Part I: The Creed

Question 1. What is meant by Faith in this place, and of its Necessity unto Salvation.

BUT whereas in Sacred Scripture the word faith has a variety of meanings, we here speak of that faith, by force of which we yield our entire assent to whatever has been divinely delivered. And that this faith is necessary to obtaining salvation, no man can reasonably doubt, par ticularly as it is written, that ivithout faith it is impossible to please God For whereas the end proposed to man as his ultimate happiness is far beyond the reach of the human understanding, it was therefore necessary that he should receive the knowledge thereof from Almighty God. And this knowledge is nothing else than faith, by virtue of which we hold that as fixed whatsoever the authority of our Holy Mother the Church teaches us to have been delivered by God ; for the faithful can have no doubt touching those things of which God, who is the truth itself/ is the author. Hence we understand how great is the difference that exists between this faith which we have in God, and that which we yield to the writers of human history. But faith, though comprehensive in its meaning, and differing in degree and dignity (for we read in the sacred writings these words – 0 thou of little faith, why didst thou doubt ?z and, Great is thy faith; and, Increase our faith ; also, Faith without works is dead ;c and, Faith which worketh by charity), is yet the same in kind; and the force and nature of its definition applies equally to all its degrees. Its fruitfulness, and the ad vantages we may derive from it, will be pointed out in the explanation of the articles [of the Creed].

Question 2. When, and for what Reason, the Twelve Heads of Faith were handed doivn ly the Apostles.

The first points, then, which Christian men ought to hold, are those which the holy apostles, the great leaders and teachers of the faith, inspired by the Holy Ghost, have divided into the twelve articles of the Creed. For when they had received a command from the Lord to go forth into the whole world, acting as his ambassadors, and preach the Gospel to every creature they thought fit to compose a form of Christian faith, to wit, that all might think and speak the same thing, and that amongst those whom they should have called unto the unity of faith no schisms should exist, but that they should be perfect in the same mind, and in the same judgment. f

Question 3. Why this was called a “ Symbol.”

This profession of Christian faith and hope, composed by themselves, the apostles called a symbol, either because it was made up of various sentences, which each contributed respectively towards its completion, or because by it, as by a common sign and watchword, they might easily distinguish false brethren, deserters from the faith, unawares brought in, who corrupted the word of God from those who had really bound themselves by an oath of fidelity to the warfare of Christ.

Question 4. Of the Necessity of this Creed, and its Division into Parts.

Amongst the many truths which are proposed to our belief in the Christian religion, and of which, separately or gene rally, a certain and firm faith ought to be held, the first, and one which is necessary to be believed by all, is that which God himself has taught us as the foundation and summary of truth, which regards the unity of the Divine Essence, and the distinction of the Three Persons, and the actions which are in some sort peculiarly attributed to each. The pastor will teach that the Apostles' Creed briefly comprehends the doctrine of this mystery.

For, as our ancestors have observed, who, in treating this subject, have shown both piety and accuracy, [the Creed] seems to be divided into three principal parts, in suchwise, that one describes the first person of the Divine Nature, and the marvellous work of creation ; another, the second person, and the mystery of man's redemption ; a third, comprising the doctrine of the third person, the origin and source of our sanctification, in divers and most appropriate sentences.1 Now these sentences we call articles, by a sort of comparison frequently used by our forefathers ; for as the mem bers of the body are divided by joints (articuli), so also, in this profession of faith, whatever is to be believed distinctly and separately from anything else, is properly and appositely called an article.

1 I.e. in various subdivisions of the three greater articles of the Creed.

Question 1. A Brief Explanation of the First Article.

THE import of these words is this : I believe with certainty, and without any doubt profess my belief, in God the Father, the first person, to wit, of the Trinity, who by his omnipotent power, created from nothing, preserves and governs the heaven and the earth, and all things which are contained in the compass of heaven and earth ; and not only do I believe in him from the heart, and profess this belief with the lips, but with the greatest zeal, and piety tend towards him, as the supreme and most perfect good. Let this serve as a sort of brief comprehensive view of this first article. But whereas great mysteries lie concealed under almost every word, the pastor must now give them a more diligent consideration, that, as far as God has per mitted, the faithful people may draw nigh, with fear and trembling j to the contemplation of the glory of the divine Majesty.

Question 2. What is meant ly the word “ Believe”

The word believe, therefore, does not here mean to think, to imagine, to opine ; but, as the sacred letters teach, it has the force of a most decided assent, by which the mind gives a firm and unhesitating assent to God revealing his mys teries. As far, therefore, as regards the explanation of the present passage, he who firmly and without hesitation is persuaded of anything, is said to believe. ISTor ought any one to suppose that the knowledge derived through faith is less certain because those objects are not seen, which faith pro- pounds to us to be believed ; for the divine light by which we perceive them, although it does not render the objects them selves clear,k yet suffers us not to doubt regarding them • for God who comma/Tided the light to shine out of darkness, hath himself shone in our hearts, that the Gospel be not hidden to us, as to those that are lost.1

Question 3. TJie Matters propounded in the Creed are not to be curiously investigated, but simply asserted.

From what has been said it now follows, that he, who is endued with this heavenly knowledge of faith, is free from an inquisitive curiosity. For when God commands us to believe, he does not propose to us to search into the divine judgments, or inquire into their reason and their cause, but commands an immutable faith, by the efficacy of which the mind reposes in the knowledge of eternal truth. And in deed, whilst the apostle beareth witness, that God is true, and every man a liar,m if it would be the part of an arrogant and presumptuous person to disbelieve the asseveration of a grave and sensible man affirming anything as true, and to urge him to support what he had stated by reasons and authorities ; of what temerity and folly would it be for one who hears the word of God himself, to demand reasons for his heavenly and saving doctrine ? Faith, therefore, is to be held to the exclusion not only of all doubt, but also of the desire of demonstration thereof.

Question 4. It is not enough for Salvation that ice believe. It is also necessary that we make, Profession of our Faith.

But the pastor should also teach, that he who says, / believe, besides declaring the inward assent of the mind, which is an internal act of faith, should also with open profession of faith profess, and with the greatest alacrity confess, proclaim openly what he holds inwardly in his heart. For the faithful should possess the same [spirit, on which the prophet relied, when lie said : / believed, therefore have I spoken ;m and should follow the example of the apostles, who replied to the princes of the people : We cannot bu6 speak the things, which we have seen and heard.n [They should further] be excited by that splendid saying of St. Paul : I am not ashmned of the Gospel; for it is the power of God unto salvation, to every one that believeth ;° also, by [those words], by which the truth of this sentiment is especially confirmed : With the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.?

Question 5. TJie Excellence of the Christian faith “in God” Hence, we may learn the dignity and excellence of Chris tian wisdom, and how much we owe to the divine goodness : we, to whom it is given at once to ascend as it were by foot steps i of faith, to the knowledge of that which surpasses in excellence, and which is most earnestly to be sought.

Question 6. How much the Christian Wisdom concerning God dlffereth from the Philosophical Knowledge of Divine Tilings.

For in this, Christian philosophy and the wisdom of this world differ much, since the latter, guided solely by the light of nature, and having made gradual advances by reasoning on effects, and on those objects which are at last perceived by the senses, after lengthy toils, at length with difficulty reaches the contemplation of the invisible things of God, and dis covers and understands the first cause and author of all things ; whilst, on the contrary, the former doth so sharpen i This passage, “quasi fidei gradibus ascendere,” has been totally misrepresented by the previous translator, who has used a metaphor derived from the flight of birds. Bellarmin's treatise “de ascensione mentis in Deum per scalas rerum creatarum,” might have taught him better.

the quickness of the human mind, that without difficulty it is enabled to penetrate the heavens, and, illumined with divine splendour, contemplates first the eternal source of light itself, and next, the things that are placed below him ; so that, as the Prince of the Apostles says, we experience with the most exquisite pleasure of mind, and believing, rejoice ivith joy unspeakable? that we have been called out of darkness into his marvellous light.3 Justly, therefore, do the faithful profess first to believe in God, whose majesty, with the prophet Jeremiah, we declare to be incomprehensible; for, as the apostle says, He dwelleth in light inaccessible, which no man hath seen, nor can see ;11 for when he spake unto Moses, he himself said : Man shall not see me and live.v For, in order that it may be capable of rising to [the contemplation of] the Deity, than whom there is nothing more sublime, our mind must necessarily be entirely abstracted from the senses ; a state for which we have by nature no capacity in the present life.

But although this be the case, God, nevertheless, says the apostle, left not himself without ivitness, in that he did good, and gave rains from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. ,w This is the reason that philosophers conceived nothing mean of the Deity ; and removed from him everything corporeal, – everything gross,x and compound ; but ascribed to him the perfect power and fulness of all good, from whom, as from an eternal and inexhaustible fountain of goodness and benignity, should flow every perfect gift to all creatures ; calling him the wise, the author of truth, the loving, the just, the most beneficent; designated him also by other appellations expressive of supreme and absolute perfection ; and said that his immense and infinite excellence filled every place, and extended through all things. This is much better and much more clearly proved from the sacred Scriptures, as in the following passages : God is a spirit J Be ye perfect, even as your Jieavenly Father is perfect ;z All things a/)e naked and opened unto his eyes ;a Ok ! the depth of the riches of the ivisdom and of the knowledge of God yb God is true ;c I am the way, and the truth, and the life ; d Thy right hand is full of righteous ness ;G Tlwu openest thine hand, and fittest with blessing every living creature ;f and finally: Whither shall I go from thy spirit, or whither shall I flee from thy face 1 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there ; if I descend into hell, thou art present ; if I take my wings early in the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, [even there also- shall thy hand lead rne, and thy right hand shall hold me] ; ° and : Do I not Jill heaven and earth, saith the Lord ?h These are great and glorious truths touching the nature of God ; and philoso phers attained a knowledge of them, from the investigation of the works of God, in accordance with the authority of the sacred volumes. The necessity of the heavenly teaching, however, we also recognize, if we reflect, that not only does faith, as we have already observed, make known clearly and at once to the rude and uneducated those truths, the know ledge of which philosophers only attained by long study, but likewise that the knowledge of things, which is obtained by the discipline of faith, is much more certain, and much more free from error, than if the mind had arrived at the knowledge of those same things, by the reasonings of human science. But how much superior must that knowledge of the Deity be deemed, the access to which cannot be acquired by all in common from the contemplation of nature, but is opened peculiarly by the light of faith unto those who believe 1 This [knowledge] is contained in the articles of the Creed, which disclose to us the unity of the divine essence, and the distinction of three persons ; and also, that God is the ultimate end of man's existence, from whom we are to expect the enjoyment of heavenly and eternal happiness ; for we have learned from St. Paul, that God is a rewarder of them that seek him How great are these rewards, and whether they are such as that human reason could have aspired to a knowledge of them, we learn from these words of Isaiah, long before [the time of] the apostle : Since the beginning of the world they have not heard, nor perceived with the ears : The eye hath not seen, 0 God, beside thee, what things thou hast prepared for them that wait fir thee)

Question 7. It is to be professed that there is one God, not more than one.

But from what has been said, it must also be confessed that there is but one God, not many gods. For, as we attribute to God supreme goodness and perfection, it is impossible that what is supreme paid most perfect can be found common to many. If a being lack anything necessary to supreme perfection, it is by the very fact imperfect, and therefore cannot have the nature of God.k This is also proved from many passages of Scripture ; for it is written : Hear. 0 Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord;1 again : Thou shalt not have strange gods before mem is the command of God ; and again, he often admonishes us by the prophet : / am the Jirst, and I am the last ; and beside me there is no God.n The apostle also openly testifieth : One Lord, one faith, one baptism.0

Question 8. The name of God is sometimes attributed to created natures, but improperly.

It should not, however, surprise us, if the sacred Scriptures sometimes give the name of God to creatures ; for when they call the prophets and judges gods, they do so not after the manner of the Gentiles, who, in their folly and impiety, formed to themselves many gods ; but they wished to express, by a manner of speaking by 110 means unusual, some ex cellent quality or function conferred on them by the gift of God. The Christian faith therefore believes and professes, as is taught in the Nicene Creed in confirmation of this truth, that God in his nature, substance, and essence is one : but, soaring still higher, it so understands him to be one P Ci-uden's Concordance will furnish abundant examples. See, also, my edition of Calmet's Biblical Dictionary, p. 353.

that it reverences Unity in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity. Of this mystery we now proceed to speaks

Question 9. God is in a general way stykd the Father of all men, but in a peculiar way the Father of Christians.

The word Father comes next in the Creed ; but as the word Father is applied to God for more reasons than one, we must first determine what is the more strictly appropriate meaning of the word in this present instance. Some even, on whose darkness faith never showed its light, conceived God to be an eternal substance, from whom things had their origin, and by whose providence all things are governed, and enabled to preserve their order and condition. As, there fore, he to whom a family owes its origin, and by whose wisdom and authority it is governed, is called Father ; so, by an analogy derived from things human, God was by them called Father, because they recognized him as the creator and governor of the universe. The sacred Scriptures have also made use of the same appellation, when, speaking of God, they declare that to him the creation of all things, power, and admirable providence, are to be attributed; for we read : Is not he thy Father that hath 2ossessed thee, and made thee, and created t/iee? And again: Have we not att one Father ? Hath not one God created us ?s But God, particularly in the New Testament, is much more frequently, and in a certain sense peculiarly, called the Father of Christians, who have not received the spirit oj bondage in fear, but have received the spirit of adoption of the sons of God, whereby they cry Abba, Father ; for the Father hath bestowed on us that manner of chcvrity, that ive should be i I shall, once for all, recommend a careful comparison of the articles of faith propounded throughout this catechism, especially of these points in which the Reformed churches agree with the Romish, of the different confessions set forth by the early reformed churches. The most convenient edition of these is the “ Corpus Librorum Symbolicorum, “ published in 1827, by Jo. Christ. Giul. August!. But the edition called “ Corpus et Syntagma Confessionum fidei,” published at Geneva in 1654, in 4 to, contrans a valuable concordance.

called, and be the sons of God;n and if sons, heirs also, heirs indeed of God, and joint-heirs with Christ who is the firstbom amongst many brethren? for which cause he is not ashcwned to call us brethren. Whether, therefore, one look to the common cause of creation and providence, or the special one of spiritual adoption, justly do the faithful profess to believe, that God is their Father.

Question 10. What mysteries are to Ije inferred from this appellation of “Father,” and of the distinction of the Persons in sacred things.

But the pastor will teach that, on hearing the word Father, besides the meaning which we have unfolded, the mind should be uplifted to the contemplation of loftier mysteries. Under the name of Father, the divine oracles begin to open unto us that which is more abstruse, and more deeply hidden in that inaccessible light in which God dwelleth, that which human reason and research not only could not attain, but even conjecture to exist. For this name implies, that in the one essence of the Godhead not one person only is to be believed, but a distinction of persons. For in one Godhead there are three persons; the Father, who is begotten of none ; the Son, who is begotten of the Father before all worlds ;? the Holy Ghost, who proceedeth from the Father and the Son likewise from all eternity. But in the one substance of the Divinity the Father is the first person, who with his only begotten Son and the Holy Ghost is one God and one Lord, not in the singularity of one person, but in the Trinity of one sub stance. Now these three persons (for it would be impious to suppose anything unlike or unequal in them), are under stood to be distinct only by their peculiar relations;2 for the Father is uiibegotten, the Son begotten of the Father, the Holy Ghost proceeds from both ; and we confess the same essence of the three persons, the same substance, in such wise that we believe that, in the confession of the true and eternal Godhead, we are piously and religiously to adore both distinction in the persons, unity in the essence, and equality in the Trinity. For when we say that the Father is the first person, this is not to be understood to mean that in the Trinity there is anything before or after, greater or less, – for far be this from the minds of the faithful – seeing that the Christian religion proclaims the same eternity, the same majesty of glory in the three persons. But the Father, because he himself is the beginning, without beginning, we truly and without hesitation affirm to be the first person ; who, as he is distinguished by his peculiar relation of pater nity, so of him alone is it especially true that he begot the Son from eternity; for, when in this confession we pro nounce together the names of God and Father, it intimates to us that he was always God and Father. But whereas there is nothing in which it is more dangerous to make investigation, or more serious to err, than in the knowledge and explanation of this the most profound and difficult of things, let the pastor instruct the people that they religiously retain the terms “essence” and “person,” by which this mystery is -expressed ; and let the faithful know that unity belongs to the essence and distinction to the persons. But it behoveth not to inquire with too great subtlety into these truths, when we recollect that lie who is a searcher after majesty shall be overwhelmed by glory ; a we ought to be satisfied with what we know and are assured of by faith, that we have been taught to this effect by God himself; and that to dissent from his oracles is the extreme of folly and misery. He has said : Teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ;]) and again, There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost ; and these three are one.c Let him, however, who by the divine bounty believes these things, constantly beseech and implore God, and the Father, who made all things out of nothing, and orders all things sweetly who gave us power to become the sons of Godf and who made known to the human mind the mystery of the Trinity, – let him, I say, pray without inter mission, that, admitted at some time into the eternal taber- nacles. lie may be worthy to see how great is the fecundity of the Father, who, contemplating and understanding him self, begot the Son, like and equal to himself; how a love of charity in both, entirely the same and equal, which is the Holy Ghost, proceeding from the Father and the Son, con nects the begetter and the begotten by an eternal and indissoluble bond ; and that thus there is one essence of the Trinity, and a perfect distinction of the three persons.

Question 11. ” Omnipotent.” What we are here to understand by the word “Omnipotent.''1 Ill order to show with how great religion and piety the God of all holiness is to be adored, the sacred Scriptures are wont to express his supreme power and immense majesty by various names; but the pastor should more particularly set forth, that the attribute of “omnipotence” is that which is most frequently ascribed to God. Thus himself saith of him self, / am the Almighty God ;f and again, Jacob, when sending his sons to Joseph, thus prayed for them : May my Almighty God make him favourable to you. In the Apocalypse it is also written, The Lord God, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty ;]l and elsewhere the last day is called the great day of God Almighty.1 Sometimes the same thing is expressed in several words, thus : No word shall be impossible with God ;J Is the Lord's hand waxed short ? k Thy power is at hand when tlwu wilt ; 1 and many other passages of the same import. From all these forms of speech we can clearly perceive what is comprehended under this single word Almighty. For by it we understand that there neither is, nor can be conceived in mind or imagination, anything which God cannot effect ; for not only this faculty (which, although it be of surpassing greatness, never theless, in some wise falls within our own comprehension), namely, that all things may be brought to nothing, and that many worlds may suddenly start into existence from nothing;

but even far greater things, of which the human mind cannot form the remotest notion, lie within his power.

Question 12. Since God is Omnipotent, he cannot err or be deceived.

But although God can do all things, yet he cannot lie, or deceive, or be deceived, or sin, or perish, or be ignorant of anything. Such things are compatible with that nature1” only, whose actions are imperfect ; but God, whose acts are ever all-perfect, is said to be incapable of these, because to be capable of them appertains to infirmity, not to the supreme and infinite power over all things, which he possesses. Thus then whilst we believe God to be omnipotent, we consider that there is entirely excluded from him whatever is not most closely connected, and consistent with, the perfection of his essence.

Question 13. Why Omnipotence is the only attribute mentioned in the Creed, other names of the Deity being omitted; and concerning the utility of thin faith.

But the pastor should show how rightly and wisely all other names of God have been omitted in the Creed, and that alone of Almighty proposed to our belief. For when we acknowledge God to be omnipotent, we also of necessity confess that he is omniscient, and all things are subject to his dominion and authority. When we doubt not that all things may be accomplished by him, it naturally follows that we must also be convinced of all other things regarding him, the absence of which would render the manner of his omnipotence altogether unintelligible to us. Besides, nothing contributes more to confirm our faith and hope, than if we have it deeply implanted in our hearts, that all things are possible with God ;n for, whatever may afterwards be set forth, however great, however wonderful it may be, and how ever it may transcend the order and manner of things, easily and without hesitation receives assent, when the mind has. once received the knowledge of the omnipotence of God. Nay more, the greater are the truths which the divine oracles may teach, so much the more willingly does the mind deem them worthy of belief ; nor, whenever we expect any good thing, is our mind broken down by the magnitude of the boon it desires, but is elevated and confirmed by frequently considering that there is nothing impossible to an omnipotent God.

With this faith, then, should we be especially fortified whenever we are obliged to perform any wondrous works for the use and advantage of our neighbour, or when we wish to obtain by prayer anything from God. In the one case, we learn [the necessity of such faith] from the Redeemer him self, who, when rebuking the apostles for their incredulity, said to them : If yz have faith as a grain of mustard-seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove from hence to yonder place, and it shall remove ; and nothing shall be impossible unto you ; ° and in the other, St. James beareth witness : Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering ; for he that ivavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed about. Therefore, let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord.? This faith also brings with it many advantages. It forms us, in the first place, to all modesty and lowliness of mind, as saith the Prince of the Apostles : Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God.VIt also admonishes us not to fear where there is no cause of fear, but to fear God alone, in whose power we ourselves and all that we have are placed ; for our Saviour says : / will forewarn you whom ye shall fear ; fear him, ivho, after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell We also make use of this faith in order to know and celebrate the infinite mercies of God towards us ; for he, who considers the omnipotence of God, cannot be so ungrateful in disposition, asnot frequently to exclaim : lie that is mighty hath done to me great things

Question 14. TJie icord “ Omnipotent “ is not Jiere attributed to the Fattier in such a way that it be not also applied to the Son or the Spirit.

But, when in this article we call the Father Almighty, let no one be led away by the error of therefore excluding from the participation of this attribute the Son and the Holy Ghost. For as we say the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Ghost is God, and yet there are not three Gods, but one God ; so, in like manner, we confess that the Father is Almighty, the Son Almighty, and the Holy Ghost Almighty ; and yet, there are not three Almighties, but one Almighty. i The Father, however, we for a particular reason call Almighty, because he is the source of all origin ; as we also attribute wisdom to the Son, because he is the eternal Word of the Father ; and goodness to the Holy Ghost, because he is the love of both. These, however, and other such appellations, may be given indiscriminately to the three Persons, consistently with the rule of the Catholic faith.

Question 15. ” Creator of heaven and earth.” How and why God created heaven and earth.

How necessary it is to have previously imparted to the faithful a knowledge of the omnipotence of God, may be ascertained from what we are now about to explain with regard to the creation of all things. For, when no room for doubt respecting the omnipotence of the Creator is left, we the more readily believe the miraculous production of so mighty a work. For God formed not the world from any sort of material, but created it out of nothing, and that not constrained by force or necessity, but spontaneously and of his own free will. ISTor was he impelled to the work of creation by any other cause than that he might impart to the things by him created his own goodness ; for the nature of God, essentially and supremely happy in itself, stands not in need of anything ; as David saith : / have said to the Lord, Thou art my God, for thou hast no need of my goods.11 But as, influenced by his own goodness, lie hath done whatsoever he pleased? so when he created all things, he followed no ex ternal model or form ; but contemplating, and, as it were, imitating, the universal model which is contained in the divine intelligence, the supreme Architect, with infinite wisdom and infinite power, attributes peculiar to himself, 1 Athanasian Creed.

created all things in the beginning : For he spake, and they were made ; lie commanded, and they were created.™

Question 16. What is here to be understood ~by “heaven and earth.”

