fluctuating Socinus endeavour to evacuate the evidence of this Scripture attributing the remission either to repentance without consideration of baptism, or else to the public profession of faith made in baptism; or if any thing must be attributed to baptism itself, it must be nothing but a declaration of such remission. For how will these shifts agree with that which Ananias said unto Saul, without any mention either of repentance or confession, "Arise and be baptized, and wash away thy sins?" (Acts xxii. 16.) and that which St. Paul, who was so baptized, hath taught us concerning the Church, that Christ doth "sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water?" (Eph. v. 26.) It is therefore sufficiently certain that baptism as it was instituted by Christ after the preadministration of St. John, wheresoever it was received with all qualifications necessary in the person accepting, and conferred with all things necessary to be performed by the person administering, was most infallibly efficacious, as to this particular, that is, to the remission of all sins committed before the administration of this sacrament.

As those which are received into the Church by the sacrament of baptism, receive the remission of their sins of which they were guilty before they were baptized; so after they are thus made members of the Church, they receive remission of their future sins by their repentance.+ Christ who hath left us a pattern of prayer, hath thereby taught us for ever to implore and beg the forgiveness of our sins; that as we through the frailty of our nature are always subject unto sin, so we should always exercise the acts of repentance, and for ever

Vel Baptismo illi, hoc est, solemniter peractæ ablutioni, peccatorum Remissionem nequaquam tribuit Petrus, sed totam pœnitentiæ; vel si Baptismi quoque rationem ea in re habuit, aut quatenus publicam nominis Jesu Christi professionem continet, eam tantum consideravit ; aut si ipsius etiam externæ ablutionis omnino rationem habere voluit, quod ad ipsam attinet, remissionis peccatorum nomine, non ipsam remissionem vere, sed remissionis declarationem, et obsignationem quandam intellexit.' Socin. de Baptism. c. 7.

+ St. Chrysostom speaking of the power of the priests : Οὐ γὰρ ὅταν ἡμᾶς ἀναγεννῶσι μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα συγχωρεῖν ἔχου σιν ἐξουσίαν ἁμαρτήματα. De Sacerd. I. iii. t. vi. p. 17. Excepto baptismatis munere, quod contra originale peccatum donatum est, (ut quod generatione attractum est, regeneratione detrahatur ; et tamen activa quoque peccata, quæcunque corde, ore, opere commissa invenerit, tollit :) hac ergo excepta magna indulgentia (unde incipit hominis renovatio) in qua solvitur omnis reatus et ingeneratus et additus;

ipsa etiam vita cætera jam ratione utentis ætatis, quantalibet præpolleat fœcunditate justitiæ, sine remissione peccatorum non agitur: quoniam filii Dei, quamdiu mortaliter vivunt, cum morte confligunt: et quamvis de illis sit veraciter dictum, Quotquot Spiritu Dei aguntur, hi filii sunt Dei: sic tamen Spiritu Dei excitantur et tanquam filii Dei proficiunt ad Deum, ut etiam Spiritu suo (maxime aggravante corruptibili corpore) tanquam filii hominum quibusdam moribus humanis deficiant ad seipsos et peccent.' S. August. Enchir. c. 64. Οὕτω καὶ μετὰ τὸ βάπτισμα ἐκκαθαίρεται ἁμαρτήματα μετὰ πόνου πολλοῦ καὶ καμάτου. Πᾶσαν τοίνυν ἐπιδειξώμεθα σπουδὴν, ὥστε αὐτὰ ἐξαλεῖψαι ἐντεῦθεν, καὶ αἰσχύνης καὶ τῆς κολάσεως ἀπαλλαγῆναι τῆς ἐκεῖ καν γὰρ μυρία ὦμεν ἡμαρτηκότες, ἂν ἐθέλωμεν, δυνησόμεθα ἅπαντα ταῦτα ἀποθέσθαι τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων τὰ φορτία. Chrysost. Hom. in Pentecost. 1. Quod autem scriptum est, Et sanguis Jesu filii ejus mundat nos ab omni peccato, tam in confessione Baptismatis, quam in clementia pœnitudinis accipiendum est.' S. Hieron, adv. Pelag. l. ii. col. 515.

