according to the determinations of the fathers of elder times haue euer no lesse prosperously then faithfully defended the truth of christian religion and preserued the same soundly confirmed in the church To which purpose tend the wordes which they vse in their owne determinations We therefore euery vvhere following the determinations of the old fathers and their rule doe also determine the same c. Nothing then is more safe then that euery man keepe himselfe within these churches as in citties well fensed wherein the holy scriptures are expounded according to the analogie or rules of faith and according to the receiued expositions of the auncient fathers and consequently which hold the same faith that the Apostles did and all the auncient church I haue spoken of the first duety of a christian man which desireth to keep himselfe and his family safe from his enemies vnto euerlasting life namely that he must retire himselfe into the defensed citties of Christs kingdome and there constantly abide vntill that at the last all enemies being put to flight by the glorious comming of our king we may be safe and free in all places But without prouision of vitalls who can long maintaine his life our victual or sustenāce is the daily hearing reading and meditation of Gods word and the receiuing of the holy supper at appointed times For by both these wee are nourished streng thened and we liue that through Christ our life whome they offer and giue vnto vs. He which eateth this bread takē either by the word or by the sacraments shall neuer die In the Acts Christs disciples continued in the Apostles doctrine and in breaking of bread that is in their common loue-feastes in which the Lords supper vsed to be celebrated And such heauēly victuals are seeldome wāting in well defensed citties yet except thou eatest and drinkest and by that meanes preseruest thy life what good will it do thee to be in a defensed cittie Thou must therefore frequent sermons and receiue the sacraments and imploye thy selfe in reading the holy scriptures 3 It is very needefull also that continuall praiers both publike and priuate bee made vnto God wherein we must aske those things which the Lord Iesus hath commanded to be asked of his father namely al things which pertaine aswell to his glorie as to our owne and our neighbors saluation and that he would defend vs from all kinds of enemies and keep vs safe in the trueth In the day of tribulation shalt thou call vpon me saieth the Lord. And is not then chiefly the day of affliction when heresies do ouerspread and tyrants persecute the truth Then therefore chiefly is God to bee called vpon and that by faith And therefore the Apostle Paule saieth Pray ye vvithout ceasing and Christ Iesus yee must praye alvvaies and not bee vvearie And he that thus prayeth and prayeth by faith howe should he not obtaine wherefore God addeth by his Prophet And I vvill he are thee Aske and yee shall receiue said also the Lord Iesus Christ seeke and yee shall finde knocke and it shall bee opened vnto you 4 But how can it be that men should there liue happily and the cittie be preserued where the cittizens among themselues keep no friendship therefore brotherly loue peace and concord must bee kept then which nothing is sweeter nothing more pleasing to God and nothing can be more profitable for preseruation of the church as contrariewise there is no thing by which churches and all societies are sooner brought to ruine then enuie then hatred then grudgings then enmities then dissentions then domesticall fallinges out Doubtlesse there is no faith where charity hath not place sith true faith as the Apostle witnesseth worketh by charitie And brotherly loue hath euer bin a marke of true christians Christ himselfe saying By this shall men know that yee are my disciples if yee haue loue one vvith another This do the Acts of the Apostles teach vs where Luke saith of the faithfull they had one minde and one heart namely in the Lord. And Tertullian reporteth in Apolog. cap. 39. that the Romanes were wont to say of the christians marke hovv they loue one another For by this brotherly loue as by the true badge of christian religion they would haue christians discerned from them that were no christians 5 Further more how necessary the care of health is to all the cittizens liuing in such a citty to defend them and theirs and so the whole cittie against the enemies was said a little before By this spirituall health I meane a good conscience which as it springeth from faith so also it preserueth faith that it cannot quite decay euē as the life of the body bringeth forth health and health preserueth the body in life Euerie one therefore must be carefull that he keepe a good cōscience But by what meanes is it kept 1. after a due sorrow by a sure trust of the free forgiuenes of our sinnes which we haue committed through Christ Next by a true amendment of life that is an earnest studie of auoiding sinnes afterward and keeping the commandements of god lastly by a firme purpose if by infirmitie we do fal to rise againe and to flie vnto Christ for pardon By this meanes shall wee alwaies hold fast a good conscience He that in this sort constantly looketh vnto his health let him assuredly know that the Lord will neuer suffer him that he shall die at all that is that hee shall euer erre and goe astray vnto his last ende in that doctrine which is necessary to his saluation For the Apostle saith to Timothie keepe faith and a good conscience which while some haue cast aside they haue made shipwrack concerning faith that is the doctrine of faith They therefore which keepe fast a good conscience shall neuer make a deadly shipwrack of the doctrine necessary to saluation Seing God by his grace indueth them as with the treasure of a good conscience so also with a perseuerance in the faith and with a heauenly gift of doctrine The safest thing therefore both at all times and especially in this diuersitie of religions is by cōtinuing in the churches where the pure word of God is preached and the assured foundations of the faith according to the expositions of the fathers are retained to imploye our selues in hearing the word of God and receiuing the sacraments to call vpon God to haue friendship with our brethren and to keep a good conscience to our selues 6 But vnto all these things how necessarie watchfulnesse is who vnlesse he bee vtterly vnskilfull in all things knowes not where there is nothing at all to be feared as in heauen there is also no need of watchfulnesse but they may and they ought to liue in great securitie But where there want no theeues robbers intrappers flatterers couseners traytors enemies and where all things are full of trecheries there howe pernicious and daungerous securitie and retchlesnesse is who is he that knoweth not
the gift of constancie in the faith the end is our glorious resurrectiō euen eternal life I say for this other principal foundation of christian religion what cā be said more plainly more largely thē that which hath bin in the councells of Africa determined out of the scriptures by Meliuitanus Arausicanus others against the Pelagians which were written by Augustine to say nothing of others in manie bookes against the same Pelagians Concerning the holy Catholike Church what is there needfull to bee knowne which hath not beene most plentifully and plainely set downe by Augustine aswell in other places as especially in his bookes against the Donatists euen out of he foundations of the holy scriptures But it is a matter of great moment to knowe what and where the true church of Christ is being out of the church there is no saluation and therefore it is an article of faith not of the least accompt About the points of the sacraments also if a man will cōtent himselfe with the simple truth what is more euident then the doctrine which the auncient fathers Iustine Ireneus Tertullian Cyprian and chieflie Augustine haue deliuered out of the scriptures and left vnto vs in their writings One saith Like as Iesus Christ being by the word of God made flesh had flesh and blood so also we haue learned that the foode hallowed by him by the word of prayer and thanks giuing is the flesh and blood of the same incarnate Iesus Christ euen according to those words of Christ This is my bodie But Christ that is the vvorde was made flesh without anie chaunging of it selfe into flesh