offering  for  them, 
 as  that  writer  states  it,  was,  that  their  sins  might  be  forgiven, 
 and  that  they  might  have  a  happy  resurrection.  Here  is  no- 
 thing of  redeeming  them  out  of  misery,  or  of  shortening  or 
 alleviating  their  torments :  so  that  the  author  of  that  book 
 seems  to  have  been  possessed  with  that  opinion,  received  com- 
 monly among  the  Jews,  that  no  Jew  could  finally  perish ;  as 
 we  find  St  Jerome  expressing  himself  with  the  like  partiality 
 for  all  Christians.  But  whatever  the  author's  opinion  was,  as 
 that  book  is  of  no  authority,  it  is  highly  probable  that  Judas's 
 design  in  that  oblation  was  misunderstood  by  the  historian : 
 and  we  are  sure  that  even  his  sense  of  it  differs  totally  from 
 that  of  the  Church  of  Rome. 
 
 A  passage  in  the  New  Testament  is  brought  as  a  full  proof 
 of  the  fire  of  Purgatory.  When  St  Paul  in  his  Epistle  to  the 
 Corinthians  (1  Cor.  iii.  10 — 16.)  is  reflecting  on  the  divisions 
 that  were  among  them,  and  on  that  diversity  of  teachers  that 
 formed  men  into  different  principles  and  parties,  he  compares 
 them  to  different  builders.  Some  raised  upon  a  rock  an  edifice 
 like  the  temple  at  Jerusalem,  of  gold  and  silver,  and  noble 
 stones,  called  precious  stones ;  whereas  others  upon  the  same 
 rock  raised  a  mean  hovel  of  wood,  hay,  and  stubble :  of  both 
 he  says,  every  man's  work  shall  be  made  manifest :  For  the  day 
 shall  reveal  it  ;  because  it  shall  be  revealed,  by  fire  ;  for  the  fire 
 shall  try  every  man's  work  of  what  sort  it  is.  And  he  adds, 
 If  any  man's  work  abide  which  he  hath  built  thereupon,  he  shall 
 receive  a  reward  ;  and  if  any  man's  work  shall  be  burnt,  he  shall 
 siiffer  loss  ;  but  he  himself  shall  be  saved,  yet  so  as  by  fire.  From 
 the  first  view  of  these  words  it  will  not  be  thought  strange  if 
 some  of  the  ancients,  who  were  too  apt  to  expound  places  of 
 Scripture  according  to  their  first  appearance,  might  fancy, 
 that  at  the  last  day  all  were  to  pass  through  a  great  fire,  and 
 to  suffer  more  or  less  in  it ;  but  it  is  visible  that  that  opinion 
 is  far  enough  from  the  doctrine  of  Purgatory.  These  words 
 relate  to  a  fire  that  was  soon  to  appear,  and  that  was  to  try 
 every  man's  work.  It  was  to  be  revealed,  and  in  it  every  man's 
 work  was  to  be  made  manifest.     So  this  can  have  no  relation 
 
264 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXII. 
 
 to  a  secret  purgatory  fire.  The  meaning  of  it  can  be  no  other, 
 but  that  whereas  some  with  the  Apostles  were  building  up  the 
 Church,  not  only  upon  the  foundation  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the 
 belief  of  his  doctrine,  but  were  teaching  men  doctrines  and 
 rules  that  were  virtuous,  good,  and  great;  others  at  the  same 
 time  were  daubing  with  a  profane  mixture  both  of  Judaism 
 and  Gentilism,  joining  these  with  some  of  the  precepts  of  Chris- 
 tianity ;  a  day  would  soon  appear,— which  probably  is  meant  of 
 the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  and  of  the  Jewish  nation ;  or  it 
 may  be  applied  to  the  persecution  that  was  soon  to  break  out ; — 
 in  that  day,  those  who  had  true  notions,  generous  principles,  and 
 suitable  practices,  would  weather  that  storm ;  whereas  others 
 that  were  entangled  with  weak  and  superstitious  conceits, 
 would  then  run  a  great  risk,  though  their  firm  believing  that 
 Jesus  was  the  Messias  would  preserve  them :  yet  the  weakness 
 and  folly  of  those  teachers  would  appear ;  their  opinions  would 
 involve  them  in  such  danger,  that  their  escaping  would  be  dif- 
 ficult, like  one  that  gets  out  of  a  house  that  is  all  on  fire  round 
 about  him.  So  that  these  words  cannot  possibly  belong  to 
 Purgatory,  but  must  be  meant  of  some  signal  discrimination 
 that  was  to  be  made,  in  some  very  dreadful  appearances,  which 
 would  distinguish  between  the  true  and  the  false  Apostles ;  and 
 that  could  be  no  other  but  either  in  the  destruction  of  Jerusa- 
 lem, or  in  the  persecution  that  was  to  come  on  the  Church ; 
 though  the  first  is  the  more  probable. 
 
 It  were  easy  to  pursue  this  argument  further,  and  to  shew 
 that  the  doctrine  of  Purgatory,  as  it  is  now  in  the  Roman 
 Church,  was  not  known  in  the  Church  of  God  for  the  first  six 
 hundred  years:  that  then  it  began  to  be  doubtfully  received. 
 But  in  an  ignorant  age,  visions,  legends,  and  bold  stories,  pre- 
 vailed much ;  yet  the  Greek  Church  never  received  it.  Some 
 of  the  Fathers  speak  indeed  of  the  last  probatory  fire ;  but 
 though  they  did  not  think  the  saints  were  in  a  state  of  con- 
 summate blessedness,  enjoying  the  vision  of  God,  yet  they 
 Aug  de  thought  they  were  in  a  state  of  ease  and  quiet,  and 
 FS^&is'  tnat  m  neaven»  St  Austin  speaks  in  this  whole  mat- 
 EncSir  ter  very  doubtfully :  he  varies  often  from  himself;  he 
 c. 67, 68, 69.  seems  sometimes  very  positive  only  for  two  states;  at 
 qua;stUpr'-  other  times,  as  he  asserts  the  last  probatory  fire,  so  he 
 seems  to  think  that  good  souls  might  suffer  some  grief 
 in  that  sequestered  state  before  the  last  day,  upon  the  account 
 of  some  of  their  past  sins,  and  that  by  degrees  they  might  arise 
 up  to  their  consummation.  All  these  contests  were  proposed 
 very  doubtfully  before  Gregory  the  Great's  days;  and  even 
 then  some  doubts  seem  to  have  been  made :  but  the  legends 
 were  so  copiously  played  upon  all  those  doubts,  that  this  rem- 
 nant of  paganism  got  at  last  into  the  Western  Church.  It  was 
 no  wonder  that  the  opinions  formerly  mentioned,  which  began 
 
Art.  XXII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 265 
 
 to  appear  in  the  second  age,  had  produced  in  the  third  the 
 
 F-actice  of  praying  for  the  dead:  of  which  we  find 
 ,    „  ..       -l     "     •     m         n-  •      >         •  j.  Tertul.de 
 
 such  full  evidence  in  1  ertullian  and  St  Cyprian  s  writ-  cor.  Mil  c. 
 ings,  that  the  matter  of  fact  is  not  to  be  denied.    This  &  il  Cypr. 
 appears  also  in  all  the  ancient  Liturgies;  and  Epipha-  S^t37" 
 nius  charges  Aerius  with  this  of  rejecting  all  prayers  JJX.'aL 
 for  the  dead,  asking  why  were  they  prayed  for  ■  The 
 opinions  that  they  fell  into  concerning  the  state  of  departed 
 souls,  in  the  interval  between  their  death  and  the  day  of  judg- 
 ment, gave  occasion  enough  for  prayer ;  they  thought  they  were 
 capable  of  making  a  progress,  and  of  having  an  early  resur- 
 rection.   They  al>o  had  this  notion  among  them,  that  it  was 
 the  peculiar  privilege  of  Jesus  Christ  to  be  above  all  our 
 pravers;  but  that  no  men,  not  excepting  the  Apostles,  nor  the 
 blessed  Virgin,  were  above  the  prayers  of  the  Church.  They 
 thought  this  was  an  act  of  Church  communion,  that  we  were 
 to  hold  even  with  the  saints  in  heaven,  to  pray  for  them.  Thus 
 in  the  apostolical  constitutions,  in  the  books  of  the  ecclesiasti- 
 cal hierarchy,  and  in  the  Liturgies  that  are  ascribed  to  Dion  de 
 St  Basil  and  St  Chrysostom,  they  offer  unto  God  these  £cci._  Hier. 
 prayers,  which  they  thought  their  reasonable  service, 
 for  those  who  were  at  rest  in  the  faith,  their  forefathers,  fathers, 
 patriarchs,  prophets  and  apostles,  preachers,  evangelists,  mar- 
 tyrs, confessors,  religious  persons,  and  for  every  spirit  perfected 
 in  the  faith ;  especially  for  our  most  holy,  immaculate,  most 
 blessed  Lady,  the  Mother  of  God,  the  ever  Virgin  Mary.  Par- 
 ticular instances  might  also  be  given  of  this,  out  of  St  Cyprian, 
 St  Ambrose,  Nazianzen,  and  St  Austin:  who  in  that  Aug.  Conf 
 famous  and  much  cited  passage  concerning  his  mother  La  c19- 
 Monica,  as  he  speaks  nothing  of  any  temporal  pains  that  she 
 suffered,  so  he  plainly  intimates  his  belief  that  God  had  done 
 all  that  he  desired.    Thus  it  will  appear  to  those  who  have  ex- 
 amined all  the  passages  which  are  brought  out  of  the  Fathers, 
 concerning  their  prayers  for  the  dead,  that  they  believed  they 
 were  then  in  heaven,  and  at  rest ;  and  by  consequence,  though 
 these  prayers  for  the  dead  did  very  probably  give  the  chief  rise 
 to  the  doctrine  of  Purgatory,  yet,  as  they  then  made  them, 
 they  were  utterly  inconsistent  with  that  opinion.  Ter- 
 tullian,  who  is  the  first  that  is  cited  for  them,  says,  We  Supra" 
 make  oblations  for  the  dead,  and  we  do  it  for  that  second  na- 
 tivity of  theirs  ( Natalitia J  once  a-year.    The  signification  of 
 the  word  Natalitia,  as  they  used  it,  was  the  Saint's  day  of 
 death,  in  which  they  reckoned  he  was  born  again  to  heaven ; 
 so,  though  they  judged  them  there,  yet  they  offered  up  prayers 
 for  them :  and  when  Epiphanius  brings  in  Aerius  asking  why 
 those  prayers  were  made  for  the  dead  ?  though  it  had  been  very 
 natural,  and  indeed  unavoidable,  if  he  had  believed  Purgatory, 
 to  have  answered,  that  it  was  to  deliver  them  from  thence  :  yet 
 
266 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXII. 
 
 he  makes  no  such  answer,  but  only  asserts  that  it  had  been 
 the  practice  of  the  Church  so  to  do.  The  Greek  Church  re- 
 tains that  custom,  though  she  has  never  admitted  of  Purgatory. 
 Here  then  an  objection  may  be  made  to  our  constitution,  that, 
 in  this  of  praying  for  the  dead,  we  have  departed  from  the 
 practice  of  the  ancients.  We  do  not  deny  it ;  both  the  Church 
 of  Rome  and  we,  in  another  practice  of  equal  antiquity,  of 
 giving  the  Eucharist  to  infants,  have  made  changes,  and  let 
 that  custom  fall.  The  curiosities  in  the  second  century  seem 
 to  have  given  rise  to  those  prayers  in  the  third ;  and  they  gave 
 the  rise  to  many  other  disorders  in  the  following  centuries. 
 Since,  therefore,  God  has  commanded  us,  while  we  are  on 
 earth,  to  pray  for  one  another,  and  has  made  that  a  main  act 
 of  our  charity  and  Church  communion,  but  has  nowhere  di- 
 rected us  to  pray  for  those  that  have  finished  their  course ;  and 
 since  the  only  pretence  that  is  brought  from  Scripture,  of  St 
 Paul's  praying  that  Onesiphorus  might  find  mercy  in  the  day  of 
 the  Lord,  cannot  be  wrought  up  into  an  argument,  for  it  can- 
 not be  proved  that  he  was  then  dead ;  and  since  the  Fathers 
 reckon  this  of  praying  for  the  dead  only  as  one  of  their  cus- 
 toms, for  which  they  vouch  no  other  warrant  but  practice; 
 since,  also,  this  has  been  grossly  abused,  and  has  been  applied 
 to  support  a  doctrine  totally  different  from  theirs — we  think 
 that  we  have  as  good  a  plea  for  not  following  them  in  this,  as 
 we  have  for  not  giving  infants  the  sacrament ;  and  therefore  we 
 think  it  no  imputation  on  our  Church,  that  we  do  not  in  this 
 follow  a  groundless  and  a  much  abused  precedent,  though  set 
 us  in  ages  which  we  highly  reverence. 
 
 The  greatest  corruption  of  this  whole  matter  comes  in  the 
 last  place  to  be  considered ;  which  is,  the  methods  proposed 
 for  redeeming  souls  out  of  Purgatory.  If  this  doctrine  had 
 rested  in  a  speculation,  we  must  still  have  considered  it  as  de- 
 rogatory to  the  death  of  Christ,  and  the  truth  of  the  gospel  : 
 but  it  raises  our  zeal  a  little  more,  when  we  consider  the  use 
 that  was  made  of  it ;  and  that  fears  and  terrors  being  by  this 
 means  infused  into  men's  minds,  new  methods  were  proposed 
 to  free  them  from  these — the  chief  of  which  was  the  saying  of 
 masses  for  departed  souls.  It  was  pretended,  that  this  being 
 the  highest  act  of  the  communion  of  Christians,  and  the  most 
 sublime  piece  of  worship,  therefore  God  was  so  well  pleased 
 with  the  frequent  repetition  of  it,  with  the  prayers  that  accom- 
 panied it,  and  with  those  that  made  provisions  for  men  who 
 should  be  constantly  employed  in  it,  that  this  was  a  most  ac- 
 ceptable sacrifice  to  God.  Upon  this  followed  all  those  vast 
 endowments  for  saying  masses  for  departed  souls ;  though  in 
 the  institution  of  that  sacrament,  and  in  all  that  is  spoken  of 
 it  in  the  Scripture,  there  is  not  an  hint  given  of  this.  Sacra- 
 ments are  positive  precepts,  which  are  to  be  measured  only  by 
 
Art.  XXII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 267 
 
 the  institution,  in  which  there  is  not  room  left  for  us  to  carry 
 them  further.  We  are  to  take,  eat  and  drink,  and  thereby  shew- 
 forth  the  Lord's  death  till  his  second  coming — all  which  has  no 
 relation  to  the  applying  this  to  others  who  are  gone  off  the 
 stage ;  therefore,  if  we  can  have  any  just  notions  either  of  su- 
 perstition or  of  will-worship,  they  are  applicable  here.  Men 
 will  fancy  that  there  is  a  virtue  in  an  action,  which  we  are  sure 
 it  has  not  of  itself,  and  we  cannot  find  that  God  has  put  in  it  ; 
 and  yet  they,  without  any  authority  from  God,  do  set  up  a 
 new  piece  of  worship,  and  imagine  that  God  will  be  pleased 
 with  them  in  every  thing  they  do  or  ask,  only  because  they  are 
 perverting  this  piece  of  worship,  clearly  contrary  to  the  institu- 
 tion, to  be  a  solitary  mass.  In  the  primitive  Church,  where 
 all  the  service  of  the  whole  assembly  ended  in  a  communion, 
 there  was  a  roll  read,  in  which  the  names  of  the  more  eminent 
 saints  of  the  Catholic  Church,  and  of  the  holy  bishops,  martyrs, 
 or  confessors  of  every  particular  Church,  were  registered.  This 
 was  an  honourable  remembrance  that  was  kept  up  of  such  as 
 had  died  in  the  Lord.  When  the  soundness  of  any  person's 
 faith  was  brought  in  suspicion,  his  name  was  not  read  till  that 
 point  was  cleared ;  and  then  either  his  name  continued  to  be 
 read,  or  it  was  quite  dashed  out.  This  was  thought  an  ho- 
 nour due  to  the  memory  of  those  who  had  died  in  the  faith  : 
 and  in  St  Cvprian's  time,  in  the  infancv  of  this  prac-  „ 
 
 %r  i    i      t        •  J    »  r  Cypr.  Epist.  I 
 
 tice,  we  see  he  counted  the  leaving  a  man  s  name  out  oxon.  ad 
 as  a  thing  that  only  left  a  blot  upon  him,  but  not  as  pleb'  Furmt 
 a  thing  of  any  consequence  to  his  soul ;  for  when  a  priest  had 
 died,  who  had  by  his  last  will  named  another  priest  the  tutor 
 (or  guardian)  of  his  children,  this  seemed  to  him  a  thing  of 
 such  ill  example,  to  put  those  secular  cares  upon  the  minds  of 
 the  clergy,  that  he  appointed  that  his  name  should  be  no  more 
 read  in  the  daily  sacrifice :  which  plainly  shews,  unless  we  will 
 tax  St  Cyprian  with  a  very  unreasonable  cruelty,  that  he  con- 
 sidered that  only  as  a  small  censure  laid  on  his  memory,  but 
 not  as  a  prejudice  to  his  soul.  This  gives  us  a  very  plain  view 
 of  the  sense  that  he  had  of  this  matter.  After  this  roll  was 
 read,  then  the  general  prayer  followed,  as  was  formerly  ac- 
 knowledged, for  all  their  souls ;  and  so  they  went  on  in  the 
 Communion  Service.  This  has  no  relation  to  a  mass  said 
 by  a  single  priest  to  deliver  a  soul  out  of  Purgatory. 
 
 Here,  without  going  far  in  tragical  expressions,  we  cannot 
 hold  saying  what  our  Saviour  said  upon  another  occasion,  My 
 house  is  a  house  of  prayer,  but  ye  have  made  it  a  den  of  thieves, 
 Mark  xi.  17.  A  trade  was  set  up  on  this  foundation.  The 
 world  was  made  believe,  that  by  the  virtue  of  so  many  masses, 
 which  were  to  be  purchased  by  great  endowments,  souls  were 
 redeemed  out  of  Purgatory ;  and  scenes  of  visions  and  appari- 
 tions, sometimes  of  the  tormented,  and  sometimes  of  the  deli- 
 
268 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXII. 
 
 vered  souls,  were  published  in  all  places :  which  had  so  won- 
 derful an  effect,  that  in  two  or  three  centuries  endowments 
 increased  to  so  vast  a  degree,  that  if  the  scandals  of  the  clergy 
 on  the  one  hand,  and  the  statutes  of  mortmain  on  the  other, 
 had  not  restrained  the  profuseness  that  the  world  was  wrought 
 up  to  upon  this  account,  it  is  not  easy  to  imagine  how  far  this 
 might  have  gone;  perhaps  to  an  entire  subjecting  of  the  tem- 
 poralty  to  the  spiritualty.  The  practices  by  which  this  was 
 managed,  and  the  effects  that  followed  on  it,  we  can  call  by  no 
 other  name  than  downright  impostures ;  worse  than  the  mak- 
 ing or  vending  false  coin.  When  the  world  was  drawn  in  by 
 such  arts  to  plain  bargains,  to  redeem  their  own  souls,  and  the 
 souls  of  their  ancestors  and  posterity,  so  many  masses  were  to 
 be  said,  and  forfeitures  were  to  follow  upon  their  not  being 
 said :  thus  the  masses  were  really  the  price  of  the  lands.  An 
 endowment  to  a  religious  use,  though  mixed  with  error  or 
 superstition  in  the  rules  of  it,  ought  to  be  held  sacred,  accord- 
 ing to  the  decision  given  concerning  the  censers  of  those  that 
 were  in  the  rebellion  of  Corah,  Numb.  xvi.  38. ;  so  that  we  do 
 not  excuse  the  violation  of  such  from  sacrilege ;  yet  we  cannot 
 think  so  of  endowments,  where  the  only  consideration  was  a 
 false  opinion  first  of  Purgatory,  and  then  of  redemption  out 
 of  it  by  masses — this  being  expressed  in  the  very  deeds  them- 
 selves. By  the  same  reasons  by  which  private  persons  are 
 obliged  to  restore  what  they  have  drawn  from  others  by  base 
 practices,  by  false  deeds,  or  counterfeit  coin,  bodies  are  also 
 bound  to  restore  what  they  have  got  into  their  hands  by  such 
 fraudulent  practices ;  so  that  the  states  and  princes  of  Chris- 
 tendom were  at  full  liberty,  upon  the  discovery  of  these  impos- 
 tures, to  void  all  the  endowments  that  had  followed  upon  them, 
 and  either  to  apply  them  to  better  uses,  or  to  restore  them  to 
 the  families  from  which  they  had  been  drawn,  if  that  had  been 
 practicable,  or  to  convert  them  to  any  other  use.  This  was  a 
 crying  abuse,  which  those  who  have  observed  the  progress  that 
 this  matter  made  from  the  eighth  century  to  the  twelfth,  can- 
 not reflect  on  without  both  amazement  and  indignation.  We 
 are  sensible  enough,  that  there  are  many  political  reasons  and 
 •arguments  for  keeping  up  the  doctrine  of  Purgatory.  But  we 
 have  not  so  learned  Christ.  We  ought  not  to  lie  even  for  God, 
 much  less  for  ourselves,  or  for  any  other  pretended  ends  of 
 keeping  the  world  in  awe  and  order :  therefore  all  the  advan- 
 tages that  are  said  to  arise  out  of  this,  and  all  the  mischief  that 
 may  be  thought  to  follow  on  the  rejecting  of  it,  ought  not  to 
 make  us  presume  to  carry  on  the  ends  of  religion  by  unlawful 
 methods.  This  were  to  call  in  the  assistance  of  the  Devil  to 
 do  the  work  of  God.  If  the  just  apprehensions  of  the  wrath  of 
 God,  and  the  guilt  of  sin,  together  with  the  fear  of  everlasting 
 burnings,  will  not  reform  the  world,  nor  restrain  sinners,  we 
 
Abt.  xxi r. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 269 
 
 must  leave  this  matter  to  the  wise  and  unsearchable  judgments 
 of  God. 
 
 The  next  particular  in  this  Article  is,  the  condemning  the 
 Romish  doctrine  concerning  Pardons.  That  is  founded  on  the 
 distinction  between  the  temporal  and  eternal  punishment  of 
 sin ;  and  the  pardon  is  of  the  temporal  punishment,  which  is 
 believed  to  be  done  by  a  power  lodged  singly  in  the  Pope,  de- 
 rived from  those  words,  Feed  my  sheep,  and  To  thee  will  I  give 
 the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  This  may  be  by  him  de- 
 rived, as  they  teach,  not  only  to  Bishops  and  Priests,  but  to 
 the  inferior  orders,  to  be  dispensed  by  them;  and  it  excuses 
 from  penance,  unless  he  who  purchases  it  thinks  fit  to  use  his 
 penance  in  a  medicinal  way,  as  a  preservative  against  sin.  So 
 the  virtue  of  indulgences  is  the  applying  the  treasure  of  the 
 Church  upon  such  terms  as  Popes  shall  think  fit  to  prescribe, 
 in  order  to  the  redeeming  souls  from  Purgatory,  and  from  all 
 other  temporal  punishments,  and  that  for  such  a  number  of 
 years  as  shall  be  specified  in  the  bulls ;  some  of  which  have 
 gone  to  thousands  of  years — one  I  have  seen  to  ten  hundred 
 thousand :  and  as  these  indulgences  are  sometimes  granted  by 
 special  tickets,  like  tallies  struck  on  that  treasure,  so  sometimes 
 they  are  affixed  to  particular  churches  and  altars,  to  particular 
 times  or  days,  chiefly  to  the  year  of  jubilee:  they  are  also 
 affixed  to  such  things  as  may  be  carried  about,  to  Agnus  Defs, 
 to  medals,  to  rosaries,  and  scapularies :  they  are  also  affixed  to 
 some  prayers,  the  devout  saying  of  them  being  a  mean  to  pro- 
 cure great  indulgences.  The  granting  these  is  left  to  the 
 Pope's  discretion,  who  ought  to  distribute  them  as  he  thinks 
 may  tend  most  to  the  honour  of  God,  and  the  good  of  the 
 Church ;  and  he  ought  not  to  be  too  profuse,  much  less  to  be 
 too  scanty  in  dispensing  them. 
 
 This  has  been  the  received  doctrine  and  practice  of  the 
 Church  of  Rome  since  the  twelfth  century;  and  the  Council 
 of  Trent  in  a  hurry,  in  its  last  session,  did  in  very  general  words 
 approve  of  the  practice  of  the  Church  in  this  matter,  and  de- 
 creed that  indulgences  should  be  continued ;  only  they  restrain- 
 ed some  abuses,  in  particular  that  of  selling  them ;  yet  even 
 those  restraints  were  wholly  referred  to  the  Popes  themselves : 
 so  that  this  crying  abuse,  the  scandal  of  which  had  occasioned 
 the  first  beginnings  and  progress  of  the  Reformation,  was  upon 
 the  matter  established ;  and  the  correcting  the  excesses  in  it 
 was  trusted  to  those  who  had  been  the  authors  of  them,  and 
 the  chief  gainers  by  them.  This  point  of  their  doctrine  is  more 
 fully  opened  than  might  perhaps  seem  necessary,  if  it  were  not 
 that  a  great  part  of  the  confutation  of  some  doctrines  is  the  ex- 
 posing of  them.  For  though  in  ages  and  places  of  ignorance 
 these  things  have  been,  and  still  are,  practised  with  great  as- 
 surance, and  to  very  extravagant  excesses  :  yet  in  countries  and 
 
270 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  01' 
 
 Art.  XXII. 
 
 ages  of  more  light,  when  they  come  to  be  questioned,  they  are 
 disowned  with  an  assurance  equal  to  that  with  which  they  are 
 practised  elsewhere.  Among  us  some  will  perhaps  say,  that 
 these  are  only  exemptions  from  penance,  which  cannot  be  de- 
 nied to  be  within  the  power  of  the  Church;  and  they  argue, 
 that  though  it  is  very  fit  to  make  severe  laws,  yet  the  execution 
 of  these  must  be  softened  in  practice.  This  is  all  that  they 
 pretend  to  justify;  and  they  give  up  any  further  indulgences  as 
 an  abuse  of  corrupt  times :  whereas  at  the  same  time  a  very 
 different  doctrine  is  taught  among  them,  where  there  is  no 
 danger,  but  much  profit,  in  owning  it.  All  this  is  only  a  pre- 
 tence ;  for  the  episcopal  power,  in  the  inflicting,  abating,  or 
 commuting  of  penance,  is  stated  among  them  as  a  thing  wholly 
 different  from  the  power  of  indulgences.  They  are  derived 
 from  different  originals;  and  designed  for  ends  totally  different 
 from  one  another.  The  one  is  for  the  outward  discipline  of 
 the  Church,  and  the  other  is  for  the  inward  quiet  of  conscien- 
 ces, and  in  order  to  their  future  state.  The  one  is  in  every 
 Bishop,  and  the  other  is  asserted  to  be  peculiar  to  the  Pope. 
 Nor  will  they  escape  by  laying  this  matter  upon  the  ignorance 
 and  abuses  of  former  times.  It  was  published  in  bulls,  and 
 received  by  the  whole  Church :  so  that  if  either  the  Pope,  or 
 the  diffusive  body  of  the  Church,  are  infallible,  there  must  be 
 such  a  power  in  the  Pope ;  and  the  decree  of  the  Council  of 
 Trent,  confirming  and  approving  the  practice  of  the  Church 
 in  that  point,  must  bind  them  all.  For  if  this  doctrine  is  false, 
 then  their  infallibility  must  go  with  it ;  for  in  every  hypothesis 
 in  which  infallibility  is  said  to  be  lodged,  whether  in  the  Pope 
 or  in  Councils,  this  doctrine  has  that  seal  to  it. 
 
 As  for  the  doctrine  itself,  all  that  has  been  already  said  against 
 the  distinction  of  temporal  and  eternal  punishment,  and  against 
 Purgatory,  overthrows  it ;  since  the  one  is  the  foundation  on 
 which  it  is  built,  and  the  other  is  that  which  it  pretends  to  se- 
 cure men  from ;  and  therefore  this  falls  with  those.  All  that 
 was  said  upon  the  head  of  the  Sufficiency  of  the  Scriptures 
 comes  also  in  here ;  for  if  the  Scriptures  ought  to  be  our  rule 
 in  any  thing,  it  must  be  chiefly  in  those  matters  which  relate 
 to  the  pardon  of  sin,  to  the  quiet  of  our  consciences,  and  to  a 
 future  state.  Therefore  a  doctrine  and  practice,  that  have  not 
 so  much  as  colours  from  Scripture  in  a  matter  of  such  conse- 
 quence, ought  to  be  rejected  by  us  upon  this  single  account. 
 If  from  the  Scripture  we  go  to  the  practice  and  tradition  of 
 the  Church,  we  are  sure  that  this  was  not  thought  on  for  above 
 ten  centuries ;  all  the  indulgences  that  were  then  known  being- 
 only  the  abatements  of  the  severity  of  the  penitentiary  canons  : 
 but  in  the  ages  in  which  aspiring  and  insolent  Popes  imposed 
 on  ignorant  and  superstitious  multitudes,  a  jumble  was  made 
 of  indulgences  formerly  granted,  of  Purgatory,  and  of  the  papal 
 
Aiit.  XXII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 271 
 
 authority,  that  was  then  very  implicitly  submitted  to ;  and  so, 
 out  of  all  that  mixture,  this  arose,  which  was  as  ill  managed  as 
 it  was  ill  grounded.  The  natural  tendency  of  it  is  not  only 
 to  relax  all  public  discipline,  but  also  all  secret  penance,  when 
 shorter  methods  to  peace  and  pardon  may  be  more  easily  pur- 
 chased. The  vast  application  to  the  executing  the  many  trif- 
 ling performances  to  which  indulgences  are  granted,  has  brought 
 in  among  them  such  a  prostitution  of  holy  things,  that  either 
 it  must  be  said  that  those  are  public  cheats,  and  that  they  were 
 so  from  the  beginning,  or  that  their  virtue  is  now  exhausted, 
 though  the  bulls  that  grant  them  are  perpetual ;  or  else  a  man 
 may  on  very  easy  terms  preserve  himself,  and  redeem  his  friends 
 out  of  Purgatory.  If  the  saying  a  prayer  before  a  privileged 
 altar,  or  the  visiting  some  churches  in  the  time  of  jubilee,  with 
 those  slight  devotions  that  are  then  enjoined,  have  such  efficacy 
 in  them,  it  is  scarce  possible  for  any  man  to  be  in  danger  of 
 Purgatory. 
 
 The  third  head  rejected  in  this  Article  is  the  Worshipping 
 of  Images.  Here  those  of  the  Church  of  Rome  complain  much 
 of  the  charge  of  idolatry  that  our  Church  has  laid  upon  them, 
 so  fully  and  so  severely,  in  the  Homilies.  Some  among  our- 
 selves have  also  thought,  that  we  must  either  renounce  that 
 charge,  or  that  we  must  deny  the  possibility  of  salvation  in  that 
 Church,  and  in  consequence  to  that  conclude,  that  neither  the  ^ 
 baptism  nor  the  orders  of  that  Church  are  valid  :  for  since  ido- 
 laters are  excluded  from  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  they  argue, 
 that  if  there  can  be  no  salvation  where  idolatry  is  committed 
 by  the  whole  body  of  a  Church,  then  that  can  be  no  Church, 
 and  in  it  there  is  no  salvation.  But  here  we  are  to  consider,  \, 
 before  we  enter  upon  the  specialties  of  this  matter,  that  Idola- 
 try is  a  general  word,  which  comprehends  many  several  sorts 
 and  ranks  of  sins  under  it.  As  lying  is  capable  of  many  de- 
 grees, from  an  officious  lie  to  the  swearing  falsely  against  the 
 life  of  an  innocent  man  in  judgment;  the  one  is  the  lowest, 
 and  the  other  is  the  highest  act  of  that  kind ;  but  all  are  lying  : 
 and  yet  it  would  appear  an  unreasonable  thing  to  urge  every 
 thing  that  is  said  of  any  act  in  general,  and  which  belongs  to 
 the  highest  acts  of  it,  as  if  all  the  inferior  degrees  did  neces- 
 sarily involve  the  guilt  of  the  highest.  There  is  another  dis- 
 tinction to  be  made  between  actions,  as  they  signify  either  of 
 themselves,  or  by  the  public  constructions  that  are  put  on  them 
 by  those  who  authorise  them,  and  those  same  actions  as  they 
 may  be  privately  intended  by  particular  persons.  We,  in  out- 
 weighing of  things,  are  only  to  consider  what  actions  signify  of 
 their  own  nature,  or  by  public  authority,  and  according  to  that 
 we  must  form  our  judgments  about  them,  and  in  particular  in 
 the  point  of  idolatry :  but  as  for  the  secret  thoughts  or  inten- 
 tions of  men,  we  must  leave  these  to  the  judgment  of  God, 
 
AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXII. 
 
 who  only  knows  them,  and  who  being  infinitely  gracious,  slow 
 to  anger,  and  ready  to  forgive,  will,  we  do  not  doubt,  make  all 
 the  abatements  in  the  weighing  men's  actions  that  there  is  rea- 
 son for.  But  we  ought  not  to  enter  into  that  matter ;  we  ought 
 neither  to  aggravate  nor  to  mollify  things  too  much :  we  are 
 to  judge  of  things  as  they  are  in  themselves,  and  to  leave  the 
 case  of  men's  intentions  and  secret  notions  to  that  God  who  is 
 to  judge  them.  As  for  the  business  of  Images,  we  know  that 
 the  heathens  had  them  of  several  sorts.  Some  they  believed 
 were  real  resemblances  of  those  Deities  that  they  worshipped : 
 those  Divinities  had  been  men,  and  the  statues  made  for  them 
 resembled  them.  Other  images  they  believed  had  a  divine 
 virtue  affixed  to  them,  perhaps  from  the  stars,  which  were  be- 
 lieved to  be  Gods ;  and  it  was  thought  that  the  influences  of 
 their  aspects  and  positions  were  by  secret  charms  called  down, 
 and  fastened  to  some  figures.  Other  images  were  considered 
 as  emblems  and  representations  of  their  Deities ;  so  that  they 
 only  gave  them  occasion  to  represent  them  to  their  thoughts. 
 These  images,  thus  of  different  sorts,  were  all  worshipped; 
 some  more,  some  less :  they  kneeled  before  them ;  they  prayed 
 to  them,  and  made  many  oblations  to  them ;  they  set  lights 
 before  them,  and  burnt  incense  to  them ;  they  set  them  in  their 
 temples,  market-places,  and  highways ;  and  they  had  them  in 
 their  houses  :  they  set  them  off  with  much  pomp,  and  had  many 
 processions  to  their  honour.  But  in  all  this,  though  it  is  like 
 the  vulgar  among  them  might  have  gross  thoughts  of  those 
 images,  yet  the  philosophers,  not  only  after  the  Christian  reli- 
 gion had  obliged  them  to  consider  well  of  that  matter,  and  to 
 express  themselves  cautiously  about  it,  but  even  while  they 
 were  in  the  peaceable  possession  of  the  world,  did  believe  that 
 the  Deity  was  not  in  the  image,  but  was  only  represented  by 
 it;  that  the  Deity  was  worshipped  in  the  image,  so  that  the 
 honour  done  the  image  did  belong  to  the  Deity  itself.  Here 
 then  were  two  false  opinions :  the  one  was  concerning  those 
 Deities  themselves,  the  other  was  concerning  this  way  of  wor- 
 shipping them ;  and  both  were  blamed — not  only  the  worship- 
 ping a  false  God,  but  the  worshipping  that  God  by  an  image. 
 If  idolatry  had  only  consisted  in  the  acknowledging  a  false 
 God,  and  if  the  worshipping  the  true  God  in  an  image  had 
 not  been  idolatry,  then  all  the  fault  of  the  heathenish  idolaters 
 should  have  consisted  in  this,  that  they  worshipped  a  false  God, 
 but  their  worshipping  images  should  not  of  itself  have  been  an 
 additional  fault.  But,  in  opposition  to  this,  what  can  we  think 
 of  those  full  and  copious  words,  in  which  God  did  not  only 
 forbid  the  having  of  false  Gods,  but  the  making  of  a  graven 
 image,  or  the  likeness  of  any  thing  in  heaven,  in  earth,  or  under 
 the  earth  ?  The  bowing  down  to  it,  and  the  woisJiijiping  it,  are 
 also  forbid: — where,  besides  the  copiousness  of  these  words, 
 
Art.  XXII 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 273 
 
 we  are  to  consider,  that  Moses,  in  the  rehearsal  of  that  law  in 
 Deuteronomy,  does  over  and  over  again  add  and  insist  on  this, 
 that  they  saw  no  manner  of  similitude  when  God  spoke  to  them, 
 lest  they  should  corrupt  themselves,  and  make  to  them  a  graven 
 image,  Deut.  iv.  12.  15,  16.  An  enumeration  is  made  of  many 
 different  likenesses;  and  after  that  comes  another  species  of 
 idolatry,  their  worshipping  the  host  of  heaven :  and  therefore 
 Moses  charges  them  in  that  chapter,  again  and  again,  to  take 
 heed,  to  take  good  heed  to  themselves,  lest  they  should  forget  the 
 covenant  of  the  Lord  their  God,  and  make  them  a  graven  image, 
 Deut.  iv.  23.  xii.  30.  Levit.  xxvi.  L  Deut.  xvi.  '2'2. ;  and  he 
 lays  the  same  charge  a  third  time  upon  them  in  the  same  chap- 
 ter. A  special  law  is  also  given  against  the  most  innocent  of 
 all  the  images  that  could  be  made  :  they  were  required  not  only 
 not  to  have  idols,  nor  graven  images,  but  not  to  rear  up  a  stand- 
 ing image  or  pillar ;  nor  to  set  up  any  image  of  stone^  or  any 
 carved  stone; — such  were  the  Baitulia,  the  least  tempting  or 
 ensnaring  of  all  idols ; — they  were  not  to  bow  down  before  it ;  and 
 the  reason  given  is,  For  I  am  the  Lord  your  God.  The  impor- 
 tance of  those  laws  will  appear  clearer,  if  they  are  compared  with 
 the  practice  of  those  times,  and  particularly  in  those  symboli- 
 cal images  which  were  sacred  emblems  and  hieroglyphics,  that 
 were  not  meant  to  be  a  true  representation  of  the  Divine  Be- 
 ing, but  were  a  combination  of  many  symbols,  intended  to  re- 
 present at  once  to  the  thoughts  of  the  worshipper  many  of  the 
 perfections  of  God  :  these  were  most  particularly  practised  in 
 Egypt,  and  to  them  the  copiousness  of  the  Second  Command- 
 ment seems  to  have  a  particular  respect ;  such  having  been  the 
 images  which  they  had  lately  seen,  and  which  seem  the  most  ex- 
 cusable of  all  others  : — when,  I  say,  all  this  is  laid  together,  with 
 the  Commandment  itself,  and  with  those  other  laws  that  accom- 
 pany and  explain  it,  nothing  seems  more  evident,  than  that  God 
 intended  to  forbid  all  outward  representations  that  should  be 
 set  up  as  the  objects  of  worship.  It  is  also  very  plain,  that  the 
 Prophets  expostulated  with  the  people  of  Israel  for  their  carved 
 and  molten  images,  as  well  as  for  their  false  Gods  :  and  among 
 the  reasons  given  against  images,  one  is  often  repeated,  To 
 whom  will  ye  liken  me?  which  seems  to  import,  that  by  these 
 images  they  represented  the  living  God.  And  Isaiah  (xl. 
 18 — 27.  xliv.  9 — *21.)  often,  as  also  both  Jeremiah  (x.  1  — 16.), 
 and  Habakkuk,  (ii.  18 — 20.),  when  they  set  forth  the  folly  of 
 making  an  image,  of  praying  to  it,  and  trusting  in  it,  bring- 
 in  the  greatness  and  glory  of  the  living  God  in  opposition  to 
 these  images.  Now.  though  it  is  possible  enough  to  apprehend 
 how  that  the  Jews  might  make  images,  in  imitation  of  the  hea- 
 then, to  represent  that  God  whom  they  served ;  yet  it  is  no 
 way  credible,  that  they  could  have  fallen  into  such  a  degree 
 of  stupidity  as  to  fancy  that  a  piece  of  wood,  whic  h  they  had 
 
 s 
 
274 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXII. 
 
 carved  into  such  a  figure,  was  a  real  Deity.  They  might 
 think  it  a  God  by  representation,  as  the  heathens  thought 
 their  idols  were ;  but  more  than  this  cannot  be  easily  appre- 
 hended. So  that  it  is  most  reasonable  to  think,  that  they  knew 
 the  God  they  had  thus  made,  and  prayed  to,  was  only  a  piece 
 of  wood ;  but  they  might  well  fall  into  that  corruption  of  many 
 of  the  heathen,  of  thinking  that  they  honoured  God  by  serving 
 him  in  such  an  image.  If  the  sin  of  the  Jews  was  only  their 
 having  other  Gods, — and  if  the  worshipping  an  image  was  only 
 evil  because  a  false  Deity  was  honoured  by  it, — why  is  image- 
 worship  condemned,  with  reasons  that  will  hold  full  as  strong 
 against  the  images  of  the  true  God  as  of  false  Gods,  if  it  had 
 not  been  intended  to  condemn  simply  all  image-worship? 
 Certainly,  if  the  Prophets  had  intended  to  have  done  it,  they 
 could  not  have  expressed  themselves  more  clearly  and  more 
 fully  than  they  did. 
 
 To  this  it  is  to  be  added,  that  it  seems  very  clear,  from  the 
 history  of  the  golden  calf,  that  the  Israelites  did  not  intend,  by 
 setting  it  up,  to  cast  off  the  true  Jehovah,  that  had  brought 
 them  out  of  Egypt,  Exod.  xxxii.  1.  4,  5.  They  plainly  said 
 the  contrary,  and  appointed  a  feast  to  Jehovah.  It  is  probable 
 they  thought  Moses  was  either  burnt  or  starved  on  Mount 
 Sinai,  so  they  desired  some  visible  representation  of  the  Deity 
 to  go  before  them  :  they  intended  still  to  serve  him ;  but  since 
 they  thought  they  had  lost  their  prophet  and  guide,  they  hoped 
 that  this  should  have  been  perhaps  as  a  teraphim  to  them; 
 yet  for  all  this  the  calf  is  called  an  idol;  and  they  are  said  to 
 have  changed  their  glory  into  the  similitude  of  an  ox  that  eateth 
 grass,  Acts  vii.  41.  Psal.  cvi.  19,  20.  So  that  here  an  em- 
 blem of  the  Deity  is  called  an  idol.  They  could  take  the  calf 
 for  no  other,  but  as  a  visible  sign  or  symbol  in  which  they  in- 
 tended to  worship  their  God  or  Elohim,  and  the  Lord  or  Jeho- 
 vah. Such  very  probably  were  also  the  calves  of  Dan  and  Be- 
 thel set  up  by  Jeroboam,  (1  Kings  xii.  27 — 33.  xvi.  31.  2  Kings 
 x.  28,  29.),  who  seemed  to  have  no  design  to  change  the  ob- 
 ject of  their  worship,  or  the  nature  of  their  religion,  but  only 
 to  divert  them  from  going  up  to  Jerusalem,  and  to  furnish 
 them  with  conveniencies  to  worship  the  living  God  nearer 
 home.  His  design  was  only  to  establish  the  kingdom  to  him- 
 self; and  in  order  to  that,  we  must  think  that  he  would  ven- 
 ture on  no  more  than  was  necessary  for  his  purpose.  Besides, 
 we  do  clearly  see  an  opposition  made  between  the  calves  set  up 
 by  Jeroboam,  and  the  worship  of  Baal  brought  from  Tyrus  by 
 Ahab.  Those  who  hated  that  idolatry,  such  as  Jehu  and  his 
 family,  yet  continued  in  the  sin  of  Jeroboam ;  and  they  are 
 represented  as  zealous  for  Jehovah,  though  they  worshipped 
 the  calves  at  Dan  and  Bethel.  These  are  called  idols  by 
 Hosed,  viii.  4,  5.    From  all  which  it  seems  to  be  very  evident, 
 
Art.  XXIJ. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 275 
 
 that  the  ten  tribes  still  feared  and  worshipped  the  true  Jeho- 
 vah. This  appears  yet  more  clear  from  the  sequel  of  their 
 history,  when  they  were  carried  away  by  the  kings  of  Assyria, 
 and  new  inhabitants  were  sent  to  people  the  country?  who 
 brought  their  idols  along  with  them,  and  did  not  acknow- 
 ledge Jehovah  the  true  God ;  but  upon  their  being  plagued 
 with  lions,  to  prevent  this,  the  king  of  Assyria  sent  one  of 
 the  priests,  that  had  been  carried  out  of  the  country,  who 
 taught  them  how  they  should  fear  the  Lord:  out  of  which  that 
 mixture  arose,  that  they  feared  the  Lord,  and  served  their  ow?i 
 images,  2  Kings  xvii.  28.  32.  41.  This  proves,  beyond  all  con- 
 tradiction, that  the  ten  tribes  did  still  worship  Jehovah  in  those 
 calves  that  they  had  at  Dan  and  Bethel :  and  thus  it  appears 
 very  clear,  that,  through  the  whole  Old  Testament,  the  use  of 
 all  images  in  worship  was  expressly  forbid ;  and  that  the  wor- 
 shipping them,  even  when  the  true  God  was  worshipped  by 
 them,  was  called  idolatry.  The  words  in  which  this  matter  is 
 expressed  are  copious  and  full,  and  the  reasons  given  for  the 
 precept  are  taken  from  the  nature  of  God,  who  could  be  likened 
 to  nothing,  and  who  had  shewed  no  similitude  of  himself  when 
 he  appeared  to  their  fathers,  and  delivered  their  law  to  them. 
 
 The  New  Dispensation  does  in  all  respects  carry  the  ideas 
 of  God  and  of  true  religion  much  higher,  and  raises  them  much 
 above  those  compliances  that  were  in  the  Old,  to  men's  senses, 
 and  to  sensitive  natures ;  and  it  would  seem  to  contradict  the 
 whole  design  of  it,  if  we  could  imagine  that  such  things  were 
 allowed  m  it,  which  were  so  expressly  forbid  in  the  Old.  Upon 
 this  occasion  it  is  remarkable,  that  the  two  fullest  passages  in 
 the  New  Testament  concerning  images,  are  written  upon  the 
 occasion  of  the  most  refined  idolatry  that  was  then  in  the 
 world,  which  was  at  Athens.  When  St  Paul  was  there,  his 
 spirit  was  moved  within  him,  when  he  saw  that  city  full  of 
 idols:  he  upon  that  charges  them  for  thinking  that  the  God- 
 head was  like  unto  gold  or  silver,  or  stone  graven  by  art  or 
 man's  device,  Acts  xvii.  16,  24 — 29. :  he  argues  from  the  ma- 
 jesty of  God,  who  made  the  world  and  all  things  therein,  and 
 was  the  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  and  therefore  was  not  to  be 
 worshipped  by  men's  hands,  (that  is,  images  made  by  them), 
 who  needed  nothing,  since  he  gives  us  life,  breath,  (or  the  con- 
 tinuance of  life),  and  all  things.  He  therefore  condemns  that 
 way  of  worship  as  an  effect  of  ignorance,  and  tells  them  of  a 
 day  in  which  God  will  judge  the  world.  It  is  certain  that  the 
 Athenians  at  that  time  did  not  think  their  images  were  the 
 proper  resemblances  of  the  Divinity.  Tully,  who 
 knew  their  theology  well,  gives  us  a  very  different  Deor.  l  l. 
 account  of  the  notion  that  they  had  of  their  images.  cap-2'- 
 Some  images  were  of  no  figure  at  all,  but  were  only  stones  and 
 pillars  that  had  no  particular  shape ;  others  were  hieroglyphics 
 
276 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXII. 
 
 made  up  of  many  several  emblems,  of  which  some  signified 
 one  perfection  of  the  Deity,  and  some  another;  and  others 
 were  indeed  the  figures  of  men  and  women,  but  even  in  these 
 the  wiser  among  them  said  they  worshipped  one  Eternal  Mind, 
 and  under  him  some  inferior  beings,  demons  and  men,  who 
 they  believed  were  subordinate  to  God,  and  governed  this 
 world.  So  it  could  not  be  said  of  such  worshippers,  that  they 
 thought  that  the  Godhead  was  like  unto  their  images ;  since 
 the  best  writers  among  them  tell  us  plainly  that  they  thought 
 no  such  thing.  St  Paul  therefore  only  argues  in  this  against 
 image-worship  in  itself,  which  does  naturally  lead  men  to  these 
 low  thoughts  of  God ;  and  which  is  a  very  unreasonable  thing 
 in  all  those  who  do  not  think  so  of  him.  It  is  contrary  to  the 
 nature  and  perfections  of  God  :  few  men  can  think  God  is  like 
 to  those  images,  therefore  that  is  a  very  good  argument  against 
 all  worshipping  of  them.  And  we  may  upon  very  sure  grounds 
 say,  that  the  Athenians  had  such  elevated  notions  both  of  God 
 and  of  their  images,  that  whatsoever  was  a  good  argument 
 against  image-worship  among  them,  will  hold  good  against  all 
 image-worship  whatsoever. 
 
 But  as  St  Paul  stayed  long  enough  at  Athens  to  understand 
 their  opinions  well,  and  that  no  doubt  he  learned  their  doctrine 
 very  particularly  from  his  convert  Dionysius ;  so  at  his  coming 
 to  Corinth  from  thence,  when  he  had  learned  from  Aquila 
 and  Priscilla  the  state  of  the  Church  in  Rome,  and  no  doubt 
 had  learned,  among  other  things,  that  the  Romans  admired  the 
 Greeks  and  made  them  their  patterns,  he,  in  the  beginning 
 of  his  Epistle  to  them,  having  still  deep  impressions  upon  his 
 spirit  of  what  he  had  seen  and  known  at  Athens,  arraigns  the 
 whole  Greek  philosophy,  and  especially  those  among  them 
 who  professed  themselves  wise,  but  became  fools;  who,  though 
 they  knew  God,  yet  glorified  him  not  as  God,  nor  were  thank- 
 ful; but  became  vain  in  their  imaginations,  so  that  their  foolish 
 heart  was  darkened,  Rom.  i.  20 — 32.  They  had  high  specu- 
 lations of  the  unity  and  simplicity  of  the  Divine  Essence ;  but 
 they  set  themselves  to  find  such  excuses  for  the  idolatry  of  the 
 vulgar,  that  they  not  only  continued  to  comply  with  them  in 
 the  grossest  of  all  their  practices,  but  they  studied  more  la- 
 boured defences  for  them  than  the  ruder  multitudes  could 
 ever  have  fallen  upon.  They  knew  the  true  God ;  for  God 
 had  shewed  to  them  that  which  might  be  known  of  him :  but 
 they  held  the  truth  in  unrighteousness,  and  changed  the  glory  of 
 the  incorruptible  God  into  an  image,  made  like  to  corruptible 
 man,  and  to  birds,  and  four -footed  beasts,  and  to  creeping  things: 
 which  seems  to  be  a  description  of  hieroglyphic  figures,  the 
 most  excusable  of  all  those  images  by  which  they  represented 
 the  Deity.  This  St  Paul  makes  to  be  the  original  of  all  the 
 corruption  and  immorality  that  was  spread  over  the  Gentile 
 
Art.  XXII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 •277 
 
 world,  which  came  in,  partly  as  the  natural  consequence  of 
 idolatry,  of  its  debasing  the  ideas  of  God,  and  wounding  true 
 religion  and  virtue  in  its  source  and  first  seeds,  and  partly  as 
 an  effect  of  the  just  judgments  of  God  upon  those  who  thus 
 dishonoured  him,  that  was  to  a  very  monstrous  degree  spread 
 over  both  Greece  and  Rome.  Of  these  St  Paul  gives  us  some 
 very  enormous  instances,  with  a  catalogue  of  the  vices  that 
 sprang  from  those  vitiated  principles.  These  two  passages, 
 the  one  of  St  Paul's  preaching,  and  the  other  of  his  writing, 
 being  both  applied  to  those  who  had  the  finest  speculations 
 among  the  heathen,  do  evidently  demonstrate  how  contrary 
 the  Christian  doctrine  is  to  the  worshipping  of  images  of  all 
 sorts,  how  speciously  soever  that  may  be  disguised. 
 
 If  these  things  wanted  an  explanation,  we  find  it  given  us 
 verv  fullv  in  all  the  writings  of  the  Fathers  during  their  dis- 
 putes  with  the  heathens.  They  do  not  only  charge  them  with 
 the  false  notions  that  they  had  of  God,  the  many  Deities  they 
 worshipped,  the  absurd  legends  that  they  had  concerning  them; 
 but,  in  particular,  they  dwell  long  upon  this  of  the  worshipping- 
 God  in  or  bv  an  image,  with  arguments  taken  both  from  the 
 pure  and  spiritual  nature  of  God,  and  from  the  plain  revelation 
 he  made  of  his  will  in  this  matter.  Upon  this  argument  many 
 long  citations  might  be  gathered  from  Justin  Martyr,  from 
 Clemens  of  Alexandria,  Origen,  Tertullian,  Cyprian.  Arno- 
 bius,  Minutius  Felix,  Lactantius,  Eusebius,  Ambrose,  and  St 
 Austin.*  Their  reasonings  are  so  clear  and  so  full,  that  no- 
 thing can  be  more  evident  than  that  they  condemned  all  the 
 use  of  images  in  the  worship  of  God  :  and  yet  both  Celsus, 
 Porphyry,  Maximus  Tvrius,  and  Julian,  told  them  very  plain- 
 ly, that  they  did  not  believe  that  the  Godhead  was  like  their 
 images,  or  was  shut  up  within  them — they  only  used  them  as 
 helps  to  their  imagination  and  apprehension,  that  from  thence 
 they  might  form  suitable  thoughts  of  the  Deity.  This  did  not 
 satisfy  the  Fathers,  who  insisted  on  it  to  the  last,  that  all  such 
 images  as  were  made  the  objects  of  worship  were  idols;  so  that 
 if  in  any  one  thing  we  have  a  very  full  account  of  the  sense  of 
 the  whole  Church  for  the  first  four  centuries,  it  is  in  this  mat- 
 ter. They  do  not  speak  of  it  now  and  then  only  by  the  way, 
 as  in  a  digression ;  in  which  the  heat  of  argument,  or  of  rheto- 
 ric, may  be  apt  to  carry  men  too  far  :  they  set  themselves  to 
 treat  of  this  argument  very  nicely  :  and  they  were  engaged  in 
 it  with  philosophers,  who  were  as  good  at  subtleties  and  dis- 
 
 *  Just.  Mart.  Apol.  2.  Clem.  Alex.  Strom.  1.  i.  o.  Protr.  Orig.  cont  Cels. 
 1.  ii.  3.  5.  7.  Tertull.  Apol.  Cypr.  de  Idol.  Yanitate.  Amob.  lib.  v.  Minut 
 Felix  Oct.  Euseb.  Pra?p.  Evang.  1.  iii.  Lactam  1.  ii.  c.  2.  Ambros.  Resp.  ad 
 Sjm.     August,  de  Civitate  Dei,  I.  vii.  c.  o. 
 
 Orig.  cont.  Cels.  I.  vii.  Euseb.  Praep.  Evang.  1.  iii  c.  ?.  Max.  Tyr.  diss.  38. 
 Jul.  Frag.  Ep.     Euseb.  Praep.  Evang.  L  iv.  c.  1. 
 
278 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXII. 
 
 tinctions  as  other  men.  This  was  one  of  the  main  parts  of  the 
 controversy ;  so,  if  in  any  head  whatsoever,  they  writ  exactly 
 upon  those  subjects.  They  attacked  the  established  religion 
 of  the  Roman  empire ;  and  this  was  not  to  be  done  with  cla- 
 mour, nor  could  they  offer  at  it  in  a  plain  contradiction  to 
 such  principles  as  are  consistent  with  the  Christian  religion,  if 
 the  doctrine  of  the  Roman  Church  is  true.  Here  then  we 
 have  not  only  the  -Scripture  but  tradition  fully  of  our  side. 
 
 Some  pretended  Christians,  it  is  true,  did  very  early  wor- 
 ship images ;  but  those  were  the  Gnostics,  held  in  detestation 
 by  all  the  orthodox.    Irenseus,  Epiphanius,  and  St 
 Jr|5;  1  x'      Austin  tell  us,  that  they  worshipped  the  images  of 
 §Ses.  27.      Christ,  together  with  Pythagoras,  Plato,  and  Aris- 
 Hffires^'cap.?.  tot^e  :  nor  are  tnev  onty  blamed  for  worshipping  the 
 images  of  Christ,  together  with  those  of  the  philoso- 
 phers; but  they  are  particularly  blamed  for  having  several 
 sorts  of  images,  and  worshipping  these  as  the  heathens  did ; 
 and  that  among  these  there  was  an  image  of  Christ,  which 
 they  pretended  to  have  had  from  Pilate.    Besides  these  cor- 
 rupters of  Christianity,  there  were  no  others  among  the  Chris- 
 tians of  the  first  ages  that  worshipped  images.    This  was  so 
 well  known  to  the  heathens,  that  they  bring  this,  among  other 
 things,  as  a  reproach  against  the  Christians,  that  they  had  no 
 images  ^  which  the  first  apologists  are  so  far  from  denying,  that 
 they  answered  them,  that  it  was  impossible  for  him  who  knew 
 God  to  worship  images.     But  as  human  nature  is  inclined  to 
 visible  objects  of  worship,  so  it  seems  some  began  to  paint  the 
 walls  of  their  churches  with  pictures,  or  at  least  moved  for  it. 
 In  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century  this  was  condemned  by 
 the  Council  of  Elliberis,  Can.  36. :     pleases  us  to  have  no  pic- 
 tures in  churches,  lest  that  which  is  worshipped  should  be  painted 
 upon  the  walls.    Towards  the  end  of  that  century,  we  have  an 
 Epiph.  ep.  ad    account  given  us  by  Epiphanius  of  his  indignation 
 Joan.  Hieros.    occasioned  by  a  picture  that  he  saw  upon  a  veil  at 
 Anablatha.    He  did  not  much  consider  whose  picture  it  was, 
 whether  a  picture  of  Christ  or  of  some  saint;  he  positively 
 affirms  it  was  against  the  authority  of  the  Scriptures,  and  the 
 Christian  religion,  and  therefore  he  tore  it,  but  supplied  that 
 church  with  another  veil.     It  seems  private  persons  had 
 statues  of  Christ  and  the  Apostles ;  which  Eusebius 
 eccli.  ?ilf '    censures,  where  he  reports  it  as  a  remnant  of  heathen- 
 Aug.  in  Psai.  It  is  plain  enough,  from  some  passages  in  St 
 
 De  Moriims  Austin,  that  he  knew  of  no  images  in  churches  in 
 Ecci.  cath.  t}ie  beginning  of  the  fifth  century.  It  is  true,  they 
 began  to  be  brought  before  that  time  into  some  of 
 the  churches  of  Pontus  and  Cappadocia,  which  was  done  very 
 probably  to  draw  the  heathens,  by  this  piece  of  conformity  to 
 them,  to  like  the  Christian  worship  the  better.    For  that  hu- 
 
Aax.  XXII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 •279 
 
 mour  began  to  work,  and  appeared  in  many  instances  of  other 
 kinds  as  well  as  in  this. 
 
 It  was  not  possible  that  people  could  see  pictures  in  their 
 churches  long,  without  paying  some  marks  of  respect  to  them, 
 which  grew  in  a  little  time  to  the  downright  worship  of  them. 
 A  famous  instance  we  have  of  this  in  the  sixth  century  :  Se- 
 renus,  Bishop  of  Marseilles,  finding  that  he  could  not  restrain 
 his  people  from  the  worship  of  images,  broke  them  in  pieces ; 
 upon  which  Pope  Gregory  writ  to  him,  blaming  him  Greg.  Epist. 
 indeed  for  breaking  the  images,  but  commending  him  L  1X>  Ep- 9* 
 for  not  allowing  them  to  be  worshipped.  This  he  prosecutes  in 
 a  variety  of  very  plain  expressions:  It  is  one  thing  to  worship 
 an  image,  and  another  thing  to  learn  by  it  what  is  to  be  wor- 
 shipped: he  says,  they  were  set  up,  not  to  be  worshipped,  but 
 to  instruct  the  ignorant ;  and  cites  our  Saviour's  words,  Thou 
 shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  him  only  shall  thou  serve, 
 to  prove  that  it  was  not  lawful  to  worship  the  work  of  men's 
 hands.  We  see  by  a  fragment  cited  in  the  second  Nicene 
 Council,  that  both  Jews  and  Gentiles  took  advantage,  from 
 the  worship  of  images,  to  reproach  the  Christians  soon  after 
 that  time.  The  Jews  were  scandalized  at  their  worshipping 
 images,  as  being  expressly  against  the  command  of  God.  The 
 Gentiles  had  also  by  it  great  advantages  of  turning  back  upon 
 the  Christians  all  that  had  been  written  against  their  images 
 in  the  former  ages. 
 
 At  last,  in  the  beginning  of  the  eighth  century,  the  famous 
 controversy  about  the  having  or  breaking  of  images  grew  hot. 
 The  Churches  of  Italy  were  so  set  on  the  worshipping  of  them, 
 that  Pope  Gregory  the  Second*  gives  this  for  the  reason  of 
 their  rebelling  against  the  Emperor,  because  of  his  opposition 
 to  images.  And  here  in  little  more  than  an  hundred  years  the 
 See  of  Rome  changed  its  doctrine,  Pope  Gregory  the  Second 
 being  as  positive  for  the  worshipping  them,  as  4the  first  of  that 
 name  had  been  against  it.  Violent  contentions  arose  upon 
 this  head.  The  breakers  of  images  were  charged  with  Juda- 
 ism,  Samaritanism,  and  Manicheism ;  and  the  worshippers  of 
 them  were  charged  with  Gentilism  and  Idolatry.  One  Gene- 
 ral Council  at  Constantinople,  consisting  of  about  three  hun- 
 dred and  thirty-eight  Bishops,  condemned  the  worshipping 
 them  as  idolatrous ;  but  another  at  Nice,  of  three  hundred 
 and  fifty  Bishops,  though  others  say  there  were  only  three 
 hundred,  asserted  the  worship  of  them.  Yet  as  soon  as  this 
 was  known  in  the  West,  how  active  soever  the  See  of  Rome 
 was  for  establishing  their  worship,  a  Council  of  about  three 
 hundred  Bishops  met  at  Francfort,  under  Charles  the  Great, 
 
 *  This  is  owned  by  all  the  historians  of  that  age,  Anastasius,  Zonaras,  Cedre- 
 nus,  Glycas,  Thcophancs,  Sigcbert,  Otho,  Fris.  Urspergensis,  Sigonius,  Rubens, 
 and  Ciaconius. 
 
280 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXII. 
 
 which  condemned  the  Nicene  Council,  together  with  the  wor- 
 ship of  images.  The  Gallican  Church  insisted  long  upon  this 
 matter :  books  were  published  in  the  name  of  Charles  the  Great 
 against  them.  A  Council  held  at  Paris  under  his  son  did  also 
 condemn  image-worship,  as  contrary  to  the  honour  that  is  due 
 to  God  only,  and  to  the  commands  that  he  has  given  us  in 
 Scripture.  The  Nicene  Council  wras  rejected  here  in  England, 
 as  our  historians  tell  us,  because  it  asserted  the  adoration  of 
 images,  which  the  Church  of  God  abhors.  Agobard,  Bishop 
 of  Lyons,  and  Claud  of  Turin,  writ  against  it :  the  former  writ 
 with  great  vehemence.  The  learned  men  of  that  communion 
 do  now  acknowledge,  that  what  he  writ  was  according  to  the 
 sense  of  the  Gallican  Church  in  that  age ;  and  even  Jonas  of 
 Orleans,  who  studied  to  moderate  the  matter,  and  to  reconcile 
 the  Gallican  Bishops  to  the  See  of  Rome,  yet  does  himself 
 declare  against  the  worship  of  images. 
 
 We  are  not  concerned  to  examine  how  it  came  that  all  this 
 vigorous  opposition  to  image-worship  went  off  so  soon.  It  is 
 enough  to  us,  that  it  was  once  made  so  resolutely :  let  those 
 who  think  it  so  incredible  a  thing  that  Churches  should  depart 
 from  their  received  traditions,  answer  this  as  they  can.  As  for 
 Acta  con.  the  methods  then  used,  and  the  arguments  that  were 
 Action  4, 5,  then  brought  to  infuse  this  doctrine  into  the  world, 
 6>7-  lie  who  will  read  the  history  and  acts  of  the  Nicene 
 
 Council,  will  find  enough  to  incline  him  to  a  very  bad  opinion, 
 both  of  the  men  and  of  their  doctrine,  though  he  were  ever 
 so  much  inclined  to  think  well  of  them.  After  all,  though  that 
 Council  laid  the  foundation  of  image- w  orship,  yet  the  Church 
 .   .  _  .   of  Rome  has  made  great  improvements  in  it  since. 
 
 Aqum.  To.  1.    „,  l        i  •  r 
 
 qujest.  25.  dis.  Ihose  or  Nice  expressed  a  detestation  of  an  image 
 
 54.  sect.  2.  -i  *    V      -rx  •  i  i-i 
 
 made  to  represent  the  Deity :  they  go  no  higher 
 than  the  images  of  Christ  and  the  Saints;  whereas  since 
 that  time  the  Deity  and  the  Trinity  have  been  represented 
 by  images  and  pictures,  and  that  not  only  by  connivance, 
 but  by  authority  in  the  Church  of  Rome.  Bellarmine,* 
 Suarez,  and  others,  prove  the  lawfulness  of  such  images 
 from  the  general  practice  of  the  Church.  Others  go  fur- 
 ther, and  from  the  caution  given  in  the  decree  of  the  Council 
 of  Trent  concerning  the  images  of  God,  do  infer,  that  they 
 are  allowed  by  that  Council,  provided  they  be  decently  made. 
 Directions  are  also  given  concerning  the  use  of  the  image  of 
 the  Trinity  in  public  offices  among  them.  In  a  word,  all  their 
 late  Doctors  agree  that  they  are  lawful,  and  reckon  the  calling 
 that  in  question  to  be  not  only  rashness  but  an  error;  and  such 
 as  have  held  it  unlawful  to  make  such  images,  were  especially 
 
 ♦  Bullarm.  de  Imag.  1.  ii.  c.  8.  Suarez.  M.  8.  Ysambert  de  Mist.  Incarn.  ad 
 qurest.  25.  dis.  3.  Yasquez  in  3.  Aquin.  disp.  103,  c.  3.  Cajetpp,  in  3.  Aquin. 
 qn.t'st.  25.  A.  3. 
 
Art.  XXII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 281 
 
 condemned  at  Rome,  December  17.  1690.  The  varieties  of 
 those  images,  and  the  boldness  of  them,  are  things  apt  to  give 
 horror  to  modest  minds,  not  accustomed  to  such  attempts.  It 
 must  be  acknowledged,  that  the  old  emblematical  images  of 
 the  Egyptians,  and  the  grosser  ones  now  used  by  the  Chinese, 
 are  much  more  instructing,  and  much  less  scandalous  figures. 
 
 As  the  Roman  Church  has  gone  beyond  the  Ni-  ^ 
 cene  Council  in  the  images  that  they  allow  of,  so    Act.  i.  Act.' 
 they  have  also  gone  beyond  them  in  the  degrees  of  6' 
 the  worship  that  they  offer  to  them.    At  Nice  the  worship  of 
 images  was  very  positively  decreed,  with  anathemas  against 
 those  who  did  it  not :  a  bare  honour,  they  reckoned,  was  not 
 enough.    They  thought  it  was  a  very  valuable  argument  that 
 was  brought  from  those  words  of  Christ  to  the  Devil,     Coh  Nic 
 Thou  shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  him  only     Act  5- 
 shalt  thou  serve;  that  here  service  is  only  appropriated  to  God, 
 but  not  worship.    Among  the  acts  of  worship  they  reckon  the 
 oblation  of  incense  and  lights ;  and  the  reason  given  by  them 
 for  all  this  is,  because  the  honour  of  the  Image,  or  Type,  passes 
 to  the  Original,  or  Prototype;  so  that  plain  and  direct  worship 
 was  to  terminate  on  the  image  itself :  and  Durandus    Duran.  in 
 passed  for  little  less  than  a  heretic,  because  he  thought    S^q.  I 
 that  images  were  worshipped  only  improperly  and    n- 15- 
 abusively,  because  at  their  presence  we  call  to  mind  the  object 
 represented  by  them,  which  we  worship  before  the  image,  as  if 
 the  object  itself  were  before  us. 
 
 The  Council  of  Nice  did  plainly  assert  the  direct  worship  of 
 images,  but  they  did  as  positively  declare,  that  they  meant  only 
 that  it  should  be  an  honorary  adoration,  and  not  the  true  La- 
 tria,  which  was  only  due  to  God.  And,  whatever  some  modern 
 representee  and  expositors  of  the  Roman  doctrine  may  say  to 
 soften  the  harshness  of  t^ie  worship  of  images,  it  is  very  copiously 
 proved,  both  from  the  words  of  the  Council  of  Nice,  Con.  Nic. 
 and  from  all  the  eminent  writers  in  that  communion,  Act  a 
 even  from  the  time  of  Aquinas,*  and  of  the  modern  schoolmen 
 and  writers  of  controversy,  that  direct  worship  ought  to  be  of- 
 fered to  the  image  itself;  this  reserve  of  the  Latria  to  God 
 being  an  evident  proof,  that  all  inferior  acts  of  worship  were  al- 
 lowed them.  But  this  reserve  does  no  way  please  the  later  wri- 
 ters ;  for  Aquinas,  and  many  from  him,  do  teach,  that  the  same 
 acts  and  degrees  of  worship  which  are  due  to  the  original  are 
 also  due  to  the  image  :  They  think  an  image  has  such  a  relation 
 to  the  original,  that  both  ought  to  be  worshipped  by  the  same 
 act,  and  that  to  worship  the  image  with  any  other  sort  of  acts, 
 is  to  worship  it  on  its  own  account,  which  they  think  is  idolatry  : 
 
 *  Aquin.  2.  p.  q.  25.  Art.  3.  See  to  the  same  purpose,  Alex.  Hales,  IJona- 
 venture,  Rlcardus  <le  Media  villa  palud.  Almans.  Biel  Sum  ma  Angelica,  and 
 many  more  cited  in  Bishop  Stillingfleet's  Defence  of  the  Charge  of  Idolatry, 
 Part  ii.  Chap.  2. 
 
-282 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXII. 
 
 whereas  others,  adhering  to  the  Nicene  doctrine,  think  that 
 the  image  is  to  be  worshipped  with  an  inferior  degree ;  that 
 otherwise  idolatry  must  follow.  So  here  the  danger  of  idola- 
 try is  threatened  of  both  sides ;  and  since  one  of  them  must  be 
 chosen,  thus  it  will  follow,  that  let  a  man  do  what  he  can,  he 
 must  commit  idolatry,  according  to  the  opinion  of  some  very 
 subtile  and  learned  men  among  them. 
 
 con.  Tnd.  The  Council  of  Trent  did  indeed  decline  to  give 
 sess.  25.  a  c]ear  decision  in  this  matter,  and  only  decreed  that 
 due  worship  should  be  given  to  images,  but  did  not  determine 
 what  that  due  worship  was.  And  though  it  appears  by  the  de- 
 cree, that  there  were  abuses  committed  among  them  in  that 
 matter,  yet  they  only  appoint  some  regulations  concerning 
 such  images  as  were  to  be  suffered,  and  that  others  were  to  be 
 removed ;  but  they  left  the  divines  to  fight  out  the  matter  con- 
 cerning the  due  worship  that  ought  to  be  given  to  images. 
 They  were  then  in  haste,*  and  intended  to  offend  no  party; 
 and  as  they  would  not  justify  all  that  had  been  said  or  done 
 concerning  the  worship  of  images,  so  they  would  condemn  no 
 part  of  it :  yet  they  confirmed  the  Nicene  Council,  and  in  par- 
 pont.  Rom.  ticular  made  use  of  that  maxim  of  theirs,  that  the 
 Spd  impe?"  honour  of  the  Type  goes  to  the  Prototype ;  and  thus 
 Rubri.  tnev  }eft  ft  as  tney  found  it.  So  that  the  dispute  goes 
 on  still  as  hot  as  ever.  The  practice  of  the  Roman  Church  is 
 express  for  the  Latria  to  be  given  to  images ;  and  therefore 
 all  that  write  for  it  do  frequently  cite  that  hymn,  Crux  Ave  spes 
 unica,  auge  piis  justitiam,  reisque  dona  veniam.  It  is  express- 
 ly said  in  the  Pontifical,  Cruci  debetur  Latria,  and  the  prayers 
 used  in  the  consecration  of  a  cross :  it  is  prayed,f  that  the 
 blessing  of  that  cross  on  which  Christ  hung  may  be  in  it ;  that 
 it  may  be  a  healthful  remedy  to  mankind,  a  strengthener  of  faith, 
 an  increase?'  of  good  works,  the  redemption  of  souls,  and  a  com- 
 fort, protection,  and  defence  against  the  cruelty  of  our  enemies. 
 These,  with  all  the  other  acts  of  adoration  used  among  them, 
 seem  to  favour  those  who  are  for  a  Latria  to  be  given  to  all 
 those  images  to  the  originals  of  which  it  is  due;  and  in  the  like 
 proportion  for  Dulia  and  Hyperdulia  to  other  images.  It  is 
 needless  to  prosecute  this  matter  further. 
 
 It  seemed  necessary  to  say  so  much,  to  justify  our  Church, 
 which  has  in  her  Homilies  laid  this  charge  of  idolatry  very 
 
 *  See  Bishop  Stillingfleet,  ut  supra, 
 f  In  benedictione  novae  Crucis. 
 
 Rogamus  te  Domine,  sancte  Paler,  omnipotens  sempiterne  Deus,  ut  dignen's 
 benedicere  hoc  lignum  Crucis  tuae,  ut  sit  remedium  salutare  generi  huraano,  sit 
 soliditas  fidei,  profectus  bonorum  operum,  redemptio  animarum,  sit  solamen  et 
 protectio  ac  tutela  contra  saeva  jacula  Inimicorum.     Per  Dom. 
 
 Sanctificetur  lignum  istud  in  nomine  Patris  et  Filii  et  Spiritus  Sancti,  ct  bene- 
 dictio  illius  ligni  in  cpiio  membra  sancta  Salvatoris  suspensa  sunt  sit  in  isto  ligno, 
 ut  orantes  inclinantesque  se  propter  Deum  ante  istam  crucem  inveniant  corporis 
 et  anima?  sanitatem  per  eundem. 
 
Art.  XXII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 233 
 
 severely  on  the  Church  of  Rome :  and  this  is  so  high  an  impu- 
 tation, that  those  who  think  it  false,  as  they  cannot,  with  a  good 
 conscience,  subscribe,  or  require  others  to  subscribe  the  Article 
 concerning  the  Homilies,  so  they  ought  to  retract  their  own 
 subscriptions,  and  to  make  solemn  reparations  in  justice  and 
 honour  for  laying  so  heavy  an  imputation  unjustly  upon  that 
 whole  communion. 
 
 There  is  nothing  that  can  be  brought  from  Scripture  that 
 has  a  shew  of  an  argument  for  supporting  image-worship,  un- 
 less it  be  that  of  the  Cherubims  that  were  in  the  holiest  of  all, 
 Heb.  ix.  3.  7. :  and  they,  as  is  supposed,  were  worshipped  at 
 least  bv  the  High- Priest,  when  he  went  thither  once  a-year, 
 if  not  bv  the  whole  people.  But,  first,  there  is  a  great  differ- 
 ence to  be  made  between  a  form  of  worship  immediately  pre- 
 scribed by  God,  and  another  form  that  not  only  has  no  war- 
 rant for  it,  but  seems  to  be  very  expressly  forbidden.  It  is 
 plain,  the  Cherubims  were  not  seen  by  the  people,  and  so  they 
 could  be  no  visible  object  of  worship  to  them.  They  were 
 scarce  seen  bv  the  High-Priest  himself,  for  the  holiest  of  all  was 
 quite  dark — no  light  coming  into  it  but  what  came  through 
 the  veil  from  the  holy  place :  and  even  that  had  very  little  light. 
 Nor  is  there  a  word  concerning  the  High- Priest's  worshipping 
 either  the  Ark  or  the  Cherubim.  It  is  true,  there  is  a  place 
 in; the  Psalms  that  seems  to  favour  this,  as  it  is  rendered  by 
 the  Vulgate,  worship  his  footstool,  for  it  is  holy,  PsaL  xcix.  8,  9. ; 
 but  both  the  Hebrew  and  the  Septuagint  have  it,  as  it  is  in  our 
 translation,  worship  at  his  footstool,  for  he  is  holy ;  and  all  the 
 Greek  Fathers  cite  these  words  so.  Many  of  the  Latin  Fa- 
 thers do  also  cite  them  according  to  the  Greek;  and  the  last 
 words  of  the  Psalm,  in  which  the  same  words  are  repeated, 
 make  the  sense  of  it  evident ;  for  there  it  is  thus  varied,  Exalt 
 ye  the  Lord  our  God,  and  worship  at  his  holy  hill,  for  the  Lord 
 our  God  is  holy.  These  words  coming  so  soon  after  the  former, 
 are  a  paraphrase  to  them,  and  determine  their  sense.  No 
 doubt  the  High-Priest  worshipped  God,  who  dwelt  between 
 the  Cherubims,  in  that  cloud  of  glory  in  which  he  shewed  him- 
 self visibly  present  in  his  temple ;  but  diere  is  no  sort  of  reason 
 to  think,  that,  in  so  majestic  a  presence,  adoration  could  be 
 offered  to  any  thing  else;  or  that  after  the  High- Priest  had 
 adored  the  Divine  Essence  so  manifested,  he  would  have  fallen 
 to  worship  the  Ark  and  the  Cherubims.  This  agrees  ill  with 
 the  figure  that  is  so  much  used  in  this  matter,  of  a  king  and  his 
 chair  of  state ;  for,  in  the  presence  of  the  king,  all  respects  ter- 
 minate in  his  person,  whatsoever  may  be  done  in  his  absence. 
 
 And  thus,  this  being  not  so  much  as  a  precedent,  much  less 
 an  argument,  for  the  use  of  images ;  and  there  being  nothing 
 else  brought  from  Scripture,  that  with  any  sort  of  wresting  can 
 be  urged  for  it :  and  the  sense  and  practice  of  the  whole  Church 
 
284.  AN  EXPOSITION  OF  Art.  XXII. 
 
 being  so  express  against  it ;  the  progress  of  it  having  been  so 
 long  and  so  much  disputed ;  the  tendency  of  it  to  superstition 
 and  abuse  being  by  their  own  confession  so  visible ;  the  scandal 
 that  it  gives  to  Jews  and  Mahometans  being  so  apparent ;  and 
 it  carrying  in  its  outward  appearances  such  a  conformity  (to 
 say  at  present  no  more)  to  heathenish  idolatry, — we  think  we 
 have  all  possible  advantages  in  this  argument.  We  adhere  to 
 that  purity  of  worship  which  is  in  both  Testaments  so  much 
 insisted  on ;  we  avoid  all  scandal,  and  make  no  approaches  to 
 heathenism;  and  follow  the  pattern  set  us  by  the  primitive 
 Church.  And  as  our  simplicity  of  worship  needs  not  be  de- 
 fended, since  it  proves  itself ;  so  no  proofs  are  brought  for  the 
 other  side,  but  only  a  pretended  usefulness  in  outward  figures, 
 to  raise  the  mind  by  the  senses  to  just  apprehensions  of  spiri- 
 tual objects ;  which,  allowing  it  true,  will  only  conclude  for  the 
 historical  use  of  images,  but  not  for  the  directing  our  worship 
 towards  them.  But  the  effect  is  quite  contrary  to  the  pretence ; 
 for,  instead  of  raising  the  mind  by  the  senses,  the  mind  is  ra- 
 ther sunk  by  them  into  gross  ideas. 
 
 The  bias  of  human  nature  lies  to  sense,  and  to  form  gross 
 imaginations  of  incorporeal  objects ;  and  therefore,  instead  of 
 gratifying  these,  we  ought  to  wean  our  minds  from  them,  and 
 to  raise  them  above  them  all  we  can.  Even  men  of  speculation 
 and  abstraction  feel  nature  in  this  grows  too  hard  for  them ;  but 
 the  vulgar  is  apt  to  fall  so  headlong  into  these  conceits,  that  it 
 looks  like  the  laying  of  snares  for  them,  to  furnish  them  with 
 such  methods  and  helps  for  their  having  gross  thoughts  of  spi- 
 ritual objects.  The  fondness  that  the  people  have  for  images, 
 their  readiness  to  believe  the  most  incredible  stories  concerning 
 them,  the  expense  they  are  at  to  enrich  and  adorn  them,  their 
 prostrations  before  them,  their  confidence  in  them,  their  hum- 
 ble and  tender  embracing  and  kissing  of  them,  their  pompous 
 and  heathenish  processions  to  do  them  honour,  the  fraternities 
 erected  for  particular  images,  not  to  mention  the  more  univer- 
 sal and  established  practices  of  directing  their  prayers  to  them, 
 of  setting  lights  before  them,  and  of  incensing  them — these,  I 
 say,  are  things  too  well  known,  to  such  as  have  seen  the  way 
 of  that  religion,  that  they  should  need  to  be  much  enlarged  on  ; 
 and  yet  they  are  not  only  allowed  of,  but  encouraged.  Those 
 among  them  who  have  too  much  good  sense  that  they  should  sink 
 into  these  foolish  apprehensions  themselves,  yet  must  not  only 
 bear  with  them  but  often  comply  with  them,  to  avoid  the  giving 
 of  scandal,  as  they  call  it;  not  considering  the  much  greater 
 scandal  that  they  give,  when  they  encourage  others  by  their 
 practice  to  go  on  in  these  follies.  The  enlarging  into  all  the 
 corruptions  occasioned  by  this  way  of  worship  would  carry  me 
 far;  but  it  seems  not  necessary,  the  thing  is  so  plain  in  itself. 
 
 The  next  head  in  lliis  Article  is  a  full  instance  of  it,  which 
 
Art.  XXII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 285 
 
 is,  the  Worship  of  Relics.    It  is  no  wonder  that  great  care 
 was  taken  in  the  beginnings  of  Christianity,  to  shew  all  possible 
 respect  and  tenderness  even  to  the  bodies  of  the  martyrs. 
 There  is  something  of  this  planted  so  deep  in  human  nature, 
 that  though  the  philosophy  of  it  cannot  be  so  well  made  out, 
 yet  it  seems  to  be  somewhat  more  than  an  universal  custom : 
 Humanity  is  of  its  side,  and  is  apt  to  carry  men  to  the  profu- 
 sions of  pomp  and  cost:  all  religions  do  agree  in  this;  so  that 
 we  need  not  wonder  if  Christians,  in  the  first  fervour  of  their 
 religion,  believing  the  resurrection  so  firmly  as  they  did,  and 
 having  a  high  sense  of  the  honour  done  to  Christ  and  his  re- 
 ligion  by  the  sufferings  of  the  martyrs ;  if,  I  say,  they  studied 
 to  gather  their  bones  and  ashes  together,  and  bury  them  de- 
 cently.   They  thought  it  a  sign  of  their  being  joined   Ep  Ecc 
 with  them  in  one  body,  to  hold  their  assemblies  at  a™j™Euse5 
 the  places  where  they  were  buried  :  this  might  be  also   ^  <^5 
 considered  as  a  motive  to  encourage  others  to  follow  cyriLiib. 
 the  example  that  they  had  given  them,  even  to  mar-  Ennap.m" 
 tyrdom ;  and  therefore  all  the  marks  of  honour  were   V1  a  ess* 
 put  even  upon  their  bodies  that  could  be  thought  on,  except 
 worship.    After  the  ages  of  persecution  were  over,  a  fond- 
 ness of  having  and  keeping  their  relics  began  to  spread  itself 
 in  many  places.    Monks  fed  that  humour  by  carrying  them 
 about.    We  find  in  St  Austin's  works,  that  supersti- 
 
 !  .  .  r  ,  Aug.  de 
 
 tion  was  making  a  great  progress  m  Airica  upon  these  opere  Mo- 
 heads,  of  which  he  complains  frequently.  Yigilantius  na°  "  °' 
 had  done  it  to  more  purpose  in  Spain ;  and  did  not  only  com- 
 plain of  the  excesses,  but  of  the  thing  in  itself.  St  Jerome 
 fell  unmercifully  upon  him  for  it,  and  sets  a  high  Hieron.adv. 
 value  upon  relics,  yet  he  does  not  speak  one  word  vigilant,  to.  & 
 of  worshipping  them :  he  denies  and  disclaims  it,  and  seems 
 only  to  allow  of  a  great  fondness  for  them ;  and,  with  most  of 
 that  age,  he  was  very  apt  to  believe  that  miracles  were  oft 
 wrought  by  them.  When  superstition  is  once  suffered  to  mix 
 with  religion,  it  will  be  still  gaining  ground,  and  it  admits  of  no 
 bounds  :  so  this  matter  went  on,  and  new  legends  were  invent- 
 ed ;  but  when  the  controversy  of  image-worship  began,  it  follow- 
 ed that  as  an  accessary.  The  enshrining  of  relics  occasioned 
 the  most  excellent  sort  of  images ;  and  they  were  thought  the 
 best  preservatives  possible  both  for  soul  and  body  :  No  presents 
 grew  to  be  more  valued  than  relics ;  and  it  was  an  easy  thing 
 for  the  Popes  to  furnish  the  world  plentifully  that  way,  but 
 chiefly  since  the  discovery  of  the  catacombs,  which  has  fur- 
 nished them  with  stores  not  to  be  exhausted.  The  Council  of 
 Trent  did  in  this,  as  in  the  point  of  images — it  appointed  relics 
 to  be  venerated,  but  did  not  determine  the  degree;  so  it  left 
 the  world  in  possession  of  a  most  excessive  dotage  uppn  them. 
 They  are  used  every-where  by  them  as  sacred  charms,  kissed 
 and  worshipped  :  they  are  served  with  lights  and  incense. 
 
286 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXII. 
 
 In  opposition  to  all  this,  we  think,  that  all  decent  honours 
 are  indeed  due  to  the  bodies  of  the  saints,  which  were  once 
 the  temples  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  1  Cor.  vi.  19.;  but  since  it  is 
 said,  that  God  took  that  care  of  the  body  of  Moses,  Deut.  xxxiv. 
 6.,  so  as  to  bury  it  in  such  a  manner  that  no  man  knew  of  his 
 sepulchre,  there  seems  to  have  been  in  this  a  peculiar  caution, 
 guarding  against  that  superstition  which  the  Jews  might  very 
 probably  have  fallen  into  with  relation  to  his  body.  And  this 
 seems  so  clear  an  indication  of  the  will  of  God  in  this  matter, 
 that  we  reckon  we  are  very  safe  when  we  do  no  further  honour 
 to  the  body  of  a  saint  than  to  bury  it.  And  though  that 
 saint  had  been  ever  so  eminent,  not  only  for  his  holiness,  but 
 even  for  miracles  wrought  by  him,  by  his  shadow,  or  even 
 by  looking  on  him;  yet  the  history  of  the  Brazen  Serpent 
 shews  us,  that  a  fondness  even  on  the  instruments  that  God 
 made  use  of  to  work  miracles  by,  degenerates  easily  to  the  su- 
 perstition of  burning  incense  to  them  :  but  when  that  appears, 
 it  is  to  be  checked,  even  by  breaking  that  which  was  so  abused. 
 Hezekiah  (2  Kings  xviii.  4.)  is  commended  for  breaking  in 
 pieces  that  noble  remain  of  Moses's  time  till  then  preserved ; 
 neither  its  antiquity,  nor  the  signal  miracles  once  wrought 
 by  it,  could  balance  the  ill  use  that  was  then  made  of  it :  that 
 good  king  broke  it,  for  which  he  might  have  had  a  worse 
 name  than  an  Iconoclast,  if  he  had  lived  in  some  ages.  It  is 
 true,  miracles  were  of  old  wrought  by  Aaron's  rod,  by  Elisha's 
 bones  ( 2« Kings  xiii.  21.)  after  his  death ;  and  the  one  was  pre- 
 served, but  not  worshipped  :  nor  was  there  any  superstition 
 that  followed  on  the  other.  Not  a  word  of  this  fondness  ap- 
 pears in  the  beginnings  of  Christianity ;  though  it  had  been  an 
 easy  thing  at  that  time  to  have  furnished  the  world  with  pieces 
 of  our  Saviour's  garments,  hair,  or  nails ;  and  great  store  might 
 have  been  had  of  the  Virgin's  and  the  Apostles'  relics :  St  Ste- 
 phen's and  St  James's  bones  might  have  been  then  parcelled 
 about;  and  if  that  spirit  had  then  reigned  in  the  Church, 
 which  has  been  in  the  Roman  Church  now  above  a  thousand 
 years,  we  should  have  heard  of  the  relics  that  were  sent  about 
 from  Jerusalem  to  all  the  Churches.  But  when  such  things 
 might  have  been  had  in  great  abundance,  and  have  been  known 
 not  to  be  counterfeits,  we  hear  not  a  word  of  them.  If  a  fond- 
 ness for  relics  had  been  in  the  Church  upon  Christ's  ascension, 
 what  care  would  have  been  taken  to  have  made  great  collec- 
 tions of  them  ! 
 
 Then  we  see  no  other  care  about  the  body  of  St  Stephen 
 but  to  bury  it ;  and  not  long  after  that  time,  upon  St  Poly- 
 carp's  martyrdom,  when  the  Jews,  who  had  set  on  the  prose- 
 cution against  him,  suggested,  that  if  the  Christians  could  gain 
 his  body,  they  would  perhaps  forsake  Christ  and  worship  him, 
 they  rejected  the  accusation  with  horror;  for  in  the  epistle 
 
Art.  XXII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 28? 
 
 which  the  Church  of  Smyrna  writ  upon  his  martyrdom,  after 
 thev  mention  this  insinuation,  they  have  those  remarkable 
 words,  which  belong  both  to  this  head  and  to  that  which  fol- 
 lows it,  of  the  invocation  and  worship  of  Saints: — These  men 
 know  not  that  we  can  neither  forsake  Christ,  who  suf-  Ep.  Euseb. 
 fered  for  the  salvation  of  all  that  are  saved,  the  inno-  l  iv-c  ]5- 
 cent  for  the  guilty,  nor  worship  any  other  :  Him  truly  being  the 
 Son  of  God  we  adore  ;  but  the  martyrs,  and  disciples,  and  fol- 
 lowers of  the  Lord,  we  justly  love,  for  that  extraordinary  good 
 mind  which  they  have  expressed  toward  their  King  and  Master, 
 of  whose  happiness  God  grant  that  we  may  partake,  and  that 
 we  may  learn  by  their  examples.  The  Jews  had  so  persuaded 
 the  Gentiles  of  Smyrna  of  this  matter,  that  they  burnt  St  Poly- 
 carp's  body :  but  the  Christians  gathered  up  his  bones  with 
 much  respect,  so  that  it  appeared  how  they  honoured  them, 
 though  they  could  not  worship  them ;  and  they  buried  them  in 
 a  convenient  place,  which  they  intended  to  make  the  place 
 where  they  should  hold,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  the  yearly  com- 
 memoration of  that  birth-day  of  his  martyrdom,  with  much  joy 
 and  gladness,  both  to  honour  the  memory  of  those  who  had  over- 
 come in  that  glorious  engagement,  and  to  instruct  and  confirm  all 
 others  by  their  example.  This  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  pieces 
 of  true  and  genuine  antiquity ;  and  it  shews  us  very  fully  the 
 sense  of  that  age,  both  concerning  the  relics  and  the  worship  of 
 the  saints.  In  the  following  ages,  we  find  no  characters  of  any 
 other  regard  to  the  bones  or  bodies  of  the  saints,  but  that  they 
 buried  them  very  decently,  and  did  annually  commemorate  their 
 death,  calling  it  their  Birth-day.  And  it  may  incline  men 
 strongly  to  suspect  the  many  miracles  that  were  published  in 
 the  fourth  century,  as  wrought  at  the  tombs  or  memories  of 
 the  martyrs,  or  by  their  relics,  that  we  hear  of  none  of  those  in 
 the  former  three  centuries :  for  it  seems  there  was  more  occa- 
 sion for  them  during  the  persecution  than  after  it  was  over ; 
 it  being  much  more  necessary  then  to  furnish  Christians  with 
 so  strong  a  motive  as  this  must  have  been,  to  resist  even  to 
 blood,  when  God  was  pleased  to  glorify  himself  so  signally  in 
 his  saints.  This,  I  say,  forces  us  to  fear,  that  credulity  and 
 imagination,  or  somewhat  worse  than  both  these,  might  have 
 had  a  large  share  in  those  extraordinary  things  that  are  related 
 to  us  by  great  men  in  the  fourth  century.  He  must  have  a 
 great  disposition  to  believe  wonderful  things,  that  can  digest 
 the  extraordinary  relations  that  are  even  in  St  Basil,  Basil,  in  40 
 St  Ambrose,  and  St  Austin,  and  most  signally  in  St  Hom:£s."in 
 Jerome ; — for  instance,  that  after  one  had  stolen  Hila-  pSSSVita 
 rion's  body  out  of  Cyprus,  and  brought  it  to  Palestine,  JUSdJ" 
 upon  which  Constantia,  that  went  constantly  to  his  jj^jj6** 
 tomb,  was  ready  to  have  broke  her  heart ;  God  took  c  * 
 such  pity  on  her,  that  as  the  true  body  wrought  great  miracles 
 
288 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXII. 
 
 in  Palestine,  so  likewise  very  great  miracles  continued  still  to 
 be  wrought  at  the  tomb  where  it  was  at  first  laid.  One,  in 
 respect  to  those  great  men,  is  tempted  to  suspect  that  many 
 things  might  have  been  foisted  into  their  writings  in  the  follow- 
 ing ages.  A  great  many  practices  of  this  kind  have  been  made 
 manifest  beyond  contradiction.  Whole  books  have  been  made 
 to  pass  for  the  writings  of  Fathers,  that  do  evidently  bear  the 
 marks  of  a  much  later  date,  where  the  fraud  was  carried  too 
 far  not  to  be  discovered.  At  other  times,  parcels  have  been 
 laid  in  among  their  genuine  productions,  which  cannot  be  so 
 easily  distinguished,  they  not  being  liable  to  so  many  critical 
 inquiries  as  may  be  made  on  a  larger  work.  It  is  a  little  un- 
 accountable, how  so  many  marvellous  things  should  be  publish- 
 ed in  that  age,  and  yet  that  St  Chrysostom,  who  spent 
 Hom^a'in  his  whole  life  between  two  of  the  publickest  scenes  of 
 1.  ad  cor.  11.  wor}ti?  Antioch  and  Constantinople,  and  was  an 
 active  and  inquisitive  man,  should  not  so  much  as  have  heard 
 of  any  such  wonderful  stories,  but  should  have  taken  pains  to 
 remove  a  prejudice  out  of  the  minds  of  his  hearers  that  might 
 arise  from  this,  that  whereas  they  heard  of  many  miracles  that 
 were  wrought  in  the  times  of  the  Apostles,  none  were  wrought 
 at  that  time ;  upon  which  he  gives  very  good  reasons  why  it 
 was  so.  His  saying  so  positively,  that  none  were  wrought  at 
 that  time,  without  so  much  as  a  salvo  for  what  he  might  have 
 heard  from  other  parts,  shews  plainly  that  he  had  not  heard  of 
 any  at  all ;  for  he  was  orator  enough  to  have  made  even  looser 
 reports  look  probable.  This  does  very  much  shake  the  credit 
 of  those  amazing  relations  that  we  find  in  St  Jerome,  St  Am- 
 brose, and  St  Austin.  It  is  true,  there  seems  to  have  been  an 
 opinion  very  generally  received,  both  in  the  East  and  the 
 West,  at  that  time,  which  must  have  very  much  heightened  the 
 growing  superstition  for  relics.  It  was  a  remnant  both  of 
 Judaism  and  Gentilism,  that  the  souls  of  the  martyrs  hovered 
 about  their  tombs,  called  their  memories ;  and  that  therefore 
 they  might  be  called  upon,  and  spoke  to  there.  This  appears 
 even  in  the  Council  of  Elliberis,  where  the  superstition  of  light- 
 ing candles  about  their  tombs  in  day-light  is  forbidden :  the 
 reason  given  is,  because  the  spirits  were  not  to  be  disquieted. 
 Basil,  in  40  St  Basil,  and  the  other  Fathers,  that  do  so  often  men- 
 Martyr.  tjon  jjjg  going  to  their  memories,  do  very  plainly  in- 
 sinuate their  being  present  at  them,  and  hearing  themselves 
 called  upon.  This  may  be  the  reason  why,  among  all  the 
 saints  that  are  so  much  magnified  in  that  age,  we  never  find 
 the  blessed  Virgin  so  much  as  once  mentioned.  They  knew 
 not  where  her  body  was  laid,  they  had  no  tomb  for  her,  no,  nor 
 any  of  her  relics  or  utensils.  But  upon  the  occasion  of  Nes- 
 torius's  denying  her  to  be  the  Mother  of  God,  and  by  carrying 
 the  opposition  to  that  too  far,  a  superstition  for  her  was  set  on 
 
Art.  XXI r. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 foot :  it  made  a  progress  sufficient  to  balance  the  slowness  of  its 
 beginning ;  the  whole  world  was  then  filled  with  very  extrava- 
 gant devotions  for  her. 
 
 The  great  noise  we  find  concerning  relics  in  the  end  of  the 
 fourth  century,  has  all  the  characters  of  novelty  possible  in  it ; 
 for  those  who  speak  of  it,  do  not  derive  it  from  former  times. 
 One  circumstance  in  this  is  very  remarkable,  that  neither  Try- 
 pho,  Celsus,  Lucian,  nor  Cecilius,  do  object  to  the  Christians 
 of  their  time  their  fondness  for  dead  bodies,  or  praying  about 
 their  tombs,  which  they  might  well  have  alleged  in  opposition 
 to  what  the  Christians  charged  them  with,  if  there  had  been 
 any  occasion  for  it ;  whereas  this  custom  was  no  sooner  be- 
 gun, than  both  Julian  and  Eunapius  reproach  the  Christians 
 for  it.  Julian,  it  is  true,  speaks  only  of  their  calling  ^  Cj.r 
 on  God  over  sepulchres :  Eunapius  writ  after  him ;  ubjMU»n. 
 and  it  seems,  in  his  time,  that,  which  Julian  sets  forth  Eunap.  in 
 as  a  calling  upon  God,  was  advanced  to  an  invocation  %1  *  ^ 
 of  them.  He  says,  They  heaped  together  the  bones  and  skulls 
 of  men  that  had  been  punished  for  many  crimes,  (it  was  natural 
 enough  for  a  spiteful  heathen  to  give  this  representation  of  their 
 martyrdom),  holding  them  for  Gods ;  and  after  some  scurri- 
 lous invectives  against  them,  he  adds,  they  are  called  martyrs, 
 and  made  the  ministers  and  messengers  of  prayer  to  the  Gods, 
 This  seems  to  be  a  very  evident  proof  of  the  novelty  of  this 
 matter.  As  for  the  adoring  them,  when  Vigilantius  asked, 
 JJ'hy  dost  thou  kiss  and  adore  a  little  dust  put  up  in  fine  linen  ? 
 St  Jerome,  though  excessively  fond  of  them,  denies  this  very 
 positively,  and  that  in  very  injurious  terms,  being  offended  at 
 the  injustice  of  the  reproach.  Yet  as  long  as  the  bodies  of  the 
 martyrs  were  let  lie  quietly  in  their  memories,  the  fond  opinion 
 of  their  being  present,  and  hearing  what  was  said  to  them,  made 
 the  invocating  them  look  like  one  man's  desiring  the  assistance 
 of  another  good  man's  prayer ;  so  that  this  step  seemed  to  have 
 a  fair  colour.  But  when  their  bodies  were  pulled  asunder,  and 
 carried  up  and  down,  so  that  it  was  believed  miracles  abounded 
 every-where  about  them  ;  and  when  their  bones  and  relics  grew 
 to  increase  and  multiply,  so  that  they  had  more  bones  and  limbs 
 than  God  and  nature  had  given  them ;  then  new  hypotheses 
 were  to  be  found  out  to  justify  the  calling  upon  them  every- 
 where, as  their  relics  were  spread.  St  Jerome,  in  his  careless 
 way,  says,  They  followed  the  Lamb  whithersoever  he  TT. 
 went ;  and  seems  to  make  no  doubt  or  their  being,  it  vigilant. 
 
 ,  .  ,      ,  Aug.  cura 
 
 not  every-where,  yet  in  several  places  at  once,    liut  prox&or- 
 St  Austin,  who  could  follow  a  consequence  much  fur-  h 
 ther  in  his  thoughts,  though  he  doubted  not  but  that  men  were 
 much  the  better  for  the  prayers  of  the  martyrs,  yet  he  confesses 
 that  it  passed  the  strength  of  his  understanding  to  determine, 
 whether  they  heard  those  who  called  upon  them  at  their  me- 
 
 T 
 
290 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXII. 
 
 mories,  or  wheresoever  else  they  were  believed  to  have  appear- 
 ed, or  not.  But  the  devotions  that  are  spoken  of  by  all  of 
 that  age,  are  related  as  having  been  offered  at  their  memories; 
 so  that  this  seems  to  have  been  the  general  opinion,  as  well  as 
 it  wras  the  common  practice  of  that  age,  though  it  is  no  wonder 
 if  this  conceit  once  giving  some  colour  and  credit  to  the  invo- 
 cating  them,  that  did  quickly  increase  itself  to  a  general  invo- 
 cation of  them  every-where.  And  thus  a  fondness  for  their 
 relics,  joined  with  the  opinion  of  their  relation  and  nearness  to 
 them,  did  in  a  short  time  grow  up  to  a  direct  worshipping  of 
 them ;  and,  by  the  fruitfulness  that  always  follows  superstition, 
 did  spread  itself  further — to  their  clothes,  utensils,  and  every 
 thing  else  that  had  any  relation  to  them. 
 
 There  was  cause  given  in  St  Austin's  time  to  suspect,  that 
 many  of  the  bones  which  were  carried  about  by  monks  were 
 Au  none  of  their  bones,  but  impostures,  which  very  much 
 
 opere  Mo-  shakes  the  credit  of  the  miracles  wrought  by  them, 
 nach.  c.  28.  sjnce  we  ]iave  no  reason  to  think  that  God  would  sup- 
 port such  impostures  with  miracles ;  as,  on  the  other  hand, 
 there  is  no  reason  to  think  that  false  relics  would  have  passed 
 upon  the  world,  if  miracles  had  been  believed  to  accompany 
 true  ones,  unless  they  had  their  miracles  likewise  to  attest  their 
 value  :  so,  let  this  matter  be  turned  which  way  it  may,  the  credit 
 both  of  relics  and  of  the  miracles  wrought  by  them,  is  not  a 
 little  shaken  by  it.  But  in  the  following  ages  we  have  more 
 than  presumptions,  that  there  was  much  of  this  false  coin  that 
 wrent  abroad  in  the  world.  It  was  not  possible  to  distinguish 
 the  false  from  the  true.  The  freshness  of  colour  and  smell,  so 
 often  boasted,  might  have  been  easily  managed  by  art ;  the  va- 
 rieties of  those  relics,  the  different  methods  of  discovering  them, 
 the  shinings  that  were  said  to  be  about  their  tombs,  with  the 
 smells  that  broke  out  of  them,  the  many  apparitions  that  accom- 
 panied them,  and  the  signal  cures  that  were  wrought  by  them, 
 as  they  grew  to  fill  the  world  with  many  volumes  of  legends, 
 many  more  lying  yet  in  the  manuscripts  in  many  Churches 
 than  have  been  published ; — all  these,  I  say,  carry  in  them  such 
 characters  of  fraud  and  imposture  on  the  one  hand,  and  of 
 credulity  and  superstition  on  the  other — so  much  craft,  and  so 
 much  folly — that  they  had  their  full  effect  upon  the  world,  even 
 in  contradiction  to  the  clearest  evidence  possible ;  the  same 
 saints  having  more  bodies  and  heads  than  one,  in  different 
 places,  and  yet  all  equally  celebrated  with  miracles.  A  great 
 profusion  of  wealth  and  pomp  was  laid  out  in  honouring  them, 
 new  devotions  were  still  invented  for  them :  and  though  these 
 things  are  too  palpably  false  to  be  put  upon  us  now,  in  ages  of 
 more  light,  where  every  thing  will  not  go  down  because  it  is 
 confidently  affirmed ;  yet,  as  we  know  how  great  a  part  of  the 
 devotion  of  the  Latin  Church  this  continued  to  be  for  many 
 
A  nr.  XX 11. 
 
 THE  XXX IX  ARTICLES. 
 
 ages  before  the  Reformation,  so  the  same  trade  is  still  carried 
 on,  where  the  same  ignorance  and  the  same  superstition  does 
 still  continue. 
 
 I  come  now  to  consider  the  last  head  of  this  Article,  which 
 is  the  Invocation  of  Saints,  of  which  much  has  been  already 
 said  by  anticipation ;  for  there  is  that  connexion  between  the 
 worship  of  relics  and  the  invocation  of  saints,  that  the  treat- 
 ing of  the  one  does  very  naturally  carry  one  to  say  somewhat 
 of  the  other.  It  is  very  evident  that  saints  were  not  invocated 
 in  the  Old  Testament.  God  being  called  so  oft  the  God  of 
 Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  seems  to  give  a  much  better  war- 
 rant for  it,  than  any  thing  that  can  be  alleged  from  the  New 
 Testament.  Moses  was  their  lawgiver,  and  their  mediator 
 and  intercessor  with  God ;  and  his  intercession,  as  it  had  been 
 very  effectual  for  them,  so  it  had  shewed  itself  in  a  very  extra- 
 ordinary instance,  of  his  desiring  that  his  name  might  be  blotted 
 out  of  the  book  which  he  had  'written,  (Exod.  xxxii.  32.),  rather 
 than  the  people  should  perish ;  when  God  had  offered  to  him, 
 that  he  would  raise  up  a  new  nation  to  himself,  out  of  his  pos- 
 terity. God  had  also  made  many  promises  to  that  nation  by 
 him  ;  so  that  it  might  be  natural  enough,  considering  the  ge- 
 nius of  superstition,  for  the  Jews  to  have  called  to  him  in  their 
 miseries  to  obtain  the  performance  of  those  promises  made  by 
 him  to  them.  We  may  upon  this  refer  the  matter  to  every 
 man's  judgment,  whether  Abraham  and  Moses  might  not  have 
 been  much  more  reasonably  invocated  by  the  Jews,  according 
 to  what  we  find  in  the  Old  Testament,  than  any  saint  can  be 
 under  the  New?  yet  we  are  sure  they  were  not  prayed  to. 
 Elijah's  going  up  to  heaven  in  so  miraculous  a  manner,  might 
 also  have  been  thought  a  good  reason  for  any  to  have  prayed 
 to  him :  but  nothing  of  that  kind  was  then  practised.  They 
 understood  prayer  to  be  a  part  of  that  worship  which  they  owed 
 to  God  only ;  so  that  the  praying  to  any  other  had  been,  to  a 
 certain  degree,  the  having  another  God  before  or  besides  the 
 true  Jehovah.  They  never  prayed  to  any  other ;  they  called 
 upon  him,  and  made  mention  of  no  other  :  The  rule  was  with- 
 out exception,  Call  upon  me  in  the  time  of  trouble;  I  will  hear 
 thee,  and  thou  shalt  glorify  me,  Psal.  1.  15.  Upon  this  point 
 there  is  no  dispute. 
 
 In  the  New  Testament  we  see  the  same  method  followed, 
 with  this  only  exception,  that  Jesus  Christ  is  proposed  as  our 
 Mediator ;  and  that  not  only  in  the  point  of  redemption,  which 
 is  not  denied  by  those  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  but  even  in  the 
 point  of  intercession  :  for  when  St  Paul  is  treating  concerning 
 the  prayers  and  supplications  that  are  to  be  offered  for  all  men, 
 he  concludes  that  direction  in  these  words :  For  there  is  one 
 God,  and  one  Mediator  between  God  and  man,  the  man  Christ 
 Jesus,  1  Tim.  ii.  5.    We  think  the  silence  of  the  New  Testa- 
 
292 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXII. 
 
 ment  might  be  a  sufficient  argument  for  this ;  but  these  words 
 go  farther,  and  imply  a  prohibition  to  address  our  prayers  to 
 God  by  any  other  mediator.  All  the  directions  that  are  given 
 us,  of  trusting  in  God  and  praying  to  him,  are  upon  the  matter 
 prohibitions  of  trusting  to  any  other,  or  of  calling  on  any  other. 
 Invocation  and  faith  are  joined  together :  How  shall  they  call 
 on  him  in  whom  they  have  not  believed?  Rom.  x.  14. ;  so  that 
 we  ought  only  to  pray  to  God  and  to  Christ,  according  to  those 
 words,  Ye  believe  in  God,  believe  also  in  me,  John  xiv.  1.  We 
 do  also  know,  that  it  was  a  part  of  heathenish  idolatry  to  invo- 
 cate  either  demons  or  departed  men,  whom  they  considered  as 
 good  beings  subordinate  to  the  Divine  Essence,  and  employed 
 by  God  in  the  government  of  the  world  :  and  they  had  almost 
 the  same  speculations  about  them,  that  have  been  since  intro- 
 duced into  the  Church  concerning  angels  and  saints.  In  the 
 condemning  all  idolatry,  no  reserve  is  made  in  Scripture  for 
 this,  as  being  faulty  only  because  it  was  applied  wrong,  or  that 
 it  might  be  set  right  when  directed  better  :  on  the  contrary, 
 when  sdflW^hen,  under  the  pretence  of  humility  and  of  will- 
 worship,  (Col.  ii.  18.),  did,  according  to  the  Platonic  notions, 
 offer  to  bring  in  the  worship  of  angels  into  the  Church  of  Co- 
 losse,  pretending,  as  is  probable,  that  those  spirits  who  were 
 employed  by  God  in  the  ministry*  of  the  gospel,  ought,  in  gra- 
 titude for  that  service,  and  out  of  respect  to  their  dignity,  to  be 
 worshipped ;  St  Paul  condemns  all  this,  without  any  reserves 
 made  for  lower  degrees  of  worship  ;  he  charges  the  Christians 
 to  beware  of  that  vain  philosophy,  and  not  to  be  deceived  by 
 those  shews  of  humility,  or  the  speculations  of  men  who  pretend- 
 ed to  explain  that  which  they  did  not  know,  as  intruding  into 
 things  which  they  had  not  seen,  vainly  piiffed  up  by  their  fleshly 
 mind,  Col.  ii.  8. 18.  If  any  degrees  of  invocating  saints  or  angels 
 had  been  consistent  with  the  Christian  religion,  this  was  the 
 proper  place  of  declaring  them  ;  but  the  condemning  that  mat- 
 ter so  absolutely,  looks  as  a  very  express  prohibition  of  all  sort 
 of  worship  to  angels.  And  when  St  John  fell  down  to  worship 
 the  angel  that  had  made  him  such  glorious  discoveries  upon 
 two  several  occasions,  the  answer  he  had  was,  See  thou  do  it 
 not:  worship  God:  I  am  thy  fellow-servant,  Rev.  xix.  10., 
 xxii.  9.  It  is  probable  enough  that  St  John  might  imagine 
 that  the  angel,  who  had  made  such  discoveries  to  him,  was 
 Jesus  Christ :  but  the  answer  plainly  shews,  that  no  sort  of 
 worship  ought  to  be  offered  to  angels,  nor  to  any  but  God. 
 The  reason  given  excludes  all  sorts  of  worship,  for  that  cannot 
 be  among  fellow-servants. 
 
