and a compend of the Orthodox faith Catechtical instruction ought therefore to be confin'd to doctrines fundamental and necessary which all are bound to believe Epistad Durae de pace Tit. 1.4 whereunto the learned Davenant supposeth that the Apostle had respect when he stiled Titus his Son 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 after the common faith And in this regard the great Athanasius both begins and ends his famous Creed with these words This is the Catholick Faith which unlesse a man stedfastly believe he cannot be saved 2. Few and not needlesly multiplyed for so they were from the beginning that they might be attainable by all in one of the Apostles ordinary Sermons there was so much matter delivered as was sufficient to convert men to the Faith Usher Serm. in Ephef 4.13 and to make them capable of baptism The confession made by the Eunuch upon which by Philip he was forthwith baptized is contained in a very few words viz. Acts 8.37 Loc. com 47 § 31. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God Quae verba inquit Bucanus continent perspicuam confessionis formulam quae temporibus Apostolicis a Baptizandis adultis exigebatur Which words do comprehend a perspicuous form of that confession which in the times of the Apostles was required from adult persons to be Baptized The sum and substance of that Confession of faith which was made at Baptism is comprised in those short words of Christ when he commissioned the Apostles to go into all the world and to gather his Church from among all nations teaching and baptizing them In the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost Mat. 28.18 De Trinir l. 2 Sufficiebat credentibus inquit Hilarius Dei Sermo qui in auribus nâ—stris transfusus est Cum dicit Dominus Euntes c. That word of God is enough for believers which was sounded in our ears when the Lord saith Go teach and baptize So that its likely that the confession of the Baptized at first extended no further then to the Doctrine of the Trinity Parker de Deseens l.4 §. 10 Whence it is that none of the ancient Creeds proceeded beyond it That which bears the name of the Apostles whereof though they not the authors yet evident it is that it was were framed not long after their time initio in sola fide Trinitatis substitit At first it stayed in the Faith of the Trinity only De Ecclesiâ articulus qui exm sequuntur tempore Tertulliani ut videtur addi caeperunt The Article concerning the Church and those that follow it began to be added as it seems in the time of Tertullian De Praescript sdvers Heretic yet is the rule of faith set down by him bounded within the same limits viz. of the Doctrine of the Trinity So also is the Nicean Creed Socrat. l. 1. c. 5. and that of Athanasius to which more might be added Christ then himself gave the first Rule of Faith in the above recited words Martin Ibld. which are as it were Centrum Fideâ— the Center of Faith whose command and direction to the Apostles is the very Basis and Foundation of it Whence it is that the Ancients when they fetch the Christian Faith from its first Original Parker de Del 4 §. 11 or make any sum of the confession of it non ultra Trinitatem progrediuntur go not beyond the Trinity Lex fidei nostrae in Trinitate consistit Serm. 131 saith Augustine the Law of our Faith consisteth in the Trinity Byfield on the Creed And probable it is that the Creed called the Apostles was not fully finisht in this form it now is till about the fourth Age after Christ The Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews makes the principles of the Doctrine of Christ but a few Epist ante lib. de Christ relig Piscat Paraeus in loc as appears Heb. 6.1 2. Which the eminent Zanchy calls by the name of Symbolâ—m Magnum the Great Creed where some reckon but four accounting Baptism and Imposition of hands to be none of the Principles but mentioned as being the times when anaccount was rendred and profession made of those other viz. by the adult baptized at their baptism Uâ—sin Prolegoad Catechism and by the infant baptized at their Confirmation which Principles are therefore cal'd the Doctrine of Baptisme and Imposition of hands Some reckon six as they lie fairly to view Hyper. opusc l. in loc and some seven which is the most that they can amount unto making Doctrine to be a distinct principle from Baptism and Imposition of hands in which Scripture saith Hyperius a most certain method of the Catechism is contained then which a more compendious cannot be devised so that marvel it is that any in the Church should dare to depart from that form But though they did yet were the heads of Catechetical Doctrine still but few in number Augustine referred them all to these seven Hyper Ibid. viz. Of the Trinity the Benefits by Christ the Resurrection the last Judgment Eternal life Charity and Holinesse of life In Catechesâ—inter opuseul Pfeil in clave Theolog. Decade Calvin refers them to four viz. Faith the Law Prayer and the Sacramets