By the words heaven and earth must be understood all things which heaven and earth contain ; for, besides the heavens, which the Prophet called the work of his fingers he also added the brilliancy of the sun, and the beauty of the moon, and the other stars ; and, that they may be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years? he so ordered the orbs of heaven in a certain and constant course, that nothing varies more than their continual revolution, yet nothing is more certain than that variety.

Question 17. Of the Creation of the Spiritual Heavens and Anycls.

Moreover, he himself created from nothing spiritual nature and angels innumerable, to serve and minister unto him ; and these he afterwards enriched and adorned with the admirable gifts of his grace and power. For that the devil and the rest of the rebel angels were gifted with grace at the beginning of their creation, is clearly to be in ferred from the words of the sacred Scriptures, that the devil abode not in the truth.7- On which subject, St. Augus tine says as follows : He created the angels with a good will, that is, with pure love, by which they might adhere to him, at once giving them a nature, and according them grace. Hence we are to believe that the holy angels never were without good will, that is, the love of God As to their knowledge, there is this testimony of Holy Scripture : Thou, my Lord, 0 King, art wise according to the wisdom of an Angel of God, to un derstand all things upon earth.]) Finally, to them the inspired David doth ascribe power, in these words : Mighty in strength, doing his commandments ;c and hence it is that they are often called in Scripture the powers and the hosts of the Lord. But although they were all adorned with celestial gifts, very many, nevertheless, having revolted from God, their Parent and Creator, were hurled from those most lofty mansions of bliss, and shut up in the darkest dungeons of the earth, where they suffer the eternal punishment of their pride. Of them, the Prince of the Apostles thus saith : He spared not the angels that sinned ; but delivered them, cast down into the place of torments, “into the chains of hell, to be tormented and to be reserved unto judgment.

Question 18. On the Creation of the Earth.

God also commanded, by his word, the earth to stand in the midst of the world, rooted in its own stability, and made the mountains ascend, and the valleys descend, into the place which he founded for them ; and lest the waters should in undate the earth, he set a bound which they may not pass over, neither shall they turn again to cover the earth.c He, furthermore, not only clothed and adorned it with trees, and every variety of herb and flower, but filled it, as he had already [filled] the waters and the air, with innumerable sorts of living creatures.

Question 19. On the Creation of Man.

Lastly, he formed man from the slime of the earth, so created and qualified in body, as to be immortal and impassible/ not however by the strength of nature, but by the divine gift. But as regards the soul of man, he created it to his own image and likeness ; gifted him with free will ; and so tempered all his motions and appetites, that they should at all times be subject to the control of reason. He then added the admirable gift of original righteousness, and next gave him dominion over all other animals. From the sacred history of Genesis, the pastor will easily make himself acquainted with these things for the instruction of the faithful.

1 Impassibilis, a word used in our first article, and translated “ with out passions.”

Question 20. In the ivords “Heaven and Earth” all things, loth visible and invisible, are comprehended.

What we have said, then, concerning the creation of all things, is to be understood by the words heaven and earth, which is thus briefly set forth by the prophet : The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine : the world and the fulness thereof thou hast founded ;% and still more briefly by the Fathers of the Council of Nice, who added in their Creed these words : of all things visible and invisible ; for whatever things exist in. the universe, and were created by God, either fall under the senses, and are included in the word visible, or may be perceived by the mind, and are expressed by the word invisible.

Question 21. The thinys created by the Poiver of God cannot subsist without his Government and Providence.

We must not, however, understand that God was in such wise the creator and accomplisher of all things, as to suppose that, when once the work was completed and perfected, those things which he had made could continue to exist un supported by his infinite power. For as they obtain their existence from the supreme power, wisdom, and goodness of the Creator, so, unless his continual providence were ever present unto the things created, and by the same power by which they were first produced, they would instantly return to their original nothing. This the Scripture declares, when it saith : JIow could anything have endured, if it had not been thy will ? or been preserved, if not called by thee t-

Question 22. God, by his Government, doth- not overturn the force of Secondary Causes.

But not only does God protect and govern all existing things by his providence, but also by an eternal virtue doth in such a manner impel to motion and action whatever moves and acts, and this, as that, although he excludes not, he yet prevents, the agency of secondary causes, for his altogether iii- visible influence extends to all tilings, and, as the wise man beareth witness, reacheth from end to end, 'mightily, and order eth all things sweetly. i Hence the apostle, when announcing to the Athenians the God, whom not knowing they adored, said : He is not far from every one of us ; for in him we live, and move, and have our being.k

Question 23. The Creation of things is not to le attributed to the Father only.

Let thus much suffice, in explanation of the first article of the Creed, with this additional observation, however, that the work of creation is common to all the persons of the Holy and Undivided Trinity ; of the Father, whom, accord ing to the doctrine of the apostles, we in this place declare to be Creator of heaven and earth ; of the Son, of whom we read in the holy Scriptures : All things were made by him y1 and of the Holy Ghost : The Spirit of God moved upon the waters ym and again : By the Word of the Lord the heavens were established ; and all the power of them by the spirit oj his mouth.n

Question 1. Of the Second Article, and the Usefulness of the Profession thereof.

THAT the advantage which flows to the hiiman race from the belief and profession of this article is most wonder ful and abundant, is shown by the testimony of St. John : Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and lie in God ;° and also by the address of Christ our Lord, proclaiming the Prince of the Apostles blessed, for the confession of this truth: Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona ; for flesh and Hood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my father which is in heaven.? For this is the most firm basis of our salvation and redemption.

Question 2. How v:e may lest learn to estimate the value of the blessing propounded in this Article.

But, whereas the fruit of this admirable advantage is best understood, by considering the ruin brought on man, in his fall from that most happy state in which God had placed our first parents, let the pastor take particular care that the faithful be made acquainted with the cause of these common miseries and calamities. When Adam had departed from the obedience due to God, and had violated that prohibition : Of every tree of Paradise eat ; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat; for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt die the death ; i he fell into the ex treme calamity of losing the sanctity and righteousness in which he had been placed, and of becoming subject to all those other evils, which are detailed more at large by the holy Council of Trent.r [The pastors], therefore, will re mind [their flocks], that sin and the punishment of sin were not confined to Adam, but have justly descended from him, as from their seed and cause, to all his posterity.

Question 3. No one but Christ was able to restore the Human Race.

The human race having thus fallen from their most lofty grade of dignity, the power of men or angels could not by any means uplift them from their fallen condition, and replace them in their primitive state. “Wherefore, there was left that one remedy for the evil, and reparation for the loss, that the infinite power of the Son of God, having assumed the weakness of our flesh, should remove the infinite weight of sin, and reconcile us to God in his blood.

Question 4. Without the belief of our Redemption, no one could ever ~be saved ; and there fore Christ has been frequently foretold from the beginning of the world.

Now the belief and confession of this our redemption, which God held out in the beginning, are now, and always were, necessary to the obtaining of salvation. For in the sentence of condemnation, pronounced against the human race immediately after the sin [of Adam], the hope of re demption was also held out in these words, by which [God] denounced to the devil the loss which he was to sustain by the redemption of man : / will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed : she shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.3 The same promise he thenceforth often confirmed, and more dis tinctly signified his counsels to those men especially whom he desired to make objects of his particular blessings, and .amongst others to the patriarch Abraham, to whom he often .signified this mystery, but' then more openly, when he was willing, in obedience to God's command, to sacrifice his only son Isaac : Because, says he, thou hast done this thing, and hast not spared thy only begotten son, I will bless thee, and I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand that is by the sea shore. Thy seed shall 2)ossess the gates of their enemies, and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed ; because thou hast obeyed my voiced From which words it was easy to infer that he who was to bring salvation to all mankind from the most dreadful tyranny of Satan, was to be of the progeny of Abraham ; and that the Son of God was of necessity to be born of the seed of Abraham, according to the flesh. Not very long after, to preserve the memory of this promise, the Lord renewed the same covenant with Jacob, the grandson of Abraham ; for when, as the Scripture testifies, Jacob saw in his sleep a ladder standing upon the earth, and the top thereof touching heaven, the angels also of God ascending and descending by it,u he also heard the Lord, leaning upon the ladder, saying to him, / am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and t/ie God of Isaac : the land whereon thou steepest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed ; and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth : thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east., and to the north, and to the south ; and in thee and thy seed shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed? Nor did God cease afterwards, by renewing the recollection of the same promise, to excite in the race of Abraham, and in many other men, the expectation of a Saviour ; for, after the establishment of the Jewish republic and religion, it became better known to his people. Types w signified, and men foretold, what man ner of blessings, and how great ones, that Saviour and Redeemer of ours, Christ Jesus, was to bring to mankind. And, indeed, the prophets, whose minds were illumined with heavenly light, foretold the birth of the Son of God, the wondrous works which he wrought, being born a man, his doctrine, manners, intercourse, death, resurrection, and the other mysteries regarding him ; x and all these as graphically, as if they were then passing before their eyesj In fact, if the diversity of time future and time past be removed, we can perceive 110 difference between the predictions of the prophets and the preaching of the apostles, between the faith of the ancient patriarchs and our own. But we must now speak of the several parts of this article.

Question 5. Of the name “Jesus,” and that it properly belongs to Christ.

Jesus is the proper name of him who is God and man, and signifies Saviour ; a name given to him not accidentally, nor by the judgment or will of man, but by the counsel and command of God. For the angel announced thus to Mary his mother : Behold thou slmlt conceive in thy womb and shalt bring forth a son, cmd thou shalt call his name Jesus ; z and afterwards not only commanded Joseph, who was espoused to the Virgin, that he should call the child by that name, but also declared the reason why he should be so called : Joseph, says he, ikou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife ; for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their

Question 6. This name is applied to other men, but not for the same reason.

In the Holy Scriptures many were called by this name ; for instance, Jesu the son of Nave, who succeeded Moses, and conducted into the land of promise the people whom Moses had delivered from Egypt,b [a privilege] which had been denied to him.c By the same name also were called the son of Sirach of Jerusalem, who received wisdom, from his heart,d and the son of Josedech6 the priest. But how much more truly shall we deem this name given to him who gave light, liberty, and salvation, not to one people only, but to all men, of all ages, men not oppressed indeed by famine, or by Egyptian or Babylonish bondage, but sitting in the shadow of death, and fettered by the most galling chains of sin and of the devil j to him who purchased for them a right to the inheritance of heaven, who reconciled them to God the Father. In those men we recognize so many figurative representations of Christ our Lord, by whom these blessings, which we have enumerated, were accumulated on the human race. To this one name Jesus are moreover to be referred all other names, which were predicted to be given by divine appointment to the Son of God ; for whilst they partially hinted at the salvation which he was to bring unto us, this fully embraced the force and character of the universal salvation of mankind.

Question 7. Of the name ' Christ” and for what reasons it is suited to Jesits.

To the name Jesus is also added that of Christ, which sig nifies the anointed ; and is a name expressive both of honour and of office, and not peculiar to one thing, but common to many ; for our fathers of old called priests and kings, whom God, on account of the dignity of their office commanded to be anointed, Christs.s For priests are they who commend the people to God by assiduous prayers, offer sacrifice to God, and deprecate his wrath on behalf of the people ; while to kings is intrusted the government of the people, and to them principally belongs the protection of the authority of the law, and of the lives of the innocent, and the punishment of those who offend. As then both of these functions seem to represent the majesty of God on earth, those who were appointed to the royal or sacerdotal office, were, therefore, anointed with oil. Prophets also were usually anointed, who, as the interpreters and ambassadors of the immortal God, unfolded to us the secrets of heaven, and by salutary precepts, and the prediction of future events, exhorted us to amendment of life. But when Jesus Christ our Saviour came into the world, he took upon himself these three cha racters of Prophet, Priest, and King, and is therefore called Christ, having been anointed for the discharge of these func tions, not by the act of any mortal, but by the power of his heavenly Father ; not vdth earthly ointment, but with a spiritual oil ; for into his most holy soul were poured the fulness and grace of the Holy Ghost, and a more abundant effusion of all gifts than any other created being could receive. This the prophet clearly shows, when he addresses the Re deemer himself in these words : Thou hast loved righteousness and hatest iniquity ; therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy Jellows.h The same is also much more explicitly set forth by the prophet Isaiah in these words : The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me ; he hath sent me to preach unto the meek.1 Jesus Christ, therefore, was the great prophet and teacher, who hath taught us the will of God, and by whose instruction the world has received the knowledge of the Heavenly Father ; and to him pre-eminently and surpassingly belongs the name [of Prophet], for all others who were dig nified with that name were his disciples, sent principally in order that they might announce that prophet who was to come to save all men. Christ was also a Priest, not indeed of the tribe of Levi, as were the priests under the old law, but of that of which the royal prophet sang : Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedechj Ofthissub- ject the apostle accurately pursues the argument in his epistle to the Hebrews. Christ, not only as he is God, but also as he is man, and partakes of our nature, we likewise acknowledge to be King \ of him the angel testified : He shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever, and of Ms kingdom there shall be no end.k This kingdom of Christ is spiritual and eternal, is begun on earth, but perfected in heaven ; and the duties of king he indeed discharges with admirable pro vidence towards his Church, seeing that he goveriieth her and guardeth her from the open attacks and covert designs of her enemies, prescribes to her laws, and imparts to her not only holiness and righteousness, but also power and strength to persevere. But, although within the limits of this kingdom are contained the good as well as the bad, and thus to it all men by right belong ; yet those who, in con formity with his precepts, lead an unsullied and innocent life, experience, beyond all others, the sovereign goodness and beneficence of our king. Although descended from the most illustrious race of kings, he nevertheless obtained not this his kingdom by hereditary or human right, but he was a king, because God bestowed on the man [Jesus] all the power, dignity, and majesty of which human nature is capable. To him, therefore, God delivered the government of the whole world ; and to him, as has already commenced, all things shall be made fully and entirely subject on the day of judgment.

Question 8. How it becomes us to Idievz and confess Jesus Christ “ the only Son “ of God.

Iii these words, more exalted mysteries with regard to Jesus are proposed to the faithful, as objects of belief and contemplation ; namely, that he is the Son of God, and true God, as is the Father who begat him from eternity. “We further confess that he is the second person of the Blessed Trinity, equal in all things to the other two ; for, in the divine persons nothing unequal or unlike should exist, or be imagined to exist, whereas we acknowledge the essence, will, and power of all to be one j a truth clearly revealed in many k Luke i, 33, of the oracles of Sacred Scripture, and most sublimely set forth in that testimony of St. John : In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word ivas God!

But, when we hear that Jesus is the Son of God, we are not to understand anything earthly or mortal of his birth ; but are firmly to believe, and with the deepest piety of heart to adore, that origin by which, from all eternity, the Father begat the Son ; a mystery which, by force of reason, we can by no means fully conceive or comprehend, and at the con templation of which, overwhelmed, as it were, with admi ration, we should say with the prophet, Who shall declare his generation ? m On this point, then, we are to believe, that the Son is of the same nature, of the same power and wi clom with the Father ; as we more explicitly confess in these words of the Nicene Creed : And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, and born of the Father before all worlds ; God of God, light of light, very God of very God, begotten not made, of one siibstance with the Father, by whom all things were made.

Amongst the different comparisons which are brought forward to elucidate the mode and manner of this eternal generation, that which is borrowed from the thoughts of the mind, seems to come nearest to the subject ; and hence St. John calls the Son the Word. For as the human mind, in some sort understanding itself, forms an image of itself, which theologians have expressed by the term word, so God, as far, however, as we may compare human things with divine, understanding himself, begets the Eternal Word. It is better, however, to contemplate what faith proposes, and, with a sincere heart, believe and confess that Jesus Christ is very God and very man ; as God, begotten of the Father before all ages ; as man, born in time of Mary, his virgin mother. Whilst, however, we thus acknowledge his twofold nativity, we believe him to be one son, because he is one person, in whom the divine and human natures agree.

Question 9. Hwn Christ is to be considered as having, or as not having, Brethren.

As to hia divine generation, he Las no brethren or co heirs, being himself the only begotten Son of the Father, whilst we mortals are the work and device of his hands ; but, if we consider his birth as man, he not only calls many by the name of brethren, but also holds them in the place of brethren, so that with him they may obtain the glory of the paternal inheritance. They are those who, by faith, have received Christ the Lord, and who really and by works of charity approve the faith which they outwardly profess ; and hence it is that he is called by the apostle : The first-born amongst many brethren.0

Question 10. ” Our Lord” Christ is called our Lord according to both natures.

Many things are recorded in Scripture of our Saviour, some of which, it is evident, apply to him as God, and some as man, because from his different natures he received the different properties that belong to each. Hence we say with truth, that Christ is Almighty, Eternal, Infinite, [attributes] which he has from his divine nature ; and again, we say of him. that he suffered, died, and rose again, which attributes are manifestly suited only to his human nature. Besides these, there are some others which agree with both natures ; as when, in this article of the Creed, we say, our Lord. If, therefore, this name is applicable to both natures, he is with reason to be set forth as our Lord. For as he, as well as the Father, is eternal, so is he, equally with the Father, Lord of all things ; and, as he and the Father are not, the one, one God, and the other, another God, but one and the same God • so likewise he and the Father are not, the one, one Lord, and n The question respecting Christ's brethren, mentioned in Matt. xiii. 55, “James, Joses, Simon, and Judas,” is involved in some obscurity. Neander (Life of Christ, § 22) advocates the natural and literal inter pretation of the words. On the other hand, Bishop Pearson, on the Creed, Art. iii. p. 173, sqq., maintains the perpetual virginity of Mary, and explains the terms ''brethren” according to the wider use of the term, as in Gen. xiv. 14. ° Rom. viii. 29.

the other, another Lord. As man, he is also, for many reasons, rightly called our Lord ; and first, because he was our Redeemer, and delivered us from sin. This is the doctrine of the apostle : He humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death ; even the death of the cross ; wherefore God also hath exalted him, and given him a name ivhich is above every naine, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, in earth, and in hell., and that every tongue should con fess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father ;? and of himself, he says, after his resurrection : All power is given to me in heaven and on earths He is also called Lord, because in one person are united both natures, the human and divine ; and even had he not died for us, he had yet deserved, by this admirable union, to be constituted common Lord of all created things, but more particularly of the faithful who obey, and, in all the fervour of their souls, serve him.

Question 11. Christians ought to yive themselves wholly up to Jesus Christ, treading the Prince of Darkness underfoot.

It remains, therefore, that the pastor exhort the faithful people, that we, who derive our name from him, and are called Christians, and who cannot be ignorant of the extent of his favours, particularly in that, by his gift, we are enabled to understand all these things by faith, may know the very strict obligation we, above all other men, are under, of devoting and consecrating ourselves for ever, even as bond-servants, to our Redeemer and our Lord. This we promised when we were being initiated by baptism, and before our introduction into the Church jr for we then declared that we renounced the devil and the world, and gave our selves wholly up to Jesus Christ. But if, to the end that we might be enrolled as soldiers of Christ, we then consecrated ourselves by a holy and solemn profession to our Lord, what punishment should we not deserve if after having entered into the Church, and after having known the will and laws of God, and received the grace of the sacraments, we were to form our lives upon the laws and maxims of the world and the devil ; as if, when cleansed in the waters of baptism, we had pledged our fidelity8 to the world and the devil, and not to Christ our Lord and Saviour 1 And what heart is so cold, as not to be inflamed with love by the prompt bene volence and beneficence of so great a Lord towards us, who, though holding us in his power and dominion, as slaves ransomed by his blood, yet embraces us with such love as to call us not servants, but friends and brethren ? This, as suredly, is a most just and, perhaps, the strongest claim to induce us always to acknowledge, venerate, and adore him as our Lord.

Question 1. What is propounded to be believed by the Faithful in the Third Article of Faith.

THAT God has conferred a singular and most surpassing blessing on the human race, in delivering us to liberty from the slavery of the relentless tyranny of Satan, the faithful may understand from what has been set forth in the preceding article. But if we place before our eyes the plan and manner in which he was pleased to accomplish this, nothing can seem more glorious, nothing more magnificent, than the goodness and beneficence of God. The grandeur, therefore, of this mystery, which the Sacred Scriptures very often propose to our consideration as the principal source of our eternal salvation, the pastor will begin to teach with the exposition of this third article. Its meaning he will teach to be, that we believe and confess that the same Jesus Christ, our only Lord, the Son of God, when he assumed human flesh for us in the womb of the Virgin, was not con ceived, like other men, from the seed of man, but, in a manner transcending the whole order of nature, by the power of the Holy Ghost • so that the same person, re- maining God as lie was from eternity, became man, what lie was not before. But that such is the meaning of these words, is clear from the confession of the Holy Council of Constantinople, which says : Who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and ivas incarnate by the Holy Ghost, of the Virgin Mary, and WAS MADE MAN. The same truth we also find unfolded by St. John the Evangelist, who imbibed from the bosom of the Saviour himself, the knowledge of this most profound mystery \ for when he had declared the nature of the divine Word in those terms : In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, . and the Word was God, he at length concludes, and THE WORDWAS MADE FLESH, and dwelt among us.v

Question 2. JBy his temporal Nativity no confusion of natures was made in Christ. For the Word, which is a Person w of the Divine Nature, assumed human flesh in such a manner, that the hypostasis and person of both divine and human nature are one and the same ; and hence this admirable union preserved the actions and properties of both natures, and, as we read in the great Pope St. Leo : neither did the glorifying of the inferior nature destroy itself, nor its assumption upon the, inferior

Question 3. The Holy Ghost did not alone accomplish the work of the Incarnation. But as an explanation of the words [of this Article] must not be omitted, the pastor will teach that, when we say that the Son of God was conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, we do not mean that this Person alone of the Holy Trinity accomplished the mystery of the Incarnation. For although the Son alone assumed human nature, yet all the persons of the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, were authors of this mystery ; for we must hold that rule of Christian faith, that whatsoever God does extrinsically in created things is common to the three Per- sons, and that one neither does more than, nor acts without, another. That, however, one Person proceeds from another, this alone cannot be common to all, for the Son is begotten of the Father only, the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son ; but whatever originates from them extrinsically is the work of the three Persons without any sort of difference ; and of this latter description is to be considered the Incarnation of the Son of God.

Of those tilings, nevertheless, that are common to all, the Sacred Scriptures are wont often to attribute some to one person, some to another : thus, to the Father they attribute supreme power over all things ; to the Son, wisdom ; to the Holy Ghost, love j and because the mystery of the Incarnation declares the singular and boundless love of God towards us, it is, therefore, in a peculiar manner attributed to the Holy Ghost.

Question 4. Not all matters touching the Conception of Christ are supernatural, but most of them are.

