Credere Deum or Credere Deo which a man may doe as a stander by and as onely a looker on though he make himselfe no party in the matter The true Beleeving in God indeed is Credere in Deum to interest our selves in him to depend wholly upon him to put all our trust and confidence in him to account him not onely our Oracle to Direct us but our Sanctuary to Protect us to make him not onely our Hope but our Assurance and both in life and death to say that to him which Christ said at his death In manus tuas Domine commendo spiritum meum Into thy hands O Lord I commend my spirit I therefore beleeve in God indeed but not in Gods and therefore not in Gods because there are no Gods to beleeve in For if there were more Gods then One there should be none at all seeing it is against the nature of God to bee more then One. Neither indeed will Time or Place allow any more For of Place it is true which God saith of himselfe Caelum Terram ego impleo Heaven and Earth I fill and if One God fill all places what roome can there be for any other And of Time it is true also that God is Primum Ens the First Being but there can be but One First and therefore but One God And as One multiplyed by One can never make any more then One so God being Unity it selfe can never be multiplied into a number but it is most true which the Jewes say of him Hu a'chad ue aein shenì He is One and there is not a Second and yet perhaps not true in their meaning For they may meane it of the Persons in the Deity of which here is both a Second and a Third and yet all Three but One God And if there were more Gods then One there could bee no Beliefe at least but distracted Beliefe and distraction is destruction to beliefe For if it be not Fixt and Intentive upon One and the same power still it may bee Opinion but it cannot be Beliefe But what is God or who is the Lord that I should beleeve in him For to Beleeve in God and not know what God is were to Beleeve in I know not what and were like to make but a blind Beliefe Is it then that there is something which is seene by being invisible which is known by being Incomprehensible and that my Soule is God Or is it there is something whose Center is every where and Circumference no where whose Power is Infinite and in whose hands are all the corners of the Earth and that my Soule is God Or is it there is something which cannot be said It was and yet hath alwaies been Nor cannot be said It wil be yet shal be for ever and that my Soule is God Or is it ther is somthing whose Being cannot be conceived and yet whose Being onely is conceivable which exceeds the Sun in brightnes yet is no quality the World in greatnes yet is no quantity and that My Soule is God But indeed God is He who brought the Ten great Plagues upon Pharaoh for presuming to aske this Question For who can be excused that takes not notice of his Being who is the Author of al Being Who can be excused that knows not who Hee is that onely is And therefore when Moses asked God his Name he answered I am that I am meaning that his Being was his Name For as a name is proper to the thing named so Being is proper only to God all other things rather seeme to be then are Or if they bee indeed yet it is but a Being which they have from him seeing in Him we all live and move and have our being And this I am of Moses is my I am too For it is true which God saith of himselfe Ego Deus non mutor I am God and there is none to change for me and therefore in Beleeving in this I am I am I am sure in a a right Beliefe which makes me to beginne my Creede with this I beleeve in God But thought the Beliefe no doubt be true Yet it is but a truth which Jewes and Turkes beleeve as well as we For they also Beleeve in God and in one God and shall a Christians Belief go no further then theirs Yes my Soule For I beleeve in God the Father the first Person in the Trinity and this no Jew nor Turke beleeves For they have alwaies stuck at One and could never bee gotten to come to Three when yet without knowing this Three that One can never be truely knowne Although to say the truth this Mystery of Three in One is a Truth not so much to be known as to be Beleeved For if it could be perfectly knowne It would not perhaps bee so fit for a Creede which consists in Believing as for some Art that consists in knowing But though I cannot perfectly know this Mystery yet I Beleeve it because I submit my understanding to Faith which though I cannot make to goe along with Beliefe as a Companion yet I make it to wait upon Beliefe as a Servant and this neither Jew nor Turke will be gotten to doe They like not to make their Understanding a Servant though they can be content to be servile themselves yet they will have their understanding to be Free and therefore what they comprehend not they beleeve not Foolish men that would bring downe Heaven to Earth and bound the profound Mysteries of God within the shallow lymits of their owne braines But what is meant by a Person in the Trinitie which is necessary to be known that when wee say there bee Three persons It may not bee thought we meane Three Gods Indeed humane Infirmity is apt to fall into such errour Wee must therefore know that a Person in the Trinity is a Name of Distinction but not of Diversitie It makes Alium Alium but not Aliud Aliud and it is an Appellation proper onely to the nature of the Deity and not to be found in any Creature whatsoever The Person of the Father is distinct from the Person of the Sonne and the Person of the Sonne from the Person of the Holy Ghost but Distinct in Relation not in Substance and all Three Persons are but One God And to make it plainer we may say that God considered as Begetting is the Person of the Father considered as Begotten is the Person of the Sonne and considered as proceeding from the Father and the Sonne is the Person of the Holy Ghost In these onely distinguished in all other points of Deity One The Father is not more God then the Sonne nor the Son then the Holy Ghost They are Three in Subsistence but one in Substance the Subsistence makes the Trinitie the Substance the Deitie an Ineffable Mystery which we may Beleeve but cannot Comprehend O my Soule how much â—re wee bound to God for revealing this Mystery of the Blessed Trinity
then also of us all seeing of his Kingdome as there shall be no End so neither is there any limitation but it is as Universall as Eternall But though Christ bee the Sonne of God by Generation concerning his Divinity yet not by generation concerning his Humanity but I Beleeve Conceived by the Holy Ghost He was conceived by the Holy Ghost Not that the Holy Ghost was his Father For the Father contributes matter to the being of a Sonne but the Holy Ghost contributes no matter to the being of Christ doth nothing to supplere vicem Patris but onely to be supplementum Matris Indeed a Conception which passeth our conceiving That if Mary doubted how this should be seeing she knew not man we as well may doubt it seeing we know not the manner nor ever can know it but the answer which the Angels gave to satisfie Mary must serve also to satisfie us The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the Power of the Highest shall overshadow thee And here now comes in the great Mystery of the Incarnation of the Sonne of God to the Jewes a Scandall and a stumbling Blocke to the Gentiles and yet the Mystery not more hard to Beleeve then necessary to be Beleeved indeed so necessary that there is properly no Antichristian but hee that denyes it as Saint John saith Who is the Antichrist but hee that denies Christ to be come in the flesh But why was it necessary that the Sonne of God should bee Incarnate Indeed for many great reasons For his being Incarnate makes him the more to commiserate our infirmities his being Incarnate brings our Flesh againe within the Verge of Sanctification but chiefly his being Incarnate makes him fit to be a Mediator betweene God and us makes him fit to bee a Sacrifice for our sins and if it were not for his being Incarnate we should never have Accesse to the Throne of God O blessed Iesus what Infinite