but onely by a hypostaticall or personall vnion therefore neither is the bread made the body of Christ by any transubstantiation of it selfe into the body but onely by an vnion and that not a physicall or bodily or hypostaticall but onely a sacramētall vnion Also he saith by that foode namely of the blessed bread our blood and our body is nourished by a certaine chaunging of it selfe namely into Christ therefore that chaunge which is made in the supper is not of the bread into Christs body nor of Christ into vs but of vs into Christ by reason of our ingrafting as also wee reade in Augustine that Christ should say speaking of the receiuing of the Eucharist I shal not be chaunged into thee but thou shalt be chaunged into me The same man saith vnto this the foode of the Eucharist none is to bee admitted but they that beleeue that our doctrine is true being washed with the water of regeneration vnto remission of their sinnes so liuing as Christ hath taught them Therfore no infidells and heretikes nor they which haue not receiued the baptisme of Christ not they which liue in such apparent sinne and wickednes that they giue no notice to the church of their amendment are to bee admitted to the supper Another of them saieth the eucharist consisteth of two matters an earthly and an heauenly The bread though it be sanctified yet he calleth it an earthly matter why so because it comes from the earth it existeth on earth and is eaten with an earthly mouth the body of Christ he calleth a heauenly matter not because the substāce of it is out of heauen but partly because it is taken into vnitie of the person of the word and partly because it is in heauen endued with heauenly qualities For although in the hypostasie which is the very word it bee euerie where yet in the owne proper essence it is only in heauen and not on earth Whereupon it also followeth that it is not eaten either by earthly men or by the teeth of an earthly body but onely of those men who being borne from aboue do carrie the image of heauenly men eate it in a heauenly manner namely in soule spirite And yet notwithstanding the very bodies also of the faithful while they eate onely an earthly matter they also participate of a heauenlie matter to their glorious resurrection are nourished by it as the same author in that place very learnedly expoundeth I think that by this which I haue spoken out of the creede concerning foure principal partes of christian doctrine your Hon. can well gather such is your piety learning wisedome what is to be concluded concerning the whole body The summe is this that those bee the true churches of Christ and therefore called of vs the truely defensed citties of Christs kingdom which professing generally the sacred scriptures and specially the catechisme in all places receiued doe so reuerence the auncient church and auncient fathers hauing therefore friendshipp and communion with them being now in heauen that neither in their opinions nor yet in their expositions of the holy scriptures they will easily decline from them but onely then whenas they bee forced to dissent both by manifest wordes of the holy scriptures and also by testimonies and consequences beyond all doubt necessary drawne from the principles of faith This surely was counted for a notorious fault in Nestorius and it is written to bee the cause of his vile heresie that contemning the fathers and trusting vpon his owne witt he expounded the holy scriptures after his owne braine What speake I of Nestorius yea that the same contempt of the fathers and some confidence of their owne witts and their owne learning did cause diuers more besides otherwaies verie notable men to fall into sundrie heresies I could easilie shewe out of the Ecclesiasticall histories and councells if the breuitie of an epistle would suffer me For whence I pray was it that after that most holy councell at Nice so many heretikes forth with arose of whome some oppugned the true and euerlasting deity of Christ others his true and perfect humanitie others the true vniting of both the natures in one and the same person others the true distinctiō of their natures their proprieties hence surely that contēning the determinations of the fathers in the Nicene councell and their expositions vpon the holy scriptures and trusting confidently to their owne witts and puffed vp with humane knowledge and eloquence they dared euery one to expound yea indeed to depraue wrest the holy scriptures and foundations of the faith according to their owne fansies Hereunto pertaineth that which Vigilius left written in his first booke of the causes of heresies against Eutyches but they blow forth saieth he these smoakes of vaine accusations chieflie because they are euen sicke of the infirmity of ignorance or disease of contention and whilst they are gogged on with a fond conceite of minde they despise the rules of faith deliuered of old by the fathers onely for this cause to bring in their owne conceited opinions of innouations into the church Thus saith Vigilius This that I say is confirmed by the dispositions imitations and wordes of the sound fathers on the other side who expounding the scriptures and the foundations of christian faith
who can be able to stād in the battaile and to continue the same The breast where the vitall partes lye must bee armed round about with the breast-plate of righteousnes I say of righteousnes of faith especially and of a good conscience For who is able to stand to coape with so many and so great enemies in the battaile vnlesse he bee persuaded that God standeth his helper and fauourer by him and doth from his heart hate iniquity against which loueth righteousnes for which the battaile is begunne We must haue our loynes girt about with the girdle of trueth and our feete shodd with the knowledge of the gospell of peace that is it behooueth vs to bee so armed on all partes with the knowledge loue and might of the trueth that we must be euer ready and prepared to fight for the gospell holding in our left hand the shield of faith wherewith we may receiue and quench all the fiery darts of the aduersarie but in our right hand the sword of the word of God wherewith the enemie may bee driuen back and wounded VVe shall indeed vse the shield of faith if against al the sophismes and subtelties of heretikes wee hold fast those principles of faith whereof we spake howsoeuer wee bee to seeke in refelling their fine and subtle quirks then haue we vse of the sword of the word if we conuince the enemies by apparent testimonies of scriptures and reasons drawne by necessary consequence from them to which purpose it preuailes not a little if wee cast at the enemies sharp pointed darts stinging arrowes out of the quiuers of the auncientest fathers as also we see those laeter fathers themselues haue done bringing forth the testimonies and arguments of their predecessors against heretikes VVe must therefore take vnto vs this whole complete armour of god with earnest praier vnto him that in these troublesome and euill daies wee may be able to withstand so manie diuers and mightie enemies and in the ende we may triumph ouer them 9 To the preseruation of the cittie and safetie of each cittizen howe needfull it is that the cittie being cleane voide of all the enemies fauourers hirelings close workers and traytors may liue the more safely and quietly who that hath any sight at all in things past and present can be ignorant Therefore the church gouernors and magistrats must take great care that according to the Apostles discipline it may heedfully be lookt vnto what doctrine each one professeth and what life he leadeth they which being taught and admonished will not amend to let them bee made knowne to the whole congregation openly separated from the holy assemblies and from the conuersation with the other faithfull least by their contagion others should also be infected or least as the Apostle saieth a little leuen marre the whole lump But to euery of the faithfull let such obstinate men be as Ethnicks and Publicanes and let this saying of Iohn bee kept if any man come vnto you bringing not this doctrine namely which the Apostles haue deliuered concerning the sonne of God and concerning the foundations of christian religion him receiue not into house nether bid him god speed This discipline is perpetuall in the church of which Tertullian in apolog the 