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nature_n	humane_a	person_n	property_n	3,952	5	9.4155	5	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A56905	Synodicon in Gallia reformata, or, The acts, decisions, decrees, and canons of those famous national councils of the reformed churches in France being I. a most faithful and impartial history of the rise, growth, perfection and decay of the reformation in that kingdom, with its fatal catastrophe upon the revocation of the Edict of Nants in the year 1685 : II. the confession of faith and discipline of those churches : III. a collection of speeches, letters, sacred politicks, cases of conscience, and controversies in divinity, determined and resolved by those grave assemblies : IV. many excellent expedients for preventing and healing schisms in the churches and for re-uniting the dismembred body of divided Protestants : V. the laws, government, and maintenance of their colleges, universities and ministers, together with their exercise of discipline upon delinquent ministers and church-members : VI. a record of very many illustrious events of divine providence relating to those churches : the whole collected and composed out of original manuscript acts of those renowned synods : a work never be extant in any language.	Quick, John, 1636-1706.; Eglises réformées de France.	1692 (1692)	Wing Q209; ESTC R10251	1,424,843	1,304

title to the Mercy of God the Father to which as to our only Sanctuary we are bound to have Recourse ARTICLE XIV We believe That Jesus Christ being the Wisdom and eternal Son of the Father took upon him our Nature so that he is one Person God and Man Man that he might be able to suffer both in Soul and Body made like unto us in all things Sin only excepted so that as to his Humane Nature he was in truth the very Seed of Abraham and of David conceived in due time in the Womb of the most Blessed Virgin by the secret and incomprehensible Power of the Holy God And therefore we detest as contrary to that Truth all those Heresies with which the Churches were troubled in times past and particularly we detest those diabolical Imaginations of Servetus who ascribed to our Lord Jesus Christ an imaginary Deity whom he asserted to be the Idea and Pattern of all things and the counterfeit or figurative Son of God In short he framed him a Body compacted of three Elements uncreated and so did mingle and overthrow his Nature ARTICLE XV. We believe That in one and the same Person to wit the Lord Jesus Christ his two Natures are truly and inseparably conjoined and united yet nevertheless in such a manner that each Nature doth retain its distinct Properties So that even as in this Divine Conjunction the Divine Nature retaining its Properties doth still abide uncreated infinite and filling all places so also the Humane Nature remaineth finite having its form measure and property And altho' the Lord Jesus Christ when he rose from the dead did give Immortality unto his Body yet he never deprived it of the Verity of its Nature Therefore we do so consider Christ in his Deity that we do not spoil him of his Humanity ARTICLE XVI We do believe That God by sending his Son into the World did declare his infinite Love and inestimable Goodness to us delivering him over unto death and raising him again from the dead that he might fulfil all Righteousness and purchase Everlasting Life for us ARTICLE XVII We believe That by that only Sacrifice which Jesus Christ offered upon the Cross we are reconciled unto God that so we may be held and accounted Righteous in his sight because we can never please him nor be partakers of his Adoption but so far only as he forgiveth us our sins and burieth them in his grave Therefore we affirm That Jesus Christ is our intire and perfect Washing and that by his Death we obtain full satisfaction whereby we are delivered from all those sins of which we are guilty and from which we could never be absolved by any other means or remedy ARTICLE XVIII We believe That our whole Righteousness is founded in the Remission of our Sins which is as David calleth it our only Happiness Wherefore we do utterly reject all other means by which men do think they may be justified before God and casting away all conceits of our own Vertues and Merits we do altogether rest upon the sole Obedience of Jesus Christ which is imputed to us as well for the covering of our Offences as that we may find Grace and Favour with God And indeed we believe that should we in the least forsake this Foundation we could not find elsewhere any repose but must needs be agitated with Inquietudes in our Consciences because we are never at peace with God till we be perswaded upon good grounds that we are beloved in Jesus Christ For that in our selves we have deserved to be hated by him ARTICLE XIX We believe That by this means we have liberty and priviledge of calling upon God with full confidence that he will shew himself a Father to us for we have no access unto the Father but in and through Christ the Mediator And that we may be heard in his Name it is meet that we should hold and derive our Life from him as from our Head ARTICLE XX. We believe That we are made partakers of this Righteousness by Faith only as it is written He suffered to purchase Salvation for us That whosoever believeth in him should not perish And this is therefore done because the Promises of Life offered to us in him are then applied to our use and made effectual to us when we do accept of them and in no wise doubt but that we shall enjoy those things which the Lord by his own mouth hath assured us of So that the Righteousness which we obtain by Faith dependeth upon the free gracious Promises of God by which God doth declare and testifie unto us that we are beloved of him ARTICLE XXI We do believe That by the secret Grace of the Holy Ghost the light of Faith is ●inded up in us so that it is a gracious and special Gift which God bestoweth upon whom he pleaseth and the Faithful have nothing whereof they