benefits doe we receive by thy being Incarnate but what benefit dost thou receive by it thy selfe Alas onely to make a purchase of a number of ungratefull wretches who little consider what great things thou hast done for us little consider what great sufferings thou hast endured for us little consider thy Love thy Patience thy Humilitie in taking our Flesh upon thee when yet but for thy taking it upon thee our Flesh should never have come to Inherit Heaven But why was the Sonne Incarnate and not as well the Father or the Holy Ghost Indeede for just cause For it was not fit the Father should bee Incarnate because the Incarnation was to pacifie the Father Nor was it not fit the Holy Ghost should be Incarnate because the Incarnation was to be the worke of the Holy Ghost onely the Son was fit to bee Incarnate because it was congruous that being the Sonne in the Trinitie hee should also bee the Sonne of the Woman So to make us the Sonnes of God without remooving out of his Spheare of Sonne-ship at all And heere begins the difference betweene the Humane nature of Christ and Ours For wee are all of us conceived in sinne as David saith of himselfe That he was conceived in sinne and as David so wee all but Christ was conceived by the Holy Ghost and therefore without sinne And as all the passages of our time esteemed are like our Beginning Conceived in sinne Borne in sinne Living in sinne and Dying in sinne So all the passages of Christs time afterward are like his Beginning Conceived without sinne Borne without sinne Living without sinne and Dying without sinne by which it was wrought that though he tooke upon him our whole nature became in al things like to us yet sinne was excepted And that which was conceived by the Holy Ghost did not prove we may be sure a false conception but prospered and proceeded to a perfect Birth therfore as I Beleeve he was conceived by the Holy Ghost So I Beleeve Borne of the Virgine MARIE hee was Borne of the Virgin Mary Conceived altogether Supernaturally in her but borne for the most part Naturally of her was nourished in her Wombe lay nine moneths enclosed in her Wombe came forth of her Wombe after the course of Nature and yet Borne Supernaturally of her too Supernaturally as of a Virgine though naturally as of a Woman For he was Natus ex Virgine Borne of a Virgine So he was Factus ex muliere made of a Woman Not made in her but made of her was Flesh of her Flesh and Bone of her Bone as truly as Eve of Adams It may well bee said hee was Borne Supernaturally of her For who ever heard of such a thing before a Virgine to bee the mother of a Childe But though it were never heard off before that such a thing was Yet it was heard before that such a thing should bee For the Prophet Esay long before had foretold A Virgin shall be with Childe and shall bring forth a Sonne and what marvell if there never were such a Mother before when there never was such a Childe before For this is that Childe of whom it is said This day is borne to you a Saviour which is Christ the Lord and a Saviour of whom No lesse then of all mankinde and this no lesse strange then his Birth A child to be a Saviour of men and One Childe of all mankinde fully as strange as to be Borne of a Virgin Indeed strange Both or rather Wonderfull Both yet as strange or wonderfull as they Both are we Beleeve them Both though but One of them be delivered heere for an Article of our Creede It is Recorded of many that they were Sanctified in their Mothers Wombe as amongst others of Jeremy the Prophet but never Recorded of any that he was Conceived by the Holy Ghost but onely of Christ and between being Sanctified and being conceived by the Holy Ghost there is very great oddes For to be Sanctified is only to have a measure of Holinesse but to bee conceived by the Holy Ghost is to have the whole Substance made Holy To be sanctified is onely to have Grace infused in the Soule but to be conceived by the Holy Ghost is to have both Body and Soule bee altogether Grace it selfe But though Christ were conceived without sinne because conceived by the Holy Ghost yet how could hee bee borne without sinne being borne of a sinnefull woman For though Mary were a Virgin yet no doubt shee was a sinner For why else should she need a Saviour as shee saith her selfe My spirit rejoyceth in God my Saviour and could Christ take flesh of a sinner and not with that flesh take sinne But is it not that the Holy Ghost is the Sanctifier and could aswell sanctifie the Flesh it selfe as the motions of the Flesh and therefore make him as well borne without sinne as conceived without sinne sinne not being able to enter where the Holy Ghost keeps possession But why is there
in regard of the Sonnes being Incarnate and taking our nature upon him For this indeed brings in many points to bee beleeved whereof considered onely as the second person in the Trinity there should be no need So as the two Natures in Christ must needs give cause to have more spoken of him then of the holy Ghost that hath but one nature The Doctrine concerning the Holy Ghost hath in all Ages beene most obscure so much that in some Churches it was some time before it was beleeved at all or so much as knowne whether there were a Holy Ghost or no even in these present times the Greeke Church a Church of great extent differs thus from us that where we beleeve the Holy Ghost to proceede from the Father and the Son that Church beleeves the Holy Ghost to proceed from the Father by the Sonne a nice difference in so Incomprehensible a Mystery that there seemes no just cause to lay such Anathemaes as some doe upon that Church for so beleeving If wee should beleeve in the Father and in the Sonne and not beleeve in the Holy Ghost this beliefe would never be sanctified seeing the Holy Ghost onely is the Sanctifier and sanctifies none that beleeve not in him and the beliefe not being sanctified would never bee acceptable to the Father himselfe notwithstanding our beliefe in him And this perhaps was the cause why the Offering of Cain was not accepted because though a Sacrifice yet it wanted a devotion sanctified by the Holy Ghost There is a sinne which is properly called The sinne against the Holy Ghost and for them that commit this sinne we are forbidden to pray a grievous sinne no doubt which stops the current of Charity whose nature is wont to overflow al banks but what the sinne is and by what marks it may certainly be known though a Question much agitated is not yet so fully explicated but that it leaves scruples but whatsoever it is or may be we may be sure that the Not-beleeving in the Holy Ghost is one principall ingredient in it Or rather where a true beleeving in the Holy Ghost is this sinne properly can never bee committed And therefore in making profession of our Faith there is none of all the Articles in the whole Creed that seemes more necessary to be said then this For by saying this Article we make it appeare there can bee no danger in praying for us as not being likely to commit the sin against the Holy Ghost who beleeve in the Holy Ghost But why is it that sinnes committed against the Father or the Sonne shall bee forgiven but a sinne committed against the Holy Ghost shall never bee forgiven neither in this world nor in the world to come Is it not that if a sinne bee committed against the Father or the Sonne the Holy Ghost being the Sanctifier can sanctifie that sinne and make it pardonable but if a sinne bee committed against the Holy Ghost there is none to sanctifie it and not being sanctified it justly exceeds all bounds of Remission O therefore thou blessed God the Holy Ghost Vouchsafe to endue me with a Spirit of sanctification that what other sinnes soever I may happily unhappily commit yet I may never be so unhappy to commit this dreadfull sinne of sinning against thee When we read the order of the Persons in the Trinitie the Father placed first the Sonne second the Holy Ghost last wee must not conceive it as though there were any Priority betweene them in time who are all Go-eternall or any disparity betweene them in dignitie