39 chapter speaketh The magistrate further is to punish by Gods commandement according to the qualitie of their faults or blasphemies 10 That which in the ende wee said concerning the last duetie of each cittizen the same is also in this businesse which wee haue in hand verie easie to bee knowne I would it were as easie to bee performed Our faith therefore which we giue and promise in Baptisme must constantly bee kept vnto our prince Christ Iesus to our last ende yea if need be euen to the spilling of our blood and our liues And therefore that doctrine which by the writings of the Prophets and Apostles by the manifest principles of faith and also by common consent of the whole auncient church wee knowe assuredly to bee the doctrine of Iesus Christ the same wee must hold and keepe with a most constant faith against all new opinions neither must we onely keepe them in our mindes but also freely confesse the same with our mouths and openly professe that we will neuer bee willing to decline from the same and so we must professe it that vnlesse wee doe it wee can hope for no saluation For vvith the heart it is beleeued vnto righteousnesse but vvith the mouth confession is made vnto saluation VVith God indeede who seeth the hearts of men onely faith shall bee sufficient but with men and for mens sake the free confession and profession thereof is also necessarie Hee vvhich is ashamed of me before men I vvill also bee ashamed of him before my father said the Lord Iesus Christ For we while we are in this world must set forward the glorie of God the name of Christ and saluation of our neighbour and it is meet that we should make knowne to the whole church what manner of religion wee follow and with what faith we are by Gods grace indued that it may be euidently knowne who be the members thereof Whereuppon the same Lord stirring vs vp to this confession added He which confesseth me before men him will I also confesse before my father And therfore we must neither be allured by commodities to betray Christ neither must we be skared by threatnings and punishments from free confessing of him but rather fixing our eyes vpon the same Lord the captaine and perfecter of our faith who with a willing gladnes suffred the torment on the crosse not caring for the reproch sitteth at the right hand of the throne of God we must constantly runne out our purposed race For he vvhich endureth vnto the ende shal be saued By these tenne pointes noble Earle I hope I haue declared the right meanes by which in this so great diuersitie of opinions about the way of saluation in so great inuasion mighty power of euill spirits and in so cruell tyrannie of the deuill euerie one may prouide for the safetie of him and his I haue now almost 34. yeares by Gods good gift done my endeauour that I might my selfe follow the same course and besides the holie scriptures which do teach apparently that it is according to Gods will I haue learned by experience of many yeares that it is a heauenlie and excellent waye For vppon the very same occasion leauing the Babylonicall captiuitie I gatt me into the free churches of Christs kingdome as into defensed citties First to the churches in Rhetia where I liued eight months and more afterwards vnto Geneua where likewise I abode nine months From thence I came to Strausburgh where then florished the French church and there I liued and taught 11. yeares but not without some conflict after the death of that ornament of the whole cōmon wealth and parent of the schoole Iames Sturmius and the
place next vnto the Canonicall bookes V. The rules of faith can be prooued onely by the canonicall bookes And therefore wee vse only the canonicall bookes for proofe of the rules of faith Hieron in praef in lib. Sal. Cypr. in sym p. 377. Con. Laod. cap. 59. and with the fathers wee teach that they are to be vsed but wee thinke the rest to be of great force to confirme the same rules beeing before sufficiently prooued VI. The canonicall scriptures take not their authoritie from the Church VVherefore this we hold without all controuersie and wee thinke it is to be holden that although the Church beeing taught of the first fathers namely Prophets and Apostles who receiued their doctrine immediatly from god and committed the same to writing and beeing also instructed by the holie ghost hath deliuered to the posteritie by a continueing and perpetuall tradition which are canonicall and which are not canonicall bookes yea and hath giuen and shall alwaies giue testimonie vnto them of the holie and heauenlie truth yet that these writings haue not receiued their authoritie from the same Church but of god onely their onely proper author and therefore that of themselues because they are the word of God they haue power ouer all men and are worthie to bee simplie beleeued and obeyed of all VII Yet that the Churches authoritie doth much auaile to make men beleeue the holie Scriptures Although wee denie not by the waie but that the authoritie of the church hath an especiall force to mooue men to the hearing and reading of the holie Scriptures as the word of god according to that of Augustine I had not beleeued the gospell for so he meant vnlesse the authoritie of the church had mooued me Tom. 6. cont Epi. Fund ca. 5. Yet the same Augustine notwithstanding in all places pronounceth that his beleefe came not from the church but from the bolie spirite whose gift faith is VIII That the church hath nopovver ouer the holie scriptures But to dispute whether the authoritie of the church be greater then that of the holie scriptures yea and much more to set downe the affirmatiue part as though the church ouer and aboue the gift of knowing the spirits and of discerning canonicall scriptures from others and of testifying of them and of interpreting of them should haue also authoritie either of adding too or diminishing anie thing from them and of dispensing with thē we iudge it more then sacriledge Deut. 4.2 5.31 12.32 Apoc. 22.18 19. For God commandeth that no man shall add or diminish nor anie one shall decline to the right hand or to the left but all together shall simplie obeye him speaking vnto them in the holie scriptures in all manner of thinges IX The holie scriptures are so perfect that nothing may be added to or taken from them For the scriptures are so holie and meerlie perfect plentifully containing whatsoeuer is necessarie to saluation that nothing can bee added vnto them written with such perfection and wisedome that nothing may bee taken from them X. And therefore men ought to rest vppon them VVherefore wee euen as all godlie men ought to doe doe rest our selues vppon the doctrine of those holie writinges holding that same spoken by the Apostle 2. Tim. 3.16 all Scripture inspired from aboue is profitable to doctrine c. XI Nothing must be established concerning religion vvithout the vvord af god but all things to be reformed by it VVe hold therefore Dist 9. that nothing must be determined cōcerning religion in the church of god which hath not apparent testimonie in the canonicall bookes or may out of them be conuinced by manifest and necessarie consequence And if at anie time there hath crept into the church anie thing either concerning doctrine or the seruice of god which is not agreeable to the holie scriptures the same ought by some lawfull meanes either quite to be taken away or els to be reformed by the rule of gods word and that all controuersies in religion ought lawfully to be iudged and decided out of the same holie scriptures XII Traditions truely apostolicall and catholicke are to be retained in the church And the traditiōs in meane while which it is manifestlie knowne haue come from the Apostles Aug. tom 7. con Donat. lib. 4. ca. 24. tom 2. 