In this mystery we perceive that some things were done, which transcend the order of nature, some by the power of nature. Thus, in believing that the body of Christ was formed from the most pure blood of the Virgin Mother, we therein acknowledge human nature, seeing that this is a law common to all human bodies. But what transcends the order of nature and human understanding is, that, as soon as the Blessed Virgin, assenting to the words of the angel, said : Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy ivord? the most sacred body of Christ was immediately formed, and to it was united a soul actually enjoying the use of reason ; and thus, in the same instant of time, he was perfect God and perfect man. That this was the new and admirable work of the Holy Ghost, no one can doubt, whereas, according to the order of nature, no body, unless within the prescribed period of time, can be endued with a human soul. There is, furthermore, that which is worthy of the greatest marvel, that as soon as the soul of Christ was united to his body, the Divinity itself also was united with both body and soul; and thus at the same time his body was formed and animated, and the Divinity united to body and soul. Hence, at the same instant, he was perfect God and perfect man ; and the most Holy Virgin, having, at the same moment, conceived God and man, is truly and properly called Mother of God and man. This the angel signified to her when he said : Behold, thou slmlt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a Son, and shalt call kis name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called t/te Son of the Highest ;z and by the event was verified the prophecy of Isaiah : Behold a Virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son ; and his name shall be called Immanuel.3- Elizabeth also, when filled with the Holy Ghost, she understood the conception of the Son of God, declared [the same truth] in these words : Whence is this to me, that the Mother of my Lord should come to me ?b But, as the body of Christ was formed, as we have before said, of the most pure blood of the immaculate Virgin, without any aid of man, but by the sole operation of the Holy Ghost ; so also, at the moment of his conception, his soul received an overflowing fulness of the Spirit of God, and a superabundance of all graces. For God gave not to him, as to other men, who are adorned with grace and holiness, his /Spirit by measure, as St. John testifies ; c but poured into his soul all graces so abundantly, that of his fulness we all have received.

Question 5. Christ cannot be called the Son of God ly adoption.

Although he possessed that Spirit, by which holy men attain the adoption of the sons of God, Christ cannot, how ever, be called the adopted Son of God ; for, being the Son of God by nature, the grace or name of adoption can in no wise be deemed applicable to him.

Question 6. To what meditations the first part of this Article shoidd (jive rise.

Concerning the admirable mystery of the Conception, these remarks form the substance of what appeared to require explanation. In order that abundant fruit unto salvation may result to us, the faithful should recall par- ticularly to their recollection, and frequently reflect, that it is God who assumed human flesh : but that he was made man in a manner which we cannot comprehend in our minds, still might express in words ; finally, that he vouch safed to become man, in order that we mortals might be regenerated children of God. “When to these subjects they shall have given attentive consideration, let them, in humility and faithfulness of heart, believe and adore all the mysteries contained in this article, nor curiously investigate or scrutinize them ; an attempt scarcely ever unattended with danger.

Question 7. What is meant by Christ being born of a Virgin.

This comprises another part of this article of the Creed, in the exposition of which the pastor will exercise considerable diligence ; because the faithful are bound to believe, that Christ our Lord was not only conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, but was also born of the Virgin Mary. The words of the angel, who first announced the most happy tidings to the world, declare with what joy and delight of heart the belief of this mystery should be meditated on by us : Behold, says he, / bring you -good tidings of great joy, that shall be to all the peopled And from the song chanted by the heavenly host we may infer the same sentiments : Glory, say they, to God in the highest ; and on earth peace to men of good wills Hence also began the fulfilment of that splendid promise made by Almighty God to Abraham, that in his seed all nations should one day be blessed ;S for Mary, whom we truly proclaim and honour11 as Mother of God, because she brought forth him who is at once God and man, was descended from King David.

Question 8. Christ was not born after t7ie usual cowse of nature.

But as the Conception itself utterly transcends the order of nature, so also, in the birth [of our Lord] nothing but what is divine is presented to our contemplation. Besides, a circumstance wonderful beyond expression or conception, he is born of his mother without any diminution of her maternal virginity ; and as he afterwards went forth from the sepulchre whilst it was closed and sealed, and entered the room in which his disciples were assembled with closed doors ;i or, not to depart even from natural things, which we witness every day, as the rays of the sun penetrate, without breaking, or injuring in the least, the solid substance of glass ; after a similar, I say, but more exalted manner, did Jesus Christ come forth from his mother's womb, without any injury to her maternal virginity, which, immaculate and per petual, we celebrate with most just praises. This was the work of the Holy Ghost, who, in the conception and birth of the Son, so favoured the Virgin Mother, as to impart to her fecundity, and yet preserve her perpetual virginity .J

Question 9. Christ is justly called a second Adam, Mary, a second Eve.

The apostle sometimes calls Jesus Christ the second Adam, and institutes a comparison between him and the first ; for as in the first all men die, so in the second are all made alive ;k and as, in the natural order, Adam was the father of the human race, so [in the supernatural], Christ is the author of grace and glory. The Virgin Mother we may also in like manner compare with Eve, making the second Eve, that is, Mary, correspond with the first, as we have already shown the second Adam, that is, Christ, to cor respond with the first Adam. For Eve, by believing the serpent, entailed malediction and death on the human race j1 and, after Mary believed the Angel, the divine goodness made her instrumental in bringing benediction and life to J It is almost unnecessary to observe that no express mention of this perpetual virginity is found in Scripture. Nevertheless, the supposition that Mary, after giving birth to Christ, became as other women, seems somewhat revolting. Though not insisted on as an article of faith, the perpetual virginity of Mary, which has been, it would seem, finely typi fied in Ezek. xliv. 2, was, and is, a constant tradition among orthodox Christians, even among those who have differed upon more important matters of faith. See the valuable information in Pearson, as cited above (u), p. 38.

mankind. m From Eve we are born children of wrath yn from Mary we have received Jesus Christ, and through him. are regenerated children of grace. To Eve it was said, In sorrow slicdt thou bring forth children :° Mary was exempt from this law, for, preserving her virgin integrity inviolate, she brought forth Jesus the Son of God, without experi encing, as we have already said, any sense of pain.

Question 10. The chief types and figures under which the Conception and Nativity of Christ were veiled.

The mysteries of this conception and nativity being, therefore, so great and so many, it was suited to the views of Divine Providence, to signify them by many types and prophecies. Hence the holy fathers understood many things, which we read in various passages of Scripture, to relate to them, particularly that gate of the sanctuary, which Ezechiel saw shut ;P the stone cut out of the mountain without hands, as it is in Daniel, which became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth ;i the rod of Aaron, which alone budded of all the rods of the princes of Israel ;r and the bush which Moses saw burn without being consumed.8 The holy Evangelist describes in detail the history of the birth of Christ ; and, as the pastor can easily refer to that account, it is unnecessary for us to say more on the subject.

Question 11. The mystery of the Incarnation is often to be inculcated upon the people. What advantage is to be derived from the meditation thereon.

But he should labour to impress these mysteries, which were written for our learning deeply on the minds and hearts of the faithful, in order that, in the first place, by the commemoration of so great a benefit, they may make some return of gratitude to God, its author ; and next, in order to place before their eyes, as a model for imitation, this surpassing and singular example of humility. For what can be more useful, what better adapted to subdue the pride and haughtiness of the human heart, than frequently to reflect that God humbles himself in such a manner as to communicate to men his glory, and assume the frailty and weakness of man ; that God becomes man, and that he, at whose nod, as the Scripture saith, the pillars of heaven tremble and dread ;u that supreme and infinite majesty ministers unto man ; that he whom the angels adore in heaven is born on earth ! When God, then, doeth such things towards us, what, I ask, what should we not do, to testify our obedience to his will ? With how prompt and eager a mind should we not love, embrace, and perform all the duties of Christian humility? The faithful should also know in how salutary lessons Christ doth instruct us at his birth, before he begins to utter any speech. He is born in poverty : he is born as a stranger in an inn : he is born in a lowly manger : he is born in the depth of winter. For so are these things recorded by St. Luke : And it came to pass, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered, and she brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him up in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.v Could the evangelist have comprehended under more humble terms the whole majesty and glory of heaven and earth ? He does not say, there was no room in the inn; but there was no room for him who says: The world is mine, and the fulness thereof;™ and this another evangelist records in these words : He came unto his own, and his own received him not.x When the faithful shall have set these things before their eyes, 'let them also reflect, that God vouchsafed to assume the lowliness and frailty of our flesh, in order that the human race might be exalted to the highest degree of dignity. For this single reflection, that he who is true and perfect God became man, alone is sufficient proof of the exalted dignity conferred on man by the divine bounty ', so that we may now glory that the Son of God is bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh, a privilege not granted to angels, for no where, says the apostle, doth he take on Jiim the angels ; but of the seed of Abraham he taketh.y We must, moreover, take care lest, to our greatest prejudice, it come to pass that [these blessings] rise in judgment against us ;z that, as at Bethlehem, the place of his nativity, there was for him no place in the inn, so also, now that he is no longer born in the flesh, he be not unable to find a dwelling in our hearts, in which he may be spiritually born j for he, being most desirous for our salva tion, makes this an object of his most earnest wishes. As then, by the power of the Holy Ghost, and in a manner transcending the order of nature, he was made man and was born, and was holy and even holiness itself ; so does it become our duty to be born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, but of God; to walk as a new creature inneivness of spirit ;c and to keep that holiness and purity of soul that so much becometh men regenerated by the Spirit of God. For thus -shall we reflect some faint image of this holy conception and nativity of the Son of God, which we believe in firm faith, and believing which, we admire and adore the wisdom of God in a mystery, which is hidden.-

Question 1. The Necessity of knowing the Fourth Article, and its Purport.

How great is the necessity for the knowledge of this article, and with what assiduity the pastor should labour that the faithful may revive in their minds the frequent recollection of the passion of our Lord, the apostle teacheth when he declares, that he knows nothing but Jesus Christ, and him crucified.6 Wherefore, the greatest zeal and industry are to be employed in the elucidation of this subject, to the end that the faithful, excited by the memory of so great a benefit, may altogether turn themselves to the contemplation of the love and goodness of God towards us.

The first part of this article (for of the second we shall treat hereafter) proposes to our belief, that when, by command of Tiberius Csesar, Pontius Pilate governed the pro vince of Judea, Christ the Lord was nailed to a cross ; for, having been taken, mocked, treated with all manner of out rage and torture, he was finally uplifted on the cross.

Question 2. The Soul of Christ felt the Tortures.

Nor can it be matter of doubt to any one that his soul, as regards its inferior part, was not free from the perception of these torments ; for as he really assumed human nature, we must of necessity confess that his soul experienced a most acute sense of pain, whence he says : My soul is sorrowful even unto death? For although human nature was united to the Divine Person, he yet felt the bitterness of his passion as acutely as if no such union had taken place, because in the one person of Jesus Christ were preserved the properties of both natures, human and divine ; and therefore, what was passible and mortal remained passible and mortal ; and again, what was impassible and immortal, such as we understand the divine nature to be, retained its own proper condition.

Question 3. Why mention is made in the Creed of the Governor of Judea, under whom Christ suffered.

But if we find it here so carefully recorded, that Jesus Christ suffered at that time when Pontius Pilate was pro curator of Judea, the pastor will explain the reason, which is, that by distinctly fixing the time, which we find also done by the apostle Paul,» so important and so necessary an event may be the better ascertained by all ; and also because it is shown in those words that the event verified the prediction of the Saviour : They shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify.

Question 4. It was not a Chance Circumstance that Christ suffered Death on the Cross.

That he suffered the particular death of the cross, is also to be attributed to the divine counsel, that whence death came, thence life might arise. For the serpent, which had overcome our first parents by the fruit of the tree, was over come by Christ on the tree of the cross. i To show further rea sons for this the congruity of the Saviour's having suffered the death of the cross rather than any other, we might adduce many reasons, which the holy fathers pursued at greater length ; but let the pastor admonish the faithful, that for them it is sufficient to believe that species of death to have been chosen by the Saviour, which appeared most suitable, and best adapted, to the redemption of the human race, as also assuredly no other death could have been more ignominious and humiliating. For not only amongst the Gentiles was the punishment of the cross deemed execrable, and most replete with disgrace and infamy ; but also in the law of Moses the man is pronounced accursed, that hangeth on a tree.

Question 5. The History of Christ's Passion is to be frequently inculcated on the People.

But that the faithful may be familiarly acquainted with at least the principal heads of this mystery, which are of more immediate necessity to confirm the truth of our faith, the pastor must by no means pass over the historical part of this article, which has been most diligently narrated by the holy evangelists ; for on this article, as on a sort of foundation, rest the religion and faith of Christians, and on this foun dation, when once laid, all the rest is built with perfect security. For if to the mind and understanding of man any other matter presents difficulties, most difficult of all, of a truth, must the mystery of the cross be considered j and we find it hard to conceive that our salvation depends on the cross, and on him who for us was fastened to its wood. But in this, as the apostle teaches, we may admire the supreme providence of God ; for whereas in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God ; it pleased God, by the foolishness of preaching, to save them that believed We are therefore not to marvel that the prophets, before the coming of Christ, the apostles, after his death and resurrection, laboured so strenuously to persuade men that he was the Redeemer of the world, and to bring them under the power and obedience of him who was crucified.

Wherefore, the Lord, seeing nothing is so far beyond the reach of human reason as the mystery of the cross, immediately from the Fall, ceased not, both by figures and by the oracles of the prophets, to signify the death by which his Son was to die. To glance a little at these figures; first, Abel, who fell a victim to the envy of his brother j1 next, the [intended] sacrifice of Isaac ;m again, the lamb immolated by the Jews on departing out of Egypt, and also the brazen serpent lifted up by Moses in the desert, all prefigured the passion and death of Christ the Lord. That many prophets also arose who foretold this event, is a fact too well known to require to be here developed. Not to speak of David, whose Psalms embrace the principal mysteries of redemption, so clear and open are the oracles of Isaiah,? that he may with reason be said to have recorded a past, rather than predicted a future event. ci

Question 6. ”Dead and Buried” What is signified to be believed by this Clause.

In explaining these words, the pastor will propound it to be believed, that Jesus Christ, after he was crucified, was really dead and buried. Nor is it without reason that this is proposed to the faithful as a separate object of belief; seeing there were not wanting those who denied that he P Is. liii.

q See Hier. Epist. ad Paulin. near the end, with Pearson on the Creed, p. 86, sqq. and 182, sqq.

died upon the cross. Justly, therefore, did the apostles judge, that to such an error should be opposed this doctrine of faith, the truth of which article is placed beyond the possibility of doubt, since all the evangelists concur in recording that Jesus “yielded up the ghost” Moreover, as Christ was true and perfect man, he, of course, was also truly capable of dying ; and death takes place in man by the separation of the soul from the body. When, therefore, we say that Jesus died, we mean that his soul was separated from his body, without, however, conceding that his divinity was separated from his body : 011 the contrary, we firmly believe and profess that, while his soul was separated from his body, his divinity continued always united both to his body in the sepulchre, and to his soul in the shades.8 But it became the Son of God to die, that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil; and might deliver them, who, through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage.1

Question 7. Christ underwent Death not by Compulsion and Involuntarily.

But Christ the Lord had this peculiar privilege, that he died when he himself decreed to die, and that he died, not so much by external violence, as by voluntary assent. But he ordained not only his death, but also the time and place in which he should die, for so writeth Isaiah : He was offered, because it ivas his own will.u Before his passion the Lord declared the same of himself : / lay down my life, that I may take it again. No man taketh it away from me ; but I lay it down of myself ; and I have power to lay it dovm ; and I have power to take it again As to time and place, when Herod insidiously sought the life of the Saviour, he said : Go ye, and tell that fox, befiold I cast out devils, and I do cures to-day, and to-morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected. Nevertheless, I must walk to-day, and to-morrow, and the day following, because it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.™ He, therefore, did nothing involuntarily or by compulsion ; but offered himself of his own free will. Going to meet his enemies, he said : / am he ;x and all the punishments, which with injustice and cruelty they inflicted on him, he endured voluntarily. When we meditate on his sufferings and torments, nothing can have greater force to awaken the feelings of our souls, than to reflect that he endured them all thus voluntarily. For if any one were to endure, by compulsion, every species of suffering, for our sake, we should not deem his claims to our gratitude very considerable ; but if he were freely, and for our sake only, to endure death, when he might have avoided it, this indeed were a favour of so great a character, as to deprive even the most grateful, not only of the power of returning, but even of adequately feeling the obligation. Hence we may perceive the supreme and transcendant love of Jesus Christ towards us, and his divine and boundless claims to our gratitude.

Question 8. Why Christ is said not only to have been Dead ~but “Buried”

But, when we confess that he was buried, we do not make this, as it were, a distinct part of the article, because it presents any difficulty, that is not implied in what we have said of his death ; for if we believe that Christ died, we can also easily be persuaded that he was buried. The word buried was added first, that there might be less room for doubt respecting his death, for it is a very strong argument, to establish a person's death, if we prove the burial of his body ; and, secondly, to declare and glorify the miracle of his resurrection more clearly. Nor do we only believe that Christ's body was buried • but these words propose, as the principal object of our belief, that God was buried, as, according to the rule of catholic faith, we also most truly say that God was born of a virgin, that God died ; for, as the divinity was never separated from his body, which was laid in the sepulchre, we truly confess that God was buried.

Question 9. What Matters are chiefly to ~be observed touching the Death and Burial of Christ.

As to the place and manner of his burial, what the holy Evangelists record on these points will be found sufficient for the pastor, y There are, however, two things that de mand particular observation j the one, that, in accordance with the prediction of the prophet, thou wilt not give thy Holy One to see corruption? the body of Christ was in no degree corrupted in the sepulchre ; the other, which regards the several parts of this article, that burial, passion also, and death, apply to Christ Jesus, not as God, but as man : for to suffer and to die are incidental to human nature only ; although they are also all attributed to God, because predi cated with propriety of that person, who was at once perfect God and perfect man.

Question 10. In what light the Benefit of Christ's Passion ought to be contemplated.

These things being known, the pastor will next explain those particulars of the passion and death of Christ, from which the faithful may be enabled, if not to comprehend, at least to contemplate, the immensity of so stupendous a mystery. And first, we are to consider who he is that thus suffers. And we, indeed, cannot express in words, or even conceive in thought, his dignity. Of him St. John says, that he is the Word., which ivas with God ;a and the apostle describes him in these sublime terms j that he it is whom God hath appointed heir of all things, ~by whom also he made tlte world ; who, being the brightness of his glory and the figure oj his substance, and upholding all things by Hie word of his power, making purgation of sins, sitteth down on the right hand of the majesty on high.]) In a word, Jesus Christ, God and man, suffers ! The Creator suffers for those whom he himself created : the master suffers for the servant : he suffers by whom angels, men, the heavens, the elements, were created : he, I say, in whom, through whom, and of whom, are all things.0 We cannot, therefore, be surprised that, whilst he was agonized under so many torments of suffering, the whole fabric of the universe was convulsed ; for as the Scripture informs us, the earth did quake and the rocks rent, and there was darkness over all the earth, and the sun ivas darkened If, then, even mute and senseless things mourned the dyingsufferings of their Creator, let the faithful bethink them with what tears they, as the living stones of this edifice, should display their sorrow.

Question 11. Reasons why Christ suffered ; and what must be thought of those who, JWQfessiny Christianity, are defiled ivith Sins.

That the greatness and force of the divine love towards us may still more fully appear, the reasons why the Saviour suffered must also be explained. Should it then be asked, why the Son of God underwent his most bitter passion, we shall find that, besides the hereditary guilt of our first parents, the principal cause is to be found in the vices and crimes which men have perpetrated from the beginning of the world to the present day, and those that they shall per petrate up to the consummation of time. For in his death and passion the Son of God, our Saviour, contemplated atoning and obliterating the sins of all ages, by offering for them to his Father a full and superabundant satisfaction.

Besides, to add to the dignity of this matter, Christ not only suffered for sinners, but also for those who were the very authors and ministers of all the torments he endured. Of this the apostle doth remind us, writing as follows to the Hebrews : Consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself ; lest ye be ivearied and faint in your minds' In this guilt we must judge that all those are in volved who fall frequently into sins \ for, as our sins impelled Christ our Lord to undergo the death of the cross, most certainly those who wallow in sins and iniquities, as far as depends on them crucify to themselves again the Son of God, and put him to an open shamed In us such guilt may indeed seem even deeper than it was in the Jews, inasmuch as, according to the apostle, had they known it, they would never Jiave crucified the Lord of Glory ; i whereas we both profess to know him, and yet, denying him by our works j seem in some sort to lay violent hands on him.

Question 12. Christ was delivered over to Death by the Father, and ly himself also.

But that Christ the Lord was also delivered over to death by the Father and by himself, the sacred Scriptures bear witness ; for he says in Isaiah : For the transgression of my people have I struck him ;k and a little before, when filled with the Spirit of God, he sees the Lord afflicted with stripes and wounds, the same prophet says : All we, like sheep, have gone astray : every one hath turned aside to his oum way ; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all)- Of the Son it is written : If he shall lay dowm his life for sin, he shall see a long-lived seed.m But this same thing the apostle expressed in language still stronger, when, however, on the other hand, he wished to show us how much we may trust in the boundless mercy and goodness of God : He that spared not even his own Son, says the apostle, but delivered him up for us all, how hath he not also, with him, given us all things ?n

Question 13. Christ truly, in Body and Mind, felt the Bitterness of his Torments.

It next followeth, that the pastor teach how great was the bitterness of the Redeemer's passion. If, however, we bear in mind that his sweat was as it were drops of blood falling down to the ground ;° and this, when he solely anticipated the torments and tortures with which he was soon after to be afflicted, any one must easily perceive that his sufferings admitted of no increase. For if – and this sweat of blood proclaims it – the very thought of the impending evils was m Ibid. 10. See the notes of the commentators on this latter passage.

so bitter, what must we not suppose their actual endurance to have been 1 That, however, Christ our Lord was afflicted with the most intense sufferings both of body and mind is certain. In the first place, there was no part of his body that did not ex perience the most excruciating torments : for his hands and feet were fastened with nails to the cross ; his head was pierced with thorns, and smitten with a reed ; his face was befouled with spittle, and buffeted with blows ; his whole body was covered with stripes ! Men, too, of all sorts and conditions set themselves together against the Lord and against his Christ. .P Jews, also, and Gentiles were the advisers, the authors, the ministers of his passion : Judas betrayed him ; Peter denied him ;r the rest abandoned him j s and, whilst on the very cross, we are at a loss which to deplore, his agony or his ignominy, or both. Surely no sort of death more shameful, none more bitter, could have been devised than that by which only the most guilty and atrocious malefactors were usually afflicted j a death, the tediousness of which aggra vated the sense of its intense pain and torture. His agony was increased by the very constitution and frame of his body, which, formed by the power of the Holy Ghost, was much more perfect and better tempered than the bodies of other men can be, and therefore possessed a keener sus ceptibility of pain, and a sharper sense of the torments which it endured.

As regards Christ's inward anguish of mind, no one can doubt that it was extreme. For those among the saints who had to endure torments and tortures, were not wanting in consolation given from above, refreshed by which they were enabled not only to bear with patience the violence of their sufferings, but, in many instances, to feel, in the very midst of them, an inward joy. / rejoice, says the apostle, in my sufferings for you, and Jill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ in my flesh, for his body's sake, which is the Church ;4 and in another place : / am fitted with comfort ; I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation.1 Christ the Lord, on the contrary, tempered with no admixture of sweetness the chalice of his most bitter passion ; but per mitted his human nature to feel every species of torment, as acutely as if he were man only, and not also God.