who are all Consubstantiall but that it is an expressing of Order onely to our capacities seeing although they be Three Persons yet they are all but One God All but One in Substance though Three in Subsistence The Incomprehensiblenesse of which Mysterie though it exceed our capacities yet not our Beliefe Or therefore the fitter for beliefe because it exceeds our capacities And now having professed our Beliefe in God the Father God the Sonne and God the Holy Ghost wee may justly conclude and say O Holy Blessed and glorious Trinity Three Persons and One God have mercy upon us miserable sinners And thus is finished the first part of our Creed In whom it is we Beleeve the other part remaines containing What it is we Beleeve For to know In whom to beleeve and not know what to beleeve were to stand at a gaze and bee to seeke when wee come to our lesson Indeede the things wee beleeve have dependance upon the Persons in whom we beleeve and such dependance as without beleeving in those wee cannot truely beleeve these If wee did not beleeve in the Holy Ghost we could not beleeve the Holy Catholike Church nor the Communion of Saints for these are benefits that come by the Holy Ghost And if we did not beleeve in the Son of God Christ Jesus we could not beleeve the Forgivenesse of sinnes nor the Resurrection of the body for these are benefits that accrue unto us by the Sonne of God Christ Jesus And if we did not beleeve in God the Father we could not beleeve the life Everlasting seeing by him onely it is that we live and have our present being and shall have our eternall being And the first Article of this kinde is this I beleeve the holy Catholike Church I beleeve the Holy Catholike Church I beleeve it in deed but not in it as I doe in God For this is a Priviledge due onely to him and besides if I should beleeve in it I should beleeve partly in my selfe as being a Member of it but I beleeve there is a Holy Catholike Church Holy as in which are the Elect of God and Catholike as in which are of all Nations under heaven and this is not the Church of the Jewes for that Church though at some time it were Holy yet it was never Catholike as being bounded within Canaan but now as the Holy Ghost hath made the Church Holy by sanctifying it so Christ hath made it Catholike by enlarging it for at his comming at least at his going away he broke downe the Partition wall by his last Warrant to the Apostles Goe teach all Nations Baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the Holy Ghost But though Christ set his Church at large yet not long after his time a Sect of Hereticks would needs restraine it againe For Donatus and his followers would perswade the world that as before the true Church was onely in Canaan so now the true Church was onely in Africa but by beleeving the Holy Catholike Church I now disclaime both these Churches the Church of the Jewes as not being Catholike and the Church of the Donatists as being neither Catholike nor Holy But what use is there of this Article May not a Christian man doe well enough and yet leave this Article out of his Creed Indeed there is not onely great use of it but even necessitie For
the first Gospell that was written of Christ was that of Saint Matthew which was not writteÌ„ til eight years after Christs death the other much later especially that of Saint John which was not written till thirty yeares after and therefore the Creede no doubt was delivered if not in forme as now it is at least in substance as now it is long before any Gospell was written And may it not bee further said that this Creed seemes to have been penned when Religion was first translated from Judaisme to Christianitie and therefore that there are no other Articles in it then such as are in opposition to the doctrine of the Jewes by introducing in their place the Christian beliefe For by the Article of beleeving in God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Ghost we utterly renounce the doctrine of the Jewes who acknowledge no Trinity of Persons in the Deity By beleeving the Incarnation of the Sonne of God Christ Jesus and his passion under Pontius Pilate we renounce the doctrine of the Jewes who teach that the true Messias is not yet come By beleeving the Holy Catholike Church wee renounce the opinion of the Jewes who thought that the Church of God was bounded onely within Canaan and that no Church could be holy but that of Israel By beleeving the Communion of Saints we renounce the doctrine of the Jewes by which a Jew indeed would take no usury for money of a Jew but to any of another Nation they would use oppression to the very grinding of their faces By beleeving the forgivenesse of sinnes we renounce the Pharisees Justification by workes and sticke onely to the Publicanes Justification by Faith O God be mercifull to me a sinner By beleeving the Resurrection of the Body we renounce the errour of the Sadduces whom Christ confuted by this argument Have ye not read that which was spoken to you by God saying I am the God of Abraham the God of Isaak and the God of Jakob God is not the God of the dead but of the living By beleeving the life everlasting we renounce the opinion of the Jewes who depended onely upon temporall benefits and the blessings of this life and as for the life to come were as carelesse of it as ignorant And now seeing all the Articles of this Creed are in opposition to the doctrin of the Jewes what marveile that in it there is no Article for beleeving the Scriptures wheÌ„ as concerning the Scriptures that were then there was no opposition beweene the Christians and them It may with more reason bee demanded why in these Articles of beliefe there is no mention made of the Sacraments seeing Baptism and the Lords Supper were ordained by Christ himself and are things so necessary to be beleeved But is it not that of Baptisme Christ said Goe teach all Nations Baptizing them in the name of the Father of the Sonne and of the holy Ghost and of the Eucharist he said Doe this in remembrance of me and so both these are things of Action which wee must not onely beleeve but doe and therefore fitter placed Inter agenda amongst the records of things to be done then Inter credenda amongst the Articles of things to be beleeved The Catholike Church is no sooner founded The Communion of Saints but the Communion of Saints followes presently upon it as was seene at the Pentecost after Châ—ists Ascending when the Holy Ghost descended upon the Apostles in cloven Tongues for then were present of all Nations under Heaven who it seemes made the representative body of the Catholike Church and then being all of one accord and having all things in common and distributing to every one as they had need they acted the Article we here beleeve If there were not a Communion of S t s the wicked should be more charitable then the godly for among the wicked there are leagues and confederacies and they hold together for the common good and oftentimes their lives are engaged for one another and if the wicked doe this the godly certainely will doe it much more and this makes me to beleeve assuredly The Communion of Saints But are there Saints then on earth Are not all men living sinners and can sinners be Saints Indeed not Saints by Canonization of men but by the Canonization of the Holy Spirit Not Saints in perfection but in Inchoation called Saints as Saint Paul saith because called to be Saints as having their Names written in the Booke of God in Heaven But we must here take heed of the Anabaptists Communion of Saints For by their Communion no man should have any thing in private but all should be in common and so none should be richer or poorer then another which would make Christs Praediction directly false where hee saith The poore yee shall have alwaies with you and would make all these exhortations voide Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorifie your Father which is in Heaven Charge them which are rich in this world that they be ready to give and glad to destribute Give Alme of thy goods and never turne thy face from any poore man