COLLECTIONS OVT OF S. Augustine AND SOME FEW OTHER Latine Writers upon the first part of the Apostles Creed By John Crompe Master of Arts of C. C. C. in Cambridge and Vicar of Thornham in Kent First preached in his Parish Church and now inlarged as here followes for more publike use 1 Joh. 5.4 This is the victorie that overcommeth the world even our Faith August Serm. 38. De Tempore Omnis rationalis Anima aetate congrua discat Fidem Catholicam maximè populi Praedicatores Christiani Ecclesiarum Dei Doctores ut possint veritati contradicentibus resistere Catholicam amantibus pacem prodesse LONDON Printed by John Haviland for William Lee and are to be sold at his shop neere the Miter Taverne in Fleet-street 1638. PErlegi has Collectiones in Symbolum Apostolicum in quibus nihil reperio sanae Doctrinae contrarium quominùs cum utilitate publicâ imprimantur Rmo in Christo Patri ac Domino D. Arch. Cant. Sacellanus Domesticus GUIL BRAY. Dat. Lambethae Maii ult 1638. TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE KATHERINE Ladie STANHOPE Dowager The Author wisheth as well the Graces spirituall as the Blessings temporall of this life and the Glories eternall of the life to come GOod Madam I should bee very ingratefull if I should not dedicate the first fruits of any publike labour of mine how great or small soever unto some of your Noble Family from whence I have received not onely the first but all the fruits of my present maintenance in the world And amongst these that doe now survive there is none can challenge so great an interest as your Honour not onely as you are the present Patronesse of my Living but in many other personall and particular respects by which I and mine stand more obliged to your Ladiship than to any others May you therefore please to accept of this poore paper present not as a satisfaction but an acknowledgement onely of my so many great engagements And withall to let it passe under your Honourable Name and countenance unto the world it shall much more increase my debt unto you which seeing I shall have no better meanes and opportunities to pay I doe hereby promise that the failings and deficiencies thereof shall be supplied with prayers for the health and happinesse not of your selfe alone but of all your noble issue also together with the rest of your Family by him that truly honoureth and faithfully serveth your Ladiship in the Lord IOHN CROMPE THE APOSTLES CREED I beleeve in God the Father Almightie Maker of Heaven and Earth c. THis Creed or Summe of Christian Beleefe is commonly called and knowne by the name of the Apostles Creed because indeed as Antiquitie affirmeth it was made and agreed upon by the twelve Apostles themselves to continue and abide as a sure rule of faith to be derived and conveyed to all posteritie thorowout the Christian world in after ages comprehended according to their Apostolicall number in twelve articles and called the Creed or Beleefe because thereby all true Beleevers should be guided and directed how to continue and remaine in the Catholike Unitie and Veritie And withall enabled to convince and reprove all hereticall pravitie and falshood that should afterward spring up and arise in the Church of God either by the subtiltie and malice of the Devill or the weaknesse and wickednesse of man It is derived and delivered unto us by our Ancestours and Forefathers of the Church saith S. Augustine Ser. 181. De temp Praefat. that after the Ascension of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ unto his Father in Heaven when as by the comming of the Holy Ghost his Disciples were so inspired and inflamed as that they spake to all nations in their owne proper and peculiar tongues and languages and so fitted and prepared were shortly to depart one from another to preach the Gospell and Word of God in all coasts and countries of the world Normam prius sibi futurae praedicationis in commune statuerunt c. They concluded first betweene themselves to set downe such an order and rule of their after-preaching that when they were locally separated and divided one from the other they might not preach a divers and different doctrine one to another to those that they should invite and call to the faith of Christ All therefore being met placed together and filled with the Holy Ghost after conference had everie one delivered his opinion of what hee thought fitting as necessarie to be the subject of their preaching to the Church and people of God And having concluded upon it this they appoint to remaine as a rule of faith and beleefe and even Summa credendorum as the summe and substance of Christian Doctrine to all Beleevers for ever after So far S. Augustine For as they were all of one heart and of one soule Acts 4.32 so they would manifest unto the universall world that they were of one faith and beleefe too Not like the Stellae erraticae the wandring Stars instable Humorists and giddie headed Novellists of our times that having one Catholike and Orthodoxall Religion established in our old England for which wee are ever bound to blesse and praise the holy name of God yet must run into a New England to erect and set up another nay twentie other For Quot homines tot sententiae Looke how many men there are especially that take themselves to be Leaders and Masters among them so many minds they are of as one a Brownist another a Familist a third an Anabaptist and all Separatists from the true Church of God But the holy Apostles though according to their charge given them by their Master our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Matth. 28.9 they went to all nations preaching and teaching the word of God â—uffinus as S. Matthew to Aethiopia S. Mark the Evangelist to Aegypt Lybia and the Africans thereabouts S. Iames to Spaine S. Andrew to Thracia and Scythia Europaea Philip to Scythia Asiatica Bartholomew to Armenia and the hither parts of India Thomas to Media Parthia Persia and as some say to the Brackmannes and the Bactrians Eusebius and the farthest parts of India Iohn the Evangelist to Asia S. Peter to Pontus Galatia Bythinia Cappadocia S. Paul to all the countries interjacent and lying betweene Jerusalem and Illyricum and lastly Ioseph of Arimathea as some but as Nicephorus Simon Zelotes to our British Ile yet they spake and preached still but unum idem one and the same veritie in unitie in how many different and how farre distant regions soever they became Thereby giving the world to understand that there is or at least ought to be but one faith but one religion not onely thoroughout all the countries but also thoroughout all the ages of the world which is therefore called Fides Catholica the Catholike Faith and Religion because of the universalitie of it in all places and at all times For Id vere Catholicum quod
