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AN ANALYSIS
EXPOSITION OF THE CEEED.
aonHon: C. J. CLAY, M.A. & SON,
CAMBBIDGE UNIVERSITY PEESS WAEEHOUSE,
AVE MAEIA LANE.
Cambritise: DEIGHTON, BELL, AND CO. ILeipjig: F. A. BROCKHAUS.
AN ANALYSIS
OF THK
EXPOSITION OF THE CREED
WRITTEN BY THE KIGHT REV. F4THER IN GOD,
JOHN^ARSON, D.D.
LATE LORD BISHOP OF CHESTER.
COMPILED, WITH SOME ADDITIONAL MATTER OCCASIONALLY INTERSPERSED, FOR THE USE OF THE STUDENTS OF BISHOP'S COLLEGE, CALCUTTA,
W! H? MILL, D.D.
lATB PKINCIPAI OF BISHOP'S COILEGE,
AND VICE-PRESIDENT OP THE ASIATIC SOCIETY OF CALCUTTA;
SINCE CHAPLAIN TO THE MOST EEVEREND AKCHBISHOP HOWLET;
AND REGIUS PROFESSOR OF HEBREW IN THE UNIVBRSITT OF CAMBRIDGE.
CAMBRIDGE: AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.
1884
^a-e.
C^ambritgc :
PRINTED BY C. J. CLAY, M.A. & SON, AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.
TO
JOSHUA WATSON, ESQ.
TO "WHOM, FKOM ITS FIRST FOUNDATION. BISHOP'S COLLEGE LIES UNDER GREAT AND PECULIAR OBLIGATIONS, THAT CAN NEVER BE ADEQUATELY ACKNOWLEDGED, THIS IMPRESSION OF ONE OF ITS PRINCIPAL TEXT BOOKS IS INSCRIBED, AS A SLIGHT BUT SINCERE TESTIMONY OF ADMIRATION FOR HIS LONG AND VARIOUS SERVICES IN THE CAUSE OF CHRIST'S CHURCH AT HOME AND ABROAD, AND OF GRATITUDE FOR MUCH PERSONAL KINDNESS AND FRIENDSHIP, BY
THE AUTHOR.
Calcutta, SeT)tember 6, 1837
ADVERTISEMENT
TO THE FIRST ENGLISH EDITION.
The present republication of a work, originally compiled for the use of the college in India over which the Editor presided for the first thirteen years of its existence, has been suggested to him by some whose judgment he respects, as likely to be of service to theological students generally. In complying with their wish, he has thought it better to retain those few properly Indian additions of which an account is given in his former Preface ; for while they may still be useful, in this enlarged impression, to missionary students in that Institution and elsewhere, they are not such as to interrupt to any the process of Bishop Pearson's argument into which they are inserted ; and while they may not be devoid of interest to the more inquisitive of general readers of divinity, they are so distinguished by brackets that they may be read or omitted at pleasure.
W. H. M.
Cambridge, Sept. 30, 18 13.
PREFACE
TO THE ORIGINAL BENGAL EDITION OF 18:i7.
Tlie most excellent Bishop Pearson, the very dust of whose writings is gold'', has the best known of his works exhibited here in a broken, but not a mangled form, to the theological student. It is a skeleton, not altogether divested of the flesh and blood that clothe it in the original Exposition, but so making the sinews to stand out from the main body, as to dis- play prominently to the eye, and thus to the understanding, the structure and coherence of the several parts : inattention to which, as the Editor has often remarked, deprives the reader of more than half the benefit to be derived from the Bishop's admirably reasoned text, and his richly erudite margin. And while the several heads, with their divisions and subdivisions, are thus graphically presented to the learner, the form of im- pression is such as to enable him to write opposite to each, in an interleaved copy, enough of illustration and remark on the several subjects, to form a compendious and well arranged body of Divinity for future reference.
Particulars have been occasionally added from more recent writers on the several topics of the work ; and the Analysis might, doubtless, receive much additional improvement in this
^ Dr. Bentley's Dissertation on the Epistles of Phalaris, p. Hi, 5. Ed. Lond. 1(599.
Vlll
way. But more freedom has been taken, in the first part, in the introduction of matter which no printed works could ade- quately supply, respecting toiDics that would be useful to a Mis- sionar}^ in India ; relating to those particular forms of the Pagan theology described in the Exposition, with which he would have especial occasion to contend, and against which it is desirable that he should be thoroughly furnished. Both these species of addition are distinguished by brackets.
In one instance only, tlie order of Bishop Pearson has been departed from, by restoring to the First Article, § 4, what he, in ti'eating of the Divine Omnipotence, had reserved to the close of the Sixth. And in one other instance only^ (p. 18.5), a difference of opinion from his has been intimated on a sub- ordinate part of the subject.
In bequeathing as his last legacy to Bishop's College, this impression of what has been long used in MS. as a text-book for the higher class in Theology, the Author has only to ex- press his ardent hope, that the true faith which respects these great objective realities of the Christian Creed, and the true vital religion which consists in conducting the practice con- formably to them, may there ever live and flourish.
W. H. M.
Bishop's College, Calcutta, Sept. 6, 1837.
1 Perh.aps the intimations respecting the interpretation of 1 Pet. iii. 19, &c. of our Lord's Descent to Hell, and what is suggested in an additional note on that article added to the Third English Edition, may require to be included in the above statement. But in no instance does this interfere with the fullest state- ment of Bishop Pearson's view in the text.
[Note 18.52.]
ANALYSIS
OP
PEARSON ON THE CREED.
ARTICLE I.
'I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER ALMIGHTY, MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH."
§ 1. "I BELIEVE."
"What three things are implied in the word CREDO, " I be- lieve," understood before every article of this confession (though expressed but twice)? and
First, With respect to internal Faith or Belief,
I. State what is its formal Object ; and how, with respect to
the object, it is distinguished from other modes of assent : viz.,
1. From Knowledge ; whether arising
A. From Sense or Perception,
B. From Intuitive Uoderstanding,
C. From Scientific Demonstration.
2. From mere Opinion.
II. State what is the measure of the Credibility of objects ;
and hence proceed to the great divisions of Faith in respect to the sources of that credibility, viz., 1. Human Faith. — Illustrate the principle of this assent, showing how it extends to all the con- cerns of human life, and proceeds through all
B
T BELIEVE. [APvT. I. § 1.
degrees up to the highest pitch of moral cer- tainty. Divine Faith, which is the proper subject of our present consideration. — In this,
A. Deduce the infallible certainty of the as-
sent thus bestowed
(1.) From the infinite knowledge and wisdom of the Testifier.
(2.) From His infinite justice and holi- ness.
B. Explain what is the nature of the Divine
testimony on which this Faith is founded ;
(1.) As to the nature of the truths about which it is conversant.
(2.) As to the mode of their communica- tion from God, which is twofold : viz.
a. Immediate, i. e. without the
intervention of other men : and that in the several ways a Of address by God in person, or through the ministration of an Angel representing Him, as in the delivery of the Law. yS Of extraordinary inspira- tion by His Holy Spirit. 7 Of actual presence among men in the person of His Incarnate Son.
b. Mediate : viz.
a By direct communication from those who had the truths immediately from God in either of the above ways (as Moses, &c., by the first; the Prophets by the second ; the Aj^o- stles and other Disciples of Christ by the third) ; wliich is the case with
AKT. I. § 1] I BELIEVE. 8
those whom Noah warn- ed, with the Israelites under the Theocracy, and the Jews and Gentiles who heard the Apostles' preaching. /3 When the same commu- nication is continued by the tradition of word and writing to distant regions and ages : which is the case of the great body of the Church of God both now and of old. With respect to these, show N That the exertion of Divine Faith is as possible as to those of the former class (b. a.) of mediate recipients, nay of the immediate hear- ers themselves. n That faith in the Holy Scriptures (in which the revelation is consigned) is an essential part of Di- vine Faith to these. (Quote Durandus's definition.)
Secondly, With respect to the external Confession of the faith thus explained. I. Prove this to be equally necessary to salvation with the internal principle itself,
1. From the nature and purpose of tlie truths re-
vealed by God : and especially those, in which we are now concerned, delivered by Christ and His Apostles to the universal Church.
2. From the separate consideration of all the parties
B 2
4 I BELIEVE. [ART. I. § 1.
concerned in the transmission of these truths : viz.,
A. The command of Him from whom they
proceed.
B. The benefit thus accruing to our brethren.
C. The consideration of our own concern in
the glory which is to be revealed, and which will never be ours, if we refuse this acknowledgment of the grace that has called us to it. TI. State the concern felt by the Christian Church accord- ingly, to secure this Confession of the true Faith in every one of her members ; as shown
1. In the framing of short symbols or Confessions
like this ancient one, commonly called the Apostles' Creed ; which the Catechumen was- te be taught and to repeat publicly before bap- tism, from the very first times of Christianity.
2. In the continual repetition of such Symbols in the
public worship of the Church, particularly when the Sacrament of the Eucharist was to be ad- ministered.
3. In the care taken to make this Confession most
special and personal to each individual of her communion, by making the form of it, both in baptism and subsequently, not plural (as in all the public prayers) but singular.
Tliirdhf, With respect to the obligation of thus believing and confessing, as declared in the word "Credo," — illustrate this
I. From the requisition that our Lord made of all those who
partook of His mercy when on earth.
II. From the confession which was by special Divine Revela-
tion made by St. Peter, as the chief and representative of the Apostles, on whose foundation the Church is built. Explain, therefore, finally, what we mean by these two first words " I believe."
ART. I. § 2.] I BELIEVE IN GOD. 5
§ 2. "I BELIEVE IN GOD."
The first Article of the Creed being a declaration of belief in Him, on whose divine testimony the faith of all the rest is founded (as above explained), consider —
Whether is the necessary pre-eminence of this fundamental article (as of the two others of which the Divine Son and Spirit are the objects) properly implied by the preposition " Credo in Deum," " I believe in God " (as our own usual language would seem to indicate, as well as the usual language of the Latin Church since St. Augustine) i.e. is it confirmed by any such significancy of the preposition thus annexed in the Scriptural Greek and Hebrew, whence it was derived to the Creed ?
What, then, are the three considerations involved in the pro- position " I believe in God " ? and,
First, With respect to the meaning of the term "God."
I. State the lower sense in which it is applied
1. To the object of religious worship, as such : and
thus of false worship as well as true.
2, To any beings raised above the common lot of
mortality; as A. To Angels. JB. To extraordinary men. (Quote passages of Scripture in which the word is thus used.)
II. Define its proper restrictive meaning as applied to the
One living and true God.
Secondly, With respect to the existence of the Being thus de- clared in the Creed.
I. Is the recognition of this Existence an innate or con-
natural motion of the mind of man ?
II. Is it a self-evident proposition, incapable of being even
conceived to be false ? in other words, is the opinion of Atheism such as cannot be entertained by any mind whatever ?
III. Proceed to the rational mode by which the existence of
God, i.e. of a necessary and self-existent Being, is demonstrated from other known truths — (the proper argument of Natural Theology, and as such mentioned
I BELIEVE IN GOD. [aRT. I. § 2.
and appealed to in Scripture) — viz., to tlio following considerations external and internal.
1, External; viz.
A. That the chain of effects and causes in the
universe requires us demonstratively to ascend to some Supreme Cause — itself more exalted than all, and therefore self- existent and eternal.
B. That since the operative causes in the uni-
verse are each directed to some end, (the arrangements of all the subordinate causes to this end being made to appear more manifestly artificial and admirable by every inquiry into nature,) of which end the proximate workers are wholly unconscious, — this demonstratively leads us to ascribe the design and full intelli- gence of all these ends to the Supreme Cause of all.
C. That this inference is so evident, so un-
avoidable, that no nation or tribe of men has been found altogether destitute of this first article of faith.
D. That beside these indications, which are
natural and universal, belonging to man as man — there have not been wanting extraordinary indications of the existence of a Supreme Cause of all things, by prophecies of future events and contin- gencies which none but Ho could know.
E. That there have been also miraculous in-
dications of His presence, who could alone suspend those laws of nature which are His own.
2. Internal; viz.
That every man has in his own breast a witness and representation of the Su- preme Lord, directing him (if he do not stifle its testimony) to a Power and a Judgment infinitely above his own, on which his being and happiness depend.
ART. I. § 2.] I BELIEVE IN GOD. 7
IV. Prove the necessity of tins primary truth and its acknow- ledgment.
1, Because there can be no other article of faith
Avithout this.
2. In order that there may be a foundation for that
religious worship and adoration, which has been thus proved by general feeling to be the common want of mankind. But as, to guard against the falsehood which has been generally annexed to this, we say in the singular that we believe "in God," so as to exclude Polytheism as well as Atheism; we therefore proceed to the next general head.
Thirdly, With respect to the Unity of this Being (which though not expressly inserted in this ancient Creed of the Latin Church, as it is in all those of the East, even before that of Nice, "/ believe in one God, the Father Almighty^' — is equally implied in the expression of all), — 1. Prove this most necessary adjunct to the assertion of the Divine existence,
1. From the nature of God ;
A. Because the very notion of a Supreme
Being implies independence.
B. Because whereas the arguments of the
first head compel us to ascribe all per- fection to the first Cause, this can reside only in one, — because
(1.) Were there two or more inde- pendent and equal, the full perfection is denied to all. (2.) Were one above the rest, perfection is denied to all but that one.
2. From the government over which He presides : viz.
A. Because two or more free and independent
Gods, would produce a confusion of causes in the universe.
B. Because the absolute unity of design is
evinced in the harmonious co-operation of innumerable subordinate causes in the world together, to common ends.
'8 I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHEll. [ART. I. § 3.
II. Deduce from these same considerations, that the Unity
of God is different from any other unity in the world, as being not one of fact only but necessity.
III. State the peculiar necessity of believing this Unity.
1. That we may have a definite Object of our entire
trust and adoration, and not fluctuate amonsr many.
2. That we may give to God that which is His, and
of which He has declared Himself peculiarly
jealous. Sum up therefore briefly the fulness of what is meant in this annunciation of the primary Article of the Christian Creed, "I believe in God."
§ 3. "l BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER."
Considering the relative term Father, ascribed to God in the first part of the Creed, either with respect to the Creation immediately following this, or to the correlative Son who is the subject of the second part of the Creed next following.
First, With relation to the whole Creation of which we are a
part, and the part principally concerned in the term as thus
applied, —
1. Show that the idea of Paternity, (though, as referred to
the Creation, in an improper and imperfect sense,) is
analogically applicable to God —
1. In its natural acceptation: i.e. in respect of
A. Generation or Production (which is the fun- damental notion) ; God being thus related, though not in the highest and only proper sense of the relation,
(1.) To all creation, inanimate as well as animate: as exemplified in the language of Scripture, and in what the religion of Nature
ART. I. § 3.] I BELIEVE IIS GOD THE FATHER. 9
has truly dictated even to the Heathen world. (2.) In a more peculiar, though still far from strictly proper sense, to the rational part of the creation — both to superhuman beings, and to mankind; as exemplified from the same sources as above.
B. Conservation (a notion consequent on the
preceding original one of generation) : God being thus related strictly both to all creation, and specially to the rational part.
C. Restoration from a state of nothingness or
worse than nothingness (this being an ana- logical species of generation, with conserv- ation superadded) : God being thus related to any part of the rational creation who have fallen into misery of any kind. Exem- plify this by the language of Scripture.
D. Regeneration (or second generation) : where-
by (with the same exclusion of the strictly proper sense of generation) God is thus related as a Father —
(1.) To the spirits of those among mankind who are renewed from a state of wrath to a state of Grace through the Redeemer. (2.) To the whole persons, souls and bo- dies, of those among Christians who, having been faithful to death, are raised up through the same Redeemer to the state of Glory. Prove this sense as well as the preceding from Scripture. 2. In the voluntary and civil acceptation; viz., as that which the laws have admitted to stand instead of natural Paternity — in respect of
A. Adoption: whereby God is related as Father to those whom He has received into His family by grace ; after the natural pater-
10 I iJKLlEVE IX GOD THE FATHER. [aRT. I, § 3.
nity by generation [I. 1. A. (2.)] had been set aside through the forfeitures of the Fall. B. Inheritance: which is consequent upon adoption as upon natural generation. 11. Show the necessity of believing in God as our Fathei in these several respects,
1. As the ground of all that reverence and obedience
which God challenges from us expressly on account of this relation.
2. As the necessary ground of all Christian prayer,
as shown in its perfect pattern, as well as in the other instructions of Christ,
3. As the sole foundation of Christian patience ; by
giving to all afflictions whatever, their best and only real alleviation.
4. As supplying the only basis of that imitation of
God in which Christian obedience consists.
Secondly, With relation to the "OxXLY Son" hereafter men- tioned in the Creed. I, Show that this particular of faith in God, as being the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
1. Implies a Paternity eminent not only in degree
but in kind; and that not only above the lowest sense of Paternity arising from creation, but above those arising from regeneration and adop- tion, and which is also the sole foundation of these; since God could not thus be our Father, unless He were, in the eminent and only perfect sense, the Father of our Lord. [Prove this from Scripture. Quote jDarticularly John xx. 17, with Ej)iphanius' Gloss upon it.]
2. Is indeed the original proper meaning of this
article of the Creed ; as being the fundamental position of that faith which is properly Christian, and required as such to be confessed by all before baptism. Prove from the Apostolic History and from the form of Baptism itself, that such is its rank.
3. Does not need for its suj^port any modern distinc-
ART. I. § 3.] I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER. 11
tion between the Father considered personally
and essentially. 11, Explain the Paternity thus distinctly and eminently pre- dicated of God the Father with respect to His Son Jesus Christ.
1. In the inferior senses (which though not reaching
the highest and only proper sense of Paternity, express the relation of Father to Jesus Christ in a higher degree than to any one else of mankind): viz.
A. From His miraculous conception of the
Virgin Mary, by the Holy Ghost, as Jesus the Saviour.
B. From the special commission and autho-
rity imparted to Him by the Father, as Christ the King of Israel.
C. From His being the first begotten and
first alive from the dead, the head of the regeneration and resurrection of the sons of God to a life of immortality and incorruption. Quote Scripture for this, as for the preceding two grounds in their place.
2. In the true and perfect sense of Paternity, as
related to the Only-begotten Son, antecedentlv to His incarnation and mediation — viz.,
A. From the identity of Nature between the
Father and the Son, in which the proper notion of that relation consists: which when applied to this divine generation implies Eternity, together with other infinite attributes, in the Son as in the Father.
B. From the unity of Essence, not only
specific, but individual, by which this Divine Paternity and Filiation stand infinitely above all created ones; (in which the identity of nature between father and son admits of all kinds of accidental disparities.) C. From the circumstance that this perfect
12 I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER. [ART. I. § 3.
identity of Essence and of all Divine attributes in the Father and in the Son, nevertheless consists with that whereby one is the Father and the other is the Son: viz., with that eternal communication of the same Nature and Attributes from the former to the latter, in which consists the great mystery of tliis Generation. Observe here
(1.) That the priority in order (not in time) of the Father, "who is of none, neither created nor begotten," is described as His essential prerogative in the Holy Scriptures. (2 ) That this original order is the ground and source of the mu- tual relation of these Divine Persons in the economy of hu- man redemption, in which the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world, and is not the result of that economy [as the modern supporters of a co-ordinate Trinity suppose]. (3.) That the order of the three Per- sons in the ever-blessed Trinity is unchangeable, founded on the eternal relation of each to the other. (4.) That this priority of order in the Father as the Fountain of Deity is essential —
a. To vindicating the con- stant language of Scrip- ture with respect of these Divine Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; which the Church in her Col- lects and Offices, as well
ART. I. § 4.] I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER ALMIGHTY. 13
as in all her Confessions, has faithfully observed, b. To securing the true and fundamental doctrine there taught of the "One God the Father," in whose Unity there have subsisted from all eter- nity the Son by Him eternally begotten, and the Spirit from both eternally proceeding ; (instead of the tritheistic conception involved in the co-ordinate view that excludes this gene- ration and procession). III. Show the necessity of thus believing the Paternity of God the Father, as the foundation of Christian faith.
1. For avoiding all confusion and approach to Poly-
theism in our worship.
2. For producing that access of us to the Father, to
effect which (through one Divine Mediator and by one Divine Spirit) is the great object of the economy of grace in the Gospel. Sum up therefore this primary article of our Christian Reli- srion — Belief in God the Father.