But indeed this Communion is in part exprest by Saint Paul where he saith Doe good to all men but especially to those of the houshold of Faith For the being of one houshold implies plainely a common provision for al the house but implies withall a disparity of estates Indeede the first flowre that growes in the Garden of the Catholike Church is the Communion of Saints which as it begins in the Militant so it continues in the Triumphant Church Continues there when the other flowres are withered and gone For when Faith and Hope shall be no more yet Charity shall continue and not onely continue but be then most flourishing and if we did not beleeve the Communion of Saints wee could not truely say Our Father in the Lords Prayer for in saying Our Father wee professe this Communion But for the better understanding of this Article It may bee conceived that there are Saints on Earth and Saints in Heaven and this Article containes the Communion of them both both of the Saints on earth between themselves and of the Saints in Earth and Heaven with one another What though they bee farre distant and asunder Are not the feet so from the head are not the hands so from the heart Yet if there were not a relation and correspondencie betweene them neither the feet would bee able to move nor the hands to stirre and perhaps not the head in many things to doe his Office And this Communion consists either in Assistance or in Love but in Assistance for a time in Love for ever For as the Saints in Heaven assist us by praying that wee may so leade our lives in this life that we may come to bee admitted into their Societie in the next So we assist the Saints in Heaven by praying that the suite
remedy and so between the little knowing of sinne and the little acknowledging of sinne the beliefe of this Article is in no little danger to be very little only Faith stands in the breach and supplies all defects and it is the worke of Faith and indeed of a great Faith that can truly say I beleeve the forgivenesse of sinnes There have been Hereticks of old who held this opinion that no fins should be forgiven that were committed after Baptisme and they grounded their opinion upon the saying of Saint Paul If wee sinne wilfully after we have received knowledge of the truth there remaineth no more Sacrifice for sinnes and grounding themselves upon this Text they would neither Baptise others nor be Baptized themselves till in their old age making account that Age having repulsed in them inordinate desires they might safely then bee Baptized without feare of committing any wilfull sinnes afterward But would any man beleeve that men of common sense could ever fall into so grosse an errour especially having heard it said At what time soever a sinner repenteth him of his sinnes I will put all his wickednesse out of my remembrance saith the Lord. That we may see it is not time that prejudiceth Gods forgivenesse whether before Baptisme or after whether sooner or latter but come at any time and bring Repentance and God at no time will be wanting to Forgivenesse For as it is mercy in God which is the motive to us to Beleeve the forgivenesse of sinnes so it is Repentance in us that is the motive to God to Forgive us our sinnes But why is the Forgivenes of sins put here inter Credenda amongst things to be Beleeved and not rather inter Agenda amongst things to be done seeing to Remission of sinnes there belongs Repentance a thing to bee done and without Repentance no forgivenesse Is it not that forgivenesse of sinnes is an effect of Faith and therefore justly placed amongst things to be Beleeved and though Repentance be necessary to come in the Recre yet Faith must lead the Vant-gaurd and have the Preceedence For if Faith goe not before Repentance will not follow indeed cannot follow seeing without Faith It is impossible to please God And now my soule observe the great extent of this Article it keeps mee from sinning against the Holy Ghost whilst I beleeve the forgivenesse of sinnes by his inspiring it appeaseth the wrath of God the Father whilst I beleeve the forgivenesse in onely his mercy It glorifies his Sonne Christ Jesus whilst I beleeve Gods mercy through onely his Merits that seeing this Article is reguardant to all the Persons in the Trinity I may hope that by beleeving it all the Persons in the Trinity will be reguardant upon me and specially the Sonne For indeed this Article and the next that followes are two flowres I may say that grow upon the very Grave of Christ For as there is no Forgivenes of sinnes but onely by the vertue of his death so there is no Resurrection of the body but onely by the operation of his Rising from the Dead And thus farre wee are brought by this flower of Faith I beleeve the Forgivenes of sinnes The next is the flower of Hope The Resurrection of the Body by which wee Beleeve the Resurrection of the Body and it followes indeed very fitly for seeing the body dyed not at first but by reason of sinne what should hinder if sinne bee forgiven but that the bodie should rise againe and returne to life This indeed is a flower something hard of growing but 〈◊〉 growne sends forth a most 〈◊〉 savour and as of all the Articles in the Creed there is none more hard to be beleeved so once beleeved there is none that ministers greater comfort For what need I care though my body bee laid in the grave and bee turned to dust so long as I am sure and undoubtedly beleeve that hereafter it shall rise againe and bee in the same but a better state then now it is In the same for substance but in a better for quallities and endowments If there were no Resurrection of the body then neither the godly should have Reward in their Bodies nor the wicked Punished but seeing both the godly shall bee Rewarded in their Bodies and the wicked Punished therefore there shall bee a Resurrection of the Body This Article no doubt is hard to be beleeved For who would beleeve there should be Regressus a corruptione ad generationem a privatione ad habitum a going backe from Corruption to Generation from Privation to Habit a thing impossible in Nature and improbable in Reason yet this impossibility in Nature this improbality in Reason must be beleeved before wee can beleeve the Resurrection of the Body Who would beleeve that a Body consumed to dust and that dust scattered by the wind into a thousand places should ever be brought together againe to be the same body it was before who would believe that a Body devoured perhaps by wild beasts perhaps eaten by Fishes and by digestion become a part of those Beasts or Fishes should ever returne to be the Body of a man againe as it had beene before Indeed none would beleeve it that looked only upon the power of Nature as were ledde only with the light of Reason but when we looke upon a Power that is stronger then Nature and are led by a Light that is brighter then Reason what should hinder why we should not beleeve it Shall we not beleeve the Resurrection of the body because we know not by what wayes it shall bee raysed Is it not enough that we know the power of Gods wayes but that we must also know the waies of his Power Doe we know how the body at first is formed in the Mothers wombe and would we looke to know how it shall bee formed the second time in the wombe of the Earth Have wee professed by the first Article of our Creed that God is Almighty and will we not allow him to do the works of an Almighty Doe we beleeve that nothing is impossible for God to doe and yet thinke there is this thing which he cannot doe Looke upon the Corne when it is cast into the earth and after a few daies you shall see it to bee nothing but as a kind of corruption and yet of that corruption doth God make the same Corne to spring up againe and to bee as flourishing as it had beene before and if God doe this in the Corne shall hee not as well doe it in our bodies But it is not perhaps that wee doubt of his Power but of his Will seeing his Will is not alwaies to doe all hee can And can we doubt of his Will his Will so often revealed to us in his Word so firmely assured to us by his Word This is the Fathers Will which hath sent me that of all which he hath given mee I should loose nothing but should raise it up againe at the
