onely the Spirit of God therefore in the interpretation of doubtfull places of Scripture the Spirit of God whereby it was written must give also the true understanding or interpretation thereof and this Spirit and the meaning thereof is most easily found in the holy Scripture Therefore the surest and best interpretation of Scripture is by Scripture it selfe 4. The Scribes and Pharises were to be heard sitting in the Chaire of Moses that is teaching the Law according to the true meaning of Moses Therefore the interpreters of the New-Testament also are to be heard speaking the voice of Christ. But His sheepe will not heare a stranger for they know not the voice of strangers Iohn 10. Therefore the interpretation of the Scripture is chiefely by the Scriptures And by the Scriptures onely every question of faith and doctrine to bee decided not by the Church or any humane voice except they speake according to the word of the Scripture 1. For seeing the Holy-Ghost is the chiefe judge in all controversies on whose infallible sentence wee may safely relye and that the Scriptures are His immediate word therefore from thence are wee to expect His immediate answere whereas the Church speakes not from God immediately but as a meane conueighs unto us the voice of the Scripture 2. Beside this the Church may erre the Scripture cannot erre 3. The Scriptures shine by their owne light the Church by the light and Doctrine of the Scriptures 4. The Scriptures are alwayes at hand to be resorted unto the Church never all assembled nor a Councill scarce once in an age and they that vaunt most of the name for the most part have least of the true Church And therefore the Prophets send us to the Law and to the Testimonies and our Lord to search the Scriptures See 2. Peter 1.19 Object 2. By this meanes making it lawfull for every one to reade and interpret the Scriptures you set open a doore to all manner of heresies to enter into the Church and make every private spirit a judge and an interpreter of the sence of Scripture Answer Though every one may and ought to read the Scripture for comfort and instruction yet the interpretation of the harder places belongs especially to the Pastours and Doctors appointed by the Church thereto and if any private man doe interpret according to the former rules yet cannot that interpretation be said to proceed from a private spirit although the man be private For the holy Spirit is the common author of all light and understanding And the meanes whereby He useth to teach is the holy Word the common light of all the faithfull And this may seeme sufficient to have spoken of the Author and use of the holy Scriptures and what they are then of their sufficiency purity easinesse and interpretation And blessed is that man that meditates in them day and night that he may finde by them the full assurance of his hopes and live in obedience and thankefullnesse to the Author and finisher of his faith ARTICLE IX ⧠I beleeve in the holy Catholike-Church CHAP. XXXV A Certaine Iew famed for his riches was once asked by a great lord of the Turkes how it came to passe that the Turkes the Christians and the Iewes did so peremptorily hold every one their owne faith that they could not be withdrawne therefrom The Iew suspecting his wealth to be aimed at answered as their manner is by a witty parable A rich man quoth he had three sonnes that obserued him with great respect because of his wealth he to hold them all in their obedience oftentimes profest among them that he should be the heire of all his estate to whom at his death he should bequeath a ring which he used to weare But in secret he caused Mammurius the Goldsmith to make for him two other rings so like it as Numaes ancylia were not one more like another At his death he called each of his sonnes apart and gave to every one of them one of these rings and withall the possession of all his goods so every one holds his claime quoth he and it is not yet knowne how the controversie will be ended This is the present state of the Church not onely among these three sects named but likewise among all the sects of Christianity yea of all religions whatsoever For there is none among the Pagans but he hath this hope that his soule shall be happy if he serue his god as he ought And having determined those questions which concerne God and our Mediator it followes that in this second part of the Creed we consider those benefits and priviledges which belong unto the Church by that which our Saviour hath done and suffered for it But that we mistake not we shall best be guided by the holy Scripture both for the use of the word and for the knowledge of the thing The word Ecclesia as it signifies in the originall the house of religious exercises or a tumultuous assembly as in Act. 19.32 or a combination of wicked men as in Psalm 26.5 hath no use here but more properly it signifieth an assembly or multitude of people professing the true worship of God such as were the Churches of Corinth Ephesus and others planted by the Apostles and Apostolicall men in a City or Kingdome as we thinke that Ioseph of Arimathea planted the faith in this Island and so established a Church here Every faithfull family is likewise a Church Romans 16.5 and the Church representative as the Synedrion among the Iewes is also so stiled in Matth. 18.17 But because among all these Churches there may be hypocrites unholy and carnally minded men which we cannot count within our Creed and beleeve that they are the holy Church therefore the Church may be taken not onely for the visible but also they whose Mediator our Lord Christ is unto eternall life as he saith Iohn 17.9 I pray for them I pray not for the world but for them which thou hast given mee From whence it will easily appeare what this holy Catholike or universall Church is which here we doe beleeve to wit that number of holy men which God out of all nations of the world hath predestinated unto eternall life If we cleare the sence of the words and answere such doubts as arise thereabout we shall afterward easily approove the Article And first concerning the title of holinesse given to the Church Object 1. It may be objected that seeing it is said Psal 14. that among all the Children of men there is none that doeth good no not one how can any Church among men bee called Holy Answere Not by any inbred holinesse in themselues but because the righteousnesse of Christ their Saviour is imputed unto them for their justification before God as it is said 1. Iohn 1.7 The blood of Iesus Christ clenseth us from all sinne then because the Spirit of sanctification dwells in them and makes them zealous of good workes that they