2d Ian. ep 118. D. 11. c. 8. to haue beene euer obserued in all churches as that of hallowing the Lords daie in place of the Sabaoth and such like and allthough there be no expresse commandement in the scriptures for the obseruing of them yet wee iudge that they are to be retained in the church XIII The scripture is verie perspicuous in such things as be necessarie to saluation and therefore ought to bee read of all Yea wee thinke and knowe the whole doctrine of saluation not onely plentifully but plainelie and perspicuouslie to bee deliuered in the holie scriptures and sith God neuer spake vnto his people but in their natural language which might bee vnderstood of all that it is a great iniustice and tirannie to forbidd the reading of them to anie men consequentlie the turning of them into the proper tongue of anie nation which the Lord hath willed and commaunded should be read of all men for their owne saluations sake yea should be continuallie borne about in their hands daie and night XIIII The faithfull interpretations by learned godlie men are not to be contemned Although the holie scriptures in those matters which are necessarie to saluation be plaine and easie yet wee dissolue not the interpretations and expositions of skillful and learned godlie men 1. Thess 5.21 aswell aimcient as later namely such as are grounded vppon the same scriptures and so farre forth as scriptures are expounded by scriptures and that in correspondence to the chiefe principles of faith the summe whereof is contained both in the Apostles Creede and also in the Creedes of the true generall and of the auncient holie councells gathered together against those which were notorious heretikes XV. The onely word of god to be the piller of faith and foundation of religion For our faith nether cā nor ought to groūded vppon anie other thing Rom. 10.17 then the word of god deliuered in the holy scriptures that faith may be allwaies of hearing and hearing by the vvord of god wherunto whatsoeuer in any mens works is repugnāt we reiect it whatsoeuer is agreeable we embrace it but that which standeth in a newtralitie as it shall be expedient or not expedient to the church we allow or disallow it and so we teach that it is to be allowed or disallowed CHAP. II. Of God and of the diuine persons and properties I. That there is one onely god distinct in three persons AS wee are taught therefore by the holie scriptures Deu. 4.6 which are his owne word we beleeue that there is only one god that is one simple indiuisible eternall liuing
ignorant of nothing he is able to do all those things which pertaine to his office yea and such things as cannot bee performed of anie created substance but onelie of God himselfe may bee done by him by the power of his deitie yet his humaine wil alwaies working therewithal euermore by consent and as it were by desire so that in all the actions of Christ as he is God pertaining to our saluation alwaies his soule in some sorte ioyneth it selfe thereunto by loue by desire and will as also in all things which he did as man the deitie was alwaies concurrent yea euen in his death and passion not that the deitie suffred but that it willed both the passion and death of Christ and added to his passion and death an infinite power euen to cleanse vs of our sinnes To conclude concerning the two natures in Christ and the vnion and proprieties of them wee beleeue whatsoeuer hath bin determined in the Nycene Constantinopolitane Ephesian and Calcedonian counscels against Arrius Apollinaris Nestorius and Eutyches and in the sixt Synode against the Monothelites XIII Tvvo kindes of actions in Christ and all those things which we read that he did suffred were done indeede according to the trueth of the matter and not after a vaine shew or illusion Now from the person of Christ and his natures and the vnion of the natures to passe ouer peculiarly to his actions and his office First we beleeue that as there are two true natures in Christ whereof each hath had and hath her true and essentiall proprieties coupled together euen as the natures are also vnited but not confounded together so there are two kinds of actions which our Lord Iesus Christ is said partlie to haue performed and partlie wil yet performe for our saluatiō some wherof proceed from his deitie and some from his humanitie and the same partlie haue bin partly are so ioyned together and yet distinct that each of their formes as Leo speaketh alwaies worketh with communiō of the other The word performing those thinges which are of the worde and the flesh those thinges which pertaine to the flesh Moreouer as those thinges which Christ did and doeth by vertue of his diuine nature were true and not fained deeds for he truelie reconciled vs to his father he truelie forgiueth sinnes truely sanctifieth and regenerateth So whatsoeuer we read that he did or suffred for vs according to his humanitie wee beleeue that he did and suffred all those things truelie and indeed and not onelie in a vaine shew and as some speak an appearance onelie XIIII A declaration of the former opinion Wee beleeue therefore that Christ as hee was truelie conceiued of the seede of Dauid and truelie borne true man and did truelie eate drink performe other humaine deeds so also that he truelie kept the law for vs 1. Pet. 4.1 Luc. 24.36 that he truely suffred in the flesh and died and rose againe from the dead in the same flesh and ascended with his visible palpable humain bodie circumscribed with true and certaine dimensions into the true and created heauen placed aboue all these visible heauens Act. 3.21 and ther of his free wil worketh abideth til such time as hee returne againe in the same visible body truely from heauen to iudge the quick and the dead and that he truely desireth our saluation in heauen and hath a care ouer vs his spirituall and liuelie motion and feeling worketh in vs Eph. 1.22 4.16 as his members and lastly that he gouerneth the whole church XV. The fruites of the obedience passion death and resurrection of Christ And wee beleeue that Christ by his perfect obedience deserued eternal life not only for himselfe but also for vs by his passion death he satisfied for our sinns in his flesh he redeemed vs out of the hands of Satan the tirannie of death and the bondage of sinne he reconciled vs to God in himselfe and made vs his beloued that in him wee might bee deemed righteous with the father and by his resurrection and ascension into heauen hee obtained also for vs both the resurrections Apo. 20.5 as Iohn speaketh the first and the latter and that in our name he tooke vnto himselfe possession of the heauenlie in heritance Eph. 1.20 and sitteth at the right hand of God that is hath taken to himselfe power ouer all things in heauen and in earth So that in asmuch as he is our Mediatour and is man he hath obtained of his father the secōd place is appointed head of the church aswel which is in heauen as which is on earth that from him and euen from his flesh is conuaied by his holie spirite whatsoeuer pertaineth to the quickning and to the spirituall life of vs to all those which as members are fastened vnto him their head And therefore wee acknowledge beleeue confesse that in Christ alone is placed our whole saluation redemption iustice fauour of God and eternall life 1. Cor. 1.30 according to that saying VVho of God is made vnto vs wisedome and righteousnesse and sanctification redemption Also be is our peace Also Eph. 2.14 Ier. 23.6 Eph. 1.7 Col. 1.19 1. Ioh. 5.11 Iehouah our righteousnesse In him vvee haue redemption by his blood forgiuenesse of sinnes Also it pleased the Father that in him all fulnesse should dwell Also life is in his Sonne And therefore we know that the promise concerning redemption which was made vnto the first man did receiue accomplishment in this other man Iesus Christ so that whosoeuer will bee made partaker of it he must needs be ioyned to his head Christ be made a member of him For we haue redemption and saluation not onelie by him as a Mediatour but also in him as our head This is our faith cōcerning Christ the redeemer his person natures and office and the saluation of mankinde fulfilled and laide vp in him XVI Errors Therefore we condemne all aswell the ancient as later heriticks which euer taught or teach the cōtrarie Arrius Photinus namelie Seruetus and all other vngodlie men of that crewe which denie the true deitie of Christ the Cerdonians the Marcionits the Valentinians the Maniches the Priscillianits the Apollinarists and the rest which do oppugne the true humanitie of Christ some denying that Christ came in the flesh and that hee had true flesh and doe contend that he brought a phantasticall bodie from heauen or that hee was conceiued of the elementes and not of the seede of Abraham and that hee was not borne of a woman others graunting him indeede a true humaine flesh but yet depriuing him of a reasonable soule and substituting his deitie in place of his soule Also the Neitorians which denied the true vnion of the humaine nature with the person of the Sonne did set downe two persons in Christ and two Sonnes the Sonne of God and the Sonne of man We likewise condemne the