may boast because they are doubly obliged unto God for having preferred them before others and for that he never gave Faith unto the Elect once only to bring them into the good way but also to cause them to continue in it unto the end For as God doth begin Faith so doth he also finish and perfect it ARTICLE XXII We believe That by this Faith we are regenerated unto newness of Life we being naturally imbondaged under Sin And we do by Faith receive that Grace to live holily and in the fear of God in our receiving of the Promise which is given us through the Gospel to wit that God will give us his Holy Spirit So that Faith is so far from freezing our Affections to Godliness and Holy Living that contrariwise it doth engender and excite it in us necessarily producing all manner of good Works Finally Altho' God to accomplish our salvation doth regenerate and reform us that we may do those things which are well-pleasing yet notwithstanding we do confess that the good Works which we do by his Spirit are never accounted to us for Righteousness nor can we merit by them that God should take us for his Children because we should be always tossed with doubts and disquiets if our Consciences did not repose themselves upon that satisfaction by which Jesus Christ hath purchased us for himself ARTICLE XXIII We believe That all the Types of the Law ended when as Christ came in the flesh But altho' the Ceremonies are no longer in use yet nevertheless the Substance and Truth of them abideth always in his Person who fulfilled them Moreover we must be holpen by the Law and the Prophets for the right ordering of our Lives and that the Promises of the Gospel may be confirmed to us ARTICLE XXIV We believe That forasmuch as Jesus Christ is conferr'd upon us to be our alone Advocate and that he commandeth us even in our private Prayers to present our selves before the Father in his Name and that it is in no wise lawful for us to call upon God in any other

Monsieur de Beza acquainted the Assembly of those Heresies disperst abroad in Poland and Transylvania by divers Persons against the Unity Divinity and humane Nature of our Lord Jesus Christ receiving the Errors of ancient Hereticks particularly of Samosatenus Arrius Photinus Nestorius Eutyches and many others yea and of Mahomet himself also Whereupon the Synod unanimously voted their Detestation of all those abominable Errors and Heresies and adviseth all Pastors Elders and Deacons and generally all the Faithful vigourosly to oppose their Admission into the Churches of France IV. Information was also given concerning the Errors of Cozain by the Minister of Normandy and Monsieur de Chandieu and Monsieur de L'estang were ordered to examine the Table of the said Cozain and to bring in a Report of it and finally it was condemned rejected and detested And the English Bishops shall be desired to suppress the Books of the said Hereticks which began to be in vogue among them V. The Nine and twenty Articles of the Confession of our Faith and the others concerning Church-discipline being read and propounded by the Minister of Bourdeaux notice was given concerning a certain Physitian who maintained the Supremacy of the Magistrate as Head of the Church and had published certain Writings under his own Hand and Name containing the Reasons of his Opinion Whereupon the whole Assembly ratified the said Articles of it's Confession and rejected the Error of the said Physitian and of all others who would abolish Church-discipline confounding it with the Civil Government of the Magistrate It condemns also those Errors proceeding from the afore-mentioned Tenent VI. Moreover the Synod ordered Monsieur de Beza to answer them who impugned the aforesaid Articles of our Faith and the Discipline of our Church and in special the above-mentioned Physitian and our Brother the Minister of Bourdeaux shall deliver unto Monsieur de Beza the Points Collected by him that must be answer'd and the whole shall be communicated to the Brethren of Geneva Union must be placed instead of Unity in the Art concerning these two words in the 26. Art see Synod of Nismes g. m. Art 20. And the 3d. Synod of Rochel Art 8. concerning divers Obsenric in the Confession of Faith VII Instead of Vnity there shall be replaced the Word Vnion in the six and thirtieth Article of our Confession of Faith And whereas the Deputies of the Isle of France and Brie do conceive it needful that the said Article be explain'd in that Clause of it which treats of the Participation of Christ's Substance in the Sacrament of his Supper After a long Conference it was at last resolved That the Synod approving the said Article rejecteth their Opinion who will not receive the Word Substance By which word the Synod doth not understand any Confusion Commixture or Conjunction after a carnal Manner nor in any wise Natural but a most true and intimate Conjunction after a spiritual Manner by which Jesus Christ is so far made ours and we his that there is no Conjunction of Bodies either Natural or Artificial which can be so close and intimate nor is this our fence and meaning as if by the Conjunction of Christ's Person and Substance with ours there did result a kind of third Person and Substance No but this only That by his Vertue all that is in him needful for our Salvation is hereby most freely and intimately given and communicated to us Nor do we consent with them who say that we communicate in his Merits Gifts and Spirit without his being at all made ours But with the Apostle in his Epistle to the Ephesians admiring this Supernatural and to our reason incomprehensible Mystery we do believe that we are made Partakers of his Body delivered to the death for us and of his Blood shed for us so that we are Bone of his bones and Flesh of his flesh and that we receive him together with all his Gifts by faith wrought in us through the incomprehensible Vertue and Efficacy of his Holy Spirit and thus do we in this Sence understand these Words of our Lord speaking Who so eateth