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them, when we assert, That Justification and Salvation by Christ only, and no merit of our own works, is the scope and drift of our 11th Article.

We go on, as proposed, to confirm our proof by other authorities:

The Institution of a Christian man, Section entitled "Notes of the Ten Commandments."

"For when we perceive, that of ourselves we have no strength, goodness or life eternal; but weakness, sin, and everlasting death; then we may evidently see, how much need we have of the mercy of God, and to have a Saviour and Redeemer to pay a ransom for our sins, and to deliver us from everlasting captivity, damnation, and death, due unto us for the same. therefore Saint Paul saith, the law was our schoolmaster, conductor, and leader unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith; that is to say, by God's mercy, which Christ obtained for us.

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King Edward VI.'s Catechism, (margin, "Justification by Faith.")

"As oft therefore as we use to say, that we are made righteous and saved by only faith; it is meant thereby, that faith, or rather trust, alone doth lay hand upon, understand and perceive, our righteous making to be given us of God freely; that is to say, by no deserts of our own, but by the free grace of the Almighty Father."

Archbishop Cranmer, MS. in the Lambeth Library, No. 1108.

"This proposition, That we are justified by Christ only, and not by our own good works, is a very true and necessary doctrine of St. Paul, and other the Apostles and Prophets; and taught by them to set forth thereby the glory of Christ, and mercy of God by Christ."

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I give the above extract verbatim, as it was communicated to me in a Letter from my esteemed and honoured friend, the Rev. Dr. WORDSWORTH, now Master of Trinity College, Cambridge; who thus describes the MS. "It consists of Miscellanies relating principally to the Reformation. One part of it is large collections from the Fathers, relative to the doctrine of Justification by faith; partly written in Cranmer's own hand, but principally in that of his Secretary. And these collections, I doubt not, were made by the Archbishop previously to his composing the Homilies of Salvation, &c. At the end of a long string of extracts are the following words—(as before given)— if I remember right in Cranmer's own hand; but whether or no, doubtless the words are his." (See Bishop Burnet, Hist. of the Reformation, Vol. I. p. 288.)

My knowledge of the following extract from the same MS. is derived from the same friendly source.

Archbishop Cranmer, MS. as above.

"Yet nevertheless, because by faith we know God's mercy and grace promised by his word, and that freely for Christ's death and passion sake, and believe the same, and being truly

penitent we by faith receive the same, and so excluding all glory from ourselves, we do by faith transcribe the whole glory of our justification to the merits of Christ only, (which properly is not the nature and office of charity) therefore to set forth the same, it is said of faith in antient writers, we be justified only by faith, or by faith alone; and in St. Paul, we be justified by faith freely without works." (With this extract compare the passage cited above, p. 251, from the Homily of Salvation, Part III. p. 24.)

Bishop Hooper, Preface to the Declaration of the Ten holy Commandments.

"Paul's whole purpose is in the Epistle to bring man unto a knowledge of his sin, and to shew him how it may be remitted; and with many testimonies and examples of the Scripture, he proveth man to be saved only by mercy, for the merits of Christ, which is apprehended and received by faith; as he at large sheweth, cap. iii. iv. v. of the same Epistle."

Bishop Jewell, Defence of the Apologie, Part I. Chap. x. Divis. I. p. 66.

"Howbeit, if it be so horrible an heresy, to say, We be justified before God by onely faith, that is to say, Onely by the merits and cross of Christ; let us see what the holy learned Fathers of the Church, so many hundred years ago, have taught us thereof."

With Jewell's "by onely faith, that is to say, onely by the merits and cross of Christ," compare the Confessio Augustana, p. 144. Ed. Oxon. 1804.

"Cum igitur dicimus, fide justificamur, non hoc intelligimus, quod justi simus propter ipsius virtutis dignitatem. Sed hæc est sententia, consequi nos remissionem peccatorum et imputationem justitiæ, per misericordiam propter Christum."

Also the Confessio Saxonica, p. 218. Ideo in ecclesiis nostris dicitur, Fide sola justificamur: quod sic intelligimus, et declaramus, Gratis, propter solum mediatorem, non propter nostram contritionem, seu alia nostra merita, donamur remissione peccatorum, et reconciliatione.”

Also the Protestant Divines in the second Conference at Ratisbon, as cited by Bp. Bull, Harm. Apost. Diss. 2. Cap. 18. §. 6. "Ut dicere, nos justificari fide sola, aliud non sit quam, justificari nos nullis nostris, sed solis Christi meritis, quæ donata nobis fide apprehendimus.”

We will conclude the proof of our assertion, with the following passage from Hooker: under the cover of whose figurative language the same sense is easily discernible as in the preceding extracts.

Discourse of Justification, §. 31.

"It is a childish cavil, wherewith in the matter of Justification our adversaries do so greatly please themselves; exclaiming, that we tread all Christian virtues under our feet, and require nothing in Christians but faith; because we teach, that faith alone justifieth: whereas by this speech we never meant to exclude either Hope, or Charity from being always joined as inseparable mates with Faith, in the man that is justified; or

works from being added as necessary duties, required at the hands of every justified man: but to shew, that faith is the only hand that putteth on Christ unto justification; and Christ the only garment, which being so put on, covereth the shame of our defiled natures, hideth the imperfection of our works, preserveth us blameless in the sight of God, before whom otherwise the weakness of our faith were cause sufficient to make us culpable, yea to shut us from the kingdom of heaven, where nothing that is not absolute can enter."

The meaning of this Proposition, "We are justified by faith only," being thus ascertained, according to the mind of our Reformers; we shall be enabled, without any great difficulty, to discriminate their sense of these words from St. Paul's, and from Luther's.

In our 11th Article, Justification is not meant of Baptismal Justification only, but is extended to the remission of sin at any period of our lives.

That this is the case, we might safely infer from the consideration, That our Article is opposed to the Romish doctrine of Justification by the merit of works. Now this justification of theirs most certainly does not respect our Baptismal justification. Consequently, the justification intended by our Article cannot be confined to Baptismal, but must include also justification at any time after our Baptism.

However, we are not left thus to inference; for it is plain from the very opening of the Homily of Salvation, (to which the Article refers) that by justification in our 11th Article the for

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