δ.

seek the favour of God. This then is the comfort of the Gospel, that as it discovereth sin within us, so it propoundeth a remedy unto us. While we are in this life encompassed with flesh, while the allurements of the world, while the stratagems of Satan, while the infirmities and corruptions of our nature, betray us to the transgression of the Law of God, we are always subject to offend (from whence whosoever saith that he hath no sin is a liar, contradicting himself, and contracting iniquity by pretending innocency); and so long as we can offend, so long we may apply ourselves unto God by repentance, and be renewed by his grace, and pardoned by his mercy. And therefore the Church of God, in which remission of sin is preached, doth not only promise it at first by the laver of regeneration, but afterwards also upon the virtue of repentance; and to deny the Church this power of absolution is the heresy of Novatian.*

The necessity of the belief in this Article appeareth, first, Because there can be no Christian consolation without this persuasion. For we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God, nay, God himself hath concluded all under sin; we must also acknowledge that every sinner is a guilty person, and that guilt consisteth in an obligation to endure eternal punishment from the wrath of God provoked by our sins; from whence nothing else can arise but a fearful expectation of everlasting misery. So long as guilt remaineth on the soul of man, so long is he in the condition of the devils, "delivered into chains and reserved unto judgment." (2 Pet. ii. 4.) For we all fell as well as they, but with this difference; remission of sins is promised unto us, but to them it is not.

Secondly, It is necessary to believe the forgiveness of sins, that thereby we may sufficiently esteem God's goodness and our happiness. When man was fallen into sin, there was no possibility left him to work out his recovery; that soul which had sinned must of necessity die, the wrath of God abiding upon him for ever. There can be nothing imaginable in that man which should move God not to shew a demonstration of his justice upon him; there can be nothing without him which could pretend to rescue him from the sentence of an offended

I call this the heresy of Novatian rather than of Novatus, because though they both joined in it, yet it rather sprang from Novatianus the Roman presbyter, than from Novatus the African bishop. And he is thus expressed by Epiphanius, Har. lix. §. 1. Λέγων μὴ εἶναι σωτηρίαν, ἀλλὰ μίαν μετάνοιαν· μετὰ δὲ τὸ λουτρόν, μηκέτι δύνασθαι ἐλεεῖσθαι παραπεπτωκότα" that is, he acknowledged but one repentance which was available in baptism; after which if any man sinned, there was no mercy remaining for him. To which Epiphanius gives this reply: Η μὲν τελεία

μετάνοια ἐν τῷ λουτρῷ τυγχάνει· εἰ δέ τις παξέπεσεν οὐκ ἀπόλλει τοῦτον ἁγία τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐκκλησία· δίδωσι γὰρ καὶ ἐπάνοδον, καὶ μετὰ τὴν μετάνοιαν τὴν μεταμέλειαν Ibid, and again : Δέχεται οὖν ὁ ἅγιος λόγος καὶ ἡ ἁγία Θεοῦ ἐκκλησία πάντοτε τὴν μετάνοιαν Ibid. §. 2. and yet more generally: Tà Távτa σαφῶς τετελείωται μετὰ τὴν ἐντεῦθεν ἐκδημίαν, ἔτι δὲ ὄντων ἐν τῷ ἀγῶνι πάντων, καὶ μετὰ πτῶσιν ἔτι ἀνάστασις, ἔτι ἐλπὶς, ἔτι θεραπεία, ἔτι ὁμολογία· κἂν εἰ μὴ τελειότατα, ἀλλ ̓ οὖν γε τῶν ἄλλων οὐκ ἀπηγόρευται ἡ σωτηρία. Ibid. §. 10.

and almighty God. Glorious therefore must the goodness of our God appear, who dispenseth with his Law, who taketh off the guilt, who looseth the obligation, who imputeth not the sin. This is God's goodness, this is man's happiness." For blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered; blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth no iniquity." (Psal. xxxii. 1, 2.) The year of release, the year of jubilee, was a time of public joy; and there is no voice like that, "thy sins are forgiven thee." By this a man is rescued from infernal pains, secured from everlasting flames; by this he is made capable of heaven, by this he is assured of eternal happiness.

Thirdly, It is necessary to believe the forgiveness of sins, that by the sense thereof we may be inflamed with the love of God: for, that love doth naturally follow from such a sense, appeareth by the parable in the Gospel, "There was a certain creditor which had two debtors, the one owed him five hundred pence, the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both." (Luke vii. 41, 42.) Upon which case our Saviour made this question, "Which of them will love him most?" He supposeth both the debtors will love him, because the creditor forgave them both; and he collecteth the degrees of love will answer proportionably to the quantity of the debt forgiven. We are the debtors, and our debts are sins, and the creditor is God: the remission of our sins is the frank forgiving of our debts, and for that we are obliged to return our love.

Fourthly, The true notion of forgiveness of sins is necessary to teach us what we owe to Christ, to whom, and how far we are indebted for this forgiveness. "Through this man is preached unto us the forgiveness of sins," (Acts xiii. 38.) and without a surety we had no release. He rendered God propitious unto our persons, because he gave himself as a satisfaction for our sins. While thus he took off our obligation to punishment, he laid upon us a new obligation of obedience. We "are not our own" who are "bought with a price:" we must "glorify God in our bodies, and in our spirits, which are God's." (1 Cor. vi. 19, 20.) We must be no longer "the servants of men; we are the servants of Christ, who are bought with a price." (1 Cor. vii. 22, 23.)