§ 4. "I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER ALMIGHTY."
Hespecting the epithet "Almighty," immediately added to the confession of belief in God by the Church militant, as it is to the adoration of Him above by the Church triumphant, as de- scribed in the Apocalypse, — the Greek word IlavTOKparcop here used, as by the writers of the New Testament after the Alex- andrine interpreters of the Old, may be taken with reference to
14 I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER ALMIGHTY. [ART. I. § 4.
two different Hebrew words of which they make it severally the representative. And,
First, Considering the "Lord God Almighty" as the most nsLial translation of the common Hebrew title "Jehovah God of Hosts" (nixny or Sabaoth, this word being fre- quently left untranslated), and consequently as the ex- pression of God's absolute Dominion in the Hosts of heaven and of earth, —
I. Establish this Dominion in its three several branches,
which are :
1. The right of making all things as it plcaseth Him,
the necessary foundation of what follows : viz.
2. The right of possessing all things thus made by
Him as his own : the Omnipotence of God in this respect consisting
A. In the Independency of this Dominion,
both
(1.) As to the original of it; being received from none :
(2.) As to its use ; there being no other real proprietor, all else being but his stewards.
B. In the Infinity of the Dominion ; whether
(1.) As to its extent : having no boundary or termination either in things visible or in- visible.
(2.) As to its nature : which is abso- lute and unlimited.
(3.) As to its duration : which hath no end.
3. The right of using all things, thus created and
owned by Him, as He will : the Omnipotence of God here consisting in His directing all things for the benefit of His creatures and to His own glory as to the final end.
II. State the use of acknowledging this supreme and abso-
lute Dominion,
1. For promoting reverence and subjection.
ART. 1. § 4.] I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER ALMIGHTY, 15
2. For promoting equanimity and resignation, under every dispensation of the Divine will.
3. For exciting to gratitude,
Secondly, Considering the word UavTOKpc'nap as the constant translation of another Hebrew title of God, viz. Shaddai (•"''!!^), by which is denoted His All-sufficiency and power of Himself, without the intervention of any of the hosts of His subjects to execute His will, — in which His dominion stands distinguished in kind from that of all lower poten- tates ; (which sense of power in operation is expressed more distinctly in ^ the second division of the Creed by the word YiavTohvvaixo'^y though the Latin word Omnipotens is the same in both places) —
I. Explain this notion of Omnipotence ; implying
1. Power: i. e. the ability to perform or to produce
what is desired to be performed or produced.
2. The infinity of that power : viz. the ability to per-
form or produce every thing that is thus desired.
II. Prove that this absolute Omnipotence is in God, —
1. By the testimony of Scripture ascribing this attri-
bute to Him.
2. By the necessity of the case ; evincing against all
possibility of objection, that He is Almighty,
A. Because He is the sole foundation of all the
power that is in the creatures, — and, there- fore, the power which sustains them can- not be less than infinite.
B. Because there is no resistance to His power
or effectual opposition to what He decrees.
C. Because His active power necessarily extends
to all things in the universe, i. e. to every possibility, or every thing whose existence is not a contradiction. Shofv^ here, against some heathenish objections, that the appli- cation of this to whatever is abstractedly
^ Bishop Pearson accordingly reserves the consideration of this second head, viz. Omnipotence of operation, to that part of the Creed which follows Christ's Ascen- sion and Session at the right hand of God. But in this Analysis it is thought better, in this instance onlj', to depart from his order, and to transfer what he has there written on the subject to this, which is undoubtedly its most natural. and proper place.
1(1 I RELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER ALMIGHTY [ART. L § 4,
possible only, is no limitation of the uni- versal power of God : —
(1.) Because that which involves a con- tradiction in itself is a nonentity, and comes not within the de- scription of a thing or actual existence. Give an instance. (2.) Because that which, involving no contradiction in itself, yet in- volves an essential contradiction to the character of the Agent, would argue a defect in Him, if admitted, instead of a perfection ; and therefore the denial of it derogates nothing from the Om- nipotence ; [e. g. that God cannot sleep, suffer, &c. ; or morally, that God cannot lie].
III. Prove that this absolute Omnipotence is in God only.
1. Because the Power of every creature being derived
from Him, and subordinate to Him, is necessarily limited by that subordination, and therefore not universal.
2. Because this is not denied by the assertion here
and in the beginning of the Creed, that God the Father is Almighty — whereas the Son and the Holy Ghost are also Almighty, by being included in the Unity of the same eternal God- head : for while it follows that we cannot say with truth, that the Father only, as such, is Almighty, it yet remains eternally true that God only is Almighty.
IV. Show the necessity of a belief in this Omnipotence.
1. To produce fear, reverence, and entire submission.
2. To be the ground of every other belief, in revealed,
as well as in natural, religion.
3. To produce reliance on the Divine promises as
graciously revealed to us ; agreeably to the great patterns of faith in holy Scripture.
4. To give life to our devotions : in which respect it is
commonly annexed to the Lord's Prayer.
ART. I. § 5.] MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH. 17
Thirdly, Considering this word UavTOKparcop in two furtlier senses which some ancients have ascribed to it,
I. Show how, in the original meaning of the Greek, the all-
pervading and all-comprehending nature of the Divinity may be thought to be thus expressed.
II. Show how, in the same word, the all-holding with the
all-sustaining and all-preserving power of Him who is the Creator of all, may be likewise understood. Sum up therefore what is contained in this great epithet applied to God.
§ 5. "MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH."
With respect to the attribute of Creation annexed to God the Father Almighty,
First, As to the object of that Creation: viz. "Heaven and Earth,"— I. Declare its meaning and extent as including all things :
1. Establishing this definition of the terms
A. From the equivalent expressions in the other
ancient confessions of faith.
B. From the use of these terms in the Scriptures,
from which the words of the Creed are taken (and from which their truth can be infallibly established,) both of the Old and New Testaments,
C. From the use of the same in the heathen
Greek writers.
2. Adding the necessary limitation to this universality,
and the only one : viz. all things beside God the Creator.
3. Illustrating this article of the Christian faith, that
all things beside the self-existent Being derive their
existence from Him, —
A. From the analogy of the artificial works of man, fashioning according to his will the unconscious materials in nature.
C
18 MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH. [ART. I. § 5.
B. From the pre-eminence of the meanest works
of Nature above the highest of Art, and the gradations by which the former sur- pass each other also in dignity and excel- lency.
C. From the further gradations of sentient and
intelligent beings, the meanest of which is
vastly superior to the greatest of inanimate
nature.
IT. Establish and defend this truth, that all besides God
have but a derived and dependent being, against the
errors by which the earliest and most universal tradition
on the subject of the Cosmogony was darkened by the
vain speculations of men : viz.
1. Against Pantheism : i. e. the opinion that the universe is itself God, or of the Divine essence ; [the doctrine of the Egyptian schools, and some of the later Pythagoreans and others among the Greeks — also of the Indian Brahmanical theo- logy, as exhibited in the Upanishads or mystical parts cf the Vedas, and their commentators the Vedantists — as well as of Spinoza and some more recent Germans ;] the fancied founda- tions of which opinion in the reasoning of some ancients
A. State in their several particulars : viz.
(1.) The axiom of Ocellus Lucanus and Aristotle, that what begins must end, and its consequent negative.
(2.) Their notion of the TO HAN
[f^^^l, the Universe.
(3.) Their imagination that all Cos- mogony implies a generation of the same kind as that of the animal and vegetable world.
(4.) The axiom which they lay down, Ex nihilo nihil fit.
B. Refute by declaring the opposite truth, —
not resting upon any criticism of the word "Create," and its corresponding
ART. I. § 5.] MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH. 19
words in Hebrew and Greek, but upon the testimony of God Himself as to the fact: viz. as we find it
(1.) Unambiguously declared by the inspired historian of the Cre- ation. (2.) Received by the people of God ever after; as shown
a. In the Old Testament.
b. In the testimony (though
extra-canonical) of those that lived between the two Testaments.
c. By the Apostles of Christ
in the New Testament: and then,
d. On this authority be-
lieved by all the Chris- tian Church, who have attached this special meaning to the word "create," viz. of creat- ing yro7?i 7iothing.
2. Against the doctrine of an independent TAH, or Matter coeval with God Himself, out of the atoms of which He merely fabricated the world as men build houses of pre-existent materials — [the doctrine of almost all the later Theists among the Greeks, who were not Christians — of all the Indian theistical schools except the Vedantic, particularly the Nyaya, and those of the Sankhya that are not Atheists]. This doc- trine, resting on the same arguments nearly as the Pantheistic notion above stated and refuted, (which has the advantage of this in point of simplicity and apparent reverence for the Deity,) refute by arguments specially belonging to it: viz.
A. From its opposition to that Independence of God which every argument for His existence requires,
C2
20 MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH. [ART. I. § 5.
B. From its repugnancy to the equally neces-
sary notion of God's infinite joower and all-sufficiency.
C. From the necessary failure of analogy be-
tween the dependent creature and the self-existent Creator in this respect.
D. From the failure of that analogy between
the generation of the world and that of plants and animals, which is assumed in the reason 1. A. (3.)
E. From the equal failure of the analogy on
which the supposed axiom 1. A. (4.) is
built. in. Distinguish the several kinds of created beings, as we find them in the divinely inspired Cosmogony of Moses : viz.
1. Those made immediately from nothing, or created
in the strictly proper sense. [Which original creation is apparently distinguished in the his- tory of Moses from the formation of the actual world in the Six Days ; neither is it, in the construction of the text, necessarily linked to the latter in point of time.]
2. Those made out of previously created sub-
stance.
Secondly, As to the nature of the Act, viz. Creation, which has been sufficiently considered in the Ilnd division of the first head.
Thirdly, As to the Agent: viz. God, considered with reference to this great act of His power : viz. I. As moved to this production of the universe not by any- external impulsive cause, (which were a contra- diction, as QYQYj pretence to consider the acts and existence of God a priori must necessarily be,) but by His own infinite goodness — choosing thus to multiply and reflect itself in the creature. With respect to this, 1. State how the Heathens, who saw this truth, were led from the consideration of the eternal
ART. r. § 5.] MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH. 21
attribute of goodness in the Creator to the Pantheistical error respecting the creatures. 2. Show how that wrong and dangerous consequence is obviated by distinguishing between what is necessary and what is not, in the consideration of the Divine beneficence : which leads us to view God
II. As free in that act : no other determinate cause existing for it but His will. With respect to this,
1. Observe the stress laid by the sacred writers on
this point (e.g. Psalm xxxiii. 9.) that with God simply to will is to effect ; a truth which in its mere enunciation by Moses as to the first expressed act of the world's creation, excited the attention and admiration of the Heathens for its sublimity.
2. Observe, that though it is essential to this free-
dom that God might, if He had so pleased, have created the world at any point of dura- tion, or even from all eternity, we are bound by the testimony of the Divine oracles to be- lieve, that God did in fact make the world we inhabit at no indefinitely distant period of time, and that the creation of man certainly is within eight thousand years from the pre- sent time; (viz., B.C. 4004, if the numbers of the patriarchal generations are correctly read in the Jewish copies; but about B. C. 5800, if the LXX reading of the Bible be true, — and somewhat between these two ac- counts, if the Samaritan Pentateuch exhibit the real text of Moses in those numbers). Prove this most important fact — the recent age of the world, [ — or more properly of man and the world in which he dwells: since the ago of these is not necessarily linked to that of the heavens and the earth universally, as may be observed in reference to certain geo- logical objections; (See III. 1. of the First head) — -J
A. By showing the utter want of evidence.
22 MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH. [ART. I. § 5.
and contradiction to known facts and history, in the pretences opposed to it, which the vanity of some ancient nations has induced them to set up,
e.g.,
(1.) The pretended records of the Egyptian Dynasties, as pub- hshed by Manetho in the time of the Ptolemies, (as- cending, as they do, far above the times stated by Herodotus and others, who were inquisitive observers of Egyptian affairs long be- fore, very soon after the long line of the indigenous Pha- raohs was closed.)
(2.) The pretended astronomical observations of the Chal- dgeans for many thousands of years before Alexander, (reduced on accurate inquiry to the more moderate and just period of 1903) with calculations of celestial phe- nomena for all that time: (calculations of eclipses, &c., unless accompanied with re- ferences to actual observa- tions, proving nothing as to the actual age of the earth, sun, and moon: inasmuch as when the astronomical elements of their position and orbits are once accu- rately known, they may be calculated for the future and past alike without limit.)
(3.) [The extravagant duration as- signed by the Indian Brah- mans to the three ages of
ART, I. §. 5.] MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH. 23
the world preceding the pre- sent, the Cdli Yuga, which commenced 3102 B. C, and is to last according to them 432,000 years — whereas the Dudpara Yuga, their brazen age, lasted double that time — the Trita Yuga, or silver age, triple — and the Satya Yuga, or golden age, the period of Vishnu's earliest incarnations, quadruple — (thus making the com- mencement of the world (B. C. 3,891,102: i.e. four millions of years from the present time,m2n%s 107,060) : and (4.) Still more the monstrous opi- nion of the same persons, which ascribes to the whole Mahd Yuga, (=4,820,000 years) comprehending all the four ages of the world, a continual repetition after successive periods of de- struction : all these, with the yet greater includingperiods of the Manvantara and the Calpa or day of Brahma (which=1000 Mahd Yugas = 14 Manvantaras) , — going round in ceaseless cycles of renovation and dissolu- tion.]
B. By remarking the unequivocal signs which the world actually exhibits of a recent origin — (quoting the remark- able verses of the Roman Epicurean Poet, by which he confutes on this ground the doctrines of endless cycles,
24 MAKEll OF HEAVEN AND EARTH. [AKT. I. § 5.
then propounded by some Greek as well as Eastern pliilosopliers) : viz.
(1.) The novel dates of arts and sciences and all useful in- ventions.
(2.) The fact that all genuine tra- ditions of the several nations of the world, that ascend beyond the period of au- thentic history, are confined to the same period of time, as the Mosaic account im- plies, and are all terminated by some recollection, more or less distinct, of the Flood.
(8.) The impossibility of account- ing satisfactorily for this limited extent of the world's earliest traditions, by any hypothesis of endless cycles of depopulation of former tribes of men; — excepting only that to which these records do indeed wonder- fully conduct us, the uni- versal Deluge.
(4.) The real agreemeut of the an- cient cultivated nations — Egyptians, Chaldeans, In- dians, and Chinese — with this great fact, when the ad- ditions of national vanity or priestly imposition are al- lowed for. [The commence- ment of the present age called Cctli Ynga, B. C. 3102, (nearly identical with the pe- riod which the LXX Chro- nology assigns to the De- luge), is an instance in India :
ART. I. § 5.] MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH. 25
as tlie fable of the destruction of the world by water at the close of each Manvantara (and the deliverance of the just Manu with his seven companions in a ship pre- pared at the command of Brahma), is an evidence of the tradition of the Flood itself.]
III. As One in this great act of Almighty power; being both Himself the only God, and neither receiving nor re- quiring aid from other beings. With respect to this 1. State the contradictory opinions which the per- plexing speculations respecting the origin of evil introduced among the Gentile philosophers to corrupt the original tradition on the subject ; and especially those which Heathen influences, joined with an impatience of Christian mys- teries, formed into heresies in the early Church : viz.,
A. The doctrine of the Persian Magi, that
the evil in the universe was created by an evil Deity, as the good by the good God : whence Manes derived his heresy among the Christians.
B. [The doctrine of the Indian Brahmans
also, that the evil in the world presup- poses evil, in its Divine Creator : so that though the Divine Essence (or hraJwia,) in its original uncreating form (in which emancipated spirits be- come absorbed into it) is pure from all qualities — yet in its connexion with matter and the world, in the triple form of Creator, Preserver, Destroyer, (Brahma, Vishnu, Siva,) it assumes necessarily the three qualities, viz., passion and darkness, as well as virtue : and that while virtue is especially attached to the Preserver, and its
26
MAKER OF HFAVEN AND EARTH. [ART. I. § 5.
opposite darkness to the Destroyer, — the intermediate quality of imssion is ascribed as an especial characteristic to the work of the Creator.]
C. The similar doctrine universally prevalent
in the philosophy of Western Asia — attributing a morally imperfect, if not a positively evil, character to the De- miurgus, or Creator of the world : a doctrine by which the various Gnostic sects very early endeavoured to adulte- rate Christianity (imputing the Law and the Old Testament to this Creator of the world, the New Testament alone to the pure God).
D. The very different doctrine of the Arian
heresy, indigenous among Christians; which denies the Catholic faith, by declaring that in the creation of the world God used the agency of a created Being; — such as is the A6709 in their perverted theology. 2, Refute those Manichean and Gnostic errors, as did the ancient Fathers, by the declaration of the Christian truth, that there is no nature substantially evil ; that moral evil, i. e. con- tradiction to the purpose and will of God, is not a substance but a mode ; and consequently, that whatever becomes of the intricate and in- soluble question of its origin, the great truth of natural and revealed religion, that God made " all tilings very good," remains unimpeached. IV. As characteristically the Father (the Father of all — and of His Son in particular) in this work of creation: though the Deity in all its plenitude of person and operation, was certainly concerned and engaged in it, as the Scripture declares, and all Catholic Christians have ever believed. In this respect,
1. Show the propriety of the special mention of God the Father as Creator, in this and all the ancient Creeds. — •
ART. I. § 5.] MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH. 27
A. From the close accordance of this with
the usual order and language of Scripture; stating the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, as such, to be the Maker of all things.
B. From the nature of the case in its ap-
plication to ourselves : God as the Father, being the light in which our primary relation to God as His crea- tures and dependents induces us to resrard Him ; whereas the restitution of that relation to us, through the in- carnate Son, and by the sanctifying Spirit, is especially the object of the Gospel revelation, as distinct fro the natural theology that respects the Creator. 2. Prove that the absence of that same special men- tion of the Son and the Spirit with reference to the creation, in this Creed, (though their participation in the act is expressly included in the Creeds of Nice and Constantinople,) is by no means intended to deny the funda- mental Christian truth, that without those sacred Persons nothing was made : inasmuch as this sole mention of the Father arises from other grounds, both totally inconsistent with such exclusion : viz.
A. From the necessity in the early days of the Christian Church, of particularly meeting the most ancient and perni- cious Oriental heresy above men- tioned : viz., that the Son of God, coming from the bosom of the pure ineffable Deity, came to redeem the spiritual part of man from the hands of the Demiurgus, or material Creator : a heresy best met by stating in the words of the Apostle, that the Father of the Kedeemer was Himself the Creator, —
28 AND IN JESUS. [art. II. § 1.
the Creator of matter as well as intel- ligence,— of things visible as well as invisible. B. From the priority of Paternity before explained : by virtue of which, what- ever divine property or operation is predicated thus primarily of the Fa- ther, becomes by necessary conse- quence true of the Word and the Spirit, who are eternally and essen- tially One with Him.
Fourthly, As to the importance of thus recognizing God as the Creator : explain how it is necessary —
I. For the conception of God's glory as reflected from all
His woi'ks, and through them only made naturally intelligible to us.
II. For the humiliation of man, as a part, and a small and
vile part only, of this immense Creation.
III. For the production of willingness and universality in our
obedience to His will.
IV. For a most fertile and never-failing subject of meditation
and study, and of comfort under every condition and circumstance. Sum up therefore this final clause of the first Article of our Creed.
AETICLE II.
AND IN JESUS CHRIST HIS ONLY SON OUR LORD."
§ 1. "AND IN JESUS."
In the appellation " Jesus Christ," which characterizes the next great object of Christian belief, — distinguishing between the proper name and the official title, — we begin with the former, or the nomination strictly so called. And,
ART. II. § 1.] AND IX JESUS. 29
First, Respecting the ordinary use of the name " Jesus," — state
I. The time when, according to constant Jewish usage, the
name was imparted to our Lord.
II. The commonness of this particular name : mentioning
some instances of others to whom the same proper designation belonged ; viz
1. Of persons coeval, or nearly so, to our Lord Him-
self, recorded in the New Testament, or by the great Jewish historian not long after.
2. Of one eminent and pious person some few cen-
turies before, the author of one of the most excellent of the extra-canonical writings of tlie Jews, and of one of his ancestors.