laid vp in him requireth onely these three things First that being touched with an earnest griefe of our whole life ledd amisse wee might desire from our heart to haue our mindes and so all our affections chaunged renued into the obedience of the diuine will and that we might earnestly pray and doe our best endeuour that it might be so Secondlie that imbracing Christ by a true faith withall his treasures wee might beleeue firmely and without any wauering that all our sinnes are for euer pardoned of the fauour and mercie of god through Christ alone and we receiued into grace made the children of God and heires of euerlasting life Lastly that beeing thus perswaded of the free and eternall saluation through Iesus Christ wee should thence foreward labour by all meanes to obserue whatsoeuer Christ hath commaunded to the glorie of God and profite of our neighbour so as faith do euermore accompanie vs to the ende whereby we beleeue that howsoeuer in this new obedience we err or do offend yet for Christs sake it shall not be imputed to vs but contrariewise by the perfect obedience iustice and holinesse of christ imputed vnto vs our imperfect obedience shal be perfected and shal be taken and reputed for most perfect in the sight of God And to three thinges are all the preceptes of christ referred namely that renouncing all vngodlines worldly desires wee should liue in this world in respect of our selues soberlie in respect of our neighbour iustly in respect of God godlie Tit. 2.12 looking for that blessed hope and the comming of the glorie of the great God This wee beleeue to bee the summe of those thinges which christ requireth of vs in the doctrine of the gospell and therefore that they bee true gospellers and christians indeede that bende their whole studie and care hereunto VII Jn what thinges especially the Gospell differeth from the Law And nowe of that which is alreadie saide it appeareth that we do not confound the Law with the Gospell For albeit wee confesse that God is author aswel of the Law as of the gospell and that of it selfe it is as well holie iust Exo. 20 and good as the gospell Rom. 7.12 yet we hold that ther is no smale difference betwixt them both not onely because the Lawe was deliuered to the Israelites alone and the gospell pertaineth to al people and nations and also not onely because that was for a time and to continue but till christ and the gospell is euerlasting and also not onely because that was deliuered by Moses and declared by the Prophets and the gospell was brought by christ and published to the whole world by the Apostles But indeed and most especially for these causes First because the matter of the law is onely commandementes with irreuocable curses thereunto ioyned if they bee broken neuer so little It hath also promises not onely of earthlie but also of heauenly blessings but al of them with the condition of perfect obedience and none merely free But the gospell is properly a happie message setting before vs gratis christ the redeemer forgiuing sinnes and sauing vs yea and requiring nothing at our handes for the obtaining of life euerlasting but a true faith in christ which faith cannot bee without true repentance nor without a care to doe the will of God that is to liue so berly iustly and godly as is aboue declared Moreouer because the law did not performe that which it required nether had it power whereby to saue therefore was vnsufficient and a killing letter the minister of wrath and death more prouoking then taking away sin But the Gospell what it requireth the same it performeth and therefore whatsoeuer it offereth the same also it truely imparteth vnto vs For as much as the holy ghost is by it powerful in the elect at the preaching of the Gospell stirring vp in them that true faith wherby they apprehend christ offred and with him eternall life For faith is by hearing of the Gospell Rom. 10.17 but obedience is not by hearing of the Lawe because the holie spirite giueth no man strength to the hearing of the Lawe by which hee might obserue the same as he stirreth vp faith in the elect to the hearing of the gospell For which cause as the Lawe is called a killing letter so is the Gospell called a quickning spirite and therefore is a true and forcible instrument to saluation vnto euerie beleeuer Whereon also followeth the third difference namely that the Law was not written in their hearts but remained written onely in tables and therfore did not chaunge men But the Gospell is written by the holie ghost in the hearts of the elect therefore it chaungeth and renueth them 2. Cor. 3.18 because it is the instrument of the holie ghost to sanctifie and to saue vs. VIII The Law of Moses is partly taken away and partly not taken away by the Gospell Of this which we haue said it also plainelie appeareth what our faith is of the abrogation of the law by the gospell First wee beleeue that in the gospell so farre forth as it declareth all things which in the old Testament did figuratiuely foreshew of Christ to bee fullfilled in this Iesus as is saide before in the 11. chapter we are taught that the law of Moses concerning cerimonies sacrifices and all Moses outward worship are simply abrogated according to that saying of the Apostle Heb. 9.10 Ioh. 1.17 that all these things vvere inioyned vntill the time of reformation and that The Law was giuen by Moses but the trueth came by Jesus Christ Moreouer so farre forth as the gospell is the instrument of the holy spirit whereby we are ingrafted and vnited to Christ made partakers of redēption and saluation as is said before in the 12. chapter So far also we confesse that the morall law touching the cursse against the transgressors is abrogated by the gospell of Christ according to that of the Apostle Rom. 8.1 There is no condēnation to them that are in Iesus Christ where of this is a token that they walke not after the flesh but after the spirit But now so farre forth as the doctrine of the Gospell requireth our repentance and the holinesse of life and that we liue soberly righteously and godly therein it taketh not away the law concerning māners for it is wholy consonant and agreeable with the doctrine of the gospel of eschewing vices and following vertue Lastlye in as much as Christ in his gospel did not take away the politicke lawes of the nations which were not contrarie to the law of nature Therefore wee thinke it lawfull and free for any gouernors to bringe among their subiectes such politick lawes as were deliuered to the people of Israell and by the same then which none are more iust to rule and gouerne the people Therefore they do exceeding great iniurie to the Gospell of Christ that saye it troubleth or
words of the insutution are not so rehearsed that they may be heard and vnderstood whereby faith may be stirred vp there we denie it to be a ttue sacrament and therefore we affirme that the signes without the lawfull vse bee not Sacraments but onely the same thinges which they are of their owne nature and nothing else For the signes are translated onely by the word from their common vse to the holy vse that which many call to be consecrated hallowed and thereby is made a sacrament euen as Augustine said The word commeth to the element and the sacrament is made it commeth indeede that it may be vnderstood and beleeued VI. That Sacraments be not simple markes or bare signes Therfore we beleeue that these sacramentall signes be not simple markes which onely do seuer vs from other people that are not of the true church or meere tokēs vnto vs of our christian societie or whereby we should professe our faith openly and giue thanks to god for our redemption but that they are the instruments by which while the actions benefits of Christ are represented vnto vs they are called to our remembrance his promises are sealed and our faith stirred vp the holy ghost also doth ingraft vs to Christ doth keepe vs beeing ingrafted and makes vs daily to growe vp more and more into one with him that beeing indued with a greater faith towards God and earnester loue towards our neighbour and a mortification of our selues we might lead a life euen like so far as might bee to the life of Christ in spirituall ioye and gladnesse till the time when