hast confessed But in Luke 16.23 it is taken properly for the place as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and being in hell lifting up his eyes c. as contrarywise with other Authors it sometime signifies the place of blessednesse as Plato uses it in Phaed. concerning Socrates 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If ever any man came to happinesse but in this sence it belongs to Numb 2. 4. They signifie such sorrowes or paines as may bee supposed are suffered in hell as in 1 Samuel 2.6 The Lord casteth downe to hell and bringeth up againe and in Psalm 18.5 The sorrowes of hell compassed me So Psalm 86.13 Thou hast deliuered my soule out of the lowest hell In all which places Sheol by the Septuagint translated Hades except by way of prophecy concerning Christ cannot signifie the place of the damned from whence there is no returning but onely extreame dangers griefe or hellish sorrowes of mind or such sicknesses as brought the body in danger of the grave To these words especially in the three last significations 2. Of the state of the Dead 3 Of the Place and 4. Paines of the damned the words Inferi and Infernus in Latin doe answere But hell with us is proper to the place of torment and doth not signifie any thing else but by a trope and is not of Heal as I thinke which sometime signifies to cover much lesse of Helle the Dutch word as much as bright or shining but of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hel a deepe ditch or trench as the word is used 2 Sam. 20.15 They cast up a banke against the City and it stood 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bahel in the trench And hee that thinkes not that the Saxon our true language hath many things common with the Hebrew knowes neither the one nor the other as hee might Sect. 2 § 2. Now according to these takings of the words different interpretations have beene made of this Article of which because so much hath already beene written among our selues I may and purpose to be more briefe But because some formes of confession have left this Article out therefore it hath growne questionable whether it was alwayes in this Creed of the Apostles or not Of the Apostles I say or Apostolicall men their hearers gathered as the summe of the Apostles doctrine concerning the Faith And true it is that as it cannot be said by whom where or when this Creed was first composed as being the most ancient in this kind the rest being onely explications of some points herein made upon occasions of heresies or doubts thereabout So doe some men certainely affirme that all the other Articles were not put together at once Yet is it without doubt that this Article is as ancient as the rest that are found in the Creed seeing the most ancient among the Fathers Athanasius Origen Tertullian Irenaeus and others have so received and declared it And therefore that fancy of Erasmus who suspected that Thomas Aquinas might foy'st it in was farre below both the one and the other seeing it is confest by Ruffinus who lived within the first 400. yeeres after Christ to have beene in the Creed used in the Church of Aquileia and so by him interpreted with the rest But although the Councell at Nice in Bithinia left it out of their Creed because their speciall businesse was against Arius concerning the Deitie of our Saviour and although the Arians in their Councell at Nice in Thracia put it in their Creed nay although Aquinas had first put it in were it therefore fit to leave it out or not to count it an Article of Faith as some would doe I thinke not seeing the holy Scripture gives authority to it Psalm 16.10 referred to Christ by the exposition of Saint Peter Actes 2.27 seeing all the Christian Churches have receiued it and seeing that according to the true and necessary meaning thereof there is no Article of the Creed which doth more clearely and directly overthrow the heresies of Arius and the Dimaeritae concerning the humane soule of Christ of which you read Chapter 26. Note a § 2. 1. Now concerning the different interpretations Some according to the first meaning of Sheol and Hades for the Grave thinke that Christ was truely buried and kept in the Grave three dayes and that this Article had no other meaning but a further declaration of Dead and Buried against the opinion of Marcion Valentin and such other heretickes as denyed the trueth of Christs being and His suffering as you heard before Note a on Chap. 27. 2. Others would that beyond the death and buriall it should impart a disposing of His body to corruption But if their meaning therein be this That the body of our Lord was laid in the grave where corruption doth seaze on the bodies of other men then this blind descent can looke no further then His buriall or if it must needs meane any thing more then would they force us by this Article to beleeve and confesse that which by the Scripture we know to be false For it was impossible that the holy One of God should either see corruption or be brought to any degree or disposition thereunto beyond the death and buriall of His body See Acts 2.24 27. 3. Some other by this descent of Christ will understand the uttermost degree of His humiliation that could come unto Him while His Soule was parted from the Body His honour laid in the dust the devill and his instruments triumphing over Him But the Creed was not framed to teach us the triumph and ioy of His enemies but His victory and their confusion And concerning our Lord Himselfe this goes no further then either of the former interpretations except in that sence which you shall heare anon Therefore none of these can be the meaning of this Article For in the abridgement or summe of our Faith interpretations are not fit especially such as are more darke than that to which they should give light Therefore this Article Hee descended into hell cannot in any of the former meanings be a declaration of that Hee was dead and buryed 4. A fourth interpretation is of them who thinke the descent of Christ meanes thus much onely That His soule being departed out of His body went unto the soules of the faithfull which were in Paradise which they interpret heaven But seeing heaven being taken not metaphorically for Ioy and happinesse but properly for a place must in all sence signifie that which is upward from the earth It must needes bee a very aukward interpretation of He descended into hell to say He ascended or went upward into heaven yet because this interpretation brings both reason and authoritie it shall bee examined by and by 5. A fift interpretation is of them who will have this descent to signifie nothing else but the endurance of those unspeakable sorrowes and torments which He suffered in soule being in His agony and on the crosse 6. A sixt sence is of them
who hold that Hee did locally goe downe to hell so that according to the essence or being of His soule He was truely present there And as the former of these denie not but that Christ by His death did utterly spoile the powers of darknesse and so may be said virtually and by the effects of His suffering to have gone downe into hell because that by the eternall offering of Himselfe a ransome for the sinnes of the world and the performance thereof in the time appointed He did utterly free all His beleevers from Hell which was their due and setled them in the inheritance of eternall life so these latter for the most part denie not but that all this which is said is agreeable to the trueth of the Scripture and the analogie of Faith onely they cannot yeeld that it is the true and native meaning of this Article And betweene these two parties all those texts of Scripture which are brought for the locall descent of Christ are hammered so thinne that may seeme plyable every way But let the strength of the Holy Text for ever stand sure and let us see the reasons a little on all sides with their answeres and exceptions And first of them that interpret this Article by the sufferings of Christs soule Sect. 3 Object 1. As the sufferings of Christ even from the first minute of His Incarnation were meritorious for us yet our ransome from the torments of hell was wrought especially by the suffering of His humane soule which torments of His soule Hee endured not onely by the torture or