Fifthly, It is necessary to believe remission of sins as wrought by the blood of Christ, by which the covenant was ratified and confirmed, which mindeth us of a condition required. It is the nature of a covenant to expect performances on both parts; and therefore if we look for forgiveness promised, we must perform repentance commanded. These two were always preached together, and those which God hath joined ought no man to put asunder. Christ did truly appear "a Prince and a Saviour," and it was "to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins;" (Acts v. 31.) he joined these two in the apostles' commission, saying, that "repentance and remission of sins

should be preached in his name throughout all nations.” (Luke χχίν. 47.)

From hence every one may learn what he is explicitly to believe and confess in this Article of forgiveness of sins; for thereby he is conceived to intend thus much: I do freely and fully acknowledge, and with unspeakable comfort embrace this as a most necessary and infallible truth, that whereas every sin is a transgression of the Law of God, upon every transgression there remaineth a guilt upon the person of the transgressor, and that guilt is an obligation to endure eternal punishment ; so that all men being concluded under sin, they were all obliged to suffer the miseries of eternal death; it pleased God to give his Son, and his Son to give himself to be a surety for this debt, and to release us from these bonds, and because without shedding of blood there is no remission, he gave his life a sacrifice for sin, he laid it down as a ransom, even his precious blood as a price by way of compensation and satisfaction to the will and justice of God; by which propitiation, God, who was by our sins offended, became reconciled, and being so, took off our obligation to eternal punishment, which is the guilt of our sins, and appointed in the Church of Christ the sacrament of baptism for the first remission, and repentance for the constant forgiveness of all following trespasses. And thus I believe THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS.

ARTICLE XI.

The Resurrection of the Body.

THIS Article was anciently delivered and acknowledged by all Churches,* only with this difference, that whereas in other places it was expressed in general terms, the resurrection of the flesh, they of the Church of Aquileia, by the addition of a pronoun propounded it to every single believer in a more particular way of expression, the resurrection of this flesh. And though we have translated it in our English CREED, the resurrection of the body; yet neither the Greek nor Latin ever delivered this Article in those terms, but in these, the resurrection of the flesh;

Cum omnes ecclesiæ ita sacramentum Symboli tradant, ut postquam dixerint peccatorum remissionem, addant carnis resurrectionem; sancta Aqilueiensis ecclesia, ubi tradit carnis resurrectionem, addit unius pronominis syllabam; et pro eo quod cæteri dicunt, carnis resurrectionem, nos dicimus hujus carnis resurrectionem.' Ruffin. Apol. 1. i. adv. Hier. inter Op. Hieron. t. iv. par. 2. col. 354. Satis cauta et provida adjectione fidem Symboli ecclesia nostra docet, quæ in eo quod a cæteris traditur, carnis resurrectionem, uno addito pronomine tradit, hujus carnis re

because there may be ambiguity in the one, in relation to the celestial and spiritual bodies, but there can be no collusion in the other. Only it will be necessary, for shewing our agreement with the ancient Creeds, to declare that as by flesh they understood the body of man, and not any other flesh; so we, when we translate it body, understand no other body but such a body of flesh, of the same nature which it had before it was by death separated from the soul. And this we may very well and properly do, because our Church hath already taken care therein, and given us a fit occasion so to declare ourselves. For though in the CREED itself, used at Morning and Evening Prayer, the Article be thus delivered, the resurrection of the body, yet in the form of public baptism, where it is propounded by way of question to the godfathers in the name of the child to be baptized, it runneth thus, Dost thou believe-the resurrection of the flesh?' We see by daily experience that all men are mortal; that the body, left by the soul, the salt and life thereof, putrifieth and consumeth, and according to the sentence of old, returneth unto dust: but these bodies, as frail and mortal as they are, consisting of this corruptible flesh, are the subject of this Article, in which we profess to believe the resurrection of the body.

When we treated concerning the resurrection of Christ,* we delivered the proper notion and nature of the resurrection in general, that from thence we might conclude that our Saviour did truly rise from the dead. "Being now to explain the resurrection to come, we shall not need to repeat what we then delivered, or make an addition as to that particular, but referring the reader to that which is there explained, it will be necessary for us only to consider what is the resurrection to come, who are they which shall be raised, how we are assured they shall rise, and in what manner all shall be performed. And this resurrection hath some peculiar difficulties different from those which might seem to obstruct the belief of Christ's resurrection. For the body of the Son of God did never see corruption; all the parts thereof continued in the same condition in which they were after his most precious soul had left them, they were only deposited in the sepulchre, otherwise the grave had no power over them. But other mortal bodies, after the soul hath deserted them, are left to all the sad effects of their mortality: we may say "to corruption, Thou art my father; to the worm, Thou art my mother and my sister;" our