standing law for all nations, and that to the end of the world. And therefore it is, that they that never heard the law of Moses preached and explained to them, have this law written and engraven in them; so that, will they nill they, their own consciences will force them to acknowledge that God ought to be worshipped, and their neighbours righted, which is the sum of this moral law: insomuch, that we need not produce any more arguments, to convince any one that they ought to obey this law; for every one hath an unanswerable argument in his own breast, every man's conscience forcing him to confess what this article asserts, that he is not free from the obedience of the commandments which are called moral. 3. Confirmation from the FATHERS.-To Scripture and reason, we might in the next place add the fathers. But seeing it is a truth so generally received by all men, though not in their lives, yet in their consciences, I shall pick out but some few of them to speak for the rest, not only of the fathers, but of their fellow-creatures. First, Clemens Romanus, who having shown how it is only by faith in Christ that we are justified before God, lest any one should take occasion from thence to think obedience to the law superfluous, presently adds, What, therefore, shall we do, brethren? Shall we cease from doing good, and forsake charity? The Lord by no means will suffer that to be done by us. But let us haste with diligence and alacrity to perfect every good work.' And afterwards', 'We see how all just persons are adorned with good works, and the Lord himself rejoiceth to adorn himself with works. Having therefore this example, let us diligently obey his will, and with all our strength work the work of righteousness.' Where we may observe, 1. how such as are just, do not therefore lay aside good works because justified by Christ; 4 Τί οὖν ποιήσωμεν, ἀδελφὸι; ἀργάσωμεν ἀπὸ τῆς ἀγαθοποίας καὶ ἐγκαταλείπωμεν τὴν ἀγάπην; μηδαμῶς τοῦτο ἐάσαι ὁ δεσπότης ἐφ' ἡμῖν γε γενηθῆναι· ἀλλὰ σπεύ σωμεν μετ ̓ ἐκτενείας καὶ προθυμίας πᾶν ἔργον ἀγαθὸν ἐπιτελεῖν. Clem. Epist. ad Corinth. ·1 - Ιδωμεν ὅτι τὸ ἐν ἔργοις ἀγαθοῖς πάντες ἐκοσμήθεισαν οἱ δίκαιοι, καὶ αὐτὸς οὖν ὁ Κύριος ἔργοις ἑαυτὸν κοσμήσας ἐχάρη· Εχοντες οὖν τοῦτον τὸν ὑπογραμμὼν, ἀόκνως προσέλθωμεν τῷ θελήματι αὐτοῦ, ἐξ ὅλης ἰσχύος ἡμῶν ἐργασώμεθα ἔργον δικαιοσύνης. but, because justified by Christ, they therefore adorn themselves with good works. And, 2. that God himself adorns himself with good works, and therefore certainly that we cannot be free from them, who are bound to be like him, 1 Pet. i. 15. 6 St. Basil also shows how the same things are commanded in the New Testament, that were commanded in the Olds: That the Lord both in the Old and New Testament hath the same end in his commands, even to meet with the effects of sin, and to cut wickedness off in the very first beginning. For as the old law said, Thou shalt not commit adultery ;' but the Lord Christ, Thou shalt not covet;' and that 'Thou shalt not steal;' but he commanding perfecter things, 'Thou shalt not be angry:' so here the law is content with swearing aright, but he cuts off the very occasion of perjury.' So that the same law is not only in force that was before, but that also in a stricter sense, and therefore he saith elsewhere, that Christ came not to destroy the law and prophets, but to fulfil them,' and to add more perfect things to them. And so the same father again in another place speaks fully to our purpose. But " because of those things that are in use with us, some are delivered by the command of God in the holy Scripture, others pass by in silence; concerning those that are written, there is no power given to any one whatsoever, either to do any thing that is forbidden, or to leave undone any thing that is commanded.' Irenæus also speaking of our Saviour's exposition of the law, Matt. v. saith, For all these things do not contain 8 Οτι πανταχοῦ τοῦ αὐτοῦ σκοποῦ ἔχεται ὁ Κύριος προλαμβάνων ἁμαρτημάτων τὰ ἀποτελέσματα, καὶ ἐκ τῆς πρώτης ἀρχῆς ἐκτέμνων τὴν πονηρίαν· ὡς γὰρ ὁ μὲν πάλαιὸς ἔλεγε νόμος οὐ μοιχεύσεις, ὁ δὲ Κύριος οὐδὲ ἐπιθυμήσεις· κακεῖνος μὲν οὐ φονέυσεις, ὁ δὲ τὰ τελειότερα νομοθετῶν οὐδὲ ὀργισθήσῃ· οὕτω δὴ καὶ ἐνταῦθα ὁ μὲν ἀρκεῖται τῇ εὐορκίᾳ, ὁ δὲ τῆς ἐπιορκίας τὴν ἀφορμὴν διακόπτει. — Basil. in Psa. 14. p. 133. A. tom. i. Ed. Par. 1638. t Ὅτι οὐ δεῖ νομίζειν ἐπὶ καταλύσει τοῦ νόμου καὶ τῶν προφητῶν τὸν Κύριον ἐληλυθέναι, ἀλλ ̓ ἐπὶ πληρώσει καὶ προσθήκῃ τῶν τελειοτέρων.