 As  angels  are  thus  forbid  to  be  worshipped,  so  no  mention 
 is  made  of  worshipping  or  invocating  any  saints  that  had  died 
 for  the  faith,  such  as  St  Stephen  and  St  James.  In  the  Epistle 
 to  the  Hebrews,  the)'  are  required  to  remember  them  which  had 
 
Art.  XXII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 293 
 
 the  ride  over  them,  and  to  follow  their  faith ,  Heb.  xiii.  7.;  but 
 not  a  word  of  praying  to  them.  So  that  if  either  the  silence 
 of  the  Scriptures  on  this  head,  or  if  plain  declarations  to  the 
 contrary  could  decide  this  matter,  the  controversy  would  soon 
 be  at  an  end.  Christ  is  always  proposed  to  us  as  the  only  per- 
 son by  whom  we  come  unto  God ;  and  when  St  Paul  speaks 
 against  the  worshipping  of  angels,  he  sets  Christ  out  in  his 
 glory  in  opposition  to  it :  For  in  him  dwelleth  all  the  fulness 
 of  the  Godhead  bodily;  and  ye  are  complete  in  kirn,  nhich  is 
 the  head  of  all  principality  and  power ;  Col.  ii.  9,  10. ;  pursuing 
 that  reason  in  a  great  many  particulars. 
 
 From  the  Scriptures,  if  we  go  to  the  first  ages  of  Christia- 
 nity, we  find  nothing  that  favours  this,  but  a  great  deal  to  the 
 contrary.    Irenseus  disclaims  the  invocation  of  angels.  The 
 memorable  passage  of  the  Church  of  Smyrna,  formerly  cited, 
 is  a  full  proof  of  their  sense  in  this  matter.  Clemens 
 Alexandrinus  and  Tertullian  do  often  mention  the  Sp^T™" 
 worship  that  was  given  to  God  only  by  prayer ;  and  cUi7Apo1' 
 so  far  were  they  at  that  time  from  praying  to  saints,% 
 that  they  prayed  for  them,  as  was  formerly  explained :  they 
 thought  they  were  not  yet  in  the  presence  of  God,  so  they  could 
 not  pray  to  them  as  long  as  that  opinion  continued.    That  form 
 of  praying  for  them  is  in  the  Apostolical  Constitutions.    In  all 
 that  collection,  which  seems  to  be  a  work  of  the  fourth  or  fifth 
 century,  there  is  not  a  word  that  intimates  their  praying  to 
 saints.    In  the  Council  of  Laodicea  *  there  is  an  express  con^ 
 demnation  of  those  who  invocated  angels :  this  is  called  a  secret 
 idolatry,  and  a  forsaking  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.    The  first 
 apologists  for  Christianity  do  arraign  the  worship  of  demons, 
 and  of  such  as  had  once  lived  on  earth,  in  a  style  that  shewed 
 they  did  not  apprehend  that  the  argument  could  be  turned 
 against  them  for  their  worshipping  either  angels  or  departed 
 saints.    When  the  Arian  controversy  arose,  the  invocation  of 
 Christ  is  urged  by  Athanasius,  Basil,  Cyril,  and  other  Fathers, 
 as  an  evident  argument  that  he  was  neither  made  nor  created; 
 since  they  did  not  pray  to  angels,  or  any  other  creatures ;  from 
 whence  they  concluded  that  Christ  was  God.    These  are  con- 
 vincing proofs  of  the  doctrine  of  the  three  first,  and  of  a  good 
 part  of  the  fourth  century. 
 
 It  is  true,  as  was  confessed  upon  the  former  head,  they  be- 
 gan with  martyrs  in  the  end  of  the  fourth  century.  They  fan- 
 cied they  heard  those  that  called  to  them  ;  and  upon  that  it  was 
 no  wonder  if  they  invocated  them,  and  so  private  prayers  to 
 them  began.    But,  as  appears  both  by  the  Constitutions  and 
 
 *  Con.  Laod.  c.  35.  Just.  Mart.  Apol.  2.  Iren.  1.  2.  c.  35.  Orig.  con.  Cels.  1.  8. 
 Tert.  de  Orat.  c.  1.  Athanas.  cont.  Arian.  Orat.  1.  3,  k  Greg.  Nazianz.  Orat.  kO. 
 Greg.  Niss.  in  Basil,  cont.  Eunap.  Basil.  Horn.  27.  cont.  Eunom.  1.  k  Epiph. 
 JLvres.  6k  G9.  78,  79.    Theod.  de  User.  Fabul.  1.  5.  c.  3.    Chrysost.  dc  Trinit. 
 
294 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXII. 
 
 several  of  the  writers  of  that  time,  the  public  offices  were  yet 
 Aug  con  preserved  pure.  St  Austin  says  plainly,  The  Gentiles 
 tF5"£n  tottt  temples,  raised  altars,  ordained  priests,  and  offer- 
 Max.  l  li  ed  sacrifices  to  their  Gods  :  but  we  do  not  erect  temples 
 Aug.de  to  our  martyrs,  as  if  they  were  Gods  ;  but  memories  as 
 L122.?eio.  to  dead  men,  whose  spirits  live  with  God :  nor  do  we 
 L8. c.27.  greet  altars,  upon  which  we  sacrifice  to  martyrs;  but 
 to  one  God  only  do  we  offer,  to  the  God  of  martyrs,  and  our 
 God;  at  which  sacrifice  they  are  named  in  their  place  and 
 order,  as  men  of  God,  who,  in  confessing  him,  have  overcome 
 the  world ;  but  they  are  not  invocated  by  the  priest  that  sacri- 
 fices. It  seems  the  form  of  praying  for  the  saints  mentioned  in 
 the  Constitutions  was  not  used  in  the  Churches  of  Africa  in  St 
 Austin's  time :  he  says,  very  positively,  that  they  did  not  pray 
 for  them,  but  did  praise  God  for  them ;  and  he  says  in  express 
 de  words,  Let  not  the  worship  of  dead  men  be  any  ])art  of 
 vera  Rei.  our  religion  :  they  ought  so  to  be  honoured  that  we  may 
 imitate  them,  but  not  worshipped.  God  was  indeed 
 prayed  to,  in  the  fifth  century,  to  hear  the  intercession  of  the 
 saints  and  martyrs;  but  there  is  a  great  difference  between 
 praying  to  God  to  favour  us  on  their  account,  and  praying 
 immediately  to  them  to  hear  us. 
 
 The  praying  to  them  imports  either  their  being  every-where, 
 or  their  knowing  all  things ;  and  as  it  is  a  blasphemous  piece 
 of  idolatry  to  ascribe  that  to  them  without  a  divine  communica- 
 tion, so  it  is  a  great  presumption  in  any  man  to  fancy  that  they 
 may  be  prayed  to,  and  to  build  so  many  parts  of  worship  upon 
 it,  barely  upon  some  probabilities  and  inferences,  without  an 
 express  revelation  about  it :  For  the  saints  may  be  perfectly 
 happy  in  the  enjoyment  of  God  without  seeing  all  things  in 
 him ;  nor  have  we  any  reason  to  carry  that  farther  than  the 
 Scripture  has  done.  But  as  the  invocating  of  martyrs  grew 
 from  a  calling  to  them  at  their  memories  to  a  general  calling 
 to  them  in  all  places,  so,  from  the  invocating  martyrs,  they 
 went  on  to  pray  to  other  saints  :  yet  that  was  at  first  ventured 
 on  doubtfully,  and  only  in  funeral  orations;  where  an  address 
 to  the  dead  person  to  pray  for  those  that  were  then  honouring 
 his  memory,  might  perhaps  come  in  as  a  figure  of  pompous 
 eloquence,  in  which  Nazianzen,  one  of  the  first  that  uses  it, 
 did  often  give  himself  a  very  great  compass;  yet  he  and  others 
 soften  such  figures  with  this,  If  there  is  any  sense  or  knowledge 
 of  what  we  do  below. 
 
 From  prayers  to  God  to  receive  the  intercessions  of  mar- 
 tyrs and  saints,  it  came  in  later  ages  to  be  usual  to  have  Lita- 
 nies to  them,  and  to  pray  immediately  to  them ;  but  at  first 
 this  was  only  a  desire  to  them  to  pray  for  those  who  did  thus 
 invocate  them,  Ora  pro  nobis.  But  so  impossible  is  it  to  re- 
 strain superstition  when  it  has  once  got  head  and  has  prevailed, 
 
Art.  XXII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 295 
 
 that  in  conclusion  all  tilings  that  were  asked  either  of  God 
 or  Christ  came  to  be  asked  from  the  saints,  in  the  same  humi- 
 lity both  of  gesture  and  expression ;  in  which,  if  there  was  any 
 difference  made,  it  seemed  to  be  rather  on  the  side  of  the  blessed 
 Virgin  and  the  saints,  as  appears  by  the  ten  Aves  for  one  Pater ; 
 and  that  humble  prostration  in  which  all  fall  down  every  day 
 to  worship  her.  The  prayer  used  constantly  to  her,  Maria, 
 Mater  gratia,  Mater  misericordice,  tu  nos  ab  hoste  protege,  et 
 hora  mortis  suscipe,  is  an  immediate  acknowledgment  of  her 
 as  the  giver  of  these  things ;  such  are,  Solve  vincla  reis,  prqfer 
 lumen  cacis,  with  many  others  of  that  nature.  The  collec- 
 tion of  these  swells  to  a  huge  bulk  :  Jure  Matris  impera  Rc- 
 demptori,  is  an  allowed  address  to  her ;  not  to  mention  an  in- 
 finity of  most  scandalous  ones,  that  are  not  only  tolerated  but 
 encouraged  in  that  Church.  Altars  are  consecrated  to  her 
 honour,  and  to  the  honour  of  other  saints ;  but  which  is  more, 
 the  sacrifice  of  the  mass  is  offered  up  to  her  honour,  and  to 
 the  honour  of  the  saints  :  and,  in  the  form  of  absolution,  the 
 pardon  of  sins,  the  increase  of  grace,  and  eternal  life,  are  pray- 
 ed for  to  the  penitent  by  the  virtue  of  the  passion  of  Christ, 
 and  the  merits  of  the  blessed  Virgin,  and  of  all  the  saints. 
 The  pardon  of  sins  and  eternal  life  are  also  prayed  for  from 
 angels,  Angelorum  concio  sacra,  archangelorum  turma  inclyta, 
 nostra  diluant  jam  peccata,  prcestando  supernam  cceli  gloriam. 
 Many  strains  of  this  kind  are  to  be  found  in  the  hymns  and 
 other  public  offices  of  that  Church  ;  and  though,  in  the  late 
 corrections  of  their  offices,  some  of  the  more  scandalous  are 
 left  out,  yet  those  here  cited,  with  a  great  many  more  to  the 
 same  purpose,  are  still  preserved.  And  the  Council  of  Trent 
 did  plainly  intend  to  connive  at  all  these  things;  for  they 
 did  not  restrain  the  invocation  of  saints  only  to  be  an  address 
 to  them  to  pray  lor  us,  which  is  the  common  disguise  with 
 which  they  study  to  cover  this  matter;  but,  by  the  decree  of 
 the  Council,  the  flying  to  their  help  and  assistance,  as  well  as 
 to  their  intercessio?i,  is  encouraged :  which  shews  that  the 
 Council  would  not  limit  this  part  of  their  devotion  to  a  bare 
 Or  a  pro  nobis  :  that  might  have  seemed  flat  and  low,  and  so 
 it  might  have  discouraged  it;  therefore  they  made  use  of  words 
 that  will  go  as  far  as  superstition  can  carry  them.  So  that  if 
 the  invocating  them,  if  the  making  vows  to  them,  the  dedicat- 
 ing themselves  to  them ;  if  the  flying  to  them  in  all  distresses, 
 in  the  same  acts,  and  in  the  same  words  that  the  Scriptures 
 teach  us  \o  fly  to  God  with ;  and  if  all  the  studied  honours  of 
 processions  and  other  pompous  rites  towards  their  images,  that 
 are  invented  to  do  them  honour ;  if,  I  say,  all  this  does  amount 
 to  idolatry,  then  we  are  sure  they  are  guilty  of  it ;  since  they 
 honour  the  creature  not  only  besides,  but  (in  the  full  extent  of 
 that  phrase)  more  than  the  Creator,  Rom.  i.  25. 
 
296 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXII. 
 
 And  now  let  us  see  what  is  the  foundation  of  all  these  de- 
 votions, against  which  we  bring  arguments  that,  to  speak  mo- 
 destly of  them,  are  certainly  such  that  there  should  be  matters 
 of  great  weight  in  the  other  scale  to  balance  them.  Nothing 
 is  pretended  from  Scripture,  nor  from  any  thing  that  is  genuine, 
 for  above  three  hundred  and  fifty  years  after  Christ.  In  a 
 word,  the  practice  of  the  Church  since  the  end  of  the  fourth 
 century,  and  the  authority  of  tradition,  of  Popes  and  Councils, 
 must  bear  this  burthen.  These  are  consequences  that  do  not 
 much  affect  us ;  for  though  we  pay  great  respect  to  many  great 
 men  that  flourished  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries,  yet  we 
 cannot  compare  that  age  with  the  three  that  went  before  it. 
 Those  great  men  give  us  a  sad  account  of  the  corruptions  of 
 that  time,  not  only  among  the  laity  but  the  clergy ;  and  their 
 being  so  flexible  in  matters  of  faith,  as  they  appeared  to  be  in 
 the  whole  course  of  the  Arian  controversy,  gives  us  very  just 
 reason  to  suspect  the  practices  of  that  age,  in  which  the  pro- 
 tection and  encouragements  that  the  Church  received  from 
 the  first  Christian  Emperors  were  not  improved  to  the  best 
 advantage. 
 
 The  justest  abatement  that  we  can  offer  for  this  corruption, 
 which  is  too  manifest  to  be  either  denied  or  justified,  is  this, — 
 they  were  then  engaged  with  the  heathens,  and  were  much 
 set  on  bringing  them  over  to  the  Christian  religion.  In  order 
 to  that,  it  was  very  natural  for  them  to  think  of  all  methods 
 possible  to  accommodate  Christianity  to  their  taste.  It  was  per- 
 haps observed  how  far  the  Apostles  complied  with  the  Jews,  that 
 they  might  gain  them.  St  Paul  had  said,  that  to  the  Jews  he 
 became  a  Jew;  and  to  them  that  were  without  the  Law,  that  is, 
 the  Gentiles,  as  one  without  Law;  that  by  all  means  he  might 
 gain  some,  1  Cor,  ix.  20 — 22.  They  might  think,  that  if 
 the  Jews,  who  had  abused  the  light  of  a  revealed  religion,  who 
 had  rejected  and  crucified  the  Messias,  and  persecuted  his  fol- 
 lowers, and  had  in  all  respects  corrupted  both  their  doctrine 
 and  their  morals,  were  waited  on  and  complied  with  in  the 
 observance  of  that  very  Law  which  was  abrogated  by  the  death 
 of  Christ,  but  was  still  insisted  on  by  them  as  of  perpetual 
 obligation ;  and  yet,  that  after  the  Apostles  had  made  a  solemn 
 decision  in  the  matter,  they  continued  to  conform  themselves 
 to  that  Law ;  all  this  might  be  applied  with  some  advantages 
 to  this  matter.  The  Gentiles  had  nothing  but  the  light  of 
 nature  to  govern  them ;  they  might  seem  willing  to  become 
 Christians,  but  they  still  despised  the  nakedness  and  simplicity 
 of  that  religion.  And  it  is  reasonable  enough  to  think,  that 
 the  Emperors  and  other  great  men  might,  in  a  political  view, 
 considering  the  vast  strength  of  heathenism,  press  the  Bishops 
 of  those  times  to  use  all  imaginable  ways  to  adorn  Christianity 
 with  such  an   exterior  form  of  worship  as  might  be  most 
 
Art.  XXII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 297 
 
 acceptable  to  them,  and  might  most  probably  bring  them  over 
 to  it. 
 
 The  Christians  had  long  felt  the  weight  of  persecution  from 
 them,  and  were,  no  doubt,  much  frightened  with  the  danger 
 of  a  relapse  in  Julian's  time.  It  is  natural  to  all  men  to  de- 
 sire to  be  safe,  and  to  weaken  the  numbers  of  their  implacable 
 enemies.  In  that  state  of  things  we  do  plainly  see  they  began 
 to  comply  in  lesser  matters :  for  whereas  in  the  first  ages  the 
 Christians  were  often  reproached  with  this,  that  they  had  no 
 temples,  altars,  sacrifices,  nor  priests,  they  changed  their  dia- 
 lect in  all  those  points ;  so  we  have  reason  to  believe  that  this 
 was  carried  further.  The  vulgar  are  more  easily  wrought 
 upon  in  greater  points  of  speculation  than  in  some  small  ritual 
 matters ;  because  they  do  not  understand  the  one,  and  so  are 
 not  much  concerned  about  it :  but  the  other  is  more  sensible, 
 and  lies  within  their  compass.  We  find  some  in  Palestine 
 kept  images  in  their  houses,  as  Eusebius  tells  us ;  others  began 
 in  Spain  to  light  candles  by  day-light,  and  to  paint  the  walls 
 of  their  churches :  and  though  these  things  were  condemned 
 by  the  Council  of  Elliberis,  yet  we  see,  by  what  St  Jerome 
 has  cited  out  of  Vigilantius,  that  the  spirit  of  superstition  did 
 work  strongly  among  them.  We  hear  of  none  that  writ  against 
 those  abuses  besides  Vigilantius  :  yet  Jerome  tells  us,  that  many 
 Bishops  were  of  the  same  mind  with  him,  with  whom  he  is  so 
 angry  as  to  doubt  whether  they  deserved  to  be  called  Bishops. 
 Most  of  these  abuses  had  also  specious  beginnings,  and  went 
 on  insensibly  :  where  they  made  greater  steps,  we  find  an  op- 
 position to  them.  Epiphanius  is  very  severe  upon  Ep;Fh. 
 the  Collyridians,  for  their  worshipping  the  blessed  H£Erei-"9 
 Virgin.  And  though  they  did  it  by  offering  up  a  cake  to  her, 
 yet,  if  any  will  read  all  that  he  says  against  that  superstition, 
 they  will  clearly  see  that  no  prayers  were  then  offered  up  to 
 her  by  the  orthodox,  and  that  he  rejects  the  thought  of  it  with 
 indignation.  But  the  respect  paid  the  martyrs,  and  the  opi- 
 nion that  they  were  still  hovering  about  their  tombs,  might  make 
 the  calling  to  them  for  their  prayers  seem  to  be  like  one  man's 
 desiring  the  prayers  of  other  good  men :  and  when  a  thing  of 
 this  kind  is  once  begun,  it  naturally  goes  on.  Of  all  this  we 
 see  a  particular  account  in  a  discourse  writ  on  purpose  on  this 
 argument — of  curing  the  affections  and  inclinations  of  the 
 Greeks — by  Theodoret,  who  may  be  justly  reckoned  Theod.  de 
 among  the  greatest  men  of  antiquity  ;  and  in  it  he  in-  JEftla 
 sists  upon  this  particular,  of  proposing  to  them  the  de  Mart>r 
 saints  and  martyrs  instead  of  their  Gods.  And  there  is  no 
 doubt  to  be  made  but  they  found  the  effects  of  this  compliance  : 
 many  heathens  were  every  day  coming  over  to  the  Christian 
 religion  :  and  it  might  then  perhaps  be  intended  to  lay  those 
 aside,  when  the  heathens  were  once  brought  over. 
 
298 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXII. 
 
 To  all  which  this  must  be  added,  that  the  good  men  of  that 
 time  had  not  the  spirit  of  prophecy,  and  could  not  foresee  what 
 progress  this  might  make,  and  to  what  an  excess  it  might  grow. 
 They  had  nothing  of  that  kind  in  their  view :  so  that  between 
 charity  and  policy,  between  a  desire  to  bring  over  multitudes 
 to  their  faith,  and  an  inclination  to  secure  themselves,  it  is  not 
 at  all  to  be  wondered  at,  by  any  who  considers  all  the  circum- 
 stances of  those  ages,  that  these  corruptions  should  have  got 
 into  the  Church,  and  much  less,  having  once  got  in,  they 
 should  have  gone  on  so  fast,  and  be  carried  so  far. 
 
 Thus  I  have  offered  all  the  considerations  that  arise  from 
 the  state  of  things  at  that  time,  to  shew  how  far  we  do  still 
 preserve  the  respect  due  to  the  Fathers  of  those  ages,  even  when 
 we  confess  that  they  were  men,  and  that  something  of  human 
 nature  appeared  in  this  piece  of  their  conduct.  This  can  be 
 made  no  argument  for  later  ages,  who,  having  no  heathens 
 among  them,  are  under  no  temptations  to  comply  with  any  of 
 the  parts  of  heathenism  to  gain  them.  And  now  that  the  abuse 
 of  these  matters  is  become  so  scandalous,  and  has  spread  itself 
 so  far,  how  much  soever  we  may  excuse  those  ages  in  which 
 we  discern  the  first  beginnings,  and  as  it  were  the  small  heads 
 of  that  which  has  since  overflowed  Christendom,  yet  we  can 
 by  no  means  bear  even  with  those  beginnings,  which  have  had 
 such  dismal  effects ;  and  therefore  we  have  reduced  the  wor- 
 ship of  God  to  the  simplicity  of  the  Scripture  times,  and  of 
 the  first  three  centuries ;  and,  for  the  fourth,  we  reverence  it  so 
 much  on  other  accounts,  that  for  the  sake  of  these  we  are  un- 
 willing to  reflect  too  much  on  this. 
 
 Another  consideration  urged  for  the  invocation  of  saints  is, 
 that  they  seeing  God,  we  have  reason  to  believe  that  they  see 
 in  him,  if  not  all  things,  yet  at  least  all  the  concerns  of  the 
 Church  of  which  they  are  still  parts;  and  they  being  in  a 
 most  perfect  state  of  charity,  they  must  certainly  love  the  souls 
 of  their  brethren  here  below  :  So  that  if  saints  on  earth,  whose 
 charity  is  not  yet  perfect,  do  pray  for  one  another  here  on 
 earth,  they  in  that  state  of  perfection  do  certainly  pray  most 
 fervently  for  them  :  and  as  we  here  on  earth  do  desire  the 
 prayers  of  others,  it  may  be  as  reasonable  and  much  more 
 useful  to  have  recourse  to  their  prayers,  who  are  both  in  a 
 higher  state  of  favour  with  God,  and  have  a  more  exalted 
 charity ;  by  which  their  intercessions  will  be  both  more  ear- 
 nest and  more  prevalent.  They  think  also,  that  this  honour 
 paid  the  saints,  is  an  honour  done  to  God,  who  is  glorified  in 
 them ;  and  since  he  is  the  acknowledged  fountain  of  all,  they 
 think  that  all  the  worship  offered  to  them  ends  and  terminates 
 in  God.  They  think,  as  princes  are  come  at  by  the  means  of 
 those  that  are  in  favour  with  them,  so  we  ought  to  come  to 
 God  by  the  intercession  of  the  saints;  that  all  our  prayers  to 
 
Art.  XXII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 299 
 
 them  are  to  be  understood  to  amount  to  no  more  than  a  desire 
 to  them  to  intercede  for  us ;  and,  finally,  that  the  offering  of 
 sacrifice  is  an  act  of  worship  that  can  indeed  be  made  only  to 
 God,  but  that  all  other  acts  of  devotion  and  respect  may  be 
 given  to  the  saints ;  and  the  sublimest  degrees  of  them  may  be 
 offered  to  the  blessed  Virgin,  as  the  mother  of  Christ,  in  a 
 peculiar  rank  by  herself :  for  they  range  the  order  of  worship 
 into  Latria,  that  is  due  only  to  God ;  Hypcrdulia,  that  belongs 
 to  the  blessed  Virgin ;  and  Dulia,  that  belongs  to  the  other 
 Saints. 
 
 It  were  easy  to  retort  all  this,  by  putting  it  into  the  mouth 
 of  a  heathen;  and  shewing  how  well  it  would  fit  all  those 
 parts  of  worship  that  they  offered  to  demons  or  intelligent 
 spirits,  and  to  deified  men  among  them.  This  is  obvious 
 enough  to  such  as  have  read  what  the  first  apologists  for  Chris- 
 tianity have  writ  upon  those  heads.  But,  to  take  this  to  pieces, 
 we  have  no  reason  to  believe  that  the  saints  see  all  the  concerns 
 of  the  Church.  God  can  make  them  perfectly  happy  without 
 this ;  and  if  we  think  the  seeing  them  is  a  necessary  ingredient 
 of  perfect  happiness,  we  must  from  thence  conclude,  that  they 
 do  also  see  the  whole  chain  of  providence ;  otherwise  they  may 
 seem  to  be  in  some  suspense,  which,  according  to  our  notions, 
 is  not  consistent  with  perfect  happiness.  For  if  they  see  the 
 persecutions  of  the  Church,  and  the  miseries  of  Christians, 
 without  seeing  on  to  the  end  in  what  all  that  will  issue,  this 
 seems  to  be  a  stop  to  their  entire  joy.  And  if  they  see  the 
 final  issue,  and  know  what  God  is  to  do,  then  we  cannot  ima- 
 gine that  they  can  intercede  against  it,  or  indeed  for  it.  To 
 us,  who  know  not  the  hidden  counsels  of  God,  prayer  is  ne- 
 cessary and  commanded ;  but  it  seems  inconsistent  with  a  state 
 in  which  all  these  events  are  known.  This  which  they  lay  for 
 the  foundation  of  prayers  to  saints,  is  a  thing  concerning  which 
 God  has  revealed  nothing  to  us,  and  in  which  we  can  have  no 
 certainty.  God  has  commanded  us  to  pray  for  one  another  ; 
 to  join  our  prayers  together  ;  and  we  have  clear  warrants  for 
 desiring  the  intercession  of  others.  It  is  a  high  act  of  charitv, 
 and  a  great  instance  of  the  mutual  love  that  ought  to  be  among 
 Christians ;  it  is  a  part  of  the  communion  of  the  saints :  and 
 as  they  do  certainly  know,  that  those  whose  assistance  thev 
 desire  understand  their  wants  when  they  signify  them  to  them, 
 so  they  are  sure  that  God  has  commanded  this  mutual  praying 
 one  for  another.  It  is  a  strange  thing  therefore  to  argue  from 
 what  God  has  commanded,  and  which  may  have  many  good 
 effects,  and  can  have  no  bad  one,  to  that  which  he  has  not 
 commanded ;  on  the  contrary,  against  which  there  are  many 
 plain  intimations  in  Scripture,  and  which  may  have  many  bad 
 effects,  and  we  are  not  sure  that  it  can  have  any  one  that  is 
 good.    Beside  that  the  solemnity  of  devotion  and  prayer  is  a 
 
300 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Am.  XXII. 
 
 thing  very  different  from  our  desiring  the  prayers  of  such  as 
 are  alive,  the  one  is  as  visibly  an  act  of  religious  worship  as 
 the  other  is  not.  God  has  called  himself  a  jealous  God,  that 
 will  not  give  his  glory  to  another,  Isa.  xlii.  8. ;  and  through 
 the  whole  Scripture,  prayer  is  represented  as  a  main  part  of 
 the  service  due  to  him,  and  as  that  in  which  he  takes  the 
 most  pleasure.  It  is  a  sacrifice,  and  is  so  called,  Psal.  cxli.  2. 
 Hos.  xiv.  2.  Psal.  lxv.  2.;  and  every  other  sacrifice  can  only 
 be  accepted  of  God  as  it  is  accompanied  with  the  internal  acts 
 of  prayers  and  praises,  which  are  the  spiritual  sacrifices  with 
 which  God  is  well  pleased.  The  only  thing  which  the  Church 
 of  Rome  reserves  to  God,  proves  to  be  the  sacrifice  of  the 
 mass  ;  which,  as  shall  appear  upon  another  Article,  is  a  sacri- 
 fice that  they  have  invented,  but  which  is  nowhere  commanded 
 by  God :  so  that  if  this  is  well  made  out,  there  will  be  nothing 
 reserved  to  God  to  be  the  act  of  their  Latria  ;  though  it  is  not 
 to  be  forgotten,  that  even  the  Virgin  and  the  Saints  have  a 
 share  in  that  sacrifice. 
 
 The  excusing  this,  from  the  addresses  made  to  princes  by 
 those  that  are  in  favour  with  them,  is  as  bad  as  the  thing  itself ; 
 it  gives  us  a  low  idea  of  God,  and  of  Christ,  and  of  that  good- 
 ness and  mercy  that  is  so  often  declared  to  be  infinite,  as  if 
 he  were  to  be  addressed  to  by  those  about  him,  and  might  not 
 be  come  to  without  an  interposition  :  whereas  the  Scriptures 
 speak  always  of  God  as  a  hearer  of  prayer,  and  as  ready  to 
 accept  of  and  answer  the  prayers  of  his  people.  To  seek  to 
 other  assistances,  looks  as  if  the  mercies  of  God  were  not  infi- 
 nite, or  the  intercessions  of  Christ  were  not  of  infinite  efficacy. 
 This  is  a  corrupting  of  the  main  design  of  the  gospel,  which 
 is  to  draw  our  affections  wholly  to  God,  to  free  us  from  all  low 
 notions  of  him,  and  from  every  thing  that  may  incline  us  to 
 idolatry  or  superstition. 
 
 Thus  I  have  gone  through  all  the  heads  contained  in  this 
 Article.  It  seemed  necessary  to  explain  these  with  a  due 
 copiousness,  they  being  not  only  points  of  speculation,  in 
 which  errors  are  not  always  so  dangerous,  but  practical  things, 
 which  enter  into  the  worship  of  God,  and  that  run  through  it. 
 And  certainly  it  is  the  will  of  God,  that  we  should  preserve  it 
 pure  from  being  corrupted  with  heathenish  or  idolatrous  prac- 
 tices. It  seems  to  be  the  chief  end  of  revealed  religion  to  de- 
 liver the  world  from  idolatry.  A  great  part  of  the  Mosaical 
 Law  did  consist  of  rites,  of  which  we  can  give  no  other  account, 
 that  is  so  like  to  be  true,  as,  that  they  were  fences  and  hedges 
 that  were  intended  to  keep  that  nation  in  the  greatest  opposi- 
 tion, and  at  the  utmost  distance  possible,  from  idolatry :  we 
 cannot  therefore  think  that  in  the  Christian  religion,  in  which 
 wo  are  carried  to  higher  notions  of  God,  and  to  a  more  spiri- 
 tual way  of  worshipping  him,  there  should  be  such  an  approach 
 
Art.  XXII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 Ml 
 
 to  some  of  the  worst  pieces  of  Gentilism,  that  it  seems  to  be 
 outdone  by  Christians  in  some  of  its  most  scandalous  parts — 
 such  as  the  worship  of  subordinate  Gods  and  of  images.  These 
 are  the  chief  grounds  upon  which  we  separate  from  the  Roman 
 communion  ;  since  we  cannot  have  fellowship  with  them  unless 
 we  will  join  in  those  acts,  which  we  look  on  as  direct  violations 
 of  the  First  and  Second  Commandments.  God  is  a  jealous 
 God,  and  therefore  we  must  rather  venture  on  their  wrath, 
 how  bur  fling  soever  it  may  be,  than  on  his,  who  is  a  consuming 
 fire. 
 
 ARTICLE  XXIII. 
 
 OF  MINISTERING  IN  THE  CONGREGATION. 
 
 It  is  not  lawful  for  any  Man  to  take  upon  him  the  Office  of 
 public  Preaching,  or  Ministering  the  Sacraments  in  the 
 Congregation,  before  he  be  lawfully  called  and  sent  to  execute 
 the  same.  And  those  we  ought  to  judge  lawfully  called  and 
 sent,  which  be  chosen  and  called  to  this  work  by  Men  who 
 hare  public  authority  given  unto  them,  in  the  Congregation, 
 to  call  and  send  Ministers  into  the  Lord's  Vineyard. 
 
 We  have  two  particulars  fixed  in  this  Article  : — The  first  is 
 against  any  that  shall  assume  to  themselves,  without  a  lawful 
 vocation,  the  authority  of  dispensing  the  things  of  God :  the 
 second  is,  the  denning,  in  very  general  words,  what  it  is  that 
 makes  a  lawful  call.  As  to  the  first,  it  will  bear  no  great  dif- 
 ficulty :  we  see  in  the  Old  Dispensation,  that  the  family,  the 
 age,  and  the  qualifications  of  those  that  might  serve  in  the 
 priesthood,  are  very  particularly  set  forth.  In  the  New  Tes- 
 tament, our  Lord  called  the  twelve  Apostles,  and  sent  them 
 out :  he  also  sent  out  upon  another  occasion  seventy  Disciples  : 
 and  before  he  left  his  Apostles  he  told  them,  that  as  his  Fa- 
 ther had  sent  him,  so  he  sent  them,  John  xx.  21. ;  which  seems 
 to  import,  that  as  he  was  sent  into  the  world  with  this,  among 
 other  powers,  that  he  might  send  others  in  his  name,  so  he 
 likewise  empowered  them  to  do  the  same :  and  when  they  went 
 planting  churches,  as  they  took  some  to  be  companions  of  la- 
 bour with  themselves,  so  they  appointed  others  over  the  parti- 
 cular churches  in  which  they  fixed  them;  such  were  Epaphras 
 or  Epaphroditus  at  Colosse,  Timothy  at  Ephesus,  and  Titus  in 
 Crete.  To  them  the  Apostles  gave  authority ;  otherwise  it  was 
 a  needless  thing  to  write  so  many  directions  to  them,  in  order 
 to  their  conduct.    They  had  the  deposition  of  the  faith,  with 
 
302 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXIII. 
 
 which  they  were  chiefly  entrusted,  2  Tim.  i.  13.  Concerning 
 the  succession  in  which  that  was  to  be  continued,  we  have  these 
 words  of  St  Paul :  The  things  which  thou  hast  heard  of  me 
 among  many  witnesses,  the  same  commit  thou  to  faithful  men, 
 who  shall  be  able  to  teach  others  also,  2  Tim.  ii.  2.  To  them 
 directions  are  given,  concerning  all  the  different  parts  of  their 
 worship;  supplications,  prayers,  intercessions,  and  giving  of 
 thanks,  1  Tim.  ii.  1 — 3. ;  and  also  the  keeping  up  the  decency 
 of  the  worship,  and  the  not  suffering  of  women  to  teach ;  like 
 the  women  priests  among  the  heathens,  who  were  believed  to 
 be  filled  with  a  Bacchic  fury,  I  Tim.  ii.  12.  To  them  are  di- 
 rected all  the  qualifications  of  such  as  might  be  made  either 
 Bishops  or  Deacons,  1  Tim.  iii. :  they  were  to  examine  them  ac- 
 cording to  these,  and  either  to  receive  or  reject  them.  All  this 
 was  directed  to  Timothy,  that  he  might  know  how  he  ought  to 
 behave  himself  in  the  house  of  God,  1  Tim.  iii.  15.  He  had  au- 
 thority given  him  to  rebuke  and  entreat,  to  honour  and  to  cen- 
 sure, 1  Tim.  v.  1.  3.  17.  19.  22.  He  was  to  order  what  widows 
 might  be  received  into  the  number,  and  who  should  be  refused. 
 He  was  to  receive  accusations  against  Elders,  or  Presbyters, 
 according  to  directed  methods,  and  was  either  to  censure  some, 
 or  to  lay  hands  on  others,  as  should  agree  with  the  rules  that 
 were  set  him ;  and,  in  conclusion,  he  is  very  solemnly  charged 
 to  keep  that  which  was  committed  to  his  trust,  1  Tim.  vi.  20. 
 He  is  required  rightly  to  divide  the  word  of  truth,  to  preach  the 
 word,  to  be  instant  in  season  and  out  of  season,  to  reprove,  re- 
 buke,  and  exhort,  and  to  do  the  work  of  an  Evangelist,  and  to 
 make  full  proof  of  his  ministry,  2  Tim.  ii.  15.  iv.  2.  5.  Some 
 of  the  same  things  are  charged  upon  Titus,  whom  St  Paul  had 
 left  in  Crete  to  set  in  order  the  things  that  were  wanting,  and 
 to  ordain  Elders  in  every  city,  Tit.  i.  5.  9.  13.  Several  of  the 
 characters  by  which  he  was  to  try  them  are  also  set  down :  he 
 is  charged  to  rebuke  the  people  sharply,  and  to  speak  the  things 
 that  became  sound  doctrine :  he  is  instructed  concerning  the 
 doctrines  which  he  was  to  teach,  and  those  which  he  was  to 
 avoid;  and  also  how  to  censure  an  heretic :  he  was  to  admonish 
 him  twice,  Tit.  iii.  10.;  and  if  that  did  not  prevail,  he  was  to 
 reject  him,  by  some  public  censure. 
 
 These  rules  given  to  Timothy  and  Titus  do  plainly  import, 
 that  there  was  to  be  an  authority  in  the  Church,  and  that  no 
 man  was  to  assume  this  authority  to  himself ;  according  to  that 
 maxim,  that  seems  to  be  founded  on  the  light  of  nature,  as  well 
 as  it  is*  set  down  in  Scripture  as  a  standing  rule  agreed  to  in 
 all  times  and  places,  No  man  takcth  this  honour  to  himself,  but 
 he  that  is  called  of  God,  as  was  Aaron,  Heb.  v.  4. 
 
 St  Paul,  in  his  Epistles  to  the  Romans  and  Corinthians, 
 (Rom.  xii.  6 — 8.  1  Cor.  xii.  28.),  did  reckon  up  the  several 
 orders  and  functions  that  God  had  set  in  his  Church  ;  and  in 
 
Akt.  XXIII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 303 
 
 his  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians  (Eph.  iv.  11,  12,  13.  16.)  he 
 shews,  that  these  were  not  transient  but  lasting  constitutions ; 
 for  there,  as  he  reckons  the  Apostles,  Prophets,  Evangelists, 
 Pastors,  and  Teachers,  as  the  gifts  which  Christ  at  his  ascen- 
 sion had  given  to  men ;  so  he  tells  the  ends  for  which  they  were 
 given— -for  the  perfecting  the  saints,  (by  perfecting  seems  to  be 
 meant  the  initiating  them  by  holy  mysteries,  rather  than  the 
 compacting  or  putting  them  in  joint;  for  as  that  is  the  proper 
 signification  of  the  word,  so  it  being  set  first,  the  other  things 
 that  come  after  it  make  that  the  strict  sense  of  perfecting ; 
 that  is,  completing  does  not  so  well  agree  with  the  period),  for 
 the  work  of  the  ministry,  (the  whole  ecclesiastical  or  sacred  ser- 
 vices),^/" the  edifying  the  body  of  Christ,  (to  which  instructing, 
 exhorting,  comforting,  and  all  the  other  parts  of  preaching- 
 may  well  be  reduced) ;  and  then  the  duration  of  these  gifts  is 
 defined,  till  we  all  come  in  the  unity  of  the  faith,  and  of  the 
 knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God,  unto  a  perfect  man.  This  seems 
 to  import  the  whole  state  of  this  life. 
 
 We  cannot  think  that  all  this  belonged  only  to  the  infancy 
 of  the  Church,  and  that  it  was  to  be  laid  aside  by  her  when 
 she  was  further  advanced :  for  when  we  consider,  that  in  the 
 beginnings  of  Christianity  there  was  so  liberal  an  effusion  of 
 the  Holy  Spirit  poured  out  upon  such  great  numbers,  who  had 
 very  extraordinary  credentials,  miracles  and  the  gift  of  tongues, 
 to  prove  their  mission ;  it  does  not  seem  so  necessary  in  such 
 a  time,  or  rather  for  the  sake  of  such  a  time  only,  to  have  set- 
 tled those  functions  in  the  Church,  and  that  the  Apostles 
 should  have  ordained  elders  in  every  Church,  Acts  xiv.  23.  Those 
 extraordinary  gifts  that  were  then,  without  any  authoritative 
 settlement,  might  have  served  in  that  time  to  have  procured  to 
 men  so  qualified  all  due  regards.  We  have  therefore  much  bet- 
 ter reason  to  conclude,  that  this  was  settled  at  that  time  chiefly 
 with  respect  to  the  following  ages,  which,  as  they  were  to  fall 
 off  from  that  zeal  and  purity  that  did  then  reign  among  them, 
 so  they  would  need  rule  and  government  to  maintain  the  unity 
 of  the  Church,  and  the  order  of  sacred  things.  And  for  that 
 reason  chiefly  we  may  conclude,  that  the  Apostles  settled  order 
 and  government  in  the  Church,  not  so  much  for  the  age  in 
 which  they  themselves  lived,  as  once  to  establish  and  give  credit 
 to  constitutions  that  they  foresaw  would  be  yet  more  necessary 
 to  the  succeeding  ages. 
 
 This  is  confirmed  by  that  which  is  in  the  Epistle  to  the  He- 
 brews, both  concerning  those  who  had  ruled  over  them,  Heb. 
 xiii.  7.  17.  and  those  who  were  then  their  guides.  St  Peter 
 gives  directions  to  the  elders  of  the  Churches  to  whom  he  writ, 
 how  they  ought  both  to  feed  and  govern  the flock,  1  Pet.  v.  2,  3. ; 
 and  his  charging  them  not  to  do  it  out  of  covetousness,  or  with 
 ambition,  insinuates  that  either  some  were  beginning  to  do  so, 
 
304 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXIII. 
 
 or  that,  in  a  spirit  of  prophecy,  he  foresaw  that  some  might  fall 
 under  such  corruptions.  This  is  hint  enough  to  teach  us,  that, 
 though  such  things  should  happen,  they  could  furnish  no  ar- 
 gument against  the  function.  Abuses  ought  to  be  corrected ; 
 but  upon  that  pretence  the  function  ought  not  to  be  taken 
 away. 
 
 If  from  the  Scriptures  we  go  to  the  first  writings  of  Chris- 
 tians, we  find  that  the  main  subject  of  St  Clemens'  and  St  Ig- 
 natius' Epistles,  is  to  keep  the  Churches  in  order  and  union,  in 
 subjection  to  their  pastors,  and  in  the  due  subordination  of  all 
 the  members  of  the  body  one  to  another.  After  the  first  age 
 the  thing  grows  too  clear  to  need  any  further  proof.  The  ar- 
 gument for  this  from  the  standing  rules  of  order,  of  decency, 
 of  the  authority  in  which  the  holy  things  ought  to  be  main- 
 tained, and  the  care  that  must  be  taken  to  repress  vanity  and 
 insolence,  and  all  the  extravagances  of  light  and  ungoverned 
 fancies,  is  very  clear.  For  if  every  man  may  assume  authority 
 to  preach  and  perform  holy  functions,  it  is  certain  religion  must 
 fall  into  disorder,  and  under  contempt.  Hot-headed  men  of 
 warm  fancies  and  voluble  tongues,  with  very  little  knowledge 
 and  discretion,  would  be  apt  to  thrust  themselves  on  to  the 
 teaching  and  governing  others,  if  they  themselves  were  under 
 no  government.  This  would  soon  make  the  public  service  of 
 God  to  be  loathed,  and  break  and  dissolve  the  whole  body. 
 
 A  few  men  of  livelier  thoughts,  that  begin  to  set  on  foot  such 
 ways,  might  for  some  time  maintain  a  little  credit ;  yet  so  many 
 others  would  follow  in  at  that  breach  which  they  had  once  made 
 on  public  order,  that  it  could  not  be  possible  to  keep  the  so- 
 ciety of  Christians  under  any  method,  if  this  were  once  allowed. 
 And  therefore  those  who  in  their  heart  hate  the  Christian  re- 
 ligion, and  desire  to  see  it  fall  under  a  more  general  contempt, 
 know  well  what  they  do  when  they  encourage  all  those  enthu- 
 siasts that  destroy  order;  hoping,  by  the  credit  which  their 
 outward  appearances  may  give  them,  to  compass  that  which 
 the  others  know  themselves  to  be  too  obnoxious  to  hope  that 
 they  can  ever  have  credit  enough  to  persuade  the  world  to : 
 whereas  those  poor  deluded  men  do  not  see  what  properties 
 the  others  make  of  them.  The  morals  of  infidels  shew  that 
 they  hate  all  religions  equally,  or  with  this  difference,  that  the 
 stricter  any  are  they  must  hate  them  the  more ;  the  root  of 
 their  quarrel  being  at  all  religion  and  virtue.  And  it  is  cer- 
 tain, as  it  is  that  which  those  who  drive  it  on  see  well,  and 
 therefore  they  drive  it  on,  that  if  once  the  public  order  and 
 national  constitution  of  a  Church  is  dissolved,  the  strength 
 and  power,  as  well  as  the  order  and  beauty  of  all  religion  will 
 soon  go  after  it;  for,  humanly  speaking,  it  cannot  subsist  with- 
 out it. 
 
AhT.  XXIII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 305 
 
 I  come  in  the  next  place  to  consider  the  second  part  of  this 
 Article,  which  is  the  definition  here  given  of  those  that  are  law- 
 fully called  and  sent.  This  is  put  in  very  general  words,  far  from 
 that  magisterial  stiffness  in  which  some  have  taken  upon  them 
 to  dictate  in  this  matter.  The  Article  does  not  resolve  this 
 into  any  particular  constitution,  but  leaves  the  matter  open  and 
 at  large  for  such  accidents  as  had  happened,  and  such  as  might 
 still  happen.  They  who  drew  it  had  the  state  of  the  several 
 Churches  before  their  eyes,  that  had  been  differently  reformed : 
 and  although  their  own  had  been  less  forced  to  go  out  of  the 
 beaten  path  than  any  other,  yet  they  knew  that  all  things  among 
 themselves  had  not  gone  according  to  those  rules  that  ought  to 
 be  sacred  in  regular  times :  necessity  has  no  law,  and  is  a  law 
 to  itself. 
 
 This  is  the  difference  between  those  things  that  are  the  means 
 of  salvation,  and  the  precepts  that  are  only  necessary  because 
 they  are  commanded.  Those  things  which  are  the  means,  such 
 as  faith,  repentance,  and  new  obedience,  are  indispensable- — 
 they  oblige  all  men,  and  at  all  times  alike;  because  they  have 
 a  natural  influence  on  us,  to  make  us  fit  and  capable  subjects 
 of  the  mercy  of  God  :  but  such  things  as  are  necessary  only  by 
 virtue  of  a  command  of  God,  and  not  by  virtue  of  any  real  ef- 
 ficiency which  they  have  to  reform  our  natures,  do  indeed  oblige 
 us  to  seek  for  them,  and  to  use  all  our  endeavours  to  have  them. 
 But  as  they  of  themselves  are  not  necessary  in  the  same  order 
 with  the  first,  so  much  less  are  all  those  methods  necessary  in 
 which  we  may  come  at  the  regular  use  of  them.  This  distinc- 
 tion shall  be  more  fully  enlarged  on  when  the  Sacraments  are 
 treated  of.  But  to  the  matter  in  hand  : — That  which  is  simply 
 necessary  as  a  mean  to  preserve  the  order  and  union  of  the 
 body  of  Christians,  and  to  maintain  the  reverence  due  to  holy 
 things,  is,  that  no  man  enter  upon  any  part  of  the  holy  minis- 
 try without  he  be  chosen  and  called  to  it  by  such  as  have  an 
 authority  so  to  do :  that,  I  say,  is  fixed  by  the  Article ;  but 
 men  are  left  more  at  liberty  as  to  their  thoughts  concerning  the 
 subject  of  this  lawful  authority. 
 
 That  which  we  believe  to  be  lawful  authority,  is  that  rule 
 which  the  body  of  the  Pastors,  or  Bishops  and  Clergy,  of  a 
 Church  shall  settle,  being  met  in  a  body  under  the  due  respect 
 to  the  powers  that  God  shall  set  over  them.  Rules  thus  made, 
 being  in  nothing  contrary  to  the  word  of  God,  and  duly  exe- 
 cuted by  the  particular  persons  to  whom  that  care  belongs,  are 
 certainly  the  lawful  authority.  Those  are,  the  Pastors  of  the 
 Church,  to  whom  the  care  and  watching  over  the  souls  of  the 
 people  is  committed  ;  and  the  Prince,  or  supreme  power,  com- 
 prehends virtually  the  whole  body  of  the  people  in  him  ;  since, 
 according  to  the  constitution  of  the  civil  government,  the  wills 
 of  the  people  are  understood  to  be  concluded  by  the  su- 
 
 U 
 
306 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXIII. 
 
 prenie,  and  such  as  are  the  subject  of  the  legislative  authority. 
 When  a  Church  is  in  a  state  of  persecution  under  those  who 
 have  the  civil  authority  over  her,  then  the  people,  who  receive 
 the  faith,  and  give  both  protection  and  encouragement  to  those 
 that  labour  over  them,  are  to  be  considered  as  the  body  that  is 
 governed  by  them.  The  natural  effect  of  such  a  state  of  things 
 is  to  satisfy  the  people  in  all  that  is  done,  to  carry  along  then- 
 consent  with  it,  and  to  consult  much  with  them  in  it.  This 
 does  not  only  arise  out  of  a  necessary  regard  to  their  present 
 circumstances,  but  from  the  rules  given  in  the  Gospel,  of  not 
 ruling  as  the  kings  of  the  several  nations  did ;  nor  lording  it, 
 or  carrying  it  with  a  high  authority,  over  God's  heritage ; 
 (which  may  be  also  rendered  over  their  several  lots  or  portions). 
 But  when  the  Church  is  under  the  protection  of  a  Christian 
 magistrate,  then  he  comes  to  be  in  the  stead  of  the  whole 
 people ;  for  they  are  concluded  in  and  by  him :  he  gives  the 
 protection  and  encouragement,  and  therefore  great  regard  is 
 due  to  him  in  the  exercise  of  his  lawful  authority,  in  which  he 
 has  a  great  share,  as  shall  be  explained  in  its  proper  place. 
 Here  then  we  think  this  authority  is  rightly  lodged,  and  set  on 
 its  proper  basis. 
 
 And  in  this  we  are  confirmed,  because,  by  the  decrees  of  the 
 first  General  Councils,  the  concerns  of  every  province  were  to 
 be  settled  in  the  province  itself;  and  it  so  continued  till  the 
 usurpations  of  the  papacy  broke  in  every- where,  and  disordered 
 this  constitution.  Through  the  whole  Roman  communion  the 
 chief  jurisdiction  is  now  in  the  Pope;  only  princes  have  laid 
 checks  upon  the  extent  of  it  j  and  by  appeals  the  secular  court 
 takes  cognizance  of  all  that  is  done,  either  by  the  Pope  or  the 
 clergy.  This  we  are  sure  is  the  effect  of  usurpation  and 
 tyranny :  yet  since  this  authority  is  in  fact  so  settled,  we  do  not 
 pretend  to  annul  the  acts  of  that  power,*  nor  the  missions  or 
 orders  given  in  that  Church ;  because  there  is  among  them  an 
 order  in  fact,  though  not  as  it  ought  to  be  in  right.  On  the 
 other  hand,  when  the  body  of  the  clergy  comes  to  be  so  cor- 
 rupted, that  nothing  can  be  trusted  to  the  regular  decisions  of 
 any  synod  or  meeting  called  according  to  their  constitution, 
 then,  if  the  prince  shall  select  a  peculiar  number,  and  commit 
 to  their  care  the  examining  and  reforming  both  of  doctrine  and 
 worship,  and  shall  give  the  legal  sanction  to  what  they  shall 
 offer  to  him, — we  must  confess  that  such  a  method  as  this  runs 
 contrary  to  the  established  rules,  and  that  therefore  it  ought  to 
 be  very  seldom  put  in  practice,  and  never,  except  when  the 
 greatness  of  the  occasion  will  balance  this  irregularity  that  is  in 
 it.  But  still  here  is  an  authority  both  in  fact  and  right ;  for 
 if  the  Magistrate  has  a  power  to  make  laws  in  sacred  matters, 
 he  may  order  those  to  be  prepared,  by  whom,  and  as  he 
 pleases. 
 
Art.  XXIII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 307 
 
 Finally,  if  a  company  of  Christians  find  the  public  worship 
 where  they  live  to  be  so  defiled  that  they  cannot  with  a  good 
 conscience  join  in  it,  and  if  they  do  not  know  of  any  place  to 
 which  they  can  conveniently  go,  where  they  may  worship  God 
 purely,  and  in  a  regular  way ; — if,  I  say,  such  a  body,  findi no- 
 some  that  have  been  ordained,  though  to  the  lower  functions, 
 should  submit  itself  entirely  to  their  conduct,  or,  finding  none 
 of  those,  should  by  a  common  consent  desire  some  of  their  own 
 number  to  minister  to  them  in  holy  things,  and  should  upon 
 that  beginning  grow  up  to  a  regulated  constitution, — though 
 we  are  very  sure  that  this  is  quite  out  of  all  rule,  and  could  not 
 be  done  without  a  very  great  sin,  unless  the  necessity  were 
 great  and  apparent,  yet,  if  the  necessity  is  real  and  not  feigned, 
 this  is  not  condemned  or  annulled  by  the  Article  : — for  when 
 this  grows  to  a  constitution,  and  when  it  was  begun  by  the 
 consent  of  a  body  who  are  supposed  to  have  an  authority  in 
 such  an  extraordinary  case,  whatever  some  hotter  spirits  have 
 thought  of  this  since  that  time ;  yet  we  are  very  sure,  that  not 
 only  those  who  penned  the  Articles,  but  the  body  of  tins  Church 
 for  above  half  an  age  after,  did,  notwithstanding  those  irregu- 
 larities, acknowledge  the  foreign  Churches  so  constituted  to  be 
 true  Churches  as  to  all  the  essentials  of  a  Church,  though  they 
 had  been  at  first  irregularly  formed,  and  continued  still  to  be 
 in  an  imperfect  state.  And  therefore  the  general  words  in 
 which  this  part  of  the  Article  is  framed,  seem  to  have  been 
 designed  on  purpose  not  to  exclude  them. 
 
 Here  it  is  to  be  considered,  that  the  High-priest  among  the 
 Jews  was  the  chief  person  in  that  dispensation ;  not  only  the 
 chief  in  rule,  but  he  that  was  by  the  Divine  appointment  to 
 officiate  in  the  chief  act  of  their  religion,  the  yearly  expiation 
 for  the  sins  of  the  whole  nation ;  which  was  a  solemn  renewing 
 their  covenant  with  God,  and  by  which  atonement  was  made 
 for  the  sins  of  that  people.  Here  it  may  be  very  reasonably 
 suggested,  that  since  none  besides  the  High-priest  might  make 
 this  atonement,  then  no  atonement  was  made  if  any  other 
 besides  the  High-priest  should  so  officiate.  To  this  it  is  to  be 
 added,  that  God  had  by  an  express  law  fixed  the  high-priest- 
 hood in  the  eldest  of  Aaron's  family  ;  and  that  therefore, 
 though  that  being  a  theocracy,  any  prophets  empowered  of 
 God  might  have  transferred  this  office  from  one  person  or 
 branch  of  that  family  to  another,  yet  without  such  an  autho- 
 rity no  other  person  might  make  any  such  change.  But  after 
 all  this,  not  to  mention  the  Maccabees,  and  all  their  successors 
 of  the  Asmonean  family,  as  Herod  had  begun  to  change  the 
 high-priesthood  at  pleasure,  so  the  Romans  not  only  continued 
 to  do  this,  but  in  a  most  mercenary  manner  they  set  this  sacred 
 function  to  sale.  Here  were  as  great  nullities  in  the  High- 
 priests  that  were  in  our  Saviour's  time,  as  can  be  well  imagined 
 
308 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXIII. 
 
 to  be  :  for  the  Jews  keeping  their  genealogies  so  exactly  as 
 they  did,  it  could  not  but  be  well  known  in  whom  the  right  of 
 this  office  rested,  and  they  all  knew  that  he  who  had  it,  pur- 
 chased it ;  yet  these  were  in  fact  High-priests,  and,  since  the 
 people  could  have  no  other,  the  atonement  was  still  performed 
 bv  their  ministry.  Our  Saviour  owned  Caiaphas,  the  sacrile- 
 gious and  usurping  High-priest,  and  as  such  he  prophesied 
 John  xi.  51.  xviii.  22,  23.  This  shews  that  where  the  necessity 
 was  real  and  unavoidable,  the  Jews  were  bound  to  think  that 
 God  did,  in  consideration  of  that,  dispense  with  his  own  pre- 
 cept. This  may  be  a  just  inducement  for  us  to  believe,  that 
 whensoever  God  by  his  providence  brings  Christians  under  a 
 visible  necessity  of  being  either  without  all  order  and  joint 
 worship,  or  of  joining  in  an  unlawful  and  defiled  worship,  or, 
 finally,  of  breaking  through  rules  and  methods  in  order  to  the 
 being  united  in  worship  and  government, — that  of  these  three, 
 of  which  one  must  be  chosen,  the  last  is  the  least  evil,  and  has 
 the  fewest  inconveniencies  hanging  upon  it,  and  that  therefore 
 it  may  be  chosen. 
 
 Our  Reformers  had  also  in  view  two  famous  instances  in 
 church  history  of  laymen  that  had  preached  and  converted 
 nations  to  the  faith.  It  is  true,  they  came,  as  they  ought  to 
 have  done,  to  be  regularly  ordained,  and  were  sent  to  such  as 
 had  authority  so  to  do :  So  Frumentius  preached  to  the 
 Indians,  and  was  afterwards  made  a  Priest  and  a  Bishop  by 
 Athanasius  :  The  King  of  the  Iberians,  before  he  was  baptized 
 himself,  did  convert  his  subjects ;  and,  as  says  the  historian,  he 
 became  the  Apostle  of  his  country  before  he  himself  was  initi- 
 ated. It  is  indeed  added,  that  he  sent  an  embassy  to  Constan- 
 tine  the  Emperor,  desiring  him  that  he  would  send  priests  for 
 the  further  establishment  of  the  faith  there. 
 
 These  were  regular  practices ;  but  if  it  should  happen  that 
 princes  or  states  should  take  up  such  a  jealousy  of  their  own 
 authority,  and  should  apprehend  that  the  suffering  their  sub- 
 jects to  go  elsewhere  for  regular  ordinations  might  bring  them 
 under  some  dependence  on  those  that  had  ordained  them,  and 
 give  them  such  influence  over  them,  that  the  prince  of  such 
 a  neighbouring  and  regular  Church  should  by  such  ordinations 
 have  so  many  creatures  spies  or  instruments  in  their  own  do- 
 minions ;  and  if  upon  other  political  reasons  they  had  just  cause 
 of  being  jealous  of  that,  and  should  thereupon  hinder  any  such 
 thing, — in  that  case,  neither  our  Reformers,  nor  their  successors 
 for  near  eighty  years  after  those  Articles  were  published,  did 
 ever  question  the  constitution  of  such  Churches. 
 
 We  have  reason  to  believe  that  none  ought  to  baptize  but 
 persons  lawfully  ordained ;  yet  since  there  has  been  a  practice 
 so  universally  spread  over  the  Christian  Church,  of  allowing 
 the  baptism  not  only  of  laics,  but  of  women,  to  be  lawful, — 
 
ART.  XXIII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 309 
 
 though  we  think  that  this  is  directly  contrary  to  the  rules  given 
 by  the  Apostles ;  yet,  since  this  has  been,  in  fact,  so  generally 
 received  and  practised,  we  do  not  annul  such  baptisms,  nor 
 rebaptize  persons  so  baptized.  Though  we  know  that  the  ori- 
 ginal of  this  bad  practice  was  from  an  opinion  of  the  indispen- 
 sable necessity  of  baptism  to  salvation  ;  yet,  since  it  has  been 
 so  generally  received,  we  have  that  regard  to  such  a  common 
 practice  as  not  to  annul  it,  though  we  condemn  it.  And  thus 
 what  thought  soever  private  men,  as  they  are  divines,  may  have 
 of  those  irregular  steps,  the  Article  of  the  Church  is  conceived 
 in  such  large  and  general  words,  that  no  man,  by  subscribing 
 it,  is  bound  up  from  freer  and  more  comprehensive  thoughts. 
 
 ARTICLE  XXIV. 
 
 OF  SPEAKING  IN  THE  CONGREGATION  IN  SUCH  A  TONGUE 
 AS  THE  PEOPLE  UNDERSTANDETH. 
 
 It  is  a  thing  plainly  repugnant  to  the  Word  of  God,  and  the 
 Custom  of  the  Primitive  Church,  to  have  Public  Prayer  in 
 the  Churchy  or  to  jninister  the  Sacraments,  in  a  Tongue  not 
 understanded  of  the  People. 
 
 This  Article,  though  upon  the  matter  very  near  the  same,  yet 
 was  worded  much  less  positively  in  those  at  first  set  forth  by 
 King  Edward. 
 
 It  is  most  ft,  and  most  agreeable  to  the  Word  of  God,  that  no- 
 thing be  read  or  rehearsed  in  the  Congregation  in  a  To?igue 
 not  knoxjL-n  unto  the  People,-  which  St  Paul  hath  forbidden 
 to  be  done,  unless  some  be  present  to  intetpret. 
 
 In  King  Edward's  Articles  they  took  in  preaching  with. prayer, 
 but  in  the  present  Article  this  is  restrained  to  prayer.  The 
 former  only  affirms  the  use  of  a  known  tongue  to  be  most 
 fit  and  agreeable  to  the  word  of  God  ;  the  latter  denies  the 
 worship  in  an  unknown  tongue  to  be  lawful,  and  affirms  it 
 to  be  repugnant  to  the  Word  of  God;  to  which  it  adds,  and 
 the  Custom  of  the  Primitive  Church. 
 
 This  Article  seems  to  be  founded  on  the  law  of  nature. 
 The  worship  of  God  is  a  chain  of  acts  by  which  we  acknow- 
 ledge God's  attributes,  rejoice  in  his  goodness,  and  lay  claim 
 to  his  mercies  :  In  all  which,  the  more  we  raise  our  thoughts, 
 the  more  seriousness,  earnestness,  and  affection  that  animates 
 
310 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXIV. 
 
 our  mind,  so  much  the  more  acceptably  do  we  serve  God,  who 
 is  a  Spirit,  and  will  be  worshipped  in  spirit  and  in  truth,  John 
 iv.  23,  24.  All  the  words  used  in  devotion  are  intended  to 
 raise  in  us  the  thoughts  that  naturally  belong  to  such  words. 
 And  the  various  acts,  which  are  as  it  were  the  breaks  in  the 
 service,  are  intended  as  rests  to  our  minds,  to  keep  us  the 
 longer  without  weariness  and  wandering  in  those  exercises. 
 One  great  end  of  continuance  in  worship  is,  that,  by  the  fre- 
 quent repeating  and  often  going  over  of  the  same  things,  they 
 may  come  to  be  deeply  rooted  in  our  thoughts.  The  chief 
 effect  that  the  worship  of  God  has  by  its  own  efficiency,  is  the 
 infixing  those  things,  about  which  the  branches  of  it  are  em- 
 ployed, the  deeper  on  our  minds ;  upon  which  God  gives  his 
 blessing  as  we  grow  to  be  prepared  for  it,  or  capable  of  it. 
 Now  all  this  is  lost,  if  the  worship  of  God  is  a  thread  of  such 
 sounds  as  makes  the  person  who  officiates  a  barbarian  to  the 
 rest.  They  have  nothing  but  noise  and  show  to  amuse  them, 
 which,  how  much  soever  they  may  strike  upon  and  entertain 
 the  senses,  yet  they  cannot  affect  the  heart,  nor  excite  the 
 mind  :  so  that  the  natural  effect  of  such  a  way  of  worship  is  to 
 make  religion  a  pageantry,  and  the  public  service  of  God  an 
 opera. 
 
 If  from  plain  sense,  and  the  natural  consequences  of  things, 
 we  carry  on  this  argument  to  the  Scriptures,  we  find  the  whole 
 practice  of  the  Old  Testament  was  to  worship  God,  not  only 
 in  a  tongue  that  was  understood,  for  it  may  be  said  there  was 
 no  occasion  then  to  use  any  other,  but  that  the  expressions 
 used  in  the  prayers  and  psalms  that  we  find  in  the  Old  Testa- 
 ment, shew  they  were  intended  to  affect  those  who  were  to  use 
 them  ;  and  if  that  is  acknowledged,  then  it  will  clearly  follow, 
 that  all  ought  to  understand  them ;  for  who  can  be  affected 
 with  that  which  he  does  not  understand  ?  So  this  shews  that 
 the  end  of  public  devotion  is  the  exciting  and  inflaming  those 
 who  bear  a  share  in  it.  When  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  were 
 instructing  the  people  out  of  the  Law,  they  took  care  to  have 
 it  read  distinctly,  one  giving  the  sense  of  it,  Neh.  viii.  8.  After 
 they  were  long  in  captivity,  though  it  had  not  worn  out  quite 
 the  knowledge  of  the  Hebrew,  yet  the  Chaldee  was  more  fami- 
 liar to  them ;  so  a  paraphrase  was  made  of  the  Hebrew  into  that 
 language,  though  it  was  rather  a  different  dialect  than  another 
 language ;  and  by  the  forms  of  their  prayers,  we  see  that  one 
 cried  with  a  loud  voice,  Stand  up,  and  bless  the  Lord  your  God 
 for  ever  and  ever,  Neh.  ix,  5. ;  which  shews  that  all  did  under- 
 stand the  service.  When  the  Syriac  tongue  became  more  fa- 
 miliar to  them,  the  Jews  had  their  prayers  in  Syriac;  and  they 
 did  read  the  Law  in  their  synagogues  in  Greek,  when  that 
 language  was  more  familiar  to  them:  when  they  read  the  Law 
 in  Greek,  we  have  reason  to  believe  that  they  prayed  likewise 
 
Art.  XXIV. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 3il 
 
 in  it.  In  the  New  Testament  we  see  the  gift  of  tongues  was 
 granted  to  enable  the  Apostles,  and  others,  to  go  every-where 
 preaching  the  gospel,  and  performing  holy  functions,  in  such 
 a  language  as  might  be  understood  :  The  world  was  amazed 
 when  every  man  heard  them  speak  in  his  own  language. 
 
 One  of  the  general  rules  given  by  St  Paul  with  relation  to  the 
 worship  of  God  is,  Let  every  thing  be  done  to  edification.  Since 
 then  the  speaking  either  to  God  in  the  name  of  the  people,  or 
 to  the  people  in  the  name  of  God,  in  an  unknown  tongue,  can 
 edify  no  person ;  then  by  this  rule  it  is  to  be  understood  to  be 
 forbidden.    When  some  who  had  the  gift  of  tongues  did  in- 
 discreetly shew  it  in  the  Church  of  Corinth,  St  Paul  was  so 
 offended  at  that,  and  thought  it  would  appear  to  the  world  so 
 indecent,  as  well  as  unfruitful,  that  he  bestows  a  whole  chapter 
 upon  it ;  and  though  a  great  part  of  the  discourse  is  against  the 
 pretending  to  teach  the  people  in  an  unknown  tongue,  (which 
 yet  is  not  near  so  bad  as  the  reading  the  word  of  God  to  them 
 in  a  tongue  not  understood  by  them,  it  being  much  more  im- 
 portant that  the  people  should  understand  the  words  of  the 
 living  God  than  the  expositions  of  men),  yet  there  are  many 
 passages  in  that  chapter  that  belong  to  prayer.   The  reason  of 
 the  thing  is  common  to  both,  since,  unless  the  words  were 
 understood,  they  who  uttered  them  spoke  only  to  the  air ;  and 
 how  should  it  be  known  what  was  spoken  ?  for  if  the  mean- 
 ing of  the  voice  was  not  known,  they  would  be  barbarians  to 
 one  another.    As  to  prayer,  he  says,  If  I  pray  in  an  unknown 
 tongue,  my  spirit  (that  is,  the  inspiration  or  gift  that  is  in  me) 
 prayeth;  but  my  understanding  (that  is,  my  rational  powers)  is 
 unfruitful,  1  Cor.  xiv.  1 4. ;  and  therefore  he  concludes,  that  he 
 will  both  pray  and  give  thanks  with  the  spirit,  and  with  the 
 understanding  also,  ver.  15. :  he  will  do  it  in  such  a  manner, 
 that  the  inspiration  with  which  he  was  acted  and  his  rational 
 powers  should  join  together.    The  reason  given  for  this  seems 
 evident  enough  to  determine  the  whole  matter :  Else  when 
 thou  shalt  bless  with  the  spirit,  how  shall  he  that  occupieth  the 
 room  of  the  unlearned  say  Amen  at  thy  giving  of  tha  nks,  seeing 
 he  under  standeth  not  what  thou  say  est  P  For  thou  verily  givest 
 thanks  well,  but  the  other  is  not  edified,  ver.  16,  17.    In  which 
 words  it  is  plain  that  the  people,  even  the  most  unlearned  among 
 them,  were  to  join  in  the  prayers  and  praises,  and  to  testify 
 that  by  saying  Amen  at  the  conclusion  of  them :  and  in  order 
 to  their  doing  this  as  became  reasonable  creatures,  it  was  ne- 
 cessary that  they  should  understand  what  that  was  which  they 
 were  to  confirm  by  their  Amen.    It  is  also  evident,  that  St 
 Paul  judged  that  the  people  ought  to  be  edified  by  all  that 
 was  said  in  the  Church  ;  and  so  he  says,  a  little  after  this, 
 Let  all  things  be  done  to  edifying,  ver.  26.    After  such  plain 
 authorities  from  Scripture,  supporting  that  which  seems  to  be 
 
312 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXIV. 
 
 founded  on  the  light  of  nature,  we  need  go  no  further  to  prove 
 that  which  is  mainly  designed  by  this  Article. 
 
 The  custom  of  the  primitive  Church  is  no  less  clear  in  this 
 point.  As  the  Christian  religion  was  spread  to  different  na- 
 tions, so  they  all  worshipped  God  in  their  own  tongue.  The 
 Syriac,  the  Greek,  and  the  Latin,  were  indeed  of  that  extent, 
 that  we  have  no  particular  history  of  any  Churches  that  lay 
 beyond  the  compass  of  those  languages;  but  there  was  the 
 same  reason  for  putting  the  worship  of  God  in  other  languages, 
 that  there  was  for  these.  That  which  is  drawn  from  the  three 
 languages  in  which  the  title  on  our  Saviour's  cross  was  written 
 is  too  trifling  a  thing  to  deserve  an  answer;  as  if  a  humour 
 of  Pilate's  were  to  be  considered  as  a  prophetical  warrant,  what 
 he  did  being  only  designed  to  make  that  title  to  be  understood 
 cont.  ceis.  by  all  who  were  then  at  Jerusalem.  There  are  very 
 E^tSA0!'  large  passages,  both  in  Origen  and  St  Basil,  which 
 Neoces.  mention  every  tongue's  praising  of  God  ;  and  that  the 
 gospel  being  spread  to  many  nations,  he  was  in  every  nation 
 praised  in  the  language  of  that  nation.  This  continued  so  long 
 to  be  the  practice  even  of  the  Latin  Church,  that  in  the  ninth 
 century,  when  the  Slavons  were  converted,  it  was  considered 
 johan  8  Ep  at  R°me  Dy  P°Pe  John  VIII.  in  what  language  they 
 m.  coiicn.  should  be  allowed  to  worship  God:  and,  as  it  is 
 pretended,  a  voice  was  heard,  Let  every  tongue  con- 
 fess to  God;  upon  which  that  Pope  wrote  both  to  the  Prince 
 and  to  the  Bishop  of  the  Slavons,  allowing  them  to  have  their 
 public  service  in  their  own  tongue.  But  in  the  other  parts  of 
 the  Western  Church,  the  Latin  tongue  continued  to  be  so  uni- 
 versally understood  by  almost  all  sorts  of  people,  till  the  tenth 
 or  eleventh  century,  that  there  was  no  occasion  for  changing 
 it;  and  by  that  time  the  Clergy  were  affecting  to  keep  the 
 people  in  ignorance,  and  in  a  blind  dependence  upon  them- 
 selves, and  so  were  willing  to  make  men  think  that  the  whole 
 business  of  reconciling  the  people  to  God  lay  upon  them,  and 
 that  they  were  to  do  it  for  them.  A  great  part  of  the  service 
 of  the  mass  was  said  so  low,  that  even  they  who  understood 
 some  Latin  could  not  be  the  better  for  it,  in  an  age  in  which 
 there  was  no  printing,  and  so  few  copies  were  to  be  had  of  the 
 public  offices.  The  Scriptures  were  likewise  kept  from  the 
 people,  and  the  service  of  God  was  filled  with  many  rites,  in 
 all  which  the  Clergy  seemed  to  design  to  make  the  people  be- 
 lieve that  these  were  sacred  charms,  of  which  they  only  had  the 
 secret.  So  that  all  the  edification  which  was  to  be  had  in  the 
 public  worship  was  turned  to  pomp  and  show,  for  the  diversion 
 and  entertainment  of  the  spectators. 
 
 In  defence  of  this  worship  in  an  unknown  tongue,  the  main 
 argument  that  is  brought  is  the  authority  and  infallibility  of 
 the  Church  which  has  appointed  it  ;  and  since  she  ought  to 
 
Art.  XXLY. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 313 
 
 be  supposed  not  to  have  erred,  therefore  this  must  be  Con  TM 
 believed  to  be  lawful.  We  are  not  much  moved  with  £hap.j. 
 this,  especially  with  the  authority  of  the  later  ages ; 
 so  the  other  arguments  must  be  considered,  which  indeed  can 
 scarce  be  called  arguments.  The  modern  tongues  change  so 
 fast,  that,  they  say,  if  the  worship  were  in  them,  it  must  either 
 be  often  changed,  or  the  phrases  would  grow  old,  and  sound 
 harshly.  A  few  alterations  once  in  an  age  will  set  this  matter 
 right ;  besides  that  the  use  of  such  forms  does  fix  a  language, 
 at  least  as  to  those  phrases  that  are  used  in  it,  which  grow  to 
 be  so  familiar  to  our  ears  by  constant  use  that  they  do  not  so 
 easily  wear  out.  It  is  above  eighty  years  since  the  present 
 translation  of  the  Bible  was  made,  and  above  one  hundred  and 
 forty  since  our  Liturgy  was  compiled,  and  yet  we  peceive  no 
 uncouthness  in  the  phrases.  The  simplicity  in  which  such 
 forms  must  be  drawn,  makes  them  not  so  subject  to  alteration 
 as  other  composures  of  rhetoric  or  poetry :  But  can  it  be 
 thought  any  inconveniency  now  and  then  to  alter  a  little  the 
 words  or  phrases  of  our  service  ?  Much  less  can  that  be  thought 
 of  weight  enough  to  balance  the  vaster  prejudice  of  keeping 
 whole  nations  in  ignorance,  and  of  extinguishing  devotion  by 
 entertaining  it  with  a  form  of  worship  that  is  not  understood. 
 
 Nor  can  this  be  avoided  by  saying,  that  the  people  are  fur- 
 nished with  forms  in  their  own  language,  into  which  the  great- 
 est part  of  the  public  offices  are  translated :  for  as  this  is  not 
 done  but  since  the  Reformation  began,  and  in  those  nations 
 only  where  the  scandal  that  is  given  by  an  unknown  language 
 might  have,  as  they  apprehend,  ill  effects ;  so  it  is  only  an  ar- 
 tifice to  keep  those  still  in  their  communion,  whom  such  a  gross 
 practice,  if  not  thus  disguised,  might  otherwise  drive  from  them. 
 But  still  the  public  worship  has  no  edification  in  it ;  nor  can 
 those  who  do  not  understand  it  say  Amen,  according  to  St 
 Paul.  Finally,  they  urge  the  communion  of  saints,  in  order  to 
 which  they  think  it  is  necessary  that  Priests,  wheresoever  they 
 go,  may  be  able  to  officiate,  which  they  cannot  do  if  every  na- 
 tion worships  God  in  its  own  language.  And  this  was  indeed 
 very  necessary  in  those  ages  in  which  the  See  of  Rome  did  by 
 provisions,  and  the  other  inventions  of  the  Canonists,  dispose 
 of  the  best  benefices  to  their  own  creatures  and  servants.  That 
 trade  would  have  been  spoiled,  if  strangers  might  not  have  been 
 admitted  till  they  had  learned  the  language  of  the  country ; 
 and  thus,  instead  of  taking  care  of  the  people  that  ought  to  be 
 edified  by  the  public  worship,  provision  was  made  at  their  cost, 
 for  such  vagrant  Priests  as  have  been  in  all  ages  the  scandals 
 of  the  Church,  and  the  reproaches  of  religion. 
 
3U 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXV. 
 
 ARTICLE  XXV. 
 
 OF  THE  SACRAMENTS. 
 
 Sacraments  ordained  of  Christ  be  not  only  Badges  or  Tokens 
 of  Christian  Men's  Profession,  but  rather  they  be  certain  sure 
 Witnesses,  and  effectual  Signs  of  Grace,  and  God's  Will  to- 
 wards US)  by  the  which  he  doth  work  invisibly  in  us,  and  doth 
 not  only  quicken,  but  also  strengthen  and  confirm  our  faith  in 
 him. 
 
 There  are  Two  Sacraments  ordained  of  Christ  our  Lord  in  the 
 Gospel;  that  is  to  say,  Baptism,  and  the  Supper  of  the  Lord. 
 
 Those  five  commonly  called  Sacraments,  that  is  to  say,  Con- 
 firmation, Penance,  Orders,  Matrimony,  and  extreme  Unction, 
 are  not  to  be  counted  for  Sacraments  of  the  Gospel;  being 
 such  as  have  grown  partly  of  the  corrupt  following  of  the 
 Apostles,  partly  are  States  of  Life  allowed  in  the  Scriptures, 
 but  yet  have  not  like  Nature  of  Sacraments  with  Baptism 
 and  the  Lord's  Supper;  for  that  they  have  not  any  visible 
 Sign  or  Ceremony  ordained  of  God. 
 
 The  Sacraments  were  not  ordained  of  Christ  to  be  gazed  upon, 
 or  to  be  carried  about,  but  that  we  should  duly  use  them. 
 And  in  such  only  as  worthily  receive  the  same  they  have  a 
 wholesome  Effect  or  Operation;  but  they  that  receive  them 
 unworthily,  purchase  to  themselves  Damnation,  as  St  Paul 
 saith. 
 
 There  is  a  great  diversity  between  the  form  of  this  Article, 
 as  it  is  now  settled,  and  that  published  by  King  Edward,  which 
 began  in  these  words :  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  gathered  his 
 people  into  a  society  by  Sacraments,  very  few  in  number,  most 
 easily  to  be  kept,  and  of  most  excellent  signification;  that  is  to 
 say,  Baptism,  and.  the  Supper  of  the  Lord.  There  is  nothing 
 in  that  edition  instead  of  the  paragraph  concerning  the  other 
 five  pretended  sacraments.  Next  comes  the  paragraph  which 
 is  here  the  last,  only  with  the  addition  of  these  words  after 
 operation :  Not  as  some  say,  ex  opere  opera  to,  which  terms,  as 
 they  are  strange  and  utterly  unknown  to  the  Holy  Scripture,  so 
 do  they  yield  a  sense  which  savoureth  of  little  piety,  but  of  much 
 superstition:  and  in  conclusion  the  paragraph  comes  with 
 which  the  Article  does  now  begin :  So  that  in  all  this  diversity 
 there  is  no  real  difference;  for  the  virtue  of  the  sacraments 
 being  put  in  the  worthy  receiving,  excludes  the  doctrine  of  opus 
 operatum  as  formally  as  if  it  had  expressly  been  condemned  ; 
 and  the  naming  the  two  sacraments  instituted  by  Christ,  is 
 upon  the  matter  the  rejecting  of  all  the  rest. 
 
Art.  XXV. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 315 
 
 It  was  most  natural  to  begin  this  Article  with  a  description 
 of  sacraments  in  general.  This  difference  is  to  be  put  between 
 sacraments  and  other  ritual  actions,  that  whereas  other  rites 
 are  badges  and  distinctions  by  which  the  Christians  are  known, 
 a  sacrament  is  more  than  a  bare  matter  of  form ;  and  as  in  the 
 Old  Testament,  circumcision  and  propitiatory  sacrifices  were 
 things  of  a  different  nature  and  order  from  all  the  other  ritual 
 precepts  concerning  the  cleansings,  the  distinctions  of  days, 
 places,  and  meats.  These  were  indeed  precepts  given  them  of 
 God,  but  they  were  not  federal  acts  of  renewing  the  covenant, 
 or  reconciling  themselves  to  God.  By  circumcision  they  re- 
 ceived the  seal  of  the  covenant,  and  were  brought  under  the 
 obligation  of  the  whole  law ;  they  were  by  it  made  debtors  to 
 it :  and  when  by  their  sins  they  had  provoked  God's  wrath, 
 they  were  reconciled  to  him  by  their  sacrifices,  with  which 
 atonement  was  made,  and  so  their  sins  were  forgiven  them. 
 The  nature  and  end  of  those  was  to  be  federal  acts,  in  the  of- 
 fering of  which  the  Jews  kept  to  their  part  of  the  covenant, 
 and  in  the  accepting  of  which  God  maintained  it  on  his  part. 
 So  we  see  a  plain  difference  between  these  and  a  mere  rite, 
 which,  though  commanded,  yet  must  pass  only  for  the  badge 
 of  a  profession,  as  the  doing  of  it  is  an  act  of  obedience  to  a 
 divine  law.  Now,  in  the  New  Dispensation,  though  our  Sa- 
 viour has  eased  us  of  that  law  of  ordinances,  that  grievous  yoke, 
 and  those  beggarly  elements  which  were  laid  upon  the  Jews ; 
 yet,  since  we  are  still  in  the  body,  subject  to  our  senses  and  to 
 sensible  things,  he  has  appointed  some  federal  actions,  to  be 
 both  the  visible  stipulations  and  professions  of  our  Christianity, 
 and  the  conveyances  to  us  of  the  blessings  of  the  gospel. 
 
 There  are  two  extremes  to  be  avoided  in  this  matter.  The 
 one  is  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  that  teaches,  that  as  some  sa- 
 craments imprint  a  character  upon  the  soul,  which  they  define 
 to  be  a  physical  quality,  that  is,  supernatural  and  spiritual,  so 
 they  do  all  carry  along  with  them  such  a  divine  virtue,  that  by 
 the  very  receiving  them  (the  opus  operatum)  it  is  conveyed  to 
 the  souls  of  those  to  whom  they  are  applied,  unless  they  them- 
 selves put  a  bar  in  the  way  of  it  by  some  mortal  sin.  In  con- 
 sequence of  this,  they  reckon,  that  by  the  sacraments  given  to 
 a  man  in  his  agonies,  though  he  is  very  near  past  all  sense,  and 
 so  cannot  join  any  lively  acts  of  his  mind  with  the  sacraments, 
 yet  he  is  justified;  not  to  mention  the  common  practice  of 
 giving  extreme  unction  in  the  last  agony,  when  no  appearance 
 of  any  sense  is  left.  This  we  reckon  a  doctrine  that  is  not  onlv 
 without  all  foundation  in  Scripture,  but  that  tends  to  destroy 
 all  religion,  and  to  make  men  live  on  securely  in  sin,  trusting 
 to  this,  that  the  sacraments  may  be  given  them  when  they  die. 
 The  conditions  of  the  Xew  Covenant  are,  repentance,  faith, 
 and  obedience ;  and  we  look  on  this  as  the  corrupting  the  vitals 
 
316 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXV. 
 
 of  this  religion,  when  any  such  means  are  proposed  by  which 
 the  main  design  of  the  gospel  is  quite  overthrown.  The  busi- 
 ness of  a  character  is  an  unintelligible  notion.  We  acknow- 
 ledge baptism  is  not  to  be  repeated ;  but  that  is  not  by  virtue 
 of  a  character  imprinted  in  it,  but  because  it  being  a  dedication 
 of  the  person  to  God  in  the  Christian  religion,  what  is  once  so 
 done  is  to  be  understood  to  continue  still  in  that  state,  till  such 
 a  person  falls  into  an  open  apostasy.  In  case  of  the  repent- 
 ance of  such  a  person,  we,  finding  that  the  primitive  Church 
 did  reconcile,  but  not  rebaptize  apostates,  do  imitate  that  their 
 practice ;  but  not  because  of  this  late  and  unexplicable  notion 
 of  a  character.  We  look  on  all  sacramental  actions  as  accept- 
 able to  God  only  with  regard  to  the  temper  and  the  inward 
 acts  of  the  persons  to  whom  they  are  applied,  and  cannot  con- 
 sider them  as  medicines  or  charms,  which  work  by  a  virtue  of 
 their  own,  whether  the  person  to  whom  they  are  applied  co- 
 operates with  them  or  not.  Baptism  is  said  by  St  Peter  to 
 save  us,  not  as  it  is  an  action  that  washes  us ;  not  the  putting 
 away  the  filth  of  the  flesh,  but  the  answer  of  a  good  conscience 
 towards  God,  1  Pet.  iii.  21.  And  therefore  baptism,  without 
 this  profession,  is  no  baptism,  but  seems  to  be  used  as  a  charm, 
 unless  it  is  said  that  this  answer  or  profession  is  implied  when- 
 soever baptism  is  desired.  When  a  person  of  age  desires  bap- 
 tism, he  must  make  those  answers  and  sponsions,  otherwise  he 
 is  not  truly  baptized ;  and  though  his  outward  making  of  them 
 be  all  that  can  fall  under  human  cognizance,  he  who  does 
 that  must  be  held  to  be  truly  baptized,  and  all  the  outward 
 privileges  of  a  baptized  person  must  belong  to  him ;  yet  as  to 
 the  effect  of  baptism  on  the  soul  of  him  that  is  baptized,  with- 
 out doubt  that  depends  upon  the  sincerity  of  the  professions 
 and  vows  made  by  him.  The  wills  of  infants  are  by  the  law  of 
 nature  and  nations  in  their  parents,  and  are  transferred  by 
 them  to  their  sureties ;  the  sponsions  that  are  made  on  their  be- 
 half are  considered  as  made  by  themselves :  but  there  the  out- 
 ward act  is  sufficient ;  for  the  inward  acts  of  one  person  cannot 
 be  supposed  necessary  to  give  the  sacrament  its  virtue  in  ano- 
 ther. 
 
 In  the  Eucharist,  by  our  shewing  forth  our  Lord's  death  till 
 he  comes,  we  are  admitted  to  the  communion  of  his  body  and 
 blood,  1  Cor.  x.  16. ;  to  a  share  in  partnership  with  other  Chris- 
 tians in  the  effects  and  merits  of  his  death  ;  but  the  unworthy 
 receiver  is  guilty  of  his  body  and  blood,  and  brings  thereby 
 down  judgments  upon  himself: — so  that  to  fancy  a  virtue  in 
 sacraments  that  works  on  the  person  to  whom  they  are  applied, 
 without  any  inward  acts  accompanying  it,  and  upon  his  being 
 only  passive,  is  a  doctrine  of  which  we  find  nothing  in  the 
 Scriptures;  which  teach  us,  that  every  thing  we  do  is  only 
 accepted  of  God  will)  regard  to  the  disposition  of  mind  that  he 
 
Art.  XXV. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 317 
 
 knows  us  to  be  in  when  we  go  about  it.  Our  prayers  and 
 sacrifices  are  so  far  from  being  accepted  of  God,  that  they  are 
 abomination  to  him,  if  they  come  from  wicked  and  defiled 
 hearts.  The  making^  men  believe  that  sacraments  may  be  ef- 
 fectual to  them  when  they  are  next  to  a  state  of  passivity,  not 
 capable  of  any  sensible  thoughts  of  their  own,  is  a  sure  way  to 
 raise  the  credit  of  the  clergy,  and  of  the  sacrament ;  but  at 
 the  same  time  it  will  most  certainly  dispose  men  to  live  in  sin, 
 hoping  that  a  few  rites,  which  may  be  easily  procured  at  their 
 death,  will  clear  all  at  last.  And  thus  we  reject,  not  without 
 great  zeal  against  the  fatal  effects  of  this  error,  all  that  is  said 
 of  the  opus  operatum — the  very  doing  of  the  sacrament :  we 
 think  it  looks  more  like  the  incantations  of  heathenism,  than 
 the  purity  and  simplicity  of  the  Christian  religion. 
 
 But  the  other  extreme,  that  we  likewise  avoid,  is  that  of 
 sinking  the  sacraments  so  low  as  to  be  mere  rites  and  cere- 
 monies. St  Peter  says,  Baptism  saves  us.  St  Paul  calls  it  the 
 laver  of  regeneration ;  to  which  he  joins  the  renewing  of  the 
 Holy  Ghost,  Tit.  iii.  5.  Our  Saviour  saith,  He  that  believeth 
 and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved,  Mark  xvi.  16. ;  and,  Except  ye 
 are  born  again  of  water  and  of  the  Spirit,  ye  cannot  enter  into 
 the  kingdom  of  God,  John  iii.  3.  5.  These  words  have  a  sense 
 and  signification  that  rises  far  above  a  mere  ceremony  done  to 
 keep  up  order,  and  to  maintain  a  settled  form.  The  phrase 
 communion  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  is  above  the  nature 
 of  an  anniversary  or  memorial  feast.  This  opinion  we  think 
 is  very  unsuitable  to  those  high  expressions;  and  we  do  not 
 doubt  but  that  Christ,  who  instituted  those  sacraments,  does 
 still  accompany  them  with  a  particular  presence  in  them,  and 
 a  blessing  upon  them ;  so  that  we,  coming  to  them  with  minds 
 well  prepared,  with  pure  affections  and  holy  resolutions,  do 
 certainly  receive  in  and  with  them  particular  largesses  of  the 
 favour  and  bounty  of  God.  They  are  not  bare  and  naked  re- 
 membrances and  tokens,  but  are  actuated  and  animated  by  a 
 divine  blessing  that  attends  upon  them.  This  is  what  we  be- 
 lieve on  this  head,  and  these  are  the  grounds  upon  which  we 
 found  it. 
 
 A  sacrament  is  an  institution  of  Christ,  in  which  some  ma- 
 terial thing  is  sanctified  by  the  use  of  some  form  or  words,  in 
 and  by  which  federal  acts  of  this  religion  do  pass  on  both  sides  ; 
 on  ours,  by  stipulations,  professions,  or  vows;  and  on  God's, 
 by  his  secret  assistances :  by  these  we  are  also  united  to  the 
 body  of  Christ,  which  is  the  Church.  It  must  be  instituted  by 
 Christ ;  for  though  ritual  matters,  that  are  only  the  expressions 
 of  our  duty,  may  be  appointed  by  the  Church,  yet  federal  acts, 
 to  which  a  conveyance  of  divine  grace  is  tied,  can  only  be  in- 
 stituted by  him  who  is  the  Author  and  Mediator  of  this  New 
 Covenant,  and  who  lays  down  the  rules  or  conditions  of  it,  and 
 
318 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXV. 
 
 derives  the  blessings  of  it  by  what  methods  and  in  what  channels 
 he  thinks  fit.  Whatsoever  his  Apostles  settled,  was  by  autho- 
 rity and  commission  from  him ;  therefore  it  is  not  to  be  denied, 
 but  that,  if  they  had  appointed  any  sacramental  action,  that 
 must  be  reckoned  to  be  of  the  same  authority,  and  is  to  be 
 esteemed  Christ's  institution,  as  much  as  if  he  himself,  when 
 on  earth,  had  appointed  it. 
 
 Matter  is  of  the  essence  of  a  sacrament;  for  words,  without 
 some  material  thing  to  which  they  belong,  may  be  of  the  nature 
 of  prayers  or  vows,  but  they  cannot  be  sacraments.  Receiving  a 
 sacrament  is  on  our  part  our  faith  plighted  to  God  in  the  use  of 
 some  material  substance  or  other ;  for  in  this  consists  the  dif- 
 ference between  sacraments  and  other  acts  of  worship.  The 
 latter  are  only  acts  of  the  mind  declared  by  words  or  gestures, 
 whereas  sacraments  are  the  application  of  a  material  sign, 
 joined  with  acts  of  the  mind,  words,  and  gestures.  With  the 
 matter  there  must  be  a  form  ;  that  is,  such  words  joined  with  it 
 as  do  appropriate  the  matter  to  such  an  use,  and  separate  it 
 from  all  other  uses,  at  least  in  the  act  of  the  sacrament.  For 
 in  any  piece  of  matter  alone,  there  cannot  be  a  proper  suitable- 
 ness to  such  an  end  as  seems  to  be  designed  by  sacraments, 
 and  therefore  a  form  must  determine  and  apply  it ;  and  it  is 
 highly  suitable  to  the  nature  of  things  to  believe,  that  our  Sa- 
 viour, who  has  instituted  the  sacrament,  has  also  either  insti- 
 tuted the  form  of  it,  or  given  us  such  hints  as  to  lead  us  very 
 near  it.  The  end  of  sacraments  is  double :  the  one  is  by  a 
 solemn  federal  action  both  to  unite  us  to  Christ,  and  also  to 
 derive  a  secret  blessing  from  him  to  us;  and  the  other  is  to  join 
 and  unite  us  by  this  public  profession,  and  the  joint  partaking 
 of  it,  with  his  body,  which  is  the  Church.  This  is,  in  general, 
 an  account  of  a  sacrament.  This,  it  is  true,  is  none  of  those 
 words  that  are  made  use  of  in  Scripture,  so  that  it  has  no  de- 
 termined signification  given  to  it  in  the  Word  of  God ;  yet  it 
 was  very  early  applied  by  Pliny  (Lib.  x.  Ep.  97.)  to  those  vows 
 by  which  the  Christians  tied  themselves  to  their  religion,  taken 
 from  the  oaths  by  which  the  soldiery  among  the  Romans  were 
 sworn  to  their  colours  or  officers ;  and  from  that  time  this  term 
 has  been  used  in  a  sense  consecrated  to  the  federal  rites  of  re- 
 ligion. Yet  if  any  will  dispute  about  words,  we  know  how 
 much  St  Paul  condemns  all  those  curious  and  vain  questions, 
 which  have  in  them  the  subtilties  and  oppositions  of  science 
 falsely  so  called,  1  Tim.  vi.  20.  If  any  will  call  every  rite  used 
 in  holy  things  a  sacrament,  we  enter  into  no  such  contentions. 
 
 The  rites  therefore  that  we  understand,  when  we  speak  of 
 sacraments,  are  the  constant  federal  rites  of  Christians,  which 
 are  accompanied  by  a  divine  grace  and  benediction,  being  in- 
 stituted by  Christ  to  unite  us  to  him  and  to  his  Church  : 
 and  of  such  wv  ow  n  that  there  are  two,  Baptism,  and  the  Sup- 
 
Art.  XXV. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 319 
 
 per  of  the  Lord. — In  Baptism,  there  is  matter,  water;  there  is  a 
 form,  the  person  dipped  or  washed,  with  words,  /  baptize  thee 
 in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 
 Ghost,  Matt,  xxviii.  19. ;  there  is  an  institution,  Go  -preach  and 
 baptize ;  there  is  a  federal  sponsion,  The  answer  of  a  good  con- 
 science, 1  Pet.  iii.  21.;  there  is  a  blessing  conveyed  with  it, 
 Baptism  saves  us;  there  is  one  Baptism,  as  there  is  one  body 
 and  one  spirit;  we  are  all  baptized  into  one  body,  Matt.  xxvi. 
 26,  27. :  So  that  here  all  the  constituent  and  necessary  parts 
 of  a  sacrament  are  found  in  Baptism. — In  the  Lord's  Supper, 
 there  is  bread  and  wine  for  the  matter  :  the  giving  it  to  be  eat 
 and  drunk,  with  the  words  that  our  Saviour  used  in  the  first 
 supper,  are  the  form:  Do  this  in  remembrance  of  me,  is  the  in- 
 stitution :  Ye  shew  forth  the  Lord's  death  till  he  come  again, 
 (1  Cor.  xi.  23 — 27.),  is  the  declaration  of  the  federal  act  of  our 
 part;  it  is  also  the  communion  of  the  body  and  of  the  blood  of 
 Christ,  that  is,  the  conveyance  of  the  blessings  of  our  partner- 
 ship in  the  effects  of  the  death  of  Christ — And  we  being  many, 
 are  one  bread  and  one  body,  for  we  are  ail  partakers  of  that  one 
 bread,  1  Cor.  x.  16,  17., :  this  shews  the  union  of  the  Church 
 in  this  sacrament.  Here  then  we  have,  in  these  two  sacra- 
 ments, both  matter,  form,  institution,  federal  acts,  blessings 
 conveyed,  and  the  union  of  the  body  in  them.  All  the  cha- 
 racters which  belong  to  a  sacrament  agree  fully  to  them. 
 
 In  the  next  place  we  must,  by  these  characters,  examine  the 
 other  pretended  sacraments.  It  is  no  wonder  if,  the  word 
 sacrament  being  of  a  large  extent,  there  should  be  some  pas- 
 sages in  ancient  writers  that  call  other  actions  so  besides  Bap- 
 tism and  the  Lord's  Supper;  for,  in  a  larger  sense,  every  holy 
 rite  may  be  so  called.  But  it  is  no  small  prejudice  against  the 
 number  of  Seven  Sacraments,  that  Peter  Lombard,  a  writer 
 in  the  twelfth  century,  is  the  first  that  reckons  seven  of  them : 
 From  that  mystical  expression  of  the  Seven  Spirits  of  God, 
 there  came  a  conceit  of  the  sevenfold  operation  of  the  Spirit ; 
 and  it  looked  like  a  good  illustration  of  that,  to  assert  Seven 
 Sacraments.  This  Pope  Eugenius  (Lib.  3.  Dist.  2.)  put  in 
 his  instruction  to  the  Armenians,  which  is  published  with  the 
 Council  of  Florence;  and  all  was  finally  settled  at  Trent. 
 Now  there  might  have  been  so  many  fine  allusions  made  on 
 the  number  seven,  and  some  of  the  ancients  were  so  much  set 
 on  such  allusions,  that,  since  we  hear  nothing  of  that  kind  from 
 any  of  them,  we  may  well  conclude,  that  this  is  more  than  an 
 ordinary  negative  argument  against  their  having  believed  that 
 there  were  seven  sacraments.   To  go  on  in  order  with  them  : — 
 
 The  first  that  we  reject,  which  is  reckoned  by  them  the 
 second,  is  Confirmation.  But  to  explain  this,  we  must  consider 
 in  what  respect  our  Church  receives  confirmation,  and  upon 
 what  reasons  it  is  that  she  does  not  acknowledge  it  to  be  a 
 
320 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  Oi 
 
 Art.  XXV. 
 
 sacrament.  We  find  that  after  Philip,  the  Deacon  and  Evan- 
 gelist, had  converted  and  baptized  some  in  Samaria,  Peter 
 and  John  were  sent  thither  by  the  Apostles,  who  laid  their 
 hands  on  such  as  were  baptized,  and  prayed  that  they  might 
 receive  the  Holy  Ghost;  upon  which  it  is  said  that  they  re- 
 ceived the  Holy  Ghost,  Acts  viiL  12.  14 — 17.  Now,  though 
 ordinary  functions,  when  performed  by  the  Apostles,  such  as 
 their  laying  on  of  hands  on  those  whom  they  ordained  or  con- 
 firmed, had  extraordinary  effects  accompanying  them;  but 
 when  the  extraordinary  effects  ceased,  the  end  for  which  these 
 were  at  first  given  being  accomplished,  the  gospel  having  been 
 fully  attested  to  the  world,  yet  the  functions  were  still  con- 
 tinued of  confirmation  as  well  as  ordination  :  And  as  the  laying 
 on  of  hands,  Heb.  vi.  2.,  that  is  reckoned  among  the  principles 
 of  the  Christian  doctrine,  after  repentance  and  faith,  and 
 subsequent  to  baptism,  seems  very  probably  to  belong  to  this ; 
 so  from  these  warrants  we  find,  in  the  earliest  writings  of  Chris- 
 tianity, mention  of  a  confirmation  after  baptism,  which  for  the 
 greater  solemnity  and  awe  of  the  action,  and  from  the  prece- 
 dent of  St  Peter  and  St  John,  was  reserved  to  the  Bishop,  to 
 be  done  only  by  him. 
 
 Upon  these  reasons  we  think  it  is  in  the  power  of  the  Church 
 to  require  all  such  as  have  been  baptized  to  come  before  the 
 Bishop  and  renew  their  baptismal  vow,  and  pray  for  God's 
 Holy  Spirit  to  enable  them  to  keep  their  vow ;  and  upon  their 
 doing  this,  the  Bishop  may  solemnly  pray  over  them,  with  that 
 ancient  and  almost  natural  ceremony  of  laying  his  hands  upon 
 them,  which  is  only  a  designation  of  the  persons  so  prayed 
 over  and  blessed,  that  God  may  seal  and  defend  them  with 
 his  Holy  Spirit ;  in  which,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  New 
 Covenant,  we  are  sure  that  such  as  do  thus  vow  and  pray,  do 
 also  receive  the  Holy  Spirit,  according  to  the  promise  that  our 
 Saviour  has  made  us.  In  this  action  there  is  nothing  but  what 
 is  in  the  power  of  the  Church  to  do,  even  without  any  other 
 warrant  or  precedent.  The  doing  all  things  to  order,  and  to 
 edifying,  will  authorize  a  Church  to  all  this;  especially  since 
 the  now  universal  practice  of  infant  baptism  makes  this  more 
 necessary  than  it  was  in  the  first  times,  when  chiefly  the  adult 
 were  baptized.  It  is  highly  reasonable  that  they,  who  gave  no 
 actual  consent  of  their  own,  should  come,  and,  by  their  own 
 express  act,  make  the  stipulations  of  baptism.  It  may  give 
 greater  impressions  of  awe  and  respect,  when  this  is  restrained 
 to  the  highest  order  in  the  Church.  Upon  the  sincere  vows 
 and  earnest  prayers  of  persons  thus  confirmed,  we  have  reason 
 to  believe  that  a  proportioned  degree  of  God's  grace  and  Spirit 
 will  be  poured  out  upon  them.  And  in  all  this  we  are  much 
 confirmed,  when  we  see  such  warrants  for  it  in  Scripture.  A 
 thing  so  good  in  itself,  that  has  at  least  a  probable  authority 
 
Art.  XXV. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 321 
 
 for  it,  and  was  certainly  a  practice  of  the  first  ages,  is  upon 
 very  jnst  grounds  continued  in  our  Church.  Would  to  God 
 it  were  as  seriously  gone  about,  as  it  is  lawfully  established. 
 
 But  after  all  this,  here  is  no  sacrament,  no  express  institu- 
 tion, neither  by  Christ  nor  his  Apostles;  no  rule  given  to 
 practise  it,  and,  which  is  the  most  essential,  there  is  no  matter 
 here ;  for  the  laying  on  of  hands  is  only  a  gesture  in  prayer : 
 nor  are  there  any  federal  rites  declared  to  belong  to  it ;  it  being 
 indeed  rather  a  ratifying  and  confirming  the  baptism,  than 
 any  new  stipulation.  To  supply  all  this,  the  Church  of  Rome 
 has  appointed  matter  for  it.  The  chrism,  which  is  a  mixture 
 of  oz7-olive  and  balm,  (opobalsamnm) ;  the  oil  signifying  the 
 clearness  of  a  good  conscience,  and  the  balm  the  savour  of  a 
 good  reputation.  This  must  be  peculiarly  blessed  by  the  Bi- 
 shop, who  is  the  only  minister  of  that  function.  The  form  of 
 this  sacrament  is  the  applying  the  chrism  to  the  forehead,  with 
 these  words,  Sig?io  le  signo  cruris,  et  conjirmo  te  chrismate  sa- 
 lutis,  in  nomine  Pair  is,  Filii,  et  Spiritus  Sancti:  I  sign  thee 
 with  the  sign  of  the  cross,  and  confirm  thee  with  the  chrism  of 
 salvation,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy 
 Ghost.  They  pretend  Christ  did  institute  this ;  but  they  say 
 the  Holy  Ghost,  which  he  breathed  on  his  disciples,  being  a 
 thing  that  transcended  all  sacraments,  he  settled  no  determin- 
 ed matter  nor  form  to  it,  and  that  the  succeeding  ages  appro- 
 priated this  matter  to  it. 
 
 We  do  not  deny  but  that  the  Christians  began  very  early 
 to  use  oil  in  holy  functions :  the  climates  they  lived  in  mak- 
 ing it  necessary  to  use  oil  much,  for  stopping  the  perspira- 
 tion, that  might  dispose  them  the  more  to  use  oil  in  their 
 sacred  rites.  It  is  not  to  be  denied,  but  that  both  Theo- 
 philus  and  Tertullian,  in  the  end  of  the  second, 
 and  the  beginning  Qf  the  third  century*  do  mention   Theoph .  i.  \. 
 
 TM         r  >  "       n  AutOl. 
 
 it.  1  he  frequent  mention  of  oil,  and  of  anointing,  Jert.de  ^ 
 in  the  Scripture,  might  incline  them  to  this:  It  was  deResur' 
 prophesied  of  Christ,  that  he  was  to  be  anointed  Cypr.  Ep.  70. 
 with  the  oil  of  joy  and  gladness  above  Jus  Jettons ; 
 and  the  names  of  Messias  and  Christ  do  also  import  this:  but 
 yet  we  hold  all  that  to  be  mystical,  and  that  it  is  to  be  meant 
 of  that  fulness  of  the  Spirit  which  he  received  without  measure. 
 Upon  the  same  account  we  do  understand  those  words  of 
 St  Paul  in  the  same  mystical  sense — He  that  cstablishcth  us 
 with  you  in  Christ,  and  hath  anointed  us,  is  God;  who  hath 
 also  sealed  us,  and  given  the  earnest  of  the  Spirit  in  our  hearts, 
 2  Cor.  i.  21,  22. :  as  also  those  words  of  St  John — But  ye  have 
 an  unction  from  the  Holy  One,  and  ye  know  all  things.  The 
 anointing  which  ye  have  received  of  him  abidcth  in  you;  and 
 ye  need  not  that  any  man  teach  you,  but  as  the  same  anointing 
 tcacheth  yon  all  things,  1  John  ii.  20.  27.     These  words  do 
 
 X 
 
322 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXV. 
 
 clearly  relate  to  somewhat  that  the  Christians  received  imme- 
 diately from  God,  and  so  must  be  understood  figuratively; 
 for  we  do  not  see  the  least  hint  of  the  Apostles  using  of  oil, 
 except  to  the  sick ;  of  which  afterwards.  So  that  if  this  use 
 of  oil  is  considered  only  as  a  ceremony  of  a  natural  significa- 
 tion, that  was  brought  into  the  rituals  of  the  Church,  it  is  a 
 thing  of  another  nature ;  but  if  a  sacrament  is  made  of  it,  and 
 a  divine  virtue  is  joined  to  that,  we  can  admit  of  no  such  thing, 
 without  an  express  institution  and  declaration  in  Scripture, 
 con  Araus  The  invention  that  was  afterwards  found  out,  by 
 cod  Aff  which  the  Bishop  was  held  to  be  the  only  minister  of 
 can.  6.        confirmation,  even  though  Presbyters  were  suffered 
 
 Con.  Tol.  c.  20.  .  n  '  C  \lS  Ul^ 
 
 to  confirm,  was  a  piece  ol  superstition  without  any 
 colour  from  Scripture.  It  was  settled,  that  the  Bishop  only 
 might  consecrate  the  chrism;  and  though  he  was  the  ordinary 
 minister  of  confirmation,  yet  Presbyters  were  also  suffered  to 
 do  it,  the  chrism  being  consecrated  by  the  Bishop.  Presbyters 
 thus  confirming,  was  thought  like  the  Deacons  giving  the  Sa- 
 crament, though  Priests  only  might  consecrate  the  Eucharist. 
 Hieron.  ad  1°  the  Latin  Church,  Jerome  tells  us,  that  in  his  time 
 Lucifer.  tjie  Bisi10p  Gnly  confirmed ;  and  though  he  makes  the 
 reason  of  this  to  be  rather  for  doin£  an  honour  to  them  than 
 from  any  necessity  of  the  law,  yet  he  positively  says,  the  Bishops 
 Hilar,  in  went  round  praying  for  the  Holy  Ghost  on  those 
 Epiiiut  whom  they  confirmed.  It  is  said  by  Hilary,  that  in 
 supra.  Egypt  the  Presbyters  did  confirm  in  the  Bishop's  ab- 
 sence; so  that  custom,  joined  with  the  distinction  between  the 
 consecration  and  the  applying  of  the  chrism,  grew  to  be  the 
 uuiversal  practice  of  the  Greek  Church.  The  greatness  of 
 dioceses,  with  the  increasing  numbers  of  the  Christians,  made 
 that  both  in  France  in  the  Councils  of  Orange,  and  in  Spain 
 in  the  Council  of  Toledo,  the  same  rule  was  laid  down  that 
 the  Greeks  had  begun.  In  Spain  some  Priests  did  consecrate 
 the  chrism,  but  that  was  severely  forbid  in  one  of  the  Councils 
 of  Toledo ;  yet  at  I^)me  the  ancient  custom  was  observed  of 
 appropriating  the  whole  business  of  confirmation  to  the  Bishop, 
 Greg.  Ep.  even  in  Gregory  the  Great's  time ;  therefore  he  re- 
 l  iii.  ep.  9.  proved  the  Clergy  of  Sardinia,  because  among  them 
 the  Priests  did  confirm,  and  he  appointed  it  to  be  reserved  to 
 the  Bishop.  But  when  he  understood  that  some  of  them  were 
 offended  at  this,  he  writ  to  the  Bishop  of  Carali,  that  though 
 his  former  other  order  was  made  according  to  the  ancient 
 practice  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  yet  he  consented  that  for  the 
 future  the  Priest  might  confirm  in  the  Bishop's  absence.  But 
 Pope  Nicholas,  in  the  ninth  century,  pressed  this  with  more 
 rigour ;  for  the  Bulgarians  being  then  converted  to  the  Chris- 
 tian religion,  and  their  Priests  having  both  baptized  and  con- 
 firmed the  new  converts,  Pope  Nicholas  sent  Bishops  among 
 
Art.  XXV. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 323 
 
 them,  with  orders  to  confirm  even  those  who  hail  already  been 
 confirmed  by  Priests :  upon  which,  the  contest  being  then  on 
 foot  between  Home  and  Constantinople,  Photius  got  it  to  be 
 decreed  in  a  synod  at  Constantinople,  that  the  chrism  being 
 hallowed  by  a  Bishop,  it  might  be  administered  by  Presbyters ; 
 and  Photius  affirmed,  that  a  Presbyter  might  do  this,  as  well 
 as  baptize  or  offer  at  the  altar.  But  Pope  Nicholas,  with  the 
 confidence  that  was  often  assumed  by  that  See  upon  as  bad 
 grounds,  did  affirm,  that  this  had  never  been  allowed  of.  And 
 upon  this  many  of  the  Latins  did,  in  the  progress  of  Decr 
 their  disputes  with  the  Greeks,  say,  that  they  had  no  cont.  re- 
 confirmation. This  has  been  more  enlarged  on  than 
 was  necessary  by  the  designed  shortness  of  this  work,  because 
 all  those  of  the  Roman  communion  among  us  have  now  no 
 confirmation,  unless  a  Bishop  happens  to  come  amongst  them. 
 And  therefore  it  is  now  a  common  doctrine  among  them,  that 
 though  confirmation  is  a  sacrament,  yet  it  is  not  necessary. 
 
 About  this  there  were  fierce  disputes  among  them  about 
 sixty  years  ago,  whether  it  was  necessary  for  them  to  have  a 
 Bishop  here  to  confirm,  according  to  the  ancient  custom,  or 
 not?  The  Jesuits,  who  had  no  mind  to  be  under  any  autho- 
 rity but  their  own,  opposed  it ;  for  the  Bishop  being  by  Pope 
 Eugenius  declared  to  be  the  ordinary  minister  of  it,  from  thence 
 it  was  inferred,  that  a  Bishop  was  not  simply  necessary.  This 
 was  much  censured  by  some  of  the  Gallican  Church.  If  con- 
 firmation were  considered  only  as  an  ecclesiastical  rite,  we  could 
 not  dispute  the  power  of  the  Church  about  it ;  but  we  cannot 
 allow  that  a  sacrament  should  be  thus  within  the  power  of  the 
 Church ;  or  that  a  new  function  of  consecrating  oil,  without 
 applying  it,  distinct  from  confirmation,  and  yet  necessary  to 
 the  very  essence  of  it,  could  have  been  set  up  by  the  power  of 
 the  Church ;  for  if  sacraments  are  federal  conveyances  of  grace, 
 they  must  be  continued  according  to  their  first  institution,  the 
 grace  of  God  being  only  tied  to  the  actions  with  which  it  is 
 promised. 
 
