⧠A briefe and cleare Confession of the Christian Fayth Containing An hundreth Articles after the order of the Creede of the Apostles Made and declared by Iohn Gardiner Translated out of French into English by Iohn Brooke of Asshe next Sandwitch An. 1577. Rom. 10. ¶ The beliefe of the hart iustifieth but to confesse with the mouth maketh a man safe Imprinted at London for Edward Wight and are to be sold at his shop at the litle North doore of Paules at the signe of the Gun. 1579. ⧠To the Right Honorable Syr William Cecill Knight Baron of Burgley Knight of the Honorable order of the Garter Master of her Highnesse Wardes and Liueries one of the Lordes of her Maiesties priuy Counsell and Lorde high Treasoror of England REading this small litle Volume fyrst written in French and collected by Maister Iohn Gardiner right honorable and perceiuing the same in my simple iudgement vnder a poore habite and litle showe to beare and importe great and waighty effect finding also therin such singuler ground of profound learning and rare wisdome and therewithall such firme approbations and inexpugnable defences with authorities of holy writ I thought it no lesse then needefull and nothing more then necessary to doo what in me mightlye to make the same obuious vsuall and familyer vnto my brethren of this Realme by translating the same into our mother tongue The which thing hauing once perfourmed and finished according to my poore talent and sclender skill although I doo not doubt to haue followed myne Authour directlye and truly in sence and exposition without corruption or abuse yet finding in my selfe such imperfections of learning such barrennes and want of fine Phrase and choise wordes wherwith to haue garnished the same vnneathes I durst of my selfe or in myne owne name launch foorth my silly barke into the troublesom waues not doubting saile she neuer so sure true but somtimes shee shal be countermet with churlishe byllowes and puffed at with outragious blastes and violent tempestes The force wherof more safely to defend and withstand being loth to leaue the same in such obscurenesse and secrecy as I found it whereof no Christian man ought to be ignorant I imagined with my selfe to seeke to ancor in your harborough being very desirous that this my vnsmoothed and roughe hewen workemanshippe might haue free passage and safe conduct vnder your Honors fauorable protection and defēce In which purpose and pretence being abashed and more then halfe dismaied by the occasions aforesaid yet grewe I in double hart and tooke treble encouragement that the authoritye of the matter it selfe would more then counteruaile the rest in your Honors fauorable acceptaunce But when I further considered wherof I should craue you to be a supporter namely of the Christian fayth for so the Booke is intituled and contayneth an hundreth Articles of the Christian fayth all fearefull doubtes expelled assured truste willed mee to abyde constant in my purpose For as to your Honorable tytle Wisdome hath annexed her enlargement of Authoritye so to that Authoritye godlye zeale hauing adioined a feruencie of true fayth and to these also humilitye of spirite hauing coupled franke curtesye and beneuolence towardes all These I saye right Honorable haue made me so bolde to craue that this my small peece of trauaile whatsoeuer maye receyue that hope hath promysed and with my good will would gladlye deserue being no wayes able excepte by prayer to almyghtye GOD on whome as dutye byndeth I shall not cease contynually to call for your Lordshippes long preseruation of lyfe and much encrease of his moste comfortable blessinges Your Honors dayly Orator Iohn Brooke ⧠Iohn Gardiner vnto all the litle French Church of Strasburg assembled together for the Gospell in the name of Iesus Christ grace peace and mercie of the Father through Iesus Christe our Lorde onely Sauior and redéemer in the vertue of the holy Spirite be geuen vnto you eternally Amen WHen I consider the cleare lightes the great ingenyous and sharpe wittes which the Lorde in our time hath placed in his Church déerely beloued brethren and welbeloued in Iesus Christe who neuer cease day nor night to aduaunce the glorye of God and to promote the kingdome of Iesus Christe his sonne aswell by their wordes as writing of whome I am not worthy to be a Disciple I am ashamed and feare lest I be iudged raish to put my hand to the pen after them and chiefly for to entreat of thinges so litle and common the which they haue entreated of in theyr Catechismes from the beginning But the holy desire of you and of manye other good brethren who hauing heard openly the reading of this litle Treatise instantly requiring to be pertakers haue incited yea constrained mee to do it with the great desire that I haue of the aduauncement of the glory of God and of the health of all my brethren Knowing that God would haue al the world to come vnto the knowledg of the trueth and by that meanes to be saued I know