3. Of the high priest at the time of the building of
the second temple by Zorobabel — (and of others in the Old Testament). Of the first on record to whom this name Jesus belonged, so designated in the New Testament throughout, as by the Alexandrine interpreters of the Old, — the great leader of the people of God to the land, of promise. With respect to him mention,
A. What was his name originally.
B. By whom and on what occasion that modi-
fication of the former name took place which made him Jehoshua, yK'in", or by contraction yiB''' It^o-ou? [the latter form being that which is given to his name and that of the subsequent Joshuas in the books of Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah, that were writ- ten subsequently to the captivity in Babylon].
Secondly, Respecting the import of the name, explain,
I. Its proper signification of Saviour, belonging to the He- brew root ys^"" [the collation of which with the Arabic «_^. shows its original signification to be that of en- largement from straitness or distress], and common to this with other names from the same root ; and par- ticularly to that^ which was the former name of that
30 AND IN JESUS. [art. II. § 1.
great cognominal tjrpe of our Lord, the conqueror of the earthly Canaan, Iloshea, the son of Nun. II. The peculiarity of this form of the name, as solemnly bestowed by Moses (instead of the preceding Hoshea) on him, from whom that appellation descended as an ordinary one to the Israelites of after ages — and with reference to that event, which made him a type of the Saviour of the world : remarking particularly
1. That this was no alteration of name ; as in some
other similar cases.
2. That it was but the addition of one, and that
proverbially the smallest and most common, of the Hebrew letters. S. That the letter "> thus solemnly added (when taken in conjunction with the following n still retained in the earliest exhibitions of the name,) is not unaptly understood, as it has long been by Jews and Christians, to point to the ineffable name of the LORD, (Jah or Jehovah) as the Author of the salvation of which Joshua was the instrument. [Cf. Michaelis, Supp. Lex. Hebr. p. 1177.]
Thirdly, Respecting the applicability of the name thus expres- sive, though so common, to the actual Messiah or Christ, (though not descr^ibed by this His proper name, in the ancient prophecies ;) — I. Infer the importance of the application,
1. From the fact of the double Angelic message by
which it was prescribed, as soon as the long expected Incarnation took place : viz.,
A. First to the Virgin Mother at the Annun-
ciation.
B. Again to her husband, the guardian and
reputed father of our Lord, shortly before the Nativity.
2. From the apparent stress which, on the latter of
these occasions, the Angel lays on the Agent — ATTOS aooaei — thus specifying Him as the Divine Saviour, whom the substitution of this form Jehoshua for Hoshea in the first bestowal
ART. II. § 1.] AND IN JESUS. 31
of the name by Moses is understood to denote peculiarly. 8. From the remark immediately subjoined by the evangelist, that this interpretation of the name was the fulfilment of the prophecy, that the child of the Virgin should be called " GoD WITH US."
II. Further illustrate the propriety of this application of a
name denoting a Saviour, and peculiarly a Divine Saviour, to our Lord,
1. From the custom of the Heathens to give the
title of Saviour to their gods.
2. From the title of Saviour bestowed on those who
delivered the people of God from various tem- porary evils. 3 From the emphasis with which this appellation is bestowed on the Eternal Deliverer, not only in the annunciation of the name to His mother, but in the promulgation of the title, on His actual birth, to those who then represented the people of Israel .
III. Prove the exact truth of the application,
1. From Christ having revealed, in a more eminent
manner than any other Prophet or Apostle, the way and means of salvation.
2. From His having not only revealed, but Himself
also procured, the means of salvation by the sacrifice of Himself.
3. From His not having only revealed, and merito-
riously procured, the means of salvation, but from his applying and conferring it by His in- tercession and by His kingly power in His state of exaltation in heaven ; from which the faithful expect Him as their final Deliverer hereafter. IV. Confirm the truth and propriety of the application by the
retrospection to the former inferior and typical saviours,
and specially,
1. To the great ruler and deliverer of the people of
God from the bondage of Egypt.
2. To him who in this respect of a final Saviour,
bore the character of a representative of our
'*>2 AND IN JESUS, [art. II. § 1,
Jesus, even as distinguished from the greater leader, his predecessor, who gave the Law ; remarking here
A. The imperfection of Moses which was
supplied by his servant and successor — denoting the imbecility of the Law, to be supplied by the Gospel ; viz.,
(1.) In respect of not reaching the
promised land. (2.) In respect of the covenant of circumcision made with Abra- ham long before ; which was formally repeated on behalf of the Israelites at large, not to Moses but to his successor.
B. The special acts of Joshua when succeed-
ing Moses, having a respect to the acts of the greater Jesus to come : viz. (1.) The commencement, by pass- ing over Jordan. (2.) The designation of the twelve tribes of Israel, and marking out their inheritance. (8.) The smiting and exterminating all the enemies that impeded their settlement in the land of promise ; with several par- ticulars relating to this.
Fourthlij, Respecting the expressiveness to ourselves of this ever-blessed name of Jesus, to which all things in heaven and earth are to bow, and the importance of our thus personally acknowledging Jesus our Saviour, — Show this
I. From such belief and confession being the only prescribed
means of our participation in the salvation which He has wrought for us.
II. From its being the only means of our joy and delight
in the glad tidings of the Gospel.
III. From its being the means of raising and exciting that
supreme love to the Saviour, which is the indispens- able mark of all His true disciples.
ART, ir. § 2.] AND IN JESUS CHRIST. 33
IV. From its being the only introduction to a right estima- tion of, and a cordial obedience to Him.
§ 2. "AND IN JESUS CHRIST."
We proceed from the proper name Jesus, by which even His enemies termed Him, to the title Christ, (never used as a proper name by our Saviour, nor applied to Him when on earth except by His chosen followers, nor by them till ex- press revelation had told them that this appellation did in reality belong to Jesus their Master,) which is in Greek pre- cisely equivalent to the Hebrew Messiah. And
First, Respecting the interpretation of this title n''K'D, or XPI2TOS, state
I. The action denoted by it ; as used in the ancient world
among Heathens as well as Israelites.
II. The sacred significancy of the act amongst the people of
God ; as aj^plied
1. To things.
2. To persons.
Secondly, Respecting the expectation of a person to whom this sacred title was to belong in a most eminent and peculiar manner, of which all preceding unctions were bat figures and precursors, — state
I. The generality of this expectation at the time of our
Lord's advent, —
1. Among those who founded their expectation on
the Law and the Prophets conjointly.
2. Among those who rejected the Prophets, though
they received the Law.
II. The ground of this general expectation, as contained
1. In the Divine Revelation before the Law.
2. In the Law.
8. In the inspirations of the Prophets. 4. In the constant tradition of the children of Israel,
D
34 AND IN JESUS CHRIST. [ART. II. § 2.
whereby the hope excited by these scattered passages was kept alive, and their apphcation to One person commended as the received expo- sition of all authorized interpreters —
A. By means of the ordinary worship of the
Hebrew nation even in the dispersion.
B. By the use of translations and paraphrases :
when the knowledge of the old language of the sacred text was perishing. III. The time when, according to the Divine oracles, this expectation should be realized : as it may be gathered
1. From the prediction, before the Law, of the
ancestor of Israel, concerning the coming of Him to tvhom the Sceptre should rightly belong, not only over Israel, but over the gathered Gentiles.
2, From those of the Prophets, since the Law, who
spake of the building of the second temple, in which Christ should appear, and whose de- struction should be shortly preceded by the accomplishment of His great mediation ; all pointing, as did the earlier prophecy, to a part in the history of the world which has now been long since past.
Thirdly, Respecting the fulfilment of this expectation of the Christ in the sole person of Jesus our Saviour, — prove
I. The appearance of Jesus of Nazareth, "who is called
Christ," the Founder of the religion since universally known as the Christian, at the precise time when this expectation of the Christ or Messiah was to be real- ized.
II. The correspondence of His attributes of fortune and sta-
tion with those which the Prophets assigned to the expected Messiah : viz.
1. With respect to family : that He was descended A. From that tribe of Israel, from which the Jews universally, as distinct from the Samaritans, did constantly, even in the midst of their most corrupt traditions on the subject, expect their great Messiah or
ART. II. § 2.] AND IN JESUS CHRIST. 35
Christ to come, as announced by their forefather Israel expressly. B. From the particular family in that tribe, of that anointed king of Israel, whom the history and the Prophets of the holy nation descril)e as raised up specially for this end ; to be in this respect the great type of his anointed Son.
2. With respect to place : that He was
A. Born in the same town of Judaea with his
royal type and progenitor : viz. that which of old distinguished his particular family and race, antecedently to their royalty, and possession of Jerusalem.
B. Realizing in this respect the description of
the Prophets who speak of the future Christ as about to illustrate, more emi- nently even than the great king then past, the fortunes of that still humble place.
3. With respect to the mode of His birth : accom-
plishing in this respect also the characters assigned by the Prophet. III. The yet more remarkable correspondence of the volun- tary acts and attributes of Jesus, with those which the Prophets assigned to the Christ : viz.
1. With respect to His Doctrine : that He was
A. A Teacher, as the great Lawgiver before
announced, and as the Prophets often declared He should be.
B. Higher, accordingly, both in authority
and matter than all since Moses ; and even than Moses himself, to whom God spake face to face
2. With respect to His Acts : that He was
A. A performer of those special works which
the Prophets of old announced as marks of the coming Messiah.
B. Greater in this respect than all that the
world, or that the chosen people of God, had ever seen.
3. With respect to His Sufferings (in which was
D 2
36 AND IN JESUS CHRIST. [aRT. II. § 2,
the gi'eat stumbling-block of the Jewish ex- pectants) prove ; nevertheless —
A. That sufferings were foretold in the most
express manner by the Prophets of the expected Deliverer of Israel.
B. That those sufferings are predicted of the
same person as the triumphs, viz. of Christ the King: as may be proved from the evident terms of those pro- phecies against the recent Talmudical Jews, who refer the latter alone to Messiah the son of David, and the former to another imaginary person, Messiah the son of Ephraim.
C. That the sufferings thus described by the
Prophets of the One expected Messias, are minutely verified in what the evan- gelical history records of Jesus of Nazareth : viz.
(1.) In respect of contempt; all the preceding circumstances of His life wanting that which would procure Him external homage from the people, not- withstanding the dignity of His person and descent. (2.) In the actual pains inflicted on Him, in most minute and re- markable particulars : as dis- played—
a. Before His death ; in
the several circum- stances of wrong and indignity which He suffered.
b. During His death ; when
they reached their ut- most intensity.
c. After His death ; the
circumstances of hu- miliation extend inor
ART. II. § 2.] AND IN JESUS CHRIST. 37
even beyond it, though these were soon ex- changed for triumph and exaltation. IV. The wonderful correspondence of the great fruit and effect of these acts and sufferings of Jesus Christ, with those which the prophetic Scriptures foretel as closely concomitant with the acts and sufferings they ascribe to the coming Christ or Messiah : viz. 1. With respect to the immediate effect itself: that all the heathen nations should flock to the standard of Christ, and embrace the faith of the God of Israel in Him. Show
A. That this effect, the most unlikely to all
human apprehension, was involved in all the prophecies of the common De- liverer.
B. That it did in fact follow, by immediate
consequence, the passion and resurrec- tion of our Lord: viz. the aggregation (1.) Of those devout Gentiles [called proselytes of the gate by the Rabbins] who adopted the worship of the One God of Israel, without becoming sub- ject to the Law. (2.) Of the Gentiles at large, before involved in idolatry and super- stition. 2. With respect to the fact in that consequence which was the great stumbling-stone to the selfish Israelites in their expectation of the gathering of the Gentiles to their anointed King, viz. the obliteration of the distinction between Jew and Gentile: show
A. That this effect also is distinctly ascribed
by the Prophets to Christ, as well as inseparable from all their predictions of the conquest of the Gentiles, when spiritually and truly understood.
B. That it was in fact, most immediately
88 AND IN JESUS CHRIST. [AHT. II. § 2.
and most wonderfully, the fruit of the humiliation and exaltation of Jesus our Saviour. 3. With respect to the decisive proofs here afforded of this effect, — and consequently all its pre- ceding causes, and the Scriptures that told of each, — being from God alone: show this
A. From the doctrines of the new faith:
which contained
(1.) The condemnation of all the religions of the greatest part of the world, and of the high- est in arts and arms among the rest, in favour of the re- ligion of a small and despised corner of the world, and even of a teacher rejected and cru- cified by them.
(2.) Precepts, the most opposed to carnal inclination.
(3.) Promises, which are all invisible, and addressed to higher prin- ciples than any worldly in- ducements could reach.
(4.) Predictions of what was to be the actual fate in the world of those who personally pro- mulgated this religion — pre- dictions uttered by their Lord, and accomplished in their whole lives.
B. From the condition and station in the
world of both the Founder and His earliest witnesses: being such as could bring nothing but shame to the pro- ject of converting the world, if that project could be conceived to be of man. C. From tl'.c mode of conduct pursued by them in their undertaking: proving throughout that they depended on, and
AET. II. § 2.] AND IN JESUS CHRIST. 39
were solely maintained by, the super- human power of God.
Fourthly, Respecting the manifestation of the peculiar import explained to belong to the term Messiah, or Christ, in the actual work of Him who was thus expected and announced, and who thus fulfilled the expectation. State
I. The typification of the great Messiah as such, no less
than the prediction of His acts, under the whole dispen- sation: as shown in the solemn unction
1. Of Kings.
2. Of Priests.
3. Of Prophets.
II. The realization of this character of the "Anointed," in
Him who alone of mankind occupied the threefold office which it denotes (while the most eminent of His types occupied, at the most, but two of the three): when we behold Jesus Christ, as the order of our salvation requires Him to be regarded, — 1. As our great Pro23het:
A. Anointed or commissioned to this office ex-
pressly by the Divine Spirit, as the Prophets of old declared.
B. Prefigured as such by all inferior Prophets,
who have been like Elisha anointed and commissioned to that sacred office.
C. Accredited as the great Teacher of the Divine
will ;
(1.) By the preparatory testimony of one who was himself on that very ac- count declared to be a Prophet, and more than a Prophet.
(2.) By the audible voice of the Father, and the visible descent of the Holy Ghost on Himself, the Incarnate Son, whom men should hear.
(3.) By the testimony of His own works.
D. Discharging that office,
(1.) By His perfect preaching of the Di- vine counsel and will while on earth. (2.) By His Spirit teaching and informing
40 AND IN JESUS CHRIST. [ART. II. § 2.
His Churcli more fully than ever before, after His ascension to heaven. 2. As our great High Priest:
A. Anointed as was Aaron to that most sacred
office, and prefigured by him and all his descendants, the Priests of the (Mosaic) Law: nevertheles.s,
B. Not belonging to their order, nor even to
their tribe in Israel (the tribe of Levi, which alone could minister in sacred things under the Law), but to a tribe of which the Law "said nothing as concerning? the Priesthood," the royal tribe of Judah.
C. Prefigured in that peculiar character, in which
He was to supersede and abolish the legal and typical Priesthood of Aaron, by another and more ancient type: whose eminence is shown — (1.) In uniting in one person (unlike them)
the offices of Priest and King. (2.) In being (unlike the Aaronic Priest- hood) without recorded succession and change of sacerdotal adminis- tration. (3.) In being superior to the Father of the Faitliful himself, from whom Levi and Judah and all their descendants, both priestly and royal, sprung.
D. Discharging that office,
(1.) By becoming a self-offered sacrifice for sin, as represented and imperfectly .shadowed forth in the priesthood and victims of the Mosaic Law.
(2.) P)y continuing, by His intercession at God's right hand, the sacerdotal office of applying the merit of His sacrifice, whereby He remains a "Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedek."
(3.) By blessing men, which He does in turning them from their iniquities,
ART. II. § 2.] AND IN JESUS CHRIST. 41
in that immortal life to which He rose after His passion. 3. As our glorious King:
A. Anointed like David, His father, to that office ;
as that royal Prophet and all the subse- quent ones have largely foretold.
B. Announced as such to the Blessed Virgin, His
mother, by the Angel that bore the message of the incarnation.
C. Announcing Himself in that character by
words occasionally, and symbolical acts during His humiliation; and receiving that homage from those who believed in Him.
D. Actually inaugurated as such upon His ascen-
sion to heaven ; and taking His seat at God's right hand, where all power and majesty is His.
E. Discharging that office,
(1.) By ruling the heart and conduct of His people not only outwardly by precept, but inwardly by grace.
(2.) By aiding them powerfully and pro- tecting them against all the obstacles of their salvation.
(3.) By making them finally Kings and Priests to God and His Father.
(4f.) By vanquishing enemies, viz.
a. Temporal enemies ; as exempli-
fied in the conqviest and de- struction of the Jewish state that had rejected Him from being their King.
b. Spiritual enemies; as
a. All who virtually deny Him and are opposed to His cause and king- dom.
/3. Satan, Sin, and Death, the last enemy.
Fifthbj, Bespccting the mode in which He who was thus emi-
42 AND IN JESUS CIIUIST. [aRT. II. § 2.
nently Christ, the Messiah or Anointed, received the unction of the peculiar offices thus unfokled; state,
I. The matter of that sacred unction by which the Prophets,
Priests, and Kings were designated to their respective offices: viz.
1. The particular prescriptions respecting this sub-
stance in the Law.
2. The particular stress laid on it under the Theo-
cracy, and the reference to the future Messiah.
3. The tradition of the Rabbinical Jews; which,
whether true or false as to the fact mentioned, declares their sense of its typical importance and connexion with the Messiah.
II. The spiritual thing of which that oil was the type; viz.
the Holy Ghost with which Christ was anointed,
1. At the instant of His incarnation; i.e. on the
conception of the blessed Virgin, as the Angel announced to her.
2. At the solemn inauguration of His baptism. On
wliich remark,
A. That this latter unction did not supersede
that former one, which is coeval with the humanity of our Christ: (according to the notion of the Nestorians, who divided his person; and maintained, that Jesus was not united to the Christ before that baptism by John).
B. That the double unction of His eminent
type in the character of the Christ, first as designated successor to the rejected but yet reigning Saul (who had also received the royal unction from the same minister of God), and secondly, as His rightful actual successor in the kingdom (first of Judah, then of all Israel), did not in like manner preju- dice the validity or fulness of either, as coming from the same source.
C. That the latter unction denoted His actual
entrance on the great work of His Prophetical ministry— for which His
ART. II. § 2.] AND IN JESUS CHRIST. 43
previous life of thirty years was a pre- paration— and on the execution, soon after, of His further ministries as Priest and King of the Israel of God. III. Tlie sufficiency of this spiritual unction to satisfy the object for which the anointing with oil was so care- fully enjoined in the Law ;
1. With reference to the end of the injunction;
which was,
A. To signify the Divine election of the person.
B.. To qualify the person for the reception of the Divine influx, which should enable him to discharge his duties.
2. With reference to the instrument employed ;
in which the holy inspiration fully answers the significancy of the material substance,
A. In the richness and excellency ascribed to the oil of olive by the ancient Israelites. £. In the freedom from corruption ascribed to it.
C. In the aromatic substances joined with
oil in the solemn unctions.
D. In its being applied to the head of the
King or Priest, thus inaugurated. -£/. In the effusion with which the unction was to be accompanied.
Sixthly, Respecting the necessity of believing and confessing this gTcat and most distinguishing titular adjunct to the name of our Lord. Prove this.
I. Because He could not be to us Jesus, i. e. a Saviour,
unless He were also Christ.
II. Because the confession of this character, in which He
was specially designated and declared from the found- ation of the world, as the Head of a chosen seed and the introducer of a kingdom of everlasting righteous- ness, is the great engagement for us to forswear all that is inconsistent with that kingdom, which we thus
41 HIS ONLY SON, [AKT. II. § 3.
profess (against the Jews) to have been ah-eady begun upon the earth.
III. Because the offices which belong to Him as Christ, are
thus only engaged in our behalf to lead us to sal- vation : viz.
1. By His character of a Prophet, to lead us to the
obedience of faith.
2. By His character as Priest, to produce in us
adherence, assurance, and entire resignation of ourselves to Him, as His r^^deemed people.
3. By his character as King, to produce allegiance,
confidence, and hope.
IV. Because this alone instructs us in the extent of the
obligation implied in the sacred name of Christian; and of that unction from the Holy One which we therefore need, to walk worthy of that calling, in con- formity to Him whose living members we are required (as we profess ourselves) to be. Sum up, therefore, in few words what is meant by confessing our Lord Jesus as the Christ.
§ 3. "HIS ONLY SON."
The appellation of our Lord in the Creed, being immediately followed by the assertion of His Filiation ; in discussing this, Ave must consider
First, The account of this designation : viz.