Question 14. What Advantages and Blessings are chiefly bestoived upon the Human Race through the Passion of Christ.

It alone remains, that the blessings and advantages which flow to the human race from the passion of Christ be accurately explained by the pastor. In the first place, then, the passion of our Lord was our deliverance from sin j for, as St. John says : He hath loved us and washed us from, our sins in his own blood. He hath quickened you together with him, says the apostle, having forgiven you all trespasses; blotting out the handwriting of the decree which was against us, which was contrary to us, and the same he took out of the way, nailing it to his cross.™ In the next place, he hath rescued us from the tyranny of the devil j for our Lord him self says : Now is the judgment of the world : now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to myself He hath also discharged the punishment due to our sins ; and next, as no sacrifice more grateful and acceptable could have been offered to God, he hath reconciled us to the Father,? appeased his wrath, and propitiated his justice. Finally, by taking away our sins, he opened unto us heaven, which was closed by the common sin of the human race, as the apostle doth signify in these words : Having therefore, brethren, a boldness to enter into the holiest, by the blood of Christ.1- ISTor is there wanting some type and figure of this mystery under the old law ; for those who were prohibited to return into their native country before the death of the high-priest,a typified that, until that supreme and eternal High-Priest, Christ Jesus, had died, and by dying had opened the gates of heaven to those who, purified by the sacraments, and gifted with faith, hope, and charity, become partakers of his passion, no one, how just and pious soever had been his life, could have gained admission into Ids heavenly country.

Question 15. Whence the Passion of Christ had Poivtr to deserve such Benefits for us.

But the pastor will teach, that all these most great and divine blessings come to us from the passion of the Lord ; first, because the satisfaction which Jesus Christ has, in an admirable manner, made unto his Eternal Father for our sins, is full and complete ; and the price which he has paid for our ransom not only equals and quits, but far exceeds our debts. Furthermore, it was a sacrifice most acceptable to God, which, when offered by his Son on. the altar of the cross, entirely appeased the wrath and indignation of the Father ; and this word sacrifice the apostle makes use of, when he says : Christ hath loved us, and hath given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour. It was also a redemption, of which the prince of the apostles says : Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as gold or silver, from your vain conversation of the tradition of your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot ; c and the apostle teaches : Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for its.d But besides these immense blessings, we have also received another of the very utmost importance, for in the passion alone we have the most illustrious examples of every virtue. For he so displayed patience, and humility, and exalted charity, and meekness, and obedience, and unshaken firmness of soul, not only in suffering pains for righteousness' sake, but also in meeting death, that we may truly say, that on the day of his passion alone, our Saviour presented, in his own person, a living exemplification of all the moral precepts which he had inculcated during the entire time of his public ministiy. Let so much, then, be briefly stated touching the saving passion and death of Christ the Lord. And O that these mysteries may ever be present to our minds, that we may learn to suffer, to die, and to be buried with our Lord ; that thenceforth casting away all stain of sin, and rising with him unto newness of life, we may at length, through his grace and mercy, be found worthy to be made partakers of his heavenly kingdom and glory.

Question 1. How the First Part of this Article is to be understood.

To know the glory of the burial of our Lord Jesus Christ, of which we have just treated, is indeed highly important ; but still more important it is to the faithful people, to know the splendid triumphs which he achieved, by having subdued the devil, and despoiled the depths6 of hell. On these sub jects we are now about to speak ; and, although the latter might with propriety be treated under a separate and dis tinct head, yet, following the authority of the holy fathers, we have deemed it fitting to unite it with his descent into hell.

In the first part [of this article], then, we profess that, immediately Christ was dead, his soul descended into hell, and dwelt there as long as his body remained in the grave. But, in these words we at the same time confess, that the same person of Christ was, at the same time, in hell and in the sepulchre. N~or should any one be surprised at this ; for we have already repeatedly taught that, although his soul departed from his body, his divinity was never separated either from soul or body.

Question 2. Meaning of the Word “ Hell” in this Article.

But, as the pastor, by first teaching what is here meant by the word hell/ may throw considerable light on the e Sedibus. f Inferoruin.

OF THE COUNCIL OF TRENT. Gl exposition of this article, it is to be observed, that by the word hell is not here meant the grave, as some have not less impiously than ignorantly imagined ;S for in the preceding article we learned that Christ the Lord was buried ; nor was there any reason why the apostles, in delivering the faith, should repeat the same thing in other and more obscure terms. But, hell here signifies those hidden abodes, in which are detained the souls that have not obtained heavenly bliss ; and in this sense the word is used in many passages of Scripture. Thus, in the apostle we read, that, at the name of Jesus, every knee should boiv, of things in heaven, in earth, and under the earth ;h and in the Acts of the Apostles, St. Peter says, that Christ the Lord was again risen, having loosed the sorrows of hell.1

Question 3. How many are the Places in which Souls, placed out of the Reach of Bliss, are detained after Death.

These abodes, however, are not all of one and the same kind, for amongst them is that most loathsome and dark prison, in which the souls of the damned together with the unclean spirits are tortured in eternal and inextinguishable fire. This place is also called Gehenna, the bottomless pit, and in its literal signification, hell. There is also the fire of purgatory, in which the souls of the just are purified by punishment for a stated time, to the end that they may be admitted into their eternal country, into which nothing defiled enterethj And of the truth of this doctrine, which holy Councils declare to be confirmed by the testimonies of Scripture, and by apostolical tradition,k the pastor will have occasion to treat more diligently and frequently, as we are fallen on those times, wherein men endure not sound doctrine. Lastly, a third sort of receptacle is that in which were received the souls of the saints who died before the coming of Christ our Lord ; and where, without any sense of pain, sustained by the blessed hope of redemption,, they enjoyed a tranquil abode. The souls, then, of these pious men, who in the bosom of Abraham were expecting the Saviour, Christ the Lord liberated, descending into hell.

Question 4. TJie Soid of Christ really, not potentially only, descended into Hell.

Nor must we suppose that he descended into hell in such, wise, that his power and virtue only, and not also his soul, went thither ; but must fully believe, that his soul itself really and substantially descended into hell ; concerning which there is that most certain testimony of David : Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell.m

Question 5. Nothing was taken from the Dignity of Christ ~by his Descent into Hell.

But, although Christ descended into hell, his supreme power was nought diminished; nor was the splendour of his holiness defiled by any blemish. Nay, this fact served rather to prove most clearly, that whatever had been proclaimed touching his holiness was true ; and that, as he had previously declared by so many miracles, he was truly the Son of God. This we shall easily understand, if we compare the causes why Christ, and why other men, have descended into those places. They all descended as captives ; but He, free and victorious amongst the dead descended to subdue those demons by whom, in consequence of sin, they were held in captivity. All others who descended, some did endure the most acute torments, others, though exempt from other pain, yet deprived of the sight of God, were tortured with suspense by the hope deferred ° of the blessed glory which they expected ; whereas Christ the Lord descended, not to suffer aught, but to liberate from the miserable wearisomeness of that captivity the holy and the just, and to impart to them the fruit of his passion. By his descent into hell, therefore, no diminution was made from Ms supreme dignity and power.

Question 6. Why Christ wished to descend into Hell.

These things being explained, [the pastor] must next teach, that Christ the Lord descended into hell, in order that, having seized the spoils of the devil, he might conduct into heaven those holy fathers, and the other just souls liberated from prison. This he accomplished in an admi rable and most glorious manner. For his august presence at once brought a glorious lustre upon the captives, and filled their souls with boundless joy and gladness. Unto them he also imparted that supreme happiness, which con sists in the vision of God, in which he verified his promise to the [dying] thief : Amen, I say unto thee, this day shall thou be with me in Paradise.? This deliverance of the just was, long before, predicted by Osea, as follows : 0 Death / I will be thy death. 0 Hell ! I ivill be thy bite ;i and it was also signified by the prophet Zachary, when he said : Thou, also, by the blood of thy covenant, hast sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit, wherein is no water ;r and, lastly, the same is expressed by the apostle in these words : Having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them, confidently, openly triumphing over them in himself.5 To comprehend, however, still better the efficacy of this mystery, we should frequently call to mind, that not only the just, who were born after the coming of the Saviour, but, also, those who preceded that event from the days of Adam, or who shall succeed it up to the end of the world, attained salvation through the benefit of the passion of Christ. Wherefore, until he died and rose again, heaven was closed against every child of Adam ; and the souls of the just, on their departure from this life, were borne to the bosom of Abraham ; or, as is still the case with those who have something to be expiated, and die indebted [to the divine justice],1 were purified in the fire of purgatory.

There is another reason, also, why Christ the Lord de scended into hell, that there, too, as well as in heaven and on earth, he might declare his power and authority j and that every knee of things in heaven., and on earth, and under the earth, should, indiscriminately, bend at his name.u And here, who is not filled with admiration and astonishment at the infinite goodness of God to the human race ! Not satisfied with having undergone, for our sake, a most cruel death, he penetrates into the inmost recesses of the earth, that he might transport into bliss the souls most dear to him, whose deliverance from thence he had achieved.

Question 7. The Meaning of the Second Part of the Article.

The second part of the article follows ; and how earnestly the pastor should strive in its exposition, these words of the apostle declare : Remember that the Lord Jesus Christ was raised from the dead ;v a precept, no doubt, addressed not only to Timothy, but to all who have care of souls. The meaning of the article is this, that, after Christ the Lord had yielded up the ghost on the cross, on the sixth day and ninth hour, and was buried on the evening of the same day by Ms disciples, who, by permission of the governor Pilate, laid the body of the Lord, when taken down from the cross, in a new monument, in a garden near at hand, his soul was reunited to his body, very early on the morning of the third day after his death, which was the Lord's day ; and thus he, who was dead during those three days, returned, and rose again.

Question 8. Christ rose again not by another Power, lut ly his own.

But, by the word resurrection we must not merely under stand that Christ was raised from the dead, which was common with him to many others j but that he rose by his own power and virtue, which was peculiar to him alone. For it is incompatible with nature, nor was it ever granted to man to be able to raise himself, by his own power, from death unto life. This was reserved exclusively for the supreme power of God, as these words of the Apostle give us to understand : Although he was crucified through iveakness, yet lie liveth ~by the power of God.™ This divine power, never having been separated either from the body of Christ whilst in the grave, or from his soul when he descended into hell, there existed a divine force as well in the body, by which it might be again united to the soul, as in the soul, by which it might again return to the body ; and by which he, by his own power, might return to life, and rise again from the dead. This David foretold, when, filled with the Spirit of God, he prophesied in these words : His right hand and his Iwly arm hath ivrought for him salvation This is also confirmed by testimony of the divine lips of our Lord him self : / lay down my life, says he, that I might take it again ; and I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again J To the Jews he also said, in confirmation of the truth of his doctrine : Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.7- Although the Jews understood him to have spoken this of that temple magnificently built of stones ; yet, as the Scripture testifieth in the same place, he spake of the temple of his body.' “We sometimes, however, read in the Scriptures, that Christ the Lord was raised by the Father ;b but this must refer to him as man ; as those passages, which, on the other hand, signify that he rose by his own power, relate to him as God.

Question 9. How Christ is called “the First Begotten of the Dead” when others before him are known to have been raised.

But that he himself should have been the first who enjoyed this divine gift of rising from the dead, is also the especial privilege of Christ ; for he is called in the Scriptures, the first-born from the dead,c and, the first-begotten of the dead; and, as it is in the Apostle, Christ is risen from the dead, the jirst fruits of them that sleep ; for by man came death, and . by man the resurrection of the dead ; and, as in Adam all die even so in Christ shall all be made alive ; but every one in his own order ; the first fruits Christ, then they that are of Christ.6 These words of the Apostle are to be explained of a perfect resurrection, by which we are resuscitated to eternal life, all necessity of dying being utterly removed ; and in this man ner [of resurrection] Christ the Lord holds the first place. For, if we speak of resurrection, that is, of a return to life subject to the necessity of again dying, many were raised from the dead before Christ/ all of whom, however, were restored to life so that they must die again ; but Christ the Lord, having subdued and conquered death, rose again as no longer capable of dying, as is confirmed by this very evident testimony of the Apostle : Christ rising again from the dead, dieth now no more : death hath no 'more dominion over him.

Question 10. How, and for ichat Reason, Christ deferred Ids Resurrection till the Third Day.

These additional words of the article, the third day, the pastor will explain, lest the faithful should suppose that Christ had been in the grave, during the entire of these three days ; but, as he lay in the sepulchre during an entire natural day, and during part of the preceding and part of the following day, he is most truly said to have lain in the grave three days, and, on the third, to have risen again from the dead. To declare his divinity, he was unwilling to defer his resurrection to the end of the world ; whilst, at the same time, to convince us of the reality of his humanity and death, he rose not immediately after his death, but on the third day, a space of time, that seemed sufficient to prove his real death.

Question 11. Why the Fathers of the Synod of Constantinople added the- Words “ according to the Scriptures” to the Creed.

To this place the Fathers of the first Synod of Constanti nople added the words : According to the Scriptures, an addi- f Compare the examples of the child of the widow raised by Elijah, tion which, taken from the apostle, they transferred to the creed; because the same apostle taught the absolute necessity of the mystery of the resurrection, when he says : If Christ be not risen, then is our jrreaehing vain, and your faith is also vain ; and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain, for ye are yet in your sins.h Hence, admiring our belief of this article, St. Augustine says : It is nothing great to believe that Christ died ; this the Pagans, and Jews, and all the wicked believe ; all believe that he died. The resurrection of Christ is the belief of Christians : to believe that he rose again, this ive deem something great Hence it is, that our Lord very frequently spoke of his resurrection ; and scarcely ever con versed with his disciples respecting his passion, without men tioning his resurrection. Thus, when he said, The Son of Man shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and scourged, and spit upon ; and after they have scourged him, they will put him to death, he concluded by saying, and the third day lie. shall rise againi And when the Jews called upon him to give a proof of the truth of his doctrine by some sign and miracle, he replied : There shall no sign be given them but the sign of the prophet Jonas ; for as Jonas was three, days and three nights in the ivhales belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.- To understand better the force and meaning of this ar ticle, there are three things to be inquired into and known by us ; first, how necessary was the resurrection of Christ ; secondly, its end and object ; thirdly, the blessings and advantages of which it is the source to us.

Question 12. Of the Reason for the Necessity of the Resurrection of Christ.

”With regard, then, to the first, it was necessary that he should rise again, in order that the justice of God might be manifested ; for it was most fitting that he, who, through obedience to God, was degraded, and afilicted with every kind of ignominy, should by him be exalted. This is a reason assigned by the apostle, when he says to the Philip- plans : lie humbled himself, and became obedient unto death ; even unto the death of the cross ; wherefore God, also, hath exalted him.1 [He rose], also, in order that our faith, which is necessary to justification, might be confirmed ; for the resurrection of Christ from the dead, by his own power, should be the greatest proof of his divinity. Furthermore, it was necessary that our hope should be nurtured and sus tained, for, as Christ rose again, we rest on an assured hope, that we too shall rise again, for the members must necessarily participate in the condition of their head. This is the conclusion that S. Paul seems to draw, when he writes to the Corinthians”1 and Thessalonians ;n and Peter, the prince of the Apostles, says : Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his great mercy, hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, unto an inheritance incorruptible. Finally, [the pastor] must teach, that the resurrection of our Lord was necessary, to complete the mystery of our salva tion and redemption : for by his death Christ liberated us from our sins, and by his resurrection he restored to us the principal benefits, which we had forfeited by sin. Hence it is said by the Apostle : He was delivered up for our sins, and was raised again for our justification That nothing, therefore, may be wanting to our salvation, it was meet that, as he died, he should also rise again from the dead.

Question 13. What Advantages result to Men from the Resurrection of Christ.

From what has been hitherto said, we can perceive how great advantage the resurrection of Christ the Lord has brought to the faithful ; for in the resurrection we acknowledge God to be immortal, full of glory, the conqueror of death and the devil ; and this we must firmly believe and confess of Christ Jesus.

Again, the resurrection of Christ has also brought forth unto us our resurrection, both as being its efficient cause, and because we ought all to rise again, after the example of our Lord. For with regard to the resurrection of the body, the apostle beareth this testimony : By man came death, and by Qnan the resurrection of the dead. For whatever God wrought in accomplishing the mystery of our redemption, in all its parts, he made use of the humanity of Christ as its efficient instrument ; and hence, his resurrection was in some sort the instrument of accomplishing ours. It may also be called the model, seeing that the resurrection of Christ our Lord is the most perfect of all ; and as the body of Christ again rising unto immortal glory was changed, so shall our bodies also, which were before frail and mortal, be restored, adorned with glory and immortality. For as the apostle teacheth : We wait for the Saviour our Lord Jesus Christ, tvho will reform the body of our lowliness, fashioned like unto the body of his glory The same may be said of a soul dead in sin ; and how the resurrection of Christ is proposed to such a soul as the model of her resurrection, the same apostle teacheth, when he says : As Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life ; for if ve have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also [in that] of his resurrection ; and a little after : Knoioing that Christ, being raised from the dead, dieth no more : death hath no more dominion over him ; for in that he died to sin, he died once ; but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus.

Question 14. What Examples must be taken from the Resurrection of Christ.

From the resurrection of Christ, therefore, two lessons of imitation should be derived ; the one that, after we have “washed away the stains of sin, we should begin a new kind of life, in which moral integrity, innocence, holiness, modesty, justice, beneficence, humility, may shine forth ; the other, that we should so persevere in that newness of life, as never more, with God assisting, to stray from the path of right eousness, on which we have once entered. Nor do the words of the apostle prove only that the resurrection of Christ is proposed as the model of our resurrection; but they also declare that it gives us power to rise again ; and imparts to us strength and spirit to persevere in holiness and righteousness, and in keeping the commandments of God. For as from his death we not only derive an example how to die, but also strength, so that we may die unto sin ; so also, his resurrection invigorates us to attain righteousness ; that thenceforward worshipping God piously and holily, we may •walk in the newness of life, to which we rise ; for this the Redeemer achieved principally by his resurrection, that we, who had before died with him unto sin and unto this world, might rise also with him again to a new discipline and manner of life.

Question 15. From ichat Evidences we infer that any one, ivith Christ, hath risen according to the Spirit.

The principal indications of this resurrection from sin, which demand our observation, are pointed out by the apostle : If ye be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Here he distinctly shows that they who desire to possess life, honours, ease, riches, there chiefly where Christ dwells, have truly risen with him ; but when he adds : Mind the things that are above, not the things that are on the earthy this he gives as another mark, as it were, by which we may discern whether we have truly risen with Christ. For as the appetite is wont to indicate the health and state of the body, so if any one relish whatsoever things are true, whatso ever things are modest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are holy? and he perceive the pleasantness of heavenly things with the inmost senses of his mind, this may be con sidered as the strongest proof that he who is thus disposed has risen with Christ Jesus to a new and spiritual life.

Question 1. TJie Excellence of this Article, and the Meaning of the First Part thereof.

DAVID the prophet, when, filled with the Spirit of God, he contemplated the blessed and glorious ascension of our Lord into heaven, exhorts all to celebrate that triumph with the greatest joy and gladness : Clap your hands, says he, all ye nations ; shout unto God with the voice of triumph. God is gone up with jubilee.™ Hence the pastor will understand that this mystery must be explained with the greatest assi duity, and that he must take especial care that the faithful not only perceive it with faith and understanding, but as far as possible make it their study, God assisting, to reflect also its image in their lives and deeds.

”With regard, then, to the explanation of this sixth article, in which principally is treated of this divine mystery [of the ascension], we must begin with its first part, and unfold its force and meaning. For the faithful are also without hesitation to believe that Jesus Christ, having fully performed and accomplished the work of redemption, ascended as man, body and soul, into heaven ; but as God, he was never absent from heaven, filling, as he does, all places with his divinity.

Question 2. Christ ascended not only ly the Virtue of his Divinity, but also ~by Force of his Humanity, [The pastor] must also teach, that he ascended by his own virtue, and was not raised aloft by the power of another, as was Elias, who went up in a fiery chariot into heaven, or as was the prophet Habacuc,r or Philip, the deacon, who, borne through the air by the divine power, traversed far distant parts of the earth.2 Neither did he ascend into heaven solely as God, by the supreme power of the Divinity, but also as man ; for although the ascension could not have taken place by natural power, yet that virtue, with which the blessed soul of Christ had been endowed, was capable of moving the body as it pleased ; and his body, which had now received glory, readily obeyed the command of the actuating soul. And we believe that Christ, as God and man, ascended by his own power into heaven.

Question 3. In what Sense Christ, in the Second Part of this Article, is said to sit at the Riyht Hand of the Father.

In the other part of this article are these words : Sitteth at, the right hand of the Father. In. these words we observe a trope, that is, the changing of a word from its literal and grammatical to a figurative meaning, a thing frequent in the sacred letters,a when, accommodating the matter to our un derstanding, we attribute human affections and members to God, who, Spirit that he is, admits of nothing corporeal being conceived of him. But as, amongst men, he who is placed at the right hand is considered to occupy the more honourable place, so, transferring the same idea to celestial things, to express the glory which Christ, as man, has re ceived before all others, we confess that he is at the right hand of the Father. Here, however, to sit does not imply position and figure of body, but declares the fixed and per manent possession of royal and supreme power and glory, which he hath received from the Father j of which the apostle saith : Raising him up from the dead, and setting him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this ivorld, but also in that which is to come ; and lie hath put all things under his feet; words which manifestly imply that this glory belongs to our Lord in a manner so particular and exclusive, as to be suitable to 110 other created being ; and hence, in another place, the apostle testifies : To which of the angels said he at any time, sit on my right hand.c

Question 4. Why the History of Christ's Ascension ought to be frequently repeated to the People.

But the pastor will explain the sense of this article more diffusely by detailing the history of the ascension, which the evangelist St. Luke has described with admirable order in the Acts of the Apostles.d In its exposition he must observe, in the first place, that to the ascension, as to their end, are referred all other mysteries, and that in it is contained their whole perfection and completion. For as with the incarnation of our Lord all the mysteries of our religion commence, so with his ascension into heaven terminates his pilgrimage [on earth]. Moreover, other articles of the creed, which appertain to Christ the Lord, show his great humility and lowliness : for nothing can be conceived more humble or more lowly than that for us the Son of God assumed the frailty of human nature, suffered, and died ; but nothing more magnificent, nothing more admirable, can be said in order to proclaim his sovereign glory and divine majesty than what is contained both in the present and preceding articles, in which we confess that he rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father.

Question 5. Why Christ ascended into Heaven, and did not rather constitute his Kingdom on Earth.