also that for the building of the Lordes tabernacle made by Moyses euery one brought that he had some golde and siluer others precious stones others linnen cloth goates and buckes skinnes others wood and common stones and all of it was set a worke So I estéeme for the building of this house of the Lorde which is his Church euery one may and ought to bring that that he hath some more some lesse according to the tallentes which the Lorde of the house hath geuen them I wil content my self to carry litle common stones for this building and do hope that the Master worke men will not reiect my seruice nor my litle stones so that they be fitte for the building as I hope they shal be God ayding me The poore wydowe which did put into the box but two litle peeces of siluer was not reiected nor despised of the Lorde but was as much praysed as the great ritch men which gaue a great deale more then she All that being well considered hath mooued me to set forth this litle treatise in this tyme chiefly in which the Lorde hath the siue in his hand to sifte examine and repurge his Church in which it should be verye good in my iudgment that euerye mans fayth should be knowen and chieflye of those which make profession of the Gospell for to teach others as are the Doctors and Ministers of the word that the false Prophets and Hypocrites which doo bowe theyr shoulders and leane theyr eares vnto false papisticall doctrine of Antechriste should be knowne driued and chased a way from the good faythful For that cause I am contēt that my faith in which I will lyue and dye thorow the grace of the Lord be knowen of al the world Now this litle Treatise shall haue much neede of a second which shal geue the reason of that that this here confesseth for it is one thing to confesse the fayth
as it is sayd for the young ones simple and ignoraunt who maye take what they thinke good and leaue the rest for to auoyd prolixity therfore I haue deuided and distinguished it by Articles Furthermore this Confession is deuided in to foure principall poyntes In the first I shew what I beleeue of the holy Trinitie chiefly of the eternall Father and of the thinges made by him of the first creation of man and of his fall In the second what I beléeue of the Sonne which is the second person and of the thinges by him made chiefly of the repayring and restoring of man In the third what I beléeue of the holy ghost which is the thirde person of the holye Trynitie by whom man made by the Father and restored by the Sonne is mayntained and kept in his being In the fourth what I beléeue of the holy Catholike Church and of the thinges concerning the same That doon I shew and declare the great frutes proceeding and comming from that fayth whiche are thrée in number as you may see towardes the ende And all of it is made after the order of the simbole or creede which we call commonly the Apostles creede which hath bene receiued at all tymes without any contraduction in the Catholike Church And let no man maruaile although I multiplye these Articles vnto an hundreth although that the Créede containeth but twelue For euery one of the twelue contayneth other twelue and more Doo then as the honnye Bées who of all flowers doo gather profit By that meanes you shall augment more and more in fayth and knowledg of the Lord in charity and loue towardes your neyghbours for therein dependeth all the lawe and the Prophets I beséeche that good God and celestiall father which hath deliuered you from the tirraunye of Antechriste and hath drawne you from darknesse error and ignorance opening your inward eyes declaring him selfe vnto you by his Gospell that it would please him to augment alwaies his giftes graces and benedictions in you to direct and keepe you by his holy spirite Vnto eternall life in the name of his sonne Iesus Christe our Lord and one-Sauiour Amen From Strasburg 24. Iuly 1549. ¶ Iohn Brooke to the Christian Reader THis litle Pamphlet gentle Reader may seeme vnto thee a thing of small value and lesse importance if thou make thy estimation thereof by the small outwarde showe and feeling But if in this litle and light worke to the eye be encluded great and waighty matter if in this briefe and short Treatise be wrapped and sufficiently set forth long and manifold causes how much the more then is it to be imbraced and estemed I promyse thee nothing but for gramrecye offer thee my good wyll and trauaile I red it in French written by master Iohn Gardiner and finding it pithy profitable and necessary to bee red of all Christians for thine onelye commodity and comfort I haue translated him into thy mother tongue If in this translation thou finde any imperfection let my zeale good meaning towardes thee counteruaile or rather preuaile to gaine thy friendly acceptaunce and do not therein condemne the thing or the Authour who vndoubtedly needeth no supporter or defender but bringeth with him munition and defence sufficient But aduenture I say the reading as I