I. Tracing it from the annexation of this title to that of the
Messiah as an inseparable adjunct, —
1. In the expectation of the Jews.
2. In the application of the term made by the
Apostles to the true Messiah.
II. Stating the only variation between this Creed and the
Oriental ones, in the expression of this article of the Catholic Faith.
Secondb/, The explanation of it : stating how Jesus Christ is the Son of God, —
ART. II. § 3.] HIS ONLY SOX. 45
I. In several inferior senses ; in which the term is attached
to Him, as our Mediator, in several places of Scripture (to be severally quoted) : viz.
1. On account of the conception of Jesus, by the
more immediate and miraculous power of the Spirit of God, of the Virgin Mary.
2. On account of His designation to His office as
Christ by the will of the Father.
3. On account of His being the first begotten of
the Father from the dead by the quickening power of the same Divine Spirit.
4. On account of His exaltation and consequent
inheritance of the highest title in the family of God.
II. In a sense higher than all these : which is required — as
well from the insufficiency of either of the preceding four senses, or all of them, to constitute Jesus Christ the only Son — as from the necessity of providing a foundation for them all : (since as the 4th depends on the 8rd for its being, and these presuppose those Di- vine operations in the constitution of the Incarnate Son which appear in the 2 ad sense, and in the 1st which is the source of all the others: — so also does even that first ground of His Sonship, as Mediator, re- quire an antecedent foundation). Now that there is such a fundamental sense, in which Jesu.s Christ is truly and properly the Only-begotten Son of God, an- tecedently to His Incarnation and Mediation, — explain and prove in the following five particulars : viz.
1. Because Jesus Christ the Son of Mary existed before He was thus miraculously formed from her by the power of God — and consequently in a nature different from that which He then for the first time received. Demonstrate this pre- existence (against the Photinians of old, and the modern Socinians, who impugn it) —
A. From the fact, constantly asserted throughout the whole New Testament, that He came down to earth from that heaven to which He reascended with the full rights of inheritance. Prove
46 HIS ONLY SON. [ART. II. § 3.
the impossibility of referring this to any thing else than a higher and pre- existent state of the Son of God : inas- much as
(1.) Between the Conception and the Ascension, (the extreme points of the four inferior grounds of Christ's Sonship as Mediator,) no other nature was received by our Lord than that in which He Avas born of the Virgin. (2.) What was thus derived from the Virgin had its origin and progressive being here on earth : and could not be in heaven till it ascended thither after His resurrection from the grave. (Prove this point in particular against the monstrous fiction of Faustus Socinus, who attempted to explain those passages of our Lord being in heaven, by imagining a local ascension thither between His birth and public ministry. Show that there was no such until His great ascension which follow- ed His triumph over death, — and which f(yr the first time exalted our humanity to the heavenly places above.) (3.) The assertion that the Son of God is thus in heaven, must therefore imply a local and actual presence there in His antecedent mode of existence. B. From the necessity of carrying back this pre-existent state of the Son of God, — (1.) Before John the Baptist : who.
ART. II. § 8.] HIS ONLY SON. 47
as a man, was our Lord's senior ; but who nevertheless declared constantly not only his inferiority in dignity, but his posteriority as to time. Show this from Scrip- ture. (2.) Before Abraham. Prove this in particular against all the attempts of the Socinians to distort the unequivocal asser- tion of our Lord to the Jews, who accused Him for blas- phemy for thus speaking.
(3.) Before the reproduction of the world after the Flood : which may be directly concluded from a passage of St. Peter, (as well as by certain conse- quence from the places of Scripture under the following (4)th and (5)th divisions,) if the words "by the Spirit" and "He went" are rightly interpreted of a prior preach- ing, and not of one in Hades : i. e. if we consider
a. The Spirit as [not
Christ's spirit opposed to His flesh, (accord- ins: to the most ob- vious meaning,) but as] the Holy Ghost ; and the dative Trvei- fiaTt as not local, like its correlative aapx], but potential, viz. " hy the Spirit^
b. The persons addressed,
viz. those "who were sometime disobedient,"
4S HIS ONLY SON. [art. II. § 3.
as having been ad- dressed at the time of their disobedience, viz. while the ark was building. (4.) Before the creation itself of the old world ; which prove to be undeniably true from the Scriptures: since
a. He by whom we are
now created after the Divine image is de- scribed as being also He by (or through) whom we were first created,
b. All things are said to be
made by Him : and thence also — (.5.) Lastly, before all worlds and from all eternity : which point (though denied by the Arians who admitted all the preced- ing four) is demonstrated with equal certainty from the Scriptures. 2. Because the nature which the Son of God thus possessed antecedently to His conception in the Virgin's womb, was no created nature, but es- sentially Divine. Prove this against the Arian and all other adversaries —
A. From the fact of His creating the world :
both the reason of the case, and the Scriptures which certify of that fact directly assuring us that He to whom that properly divine act is ascribed, is the Divine AOFOS, the essential Power and Wisdom of God.
B. From the manner in which His Incar-
nation or susception of humanity is spoken of in Scripture ; the Divine
ART. TT. § fi.] HIS ONLY SON. 4f)
nature being as distinctly and properly predicated of Him as the human, and in the same form of words : proving (1.) That He was in the form of a servant when He became man. (2.) That He was in the form of God before He was in the form of a servant. (.3.) That His existence in the form of God is as true as His sub- sistence in the form of man; the "form" being in both instances the nature itself.
C. From the eternity, as to all past as well
as all future time, which He distinctly asserts of Himself.
D. From the vision of His glory as seen on
more than one occasion in past ages ; being described in such terms, as to prove the identityof this glory with that of the self-existent and eternal Beinof.
E. From the name of God being distinctly
ascribed to the man Christ Jesus in Scripture in such a manner as to ex- clude every improper and inferior sense of the word: proving (1.) That the absence of the article in the important places where this is distinctly predicated, does not prove, as is igno- rantly pretended, the inferior nature of the Son's Godhead, but is grammatical, required for every predicate. (2.) That the ascription of the in- communicably divine name is marked and impregnable in many passages: [in the great majority of which the reading is unquestioned: while in the E
50 HIS ONLY SON. [ART. II. § S.
passage 1 Tim. iii. IG, even if for ©C (©eo?) we adopted the only other admissible reading, viz. 'OC, it would still relate to fdeov ^coi^to? as its antecedent — a parenthesis intervening — and thus prove the same point still: and in the passage, Acts xx. 28, the most probable of the other readings besides the received Tou ©eoO — viz. Tov Kuptou KuL ©eou — still proves the same.] (3.) That the circumstances annexed to the term "God" show the One living and true God to be alone intended. o. Because the divine essence thus possessed by our Lord antecedently to His humanity, is com- municated to Him from the Father. Prove this —
A. From the absolute Unity of the Divine
essence; to which the existence of more than one original hypostasis of Divinity would be repugnant.
B. From the relation of the two Persons of
the Godhead: as attested by the con- stant manner in which the Incarnate Son of God speaks of His acts, even of His divine acts, with respect to the Father; and of the glory in which Ho was with the Father before the world was.
C. From the entire unalloyed communica-
tion of the whole nature and properties of the Deity : by which this ineffable mystery is distinguished from the low anthropomorphitic conceptions of the Heathens (whether the ordinary Pagan Theogonies or the Gnostic emana-
A1!T. IT. § n] ITTS ONLY SON. 51
tions) ; ami whereby tbe Son is, in respect of essence and Divinity, fully equal to the Father who begot Him.
4. Because this communication of the Divine essence
is what is termed in the oracles of Scripture the Generation of the Son. And here,
A. Prove the assertion of such an eternal
Generation of the Son of God, (1.) In the New Testament, which
exhibits His manifestation to
man. (2.) In the ancient Scriptures, which
with more or less clearness
announced this.
B. Show that as to the essential notion of
generation — viz. the communication of the same nature to another subject — this Generation, while it answers, trans- cends also, all analogy in created beings.
5. Because this Generation or communication of the
Divine nature is described as being absolutely peculiar to Him as the Only-begotten Son : on which subject,
A. Show against some ancient opponents,
that the " Only" here does thus refer to the person of the Son, not to that of the Father, as the only source of His being.
B. Show against the modern Socinians, and
other (so called) Unitarians, that the term Movoyevr]^ cannot be explained away into " best beloved."
C. Show the application of the term, thus
vindicated doubly from misapprehen- sion, to our Lord: and here
(1.) Obviate the difficulty arising from created beings being called the sons of God, from the consideration that this is an inferior and improper E 2
52 HIS ONLY SON. [ART. II. § 3.
sense (i. e. not according to the strict import) of the term son. (2.) Obviate the apparently greater difficulty arising from the Holy Spirit, whose essence and nature is undoubtedly identical with that of the Fa- ther and of the Son, but who is never called a Son of God, appearing to interfere with the integrity of this title of Only-hegoiien. On this high subject, on which we rest altogether on the Divine tes- timony, remark,
a. That the emanation of
the Holy Ghost from the Essence of the Divinity is never termed generation or production in Scrip- ture, which the Church language constantly follows, but procession merely.
b. That in created sub-
stances, there are pro- cessions of consub- stantial things, with- out generation.
c. That the procession of
the Holy Spirit of God (compared to that which is in man the nn TTvevfia or breath) — is referred both to the Father and to the Son, as its source.
Thirdly, For the necessity of this article of Faith; exhibit it in its bearing —
ART. ir. § 4.] OUR LORD. 53
I. Oa the confirmation of our belief and tidst in His meri-
torious work as our Mediator and Redeemer.
II. On the due honour and estimation to be ascribed to Him
as our Lord.
III. On our due thankfulness to God for His infinite love in
giving His only-begotten Son for our salvation; the great argument for all Christian purity and virtue. Sum up, therefore, in few words the momentous truth of Christian belief expressed in these words, " His only Son."
§ 4. "OUR LORD."
Respecting the next name of Jesus Christ the Son of God — viz. " Our Lord," — which in the la.nguage of the Holy Scriptures is not merely a descriptive adjunct to the title of
. Christ, but itself a proper title or appellation ; so as singly and separately taken to mean Him only : —
First, Show the meaning of the term KTPI02 in Scripture — L Generally with respect to all species of dominion; and
peculiarly amongst men. II. In its eminence of signification as applied to the Supreme
King. And here,
1. As a characteristic description of God with re-
spect to Dominion and All-sufficiency ; trans- lating respectively the titles ""ins Adonai and nK' Shaddai.
2. As peculiarly translating that name nin^ Jeho-
vah under which the self-existent Deity was divinely revealed to Moses. Showing,
A. The peculiar expressiveness of this appli-
cation by the Hellenists of the term Kypto?.
B. Its propriety ; from the coincidence of
its Greek root Kvpoi with that of the Hebrew name.
54 ouu LOUD. [art. it. § 4-.
Secondli/, Show the application of this name to our Lord Jesus Christ,—
I. Even in the last most eminent meaning ; viz. as a trans-
lation of the incommunicable name mn^: that name being applied to Him repeatedly in the ancient Scrip- ture : but more especially
1. In the characteristic description of the Christ by
Jeremiah the Prophet.
2. In that which is incidentally annexed to the
account of His forerunner by Malachi, as cited on three several occasions in the New Testa- ment, and so as to prove in each the identity of Christ the Lord with the Lord Jehovah, viz.
A. By the father of the forerunner on his
miraculous birth.
B. By the Angel to that father before it.
C. By our Lord Himself long after, when
pointing to the forerunner, and apply- ing the prophecy to him.
II. In the descriptive sense of Dominion; viz. as a transla-
tion of '•nX- And here,
1. Show that this sense is not only consistent with
the higher meaning (of Jehovah), but pre- supposes it.
2. Distinguish this dominion of Christ, according
to His twofold nature of God and man, into A. The Dominion actually and necessarily possessed by the Divine Word, Creator of all things : and confessed, as such, even after the Incarnation. JB. The Dominion bestowed upon the man Christ Jesus, as such, by the Father; of which the grant was not till the accomplishment of His mediatorial work ; i. e. not till the resurrection. And in this also make a twofold dis- tion between
(1.) What is attached to the eco- nomy of redemption, and is therefore to cease at the close
ART. 11. § 4] OUR LORD. 65
of the ages of this world ; and (2.) That which is inseparable from His humanity and connexion with His redeemed brethren ; and which, since they are everlasting, must be ever- lasting also. Show this from the Scripture.
Thirdly, Show the extent of the Lordship thus ascribed to Christ,—
I. As to its objects universally, as declared in Scripture.
II. As to mankind in particular, whereby He is peculiarly
" our Lord " —
1. By the original right of Creation and Preserva-
tion.
2. By Redemption (according to the eminent sense
of the Creed) : whereby we are His by a double right ; viz.
A. That of Conquest : having been rescued
by Him from the Adversary's power under which we were before detained.
B. That of Purchase: having been (con-
trary to the ordinary process of hu- man conquest) obtained by Him at a price no less than infinite. Which right of purchased possession is con- firmed and perpetuated further by Promotion and by voluntary Obliga- tion : i. e.
(1.) By His providing for us all that is necessary for our continuing members of the household of God, of which He is the Lord and Head. (2.) By our having bound ourselves to His service in our bap- tismal engagement.
Fuurthli/, Show the necessity of believing and professiug this article of faith.
56 WHO WAS CONCEIVED (and born). [art. III. § 1.
I. For the discovery of our actual state, and relation to
Christ.
II. To produce obedience to Him : viz.
1. Enforcing it to Him as the Lord by right of
Dominion.
2. Inviting it to Him as Christ the Lord, by sanc-
tions and considerations that should effectually move the will to that recognition.
III. To afford a rule for the adjustment of all inferior do-
minions on earth.
IV. To supply comfort and encouragement in all conditions. Sum up, therefore, what is implied in this concluding cir- cumstance of the primary Article of Christian belief.
AETICLE III.
WHO WAS CONCEIVED BY THE HOLY GHOST, BORN OF THE VIRGIN MAEY."
§ 1. "WHO WAS CONCEIVED (AND BORN)."
State what is the difference between the older Creeds (of which we have an example in the Constantinopolitan addition to the Nicene Creed) and this of our Creed in the latter editions of it, as to the conception and birth of Christ. — And what is important to be observed on this, that we may view the two clauses in connexion, (as being both of the Virgin Mary, and both hi/ the power of the Holy Ghost,) and thus learn the whole sense of the ancient Church on this Article ?
Beginning however with the subject of the whole Article, implied in the relative pronoun " Who", prove
First, That Ho of whom tliis is said, being true God from ever- lasting, is nevertheless neither the Father nor the Holy Ghost, but He alone whose eternal generation and domi- nion and lordship have been before severally proved.
ART. in. § 1.] WHO WAS CONCEIVED (AND BORN). 57
Secondly, That in His being conceived and born, we imply a true and entire participation of the same nature with other men : viz.
I. Of a true human Body; and not an apparent one, as
some ancient heretics (the Docetae) taught.
II. Of a true human Soul: refuting that notion of some
ancients and moderns, that the A6709 or Divine nature of Christ supplied the place of a soul to His human body, and that He had no informing soul beside this; which is the Apollinarian heresy.
Tldrdly, That in this entire assumption of human nature He did not cease to be, as to His Divine nature, the same as before; the two natures of perfect God and perfect man remaining in the same subject, but entirely distinct: viz.
I. Without commixture or confusion of the two [as implied
in the monophysitic confessions of the Armenian, Coptic, Abyssinian, and Syrian Jacobite Churches]: which prove to be impossible.
II. Without conversion of transubstantiation of one into the ; other : — either
1. Of the Divine to the Human (as the first Flemish
Anabaptists said — which show to be a gross absurdity and impossibility); or
2. Of tlie Human to the Divine — which is the
ancient Eutychian heresy: the vanity of which supposed transubstantiation evince as the Fa- thers did.
Fourthly, That the doctrine proved under the preceding heads, — viz. that of the Eternal Word made perfect Man in body and soul, Avithout affecting the distinctness either of the Divinity or the Humanity — (thus preserving the personal identity against the heresy of the Nestorians, and the distinctness of natures against the opposite heresy of the Eutychians and other Monophysites) — is not a bare scho- lastic speculation, but a most indispensable and fundamental truth in Christianity. Shovv this from the very words of Scripture concerning our Lord; establishing the truth of the Church's determinations in the third and fourth (Ecumenical Councils.
58 BY THE HOLY GHOST. [aRT. III. §. 2.
§ 2. "BY THE HOLY GHOST."
Witli respect to the power and operation through which this Conception of our Lord by the Virgin was effected; viz. "By the Holy Ghost" — prove
First, That this assertion of a special Divine power excludes
I. The natural agency of any human father whatever, and
particularly Joseph to whom the mother of our Lord was espoused. Refute here from Scripture the asser- tion of Priestley and other English Socinians (called Unitarians) that Joseph was the father of Jesus. n. Any extraordinary power in her from whom the promised seed of the woman was born.
Secondly, That the assertion includes an extraordinary operation
of Divine power, by which the Virgin was caused to be a
mother, in every respect as other mothers ; and thus
L Not forming the human nature of the substance of Deity,
so as to imply any paternity whatever in the Holy
Spirit, — but of the substance of the mother only:
and also
II. Not forming this human flesh and nature of Christ of any
other substance than that of the Virgin: by which alone He is the "rod from the stem of Jesse," made of the seed of David after the flesh. Refute the strange notion of the old Polish Socinians on this head.
Tldrdlij, That the belief in this operation of the Holy Spirit of God in the conception and birth of Jesus Christ our Lord is necessary, L In order to prevent all suspicion of any taint of original sin in Him who knew no sin, and was tlierefore mani- fested to put away our sins.
II. In order to our recognition of the freedom of the Divine
grace — preventing all human holiness or merits.
III. In order to our being made holy after the pattern of
Him into whose mystical body we are engrafted ; antl that by the same Spirit which sanctified His all-holy Conception and Nativity. And then sum up what is implied in this part of the Article.
ART. m. § 3.] BORN OF THE VIRGIN MARY. 59
§ 3. "BORN OF THE VIRGIN MARY."
With respect to her, of whom our Lord Jesus Christ was thus couceived and born — consider
First, Her name, viz. DnD; which is always exhibited by the ancient interpreters of the Old Testament Mapia/u. (the Masoretic vowel punctuation making it Miriam), — the final m being left out in the description of the Blessed Virgin in the Greek of the New Testament for the convenience of inflexion (though all the ancient Eastern versions, the Syriac, Arabic, &c. retain the full name :>Q-i^Ld Mariam) : a name remarkable —
I. For its apparent import, expressing exaltation; thus
answering the import of her eucharistic hymn.
II. For its first recorded possessor, the sister of the first
Lawgiver of Israel and of their first High Priest; and coupled with them by the Prophets as a joint leader of the redeemed people from Egypt; so as to answer in some typical respect to the place which this Mary bore instrumentally in the means of human redemp- tion. [Observe the passage from the Koran in which the first Mariam {^.f<) is absurdly confounded by the Arabian false prophet with the mother of our Lord.]
III. For its being ever since a common female name in Israel — as instanced by four or five contemporary examples in the New Testament, and also by the wife of Herod the Great (whose name is Hellenized by the addition of vr], as Mariamne).
Secondlij, Her descent: respecting which
I. Nothing is directly recorded by the Evangelists —
1. Even concerning her tribe in Israel; unless a very
common modern mode of reconciling the genealo- gies in St. Matthew and St. Luke bo adopted, which supposes the latter of the two to contain the pedigree of Mary instead of Joseph: (which cannot be without great violence to the words of the Evangelist).
2. Concerning her immediate parentage, certainly
nothing, either in Scripture or in Apostolical tradition : for the story of the Protevangeliura
60 BORN OF THE VIKGIN MARY. [aRT. III. § 3.
respecting her parents Joachim and Anna can be traced no higher than the fourth century, and was esteemed doubtful by St. Augustin. II. It is notwithstanding certain that she was of the tribe of
Judah — of the house and lineage of David; which
appears not only
1. Antecedently — from the necessity that Christ
should be of that tribe and family after the flesh: but also
2. Historically — from her being enrolled with her
husband at the city of David, which proves her kindred ; though the marriage itself would not necessarily do so: (her kinswoman, Elizabeth, being not only married to a Levite of the house of Aaron, but of that tribe herself, while yet related to Mary either by blood on the mother's side, or by alliance).
Thirdly, Her condition — expressed by her inseparable and con- stant designation "The Virgin." Respecting this
I. Prove from the prophetical Scriptures that Christ was to
be born of a pure Virgin ; viz.
