and most holy providence disposeth and dispenseth all things here below; it is absolutely necessary to believe and profess, that a just and exact retribution is deferred, that a due and proportionable dispensation of rewards and punishments is reserved to another world; and consequently that there is a universal judgment to come.

Secondly, It is necessary to believe a judgment to come, thereby effectually to provoke ourselves to the breaking off our sins by repentance, to the regulating our future actions by the word of God, and to the keeping a conscience void of offence towards God and towards man. Such is the sweetness of our sins, such the connaturalness of our corruptions, so great our confidence of impunity here, that except we looked for an account hereafter, it were unreasonable to expect that any man should forsake his delights, renounce his complacences, and by a severe repentance create a bitterness to his own soul. But being once persuaded of a judgment, and withal possessed with a sense of our sins, who will not tremble with Felix? who will not "flee from the wrath to come?" What must the hardness be of that impenitent heart, which "treasureth up unto itself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God?" (Rom. ii. 5.) We are naturally inclined to follow the bent of our own wills, and the inclinations of our own hearts: all external rules and prescriptions are burdensome to us; and did we not look to give an account, we had no reason to satisfy any other desires than our own: especially the dictates of the Word of God are so pressing and exact, that were there nothing but a commanding power, there could be no expectation of obedience. It is necessary then that we should believe that an account must be given of all our actions; and not only so, but that this account will be exacted according to the rule of God's revealed will, that "God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to the Gospel." (Rom. ii. 16.) There is in every man not only a power to reflect, but a necessary reflection upon his actions; not only a voluntary remembrance, but also an irresistible judgment of his own conversation. Now if there were no other judge beside our own souls, we should be regardless of our own sentence, and wholly unconcerned in our own condemnations. But if we were persuaded that these reflections of conscience, are to be so many witnesses before the tribunal of Heaven, and that we are to carry in our own hearts a testimony either to absolve or condemn us, we must infallibly watch over that unquiet inmate, and endeavour above all things for a good conscience. For "seeing that all things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God." (2 Pet. iii. 11.) Reason itself will tell us thus much; but if that do not, or if we will not hearken to our own voice; "the

grace of God that bringeth salvation teacheth us, that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present woud, looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." (Tit. ii. 11—13.)

Thirdly, It is necessary to profess faith in Christ as Judge of the quick and the dead, for the strengthening our hope, for the augmenting our comfort, for the establishing our assurance of eternal life. If we look upon the judgment to come, only as revealing our secrets, as discerning our actions, as sentencing our persons according to our works done in the flesh, there is not one of us can expect life from that tribunal, or happiness at the last day. We must confess that we have all sinned, and that there is not any sin which we have committed, but deserves the sentence of death; we must acknowledge that the best of our actions bear no proportion to eternity, and can challenge no degree of that weight of glory; and therefore in a judgment, as such, there can be nothing but a fearful expectation of eternal misery, and an absolute despair of everlasting happiness. It is necessary therefore that we should believe, that Christ shall sit upon the throne, that our Redeemer shall be our judge, that we shall receive our sentence not according to the rigour of the Law, but the mildness and mercies of the Gospel; and then we may look upon not only the precepts but also the promises of God; whatsoever sentence in the sacred Scripture speaketh any thing of hope, whatsoever text administereth any comfort, whatsoever argument drawn from thence can breed in us any assurance, we may confidently make use of them all in reference to the judgment to come: because by that Gospel which contains them all, we shall be judged. If we consider whose Gospel it is, and who shall judge us by it, "we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones;" (Eph. v. 30.) "for which cause he is not ashamed to call us brethren." (Heb. ii. 11.) As one of our brethren he hath redeemed us, (Lev. xxv. 48.) he hath laid down his life as a ransom for us. He is our High-priest who made an atonement for our sins, "a merciful and faithful High-priest, in all things being made like unto his brethren." (Heb. ii. 17.) He which is Judge, is also our Advocate; and who shall condemn us, if he shall pass the sentence upon us, who maketh intercession for us? Well therefore may we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him" (Eph. iii. 12.) unto the throne of that Judge, who is our Redeemer, who is our Highpriest, who is our Advocate, who will not by his word at the last day condemn us, because he hath already in the same word absolved us, saying, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is ssed from death unto life." (John v. 24.)

66

Having thus explained the nature of the judgment to come, and the necessity of believing the same, we have given sufficient light to every Christian to understand what he ought to intend, and what it is he professeth, when he saith, I believe in him who shall come to judge the quick and the dead. For thereby he is conceived to declare thus much: I am fully persuaded of this, as an infallible and necessary truth, that the eternal Son of God, in that human nature, in which he died, and rose again, and ascended into heaven, shall certainly come from the same heaven into which he ascended, and at his coming shall gather together all those which shall be then alive, and all which ever lived and shall be before that day dead: when causing them all to stand before his judgment-seat, he shall judge them all according to their works done in the flesh; and passing the sentence of condemnation upon all the reprobates, shall deliver them to be tormented with the devil and his angels; and pronouncing the sentence of absolution upon all the elect, shall translate them into his glorious kingdom, of which there shall be no end. And thus I believe in Jesus Christ, WHO SHALL JUDGE THE QUICK AND THE DEAD.