With whom herein Brentius and Bullinger do agree Mostly have Divines kept to those five viz. the Decalogue the Creed the Lords Prayer Baptism and the Eucharist to which some do add a sixth viz. of the Doctrine of the Keyes So that in the duty of Catechizing heed ought to be taken hereof and some short form pitch't whereof a rational account should be required from persons to be Confirmed Among the many now extant that lately set forth by the Reverend Assembly deserves to be preferred with which a shorter may be joyned as making way to it having so large an approbation and Elogy Baxter Confes of Faith § 3 from so worthy and judicious a Pen the approbation is given in these words I do heartily approve of the shorter Catechism of the Assembly and of all therein contained and I take it for the best Catechism that ever I yet saw and the answers continued for a most excellent Sum of the Christian Faith and Doctrine and a fittest to try the Orthodoxness even of teachers themselves After follows this larger Elogy I would have those men that have such a swelled belief to compare the Assemblies shorter Catechism not only with the Epistles which the Apostles wrote to particular Churches but withall the confessions of Faith for four hundred years after Christ in the Church and see if any of them used a more extensive Form Nay all the Creeds and confessions of the Church set together for many hundred years except the Scriptures were not comparable to this for fulnesse and exactnesse of order and Expression Nay what talk I of Creeds and Confessions when you may read many and many Volumes of the Fathers which yet in several
upon them as may be a sufficient ground to the Church for their proceeding in the admission of them to the actual enjoyment of that and all other priviledges as full members which is the thing that is done in Confirmation And as this is a Laudable and necessary course to be taken for the right admission of persons unto full membership so doth it appear to have been the practice of the Church of Christ in all ages though corruptions have invaded this as well as other usages yea so overgrown it as to the true Primitive Notion Nature and End or Use of it it hath lain hid and been unknown for many Centuries of years together and to have some probable ground in the Scripture both which I shall endeavour in some measure to make good 1. A probable ground hereof in the Scripture we have in Heb. 6.2 of the Doctrine of Baptisms and laying on of hands Where this is made one of the Principles of the Doctrine of Christ viz. The Doctrine of laying on of hands Where first its place is to be observed viz. next after Baptism being as it were an Appendix thereof for the most part immediately following it in such adult as were baptized and the next priviledge of the Church that such did enjoy as had been baptized in infancy 2. I find it by the best Interpreters usually understood of one or more of three particulars that Imposition of hands had relation unto 1. Of the Extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost which were conferred at first upon many new converts by the laying on of the hands of the Apostles whereof mention is made in the book of the Acts. Act. 8.17 c. 2. Of the Officers of the Church who were Ordained and set apart unto their offices by prayer and Imposition of hands Thus Paraeus Initiatis erat doctrina de donis Spiritualibus Ministerio Ecclesiae In Heb. 6.1 It was an Initial Doctrine concerning Spiritual gifts and the ministry of the Church In Bell. Enerv. Per Impositionem manuum inquit Amesius ministerium totum intelligitur By Imposition of hands is meant the whole Ministry 3. Of the Confirmation of such as had been baptized who before the Church made a profession of their Faith the adult before Baptism In loc the infant baptized before Confirmation So Piscator understands those words of the time when those other named Fundamentals were publickly professed viz. at baptism by such as were baptized being adult and at their Confirmation by such as had been baptized in their infancy Paraeus also mentions this as by some thought to be the meaning of this place Beza conceives these words to contain in them the heads of the Catechism which was wont to be delivered and taught unto those that were to be Baptized or Confirmed Impositio manuum inquit Rivetus cujus mentio fit In Cont. tom 2 Heb. 6.2 Referenda est ad solennem Baptizatorum benedictionem quae a pastoribus solebat fieri eos in Christianismi vocatione confirmantibus Imposition of hands whereof mention is made Heb. 6.2 is to be referred unto the solemn benediction of the baptized which was used to be performed by the Pastours confirming them in the calling of Christianity So also the Doctors of Leyden In Synop. disp 47. Referter impositio manuum Heb. 6.2 ad curam illam Ecclesiae priscae quâ pueri eruditi in Doctrinâ Catecheticâ priusquam admitterentur ad coenae participationem Ecelesiae sistebantur de fide suâ responsuri