These truths having been explained, he will next accurately teach for what reason our Lord ascended into heaven. He ascended, firstly, because the most lofty and glorious kingdom of heaven, not the earth., presented a suitable dwelling-place for his body, which, upon its resurrection, was gifted with the glory of immortality. And he ascended, not only to possess the throne of glory, and the kingdom which he had merited by his blood, but also to provide whatever appertained to our salvation. He ascended, that he might really prove thereby, that his kingdom is not of 'this world ;e for the kingdoms of this world are earthly and transient, and are based upon great wealth and the power of the flesh ; whilst that of Christ is not, as the Jews ex pected, an earthly, but a spiritual and eternal kingdom, the wealth and riches of which he shows to be also spiritual, by placing his throne in the heavens. And in this his kingdom they are to be deemed most abounding in opulence and affluence of every sort of good things, who most diligently seek the things that are of God. For so St. James beareth witness : Hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom, which God hath promised to them that love him ?f But our Lord also ascended into heaven, in order that he might teach us to follow him thither in mind and will ; for as, by his death and resurrection, he had left us an example of dying and rising again in spirit, so by his ascension he teaches and instructs us, that though dwelling on earth, we should raise ourselves in thought to heaven, confessing that we are pilgrims and strangers on earth, seeking a country, fellow-citizens with the saints, and the do mestics of God ; for, as the same apostle says, our conversation is in heaven

Question 6. What Benefits are conferred on Men through the Ascension of Christ.

Now the force and magnitude of the inexplicable blessings, which the beneficence of God has poured out upon us, were long before, according to the interpretation of the apostle, sung by the inspired David in these words : Ascending on high, he hath led captivity captive ; he hath given gifts to men ;J for on the tenth day [after his ascension] he gave the Holy Ghost, with whose power and abundance he filled the multitude of the faithful then present, and then truly fulfilled those splendid promises : It is expedient for you that I go ; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you : but if I depart, I will send him to you- He also ascended into heaven, according to the statement of the apostle, that he may appear in the presence of God for us, and discharge for ITS the office of advocate with the Father. My little children, saith St. John, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, ive have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous ; and he is the propitiation for OUT sins.ni There is, indeed, nothing from whence the faithful ought to derive greater joy and delight than from the fact, that Jesus Christ is constituted the advocate of our cause and the intercessor for our salvation with the eternal Father, with whom his favour and influence are supreme. Finally [by his ascension], he prepared for us a place, as he had pro mised, and entered, as our head, in the name of us all, into the possession of heavenly glory. For ascending into heaven, he threw open its gates, which had been closed against us by the sin of Adam, and, as he had foretold to his disciples at his last supper, secured for us a way, by which we might arrive at the happiness of heaven. To demonstrate this by the event, he introduced with himself, into the mansions of eternal bliss, the souls of the just, which he had liberated from prison.

Question 7. The Advantages which Christ brought mito us by his Ascension.

This admirable profusion of heavenly gifts was followed by a series of important advantages. For, in the first place, the merit of our faith was greatly augmented ', because faith has for its object those things which fall not under the senses, and are remote from the reason and intelligence of men. If, therefore, the Lord had not departed from us, the merit of our faith would be diminished, for Jesus Christ lias said : Messed are they that have not seen, and have believed.0 Besides, the ascension of Christ into heaven contributes much to confirm our hope ; since, believing that Christ, as man, ascended into heaven, and placed our nature at the right hand of God the Father, we are in great hope, that we, his members, may also ascend thither, and be there united with our head, according to these words of our Lord himself : Father, I will, that where I am, they also, whom thow hast given me, may be with me? Another most especially important advantage we have thereby attained, that it snatches away our affections to heaven, and inflames them with the divine spirit ; for, most truly has it been said, that where our treasure is, there also is our hearth

Question 8. It ivould not have been Advantageous for us had Christ remained on Earth.

And, indeed, if Christ the Lord were dwelling on earth, our whole strength would be fixed upon the very sight of his human person, and the enjoyment of his presence, and we should regard only that man, who was to bestow on us such blessings, and would cherish towards him a sort of earthly affection. But, by his ascension into heaven, he has ren dered our affection for him spiritual, and has made us venerate and love as God him who, though now absent, is the object of our thoughts. This we learn partly from the example of the Apostles, who, whilst our Lord was per sonally present with them, seemed to judge of him in some measure humanly; and in part, from these words of our Lord himself: it is expedient for you that I go,r for that imperfect love, with which they had cherished Jesus Christ when present, was to be perfected by divine love, and that by the coming of the Holy Ghost ; and, therefore, he immediately subjoins : If I go not, the Comforter will not come to you.

Question 9. After the Ascension of Christ, the Church was greatly increased.

Besides, he [thus] enlarged his house upon earth, that is, his Church, which, was to be governed by the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit ; and he left Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, as pastor, and supreme head upon earth, of the universal Church. Some, indeed, also, he gave to the, Apostles, and some Propliels, and others Evangelists, and others, Pastors and Teachers ; s and, thus, sitting at the right hand of the Father, he continually bestows different gifts on different persons, according to the words of St. Paul : To every one of us is given grace, according to the measure of the gift of Christ Finally, what we have already taught concerning the mystery of his death and resurrection, the faithful should hold not less true of his ascension. For, although we owe our salvation and redemption to the passion of Christ, who by his merits opened heaven to the just ; yet his ascension is not only proposed to us as a model, by which we may learn to look on high, and ascend in spirit into heaven ; but also imparts to us a divine virtue, by which we may be enabled to accomplish what it teaches.

Question 1. TJte Three Benefits of Christ towards his Church, and the Meaning of the Seventh Article.

To adorn and render illustrious his Church, there are three eminent offices and functions of our Lord Jesus Christ, those of Redeemer, Patron, and Judge. As then, from the preceding Articles, it is evident, that the human race was redeemed by his passion and death, and that, by his ascension into heaven, he has for ever undertaken the advocacy and patronage of our cause, it next follows, that, in this article, his character as judge be set forth. The force and purport of the article is to declare, that, on the last day, Christ the Lord will judge the whole human race.

Question 2. The Advent of Christ is Twofold.

For the sacred letters bear witness, that there are two comings of the Son of God, one, when for our salvation, he took upon him the flesh, and was made man in the womb of the Virgin j the other, when he shall come, at the end of the world, to judge mankind. This coming is called in Scripture, the day of the Lord ; of which the apostle saith : The day of the Lord shall so come, as a thief in the night and our Lord himself : But of that day and hour no one knowethj And in proof of the last judgment, let the authority of the Apostle suffice : We must all, says he, appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, iliat every one may receive the proper things of the body, according as that he hath done, whether it be good or evil. For the sacred Scripture is full of testimonies, which will every where occur to the pastors throughout the inspired volume, and which will serve not only to establish the truth of the fact, but also to place it before the eyes of the faithful ; that as, from the beginning of the world, that day of the Lord, on which he was clothed with our flesh, was most earnestly wished for by all, because in that mystery they reposed the hope of their liberation, so, also, after the death and ascension into heaven of the Son of God, the second day of the Lord may be the object of our most earnest desires ; waiting for the blessed hope, and corning of the glory of the great Gfod.x

Question 3. How often every Man must undergo Judgment in the Presence of Chnst.

But, to explain this matter, the pastor must distinguish two different periods, at which every one must necessarily appear in the presence of the Lord, to render an account of all his thoughts, deeds, and words, and to receive sentence accordingly from the mouth of his Judge. The first is, when each of us departs this life, for he is instantly placed before the tribunal of God, where all that he had ever done, or spoken, or thought, is subjected to the most strict scrutiny, and this is called the particular judgment. The second is, when, on the same day and in the same place, all men shall stand together before the tribunal of their Judge, that, in the presence and hearing of all ages, each may know his final doom and sentence ; the announcement of which will constitute no small part of the future pains and punishments of the wicked, and of the remuneration and rewards which the just will receive, when it shall clearly appear what has been the tenor of each man's life. And this is called the general judgment.

Question 4. Why a General Judgment was necessary, as well as a Particular.

It becomes an indispensable duty of the pastor to show why, besides the particular judgment respecting each individual, a general one should also be passed upon all men. For those who depart this life, leave behind them sometimes children who follow the example of their parents, sometimes books/ followers, admirers, and defenders of their example, their language, their deeds, by which matters the rewards or punishments of the dead must necessarily be augmented ; and as such benefit or ill effect, appertaining as it does to so many persons, is to terminate only with the end of the world, it was meet that a perfect inquiry should be held touching all these good or bad actions and words, a thing which was impossible without a general judgment of all men.

Moreover, as the good report of the pious is often injured, whilst the wicked are commended with the praise of innocence, the nature of the divine justice demands that the pious recover, in the presence, and with the suffrage, of all men congregated, the good name, of which they had been been unjustly deprived before men. Again, as good and bad men perform their good and bad actions, not without the co-operation of the body, it follows, that these actions appertain, also, to the body as their instrument ; and it was, therefore, most fitting, that the bodies should participate •with the souls in the eternal rewards or punishments ; and this can be accomplished only by means of a general resurrection, and general judgment of all men. Lastly, it was necessary to prove that, in the prosperity and adversity of men, which are sometimes the promiscuous lot of the good and the bad, everything is done and ordered by the infinite wisdom and justice of God. It was, [therefore], meet, not only that rewards should await the good, punish ments the wicked, in the next life, but that they should also be awarded by a public and general judgment ; that thus they might be rendered better known, and more conspicuous to all ; and that, in atonement for the unjust complaint, in y There is some confusion in the text, apparently resulting from the similarity of “ librorum” and “ liberorum.”

•which, on seeing the wicked abounding in wealth and nourishing in honours, even the saints themselves, as men, have sometimes bewailed, praise may be offered up by all to the justice and providence of God : My feet, says the Pro phet, were almost moved, my steins had well nigh slipped ; for I was envious at the wicked, seeing the prosperity z of sinners ; and a little after : Behold ! these are sinners, and yet, pros pering in the world, they have obtained riches; and I said, verily I have justified my heart in vain, and washed my hands among the innocent ; and I have been scourged the whole day ; and my chastisement hath been in the morning And this has been the frequent complaint of many ; and it was, there fore, necessary that a general judgment should be exercised, lest perchance men should say that God, walking about the poles of heaven regards not the things of earth. Justly, therefore, has this formula of truth been made one of the twelve articles of the Christian faith, that, should any men's minds hesitate touching the providence and justice of God, they might be confirmed by means of this doctrine. Besides, the just should be encouraged, the wicked appalled, by the idea of a future judgment ; so that, knowing the justice of God, the former may not be disheartened, and, through fear of eternal punishment, the latter may be recalled from falling away. Hence, speaking of the last day, our Lord and Saviour declares, that a general judgment shall one day take place, and describes the signs of that coming period ; that, seeing them, we may know that the end of the world is at hand.c At his ascension, also, he sent angels to con sole his Apostles, who were bewailing his departure, in these words : This Jesus who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

Question 5. The Power of Judging the Human Race is given to Christ according to loth his Natures.

But that this judgment is assigned to Christ our Lord, not only as God, but also as man, the sacred letters declare.

For although the power of judging is common to all the persons of the holy Trinity, yet we especially attribute it to the Son, because to him we also ascribe wisdom. And that he will judge the world as man, is confirmed by the testimony of our Lord, when he saith : As the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son also, to have life in himself; and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of Man.c

Question 6. Why this Judgment is not similarly ascribed to the Father or the Holy Spirit.

But [the pastor] will teach, that this judgment is par ticularly said to be exercised by Christ our Lord, in that, as sentence is to be pronounced on mankind, they may see their judge with their eyes, and hear his sentence with their ears, and thus perceive their judgment through the medium of the senses. Most just is it, too, that the man, who was condemned by the most iniquitous judgment of men, should himself be, afterwards, seen by all men sitting as judge of all. Hence the Prince of the Apostles, when he had ex pounded, in the house of Cornelius, the principal heads of the Christian religion, and had taught that Christ was suspended on a cross, and put to death by the Jews, and rose to life on the third day, added : And he commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is he, which ivas ordained of God, to be the judge of the living and the dead.f

Question 7. By what Signs the General Judgment will lie perceived to be impending, The Sacred Scriptures declare, that these three principal signs shall precede the general judgment ; the preaching of the Gospel throughout the whole world, a falling away from the faith, and [the coming of] Antichrist ; for our Lord says : This Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the con summation come ;S and the apostle admonishes us, that we be not deceived by any one, as that the day oftfte Lord is at hand ; for, unless there come a falling away first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition the judgment will not take place.

Question 8. In what Manner the Last Judgment will take place, and in what Manner Sentence will be passed upon all.

The form and process of this judgment, pastors will easily learn from the Oracles of Daniel, and from the doctrine of the holy Evangelists, and of the Apostle. The sentence, moreover, to be pronounced by the judge, is here to be expounded with diligent care. For Christ our Lord, be holding the just, standing on his right hand, with joyous eyes, will pronounce sentence on them with the utmost benignity, in these words : Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the worldj That nothing can be conceived more delightful to the ear than these words, they will comprehend, who compare them with the sentence of condemnation passed upon the wicked ; and reflect within themselves, that, by these words, pious and just men are invited from labours unto rest, from the vale of tears to the highest joy, from miseries to the everlasting happiness, which they have previously deserved by their works of charity.

Question 9. With what hinds of Punishments the Wicked, who are placed at the Left Hand, will be afflicted.

Turning next to those who shall stand on his left hand, he shall pour out his justice upon them in these words : Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.- For, in these first words, depart from me, is expressed the heaviest punishment with which the wicked shall be visited, when they are banished to the greatest distance from the sight of God, unrelieved by one consolatory hope of enjoying so great a good. This the theologians call the pain of loss, because in hell the wicked shall ever want the light of the sight of God.1 The words, ye cursed, which 1 See Chrysost. in Matt. horn. 23 ; August, serm. 181, de temp. Greg, lib. 9, moral, cap. 46.

are added, augment to a marvellous degree their wretched and calamitous condition. For if, when about to be banished from the divine presence, they were deemed worthy of any sort of blessing, it might be to them a great source of con solation ; but having no such expectation as might alleviate calamity, the divine justice, with an undoubted right, pur sues them, when banished, with every kind of malediction. The words, into everlasting Jire, which follow, express another sort of punishment, called by the theologians the pain of sense; because, like stripes and flagellations, or any other severer sort of punishments, amongst which no doubt fire produces the most intense feeling of pain, it is felt through the organs of sense. When we further reflect that this pain is to last for eternity, we may at once perceive, that the punishment of the damned will comprise an accumulation of all punish ments. And this the words, prepared for the devil and his angels, at the close of the sentence, more fully declare ; for as it is naturally found that we all experience some alle viation of our afflictions, if we possess some companion and fellow in our misfortune, from whose prudence and humanity we may, in some degree, derive assistance ; what then shall be the misery of the damned, to whom, in such calamities, there shall never be permitted a separation from the society of the most lost demons ? And most justly shall this sen tence be passed by our Lord and Saviour on the wicked, as upon them who neglected all the works of true piety, who gave not meat to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, shelter to the stranger, clothing to the naked, nor visited him who was sick and in prison. m

Question 10. The Faithful ought frequently to le reminded of the Judgment.

These are matters, which the pastor should very frequently press upon the hearing of the faithful people ; for the truth contained in this article, conceived by faith, has the utmost effect in bridling the perverse propensities of the heart, and withdrawing souls from sin.n Hence we read in Ecclesiasticus :

n See Aug. serin. 128, de temp. Greg. horn. 39, in Evang. Bernard, serm. i. in festo omnium. Sanctorum.

In all thy works remember thy last end, and thou shalt never sin.0 And, indeed, it will be almost impossible that any one will be so abandoned to vice, as not to be recalled to the pursuit of virtue by the reflection, that a time will come, when he will have to render an account, before a most strict judge, not only of all his words and deeds, but even of his most hidden thoughts, and shall pay a penalty according to his deserts. But the just man must be more and more excited to cultivate justice, and, although he spend his life in want, and infamy, and torments, must be transported with the greatest joy, when he looks forward to that day, on which, when the conflicts of this wretched life shall have ceased, he shall be declared victorious in the hearing of all men j and, admitted into his heavenly country, shall be crowned with divine, and these, also, eternal honours. It remains, therefore, that the faithful be exhorted to study the best manner of living, and exercise themselves in every practice of piety ; that thus they may be able to await with greater security that great coming day of the Lord, and even, as becomes children, to desire it most earnestly.

Question 1. How great is the Necessity and Profit of Faith in the Holy Spirit.

HITHERTO w~e have expounded, as far as the character of the subject proposed seemed to require, what things appertain to the first and second persons of the Holy Trinity. It now remains to explain, also, what the Creed contains with regard to the third person, that is, the Holy Ghost. In the exposition of this matter pastors will employ all study and diligence, for, in a Christian man, ignorance or error is as little excusable on this, as on the preceding articles. Wherefore the apostle suffered not some of the Ephesians to be ignorant of the person of the Holy Ghost : having asked of them if they had received the Holy Ghost, and they having answered, that they did not so much as know whether there was any, he immediately asked : In whom, therefore, were ye baptized ?P in which words he signified that to the faithful a distinct knowledge of this article is most necessary. From it they derive this especial fruit : considering, attentively, that whatever they possess, they obtained through the gift and benefice of the Holy Ghost, they learn to think more modestly and humbly of themselves, and begin to place their whole hopes in the protection of God, which, to a Christian man, should be the first step towards supreme wisdom and happiness.

Question 2. The Term “Holy Ghost” docs not agree with the Third Person of the Trinity in such a manner as to be equally applicable to the others.

The exposition of this article, therefore, should begin with the force and meaning which is here attached to the term, “ Holy Ghost ;” for, as this appellation is equally true when applied either to the Father or the Son (for both are spirit, both, holy, if indeed we confess of God to be a spirit), and also signifies angels and the souls of the pious, care must be taken that the faithful be not led into error by the ambiguity of the word. [The pastor] must therefore teach, that, in this article, by the word Holy Ghost is understood the third person of the Trinity, a sense in which it is oftentimes used in the Old, and frequently in the New Testament. Thus David prays : Take not thy Holy Spirit from me /Q and in the Book of Wisdom, we read : Who shall know thy counsel, except tlwu give wisdom, and send thy Holy Spirit from above;1' and in another place: He created her in the Holy Ghost We are also commanded in the New Testament to be baptized, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost : we read that the most holy Virgin coii- ceivecl of the Holy Ghost ;u and we are sent by St. John to Christ, who baptizeth us with the Holy Ghost ;v and in a variety of other passages this word will occur to the notice of the reader.

Question 3. Why the Third Person of the Holy Trinity has no Proper Name, like the other Two.

Nor should any one be surprised, that a proper name is not attributed to the third, as well as to the first and second persons ; for the second person is designated by a proper name, and called Son, because, as has been explained in the preceding articles, his eternal origin from the Father is properly called generation. As, therefore, that origin is sig nified by the word generation ; so the person who emanates is properly called Son, and the person from whom he emanates, Father. Now, as the production of the third person is characterized by no proper name, but is called spirationw and procession, it follows that the person produced should also lack a proper name. But his emanation has no pro per name, because we are obliged to borrow from created things the names which we give to God ; and, as we know no other created means of communicating nature and essence but the force of generation, we therefore cannot express by a proper name the manner in which God communicates himself entire by the force of his love. Wherefore the third person is called by the common name of “ Holy Ghost,” a name, however, which is peculiary appropriate to him, as we must acknowledge, seeing that he infuses into us spiritual life, and without his most holy inspiration we can do nothing de serving of eternal life.

Question 4. The Holy Ghost is equally God, and of the same Power and Nature with the Father and the Son.

But, the import of the name being explained, the people should first of all be taught, that the Holy Ghost is equally God with the Father and the Son, equal to them, equally w Spiratio, a word pretty nearly equivalent to “ emanation.” It is often used by Scribonius Largus. See Rhodes's Index.

omnipotent, eternal, and of infinite perfection, the supreme good, and infinitely wise, and of the same nature with the Father and the Son. And this is sufficiently intimated by the force of the word in, when we say : / believe in the Holy Ghost ; which word in is prefixed to each person of the Trinity, to express fully the force of our faith. It is also confirmed by many clear testimonies of the sacred writings; for when, in the Acts of the Apostles, St. Peter had said, Ananias I why hath Satan tempted thine heart, that thou shouldst lie to. the Holy Ghost ? he soon after adds : Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God ;x calling Him, to whom he had before given the name of Holy Ghost, immediately after, God. The apostle, also, writing to the Corinthians, interprets Him, whom he had called God, to be the Holy Ghost : There are, says he, diversities of operations, but it is the saine God, who worketh all in all ; but, adds the apostle, all these, things one and the same Spirit worketh, dividing to every man severally as he will.? In. the Acts of the Apostles, also, what the prophets attribute to the one God, St. Paul ascribes to the Holy Ghost j thus Isaiah had said : / heard the voice of the Lord, saying : Whom shall I s.end ? And he said : Go, and tell this people : Blind the heart of this people, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes ; lest they see tvith their eyes, and hear with their ears ; z and, when about to cite those words, the apostle says : Well spoke the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers.31 Again, when the Scripture annexes the person of the Holy Ghost to those of the Father and the Son, as when baptism is commanded to be administered in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, it leaves no room whatever for us to doubt the truth of this mystery. For if the Father is God, and the Son God, we must necessarily acknowledge that the Holy Ghost, who is united with them in the same degree of honour, is also God. Besides, he who receives baptism in the name of any creature, can derive no benefit therefrom : Were ye baptized in the name of Paid ?]) says the apostle, to show that such baptism could have availed them nought unto salvation. As, then, we are baptized in the name of the Holy Ghost, we must acknow ledge that he is God. But this same order of the three persons, by which the divinity of the Holy Ghost is proved, may be observed both in the Epistle of John : There are three, that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost ; and these three are one ;c and also in that noble doxology, or form of praise to the Trinity ; Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, which closes the divine praises and psalms. Finally, which apper tains most forcibly to confirm this truth, the sacred letters testify, that whatever faith attributes to God, is equally suited to the Holy Ghost ; wherefore to him is ascribed in Scripture the honour of temples, as when the apostle saith : Know ye not, that your members are the temple of the Holy Ghost ;d and also sanctification,e and vivification? to search the deep things of God,” to speak by the prophets,h and to be present in all places;1 all of which are attributable to God alone.

Question 5. It must assuredly le believed that the term “ Holy Ghost “ signifies a distinct person from the Father and the Son, existing of himself.

[The pastor] must also accurately explain to the faithful that the Holy Ghost is God, in such wise as to be confessedly the third person in the divine nature, distinct from the Father and the Son, and produced by their will. For, to omit other testimonies of Scripture, the form of baptism, taught by the Saviour, evidently proves that the Holy Ghost is the third person, subsisting by himself in the divine nature, and distinct from the others ; as also the words of the apostle declare, when he says : The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communication of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen. This same thing is still more explicitly announced in the words here added by the fathers of the first Council of Constantinople, to refute 1 The words “ filioque,” – ' ' and the son,” were not added in the Creed of the first council of Constantinople, but “the question being agitated the impious madness of Macedonius : And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and giver of life, who proceedethfrom the Father a/nd the Son ; who, together with the Father and the Son, is adored and glorified; who spake, by the prophets. Thus, by con fessing the Holy Ghost to be Lord, they declare how far he excels the angels, who, however, are the noblest spirits cre ated by God ; for, Are they not all, says the apostle, minis tering spirits, sent forth to 'minister for them toho shall receive the inheritance of salvation ?m But the Holy Ghost they designate, The Giver of life, because the soul lives more by its union with God, than the body is nourished and sustained by its union with the soul. As, then, the sacred letters ascribe to the Holy Ghost this union of the soul with God, it is clear that, with the greatest propriety, he is denominated the Giver of life.

