of Rome, first to add twelve new articles, and then to add the appendix of Athanasius to the end of them, “This is the catholic faith, without which no man can be saved."

38. But so great an example of so excellent a man hath been either mistaken or followed with too much greediness, all the world in factions, all damning one another, each party damned by all the rest; and there is no disagreeing in opinion from any man that is in love with his own opinion, but damnation presently to all that disagree. A ceremony and a rite hath caused several churches to excommunicate each other, as in the matter of the Saturday-fast, and keeping Easter. But what the spirits of men are, when they are exasperated, in a question and difference of religion, as they call it, though the thing itself may be most inconsiderable, is very evident in that request of pope Innocent III. desiring of the Greeks but (reasonably a man would think) that they would not so much hate the Roman manner of consecrating in unleavened bread, as to wash, and scrape, and pare the altars after a Roman priest had consecrated. Nothing more furious than a mistaken zeal, and the actions of a scrupulous and abused conscience. When men think every thing to be their faith and their religion, commonly they are so busy in trifles and such impertinencies, in which the scene of their mistake lies, that they neglect the greater things of the law, charity, and compliances, and the gentleness of Christian communion; for this is the great principle of mischief, and yet is not more pernicious than unreasonable.

39. For I demand: Can any man say and justify that the apostles did deny communion to any man, that believed the Apostles' Creed, and lived a good life? And dare any man tax that proceeding of remissness, and indifferency in religion? And since our blessed Saviour promised salvation to him that believeth' (and the apostles when they gave this word the greatest extent, enlarged it not beyond the borders of the creed), how can any man warrant the condemning of any man to the flames of hell, that is ready to die in attesta, tion of this faith, so expounded and made explicit by the apostles, and lives accordingly? And to this purpose it was

P Bulla Pii quarti supra forma juramenti professionis fidei, in fin. Con. Trid.

excellently said by a wise and a pious prelate, St. Hilary, "Non per difficiles nos Deus ad beatam vitam quæstiones vocat, &c. In absoluto nobis et facili est æternitas; Jesum suscitatum à mortuis per Deum credere, et ipsum esse Dominum confiteri," &c. These are the articles which we must believe, which are the sufficient and adequate object of the faith, which is required of us in order to salvation. And therefore it was, that when the bishops of Istria deserted the communion of pope Pelagius, in causâ trium capitulorum,' he gives them an account of his faith, by recitation of the creed, and by attesting the four general councils; and is confident upon this, that de fidei firmitate nulla poterit esse quæstio, vel suspicio generari;' let the Apostles' Creed, especially so explicated, be but secured, and all faith is secured; and yet that explication too was less necessary than the articles themselves; for the explication was but accidental, but the articles, even before the explication, were accounted a sufficient inlet to the kingdom of heaven.

40. And that there was security enough in the simple believing the first articles, is very certain amongst them, and by their principles, who allow of an implicit faith to serve most persons to the greatest purposes; for, if the creed did contain in it the whole faith, and that other articles were in it implicitly (for such is the doctrine of the school, and particularly of Aquinas), then he that explicitly believes all the creed, does implicitly believe all the articles contained in it; and then it is better the implication should still continue, than that by any explication, which is simply unnecessary, the church should be troubled with questions and uncertain determinations, and factions enkindled, and animosities set on foot, and men's souls endangered, who before were secured by the explicit belief of all that the apostles required as necessary; which belief also did secure them from all the rest, because it implied the belief of whatsoever was virtually in the first articles, if such belief should by chance be

necessary.

41. The sum of this discourse is this; if we take an estimate of the nature of faith from the dictates and promises

9 L. x. de Trin. ad finem.

r Concil. tom. iv. Ed. Paris. p. 473.

$ 2. 2æ.q. la. 10. cap.

evangelical, and from the practice apostolical, the nature of faith and its integrity consist in such propositions which make the foundation of hope and charity, that which is sufficient to make us to do honour to Christ, and to obey him, and to encourage us in both; and this is completed in the Apostles' Creed. And since contraries are of the same extent, heresy is to be judged by its proportion and analogy to faith; and that is heresy only, which is against faith. Now, because faith is not only a precept of doctrines, but of manners and holy life, whatsoever is either opposite to an article of creed, or teaches ill life, that is heresy; but all those propositions, which are extrinsical to these two considerations, be they true or be they false, make not heresy, nor the man an heretic; and, therefore, however he may be an erring person, yet he is to be used accordingly, pitied and instructed, not condemned or excommunicated; and this is the result of the first ground, the consideration of the nature of faith and heresy.

SECTION III.

Of the Difficulty and Uncertainty of Arguments from Scripture, in Questions not simply necessary, not literally determined.

