Nice Creed Athanasius Creed and that which is commonly called the Apostles Creed ought throughly to be Received and Believed for they may be proved by most certain Warrants of Holy Scripture The Presbyterians Say the very same thing For in the Confession of Faith of the French Reformed Church who are well known to be Calvinists Article the Fifth these are the Words Suivant Cela nous Advouans les Trois Symboles Ossavoir des Apostres de Nice d'Athanase pource qu'ils sont Conformes a la Parole de Dieu We avow the three Symbols viz. That of the Apostles that of Nice and that of Athanasius because they are agreeable to the Word of God The Papists Profess likewise to Believe these three Creeds but not upon the same Grounds which the Church of England and the Presbyterians do For they Believe and Embrace those Summaries of Faith because they are agreeable to and may be proved by Holy Scripture Whereas the Papists Believe them for the Authority of Tradition or of those Councils that made or Confirmed them And touching that called The Apostles Creed They tell this Story The Apostles before they departed one from another the time whereof is not certainly known all Twelve Assembled together and full of the Holy Ghost each laying down his Sentence agreed upon 12 principal Articles of the Christian Faith and appointed them for a Rule to all Believers which is therefore called and is The Apostles Creed not written in Paper as the Scripture but from the Apostles delivered by Tradition The ninth Article of the Church of England Of Original Sin ORiginal Sin standeth not in the following of Adam as the Pelagians do vainly talk but it is the Fault and Corruption of the Nature of every Man that naturally is Ingendred of the Off-spring of Adam whereby Man is very far gone from Original Righteousness and is of his own Nature inclined to Evil so that the Flesh lusteth always contrary to the Spirit and therefore in every Person born into this World it deserveth Gods Wrath and Damnation and this Infection of Nature doth Remain yea in them that are Regenerated whereby the Lusts of the Flesh called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which some do expound the Wisdom some the Sensuality some the Affection some the desire of the Flesh is not subject to the Law of God And although there is no Condemnation for them that Believe and are Baptized yet the Apostle doth Confess that Concupiscence and Lust hath of it self the Nature of Sin The Presbyterians Our first Parents being seduced by the Subtilty and Temptation of Satan sinned in eating the forbidden Fruit This their Sin God was pleas'd according to his Wife and Holy Counsel to permit having purpose to order his own Glory By this Sin they fell from their Orignal Righteousness and Communion with God and so became dead in Sin and wholly defiled in all their Duties Faculties and Parts of Soul and Body They being the root of all Mankind the Guilt of this Sin was imputed and the same death in Sin and Corrupted Nature conveyed to all their Posterity descended from them by ordinary Generation From this Original Corruption whereby we are utterly indisposed disabled and made opposite to all Good and wholly inclined to all Evil do proceed all Actual Transgressions This Corruption of Nature during this Life doth Remain in those that are Regenerated and although it be through Christ Pardoned and Mortified yet both it self and all the Motions thereof are truly and properly Sin The Papists If any one shall deny that the Guilt of Crignial Sin is remitted by the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ which is Conferred in Baptism or shall Assert That the whole thereof which has any true and proper Nature of Sin is not thereby taken away but shall say That the same is only Pruned or weakned or not Imputed Let him be Accursed Yet this Holy Synod Consesses and Believes That even after Baptism Concupiscence radix peccati the Root of Corruption does remain but it being left for Tryal or Exercise does not any way hurt those that Consent not thereunto This Concupiscence the Apostle sometimes calls Sin Rom. 6. 6. and 7. 