 We  go  next  to  the  second  of  the  Sacraments  here  rejected, 
 which  is  Penance,  that  is  reckoned  the  fourth  in  order  among 
 them.  Penance,  ox  Penitence,  is  formed  from  the  Latin  trans- 
 lation of  a  Greek  word  that  signifies  a  change  or  renovation  of 
 mind;  which  Christ  has  made  a  necessary  condition  of  the  New 
 Covenant.  It  consists  in  several  acts ;  by  all  which,  when  join- 
 ed together,  and  producing  this  real  change,  we  become  true 
 penitents,  and  have  a  right  to  the  remission  of  sins,  which  is 
 in  the  New  Testament  often  joined  with  repentance,  and  is  its 
 certain  consequent.  The  first  act  of  this  repentance  is,  con- 
 fession to  God,  before  whom  we  must  humble  ourselves,  and 
 confess  our  sins  to  him  ;  upon  which  we  believe  that  he  is 
 faithful,  and  true  to  his  promises,  and  just  to  forgive  us  our  sins, 
 
£2 1 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXV. 
 
 1  John  i.  9. ;  and  if  we  have  wronged  others,  or  have  given 
 public  offence  to  the  body,  or  church,  to  which  we  belong,  we 
 ought  to  confess  our  faults  (James  v.  16.)  to  them  likewise; 
 and  as  a  mean  to  quiet  men's  consciences,  to  direct  them  to 
 complete  their  repentance,  and  to  make  them  more  humble 
 and  ashamed  of  their  sins,  we  advise  them  to  use  secret  confes- 
 sion to  their  Priest,  or  to  any  other  minister  of  God's  word, 
 leaving  this  matter  wholly  to  their  discretion. 
 
 When  these  acts  of  sorrow  have  had  their  due  effect  in  re- 
 forming the  natures  and  lives  of  sinners,  then  their  sins  are 
 forgiven  them :  in  order  to  which,  we  do  teach  them  to  pray 
 much,  to  give  alms  according  to  their  capacity,  and  to  fast  as 
 often  as  their  health  and  circumstances  will  admit  of;  and  most 
 indispensably  to  restore  or  repair,  as  they  find  they  have  sinned 
 against  others.  And  as  we  teach  them  thus  to  look  back  on 
 what  is  past,  with  a  deep  and  hearty  sorrow,  and  a  profound 
 shame,  so  we  charge  them  to  look  chiefly  forward,  not  thinking 
 that  any  acts  with  relation  to  what  is  past  can,  as  it  were  by 
 an  account  or  compensation,  free  us  from  the  guilt  of  our  for- 
 mer sins,  unless  we  amend  our  lives  and  change  our  tempers 
 for  the  future ;  the  great  design  of  repentance  being  to  make 
 us  like  God,  pure  and  holy  as  he  is.  Upon  such  a  repentance 
 sincerely  begun,  and  honestly  pursued,  we  do  in  general,  as 
 the  heralds  of  God's  mercy,  and  the  ministers  of  his  gospel, 
 pronounce  to  our  people  daily  the  offers  that  are  made  us  of 
 mercy  and  pardon  by  Christ  Jesus.  This  we  do  in  our  daily 
 service,  and  in  a  more  peculiar  manner  before  we  go  to  the 
 holy  Communion.  We  do  also,  as  we  are  a  body  that  may 
 be  offended  with  the  sins  of  others,  forgive  the  scandals  com- 
 mitted against  the  Church ;  and  that  such  as  we  think  die  in  a 
 state  of  repentance,  may  die  in  the  full  peace  of  the  Church,  we 
 join  both  absolutions  in  one ;  in  the  last  office  likewise  praying 
 to  our  Saviour  that  he  would  forgive  them,  and  then  we,  as 
 the  officers  of  the  Church,  authorized  for  that  end,  do  forgive 
 all  the  offences  and  scandals  committed  by  them  against  the 
 whole  body.  This  is  our  doctrine  concerning  repentance ;  in 
 all  which  we  find  no  characters  of  a  sacrament,  no  more  than 
 there  is  in  prayer  or  devotion.  Here  is  no  matter,  no  appli- 
 cation of  that  matter  by  a  peculiar  form,  no  institution,  and 
 no  peculiar  federal  acts.  The  scene  here  is  the  mind,  the  acts 
 are  internal,  the  effect  is  such  also ;  and  therefore  we  do  not 
 reckon  it  a  sacrament,  not  finding  in  it  any  of  the  characters 
 of  a  sacrament. 
 
 The  matter  that  is  assigned  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  are  the 
 acts  of  the  penitent — his  confession  by  his  mouth  to  the  Priest, 
 the  contrition  of  his  heart,  and  the  satisfaction  of  his  work  in 
 doing  the  enjoined  penance.  The  aggregate  of  ah  these  is  the 
 matter ;  and  the  form,  are  the  words,  Ego  te  absolvo.  Now, 
 
Art.  XXV. 
 
 'THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 326 
 
 besides  what  we  have  to  say  from  every  one  of  these  particulars, 
 the  matter  of  a  sacrament  must  be  some  visible  sign  applied 
 to  him  that  receives  it.  It  is  therefore  a  very  absurd 
 thing  to  imagine,  that  a  man's  own  thoughts,  words,  *  Later.  111 
 or  actions,  can  be  the  matter  of  a  sacrament:  how  con.irid!" 
 can  this  be  sanctified  or  applied  to  him  ?  It  will  be  a  14 
 thing  no  less  absurd,  to  make  the  form  of  a  sacrament 
 to  be  a  practice  not  much  older  than  four  hundred  years;  since 
 no  ritual  can  be  produced,  nor  author  cited,  for  this  form,  for 
 above  a  thousand  years  after  Christ ;  all  the  ancient  forms  of 
 receiving  penitents  having  been  by  a  blessing  in  the  form  of  a 
 prayer,  or  a  declaration,  but  none  of  them  in  these  positive 
 words,  /  absolve  thee.  We  think  this  want  of  matter,  and  this 
 new  invented  form,  being  without  any  institution  in  Scripture, 
 and  different  from  so  long  a  practice  of  the  whole  Church,  are 
 such  reasons,  that  we  are  fully  justified  in  denying  penance  to 
 be  a  sacrament.  But  because  the  doctrine  of  repentance  is  a 
 point  of  the  highest  importance,  there  arise  several  things  here 
 that  ought  to  be  very  carefully  examined. 
 
 As  to  Confession,  we  find  in  the  Scriptures,  that  such  as  de- 
 sired St  John's  baptism  came  confessing  their  sins,  Matt.  iii.  6. ; 
 but  that  was  previous  to  baptism.  We  find  also  that  scandalous 
 persons  were  to  be  openly  rebuked  before  all,  1  Tim.  v.  20.,  and 
 so  to  be  put  to  shame ;  in  which,  no  doubt,  there  was  a  confes- 
 sion, and  a  publication  of  the  sin  :  but  that  was  a  matter  of  the  • 
 discipline  and  order  of  the  Church,  which  made  it  necessary 
 to  note  such  persons  as  talked  disorderly,  and  to  have  no  fellow- 
 ship with  them,  2  Thess.  iii.  14.,  sometimes  not  so  much  as  to 
 eat  with  them  (1  Cor.  v.  11.)  who,  being  Christians,  and  such 
 as  were  called  brothers,  were  a  reproach  to  their  profession. 
 But  besides  the  power  given  to  the  Apostles  of  binding  and 
 loosing,  which,  as  was  said  on  another  head,  belonged  to  other 
 matters,  we  find,  that  when  our  Saviour  breathed  on  his  Apos- 
 tles, and  gave  them  the  Holy  Ghost,  he  with  that  told  them, 
 that  whose  soever  sins  they  remitted,  they  were  remitted;  and 
 whose  soever  sins  they  retained,  they  were  retained,  John  xx.  23. 
 Since  a  power  of  remitting  or  retaining  sins  was  thus  given  to 
 them,  they  infer  that  it  seems  reasonable,  that,  in  order  to 
 their  dispensing  it  with  a  due  caution,  the  knowledge  of  all  sins 
 ought  to  be  laid  open  to  them. 
 
 Some  have  thought,  that  this  was  a  personal  thing  given  to 
 the  Apostles  with  that  miraculous  effusion  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  -  Jfy^ 
 with  which  such  a  discerning  of  spirits  was  communicated  to 
 them,  that  they  could  discern  the  sincerity  or  hypocrisy  of  those 
 that  came  before  them.  By  this  St  Peter  discovered  the  sin 
 of  Ananias  and  Sapphira,  Acts  v.  3.  9. ;  and  he  also  saw  that 
 Simon  of  Samaria  was  in  the  gall  of  bitterness,  and  in  the  bond 
 of  iniquity,  Acts  viii.  23.;  so  they  conclude,  that  this  was  a 
 
326 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXV. 
 
 part  of  that  extraordinary  and  miraculous  authority  which  was 
 given  to  the  Apostles,  and  to  them  only.  But  others,  who 
 distinguish  between  the  full  extent  of  this  power,  and  the  mini- 
 sterial authority  that  is  still  to  be  continued  in  the  Church,  do 
 believe  that  these  words  may  in  a  lower  and  more  limited  sense 
 belong  to  the  successors  of  the  Apostles ;  ^focrt  they  argue  very 
 strongly,  that  if  these  words  are  to  be  understood  in  their  full 
 extent  as  they  lie,  a  Priest  has  by  them  an  absolute  and  un- 
 limited power  in  this  matter,  not  restrained  to  conditions  or 
 rules ;  so  that  if  he  does  pardon  or  retain  sins,  whether  in  that 
 he  does  right  or  wrong,  the  sins  must  be  pardoned  or  retained 
 accordingly :  He  may  indeed  sin  in  using  it  wrong,  for  which 
 he  must  answer  to  God ;  but  he  seems,  by  the  literal  meaning 
 of  these  words,  to  be  clothed  with  such  a  plenipotentiary  au- 
 thority, that  his  act  must  be  valid,  though  he  may  be  punished 
 for  employing  it  amiss. 
 
 An  ambassador  that  has  full  powers,  though  limited  by 
 secret  instructions,  does  bind  him  that  so  empowered  him  by 
 every  act  that  he  does  pursuant  to  his  powers,  how  much  soever 
 it  may  go  beyond  his  instructions :  for  how  obnoxious  soever 
 that  may  render  him  to  his  master,  it  does  not  at  all  lessen  the 
 authority  of  what  he  has  done,  nor  the  obligation  that  arises 
 out  of  it.  So  these  words  of  Christ's,  if  applied  to  all  Priests, 
 must  belong  to  them  in  their  full  extent ;  and  if  so,  the  salva- 
 tion or  the  damnation  of  mankind  is  put  absolutely  in  the 
 Priest's  power.  Nor  can  it  be  answered,  that  the  conditions 
 of  the  pardon  of  sin  that  are  expressed  in  the  other  parts  of 
 the  Gospel  are  here  to  be  understood,  though  they  are  not 
 expressed ;  as  we  are  said  to  be  saved  if  we  believe,  which  does 
 not  imply  that  a  single  act  of  believing  the  Gospel,  without  any 
 thing  else,  puts  us  in  a  state  of  salvation. 
 
 In  opposition  to  this,  we  answer,  that  the  Gospel  having  so 
 described  faith  to  us  as  the  root  of  all  other  graces  and  virtues, 
 as  that  which  produces  them,  and  which  is  known  by  them,  all 
 that  is  promised  upon  our  faith  must  be  understood  of  a  faith 
 so  qualified  as  the  Gospel  represents  it;  and  therefore  that 
 cannot  be  applied  to  this  case,  where  an  unlimited  authority 
 is  so  particularly  expressed,  that  no  condition  seems  to  be  im- 
 plied in  it.  If  any  conditions  are  elsewhere  laid  upon  us  in 
 order  to  our  salvation,  then,  according  to  their  doctrine,  we 
 may  say  that  of  them  which  they  say  of  contrition  upon  this 
 occasion,  that  they  are  necessary  when  we  cannot  procure  the 
 Priest's  pardon ;  but  that  by  it  the  want  of  them  all  may  be 
 supplied,  and  that  the  obligation  to  them  all  is  superseded  by 
 it:  And  if  any  conditions  are  to  be  understood  as  limits  upon 
 this  power,  why  are  not  all  the  conditions  of  the  Gospel,  faith, 
 hope,  and  charity,  contrition  and  new  obedience,  made  neces- 
 sary in  order  to  the  lawful  dispensing  of  it,  as  well  as  confes- 
 
Akt.  XXV. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 327 
 
 sion,  attrition,  and  the  doing  the  penance  enjoined  ?  There- 
 fore, since  no  condition  is  here  named  as  a  restraint  upon  this 
 general  power  that  is  pretended  to  be  given  to  Priests  by  those 
 words  of  our  Saviour,  they  must  either  be  understood  as  simple 
 and  unconditional,  or  they  must  be  limited  to  all  the  conditions 
 that  are  expressed  in  the  Gospel ;  for  there  is  not  the  colour 
 of  a  reason  to  restrain  them  to  some  of  them,  and  to  leave  out 
 the  rest :  and  thus  we  think  we  are  fully  justified  by  saving, 
 that  by  these  words  our  Saviour  did  indeed  fully  empower  the 
 Apostles  to  publish  his  Gospel  to  the  world,  and  to  declare  the 
 terms  of  salvation,  and  of  obtaining  the  pardon  of  sin,  in  which 
 they  were  to  be  infallibly  assisted,  so  that  they  could  not  err 
 in  discharging  their  commission  :  and  the  terms  of  the  covenant 
 of  grace  being  thus  settled  by  them,  all  who  were  to  succeed 
 them  were  also  empowered  to  go  on  with  the  publication  of 
 this  pardon  and  of  those  glad  tidings  to  the  world ;  so  that 
 whatsoever  they  declared  in  the  name  of  God,  conform  to  the 
 tenor  of  that  which  the  Apostles  were  to  settle,  should  be  always 
 made  good.  We  do  also  acknowledge,  that  the  Pastors  of  the 
 Church  have,  in  the  way  of  censure  and  government,  a  minis- 
 terial authority  to  remit  or  to  retain  sins,  as  they  are  matters 
 of  scandal  or  offence ;  though  that  indeed  does  not  seem  to  be 
 the  meaning  of  those  words  of  our  Saviour ;  and  therefore  we 
 think  that  the  power  of  pardoning  and  retaining  is  only  decla- 
 ratory, so  that  all  the  exercises  of  it  are  then  only  effectual, 
 when  the  declarations  of  the  pardon  are  made  conform  to  the 
 conditions  of  the  Gospel.  This  doctrine  of  ours,  how  much 
 soever  decried  of  late  in  the  Roman  Church  as  striking  at  the 
 root  of  the  priestly  authority,  yet  has  been  maintained  by  some 
 of  their  best  authors,  and  some  of  the  greatest  of  their  school- 
 men. 
 
 Thus  we  have  seen  upon  what  reason  it  is  that  we  do  not 
 conclude  from  hence  that  auricular  confession  is  necessary ;  in 
 which  we  think  that  we  are  fully  confirmed  by  the  practice  of 
 many  of  the  ages  of  the  Christian  Church,  which  did  not  under- 
 stand these  words  as  containing  an  obligation  to  secret  confes- 
 sion. It  is  certain,  that  the  practice  and  tradition  of  the  Church 
 must  be  relied  on  here,  if  in  any  thing,  since  there  was  nothing 
 that  both  clergy  and  laity  were  more  concerned  both  to  know 
 and  to  deliver  down  faithfully,  than  this,  on  which  the  authority 
 of  the  one  and  the  salvation  of  the  other  depended  so  much. 
 Such  a  point  as  this  could  never  have  been  forgot  or  mistaken  ; 
 many  and  clear  rules  must  have  been  given  about  it :  It  is  a 
 thing  to  which  human  nature  has  so  much  repugnancy,  that  it 
 must,  in  the  first  forming  of  Churches,  have  been  infused  into 
 them  as  absolutely  necessary  in  order  to  pardon  and  salvation. 
 
 A  Church  could  not  now  be  formed,  according  to  the  doc- 
 trine and  practice  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  without  very  full 
 
AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXV. 
 
 and  particular  instructions,  both  to  Priests  and  people,  con- 
 cerning confession  and  absolution.  It  is  the  most  intricate 
 part  of  their  divinity,  and  that  which  the  clergy  must  be  the 
 most  ready  at.  In  opposition  to  all  this,  let  it  be  considered, 
 that  though  there  is  a  great  deal  said  in  the  New  Testament 
 concerning  sorrow  for  sin,  repentance  and  remission  of  sins, 
 yet  there  is  not  a  word  said,  nor  a  rule  given,  concerning  con- 
 fession to  be  made  to  a  Priest,  and  absolution  to  be  given  by 
 him.  There  is  indeed  a  passage  in  St  James's  Epistle  (v.  16.) 
 relating  to  confession ;  but  it  is  to  one  another,  not  re- 
 strained to  the  Priest ;  as  the  word  rendered  faults  seems  to 
 signify  those  offences  by  which  others  are  wronged,  in  which 
 case  confession  is  a  degree  of  reparation,  and  so  is  sometimes 
 necessary :  but  whatever  may  be  in  this,  it  is  certain,  that  the 
 confession  which  is  there  appointed  to  be  made  is  a  thing  that 
 was  to  be  mutual  among  Christians;  and  it  is  not  commanded 
 in  order  to  absolution,  but  in  order  to  the  procuring  the  inter- 
 cessions of  other  good  men ;  and  therefore  it  is  added,  and 
 pray  for  one  another.  By  the  words  that  follow,  that  ye  may 
 be  healed,  joined  with  those  that  went  before  concerning  the 
 sick,  it  seems  the  direction  given  by  St  James  belongs  prin- 
 cipally to  sick  persons ;  and  the  conclusion  of  the  whole  period 
 shews,  that  it  relates  only  to  the  private  prayers  of  good  men 
 for  one  another — the  effectual  fervent  prayer  of  a  righteous  man 
 availeth  much  :  so  that  this  place  does  not  at  all  belong  to  au- 
 ricular confession  or  absolution. 
 
 Nor  do  there  any  prints  appear,  before  the  apostasies  that 
 happened  in  the  persecution  of  Decius,  of  the  practice  even  of 
 confessing  such  heinous  sins  as  had  been  publicly  committed. 
 Then  arose  the  famous  contests  with  the  Novatians,  concerning 
 the  receiving  the  lapsed  into  the  communion  of  the  Church 
 again.  It  was  concluded  not  to  exclude  them  from  the  hopes 
 of  mercy,  or  of  reconciliation ;  yet  it  was  resolved  not  to  do 
 that  till  they  had  been  kept  at  a  distance  for  some  time  from 
 the  holy  communion :  at  last  they  were  admitted  to  make  their 
 confession,  and  so  they  were  received  to  the  communion  of  the 
 Church.  This  time  was  shortened,  and  many  things  were 
 passed  over,  to  such  as  shewed  a  deep  and  sincere  repentance ; 
 and  one  of  the  characters  of  a  true  repentance,  upon  which 
 they  were  always  treated  with  a  great  distinction  of  favour, 
 was,  if  they  came  and  first  accused  themselves.  This  shewed 
 that  they  were  deeply  affected  with  the  sense  of  their  sins, 
 when  they  could  not  bear  the  load  of  them,  but  became  their 
 own  accusers,  and  discovered  their  sins.  There  are  several 
 canons  that  make  a  difference  in  the  degrees  and  time  of  the 
 penance,  between  those  who  had  accused  themselves,  and  those 
 against  whom  their  sins  were  proved.  A  great  deal  of  this 
 strain  occurs  often  in  the  writings  of  the  Fathers,  which  plainly 
 
Aw.  XXV. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 329 
 
 shews  that  they  did  not  look  on  the  necessity  of  an  enumera- 
 tion of  all  their  sins  as  commanded  by  God ;  otherwise  it 
 would  have  been  enforced  with  considerations  of  another  na- 
 ture than  that  of  shortening  their  penance. 
 
 The  first  occasion  that  was  given  to  the  Church  to  exercise 
 this  discipline,  was  from  the  frequent  apostasies  into  which 
 many  had  lapsed  during  the  persecutions ;  and  when  these 
 went  off,  another  sort  of  disorders  began  to  break  in  upon  the 
 Church,  and  to  defile  it.  Great  numbers  followed  the  example 
 of  their  princes,  and  became  Christians ;  but  a  mixed  multi- 
 tude came  among  them,  so  that  there  were  many  scandals 
 amongst  that  body,  which  had  been  formerly  remarkable  for 
 the  purity  of  their  morals  and  the  strictness  of  their  lives.  It 
 was  the  chief  business  of  all  those  Councils  that  met  in  the 
 fourth  and  fifth  centuries,  to  settle  many  rules  concerning  the 
 degrees  and  time  of  penance,  the  censures  both  of  the  clergy 
 and  laity,  the  orders  of  the  penitents,  and  the  methods  of 
 receiving  them  to  the  communion  of  the  Church.  In  some  of 
 those  Councils  they  denied  reconciliation  after  some  sins,  even 
 to  the  last,  though  the  general  practice  was  to  receive  all  at 
 their  death ;  but  while  they  were  in  a  good  state  of 
 health,  they  kept  them  long  in  penance,  in  a  public  SnSSone. 
 separation  from  the  common  privileges  of  Christians,  p«S5em?f 
 and  chiefly  from  the  holy  sacrament,  and  under  se- 
 vere rules,  and  that  for  several  years,  more  or  fewer,  according 
 to  the  nature  of  their  sins,  and  the  characters  of  their  repent- 
 ance ;  of  which  a  free  and  unextorted  confession  being  one  of 
 the  chief,  this  made  many  prevent  that,  and  come  in  of  their 
 own  accord  to  confess  their  sins,  which  was  much  encouraged 
 and  magnified. 
 
 Confession  was  at  first  made  publicly ;  but  the  inconveni- 
 encies  of  that  appearing,  and  particularly  many  of  those  sins 
 being  capital,  instead  of  a  public,  there  was  a  private  confession 
 practised.  The  Bishops  either  attended  upon  these  themselves, 
 or  they  appointed  a  penitentiary  Priest  to  receive  them : — all 
 was  in  order  to  the  executing  the  canons,  and  for  keeping  up 
 the  discipline  of  the  Church.  Bishops  were  warranted  by  the 
 Council  of  Nice  to  excuse  the  severity  of  the  canons,  as  the 
 occasion  should  require.  The  penitents  went  through  the 
 penance  imposed,  which  was  done  publicly — the  separation  and 
 penance  being  visible,  even  when  the  sin  was  kept  secret  ;  and 
 when  the  time  of  the  penance  was  finished,  they  received  the 
 penitents,  by  prayer  and  imposition  of  hands,  into  the  commu- 
 nion of  the  Church,  and  so  they  were  received.  This  was  all 
 the  absolution  that  was  known  during  the  first  six  centuries. 
 
 Penitents  were  enjoined  to  publish  such  of  their  secret  sins 
 as  the  penitentiary  Priest  did  prescribe.  This  happened  to 
 give  great  scandal  at  Constantinople,   when  Nectarius  was 
 
330 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Akt.  XXV. 
 
 socr.  Hist.  Bishop  there ;  for  a  woman  being  in  a  course  of  pe- 
 l  v.  c.  19.  nance,  confessed  publicly  that  she  had  been  guilty  of 
 adultery,  committed  with  a  deacon  in  the  Church.  It  seems,  by 
 the  relation  that  the  historian  gives  of  this  matter,  that  she  went 
 beyond  the  injunctions  given  her;  but  whether  the  fault  was  in 
 her  or  in  the  penitentiary  Priest,  this  gave  such  offence  that  Nec- 
 tarius  broke  that  custom.  And  Chrysostom,*  who  came  soon 
 after  him  to  that  See,  speaks  very  full  against  secret  confession, 
 and  advises  Christians  to  confess  only  to  God ;  yet  the  prac- 
 tice of  secret  confession  was  kept  up  elsewhere.  But  it  appears, 
 by  a  vast  number  of  citations  from  the  Fathers,  both  in  different 
 ages  and  in  the  different  corners  of  the  Church,  that  though 
 they  pressed  confession  much,  and  magnified  the  value  of  it 
 highly,  yet  they  never  urged  it  as  necessary  to  the  pardon  of 
 sin,  or  as  a  sacrament ;  they  only  pressed  it  as  a  mean  to  com- 
 plete the  repentance,  and  to  give  the  sinner  an  interest  in  the 
 prayers  of  the  Church.  This  may  be  positively  affirmed  con- 
 cerning all  the  quotations  that  are  brought  in  this  matter,  to 
 prove  that  auricular  confession  is  necessary  in  order  to  the 
 Priest's  pardon,  and  that  it  is  founded  on  those  words  of  Christ, 
 Whose  sins  ye  remits  &c.  that  they  prove  quite  the  contrary — 
 that  the  Fathers  had  not  that  sense  of  it,  but  considered  it, 
 either  as  a  mean  to  help  the  completing  of  repentance,  or  as  a 
 mean  to  maintain  the  purity  of  the  Christian  Church,  and  the 
 rigour  of  discipline. 
 
 In  the  fifth  century  a  practice  began,  which  was  no  small 
 step  to  the  ruin  of  the  order  of  the  Church.  Penitents  were 
 suffered,  instead  of  the  public  penance  that  had  been  formerly 
 enjoined,  to  do  it  secretly  in  some  monastery,  or  in  any  other 
 private  place,  in  the  presence  of  a  few  good  men,  and  that  at 
 the  discretion  of  the  Bishop  or  the  confessor ;  at  the  end  of 
 which,  absolution  was  given  in  secret.  This  was  done  to  draw 
 what  professions  of  repentance  they  could  from  such  persons 
 who  would  not  submit  to  settled  rules :  this  temper  was  found 
 neither  to  lose  them  quite,  nor  to  let  their  sins  pass  without 
 any  censure.  But  in  the  seventh  century  all  public  penance 
 for  secret  sins  was  taken  quite  away.  Theodore,  Archbishop 
 of  Canterbury,  is  reckoned  the  first  of  all  the  Bishops  of  the 
 Western  Church  that  did  quite  take  away  all  public  penance 
 for  secret  sins. 
 
 Another  piece  of  the  ancient  severity  was  also  slackened,  for 
 they  had  never  allowed  penance  to  men  that  had  relapsed  into 
 any  sin ;  though  they  did  not  cut  them  off  from  all  hope  of  the 
 mercy  of  God,  yet  they  never  gave  a  second  absolution  to  the 
 relapse.    This  the  Church  of  Rome  has  still  kept  up  in  one 
 
 *  Thirteen  passages  out  of  him  cited  and  explained  bv  Daille  de  Conf.  1.  iv. 
 c.  25. 
 
Art.  XXV. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 331 
 
 point,  which  is  heresy ;  a  relapse  being  delivered  to  the  secular 
 arm,  without  admitting  him  to  penance.  The  ancients  did 
 indeed  admit  such  to  penance,  but  they  never  reconciled  them. 
 Yet  in  the  decay  of  discipline,  absolution  came  to  be  granted 
 to  the  relapse,  as  well  as  to  him  that  had  sinned  but  once. 
 
 About  the  end  of  the  eighth  century  the  commutation  of 
 penance  began,  and,  instead  of  the  ancient  severities,  vocal 
 prayers  came  to  be  all  that  was  enjoined  :  so  many  Paters  stood 
 for  so  many  days  of  fasting,  and  the  rich  were  admitted  to  buy 
 off  their  penance  under  the  decenter  name  of  giving  alms.  The 
 getting  many  masses  to  be  said,  was  thought  a  devotion  by 
 which  God  was  so  much  honoured,  that  the  commuting  penance 
 for  masses  was  much  practised.  Pilgrimages  and  wars  came 
 on  afterwards ;  and  in  the  twelfth  century  the  trade  was  set 
 up  of  selling  indulgences.  By  this  it  appears,  that  confession 
 came  by  several  steps  into  the  Church ;  that  in  the  first  ages 
 it  was  not  heard  of ;  that  the  apostasies  in  time  of  persecution 
 gave  the  first  rise  to  it; — all  which  demonstrates,  that  the  pri- 
 mitive Church  did  not  consider  it  as  a  thing  appointed  by 
 Christ  to  be  the  matter  of  a  sacrament. 
 
 It  may  be  in  the  power  of  the  Church  to  propose  confession, 
 as  a  mean  to  direct  men  in  their  repentance,  to  humble  them 
 deeper  for  their  sins,  and  to  oblige  them  to  a  greater  strictness ; 
 but  to  enjoin  it  as  necessary  to  obtain  the  pardon  of  sin,  and 
 to  make  it  an  indispensable  condition,  and  indeed  the  most  in- 
 dispensable of  all  the  parts  of  repentance,  is  beyond  the  power 
 of  the  Church :  for  since  Christ  is  the  Mediator  of  this  New 
 Covenant,  he  alone  must  fix  the  necessary  conditions  of  it.  In 
 this,  more  than  in  any  thing  else,  we  must  conclude  that  the 
 Gospel  is  express  and  clear ;  and  therefore  so  hard  a  condition 
 as  this  is,  cannot  be  imposed  by  any  other  authority.  The  ob- 
 ligation to  auricular  confession  is  a  thing  to  which  mankind 
 is  naturally  so  little  disposed  to  submit,  and  it  may  have  such 
 consequences  on  the  peace  and  order  of  the  world,  that  we  have 
 reason  to  believe,  that  if  Christ  had  intended  to  have  made  it 
 a  necessary  part  of  repentance,  he  would  have  declared  it  in 
 express  words,  and  not  have  left  it  so  much  in  the  dark,  that 
 those  who  assert  it  must  draw  it  by  inferences  from  those  words, 
 Whose  sins  ye  remit,  &c.  Some  things  are  of  such  a  nature, 
 that  we  may  justly  conclude  that  either  they  are  not  at  all  re- 
 quired, or  that  they  are  commanded  in  plain  terms. 
 
 As  for  the  good  or  evil  effects  that  may  follow  on  the  oblig- 
 ing men  to  a  strictness  in  confession,  that  does  not  belong  to 
 this  matter:  If  it  is  acknowledged  to  be  only  a  law  of  the 
 Church,  other  considerations  are  to  be  examined  about  it ;  but 
 if  it  is  pretended  to  be  a  law  of  God,  and  a  part  of  a  sacra- 
 ment, we  must  have  a  divine  institution  for  it;  otherwise  all 
 the  advantages  that  can  possibly  be  imagined  in  it,  without 
 
332 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXV. 
 
 that,  are  only  so  many  arguments  to  persuade  us,  that  there  is 
 somewhat  that  is  highly  necessary  to  the  purity  of  Christians 
 of  which  Christ  has  not  said  a  word,  and  concerning  which  his 
 Apostles  have  given  us  no  directions.    We  do  not  deny  but 
 it  may  be  a  mean  to  strike  terror  in  people,  to  keep  them  un- 
 der awe  and  obedience ;  it  may,  when  the  management  of  it 
 is  in  good  hands,  be  made  a  mean  to  keep  the  world  in  order, 
 and  to  guide  those  of  weaker  judgments  more  steadily  and 
 safely  than  could  be  well  done  any  other  way.    In  the  use  of 
 confession,  when  proposed  as  our  Church  does,  as  matter  of 
 advice  and  not  of  obligation,  we  are  very  sensible  many  good 
 ends  may  be  attained ;  but  while  we  consider  those,  we  must  like- 
 wise reflect  on  the  mischief  that  may  arise  out  of  it,  especially 
 supposing  the  greater  part  both  of  the  clergy  and  laity  to  be 
 what  they  ever  were,  and  ever  will  be,  depraved  and  corrupted. 
 The  people  will  grow  to  think  that  the  priest  is  in  God's  stead 
 to  them ;  that  their  telling  their  sins  to  him,  is  as  if  they  con- 
 fessed them  to  God :  they  will  expect  to  be  easily  discharged 
 for  a  gentle  penance,  with  a  speedy  absolution ;  and  this  will 
 make  them  as  secure  as  if  their  consciences  were  clear,  and 
 their  sins  pardoned ;  so  the  remedy  being  easy  and  always  at 
 hand,  they  will  be  encouraged  to  venture  the  more  boldly  on 
 sin.    It  is  no  difficult  matter  to  gain  a  priest,  especially  if  he 
 himself  is  a  bad  man,  to  use  them  tenderly  upon  those  occa- 
 sions.   On  the  other  hand,  corrupt  priests  will  find  their  ac- 
 count in  the  dispensing  this  great  power  so  as  to  serve  their 
 own  ends :  they  will  know  all  people's  tempers  and  secrets  ; 
 and  how  strict  soever  they  may  make  the  seal  of  confession,  to 
 draw  the  world  to  trust  to  it,  yet,  in  bodies  so  knit  together  as 
 communities  and  orders  are,  it  is  not  possible  to  know  what  use 
 they  may  make  of  this.    Still  they  know  all  themselves,  and  see 
 into  the  weakness,  the  passions,  and  appetites  of  their  people. 
 This  must  often  be  a  great  snare  to  them,  especially  in  the  sup- 
 position that  cannot  be  denied  to  hold  generally  true,  of  their 
 being  bad  men  themselves :  great  advantages  are  hereby  given 
 to  infuse  fears  and  scruples  into  people's  minds,  who  being  then 
 in  their  tenderest  minutes,  will  be  very  much  swayed  and 
 wrought  on  by  them.    A  bad  priest  knows  by  this  whom  he 
 may  tempt  to  any  sort  of  sin :  and  thus  the  good  and  the  evil 
 of  confession,  as  it  is  a  general  law  upon  all  men's  consciences, 
 being  weighed  one  against  the  other,  and  it  being  certain  that 
 the  far  greater  part  of  mankind  is  always  bad,  we  must  conclude, 
 that  the  evil  does  so  far  preponderate  the  good,  that  they  bear 
 no  comparison  or  proportion  to  one  another.    The  matter  at 
 present  under  debate  is  only,  whether  it  is  one  of  the  laws  of 
 God  or  not?  And  it  is  enough  for  the  present  purpose  to  shew 
 that  it  is  no  law  of  God ;  upon  which  we  do  also  see  very  good 
 reason  why  it  ought  not  to  be  made  a  law  of  the  Church  ;  botli 
 
Aar.  xxv. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 because  it  is  beyond  her  authority,  which  can  only  go  to  mat- 
 ters of  order  and  discipline,  as  also  because  of  the  vast  incon- 
 veniencies  that  are  like  to  arise  out  of  it. 
 
 The  next  part  of  repentance  is  Contrition,  which  is  a  sorrow 
 for  sin  upon  the  motives  of  the  love  of  God,  and  the  hatred  of 
 sin  joined  with  a  renovation  of  heart.  This  is  that  which  we 
 acknowledge  to  be  necessary  to  complete  our  repentance :  but 
 this  consisting  in  the  temper  of  a  man's  mind,  and  his  inward 
 acts,  it  seems  a  very  absurd  thing  to  make  this  the  matter  of  a 
 sacrament,  since  it  is  of  a  spiritual  and  invisible  nature.  But 
 this  is  not  all  that  belongs  to  this  head. 
 
 The  casuists  of  the  Church  of  Rome  have  made  a  distinction 
 between  a  perfect  and  an  imperfect  contrition; — the  imperfect 
 they  call  Attrition;  which  is  any  sorrow  for  sin,  though  upon 
 an  inferior  motive,  such  as  may  be  particular  to  one  act  of  sin, 
 as  when  it  rises  from  the  loss  or  shame  it  has  brought  with  it, 
 together  with  an  act  formed  in  detestation  of  it,  without  a  re- 
 solution to  sin  no  more.  Such  a  sorrow  as  this  is,  they  teach, 
 does  make  the  sacrament  effectual,  and  puts  a  man  in  a  state 
 of  justification,  though  they  acknowledge  that  without  the 
 sacrament  it  is  not  sufficient  to  justify  him. 
 
 This  was  settled  by  the  Council  of  Trent.  We  Trid  SesSi 
 think  it  strikes  at  the  root  of  all  religion  and  virtue,  14>  c  4 
 and  is  a  reversing  of  the  design  for  which  sacraments  were  in- 
 stituted, which  was  to  raise  our  minds  to  a  high  pitch  of  piety, 
 and  to  exalt  and  purify  our  acts.  We  think  the  sacraments 
 are  profaned  when  we  do  not  raise  our  thoughts  as  high  as  we 
 can  in  them.  To  teach  men  how  low  they  may  go,  and  how 
 small  a  measure  will  serve  their  turn,  especially  when  the  great 
 and  chief  commandment,  the  consideration  of  the  love  of  God, 
 is  left  out,  seems  to  be  one  of  the  greatest  corruptions  in  prac- 
 tice of  which  any  Church  can  be  guilty :  a  slackness  in  doc- 
 trine, especially  in  so  great  a  point  as  this,  in  which  human 
 nature  is  under  so  fatal  a  bias,  will  always  bring  with  it  a 
 much  greater  corruption  in  practice.  This  will  indeed  make 
 many  run  to  the  sacrament,  and  raise  its  value ;  but  it  will 
 rise  upon  the  ruins  of  true  piety  and  holiness.  There  are 
 few  men  that  can  go  long  on  in  very  great  sins,  without  feel- 
 ing great  remorses ;  these  are  to  them  rather  a  burthen  that 
 they  cannot  shake  off,  than  a  virtue.  Sorrow  lying  long 
 upon  their  thoughts  may  be  the  beginning  of  a  happy  change, 
 and  so  prove  a  great  blessing  to  them ;  all  which  is  destroy- 
 ed by  this  doctrine:  for  if  under  such  uneasy  thoughts  they 
 go  to  confession,  and  are  attrite,  the  sacrament  is  valid,  and 
 they  are  justified;  then  the  uneasiness  goes  off,  and  is  turn- 
 ed into  joy,  without  their  being  any  thing  the  better  by  it. 
 They  return  to  their  sins  with  a  new  calm  and  security,  because 
 they  are  taught  that  their  sins  are  pardoned,  and  that  all  scores 
 
334 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXV. 
 
 are  cleared.  Therefore  we  conclude,  that  this  doctrine  wounds 
 religion  in  its  vitals ;  and  we  are  confirmed  in  all  this  by  what 
 appears  in  practice,  and  what  the  best  writers  that  have  lived 
 in  that  communion  have  said  of  the  abuses  that  follow  on  the 
 methods  in  which  this  sacrament  is  managed  among  them, 
 which  do  arise  mainly  out  of  this  part  of  their  doctrine  con- 
 cerning attrition.  All  that  they  teach  concerning  those  acts 
 of  attrition,  or  even  contrition,  is  also  liable  to  great  abuse  in 
 practice  :  For,  as  a  man  may  bring  forth  those  acts  in  words, 
 and  not  be  the  better  for  them ;  so  he  may  force  himself  to 
 think  them,  which  is  nothing  but  the  framing  an  inward  dis- 
 course within  himself  upon  them ;  and  yet  these  not  arising 
 genuinely  from  a  new  nature,  or  a  change  of  temper,  such  acts 
 can  be  of  no  value  in  the  sight  of  God  :  yet  the  whole  practice 
 of  their  Church  runs  upon  those  acts,  as  if  a  man's  going 
 through  them,  and  making  himself  think  them,  could  be  of 
 great  value  in  the  sight  of  God. 
 
 The  third  branch  of  the  matter  of  this  sacrament  is  the 
 Satisfaction,  or  the  doing  the  penance ;  which,  by  the  constant 
 practice  of  the  Church  for  above  twelve  centuries,  was  to  be 
 performed  before  absolution  could  be  given,  except  in  extra- 
 ordinary cases,  such  as  death  or  martyrdom  :  but  in  these  lat- 
 ter ages,  in  which  the  necessity  of  confession  is  carried  higher, 
 the  obligation  to  satisfaction  or  the  doing  of  penance  is  let  fall 
 lower.  A  distinction  is  invented,  by  which  confession  and  con- 
 trition, attrition  at  least,  are  made  essential  parts  of  the  sacra- 
 ment, without  which  there  is  no  sacrament ;  as  soul  and  body 
 are  essential  to  the  being  of  a  man  :  and  satisfaction  is  consi- 
 dered only  as  an  integral  part ;  such  as  an  eye  or  a  limb  in  a 
 man,  whiclris  necessary  to  the  order  of  it,  but  not  to  its  being. 
 If  satisfaction  is  considered  as  that  which  destroys  the  habits  of 
 sin,  and  introduces  the  habits  of  virtue — if  it  is  purgative  and 
 medicinal,  and  changes  a  man's  principles  and  nature, — then  it 
 ought  to  be  reckoned  the  principal  and  least  dispensable  thing 
 of  all  repentance ;  for  our  confessing  past  sins,  and  sorrowing 
 for  them,  is  only  enjoined  us  as  a  mean  to  reform  and  purify 
 our  nature.  If  we  imagine  that  our  acts  of  repentance  are  a 
 discounting  with  God,  by  so  many  pious  thoughts  which  are 
 to  be  set  against  so  many  bad  ones,  this  will  introduce  a  sort 
 of  a  mechanical  religion ;  which  will  both  corrupt  our  ideas  of 
 God,  and  of  the  nature  of  good  and  evil. 
 
 The  true  and  generous  notion  of  religion  is,  that  it  is  a  sys- 
 tem of  many  truths,  which  are  of  such  efficacy,  that  if  we  re- 
 ceive them  into  our  minds,  and  are  governed  by  them,  they 
 will  rectify  our  thoughts,  and  purify  our  natures;  and  by 
 making  us  like  God  here,  they  will  put  us  in  a  sure  way  to 
 enjoy  him  eternally  hereafter.  Sorrow  for  past  sins,  and  all 
 reflections  upon  them,  are  enjoined  us  as  means  to  make  the 
 
Art.  XXV. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 335 
 
 sense  of  them  go  so  deep  in  our  minds,  as  to  free  us  from  all 
 those  bad  habits  that  sin  leaves  in  us,  and  from  those  ill  in- 
 clinations that  are  in  our  nature.  If  we  therefore  set  up  a 
 sorrowing  for  sin  as  a  merchandise  with  God,  by  so  many  acts 
 of  one  kind  to  take  off  the  acts  of  another,  here  the  true  de- 
 sign of  our  sorrow  is  turned  into  a  trafficking,  by  which  how 
 much  soever  priests  may  gain,  or  the  value  of  sacraments 
 may  seem  to  rise,  religion  will  certainly  lose  in  its  main  design — 
 which  is  the  planting  a  new  nature  in  us,  and  the  making  us 
 become  like  God.  Confession  and  contrition  are  previous  acts 
 that  lead  to  this  reformation,  which,  as  they  teach,  is  wrought 
 by  the  satisfaction ;  therefore  we  must  needs  condemn  that  doc- 
 trine which  makes  it  less  necessary  and  more  dispensable  than 
 the  other.  In  the  case  of  death  we  confess  all  the  rights  of  the 
 Church  with  relation  to  a  man's  scandals,  and  his  obligations 
 to  make  public  penance,  may,  and  ought  to  be  then  forgiven 
 him ;  but  we  think  it  one  of  the  most  fatal  errors  that  can  creep 
 into  any  Church,  to  encourage  men  to  rely  on  a  death-bed  re- 
 pentance. The  nature  of  man  leans  so  much  this  way,  that  it 
 is  necessary  to  bend  the  point  as  strong  as  may  be  to  the  other 
 hand. 
 
 The  promises  of  the  Gospel  run  all  upon  the  condition  of 
 repentance ;  which  imports  a  renovation  of  the  inner  man,  and 
 a  purity  of  life :  so  that  no  repentance  can  be  esteemed  true, 
 but  as  we  perceive  that  it  has  purified  our  hearts,  and  changed 
 our  course  of  life.  What  God  may  do  with  death-bed  peni- 
 tents, in  the  infinite  extent  and  absoluteness  of  his  mercy,  be- 
 comes not  us  to  define ;  but  we  are  sure  he  has  given  no 
 promises  to  such  persons  in  his  Gospel.  And  since  the  func- 
 tion of  clergymen  is  the  dispensing  of  that,  we  cannot  go 
 beyond  the  limits  set  us  in  it ;  so  there  is  no  reason  to  make 
 this  part  of  repentance  less  necessary  or  obligatory  than  the 
 other,  but  very  much  to  the  contrary.  Another  exception  that 
 we  have  to  the  allowed  practice  of  that  Church,  is  the  giving 
 absolution  before  the  satisfaction  is  made ;  upon  its  being  en- 
 joined and  accepted  by  the  penitent.  This  is  so  contrary  to 
 all  ancient  rules,  that  it  were  a  needless  labour  to  go  to  prove 
 it ;  the  thing  being  confessed  by  all :  and  yet  the  practice  is  so 
 totally  changed  among  them,  that  such  as  have  blamed  it,  and 
 have  attempted  to  revive  the  ancient  method,  have  been  cen- 
 sured as  guilty  of  an  innovation  savouring  of  heresy  ;  because 
 they  condemn  so  general  a  practice,  that  it  would  render  the 
 infallibility  of  the  Church  very  doubtful,  if  it  should  be  pre- 
 tended to  have  erred  in  so  universal  a  practice. 
 
 Hasty  absolutions,  contrary  both  to  the  whole  design  of  the 
 gospel,  and  to  the  constant  practice  of  the  Church  for  at  least 
 twelve  centuries,  are  now  the  avowed  methods  of  that  Church  ; 
 to  which  in  a  great  measure  all  that  corruption  of  morals  that 
 
336 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXV. 
 
 is  among  them  owes  its  rise  and  continuance.  For  who  can  be 
 supposed  to  set  himself  against  those  inclinations  to  sin  that 
 are  deeply  rooted  in  his  nature,  and  are  powerfully  recommend- 
 ed bv  the  pleasure  and  gain  that  arises  out  of  vicious  practices, 
 if  the  way  to  pardon  is  cast  so  wide  open,  that  a  man  may  sin 
 as  long  and  as  securely  as  he  will,  and  yet  all  at  once,  upon  a 
 few  acts  that  he  makes  himself  go  through,  he  may  get  into  a 
 state  of  grace,  and  be  pardoned  and  justified  ?  The  power  that 
 is  left  to  the  priest  to  appoint  the  penance,  is  a  trust  of  a  high 
 nature,  which  vet  is  known  to  be  universally  ill  applied  ;  so  that 
 absolution  is  generally  prostituted  among  them. 
 
 The  true  penance  enjoined  by  the  Gospel  is  the  forsaking  of 
 sin,  and  the  doing  acts  of  virtue.  Fasting,  prayers,  and  alms- 
 giving, are  acts  that  are  very  proper  means  to  raise  us  to  this 
 temper.  If  fasting  is  joined  with  prayer,  and  if  prayer  arises 
 out  of  an  inward  devotion  of  mind,  and  is  serious  and  fervent, 
 then  we  know  that  it  has  great  efficacy,  as  being  one  of  the 
 chief  acts  of  our  religious  service  of  God,  to  which  the  greatest 
 promises  are  made,  and  upon  which  the  best  blessings  do  de- 
 scend upon  us.  Almsgiving  is  also  a  main  part  of  charity  ; 
 which,  when  done  from  a  right  principle  of  loving  God  and 
 our  neighbour,  is  of  great  value  in  his  sight.  But  if  fasting  is 
 only  an  exercise  of  the  body,  and  of  abstaining  so  long,  and 
 from  such  things,  this  may  perhaps  trouble  and  pain  the  body : 
 but  bodily  exercise  profiteth  nothing :  so,  not  to  mention  the 
 mockery  of  fasting,  when  it  is  only  a  delay  of  eating,  after  which 
 all  liberties  are  taken,  or  an  abstinence  which  is  made  up  with 
 other  delicious  and  inflaming  nutritives,  these  are  of  no  value, 
 being  only  inventions  to  deceive  men,  and  to  expose  religion  to 
 mockery.  But  even  severe  and  afflicting  fasting,  if  done  only 
 as  a  punishment,  which,  when  it  is  over,  the  penance  is  believed 
 to  be  completed,  gives  such  a  low  idea  of  God  and  religion, 
 that  from  thence  men  are  led  to  think  very  slightly  of  sin,  when 
 they  know  at  what  price  they  can  carry  it  off.  Such  a  con- 
 tinuance in  fasting  in  order  to  prayer,  as  humbles  and  depresses 
 nature,  and  raises  the  mind,  is  a  great  mean  to  reform  the 
 world  ;  but  fasting,  as  a  prescribed  task  to  expiate  our  sins,  is 
 a  scorn  put  upon  religion. 
 
 Praver,  when  it  arises  from  a  serious  heart  that  is  earnest  in 
 it,  and  when  it  becomes  habitual,  is  certainly  a  most  effectual 
 mean  to  reform  the  world,  and  to  fetch  down  divine  assistances. 
 But  to  appoint  so  many  vocal  prayers  to  be  gone  through  as 
 a  task,  and  then  to  tell  the  world,  that  the  running  through 
 these,  with  few  or  no  inward  acts  accompanying  them,  is  con- 
 trition or  attrition,  this  is  more  like  a  design  to  root  out  all 
 the  impressions  of  religion,  and  all  sense  of  that  repentance 
 which  the  Gospel  requires,  than  to  promote  it.  This  may  be 
 a  fit  task  to  accustom  children  to ;  but  it  is  contrary  to  the 
 
Art.  XXV. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 •337 
 
 true  genius  of  religion  to  teach  men,  instead  of  that  reasonable 
 service  that  we  ought  to  offer  up  to  God,  to  give  him  only  the 
 labour  of  the  lips,  which  is  the  sacrifice  of  fools.  Prayers  gone 
 through  as  a  task  can  be  of  no  value,  and  can  find  no  accepta- 
 tion in  the  sight  of  God.  And  as  St  Paul  said,  that  if  he  gave 
 all  his  goods  to  feed  the  poor,  and  had  not  charity,  he  was 
 nothing,  1  Cor.  xiii.  1,  2,  3. ;  so  the  greatest  profusion  of  alms- 
 giving, when  done  in  a  mercenary  way,  to  buy  off  and  to  pur- 
 chase a  pardon,  is  the  turning  of  God's  house  from  being  a 
 house  of  prayer  to  be  a  den  of  thieves. 
 
 Upon  all  these  reasons  we  except  to  the  whole  doctrine  and 
 practice  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  as  to  the  satisfaction  made  by 
 doing  penance.  And  in  the  last  place  we  except  to  the  form 
 of  absolution  in  these  words,  /  absolve  thee.  We  of  this 
 Church,  who  use  it  only  to  such  as  are  thought  to  be  near  death, 
 cannot  be  meant  to  understand  any  thing  by  it  but  the  full 
 peace  and  pardon  of  the  Church ;  for  if  we  meant  a  pardon 
 with  relation  to  God,  we  ought  to  use  it  upon  many  other  oc- 
 casions. The  pardon  that  we  give  in  the  name  of  God  is  only 
 declaratory  of  his  pardon,  or  supplicatory  in  a  prayer  to  him 
 for  pardon. 
 
 In  this  we  have  the  whole  practice  of  the  Church  till  the 
 twelfth  century  universally  of  our  side.  All  the  Fathers,  all 
 the  ancient  liturgies,  all  that  have  writ  upon  the  offices,  and 
 the  first  schoolmen,  are  so  express  in  this  matter,  that  the  thing 
 in  fact  cannot  be  denied.  Morinus  has  published  so  many  of 
 their  old  rituals,  that  he  has  put  an  end  to  all  doubting  about 
 it.  In  the  twelfth  centurv  some  few  bes;an  to  use  the  words, 
 /  absolve  thee ;  yet,  to  soften  this  expression,  that  seemed  new 
 and  bold,  some  tempered  it  with  these  words,  in  so  far  as  it  is 
 granted  to  my  frailty  ;  and  others  with  these  words,  as  far  as 
 the  accusation  comes  from  thee,  and  as  the  pardon  is  in  me. 
 Yet  this  form  was  but  little  practised ;  so  that  William,  Bishop 
 of  Paris,  speaks  of  the  form  of  absolution  as  given  only  in  a 
 prayer,  and  not  as  given  in  these  words,  I  absolve  thee.  He 
 lived  in  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century ;  so  that  this 
 practice,  though  begun  in  other  places  before  that  time,  yet  was 
 not  known  long  after  in  so  public  a  city  as  Paris.  But  some 
 schoolmen  began  to  defend  it,  as  implying  only  a  declaration 
 of  the  pardon  pronounced  by  the  Priest :  and  this  having  an  air 
 of  more  authority,  and  being  once  justified  by  learned  men,  did 
 so  universally  prevail,  that  in  little  more  than  sixty  years'  time 
 it  became  the  universal  practice  of  the  whole  Latin  Church. 
 So  sure  a  thing  is  tradition,  and  so  impossible  to  be  changed, 
 as  they  pretend,  when  within  the  compass  of  one  age  the  new 
 form,  /  absolve  thee,  was  not  so  much  as  generally  known ;  and 
 before  the  end  of  it,  the  old  form  of  doing  it  in  a  prayer,  with 
 imposition  of  hands,  was  quite  worn  out.    The  idea  that  arises 
 
 Y 
 
338 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXV. 
 
 naturally  out  of  these  words  is,  that  the  Priest  pardons  sins ; 
 and  since  that  is  subject  to  such  abuses,  and  has  let  in  so  much 
 corruption  upon  that  Church,  we  think  we  have  reason  not 
 only  to  deny  that  Penance  is  a  sacrament,  but  likewise  to  af- 
 firm, that  they  have  corrupted  this  great  and  important  doc- 
 trine of  repentance,  in  all  the  parts  and  branches  of  it.  Nor  is 
 the  matter  mended  with  that  prayer  that  follows  the  absolu- 
 RituaieRo.  tion :  The  passion  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the 
 S?£uPani!  merits  of  the  blessed  Virgin  and  all  the  Saints,  and 
 tent-  all  the  good  that  thou  hast  done,  and  the  evil  that  thou 
 
 hast  siiffered,  be  to  thee  for  the  remission  of  sins,  the  increase 
 of  grace,  and  the  reward  of  eternal  life. 
 
 The  third  Sacrament  rejected  by  this  Article  is  Orders; 
 which  is  reckoned  the  sixth  by  the  Church  of  Rome.  We 
 affirm,  that  Christ  appointed  a  succession  of  Pastors  in  diffe- 
 rent ranks,  to  be  continued  in  his  Church,  for  the  work  of  the 
 gospel,  and  the  care  of  souls ;  and  that,  as  the  Apostles  settled 
 the  Churches,  they  appointed  different  orders,  of  Bishops, 
 Priests,  and  Deacons:  and  we  believe,  that  all  who  are  dedi- 
 cated to  serve  in  these  ministries,  after  they  are  examined  and 
 judged  worthy  of  them,  ought  to  be  separated  to  them  by  the 
 imposition  of  hands,  and  by  prayer.  These  were  the  only  rites 
 that  we  find  practised  by  the  Apostles.  For  many  ages  the 
 Church  of  God  used  no  other ;  therefore  we  acknowledge  that 
 Bishops,  Priests,  and  Deacons,  ought  to  be  blessed  and  dedi- 
 cated to  the  holy  ministry  by  imposition  of  hands  and  prayer ; 
 and  that  then  they  are  received,  according  to  the  order  and 
 practice  settled  by  the  Apostles,  to  serve  in  their  respective 
 degrees.  Men  thus  separated  have  thereby  authority  to  per- 
 fect the  saints  or  Christians ;  that  is,  to  perform  the  sacred 
 functions  among  them,  to  minister  to  them,  and  to  build  them 
 up  in  their  most  holy  faith.  And  we  think  no  other  persons, 
 without  such  a  separation  and  consecration,  can  lawfully  touch 
 the  holy  things.  In  all  which  we  separate  the  qualifications  of 
 the  function  from  the  inward  qualities  of  the  person ;  the  one 
 not  at  all  depending  on  the  other  :  the  one  relating  only  to  the 
 order  and  the  good  government  of  the  society,  and  the  other 
 relating  indeed  to  the  salvation  of  him  that  officiates,  but  not 
 at  all  to  the  validity  of  his  office  or  service. 
 
 But  in  all  this  we  see  nothing  like  a  sacrament :  Here  is 
 neither  matter,  form,  nor  institution  ;  here  is  only  prayer  :  the 
 laying  on  of  hands  is  only  a  gesture  in  prayer,  that  imports 
 the  designation  of  the  person  so  prayed  over.  In  the  Greek 
 Haberti  Pon-  Church  there  is  indeed  a  different  form  ;  for  though 
 tif.  (iracm.   there  are  prayers  in  their  office  of  Ordination,  yet 
 
 Monnusrie  K     J  .  ..  n  i 
 
 ordinat.  Sa-    the  words  that  do  accompany  the  imposition  ot  hands 
 are  only  declaratory  :  The  grace  of  God,  that  perfects 
 the  feeble  and  heals  the  weak,  promotes  this  man  to  be  a  Dea- 
 
Art.  XXV. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 339 
 
 con,  a  Priest,  or  a  Bishop  ;  let  us  therefore  pray  for  him:  by 
 which  they  pretend  only  to  judge  of  a  divine  vocation.  All  the 
 ancient  rituals,  and  all  those  that  treat  of  them  for  the  first 
 seven  centuries,  speak  of  nothing  as  essential  to  Orders  but 
 prayer  and  imposition  of  hands.  It  is  true,  many  rites  came 
 to  be  added,  and  many  prayers  were  used,  that  went  far  beyond 
 the  first  simplicity.  But  in  the  tenth  or  eleventh  century  a 
 new  form  was  brought  in,  of  delivering  the  vessels  in  ordaining 
 Priests  ;  and  words  were  joined  with  that,  giving  them  power 
 to  offer  sacrifices  to  God,  and  to  celebrate  masses,  and  then  the 
 Orders  were  believed  to  be  given  bv  this  rite.  The  delivering 
 of  the  vessels  looked  like  a  matter,  and  these  words  were  thought 
 the  form  of  the  sacrament :  and  the  prayer  that  was  formerly 
 used  with  the  imposition  of  hands  was  indeed  still  used,  but 
 only  as  a  part  of  the  office ;  no  hands  were  laid  on  when  it  was 
 used.  And  though  the  form  of  laying  on  of  hands  was  still 
 continued,  the  Bishop  with  other  Priests  laving  their  hands 
 on  those  they  ordained,  yet  it  is  now  a  dumb  ceremony,  not 
 a  word  of  a  prayer  being  said  while  they  lay  on  their  hands  : 
 so  that  though  both  prayer  and  imposition  of  hands  are  used 
 in  the  office,  yet  they  are  not  joined  together.  In  the  conclu- 
 sion of  the  office  a  new  benediction  was  added,  ever  since  the 
 twelfth  century :  The  Bishop  alone  lays  on  his  hands,  saying, 
 Receive  the  Holy  Ghost:  whose  sins  ye  remit,  they  are  remitted; 
 and  whose  sins  ye  retain,  they  are  retained.  The  number 
 seven  was  thought  to  suit  the  sacraments  best,  so  Orders  were 
 made  one  of  them,  and  of  these  only  Priesthood :  where  the 
 vessels  were  declared  to  be  the  matter,  and  the  form  was  the 
 delivering  them  with  the  words,  Take  thou  authority  to  offer  up 
 sacrifices  to  God,  and  to  celebrate  masses,  both  for  the  living 
 and  the  dead ;  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the 
 Holy  Ghost. 
 
 The  schoolmen  have  taken  a  new  way  of  explaining  this 
 whole  matter,  borrowed  from  the  Eucharist,  that  is  made  up  of 
 two  parts,  the  consecration  of  the  bread  and  of  the  wine  ;  both 
 so  necessary,  that  without  the  one  the  other  becomes  void :  so 
 they  teach  that  a  Priest  has  two  powers — of  consecrating  and  of 
 absolving;  and  that  he  is  ordained  to  the  one  by  the  delivery  of 
 the  vessels,  and  to  the  other  by  the  Bishop's  laying  on  of  hands, 
 with  the  words,  Receive  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  they  make  the 
 Bishop  and  the  Priest's  laying  on  of  hands  jointly,  to  be  only 
 their  declaring,  as  by  a  suffrage,  that  such  a  person  ought  to 
 be  ordained :  so  totally  have  they  departed  from  the  primitive 
 forms. 
 
 If  this  is  a  sacrament,  and  if  the  sacrament  consists  in  this 
 matter  and  form  by  them  assigned,  then,  since  all  the  rituals  of 
 the  Latin  Church  for  the  first  ten  centuries  had  no  such  form 
 of  ordaining  Priests,  this  cannot  he  the  matter  and  form  of  B 
 
:>>W 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  01 
 
 Art.  XXV. 
 
 sacrament ;  otherwise  the  Church  had  in  a  course  of  so  many 
 ages  no  true  orders,  nor  any  sacrament  in  them.  Nor  will  it 
 serve  in  answer  to  this  to  say,  that  Christ  instituted  no  special 
 matter  nor  form  here,  but  has  left  the  specifying  those  among 
 the  other  powers  that  he  has  given  to  his  Church  :  for  a  sacra- 
 ment being  an  institution  of  applying  a  matter  designed  by 
 God,  by  a  particular  form  likewise  appointed ;  to  say  that 
 Christ  appointed  here  neither  matter  nor  form,  is  plainly  to 
 confess  that* this  is  no  sacrament.  In  the  first  nine  or  ten  ages 
 there  was  no  matter  at  all  used,  nothing  but  an  imposition  of 
 hands  with  prayer  :  so  that  by  this  doctrine  the  Church  of 
 God  was  all  that  while  without  true  orders,  since  there  was 
 nothing  used  that  can  be  called  the  matter  of  a  sacrament. 
 
 Therefore,  though  we  continue  this  institution  of  Christ,  as 
 he  and  his  Apostles  settled  it  in  the  Church,  yet  we  deny  it 
 to  be  a  sacrament ;  we  also  deny  all  the  inferior  orders  to  be 
 sacred,  below  that  of  Deacon.  The  other  orders  we  do  not 
 deny  might  be  well,  and  on  good  reasons,  appointed  by  the 
 Church  as  steps  through  which  Clerks  might  be  made  to  pass, 
 in  order  to  a  stricter  examination  and  trial  of  them,  like  de- 
 grees in  universities ;  but  the  making  them,  at  least  the  sub- 
 diaconate,  sacred,  as  it  is  reckoned  by  Pope  Eugenius,  is,  we 
 think,  beyond  the  power  of  the  Church ;  for  here  a  degree  of 
 orders  is  made  a  sacrament,  and  yet  that  degree  is  not  named 
 in  the  Scripture,  nor  in  the  first  ages.  It  is  true,  it  came  to 
 be  soon  used  with  the  other  inferior  orders ;  but  it  cannot  be 
 pretended  to  be  a  sacrament,  since  no  divine  institution  can 
 be  brought  for  it.  And  we  cannot  but  observe,  that  in  the 
 definition  that  Eugenius  has  given  of  the  sacraments,  which  is 
 an  authentical  piece  in  the  Roman  Church,  where  he  reckons 
 Priests,  Deacons,  and  Snbdeacons,  as  belonging  to  the  sacra- 
 ment of  orders,  he  does  not  name  Bishops,  though  their  being 
 of  divine  institution  is  not  questioned  in  that  Church.  Perhaps 
 the  spirit  with  which  they  acted  at  that  time  in  Basil  offended 
 him  so  much,  that  he  was  more  set  on  depressing  than  on  rais- 
 ing them.  In  the  Council  of  Trent,  in  which  so  much  zeal 
 appeared  for  recovering  the  dignity  of  the  episcopal  order,  at 
 that  time  so  much  eclipsed  by  the  papal  usurpations,  when  the 
 sacrament  of  orders  was  treated  of,  they  reckon  seven  degrees 
 of  them,  the  highest  of  which  is  that  of  Priest.  So  that  though 
 they  decreed  that  a  Bishop  was  by  the  divine  institution  above 
 a  Priest,  yet  they  did  not  decree  that  the  office  was  an  order, 
 or  a  sacrament.  And  the  schoolmen  do  generally  explain 
 episcopate  as  being  a  higher  degree  or  extension  of  priesthood, 
 rather  than  a  new  order  or  a  sacrament :  the  main  thing  in 
 their  thoughts  being  that  which,  if  true,  is  the  greatest  of  all 
 miracles,  the  wonderful  conversion  made  in  transubstantiation, 
 
Art.  XXV. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 3U 
 
 they  seem  to  think  that  no  order  can  be  above  that  which  qua- 
 lifies a  man  for  so  great  a  performance. 
 
 I  say  nothing  in  this  place  concerning  the  power  of  offering 
 sacrifices,  pretended  to  be  given  in  orders ;  for  that  belongs  to 
 another  Article. 
 
 The  fourth  Sacrament  here  rejected  is  Marriage;  which  is 
 reckoned  the  last  by  the  Roman  account.  In  the  point  of  ar- 
 gument there  is  less  to  say  here  than  in  any  of  the  other ;  but 
 there  seems  to  be  a  very  express  warrant  for  calling  it  a  sacra- 
 ment^ from  the  translation  of  a  passage  in  St  Paul's  Epistle  to 
 the  Ephesians,  (v.  32.),  in  which  he  makes  an  allusion,  while 
 he  treats  of  marriage,  to  the  mutual  relation  that  is  between 
 Christ  and  his  Church,  from  that  state  of  life,  and  says,  There 
 is  a  great  mystery  here:  the  Vulgate  has  translated  the  word 
 mystery  by  sacrament.  So,  though  the  words  immediately 
 following  seem  to  turn  the  matter  another  way,  but  I  speak 
 concerning  Christ  and  the  Church;  yet,  from  the  promiscuous 
 use  of  those  two  words,  and  because  sacraments  were  called  the 
 mysteries  of  the  Christian  religion,  the  translator,  it  seems, 
 thought  that  all  mysteries  might  be  called  sacraments.  But 
 it  is  so  very  hard  here  to  find  matter,  form,  a  minister,  and  a 
 sacramental  effect,  that  though  Pope  Eugenius,  in  that  famous 
 decree  of  his,  is  very  punctual  in  assigning  these  when  he  ex- 
 plains the  other  sacraments,  yet  he  wisely  passed  them  all  over 
 when  he  came  to  this,  and  only  makes  a  true  consent  necessary 
 to  the  making  the  sacrament. 
 
 We  do  not  deny  marriage  to  be  an  ordinance  of  God ;  but 
 we  think,  that  as  it  was  at  first  made  in  the  state  of  innocence, 
 so  it  is  still  founded  on  the  law  of  nature  :  and  though  the 
 Gospel  gives  rules  concerning  the  duties  belonging  to  this 
 state  of  life,  as  it  does  concerning  the  duties  of  parents  and 
 children,  wThich  is  another  x*elation  founded  on  the  same  law  of 
 nature,  yet  we  cannot  call  it  a  sacrament ;  for  we  find  neither 
 matter,  form,  institution,  nor  federal  acts  nor  effects,  assigned 
 to  it  in  the  Gospel,  to  make  us  esteem  it  a  sacrament. 
 
 The  matter  assigned  by  the  Roman  doctors  is  the  inward 
 consent,  by  which  both  parties  do  mutually  give  themselves  to 
 one  another :  the  form  they  make  to  be,  the  words  or  signs  by 
 which  this  is  expressed.  Now*  it  seems  a  strange  thing  to 
 make  the  secret  thoughts  of  men  the  matter,  and  their  words 
 the  form  of  a  sacrament ;  all  mutual  compacts  being  as  much 
 sacraments  as  this ;  there  being  no  visible  material  things 
 
 *  Upon  the  whole  doctrine  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  concerning  the  sacraments, 
 as  it  is  explained  by  the  schoolmen,  I  have  followed  the  account  given  by  Hono- 
 ratus  Fabri,  in  his  Summa  Theologica,  who  is  dead  within  these  ten  years.  I 
 know  him  at  Rome,  anno  1685.  He  was  a  true  philosopher,  beyond  the  liberties 
 allowed  by  his  order,  and  studied  to  reduce  their  school  divinity  to  as  clear  ideas 
 as  it  was  capable  of.  So  that  in  following  him  I  have  given  the  best,  and  not  the 
 worst  face  of  their  doctrine.     His  book  was  printed  at  Lyons,  anno  1669. 
 
342 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXV. 
 
 applied  to  the  parties  who  receive  them ;  which  is  necessary  to 
 the  being  of  a  sacrament.  It  is  also  a  very  absurd  opinion, 
 which  may  have  very  fatal  consequences,  and  raise  very  afflict- 
 ing scruples  :  if  any  should  imagine  that  the  inward  consent  is 
 the  matter  of  this  sacrament,  here  is  a  foundation  laid  down 
 for  voiding  every  marriage.  The  parties  may,  and  often  do, 
 marry  against  their  wills  ;  and  though  they  profess  an  outward 
 consent,  they  do  inwardly  repine  against  what  they  are  doing. 
 If  after  this  they  grow  to  like  their  marriage,  scruples  must 
 arise,  since  they  know  they  have  not  the  sacrament ;  because 
 it  is  a  doctrine  in  that  Church,  that  as  intention  is  necessary 
 in  every  sacrament,  so  here  that  goes  further,  the  intention 
 being  the  only  matter  of  this  sacrament — so  that  without  it 
 there  is  no  marriage ;  and  yet,  since  they  cannot  be  married 
 again  to  complete,  or  rather  to  make  the  marriage,  such  per- 
 sons do  live  only  in  a  state  of  concubinage. 
 
 On  the  other  hand,  here  is  a  foundation  laid  down  for  break- 
 ing marriages  as  often  as  the  parties,  or  either  of  them,  will  so- 
 lemnly swear  that  they  gave  no  inward  consent,  which  is  often 
 practised  at  Rome,  All  contracts  are  sacred  things ;  but  of 
 them  all,  marriage  is  the  most  sacred,  since  so  much  depends 
 upon  it.  Men's  words,  confirmed  by  oaths  and  other  solemn 
 acts,  must  either  be  binding  according  to  the  plain  and  acknow- 
 ledged sense  of  them,  or  all  the  security  and  confidence  of 
 mankind  is  destroyed.  No  man  can  be  safe  if  this  principle  is 
 once  admitted — that  a  man  is  not  bound  by  his  promises  and 
 oaths,  unless  his  inward  consent  went  along  with  them :  and  if 
 such  a  fraudulent  thing  may  be  applied  to  marriages,  in  which 
 so  many  persons  are  concerned,  and  upon  which  the  order  of 
 the  world  does  so  much  depend,  it  may  be  very  justly  applied 
 to  all  other  contracts  whatsoever,  so  that  they  may  be  voided 
 at  pleasure.  A  man's  words  and  oaths  bind  him  by  the  eternal 
 laws  of  fidelity  and  truth ;  and  it  is  a  just  prejudice  against 
 any  religion  whatsoever,  if  it  should  teach  a  doctrine  in  which, 
 by  the  secret  reserves  of  not  giving  an  inward  consent,  the  faith 
 which  is  solemnly  given  may  be  broken.  Here  such  a  door 
 is  opened  to  perfidy  and  treachery,  that  the  world  can  be  no 
 longer  safe  while  it  is  allowed :  hereby  lewd  and  vicious  persons 
 may  entangle  others,  and  in  the  meanwhile  order  their  own 
 thoughts  so  that  they  shall  be  all  the  while  free. 
 
 Next  to  matter  and  form,  we  must  see  for  the  institution  of 
 this  sacrament.  The  Church  of  Rome  think  that  is  strong 
 here,  though  they  feel  it  to  be  hardly  defensible  in  the  other 
 points  that  relate  to  it.  They  think,  that  though  marriage,  as 
 it  is  a  mutual  contract,  subsists  upon  the  law  of  nature,  yet  a 
 divine  virtue  is  put  in  it  by  the  gospel,  expressed  in  these 
 words,  This  is  a  great  mystery,  or  sacrament ;  so  the  explain- 
 ing these  words  determines  this  controversy.    The  chief  point 
 
Art.  XXV. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 313 
 
 in  dispute  at  that  time  was,  whether  the  Gentiles  were  to  be 
 received  to  equal  privileges  with  the  Jews,  in  the  dispensation 
 of  the  Messias  ?  The  Jews  do  not  to  this  day  deny  but  that 
 the  Gentiles  may  be  admitted  to  it ;  but  still  they  think,  that 
 they  are  to  be  considered  as  a  distinct  body,  and  in  a  lower 
 order,  the  chief  dignity  being  to  be  reserved  to  the  seed  of 
 Abraham.  Now  St  Paul  had  in  that  Epistle,  as  well  as  in 
 his  other  Epistles,  asserted,  that  all  were  equal  in  Christ ;  that 
 he  had  taken  away  the  middle  wall  of  partition;  that  he  had 
 abolished  the  ground  of  the  enmity,  which  was  the  Mosaical 
 Law,  called  the  Law  of  Commandments  contained  in  ordinan- 
 ces, that  he  might  make  both  Jew  and  Gentile  one  new  man — 
 one  entire  body  of  a  Church ;  he  being  the  chief  corner-stone, 
 in  whom  the  whole  building  was  fitly  framed  together ;  and  so 
 became  a  holy  habitation  to  God,  Eph.  ii.  15,  16.  20,  21.  Thus 
 he  made  use  of  the  figure  of  a  body  and  of  a  temple  to  illustrate 
 this  matter;  and  to  shew  how  all  Christians  were  to  make  up 
 but  one  body,  and  one  Church.  So  when  he  came  to  speak  of 
 the  rules  belonging  to  the  several  states  of  human  life,  he  takes 
 occasion  to  explain  the  duties  of  the  married  state,  by  compar- 
 ing that  to  the  relation  that  the  Church  has  to  Christ ;  and 
 when  he  had  said  that  the  married  couple  make  but  one  body 
 and  one  flesh,  which  declares  that,  according  to  the  first  insti- 
 tution, every  man  was  to  have  but  one  wife,  he  adds  upon  that, 
 this  is  a  great  mystery:  that  is,  from  hence  another  mystical 
 argument  might  be  brought,  to  shew  that  Jew  and  Gentile 
 must  make  one  body ;  for  since  the  Church  was  the  spouse  of 
 Christ,  he  must,  according  to  that  figure,  have  but  one  wife ; 
 and  by  consequence  the  Church  must  be  one ; — otherwise  the 
 figure  will  not  be  answered ;  unless  we  suppose  Christ  to  be  in 
 a  state  answering  a  polygamy,  rather  than  a  single  marriage. 
 Thus  a  clear  account  of  these  words  is  given,  which  does  fully 
 agree  to  them,  and  to  what  follows,  But  I  speak  concerning 
 Christ  and  the  Church. 
 
 This,  which  is  all  the  foundation  of  making  marriage  a  sa- 
 crament, being  thus  cleared,  there  remains  nothing  to  be  said 
 on  this  head,  but  to  examine  one  consequence  that  has  been 
 drawn  from  the  making  it  a  sacrament,  which  is,  that  the 
 bond  is  indissoluble,  and  that  even  adultery  does  not  void  it. 
 The  law  of  nature  or  of  nations  seems  very  clear,  that  adultery, 
 at  least  on  the  wife's  part,  should  dissolve  it ;  for  the  end  of 
 marriage  being  the  ascertaining  of  the  issue,  and  the  contract 
 itself  being  a  mutual  transferring  the  right  to  one  another's 
 person  in  order  to  that  end,  the  breaking  this  contract  and 
 destroying  the  end  of  marriage  does  very  naturally  infer  the 
 dissolution  of  the  bond :  and  in  this  both  the  Attic  and  Roman 
 Laws  were  so  severe,  that  a  man  was  infamous  who  did  not  di- 
 vorce upon  adultery.    Our  Saviour,  when  lie  blamed  the  Jews 
 
344 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXV. 
 
 for  their  frequent  divorces,  established  this  rule,  that  whosoever 
 puts  away  his  wife,  except  it  be  for  fornication,  and  shall  marry 
 another,  committeth  adultery,  Matt.  v.  32.  xix.  9.;  which  seems  to 
 be  a  plain  and  full  determination,  that  in  the  case  of  fornication 
 he  may  put  her  away  and  marry  another.  It  is  true,  St  Mark 
 (x.  11.)  and  St  Luke  (xvi.  18.)  repeat  these  words  without 
 mentioning  this  exception  ;  so  some  have  thought  that  we  ought 
 to  bring  St  Matthew  to  them,  and  not  them  to  St  Matthew. 
 But  it  is  an  universal  rule  of  expounding  Scriptures,  that  when 
 a  place  is  fully  set  down  by  one  inspired  writer,  and  less  fully 
 by  another,  that  the  place  which  is  less  full  is  always  to  be  ex- 
 pounded by  that  which  is  more  full :  So,  though  St  Mark  and 
 St  Luke  report  our  Saviour's  words  generally,  without  the  ex- 
 ception which  is  twice  mentioned  by  St  Matthew,  the  other 
 two  are  to  be  understood  to  suppose  it :  for  a  general  propo- 
 sition is  true  when  it  holds  generally ;  and  exceptions  may  be 
 understood  to  belong  to  it,  though  they  are  not  named.  The 
 Evangelist  that  does  name  them,  must  be  considered  to  have 
 reported  the  matter  more  particularly  than  the  others  that  do 
 it  not.  Since  then  our  Saviour  has  made  the  exception,  and 
 since  that  exception  is  founded  upon  a  natural  equity  that  the 
 innocent  party  has  against  the  guilty,  there  can  be  no  reason 
 why  an  exception  so  justly  grounded,  and  so  clearly  made, 
 should  not  take  place. 
 
 Both  Tertullian,  Basil,  Chrysostom,  and  Epiphanius,  allow 
 of  a  divorce  in  case  of  adultery ;  and  in  those  days  they  had 
 no  other  notion  of  a  divorce,  but  that  it  was  the  dissolution  of 
 the  bond — the  late  notion  of  a  separation,  the  tie  continuing, 
 not  being  known  till  the  canonists  brought  it  in.  Such  a  di- 
 vorce was  allowed  by  the  Council  of  Elliberis.  The  Council 
 of  Aries  did  indeed  recommend  it  to  the  husband,  whose  wife 
 was  guilty  of  adultery,  not  to  marry ;  which  did  plainly  ac- 
 knowledge that  he  might  do  it.  It  was,  and  still  is  the  con- 
 stant practice  of  the  Greek  Church ;  and  as  both  Pope  Gre- 
 gory and  Pope  Zachary  allowed  the  innocent  person  to  marry, 
 so,  in  a  Synod  held  at  Rome  in  the  tenth  century,  it  was  still 
 allowed.  When  the  Greeks  were  reconciled  to  the  Latins  in 
 the  Council  of  Florence,  this  matter  was  passed  over,  and  the 
 care  of  it  was  only  recommended  by  the  Pope  to  the  Emperor. 
 It  is  true,  Eugenius  put  it  in  his  instruction  to  the  Armenians  ; 
 but  though  that  passes  generally  for  a  part  of  the  Council  of 
 Florence,  yet  the  Council  was  over  and  up  before  that  was 
 given  out. — This  doctrine  of  the  indissolubleness  of  marriage, 
 even  for  adultery,  was  never  settled  in  any  Council  before  that 
 of  Trent.  The  canonists  and  schoolmen  had  indeed  gene- 
 rally gone  into  that  opinion ;  but  not  only  Erasmus,  but  both 
 Cajetan  and  Catherinus,  declared  themselves  for  the  lawfulness 
 of  it:  Cajetan  indeed  used  a  salvo,  in  case  the  Church  had 
 
Art.  XXV. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 34.5 
 
 otherwise  defined,  which  did  not  then  appear  to  him.*  So 
 that  this  is  a  doctrine  very  lately  settled  in  the  Church  of 
 Rome.  Our  Reformers  here  had  prepared  a  title  in  the  new 
 body  of  the  Canon  Law  which  they  had  digested,  allowing  mar- 
 riage to  the  innocent  party ;  and  upon  a  great  occasion  then  in 
 debate,  they  declared  it  to  be  lawful  by  the  law  of  God :  and  if 
 the  opinion,  that  marriage  is  a  sacrament,  falls,  the  conceit  of 
 the  absolute  indissolubleness  of  marriage  will  fall  with  it. 
 
 The  last  Sacrament  which  is  rejected  by  this  Article,  that  is, 
 the  fifth,  as  they  are  reckoned  up  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  is  Ex- 
 treme Unction.  In  the  commission  that  Christ  gave  his  Apos- 
 tles, among  the  other  powers  that  were  given  them  to  confirm 
 it,  one  was  to  cure  diseases  and  heal  the  sick;  pursuant  to  which 
 St  Mark  tells,  that  they  anointed  with  oil  many  that  were  sick, 
 and  healed  them,  Mark  vi.  13.  The  Prophets  used  some  sym- 
 bolical actions  when  they  wrought  miracles  :  so  Moses  used  his 
 rod  often;  Elisha  used  Elijah's  mantle;  our  Saviour  put  his 
 finger  into  the  deaf  man's  ear,  and  made  clay  for  the  blind 
 man;  and  oil  being  upon  almost  all  occasions  used  in  the 
 Eastern  parts,  the  Apostles  made  use  of  it :  but  no  hint  is  given 
 that  this  was  a  sacramental  action.  It  was  plainly  a  miracu- 
 lous virtue  that  healed  the  sick,  in  which  oil  was  made  use  of 
 as  a  symbol  accompanying  it.  It  was  not  prescribed  by  our 
 Saviour,  for  any  thing  that  appears,  as  it  was  not  blamed  by 
 him  neither.  It  was  no  wonder,  if,  upon  such  a  precedent, 
 those  who  had  that  extraordinary  gift  did  apply  it  with  the 
 use  of  oil;  not  as  if  oil  was  the  sacramental  conveyance — it  was 
 only  used  with  it.  The  end  of  it  was  miraculous;  it  was  in 
 order  to  the  recovery  of  the  sick,  and  had  no  relation  to  their 
 souls,  though  with  the  cure  wrought  on  the  body  there  might 
 sometimes  be  joined  an  operation  upon  the  soul :  And  this 
 appears  clearly  from  St  James's  words,  Is  any  sick  among  you  ? 
 let  him  call  for  the  Elders  of  the  Church;  and  let  them  pray 
 over  him,  anointing  him  with  oil  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  ;  and 
 the  prayer  of  faith  shall  save  the  sick,  and  the  Lord  shall  raise 
 him  up,  James  v.  14,  15.  All  hitherto  is  one  period,  which  is 
 here  closed.  The  following  words  contain  new  matter  quite 
 of  a  different  kind, — And  if  he  have  committed  sins,  they  shall 
 be  forgiven  him.  It  appears  clearly  that  this  was  intended  for 
 the  recovery  of  the  sick  person,  which  is  the  thing  that  is 
 positively  promised ;  the  other,  concerning  the  pardon  of  sins, 
 comes  in  on  the  bye,  and  seems  to  be  added  only  as  an  acces- 
 sary to  the  other,  which  is  the  principal  thing  designed  by  this 
 
 *  Tertull.  lib.  iv.  cont.  Marcion.  c.  31.  Basil.  Ep.  ad  Amphil.  c.  9.  Chrysost. 
 hotn.  17.  in  Matt.  Epiph.  Hayes.  59.  Catli.  Cone.  Ellib.  c.  65.  Cone.  Arel. 
 c.  10.  Cone.  Afric.  c.  102.  Causa  32.  q.  7.  In  deer.  Eug.  in  Cone.  Flor. 
 Erasm.  in  1  Ep.  ad  Cor.  vii.  Cajetan.  in  Matt.  xix.  c.  9.  Cathar.  in  1  Ep.  ad 
 ("or.  vii.  I.  5.  Annot. 
 
346 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXV. 
 
 whole  matter.  Therefore,  since  anointing  was  in  order  to 
 healing,  either  we  must  say  that  the  gift  of  healing  is  still  de- 
 posited with  the  Elders  of  the  Churchy  which  nobody  affirms, 
 or  this  oil  was  only  to  be  used  by  those  who  had  that  special 
 gift ;  and  therefore  if  there  are  none  now  who  pretend  to  have 
 it,  and  if  the  Church  pretends  not  to  have  it  lodged  with  her, 
 then  the  anointing  with  oil  cannot  be  used  any  more:  and 
 therefore  those  who  use  it  not  in  order  to  the  recovery  of  the 
 person,  delaying  it  till  there  is  little  or  no  hope  left,  use  not 
 that  unction  mentioned  by  St  James,  but  another  of  their  own 
 devising,  which  they  call  the  sacrament  of  the  dying.  It  is  a 
 vain  thing  to  say,  that  because  saving  and  raising  up  are  some- 
 times used  in  a  spiritual  sense,  that  therefore  the  saving  the  sick 
 here,  and  that  of  the  Lord's  raising  him  up,  are  to  be  so  meant. 
 For  the  forgiveness  of  sin,  which  is  the  spiritual  blessing,  comes 
 afterwards,  upon  supposition  that  the  sick  person  had  commit- 
 ted sins — the  saving  and  raising  up  must  stand  in  opposition 
 to  the  sickness :  so,  since  all  acknowledge  that  the  one  is  literal, 
 the  other  must  be  so  too.  The  supposition  of  sin  is  added, 
 because  some  persons,  upon  whom  this  miracle  might  have 
 been  wrought,  might  be  eminently  pious ;  and  if  at  any  time 
 it  was  to  be  applied  to  ill  men  who  had  committed  some  noto- 
 rious sins,  perhaps  such  sins  as  had  brought  their  sickness  upon 
 them,  these  were  also  to  be  forgiven. 
 
 In  the  use  of  miraculous  powers,  those  to  whom  that  gift  was 
 given  were  not  empowered  to  use  it  at  pleasure ;  they  were  to 
 feel  an  inward  impulse  exciting  them  to  it,  and  they  were  oblig- 
 ed upon  that  firmly  to  believe  that  God,  who  had  given  them 
 the  impulse,  would  not  be  wanting  to  them  in  the  execution  of 
 it.  This  confidence  in  God  was  the  faith  of  miracles,  of  which 
 Christ  said,  If  ye  have  faith  as  a  grain  of  mustard-seed,  ye  shall 
 say  to  this  mountain,  Remove  hence  to  yonder  place  ;  and  nothing 
 shall  be  impossible  unto  you,  Matt.  xxi.  21.  Of  this  also  St  Paul 
 meant,  when  he  said,  If  I  have  all  faith,  1  Cor.  xiii.  2.  So 
 from  this  we  may  gather  the  meaning  of  the  prayer  of  faith, 
 and  the  anointing  with  oil ;  that  if  the  Elders  of  the  Church,  or 
 such  others  with  whom  this  powrer  was  lodged,  felt  an  inward 
 impulse  moving  them  to  call  upon  God  in  order  to  a  miracu- 
 lous cure  of  a  sick  person,  then  they  were  to  anoint  him  with 
 oil  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  ;  that  is,  by  the  authority  that  they 
 had  from  Christ  to  heal  all  manner  of  diseases :  and  they  were 
 to  pray,  believing  firmly  that  God  would  make  good  that  in- 
 ward motion  which  he  had  given  them  to  work  this  miracle  ; 
 and  in  that  case  the  effect  was  certain,  the  sick  person  would 
 certainly  recover,  for  that  is  absolutely  promised.  Every  one 
 that  was  sick  was  not  to  be  anointed,  unless  an  authority  and 
 motion  from  Christ  had  been  secretly  given  for  doing  it;  but 
 every  one  that  was  anointed  was  certainly  healed.    Chris!  had 
 
Art.  XXV. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 347 
 
 promised,  that  whatsoever  they  should  ask  in  his  name  he  would 
 do  it,  John  xiv.  13.  His  name  must  be  restrained  to  his  au- 
 thority, or  pursuant  to  such  secret  motions  as  they  shall  receive 
 from  him.  This  is  the  prayer  of  faith  here  mentioned  by  St 
 James ;  it  being  an  earnest  application  to  God  to  join  his  omni- 
 potent power  to  perform  a  wonderful  work,  to  which  a  person 
 so  divinely  qualified  felt  himself  inwardly  moved  by  the  Spirit 
 of  Christ.  The  supposition  of  the  sick  person's  having  com- 
 mitted sins,  which  is  added,  shews  that  sometimes  this  virtue 
 was  applied  to  persons  of  that  eminent  piety,  that,  though  all 
 men  are  guilty  in  the  sight  of  God,  yet  they  could  not  be  said 
 to  have  committed  sins  in  the  sense  in  which  St  John  uses 
 the  phrase,  signifying  by  it,  either  that  they  had  lived  in 
 the  habits  of  sin,  or  that  they  had  committed  some  noto- 
 rious sin;  but  if  some  should  happen  to  be  sick,  who  had 
 been  eminent  sinners,  and  those  sins  had  drawn  down  the 
 judgments  of  God  upon  them,  which  seems  to  be  the  natural 
 meaning  of  these  words,  if  ye  have  committed  sins,  then,  with 
 his  bodily  health,  he  was  to  receive  a  much  greater  blessing, 
 even  the  pardon  of  his  sins.  And  thus  the  anointing  mentioned 
 by  St  James  was  in  order  to  a  miraculous  cure,  and  the  cure 
 did  constantly  follow  it :  so  that  it  can  be  no  precedent  for  an 
 extreme  unction,  that  is  never  given  till  the  recovery  of  the 
 person  is  despaired  of,  and  by  which  it  is  not  pretended  that 
 any  cure  is  wrought. 
 
 The  matter  of  it  is  oil-olive  blessed  by  the  Bishop;  the  form 
 is  the  applying  it  to  the  five  senses,  with  these  words,  Per 
 hanc  sacram  unctionem,  et  suam  piissimam  miseri-  RitualeR 
 cordiam  indulgeat  tibi  Deus  quicquid  peccasti,  per  con.  Tnd. 
 visum,  auditum,  olf actum,  gust  urn,  et  factum; — the  ess" 
 proper  word  to  every  sense  being  repeated  as  the  organ  of 
 that  sense  is  anointed.  It  is  administered  by  a  Priest,  and 
 gives  the  final  pardon,  with  all  necessary  assistances  in  the  last 
 agony.  Here  is  then  an  institution,  that,  if  warranted,  is  matter 
 of  great  comfort,  and,  if  not  warranted,  is  matter  of  as  great 
 presumption.  In  the  first  ages  we  find  mention  is  made  fre- 
 quently of  persons  that  were  cured  by  an  anointing  with  oil.* 
 Oil  was  then  much  used  in  all  their  rituals,  the  catechumens 
 being  anointed  with  oil  before  they  were  baptized,  besides  the 
 chrism  that  was  given  after  it :  oil  grew  also  to  be  used  in 
 ordinations,  and  the  dead  were  anointed  in  order  to  their  bu- 
 rial ;  so  that  the  ordinary  use  of  oil  on  other  occasions  brought 
 it  to  be  very  frequently  used  in  their  sacred  rites :  yet  how- 
 customary  soever  the  practice  of  anointing  grew  to  be,  we  find 
 no  mention  of  any  unction  of  the  sick  before  the  beginning  of 
 
 *  Cons.  Apos.  L  3.  c.  16.  L  vii.  c.  42.  44.  TertuL  de  Bapt.  c.  10.  Cypr.  Ep.  70. 
 Clem.  Alex,  pasdag.  1.  xi.  c.  8.    Dionys.  Areop.  de  Eccles.  hier.  c,  7,  8. 
 
348 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXV. 
 
 the  fifth  century.  This  plainly  shows  that  they  understood  St 
 James's  words  as  relating  to  a  miraculous  power,  and  not  to  a 
 function  that  was  to  continue  in  the  Church,  and  to  be  esteemed 
 a  sacrament. 
 
 innocent  That  earliest  mention  of  it  by  Pope  Innocent  the 
 ep.  i.  ad"  First,  how  much  soever  it  is  insisted  on,  is  really  an 
 Decent.  argument  that  proves  against  it,  and  not  for  it.  For 
 not  to  enlarge  on  the  many  idle  things  that  are  in  that  Epistle, 
 which  have  made  some  think  that  it  could  not  be  genuine,  and 
 that  do  very  much  sink  the  credit  both  of  the  testimony  and  of 
 the  man — for  it  seems  to  be  well  proved  to  be  his ;  the  passage 
 relating  to  this  matter  is  in  answer  to  a  demand  that  was  made 
 to  him  by  the  Bishop  of  Eugubium,  whether  the  sick  might  be 
 anointed  with  the  oil  of  the  chrism  ?  and  whether  the  Bishop 
 might  anoint  with  it  ?  To  these  he  answers,  that  no  doubt  is  to 
 be  made  but  that  St  James's  words  are  to  be  understood  of 
 the  faithful  that  were  sick,  who  may  be  anointed  by  the  chrism ; 
 which  may  be  used  not  only  by  the  Priests,  but  by  all  Chris- 
 tians, not  only  in  their  own  necessities,  but  in  the  necessities  of 
 any  of  their  friends :  and  lie  adds,  that  it  was  a  needless  doubt 
 that  was  made,  whether  a  Bishop  might  do  it ;  for  Presbyters 
 are  only  mentioned  because  the  Bishop  could  not  go  to  all  the 
 sick ;  but  certainly  he  who  made  the  chrism  itself,  might  anoint 
 with  it.  A  Bishop  asking  these  questions  of  another,  and  the 
 answers  which  the  other  gives  him,  do  plainly  shew  that  this 
 was  no  sacrament  practised  from  the  beginnings  of  Christianity ; 
 for  no  Bishop  could  be  ignorant  of  those.  It  was  therefore 
 some  newly  begun  custom,  in  which  the  world  was  not  yet  suf- 
 ficiently instructed.  And  so  it  was  indeed;  for  the  subject  of 
 these  questions  was  not  pure  oil,  such  as  now  they  make  to  be 
 the  matter  of  extreme  unction,  but  the  oil  of  chrism,  which 
 was  made  and  kept  for  other  occasions :  and  it  seems  very 
 clear,  that  the  miraculous  power  of  healing  having  ceased,  and 
 none  being  any  more  anointed  in  order  to  that,  some  began  to 
 get  a  portion  of  the  oil  of  chrism,  which  the  laity  as  well  as 
 the  priests  applied  both  to  themselves  and  to  their  friends, 
 hoping  that  they  might  be  cured  by  it.  Nothing  else  can  be 
 meant  by  all  this,  but  a  superstitious  using  the  chrism,  which 
 might  have  arisen  out  of  the  memory  that  remained  of  those 
 who  had  been  cured  by  oil — as  the  use  of  bread  in  the  Eucharist 
 brought  in  the  holy  bread,  that  was  sent  from  one  church  to 
 another ;  and  as  from  the  use  of  neater  in  baptism  sprung  the 
 use  of  holy  water.  This  then  being  the  clear  meaning  of  those 
 words,  it  is  plain  that  they  prove  quite  the  contrary  of  that  for 
 which  they  are  brought ;  and  though  in  that  Epistle  the  Pope 
 calls  chrism  a  kind  of  sacrament,  that  turns  likewise  against 
 them — to  shew  that  he  did  not  think  it  was  a  sacrament,  strictly 
 speaking.     Besides  that,  the  ancients  used  that  word  very 
 
Art.  XXV. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES, 
 
 349 
 
 largely,  both  for  every  mysterious  doctrine,  and  for  every  holy 
 rite  that  they  used.  In  this  very  Epistle,  when  he  gives  direc- 
 tions for  the  carrying  about  that  bread,  which  they  blessed,  and 
 sent  about  as  an  emblem  of  their  communion  with  other 
 Churches,  he  orders  them  to  be  sent  about  only  to  the  Churches 
 within  the  city,  because  he  conceived  the  sacraments  were  not 
 to  be  carried  a  great  way  off;  so  these  loaves  are  called  by  him 
 not  only  a  kind  of  sacrament,  but  are  simply  reckoned  to  be 
 sacraments. 
 
 We  hear  no  more  of  anointing  the  sick  with  the  chrism, 
 among  all  the  ancients ;  which  shews,  that  as  that  practice  was 
 newly  begun,  so  it  did  not  spread  far,  nor  continue  long.  No 
 mention  is  made  of  this,  neither  in  the  first  three  ages  nor  in 
 the  fourth  age ;  though  the  writers,  and  particularly  the  Coun- 
 cils of  the  fourth  age,  are  very  copious  in  rules  concerning  the 
 sacraments.  Nor  in  all  their  penitentiary  canons,  when  they 
 define  what  sins  are  to  be  forgiven,  and  what  not,  when  men 
 were  in  their  last  extremities,  is  there  so  much  as  a  hint  given 
 concerning  the  last  unction.  The  Constitutions  and  the  pre- 
 tended Dionysius  say  not  a  word  of  it,  though  they  are  very 
 full  upon  all  the  rituals  of  that  time  in  which  those  works  were 
 forged,  in  the  fourth  or  fifth  century.  In  none  of  the  Lives  of 
 the  Saints  before  the  ninth  century,  is  there  any  mention  made 
 of  their  having  extreme  unction,  though  their  deaths  are  some- 
 times very  particularly  related,  and  their  receiving  the  Eucha- 
 rist is  oft  mentioned.  Nor  was  there  any  question  made  in  all 
 that  time  concerning  the  persons,  the  time,  and  the  other  cir- 
 cumstances relating  to  this  unction ;  which  could  not  have  been 
 omitted,  especially  when  almost  all  that  was  thought  on,  or 
 writ  of,  in  the  eighth  and  ninth  century,  relates  to  the  sacra- 
 ments and  the  other  rituals  of  the  Church. 
 
 It  is  true,  from  the  seventh  century  on  to  the  twelfth,  they«be- 
 gan  to  use  an  anointing  of  the  sick,  according  to  that  Lib  ^cram 
 mentioned  by  Pope  Innocent,  and  a  peculiar  office  Gregor.  Me. 
 was  made  for  it ;  but  the  prayers  that  were  used  in  it  nardl  NotJE' 
 shew  plainly,  that  it  was  all  intended  only  in  order  to  their  re- 
 covery. 
 
 Of  this  anointing  many  passages  are  found  in  Bede,  and  in 
 the  other  writers  and  councils  of  the  eighth  and  ninth  Bede  Hfat 
 century.  But  all  these  do  clearly  express  the  use  of  it,  Ang.'i.  in. 
 not  as  a  sacrament  for  the  good  of  the  soul,  but  as  a  Euchoi. 
 rite  that  carried  with  it  health  to  the  body;  and  so  it  Grap-408' 
 is  still  used  in  the  Greek  Church.  No  doubt  they  supported 
 the  credit  of  this  with  many  reports,  of  which  some  might  be 
 true,  of  persons  that  had  been  recovered  upon  using  it.  But 
 because  that  failed  so  often  that  the  credit  of  this  rite  might 
 suffer  much  in  the  esteem  of  the  world,  they  began  in  the  tenth 
 century  to  say  that  it  did  good  to  the  soul,  even  when  the  body 
 
350 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXV. 
 
 was  not  healed  by  it ;  and  they  applied  it  to  the  several  parts 
 of  the  body.  This  began  from  the  custom  of  applying  it  at 
 first  to  the  diseased  parts.  This  was  carried  on  in  the  eleventh 
 century ;  and  then  in  the  twelfth,  those  prayers  that  had  been 
 formerly  made  for  the  souls  of  the  sick,  though  only  as  a  part 
 of  the  office,  the  pardon  of  sin  being  considered  as 
 cot'  fifr in  preparatory  to  their  recovery,  came  to  be  considered 
 sell'  uid'  as  tne  mam  anc^  most  essential  part  of  it :  Then  the 
 schoolmen  brought  it  into  shape,  and  so  it  was  de- 
 creed to  be  a  sacrament  by  Pope  Eugenius,  and  finally  esta- 
 blished at  Trent. 
 
 The  argument  that  they  draw  from  a  parity  in  reason,  that 
 because  there  is  a  sacrament  for  such  as  come  into  the  world, 
 there  should  be  also  one  for  those  that  go  out  of  it,  is  very 
 trifling ;  for  Christ  has  either  instituted  this  to  be  a  sacrament, 
 or  it  is  not  one :  if  he  has  not  instituted  it,  this  pretended  fit- 
 ness is  only  an  argument  that  he  ought  to  have  done  somewhat 
 that  he  has  not  done.  The  Eucharist  was  considered  by  the 
 ancients  as  the  only  viaticum  of  Christians  in  their  last  passage  : 
 with  them  we  give  that,  and  no  more. 
 
 Thus  it  appears  upon  what  reason  we  reject  those  five  Sacra- 
 ments, though  we  allow  both  of  confirmation  and  orders  as 
 holy  functions  derived  to  us  down  from  the  Apostles ;  and  be- 
 cause there  is  a  visible  action  in  these,  though  in  strictness  they 
 cannot  be  called  a  sacrament,  yet  so  the  thing  be  rightly  un- 
 derstood, we  will  not  dispute  about  the  extent  of  a  word  that 
 is  not  used  in  Scripture.  Marriage  is  in  no  respect  to  be  called 
 a  sacrament  of  the  Christian  religion ;  though,  it  being  a  state 
 of  such  importance  to  mankind,  we  hold  it  very  proper,  both 
 for  the  solemnity  of  it,  and  for  imploring  the  blessing  of  God 
 upon  it,  that  it  be  done  with  prayers  and  other  acts  of  religious 
 worship :  but  a  great  difference  is  to  be  made  between  a  pious 
 custom  begun  and  continued  by  public  authority,  and  a  sacra- 
 ment appointed  by  Christ.  We  acknowledge  true  repentance 
 to  be  one  of  the  great  conditions  of  the  New  Covenant,  but 
 we  see  nothing  of  the  nature  of  a  sacrament  in  it :  and  for  ex- 
 treme unction,  we  do  not  pretend  to  have  the  gift  of  healing 
 among  us ;  and  therefore  we  will  not  deceive  the  world,  by  an 
 office  that  shall  offer  at  that  which  we  acknowledge  we  cannot 
 do ;  nor  will  we  make  a  sacrament  for  the  good  of  the  soul, 
 out  of  that  which  is  mentioned  in  Scripture  only  as  a  rite  that 
 accompanied  the  curing  the  diseases  of  the  body. 
 
 The  last  part  of  this  Article,  concerning  the  use  of  the  sa- 
 craments, consists  of  two  parts :  the  Jirst  is  negative,  that  they 
 are  not  ordained  to  be  gazed  on,  or  to  be  carried  about,  but  to 
 be  used ;  and  this  is  so  express  in  the  Scripture,  that  little  ques- 
 tion can  be  made  about  it.  The  institution  of  Baptism  is,  Go 
 preach  and  baptize;  and  the  institution  of  the  Eucharist  is 
 
Aht.  XXV, 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 351 
 
 Take,  eat,  and  drink  ye  all  of  it:  which  words  being  set  down 
 before  those  in  which  the  consecrating  them  is  believed  to  be 
 made,  This  is  my  body,  and  this  is  my  blood ;  and  the  conse- 
 cratory  words  being  delivered  as  the  reason  of  the  command, 
 Take,  eat,  and  drink ; — nothing  can  be  more  clearly  expressed 
 than  this,  that  the  Eucharist  is  consecrated  only  that  it  may 
 be  used;  that  it  may  be  eat  and  drunk. 
 
 The  second  part  of  this  period  is,  that  the  effect  of  the  sa- 
 craments comes  only  upon  the  worthy  receiving  of  them.  Of 
 this  so  much  was  already  said  upon  the  first  paragraph  of  this 
 Article,  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  add  any  more  here.  The 
 pretending  that  sacraments  have  their  effect  any  other  way,  is 
 the  bringing  in  the  doctrine  and  practice  of  charms  into  the 
 Christian  religion :  and  it  tends  to  dissolve  all  obligations  to 
 piety  and  devotion,  to  a  holiness  of  life  or  a  purity  of  temper, 
 when  the  being  in  a  passive  and  perhaps  insensible  state,  while 
 the  sacraments  are  applied,  is  thought  a  disposition  sufficient  to 
 give  them  their  virtue.  Sacraments  are  federal  acts ;  and  those 
 visible  actions  are  intended  to  quicken  us,  so  that  in  the  use 
 of  them  we  may  raise  our  inward  acts  to  the  highest  degrees 
 possible,  but  not  to  supply  their  defects  and  imperfections. 
 Our  opinion  in  this  point  represents  them  as  means  to  raise 
 our  minds,  and  to  kindle  our  devotion :  whereas  the  doctrine 
 of  the  Church  of  Rome  represents  them  as  so  many  charms, 
 which  may  heighten  indeed  the  authority  of  him  that  admini- 
 sters them,  but  do  extinguish  and  deaden  all  true  pietv,  when 
 such  helps  are  offered,  by  which  the  worst  of  men,  living  and 
 dying  in  a  bad  state,  may  by  a  few  feint  acts,  and  perhaps  by 
 none  at  all  of  their  own,  be  well  enough  taken  care  of  and  se- 
 cured. But  as  we  have  not  so  learned  Christ,  so  neither  dare 
 we  corrupt  his  doctrine  in  its  most  vital  and  essential  parts. 
 
35-2 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXVI. 
 
 ARTICLE  XXVI. 
 
 OF  THE  UNWORTHINESS  OF  THE  MINISTERS,   WHICH  HINDERS 
 NOT  THE  EFFECT  OF  THE  SACRAMENTS. 
 
 Although  in  the  Visible  Church,  the  evil  be  ever  mingled  with  the 
 good,  and  sometimes  the  evil  have  chief  authority  in  the  Mi- 
 nistration of  the  Word  and  Sacraments ;  yet  for  as  much  as 
 they  do  not  the  same  in  their  own  Name,  but  in  Christ's,  and 
 do  minister  by  his  Commission  and  Authority,  we  may  use 
 their  Ministry  both  in  hearing  the  Word  of  God  and  in  re- 
 ceiving the  Sacraments.  Neither  is  the  Effect  of  Christ's  Or- 
 dinance  taken  away  by  their  Wickedness :  Nor  the  Grace  of 
 God's  Gifts  diminished  from  such  as  by  faith  and  rightly  do 
 receive  the  Sacraments  ministered  unto  them,  which  be  effec- 
 tual because  of  Christ's  Institution  and  Promise,  although 
 they  be  ministered  by  Evil  Men. 
 
 Nevertheless  it  appertaincth  to  the  Discipline  of  the  Church,  that 
 Inquiry  be  made  of  Evil  Ministers;  and  that  they  be  accused 
 by  those  that  have  knowledge  of  their  Offences,  and  finally 
 being  found  guilty,  by  just  judgment  be  deposed. 
 
 The  occasion  that  was  given  to  this  Article,  was  the  heat  of 
 some  in  the  beginnings  of  the  Reformation :  who  being  much 
 offended  at  the  public  scandal  which  was  given  by  the  enor- 
 mous vices  that  were  without  any  disguise  practised  by  the 
 Roman  clergy  of  all  ranks,  did  from  thence  revive  the  conceit 
 of  the  Donatists,  who  thought  that  not  only  heresy  and  schism 
 did  invalidate  sacred  functions,  but  that  personal  sins  did  also 
 make  them  void. 
 
 It  cannot  be  denied  but  that  there  are  many  passages  in  St 
 Cyprian  that  look  this  way ;  and  which  seem  to  make  the  sa- 
 craments depend  as  much  on  the  good  state  that  he  was  in  who 
 administered  them,  as  the  answer  of  their  other  prayers  did. 
 
 In  the  progress  of  the  controversy  with  the  Donatists,  they 
 carried  this  matter  very  far ;  and  considered  the  effect  of  the 
 sacraments  as  the  answer  of  prayers  :  so,  since  the  prayers  of  a 
 wicked  man  are  abomination  to  God,  they  thought  the  virtue 
 of  these  actions  depended  wholly  on  him  that  officiated. 
 
 Against  this  St  Augustin  set  himself  very  zealously :  he  an- 
 swered all  that  was  brought  from  St  Cyprian  in  such  a  manner, 
 that  by  it  he  has  set  us  a  pattern,  how  we  ought  to  separate  the 
 just  respect  that  we  pay  the  Fathers  from  an  implicit  receiving 
 of  all  their  notions.  If  this  conceit  were  allowed  of,  it  must 
 fro  to  the  secret  thoughts  and  inward  state  in  which  he  is  who 
 
Art.  XXVI. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 353 
 
 officiates :  for  if  the  sacraments  are  to  be  considered  only  as 
 prayers  offered  up  by  him,  then  a  man  can  never  be  sure  that 
 he  receives  them ;  since  it  is  impossible  to  see  into  the  hearts, 
 or  know  the  secrets  of  men.  Sacraments  therefore  are  to  be 
 considered  only  as  the  public  acts  of  the  Church  ;  and  though 
 the  effect  of  them,  as  to  him  that  receives  them,  depends  upon 
 his  temper,  his  preparation  and  application,  yet  it  cannot  be 
 imagined,  that  the  virtue  of  those  federal  acts  to  which  Chris- 
 tians are  admitted  in  them,  the  validity  of  them,  or  the  bless- 
 ings that  follow  them,  can  depend  on  the  secret  state  or  temper 
 of  him  that  officiates.  Even  in  the  case  of  public  scandals, 
 though  they  may  make  the  holy  things  to  be  loathed  by  the 
 aversion  that  will  naturally  follow  upon  them ;  yet,  after  all, 
 though  that  aversion  may  go  too  far,  we  must  still  distinguish 
 between  the  things  that  the  ministers  of  the  Church  do  as  they 
 are  public  officers,  and  what  they  do  as  they  are  private  Chris- 
 tians. Their  prayers,  and  every  thing  else  that  they  do,  as 
 they  are  private  Christians,  have  their  effect  only  according  to 
 the  state  and  temper  that  they  are  in  when  they  offer  them  up 
 to  God  :  but  their  public  functions  are  the  appointments  of 
 Christ,  in  which  they  officiate ;  they  can  neither  make  them 
 the  better  nor  the  worse  by  any  thing  that  they  join  to  them. 
 And  if  miraculous  virtues  may  be  in  bad  men,  so  that,  in  the 
 great  day,  some  of  those  to  whom  Christ  shall  say  I  never  knew 
 you,  depart  from  me  ye  that  work  iniquity,  may  yet  say  to  him, 
 Lord,  Lord,  have  we  not  prophesied  in  thy  name,  and  in  thy 
 name  have  cast  out  Devils,  and  in  thy  name  have  done  many 
 wonderful  works  P  Matt.  vii.  *2*2,  23.,  then  certainly  this  may  be 
 concluded  much  more  concerning  those  standing  functions  and 
 appointments  that  are  to  continue  in  the  Church.  Nor  can 
 any  difference  be  made  in  this  matter  between  public  scandals 
 and  secret  sins:  for  if  the  former  make  void  the  sacraments, 
 the  latter  must  do  so  too.  The  only  reason  that  can  be  pre- 
 tended for  the  one.  will  also  foil  upon  the  other  :  for  if  the  vir- 
 tue of  the  sacraments  is  thought  to  be  derived  upon  them  as  an 
 answer  of  prayer;  then,  since  the  prayers  of  hypocrites  are  as 
 little  effectual  as  the  prayers  of  those  who  are  openly  vicious, 
 the  inference  is  £ood,  that  if  the  sacraments  administered  bv  a 
 scandalous  man  are  without  any  effect,  the  sacraments  admini- 
 stered by  a  man  that  is  inwardly  corrupted,  though  that  can 
 be  only  known  to  God,  will  be  also  of  no  effect :  and  therefore 
 this  opinion  that  was  taken  up,  perhaps  from  an  inconsiderate 
 zeal  against  the  sins  and  scandals  of  the  clergy,  is  without  all 
 foundation,  and  must  needs  cast  all  men  into  endless  scruples, 
 which  can  never  be  cured. 
 