did at the firste if thou finde him worthye make it a Iewell vnto thee beare him daily in thy hand or button him nere thy hart in thy bosō he is neither heauy nor cūbrous nor wil be vnto thee very chargeable Gods holy spirite be thy guide in reading and vnderstanding to the establishment and confirmation of thy Christian faith Farewell ⧠A briefe and cleare Confession of the Christian Fayth contayning a hundreth Articles after the order of the Apostles Creede I beleeue in GOD the Father almightye maker of Heauen and Earth The .1 Article FIrst of al I beleue in one GOD onely in essence and substaunce thrée in person the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost The Father as the Originall and beginning of all thinges aswell visible as inuisible Of whome also they depende aswell in their being as conseruation And he dependeth not but of him selfe eternall without ende and without beginning The Sonne as the heauenly worde the sapience and wisdome of the Father which is eternally before al worlds begotten of the Father of his proper substaunce and nature Because that in him shineth his proper carecter Image otherwise inuisible vnto the mortall man. The holy Ghost as the vertue and eternall power which is neyther made nor created nor begotten but proceeding from the father and the Sonne eternally as alone proceeding of two persons The 2 Article I Beléeue that these three persons are of one essence and substance nature Authoritie power will goodnesse wisdome and eternitie And that these three are but one spirituall substaunce eternall without ende and beginning true good iust mercifull of soueraigne power and wisdome hauing and containing in him selfe all goodnes hauing no neede of any thing The 3. Article I Beleeue that GOD being so onely one in essence and three in person ought onely to be serued honored feared loued adored and inuocated in all our necessities as he which can and wil prouide for them and none other And therefore I say and confesse that I beleeue in one God that is to saye I acknowledge and receyue him for one onely Lorde Mayster and Sauiour of whome proceedeth all my goodnesse with whom I can do all things Without whom I can do nothing In him alone I doe trust and fixe all my harte hoping that he will take my parte against all men assisting me alwayes through his holye spirite and deliuering me from all perilles and daungers through his grace and mercye without my merits administring vnto me all thinges necessary aswell for the soule as body as a good father as he promised me by his word The .4 Article I Beleeue that he being altogether puissant hath of nothing from the beginning created Heauen and Earth and all things that are therin That is to saye all thinges aswell celestiall as terrestriall visible as inuisible reasonable as vnreasonable sensible as insensible Whome he kéepeth guideth ruleth and gouerneth through his diuine wisdome without whose prouidence nothing commeth to passe neyther in this world nor in the other The .v. Article I Beléeue that the same God the father Sonne and holye Ghost after hauing created all thinges created and made man after his owne Image and likenesse that is to saye immortall good iust true sage wise mercifull and perfit in all thinges perticipating vnto him his goodnesse righteousnesse and other perfections of God hauing a will that can accorde and agrée in all and by all vnto the will of his Lorde and that altogether by grace without any merit The .vi. Article I Do also beléeue that as the Lorde hath created all things celestiall
fayth of those thinges sealeth and confirmeth the promises of the Lorde within our hartes through his goodnesse and grace that we néede not to doubt any thing at all The .xliiii. Article I Beléeue that that holy Ghost dwelling in vs doth regenerate vs thorow his grace and vertue into a renouation and chaunging of life mortifiyng in vs all that which is of vs and of the olde man the flesh and the world and quickning all that which is his that wee should liue no more to our selues but to Christe who also doth and worketh in vs al good works agréeable to the father and rebuketh checketh and vanquisheth the world of sinne righteousnesse and iudgement The .xlv. Article I Beleeue that the holy Ghost is the Doctor of the Ignorant who teacheth directeth and leadeth vs into the knowledg of the trueth by which we are deliuered from darknesse and set into life Also he is the comforter of the poore afflicted for to ayde fortifie comfort and assist them in al troubles and aduersities that they shoulde not dispaire in them as the wicked and reprobate doo but that they shoulde taste and féele the gentlenesse benignitie and mercifulnesse of the father who thorow crosse and diuerse trybulations doth bring his into eternall glory The .xlvi. Article I Beléeue that that holy Ghost is the spirite of lyfe quickening all other spirites aswell celestiall as terrestriall and that he is only holy in him selfe by whome