with any jewels stollen from the Aegyptians or fabulous fictions of the Gentiles or sorraine and far-fetcht dresses of humane Arts and Sciences nâ—ither with any other strong and strained lines and the like Sed tantummodo Evangelicis verbis enunciare But fairly smoothly to derive my proofes and interpretation thereof onely from the sacred founâ—aines as I said before For as S. Ierome saith Fides pura aperta confessio non quaerit strophas argumenta verborum that is Subtill and Scholasticall disputes or other verball arguments are no whit requisite in the pure and publike profession and confession of our Christian faith And this sufficeth for the title Now to the words themselves AN EXPOSITION UPON THE Apostles Creed Credo in Deum Patrem omnipotentem Factorem Coeli Terrae c. That is I beleeve in God the Father Almightie Maker of Heaven and Earth c. WHere first wee are to take notice of the first word Credo I beleeve which shewes as S. Augustine saith Quod non debemus discutere divina judicia sed credere In locum Serm. 181. nec rationem requirere sed fidem simpliciter immobiliter exhibere That wee ought not to question or dispute of divine mysteries but to beleeve them nor so much to require a reason of them as simply and undoubtedly yea immovably and without staggering to submit our faith and credence unto them For there are many things belonging to the salvation of Gods children which if everie plaine and simple man were driven to finde out a reason for upon the paine of his damnation hee were never able to doe it and so consequently could never be saved Nay the most learned and chiefe pillars of the Church of God themselves have beene at a stand in some of them which made S. Paul to cry out Oh the deepnesse of the riches both of the wisdome and knowledge of God how unsearchable are his judgements and his wayes past finding out Rom. 11.33 And therefore Succumbat ratio fidei captiva quiescat Humane sense and naturall reason must yeeld and submit themselves when faith comes in place For faith is the evidence of things not seene saith the Author to the Hebrewes Chap. 11.1 that is not perceived or understood by the eyes of the body no nor of the minde neither but onely beleeved to be so because God which cannot lie hath said it is so So that Fides incipit ubi ratio desinit There is no place no roome for faith till reason can goe no farther For if wee could comprehend the deepe mysteries of God by reason then it were knowledge and not faith that should apprehend and lay hold upon them Now our knowledge in this life is imperfect saith S. Paul but in the next life we shall know even as we are knowne and see face to face as we are seene For then that which is perfect being come that which is imperfect shall be done away 1 Cor. 13.9 10. But now in this life abideth faith and hope as there followes vers 13. which gave occasion to S. Augustine so often in his works to call this life Tempus fidei The time of faith and beleeving answerable to that of S. Paul elsewhere Nunc per fidem ambulamus c. Now wee walke by faith and not by sight 2 Cor. 5.7 Againe if by knowledge onely men might attaine unto salvation then none but the great Clerks and learned Rabbies of the world should be capable thereof and the illiterat and ignorant poore man such as S. Peter and S. Iohn were before their calling Acts 4.13 should be quite excluded from all hope of grace and mercie But God whose mercies are above all other his works hath otherwise provided that now by the meanes of faith and beleefe the meane as well as the mightie and the poore as well as the rich may be made partakers of salvation And therefore for use and conclusion of this point let us not strive so much in this life to know as to be strong in faith and firmly to beleeve for if wee beleeve now wee shall know hereafter For too great a desire to know hath wrought our woe it being the only occasion first of our sinne and secondly of our miserie Quod homo voluit scire antequam crederet saith Cusanus That man would know before he did beleeve For by this meanes Arbor scientiae complures privavit arbore vitae The tree of knowledge hath deprived many of the tree of life And never any but heretikes did Concludere fidem intra limites humani intellectus as Alfonsus à Castro speakes that is Shut up their faith within the narrow lists and limits of mans shallow and simple understanding but it is the part and propertie of a true Christian Captivare intellectum in obsequium Christi To captivate and subdue his understanding unto the doctrine of Christ Secondly this word Credo I beleeve tells us that we must not only not dispute in matters of faith but so far subject our reason unto faith that wee doe it also without doubting without staggering For Dubius in fide infidelis est It is scarce faith at all if there be any doubting in it as appeares by that speech of our Saviour unto his doubting Apostle Thomas Put thy finger here and put it into my side and be not faithlesse but beleeve Ioh. 20.27 And Vt aliquid fides vere appelletur certitudinem exigit firmitatem in eo qui eam tenet saith the former Alfonsus that is Whatsoever is properly and truly called faith hath certaintie in it and stedfastnesse of beleefe in him that holds it Otherwise saith hee if assurance and stabilitie be wanting and any the least scruple arising it is not to be accounted faith but doubting only or opinion This being the difference between faith and opinion Quod qui credit tenaciter adhaeret That he which beleeves sticks so close unto his Tenet that no man or meanes shall be able to withdraw him from it or to wry him another way whereas hee that doth but hold opinion onely Sic accedit suae sententiae ut aliquantulum haesitet mobili intellectu assentiat Hee comes but doubtingly and with an uncertaine assent unto it As to the opinions of the Philosophers which were truths onely of consequence upon supposed grounds still disputable and therefore still uncertaine Whereas our doctrine the doctrine of Christians is a truth of foundation without question and therefore not disputed but beleeved and thorowly setled in our hearts by the operation and power of him who is both the Author and the Finisher of it as the Scripture speaketh And therefore in these fundamentall grounds of our Christian faith away with doubting and hesitation For hee that doubteth and wavereth in these is like a wave of the sea tossed of the wind and carried away as S. Iames saith Iam. 1.6 But let everie one amongst us not onely men but women also yea and children