5. But this Holy Synod does declare That the Catholick Church never understood it to be called Sin because it is truly and properly Sin in the Regenerate but because ex peccato est It is of Sin and inclines to Sin And whoever shall think otherwise Let him be Anathema So that once more the Church of England nay the Apostle too himself is not only Diametrically contradicted but expresly Cursed The tenth Article of the Church of England Of Free Will THE Condition of Man after the fall of Adam is such that he cannot turn and prepare himself by his own Natural Strength and good Works to Faith and calling upon God Wherefore we have no power to do good Works pleasant and acceptable to God without the Grace of God by Christ preventing us that we may have a good will and working with us when we have that good will The Presbyterians Man in his state of Innocency had freedom and power to will and to do that which was good and well pleasing to God but yet mutably so that he might fall from it Man by his fall into a state of Sin hath wholly lost all Ability of Will to any Spiritual Good accompanying Salvation So as a natural Man being altogether averse from that good and dead in Sin is not able by his own strength to Convert himself or to prepare himself thereunto When God converts a Sinner and translates him into the state of Grace he freeth him from his natural bondage under Sin and by his Grace alone inables him freely to will and to do that which is Spiritually good yet so as that by reason of his remaining Corruption he doth not perfectly nor only will that which is Good but doth also that which is evil The Will of Man is made perfectly and immediately free to Good alone in the state of Glory The Papists If any one shall say That the Free Will of Man moved and excited by God does not Co-operate by assenting to God exciting and calling whereby it prepares and disposes it self to obtain the Grace of Justification Let him be Accursed The eleventh Article of the Church of England Of the Justification of Man WE are accounted Righteous before God only for the merit of our Lord Saviour Jesus Christ by Faith not for our own works and deservings Wherefore that we are justified by Faith only is a most wholesom Doctrine and very full of Comfort as more largely is expressed in the Homtly of Justification The Presbyterians Those whom God effectually Calleth he also freely Justifieth not by insusing Righteousness into them but by pardoning their Sins and by accounting and accepting their Persons as Righteous not for any thing wrought in them or done by them
of whose Authority was never any doubt in the Church viz. Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy Joshua Judges Ruth 1 Samuel 2 Samuel 1 Kings 2 Kings 1 Chronicles 2 Chronicles Ezra Nehemiah Esther Job Psalmes Proverbs Ecclesiastes Solomons Song Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations Ezekiel Daniel Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi And the other Books as Hierom saith the Church doth Read for Example of Life and Instruction of Manners All the Books of the New Testament as they are commonly Received we do Receive and Account them Canonical The Presbyterians Under the Name of Holy Scripture or the Word of God Written are now Contain'd all the Books of the Old and New Testament which are these Genesis c. just as the Church of England reckons them All which are given by Inspiration to be the Rule of Faith and Life The Books commonly called Apocrypha not being of Divine Inspiration are no part of the Canon of the Scripture and therefore are of no Authority in the Church of God nor to be any otherwise approved or made use of than other Humane Writings The Authority of the Holy Scripture for which it ought to be Believ'd and Obey'd dependeth not upon the Testimony of any Man or Church but wholly upon God who is Truth it self the Author thereof and therefore it is to be Receiv'd because it is the Word of God We may be mov'd and induc'd by the Testimony of the Church to an High and Reverend esteem of the Holy Scriptures And the Heavenliness of the Matter the Efficacy of the Doctrine the Majesty of the Stile the Consent of all the Parts the Scope of the whole which is to give all Glory to God the full Discovery it makes of the only way of Mans Salvation the many other incomparable Excellencies and the entire Perfection thereof are Arguments whereby it doth abundantly Evidence it to be the Word of God yet notwithstanding our full Perswasion and Assurance of the Infallible Truth and Divine Authority thereof is from the Inward Work of the Holy Spirit bearing Witness by and with the Word in our Hearts The whole Council of God concerning all things necessary for his own Glory Mans Salvation Faith and Life is either expresly set down in Scripture or by good and necessary Consequence may be deduc'd from Scripture unto which nothing at any time is to be added whether by New Revelations of the Spirit or Tradition of Men nevertheless we do acknowledge the Inward Illumination of the Spirit of God to be necessary for the saving understanding of such things as are Revealed in the Word and that there are some Circumstances concerning the Worship of God and Government of the Church Common to Humane Actions and Societies which are to be ordered by the Light of Nature and Christian prudence according to the general Rules of the Word which are always to be observed The Old Testament in Hebrew which was the Native Language of the People of God