other Reasons those that have been thus briefly intimated may at least assist to clear the first question and answer of the Catechism from the guilt of Trivialness Vanity and Impertinency As to what is objected against the Second question and answer it will be sufficient to reply That our Church therein is confo mable to the Primitive For Tertullian a Father of the Third age saith positively That it was the custom of the Church in his time to adm t none to the benefit of the Scriptures or to any dispensation concerning sacred and divine things or to the scanning and examination of particular Questions of Religion who could not first give a clear account of all material circumstances of their Reception into the Ark of Christ's Church By whom at what time and after what manner they were received which are the Ingredients of the second answer in the Church-Catechism and whether they did stedfastly believe and maintain all those general Principles wherein there ever was an universal an unanimous agreement among all Christians And those who could not give an account thereof were looked upon as such who had no right to the Communion of Christ's Church and the Priviledges of his Kingdom This Testimony of the Churches practice is to be seen in Tertullian's Praesc advers Haeretic A piece which was written by him as I conceive before the provocations of the Roman Clergy tempted him to turn a Montanist and to be led away with the Enthusiastick delusions of that Sect. He lived in the third age and was so high in the esteem of the humble and modest St. Cyprian that he usually called him his Master Hierom. in Cat. Script Eccles Abraham Buchol Chronolog The imposition of the Name being confined to the precise time of Baptism is by some looked upon as an impertinent Rigor and tasting highly of Superstition But they would be of another mind if without prejudice they would have recourse to the Use of the Church which hath always given Names to those Children she admitted into her Fellowship at the punctual time of their admission And this will be plainly discerned if we look back unto Circumcision the first Characteristical Sacrament for from the time of its Institution to that of its legal abolishment the Male received his name at the Celebration of that truly primitive Initiatory Nor doth it any way evacuat this Assertion that we read of some who had names before they were circumcised after that admissory Rite was appointed as Benoni Gershom and the Israelites born in the Wilderness Gen. 35.18 Exod. 2. 4. Josh 5.2 whom we may suppose not to have wanted Names as they did Circumcision But as touching the Example of Benoni it affords little of Objection seeing that at Circumcision his Name was changed And what happen'd concerning Gershom it was as the instance of the Israelites in the Desart in this case not at all argumentative because it was extraordinary and when necessity forced them to dispence with Law So that notwithstanding all this we may conclude that Circumcision was the usual time for the imposition of Names And the like custom has always been observed at Christian Baptism the Church thinking it most convenient that the Baptised should at the same time receive his Christian Name whereat he became a Christian But that for which the Church seems least accountable and which makes the greatest noise and which is objected with the fairest plausibility is that which concerns Sureties in Baptism whose Office is decri'd as unwarrantable because they undertake what they cannot discharge And the very name of Godfathers and Godmothers is spoken against as a prophanation of the most Holy Name being a Transgression of the Third Commandment And this is an Objection which cannot be better assoiled than by laying down a clear Scheme of the Antiquity and Reasonableness of Sureties in Baptism And in the first place the antiquity of Sureties at and for the reception of Persons into the Church is indisputable For if we look into the Jewish Church when she was in her best Purity we shall find that ever since the institution of Circumcision there were still some appointed to be present and hold out the Male to the Mohel to be circumcised And the person allotted for this Office was some special Friend of the Fathers who is called the Master of the Covenant but usually in Latin Initiationis Arbiter Susceptor Compater who at the Door of the Synagogue receives the child from the women who are permitted to go further and entring the Synagogue the Susceptor holds the child till the Hammohel Circumciser has taken away the Foreskin And how this custom was primitively observed among the Jews and in point of Sureties derived to the Christians may be collected from what Junius has intimated upon Esay 8. compared with Saint Luke 1. from the 57 to the 60 Verse Now this custom of Sureties in the Jewish Church need not at all reflect upon the like in the Christian Being it was in the power of the latter to retain any Rite of the former that was apparently decent significant and edifying For if every thing