we shall liue with him in heauen most holily and blessedlie for euer VII The sacraments of the newe conenant of what sorte Wee also confesse with Augustine De doct chr lib. 3. cap. 9 that the sacraments deliuered by Christ are in number few easie to be done and most worthie to bee vnderstood Few in number because they are onely two Baptisme and the Lords Supper easie to be done for there is nothing either in Baptisme or the Lordes supper which may not easily be performed receiued nothing troublesome nothing vnpleasant or straunge vnto a man Lastly most worthie to be vnderstood because although the things which are seene are of no value yet those things which are signified which are set downe to be thought on considered and vnderstood in the minde are most reuerend heauenly diuine pertaining to eternall saluation VIII To the worthy receiuing of the sacraments there is need of vnderstanding and faith And thereby also we know that the sacraments to the worthie receiuing of them doe require an action and attention of the minde a faith in vs whereby wee vnderstand what is signified and offered to vs by them and apprehend it with a minde setled in faith euen as Christ teacheth Luc. 22.19 1. Cor. 11.24 where he saieth of his supper doe this in remembrance of me And the Apostles waighing and cōsidering these words of Christ doth largely expoūd them To which purpose is also that Lift vp your hearts For there be set before vs matters most reuerend heauenly and diuine to be vnderstood in the minde and receiued by faith IX That the matter of the Sacrament is seriously offred to all men though all do not truely receiue the same but only the chosen faithfull And although all men come not to the receiuing of the sacraments with faith and true vnderstanding yet as the signes are giuen to all that professe Christ so also we beleeue that the things signified by the sacraments are seriously offred vnto all by Christ and therefore that nothing is diminished of the substance or soundnes of the sacrament by the vnbeleefe of them that receiue the signes only for it dependeth wholy vpon the institution of Christ and the trueth of his wordes X. VVhile the sacraments are ministred the spirit of Christ is powerfull in the faithfull therefore they not only receiue the signes but also participate in the things signified But albeit the spirit of Christ be not powerfull in all men on whome the Sacraments are bestowed as it is neither to all vnto whome the word is preached and that by their owne fault because they haue not vnderstanding faith yet wee beleeue that in the faithfull elect of God he is powerful in as much as they being indued with faith by the hearing of the word and confirmed more and more in the same by the receiuing of the sacraments are brought by the same spirit into the communion of Christ and made to ioyne and growe together with him therein and therefore we cōfesse that these men in Baptisme are truely washed and purged from sinne by vertue of Christs blood and in the Lords supper they eate of Christs true flesh and drink of his true blood XI That Christ is both author and true disposer of the sacraments And wee acknowledge as one author so one true disposer of the sacraments euen our Lord Iesus Christ which giueth the outward signes by men his ministers but he himselfe properly and truely imparteth vnto them the matter of the sacramentes effectually by himselfe or by his holy spirit like as Iohn the Baptist said J baptize vvith water but Christ will baptize with the spirit And therefore as it is lawfull for no man to institute new sacraments so also can no man boast that he truely and properlie cleanseth consciences of sinne or that he feedeth men with the true bodie and bloode of Christ but onely as they say ministerially or as a minister XII The sacraments are not polluted to the faithfull by the vices of the ministers Now if Christ alone be not onely the true author of sacraments but the disposer also we easily gather that the sacraments are not polluted to others that be faithfull by the vices of the ministers whose labour he vseth Tit. 1.15 but that notwithstanding they may receiue them worthily and be made partakers of the thing signified and offered by the sacraments For to the cleane all things are cleane Eph. 3.17 and Christ with all his riches dwelleth in the heartes of the faithfull XIII That grace is not tied to the Sacraments By these foundations are we confirmed in the opinion receiued among all godlye men that the grace of God is not tied to the sacraments so that who so receiueth them must needs receiue also grace that is the thing signified and offred by the sacraments although he want faith as though a man could obtaine the matter of the sacrament by the vvorke wrought as they call it Mar. 16.16 Act. 8.13 For Christ saide not simplie whosoeuer shal bee baptized he shal be saued but he first addeth vvhosoeuer beleeueth And Simon Magus he receiued the sacramēt of Baptisme but he obtained not the matter of Baptisme when as yet as Peter witnesseth hee was wrapped in the most bitter gaule of sinne and in the bond of iniquitie and diuelish
of the heauenly inheritance IX Charitie also doth spring of faith We beleeue also that of true faith springeth true charity by which it worketh and by which it sheweth how forcible it is as the Apostle saith Gal. 5.6 1. Ioh. 4.3 that the faith auaileth much in Christ which worketh by loue and Iohn affirmeth that he which loueth not Ia. 2.15.16 hath not knowne God Therefore we acknowledge not them for brethren which boast of faith when they haue not charitie X. Charitie is the gift of God And wee beleeue that the same charitie is the singular gift of God 1. Ioh. 4.18 whereby we are affectioned towards God the father and Christ our redeemer to loue them againe to glorifie them with all our hearts and inclined made proue to good will and louing kindnes aswell towards al men yea euen our enimies as especially towards the saintes and faithfull Therefore we disallow them which saye that man can of his owne naturall power loue god aboue all things For loue commeth of God 1. Ioh. 4.7 saith Iohn XI Testimonies of true charitie Neither doe we thinke that to be true and christian charitie which commeth not to that nature which the Apostle describeth in the first to the Corinthians chap. thirteen ver 4.5.6.7 namely that it suffreth long is bountifull enuieth not doeth not boast it selfe is not puffed vp doeth no vncomely thing seeketh not her owne things is not prouoked to anger thinketh not euill reioyceth not in iniquitie but reioyceth in the trueth suffereth all things and the rest which follow XII By charitie the communion with Christ and the church is nourished We beleeue that by true charitie the communion with Christ and with the church is exceedingly cherished increased and preserued in as much as loue doth vnite betweene themselues the persons louing and beloued as Iohn saith He which abideth in loue abideth in God and God in him CHAP. XVIII Of repentance ALthough that all these thinges Faith Hope and Charitie Repentance Iustification the studie of good works and of a godly life cannot indeed be separated from one another yet in as much as one of them dependeth on another they are therefore to be distinguished and each of them seuerallie to bee considered of and to bee seene what they be and what they worke And therefore wee thinke good brieflie to declare what wee thinke of them euerie one and first of repentance the continuall and inseparable companion of faith For albeit it bee daily made more perfect after iustification yet because no man is iustified without repentance and the beginning thereof goeth before iustification therefore wee haue purposed in this first place to declare what our beleefe is concerning the same I. To Justification and therefore to the communion with Christ Repentance is necessarie Wee beleeue that to the true participation of Christs righteousnesse and so to the communion with Christ repentance is very needefull whereby beeing turned from sinne and from the worlde by chaunging our mindes willes we are turned to God and are ioyned vnto him and so obtaine forgiuenesse of our sinnes in him and by him be cloathed with his righteousnesse and holinesse For the first thing that Iohn Baptist yea that Christ himself preached Mar. 14.15 was repentance for the remission of sinnes And except