 The  Church  of  Rome,  though  they  reject  this  opinion,  yet 
 have  brought  in  another  very  like  it,  which  must  needs  fill  the 
 minds  of  men  with  endless  distractions  and  fears  :  chiefly  con- 
 
 z 
 
354 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Aut.  XXVI. 
 
 sidering  of  what  necessity  and  efficacy  they  make  the  sacra- 
 ments to  be : — They  do  teach,  that  the  intention  of  him  that 
 gives  the  sacrament  is  necessary  to  the  essence  of  it,  so  that 
 without  it  no  sacrament  can  be  administered.  This  was  ex- 
 pressly affirmed  by  Pope  Eugenius  in  his  decree,  and  an  ana- 
 thema passed  at  Trent  against  those  that  deny  it.  They  do 
 indeed  define  it  to  be  only  an  intention  of  doing  that  which 
 the  Church  intends  to  do ;  and  though  the  surest  way,  they  say, 
 is  to  have  an  actual  intention,  yet  it  is  commonly  taught  among 
 them,  that  an  habitual  or  virtual  intention  will  serve  :  But  they 
 do  all  agree  in  this,  that  if  a  priest  has  a  secret  intention  not  to 
 make  a  sacrament,  in  that  case  no  sacrament  is  made ;  and  this 
 is  carried  so  far,  that  in  one  of  the  rubrics  of  the  Mis- 
 Rubrd0™*  sal  it  is  given  as  a  rule,  that  if  a  priest  who  goes  to 
 teSutL  consecrate  twelve  Hosties,  should  have  a  general  in- 
 tention to  leave  out  one  of  them  from  being  truly  con- 
 secrated, and  should  not  apply  that  to  any  one,  but  let  it  run 
 loosely  through  them  all,  that  in  such  case  he  should  not  con- 
 secrate any  one  of  the  twelve ;  that  loose  exception  falling  upon 
 them  all,  because  it  is  not  restrained  to  any  one  particular. 
 And  among  the  Articles  that  were  condemned  by  Pope  Alexan- 
 der the  Eighth,  the  7th  of  December  1690,  the  28th  runs  thus  : 
 Valet  baptismus  collatus  a  ministro,  qui  omnem  ritum  exter- 
 num formamque  baptizandi  observat,  intus  vero  in  corde  suo  apud 
 se  resolvit,  non  intendo  quod  facit  Ecclesia.  And  thus  they 
 make  the  secret  acts  of  a  priest's  mind  enter  so  far  into  those 
 divine  appointments,  that  by  his  malice,  irreligion,  or  atheism, 
 he  can  make  those  sacraments,  which  he  visibly  blesses  and 
 administers,  to  be  only  the  outward  shews  of  sacraments,  but 
 no  real  ones.  We  do  not  pretend  that  the  sacraments  are  of 
 the  nature  of  charms ;  so  that  if  a  man  should  in  a  way  of  open 
 mockery  and  profanation  go  about  them,  that  therefore,  be- 
 cause matter  and  form  are  observed,  they  should  be  true  sacra- 
 ments :  But  though  we  make  the  serious  appearances  of  a  Chris- 
 tian action  to  be  necessary  to  the  making  it  a  sacrament,  yet 
 we  carry  this  no  further,  to  the  inward  and  secret  acts  of  the 
 priest,  as  if  they  were  essential  to  the  being  of  it.  If  this  is 
 true,  no  man  can  have  quiet  in  his  mind. 
 
 It  is  a  profanation  for  an  unbaptized  person  to  receive  the 
 Eucharist ;  so  if  baptism  is  not  true  when  a  priest  sets  his  in- 
 tention cross  to  it,  then  a  man  in  orders  must  be  in  perpetual 
 doubts,  whether  he  is  not  living  in  a  continual  state  of  sacrilege 
 in  administering  the  other  sacraments  while  he  is  not  yet  bap- 
 tized ;  and  if  baptism  be  so  necessary  to  salvation,  that  no  man 
 who  is  not  baptized  can  hope  to  be  saved,  here  a  perpetual 
 scruple  must  arise,  which  can  never  be  removed.  Nor  can  a 
 man  be  sure  but  that,  when  he  thinks  he  is  worshipping  the 
 true  body  of  Jesus  Christ,  he  is  committing  idolatry,  and  wor- 
 
Art.  XXVI. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 355 
 
 shipping  only  a  piece  of  bread ;  for  it  is  no  more,  according 
 to  them,  if  the  priest  had  an  intention  against  consecrating  it. 
 No  orders  are  given  if  an  intention  lies  against  them ;  and 
 then  he  who  passes  for  a  priest  is  no  priest,  and  all  his  consecra- 
 tions and  absolutions  are  so  many  invalid  things,  and  a  conti- 
 nued course  of  sacrilege. 
 
 Now  what  reason  soever  men  may  have  in  this  case  to  hope 
 for  the  pardon  of  those  sins,  since  it  is  certain  that  the  igno- 
 rance is  invincible ;  yet  here  strange  thoughts  must  arise  con- 
 cerning Christ  and  his  gospel,  if,  in  those  actions  that  are 
 made  necessary  to  salvation,  it  should  be  in  the  power  of  a  false 
 Christian,  or  an  atheistical  priest  or  bishop,  to  make  them  all 
 void,  so  that  by  consequence  it  should  be  in  his  power  to  damn 
 them  :  for  since  they  are  taught  to  expect  grace  and  justifica- 
 tion from  the  sacraments,  if  these  are  no  true  sacraments  which 
 they  take  for  such,  but  only  the  shadows  and  the  phantasms  of 
 them,  then  neither  grace  nor  justification  can  follow  upon  them. 
 This  may  be  carried  so  far  as  even  to  evacuate  the  very  being 
 of  a  Church ;  for  a  man  not  truly  baptized  can  never  be  in 
 orders,  so  that  the  whole  ordinations  of  a  Church,  and  the  suc- 
 cession of  it,  may  be  broke  by  the  impiety  of  any  one  priest. 
 This  we  look  on  as  such  a  chain  of  absurdities,  that  if  this  doc- 
 trine of  intention  were  true,  it  alone  might  serve  to  destroy  the 
 whole  credit  of  the  Christian  religion,  in  which  the  sacraments 
 are  taught  to  be  both  so  necessary  and  so  efficacious ;  and  yet 
 all  this  is  made  to  depend  on  that  which  can  neither  be  known 
 nor  prevented. 
 
 The  last  paragraph  of  this  Article  is  so  clear,  that  it  needs 
 no  explanation,  and  is  so  evident,  that  it  wants  no  proof.  Eli 
 was  severely  threatened  (1  Sam.  iii.  11.)  for  suffering  his  sons  to 
 go  on  in  their  vices,  when  by  their  means  the  sacrifice  of  God 
 was  abhorred.  God  himself  struck  Nadab  and  Abihu  dead, 
 when  they  offered  strange  fire  at  his  altar ;  and  upon  that  these 
 words  were  uttered,  /  will  be  sanctified  in  them  that  come  nigh 
 me,  and  before  all  the  people  will  I  be  glorified,  Levit.  x.  3. 
 Timothy  was  required  to  receive  an  accusation  of  an  elder, 
 when  regularly  tendered  to  him,  and  to  rebuke  before  all  those 
 that  sinned;  and  he  was  charged  to  withdraw  himself  from  those 
 teachers  who  consented  not  to  wholesome  words,  and  that  made 
 a  gain  of  godliness,  1  Tim.  v.  1. 19,  20.  vi.  3 — 5.  A  main  part 
 of  the  discipline  of  the  primitive  Church  lay  heaviest  on  the 
 clergy;  and  such  of  them  as  either  apostatized,  or  fell  into 
 scandalous  sins,  even  upon  their  repentance,  were  indeed  re- 
 ceived into  the  peace  of  the  Church,  but  they  were  appointed 
 to  communicate  among  the  laity,  and  were  never  after  that 
 admitted  to  the  body  of  the  clergy,  or  to  have  a  share  in  their 
 privileges.  Certainly  there  is  nothing  more  incumbent  on  the 
 whole  body  of  the  Church,  than  that  all  possible  care  be  taken 
 
35(3 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXVI. 
 
 to  discover  the  bad  practices  that  may  be  among  the  clergy ; 
 which  will  ever  raise  strong  prejudices,  not  only  against  their 
 persons,  but  even  against  their  profession,  and  against  that  reli- 
 gion which  they  seem  to  advance  with  their  mouths,  while  in 
 their  works,  and  by  their  lives,  they  detract  from  it,  and  seem 
 to  deny  its  authority.  But  after  all,  our  zeal  must  go  along 
 with  justice  and  discretion :  fame  may  be  a  just  ground  to  in- 
 quire upon ;  but  a  sentence  cannot  be  founded  on  it.  The 
 laity  must  discover  what  they  know,  that  so  those  who  have 
 authority  may  be  able  to  cut  off  those  that  trouble  the  Church, 
 Gal.  v.  12.  Discretion  will  require,  that  things  which  cannot 
 be  proved  ought  rather  to  be  covered  than  exposed,  when  no- 
 thing but  clamour  can  follow  upon  it.  In  sum,  this  is  a  part 
 of  the  government  of  the  Church,  for  which  God  will  reckon 
 severely  with  those,  who,  from  partial  regards,  or  other  feeble 
 or  carnal  considerations,  are  defective  in  that  which  is  so  great 
 a  part  of  their  duty,  and  in  which  the  honour  of  God,  and  of 
 religion,  and  the  good  of  souls,  as  well  as  the  order  and  unity 
 of  the  Church,  are  so  highly  concerned. 
 
 ARTICLE  XXVII. 
 
 OF  BAPTIS3I. 
 
 Baptism  is  not  only  a  Sign  of  Profession  and  Mark  of  Differ- 
 ence, whereby  Christian  Men  are  discerned  from  others  that 
 be  not  Christened  ;  but  it  is  also  a  Sign  of  Regeneration  or 
 New  Birth,  whereby,  as  by  an  Instrument,  they  that  receive 
 Baptism  rightly,  are  grafted  into  the  Church.  The  Promises 
 of  the  Forgiveness  of  Sin,  of  our  Adoption  to  be  the  Sons  of 
 God  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  are  visibly  signed  and  sealed,  Faith 
 is  confrmed  and  Grace  increased  by  virtue  of  Prayer  to  God. 
 The  Baptism  of  young  Children  is  in  any  wise  to  be  retained 
 in  the  Church,  as  most  agreeable  with  the  Institution  of  Christ. 
 
 When  St  John  Baptist  began  first  to  baptize,  we  do  plainly 
 see,  by  the  first  chapter  of  St  John's  Gospel,  that  the  Jews 
 were  not  surprised  at  the  novelty  of  the  rite ;  for  they  sent  to 
 ask  who  he  was  ?  And  when  he  said  he  was  not  the  Messias, 
 nor  Elias,  nor  that  Prophet,  they  asked,  Why  baptizcst  thou 
 then  ?  John  i.  25. ;  which  shews,  not  only  that  they  had  clear 
 nolions  of  Baptism,  but  in  particular  that  they  thought  that  if 
 he  had  been  the  Messias,  or  Elias,  or  that  Prophet,  he  might 
 then  have  baptized.  St  Paul  does  also  say,  that  the  Jews  were 
 all  baptized  unto  Moses  in  the  cloud,  and  in  the  sea,  1  Cor.  x.  2.: 
 
Art.  XXVII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 357 
 
 which  seems  to  relate  to  some  opinion  the  Jews  had,  that  by 
 that  cloud,  and  their  passing  through  the  sea,  they  were 
 purified  from  the  Egyptian  defilements,  and  made  meet  to 
 become  Moses's  disciples.  Yet  in  the  Old  Testament  we  find 
 no  clear  warrant  for  a  practice  that  had  then  got  among  the 
 Jews,  which  is  still  taught  by  them,  that  they  were  to  receive  a 
 proselyte,  if  a  male,  by  baptism,  circumcision,  and  sacrifice ; 
 and  if  a  female,  only  by  baptism  and  sacrifice.  Thus  they 
 reckoned,  that  when  any  came  over  from  heathenism  to  their 
 religion,  they  were  to  use  a  washing — to  denote  their  purifying 
 themselves  from  the  uncleanness  of  their  former  idolatry,  and 
 their  entering  into  a  holy  religion. 
 
 And  as  they  do  still  teach,  that,  when  the  Messias  comes, 
 they  are  all  bound  to  set  themselves  to  repent  of  their  former 
 sins,  so  it  seems  they  then  thought,  or  at  least  it  would  have 
 been  no  strange  thing  to  them,  if  the  Messias  had  received  such 
 as  came  to  him  by  baptism.  St  John,  by  baptizing  those  who 
 came  to  him,  took  them  obliged  to  enter  upon  a  course  of  re- 
 pentance, and  he  declared  to  them  the  near  approach  of  the 
 Messias,  and  that  the  kingdom  of  God  was  at  hand  ;  and  it  is 
 very  probable,  that  those  who  were  baptized  by  Christ,  that  is, 
 by  his  Apostles — for  though  it  is  expressly  said  that  he  bap- 
 tized none,  yet  what  he  did  by  his  disciples,  he  might  in  a  more 
 general  sense  be  said  to  have  done  himself — that  these,  I  say, 
 were  baptized  upon  the  same  sponsions,  and  with  the  same 
 declarations,  and  with  no  other;  for  the  dispensation  of  the 
 Messias  was  not  yet  opened,  nor  was  it  then  fully  declared  that 
 he  was  the  Messias.  Howsoever,  this  was  a  preparatory  initia- 
 tion of  such  as  were  fitted  for  the  coming  of  the  Messias :  by 
 it,  they  owned  their  expectations  of  him  as  then  near  at  hand, 
 and  they  professed  their  repentance  of  their  sins,  and  their  pur- 
 poses of  doing  what  should  be  enjoined  them  by  him. 
 
 Water  was  a  very  proper  emblem,  to  signify  the  passing 
 from  a  course  of  defilement  to  a  greater  degree  of  purity,  both 
 in  doctrine  and  practice. 
 
 Our  Saviour  in  his  state  of  humiliation,  as  he  was  subject 
 to  the  Mosaical  Law,  so  he  thought  fit  to  fulfil  all  the  obliga- 
 tions that  lay  upon  the  other  Jews ;  which,  by  a  phrase  used 
 among  them,  he  expresses  thus,  to  fulfil  all  righteousness.  For 
 though  our  Saviour  had  no  sins  to  confess,  yet  that  not  being 
 known,  he  might  come  to  profess  his  belief  of  the  dispensation 
 of  the  Messias,  that  was  then  to  appear.  But  how  well  soever 
 the  Jews  might  have  been  accustomed  to  this  rite,  and  how 
 proper  a  preparation  soever  it  might  be  to  the  manifestation 
 of  the  Messias;  yet  the  institution  of  baptism,  as  it  is  a  federal 
 act  of  the  Christian  religion,  must  be  taken  from  the  commis- 
 sion that  our  Saviour  gave  to  his  disciples, — to  go  preach  and 
 make  disciples  to  him  in  all  nations,  (for  that  is  the  strict  signi- 
 
358 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXVII. 
 
 fication  of  the  word),  baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father, 
 and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  teaching  them  to  ob- 
 serve all  things  "whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you,  Matt,  xxviii. 
 19,  20. 
 
 By  the  first  teaching  or  making  of  disciples,  that  must  go 
 before  baptism,  is  to  be  meant  the  convincing  the  world  that 
 Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  true  Messias,  anointed  of  God  with  a 
 fulness  of  grace  and  of  the  Spirit  without  measure,  and  sent  to 
 be  the  Saviour  and  Redeemer  of  the  world.  And  when  any 
 were  brought  to  acknowledge  this,  then  they  were  to  baptize 
 them,  to  initiate  them  to  this  religion,  by  obliging  them  to 
 renounce  all  idolatry  and  ungodliness,  as  well  as  all  secular  and 
 carnal  lusts,  and  then  they  led  them  into  the  water ;  and,  with 
 no  other  garments  but  what  might  cover  nature,  they  at  first 
 laid  them  down  in  the  water,  as  a  man  is  laid  in  a  grave,  and 
 then  they  said  those  words,  /  baptize  or  wash  thee  in  the  name 
 of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost :  then  they  raised  them 
 up  again,  and  clean  garments  were  put  on  them ;  from  whence 
 came  the  phrases  of  being  baptized  into  Christ's  death  ;  of  being 
 buried  with  him  by  baptism  into  death  ;  of  our  being  risen  with 
 Christ,  and  of  our  putting  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  of  putting 
 off  the  Old.  Man,  and  putting  on  the  New :  Rom.  vi.  3,  4,  5. 
 Col.  ii.  12.  iii.  1.9,  10.  Rom.  xiii.  14.  After  baptism  was  thus 
 performed,  the  baptized  person  was  to  be  farther  instructed  in 
 all  the  specialties  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  in  all  the  rules 
 of  life  that  Christ  had  prescribed. 
 
 This  was  plainly  a  different  baptism  from  St  John's ;  a  pro- 
 fession was  made  in  it,  not  in  general,  of  the  belief  of  a  Messias 
 soon  to  appear,  but  in  particular,  that  Jesus  was  the  Messias, 
 
 The  stipulation  in  St  John's  baptism  was  repentance ;  but 
 here  it  is  the  belief  of  the  whole  Christian  religion.  In  St 
 John's  baptism  they  indeed  promised  repentance,  and  he  re- 
 ceived them  into  the  earnests  of  the  kingdom  of  the  Messias ; 
 but  it  does  not  appear  that  St  John  either  did  promise  them 
 remission  of  sins,  or  that  he  had  commission  so  to  do ;  for 
 repentance  and  remission  of  sins  were  not  joined  together  till 
 after  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  that  he  appointed  that  repen- 
 tance and  remission  of  sins  should  be  preached  in  his  name 
 among  all  nations,  beginning  at  Jerusalem,  Luke  xxiv.  47. 
 
 In  the  baptism  of  Christ,  I  mean  that  which  he  appointed 
 after  his  resurrection,  (for  the  baptism  of  his  disciples  before 
 that  time  was  no  doubt  the  same  with  St  John's  baptism), 
 there  was  to  be  an  instruction  given  in  that  great  mystery  of 
 the  Christian  religion  concerning  the  Father,  the  Son,  and 
 the  Holy  Ghost,  which  those  who  had  only  received  St  John's 
 baptism  knew  not — They  did  not  so  much  as  /mow  that  there 
 was  a  Holy  Ghost,  Acts  xix.  2,  3,  4,  5. ;  that  is,  they  knew 
 nothing  of  the  extraordinary  effusion  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  And 
 
Art.  XXVII.  THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 359 
 
 it  is  expressly  said,  that  those  of  St  John's  baptism,  when  St 
 Paul  explained  to  them  the  difference  between  the  baptism  of 
 Christ  and  that  of  St  John,  that  they  were  baptized  in  the  name 
 of  the  Lord  Jesus.  For  St  John  in  his  baptism  had  only  ini- 
 tiated them  to  the  belief  of  a  Messias ;  but  had  not  said  a  word 
 of  Jesus  as  being  that  Messias.  So  that  this  must  be  fixed, 
 that  these  two  baptisms  were  different ;  the  one  was  a  dawning 
 or  imperfect  beginning  to  the  other,  as  he  that  administered 
 the  one  was  like  the  Morning  Star  before  the  Sun  of  Righte- 
 ousness. 
 
 Our  Saviour  had  this  ordinance  (that  was  then  imperfect, 
 and  was  to  be  afterwards  completed,  when  he  himself  had 
 finished  all  that  he  came  into  the  world  to  do) — he  had,  I  say, 
 this  visibly  in  his  eye,  when  he  spake  to  Nicodemus,  and  told 
 him,  that  except  a  man  were  born  agai?i,  he  could  not  see  (or 
 discern)  the  kingdom  of  God,  John  iii.  3.  5,  6. :  by  which  he 
 meant  that  entire  change  and  renovation  of  a  man's  mind,  and 
 of  all  his  powers,  through  which  he  must  pass,  before  he  could 
 discern  the  true  characters  of  the  dispensation  of  the  Messias : 
 for  that  is  the  sense  in  which  the  kingdom  of  God  does  stand 
 almost  universally  through  the  whole  Gospel.  When  Nico- 
 demus was  amazed  at  this  odd  expression,  and  seemed  to  take 
 it  literally,  our  Saviour  answered  more  fully,  Verily,  verily,  I 
 say  unto  thee,  Except  a  man  be  born  of  water  and  of  the  Spirit, 
 he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God.  The  meaning  of 
 which  seems  to  be  this,  that  except  a  man  came  to  be  renewed 
 by  an  ablution  like  the  baptism  which  the  Jews  used,  that  im- 
 ported the  outward  profession  of  a  change  of  doctrine  and  of 
 heart ;  and  with  that,  except  he  were  inwardly  changed  by  a 
 secret  power  called  the  Spirit,  that  should  transform  his  nature, 
 he  could  not  become  one  of  his  disciples,  or  a  true  Christian ; 
 which  is  meant  by  his  entering  into  the  kingdom  of  God,  or 
 the  dispensation  of  the  Messias. 
 
 Upon  this  institution  and  commission  given  by  Christ,  we 
 see  the  Apostles  went  up  and  down  preaching  and  baptizing. 
 And  so  far  were  they  from  considering  baptism  only  as  a  carnal 
 rite,  or  a  low  element,  above  which  a  higher  dispensation  of  the 
 Spirit  was  to  raise  them,  that  when  St  Peter  saw  the  Holy 
 Ghost  visibly  descend  upon  Cornelius  and  his  friends,  he  upon 
 that  immediately  baptized  them;  and  said,  Can  any  man  forbid 
 (or  deny)  water,  that  these  should  not  be  baptized,  which  have 
 received  the  Holy  Ghost  as  well  as  we  ?  Acts  x.  44.  47,  48. 
 Our  Saviour  has  also  made  baptism  one  of  the  precepts,  though 
 not  one  of  the  means,  necessary  to  salvation.  A  mean  is  that 
 which  does  so  certainly  procure  a  thing,  that  it  being  had,  the 
 thing  to  which  it  is  a  certain  and  necessary  mean  is  also  had ; 
 and  without  it  the  thing  cannot  be  had ;  there  being  a  natural 
 connexion  between  it  and  the  end  :  whereas  a  precept  is  an 
 
AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXVI I. 
 
 institution  in  which  there  is  no  such  natural  efficiency :  but  it 
 is  positively  commanded,  so  that  the  neglecting  it  is  a  con- 
 tempt of  the  authority  that  commanded  it;  and  therefore,  in 
 obeying  the  precept,  the  value  or  virtue  of  the  action  lies  only 
 in  the  obedience.  This  distinction  appears  very  clearly  in  what 
 our  Saviour  has  said  both  of  faith  and  baptism.  He  that  be- 
 lieveth  and  is  baptized,  shall  be  saved  ;  and  he  that  believeth  not, 
 shall  be  damned,  Mark  xvi.  16. 
 
 Where  it  appears,  that  faith  is  the  mean  of  salvation  with 
 which  it  is  to  be  had,  and  not  without  it ;  since  such  a  believ- 
 ing as  makes  a  man  receive  the  whole  Gospel  as  true,  and  so 
 firmly  to  depend  upon  the  promises  that  are  made  in  it,  as  to 
 observe  all  the  laws  and  rules  that  are  prescribed  by  it ;  such 
 a  faith  as  this  gives  us  so  sure  a  title  to  all  the  blessings  of  this 
 New  Covenant,  that  it  is  impossible  that  we  should  continue 
 in  this  state,  and  not  partake  of  them;  and  it  is  no  less  im- 
 possible that  we  should  partake  of  them,  unless  we  do  thus  be- 
 lieve. It  were  not  suitable  to  the  truth  and  holiness  of  the 
 Divine  nature  to  void  a  covenant  so  solemnly  made,  and  that 
 in  favour  of  wicked  men,  who  will  not  be  reformed  by  it :  so 
 faith  is  the  certain  and  necessary  mean  of  our  salvation,  and 
 is  so  put  by  Christ ;  since  upon  our  having  it  we  shall  be  saved, 
 as  well  as  damned  upon  our  not  having  it. 
 
 On  the  other  hand,  the  nature  of  a  ritual  action,  even  when 
 commanded,  is  such,  that  unless  we  could  imagine  that  there 
 is  a  charm  in  it,  which  is  contrary  to  the  spirit  and  genius  of 
 the  gospel,  which  designs  to  save  us  by  reforming  our  natures, 
 we  cannot  think  that  there  can  be  any  thing  in  it  that  is  of 
 itself  effectual  as  a  mean ;  and  therefore  it  must  only  be  con- 
 sidered as  a  command  that  is  given  us,  which  we  are  bound  to 
 obey,  if  we  acknowledge  the  authority  of  the  command.  But 
 this  being  an  action  that  is  not  always  in  our  power,  but  is  to 
 be  done  by  another,  it  were  to  put  our  salvation  or  damnation 
 in  the  power  of  another,  to  imagine  that  we  cannot  be  saved 
 without  baptism  :  and  therefore  it  is  only  a  precept  which 
 obliges  us  in  order  to  our  salvation ;  and  our  Saviour,  by  leav- 
 ing it  out  when  he  reversed  the  words,  saying  only?  he  that  be- 
 lieveth not,  without  adding,  and  is  not  baptized,  shall  be 
 damned,  does  plainly  insinuate  that  it  is  not  a  mean,  but  only 
 a  precept  in  order  to  our  salvation. 
 
 As  for  the  ends  and  purposes  of  baptism,  St  Paul  gives  us 
 two :  the  one  is,  that  we  are  all  baptized  into  one  body,  we  are 
 made  members  one  of  another,  1  Cor.  xii.  13.;  we  are  admitted 
 to  the  society  of  Christians,  and  to  all  the  rights  and  privileges 
 of  that  body,  which  is  the  Church.  And  in  order  to  this,  the 
 outward  action  of  baptism,  when  regularly  gone  about,  is 
 sufficient.  We  cannot  see  into  the  sincerity  of  men's  hearts ; 
 outward  professions  and  regular  actions  are  all  that  fall  under 
 
Art.  XXVII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 301 
 
 men's  observation  and  judgment.  But  a  second  end  of  bap- 
 tism is  internal  and  spiritual.  Of  this  St  Paul  speaks  in  very 
 high  terms,  when  he  says,  that  God  has  saved  us  according  to 
 his  mercy \  by  the  washing  of  regeneration,  and  the  renewing  of 
 the  Holy  Ghost,  Tit.  iii.  o.  It  were  a  strange  perverting  the 
 design  of  these  words  to  say,  that  somewhat  spiritual  is  to  be 
 understood  by  this  washing  of  regeneration,  and  not  baptism ; 
 when  as  to  the  word  save,  that  is  here  ascribed  to  it,  St  Peter 
 gives  that  undeniably  to  baptism  ;  and  St  Paul  elsewhere,  in 
 two  different  places,  (Rom.  vi.  Col.  ii.),  makes  our  baptism  to 
 represent  our  being  dead  to  sin,  and  buried  with  Christ;  and 
 our  being  risen  and  quickened  with  him,  and  made  alive  unto 
 God ;  which  are  words  that  do  very  plainly  import  regenera- 
 tion. So  that  St  Paul  must  be  understood  to  speak  of  bap- 
 tism in  these  words.  Here  then  is  the  inward  effect  of  bap- 
 tism ;  it  is  a  death  to  sin,  and  a  new  life  in  Christ,  in  imitation 
 of  him,  and  in  conformity  to  his  gospel.  So  that  here  is  very 
 expressly  delivered  to  us  somewhat  that  rises  far  above  the 
 badge  of  a  profession,  or  a  mark  of  difference. 
 
 That  does  indeed  belong  to  baptism ;  it  makes  us  the  visi- 
 ble members  of  that  one  body,  into  which  we  are  baptized,  or 
 admitted  by  baptism ;  but  that  which  saves  us  in  it,  which  both 
 deadens  and  quickens  us,  must  be  a  thing  of  another  nature. 
 If  baptism  were  only  the  receiving  us  into  the  society  of  Chris- 
 tians, there  were  no  need  of  saying,  /  baptize  thee  in  the  name 
 of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  It  were 
 more  proper  to  say,  /  baptize  thee  in  the  name  or  by  the  autho- 
 rity of  the  Church.  Therefore  these  august  words,  that  were 
 dictated  by  our  Lord  himself,  shew  us  that  there  is  somewhat 
 in  it  that  is  internal,  which  comes  from  God  :  that  it  is  an  ad- 
 mitting men  into  somewhat  that  depends  only  on  God,  and  for 
 the  giving  of  which  the  authority  can  onlv  be  derived  bv  him. 
 But  after  all,  this  is  not  to  be  believed  to  be  of  the  nature  of  a 
 charm,  as  if  the  very  act  of  baptism  carried  always  with  it  an 
 inward  regeneration.  Here  we  must  confess,  that  very  early 
 some  doctrines  arose  upon  baptism,  that  we  cannot  be  deter- 
 mined by.  The  words  of  our  Saviour  to  Xicodemus  were  ex- 
 pounded so  as  to  import  the  absolute  necessity  of  baptism  in 
 order  to  salvation  ;  for  it  not  being  observed  that  the  dispen- 
 sation of  the  Messias  was  meant  by  the  kingdom  of  God,  but 
 it  being  taken  to  signify  eternal  glory,  that  expression  of  our 
 Saviour's  was  understood  to  import  this,  that  no  man  could 
 be  saved  unless  he  were  baptized;  so  it  was  believed  to  be 
 simply  necessary  to  salvation.  A  natural  consequence  that 
 followed  upon  that  was,  to  allow  all  persons  leave  to  baptize, 
 clergy  and  laity,  men  and  women,  since  it  seemed  necessary  to 
 suffer  every  person  to  do  that  without  which  salvation  could 
 not  be  had.    Upon  this,  these  hasty  baptisms  were  used,  with- 
 
362 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXVII. 
 
 out  any  special  sponsion  on  the  part  of  those  who  desired  it : 
 of  which  it  may  be  reasonably  doubted,  whether  such  a  baptism 
 be  true,  in  which  no  sponsion  is  made  ;  and  this  cannot  be  well 
 answered  but  by  saying,  that  a  general  and  an  implied  spon- 
 sion is  to  be  considered  to  be  made  by  their  parents  while  they 
 desire  them  to  be  baptized. 
 
 Another  opinion  that  arose  out  of  the  former,  was  the  mixing 
 of  the  outward  and  the  inward  effects  of  baptism ;  it  being  be- 
 lieved, that  every  person^  that  was  born  of  the  water,  was  also 
 born  of  the  Spirit;  and  that  the  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
 did  always  accompany  the  washing  of  regeneration.  And  this 
 obliged  St  Austin  (as  was  formerly  told)  to  make  that  differ- 
 ence between  the  regenerate  and  the  predestinated ;  for  he 
 thought  that  all  who  were  baptized  were  also  regenerated.  St 
 Peter  has  stated  this  so  fully,  that,  if  his  words  are  well  consi- 
 dered, they  will  clear  the  whole  matter.  He,  after  he  had  set 
 forth  the  miserable  state  in  which  mankind  was,  under  the 
 figure  of  the  deluge,  in  which  an  ark  was  prepared  for  Noah 
 and  his  family,  says  upon  that,  The  like  fgure  whereunto,  even 
 baptism,  doth  also  now  save  us,  1  Pet.  iii.  21.  Upon  which  he 
 makes  a  short  digression,  to  explain  the  nature  of  baptism,  Not 
 the'putting  away  the  filth  of  the  flesh,  but  the  answer  (or  the 
 demand  and  interrogation)  of  a  good  conscience  towards  God  ; 
 by  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  gone  into  heaven. 
 The  meaning  of  all  which  is,  that  Christ  having  risen  again, 
 and  having  then  had  all  power  in  heaven  and  in  earth  given  to 
 him,  he  had  put  that  virtue  in  baptism,  that  by  it  we  are  saved, 
 as  in  an  ark,  from  that  miserable  state  in  which  the  world  lies, 
 and  in  which  it  must  perish.  But  then  he  explains  the  way 
 how  it  saves  us ;  that  it  is  not  as  a  physical  action,  as  it  washes 
 away  the  filthiness  of  the  flesh,  or  of  the  body,  like  the  notion 
 that  the  Gentiles  might  have  of  their  februations ;  or,  which 
 is  more  natural,  considering  to  whom  he  writes,  like  the  opi- 
 nions that  the  Jews  had  of  their  cleansings  after  their  legal  im- 
 purities, from  which  their  washings  and  bathings  did  absolutely 
 free  them.  The  salvation  that  we  Christians  have  by  baptism, 
 is  effected  by  that  federation  into  which  we  enter,  when,  upon 
 the  demands  that  are  made  of  our  renouncing  the  Devil,  the 
 ivorld,  and  the  flesh,  and  of  our  believing  in  Christ,  and  our 
 repentance  towards  God,  we  make  such  answers  from  a  good 
 conscience  as  agree  with  the  end  and  design  of  baptism ;  then, 
 by  our  thus  coming  into  covenant  with  God,  we  are  saved  in 
 baptism.  So  that  the  salvation  by  baptism  is  given  by  reason  of 
 the  federal  compact  that  is  made  in  it.  Now  this  being  made 
 outwardly,  according  to  the  rules  that  are  prescribed,  that  must 
 make  the  baptism  good  among  men,  as  to  all  the  outward  and 
 visible  effects  of  it :  but  since  it  is  the  answer  of  a  good  conscience 
 only  that  saves,  then  an  answer  from  a  bad  conscience,  from  a 
 
Art.  XXVII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 363 
 
 hypocritical  person,  who  does  not  inwardly  think,  or  purpose, 
 according  to  what  he  professes  outwardly,  cannot  save,  but 
 does  on  the  contrary  aggravate  his  damnation.  Therefore  our 
 Article  puts  the  efficacy  of  baptism,  in  order  to  the  forgiveness 
 of  our  sins,  and  to  our  adoption  and  salvation,  upon  the  virtue 
 of  prayer  to  God ;  that  is,  upon  those  vows  and  other  acts  of 
 devotion  that  accompany  them  :  so  that  when  the  seriousness 
 of  the  mind  accompanies  the  regularity  of  the  action,  then  both 
 the  outward  and  inward  effects  of  baptism  are  attained  by  it; 
 and  we  are  not  only  baptized  into  one  body,  but  are  also  saved 
 by  baptism.  So  that  upon  the  whole  matter  baptism  is  a  fe- 
 deral admission  into  Christianity,  in  which,  on  God's  part,  all 
 the  blessings  of  the  gospel  are  made  over  to  the  baptized ;  and, 
 on  the  other  hand,  the  person  baptized  takes  on  him,  by  a  so- 
 lemn profession  and  vow,  to  observe  and  adhere  to  the  whole 
 Christian  religion.  So  it  is  a  very  natural  distinction  to  say, 
 that  the  outward  effects  of  baptism  follow  it  as  outwardly  per- 
 formed ;  but  that  the  inward  effects  of  it  follow  upon  the  in- 
 ward acts :  but  this  difference  is  still  to  be  observed  between 
 inward  acts  and  outward  actions,  that  when  the  outward  action 
 is  rightly  performed,  the  Church  must  reckon  the  baptism 
 good,  and  never  renew  it;  but  if  one  has  been  wanting  in  the 
 inward  acts,  those  may  be  afterwards  renewed,  and  that  want 
 may  be  made  up  by  repentance. 
 
 Thus  all  that  the  Scriptures  have  told  us  concerning  bap- 
 tism, seems  to  be  sufficiently  explained.  There  remains  only 
 one  place  that  may  seem  somewhat  strange.  St  Paul  says,  that 
 Christ  sent  him  not  to  baptize,  but  to  preach,  1  Cor.  i.  17.;  which 
 some  have  carried  so  far  as  to  infer  from  thence,  that  preaching 
 is  of  more  value  than  baptism.  But  it  is  to  be  considered,  that 
 the  preaching  of  the  Apostles  was  of  the  nature  of  a  promul- 
 gation made  by  heralds ;  it  was  an  act  of  a  special  authority, 
 by  which  he  in  particular  was  to  convert  the  world  from  Idola- 
 try and  Judaism,  to  acknowledge  Jesus  to  be  the  true  Messias; 
 Acts  viii.  26.  to  the  end. 
 
 Now  when  men,  by  the  preaching  of  the  Apostles,  and  by 
 the  miracles  that  accompanied  it,  were  so  wrought  on  as  to 
 believe  that  Jesus  was  the  Christ;  then,  according  to  the  prac- 
 tice of  Philip  towards  the  eunuch  of  Ethiopia,  and  of  St  Paul 
 to  his  jailor  at  Philippi,  (Acts  xvi.  31,  32,  33.),  they  might 
 immediately  baptize  them ;  yet  most  commonly  there  was  a 
 special  instruction  to  be  used,  before,  persons  were  baptized, 
 who  might  in  general  have  some  conviction,  and  yet  not  be 
 so  fully  satisfied,  but  that  a  great  deal  of  more  pains  was  to 
 be  taken  to  carry  them  on  to  that  full  assurance  of  faith  which 
 was  necessary.  This  was  a  work  of  much  time,  and  was  to  be 
 managed  by  the  pastors  or  teachers  of  the  several  Churches : 
 so  that  the  meaning  of  what  St  Paul  says  was  this,  that  he  was 
 
364  AN  EXPOSITION  OF  Art.  XXVII. 
 
 to  publish  the  gospel  from  city  to  city,  but  could  not  descend 
 to  the  particular  labour  of  preparing  and  instructing  of  the 
 persons  to  be  baptized,  and  to  the  baptizing  them  when  so  pre- 
 pared. If  he  had  entered  upon  this  work,  he  could  not  have 
 made  that  progress,  nor  have  founded  those  churches,  that  he 
 did.  All  this  is  therefore  misunderstood,  when  it  is  applied  to 
 such  preaching  as  is  still  continued  in  the  Church ;  which  does 
 not  succeed  the  apostolical  preaching,  that  was  inspired  and 
 infallible,  but  comes  in  the  room  of  that  instruction  and  teach- 
 ing which  was  then  performed  by  the  pastors  of  the  Church. 
 
 The  last  head  in  this  Article  relates  to  the  baptism  of  in- 
 fants, which  is  spoken  of  with  that  moderation  which  appears 
 very  eminently  through  the  whole  Articles  of  our  Church. 
 On  this  head  it  is  only  said  to  be  most  agreeable  with  the  insti- 
 tution of  Christ,  and  that  therefore  it  is  to  be  in  any  ways  re- 
 tained in  the  Church.  Now  to  open  this  it  is  to  be  considered, 
 that  though  baptism  and  circumcision  do  not  in  every  parti- 
 cular come  to  a  parallel,  yet  they  do  agree  in  two  things : — the 
 one  is,  that  both  were  the  rites  of  admission  into  their  respective 
 covenants,  and  to  the  rights  and  privileges  that  did  arise  out  of 
 them ;  and  the  other  is,  that  in  them  both  there  was  an  obliga- 
 tion laid  on  the  persons  to  the  observance  of  that  whole  law 
 to  which  they  were  so  initiated.  St  Paul,  arguing  against  cir- 
 cumcision, lays  this  down  as  an  uncontested  maxim,  that  if  a 
 man  was  circumcised  he  became  thereby  a  debtor  to  the  whole 
 law,  Gal.  v.  3. 
 
 Parents  had,  by  the  Jewish  constitution,  an  authority  given 
 them  to  conclude  their  children  under  that  obligation  ;  so  that 
 the  soul  and  will  of  the  child  was  so  far  put  in  the  power  of 
 the  parents,  that  they  could  bring  them  under  federal  obliga- 
 tions, and  thereby  procure  to  them  a  share  in  federal  blessings. 
 And  it  is  probable  that  from  hence  it  was,  that  when  the  Jews 
 made  proselytes,  they  considered  them  as  having  such  autho- 
 rity over  their  children,  that  they  baptized  them  first,  and  then 
 circumcised  them,  though  infants. 
 
 Now  since  Christ  took  baptism  from  them,  and  appointed 
 it  to  be  the  federal  admission  to  his  religion,  as  circumcision 
 had  been  in  the  Mosaical  dispensation,  it  is  reasonable  to  be- 
 lieve, that  except  where  he  declared  a  change  that  he  made  in 
 it,  in  all  other  respects  it  was  to  go  on  and  to  continue  as  before ; 
 especially  when  the  Apostles  in  their  first  preaching  told  the 
 Jewrs,  that  the  promises  were  made  to  them  and  to  their  chil- 
 dren, Acts  ii.  39. ;  which  the  Jews  must  have  understood  ac- 
 cording to  what  they  were  already  in  possession  of,  that  they 
 could  initiate  their  children  into  their  religion,  bring  them 
 under  the  obligations  of  it,  and  procure  to  them*  a  share  in 
 those  blessings  that  belonged  to  it.  The  law  of  nature  and 
 nations  puts  children  in  the  power  of  their  parents ;  they  arc 
 
Am.  XXVII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 '365 
 
 naturally  their  guardians ;  and,  if  they  are  entitled  to  any 
 thing,  their  parents  have  a  right  to  transact  about  it,  because 
 of  the  weakness  of  the  child ;  and  what  contracts  soever  they 
 make,  by  which  the  child  does  not  lose,  but  is  a  gainer,  these 
 do  certainly  bind  the  child.  It  is  then  suitable,  both  to  the 
 constitution  of  mankind  and  to  the  dispensation  of  the  Mosai- 
 cal  covenant,  that  parents  may  dedicate  their  children  to  God, 
 and  bring  them  under  the  obligations  of  the  gospel :  and  if 
 they  may  do  that,  then  they  certainly  procure  to  them  with  it, 
 or  in  lieu  of  it,  a  share  in  the  blessings  and  promises  of  the 
 gospel.  So  that  they  may  offer  their  children,  either  them- 
 selves, or  by  such  others  of  their  friends  to  whom,  for  that  oc- 
 casion, they  transfer  that  right  which  they  have  to  transact  for 
 and  to  bind  their  children. 
 
 All  this  receives  a  great  confirmation  from  the  decision 
 which  St  Paul  makes  upon  a  case  that  must  have  happened 
 commonly  at  that  time ;  which  was,  when  one  of  the  parties  in 
 a  married  state,  husband  or  wife,  was  converted,  while  the 
 other  continued  still  in  the  former  state  of  idolatry,  or  infide- 
 lity. Here  then  a  scruple  naturally  arose,  whether  a  believer  or 
 Christian  might  still  live  in  a  married  state  with  an  infidel. 
 Besides  the  ill  usage  to  which  that  diversity  of  religion  might 
 give  occasion,  another  difficulty  might  be  made, — whether  a 
 person  defiled  by  idolatry  did  not  communicate  that  impurity 
 to  the  Christian,  and  whether  the  children  born  in  such  a  mar- 
 riage were  to  be  reckoned  a  holy  seed,  according  to  the  Jewish 
 phrase,  or  an  unholy — unclean  children,  that  is  heathenish 
 children,  who  were  not  to  be  dedicated  to  God,  nor  to  be 
 admitted  into  covenant  with  him :  for  unclean  in  the  Old  Tes- 
 tament, and  uncircumcised,  signify  sometimes  the  same  thing ; 
 and  so  St  Peter  said,  that  in  the  case  of  Cornelius  God  had 
 shewed  him,  that  he  should  call  no  man  common  or  luiclean. 
 In  allusion  to  all  which  St  Paul  (1  Cor.  vii.  14.)  determines 
 the  case,  not  by  an  immediate  revelation,  but  by  the  inferences 
 that  he  drew  from  what  had  been  revealed  to  him :  he  does 
 appoint  the  Christian  to  live  with  the  infidel,  and  says,  that 
 the  Christian  is  so  far  from  being  defiled  by  the  infidel,  that 
 there  is  a  communication  of  a  blessing  that  passes  from  the 
 Christian  to  the  infidel ;  the  one  being  the  better  for  the 
 prayers  of  the  other,  and  sharing  in  the  blessings  bestowed  on 
 the  other :  the  better  part  was  accepted  of  God,  in  whom  mercy 
 rejoices  over  judgment.  There  was  a  communication  of  a  bless- 
 ing that  the  Christian  derived  to  the  infidel ;  which  at  least 
 went  so  far,  that  their  children  were  not  unclean — that  is,  shut 
 out  from  being  dedicated  to  God — but  were  holy.  Now  it  is 
 to  be  considered,  that  in  the  New  Testament  Christians,  and 
 Sai?its  or  Holy,  stand  all  promiscuously.    The  purity  of  the 
 
366 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  Ol- 
 
 Am.  XX VII. 
 
 Christian  doctrine,  and  the  dedication  by  which  Christians 
 offer  up  themselves  to  God,  makes  them  holy. 
 
 In  Scripture,  holiness  stands  in  a  double  sense :  the  one  is  a 
 true  and  real  purity,  by  which  a  man's  faculties  and  actions 
 become  holy ;  the  other  is  a  dedicated  holiness,  when  any  thing 
 is  appropriated  to  God;  in  which  sense  it  stands  most  com- 
 monly in  the  Old  Testament.  So  times,  places,  and  not  only 
 persons  but  even  utensils,  applied  to  the  service  of  God,  are 
 called  holy.  In  the  New  Testament,  Christian  and  saint  are 
 the  same  thing;  so  the  saying  that  children  are  holy  when 
 one  of  the  parents  is  a  Christian,  must  import  this,  that 
 the  child  has  also  a  right  to  be  made  holy,  or  to  be  made  a 
 Christian ;  and  by  consequence,  that  by  the  parents'  dedication 
 that  child  may  be  made  holy,  or  a  Christian, 
 
 Upon  these  reasons  we  conclude,  that  though  there  is  no 
 express  precept  or  rule  given  in  the  New  Testament  for  the 
 baptism  of  infants,  yet  it  is  most  agreeable  to  the  institution  of 
 Christ,  since  he  conformed  his  institutions  to  those  of  the  Mo- 
 saical  Law,  as  far  as  could  consist  with  his  design ;  and  there- 
 fore, in  a  thing  of  this  kind,  in  which  the  just  tenderness  of  the 
 human  nature  does  dispose  parents  to  secure  to  their  children 
 a  title  to  the  mercies  and  blessings  of  the  gospel,  there  is  no 
 reason  to  think  that  this  being  so  fully  set  forth  and  assured  to 
 the  Jews  in  the  Old  Testament,  that  Christ  should  not  have 
 intended  to  give  parents  the  same  comforts  and  assurances  by 
 his  Gospel,  that  they  had  under  the  Law  of  Moses.  Since 
 nothing  is  said  against  it,  we  may  conclude  from  the  nature  of 
 the  two  dispensations,  and  the  proportion  and  gradation  that 
 is  between  them,  that  children  under  the  New  Testament  are 
 a  holy  seed,  as  well  as  they  were  under  the  Old ;  and  by  con- 
 sequence, that  they  may  be  now  baptized  as  well  as  they  were 
 then  circumcised. 
 
 If  this  may  be  done,  then  it  is  very  reasonable  to  say  what 
 is  said  in  the  Article  concerning  it,  that  it  ought  in  any  wise  to 
 be  retained  in  the  Church :  for  the  same  humanity  that  obliges 
 parents  to  feed  their  children,  and  to  take  care  of  them  while 
 they  are  in  such  a  helpless  state,  must  dictate,  that  it  is  much 
 more  incumbent  on  them,  and  is  as  much  more  necessary  as  the 
 soul  is  more  valuable  than  the  body,  for  them  to  do  all  that  in 
 them  lies  for  the  souls  of  their  children,  for  securing  to  them  a 
 share  in  the  blessings  and  privileges  of  the  gospel,  and  for  de- 
 dicating them  earlv  to  the  Christian  religion.  The  office  for 
 baptizing  infants  is  in  the  same  words  w  ith  that  for  persons  of 
 riper  age ;  because  infants  being  then  in  the  power  of  their 
 parents,  who  are  of  age,  are  considered  as  in  them,  and  as 
 binding  themselves  by  the  vows  that  they  make  in  their  name. 
 Therefore  the  office  carries  on  the  supposition  of  an  internal  re- 
 generation ;  and  in  that  helpless  state  the  infant  is  offered  up 
 
Art.  XXVII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 367 
 
 and  dedicated  to  God :  and  provided  that  when  he  comes  to 
 age  he  takes  those  vows  on  himself,  and  lives  like  a  person  so 
 in  covenant  with  God,  then  he  shall  find  the  full  effects  of  bap- 
 tism ;  and  if  he  dies  in  that  state  of  incapacity,  he  being  dedi- 
 cated to  God,  is  certainly  accepted  of  by  him ;  and  by  being- 
 put  in  the  second  Adam,  all  the  bad  effects  of  his  having  de- 
 scended from  the  first  Adam  are  quite  taken  away.  Christ, 
 when  on  earth,  encouraged  those  who  brought  little  children  to 
 him  :  he  took  them  in  his  arms,  and  laid  his  hands  on  them,  and 
 blessed  them,  and  said,  Suffer  little  children  to  come  unto  me, 
 and  forbid  them  not ;  for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  God,  Matt, 
 xix.  13,  14.  Whatever  these  words  may  signify  mystically,  the 
 literal  meaning  of  them  is,  that  little  children  may  be  admitted 
 into  the  dispensation  of  the  Messias,  and  by  consequence  that 
 they  may  be  baptized. 
 
 ARTICLE  XXVIII. 
 
 OF  THE  LORD'S  SUPPER. 
 
 The  Supper  of  the  Lord  is  not  only  a  sign  of  the  Love  that 
 Christians  ought  to  have  among  themselves  one  to  another  ; 
 but  rather  it  is  a  Sacrament  of  our  Ftedemption  by  Chrisfs 
 Death  :  insomuch,  that  to  such  as  rightly,  worthily,  and  with 
 Faith,  receive  the  same,  the  Bread  which  we  break  is  a  par- 
 taking  of  the  Body  of  Christ,  and  likewise  the  Cup  of  Blessing 
 is  a  partaking  of  the  Blood  of  Christ.  Transubstantiation 
 ( or  the  Change  of  the  Substance  of  Bread  and  Wine )  in  the 
 Supper  of  the  Lord,  cannot  be  proved  by  Holy  Writ,  bid  it  is 
 repugnant  to  the  plain  Words  of  Scripture,  overthroweth  the 
 Nature  of  a  Sacrament,  and  hath  given  Occasion  to  many 
 Superstitions.  The  Body  of  Christ  is  given,  taken,  arid  eaten 
 in  the  Supper  only  after  a  Heavenly  and  Spiritual  Manner ; 
 and  the  mean  whereby  the  Body  of  Christ  is  received  and 
 eaten  in  the  Supper,  is  Faith.  The  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's 
 Supper  was  not  by  Chrisfs  Ordinance  reserved,  carried  about, 
 lifted  up,  and  worshipped. 
 
 In  the  Edition  of  these  Articles  in  Edward  VI.'s  reign,  there 
 was  another  long  paragraph  against  Transubstantiation 
 added  in  these  words : — Forasmuch  as  the  Truth  of  Mail's 
 Nature  requireth  that  the  Body  of  one  and  the  selfsame  Man 
 cannot  be  at  one  time  in  divers  places,  but  must  needs  be  in 
 one  certain  place  i  therefore  the  Body  of  Christ  cannot  be 
 present  at  one  time  in  many  and  divers  places :  and  because, 
 as  Holy  Scripture  doth  teach,  Christ  was  taken  up  into  Hea- 
 
368 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXVIII. 
 
 ven,  and  there  shall  continue  unto  the  End  of  the  World  ;  a 
 Faithfid  Man  ought  not  either  to  believe,  or  openly  confess 
 the  Ileal  and.  Bodily  Presence ;  as  they  term  it,  of  Christ's 
 Flesh  and  Blood  in  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 
 
 When  these  Articles  were  at  first  prepared  by  the  Convo- 
 cation in  Queen  Elizabeth's  reign,  this  paragraph  was  made  a 
 part  of  them ;  for  the  original  subscription  by  both  Houses  of 
 Convocation,  yet  extant,  shews  this.  But  the  design  of  the 
 Government  was  at  that  time  much  turned  to  the  drawing  over 
 the  body  of  the  nation  to  the  Reformation,  in  whom  the  old 
 leaven  had  gone  deep ;  and  no  part  of  it  deeper  than  the  belief 
 of  the  corporeal  presence  of  Christ  in  the  sacrament ;  therefore 
 it  was  thought  not  expedient  to  offend  them  by  so  particular  a 
 definition  in  this  matter,  in  which  the  very  word  real  presence 
 was  rejected.  It  might,  perhaps,  be  also  suggested,  that  here 
 a  definition  was  made  that  went  too  much  upon  the  principles 
 of  natural  philosophy ;  which,  how  true  soever,  they  might  not 
 be  the  proper  subject  of  an  Article  of  Religion.  Therefore  it 
 was  thought  fit  to  suppress  this  paragraph :  though  it  was  a 
 part  of  the  Article  that  was  subscribed,  yet  it  was  not  published, 
 but  the  paragraph  that  follows,  The  Body  of  Christ,  &c.  was 
 put  in  its  stead,  and  was  received  and  published  by  the  next 
 Convocation ;  which  upon  the  matter  was  a  full  explanation  of 
 the  way  of  Christ's  presence  in  this  sacrament — that  he  is  pre- 
 sent in  a  heavenly  and  spiritual  manner,  and  that  faith  is  the 
 mean  by  which  he  is  received.  This  seemed  to  be  more  theo- 
 logical ;  and  it  does  indeed  amount  to  the  same  thing.  But 
 howsoever  we  see  what  was  the  sense  of  the  first  Convocation 
 in  Queen  Elizabeth's  reign;  it  differed  in  nothing  from  that  in 
 King  Edward's  time ;  and  therefore,  though  this  paragraph  is 
 now  no  part  of  our  Articles,  yet  we  are  certain  that  the  Clergy 
 at  that  time  did  not  at  all  doubt  of  the  truth  of  it :  we  are  sure 
 it  was  their  opinion,  since  they  subscribed  it,  though  they  did 
 not  think  fit  to  publish  it  at  first ;  and  though  it  was  afterwards 
 changed  for  another,  that  was  the  same  in  sense. 
 
 In  the  treating  of  this  Article,  I  shall  first  lay  down  the  doc- 
 trine of  this  Church,  with  the  grounds  of  it ;  and  then  I  shall 
 examine  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  which  must  be 
 done  copiously ;  for,  next  to  the  doctrine  of  infallibility,  this  is 
 the  most  valued  of  all  their  other  tenets ;  this  is  the  most  im- 
 portant in  itself,  since  it  is  the  main  part  of  their  worship,  and 
 the  chief  subject  of  all  their  devotions.  There  is  not  any  one 
 thing  in  which  both  clergy  and  laity  are  more  concerned; 
 which  is  more  generally  studied,  and  for  which  they  pretend 
 they  have  more  plausible  colours,  both  from  Scripture  and  the 
 Fathers:  and  if  sense  and  reason  seem  to  press  hard  upon  it, 
 they  reckon,  that,  as  they  understand  the  words  of  St  Paul, 
 
Art.  XXVIII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 every  thought  must  be  captivated  into  the  obedience  of faith , 
 2  Cor.  x.  5. 
 
 In  order  to  the  expounding  our  doctrine,  we  must  consider 
 the  occasion  and  the  institution  of  this  sacrament.  The  Jews 
 were  required  once  a-vear  to  meet  at  Jerusalem,  in  remem- 
 brance of  the  deliverance  of  their  fathers  out  of  Egypt.  Moses 
 (Exod.  xii.  11.)  appointed  that  every  family  should  kill  a  lamb, 
 whose  blood  was  to  be  sprinkled  on  their  door-posts  and  lintels, 
 and  whose  flesh  they  were  to  eat ;  at  the  sight  of  which  blood 
 thus  sprinkled,  the  destroying  angel,  that  was  to  be  sent  out  to 
 kill  the  first-born  of  every  family  in  Egypt,  was  to  pass  over  all 
 the  houses  that  were  so  marked :  and  from  that  passing  by  or 
 over  the  Israelites,  the  lamb  was  called  the  Lord's  passover,  as 
 being  then  the  sacrifice,  and  afterwards  the  memorial,  of  that 
 passover.  The  people  of  Israel  were  required  to  keep  up  the 
 memorial  of  that  transaction,  by  slaying  a  lamb  before  the 
 place  where  God  should  set  his  name ;  and  by  eating  it  up  that 
 night :  they  were  also  to  eat  with  it  a  sallad  of  bitter  herbs  and 
 unleavened  bread ;  and  when  they  went  to  eat  of  the  lamb, 
 they  repeated  these  words  of  Moses — that  it  nas  the  Lord's pass- 
 ovtr.  Now,  though  the  first  lamb  that  was  killed  in  Egypt  was 
 indeed  the  sacrifice  upon  which  God  promised  to  pass  over  their 
 houses :  yet  the  lambs  that  were  afterwards  offered  were  only 
 the  memorials  of  it,  though  they  still  carried  that  name  which 
 was  given  to  the  first*  and  were  called  the  Lord's  passover. 
 
 So  that  the  Jews  were  in  the  paschal  sujper  accustomed  to 
 call  the  memorial  of  a  thing  by  the  name  of  that  of  which  it 
 was  the  memorial :  and  as  the  deliverance  out  of  Egypt  was  a 
 type  and  representation  of  that  greater  deliverance  that  we 
 were  to  have  by  the  Messias,  the  first  lamb  being  the  sacrifice 
 of  that  deliverance,  and  the  succeeding  lambs  the  memorials  of 
 it;  so,  in  order  to  this  new  and  greater  deliverance,  Christ 
 himself  was  our  passover,  that  was  sacrificed for  us  :  he  was  the 
 Lamb  of  God  that  was  both  to  take  anay  the  sins  of  the  VL'orld, 
 |  1  Cor.  v.  7.  John  i.  29. ;  compare  Matt.  xxvi.  '26.  Mark  xiv. 
 2*2.),  and  was  to  lead  captivity  captive:  to  bring  us  out  of  the 
 bondage  of  sin  and  Satan  into  the  obedience  of  his  gospel. 
 
 He  therefore  chose  the  time  of  the  passover,  that  he  might 
 be  then  offered  up  for  us  :  and  did  institute  this  memorial  of  it, 
 while  he  was  celebrating  the  Jewish  pascha  with  his  disciples, 
 (Luke  xxii.  19.  1  Cor.  xi.  '23.)  :  who  were  so  much  accustomed 
 to  the  forms  and  phrases  of  that  supper,  in  which  every  master 
 of  a  family  did  officiate  among  his  household,  that  it  was  very 
 natural  to  them  to  understand  all  that  our  Saviour  said  or  did, 
 according  to  those  forms  with  which  they  were  acquainted. 
 
 There  were  after  supper,  upon  a  new  covering  of  the  table, 
 loaves  of  unleavened  bread  and  cups  of  wine  set  on  it :  in 
 which,  though  the  bread  was  very  unacceptable,  yet  they  drank 
 
 A  a 
 
370 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 AitT.  XXVIII. 
 
 liberally  of  the  wine  :  Christ  took  a  portion  of  that  bread,  and 
 brake  it,  and  gave  it  to  his  disciples,  and  said,  This  is  my  body 
 which  is  broken  for  you:  Do  this  in  remembrance  of  me.  He 
 did  not  say  only,  this  is  my  body,  but,  this  is  my  body  broken; 
 so  that  his  body  must  be  understood  to  be  there  in  its  broken 
 state,  if  the  words  are  to  be  expounded  literally.  And  no 
 reason  can  be  assigned  why  the  word  broken  should  be  so  sepa- 
 rated from  body;  or  that  the  bread  should  be  literally  his  body, 
 and  not  literally  his  body  broken:  the  whole  period  must  be 
 either  literally  true,  or  must  be  understood  mystically.  And 
 if  any  will  say,  that  his  body  cannot  be  there,  but  in  the  same 
 state  in  which  it  is  now  in  heaven ;  and  since  it  is  not  now 
 broken,  nor  is  the  blood  shed  or  separated  from  the  body  there, 
 therefore  the  words  must  be  understood  thus — This  is  my  body 
 which  is  to  be  broken.  But  from  thence  we  argue,  that  since 
 all  is  one  period,  it  must  be  all  understood  in  the  same  man- 
 ner; and  since  it  is  impossible  that  broken  and  shed  can  be 
 understood  literally  of  the  body  and  blood,  that  therefore  the 
 whole  is  to  be  mystically  understood :  And  this  appears  more 
 evident,  since  the  disciples,  who  were  naturally  slow"  at  under- 
 standing the  easiest  mysteries  that  he  opened  to  them,  must 
 naturally  have  understood  those  words  as  they  did  the  other 
 words  of  the  paschal  supper,  This  is  the  Lord' s  passover  ;  that 
 is,  this  is  the  memorial  of  it :  and  that  the  rather,  since  Christ 
 added  these  words,  Do  this  in  remembrance  of  me.  If  they  had 
 understood  them  in  any  other  sense,  that  must  have  surprised 
 them,  and  naturally  have  led  them  to  ask  him  many  questions ; 
 which  we  find  them  doing  upon  occasions  that  were  much  less 
 surprising,  as  appears  by  the  questions  in  the  14th  of  St  John, 
 that  discourse  coming  probably  immediately  after  this  institu- 
 tion ;  whereas  no  question  was  asked  upon  this ;  so  it  is  rea- 
 sonable to  conclude,  that  they  could  understand  these  words, 
 This  is  my  body,  no  other  way  but  as  they  understood  that  of 
 the  lamb,  TJiis  is  the  Lord's  passover.  And  by  consequence, 
 as-  their  celebrating  the  pascha  was  a  constant  memorial  of  the 
 deliverance  out  of  Egypt,  and  was  a  symbolical  action  by  which 
 they  had  a  title  to  the  blessings  of  the  covenant  that  Moses 
 made  with  their  fathers ;  it  was  natural  for  them  to  conclude, 
 that  after  Christ  had  made  himself  to  be  truly  that  which  the 
 first  lamb  was  in  a  type,  the  true  sacrifice  of  a  greater  and  bet- 
 ter passover,  they  were  to  commemorate  it,  and  to  communi- 
 cate in  the  benefits  and  effects  of  it,  by  continuing  that  action 
 of  taking,  blessing,  breaking,  and  distributing  of  bread,  which 
 was  to  be  the  memorial  and  the  communion  of  his  death  in  all 
 succeeding  ages. 
 
 This  will  yet  appear  more  evident  from  the  second  part  of 
 this  institution  : — He  took  the  cup  and  blessed  it,  and  gave  it  to 
 them,  saying,  This  cup  is  the  New  Testament,  or  New  Cove- 
 
Art.  XXVIII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 37  J 
 
 nant,  in  my  blood;  drink  ye  all  of  it:  or,  as  the  other  Gospels 
 report  it,  This  is  my  blood  of  the  New  Testament,  which  is  shed 
 for  many  for  the  remission  of  sins.  As  Moses  had  enjoined  the 
 sprinkling  of  the  blood  of  the  lamb,  so  he  himself  sprinkled 
 both  the  book  of  the  law,  and  all  the  people,  with  the  blood  of 
 calves  and  of  goats,  saying,  This  is  the  blood  of  the  Testament 
 (or  Covenant)  which  God  hath  enjoined  you,  Heb.  ix.  20.  The 
 blood  of  the  paschal  lamb  was  the  token  of  that  covenant  which 
 God  made  then  with  them. 
 
 The  Jews  were  under  a  very  strict  prohibition  of  eating  no 
 blood  at  all ;  but  it  seems  by  the  cxvith  Psalm,  that  when  they 
 paid  their  vows  unto  God,  they  took  in  their  hands  a  cup  of 
 salvation,  that  is,  of  an  acknowledgment  of  their  salvation,  and 
 so  were  to  rejoice  before  the  Lord. 
 
 These  being  the  laws  and  customs  of  the  Jews,  they  could 
 not  without  horror  have  heard  Christ,  when  he  gave  them  the 
 cup,  say,  This  is  my  blood:  the  prohibition  of  blood  was  given 
 in  such  severe  terms,  as  that  God  would  set  his  face  against  him 
 that  did  eat  blood,  and  cut  him  off  from  among  his  people, 
 Lev.  vii.  26,  27.  xvii.  14.  And  this  was  so  often  repeated  in  the 
 books  of  Moses,  that  besides  the  natural  horror  which  huma- 
 nity gives  at  the  mention  of  drinking  a  man's  blood,  'it  was  a 
 special  part  of  their  religion  to  make  no  use  of  blood :  yet,  after 
 all  this,  the  disciples  were  not  startled  at  it ;  which  shews  that 
 they  must  have  understood  it  in  such  a  way  as  was  agreeable 
 to  the  law  and  customs  of  their  country.  And  since  St  Luke 
 and  St  Paul  report  the  words  that  our  Saviour  said  when  he 
 gave  it,  differently  from  what  is  reported  by  St  Matthew  and 
 St  Mark,  it  is  most  probable  that  he  spake  both  the  one  and 
 the  other;  that  he  first  said,  This  is  my  blood,  and  then,  as  a 
 clearer  explanation  of  it,  he  said,  This  cup  is  the  New  Testa- 
 ment in  my  blood — the  one  being  a  more  easy  expression,  and 
 in  a  style  to  which  the  Jews  had  been  more  accustomed.  They 
 knew  that  the  blood  of  the  lamb  was  sprinkled ;  and  by  their 
 so  doing  they  entered  into  a  covenant  with  God :  and  though 
 the  blood  was  never  to  be  sprinkled  after  the  first  passover ; 
 yet  it  was  to  be  poured  out  before  the  Lord,  in  remembrance 
 of  that  sprinkling  in  Egypt : — in  remembrance  of  that  deliver- 
 ance, they  drank  of  the  cup  of  blessing  and  salvation,  and  re- 
 joiced before  the  Lord.  So  that  they  could  not  understand 
 our  Saviour  otherwise,  than  that  the  cup  so  blessed  was  to  be 
 to  them  the  assurance  of  a  New  Testament  or  Covenant  which 
 was  to  be  established  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  and  which  was 
 to  be  shed ;  in  lieu  of  which  they  were  to  drink  this  cup  of 
 blessing  and  praise. 
 
 According  to  their  customs  and  phrases,  the  disciples  could 
 understand  our  Saviour's  words  in  this  sense,  and  in  no  other. 
 So  that  if  he  had  intended  that  they  should  have  understood 
 
372 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXVIII. 
 
 him  otherwise,  he  must  have  expressed  himself  in  another  man- 
 ner ;  and  must  have  enlarged  upon  it,  to  have  corrected  those 
 notions  into  which  it  was  otherwise  most  natural  for  Jews  to 
 have  fallen.  Here  is  also  to  be  remembered  that  which  was 
 formerly  observed  upon  the  word  broken,  that  if  the  words  are 
 to  be  expounded  literally,  then,  if  the  cup  is  literally  the  blood 
 of  Christ,  it  must  be  his  blood  shed,  poured  out  of  his  veins, 
 and  separated  from  his  body.  And  if  it  is  impossible  to  un- 
 derstand it  so,  we  conclude  that  we  are  in  the  right  to  under- 
 stand the  whole  period  in  a  mystical  and  figurative  sense.  And 
 therefore,  since  a  man  born  and  bred  a  Jew,  and  more  parti- 
 cularly accustomed  to  the  paschal  ceremonies,  could  not  have 
 understood  our  Saviour's  words,  chiefly  at  the  time  of  that 
 festivity,  otherwise  than  of  a  new  covenant  that  he  was  to  make, 
 in  which  his  body  was  to  be  broken,  and  his  blood  shed  for  the 
 remission  of  sins;  and  that  he  was  to  substitute  bread  and 
 wine  to  be  the  lasting  memorials  of  it;  in  the  repeating  of 
 which,  his  disciples  were  to  renew  their  covenant  with  God, 
 and  to  claim  a  share  in  the  blessings  of  it ;  this,  I  say,  was  the 
 sense  that  must  naturally  have  occurred  to  a  Jew; — upon  all 
 this  we  must  conclude,  that  this  is  the  true  sense  of  these 
 words;  or  that  otherwise  our  Saviour  must  have  enlarged 
 more  upon  them,  and  expressed  his  meaning  more  particu- 
 larly. Since,  therefore,  he  said  no  more  than  what,  according 
 to  the  ideas  and  customs  of  the  Jews,  must  have  been  under- 
 stood as  has  been  explained,  we  must  conclude,  that  it,  and  it 
 only,  is  the  true  sense  of  them. 
 
 But  we  must  next  consider  the  importance  of  a  long  dis- 
 course of  our  Saviour's  set  down  by  St  John,  (vi.  32,  33.), 
 which  seems  such  a  preparation  of  his  Apostles  to  understand 
 this  institution  literally,  that  the  weight  of  this  argument  must 
 turn  upon  the  meaning  of  that  discourse.  The  design  of  that 
 was  to  shew,  that  the  doctrine  of  Christ  was  more  excellent 
 than  the  law  of  Moses ;  that  though  Moses  gave  the  Israelites 
 manna  from  heaven  to  nourish  their  bodies,  yet,  notwithstand- 
 ing that,  they  died  in  the  wilderness:  but  Christ  was  to  give  his 
 followers  such  food  that  it  should  give  them  life;  so  that  if  they 
 did  eat  of  it,  they  should,  never  die: — where  it  is  apparent,  that 
 the  bread  and  nourishment  must  be  such  as  the  life  was ;  and 
 that  being  eternal  and  spiritual,  the  bread  must  be  so  under- 
 stood :  for  it  is  clearly  expressed  how  that  food  was  to  be  re- 
 ceived— he  that  believeth  on  me  hath  everlasting  life,  ver.  40. 
 
 Since  then  he  had  formerly  said,  that  the  bread  which  he 
 was  to  give  should  make  them  live  for  ever;  and  since  here  it 
 is  said,  that  this  life  is  given  by  faith;  then  this  bread  must 
 be  his  doctrine — for  this  is  that  which  faith  receives.  And 
 when  the  Jews  desired  him  to  give  them  evermore  of  that 
 bread,  he  answered,  I  am  the  bread  of  life:  he  that  comes  to 
 
Art.  XXVIII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 373 
 
 me  shall  never  hunger ;  and  he  that  believcth  on  me  shall  never 
 thirsty  John  vi.  47,  48.  51. 
 
 In  these  words  he  tells  them,  that  they  received  that  bread 
 by  coming  to  him,  and  by  believing  on  him.  Christ  calls  him- 
 self that  bread,  and  says,  that  a  man  must  eat  thereof;  which  is 
 plainly  a  figure :  and  if  figures  are  confessed  to  be  in  some 
 parts  of  their  discourse,  there  is  no  reason  to  deny  that  they 
 run  quite  through  it.  Christ  says,  that  this  bread  was  his  flesh, 
 which  he  was  to  give  for  the  life  of  the  world ;  which  can  only 
 be  meant  of  his  offering  himself  up  upon  the  cross  for  the  sins 
 of  the  world.  The  Jews  murmured  at  this,  and  said,  How  can 
 this  man  give  us  his  flesh  to  eat?  To  which  our  Saviour  an- 
 swers, that  except  they  did  eat  the  flesh  and  drink  the  blood  of 
 the  Son  of  man.  they  had  no  life  in  them,  ver.  53,  54,  55. 
 
 Now  if  these  words  are  to  be  understood  of  a  literal  eating 
 of  his  Mesh  in  the  sacrament,  then  no  man  can  be  saved  that 
 doe>  not  receive  it :  it  was  a  natural  consequence  of  the  ex- 
 pounding these  words  of  the  sacrament,  to  give  it  to  children, 
 since  it  is  so  expressly  said  that  life  is  not  to  be  had  without  it. 
 But  the  words  that  come  next  carry  this  matter  farther  :  Whoso 
 eateth  my  flesh,  and  drinketh  my  blood,  hath  eternal  life.  It 
 is  plain  that  Christ  is  here  speaking  of  that,  without  which  no 
 man  can  have  life,  and  by  which  all  who  receive  it  have  life: 
 if  therefore  this  is  to  be  expounded  of  the  sacrament,  none  can 
 be  damned  that  does  receive  it,  and  none  can  be  saved  that 
 receives  it  not. 
 
 Therefore,  since  eternal  life  does  always  follow  the  eating  of 
 Christ's  flesh,  and  the  drinking  his  blood,  and  cannot  be  had 
 without  it :  then  this  must  be  meant  of  an  internal  and  spiri- 
 tual feeding  on  him  :  for,  as  none  are  saved  without  that,  so  all 
 are  saved  that  have  it.  This  is  yet  clearer  from  the  words  that 
 follow,  My  flesh  is  meat  indeed,  and  my  blood  is  drink  indeed. 
 It  may  well  be  inferred,  that  Christ's  flesh  is  eaten  in  the  same 
 sense  in  which  he  says  it  is  meat :  now  certainly  it  is  not  lite- 
 rally meat;  for  none  do  say  that  the  body  is  nourished  by  it  : 
 and  yet  there  is  somewhat  emphatical  in  this,  since  the  word 
 indeed  is  not  added  in  vain,  but  to  give  weight  to  the  expres- 
 sion. 
 
 It  is  also  said,  He  that  eats  my  flesh,  and  drinks  my  blood,  . 
 dwells  in  me,  and  I  in  him,  ver.  56.  Here  the  description 
 seems  to  be  made  of  that  eating  and  drinking  of  his  flesh  and 
 blood ;  that  it  is  such  as  the  mutual  indwelling  of  Christ  and 
 believers  is.  Now  that  is  certainly  only  internal  and  spiritual, 
 and  not  carnal  or  literal :  and  therefore  such  also  must  the 
 eating  and  drinking  be. 
 
 All  this  seems  to  be  very  fully  confirmed  from  the  conclu- 
 sion of  that  discourse,  which  ought  to  be  considered  as  the  key 
 to  it  all ;  for  when  the  Jews  were  offended  at  the  hardness  of 
 
374 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXVIII. 
 
 Christ's  discourse,  he  said,  It  is  the  Spirit  that  quickeneth;  the 
 flesh  profiteth  nothing:  the  words  I  speak  unto  you,  they  are 
 spirit,  and  they  are  life,  John  vi.  63. :  which  do  plainly  import, 
 that  his  former  discourse  was  to  be  understood  in  a  spiritual 
 sense ;  that  it  was  a  divine  spirit  that  quickened  them,  or  gave 
 them  that  eternal  life  of  which  he  had  been  speaking;  and 
 that  the  Jlesh,  his  natural  body,  was  not  the  conveyer  of  it. 
 
 All  that  is  confirmed  by  the  sense  in  which  we  find  eating 
 and  drinking  frequently  used  in  the  Scriptures,  according  to 
 what  is  observed  by  Jewish  writers;  they  stand  for  wisdom, 
 learning,  and  all  intellectual  apprehensions  through  which  the 
 soul  of  man  is  preserved  by  the  perfection  that  is  in  them,  as 
 the  body  is  preserved  by  food  :  So,  Buy  and  eat;  eat  fat  things; 
 drink  of  wine  well  refined. 
 
 Marc  nc-  Maimonides  also  observes,  that  whensoever  eating 
 vochim.  antj  (Joking  are  mentioned  in  the  Book  of  Proverbs, 
 they  are  to  be  understood  of  wisdom  and  the  law :  and  after 
 he  has  brought  several  places  of  Scripture  to  this  purpose,  he 
 concludes,  that  because  this  acceptation  of  eating  occurs  so 
 often,  and.  is  so  manifest,  as  if  it  were  the  primary  and  most 
 proper  sense  of  the  word;  therefore  hunger  and  thirst  stand  for 
 a  privation  of  wisdom  and  understanding.  And  the  Chaldee 
 Paraphrast  turns  these  words,  Ye  shall  draw  water  out  of  the 
 wells  of  salvation,  thus,  Ye  shall  receive  a  new  doctrine  with 
 joy  from  some  select  persons  ;  Isa.  xii.  3. 
 
 Since  then  the  figure  of  eating  and  drinking  was  used  among 
 the  Jews  for  receiving  and  imbibing  a  doctrine,  it  was  no 
 wonder  if  our  Saviour  pursued  it  in  a  discourse,  in  which  there 
 are  several  hints  given  to  shew  us  that  it  ought  to  be  so  under- 
 stood. 
 
 It  is  further  observable,  that  our  Saviour  did  frequently  fol- 
 low that  common  way  of  instruction  among  the  Eastern  nations, 
 by  figures,  that  to  us  would  seem  strong  and  bold.  These 
 were  much  used  in  those  parts,  to  excite  the  attention  of  the 
 hearers ;  and  they  are  not  always  to  be  severely  expounded  ac- 
 cording to  the  full  extent  that  the  words  will  bear.  The  para- 
 ble of  the  unjust  judge,  of  the  unjust  steward,  of  the  ten  vir- 
 gins, of  plucking  out  the  right  eye  and  cutting  off  the  right 
 hand  or  foot,  and  several  others,  might  be  instanced.  Our 
 Saviour  in  these  considered  the  genius  of  those  to  whom  he 
 spoke :  so  that  these  figures  must  be  restrained  only  to  that 
 particular  for  which  he  meant  them,  and  must  not  he  stretch- 
 ed to  every  thing  to  which  the  words  may  be  carried.  We 
 find  our  Saviour  compares  himself  to  a  great  many  things — to 
 a  vine,  a  door,  and  a  way ;  and  therefore,  when  the  scope  of  a 
 discourse  does  plainly  run  in  a  figure,  we  are  not  to  go  and 
 descant  on  every  word  of  it  ;  much  less  may  any  pretend  to 
 
Art.  XXVIII.  THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 375 
 
 say,  that  some  parts  of  it  are  to  be  understood  literally,  and 
 some  parts  figuratively. 
 
 For  instance,  if  that  chapter  of  St  John  is  to  be  understood 
 literally,  then  Christ's flesh  and  blood  must  be  the  nourishment 
 of  our  bodies,  so  as  to  be  meat  indeed;  and  that  we  shall  never 
 hunger  any  more, '  and  never  die,  after  we  have  eat  of  it.  If 
 therefore  all  do  confess  that  those  expressions  are  to  be  under- 
 stood figuratively,  then  we  have  the  same  reason  to  conclude 
 that  the  whole  is  a  figure ;  for  it  is  as  reasonable  for  us  to  make 
 all  of  it  a  figure,  as  it  is  for  them  to  make  those  parts  of  it  a 
 figure  which  they  cannot  conveniently  expound  in  a  literal 
 sense.  From  all  which  it  is  abundantly  clear,  that  nothing  can 
 be  drawn  from  that  discourse  of  our  Saviour's,  to  make  it  rea- 
 sonable to  believe  that  the  words  of  the  institution  of  this  sa- 
 crament ought  to  be  literally  understood :  on  the  contrary,  our 
 Saviour  himself  calls  the  wine,  after  those  words  had  been  used 
 by  him,  the  fruit  of  the  vine;  which  is  as  strict  a  form  of  speech 
 as  can  well  be  imagined,  to  make  us  understand  that  the  nature 
 of  the  wine  was  not  altered :  and  when  St  Paul  treats  of  it  in 
 those  two  chapters,  in  which  all  that  is  left  us  besides  the  his- 
 tory of  the  institution  concerning  the  sacrament  is  to  be  found, 
 he  calls  it  five  times  bread,  and  never  once  the  body  of  Christ. 
 In  one  place  he  calls  it  the  communion  of  the  body,  as  the  cuj) 
 is  the  communion  of  the  blood  of  Christ,  1  Cor.  x.  16. :  which 
 is  rather  a  saying,  that  it  is  in  some  sort,  and  after  a  manner, 
 the  body  and  the  blood  of  Christ,  than  that  it  is  so  strictly 
 speaking. 
 
 If  this  sacrament  had  been  that  mysterious  and  unconceiv- 
 able thing  which  it  has  been  since  believed  to  be,  we  cannot 
 imagine  but  that  the  books  of  the  New  Testament,  the  Acts 
 of  the  Apostles  and  their  Epistles,  should  have  contained  ful- 
 ler explanations  of  it,  and  larger  instructions  about  it. 
 
 There  is  enough  indeed  said  in  them  to  support  the  plain 
 and  natural  sense  that  we  give  to  this  institution ;  and  because 
 no  more  is  said,  and  the  design  of  it  is  plainly  declared  to  be, 
 to  remember  Christ's  death,  and  to  shew  it  forth  till  he  come, 
 we  reckon  that  by  this  natural  simplicity,  in  which  this  matter 
 is  delivered  to  us,  we  are  very  much  confirmed  in  that  plain 
 and  easy  signification  which  we  put  upon  our  Saviour's  words. 
 Plain  things  need  not  be  insisted  on ;  but  if  the  most  sublime 
 and  wonderful  thing  in  the  world  seems  to  be  delivered  in 
 words  that  yet  are  capable  of  a  lower  and  plainer  sense,  then, 
 unless  there  is  a  concurrence  of  other  circumstances  to  force 
 us  to  that  higher  meaning  of  them,  we  ought  not  to  go  into 
 it ;  for  simple  things  prove  themselves :  whereas  the  more  ex- 
 traordinary that  any  thing  is,  it  "requires  a  fulness  and  evi- 
 dence in  the  proof,  proportioned  to  the  uneasiness  of  conceiv- 
 ing or  believing  it. 
 
376 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXVIII. 
 
 We  do  therefore  understand  our  Saviour's  institution  thus ; 
 that  as  he  was  to  give  his  body  to  be  broken  and  his  blood  to  be 
 shed  for  our  sins,  so  he  intended  that  this  his  death  and  suffer- 
 ing should  be  still  commemorated  by  all  such  as  look  for  remis- 
 sion of  sins  by  it,  not  only  in  their  thoughts  and  devotions,  but 
 in  a  visible  representation ;  which  he  appointed  should  be  done 
 in  symbols,  that  should  be  both  very  plain  and  simple,  and  yet 
 very  expressive  of  that  which  he  intended  should  be  remember- 
 ed by  them. 
 
 Bread  is  the  plainest  food  that  the  body  of  man  can  receive, 
 and  wine  was  the  common  nourishing  liquor  of  that  country :  so 
 he  made  choice  of  these  materials,  and  in  them  appointed  a 
 representation  and  remembrance  to  be  made  of  his  body  broken 
 and  of  his  blood  shed,  that  is,  of  his  death  and  sufferings,  till  his 
 second  coming;  and  he  obliged  his  followers  to  repeat  this  fre- 
 quently. In  the  doing  of  it  according  to  his  institution,  they 
 profess  the  belief  of  his  death  for  the  remission  of  their  sins, 
 and  that  they  look  for  his  second  coming. 
 
 This  does  also  import,  that  as  bread  and  wine  are  the  simplest 
 of  bodily  nourishments,  so  his  death  is  that  which  restores  the 
 souls  of  those  that  do  believe  in  him.  As  bread  and  wine  con- 
 vey a  vital  nourishment  to  the  body,  so  the  sacrifice  of  his 
 death  conveys  somewhat  to  the  soul  that  is  vital,  that  fortifies 
 and  exalts  it :  And  as  water  in  baptism  is  a  natural  emblem 
 of  the  purity  of  the  Christian  religion,  bread  and  wine  in  the 
 Eucharist  are  the  emblems  of  somewhat  that  is  derived  to  us, 
 that  raises  our  faculties,  and  fortifies  all  our  powers. 
 
 St  Paul  does  very  plainly  tell  us,  that  unworthy  receivers, 
 that  did  neither  examine  nor  discern  themselves,  nor  yet  dis- 
 cern the  Lord's  body,  were  guilty  of  the  body  and  blood  of  the 
 Lord,  and  did  eat  and  drink  their  own  damnation,  1  Cor,  xi. 
 27.  29. :  that  is,  such  as  do  receive  it  without  truly  believing 
 the  Christian  religion,  without  a  grateful  acknowledgment  of 
 Christ's  death  and  sufferings,  without  feeling  that  they  are  walk- 
 ing suitably  to  this  religion  that  they  profess,  and  without  that 
 decency  and  charity  which  becomes  so  holy  an  action  \  but  that 
 receive  the  bread  and  wine  only  as  bare  bodily  nourishments, 
 without  considering  that  Christ  has  instituted  them  to  be  the 
 memorials  of  his  death — such  persons  are  guilty  of  the  body 
 and  blood  of  Christ ;  that  is,  they  are  guilty  either  of  a  profa- 
 nation of  the  sacrament  of  his  body  and  blood,  or  they  do  in  a 
 manner  crucify  him  again,  and  put  him  to  an  open  shame  : 
 when  they  are  so  faulty  as  the  Corinthians  were,  in  observing 
 this  holy  institution  with  so  little  reverence,  and  with  such  scan- 
 dalous disorders  as  those  were  for  which  he  reproached  them. 
 
 Of  such  as  did  thus  profane  this  institution  he  says  farther, 
 that  they  do  eat  and  drink  their  own  damnation,  or  judgment ; 
 
Art.  XXVIII.  THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 377 
 
 that  is,  punishment ;  for  the  word  rendered  damnation  signifies 
 sometimes  only  temporary  punishments. 
 
 So  it  is  said,  that  judgment  (the  word  is  the  same)  must  begin 
 at  the  house  of  God,  1  Pet.  iv.  17.  :  God  had  sent  such  judg- 
 ments upon  the  Corinthians  for  those  disorderly  practices  of 
 theirs,  that  some  had  fallen  sick,  and  others  had  died,  perhaps 
 by  reason  of  their  drinking  to  excess  in  those  feasts.  But  as 
 God's  judgments  had  come  upon  them,  so  the  words  that  fol- 
 low shew  that  these  judgments  were  only  chastisements,  in  order 
 to  the  delivering  them  from  the  condemnation  under  which 
 the  world  lies :  it  being  said,  that  when  we  are  judged,  we  are 
 chastened  of  the  Lord,  that  we  should  not  be  condemned  with  the 
 world,  1  Cor.  xi.  32.  Therefore,  though  God  may  very  justly, 
 and  even  in  great  mercy,  punish  men  who  profane  this  holy 
 ordinance ;  yet  it  is  an  unreasonable  error,  and  contrary  to  the 
 nature  of  the  gospel  covenant,  to  carry  this  so  far  as  to  think 
 that  it  is  an  unpardonable  sin,  which  is  punished  with  eternal 
 damnation. 
 
 We  have  now  seen  the  ill  effects  of  unworthy  receiving ; 
 and  from  hence,  according  to  that  gradation  that  is  to  be  ob- 
 served in  the  mercy  of  God  in  the  gospel,  that  it  not  only 
 holds  a  proportion  with  his  justice  but  rejoiccth  over  it,  we 
 may  well  conclude,  that  the  good  effects  upon  the  worthy  re- 
 ceiving of  it  are  equal,  if  not  superior,  to  the  bad  effects  upon 
 the  unworthy  receiving  of  it ;  and  that  the  nourishment  which 
 the  types,  the  bread  and  the  wine,  give  the  body,  are  answered 
 in  the  effects  that  the  thing  signified  by  them  has  upon  the  sold. 
 
 In  explaining  this  there  is  some  diversity :  Some  teach  that 
 this  memorial  of  the  death  of  Christ,  when  seriously  and  de- 
 voutly gone  about,  when  it  animates  our  faith,  increases  our 
 repentance,  and  inflames  our  love  and  zeal,  and  so  unites  us  to 
 God  and  to  our  brethren ;  that,  I  say,  when  these  follow  it, 
 which  it  naturally  excites  in  all  holy  and  good  minds,  then  they 
 draw  down  the  returns  of  prayer,  and  a  farther  increase  of 
 grace  in  us,  according  to  the  nature  and  promises  of  the  New 
 Covenant;  and  in  this  they  put  the  virtue  and  efficacy  of  this 
 sacrament. 
 
 But  others  think  that  all  this  belongs  only  to  the  inward  acts 
 of  the  mind,  and  is  not  sacramental ;  and  therefore  they  think 
 that  the  Eucharist  is  a  federal  act,  in  which  as  on  the  one  hand 
 we  renew  our  baptismal  covenant  with  God,  so  on  the  other 
 hand  we  receive  in  the  sacrament  a  visible  consignation,  as  in 
 a  tradition  by  a  symbol  or  pledge,  of  the  blessings  of  the  New 
 Covenant,  which  they  think  is  somewhat  superadded  to  those 
 returns  of  our  prayers,  or  of  other  inward  acts. 
 
 This  they  think  answers  the  nourishment  which  the  body 
 receives  from  the  symbols  of  bread  and  wine  ;  and  stands  in 
 opposition  to  that  of  the  unworthy  receivers  being  guilty  of  the 
 
378 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXVIII. 
 
 body  and  blood  of  the  Lord,  and  their  eating  and  drinking  that 
 which  will  bring  some  judgment  upon  themselves.  This  they 
 also  found  on  these  words  of  St  Paul, —  The  cup  of  blessing  that 
 we  bless,  is  it  not  the  communion  of  the  blood  of  Christ  ?  the 
 bread  which  we  break,  is  it  not  the  communion  of  the  body  of 
 Christ  ? 
 
 St  Paul  considers  the  bread  which  was  offered  by  the  people 
 as  an  emblem  of  their  unity  ;  that  as  there  was  one  loaf,  so  they 
 were  one  body  ;  and  that  they  were  all  partakers  of  that  one 
 loaf :  from  hence  it  is  inferred,  that  since  the  word  rendered 
 communion,  signifies  a  communication  in  fellowship,  or  partner- 
 ship, that  therefore  the  meaning  of  it  is,  that  in  the  sacrament 
 there  is  a  distribution  made  in  that  symbolical  action  of  the 
 death  of  Christ,  and  of  the  benefits  and  effects  of  it.  The  com- 
 munion of  the  Holy  Ghost,  (2  Cor.  xiii.  14.),  is  a  common  shar- 
 ing in  the  effusion  of  the  Spirit :  the  same  is  meant  by  that,  If 
 there  is  any  fellowship  of  the  Spirit,  Philip,  ii.  1.  Eph.  iii.  9.; 
 that  is,  if  we  do  all  partake  of  the  same  Spirit,  we  are  said  to 
 have  a  fellowship  in  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  Philip,  iii.  10.,  in 
 which  every  one  must  take  his  share.  The  communication,  or 
 fellowship,  of  the  mystery  of  the  gospel,  was  its  being  shared 
 equally  among  both  Jews  and  Gentiles ;  and  the  fellowship  in 
 which  the  first  converts  to  Christianity  lived,  was  their  liberal 
 distribution  to  one  another,  they  holding  all  things  in  common. 
 In  these  and  some  other  places  it  is  certain,  that  communion 
 signifies  somewhat  that  is  more  real  and  effectual,  than  merely 
 men's  owning  themselves  to  be  joined  together  in  a  society ; 
 which  it  is  true  it  does  also  often  signify  :  and  therefore  they 
 conclude,  that  as,  in  bargains  or  covenants,  the  ancient  method 
 of  them  before  writings  were  invented  was  the  mutual  deliver- 
 ing of  some  pledges,  which  were  the  symbols  of  that  faith 
 which  was  so  plighted,  instead  of  which  the  sealing  and  deli- 
 vering of  writings  is  now  used  among  us ;  so  our  Saviour  in- 
 stituted this  in  compliance  with  our  frailty,  to  give  us  an  out- 
 ward and  sensible  pledge  of  his  entering  into  covenant  with  us, 
 of  which  the  bread  and  wine  are  constituted  the  symbols. 
 
 Others  think,  that  by  the  communion  of  the  body  and  blood 
 of  Christ  can  only  be  meant,  the  joint  owning  of  Christ  and  of 
 his  death  in  the  receiving  the  sacrament ;  and  that  no  commu- 
 nication nor  partnership  can  be  inferred  from  it.  Because  St 
 Paul  brings  it  in  to  shew  the  Corinthians  how  detestable  a  thing 
 it  was  for  a  Christian  to  join  in  the  idols'  feasts — that  it  was  to 
 be  a  partaker  with  devils ;  so  they  think  that  the  fellowship 
 or  communion  of  Christians  in  the  sacrament  must  be  of  the 
 same  nature  with  the  fellowship  of  devils  in  acts  of  idolatry; 
 which  consisted  only  in  their  associating  themselves  with  those 
 that  worshipped  idols ;  for  that  upon  the  matter  was  the  wor- 
 shipping of  devils  :  and  this  seems  to  be  confirmed  by  that 
 
Art.  XXVIII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 379 
 
 which  is  said  of  the  Jews,  that  they  who  did  eat  of  the  sacrifices 
 were  partakers  of  the  altar,  1  Cor.  x.  18.  20.;  which,  it  seems, 
 can  signify  no  more  but  that  they  professed  that  religion  of 
 which  the  altar  was  the  chief  instrument ;  the  sacrifices  being 
 offered  there. 
 
 To  all  this  it  may  be  replied,  that  it  is  reasonable  enough 
 to  believe,  that  according  to  the  power  which  God  suffered  the 
 devil  to  exercise  over  the  idolatrous  world,  there  might  be  some 
 enchantment  in  the  sacrifices  offered  to  idols,  and  that  the  devil 
 might  have  some  power  over  those  that  did  partake  of  them : 
 and  in  order  to  this,  St  Paul  removed  an  objection  that  might 
 have  been  made,  that  there  could  be  no  harm  in  their  joining 
 to  the  idol  feasts — for  an  idol  was  nothing  ;  and  so  that  which 
 was  offered  to  an  idol  could  contract  no  defilement  from  the 
 idol,  it  being  nothing.  Now  if  the  meaning  of  their  being  par- 
 takers with  devils  imports  only  their  joining  themselves  in  acts 
 of  fellowship  with  idolaters,  then  the  sin  of  this  would  have 
 easily  appeared,  without  such  a  reinforcing  of  the  matter ;  for 
 though  an  idol  was  nothing,  yet  it  was  still  a  great  sin  to  join 
 in  the  acts  that  were  meant  to  be  the  worship  of  this  nothing : 
 this  was  a  dishonouring  of  God,  and  a  debasing  of  man.  But 
 St  Paul  seems  to  carry  the  argument  farther — that  how  true 
 soever  it  was  that  the  idol  was  nothing,  that  is,  a  dead  and  life- 
 less thing,  that  had  no  virtue  nor  operation,  and  that  by  con- 
 sequence could  derive  nothing  to  the  sacrifice  that  was  offered 
 to  it;  yet  since  those  idols  were  the  instruments  by  which  the 
 devil  kept  the  world  in  subjection  to  him,  all  such  as  did  par- 
 take in  their  sacrifices  might  come  under  the  effects  of  that 
 magic  that  might  be  exerted  about  their  temples  or  sacrifices ; 
 by  which  the  credit  of  idolatry  was  much  kept  up. 
 
 And  though  every  Christian  had  a  sure  defence  against  the 
 powers  of  darkness,  as  long  as  he  continued  true  to  his  reli- 
 gion, yet  if  he  went  out  of  that  protection  into  the  empire  of 
 the  devil,  and  joined  in  the  acts  that  were  as  a  homage  to  him, 
 he  then  fell  within  the  reach  of  the  devil,  and  might  justly  fear 
 his  being  brought  into  a  partnership  of  those  magical  posses- 
 sions or  temptations  that  might  be  suffered  to  fall  upon  such 
 Christians  as  should  associate  themselves  in  so  detestable  a 
 service. 
 
 In  the  same  sense  it  was  also  said,  that  all  the  Israelites  who 
 did  eat  of  the  sacrifices  were  partakers  of  the  altar,  1  Cor.  x.  18. ; 
 that  is,  that  all  of  them  who  joined  in  the  acts  of  that  religion, 
 such  as  the  offering  their  peace-offerings,  for  of  those  of  that 
 kind  they  might  only  eat,  all  these  were  partakers  of  the  altar; 
 that  is,  of  all  the  blessings  of  their  religion,  of  all  the  expia- 
 tions, the  burnt-offerings  and  sin-offerings,  that  were  offered 
 on  the  altar  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  congregation :  for  that, 
 as  a  great  stock,  went  in  a  common  dividend  among  such  as 
 
380 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF  Art.  XXVIII. 
 
 observed  the  precepts  of  that  law,  and  joined  in  the  acts  of 
 worship  prescribed  by  it.  Thus  it  appears,  that  such  as  joined 
 in  the  acts  of  idolatry  became  partakers  of  all  that  influence 
 that  devils  might  have  over  those  sacrifices ;  and  all  that  con- 
 tinued in  the  observances  of  the  Mosaical  Law,  had  thereby  a 
 partnership  in  the  expiations  of  the  altar :  so  likewise  all  Chris- 
 tians who  receive  this  sacrament  worthily,  have  by  their  so 
 doing  a  share  in  that  which  is  represented  by  it,  the  death  of 
 Christ,  and  the  expiation  and  other  benefits  that  follow  it. 
 
 This  seemed  necessary  to  be  fully  explained ;  for  this  matter, 
 how  plain  soever  in  itself,  has  been  made  very  dark  by  the 
 ways  in  which  some  have  pretended  to  open  it.  With  this  I 
 conclude  all  that  belongs  to  the  first  part  of  the  Article,  and 
 that  which  was  first  to  be  explained  of  our  doctrine  concerning 
 the  sacrament :  by  which  we  assert  a  real  presence  of  the  body 
 and  blood  of  Christ ;  but  not  of  his  body  as  it  is  now  glorified 
 in  heaven,  but  of  his  body  as  it  was  broken  on  the  cross,  when 
 his  blood  was  shed  and  separated  from  it : — that  is,  his  death, 
 with  the  merit  and  effects  of  it,  are  in  a  visible  and  federal  act 
 offered  in  this  sacrament  to  all  worthy  believers. 
 
 By  real  we  understand  true,  in  opposition  both  to  fiction  and 
 imagination ;  and  to  those  shadows  that  were  in  the  Mosaical 
 dispensation,  in  which  the  manna,  the  rock,  the  brazen  serpent, 
 but  most  eminently  the  cloud  of  glory,  were  the  types  and  sha- 
 dows of  the  Messias  that  was  to  come,  with  whom  came  grace 
 and  truth  ;  that  is,  a  most  wonderful  manifestation  of  the  mercy 
 or  grace  of  God,  and  a  verifying  of  the  promises  made  under 
 the  Law.  In  this  sense  we  acknowledge  a  real  presence  of  Christ 
 in  the  sacrament ;  though  we  are  convinced  that  our  first  Re- 
 formers judged  right  concerning  the  use  of  the  phrase  real  pre- 
 sence, that  it  were  better  to  be  let  fall  than  to  be  continued, 
 since  the  use  of  it,  and  that  idea  which  does  naturally  arise  from 
 the  common  acceptation  of  it,  may  stick  deeper,  and  feed  su- 
 perstition more,  than  all  those  larger  explanations  that  are 
 given  to  it  can  be  able  to  cure. 
 
 But  howsoever,  in  this  sense,  it  is  innocent  of  itself,  and  may 
 be  lawfully  used ;  though  perhaps  it  were  more  cautiously  done 
 not  to  use  it,  since  advantages  have  been  taken  from  it  to  urge 
 it  farther  than  we  intend  it ;  and  since  it  has  been  a  snare  to 
 some. 
 
 I  go  in  the  next  place  to  explain  the  doctrine  of  the  Church 
 of  Rome  concerning  this  sacrament.  Transubstantiation  does 
 express  it  in  one  word ;  but  that  a  full  idea  may  be  given  of 
 this  part  of  their  doctrine,  I  shall  open  it  in  all  its  branches 
 and  consequences. 
 
 The  matter  of  this  sacrament  is  not  bread  and  wine ;  for 
 they  are  annihilated  when  the  sacrament  is  made :  They  are 
 only  the  remote  matter  out  of  which  it  is  made ;  but  when  the 
 
Art.  XXVIII.  THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES.  381 
 
 sacrament  is  made,  they  cease  to  be ;  and  instead  of  them  their 
 outward  appearances  or  accidents  do  only  remain  :  which, 
 though  they  are  no  substances,  yet  are  supposed  to  have  a  na- 
 ture and  essence  of  their  own,  separable  from  matter;  and 
 these  appearances,  with  the  body  of  Christ  under  them,  are  the 
 matter  of  the  sacrament. 
 
 Now,  though  the  natural  and  visible  body  of  Christ  could  not 
 be  the  sacrament  of  his  body,  yet  they  think  his  real  body,  be- 
 ing thus  veiled  under  the  appearances  of  bread  and  wine,  may 
 be  the  sacrament  of  his  glorified  body. 
 
 Yet,  it  seeming  somewhat  strange  to  make  a  true  body  the 
 sacrament  of  itself,  they  would  willingly  put  the  sacrament  in 
 the  appearances ;  but  that  would  sound  very  harsh,  to  make 
 accidents  which  are  not  matter  to  be  the  matter  of  the  sacra- 
 ment :  therefore,  since  these  words,  This  is  my  body,  must  be 
 literally  understood,  the  matter  must  be  the  true  body  of  Christ ; 
 so  that  Christ's  body  is  the  sacrament  of  his  body. 
 
 Christ's  body,  though  now  in  heaven,  is,  as  they  think,  pre- 
 sented in  every  place  where  a  true  consecration  is  made.  And 
 though  it  is  in  heaven  in  an  extended  state,  as  all  other  bodies 
 are,  yet  they  think  that  extension  may  be  separated  from  mat- 
 ter, as  well  as  the  other  appearances  or  accidents  are  believed 
 to  be  separated  from  it.  And  whereas  our  souls  are  believed 
 to  be  so  in  our  bodies,  that  though  the  whole  soul  is  in  the 
 whole  body,  yet  all  the  soul  is  believed  to  be  in  every  part  of 
 it ;  but  so  that  if  any  part  of  the  body  is  separated  from  the 
 rest,  the  soul  is  not  divided,  being  one  single  substance,  but 
 retires  back  into  the  rest  of  the  body — they  apprehend,  that 
 Christ's  body  is  present  after  the  manner  of  a  spirit,  without 
 extension,  or  the  filling  of  space ;  so  that  the  space  which  the 
 appearances  possess  is  still  a  vacuum,  or  only  filled  by  the  ac- 
 cidents; for  a  body  without  extension,  as  they  suppose  Christ's 
 body  to  be,  can  never  fill  up  an  extension. 
 
 Christ's  body  in  the  sacrament  is  denominated  one ;  yet  still 
 as  the  species  are  broken  and  divided,  so  many  new  bodies  are 
 divided  from  one  another;  every  crumb  of  bread  and  drop  of 
 wine  that  is  separated  from  the  whole  is  a  new  body,  and  vet 
 without  a  new  miracle,  all  being  done  in  consequence  of  the 
 first  great  one  that  was  all  at  once  wrought. 
 
 The  body  of  Christ  continues  in  this  state,  as  long  as  the 
 accidents  remain  in  theirs ;  but  how  it  should  alter  is  not  easv 
 to  apprehend  :  the  corruption  of  all  other  accidents  arises  from 
 a  change  in  the  common  substance,  out  of  which  new  accidents 
 do  arise  while  the  old  ones  vanish;  but  accidents  without  a 
 subject  may  seem  more  fixed  and  stable ;  yet  they  are  not  so, 
 but  are  as  subject  to  corruption  as  other  accidents  are :  howso- 
 ever, as  long  as  the  alteration  is  not  total ;  though  the  bread 
 should  be  both  musty  and  mouldy,  and  the  wine  both  dead 
 
382 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXVIII. 
 
 and  sour,  yet,  as  long  as  the  bread  and  wine  are  still  so  far 
 preserved,  or  rather  that  their  appearances  subsist,  so  long  the 
 body  of  Christ  remains  :  but  when  they  are  so  far  altered  that 
 they  seem  to  be  no  more  bread  and  wine,  and  that  they  are 
 corrupted  either  in  part  or  in  whole,  Christ's  body  is  with- 
 drawn, either  in  part  or  in  whole. 
 
 It  is  a  great  miracle  to  make  the  accidents  of  bread  and 
 wine  subsist  without  a  subject;  yet  the  new  accidents  that  arise 
 upon  these  accidents,  such  as  mouldiness  or  sourness,  come  on 
 without  a  miracle,  but  they  do  not  know  how.  When  the 
 main  accidents  are  destroyed,  then  the  presence  of  Christ 
 ceases ;  and  a  new  miracle  must  be  supposed  to  produce  new 
 matter,  for  the  filling  up  of  that  space  which  the  substance  of 
 bread  and  wine  did  formerly  fill,  and  which  was  all  this  while 
 possessed  by  the  accidents.  So  much  of  the  matter  of  this 
 sacrament. 
 
 The  form  of  it  is  in  the  words  of  consecration,  which  though 
 they  sound  declarative  as  if  the  thing  were  already  done,  This 
 is  my  body,  and  This  is  my  blood,  yet  they  believe  them  to  be 
 productive.  But  whereas  the  common  notion  of  the  form  of 
 a  sacrament  is,  that  it  sanctifies  and  applies  the  matter ;  here 
 the  former  matter  is  so  far  from  being  consecrated  by  it,  that 
 it  is  annihilated,  and  new  matter  is  not  sanctified,  but  brought 
 thither  or  produced  :  and  whereas,  whensoever  we  say  of  any 
 thing  This  is,  we  suppose  that  the  thing  is,  as  we  say  it  is, 
 before  we  say  it ;  yet  here  all  the  while  that  this  is  a-saying, 
 till  the  last  syllable  is  pronounced,  it  is  not  that  which  it  is 
 said  to  be,  but  in  the  minute  in  which  the  last  syllable  is  utter- 
 ed, then  the  change  is  made.  And  of  this  they  are  so  firmly 
 persuaded,  that  they  do  presently  pay  all  that  adoration  to  it 
 that  they  would  pay  to  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ  if  he  were 
 visibly  present ;  though  the  whole  virtue  of  the  consecration 
 depends  on  the  intention  of  a  priest ;  so  that  he  with  a  cross 
 intention  hinders  all  this  series  of  miracles,  as  he  fetches  it  all 
 on  by  letting  his  intention  go  along  with  it. 
 
 If  it  may  be  said  of  some  doctrines,  that  the  bare  exposing 
 them  is  a  most  effectual  confutation  of  them ;  certainly  that  is 
 more  applicable  to  this  than  to  any  other  that  can  be  imagin- 
 ed :  for  though  I  have,  in  stating  it,  considered  some  of  the 
 most  important  difficulties  which  are  seen  and  confessed  by  the 
 schoolmen  themselves,  who  have  poised  all  these  with  much 
 exactness  and  subtil ty,  yet  I  have  passed  over  a  great  many 
 more,  with  which  those  that  deal  in  school-divinity  will  find 
 enough  to  exercise  both  their  thoughts  and  their  patience. 
 They  run  out  in  many  subtilties,  concerning  the  accidents 
 both  primary  and  secondary;  concerning  the  ubication,  the 
 production  and  reproduction  of  bodies ;  concerning  the  pene- 
 trability of  matter,  and  the  organization  of  a  penetrable  body; 
 
Akt.  XXVIII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 383 
 
 concerning  the  way  of  the  destruction  of  the  species ;  concern- 
 ing the  words  of  consecration  ;  concerning  the  water  that  is 
 mixed  with  the  wine — whether  it  is  first  changed  by  natural 
 causes  into  wine ;  and,  since  nothing  but  wine  is  transubstan- 
 tiated, what  becomes  of  such  particles  of  water  that  are  not 
 turned  into  wine?  what  is  the  grace  produced  by  the  sacra- 
 ment ;  what  is  the  effect  of  the  presence  of  Christ  so  long  as  he 
 is  in  the  body  of  the  communicant ;  what  is  got  by  his  presence, 
 and  what  is  lost  by  his  absence  ?  In  a  word,  let  a  man  read 
 the  shortest  body  of  school-divinity  that  he  can  find,  and  he 
 will  see  in  it  a  vast  number  of  other  difficulties  in  this  matter, 
 of  which  their  own  authors  are  aware,  which  I  have  quite 
 passed  over.  For  when  this  doctrine  fell  into  the  hands  of 
 nice  and  exact  men,  they  were  soon  sensible  of  all  the  conse- 
 quences that  must  needs  follow  upon  it,  and  have  pursued  all 
 these  with  a  closeness  far  beyond  any  thing  that  is  to  be  found 
 among  the  writers  of  our  side. 
 
 But  that  they  might  have  a  salvo  for  every  difficulty,  they 
 framed  a  new  model  of  philosophy ;  new  theories  were  invented, 
 of  substances  and  accidents,  of  matter  and  of  spirits,  of  exten- 
 sion, ubication,  and  impenetrability;  and  by  the  new  definitions 
 and  maxims  to  which  they  accustomed  men  in  the  study  of  phi- 
 losophy, they  prepared  them  to  swallow  down  all  this  more 
 easily,  when  they  should  come  to  the  study  of  divinity. 
 
 The  infallibility  of  the  Church  that  had  expressly  defined  it, 
 was  to  bear  a  great  part  of  the  burden  :  if  the  Church  was  in- 
 fallible, and  if  they  were  that  Church,  then  it  could  be  no 
 longer  doubted  of.  In  dark  ages,  miracles  and  visions  came  in 
 abundantly  to  support  it :  in  ages  of  more  light,  the  infinite 
 power  of  God,  the  words  of  the  institution,  it  being  the  testa- 
 ment of  our  Saviour  then  dying,  and  soon  after  confirmed  with 
 his  blood,  were  things  of  great  pomp,  and  such  as  were  apt  to 
 •  strike  men  that  could  not  distinguish  between  the  shews  and 
 the  strength  of  arguments.  But  when  all  our  senses,  all  our 
 ideas  of  things,  rise  up  so  strongly  against  every  part  of  this 
 chain  of  wonders,  we  ought  at  least  to  expect  proofs  suitable  to 
 the  difficulty  of  believing  such  a  flat  contradiction  to  our  rea- 
 son as  well  as  to  our  senses. 
 
 We  have  no  other  notion  of  accidents,  but  that  they  are  the 
 .  different  shapes  or  modes  of  matter ;  and  that  they  have  no 
 being  distinct  from  the  body  in  which  they  appear :  we  have 
 no  other  notion  of  a  body,  but  that  it  is  an  extended  substance, 
 made  up  of  impenetrable  parts,  one  without  another ;  every 
 one  of  which  fills  its  proper  space :  we  have  no  other  notion  of 
 a  body's  being  in  a  place,  but  that  it  fills  it,  and  is  so  in  it,  as 
 that  it  can  be  nowhere  else  at  the  same  time :  and  though  we 
 can  very  easily  apprehend  that  an  infinite  [nower  can  both 
 create  and  annihilate  beings  at  pleasure,  yet  we  cannot  appre- 
 
384 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXVIII. 
 
 hend  that  God  does  change  the  essences  of  things,  and  so 
 makes  them  to  be  contrary  to  that  nature  and  sort  of  being  of 
 which  he  has  made  them. 
 
 Another  argument  against  transubstantiation  is  this :  God 
 has  made  us  capable  to  know  and  serve  him ;  and,  in  order  to 
 that,  he  has  put  some  senses  in  us,  which  are  the  conveyances 
 of  many  subtile  motions  to  our  brains,  that  give  us  apprehen- 
 sions of  the  objects  which  by  those  motions  are  represented 
 to  us. 
 
 When  those  motions  are  lively,  and  the  object  is  in  a  due 
 distance ;  when  we  feel  that  neither  our  organs  nor  our  facul- 
 ties are  under  any  disorder,  and  when  the  impression  is  clear 
 and  strong,  we  are  determined  by  it ;  we  cannot  help  being  so. 
 When  we  see  the  sun  risen,  and  all  is  bright  about  us,  it  is  not 
 possible  for  us  to  think  that  it  is  dark  night :  no  authority  can 
 impose  it  on  us;  we  are  not  so  far  the  masters  of  our  own 
 thoughts,  as  to  force  ourselves  to  think  it,  though  we  would ; 
 for  God  has  made  us  of  such  a  nature,  that  we  are  determined 
 by  such  an  evidence,  and  cannot  contradict  it.  When  an  ob- 
 ject is  at  too  great  a  distance,  we  may  mistake ;  a  weakness  or 
 an  ill  disposition  in  our  sight  may  misrepresent  it ;  and  a  false 
 medium,  water,  a  cloud,  or  a  glass,  may  give  it  a  tincture  or 
 cast,  so  that  we  may  see  cause  to  correct  our  first  apprehen- 
 sions in  some  sensations :  but  when  we  have  duly  examined 
 every  thing,  when  we  have  corrected  one  sense  by  another,  we 
 grow  at  last  to  be  so  sure,  by  the  constitution  of  that  nature 
 that  God  has  given  us,  that  we  cannot  doubt,  much  less  be- 
 lieve, in  contradiction  to  the  express  evidence  of  our  senses. 
 
 It  is  by  this  evidence  only  that  God  convinces  the  world  of 
 the  authority  of  those  whom  he  sends  to  speak  in  his  name:  he 
 gives  them  a  power  to  work  miracles,  which  is  an  appeal  to 
 the  senses  of  mankind ;  and  it  is  the  highest  appeal  that  can 
 be  made ;  for  those  who  stood  out  against  the  conviction  of 
 Christ's  miracles,  had  no  cloak  for  their  sins :  it  is  the  utmost 
 conviction  that  God  offers,  or  that  man  can  pretend  to.  From 
 all  which  we  must  infer  this,  that  either  our  senses  in  their 
 clearest  apprehensions,  or  rather  representations  of  things, 
 must  be  infallible,  or  we  must  throw  up  all  faith  and  certainty; 
 since  it  is  not  possible  for  us  to  receive  the  evidence  that  is 
 given  us  of  any  thing  but  by  our  senses  :  and  since  we  do  na- 
 turally acquiesce  in  that  evidence,  we  must  acknowledge  that 
 God  has  so  made  us  that  this  is  his  voice  in  us ;  because  it  is 
 the  voice  of  those  faculties  that  he  has  put  in  us,  and  is  the 
 only  way  by  which  we  can  find  out  truth,  and  be  led  by  it : 
 and  if  our  faculties  fail  us  in  any  one  thing,  so  that  God  should 
 reveal  to  us  any  thing  that  did  plainly  contradict  our  faculties, 
 he  should  thereby  give  us  a  right  to  disbelieve  them  for  ever. 
 