1. That this was indicated certainly, though obscurely,
in the first promise of a Deliverer from sin.
2. That it was intended also, (however the interpre-
tation may have been questioned,) in that pro- phecy which comforted Rachel weeping for her captive children by the assurance of the birth of a Redeemer.
3. That it was stated most certainly and explicitly
also by Isaiah before this. Mention and refute the endeavours of the later Talmudical Jews to evade the force of this prophecy.
II. Prove from fact that Mary of whom we now speak was
accordingly a Virgin; viz.
1. Such at the time of the Conception of Jesus Christ.
2. Such at the time of His Birth, as it is most ex-
pressly asserted in Scripture : and most neces- sary to be believed by us.
3. And as it is most piously believed, continuing
such ever afterwards; i.e. after bearing that one Holy Seed, which alone removed Eve's curse
ATIT. III. §. 3.] BORN OF THE VIRGIN MARY. 61
and stain from mankind. Prove at least, against ancient and modern dissentients, that the com- mon opinion of the Fathers on this point cannot be confuted from Scripture; viz.
A. That Matt. i. 25, does not contain or necessarily imply the contrary asser- tion, as many parallel places plainly show, — but is merely an affirmation of the necessary truth, that Mary was a Virgin ^vhen she brought forth the Saviour. 7?. That the term TrpwroTOKo^; in St. Luke's account of the Nativity does not con- tain any such implication. 0. Much less does the circumstance of our Lord's having "brethren" denote it, as the ordinary language of the Scrip- tures declare: and inasmuch as those two who are most especially named as brethren of our Lord had certainly another mother than Mary the wife of Joseph. Show this from the Gospels.
III. Show that this Virgin did become properly the mother
of Jesus Christ our Saviour: viz.
1. By a true conception of Him, whereby He was
truly formed of her human substance, agreeably to the prophetic Scriptures, and the declara- tions of the Apostles, especially St. Paul to the Galatians.
2. By the gestation and nutrition whereby the
"Holy Thing" thus formed in her was sup- ported, according to the natural order of gene- ration.
3. By the parturition and actual birth.
IV. Show that by virtue of the three particulars above men-
tioned the blessed Virgin was
1. The actual mother of Jesus Christ, the Incarnate
Word, even beyond ordinary maternity. And moreover
2. By virtue of the union of the two natures of God
and man in His One undivided Person who was the Mediator between God and man, she
(i2 BORN OF THE VIRGIN MARY. [ART. III. § 3.
was in a true sense the mother of our Lord and God. A truth which the ancient Church in the council of Ephesus (in order to guard against the Nestorian heresy, which denied this personal union, the source of human re- demption) expressed by the word Beoro/co?, translated Deipara: the Church ever meaning by this the mother of God according to His human nature (and guarding it in the subse- quent council of Chalcedon against the abuses which the Oriental sects that confused the natures in our Lord would fasten upon it).
Fourthly, The necessity of believing this, viz. that our Lord the Only-begotten Son of God was thus born of the Virgin Mary as man ; —
L For our proper and due reverence of that highly favoured among women, who was thus by the voice of the Angel of God to be called Blessed by all the gene- rations of mankind: an honour proclaimed to be hers by the specially inspired voice of her kinswoman even before the birth of the Holy Child; and which we should be careful to observe, and at the same time to guard (as the primitive Church did) against all idola- trous abuse.
II. For our proper estimation of His person, in whom alone the honour paid to His Mother or to all His Saints should terminate; viz.
1. That we should be assured of His actual hu-
manity and participation of the nature of all His brethren of mankind.
2. That we should be assured equally of that in
which He differed from all, viz. His immacu- late purity and exemption from that stain which the first Adam propagated to all his other de- scendants beside this.
3. That we should be assured of His being born of
that tribe and stock to which the prophecies pointed that spoke of the redemption of Israel and the world. Sum up therefore what is contained in this confession of Christ our Lord as born of the Virgin.
ARTICLE IV.
'SUFFERED UNDER PONTIUS PILATE, WAS CRUCIFIED, DEAD, AND BURIED."
§ 1. "SUFFERED."
In this capital Article of the Christian Creed, the Passion pro- perly constitutes but one subject ; the older Creeds, like the Niccne, giving it jointly wth the Ciiicifixion in one clause : though as there were other sufferings antecedent to the great suffering on the Cross, the subdivision of this Creed is ad- missible. Beginning, therefore, generally with the Article of Passion or Suffering, we are to consider —
First, Who it was that suffered : and that in two respects, official and personal ; viz. I. The Messiah or Christ suffered as such. To make good which point, prove
1. That Christ was to suffer, as our Lord always told His disciples, and as we are able to prove also to those who would not receive His words ; viz. A. The Prophets of Israel under the inspi- ration of the Divine Spirit distinctly taught that the promised Seed of the woman, who should bruise the serpent's head, should be first bruised Himself by suffering. Quote the most remarkable instances. J). The only mode of evading the force of this testimony respecting the suffering and the exalted Christ — which is by making these tivo different persons — is
(1.) Obviously false : inasmuch as no Christ — consequently no suffer- insf Christ — was to come from
G4 SUFFERED. [aRT. IV. § 1.
the tribe of Ephraim to which this opinion refers Him [though the Christology of the erring Samaritans expected the univer- sal Teacher from that tribe]. (2.) A recent invention of Jewish in- fidelity after the rise of the Gos- pel, as the only means of evad- ing the application of those prophecies to our Christ ; and therefore actually confirming our faith in the two characters of Sufferer and Conqueror, in which the One great Deliverer was ever represented to His faithful expectants.
2. That Jesus of Nazareth, whom we believe to be
the Christ, did actually so suffer; a point need- ing no demonstration, as it is confessed by ene- mies as well as ourselves ; viz.
A. By the Jews with triumph.
B. By the Gentiles with contemptuous indif-
ference.
3. That the sufferings were a part of His mediatorial
office, which the Anointed of God was, as such, pledged by covenant with the Father to fulfil : being
A. Predetermined by the counsel of God.
B. Agreed between the Father and the Son
before the Incarnation.
C. Declared accordingly in this light, with
more or less distinctness, by the Pro- phets.
J). Represented in the types of the Mosaic economy. (Mention some of the most remarkable instances.)
E. Realized to the full in the actual Christ our Saviour at the close of His humili- ation. II. The Person who bore this office (of the Messiah), viz. the Only-hegotten Son of God, wdio Avas conceived through
ART. IV. § 1.1 SUFFERED. 65
tlie power of the Holy Gho.st, by the Virgin Mary, and thus was made man — did so suffer. For the explica- tion of which great point of faith here propounded to us in the Creed, consider
1. That there is a perfect identity and sameness be-
tween Him of whom these sufferings are predi- cated, and Him whose Deity and Incarnation formed the subject of the preceding articles : — (thus excluding botli the mere seeming suffering, taught by the Gnostic Docetae in the early ages of the Church, and also that separation or di- vision in the person of our Saviour, which the Nestorians afterwards introduced ; both which schemes annul the mystery of our Redemption) : as the Scriptures most plainly teach.
2. That this suffering of the Only-begotten Son was
A. Not according to His higher pre-existent nature (as the Arians, who degrade that nature to that of a super- angelical crea- ture, consistently teach ; — or as the Apol- linarians also held, Avho without denying the proper Divinit}^, nevertheless admitted that most absurd and degrading concep- tion of its suffering) ; — inasmuch as that Divine nature is eternally incapable of such an affection as this : but Ti. According to His human nature onli/, viz. (1.) In His human body. (2.) In His human soul (of which the Apollinarists denied the existence equally with the Arian impugners of His Deity; conceiving that the Logos or Divinity supplied its place) , S. That the two preceding assertions are consistent with each other : and that the faith of the Ca- tholic Church, that God did suffer, though the Divine. Nature could not, accords with reason as well as Scripture : though the mode of the In- carnation, in which the truth of this is neces- sarily involved, infinitely pa.sses comprehension.
F
66 SUFFERED. [ART. IV. § 1.
Show by human analogies that this is perfectly rational, and implies no contradiction.
Secondly, What it was that Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, did thus suffer, as the Creed declares, under Pontius Pilate, — (excluding for the present the last suffering on the Cross) — which will include the whole period from His baptism to the close of His ministry. His apprehension, trial, &c. Respecting this, [according to the twofold seat of this suffering as declared under the First head, II. 2. B. (1.) (2.),] show that
I, The Body of Christ suffered from all which naturally pro-
duces corporeal pain, (not having been yet glorified and relieved from the capacities of suffering, as it was on the resurrection,) viz.
1. From the ordinary infirmities and weaknesses of
weariness, hunger, thirst, &c.
2. From outward injuries and violent impressions ;
as declared in the prophecies that told of His Passion.
II. The Sold of Christ suffered by all which naturally pro-
duces sorrowful emotions in the human mind ;
1. By the influence of feelings which, connected with
the work that He underwent, went in His per- fect humanity to the utmost limit of acute poignancy.
2. By the consternation and apprehension of the last
passion — balanced to Him in a degree, as the Apostle declares, by the hope of the joy it set before Him ; but in reference to the unparal- leled anguish He was to endure, only over- come by entire resignation to the Divine will.
Thirdly, What is the necessity of the sufferings of Jesus Christ our Lord, and our belief in them : viz.
I. In order to our being assured of the truth of His par-
ticipation of humanity — which could not have been otherwise so sensibly declared.
II. In order to our atonement and reconciliation with God.
III. In order to His purchase of immortal felicity for Him-
ART. IV. § 2.] UNDER PONTIUS PILATE. G7
self and all the members of the body of which He is the head.
IV. In order to our assurance of His sympathy in our trials
and afflictions.
V. In order to teach us to suffer after His example, and
with Him, as we are required to do, in order to our reigning with Him. Sum up, therefore, the import of this Article of the Passion generally.
§ 2. '-'UNDER PONTIUS PILATE."
Respecting the circumstance of time declared by adding the name of tlie then Roixian governor of Judsea, Pontius Pilate, — who, though a stranger to the commonwealth of Israel and to the Church of Christ, is thus commemorated among the objects of the Divine faith of Christians to the end of time, — Ave have to consider.
First, His recorded name— consisting of two parts ; (the 2^^'<^(^- nomen not being mentioned nor known). I. The novien or family designation " Pontius ;" indicating his descent from an ancient and honourable tribe among the Romans. IE. The co(7«omew " Pilatus"; by which he was distinguished from others of the same family.
Secondly, His official place in the Roman empire as Procui'ator of Judffia : with reference to which observe —
I. The absence of any such office under the Roman re-
public.
II. The condition of Judtea with respect to the Romans in
the interval that followed Pompey's conquest of Jeru- salem until the close of the reign of Herod the Great's condemned successor.
III. The state of Judsea after that time, and to what Piocon-
sulate in the Roman empire it was attached.
IV. The immediate appointment after this of a Procurator
f2
68 UNDER PONTIUS PILATE. [aUT. IV. § 2.
or subordinate Governor for tbis territory : naming all tbose wbo succeeded to tbat office before our Lord's Passion : viz.
1. Under the Emperor Augustus.
2. Under Tiberius.
V. How the power of life aud death, which tlieir office involved, was therefore exercised over Christ ; wlio, at tbis period of time, should suffer by a stranger and alien from the commonwealth of Israel, though the sen- tence of death proceeded from His own countrymen.
lliirdly, His character and disposition, as evinced in other cir- cumstances, told in profane history as well as in the Gos- pels;
Showing how these were exemplified in this event of our Lord's condemnation to the sufFeringf of the Cross.
Fourthly, The necessity of having tliis person's name and cha- racter expressed to us in this capital Article of our belief;
I. To be assured of the time in which the Passion that procured our salvation actually occurred : against the chronological falsehoods by which the enemies of Christianity have sought to unsettle our faith in it, Relate some Jewish fictions to this effect, with the refutation.
IL To record the name of the most remarkable alien witness to our Saviour's innocence ; who, besides the declara- tions given in the Gospels, and appealed to in the Acts of the Apostles, gave this testimony also
1. In an official report to the Emperor, presented by
him to the Senate.
2. In the acts or records of his own Government
(as confidently appealed to in the early ages of Christianity), III. To display the manner in which the Divine Providence effected the death of the Redeemer in a manner decreed by prophecy, but different from any which the laws of the Israelites would have imposed. Sum up, therefore, this second necessary circumstance of the Article of the Passion.
AllT. IV^ § 3.] WAS CRUCIFIED. 69
§ 3. "WAS CRUCIFIED."
Respecting the most remarkable particular of this suffering of our Lord, viz. His crucifixion, show
First, That this circumstance of the Messiah's suffering, though the great stumbling-stone of the Jews, was exhibited to them also very distinctly — T. In several types of the ancient economy: as
1. In the intended sacrifice of him in whom the
promised seed should be called — himself here a most eminent type of his distant Descendant.
2. In the exhibition in the desert of a cure to the
Israelites, when smitten with the plague of serpents.
3. In the mode of offering that victim which pro-
cured their temporal redemption from bond- age, and which was the principal type of our eternal redemption, that the ceremonial Law contained. II. In some explicit declarations of the ancient Scriptures : as particularly
1. In several Psalms of David.
2. By the last but one of the Old Testament Pro-
phets.
Secondly, That our Jesus, whom we believe to be the Christ, did so suffer as those preceding adumbrations and pre- dictions stated that Christ should suffer: all the circum- stances that accompanied that kind of death, being with extraordinary particularity evinced in the history of His Passion.
Thirdly, That the nature of this punishment — now not under- stood, as it was of old, by the bare mention of the word — is apparent in the two following particulars : viz. I. Its origin : inasmuch as (though thus presignified in the Hebrew Scriptures, as we have shown,) it was not a Jewish but a peculiarly Heathen punishment, invented
70 WAS CRUCIFIED. [ART. IV. § ?>.
by the Romans, and solely tlirougli tlieir dominion introduced into Judaea, as into all other parts of their empire, until when the Emperors became Christian it was universally forbidden. Here
1. Describe the beams that composed tlie cross.
2. The tablet usually fixed: showing the congruity
of its inscription in our Saviour's case, to the cause for which He was adjudged to die this death by the Romans. II. Its suitableness to express the curse of the Law: as evinced in its two great characteristics: viz.
1. Its exceeding acerbity. [See G. G. Richter de
Morte Servatoris, apud Jahn, Archaeol. Bibl. § 262, &c. &c.]
2. Its exceeding ignominy: as illustrated by the
Roman historians and orators of that age.
Fourthli/, That thus to believe in "Christ crucified," is rightly made the necessary characteristic of Christian faith on these several accounts: —
I. To assure us that the curse of the Law is removed from
us, having been borne by Him.
II. To assure us that the ordinances also that contained
those penalties were for ever abrogated.
III. That we may have the image of His sufferings repre-
sented in ourselves by the crucifixion of our lusts.
IV. That we may be impressively convinced of the extremity
of bitterness which our Saviour endured on our account, and thus to be thankful, patient, and resigned under all sufferings.
V. That we may be led, by considering the exceeding igno-
miny which our sin occasioned Him, to humility and patient imitation of Him on this account also.
VI. That we may be fully assured that our Lord did truly
die. Sum up therefore this third and most particular circumstance of our Lord's Passion,
ART. IV. § -i.] DEAD. 71
§ 4. "DEAD."
In the assertion of Christ's Death — not necessarily connected with the preceding one of His Passion, as may be shown, —
First, Prove that the Messiah was according to the Scriptures to die, as well as to suffer : viz,
I. From the prefigurations of old;
1. That the type of the sacrifice of the Heir of pro-
mise, though deficient in this point, yet pointed to its antitype as there dissimilar to itself.
2. That the types of the legal sacrifices, in which this
point was most essential and necessary, have pre- served a perfect similarity here.
II. From express predictions, which the unbelieving Jews
cannot deny, and have found but one means of evad- ing. [See § 1. First head, I. 1. B.]
Secondly, That in conformity with these presignifications, our Lord did die: being
I. Confessed to have been dead by all contemporary ene-
mies.
II. Exhibited as such in both the sacraments by His Body
the Church.
III. Proved to be such by the causes immediately productive
of death in any human subject, that operated on Christ the Son of Man on the Cross: showing here
1. That the operation of these causes was not les-
sened by the strict voluntariness of His sub- mission to the Cross.
2. That it was not actually superseded by any an-
ticipatory relinquishment of life by the Saviour.
Thirdly, That this Death of Jesus Christ our Lord and God
consisted
I. In the separation of the human soul from the body after
the manner of all men; a separation here produced,
as in other cases, by external violence.
IT. Not in any separation of the Divinity from the Humanity
72 DEAD. [akt. IV. § 4.
either of body or soul, to which it was hypostatically united: which separation
1. Prove to be impossible from the nature of the
case.
2. Show to be not implied in our Saviour's excla-
mation in His agony.
3. Show to be accordingly excluded by every ex-
pression of the Christian faith : according to which He who was God of God truly died for us, though the Godhead could not die. [See § 1. First head, IT. 1. 2. 3.]
Fu'urthl;/, That the belief of this great fact is necessary— as re- ferred to Christ in His threefold capacity: viz. I. In order that our faith in Him as a Prophet
1. May be confirmed by this capital witness and seal
of His doctrine; giving it the force of a testamen- tary covenant, which without this death, according to the apostolical doctrine, it could not possess,
2. May be quickened to obedience, not only by the
force of the precept, but by the particular exem- plification given in this Death of the several particulars of virtuous duty : — as
A. Of faith.
B. Of meekness, patience, and humility.
C. Of obedient submission to God.
D. Of pre-eminent charity.
IJ. In order that our faith in him as a Priest
1. May rest upon the absolute perfection of the sacri-
fice He thus offered up in very deed to God, viz. the sacrifice of Himself, the antitype of all inferior offerings,
2. May be raised to confidence in the propitiation and
satisfaction thus made for the sins of the whole world; and consequent assurance of boldness in all our faithful approaches through that blood to God our reconciled Father.
3. May be induced further, not only to look upon
Christ as a perfect Victim, but as our High Priest, thus consecrated on our behalf with the Majesty on hioli.
AHT. IV. § O.] AND KUllIED. 73
III. Ill order that our faith in Him a.s a King
1. May have that proof of might and dominion, which
though contrary to all human estimation of regal power, was never more gloriously displayed than in this Death, and the conquest therein effected of all the enemies of our salvation.
2. May have that full assurance of His endless Life
and never-ceasing Empire, of which this Death was the threshold and necessary preliminary condition, according to the Scriptures. Sum up therefore this Article of our Lord's Death.
§ 5. "AND BURIED."
In the assertion of our Lord's Burial, which in this clause fol- lows the two preceding of His Passion and His Death, show
First, That the Messiah must be buried : a necessity arising
I. From the universal custom of the nation from which He
was to arise, amongst whom in the disposal of their dead, neither the Greek, Roman, and Indian cremation, — nor the Egyptian preservation by embalming, — nor the Persian exposure to the elements, to beasts and birds of preij, — had ever any place ; but this simple and natural rite only, as shown in the ordinary modes of speech respecting the departed.
II. From the determination of ancient Scriptures respecting
the Christ, as shown
1. In one remarkable type of a Prophet of God.
2. In some express predictions of the Psalmist and
the Evangelical Prophet.
Secondly, That Jesus Christ our Lord was accordingly buried:
and this
I. Notwithstanding the opposed custom of the nation by
which His death was adjudged and effected, not only
respecting all the dead in general, but respecting such
74 AND BURIED. ' [ART. IV. § 5.
in particular as died like Him; a custom which took its usual course with Jewish, as well as with other, con- demned criminals. II. That custom being liere suspended, and exchanged for tlie opposite custom of the people of God, by a subse- quent interference of individual Israelites, concurring, by the singular Providence of God, to fulfil this par- ticular of the Messiah, agreeably to His own predictions concerning Himself, in these several respects; viz.
1. In the preparation of His body for sepulture.
2. In the preparation of the Holy Sepulchre.
3. In the character of those Israelites, themselves
eminent men, but till then secret disciples, and not declared till the circumstance of extreme hu- miliation made their open profession in this in- stance more remarkable: by which also a most signal clause in the description of this scene by the Evangelical Prophet was verified, like all the preceding.
Thirdly, That the belief of this circumstance is necessary. I. Because it is most essential to the assurance of the two most important truths immediately connected with the Burial; viz.
