ARTICLE VIII. ART. VIII. Of the Three Creeds. The Three Creeds, Nice Creed, Athanafius Creed, and that which is commonly called the Apostles Creed, ought throughly to be received and believed; for they may be proved by most certain Warrants of Holy Scripture. A LTHOUGH no doubt feems to be here made, of the names or defignations given to thofe Creeds, except of that which is afcribed to the Apoftles, yet none of them are named with any exactnefs: fince the article of the Proceffion of the Holy Ghoft, and all that follows it, is not in the Nicene Creed, In Anchobut was used in the Church as a part of it; for fo it is in Epi- reto. phanius, before the fecond General Council at Conftantinople; and it was confirmed and established in that Council: only the article of the Holy Ghoft's proceeding from the Son, was afterwards added firft in Spain, anno 447, which spread itself over all the Weft: fo that the Creed here called the Nice Creed, is indeed the Conftantinopolitan Creed, together with the addition of filioque made by the Western Church. That which is called Athanafius's Creed is not his neither; for as it is not among his works, fo that great article of the Christian religion having been fettled at Nice, and he and all the rest of the orthodox referring themfelves always to the Creed made by that Council, there is no reason to imagine that he would have made a Creed of his own; befides, that not only the Macedonian, but both the Neftorian and the Eutychian herefies are exprefsly condemned by this Creed; and yet thofe authorities never being urged in thofe difputes, it is clear from thence, that no fuch Creed was then known in the world; as indeed it was never heard of before the eighth, century; and then it was given out as the Creed of Athanafius, or as a representation of his doctrine, and fo it grew to be received by the Weftern Church; perhaps the more early, becaufe it went under fo great a name, in ages that were not critical enough to judge of what was genuine, and what was fpurious. There is one great difficulty that arifes out of feveral expreffions in this Creed, in which it is faid, that whosoever will be faved, muft believe it; that the belief of it is neceflary to falvation; and that fuch as do not hold it pure and undefiled, fhall without doubt perish everlastingly: where many explanations of a mystery hard to be understood, are made indifpenfably necessary to falvation; and it is affirmed, that all K 3 fuch VIII. ART. fuch as do not fo believe, muft perifh everlaftingly. To this two answers are made: 1. That it is only the Christian faith in general that is hereby meant, and not every period and article of this Creed; fo that all thofe fevere expreffions are thought to import only the neceffity of believing the Chriftian religion but this feems forced; for the words that follow, and the Catholick faith is, do fo plainly determine the fignification of that word to the explanation that comes after, that the word Catholick faith, in the first verfe, can be no other than the fame word, as it is defined in the third and following verfes; fo that this anfwer feems not natural. 2. The common answer in which the most eminent men of this Church, as far as the memory of all fuch as I have known, could go up, have agreed, is this, that thefe condemnatory expreffions are only to be understood to relate to those who having the means of inftruction offered to them, have rejected them, and have ftifled their own convictions, holding the truth in unrighteousness, and choofing darknefs rather than light upon fuch as do thus reject this great article of the Chriftian doctrine, concerning one God and Three Perfons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghoft, and that other concerning the Incarnation of Chrift, by which God and man was fo united as to make one perfon, together with the other doctrines that follow thefe, are thofe anathemas denounced: not fo as if it were hereby meant, that every man who does not believe this in every tittle muft certainly perish, unless he has been furnished with fufficient means of conviction, and that he has rejected them, and hardened himself against them. The wrath of God is revealed against all fin, and the wages of fin is death: fo that every finner has the wrath of God abiding on him, and is in a ftate of damnation: yet a fincere repentance delivers him out of it, even though he lives and dies in fome fins of ignorance; which though they may make him liable to damnation, fo that nothing but true repentance can deliver him from it; yet a general repentance, when it is alfo fpecial for all known fins, does certainly deliver a man from the guilt of unknown fins, and from the wrath of God due to them. God only knows our hearts, the degrees of our knowledge, and the meafure of our obstinacy, and how far our ignorance is affected or invincible; and therefore he will deal with every man according to what he has received. So that we may believe that fome doctrines are neceffary to falvation, as well as that there are fome commandments neceffary for practice; and we may alio believe that fome errors as well as fome fins are exclufive of falvation; all which imports no more than that we believe fuch things are fufficiently revealed, and that they are necellary conditions of falvation; but VIII. but by this we do not limit the mercies of God towards those AR T. who are under fuch darkness as not to be able to see through it, and to difcern and acknowledge thefe truths. It were indeed to be wished, that fome express declaration to this purpose were made by those who have authority to do it: but in the mean while this being the fenfe in which the words of this Creed are univerfally taken, and it agreeing with the phrafeology of the Scripture upon the like occafions, this is that which may be refted upon. And allowing this large explanation of these fevere words, the reft of this Creed imports no more than the belief of the doctrine of the Trinity, which has been already proved, in treating of the former Articles. As for the Creed called the Apostles Creed, there is good reafon for fpeaking fo doubtfully of it as the Article does, fince it does not appear that any determinate Creed was made by them: none of the first writers agree in delivering their faith in a certain