of old and the New Testament in Greek which at the time of the Writing of it was most generally known to the Nations being immediately inspir'd by God and by his singular Care and Providence kept pure in all Ages are therefore Authentical so as in all Controversies of Religion the Church is finally to Appeal to Them But because these Original Tongues are not known to all the People of God who have Right unto and Interest in the Scriptures and are Commanded in the Fear of God to Read and Search them Therefore they are to be Translated into the Vulgar Language of every Nation unto which they come that the Word of God dwelling plentifully in all they may Worship him in an acceptable manner and through Patience and Comfort of the Scriptures may have hope The Infallible Rule of the Interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture it self and therefore when there is a question about the true and full Sense of any Scripture which is manifold but one it must be searched and known by other places that speak more clearly The Supream Judge by which all Controversies of Religion are to be Determined and all Decrees of Councils Opinions of Ancient Writers Doctrines of Men and Private Spirits are to be examined and in whose Sentence we are to rest can be no other but the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scripture The Papists The Decree of the Council of Trent touching the Canonical Scriptures Session the Fourth The Holy Oecumenical and General Tridentine Council lawfully Congregated in the Holy Spirit the three Legats of the Apostolick See presiding therein considering That the Purity of the Gospel as to Truth and Discipline is contained in Books Written and in Traditions not Written which received by the Apostles from the Mouth of Christ himself or by the Apostles by the Dictates of the Holy Ghost delivered as from Hand to Hand have come down even unto us following the Example of the Fathers does with an equal Affection of Piety and like Reverence receive and regard as well all the Books of the Old and New Testament since one God is Author of both as such Traditions pertaining either to Faith or Manners the same being dictated either Orally by Christ or by the Holy Spirit and Conserv'd by a continual Succession in the Catholick Church and as touching the Books of Holy Scripture that none may doubt which they are which by this Sacred Synod are received an Index of them is annexed and they are as follows Of the Old Testament five Books of Moses that is Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers and Deuteronomy Joshua Judges Ruth Four Books of Kings under that name they include the two Books of Samuel two of Chronicles the first of Esdras and the Second which is called Nehemias Tobias Judith Esther Job David's Psalter of 150 Psalms Proverbs Ecclesiastes the Canticles Wisdom Ecclesiasticus Isaiah Jeremiah with Baruch Ezekiel Daniel Twelve lesser Prophets viz. Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonas Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechary and Malachi and the First and Second of the Maccabees Of the New Testament the Four Evangelists Matthew Mark c. as we reckon them And if any Person shall not receive all the said whole Books with all their Parts as they have wont to be read in the Catholick Church and as they are in the old Vulgar Latin Edition for Sacred and Canonical or knowingly shall contemn the aforesaid Traditions Let him be Anathema or Accursed And the said Sacred Council does also Appoint and Declare That the said old Vulgar Latin Edition which hath by the long use of so many Ages been approved of in the Church shall in all publick Readings Disputations Preachings and Expositions be esteemed Authentick And that none on any pretence whatsoever shall dare or presume to Reject the same And for the restraining of wanton Wits does likewise Decree That no one Person leaning on his own Prudence shall in matters of Faith and Manners pertaining to
Edification of the Christian Doctrine wresting the Scripture to his own Senses dare to interpret the Holy Scripture contrary to the Sense which Holy Mother Church whose Right it is to Judge of the true Sense of Sacred Scriptures hath held or doth hold or against the unanimous Consent of the Fathers though even such Interpretations be never intended to be Publisht Thus the very Words of that pretended Council wherewith agrees Bellarmine de Verbo Dei lib. 1. cap. 7 8 and 9. whereby it plainly appears That the Church of Rome not only Adds to Gods Word Six whole Books besides several parts of Books As the Epistle of Jeremiah the 13 and 14 Chapters of Daniel The Song of the three Children added to the 3d. of Daniel and an Appendix to the Third Chapter of Hester beginning v. 10. all which are in the Vulgar Latin more than