We

Britain (after all the spiteful calumniations of malicious men) is one of the most conspicuous Members of the Catholic upon earth; so we in her communion do make up one body with the holy patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, confessors, and faithful Christians of all ages and times we succeed in their faith, we glory in their succession, we triumph in this glory. Whither go ye, then, ye weak, ignorant, seduced souls, that run to seek this dove in a foreign cot? She is here, if she have any nest under heaven: let me never have part in her, or in heaven, if any Church in the world have more part in the Universal. Why do we wrong ourselves with the contradistinction of Protestant and Catholic? do only protest this, that we are perfect Catholics. Let the pretensed look to themselves: we are sure we are as Catholic as true faith can make us; as much one as the same Catholic faith can make us; and in this undoubted right, we claim and enjoy the sweet and inseparable communion with all the blessed members of that mystical body both in earth and heaven; and by virtue thereof, with the glorious head of that dear and happy body Jesus Christ the righteous, the Husband to this one Wife, the Mate to this one Dove; to whom, with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, three persons and one God, be given all praise, honour, and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

BELIEF IN THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH.

[BISHOP PEARSON.]

In this ninth Article we meet with some variety of position, and with much addition; for whereas it is here. the ninth, in some Creeds we find it the lasta; and

a Although generally the Article of the Holy Church did immediately follow the Article of the Holy Ghost, as Tertullian well observeth, Cùm sub tribus et testatio fidei et sponsio salutis pignorentur, necessariò adjicitur Ecclesiæ mentio, quoniam ubi tres, id est, Pater et Filius et Spiritus Sanctus, ibi Ecclesia quæ trium corpus est. De Baptis. c. 6. And S. Aug. in Enchir. c. 56. Spiritus S. si creatura non Creator esset, profectò creatura rationalis esset. Ipse enim esset summa creatura; et ideo in Regula fidei non poneretur ante Ecclesiam, quia et ipse ad Ecclesiam pertineret. And the author of this first book De Symb. ad Catech. Sequitur post S. Trinitatis ad commendationem S. Ecclesia, and S. Hieron. cited in the next note. Yet notwithstanding this order was not always observed, but sometimes this Article was reserved to the end of the Creed. As first appeareth in that remarkable place of S. Cyprian; Quod si aliquis illud opponit ut dicat eandem Novatianum legem tenere quam Catholica Ecclesia teneat, eodem Symbolo quo et nos baptizare, eundem nôsse Deum Patrem, eundem Filium Christum, eundem Spiritum S. ac propter hoc usurpare eum potestatem baptizandi posse, quòd videatur in interrogatione baptismi à nobis non discrepare; sciat quisquis et hoc opponendum putat, primùm non esse unam nobis et Schismaticis Symboli legem, neque eandem interrogationem. Nam cùm dicunt, Credis remissionem peccatorum et vitam æternam per sanctam Ecclesiam ? mentiuntur in interrogatione, cùm non habent Ecclesiam. Tunc deinde voce suâ

ipsi confitentur remissionem peccatorum non dari nisi per Sanctam Ecclesiam. Ep. ad Magn. Thus Arius and Euzoïus, in the words hereafter cited, place the Church in the conclusion of their Creed. And the author of the second book De Symb. ad Catech. placeth the Remission of Sins after the Holy Ghost; Noli injuriam facere ei qui te fecit, ut consequaris ab illo quod in isto S. Symbolo sequitur, Remissionem omnium peccatorum: and after he hath spoken of the Resurrection and Life everlasting, proceedeth thus to speak of the Church; Sancta Ecclesia, in qua omnis Sacramenti terminatur authoritas, &c. And the author of the third, Ideo Sacramenti hujus conclusio per Eccl. terminatur quia ipsa est mater fœcunda. And the author of the fourth, Per Sanctam Ecclesiam. Propterea hujus conclusio Sacramenti per S. Ecclesiam terminatur, quoniam si quis absque ea inventus fuerit, alienus erit a numero filiorum;

whereas it consisteth of two distinct parts, the latter is wholly added, and the former partly augmented; the most ancient professing no more than to belive the

nec habebit Deum Patrem qui Ecclesiam noluerit habere matrem. Thus therefore they disposed the last part of the Creed, Credo in Spiritum S. peccatorum remissionem, carnis resurrectionem et vitam æternam per S. Ecclesiam. And the design of this transposition, was to signify that Remission of Sins and Resurrection to eternal Life, are to be obtained in and by the Church: as the Creed in the first Homily under the name of S. Chrysostom, Credo in Sp. S. Iste Spiritus perducit ad S. Ecclesiam, ipsa est quæ dimittit peccata, promittit carnis resurrectionem, promittit vitam æternam.