form of words; every one of them gives an abftract of his faith, in words that differ both from one another, and from this form. From thence it is clear that there was no common form delivered to all the Churches: and if there had been any tradition after the times of the Council of Nice, of fuch a Creed compofed by the Apostles, the Arians had certainly put the chief ftrength of their cause on this, that they adhered to the Apoftles Creed, in oppofition to the innovations of the Nicene Fathers: there is therefore no reason to believe that this Creed was prepared by the Apoftles, or that it was of any great antiquity, fince Ruffin was the firft that published it: it is true, he published it as the Creed of the Church of Aquileia; but that was fo late, that neither this nor the other Creeds have any authority upon their own account. Great refpect is indeed due to things of fuch antiquity, and that have been fo long in the Church; but after all, we receive thofe Creeds, not for their own fakes, nor for the fake of those who prepared them, but for the fake of the doctrine that is contained in them; because we believe that the doctrine which they declare is contained in the Scriptures, and chiefly that which is the main intent of them, which is to affert and profefs the Trinity, therefore we do receive them; though we must acknowledge that the Creed afcribed to Athanafius, as it was none of his, fo it was never established by any General Council. ART. ARTICLE IX. Of Original or Birth-Sin. Driginal Sin Bandeth not in the following of Adam (as the Pelagians do vainly talk) but it is the fault or corruption of the nature of every man, that naturally is engendered of the Offspring of Adam, whereby man is very far gone from Driginal Righteousness, and is of his own nature inclined to evil, so that the Flesh lufteth always contzary to the Spirit, and therefore in evezy Pezlon born into the World it deferveth Gad's Wrath and Damnation : And this Jufetion of Nature doth remain, pea in them that are regenerated, whezebp the Luft of the Fleth, called in Greek ogóvnμa ragxds, which some do expound the Wisdom, foie Senfuality, fome the Affeaion, fome the Delire of the Flesh, is not fubjec to the Law of Cod. And though there is no Condemnation for them that believe and aze baptized, yet the Apostle doth confess, That Concupifcence and Luft hath of itself the nature of Sin. A FTER the first principles of the Chriftian religion are ftated, and the rule of faith and life was settled, the next thing that was to be done, was to declare the fpecial doctrines of this religion; and that firft with relation to all Chriftians, as they are fingle individuals, for the directing every one of them in order to the working out his own falvation; which is done from this to the nineteenth Article and then with relation to them as they compose a society called the Church; which is carried on from the nineteenth to the end. In all that has been hitherto explained, the whole Church of England has been all along of one mind. In this and in fome that follow, there has been a greater diverfity of opinion; but both fides have studied to prove their tenets to be at least not contrary to the Articles of the Church. These different parties have difputed concerning the decrees of God, and thofe affiftances which pursuant to his decrees are afforded to us. But because the foundation of thofe decrees, and the neceffity IX. ceffity of thofe affiftances, are laid in the fin of Adam, and in ART. the effects it had on mankind, therefore these controverfies begin on this head. The Pelagians and the Socinians agree in faying, that Adam's fin was perfonal: that by it, as being the first fin, it is faid that fin entered into the world: but that as Rom. v. 12. Adam was made mortal, and had died whether he had finned or not; fo they think the liberty of human nature is still entire; and that every man is punished for his own fins, and not for the fin of another; to do otherwife, they fay, feems contrary to juftice, not to fay, goodness. I In oppofition to this, judgment is faid to have come upon many Ver. 15. to condemnation through one (either man or fin). Death is faid to have reigned by one, and by one man's offence; and many are faid to be dead through the offence of one. All thefe paffages do intimate that death is the confequence of Adam's fin; and that in him, as well as in all others, death was the wages of fin, fo alfo that we die upon the account of his fin. We are faid to bear the image of the first Adam, as true Chriftians bear 1 Cor. xv. the image of the fecond: now we are fure that there is both a 49. derivation of righteoufnefs, and a communication of inward holiness transferred to us through Chrift: so it seems to follow from thence, that there is fomewhat both transferred to us, and conveyed down through mankind, by the first Adam; and particularly that by it we are all made fubject to death; from which we fhould have been freed, if Adam had continued in his firft ftate, and that by virtue of the Tree of Gen, iii. 22. Life: in which fome think there was a natural virtue to cure all difeafes, and relieve against all accidents, while others do ascribe it to a divine bleffing, of which that tree was only the fymbol or facrament; though the words faid after Adam's fin, as the reafon of driving him out of Paradife, left he put forth his hand and take of the Tree of Life, and eat, and live for ever, feem to import that there was a phyfical virtue in the tree, that could fo fortify and restore life, as to give immortality. Thefe do alfo think that the threatning made to Adam, that upon his eating the forbidden fruit, he fhould furely die, is to be taken literally, and is to be carried no further than to a natural death. This fubjection to death, and to the fear of it, brings men under a flavifh bondage, many terrors, and other paffions and miferies that arife out of it, which they think is a great punishment; and that it is a condemnation and sentence of death paffled upon the whole race; and by this they are made finners, that is, treated as guilty perfons, and feverely punished. This they think is eafily enough reconciled with the notions of juice and goodnefs in God, fince this is only a temporary punishment relating to men's perfons: and we see |