the Church of England receives and holds her Accursed for not receiving them but also prefers the Vulgar Latin Edition the most Corrupt and Imperfect Edition extant before the original Texts in Hebrew and Greek And binds up all Christians to interpret Scripture in her own Sense and according to her Pleasure Nor is it any wonder That they should thus treat these Sacred Oracles if we Consider what Esteem they have of them This very Council you see accounts them Imperfect and not a sufficient Rule of Faith and Manners without Traditions and equals Traditions with them declaring They are to be received pari pietatis affectu reverentiâ with the very same Reverence and Pious Affection But the Council was subtlely modest For their Doctors cannot forbear to load the Word of God with Reproaches Scripturae sunt muti judices sunt veluti nasus quidam Cereus The Scriptures are dumb Judges and but like a Nose of Wax says Pighius de Ecclesia pag. 89 90. And Eccius calls them a Black Gospel and Inky Divinity Nor is Cardinal Bellarmine less hold For he maintains Scripturas sine Traditionibus nec simpliciter necessarias nec sufficienter Finem proprium praecipuum non fuisse ut esset Regula Fidei De Verbo Dei l. 4. cap. 4. and 12. That the Scriptures are not simply necessary nor sufficient without Traditions and that their proper and chief end was not That they should be a Rule of Faith And Eccius in his Enchiridion is very positive That the Scripture is not Authentick but by the Authority of the Church wherewith agrees Azorius Instit Mor. Part 2. l. 5. cap. 24. Scriptura Canonica non Agnoscitur aut habetur nisi Ecclesiae Authoritate probetur The Scripture is not own'd or esteem'd Canonical unless it be approved by the Authority of the Church In a Word nothing is more Common in the Works of Popish Authors than such Titles as these Of the Insufficiency of the Obscurity and of the Vncertainty of the Scripture c. Nor have their Practices been unsuitable For in the Bohemian Persecutions between the Years 1620 and 1630 the Papists were wont to say The Scriptures were the Fountain of Heresy and thereupon Nick-nam'd the Bible Wiblia which in the Bohemian Language signifies Vomit A thousand Bibles they burnt and destroyed some at the Market place as was done at Fulneck others brought them in Carts without the Walls as was done at Zalicum and Frutnovia others brought them in heaps to the Gallows as at Hadritium and so in great heaps burnt them The like was done in the Irish Massacre in 41. A plague on 't that damn'd Book has done all the Mischief said some of those Bloody Tories Nor do our English Papists want any thing but an Opportunity to Act the like Villanies For their Principle and Malice is the same as appears by one of their English Pamphlets Intituled The Reconciler of Religions Printed Anno 1663 and Dedicated to one Mr. Lawrence Dibusty Merchant of London in p. 26. we have these Words The Protestants and Sectaries saith he you see he makes no differencen the Case between the Church of England and Dissenters dash out for Apocrypha whole Books as Tobias Judith Ecclesiasticus Wisdom Maccabees Baruch c. whole Chapters as the 13 and 14 of Daniel from the 10 to the 16 of Esther Whole Histories as that of Susanna and the Elders of Bell and the Dragon c. All which the Vniversal Church of God receiveth for Authentical Holy and Canonical And thereupon p. 41. he concludes thus As the Protestant Bible is 't is no more the Word of God than is the Alchoran or Aesops Fables yea it is worse than Aesops Fables it 's a Diabolical Invention and an Heretical Labour and a Sacrilegious Instrument to Deceive and Damn all such poor Souls as Believe it and therefore worthy to be burnt with Fire in the middle of the Market at Noon and let all the People say Amen So be it I give you exactly his Words wherein you have the true Spirit of Popery others may politickly mince the Matter but this is their general Sentiment and accordingly they practice beyond the Seas where to have a Bible in the Vulgar Tongue is Capital And where is now the Man that hath the least Spark of Grace or Modesty that would rather be a Papist than a Presbyterian The seventh Article of the Church of England Of the Old Testament THE Old Testament is not contrary to the New For both in the Old and New Testament Everlasting Life is offered to Mankind by Christ who is the only Mediatour between God and Man being both God and Man wherefore they are not to be heard which feign that the Old Fathers did look only for Transitory Promises Although the Law given from God by Moses as touching Ceremonies and Kites do not bind Christian Men nor the Civil precepts thereof ought for necessity to be received in any Common-Wealth yet notwithstanding no Christian Man whatsoever is free from the Obedience of the Commandments which are called Moral The Presbyterians The Substance of this Article is Asserted and at large Explained and Proved by Calvin in the Second Book of his Institutions cap. 7. 