too according to their capacitie say with firmnesse and fastnesse of faith as the holy Apostles here everie one for himselfe Credo I beleeve A word or two of the person Ego I beleeve and so I will end this point When we pray we are directed to say Our Father not my Father alone because every one ought to be so charitable as to pray for others as well as themselves wiâ—h a desire likewise that they should doe the like for him and with a confidence and assurance that he shall fare and speed the better for such the prayers of his neighbours and Christian brethren As Saint James saith Confesse your faults one unto another and pray one for another that yee may be healed For the effectuall fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much James 5.16 But when wee come to make profession and confession of our faith then it must be I not Wee beleeve because wee cannot beleeve one for another but every one when he is come once to yeeres of discretion and capacitie to understand must beleeve for himselfe and be saved by his owne not anothers faith according to that of the Prophet The just shall live by his faith Habacuck 2.4 that is his owne faith not another mans I say when he comes to yeares For the Church of God is so charitable towards infâ—nts which having no sinnes of their owne committing to answer for but only that originall guilt which is by naturall propagation derived thorowout all Adams posteritie from one generation to another that as they have sinned only in another Vt qui peccavit in altero credat in altero Aug. so they should beleeve also by another that so they might be made capable of the Sacrament of Baptisme which is the first step to salvation by the faith and beleefe of those that bring them thereunto that is their God-fathers and God-mothers that make profession of faith at the Font for them which they as yet are not able to doe for themselves But yet the benefit and use of this shall endure no longer for their availe and profit than while they are young and uncapable of doing it themselves but if when they come to age they doe not in their owne persons make good and performe those promises of faith and repentance which they have made for them but run wicked faithlesse and desperate courses of life contrarie to the said promises made in their behalfe why then they lose and deprive themselves of the benefit and comfort of that holy Sacrament and Covenant and become in as bad if not a worse case than if they had never beene partakers thereof at all And therefore let everie one looke to his owne faith in particular and so furnish and strengthen himselfe with the grounds and principles of faith out of the Word of God that hee may be able upon all occasions to apply God unto himselfe by his owne personall faith and to say with the holy Apostles here Credo I beleeve For otherwise he must never looke to save his soule but Tolle meum tolle Deum Take away the particular application of each mans right and interest in God and his Son Christ Jesus and you were as good take away themselves to For what comfort can I finde in a Saviour except I may be assured that he is mine owne Credo in Deum I beleeve in God This teaches us first to beleeve that there is a God for hee that commeth to God must beleeve that God is saith the Apostle Hebr. 11.6 There being none but the foole that ever said either with his heart or with his mouth There is no God Psal 14.1 Secondly this teaches us also to beleeve that this God is one because it is said God in the singular number not gods in the plurall For howsoever the foolish Heathen out of their ignorance and simplicity imagined and devised to themselves many gods even so many as they saw there were kinds of things naturall in the world calling him that they supposed to be the god of the Skie Jupiter of the Aire Juno of the Water Neptune of the Earth Vesta and sometimes Ceres of the Sun Apollo of the Moone Diana and such like yet wee to whom the Lord hath revealed himselfe more paâ—ticularly by his holy and heavenly Word do acknowledge and confesse but one only God and guide of all agents naturall alone to be blessed adored and honoured by all for ever For behold saith God himselfe I even I am he and there is no gods with me or besides me Deut. 32.39 neither is there any that can deliver out of my hands as there followes Therfore the Nicene Creed expresseth this unitie in these words saying I beleeve in one God the Father almightie maker of heaven and earth c. Raymundus de Sabunde Lib. Creat Tit. 4. proves the unity of the Godhead foure wayes or by foure reasons viz. 1. Vnitate ordinis creaturarum 2. Per contrarietates in uno subjecto 3. Quod omne inferius tendit ad usum superioris 4 Quo propius ad Deum eo fortior magis est unitas i. e. First by the unity of the ordâ—r of the creatures Secondly by the contrarieties in one and the same subject Thirdly because every inferiour thing bends and tends to the use of the superiour And lastly because the nearer any thing approaches unto God the stronger and greater is the unity of it And from hence he further inferres that the unity in God is farre greater than that in man Quod homo unus est in specie tantum sed Deus in specie Tit. 5. in numero Because mans unity consists only in his species or kinde but God is one not only in species but in number too And in the end concludes Quod unus sufficit Deus plures non sunt necessarii That one God is sufficient for the guiding and governing of one world so that there is no need of more But the best proofes of divine verities are taken from divine authorities and therefore let us see some few Texts of Scripture to confirme this the unity of the God-head and so conclude this point And we will begin with that in Deuteronomy Audi Israel Dominus Deus tuus unus est Hearken O Israel the Lord thy God is one Deut. 6.4 To which purpose see also Deut. 32.39 cited before Next let us heare Naaman the Syrian healed as well of the leprosie of his soule as body confessing and magnifying this one God saying Behold now I know that there is no God in all the world but in Israel 2 Reg. 5.15 Thirdly David who saith Quis Deus praeter Dominum c. Who is God besides the Lord and who is mighty save our God Psal 18.31 And againe Thou art great and doest wondrous things Thou art God alone Psal 86.10 To which purpose see also Esay 45.5 6 14 18 21 22 verses And likewise Sap. 12.13 And because some heretickes as
