the begynning and roote of all good workes as infydelitie is the fountayne and roote of all euylles The lxxxxi Article I Beléeue moreouer that the good workes are not superfluous vaine nor vnprofitable but necessarie to saluation I call good works not those which are done after the fantasie or commaundement of men but those only which God hath cōmaunded to be be done by his worde the which ought to be done not for to merite any thing towardes the Lorde or for to auoyde eternall condempnation But onelye because that God hath commaunded them And for to testifie the loue which we haue vnto the Lord and the obedience vnto his worde and commaundement And to the ende that in vs and by vs hee be glorifyed and our neighbours aswell faithfull as vnfaithfull maye be edifyed Lykewise to shewe and manifest the faith which we haue in God and in his worde as the good tree declareth him selfe and is known by his fruite and for to render certain and sure our vocation election and Predestination These are the endes of good workes commaunded of God and who so euer dooth them to any other ende hee abuseth sinneth dooth wrong and dishonor vnto the blood of Christe and dishonoreth God and his worde For by his doings he declareth Christe to haue dyed in vaine The lxxxxii Article I Beléeue the there is no man in this worlde nor in the other neyther in heauen nor in the earth which can forgeue and pardō my sinnes but one onely God who also hath geuen the power and authoritie vnto the Mynisters of his worde to declare vnto the faythfull that beleeue and which are contrite and penitent the remission of their sinnes to be done by grace freely in the blood of Christe shead for them And to declare them to bee absolued from their sinnes and that altogether by the Minister of the worde in the catholyke Church in which that forgeuenes is made and done and not otherwyse But of our parte is requyred entyre and true repentaunce The which hath two partes The first is contrition that is to saye knowledge with displeasure and detestation to sinne the which is administred by the lawe and causeth in vs a despayre if it be not ayded of the other parte which is the lyuelie faith in the mercie of the father by the blood of Iesus Christ the which proceedeth from the Gospell that doth comfort vs and maketh vs to persyst and finde grace and fauour before the iudgement of God. The lxxxxiii Article I Beléeue that the sinne abydeth alwayes in man yea vnto those that are sanctified after the regeneration made by the baptisme and the holie spyrite the which neuerthelesse is not imputed vnto them thorow the fayth that they haue in Iesus Christe For as all the sinnes of the Infidels and reprobate are mortall and irremissyble because of their infidelitie so all the sinnes of the faithfull and elect are veniable and remissible because of their fayth And therfore I beléeue one onelie sinne to be mortall irremissyble that is to saye Infidelitie That is to say not to beleeue in the sonne of God for where true faith in Iesus Christe is founde all sinnes are hydden couered and pardoned ¶ I beleeue the resurrection of the fleshe which is the seconde fruit of my fayth The lxxxxiiii Article I Beléeue a resurrection to come and generall vnto all the worlde aswell to the good as euyll The which shall be done at the ende and consummation of the worlde by the vertue of Christe and by the ministring of the Angels the which with a lowde Trumpet shall call all the worlde before the Lorde and shall assemble all the elect from the fowre windes from the highest heauens vnto the lowest part of the earth and shall seperate the wicked from the middest of the righteous and shall cast them in the fornace of fyre where shall be wéeping gnashing of téethe Then the righteous shall shyne as the Sunne in the kingdome of their Father And shal be lyke and companions with the Angelles of god That is the seconde resurrection and blessed is he that shall haue parte and portion in the same for he shal neuer be touched with the second death The lxxxxv Article I Beléeue that that resurrection shall be done in fleshe and not in spyrite That is to saye that the soule or spyrite of man shall not ryse againe for so muche as it is immortall and neuer dyeth But the bodye the which before aswell according to his nature as thorow sin was subiect vnto death corrpution rotten brought into dust and ashes shall be raysed vp and vnited with his soule and proper spirite and set in a perfecter estate then that of the first man before sinne exempted from all corruption of sinne and consequentlie from all other imperfections like vnto the gloryous bodye of Christe The lxxxxvi Article I Do also beléeue that I shall ryse againe not in the fleshe or body of another mans but in my very owne body which I brought from my mothers wombe with those same bones with the very body which I haue nowe The same notwithstanding transformed and chaunged made of mortall immortall of corruptible incorruptible of vyle and contemptible glorious And therefore I looke for my sauiour Iesus Christe who thorow his vertue shall transfigure my vile body that it maye be lyke vnto his glorious body according to the power by which hee can make all thinges