the innumerable number of persons that must make their appearance there scarse the whole earth would be roome enough to make a Sessions-house for such a company unlesse perhaps by the like miracle as is said to have beene usuall in the Jewish Synagogue that when the people kneeled downe there was roome enough in the Temple to hold them all but when they stood up they were fain many of them to goe out of the Temple for want of roome when yet kneeling downe must needs take up more roome then standing up But though we know not either at what time or to what place hee shall come yet we beleeve to what purpose hee shall come For hee shall come to judge the quicke and the dead The quick those whom hee shall finde alive at his comming and the dead those who dyed before his comming Or the quicke those that are alive in grace and the dead them that are dead in sin But not to judge the dead while they are dead for so they should not bee able to answer for themselves which cannot stand with the justice of so righteous a Judge but at his comming at the sound of a Trumpet The Sea and the Earth shall give up their dead and they shall all arise and stand at his Tribunall to receive their sentence of pardon or condemnation according to their works And oh how terrible will that day be For if the day were terrible in which the Law was given so terrible that Mount Sinai was all of a smoake how terrible will that day bee in which the transgressors of the Law shall all be brought to receiue their Triall If the day were terrible which was a day of grace how terrible will the day be which shall be a day of punishment O my soule let the remembrance of this Article be never out of thy minde and if at any time thou find in thy selfe either suggestions of Satan or motions to sinne then thinke upon this Article and when thou thinkest upon it beleeve it and be most assured that there shall most certainly bee a day of judgement in which all thoughts of the heart though never brought forth in words shall bee discovered all actions of life though never so secretly done shall all be laid open and judgement shall be given upon them all without favour or partialitie And let us not flatter our selves in security because he who is now our Advocate shall be then our Judge but rather consider that though hee be now a Lambe he will then be found to be a Lyon Demonstravit potentiam qui demonstravit patientiam and let us prepare our selves against that day in feare and trembling and let us send up strong cries to him that as the good Thiefe obtained to be remembred of him when he came into his kingdome so wee may obtaine of him to be remembred in mercy when he comes to judgement Before wee leave this Article there is one observation which may not be omitted that this Article is of a different making from all the rest all the other might bee made by Apostles but this seemes rather to bee made by a Prophet For our beliefe in it is Propheticall and tells what Christ will doe in time to come Indeed none of the Articles concerning Christ are in the Future tense but onely this as none of them is in the Present tense but onely the next before He fitteth at the right hand of his Father all the other Articles are in the Preter perfect tense and speake of the time past even from his conception to his ascending into Heaven in the Preterperfect tense all but once ascended into Heaven where all time is Present no more Preterperfect tense then no more mention of time past and therefore our Article turnes Present too He sitteth at the right hand of his Father and there should sit and enjoy his Present tense and time for ever if it were not for us but as once before for our sakes hee left Heaven and came downe to redeeme us so once againe for our sakes hee will leave Heaven and come downe to judge us For without judging he could not come to rewarding No comming to Venite benedicti Patris Come yee blessed of my Father untill hee have judged first and without comming to this Venite all that went before would come to nothing And therefore all the benefit of these Preterperfect tenses consists in this Future all the harvest I may say of the other Articles is reaped in this last that Christ shall come to judge the quick and the dead O therefore my soule be carefull to lead thy life so in this present world that thou maist not bee afraid of his comming to judgement because of Ite maledicti in ignem aeternum Goe yee cursed into everlasting fire but maist rather rejoyce at his comming because of Venite benedicti Patris Come yee blessed of my Father For as that Ite will pay them home for all the pleasures of a wicked life So this Venite will make amends for all the pressures of a wretched life and indeed without the benefit of this Venite all the delights and pleasures the world can afford will prove but as Naboths Vineyard to Ahab Corosives in the end And now having beleeved in the first and second Person of the Trinity I beleeve in the Holy Ghost the Father and the Son if wee should not beleeve in the third Person the Holy Ghost wee should doe him great wrong and our selves more seeing it hath been through him and by his assistance that we have beleeved in thē For as it is true that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son so it is true that beleeving in the Father the Son proceeds from the Holy Ghost For beleeving being a work of Faith and Faith a worke of Sanctification and Sanctification a worke of onely the Holy Ghost how should wee come to beleeving but by the Holy Ghost And it is indeed for this that he hath his Name to be called the Holy Ghost or Spirit Not but that the Father and the Sonne are both Holy and Spirits as well as he but because it is properly Hee that inspires our mindes with all good thoughts and holy desires And now my soule while I beleeve in the Father as the author of my Creation and in the Sonne as the author of my Redemption and in the Holy Ghost as the author of my Regeneration that all the Persons in the Deity may have their severall operations in me and bestow their severall gifts upon me will there not be cause of my thankefulnesse to every one of them and of returning to every one of them all praise and glory who are all of them but one But why is there so much spoken of Christ and so little of the Holy Ghost being a Person in the Trinity as well as hee Is it not that there is more spoken of the Sonne then of the Holy Ghost
make us beleeve in Christ The next two Articles of Christs Conception and his Birth are declared by the Angell to Joseph Feare not Joseph to take Mary thy wife for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost and she shall bring forth a Sonne and thou shalt call his Name jesus Then the next Article of Christs suffering under Pontius Pilate is sufficiently testified in Pontius Pilate who gave sentence to have Barrabas released and Christ to be scourged and then his being Crucified Dead and Buryed are for more surety recorded with their circumstances That he was Crucified betweene two Theeves and when his Legges should have beene broken he was found to bee Dead before and then was Buried and laid in a Sepulchre where never man had been laid before by Joseph of Arimathea as all the Evangelists testifie But now the Article of Christs Descending into Hell makes us at a stand For none of all the Evangelists bring Christ any further then his Grave there they leave him and say not a word more of him till his Rising from the Dead that for any thing appeares yet this Article is like to be lost for want of a Testimoniall It may seeme indeed strange that this Article should be in the Creed and not bâ— found in the Gospel seeing thâ— Gospell seemes to bee the ground from which the Creed is taken Bâ—â— is it not that the ground of ouâ— Creed is not onely the Gospell buâ— all the whole Scripture For thâ— Gospell seemes to deliver no morâ— of Christ then what was visible and done in his body and least wee