fellow-feeling of His naturall body not by compassion onely on the sins and sorrowes of His body mysticall but also He might be said even to feele the sorrowes of eternall death when He saw Himselfe to be now set to suffer the wrath of God due to the sinnes of the whole world And if this bee not the proper and native sence of this Article how are wee taught by our Creed to beleeve more concerning Christ than wee confesse to be true of the theeves of whom wee may say they suffered under Pontius Pilate that they were crucified dead and buryed Al. Hume Rejoynd to Doctor Hil. I answere First the holy Scripture is profitable for doctrine for instruction for reproofe c. But the object of our faith is onely the Holy Trinity in Vnity and the satisfaction of Christ for our Redemption and the benefits which wee receive thereby And therefore although I beleeve and know by the Scriptures that Samson was the Sonne of Manoa yet I neither beleeve in Samson nor Manoa And though I know by the Scriptures that the penitent thiefe suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucifyed and dyed yet I beleeve not in him But concerning Christ as I beleeve that all His merits redound to us so I beleeve that all His sufferings were according to the Scripture a satisfaction to the justice of God for the sinnes of the world which they could not be but by the suffering both of His soule and body as it is said Esay 53. Hee shall see the travaile of His soule and bee satisfied If then wee know that whatsoever befell unto our Lord was that the Scripture might be fulfilled Matth. 26.54.56 and if wee beleeve and confesse in our Creed that He suffered according to the Scriptures and dyed and rose againe according to the Scriptures and that the Scriptures doe plainely testifie that by His sufferings and death the wrath of God against mans sinne is fully satisfied which as I said could not be but by His sufferings in His soule as well as in His body After these sufferings under Pontius Pilate what needes a second remembrance of His suffrings in soule under a title of a descent into hell Therefore when as I am bound to beleeve and confesse that the sufferings of Christ under Pontius Pilate were according to the Scriptures that is in soule and body I am bound to deny that the suffering of Christ in His soule is the native meaning of this Article He descended into hell 2. Beside the doctrine of Faith being a catechisme doctrine Heb. 6.1 and the sum thereof being for the use of children and novices it is not likely that the Church would have so generally received a creed wherin the thing to be beleeved should be laid down inwords that were tropicall and obscure when plaine and proper termes were necessary and at hand But hell cannot signifie the torments of hell but by a metonymia of the place for the adjunct of the place neither yet could it properly be said That our Saviour went down into hell when He was lifted up upon the Crosse where the especiall endurance and expression of His hellish torments were both in soule and body 2. Neither can it truely be said He descended into hell that is He suffered in soule the torments of hell but by a Synecdoche of the whole man for one part Neither were these torments of His soule more properly or truely called torments of hel then those torments of His body which we confesse He suffered under Pontius Pilate 3. Moreover after He was dead and buried it comes in unduly againe to make mention of His sufferings in soule a great part of which were endured in the garden before He came to the hands either of Pilate or of the Priests 4. And yet beyond all these reasons there is another argument that the Church did not interpret this Article by the sufferings of Christs Soule because as Gerrardus Vossius puts it De statu animae separatae Qu 1. It was the received opinion of the ancient Fathers even to this our time That the soules of the faithfull before Christ entred not into Paradise till Christ by His death had set it open and entred thereinto according to His promise to the thiefe on the Crosse And if all the soules of the faithfull were in hell taken in the second sence before mentioned though in a place of rest as Theophilus speakes and that by the comming of Christ thither they were brought to Paradise or a place of further joy then certainely this Article must in their iudgement be interpreted by the descent of Christ into hell after his death rather then by the sorrowes of His soule before it And to this purpose the learned Vossius brings some 20. Fathers from Tacianus the schollar of Iustin Martyr about the yeere of Christ 180. before whom He might have put His master Iustin as it is plaine in his Triphon Among those Fathers are Irenaeus Tertullian Origen Eusebius Athanasius Ambrose Ierom Epiphanius Chrysostom Augustin Cyril and beside them whom he reckons up he ads innumerable others and with them the sentence of the Councill of Toledo in the yeere 633. He descended into Hell that He might free them which were there detained Aug. Ep 99. writes thus If the reason be asked why our Saviour would come into hell where those sorrowes are of which He could not be held
a holy Catholike Church For it is impossible either that the promises of God should faile of their performance or that saith and other vertues should be without their reward For so the Spirit of grace which wrought these vertues in man should worke in vaine But this is impossible 5. This holy Catholike Church is declared in sundry places of the holy Scripture and in special according to all the causes thereof in the Epistle to the Ephes 4. chap. 1. from vers 2. to 15. And although Saint Paul in that place write to a particular Church yet is the Catholike Church no other than such as is there described no more then the Brittish or Spanish Seas are different from the great Ocean either in substance or qualities For there is but one body and one Spirit one Lord one faith one hope one baptisme one God and Father of all Ephe. 4.4 5 6. And as there is but one God so is there but one Mediator betweene God and man the Man Iesus Christ 1. Tim. 2.5 6. And this one Mediator is that one onely mysticall head of His mysticall body For there is no name given under heaven whereby wee must be saved but onely the name of Iesus Christ Act. 4.12 And as there is but one head so is there one onely body as it is said Cant. 6.9 My Dove my undefiled is but one and Iohn 10.16 There shall be one fold and one shepherd by which texts of the Holy Writ it is manifest that there is one holy Catholike hurch as wee doe beleeve § 3. And by this which hath beene said it may easily appeare what those differences are betweene this Catholike Church and other particular congregations whether in private houses or in Cities Countreys Kingdomes or Peoples which in Cant. 6. cited even now are signified by the Queenes Concubines and the innumerable Virgins which consent to the same points of faith and doctrine 1. The first and most common is this that in the Visible Churches Hypocrites and Atheists are found among the chosen and these are the tares among the wheate the bad fish among the good Matth. 13.48 But in this holy Catholike Church no vile or prophane person can bee as it is said Rev. 21.8 and 22.15 That without the holy Citie shall be doggs the fearfull and abominable the unbeleeving murderers whoremongers sorcerers idolaters and every one that loveth and maketh the lie 2. A second difference is in this that every particular Church is visible so that every member thereof may be fully informed of all things whatsoever is taught therein for trueth either concerning doctrine or discipline but the Catholike Church in the sence we here take it neither is nor ever was nor can bee visible but to the eye of faith alone as here we confesse in our Creed for faith is the proofe or argument of things not seene Hebr. 11.1 If then the Catholike Church be a thing to be seene then is it not to be beleeved if it be to be beleeved then must it needs be invisible 2. Beside this the universall or Catholike Church as Saint Paul describes it Ephes 13.15 is of the Saints in heaven as well as of them that are in earth yea and of them that are not yet borne as of either of these And although all the members of this Church during the time of their pilgrimage upon earth be visible or in a visible Church yet while they are here on earth we doe not beleeve them to be of that Catholike Church with that assurance of knowledge which a saving faith requires such a faith I meane as is due to an Article of our Creed but onely with that hope or credulity which Christian charity and their holy conuersation doth bind us to have of them 3. For as God only knoweth the heart so He only knoweth who are His and if He only know then cannot we and though we see them in a true particular Church yet doe we not thereby know that they are true members of the Catholike Church Object 1. If the true Church be not alwayes visible why doth our Lord send us to the Church Mat. 18.17 Answer That commandement of Christ shewes what is to bee done in particular visible Churches not in the invisible Catholike Church and this is to be obserued in such texts as are like to this which the Papists bring to proove the perpetuall visibility of the Catholike Church For if they could make that good they would hope thereby to proove the Church of Rome to be the Catholike Church But if the first were given the second would not follow For was there no Catholike Church before Romulus murthered his brother or where was the Catholike Church when Rome was yet the mother of all the abominations and filthinesse of the earth First in their worship of devills and after when their lives were answerable to their Religion as you reade in Saint Paul Rom. 1. and in their owne prophets Iuvenal Arbiter c. and againe since they have forsaken their faith once praised Rom. 1.8 and borne the former reward of their idolatry And if that Church be the Catholike Church out of which none can bee saved as they say what shall become of all those Christians in the whole world which detest the Church of Rome and all their idolatries and false doctrines as the Greekes and all that follow them the Nestorians Iacobites Ethiopians the reformed Churches in the West c. which for the number may seeme to be at the least five to one to the Papists notwithstanding their false pretended universality To the former differences betweene the Catholike Church and particular congregations you may adde a third that any particular Church may erre wholly both in manners and doctrine as I shewed in the Chap. before § 7. N. 2. but the Catholike Church cannot erre 4. Any particular Church may faile or cease to be but of the kingdome of Chriâ—t there shall be no end Therefore the Catholike Church cannot faile from whence it followeth 5. That the Catholike Church is of the greatest antiquity as having the beginning thereof in Adam and Eve for I enquire onely of the Church of the redeemed not of the Angels but particular Churches had their bâ—ginning afterward some at one time some at another as that of the Iewes in Abraham and his family that of the Ethiopians in the Eunuch c. 6. Concerning the succession of the Catholike Church there is none such â—s they account of Kings or Bishops in this or that See but becaâ—se Christs kingdome cannot faile therefore there is this succâ—ss â— That before these Saints that now live shall die others shall be borne that are the true members of the Church and thus is there still but one Catholike Church which unity containes all and every member thereof in one mysticall body whereof our Lord Christ is the Head Notes a I Withheld thee from sinning against Mee Against this and many such texts of
THE SACRED PHILOSOPHIE Of the HOLY SCRIPTURE Laid downe as Conclusions on the Articles of our Faith commonly called the Apostles Creed Proved by the Principles or rules taught and received in the light of understanding Written by ALEXANDER GIL Master of Pauls Schole Psal 116 v. 10. I have beleeved therefore have I spoken Imprinted at London by Anne Griffin for Ioyce Norton and Rich. Whitaker 1635 THE SACRED PHILOSOPHIE OF THE HOLY SCRIPTVRE Laid downe as Conclusions in the Articles of our Faith commonly called the Apostles Creed Proued by the Principles or Rules taught and receiued in the Light of Vnderstanding VVhereby it is made plaine to every one endued with Reason what the stedfastnesse of the Truth and Mercy of God toward Mankinde is concerning the attainment of everlasting happinesse And what is the glory and excellency of the Christian Religion over all heathenish idolatry all Turkish Iewish Athean and hereticall Infidelity Written by Alexander Gil Mr. of Pauls Schoole Psal 116. vers 10. I have beleeved therefore have I spoken LONDON Printed by Anne Griffin for Ioyce Norton and Richard Whitaker and are to bee sold at his shop in Pauls Church-yard at the signe of the Kings-Armes 1635. TO THE RIGHT VVORSHIPFVLL the Master VVardens and Assistants of the Honourable Câ—mâ—â—nie of MERâ—â—â—S in London my worthy friends and Patrons c. IT is now six and twentie yeares since by the great love and favour of the Company I had the government of that ancient and religious foundation of Pauls Schole committed to my trust and care In all which time untill Nature gave place unto extreme age and infirmitie if my abilitie assisted with industrie hath advanced those that were commended to my institution in manners and learning I desire that they may render and attribute the sole thankes unto you For by your courtesie and discreet liberalitie I was cherished and furthered not onely to doe you service in my selfe but likewise to give such education to my sonnes as hath made them fit in their qualities to performe the like dutie Now so it is worthie Gentlemen that Nature being not onely declined in me but almost quite worne out by reason of a sedentarie life much studie and continuall paynes I thought it fit before I goe hence in gratefull acknowledgment of the many and great obligations which your goodnesse hath from time to time fastned upon me ever since my entrance into your service to dedicate the best of my labours to your acceptance This is it which if it have the blessing to doe as doubtlesse it will in some measure any benefit to the Church and country wherein I live I shall likewise intreate them to conferre the thanks upon you by whom I was enabled to perfect a worke of so high and necessary an argument I shall not live to receive your thanks my selfe and therefore I beseech you to accept of them as the legacie of a dying man and with them the dedication of this worke Which as it was begun and finished under your roofe so I know none more fit to patronize the worke than your-selves who have been the Patrons of the author Thus in all humility I take leave committing you to God my surviving sonnes to the continuance of your love and care and this other