The

a Tertull. Quæ est mater nostra, in quam repromissimus Sanctam Ecclesiam. Adv. Marcion. l. v. c. 4. So Ruffinus, Sanctam Ecclesiam. For Catholicam is added by Pamelius. So S. Hieron. contra Lucif. Præterea cùm solenne sit in lavacro post Trinitatis Confessionem interrogare, Credis Sanctam Ecclesiam? Credis remissionem peccatorum? Quam Ecclesiam credidisse cum dices? Arianorum? sed non habent: nostram? sed extra hanc baptizatus non potuit eam credere quam nescivit; and S. Aug. De Fide et Symb. Credimus et Sanctam Ecclesiam, with this declaration, utique Catholicam. So Maximus Taurin. Chrysol. and Venantius Fortunatus. The author of the first book De Symb. ad Catech. Sequitur post Sanctæ Trinitatis commendationem S. Ecclesia. author of the other three who placeth this Article last of all, Sancta Ecclesia, in qua omnis hujus sacramenti terminatur authoritas, 1. 2. and 4. expressly Per Sanctam Ecclesiam, as the words of the Creed, with the Explication before-mentioned. As also the interrogation of the Novatians ending with per Sanctam Ecclesiam, cited before out of S. Cyprian. So likewise of those two Homilies on the Creed which are falsely attributed to S. Chrysost. the first hath Sanctam Ecclesiam after the Belief in the Holy Ghost, the second concludeth the Creed with per Sanctam Ecclesiam. In carnis resurrectione fides, in vita æterna spes, in Sancta Ecclesia charitas. Thus the ancient Saxon Creed set forth by Freherus, Tha halgan gelathinge, i. e. the Holy Church; the Greek Creed in Saxon Letters in Sir Robert Cotton's Library, and the old Latin Creed in the Oxford Library. Deus qui in cœlis habitat, et condidit ex nihilo ea quæ sunt, et multiplicavit propter Sanctam Ecclesiam suam, irascitur tibi. Herm. 1. 1. Visione 1. Virtute.suâ potenti condidit Sanctam Ecclesiam suam. ib. Rogabam Dominum ut Revelationes ejus quas mihi ostendit per Sanctam Ecclesiam suam confirmaret. Vis. 4. But though it were not in the Roman or Occidental Creeds, yet it was anciently in the Oriental, particularly in that of Hierusalem, and that of Alexandria. In the Creed at Jerusalem it was certainly very ancient; for it is expounded by S. Cyril, Archbishop of that place, eis μíav åyíav Καθολικὴν Εκκλησίαν. And in the Alexandrian it was as ancient; for. Alexander, Archbishop of that place, inserts it in his Confession, in his Epistle ad Alexandrum, μίαν καὶ μόνην καθολικὴν τὴν ̓Αποστολικὴν KKλnolav, Theodoret. Hist. 1. 2. c. 4. And Arius and Euzoïus, in their Confession of Faith given in to Constantine, thus conclude, kal eis

of

Holy Church: and the Greeks having added by way explication or determination, the word Catholic, it was at last received into the Latin Creed.

To begin then with the first part of the Article, I shall endeavour so to expound it as to show what is the meaning of the Church, which Christ hath propounded to us; how that Church is holy, as the Apostle hath assured us; how that holy Church is catholic, as the Fathers have taught us. For when I say, "I believe in the Holy Catholic Church," I mean that there is a Church which is holy, and which is catholic; and I

Καθολικὴν Ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ, τὴν ἀπὸ περάτων ἕως περάτων. Socrates, Hist. Eccl. 1. 1. c. 26. The same is also expressed in both the Creeds, the lesser and the greater, delivered by Epiphanius in Ancorato; the words are repeated in the next observation.