subiect vnto himselfe ¶ I beleeue the lyfe euerlastyng VVhich is the thirde and laste fruite of my fayth The lxxxxvii Article I Beléeue that I shall ryse againe as I haue sayde with all the faithfull and electe not for to dye againe as those which were myraculouslye raysed aswell by Christe as by the Prophets and Apostles and such other but into an immortal eternall and perdurable lyfe for to raigne eternallye with God in body and soule And hereof I am very certayne and doubte nothing at all of it knowing that whosoeuer doubteth of his saluation made by Iesus Christe he shall neuer bee saued Wherefore euen as I am sure and certaine that Christe is dead and rose againe for mée and doubt nothing at all therof but am sure and certaine of my saluation made by him And that infallibly I shal be saued and shal go into eternall lyfe by him The lxxxxviii Article I Beléeue that then I shall sée face to face him whome I do nowe sée but by the glasse of fayth shall know him perfectly whome I knowe nowe but partlye who after that he hath destroyed and confounded all his aduersaries putting them as his footestoole wyll make all thinges newe for the glorie of his chosen And shall be God all in all and in all things Then euery one shall not teache his brother
diuerse places nor in many places at one very tyme but so in one according to the nature of his glorious body that then hee cannot be in anye other otherwise he should not be a true and naturall body but a shadow that is to saye a thing appearing and not being the which is false and altogether against our faith And therfore I say and confesse the true and naturall body of Christe to be in heauen and that from thence he shall not departe vntyll he hath put all his enemies vnder his féete and come for to iudge both the quick and the dead The .xxxviii. Article I Beléeue when the number of the elect children of God shal be accomplished the Lorde Iesus in that same bodye with which hee suffered with which he roase and ascended into heauen shall come with great power and maiestie visibly in a clowde euen as he ascended and that shal be to iudge the quick and the dead and shall geue vnto euery one according to Iustice vnto the good which shal be founde among them after theyr goodnesse and to the wicked after their naughtines That iudgement shal be general that is to say all shal be called and summoned to appeare personally by the voice of the Aungell to which all shall appeare aswell the good as euyll the elect as reprobate that euery one doo make and render vp his accompt and reckoning before the iudiciall seate of Christe of all thinges done by them in this world be it good or ill yea for euery idle worde the which the world doth not thinke to be sin Then shall all those be saued which shal be found written in the booke of lyfe The .xxxix. Article I Beleeue that then shal be made the totall and last seperation of the good from the wicked of the elect from the reprobate the which nowe are mingled together as the good fishes and badde in the nettes the chaffe with the corne and the darnell with the wheate But when the haruest commeth he which hath the fanne in his handes will make the seperation and wil put the corne aside in his garner but the chaf and tares shal be cast into the fyre for to burne eternally Then shal be perfectlye declared and knowen the iustice and mercy of the Lorde with the fruite of the Crosse and blood of Iesus Christe the which now wee know onely but in parte Then the good and elect shal know the stone vpon which they builded theyr fayth and hope and shall not be confounded And the wicked shall also knowe the stone vpon which they stumbled the which they reiected coÌ„temned and despised and shal be confounded Then the Lorde Iesus shall make an ende of his office and ministrie for his mistical body shal be altogether accomplished with all his members and shall render the kingdome and his spowse which is the Church vnto God his father al faire glorious erreprehensible and acceptable without spot or wrinckle or any such thing Then shal be perfectly vanquished and confounded Sathan hell sinne and death and all the other aduersaries of Christe whoe at this present do exercise yet tirrany ouer all his members holding them vnder their griefes bondes and snares But then wee as people rauished for Ioy will reherse the words that are written O Death where is thy stinge O Hel where is thy victory But thanks be vnto GOD which hath geuen vs victorye through Iesus Christe our Lorde The xl Article I Beléeue that that Iudgement being meruelous terrible and feareful vnto the wicked and reprobate is much to be desired and of great consolation vnto the good faythfull and elect for asmuch as theÌ„ their total redemption to wéete of body shal be ended and that they shall receiue the fruit of their labors Their Innocencie shal be openly declared and known of all the worlde and they shall sée the vengaunce and condemnation of the wicked which haue tirrannously afflicted and tormented them in this world whose iniquitye and wickednesse shal be manifested by the Lorde and cleerely knowen of all to theyr great confusion and to the honor and glory of the iust children of God the which