used by the Jew were to be rejected by the Christian then most of our Religion must be cast out of doors For it was not the design of our great Law-giver to abolish Judaism but to amend supply and heighten it Besides we find not that those who were or are the greatest Impugners and most impetuous gainsayers of Sureties in Baptism ever did it upon the account that it was a Rag of Judaism But how dark and questionable this custom may seem to some in its derivation and pedigree yet its practice is clearly to be found in the first times of Christianity As they must needs know who have observed how frequently 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 occur in the Greek Fathers and Susceptores Sponsores and Fide jussores in the Latin And how in both the words signifie and refer to Undertakers at Baptism Platina ascribes the Institution hereof unto Hygin who saith he ordain'd that at the least one Patrimus or Matria should be present at Baptism and there hold the Infant till he was baptised Patrimus and Matrima are old Words which by new imposition denoted those who undertook for the Vertuous and Pious education of the Baptised Now if it be granted that Hygin Bishop of Rome was the Author of Godfathers and Godmothers then this custom is of an uncontroulable ancientness for Hygin lived in the Second Age and was a Martyr in the 144 of Salvation And it is generally granted that this good Bishop took occasion from those Persecutions which were heavy upon the Church to appoint Sureties in Baptism That in Case the Parents should fall into violent restraint banishment or death there might be some to take care of their childrens instruction in the truth of that Religion into which they were initiate But whatever was the first
has an Vnion with Him as being the Head of it so I believe there is a Common Vnion among the Members both those that are glorified in Heaven and those that in some degree are sanctified on Earth And this is called the Communion of Saints and is the first Priviledge of the Christian Church And by vertue of this all true Christians communicate in all Offices of Piety and Charity in doing good to one anothers Bodies and Souls And this they do upon the account that they have in common One God one Christ one Spirit one Lord one Faith one Baptism one Hope ARTICLE X. The Forgiveness of Sins As the Communion of Saints genuinely ariseth from the Nature of the Vniversal Church so Pardon of Sins follows from both For none shall have their Sins forgiven but those who live and die in the Communion of the Church For unless I abide in this Ark I shall certainly perish Now Sin as I have been instructed is of two sorts the one Original which is the sin of my Nature the other Actual which is the sin of my Conversation The former I brought with me into the World the latter I commit while I live therein And both these sorts of sin deserve Eternal Death and can only be pardon'd by the Merits of Christ For sin being a Transgression of the Law of God it can only be forgiven by him whose Law it transgresseth For Remission of sins is the second Priviledge of the Church which is preached to all in the Name of Christ and sealed in Baptism wherein I believe my Original Sin is presently pardon'd and that my Actual Sins committed after Baptism shall be pardon'd if I truly repent me of the same Now this my Belief of the Forgiveness of Sins supposes that I believe That God graciously and freely without any Desert on Man's part gave his Son to die for the World and That for the sake of his meritorious Death he remits the Fault absolves from the Guilt and acquits from Punishment all truly penitent and believing Sinners And I do further believe That he imputes to them the Obedience of his own Son and his Righteousness and by means thereof accounts them just in his sight I believe That all who are justified and thus acquitted have Holiness in some degree according to the Condition of this Life Which Holiness tho' it cannot altogether discharge them from sin yet it doth not suffer it to reign over them So that a justified Person is not under its Dominion nor yields himself a Vassal to it but resists its Commands and makes it die daily And for the greater security of the Forgiveness of sins God hath committed to his Ministers an indispensible Power and Charge to preach Faith and Repentance as the Condition of this Forgiveness He hath likewise appointed them to pray and intercede and also to baptize for the Forgiveness of sins and to administer the Lord's Supper in memory of that Blood which was shed for the Remission of Sins And indeed all that God hath left in the Hand and Power of his Ministers especially tends to make Men capable of receiving what they believe namely the Remission of sins ARTICLE XI The Resurrection of the Body It was the Hope of the Fathers under the Old Testament as well as it is of Christians under the New That there shall be a Resurrection both of the Just and Unjust And if it were otherwise Christians of all Men would be most miserable and all that I have learn'd