Art.  XXVIII.  THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 385 
 
 If  they  can 'mistake  when  they  bring  any  object  to  ns  with 
 the  fullest  evidence  that  they  can  give,  we  can  never  depend 
 upon  them,  nor  be  certain  of  any  thing  because  they  shew  it. 
 Nay,  we  are  not,  and  cannot  be  bound  to  believe  that,  nor  any 
 other  revelation  that  God  may  make  to  convince  us.  We  can 
 only  receive  a  revelation  by  hearing  or  reading,  by  our  ears  or 
 our  eyes :  so,  if  any  part  of  this  revelation  destroys  the  cer- 
 tainty of  the  evidence  that  our  senses,  our  eyes,  or  our  ears, 
 give  us,  it  destroys  itself ;  for  we  cannot  be  bound  to  believe 
 it  upon  the  evidence  of  our  senses,  if  this  is  a  part  of  it,  that 
 our  senses  are  not  to  be  trusted.  Nor  will  this  matter  be  healed 
 by  saying,  that  certainly  we  must  believe  God  more  than  our 
 senses;  and  therefore,  if  he  has  revealed  any  thing  to  us  that 
 is  contrary  to  their  evidence,  we  must  as  to  that  particular  be- 
 lieve God  before  our  senses;  but  that  as  to  all  other  things, 
 where  we  have  not  an  express  revelation  to  the  contrary,  we 
 must  still  believe  our  senses. 
 
 There  is  a  difference  to  be  made  between  that  feeble  evi- 
 dence that  our  senses  give  us  of  remote  objects,  or  those  loose 
 inferences  that  we  may  make  from  a  slight  view  of  things,  and 
 the  full  evidence  that  sense  gives  us ;  as  when  we  see  and  smell 
 to,  we  handle  and  taste,  the  same  object :  this  is  the  voice  of 
 God  to  us ;  he  has  made  us  so  that  we  are  determined  by  it : 
 and  as  we  should  not  believe  a  prophet  that  wrought  ever  so 
 many  miracles,  if  he  should  contradict  any  part  of  that  which 
 God  had  already  revealed ;  so  we  cannot  be  bound  to  believe 
 a  revelation  contrary  to  our  sense,  because  that  were  to  be- 
 lieve God  in  contradiction  to  himself;  which  is  impossible  to 
 be  true :  For  we  should  believe  that  revelation  certainly  upon 
 an  evidence,  which  itself  tells  us  is  not  certain ;  and  this  is  a 
 contradiction.  We  believe  our  senses  upon  this  foundation, 
 because  we  reckon  there  is  an  intrinsic  certainty  in  their  evi- 
 dence :  we  do  not  believe  them  as  we  believe  another  man, 
 upon  a  moral  presumption  of  his  truth  and  sincerity ;  but  we 
 believe  them,  because  such  is  the  nature  of  the  union  of  our 
 souls  and  bodies,  which  is  the  work  of  God,  that  upon  the  full 
 impressions  that  are  made  upon  the  senses,  the  soul  does  neces- 
 sarily produce,  or  rather  feel,  those  thoughts  and  sensations 
 arise  with  a  full  evidence,  that  correspond  to  the  motions  of 
 sensible  objects  upon  the  organs  of  sense.  The  soul  has  a 
 sagacity  to  examine  these  sensations,  to  correct  one  sense  by 
 another;  but  when  she  has  used  all  the  means  she  can,  and 
 the  evidence  is  still  clear,  she  is  persuaded,  and  cannot  help 
 being  so ;  she  naturally  takes  all  this  to  be  true,  because  of  the 
 necessary  connexion  that  she  feels  between  such  sensations 
 and  her  assent  to  them.  Now,  if  she  should  find  that  she 
 could  be  mistaken  in  this,  even  though  she  should  know  this 
 by  a  divine  revelation,  all  the  intrinsic  certainty  of  the  evidence 
 
 B  b 
 
380  AN  EXPOSITION  OF  Art.  XXVIII. 
 
 of  sense,  and  that  connexion  between  those  sensations  and  her 
 assent  to  them,  should  be  hereby  dissolved. 
 
 To  all  this  another  objection  may  be  made  from  the  myste- 
 ries of  the  Christian  religion;  which  contradict  our  reason, 
 and  yet  we  are  bound  to  believe  them ;  although  reason  is  a 
 faculty  much  superior  to  sense.  But  all  this  is  a  mistake :  we 
 cannot  be  bound  to  believe  any  thing  that  contradicts  our  rea- 
 son ;  for  the  evidence  of  reason  as  well  as  that  of  sense  is  the 
 voice  of  God  to  us.  But  as  great  difference  is  to  be  made 
 between  a  feeble  evidence  that  sense  gives  us  of  an  object  that 
 is  at  a  distance  from  us,  or  that  appears  to  us  through  a  false 
 medium — such  as  a  concave  or  a  convex  glass — and  the  full 
 evidence  of  an  object  that  is  before  us,  and  that  is  clearly  ap- 
 prehended by  us ;  so  there  is  a  great  difference  to  be  made  be- 
 tween our  reasonings  upon  difficulties  that  we  can  neither  un- 
 derstand nor  resolve,  and  our  reasonings  upon  clear  principles. 
 The  one  may  be  false,  and  the  other  must  be  true :  We  are 
 sure  that  a  thing  cannot  be  one  and  three  in  the  same  respect ; 
 our  reason  assures  us  of  this,  and  we  do  and  must  believe  it ; 
 but  we  know  that  in  different  respects  the  same  thing  may  be 
 one  and  three.  And  since  we  cannot  know  all  the  possibilities 
 of  those  different  respects,  we  must  believe  upon  the  authority 
 of  God  revealing  it,  that  the  same  thing  is  both  one  and  three ; 
 though  if  a  revelation  should  affirm  that  the  same  thing  were 
 one  and  three  in  the  same  respect,  we  should  not,  and  indeed 
 could  not  believe  it. 
 
 This  argument  deserves  to  be  fully  opened ;  for  we  are  sure 
 either  it  is  true,  or  we  cannot  be  sure  that  any  thing  else  what- 
 soever is  true.  In  confirmation  of  this  we  ought  also  to  con- 
 sider the  nature  and  ends  of  miracles.  They  put  nature  out 
 of  its  channel,  and  reverse  its  fixed  laws  and  motions ;  and  the 
 end  of  God's  giving  men  a  power  to  work  them  is,  that  by 
 them  the  world  may  be  convinced  that  such  persons  are  com- 
 missionated  by  him  to  deliver  his  pleasure  to  them  in  some 
 particulars.  And  as  it  could  not  become  the  infinite  wisdom 
 of  the  great  Creator  to  change  the  order  of  nature  (which  is 
 his  own  workmanship)  upon  slight  grounds,  so  we  cannot 
 suppose  that  he  should  work  a  chain  of  extraordinary  miracles 
 to  no  purpose.  It  is  not  to  give  credit  to  a  revelation  that  he 
 is  making ;  for  the  senses  do  not  perceive  it ;  on  the  contrary, 
 they  do  reject  and  contradict  it ;  and  the  revelation,  instead  of 
 getting  credit  from  it,  is  loaded  by  it,  as  introducing  that 
 which  destroys  all  credit  and  certainty. 
 
 In  other  miracles  our  senses  are  appealed  to ;  but  here  they 
 must  be  appealed  from :  nor  is  there  any  spiritual  end  served 
 in  working  this  miracle ;  for  it  is  .acknowledged,  that  the 
 effects  of  this  sacrament  are  given  upon  our  due  coming  to  it, 
 independent  upon  the  corporal  presence :  so  that  the  grace  of 
 
Art.  XXVIII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 38? 
 
 the  sacrament  does  not  always  accompany  it,  since  unworthy 
 receivers,  though  according  to  the  Romish  doctrine  they  re- 
 ceive the  true  body  of  Christ,  yet  they  do  not  receive  grace 
 with  it ;  and  the  grace  that  is  given  in  it  to  the  worthy  re- 
 ceivers stays  with  them,  after  that,  by  the  destruction  of  the 
 species  of  the  bread  and  wine,  the  body  of  Christ  is  withdrawn. 
 So  that  it  is  acknowledged,  that  the  spiritual  effect  of  the  sa- 
 crament does  not  depend  upon  the  corporal  presence. 
 
 Here  then  it  is  supposed,  that  God  is  every  day  working  a 
 great  many  miracles,  in  a  vast  number  of  different  places ;  and 
 that  of  so  extraordinary  a  nature,  that  it  must  be  confessed 
 they  are  far  beyond  all  the  other  wonders,  even  of  Omnipo- 
 tence ;  and  yet  all  this  is  to  no  end,  that  we  can  apprehend ; 
 neither  to  any  sensible  and  visible  end,  nor  to  any  internal  and 
 spiritual  one.  This  must  needs  seem  an  amazing  thing,  that 
 God  should  work  such  a  miracle  on  our  behalf,  and  yet  should 
 not  acquaint  us  with  any  end  for  which  he  should  work  it. 
 
 To  conclude  this  wrhole  argument — We  have  one  great  ad- 
 vantage in  this  matter,  that  our  doctrine  concerning  the  sacra- 
 ment, of  a  mystical  presence  of  Christ  in  the  symbols,  and  of 
 the  effects  of  it  on  the  worthy  and  unworthy  receivers,  is  all 
 acknowledged  by  the  Church  of  Rome ;  but  they  have  added 
 to  this  the  wonder  of  the  corporal  presence ;  so  that  we  need 
 bring  no  proof  to  them  at  least,  for  that  which  we  teach  con- 
 cerning it,  since  it  is  all  confessed  by  them.  But  as  to  that 
 which  they  have  added,  it  is  not  necessary  for  us  to  give  proofs 
 against  it ;  it  is  enough  for  us  if  we  shew,  that  all  the  proofs 
 that  they  bring  for  it  are  weak  and  unconcluding.  They  must 
 be  very  demonstrative,  if  it  is  expected,  that,  upon  the  autho  - 
 rity and  evidence  of  them,  we  should  be  bound  to  believe  a 
 thing  which  they  themselves  confess  to  be  contrary  both  to  our 
 sense  and  reason.  We  cannot  by  the  laws  of  reasoning  be 
 bound  to  give  arguments  against  it ;  it  is  enough  if  we  can  shew, 
 that  neither  the  words  of  the  institution,  nor  the  discourse  in 
 the  sixth  of  St  John,  do  necessarily  infer  it ;  and  if  we  shew- 
 that  those  passages  can  well  bear  another  sense,  which  is  agree- 
 able both  to  the  words  themselves  and  to  the  style  of  the 
 Scriptures,  and  more  particularly  to  the  phraseology  to  which 
 the  Jews  were  accustomed  upon  the  occasion  on  which  this 
 was  instituted ;  and  if  the  words  can  well  bear  the  sense  that 
 we  give  them — then  the  other  advantages  that  are  in  it,  of  its 
 being  simple  and  natural,  of  its  being  suitable  to  the  design  of 
 a  sacrament,  and  of  its  having  no  hard  consequences  of  any 
 sort  depending  upon  it ;  then,  I  say,  by  all  the  rules  of  ex- 
 pounding Scripture,  we  do  justly  infer  that  our  sense  of  those 
 words  ought  to  be  preferred. 
 
 This  is  according  to  a  rule  that  St  Augustin  gives  to  judge 
 what  expression*  in  Scripture  are  figurative  and  what  not 
 
388 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXVIII. 
 
 Lib  in  t'e  "  ^  any  V^ace  seems  to  command  a  crime  or  horrid 
 Doct.  ciiris.  action,  it  is  figurative ;  and  for  an  instance  of  this  he 
 cites  those  words,  Except  ye  eat  the  Jlesh  and  drink  the 
 blood  of  the  Son  of  man,  you  have  no  life  in  you  ;  which  seems 
 to  command  a  crime  and  a  horrid  action ;  and  therefore  it  is  a 
 figure  commanding  us  to  communicate  in  the  passion  of  our 
 Lord,  and  to  lay  up  in  our  memory,  with  delight  and  profit, 
 that  his  flesh  was  crucified  and  wounded  for  us."  As  this  was 
 given  for  a  rule  by  the  great  doctor  of  the  Latin  Church,  so 
 the  same  maxim  had  been  delivered,  almost  two  ages  before 
 him,  by  the  great  doctor  of  the  Greek  Church,  Origen,  who 
 says,  "  that  the  understanding  our  Saviour's  words  of 
 SS.7'  m  eating  his  flesh  and  drinking  his  blood,  according  to 
 the  letter,  is  a  letter  that  kills."  These  passages  I 
 cite  by  an  anticipation,  before  I  enter  upon  the  inquiry  into 
 the  sense  of  the  ancient  Church  concerning  this  matter ;  be- 
 cause they  belong  to  the  words  of  the  institution,  at  least  to  the 
 discourse  in  St  John :  now,  if  the  sense  that  we  give  to  these 
 words  is  made  good,  we  need  be  at  no  more  pains  to  prove  that 
 they  are  capable  of  no  other  sense,  since  this  must  prove  that 
 to  be  the  only  true  sense  of  them. 
 
 So  that  for  all  the  arguments  that  have  been  brought  by  us 
 against  this  doctrine,  arising  out  of  the  fruitfulness  of  the  mat- 
 ter, we  were  not  bound  to  use  them ;  for,  our  doctrine  being 
 confessed  by  them,  it  wants  no  proof ;  and  we  cannot  be  bound 
 to  prove  a  negative.  Therefore,  though  the  copiousness  of  this 
 matter  has  afforded  us  many  arguments  for  the  negative,  yet 
 that  was  not  necessary ;  for  as  a  negative  always  proves  itself, 
 so  that  holds  more  especially  here,  where  that  which  is  denied 
 is  accompanied  with  so  many  and  so  strange  absurdities  as  do 
 follow  from  this  doctrine. 
 
 The  last  topic  in  this  matter  is  the  sense  that  the  ancient 
 Church  had  of  it ;  for  as  we  certainly  have  both  the  Scriptures 
 and  the  evidence  of  our  senses  and  reason  of  our  side,  so  that 
 will  be  much  fortified  if  it  appears  that  no  such  doctrine  was 
 received  in  the  first  and  best  ages,  and  that  it  came  in  not  all 
 at  once,  but  by  degrees.  I  shall  first  urge  this  matter  by  some 
 general  presumptions;  and  then  I  shall  go  to  plain  proofs. 
 But  though  the  presumptions  shall  be  put  only  as  presump- 
 tions ;  yet  if  they  appear  to  be  violent,  so  that  a  man  cannot 
 hold  giving  his  assent  to  the  conclusion  that  follows  from  them, 
 then  though  they  are  put  in  the  form  of  presumptive  argu- 
 ments, yet  that  will  not  hinder  them  from  being  considered  as 
 concluding  ones. 
 
 By  the  stating  this  doctrine  it  has  appeared  how  many  diffi- 
 culties there  are  involved  in  it :  These  are  difficulties  that  are 
 obvious  and  soon  seen  ;  they  are  not  found  out  by  deep  inquiry 
 and  much  speculation ;  they  are  soon  felt,  and  are  very  hardly 
 
Art.  XXVIII.  THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES.  389 
 
 avoided :  and  ever  since  the  time  that  this  doctrine  has  been 
 received  by  the  Roman  Church,  these  have  been  much  insisted 
 on ;  explanations  have  been  offered  to  them  all ;  and  the  whole 
 principles  of  natural  philosophy  have  been  cast  into  a  new 
 mould,  that  they  might  ply  to  this  doctrine ;  at  least,  those 
 who  have  studied  their  philosophy  in  that  system  have  had  such 
 notions  put  in  them,  while  their  minds  were  yet  tender  and 
 capable  of  any  impressions,  that  they  have  been  thereby  pre- 
 pared to  this  doctrine  before  they  came  to  it,  by  a  train  of  phi- 
 losophical terms  and  distinctions,  so  that  they  were  not  much 
 alarmed  at  it  when  it  came  to  be  set  before  them. 
 
 They  are  accustomed  to  think  that  ubication,  or  the  being 
 in  a  place,  is  but  an  accident  to  a  substance ;  so  that  the  same 
 body's  being  in  more  places,  is  only  its  having  a  few  more  of 
 those  accidents  produced  in  it  by  God  :  they  are  accustomed 
 to  think  that  accidents  are  beings  different  from  matter ;  like 
 a  sort  of  clothing  to  it,  which  do  indeed  require  the  having  of 
 a  substance  for  their  subject :  but  yet  since  they  are  believed 
 to  have  a  being  of  their  own,  God  may  make  them  subsist ;  as 
 the  skin  of  a  man  may  stand  out  in  its  proper  shape  and  colour, 
 though  there  were  nothing  but  air  or  vacuity  within  it. 
 
 They  are  accustomed  to  think,  that  as  an  accident  may  be 
 without  its  proper  substance,  so  substance  may  be  without  its 
 proper  accidents;  and  they  do  reckon  extension  and  impene- 
 trability, that  is,  a  body's  so  filling  a  space  that  no  other  body 
 can  be  in  the  same  space  with  it,  among  its  accidents :  so  that 
 a  body  composed  of  organs  and  of  large  dimensions,  may  be 
 not  only  all  crowded  within  one  wafer,  but  an  entire  distinct 
 body  may  be  in  every  separable  part  of  this  wafer — at  least  in 
 every  piece  that  carries  in  it  the  appearance  of  bread. 
 
 These,  besides  many  other  lesser  subtilties,  are  the  evident 
 results  of  this  doctrine ;  and  it  was  a  natural  effect  of  its  being 
 received,  that  their  philosophy  should  be  so  transformed  as  to 
 agree  to  it,  and  to  prepare  men  for  it. 
 
 Now,  to  apply  this  to  the  matter  we  are  upon,  we  find  none 
 of  these  subtilties  among  the  ancients.  They  seem  to  appre- 
 hend none  of  those  difficulties,  nor  do  they  take  any  pains  to 
 solve  or  clear  them.  They  had  a  philosophical  genius,  and 
 shewed  it  in  all  other  things :  they  disputed  very  nicely  con- 
 cerning the  attributes  of  God,  concerning  his  essence,  and  the 
 persons  of  the  Trinity  :  they  saw  the  difficulties  concerning  the 
 incarnation  of  the  eternal  Word,  and  Christ's  being  both  God 
 and  man  :  they  treated  of  original  sin,  of  the  power  of  grace, 
 and  of  the  decrees  of  God. 
 
 They  explained  the  resurrection  of  our  bodies,  and  the  diffe- 
 rent states  of  the  blessed  and  the  damned. 
 
 They  saw  the  difficulties  in  all  these  heads,  and  were  very 
 copious  in  their  explanations  of  them ;  and  they  may  bo  rather 
 
390 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXVIII. 
 
 thought  by  some  too  full,  than  too  sparing,  in  the  canvassing  of 
 difficulties :  but  all  those  were  mere  speculative  matters,  in 
 which  the  difficulty  was  not  so  soon  seen  as  on  this  subject; 
 yet  they  found  these  out,  and  pursued  them  with  that  subtilty 
 that  shewed  they  were  not  at  all  displeased  when  occasions 
 were  offered  them  to  shew  their  skill  in  answering  difficulties ; 
 which,  to  name  no  more,  appears  very  evidently  to  be  St 
 Augustin's  character.  Yet  neither  he  nor  anv  of  the  other 
 Fathers  seem  to  have  been  sensible  of  the  difficulties  in  this 
 matter. 
 
 They  neither  state  them  nor  answer  them ;  nor  do  they  use 
 those  reserves  when  they  speak  of  philosophical  matters,  that 
 men  must  have  used  who  were  possessed  of  this  doctrine :  for 
 a  man  cannot  hold  it  without  bringing  himself  to  think  and 
 speak  otherwise  upon  all  natural  things  than  the  rest  of  man- 
 kind do. 
 
 They  are  »o  far  from  this,  that,  on  the  contrary,  they  deliver 
 themselves  in  a  way  that  shews  they  had  no  such  apprehensions 
 of  things. 
 
 They  thought  that  all  creatures  were  limited  to  one  place ; 
 and  from  thence  they  argued  against  the  heathens,  who  be- 
 lieved that  their  deities  were  in  every  one  of  those  statues  which 
 they  consecrated  to  them. 
 
 From  this  head  they  proved  the  divinity  of  the  Holy  Ghost ; 
 because  he  wrought  in  many  different  places  at  once ;  which 
 he  could  not  do  if  he  were  only  a  creature. 
 
 They  affirm,  that  Christ  can  be  no  more  on  earth,  since  he 
 is  now  in  heaven,  and  that  he  can  be  but  in  one  place. 
 
 They  say,  that  which  hath  no  bounds  nor  figure,  and  that 
 can  neither  be  touched  nor  seen,  cannot  be  a  body  :  that  bodies 
 are  extended  in  some  place,  and  cannot  exist  after  the  manner 
 of  spirits. 
 
 They  argue  against  the  eternity  of  matter,  from  this,  that 
 nothing  could  be  produced,  that  had  a  being  before  it  was  pro- 
 duced ;  and  on  all  occasions  they  appeal  to  the  testimony  of 
 our  senses  as  infallible. 
 
 They  say,  that  to  believe  otherwise  tended  to  reverse  the 
 whole  state  of  life  and  order  of  nature,  and  to  reproach  the 
 providence  of  God ;  since  it  must  be  said,  that  he  has  given 
 the  knowledge  of  all  his  works  to  liars  and  deceivers,  if  our 
 senses  may  be  false :  that  we  must  doubt  of  our  faith,  if  the 
 testimony  of  hearing,  seeing,  and  feeling,  could  deceive  us. 
 
 And  in  their  contests  with  the  Marcionites  and  others,  con- 
 cerning the  truth  of  Christ's  body,  they  appeal  always  to  the 
 testimony  of  the  senses  as  infallible :  and,  even  treating  of  tlje 
 sacrament,  they  say,  without  limitation  or  exception,  that  it 
 was  bread,  as  their  eyes  witnessed,  and  true  wine,  that  Christ 
 did  consecrate  to  be  the  memorial  of  his  body  and  blood :  and 
 
Art.  XXVIII.  THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 391 
 
 they  tell  us  in  this  very  particular,  that  we  ought  not  to  doubt 
 of  the  testimony  of  our  senses. 
 
 Another  presumptive  proof  that  the  ancients  knew  nothing 
 of  this  doctrine  is,  that  the  heathens  and  the  Jews,  who  charged 
 them,  and  their  doctrine,  with  every  thing  that  they  could  in- 
 vent to  make  both  it  and  them  odious  and  ridiculous,  could 
 never  have  passed  over  this,  in  which  both  sense  and  reason 
 seemed  to  be  so  evidently  on  their  side. 
 
 They  reproach  the  Christians  for  believing  a  God  that  was 
 born,  a  God  of  flesh  that  was  crucified  and  buried  :  they  laughed 
 at  their  belief  of  a  judgment  to  come,  of  endless  flames,  of  a 
 heavenly  paradise,  and  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body.  Those 
 who  writ  the  first  Apologies  for  the  Christian  religion,  Justin 
 Martyr,  Tertullian,  Origen,  Arnobius,  and  Minutius  Felix, 
 have  given  us  a  large  account  of  the  blasphemies  both  of  Jews 
 and  Gentiles  against  the  doctrines  of  Christianity. 
 
 Cyril  of  Alexandria  has  given  us  Julian's  objections  in  his 
 own  words ;  who  having  been  not  only  initiated  into  the  Chris- 
 tian religion,  but  having  read  the  Scriptures  in  the  churches, 
 and  being  a  philosophical  and  inquisitive  man,  must  have  been 
 well  instructed  concerning  the  doctrine  and  the  sacraments  of 
 this  religion :  and  his  relation  to  the  Emperor  Constantine 
 must  have  made  the  Christians  concerned  to  take  more  than  or- 
 dinary pains  on  him.  When  he  made  apostasy  from  the  faith, 
 he  reproached  the  Christians  with  the  doctrine  of  baptism,  and 
 laughed  at  them  for  thinking  that  there  was  an  ablution  and 
 sanctification  in  it,  conceiving  it  a  thing  impossible  that  water 
 should  wash  or  cleanse  a  soul ;  yet  neither  he  nor  Porphyry, 
 nor  Celsus  before  them,  did  charge  this  religion  with  the  ab- 
 surdities of  transubstantiation. 
 
 It  is  reasonable  to  believe,  that  if  the  Christians  of  that  time 
 had  any  such  doctrine  among  them,  it  must  have  been  known. 
 Every  Christian  must  have  known  in  what  sense  those  words, 
 This  is  my  body,  and  This  is  my  blood,  were  understood  among 
 them.  All  the  apostates  from  Christianity  must  have  known  it, 
 and  must  have  published  it,  to  excuse  or  hide  the  shame  of 
 their  apostasy ;  since  apostates  are  apt  to  spread  lies  of  them 
 whom  they  forsake,  but  not  to  conceal  such  truths  as  are  to 
 their  prejudice.  Julian  must  have  known  it;  and  if  he  had 
 known  it,  his  judgment  was  too  true,  and  his  malice  to  the 
 Christian  religion  too  quick,  to  overlook  or  neglect  the  advan- 
 tages which  this  part  of  their  doctrine  gave  him.  Nor  can  this 
 be  carried  off  by  saying,  that  the  eating  of  human  Jlesh  and  the 
 Thyestean  suppers,  which  were  objected  to  the  Christians,  re- 
 late to  this :  when  the  Fathers  answer  that,  they  tell  the 
 heathens  that  it  was  a  downright  calumny  and  lie ;  and  do  not 
 offer  any  explanations  or  distinctions  taken  from  their  doctrine 
 of  the  sacrament,  to  clear  them  from  the  mistake  and  malice 
 
392 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXVIII. 
 
 of  this  calumny.  The  truth  is,  the  execrable  practices  of  the 
 Gnostics,  who  were  called  Christians,  gave  the  rise  to  those  as 
 well  as  to  many  other  calumnies;  but  they  were  not  at  all 
 founded  on  the  doctrine  of  the  Eucharist,  which  is  never  once 
 mentioned  as  the  occasion  of  this  accusation. 
 
 Another  presumption,  from  which  we  conclude  that  the 
 ancients  knew  nothing  of  this  doctrine,  is,  that  we  find  heresies 
 and  disputes  arising  concerning  all  the  other  points  of  religion. 
 There  were  very  few  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Christian  religion, 
 and  not  any  of  the  mysteries  of  the  faith,  that  did  not  fall  un- 
 der great  objections :  but  there  was  not  any  one  heresy  raised 
 upon  this  head ;  men  were  never  so  meek  and  tame  as  easily  to 
 believe  things,  when  there  appeared  strong  evidence,  or  at  least 
 great  presumptions,  against  them.  In  these  last  eight  or  nine 
 centuries,  since  this  doctrine  was  received,  there  has  been  a 
 perpetual  opposition  made  to  it,  even  in  dark  and  unlearned 
 ages,  in  which  implicit  faith  and  blind  obedience  have  carried 
 a  great  sway.  And  though  the  secular  arm  has  been  em- 
 ployed with  great  and  unrelenting  severities  to  extirpate  all 
 that  have  opposed  it;  yet  all  the  while  many  have  stood  out 
 against  it,  and  have  suffered  much  and  long  for  their  rejecting 
 it.  Now  it  is  not  to  be  imagined  that  such  an  opposition 
 should  have  been  made  to  this  doctrine,  during  the  nine  hun- 
 dred years  last  past,  and  that  for  the  former  eight  hundred 
 years  there  should  have  been  no  disputes  at  all  concerning  it; 
 and  that  while  all  other  things  were  so  much  questioned,  that 
 several  Fathers  writ,  and  councils  were  called  to  settle  the  be- 
 lief of  them,  yet  that  for  about  eight  hundred  years  this  was 
 the  single  point  that  went  down  so  easily,  that  no  treatise  was 
 all  that  while  writ  to  prove  it,  nor  council  held  to  establish  it. 
 
 Certainly  the  reason  of  this  will  appear  to  be  much  rather, 
 that  since  there  have  been  contests  upon  this  point  these  last 
 nine  ages,  and  that  there  were  none  the  first  eight,  this  doc- 
 trine was  not  known  during  those  first  ages ;  and  that  the  great 
 silence  about  it  for  so  long  a  time,  is  a  very  strong  presumption 
 that  in  all  that  time  this  doctrine  was  not  thought  of. 
 
 The  last  of  those  considerations  that  I  shall  offer,  which  are 
 of  the  nature  of  presumptive  proofs,  is,  that  there  are  a  great 
 many  rites  and  other  practices,  that  have  arisen  out  of  this  doc- 
 trine as  its  natural  consequences,  which  were  not  thought  of 
 for  a  great  many  ages,  but  that  have  gone  on  by  a  perpetual 
 progress,  and  have  increased  very  fruitfully,  ever  since  this 
 doctrine  was  received.  Such  are  the  elevation,  adoration,  and 
 processions,  together  with  the  doctrine  of  concomitance,  and  a 
 vast  number  of  rites  and  rubrics ;  the  first  occasions  and  be- 
 ginnings of  which  are  well  known.  These  did  all  arise  from 
 this  doctrine,  it  being  natural,  especially  in  the  ages  of  igno- 
 rance and  superstition,  for  men,  upon  the  supposition  of  Christ's 
 
Art.  XXVIII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 393 
 
 being  corporally  present,  to  run  out  into  all  possible  inventions 
 of  pomp  and  magnificence  about  this  sacrament ;  and  it  is  very 
 reasonable  to  think,  since  these  things  are  of  so  late  and  so 
 certain  a  date,  that  the  doctrine  upon  which  they  are  founded 
 is  not  much  ancienter. 
 
 The  great  simplicity  of  the  primitive  forms,  not  only  as  they 
 are  reported  by  Justin  Martyr  and  Tertullian  in  the  ages  of 
 the  poverty  and  persecutions  of  the  Church,  but  as  they  are 
 represented  to  us  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries  by  Cyril  of 
 Jerusalem,  the  Constitutions,  and  the  pretended  Areopagite, 
 have  nothing  of  that  air  that  appears  in  the  later  ages.  The 
 sacrament  was  then  given  in  both  kinds;  it  was  put  in  the 
 hands  of  the  faithful ;  they  reserved  some  portions  of  it — it  was 
 given  to  children  for  many  ages ;  the  laity  and  even  boys  were 
 employed  to  carry  it  to  dying  penitents ;  what  remained  of  it 
 was  burnt  in  some  places,  and  consumed  by  the  clergy  and  by 
 children  in  other  places:  the  making  cataplasms  of  it,  the  mix- 
 ing the  wine  with  ink,  to  sign  the  condemnation  of  heretics, 
 are  very  clear  .presumptions  that  this  doctrine  was  not  then 
 known. 
 
 But  above  all,  their  not  adoring  the  sacrament,  which  is  not 
 done  to  this  day  in  the  Greek  Church,  and  of  which  there  is 
 no  mention  made  by  all  those  who  writ  on  the  offices  of  the 
 Church  in  the  eighth  and  ninth  centuries  so  copiously;  this,  I 
 say,  of  their  not  adoring  it,  is  perhaps  more  than  a  presumption 
 that  this  doctrine  was  not  then  thought  on.  But  since  it  was 
 established,  all  the  old  forms  and  rituals  have  been  altered,  and 
 the  adoring  the  sacrament  is  now  become  the  main  act  of  de- 
 votion and  of  religious  worship  among  them.  One  ancient 
 form  is  indeed  still  continued,  which  is  of  the  strongest  kind  of 
 presumptions  that  this  doctrine  came  in  much  later  than  some 
 other  superstitions  which  we  condemn  in  that  Church.  In  the 
 masses  that  are  appointed  on  saints  days,  there  are  some  collects 
 in  which  it  is  said  that  the  sacrifice  is  offered  up  in  honow  to 
 the  saint ;  and  it  is  prayed,  that  it  may  become  the  more  va- 
 luable and  acceptable,  by  the  merits  and  intercessions  of  the 
 saint.  Now  when  a  practice  will  well  agree  with  one  opinion, 
 but  not  at  all  with  another,  we  have  all  possible  reason  to  pre- 
 sume at  least,  that  at  first  it  came  in  under  that  opinion  with 
 which  it  will  agree,  and  not  under  another  which  cannot  con- 
 sist with  it.  Our  opinion  is,  that  the  sacrament  is  a  federal  act 
 of  Christianity,  in  which  we  offer  up  our  highest  devotions 
 to  God  through  Christ,  and  receive  the  largest  returns  from 
 him.  It  is  indeed  a  superstitious  conceit  to  celebrate  this  to  the 
 honour  of  a  saint;  but  howsoever,  upon  the  supposition  of 
 saints  hearing  our  prayers,  and  interceding  for  us,  there  is  still 
 good  sense  in  this  :  but  if  it  is  believed  that  Christ  is  corporally 
 present,  and  that  he  is  offered  up  in  it,  it  is  against  all  ^11^. 
 
394 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXVIII. 
 
 and  it  approaches  to  blasphemy  to  do  this  to  the  honour  of  a 
 saint,  and  much  more  to  desire  that  this,  which  is  of  infinite 
 value,  and  is  the  foundation  of  all  God's  blessings  to  us,  should 
 receive  any  addition  or  increase  in  its  value  or  acceptation  from 
 the  merits  or  intercession  of  saints.  So  this,  though  a  late 
 practice,  yet  does  fully  evince,  that  the  doctrine  of  the  corporal 
 presence  was  not  yet  thought  on  when  it  was  first  brought  in- 
 to the  office. 
 
 So  far  I  have  gone  upon  the  presumptions  that  may  be  of- 
 fered to  prove  that  this  doctrine  was  not  known  to  the  ancients. 
 They  are  not  only  just  and  lawful  presumptions,  but  they  are 
 so  strong  and  violent,  that  when  they  are  well  considered,  they 
 force  an  assent  to  that  which  we  infer  from  them.  I  go  next 
 to  the  more  plain  and  direct  proofs  that  we  find  of  the  opinion 
 of  the  ancients  in  this  matter. 
 
 They  call  the  elements  bread  and  wine  after  the  consecra- 
 tion. Justin  Martyr  (Apol.  2.)  calls  them  bread  and  wine, 
 and  a  nourishment  which  nourished.  He  indeed  says  it  is  not 
 common  bread  and  wine;  which  shews  that  he  thought  it  was 
 still  so  in  substance :  and  he  illustrates  the  sanctification  of  the 
 elements  by  the  incarnation  of  Christ,  in  which  the  human  na- 
 ture did  not  lose  or  change  its  substance  by  its  union  with  the 
 divine ;  so  the  bread  and  the  wine  do  not,  according  to  that 
 explanation,  lose  their  proper  substance,  when  they  become  the 
 flesh  and  blood  of  Christ. 
 
 Irenseus  calls  it  that  bread  over  which  thanks  are  given,  and 
 says,  it  is  no  more  common  bread,  but  the  Eucharist,  consisting 
 of  two  things,  an  earthly  and  a  heavenly. 
 
 Tertullian,*  arguing  against  the  Marcionites, — who  held  two 
 Gods,  and  that  the  Creator  of  this  earth  was  the  bad  God,  but 
 that  Christ  was  contrary  to  him, — urges  against  them  this,  that 
 Christ  made  use  of  the  creatures ;  and  says,  he  did  not  reject 
 bread  by  which  he  represents  his  own  body:  and  in  another 
 place  he  says,  Christ  calls  bread  his  body,  that  from  thence  you 
 may  understand,  that  he  gave  the  figure  of  his  body  to  the 
 bread. 
 
 Origen  says,f  We  eat  of  the  loaves  that  are  set  before  us; 
 which  by  prayer  are  become  a  certain  holy  body,  that  sanctifies 
 those  who  use  them  with  a  sound  purpose. 
 
 St  Cyprian  says,  (Ep.  76.),  Christ  calls  the  bread  that  was 
 compounded  of  many  grains,  his  body ;  and  the  wine  that  is 
 pressed  out  of  many  grapes,  his  blood,  to  shew  the  union  of  his 
 people.  And  in  another  place,  (Ep.  63.),  writing  against  those 
 who  used  only  water,  but  no  wine,  in  the  Eucharist,  he  says, 
 
 *  Lib.  iv.  dc  IL-eres.  c.  34.  Lib.  i.  adver.  Marcion.  c.  I  k  Lib.  iii.  advcr. 
 Marcion.  c.  19. 
 
 f  Lib.  viii.  contra  Ctlsum. 
 
Art.  XXVIII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 395 
 
 We  cannot  see  the  blood  by  which  we  are  redeemed,  when  wine 
 is  not  in  the  chalice;  by  which  the  blood  of  Christ  is  shewed, 
 Epiphanius  being  to  prove  that  man  may  be  said 
 
 r  r  O        r  1    1      •  In  Anchoreto. 
 
 to  be  made  after  the  image  ot  God,  though  he  is  not 
 like  him,  urges  this,  That  the  bread  is  not  like  Christ,  neither 
 in  his  invisible  Deity  nor  in  his  incarnate  likeness,  for  it  is 
 round  and  without  feeling  as  to  its  virtue. 
 
 Gregory  Nyssen  says,*  The  bread  in  the  beginning  is  com- 
 mon;  but  after  the  mystery  has  consecrated  it,  it  is  said  to  be, 
 and  is,  the  body  of  Christ:  to  this  he  compares  the  sanctifica- 
 tion  of  the  mystical  oil,  of  the  water  in  baptism,  and  the  stones 
 of  an  altar  or  church  dedicated  to  God. 
 
 St  Ambrose  f  calls  it  still  bread ;  and  says,  this  bread  is  made 
 the  food  of  the  saints. 
 
 St  Chrysostom  J  on  these  words,  the  bread  that  we  break, 
 says,  What  is  the  bread?  The  body  of  Christ:  What  are  they 
 made  to  be  who  take  it?  The  body  of  Christ.  Which  shews 
 that  he  considered  the  bread  as  being  so  the  body  of  Christ, 
 as  the  worthy  receivers  became  his  body ;  which  is  done,  not 
 by  a  change  of  substance,  but  by  a  sanctification  of  their  na- 
 tures. 
 
 St  Jerome  says,  ||  Christ  took  bread,  that,  as  Melchisedec  had 
 in  the  figure  offered  bread  and  wine,  he  might  also  represent 
 the  truth  (that  is  in  opposition  to  the  figure)  of  his  body  and 
 blood. 
 
 St  Augustin§  does  very  largely  compare  the  sacraments 
 being  called  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  with  those  other 
 places  in  which  the  Church  is  called  his  body,  and  all  Chris- 
 tians are  his  members ;  which  shews  that  he  thought  the  one 
 was  to  be  understood  mystically  as  well  as  the  other.  He  calls 
 the  Eucharist  frequently  our  daily  bread,  and  the  sacrament  of 
 bread  and  wine.  All  these  call  the  Eucharist  bread  and  wine 
 in  express  words  :  but  when  they  call  it  Christ's  body  and 
 blood,  they  call  it  so  after  a  sort,  or  that  it  is  said  to  be,  or 
 with  some  other  mollifying  expression. 
 
 St  Augustinf  says  this  plainly,  After  some  sort  the  sacrament 
 of  the  body  of  Christ  is  his  body,  and  the  sacrament  of  his  blood 
 is  the  blood  of  Christ:  he  carried  himself  in  his  ozvn  hands  in 
 some  sort,  when  he  said,  This  is  my  body. 
 
 St  Chrysostom  says,**  The  bread  is  thought  worthy  to  be 
 called  the  body  of  our  Lord:  and  in  another  place,  reckoning 
 up  the  improper  senses  of  the  word  Jlesh,  he  says,  the  Scrip- 
 tures use  to  call  the  mysteries  (that  is,  the  sacrament)  by  the 
 
 ■  En  Orat.  de  Baptis.  Christi.  f  De  Benedict.  Patriarch,  c.  9. 
 
 \  Horn.  24.  in  Ep.  ad  Cor.  [|  Comm.  in  Matt.  c.  26. 
 
 §  Cit.  apud  Fulgent,  de  Baptismo. 
 
 1  Aug.  Ep.  23.  ad  Bonifac.    Serm.  2.  in  Psal.  33. 
 
 **  Chrys.  Ep.  ad  Coesar.  et  in  Comm.  in  Ep.  ad  Gal.  c.  5. 
 
396 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXVIII. 
 
 name  of flesh,  and  sometimes  the  whole  Church  is  said  to  be  the 
 body  of  Christ, 
 
 So  Tertullian  says,*  Christ  calls  the  bread  his  body,  and 
 names  the  bread  by  his  body. 
 
 The  Fathers  do  not  only  call  the  consecrated  elements  bread 
 and  wine ;  they  do  also  affirm,  that  they  retain  their  proper 
 nature  and  substance,  and  are  the  same  thing  as  to  their  na- 
 ture that  they  were  before.  And  the  occasion  upon  which  the 
 passages,  that  I  go  next  to  mention,  are  used  by  them,  does 
 prove  this  matter  beyond  contradiction. 
 
 Apollinaris  did  broach  that  heresy  which  was  afterwards 
 put  in  full  form  by  Eutyches;  and  that  had  so  great  a  party 
 to  support  it,  that  as  they  had  one  General  Council  (a  pre- 
 tended one  at  least)  to  favour  them,  so  they  were  condemned 
 by  another.  Their  error  was,  that  the  human  nature  of  Christ 
 was  swallowed  up  by  the  divine,  if  not  while  he  was  here  on 
 earth,  yet  at  least  after  his  ascension  to  heaven.  This  error 
 was  confuted  by  several  writers  who  lived  very  wide  one  from 
 another,  and  at  a  distance  of  above  a  hundred  years  one  from 
 another.  St  Chrysostom  at  Constantinople,  Theodoret  in 
 Asia,  Ephrem  Patriarch  of  Antioch,  and  Gelasius  Bishop  of 
 Rome, — all  those  writ  to  prove,  that  the  human  nature  did 
 still  remain  in  Christ,  not  changed,  nor  swallowed  up,  but  only 
 sanctified  by  the  divine  nature  that  was  united  to  it.  They  do 
 all  fall  into  one  argument,  which  very  probably  those  who 
 came  after  St  Chrysostom  took  from  him;  so  that  though  both 
 Theodoret  and  Gelasius's  words  are  much  fuller,  yet  because 
 the  argument  is  the  same  with  that  which  St  Chrysostom  f  had 
 urged  against  Apollinaris,  I  shall  first  set  down  his  words.  He 
 brings  an  illustration  from  the  doctrine  of  the  sacrament,  to 
 shew  that  the  human  nature  was  not  destroyed  by  its  union 
 with  the  divine ;  and  has  upon  that  these  words,  As  before  the 
 bread  is  sanctified,  we  call  it  bread ;  but  when  the  divine  grace 
 has  sanctified  it  by  the  means  of  the  priest,  it  is  freed  from  the 
 name  of  bread,  and  is  thought  worthy  of  the  name  of  the  Lord's 
 body,  though  the  nature  of  bread  remain  in  it:  and  yet  it  is 
 not  said  there  are  two  bodies,  but  one  body  of  the  Son;  so  the 
 divine  nature  being  joined  to  the  body,  both  these  make  one  Son 
 and  one  Person. 
 
 Ephrem  of  Antioch  says,:}:  The  body  of  Christ  received  by 
 the  faithful,  does  not  depart  from  its  sensible  substance:  so  bap- 
 tism, says  he,  does  not  lose  its  own  sensible  substance,  and  does 
 not  lose  that  which  it  was  before. 
 
 Theodoret  says,  ||  Christ  does  honour  the  symbols  with  the 
 name  of  his  body  and  blood ;  not  changing  the  nature,  but  add- 
 ing grace  to  nature.    In  another  place,  pursuing  the  same 
 
 *  Tertul.  lib.  iv.  adv.  Marcion.  c.  40.  f  Epist,  ad  Ca^sarium. 
 
 t  In  Photi.  Bibli.  Cod.  229.  ||  Dial.  1.  ct  2.  cont.  Eutycli. 
 
Art.  XXVIII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 397 
 
 argument,  he  says,  The  mystical  symbols  after  the  sanctification 
 do  not  depart  from  their  own  nature;  for  they  continue  in  their 
 former  sub >st a nee,  figure ',  and  form,  and  are  visible  and  palpable 
 as  they  were  before:  but  they  are  understood  to  be  that  which 
 they  are  made. 
 
 Pope  Gelasius  says,f  The  Sacraments  of  the  body  and  blood 
 of  Christ  are  a  divine  thing;  for  which  reason  we  become  by 
 them  'partakers  of  the  divine  nature:  and  yet  the  substance  of 
 bread  and  wine  does  not  cease  to  exist;  and  the  image  and 
 likeness  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  are  celebrated  in  holy 
 mysteries. — Upon  all  these  places  being  compared  with  the 
 design  with  which  they  were  written,  which  was  to  prove  that 
 Christ's  human  nature  did  still  subsist,  unchanged,  and  not 
 swallowed  up  by  its  union  with  the  Divinity,  some  reflections 
 are  very  obvious.  First,  If  the  corporal  presence  of  Christ  in 
 the  sacrament  had  been  then  received  in  the  Church,  the 
 natural  and  unavoidable  argument  in  this  matter,  which  must 
 put  an  end  to  it  with  all  that  believed  such  corporal  presence, 
 was  this :  Christ  has  certainly  a  natural  body  still,  because  the 
 bread  and  the  wine  are  turned  to  it ;  and  they  cannot  be 
 turned  to  that  which  is  not.  In  their  writings  they  argued 
 against  the  possibility  of  a  substantial  change  of  a  human  na- 
 ture into  the  divine ;  but  that  could  not  have  been  urged  by 
 men  who  believed  a  substantial  mutation  to  be  made  in  the 
 sacrament ;  for  then  the  Eutychians  might  have  retorted  the 
 argument  with  great  advantage  upon  them. 
 
 The  Eutychians  did  make  use  of  some  expressions  that  were 
 used  by  some  in  the  Church,  wThich  seemed  to  import  that 
 they  did  argue  from  the  sacrament  as  Theodoret  represents 
 their  objections.  But  to  that  he  answers  as  we  have  seen, 
 denying  that  any  such  substantial  change  was  made.  The 
 design  of  those  Fathers  was  to  prove,  that  things  might  be 
 united  together,  and  continue  so  united,  without  a  change  of 
 their  substances,  and  that  this  was  true  in  the  two  natures  in 
 the  person  of  Christ:  and  to  make  this  more  sensible,  they 
 bring  in  the  matter  of  the  sacrament,  as  a  thing  known  and 
 confessed ;  for  in  their  arguing  upon  it  they  do  suppose  it  as  a 
 thing  out  of  dispute. 
 
 Now,  according  to  the  Roman  doctrine,  this  had  been  a 
 very  odd  sort  of  an  argument  to  prove  that  Christ's  human 
 nature  was  not  swallowed  up  of  the  divine ;  because  the  mys- 
 teries or  elements  in  the  sacrament  are  changed  into  the  sub- 
 stance of  Christ's  body,  only  they  retain  the  outward  appear- 
 ances of  bread  and  wine. 
 
 To  this  an  Eutychian  might  readily  have  answered,  that 
 then  the  human  nature  might  be  believed  to  be  destroyed  ;  and 
 
 *  Lib.  dc  duabus  Nat.  Christ. 
 
398 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XX VI II. 
 
 though  Christ  hud  appeared  in  that  likeness,  he  retained  only 
 the  accidents  of  human  nature  ;  but  that  the  human  nature 
 itself  was  destroyed,  as  the  bread  and  the  wine  were  destroyed 
 in  the  Eucharist. 
 
 This  had  been  a  very  absurd  way  of  arguing  in  the  Fathers, 
 and  had  indeed  delivered  up  the  cause  to  the  Eutychians  : 
 whereas  those  Fathers  make  it  an  argument  against  them,  to 
 prove,  that  notwithstanding  an  union  of  two  beings,  and  such 
 an  union  as  did  communicate  a  sanctification  from  the  one  to 
 the  other,  yet  the  two  natures  might  remain  still  distinguished ; 
 and  that  it  was  so  in  the  Eucharist;  therefore  it  might  be  so  in 
 the  person  of  Christ.  This  seems  to  be  so  evident  an  indica- 
 tion of  the  doctrine  of  the  whole  Church  in  the  fourth  and 
 fifth  centuries,  when  so  many  of  the  most  eminent  writers  of 
 those  ages  do  urge  it  so  home  as  an  argument  in  so  great  a 
 point,  that  we  can  scarce  think  it  possible  for  any  man  to  con- 
 sider it  fully  without  being  determined  by  it.  And  so  far  we 
 have  considered  the  authorities  from  the  Fathers,  to  shew  that 
 they  believed  that  the  substance  of  bread  and  wine  did  still 
 remain  in  the  sacrament. 
 
 Another  head  of  proof  is,  that  they  affirm  that  our  bodies 
 are  nourished  by  the  sacrament;  which  shews  very  plainly, 
 that  they  had  no  notion  of  a  change  of  substance  made  in  it. 
 
 Justin  Martyr  (Apol.  2.)  calls  the  Eucharist,  that  food  by 
 which  our  Jiesh  and  blood,  through  its  transmutation  into  them, 
 are  nourished. 
 
 Irenaeus  makes  this  an  argument  for  the  resurrection  of  our 
 bodies,  that  they  are  fed  by  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ : 
 When  the  cup  and  the  bread  receives  the  word  of  God,  it  be- 
 comes the  Eucharist  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  by  which 
 the  substance  of  our  flesh  is  increased  and  subsists  :  and  he  adds, 
 that  the  flesh  is  nourished  by  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  and 
 is  made  his  member  ;  Lib.  v.  adv.  Haeres.  c.  2. 
 
 Tertullian  (De  Resurrect,  c.  8.)  says,  The  flesh  is  fed  with 
 the  body  and  blood  of  Christ. 
 
 Origen  (in  Matt.  c.  15.)  explains  this  very  largely  on  those 
 words  of  Christ,  It  is  not  that  which  enters  within  a  man,  that 
 defiles  the  man  :  he  says,  if  every  thing  that  goes  into  the  belly 
 is  cast  into  the  draught,  then  that  food  which  is  sanctified  by 
 the  word  of  God,  and  by  prayer,  goes  also  into  the  belly,  as  to 
 that  which  is  material  in  it,  and  goes  from  thence  into  the 
 draught.  And  a  little  after  he  adds,  It  is  not  the  matter  of  the 
 bread,  but  the  word  that  is  pronounced  over  it,  which  profits 
 him  that  eats  it,  in  such  a  way  as  is  not  unworthy  of  the  Lord. 
 con.  Toi.  16.  The  Bishops  of  Spain,  in  a  council  that  sat  at 
 can.  a  Toledo  in  the  seventh  century,  condemned  those 
 that  began  to  consecrate  round  wafers,  and  did  not  offer  one 
 entire  loaf  in  the  Eucharist ;  and  appointed,  for  so  much  of 
 
Art.  XXVIII.  THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 399 
 
 the  bread  as  remained  after  the  communion,  that  either  it 
 should  be  put  in  some  bag,  or,  if  it  was  needful,  to  eat  it  up, 
 that  it  might  not  oppress  the  belly  of  him  that  took  it  with  an 
 overcharging  burden,  and  that  it  might  not  go  into  the  diges- 
 tion; they  fancying  that  a  lesser  quantity  made  no  digestion, 
 and  produced  no  excrement. 
 
 In  the  ninth  century,  both  Rabanus  Maurus  and  Heribald 
 believed,  that  the  sacrament  was  so  digested  that  some  part 
 of  it  turned  to  excrement;  which  was  also  held  by  divers 
 writers  of  the  Greek  Church,  whom  their  adversaries  called, 
 by  way  of  reproach,  Stercorariists.  Others  indeed  of  the  an- 
 cients did  think  that  no  part  of  the  sacrament  became  excre- 
 ment, but  that  it  was  spread  through  the  whole  substance  of 
 the  communicant,  for  the  good  of  body  and  soul.  Both  Cyril 
 of  Jerusalem,  St  Chrysostom,  and  John  Damascene,  fell  into 
 this  conceit;*  but  still  they  thought  that  it  was  changed  into 
 the  substance  of  our  bodies,  and  so  nourished  them  without 
 any  excrement  coming  from  any  part  of  it. 
 
 The  Fathers  do  call  the  consecrated  elements  the  figures, 
 the  signs,  the  symbols,  the  types  and  antitypes,  the  commemo- 
 ration, the  representation,  the  mysteries,  and  the  sacraments 
 of  the  body  and  blood  ;  which  does  evidently  demonstrate, 
 that  they  could  not  think  that  they  were  the  very  substance  of 
 his  body  and  blood.  Tertullian,f  when  he  is  proving  that 
 Christ  had  a  true  body,  and  was  not  a  phantasm,  argues  thus, 
 He  made  bread  to  be  his  body ;  saying,  This  is  my  body ;  that 
 is,  the  figure  of  my  body:  from  which  he  argues,  that  since  his 
 body  had  that  for  its  figure,  it  was  a  true  body  ;  for  an  empty 
 thing,  such  as  a  phantasm  is,  cannot  have  &  figure.  It  is  from 
 hence  clear,  that  it  was  not  then  believed  that  Christ's  body 
 was  literally  in  the  sacrament;  for  otherwise  the  argument 
 would  have  been  much  clearer  and  shorter — Christ  has  a  true 
 body,  because  we  believe  that  the  sacrament  is  truly  his  body — 
 than  to  go  and  prove  it  so  far  about  as  to  say,  a  phantasm  has 
 no  figure ;  but  the  sacrament  is  the  figure  of  Christ's  body, 
 therefore  it  is  no  phantasm. 
 
 St  Austin  (Comm.  in  Psal.  hi.)  says,  He  commanded  and 
 gave  to  his  disciples  the  figure  of  his  body  and  blood.  And 
 when  the  Manicheans  objected  to  him,  that  blood  is  called  in 
 the  Old  Testament  the  life  or  soul,  contrary  to  what  is  said  in 
 the  New ;  he  answers,  that  blood  was  not  the  soul  or  life,  but 
 only  the  sign  of  it ;  and  that  the  sign  sometimes  bears  the  name 
 of  that  of  which  it  is  the  sign :  so,  says  he,f  Christ  did  not 
 doubt  to  say,  This  is  my  body,  idien  he  was  giving  the  sign  of 
 
 *  Cyril.  Catech.  Mest.  5.  Chrysost.  Horn,  in  Euch.  To.  v.  Damas,  lib.  iv. 
 de  Ortho.  Fide,  c.  14. 
 
 f  Lib.  iv.  adv.  Marcion.  c.  40, 
 t  Lib.  cont.  Adimant.  c.  12, 
 
4-00 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXVIII. 
 
 his  body.  Now  that  had  been  a  very  bad  argument,  if  the  bread 
 was  truly  the  body  of  Christ ;  it  had  proved  that  the  sign  must 
 be  one  with  the  thing  signified. 
 
 The  whole  ancient  liturgies,  and  all  the  Greek  Fathers,  do 
 so  frequently  use  the  words  type,  antitype,  sign,  and  mystery, 
 that  this  is  not  so  much  as  denied ;  it  is  their  constant  style. 
 Now  it  is  apparent  that  a  thing  cannot  be  the  type  and  symbol 
 of  itself.  And  though  they  had  more  frequent  occasions  to 
 speak  of  the  Eucharist,  than  either  of  baptism  or  the  chrism ; 
 yet  as  they  called  the  water-  and  the  oil,  types  and  mysteries, 
 so  they  bestowed  the  same  descriptions  on  the  elements  in  the 
 Eucharist :  and  as  they  have  many  strong  expressions  concern- 
 ing the  water  and  the  oil,  that  cannot  be  literally  understood ; 
 so  upon  the  same  grounds  it  will  appear  reasonable,  to  give  the 
 same  exposition  to  some  high  expressions  that  the}7  fell  into 
 concerning  this  sacrament.  Facundus*  has  some  very  full 
 discourses  to  this  purpose  :  he  is  proving  that  Christ  may  be 
 called  the  adopted  Son  of  God,  as  well  as  he  is  truly  his  Son; 
 and  that  because  he  was  baptized.  The  sacrament  of  adop- 
 tion, that  is  baptism,  may  be  called  baptism  ;  as  the  sacrament 
 of  his  body  and  blood,  which  is  in  the  consecrated  bread  and 
 cup,  is  called  his  body  and  blood :  not  that  the  bread  is  pro- 
 perly his  body,  or  the  cup  properly  his  blood;  but  because  they 
 contain  in  them  the  mystery  of  his  body  and  blood,  St  Austin 
 says,  That  sacraments  must  have  some  resemblance  of  those 
 things  of  which  they  are  the  sacraments :  so  the  sacrament  of 
 the  body  of  Christ  is  after  some  manner  his  body;  and  the  sa- 
 crament of  his  blood  is  after  some  manner  his  blood.  And 
 speaking  of  the  Eucharist  as  a  sacrifice  of  praise,  he  says,f 
 The  flesh  and  blood  of  this  sacrifice  was  promised  before  the 
 coming  of  Christ,  by  the  sacrifices  that  were  the  types  of  it.  In 
 the  passion  the  sacrifice  was  truly  offered;  and  after  his  ascen- 
 sion it  is  celebrated  by  the  sacrament  of  the  remembrance  of  it. 
 And  when  he  speaks  of  the  murmuring  of  the  Jews  upon  our 
 Saviour's  speaking  of  giving  his  flesh  to  them,  to  eat  it ;  he 
 adds,]:  They  foolishly  and  carnally  thought,  that  he  was  to  cut 
 off  some  parcels  of  his  body,  to  be  given  to  them  :  but  he  shews 
 that  there  was  a  sacrament  hid  there.  And  he  thus  paraphrases 
 that  passage,  The  words  that  I  have  spoken  to  you,  they  are 
 spirit  and  life  :  understand  spiritually  that  which  I  have  said : 
 for  it  is  not  this  body  which  you  see  that  you  are  to  cat,  or  to 
 drink  this  blood  which  they  shall  shed  who  crucify  me :  But  I 
 have  recommended  a  sacrament  to  you,  which,  bci?ig  spiritually 
 understood,  shall  quicken  you;  and  though  it  be  necessary  that 
 it  be  celebrated  visibly,  yet  it  must  be  understood  invisibly. 
 
 *  Defrn.  Cone.  Chalced.  1.  9.  f  Ep.  23.  ad  Bonifac, 
 
 \  Lib.  xx.  con.  Faust,  c.  21.  in  Psal.  xcviii.  5. 
 
Art.  XXVIII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 101 
 
 Primasius*  compares  the  sacrament  to  a  pledge,  which  a 
 dving  man  leaves  to  any  one  whom  he  loved.  But  that  which 
 is  more  important  than  the  quotation  of  any  of  the  words  of 
 the  Fathers  is,  that  the  author  of  the  books  of  the  sacrament, 
 which  pass  under  the  name  of  St  Ambrose, f  though  it  is  gene- 
 rally agreed  that  those  books  were  writ  some  ages  after  his 
 death,  gives  us  the  prayer  of  consecration  as  it  was  used  in 
 his  time :  he  calls  it  the  heavenly  tiwt/s,  and  sets  it  down, 
 The  offices  of  the  Church  are  a  clearer  evidence  of  the  doc- 
 trine of  that  Church,  than  all  the  discourses  that  can  be  made 
 bv  any  doctor  in  it ;  the  one  is  the  language  of  the  whole  body, 
 whereas  the  other  are  only  the  private  reasonings  of  particular 
 men  :  and.  of  all  the  parti  of  the  office,  the  prayer  of  consecra- 
 tion is  that  which  does  most  certainly  set  out  to  us  the  sense  of 
 that  Church  that  used  it.  But  that  which  makes  this  remark 
 the  more  important  is,  that  the  prayer,  as  set  down  by  this 
 pretended  St  Ambrose,  is  very  near  the  same  with  that  which 
 is  now  in  the  canon  of  the  3Iass ;  only  there  is  one  very  im- 
 portant variation,  which  will  best  appear  by  setting  both  down. 
 
 That  of  St  Ambrose  is,  Fac  nobis  hanc  oblationem,  ascrip- 
 tam,  rationabilem,  accept abilem^  quod  est  Jtgura  corporis  et  san- 
 guinis Domini  nostri  Jesu  Christie  qui  pridie  quam  pateretur, 
 fyc.  That  in  the  canon  of  the  mass  is,  Quam  oblationtm  tu 
 Deus  in  omnibus  qua  sumus  benedictam,  ascriptam,  ratam,  ra- 
 tionabilem^  acceptabilemque  facer e  digneris:  ut  nobis  corpus  et 
 sanguis  fat  dilectissimi  Filii  tui  Domini  nostri  Jesu  Christi. 
 
 We  do  plainly  see  so  great  a  resemblance  of  the  latter  to 
 the  former  of  these  two  prayers,  that  we  may  well  conclude 
 that  the  one  was  begun  in  the  other :  but  at  the  same  time  we 
 observe  an  essential  difference.  In  the  former,  this  sacrifice 
 is  called  the  Jigure  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ ;  whereas 
 in  the  latter  it  is  prayed,  that  it  may  become  to  us  the  body  and 
 blood  of  Christ.  As  long  as  the  former  was  the  prayer  of  con- 
 secration, it  is  not  possible  for  us  to  imagine  that  the  doctrine 
 of  the  corporal  presence  could  be  received ;  for  that  which  was 
 believed  to  be  the  true  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  could  not  be 
 called,  especially  in  such  a  part  of  the  office,  the  figure  of  his 
 body  and  blood:  and  therefore  the  change  that  was  made  in 
 this  prayer  was  an  evident  proof  of  a  change  in  the  doctrine  : 
 and  if  we  could  tell  in  what  age  that  was  done,  we  might  then 
 upon  greater  certainty  fix  the  time  in  which  this  change  was 
 made,  or  at  least  in  which  the  inconsistency  of  that  prayer  with 
 tins  doctrine  was  observed. 
 
 I  have  now  set  down  a  great  variety  of  proofs  reduced  under 
 different  heads ;  from  which  it  appears  evidently  that  the  Fa- 
 thers did  not  believe  this  doctrine,  but  that  they  did  affirm  the 
 
 Comm.  in  1  Bp.  ad  Cor.  f  Lib.  iv.  dt  Sacram.  c.  5, 
 
 C  c 
 
402 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF  Art.  XXVIII. 
 
 contrary  very  expressly.  This  sacrament  continued  to  be  so 
 long  considered  as  the  figure  or  image  of  Christ's  body,  that 
 the  seventh  General  Council,  which  met  at  Constantinople  in 
 the  year  754,  and  consisted  of  above  three  hundred  and  thirty 
 bishops,  when  it  condemned  the  worship  of  images,  affirmed 
 that  this  was  the  only  image  that  we  might  lawfully  have  of 
 Christ ;  and  that  he  had  appointed  us  to  offer  this  image  of  his 
 body,  to  wit,  the  substance  of' the  bread.  That  was  indeed  con- 
 tradicted with  much  confidence  by  the  second  Council  of  Nice, 
 in  which,  in  opposition  to  what  appears  to  this  day  in  all  the 
 Greek  liturgies,  and  the  Greek  Fathers,  they  do  positively 
 deny  that  the  sacrament  was  ever  called  the  image  of  Christ; 
 and  they  affirm  it  to  be  the  true  body  of  Christ. 
 
 In  conclusion,  I  shall  next  shew  how  this  doctrine  crept  into 
 the  Church ;  for  this  seems  plausible,  that  a  doctrine  of  this 
 nature  could  never  have  got  into  the  Church  in  any  age,  if 
 those  of  the  age  that  admitted  it  had  not  known  that  it  had 
 been  the  doctrine  of  the  former  age,  and  so  upwards  to  the 
 age  of  the  Apostles.  It  is  not  to  be  denied  but  that  very 
 early  both  Justin  Martyr  and  Irenaeus  thought,  that  there 
 was  such  a  sanctification  of  the  elements  that  there  was  a 
 divine  virtue  in  them :  and  in  those  very  passages  which  we 
 have  urged  from  the  arguings  of  the  Fathers  against  the  Eu- 
 tychians,  though  they  do  plainly  prove  that  they  believed  that 
 the  substance  of  bread  and  tvine  did  still  remain,  yet  they  do 
 suppose  an  union  of  the  elements  to  the  body  of  Christ,  like 
 that  of  the  human  nature's  being  united  to  the  divine.  Here 
 a  foundation  was  laid  for  all  the  superstructure  that  was  after- 
 wards raised  upon  it.  For  though  the  liturgies  and  public 
 offices  continued  long  in  the  first  simplicity,  yet  the  Fathers, 
 who  did  very  much  study  eloquence,  chiefly  the  Greek  Fathers, 
 carried  this  matter  very  far  in  their  sermons  and  homilies. 
 They  did  only  apprehend  the  profanation  of  the  sacrament, 
 from  the  unworthiness  of  those  who  came  to  it;  and  being 
 much  set  on  the  begetting  a  due  reverence  for  so  holy  an  ac- 
 tion, and  a  seriousness  in  the  performance  of  it,  they  urged  all 
 the  topics  that  sublime  figures  or  warm  expressions  could  help 
 them  with.  And  with  this  exalted  eloquence  of  theirs  we  must 
 likewise  observe  the  state  that  the  world  fell  in,  in  the  fifth 
 century.  Vast  swarms  out  of  the  North  overran  the  Roman 
 Empire,  and  by  a  long  continued  succession  of  new  invaders, 
 all  was  sacked  and  ruined :  In  the  West,  the  Goths  were  fol- 
 lowed by  the  Vandals,  the  Alans,  the  Gepides,  the  Franks, 
 the  Sweves,  the  Huns,  and  the  Lombards,  some  of  these  na- 
 tions ;  and  in  the  conclusion,  the  Saracens  and  Turks  in  the 
 East  made  havoc  of  all  that  was  polite  or  learned ; — by  which 
 we  lost  the  chief  writings  of  the  first  and  best  times;  but  in- 
 stead of  these,  many  spurious  ones  were  afterwards  produced, 
 
Art.  XXVIII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 403 
 
 and  they  passed  easily  in  dark  and  ignorant  ages.  All  fell 
 under  much  oppression  and  misery,  and  Europe  was  so  over- 
 run with  barbarity  and  ignorance,  that  it  cannot  be  easily  ap- 
 prehended but  by  such  as  have  been  at  the  pains  to  go  through 
 one  of  the  ungratefullest  pieces  of  study  that  can  be  well  ima- 
 gined, and  have  read  the  productions  of  those  ages.  The  un- 
 derstanding the  Scriptures,  or  languages,  or  history,  was  not 
 so  much  as  thought  on.  Some  affected  homilies  or  descant- 
 ings  on  the  rituals  of  the  Church,  full  of  many  very  odd  specu- 
 lations about  them,  are  among  the  best  of  the  writings  of  those 
 times.  They  were  easily  imposed  on  by  any  new  forgery : 
 witness  the  reception  and  authority  that  was  given  to  the  De- 
 cretal Epistles  of  the  Popes  of  the  first  three  centuries ;  which 
 for  many  ages  maintained  its  credit,  though  it  was  plainly  a 
 forgery  of  the  eighth  century,  and  was  contrived  with  so  little 
 art,  that  there  is  not  in  them  colour  enough  to  excuse  the 
 ignorance  of  those  that  were  deceived  by  it.  As  it  is  an  easy 
 thing  to  mislead  ignorant  multitudes,  so  there  is  somewhat  in 
 incredible  opinions  and  stories  that  is  suited  to  such  a  state  of 
 mankind :  and  as  men  are  apt  to  fancy  that  they  see  sprights, 
 especially  in  the  night,  so  the  more  of  darkness  and  unconceiva- 
 bleness  that  there  is  in  an  opinion,  it  is  the  more  properly  cal- 
 culated for  such  times.  The  ages  that  succeeded  were  not  only 
 times  of  ignorance,  but  they  were  also  times  of  much  corrup- 
 tion. The  writers  of  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries  give  us 
 dismal  representations  of  the  corruptions  of  their  times ;  and 
 the  scandalous  unconstancy  of  the  councils  of  those  ages  is  too 
 evident  a  proof  of  what  we  find  said  by  the  good  men  of  those 
 days ;  but  things  fell  lower  and  lower  in  the  succeeding  ages. 
 It  is  an  amazing  thing,  that  in  the  very  office  of  consecrating 
 bishops,  examinations  are  ordered  concerning  those  crimes,  the 
 very  mention  of  which  give  horror ;  De  Coitu  cum  Masculo  et 
 cam  Quadrupedibus. 
 
 The  Popes  more  particularly  were  such  a  succession  of  men, 
 that,  as  their  own  historians  have  described  them,  nothing  in 
 any  history  can  be  produced  that  is  like  them.  The  charac- 
 ters they  give  them  are  so  monstrous,  that  nothing  under  the 
 authority  of  unquestioned  writers,  and  the  evidence  of  the  facts 
 themselves,  could  make  them  credible. 
 
 But  that  which  makes  the  introduction  of  this  doctrine  appear 
 the  more  probable  is,  that  we  plainly  see  the  whole  body  of 
 the  Clergy  was  every-where  so  influenced  by  the  management 
 of  the  Popes,  that  they  generally  entered  into  combinations  to 
 subject  the  temporalty  to  the  spiritualty:  and  therefore  every 
 opinion  that  tended  to  render  the  persons  of  the  Clergy  sacred, 
 and  to  raise  their  character  high,  was  sure  to  receive  the  best 
 entertainment,  and  the  greatest  encouragement  possible.  No- 
 thing could  carry  this  so  far  as  an  opinion  that  represented  the 
 
404 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXVIII. 
 
 Priest  as  having  a  character  by  which,  with  a  few  words,  he 
 could  make  a  God.  The  opinion  of  transubstantiation  was 
 such  an  engine,  that  it,  being  once  set  on  foot,  could  not  but 
 meet  with  a  favourable  reception  from  those  who  were  then 
 seeking  all  possible  colours  to  give  credit  to  their  authority, 
 and  to  advance  it.  The  numbers  of  the  Clergy  were  then  so 
 great,  and  their  contrivances  were  so  well  suited  to  the  cre- 
 dulity and  superstition  of  those  times,  that,  by  visions  and 
 wonderful  stories  confidently  vouched,  they  could  easily  infuse 
 any  thing  into  weak  and  giddy  multitudes.  Besides  that  the 
 genius  of  those  times  led  them  much  to  the  love  of  pomp  and 
 show,  they  had  lost  the  true  power  and  beauty  of  religion,  and 
 were  willing,  by  outward  appearances,  to  balance  or  compen- 
 sate for  their  great  defects. 
 
 But  besides  all  those  general  considerations,  which  such  as 
 are  acquainted  with  the  history  of  those  ages  know  do  belong 
 to  them  in  a  much  higher  degree  than  is  here  set  forth,  there 
 are  some  specialties  that  relate  to  this  doctrine  in  particular, 
 which  will  make  the  introduction  of  it  appear  the  more  prac- 
 ticable. This  had  never  been  condemned  in  any  former  age ; 
 for  as  none  condemn  errors  by  anticipation  or  prophecy,  so 
 the  promoters  of  it  had  this  advantage,  that  no  formal  decision 
 had  been  made  against  them.  It  did  also  in  the  outward  sound 
 agree  with  the  words  of  the  institution,  and  the  phrases  gene- 
 rally used,  of  the  elements  being  changed  into  the  body  and 
 blood  of  Christ :  outward  sound  and  appearance  was  enough 
 in  ignorant  ages  to  hide  the  change  that  was  made.  The  step 
 that  is  made  from  believing  any  thing  in  general,  with  an  in- 
 distinct and  confused  apprehension,  to  a  determined  way  of 
 explaining  it,  is  not  hard  to  be  brought  about. 
 
 The  people  in  general  believed  that  Christ  was  in  the  sacra- 
 ment, and  that  the  elements  were  his  body  and  blood,  without 
 troubling  themselves  to  examine  in  what  manner  all  this  was 
 done ;  so  it  was  no  great  step  in  a  dark  age  to  put  a  particu- 
 lar explanation  of  this  upon  them :  and  this  change  being 
 brought  in  without  any  visible  alterations  made  in  the  worship, 
 it  must  needs  have  passed  with  the  world  the  more  easily ;  for 
 in  all  times  visible  rites  are  more  minded  by  the  people  than 
 speculative  points,  which  they  consider  very  little.  No  altera- 
 tions were  at  first  made  in  the  worship ;  the  adoration  of  the 
 host,  and  the  processions  invented  to  honour  it,  came  after- 
 wards. 
 
 Honorius  the  I  Vth,  who  first  appointed  the  adora- 
 ?reetg'iib.°ni.  tion,  does  not  pretend  to  found  it  on  ancient  practice ; 
 cIp*io.  onry  ne  commands  the  priests  to  tell  the  people  to  do 
 it :  and  he  at  first  enjoined  only  an  inclination  of  the 
 head  to  the  sacrament.  But  his  successor  Gregory  the  IXth 
 did  niore  resolutely  command  it,  and  ordered  a  bell  to  be  rung 
 
Art.  XXV1I1. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 105 
 
 at  the  consecration  and  elevation,  to  give  notice  of  it,  that  so 
 all  those  who  heard  it  might  kneel  and  join  their  hands,  and  so 
 worship  the  host. 
 
 The  first  controversy  about  the  manner  of  the  presence  arose 
 incidentally  upon  the  controversy  of  images.  The  Council  at 
 Constantinople  decreed,  that  the  sacrament  was  the  image  of 
 Christ,  in  which  the  substance  of  bread  and  wine  remained. 
 Those  of  Nice,  how  furiously  soever  they  fell  upon  them  for 
 calling  the  sacrament  the  image  of  Christ,  yet  do  nowhere 
 blame  them  for  saying  that  the  substance  of  bread  and  wine 
 remained  in  it :  for  indeed  the  opinion  of  Damascene,  and  of 
 most  of  the  Greek  Church,  was,  that  there  was  an  assump- 
 tion of  the  bread  and  wine  into  an  union  with  the  body  of  Christ. 
 The  Council  of  Constantinople  brought  in  their  decision  occa- 
 sionally, .that  being  considered  as  the  settled  doctrine  of  the 
 Church ;  whereas  those  of  Nice  did  visibly  innovate  and  falsify 
 the  tradition ;  for  they  affirm,  as  Damascene  had  done  before 
 them,  that  the  elements  were  called  the  antitypes  of  Christ's 
 body,  only  before  they  were  consecrated,  but  not  after  it; 
 which  they  say  none  of  the  Fathers  had  done.  This  is  so  no- 
 toriously false,  that  no  man  can  pretend  now  to  justify  them  in 
 it,  since  there  are  above  twenty  of  the  Fathers  that  were  be- 
 fore them,  who  in  plain  words  call  the  elements  after  consecra- 
 tion, the  figure  and  antitype  of  Christ's  body.  Here  then  was 
 the  tradition  and  practice  of  the  Church  falsified,  which  is  no 
 small  prejudice  against  those  that  support  the  doctrine,  as  well 
 as  against  the  credit  of  that  Council. 
 
 About  thirty  years  after  that  Council,  Paschase  Radbert, 
 Abbot  of  Corby  in  France,  did  very  plainly  assert  the  corporal 
 presence  in  the  Eucharist.  He  is  acknowledged  both  by  Bel- 
 larmine  and  Sirmondus  to  be  the  first  writer  that  did  on  pur- 
 pose advance  and  explain  that  doctrine :  he  himself  values  his 
 pains  in  that  matter;  and  as  he  laments  the  slowness  of  some 
 in  believing  it,  so  he  pretends  that  he  had  moved  many  to  as- 
 sent to  it.  But  he  confesses,  that  some  blamed  him  for  as- 
 cribing a  sense  to  the  words  of  Christ  that  was  not  consonant 
 to  truth.  There  was  but  one  book  writ  in  that  age  to  second 
 him ;  the  name  of  the  author  was  lost,  till  Mabillon  discovered 
 that  it  was  writ  by  one  Herigerus,  Abbot  of  Cob.  But  all  the 
 eminent  men  and  the  great  writers  of  that  time  wrote  plainly 
 against  this  doctrine,  and  affirmed,  that  the  bread  and  wine 
 remained  in  the  sacrament,  and  did  nourish  our  bodies  as 
 other  meats  do.  Those  were  Rabanus  Maurus,  Archbishop 
 of  Mentz ;  Amalarius,  Archbishop  of  Triers ;  Heribald, 
 Bishop  of  Auxerre;  Bertram,  or  Ratramne;  John  Scot 
 Erigena;  Walafridus  Strabus ;  Florus,  and  Christian  Druth- 
 mar.  Three  of  these  set  themselves  on  purpose  to  refute 
 Paschase. 
 
406 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Aet.  XXVIII. 
 
 Rabanus  Maurus,  in  an  epistle  to  Abbot  Egilon,  wrote 
 against  Paschase  for  saying,  that  it  was  that  body  that  was 
 born  of  the  Virgin,  that  was  crucified  and  raised  up  again, 
 which  was  daily  offered  up.  And  though  that  book  is  lost, 
 yet  as  he  himself  refers  his  reader  to  it  in  his  Penitential,  so 
 we  have  an  account  given  of  it  by  the  anonymous  defender  of 
 Paschase. 
 
 Ratramne  was  commanded  by  Charles  the  Bald,  then  Em- 
 peror, to  write  upon  that  subject ;  which  he  in  the  beginning 
 of  his  book  promises  to  do,  not  trusting  to  his  own  sense,  but 
 following  the  steps  of  the  holy  Fathers.  He  tells  us,  that  there 
 were  different  opinions  about  it :  some  believing  that  the  body 
 of  Christ  was  there  without  a  figure;  others  saying  that  it  was 
 there  in  a  figure  or  mystery :  upon  which  he  apprehended  that 
 a  great  schism  must  follow.  His  book  is  very  short,  and  very 
 plain :  he  asserts  our  doctrine  as  expressly  as  we  ourselves  can 
 do ;  he  delivers  it  in  the  same  words,  and  proves  it  by  many  of 
 the  same  arguments  and  authorities  that  we  bring. 
 
 Raban  and  Ratramne  were,  without  dispute,  reckoned  among 
 the  first  men  of  that  age. 
 
 John  Scot  was  also  commanded  by  the  same  Emperor  to 
 write  on  the  same  subject:  he  wras  one  of  the  most  learned  and 
 the  most  ingenious  men  of  the  age ;  and  was  in  great  esteem 
 both  with  the  Emperor  and  with  our  King  Alfred.  He  was 
 reckoned  both  a  saint  and  a  martyr.  He  did  formally  refute 
 Paschase's  doctrine,  and  assert  ours.  His  book  is  indeed  lost  ; 
 but  a  full  account  of  it  is  given  us  by  other  writers  of  that 
 time.  And  it  is  a  great  evidence  that  his  opinion  in  this 
 matter  was  not  then  thought  to  be  contrary  to  the  general 
 sense  of  the  Church  in  that  age ;  for  he  having  writ  against 
 St  Austin's  doctrine  concerning  predestination,  there  was  a 
 very  severe  censure  of  him  and  of  his  writings  published  under 
 the  name  of  the  Church  of  Lyons,  in  which  they  do  not  once 
 reflect  on  him  for  his  opinions  touching  the  Eucharist.  It  ap- 
 pears from  this,  that  their  doctrine  concerning  the  sacrament 
 was  then  generally  received ;  since  both  Ratramne  and  he, 
 though  they  differed  extremely  in  the  point  of  predestination, 
 yet  both  agreed  in  this.  It  is  probable  that  the  Saxon  homily 
 that  was  read  in  England  on  Easter-day,  was  taken  from  Scot's 
 book ;  which  does  fully  reject  the  corporal  presence.  This  is 
 enough  to  shew  that  Paschase's  opinion  was  an  innovation 
 broached  in  the  ninth  century,  and  was  opposed  by  all  the 
 great  men  of  that  age. 
 
 The  tenth  century  was  the  blackest  and  most  ignorant  of 
 all  the  ages  of  the  Church  :  there  is  not  one  writer  in  that  age 
 that  gives  us  any  clear  account  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  : 
 such  remote  hints  as  occur  do  still  savour  of  Ratramne's  doc- 
 trine.   All  men  were  then  asleep,  and  so  it  was  a  fit  time  for 
 
Art.  XXVIII.  THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 407 
 
 the  tares  that  Paschase  had  sown  to  grow  up  in  it.  The 
 Popes  of  that  age  were  such  a  succession  of  monsters,  that 
 Baronius  cannot  forbear  to  make  the  saddest  exclamations  pos- 
 sible against  their  debaucheries,  their  cruelties,  and  their  other 
 vices.  About  the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century,  after  this 
 dispute  had  slept  almost  two  hundred  years,  it  was  again  re- 
 vived. 
 
 Bruno  Bishop  of  Angiers,  and  Berengarius  his  Archdeacon, 
 maintained  the  doctrine  of  Ratramne.  Little  mention  is  made 
 of  the  Bishop ;  but  the  Archdeacon  is  spoken  of  as  a  man  of 
 great  piety,  so  that  he  passed  for  a  saint ;  and  was  a  man  of 
 such  learning,  that  when  he  was  brought  before  Pope  Nicolaus, 
 no  man  could  resist  him.  He  writ  against  Paschase,  and  had 
 many  followers  :  the  historians  of  that  age  tell  us,  that  his  doc- 
 trine had  overspread  all  France.  The  books  writ  against  him 
 by  Lanfranc  and  others  are  filled  with  an  impudent  corrupting 
 of  all  antiquity.  Many  Councils  were  held  upon  this  matter : 
 and  these,  together  with  the  terrors  of  burning,  which  was  then 
 beginning  to  be  the  common  punishment  of  heresy,  made  him 
 renounce  his  opinion  :  but  he  returned  to  it  again ;  yet  he  af- 
 terwards renounced  it ;  though  Lanfranc  reproached  him,  that 
 it  was  not  the  love  of  truth,  but  the  fear  of  death,  that  brought 
 him  to  it.  And  his  final  retracting  of  that  renouncing  of  his 
 opinion  is  lately  found  in  France,  as  I  have  been  credibly 
 informed.  Thus  this  opinion,  that  in  the  ninth  century  was 
 generally  received,  and  was  condemned  by  neither  Pope  nor 
 Council,  was  become  so  odious  in  the  eleventh  century,  that 
 none  durst  own  it :  and  he  who  had  the  courage  to  own  it,  yet 
 was  not  resolute  enough  to  stand  to  it ;  for  about  this  time  the 
 doctrine  of  extirpating  heretics,  and  of  deposing  such  princes 
 as  were  defective  in  that  matter,  was  universally  put  in  prac- 
 tice. Great  bodies  of  men  began  to  separate  from  the  Roman 
 communion  in  the  southern  parts  of  France :  and  one  of  the 
 chief  points  of  their  doctrine  was  their  believing  that  Christ 
 was  not  corporally  present  in  the  Eucharist,  and  that  he  was 
 there  only  in  a  jigure  or  mystery.  But  now  that  the  contrary 
 doctrine  was  established,  and  that  those  who  denied  it  were 
 adjudged  to  be  burnt,  it  is  no  wonder  if  it  quickly  gained 
 ground,  when  on  the  one  hand  the  priests  saw  their  interest 
 in  promoting  it,  and  all  people  felt  the  danger  of  denying  it. 
 The  anathemas  of  the  Church,  and  the  terrors  of  burning,  were 
 infallible  things  to  silence  contradiction  at  least,  if  not  to  gain 
 assent. 
 
 Soon  after  this  doctrine  was  received,  the  schoolmen  began 
 to  refine  upon  it,  as  they  did  upon  every  thing    Lib.  „, 
 else.    The  master  of  the  sentences  would  not  deter-    Dlit  11 
 mine  how  Christ  was  present ;  whether  formally  or  substan- 
 tially, or  some  other  way.     Some  schoolmen  thought  that  the 
 
4-08 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXVIII. 
 
 matter  of  bread  was  destroyed,  but  that  the  form  remained,  to 
 be  the  form  of  Christ's  body,  that  was  the  matter  of  it.  Others 
 thought  that  the  matter  of  the  elements  remained,  and  that  the 
 form  only  was  destroyed :  but  that  to  which  many  inclined  was 
 the  assumption  of  the  elements  into  an  union  with  the  body  of 
 Christ,  or  a  hypostatical  union  of  the  Eternal  Word  to  them, 
 by  which  they  became  as  truly  a  body  to  Christ,  as  that  which 
 he  has  in  heaven ;  yet  it  was  not  the  same,  but  a  different  body. 
 De  sacram.  Stephen  Bishop  of  Autun  was  the  first  that  fell  on 
 Aitaris,  c.  13.  tjie  word  transubstantiation.  Amalric,  in  the  begin- 
 ning of  the  thirteenth  century,  denied  in  express  words  the  cor- 
 poral presence :  he  was  condemned  in  the  fourth  Council  of  the 
 Lateran  as  an  heretic,  and  his  body  was  ordered  to  be  taken  up 
 and  burnt ;  and  in  opposition  to  him  transubstantiation  was  de- 
 creed. Yet  the  schoolmen  continued  to  offer  different  explana- 
 tions of  this  for  a  great  while  after  that ;  but  in  conclusion  all 
 agreed  to  explain  it  as  was  formerly  set  forth.  It  appears,  by  the 
 crude  way  in  which  it  was  at  first  explained,  that  it  was  a  no- 
 velty, and  that  men  did  not  know  how  to  mould  and  frame  it ; 
 but  at  last  it  was  licked  into  shape,  the  whole  philosophy  being 
 cast  into  such  a  mould  as  agreed  with  it.  And  therefore,  in 
 the  present  age,  in  which  that  philosophy  has  lost  its  credit, 
 great  pains  are  taken  to  suppress  the  new  and  freer  way  of 
 philosophy,  as  that  which  cannot  be  so  easily  subdued  to  sup- 
 port this  doctrine  as  the  old  one  was.  And  the  arts  that  those 
 who  go  into  the  new  philosophy  take  to  reconcile  their  scheme 
 to  this  doctrine,  shew  that  there  is  nothing  that  subtile  and  un- 
 sincere  men  will  not  venture  on  ;  for,  since  they  make  extension 
 to  be  of  the  essence  of  matter ;  and  think  that  accidents  are  only 
 the  modes  of  matter,  which  have  no  proper  being  of  themselves, 
 it  is  evident,  that  a  body  cannot  be  without  its  extension,  and 
 that  accidents  cannot  subsist  without  their  subject :  so  that  this 
 can  be  in  no  sort  reconciled  to  transubstantiation ;  and  there- 
 fore they  would  willingly  avoid  this  special  manner  of  the  pre- 
 sence, and  only  in  general  assert  that  Christ  is  corporally  pre- 
 sent. But  the  decrees  of  the  Lateran  and  Trent  Councils 
 make  it  evident,  that  transubstantiation  is  now  a  doctrine  that 
 is  bound  upon  them  by  the  authority  of  the  Church  and  of 
 tradition ;  and  that  they  are  as  much  bound  to  believe  it,  as  to 
 believe  the  corporal  presence  itself.  Thus  the  going  off  from 
 the  simplicity  in  which  Christ  did  deliver  the  sacrament,  and 
 in  which  the  Church  at  first  received  it,  into  some  sublime  ex- 
 pressions about  it,  led  men  once  out  of  the  way,  and  they  still 
 went  farther  and  farther  from  it.  Pious  and  rhetorical  figures, 
 pursued  far  by  men  of  heated  imaginations  and  of  inflamed 
 affections,  were  followed  with  explanations  invented  by  colder 
 and  more  designing  men  afterwards,  and  so  it  increased  till  it 
 grew  by  degrees  to  that  to  which  at  last  it  settled  on. 
 
Art.  XXVIII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 409 
 
 But  after  all,  if  the  doctrine  of  the  corporal  presence  had 
 rested  only  in  a  speculation,  though  we  should  have  judged 
 those  who  held  it  to  be  very  bad  philosophers,  and  no  good 
 critics ;  yet  we  could  have  endured  it,  if  it  had  rested  there, 
 and  had  not  gone  on  to  be  a  matter  of  practice,  by  the  adora- 
 tion and  processions,  with  every  thing  else  of  that  kind,  which 
 followed  upon  it ;  for  this  corrupted  the  worship. 
 
 The  Lutherans  believe  a  consubstantiation,  and  that  both 
 Christ's  body  and  blood,  and  the  substance  of  the  elements, 
 are  together  in  the  sacrament.   That,  some  explain  by  an  ubi- 
 quity which  they  think  is  communicated  to  the  human  nature 
 of  Christ,  by  which  his  body  is  every-where  as  well  as  in  the 
 sacrament ;  whereas  others  of  them  think,  that  since  the  words 
 of  Christ  must  needs  be  true  in  a  literal  sense,  his  body  and 
 blood  is  therefore  in  the  sacrament,  but  in,  with,  and  under, 
 the  bread  and  wine.    All  this  we  think  is  ill-grounded,  and  is 
 neither  agreeable  to  the  words  of  the  institution,  nor  to  the 
 nature  of  things.    A  great  deal  of  that  which  was  formerly  set 
 forth  in  defence  of  our  doctrine  falls  likewise  upon  this.  The 
 ubiquity  communicated  to  the  human  nature,  as  it  seems  a 
 thing  in  itself  impossible,  so  it  gives  no  more  to  the  sacrament 
 than  to  every  thing  else.    Christ's  body  may  be  said  to  be  in 
 every  thing,  or  rather  every  thing  may  be  said  to  be  his  body 
 and  blood,  as  well  as  the  elements  in  the  sacrament.    The  im- 
 possibility of  a  body's  being  without  extension,  or  in  more 
 places  at  once,  lies  against  this,  as  well  as  against  transubstan- 
 tiation.    But  yet,  after  all,  this  is  only  a  point  of  speculation ; 
 nothing  follows  upon  it  in  practice,  no  adoration  is  offered  to 
 the  elements  :  and  therefore  we  judge  that  speculative  opinions 
 may  be  borne  with,  when  they  neither  fall  upon  the  fundamen- 
 tals of  Christianity,  to  give  us  false  ideas  of  the  essential  parts 
 of  our  religion,  nor  affect  our  practice ;  and  chiefly  when  the 
 worship  of  God  is  maintained  in  its  purity,  for  which  we  see 
 God  has  expressed  so  particular  a  concern,  giving  it  the  word 
 which  of  all  others  raises  in  us  the  most  sensible  and  the 
 strongest  ideas,  calling  it  jealousy, — that  we  reckon  Ave  ought 
 to  watch  over  this  with  much  caution.    We  can  very  well 
 bear  with  some  opinions  that  we  think  ill-grounded,  as  long 
 as  they  are  only  matters  of  opinion,  and  have  no  influence 
 neither  on  men's  morals  nor  their  worship.    We  still  hold 
 communion  with  bodies  of  men,  that,  as  we  judge,  think  wrong, 
 but  yet  do  both  live  well,  and  maintain  the  purity  of  the  wor- 
 ship of  God.    We  know  the  great  design  of  religion  is  to 
 govern  men's  lives,  and  to  give  them  right  ideas  of  God,  and 
 of  the  ways  of  worshipping  him.   All  opinions  that  do  not  break 
 in  upon  these,  are  things  in  which  great  forbearance  is  to  be 
 used ;  large  allowances  are  to  be  made  for  men's  notions  in  all 
 other  things;  and  therefore  we  think  that  neither  consubstan- 
 
110 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF  Art.  XXVIII. 
 
 tiation  nor  transubstantiation,  how  ill-grounded  soever  we  take 
 both  to  be,  ought  to  dissolve  the  union  and  communion  of 
 churches:  but  it  is  quite  another  thing,  if  under  either  of 
 these  opinions  an  adoration  of  the  elements  is  taught  and  prac- 
 tised. 
 
 This  we  believe  is  plain  idolatry,  when  an  insensible  piece 
 of  matter,  such  as  bread  and  wine,  has  divine  honours  paid  it ; 
 when  it  is  believed  to  be  God,  when  it  is  called  God,  and  is  in 
 all  respects  worshipped  with  the  same  adoration  that  is  offered 
 up  to  Almighty  God.  This  we  think  is  gross  idolatry.  Many 
 writers  of  the  Church  of  Rome  have  acknowledged,  that  if 
 transubstantiation  is  not  true,  their  worship  is  a  strain  of  idola- 
 try beyond  any  that  is  practised  among  the  most  depraved  of 
 all  the  heathens. 
 
 The  only  excuse  that  is  offered  in  this  matter  is,  that  since 
 the  declared  object  of  worship  is  Jesus  Christ,  believed  to  be 
 there  present,  then,  whether  he  is  present  or  not,  the  worship 
 terminates  in  him ;  both  the  secret  acts  of  the  worshippers  and 
 the  professed  doctrine  of  the  Church  do  lodge  it  there.  And 
 therefore  it  may  be  said,  that  though  he  should  not  be  actually 
 present,  yet  the  act  of  adoration  being  directed  to  him,  must 
 be  accepted  of  God,  as  right  meant,  and  duly  directed,  even 
 though  there  should  happen  to  be  a  mistake  in  the  outward 
 application  of  it. 
 
 In  answer  to  this,  we  do  not  pretend  to  determine  how  far 
 this  may  be  pardoned  by  God;  whose  mercies  are  infinite, 
 and  who  does  certainly  consider  chiefly  the  hearts  of  his  crea- 
 tures, and  is  merciful  to  their  infirmities,  and  to  such  errors  as 
 arise  out  of  their  weakness,  their  hearts  being  sincere  before 
 him.  We  ought  to  consider  this  action  as  it  is  in  itself,  and 
 not  according  to  men's  apprehensions  and  opinions  about  it. 
 If  the  conceits  that  the  ancient  idolaters  had,  both  concerning 
 their  gods  and  the  idols  that  they  worshipped,  will  excuse 
 from  idolatry,  it  will  be  very  hard  to  say  that  there  were  ever 
 any  idolaters  in  the  world.  Those  who  worshipped  the  Sun, 
 thought  that  the  great  Divinity  was  lodged  there,  as  in  a  vehicle 
 or  temple  ;  but  yet  they  were  not  by  reason  of  that  misconcep- 
 tion excused  from  being  idolaters. 
 
 If  a  false  opinion  upon  which  a  practice  is  founded,  taken 
 up  without  any  good  authority,  will  excuse  men's  sins,  it  will 
 be  easy  for  them  to  find  apologies  for  every  thing.  If  the 
 worship  of  the  elements  had  been  commanded  by  God,  then 
 an  opinion  concerning  it  might  excuse  the  carrying  of  that  too 
 far :  but  there  being  no  command  for  it,  no  hint  given  about 
 it,  nor  any  insinuation  given  of  any  such  practice  in  the  begin- 
 nings of  Christianity;  an  opinion  that  men  have  taken  up 
 cannot  justify  a  new  practice,  of  which  neither  the  first,  nor  a 
 great  many  of  the  following  ages  knew  any  thing.    An  opinion 
 
Art.  XXVIII.  THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 411 
 
 cannot  justify  men's  practice  founded  upon  it,  if  that  proves  to 
 be  false.  All  the  softening  that  can  be  given  it  is,  that  it  is  a 
 sin  of  ignorance ;  but  that  does  not  change  the  nature  of  the 
 action,  how  far  soever  it  may  go  with  relation  to  the  judgments 
 of  God  :  if  the  opinion  is  rashly  taken  up  and  stiffly  maintained, 
 the  worship  that  is  introduced  upon  it  is  aggravated  by  the  ill 
 foundation  that  it  is  built  upon.  We  know  God  by  his  essence 
 is  every-where ;  but  this  will  not  justify  our  worshipping  any 
 material  object  upon  this  pretence,  because  God  is  in  it :  we 
 ought  never  to  worship  him  towards  any  visible  object,  unless 
 he  were  evidently  declaring  his  glory  in  it ;  as  he  did  to  Moses 
 in  the  flaming  bush ;  to  the  Israelites  on  Mount  Sinai,  and  in 
 the  cloud  of  glory;  or  to  us  Christians  in  a  sublimer  manner 
 in  the  human  nature  of  Jesus  Christ. 
 
 But,  by  this  parity  of  reason,  though  we  were  sure  that  Christ 
 were  in  the  elements,  yet  since  he  is  there  invisible,  as  God  is 
 by  his  essence  every-where,  we  ought  to  direct  no  adoration  to 
 the  elements;  we  ought  only  to  worship  God,  and  his  Son 
 Christ  Jesus,  in  the  grateful  remembrance  of  his  sufferings  for 
 us,  which  are  therein  commemorated.  We  ought  not  to  suf- 
 fer our  worship  to  terminate  on  the  visible  elements ;  because 
 if  Christ  is  in  them,  yet  he  does  not  manifest  that  visibly  to 
 us.  Since  therefore  the  opinion  of  the  corporal  presence,  upon 
 which  this  adoration  is  founded,  is  false ;  and  since  no  such 
 worship  is  so  much  as  mentioned,  much  less  commanded  in 
 Scripture ;  and  since  there  can  scarce  be  any  idolatry  in  the 
 world  so  gross  as  that  it  shall  not  excuse  itself  by  some  such 
 doctrine,  by  which  all  the  acts  of  worship  are  made  to  termi- 
 nate finally  in  God ;  we  must  conclude  that  this  plea  cannot 
 excuse  the  Church  of  Rome  from  idolatry,  even  though  their 
 doctrine  of  the  corporal  presence  were  true ;  but  much  less  if 
 it  is  false.  We  do  therefore  condemn  this  worship  as  idolatry, 
 without  taking  upon  us  to  define  the  extent  of  the  mercies  of 
 God  towards  all  those  who  are  involved  in  it. 
 
 If  all  the  premises  are  true,  then  it  is  needless  to  insist  lon- 
 ger on  explaining  the  following  paragraph  of  the  Article — that 
 Christ's  body  is  received  in  the  sacrament  in  a  heavenly  and 
 spiritual  manner,  and  that  the  mean  by  which  it  is  received  is 
 faith;  for  that  is  such  a  natural  result  of  them,  that  it  appears 
 evident  of  itself,  as  being  the  conclusion  that  arises  out  of  those 
 premises. 
 
 The  last  paragraph  is  against  the  reserving,  carrying  about, 
 the  lifting  up,  or  the  worshipping  the  sacrament.  The  point 
 concerning  the  worship,  which  is  the  most  essential  of  them, 
 has  been  already  considered.  As  for  the  reserving  or  carrying 
 the  sacrament  about ;  it  is  very  visible  that  the  institution  is, 
 Take,  eat,  and  drink  ye  all  of  it;  which  does  import,  that  the 
 consuming  the  elements  is  a  part  of  the  institution,  and  by 
 
412 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 ART.  xxvur. 
 
 consequence,  that  they  are  a  sacrament  only  as  they  are  dis- 
 tributed and  received.  It  is  true,  the  practice  of  reserving  or 
 sending  about  the  elements  began  very  early;  the  state  of 
 things  at  first  made  it  almost  unavoidable.  When  there  were 
 yet  but  a  few  converted  to  Christianity,  and  when  there  were 
 but  few  priests  to  serve  them,  they  neither  could  nor  durst 
 meet  all  together,  especially  in  the  times  of  persecution:  so 
 some  parts  of  the  elements  were  sent  to  the  absent,  to  those  in 
 prison,  and  particularly  to  the  sick,  as  a  symbol  of  their  being 
 parts  of  the  body,  and  that  they  were  in  the  peace  and  com- 
 munion of  the  Church.  The  bread  was  sent  with  the  wine, 
 and  it  was  sent  about  by  any  person  whatsoever ;  sometimes 
 Eus.  Hist.  by  boys ;  as  appears  in  the  famous  story  of  Serapion 
 lib.  vi.  c.  44.  m  tne  tnjrci  century.  So  that  the  condition  of  the 
 Christians  in  that  time  made  that  necessary,  to  keep  them  all 
 in  the  sense  of  their  obligation  to  union  and  communion  with 
 the  Church;  and  that  could  not  well  be  done  in  any  other 
 way.  But  we  make  a  great  difference  between  this  practice, 
 when  taken  up  out  of  necessity,  though  not  exactly  conform  to 
 the  first  institution,  and  the  continuing  it  out  of  superstition, 
 when  there  is  no  need  of  it.  Therefore,  instead  of  consecrat- 
 ing a  larger  portion  of  elements  than  is  necessary  for  the  oc- 
 casion, and  the  reserving  what  is  over  and  above;  and  the 
 setting  that  out  with  great  pomp  on  the  altar,  to  be  worship- 
 ped, or  the  carrying  it  about  with  a  vast  magnificence  in  a 
 procession,  invented  to  put  the  more  honour  on  it;  or  the 
 sending  it  to  the  sick  with  solemnity;  we  choose  rather  to 
 consecrate  only  so  much  as  may  be  judged  fit  for  the  number 
 of  those  who  are  to  communicate.  And  when  the  sacrament 
 is  over,  we  do,  in  imitation  of  the  practice  of  some  of  the  an- 
 cients, consume  what  is  left,  that  there  may  be  no  occasion 
 given  either  to  superstition  or  irreverence.  And  for  the  sick, 
 or  the  prisoners,  we  think  it  is  a  greater  mean  to  quicken  their 
 devotion,  as  well  as  it  is  a  closer  adhering  to  the  words  of  the 
 institution,  to  consecrate  in  their  presence :  for  though  we  can 
 bear  with  the  practice  of  the  Greek  Church,  of  reserving  and 
 sending  about  the  Eucharist,  when  there  is  no  idolatry  joined 
 with  it ;  yet  we  cannot  but  think  that  this  is  the  continuance 
 of  a  practice  which  the  state  of  the  first  ages  introduced,  and 
 that  was  afterwards  kept  up  out  of  a  too  scrupulous  imitation 
 of  that  time,  without  considering  that  the  difference  of  the 
 state  of  the  Christians,  in  the  former  and  in  the  succeeding 
 ages,  made  that  what  was  at  first  innocently  practised  (since 
 a  real  necessity  may  well  excuse  a  want  of  exactness  in  some 
 matters  that  are  only  positive)  became  afterwards  an  occasion 
 of  much  superstition,  and  in  conclusion  ended  in  idolatry. 
 Those  ill  effects  that  it  had,  are  more  than  is  necessary  to  justify 
 our  practice  in  reducing  this  strictly  to  the  first  institution. 
 
Art.  XXVIII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 413 
 
 As  for  the  lifting  up  of  the  Eucharist,  there  is  not  a  word 
 of  it  in  the  Gospel ;  nor  is  it  mentioned  by  St  Paul :  neither 
 Justin  Martyr  nor  Cyril  of  Jerusalem  speak  of  it ;  there  is 
 nothing  concerning  it  neither  in  the  Constitutions,  nor  in  the 
 Arcopagite.  In  those  first  ages,  all  the  elevation  that  is  spoken 
 of,  is  the  lifting  up  of  their  hearts  to  God.  The  elevation  of 
 the  sacrament  began  to  be  practised  in  the  sixth  century;  for 
 it  is  mentioned  in  the  Liturgy  called  St  Chrysostom's,  but  be- 
 lieved to  be  much  later  than  his  time.  German,*  a  writer  of 
 the  Greek  Church  of  the  thirteenth  century,  is  the  first  that 
 descants  upon  it :  he  speaks  not  of  it  as  done  in  order  to  the 
 adoration  of  it,  but  makes  it  to  represent  both  Christ's  being 
 lifted  up  on  the  cross,  and  also  his  resurrection.  Ivo  of  Char- 
 tres,f  who  lived  in  the  end  of  the  eleventh  century,  is  the  first 
 of  all  the  Latins  that  speak  of  it :  but  then  it  was  not  com- 
 monly practised :  for  the  author  of  the  Micrologus,  though  he 
 writ  at  the  same  time,  yet  does  not  mention  it,  who  yet  is  very 
 minute  upon  all  particulars  relating  to  this  sacrament.  Nor 
 does  Ivo  speak  of  it  as  done  in  order  to  adoration,  but  only  as 
 a  form  of  shewing  it  to  the  people.  Durand,!  a  writer  of  the 
 thirteenth  century,  is  the  first  that  speaks  of  the  elevation  as 
 done  in  order  to  the  adoration.  So  it  appears  that  our  Church, 
 by  cutting  off  these  abuses,  has  restored  this  sacrament  to  its 
 primitive  simplicity,  according  to  the  institution  and  the  prac- 
 tice of  the  first  ages. 
 
 ARTICLE  XXIX. 
 
 OF  THE  WICKED  WHICH  EAT  NOT  THE  BODY  OF  CHRIST 
 IN  THE  USE  OF  THE  LORD'S  SUPPER. 
 
 The  Wicked,  and  such  as  be  void  of  a  lively  Faith,  although  they 
 do  carnally  and  visibly  press  with  their  Teeth  (as  St  Austin 
 saith)  the  Sacrament  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ,  yet 
 in  nowise  are  they  Partakers  of  Christ ;  but  rather,  to  their 
 Condemnation,  do  eat  and  drink  the  Sign  or  Sacrament  of  so 
 great  a  Thing. 
 
 This  Article  arises  naturally  out  of  the  former,  and  depends 
 upon  it :  for  if  Christ's  body  is  corporally  present  in  the  sacra- 
 ment, then  all  persons  good  or  bad,  who*  receive  the  sacrament, 
 do  also  receive  Christ :  on  the  other  hand,  if  Christ  is  present 
 
 *  Germ.  Const,  in  Theor.  tit.  12.  Bibl.  Patr. 
 
 f  Ivo.  Cam.  Ep.  de  Sacr.  Missa?,  t.  ii.  Bibl.  Pat. 
 
 t  Dur.  Rat.  Div.  Offic.  lib.  nr.  de  scxta  parte  Can. 
 
414. 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXIX. 
 
 only  in  a  spiritual  manner,  and  if  the  mean  that  receives  Christ 
 is  faith,  then  such  as  believe  not,  do  not  receive  him.  So  that 
 to  prove  that  the  wicked  do  not  receive  Christ's  body  and  blood, 
 is  upon  the  matter  the  same  thing  with  the  proving  that  he  is 
 not  corporally  present :  and  it  is  a  very  considerable  branch 
 of  our  argument,  by  which  we  prove  that  the  Fathers  did  not 
 believe  the  corporal  presence,  because  they  do  very  often  say 
 that  the  wicked  do  not  receive  Christ  in  the  sacrament. 
 
 Here  the  same  distinction  is  to  be  made,  that  was  mentioned 
 upon  the  Article  of  Baptism.  The  sacraments  are  to  be  con- 
 sidered either  as  they  are  acts  of  church  communion,  or  as  they 
 are  federal  acts,  by  which  we  enter  into  covenant  with  God. 
 With  respect  to  the  former,  the  visible  profession  that  is  made, 
 and  the  action  that  is  done,  are  all  that  can  fall  under  human 
 cognizance :  so  a  sacrament  must  be  held  to  be  good  and  valid, 
 when  as  to  outward  appearance  all  things  are  done  according 
 to  the  institution ;  but  as  to  the  internal  effect  and  benefit  of 
 it,  that  turns  upon  the  truth  of  the  profession  that  is  made, 
 and  the  sincerity  of  those  acts  which  do  accompany  it ;  for,  if 
 these  are  not  seriously  and  sincerely  performed,  God  is  dis- 
 honoured, and  his  institution  is  profaned.  Our  Saviour  has 
 expressly  said,  that  whosoever  eats  his  fesh,  and  drinks  his 
 blood,  has  eternal  life.  From  thence  we  conclude,  that  no 
 man  does  truly  receive  Christ,  who  does  not  at  the  same  time 
 receive  with  him  both  a  right  to  eternal  life,  and  likewise  the 
 beginnings  and  earnests  of  it.  The  sacrament  being  a  federal 
 act,  he  who  dishonours  God,  and  profanes  this  institution,  by 
 receiving  it  unworthily,  becomes  highly  guilty  before  God,  and 
 draws  down  judgments  upon  himself:  and  as  it  is  confessed  on 
 all  hands,  that  the  inward  and  spiritual  effects  of  the  sacrament 
 depend  upon  the  state  and  disposition  of  him  that  communi- 
 cates, so  we,  who  own  no  other  presence  but  an  inward  and 
 spiritual  one,  cannot  conceive  that  the  wicked,  who  believe  not 
 in  Christ,  do  receive  him. 
 
 In  this  point  several  of  the  Fathers  have  delivered  them- 
 selves very  plainly. 
 
 Origen  says,*  Christ  is  the  true  food:  whosoever  eats  him 
 shall  live  for  ever;  of  whom  no  wicked  person  can  eat ;  for  if 
 it  were  possible  that  any  who  continues  wicked  should  eat  the 
 word  that  was  made  flesh,  it  had  never  been  written,  Whoso  cats 
 this  bread  shall  live  for  ever.  This  comes  after  a  discourse  of 
 the  sacrament,  which  he  calls  the  typical  and  symbolical  body, 
 and  so  it  can  only  belong  to  it.  In  another  place  he  says, 
 The  good  eat  the  living  bread,  which  came  down  from  heaven ; 
 but  the  wicked  eat  dead  bread,  which  is  death. 
 
 *  Comment  in  Matt.  c.  15. 
 
Art.  XXIX. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 415 
 
 Zeno,*  bishop  of  Verona,  who  is  believed  to  have  lived  near 
 Origen's  time,  has  these  words :  There  is  cause  to  fear  that  he 
 in  whom  the  Devil  dwells,  does  not  eat  the  jlesh  of  our  Lord, 
 nor  drink  his  blood,  though  he  seems  to  communicate  with  the 
 faithful;  since  our  Lord  has  said,  He  that  eats  my  flesh,  and 
 drinks  my  blood,  dwells  in  me,  and  I  in  him. 
 
 St  Jerome  says,f  They  that  are  not  holy  in  body  and  spirit, 
 do  neither  eat  the  flesh  of  Jesus  nor  drink  his  blood;  of  which 
 he  said,  He  that  eats  my  flesh,  and  drinks  my  blood,  hath  eter- 
 nal life. 
 
 St  Augustin^  expresses  himself  in  the  very  words  that  are 
 cited  in  the  Article,  which  he  introduces  with  these  words :  He 
 that  does  not  abide  in  Christ,  and  in  whom  Christ  does  not 
 abide,  certainly  does  not  spiritually  eat  his  flesh,  nor  drink  his 
 blood,  though  he  may  visibly  and  carnally  press  with  his  teeth 
 the  sacrament  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ;  but  he  rather 
 eats  and  drinks  the  sacrament  of  so  great  a  matter  to  his  con- 
 demnation.  And  in  another  place  he  says,  §  Neither  are  they 
 (speaking  of  vicious  persons)  to  be  said  to  eat  the  body  of 
 Christ,  because  they  are  not  his  members:  to  which  he  adds, 
 He  that  says,  Whoso  eats  my  flesh,  and  drinks  my  blood,  abides 
 in  me,  and  I  in  him,  shews  what  it  is,  not  only  in  a  sacrament, 
 but  truly,  to  eat  the  body  of  Christ  and  to  drink  his  blood.  He 
 has  upon  another  occasion  those  frequently  cited  words,  speak- 
 ing of  the  difference  between  the  other  disciples  and  Judas  in 
 receiving  this  sacrament :  These  did  eat  the  bread  that  was  the 
 Lord  {panem  Dominum) ;  but  he  the  bread  of  the  Lord  against 
 the  Lord  (panem  Domini  contra  Dominum). \\  To  all  this  a 
 great  deal  might  be  added  to  shew  that  this  was  the  doctrine 
 of  the  Greek  Church,  even  after  Damascene's  opinion  con- 
 cerning the  assumption  of  the  elements  into  an  union  with  the 
 body  of  Christ  was  received  among  them.  But  more  needs 
 not  be  said  concerning  this,  since  it  will  be  readily  granted, 
 that,  if  we  are  in  the  right  in  the  main  point  of  denying  the 
 corporal  presence,  this  will  fall  with  it. 
 
 *  Tom.  ii.  Spicil.  Sacr.  d'Achery. 
 I  Tract.  26.  in  Joan. 
 ||  Tract.  54.  in  Joan. 
 
 f  In  cap.  66.  Isaia?. 
 
 §  Lib.  xxi.  de  Civ.  Dei,  c.  25. 
 
416 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXX. 
 
 ARTICLE  XXX. 
 
 OF  BOTH  KINDS. 
 
 The  Cup  of  the  Lord  is  not  to  be  denied  to  Lay  People.  For 
 both  Parts  of  the  Sacrament,  by  Christ's  Ordinance  and 
 Commandment,  ought  to  be  ministered  to  all  Christian  Men 
 alike. 
 