shal be in perfect peace and traÌ„quillitie and shall haue full ioye and fruition of all that which the Lorde hath promised and prepared for them that loue him Which the eye hath not séene nor the eare hath heard neither hath it entered into mans harte Therefore I tarry and looke for that great day of retribution with a great desire as the same which bringeth and declareth vnto me my chiefest goodnesse The .xli. Article I Beléeue that wee shall not all dye but we shal be all changed in a moment that is to say that in that latter day and general iudgement some shal be found lyuing which shal neuer dye by seperation of the body and soule but shall abide so alyue eternally that Christe maye be knowen Lorde and Iudge of the quick and the dead and his grace and merite may be founde greater then the sinne of Adam For as sin hath raigned to death In like-maner must grace raign through Iesus Christ to eternall lyfe Neuerthelesse they shal be chaunged and transformed from corruption into incorruption from mortallity to immortallity from despising into glory insomuch that they shal be the chiefest of of all the giftes graces and benefites which the Lorde shall geue vnto those which before were dead whome they shall not go before but all together shal be rauished in the clowdes before in the ayre and also they shall be alwayes together with the Lorde BEholde for the seconde point of my faith touching Iesus Christe the second person of the Trinitie and of the restoration and repairing of man don by him Let vs now come vnto the third point which is of the holie Ghoste by whome man is restored maintained and keept in his being I beleeue in the holy Ghoste The .xlii. Article I Beléeue that the holy Ghost is one diuine persoÌ„ distinct from the father and the son procéeding of them both equall in all thorow all and coeternall with them by whom the Church hath byn alwayes is yet and shal be ruled conducted directâ—d and gouerned vntill the consumation of this world by whome also haue spoken al the holy Patriarkes Prophetes and Apostles of our Lorde Iesus Christe Therefore I beléeue nor receiue any other Vicar or Lieuetenant of Christ in earth within his Church but the holy Ghost which cannot be receiued of the wicked The .xliii. Article I Beléeue that the holy Ghost is the wages and ernest of our celestiall enheritance by whom we are assured assertained and liuely perswaded in our consciences that wee are the children of God and adoptiue brethreÌ„ of Iesus Christe and consequentlye Coheyres of eternall lyfe That is also the finger of God the which printeth in our mindes the
and terrestiall for the seruice of man to the ende that by his creatures he should come vnto the knowledg of the Creator that also he hath made fashoned Mā for him selfe that of him and by him he shoulde be knowne loued feared serued and honored this is the soueraigne goodnesse of man and that in him shoulde shine the Image of the heauenlye vertues and perfections in al good works the which GOD hath prepared that we should walke in thē vnto his honor and glorye and to the confusiō of the aduersary and by that meanes the ruine of the Angels was restored and man possessed the eternal kingdome made and prepared for him before the constitution of the worlde The .vii. Article I Beléeue the same man to haue byn constituted by the Lorde God mayster and ruler ouer al creatures the which he did loose by his sinne aswell for him selfe as for all his posteritie the which domination and segniory I beléeue nowe to appertaine vnto one onely Iesus Christ very GOD and man and vnto those to whome he wil bestow it as are the faythfull and not vnto the infidels and reprobate The .viii. Article I Beleue the first mā thorow the subtilty and craft of Sathan to be fallē from the excellentnesse in whiche God created him agreeing thorow his free wil which then he had to the canteloas suggestion of the Serpent wherby he hath lost the benefits which the Lord gaue vnto him In so much that of wise he became foolish of iust vniust of true a lyer of perfect altogether vnperfect hauing afterwarde a will altogether depraued which can not nor will not agrée with the will of GOD but altogether vnto the will of the Deuil the world the flesh and of sinne not able to do anye thing of him selfe but euill for that he is altogeather carnall captiue bonde and sould vnder sin Beholde the free or rather the bonde will of man for the estate of of this present lyfe The .ix. Article I Beléeue that that discorde and corruption of nature was not onely in Adam because of his sin but also in all men generally which descend from him one onelye Iesus Christ except insomuch that they are all according to theyr nature corrupted vnrighteous lyers ignoraunt ingratefull and vnperfect altogether Not being able according to their nature to do think speake nor will any thing which pleaseth God vntyll such time as they are regenerated and renewed by the spirite of God. The .x. Article I Beléeue that this corruption of nature otherwise called originall sin is the beginning roote of all other sins by which do come vnto vs all the miseries calamities and aduersities whiche we suffer in this lyfe aswell in bodye as in spirite and