9 10 and 11. too tedious here to Recite The Papists Two Clauses of this Article are Contradicted by the Papists First That of Christs being the only Mediatour between God and Man For they Assign Angels and Saints to be also Mediators and especially the Virgin Mary and pray to them accordingly But of this see more Article the 18 and 31. Secondly Whereas 't is said no Christian Man is free from the Obedience of the Commandements which are called Moral we know the Pope pretends he can dispense with the Moral-Law c. For we find in his Canon-Law Caus 15. q. 6. cap. 2. Auctoritatum in the Glosse are these Words Contra jus Naturale potest dispensare contra Apostolum The Pope can dispense against the Law of Nature and against the Apostles The eighth Article of the Church of England Of the three Creeds THE three Creeds
and it is not possible that Church can err or hath erred at any time in any point Rhem. Annot. on Mat. 23. 2. The twentieth Article of the Church of England Of the Authority of the Church THE Church hath Power to decree Rites and Ceremonies and Authority in Controversies of Faith And yet it is not lawful for the Church to ordain any thing that is contrary to Gods Word written neither may it so expound one place of Scripture that it be repugnant to another wherefore although the Church be a Witness and a Keeper of Holy Writ yet as it ought not to decree any thing against the same so besides the same ought it not to inforce any thing to be believed for necessity of Salvation The Presbyterians The Church has no Power to make any new Articles of Faith but ought simply to adhere to the Doctrine to which God has subjected all without exception It belongeth to Synods and Councils Ministerially to determine Controversies of Faith and Cases of Conscience to set down Rules and Directions for the better ordering of the publick Worship of God and Government of his Church To Receive complaints in Cases of male administration and Authoritatively to determine the same which Decrees and Determinations if consonant to the Word of God are to be receiv'd with Reverence and Submission not only for their Agreement with the Word but also for the power wherewith they are made as being an Ordinance of God appointed thereunto in his Word The Papists Hold that the Church hath Power to change the Sacraments ordain'd even by Christ himself as appears by this Decree of the Council of Trent This Holy Synod declares That the Church hath always had Power in dispensing the Sacraments their Substance being safe to appoint or change according to the variety of times and places such things as may most tend to the profit of the Receivers and greater Veneration of the Sacraments themselves and therefore though from the beginning of the Christian Religion the use of the receiving the Sacrament in both kinds was not unfrequent yet for certain grave and just Causes has approved the receiving only in one kind and decreed the same to be a Law The Church is to judge the Scriptures and not the Scriptures the Church The one and twentieth Article of the Church of England Of the Authority of general Councils GEneral Councils ought not to be gathered together without the Commandement and Will of Princes and when they be gathered together forasmuch as they be an Assembly of Men where of all be not governed with the Spirit Word of God they may err sometime have erred even in things pertaining to God wherefore things ordained by them as necessary to Salvation have neither Strength nor Authority unless it may be declared that they be taken out of Holy Scripture The Presbyterians For the better Government and further Edification of the Church there ought to be such Assemblies as are commonly call'd Synods or Councils As Magistrates may lawfully call a Synod of Ministers and other fit Persons to consult and advise with about matters of Religion so if Magistrates be open Enemies to the Church the Ministers of Christ of themselves by vertue of their Office or they with other fit Persons upon Delegation from their Churches may meet together in such Assemblies All Synods or Councils since the Apostles times whether general or particular may err and many have erred Therefore they are not to be made the Rule of Faith or Practice but to be used as an help in both Synods and Councils are to handle or conclude nothing but that which is Ecclesiastical and are not to intermeddle with Civil Affairs which concern the Common-Wealth unless by way of humble Petition in cases extraordinary or by way of advice for satisfaction of Conscience if they be thereunto required by the Civil Magistrate The Papists To