former times well observed that there be parts some revealed some secret Dr. Covell of that which yet is no more divers or many than it is possible for the essence of the Godhead to be more than one not that he is contrarie in his will but that his will as yet is not wholly revealed So farre hee 1 Sam. 6.19 Numb 4.20 Exod. 19.13 Now the first part of this will that is the secret and reserved part is shut up within the closet of Gods owne sacred bosome as the Ark that must not be pried into the mountaine that neither man nor beast may prefume to touch the brightsome Sunne that with the rayes of his glorious luster dazles the eyes of curious beholders the way of an Eagle in the aire Prov. 30.19 and the path of a ship in the waters whose track may not be espied nor enquired after but only admired and adored afarre off For of this hath God pronounced O homo in quis es Rom. 9.20 O man who art thou that doest that darest ransack the bowels of my privie Councels seeing my judgements are like a great deepe as Psal 36.6 that is so deepe so bottomlesse as that they are not to be sounded or fathomed by thy shallownesse The other part of Gods will is open and revealed divulged and proclaimed in a full Court and assembly of men and Angels to all the world and that is his will revealed in his Word And this challenges and exacts both a distinct knowledge and an entire obedience yea therefore our knowledge that it may be obeyed for as affected knowledge in the former is dangerous so affected ignorance in this latter is damnable Now then if we must doe this revealed will of God then likewise know it yea and know God too in and by it as well as by his attributes or any other his works whatsoever otherwise without this latter Epist 4. it is impossible to attaine unto the former For Qui Deum nescitis vias ejus quomodo novistis saith S. Ambrose If you doe not know God how can you either know the will or walk in the wayes of God And therefore God himselfe upon his reconciliation and promise of a new covenant with his people Israel tels them first that hee will put his Law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts and then as a confirmation of the said covenant hee addes That they should not need to bid one another to know the Lord For they shall all know me saith hee from the least of them to the greatest of them Ierem. 31.33 34. which is as much as if hee should have said That untill men know God they cannot have his Law written in their hearts and so neither submit their understanding to the beleefe and knowledge of it for matter of doctrine nor subject their wils and affections to the obedience and practice of it in their lives conversations And therefore for these reasons before expressed let us be perswaded to use our best diligence and endevour to attaine unto the knowledge of the three former circumstances concerning God For this is life eternall that men know thee the onely true God and whom thou hast sent Jesus Christ saith our Saviour himselfe Ioh. 17.3 From whence learned Zanchy our Protestant Schooleman inferres that if it be life to know God it must needs be no lesse than death not to know him or to be ignorant of him To conclude then as a curious searching into those secrets of God which are not revealed serveth but to breed a contempt of those things which are revealed unto us in regard whereof it is greater pietie to beleeve them than to strive to know them so on the other side to be absolutely either ignorant or carelesse of those things that concerne us and which God hath revealed unto us is a plaine evidence of our sloth and negligence of our owne salvation In the former whereof it is not so much to be lamented that wee search and cannot comprehend as that in the latter wee might comprehend if wee would but take the paines to search For Qui quaerunt invenient They that seeke shall finde Matth. 7.7 even the knowledge of the true God and of his wayes Now then God hath revealed and made himselfe knowne to his Church and children after a three-fold manner viz. Operando Loquendo Spirando that is by his works words and Spirit by his works in the creation and conservation of the world by his Word in his holy Scriptures by his holy Spirit in testifying to our spirit by his secret working and inspiration in our hearts and soules not onely that hee is God but that he is our God also in particular so that wee may and must relye and depend upon him and none but him upon all occasions whatsoever Now these heads are too large and long to be handled to the full by way of Catechisme and therefore for this time you must be satisfied with that which the words of our Creed testifie and declare concerning him that is That he is the Father Almightie Maker of Heaven Earth Vide Act. 17.24 And here you see that the first attribute or title that is given unto God is that he is called Father I beleeve in God the Father c. And that may be in this place in a two-fold respect First in respect of creation and so he is the Father of the world and all that is therein and therefore here is subjoyned Maker of Heaven and Earth Secondly in respect of naturall generation and so hee is the father of Jesus Christ alone And therefore followes that And in Iesus Christ his onely Sonne Concerning the first it is said by the Prophet Have we not all one Father hath not one God created uâ— Mal. 2.10 And againe Is not hee thy Father that hath made thee Deut. 32.6 And not onely of man but of all other things he is said to be the Father by creation as in the booke of Iob Who is the father of the raine or who hath begotten the drops of dew out of whose wombe came the ice or who hath ingrendred the frâ—st of Heaven Iâ—b 38.28 29. thereby insinuating that God only is the father of these things and therefore well may wee say I beleeve in God the Father But most especially in regard of his naturall fatherhood to his Sonne and our Saviour Jesus Christ whom he did beget in the womb of eternitie before all worlds according to that of the Psalmist Ex utero ante luciferum genui te as the Vulgar Latine reads it Psal 110.3 that is I have begotten thee in my womb before the morning light or in the words of Esay Before the day was I am To which purpose S. Augustine doth here take occasion wittily to observe against the Arrians Quod cum Dei Patris nomen in confessione conjungitur That when the name of Father is in this Creed and Confession of faith joyned