and you have taught me concerning Christianity would be in vain But I firmly and truly believe That my Mortal Body shall be raised from the Corruption of the Grave by Vertue of the Resurrection of Christ And this my Belief is founded upon the Power and good Pleasure of God who both can and will raise from the dead the very same Body that died ARTICLE XII The Life everlasting The Enjoyment of Everlasting Life is the last Christian Privilege and that which crowns the rest And I have learned to understand by this Life the Enjoyment of all true Happiness in Soul and Body For I believe that the Faculties of the Souls of just Persons shall be perfectly enlightned and sanctified and that their Bodies shall live after the manner of Spirits and be exceedingly glorified And opposite to this Life everlasting I believe there is an everlasting Death which is the Portion of the Wicked And that as Life everlasting consists in the Fruition so I believe everlasting Death consists in the Loss of God's Presence and all other Comforts and is the enduring of the sting of Conscience and Torments of Hell for ever But as my believing all the Articles of the Christian Faith as they are summ'd up in that which is called the Apostles Creed supposes that I am to learn not only the Words but likewise the Sense of the Creed so it also implies that I should live like them that do believe for otherwise my consenting to the Truth of the Articles will stand me in no stead And therefore not medling with remote and learned Inferences I will draw such from each Article as are near and familiar short and edifying As for Example From my believing that God created me I infer I am bound to be obedient and subject to him By my believing that Christ redeemed me I think it my Duty to yield up my self to him as his Purchase and to be wholly disposed by him and employed only in his Service My believing Christ's Conception by the Holy Ghost and his Birth of the Virgin should make me diligent to fit my Heart for the Holy Ghost to overshadow and for Christ to be born in it My belief of Christ's Crucifixion should teach me to crucifie the Flesh with the Affections and Lusts and to destroy the Body of sin My belief of his Death and Burial should make me content to die for the sake of Truth being assured that if I suffer for Christ I shall also reign with him It should also keep me from being disheartned by Death seeing that Christ by dying hath taken away the Stinâ— of Death which is Sin and maâ— it an Entrance into Life My bâ—lieving the Resurrection of Chrisâ— should make me actually rise froâ— Sin to a New Life and utterlâ— to forsake my Sins as Christ diâ— the Grave to which after â— was once risen from it he returned no more My believinâ— Christ's Ascension and sitting â— the Right-hand of God shoulâ— teach me to set my Affections oâ— things above and not on thing on the Earth The believing Judgment to come should makâ— me careful so to walk as that may not be condemned in iâ— My believing the Holy Catholick Church and Communion oâ— Saints should render me mightâ— circumspect to preserve Charity which is the Bond of Peace and to avoid all things destructive oâ— Catholick Unity The Remission of sins which I believe should make me highly to esteem all those Ways and Means which
that manner of Catechizing which was delivered to the Romans Rom. 6.17 or as our Margin reads out of the Greek whereunto ye were delivâ—red or given up Where the ordinary Phrase is changed by the Apostle For albeit to say To this form of Doctrine you were delivered is not so agreeable either to the Latin or English speech as This form of Doctrine which was delivered unto you Yet the Apostle makes use of the first to tell us saith Cajetan That not so much the form of Religion was delivered to Men as that Men were delivered to the form of Religion That so by this means Religion might be known to have Authority and Power over Man and not Man over Religion But not to insist upon this it need not be doubted that this form of Doctrine spoken of by St. Paul was a Summary of Christianity or the Catechism used in those early and best times of Christianity which contained the first Principles of the Oracles of God By which some understand the Creed as Cyril of Hierusalem in his Catech. 4. styled by him the milky Introduction in allusion to St. Paul 1 Cor. 3.2 Heb. 5.12 Others of the Creed and Lords Prayer as Bede Others the Creed and Decalogue as Aquinus Others all those Elements which the Catechumens learned and professed at Baptism whereof the Creed was the Principal Which with the Lords Prayer the Clergy was injoyned to Teach the People Concil Mogunt cap. 45. And it was a general command of the Church that those who were to be Baptized should have a certain time allotted for the learning and rehearsing of the Creed Which the Eastern Christians always repeated with a clear Voice when they came to the Holy Communion of Christs Body and Blood As appears in the Twenty second Canon of the Council of Toledo But if this seem to restrain Catechising