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A10250 Propositions and principles of diuinitie propounded and disputed in the vniuersitie of Geneua, by certaine students of diuinitie there, vnder M. Theod. Beza, and M. Anthonie Faius ... Wherein is contained a methodicall summarie, or epitome of the common places of diuinitie. Translated out of Latine into English, to the end that the causes, both of the present dangers of that Church, and also of the troubles of those that are hardlie dealt vvith els-vvhere, may appeare in the English tongue.; Theses theologicae. English Bèze, Théodore de, 1519-1605.; La Faye, Antoine de, 1540-1615. aut; Penry, John, 1559-1593. 1591 (1591) STC 2053; ESTC S101754 189,778 296

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infinite and immeasurable or vncircumscribed in a place or that it can bee in many places at once or euery where or yet any where indeed any otherwaies then as in a place 6 Yet as they are joyned togeather that is in respect of the whole wholie considered the word is trulie said to be this man and this man to bee the worde not that the one nature is transfused or turned into the other but because these two natures are one only subsisting person which the Schoole-men call the grace of vnion or vniting grace 7 In like manner although the essentiall properties of the one nature be not transfused into the other yet is the word said to be crucified and dead not in it self but in the nature that was assumed In like sort this man is saide to be Eternall Infinite Immeasurable and God himselfe not in it selfe but in the assuming nature or the nature that tooke flesh 8 The maner of speaking is called the communicating of properties the which in respect of Christ wholie considered is Reall or both in name and in deed but in consideration of the natures seuerallie considered it is verball or onely in name 9 The Deitie of Christ borroweth nothing of the humanitie which it assumed Whereas on the other side the humanitie subsisting in the Deitie is perfected by it 10 Nowe the humanitie of Christ is fullie indued with so great store of all qualities most excellent those onelie excepted which are so essentiall in God as they can be in no wise communicated with any creature and by the powring whereof the humaine nature should be swallowed vp and become the Godhead as in dignitie and glorie hee doth farre surmount all Creatures as being inferiour vnto the Deitie onelie The which fulnes of gifts the Schoolmen call grace habituall or fullie possessed 11 Now this exceeding vertue and power was powred by degrees vpon the flesh that was assumed not at the very moment of the vniting togeather of both natures In as much as it behooued Christ to take vpon him such flesh as was in deede subject to all our infirmities sinne excepted vntill that hee hauing fulfilled whatsoeuer was necessarie vnto our saluation had obtained a name aboue al names the Godhead onelie excepted Wee doe abhorre then both the NESTORIANS who deuide the person and the EVTYCHIANS who either confoūd the natures or mingle their essentiall proprieties 12 The glorifiyng of the humanitie of Christ which is ment in the Christian beleife by ascending into Heauen and sitting at the right hand of God hath neither abolished the essence nor the essentiall properties of a true body Defended by STEPHEN BLOIVS of Angiers PRINCIPLES CONCERNING THE OFFICE OF CHRIST XXI SEING THAT WE HAVE DONE ALREAdie with the person of Christ it followeth now that we deale with his office For these two are to be considered in him 1 MAnkinde by reason of sinne whereunto it wilfullie fell was altogeather loste in such sort as it could in no wise by it owne strength escape aeternal damnation 2 But God to the end that hee might affoorde a moste cleare testimonie of his mercie did appoint in his aeternal counsell to deliuer men from this miserie and calamitye And to the end that this might bee done without anie impeachment of his justice he appointed a Mediatour who should performe all these things that were required 3 Therfore seeing to auoide the curse of the lawe the lawe it selfe must bee fulfilled by men and this can by no meanes be performed by them it behooued the Mediator to effect this worke and not to ouerpasse the very least title of Gods Law The opinion of the PAPISTS therefore is very wicked in attributing anie other merite vnto any man saue onely the merite of Christs alone obedience 4 Furthermore seeing it behoued God which is moste just to punishe the sinnes of men that by this meanes his justice might be fulfilled and men could not vndergo the weight of Gods anger but they should bee euerlastinglie swallowed vp thereby It was the office of the Mediatour seeing he bare the person of all men to pay all their debts and to suffer punishment for them all They are againe most wicked who bring in any other Mediatour of satisfaction in the presence of God saue onlie this one 5 And as Christ was vnder the law represented by Prophets Kings and Priests so beeing exhibited in his time hee was annointed to bee a King Priest and Prophet In which three callings his whole office is contained 