unto the name of God Ostendit quod non antea Deus esse coepit postea Pater sed sine ullo initio Deus semper est Pater est It shewes saith he that God was not first and Father after but that without any beginning even from all eternitie hee was both God and Father and therefore it is said I beleeve in God the Father so that when thou hearest God stiled Father acknowledge confesse and beleeve that he hath a Sonne truly begotten in regard of whom hee is as truly and justly called Father as hee that possesseth any thing is called an Owner or hee that rules over any thing is called a Lord. So that the word Father in this place is a word of a deep and secret mysterie The word onely and truly being the Sonne where God in this sense is the Father And therefore saith S. John In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God Ioh. 1.1 God of God light of light verie God of verie God begotten of his Father before all worlds as the Nicene Creed professeth Neither let any be so saucie as to enquire how this Father could or did beget this Sonne as Saint Augustine goes on seeing the verie Angels thereof are ignorant and it is a secret not revealed to the Prophets Whence Esay cries out Generationem â—jus quis enarrabit Who shall dâ—clare his generation Esay 53.8 And therefore let it not enter into our cogitations how this or that can be effected or come to passe but onely beleeve seeing the next word tels us that God is Almightie and therefore if he be Almightie nothing can be unpossible unto him I beleeve in God the Father Almightie And that hee is Almightie that is able to doe whatsoever he will yea and more than hee will too it is manifest as well by his words as by his works By his word first as where he declares as much of himselfe by his faithfull servant Abraham saying I am God all-sufficient or Almightie Genes 17.1 And againe I am Alpha and Omega the beginning and the ending saith the Lord which is and which was and which is to come even the Almightie Revel 1.8 And as his Word thus declares him in the first and the last books of the same and indeed all over it if proofe were wanting so his works speake the like of him even from the verie beginning to the ending of the same booke And in particular where they expresse him to be the Maker of Heaven and Earth that is of all things the universall world doth containe as well above as below as well heavenly as earthly as well spirituall as corporall Which is especially in the first of Genesis but seconded and confirmed in many passages and places of Scripture besides as in the Psalmes When I behold saith David thine heavens even the works of thy fingers the Moone the Stars which thou hast ordained and how thou hast made man little lower than thy selfe and crowned him with glorie and honour Thou hast made him to have dominion over the works of thy hands c. Psal 8. all over the Psalme To which purpose see also Acts 17. about vers 24. and so forward which made Saint Augustine to crie out unto him Omnipotens manus tua semper una eadem creavit in coelo Angelos in terra vermiculos non superior in illis non inferior in istis that is The strength or power of thy hands is omnipotent yea and alwayes one and the same which as it created the glorious Angels in heaven so likewise the little wormes in the earth neither is it any whit greater in those or lesser in these but Deus ita artifex magnus in magnis ut non sit minor in minimis But his power and might appeares as much in the least as in the greatest of his creatures And this may serve first to strengthen us in our faith and trust to God and to make us with the more confidence to have recourse unto him by prayer and supplication because wee know and beleeve that he is Almightie and therefore as the Leaper said Master if thou wilt thou canst make mee cleane Matth. 8.2 So we may be sure that what promises of mercie or goodnesse soever the Lord hath made unto us in his word he will make good in his due time because wee beleeve hee which hath promised is able to doe it as S. Paul speakes Rom. 4.21 Secondly this teaches us also that as God is able to succour us and provide for us because Almightie so likewise to defend us that no enemie ghostly or bodily is able to prevaile against us to our destruction or confusion And therefore that in all our troubles we put our whole trust and confidence in him and his mercie as well for the salvation of our soules as the preservation of our bodies this being the victorie that overcommeth the world even our faith saith S. Iohn 1 Ioh. 5.4 And indeed this is the true and proper sense of this Article I beleeve in God the Father Almightie that is I doe depend and put my trust in him for as S. Augustine whom I undertooke at the first to follow especially in this discourse hath rightly observed the article doth not say Credo Deo or Credo Deum but onely Credo in Deum that is it doth not say I beleeve God or I beleeve that there is a God but onely I beleeve in God For to beleeve God is to beleeve that what God sayes is true which many wicked men and verie reprobates may doe againe to beleeve that there is a God and that hee that made heaven and earth is that God Hoc daemones possunt why even the verie Devils doe the same Credere vero in Dâ—um soli noverunt qui dilligunt illum but to beleeve in God they only know how that love him and are become the children of God by the grace of adoption and by their faith and beleefe in God and therefore because they doe truly and sincerely love God they are emboldened to say I beleeve in God the Father Almightie Maker of Heaven and Earth c. And here I might take occasion to shew you how that in this little Preposition In this small word consisting of two of the smallest letter i n doth consist the whole summe and substance of our Christian Religion Lib. 1. de Relig. cap. 13. pag. 256. Tota pietas totusque Dei cultus atque religio as Zanchius speaketh For who ever did truly and uprightly worship and serve God but out of trust in God who ever did awfully and filially feare God but because he did trust in God who ever did unfainedly and sincerely love God but it proceeded from his trust in God who ever did make conscience of his wayes by avoyding and declining evill but through hope and trust in God who ever was carefull to obey God and walk in the waies of