 There  is  not  any  one  of  all  the  controversies  that  we  have 
 with  the  Church  of  Rome,  in  which  the  decision  seems  more 
 easy  and  shorter  than  this.  The  words  of  the  institution  are 
 not  only  equally  express  and  positive  as  to  both  kinds,  but  the 
 diversity  with  which  that  part  that  relates  to  the  cup  is  set  down, 
 seems  to  be  as  clear  a  demonstration  for  us  as  can  be  had  in  a 
 matter  of  this  kind,  and  looks  like  a  special  direction  given,  to 
 warn  the  Church  against  any  corruption  that  might  arise  upon 
 this  head.  To  all  such  as  acknowledge  the  immediate  union 
 of  the  Eternal  Word  with  the  human  nature  of  Christ,  and  the 
 inspiration  by  which  the  apostles  were  conducted,  it  must  be 
 of  great  weight  to  find  a  specialty  marked  as  to  the  chalice :  Of 
 the  cup  it  is  said,  Drink  ye  all  of  it ;  whereas  of  the  bread  it  is 
 only  said,  Take,  eat;  so  we  cannot  think  the  word  all  was  set 
 down  without  design.  It  is  also  said  of  the  cup,  And  they  all 
 drank  of  it;  which  is  not  said  of  the  bread:  we  think  it  no 
 piece  of  trifling  nicety  to  observe  this  specialty.  The  words 
 added  to  the  giving  the  cup  are  very  particularly  emphatical : 
 Take,  eat,  this  is  my  body  which  is  given  for  you,  is  not  so  full 
 an  expression  as,  Drink  ye  all  of  this,  for  this  is  my  blood  of 
 the  New  Testament  which  is  shed  for  many,  for  the  remission  of 
 sins.  If  the  surest  way  to  judge  of  the  extent  of  any  precept, 
 to  which  a  reason  is  added,  is  to  consider  the  extent  of  the 
 reason,  and  to  measure  the  extent  of  the  precept  by  that ;  then 
 since  all  that  do  communicate  need  the  remission  of  sins,  and 
 a  share  in  the  New  Covenant,  the  reason  that  our  Saviour 
 joins  to  the  distribution  of  the  cup  proves  that  they  ought  all 
 to  receive  it.  And  if  that  discourse  in  St  John  concerning  the 
 eating  Christ's  flesh,  and  the  drinking  his  blood,  is  to  be  un- 
 derstood of  the  sacrament,  as  most  of  the  Roman  Church  af- 
 firm, then  the  drinking  Christ's  blood  is  as  necessary  to  eternal 
 life  as  the  eating  his  flesh;  by  consequence,  it  is  as  necessary  to 
 receive  the  cup  as  the  bread.  And  it  is  not  easy  to  apprehend 
 why  it  should  still  be  necessary  to  consecrate  in  both  kinds, 
 and  not  likewise  to  receive  in  both  kinds.    It  cannot  be  pre- 
 
Aht.  XXX. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 tended,  that  since  the  apostles  were  all  of  the  sacred  order, 
 therefore  their  receiving  in  both  kinds  is  no  precedent  for  giv- 
 ing the  laity  the  cup;  for  Christ  gave  them  both  kinds,  as  they 
 were  sinners,  who  were  now  to  be  admitted  into  covenant  with 
 God  by  the  sacrifice  of  his  body  and  blood.  They  were  in  that 
 to  skew  forth  his  death,  and  were  to  take,  eat,  and  drink  in  re- 
 membrance of  him.  So  that  this  institution  was  delivered  to 
 them  as  they  were  sinners,  and  not  as  they  were  priests.  They 
 were  not  constituted  by  Christ  the  pastors  and  governors  of  his 
 Church  till  after  his  resurrection,  when  he  breathed  on  them, 
 and  laid  his  hands  on  them,  and  blessed  them,  John  xx.  22.  So 
 that  at  this  time  they  were  only  Christ's  disciples  and  wit- 
 nesses ;  who  had  been  once  sent  out  by  him  on  an  extraordi- 
 narv  commission,  but  had  yet  no  stated  character  fixed  upon 
 them. 
 
 To  this  it  is  said,  that  Christ,  by  saying  Do  this,  constituted 
 them  priests ;  so  that  they  were  no  more  of  the  laity,  when 
 they  received  the  cup.  This  is  a  new  conceit  taken  up  by  the 
 schoolmen  unknown  to  all  antiquity :  there  is  no  sort  of  tra- 
 dition that  supports  this  exposition  ;  nor  is  there  any  reason  to 
 imagine,  that  Do  this  signifies  any  other  than  a  precept  to  con- 
 tinue that  institution  as  a  memorial  of  Christ's  death  :  and  Do 
 this  takes  in  all  that  went  before,  the  taking,  the  giving,  as  well 
 as  the  blessing,  and  the  eating  the  bread ;  nor  is  there  any 
 reason  to  appropriate  this  to  the  blessing  only,  as  if  by  this 
 the  consecrating  and  sacrificing  power  were  conferred  on  the 
 priests.  From  all  which  we  conclude,  both  that  the  apostles 
 were  only  disciples  at  large,  without  any  special  characters  con- 
 ferred on  them,  when  the  Eucharist  was  instituted ;  and  that 
 the  Eucharist  was  given  to  them  only  as  disciples,  that  is,  as 
 laymen. 
 
 The  mention  that  is  made  in  some  places  of  the  New  Testa- 
 ment only  of  breaking  of  bread,  can  furnish  them  with  no  ar- 
 gument ;  for  it  is  not  certain  that  these  do  relate  to  the  sacra- 
 ment, or,  if  they  did,  it  is  not  certain  that  they  are  to  be  un- 
 derstood strictly ;  for,  by  a  figure  common  to  the  Eastern  na- 
 tions, bread  stands  for  all  that  belongs  to  a  meal :  and  if  these 
 places  are  applied  to  the  sacrament,  and  ought  to  be  strictly 
 understood,  they  will  prove  too  much,  that  the  sacrament  may 
 be  consecrated  in  one  kind ;  and  that  the  breaking  of  bread, 
 without  the  cup,  may  be  understood  to  be  a  complete  sacra- 
 ment. But  when  St  Paul  spoke  of  this  sacrament,  he  does  so 
 distinctly  mention  the  drinking  the  cup  as  well  as  eating  the 
 bread,  that  it  is  plain  from  him  how  the  apostles  understood 
 the  words  and  intent  of  Christ,  and  how  this  sacrament  was 
 received  in  that  time. 
 
 From  the  institution  and  command,  which  are  express  and 
 positive,  we  go  next  to  consider  the  nature  of  sacramental 
 
 Dd 
 
418 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXX. 
 
 actions.  They  have  no  virtue  in  them,  as  charms  tied  either  to 
 elements  or  to  words ;  they  are  only  good  because  commanded. 
 A  different  state  of  things  may  indeed  justify  an  alteration  as 
 to  circumstances :  the  danger  of  dipping  in  cold  climates,  may 
 be  a  very  good  reason  for  changing  the  form  of  baptism  to 
 sprinkling ;  and  if  climates  were  inhabited  by  Christians  to 
 which  wine  could  not  be  brought,  we  should  not  doubt  but  that 
 whensoever  God  makes  a  real  necessity  of  departing  from  any 
 institution  of  his,  he  does  thereby  allow  of  such  a  change  as 
 that  necessity  must  draw  after  it :  so  we  do  not  condemn  the 
 license  that  is  said  to  have  been  granted  by  Pope  Innocent  the 
 Eighth,  to  celebrate  without  wine  in  Norway ;  nor  should  we 
 deny  a  man  the  sacrament  who  had  a  natural  and  unconquer- 
 able aversion  to  wine,  or  that  communicated  being  near  his  last 
 agonies,  and  that  should  have  the  like  aversion  to  either  of  the 
 elements.  When  those  things  are  real  and  not  pretended, 
 mercy  is  better  than  sacrifice.  The  punctual  observance  of  a 
 sacramental  institution  does  only  oblige  us  to  the  essential  parts 
 of  it,  and  in  ordinary  cases :  the  pretence  of  what  may  be  done, 
 or  has  been  done  upon  extraordinary  occasions,  can  never  jus- 
 tify the  deliberate  and  unnecessary  alteration  of  an  essential 
 part  of  the  sacrament.  The  whole  institution  shews  very 
 plainly,  that  our  Saviour  meant  that  the  cup  should  be  consi- 
 dered every  whit  as  essential  as  bread ;  and  therefore  we  cannot 
 but  conclude  from  the  nature  of  things',  that  since  the  sacra- 
 ments have  only  their  effects  from  their  institution,  therefore 
 so  total  a  change  of  this  sacrament  does  plainly  evacuate  the 
 institution,  and  by  consequence  destroy  the  effect  of  it. 
 
 All  reasoning  upon  this  head  is  an  arguing  against  the  in- 
 stitution ;  as  if  Christ  and  his  Apostles  had  not  well  enough 
 considered  it,  but  that,  1200  years  after  them,  a  consequence 
 should  be  observed  that  till  then  had  not  been  thought  of, 
 which  made  it  reasonable  to  alter  the  manner  of  it. 
 
 The  concomitance  is  the  great  thing  that  is  here  urged ; 
 since  it  is  believed  that  Christ  is  entirely  under  each  of  the 
 elements ;  and  therefore  it  is  not  necessary  that  both  should  be 
 received,  because  Christ  is  fully  received  in  any  one.  But  this 
 subsists  on  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation ;  so,  if  that  is 
 false,  then  here,  upon  a  controverted  opinion,  an  uncontro- 
 verted  piece  of  the  institution  is  altered.  And  if  concomitance 
 is  a  certain  consequence  of  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation^ 
 then  it  is  a  very  strong  argument  against  the  antiquity  of  that 
 doctrine,  that  the  world  was  so  long  without  the  notion  of  con- 
 comitance;  and  therefore,  if  transubstantiation  had  been  sooner 
 received,  the  concomitance  would  have  been  more  easily  ob- 
 served. The  institution  of  the  sacrament  seems  to  be  so  laid 
 down,  as  rather  to  make  us  consider  the  body  and  blood  as  in 
 a  state  of  separation  than  of  concomitance;  the  body  being 
 
Art.  XXX. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  A  u  rn  LE& 
 
 represented  apart,  and  the  blood  apart;  and  the  body  as  broken. 
 and  the  blood  as  shed:  therefore  we  consider  the  design  of 
 the  sacrament  is,  to  represent  Christ  to  us  as  dead,  and  in  his 
 crucified,  but  not  in  his  glorified  state.  And  if  the  opinion  be 
 true,  that  the  glorified  bodies  are  of  another  texture  than  that 
 of  flesh  and  blood,  which  seems  to  be  very  plainly  asserted  by 
 St  Paul  in  a  discourse  intended  to  describe  the  nature  of  the 
 glorified  bodies,  then  this  theory  of  concomitance  will  fail  upon 
 that  account.  But  whatsoever  may  be  in  that,  an  institution 
 of  Christ's  must  not  be  altered  or  violated,  upon  the  account 
 of  an  inference  that  is  drawn  to  conclude  it  needless.  He  who 
 instituted  it  knew  best  what  was  most  fitting  and  most  reason- 
 able ;  and  we  must  choose  rather  to  acquiesce  in  his  commands 
 than  in  our  own  reasonings. 
 
 If,  next  to  the  institution  and  the  theory  that  arises  from  the 
 nature  of  a  sacrament,  we  consider  the  practice  of  the  Chris- 
 tian Church  in  all  ages,  there  is  not  any  one  point  in  which 
 the  tradition  of  the  Church  is  more  express,  and  more  univer- 
 sal, than  in  this  particular,  for  above  a  thousand  years  after 
 Christ.    All  the  accounts  that  we  have  of  the  ancient  rituals, 
 both  in  Justin  Martyr,  Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  the  Con- 
 stitutions, and  the  pretended  Areopagite,  do  expressly  caSci? 
 mention  both  kinds  as  given  separately  in  the  sacra-  EKSt4*" 
 ment.    All  the  ancient  liturgies,  as  well  those  that  1  A' 
 
 go  under  the  names  of  the  Apostles,  as  those  which    giS'c  3 
 are  ascribed  to  St  Basil  and  St  Chrysostom,  do  men- 
 tion this  very  expressly;  all  the  offices  of  the  Western  Church, 
 both  Roman  and  others ;  the  missals  of  the  later  ages,  I  mean 
 down  to  the  twelfth  century;  even  the  Ordo  Romanus,  believed 
 by  some  to  be  a  work  of  the  ninth,  and  by  others  of  the  eleventh 
 century,  are  express  in  mentioning  the  distribution  of  both 
 kinds.    All  the  Fathers,  without  excepting  one,  do  speak  of  it 
 very  clearly  as  the  universal  practice  of  their  time.    They  do 
 not  so  much  as  give  a  hint  of  any  difference  about  it.    So  that 
 from  Ignatius  down  to  Thomas  Aquinas,  there  is  not  ^quin 
 any  one  writer  that  differs  from  the  rest  in  this  point ;    com  in 
 
 1  a  i  n     1  i  •  r      i         6  Johan.  v. 
 
 and  even  Aquinas  speaks  01  the  taking  away  the   53.  in  sum, 
 chalice  as  the  practice  only  of  some  Churches  :  Other  SJlsd. 
 writers  of  his  time  had  not  heard  of  any  of  these  art'12' 
 Churches,  for  they  speak  of  both  kinds  as  the  universal  practice. 
 
 But  besides  this  general  concurrence,  there  are  some  spe- 
 cialties in  this  matter :  In  St  Cyprian's  time  some  thought  it 
 was  not  necessary  to  use  wine  in  the  sacrament ;  they  therefore 
 used  water  only,  and  wTere  from  thence  called  Aquarii.  It 
 seems  they  found  that  their  morning  assemblies  were  smelled 
 out  by  the  wine  used  in  the  sacrament;  and  Christians  might 
 be  known  by  the  smell  of  wine  that  was  still  about  them  :  they 
 therefore  intended  to  avoid  this,  and  so  thov  had  no  wine 
 
AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 ART.  XXX. 
 
 among  them,  which  was  a  much  weightier  reason  than  that  of 
 the  wine  sticking  upon  the  beards  of  the  laity.  Yet  St  Cy- 
 prian (Ep.  63.  ad  Cecil.)  condemned  this  very  severely,  in  a 
 long  epistle  writ  upon  that  occasion.  He  makes  this  the  main 
 argument,  and  goes  over  it  frequently,  that  we  ought  to  follow 
 Christ,  and  do  what  he  did  :  and  he  has  those  memorable  words, 
 If  it  be  not  lawful  to  loose  any  one  of  the  least  commands  of 
 Christ,  how  much  more  is  it  unlawful  to  break  so  great  and  so 
 weighty  a  one,  that  does  so  very  nearly  relate  to  the  sacrament 
 of  our  Lord's  passion,  and  of  our  redemption ;  or  by  any  hu- 
 man institution  to  change  it  into  that  which  is  quite  different 
 from  the  divine  institution.  This  is  so  full,  that  we  cannot  ex- 
 press ourselves  more  plainly. 
 
 Among  the  other  profanations  of  the  Manicheans,  this  was 
 one,  that  they  came  among  the  assemblies  of  the  Christians, 
 and  did  receive  the  bread,  but  they  would  not  take  any  wine. 
 Leo  ser  4  This  is  mentioned  by  Pope  Leo,  in  the  fifth  century ; 
 De?retddeg  upon  which  Pope  Gelasius,  hearing  of  it  in  his  time, 
 consecr.  appointed  that  all  persons  should  either  communicate 
 in  the  sacrament  entirely,  or  be  entirely  excluded  from 
 it;  for  that  such  a  dividing  of  one  and  the  same  sacrament 
 might  not  be  done  without  a  heinous  sacrilege. 
 
 In  the  seventh  century  a  practice  was  begun  of  dipping  the 
 Decret  de  oread  in  the  wine,  and  so  giving  both  kinds  together, 
 consecr.  This  was  condemned  by  the  Council  of  Bracara,  as 
 plainly  contrary  to  the  Gospel :  Christ  gave  his  body 
 and  blood  to  his  Apostles  distinctly,  the  bread  by  itself  and  the 
 chalice  by  itself.  This  is,  by  a  mistake  of  Gratian's,  put  in  the 
 Canon  Law  as  a  decree  of  Pope  Julius  to  the  Bishops  of 
 Egypt.  It  is  probable,  that  it  was  thus  given  first  to  the  sick, 
 and  to  infants ;  but  though  this  got  among  many  of  the  Eastern 
 Churches,  and  was,  it  seems,  practised  in  some  parts  of  the 
 West,  yet,  in  the  end  of  the  eleventh  century,  Pope  Urban 
 Condi  cia  *n  tne  Council  of  Clermont  decreed,  that  none  should 
 ramont.       communicate  without  taking  the  body  apart,  and  the 
 
 Can.  28.  ,  i       i  &       •  i      •  i 
 
 blood  apart,  except  upon  necessity,  and  with  caution  : 
 to  which  some  copies  add,  and  that  by  reason  of  the  heresy  of 
 Berengarius,  that  was  lately  condemned,  which  said  that  the 
 figure  was  completed  by  one  of  the  kinds. 
 
 We  need  not  examine  the  importance  or  truth  of  these  last 
 words ;  it  is  enough  for  us  to  observe  the  continued  practice  of 
 communicating  in  both  kinds  till  the  twelfth  century ;  and  even 
 then,  when  the  opinion  of  the  corporal  presence  begot  a  super- 
 stition towards  the  elements  that  had  not  been  known  in  former 
 ages,  so  that  some  drops  sticking  to  men's  beards,  and  the 
 spilling  some  of  it,  its  freezing  or  becoming  sour,  grew  to  be 
 more  considered  than  the  institution  of  Christ;  yet  for  a  while 
 they  used  to  suck  it  up  through  small  quills  or  pipes,  (called 
 
Am.  XXX. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 121 
 
 Fistula  in  the  Or  do  Roma?ius),  which  answered  the  objection 
 from  the  beards. 
 
 In  the  twelfth  century,  the  bread  grew  to  be  given  generally 
 dipt  in  wine.  The  writers  of  that  time,  though  they  justify 
 this  practice,  yet  they  acknowledge  it  to  be  contrary  to  the  in- 
 stitution. Ivo  of  Chartres  says,  the  people  did  communicate 
 with  dipt  bread,  not  by  authority,  but  by  necessity,  for  fear  of 
 spilling  the  blood  of  Christ.  Pope  Innocent  the  Fourth  said, 
 that  all  might  have  the  chalice  who  were  so  cautious  that  no- 
 thing of  it  should  be  spilt. 
 
 In  the  ancient  Church,  the  instance  of  Serapion  Eus.  msL 
 is  brought  to  shew  that  the  bread  alone  was  sent  to  LTi  c  44 
 the  sick,  which  he  that  carried  it  was  ordered  to  moisten  before 
 he  gave  it  him.  Justin  Martyr  (Apol.  2.)  does  plainly  insi- 
 nuate that  both  kinds  were  sent  to  the  absent ;  so  some  of  the 
 wine  might  be  sent  to  Serapion  with  the  bread  :  and  it  is  much 
 more  reasonable  to  believe  this,  than  that  the  bread  was  ordered 
 to  be  dipt  in  water;  there  being  no  such  instance  in  all  history ; 
 whereas  there  are  instances  brought  to  shew  that  both  kinds 
 were  carried  to  the  sick.  St  Ambrose  received  the  PaunmM  m 
 bread,  but  expired  before  he  received  the  cup.  This  vita  Ambros 
 proves  nothing  but  the  weakness  of  the  cause  that  needs  such 
 supports.  Nor  can  any  argument  be  brought  from  some  words 
 concerning  the  communicating  of  the  sick,  or  of  infants. 
 Rules  are  made  from  ordinary,  and  not  from  extraordinary 
 practices.  The  small  portions  of  the  sacrament  that  some  car- 
 ried home,  and  reserved  to  other  occasions,  does  not  prove  that 
 they  communicated  only  in  one  kind.  They  received  in  both, 
 only  they  kept  (out  of  too  much  superstition)  some  fragments 
 of  the  one,  which  could  be  more  easily,  and  with  less  observation, 
 saved  and  preserved,  than  of  the  other:  and  yet  there  are  in- 
 stances that  they  carried  off  some  portions  of  both  kinds.  The 
 Greek  Church  communicates  during  most  of  the  days  in  Lent, 
 in  bread  dipt  in  wine;  and  in  the  Ordo  Romanus  there  is  men- 
 tion made  of  a  particular  communion  on  Good  Friday,  when 
 some  of  the  bread  that  had  been  formerly  consecrated  was  put 
 into  a  chalice  with  unconsecrated  wine.  This  was  a  practice  that 
 was  grounded  on  an  opinion  that  the  unconsecrated  wine  was 
 sanctified  and  consecrated  by  the  contact  of  the  bread ;  and 
 though  they  used  not  a  formal  consecration,  yet  they  used  other 
 prayers,  which  was  all  that  the  primitive  Church  thought  was 
 necessary  even  to  consecration ;  it  being  thought,  even  so  late 
 as  Gregory  the  Great's  time,  that  the  Lord's  Prayer  was  at 
 first  the  prayer  of  consecration. 
 
 These  are  all  the  colours  which  the  studies  and  the  subtil  ties 
 of  this  age  have  been  able  to  produce  for  justifying  cooc  cout 
 the  decree  of  the  Council  of  Constance.     That  does  5055  1L 
 acknowledge,  that  Christ  did  institute  this  sacrament  in  bo/h 
 
AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXX. 
 
 kinds,  and  that  the  faithful  in  the  primitive  Church  did  re- 
 ceive in  both  hinds :  yet  a  'practice  being  reasonably  brought  in 
 to  avoid  some  dangers  and  scandals,  they  appoint  the  custom  to 
 continue,  of  consecrating  in  both  kinds,  and  of  giving  to  the 
 laity  only  in  one  kind;  since  Christ  was  entire  and  truly  under 
 each  kind.  They  established  this  practice,  and  ordered  that  it 
 should  not  be  altered  without  the  authority  of  the  Church. 
 So  late  a  practice  and  so  late  a  decree  cannot  make  void  the 
 command  of  Christ,  nor  be  set  in  opposition  to  such  a  clear  and 
 universal  practice  to  the  contrary.  The  wars  of  Bohemia  that 
 followed  upon  that  decree,  and  all  that  scene  of  cruelty  which 
 was  acted  upon  John  Huss  and  Jerom  of  Prague  at  the  first 
 establishment  of  it,  shew  what  opposition  was  made  to  it  even 
 in  dark  ages,  and  by  men  that  did  not  deny  transubstantia- 
 tion.  These  prove,  that  plain  sense  and  clear  authorities  are 
 so  strong,  even  in  dark  and  corrupt  times,  as  not  to  be  easily 
 overcome.  And  this  may  be  said  concerning  this  matter,  that 
 as  there  is  not  any  one  point  in  which  the  Church  of  Rome 
 has  acted  more  visibly  contrary  to  the  gospel  than  in  this,  so 
 there  is  not  any  one  thing  that  has  raised  higher  prejudices 
 against  her,  that  has  made  more  forsake  her,  and  has  possessed 
 mankind  more  against  her,  than  this.  This  has  cost  her  dearer 
 than  any  other. 
 
 ARTICLE  XXXI. 
 
 OF  THE  ONE  OBLATION  OF  CHRIST  FINISHED  UPON 
 THE  CROSS. 
 
 The  Offering  of  Christ  once  made,  is  that  perfect  Redemption, 
 Propitiation,  and  Satisfaction  for  all  the  Sins  of  the  whole 
 World,  both  Original  and  Actual :  and  there  is  none  other 
 Satisfaction  for  Sin  but  that  alone  ;  Wherefore  in  the  Sacri- 
 fices of  Masses,  in  the  which  it  was  commonly  said,  that  the 
 Priest  did  offer  Christ  for  the  quick  and  the  dead,  to  have 
 Remission  of  Pain  and  Guilt,  were  blasphemous  Fables  and 
 dangerous  Deceits. 
 
 It  were  a  mere  question  of  words  to  dispute  concerning  the 
 term  sacrifice ;  to  consider  the  extent  of  that  word,  and  the 
 many  various  respects  in  which  the  Eucharist  may  be  called 
 a  sacrifice.  In  general,  all  acts  of  religious  worship  may  be 
 called  sacrifices ;  because  somewhat  is  in  them  offered  up  to 
 God :  Let  my  prayer  be  set  forth  bifore  thee  as  incense,  and 
 the  lifting  up  of  my  hands  as  the  evening  sacrifice,  Psal.  cxli.  2. 
 
Art.  XXX f. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 1-23 
 
 The  sacrifices  of  God  are  a  broken  spirit :  a  broken  and  a  con- 
 trite heart,  O  God,  thou  wilt  not  despise,  Psal.  li.  17.  These 
 shew  how  largely  this  word  was  used  in  the  Old  Testament; 
 so  in  the  New  we  are  exhorted  by  him  (that  is,  by  Christ)  to 
 offer  the  sacrifice  of  p^-aise  to  God  continually,  that  is,  the  fruit 
 of  our  lips,  giving  thanks  to  his  name,  Heb.  xiii.  15.  A  Chris- 
 tian's dedicating  himself  to  the  service  of  God,  is  also  expressed 
 by  the  same  word  of  presenting  our  bodies  a  living  sacrifce, 
 holy  and  acceptable  to  God,  Rom.  xii.  1.  All  acts  of  charity 
 are  also  called  sacrifices,  an  odour  of  a  sweet  smell,  a  sacrifce 
 acceptable,  well  pleasing  to  God,  Philip,  iv.  18.  So  in  this  large 
 sense  we  do  not  deny  that  the  Eucharist  is  a  sacrifce  of  praise 
 and  thanksgiving ;  and  our  Church  calls  it  so  in  the  office  of  the 
 Communion.  In  two  other  respects  it  may  be  also  more  strictly 
 called  a  sacrifce.  One  is,  because  there  is  an  oblation  of  bread 
 and  wine  made  in  it,  which,  being  sanctified,  are  consumed  in 
 an  act  of  religion.  To  this  many  passages  in  the  writings 
 of  the  Fathers  do  relate.  This  was  the  oblation  made  at  the 
 altar  by  the  people  :  and  though  at  first  the  Christians  were 
 reproached  as  having  a  strange  sort  of  religion,  in  which 
 they  had  neither  temples,  altars,  nor  sacrifices,  because  they 
 had  not  those  things  in  so  gross  a  manner  as  the  heathens 
 had ;  yet  both  Clemens  Romanus,  Ignatius,  and  all  the  suc- 
 ceeding writers  of  the  Church,  do  frequently  mention  the 
 oblations  that  they  made  ;  and  in  the  ancient  liturgies  they 
 did  with  particular  prayers  offer  the  bread  and  wine  to  God, 
 as  the  great  Creator  of  all  things :  those  were  called  the 
 gifts  or  offerings  which  were  offered  to  God,  in  imitation 
 of  Abel,  who  offered  the  fruits  of  the  earth  in  a  sacrifice  to 
 God.  Both  Justin  Martyr,  Irenaeus,  the  Constitutions,  and 
 all  the  ancient  liturgies,  have  very  express  words  relating  to 
 this.  Another  respect  in  which  the  Eucharist  is  called  a  sac- 
 rifice  is,  because  it  is  a  commemoration  and  a  representation 
 to  God  of  the  sacrifice  that  Christ  offered  for  us  on  the  cross  : 
 in  which  we  claim  to  that  as  to  our  expiation,  and  feast 
 upon  it  as  our  peace-offering,  according  to  that  ancient  no- 
 tion, that  covenants  were  confirmed  by  a  sacrifice,  and  were 
 concluded  in  a  feast  on  the  sacrifice.  Upon  these  accounts  we 
 do  not  deny  but  that  the  Eucharist  may  be  well  called  a  sac- 
 rifice ;  but  still  it  is  a  commemorative  sacrifice,  and  not  pro- 
 pitiatory :  that  is,  we  do  not  distinguish  the  sacrifice  from  the 
 sacrament  ;  as  if  the  priest's  consecrating  and  consuming  the 
 elements  were  in  an  especial  manner  a  sacrifice,  any  other  way 
 than  as  the  communicating  of  others  with  him  is  one.  Nor  do 
 we  think  that  the  consecrating  and  consuming  the  elements  is 
 an  act  that  does  reconcile  God  to  the  quick  and  the  dead :  we 
 consider  it  only  as  a  federal  act  of  professing  our  belief  in  the 
 death  of  Christ,  and  of  renewing  our  baptismal  covenant  with 
 
421 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXXI. 
 
 him.  The  virtue  or  effects  of  this  are  not  general ;  they  are 
 limited  to  those  who  go  about  this  piece  of  worship  sincerely 
 and  devoutly :  they,  and  they  only,  are  concerned  in  it,  who 
 go  about  it ;  and  there  is  no  special  propitiation  made  by  this 
 service.  It  is  only  an  act  of  devotion  and  obedience  in  those 
 that  eat  and  drink  worthily ;  and  though  in  it  they  ought  to 
 pray  for  the  whole  body  of  the  Church,  yet  those  their  prayers 
 do  only  prevail  with  God  as  they  are  devout  intercessions,  but 
 not  by  any  peculiar  virtue  in  this  action. 
 
 On  the  other  hand,  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  of  Rome  is, 
 that  the  Eucharist  is  the  highest  act  of  homage  and  honour 
 that  creatures  can  offer  up  to  the  Creator,  as  being  an  oblation 
 of  the  Son  to  the  Father ;  so  that  whosoever  procures  a  mass 
 to  be  said,  procures  a  new  piece  of  honour  to  be  done  to  God, 
 with  which  he  is  highly  pleased ;  and  for  the  sake  of  which  he 
 will  be  reconciled  to  all  that  are  concerned  in  the  procuring 
 such  masses  to  be  said,  whether  they  be  still  on  earth,  or  if 
 they  are  now  in  purgatory ;  and  that  the  priest,  in  offering  and 
 consuming  this  sacrifice,  performs  a  true  act  of  priesthood  by 
 reconciling  sinners  to  God.  Somewhat  was  already  said  of  this 
 on  the  head  of  Purgatory. 
 
 It  seems  very  plain,  by  the  institution,  that  our  Saviour,  as 
 he  blessed  the  sacrament,  said,  Take,  eat :  St  Paul  calls  it  a 
 communion  of  the  body  and  blood  of  the  Lord  ;  and  a  partaking 
 of  the  Lord's  table :  and  he,  through  his  whole  discourse  of  it, 
 speaks  of  it  as  an  action  of  the  Church  and  of  all  Christians  ; 
 but  does  not  so  much  as  by  a  hint  intimate  any  thing  peculiar 
 to  the  priest :  so  that  all  that  the  Scripture  has  delivered  to  us 
 concerning  it,  represents  it  as  an  action  of  the  whole  body,  in 
 which  the  priest  has  no  special  share  but  that  of  officiating.  In 
 the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  there  is  a  very  long  discourse  con- 
 cerning sacrifices  and  priests,  in  order  to  the  explaining  of 
 Christ's  being  both  Priest  and  Sacrifice.  There  a  priest  stands 
 for  a  person  called  and  consecrated  to  offer  some  living  sacrifice, 
 and  to  slay  it,  and  to  make  reconciliation  of  sinners  to  God, 
 by  the  shedding,  offering,  or  sprinkling  the  blood  of  the  sacri- 
 fice. This  was  the  notion  that  the  Jews  had  of  a  priest;  and 
 the  Apostle,  designing  to  prove  that  the  death  of  Christ  was  a 
 true  sacrifice,  brings  this  for  an  argument,  that  there  was  to  be 
 another  priesthood  after  the  order  of  Melchisedec.  He  begins 
 the  fifth  chapter  with  settling  the  notion  of  a  priest  according 
 to  the  Jewish  ideas ;  and  then  he  goes  on  to  prove  that  Christ 
 was  such  a  priest,  called  of  God  and  consecrated,  Heb.  v.  10. 
 But  in  this  sense  he  appropriates  the  priesthood  of  the  New 
 Dispensation  singly  to  Christ,  in  opposition  to  the  many 
 priests  of  the  Levitical  Law  :  and  they  truly  were  many  priests, 
 because  they  were  not  suffered  to  continue,  by  reason  of  death : 
 
Art.  XXXI. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  AUI'ICLES. 
 
 425 
 
 but  this  man,  because  he  continucth  eve?',  hath  an  unchangeable 
 priesthood,  chap.  vii.  23,  24. 
 
 It  is  clear  from  the  whole  thread  of  that  discourse,  that,  in 
 the  strictest  sense  of  the  word,  Christ  himself  is  the  only  Priest 
 under  the  gospel ;  and  it  is  also  no  less  evident  that  his  death  is 
 the  only  Sacrifice,  in  opposition  to  the  many  oblations  that  were 
 under  the  Mosaical  Law  to  take  away  sin ;  which  appears  very 
 plain  from  these  words,  Who  needeth  not  daily,  as  those  High- 
 priests,  to  offer  up  sacrifice,  Jirst  for  his  own  sins,  and  then  for 
 the  people  ;for  this  he  did  once,  when  he  offered  up  himself,  Heb. 
 vii.  27.    He  opposes  that  to  the  annual  expiation  made  by  the 
 Jewish  High-priest:  Christ  entered  in  once  to  the  holy  place, 
 having  made  redemption  for  us  by  his  own  blood  :  and  having 
 laid  down  that  general  maxim,  that  without  shedding  of  blood 
 there  was  no  remission,  chap.  ix.  22.,  he  says,  Christ  was  offered 
 once  to  bear  the  sins  of  many,  ver.  28.   He  puts  a  question  to 
 shew  that  all  sacrifices  were  now  to  cease :  When  the  worship- 
 pers are  once  purged,  then  would  not  sacrifices  cease  to  be  of- 
 fered ?  chap.  x.  2. ;  and  he  ends  with  this,  as  a  full  conclusion 
 to  that  part  of  his  discourse:  Every  priest  stands  daily  minis- 
 tering  and  offering  oftentimes  the  same  sacrifices,  which  can 
 never  take  away  sin ;  but  this  man,  after  he  had  offered  up  one 
 sacrifice  for  si?is,  for  ever  sat  down  on  the  right  hand  of  God, 
 ver.  11,  12.    Here  are  not  general  words,  ambiguous  expres- 
 sions, or  remote  hints,  but  a  thread  of  a  full  and  clear  discourse, 
 to  shew  that  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  words  we  have  but  one 
 priest,  and  likewise  but  one  sacrifice  under  the  gospel ;  there- 
 fore, how  largely  soever  those  words  of  priest  or  sacrifice  may 
 have  been  used,  yet,  according  to  the  true  idea  of  a  propitia- 
 tory sacrifice,  and  of  a  priest  that  reconciles  sinners  to  God, 
 they  cannot  be  applied  to  any  acts  of  our  worship,  or  to  any 
 order  of  men  upon  earth.    Nor  can  the  value  and  virtue  of 
 any  instituted  act  of  religion  be  carried,  by  any  inferences  or 
 reasoning,  beyond  that  which  is  put  in  them  by  the  institution  : 
 And  therefore,  since  the  institution  of  this  sacrament  has  no- 
 thing in  it  that  gives  us  this  idea  of  it,  we  cannot  set  any  such 
 value  upon  it :  and  since  the  reconciling  sinners  to  God,  and 
 the  pardoning  of  sin,  are  free  acts  of  his  grace,  it  is  therefore 
 a  high  presumption  in  any  men  to  imagine  they  can  do  this 
 by  any  act  of  theirs,  without  powers  and  warrants  for  it  from 
 Scripture.    Nor  can  this  be  pretended  to  without  assuming  a 
 most  sacrilegious  sort  of  power  over  the  attributes  of  God : 
 therefore  all  the  virtue  that  can  be  in  the  sacrament  is,  that  we 
 do  therein  gratefully  commemorate  the  sacrifice  of  Christ's 
 death,  and,  by  renewed  acts  of  faith,  present  that  to  God  as 
 our  sacrifice,  in  the  memorial  of  it  which  he  himself  has  ap- 
 pointed :  by  so  doing,  we  renew  our  covenant  with  God,  and 
 share  in  the  effects  of  that  death  which  he  suffered  for  us.  All 
 
42G 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXXI. 
 
 the  ancient  liturgies  have  this  as  a  main  part  of  the  office,  that 
 being  mindful  of  the  death  of  Christ,  or  commemorating  it, 
 they  offered  up  the  gifts.  % 
 
 This  is  the  language  of  Justin  Martyr,  Irenseus,  Tertullian, 
 Cyprian,  and  of  all  the  following  writers.  They  do  compare 
 this  sacrifice  to  that  of  Melchisedec,  who  offered  bread  and 
 wi?ie  ;  and  though  the  text  imports  only  his  giving  bread  and 
 wine  to  Abraham  and  his  followers,  yet  they  applied  that  gene- 
 rally to  the  oblation  of  bread  and  wine  that  was  made  on  the 
 altar :  but  this  shews,  that  they  did  not  think  of  any  sacrifice 
 made  by  the  offering  up  of  Christ ;  it  was  the  bread  and  the 
 wine  only  which  they  thought  the  priests  of  the  Christian 
 religion  did  offer  to  God.  And  therefore  it  is  remarkable, 
 that  when  the  Fathers  answer  the  reproach  of  the  heathens, 
 who  charged  them  with  irreligion  and  impiety  for  having  no 
 sacrifices  among  them,  they  never  answer  it  by  saying,  that 
 they  offered  up  a  sacrifice  of  inestimable  value  to  God ;  which 
 must  have  been  the  first  answer  that  could  have  occurred  to 
 a  man  possessed  with  the  ideas  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  On 
 the  contrary,  Justin  Martyr  (Apol.  2.)  says,  They  had  no 
 other  sacrifices  but  prayers  and  praises :  and  in  his  dialogue 
 with  Trypho  he  confesses,  that  Christians  offer  to  God  obla- 
 tions, according  to  Malachi's  prophecy,  when  they  celebrate  the 
 Eucharist,  in  which  they  commemorate  the  Lord's  death.  Both 
 Athenagoras  and  Minutius  Felix  justify  the  Chris- 
 Christ!10'  tians  for  having  no  other  sacrifices  but  pure  hearts, 
 oSav.  m  clean  consciences,  and  a  steadfast  faith.  Origen  and 
 con.vceisum.  Tertullian  refute  the  same  objection  in  the  same  man- 
 0  30'  Apo1'  ner  :  tney  set  tfte  Prayers  of  Christians  in  opposition 
 ciem.  strom.  to  q\\  the  sacrifices  that  were  among  the  heathens. 
 
 1.  Vll.  o 
 
 Arnob.iib.  Clemens  of  Alexandria  and  Arnobius  write  in  the 
 same  strain ;  and  they  do  all  make  use  of  one  topic 
 to  justify  their  offering  no  sacrifices, — that  God,  who  made  all 
 things,  and  to  whom  all  things  do  belong,  needs  nothing  from 
 his  creatures.  To  multiply  no  more  quotations  on  this  head, 
 Julian  in  his  time  objected  the  same  thing  to  the  Christians, 
 which  shews  that  there  was  then  no  idea  of  a  sacrifice  among 
 them ;  otherwise  he,  who  knew  their  doctrine  and  rites,  had 
 either  not  denied  so  positively  as  he  did  their  having  sacrifices, 
 or  at  least  he  had  shewed  how  improperly  the  Eucharist  was 
 cyr.  ai.  lib.  called  one.  When  Cyril  of  Alexandria,  towards  the 
 x.  cont.  Jul.  middle  of  the  fifth  century,  came  to  answer  this,  he 
 insists  only  upon  the  inward  and  spiritual  sacrifices  that  were 
 offered  by  Christians;  which  were  suitable  to  a  pure  and  spi- 
 ritual essence,  such  as  the  Divinity  was,  to  take  pleasure 
 In  :  and  therefore  he  sets  that  in  opposition  to  the  sacrifices 
 of  beasts,  birds,  and  of  all  other  things  whatsoever ;  nor  does 
 he  so  much  as  mention,  even  in  a  hint,  the  sacrifice  of  the 
 
Aat.  xxxi. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 Eucharist;  which  shews  that  he  did  not  consider  that  as  a 
 sacrifice  that  was  propitiatory. 
 
 These  things  do  so  plainly  set  before  us  the  ideas  that  the 
 first  ages  had  of  this  sacrament,  that  to  one  who  considers  them 
 duly,  they  do  not  leave  so  much  as  a  doubt  in  this  matter. 
 Alf  that  they  may  say  in  homilies,  or  treatises  of  piety,  con- 
 cerning the  -pure  offering  that,  according  to  Malachi,  all  Chris- 
 tians offered  to  God  in  the  sacrament — concerning  the  sacrifice, 
 and  the  unbloody  sacrifice  of  Christians — must  be  understood 
 to  relate  to  the  prayers  and  thanksgivings  that  accompanied 
 it,  to  the  commemoration  that  was  made  in  it  of  the  sacrifice 
 offered  once  upon  the  cross,  and  finally  to  the  oblation  of  the 
 bread  and  wine,  which  they  so  often  compare  both  to  Abel's 
 sacrifice,  and  to  Melchisedec's  offering  bread  and  wine. 
 
 It  were  easy  to  enlarge  further  on  this  head,  and  from  all 
 the  rituals  of  the  ancients  to  shew,  that  they  had  none  of  those 
 ideas  that  are  now  in  the  Roman  Church.    They  had  but  one 
 altar  in  a  church,  and  probably  but  one  in  a  city :  they  had 
 but  one  communion  in  a  day  at  that  altar :  so  far  were  they 
 from  the  many  altars  in  every  church,  and  the  many  masses  at 
 every  altar,  that  are  now  in  the  Roman  Church.    They  did 
 not  know  what  solitary  masses  were,  without  a  communion. 
 All  the  liturgies  and  all  the  writings  of  the  ancients  are  as  ex- 
 press in  this  matter  as  is  possible.    The  whole  constitution  of 
 their  worship  and  discipline  shews  it.    Their  worship  concluded 
 always  with  the  Eucharist :  such  as  were  not  capable  of  it,  as 
 the  catechumens,  and  those  who  were  doing  public  penance  for 
 their  sins,  assisted  at  the  more  general  parts  of  the  worship  ; 
 and  so  much  of  it  was  called  their  mass,  because  they  were  dis- 
 missed at  the  conclusion  of  it.    When  that  was  done,  then  the 
 faithful  stayed,  and  did  partake  of  the  Eucharist ;  and  at  the 
 conclusion  of  it  they  were  likewise  dismissed ;  from  whence  it 
 came  to  be  called  the  ?nass  of  the  faithful.    The  great  rigour 
 of  penance  was  thought  to  consist  chiefly  in  this,  that  such  pe- 
 nitents might  not  stay  with  the  faithful  to  communicate.  And 
 though  this  seems  to  be  a  practice  begun  in  the  third  century, 
 yet  both  from  Justin  Martyr  and  Tertullian  it  is  evident,  that 
 all  the  faithful  did  constantly  communicate.    There  is  a  canon, 
 (Can.  9.  Apost.),  among  those  which  go  under  the  name  of  the 
 Apostles,  against  such  as  came  and  assisted  in  the  other  parts 
 of  the  service,  and  did  not  partake  of  the  Eucharist.    The  same 
 thing  was  decreed  by  the  Council  of  Antioch ;  and  ton.  An. 
 it  appears  by  the  Constitutions,  that  a  deacon  was  tl0Ch  Can-2- 
 appointed  to  see  that  no  man  should  go  out,  and  a  f^^Jj. 
 subdeacon  was  to  see  that  no  woman  should  go  out,  ^"Jj^g, 
 during  the  oblation.     The  Fathers  do  frequently  lih •  »• 
 allude  to  the  word  communion,  to  shew  that  the  sacrament  was 
 to  be  common  to  all.    It  is  true,  in  St  Chrysostom's  time,  tin 
 
428 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXXI. 
 
 zeal  that  the  Christians  of  the  former  ages  had  to  communicate 
 often,  began  to  slacken ;  so  that  they  had  thin  communions, 
 and  few  communicants :  against  which  that  Father  raises  him- 
 self with  his  pathetic  eloquence,  in  words  which  do  shew  that 
 he  had  no  notion  of  solitary  masses,  or  of  the  lawfulness  of 
 them :  and  it  is  very  evident,  that  the  neglect  of  the  sacrament 
 in  those  who  came  not  to  it,  and  the  profanation  of  it  by  those 
 who  came  unworthily,  both  which  grew  very  scandalous  at  that 
 time,  set  that  holy  and  zealous  Bishop  to  many  eloquent  and 
 sublime  strains  concerning  it,  which  cannot  be  understood, 
 without  making  those  abatements  that  are  due  to  a  copious  and 
 Asiatic  style,  when  much  inflamed  by  devotion. 
 
 In  the  succeeding  ages  we  find  great  care  was  taken  to  suf- 
 fer none  that  did  not  communicate  to  stay  in  the  church,  and 
 Diaio-  to  see  ^e  mysteries*  There  is  a  rubric  for  this  in 
 cone.  Mo-  the  office  mentioned  by  Gregory  the  Great.  The 
 gunt.  an.  4  wrjters  Qf  tne  nmth  century  goon  in  the  same  strain. 
 It  was  decreed  by  the  Council  of  Mentz,  in  the  end  of  Charles 
 the  Great's  reign,  that  no  priest  should  say  mass  alone ;  for  how 
 could  he  say,  The  Lord  be  with  you,  or  Lift  up  your  hearts, 
 if  there  was  no  other  person  there  besides  himself?  This  shews 
 that  the  practice  of  solitary  masses  was  then  begun,  but  that  it 
 Waiaf.  was  disliked.  Walafridus  Strabus  says,  that  to  a 
 rSusiL  lawful  mass  it  was  necessary  that  there  should  be  a 
 cies.  c.  22.  priest,  together  with  one  to  answer,  one  to  offer,  and 
 one  to  communicate.  And  the  author  of  Micrologus,  who  is 
 believed  to  have  writ  about  the  end  of  the  eleventh  century, 
 does  condemn  solitary  communions,  as  contrary  both  to  the 
 practice  of  the  ancients  and  to  the  several  parts  of  the  office ; 
 so  that  till  the  twelfth  century  it  was  never  allowed  of  in  the 
 Roman  Church,  as  to  this  day  it  is  not  practised  in  any  other 
 communion. 
 
 But  then,  with  the  doctrine  of  Purgatory  and  Transubstan- 
 tiation  mixed  together,  the  saying  of  masses  for  other  persons, 
 whether  alive  or  dead,  grew  to  be  considered  as  a  very  merito- 
 rious thing,  and  of  great  efficacy :  thereupon  great  endowments 
 were  made,  and  it  became  a  trade.  Masses  were  sold,  and  a 
 small  piece  of  money  became  their  price;  so  that  a  profane 
 sort  of  simony  was  set  up,  and  the  holiest  of  all  the  institutions 
 of  the  Christian  religion  was  exposed  to  sale.  Therefore  we, 
 in  cutting  off  all  this,  and  in  bringing  the  sacrament  to  be,  ac- 
 cording to  its  first  institution,  a  communion,  have  followed  the 
 words  of  our  Saviour,  and  the  constant  practice  of  the  whole 
 Church  for  the  first  ten  centuries. 
 
 So  far  all  the  Articles  that  relate  to  this  sacrament  have  been 
 considered.  The  variety  of  the  matter,  and  the  important  con- 
 troversies that  have  arisen  out  of  it,  has  made  it  necessary  to 
 enlarge  with  some  copiousness  upon  the  several  branches  of  it. 
 
Art.  XXXI. 
 
 THE  XXX I \  ARTICLES, 
 
 429 
 
 Next  to  the  infallibility  of  the  Church,  this  is  the  dearest  piece 
 of  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  is  that  in  which 
 both  priests  and  people  are  better  instructed,  than  in  any  other 
 point  whatsoever :  and  therefore  this  ought  to  be  studied  on 
 our  side  with  a  care  proportioned  to  the  importance  of  it  ;  that 
 so  we  may  govern  both  ourselves  and  our  people  aright,  in  a 
 matter  of  such  consequence,  avoiding  with  great  caution  the 
 extremes  on  both  hands — both  of  excessive  superstition  on  the 
 one  hand,  and  of  profane  neglect  on  the  other ;  for  the  nature 
 of  man  is  so  moulded,  that  it  is  not  easy  to  avoid  the  one  with- 
 out falling  into  the  other.  We  are  now  visibly  under  the  ex- 
 treme of  neglect,  and  therefore  we  ought  to  study  by  all  means 
 possible  to  inspire  our  people  with  a  just  respect  for  this  holy 
 institution,  and  to  animate  them  to  desire  earnestly  to  partake 
 often  of  it ;  and  in  order  to  that,  to  prepare  themselves  seriously 
 to  set  about  it  with  the  reverence  and  devotion,  and  with  those 
 holy  purposes  and  solemn  vows,  that  ought  to  accompany  it. 
 
 ARTICLE  XXXII. 
 
 OF  THE  MARRIAGE  OF  PRIESTS. 
 
 Bishops,  Priests,  and  Deacons,  are  not  commanded  by  God's 
 Laiv  either  to  vow  the  Estate  of  single  Life,  or  to  abstain 
 from  Marriage:  Therefore  it  is  lawful for  them,  as  "sell  as 
 for  all  Christian  Men,  to  marry  at  their  own  Discretion,  as 
 they  shall  judge  the  same  to  serve  better  to  Godliness. 
 
 The  first  period  of  this  Article,  to  the  word  Therefore, 
 was  all  that  was  published  in  King  Edward's  time.  They 
 were  content  to  lay  down  the  assertion,  and  left  the  inference 
 to  be  made  as  a  consequence  that  did  naturally  arise  out  of  it. 
 There  was  not  any  one  point  that  was  more  severely  examined 
 at  the  time  of  the  Reformation  than  this  ;  for,  as  the  irregular 
 practices  and  dissolute  lives  of  both  seculars  and  regulars  had 
 very  much  prejudiced  the  world  against  the  celibate  of  the 
 Roman  Clergy,  which  was  considered  as  the  occasion  of  all 
 those  disorders ;  so,  on  the  other  hand,  the  marriage  of  the 
 Clergy,  and  also  of  those  of  both  sexes  who  had  taken  vows, 
 gave  great  offence.  They  were  represented  as  persons  that 
 could  not  master  their  appetites,  but  that  indulged  themselves 
 in  carnal  pleasures  and  interests.  Thus,  as  the  scandals  of  the 
 unmarried  Clergy  had  alienated  the  world  much  from  them, 
 so  the  marriage  of  most  of  the  Reformers  was  urged  as  an  ill 
 
430 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Aut.  XXXII. 
 
 character  both  of  them  and  of  the  Reformation ;  as  a  doctrine 
 of  libertinism,  that  made  the  Clergy  look  too  like  the  rest  of 
 the  world,  and  involved  them  in  the  common  pleasures,  con- 
 cerns, and  passions  of  human  life. 
 
 The  appearances  of  an  austerity  of  habit,  of  a  severity  of  life 
 in  watching  and  fasting,  and  of  avoiding  the  common  pleasures 
 of  sense  and  the  delights  of  life,  that  were  on  the  other  side, 
 did  strike  the  world,  and  inclined  many  to  think,  that  what  ill 
 consequences  soever  celibate  produced,  yet  that  these  were 
 much  more  supportable,  and  more  easy  to  be  reformed,  than 
 the  ill  consequences  of  an  unrestrained  permission  of  the 
 Clergy  to  marry. 
 
 In  treating  this  matter,  we  must  first  consider  celibate  with 
 relation  to  the  laws  of  Christ  and  the  Gospel ;  and  then  with 
 relation  to  the  laws  of  the  Church.  It  does  not  seem  contrary 
 to  the  purity  of  the  worship  of  God,  or  of  divine  performances, 
 that  married  persons  should  officiate  in  them ;  since,  by  the 
 law  of  Moses,  priests  not  only  might  marry,  but  the  priesthood 
 was  tied  to  descend  as  an  inheritance  in  a  certain  family.  And 
 even  the  high-priest,  who  was  to  perform  the  great  function  of 
 the  annual  atonement  that  was  made  for  the  sins  of  the  whole 
 Jewish  nation,  was  to  marry,  and  he  derived  to  his  descendants 
 that  sacred  office.  If  there  was  so  much  as  a  remote  unsuit- 
 ableness  between  a  married  state  and  sacerdotal  performances, 
 we  cannot  imagine  that  God  would  by  a  law  tie  the  priesthood  to 
 a  family,  which  by  consequence  laid  an  obligation  on  the  priests 
 to  marry.  When  Christ  chose  his  twelve  Apostles,  some  of 
 them  were  married  men ;  we  are  sure,  at  least,  that  St  Peter 
 was;  so  that  he  made  no  distinction,  and  gave  no  preference 
 to  the  unmarried:  Our  Saviour  did  nowhere  charge  them  to 
 forsake  their  wives ;  nor  did  he  at  all  represent  celibate  as  ne- 
 cessary to  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  or  the  dispensation  of  the 
 gospel.  He  speaks  indeed  of  some  that  brought  themselves  to 
 the  state  of  eunuchs  for  the  sake  of  the  gospel;  but  in  that  he 
 left  all  men  at  full  liberty,  by  saying,  Let  him  receive  it  that 
 is  able  to  receive  it,  Matt.  xix.  10,  11,  12.  ;  so  that  in  this 
 every  man  must  judge  of  himself  by  what  he  finds  himself  to 
 be.  That  is  equally  recommended  to  all  ranks  of  men,  as  they 
 can  bear  it.  St  Paul  does  affirm,  that  marriage  is  honourable 
 in  all,  Heb.  xiii.  4. ;  and  to  avoid  uncleanness,  he  says,  It  is 
 better  to  marry  than  to  bum,  1  Cor.  vii.  9. ;  and  so  gives  it  as 
 a  rule,  that  every  man  should  have  his  own  wife.  Among  all 
 the  rules  or  qualifications  of  bishops  or  priests  that  are  given 
 in  the  New  Testament,  particularly  in  the  Epistles  to  Timothy 
 (1  Tim.  iii.  2.  4,  5.  12.)  and  Titus,  there  is  not  a  word  of  the 
 celibate  of  the  Clergy,  but  plain  intimations  to  the  contrary,  that 
 they  were,  and  might  be  married.  That  of  the  husband  of  one 
 wife  is  repeated  in  different  places:  mention  is  also  made  of 
 
Art.  XXX 1 1. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 431 
 
 the  wives  and  children  of  the  Clergy,  rules  being  given  con- 
 cerning them ;  and  not  a  word  is  so  much  as  insinuated,  im- 
 porting that  this  was  only  tolerated  in  the  beginnings  of  Chris- 
 tianity, but  that  it  was  afterwards  to  cease.  On  the  contrary, 
 the  forbidding  to  marry,  (1  Tim.  iv.  3.),  is  given  as  a  character 
 of  the  apostasy  of  the  latter  times.  W e  find  Aquila,  when  he 
 went  about  preaching  the  gospel,  was  not  only  married  to 
 Priscilla,  but  that  he  carried  her  about  with  him :  not  to  in- 
 sist on  that  privilege  that  St  Paul  thought  he  might  have 
 claimed,  of  carrying  about  with  him  a  sister  and  a  wife,  as  well 
 as  the  other  apostles,  1  Cor.  ix.  5.  And  thus  the  first  point 
 seems  to  be  fully  cleared,  that  by  no  law  of  God  the  Clergy 
 are  debarred  from  marriage.  There  is  not  one  word  in  the 
 whole  Scriptures  that  does  so  much  as  hint  at  it ;  whereas  there 
 is  a  great  deal  to- the  contrary. 
 
 Marriage  being  then  one  of  the  rights  of  human  nature,  to 
 which  so  many  reasons  of  different  sorts  may  carry  both  a  wise 
 and  a  good  man,  and  there  being  no  positive  precept  in  the 
 Gospel  that  forbids  it  to  the  Clergy,  the  next  question  is, 
 Whether  it  is  in  the  power  of  the  Church  to  make  a  perpetual 
 law,  restraining  the  Clergy  from  marriage  ?  It  is  certain,  that 
 no  age  of  the  Church  can  make  a  law  to  bind  succeeding  ages ; 
 for  whatsoever  power  -the  Church  lias,  she  is  always  in  posses- 
 sion of  it;  and  every  age  has  as  much  power  as  any  of  the 
 former  ages  had.  Therefore,  if  any  one  age  should  by  a  law 
 enjoin  celibate  to  the  Clergy,  any  succeeding  age  may  repeal 
 and  alter  that  law :  For,  ever  since  the  inspiration  that  con- 
 ducted the  apostles  has  ceased,  every  age  of  the  Church  may 
 make  or  change  laws  in  all  matters  that  are  writhin  their  au- 
 thority. So  it  seems  very  clear,  that  the  Church  can  make 
 no  perpetual  law  upon  this  subject. 
 
 In  the  next  place,  it  may  be  justly  doubted  whether  the 
 Church  can  make  a  lawr  that  shall  restrain  all  the  Clergy  in 
 any  of  those  natural  rights  in  which  Christ  has  left  them  free. 
 The  adding  a  law  upon  this  head  to  the  laws  of  Christ,  seems 
 to  assume  an  authority  that  he  has  not  given  the  Church.  It 
 looks  like  a  pretending  to  a  strain  of  purity,  beyond  the  rules 
 set  us  in  the  Gospel ;  and  is  plainly  the  laying  a  yoke  upon  us 
 which  must  be  thought  tyrannical,  since  the  Author  of  this 
 religion,  who  knew  best  what  human  nature  is  capable  of,  and 
 what  it  may  well  bear,  has  not  thought  fit  to  lay  it  on  those 
 whom  he  sent  upon  a  commission  that  required  a  much  greater 
 elevation  of  soul,  and  more  freedom  from  the  entanglements 
 of  worldly  or  domestic  concerns,  than  can  be  pretended  to  be 
 necessary  for  the  standing  and  settled  offices  in  the  Church. 
 Therefore  we  conclude,  that  it  were  a  great  abuse  of  church 
 power,  and  a  high  act  of  tyranny,  for  any  Church,  or  any 
 age  of  the  Church,  to  bar  men  from  the  services  in  the  Church, 
 
+32 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXXII. 
 
 because  they  either  are  married,  or  intend  to  keep  themselves 
 free  to  marry,  or  not,  as  they  please.  This  does  indeed  bring 
 the  body  of  the  Clergy  more  into  a  combination  among 
 themselves ;  it  does  take  them  in  a  great  measure  off  from 
 having  separate  interests  of  their  own ;  it  takes  them  out  of 
 the  civil  society,  in  which  they  have  less  concern,  when  they 
 give  no  pledges  to  it.  And  so  in  ages  in  which  the  papacy 
 intended  to  engage  the  whole  priesthood  into  its  interests 
 against  the  civil  powers,  as  the  immunity  and  exemptions 
 of  the  Clergy  made  them  safe  in  their  own  persons,  so  it  was 
 necessary  to  free  them  from  any  such  encumbrances  or  ap- 
 pendages by  which  they  might  be  in  the  power  or  at  the 
 mercy  of  secular  princes.  This,  joined  with  the  belief  of  their 
 making  God  with  a  few  words,  by  the  virtue  of  their  character, 
 and  of  their  forgiving  sin,  was  like  armour  of  proof,  by  which 
 they  were  invulnerable,  and  by  consequence  capable  of  under- 
 taking any  thing  that  might  be  committed  to  them.  But  al- 
 though this  may  well  recommend  such  a  rule  to  a  crafty  and 
 designing  body  of  men,  in  which  it  is  not  to  be  denied  that 
 there  is  a  deep  and  refined  policy ;  yet  we  have  not  so  learned 
 Christ,  nor  to  handle  the  word  of  God,  or  the  authority  that 
 he  has  trusted  to  us,  deceitfully. 
 
 As  for  the  consequences  of  such  laws,  inconveniencies  are  on 
 both  hands ;  as  long  as  men  are  corrupt  themselves,  so  long 
 they  will  abuse  all  the  liberties  of  human  nature.  If  not  only 
 common  lewdness  in  all  the  kinds  of  it,  but  even  brutal  and 
 unnatural  lusts,  have  been  the  visible  consequences  of  the  strict 
 law  of  celibate ;  and  if  this  appears  so  evident  in  history  that 
 it  cannot  be  denied ;  we  think  it  better  to  trust  human  nature 
 with  the  lawful  use  of  that  in  which  God  has  not  restrained  it, 
 than  to  venture  on  that  which  has  given  occasion  to  abomina- 
 tions that  cannot  be  mentioned  without  horror.  As  for  the 
 temptation  to  covetousness,  we  think  it  is  neither  so  great,  nor 
 so  unavoidable,  upon  the  one  hand,  as  those  monstrous  ones 
 are  on  the  other.  It  is  more  reasonable  to  expect  divine  as- 
 sistances to  preserve  men  from  temptations,  when  they  are 
 using  those  liberties  which  God  has  left  free  to  them,  than 
 when,  by  pretending  to  a  purity  greater  than  that  which  he 
 lias  commanded,  they  throw  themselves  into  many  snares.  It 
 is  also  very  evident,  that  covetousness  is  an  effect  of  men's 
 tempers,  rather  than  of  their  marriage ;  since  the  instances  of 
 a  ravenous  covetousness,  and  of  a  restless  ambition,  in  behalf 
 of  men's  kindred  and  families,  hath  appeared  as  often  and  as 
 scandalously  among  the  unmarried  as  among  the  married 
 Clergy. 
 
 From  these  general  considerations  concerning  the  power 
 that  the  Church  has  to  make  either  a  perpetual  or  an  universal 
 law  in  a  thing  of  this  kind,  I  shall  in  the  next  place  consider, 
 
Art.  XXXII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 in  short,  what  the  Church  has  clone  in  this  matter.  In  the  first 
 ages  of  Christianity,  Basilides  and  Saturninus,  and  after  them 
 both  Montanus  and  Xovatus,  and  the  sect  of  the  Encratites, 
 condemned  marriage  as  a  state  of  libertinism  that  was  unbe- 
 coming the  purity  required  of  Christians.  Against  those,  we 
 find  the  Fathers  asserted  the  lawfulness  of  marriage  to  all 
 Christians,  without  making  a  difference  between  the  clergy 
 and  the  laity.  It  is  true,  the  appearances  that  were  in  Mon- 
 tanus and  his  followers,  seem  to  have  engaged  the  Christians 
 of  that  age  to  strain  beyond  them  in  those  things  that  gave 
 them  their  reputation  :  Many  of  Tertullian's  writings,  that 
 critics  do  now  see  were  writ  after  he  was  a  Montanist,  which 
 seems  not  to  have  been  observed  in  that  age,  carry  the  matter 
 of  celibate  so  high,  that  it  is  no  wonder  if,  considering  the 
 reputation  that  he  had,  a  bias  was  given  by  these  to  the  fol- 
 lowing ages  in  favour  of  celibate  :  yet  it  seemed  to  give  great 
 and  just  prejudices  against  the  Christian  religion,  if  such  as 
 had  come  into  the  service  of  the  Church  should  have  forsaken 
 their  wives.  It  is  visible  how  much  scandal  this  might  have 
 given,  and  what  matter  of  reproach  it  would  have  furnished 
 their  enemies  with,  if  they  could  have  charged  them  with  this, 
 that  men,  to  get  rid  of  their  wives,  and  the  care  of  their  fami- 
 lies, went  into  orders  ;  that  so,  under  a  pretence  of  a  higher 
 degree  of  sanctity,  they  might  abandon  their  families.  There- 
 fore great  care  was  taken  to  prevent  this.  They  were  so  far 
 from  requiring  priests  to  forsake  their  wives,  that  such  as  did 
 it,  upon  their  entering  into  orders,  were  severely  condemned 
 by  the  Canons  that  go  under  the  name  of  the  Apostles.  They 
 were  also  condemned  by  the  Council  of  Gangra  in  the  fourth 
 century,  and  by  that  in  Trullo  in  the  seventh  age.  There  are 
 some  instances  brought  of  bishops  and  priests,  who  are  sup- 
 posed to  have  married  after  they  were  ordained ;  but  as  there 
 are  only  few  of  those,  so  perhaps  they  are  not  well  proved.  It 
 must  be  acknowledged,  that  the  general  practice  was,  that 
 men  once  in  orders  did  not  marry  ,•  but  many  bishops  in  the 
 best  ages  lived  still  with  their  wives.  So  did  the  fathers  both 
 of  Gregory  Nazianzen  and  of  St  Basil.  And  among  the 
 works  of  Hilary  of  Poictiers  there  is  a  letter,  writ  by  him  in 
 exile  to  his  daughter  Abra,  in  which  he  refers  her  to  her  mo- 
 ther's instruction  in  those  things  which  she,  by  reason  of  her 
 age,  did  not  then  understand ;  which  shews  that  she  was  then 
 very  young,  and  so  was  probably  born  after  he  was  a  bishop. 
 
 Some  proposed  in  the  Council  of  Nice,  that  the    gocr  Hist 
 clergy  should  depart  from  their  wives ;  but  Paphnu-    £cd.  lib.  i 
 this,  though  himself  unmarried,  opposed  this,  as  the 
 laying  an  unreasonably  heavy  yoke  upon  them.    Heliodorus,  a 
 bishop,  the  author  of  the  first  of  those  love-fables  that  are  now 
 known  by  the  name  of  romances,  being  upon  that  account 
 
 E  e 
 
434 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXXII. 
 
 accused  of  too  much  levity,  did,  in  order  to  the  clearing  himself 
 of  that  imputation,  move  that  clergymen  should  be  obliged 
 to  live  from  their  wives ;  which  the  historian  says  they  were 
 not  tied  to  before,  for  till  then  bishops  lived  with  their  wives. 
 So  that  in  those  days  the  living  in  a  married  state  was  not 
 thought  unbecoming  the  purity  of  the  sacred  functions.  A 
 single  marriage  was  never  objected  in  bar  to  a  man's  being 
 made  bishop  or  priest.  They  did  not  indeed  admit  a  man 
 to  orders  that  had  been  twice  married;  but  even  for  this  there 
 was  a  distinction  : — if  a  man  had  been  once  married  before  his 
 baptism,  and  was  once  married  after  his  baptism,  that  was 
 reckoned  only  a  single  marriage ;  for  what  had  been  done 
 when  in  heathenism  went  for  nothing.  And  Jerome,  speak- 
 ing of  bishops  who  had  been  twice  married,  but  by  this  nicety 
 were  reckoned  to  be  the  husbands  of  one  wife,  says,  The  num- 
 ber of  those  of  this  sort  in  that  time  could  not  be  reckoned ;  and 
 that  more  such  bishops  might  be  found  than  were  at  the  Council 
 of  Arimini.  Canons  grew  to  be  frequently  made  against  the 
 marriage  of  those  in  holy  orders ;  but  these  were  positive  laws 
 made  chiefly  in  the  Roman  and  African  Synods :  and  since 
 those  canons  were  so  often  renewed,  we  may  from  thence  con- 
 clude that  they  were  not  well  kept.  When  Synesius  was 
 ordained  priest,  he  tells  in  an  epistle  of  his,  that  he  declared 
 openly  that  he  would  not  live  secretly  with  his  wife,  as  some 
 did ;  but  that  he  would  dwell  publicly  with  her,  and  wished 
 that  he  might  have  many  children  by  her.  In  the  Eastern 
 Church  the  priests  are  usually  married  before  they  are  ordain- 
 ed, and  continue  afterwards  to  live  with  their  wives,  and  to 
 have  children  by  them,  without  either  censure  or  trouble.  In 
 the  Western  Church  we  find  mention  made,*  both  in  the  Gal- 
 lican  and  Spanish  Synods,  of  the  wives  both  of  bishops  and 
 priests;  and  they  are  called  Episcopce  and  Presbyterce.  In 
 the  Saxon  times  the  clergy  in  most  of  the  cathedrals  of  Eng- 
 land were  openly  married ;  and  when  Dunstan,  who  had  en- 
 gaged King  Edgar  to  favour  the  monks  in  opposition  to  the 
 married  clergy,  pressed  them  to  forsake  their  wives,  they  re- 
 fused to  do  it,  and  so  were  turned  out  of  their  benefices,  and 
 monks  came  in  their  places.  Nor  was  the  celibate  generally 
 imposed  on  all  the  clergy  before  Gregory  the  Seventh's  time, 
 in  the  end  of  the  eleventh  century.  He  had  great  designs  for 
 subjecting  all  temporal  princes  to  the  Papacy ;  and,  in  order 
 to  that,  he  intended  to  bring  the  clergy  into  an  entire  depend- 
 ance  upon  himself,  and  to  separate  them  wholly  from  all 
 other  interests  but  those  of  the  ecclesiastical  authority  :  And 
 that  he  might  load  the  married  clergy  with  an  odious  name, 
 lie  called  them  all  Nicolaitans ;  though  the  accounts  that  the 
 ancients  give  us  of  that  sect  say  nothing  that  related  to  this 
 matter ;  but  a  name  of  an  ill  sound  goes  a  great  way  in  an 
 
Art.  XXXII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 135 
 
 ignorant  age.  The  writers  that  lived  near  that  time  condemn 
 this  severity  against  the  married  clergy,  as  a  new  and  a  rash 
 thing,  and  contrary  to  the  mind  of  the  holy  Fathers ;  and  they 
 tax  his  rigour  in  turning  them  all  out.  Yet  Lanfranc  among 
 us  did  not  impose  the  celibate  generally  on  all  the  clergy,  but 
 only  on  those  that  lived  in  cathedrals  and  in  towns ;  he  con- 
 nived at  those  who  served  in  villages.  Anselm  carried  it  far- 
 ther, and  imposed  it  on  all  the  clergy  without  exception  :  yet 
 he  himself  laments  that  unnatural  lusts  were  become  then  both 
 common  and  public ;  of  which  Petrus  Damiani  made  great 
 complaints  in  Gregory  the  Seventh's  time.  Bernard,  in  a 
 sermon  preached  to  the  clergy  of  France,  says  it  was  common 
 in  his  time,  and  then  even  bishops  with  bishops  lived  in  it. 
 The  observation  that  Abbot  Panormitan  made  of  the  progress 
 of  that  horrid  sin,  led  him  to  wish  that  it  might  be  left  free 
 to  the  clergy  to  marry  as  they  pleased.  Pius  the  Second  said, 
 that  there  might  have  been  good  reasons  for  imposing  the  ce- 
 libate on  the  clergy ;  but  he  believed  there  were  far  better  rea- 
 sons for  leaving  them  to  their  liberty.  As  a  remedy  to  these 
 more  enormous  crimes,  dispensations  for  concubinate  became 
 so  common,  that,  instead  of  giving  scandal  by  them,  they  were 
 rather  considered  as  the  characters  of  modesty  and  temper- 
 ance:  in  such  concubinary  priests  the  world  judged  themselves 
 safe  from  practices  on  their  own  families. 
 
 When  we  consider  those  effects  that  followed  on  the  im- 
 posing the  celibate  on  the  clergy,  we  cannot  but  look  on  them 
 as  much  greater  evils  than  those  that  can  follow  on  the  leaving 
 it  free  to  them  to  marry.  It  is  not  to  be  denied  but  that,  on 
 the  other  hand,  the  effects  of  a  freedom  to  marry  may  be  like- 
 wise bad :  that  state  does  naturally  involve  men  in  the  cares  of 
 life,  in  domestic  concerns,  and  it  brings  with  it  temptations 
 both  to  luxury  and  covetousiiess.  It  carries  with  it  too  great 
 a  disposition  to  heap  up  wealth,  and  to  raise  families;  and,  in  a 
 word,  it  makes  the  clergy  both  look  too  like,  and  live  too  like 
 the  rest  of  the  world.  But  when  things  of  this  kind  are  duly 
 balanced,  ill  effects  will  appear  on  both  hands :  these  arise  out 
 of  the  general  corruption  of  human  nature,  which  does  so 
 spread  itself,  that  it  will  corrupt  us  in  the  most  innocent  and 
 in  the  most  necessary  practices.  There  are  excesses  commit- 
 ted in  eating,  drinking,  and  sleeping :  our  depraved  inclina- 
 tions will  insinuate  themselves  into  us  in  our  best  actions  :  even 
 the  public  worship  of  God,  and  all  devotion,  receive  a  taint 
 from  them.  But  we  must  not  take  away  those  liberties  in 
 which  God  has  left  human  nature  free,  and  engage  men  to  rules 
 and  methods  that  put  a  violence  upon  mankind :  this  is  the 
 less  excusable,  when  we  see,  in  fact,  what  the  consequences  of 
 such  restraints  have  been  for  many  ages. 
 
436 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXXII. 
 
 Yet,  after  all,  though  they  who  marry  do  well,  yet  those 
 who  marry  not  do  better,  provided  they  live  chaste,  and  do  not 
 burn.  That  man  who  subdues  his  body  by  fasting  and  prayer, 
 by  labour  and  study,  and  that  separates  himself  from  the  con- 
 cerns of  a  family,  that  he  may  give  himself  ivholly  to  the  minis- 
 try of  the  word,  and  to  'prayer,  (Acts  vi.  4.) ;  that  lives  at  a  dis- 
 tance from  the  levities  of  the  world,  and  in  a  course  of  native 
 modesty  and  unaffected  severity — is  certainly  a  burning  and 
 shining  light :  he  is  above  the  world,  free  from  cares  and  de- 
 signs, from  aspirings,  and  all  those  restless  projects  which  have 
 so  long  given  the  world  so  much  scandal ;  and  therefore  those 
 who  allow  themselves  the  liberty  of  marriage,  according  to  the 
 laws  of  God  and  the  Church,  are  indeed  engaged  in  a  state  of 
 many  temptations,  to  which  if  they  give  way,  they  lay  them- 
 selves open  to  many  censures,  and  they  bring  a  scandal  on  the 
 Reformation  for  allowing  them  this  liberty,  if  they  abuse  it. 
 
 It  remains  only  to  consider,  how  far  this  matter  is  altered  by 
 vows ;  how  far  it  is  lawful  to  make  them ;  and  how  far  they 
 bind  when  they  are  made.  It  seems  very  unreasonable  and 
 tyrannical  to  put  vows  on  any,  in  matters  in  which  it  may  not 
 be  in  their  power  to  keep  them  without  sin.  No  vows  ought 
 to  be  made,  but  in  things  that  are  either  absolutely  in  our 
 power,  or  in  things  in  which  we  may  procure  to  ourselves  those 
 assistances  that  may  enable  us  to  perform  them.  We  have  a 
 federal  right  to  the  promises  that  Christ  has  made  us,  of  in- 
 ward assistances  to  enable  us  to  perform  those  conditions  that 
 he  has  laid  on  us  ;  and  therefore  we  may  vow  to  observe  them, 
 because  we  may  do  that  which  may  procure  us  aids  sufficient 
 for  the  execution  of  them.  But  if  men  will  take  up  resolu- 
 tions that  are  not  within  those  necessary  conditions,  they  have 
 no  reason  to  promise  themselves  such  assistances ;  and  if  they 
 are  not  so  absolutely  masters  of  themselves,  as  to  be  able  to 
 stand  to  them  without  those  helps,  and  yet  are  not  sure  that 
 they  shall  be  given  them,  then  they  ought  to  make  no  vow 
 in  a  matter  which  they  cannot  keep  by  their  own  natural 
 strength,  and  in  which  they  have  not  any  promise  in  the  Gos- 
 pel that  assures  them  of  divine  assistances  to  enable  them  to 
 keep  it.  This  is,  therefore,  a  tempting  of  God,  when  men 
 pretend  to  serve  him  by  assuming  a  stricter  course  of  life  than 
 either  he  has  commanded,  or  they  are  able  to  go  through  with. 
 And  it  may  prove  a  great  snare  to  them,  when  by  such  rash 
 vows  they  are  engaged  into  such  a  state  of  life,  in  which  they 
 live  in  constant  temptations  to  sin,  without  either  command  or 
 promise  on  which  they  can  rest  as  to  the  execution  of  them. 
 
 This  is  to  lead  themselves  into  temptation,  in  opposition  to 
 that  which  our  Saviour  has  made  a  petition  of  that  prayer 
 which  he  himself  has  taught  us.  Out  of  this,  great  distractions 
 of  mind,  and  a  variety  of  different  temptations,  may,  and  pro- 
 
Art.  XXXII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 437 
 
 bably  will  arise — and  that  the  rather,  because  the  vow  is  made  ; 
 there  being  somewhat  in  our  natures  that  will  always  struggle 
 the  harder,  because  they  are  restrained.  It  is  certain  that 
 every  man,  who  dedicates  himself  to  the  service  of  God,  ought 
 to  try  if  he  can  dedicate  himself  so  entirely  to  it  as  to  live  out 
 of  all  the  concerns  and  entanglements  of  life.  If  he  can  main- 
 tain his  purity  in  it,  he  will  be  enabled  thereby  to  labour  the 
 more  effectually,  and  may  expect  both  the  greater  success  here, 
 and  a  fuller  reward  hereafter.  But  because  both  his  temper 
 and  his  circumstances  may  so  change,  that  what  is  an  advan- 
 tage to  him  in  one  part  of  his  life  may  be  a  snare  and  an  en- 
 cumbrance to  him  in  another  part  of  it,  he  ought  therefore  to 
 keep  this  matter  still  in  his  own  power,  and  to  continue  in  that 
 liberty  in  which  God  has  left  him  free,  that  so  he  may  do  as 
 he  shall  find  it  to  be  most  expedient  for  himself,  and  for  the 
 work  of  the  Gospel. 
 
 Therefore  it  is  to  be  concluded,  that  it  is  unlawful  either  to 
 impose,  or  to  make  such  vows.  And,  supposing  that  any  have 
 been  engaged  in  them,  more,  perhaps,  out  of  the  importunity 
 or  authority  of  others  than  their  own  choice,  then,  though  it 
 is  certainly  a  character  of  a  man  that  shall  dwell  in  God's  holy 
 hill,  that  though  he  swears  to  his  own  hurt,  yet  he  changes  not, 
 (Psal.  xv.  4.),  he  is  to  consider,  whether  he  can  keep  such  a  vow 
 without  breaking  the  commandments  of  God,  or  not.  If  he 
 can,  then  certainly  he  ought  to  have  that  regard  to  the  name 
 of  God  that  was  called  upon  in  the  vow,  and  to  the  solemni- 
 ties of  it,  and  to  the  scandals  that  may  follow  upon  his  breaking 
 it,  that  if  he  can  continue  in  that  state  without  sinning  against 
 God,  he  ought  to  do  it,  and  to  endeavour  all  he  can  to  keep 
 his  vow,  and  preserve  his  purity.  But  if,  after  he  has  used 
 both  fasting  and  prayer,  he  still  finds  that  the  obligation  of  his 
 vow  is  a  snare  to  him,  and  that  he  cannot  both  keep  it  and 
 also  keep  the  commandments  of  God ;  then  the  two  obligations, 
 that  of  the  law  of  God  and  that  of  his  vow,  happening  to  stand 
 in  one  another's  way,  certainly  the  lesser  must  give  place  to  the 
 greater.  Herod's  oath  was  ill  and  rashly  made,  but  worse 
 kept,  when,  for  his  oath's  sake,  (Matt.  xiv.  9.),  he  ordered  the 
 head  of  John  the  Baptist  to  be  cut  off.  Our  Saviour  condemns 
 that  practice  among  the  Jews,  of  vowing  that  to  the  Corban  or 
 treasure  of  the  Temple,  (Matt.  xv.  5.),  which  they  ought  to 
 have  given  to  their  parents,  and  imagining  that,  by  such  means, 
 they  were  not  obliged  to  take  care  of  them,  or  to  supply  them. 
 The  obligation  to  keep  the  commandments  of  God  is  indis- 
 pensable, and  antecedent  to  any  act  or  vow  of  ours,  and  there- 
 fore it  cannot  be  made  void  by  any  vow  that  we  may  take  upon 
 us :  and  if  we  are  under  a  vow,  which  exposes  us  to  tempta- 
 tions that  do  often  prevail,  and  that  probably  will  prevail  long 
 upon  us,  then  we  ought  to  repent  of  our  rashness  in  making 
 
438 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXXII. 
 
 any  such  vow,  but  must  not  continue  in  the  observation  of  it, 
 if  it  proves  to  us  like  the  taking  fire  into  our  bosom,  or  the 
 handling  of  pitch.  A  vow  that  draws  many  temptations  upon 
 us  that  are  above  our  strength  to  resist  them,  is  certainly 
 much  better  broken  and  repented  of  than  kept.  So  that,  to 
 conclude,  celibate  is  not  a  matter  fit  to  be  the  subject  either  of 
 a  law  or  a  vow ;  every  man  must  consider  himself,  and  what 
 he  is  able  to  receive :  He  that  marries  does  well,  but  he  that 
 marries  not  does  better. 
 
 ARTICLE  XXXIII. 
 
 OF  EXCOMMUNICATE  PERSONS,  HOW  THEY  ARE  TO  BE 
 AVOIDED. 
 
 That  Person  which,  by  open  Denunciation  of  the  Church,  is 
 rightly  cut  off  from  the  Unity  of  the  Church,  and  Excommu- 
 nicate, ought  to  be  taken  of  the  whole  Multitude  of  the  Faith- 
 ful as  a  Heathen  and  a  Publican;  until  he  be  openly  re- 
 conciled by  Penance,  and  be  received  into  the  Church  by  a 
 Judge  that  hath  Authority  thereunto. 
 
 All  Christians  are  obliged  to  a  strict  purity  and  holiness  of 
 life,  and  every  private  man  is  bound  to  avoid  all  unnecessary 
 familiarities  with  bad  and  vicious  men ;  both  because  he  may 
 be  insensibly  corrupted  by  these,  and  because  the  world  will 
 be  from  thence  disposed  to  think,  that  he  takes  pleasure  in 
 such  persons,  and  in  their  vices.  What  every  single  Christian 
 ought  to  set  as  a  rule  to  himself,  ought  to  be  likewise  made  the 
 rule  of  all  Christians,  as  they  are  constituted  in  a  body  under 
 guides  and  pastors.  And  as,  in  general,  severe  denunciations 
 ought  to  be  often  made  of  the  wrath  and  judgments  of  God 
 against  sinners ;  so,  if  any  that  is  called  a  Brother,  that  is,  a 
 Christian,  lives  in  a  course  of  sin  and  scandal,  they  ought  to 
 give  warning  of  such  a  person  to  all  the  other  Christians,  that 
 they  may  not  so  much  as  eat  with  him,  but  may  separate  them- 
 selves from  him ;  1  Cor.  v.  1 1 . 
 
 In  this,  private  persons  ought  to  avoid  the  moroseness  and 
 affectation  of  saying,  Statid  by,  for  I  am  holier  than  thou :  If 
 one  is  overtaken  in  a  fault,  then  those  who  are  spiritual  ought 
 to  restore  such  an  one  in  the  spirit  of  meekness;  every  one  con- 
 sidering himself,  lest  he  be  also  tempted,  Gal.  vi.  1.  Excessive 
 rigour  will  be  always  suspected  of  hypocrisy,  and  may  drive 
 those  on  whom  it  falls  either  into  despair  on  the  one  hand,  or 
 into  an  unmanageable  licentiousness  on  the  other. 
 
A  JIT.  XXXIII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 439 
 
 The  nature  of  all  societies  must  import  this,  that  they  have 
 a  power  to  maintain  themselves  according  to  the  design  and 
 rules  of  their  society.  A  combination  of  men,  made  upon  any 
 bottom  whatsoever,  must  be  supposed  to  have  a  right  to  exclude 
 out  of  their  number  such  as  may  be  a  reproach  to  it,  or  a  mean 
 to  dissolve  it :  and  it  must  be  a  main  part  of  the  office  and 
 duty  of  the  pastors  of  the  Church  to  separate  the  good  from 
 the  bad,  to  warn  the  unruly,  and  to  put  from  among  them 
 wicked  persons.  There  are  several  considerations  that  shew 
 not  only  the  lawfulness  but  the  necessity  of  such  a  practice. 
 
 First,  that  the  contagion  of  an  ill  example  and  of  bad  prac- 
 tices may  not  spread  too  far  to  the  corrupting  of  others:  Evil 
 communications  corrupt  good  manners:  Their  doctrines  xvill  eat 
 and  spread  as  a  gangrene,  2  Tim.  ii.  17. :  and  therefore,  in 
 order  to  the  preserving  the  purity  of  those  who  are  not  yet  cor- 
 rupted, it  may  be  necessary  to  note  such  persons,  and  to  have 
 no  company  with  them,  2  Thess.  iii.  14. 
 
 A  second  reason  relates  to  the  persons  themselves  that  are 
 so  separated,  that  they  may  be  ashamed ;  that  they  may  be  thus 
 pulled  out  of  the  fire  by  the  terror  of  such  a  proceeding,  which 
 ought  to  be  done  by  mourning  over  them,  lamenting  their  sins, 
 and  praving  for  them ;  Jude  23. ;  1  Cor.  v.  2.  5.  7. ;  2  Cor.  ii. 
 1,  2,  3/ 
 
 The  Apostles  made  use  even  of  those  extraordinary  powers 
 that  were  given  to  them  for  this  end.  St  Paul  delivered  Hy- 
 menaeus  and  Alexander  unto  Satan,  that  they  might  learn  not 
 to  blaspheme,  1  Tim.  i.  20.  And  he  ordered  that  the  incestu- 
 ous person  at  Corinth  should  be  delivered  to  Satan  for  the  de- 
 struction of  the  flesh,  that  the  spirit  might  be  saved  in  the  day 
 of  the  Lord  Jesus.  Certainly  a  vicious  indulgence  to  sinners 
 is  an  encouragement  to  them  to  live  in  sin ;  whereas,  when 
 others  about  them  try  all  methods  for  their  recovery,  and  mourn 
 for  those  sins  in  which  they  do  perhaps  glory,  and  do  upon  that 
 withdraw  themselves  from  all  communication  with  them,  both 
 in  spirituals,  and  as  much  as  may  be  in  temporals  likewise, 
 this  is  one  of  the  last  means  that  can  be  used  in  order  to  the 
 reclaiming  of  them. 
 
 Another  consideration  is,  the  peace  and  the  honour  of  the 
 society.  St  Paul  washed  that  they  vcere  cut  off  that  troubled  the 
 Churches,  Gal.  v.  12.:  Great  care  ought  to  be  taken,  that  the 
 name  of  God  and  his  doctrine  be  not  blasphemed,  and  to  give 
 no  occasion  to  the  enemies  of  our  faith  to  reproach  us;  as  if 
 we  designed  to  make  parties  to  promote  our  own  interests,  and 
 to  turn  religion  to  a  faction ;  excusing  such  as  adhere  to  us  in 
 other  things,  though  they  should  break  out  into  the  most  scan- 
 dalous violations  of  the  greatest  of  all  the  commandments  of 
 God.  Such  a  behaviour  towards  excommunicated  persons 
 would  also  have  this  further  good  effect, — it  would  give  great 
 
AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXXIII  . 
 
 authority  to  that  sentence,  and  fill  men's  minds  with  the  awe 
 of  it,  which  must  be  taken  off  when  it  is  observed  that  men 
 converse  familiarly  with  those  that  are  under  it. 
 
 These  rules  are  all  founded  upon  the  principles  of  societies, 
 which,  as  they  associate  upon  some  common  designs,  so,  in 
 order  to  the  pursuing  those,  must  have  a  power  to  separate 
 themselves  from  those  who  depart  from  them. 
 
 In  this  matter  there  are  extremes  of  both  hands  to  be  avoided  : 
 Some  have  thought,  that  because  the  Apostles  have  in  general 
 declared  such  persons  to  be  accursed,  or  under  an  anathema, 
 who  preach  another  gospel,  and  such  as  love  not  the  Lord  Je- 
 sus, to  be  Anathema  Marantha,  1  Cor.  xvi.  22. ;  which  is  gene- 
 rally understood  to  be  a  total  cutting  off,  never  to  be  admitted 
 till  the  Lord  comes ;  that  therefore  the  Church  may  still  put 
 men  under  an  anathema,  for  holding  such  unsound  doctrines 
 as  they  think  make  the  gospel  to  become  another,  in  part  at 
 least,  if  not  in  whole  :  and  that  she  may  thereupon,  in  imitation 
 of  another  practice  of  the  Apostles,  deliver  them  over  unto 
 Satan,  casting  them  out  of  the  protection  of  Christ,  and  aban- 
 doning them  to  the  Devil ;  reckoning  that  the  cutting  them  off 
 from  the  body  of  Christ  is  really  the  exposing  them  to  the 
 Devil,  who  goes  about  as  a  roaring  lion  seeking  whom  he  may 
 devour.  But  with  what  authority  soever  the  Apostles  might, 
 upon  so  great  a  matter  as  the  changing  the  gospel,  or  the  not 
 loving  the  Lord  Jesus,  denounce  an  anathema,  yet  the  apply- 
 ing this,  which  they  used  so  seldom,  and  upon  such  great  occa- 
 sions, to  every  opinion,  after  a  decision  is  made  in  it,  as  it  has 
 carried  on  the  notion  of  the  infallibility  of  the  Church,  so  it 
 has  laid  a  foundation  for  much  uncharitableness,  and  many 
 animosities ;  it  has  widened  breaches,  and  made  them  incurable  ; 
 and  unless  it  is  certain  that  the  Church  which  has  so  decreed 
 cannot  err,  it  is  a  bold  assuming  of  an  authority  to  which  no 
 fallible  body  of  men  can  have  a  right.  That  delivery  unto 
 Satan  was  visibly  an  act  of  a  miraculous  power  lodged  with  the 
 Apostles ;  for  as  they  struck  some  blind  or  dead,  so  they  had 
 an  authority  of  letting  loose  evil  spirits  on  some,  to  haunt  and 
 terrify,  or  to  punish  and  plague  them,  that  a  desperate  evil 
 might  be  cured  by  an  extreme  remedy.  And  therefore  the 
 Apostles  never  reckon  this  among  the  standing  functions  of 
 the  Church ;  nor  do  they  give  any  charge  or  directions  about 
 it.  They  used  it  themselves,  and  but  seldom.  It  is  true  that 
 St  Paul,  being  carried  by  a  just  zeal  against  the  scandal  which 
 the  incestuous  person  at  Corinth  had  cast  upon  the  Christian 
 religion,  did  adjudge  him  to  this  severe  degree  of  censure;  but 
 he  judged  it,  and  did  only  order  the  Corinthians  to  publish  it, 
 as  coming  from  him  with  the  power  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ; 
 that  so  the  thing  might  become  the  more  public,  and  that  the 
 effects  of  it  might  be  the  more  conspicuous.    The  primitive 
 
Asa.  XXXI 1 1. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 441 
 
 Church,  that,  being  nearest  the  fountain,  did  best  understand 
 the  nature  of  church  power,  and  the  effects  of  her  censures, 
 thought  of  nothing,  in  this  matter,  but  of  denying  to  suffer 
 apostates,  or  rather  scandalous  persons,  to  mix  with  the  rest  in 
 the  sacrament,  or  in  the  other  parts  of  worship.  They  admit- 
 ted them,  upon  the  profession  of  their  repentance,  by  an  impo- 
 sition of  hands,  to  share  in  some  of  the  more  general  parts  of 
 the  worship ;  and  even  in  these  they  stood  by  themselves,  and 
 at  a  distance  from  the  rest :  and  when  they  had  passed  through 
 several  degrees  in  that  state  of  mourning,  they  were  by  steps 
 received  back  again  to  the  communion  of  the  Church.  This 
 agrees  well  with  all  that  was  said  formerly,  concerning  the  na- 
 ture and  the  ends  of  church  power ;  which  was  given  for  edifi- 
 cation, and  not  for  destruction,  2  Cor.  x.  8.  This  is  suitable 
 to  the  designs  of  the  gospel,  both  for  preserving  the  society 
 pure,  and  for  reclaiming  those  who  are  otherwise  like  to  be 
 carried  away  by  the  Devil  in  his  snare.  This  is  to  admonish 
 sinners  as  brethren,  and  not  to  use  them  as  enemies :  Whereas 
 the  other  method  looks  like  a  power  that  designs  destruction 
 rather  than  edification,  especially  when  the  secular  arm  is  called 
 in,  and  that  princes  are  required,  under  the  penalties  of  depo- 
 sition and  losing  their  dominions,  to  extirpate  and  destroy,  and 
 that  by  the  crudest  sort  of  death,  all  those  whom  the  Church 
 doth  so  anathematize. 
 
 We  do  not  deny  but  that  the  form  of  denouncing  or  declar- 
 ing anathemas  against  heresies  and  heretics  is  very  ancient. 
 It  grew  to  be  a  form  expressing  horror,  and  was  applied  to  the 
 dead  as  well  as  to  the  living.  It  was  understood  to  be  a  cut- 
 ting such  persons  off  from  the  communion  of  the  Church :  if 
 they  were  still  alive,  they  were  not  admitted  to  any  act  of  wor- 
 ship ;  if  they  were  dead,  their  names  were  not  to  be  read  at  the 
 altar  among  those  who  were  then  commemorated.  But  as  heat 
 about  opinions  increased,  and  some  lesser  matters  grew  to  be 
 more  valued  than  the  weightier  things  both  of  Law  and  Gospel, 
 so  the  adding  anathemas  to  every  point  in  which  men  differed 
 from  one  another  grew  to  be  a  common  practice,  and  swelled 
 up  at  last  to  such  a  pitch,  that,  in  the  Council  of  Trent,  a  whole 
 Body  of  Divinity  was  put  into  Canons,  and  an  anathema  was 
 fastened  to  every  one  of  them.  The  delivering  to  Sata?i  was 
 made  the  common  form  of  excommunication;  an  act  of  apos- 
 tolical authority  being  made  a  precedent  for  the  standing  prac- 
 tice of  the  Church.  Great  subtilties  were  also  set  on  foot  con- 
 cerning the  force  and  effect  of  church  censures : — the  straining 
 this  matter  too  high,  has  given  occasion  to  extremes  on  the 
 other  hand.  If  a  man  is  condemned  as  an  heretic,  for  that 
 which  is  no  heresy,  but  is  an  article  founded  on  the  Word  of 
 God,  his  conscience  is  not  at  all  concerned  in  any  such  cen- 
 sure.   Great  modesty  and  decency  ought  indeed  to  be  shewed 
 
AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXXIII. 
 
 by  private  persons,  when  they  dispute  against  public  decisions ; 
 but  unless  the  Church  is  infallible,  none  can  be  bound  to  im- 
 plicit faith  or  blind  submission.  Therefore  an  anathema,  ill- 
 founded,  cannot  hurt  him  against  whom  it  is  thundered.  If 
 the  doctrine  upon  which  the  censures  and  denunciations  of 
 the  Church  are  grounded  is  true,  and  if  it  appears  so  to  him 
 that  sets  himself  against  it,  he  who  thus  despises  the  pastors  of 
 the  Church  despises  Christ;  in  whose  name,  and  by  whose 
 authority,  they  are  acting.  But  if  he  is  still  under  convictions 
 of  his  being  in  the  right,  when  he  is  indeed  in  the  wrong,  then 
 he  is  in  a  state  of  ignorance,  and  his  sins  are  sins  of  ignorance  : 
 and  they  will  be  judged  by  that  God,  who  knows  the  sincerity 
 of  all  men's  hearts,  and  sees  into  their  secretest  thoughts,  how 
 far  the  ignorance  is  wilful  and  affected,  and  how  far  it  is  sin- 
 cere and  invincible. 
 
 And  as  for  those  censures  that  are  founded  upon  the  proofs 
 that  are  made  of  certain  facts  that  are  scandalous,  either  the 
 person  on  whom  they  are  charged  knows  himself  to  be  really 
 guilty  of  them,  or  that  he  is  wronged  either  by  the  witnesses 
 or  the  pastors  and  judges.  If  he  is  indeed  guilty,  he  ought  to 
 consider  such  censures  as  the  medicinal  provisions  of  the  Church 
 against  sin ;  he  ought  to  submit  to  them,  and  to  such  rebukes 
 and  admonitions,  to  such  public  confessions,  and  other  acts  of 
 self-abasement,  by  which  he  may  be  recovered  out  of  the  snare  of 
 the  devil,  2  Tim.  ii.  26.,  and  may  repair  the  public  scandal  that 
 he  has  brought  upon  the  profession  of  Christianity,  and  recover 
 the  honour  of  it,  which  he  has  blemished,  as  far  as  lies  in  him. 
 
 This  is  the  submitting  to  those  that  are  over  him,  and  the 
 obeying  them  as  those  that  watch  for  his  soul,  and  that  must 
 give  an  account  of  it,  Heb.  xiii.  17.  But  if,  on  the  other  hand, 
 any  such  person  is  run  down  by  falsehood  and  calumny,  he 
 must  submit  to  that  dispensation  of  God's  providence  that  has 
 suffered  such  a  load  to  be  laid  upon  him ;  he  must  not  betray 
 his  integrity ;  he  ought  to  commit  his  way  to  God,  and  to  bear 
 his  burden  patiently.  Such  a  censure  ought  not  at  all  to  give 
 him  too  deep  an  inward  concern ;  for  he  is  sure  it  is  ill-found- 
 ed, and  therefore  it  can  have  no  effect  upon  his  conscience. 
 God,  who  knows  his  innocence,  will  acquit  him,  though  all  the 
 world  should  condemn  him.  He  must  indeed  submit  to  that 
 separation  from  the  body  of  Christians :  but  he  is  safe  in  his 
 secret  appeals  to  God,  who  sees  not  as  man  sees,  but  judges 
 righteous  judgment;  and  such  a  censure  as  this  cannot  be 
 bound  in  heaven. 
 
 In  the  pronouncing  the  censures  of  the  Church,  great  care 
 and  tenderness  ought  to  be  used ;  for  men  are  not  to  be  rashly 
 cut  off  horn  the  body  of  Christ:  nothing  but  a  wilful  obstinacy 
 in  sin,  and  a  deliberate  contempt  of  the  rules  and  orders  of  the 
 Church,  can  justify  this  extremity.    Scandalous  sinners  may 
 
Art.  xxx nr. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 443 
 
 be  brought  under  the  medicinal  cure  of  the  Church,  and  the 
 offender  may  be  denied  all  the  privileges  of  Christians,  till  he 
 has  repaired  the  offence  that  he  has  given.  Here  another  ex- 
 treme has  been  run  into,  by  men  who,  being  jealous  of  the 
 tyranny  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  have  thought  that  the  world 
 could  not  be  safe  from  that,  unless  all  church  power  were  de- 
 stroved :  they  have  thought,  that  the  ecclesiastical  order  is  a 
 body  of  men  bound  by  their  office  to  preach  the  gospel,  and 
 to  offer  the  sacraments  to  all  Christians ;  but  that  as  the  gos- 
 pel is  a  doctrine  equally  offered  to  all,  in  which  every  man 
 must  take  the  particular  application  of  the  promises,  the  com- 
 forts, and  the  terrors  of  it  to  himself,  as  he  will  answer  it  to 
 God ;  so  they  imagine,  that  the  sacraments  are  in  the  same 
 promiscuous  manner  to  be  offered  to  all  persons;  and  that 
 every  man  is  to  try  and  examine  himself,  and  so  to  partake  of 
 them :  but  that  the  Clergy  have  no  authority  to  deny  them  to 
 any  person,  or  to  put  marks  of  distinction  or  of  infamy  on  men  ; 
 and  that  therefore  the  ancient  discipline  of  the  Church  did 
 arise  out  of  a  mutual  compromise  of  Christians,  who,  in  times 
 of  misery  and  persecution,  submitted  to  such  rules  as  seemed 
 necessary  in  that  state  of  things ;  but  that  now  all  the  autho- 
 rity that  the  Church  hath,  is  founded  only  on  the  law  of  the 
 land,  and  is  still  subject  to  it.  So  that  what  changes  or  alter- 
 ations are  appointed  by  the  civil  authority  must  take  place, 
 in  bar  to  any  laws  and  customs  of  the  Church,  how  ancient  or 
 how  universal  soever  they  may  be. 
 
 In  answer  to  this,  it  is  not  to  be  denied  but  that  the  degrees 
 and  extent  of  this  authority,  the  methods  and  the  management 
 of  it,  were  at  first  framed  by  common  consent :  in  the  times  of 
 persecution,  the  laity  who  embraced  the  Christian  religion 
 were  to  the  Church  instead  of  the  magistrate.  The  whole 
 concerns  of  religion  were  supported  and  protected  by  them ; 
 and  this  gave  them  a  natural  right  to  be  consulted  with  in  all 
 the  decisions  of  the  Church.  The  Brethren  were  called  to 
 join  with  the  Apostles  and  Elders  in  that  great  debate  con- 
 cerning the  circumcision  of  the  Gentiles,  which  was  settled  at 
 Jerusalem ;  and  of  such  practices  we  find  frequent  mention  in 
 St  Cyprian's  Epistles:  The  more  eminent  among  the  laity 
 were  then  naturally  the  patrons  of  the  Churches;  but  when 
 the  Church  came  under  the  protection  of  Christian  princes 
 and  magistrates,  then  the  patronage  and  protection  of  it  fell 
 to  them,  upon  whom  the  peace  and  order  of  the  world  depend- 
 ed. Yet  though  all  this  is  acknowledged,  we  see  plainly,  that 
 in  the  New  Testament  there  are  many  general  rules  given  for 
 the  government  and  order  of  the  Church.  Timothy  and  Titus 
 were  appointed  to  ordain,  to  admonish,  and  rebuke,  and  that 
 before  all.  The  body  of  the  Christians  is  required  to  submit 
 themselves  to  them,  and  to  obey  them  :  which  is  not  to  be 
 
444 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXXIII. 
 
 carried  to  an  indefinite  and  boundless  degree,  but  must  be 
 limited  to  that  doctrine  which  they  were  to  teach,  and  to  such 
 things  as  depended  upon  it,  or  tended  to  its  establishment  and 
 propagation.  From  these  general  heads  we  see  just  grounds 
 to  assert  such  a  power  in  the  pastors  of  the  Church  as  is  for 
 edification,  but  not  for  destruction ;  and,  therefore,  here  is  a 
 foundation  of  power  laid  down ;  though  it  is  not  to  be  denied 
 but  that,  in  the  application  of  it,  such  prudence  and  discretion 
 ought  to  be  used,  as  may  make  it  most  likely  to  attain  those 
 ends  for  which  it  is  given. 
 
 A  general  consent,  in  time  of  persecution,  was  necessary ; 
 otherwise  too  indiscreet  a  rigour  might  have  pulled  down  that 
 which  ought  to  have  been  built  up.  If  in  a  broken  state  of 
 things  a  common  consent  ought  to  be  much  endeavoured  and 
 stayed  for,  this  is  much  more  necessary  in  a  regular  and  settled 
 time,  with  relation  to  the  civil  authority  under  whom  the 
 whole  society  is  put,  according  to  its  constitution.  But  it  can 
 never  be  supposed,  that  the  authority  of  the  Pastors  of  the 
 Church  is  no  other  than  that  of  a  lawyer  or  a  physician  to 
 their  clients,  who  are  still  at  their  liberty,  and  are  in  no  sort 
 bound  to  follow  their  directions.  In  particular  advices,  with 
 relation  to  their  private  concerns,  where  no  general  rules  are 
 agreed  on,  an  authority  is  not  pretended  to ;  and  these  may  be 
 compared  to  all  other  advices,  only  with  this  difference,  that 
 the  Pastors  of  the  Church  watch  over  the  soids  of  their  people, 
 and  must  give  an  account  of  them.  But  when  things  are  grown 
 into  method,  and  general  rules  are  settled,  there  the  conside- 
 ration of  edification  and  unity,  and  of  maintaining  peace  and 
 order,  are  such  sacred  obligations  on  every  one  that  has  a  true 
 regard  for  religion,  that  such  as  despise  all  this  may  be  well 
 looked  on  as  heathens  and  publicans;  and  they  are  so  much 
 worse  than  they,  as  a  secret  and  well-disguised  traitor  is  much 
 more  dangerous  than  an  open  professed  enemy.  And  though 
 these  words  of  our  Saviour,  of  telling  the  Church,  (Matt,  xviii. 
 17.),  may  perhaps  not  be  so  strictly  applicable  to  this  matter, 
 in  their  primary  sense,  as  our  Saviour  first  spoke  them ;  yet 
 the  nature  of  things,  and  the  parity  of  reason,  may  well  lead 
 us  to  conclude,  that  though  those  words  did  immediately  relate 
 to  the  composing  of  private  differences,  and  of  delating  intrac- 
 table persons  to  the  synagogues,  yet  they  may  be  well  extended 
 to  all  those  public  offences  which  are  injuries  to  the  whole 
 body;  and  may  be  now  applied  to  the  Christian  Church,  and 
 to  the  pastors  and  guides  of  it,  though  they  related  to  the  syna- 
 gogue when  they  were  first  spoken. 
 
 It  is  therefore  highly  congruous,  both  to  the  whole  design 
 of  the  Christian  religion  and  to  many  passages  in  the  New 
 Testament,  that  there  should  be  rules  set  for  censuring  offen- 
 ders, that  so  they  may  be  reclaimed,  or  at  least  ashamed,  and 
 
Art.  xxxii r. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 443 
 
 that  others  may  fear  :  and  as  the  final  sentence  of  every  autho- 
 rity whatsoever,  must  be  the  cutting  off  from  the  body  all  such 
 as  continue  in  a  wilful  disobedience  to  the  laws  of  the  society ; 
 so  if  any,  who  call  themselves  Christians,  will  live  so  as  to  be  a 
 reproach  to  that  which  they  profess,  they  must  be  cut  off,  and 
 cast  out ;  for  if  there  is  any  sort  of  power  in  the  Church,  it 
 must  terminate  in  this.  This  is  the  last  and  highest  act  of 
 their  authority ;  it  is  like  death  or  banishment  by  the  civil 
 power,  which  are  not  proceeded  to  but  upon  great  occasions, 
 in  which  milder  censures  will  not  prevail,  and  where  the  gene- 
 ral good  of  the  society  requires  it :  so  casting  out  being  the 
 last  act  of  church  power,  like  a  parent's  disinheriting  a  child, 
 it  ought  to  be  proceeded  in  with  that  slowness,  and  upon  such 
 considerations,  as  may  well  justify  the  rigour  of  it.  A  wilful 
 contempt  of  order  and  authority  carries  virtually  in  it  every 
 other  irregularity ;  because  it  dissolves  the  union  of  the  body, 
 and  destroys  that  respect  by  which  all  the  other  ends  of  re- 
 ligion are  to  be  attained ;  and,  when  this  is  deliberate  and 
 fixed,  there  is  no  other  way  of  proceeding  but  by  cutting  off 
 those  who  are  so  refractory,  and  who  set  so  ill  an  example  to 
 others. 
 
 If  the  execution  of  this  should  happen  to  fall  under  great 
 disorders,  so  that  many  scandalous  persons  are  not  censured, 
 and  a  promiscuous  multitude  is  suffered  to  break  in  upon  the 
 most  sacred  performances,  this  cannot  justify  private  persons 
 who  upon  that  do  withdraw  from  the  communion  of  the 
 Church :  for,  after  all  that  has  been  said,  the  divine  precept  is 
 to  every  man,  to  try  and  examine  himself]  and  not  to  try  and 
 censure  others.  All  order  and  government  are  destroyed,  if 
 private  persons  take  upon  them  to  judge  and  censure  others ;  or 
 to  separate  from  any  body,  because  there  are  abuses  in  the  use 
 of  this  authority. 
 
 Private  confession  in  the  Church  of  Rome  had  quite  de- 
 stroyed the  government  of  the  Church,  and  superseded  all  the 
 ancient  penitentiary  canons ;  and  the  tyranny  of  the  Church 
 of  Rome  had  set  many  ingenious  men  on  many  subtle  contri- 
 vances, either  to  evade  the  force  of  those  canons,  to  which  some 
 regard  was  still  preserved,  or  to  maintain  the  order  of  the 
 Church  in  opposition  to  the  appeals  that  were  made  to  Rome ; 
 and  while  some  pretended  to  subject  all  things  to  the  Papal 
 authority,  others  studied  to  keep  up  the  ancient  rules. — The 
 encroachments  that  the  temporal  and  spiritual  Courts  were 
 making  upon  one  another,  occasioned  many  disputes ;  which 
 being  managed  by  such  subtle  men  as  the  Civilians  and  Cano- 
 nists were,  all  this  brought  in  a  great  variety  of  cases  and  rules 
 into  the  Courts  of  the  Church ;  so  that,  instead  of  the  first 
 simplicity,  which  was  evident  in  the  constitution  of  the  Church, 
 not  only  for  the  first  three  centuries,  but  for  a  great  many 
 
AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXXIII. 
 
 more  that  came  afterwards,  there  grew  to  be  so  much  practice, 
 and  so  many  subterfuges  in  the  rules  and  manner  of  proceed- 
 ing of  those  Courts,  that  the  Church  has  long  groaned  under 
 it,  and  has  wished  to  see  that  effected  which  was  designed  in 
 the  beginnings  of  the  Reformation.  The  draught  of  a  Re- 
 formation of  those  courts  is  still  extant;  that  so,  instead  of  the 
 intricacies,  delays,  and  other  disorders  that  have  arisen  from 
 the  canon  law,  we  might  have  another  short  and  plain  body  of 
 rules,  which  might  be  managed,  as  anciently,  by  bishops,  with 
 the  assistance  of  their  clergy.  But  though  this  is  not  yet  done, 
 and  that,  by  reason  of  it,  the  tares  grow  up  with  the  wheat, 
 we  ought  to  let  them  grow  together  till  the  great  harvest  comes, 
 or  at  least  till  a  proper  harvest  may  be  given  to  the  Church  by 
 the  providence  of  God  ;  in  which  the  good  may  be  distinguish- 
 ed and  separated  from  the  bad,  without  endangering  the  ruin 
 of  all;  which  must  certainly  be  the  effect  of  people's  falling 
 indiscreetly  to  this  before  the  time. 
 
 ARTICLE  XXXIV. 
 
 OF  THE  TRADITIONS  OF  THE  CHURCH. 
 
 It  is  not  necessary  that  Traditions  and  Ceremonies  be  in  all 
 Places  one,  or  utterly  like ;  for  at  all  times  they  have  been 
 diverse,  and  may  be  changed  according  to  the  diversity  of 
 Countries  and  Men's  Manners,  so  that  nothing  be  ordained 
 against  God's  Word.  Whosoever  through  his  private  Judg- 
 ment, willingly  and  purposely  doth  openly  break  the  Tradi- 
 tions and  Ceremonies  of  the  Church,  which  be  not  repugnant 
 to  the  Word  of  God,  and  be  ordained  and  approved  by  com- 
 mon Authority,  ought  to  be  rebuked  openly  ( that  others  may 
 fear  to  do  the  like )  as  one  that  qffendeth  against  the  common 
 Order  of  the  Church,  arid  hurteth  the  Authority  of  the  Magis- 
 trate, and  woundeth  the  Consciences  of  weak  Brethren. 
 
 Every  particular  or  national  Church  hath  Authority  to  ordain, 
 change,  and  abolish  Ceremonies  or  Rites  of  the  Church,  or- 
 dained only  by  Men's  Authority  ;  so  that  all  things  be  done  to 
 edifying. 
 
 This  Article  consists  of  two  branches  :  The  first  is,  that  the 
 Church  hath  power  to  appoint  such  rites  and  ceremonies  as  are 
 not  contrary  to  the  word  of  God  ;  and  that  private  persons  are 
 bound  to  conform  themselves  to  their  orders :  The  second  is, 
 that  it  is  not  necessary  that  the  whole  Church  should  meet  to 
 determine  such  matters  ;  the  power  of  doing  that  being  in  every 
 
Art.  XXXIV. 
 
 THE  XXXIX 
 
 ARTICLES. 
 
 H7 
 
 national  Church,  which  is  fully  empowered  to  take  care  of  it- 
 self ;  and  no  rule  made  in  such  matters  is  to  be  held  unalter- 
 able, but  may  be  changed  upon  occasion. 
 