all other are sanctified so that if any spirites are holy as they are either in heauen or in earth it is not but thorow the sanctitie of that holy spirite which is the cause wherfore I beléeue in him that is to say that in him I hope and put al my affiance assurance and truste as I haue spoken before of the Father and the Sonne Behold the third point of my faith which is touching the holie Ghost the thirde persoÌ„ of the holy Trinitie by whom after that we are made by the father and restored by the sonne we are kept and gouerned vnto the ende Now it remaineth to intreat of the fourth point of my faith which is touching the Church and the thinges concerning the same I beleeue the holye catholike Church the Communion of Saintes The .xlvii. Article I Beléeue and confesse one onelye catholike and vniuersall Church which is a holy Congregation and assembly of all the faythfull beléeuers chosen and predestinated to eternall life before the constitutioÌ„ of the world of whose number I accompte and beléeue my selfe to be one thorow the only grace and mercy of the Father hauing the merite of my good Lorde and Maister Iesus Christe and not by my good workes or merites which are none at all The .xlviii. Article I Beléeue that Church to be inuisible to mans sight and vnto God alone knowen the which is not set tyed or limited in a certaine place or to certaine men but dispersed and seperated abroad thorow out the world Neuerthelesse ioygned together in harte wil and minde thorow the band of fayth and loue acknowledging all of them one onely God one only head and mediator Iesus Christ one faith one law one baptisme one spirituall table in which one onely meate and one onely spirituall drinke is administred vnto them vntil the consumation of this world That Church comprehendeth in it all the iust and elect from the first iust Abell vnto the last which shal be â—ound in the ende of the world and therfore I call it vniuersall For touching the visible Church which is the congregation of the good and of the wicked the elect and reprobate and generally of all those which say that they beléeue in Christe I beléeue it not because I see it with my eye and fayth is of inuisible thinges The .xlix. Article I Beléeue that that inuisible Church is the Lordes fielde within which there is neither cockle nor darnell but that it is the house and habitacle of the holy Ghost within which there is neither Caim Iudas nor the wicked rich man. That it is also the sheepefolde of Christe within which there commeth no stincking nor infected goates but all shéepe lambes and domesticall ewes bearing fruit in theyr tymes and seasons That it is the body of Christ in which theyr is no rotten or corrupt member That is also the spowse of Christ pure and cleane without spot or wrincle or anye such like thing holy and erreprehensible purified and sanctified in the bloud and by the word of his head and wel-beloued spowse Iesus Christe wherfore those which are grafted in her through liuely fayth cannot perish The .l. Article I Beléeue that the giftes and graces of the holy Ghost are dispersed and geuen vnto euery one of the members of that Church not so much for the perticuler profit vtility of them as for the generall profit and vtilitye of al the assemble or Church and that altogether through grace without any merite according to the good will and prouidence of God to some more and to some lesse that we may know the one to haue néede of the other and maye ayde and helpe the one the other in all necessities aswell corporall as spirituall as members of one body The .li. Article I Beléeue the communion of Saintes that is to saye that all that whiche the Lorde geueth vs in this worlde whether they bee goodes concerning the body of the spirite that he geueth them chiefly to the profit and vtillitie of all the Church and therfore ought to be distributed and bestowed vnto all the faythfull chiefly in necessity Insomuch that as we do al communicate in one GOD in one fayth in one law in one baptisme and in one spiritual table that also we may communicate in all that which proceedeth and commeth vnto vs by the meanes of all those things for otherwise we are not Christians nor faythfull dispensators of Christe I alwaies reiect the Anabaptisticall Communalty of goodes wiues and other like things receiuing the Apostolicall communaltie which hauing and possessing some goodes perticulerly deuideth and distributeth vnto euery one as he shall haue neede and as necessity requireth The lii Article I Beléeue that that Church is as the Arke of Noe within which there was health and lyfe and out of which there was but death ruine and perdition For as Christ is and raigneth in his Church so Sathan is and raigneth altogether out of the same the which also is kept thorow the spirite of Christe directed and guided by his worde and nurrished by the Sacramentes She shall haue alwayes aduersaries and shal be alwaies tormeÌ„ted in that sea by the thunders of Antechriste and by the windes and tempestes of Sathan For all the gates of Hell do arme and set themselues against it But she shal not be drowned in the waters but shall abyde eternally For somuch as she hath a