—Id. Moral. Reg. 42. p. 446. Ε. - Επειδή δὲ τῶν ἐν ἡμῖν στρεφομένων πραγμάτων τὰ μέν ἐστιν ὑπὸ τῆς ἐντολῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν τῇ ἁγίᾳ γραφῇ δισταλμένα, τὰ δὲ σεσιωπημένα· περὶ μὲν τῶν γεγραμμένων, οὐδεμία ἐξουσία δέδοται καθόλου οὐδενὶ, οὔτε ποιῆσαί τι τῶν κεκωλυμένων, οὔτε παραλεῖψαί TI TÜV #ÇOTTETAYμivov.-Id. Reg. Brevior. Inter. 1. p. 624. B. * Omnia enim hæc non contrarietatem et dissolutionem præteritorum any contrariety or dissolution of the ancient moral laws, as they that hold with Marcion talk; but their fulness and extension, as himself saith, "unless your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the scribes and pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."' I shall trouble no more of the fathers in so clear and undoubted a truth, but only St. Augustine: For if we distinguish betwixt the two Testaments, the Old and the New, the sacraments are not the same, nor the promises the same, but the precepts are for the most part the same. For "thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, honour thy father and mother, do not bear false witness, do not covet thy neighbour's goods, do not covet thy neighbour's wife," are commands which are also laid upon us, and whosoever doth not observe them, erreth.' And Gregorius Neocæsariensis, or Thaumaturgus, who tells us, God, the Lord and beholder of all things, is to be feared in the first place, and his commands are to be observed; and let every one be fully persuaded, that all things must hereafter be brought to judgment, and every one shall receive according to the merit of their works, whether they be good or evil. Concluding this as Olympiodorus doth his comment upon Ecclesiastes. But now we being so continent, sicut qui à Marcione sunt vociferantur; sed plenitudinem et extensionem, sicut ipse ait, ‘Nisi abundaverit justitia vestra plusquam scribarum et pharisæorum, non intrabitis in regnum cælorum.'- Iren. advers. Hares. lib. iv. c. 27. p. 345. C. Ed. Par. 1639. y Si enim discernimus duo Testamenta, Vetus et Novum, non sunt eadem sacramenta, nec eadem promissa, eadem tamen pleraque præcepta. Nam non occides, non mœchaberis, non furaberis, honora patrem et matrem, non falsum testimonium dixeris, non concupisces res proximi tui, et non concupisces uxorem proximi tui, et nobis præceptum est: Et quisquis ea non observaverit deviat. — Aug. in Psal. 73. tit. tom. viii. p. 801. D. Ed. Bas. 1542. z Timendus ante omnia Deus omnium Dominus simul et Inspector, observanda item mandata ipsius, et persuasum habeat unusquisque omnia posthac judicanda, et singulos juxta meritam operum suorum sive bona sive mala retributionem accepturos. - Gregor. Neocas. in Eccles. p. 96. B. Ed. Par. 1622. a Nos autem benè jam per Ecclesiasten edocti timeamus Deum, et illius mandata custodiamus omni nostrâ contentione et studio. Summa enim salutis nostræ in misericordiis Domini ac benignitate Judicis reposita est, well taught by the Preacher, let us fear God, and keep his commandments with all our diligence and study. For all our salvation is laid up in the mercies of the Lord, and the clemency of the Judge, with whom, and by whom, to God the Father and Holy Spirit, be glory now and for evermore. Amen.' ARTICLE VIII. Of the Three Creeds. THE THREE CREEDS, NICE CREED, ATHANASIUS'S CREED, AND THAT WHICH IS COMMONLY CALLED THE APOS- OUR Saviour, immediately before his ascension, commanding baptism to be administered, "In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost," Matt. xxviii. 