6 The Propheticall office of Christ is to teach men the will of God and clearelie to lay open vnto them his decree concerning the saluation of mankinde and so to put an end vnto al prophesies that is to fulfill all those things that were fore-tolde of him It is execrable wickednes therefore to burden the conscience of man with new commandements added vnto the worde or to impose anie lawe vpon the conscience and much more to adjoine vnto the Gospell new supplies of saluation 7 The Kingdome of Christ consisteth heerein namely that al his enemies beeing subdued vnder him as Sathan sinne and death he onelie may beare rule ouer his church defend the same and bestowe all thinges needfull therevpon 8 This Kingdome is not like vnto other Kingdomes that are earthlie but it is spirituall And therefore the Iewes are worthelie condemned with all others that thinke this kingdome to consist in a kinde of outward pompe majestie and magnificence And they are much more impudent then the Iewes themselues who will haue the tyrannie of the Romane Praelate to bee a visible representation of Christs kingdome 9 The office of Christs Preist-hood was by some acceptable Sacrifice to pacifie God being offended with vs And because no other Sacrifice could bee found meet and no other Priest worthie for this worke hee who was without all spot became both the Sacrifice and the Preist now also making intercession for vs in heauen Therefore the Papisticall Sacrifizing Preists are most grosse seducers who saye that in the Sacrifice of their Masse they offer Christ really both for the quick and the dead Defended by BERNARD CASANOVA of Bearne PRINCIPLES CONCERNING FAITH XXII HAVING DECLARED THESE THINGS which appertaine vnto the person of Christ it remaineth that we speak by what meanes Christ with all his benefites is applied vnto vs. 1 CHristian faith is that onelie hand whereby wee take hold or apply vnto our selues Christ being offered vnto vs with all his benefites that are necessarie vnto our saluation 2 This Faith wee doe first of all distinguish from that meere agreement of the vnderstanding whereby it commeth to passe that we beleeue all these things to bee true which are contained in the holie Scriptures the which agreement or assent wee affirme that it may arise from the light of nature also and the arguments that may be compassed by humane reason without anie peculier lightning of the holie Spirite seeing the verie vncleane Spirits themselues do
the word essence in this doctrin is ment that which in deed is one and of al things most singular or single wherein the seuerall persons being euery one of them the whole the same essence do subsist being distinguished in their peculiar proprieties These persons are the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost 6 The Persons in the Deitie are the whole and the verie same substance of the Deitie distinguished the one from the other by their peculiar or respectiue incommunicable proprieties 7 The proprieties whereby the persons are distinguished are the diuers maner of being that they haue in the Deitie whereby the substance of the Godhead is no wise deuided assunder nor the persons of the same essence seperated but yet so distinguished as the one of them cannot possiblie bee the other 8 The diuine Essence the Deitie or Godhead God are essentiallie the one and the same 9 These persons are sayd to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or coessential not because they are only of like essence and substance as we see the particulars of the same kinde to bee but inasmuche as they are indeed the one and the selfe same simple essence of which sort nothing that is created can be And therefore the persons of the Deitie cannot without blasphemie be said to bee onelie cohaerent togeather in substance or onely of like substance 10 Amongst these persons distinguished indeed by their respectiue proprieties although there be an order yet is ther not any degree whence either any inferioritie inequalitie or confusion may arise Therefore wee conclude that there are indeed three persons in nomber yet but one Godhead and one GOD in regard of substance 11 The proprietie of the person of the father is to be vnbegotten and to beget The proprietie of the sonne is to be begotten of the father The proprietie of the holy ghost is to proceed from the father and the sonne Wherefore in conclusion we do from our hearts detest all the blasphemies that both old and new heretiks haue maintained contrary vnto this doctrine Defended by IOHN CHEROPONTIVS of Neocome THE THIRD SORT OF PRINCIPLES CONCERNING GOD THE FATHER AND GOD THE SON SEING WE HAVE DEALT CONCERNING God one in substance and three in persons it followeth nowe that we speake in order of euery one of the persons 1 THe word GOD is sometimes taken particularly for the person of the Father because that the persons of the Son and of the holy Ghost are referred vnto the father as it were vnto a certaine original of their being wheras the father receiueth his being of none but doth communicat it both with him selfe and also with the other two persons 2 God the Father was alwaies God and alwaies the