should bee doubtfull what became of his Soule when his body was dead therefore this Article Hee descended into Hell is added For wee may observe that in these Articles concerning Christ this word Hee personates three Estates as when it is said Hee was Crucified Dead and Buried here the Word Hee Intends but onely his Body as when it is said Hee Descended into Hell heere Hee intends but only his Soule and when it is said He rose againe from the Dead heere the word Hee intends both his Body and Soule together and so continues in all the Articles following He ascended into Heaven He sitteth at the right hand of his Father He shall come to Iudge the Quick and the Dead still the Word Hee intends both his Body and Soule together From whence wee may gather how it is like to be with us also that though our soules and bodies be parted for a time yet when in the Resurrection they once meet againe they shall never afterward be parted any more But though this Article seeme to have no ground in the Evangelists yet in the Apostles and Prophets it hath at lest the Prophet David long before had said in the person of Christ Thou wilt not leave my soule in Hell by which it appeares that his soule was in Hell and theâ— what time so fit for the being thereâ— as while his Body was lying in the Grave and Saint Paul also seeme to say as much where hee saithâ— He Descended into the lowest parts of the Earth which must needes bee certainely a lower place then the Grave And so between the Prophet David and the Apostle Saint Paul we shall be able to make this Article a good Testimoniall having from the one the Place from the other the Motion David naming Hell and Saint Paul descending After the stop of this Article wee come againe into the Roade For the Article of Christs Rising from the Dead hath not onely the Voyces of all the Evangelists but it hath a clowde of Witnesses besides Saint Paul affirming that more then five hundred brethren at once saw him being Risen from the dead Then he next Articles whether two or one of his Ascending into heaven and sitting at the Right hand of God are in such manner testified by Saint Marke that the words of the Creed are but the very Transcript of his Text. Then the Article of Christs comming to Iudge the Quick and the Dead is Proclaimed as from Christ himselfe that it is Hee which was ordained of God to be Judge both of quicke and dead And then the Article of Beleeving in the Holy Ghost is made good by Christs last charge to his Apostles Goe teach all Nations Baptizing them in the name of the Father of the Son and of the Holy Ghost and in whose Name wee are Baptized in Him certainly we have just cause to beleeve But then the Article of beleeving the Holy Catholique Church makes us at a stand againe Foâ— what place of Holy Scripture caâ— bee brought for a Testimony oâ— Beleeving the Catholick Church wheâ— not so much as the word Catholickâ— is to be found in any place of Holy Scripture For though some Epistles of some Apostles be Inscribed Catholicke yet Inscription of Epistles is no part of the Scripture no more then part of the Epistles But is it not that though the word Catholicke be not directly exprest yet it may be directly inferr'd seeing many places of Scripture binde us to Beleeve the Church but no particular Church and therefore the Catholicke or Universall Church Then the Article of the Communion of Saints Is it not fully exprest by Saint Paul where hee saith There is one Body and one Spirit one Lord one Faith one Baptisme one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in us all Then for the Article of Remission of sinnes We have as many Testimonies of Scripture as there are words but it may bee Testimoniall enough which Saint Iohn giveth where he saith The bloud of Jesus Christ clenseth us from all our sinnes Then the Article of the Resurrection of the Body though it might passe under the Article of Christs Resurrection without any other Testimony For if Christ be risen from the Dead we also shall rise from the Dead Yet it hath a Testimony by it self where it is said God that raised up Christ from the Dead shall also quicken our mortall Bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in us And lastly the Article of Everlasting Life is Testified by Saint John as it were in Red Letters where hee saith God so loveâ— the World that hee gave his onely bâ—gotten Sonne that whosoever beleeveâ— in him should not perish but have liâ—â— Everlasting And now having shewed that aâ— the Articles are contained in thâ— Scripture It remaines to shewâ— what it is they containe I Where first it may be demanded that as in saying the Lordâ— Prayer we say Our Father taking others along with us and not going our selves alone So in saying the Creede why we doe not as well say Wee Beleeve that so wee may not goe alone but take others along with us Is it not that Beliefe is Personall but Prayer belongs to the Communion of Saints Prayer proceeds from Charity and therefore is Communicative but Beliefe proceeds from Faith and â—erefore is reserved Another may â—ray for mee but another
yet in some respects they are sometimes appropriated more to One then to another heere therefore in speaking of Heaven and Earth the Originall of Creatures the making them is justly attributed to God the Father the originall Creator for otherwise it is so true that they all had a hand in making them that it is said of the Holy Ghost also that Spiritus Dei Incubabat the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters and what was this but a Fomenting the worke of the Father and the Sonne by the Bond of Concord the proper worke of the Holy Ghost From hence we may learne that the World hath not been from Everlasting For if God be Maker of Heaven and Earth then Heaven and Earth were made and if made then made in time and if made in time then there was a time when they were not made But how could this bee seeing there was no time till they were made But yet there was a space of Duration and that space had beene from Everlasting and being from Everlasting how could it ever come to have an ende and an End it must have before Time could come to have a Beginning O my Soule These are no Thoughts for thee thy wings are too weake to fly so high a pitch Thy Plummets are too short to sound so great a depth It may bee sufficient for thee to know that although God made not the World from Everlasting yet hee made it then when from Everlasting hee had Decreed to make it but how hee brought Time out of Eternity is a mystery thou shalt never attaine to know till thou come thy selfe to attaine Eternity Thus farre wee are brought by Beleeving in God the Father And in his onely Sonne Jesus Christ our Lord. but seeing Father is a Relative and every Relative imples a Correlative and the Correlative to Father is Sonne this brings my Beliefe a degree further to Beleeve in his onely Sonne Jesus Christ our Lord Not his Sonne by Adoption as we are nor his Son by Creation and Grace as Angels are but his Sonne by Generation as onely himselfe is and such a Sonne as the Father Proclaimes to be His and tels the day when he begot him Hodie genui te This day have I begotten thee But what day was this day Not such a day as our dayes are which follow one after another but a day in which there is nothing Before nor after but the Past and the Present are both at once the Past in Genui the Present in Hodie indeed a day Not of Time but of Eternity which makes him Co-eternall with his Father One good degree of Equality And as the day of his Begetting is not like ours So neither is the manner of his Begetting like ours For where our Begetting is a Third from Two his Begetting is a Second from One and therefore must needs bee of One substance Both and this makes him Consubstantiall with the Father another good degree of Equality which kind of Begetting though it exceede our capacity yet it exceeds not our Beliefe and therefore though our Inquisitive Thoughts would faine bee making further Querees about it yet Faith makes us contented to take this for an Answer Generationem ejus quis enarrabit