1. Of the Death preceding it (which show); and also
2. Of the Resurrection following it.
IL In order to produce a certain correspondence and simili- tude in ourselves: a conformity declared most ex- pressly in the initiatory sacrament of our religion, and thus repeatedly enforced by the Apostles.
in. In order to show what solemnities become the bodies of the faithful departed, and conformed to their Lord and Head in the passage from death to immortality:, in contradistinction to all the various obsequies of the Heathen who died without hope. Sum up therefore this termination of the central Article of the
Christian Creed.
ARTICLE V.
"HE DESCENDED INTO HELL: THE THIKD DAY HE BOSE AGAIN FEOM THE DEAD."
§ 1. "HE DESCENDED INTO HELL."
Respecting the descent into Hell (a doctrine propounded in the XXXIX Articles of the Church of England, but not now with the same restriction of Scriptural interpretation as for- merly,)—
First, For the history of this dogma of faith : show,
I. That in the place where this Article was first propounded
and thence came into the Creed of the Western Church, its terms are general and undefined as to precise meaning.
II. That though in that original place it might be understood
as relating to our Lord's Burial simply, it must be here undei'stood as adding something distinct to that Article.
III. That in the Scripture passages on which its truth rests,
1. That of St. Paul might be differently interpreted.
2. That of St. Peter might be so also ; this interpret-
ation, though the most constant one (and taken for granted in the earliest editions of the Articles where it was cited), being attended with diffi- culty. [Another interpretation somewhat doubt- fully proposed by St. Augustin, has been pur- sued in Art. H. § 3. Second head, II. 1. B. (8.)]
3. That of the Psalmist, applied by the same Apostle
in the Acts, is decisive for the Truth of the Arti- cle, being incapable of any other interpretation : leaving therefore nothing to investigate but the precise meaning of that which is thus scrip- tural! y proved.
Secondly, For the explication of this proposition, show,
I. That the opinion, broached by one of the most eminent
rfi HE DESCENDED INTO HKIJ,. [ART. V. § 1.
of the Schoolmen, of a metaphorical descent or virtual operation of our Lord's Spirit in the infernal regions, is inconsistent with the meaning of the Creed. 11. That the opinion of a suffering of the torments of Gehenna or Hell-fire,
1. If taken in the strict literal sense of a temporary-
damnation post mortem, endured below by our Lord, is both impossible and unscri'ptural.
2. If taken metaphorically of the penal sufferings
actually endured in spirit by our Saviour on our account during His Life on earth [which is the idea of Herman Witsius, and other Calvinis- tic expositors of the Creed,] — is, equally with the first opinion, incompatible with the meaning of the Article : which speaks plainly of a time in our Lord's humiliation, to which that penal suffering could not attach. III. That the opinion of this Article being but a repetition in Hebrew phraseology of that immediately preceding,
1. Is favoured by the possible commutation of the
terms by which both the subject and the locality of this Article are denoted, with those of the preceding Article : inasmuch as
A. The Hebrew and Greek words (trs: '^vxv)
with which the spirit, the subject of this Article, is denoted, — are in some instances identified with the body, the subject of the preceding Article.
B. The Hebrew and Greek words (^ISC
"A.Srj^) which express the place of this descent, have been in several biblical in- stances interpreted to mean the grave.
2. Is nevertheless inadmissible as applied to the
Creed or Creeds under discussion ; — A. From the known opinion of him in the fourth century, who first interpreted this Article of the Burial, showing that he did not exclude the descent of the soul of Christ. Jj. From the certainty that it would not have been in this Creed annexed to the
ART. V. § 1.] HE DESCENDED INTO HELL. 77
Article of the Burial, if it had meant no more than that.
IV. That the opinion of Hades, meaning here simply the state
of the dead, without any locality attached to it, is
1. Wholly new, no such metaphorical meaning of
the term aS??? appearing either in the Heathen classics, or in the Christian Fathers.
2. Contradicted by the various questions respecting
the locality of Hades, which on this hypothesis have absolutely no meaning, and particularly by the fact of some dead persons not having been reckoned to be in Hades.
3. Refuted by the place which the Article bears in
the Creed, proving that it could not be (as this meaning would necessarily make it), —
A. Either a repetition of the Article " He
was dead" —
B. Or an expression of His continuance in
that same state : the expression " He descended'^ refuting this.
V. That the opinion of Hades being the place (wheresoever
situated, but distinct wholly from the world in which we live,) to which the soul, the incorruptible part of man, is removed at death, the righteous being there gathered to Abel and all the faithful since departed, the wicked to all that have preceded in their sad fellowship, — is
1. The unanimous doctrine of the Christian Fathers : shown in all their writings and confessions of faith, but particularly in the allegation of this doctrine in the Apollinarian controversy. Show here
A. That unless the doctrine as above stated
were universally received in the Church, it could be no argument to prove against those heretics the reality of the human soul of our Lord.
B. That if this Article referred (according to
the IIP interpretation) either to the body's burial, or to the descent with it of the animal soul— the t's: or ylrvx^j —
78 HE DESCENDED INTO JIELL. [aKT, V. § 1.
it would be no special argument against the Apollinarians ; who never denied the existence, either of the human hodij of Christ, or of its animal soul. C. That it is therefore, according to the understanding of the early Church (and of the heretics also), referred solely to the rational or intellectual human soul, which the Apollinarians denied to Christ (conceiving its place supplied by the Divine A670?). 2. Attended with a discrepancy as to detail — after this definition of aS?;? has been admitted : viz. A. As to the position of the place in ques- tion, to which Christ descended, viz. whether
(1.) To the common receptacle of
souls generally. (2.) Or to that part only which con- tained the blessed. (3.) Or to that only which contained the damned. B. Still more as to the object and the efficacy of the descent of Christ ; whether it were
(1.) For the release of the faithful souls from a place of inferior happiness in which they were detained beforehand the trans- lation of them to the highest heaven. (2.) Or for the release of the con- demned souls from the fire of Gehenna, and translating them to the celestial happi- ness ; (an opinion which was held for heresy, if the deli- verance of all the damned were asserted, but not incom- patible with orthodoxy if it were only the deliverance of
AllT. y. § 1.] HE DESCENDED INTO HELL. 7-9
some of the number) ; and
that by the preaching of the
Gospel to those lost spirits,
and applying the merits of
His death to them.
(3.) Or simply to share the condition
of souls departed, with a view
to His future triumph over
death.
3. Capable of being determined and proved from
Scripture, both as to the nature of this descent,
and as to its object and efficacy, notwithstanding
these preceding discrepancies : if we consider —
A, Negatively, — that there is no solid reason
for believing that Christ descended to
deliver either the faithful or any portion
of the lost from the condition in which
they were before, and thereby to spoil
the realms of darkness; for these several
reasons, viz.
(1.) That the passage from St. Peter's epistle does not prove it ; — [even supposing, what Bishop Pearson does not admit, that it relates to this descent of our Lord to Hades.] (2.) That it is based partly on an Apocryphal quotation as from an ancient Prophet ; partly on a book which though un- doubtedly ancient, and pro- bably a genuine book of a correspondent of St. Paul's, is destitute of apostolical autho- rity. (3.) That it is also inconsistent itself with the revelation of the Gos- pel : as may be shown from evident testimonies therein, respecting the state of the
80 HE DESCENDED INTO HELL [aRT. V. § 1.
(lopiuteJ, both the just and the unjust. (4.) That the opinion which asserts this of the unjust in particular [viz. V. 2. B. (2.) just pre- ceding], is plainly false ; being
a. Unproved by that pas-
sage of St. Peter's early preaching to the Jews on our Lord's resur- rection, which seems to assert the solubility of the pains after death. Prove this reading and interpretation to be alike unsound.
b. Inconsistent with the
Christian doctrine, that this life is the only state of probation, ac- cording to which alone the final reward will proceed, and the con- sequent irreversibility of the doom that fol- lows death. (5.) That the opinion [V. 2. B. (1.)] which asserts this of the faith- ful only, an opinion generally adopted by the Schoolmen of the middle ages, after the pre- ceding [V. 2. B. (2.)] was for- mally refuted, is nevertheless equally unfounded ; for
a. It has not the authority of awae?i^ and universal tradition ; the primitive opinion being, that all the saints remained in the intermediate state
ART. V. § 1.] HE DESCENDED INTO HELL. 81
till the general Resur- rection : and those in early times who be- lieved in some kind of rescue, never limiting it to the just, but in- cluding some portion of the unjust. b. It cannot be demon- strated to be true — inasmuch as
a. The existence of such a Limbus cannot be clear- ly demonstrated from Scripture. /3. It cannot be proved that the souls of the faith- ful people of Gou are now in better condition thaii that in which they were before Christ's Passion, as it is frequent- ly alluded to by Him when on earth. 7. Could even the preceding points a. j3. be made good — it cannot be proved that this supposed amelioration of the condition of the ancient saints was effected at His descent — rather than after G
82 HE DESCEN^DED INTO II ELL. [aIIT. V. § 1.
His glorification (when the merits of His redemp- tion were first applied to His people on earth). c. Since then there is no reason for making this distinction betAveen the state of the faithful be- fore Christ's coming, and the faithful after; we must look for ano- ther reason beside this one (which the School- men make an article of faith) for Christ's de- scent: first premising however (G.) That the opinion^ adopted by many in our own Church as the opi- nion of Catholic antiquity — that Christ descended that He might spoil the Powers of dark- ness in their own domain, is also a precarious one; a. Because the passages al- leged from St. Paul are
^ This opinion, to which Pearson ascribes an especial prevalence among the doctors of "our Church," is impugned by no positive argument beside that under the third division, c. ; viz. that what the prophet David describes as a state capable of dereliction, a state in which the Holy One of God was not to be left, could not at the same time be a scene of victory and spoliation. Might not the same argument be produced with tenfold force respecting the Cross? — the Cross, the extreme point of humiliation and weakness, yet in which, as Pearson had just before argued, under the first division, a., Christ had {iv avri^) triumphed and conquered, and led captive, as the Apostle speaks. If the virtue and effect of that last agony, in which least of all could the Son of God be left, were such as to justify and require the expression, that Christ hy death destroyed death, does not the analogy of faith equally justify the expression of Fathers and others, that Christ by descending to hell did spoil the infernal abodes, and triumph over Satan there? And does not Pearson's own positive conclusion include this? [B. (2) p. 84.]
ART. V. § 1.] HE DESCENDED INTO HELL. 83
not sufficient to prove it; inasmuch as
a. In that to the
Colossianp,
the words iv avTw, whether interpreted of the Cross or of Christ, still re- fer the spoiling there spoken of to no other scene than that of the Crucifixion: (the ancients also re- ferring avTw as we do, to the Cross).
13. That to the Ephe- sians cannot be shown necessa- rily to refer to this descent. (See the First head, III. L) But if this were the subject of the passage, the triumph is there assigned to the subsequent as- cension only, not to the descent.
b. Because the consent of the Fathers
cannot be alleged here — those of them who did speak of such a spoiling on Christ's descent, meaning it of the actual rescue of souls from captivity.
c. Because the other places of Scrip-
ture which do unequivocally speak G 2
84 IIK ROSE AGAIN. [ART. V. § 2.
of Christ's descent to Hades, im- ply most evidently that it was not a scene of victory, but one that needed to be terminated before the triumph of our Lord. And therefore we proceed to con- sider B. Positively, — that the reason of our Lord's descent to Hell (even the abode of departed souls) which is unquestionable [V. 2. B.
(3.)]-is
(1.) That He might declare His entire par- ticipation of humanity, by fully un- derfjoine; the law of death as well as of life. (2.) That He might rescue us from descend- ing to the torments of hell, and thus effectually (even by applying the virtue of this descent to us) spoil the Powers of darkness. Sum up therefore in a few words this remarkable part of the Article respecting our Saviour's triumph over death.
§ 2. "HE ROSE AGAIN."
On the great Article of Christ's Resurrection that follows in the Creed, considering the act implied in the word 'Resurrexit;'
First, Show that the Messiah or Christ was to rise again from the dead, — I. From the type exhibited in the person of His royal ancestor, and his various fortunes expressed in several Psalms. IL From the clear declarations made by that ancestor in tlie person of his future anointed Son, — and pointing to an infinite extent and duration of empire as the conse- quence of this Resurrection. III. From some other types preceding that of the great representative of the Messiah as such: viz.
1. That of one of the Patriarchs of Israel, not the ancestor of the Messiah, but one whose vicis-
ART. V, § 2.] HE ROSE AGAIN, 85'
situdes of fortune and subsequent pre-eminence amonghisbrethron, remarkably prefigured Him. 2. One prior to this, and more distinct in its pre- figuration, of the ancestor of all the chosen seed, and of this seed of promise especially. Explain here A. The intended death by sacrifice, pointing to the actual sacrifice and death of the great Descendant. JB. The recovery from death there " in a figure," as the Apostle states, repre- senting this actual resumption of life by the Descendant,
Secondly, Show that Jesus our Lord was evinced to be that Messiah or Christ, as by other tokens, so by this most eminently, that He did thus rise again from the dead according to the Scriptures. Declare the proof of this, which is the main evidence of the Christian religion, by the triple testimony — I, Of men who saw Him risen who was dead (though none witnessed the resurrection itself) : viz.
1. Of His own disciples, both men and women, to the number of at least five hundred: and of those twelve especially, Avho were "chosen to be witnesses of His resurrection." [Prove the unimpeachable character of this testimony, —
A. From the impossibility of their being
deceived (the eleven especially, who knew Him most intimately, and some of their nearest friends) in supposing that they really saw their Master who was crucified, during the six weeks that followed : the notoriety of their knowledge of our Lord confirming this. [See Paley, Horsley, &c.]
B. From the impossibility of their being
deceivers; the moral impossibility of this being evinced — (1.) From the character of the men, as exhibited in the writings
86- HE ROSE AGAIN FROM THE DEAD. [AKT. V. § 3.
of some of them, and the character of the religion which they all introduced, and based ou the belief of this resurrection, (2.) From their sufferings especially ; proceeding to the extremity of earthly endurance, and to death, — thus making the im- possibility of worldly motive undeniable.] 2. Of His enemies; and especially of the soldiers who watched the sepulchre, and witnessed some circumstances attending the Resurrection which no disciple did : the story then fabricated to explain the fact, actually proving the truth of that resurrection which they could not deny.
II. Of Angels: who communicated the fact to many of those
witnesses who afterwards found it true by their own eyesight, — and to whom this recollected communica- tion added a testimony higher than that of man.
III. Of God Himself: whose witness is shown —
1. By the power necessary to this revival of the dead
which could be no other than Divine.
2. By the Spirit of God, especially sent from the
Father to give this witness to His Son, in all the plenitude of power and grace which He shed on the Apostles, its witnesses, and on all its believers.
§ 3. "HE ROSE AGAIN FROM THE DEAD."
Next, considering the precise nature of this act, as being the Resurrection FROM THE Dead,
First, Define the true nature of such a Resurrection from the dead, as distinguished, —
I. From a totally new creation.
II. From merely accidental changes or restorations.
Secondly, Prove that the ResuiTection of Jesus Christ truly answered to the above definition: because I. His state preceding was that of true human nature iu
ART. V. § o.] HE ROSE AGAIN FROM THE DEAD. 87
soul and body, from His miraculous conception and birth to His death. (As shown under Article III.)
II. The dissolution of that state by the separation of soul
and body at death was true and complete. (As shown under Article IV. § 4.)
III. The restoration of the former state, by the reunion of
the same soul to the body, was also complete, as we are now to show, —
1. Respecting the hodij in which Christ appeared
after His passion : viz. that it was
A. A real body, though the Apostles first
doubted of this.
B. Identically the same body as that in
which He suffered, i. e. as that in which He had before lived.
2. Respecting the soul with which He then ap-
peared, according to the several senses in which the word is used ; viz. that Christ then showed Himself by distinct acts (to be severally men- tioned) to be possessed of —
A. The principle of life and organization,
which all animals and vegetables also possess.
B. The properly animal soul, or '^vx^)
(anwia), the seat of sensation and voluntary action,
C. The rational and intellectual soul, or
TTvevfxa (animus), which men pos- sess distinctively from the inferior creation.
D. The scane soul, in all the above three
acceptations, in which He had before lived, and acted, and taught, and worked miracles. Whence the identity in soul and body of the risen Saviour, and consequently the truth of His resurrection from the dead, is manifest.
Thirdly, Prove, respecting the cause of this Resurrection, by which its true and proper nature is further confirmed, I. That the meritorious cause, being the obedience of Christ
88 HE HOSE AGAIN FROM THE DEAD. [ART. V. § 3.
Himself, iu His preceding state on earth, shows cer- tainly the entire identity of Him who lived and died with Him who revived.
II. That the efficient cause was
1. Principally or originally ; God Almighty alone. Show
A. The necessary truth of this,
(1.) From the abstract nature of the
case. (2.) From the constant testimony of
Scripture respecting the raising
again of ovir Lord from the
dead.
B. The detail of this truth according to the
Scriptures, according to what we have therein learnt respecting the Godhead ; viz.
(1.) That it was God the Father who raised His Son Jesus from the grave. (2.) That the agency of the Father is not exclusive of the agency of the Son : inasmuch as the Son raised Himself, and that by a Divine power. Prove this against the attempts of the Socinians to evade the force of these Scrip- tural testimonies.
a. Because the term "raised"
cannot, as they pretend, be used here in a lower sense than that of actual revivification, which is of course a Divine act.
b. Because the words of
Christ do moreover most explicitly affirm the high- est sense of the act to belong to Him. (3.) That this does not exclude the agency of the vivifying" Spirit of
AllT. V. § 4.] THE THIRD DAY HE HOSE AGAIN. 89
God, to whom also tlic reani- mation of Christ's mortal body is directly attributed. 2. Instrumentally : whatever means might be em- ployed, still the efficient cause was God. And III, That therefore the identity and truth of Christ's Resur- rection is proved further from this view of the efficient cause, considered —
1. With respect to the Father.
2. With respect to the Son.
§ 4. "THE THIRD DAY HE ROSE AGAIN."
Considering the time so expressly marked as a point of faith in the Creed, viz. the third day :
First, Show that the Messias or Christ was thus to remain dead three days, and also to rise again on the third day from the day of His Passion, viz. on the Lord's day, or Sunday.
I. From the personal type of the prophet who preached
repentance to the Ninevites, evincing the first point ; viz. the interval of Christ's remaining in the grave being shadowed forth by that of the prophet's con- tinuance in the deep.
II. From the type in the great Paschal Feast evincing the
latter point ; viz. the presentation of the first-fruits on the day after the Sabbath, which is Sunday, after the Lamb had been sacrificed at the commencement of the feast.
Secondly, Show that Jesus our Lord, the true Messias or Christ, did actually realize in both respects what was announced of Him, having been crucified on the Friday of the preparation of that Paschal Feast, and rising again the third day after, on Easter Sunday. To prove this great fact of our religion, show,
90 THE THIRD DAY HE ROSE 'AGAIN. [aRT. V. § 4.
I. Respecting the interval, - that the proof of the two great objects of Christian faitli, — the Death and the Resur- rection of our Lord, — required
1. That there should be some space between them.
2. That that space should not be a long one : and
particularly, that the actual interval described in the Scripture as " three days " —
A, Is to be taken inclusively of the first and
last day ; notwithstanding the yet more apparently definite language in which our Lord predicts it with reference to its prophetic type. Prove this from Jewish practice, and from examples both Jewish and Christian.
B. Is therefore accurately expounded in the
Creed to mean simply "on the third
day." XL Respecting the precise day of the Resurrection, which all Christians weekly celebrate, (as well as annually at Easter,) show,
1. That the day on which our Saviour suffered was
the preparation or eve of a Sabbath.
2. That it was also the preparation or eve of a great
day of the Paschal Festivity, viz. the full moon of the month Abib, next to the vernal equinox ; which, being kept by the Jews irrespectively of the day of the week, (not, as the Paschal Feast among Christians, with reference to the next Sunday after that full moon,) on that year hap- pened to fall on a Sabbath or Saturday.
3. That it was, therefore, on the sixth day of the
week, on the Friday (called by us Good Friday) next to that Paschal full moon, that our Lord was crucified : and on the Sabbath or Satur- day immediately following (called by us Eas- ter Eve), that He lay, as He did on parts of the day preceding and following, in the grave.
4. That it was, therefore, on the first day of the fol-
lowing week, viz. on the Sunday called by us Easter Day, Dominica Paschce^ that our Lord
ART. V. § 4.] THE THIRD DAY HE ROSE AGAIN. 91
rose again from tlio dead according to the Scrip- tures.