Question 6. It declares that the Holy Ghost proceedeth from the Father and the Son, as from one beginning.

With regard to what immediately follows : who proceedeth from the Father and the Son, the faithful are to be taught that the Holy Ghost proceeds, by eternal procession, from the Father and the Son, as from one beginning. For this truth is propounded to us by the Church's rule [of faith],n from which it is not lawful for a Christian to deviate, and which is confirmed by the authority of the Sacred Scriptures and Councils. For Christ the Lord, speaking of the Holy Ghost, says : lie shall glorify me, because he shall receive of mine;0 and the same is to be inferred from the fact of the Holy Ghost being sometimes called in holy Scripture, the in the West, utrum Spiritus Sanctus sicut procedit a Patre, ita et procedat a Filio, and it being concluded in the affirmative, they did not only declare it to be true, but also added the same to the Constantinopolitan Creed, and sang it publicly in their liturgy. This being first done in the Spanish and French churches, and the matter being referred to Leo the Third, bishop of Eome, he absolutely concluded that no such addition ought to be tolerated. But not long after, the following Popes, more in love with their own authority than desirous of the peace and unity of the Church, neglected the tables of Leo, and admitted the addition.” – Pearson on the Creed, p. 325, sq., whose whole note deserves careful study. The same may be said of the Abbe” Doney's notes to the French translation, p. 177, sqq. m Heb. i. 14.

Spirit of Christ, sometimes, the Spirit of the Father ; being one time said to have been sent by the Father, another time by the Son ;i it thus being not obscurely signified, that the Holy G-host proceeds alike from the Father and the Son. If any man, says St. Paul, have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his In his Epistle to the Galatians, also, he calls the Holy Ghost the Spirit of Christ : God, says he, hath sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. In St. Matthew, he is called the Spirit of the Father : It is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which s-peaketh in you / and our Lord said, at his last supper : When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, ivhich proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me. In another place he affirms, that this same Holy Ghost is to be sent by the Father : Whom, says he, the Father will send in my namej Understanding from these words the procession of the Holy Ghost, it is obvious to us that the same proceedeth from both [Father and Son]. These particulars embrace the doctrine which is to be taught with regard to the person of the Holy Ghost.

Question 7. Since the Wor'ks of the Trinity are indivisible, why are certain Effects and Gifts particularly assigned to the Holy Ghost ?

He must also teach, that there are certain admirable effects, and certain most exalted gifts of the Holy Ghost, which are said to originate and emanate from him, as from a perennial fountain of goodness. For although the extrinsic works of the most Holy Trinity are common to the three persons, yet many of them are attributed especially to the Holy Ghost, to the end that we may understand that they proceed from the boundless love of God towards us ; for seeing that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the divine will, inflamed as it were with love, it may be comprehended that these effects, which are referred particularly to the Holy Ghost, arise from extreme love of God towards us. Hence it is that the Holy Ghost is called a gift ; for by the term gift we understand that which is kindly and gratuitously bestowed, no anticipation of remuneration being entertained. “Whatever blessings and benefits therefore have been bestowed on us by God, – and, as the apostle says, what have we, that we Jiave not received from God ?w – those we should with a pious and grateful mind acknowledge to be bestowed by the bounty and gift of the Holy Ghost.

Question 8. What, what “kind, and how great are the effects of the Holy Spirit. But the effects [of the Spirit] are numerous ; for, not to mention the creation of the world, the propagation and government of created things, of which we have made mention in the first article, it was shown a little before, that to the Holy Ghost is particularly attributed the giving of life; and this is further confirmed by the testimony of Ezekiel : / will give, you spirit, and you shall live. The prophet, however, enumerates the principal effects, peculiarly attributed to the Holy Ghost : The spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and piety, and the spirit of the fear of the Lord /y effects which are called the gifts of the Holy Ghost, and sometimes by the name of the Holy Ghost. Wisely therefore does St. Au gustine admonish us, that, whenever we meet the word Holy Ghost in Scripture, we distinguish whether it means the third person of the Trinity, or his effects and operations ; z for they are equally as distinct from one another as is the Creator from things created. And these matters should the more diligently be explained, as from these gifts of the Holy Ghost we derive rules of a Christian life, and are enabled to per ceive whether the Holy Ghost dwells within us. But that grace [of justification], which seals us with the holy Spirit of promise, who is the earnest of our inheritance is to be pro claimed by us above his other most exalted gifts, for this it is that unites our hearts to God in the closest bonds of love ; whence it comes to pass, that, inflamed with a supreme desire of piety, we begin a new life, and, made partakers of the divine nature, are called and really are sons of God.

Question 1. for what reasons the ninth Article ought most frequently to be inculcated on the People.

WITH how great care pastors ought to explain to the faithful this ninth article, will not be difficult to estimate, if we attend particularly to the following considerations : first, that, as St. Augustine0 observes, the prophets spoke more plainly and openly of the Church than of Christ, as they foresaw that on this a much greater number may err and be deceived, than on the mystery of the Incarnation. For in after ages there would not be wanting wicked men, who, like the ape, that would fain pass for a man, would profess them selves to be Catholics alone, and, with no less impiety than effrontery, assert that with them alone is [to be found] the Catholic Church ; secondly, that he, whose mind is deeply impressed with this truth, will experience little difficulty in avoiding the fearful danger of heresy ; for a person is not to be called a heretic as soon as he shall have oifended in matters of faith ; he only is to be called a heretic who, neglecting the authority of the Church, maintains impious opinions with pertinacity. Since, therefore, no man can be infected with the contagion of heresy, so long as he holds the things proposed to be believed in this article, pastors should use every diligence that the faithful, knowing this mystery, and thus guarded against the wiles of Satan, may persevere in the true faith. But this article depends upon the preceding one ; for, it having already been shown that the Holy Ghost is the source and giver of all holiness, we here profess our belief that the Church has by him been endowed with holiness.

Question 2. What is generally and particularly denoted ly the word “ Ecclesia” (Church).

But as the Latins borrowed the word Ecclesia from the Greek, and since the preaching of the Gospel transferred it to sacred things, it is necessary to explain the meaning con veyed thereby. The word Ecdesia means a calling forth ; but writers afterwards used it to signify a council or assembly. Nor does it matter whether the word is used in refer ence to the people of the true God, or of a false religion ; for in the Acts, it is said of the people of Ephesus that, when the town-clerk had appeased a tumultuous assemblage, he said : And if you inquire after any other matter, it may be deter mined in a lawful assembly ;c thus are the Ephesians, who were worshippers of Diana, called a lawful assembly. Nor are the Gentiles only, who knew not God, called an Ecclesia; the councils of evil and impious men are also sometimes designated by the same name : / have hated the congregation of evil doers, says the Psalmist, and with the wicked I will not sit.f By the ordinary range of holy Scripture, however, the word was subsequently used to designate the Christian Commonwealth only, and the congregations of the faithful ; that is, of those who were called by faith unto the light of truth and the knowledge of God, that, forsaking the darkness of ignorance and errors, they may worship the living and true God piously and holily, and serve him from their whole hearts. In a word : The Church, says St. Augustine, consists of the faithful, dispersed throughout the worlds d See Wordsworth's Theophilus Anglicanus, pt. 1, ch 1. Ecclesia is derived from EK and Ka\eo) = I call forth; from the circumstance that the Athenian assembly from which it took its name, was usually sum moned by heralds. Compare Pearson, art. ix. p. 335.

Question 3. Of the Mysteries which present themselves for consideration under this ivord.

Under this word are comprehended no trifling mysteries, for in this calling forth, which the word Ecclesia signifies, we at once discern the benignity and splendour of the divine grace, and understand that the Church is very unlike all other commonwealths. For they rest on human reason and prudence ; this, on the wisdom and counsel of God ; for he called us by the inward inspiration of the Holy Ghost, who opens the hearts of men, and outwardly, through the labour and ministry of his pastors and preachers. Moreover, from this calling the Christian will better understand the end which he should propose to himself; that is, the knowledge and possession of things eternal, when he reflects why the faithful of old, living under the law, were called a synagogue, that is, a congregation ; for, as St. Augustine observes, They were so called, because, like cattle, which are wont to herd together, they looked only to terrestrial and transitory goods Hence the Christian people are justly called a Church, not a synagogue, because, despising earthly and mortal things, they pursue only things heavenly and eternal.

Question 4. JBy what names the universal body of Christians is found described in the sacred Letters.

Many names, moreover, which are replete with mysteries, have been applied to designate the Christian Commonwealth. Thus, by the apostle, it is called the house and edifice of God, when he says to Timothy : If I tarry long, that tlwu mayest, know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of truth!1 And the Church J is called a house, because it is, as it were, one family, governed by one Father, and enjoying a community of all spiritual goods. It is also called the flock k of the sheep of Christ, of which he is the door and the shepherd.1 It is called the spouse of Christ : / have espoused you to one husband, says the apostle to the Corinthians, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ /ni and, writing to the Ephesians, he says : Husbands, love your ivives, as Christ also loved the Church ;n and, also, speaking of marriage : This is a great sacrament, but I speak concerning Christ and the Church.0 Finally, the Church is called the body of Christ, as may be seen in the epistle of St. Paul to the Ephesians P and Colossians appellations, each of which has consider able influence in exciting the faithful to prove themselves worthy the boundless clemency and goodness of God, who hath chosen them to be the people of God.

Question 5. Two parts of the Church are particularly mentioned, one Triumphant, the other Militant.

These things being explained, it will be necessary to enumerate the several component parts of the Church, and point out their differences, in order that the people may the better comprehend the nature, properties, gifts, and graces of the Church, beloved of God, and, for that reason, un ceasingly to praise the divine Majesty. The Church, then, consists principally of two parts, the one called the Church triumphant, the other, the militant. The Church triumphant is the most glorious and happy assemblage of blessed spirits, and of those who have triumphed over the world, the flesh, and the devil, and who, now free and secure from the troubles of this life, enjoy everlasting bliss. But the Church militant is the society of all the faithful who still dwell on earth, and is called militant, because it wages eternal war with those most implacable enemies, the world, the flesh, and the devil. We are not, however, to infer, that there are two Churches : but there are, as we have already said, two constituent parts of the same Church ; one part of which has gone before, and is now in the possession of its heavenly country ; the other, following every day, until at length, united with our Saviour, it repose in the enjoyment of endless felicity.

Question 6. In the Church Militant are two sorts of men, the good and the lad.

Now, in. the Church militant there are two classes of per sons, the good and the bad ; and the bad profess the same faith, and partake of the same sacraments, but differing in their lives and morals. In the Church they are called the good, who are linked together not only by the profession of the same faith, and the communion of the same sacraments, but also by the spirit of grace, and the bond of charity ; of whom it is said : The Lord knoweth them that are his. Who they are that appertain to this class of pious men, men may also form some conjecture ; but cannot know with certainty.8 Of this part of his Church, therefore, we are not to suppose Christ our Saviour to speak, when he refers us to the Church, and commands us to obey her ;fc for, unknown as is that portion of the Church, how can any one be certain to whose decision he should recur, whose authority obey ? The Church, therefore, as the sacred letters and the writings of holy men testify, comprises the good and the bad ; and in this sense were written these words of the apostle : One ~body and one spirit.™

Question 7. The Church is visible, and comprises both good and lad in its bosom.

Thus is the Church known, and is compared to a city situated on the mountain, and seen from every side jv for, as all must yield obedience to her authority, it is necessary that she be known. Nor does the Church include the good only, but likewise the bad, as we learn from many parables contained in the Gospel ; as when the kingdom of heaven, that is, the Church militant, is compared to a net cast into the sea,w to a field in which tares were sown amongst [the good grain] ,x to a threshing-floor on which the grain is mixed up with the chaff/ and to ten virgins, some of whom were wise, and some foolish.2 But long before we may, also, perceive a figure and resemblance of the Church in the ark of Noah, in which were contained not only clean, but also unclean animals. a But, although the Catholic faith truly and constantly teaches that to the Church belong the good and the bad, yet it is to be explained to the faithful according to the same rules of faith, that very different is the condition of each class. For as the chaff is mingled with the grain on the threshing-floor, or as dead members some times remain attached to a [living] body, so also are the wicked contained in the Church.

Question 8. Who are excluded from the pale of the Church Militant.

Hence only three classes of persons are excluded from her pale : first, infidels ; next, heretics and schismatics ; and lastly, the excommunicated : infidels, because they never belonged to, and never knew the Church, nor were they ever made partakers of any of the sacraments, in the communion of a Christian people j heretics and schismatics, because they hav7e severed themselves from the Church, for they no more belong to the Church than deserters belong to the army from which they have deserted. It is not, however, to be denied, that they are still subject to the power of the Church, seeing that they may be cited before her tribunal, punished and con demned by anathema. Finally, excommunicated persons, also, because excluded by her sentence from the Church, belong not to her communion, until they repent. With regard, however, to the rest, although shameful and wicked persons, there is no doubt that they still continue in the Church j and of this the faithful are frequently to be in formed, in order that they may convince themselves, that, even were the lives of her ministers debased perchance by crime, they are still included within her pale, nor do they on that account lose any part of their power.

Question 9. The variety of applications of the word Church.

But portions, also, of the Universal Church are commonly called a church, as when the apostle mentions the church at Corinth,b at Galatia,c of the Laodiceans,d of the Thessalonians.e The private families of the faithful he also calls churches • thus the church in the house of Prisca and Aquila he commands to be saluted ;f and in another place he says : Aquila and Priscilla, with the church that is in their houses, salute you much.% Writing to Philemon, he also makes use of the same word.11 Sometimes, also, the word church is used to signify the prelates and pastors of the Church : If he will not hear thee, says our Lord, tell it to the Church; in which passage the authorities of the Church are meant. The place, also, in which the faithful assemble for public preach ing J or other religious purpose, is called a church ; but, in this article, the word is especially used to signify the multitude of the good and the bad ; and not only the governing, but also the governed.

Question 10. Of the marks of the true Church, and firstly, of its Unity. The peculiar properties of this Church must also be un folded to the faithful, from which they may be enabled to estimate with how great a blessing they have been endued by God, who have had the fortune to be born and educated .within her pale. The first distinctive character, therefore, of the true Church, described in the Creed of the Fathers, consists in its unity : One is my dove ; my 'beauteous one is but one.- So vast a multitude, although scattered far and wide, is called One, for the reasons mentioned by St. Paul in his epistle to the Ephesians ; for he proclaims that there is .but One Lord, one faith, one baptism.1 This Church has, also, one ruler and one governor, the invisible one, Christ, whom the eternal Father hath made head all over the Church, which is his body ;m but the visible one is he, who, the legitimate successor of Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, occupies the See of Rome.

Question 11. What is to le thought concerning the Roman Pontiff, the visible head of Christ's Church.

That this visible head was necessary, to establish and preserve the unity of the Church, is the unanimous reasoning and opinion of the Fathers ;n and on this, the sentiments of St. Jerome are clearly conceived and expressed. Against Jovinian. he says : One is chosen, that, by the appointment of a head, occasion of schism may be removed;0 and to Damasus : Away with envy: let the ambition of Roman grandeur be gone : I speak to the successor of the fisherman, and the dis ciple of the cross. I follow no chief but Christ, I am united in communion with your Holiness, that is, with the chair o/ Peter : I know that on that rock is built the Church. Who ever eats the lamb outside this house is profane : whoever is not in the ark of Noah shall perish in the floods The same doctrine was long before approved by Irenseus,r and Cyprian, the latter of whom, speaking of the unity of the Church, observes : The Lord speaks to Peter, ' I say to thee, Peter, thou art Peter ; and upon this rock will I build my church :?t he builds his church on him alone; and although, after his resurrection, he gives equal power to all his apostles, saying, 1 As the Father hath sent me, I also send you? Receive ye the Holy Ghost /u yet, to display unity, he disposed, by his own authority, the origin of this unity, which has its beginning from one, etc. Again, Optatus, Bishop of Mile vis, says : It cannot be ascribed to ignorance on your part, knowing, as you do, that the episcopal chair, in which Peter, the head of all the apostles, sat, was conferred on him first in the city of Rome ; that in him alone the unity of the chair might be observed by 11 This is untrue. Compare the passages quoted in Wordsworth's notes to the Theophilus Anglicanus, pt. 2, ch. ix. p. 211, sq. ; Welchman on Art. xxxvii. ; and Neander, Hist. Eccles. v. i. p. 298 (English translation). Cyprian's saying, “Nemo nostrum Episcopum se Episcoporum constituit,” is well known.

ii 2 100 THE CATECHISil all, and that the other apostles might not claim each a chair for himself; so that he, who would erect another in opposition to this single chair, would be a schismatic and a prevaricator? In the next place, St. Basil has left the following words, written : Peter was placed in the foundation, because lie said: 1 Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God : ' and heard in reply that he ivas a rock ; for, although he was a rock, he was not such a rock as Christ, for Christ is truly an immoveable rock, but Peter, only by virtue of that rock; for Christ bestows his own dignities on others : He is a priest, and he makes priests : he is a rock, and he makes a rock ; and what belongs to himself, he bestows on his servants.™ Lastly, St. Ambrose says : For great are the gifts of God, who not only restored to us what had been ours, but also granted us what are his own. Then, after a few words, he proceeds : But great is the favour conferred by Christ, u'ho bestowed on his disciples almost all his own titles. I am, says he, the light of the ivorld ;x and yet with this title, in which he himself glories, he favours his disciples, saving : You are the light of the world /y / am the living bread ;z and ive all are one bread /a I am the true vine;10 and to thee he says : I planted thee a fruitful vineyard, all true.c Christ is a rock, for they drank of the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock ivas Christ ; d and yet the favour of this title he denied not to his disciple, that he also should be Peter f because deriving from the rock the solidity of constancy and the firmness of faith.1 Should any one object that the Church, content with one head and spouse, Jesus Christ, requires no other beside, an answer is readily found, for, as we have Christ not only the author of all the sacraments, but also their inward minister, (for He it is that baptizes and that absolves ; and yet he insti tutes men as external ministers of the sacraments), so has he placed over his Church, which he governs by his most inward spirit, a man to be the vicar and minister of his power ; for, as a visible Church requires a visible head, our Saviour appointed Peter head and pastor of all the faithful, when, in the most ample terms, he committed to his care the feeding of his sheep,s so as that he wished his successor to have the very same power of ruling and governing the whole Church.

Question 12. Other reasons why the Church is called One.

The apostle, moreover, saith unto the Corinthians, There is but one and the same spirit, who imparts grace to the faith ful, as the soul [imparts] life to the members of the body ; and, when exhorting the Ephesians to preserve this unity, he says : Anxious to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace : one body and one spirit ; for as the human body con sists of many members, and those are animated by one soul, which gives sight to the eyes, hearing to the ears, and to the other senses powers suited to their respective functions ; so is the mystical body of Christ, which is the Church, composed of many faithful. The hope, to which we are called, is also one, as the same apostle beareth witness in the same place ;k for we all hope for the same thing, to wit, an eternal and happy life. Finally, the faith, which is to be held and professed by all, is one : Let there be no schisms amongst you, says the apostle ; and baptism, which indeed is the sacrament of the Christian faith, is also one.m

Question 13. On the second mark of the Church, ly which it is called Holy.

Another distinctive mark of the Church is, that it be holy, as we learn from these words of the prince of the apostles : Ye are a clwsen generation, an holy nation. Now the Church is called holy, because she is consecrated and dedicated to God ; for so other things, such as, under the old law, vessels, vestments, altars, when appropriated and dedicated to the divine worship, although material, are called holy ;° as, in like manner, the first-born, who were dedicated to the Most High God, were also called holy.P Nor should it seem matter of surprise to any one, that the Church, although containing many sinners, is called holy. For even as those who profess any art, although they may not observe the rules thereof, still retain the name of artists ; so the faithful, although they offend in many things, and violate the engagements they had made, are called holy, because they have been made the people of God, or have consecrated themselves to Christ by faith and baptism. Hence St. Paul calls the Corinthians sanctified and holy, although it is evident that amongst them there were some, whom he sharply rebukes as carnal, and also charges with grosser crimes. i She is also to be called holy, because, as the body, she is united to her head, Christ the Lord,r the foun tain of all holiness, from whom flow the graces of the Holy Spirit, and the riches of the divine bounty. St. Augustine, interpreting these words of the prophet, Preserve my soul, for I am holy thus finely expresses himself : Let too the body of Christ boldly say ; let also that one man, exclaiming from the ends of the earth, boldly say, with (Christ) his head, and under (Christ) his head; I am holy ; for he hath received the grace of holiness, the grace of baptism and of remission of sins ; and a little after : If all Christians and all the faith ful, baptized in Christ, have put him on, as saith the apostle, ; As many of you as have been baptized in Christ, have 2ut on Christ : i if they are made members of his body ; and say they are not holy, they do an injury to their head, whose members are holy.u Yet further, the Church alone has the legitimate worship of sacrifice, and the salutary use of the sacraments, by which, as by the efficacious instruments of divine grace, God effects true holiness ; so that whosoever ,are really holy cannot be outside this Church. It is there- fore clear that the Church is holy, and holy indeed, because she is the body of Christ, by whom she is sanctified, and in whose blood she is washed.

Question 14. In icliat manner the Church of Christ is Catholic.

The third distinctive mark of the Church is, that she is called Catholic, that is, universal ; an epithet which is justly applied to her, for, as St. Augustine bears witness : She is diffused by the splendour of one faith from the rising to the set ting sunj Unlike human republics, or the conventicles of heretics, she is not circumscribed within the limits of one single kingdom, nor is she confined to one class of men ; but embraces in the bosom of her love all mankind, whether they be barbarians, or Scythians, or slaves, or freemen, or males or females. Therefore it is written : Thou hast re deemed us to God by thy blood, out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation, and hast made us unto our God, a kingdom.' Of the Church, David says : Ask of me, and I will give thee the Gentiles for thy inheritance, and the utter most parts of the earth for thy possession ;x and also : / will be mindful of Rahab and of Babylon knowing me ;? and : Man is born in her.z Moreover to this Church, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets? belong all the faithful who have existed from Adam up to the present day, or who shall exist, professing the true faith, as long as the world shall exist ; all of whom are built and founded upon that corner stone, Christ, who made both one, and announced peace to them that are near, and to them that are afar. She is also called universal, because, like those who entered the ark, lest they should perish in the flood, all who desire to attain eternal salvation must cling to and embrace her. This, therefore, is to be taught as a most certain rule, whereby to distinguish the true from a false Church.

Question 15. In what manner the Church of Christ is also called Apostolic.

We may also know the true Church from her origin, which she derives, under the revelation of grace, from the apostles ; for her doctrines are truths neither novel nor of recent origin, but delivered of old by the apostles, and disseminated throughout the whole world. Hence no one can possibly doubt, that the impious opinions of heretics, opposed as they are to the doctrine taught by the Church from the days of the apostles to the present day, are very different from the faith of the true Church. Wherefore, that all might know the true Catholic Church, the Fathers, guided by the Spirit of God, added in the Creed the word apostolic. For the Holy Ghost, who presides over the Church, governs her by no other than apostolic ministers ; and this Spirit was first imparted to the apostles, and has, by the supreme goodness of God, always remained in the Church.