Who shall declare his Generation If then the day of his Begetting make him Co-eternall with the Father and the manner of his Begetting make him Consubstantiall with the Father have we not as good ground for our Believing in him as in the Father And though it may be thought no Power is left for the Sonne the Father being Almighty yet all Power is given to the Sonne both in Heaven and Earth for though the Father bee Almighty yet Almighty but as God and therefore Almighty as due to the Sonne who is God with the Father and as just cause wee have to say to the Sonne as to the Father Wee praise thee O God wee knowledge thee to bee the Lord. But how can the Sonne that is begotten be Co-eternall with the Father who Begets Seeing that which Begets is alwaies before that which is Begotten But is not this a fallacie They being Relatives Seeing nothing can Beget but there must bee something Begotten there cannot bee a Father till there bee a Sonne and therefore if the Father bee from Everlasting the Sonne also is from Everlasting and so are Co-eternall But though the Sonne may bee Co-eternall with the Father yet how can he be Consubstantiall with the Father Seeing the Substance of every thing is proper to it selfe and cannot bee communicated to another This indeed were true if the Father and the Sonne were Aliud Aliud and not onely Alius Alius but now being Both One God and onely Two Persons Seeing the difference of Persons makes no difference of Substance they remaine of One Substance Both and so are Consubstantiall Thus farre reacheth our Beliefe in the Divinity of the Son but seeing we beleeve him to be both perfect God and perfect Man this leades our Beliefe a degree further To Beleeve in Jesus Christ our Lord Termes belonging to his Humanity Jesus a Name given him by an Angel when hee was yet in his Mothers womb Because hee should save his people from their sinnes Christ a Name given him from his Office As being a Priest after the Order of Melchisedech annointed with the oyle of gladnesse above his fellowes Lord a Name given him from his Dominion For of his Kingdome there shall be no end O Blessed Son of God Let mee enjoy the benefit of thy Name Jesus that I may bee saved from my sinnes Let me enjoy the benefit of thy Name Christ that I may bee partaker of the oyle of gladnesse with which thou wert Annointed Let me enjoy the benefit of thy being my Lord that being thy Servant I may have thy Protection and Thou my Obedience But how happens it that having said in the beginning of my Creede I Beleeve I now come to say Our Lord and so where I went single out am now suddenly fallen into company It is true indeed I sayd I Beleeve when I spake but as regarding my owne person but now that I speake as regarding the Communion of Saints I say Our Lord. For though Saint Thomas said My God and my Lord as though hee would claime CHRIST wholly to himselfe yet that seemes spoken but in passion and to make amends for his former doubting But now that I speak deliberatly I can say no lesse then Our Lord seeing as Christ is a Saviour not of me onely but of all mankinde so he is the Lord not of me onely but of all that serve him and thus Christ is that Lord in whom is expounded the Riddle of David The Lord said unto my Lord For if hee be Davids Lord how is hee his Sonne and if he bee his Sonne how is he his Lord Indeed Both his Son as concerning the Flesh but his Lord concerning Divine Generation and if Davids Lord
seeing there is no salvation out of the Catholike Church what assurance could I have of my salvation if I did not beleeve that there is a Catholike Church How can I beleeve my selfe to be a member of that Body which I doe not beleeve to bee For this Holy Catholike Church is the number of all those whō God hath Predestinated and Elected and though the Catholike Church may have in it errours and perhaps Heresies yet the Holy Catholike Church can have none in it but Orthodoxe and true beleevers For it is as the Arke of Noah to save all that beleeve the comming of the Flood but unbeleevers are all excluded from entring into it It is as the Corporation of the Citizens of the New Hierusalem in which whose names are not Enrolled and none are Enrolled that beleeve not they can bee no partakers of the Heavenly Priviledges of which Salvation is the chiefest If there were not a Holy Cathotholike Church then Christ should be a Shepherd without a Flocke then God the Father should bee a King without a People then the Holy Ghost should bee a guide and have none to lead but the Two first of these are assured us by Christ where he saith Feare not little Flock For it is your Fathers pleasure to give you a kingdome and the last where hee saith Hee will send the Holy Spirit to lead them into all truth Therefore there is an Holy Catholike Church which he that beleeves not is not of it and not being of it can have no hope of salvation by it To be Holy and Catholike are indeed the proper Caracters of a Christian Church the first representation whereof was then when at Pentecost there met at Hierusalem of all Nations under heaven Parthyans and Medes and Elamites and the dwellers in Mesopotamia and Judea in Cappadocia Pontus and Asia Phrygia and Pamphylia in Aegypt and in the parts of Lybia and sirangers of Rome Jewes and Proselites Creetes and Arabians For here was no bounding within Canaan no bounding within Africa but the Church was made apparent by plurality of Nations to bee Catholike and by visible graces to be Holy This Church therefore I beleeve to be holy yet not holy in perfection but tending to perfection and justly called holy for its Inchoation and I beleeve it to bee Catholike but Catholike in doctrine not in discipline and therefore the rule of it as concerning doctrine is this Quod ab omnibus Quod ubique Quod semper For if it be not ab Omnibus It is not Catholike in Persons if not Vbique not Catholike in place if not Semper not Catholike in time and all these must concurre to make the Church be Catholik in Doctrin In Discipline not so for there neither ab omnibus nor ubique nor semper is required but it may be various and diverse according to the diversity of Time and Place and yet in doctrine bee the Catholike Church For Discipline is but onely Ecclesiasticall where Doctrine is divine This Article bindes my beliefe to no particular Church as it is a particular but as it is a Member of the Catholike For take it by it selfe without considering it as a Member of the Catholike Church and it is not so properly a Church as a Conventicle which though I cannot deny but it may be Holy at least in a Morall holinesse yet I can deny that I am bound to beleeve it to be holy because I am bound to beleeve no true holinesse to bee out of the Catholike Church This Catholike Church is a Schoole of instruction to teach us as much as we are bound to know and a Rule of direction to informe us as much as wee are bound to beleeve if it were but onely what Saint Thomas saith this might make us doubt of Christs resurrection or if it were but onely what Saint Peter saith this might make us incline to comply with the Jewes but when it is that which all the Apostles with one consent say this is the voice of the Catholike Church and can never make us to goe astray And therfore to this Church I submit all my faculties both my understanding to her decrees and my will to her counsels and make account that if I know any thing and not of her instruction it will prove but falsehood if doe any thing and not by her direction it will prove but folly For this that Spouse of Christ of which it is said Thou art all faire and there is no spot in thee Oh then let not me beginne to make any spot in the face of thy Spouse O Lord but so purge me with Hysope that though I be not pure yet I may bee cleane at least not so foule to defile others nor deserve with Miriam to be put out of the campe of thy Militant Church but may come to thy Triumphant As therefore this Article is the first of all we have to beleeve so let it have the honor that is due to the first and have the highest place in our beliefe For indeed