saying Knowe the Lord For all shall knowe him from the greatest to the least among them The lxxxxix Article I Doo also beléeue that as the soules and spyrites of the Infidels wicked and reprobate after they are departed from the body that strayght way they descende into hell in the eternall fyre of hell their bodies remayning in the earth corrupted and rotten So the spirites and soules of the faithfull and elect children of God assoone as they depart from their body without tarying any whytte doo go strayght way into heauen into glorye with the Lorde And there doo looke for alwayes with great desyre the comming and totall redemption of their bodyes the which they haue left rotten and corrupted in the earth the which they shall obtaine at the latter daye and not before Wherein I reiect the foolysh opinion of the dreamers although there be of the auncients and excellent Authors which affirme the spirites of the Saints not to be yet in heauen but to sléepe in a certaine place to vs vnknowen vntyll they hauing receyued theyr bodyes at the latter daye in which the mysticall body of Christ being entyer perfect and fulfilled ought to enter into eternall glory The C. Article FInally I beléeue that as the Saints and blessed the Iudgement being done doo go with Christe triumphing in the ayre in body and soule for to abyde eternally in glorie with him and his Angelles That so the wicked myserable and dampned shall go into hel in body and soule with the diuell and his angels for to abyde there eternally and to be tormented with him in hell fire which neuer goeth out where is wéeping and gnashing of teethe where the woorme neuer dyeth From which the Lorde preserue and kéepe vs thorowe his grace and mercie Amen ⧠The Conclusion BEholde my déere and welbeloued brethren in Iesus Christ briefly the fayth knowledge of the mysteries which the Lorde hath geuen and bestowed vppon mee thorowe his grace and mercy vnworthy and poore sinner which haue not meryted so much goodnesse towardes him but rather his wrath and iudgement And therfore I know and confesse all to haue procéeded from him vnto whom onely I render eternall thankes whome also I beséeche in the name of his Sonne Iesus Christ our Lord to preserue kéepe me thorow his holy spirit in that faith vnto the ende to geue mee grace vertue power to confesse it with the hart and mouth aswell before the Infidelles as the faithfull the tyrants and hangmen of Antechrist to mayntaine the same vnto the last drop of my blood I desire greatly to lyue and dye in the faith knowing being well assured that it hath for her foūdation the only word of God and that in the same al the holy Fathers Patriarkes Prophets and Apostles of Iesus Christ haue liued and dyed in it That is the true knowledge of the Lord the which consysteth in the beatytude and felicitie of man as Christe sayth in the Gospell This is lyfe eternall O Father that we acknowledge thée to be very God and him whom thou hast sent Iesus Christe This is the auncient doctrine nowe reuealed by the holy spyrite the which in our tyme was raysed vp againe and as from the bottome of the depthes was restored vnto vs againe by the grace and mercye of God and by the mynistring of good Doctors and true faythfull Mynisters of the same This is the hydden trueth the which was buryed and kepte close by that Antechriste of Rome and his false Prophets these fiue hundreth yéeres or there about who in stéede thereof dyd auaunce their dreaminges and mans traditions and other lyke doctrine fryuolous vaine and vnprofitable to the great dishonor of God to the offending of the faythfull and to the ruyne of all the Churche of Iesus Christe As also they doo yet at this daye in many places thorowe out the world persecuting that holy Euangelicall doctrine in all places and by all meanes Endeuoring them selues to burie it againe to hyde and couer it and altogether to destroye it but they shall all perish in their enterprises and the worde of the Gospell shall abyde eternally For so hath hée promised who is onely true and can not lye And heauen and earth shall sooner passe then his promise shoulde not hée fulfilled Wherefore blessed is hée that shall continue vnto the ende in that doctrine For he shall be partaker of all the promises of God And on the contrarie wo be vnto him that shall contempne despyse or reiecte it For the wrath of God abydeth vpon him Hée that beléeueth in mée sayth Christe hee shall not bée condempned But hée that beléeueth not hee is alreadye condempned his parte and portion shall be with the peruerse and wycked Hypocrites in eternall hell fyre Also I reiecte alwayes the doctryne of Luiterim with whome I wyll haue neyther parte nor portion And also I renownce all the doctryne of that Antechrist of Rome with