Question 16. The Church cannot err in Doctrines of Faith or Morals.

But as this one Church, seeing it is governed by the Holy Ghost, cannot err in delivering the discipline of faith and morals, so all other societies which arrogate to them selves the name of Church, because guided by the spirit of the devil, are necessarily sunk in the most pernicious errors both of doctrine and morals.

Question 17. Under what Figures the Church of Christ cas chiefly represented in the Old Testament.

But whereas the figures of the Old Testament have a great influence in exciting the minds of the faithful, and re calling the remembrance of the fairest things, and are, chiefly for this reason, made use of by the apostles, pastors must not pass by a source of instruction possessing such serious advantages. Amongst these, the ark of Noah affords a conspicuous illustration. It was constructed by the divine command,b in order, without doubt, to signify that Church which God has so constituted, as that whoever may enter her by baptism, can be safe from all danger of eternal death • while such as are not within her, as it happened with those who were not in the ark, are overwhelmed by their own crimes. Another figure is that mighty city of Jerusalem, by which the Scriptures often signify the holy Church. For in Jerusalem alone was it lawful to offer sacrifices unto God ; because in the Church of God only, and nowhere else, are to be found the true worship and the true sacrifice, which can in any way be acceptable to God.

Question 18. In u-hat manner belief in Christ's Church aftpertains to the Articles of Faith.

Lastly, with regard to the Church, [the pastor] must also teach, how to believe the Church can belong to the articles of faith. For although any one by his reason and senses may ascertain the existence of the Church, that is, that there is a Society6 of men on earth, who are devoted and consecrated to Christ the Lord ; nor does faith seem necessary to under stand a matter, concerning which neither Jews nor Turks have any doubts ; but it is by the light of faith only, and not by any process of reasoning, that the mind can comprehend those mysteries, which, – as has been already partly set forth, and as shall be more fully explained under the Sacrament of Orders, – are contained in the holy Church of God. Whereas, therefore, this article, as well as the others, is placed beyond the reach and strength of our understanding, most justly do we confess, that we know not from human reason, but contemplate with the eyes of faith, the origin, privileges, and dignity of the Church.

Question 19. WJutt things, how many, and how great, ought to be believed in regard of the Church.

For of this Church man was not the author, but the immortal God himself, who built her upon a most solid rock :

e Conventum, an assemblage. This passage is useful, as pointing out the origin of the term “convent.”

The Highest Himself, says the prophet, hath founded her Hence, she is called the inheritance of God, the people of God ; and the power, which she received, comes not from man, but from the divine gift. As this power, therefore, cannot be derived from human origin, by faith alone can we understand, that with the Church are deposited the keysh of the kingdom of heaven ; that to her has been confided the power of remitting sins ; of excommunicating ; and of con secrating the real body of Christ ; and that her children have not here a permanent dwelling, but look for one to come.

We are therefore bound to believe that there is one holy Catholic Church.

Question 20. We believe “the Church,” not in the Church, as in God.

But, with regard to the three persons of the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, we believe them, so as to place our faith in them j whereas here, the form of expression being changed, we profess to believe the Holy, not in the Holy Catholic Church, that, by this difference of expression also, we may distinguish God, the author of all things, from the things he has created, and acknowledge ourselves indebted to the divine goodness for all those exalted benefits, which have been conferred upon the Church.

Question 21. Of the last clause of this Article, “ the Communion of Saints.”

St. John the Evangelist, when writing to the faithful on the divine mysteries, tells them, that the reason why he would instruct them thereupon was, that, says he, ye also may have fellowship with us, and OUT fellowship be with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ) This fellowship con sists in the communion of saints, concerning which we shall This distinction is learnedly illustrated, and satisfactorily confuted, by Pearson , art. 1. p. 16, and notes (ed. folio). J 1 John i.

treat in the present article. But would that, in its exposition, those who preside over the Church might imitate the diligence of Paul and of the other apostles ! for not only is it a sort of interpretation of the preceding article, and a doctrine replete with most abundant fruits, but it also declares what ought to be the use of the mysteries which are contained in the Creed. For all our researches and know ledge ought to be directed to one end, viz., to our admission into this so august and so blessed a society of the saints, and our most steady perseverance therein; with joyfulness giving thanks unto God the Father, who hath made us meet to be par takers of the lot of the saints in light. ,k

Question 22. Explanation of this clause, and in what consists “ the Communion of Saints.”

The faithful, therefore, in the first place, are to be taught that this article is, as it were, a sort of explanation of the preceding one, which regards the one holy Catholic Church. For the unity of the Spirit, by which she is governed, causes that whatsoever is conferred upon her is common [to all her members]. Thus, the fruit of all the sacraments appertains to all the faithful; the which sacraments, and more par ticularly baptism, the door, as it were, by which we are admitted into the Church, are so many sacred links by which they are bound and united to Christ. That by this communion of saints is implied a communion of sacraments, the Fathers intimate in these words of the Creed : / acknowledge one baptism. But after Baptism, the Eucharist holds the first place, and after the Eucharist, the other sacraments ; for, although this name is common to all the sacraments, because they [all] unite us to God, and render us partakers of him whose grace we receive, this word communion belongs in a more special manner to the Eucharist, which accom plishes this communion itself.1

Question 23. There is a Participation of Merits in the Church.

But there is also another communion in the Church which demands our attention; for every pious and holy action undertaken by one appertains to all, and becomes profitable to all, through charity, which seeketh not her own.™ This is confirmed by the testimony of St. Ambrose, who, explaining that passage of the Psalm, / am a partaker with all them that fear thee, observes, As we say that a member is a partaker of the entire body, so do we say that it is united to all that fear God.n Therefore has Christ taught us to say our, not my, bread, and other similar petitions, not looking to ourselves alone, but also to the general interests and salvation of all. Now this communion of all good things is often illustrated in the sacred writings, by a very apposite comparison borrowed from the members of the human body. For in the human body there are many members, but though many, they yet constitute but one body, in which each performs its own, not all the same functions.? All do not possess the same dig nity, nor discharge functions equally useful or honourable, nor does any one propose to itself its own particular advantage, but that of the entire body. Besides, they are all so well adapted and connected together, that if one is afflicted with pain, the rest sympathize with it through the fellowfeeling and relationship of their nature, and if, on the contrary, one is in a healthy state, the feeling of pleasure is common to all. The same thing may be contemplated in the Church : although composed of various members, that is, of different nations, of Jews, Gentiles, freemen and slaves, rich and poor; yet, once initiated by baptism, all become one body with Christ, of which he is the head. To each member of this Church is also assigned his own peculiar office j for as some are appointed apostles, some teachers, but all for the public benefit, so to some it belongs to govern and to teach, to others, to be subject and to obey.

Question 24. The Wicked in the Church do not enjoy the Participation of Spiritual But they only enjoy the advantages of so many and so great blessings, bestowed by the Almighty, who lead a Chris tian life in charity, and are just and beloved of God. But the dead members, men, to wit, who are bound in the thraldom of sins, and estranged from the grace of God, although not deprived of the advantage of continuing to be members of this body, yet, as dead members, lack the spiritual fruit, which is communicated to just and pious men. However, as they are in the Church, they are assisted in recovering lost grace and life, by those who live by the Spirit ; and they enjoy those fruits which are, we cannot doubt, denied to such as are utterly cut off from [the communion of] the Church.

Question 25. Graces gratuitously granted, and the other gifts of God, are common to [the whole] Church.

But not only those gifts that justify, and endear us to God, are common; but graces gratuitously given, such as knowledge, prophecy, the gift of tongues and miracles, and others of the same sort,r are also common, and are granted even to the wicked ; not, however, for their own, but for the public benefit, for the building up of the Church. Thus, the gift of healing is given, not for sake of him who possesseth it, but for sake of him who is sick. In short, every true Christian possesses nothing that he should not consider as common, to all others with himself, and should therefore be prepared and prompt to relieve the misery of the indigent. For he that is enriched with these goods, and seeth his brother in want, and will not assist him, is at once convicted of not having the love of God within him It is therefore evident, that those who belong to this holy communion, enjoy a sort of happiness here below, and may truly say, How amiable are thy tabernacles, 0 Lord of Hosts ! my soul longeth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house, 0 Lord !i

Question 1. Why it is necessary to believe that there is a Remission of Sins in the Church.

No one can fail to perceive that the fact of this being enumerated among the other articles of the Creed, proves that it conveys not only a divine mystery, but also [a mystery] very necessary unto salvation ; for it has been already shown that, without a firm belief of all the articles of the Creed, the way to Christian piety is wholly unattainable. Should however a truth, which ought of itself to be known to all, seem to require also some testimony in its confirmation, it is enough that our Saviour, a short time previous to his ascension into heaven, when opening the understanding of his disciples, that iliey might understand the Scriptures, bore testimony to this article of the Creed, in these words : It behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise again from the dead the third day, and that penance and remission of sins should be Beached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.'11 Let pastors but observe well these words, and they will readily understand that, whilst the other matters that regard religion are to be made known to the faithful, a great obligation is particularly imposed on him by the Lord, of diligently explaining to them this article.

On this point, then, it is the duty of the pastor to teach, that not only is forgiveness of sins to be found in the Catholic Church, as Isaiah had foretold in these words : The people OF THE COUNCIL OF TRENT. Ill that dwell therein shall have their iniquity taken away from them? but also, that in her is contained the power of remitting sins ; which power, if exercised by the priest duly, and according to the laws prescribed by our Lord, is, we must needs believe, such as truly to pardon and remit sins.

Question 2. In what manner Sins are remitted in the Church.

But this pardon, when first we make a profession of faith, and are cleansed in holy baptism, is given to us entire and unqualified, in such wise that no sin, whether original or actual, of omission or commission, remains to be expiated, no penalty to be paid. But by the grace of baptism, never theless, no one is exempted from all the infirmities of nature ; on the contrary, contending, as we all have to contend, against the motions of concupiscence, which ceaseth not to incite us to sin, we shall scarcely find one who opposes so vigorous a resistance, or who guards his salvation so vigilantly as to be able to escape from every blow. It being necessary, therefore, that a power of forgiving sins, distinct from that of baptism, should exist in the Church, to her were intrusted the keys of the kingdom of heaven, by which each one, if penitent, may obtain the remission of his sins, though he had sinned to the last day of his life. This truth is vouched by the clearest authority of sacred Scripture : in St. Matthew, the Lord saith thus to Peter: / will give unto tlwe the keys of the kingdom of heaven : and whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven ; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed also in heaven ; and again : Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth, shall be bound also in heaven ; and whatsoever ye, shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven. Again, the testimony of St. John assures us that the Lord, having breathed on the apostles, said : Receive ye the Holy Ghost, whose sins ye shall remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose ye shall retain, they are retained.™

Question 3. The Power of Remitting Sins is not restrained by any particular Sins, or by circumstances of time.

Nor must we suppose that the exercise of this power is restricted to particular sorts of sins ; for no crime, however heinous, can be committed or conceived, which the Church has not power to remit ; as, also, there is no sinner, however abandoned, however depraved, who ought not con fidently to hope for pardon, provided he repent him truly of his transgressions. Neither is the exercise of this power restricted to any particular time ; for at whatsoever hour the sinner shall wish to turn from his evil ways, he is not to be rejected, as our Saviour taught the prince of the apostles, asking how often sinners are to be forgiven, whether seven times, answered, Not until seven times, but until seventy times seven

Question 4. The power of Remitting Sins is not granted to all Christians.

If however we look to the ministers of this divine power, it will appear to be less extensive. For our Lord confided this power not to all, but to bishops and priests only; and as to the manner of its exercise, we must be of the same opinion, for sins can be forgiven only through the sacraments, if their form be duly administered ; but the Church has received no power to remit sin otherwise. Hence it follows, that priests and the sacraments serve as instruments unto the forgiveness of sins, by which Christ the Lord, the author himself and bestower of salvation, accomplishes in us the remission of sins and justification.

Question 5. How great is the Soon granted to the Church of Remitting Sins.

But that the faithful may look with greater veneration upon this heavenly gift, bestowed on the Church by the sin gular mercy of God towards us, and may approach its use and participation with more ardent zealousness of devotion, the pastor must endeavour to point out the dignity and amplitude of this grace. And this is best evinced by care- fully explaining how great must be the efficacy of that which remits sins, and makes men just from unjust. For it is evident that this is effected by the infinite and immense power of God, which same power we believe to have been necessary in raising the dead to life, and in the creation of the world. If it be true, as is confirmed by the authority of St. Augustine, that to render a sinner from unrighteous, righteous, is a greater work than to create heaven and earth from nothing, it follows, since creation itself can result only from infinite power, that there is still stronger reason to attribute the remission of sins to [this same] infinite power.

Question 6. No one, besides God, doth by Ids oion Power remit Sins. We therefore confess that the ancient fathers have most truly declared that by God alone can sins be forgiven, and that to no other author than to his infinite goodness and power is so wonderful a work to be referred : / am he, says the Lord himself, by the mouth of his prophet, / am he that blotteth out thy iniquities. For the manner of the remission of sins seems to be analogous to the [cancelling of a] pecuniary debt. As, therefore, none but the creditor can forgive the pecuniary debt, so the debts [of sin] which we owe to God alone (for our daily prayer is, forgive us our debts), can it is evident, be forgiven by none else save him alone.

Question 7. The Power of Remitting Sins was granted to no Mortal before the Birth of Christ.

But this wonderful and divine gift was imparted to no created nature until God became man. Christ our Saviour, himself true God, was the first of all who, as man, received this prerogative from his heavenly Father : That ye may Tcnow, saith he, that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins (therefore saith he to the sick of the palsy), Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.0 As, therefore, he became man., in order to bestow on men this forgiveness of sins, he communicated this power to bishops and priests in the Church, before he ascended into heaven, there to sit for ever at the right hand of God. Nevertheless, Christ, as we have before taught, remits sin by virtue of his own authority ; all others [by virtue of the authority received by them] as his ministers. Wherefore, if we ought especially to admire and reverence whatever is the effect of infinite power, we must sufficiently understand that this gift, which has been bestowed on the Church by the bounteous hand of Christ the Lord, is one of inestimable value.

Question 8. By what Power Men obtain Pardon of their Sins.

The manner also in which God, our most merciful Father, resolved to wipe out the sins of the world, must powerfully excite the minds of the faithful to the contemplation of the magnitude of this blessing; for it was his will that our crimes should be expiated by the blood of his only begotten Son, that he should voluntarily pay the penalty which we had deserved by our sins, and suffer a most cruel death \ the just for the unjust, the innocent for the guilty. d When, therefore, we reflect within our hearts, that we were not redeemed with corruptible things, gold or silver, but with the precious l)lood of Christ, as of a la/mb without blemish and without spot we are easily led to conclude, that no gift more salutary could have befallen us than this power of forgiving sins, which showeth forth the ineffable providence of God, and the excess of his love towards us. And from this reflection the most abundant fruit must necessarily redound to us all.

Question 9. In what manner we may chiefly perceive the Magnitude of the Benefit which is offered to us in the Power of the Keys.

For whoever offends God, even by one mortal sin, instantly forfeits whatsoever merits he has previously acquired through the death of Christ on the cross, and is entirely shut out from the gate of Paradise, which, when previously closed, was thrown open to all by our Saviour's passion. And, indeed, when this reflection enters into our mind, it is impossible for us not to feel impressed with the most earnest solicitude, on contemplating the picture of human misery. But if we turn our attention to this admirable power which has been divinely bestowed on the Church, and, in the firm belief of this article, be persuaded that to every one is offered the means of recovering, by the divine assistance, his former dignity ; we are at once compelled to exult with exceeding joy and gladness, and to offer immortal thanks to God. And certainly, if, when we labour under some severe malady, the medicines prepared for us by the art and industry of the physician, are wont to seem grateful and agreeable to us, how much more agreeable should those remedies be, which by the wisdom of God have been devised to heal our spiritual maladies, and restore us unto life ; remedies which, unlike the medicines used for the body, bring with them, not an uncertain hope of recovery, but certain health to such as desire to be cured.

Question 10. Why, and hoiv, Christians should have frequent recourse to the exercise of the Poiver of the Keys in the Church, The faithful, therefore, when they have formed a conception of the dignity of so ample and glorious a blessing, should be exhorted to study religiously to turn it also to their own benefit. For he who makes no use of what is useful and necessary, must necessarily be supposed to despise it ; par ticularly as the Lord communicated to the Church this power of remitting sins, to the end that all might have recourse to this salutary remedy. For as no man can be cleansed without baptism, so, whoever desires to recover the grace of baptism, forfeited by mortal sins, must have recourse to another means of expiation, namely the sacrament of penance. But here the faithful are to be admonished to be on their guard, lest, – so plenary a power of giving pardon being set forth, which, as we have already said, is unrestricted by time, – they become more readily given to sinning, or slower to repentance ; for in the former case/ since they are manifestly convicted of acting injuriously and contumeliously towards this divine power, they must therefore be 1 I. e. in readiness to sin.

unworthy of the divine mercy; in the latter,? there is great reason to apprehend, lest, overtaken beforehand by death, they may in vain have confessed their belief in the remission of sins, which they have deservedly forfeited by their tardiness and procrastination.11

Question 1. How important it is to have an explicit knowledge of this Article.

THAT this article possesses great force in establishing the truth of our faith, is most strongly evinced by the fact, that in the sacred Scriptures it is not only propounded to the belief of the faithful, but is also confirmed by numerous arguments. Since we scarcely find this to be the case with regard to the other articles, we may justly infer that on it, as on its most solid basis, rests our hope of salvation ; for, according to the reasoning of the apostle, If there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen. And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain) The pastor, therefore, should not bestow less diligence and zeal upon its exposition, than the labour which the impiety of many has expended in attempting to overturn its truth. For that eminent and important advantages flow to the profit of the faithful from the knowledge of this article, will shortly be proved.

Question 2. Why the Apostles called the Resurrection of Mankind “ the Resurrection of the Flesh”

And first, that in this article the resurrection of mankind is called the resurrection of the flesh, is a circumstance that s I. e. if slow to repentance.

deserves especial attention. For the apostles had for the object of their teaching a necessary truth, namely, the immortality of the soul. Lest, therefore, albeit the sacred Scriptures in many places teach the soul to be immortal, any one may imagine that it dies with the body, and that both are to be resuscitated unto life, this article speaks only of the resurrection ofthejlesh. The word flesh, it is true, often, also signifies in Scripture the whole man, as in Isaiah, All flesh is grass, and in St. John, The Word was made flesh ; m but in this place it is used to denote the body only ; thus giving us to understand, that of the two constituent parts of man, body and soul, one only, that is the body, is corrupted and returns to the dust of the earth, whence it was formed, whilst the soul remains incorrupt. As then, without dying, a man cannot be said to return to life, so the soul cannot properly be said to rise again. Mention of the flesh is also made, in order to confute the heresy of Hymenseus and Philetus, who during the lifetime of the apostle asserted, that, whenever Scripture speaks of the resurrection, it is to be understood to mean, not a corporeal, but a spiritual resurrection, by which it rises from the death of sin to the life of innocence.11 That error, therefore, these words clearly exclude, whilst they establish the real resurrection of the body.

Question 3. Upon ichat Grounds the Doctrine concerning the real Resurrection of the Body is to be proved.

But it will be the duty of the pastor to illustrate this truth by examples taken from the Old and New Testaments, and from all ecclesiastical history. In the Old Testament, some were resuscitated to life by Elijah0 and Elisha, and, besides those who were raised from the dead by our Lord,? some were recalled to life by the apostles, and by many others.! This resurrection of many confirms the doctrine conveyed by this article j for, as we believe that many were resuscitated from death to life, so are we to believe that all will be resuscitated unto life : nay, the principal fruit, that we ought to derive from these miracles, is that we should yield to this article our most unqualified belief. To pastors but ordinarily conversant with the sacred writings, many proofs will at once present themselves ; but, in the Old Testament, the most conspicuous are those that are read in Job, when he says, that in his flesh he shall see his God,r and in Daniel when, speaking of those that sleep in the dust of the earth, he says that they shall awake, some unto everlasting life, and others unto eternal reproach.5 In the New Testa ment [the principal passages are] the words of St. Matthew, when recording the disputation which our Lord had with the Sadducees, and what the evangelists relate concerning the last judgment.11 To the same point may also be referred the accurate reasoning of the apostle on the subject, in his Epistles to the Corinthians v and Thessalonians.w

Question 4. Comparisons by which the same truth may le confirmed.

But, incontrovertibly as this truth is established by faith, it will notwithstanding be of advantage to show from the analogy of examples and other arguments, that what faith proposes to our belief is not at variance with the nature or intelligence of the human mind. To one, asking how the dead should rise again, the apostle answers, Thou foolish ! that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die first ; and that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some of the rest; but Godgiveth it a body as he will; and a little after he saith : It is soivn in corruption, it slwill rise in incorruption St. Gregory calls our attention to many other arguments that might be adduced to the same effect : For the light, says he, is every day withdrawn from oiur eyes, as it were by dying, and is again recalled, as it ivere by rising again : trees lose, and again, as it were by a resurrection, are restored to their verdure : seeds die by putrefaction, and rise again by germination J

Question 5. Reasons by which this very truth is proved.

The reasons also which are adduced by ecclesiastical writers seem sufficiently calculated to establish this truth. In the first place, since the souls [of men] are immortal, and have, as part of man, a natural tendency towards the body, their perpetual separation from the bodies must be considered at variance with nature. z But as that which is at variance with nature, and violent, cannot be permanent, it appears congruous to reason that the soul should be reunited with the body ; whence it also follows that the bodies also should rise again. This kind of argument our Saviour himself employed, when, in his disputation with the Sadducees, he deduced the resurrection of the body from the immortality of the soul.a Furthermore, as the all-just God holds out punishments to the wicked, and rewards to the good, and as very many of the former depart this life before they suffer due punishment, and many of the latter without meeting with any reward for their virtues ; it necessarily follows that the souls should be reunited with the bodies, to the end that, as the partners of their crimes, or the companions of their virtues, they may become sharers in their punishments, or rewards. This argument has been most elaborately treated by St. Chrysostom in a homily to the people of Antioch.b To this effect, the apostle, speaking concerning the resurrection, says : If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. Which words no one can suppose are meant to refer to the misery of the soul, which, because immortal,, might enjoy happiness in a future life, although the bodies should not rise again ; but are to be understood of the whole man j for, unless the body receive the due rewards of its labours, those who, like the apostles, endured so many afflic tions and calamities during this life, would necessarily be the most miserable of men. The same doctrine is more explicitly taught [by the same apostle] in his epistle to the Thessalonians : We glory, says he, in the Churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations, which ye endure for an example of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer : seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense, tribulation to them that trouble you ; and to you, who are troubled, rest with us ; when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with the cmgels oj 'his power ; in aflame of fire, yielding vengeance to them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ .d Moreover, as long as the soul is separated from the body, men cannot attain consummate happiness, replete with every good. For as any part separated from the whole is imperfect, so the soul which is not joined to the body must be also imperfect. Hence it follows, that, in order that nothing may be wantingto the consummation of its happiness, the resurrection of the body is necessary. By means of these and similar arguments, the pastor will be able to instruct the faithful in this article.