ossium saith Salomon Sweetnesse to the soule and health to the bones as Prov. 16.24 which makes the very lips gratious and the feet pretious of those that bring but the tidings of it saith the Propher Mel in ore melos in aure jubilum in corde As hony sweet unto the mouth as melody pleasant to the eare and a jubile triumph to the heart so that nil canitur suavius nil auditur jucundius nil cogitatur dulcius quà m Iesus Dei Filius saith an ancient Hymne of the Church there is nothing sunâ—â—hat is so sweet nothing heard that so much delighteth nothing â—â—â—â—ght on that is so pleasant as is this the name of Jesus the Son of the most high God And here I might take occasion to speake of the publike rejoycing of this time for the birth of this our Saviour Jesus and shew you as Leo saith how that non fas est locum esse tristitiae ubi natalis est vitae at the comming and birth of life there ought to be no mourning as in the dayes of death no man being secluded excluded from the partaking of the publike joy of this time but that the righteous ought to rejoyce quia appropinquat ad palmam because he drawes neere to the reward of his well doing and the sinner may rejoyce quia invitatur ad veniam because he is offered a pardon for his ill doing but I forbeare to proceed any farther in this way because it belongs rather to the Preacher than the Catechist thus to handle it onely before I end this point I am bold to invocate this our sweet Saviour that propter semetipsum erit nobis Jesus even for his owne names sake he will be pleased to save us from our sins by granting us so much faith and trust in him that wee may rely wholly upon him and none but him for the salvation of our poore and sinfull soules for if we should misse of him our blessed Saviour and Redeemer it were better for us a thousand wayes that wee were dogs or toads than men for death to them is the end of all their woe but the death of a man without a Saviour is but the beginning of all his misery and unhappinesse to endure for ever and ever and therefore let us still be sure to beleeve in Jesus And in Iesus Christ Where yee see that our Saviour our Deliverer our Mediator and Messias is not knowne altogether by the name of Jesus but sometimes also by the name of Christ and therefore Saint Matthew stiles his Booke The Booke of the Generation of JESUS CHRIST Matth. 1.1 And S. Paul saith that Jesus Christ is come into the world to save sinners 1 Tim. 1.15 And the Apostles here teach us to say I beleeve in Iesus Christ So that Jesus may be said to be his proper name and Christ his Nomen appellativum or Sir-name as Tertullian speakes or Jesus his name of Nature and Christ of person place or dignity as other Divines for as I have shewne before as his name Jesus signifies to save and deliver intimating his nature so his name Christ signifies Messias or Anointed intimating his Office which is to be anointed with the oyle of gladnesse above his Fellowes as the Psalmist speaketh And therefore Andrew said unto his brother Simon concerning him we have found the Messias which is by interpretation the Christ that is the Anointed one Ioh. 1.41 And the woman of Samaria said I know well that Messias shall come which is called Christ Ioh. 4.25 Now the reason of this name is because as the three great Officers of the world in former times viz. King Priest and Prophet were wont to be made by anointing so hee being to beare these three parts in his owne person for the benefit of his Church and chosen was likewise to be anointed by the Holy Ghost and indeed to be called o Christos the anointed as by way of excellencie above all that were anointed before him or should be ever after him Now if you desire proofes that these three Officers were consecrated and mâ—de by anointing attend to that which followes First Kings were sâ— mâ—de for so said God to Samuel when he had chosen David to be King Ariâ—e anoint him for this is he 1 Sam. 16.12 And so Salomon concerning whom his Father David said Let Zadock the Priest and Nathan the Prophet anoint him their King over Israel and blow yee the trumpet and say God save King Salomon 1 King 1.34 And indeed the first King of all that Nation Saul himselfe was so ordained as it is said That Samuel tooke a violl of oyle and powred it upon his head and kissed him and said is it not because the Lord hath anointed thee to be captaine over his inheritance 1 Sam. 10.1 Thus much for Kings Secondly Priests were also so made for God commanded Moses to consecrate Aaron to that Office saying Thou shalt take the anointing oyle and powre it upon his head and anoint him Exod. 29.7 And in the third Chapter about the 23. verse it is shewed how that anointing oyle should be made too even of principall and costly spices as is there to be scene And therefore David cals it the precious oyntment upon the head that ran downe upon the beard even Aarons beard and went downe to the skirts of his clothing Psal 133.2 Thirdly Prophets likewise and Elisha the son of Shaphat shalt thou anoint to be a Prophet in thy roome 1 Reg. 19.16 And therefore saith David Touch not mine anointed and doe my Prophets no harme Psal 105.15 So that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ being to become all these unto us and that after a more excellent manner hee is called the Christ or anointed as I said before For God even his owne God hath anointed him with the oyle of gladnesse above his fellowes saith David Psal 45.7 yea even above them for their offices lasted only during the time of this life and in some of them not so long but Christ is anointed to be an everlasting King Priest and Prophet over his Church even for ever and ever A King first to protect us so saith David I have set my King upon my holy hill of Sion Psal 2.6 for the Lord shall give him the Throne of his Father David and hee shall reigne over the house of Iacob for ever and of his Kingdome there shall be no end Luke 1.32 33. For all power is given unto mee both in heaven and in earth saith he himselfe Mat. 28.18 Secondly a Priest to offer up even himselfe a sacrifice upon the Crosse for our sins as in the Psalme The Lord hath sworne and will not repent Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedecke Psal 110.4 yea because he continueth for ever he hath an unchangeable Priesthood Heb. 7.24 who needeth not daily as those high Priests to offer up sacrifice for his owne sins first and then for the people for this hee did once when