Father and therfore it fell not as a property vnto him that being meerely God at the first he shoulde be afterwarde made God the Father but as he is God from all aeternitie so he is the Father from all aeternitie 3 God the Father after an vnspeakable manner of generation begat his onely Sonne by communicating his whole essence with him the which maner of begetting is shadowed out by a kind of similitude where the son is in the holy scripture named the Wisdome the Power the a Coll 1 15 Image the b Heb. 13. brightnes and the ingrauen forme of his person 4 And after this sort wee are to conceaue but not curiously to scan the similitudes of the fountaine the streame that issueth from it of the Sunne and the Sunbeames of the light that proceedeth from light of the water the vapors that arise out of it of the tree and the branches of the mind and the speach that is inwardlie conceiued of the seede and the budde and to be briefe of al such similitudes as the Fathers haue broght to manifest in some measure though not perfectly to lay open this mistery Which they accounted a matter to be reuerenced adored not curiously and prophanely to be sifted and waded into 5 And althogh this diuine maner of begetting doth neither cutte into parts nor multiplie the essence of the Deity which Deity is not a thing that onely may be conceaued in thought hauing no other being or existence as are the generall kinds and sorts of things created but is in deede a most single and a most pure infinite self-being yet doth it multiplie the persones but so as it doth in no wise seuer the one of them from the other 6 The Father therefore is an other person in number then the Son and in like sort the Son is another person then the Father And yet is the Deity neither deuided nor multiplied when the Son is said to be God of God And euen as in substance he is the one and the selfe same with the Father so is he in his person so distinguished from the Father that hee is and remaineth in him still 7 The Father and the Sonne then are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is the one of thē in the other or neither of them seuered from the other by any distance of place Yet is the Son more properlie sayed to be in the father then the father in the sonne by reson of the dignitie as it were of the Fatherhood Hence also it is that the Son personally distinguished from the Father is in many places of the Scripture called God 8 Out of these things it apeareth what we are to beleeue concerning the person of the Sonne to wit that in regarde of his substance absolutely considered hee is that one onelie true God vnto whome doe agree whatsoeuer may be attributed to the diuine substance considered in it selfe but in regarde of the maner of his being that is in respect that hee is the Sonne or as far as hee is personally considered then we are to beleue that hee is not of him selfe but of the Father yet coaeternall and coessentiall with the Father 9 Wee do condemne therefore the Tritheits by whome not onely the persons which also wee graunt are nombred but euen the substaunce of the Godhead wherein also they place an inaequality multiplied In like sort we condemn the SABELLIANES who holding a contrary errour doe not soe much as nomber the persons and in stead of the royall notions whereby the persons are distinguished the one from the other do bring in only a certaine difference of their effects and names We do also condemne the ARRIANS who rob the Son of his essentiall Godhead And the EVNOMIANS who haue forged the inaequalitie of the persons Togeather with the followers of SAMOSATENVS and SERVETVS and all other fanaticall spirites who affirme the person of the Son to haue taken his beginning with his humane nature because as they hould before that time either the Worde was not the Sonne or was nothing els but a shape or a forme conceaued in Gods minde of the humane nature that should afterwarde be borne or was onely predestinate and appointed to be but not being
the Angell witnessed he remained from the very moment of his conception a most pure consubsisting habitation of the eternall Sonne 15 For the holie Ghost when hee tooke the substance the Virgin did altogeather cleanse the said substance from all corruption before such time as hee turned the same into the seed of mans flesh 16 In this most pure flesh was placed also a most holie and a most pure soule that Christ alone shuld be that true holie one of the Lord making holie all his members for euer of whome the Leuiticall high Priest was onely a Type 17 Wee condemne therefore the Samosatenians who will haue Christ to be a bare man The Arrians and Seruetians who gaine-say his Coessentiall and Coeternall Deitie The Marcionites and the Manichaees who change the flesh of Christ into a bare shew The Schuengfeldians who attribute vnto Christ a heauenlie bodie The Appollinarists who affirme that the WORD was in stead of a soule vnto the flesh that was assumed The Nestorians who deuide the person The Eutychians who both confound the natures and mingle togeather their Essentiall properties The Monophysits who in steade of the vnitie of the person did place