ARTICLE VIII.

I believe in the Holy Ghost.

In this Article we repeat again the first word of the CREED, I believe; whereas a conjunction might have been sufficient, but that so many particulars concerning the Son have intervened. For as we are baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; so do we make confession of our faith, saying, I believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost;* and the ancients, whose Creed was something shorter, made no repetition of the act of faith, but only an addition of the object, And in the Holy Ghost. And as we repeat this act of faith in

'Sed enim ordo rationis et fidei auctoritas, digestis vocibus et literis Domini, admonet nos post hæc credere etiam in Spiritum Sanctum, olim Ecclesiæ repromissum, sed statutis temporum opportunitatibus redditum.' Novatian. de Trin. c. 29. Schlictingius the Socinian, in his Preface to the Polonian Confession of Faith, endeavoureth to persuade us, that this Article of the Holy Ghost is not so ancient as the rest; which being diametrically opposite to that original of the Creed, which I have delivered, the baptismal words, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, it will be necessary to examine his reason, which is drawn only from the authority of Tertullian; who in his book

De Veland. Virg. c. 1. reciting the rule of faith, makes no mention of the Holy Ghost: and De Præscr. Hæret. propounds this Article no otherwise: Quam ut credamus Christum in cœlos receptum sedere ad dextram Patris, misisse vicariam vim Spiritus Sancti.' c. 13. But this objection made for the novelty of this Article is easily answered: for Irenæus before Tertullian hath it expressly in his Confession, I. i. c. 10. and calls it the faith, in Patrem et Filium, et Spiritum Sanctum; and also declares, that the Church received that faith, and preserved it through the whole world.

So the ancient Greek MS. xal elc πνεῦμα ἅγιον; and Marcellus, καὶ εἰς τὸ

this Article, so some did also in the second, I believe in Jesus Christ. Wherefore being this word, I believe, is taken here only by way of resumption or repetition, and consequently must be of the same sense or importance, of which it was in the beginning of the CREED, it may well receive the same explication here which it received there; to that therefore the reader is referred.

For although the ancient fathers did frequently make use of this language to prove the Divinity of the Spirit,+ and did thence argue that he is really and truly God, because we believe in the Holy Ghost; yet being that language is not expressly read in the Scriptures in relation to the Spirit, as it is in reference to the Son; being to believe in the Holy Ghost, is only the expression of the Church contained in the Creed; being in the same Creed many of the ancients, without any reprehension, have used the same phrase in the following Articles expressly, and where the preposition is not expressed, it may very well be thought it was understood: therefore I think fit to acquiesce in my former exposition, and lay no great force on the prepo

sition.

It will therefore be sufficient for the explication of this Article, if we can declare what is the full and proper object of our faith contained in it, what we are obliged to believe concerning the Holy Ghost. And as to this we shall discharge our undertaking, and satisfy whatsoever is required in this Exposition, if we can set forth these two particulars, the nature and

aylor μa; as also Arius and Euzoius, and the Council of Nice. Socrat. I. i. c. 8. Thus also the Latins: Post hoc ponitur in ordine fidei, Et in Spiritum Sanctum.' Ruffinus in Symb. §. 34. Maximus Taurin. et Auctor lib. de Symb. ad Catechum. The MS. in the Oxford Library, Et in Spiritum Sanctum. Others, instead of the conjunction, made use of credo, by way of repetition, as we do: Credo in Spiritum Sanctum.' Chrysologus, Eusebius Gallican., Auctor Serm. ad Catechum, 1. iv. §. 9. Etherius Uram., the Greek and Latin MS. in Bene't College Library: and Credo in Sancto Spiritu.' Venantius Fortunatus.

As the ancient Saxon Creed set forth by Freherus.

+ Gregory Nazianzen, disputing for the divinity of the Holy Ghost, proveth that be is no creature thus: ̓Αλλ' εἰ μὲν κτίσε μα, πῶς εἰς αὐτὸ πιστεύομεν; ἢ ἐν αὐτῷ τελειούμεθα ; οὐ γὰρ ταὐτόν ἐστι πιστεύειν εἰς τι, καὶ περὶ αὐτοῦ πιστεύειν· τὸ μὲν γάρ ἐστι Θεότητος, τὸ δὲ παντὸς πράγματος. Orat. xxxvii. p. 596. Epiphanius seems to speak thus much, shewing, that though the fathers of the Nicene Council had determined nothing particularly of the Holy Ghost, yet they sufficiently shew