Tliirdly, Declare the belief, and consequent observance, which the Church of Christ has ever since founded upon this oreat fact, viz. that our Lord buried with Himself in the grave the obligation of the Jewish Sabbath, during which He lay there, and raised up again in a new form the obli- gation of the fourth commandment, ever since attached to the day on which He broke the bars of death, and opened eternal life to all believers. Observe here,
I. That the Sabbath, first sanctified by the Almighty as a
memorial of His rest from creation on the seventh day of the week, was confirmed anew to the Israelites on a fresh ground (mentioned in the second publication of the Decalogue in the book of Deuteronomy), viz. that God brought them out from Egypt on that day.
II. That it was fitting, from the analogy of that Exodus, that
a new date should commence from the period when Christ removed the curse from humanity, by rising, as the first-fruits of the world, to everlasting life ; which sanctification of the first day of the week, though never expressed didactically and formally in the New Testament, is implied there, and proved by the never- failing practice from the Apostles downwards: as shown, —
1. In that the very first Sunday after Easter Day,
the Sunday of the resurrection, the Apostles assembled for public worship and praise : and that then, and not till then, the only Apostle who had not received assurance of the Resur- rection before, was blessed with the proof, to hallow that holy day more completely.
2. In that, most especially, on the seventh Sunday
after Easter, — which was the Jewish Pentecost or Feast of Weeks, (the fiftieth day, which marked that festival, being measured from the second day of the Paschal Feast, when the first- fruits were presented,) — the hebdomadal return of this day was hallowed by the next great event of Christianity, viz. the descent of the Holy
92 THE THIRD DAY HE ROSE AGAIN. [ART. V. § 5.
Spirit on the Apostles, and the authoritative pro- mulgation of the Gospel.
3. In that on this day ever after, the Apostles were
accustomed to meet more especially for the celebration of the Holy Communion and for prayers, as shown in the Acts of the Apostles in two remarkable passages.
4. In that this day has ever since been hallowed by
the Christian Church as the Lord's day, ?} Kupta/cr} 'H/jbepa, Dies Dominica — a name which it appears, from a remarkable passage in the Apocalypse, to have borne even then.
5. In that the observance of Sunday, or the Lord's
day, for the weekly return of solemn worship, and prayer and praise, is the ever-standing characteristic of Christians : just as the con- tinued observance of the Sabbath or Saturday is that of the Jews, yet strangers to the eternal redemption, — and as the observance of another day, viz. Friday, in memory of the flight from Mecca, is the characteristic of those who, pro- fessing to believe both in Moses and Jesus, have followed the anti-Christian teaching of the Arabian false prophet.
§ 5. "THE THIRD DAY HE ROSE AGAIN."
Reverting therefore to the total consideration of the Article whose parts we have thus severally examined in the preceding sections, we have only left to
Finally, Show the importance of the doctrine of Christ's Resur- rection which is thus proved, thus explained, and thus ob- served by the standing customs of the Christian world, in these several respects : I. As a ground of our belief in our Lord's Divinity, and to assure us of cverv other fact in His religion.
ART. VI. § 1.] HE ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN. 93
II. To assure us of our complete release and justification
from the penalties of sin.
III. To grouud, confirm, and declare our hope in the Saviour
now risen and glorified, as the Source and Author of our own resurrection hereafter to immortal blessedness, and that,
1. As the efficient cause.
2. As the exemplary cause.
IV. To be the means of our spiritual resurrection from the
death of sin to the life of righteousness. Sum up therefore in few words this capital Article of o\u' Christian faith.
ARTICLE VI.
^HE ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN, AND SITTETH ON THE EIGHT HAND OF GOD THE FATHER ALMIGHTY."
§ 1. "HE ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN."
In considering the Ascension of our Lord from earth to heaven, preparatory to His sitting at the right hand of the Majesty on high ; —
First, Prove that the promised Messias or Christ was thus to ascend ; and that I. By the types of the Old Testament ; and here
1. Constantly, — by its standing official type in him who represented the Priesthood and atonement of Christ ; declaring here from the Scriptures
A. What is denoted mystically by the Tabernacle
which Moses constructed after the pattern he saw in the Mount.
B. What by its sanctuary, or holy place, which
the Priests alone entered.
C. What by its Holy of Holies, which was en-
94 HE ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN, [ART. VI. § 1.
tered but by one, and by liim but once in the year. 2. Occasionally — by one eminent prophet and reformer of Israel, whose transit from earth was thus visibly distinguished. II. By the prophetical announcements of ancient Scripture, viz.
1. By the declarations of that great prophet and an-
cestor of the Messiah, whose emergence from adversities and triumph over enemies as the Lord's anointed, and settlement of the Ark which symbolized the Divine presence on Mount Sion, above all inferior hills, typified the resurrection and ascension and glorification of his anointed Son : declaring here,
A. That the words "on high" applied in
the immediate gurifsrestinsj occasion to God's holy Mount of Sion, is in its full acceptation realized only by the highest heaven.
B. That the victories there described as
greater than those of Moses and Joshua, have not their full accom- plishment in that chosen king and shepherd of Israel, but only in his Son and Lord.
2. By the declaration of other subsequent prophets.
(Vindicate the Christian interpretation here also.)
Secondly, Prove that what was thus foretold and represented of the promised Christ, was actually performed by Jesus our Lord : viz.
I. That His Ascension was real and local, not figurative or
metaphorical, as shown from the previous discourses of our Lord concerning it.
II. That the promised Ascension was performed after an in-
terval of forty days from the Resurrection, i. e. on the sixth Thursday from Easter, when the Church Catholic has uniformly celebrated it : as proved by the testi- mony
1. Of the Apostles and others that witnessed it.
ART. Vr. § 2.] AND SITTETII AT THE RIGHT HAND, &C. 95
■ (Why was their eyesight of this necessary, and not of the Resurrection ?) 2. Of Angels : who declared to the astonished spec- tators the place to which their Lord had as- cended.
Thirdly, Prove that the heaven which was the termination of oiir Lord's Ascension from earth, was
I. Not barely the Firmament in the heavens through which
(not to which) He is stated to have passed ; but
II. The heaven of heavens, where God alone dwelleth ; where
He subsisted before His incarnation with His Father eternally; and whither no man had ever ascended, until the man, Christ Jesus, took thither the human nature which He had assumed for us, and united to His eternal Divinity.
Fourthly, Declare the use of this Article of faith.
I. For the increase of our faith, — of its laudable exorcise
and its proportional reward, — as declared from the very nature of that cardinal virtue of the Christian profession.
II. For fixing and corroborating our own hope of heaven
hereafter.
III. For the exaltation of our affections above the meanness
and the strife of earth.
IV. As the necessary precursor of the great events that fol-
lowed,— the descent of power from on high ten days after on the day of Pentecost, and the authoritative proclamation of God's kingdom among men by the quickening and sanctifying Spirit.
§ 2. "AND SITTETH AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD THE FATHER."
In considering the Session of Christ the Son of God at the right hand of the Almighty Father, —
"96 AND SITTETII AT THE [ART. VI. § 2.
First, Prove that the promised Messias was thus to sit at God's right hand ; and that —
I. By the types of the Old Testament: and especially of
him among the sons of Israel who was separated from his brethren, and obtained honours above them all.
II. By the direct prophecies of Scripture, and specially that
of the Psalm quoted for this in the New Testament. Prove the truth of its application to the Messiah, —
1. Against the Rabbins ; who apply it severally
A. To Abraham.
B. To David himself Show here the author-
ship of the Psalm to be such as our Lord stated to the Pharisees of the Temple, and as the Pharisees then universally admitted, viz. that it is the work of David, — not of one of his musicians, Asaph or any other, and so addressed to their Lord, as this opinion supposes ; — (still less of Abraham's steward, accord- ing to the fii'st absurd opinion.)
C. To the people of Israel.
D. To Hezekiah. R To Zorobabel.
2. [Against some German neologists ; who, because
of the union of the priestly and kingly offices, apply it to John Hyrcanus.]
Secondly, Prove that Jesus whom we worship as the true Messiah or Christ, did thus sit at God's right hand, from the testimony of the Apostles : who under the influence of the Holy Spirit, which was the gift of their Lord's exaltation, declared
I. That this was the termination and end of His Ascension
from earth to heaven.
II. That this was a peculiar honour never vouchsafed to any
of the sons of men besides.
Thirdly, Explain the import of this phrase, viz. I. Tliat the right hand of God denotes, by a proper figure of speech, 1. The exceeding great power of Go<l.
ART. Vr. § 2.] RIOIIT HAND OF TIIK FATHER. 97
2. His glorious Majesty. 8. His eternal Felicity. IT. That the Session there (which in the vision of the Proto- martyr is standing) represents by a natural and ex- pressive figure,
1. Permanency of habitation.
2. Quietness and indisturbance.
3. Sovereignty and Dominion ; and more particu-
larly,
4. Judicial authority.
Ill, That in the application of these meanings to the Session of Christ at the right hand of God, we perceive it to denote,
1. The solemn entrance upon His kingly office ;
which though undertaken at His Incarnation, and as to the actual assumption of power entered upon at His Resurrection, did not receive its express investiture and coronation till the Ascension. Give the parallel to this in the inauguration of the great type of Christ as King : viz.
A. The unction by Samuel signifying the
first.
B. The actual commencement of the reign
at Hebron denoting the second.
C. The coronation at the Holy mount and
city, [which had never before been the possession of the Israelites,] re- presenting the last.
2. The exercise of regal power in the destruction
of all powers which oppose themselves to His; as indicated in that prophecy of the Old Testament where His session is declared, viz.
A. Of temporal enemies : i. e.
(1.) The unbelieving Jews : whose signal punishment and over- throw of their state was the first appearance of the Son of Man in His kingdom of power H
98 AND SITTETH AT THE [ART. VI. § 2.
over the very generation wliich liad condemned Him. (2.) The persecuting and opposing Gentiles : viz,
a. First and principally, ido-
latrous Rome ; on Avhich vengeance fell when sacked by Alaric, the Christians surviving the shock, while the Heathens perished : and the desolators becoming Christian.
b. All other opposers, past or
future, on whom the same ruin and confusion must fall. B. Of Spiritual enemies : i. e.
(1.) Sin : whose kingdom is destroyed by the cancelling of its guilt by Christ's Cross, and of its power by His habitual grace. (2.) Satan : whose kingdom is de- stroyed by the rescue of man from his grasp through the merit of Christ's death, and the perpetual intercession of His life in glory. (3.) Death : whose kingdom intro- duced by sin is the last to be destroyed, when its power over the ransomed of God shall be finally broken at the general resurrection (as its enslaving terror is annihilated already to the faithful by His Death and Resurrection). S. The further exercise of that regal dominion, in not destroying but' retaining those ene- mies (whose opposing power and kingdom is thus utterly overthrown) as His footstool, i. e.
ART. VI. § 2. J RIGHT HAND OF THE FATHER. 99
in subjection to His righteous purposes; when they shall be executed on those who are without the limits of His chosen people, the willing subjects of His kingdom. As shown in the three spiritual enemies above enumerated, i.e.
A. Sin: which remains on the reprobate,
as to its spot and guilt, for ever. Ij. Satan: who with his angels are the executioners of the righteous venge- ance of God against the impeni- tent and condemned souls. G. Death: which becomes the second death, the worst of all, to those whose names are not written in the book of life. 4. The continuance of that regal power until these enemies be all thus overthrown and subdued : the work being a gradual and pro- gressive one, reaching to the end of the world. On which prove from Scripture — A. That the kingdom of Christ, as the Mediator, like all the other parts of that mediation, shall then cease, being delivered up to the Father. £. The power of Christ will not however then cease, nor His reign with them whom He has made kings and priests to God for ever ; as the Nicene Fathers have truly maintained against heretics, by inserting in this part of the Creed, "whose king- dom SHALL HAVE NO END."
Fourthly, Show the use of this Ai'ticle of belief in Christ's Ses- sion at God's right hand.
I. To remmd us of our subjection and duty — from the
double right which Christ has over us; in which we must be subjects, but if not willing subjects, then through our averseness everlastingly miserable.
II. To assure us of His auspicious protection,
h2
100 FROM THENCE HE SHAXL COME. [ART. VII. § 1.
III. To assure us of that which is its immediate consequence, the intercession of Christ as our High Priest with God. Prove the importance of this in the Christian scheme.
§ 3, "OF GOD THE FATHER ALMIGHTY."
Having thus accomplished the doctrine of Christ's Mediation, from His incarnation till His exaltation as man at the right hand of God; the Creed returns to the mention of the ori- ginal truth of religion with the statement of which it opened, —that of God the Father Almighty. See Art. I. § 4 \
Sum up, therefore, iu a few words, what is included in the whole of this Article of Christ's Ascension and Session at the right hand of power.
ARTICLE VII.
'FROM THENCE HE SHALL COME TO JUDGE THE QUICK AND THE DEAD."
§ 1. "FROM THENCE HE SHALL COME."
In the next great Article of Christian faith respecting the Second Coming of our Lord, yet future,
First, Considering the future Advent in itself, —
I. Prove that the promised Messias was to have a second Advent, beside that first which we believe to have been already completed, — from the identification in
* Here Bishop Pearson introduces the whole of the matter of which the outline is placed in this Analysis under the second head of that section of the First Article, pp. 13 — 17. See the note there annexed.
Ain. VII. § 2.] HE SHALL COME TO JUDGE. 101
ancient prophecy of Hiui who is predicted to come in glory and majesty, with Him who was to come in humiliation and sorrow.
Refute here the pretence by which the Jews (who disbelieve the first Advent in humiliation, of the Christ the Son of David) attempt to deny this identi- fication, as contained in their prophetical books. II. Prove that Jesus, the son of Mary, whom we believe to have once come as the true Messias, is again to come in the same character, —
1. From the testimony of the Angels upon His
ascension.
2. From the reiterated promise of our Lord Himself
when on earth, and when about to leave it; and the expectation constantly preserved of Him as of Him that should come [maranatha, "the Lord cometh"].
Secondly, Considering the place from which the Lord is to come, indicated by the words "from thence," —
I. Show the importance attached to this in the New Testa- ment.
n. Illustrate it by the standing type of Christ's priestl}' chai'acter in the Old.
§ 2. "HE SHALL COME TO JUDGE."
Considering the third point connected with this Advent, viz. the principal purpose assigned for the future coming of our Lord from heaven.
First, Prove that there is a Judgment to come, —
I. From the constitution of man's nature, and the internal
judgment there that points to the future award. n. From the character of Him who thus created us, — being as He is,
1. By necessary relation, the Judge of all mankind.
102 HE SHALL COME TO JUDGE. [auT. VI L § 2.
2. By tlie inseparable attribute of His naturo, a, just Judge; while it is certain from experience, that Justice has not its full scope and accom- plishment in the present state of being, and therefore must await its perfect vindication in another.
III, From the consequent agreement upon this truth among
all who have not extinguished the light of nature, though destitute of the light of revelation.
IV. From the express testimony to this effect of Divine
revelation itself.
1. In the Patriarchal dispensation, even in the ante-
diluvian world: on occasion of
A. The first great trespass of man against
man.
B. The ministry of that eminent preacher
of righteousness to the world, who is quoted for this pui-pose even in the New Testament.
2. In the Law and the Prophets of Israel.
3. In the fuller and more express declarations of the
Gospel.
Secondly, Prove that though God, as God, is the Judge of all His creatures, (as shown under the Fii'st head, II. 1,) and therefore all the Persons of the Sacred Trinity are concerned in this judgment, yet is Christ peculiarly and distinctively the Judge of the world: —
I. Because the delegation of this power to Him as Mediator
by the Father is expressly declared in the New Testa- ment.
II. Because the ground of that delegation is also expressly
declared to be the Humanity of the Son, of which neither the Father nor the Holy Ghost arc partakers. Show how this reason illustrates —
1. The justice of God, with regard to the immaculate Son of man,
A. In rewarding, with the highest dignity
over His fellows. His only perfect obedience.
B. In vindicating Him who was once cruci-
ART. VII. § 2.] HE SHALL COME TO JUDGE. 103
fied as a criminal, and condemned by those whose sins He came to expiate, by constituting Him the Judge of all. 2. The wisdom and goodness of God with regard to mankind at large,
A. In thus vesting His own inalienably
Divine property of Judgment, in one who is also the Son of man, a brother of those who are to be judged. Par- ticularly,
B. In constituting Him their Judge, who, to
equity and severe impartiality, has added
also the utmost acquaintance with the
human condition, its suffering, trials,
and temptations ; thus rendering Him
the best representative here, not only
of the holiness, but of the mildness of
judgment, and, as such, most desirable
for mankind.
HI. Because this special office and dignity of the Son of
man, of Him who was born of the Virgin Mary, &c.,
is connected in the Divine revelation concerning Him
with the other preceding instances of His Mediation :
viz.
1. With His Incarnation (as declared above under
the second head).
2. With His Death and Kesurrection, as the very
object and intention of those grand events, as declared in another part of Scripture.
3. With His Ascension into heaven,
4. With various prophetic descriptions of the Son
of man, —
A. By his forerunner.
B. By Himself, under several allegorical
images, while conversing on earth.
Thirdly, Show the circumstances of this Judgment, as they are represented according to our capacity of understanding, in Scripture : viz. I, A tribunal or throne of judgment.
194 THE QUICK AND THE DEAD. [ART. VII. § o.
II. A personal suininons and appearance of all men before
that tribunal.
III. An investigation and manifestation of all their deeds.
IV. A definite sentence pronounced according to those
deeds.
§ 3. "THE QUICK AND THE DEAD."
With respect to those who are the objects of this action. \\x. " the quick and the dead,"
First, Prove negatively, that they are
I. Not "the souls and the bodies" of men respectively, as
some have imagined to be the sense of the Creed.
II. Not "the spiritually alive, and the dead in trespasses and
sins," as others have thought, though that phraseology is strictly Scriptural.
Secondly, Prove positively that the persons meant are those that shall be found alive physically, and those that shall have died, at the time of Christ's second Advent, respec- tively.— And with respect to the former,
I. State the possible doubt arising from the testimony of
many places of Scripture, that all men must once die. And then,
II. Establish the case of the quick here intended as real
exceptions (equally with Enoch and Elijah) to that general law of nature, inasmuch as the Apostle has expressly declared the exception in this case.
Thirdly, Show the necessity of this belief of Christ's Advent to judgment,
I. For removing doubts respecting the providence of God.
II. For inducing repentance for our sins.
III. For establishing our hope, and comfort, and assurance,
of everlasting life. Sum lip, therefore, in few words this great Article of religion.
ARTICLE VIII.
I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY GHOST.
"I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY GHOST.
lu the next Article, which begins the third division of the Creed, considering the great object of belief simply, without reference to the peculiar form in wliich this part, like the first and second, is introduced ; and from which the Divinity of the Spirit, as of the Father and of the Son, has been in- ferred : —
First, With respect to the nature of the Holy Ghost, of the Holy Spirit (the names being identical in the Saxon and Latin nouns respectively),
I. Prove that the existence of the Holy Sf)irit is incapable
of being denied (and was accordingly never denied) by any Avho acknowledged the authority of Divine reve- lation : viz.
1. Not by the most heretical of those who admitted
the Law.
2. Much less by any under the Gospel, who are bap-
tized into this third name, equally with those of the Father and of the Son,
II. Proceeding therefore to the only thing requiring investi-
gation or discussion, viz, who or what is the Holy Ghost thus pointed out to us in the Divine word : Prove,
1, That the Holy Spirit is a person, as are con- fessedly the Father and the Son.
A. Because, conceiving the Holy Ghost as the principle to which all those acts and energies are referred by which the
106 I BELIEVE IX THE HOLY GHOST. [aKT. VIIL
Church and every living member of it is governed and sanctified, — the sup- position of this Agent being no sub- stance but a quality, is contrary to reason. B. Because the Scriptures, indited, as all Christians confess, by the Holy Spirit, represent that Spirit as no mere energy or quality, but as a Person, in several ways : viz.
(1.) In formally distinguishing the Holy Spirit of God from evil spirits, who are evidently per- sons and intellectual sub- stances— whence the natural and necessary inference lies, that the Divine Spirit is also such. (2.) In ascribing to the Holy Ghost such dispositions and opera- tions, as can belong to none but a. person, — respecting which a. Show the personal nature in the several properties ascribed ; viz, a. Intercession for the saints with God in their prayers. (3. Mission from the Father through the Son to man. y. Hearing the words of Christ, and speaking them to the Church, thus guiding it into all truth. 8. Dispensing several operations and gifts to the Church "at His will."