al his Idolatries mans sectes errors and papisticall superstitions in which I haue bene some tyme plunged in it to my great hurte euen vp to the eares abusing my selfe after the creatures forsaking my Creator persecuting yea euē vnto death those which dyd teache that same which I now beléeue and confes But I haue obtained mercy of the Lord because I dyd it thorow ignoraunce in my vnbeléefe as many do yet at this day thorowe out the worlde being lead and conducted with a foolish vndiscrete zeale who in accusing persecuting and putting to death the faithfull and true members of Iesus Christe which doo seeke nothing else but the honor of God and the saluation of all the worlde doo thinke to doo things agréeable to God and to offer vnto him great Sacrifices whome I desire not to be so wylful and rash in iudgement but to examine it neerer and to searche and trye the matter better before they take any thing in hande To the ende they be not one day constrained to say confesse that which I nowe confesse of my selfe that they haue shamefully erred and sinned But thinking they dyd well notwithstanding in persecuting my good Lorde maister and onely sauior Iesus Christ For that which I haue done vnto his members and faithfull whome then I esteemed as Heretickes seditious and blasphemers of God and of his worde where they were louers thereof I doo esteeme that I dyd it vnto him selfe For hee sayth in the Gospell that that which men do vnto those which beleeue in him hee esteemeth it to be done vnto himselfe be it good or euyll The which he hath afterwards confirmed to Paul persecuting his Church after his ascencion I then knowing the great errors abuses and superstitions wherein I was plunged beforetyme Nowe I renounce and forsake all Idolatryes and false doctrines which are contrary and against the doctrine of my maister Iesus Christe which is the holy and pure worde
auailable before the Lorde and not those of workes the which bringeth nothing vnto perfection BEholde as touching the first poynt of my faith what I beleue of the Father of the thinges made by him and consequently of the holy Trinitie with the fall of man. Let vs now come vnto the second point which is of the Sonne of GOD and of the things done by hâ—m chiefly of the restoring and reparing of man. I beleeue in Iesus Christ his onely Sonne our Lorde which was conceaued by the holye Ghost borne of the Virgin MARY suffered vnder PONCE PILATE was crucified dead buried descended into Hell the thirde day he arose againe from death He ascended into HeaueÌ„ there he sitteth at the right hand of GOD the Father almighty From thence shall he come to iudge the quicke and the deade The .xv. Article I Beléeue that Iesus Christ is verye God and very man hauing two natures inteâ—mixts in one person the diuine nature according to whiche he is the naturall Son of God equall to the Father in al through al. And humaine nature according to the which he is verye man in all and by al lyke vnto vs sin onely excepted The .xvi. Article I Beléeue that Iesus Christ the Son of GOD in the fulnesse of tyme prefixed and preordained of the Father from euerlasting was sent into the world by the Father was made very maÌ„ conceaued within the womb of a Virgin called Mary of the proper substaunce and of pure blood purifyed of her because that he was found very Man descending from the séede of Adam Noe Abraham Isaac Iacob Dauid and of the other fathers to whom the promise was made The .xvii. Article I Do also beleeue all that to be done by the operation of the holy Ghost without the worke of man to the ende that all should be holy vndefiled pure and cleane and by that meanes our conception was purified and sanctifyed the which of it selfe was marred and defyled with sinne The .xviii. Article I Beleeue the same Iesus Christ to be borne of the Virgin Mary without anye sin and without breaking of her virginitie because that by his pure and holye natiuitie he purifyeth and sanctifyeth ours the which of it selfe is altogether marred and defiled with sinne In that natiuitie of Christ I see and consider the firste estate and condition of man with his fall which was the cause of the comming of Christe into this world likewise the grace and beneuolence of GOD the Father who hath represented and geuen vnto vs his onely begotteÌ„ sonne for to serue vs And the loue of the son who hath abased and humbled him self for to eleuate and exalte vs hath made him selfe poore for to enrich vs and hath him self subiected for to affranchise vs and he is made the sonne of man for to make vs the children of God and possessors of eternall life by whose comming mans nature was restored and made noble and the man that was lost broken and destroyed was raysed vp againe set agayne in his first place and hath recouered all that which he lost throwe sin and more For by that meanes all the treasures graces and benedictions of the Lord are geuen and bestowed vpon him and that altogether thorow grace without