saith Christ yee repent Luc. 13.3.5 yee shall all likewise perish II. What we meane by the name of repentance By the name of repentance we vnderstand two things especially first an earnest griefe a true sorrow for our sinnes cōmitted against God and that not so much for the feare of punishment due to sinne as for that we haue offended God himselfe our chiefest good yea our maker and louing father and then an vnfained chaunging of our mindes hearts wills and intents and so of our whole life For this part which Christ calleth properly repentance and the Prophets a turning to God 2. Cor. 7.10 and the circumcision of the heart the Apostle teacheth to come of the former ioyning both partes together where he saith Godly sorrowe causeth repentance vnto saluation III. Repentance is the gift of God We beleeue that repentance is the gifte of God comming from his meere grace not due to any of our deserts or endeauours as the Apostle saith 2. Tim 2.25 If god at any time will giue them repentance that they may acknowledge the trueth may come to amendment out of that snare of the deuill Ier. 31.18 and the Prophet saith Turne me O Lord and I shal be turned IV. To stirre vp repentance in vs God vseth ordinarily the word of the law and the gospell and therefore the hearing of both is most necessarie in the church God accustometh for the stirring vp of repentance in vs to vse ordinarily aswell the declaration of his lawe which discouereth our sinnes and laieth open gods wrath as also the preaching of the gospel which sheweth remissiō of sinnes fauour of god in Christ euē as it manifestly appeareth to euerie godly man which readeth the holie scriptures And therfore wee iudge the declaration and hearing of them both to bee verie needefull in the church V. A summe of the doctrine of repentance euery where and alwaies necessarie to all of yeares of discretion The summe of our faith concerning repētance necessarie euerie where and at al times to all that bee of yeares of discretion is this that repentance is a chaunging of the minde and heart stirred vpp in vs through the holie ghost by the word both of the law and the gospell wherein wee greeue from our heart wee detest we lament we loath and bewaile and cōfesse before God all our sinnes euen the corruption of our nature as things vtterly repugnāt as the law teacheth to the wil of god to the cleansing whereof the death of Gods owne sonne as the gospell preacheth was needefull and doe humblie pray and intreat for pardon and forgiuenesse of the same and do earnestly resolue vpon amendment of our life and on a continuall studie and care of innocencie and christian vertues and exercise our selues in the same diligently all the dayes of our life to the glorie of God and edification of the church VI. That the vulgar or vsuall partes of poenitencie as contrition confession of sinnes and satisfaction are not simplie condemned Concerning the partes of repentance besides those which are alreadie declared wee haue not much to speake being taught by the holie scriptures that the same doth wholy and chiefly consist in an earnest mortification of the olde man and a quickening of the newe whereof the former taketh the force from the death of Christ the latter from his resurrection the holie ghost imparting them both vnto vs. Meanewhile we doe not simplie disallow that same distinction receiued and long held in the schooles of the partes of repentance into contrition confession of sinnes satisfaction namely if it bee examined
rites and ceremonies wherein the vnitie was be polluted with diuers superstitions yea and especially if also the Sacraments instituted of Christ be corrupted and wholly disordered so that a good conscience can not bee partaker of them but what if the heauenlie trueth also be banished from them and in the place thereof preached and defended the doctrines of deuills what also if thou canst not there bee suffered to bee silent but shalt bee constrained either to denie Gods trueth and to subscribe to diuelish vntrueths or else to spill thy life and blood XVII He which is departed from the church of Rome hath not thereby broken the vnitie of the Church nor is seuered from the bodie of Christ In as much therefore as wee are accused of apostasie or a backsliding from the catholick and apostolick church of Christ and are saide to haue broken the vnitie thereof because we would no longer communicate with the congregations of the Romish church in vngodly superstitions idolatrous seruices but choose rather to follow the aūcient doctrine seruice and discipline renued through gods benefite by the true seruants of Christ wee protest before God and his angels the whole church euen to the worlds ende that they doe an exceeding iniurie not onely to vs but also to the holie ghost and to all the auncient church Sith in this matter we haue done no otherwise nor doe then wee are commaunded to doe by the holie ghost taught by the fathers yea and counselled by the Papists themselues XVIII A confirmation of the former opinion For the Lord hath especially forbidden 1. Cor. 5.11 2. Cor. 6.14 Tit. 3.10 Rom. 16.17 Ca. 24 q. 1 c. 24 26 q. 3. c. 9 that we should haue any fellowship with idolaters and obstinate apostataes and heritickes in their idolatries and heresies Nor otherwise do the fathers teach as they are alleadged for witnesses euen in the canons then that not onely if there be a man but also if there bee a church which renounceth the faith C. 24. q. 1. c. 29. holdeth not the foūdation of the Apostles preaching and in which Christ doctrine abideth not it is to be forsaken Neither for any other cause was the old church of Rome so celebrated of the fathers that which then flourished was holie and called the mother of the churches but because it constantly retained the doctrin receiued of the Apostles all the rest for the most part slipping away But now what the doctrine of it is and what seruice and how farre it is fallen from the auncient doctrine in manie things it is too too well knowne We therfore moreouer protest that we haue made no other separation from the church of Rome that now is but as we are constrained by the word of God as we must needs obey God so commaunding vs and therefore least wee should still abide in an apostasie from the apostolicke and catholicke church wee haue iudged it our partes and dueties to returne at length to the same againe and to depart from the idolatries of this filthie polluted Romish companie XIX We are not simplie departed from the church of Rome but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in some respect For we haue not simplie and in all thinges forsakē the ehurch of Rome but only in those things wherein it hath fallen from the apostolicke church and euen from it selfe and from the old and sound church nether are we gone with any other meaning but that if it would returne amended and reformed to the auncient state wee would also returne vnto it and haue communion with it and in their owne congregations Which that it maye one day come to passe wee beseech the Lord Iesus with our whole heart For what were more to be wished of euery good man thē that where we were by our baptisme borne a new there we might liue euen to our liues end so it were in the Lord. I Hier. Zanchius with my whole familie pronounce this to be witnessed to the whole church euen to the worlds end XX. The whole catholicke church is not suffered to erre but euerie particular church may Wee beleeue and acknowledge that this catholicke church as wee haue before described it is so gouerned by the holie ghost that he neuer suffereth the same wholly all of it to err because it euer preserueth in some godlie men the light of the trueth and retaineth the same pure and sounde by their ministerie to the ende of the world and deliuereth it to posteritie To which purpose wee doubt not but that tendeth which Paule saide 1. Tim. 3.15 The church is the pillar and ground of trueth because without the church is no trueth but in the church it is alwaies reserued sith there is euer more some congregation great or smale wherein the word of trueth doth sound But of euerie particular church wherein there bee euer good and badd mingled together wee know the reason is farre otherwise For first in these congregations either the pure word of God is preached or else with it vntruethes are also taught For where no ministerie of the