in the ende double death to wit of body and soule These are the fruites and rewardes for sinne But although that the same is due and common vnto all men generallye yet neuerthelesse the Lorde through his mercye hath reserued a certaine number to him only knowen whome he hath drawne from this corrupted masse hath sanctified and clensed them in the blood of his Sonne Iesus Christ And by that meanes hath made the vessels of election to honor apt and fit to all good workes And therfore The .xi. Article I Beléeue that the Father in Iesus Christ his Son by the holy Ghost hath elected and chosen those that be his according to his good wil before the foundation constitution of the world whome he hath predestinated to eternall lyfe because they were his Children by adoption hauing greater care of them without any comparisō then the best Father could haue of the best childe of this world not suffering that any thing should come frō the heauens aboue or from the earth beneath but it shoulde be for theyr vtilitye and great profit The .xii. Article I Beléeue that the father by his Son with the holy Ghost from the beginning hath alwaies seene to the restoring of man to whom he manifested him selfe yea after the sinne making vnto him a promise of the blessed seede by which the Serpents head must be broken and the faythfull ought to receyue blessing by that promise afterwardes oftentymes confirmed and ratefyed to the holye fathers the man otherwise in despaire in his sinne being releued ayded and comforted hath lyued in hope vnto the exhibiting and accomplishing of the same The xiii Article I Do also beléeue that after this promise the Lorde hath prescribed and geuen the lawe of the commaundementes to man promising life vnto those that kéepe them and death vnto those that transgresse them and he geueth them not that man shoulde seeke iustification health or lyfe in them but for the pollicie peace and tranquilitie of his people for to defende the good and to chastice correct the wicked and to houlde and kéepe euery one in his office And chiefly that by the same man should better know him selfe his disease poorenesse and imperfection And by that meanes should haue occasion to humble him selfe before the law geuer and to seeke remedy health and lyfe otherwise to wit in the holy seede promised which is Iesus Christ For that cause it is called a Scoolemayster for to come vnto Christ the which also serueth vs as a glasse for to knowe our vices our spirituall leprosie and to augment that knowledge In like manner it serueth vs for an accuser to accuse vs before the Lorde and instéede of a seuere cruell Iudge for to declare the wrath iudgement of GOD vpon vs the condemnation and eternal death by that meanes to feare vs and to make vs in dispayre vntyll such tyme as we be comforted by the Gospel which is the faith in Iesus Christ by the which we are exempt and deliuered from all those maledictious These are the Offices of the lawe the which are tourned to vs in goodnesse by the sayth of the Gospell the which hath oppositiue offices and altogether contrary Furthermore I confesse that the law of God is good right holy and perfect and wheras it bringeth nothing to perfection the faulte is not in it but in vs which are altogether imperfecte nor we can not anye thing at all accomplish it not to touch it with the least finger And therfore The .xiiii. Article I Beléeue and confesse Iesus Christ to be the fulnesse the ende and consūmation of the lawe to the righteousnesse of all beleeuers to whom by whom onely al the promises of the father are fulfilled whoe also alone hath perfectly satisfied the lawe the which none among men could do for somuch as the lawe commaundeth impossible thinges to the corruptible man the which neuerthelesse he shall fulfill not in working but in beleeuing as also the lawe is fulfilled by fayth and not by workes and by that meanes he shall finde the righteousnesse of fayth
be put on the crosse and to be crucified betwéene two théeues as though he had bene the prince and captaine of them the which he endured and suffred willingly and innocently without deseruing it for otherwise he had not satisfied for vs and his crosse had profited vs nothing at all The .xxiiii. Article I Beléeue also that he beyng on the same crosse dying and yéelding vp his spirit to God his father that he descended into hell that is to say that he verely felte and experimented the great distresse and payne of death with the paynes flames of hell that is to say the great furor ire and the seuere iudgement of God vpon hym as though he had bene man and halfe damned insomuch that he was constrayned to crye with a loude voyce My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Beholde simplie what I vnderstand by the descending of Christ into hell Furthermore I know that this Article was not at the first in the Créede and that many haue vnderstanded and interpreted it otherwyse and haue thought Christ verely and in very deede to haue descended into hell into the place of the dampned aleadging the text of Saint Peter the which I confesse to be couered and hyd frō me at this present The Lord graunt vs to open the gate and giue vs entrance into those mysteries