the Popes it belongs to Appoint and direct general Councils Bulla Julii 3. Resumptionis Conc. Trid. A Diocesan Council is to be called by the Bishop a Provincial by the Archbishop a National one by a Patriarch or Primate but a general one the Pope can only call not the Emperour or any without the Popes Consent and approbation The Popes of Rome and not Christian Princes have the Authority and Power of making Laws Ecclesiastical and of calling Councils General Councils confirm'd by the Pope cannot err The two and twentieth Article of the Church of England Of Purgatory THE Romish Doctrine concerning Purgatory Pardons Worshipping and Adoration as well of Images as of Reliques and also Invocation of Saints is a fond thing vainly invented and grounded upon no warrantry of Scripture but rather Repugnant to the Word of God The Presbyterians Purgatory is a mischievous Invention of Satan making void the Cross of Christ intollerably contumelious unto the Mercy of God and which shaketh and overthroweth our Faith The Bodies of Men after Death return to Dust and see Corruption but their Souls which neither dye nor sleep having an immortal subsistance return to God immediately who gave them the Souls of the Righteous being then made perfect in Holiness are received into the highest Heavens where they behold the Face of God in Light and Glory waiting for the full Redemption of their Bodies and the Souls of the Wicked are cast into Hell where they remain in Torments and utter Darkness reserv'd for the Judgment of the last day Besides these two places for Souls separated from their Bodies the Scripture acknowledgeth none The Papists Whereas the Catholick Church guided by the Holy Ghost out of the Holy Scriptures the ancient Tradition of the Fathers and lately in this Vniversal Synod hath taught that there is a Purgatory and the Souls there detained are help'd by the Suffrages of the Faithful especially by the acceptable Sacrifice of the Altar Therefore this Synod commands Bishops that they diligently study and use their endeavours that the sound Doctrine of Purgatory delivered from the Holy Fathers and Sacred Councils be believ'd and heard of the Faithful of Christ and every where Taught and Preached And that the Suffrages of the Faithful living viz. Sacrifices of the Mass Prayers Alms and other works of Piety which are wont to be made by the Faithful for other Faithful People Deceased be piously and devoutly performed according to the Institution of the Church And that what is due for the same by any Persons Wills or otherwise shall not perfunctorily but diligently and accurately be paid and performed by the Priests and Ministers of the Church who are bound to do the same Seeing the power of bestowing Indulgences is by Christ bestowed on the Church and she even in the most ancient times hath used such Power given to her of God The most Holy Synod teacheth and commandeth that the use of Indulgences so wholesom for Christian People and approved by the Authority of Sacred
Councils be retained in the Church and accurseth those who either avouch them to be unprofitable or deny that there is any power in the Church to grant them Let them teach that the Images of Christ the Virgin-Mother of God and other Saints are chiefly in Churches to be had and retained and that due Honour and Worship is to be given to them They who deny That the Saints enjoying Eternal happiness in Heaven are to be called upon or who affirm either that they pray not for us Men or that Invocation of them to pray for us is Idolatry or contrary to the Word of God and repugnant to the Honour of the only Mediatour between God and Men Jesus Christ or that it is folly either by Word and Thought to make supplications to them that reign in Heaven are of an impious Opinion The three and twentieth Article of the Church of England Of Ministring in the Congregation IT is not lawful for any Man to take upon him the Offfce of publick Preaching or Ministring the Sacraments in the Congregation before he be lawfully called and sent to execute the same And those we ought to judge lawfully called and sent which be chosen and called to this work by Men who have publick Authority given unto them in the Congregation to call and send Ministers into the Lords Vineyard The Presbyterians No Man ought to thrust himself to teach or govern in the Church unless he be carefully called thereunto The Papists Whoever shall say That those which are not rightly Ordain'd by Ecclesiastical and Canonical Power but come from elsewhere are lawful Ministers of the Word and Sacraments Let him be Accursed The four and twentieth Article of the Church of England Of speaking in the Congregation in such a Tongue as the People understandeth IT is a thing plainly repugnant to the Word of God and the Custom of the Primitive