and woman as we are all ordinarily propagated by carnall generation The fourth and last De muliere sine viro Of the woman without the helpe of man and this was Christ conceived onely by the Holy Ghost Borne of the Virgin Mary is the second circumstance of his humanitie First borne secondly of a Virgin of the first the meaning is no more but this That in the ordinary time of travell according to the course of nature he was brought forth into the world by a woman called Mary whom the Lord had selected for that purpose that his onely begotten Son the second Person in the sacred Trinitie might take his humane flesh and nature of her and so become that promised seed of the woman which should breake the Serpents head spoken of before out of Gen. 3.15 according to that also of the Apostle For as much as the children were partakers of flesh and bloud he also himselfe tooke part with them that he might destroy through death him that had the power of death that is the Devill Hebr. 2.14 For he in no sort tooke the Angels nature but he tooke the seed of Abraham as there follows verse 16. Now then if wee doe once truly and firmly beleeve his conception there is no great doubt or difficultie to bee made concerning his birth because all mankind after they are conceived in the wombe doe by the ordinary course of nature in due time of procreation i. e. after nine months space proceed to a birth into the world and so likewise our Saviour Christ onely hence ariseth a difference and the difficultie that whereas all other mothers after they have once conceived with childe cease to be and to be accounted Virgins the Mother of Christ continued what shee was before a Virgin still yea and so remained unto her lives end And therefore is said Borne of the Virgin Mary Whereupon S. Augustine saith He that came to renue the corrupted and depraved nature of sinfull mankinde novam legem voluit habere nascendi would be borne after a new and unusuall manner Ius enim non erat ut virginis violaretur integritas per Christi adventum qui venerat sanare corrupta It being not meet that he which came to heale that which was corrupted and broken should by his said comming violate and breake that which was whole i. e. the virginitie and integrity of his Mother and therefore all antiquitie have concluded and determined of her that she was a Virgin ante partum in partu post partum before her travell in her travell and after her travell so remaining even to her dying day as I said before First before her travell to fulfill that prophecie which had foretold that a Virgin should conceive and beare a Sonne and that his name should be called Emanuel which is God with us Esay 7.15 which name agrees with none but our Saviour Christ which was both God and man and therefore the said prophecie is said to be fulfilled in him Matth. 1.23 Secondly in her travell that he which was borne of her might be without sin for all others must say as David Behold I was borne in sin and in iniquity hath my mother conceived mee Psal 51.5 Onely the Mother of Christ because shee had conceived without the carnall knowledge of man might say as S. Augustine makes her to speake Quinatus de ventre meo me matâ—em dimisit intactam He that is borne of mee hath indeed made mee a Mother but yet he hath left me without any uncleane touch of carnall contagion or contamination At implevit ventrem meum divinitate uterum meum non evacuavit castitate So that howsoever he have filled me with his Divinitie yet hee hath not robbed or spoiled me of my chastitie Sola impregnata nec vitiata exonerata nec vacuata but I I only of all the women in the world have beene found with childe without deflowring and delivered of a child without defiling because as the Angell Gabriel Paranimphus Christi the Paranimph of Christ as Saint Augustine stiles him saluted me I have beene freely beloved and the Lord hath beene with me so that I am bless d amongst women Luke 1.28 Now then as the same holy Father still speakes Considero conceptum tuum beata virgo expavesco intucor partum contremisco adoro filium tuum revivisco When I consider thy conception O blessed Virgin I am astonisht when I behold thy delivery I stand amazed but when I come to adore thy Son I am revived seeing he that at the first created thee hath honoured thee so farre as to be borne of thee Borne of the Virgin Mary And as shee was a Virgin before and in her travell so likewise after even to her lives end Posterior enim concupiscentia minuisset fidem prioris virginitatis For her after concupiscence and carnall longings if shee had any would have diminished the credit and beleefe of her former virginitie and indeed it was not meet that the only Son of God that was borne of a Virgin and without sin should come afterward to have had a carnall brotherhood which must needs have been conceived in sin which might have fallen out if shee had had carnall knowledge afterwards of her husband Joseph And therefore Jovinianus Helvidius and all Hereticks of that straine which have so affirmed are to be detested and avoided for many reasons First because it would have derogated from the perfection of Christ to have had such brethren who as he was the onely begotten Son of his Father in heaven so was it meet that hee should be the only Sâ—n of his Mother here on earth Secondly because Mary in the after carnall knowledge of her husband Ioseph should have done wrong and injury to the Holy Ghost Cujus sacrarium fuit uterum virginis Whose virgin wombe had beene sanctified and consecrated by him as it were unto the Lord and therefore ought not to be defiled Per virilem commixtionem by any uncleane touch and commixture of man Thirdly because shee would have beene thought very unthankfull and ungratefull unto God if shee had not beene contented with such a Son Fourthly and lastly because it would have beene too great a presumption in Ioseph Si polluere attentaret virginem If hee should have offered once to violate the virginitie of her of whom the Lord was borne and therefore there is no doubt but wee may safely hold and beleeve her a Virgin as well after as in and before her travel and say I beleeve in Iesus Christ conceived by the Holy Ghost and borne of the Virgin Mary for as a Star sends forth its beame without any detrimeÌ„t or corruption to it selfe Sic virgo Filium Christum as Bernard speaks So might the Virgin Mary her Son Christ without any wrong to her virginity which the Fathers also prove by many allusions from the sacred Scriptures and Word of God applying some mysticall passages of the same to the conception and