 As  to  the  first,  it  hath  been  already  considered,  when  the 
 first  words  of  the  Twentieth  Article  were  explained.  There  the 
 authority  of  the  Church  in  matters  indifferent  was  stated  and 
 proved.  It  remains  now  only  to  prove,  that  private  persons 
 are  bound  to  conform  themselves  to  such  ceremonies,  especially 
 when  they  are  also  enacted  by  the  civil  authority.  It  is  to  be 
 considered,  that  the  Christian  religion  was  chiefly  designed  to 
 raise  and  purity  the  nature  of  man,  and  to  make  human  society 
 perfect :  Now  brotherly  love  and  charity  does  this  more  than 
 any  one  virtue  whatsoever :  it  raises  a  man  to  the  likeness  of 
 God :  it  gives  him  a  divine  and  heavenly  temper  within  him- 
 self, and  creates  the  tenderest  union  and  firmest  happiness  pos- 
 sible among  all  the  societies  of  men.  Our  Saviour  has  so  en- 
 larged the  obligation  to  it,  as  to  make  it,  by  the  extent  he  has 
 given  it,  a  great  and  neoa  commandment,  by  which  all  the  world 
 may  be  able  to  know  and  distinguish  his  followers  from  the  rest 
 of  mankind  :  and  as  all  the  Apostles  insist  much  upon  this  in 
 every  one  of  their  Epistles,  not  excepting  the  shortest  of  them, 
 so  St  John,  who  writ  last  of  them,  has  dwelt  more  fully  upon 
 it  than  upon  any  other  duty  whatsoever.  Our  Saviour  did 
 particularly  intend  that  his  followers  should  be  associated  into 
 one  body,  and  joined  together  in  order  to  their  keeping  up  and 
 inflaming  their  mutual  love;  and  therefore  he  delivered  his 
 prayer  to  them  all,  in  the  plural,  to  shew  that  he  intended  that 
 they  should  use  it  in  a  body  :  He  appointed  baptism  as  the  way 
 of  receiving  men  into  this  body,  and  the  Eucharist  as  a  joint 
 memorial  that  the  body  was  to  keep  up  that  of  his  death.  For 
 this  end  he  appointed  pastors  to  teach  and  keep  his  followers 
 in  a  body  :  and  in  his  last  and  longest  prayer  to  the  Father, 
 he  repeats  this,  that  they  might  be  one;  that  they  might  be 
 kept  in  one  (body),  and  made  perfect  in  one,  in  five  several  ex- 
 pressions :  John  xvii.  11.  21,  '2'2,  23. :  which  shews  both  how  ne- 
 cessary  a  part  of  his  religion  he  meant  this  should  be,  and  like- 
 wise intimates  to  us  the  danger  that  he  foresaw  of  his  followers 
 departing  from  it,  which  made  him  intercede  so  earnestly  for 
 it.  One  expression  that  he  has  of  this  union,  shews  how  entire 
 and  tender  he  intended  that  it  should  be ;  for  he  prayed  that 
 the  union  might  be  such  as  that  between  the  Father  and  him- 
 self was.  The  Apostles  use  the  figure  of  a  body  frequently,  to 
 express  this  union ;  than  which  nothing  can  be  imagined  that 
 is  more  firmly  knit  together,  and  in  which  all  the  parts  do 
 more  tenderly  sympathize  with  one  another. 
 
 Upon  all  these  considerations  we  may  very  certainly  gather, 
 that  the  dissolving  this  union,  the  dislocating  this  body,  and  the 
 doing  any  thing  that  may  extinguish  the  love  and  charity  by 
 
us 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXXIV. 
 
 which  Christians  are  to  be  made  so  happy  in  themselves,  and 
 so  useful  to  one  another,  and  Jby  which  the  body  of  Christians 
 grows  much  the  firmer  and  stronger,  and  shines  more  in  the 
 world ;  that,  I  say,  the  doing  this  upon  slight  grounds,  must 
 be  a  sin  of  a  very  high  nature.  Nothing  can  be  a  just  reason 
 either  to  carry  men  to  it,  or  to  justify  them  in  it,  but  the  im- 
 posing on  them  unlawful  terms  of  communion;  for  in  that 
 case  it  is  certain,  that  we  must  obey  God  rather  than  man;  that 
 we  must  seek  truth  and  peace  together ;  and  that  the  rule  of 
 keeping  a  good  conscience  in  all  things  is  laid  thus,  to  do  it  first 
 towards  God,  and  then  towards  man,  Acts  xxiv.  16.  So  that  a 
 schism  that  is  occasioned  by  any  Church's  imposing  unlawful 
 terms  of  communion,  lies  at  their  door  who  impose  them, 
 and  the  guilt  is  wholly  theirs.  But  without  such  a  necessity, 
 it  is  certainly,  both  in  its  own  nature  and  in  its  consequences, 
 one  of  the  greatest  of  sins  to  create  needless  disturbances  in  a 
 Church,  and  to  give  occasion  to  all  that  alienation  of  mind,  all 
 those  rash  censures,  and  unjust  judgments,  that  do  arise  from 
 such  divisions.  This  receives  a  very  great  aggravation,  if  the 
 civil  authority  has  concurred  by  a  law  to  enjoin  the  observance 
 of  such  indifferent  things ;  for  to  all  their  lawful  commands  we 
 owe  an  obedience,  not  only  for  fear,  but  for  conscience  sake, 
 Rom.  xiii.  5. ;  since  the  authority  of  the  magistrate  is  chiefly  to 
 be  employed  in  such  matters.  As  to  things  that  are  either 
 commanded  or  forbidden  of  God,  the  magistrate  has  only  the 
 execution  of  these  in  his  hands ;  so  that  in  those,  his  laws  are 
 only  the  sanctions  and  penalties  of  the  laws  of  God.  The  sub- 
 ject-matter of  his  authority  is  about  things  which  are  of  their 
 own  nature  indifferent,  but  that  may  be  made  fit  and  proper 
 means  for  the  maintaining  of  order,  union,  and  decency  in  the 
 society ;  and  therefore  such  laws  as  are  made  by  him  in  those 
 things,  do  certainly  bind  the  conscience,  and  oblige  the  subjects 
 to  obedience.  Disobedience  does  also  give  scandal  to  the  weak. 
 Scandal  is  a  block  or  trap  laid  in  the  way  of  another,  by  which 
 he  is  made  to  stumble  and  fall.  So  this  figure  of  giving  scan- 
 dal, or  the  laying  a  stumbling-block  in  our  brother's  way,  is 
 applied  to  our  doing  of  such  actions  as  may  prove  the  occasions 
 of  sin  to  others.  Every  man,  according  to  the  influence  that 
 his  example  or  authority  may  have  over  others  who  do  too 
 easily  and  implicitly  follow  him,  becomes  thereby  the  more 
 capable  of  giving  them  scandal ;  that  is,  of  drawing  them  after 
 him  to  commit  many  sins :  and  since  men  are  under  fetters, 
 according  to  the  persuasions  that  they  have  of  things,  he  who 
 thinks  a  thing  sinful,  does  sin  if  he  does  it,  as  long  as  he  is 
 under  that  apprehension ;  because  he  deliberately  ventures  on 
 that  which  he  thinks  offends  God :  even  while  he  doubts  of  it, 
 or  makes  a  distinction  between  meats,  (for  the  word  rendered 
 doubts,  signifies  also  the  making  a  difference),  he  is  damned 
 
Axr.  xxxiv. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 (that  is,  self-condemned,  as  acting  against  his  own  sense  of 
 things)  if  he  does  it ;  Rom.  xiv.  23.  Another  man,  that  has 
 larger  thoughts  and  clearer  ideas,  may  see  that  there  is  no  sin 
 in  an  action  about  which  others  may  be  still  in  doubt,  and  so 
 upon  his  own  account  lie  may  certainly  do  it;  but  if  he  has 
 reason  to  believe  that  his  doing  that  may  draw  others,  who 
 have  not  such  clear  notions,  to  do  it  after  his  example,  they 
 being  still  in  doubt  as  to  the  lawfulness  of  it,  then  he  gives 
 scandal,  that  is,  he  lays  a  stumbling-block  in  their  way,  if  he 
 does  it,  unless  he  lies  under  an  obligation  from  some  of  the 
 laws  of  God,  or  of  the  society  to  which  he  belongs,  to  do  it. 
 In  that  case  he  is  bound  to  obey;  and  he  must  not  then  con- 
 sider the  consequences  of  his  actions ;  of  which  he  is  only  bound 
 to  take  care  when  he  is  left  to  himself,  and  is  at  full  liberty  to 
 do,  or  not  to  do,  as  he  pleases. 
 
 This  explains  the  notion  of  scandal,  as  it  is  used  in  the 
 Epistles ;  for  there  being  several  doubts  raised  at  that  time, 
 concerning  the  lawfulness  or  obligation  of  observing  the  Mosai- 
 cal  Law,  and  concerning  the  lawfulness  of  eating  meats  offered 
 to  idols,  no  general  decision  was  made  that  went  through  that 
 matter ;  the  Apostles  having  only  decreed,  that  the  Mosaical 
 Law  was  not  to  be  imposed  on  the  Gentiles :  But  not  having 
 condemned  such  as  might  of  their  own  accord  have  observed 
 some  parts  of  that  law,  scruples  arose  about  this ;  and  so  here 
 they  gave  great  caution  against  the  laying  a  stumbling-block 
 (Rom.  xiv.  13.)  in  the  way  of  their  brethren.  But  it  is  visible 
 from  this,  that  the  fear  of  giving  scandal  does  only  take  place 
 where  matters  are  free,  and  may  be  done  or  not  done.  But 
 when  laws  are  made,  and  an  order  is  settled,  the  fear  of  giving 
 scandal  lies  all  on  the  side  of  obedience ;  for  a  man  of  weight 
 and  authority,  when  he  does  not  obey,  gives  scruples  and  jea- 
 lousies to  others,  who  will  be  apt  to  collect  from  his  practice 
 that  the  thing  is  unlawful.  He  who  does  not  conform  himself 
 to  settled  orders,  gives  occasion  to  others,  who  see  and  observe 
 him,  to  imitate  him  in  it ;  and  thus  he  lays  a  scandal  or  stum- 
 bling-block in  their  way ;  and  all  the  sins  which  they  commit 
 through  their  excessive  respect  to  him,  and  imitation  of  him, 
 are  in  a  very  high  degree  to  be  put  to  his  account  who  gave 
 them  such  occasion  of  falling. 
 
 The  second  branch  of  this  Article  is  against  the  unalterable- 
 ness  of  laws  made  in  matters  indifferent:  and  it  asserts  the 
 right  of  every  national  Church  to  take  care  of  itself.  That 
 the  laws  of  any  one  age  of  the  Church  cannot  bind  another,  is 
 very  evident  from  this,  that  all  legislature  is  still  entire  in  the 
 hands  of  those  who  have  it.  The  laws  of  God  do  bind  all  men 
 at  all  times ;  but  the  laws  of  the  Church,  as  well  as  the  laws  of 
 every  state,  are  only  provisions  made  upon  the  present  state  of 
 things,  from  the  fitness  or  unfitness  that  appears  to  be  in  them 
 
 Ff 
 
450 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXXIV. 
 
 for  the  great  ends  of  religion,  or  for  the  good  of  mankind.  All 
 these  things  are  subject  to  alteration ;  therefore  the  power  of 
 the  Church  is  in  every  age  entire,  and  is  as  great  as  it  was  in 
 any  one  age  since  the  days  in  which  she  was  under  the  conduct 
 of  men  immediately  inspired.  So  there  can  be  no  unalterable 
 laws  in  matters  indifferent.  In  this  there  neither  is  nor  can 
 be  any  controversy. 
 
 An  obstinate  adhering  to  things,  only  because  they  are  an- 
 cient, when  all  the  ends  for  which  they  were  at  first  introduced 
 do  cease,  is  the  limiting  the  Church  in  a  point  in  which  she 
 ought  still  to  preserve  her  liberty :  she  ought  still  to  pursue 
 those  great  rules  in  all  her  orders,  of  doing  all  things  to  edifi- 
 cation^ with  decency,  and  for  'peace.  The  only  question  that 
 can  be  made  in  this  matter  is,  whether  such  general  laws  as 
 have  been  made  by  greater  bodies,  by  General  Councils  for 
 instance,  or  by  those  Synods  whose  canons  were  received  into 
 the  body  of  the  canons  of  the  Catholic  Church  ;  whether  these, 
 I  say,  may  be  altered  by  national  Churches,  or  whether  the 
 body  of  Christians  is  so  to  be  reckoned  one  body,  that  all  the 
 parts  of  it  are  bound  to  submit,  in  matters  indifferent,  to  the 
 decrees  of  the  body  in  general  ?  It  is  certain,  that  all  the  parts 
 of  the  Catholic  Church  ought  to  hold  a  communion  one  with 
 another,  and  mutual  commerce  and  correspondence  together : 
 but  this  difference  is  to  be  observed  between  the  Christian  and 
 the  Jewish  religion,  that  the  one  was  tied  to  one  nation,  and  to 
 one  place,  whereas  the  Christian  religion  is  universal,  to  be 
 spread  to  all  nations,  among  people  of  different  climates  and 
 languages,  and  of  different  customs  and  tempers;  and  there- 
 fore, since  the  power  in  indifferent  matters  is  given  the  Church 
 only  in  order  to  edification,  every  nation  must  be  the  proper 
 judge  of  that  within  itself.  The  Roman  empire,  though  a  great 
 body,  yet  was  all  under  one  government ;  and  therefore  all  the 
 Councils  that  were  held  while  that  empire  stood,  are  to  be  con- 
 sidered only  as  national  synods  under  one  civil  policy.  The 
 Christians  of  Persia,  India,  or  Ethiopia,  were  not  subject  to  the 
 canons  made  by  them,  but  were  at  full  liberty  to  make  rules  and 
 canons  for  themselves.  And  in  the  primitive  times  we  see  a 
 vast  diversity  in  their  rules  and  rituals.  They  were  so  far  from 
 imposing  general  rules  on  all,  that  they  left  the  Churches  at 
 full  liberty :  even  the  Council  of  Nice  made  very  few  rules ; 
 that  of  Constantinople  and  Ephesus  made  fewer :  and  though 
 the  abuses  that  were  growing  in  the  fifth  century  gave  occasion 
 to  the  Council  of  Chalcedon  to  make  more  canons,  yet  the 
 number  of  these  is  but  small;  so  that  the  tyranny  of  subjecting 
 particular  Churches  to  laws  that  might  be  inconvenient  for 
 them,  was  not  then  brought  into  the  Church. 
 
 The  corruptions  that  did  afterwards  overspread  the  Church, 
 together  with  the  Papal  usurpations,  and  the  new  Canon  Law 
 
Art.  XXXIV. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 that  the  Popes  brought  in,  which  was  totally  different  from  the 
 old  one,  had  worn  out  the  remembrance  of  all  the  ancient  ca- 
 nons ;  so  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  if  they  were  not  much  re- 
 garded at  the  Reformation.  They  were  quite  out  of  practice, 
 and  were  then  scarce  known.  And  as  for  the  subordination  of 
 Churches  and  Sees,  together  with  the  privileges  and  exemp- 
 tions of  them,  these  did  all  flow  from  the  divisions  of  the  Roman 
 empire  into  dioceses  and  provinces,  out  of  which  the  dignity 
 and  the  dependencies  of  their  cities  did  arise. 
 
 But  now  that  the  Roman  empire  is  gone,  and  that  all  the 
 laws  which  they  made  are  at  an  end,  with  the  authority  that 
 made  them,  it  is  a  vain  thing  to  pretend  to  keep  up  the  ancient 
 dignities  of  Sees,  since  the  foundation  upon  which  that  was 
 built  is  sunk  and  gone.  Every  empire,  kingdom,  or  state,  is 
 an  entire  body  within  itself.  The  magistrate  has  that  authority 
 over  all  his  subjects,  that  he  may  keep  them  all  at  home,  and 
 hinder  them  from  entering  into  any  consultations  or  combina- 
 tions but  such  as  shall  be  under  his  direction :  he  may  require 
 the  pastors  of  the  Church  under  him  to  consult  together  about 
 the  best  methods  for  carrying  on  the  ends  of  religion ;  but 
 neither  he  nor  they  can  be  bound  to  stay  for  the  concurrence 
 of  other  Churches.  In  the  way  of  managing  this,  every  body 
 of  men  has  somewhat  peculiar  to  itself ;  and  the  pastors  of  that 
 body  are  the  properest  judges  in  that  matter.  We  know  that 
 the  several  Churches,  even  while  under  one  empire,  had  great 
 varieties  in  their  forms,  as  appears  in  the  different  practices  of 
 the  Eastern  and  Western  Churches ;  and  as  soon  as  the  Roman 
 empire  was  broken,  we  see  this  variety  did  increase.  The 
 Gallican  Churches  had  their  missals  different  from  the  Roman  ; 
 and  some  Churches  of  Italy  followed  the  Ambrosian.  But 
 Charles  the  Great,  in  compliance  with  the  desires  of  the  Pope, 
 got  the  Gallican  Churches  to  depart  from  their  own  missals, 
 and  to  receive  the  Roman ;  which  he  might  the  rather  do,  in- 
 tending to  have  raised  a  new  empire ;  to  which  a  conformity  of 
 rites  might  have  been  a  great  step.  Even  in  this  Church  there 
 was  a  great  variety  of  usages,  which  perhaps  were  begun  under 
 the  Heptarchy,  when  the  nation  was  subdivided  into  several 
 kingdoms. 
 
 It  is  therefore  suitable  to  the  nature  of  things,  to  the  autho- 
 rity of  the  magistrate,  and  to  the  obligations  of  the  pastoral 
 care,  that  every  Church  should  act  within  herself  as  an  entire 
 and  independent  body.  The  Churches  owe  not  only  a  friendly, 
 and  brotherly  correspondence  to  one  another,  but  they  owe  to 
 their  own  body  government  and  direction,  and  such  provisions 
 and  methods  as  are  most  likely  to  promote  the  great  ends  of 
 religion,  and  to  preserve  the  peace  of  the  society  both  in 
 Church  and  State.  Therefore  we  are  no  other  way  bound  by 
 ancient  canons,  but  as,  the  same  reason  still  subsisting,  we  may 
 
Vol 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXXIV. 
 
 see  the  same  cause  to  continue  them  that  there  was  at  first  to 
 make  them. 
 
 Of  all  the  bodies  of  the  world,  the  Church  of  Rome  has  the 
 worst  grace  to  reproach  us  for  departing  in  some  particulars 
 from  the  ancient  canons,  since  it  was  her  ill  conduct  that  had 
 brought  them  all  into  desuetude :  and  it  is  not  easy  to  revive 
 again  antiquated  rules,  even  though  there  may  be  good  reason 
 for  it,  when  they  fall  under  that  tacit  abrogation  which  arises 
 out  of  a  long  and  general  disuse  of  them. 
 
 ARTICLE  XXXV. 
 
 OF  HOMILIES. 
 
 The  Second  Book  of  Homilies,  the  several  Titles  whereof  we 
 have  joined  under  this  Article,  doth  contain  a  godly  and 
 wholesome  Doctrine,  and  necessary  for  these  Times;  as  doth 
 the  former  Book  of  Homilies,  which  were  set  forth  in  the  Time 
 of  Edward  the  Sixth;  and  therefore  we  judge  them  to  be  read 
 in  Churches  by  the  Ministers,  diligently  and  distinctly,  that 
 they  may  be  understanded  of  the  People. 
 
 The  Names  of  the  Homilies. 
 
 1.  Of  the  right  Use  of  the  Church. 
 
 2.  Against  peril  of  Idolatry. 
 
 3.  Of  re-pairing  and  keeping  clean 
 of  Churches. 
 
 Of  good  Works. — First,  Of 
 
 Fasting. 
 Against  Gluttony  and  Drunk- 
 enness. 
 
 Against  Excess  of  Apparel. 
 Of  Prayer. 
 
 Of  the  Place  and  Time  of 
 
 Prayer. 
 That   Common  Prayers  and 
 Sacraments  ought  to  be  mini- 
 stered in  a  known  Tongue. 
 
 4. 
 
 10. 
 
 11. 
 12. 
 13. 
 14. 
 
 15. 
 
 16. 
 
 17. 
 
 18. 
 19. 
 20. 
 21. 
 
 Of  the  reverent  Estimation 
 
 of  God's  Word. 
 Of  Alms-doing. 
 Of  the  Nativity  of  Christ. 
 Of  the  Passion  of  Christ. 
 Of  the  Resurrection  of  Christ. 
 Of  the  worthy  receiving  of 
 
 the  Sacrament  of  the  Body 
 
 and  Blood  of  Christ. 
 Of  the  Gifts  of  the  Holy 
 
 Ghost. 
 For  the  Rogation-Days. 
 Of  the  state  of  Matrimony. 
 Of  Repentance. 
 Against  Idleness. 
 Against  Rebellion. 
 
 At  the  time  of  the  Reformation,  as  there  could  not  be  found 
 at  first  a  sufficient  number  of  preachers  to  instruct  the  whole 
 nation,  so  those  that  did  comply  with  the  changes  which  were 
 then  made,  were  not  all  well-affected  to  them ;  so  that  it  was 
 not  safe  to  trust  this  matter  to  the  capacity  of  the  one  side, 
 
Art.  XXXV. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 453 
 
 and  to  the  integrity  of  others ;  therefore,  to  supply  the  defects 
 of  some,  and  to  oblige  the  rest  to  teach  according  to  the  form 
 of  sound  doctrine,  there  were  two  books  of  Homilies  prepared  : 
 the  first  was  published  in  King  Edward's  time ;  the  second  was 
 not  finished  till  about  the  time  of  his  death ;  so  it  was  not 
 published  before  Queen  Elizabeth's  time.  The  design  of  them 
 was  to  mix  speculative  points  with  practical  matters ;  some  ex- 
 plain the  doctrine,  and  others  enforce  the  rules  of  life  and  man- 
 ners. These  are  plain  and  short  discourses,  chiefly  calculated 
 to  possess  the  nation  with  a  sense  of  the  purity  of  the  Gospel, 
 in  opposition  to  the  corruptions  of  Popery ;  and  to  reform  it 
 from  those  crying  sins  that  had  been  so  much  connived  at  un- 
 der Popery,  while  men  knew  the  price  of  them,  how  to  com- 
 pensate for  them,  and  to  redeem  themselves  from  the  guilt  of 
 them,  by  masses  and  sacraments,  by  indulgences  and  absolu- 
 tions. 
 
 In  these  Homilies  the  Scriptures  are  often  applied  as  they 
 were  then  understood ;  not  so  critically  as  they  have  been  ex- 
 plained since  that  time.  But  by  this  approbation  of  the  two 
 books  of  Homilies  it  is  not  meant,  that  every  passage  of  Scrip- 
 ture or  argument  that  is  made  use  of  in  them  is  always  con- 
 vincing, or  that  every  expression  is  so  severely  worded,  that  it 
 may  not  need  a  little  correction  or  explanation  :  all  that  we  pro- 
 fess about  them  is  only,  that  they  contain  a  godly  and  wholesome 
 doctrine.  This  rather  relates  to  the  main  importance  and  de- 
 sign of  them,  than  to  every  passage  in  them.  Though  this 
 may  be  said  concerning  them,  that,  considering  the  age  they 
 were  written  in,  the  imperfection  of  our  language,  and  some 
 lesser  defects,  they  are  two  very  extraordinary  books.  Some 
 of  them  are  better  writ  than  others,  and  are  equal  to  any  thing 
 that  has  been  writ  upon  those  subjects  since  that  time.  Upon 
 the  whole  matter,  every  one  who  subscribes  the  Articles  ought 
 to  read  them,  otherwise  he  subscribes  a  blank :  he  approves  a 
 book  implicitly,  and  binds  himself  to  read  it,  as  he  may  be  re- 
 quired, without  knowing  any  thing  concerning  it.  This  ap- 
 probation is  not  to  be  stretched  so  far  as  to  carry  in  it  a  special 
 assent  to  every  particular  in  that  whole  volume;  but  a  man 
 must  be  persuaded  of  the  main  of  the  doctrine  that  is  taught 
 in  them. 
 
 To  instance  this  in  one  particular  :  Since  there  are  so  many 
 of  the  Homilies  that  charge  the  Church  of  Rome  with  idolatry, 
 and  that  from  so  many  different  topics,  no  man  who  thinks  that 
 Church  is  not  guilty  of  idolatry  can  with  a  good  conscience 
 subscribe  this  Article,  that  the  Homilies  contain  a  good  and 
 wholesome  doctrine,  and  necessary  for  these  times;  for  according 
 to  his  sense,  they  contain  a  false  and  an  uncharitable  charge  of 
 idolatry  against  a  Church  that  they  think  is  not  guilty  of  it; 
 and  he  will  be  apt  to  think  that  this  was  done  to  heighten  the 
 
454 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXXV. 
 
 aversion  of  the  nation  to  it :  therefore,  any  who  have  such 
 favourable  thoughts  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  are  bound,  by  the 
 force  of  that  persuasion  of  theirs,  not  to  sign  this  Article,  but 
 to  declare  against  it,  as  the  authorising  of  an  accusation  against 
 a  Church  which  they  think  is  ill-grounded,  and  is  by  conse- 
 quence both  unjust  and  uncharitable. 
 
 By  necessary  for  these  times,  is  not  to  be  meant  that  this 
 was  a  book  fit  to  serve  a  turn ;  but  only,  that  this  book  was  ne- 
 cessary at  that  time  to  instruct  the  nation  aright,  and  so  was  of 
 great  use  then  :  but  though  the  doctrine  in  it,  if  once  true,  must 
 be  always  true,  yet  it  will  not  be  always  of  the  same  necessity  to 
 the  people.  As  for  instance ;  there  are  many  discourses  in  the 
 Epistles  of  the  Apostles,  that  relate  to  the  controversies  then 
 on  foot  with  the  Judaizers,  to  the  engagements  the  Christians 
 then  lived  in  with  the  heathens,  and  to  those  corrupters  of 
 Christianity  that  were  in  those  days.  These  doctrines  were 
 necessary  for  that  time ;  but  though  they  are  now  as  true  as 
 they  were  then,  yet,  since  we  have  no  commerce  either  with 
 Jews  or  Gentiles,  we  cannot  say  that  it  is  as  necessary  for  the 
 present  time  to  dwell  much  on  those  matters,  as  it  was  for  that 
 time  to  explain  them  once  well.  If  the  nation  should  come  to 
 be  quite  out  of  the  danger  of  falling  back  into  Popery,  it  would 
 not  be  so  necessary  to  insist  upon  many  of  the  subjects  of  the 
 Homilies,  as  it  was  when  they  were  first  prepared. 
 
 ARTICLE  XXXVI. 
 
 OF  CONSECRATION  OF  BISHOPS  AND  MINISTERS. 
 
 The  Booh  of  Consecration  of  Archbishops  and  Bishops,  and  or- 
 dering  of  Priests  and  Deacons,  lately  set  forth  in  the  time  of 
 Edward  the  Sixth,  and  confirmed  at  the  same  time  by  Autho- 
 rity of  Parliament,  doth  contain  all  Things  necessary  to  such 
 Consecration  and  Ordering;  neither  hath  it  any  Thing  that 
 of  itself  is  superstitious  and  ungodly.  And  therefore,  whoso- 
 ever are  Consecrated  and  Ordered  according  to  the  Rites  of 
 that  Book,  since  the  Second  Year  of  the  aforenamed  King 
 Edward  unto  this  time,  or  hereafter  shall  be  Consecrated  or 
 Ordered  according  to  the  same  Rites,  we  decree  all  such  to 
 be  rightly,  orderly,  and  lawfully  Consecrated  and  Ordered. 
 
 As  to  the  most  essential  parts  of  this  Article,  they  were  al^ 
 ready  examined,  when  the  pretended  sacrament  of  Orders  was 
 explained ;  where  it  was  proved,  that  prayer  and  imposition  of 
 hands  was  all  that  was  necessary  to  the  giving  of  orders  ;  and 
 
Aim.  XXXVI.  THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 ±55 
 
 that  the  forms  added  in  the  Roman  Pontifical  are  new,  and 
 cannot  be  held  to  be  necessary?  since  the  Church  had  sub- 
 sisted for  many  ages  before  those  were  thought  on.  So  that 
 either  our  ordinations  without  those  additions  are  good,  or  the 
 Church  of  God  was  for  many  ages  without  true  orders.  There 
 seems  to  be  here  insinuated  a  ratification  of  orders  that  were 
 given  before  this  Article  was  made;  which  being  done  (as  the 
 lawyers  phrase  it)  ex  post  facto,  it  seems  these  orders  were  un- 
 lawful when  given,  and  that  error  was  intended  to  be  cor- 
 rected by  this  Article.  The  opening  a  part  of  the  history  of 
 that  time  will  clear  this  matter. 
 
 There  was  a  new  form  of  ordinations  agreed  on  by  the 
 Bishops  in  the  third  year  of  King  Edward ;  and  when  the  Book 
 of  Common  Prayer,  with  the  last  corrections  of  it,  was  autho- 
 rised by  Act  of  Parliament  in  the  fifth  year  of  that  reign,  the 
 new  Book  of  Ordinations  was  also  enacted,  and  was  appointed 
 to  be  a  part  of  the  Common  Prayer  Book.  In  Queen  Mary's 
 time  these  Acts  were  repealed,  and  those  books  were  condemned 
 by  name.  When  Queen  Elizabeth  came  to  the  crown,  King 
 Edward's  Common  Prayer  Book  was  of  new  enacted,  and 
 Queen  Mary's  Act  was  repealed.  But  the  Book  of  Ordina- 
 tions was  not  expressly  named,  it  being  considered  as  a  part  of 
 the  Common  Prayer  Book,  as  it  had  been  made  in  King  Ed- 
 ward's time ;  so  it  was  thought  no  more  necessary  to  mention 
 that  office  by  name,  than  to  mention  all  the  other  offices  that 
 are  in  the  book.  Bishop  Bonner  set  on  foot  a  nicety,  that 
 since  the  Book  of  Ordinations  was  by  name  condemned  in 
 Queen  Mary's  time,  and  was  not  by  name  received  in  Queen 
 Elizabeth's  time,  that  therefore  it  was  still  condemned  by  law, 
 and  that  by  consequence  ordinations  performed  according  to 
 this  book  were  not  legal.  But  it  is  visible,  that  whatsoever 
 might  be  made  out  of  this,  according  to  the  niceties  of  our 
 law,  it  has  no  relation  to  the  validity  of  ordinations  as  they 
 are  sacred  performances,  but  only  as  they  are  legal  actions 
 with  relation  to  our  constitution.  Therefore  a  declaration  was 
 made  in  a  subsequent  Parliament,  that  the  Book  of  Ordination 
 was  considered  as  a  part  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer;  and, 
 to  clear  all  scruples  or  disputes  that  might  arise  upon  that  mat- 
 ter, they  by  a  retrospect  declared  them  to  be  good ;  and  from 
 that  retrospect  in  the  Act  of  Parliament,  the  like  clause  was 
 put  in  the  Article. 
 
 The  chief  exception  that  can  be  made  to  the  form  of  giving 
 orders  amongst  us,  is  to  those  words,  Receive  ye  the  Holy 
 Ghost;  which  as  it  is  no  ancient  form,  it  not  being  above  five 
 hundred  years  old,  so  it  is  taken  from  words  of  our  Saviour 
 that  the  Church  in  her  best  times  thought  were  not  to  be  ap- 
 plied to  this.  It  was  proper  to  him  to  use  them,  who  had  the 
 fulness  of  the  Spirit  to  give  it  at  pleasure :  he  made  use  of  it  in 
 
1*6 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF  Art.  XXXVI. 
 
 constituting  his  Apostles  the  governors  of  his  Church  in  his 
 own  stead ;  and  therefore  it  seems  to  have  a  sound  in  it  that  is 
 too  bold  and  assuming,  as  if  we  could  convey  the  Holy  Ghost. 
 To  this  it  is 'to  be  answered,  that  the  Churches,  both  in  the 
 East  and  West,  have  so  often  changed  the  forms  of  ordination, 
 that  our  Church  may  well  claim  the  same  power  of  appointing 
 new  forms  that  others  have  done.  And  since  the  several 
 functions  and  administrations  that  are  in  the  Church  are  by  the 
 Apostle  said  to  flow  from  one  and  the  same  Spirit,  all  of  them 
 from  the  Apostles  down  to  the  Pastors  and  Teachers,  we  may 
 then  reckon  that  the  Holy  Ghost,  though  in  a  much  lower  de- 
 gree, is  given  to  those  who  are  inwardly  moved  of  God  to  un- 
 dertake that  holy  office :  So  that  though  that  extraordinary 
 effusion  that  was  poured  out  upon  the  Apostles,  was  in  them 
 in  a  much  higher  degree,  and  was  accompanied  with  most 
 amazing  characters;  yet  still  such  as  do  sincerely  offer  them- 
 selves up,  on  a  divine  motion,  to  this  service,  receive  a  lower 
 portion  of  this  Spirit.  That  being  laid  down,  these  words, 
 Receive  the  Holy  Ghost,  may  be  understood  to  be  of  the  nature 
 of  a  wish  and  prayer ;  as  if  it  were  said,  May  thou  receive  the 
 Holy  Ghost;  and  so  it  will  better  agree  with  what  follows, 
 And  be  thou  a  faithful  dispenser  of  the  word  and  sacraments. 
 Or  it  may  be  observed,  that  in  those  sacred  missions  the  Church 
 and  Churchmen  consider  themselves  as  acting  in  the  name  and 
 person  of  Christ.  In  baptism  it  is  expressly  said,  /  baptize  in 
 the  name  of  the  Father,  &c.  In  the  Eucharist  we  repeat  the 
 words  of  Christ,  and  apply  them  to  the  elements,  as  said  by 
 him.  So  we  consider  such  as  deserve  to  be  admitted  to  those 
 holy  functions,  as  persons  called  and  sent  of  God ;  and  there- 
 fore the  Church  in  the  name  of  Christ  sends  them;  and  be- 
 cause he  gives  a  portion  of  his  Spirit  to  those  whom  he  sends, 
 therefore  the  Church  in  his  name  says,  Receive  the  Holy  Ghost. 
 And  in  this  sense,  and  with  this  respect,  the  use  of  these  words 
 may  be  well  justified, 
 
Art.  XXXVII.  THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES.  437 
 
 ARTICLE  XXXVII. 
 
 OF  CIVIL  MAGISTRATES. 
 
 The  Queen's  Majesty  hath  the  chief  Power  in  this  Realm  of 
 England,  and  other  her  Dominions,  under  whom  the  chief 
 Government  of  all  Estates  of  this  Realm,  whether  they  be 
 Ecclesiastical  or  Civil,  in  all  Causes  doth  appertain,  and  is 
 9  not,  nor  ought  to  be  subject  to  any  Foreign  Jurisdiction. 
 Where  we  attribute  to  the  Queen's  Majesty  the  chief  Government, 
 by  which  Titles  we  understand  the  minds  of  some  slanderous 
 Folks  to  be  offended,  we  give  not  to  our  Princes  the  minis- 
 tering either  of  God's  Word  or  of  the  Sacraments;  the  which 
 thing  the  Injunctions  also  lately  set  forth  by  Elizabeth  our 
 Qiieen  do  most  plainly  testify;  but  that  only  Prerogative 
 which  we  see  to  have  been  given  always  to  all  godly  Princes 
 in  Holy  Scriptures  by  God  himself,  that  is,  That  they  should 
 rule  all  Estates  and  Degrees  committed  to  their  charge  by 
 God,  whether  they  be  Ecclesiastical  or  Temporal,  and  restrain 
 with  the  Civil  Sword  the  stubborn  a?id  evil-doers. 
 The  Bishop  of  Rome  hath  no  Jurisdiction  in  this  Realm  of 
 England. 
 
 The  Laws  of  the  Realm  may  punish  Christian  Men  with  Death 
 
 for  heinous  and  grievous  Offences. 
 It  is  lawfd  for  Christian  Men,  at  the  Commandment  of  the 
 Magistrate,  to  wear  weapons,  and  serve  in  the  Wars. 
 
 This  Article  was  much  shorter  as  it  was  published  in  King 
 Edward's  time,  and  did  run  thus :  The  King  of  England  is 
 supreme  head  in  earth,  next  under  Christ,  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
 land and  Ireland.  Then  followed  the  paragraph  against  the 
 Pope's  jurisdiction,  worded  as  it  is  now :  to  which  these  words 
 were  subjoined,  The  civil  magistrate  is  ordained  and  allowed 
 of  God ;  wherefore  we  must  obey  him,  not  only  for  fear  of  pu- 
 nishment, but  also  for  conscience  sake.  In  Queen  Elizabeth's 
 time  it  was  thought  fitting  to  take  away  those  prejudices  that 
 the  Papists  were  generally  infusing  into  the  minds  of  the  people 
 against  the  term  head;  which  seemed  to  be  the  more  incon- 
 gruous, because  a  woman  did  then  reign ;  therefore  that  was 
 left  out,  and  instead  of  it  the  words  chief  power  and  chief  go- 
 vernment were  made  use  of,  which  do  signify  the  same  thing. 
 
 The  Queen  did  also  by  her  Injunctions  offer  an  explanation 
 of  this  matter  ;  for  whereas  it  was  given  out  by  those  who  had 
 complied  with  every  thing  that  had  been  done  both  in  her 
 
458 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF  Art.  XXXVII. 
 
 father's  and  in  her  brother's  time,  but  that  resolved  now  to  set 
 themselves  in  opposition  to  her,  that  she  was  assuming  a  much 
 greater  authority  than  they  had  pretended  to ;  she  upon  that 
 ordered  that  explanation  which  is  referred  to  in  the  Article, 
 and  is  in  these  words  :  For  certainly  her  Majesty  neither  doth 
 nor  ever  will  challenge  any  authority,  other  than  that  was  chal- 
 lenged  and  lately  used  by  the  said  noble  Kings  of  famous  me- 
 mory, King  Henry  the  Eighth  and  King  Edward  the  Sixth, 
 which  is  and  was  of  ancient  time  due  to  the  imperial  crown  of 
 this  realm;  that  is,  under  God  to  have  the  sovereignty  and  rule 
 over  all  manner  of  persons  born  within  these  her  realms,  domi- 
 nions,  and  countries,  of  what  estate,  either  ecclesiastical  or  tem- 
 poral, soever  they  be;  so  as  no  other  foreign  power  shall  or 
 ought  to  have  any  superiority  over  them.  And  if  any  person 
 that  hath  conceived  any  other  sense  of  the  said  oath,  shall  accept 
 the  same  oath  with  this  interpretation,  sense,  or  meaning,  her 
 Majesty  is  well  pleased  to  accept  every  such  in  that  behalf,  as 
 her  good  and  obedient  subjects;  and  shall  acquit  them  of  all 
 manner  of  penalties  contained  in  the  said  Act,  against  such  as 
 shall  peremptorily  and  obstinately  refuse  to  take  the  same  oath. 
 
 Thus  this  matter  is  opened,  as  it  is  both  in  the  Article  and 
 in  the  Ir junctions.  In  order  to  the  treating  regularly  of  this 
 Article,  it  is  first  to  be  proved,  That  the  Pope  hath  no  juris- 
 diction in  these  kingdoms  :  2dly,  That  our  Kings  or  Queens 
 have  it :  And,  3dly,  The  nature  and  measures  of  this  power 
 and  government  are  to  be  stated. 
 
 As  for  the  Pope's  authority,  though  it  is  now  connected  with 
 infallibility,  yet  it  was  pretended  to,  and  was  advanced  for 
 many  ages  before  infallibility  was  so  much  as  thought  on. 
 Nor  was  the  doctrine  of  their  infallibility  ever  so  universally 
 received  and  submitted  to  in  these  western  parts,  as  was  that 
 of  their  universal  jurisdiction.  They  were  in  possession  of  it : 
 appeals  were  made  to  them :  they  sent  legates  and  bulls  every- 
 where :  they  granted  exemptions  from  the  ordinary  j  urisdic- 
 tion ;  and  took  Bishops  bound  to  them  by  oaths,  that  were 
 penned  in  the  form  of  oaths  of  fealty  or  homage.  This  was 
 the  first  point  that  our  Reformers  did  begin  with,  both  here 
 and  every-where  else ;  that  so  they  might  remove  that  which 
 was  an  insuperable  obstruction,  till  it  was  first  taken  out  of 
 the  way,  to  every  step  that  could  be  made  toward  a  reforma- 
 tion. They  laid  down  therefore  this  for  their  foundation,  that 
 all  Bishops  were  by  their  office  and  character  equal;  and  that 
 every  one  of  them  had  the  same  authority  that  any  other  had, 
 over  that  flock  which  was  committed  to  his  care  :  and  there- 
 fore they  said,  that  the  Bishops  of  Rome  had  no  authority, 
 according  to  the  constitution  in  which  the  Churches  were 
 settled  by  the  Apostles,  but  over  the  city  of  Rome;  and  that 
 any  further  jurisdiction  that  any  ancient  Popes  might  have 
 
Am.  XX XVII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 459 
 
 had,  did  arise  from  the  dignity  of  the  city,  and  the  customs 
 and  laws  of  the  empire.    As  for  their  deriving  that  authority 
 from  St  Peter,  it  is  very  plain  that  the  Apostles  were  all  made 
 equal  to  him ;  and  that  they  never  understood  our  Saviour's 
 words  to  him  as  importing  any  authority  that  was  given  to 
 him  over  the  rest,  since  they  continued  to  the  last,  while  our 
 Saviour  was  among  them,  disputing  which  of  them  should  be  the 
 greatest ;  Matt.  xx.  21.  24.  26.     The  proposition  that  the 
 mother  of  James  and  John  made,  in  which  it  is  evident  that 
 they  likewise  concurred  with  her,  shews,  that  they  did  not  ap- 
 prehend that  Christ  had  made  any  declaration  in  favour  of  St 
 Peter ;  as  by  our  Saviour's  answer  it  appears  that  he  had  not 
 done,  otherwise  he  would  have  referred  them  to  what  he  had 
 already  said  upon  that  occasion.    By  the  whole  history  of  the 
 Acts  of  the  Apostles  it  appears,  that  the  Apostles  acted  and 
 consulted  in  common,  without  considering  St  Peter  as  having 
 any  superiority  over  them.    He  was  called  to  give  an  account 
 of  his  baptizing  Cornelius,  Acts  xi.  2,  3. ;  and  he  delivered  his  - 
 opinion  in  the  Council  of  Jerusalem,  without  any  strain  of 
 authority  over  the  rest,  Acts  xv.  7.  14.  19.    St  Paul  does 
 expressly  deny  that  the  other  Apostles  had  any  superiority  or 
 jurisdiction  over  him  ;  and  he  says  in  plain  words,  that  he  was 
 the  Apostle  of  the  uncircumcision,  as  St  Peter  was  the  Apostle  of 
 the  circumcision,  Gal.  ii.  7,  8.  11.;  and  in  that  does  rather 
 claim  an  advantage  over  him,  since  his  was  certainly  the  much 
 wider  province.    He  withstood  St  Peter  to  his  face,  when  he 
 thought  that  he  deserved  to  be  blamed ;  and  he  speaks  of  his 
 own  line  and  share  as  being  subordinate  in  it  to  none :  and  bv 
 his  saying,  that  he  did  not  stretch  himself  beyond  his  own  mea- 
 sure, 2  Cor.  x.  14.,  he  plainly  insinuates,  that  within  his  own 
 province  he  was  only  accountable  to  him  that  had  called  and 
 sent  him.    This  was  also  the  sense  of  the  primitive  Church, 
 that  all  Bishops  were  brethren,  colleagues,  and  fellow-bishops  : 
 and  though  the  dignity  of  that  city  which  was  the  head  of  the 
 empire,  and  the  opinion  of  that  Church's  being  founded  by  St 
 Peter  and  St  Paul,  created  a  great  respect  to  the  Bishops  of 
 that  See,  which  was  supported  and  increased  by  the  eminent 
 worth,  as  well  as  the  frequent  martyrdoms  of  their  Bishops ; 
 yet  St  Cyprian  in  his  time,  as  he  was  against  the  suffering  of 
 any  causes  to  be  carried  in  the  way  of  a  complaint  for  redress 
 to  Rome,  so  he  does  in  plain  words  say,  that  all  the    De  Unit. 
 Apostles  were  equal  in  power;  and  that  all  Bishops  Eccles- 
 were  also  equal;  since  the  whole  office  and  episcopate  was  one 
 entire  thing,  of  which  every  Bishop  had  a  complete  and  equal 
 share.   It  is  true,  he  speaks  of  the  unity  of  the  Roman  Church, 
 and  of  the  union  of  other  churches  with  it ;  but  those  words 
 were  occasioned  by  a  schism  that  Novatian  had  made  then  at 
 Rome ;  he  being  elected  in  opposition  to  the  rightful  Bishop  : 
 
460 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXXVII. 
 
 so  that  St  Cyprian  does  not  insinuate  any  thing  concerning  an 
 authority  of  the  See  of  Rome  over  other  Sees,  but  speaks  only 
 of  their  union  under  one  Bishop,  and  of  the  other  churches 
 holding  a  brotherly  communion  with  that  Bishop.  Through 
 his  whole  epistles  he  treats  the  Bishops  of  Rome  as  his  equals, 
 with  the  titles  of  brother  and  colleague. 
 
 cone.  Nic.  In  tne  nrst  General  Council,  the  authority  of  the 
 can.  a  Bishops  of  the  great  Sees  is  stated  as  equal.  The  Bi- 
 shops of  Alexandria  and  Antioch  are  declared  to  have,  accord- 
 ing to  custom,  the  same  authority  over  the  churches  subordi- 
 nate to  them,  that  the  Bishops  of  Rome  had  over  those  that 
 lay  about  that  city.  This  authority  is  pretended  to  be  derived 
 only  from  custom,  and  is  considered  as  under  the  limitations 
 Ep.  12.  ad  and  decisions  of  a  General  Council.  Soon  after  that, 
 Greg-  the  Arian  heresy  was  so  spread  over  the  Hast,  that 
 those  who  adhered  to  the  Nicene  faith  were  not  safe  in  their 
 numbers;  and  the  Western  Churches  being  free  from  that  con- 
 tagion, (though  St  Basil  laments  that  they  neither  understood 
 their  matters,  nor  were  much  concerned  about  them,  but  were 
 swelled  up  with  pride),  Athanasius  and  other  oppressed  Bishops 
 fled  to  the  Bishops  of  Rome,  as  well  as  to  the  other  Bishops  of 
 the  West :  it  being  natural  for  the  oppressed  to  seek  protection 
 wheresoever  they  can  find  it :  and  so  a  sort  of  appeals  was  be- 
 gun, and  they  were  authorised  by  the  Council  of  Sar- 
 caS^t  7.  dica.  But  the  ill  effects  of  this,  if  it  should  become 
 £ant.'  can's.  a  precedent,  were  apprehended  by  the  second  Gene- 
 ral Council;  in  which  it  was  decreed,  that  every  pro- 
 vince should  be  governed  by  its  own  Synod;  and  that  all  Bishops 
 should  be  at  first  judged  by  the  Bishops  of  their  own  province; 
 and  from  them  an  appeal  was  allowed  to  the  Bishops  of  the 
 diocese :  whereas  by  the  canons  of  Nice  no  appeal  lay  from  the 
 Bishops  of  the  province.  But  though  this  canon  of  Constan- 
 tinople allows  of  an  appeal  to  the  Bishops  of  every  such  divi- 
 sion of  the  Roman  empire  as  was  known  by  the  name  of  dio- 
 cese, yet  there  is  an  express  prohibition  of  any  other  or  further 
 appeal;  which  is  a  plain  repealing  of  the  canon  at  Sardica. 
 And  in  that  same  Council  it  appears  upon  what  the  dignity  of 
 the  See  of  Rome  was  then  believed  to  be  founded;  for  Con- 
 stantinople being  made  the  seat  of  the  empire,  and  called  New 
 Home,  the  Bishops  of  that  See  had  the  same  privileges  given 
 them  that  the  Bishops  of  Old  Rome  had,  except  only  the  point 
 of  rank,  which  was  preserved  to  Old  Rome  because  of  the  dig- 
 conc.  chai-  nity  of  the  city.  This  was  also  confirmed  at  Chal- 
 ccd.  can.  28.  cecjon  in  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century.  This  shews, 
 that  the  authority  and  privileges  of  the  Bishops  of  Rome  were 
 then  considered  as  arising  out  of  the  dignity  of  that  city,  and 
 that  the  order  of  them  was  subject  to  the  authority  of  a  Gene- 
 ral Council. 
 
Art.  XXXVII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 461 
 
 The  African  Churches  in  that  time  knew  nothing   Conc  Afric 
 of  any  superiority  that  the  Bishops  of  Rome  had  over   c^ol  m& 
 them":  they  condemned  the  making  of  appeals  to  them,    gmfac.  et 
 and  appointed  that  such  as  made  them  should  be  ex- 
 communicated. The  Popes,  who  laid  that  matter  much  to  heart, 
 did  not  pretend  to  an  universal  jurisdiction  as  St  Peter's  suc- 
 cessors by  a  divine  right,  they  only  pleaded  a  canon  of  the 
 Council  of  Nice ;  but  the  Africans  had  heard  of  no  such  canon, 
 and  so  they  justified  their  independence  on  the  See  of  Rome. 
 Great  search  was  made  after  this  canon,  and  it  was  found  to 
 be  an  imposture.    So  early  did  the  See  of  Rome  aspire  to  this 
 universal  authority,  and  did  not  stick  at  forgery  in  order  to  the 
 compassing  of  it.    In  the  sixth  century,  when  the  Emperor 
 Mauritius  continued  a  practice  begun  by  some  former 
 Emperors,  to  give  the  Bishop  of  Constantinople  the  ubeivEpEP. 
 title  of  Universal  Bishop,  Pelage,  and  after  him   Is"  ly.  fS*i3, 
 Gregory  the  Great,  broke  out  into  the  most  patheti-  g 
 cal  expression^  that  could  be  invented  against  it :  he  ^jj>-^ii- 
 compared  it  to  the  pride  of  Lucifer ;  and  said,  that 
 he  who  assumed  it  ivas  the  forerunner  of  Antichrist ;  and  as  he 
 renounced  all  claim  to  it,  so  he  affirmed,  that  none  of  his  pre- 
 decessors had  ever  aspired  to  such  a  power. 
 
 This  is  the  more  remarkable,  because  the  Saxons  being 
 converted  to  the  Christian  religion  under  this  Pope's  direction, 
 we  have  reason  to  believe  that  this  doctrine  was  infused  into 
 this  Church  at  the  first  conversion  of  the  Saxons :  yet  Pope 
 Gregory's  successor  made  no  exceptions  to  the  giving  himself 
 that  title,  against  which  his  predecessor  had  declaimed  so  much  : 
 but  then  the  confusions  of  Italy  gave  the  Popes  great  advan- 
 tages to  make  all  new  invaders  or  pretenders  enlarge  their  pri- 
 vileges ;  since  it  was  a  great  accession  of  strength  to  any  party 
 to  have  them  of  their  side.  The  Kings  of  the  Lombards  began 
 to  lie  heavy  on  them ;  but  they  called  in  the  Kings  of  a  new 
 conquering  family  from  France,  who  wrere  ready  enough  to 
 make  new  conquests :  and  when  the  nomination  of  the  Popes 
 was  given  to  the  Kings  of  that  race,  it  wras  natural  for  them  to 
 raise  the  greatness  of  one  who  was  to  be  their  creature;  so 
 they  promoted  their  authority ;  which  was  not  a  little  confirmed 
 by  an  impudent  forgery  of  that  time,  of  the  Decretal  Epistles 
 of  the  first  Popes,  in  which  they  were  represented  as  govern- 
 ing the  world  writh  an  universal  and  unbounded  authority. 
 This  book  was  a  little  disputed  at  first,  but  was  quickly  sub- 
 mitted to,  and  the  Popes  went  on  upon  that  foundation,  still 
 enlarging  their  pretensions.  Soon  after  that  was  submitted  to, 
 it  quickly  appeared  that  the  pretensions  of  that  See  were  end- 
 less. 
 
 They  went  on  to  claim  a  power  over  Princes  and  their  do- 
 minions ;  and  that  first  with  relation  to  spiritual  matters.  They 
 
i62 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXXVII. 
 
 deposed  them,  if  they  were  either  heretics  themselves,  or  if  they 
 favoured  heresy  at  least  so  far  as  not  to  extirpate  it.  From 
 deposing  they  went  to  the  disposing  of  their  dominions  to  others : 
 and  at  last  Boniface  the  Eighth  completed  their  claim ;  for  he 
 decreed,  that  it  ivas  necessary  for  every  man  to  be  subject  to 
 the  Pope's  authority;  and  he  asserted  a  direct  dominion  over 
 Princes  as  to  their  temporals,  that  they  were  all  subject  to  him, 
 and  held  their  dominions  under  him,  and  at  his  courtesy.  As 
 for  the  jurisdiction  that  they  claimed  over  the  spiritualty,  they 
 exercised  it  with  that  rigour,  with  such  heavy  taxes  and  impo- 
 sitions, such  exemptions  and  dispensations,  and  such  a  violation 
 of  all  the  ancient  canons,  that  as  it  grew  insupportably  grievous, 
 so  the  management  was  grossly  scandalous,  for  every  thing  was 
 openly  set  to  sale.  By  these  practices  they  disposed  the  world 
 to  examine  the  grounds  of  that  authority,  which  was  managed 
 with  so  much  tyranny  and  corruption.  It  was  so  ill-founded, 
 that  it  could  not  be  defended  but  by  force  and  artifices.  Thus 
 it  appears,  that  there  is  no  authority  at  all  in  the  Scripture  for 
 this  extent  of  jurisdiction  that  the  Popes  assumed;  that  it  was 
 not  thought  on  in  the  first  ages;  that  a  vigorous  opposition 
 was  made  to  every  step  of  the  progress  that  it  made ;  and  that 
 forgery  and  violence  were  used  to  bring  the  world  under  it. 
 So  that  there  is  no  reason  now  to  submit  to  it. 
 
 As  for  the  patriarchal  authority  which  that  See  had  over  a 
 great  part  of  the  Roman  empire,  that  was  only  a  regulation 
 made  conform  to  the  constitution  of  that  empire;  so  that  the 
 empire  being  now  dissolved  into  many  different  sovereignties, 
 the  new  Princes  are  under  no  sort  of  obligation  to  have  any 
 regard  to  the  Roman  constitution  :  Nor  does  a  nation's  receiv- 
 ing the  faith  by  the  ministry  of  men  sent  from  any  See,  subject 
 them  to  that  See;  for  then  all  must  be  subject  to  Jerusalem, 
 since  the  gospel  came  to  all  the  Churches  from  thence.  There 
 was  a  decision  made  in  the  third  General  Council  in  the  case 
 of  the  Cypriotic  Churches,  which  pretended  that  they  had 
 been  always  complete  Churches  within  themselves,  and  inde- 
 pendent; therefore  they  stood  upon  this  privilege,  not  to  be 
 subject  to  appeals  to  any  patriarchal  See.  The  Council  judged 
 in  their  favour.  So,  since  the  Britannic  Churches  were  con- 
 verted long  before  they  had  any  commerce  with  Rome,  they 
 were  originally  independent ;  which  could  not  be  lost  by  any 
 thing  that  was  afterwards  done  among  the  Saxons  by  men  sent 
 over  from  Rome.  This  is  enough  to  prove  the  first  point — that 
 the  Bishops  of  Rome  had  no  lawful  jurisdiction  here  among  us. 
 
 The  second  is,  that  Kings  or  Queens  have  an  authority 
 over  their  subjects  in  matters  ecclesiastical.  In  the  Old  Tes- 
 tament, the  Kings  of  Israel  intermeddled  in  all  matters  of  re- 
 ligion :  Samuel  acknowledged  Saul's  authority,  1  Sam.  xv.  30. 
 xxii.  14.;  and  Abimelech,  though  the  High-priest,  when  called 
 
Art.  XXXVII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 4(>3 
 
 before  Saul,  appeared  and  answered  to  some  things  that  were 
 objected  to  him,  that  related  to  the  worship  of  God.  Samuel 
 said  in  express  words  to  Saul,  that  he  was  made  the  head  of  all 
 the  tribes,  xv.  17.;  and  one  of  these  was  the  tribe  of  Levi. 
 David  made  many  laws  about  sacred  matters,  such  as  the  or- 
 ders of  the  courses  of  the  priests,  and  the  time  of  their  atten- 
 dance at  the  public  service.  When  he  died,  and  was  inform- 
 ing Solomon  of  the  extent  of  his  authority,  he  told  him,  that 
 the  courses  of  the  priests  and  all  the  people  were  to  be  wholly  at 
 his  commandment,  1  Chron.  xxiii.  6.  xxviii.  21.  Pursuant  to 
 which,  Solomon  did  appoint  them  their  charges  in  the  service 
 of  God ;  and  both  the  priests  and  Levites  departed  not  from  his 
 commandment  in  any  matter,  2  Chron.  viii.  14,  15.  He  turned 
 out  Abiathar  from  the  High-priest's  office ;  and  yet  no  com- 
 plaint was  made  upon  it,  as  if  he  had  assumed  an  authority 
 that  did  not  belong  to  him.  It  is  true,  both  David  and  Solo- 
 mon- were  men  that  were  particularly  inspired  as  to  some 
 things :  but  it  does  not  appear  that  they  acted  in  those  matters 
 by  virtue  of  any  such  inspiration;  they  were  acts  of  regal 
 power,  and  they  did  them  in  that  capacity ;  2  Chron.  xvii.  8,  9. 
 x.  8.  to  the  end.  Jehoshaphat,  Hezekiah,  and  Josiah,  gave 
 many  directions  and  orders  in  sacred  matters:  but  though 
 the  priests  withstood  Uzziah  when  he  was  going  to  offer  in- 
 cense in  the  holy  place,  yet  they  did  not  pretend  privilege,  or 
 make  opposition  to  those  orders  that  were  issued  out  by  their 
 kings;  2  Chron.  xxvi.  16 — 19.  Mordecai  appointed  the  feast 
 of  Purim,  by  virtue  of  the  authority  that  King  Ahasuerus  gave 
 him ;  and  both  Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  by  virtue  of  commissions 
 from  the  Kings  of  Persia,  made  many  reformations,  and  gave 
 many  orders  in  sacred  matters. 
 
 Under  the  New  Testament,  Christ,  by  saying,  Render  to 
 Ccesar  the  things  which  are  Ccesar's,  did  plainly  shew,  that  he 
 did  not  intend  that  his  religion  should  in  any  sort  lessen  the 
 temporal  authority.  The  Apostles  writ  to  the  Churches  to 
 obey  magistrates,  to  submit  to  them,  and  to  pay  taxes,  Rom.  xiii. 
 6. :  they  enjoined  obedience,  whether  to  the  King  as  supreme, 
 or  to  others  that  were  sent  by  him :  every  soul,  without  excep- 
 tion, is  charged  to  be  subject  to  the  higher  powers,  ver.  1.  The 
 magistrate  is  ordained  of  God,  and  is  his  minister  to  en- 
 courage them  to  do  well,  and  to  punish  the  evil-doers,  1  Pet.  ii. 
 13,  14.  If  these  passages  of  Scripture  are  to  be  interpreted 
 according  to  the  common  consent  of  the  Fathers,  churchmen 
 are  included  within  them  as  well  as  other  persons.  There 
 was  not  indeed  great  occasion  to  consider  this  matter  before 
 Constantine's  coming  to  the  empire;  for  till  then  the  Em- 
 perors did  not  consider  the  Christians  otherwise  than  either 
 as  enemies,  or  at  best  as  their  subjects  at  large :  and  there- 
 fore, though  the  Christians  made  an  address  to  Aurelian  in 
 
AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXXVII. 
 
 the  matter  of  Samosatenus,  and  obtained  a  favourable  and 
 just  answer  to  it;  yet  in  Constantine's  time,  the  protection 
 that  he  gave  to  the  Christian  religion  led  him  and  his  suc- 
 cessors to  make  many  laws  in  ecclesiastical  matters,  concern- 
 ing the  age,  the  qualifications,  and  the  duties  of  the  Clergy. 
 Many  of  these  are  to  be  found  in  Theodosius  and  Justinian's 
 Code :  Justinian  added  many  more  in  his  Novels.  Appeals 
 were  made  to  the  Emperors  against  the  injustice  of  Synods : 
 they  received  them,  and  appointed  such  Bishops  to  hear  and 
 try  those  causes,  as  happened  to  be  then  about  their  courts. 
 In  the  Council  of  Nice,  many  complaints  were  given  to  the 
 Emperor  by  the  Bishops  against  one  another.  The  Emperors 
 called  General  Councils  by  their  summons ;  they  sate  in  them, 
 and  confirmed  their  decrees.  This  was  the  constant  practice 
 of  the  Roman  Emperors,  both  in  the  East  and  in  the  West. 
 When  the  Church  came  to  fall  under  many  lesser  sovereignties, 
 those  Princes  continued  still  to  make  laws,  to  name  Bishops, 
 to  give  investitures  into  benefices,  to  call  Synods,  and  to  do 
 every  thing  that  appeared  necessary  to  them  for  the  good  go- 
 vernment of  the  Church  in  their  dominions. 
 
 When  Charles  the  Great  was  restoring  those  things  that  had 
 fallen  under  much  disorder  in  a  course  of  some  ignorant  and 
 barbarous  ages,  and  was  reviving  both  learning  and  good  go- 
 vernment, he  published  many  Capitulars,  a  great  part  of  them 
 relating  to  ecclesiastical  matters ;  nor  was  any  exception  taken 
 to  that  in  those  ages.  The  Synods  that  were  then  held  were  for 
 the  greatest  part  mixed  assemblies,  in  which  the  temporally 
 and  the  spiritualty  sate  together,  and  judged  and  decreed  of 
 all  matters  in  common.  And  it  is  certain,  that  such  was  the 
 Sanhedrim  among  the  Jews  in  our  Saviour's  time ;  it  was  the 
 supreme  Court  both  for  spirituals  and  temporals. 
 
 In  England  our  Princes  began  early,  and  continued  long,  to 
 maintain  this  part  of  their  authority.  The  letters  that  are 
 pretended  to  have  passed  between  King  Lucius  and  Pope  Ele- 
 utherius,  are  very  probably  forgeries;  but  they  are  ancient 
 ones,  and  did  for  many  ages  pass  for  true.  Now  a  forgery  is 
 generally  calculated  to  the  sense  of  the  age  in  which  it  is  made. 
 In  the  Pope's  letter,  the  King  is  called  God's  Vicar  in  his  king- 
 doms; and  it  is  said  to  belong  to  his  office  to  bring  his  subjects 
 to  the  holy  Church,  and  to  maintain,  protect,  and  govern  them 
 in  it.  Both  Saxon  and  Danish  Kings  made  a  great  many 
 laws  about  ecclesiastical  matters ;  and  after  the  Conquest,  when 
 the  nation  grew  into  a  more  united  body,  and  came  to  a  more 
 settled  constitution,  many  laws  were  made  concerning  these 
 matters,  particularly  in  opposition  to  those  practices  that  fa- 
 voured the  authority  that  the  Popes  were  then  assuming;  such 
 as  appeals  to  Rome,  or  Bishops  going  out  of  the  kingdom  with- 
 out the  Kino's  leave.    Kin":  Alfred's  laws  were  a  sort  of  text 
 
Art.  XXXVII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 4-6.3 
 
 for  a  great  while  :  they  contain  many  laws  about  sacred  mat- 
 ters. The  exempting  of  monasteries  from  episcopal  jurisdic- 
 tion was  granted  by  some  of  our  Kings  at  first.  William  the 
 Conqueror,  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  his  victory  over  Ha- 
 rold, and  to  endear  himself  to  the  Clergy,  founded  an  abbey  in 
 the  field  where  the  battle  was  fought,  called  Battle- Abbey : 
 and  in  the  charter  of  the  foundation,  in  imitation  of  what 
 former  Kings  had  done  in  their  endowments,  this  clause  was 
 put :  It  shall  be  also  free  and  quiet  for  ever  from  all  subjection 
 to  Bishops,  or  the  dominion  of  any  other  persons.  This  is  an 
 Act  that  does  as  immediately  relate  to  the  authority  of  the 
 Church,  as  any  one  that  we  can  imagine.  The  Constitutions 
 of  Clarendon  were  asserted  bv  both  Kino-  and  Parliament,  and 
 by  the  whole  body  of  the  Clergy,  as  the  ancient  customs  of  the 
 kingdom.  These  relate  to  the  Clercrv,  and  were  submitted  to 
 by  them  all,  Becket  himself  not  excepted,  though  he  quickly 
 went  off  from  itfc 
 
 It  is  true,  the  Papacy  got  generally  the  better  of  the  tempo- 
 ral authority  in  a  course  of  several  ages ;  but  at  last,  the  Popes 
 Hying  long  at  Avignon,  together  with  the  great  schism  that 
 
 ©  ©  ©  '  ©  © 
 
 followed  upon  their  return  to  Rome,  did  very  much  sink  in 
 their  credit,  and  that  stopped  the  progress  they  had  made  before 
 that  time  :  which  had  probably  subdued  all,  if  it  had  not  been 
 for  those  accidents.  Then  the  Councils  began  to  take  heart, 
 and  resolved  to  assert  the  freedom  of  the  Church  from  the 
 papal  tyranny.  Pragmatic  sanctions  were  made  in  several 
 nations  to  assert  their  liberty.  That  in  France  was  made  with 
 great  solemnity.  In  these,  the  Bishops  did  not  only  assert  their 
 own  jurisdiction,  independent  in  a  great  measure  of  the  Papa- 
 cy, but  they  likewise  carried  it  so  far  as  to  make  themselves 
 independent  on  the  civil  authority,  particularly  in  the  point  of 
 elections.  This  disposed  Princes  generally  to  enter  into  agree- 
 ments with  the  Popes  ;  by  which  the  matter  was  so  transacted, 
 that  the  Popes  and  they  made  a  division  between  them  of  all 
 the  rights  and  pretensions  of  the  Church.  Princes  yielded  a 
 great  deal  to  the  Popes,  to  be  protected  by  them  in  that  which 
 they  got  to  be  reserved  to  themselves.  Great  restraints  were 
 laid  both  on  the  Clergy  and  likewise  on  the  See  of  Rome,  by 
 the  appeals  that  were  brought  into  the  secular  courts  from  the 
 ordinary  judgments  of  the  ecclesiastical  courts,  or  from  the  bulls 
 or  powers  that  legates  brought  with  them.  A  distinction  was 
 found  that  seemed  to  save  the  ecclesiastical  authority,  at  the 
 same  time  that  the  secular  court  was  made  the  judge  of  it. 
 The  appeal  did  lie  upon  a  pretence  that  the  ecclesiastical  judge 
 had  committed  some  abuse  in  the  way  of  proceeding,  or  in  his 
 sentence:  so  the  appeal  was  from  that  abuse;  and  the  secular 
 court  was  to  examine  the  matter  according  to  the  rules  and 
 laws  of  the  Church,  and  not  according  to  the  principles  or 
 
 Gg 
 
4G6 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXXVII. 
 
 rules  of  any  other  law :  but  upon  that  they  did  either  confirm 
 or  reverse  the  sentence.  And  even  those  Princes  that  acknow- 
 ledge the  papal  authority,  have  found  out  distinctions  to  put  such 
 stops  to  it  as  they  please ;  and  so  to  make  it  an  engine  to  govern 
 their  people  by,  as  far  as  they  think  fit  to  give  way  to  it ;  and 
 to  damn  such  bulls,  or  void  such  powers,  as  they  are  afraid  of. 
 
 Thus  it  is  evident,  that  both  according  to  Scripture,  and  the 
 practice  of  all  ages  and  countries,  the  Princes  of  Christendom 
 have  an  authority  over  their  subjects  in  matters  ecclesiastical. 
 The  reason  of  things  makes  also  for  this :  for  if  any  rank  of 
 men  are  exempted  from  their  jurisdiction,  they  must  thereby 
 cease  to  be  subjects ;  and  if  any  sort  of  causes,  spiritual  ones 
 in  particular,  were  put  out  of  their  authority,  it  were  an  easy 
 thing  to  reduce  almost  every  thing  to  such  a  relation  to  spiri- 
 tuals, that  if  this  principle  were  once  received,  their  authority 
 would  be  very  precarious  and  feeble.  Nothing  could  give 
 Princes  stronger  and  juster  prejudices  against  the  Christian 
 religion,  than  if  they  saw  that  the  effect  of  their  receiving  it 
 must  be  the  withdrawing  so  great  a  part  of  their  subjects  from 
 their  authority ;  and  the  putting  as  many  checks  upon  it  as 
 those  that  had  the  management  of  this  religion  should  think  fit 
 to  restrain  it  by.  In  a  word,  all  mankind  must  be  under  one 
 obedience  and  one  authority.  It  remains  that  the  measures 
 and  the  extent  of  this  power  be  rightly  stated. 
 
 It  is  certain,  first,  that  this  power  does  not  depend  upon  the 
 Prince's  religion ;  whether  he  is  a  Christian  or  not ;  or  whether 
 he  is  of  a  true  or  a  false  religion ;  or  is  a  good  or  a  bad  man. 
 By  the  same  tenure  that  he  holds  his  sovereignty,  he  holds  this 
 likewise.  Artaxerxes  had  it  as  well  as  either  David  or  Solo- 
 mon, when  the  Jews  were  once  lawfully  his  subjects ;  and  the 
 Christians  owed  the  same  duty  to  the  Emperors  while  heathen, 
 that  they  paid  them  when  Christian.  The  relations  of  nature, 
 such  as  that  of  a  parent  and  child,  husband  and  wife,  continue 
 the  same  that  they  were,  whatsoever  men's  persuasions  in  mat- 
 ters of  religion  may  be :  so  do  also  civil  relations,  master  and 
 servant,  prince  and  subject ;  they  are  neither  increased  nor  di- 
 minished by  the  truth  of  their  sentiments  concerning  religion. 
 All  persons  are  subject  to  the  Prince's  authority,  and  liable  to 
 such  punishments  as  their  crimes  fall  under  by  law.  Every 
 soid  is  subject  to  the  higher  powers  :  neither  is  treason  less  trea- 
 son, because  spoke  in  a  pulpit  or  in  a  sermon — it  may  be  more 
 treason  for  that  than  otherwise  it  would  be ;  because  it  is  so 
 public  and  deliberate,  and  is  delivered  in  the  way  in  which  it 
 may  probably  have  the  worst  effect.  So  that  as  to  persons,  no 
 great  difficulty  can  lie  in  this,  since  every  soul  is  declared  to  be 
 subject  to  the  higher  powers. 
 
 As  to  ecclesiastical  causes,  it  is  certain,  that  as  the  magis- 
 trate cannot  make  void  the  laws  of  nature,  such  as  the  autho- 
 
Art.  XXXVII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 167 
 
 rity  of  parents  over  their  children,  or  of  husbands  over  their 
 wives,  so  neither  can  he  make  void  the  law  of  God  : — that  is 
 from  a  superior  authority,  and  cannot  be  dissolved  by  him. 
 Where  a  thing  is  positively  commanded  or  forbid  by  God,  the 
 magistrate  has  no  other  authority  but  that  of  executing  the 
 laws  of  God,  of  adding  his  sanctions  to  them,  and  of  using 
 his  utmost  industry  to  procure  obedience  to  them.  He  cannot 
 alter  any  part  of  the  doctrine,  and  make  it  to  be  either  truer  or 
 falser  than  it  is  in  itself;  nor  can  he  either  take  away  or  alter 
 the  sacraments,  or  break  any  of  those  rules  that  arc  given  in  the 
 New  Testament  about  them ;  because  in  all  these  the  authority 
 of  God  is  express,  and  is  certainly  superior  to  his.  The  only 
 question  that  can  be  made,  is  concerning  indifferent  things : 
 for  instance,  in  the  canons  or  other  rules  of  the  Church,  how 
 far  they  are  in  the  magistrate's  power,  and  in  what  cases  the 
 body  of  Christians,  and  of  the  pastors  of  the  Church,  may 
 maintain  their  union  among  themselves,  and  act  in  opposition 
 to  his  laws.  It  seems  very  clear,  that  in  all  matters  that  are 
 indifferent,  and  are  determined  by  no  law  of  God,  the  magis- 
 trate's authority  must  take  place,  and  is  to  be  obeyed.  The 
 Church  has  no  authority  that  she  can  maintain  in  opposition 
 to  the  magistrate,  but  in  the  executing  the  laws  of  God  and 
 the  rules  of  the  Gospel :  in  all  other  things,  as  she  acts  under 
 his  protection,  so  it  is  by  his  permission.  But  here  a  great 
 distinction  is  to  be  made  between  two  cases  that  may  happen  : 
 — the  one  is,  when  the  magistrate  acts  like  one  that  intends  to 
 preserve  religion,  but  commits  errors  and  acts  of  injustice  in 
 his  management;  the  other  is,  when  he  acts  like  one  that  in- 
 tends to  destroy  religion,  and  to  divide  and  distract  those  that 
 profess  it.  In  the  former  case,  every  thing  that  is  not  sinful 
 of  itself,  is  to  be  done  in  compliance  with  his  authority ;  not 
 to  give  him  umbrage,  nor  provoke  him  to  withdraw  his  pro- 
 tection, and  to  become,  instead  of  a  nursing  father,  a  perse- 
 cutor of  the  Church.  But  on  the  other  hand,  when  he  declares, 
 or  it  is  visible  that  his  design  is  to  destroy  the  faith,  less  regard 
 is  to  be  had  to  his  actions.  The  people  may  adhere  to  their 
 pastors,  and  to  every  method  that  may  fortify  them  in  their 
 religion,  even  in  opposition  to  his  invasion.  Upon  the  whole 
 matter,  the  power  of  the  King  in  ecclesiastical  matters  among 
 us  is  expressed  in  this  Article  under  those  reserves,  and  with 
 that  moderation,  that  no  just  scruple  can  lie  against  it;  and  it 
 is  that  which  all  the  Kings,  even  of  the  Roman  communion, 
 do  assume,  and  in  some  places  with  a  much  more  unlimited 
 authority.  The  methods  of  managing  it  may  differ  a  little ; 
 yet  the  power  is  the  same,  and  is  built  upon  the  same  founda- 
 tions. And  though  the  term  head  is  left  out  by  the  Article, 
 yet  even  that  is  founded  on  an  expression  of  Samuel's  to  Saul, 
 as  was  formerly  cited.     It  is  a  figure :  and  all  figures  may  be 
 
468 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXXVII. 
 
 used  either  more  loosely  or  more  strictly.  In  the  strictest 
 sense,  as  the  head  communicates  vital  influences  to  the  whole 
 body,  Christ  is  the  only  head  of  his  Church :  he  only  ought  to 
 be  in  all  things  obeyed,  submitted  to,  and  depended  on ;  and 
 from  him  all  the  functions  and  offices  of  the  Church  derive 
 their  usefulness  and  virtue.  But  as  head  may  in  a  figure  stand 
 for  the  fountain  of  order  and  government,  of  protection  and 
 conduct,  the  King  or  Queen  may  well  be  called  the  head  of 
 the  Church. 
 
 The  next  paragraph  in  this  Article  is  concerning  the  lawful- 
 ness of  capital  punishments  in  Christian  societies.  It  has  an 
 appearance  of  compassion  and  charity  to  think  that  men  ought 
 not  to  be  put  to  death  for  their  crimes,  but  to  be  kept  alive, 
 that  they  may  repent  of  them.  Some,  both  ancients  and 
 moderns,  have  thought  that  there  was  a  cruelty  in  all  capital 
 punishments,  that  was  inconsistent  with  the  gentleness  of  the 
 gospel :  but  when  we  consider  that  God,  in  that  law  which  he 
 himself  delivered  to  the  Jews  by  the  hand  of  Moses,  did  ap- 
 point so  many  capital  punishments,  even  for  offences  against 
 positive  precepts,  we  cannot  think  that  these  are  contrary  to 
 justice  or  true  goodness;  since  they  were  dictated  by  God 
 himself,  who  is  eternally  the  same,  unalterable  in  his  perfec- 
 tions. This  shews  that  God,  who  knows  most  perfectly  our 
 frame  and  disposition,  knows  that  the  love  of  life  is  planted  so 
 deep  in  our  natures,  and  that  it  has  such  a  root  there,  that 
 nothing  can  work  so  powerfully  on  us,  to  govern  and  restrain 
 us,  as  the  fear  of  death.  And  therefore,  since  the  main  thing 
 that  is  to  be  considered  in  government  is  the  good  of  the  whole 
 body;  and  since  a  feeble  indulgence  and  impunity  may  set 
 mankind  loose  into  great  disorders,  from  which  the  terror  of 
 severer  laws,  together  with  such  examples  as  are  made  on  the 
 incorrigible,  will  naturally  restrain  them ;  it  seems  necessary, 
 for  the  preservation  of  mankind  and  of  society,  to  have  re- 
 course sometimes  to  capital  punishments. 
 
 The  precedent  that  God  set  in  the  Mosaical  Law  seems  a 
 full  justification  of  such  punishments  under  the  Gospel.  The 
 charity  which  the  gospel  prescribes,  does  not  take  away  the 
 rules  of  justice  and  equity,  by  which  we  may  maintain  our  pos- 
 sessions, or  recover  them  out  of  the  hands  of  violent  aggressors  ; 
 only  it  obliges  us  to  do  that  in  a  soft  and  gentle  manner,  with- 
 out rigour  or  resentment.  The  same  charity,  though  it  obliges 
 us,  as  Christians,  not  to  keep  up  hatred  or  anger  in  our  hearts, 
 but  to  pardon,  as  to  our  own  parts,  the  wrongs  that  are  done 
 us;  yet  it  does  not  oblige  us  to  throw  up  the  order  and  peace 
 of  mankind,  and  abandon  it  to  the  injustice  and  violence  of 
 wicked  men.  We  owe  to  human  society,  and  to  the  safety 
 and  order  of  the  world,  our  endeavours  to  put  a  stop  to  the 
 wickedness  of  men  ;  which  a  good  man  may  do  with  great  in- 
 
Art.  XXXVII.  THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 iG9 
 
 ward  tenderness  to  the  souls  of  those  whom  he  prosecutes.  It 
 is  highly  probable,  that  as  nothing  besides  such  a  method  could 
 stop  the  progress  of  injustice  and  wickedness,  so  nothing  is  so 
 likely  a  mean  to  bring  the  criminal  to  repent  of  his  sins,  and  to 
 fit  him  to  die  as  a  Christian,  as  to  condemn  him  to  die  for  his 
 crimes:  if  any  thing  can  awaken  his  conscience,  and  strike 
 terror  in  him,  that  will  do  it.  Therefore,  as  capital  punish- 
 ments are  necessary  to  human  society,  so  they  are  often  real 
 blessings  to  those  on  whom  they  fall ;  and  it  may  be  affirmed 
 very  positively,  that  a  man  who  can  harden  himself  against  the 
 terrors  of  death,  when  they  come  upon  him  so  solemnly,  so 
 slowly,  and  so  certainly,  he  being  in  full  health,  and  well  able 
 to  reflect  on  the  consequences  of  it,  is  not  like  to  be  wrought 
 on  by  a  longer  continuance  of  life,  or  by  the  methods  of  a 
 natural  death. 
 
 It  is  not  possible  to  fix  rules,  to  which  capital  punishments 
 ought  to  be  proportioned.  It  is  certain,  that,  in  a  full  equa- 
 lity, life  only  can  be  set  against  life  ;  but  there  may  be  many 
 other  crimes,  that  must  end  in  the  ruin  of  society,  and  in  the 
 dissolution  of  all  order,  and  all  the  commerce  that  ought  to  be 
 among  men,  if  they  go  unpunished.  In  this,  all  princes  and 
 states  must  judge  according  to  the  real  exigencies  and  necessi- 
 ties that  appear  to  them.  Nor  can  any  general  rule  be  made, 
 save  only  this,  that  since  man  was  made  after  the  image  of  God, 
 and  that  the  life  of  man  is  precious,  and,  when  once  extin- 
 guished, it  ceases  for  evermore,  therefore  all  due  care  and  ten- 
 derness ought  to  be  had  in  preserving  it ;  and  since  the  end  of 
 government  is  the  preservation  of  mankind,  therefore  the  lives 
 of  men  ought  not  to  be  too  lightly  taken,  except  as  it  appears 
 to  be  necessary  for  the  preservation  and  safety  of  the  society. 
 
 Under  the  Gospel,  as  well  as  under  the  Law,  the  magistrate 
 is  the  minister  of  God,  and  has  the  sword  put  in  his  hand; 
 which  he  beareth  not  in  vain,  for  he  is  appointed  to  be  a  re- 
 venger, to  execute  wrath  on  him  that  doth  evil,  Rom.  xiii.  4. 
 The  natural  signification  of  his  carrying  the  sword  is,  that  he 
 has  an  authority  for  punishing  capitally ;  since  it  is  upon  those 
 occasions  only  that  he  can  be  said  to  use  the  sword  as  a  re- 
 venger. Nor  can  Christian  charity  oblige  a  man,  whom  the 
 lawr  has  made  to  be  the  avenger  of  blood,  or  of  other  crimes, 
 to  refuse  to  comply  with  that  obligation  which  is  laid  upon  him 
 by  the  constitution  under  which  he  is  born  :  he  can  only  for- 
 give that  of  which  he  is  the  master,  but  the  other  is  a  debt 
 which  he  owes  the  society ;  and  his  private  forgiving  of  the 
 wrong  done  himself  does  not  reach  to  that  other  obligation, 
 which  is  not  in  his  own  power  to  o-ive  away. 
 
 The  last  paragraph  in  this  Article  is  concerning  the  lawful- 
 ness of  wars.  Some  have  thought  all  wars  to  be  contrary  to 
 Christian  charity,  to  be  inhuman  and  barbarous;  and  that 
 
170 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Am.  XXX VII. 
 
 therefore  men  ought,  according  to  the  rule  set  us  by  our  Sa- 
 viour, not  to  resist  evil ;  but,  when  one  injury  is  done,  not  only 
 to  bear  it,  but  to  shew  a  readiness  rather  to  receive  new  ones ; 
 turning  the  other  cheek  to  him  that  smites  us  on  the  one;  going 
 two  miles  with  him  that  shall  compel  us  to  go  one  with  him;  and 
 givifig  our  cloak  to  him  that  shall  take  away  our  coat,  Matt.  v.  39, 
 40.  It  seems  just,  that,  by  a  parity  of  reason,  societies  should 
 be  under  the  same  obligations  to  bear  from  other  societies,  that 
 single  persons  are  under  to  other  single  persons.  This  must 
 be  acknowledged  to  be  a  very  great  difficulty ;  for  as,  on  the 
 one  hand,  the  words  of  our  Saviour  seem  to  be  very  express  and 
 full,  so,  on  the  other  hand,  if  they  are  to  be  understood  lite- 
 rally, they  must  cast  the  world  loose,  and  expose  it  to  the  in- 
 justice and  insolence  of  wicked  persons,  who  would  not  fail 
 to  take  advantages  from  such  a  compliance  and  submission. 
 Therefore  these  words  must  be  considered,  first,  as  addressed 
 to  private  persons ;  then,  as  relating  to  smaller  injuries,  which 
 can  more  easily  be  borne  ;  and  finally,  as  phrases  and  forms  of 
 speech,  that  are  not  to  be  carried  to  the  utmost  extent,  but  to 
 be  construed  with  that  softening  that  is  to  be  allowed  to  the 
 use  of  a  phrase.  So  that  the  meaning  of  that  section  of  our 
 Saviour's  sermon  is  to  be  taken  thus; — that  private  persons 
 ought  to  be  so  far  from  pursuing  injuries,  to  the  equal  retalia- 
 tion of  an  eye  for  an  eye,  or  a  tooth  for  a  tooth,  that  they  ought 
 in  many  cases  to  bear  injuries,  without  either  resisting  them, 
 or  making  returns  of  evil  for  evil;  shewing  a  patience  to  bear 
 even  repeated  injuries,  when  the  matter  is  small,  and  the  wrong 
 tolerable. 
 
 Under  all  this,  secret  conditions  are  to  be  understood,  such 
 as  when  by  such  our  patience  we  may  hope  to  overcome  evil 
 with  good;  or  at  least  to  shew  to  the  world  the  power  that  re- 
 ligion has  over  us,  to  check  and  subdue  our  resentments.  In 
 this  case  certainly  we  ought  to  sacrifice  our  just  rights,  either 
 of  defence  or  of  seeking  reparation,  to  the  honour  of  religion, 
 and  to  the  gaining  of  men  by  such  an  heroical  instance  of  vir- 
 tue. But  it  cannot  be  supposed  that  our  Saviour  meant,  that 
 good  men  should  deliver  themselves  up  to  be  a  prey  to  be  de- 
 voured by  bad  men ;  or  to  oblige  his  followers  to  renounce  their 
 claims  to  the  protection  and  reparation  of  law  and  justice. 
 
 In  this  St  Paul  gives  us  a  clear  commentary  on  our  Saviour's 
 words :  he  reproves  the  Corinthians  for  goi?ig  to  law  with  one 
 another,  and  that  before  unbelievers ;  when  it  was  so  great  a 
 scandal  to  the  Christian  religion  in  its  first  infancy :  He  says, 
 Why  do  not  ye  take  wrong?  Why  do  not  ye  suffer  yourselves  to 
 be  defrauded  ?  1  Cor.  vi.  6,  7.  Yet  he  does  not  deny  but  they 
 might  claim  their  rights,  and  seek  for  redress ;  therefore  he  pro- 
 poses their  doing  it  by  arbitration  among  themselves,  and  only 
 urges  the  scandal  of  suing  before  heathen  magistrates;  so  that 
 
Am,  XXXVII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 471 
 
 his  reproof  did  not  fall  on  their  suing  one  another,  but  on  the 
 scandalous  manner  of  doing  it.  Therefore  men  are  not  bound 
 up  by  the  gospel  from  seeking  relief  before  a  Christian  judge, 
 and,  by  consequence,  those  words  of  our  Saviour  are  not  to  be 
 urged  in  the  utmost  extent  of  which  they  are  capable.  If  pri- 
 vate persons  may  seek  reparation  of  one  another,  they  may  also 
 seek  reparation  of  the  wrongs  that  are  done  by  those  who  are 
 under  another  obedience :  and  every  prince  owes  a  protection 
 to  his  people  in  such  cases ;  for  he  beareth  not  the  sword  in 
 vain;  he  is  their  avenger.  He  may  demand  reparation  by  such 
 forms  as  are  agreed  on  among  nations ;  and,  when  that  is  not 
 granted,  he  may  take  such  reparation  from  any  that  are  under 
 that  obedience,  as  may  oblige  the  whole  body  to  repair  the 
 injury.  Much  more  may  he  use  the  sword  to  protect  his  sub- 
 jects, if  any  other  comes  to  invade  them.  For  this  end  chiefly 
 he  has  both  the  sword  given  him,  and  those  taxes  paid  him, 
 that  may  enable  him  to  support  the  charge  to  which  the  use 
 of  it  may  put  him.  And  as  a  private  man  owes,  by  the  ties  of 
 humanity,  assistance  to  a  man  whom  he  sees  in  the  hands  of 
 thieves  and  murderers,  so  princes  may  assist  such  other  princes 
 as  are  unjustly  fallen  upon,  both  out  of  humanity  to  him  who 
 is  so  ill  used,  and  to  repress  the  insolence  of  an  unjust  ag- 
 gressor, and  also  to  secure  the  whole  neighbourhood  from  the 
 effects  of  success  in  such  unlawful  conquests.  Upon  all  these 
 accounts  we  do  not  doubt  but  that  wars,  which  are  thus  origi- 
 nally, as  to  the  first  occasion  of  them,  defensive^  though  in  the 
 progress  of  them  they  must  be  often  offensive,  may  be  lawful. 
 
 God  allowed  of  wars  in  that  policy  which  he  himself  consti- 
 tuted; in  which  we  are  to  make  a  great  difference  between 
 those  things  that  were  permitted  by  reason  of  the  hardness  of 
 their  hearts,  and  those  things  which  were  expressly  commanded 
 of  God.  These  last  can  never  be  supposed  to  be  immoral, 
 since  commanded  by  God,  whose  precepts  and  judgments  are 
 altogether  righteous.  When  the  soldiers  came  to  be  baptized 
 of  St  John,  he  did  not  charge  them  to  relinquish  that  course 
 of  life,  but  only  to  do  violence  to  no  man,  to  accuse  no  man 
 falsely,  and  to  be  content  with  their  wages,  Luke  iii.  14.  Acts  x. 
 Nor  did  St  Peter  charge  Cornelius  to  forsake  his  post  when 
 he  baptized  him.  The  primitive  Christians  thought  they  might 
 continue  in  military  employments,  in  which  they  preserved  the 
 purity  of  their  religion  entire ;  as  appears  both  from  Tertul- 
 lian's  works,  and  from  the  history  of  Julian's  short  reign. 
 But  though  wars,  that  are  in  their  own  nature  only  defensive, 
 are  lawful,  and  a  part  of  the  protection  that  princes  owe  their 
 people ;  yet  unjust  wars,  designed  for  making  conquests,  for 
 the  enlargement  of  empire,  and  the  raising  the  glory  of  princes, 
 are  certainly  public  robberies,  and  the  highest  acts  of  injustice 
 and  violence  possible:  in  which  men  sacrifice,  to  their  pride 
 
AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXX VII. 
 
 or  humour,  the  peace  of  the  world,  and  the  lives  of  all  those 
 that  die  in  the  quarrel,  whose  blood  God  will  require  at  their 
 hands.  Such  princes  become  accountable  to  God,  in  the  high- 
 est degree  imaginable,  for  all  the  rapine  and  bloodshed  that  is 
 occasioned  by  their  pride  and  injustice. 
 
 When  it  is  visible  that  a  war  is  unjust,  certainly  no  man  of 
 conscience  can  serve  in  it,  unless  it  be  in  the  defensive  part : 
 for  though  no  man  can  owe  that  to  his  prince,  to  go  and  mur- 
 der other  persons  at  his  command,  yet  he  may  owe  it  to  his 
 country  to  assist  towards  its  preservation,  from  being  overrun 
 even  by  those  whom  his  prince  has  provoked  by  making  war 
 on  them  unjustly.  For  even  in  such  a  war,  though  it  is  un- 
 lawful to  serve  in  the  attacks  that  are  made  on  others,  it  is  still 
 lawful  for  the  people  of  every  nation  to  defend  themselves 
 against  foreigners. 
 
 There  is  no  cause  of  war  more  unjust,  than  the  propagating 
 the  true  religion,  or  the  destroying  a  false  one.  That  is  to  be 
 left  to  the  providence  of  God,  who  can  change  the  hearts  of 
 men,  and  bring  them  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  when  he 
 will.  Ambition,  and  the  desire  of  empire,  must  never  pretend 
 to  carry  on  God's  work.  The  wrath  of  man  worketh  not  out 
 the  righteousness  of  God,  And  it  were  better  barefacedly  to 
 own  that  men  are  set  on  by  carnal  motives,  than  to  profane 
 religion,  and  the  name  of  God,  by  making  it  the  pretence. 
 
 ARTICLE  XXXVIII. 
 
 OF  CHRISTIAN  MEN'S  GOODS,  WHICH  ARE  NOT  COMMON. 
 
 The  Riches  and  Goods  of  Christians  are  not  common,  as  touch- 
 ing the  Right,  Title,  and  Possession  of  the  same;  as  certain 
 Anabaptists  do  falsely  boast.  Notwithstanding,  every  Man 
 ought  of  such  Things  as  he  possesseth,  liberally  to  give  Alms 
 to  the  Poor,  according  to  his  Ability. 
 
 There  is  no  great  difficulty  in  this  Article,  as  there  is  no 
 danger  to  be  apprehended  that  the  opinion  condemned  by  it 
 is  like  to  spread.  Those  may  be  for  it,  who  find  it  for  them. 
 The  poor  may  lay  claim  to  it,  but  few  of  the  rich  will  ever  go 
 into  it.  The  whole  charge  that  is  given  in  the  Scripture  tor 
 charity  and  almsgiving — all  the  rules  that  are  given  to  the  rich, 
 and  to  masters,  to  whom  their  servants  were  then  properties 
 and  slaves — do  clearly  demonstrate,  that  the  Gospel  was  not 
 designed  to  introduce  a  communit}'  of  goods.  And  even  that 
 fellowship  or  community  which  was  practised  in  the  first  be- 
 
Anr.  XXXVIII. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 473 
 
 ginnings  of  it,  was  the  effect  of  particular  men's  charity,  and 
 not  of  any  law  that  was  laid  on  them.  Barnabas  having  land, 
 sold  it,  and  laid  the  price  of  it  at  the  Apostles''  feet,  Acts  iv. 
 36,  37.  And  when  St  Peter  chid  Ananias  for  having  vowed 
 to  give  in  the  whole  price  of  his  land  to  that  distribution,  and 
 then  withdrawing  a  part  of  it,  and,  by  a  lie,  pretending  that 
 he  had  brought  it  all  in ;  he  affirmed  that  the  right  was  still  in 
 him,  till  he  by  a  vow  had  put  it  out  of  his  power.  When  God 
 fed  his  people  by  miracle  with  the  manna,  there  was  an  equal 
 distribution  made;  yet,  when  he  brought  them  into  the  pro- 
 mised land,  every  man  had  his  property.  The  equal  division 
 of  the  land  was  the  foundation  of  that  constitution :  but  still 
 every  man  had  a  property,  and  might  improve  it  by  his  indus- 
 try, either  to  the  increasing  of  his  stock,  the  purchasing  houses 
 in  towns,  or  buying  of  estates,  till  the  redemption  at  the  jubi- 
 lee. 
 
 It  can  never  be  thought  a  just  and  equitable  thing,  that  the 
 sober  and  industrious  should  be  bound  to  share  the  fruits  of 
 their  labour  with  the  idle  and  luxurious.  This  would  be  such 
 an  encouragement  to  those  whom  all  wise  governments  ought 
 to  discourage,  and  would  so  discourage  those  who  ought  to  be 
 encouraged,  that  all  the  order  of  the  world  must  be  dissolved 
 if  so  extravagant  a  conceit  should  be  entertained.  Both  the 
 rich  and  the  poor  have  rules  given  them,  and  there  are  virtues 
 suitable  to  each  state  of  life.  The  rich  ought  to  be  sober  and 
 thankful,  modest  and  humble,  bountiful  and  charitable,  out  of 
 the  abundance  that  God  has  given  them :  and  not  to  set  their 
 hearts  upon  uncertain  riches,  but  to  trust  in  the  living  God, 
 and  to  make  the  best  use  of  them  that  they  can.  The  poor 
 ought  to  be  patient  and  industrious,  to  submit  to  the  providence 
 of  God,  and  to  study  to  make  sure  of  a  better  portion  in  ano- 
 ther state,  than  God  has  thought  fit  to  give  them  in  this  world. 
 
 It  will  be  much  easier  to  persuade  the  world  of  the  truth  of 
 the  first  part  of  this  Article,  than  to  bring  them  up  to  the  prac- 
 tice of  the  second  branch  of  it.  We  see  what  particular  care 
 God  took  of  the  poor  in  the  old  dispensation,  and  what  variety 
 of  provision  was  made  for  them;  all  which  must  certainly  be 
 carried  as  much  higher  among  Christians,  as  the  laws  of  love 
 and  charity  are  raised  to  a  higher  degree  in  the  Gospel.  Christ 
 represents  the  essay  that  he  gives  of  the  day  of  judgment,  in 
 this  article  of  charity,  and  expresses  it  in  the  most  emphatical 
 words  possible ;  as  if  what  is  given  to  the  poor  were  to  be  rec- 
 koned for  as  if  it  had  been  given  personally  to  Christ  himself: 
 and  in  a  great  variety  of  other  passages  this  matter  is  so  oft 
 insisted  on,  that  no  man  can  resist  it  who  reads  them,  and 
 acknowledges  the  authority  of  the  New  Testament. 
 
 It  is  not  possible  to  fix  a  determined  quota,  as  was  done 
 under  the  Law,  in  which  every  family  had  their  peculiar  allot- 
 
474 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OV 
 
 Art.  XXXVIII. 
 
 ment,  which  had  a  certain  charge,  specified  in  the  Law,  that 
 was  laid  upon  it.  But  under  the  Gospel,  as  men  may  be  under 
 greater  inequalities  of  fortune  than  they  could  have  been  under 
 the  old  dispensation ;  so  that  vast  variety  of  men's  circumstan- 
 ces makes  that  such  proportions  as  would  be  intolerable  bur- 
 dens upon  some,  would  be  too  light  and  disproportioned  to  the 
 wealth  of  others.  Those  words  of  our  Saviour  come  pretty 
 near  the  marking  out  every  man's  measure  :  These  have  of  their 
 abundance  cast  into  the  offerings  of  God;  but  she  of  her  penury 
 hath  cast  in  alt  the  living  that  she  had,  Luke  xxi.  4.  Abundance 
 is  superfluity  in  the  Greek,  which  imports  that  which  is  over 
 and  above  the  food  that  is  convenient,  Prov.  xxx.  8.;  that 
 which  one  can  well  spare  and  lay  aside.  Now,  by  our  Sa- 
 viour's design,  it  plainly  appears  that  this  is  a  low  degree  of 
 charity  when  men  give  only  out  of  this ;  though,  God  knows, 
 it  is  far  beyond  what  is  done  by  the  greater  part  of  Christians : 
 whereas  that  which  is  so  peculiarly  acceptable  to  God  is  when 
 men  give  out  of  their  penury,  that  is,  out  of  what  is  necessary 
 to  them;  when  they  are  ready,  especially  upon  great  and 
 crying  occasions,  even  to  pinch  nature,  and  straiten  themselves 
 within  what  upon  other  occasions  they  may  allow  themselves ; 
 that  so  they  may  distribute  to  the  necessities  of  others  who  are 
 more  pinched,  and  are  in  greater  extremities.  By  this  every 
 man  ought  to  judge  himself,  as  knowing  that  he  must  give  a 
 most  particular  account  to  God  of  that  which  God  hath  re- 
 served to  himself,  and  ordered  the  distribution  of  it  to  the  poor, 
 out  of  all  that  abundance  with  which  he  has  blessed  some  far 
 beyond  others. 
 
 ARTICLE  XXXIX. 
 
 OF  A  CHRISTIAN  MAN'S  OATH. 
 
 As  we  confess  that  vain  and  rash  Swearing  is  forbidden  Chris- 
 tian Men  by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  James  his  Apostle  ; 
 so  we  judge  that  Christian  Religion  doth  not  prohibit  but 
 that  a  Man  may  swear  when  the  Magistrate  requireth,  in  a 
 Cause  of  Faith  and  Charity,  so  it  be  done  according  to  the 
 Prophet's  teaching,  in  Justice,  Judgment,  and  Truth. 
 
 An  oath  is  an  appeal  to  God,  either  upon  a  testimony  that 
 is  given,  or  a  promise  that  is  made,  confirming  the  truth  of  the 
 one,  and  the  fidelity  of  the  other.  It  is  an  appeal  to  God, 
 who  knows  all  things,  and  will  judge  all  men :  so  it  is  an 
 act  that  acknowledges  both  his  omniscience,  and  his  being  the 
 
Am.  XXXIX. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 475 
 
 Governor  of  this  world,  who  will  judge  all  at  the  last  day  ac- 
 cording to  their  deeds,  and  must  be  supposed  to  have  a  more 
 immediate  regard  to  such  acts  in  which  men  made  him  a 
 party.  An  appeal,  truly  made,  is  a  committing  the  matter  to 
 God :  a  false  one  is  an  act  of  open  defiance,  which  must  either 
 suppose  a  denial  of  his  knowing  all  things,  or  a  belief  that  he 
 lias  forsaken  the  earth,  and  has  no  regard  to  the  actions  of 
 mortals;  or,  finally,  it  is  a  bold  venturing  on  the  justice  and 
 wrath  of  God,  for  the  serving  some  present  end,  or  the  gaining 
 of  some  present  advantage :  and  which  of  these  soever  gives  a 
 man  that  brutal  confidence  of  adventuring  on  a  false  oath,  we 
 must  conclude  it  to  be  a  very  crying  sin ;  which  must  be  ex- 
 piated with  a  very  severe  repentance,  or  will  bring  down  very 
 terrible  judgments  on  those  who  are  guilty  of  it. 
 
 Thus,  if  we  consider  the  matter  upon  the  principles  of  na- 
 tural religion,  an  oath  is  an  act  of  worship  and  homage  done 
 to  God,  and  is  a  very  powerful  mean  for  preserving  the  jus- 
 tice and  order  of  the  world.  All  decisions  in  justice  must  be 
 founded  upon  evidence ;  two  must  be  believed  rather  than  one ; 
 therefore  the  more  terror  that  is  struck  into  the  minds  of  men, 
 either  when  they  give  their  testimony,  or  when  they  bind  them- 
 selves by  promises,  and  the  deeper  that  this  goes,  it  will  both 
 oblige  them  to  the  greater  caution  in  what  they  say,  and  to  the 
 greater  strictness  in  what  they  promise.  Since  therefore  truth 
 and  fidelity  are  so  necessary  to  the  security  and  commerce  of 
 the  world,  and  since  an  appeal  to  God  is  the  greatest  mean 
 that  can  be  thought  on  to  bind  men  to  an  exactness  and  strict- 
 ness in  every  thing  with  which  that  appeal  is  joined ;  therefore 
 the  use  of  an  oath  is  fully  justified  upon  the  principles  of  na- 
 tural religion.  This  has  spread  itself  so  universally  through 
 the  world,  and  began  so  early,  that  it  may  well  be  reckoned  a 
 branch  of  the  law  and  light  of  nature. 
 
 We  find  this  was  practised  by  the  Patriarchs :  Abimelech 
 reckoned  that  he  was  safe,  if  he  could  persuade  Abraham  to 
 swear  to  him  by  God  that  he  would  not  deal  falsely  with  him ; 
 and  Abraham  consented  so  to  swear ;  Gen.  xxi.  23,  24.  Either 
 the  same  Abimelech,  or  another  of  that  name,  desired  that  an 
 oath  might  be  between  Isaac  and  him ;  and  they  sivare  one  to 
 another,  chap.  xxvi.  31.  Jacob  did  also  swear  to  Laban,  chap, 
 xxxi.  53.  Thus  we  find  the  Patriarchs  practising  this  before 
 the  Mosaical  Law.  Under  that  law  we  find  many  covenants 
 sealed  by  an  oath ;  and  that  was  a  sacred  bond,  as  appears 
 from  the  story  of  the  Gibeonites.  There  was  also  a  special 
 constitution  in  the  Jewish  religion,  by  which  one  in  authority 
 might  put  others  under  an  oath,  and  adjure  them  either  to  do 
 somewhat,  or  to  declare  some  truth.  The  law  was,  that  when 
 any  soul  (i.e.  man)  sinned,  and  heard  the  voice  of  swearing 
 (adjuration),  and  was  a  witness  whether  he  hath  seen  it,  or 
 
4-76 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION  OF 
 
 Art.  XXXIX. 
 
 known  it,  if  he  do  not  utter  it,  then  he  shall  bear  his  iniquity, 
 Lev.  v.  1. ;  that  is,  he  shall  be  guilty  of  perjury.  So  the  form 
 then  was,  the  judge  or  the  parent  did  adjure  all  persons  to  de- 
 clare their  knowledge  of  any  particular.  They  charged  this 
 upon  them  with  an  oath  or  curse,  and  all  persons  were  then 
 bound  by  that  oath  to  tell  the  truth.  So  Micah  came  and  con- 
 fessed, upon  his  mother's  adjuration,  that  he  had  the  eleven 
 hundred  shekels  for  which  he  heard  her  put  all  under  a  curse ; 
 and  upon  that  she  blessed  him,  Judges  xvii.  2.  Saul,  when  he 
 was  pursuing  the  Philistines,  put  the  people  under  a  curse  if 
 they  should  eat  any  food  till  night,  1  Sam.  xiv.  24.  28.  44. ; 
 and  this  was  thought  to  be  so  obligatory,  that  the  violation  of 
 it  was  capital,  and  Jonathan  was  put  in  hazard  of  his  life  upon 
 it.  Thus  the  High-priest  put  our  Saviour  under  the  oath  of 
 cursing,  when  he  required  him  to  tell  whether  he  was  the 
 Messias  or  not?  Matt.  xxvi.  63,  64.  Upon  which  our  Saviour 
 was,  according  to  that  law,  upon  his  oath ;  and  though  he  had 
 continued  silent  till  then,  as  long  as  it  was  free  to  him  to  speak 
 or  not  at  his  pleasure,  yet  then  he  was  bound  to  speak,  and 
 so  he  did  speak,  and  owned  himself  to  be  what  he  truly  was. 
 
 This  was  the  form  of  that  constitution;  but  if,  by  practice, 
 it  were  found  that  men's  pronouncing  the  words  of  the  oath 
 themselves,  when  required  by  a  person  in  authority  to  do  it; 
 and  that  such  actions  as  their  lifting  up  their  hand  to  heaven, 
 or  their  laying  it  on  a  Bible,  as  importing  their  sense  of  the 
 terrors  contained  in  that  book,  were  like  to  make  a  deeper  im- 
 pression on  them  than  barely  the  judge's  charging  them  with 
 the  oath  or  curse;  it  seems  to  be  within  the  compass  of  human 
 authority  to  change  the  rites  and  manner  of  this  oath,  and  to 
 put  it  in  such  a  method  as  might  probably  work  most  on  the 
 minds  of  those  who  were  to  take  it.  The  institution  in  general 
 is  plain,  and  the  making  of  such  alterations  seems  to  be  clearly 
 in  the  power  of  any  state,  or  society  of  men. 
 
 In  the  New  Testament  we  find  St  Paul  prosecuting  a  dis- 
 course concerning  the  oath  which  God  sware  to  Abraham, 
 who,  not  having  a  greater  to  swear  by,  swore  by  himself,  Heb. 
 vL  13,  14,  15.;  and  to  enforce  the  importance  of  that,  it  is 
 added,  an  oath  for  confirmation  (that  is,  for  the  affirming  or 
 assuring  of  any  thing)  is  the  end  of  all  controversy,  ver.  16. : 
 which  plainly  shews  us  what  notion  the  author  of  that  Epistle 
 had  of  an  oath ;  he  did  not  consider  it  as  an  impiety  or  profa- 
 nation of  the  name  of  God. 
 
 In  St  John's  visions  an  angel  is  represented  as  lifting  up  his 
 hand,  and  swearing  by  him  that  liveth  for  ever  and  ever,  Rev. 
 x.  5,  6. ;  and  the  Apostles,  even  in  their  Epistles,  that  are  ac- 
 knowledged to  be  writ  by  divine  inspiration,  do  frequently  ap- 
 peal to  God  in  these  words,  God  is  witness,  (Rom.  i.  9.  Gal. 
 i.  20.);  which  contain  the  whole  essence  of  an  oath.     Once  St 
 
Art.  XXXIX. 
 
 THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 
 
 477 
 
 Paul  carries  the  expression  to  a  form  of  imprecation,  when  he 
 calls  God  to  record  upon  (or  against)  his  soul,  2  Cor.  i.  *23. 
 
 These  seem  to  be  authorities  beyond  exception,  justifying 
 the  use  of  an  oath  upon  a  great  occasion,  or  before  a  competent 
 authority ;  according  to  that  prophecy  quoted  in  the  Article, 
 which  is  thought  to  relate  to  the  times  of  the  Messias — And 
 thou  shalt  swear,  The  Lord  liveth  in  truth,  in  judgment^  and  in 
 righteousness;  and  the  nations  shall  bless  themselves  in  him, 
 and  in  him  shall  they  glory,  Jer.  iv.  2.  These  last  words  seem 
 evidently  to  relate  to  the  days  of  the  Messiah  :  so  here  an  oath 
 religiously  taken  is  represented  as  a  part  of  that  worship 
 which  all  nations  shall  offer  up  to  God  under  the  new  dispen- 
 sation. 
 
 Against  all  this  the  great  objection  is,  that  when  Christ  is 
 correcting  the  glosses  that  the  Pharisees  put  upon  the  law, 
 whereas  they  only  taught  that  men  should  not  forswear  them- 
 selves, but  perform  their  oaths  unto  the  Lord ;  our  Saviour  say-. 
 Swear  not  at  all :  neither  by  the  heaven,  nor  the  earth,  nor  by 
 Jerusalem,  nor  by  the  head ;  but  let  your  communication  be  yea, 
 yea,  and  nay,  nay ;  for  whatsoever  is  more  than  these  comet h  of 
 evil,  Matt.  v.  34 — 37.  And  St  James,  speaking  of  the  en- 
 during afflictions,  and  of  the  patience  of  Job,  adds,  But  above 
 all  things,  my  brethren,  swear  not :  neither  by  the  heaven,  neither 
 by  the  earth,  neither  by  any  other  oath ;  but  let  your  yea  be  yea, 
 and  your  nay,  nay;  lest  ye  fall  into  condemnation,  James  v.  12. 
 It  must  be  confessed,  that  these  words  seem  to  be  so  express  and 
 positive,  that  great  regard  is  to  be  had  to  a  scruple  that  is  found- 
 ed on  an  authority  that  seems  to  be  so  full.  But  according  to 
 what  was  formerly  observed  of  the  manner  of  the  judiciary  oaths 
 among  the  Jews,  these  words  cannot  belong  to  them.  Those 
 oaths  were  bound  upon  the  party  by  the  authority  of  the  judge  ; 
 in  which  he  was  passive,  and  so  could  not  help  his  being  put 
 under  an  oath  :  whereas  our  Saviour's  words  relate  only  to 
 those  oaths  which  a  man  took  voluntarily  on  himself,  but  not 
 to  those  under  which  he  was  bound  according  to  the  law  of 
 God.  If  our  Saviour  had  intended  to  have  forbidden  all  ju- 
 diciary oaths,  he  must  have  annulled  that  part  of  the  authority 
 of  magistrates  and  parents,  and  have  forbid  them  to  put  others 
 under  oaths.  The  word  communication,  that  comes  afterwards, 
 seems  to  be  a  key  to  our  Saviour's  words,  to  shew  that  thev 
 ought  only  to  be  applied  to  their  communication  or  commerce  : 
 to  those  discourses  that  pass  among  men,  in  which  it  is  but  too 
 customary  to  give  oaths  a  very  large  share.  Or  since  the  words 
 that  went  before,  concerning  the  performing  of  vows,  seem  to 
 limit  the  discourse  to  them,  the  meaning  of  swear  not  at  all 
 may  be  this :  Be  not  ready,  as  the  Jews  were,  to  make  vows  on 
 all  occasions,  to  devote  themselves  or  others.  Instead  of  those, 
 he  requires  them  to  use  a  greater  simplicity  in  their  communi- 
 
478 
 
 AN  EXPOSITION,  &c. 
 
 Art.  XXXIX. 
 
 cation.  And  St  James's  words  may  be  also  very  fitly  applied 
 to  this,  since  men  in  their  afflictions  are  apt  to  make  very  in- 
 discreet vows,  without  considering  whether  they  either  can,  or 
 probably  will  pay  them  ;  as  if  they  would  pretend  by  such  pro- 
 fuse vows  to  overcome  or  corrupt  God. 
 
 This  sense  will  well  agree  both  to  our  Saviour's  words  and 
 to  St  James's ;  and  it  seems  most  reasonable  to  believe  that 
 this  is  their  true  sense,  for  it  agrees  with  every  thing  else : 
 whereas,  if  we  understand  them  in  that  strict  sense  of  con- 
 demning all  oaths,  we  cannot  tell  what  to  make  of  those  oaths 
 which  occur  in  several  passages  of  St  Paul's  Epistles;  and 
 least  of  all,  what  to  say  to  our  Saviour's  own  answering  upon 
 oath,  when  adjured.  Therefore  all  rash  and  vain  swearing, 
 all  swearing  in  the  communication  or  intercourse  of  mankind, 
 is  certainly  condemned,  as  well  as  all  imprecatory  vows.  But 
 since  we  have  so  great  authorities  from  the  Scriptures  in  both 
 Testaments  for  other  oaths,  and  since  that  agrees  so  evidently 
 with  the  principles  of  natural  religion,  we  may  conclude  with 
 the  Article,  that  a  man  may  swear  when  the  magistrate  re- 
 quireth  it.  It  is  added,  in  a  cause  of  faith  and  charity;  for 
 certainly,  in  trifling  matters,  such  reverence  is  due  to  the  holy 
 name  of  God,  that  swearing  ought  to  be  avoided ;  but  when  it 
 is  necessary,  it  ought  to  be  set  about  with  those  regards  that 
 are  due  to  the  great  God  who  is  appealed  to.  A  gravity  of 
 deportment,  and  an  exactness  of  weighing  the  truth  of  what 
 we  say,  are  highly  necessary  here:  certainly,  our  words  ought 
 to  be  few,  and  our  hearts  full  of  the  apprehensions  of  the  ma- 
 jesty of  that  God  with  whom  we  have  to  do,  before  whom  we 
 stand,  and  to  whom  we  appeal,  who  knows  all  things,  and  "will 
 bring  every  work  to  judgment,  wit  It  every  secret  thing,  whether 
 it  be  good,  or  whether  it  be  evil. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 A 
 
 Abraham,  the  possibility  of  a  tradition  from  Adam  to  him,  85. 
 