the Flesh and drinketh the Blood of the Son of Man hath everlasting Life Item I am the Vine you art the Branches and we must abide in him that we may bring forth much Fruit and that we are Members of his Body and of his Flesh and of his Bones And as we derive our death from the first Adam because we participate of his Substance so must we as truly partake of the second Adam Christ Jesus that we may derive life from him And therefore all Pastors and the Faithful in general are required not to yield unto the contrary Opinions because what is now asseretd by us hath firm footing in the express Word of God Three Original Copies of the Confess 〈◊〉 of Faith the 〈◊〉 at Rochel 〈◊〉 2d 〈…〉 and the 〈…〉 VIII Finally when as the Confession of Faith was read and ended the whole Synod decreed that without any Additions there should be three Copies fairly written in Parchmin whereof one should be kept in this City of Rochel another in Bearn and the third at Geneva and all three should be subscribed by the Ministers and Elders Deputies of the Provinces of this Kingdom in the Name of all the Churches Moreover her Majesty the Queen of Navarre and my Lords the Princes of Navarre and Conde and the other Lords here present in this Synod are also requested to subscribe it with their own hands CHAP. III. Observations upon the Church-discipline Tuesday the Third of the same Month. I. THE Discipline being read it was judged needful that under the Head of Ministers there should be made this following Addition viz. The most diligently that may be II. Under the fourth Head to these words It shall be granted because of our present Circumstances shall be added the Ninth Article of the Synod of Vertueil III. Under the Eight shall be added Although the Vsage of Imposition of Hands be good and holy yet it shall not be reputed necessary as if it were of the Substance of Ordination The Form of Ordination IV. The Form of Ordination was drawn up by Monsieur de Chandieu in these following Words The Minister who presenteth to the People the Person to be Ordained shall briefly treat of the Institution and Excellency of the Ministery alledging for this purpose these or the like Texts of Holy Scripture viz. 4. Eph. 11. Luke 10.16 John 20.22 2 Cor. 5.19 120. 1 Cor. 4.1 Exhorting every one to take special heed that both Minister and People discharge their proper Duties The Minister shall acquit himself with the greater care and diligence in his Calling because he knows of what high price and excellent account it is with God And the People shall with all Reverence receive the Message of God brought unto them by this his Embassador The Form of Prayer at Ordination was first framed in the Synod

the preservation of their mutual Union and to obtain a commodious Peace it was very well accepted and approved by this Synod who farther declared the necessity of a punctual and general Observation of it at least until such times as it shall please God to incline the Heart of our King to grant us the Free Exercise of our Religion by a Royal and Favourable Edict which may be embraced and approved by all the Reformed Churches of this Kingdom And that the said Union and Order may be carefully preserved all Pastors Colloquies and Provincial Synods are earnestly intreated to put to their helping hand XXXV Professors of our holy Religion having Law-suits or Differences among themselves be it either in Matters Civil or Criminal shall be seriously exhorted by their Pastors to compose their Quarrels by Arbitrators of our own Religion without impleading one another at the Bars of Popish Judges CHAP. V. Of APPEALS I. AN Appeal being brought by the Deputy of the Church of Dangeau re-demanding Monsieur Vian who by certain Colloquies was Licensed and sent unto the Church of Marchenoir and whereunto the Provincial Synod had also consented Upon hearing the Deputies of both Churches and the said Monsieur Vian this Assembly ordered That the said Vian should be appropriated unto the Church of D'angeau and that as he returned homeward he should preach some Sermons at D'angeau aforesaid and then return unto Machenoir where he shall remain by the space of one Month and if within that time the Church of D'angeau do not pay him all the Arrerages of his Stipend which they owe him he shall be affixed wholly unto the foresaid Church of Marchenior and if he be satisfied and return to D'angeau he shall be paid hereafter duly every Quarter his Salary and in case the said Church should again fail in her Duty as formerly in not satisfying the said Vian within three Months that Order of the Provincial Synod shall be confirmed and the said Monsieur Vian shall be appropriated unto the Church of Marchenior II. An Appeal being brought by the Church of Fescamp concerning the Person of Monsieur Lazarus Robert their Pastor who by the Provincial Synod of Normandy was lent unto the Church of Pont-dorson it is ordained That the said Monsieur Lazarus shall remain with his Church of Fescamp provided they take care for his better maintenance III. The Church of St. John d' Angely brought an Appeal by the Advice of the Synod of Xaintonge wherein they declare That * * * Monsieur D'amours was a mighty Man in Prayer and Chaplain in Ordinary to Henry IV. before his last Apostasie The very Papists in the Army and the greatest Lords and Commanders in it were melted by him in that Duty and would call upon the King That before they went to fight that the Minister who prayed yesterday might pray again Monsieur D'amours was sent unto the Church of Barbezieux the Letters and Memoirs of the Consistory and other Writings having been read this Assembly determined That the Synod of Xaintonge had very good and sufficient grounds for their disposal of Monsieur D'amours but Madam the King 's only Sister having requested of this National Synod by her Letter That the said Monsieur D'amours might be Pastor to the Church in her Family this Assembly granteth unto her Royal Highness the said Monsieur D'amours for the Service of her