precibus deo commendabantur adjecto ritu manuum impositionis qui gestus erat orantium benedicentium Imposition of hands spoken of Heb. 6.2 is referr'd unto that care of the ancient Church whereby children that were instructed in the Doctrine of Catechism before they were admitted to the Participation of the Lords Supper were presented to the Church to give an account of their Faith and were by Prayer commended unto God to which was added the rite of Imposition of hands being the gesture of such as Pray and Bless In loc Anselme thus expounds it Impositionis manuum nempe Epilcoporum in Confirmatione neophytorum Of Imposition of hands to wit of the Bishops in the Confirmation of young converts Calvin also gives this only as the chief thing intended by the Apostle in this place from whence he draws this remarkable inference wherein he plainly declares his apprehensions concerning the Original and Antiquity of this Practise in the Church of Christ Hic unus locus inquit abunde testatur hujus ceremoniae Originem fluxisse ab Apostolis quae tamen posteà in superstitionem versa fuit ut mundus semper ferè ab optimis institutis ad corruptelas degenerat quam ob rem hodiè retinenda pura institutio est Superstitio autem corrigenda This one Place saith he doth abundantly testifie that the Original of this Ceremony did flow from the Apostles which yet afterward was turned into a Superstition as the world almost alwayes doth from the best Institutions degenerate into corruptions Wherefore to this day the Pure Institution ought to be retained but the Superstition to be corrected Here then we see that in the Judgement of this excellent and incomparable man Imposition of hands for the Confirmation of such as had been baptized is of no lesse then Apostolical Institution and of no later date which ought still to be practised in the Churches of Christ To which add Hyperius qui intelligit Heb. 6.2 de impositione manuum quae fiebat in Confirmatione eorum qui jam erant Baptizati rectè instituti ut acciperent Spiritum sanctum de Ordinatione He understands Heb. 6.2 of Imposition of hands which was made use of both in the Corfirmation of those that had been baptized and rightly instructed that they might receive the Holy Ghost And of Ordination Illyricus also in Heb. 6.2 Credo inquit etiam sic esse in Primitivâ Ecclesiâ tyrones ex Catechumenis transferre inter maturiores auditores ut jam eis fas esset communicare tanquam dijadicatis probatis I believe saith he that so it was in the Primitive Church to transfer young ones from the Catechumens among the more mature Auditors that now it might be lawful for them to Communicate as having been tryed and approved I shall close the positions of this Text with that of the learned and godly Mr. Deering in his Lectures upon part of this Epistle which is full to our purpose Imposition of hands saith he was a solemn Ceremony used with Prayer in which it was declared that the parties were accepted of God into his Church according to the faith of Christ which they then professed This which this day ought to be practised as a thing very profitable in the Church of God is miserably defaced by the Papists for where it was in the Church of God an use that Christian children should be taught the Principles of Faith which when
of very singular advantage some meet and well furnished person being chosen for this purpose and designed unto this work which he should wholly and diligently atted The Ancients looked upon it as a businesse of so great concernment that special heed was taken for the committing of it to such only as were meetly qualified for it viz. to grave and staid men Hyper. in opus de Cateches eminent for their holiness indued with the gift of teaching patient prudent able to suit them selves in what they delivered to the capacity and condition of those they had to deal withal It s true that sometimes this task was undertaken by such as were but young for it appears that Origen was but eighteen years of age when first he was called to and took upon him this hard Province in the famous School of Alexandria But then we are to consider that he was by his godly and learned Father Leonides trained up from his very child-hood Euseb Hist lib. 6. c. 1. not only in the knowledge of the Scriptures but also in the Liberal Arts and Sciences in both which he profited exceedingly and above his years to the great joy and admiration of his pious Parent and instructer insomuch as that sometimes he would uncover the brest of this his son while asleep and solemnly kiss it blessing God and giving him hearty thanks that he had made him the Father of so rare a son Besides it seems a kind of necessity put him upon it Hierom in Catalog Origen Euseb l. 6. c. 2. the Church of Alexanaria through the heat of persecution being then so dispersed that others of riper years so meet were scarce to be had Such another was Cyrill of Jerusalem whose Catechetical Lectures to the Catechumens composed by him in adâ—lescentiâ in his youth In Catalog Hierom makes mention of though whether they were so many as now are extant or delivered Extempore by him as Grodecius would have it Biblioth Patr. River Crit. Sa. or be so free from corruption as they should be is very questionable only thus much they plainly speak out That he was sooner then ordinary mature and so might the better be intrusted with that serious imployment But ordinarily it was not so the Church using much caution in the choice of that person upon whose shoulders they thought it safe to lay so great and weighty a burden As for ordinary Congregations the care hereof will lye upon the particular Pastors who ought to improve all wayes and means for the bringing of those under their charge to the knowledge of the chiefly necessary truths of Christianity Whereof private personal instruction is neither the least nor unlikeliest to do poor ignorant Souls good But of this both that t is a duty incumbent upon Ministers and how it may be performed for the best advantage I shall forbear to say any thing In his Gilds Salvianus seeing the reverend Mr. Baxter hath spoken so excellently of it already to whom I shall refer the Reader The more publick and common means is that of Catechizing which the Church in the purest times hath carefully observed for the preparing of adult Catechumens to Baptism and the infant Baptized for Confirmation This calls for the pains and prudence of the several Pastors in their particular charges that the darkness of ignorance may be dispell'd by the beams of the knowledg of saving truths and those over whom they have the inspection may become a people prepared by the Lord. For which end care ought to be had of these two things especially that the thing aimed at in this duty may be the better attained 1. Of the Matter That the things to be taught and learned by those that are thus to be instructed be such as they ought to be Viz. 1. Fundamental and necessary truths which all of capacity are bound to be acquainted withall and without the competent knowledge whereof the hazard of Eternal life is manifestly incurred Theolog. Bremens in Act. Synod Dodreei Catechetica institutio est fundamentum aedificationis Ecclesiasticae adeò ut ea mediccriter formando populo Dei sufficere possit Catechetical institution is the foundation of Ecclesiastical edification so that in some measure it may suffice for the forming of the people of God These truths are the Basis and ground-work as it were of Christianity that bear up all the building which therefore must be laid in the first place before superstructions be attempted as we would be accounted wise Master-builders Non sunt contemnenda quaesi parva sine quibus magna constare non possunt Hisrom Epist 7. Workmen that need not to be ashamed and not undergoe the censure that they deserve who think to erect an edifice without a foundation Such truths have been alwayes the subject matter of the Catechism which concern the weakest and lowest in the School of Christ as well as the strongest and those in the highest form being the necessary and common food of all the children of the Church Uthers Sâ—â—â—â—l in Ephes 4. 13. in respect of which radical truths there is not an unity only but such an equality also brought in among all sorts of Christians as was heretofore among the congregation of the Israelites in the collection of their Mannah where he that gathered much had nothing over and he that gathered little had no lack These are the truths which the Apostle Paul cals 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 5.12 6.1 milk for babes and the first principles or the elements of the beginning of the oracles of God Also the pattern of wholsom words 2 Tim. 1 1â— Sic vocat prima rudimenta Christianismi qnae nos Catechetica capita vocamus Parae in Heb. 5.12 unde puerorum institutio in Scholis Ecclesiâ inchoari solet So he cals those first rud ments of Christianity which we call Catechetical heads whence the institution of children in Schools and in the Church useth to take its beginning In loc There is this order saith Dickson to be kept in bringing men to knowledg the first principles and fundamental Doctrines must first be taught These being the sum of those truths in the Scripture Calv. instit l. 2. c. 16. §. 18. which are necessary to be believed hence it is that the Ancient Creed wherein they are briefly comprehended was intituled the Apostles Creed not because it was compiled by them which some have thought without warrantable ground In his Treat of the Authors authority of the Creed as also Mr. Parker de Descens Christi lib 4. In Praefat. Catecher institute a Dieterico as the Reverend and learned Mr. Downe hath clearly proved by divers Arguments but because the matter therein contained is perfectly agreeable with the Apostles writings and was collected our of them For the same reason did Luther call his Catechisme Parva biblia because its a brief sum of the Doctrine of the Prophets and Apostles