1. God, who disposes of all things sweetly, and according to the nature and capacity of things and persons, had made those only necessary, which he had taken care should be sufficiently propounded to all persons, of whom he required the explicit belief. And, therefore, all the articles of faith are clearly and plainly set down in Scripture; and the Gospel is not hid nisi pereuntibus,' saith St. Paul; Пáons vàg ἀρετῆς παράκλησιν, καὶ κακίας ἁπάσης τροπὴν ἐν ταύταις εὑρίσκομεν, saith Damascena; and that so manifestly that no man can be ignorant of the foundation of faith, without his own apparent fault. And this is acknowledged by all wise and good men, and is evident, besides the reasonableness of the thing, in the testimonies of St. Austin', Jerome, Chrysostom“, Ful

a Orthod. Fidei. lib. iv. c. 18.

с

Super Isa. c. 19. et in Psal. 86.

Super Psal. 88. et de Util. Cred. c. 6. d Homil. 3. in Thes. ep. 2.

h

gentius, Hugo de Sancto Victore', Theodoret, Lactantius ", Theophilus Antiochenus', Aquinas *, and the later schoolmen. And God hath done more; for many things, which are only profitable, are also set down so plainly, that, as St. Austin says, "Nemo inde haurire non possit, si modò ad hauriendum devotè ac piè accedat':" but of such things there is no question commenced in Christendom; and if there were, it cannot but be a crime and human interest, that are the authors of such disputes; and, therefore, these cannot be simple errors, but always heresies, because the principle of them is a personal sin.

2. But besides these things, which are so plainly set down, some for doctrine,' as St. Paul says, that is, for articles and foundation of faith; some for instruction, some for reproof, some for comfort, that is, in matters practical and speculative, of several tempers and constitutions;—there are innumerable places, containing in them great mysteries, but yet either so inwrapped with a cloud, or so darkened with umbrages, or heightened with expressions, or so covered with allegories and garments of rhetoric, so profound in the matter, or so altered or made intricate in the manner, in the clothing, and in the dressing, that God may seem to have left them as trials of our industry, and arguments of our imperfections, and incentives to the longings after heaven, and the clearest revelations of eternity, and as occasions and opportunities of our mutual charity and toleration to each other, and humility in ourselves, rather than the repositories of faith, and furniture of creeds, and articles of belief.

3. For wherever the word of God is kept, whether in Scripture alone, or also in tradition, he that considers that the meaning of the one, and the truth or certainty of the other, are things of great question, will see a necessity in these things, which are the subject matter of most of the questions of Christendom, that men should hope to be excused by an implicit faith in God Almighty. For when there are, in the explications of Scripture, so many commentaries, so many senses and interpretations, so many volumes in all ages, and

e Serm. de Confess.

In Gen. ap. Struch. p. 87.

i Ad Antioch. lib. ii. p. 918.

f Miscel. 2. lib. i. tit. 46,

h C. 6. c. 21.

k Par. 1. q. art.

Ubi suprà de Util, Cred. c. 6.

all, like men's faces, exactly none like another, either this difference and inconvenience is absolutely no fault at all, or, if it be, it is excusable, by a mind prepared to consent in that truth, which God intended. And this I call an implicit faith in God; which is, certainly, of as great excellency, as an implicit faith in any man, or company of men. Because they who do require an implicit faith in the church, for artielės less necessary, and excuse the want of explicit faith by the implicit, do require an implicit faith in the church, because they believe that God hath required of them to have a mind prepared to believe whatever the church says; which, be cause it is a proposition of no absolute certainty, whosoever does, in readiness of mind, believe all that God spake, does also believe that sufficiently, if it be fitting to be believed, that is, if it be true, and if God hath said so; for he hath the same obedience of understanding in this as in the other. But because it is not so certain, that God hath tied him, in all things, to believe that which is called the church; and that it is certain we must believe God in all things, and yet neither know all that either God hath revealed or the church taught, it is better to take the certain than the uncertain, to believe God rather than man; especially since if God hath bound us to believe men, our absolute submission to God does involve that, and there is no inconvenience in the world this way, but that we implicitly believe one article more, viz., the church's authority or infallibility; which may well be pardoned, because it secures our belief of all the rest; and we are sure if we believe all that God said explicitly, or implicitly, we also believe the church implicitly in case we are bound to it; but we are not certain, that if we believe any company of men whom we call the church, that we therefore obey God, and believe what he hath said. But, however, if this will not help us, there is no help for us, but good fortune or absolute predestination; for by choice and industry, no man can secure himself, that, in all the mysteries of religion taught in Scripture, he shall certainly understand, and explicitly believe, that sense that God intended. For to this purpose considerations.

there are many

4. First; There are so many thousands of copies, that were written by persons of several interests and persuasions,— such different understandings and tempers,-such distinct