Church and Family and forasmuch as the said D'amours doth ordinarily reside at St. John the said Church is intreated to help that of Barbezieux and in case they do not the Provincial Synod are ordered to make provision for them Monsieur Turquet Deputy for the Church of Lion entred his Protest against this Ordinance concerning Monsieur D'amours as prejudicial to the Church of Lions which claimed him of Right as their own IV. An Appeal was brought by the Church of Marianges from the Provincial Synod of Languedoc which had adjudged Monsieur Moinier to the Church of Nismes the Church of Nismes requesting That in regard of her great Needs Monsieur Moinier might be left unto her This Synod de creeth That forasmuch as the said Church of Marianges hath not appeared to defend its Appeal the Order of the Provincial Synod of Languedoc shall stand in force V. Complaint being made by the Church of Aymet against a Decree passed in the National Synod of Montauban which adjudged Monsieur Balarand unto the Church of Castres the Deputy of Aymet requiring that the said Decree might be revers'd and the said Balarand restored unto the Church of Aymet for the Reasons assigned by them and Monsieur Rotan being heard on the behalf of the Church of Castres it is ordained by this present Synod That Monsieur Balarand doth of Right belong unto the Church of Aymet and that he shall be restored again unto the said Church which may recal him within three Months counting from this 14th of June 1596 and in case of his Disobedience unto this Order he shall be interdicted the Exercise of his Ministry VI. An Appeal was brought by Monsieur Simon L'hermite Lord of Puy deposed from the holy Ministry by the Colloquy and Classis of Fontenay held at St. Germain in March last the causes and grounds of his Appeal having been reported to us and the motives inducing the said Colloquy to depose him to wit his pertinacious asserting That the Humane Nature of our Lord Jesus Christ was destroyed in his Death This Synod appointed Master Merlin Rotan de Serres and the Lord du Plessis to confer with the said du Puy and to convince him of his Error who relating to us That the said du Puy doth own and approve our Confession of Faith and that he had offended and fallen into an Error as above-mentioned which also the said du Puy confessed openly before this Assembly That he had held that erroneous Opinion but doth now acknowledge the Humanity of our Lord Jesus to have been ever conjoyned to his Divinity in Life and Death yea whilst his Body lay in the Grave and he doth abjure all other Errors contrary unto this Truth now subscribed by him The Deputies also of the Province of Poictou having been heard upon the whole matter this Assembly approveth the Proceedings of the said Colloquy as just and equitable But because the said du Puy hath abjur'd that his Error and earnestly desireth to serve the Church of God and promiseth for the future to carry himself with greater modesty and humility this Assembly doth restore the said du Puy unto his Office of the Ministry yet ordaineth That for three Months he shall be silent and not exercise any of the Publick Duties thereof which time expired he getting a Certificate of his pious Conversation from that Church wherein he liveth he may be by the approbation of the Colloquies sent unto any Congregation which shall give him a Call CHAP. VI. Particular MATTERS I. THE Theses of Anthony de L' Escale being presented unto this Synod

were celebrated wherein the Pastors from England and the other Nations should all mutually communicate together and that Sacred Feast should commence with a most Religious Fast not only to be observed by those Deputies but also by that particular Church where this Synod shall be assembled that so the assistance and blessing of God may be prayed down upon this holy and important work 9. Let such Deputies be chosen whose tempers lead and bend them unto this noble design that is to say let them be such as are peaceable grave and men fearing God prudent and not contentious let them come furnished with full power and with ample Letters of Authority to proceed in this great and good work and let this be couched in the same Letters of Commission that their Principals who send them do sincerely promise to receive with all possible respect the Conclusions of this Assembly and that they will by all just and lawful ways see them observed And during the Session of this Synod let there be unanimously published in all the Provinces a General Fast in order to the deriving down the blessing of God Upon it und to touch the hearts of the people with respect and reverence for it 10. During the sitting of this Assembly it were sit that Messengers should go and come from His Majesty of Great Britain that so nothing might be concluded in it without his Advice and Authority and that as soon as the Conference shall be ended the whole body of this Assembly should pass over into England to make tender of their Duty to His Majesty and to thank him and receive his sage Advice about the means of reducing into practice their Synodical and Pacisick Counsels and Conclusions 11. It will be necessary that before the breaking up of this Assembly they would assign a certain day within the year of meeting again at the same place and make report then and there of what has been done it their respective Provinces to effect and execute it and what obstructions they met with in their prosecution of it For it will be a most difficult matter in one Assembly to provide all Expedients for Peace and Union And there may be those Provinces who may not approve of every point concerted and agreed on or they may happen to pitch on some better means than were at first seen and contrived 12. In the interval of these two Assemblies His Majesty of England and the Provinces of our Confession may so order it that some Pastors and Doctors of the Lutheran way may be sent from the Lutheran Princes and Churches unto this second Assembly to travail in this excellent