the vnity of the natures The Vbiquitaries who with EVTICHES do define the personall vnion by a Reall effusion of the properties of the Deitie into the humaine nature and with NESTORIVS doe define the same by the Co-operation of the natures and with the Monothelites to be onely a power proceeding as it were from God and man The Papists who affirme the Virgine Marie to haue bene conceiued without originall sinne and in mainetaining Transubstantiation do ouerthrow whatsoeuer they holde aright concerning the trueth of the fleshe of Christ and the personal vnion And their doctrine also who placing here vpon earth an essentiall Consubstantiation vnder bread and wine do strike vpon the same rocke of confusion Defended by DAVID PIOTAEVS of Lions PRINCIPLES CONCERNING THE NATIVITIE CIRCVMCISION AND BAPTISME OF CHRIST XLII IN THE FORMER PRINCIPLES WE HAVE doone with the conception of Christ now wee are briefly to deale with his Natiuitie 1 EVen as these words of the Creed of the Apostles conceiued by the holy Ghost do set forth the purifiyng of the seed of the Virgin to the end that the bodie of Christ might bee purely formed thereof So these wordes Borne of the Virgin Marie doe declare vnto vs the bringing forth of Christ into the world by the said virgin and so his Natiuitie 2 Wee say that Christ was borne when as the vsuall tearme of Child-bearing common vnto all other men being fulfilled the Virgin brought forth Christ that word of the Father and the Sonne of DAVID 3 For hee which was conceiued was also borne The Virgin Marie therefore is justly called the mother of God though she be not the mother of the Deitie And wee doe justlie condemne NESTORIVS who made a vaine distinction between the mother of Christ and the mother of God as being things opposite the one to the other 4 Of the sure perswasion of this Natiuitie wee reape a double profit the one that hence we learne that the word yet without the laying a side of his diuine nature or anie conuersion or mixture of the same hauing taken vppon him our flesh our soule and our minde that in all thinges sinne excepted he might be made like vnto his brethren began to be God and man The Arrians therfore are to be condemned who denie our Sauiour Christ to haue had an humaine soule and the Appollinaristes who deny him to haue had an humaine mind 5 The other that by this meanes wee might be assured that Christ according vnto the flesh is from those Fathers of whome Mary came that is from ADAM ABRAHAM and DAVID vnto whom it was peculiarlie promised that the Messias should come of their seed 6 Hee was also borne as it must needs bee according vnto the fore-telling of the Prophets of a Virgine that was vnknown of man because otherwise he could not be borne a pure man and so he himselfe should haue stood in need of a Mediator The Iewes therefore are to be condemned who holde against the Christians that it was not needfull that the Messias should be borne of a Virgine but that he should be the Son of some King or of some Prophet 7 The virginitie of Marie after her Child-bearing to wit that as it is most certaine that before her Childe-bearing she was vnknowen of man so also she remained a Virgin after the same vnto her dying day is religiouslie beleeued yet there is nothing expreslie found concerning this point in the holie Scriptures neither doth it belong anie-wise vnto the mysterie of our saluation 8 In this place we do not onelie refuse but vtterlie detest all filthie questions and such as are most vnagreeable vnto so holy a birth 9 Christ beeing an infant and bound in his swaddling bands after the maner of all other men that are borne cried in his swathes as also he did trulie sucke milke it behoued also that his bodie and his humaine wisdome though it made greater growth in him then in other men and his experience did grow as he did increase in yeares in so much as God would not haue the lawes of nature to bee broken in these things 10 Christ therefore at that time had a Childes bodie and afterward a mans finite and hauing the instrumentall parts thereof and therefore circumscribed in a place the which essentiall qualities of a true bodie hee neither did at any time nor euer will cast of They err therfore who teach that the bodie of Christ can be euerie where and yet his humanitie remaine still vnuiolated neither doth it followe thence that the natures are separated 11 That bodie euen vnto his death was subject vnto humaine infirmities and so of it selfe subject vnto corruption though it neuer felt the corruption of the Graue but after his resurrection he laid aside all those infirmities that were brought vpon man for sin and euen the naturall life it selfe Whence MANES is conuinced with MARCION and those whome they call DOKITAE who teach that Christ in deede neuer did or could suffer any thing and that he did onely beare men in hand that he suffered 12 This Natiuitie was the beginning of the open humiliation of Christ whereby he made himselfe of no reputation namely when taking vpon him the form of a Seruant he trulie came into this world euen as his death and buriall was the last part of the same 13 Furthermore in that he was circumcised ●nd baptized it was not done therfore because he in himselfe needed to be made cleane by them as though before he were poluted but that we should learne 14 First that the whole force both of the circumcision of the Fathers did and of our Baptisme dooth depend vppon him as beeing hee by whome the Sacraments are trulie made the signs of our reconciliation with God 15 Secondly that hee was the Sauiour and