birth of Christ of this blessed Virgin Rubus Mosaicus virga Aaronica vellus Gedeonis clausa Ezechielis porta Virginem parituram sine detrimento virginitati suae designant saith one Moses bush that burned and was not consumed Exod. 3.2 Aarons rod that budded and blossomed and bare ripe Almonds when it was withered and drie Numb 17.8 Gedeons fleece that was full of dew that one might wring it when all the earth was drie besides Iudg. 6.38 And Ezekiels gate which was shut so that none should enter by it because the Lord God of Israel had entred by it Ezech. 44.2 doe all in some sort or other expresse the conception and birth of the Sonne of God without any detriment to the virginitie of his Mother and indeed the last of these Ezekiels shut gate is nearly applied by S. Augustine himselfe in his eighteenth Sermon De tempore to this purpose where hee saith Quid est porta in domo Domini clausa nisi quod Maria semper erit intacta c. What is meant by the gate in the house of the Lord which is alwayes shut but only this that the Virgin Mary shall ever remaine untouch't and undefiled Et quid est quod homo non transit per eam nisi quia Ioseph non cognovit eam And what is meant by that that no man shall enter by it but this that her husband Ioseph shall not carnally know her Et quid est quod Dominus solus intrat egredietur per eam nisi quia Spiritus Sanctus impregnavit eam And what by that that the Lord God of Israel only shall goe in and out thereat but this that shee hath conceived by the Holy Ghost Et quid est clausa erit in aeternum nisi quia erit Maria virgo ante partum in partu post partum And what by this that it shall be shut for ever but this that Mary shall be a Virgin before in and after her delivery of her said Son Christ Jesus as I said before in so much as she may say of her selfe as he goes on Porta facta sum coeli janua facta sum filio Dei I am made the gate of heaven and am become a doore to the Sonne of God because hee vouchsafes to goe in and out by mee and that without either opening or shutting of my sanctified womb whereby my virginitie should be impaired in the least degree as after his resurrection hee entred in among the midst of his Disciples when the doores were fast shut Joh. 20.19 And therefore we need not feare to beleeve him borne of the Virgin Marie And thus you see Beloved how Christ the Sonne of God tooke our humane nature and shape perfectly and entirely upon him and so became also the Sonne of man first by being conceived and then borne of the Virgin Marie which howsoever it may seeme strange and almost miraculous unto us yet to God that did worke it it was both facile and easie for that God that hath written wondrous things in his Law is able also to worke wondrous things for us in his Gospell Quid autem sunt mirabilia nisi quae hominibus sunt impossibilia Augustine And what I pray you is wonderfull but that which seemes to us impossible As for example the verie writing of the Law in Tables of stone without fitting instruments is it selfe a verie wonder of the Law Againe the earths yeelding bread in the wildernesse without either plowing or sowing as Exod. 16.15 is another wonder of the same And thirdly Aarons rod spoken of before which having beene withered many yeares as S. Augustine sayes beginning to revive without water to flourish in the Tabernacle and to bring forth nuts or almonds when it was inclosed under the drie roofe of an house is a third wonder also of the Law of God Now then as S. Augustine applyes it if wee have read these things in Gods Law why doe wee not understand them and beleeve them when we see them or the verie like to them acted and performed even to our comfort and consolation in these dayes and times of the Gospell for hee that writ the stony Tables without an iron pen by the same power and skill could cause the Virgin Marie to conceive with childe by the Holy Ghost without the help of man And he that brought forth bread in the wildernesse without breaking and plowing up the earth was able also to bring a Sonne from the wombe of the Virgin without violating or wronging her virginitie And hee that caused the drie rod to bud and blossome and the like without moysture Ipse fecit filiam David sine semine generare He made this daughter of the house of David to bring forth this blessed fruit of her wombe even without seed And therefore doubt not but stedfastly beleeve that Christ was an entire and perfect man howsoever he was not conceived nor borne after the usuall and ordinarie manner of bringing mankinde into the world but conceived of the Holy Ghost and borne of the Virgin Marie for this birth of his after this manner shewes him to be what indeed hee was and what hee ought to be seeing hee came to be a Mediatour betwixt God and us viz. it shewes him to be both God and man for in that he was borne and took flesh of a woman it shewes him to be true man but in that he was borne of a Virgin Se Deum docet qui partus Deum decet as S. Ambrose speakes It shewes him to be likewise God for such a birth becomes none but the Sonne of God And indeed there are many reasons why Christ should be borne of a pure Virgin as first for the greater honour and dignitie of God the Father that sent him that so hee onely might be his Father on earth that was his Father in heaven and therefore saith S. Augustine Non quaesivit quidem nisi matrem in terra quod jam patrem habebat in coelo He sought but onely for a mother on earth because he had a Father before in heaven Secondly for the honour also of the Son himselfe that was sent who as he was the Word of God from the beginning so he might be the Sonne of God to the end Now as the Word is conceived without any corruption of the heart from whence it doth proceed so ought he to be without any corruption of his mother Thirdly for the greater credit of his humane nature in which there ought not to be the least staine of sinne seeing hee came to satisfie Gods wrath for mans sinne which could not have beene effected by any other birth than onely of a pure Virgin Fourthly and lastly for the end of his incarnation which was to regenerate and beget men anew unto the Lord that so as many as would receive him might have power given them to become also the sonnes of God but how not by being borne of bloud nor of the will of the flesh nor of the