chyld of my old age to your fostering a more living witnesse of your favours towards me and my thankefulnesse towards you Your much obliged Servant ALEX. GIL THE PREFACE to the Reader WHen in the yeere 1601 I gave out a little treatise concerning the Trinitie of persons in the Vnitie of the Deity for such reasons as appeare therein I made a conditionall promise of a further assertion of every Article of our Christian faith This promise of mine hath oftentimes since that beene exacted both by friends and strangers That treatise tryed the common fortune of all bookes some slighted it because it brought nothing but that which was common others condemned it as thinking it unfit that matiers of faith should be perswaded by reason They of the first sort were not onely mine acquaintance who might commend my Booke for affection to me but some strangers who for their liking of the booke became afterwards my friends And these encouraged me to the performance of my promise The second sort did not a little comfort me because I had in no sort troubled the peace of the Church The third sort have held me disheartned untill now for although I there shewed that even in matiers where faith is most required both our Lord and his Apostles perswaded by common reasons as also the Prophets before-time had done yet though I knew no reason of their dislike I did forbeare because I would not offend of ignorance But seeing the everlasting saving or losse o the soule is a thing which of all other concernes a man most to thinke of and that all sorts and sects of men which farre exceed us Christians in multitude See Brere woods enquirie of Religion Chap. 14. have hope of immortall life aswell as wee it concernes us not a little to seâ— wherein our advantage is and what assurance wee have more than they Now to let passe the false Religion of the Paynim idolaters in Lapland in Africa in the East and West Indies and that great continent of the South what is our preheminence over the Iewes Turkes and Heretickes of the former times of them that are and still will be untill the time that all things shall be restored The Iewes hold firmly as we the authoritie of the Old Testament and denie the New The Turkes also though they speake honourably of Christ as of more than a Prophet yet of the holy Scriptures which wee receive they make little reckoning and although they reade the Psalter Azoa 7 yet they set up their Alcoran as their Idole which they worship Doe not the fathers Tertullian contra Marcionem and Augustine de Haeres Cap. See also the epistle of Orig. cited by Iohn Picus Miran pag. 206. witnesse how the authoritie of Scriptures was â—based by the Heretickes some they rejected the rest they corrupted by false interpretations by adding and taking away what was for their purpose It seemes therefore that the authorities on all sides respectively being of like regard the maine advantage which we have is â—n reason as it shall hereafter appeare in every Article of our Faith And therefore they that denie us the use of reason in a matier of so great importance as our Religion is bereaue us of our chiefe advantage and as much as in them is turne us out of the fold of Christ to chuse at large what Religion we like best But if man were created in the image of God that hee might know and serve him as he ought and if common reason rightly guided be that image of God in us yet remaining as it is plaine because that image and wisdome of the Father is that light which lightens every man that comes into the
mouthes of all Hereticks are stopt hereby I meane not every difference in opinion to be an heresie no not in an Article of Faith but there is not any heresie in any maine point but by the strength of reason alone it may be overthrowne as it will hereafter at large appeare Besides when the Christian Religion is found to be so reasonable and to stand on such sure * Fundamenta ejus in montibus Sanctitatis i. Scriptura sacra et ratioris Psal 87.1 Foundations as that it only is able only worthy to binde the conscience of a reasonable man whereas all other religions or rather false worships although examined in themselves onely by their owne principles are found to be false and against common sense what triumph is this of a Christian over all Heathens and misbeleevers that will they nill they if they will bee men and stand to reason they must confesse that the Christian religion is onely true And seeing the world hath beene called to the marriage of the Kings Son Luc. 14.16 c. First by the voyce of nature declaring the wisdome and power of God in the creature and that they that were so called would not come because their mindes were set on earthly things Secondly by the Law but the Iew who sought righteousnesse by the Law would try what his five yoke of oxen that is his keeping of the Ceremoniall Law contained in the five bookes of Moses could doe and so would be excused Thirdly by the Gospell but the carnall Gospeller and false Christian could not come because he is marryed to pleasure and worldly lusts what remaines but that they who are yet strangers and walke in the broad wayes of sinne and the by-paths of their owne inventions should by reason that servant of God bee compelled to come in And seeing the time cannot bee farre off that all the nations of the earth are to bee called to the knowledge of Christ For great shall his name be from the rising of the Sunne to the going downe of the same Psal 103.3 What hinders that the truth of Christ bee taught according to common reason whereto every man doth listen For it cannot bee but that all Idolatry and false worship all heresies and dissentions about Religion must then cease when the truth is taught in the evidence of that Spirit whereby every man is guided For as God made man reasonable so doth hee command nothing to bee done which in true reason is not the best nor require any thing to bee beleeved which in true reason is not most true You will say is there no difference then betweene faith and reason yes very great For Reason is busied in the proofe of some generall conclusion which is to bee held for a truth and so received of every man but faith is the application of that conclusion to a mans owne selfe As if it be concluded that because Christ being so conceived and so borne had no sin and therefore he suffered not death for himselfe but to save them that should beleeve on him faith applies this generall conclusion thus but I doe beleeve and therefore I shall be saved Now this application is not made by reason but by the speciall instruction of the Spirit of God in the heart of the beleever although it were inferred upon such a conclusion as was proved by reason I have not endevoured herein to heap up arguments by numbers but by weight and therfore have I let passe all reasons from forrein autority and all that were but likely onely and of small importance neither have I brought any one but such as seemed to mee sufficient of it selfe to confirme the question The reasons here used are for the most part from the goodnesse power wisdome and other dignities of God because the questions are concerning the things of God and no arguments can be of greater force and more immediate then such as are drawne from the verie being or immediate properties of the things in question they are handled by necessities and impossibilities to shew that all things that are and are not stand for the truth of the promises of God to us that by all meanes wee