work of Reuniting them with us and us with them If this can be obtained the means of Agreement are likely to be such as these following 13. The Points in difference betwixt us and the Lutheran Churches are of two sorts There be some wherein our Agreement is very easie of this nature are the Ceremonies of the Lutheran Churches which may be excused and tolerated because they be matters rather of decency than of necessity As also some certain Opinions about Predestination concerning which a special Article may be framed in our common Confession which all without any difficulty would approve of provided always that curiosity might be avoided And this was done in the Confession of Ausburg which speaks exceeding soberly and expresly declineth that Question There is also some difference betwixt us about the necessity of Baptism which in a good sense may be affirmed necessary to Salvation that is to say that Baptism should be celebrated in the Christian Church and necessary that it be not despised but observed by every particular Member without pushing on the Question of necessity any farther 14. There is in the next place that Article of the Lord's Supper wherein we shall meet with more difficulty for it hath two main brandies 1. That of the Ubiquity of Christ's Body 2. Another about our Receiving of and Communion with the Body of Christ in the Sacrament 15. As to the first of these Points we may well agree in these things 1. That Jesus Christ took in the Womb of the Virgin Mary a true Humane Body like unto ours in all things sin only excepted 2. That his Body hath true flesh and its quantity and dimensions 3. That when his Body was lodged in the Womb of the blessed Virgin and hung upon the Cross and lay buried in the Grave it was not at that time elsewhere nor in divers other places at once 4. That the Eternal Son of God is every where present in all places 5. That he is ascended up into Heaven that he fitteth at the right Hand of God that the Father hath given him all Power in Heaven and in Earth 6. That Glorification hath removed from him the infirmity but not abolished the Verity of his Humane Nature 7. That in the last day he shall come in that self same flesh which he took from the Virgin Mary to judge both the quick and the dead If besides these there be some differrent Opinions about which we cannot agree this must be obtained from both Parties that they do not thereupon condemn and damn each other and that no more Books about this Controversie be hereafter written nor any Invectives thrown out in Sermons from the Pulpit but that we live in brotherly Love waiting upon God for more Light who will not refuse it unto them that in Faith beg it of him 16. Touching the Sacrament and our participation of the Body of Christ we may harmoniously agree in these Points 1. That the Sacramental Elements are not bare and empty Signs nor only meer naked Symbols and simple Instituted Figures of the Truth 2. That in the Lord's Supper we do really and in very deed partake of the Body of Christ Jesus 3. That the Bread is not transubstantiated nor ceaseth to be Bread after the Consecration Whence it follows 4. That the Sacrament ought not to be adored but our hearts must be lifted up unto Jesus Christ in Heaven As for the manner of our participation of the Body of Christ in his Holy Supper we need not be scrupulously inquisitive about it only to joyn Issue with the Apostle who saith in the 3d to the Ephesians that Jesus Christ dwelleth in our hearts by Faith whence it inevitably follows that he is a meer stranger unto the hearts of all Unbelievers But if any one be otherwise perswaded let him succour and support his weak Brethren and not judge and persecute them with violence and cruelty Wherefore in those matters wherein we be all agreed let 's walk with one another hand in hand heartily and chearfully towards Heaven 17. We know there be two sorts of Errors some in Points of Faith and others in exterior Actions and Practice Of this first sort are those Errors about the nature of Jesus Christ about Predestination and Free will of the Second are those about Communion in

all in all produceth in Man a will to believe and the Act of Believing also CANON XV. God doth not owe this Grace unto any Person For how should God be indebted unto him who can do nothing He that is first hath something that may be repayed him again but what can he owe unto him who hath nothing of his own but Sin and Lyes He then who hath received this Grace from God should yield Everlasting thanks unto God and in truth he is thankful He who hath not received it or who careth not for these Spiritual concerns but pleaseth himself in his own or is unconcerned for them he doth in vain boast to have that which he hath not And as for those who make an outward profession of Faith and Amendment of Life we ought not to speak or judge of them otherwise than well this the Apostles learn us For the Secrets of Mens hearts are hidden from us But as for others who be not called we should in our Prayers beseech God who calleth things which are not as if they were to call them effectually and we ought not in any wise proudly to insult over them as if we had made our selves by our own proper vertue to differ from them CANON XVI And whereas by the Fall Man ceaseth not to be a Man that is to be a Person endowed with Understanding and Will and Sin which hath spread its Contagion through all Mankind hath not abolished the Nature of Mankind but hath depraved and spiritually killed it So this Divine Grace of Regeneration doth not operate upon Men as upon Stocks and Blocks nor doth it take avvay their Will and its properties nor doth it force and compell it against its ovvn accord but it doth Spiritually enliven heal reform and bend it not less svveetly than povverfully so that vvhereas formerly Rebellions and proud risings of the Flesh did fully domineer in it novv that prompt and sincere Obedience of the Spirit begins to reign in it in vvhich consists the true Spiritual restablishment