indeed from all aeternitie or els because they will haue the fleshe of Christ to be taken out of the substance of the Godhead or as some do nowe affirme because all the proprieties of the Deity were poured into the humane nature when the worde was incarnate or to be briefe by what other dotage soeuer they goe about to obscure the coaeternall generation of the Sonne Defended by IOHN HENRY SCHINTYER of Tigurine THE FOVRTH SORT OF PRINCIPLES CONCERNING THE HOLY GHOST HITHERTO CONCERNING THE PERSONS of the Father and the Sonne it followeth now that we speake of the holie Spirit 1 VVHereas the word SPIRIT is diuersly taken in the scriptures we in this doctrine do vnderstand by the holie spirit the third person in Trinitie 2 The holie Spirit is that Essentiall and working power who is essentially subsisting in the Father and the Son from whome the whole Deity wherein also they doe subsist being communicated vnto him after an vnspekable maner though he procedeth or if we may so speake is as it were breathed yet is he not at all seperated in respect of this his proceding but is in regard of the maner of his being distinguished from the persons of the Father and the Sonne And therefore he is not without cause reckoned the third person in nomber seing in consideration of his being hee is referred vnto the Father and the sonne yet not as vnto two beginnings but as vnto one 3 The Deity thus communicated by issuing and proceeding is not multiplied in substance seing he is most simple and single Whence it is that the holie Ghost in regard of his person is and euer hath bin coessentiall and coaeternall with the Father and the sonne and in regarde of his substance is that one onely true God in himselfe Wherevpon also the name of God is sometimes personally attributed vnto him The holy Ghost is therefore to be worshipped by the one and the same faith and inuocation that the Father and Son are 4 And although the works of the Trinnitie which they cal outward or external are vnseperable yet in the effecting of them wee are to obserue a distinction not onelye of the persons but also of the personall actions 5 The proper and the peculiar action of the holie Spirit in all the workes of the Deity bee they naturall and ordinary or els extraordinary was and is to effect in his time and maner those things which the father from all aeternitie hath decreed in his owne wisdome that is in his Son and the Son hath ordered and disposed to come to passe 6 Yet is not the holy spirit any instrumental cause affording his helpe as a seruaunt vnto the Father or the Son but working together with them without any inferioritie or inaequallitie 7 But the power and working of the holy spirit is especiallie seene in the planting and gouerning of the Church In which particular respect he is called the holie spirit even because that he who is most holie doth stirr vp and nourish all the holie motions that are in the elect For he it is by whose inspiration all the holie prophets haue spoken it is he that giueth eares to heare and a hart to beleeue who appointeth Pastors and doth enable them with necessary gifts who stirreth vp the slouthfull and being the true comforter indeed doth comfort the afflicted soule By whome those that are borne againe of him do cry Abba father he also formed the fleshe of Christ in the wombe of the virgine and did most aboundantlie anoint his humane nature to conclude it is he by whose strength we stand vntill we overcome Wherefore we doe abhor and renounce the SABELLIANS who confound the persones with the substance of the Godhead the ARRIANS and the MACEDONIANS who deny the holie Ghost to bee coessentiall with the Father and the Son the GRECIANS of later time who affirme that hee doth onlie proceed from the father and those also who by the holie Ghost will haue nothing els to be ment saue certaine motions and inspirations onely together with those who deny that he is to be invocated by the one and the selfesame faith with the Father and the Sonne and to be briefe we detest all those that any waies oppugne the Deity of the holy Ghost either in his substance or person Defended by IOHN IAMES COLER of Tygurine THE FIFT SORT OF PRINCIPLES CONCERNING THE ATTRIBVTES OF GOD IN GENERALL HITHERTO WE HAVE SPOKEN OF GOD both as far as wee are able to attaine vnto bee the light of nature also as he is laied before vs in the holy Scripturs to be three in person and one in substance now it followeth that we intreat of his attributes wherby in a sort we are taught what maner of God he is 1 ALthough there be no composition in God nor yet any accidentall qualitie seeing hee is a substance most single and euery way one yet to the end that according vnto our capacitie we might vnderstande