word is ther we acknowledge to be no church If therefore together with the trueth there may also false assertions be taught howe can that congregation be said that it cannot erre when it doth manifestly erre And if the pure word of God be onely taught then the reprobate hypocrites which beleeue it not doe alwaies erre when they reiect the light of the trueth and walke in darkenesse and of them is almost in euerie place the greatest number As for the godly Mat. 24.24 though they are neuer suffered so to erre that they cōtinue in their error and perish Christ himselfe saying Gal. 2.11 c. 1. Cor. 1.11 c. Gal. 1.6 c. The elect can not be seduced no not by the miracles and wonders of Antichrist namely not to the end to their destruction yet that they may erre aswell euerie one seuerally as many gathered together and that not onely in manners but also in the doctrine of faith wee are manifestlie taught by the histories both sacred and ecclesiasticall and by that which hath happened to godlie and holie byshops and their churches in the East and in the West XXI A confirmation of the former opinion Peter doubtlesse did erre at Antioch manie in the church of Corinth and more in that of Galatia being seduced by the false Apostles did most grossly erre though they were soone after called back againe by the Apostle from their errors Dauid also taught that the verie sheepe of Christ may erre Psal 119.176 when he said I haue gone astray like a sheepe that is lost and why were the ministery of the word in the church needfull for all the godlie if they could not erre Sith therefore euerie godlie man in each particular church and the same a true and pure church haue often and doe often erre that hypocrites are neuer indued
therefore cannot really be communicated to the other nature as to be impassible eternall immeasurable Some are proper to the humaine nature and therefore cannot altogether indeede be communicated to the other nature as to be made to be finite and passible And other some propper to the wholle person consisting of both natures and therefore common to both natures together as to be a mediatour a redeemer a Sauiour 9 To this third kind pertaine those actions which the greeke Fathers called the actions of God maÌ„ or actions divine and humaine because in the workes of our redemption each forme worketh not the property of the other but of it selfe yet with the communion of the other the worde working that which belongeth to the word the flesh performing that which belongeth to the flesh 10 Of these three kinds of Atributes we find in our selues an example not vnlike For in a man some thinges are proper onely to the soule as to be immortall to vnderstand to wil soÌ„e thinges to the body only as to be mortall palpable heauy Some things common to them both as be such works to the performaÌ„ce whereof each part worketh that which is proper to it with communion of the other as to write to speake to runne and to doe whatsoeuer is done by the ministery of the body yet not without the vertue and guidance of the soule 11 Nowe of this which hath beene saide of the diuers Subiects Praedicats there followeth a diuersitie also of PraedicatioÌ„ Euery Praedication therefore of Christ is either proper and simple or els improper and figuratiue 12 The proper and simple PrÄ™dication falleth two waies one is when those thinges which are proper to one nature they are predicated or said of the person of Christ beeing expressed by a name either denominated of the same nature or proper to the person as this our God or Christ is omnipotent and euery vvhere present also this man or Christ suffered and died The other is when such things as are proper to the wholle person they are said also of the wholle person signified by a name that containeth both the natures such as these are that belong to the office of a mediatour and the honour of an head as Christ Imanuell God incarnate redeemed vs sanctified vs saued vs is a King to be vvorshipped which are said therefore to be proper to the person because they can be seuerally applied to neither of the natures Nowe all such be proper and simple propositions because in all which are of the same kinde the Praedicates be coupled with the Subiects in all those thinges which are of the verie same kinde 13 The improper and figuratiue praedication is likewise twofold one wheÌ„ as these things which are proper to the wholle person either belonging to the office of a mediatour or to the honour of an head the same are saide of on of the natures signified either by an abstractiue or a concretiue name As the flesh quickeneth the blood washeth from sinne God redeemed the Church the Mediatour of god and men Man c. The other when that which is proper to one nature is said of the other nature signified by a name which is concretiue and which be tokeneth the person as God suffered and died man when he was on earth was also at the same time in heauen 14 For in thâ—se improper propositions of the latter sort the proprieties of diuerse kindes are coupled as wordes concretiue and therfore god is vnproperly said to suffer in as much as the name God in it owne propper signification doth betoken the divine essence which cannot suffer but in respect of the person being meant which is also man it is a true though an improper propositioÌ„ therefore these things are said of the wholle person by a Synechdoche whereas indeede they agree not to the same but onelie in respect of one nature 15 This latter forme of an improper speech we call the coÌ„munity of proprieties as the greeks doe which Theodoret expounding calleth the communitie of names And Damascene the troope of retribution 16 For with them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was a concretiue worde signifying the proprietie of some nature And 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was when as the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or proprieties of one nature were mutually and reciprocally spoken of the concrete name of the other nature which name did signifie the person so that it is meere folly to thinke that the Fathers when they spake of the comnication of the Idiomes that they meant to speake of any reall powering or communication of the essentiall proprieties of one nature into the other seing they write plainely the vnitie maketh the names common but neuer maketh the things common 17 For if our talke be of the natures themselus Theod. diâ— 3. p. 67. B. which are in Christ Theodoret with other fathers teacheth vs that wee must so speake as we do not saye that those which are proper to the one nature are in very deed common to the other but that wee giue to either of them alone that which belongeth to it Euen as that which belongeth to the soule wee giue it not to the body and contrary wise But if we speak of the person we must so frame our speach that we may declare those things which are proper to each nature to bee truely and indeed common to the whole person euen as also we giue to the whole man really and in trueth aswell those things which belong to the soule as to the bodie Now his very wordes after his bringing in of the similitude of the soule and the body the whole man follow thus So we must speake of Christ And when we speake of the natures in Christ wee must geue to each of them those things which do befitt each we must know what things are proper to the diuinitie what to the humanitie but whenas we speake of the person we must make those things which are proper to the nature common and must fitt these verie same to our Sauiour Christ and we must call him both God and man both the sonne of God and the sonne of man both the sonne of Dauid and the Lord of Dauid both the seede of Abraham and the creatour of Abraham and so of all the rest The same doctrine he also confirmeth out of Amphilochius bishop of Iconium and out of other fathers in many places in his dialogues 18 Damascene also to expound the same matter to wit how the same thinges which belong to one nature should be communicated to the other namely in person writeth thus The word doth approprsate vnto it selfe those things which belong to man For those thinges which pertaine to his holy flesh be his and he doth by a manner of mutuall praedication impart those things which are proper to himselfe vnto the flesh by reason of the being of the partes mutually one within the other and their