all the Articles that follow are but as flowres that grow in the garden of this Catholike Church The Communion of Saints as the flowre of Charitie The forgivenesse of sinnes as the flowre of Faith The resurrection of the body as the flowre of Hope and the life everlasting as the flowre of reward if I may not rather say as the whole nosegay of all the other flowres together seeing in this they have all their smels united into one fragrant odour Charity raised to perfection Faith turned into love and Hope into enjoying But what should be the cause why amongst these Articles that are to be beleeved there is no mention at all made of the Scriptures For seeing we are commanded to search the Scriptures No doubt it is required wee should beleeve the Scriptures and if we should beleeve them why are they left out in the Article of our beliefe Is it not that these were Articles of Beliefe for a Christian man before any Gospell of Christ was written and how then could they have any place in the Creed when they had not as yet any being in the world For the life and doctrine of Christ was published by word before it was recorded by writing and the Apostles preached it before the Evangelists writ it and this Creede being a Breviate and summe of that which was preached who can tell but it may bee more antient then that which is written at least being the substance of them both what more is it to beleeve the Scripture then the Creed And then what neede is there to have them named when they are exprest And as for the words of Christ Scrutamini Scripturas Search the Scriptures or yee search the Scriptures if we extend them no further then Christ spake them we may be farre enough off from beleeving the Gospel For Christ spake then but of the Olde Testament and not of the New which at that time was none For
last day And in another place This is the Will of him that sent mee that every one that seeth the Sonne and beleeveth on him may have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day And now if we be satisfied of his Will shall we fall back againe into a relapse of doubting his Power But alas is it any hard matter for God to make the same body again which hee had made once before Or is it harder for him to make a Body the same it was before then it was to make it at first when it was not at all Is it not easier for God to make a Body out of something then it was at first to make it out of nothing Is it any hard matter for God to reduce all Bodies to their first Elements and then to mixe and compound them againe as he did at first When our Bodies were first made they were made but of dust and when they are dead they shall but be turned into dust and cannot God take the same dust to make the same body againe as well now as hee did then What though it bee scattered about in a thousand places is distance of place any thing to God who is equally in all places at once Is it hard for God to know which is the proper dust of every particular Body and to give to every one their own dust whose knowledge extends to count the just number of the sand and to call all the stars of Heaven by their names Is there any dust upon the Earth any mote in the Sun which God hath not made And if hee have made them all by his power shall he not dispose of them all at his pleasure If by onely saying Congregentur Aquae God made the great Ocean which we cannot look upon without wonder Can he not as well by onely saying Congregetur Pulvis make the dust of all Bodies come together again that every Body may be the very same Bodie it was before Say a Body be devoured of Beasts be eaten of Fishes so as by digestion it become a part of their Bodies say it suffer never so many alterations yet all those alterations shall be resolved at last into the same dust it was at first and cannot God of the same dust make the same Body againe as well now as he did before God of nothing made the dust of the Earth and of that dust the Body of man and though the dust which was made of nothing shall returne againe to nothing yet the Body of man that was made of dust shall never returne to lesse then dust and to so little should never have returned neither if God for mans transgression had not denounced against him Pulvis es in pulverem reverteris If then Gods saying Dust thou art and to dust thou shalt returne have been the cause of the Bodies returning to dust why shall not his saying A Body thou art and a Body thou shalt rise againe be as well a cause of the Resurrection of the body And now if we be satisfied of his power shall wee fall back againe into a relapse of doubting his Will But why did God make the Body of man of dust where he made the bodies of Beasts of nothing but because the bodies of Beasts shall returne againe to nothing where the Body of man shall never returne but into dust that out of that dust it may rise againe to be the same Body it was before Why did God make the Body of man himselfe where he commanded the Earth to bring forth the Bodies of other Creatures but because he meant it a further preservation then hee meant other creatures and what further preservation if the body did not rise againe And if now againe we bee satisfied of his Will shall wee fall backe into another relapse of doubting his power Cannot God doe as much upon a sudden as Nature can doe with Time Though Nature must have nine Moneths lying in the Mothers wombe before it can make a mans Body perfit yet God made Adam a perfect Body in an Instant and could he transcend Nature then and can he not now Is he growne to bee as impotent as Nature able to doe no more then what naturally may be done What though the world doubt it and Sadducees deny it shall we rather assent to them then say with Job Though wormes destroy this Body yet I shall see God in my Flesh And if see God in his Flesh then must his Body rise againe that hee may have Eyes to see him And as these be some reasons of many to shew that the Resurrection of the body may be So there are other reasons as strong to shew that it shall and must be When Moses met Christ on the Mount how came hee by his Body againe which had beene dead and buried many hundred yeares before How came those men by their bodies againe who having beene dead and buried arose at the time of Christs rising and appeared unto many in the Holy Citie When Christ at the last day shall say Venite Benedicti Patris Come yee Blessed of my Father hee shal not say it to the soule alone nor to the body alone but to the whole man and if to the whole man then must the body bee joyned to the soule againe that it may be a whole man but no such conjunction if no Resurrection of the Body Is not Christ our head and we his members and if hee Ascended up to Heaven in body and soule must not we that are his members doe the like But no such Ascension if no Resurrection of the body Hath not Christ promised That wee shall sit with him at his Table and eate and drinke with him in his Fathers Kingdome But no such Eating and Drinking if no Resurrection of the Body When Christ in the Gospel meant to confute the Sadducees denying the Resurrection hee used this Argument Have ye not read what God said to Moses in the Bush I am the God of Abraham the God of Isaak and the God of Jakob God is not the God of the dead but of the living and with this Argument he put them to silence But how their Errour is confuted by this Argument or how this Argument proves the Resurrection of the Body is not easie to bee perceived It seemes the Argument is not so much ad Rem as ad Hominem though it prove not directly the Resurrection of the body yet it proves it sufficiently against the Sadduces who therefore denyed the Resurrection of the body because they beleeved not the immortality of the soule and this Argument proving directly the immortality of the soule proves sufficiently against them the Resurrection of the body Or is it perhaps meant thus God is the God of Abraham but Abraham is not the soule onely but the whole man and therefore the Body of Abraham though now dead must of necessity bee raised to life againe seeing God is not the God