and freedom of our Will And vvere it not that this vvonderful Worker of all good did in this manner vvork for us Man could never hope of rising again from his lapst Estate by his ovvn free Will vvhich vvhilst he stood in Innocency precipitated him into the gulph of perdition CANON XVII So then as this Almighty Operation of God by vvhich he produceth and sustains our Natural Life doth not exclude but requires the use of means through vvhich according to his Infinite Wisdom and Goodness he is pleased to exert his ovvn povver so that aforesaid Supernatural Work of God by vvhich he doth Regenerate us doth not exclude nor in any vvise subvert the preaching of the Gospel vvhich the most Wise God hath ordained to be the Seed of Regeneration and Food of the Soul Wherefore as the Apostles and Doctors vvho have follovved them have all along piously taught and preached up this Grace of God to his Glory and the abasement of ●ll pride and yet in the mean vvhile did never neglect to keep their People vvithin the bounds of Duty by the Sacred Councils of the Gospel such as hearing of the Word participation of the Sacraments and Exercise of Discipline so also God forbid that those vvho novv teach and learn in the Church should presume to tempt God by separating those things vvhich in his good pleasure he vvill have most straitly conjoyned together For Grace is conferred by Admonitions and the more ready vve are in the performance of our Duty the more Illustrious is the benefit of God vvorking in us and it s then that Gods Work goeth onvvard most kindly And unto this our God and to him onely is due all the Glory of the Means and of their Fruit and saving-Efficacy for ever and ever Amen Errors Rejected The Orthodox Doctrine having been Explained the Synod Rejecteth their Errors CANON I. WHO teach That in strictness and propriety of Discourse Original Sin vvas not of it self sufficient to condemn all Mankind or that it should deserve Temporal and Eternal Punishments for they do professedly contradict the Holy Apostle Rom. 5.12 vvho saith That by one Man only Sin entred into the World and Death by Sin and so Death passed over all Men forasmuch as all Men have sinned And ver 16. The fault was by one Offence only unto Condemnation And Rom. 6.23 The Wages of Sin is Death Who teach that Spiritual gifts and good habits and vertues such as Goodness Holyness and Righteousness were not in the Will of Man when he was first created and so by consequence that they could not be lost nor separated from him by the fall For this is repugnant to that Character and Description we have of Gods Image front the Apostle Ephes 4.24 Who tells us it consisted in Righteousness and true Holyness which Vertues are truly seated in the Will CANON III. Who teach that Spiritual gifts were not separated from the Will of Man in his Estate of Spiritual Death because the Will of it self was never corrupted but only impeded in its Actions by the darkness of the Understanding and the unruliness of the Affections which Impediments being once removed the Will can display its Natural Liberty that is to say it can of it self either will and choose or not will and refuse whatsoever good is objected and propounded to it This is a mere Novelty and very erroneous tending only to exalt the powers of Free Will above the power of Free Grace contrary to what the Prophet Jeremiah hath long since asserted chap. 17.9 The Heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked And contrary to what hath been taught us by the Holy Apostle Ephes 8.3 Among whom viz. the Children of disobedience we also had heretofore our Conversation in the lusts of our Flesh fulfilling the desires of our Flesh and of our Minds CANON IV. Who teach that Man in his Unregenerate Estate is not totally nor properly impeded or deprived of all Spiritual Powers unto Spiritual Good but that he may hunger and thirst after Righteousness and Life and offer unto God the Sacrifice of a contrite and broken Heart which will be acceptable unto God For these Assertions are downright contradictions to express Texts of Scripture as Eph. 2.1 And you hath he quickned being dead in your Sins and Trespasses And Gen. 6.5 And 8.21 Every imagination of the thought of Mans Heart is only evil and that continually from his youth upwards Besides to hunger and thirst after Life and to desire and long for deliverance from Sin and its Misery and to offer unto God the Sacrifices of a broken heart this is the peculiar property of the Regenerate Psal 51.19 And of them who by our Blessed Saviour are styled Blessed Persons CANON V. Who teach that Man corrupted and as yet in his Natural Estate can so well use and improve common Grace by which they understand the Light of Nature or those gifts which remain in him

since the fall that by his good usage of them he may by degrees obtain a far greater Grace to witt Evangelical and Saving Grace yea and Salvation it self and so by this means God is ready on his part to discover himself and to reveal Jesus Christ unto all because he doth sufficiently and efficaciously administer unto all those necessary means whereby they may attain the Knowledge of Jesus Christ and of Faith and Repentance But that this is notoriously false besides the Experience of all Ages it is evident also from Scripture Testimony Psal 147.19 20. He declared his words unto Jacob his Statutes and his Judgments unto Israel he hath not dealt so with every Nation and as for his Judgments they have not known them Acts. 14.16 And in times past God suffered all Nations to walk in their own wayes Acts 16.6 7. And they were forbidden viz. Paul and his Company by the Holy Ghost to declare or preach his Word i. e. the Gospel in Asia and when they were come into Mysia they essayed to go into Bithynia but the Spirit of our Lord Jesus suffered them not CANON VI. Who teach that when God doth truely and savingly convert Man it cannot be that he should put into his Will new Qualities Habits or Gifts and that therefore Faith by which we