any merites The .xix. Article I Do also beléeue and knowe by the holy scriptures an other conception and natiuitie of Christe which is spirituall the which I saye to be of no lesser dignitie then the first That is that euerye faythfull man ought to conceaue in his hart and minde Iesus Christ thorow a liuely and true faith and to bring him foorth thorowe the manifest confession of the mouth as often as néede shal require I estéeme that conception and natiuitie to be so necessarye vnto saluation that if the Virgin Marye had not more blessedly borne Iesus Christ in her hart mind then in her womb the carnal maternity would not haue much profited her By that meanes we are called the mothers brethren and sisters of Iesus Christ The .xx. Article I Beleeue that the same Iesus Christ is verely the Christ that is to saye the Messias the annoynted by the holy Ghost because that he shoulde be the true Kyng Prophete and great Priest of all the beléeuers the which was promised in the Lawe of whom also haue spoken all the Prophetes This annoynting of Christ was not corporall with a materiall and visible oyle as the same of Kyngs Priestes and Prophets in times past But spiritual with an inuisible oyle which is the grace gyftes of the holy Ghost of which he was filled aboue al other insomuch that that oyntment is descended vnto vs which haue felt and prooued the sauour thereof whereby also we beare the name of a Christian that is to say annoynted The xxi Article I Beléeue that that Sacrifisor Iesus Christ not to haue bene Leuiticall or carnall for to offer vp and sacrifice bullocks kyne or such like things as Aaron did and al his successors but spirituall yet neuerthelesse reall and true for to offer and sacrifice him self that is to say his body and his blood for the remission of the sinnes of all the worlde as also his kyngdome is not of this carnall worlde but spirituall the which consisteth in the guyding and gouerning of his by his holy spirite ouer whom he raigneth by his word and to the vtter destruction of all his aduersaries which are sinne death hell Satan and all infidels wicked and reprobate which rebell against the word of the Gospel The .xxii. Article I beléeue that Iesus Christ hath trulye exercised these thrée offices to wete Prophet Kyng and Priest not onely in this worlde he being a mortall man as we are But also that he yet doth exercise them daily in heauen before the face of his father where he standeth and appeareth continually for vs and thereof being taught by his spirit aydeth maynteyneth and defendeth those that are his and therfore he is called Prophet Kyng and high Priest after the order of Melchisedech which is eternall and not after the order of Aaron which ended with the Lawe The .xxiii. Article I Beléeue that the same Iesus Christ after that he had preached the Gospel in the countrey of Iudea Galile by the space of thrée yeres or there abouts declaring him selfe the naturall sonne of God aswel by his miraculous workes as by the words and wrytings of the Prophetes that he hath bene vniustly and falsely accused by the Priestes who when that they had taken him in their counsell did vniustly condemne him to death being bounde and chayned brought hym before Pilate Prouost at that tyme in Ierusalem who at the instance and request of the said Priests hath vniustly and without any cause condemned hym to death the most horrible and ignominious that one can thinke or excogitate That is to
be put on the crosse and to be crucified betwéene two théeues as though he had bene the prince and captaine of them the which he endured and suffred willingly and innocently without deseruing it for otherwise he had not satisfied for vs and his crosse had profited vs nothing at all The .xxiiii. Article I Beléeue also that he beyng on the same crosse dying and yéelding vp his spirit to God his father that he descended into hell that is to say that he verely felte and experimented the great distresse and payne of death with the paynes flames of hell that is to say the great furor ire and the seuere iudgement of God vpon hym as though he had bene man and halfe damned insomuch that he was constrayned to crye with a loude voyce My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Beholde simplie what I vnderstand by the descending of Christ into hell Furthermore I know that this Article was not at the first in the Créede and that many haue vnderstanded and interpreted it otherwyse and haue thought Christ verely and in very deede to haue descended into hell into the place of the dampned aleadging the text of Saint Peter the which I confesse to be couered and hyd frō me at this present The Lord graunt vs to open the gate and giue vs entrance into those mysteries The .xxv. Article I Beléeue all that to haue bene done not for hym which neuer dyd any sinne in whose mouth there was neuer found any fraude nor lying but for vs poore and miserable sinners whose place he helde in the crosse as a pledge