Church to have publick Prayers in the Church or to Minister the Sacraments in a Tongue not understood of the People The Presbyterians Publick Prayers are to be made in the Vulgar Tongue not in Latin amongst the French and English but so as they may be understood by the whole Assembly forasmuch as it ought to be done to the Edification of the whole Church unto whom by a sound not understood no profit can in any fort Redound Prayer with Thansgiving being one special part of Religious Worship is by God required of all Men and that it may be accepted it is to be made in the name of the Son by the help of his Spirit according to his Will with Understanding Reverence Humility Fervency Faith Love and Perseverance and if Vocal in a known Tongue The Papists Although the Mass contain great Instruction of Faithful People yet it seem'd not expedient to the Fathers that it should every where be said in the Vulgar Tongue If any one shall say That the Rite of the Church of Rome by which part of the Canon and words of Consecration are pronounced with a lower voice is to be Condemned or that the Mass ought to be Celebrated only in the Vulgar Tongue Let him be Accursed It is not necessary that we understand our Prayers Prayers not understood of the People are acceptable to God The Five and twentieth Article of the Church of England Of the Sacraments SAcraments Ordained of Christ be not only Badges or Tokens of Christian-mens profession but rather they be certain Witnesses and effectual Signs of Grace and Gods good Will towards us By the which he works invisibly in us and doth not only quicken but strengthen and confirm our Faith in him There are two Sacraments ordained by Christ our Lord in the Gospel that is to say Baptism and the Supper of the Lord. Those five commonly called Sacraments that is to say Confirmation Pennance Orders Matrimony extream Unction are not to be counted for Sacraments of the Gospel being such as have grown partly of the Corrupt following of the Apostles partly as states of Life allowed in the Scripture but yet have not like Nature of Sacraments with Baptism and the Lords Supper for that they have not any visible Sign or Ceremony ordained of God The Sacraments were not ordained of God to be gazed upon or to be carried about but that we should duly use them And in such only as worthily receive the same they have a wholesom Effect or Operation but they that receive them unworthility purchase unto themselves Damnation as St. Paul saith The Presbyterians There be only two Sacraments ordained by Christ our Lord Baptism and the Lords Supper neither of which can be dispensed by any but by a Minister of the Word lawfully Ordained Private Masses or receiving the Sacrament by a Priest or any other alone as likewise the denial of the Cup to the People worshipping the Elements the lifting them up or carrying them about for Adoration and the reserving them for any pretended Religious use are all contrary to the Nature of this Sacrament and to the Institution of Christ The Papists If any one shall say That the Sacraments of the new Law were not all substituted by Christ or that they are more or fewer than seven viz. Baptism Confirmation Eucharist Pennance Extream Unction Holy Orders and Matrimony or that any of these is not truly and properly a Sacrament Let him be Accursed If any one shall say That'tis not lawful to reserve the Holy Eucharist but that the same is presently to be distributed or that it is not to be Ador'd even with the outward Worship or that it ought not solemnly to be carried about in Processions or shewn publickly to be adored to the People or that it is not lawful to hear it Honourably to the Sick Let him be Accursed If any one shall say That by the Sacraments themselves of the New Testament ex opere operato meerly by the thing done Grace is not conferred but that the Faith of the Divine Promise suffices to obtain Grace Let him be Accursed If any one shall say That in Ministers whilst they make and confer the Sacraments there is not required an Intention at least of doing that which the Church does Let him be Accursed The six and twentieth Article of the Church of England Of the unworthiness of the Ministers which hinder not the Effect of the Sacraments ALthough in the visible Church the Evil be ever mingled with the Good and sometime the Evil have chief Authority in the Ministration of the Word and Sacraments yet forasmuch as they do not the same in their own Name but Christs and do Minister by his Commission and Authority we may use their Ministry both in hearing of the Word of God and in the receiving the of Sacraments neither is the effect of Christs Ordinance taken away by their Wickedness nor the Grace of Gods Gifts diminished from such as by Faith and rightly do receive the Sacraments Ministred unto them