Question 6. No man will then be found who is free from Death or the Resurrection.

He should also carefully explain, from the doctrine of the apostle, who are to be raised unto life. “Writing to the Corinthians, St. Paul says : As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.6 Good and bad, then, without any distinction, shall all rise from the dead, although the condition of all shall not be the same : They that have done good shall rise unto the resurrection of life ; but they that /lave done evil, unto the resurrection oj 'judgment, .f When we say all, we mean those who shall have died before the day of judgment, as well as those who shall then die That the Church acquiesces in this opinion, which asserts that all without any exception shall die, and that this opinion is more agreeable to truth, we read in St. Jerome/ whose opinion coincides with that of St. Augustine.h Nor do the words of the apostle, in his epistle to the Thessalonians, teach a different doctrine from this, when he says : The dead who are in Christ shall rise first, then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the. clouds to meet Christ, in the air Explaining these words, St. Ambrose says : In that very taking up, death shall anticipate, as it were by a deep sleep, and the soul, having gone forth from the body, shall instantly return ; for [those who are alive] when taken up, shall die, that, coming to the Lord, they may receive their souls from his presence ; because in the presence of the Lord they cannot be dead) This opinion is further confirmed by the authority of St. Augustine in his book on the City of God.

Question 7. TJie Human Soul will receive the very same Body in the Last Judgment.

But where, as it is of much importance for us to be fully convinced that the identical body, that belongs to each one during life, shall, though it have been corrupted and dissolved into dust, be nevertheless resuscitated to life \ this too is a subject that demands accurate exposition from the pastor. It is a truth conveyed by the apostle when he says : This corruptible must put, on incorruption, evidently designating by the word this, his own body. It is also most clearly prophesied by Job : / shall see my God, says he, whom I myself shall see, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. m The same inference is drawn, from the very definition of resurrection ; for resurrection, as Damascenus defines it, is.

a return to the state, from which one has fallen. Finally, if we consider the reason for a future resurrection, pointed out by us a little before, every doubt that can possibly occur on the subject must be at an end.

Question 8. For what reason the Resurrection of the Body was ordained by God.

But we have taught that the bodies are to rise again, in order that every one may receive the proper things of the body, according as he hath done, whether it be good or evil.0 Man therefore must needs again rise from the same body with which he served God, or the devil : that with the same body he may attain rewards, and a crown of triumph, or endure punishments, and torments the most miserable.

Question 9. The Bodies will not resume the Deformity contracted during this Life.

Not only will the body rise, but it will rise endowed with whatever appertains to the reality of its nature, and to the symmetry and ornament of man. In St. Augustine we read a fine testimony to this effect : There will then be no corporal deformity ; if some have been overburdened with flesh, they shall not resume the entire mass of the body ; whatever exceeds that proper habit, shall be deemed superfluous. On the other hand, in whatsoever the body has been wasted by disease or age, as, for instance, should some have been thin through emaciation, it shall be restored by Christ through his divine power, seeing that Christ will not only restore the body unto us, but also whatever shall have been taken there from through the wretchedness of this life.? In another place the same author says : Man shall not resume the hair he once possessed, but such as will become him, according to that saying : The very hairs of your head are all numbered; which shall be restored according to the divine wisdom. In the first place the members, because appertaining to the integrity of human nature, shall altogether be restored. For they who from mature were blind, or who lost their sight through some disease, the lame, the maimed, and those paralyzed in any of their members, shall rise again with an entire and perfect body ; for otherwise the desires of the soul, which, is so strongly inclined to an union with the body, would be far from satisfied ; and yet we are convinced, that in the resurrection its desires shall be fully realized. Besides, it is sufficiently evident that the resurrection, like the crea tion, is clearly to be numbered amongst the principal works of God. As then, at the beginning of creation, all things came perfect from the hand of God, we must affirm that such shall also be the case at the resurrection. ISTor are these observations to be restricted to the bodies of the martyrs, of whom St. Augustine beareth witness : As that mutilation could not but prove a deformity, they shall not be without those members ; otherwise they who were be headed would rise without a head. The scars, however, which they received, shall remain, shining with a brilliancy more refulgent than that of gold and precious stones, even as the scars of the wounds of Christ.r This fact also applies most truly to the wicked also, although their members may have been lost through their own fault. For the greater the number of members which they shall have, with so much greater pangs of torments shall they be worn out ; and, therefore, this restoration of members will serve to increase, not their happiness, but their unhappiness and misery, as merit or demerit s is ascribed not to the members themselves, but to the person to whose body they are united. For to those who shall have done penance, they shall be restored for the purpose of reward j but to those who shall have con temned the same, for punishment. If these things be maturely considered by pastors, they can never lack words or ideas to move and rekindle the hearts of the faithful with the zeal r The Leipsic reprint refers us to St. Aug. Serm. 362, c. 20, the other editions to de Civ. Dei, xxii. 20. A fault that attaches to all the editions of the Catechism, is the want of distinctness in respect to quotations. The fact is that, in both the passages of St. Augustine, the subject, not the words, are had in view. Even then, the mention of the martyrs' bodies is very forced, as St. Augustine is speaking of the bodies of men in general. I should recommend my reader to study Athenagoras de Mort. Eesurr. p. 183, sqq. ed. Oxon, 1682.

of piety ; that, considering the troubles and calamities of this life, they may eagerly look forward to that blessed glory of the resurrection, which is set forth for the righteous and the pious.

Question 10. Of what Jcind the Bodies of Men shall be after they have arisen.

It now follows that the faithful understand that, with regard to the things that make up the substance of the body, although that very same body that was before dead must needs be restored to life, its condition is yet to be far different. To omit the other points, the great difference between the state of all bodies when risen from the dead, and when in their previous state, is, that before [the resurrection] they were subject to the laws of death, but afterwards, when reanimated, they shall all, without distinction of good and bad, attain to immortality. This admirable restoration of nature was, as the testimonies of the holy Scriptures admonish us, earned by the glorious victory borne off by Christ over death. For it is written : He shall cast death down headlong for ever and: 0 death! I will be thy death;11 words which the apostle thus explains : And the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death ;v and we read in St. John : Death shall be no more.™ For it was most fitting, that by the merits of Christ our Lord, by whom the empire of death has been overthrown, the sin of Adam should be far exceeded also ; and it was agreeable to the divine justice, that the good should enjoy a life of endless bliss, whilst the wicked, condemned to everlasting torments, shall seek death, and shall not find it ; shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them To the good, therefore, and the bad, this immortality shall be common.

Question 11. What shall be the Qualities of the Bodies of the Blest after the Resurrection.

Moreover, the bodies of the saints, when resuscitated, shall possess certain transcendant and glorious adornments, which will ennoble them far beyond their former condition. Amongst these endowments, four are especially mentioned by the Fathers, which they infer from, the doctrine of the apostle, and which are called gifts. The first is impassibility, a gift and endowment that shall place them beyond the reach of suffering anything disagreeable, or being afflicted with pain, or inconvenience of any sort. For neither the piercing severity of cold, nor the glowing intensity of heat, nor the rush of waters, can affect them -J It is sown, says the apostle, in corruption, it shall rise in incorruption.2 This quality schoolmen call impassibility, not incorruption, in order to distinguish it as a property peculiar to a glorified body. For the bodies of the damned, though incorruptible, do not partake in this impassibility ; for their bodies, although they be incorruptible, shall be capable of experiencing heat and cold, and of being afflicted by various torments.

The next quality is the brightness, by which the bodies of the saints shall shine like the sun, according to these words of our Lord in St. Matthew : The, righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father ;a and, lest any one should doubt on the subject, he exemplified this in his transfiguration.11 This quality the apostle sometimes calls glory, sometimes brightness : He will reform the body of our lowness, that it may be fashioned like unto the body of his glory ; c and again : It is sown in dishonour, it shall rise in glory A Of this glory the Israelites too beheld a certain image in the desert, when the face of Moses, after he had been in the presence of, and had conversed with God, shone with such lustre, that the children of Israel could not look thereon.6 Now this brightness is a sort of refulgence re dounding to the body from the supreme happiness of the soul, so that it is a sort of emanation from the bliss which it enjoys ; and its communication is analogous to the manner in which the soul itself is rendered blessed, which is, by a participation of the divine happiness. Unlike the first, we must not believe this quality is common to all in the same degree : all the bodies of the saints shall, it is true, be equally impassible : but the brightness of all shall not be the same ; for, as the apostle beareth witness : There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, cmd another glory of the stars ; for one star differeth from another star in glory : so also is the resurrection of the dead.f To this quality is united that which they call agility, by which the body shall be freed from the burden by which it is now pressed down ; and shall acquire a capability of moving with the utmost facility and celerity whithersoever the soul pleases, as St. Augustine clearly teaches in his book on the City of God,s and St. Jerome on Isaiah.h Hence saith the apostle : It is sown in weakness, it shall rise in power?

To these is added another quality, – that of subtilty, by force of which the body will be subjected to the absolute dominion of the soul, and to an entire obedience to her con trol ; as is shown from these words of the apostle : It is\ sown an animal body, it shall rise a spiritual body) In the exposition of this article, these are nearly the principal heads deserving notice.

Question 12. What Benefit the Faithful may derive from these so great Mysteries of Resurrection.

But that the faithful may know what fruit they are to reap from a knowledge of so many and such great mysteries, [the pastor] must proclaim, in the first place, that to God, who has hidden these things from the wise, and opened them unto little ones,k we should return boundless thanks. For how many men, pre-eminent for the praise of wisdom and learn ing, never caught the least glimpse of this so certain a truth. Aware, then, that he made those things known to us, who could never dare to aspire to such knowledge, it becomes our duty to celebrate his goodness and clemency with incessant praises.

Another important benefit is to be derived from meditation on this article, in that in it we shall easily find consolation both for ourselves and for others, touching the loss of those who were connected with us by ties of friendship or of blood ; a species of consolation which we know the apostle himself to have administered to the Thessalonians, when writing to them of those ivhich are asleep.1 But in all our other afflictions and calamities also, the thought of a future resurrection must bring to us the greatest relief of our sorrows ; as we learn from the example of holy Job, who supported his afflicted and sorrowing mind, solely by the hope of one day rising from the grave, and behold ing the Lord his God.m It must, furthermore, prove of powerful influence with the faithful, to the end that they may use every exertion to lead a life of rectitude and integrity, unsullied by any defilement of sin. For, if they reflect, that those mighty riches which will be bestowed after the resurrection are proposed to them as rewards, they must find a strong inducement to the pur suits of virtue and holiness. On the other hand, nothing will have greater effect in subduing the passions of the mind, and withdrawing men from crimes, than if they be frequently reminded of the miseries and torments with which the re probate will be visited, who, on the last day, shall rise to the resurrection of judgment

Question 1. Why this Article of Faith is placed last, and how important it is that it be frequently expounded to the People.

WITH this article touching eternal life the holy apostles, our leaders, thought fit to conclude the Creed, in which the summary of our faith is contained, first, because, after the resurrection of the body, the only remaining object of hope to the faithful is the reward of everlasting life ; and secondly, in order that that perfect happiness, embracing as it does the fulness of all good things, may ever be present to our eyes, and that we may be taught to absorb all our thoughts and affections therein. Hence, in instructing the faithful, pastors must unceasingly endeavour to inflame their souls with the proposed rewards of eternal life ; that they may look upon the greatest difficulties, which are to be undergone in the cause of the Christian name, as light and agreeable to God, and may yield a more ready and cheerful obedience to God.

Question 2. What is here intended by “ life everlasting.”

But as, under these words, which are here used to declare the happiness reserved for us, many mysteries lie concealed, they are to be explained in such a manner as to make them intelligible to all, as far as their respective capacities may permit. The faithful, therefore, are to be admonished, that these words, life everlasting, signify not only that perpetuity of existence, to which the devils and the wicked are also con signed, but likewise that perpetuity of happiness, which is to fulfil the desires of the blessed. And in this sense they were understood by that lawyer mentioned in the Gospel, who asked the Redeemer : Good master, what shall I do to possess everlasting life ?° As if he had said, What shall I do, in order to arrive at that place, where it may be permitted me to enjoy everlasting happiness ? And in this sense these words are understood in the Sacred Volumes, as may be seen in many passages of Scripture.?

Question 3. Why that Supreme Happiness is called Life everlasting.

The supreme happiness of the blessed is designated by this name, principally to prevent any one supposing that it consists in corporeal and transitory things, which cannot be everlasting. To express this idea, even the word blessedness were insufficient, particularly as there have not been wanting men, who, inflated with the opinions of a false philosophy, would place the supreme good in things perceived by the senses j but these grow old and perish, whilst blessedness terminates with no boundary of time. Nay more, so far are the goods of this life from [conferring] real happiness, that, on the contrary, he is farthest removed from its enjoyment, who is captivated by a love of, and a longing after the world. For it is written : Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world ; if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him ;r and a little after : The world passeth away and the lusts thereof Pastors, therefore, will be careful diligently to impress these truths on the minds of the faithful, that they may learn to despise mortal things, and to know that [in this world, in which we are not citizens, but sojourners, happiness is not to be attained. Yet, even here below we may with reason be said to be happy in hope : if renouncing ungodliness and ivorldly lusts, we should live soberly, and righteously, and godly, in this world ; looking for that blessed hope and coming of the glory of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.11 Many, who seemed to them selves wise,v not understanding these things, and imagining that happiness was to be sought for in this life, became fools, and fell into the most deplorable calamities. But these words, life everlasting, also give us to understand that, contrary to the false notions entertained by some, happiness once attained can never be lost. For happiness is an accumulation of all goods without any admixture of evil, which, as it fills up the measure of man's desires, necessarily consists in eternal life ; for he who is happy cannot but earnestly desire that he may perpetually enjoy the goods which he has obtained. “Were not that possession, therefore, permanent and certain, he would necessarily be tormented by extreme agony of dread.

Question 4. prehensibility to all but to themselves alone, are sufficiently set forth by our use of the words happy life. For when, to express any idea, we make use of a word which is common to many others, we do so, as we may easily understand, because a proper term is wanting by which fully to express that idea. When, therefore, happiness is expressed by words which are equally applicable to all, who are to live for ever, as well as to the blessed, we are led to infer that the idea presented to the mind is something too great and exalted to be conveyed perfectly by a proper term. For although the happiness of heaven is expressed in Scripture by a variety of other words, such as the kingdom of God, of Christ, of heaven, Paradise, the holy city, the new Jerusalem, my Fathers house?' yet it is clear that none of these appellations is sufficient to convey an adequate idea of its greatness. Pastors, therefore, will not neglect the opportunity which this passage presents, of inviting the faithful to the practice of piety, justice, and all the duties of the Christian religion, by [holding out to them] such ample rewards as are announced in the words life everlasting.

Amongst the blessings which we instinctively desire, life is undoubtedly reckoned one of the greatest ; but by it- principally, when we say life everlasting, is happiness defined. If then there is nothing more dearly loved, nothing which is more fondly cherished, nothing more pleasant than this short and calamitous life, subject though it be to so many and such various miseries, so as more truly to deserve to be called death; with what zeal of soul, with what earnestness of purpose, should we not seek that eternal life, which, all evils being at an end, contains the perfect and absolute aggregate of all goods ? For the happiness of eternal life, according to the holy Fathers, is an exemption from all evils, and a fruition of all goods. That it is [an exemption] from all evils, the Scriptures declare in the clearest terms ; for it is written in the Revelation, They shall not hunger nor thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat; and again, God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow, shall there be amy more, for tlw former things have passed awayj But the glory of the blessed shall be without measure, and their various solid joys and pleasures without number. The magnitude of this glory our intellect is alto gether incapable of containing, nor can it at all penetrate into our souls ; whence it is necessary for us to enter into it, that is, into the joy of the Lord that immersed therein we may abundantly satisfy the desires of the soul.

Question 5. What kinds of goods the Messed chiefly enjoy.

But although, as St. Augustine writes, it would seem easier to enumerate the evils from which we shall be exempt, than the goods and the pleasures which we shall enjoy ; a yet we must endeavour to explain, briefly and clearly, those things that are calculated to inflame the faithful with a desire of attaining this supreme felicity. But it will be necessary first to make use of a distinction, which has been sanctioned by the most eminent writers on divine matters. Now they assert that there are two sorts of goods, one a » constituent of the nature, the other an accompaniment, of happiness itself; and hence they have termed the former essential, the latter accessory,

Question 6. Jn what consists the Essential and Primary Cause of Eternal Happiness.

Now solid happiness, which we may designate by the •common appellation essential, consists in the fact of our beholding God, and enjoying the beauty of him, who is the source and principle of all goodness and perfection : This, says Christ our Lord, is life eternal, that they might know iliee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. These sentiments St. John seems to interpret, when he says : Beloved ! now are we the sons of God ; and it doth not yet appear what we shall be. We know that when He shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him even as he is.c For lie [thereby] signifieth that [supreme] happiness consists of two things, to see God such as he is in his nature and sub stance, and to become [ourselves] as it were gods. For those who enjoy that [vision], although they retain their own sub stance, do yet assume a certain admirable and almost divine form, so as to seem gods rather than men.

Question 7. In ivhat manner the Blessed do, after a, fashion, put on the Form and Nature of God.

Why this is the case becomes at once intelligible, if we consider that everything is known from its essence, or from its resemblance and external appearance. And since nothing resembles God, so as that by that resemblance we may arrive at a perfect knowledge of him, it follows that no creature can behold his nature and essence, unless this same divine essence be united with us. This the words of the apostle signify : We now see through a glass in an obscure manner, but then face toface. The words in a dark manner St. Augustine6 interprets to mean, that we see him in a resemblance, suited to understanding God. This St. Dionysius also clearly shows, when he affirms, that the things above cannot be known by any resemblance between them and the things below ; for the essence and substance of things incorporeal cannot be known through a resemblance between them and things cor poreal ; especially as a resemblance must have less of grossness and be more spiritual than those things which they represent, as we easily know from general experience. Since, then, it is impossible to find a resemblance of anything cre ated, equally pure and spiritual with God himself, it follows that no resemblance can enable us perfectly to understand the essence of God.f Furthermore, all created things are circumscribed within certain limits of perfection : but God is infinite, and therefore the likeness of any created thing cannot comprehend his immensity. The only means left, therefore, of arriving at a knowledge of the divine substance is that it unite itself to us ; and, after an incredible manner, elevate our understanding to a higher state of perfection, and that we be thus rendered capable of contemplating the beauty of his nature.

Question 8. The Blessed are illumined with the Light of Glory, and all ought to be moved, with all their hopes, towards the Sight of God.

This by the light of glory we shall accomplish when, illumined by its splendour, we shall see God, the true light, in his own light ;” for the blessed always see God present ; 'and by this greatest and most exalted of all gifts, being made partakers of the divine essence, they attain true and solid happiness. Our belief of this truth should be joined with a certain hope of one day arriving at the same, through the divine goodness ; according to these words of the Nicene Creed : / expect the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.

Question 9. The Manner in which Man is joined to God in Hiss is expressed by a comparison.

These are things altogether divine, which cannot be expressed by any words, or comprehended in human con ception. Of this happiness we however may trace some resemblance even in sensible objects j for as iron, when acted on by fire, becomes igneous, and, whilst its substance remains the same, seems changed into a certain different substance ; so they, to wit, who are admitted into the glory of heaven, and who are kindled with a love of God, although they cease not to be the same, are yet affected in such a manner, as that they may be said with truth to differ much more from those that are in this life, than glowing iron differs from that which contains no influence of heat. To comprise all, then, in a few words, that supreme and absolute bliss, which we call essential, is to be placed in the possession of God ; for what can that man want to consummate happiness, who possesses God, the best and most perfect ?

Question 10. Of the Accidental Goods with which the Blessed abound.

human comprehension, are generally wont to excite the mind, and inflame the heart with greater acuteness. Of this de scription are those things which the apostle seems to have in view when, in his Epistle to the Komans, he says : Glory, and honour, and peace, to every one that ivorketh good ;h for the blessed shall enjoy glory, not only that glory which we have shown to constitute essential happiness, or to be most closely connected with its nature, but also that [glory] which consists in the clear and distinct knowledge that each [of the • blessed] will have of the singular and exalted dignity of his companion [in glory]. But how distinguished must not that honour be esteemed which is conferred by God on those whom he no longer calls servants but friends brethren,) and sons- of God ! Hence, the Redeemer will address his elect in those most 1'Oving and most honourable words : Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you.1 Justly, then, may we exclaim : Thy friends, 0 God ! are made exceedingly honourable.™ And they shall also be celebrated with the highest praises from Christ the Lord, in the presence of his Heavenly Father and his angels. And if nature has begotten in all men the common desire of that honour, which is conferred by men eminent for wisdom, because we deem them the most authoritative vouchers of our own merit, what an accession of glory shall we account it to the blessed, to experience reciprocally from one another the highest honour ?

Question 11. With what Abundant Plenty of Goods the Blessed will be enriched in those Everlasting Diuellings.

The enumeration of all the delights with which the glory of the blessed shall be replete, would be endless ; we cannot even conceive them in idea. Of this conviction, however, the minds of the faithful should be persuaded, that with the abundance of all things that can be enjoyed or even wished for in this life, whether they regard the powers of the mind, or the perfect state of the body, will the blessed life of those in heaven be filled ; albeit this must be more exalted in the manner of its accomplishment than, as the apostle says, eye hath seen, ear heard, or the heart of man hath conceived.11 For the body, indeed, which before was gross and material, having put off mortality, and being now refined and spiritualized, will no longer stand in need of nutriment ; whilst the soul, full of supreme delight, will be satiated with that eternal food of glory, which the Master of that great feast passing ly will minister to all.0 And who can desire rich garments or royal robes for the body where there will be no further use for these appendages, and where all shall be clothed with immortality and splendour, and adorned with a crown of everlasting glory ! And if the possession of a spacious and magnificent mansion appertains to human happiness, what more spacious, what more magnificent, can be conceived than heaven itself illumined, as it is throughout, with the tender love P of God 1 Hence the prophet, contemplating the beauty of this dwelling-place, and burning with the desire of reaching those blissful abodes, exclaims : How amiable are thy taber nacles, 0 Lord of hosts ! my soul longeth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord : my heart and my flesh have rejoiced in the living God. And that this may be the sentiment, this the language, of all the faithful, as it should be the object of the pastor's most earnest desires, so should it be that of his most zealous care.

For In my Father's house, says our Lord, there are many mansions in which shall be conferred rewards of greater and of less value, according as each one has deserved ; for He who soweth sparingly, shall also reap sparingly ; and he ivho soweth in blessings, shall also reap of blessings Pastors, therefore, will not only excite the faithful to arrive at this happiness, but will also frequently admonish them, that a sure way to its attainment is, that, endued with faith and charity, and persevering in prayer and the salutary use of the sacraments, they apply themselves to discharge all the duties of benignity towards their neighbours. For thus, through the mercy of God, who has prepared that blessed glory for those who love him, will one day be fulfilled what is said by the prophet : My people shall sit in the beauty of peace, and in the taber nacles of confidence and in wealthy rest1