 The  occasion  and  design  of  a  revelation  to  him,  ibid. 
 Absolute  decrees.    See  Decrees. 
 
 Absolution,  in  what  sense  it  ought  to  be  pronounced,  324.  The 
 bad  effects  of  the  hasty  absolutions  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  335. 
 As  used  in  the  Church  of  England,  is  only  declaratory,  337. 
 This  agreeable  to  the  practice  of  the  primitive  Church,  ibid.  A 
 prayer  used  in  the  Church  of  Rome  after  absolution,  338.  This 
 does  not  mend  it,  ibid.  When  this  practice  was  introduced,  ibid. 
 
 Abstinence.    See  Fasting. 
 
 Action,  whether  God  is  the  first  and  immediate  cause  of  every 
 action,  38.  What  it  is  that  denominates  an  action  good  or  bad, 
 159.  Distinction  between  those  that  are  universally  binding  on 
 all,  and  such  as  bind  only  some  sort  of  men,  164.  The  judg- 
 ments to  be  made  of  them  from  appearances,  ibid. 
 
 Acts  of  the  Apostles,  when  and  by  whom  wrote,  70. 
 
 Acts,  no  successive  acts  in  God,  30. 
 
 Adam,  wherein  the  image  of  God,  in  which  he  was  created,  con- 
 sisted, 132,  133.  Whether  the  death  he  was  threatened  with 
 was  only  natural,  130,  133.  Whether  by  covenant  he  was  con- 
 stituted to  represent  all  his  posterity,  136.  Of  the  propagation 
 of  his  sin,  137.    See  Original  Sin. 
 
 Adoration,  God  only  the  proper  object  of  it,  55.  What  it  is,  ibid. 
 Christ  proposed  in  the  New  Testament  as  the  object  of  it,  ibid. 
 Ought  not  to  be  given  to  any  creature,  56.    See  Host. 
 
 Adultery,  on  the  part  of  the  wife,  dissolves  marriage,  343.  This 
 agreeable  both  to  the  law  of  nature  and  the  Gospel,  ibid.  And 
 to  the  practice  of  the  primitive  Church,  344.  The  contrary 
 doctrine  of  a  modern  date,  ibid. 
 
 Agobard,  Bishop  of  Lyons,  wrote  with  great  vehemence  against 
 the  worship  of  images,  280. 
 
 Ahab,  his  feigned  humiliation  rewarded,  159. 
 
 Air  greatly  improved  by  the  industry  of  man,  35. 
 
 Almaric  expressly  denied  the  corporal  presence,  408.  Is  con- 
 demned by  the  Lateran  Council,  and  his  body  raised  and  burnt 
 on  that  account,  ibid. 
 
 Almsgiving,  a  main  part  of  charity,  336.    See  Charity. 
 
 Altar,  but  one  in  a  church  among  the  primitive  Christians,  427. 
 
1-80 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Ambassador,  his  extensive  power,  326. 
 
 Ambrose,  the  variation  of  that  prayer  of  consecration  which  goes 
 under  his  name,  from  that  used  in  the  mass,  401. 
 
 Ananias,  wherein  the  guilt  of  his  sin  lay,  473. 
 
 Anathemas,  the  form  of  denouncing  them  against  heretics  very  an- 
 cient, 441.  What  was  meant  by  them,  ibid.  A  great  number 
 of  them  denounced  by  the  Council  of  Trent,  ibid.  Those  ill- 
 -founded cannot  hurt,  442.    See  Censures. 
 
 Angels,  good  or  bad,  are  capable  of  doing  many  things  beyond  our 
 reach,  73.  Are  perfect  moral  agents,  and  yet  cannot  sin,  141. 
 Worshipping  them  expressly  forbid  in  the  New  Testament,  292. 
 Invocation  of  them  disclaimed  in  the  first  ages  of  Christianity, 
 ibid. 
 
 Animal  spirits,  their  subtile  nature,  40.  Their  influence  on  our 
 managing  matter,  73.  Receive  their  quality  from  that  of  the 
 blood,  133.  Are  the  immediate  organs  of  thought  and  subtiler 
 parts  of  the  blood,  143.  A  conjecture  how  they  may  excite 
 thought,  145. 
 
 Annihilation  only  in  the  power  of  God,  35.  A  common  mistake 
 about  it  rectified,  ibid.  Created  beings  have  not  a  tendency  to 
 it,  ibid. 
 
 Antiquity  not  a  note  of  the  true  Church,  219. 
 
 Apocrypha.  The  Christian  Churches  were  for  some  ages  strangers 
 to  these  books,  104.  Were  first  mentioned  by  Athanasius,  105. 
 Wrhere  and  by  whom  wrote,  ibid.  Were  left  out  of  the  canon 
 by  the  Council  of  Laodicea,  ibid.  Were  first  received  into  it  by 
 that  of  Trent,  106.  WTere  always  denied  to  be  a  part  of  it  by 
 the  best  and  most  learned  writers,  ibid.    See  Maccabees. 
 
 Apostles  were  not  the  authors  of  the  Creed  which  goes  by  their 
 name,  2,  128.  How  far  they  complied  with  Judaism,  8,  242. 
 The  difficulties  they  met  with  in  propagating  Christianity,  71. 
 Could  not  be  impostors,  72.  Nor  imposed  on,  74.  Their  being 
 endowed  with  extraordinary  inspiration,  no  argument  for  a  suc- 
 cession of  infallibility,  253.  Of  the  powers  with  which  our  Sa- 
 viour sent  them,  301.  Were  not  constituted  Priests  by  our  Sa- 
 viour's words,  Do  this,  in  the  sacrament,  417.  Did  not  derive 
 their  authority  from  St  Peter,  being  all  equal  to  him,  459. 
 
 Apparitions,  there  are  many  histories  of  them  well  attested,  41. 
 To  disbelieve  all  unreasonable,  ibid. 
 
 Apollinarian  heresy,  what  it  was,  396.  Was  confuted  by  many 
 great  men  of  different  ages,  ibid. 
 
 Aquarii,  those  who  used  water  instead  of  wine  in  the  sacrament, 
 419.  Their  reason  for  so  doing,  ibid.  Are  severely  condemn- 
 ed by  St  Cyprian,  ibid. 
 
 Aquinas,  Thomas,  his  notion  of  providence  and  free-will,  182. 
 His  distinction  to  avoid  making  God  the  author  of  sin,  ibid. 
 His  doctrine  concerning  image-worship,  281. 
 
 Arians,  their  opinion  that  Christ  is  a  creature  of  a  spiritual  nature, 
 58.    Councils  decree  differently  concerning  this,  248. 
 
 Arminians,  their  opinions  of  free-will  and  predestination,  178. 
 Were  condemned  by  the  Synod  of  Dort,  185.  The  occasion  of 
 their  becoming  the  distinction  of  a  party  instead  of  doctrinal 
 points,  ibid.    See  Remonstrants. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 481 
 
 Artemon  held  the  same  opinion  of  Christ  as  the  Socinians,  58. 
 
 Articles  of  the  Church  of  England,  objections  against  them,  1. 
 Reasons  for  their  descending  to  so  many  particulars,  5.  The 
 fundamental  Article  of  the  Reformation,  ibid.  How  or  by  whom 
 the  Articles  were  prepared,  ibid.  What  the  sanction  of  public 
 authority  to  them  implies,  6.  Whether  they  are  Articles  of 
 Peace  only,  or  of  Doctrine,  ibid.  To  the  Laity,  only  Articles 
 of  Church  Communion,  7.  Distinction  between  Articles  of 
 Faith  and  Articles  of  Doctrine,  ibid.  What  the  Clergy  are 
 bound  to  by  their  subscriptions,  8.  A  royal  declaration  to  end 
 disputes  about  this  matter,  9.  May  have  different  senses,  ibid. 
 This  illustrated  by  the  Third  Article,  ibid.  Care  taken  to  settle 
 the  true  reading  of  them,  10.  Collations  of  them  with  MSS, 
 11-17.  Difficulty  arising  from  the  various  readings  cleared,  18. 
 Express  words  of  Scripture  for  each  Article  not  necessary,  89. 
 Several  differences  of  the  present  from  those  published  in  King 
 Edward's  reign,  65,  106,  107,  309,  429.  The  latitude  of  the 
 Articles,  8,  208,  307.  Fundamental  Articles  ought  not  to  be 
 too  strictly  determined,  221.  The  moderation  of  the  Articles, 
 9,  140,  141,  209,  364,  467. 
 
 Assistance,  the  doctrine  of  inward  assistances  proved  from  Scrip- 
 ture, 143.  How  they  are  conveyed  to  us,  145.  The  effect  of 
 them,  ibid. 
 
 Athanasius,  his  account  of  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  105. 
 And  those  of  the  Apocrypha,  ibid.  Was  not  author  of  the 
 Creed  which  goes  by  his  name,  126.  The  condemnatory  clauses 
 of  it  explained,  127. 
 
 Atheists,  their  objections  to  the  argument,  from  the  consent  of 
 mankind,  for  the  being  of  God,  answered,  19.  Their  arguments 
 for  the  eternity  of  the  world  considered,  22.  That  for  its  being 
 made  by  chance  answered,  24.  Their  objections  to  miracles 
 answered,  25.  The  notion  that  the  world  is  a  body  to  God  the 
 foundation  of  Atheism,  29. 
 
 Attrition,  an  imperfect  contrition,  333.  The  doctrine  of  the 
 Church  of  Rome  concerning  it,  ibid.    See  Contrition. 
 
 Augsburg  confession  of  faith,  on  what  occasion  it  was  prepared,  5. 
 
 Augustin,  or  Austin,  his  doctrine  of  original  sin,  136.  And  of  re- 
 probation, ibid.  Hated  Pelagianism,  180.  Wherein  he  differed 
 from  the  Sublapsarians,  181.  Speaks  very  doubtfully  concern- 
 ing the  state  of  the  soul  after  death,  264.  A  famous  passage 
 about  his  mother  Monica  referred  to,  265.  His  extraordinary 
 relations  of  miracles  not  to  be  credited,  287.  His  declaration 
 against  invocation  of  Saints,  294.  Thought  that  all  who  were 
 baptized  were  regenerated,  362.  His  rule  concerning  figurative 
 expressions,  387. 
 
 Auricular  Confession.    See  Confession. 
 
 Authority  of  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  87,  97.  That  of 
 the  New,  93,  94.  That  of  the  Apocrypha  disproved,  105. 
 That  of  the  Church  in  religious  matters  not  absolute,  215.  In 
 relation  to  ceremonies,  237.  Distinction  between  that  which  is 
 founded  on  infallibility  and  an  authority  of  order,  241.  Lawful 
 authority  in  the  Church,  what  it  is,  305.    Is  subject  to  the  law 
 
 HI. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 of  the  land,  443.  The  highest  act  of  their  authority,  445.  That 
 of  the  Pope,  458,  459.  Of  the  King  in  ecclesiastical  matters, 
 462,  466.    See  Pope,  King,  Church. 
 
 B 
 
 Baitulia,  the  least  ensnaring  of  all  idols,  273. 
 
 Baptism,  what  it  is,  44.  The  danger  of  delaying  it  till  death,  173. 
 What  gave  rise  to  this  practice,  ibid.  What  necessary  to  make 
 it  true  and  valid,  221.  That  by  laics  and  by  women  not  null, 
 though  irregular,  223.  The  obligation  baptism  brings  us  under, 
 224.  Baptism  no  new  thing  among  the  Jews  in  our  Saviour's 
 time,  356.  Its  institution  as  a  federal  act  was  by  Christ,  357. 
 Wherein  the  Christian  differs  from  that  of  St  John,  358.  What 
 meant  by  being  born  of  water  and  of  the  Spirit,  359.  It  is  a 
 precept,  but  not  a  mean  necessary  to  salvation,  ibid.  The  ends 
 and  purposes  of  it,  360.  The  bad  consequences  of  maintaining 
 the  absolute  necessity  of  it,  362.  How  it  becomes  effectual  to 
 salvation,  ibid.  Wherein  it  agrees  with  circumcision,  364.  Bap- 
 tism of  infants  most  agreeable  to  the  institution  of  Christ,  366. 
 And  to  the  practice  of  circumcision  under  the  Old  Testament, 
 ibid.  Why  the  office  for  baptizing  infants  is  the  same  with  that 
 for  persons  of  riper  age,  ibid.  Reasonableness  of  changing  the 
 form  to  sprinkling,  418. 
 
 Basil,  St,  his  opinion  of  the  souls  of  the  martyrs,  288. 
 
 Beasts  are  not  mere  machines,  40.  May  have  spirits  of  an  inferior 
 order,  ibid. 
 
 Begetting,  the  natural  meaning  of  it,  49.  What  understood  by  it 
 when  spoken  of  the  Son  of  God,  is  beyond  our  present  compre- 
 hension, 50. 
 
 Beginning,  what  meant  by  it  in  the  first  of  St  John's  Gospel,  50. 
 Begotten,  and  born  of  God,  the  meaning  of  these  expressions,  172, 
 174. 
 
 Berengarius,  his  character,  407.  Opposed  the  doctrine  of  the  cor- 
 poral presence,  ibid.    Had  many  followers,  ibid. 
 
 Binding  and  loosing,  that  power  granted  equally  to  all  the  Apostles, 
 235.    What  the  Jewish  writers  meant  by  it,  236. 
 
 Bishops,  the  declaration  of  their  faith  was  at  first  in  very  general 
 terms,  2.  Which  they  sent  round  them,  3.  What  obliged  them 
 afterwards  to  make  fuller  declarations,  ibid.  A  succession  of 
 them  no  certain  note  of  a  true  Church,  220.  Why  confirmation 
 was  in  the  earliest  ages  reserved  for  the  Bishop  only,  320.  No 
 instructions  of  celibacy  given  them  in  the  New  Testament, 
 430.  Many  of  them  in  the  best  ages  were  married,  433.  Of 
 their  consecration,  454.  Are  all  equal  by  their  office  and  cha- 
 racter, 459.  Authority  of  those  in  great  Sees  only  from  custom, 
 460.    See  Pope. 
 
 Blood,  a  probable  conjecture  about  the  natural  state  of  it,  133.  Its 
 influence  on  the  animal  spirits,  ibid. 
 
 Body,  of  the  state  of  our  Saviour's  body  from  his  death  to  his  re- 
 surrection, 76.  Whether  it  put  on  a  new  form  in  his  ascension, 
 77.  Glorified  bodies  are  of  a  different  texture  from  those  of 
 flesh  and  blood,  419.    See  Resurrection. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 483 
 
 Boniface  VIII.  Pope,  claimed  a  feudatory  power  in  temporals  over 
 princes,  231. 
 
 Brain,  the  influence  of  its  disorder  upon  the  mind,  40.  Our 
 thoughts  are  governed  by  impressions  made  on  it,  142. 
 
 Bread  in  the  Sacrament,  in  what  sense  the  body  of  Christ,  370. 
 When  dipping  it  in  the  wine  became  a  practice,  420.  This  con- 
 demned  by  the  Council  of  Bracara,  ibid, 
 
 C 
 
 Calf,  golden,  what  intention  the  Israelites  had  in  making  it,  274. 
 The  design  of  those  calves  set  up  by  Jeroboam,  ibid.  See 
 Idolatry. 
 
 Calvinists,  how  far  they  agree  with  St  Austin  about  predestination, 
 181.  The  peculiar  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  their  opi- 
 nions on  this  subject,  204.    See  Supralapsarians. 
 
 Canon.    See  Scriptures. 
 
 Canons  of  the  Church,  what  respect  due  to  them  for  antiquity. 
 
 451.    The  new  canon  law  different  from  the  old,  450.  Ancient 
 
 canons  little  regarded  by  the  reformers,  ibid.    Were  brought 
 
 into  desuetude  by  the  Church  of  Rome.  452. 
 Cassian,  his  doctrine  concerning  predestination,  180.    Is  opposed 
 
 and  defended  by  several,  ibid.    His  Collations  were  in  great 
 
 esteem,  181. 
 Catholic,  not  a  note  of  the  true  Church,  219. 
 
 Celibacy  of  the  Clergy,  no  rule  for  it  in  the  Gospel.  430.  Not  in 
 the  power  of  the  Church  to  order  it.  431.  The  political  advan- 
 tages of  it.  432.  When  and  by  whom  it  was  first  introduced, 
 433.  The  practice  «of  the  Church  not  uniform  in  it.  434.  Was 
 not  imposed  on  all  the  Clergy  till  the  end  of  the  eleventh  cen- 
 tury, ibid.  The  good  and  bad  consequences  of  it.  432.  435. 
 Vows  not  lawful  in  this  matter.  436.  And  are  not  binding, 
 though  made.  437.    See  Oath. 
 
 Censures  of  the  Church,  hov.-  to  behave  under  them.  442.  What 
 right  the  Laity  have  to  be  consulted  in  them,  443.  Are  agree- 
 able to  the  design  of  Christianity.  444.  Defects  in  them  no  just 
 cause  of  separation.  445.  Popery  introduced  a  great  variety 
 of  rules  concerning  them.  ibid.  A  farther  reformation  in  these 
 still  wanted.  446. 
 
 Centurv.  the  great  ignorance  that  prevailed  in  the  tenth  century. 
 406." 
 
 Ceremonial  law  was  not  designed  to  be  perpetual,  113.  The  de- 
 sign of  its  institution,  118,  119.  Ts  now  abolished,  as  become 
 useless  and  impossible.  119. 
 
 Ceremonies,  the  Church  has  power  to  appoint  them.  238.  The 
 practice  of  the  Jewish  Church  in  this  matter,  ibid.  Changes  in 
 them  sometimes  necessary,  ibid.  The  practice  of  the  Apostles. 
 239.  When  appointed,  ought  to  be  observed  if  lawful.  241. 
 447.  Cautions  to  be  observed  in  appointing  them.  241.  Unity 
 among  Christians,  a  great  reason  for  observing  them.  447. 
 
 Cerinthus  denied  the  divinity  of  Christ  in  the  earliest  age  of  Chris- 
 tianity. 52. 
 
 Chalice.    See  Cup. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Chance,  the  absurdity  of  maintaining  that  the  world  was  made  by 
 it,  23.    An  argument  for  this  opinion  answered,  24. 
 
 Charity  and  brotherly  love,  their  great  usefulness  in  the  Christian 
 religion,  447.  Charity  to  the  poor,  of  the  extent  of  it,  163. 
 What  renders  it  acceptable  to  God,  336.  Is  more  particularly 
 recommended  by  the  Gospel,  473.  Our  Saviour's  rule  concern- 
 ing the  measure  of  ity  474, 
 
 Charles  the  Great,  a  council  in  his  time,  and  books  published  in 
 his  name  against  image-worship,  280.  Introduced  the  Roman 
 missal  into  the  Gallican  Church,  451.  Published  many  Capi- 
 tulars concerning  ecclesiastical  matters,  464. 
 
 Cherubims  that  were  in  the  holiest  of  all,  no  argument  for  image- 
 worship,  283. 
 
 Children,  of  their  parents'  power  over  them,  364.    In  what  sense 
 
 they  are  said  to  be  holy,  366. 
 *  Chinese,  their  alleged  antiquity  without  foundation,  23. 
 
 Chrism  used  by  the  Church  of  Rome  in  confirmation,  what  it  is, 
 321.  Might  only  be  consecrated  by  the  Bishop,  ibid.  Was 
 applied  by  Presbyters  in  the  Greek  Church,  322.  Great  dis- 
 putes about  it,  323. 
 
 Christ  in  two  respects  the  Son  of  God,  49.  In  what  sense  of  one 
 substance  with  the  Father,  50.  Proofs  of  his  divinity,  50 — 59. 
 This  was  early  denied  by  Ebion  and  Cerinthus,  52.  Was  the 
 Creator  of  all  things,  50.  Has  all  the  names,  operations,  and 
 attributes  of  God  given  him,  53.  Is  proposed  in  the  New  Testa- 
 ment as  the  object  of  divine  worship,  55.  This  not  charged  as 
 idolatry  by  the  Jews  at  that  time,  56.  The  Jews  understood 
 this  part  of  our  religion  in  a  manner  consistent  with  their  former 
 ideas,  57.  What  those  were,  ibid.  The  Arian  and  Socinian 
 hypothesis  concerning  him,  58.  Is  not  to  be  worshipped  as  an 
 angel  or  prophet,  but  as  truly  God,  59.  Took  on  him  the  nature 
 of  man,  ibid.  The  two  natures  united  in  one  person,  ibid.  The 
 design  of  using  the  term  Person,  60.  That  there  shall  be  an  end 
 to  his  mediatorial  office,  61.  But  not  to  his  personal  glory,  ibid. 
 Of  the  certainty  and  design  of  his  death,  ibid.  It  was  not  merely 
 in  confirmation  of  his  doctrine,  and  a  pattern  of  suffering,  62. 
 Atoned  for  more  than  Adam's  sin,  63.  In  what  sense  his  death 
 is  said  to  be  our  sacrifice,  ibid.  His  agony  explained,  ibid.  The 
 reconciliation  made  by  his  death  not  absolute,  and  without  condi- 
 tions, 64.  Of  his  descent  into  hell,  65.  When  and  by  whom  this 
 Article  was  introduced,  ibid.  Several  different  opinions  about 
 this,  66,  67.  What  seems  to  be  the  true  meaning  of  it,  68.  Proof 
 of  his  resurrection  depends  on  the  authority  of  the  New  Testa- 
 ment, 69.  Several  circumstances  concurring  to  prove  it,  69,  74. 
 His  ascension  not  capable  of  so  full  a  proof,  76.  This  depends 
 chiefly  on  the  testimony  of  the  Apostles  and  effusion  of  the  Holy 
 Ghost,  ibid.  His  resurrection  was  brought  about  by  a  miracle, 
 ibid.  Curiosity  about  the  manner  of  it  taxed,  ibid.  How  it  may 
 be  said  he  was  three  days  in  the  grave,  77.  The  intention  of 
 his  staying  forty  days  after  on  earth,  ibid.  Of  the  manner  of 
 his  ascension,  ibid.  The  great  authority  with  which  he  is  vested, 
 78.    Of  his  glorious  appearance  at  the  last  day,  ibid.  Whether 
 
INDEX. 
 
 he  was  the  Mediator  of  the  old  as  well  as  the  new  dispensation, 
 1 14.    His  death  applied  to  those  who  are  incapable  of  expressly 
 laying  hold  of  it,  1 18.  His  death  the  only  cause  of  our  justifica- 
 tion. 153.    Christ  alone  was  without  sin,  168.    Of  the  efficacy 
 and  extent  of  his  death,  155,  190.    Is  our  only  Mediator  in 
 point  of  intercession  as  well  as  redemption,  291.  Why  he  chose 
 to  suffer  at  the  time  of  the  Passover,  369.  He  is  the  only  priest, 
 and  his  death  the  only  sacrifice,  under  the  Gospel,  425. 
 Christianity  gives  much  purer  ideas  of  God  than  the  Mosaic  dis- 
 pensation, 55.    The  foundation  of,  153.    Does  not  lessen  the 
 temporal  authority,  463.    Raises  the  laws  of  love  and  charity  to 
 a  high  degree,  473.    Does  not  condemn  all  oaths,  477. 
 Christians  are  not  exempt  from  capital  punishment  for  great  crimes, 
 469.    In  what  case  may  engage  in  war,  471.   Or  go  to  law,  ibid. 
 Are  not  obliged  to  have  their  goods  in  common.  472.  May 
 swear  on  important  occasions,  476. 
 Chronology,  the  diversity  of  it  no  sufficient  objection  to  the  autho- 
 rity of  the  Scriptures,  99. 
 Chrysostom,  St,  mentions  nothing  of  relics,  288.    Denies  that  any 
 miracles  were  wrought  in  his  time,  ibid.    Condemns  auricular 
 confession,  330. 
 
 Church  ought  to  proportion  her  rules  of  communion  and  censure 
 to  those  of  the  Gospel,  174.  Of  its  authority  to  establish  doc- 
 trines. 215.  What  a  true  Church  is.  222.  226.  May  be  visible, 
 though  not  infallible,  226.  Of  her  power  in  appointing  cere- 
 monies, 237,  238.  And  in  matters  of  faith,  236.  Can  make 
 no  new  terms  of  salvation,  243.  The  meaning  of  Christ's  words 
 Tell  the  Church,  Sec.  252.  How  the  Church  is  the  pillar  and 
 ground  of  truth,  ibid.  There  was  to  be  an  authority  in  the 
 Church,  302.  What  it  is,  305.  The  order  settled  by  the  Apos- 
 tles was  for  succeeding  ages,  303.  Every  Church  an  indepen- 
 dent body.  451.  The  respect  due  from  one  Church  to  another, 
 ibid.  Wherein  her  authority  in  opposition  to  the  civil  magistrate 
 consists,  467. 
 
 Church  of  Rome  owns  the  positive  doctrines  of  the  Church  of 
 England,  5.  Its  tyranny  in  imposing  its  doctrines,  8.  Their 
 opinion  concerning  the  Scriptures  and  traditions  confuted,  84. 
 Leave  the  second  commandment  out  of  their  Catechism,  124. 
 Maintain  that  original  sin  is  quite  taken  away  by  baptism,  135. 
 The  consequence  of  this,  ibid.  Their  doctrine  concerning  the  re- 
 mission of  sins,  151.  The  use  of  the  Sacramento,  152.  And  the 
 sufficiency  of  inherent  holiness  for  justification,  ibid.  What  they 
 call  a  good  work,  157.  What  they  teach  concerning  the  love 
 of  God,  162.  Their  doctrine  of  supererogation  confuted,  165. 
 Their  distinction  of  mortal  and  venial  sin,  165.  Just  preju- 
 dices against  its  infallibility,  216 — 236.  Their  notes  of  a  true 
 Church,  219.  These  do  not  agree  to  their  Church,  220.  Have 
 erred  not  only  in  their  living  and  ceremonies,  but  in  matters  of 
 faith  also,  227.  The  influence  of  the  Popes  on  the  canons,  cere- 
 monies, and  government  of  the  Church,  ibid.  Is  guilty  of  a 
 circle,  218,  244.  The  absurdity  of  this,  ibid.  Their  doctrine 
 concerning  Purgatorv.  255.     See  Purgatory.    Concerning  par- 
 
INDEX. 
 
 dons,  269.  Of  indulgences,  270.  Of  image-worship,  271.  Of 
 worshipping  of  relics,  285.  Of  the  invocation  of  saints  and 
 angels,  291.  Of  worship  in  an  unknown  tongue,  312.  Of  their 
 five  additional  Sacraments,  319.  Of  the  intention  of  the  Priest 
 being  necessary  to  the  essence  of  a  Sacrament,  354.  Of  Tran- 
 substantiation,  380.  Of  withholding  the  cup  from  the  Laity, 
 416.  Of  the  sacrifice  of  the  Mass,  424.  Of  the  celibacy  of  the 
 Clergy,  429. 
 
 Church  of  England  and  Rome,  wherein  they  agree,  and  wherein 
 of  different  opinions,  129.  Answer  to  the  question,  Where  was 
 your  Church  before  Henry  VIII.  ?  226.   See  Articles,  Authority. 
 
 Circumcision,  why  not  necessary  to  be  continued,  113.  Of  infants 
 under  the  Old  Testament,  an  argument  for  infant  baptism  under 
 the  New,  366. 
 
 Claud  of  Turin  wrote  with  vehemence  against  image-worship,  280. 
 
 Clergy,  the  import  of  their  subscription  to  the  Articles,  9.  Their 
 marriage  made  an  argument  against  the  Reformation,  429. 
 This  not  contrary  to  the  purity  of  divine  performances,  430. 
 Those  in  England  were  married  in  the  Saxon  times,  434.  Are 
 subject  to  their  Princes  in  ecclesiastical  matters,  462.  See  Celi- 
 bacy, Councils, 
 
 Commandments,  or  moral  law,  the  nature  of  it,  121.  The  two 
 first  against  idolatry,  122.  The  morality  of  them,  ibid.  The  third 
 against  not  only  vain  and  idle,  but  false  swearing,  ibid.  The 
 morality  of  this,  123.  The  fourth,  in  what  sense  moral  and  rea- 
 sonable, ibid.  The  rigour  of  it  abated  by  our  Saviour,  ibid.  These 
 four  distinct  commandments,  124.  Why  this  division  is  pre- 
 ferred to  that  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  ibid.  The  order  of  the 
 second  table,  ibid.  The  fifth  and  tenth,  how  they  are  the  fences 
 of  the  intermediate  four,  ibid.  In  what  sense  the  last  is  moral, 
 125.    Of  the  obligation  of  this  law  upon  Christians,  ibid. 
 
 Communion  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  the  meaning  of  it 
 explained,  378. 
 
 Concomitance,  no  sufficient  argument  for  communion  only  in  one 
 kind,  418. 
 
 Confession  of  sins,  the  Scripture  account  of  it,  325.  Auricular 
 confession  not  necessary,  327.  No  authority  for  it  in  Scripture, 
 328.  Nor  from  the  practice  of  the  primitive  Christians,  ibid. 
 The  first  occasion  and  progress  of  it,  329.  Gave  great  scandal  at 
 Constantinople,  ibid.  How  far  the  power  of  the  Church  extends 
 in  this  matter,  331.  The  good  and  bad  effects  of  it,  ibid.  Ought 
 to  be  no  law  of  the  Church,  because  not  a  law  of  God,  332. 
 The  bad  effects  of  it  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  332,  445. 
 
 Confession  of  adversaries,  not  a  note  of  the  true  Church,  220. 
 
 Confirmation  a  very  ancient  practice,  and  justifiable  as  used  in  the 
 Church  of  England,  319.  Reasons  why  it  is  no  Sacrament,  321. 
 The  form  of  it  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  ibid.  Whether  the  Bi- 
 shop only  should  confirm,  322.    Great  disputes  about  this,  323. 
 
 Consecration,  the  effect  of  it  in  the  Eucharist,  according  to  the  doc- 
 trine of  the  Church  of  Rome,  381.  The  virtue  of  it  depends  on 
 the  intention  of  the  Priest,  382.    By  whom  a  bell  was  ordered  to 
 
INDEX. 
 
 48? 
 
 be  rung  at  the  consecration,  404.    It  was  an  opinion  that  the 
 
 Lord's  prayer  was  at  first  the  prayer  of  consecration,  421. 
 Consequences  of  opinions  ought  not  to  be  charged  as  tenets,  205. 
 Constance,  Council  of,  its  decree  for  withholding  the  cup  from  the 
 
 laity,  421.    The  absurdity  of  it,  and  cruelty  used  to  establish  it, 
 
 422. 
 
 Constantia,  the  legend  concerning  her  great  respect  for  Hilarion's 
 body,  287. 
 
 Constantinople,  Council,  made  no  new  additions  to  the  Creed,  3. 
 
 Said  that  the  Holy  Ghost  proceeded  from  the  Father  only,  81. 
 
 Condemned  image-worship,  279. 
 Consubstantiation,  what  the  Lutherans  mean  by  it,  409.  Their 
 
 doctrine  confuted,  ibid.    Ought  not  to  dissolve  the  union  of 
 
 Churches  where  adoration  is  not  joined  with  it,  410. 
 Contrition,  the  definition  of  it,  333.  Wherein  the  Church  of  Rome 
 
 make  it  differ  from  attrition,  ibid.    Their  doctrine  concerning  it 
 
 liable  to  great  abuse,  334. 
 Corporal  presence,  how  the  doctrine  concerning  it  came  into  the 
 
 Church,  401.    The  progress  of  it,  403-408.    See  Transubstan- 
 
 tiation. 
 
 Covenant,  whether  God  made  one  with  Adam  for  his  posterity, 
 136.    The  tenor  of  the  New  Covenant,  174. 
 
 Covetousness,  the  precept  against  it  not  moral  in  the  strictest  sense, 
 125.  Not  a  crime  more  peculiar  to  the  married  than  the  un- 
 married Clergy,  432. 
 
 Councils  cannot  be  called  without  the  consent  of  Princes,  245. 
 Popes  were  not  always  consulted,  246.  Have  assumed  the  power 
 of  censuring,  depriving,  and  making  Popes,  ibid.  What  makes 
 a  Council  to  be  general,  247.  The  numbers  necessary,  and  how 
 cited,  ibid.  Not  of  divine  institution,  because  no  rules  in  Scrip- 
 ture concerning  them,  ibid.  Several  arguments  against  their  in- 
 fallibility, 248-254.  They  have  been  contrary  to  one  another, 
 248.  Disorders  and  intrigues  in  Councils,  249.  No  General 
 Councils  pretended  in  the  first  three  centuries,  251.  No  prospect 
 of  another  General  Council,  252.  Of  the  decree  of  the  Council 
 of  Jerusalem,  253.  Some  General  Councils  have  erred,  254. 
 Doctrines  are  not  to  be  believed  on  their  authority,  255. 
 
 Creation  imports  infinite  power,  34,  50.  The  nearest  approach  to 
 a  true  idea  of  it,  35,  50.  Is  ascribed  to  Christ  in  the  New  Tes- 
 tament, 54. 
 
 Creeds  were  at  first  conceived  in  general  terms,  2.  That  which 
 goes  by  the  name  of  the  Apostles  not  made  by  them,  2-128. 
 What  probably  was  the  first,  2.  The  occasion  of  their  being  en- 
 larged, 3.  Those  of  Nice  and  Constantinople,  ibid.  None  of  the 
 three  Creeds  named  with  exactness,  126.  That  of  Nice  is  the 
 Constantinopolitan,  ibid.  That  of  Athanasius  not  made  by  him, 
 ibid.    That  said  to  be  the  Apostles,  of  no  great  antiquity,  128. 
 
 Cross,  a  prayer  used  in  the  consecration  of  a  cross,  282. 
 
 Crucifixion  of  Christ,  and  his  death,  owned  by  all  Christians,  61. 
 Denied  by  the  Docetac  and  Mahomet,  ibid. 
 
 Cup.  or  Chalice,  in  the  Sacrament,  ought  to  be  given  to  the  Laity, 
 416.    This  particularly  enjoined  in  the  words  of  institution, 
 
INDEX. 
 
 ibid.  Not  to  the  Clergy  only,  as  Priests,  417.  This  the  practice 
 for  above  a  thousand  years,  419.  The  insufficiency  of  concomi- 
 tance and  other  arguments  advanced  against  it,  418-420. 
 Cyprian  owned  not  the  infallibility  of  Pope  Stephen,  228.  Made 
 the  effect  of  a  Sacrament  to  depend  on  the  good  state  of  the 
 administrator,  352. 
 
 D 
 
 Damnation,  to  eat  and  drink  their  own  damnation  explained, 
 476.  Damnation  sometimes  means  temporary  punishments, 
 377. 
 
 Daniel,  his  prophecy  of  the  Seventy  Weeks  explained,  111. 
 
 Death  might  have  been  the  natural  consequence  of  Adam's  fall,  133. 
 This  not  to  be  restrained  to  a  natural  death,  134.  How  this 
 might  be  transmitted  to  his  posterity,  ibid.  Prayers  for  the  dead 
 an  early  practice  in  the  Church,  265.  What  gave  rise  to  it,  ibid. 
 Tertullian's  opinion  about  it,  ibid.  The  absurdity  of  masses  for 
 the  dead,  266.  The  method  of  commemorating  eminent  saints 
 in  the  primitive  times,  267. 
 
 Death-bed  repentance,  the  trusting  to  it  a  fatal  error,  173,  335. 
 
 Decrees  of  God  have  been  the  subject  of  many  disputes,  9,  121. 
 The  foundation  of  the  doctrine  of  absolute  decrees,  137.  This 
 seems  contrary  to  the  nature  of  God,  138.  And  exposes  the 
 Christian  religion,  ibid.  Upon  what  views  God  formed  his  de- 
 crees concerning  mankind,  177.  Four  opinions  concerning  them, 
 178. 
 
 Decretal  Epistles  of  the  first  Popes,  with  what  view  published,  229. 
 Are  universally  held  spurious,  ibid.  Was  a  forgery  of  the  eighth 
 century,  contrived  with  little  art,  403. 
 
 Delivery  unto  Satan,  an  effect  of  the  extraordinary  power  of  the 
 Apostles,  439,  440. 
 
 Dipping  in  Baptism,  the  danger  of  it  in  cold  climates,  a  good  rea- 
 son for  sprinkling,  418.  The  custom  of  dipping  the  bread  in  the 
 wine  in  the  Lord's  Supper,  when  introduced,  420.  Was  con- 
 demned by  the  Council  of  Bracara,  ibid. 
 
 Discipline  in  the  Church,  the  nature  and  necessity  of  it,  355,  438. 
 That  of  the  primitive  Church  lay  heaviest  on  the  Clergy,  355. 
 Moderation  ought  to  be  observed  in  it,  438. 
 
 Divorce  lawful  in  case  of  adultery,  343.  Our  Saviour's  rule  in  this 
 case,  344.  This  agreeable  to  the  opinion  of  the  Fathers,  ibid. 
 The  contrary  was  not  established  till  the  Council  of  Trent,  ibid. 
 
 Docetae,  a  sect  that  denied  the  death  of  Christ,  61. 
 
 Doctrine,  the  difference  between  Articles  of  Faith  and  those  of 
 Doctrine,  7.  The  tyranny  of  imposing  doctrines,  8.  Con- 
 formity of  doctrines  with  former  times  not  a  note  of  a  true 
 Church,  219. 
 
 Donatists,  their  notions  concerning  the  Sacraments,  352. 
 
 Dulia  and  Hyperdulia,  degrees  of  worship  paid  to  images  in  the 
 
 Church  of  Rome,  282. 
 Durandus  was  censured  by  the  Church  of  Rome  for  his  opinion  of 
 
 image-worship,  281. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 489 
 
 E 
 
 Earth  is  greatly  improved  by  man's  industry,  35.  The  influ- 
 ence of  the  wind  upon  it,  36.    See  World. 
 
 Eating  and  drinking  their  own  damnation,  the  meaning  of  the 
 phrase,  476.  Opinions  of  several  Fathers  concerning  eating  and 
 drinking  Christ's  body  and  blood,  414. 
 
 Ebion  denied  the  divinity  of  Christ  very  early,  52. 
 
 Edward  VI.,  differences  of  the  Articles  in  his  reign  from  the  pre- 
 sent, 106,  107,  255,  309,  314,  367,  429,  453,  457. 
 
 Egyptians,  their  alleged  antiquity  without  foundation,  23. 
 
 Elders,  who  they  were  at  the  Council  of  Jerusalem,  253. 
 
 Election,  of  Election  and  Predestination,  176.    See  Predestination. 
 
 Elevation  of  the  host  not  known  in  the  first  ages,  392,  413.  What 
 gave  rise  to  it,  392.  Was  not  done  at  first  in  order  to  adora- 
 tion, 413.    Who  first  mentions  it  with  that  view,  ibid. 
 
 Elliberis,  Council  of,  condemned  pictures  on  the  walls  of  churches, 
 278.  Forbid  the  lighting  candles  about  the  tombs  of  martyrs  in 
 day-light,  288. 
 
 Elizabeth,  Queen,  gives  authority  to  require  subscriptions  to  the 
 Articles,  9.  A  royal  declaration  for  taking  them  in  the  literal 
 sense,  ibid.    Her  Injunctions  concerning  supremacy,  457. 
 
 Elohim,  the  meaning  of  it  in  the  Old  Testament,  42. 
 
 Emperors,  their  authority  in  ecclesiastical  affairs,  464. 
 
 Endowments  were  procured  by  impostures  in  the  Church  of 
 Rome,  268.  By  what  means  the  profuseness  of  them  was  re- 
 strained, ibid.  When  they  are  to  be  held  sacred,  ibid.  The  vio- 
 lation of  them,  when  founded  on  false  opinions,  no  sacrilege,  ibid. 
 
 Enthusiasts,  an  extravagant  sort  of  them  at  the  Reformation,  113. 
 
 Ephesus,  Council,  their  decree  concerning  the  Holy  Ghost,  81. 
 
 Epicureans  set  all  things  at  liberty,  and  denied  Providence,  179. 
 
 Epiphanius,  his  zeal  against  pictures  in  churches,  278.  Is  severe 
 upon  the  Collyridians  for  worshipping  the  blessed  Virgin,  297. 
 
 Epistles,  why  the  general  ones  were  not  so  early  and  universally 
 received  as  the  rest  of  the  New  Testament,  94. 
 
 Erudition,  a  book  published  called  the  Necessary  Erudition,  a  pre- 
 liminary to  compiling  the  Articles,  6. 
 
 Eternity  in  a  succession  of  determinate  durations  impossible,  22. 
 Of  the  world  disproved,  23.    See  World. 
 
 Eucharist,  in  what  sense  it  may  be  called  a  sacrifice,  422.  The 
 virtue  of  it,  to  whom  limited,  424.  The  doctrine  of  the  Church 
 of  Rome  concerning  it,  ibid.  Wherein  the  virtue  of  it  consists, 
 425.  The  importance  of  the  controversy  concerning  it,  428. 
 See  Lord's  Supper. 
 
 Eugenius,  Pope,  does  not  mention  Bishops  as  belonging  to  the  sa- 
 crament of  orders,  340. 
 
 Evil,  whether  God  is  the  author  of  it,  37.  The  being  of  it  in  the 
 world,  how  accounted  for  by  the  Remonstrants,  197.  Liberty 
 cannot  be  asserted  without  it,  205. 
 
 Evil  spirits,  what  sort  of  miracles  they  can  perform,  73. 
 
 Eunapius,  his  spiteful  representation  of  the  primitive  martyrs,  289. 
 
 Eutychian  heresy  was  condemned  by  the  Athanasian  Creed,  126. 
 
490 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 What  it  was,  396.  Was  confuted  by  several  ancient  writers, 
 ibid.    The  force  of  their  argument  explained,  397. 
 
 Excommunication,  the  nature  of  it,  and  its  necessity  in  some  cases, 
 438-444.    Ought  not  to  be  done  rashly,  445. 
 
 Extreme  unction  no  sacrament,  345.  A  passage  in  St  James, 
 which  seems  to  favour  it,  explained,  ibid.  The  design  and  ef- 
 fects of  the  anointing  by  the  Apostles  and  Elders,  346.  The 
 matter  and  form  of  it  used  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  347.  WTas 
 not  reckoned  a  sacrament  in  the  first  ages  of  Christianity,  349. 
 When  and  by  whom  decreed  to  be  one,  350.  Argument  for  it 
 answered,  ibid. 
 
 F 
 
 Fabri  Honor atus,  the  doctrines  of  the  Church  of  Rome  exa- 
 mined in  this  book,  chiefly  taken  from  him,  341.  His  charac- 
 ter, ibid. 
 
 Faith,  the  Scriptures  the  only  and  complete  rule  of  it,  83.  No  ar- 
 ticles of  it  to  be  allowed,  but  what  are  proved  from  Scripture, 
 89.  An  objection  against  this  answered,  ibid.  What  is  meant 
 by  it  in  the  New  Testament,  149.  How  it  justifies,  153.  Is  in- 
 dispensably necessary  to  salvation,  154,  360.  The  nature  of 
 justifying  faith,  154. 
 
 Fall  of  Adam,  of  its  consequences  to  him  and  his  posterity,  130 — 
 139.    See  Sin. 
 
 Fasting,  times  of  fasting,  appointing  them  in  the  power  of  the 
 Church,  239.  When  joined  with  prayer,  its  efficacy,  336.  In 
 what  cases  of  no  avail,  ibid.  The  absurdity  of  pretending  to 
 expiate  sins  by  it,  337. 
 
 Fate,  the  Stoics  put  all  things,  even  the  gods  themselves,  under  it, 
 179.  This  downright  atheism,  ibid.  Was  maintained  by  the 
 Essenes,  179.  Is  a  prevailing  opinion  among  the  Mahometans, 
 ibid. 
 
 Figures  in  Scripture,  how  to  be  explained,  103.  Were  frequently 
 made  use  of  by  Christ,  374.  Augustine's  rule  for  explaining 
 them,  387. 
 
 Fire  of  purgatory,  the  proof  alleged  for  it  examined,  263. 
 
 Forgiving  injuries,  the  necessity  and  extent  of  it,  173. 
 
 Forms  were  settled  very  early  in  most  Churches,  2.    These  not  all 
 
 in  the  same  words,  ibid.    See  Creed. 
 Francfort,  Council,  condemned  the  Nicene  Council,  together  with 
 
 the  worship  of  images,  279. 
 Free-will,  wherein  it  consists,  141.    See  Liberty. 
 Frumentius  preached  to  the  Indians  before  he  was  ordained,  308. 
 Future  state  was  looked  for  under  the  Old  Testament,  117.  But 
 
 is  brought  to  a  much  clearer  light  by  the  Gospel,  118. 
 
 G 
 
 Gehenna,  hell  known  by  that  name  among  the  Jews,  68. 
 Gelasius,  Pope,  condemns  the  communicating  in  one  kind  only  as 
 
 sacrilege,  420. 
 General  Council.    See  Council. 
 Gentiles,  their  prejudices  against  Christianity,  72. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 491 
 
 German  and  Lupus  reform  Britain  from  Pelagianism,  181.  A  le- 
 gendary miracle  said  to  be  wrought  by  them,  ibid. 
 
 Gnostics  pretended  to  traditions  from  the  Apostles,  88.  Their 
 opinion  concerning  the  soul,  179.  Were  detested  by  all  Chris- 
 tians for  idolatry,  278. 
 
 God,  his  existence  proved  from  the  universal  consent  of  mankind, 
 19.    Objections,  that  some  nations  do  not  believe  a  Deity,  and 
 that  it  is  not  the  same  belief  amongst  them  all,  answered,  20. 
 The  visible  world,  and  history  of  nations,  prove  a  Deity,  21-23. 
 Whence  the  notion  of  a  plurality  of  gods  might  take  its  rise,  21. 
 The  argument  from  miracles  considered,  25.    And  from  the  idea 
 of  God,  ibid.    This  not  the  most  conclusive,  ibid.    Must  be  eter- 
 nal, and  necessarily  exists,  26.    His  existence  ought  not  to  be 
 proved  from  Scripture,  ibid.    His  unity  proved  from  the  order 
 of  the  world,  and  from  the  idea  of  infinite  perfection,  27.  From 
 the  Scriptures,  ibid.    Is  without  body  or  parts,  28.    The  origin 
 of  the  notion  of  a  good  and  bad  God,  29.    The  world  not  a  bod}r 
 to  God,  ibid.    The  outward  manifestations  and  bodily  parts 
 ascribed  to  God  in  Scripture,  how  to  be  understood,  ibid.  No 
 successive  acts  in  God,  30.    Question  concerning  his  immanent 
 acts,  ibid.    Is  without  passions,  31.    The  meaning  of  Scriptures 
 which  ascribe  these  to  him,  ibid.    Is  of  infinite  power,  ibid. 
 Objections  to  this  answered,  32.    Wherein  his  wisdom  consists, 
 and  a  twofold  distinction  of  it,  ibid.    True  ideas  of  his  goodness 
 of  great  importance,  33.    Wherein  it  consists,  ibid.    And  how 
 limited,  34.    Has  a  power  of  creating  and  annihilating,  32, 
 35.    Is  the  preserver  of  all  things,  35.    This  a  consequence  of 
 his  being  infinitely  perfect,  ibid.    Objection  against  his  pro- 
 vidence answered,  37.    Whether  he  does  immediately  produce 
 all  things,  38.    Or  is  the  author  of  evil,  ibid.    Ail  agree  that 
 the  Father  is  truly  God,  47.   Just  notions  of  him  the  fundamen- 
 tal article  of  all  religion,  47,  121.    The  best  manner  of  framing 
 an  idea  of  him,  122.    Is  the  only  proper  object  of  adoration, 
 54.    In  what  sense  called  the  God  of  Abraham,  &c.  long  after 
 they  were  dead,  H6.    Image  of  God  in  which  man  was  created, 
 wherein  it  consisted,  132.    Distinction  between  the  methods  of 
 his  goodness  and  the  strictness  of  his  justice,  159.    The  doc- 
 trine of  the  Church  of  Rome  concerning  our  love  of  God,  162. 
 His  view  in  forming  his  decrees,  177.    What  meant  by  his 
 hardening  Pharaoh's  heart,  201.    The  impiety  of  speaking  too 
 boldly  of  him,  205. 
 Goods,  the  unreasonableness  of  a  community  of  them,  472. 
 Good  works.    See  Works. 
 
 Gospel  condemns  all  idolatry,  55.    The  design  of  it,  71.  Refines 
 
 upon  the  law  of  Moses,  122. 
 Government  was  settled  in  the  Church  by  the  Apostles,  303.  The 
 
 necessity  of  Church  government,  304. 
 Grace,  assisting  and  preventing  grace  asserted  and  proved  from 
 
 Scripture,  143-147.    A  probable  conjecture  concerning  the 
 
 conveyance  of  actual  grace,  145.    The  efficacy  and  extent  of  it, 
 
 147,  187,  189,  202. 
 Greek  Church,  wherein  they  differed  from  the  Latins,  82. 
 
492 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Gregory  I.  Pope,  condemns  worshipping  of  images,  279.  Gregory 
 II.  declares  for  them,  ibid.  Gregory  IX.  first  ordered  the  ado- 
 ration of  the  host  as  now  practised,  404.  Gregory  the  Great, 
 his  violent  opposition  to  the  title  of  Universal  Bishop,  461. 
 
 H 
 
 Head  of  the  Church,  in  what  sense  Christ  is  the  only  head  of  the 
 Church,  468.  And  in  what  sense  the  King  is  called  the  head, 
 ibid. 
 
 Hebrews,  why  the  authority  of  the  Epistle  to  them  was  doubted, 
 94.    Proofs  of  its  authority,  ibid. 
 
 Heliodorus,  a  Bishop,  author  of  the  first  romance,  433.  Proposed 
 that  clergymen  should  live  from  their  wives,  434. 
 
 Hell,  three  different  senses  of  it,  10.  Of  Christ's  descent  into 
 hell,  65.  See  Christ.  The  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail 
 against  the  Church,  the  meaning  of  this,  234. 
 
 Henry  VIII.,  several  steps  towards  reformation,  and  the  founda- 
 tion of  the  Articles,  were  laid  in  his  time,  5. 
 
 Heresies  occasioned  the  enlargement  of  Creeds,  3. 
 
 Heretics,  several  of  them  pretended  to  traditions  from  the  Apos- 
 tles, 88.  When  the  doctrine  of  extirpating  them  took  place, 
 407. 
 
 Hezekiah  commended  for  breaking  the  Brazen  Serpent,  286. 
 Hilarion,  a  fabulous  story  of  his  body  and  tomb,  287. 
 Hobbes  grafted  fate  and  absolute  necessity  on  the  supralapsarian 
 hypothesis,  185. 
 
 Holiness  of  life,  not  a  note  of  the  Church,  220.  A  twofold  sense 
 of  holiness  in  Scripture,  366. 
 
 Holy  Ghost,  or  Holy  Spirit,  what  meant  by  it  in  the  Old  and 
 New  Testament,  79.  Is  properly  a  distinct  person  in  the  Tri- 
 nity, 80.  Curiosities  about  his  procession  to  be  avoided,  ibid. 
 Decrees  of  several  Churches  and  Councils  about  it,  81.  The 
 doctrine  of  the  Church  of  England  concerning  it,  82.  Is  truly 
 God,  ibid.  His  testimony  not  a  sufficient  argument  to  prove 
 the  canon  of  the  Scriptures,  92.  Of  the  sin  against  the  Holy 
 Ghost,  171,  174.  It  seemed  good  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  to  us, 
 the  meaning  of  this,  253.  Of  the  form,  Receive  ye  the  Holy 
 Ghost,  in  ordination,  455. 
 
 Homilies  of  the  Church  of  England,  their  names,  452.  When  and 
 on  what  account  they  were  composed,  ibid.  The  meaning  of 
 the  approbation  of  them,  453.  Ought  to  be  read  by  all  who 
 subscribe  them,  ibid.  The  meaning  of  their  being  said  to  be 
 necessary  for  these  times,  454. 
 
 Honorius,  Pope,  was  condemned  as  a  Monothelite,  228.  The 
 IVth  first  appointed  the  adoration  of  the  host,  404. 
 
 Host,  adoration  of  it,  by  whom  first  introduced,  404.  Is  plain 
 idolatry,  410.  Argument  for  it  answered,  ibid.  Reserving,  car- 
 rying it  about,  and  the  elevation  of  it,  without  foundation  in 
 Scripture  or  primitive  practice,  411,  413. 
 
 Huss,  John,  met  with  great  crueltv  from  the  Church  of  Rome, 
 422. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 193 
 
 I 
 
 James  I.,  King,  his  declaration  concerning  the  subscription  of  the 
 Articles,  9. 
 
 Jansenius  published  a  system  of  St  Austin's  doctrine,  183.  On 
 what  account  his  book  was  condemned  at  Rome,  184. 
 
 Iberians  were  converted  by  their  King  before  he  was  baptized, 
 308. 
 
 Idolatry,  the  necessity  of  guarding  against  it  at  the  establishment 
 of  Christianity,  4.  What  makes  it  a  great  sin,  34,  122.  The 
 Jews  were  particularly  jealous  of  every  thing  that  savoured  of 
 it,  51.  The  design  both  of  the  Jewish  and  Christian  religion  to 
 banish  it,  55.  By  what  means  the  seed  of  Abraham  were  pre- 
 served from  it,  85.  The  nature  and  immorality  of  it,  122,  273. 
 General  rules  concerning  it,  272.  Several  kinds  of  it  among  the 
 Heathens,  ibid.  Was  very  strictly  prohibited  among  the  Jews, 
 273.  This  owing  chiefly  to  the  Egyptian  idolatry,  ibid.  The 
 expostulations  of  the  Prophets  against  it,  ibid.  How  practised 
 by  the  Israelites,  274.  Is  contrary  to  the  nature  and  perfec- 
 tions of  God,  276.  St  Paul  condemns  the  idolatry  of  the  Greeks 
 and  Romans,  ibid.  The  refined  notions  of  the  Athenians  con- 
 cerning it,  ibid.  Was  much  condemned  by  the  writers  of  the 
 first  four  centuries,  277. 
 
 Idols,  enchantment  in  sacrifices  offered  to  them,  379.  Christians 
 not  to  partake  of  them,  ibid. 
 
 Jehu  rewarded,  though  acting  with  a  bad  design,  159. 
 
 Jerome,  St,  once  admired  but  afterwards  opposed  Origen's  doc- 
 trine, 180.  Maintained  that  no  Christian  would  finally  perish, 
 *  263.  Set  a  high  value  on  relics,  285.  But  disclaims  the  wor- 
 shipping of  them,  ibid.  Said  that  the  souls  of  the  saints  might 
 be  in  several  places  at  once,  289. 
 
 Jerom  of  Prague  suffered  cruelly  by  the  Roman  Catholics,  422. 
 
 Jesuits,  wherein  they  differed  from  the  Semipelagians,  183.  What 
 gave  them  great  merit  at  Rome,  ibid. 
 
 Jews,  their  aversion  to  idolatry  and  Christianity,  51.  Did  not 
 charge  Christianity  with  idolatry,  56.  Their  notions  of  God. 
 57.  Their  notion  of  the  state  of  the  soul  after  death,  68,  261. 
 Expected  the  Messias  to  be  a  conqueror,  72,  87.  Were  alwavs 
 rebellious,  97.  Wherein  the  Jewish  and  Christian  religions 
 differed  from  those  of  the  Heathen,  99.  Their  objections 
 against  the  authority  of  the  New  Testament,  113.  Looked  for 
 more  than  transitory  promises,  117.  Believed  that  some  sins 
 cannot  be  expiated  by  sacrifices,  ibid.  Of  their  ceremonial,  ju- 
 diciary, and  moral  laws,  118,  120,  121.  Imagined  that  the  souls 
 of  all  mankind  were  in  Adam's  body,  139.  The  distinguishing 
 point  of  the  Jewish  from  the  Christian  religion,  191.  Their  re- 
 ligion had  a  period  fixed  to  it,  226.  Had  many  rites  not  men- 
 tioned in  the  Old  Testament,  238.  Fell  into  great  errors, 
 though  the  keepers  of  the  Oracles  of  God,  243.  Believe  that 
 every  Jew  shall  have  a  share  in  the  world  to  come,  262.  They 
 prayed  only  to  God,  291.  Of  the  office  of  their  High-priest, 
 307.    Had  their  worship  in  a  known  tongue,  310.    Their  an- 
 
494 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 thority  over  their  children,  364.  Were  strictly  prohibited  the 
 eating  of  blood,  371.    Their  objections  to  Christianity,  391. 
 
 Images,  the  worshipping  even  the  true  God  by  them  expressly  for- 
 bidden, 274.  In  churches,  when  introduced,  278.  Great  de- 
 bates about  them,  279.  Foundation  of  image-worship  laid  by  the 
 Council  of  Nice,  281.  Is  carried  much  farther  by  the  modern 
 Church  of  Rome,  ibid.  Those  of  the  Egyptians  and  Chinese 
 less  scandalous,  ibid.  The  decision  of  the  Council  of  Trent  in 
 this  matter,  282.  Reason  for  enlarging  on  this  subject,  ibid. 
 The  argument  in  favour  of  them  drawn  from  the  cherubims 
 answered,  283.  The  sum  of  the  arguments  against  them,  ibid. 
 The  corruptions  occasioned  by  worshipping  them,  284. 
 
 Immaterial  substance,  proof  of  its  being  in  us,  39.  Its  nature  and 
 operations,  ibid.  Objections  against  it  answered,  ibid.  There 
 may  be  other  intellectual  substances  which  have  no  bodies,  41. 
 These  beings  were  created  by  God,  and  are  not  rays  of  his  es- 
 sence, ibid. 
 
 Imposition  of  hands  a  necessary  rite  in  giving  orders,  339. 
 
 Indulgences,  the  doctrine  and  practice  of  the  Church  of  Rome 
 concerning  them,  269.  When  introduced  and  established,  ibid. 
 The  abuse  of  them  gave  rise  to  the  Reformation,  ibid.  The 
 pretences  for  them  examined,  270.  No  foundation  for  them  in 
 Scripture,  or  in  the  first  ten  centuries,  ibid.  The  natural  ill 
 tendency  of  them,  ibid.    See  Pardons. 
 
 Industry  of  man  of  great  advantage  to  the  earth  and  air,  35. 
 
 Infallibility,  proofs  of  it  ought  to  be  very  express,  215.  Is  not  to 
 be  inferred  from  the  necessity  of  it,  216.  General  considerations 
 against  it,  ibid.  Miracles,  though  necessary,  not  pretended  to 
 support  it.  217.  The  Jewish  had  a  better  claim  to  it  than  the 
 Roman  Church,  ibid.  Reasons  why  it  cannot  be  proved  from 
 Scripture,  ibid.  A  circle  not  to  be  admitted,  218.  Notes  of  the 
 Church  no  proof  of  it,  219.  Argument  against  the  infallibility 
 both  of  Popes  and  General  Councils,  231.  Proofs  from  Scrip- 
 ture answered,  234.  The  importance  of  this  controversy,  236. 
 No  determination  where  it  is  fixed,  249. 
 
 Infants  are  by  the  law  of  nature  and  nations  in  the  power  of  their 
 parents,  364.  Argument  from  circumcision  for  infant  baptism, 
 ibid.    This  agreeable  to  the  institution  of  Christ,  366. 
 
 Infinite,  time  nor  number  cannot  be  infinite,  22.  Difference  be- 
 twixt an  infinite  succession  of  time  and  composition  of  matter, 
 ibid. 
 
 Injuries,  our  Saviour's  words  concerning  them  explained,  470. 
 
 Innocent  I.  Pope,  his  Epistle  advanced  to  favour  the  chrism,  does 
 not  prove  it,  348.  The  Vlllth  granted  license  to  celebrate  the 
 Lord's  Supper  without  wine  in  Norway,  418.  The  IVth  said 
 that  all  might  have  the  cup  who  were  cautious  that  none  of  it 
 was  spilt,  421. 
 
 Insects,  the  argument  for  chance  from  the  production  of  them  con- 
 sidered, 24. 
 
 Inspiration,  a  general  notion  of  it,  101.  Several  kinds  and  degrees 
 of  it,  ibid.    Different  styles  in  those  degrees,  102,  Distinguished 
 
INDEX. 
 
 from  enthusiasm  and  imposture  by  miracles  and  prophecy,  ibid. 
 
 Of  individual  words,  or  strict  order  of  time,  not  necessary,  103. 
 John,  St,  the  passage  concerning  the  Trinity  in  his  first  Epistle 
 
 doubtful,  46.    The  beginning  of  his  Gospel  explained,  50.  This 
 
 confirmed  by  the  state  of  the  world  at  that  time,  51. 
 Jonas  of  Orleans  wrote  against  image-worship,  280. 
 Josephus,  his  account  of  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  104. 
 Josias,  what  those  books  of  the  law  were  which  were  discovered  in 
 
 his  time,  98. 
 
 Irenaeus,  his  care  to  prove  the  authority  of  the  Gospel,  93. 
 
 Judgment,  private,  ought  to  be  allowed  in  religious  matters,  224. 
 
 Julian  the  Apostate,  though  he  reproaches  the  Christians  for  Bap- 
 tism, does  not  charge  them  with  the  absurdities  of  Transubstan- 
 tiation,  391.  Objected  that  the  Christians  had  no  sacrifices, 
 4:26. 
 
 Just,  or  justified,  two  senses  of  these  words,  148. 
 
 Justification,  several  mistaken  notions  of  it,  113.  Whence  they 
 proceeded,  114.  The  law  of  Moses  not  sufficient  to  justify,  148. 
 The  condition  of  our  justification,  149,  151.  The  difference  be- 
 tween St  Paul  and  St  James  on  this  subject  explained,  150.  In- 
 herent holiness  not  the  cause  of  justification,  152.  What  we 
 ought  to  believe  concerning  it,  and  the  proper  use  to  be  made  of 
 this  doctrine,  155. 
 
 K 
 
 Keys,  of  the  power  of  them  committed  to  St  Peter,  235. 
 
 Kingdom  of  Heaven,  what  meant  by  it  in  the  Gospel,  235. 
 
 Kings,  their  authority  founded  on  Scripture,  462.  And  practice 
 of  the  primitive  Church,  463.  This  does  not  depend  on  their 
 religion,  466.    Cannot  make  void  the  laws  of  God,  467. 
 
 King  of  England  declared  head  of  the  Church,  457.  This  claimed 
 very  early  by  them,  464. 
 
 Kiss  of  Peace,  a  practice  of  the  apostolic  times,  why  let  fall,  239. 
 
 L 
 
 Laity  were  of  great  use  to  the  Church  in  times  of  persecution, 
 443.  Had  a  right  to  be  consulted  in  the  decisions  of  the  primi- 
 tive Church,  ibid.  How  far  required  to  submit  to  the  Clergy, 
 444. 
 
 Languages,  the  gift  of  them  to  the  Apostles  a  strong  proof  of 
 Christianity,  70. 
 
 Laodicea,  Council,  their  catalogue  of  the  canonical  books,  105. 
 Why  the  book  of  the  Revelation  was  not  in  it,  ibid.  Condemn- 
 ed those  who  invocated  angels,  293. 
 
 Latria,  a  degree  of  religious  worship,  the  doctrine  and  practice  of 
 the  Church  of  Rome  concerning  it,  281,  282. 
 
 Laud,  Archbishop,  falsely  accused  with  corrupting  the  doctrine  of 
 the  Church,  18.    Espoused  the  Arminian  tenets,  185. 
 
 Law,  not  binding  the  consciences  of  those  of  a  different  persuasion, 
 6.  In  what  sense  the  laws  of  the  Jews  are  said  to  be  statutes  for 
 ever,  113.  Why  not  always  observed,  ibid.  Errors  that  flowed 
 from  mistaking  the  word  Law  in  the  New  Testament,  1 14.  The 
 
49(> 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 design  of  the  ceremonial  law,  118.    It  is  now  abrogated,  119. 
 
 Judiciary  laws  of  the  Jews  belonged  only  to  them,  120.  What 
 
 is  meant  by  the  moral  law,  ibid.    Laws  of  the  Church  in  matters 
 
 indifferent  are  not  unalterable,  449. 
 Lay  administrations  in  the  Church  not  lawful,  301-304.  Lay 
 
 baptism,  how  introduced,  361. 
 Liberius,  Pope,  condemned  Athanasius,  and  subscribed  to  Semi- 
 
 arianism,  228. 
 
 Liberty,  several  opinions  about  it,  141.  Wherein  it  consists,  142. 
 The  notions  of  the  Stoics,  Epicureans,  Philosophers,  and  Jews, 
 concerning  it,  179.  That  of  the  Fathers,  179,  180.  W^hat  co- 
 action  is  consistent  with  it,  191.  The  Remonstrants'  notion  of 
 it,  197.  Several  advantages  and  temptations  that  attend  the 
 different  opinions,  204.    See  Predestination. 
 
 Limbus  Infantum,  a  supposed  partition  in  hell  for  children  that 
 die  without  baptism,  137. 
 
 Limbus  Patrum,  what,  67.  Without  foundation  in  Scripture, 
 ibid. 
 
 Lombard,  Peter,  the  first  that  reckons  seven  sacraments,  319. 
 
 Lord's  Supper,  the  change  made  in  the  Article  concerning  it  in 
 Queen  Elizabeth's  reign,  368.  The  importance  of  the  contro- 
 versy with  the  Church  of  Rome  concerning  it,  368,  380.  The 
 words  of  the  institution  explained,  369-374.  The  design  of  it, 
 375.  Who  are  unworthy  receivers  of  it,  376.  The  danger  of 
 this,  376,  413.  Of  the  good  effects  of  worthy  receiving,  377. 
 What  meant  by  the  communion  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ, 
 378.    Of  receiving  it  in  both  kinds,  416. 
 
 Lucifer,  the  common  notion  of  his  sin,  53. 
 
 Lucretius  owns  that  the  world  had  a  beginning,  23.  His  argument 
 
 for  chance  from  the  production  of  insects,  answered,  24. 
 Luther,  what  determined  him  to  embrace  St  Austin's  opinions, 
 
 182.    Whether  he  asserted  free-will,  184. 
 Lutherans  have  universally  gone  into  the  Semipelagian  opinions, 
 
 184.    Their  doctrine  of  Consubstantiation,  409.    WTherein  it 
 
 differs  from  Transubstantiation,  ibid. 
 Lie,  what  is  the  lowest,  and  what  the  highest  act  of  that  kind,  271. 
 
 M 
 
 Maccabees,  the  first  book  commended,  261.  The  second  of 
 little  authority,  262.  The  argument  in  favour  of  purgatory  taken 
 from  this  book  confuted,  ibid. 
 
 Macedonians  denied  the  Divinity  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  81.  This 
 heresy  condemned  by  the  Athanasian  Creed,  126. 
 
 Mahomet  denied  the  death  of  Christ,  61. 
 
 Mahometans,  one  sect  assert  liberty,  but  the  generality  fate,  179. 
 Maintain  that  men  of  all  religions  are  equally  acceptable  to  God, 
 210. 
 
 Magistrate,  the  extent  of  his  authority  in  sacred  things,  446. 
 
 Man,  though  all  resemble  one  another,  yet  each  have  their  pecu- 
 liar difference,  24. 
 
 Manichees  denied  the  authority  of  the  Gospels,  93.  Scarce  de- 
 served the  name  of  Christians,  95.    Their  absurd  opinions,  ibid. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 497 
 
 Concerning  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  107.    Of  original  sin, 
 132.    Did  not  use  wine  in  the  Sacrament,  420. 
 Marcionites,  their  opinions,  93,  179.    Are  opposed  by  Origen, 
 ibid. 
 
 Marriage,  in  what  degrees,  and  why,  unlawful,  121.  Why  it  ought 
 to  be  for  life,  ibid.  The  meaning  of  that  passage,  Such  as  marry 
 do  tvell,  but  such  as  marry  not  do  better,  164,  436.  Is  no  sacra- 
 ment, 341.  In  what  sense  a  mystery,  342.  The  bad  conse- 
 quences of  the  Romish  doctrine  on  this  subject;  ibid.  Is  dis- 
 solved by  adultery,  344.  The  practice  of  the  Church  in  this 
 matter,  ibid.  Whether  a  Christian  may  marry  an  Infidel,  365. 
 That  of  the  clergy  lawful,  429.  Is  recommended  equally  to  ail 
 ranks  of  men,  430.  Is  one  of  the  rights  of  human  nature,  431. 
 Several  of  the  Apostles  and  Fathers  of  the  primitive  Church 
 were  married,  ibid. 
 
 Martyrs,  the  regard  due  to  their  bodies,  285.  This  being  carried 
 too  far,  degenerates  into  superstition,  ibid. 
 
 Mass,  the  absurdity  of  saying  masses  for  the  dead,  266.  This  was 
 the  occasion  of  great  endowments,  ibid.  As  practised  in  the 
 Church  of  Rome  not  known  in  the  primitive  ages,  427.  What 
 was  understood  by  it  in  the  primitive  Church,  ibid.  Solitary 
 masses  not  known  to  them,  ibid.  The  bad  effects  of  them,  267, 
 428. 
 
 Matter,  of  the  divisibility  of  it,  22.  A  difference  between  the 
 succession  of  time  and  the  divisibility  of  matter,  ibid.  Is  a  pas- 
 sive principle,  25,  48.  Is  not  capable  of  thought,  39.  Objec- 
 tions to  this  answered,  40.  How  the  mind  acts  on  it  we  can- 
 not distinctly  conceive,  ibid.  Had  its  first  motion  from  the 
 Eternal  Mind,  48.  The  great  influence  of  the  animal  spirits  on 
 it,  73. 
 
 St  Matthew's  and  St  Mark's  Gospel,  Papias  his  account  of  them, 
 93. 
 
 Maurus  Rabanus  wrote  against  the  corporal  presence,  406. 
 Melito,  Bishop  of  Sardis,  his  account  of  the  books  of  the  Old  Tes- 
 tament, 104. 
 Memories  of  the  martyrs,  what,  288,  289. 
 
 Merit  of  congruity,  what  meant  by  it,  160.  There  is  no  such 
 merit,  ibid.    See  Works. 
 
 Messias,  the  revelation  those  before  and  under  the  law  had  of  one, 
 108.  Jews  have  long  had,  and  still  have,  an  expectation  of  him, 
 ibid.  Proofs  of  the  Messias  from  the  Old  Testament,  ibid.  109. 
 Daniel  very  express  in  this  matter,  111.  The  proofs  summed 
 up,  112.    The  objections  of  the  Jews  answered,  113. 
 
 Metaphor,  no  good  foundation  for  argument,  253,  258. 
 
 Middle  knowledge,  what  meant  by  it,  32,  183. 
 
 Millennium,  an  account  of  it,  261, 
 
 Mind.    See  Soul. 
 
 Ministers,  their  unworthiness  hinders  not  the  effect  of  the  sacra- 
 ments, 352.  Their  intention  not  necessary  to  the  essence  of  a 
 sacrament,  354.    Ought  to  be  censured  for  their  faults,  355. 
 
 Miracles  well  attested  a  proof  of  the  being  of  a  God,  25.  A  dis- 
 tinct idea  of  them,  48.    The  nature  and  design  of  them,  73, 
 
 li 
 
496 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 386.  How  to  know  if  they  are  performed  by  good  or  evil  spirits, 
 73.  Of  those  wrought  by  Moses,  97.  The  spiteful  construction 
 put  upon  those  of  our  Saviour  by  the  Jews,  172.  Are  necessa- 
 ry to  prove  infallibility,  216.  The  instruments  of  them  not  to 
 be  superstitiously  used,  286.  Were  not  to  be  attempted  with- 
 out an  inward  impulse,  346.  Are  an  appeal  to  our  senses,  385. 
 Those  that  are  contrary  to  our  senses  not  to  be  believed,  386. 
 The  absurdity  of  those  pretended  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  381, 
 387. 
 
 Missals,  those  of  the  Gallican  Church  different  from  the  Roman, 
 451. 
 
 Molina  and  Fonseca  invented  the  middle  or  mean  science,  183. 
 
 What  meant  by  it,  ibid. 
 Moral  evil,  how  reconciled  with  Providence,  38.    The  occasion  of 
 
 physical  evil,  ibid. 
 Moral  Law.    See  Commandments. 
 
 Morality,  the  sources  of  it,  120.  Two  orders  of  moral  precepts, 
 121.    Religion  the  foundation  of  it,  ibid. 
 
 Moses,  the  design  of  the  Mosaical  religion,  55.  God's  design  in 
 ordering  him  to  put  things  in  writing,  86.  His  miracles  a  proof 
 of  his  divine  mission,  97.  The  design  and  authority  of  his 
 writings,  98.  His  laws  not  unalterable,  113.  Of  the  covenant 
 he  made  between  God  and  the  Israelites,  114.  The  several 
 things  he  supposed  known,  115.  The  Jews  had  better  reason  to 
 invoke  him,  than  Christians  have  any  saint  under  the  Gospel, 
 291. 
 
 Mysteries  that  contradict  reason  are  not  to  be  believed,  386. 
 
 ,N 
 
 Natalitia,  the  day  of  a  saint's  death  so  called,  265. 
 
 Nature,  though  we  cannot  fix  the  bounds  of  it,  we  can  know  what 
 
 goes  beyond  it,  73. 
 Nazianzen,  his  complaints  of  Councils,  248. 
 Necessary,  whether  God's  acts  are  so,  30. 
 
 Necessary  Erudition,  the  title  of  a  book  published  at  the  beginning 
 of  the  Reformation,  6. 
 
 Necessary  existence  must  belong  to  God,  26. 
 
 Necessity  justifies  breaking  through  rules  of  worship,  308. 
 
 Nectarius,  Bishop  of  Constantinople,  what  occasioned  him  to  for- 
 bid confession,  330. 
 
 Negative,  why  to  be  maintained  in  points  of  faith,  and  not  in  mat- 
 ters of  fact  or  theories  of  nature,  5. 
 
 Nestorius,  his  doctrine  concerning  the  person  of  Christ,  60.  Con- 
 cerning the  Blessed  Virgin,  288.  His  heresies  are  condemned 
 in  the  Athanasian  Creed,  126. 
 
 Nice,  Council,  composed  their  Creed  out  of  many  former  ones,  3. 
 What  they  determined  concerning  the  Trinity,  46.  Asserted 
 the  worship  of  images,  279.  Was  rejected  in  England  on  that 
 account,  280.  The  history  and  acts  of  that  Council  give  a  bad 
 opinion  of  them,  ibid.  The  nature  of  that  worship  they  allowed 
 to  images,  281. 
 
 Nicene  Creed,  an  account  of  it,  126. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 499 
 
 Nicolaitans,  a  name  of  reproach  given  to  the  married  clergy,  434. 
 Notes,  the  pretended  ones  of  the  true  Church  examined,  219. 
 Novatians  opposed  the  receiving  the  lapsed  into  the  Church,  173, 
 328. 
 
 O 
 
 Oaths,  ill  and  rashly  made,  ought  not  to  be  kept,  437.  What  an 
 oath  is,  474.  A  false  one,  what,  475.  Oaths  were  very  early 
 used,  ibid.  Are  lawful  among  Christians,  476.  Objections 
 against  them  answered,  477.  All  vain  and  rash  swearing  con- 
 demned, 478.  When  and  in  what  manner  they  ought  to  be 
 taken,  ibid. 
 
 Oil  began  very  early  to  be  used  in  sacred  rites,  321,  347.  What 
 probably  introduced  it,  ibid.  That  used  by  the  Apostles  was 
 attended  with  a  miraculous  effect,  345.  The  form  of  applying 
 it  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  347.  This  is  of  a  modern  date,  349. 
 Argument  from  the  fitness  of  it  answered,  350. 
 
 Old  Testament.    See  Scriptures. 
 
 Opinions,  a  rule  to  be  observed  in  representing  different  opinions, 
 140.    In  what  case  opinion  is  no  excuse  for  sin,  410. 
 
 Opus  Operatum,  or  the  act  of  receiving  the  sacraments  not  suffi- 
 cient to  convey  grace,  315. 
 
 Orders,  the  different  ranks  of  them  in  the  Church,  338.  No  sacra- 
 ment, ibid.  What  the  essentials  of  them  are,  ibid.  Validity  of 
 those  of  the  Church  of  England,  455.    See  Pastors. 
 
 Ordination  by  laymen  valid,  308.  The  form  of  it  in  the  Greek 
 Church,  338.  In  the  Church  of  Rome,  ibid.  339.  Several  re- 
 gulations about  them,  455.  The  phrase,  Receive  ye  the  Holy 
 Ghost,  which  is  used  in  them,  explained  and  vindicated,  ibid. 
 
 Origen,  his  care  in  settling  the  canon  of  the  New  Testament,  93. 
 His  opinion  of  the  soul,  free-will,  and  providence,  179.  His 
 doctrine  was  much  followed,  180. 
 
 Original  sin,  various  opinions  about  it,  130,  131.  What  the  Scrip- 
 tures teach  concerning  it,  132.  How  it  may  be  conveyed,  ibid. 
 The  consequences  of  it  more  than  a  natural  death,  134.  The 
 effects  of  it  not  quite  taken  away  by  baptism,  135. 
 
 Overal,  Bishop,  espoused  the  Arminian  tenets,  185. 
 
 P 
 
 Pagans  not  excused  from  idolatry  because  they  worshipped  the 
 true  God  under  their  idols,  410. 
 
 Papias,  who  conversed  with  the  Apostles,  his  account  of  the  Gos- 
 pels of  St  Matthew  and  St  Mark,  93, 
 
 Papists.    See  Church  of  Rome. 
 
 Parable,  consequences  to  be  drawn  from  the  scope  of  them,  and 
 not  from  particular  phrases,  258. 
 
 Paradise,  what  notion  the  Jews  had  of  it,  68. 
 
 Pardon  of  sin,  the  conditions  of  it,  33.  The  doctrine  of  the  Church 
 of  Rome  concerning  pardons,  269.  The  abuse  and  bad  conse- 
 quences of  it,  167,  269.  This  gave  rise  to  the  Reformation, 
 167,  269.    The  pretence  of  their  being  only  an  exemption  from 
 
500 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 penance  examined,  270.  Is  without  foundation  in  Scripture  or 
 antiquity,  ibid. 
 
 Parents,  their  authority  over  their  children  by  the  Jewish  constitu- 
 tion, 364.  This  agreeable  to  Christianity  and  the  law  of  nature, 
 ibid.  Their  obligation  more  particularly  to  take  care  of  their 
 souls,  366. 
 
 Paris,  Council,  condemned  image-worship,  280. 
 Passion  defined,  31.    In  what  sense  ascribed  to  God,  ibid.    Its  in- 
 fluence, 142. 
 
 Passover,  the  original  and  design  of  its  institution,  369.  A  type 
 of  our  deliverance  by  the  Messias,  ibid. 
 
 Pastors,  a  succession  of  them  ought  to  be  in  the  Church,  301.  This 
 to  continue  till  the  end  of  the  world,  303.  And  did  not  belong 
 to  the  infancy  of  Christianity  only,  ibid.  The  danger  of  taking 
 this  office  without  a  due  vocation,  304.  Who  are  lawfully  called, 
 305.  Lawful  authority,  what,  ibid.  Where  the  jurisdiction  is 
 fixed  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  306.  What  may  be  done  in  cases 
 of  necessity,  307.    Instances  of  lay-preachers,  308. 
 
 Patriarchal  authority  of  the  See  of  Rome  is  dissolved  with  that 
 empire,  462. 
 
 Pelagius,  his  opinion  of  original  sin,  129.  Objections  against  it, 
 130.  His  opinion  of  liberty,  143,  180.  His  character,  180.  Is 
 opposed  by  several  learned  men,  ibid.  Had  many  followers  in 
 Britain,  181. 
 
 Penance,  a  long  one  imposed  on  sinners  in  the  primitive  times, 
 167.  Whence  the  word  is  derived,  323.  The  several  acts  of 
 it,  ibid.  No  characters  of  a  sacrament  in  it,  324.  The  doctrine 
 of  the  Church  of  Rome  concerning  it,  ibid.  No  sacrament,  be- 
 cause of  a  modern  date,  325.  Many  canons  about  it,  329.  The 
 ancient  discipline  slackened,  330.  Whether  penance  is  to  be 
 performed  before  absolution,  334.  The  absurdity  of  the  doc- 
 trine of  the  Church  of  Rome  on  this  subject,  335.  What  is  the 
 true  penance  enjoined  by  the  Gospel,  336. 
 
 Perfection,  no  counsels  of  perfection  in  the  New  Testament,  162. 
 A  passage  in  the  xixth  of  St  Matthew,  which  seems  to  imply 
 this,  explained,  163.  In  what  sense  we  are  called  to  be  perfect 
 as  God  and  Christ,  169.  The  Scripture  represents  the  best  of 
 men  as  imperfect,  ibid.  This  is  no  encouragement  to  live  in 
 sin,  170. 
 
 Perseverance,  a  necessary  consequence  of  absolute  decrees,  192. 
 
 Person,  resulting  from  the  conjunction  of  two  natures,  what,  59. 
 What  meant  by  Christ's  having  one  person,  60.  Of  the  person- 
 ality of  the  Holy  Ghost,  81. 
 
 St  Peter,  of  the  authority  committed  to  him,  234.  Had  no  supe- 
 riority, 459.    Was  withstood  by  St  Paul,  ibid. 
 
 Pharisees  asserted  free-will  and  providence,  179. 
 
 Philosophers,  their  opinion  of  matter,  29.  Despised  revelation, 
 secret  assistances,  and  miracles,  72.  Their  account  of  original 
 sin,  and  the  pre-existence  of  souls,  131.  Were  puzzled  about 
 free-will  and  providence,  179.  Were  not  so  gross  idolaters  as 
 the  vulgar  among  the  heathens,  272. 
 
 Philosophy  was  new-modelled  to  explain  transubstantiation,  389. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 501 
 
 Photinus,  his  opinion  of  Christ,  58. 
 
 Pictures  in  churches  condemned  by  the  Council  of  Elliberis,  278. 
 Soon  led  to  idolatry,  279. 
 
 Plato,  his  opinion  of  the  soul  after  death,  261.  Was  probably  the 
 source  of  purgatory,  ibid. 
 
 Polycarp,  a  remarkable  passage  concerning  his  body,  286. 
 
 Popes,  when  they  took  the  full  power  of  indulgences  to  themselves, 
 167.  Have  been  condemned  for  heresy,  228.  Their  ambition, 
 forgeries,  and  cruelties,  229.  Of  their  pretended  power  over 
 Princes,  230.  Arguments  against  their  infallibility,  227,  231. 
 Alleged  proofs  of  it  answered,  234.  Several  absurdities  in  assert- 
 ing it,  ibid.  Were  not  much  consulted  in  calling  some  Councils, 
 246.  Of  the  pardons  and  indulgences  granted  by  them,  269. 
 Have  been  the  most  wicked  succession  of  men  history  has  pro- 
 duced, 403.  Their  authority  was  pretended  to  long  before  their 
 infallibility,  458.  Their  jurisdiction  founded  on  a  forgery,  461, 
 464.  The  extent  of  their  claim,  and  by  whom  completed,  461. 
 See  Church  of  Rome. 
 
 Prayer,  what  outward  gestures  proper  for  it,  54.  Prayers  for  the 
 dead,  an  early  practice  in  the  Church,  265.  What  gave  occasion 
 to  it,  ibid.  Tertullian's  opinion  of  them,  ibid.  Why  not  prac- 
 tised in  the  Church  of  England,  266.  Prayers  in  an  unknown 
 tongue.  See  Worship.  The  great  efficacy  of  prayer  with  right 
 dispositions,  336.  The  absurdity  of  appointing  prayers  as  a 
 task,  337. 
 
 Preaching  of  the  Apostles,  the  nature  of  it,  and  wherein  it  differed 
 from  that  of  their  successors,  363. 
 
 Precepts,  wherein  they  differ  from  the  means  of  salvation,  359. 
 
 Predestination,  the  controversy  about  it  reduced  to  a  single  point, 
 177.  Three  main  questions  that  arise  out  of  it,  ibid.  Various 
 opinions  about  it,  ibid.  History  of  the  controversy  concerning 
 it,  both  in  ancient  and  modern  times,  179-186.  General  reflec- 
 tions on  the  subject,  203.  The  advantages  and  disadvantages  of 
 the  several  opinions,  204.  Points  in  which  all  are  agreed,  206. 
 How  far  the  Article  has  determined  in  this  controversy,  207. 
 The  design  of  the  cautions  added  to  it,  ibid.  Passages  in  the 
 Liturgy  concerning  it  explained,  209.  The  impartiality  ob- 
 served in  treating  this  subject,  ibid. 
 
 Prescience,  the  notions  of  the  Supralapsarians  concerning  it,  186. 
 Those  of  the  Sublapsarians,  194.  The  certainty  of  it  is  not  cau- 
 sal, but  eventual,  199.  A  conditionate  prescience  agreeable  to 
 Scripture,  ibid. 
 
 Presence,  real,  the  meaning  of  it  as  taught  by  the  Church  of  Eng- 
 land, 380.  The  doctrine  of  the  Church  of  Rome  concerning  it, 
 ibid.  The  mystical  presence  is  acknowledged  by  them,  387. 
 Whence  the  controversy  about  the  matter  of  the  presence  took 
 its  rise,  405. 
 
 Preventing  grace,  proof  of  it,  146.  Of  the  efficacy  and  extent  of 
 it,  147.    See  Grace. 
 
 Priest,  the  rules  concerning  the  High-priest  of  the  Jews  dispensed 
 with  in  cases  of  necessity,  307.  The  Jewish  notion  of  a  Priest, 
 424.    Christ  was  both  a  Priest  and  Sacrifice,  425. 
 
502 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Primasius,  his  comparison  of  the  Eucharist,  401. 
 
 Private  judgment,  objections  against  it  answered,  224.  Is  allowed 
 by  the  Church  of  Rome,  ibid. 
 
 Procession  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  we  can  have  no  explicit  idea  of  it, 
 80.    Yet  ought  to  be  believed,  81. 
 
 Promises,  whether  any  other  than  temporary  under  the  old  dispen- 
 sation, 114.  Those  that  were  national  only  temporary,  ibid. 
 Particular  persons  had  a  prospect  of  a  future  state,  115.  Proofs 
 of  this,  117. 
 
 Prophecy,  not  a  mark  of  the  true  Church,  220.  Of  those  relating 
 to  the  Messias,  107-111. 
 
 Prophetical  writings,  why  dark  and  obscure,  101. 
 
 Providence,  wherein  it  consists,  36.  How  the  difficulty  of  con- 
 ceiving it  may  be  removed,  37.  Objections  against  it  consider- 
 ed, ibid.  The  necessity  of  it,  38.  Was  denied  by  the  Epicu- 
 reans and  Sadducees,  179.  How  the  great  designs  of  it  are 
 carried  on,  200. 
 
 Punishments,  the  temporal  ones  of  good  men  no  argument  for  the 
 reserve  of  others  i/i  another  state,  257.  The  lawfulness  and 
 necessity  of  capital  punishments,  468.  The  measure  and  ex- 
 tent of  them,  469. 
 
 Purgatory,  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  of  Rome  concerning  it,  255. 
 No  foundation  for  it  in  Scripture,  256.  Arguments  for  it  con- 
 sidered, 257-259.  Reasons  for  rejecting  it,  259.  A  middle 
 state  not  warranted  from  Scripture,  ibid.  Different  opinions 
 about  the  state  after  death,  260.  The  sources  of  this  doctrine, 
 261.  Argument  from  Maccabees  examined,  ibid.  A  passage 
 from  the  New  Testament  alleged  in  favour  of  it,  considered, 
 263.  Not  known  for  the  first  six  hundred  years,  264.  Was 
 never  received  by  the  Greek  Church,  ibid.  Is  a  remnant  of 
 paganism,  ibid.  The  great  abuses  of  this  doctrine,  268.  Po- 
 litical reasons  are  not  sufficient  to  support  it,  ibid. 
 
 R 
 
 Radbert,  Paschase,  the  first  who  asserted  and  explained  the  cor- 
 poral presence,  405.  Was  opposed  by  all  the  eminent  men  of 
 his  time,  ibid. 
 
 Ratramne,  his  account  of  the  real  presence,  406. 
 
 Real  presence,  the  meaning  of  it  in  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  of 
 England,  380.  The  absurdity  of  the  Romish  doctrine  on  this 
 head,  380-388.    See  Transubstantiation. 
 
 Reconciliation  by  the  death  of  Christ  is  not  absolute  and  without 
 conditions,  64. 
 
 Redemption,  the  Remonstrants'  notion  of  its  extent,  200. 
 
 Reformation,  why  many  wild  sects  sprang  up  with  it,  4.  The  fun- 
 damental article  on  which  it  depends,  5.  The  main  ground  upon 
 which  it  is  justified,  92.  What  occasioned  the  first  beginnings 
 and  progress  of  it,  269. 
 
 Reformed,  their  different  opinions  concerning  free-will  and  predes- 
 tination, 184. 
 
 Reformers,  reasons  for  their  descending  into  so  many  particulars,  5. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 603 
 
 Put  Christianity  on  its  right  foundation,  153.    Those  in  England 
 were  Sublapsarians,  185. 
 Regeneration,  how  it  may  be  explained,  145. 
 
 Relics,  whence  a  superstitious  regard  for  them  took  its  rise,  285. 
 The  consequence  of  enshrining  of  them,  ibid.  Were  appointed 
 to  be  venerated  by  the  Council  of  Trent,  ibid.  Have  no  coun- 
 tenance from  Scripture,  286.  Nor  from  the  practice  of  the  first 
 Christians,  ibid.  No  use  made  of  them  in  the  times  of  persecu- 
 tion, when  most  necessary,  287.  Fables  and  forgeries  invented 
 to  support  them,  ibid.  290.  The  novelty  of  the  worship  of  them, 
 289. 
 
 Religion,  just  notions  of  God  the  basis  of  it,  34,  47,  121.  The  as- 
 sistance that  revealed  religion  can  receive  from  philosophy,  133. 
 The  design  of  natural  and  revealed  religion,  143,  300.  The 
 truths  of  religion  are  impressed  by  a  divine  direction,  145.  Al- 
 coran asserts  that  all  religions  are  equally  acceptable  to  God, 
 210.  Hobbes  makes  religion  and  law  to  be  the  same,  ibid.  The 
 hypothesis  of  those  who  would  accommodate  their  religion 
 to  their  secular  interest,  211.  These  opinions  condemned, 
 211-214.  All  religions  are  not  alike,  214.  A  true  notion  of 
 it,  334. 
 
 Remission  of  sins,  the  notion  of  it  under  the  old  dispensation,  117. 
 Not  previous  to  justification,  151.  Is  an  act  of  God's  favour, 
 153.  The  nature  of  it  in  the  Gospel,  256.  Of  the  power  of  it 
 committed  to  the  Apostles,  325.  In  what  sense  it  is  continued 
 by  their  successors,  326. 
 
 Remonstrants,  their  opinions  concerning  free-will  and  predestina- 
 tion, 178,  195.  Their  arguments,  195-203.  Difficulties  obvi- 
 ated by  their  doctrine,  200.  The  advantages  and  disadvantages 
 of  it,  204. 
 
 Repentance  not  the  valuable  consideration,  but  the  condition  of 
 justification,  154.  The  true  notion  of  it,  324,  335.  The  danger 
 of  trusting  to  a  death-bed  repentance,  335. 
 
 Reprobation,  the  Supralapsarians'  notion  of  it,  193.  Is  a  doctrine 
 hard  to  be  digested,  206. 
 
 Resurrection,  the  possibility  of  it,  41.  Of  the  nature  of  the  body 
 after  it,  42.  Was  denied  by  the  Sadducees,  86.  Was  believed 
 under  the  Old  Testament,  115,  116.  Completes  the  happiness 
 of  a  future  state,  261. 
 
 Resurrection  of  Christ.    See  Chrirt. 
 
 Revelation,  what  it  is,  and  the  design  of  it,  143,  300.  That  which 
 destroys  the  evidence  of  our  senses  is  not  to  be  believed,  385. 
 See  Scripture. 
 
 Revelation  of  St  John,  its  authority  proved,  95.  Why  not  men- 
 tioned in  the  catalogue  of  the  Council  of  Laodicea,  105. 
 
 Righteousness,  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  of  Rome  concerning  it, 
 152.    That  of  the  Reformed,  153. 
 
 Rites.    See  Ceremonies. 
 
 Rock  of  the  Church,  what  meant  by  it,  234. 
 
 Roman  Catholic.    See  Church  of  Rome. 
 
 Ruffin  was  the  first  who  mentioned  the  article  of  Christ's  descenl 
 into  helK  65. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 s 
 
 Sabbath  is  not  moral  in  the  highest  sense,  123.  The  reason- 
 ableness of  it,  ibid.  Of  the  change  of  it,  ibid.  Works  of  ne- 
 cessity, or  charity,  may  be  done  on  it,  163. 
 
 Sacramental  actions,  the  nature  of  them  considered,  417.  May 
 be  altered  as  to  circumstances,  418. 
 
 Sacraments,  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  of  Rome  concerning  them, 
 152,  315.  Its  bad  consequences,  ibid.  Of  the  essentials  of  them, 
 222.  Are  to  be  measured  only  by  the  institution,  266.  Are 
 more  than  mere  ritual  acts,  315,  317.  Do  not  justify  by  the 
 Opus  Operatum,  317.  A  sacrament  defined,  ibid.  Matter  is  of 
 the  essence  of  it,  318.  Must  be  instituted  by  Christ,  ibid.  Pro- 
 testants acknowledge  only  two,  ibid.  Lombard  the  first  who 
 mentions  seven  of  them,  319.  Reasons  for  rejecting  the  five  ad- 
 ditional sacraments,  350.  Sacraments  are  ordained  to  be  used, 
 and  not  to  be  gazed  on  and  carried  about,  ibid.  Their  effect  de- 
 pends on  the  worthy  receiving,  and  not  on  the  intention  of  him 
 that  dispenses  them,  352. 
 
 Sacraments  considered  as  acts  of  church-communion,  or  as  federal 
 acts,  414. 
 
 Sacrifices,  expiatory  ones,  the  nature  of  them,  61.  How  the  death 
 of  Christ  may  be  said  to  be  our  sacrifice,  63.  In  a  general  sense 
 all  religious  worship  may  be  so  called,  422.  But  one  Priest  and 
 one  Sacrifice  in  the  Christian  Religion,  425.  Answer  of  the  Fa- 
 thers to  the  Heathens,  who  charged  them  with  having  no  sacri- 
 fices, 426. 
 
 Sadducees  denied  the  resurrection,  86.  From  whom  sprung,  and 
 what  gave  rise  to  their  opinions,  114.  Our  Saviour's  answer  to 
 their  puzzling  question,  116.  Asserted  liberty  free  from  all  re- 
 straints, 179. 
 
 Saints  were  not  invocated  under  the  Old  Testament,  291.  More 
 rational  foundation  for  this  under  the  old  than  under  the  new 
 dispensation,  ibid.  Christ  the  only  mediator  and  intercessor,  ibid. 
 This  superstition  derived  from  the  heathens,  292.  When  it  was 
 introduced,  293.  Its  progress,  294.  The  absurdity  of  it,  ibid. 
 Scandalous  offices  of  this  kind  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  ibid. 
 What  they  found  this  practice  upon,  296.  Arguments  for  it 
 examined,  297-300. 
 
 Salvation,  whether  eternal  salvation  was  promised  under  the  Old 
 Testament,  114.  Is  to  be  obtained  only  by  the  name  of  Christ, 
 211.  Of  those  who  never  heard  of  the  Christian  religion,  212. 
 Curiosity  in  this  not  to  be  indulged,  214.  How  far  the  Article 
 has  determined  in  it,  ibid.  Difference  between  the  means  of  sal- 
 vation and  commanded  precepts,  305. 
 
 Samosatenus,  his  opinion  of  Christ,  58- 
 
 Sanctification,  what  it  is,  and  wherein  it  differs  from  justification, 
 
 151.    Is  not  perfected  in  this  life,  173. 
 Scandal,  the  true  notion  of  it,  448.    The  fear  of  giving  scandal  no 
 
 warrant  to  break  established  laws,  449. 
 Schism  in  the  Church,  the  making  it,  a  great  sin,  448. 
 Schoolmen,  their  vain  attempt  to  explain  the  Trinity?  81.  Their 
 
INDEX. 
 
 0O0 
 
 many  subtilties  in  the  doctrine  of  the  Eucharist,  383.  Their 
 explanation  of  the  real  presence,  407. 
 
 Scot,  John,  his  character,  406.  Wrote  against  the  doctrine  of  the 
 corporal  presence,  ibid. 
 
 Scotus,  Erigena,  wrote  against  St  Austin's  doctrine  of  predestina- 
 tion, 182. 
 
 Scriptures,  the  being  of  God  ought  not  to  be  proved  from  them,  26. 
 His  unity  frequently  asserted  in  them,  28.  Their  style  suited  to 
 the  capacities  of  those  for  whom  they  were  writ,  29.  Their 
 meaning  to  be  taken  from  the  scope  of  them,  38.  New  Testa- 
 ment, when  wrote,  70.  Was  early  received,  71.  The  names 
 and  number  of  the  canonical  books,  83.  Are  the  only  complete 
 rule  of  faith,  84.  Old  Testament  was  always  appealed  to  by 
 Christ  and  his  Apostles,  87,  96.  The  care  taken  to  preserve 
 them,  87.  Just  consequences  from  them  are  to  be  believed,  89. 
 Contain  all  that  is  necessary  to  salvation,  91.  Are  no  sure  guard 
 against  error,  ibid.  Ought  not  to  be  read  carelessly,  ibid.  Proofs 
 of  the  canon  of  the  New  Testament,  93-98.  Their  authority 
 is  not  founded  on  the  judgment  of  the  Church,  95.  That  of 
 the  Old,  98-103.  Why  divided  into  three  volumes,  102.  Why 
 they  were  called  canonical,  106. 
 
 Sees,  whence  their  privileges  and  exemptions  rose,  451.  The  va- 
 nity of  keeping  up  their  ancient  dignity,  ibid. 
 
 Semipelagians,  their  notion  of  assisting  grace  and  free-will,  143, 
 180. 
 
 Senses,  their  influence  on  the  mind,  284.  The  importance  of  their 
 evidence,  384.  They  determine  our  judgment  of  miracles,  385. 
 The  foundation  of  our  belief  of  them,  ibid.  Where  appealed  to 
 by  the  Fathers  as  infallible,  391. 
 
 Septuagint  was  highly  esteemed  in  our  Saviour's  time,  97.  When, 
 and  at  whose  charge  it  was  wrote,  99.  How  it  may  be  recon- 
 ciled to  the  Hebrew,  100. 
 
 Serenus,  Bishop  of  Marseilles,  his  zeal  against  image-worship, 
 279. 
 
 Serpent,  Brazen,  the  breaking  it  when  it  came  to  be  superstitiously 
 
 used,  vindicated,  286. 
 Severity  ought  not  to  be  affected,  175. 
 
 Sin,  Adam's  sin  said  to  be  personal  by  the  Pelagians  and  Socinians, 
 129.  Our  being  liable  to  death  and  the  miseries  of  mortality 
 thought  by  some  to  be  original  sin,  130.  Experience  and  Scrip- 
 ture teach  an  universal  corruption,  131,  132.  How  this  came 
 about,  132.  God's  justice  vindicated  in  the  imputation  of 
 Adam's  sin,  134.  Whether  it  deserves  damnation,  ibid.  Church 
 of  Rome  believe  original  sin  is  taken  away  by  baptism,  135. 
 St  Austin's  doctrine  concerning  it,  136.  The  manner  of  its  pro- 
 pagation not  easy  to  be  explained,  137.  Reasons  why  many  are 
 of  a  different  opinion,  138.  Howr  they  explain  the  passages  of 
 S(  ripture,  and  the  Article  concerning  it,  139,  140.  What  meant 
 by  deadly  and  venial  sin,  170.  The  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost 
 explained,  171.  None  capable  of  this  sin  since  miracles  have 
 ceased,  172.  Of  the  pardon  of  sin  after  baptism,  ibid.  Is  par- 
 doned according  to  the  sincerity  of  our  repentance,  174.  What 
 
506 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 meant  by  the  sin  unto  death,  174.  Difference  to  be  made  be- 
 tween deliberate  sins  and  sins  of  infirmity,  175.  Sins  once  par- 
 doned not  liable  to  after  punishment,  256.  Unless  with  tem- 
 poral chastisements,  257.  Of  the  Apostles'  power  of  remitting 
 sins,  325.  Whether  this  be  continued  in  the  Church,  326. 
 Socinians,  their  notion  of  the  death  of  Christ,  62.  Of  Adam's  sin, 
 129.  Objections  against  it,  130.  Their  doctrine  concerning 
 predestination,  178.  Their  opinion  of  prescience  and  contin- 
 gencies, ibid.  How  far  they  agree  with  the  Remonstrants  and 
 Calvinists,  203. 
 
 Soldania,  a  most  degenerate  nation,  said  to  deny  the  being  of  a 
 
 God,  20. 
 Son  of  God.    See  Christ, 
 
 Soul  is  distinct  from  matter,  39.  What  perceptions  we  have  of  its 
 nature  and  operation,  ibid.  Of  the  souls  of  beasts,  40.  The 
 soul  is  not  the  same  with  the  animal  spirits,  ibid.  How  it  acts 
 on  matter,  inconceivable  to  us,  ibid.  In  some  places  of  Scrip- 
 ture stands  for  a  dead  body,  66.  Philosophers'  notion  of  its  pre- 
 existence,  131.  How  defiled  by  Adam's  sin,  134.  Conjectures 
 about  its  state  after  death,  259.  Various  opinions  concerning 
 this,  260-264. 
 
 Spirits,  animal,  their  nature  and  use,  40,  142.  Are  the  immediate 
 organs  of  thought,  143. 
 
 Spirits,  invisible,  the  probability  of  their  existence,  and  conjectures 
 about  their  nature,  41.  Are  not  emanations  or  rays  of  the  Di- 
 vine Essence,  ibid.  What  meant  by  the  spirits  in  prison,  66. 
 Of  the  power  of  evil  spirits,  73.    See  Soul. 
 
 Stephen,  St,  worshipped  Christ  in  his  last  moments,  56.  No  other 
 care  taken  of  his  body  but  to  bury  it,  286.  No  mention  made 
 of  worshipping  him,  292. 
 
 Stephen,  Pope,  his  infallibility  denied  by  Cyprian  and  Firmilian, 
 .228. 
 
 Stephen,  Bishop  of  Autun,  the  first  who  introduced  the  word 
 
 Transubstantiation,  408. 
 Stoics  made  all  sins  alike,  171.    Put  all  things  under  a  fate,  179. 
 Sublapsarians,  their  doctrine  concerning  predestination,  194.  Avoid 
 
 answering  the  Supralapsarians,  and  seem  in  effect  not  to  differ 
 
 from  them,  ibid. 
 
 Subscription,  what  the  Clergy  are  bound  to  by  their  subscription 
 of  the  Articles,  8.  Does  import  an  assent  to  them,  9.  Different 
 persons  may  subscribe  to  them  in  different  senses,  10. 
 
 Suetonius,  his  account  of  Christ,  69. 
 
 Supererogation.    See  Works. 
 
 Superstition,  the  danger  of  its  being  suffered  to  mix  with  religion, 
 285. 
 
 Supralapsarians,  the  chief  basis  of  their  doctrine  concerning  pre- 
 destination, 186.  Their  arguments  from  the  absurdity  of  the 
 contrary  opinion,  187. 
 
 Supremacy  of  the  Pope  disproved,  458-461.  That  of  Kings  or 
 Queens  asserted,  462-466. 
 
 Swearing.    See  Oath. 
 
 Symbols,  federal,  the  nature  of  them,  378. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 507 
 
 T 
 
 Temple,  how  the  glory  of  the  second  exceeded  the  first,  110. 
 
 Thought  different  from  matter  and  motion,  39.  Has  no  parts, 
 ibid.  Whether  beasts  have  thought,  ibid.  Is  governed  by  im- 
 pressions made  on  the  brain,  142.  Is  influenced  by  the  animal 
 spirits,  ibid. 
 
 Time  cannot  be  eternal,  22.  Is  not  divisible  to  infinity,  as  matter 
 is,  ibid. 
 
 Timothy  and  Titus,  rules  given  them  concerning  Church  govern- 
 ment, 302. 
 
 Tradition,  oral,  the  regard  due  to  it,  84.  The  doctrine  of  the 
 Church  of  Rome  concerning  it,  ibid.  No  rule  in  matters  of 
 faith,  ibid.  The  Scriptures  intended  to  prevent  the  impostures 
 of  it,  ibid.  No  certain  way  of  conveying  the  articles  of  religion, 
 86.  Was  objected  against  on  many  occasions  by  our  Saviour, 
 ibid.  The  occasion  of  great  errors  and  ruin  of  the  Jews,  87. 
 The  Apostles  laid  no  stress  on  them,  ibid.  Arguments  of  Ire- 
 naeus  and  Tertullian  against  them,  88.  Objection  from  the 
 darkness  of  Scripture  answered,  89.  The  difference  between  a 
 settled  canon  of  Scripture  and  oral  tradition,  95.  Traditions 
 concerning  image-worship  departed  from,  280. 
 
 Transubstantiation,  a  paragraph  against  it  in  the  Articles  in  Ed- 
 ward the  Vlth's  reign,  367.  Wliy  it  was  afterwards  suppressed, 
 368.  The  doctrine  of  the  Church  of  Rome  concerning  it,  380. 
 The  consequences  of  it,  381.  The  grounds  on  which  it  was  be- 
 lieved, 383.  Is  contrary  to  our  faculties  both  of  sense  and  rea- 
 son, 384.  It  was  not  received  in  the  first  and  best  ages,  388. 
 Several  presumptive  proofs  of  this,  388-394.  The  Fathers  be- 
 lieved the  elements  continued  to  be  bread  and  wine  after  con- 
 secration, 394-396.  By  whom  it  was  formed  and  broached, 
 396.  Several  arguments  against  it,  398-415.  How  this  doc- 
 trine crept  into  the  Church,  401.  By  whom  the  term  was  first 
 introduced,  408.  , 
 
 Tree  of  knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  and  the  tree  of  life,  conjec- 
 tures about  them,  130,  131,  133. 
 
 Trent,  Council,  the  disappointments  of  it,  a  great  probability  there 
 will  never  be  another,  251.  First  received  the  Apocrypha  into 
 the  canon,  106.  Their  decree  concerning  good  works,  156. 
 Declined  to  give  a  clear  decision  about  image-worship,  282. 
 Reasons  of  this,  ibid.  Did  not  determine  positively  about  relics, 
 285.  Did  not  decree  the  office  of  a  Bishop  an  order,  or  a  sacra- 
 ment, 340.  Was  the  first  that  decreed  the  indissolubleness  of 
 marriage,  even  for  adultery,  344.  Decreed  extreme  unction  to 
 be  a  sacrament,  350. 
 
 Trinity  is  not  to  be  proved  by  reason,  42.  Tradition  of  it  very 
 ancient,  ibid.  Not  to  be  proved  by  the  Old  Testament  without 
 the  New,  43.  What  meant  by  one  substance,  and  what  by  three 
 persons,  in  explaining  it,  ibid.  The  difficulties  in  it  no  sufficient 
 reason  for  not  believing  it,  ibid.  Different  methods  of  explaining 
 it,  ibid.  Several  proofs  of  it,  43-46.  From  whence  the  error* 
 in  this  doctrine  took  their  rise,  47. 
 
508 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Tully,  his  account  of  the  notion  the  heathens  had  of  their  images, 
 275. 
 
 Twisse  carried  it  high  to  the  Supra! apsarian  hypothesis,  185. 
 
 V 
 
 Valentinians  pretended  to  traditions  from  the  Apostles,  88. 
 Various  readings  of  the  Scriptures,  whence  they  arose,  100.  Are 
 
 inconsiderable,  and  affect  not  our  faith  or  morals,  101. 
 Ubiquity  of  human  nature  impossible,  409. 
 
 Vigilantius  complains  of  the  worshipping  of  relics,  285,  289.  And 
 
 of  saints  and  angels,  297. 
 Virgin,  blessed,  was  reprimanded  by  our  Saviour,  169.    Why  she 
 
 was  not  taken  notice  of  in  the  first  age  of  superstition,  288. 
 
 Has  the  preference  to  God  and  Christ  in  the  worship  of  the 
 
 Church  of  Rome,  295. 
 Virgins,  parable  of  ten  Virgins  contradicts  supererogation,  166. 
 Visible  Church,  what  it  is,  215. 
 Understanding  is  as  free  as  the  will,  225. 
 
 Union  of  the  Church  among  themselves,  and  with  their  head,  is 
 
 not  a  note  of  the  true  Church,  220. 
 Unity  of  the  Godhead,  proofs  of  it,  27.    Is  a  chief  article  of  the 
 
 Christian  religion,  28. 
 Unity  among  Christians,  the  advantages  of  it,  447.    The  great  sin 
 
 of  dissolving  it,  ibid. 
 Vows  of  celibacy  unlawful,  437.    Of  the  obligation  of  them,  ibid. 
 
 See  Oath. 
 
 Usher,  Archbishop,  his  explanation  of  Daniel's  Seventy  Weeks, 
 112. 
 
 W 
 
 War,  in  what  cases  lawful,  471.    And  when  unlawful,  472. 
 
 Water  in  Baptism,  what  it  is  an  emblem  of,  357. 
 
 Will,  whether  it  is  always  determined  by  the  understanding,  142. 
 Wherein  our  liberty  consists,  ibid.  The  opinions  of  the  Pela- 
 gians and  Semipelagians  concerning  it,  143.    See  Liberty. 
 
 Winds,  their  great  influence  on  the  earth,  36.  Are  under  a  parti- 
 cular direction  of  Providence,  ibid. 
 
 Wisdom  of  God,  wherein  it  consists,  32. 
 
 Women  are  not  allowed  to  teach,  302. 
 
 Works,  what  is  meant  by  good  works,  151.  They  are  indispen- 
 sably necessary  to  salvation,  155.  The  doctrine  of  the  Church 
 of  Rome  concerning  them,  156.  None  absolutely  perfect,  ibid. 
 This  the  opinion  of  the  best  men  in  all  ages,  157.  The  ab- 
 surdity of  asserting  the  merit  of  good  works,  158.  The  use  to 
 be  made  of  the  doctrine  of  the  imperfection  of  good  works,  ibid. 
 Whether  any  good  works  can  be  performed  without  divine  as- 
 sistance, 159.  Works  of  supererogation,  the  foundation  of  that 
 doctrine  destroyed,  165.    Its  bad  consequences,  167. 
 
 World  is  not  eternal,  because  time  nor  number  cannot  be  eternal, 
 or  infinite,  22.  The  novelty  of  history,  a  further  proof  of  this, 
 23.  Not  made  by  chance,  ibid.  Objection  from  the  production 
 of  insects  answered,  24.    Is  not  a  body  to  God,  29.    Is  pre- 
 
INDEX. 
 
 509 
 
 served  by  a  constant  Providence,  35.  Many  changes  made  in 
 it  by  the  industry  of  man,  36.  Shall  be  destroyed  by  fire,  78. 
 Worship  of  God,  what  it  is,  309.  The  design  of  the  various  acts 
 of  it,  310.  The  Philosophers'  notion  that  the  varieties  of  wor- 
 ship were  acceptable  to  God,  210.  That  it  should  not  be  in  an 
 unknown  tongue  proved  from  reason,  Scripture,  and  the  prac- 
 tice of  the  primitive  Church,  310,  311.  When  the  present 
 practice  of  the  Church  of  Rome  was  introduced,  312.  Argu- 
 ments for  it  answered,  312,  313. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 Printed  by  Walker  ft  Greig, 
 Edinburgh. 
 
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