what a God hee is he himselfe in the scriptures is accustomed to attribute vnto himselfe many things as qualities 2 By attributes in this place then we vnderstande the essentiall proprieties of the Deity which are attributed vnto him in the scriptures 3 These things are so attributed vnto him that notwithstanding they place nothing in him that is cōpoūd or diuers from his substance but look whatsoeuer they point him out to be the very same he is in his owne most simple substance 4 For both these proprieties and also their actions doe in very deede differ no whit from the substance of the Godhead but onely in some consideration we are to holde them diuers both from the diuine substance and also the on from the other 5 Now these things are attributed vnto the Deity sometimes substātiuely somtims adjectiuely as they speak that we may thereby knowe him to be a being that subsisteth indeede and that he is such a one not by participation and imperfectlie but of himselfe and that most perfectlie 6 Of attributes we make two kinds the one is of them which are so proper vnto the Deitie that they can bee in no sort communicated vnto creatures neither haue they anie other respect vnto creatures saue that by them the Deitie is distinguished from creatures of this kind are aeternity simplenes vnmeasurablenes omnipotencie 7 The other kind is of those who although simply and as far as they are in the Deitie they cannot be communicated yet creatures may be partakers of them not properly but by analogie and a kinde of agreement and that not essentially but in regarde of qualitie and but in part neither such ar wisedome goodnes and the rest of that kind Therefore OSIANDER erred grosly whoe taught that the essentiall righteousnes of God was communicated vnto vs and at this day their error is intollerable who recalling back again the blasphemie of EVTYCHES holde that al the proprieties of the Deitie were powred by personall vnion into the flesh which
the Mediator both of the Fathers that were circumcised and also of vs that now are vnder Baptisme 16 Thirdly that he came therefore into the world not to breake but to performe the law and perfectlie to fulfill it euen in the least points 17 Fourthly that he is the knot the band of both the couenants although he abrogated the olde by the new 18 We then condemne their blasphemy who thinking that Christ was born a bare man do teach that in his baptisme hee was first of all made pertaker of the holy Ghost and therefore that he is called God onelie in name Defended by DANIEL CHAMERIVS Occitanus PRINCIPLES CONCERNING THE PASSION AND DEATH OF OVR LORD IESVS CHRIST XLIII HAVING HANDLED THOSE THINGES which appertaine vnto the conception and Natiuitie of Iesus Christ our Sauiour we are to come vnto his Passion 1 AS soone as the WORD that aeternall Son of God taking vpon him mans flesh was brought foorth into this world hee began euen then to performe the mysterie of our Saluation Neither had it sufficiently profited vs that Christ had onely beene borne vnlesse also hee had performed whatsoeuer was required to bee done that wee should be reconciled vnto God 2 The will of the Father consisted in these points first that in him mans nature being perfect and pure from all sinne should most holily most perfectly and most fully fulfill all the righteousnes of the lawe Secondly that by the whole course of his life hee should take vpon himselfe the punishments due vnto our sinnes and pay the ransome of them by a full satisfaction 3 Therefore whereas in our beliefe wee go presentlie from his Natiuitie to the suffering of the Crosse thereby setting down a part for the whole is comprehended what soeuer Christ suffered euen from the very moment of hys conception vnto the day that hee was deliuered into the hands of the Iudge and that not without cause seeing this was the last and especiall act of the suffering of Christ for vs. 4 By his passion in like sort we vnderstand also al those sorts of injuries wherewith the Euangelists doe write that he was reproched and his punishments agrauated 5 In these sufferings of Christ we consider three things especially 6 And first of al both that fearful hatred of God against euerie transgression of the law which could in no wise bee appeased but by a most perfect satisfaction 7 And also that vnspeakable loue of God towards mā who sent that onely begotten Son of his that whosoeuer shuld beleeue in him should not perish but haue euerlasting life 8 Next wee are to consider the instruments which the Lord vsed to effect so great a worke and they were most euill namelie Sathan the Priests IVDAS and PILATE for who but such as were most wicked could finde in their heartes to accuse or condemne him that was most innocent yet the LORDE vsed them in such sort as by their meanes he brought to passe that worke which of all other the workes of God was the most holy and the most admirable that is the redemption of his Elect and as for the instruments who sinned not by compulsion but wilfullie and against their owne conscience hee allotted them vnto most just condemnation 9 Thirdly we consider the effects of that sacrifice namelie the