where he represented the person of al the sinners which euer haue bene are or shal be vntil the end of the worlde And because that those haue by their sinnes deserued to féele and trye the extreme dolours of death to be forsaken of God and of all creatures to féele the furor yre and seuere iudgement of God vpon them Christ who was their pledge dyd satisfie for them in the crosse did feele all that same and that to affranchise vs delyuer vs from all these paynes from the furor yre and iudgement of God from condemnation and eternal death Herein I reiect and estéeme as fables al the lymbe of the fathers and of litle children purgatorie and other suche follyes dreames and abuses which men inuented and founde out without the word of God. For I beléeue and receaue but two places in the other worlde to wit paradise for the faythfull elect with the Angels and hel for the Infidels and reprobate with the dyuels The .xxvi. Article I Beléeue consider that death and passion as also al other mysteries of Iesus Christ not onely as touching the historie as a patrone and example for to imitate and folow as the same of holy men which haue died for the Lordes quarrel But also chiefly touching the cause fruites and vse of the same thereby to knowe the grauitie burthen of my synnes the grace and mercie of the father and the loue of the sonne by which we are reconciled with God deliuered from the tirannie of the deuil released and restored into the libertie of the spirit That is the glasse without spot for to make vs know our fylthines The lauer or cleare fountaine for to washe clense vs and the infinite treasure for to satisfie and content our creditors Of whom and by whom onely Gods deuine iustice hath bene fully satisfied for all the synnes of all those which haue bene are and shal be vntill the end of the world And therefore I beléeue and confesse the condemnation of Iesus Christ to be my absolution his crucifiyng to be my deliueraunce his descending into hell to be my ascending into heauen his death to be my lyfe his blood to be my washyng and purgatorie by whom onely I am washed purified made cleane from all my sinnes so that I neither receaue nor beléeue that there is any other purgatorie neither in this worlde nor in the worlde to come by which I may be purged but the onely blood of Iesus Christ by which all is purged and made cleane for euer The .xxvii. Article I Beléeue that Iesus Christ by the sacrifice of his body that he offred vpon the trée of the crosse hath defaced and destroyed sinne death and Sathan with al his kingdome hath altogether consummated and finished the worke of our redemption hath ended and abolished all other sacrifices insomuch that from hencefoorth we must not looke nor séeke for any other propiciatorie sacrifice then this neither for the lyuing nor for the dead For if we sinne wyllingly after that we haue receyued the knowledge of the trueth there remayneth no other sacrifice for the remission of synnes then this here by which Christ alone hath consecrated for euer all those which are sanctified And therefore The xxviii Article I Beléeue the holye Supper of the Lord not to be a sacrifice but onely a remembrance and commemoration of that holy sacrifice of Iesus Christ Therefore it ought not to be adored and woorshipped as God nor Christ to be in the same but onely in him selfe out of all corruptible elements In like maner I beleeue and confesse that the papisticall Masse is an inuention and ordinance of man a sacrifice of Antichrist and a forsaking of the sacrifice of Iesus Christ that is to say of his death and passion that it is a stynking and infectious sepulchre which couereth and hydeth the merite of the blood of Christ And therefore it ought to be abolished and the holy Supper of the Lord restored and set agayne in his fyrst estate The .xxix. Article I Also doo beleue that as the Prophet Ionas was in the Whales bellye which is a place of corruption thrée dayes and three nightes without being any thyng at all corrupted from whome he came out the thyrde day without any hurt safe sounde that euen so Iesus Christ after his death was put into a newe sepulchre which is a place of corruption within which he was thrée dayes and thrée nightes not being touched with any infection stynking or corruption but alwayes abode safe and sound for to declare the vertue of his blood for to accomplishe the writing of the holy Prophets and for to verefie the veritie aswel of his body as of his death with which I beléeue the lawe to be buryed abrogated and abolished to the faythfull not as touching the obligation that they shoulde be no more bounde to lyue and walke after the same but onely as touching the condemnation that is to say that the transgression of the same doeth not condemne them at the iudgement of God through the faith that they haue in Christ And therefore within one sepulchre I comprehend thrée things buryed that is to say Christ the law and all the faythfull which ought to