might have strong hope and comfort in Christ And though I sometimes bring one argument for divers conclusions yet it is not therefore of lesse force no more than a good toole is of lesse worth because it serves for divers uses I have studied for plainenes as much as I may and therfore have I sometimes handled the same reason both affirmatively and negatively that he that cannot take it with one hand might hold it with the other for that purpose also are divers reasons brought though all satisfying as I thinke yet perhaps all of every one not equally understood but he that understands all may upon these grounds or the like bring many other to the same purpose and give glorie to that infinite mercy which hath so fortified this glorious truth which hee hath bound us to beleeve with such walles bulwarkes ravelings and counterscarpes of reason that all the power of hell all the batterye of Atheists Turkes Iewes and other adversaries shall never bee able to overcome it And because a little light is soone lost if dispersed as in the Starres called Nebulosae and those of endlesse number and distance in the milkie way I have proposed the reasons together in as short and few words as I can that the light of the reason may more easilie appeare For oftentimes while men desire to enlarge themselves the reason vanishes into words The autorities of the sacred Text I bring as need is that the Christian may see whence the Article of faith in question is taken and whereon it is grounded and that in the proofe thereof I bring no other doctrine than the holy Scripture doth teach Let no man carrie my words or meaning awry for although in this search of causes and reasons other conclusions offered themselves yet I held it not meet to propose any other things than the holy Church of old thought fit to be held as sufficient for the saving faith of Christians conteined in the Creed which is called the Apostles as being gathered from their writings and that according to that order as it is therein delivered yet with such prefaces and notes as the necessitie of the things did drive me unto leaving those other things to the higher speculation of them whom God shall vouchsafe to enlighten for their further progresse from faith to faith from knowledge to knowledge till all the holie Church come to bee partakers of those things new and old that are kept for her in store when she shall come unto the fulnesse of the measure of the age of Christ that is the perfect knowledge of all those things which our Lord in his time taught his Disciples who were not able then to beare them till they had received the light of the holy Spirit from above If any man learned bee
a forged one Cent. 3. cap. 10. They bring also reason for say they If the Divine and humâ—ne natures in Christ be united personally then it is necessary that where the one nature is there must also be the other But the two natures are so united Ergo. Answere The consequence of the proposition is not good where one of the natures is finite the other Infinite as Saint Augustine saith God and man are one Person and both together are one Christ every where as He is God but as He is man in heaven Ep'la ad Dardanum But this question is by many handled at large and if you desire further satisfaction See the Catechisme of Vrsinus a Booke I thinke common and the question is there briefly handled See Doctor Willet Synopsis Pap. Contr. 13. Part. 1. See also Bucan Inst Theol loc 48. quest 60. c. But in summe against these or any other heresies which may rise against the trueth of this Article take the authorities of the holy Scripture Psalm 24.7 c. Psal 47.5 and 68.18 The place and circumstances of His ascension are remembred Mark 16.18 Luke 24.50 Act. 1.9 Reade hereto Ephes 4.8 1 Tim. 3.16 Hebr. 4.14 and 9.24 And that the naturall property of Christs humane body being now glorified is not destroyed so that is may be every where as the God-head is take these authorities of the holy Scripture First it is said of Him after His resurrection Matth. Mark Luk. He is risen He is not here And Act. 1.10 While they looked up stedfastly as He went which must not be by disappearing but by leaving of one place and passage to another and againe vers 11. This IESVS which is taken from you into Heaven therefore not bodily with them still as He saith Iohn 16.7 It is expedient for you that I goe away for if I goe not away that Comforter will not come but if I depart I will send Him to you And therefore it is said Act. 3.21 That the Heavens must containe Him untill the time that all things bee restored And this is spoken of His body neither can it be true of His Deity and if His body be contained in heaven how can it become a piece of bread or in a piece of bread on earth You will say if Christ were last of all seene of Saint Paul 1. Cor. 15.8 how was Hee still contained in the heauens for His conversion was after the ascension I Answere Even as Saint Paul saw in a vision a man named Ananias comming unto Him whom otherwise he saw not till afterward Act. 9.12 and yet the sight by vision from God is a most certaine and true sight Or if it were so that He were indeed in His body taken up into the third heaven as he makes it questionable 2. Cor. 12.2 so might he see as he professeth of himselfe in your understanding CHAP. XXXI ⧠And sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty THe great antiquitie of this Creed appearing to be even from the time of the Apostles brought some writers into an opinion that the twelue Apostles before their departure from Ierusalem to preach unto the Gentiles gave out this forme of confession of the faith to bee acknowledged of every Convert before they might bee baptized and appointed that all interpretation of Scripture should be made according to the rule of it as they will understand that text in Rom. 12.16 And some will yet bee more particular herein that every Apostle brought in that Article which he thought fit to be beleeved Yea and for a need they will tell you which Article every Apostle made and so have of necessitie limitted the Articles to the number of twelve But the Scripture admits no other rule of Interpretation than it selfe And so I confesse that the Creed may be a rule in as much as it hath the foundation in the Holy Scripture As Saint Augustine saith lib. 3. de Symb. ad Catech. Chapter 1. Deus in ecclesia regulam c. God would have one perpetuall rule to be in the Church which should be simple briefe and such as every one might easily understand according to which the godly might examine all doctrine and interpretation of the Scripture to receive that which is agreeable thereunto and to refuse that which is contrary And although for your satisfaction therein I have followed the fashion for the number of Articles as you may see yet it cannot be denied but that if you take every several conclusion for an Article there are in all 17. or 18 at least fifteene severall Articles of which this of our Lords sitting at the right hand of God will be one although in that number of 12. it goe as a part of the Article before Hee ascended into heaven But this is not a thing of any great importance And therefore let us rather looke to the certainty thereof for that is necessary for us to know and beleeve But it may be demanded why in the Creed such a Metaphor should be used as might endanger younglings and novices to thinke with the Anthropomorphites that the invisible God is like to man with hands and bodily parts To which wee may answere that the Christians I speake not of wilfull hereticks were not so ill instructed but that they knew right well how to discerne betweene Christ and a Vine Iohn 15. betweene a figurative and a proper speech And therefore the Fathers in the Church the Author or Authors of this Creed having a jealous care of the trueth of God doubted not to propose it in the words of God Himselfe Therefore seeing this part of Christs glory is so prophesied to bee fulfilled Psal 110. cited Heb. 1.13 The Lord said unto my Lord sit at my right hand untill I make thine enemies thy foot-stoole it is so to be retained in the Article of our Creed And although it bee a borrowed speech yet seeing it is so taken into use by our Lord Himselfe and by the Pen-men of the New-Testament it is by all meanes most fit so to hold it For so our Lord speakes Matth. 