force of that most perfect obedience of his euen vnto the death of the Crosse whereby we are clad with such a righteousnes as the law of God requireth and also the most ful satisfaction for all our sinnes wrought by this oblation once offered whence doth follow remission of sins freelie in respect of vs. Wherefore the Papists doe erre most foulie who besides the onely Passion of Christ go about to place their own merites and the merites of Saints as a needful supplie of the saide Passion or as though Christ was therefore borne that he might powre into vs the force to merite aeternall life of our selues 10 Nowe seeing Christ was true man that is consisting of a true soule and of a true bodie of a man he had a body subject vnto outward passions and therfore he bare most greeuous sufferinges in his bodie to the end that hee might trulie deliuer vs euen in respect of our bodies 11 Now in respect of the soule he was strucken thorow with most vnspeakable anguishes and torments yea hee suffered in his soule the most horrible and fearefull burthen of Gods wrath that he might deliuer our soules from the euerlasting torments of Hell They therefore are to be condemned who haue affirmed that Christ either did not suffer as the Simonians or that hee did not trulie but supposedly suffer as the Marcionites and the Manichaees did 12 The Diuinitie notwithstanding which was personally vnited vnto the humanitie that was assumed did not depart therefrom in the time of the passion but it so farre with helde it selfe in not shewing the force thereof vntill that his soule did vnspeakablie apprehende and feele the wrath of God then the which nothing can bee imagined more horrible the burthen whereof he had neuer bene able to sustaine vnlesse at the last he had bene strengthened to gaine the victorie by the same Deitie of the word 13 Iesus Christ then to speake properly suffered in his bodie and in his soule yet notwithstanding we may trulie and Christianlie say that the Lorde of glory was crucified dead c. not that the Deitie did suffer for the Diuinitie is imparible but that this bodie and this soule is the proper body and the proper soule of the WORD We doe detest therefore both the open Eutychians who as they confound the proprieties and the natures so they hould that the Deity did suffer also the close and secret Eutychians who are compelled in deede to confesse that the Deitie did not suffer but yet do hould that the communicating of the proprieties of the Godhead and the Manhood are reall euen in respect of the natures them selues and therefore that the WORDE in respect of it selfe did suffer some thing 14 That base estate of the WORD whereby he made himselfe of no reputation not in himselfe but in the fleshe which was assumed was especiallie seene as it were with the eies in his Passion wherein the aeternall Sonne of God as wee may say forgetting himselfe if I may so speake did hasten of his owne accord vnto such a punishment 15 The condemnation of Christ vnder CAIPHAS and PONTIVS PILAT which is a matter of no small moment consideration went before the punishment which he suffered For when as we could not stand before the Tribunall seat of God Christ appeared before the seat of the high Priest PONTIVS PILATE yet was he by and by condemned to be hanged vpon the Crosse the just for the vnjust that he might set vs free from the judgement of GOD the Father 16 The kind of punishment wherevnto he was judged was the Crosse then the which there was nothing more ignominious euen by the
are a sleepe vntill the last day of judgement Defended by BENIAMIN CRESSONIVS of Burgundie PRINCIPLES CONCERNING CHRIST HIS ASCENSION INTO HEAVEN XLVI SEING THE ARTICLE OF CRISTS REsurrection hath bene alreadie opened it now followeth that we deale with his ascension into heauen 1 AS the Scripture dooth teach that the death resurrection and buriall of Christ were true and not fained so the same doth testifie that his Ascension into heauen was not onely visible but also locall 2 For although the word ASCENDING is sometimes Figuratiuely spoken concerning God yet in this Article of the Faith it is taken in his proper and naturall signification in such sort that by it is expressed a passage from a lower place vnto a higher which is pointed out by the name of Heauen 3 Whereas in the Scripture there is mention made of a three-folde Heauen wee affirme that the highest of all is heere to bee vnderstood wherein is the seat and aeternall habitation of the soules of the faithfull and where also Christ is exalted aboue all Creatures 4 And although he be trulie ascended into Heauen yet doth it not follow thence that he is no more present here with his Church for the gouernment thereof seeing that the said Ascention dooth onely appertaine vnto that nature which is finite and contained in a place that is vnto his humanitie and not to his Diuinitie which is euery where alwais present and can be contained in no certaine place seeing it containeth all things For as AVGVSTINE hath spoken very notablie the body wherein Christ rose must bee in one place where as his trueth is euery where spread abroad 5 Hence we gather that hee