only to such Catechumens as in the History and Canons of the Church are frequently mentioned and that this kind of instruction was not used toward those whom by Baptism the Church had already received into her Communion It then follows that we shew how Catechism was a plain Institution wherein all Believers did Communicate And in the first place it is manifest out of Oecumenius expounding the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That there were some Points of Christian Religion wherein the Novices were Catechised before Baptism and some after Those in which they were Catechised before Baptism were The necessity of Repentance to renounce the Devil and all his works To believe in God c. And those Points which they learned after Baptism were the Mysteries of our Saviours passion and Priest-hood his taking our sins on himself and working our Salvation the Mysteries of our Resurrection of the last Judgment and everlasting reward or life And the Catechism of these was common to all Believers because necessary Secondly That Catechising belong'd to all within the Church and was not confined only to the Novices in Religion and Candidates of Christianity we may confidently infer from the express words of St. Paul Gal. 6.6 where he divides the whole Church to which that Letter was directed into Catechist and Catechised Whereby the later cannot be meant only those who were not yet admitted to Holy Baptism Styled by the Church Canons Catechumens For then we must conclude that the Catechumen and Believer were all one contrary to Tertullian de Paenit Cap. 6. de Coronâ Milit. Cap. 2. and all the Fathers And that there was a Christian Church in Galatia consisting of Catechumens or Unbaptised Persons i. e. a Church of Christians without Christians Which absurd inconveniences cannot be evaded unless by those Catechised spoken of by the Apostle we understand such as had received Baptism already and were still to be instructed in that Religion whereinto by that Divine Rite they had been admitted So that in St. Pauls time Catechising in its Native acception was continued even to those who had attained already to so much knowledg in the Principles of Christianity as render'd them in the Language of the Ancients Competentes or Persons fit for Baptism and to be admitted to the higher Mysteries of Religion The same Apostle told the Corinthians that he had fed them with Milk that is by the consent of all with Catechetical Doctrines And there is no doubt that those Texts in Heb. 5.12 Act. 18.25 Heb. 6.1 are pregnant intimations of this truth The like may be affirmed of what St. Luke S. Luke 1.4 has recorded concerning the Introduction of the Eloquent Apollos and his most Excellent Theophilus into the knowledg of Christ And what has been said affords sufficient ground of asserting Catechism to have been in use with the Apostles and that it descended from the Synagogue How it was the Practice also of the Primitive Church is the Subject of the ensuing Chapter CHAP. IV. The Apostles Catechists in several Provinces The Declension and Restauration of Catechising Catechists Styled Exorcists c. BUt if we imagine that the marks of Catechising are less apparent in the New Testament yet if we look into Ecclesiastical History we shall there find that the Apostles had their several Provinces wherein they were Catechists And that by means of constant Catechising many Kingdoms within Forty years after the Passion received an alteration in their Pagan Ceremonies Although it must be confessed that it was not long till the Malice and Envy of the Devil and Man brought a decay in this most useful Institution For in the second Age we read that Catechising was so far declined that Origen living in the Two hundred and thirtieth of Christ was honoured with the Title of its Restorer But where this Restauration of Catechising by Origen was affected is not so evident There is a great probability that Judea was the Scene of so good an Action For we read that he was very kindly received there after he fled out of Alexandria upon his falling into disgrace with the Christians of that Country because in the time of Decius he had offer'd Incense to an Idol to save his Body of which his care was not always justifiable from being defiled by a filthy Ethiopian In Alexandria Origen could not be said to restore Catechising for it is expresly affirmed that there he succeeded in Cathedrâ Catecheticâ his Master Clemens as Clemens had done his Master Pantenus in the same Chair And of these two later we are told that they made it their Employment to Teach the Grounds of Religion not by Sermons or Homilies but by Catechism in such Schoolls and Colledges as in great likelyhood they themselves had founded for that purpose So that we see how in Alexandria and we may hope that the like was in other Parts there was a succession of Catechists who were also called Exorcists not only because as Isidore explains the word by Prayer in the Name of Jesus they cast unclean Spirits out of those who were possessed Nor meerly in regard of