19; his church hath therefore in all ages required the profession of faith in these three persons of all that were to be baptized. And therefore, to prepare her catechumens for baptism, she hath still instructed them in what they ought to believe concerning each person, which when they had learned, acknowledged, and professed either by themselves or their cum quo et per quem Deo Patri est gloria, Sanctoque Spiritui, et nunc et in secula seculorum. Amen. a That the ancients made this place the ground of their creeds, we may see in Eusebius, who having presented his creed to the council of Nice, after he had rehearsed it, adds, Καθὼς καὶ ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν ἀποστέλλων εἰς τὸ κήρυγμα τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ μαθητὰς εἶπε· πορευθέντες μαθητεύσατε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, &c. -Socrat. Hist. Eccl. lib. i. And so Arius and Euzoius, in the creed they delivered to Constantine: Ταύτην δὲ τὴν πίστιν παρειλήφαμεν ἐκ τῶν ἁγίων ἐυαγγελίων, λέγοντος τοῦ Κυρίου τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ μαθηταῖς, πορευθέντες μαθητέυσατε πάντα Ta Om, &c.-Ibid. c. 26. in Græc. at 19. in Lat. And so Basil, after he had set down his Confession of Faith, or Creed, adds, orc ppovoũμev, xai οὕτως βαπτίζομεν εἰς τριάδα ὁμοούσιον κατὰ τὴν ἐντολὴν αὐτοῦ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰπόντος, πορευθέντες μαθητέυσατε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, βαπτίζοντες αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Πατρὸς, καὶ τοῦ γιοῦ, καὶ τοῦ ̔Αγίου Πνέυματος.—Basil. de Vera Fide. p. 390. D. tom. ii. Ed. Par. 1658. sureties, they were presently received by baptism into the church of Christ. Now for the better understanding of what they were bound thus to acknowledge, the church used still to give them, in plain and familiar terms, a brief but full explication and description of each person, in whose name they were to be baptized: which explication or description of the persons in the Holy Trinity was afterwards called the symbol", creed, or rule of faith,' because it contained whatsoever was necessary to be believed and acknowledged in order unto baptism. Now the church of Christ being scattered abroad into several nations and countries, much distant from one another, and yet each particular church still retaining the same way of fitting her competentes or catechumens for baptism, though they all agree in setting So called, as some of the ancients thought, from the Greek word, signifying a collation: Quod enim Græcè symbolum dicitur Latinè collatio nominatur.- Aug. Serm. de Temp. 115. tom. x. p. 849. A. Ed. Bas. 1542. Symbolum Græcè, collatio, hoc est quòd plures in unum conferunt.-Rab. Maur. de Instit. Cler. lib. ii. c. 56. Sicut nonnullis scire permissum est, apud veteres symbola vocabantur, quòd de substantiâ collecti in unum sodales in medio conferebant ad solennes epulas et ad cænæ communes expensas: ita et ecclesiarum patres, de populorum salute solliciti, ex diversis voluminibus Scripturarum collegerunt testimonia divinis gravida sacramentis. Disponentes itaque ad animarum pastum salubre convivium collegerunt, verba brevia et certa, expedita sententiis, sed diffusa mysteriis; et hoc symbolum nominaverunt. Eucher. de Symb. Homil. 1. But these and others, it seemed, not so well skilled in the Greek language, confounded σύμβολον with συμβολή. For it is συμβολή, not σύμβολον, that signifies a collation. So Athenæus saith, συμβολὴν τὴν εἰς τὰ συμποσία ὑπὸ τῶν πινόντων siopagoμévnv.—Athen. Conviv. Soph. lib. viii. But cúμboxov, ' symbol,' signifies tessera, signaculum; and so other of the fathers expounded it; and that most rightly; Symbolum tessera est et signaculum, quo inter fideles perfidosque secernitur.-Max. Taurin. de Trad. Symb. Symbolum cordis signaculum, et nostræ militiæ sacramentum.-Ambros. de Veland. Virg. lib. iii. This Petrus Chrysologus hath also respect to, when he saith, Accepturi ergo symbolum, hoc est pactum vitæ, salutis placitum, et inter vos et Deum fidei insolubile vinculum; pectora parate, non chartam.- Chrys. Serm. 58. p. 52. D. inter Op. Leonis Mag. &c. Ed. Par. 1639. • Post catechumenos secundus competentium gradus est. Competentes autem sunt qui jam post doctrinam fidei ad gratiam Christi percipiendam festinant. Ideoque appellantur competentes, i. e. gratiam Christi petentes. Nam catechumeni tantùm audiunt, nec dum petunt. Sunt enim quasi hospites et vicini fidelium; de foris audiunt mysteria, audiunt gratiam, sed adhuc non appellantur fideles. Competentes autem jam petunt, jam acci |