ART. VIII.] I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY GHOST. 107
b. Refute the explication cf this by the figure pros- opopcBia, as taught by the Socinians and Neologists, and the new Sabellian schools, by showing — a. That these several in- stances cannot de- scribe any personal operation of the Father or the Son. /S. That neither can they describe any personal operation of man, in whom this gift of God is asserted, as the contradictors allege; viz.
N. Because the terms receiv- ing, showing, and guiding, are altogether in- consistent with that supposi- tion. 2. Because the sup- posed imper- sonality of what is asserted of TO TTvevfia in this relation, which is the main ground of the objection — viz. the being capable of in- crease and di- minution, being poured out, &c. — is all capable
108 I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY GHOST. [ART. VIII.
of satisfactory explanation by being referred to the gifts of which the Holy Ghost is (per- sonally) the dis- penser.
1. That the Holy Spirit is not a created Person, but
a Divine and Unci-eated one, in opposition to the ancient heretics, the Arians and the Mace- donians ; —
A. Because the identity of His nature with
the Divine, which is expressed by the name, is moreover explicitly declared in Scripture to be as complete as that of man's spirit with human nature.
B. Because the dignity ascribed to the Per-
son of the Holy Spirit in Scripture is such as cannot without blasphemy be attributed to a creature. Remove the possible objection to this argument, asserting that it would prove too much ; viz. that it would prove the Spirit greater than the Son.
C. Because the Holy Spirit is not subjected
to the Incarnate Son of God, as all creatures are, and therefore must be Uncreate and Divine.
D. Because the conception of the Virgin-
born by the Holy Ghost, is the sole reason assigned by the Angel why that holy offspring should be called the Son of God : and that can be no other than a Divine power which effected this character of the humanity of the Son.
2. That the Holy Spirit is truly and projoerly God.
A. Because this follows inevitably from the two preceding assertions: being proved, (1.) From the arguments that esta- blished the first assertion, viz.
ART. VIII.] I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY GHOST. 109
the Personality, taken in con- junction with those that esta- blished the second, viz. the Divine nature and operation of the Holy Spirit.
(2.) From the arguments of those also who deny the above assertions: the Sabellian impugners of the first, in contending for the im- personality, being necessitated to maintain the full subsistence of the Spirit in the Godhead: — while the Macedonian opponents of the second, in endeavouring to prove the inferiority, are obliged to maintain the distinct person- ality of Him whose divinity of operation and nature is confessed and proved by the other class of adversaries. B. Because the Scriptures directly teach this: as appears,
(1.) From the divine name "Lord" applied to Him in the old cove- nant, as authoritatively expound- ed to us \mder the new ministra- tion of the Spirit. Vindicate the Apostle's statement on this head from the Sabellian evasion of its meaning.
(2.) From the very name "God" ap- plied to Him by the chief of the Apostles in a memorable judg- ment. Show the impossibility of avoiding the force of this either
a. By an attempted distinction of phrase between the "Holy Ghost" and "God" in the Apostle's sentence; — or again,
] 10 I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY GHOST. [ART. VIII.
b. By making the former re- ferrible to the latter as an instrument only ; as the acts of Christ's ministers are referred to tlie Lord whom they represent. Show that this notion, if applicable here, would re- quire averydifferentmode of expression. ^3.) From the inhabitation of the Spirit constituting man a temple of God. (4.) From the inalienable attributes of God, which we find predicated of the Spirit. (5.) From the acts peculiar to God, which are ascribed to the Spirit. 3. That the Holy Spirit, thus proved to be God, is not identical with the other Divine persons.
A. Because proceeding from the Father, He
is not the Father.
B. Because, receiving of the things of the
Son, He is not the Son.
C. Because, being represented conjointly
with, and yet distinctively from, both the Father and the Son, in several pas- sages and in one event of the New Testament, — His person cannot be confounded with them, as by the Sa- bellians, without heretical perversion. i. That the Holy Spirit is the third Person of the ever-blessed Trinity.
A. Because, being proved in the four pre- ceding assertions, to be a partaker of this eternal Godhead of which it had been before shown (in Art. I. § 3, and Art. 11. § 3, 4) that the Father is the first Person, and the only-begotten Son the second, — He cannot but be the third.
ART. VIII.J I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY GHOST. Ill
B. Because He is thus placed, whenever tlie three persons are enumerated in Scrip- ture. 5. That the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son.
A. Because His procession from the Father
is directly taught in that discourse of our Lord, which announced his descent on the Apostles, — and has accordingly been confessed in terms by every por- tion of the Universal Church.
B. Because His procession from the Son also
may be concluded, though less directly, (1.) From His being termed the Spirit of Christ as well as the Spirit of the Father, implying a community of relation to the Father and the Son. (2.) From His being said, in the economy of human redemp- tion, to be sent by the Son from the Father, as well as to be sent by the Father in the Son's name : the mission by Both indicating an original derivation of the Spirit from Both, even as the mission of the Son into the world by the Father indicated the original derivation of His being from the Father. {o.) From the testimony afforded by Apostolical tradition that such was the faith once delivered to the Saints, — notwithstanding the lamentable schism that now divides the Eastern and Western Church on this head : (the latter alone admitting while the former deny, this
J 12 I RELIEVE IN THE HOLY GHOST. [aUT. VIIL
branch B of our sixth asser- tion :) inasmuch as
a. Before the schism, the
Fathers of tlie Eastern Church agreed in sub- stance with S. Hilary, S. Augustine, S. Leo, &c., in the West, as to the derivation of the Spirit through the Son from the Father, — though they did not, like them, name the Son co-ordi- nately with the Father in stating the procession of the Holy Spirit through a more rigid ad- herence to the phrase- ology of Scripture on that article.
b. The schism itself was oc-
casioned, a. Originally, by Theo- doret first using the Greek phraseology as an argument a- gainst the doctrine common to Greeks and Latins ; and this being unnoticed in the East, after the censure of his works on a diiierent account (viz. their countenancing the Nestorian heresy). /3. Actually — by subse- quent disputations between the two Sfreat divisions of the
ART. VIII.] I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY GHOST. 113
Catholic Churcli, which were violent- ly brought to an is- sue by the. Latins inserting the word FiLiOQUE in the Constantinopolitan confession of faith, as we still read it at the end of the Ni- cene Creed — though the Greeks repudi- ate the addition — and that not un- reasonably, as far as regards the altera- tion of the ancient document of the Second Council, but most unreasonably, when they proceeded on this account, and for certain ritual differences to ex- communicate the Western Church as lieretical.
Secondly, With respect to the office in the Christian economy
of the Holy Ghost, whose nature has been declared
as a Divine Person, true God, proceeding from the
Father and the Son, — the office which is the origin of
the epithet constantly annexed to this name peculiarly, in
the enumeration of the Persons of the ever-blessed Trinity
— but which is not a ministerial office, like that of created
spirits : describe this in its twofold operation ; —
I. The external and general work of the Spirit, relating to
the whole Church; viz. the revelation of the will of
God to the whole body, by means of
1. Holy Prophets specially inspired by the Spirit for the instruction of the rest.
I
114, I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY GHOST. [ART. VIII.
2. The consignation of these several inspirations in writing. II. The internal and particular work, pertaining to each true member of the Christian Church, which is the sanctifying virtue of the Spirit, and consists in
1. Illuminating their understanding to apprehend
that which was before externally revealed.
2. Rectifying and renovating the depraved will.
3. Leading, guiding, and governing the habitual
conduct perpetually,
A. To oppose the contrary principles of
the flesh.
B. To quicken the devotions by His in-
tercession with God; whence prin- cipally He derives the Holy Name under which the Saviour promised Him to His disciples.
4. Uniting each member of the mystical body
to Christ its Head.
5. Imparting the filial spirit, and the earnest of
adoption into the family of God.
6. More particularly, sanctifying and setting apart
those who are to be the especial organs and instruments of conveying His sanctifying virtue to the rest; viz. the ministers and dispensers of Christ's word and sacraments, in succession from the Apostles.
Thirdly, Explain the necessity of thus believing in the Holy Ghost, both as to His nature and office,
I. For the completion of the faith of our baptism, i. e. of
our character as Christians.
II. For appreciating, and thus obtaining, His excellent and
manifold gifts, which are the great blessings of the Gospel,— promised to all who seek them of the Father in the Son's name.
III. For accomplishing the will of God, which is our sancti-
fication.
IV. For that confirmation, support, and encouragement m
our state of probation, which is necessary to being use- ful members and promoters of God's kingdom.
ART. IX. § 1.] THE (holy CATHOLIC) CHURCH. 115
V. For the continuance of a standing Christian ministry ; — the observance of its character and sacred obligations by those who are called to it, and a Christian submis- sion on the part of all the others. Sum up therefore in a few words, this fundamental Article of
Christian faith.
ARTICLE IX.
"THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH, THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS.
§ 1. "THE CHURCH."
In the next Article, "the Holy Catholic Church" (of which the last epithet was added by the Greeks), we have to con- sider, respecting the thing believed, which is the Church (Ecclesia), —
First, The import of the word, Church, — and here, I. The name ; which
1. In our English language, as in the German and
all the Teutonic languages of Northern Europe [Church, Kirch, Kirk, d'c), is derived originally from a Greek adjective denoting " what apper- tains to the Lord," i, e, Christ — [the same as designates the Lord's day, for example, in the New Testament]. But
2. In the Latin and Greek originals of the Creed,
as in all the languages derived from provincial Latin in Southern Europe, Eglise, [Igrezia in Portuguese, whence its vulgar name in Hin- dustan,] &c., is identical with the word used in the New Testament to express the same idea : viz. the Greek word derived from sum- moning or calling together, often used in Pagan Antiquity for political assemblies.
I 2
116 THE CHURCH. [aRT. IX. § 1,
II. The object generally denoted by this name EKKAHSIA
which we render Church, which is (according to va- rious degrees of extensiveness in the idea of assem- bling which it denotes — beginning with the largest ' and most universal), —
1. The whole assembly of those who worship the
same God, comprehending angels and men, as distinguished from apostate men and spirits alike.
2. The whole of the sons of men only, who have
from the beginning of the world worshipped the one true God, their Creator and Redeemer ; as distinguished from idolaters and infidels.
3. The whole of those only whole knowledge of the
Redeemer has been direct and explicit ; i. e. the Christian Church as distinguished not only from unbelievers, but even from the true wor- shippers under the patriarchal and legal dis- pensations ; which is the peculiar meaning of the term in the Creed, as in the Gospel.
III. The use of the name in the New Testament ; which is
1. Sometimes in the loose manner in which the word
was used for assemblies by the Greeks before.
2. Sometimes in the sense which the word more
properly bore among the Hellenist Jews, for the assembly of the people of God under the Law.
3. The collection of Christians in a particular place :
which has led some to think, that in these pas- sages of the New Testament the place itself (viz. what was afterwards often called the Ecclesia or Church) was meant; which is very doubtful.
4. But principally, the society of believers in Christ
as such, but variously considered ; viz.
A. In its several stages of progress, as it existed
(1.) During our Lord's humiliation. (2.) After His resurrection from the
dead. (.3.) When the promised gift from
ART. IX. § 1.] THE CHURCH. 117
the Father descenJod on the disciples : from which time its proper existence in the world as the Church of Christ com- mences. B. In its several parts existing contempora- neously or successively in the world, each of which is also called a Church viz.
(1.) The society of Christians in any one of the countries in which the Gospel was preached. (Give examples.) (2.) The society of Christians in each of the great cities, with its suburban and rural depend- encies, into which the Chris- tians of these several countries again were distributed ; each Church under the Angel, i. e. the Superintendent or Bishop of the Diocese. (3.) The particular society or con- gregation meeting in any one given place (whether a private house or an edifice set apart for the purpose), into several of which the Christians of each diocese were distributed [whether assembling under one stated Presbyter, settled to preside over them as their particular pastor, or such Pres- byter or Presbyters as might from time to time be occa- sionally deputed by the Bishop to watch over them]. G. As One, notwithstanding these several partitions : all these several churches, as they are termed, whether national
118 THE CHURCH. [aIIT. IX. § J.
churches, or dioceses, or congregations, forming but One great body, the Church, as it is termed in the Creed and in the Scriptures. This unity consisting —
(1.) In the One Lord and Head to whom all the body are by one Spirit united, and thus become one in the Father and in Him. Show here,
a. That the Apostles and
Prophets on whom this one Church is said to be built as a foundation, are all united in this Oiiu Corner - stone ; which singly holds the build - inof tos^ether.
b. That for the sole purpose
of denoting this unity, Christ, in ordaining the twelve Apostles for this formation of the Church , addressed the commis- sion, which belongs equally to all, to one in particular, Simon Peter; as St, Cyprian and other Fathers ob- serve. (2.) In the one Faith which belongs
to each and every part of this
great whole. (3.) In the unity of the Sacraments
which are held throughout :
viz.
a. The one Baptism by
which they are joined to this mystical body.
b, The one Cup and Bread
ART. IX. § 1.] THE CHURCH. 119
of salvation, of which they all partake.
(4.) In the one Hope and calling which characterizes all, whe- ther individuals or lesser com- munities, within the Church.
(5.) In the one mind and Charity by which all parts of this great body are connected.
(6.) In the unity of Discipline and government: viz.
a. Each individual congre-
gation with its Pastor, whether stated or other- wise, being under the supervision of the chief Pastor or Bishop of the Diocese.
b. Each of the chief Pastors
being united by identity of regimen, and the common origin of his ministry from Christ, with other Bishops of the universal Church ; maintaining with them, and by the same rule, the common order and discipline of the Chris- tian household — [and by the Apostolical power they inherit of ordaining to the several orders of the ministry, continuing and perpe- tuating the same order to other ages].
Secondly, The actual existence of the one Church of Christ, thus propounded to us as an object of faith: viz. I. That this Church not only was once founded and once
120 THE HOLY CHURCH. [ART. IX. § 2.
existed, but has continued from Clirist and His Apo- stles, still subsists, and will ever subsist in the world. II. That this truth, equally sacred with all others in religion, rests on the foundation of Christ's promise, on which alone we receive and believe it. Show this from Scrip- ture; observing,
1. That this enduring permanency is secured to the
Church Catholic to the end of the world: viz. to St. Peter and the other Apostles, and their successors to the end of time, holding and abiding by St. Peter's confession.
2. That this does not hinder, but that particular
Churches may fail or apostatize, as individuals may; but yet that the body from which they fall off, shall not be wholly lost, or perish from the world.
3. That this permanency has accordingly been held
as a matter of Divine faith, in every age and period of the Church.
§ 2. " THE HOLY CHURCH."
We have in the next place to consider the properties here assigned to the Church, as the Holy Catholic Church. And beginning with Sanctity or Holiness, —
First, Show how this most important attribute belongs to the Church on these several accounts: —
I. By virtue of its holy vocation.
II. By virtue of the holy offices and powers therein re-
sidincr.
III. By virtue of the obligation to personal holiness which is
imposed thereby on each individual member.
IV. On account of the design and purpose of God in found-
ing and continuing this Church, being tluis to make them personally holy and uijl)laniable.
ART. IX. § 2.] THE HOLY CHURCH. 121
V. Because the Divine Word does term tlie body whose vocation, and ministries, and obligations, and pur- poses, are thus holy, to be itself pure and without stain before its Lord and Redeemer.
Secondly, Explain in what respects this attribute of Holiness, even in the unqualified Vth sense, is thus predicated of the Christian Church. To this effect, observe,
I. That the great society of the faithful in Christ, to which
these descriptions undoubtedly relate, does nevertheless in this world contain, together with the truly faithful and obedient, hypocritical and otherwise unsound mem- bers. Prove this against those who hold the presence of such persons to vitiate and annul the holiness of the Church in which they are contained (viz. the Nova- tiaus and Donatists of old, and various classes of sepa- ratists in modern times) ; —
1. From the types in Holy Scripture which repre-
sent this body —
A. In the Old Testament.
B. In the parables of our Lord, explicitly
directed to this point (and as such quoted by St. Cyprian and St. Au- gustine, and other Catholic Fathers, against the dissenting Donatists).
C. In some allegoric discourses of the Apo-
stles.
2. From the analogy of the Church of Israel in
various ages. 8. From the express testimony to the fact of such commixture in various Apostolical Epistles.
II. That the presence of these unworthy members does not
destroy the sanctity of the body, nor the consequent truth of these characters ascribed to it: inasmuch as 1. Those unsound members who fall short of the character and hope of their calling, are fast fall- ing off from the vital stock on which they were engrafted, but whose quickening virtues are ineffectual to them ; and at death, if not before, are separated from it totally and irrevocably : whereas death only unites the true members
122 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. [ART. IX. § 3.
more indissolubly to the general assembly of
the saints. 2. Consequently, in the triumphant state of the
Church, every thing that defileth, whether of
wicked members, or of remaining sin in its
true members, shall be thoroughly cleansed ;
and leave these characters of it literally and
eternally true. III. That we are not therefore [after the usual manner to which a false spirit of accommodation has led many] to conceive of two Churches, a visible and an invisible, — but (as Christ and his Apostles plainly teach) of one and the same Church, which, in its visible aspect, comprehends the bad with the good, but in the in- visible truth of the purposes to which her calling and ministries tend in the predestination of God, is nur- turing the truly faithful, the chosen of God, to perfect purity and blessedness.
§3. "THE CATHOLIC CHURCH."
In considering the next great attribute, viz. Catholicity: this word, though added to the Creed as it first stood, indicating a property of great dignity and importance; we are to con- sider—
First, The name, as used by the Fathers from the earliest times next to the Apostles, with some diversity of accept- ation: viz. I. Merely as "general" or "universal" in the ordinary use of language, in which sense, for example, it was from the first compiling of the canon of the New Testament applied to the two Epistles of St. Peter, those of St. James and St. Jude, and the 1st of St. John, as dis- tinguished from those of St. Paul, which were addressed to particular Churches.
ART. IX. § 3.] THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. 123
II, More specially, as applied to the Christian patriarchs,
whose province comprehended under it the dioceses of several Bishops or even Metropolitans : this title, Catholiais, still remaining in use in some parts of the Eastern Church, having originally descended from the use of the term in the Roman state in its Eastern provinces.
III. As applied to the Church, bearing several meanings :
viz.
1. When by the Church is meant the place of
assembly [§ 1. First head, III. 3,] this epithet often distinguished the parish church, which admitted all descriptions of the faithful as to i"ank, sex, or condition, from private, or monas- tic, or collegiate chapels.
2. But when the Church denotes any particular
assembly of the faithful as such [§ 1, First head, III. 4. B. (1.) (2.) (3.)], i.e. when any of these societies, national, diocesan, or con- gregational, or even if any individual among them, is called Catholic, then the epithet always denotes adhering to the faith and the discipline which the Apostles founded in the earth, as distinguished from such assemblies and indi- viduals as are either
A. Heretical : i. e. professing a faith which
denies or subverts any fundamental article of Christianity, and therefore cut off from the main body.
B. Schismatical : i. e. rejecting the ministry
which the Apostles founded, and set- ting up a separate society ; — thus being self-excluded from the main body.
3. When the Church, as here, denotes the whole
society of the faithful in Christ, this epithet always denoted that body which rests on the Apostles' doctrine and discipline, and is diffused throughout the whole world, — of which all parts or societies (in communion with the main body) are Catholic, — and all without, heretical or schismatical.
124' THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH. [ART. IX § 4,
Secondly, The truth of the epithet, whose meaning in itself, and as applied to the Church, has been thus fully explained : which appears,
I. Because the Church w4iich Christ and His Apostles
founded, is not like that which was founded on the call of Abraham, and solemnly instituted on the re- demption of the chosen seed from Egypt, confined to one race or family of mankind, but extended without distinction catholically, or generally, to all.
II. Because, in the teaching of this Church, all things are
contained KudoXiKco^, or universally, which are neces- sary for a Christian to know for his soul's health.
ILL Because of the universality of its prescriptions, both as to the persons who are enjoined to obey, and the evan- gelical precepts which they are required to obey.
IV, Because all graces and virtues are therein given for the rectification of every soul within the pale, and making them perfect in Christ.
§ 4.