be first of all Converted and from which we be called Believers is not a quality or gift infused into us by God but an Action of Man only and that it cannot be called a gift unless it be upon this Account that Man can of himself attain it For these are palpable Contradictions to the Divinely inspired Scriptures which do in plain terms declare That God sheddeth abroad into our Hearts the new Qualities of Faith Obedience and the sence and feeling of his Love Jer. 31.3 I will put my Law in them and I will write it in their hearts Esaiah 44.3 I will pour my Spirit upon thy Seed Rom. 5. ver 5. And the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost who is given to us And these Opinions be repugnant to the Prayers and Practice of Gods Church in all Ages who have ever cryed with Jeremy 31.18 Convert me O God and I shall be converted CANON VII Who teach that Converting Grace is no other than a sweet perswasion or as some others of them explain it that the most noble manner of working in Mans Conversion and most suitable to his Humane Nature is that which is done by swasion and that nothing can hinder but that the Grace which they call Moral that is to say Arguments simply perswasive may change the Natural Man into Spiritual yea that God doth not any way else induce the Will to consent but by this way and manner of perswasions and herein consisteth the efficaciousness of Gods operation by which he doth so much surmount the operation of Satan Sathan only promising temporal good things but God such as be Eternal For this is rank Pelagianisme and crosseth the whole tenour of Sacred Scriptures which besides this way of operation by Moral Swasion in the Conversion of Man doth yet acknowledge another to wit that of Gods Holy Spirit which is far more Divine and efficacious as in Ezek. 36.26 I will give unto them a new heart and a new spirit will I put within them and I will take away the heart of stone and give unto them an heart of Flesh CANON VIII Who teach that God doth not exert in the Conversion of Man all the Majesty of his Omnipotency so as thereby most powerfully and infallibly to bow his stubborn and rebellious Will to believe and convert but notwithstanding Gods exertion of all those operations of Grace which are used by him in Mans Conversion yet Man may resist God and the Holy Ghost even then when as God purposed and had resolved to convert him yea and that in very deed Man doth oftentimes resist God in such a manner as doth totally and intirely hinder his Regeneration yea that it is still in his own power whether he will be regenerated or not For this is nothing else but to rob God of the efficaciousness of his Grace in our Conversion and to subject the Action of God Almighty to the will of the weak Man which is contrary to the Apostolical Doctrine Ephes 1.19 learning us That we believe according to the efficacy of his Mighty Povver And 2 Thessalon 1.11 And God fulfilleth and accomplisheth in us all the good pleasure of his goodness and the work of Faith with power 2 Pet. 1.3 And by his Divine power are given unto us all things appertaining to Life and Godlyness CANON IX Who teach that Grace and Free Will are Con-Causes and act though each his part yet jointly together in the first point of Conversion and that Grace as a Cause doth not in order precede the efficiency or motion of the Will that is in plain English God doth not efficaciously help the Will of Man to convert it self before the Will of it self doth first move and determine it self But Gods Ancient Church hath many Ages since anathematized this Doctrine of Pelagius by the words of the Apostle Rom. 9.16 'T is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth but of God that sheweth Mercy 1 Cor. 4.7 And who is it that maketh thee to differ from another And vvhat hast thou vvhich thou hast not received And Philip. 2.13 'T is God vvho vvorketh in us vvith Efficacy both to vvill and to do according to his ovvn good pleasure CHAP. IV. Concerning the Perseverance of SAINTS CANON I. THOSE whom God calleth according to his determinate purpose unto the Fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord and regenerateth by his Holy Spirit he delivers them from the Dominion and Slavery of Sin but not wholly from their Flesh and Body of Sin in this Life CANON II. Hence it is that we dayly see so many sins of Infirmity and that the best Works of Saints are not without their Spots which is a continual ground for their deep humiliation before God and of recourse unto a crucified Jesus and dayly more and more to mortifie the Flesh by the Spirit of Prayer and the Sacred exercises of Piety and to breath after perfection till that being rid of this Body of Sin they may for ever Reign in Heaven with the Lamb of God CANON III. By reason of the Remainders of Sin indwelling in them and of the Worlds and Satans Temptations those who be converted could not persist in this Grace if they were left unto their own Strength But God is faithful who through the Riches of his Mercy doth confirm them in that Grace which he hath once given them and will keep them by his power unto the end CANON IV. Now although this power of God strengthning and preserving true Believers in their Estate of Grace be so very great that it can never be surmounted by the Flesh yet so is it that