that he is God, by those words; al sic πνεῦμα ἅγιον. Εὐθὺς γὰρ ἡ ἔκθεσις ὁμολογεῖ καὶ οὐκ ἀρνεῖται· Πιστεύομεν γὰρ εἰς ἕνα Θεὸν Πατέρα παντοκράτορα. Τὸ δὲ πιστεύομεν οὐχ ἁπλῶς εἴρηται, ἀλλ ̓ ἡ πίστις εἰς τὸν Θεόν. Καὶ εἰς ἕνα Κύριον Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν, οὐχ ἁπλῶς εἴρηται, ἀλλ ̓ εἰς Θεὸν ἡ πίστις. Καὶ εἰς τὸ Αγιον Πνεῦμα, οὐχ ἁπλῶς εἴρηται, ἀλλ ̓ εἰς μίαν δοξολογίαν, καὶ εἰς μίαν ἔνωσιν θεότητος, καὶ μίαν ὁμοουσιότητα, εἰς τρία τέλεια, μίαν δὲ θεότητα, μίαν οὐσίαν, μίαν δοξολογίαν, μίαν κυριότητα, ἀπὸ τοῦ πιστεύομεν καὶ πιστεύομεν nal wisTeúquer. Hares. lxxiv. §. 14. Agnoscamus verbi ipsius privilegium. Credere illi quilibet potest hominum; credere vero in illum, soli debere te Majestati noveris. Sec et hoc ipsum aliud est Deum credere, aliud est credere in Deum. Esse Deum et diabolus credere dicitur, secundum Apostolum; nam et dæmones credunt et contremiscunt. In Deum vero credere, hoc est fideliter eum quærere, et tota in eum dilectione transire. Credo ergo in illum, hoc est dicere, Confiteor illum, colo illum, adoro illum, totum me in jus ejus ac dominium trado, atque transfundo. In professionis hujus reverentia universa divino nomini debita continentur obsequia.' Paschasius in Prafat. Operis de Spiritu S.

the office of that blessed Spirit. For the name of Ghost or Gast in the ancient Saxon language signifieth a Spirit, and in that appellation of the Spirit of God, his nature principally is expressed. The addition of holiness, though it denote the intrinsical sanctity essentially belonging to that Spirit, yet notwithstanding it containeth also a derivative notion, as signifying an emanation of that holiness, and communication of the effects thereof; and in this communication his office doth consist. Whatsoever therefore doth concern the Spirit of God, as such, and the intrinsical sanctity, which belongeth to that Spirit, may be expressed in the explication of his nature; whatsoever belongeth to the derivation of that sanctity, may be described in his office; and consequently more cannot be necessary, than to declare what is the nature, what the office, of the Spirit of God.

For the better indagation of the nature of the Holy Ghost, I shall proceed by certain steps and degrees; which as they will render the discourse more clear, so will they also make the reasons more strong, and the arguments more evident. And first, as to the existence of the Spirit of God, it will be unnecessary to endeavour the proof of it; for although the Sadducees seemed to deny it, who said "that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit;" (Acts xxiii. 8.) though it hath been ordinarily concluded from thence that they rejected the Holy Ghost, yet it cannot be proved from those words that they denied the existence of the Spirit of God, any more than that they denied the existence of God who is a spirit: nor did the notion which the Jews had of the Spirit of God any way incline the Sadducees, who denied the existence of the angels and the souls of men, to reject it. The resurrection, angel, and spirit, which the Sadducees refused to acknowledge, were but two particulars; for it is expressly added, that the " Pharisees confessed both;" of which two the resurrection was one, angels and spirits were the other; wherefore that which the Sadducees disbelieved was the existence of such created spiritual natures, as the angels and the souls of men are conceived to have. And as for those disciples at Ephesus, who had "not so much as heard whether there be a Holy Ghost;" (Acts xix. 2.) if they were Gentiles, it is no wonder, because they never had that notion in their religion; if they were Jews, as they seem to be, because they were baptized with the baptism of John, it signifieth not that they never heard of the Spirit of God, but only that they had not heard of the giving of it, which the apostle mentioned: as we read elsewhere, that the " Holy

As Epiphanius Hares. xiv. Tò Пvizua τὸ ἅγιον Σαδδυκαῖοι μὲν οὐδὲ εἶναι τὸ παράπαν ἐνόμισαν (οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀγγέλους, οὐδὲ ἀνάστασιν) οὐκ οἶδ ̓ ἔθεν τὰς τοσαύτας περὶ αὐτοῦ μαρτυ ξίας ἐν τῇ παλαια διαπτύσαντες. Greg. Nas.

Orat. xxxvii. p. 595.

† Φαρισαῖοι δὲ, φησὶν, ὁμολογοῦσι τὰ αμε φότερα, καὶ μὴν τρία ἐστί· πῶς οὖν λέγει ἀμφότερα ; ἡ ὅτι πνεῦμα καὶ ἄγγελος ἓν ἐστι ; S. Chrysost. Hom. 49. in Act. Apost. xxiii.8.