26.64 and Luke 22.69 Hereafter shall you see the Sonne of man sit on the right hand of the Power of God So Col. 3.1 Christ sitteth above at the right hand of God So Hebr. 1.3 and 10.12 and 12.2 with many other Scriptures to the like purpose The word To sit signifies either to tarry or continue as in Luk. 22.49 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sit that is abide or stay in the Citie of Ierusalem or else it signifies to raigne as in Esay 16.5 The Throne shall be established and Hee shall sit upon it in trueth So the right hand of God signifies either power as Act. 2.33 Hee being by the right hand that is the power of God exalted or else it signifies happinesse and joy eternall as it is said Psal 16. and 11. verse At thy right hand are pleasures for evermore And although some Interpreters make the meaning
February which shall be in the yeere of our Lord 1645. is very weake and contrary to those prophesies of Scripture which teach us to expect the conuersion of the Iewes And with them the fulnesse of the Gentiles and that Sabbatisme or restitution of the creature which is so often promised both in the old and in the new Testament as it may hereafter appeare more at large Yet as by the Spring wee know the approach of Summer so hath He given us certaine signes that wee may lift up our heads and know that our redemption is nigh at hand For as it is a manifest signe that the destruction of that Nation is nigh when every man is oppressed one by another when the Boy shall behave Himselfe proudly against the Ancient the base against the honourable Esay 3.5 yea and bee upheld therein O times Into what corruption of manners are wee fallen So when all charity is put only in the maintenance of idlenesse and begging Gangrels being otherwise dead and cold when the apostasie is fully revealed and the man of sinne detected which exalteth Himselfe above all that is called God Moreover when by the working of the false apostles of that apostasie there is a daylie falling from the faith 2. Thes chap. 2. When that ill servant hath said in his heart My Lord delayes his comming and hath begun and so continues to smite his fellow-servants Matth. 24.28 29. what wants but onely that the Tribes of Israel should be gathered to the Church that all the wicked should bee put away like drosse Psal 119. verse 119. For the ungodly shall not stand in the judgement nor the sinners in the congregation of the righteous Other signes you may reade in the Holy Text and consider of them But that signe of the Son of man spoken of Matth. 24.30 is doubtfull Some thinke it shall be a crosse some a great light Lactantius Lib. 7. Cap. 19. thinkes it shall bee a sword which shall fall from heaven like the ancyle Ovid. Fast lib. 3. But Sibyl orac lib. 2. saith it shall be a glorious Starre in the likenesse of a Crowne except by an Enallage of number shee meanes a Crowne of Starres as the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sometime doth signifie a constellation Her Verses are these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A shining Starre like to a Crowne most sheen In the bright heaven of all men shal be seen For many dayes Next after the signes of our Lords comming to Iudgement you may reade the manner of His comming as it is delivered in the Scripture so farre as our understanding can conceive to bee with power and glory Mat. 24.31 euen the glory of the Father Mat. 16.27 and all the holy Angels with Him Matt. 25.31 In flaming fire rendring vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Iesus Christ 2. Thess 1.8 § 3. But that we dwell not on these things which are either beyond our understanding as the enquiry of the time which is therefore hid that it may stint our curious search or else so plaine that wee need not doubt let us goe forward to those questions which seeme to offer some doubt unto us 1. And first if Christ our Lord shall judge the world in righteousnesse Psalm 9.8 how is it said Matth. 19.28 That the Apostles shall sit upon twelue Thrones and judge the twelue tribes of Israel And againe 1 Cor. 6.2 Doe ye not know that the Saints shall judge the world and vers 3. Know ye not that we shall judge the Angels To which the answere is returned That the Apostles by their faith and doctrine shall take away all excuse from the Israelites and so judge and condemne them For this is their condemnation That they beleeved not in the Name of the onely begotten Sonne of God Iohn 3.18 So the Saints in generall shall judge the wicked by their faith and repentance whose example the wicked would not follow that they might be saved Moreover seeing the faithfull are the members of that mysticall body of which Christ is the head they in Him are said to judge the world that is the unbeleevers And seeing all the enemies of Christ are to bee brought before the Throne of Christ and His Church in as much as Christ shall judge the world and the wicked Angels in trueth and righteousnesse all the faithful shal subscribe to the judgement as most holy and just and so are rightly said to judge the Angels And as the holy Angels shall then rejoyce with joy unspeakeable for that glory and mercy which God shall vouchsafe unto His Saints So the Saints likewise shall give glory and thankes to God for that encrease of glory and happinesse which He shall give unto the holy Angels as the reward of their continuall watch and guard which they have held about us all the time of our pilgrimage upon earth and at the houre of death helping the soule out of the prison of the body and conducting it unto the place of joy But it is said Iohn 16.11 That the Prince of this world is judged already how then shall we judge the Angels Answer The devill is judged already 1. In the decree of God 2. By the word of God he is declared to be reserued in chaines of darknesse and that hell fire is prepared for him and his angels 3. By his owne knowledge of his owne estate 4. Because his torment is in part begun But in judgement there be two things First the enquiry of the fact then the award of the reward Neither the deeds of the good or bad angels shall bee enquired into at the judgement a as some have thought but the reward shall bee assigned unto them both and acknowledged to be most just by the Church as I said before and this is our judgement of them Neither yet shall the sencelesse creatures be exempted from this judgment in as much as The elements shall melt with heate and the earth with the workes thereof shall burne 2. Pet. 3.10 that they may be freed from that corruption to which they are subject for the sinne of man For when man sinned the whole bodily creature which was made for man was thereby subjected to vanity not of it owne will or any inclination which was therein in respect of any weakenesse of state wherein it was created For all was exceeding good Gen. 1.31 but that the justice of God against sinne might be manifest is it subjected to the curse Gen. 3.18 19. yet under hope that when man is freed from his sinne the creature also shall be restored unto that libertie from corruption wherein it was created Rom. 8.20 c. as it is said Rev. 21.1 and 5. Behold I create all things new See 1. Pet. 3.13 2. Another doubt may bee concerning the forme of the sentence whereby it may seeme that the merit of workes is justified For so is the