Loride an Elder for Scribes of the Synod who being Chosen did all of them take their Places accordingly CHAP. II. AS soon as the Officers of the Synod were nominated and seated the Lord de Magdelaine Counsellor to his Majesty in his Court of Parliament at Paris and Deputed by his Majesty to sit as his Commissioner in this Assembly deliver'd the King's Letters patents for his Commission which being Read they were Transcribed and Inserted into the Body of the Acts of this Synod whose Form and Tenor was as followeth Copy of his Majesties Letters Patents given to the Lord Commissioner LOVIS by the Grace of God King of France and of Navar To our Trusty and Beloved Consellor in our Courts of Parliament of Paris the Lord of Magdelaine Greeting We have permitted our Subjects of the Protestant Religion to hold in our Town of Loudun on the Tenth Day of November next a National Synod composed of all the Deputies of the Provinces of our Kingdom for to treat of matters concerning their Religion and being to choose a Person fitly qualified and of known Loyalty and Fidelity to us to assist in it and as our Commissioner to represent our Person in the said Assembly we well knowing those Services which you have rendered us in sundry Honourable Imployments wherein we had Commissionated you and which you have most worthily Discharged We have therefore judged that we could not make a better choice than of your self being well assured that you will continue to us the Proofs and Evidences of your Affection to our Service For these causes we have Commissionated and Deputed and we do now Commissionate and Depute you the said Lord of Magdelaine by these Presents signed with our Hand to pass over unto our Town of Loudun and in our place and stead to assist in the Synod there Convocated that you may then and there propound and answer all those things which we have given you in Commandment according to those Memoirs and Instructions we have delivered to you And you are to take special care that no other matters be there proposed nor debated but such as ought of right to be treated of in those Assemblies and which are permitted by our Edicts and in case they should enterprise any thing to the contrary you shall hinder it and by Interposing of out Authority suppress it or you shall speedily advise us of it that we may by such courses as in our Wisdom we shall judge most fit obviate and prevent it And for so doing we give you power commission and special command by these Presents for such is our Pleasure Given at Bourdeaux this Sixth day of September in the Year One Thousand Six Hundred Fifty and Nine and of our Reign the Seventeenth Signed LOVIS And a little Lower PHELIPPEAVX And Sealed at the lower end with the Great Seal and Yellow Wax CHAP. III. AFter reading his Majesty's Letters Patents the Lord Commissioner made this ensuing Speech unto the Assembly A Copy of the Lord Commissioners Speech Sirs ALthough my many Defects of which I am very conscious and my great Age might have well deterr'd me from accepting of this Commission with which it hath pleased his Majesty to grace and honour me and from coming hither and declaring his Will and Pleasure unto this eminent Assembly made up of the most able and considerable Persons of the Kingdom chosen out of the Body of the Professors of our Religion yet nevertheless I can boldly speak it that according to that Inclination which God hath given me for serving the King and the Publick unto which I have applied my self along time I did not in the least hesitate on this Occasion but did over-look all other Considerations hoping for Supplies from the Supreme Goodness to enable me to the performance of my Duty and from yours also that you will be readily disposed to facilitate what is desired of you And hence it is that I conceive with Joy a good issue of our Affairs even now when as I begin to speak unto you from his Majesty and you also have already took notice of it in that Grant vouchsafed you for your Assembling in this place according to your request which is a most remarkable effect of his Majesty's especial Favour to you which the good Providence of God hath now inspired into him for you after so many other signal Acts of his Royal Bounty you have formerly received from him for which I do not in the least suspect or question your Gratitude and Duty nor the sense of that Obligation which lieth upon you on many Accounts of yielding to him all Obedience according to the revealed Will of God who is the Sole and Sovereign Lord of all Men and of all things whatsoever And when I thus speak of his Majesty you know very well that we must understand all Persons acting by Authority from him according to the same revealed Will of Almighty God and the matter being so notorious we cannot but observe it in this place even that kindness and Justice you have upon many and sundry occasions had proof and sensible experience of from the Hands of his Majesty's first and Principal Minister of State his Eminency the Lord Cardinal Mazarin Nor need I enlarge on this Subject only let me add but one Reflection of my own about this last Favour the Convocation of this Synod which you believed to be at this time so needful for you you stand highly indebted unto his Eminency for it and the best and chiefest Fruit you can gather from its Consultations and Resolutions will be this to be more united among your selves and to maintain in Peace and Concord the whole Body of those of our Religion who are represented by you and to terminate and pacifie those Differences and Dissentions which are among you For sith they are produced through the Vice and Weakness of our Humane Nature and State and begin in the noblest Parts where the whole Body receiveth an alteration we may very much fear a Dissipation if only topiual Remedies be applied for these alone do seldom operate or contribute but a little to the Union and Conservation of the whole And whereas all Assemblies of whit kind soever do depend upon his Majesty who as supreme Lord hath a Right and Jurisdiction over all Persons and Actions and to ordain even in and about matters concerning the Church which was always consider'd as a Part of the State His Majesty was therefore pleased to vouchsafe you this Synod so earnestly desired by you that you might regulate past matters and re-establish among you that Order which you ought to keep for the future and the rather because there be many years lapsed since you had an Assembly of this nature Sirs It is most certain that your Enemies who design your diminution and ruin could never meet with a more favourable means and opportunity to attempt it than by maintaining and fomenting your Divisions and Dissentions for these will