The .xxv. Article I Beléeue all that to haue bene done not for hym which neuer dyd any sinne in whose mouth there was neuer found any fraude nor lying but for vs poore and miserable sinners whose place he helde in the crosse as a pledge where he represented the person of al the sinners which euer haue bene are or shal be vntil the end of the worlde And because that those haue by their sinnes deserued to féele and trye the extreme dolours of death to be forsaken of God and of all creatures to féele the furor yre and seuere iudgement of God vpon them Christ who was their pledge dyd satisfie for them in the crosse did feele all that same and that to affranchise vs delyuer vs from all these paynes from the furor yre and iudgement of God from condemnation and eternal death Herein I reiect and estéeme as fables al the lymbe of the fathers and of litle children purgatorie and other suche follyes dreames and abuses which men inuented and founde out without the word of God. For I beléeue and receaue but two places in the other worlde to wit paradise for the faythfull elect with the Angels and hel for the Infidels and reprobate with the dyuels The .xxvi. Article I Beléeue consider that death and passion as also al other mysteries of Iesus Christ not onely as touching the historie as a patrone and example for to imitate and folow as the same of holy men which haue died for the Lordes quarrel But also chiefly touching the cause fruites and vse of the same thereby to knowe the grauitie burthen of my synnes the grace and mercie of the father and the loue of the sonne by which we are reconciled with God deliuered from the tirannie of the deuil released and restored into the libertie of the spirit That is the glasse without spot for to make vs know our fylthines The lauer or cleare fountaine for to washe clense vs and the infinite treasure for to satisfie and content our creditors Of whom and by whom onely Gods deuine iustice hath bene fully satisfied for all the synnes of all those which haue bene are and shal be vntill the end of the world And therefore I beléeue and confesse the condemnation of Iesus Christ to be my absolution his crucifiyng to be my deliueraunce his descending into hell to be my ascending into heauen his death to be my lyfe his blood to be my washyng and purgatorie by whom onely I am washed purified made cleane from all my sinnes so that I neither receaue nor beléeue that there is any other purgatorie neither in this worlde nor in the worlde to come by which I may be purged but the onely blood of Iesus Christ by which all is purged and made cleane for euer The .xxvii. Article I Beléeue that Iesus Christ by the sacrifice of his body that he offred vpon the trée of the crosse hath defaced and destroyed sinne death and Sathan with al his kingdome hath altogether consummated and finished the worke of our redemption hath ended and abolished all other sacrifices insomuch that from hencefoorth we must not looke nor séeke for any other propiciatorie sacrifice then this neither for the lyuing nor for the dead For if we sinne wyllingly after that we haue receyued the knowledge of the trueth there remayneth no other sacrifice for the remission of synnes then this here by which Christ alone hath consecrated for euer all those which are sanctified And therefore The xxviii Article I Beléeue the holye Supper of the Lord not to be a sacrifice but onely a remembrance and commemoration of that holy sacrifice of Iesus Christ Therefore it ought not to be adored and woorshipped as God nor Christ to be in the same but onely in him selfe out of all corruptible elements In like maner I beleeue and confesse that the papisticall Masse is an inuention and ordinance of man a sacrifice of Antichrist and a forsaking of the sacrifice of Iesus Christ that is to say of his death and passion that it is a stynking and infectious sepulchre which couereth and hydeth the merite of the blood of Christ And therefore it ought to be abolished and the holy Supper of the Lord restored and set agayne in his fyrst estate The .xxix. Article I Also doo beleue that as the Prophet Ionas was in the Whales bellye which is a place of corruption thrée dayes and three nightes without being any thyng at all corrupted from whome he came out the thyrde day without any hurt safe sounde that euen so Iesus Christ after his death was put into a newe sepulchre which is a place of corruption within which he was thrée dayes and thrée nightes not being touched with any infection stynking or corruption but alwayes abode safe and sound for to declare the vertue of his blood for to accomplishe the writing of the holy Prophets and for to verefie the veritie aswel of his body as of his death with which I beléeue the lawe to be buryed abrogated and abolished to the faythfull not as touching the obligation that they shoulde be no more bounde to lyue and walke after the same but onely as touching the condemnation that is to say that the transgression of the same doeth not condemne them at the iudgement of God through the faith that they haue in Christ And therefore within one sepulchre I comprehend thrée things buryed that is to say Christ the law and all the faythfull which ought to