a Credo sanctam Ecclesiam, I believe there is an holy Church; or Credo in sanctam Ecclesiam, is the same: nor does the Particle in added or subtracted make any difference. For although some of the Latin and Greek Fathers press the force of that preposition, as is before observed, though Ruffinus urge it far in this particular. "Ut autem una eademque in Trinitate divinitas doceatur, sicut dictum est in Deo Patre credi, adjectâ præpositione, ita et in Christo Filio ejus, ita et in Spiritu S. memoratur. Sed ut manifestius fiat quod dicimus, ex consequentibus approbabitur. Sequitur namque post hunc sermonem, Sanctam Ecclesiam, remissionem peccatorum, hujus carnis resurrectionem. Non dixit, in sanctam Ecclesiam, nec in remissionem peccatorum, nec in carnis resurrectionem, si enim addidisset in præpositionem, una eademque vis fuisset cum superioribus. Ne autem (f. Nunc autem) in illis quidem vocabulis, ubi de divinitate fides ordinatur, in Deo Patre dicitur, et in Jesu Christo Filio ejus, et in Spiritu S., in cæteris verò ubi non de divinitate, sed de creaturis ac mysteriis sermo est, in præpositio non additur, ut dicatur in sanctam Ecclesiam, sed sanctam Ecclesiam credendam esse, non ut in Deum, sed ut Ecclesiam Deo congregatam; et remissionem peccatorum credendam esse, non in remissionem peccatorum ; et resurrectionem carnis, non in resurrectionem carnis. Hac itaque præpositionis syllabâ creator à creaturis secernitur et divina separantur ab humanis." Ruff. in Symb. Though say this expression be thus pressed, yet we are sure that the Fathers did use eis and in for the rest of the Creed as well as for the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. We have already produced the authorities of S. Cyril, Arius and Euzoïus, p. 18, 19., and that of Epiphanius in Ancorato. Thus also the Latins, as S. Cyprian, "In æternam pœnam serò credent, qui in vitam æternam credere noluerunt." Ad Demetrianum. So Interpres Irenæi, "Quotquot autem timent Deum, et credunt in VOL. I.

D

understand that Church alone which is both catholic and holy and being this Holiness and Catholicism are but affections of this Church which I believe, I must first declare what is the nature and notion of the Church; how I am assured of the existence of that Church; and then how it is the subject of these two affections.

For the understanding of the true notion of the Church, first we must observe that the nominal definition or derivation of the word is not sufficient to describe the nature of it. If we look upon the old English word now in use, Church or Kirk, it is derived from the Greek, and first signified the House of the Lord, that is, of Christ, and from thence was taken to signify the people of God, meeting in the house of God. The Greek word used by the Apostles to express the Church, signifieth a calling forth, if we look upon the origination;

adventum Filii ejus," &c. So Chrysol. "In Sanctam Ecclesiam. Quia Ecclesia in Christo, et in Ecclesia Christus est; qui ergo Ecclesiam fatetur, in Ecclesiam se confessus est credidisse." Serm. 62. And in the ancient edition of S. Jerome in the place before cited it was read, Credis in Sanctam Ecclesiam, and the word in was left out by Victorius.

a Kúpios the Lord, and that properly Christ; from whence Kupiakos belonging to the Lord Christ, olkos Kupiaкòs, from thence Kyriac, Kyrk, and Church.

• The word used by the Apostle is Ἐκκλησία from ἐκκαλεῖν evocare. From ἐκκέκλησαι, ἔκκλησις, from ἔκκλησις, ἐκκλησία, of the same notation with the Hebrew "Ecclesia quippe ex vocatione appellata est." S. Aug. Exp. ad Rom. And though they ordinarily take it primarily to signify convocatio, as S. Aug. "Inter congregationem, unde Synagoga, et convocationem, unde Ecclesia nomen accepit, distat aliquid." Enar. in Psal. lxxxi. yet the origination speaks only of evocation without any intimation of congregation or meeting together, as there is in σύγκλητος. From whence arose that definition of Methodius, Ότι Ἐκκλησία παρὰ τὸ ἐκκεκληκέναι τὰς ἡδονὰς λέγεσθαί φησιν. Photius Biblioth. Whereas εκκαλεῖν is no more here than καλεῖν, ἔκκλησις no more than κλῆσις, as κλητεύειν and ἐκκλητεύειν with the Attics were the same: from whence it came to pass that the same preposition hath been twice added in the composition of the same word; from èkkaλeîv èkkλŋola, from