spoken of in that text of Iohn 16.14 is not of grace but by nature neither is it any other thing than this That as the Father from all eternity had decreed to reconcile the world unto Himselfe by the death of His Sonne and that the Sonne accordingly performed this in due time by His death upon the Crosse So the Father and the Sonne by that Holy Spirit which proceedeth from them both doth sanctifie the hearts of the elect and assure them that this reconciliation with all the fruits and effects thereof was for their eternall comfort and salvation For that peculiar manner of subsistence in the Divine nature which He taketh from the Father and the Sonne whereby it is most necessarily concluded that He is God is not heere spoken of 4. Objection The Holy-Ghost is no where called God in the Scripture Therefore He is a creature Answere 1. He is no where in the Scripture called a creature or mentioned among the creatures in Psal 148. or else-where Therefore He is God Answer 2. The proposition is false as it appeared by the texts cited out of Actes 5.3 4. and Matth. 28.19 where He is equalled with the Father and the Sonne and 2. Cor. 13.14 And Iohn 5.7 Moreover no sinne doth make a man lyable to an infinite punishment but that which is against an infinite being But the sinne against the Holy-Ghost shall not bee pardoned neither in this world nor yet in that which is to come Matth. 12.32 Therefore the Holy-Ghost is God Take hereto Actes 28. verse 25. and 27. with Rom. 11.8 and 1. Cor. 3.16 And as these texts of Scripture are sufficient to shew the falshood of this last objection So doe they manifest the vanitie of all the rest and confirme abundantly the trueth of this Article that the Holy-Ghost is God To bring the consent of Fathers and Councells to these Scriptures were as to encrease the light of the Sun by a burning candle yet because it was so plainely declared in the first generall Councell held at Nice by 318. Fathers in the yeere of Christ 325. you may remember it if you will In that Councell this Article was thus declared in that forme of confession which was framed by Hosius Bishop of Corduba As the Father and the Sonne so also the Holy-Ghost subsisteth with them of the same being of the same power of which they are And a little after Wee ought to confesse one God-head one being of the Father of the Sonne and of the Holy-Ghost not teaching any confusion or division of the Persons of the unspeakeable and blessed Trinitie But according to the integritie of that faith and doctrine which was heretofore delivered by the Lord Himselfe to His Apostles and hath beene sincerely taught to us by our holy Fathers who kept it pure and intire as they received it from the Apostles wee beleeve and confesse the undivideable Trinitie which cannot sufficiently either be conceived in the understanding or expressed in wordes that is the Father eternally and truely subsisting a true Father of a true Sonne and the Sonne eternally and truely subsisting a true Sonne of a true Father and the Holy-Ghost verily and eternally subsisting with them And wee are ever ready by the power of the Holy-Ghost to proove that this is the trueth by the manifold testimony of the holy Scripture Histor Gelasij Cyzic Act. Conc. Nic. lib. 2. cap. 12. This faith was approved of all but because the present businesse with Arius was especially about the Sonne For he held that the Son was not of the subsistence of the Father nor yet very God That they might meet fully with that errour they agreed to that forme wherein it is confessed that the Sonne is light of light very God of very God begotten not made being of one substance with the Father c. Thus having ended the controversie about the God-head of the Sonne they come to the question of the Holy-Ghost against whom Phaedon a Philosopher and patron of Arius his cause objected thus It is no where written in the Scripture that the Holy-Ghost is a Creator and therefore Hee is not God To which the Councell opposed that which is in Iob 33.4 The Spirit of God hath made mee and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life And that in Psal 33.6 By the word of the Lord were the heavens made and all the hosts of them by the Spirit of His mouth To which they added that of Saint Paul 1. Cor. 12. verse 4 5 6. where the Holy-Ghost is called both Lord and God And so concluded that all the three Persons that is the Father the Sonne and the Holy-Ghost were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 consubstantiall or of the same substance Lib. Cit. Cap. 25. Likewise when this heresie of Arius concerning the Holy-Ghost was againe revived by Macedonius the second generall Councell held at Constantinople in the yeere 381. condemned the heresies of all Arians Apollinarists and Macedonians confirmed the faith professed in the Nicene Creed and for further explanation of the trueth in this point to that clause Wee believe in the Holy-Ghost they added the Lord and giver of life who proceedeth from the Father who with the Father and the Sonne together is worshipped and glorified c. And this is sufficient for the declaration of the trueth in this point by the authority of generall Councells All the orthodox Fathers consent hereunto Among whom if you desire to bee further acquainted with the arguments and objections on both sides you may reade the writings of that most noble Champion of the trueth of the holy Trinitie Athanasius and in speciall that sermon of the humane nature taken by the Word the oration against the ging of Sabellius and the first and second Epistle to Serapion and his first dialogue against Macedonius with him Macedonianus See also Greg. Nyss vol. 2. pag. 439. edit Paris 1615. you may also if you will take these objections and their answeres brought by Epiphanius to this question Haer. 74. and with them those in Thomas Aquinas Contra gentes Liber 4. Cap. 16. and their answeres Cap. 23. Another errour against the being of the Holy-Ghost is that which they call of the later Greekes and yet is not onely of the Grecians themselves but of all those Nations and Peoples that are of the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Constantinople which if you leave out the Countreys of the poore Painims in the East and West Indies is far greater than the pretended universality of the Bishop of Rome both in Europe and in Asia See Brerew Enq. Chap. 15. and besides them the Melchites or Christians of Syria the Armenians and Maronites hold the same heresie All these though they confesse that the Holy-Ghost is God the third Person in the Trinitie yet they say that He proceedeth onely from the Father not from the Sonne But although they account this but a later errour among the Greekes perhaps because the stirres thereabout after the