is not now vpon earth in respect of his Manhood seeing he hath once ascended into that place whence the Scripture dooth testifie that hee will not depart vntill the restitution of all thinges and in no other manner neither then he did ascend 6 Yet wee say that God and man did ascend because that his humaine bodie was taken vp by the power of the Deity which was vnseparably joyned with the humain nature and nowe remaineth there after a manner vnknowen vnto vs. They are deceiued therefore who holde that Christ according vnto his humaine nature can be at the same time both in heauen and in earth And those also who auouch that his fleshe is euery where and all those in a word who bereaue his body of the essential and as DAMASCEN speaketh of the Caracteristical properties therof that is such as are markes of a true bodie 7 Now where as Christ after his Ascention was seen of PAVL and STEPHEN that vision was extraordinary and a peculier reuelation So that from thence it cannot bee gathered that Christ was not in that place wherevnto hee ascended 8 This Ascention furthermore was as it were a certain triumph after the victory gottē ouer the enemies of mankind which he ouercame 9 The end of this triumph is diuers and manifold First of all it testifieth that the woorke of our Redemption was finished vpon earth the which he would seale by this magnificall and royall triumph which for this cause is called by AVGVSTINE a confirmation of the Catholicall faith For by this meanes Christ hath gotten vnto the immortal and incorruptible life not an earthly but an incorruptible and aeternall mansion 10 Secondly that there should be extant a most cleare testimonie of the Diuinitie of Christ by the which his humanitie was taken vppon high whence also it appeareth that he consisteth of two natures 11 Thirdlie that hauing ouercome death hee should enjoy that glorye which was prepared and ordained for him before the foundation of the world was laid not according to his Deitie but according to his humanitie the glory wherof appeared then when a new ghuest as it were entered into heauen to wit the man GOD the which thing the Angels had neuer seene before 12 And although the man Christ was glorified by his Resurrection in such sort as there was nothing wanting vnto him yet this Ascention was a more certaine ample possession of that glory 13 Fourthly and lastly that he might prepare a dwelling for vs in Heauen and not onely prepare it but also allure vs thither that wee might follow him by an ardent desire and affection while we are in this life and here vpon earth seeke those things that are aboue 14 Nowe euen as Christ was borne for our cause dead for our cause c. So hee ascended into Heauen for our cause 15 The fruit and profite therefore which ariseth to the faithfull out of this Ascention is manifolde For first wee are thereby vndoubtedly assured that we shall once namelie at the last day ascend also into Heauen For where the head is there the members also ought to be the Ascention of the members shall bee such as the Ascention of the head was saue that he ascended by his own power where as we shall ascend not by our owne but by his vertue For our bodies ought to bee fashioned like vnto his glorious body as the members vnto the head 16 Secondly after this Ascention was the holy Ghost giuen vnto the Apostles Next were other gifts from heauen bestowed vppon men and the Church furnished with things needfull for the same 17 Thirdlye heereby a way is opened for vs vnto our heauenly countrey from whence we fell by the meanes of ADAM 18 Fourthly and lastlie his Resurrection confirmeth our faith For hereby we are assured that our soules separated from our bodies euen before the Resurrection shall passe to no other place then where Christ is that they may liue for euer in blessednes with him Defended by WILLIAM QVERCINVS Tarbiensis PRINCIPLES CONCERNING THE SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF THE FATHER ALMIGHTIE XLVII 1 SEeing whole Christ that is Christ personally considered or in respect that he is one subsisting person is said to sit and that the action of sitting can not in the proper signification thereof agree vnto the Deitie in it self we must needs conclude that sitting properlie taken can in no wise agree vnto the Deitie 2 And although it may be properlie applied vnto that other nature of Christ which is corporall in that sense that sitting is opposed vnto the standing or the moouing of the bodie yet wee must not thinke that that glorious bodie of his though it be truly circumscribed and contained in a place doth either continually stand sit or moue For all these things are grosse and curious matters neither are they so particulerly to bee applied to the estate of that life 3 That which is added concerning the right hand of God is much more to bee taken Figuratiuelie as whereby those thinges are attributed vnto God which are proper vnto man seeing that God who is without a bodie hath neither right side nor left as beeing altogeather immeasurable and infinite 4 By this kinde of speach therefore being taken from the custome of Kings and Princes who are wont to make a