of which the most populous were at Jerusalem, Antioch, Rome, and Alexandria: and though they were all dispersed abroad the world, and out of the reach of mutual converse, yet did they never disagree in their doctrine in the smallest point; but proceeded through sufferings in unity and holiness, in the work of saving souls, till most of them were put to death for the sake of Christ, having left the churches under the government of their several pastors, according to the will of Christ.m

This is the abstract of the history of the holy Scriptures.

Sect. 14. The sum of the doctrine of Christianity is contained in these articles following, consisting of three general heads : I. Things to be known and believed. II. Things to be willed, and desired, and hoped. III. Things to be done.

1. I. There is one only God in essence, in three essential principles, power, understanding, and will; or omnipotency, omniscience, and goodness; in three substances or persons,―the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who is a Mind, or Spirit, and therefore is most simple, incorruptible, immortal, impassionate, invisible, intactible, &c.; and is indivisible, eternal, immense, necessary, independent, self-sufficient, immutable, absolute, and infinite in all perfections: the principal efficient, dirigent, and final Cause of all the world: the Creator of all, and therefore our absolute Owner, our supreme Ruler, and our total Benefactor, and Chief Good and End."

2. God made man for himself; not to supply any want of his own, but for the pleasing of his own will and love, in the glory of his perfections, shining forth in his works: in his own image; that is, with vital power, understanding, and free-will, able, wise, and good, with dominion over the inferior creatures, as being in subordination to God, their Owner, their Governor, and their Benefactor and End. And he bound him by the law of his nature to adhere to God, his Maker; by resignation, devotion, and submission to him as his Owner, by believing, honouring, and obeying him as his Ruler; and by loving him, trusting and seeking him, delighting in him, thanksgiving to him, and praising him, as his grand Benefactor, chief Good, and ultimate End, to exercise charity and justice to each other; and to govern all his inferior faculties by reason according to

m Acts per tot.

1 Cor. viii. 4, 6; Matt. xxviii, 19; 1 John v. 7; 1 Tim. i. 17; Psalm cxxxix. 7—9, and cxlvii. 5; Isa. xl. 17; 1 Tim. vi. 16; Mal. iii. 6; Jam. i. 17; Neh. ix. 6; Rev. iv. 8; and xv. 3; Exod. xxxiv. 6, 7; Ezek. xviii. 4; Psalm xlvii. 7; cxix. 68, and cxlv. 9.

his Maker's will, that he so might please him, and be happy in his love and, to try him, he particularly forbade him to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, upon pain of death."

3. Man being tempted by Satan to break this law of God, did believe the tempter, who promised him impunity, and advancement in knowledge, and who accused God as false in his threatening, and as envying man this great advancement; and so, by wilful sinning against him, he fell from God, and his uprightness and happiness, under the displeasure of God, the penalty of his law, and the power of Satan; and hence we are all conceived in sin, averse to good, and prone to evil, and condemnation is passed upon all, and no mere creature is able to deliver us.P

4. God so loved the world, that he gave his only son to be their Redeemer, who, being the eternal Wisdom and Word of God, and so truly God, and one in essence with the Father, did assume our nature, and became man, being conceived by the Holy Spirit, in the Virgin Mary, and born of her, and called Jesus Christ; who, being holy and without all sin, did conquer the tempter and the world, fulfilling all righteousness. He enacted and preached the law or covenant of grace, confirming his doctrine by abundant, uncontrolled miracles; contemning the world, he exposed himself to the malice, and fury, and contempt of sinners, and gave up himself a sacrifice for our sins, and a ransom for us, in suffering death on a cross, to reconcile us to God. He was buried, and went, in soul, to the souls departed; and the third day he rose again, having conquered death; and, after forty days, having instructed and authorised his apostles in their office, he ascended up into heaven in their sight, where he remaineth glorified, and is Lord of all; the Chief-Priest, and Prophet, and King of his church, interceding for us, teaching and governing us by his Spirit, ministers, and word.q

• Prov. xvi. 4; Gen. i. 26; Deut. xxx. 19; Col. iii. 10; Eccles. vii. 29: Psalm viii. 5, 6; Mark xii. 30, 33; Deut. vi. 5; x. 12, and i. 32; Gen. ii. 16, 17; Rom. vi. 23. See an exposition of the Creed briefly in Isidor. ' De Eccles. Offic.' (1. 2, c. 23, p. 222.) Of the original of the Creed, see Vossius 'De Symbol.' and Parker De Descensu ad Inferos.' Of the several Creeds of the Eastern and Western churches, see Usher, 'De Symbolis.'

P Gen. iii.; Jolin viii. 44; Rom. v. 12, 17, 18; Gen, iii. 16, 17; Rom. iii. 9, 19, 23, and vi. 23; Acts xvi. 18; Eph. ii. 2; Heb. ii. 14; Psalm li. 5; Rom. v. xii; Eph. ii. 2, 3, 5; Isa. xlviii. 4; Job. xiv. 4, and xxv. 4; Gen. vi. 5; Hos. xi. 7; Rom. v. 18, 19; Rom, v. 6, 10; Acts iv. 12.

a John iii. 16, 17, and iv. 42; 1 John ii. 2; Rom. ix. 5; ji. 5; Heb. ii. 14, 16; Luke i. 27, 31, 35; Matt, i, 20, 21; iv.; Heb. vii, 26, Matt. iii. 15; Acts ii. 22; Heb. ii. 3, 4,

John x.30; 1 Tim. Heb. iv. 15, Matt. ix. 26,, and x. 12;

5. The new law and covenant which Christ hath procured, made, and sealed, by his blood, his sacraments, and his Spirit, is this: That to all them who, by true repentance and faith, do forsake the flesh, the world, and the devil, and give up themselves to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, their Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, he will give himself in these relations, and take them as his reconciled children, pardoning their sins, and giving them his grace, and title to everlasting happiness, and will glorify all that thus persevere; but will condemn the unbelievers, impenitent, and ungodly, to everlasting punishment. This covenant he hath commanded his ministers to proclaim and offer to all the world, and to baptise all that consent thereunto, to invest them sacramentally in all these benefits, and enter them into his holy catholic church.”

6. The Holy Spirit, proceeding from the Father and the Son, did first inspire and guide the prophets, apostles, and evangelists, that they might truly and fully reveal the doctrine of Christ, and deliver it in Scripture to the church, as the rule of our faith and life; and by abundance of evident, uncontrolled miracles and gifts, to be the great witness of Christ, and of the truth of his holy word.s

7. Where the Gospel is made known, the Holy Spirit doth by it illuminate the minds of such as shall be saved, and opening and softening their hearts, doth draw them to believe in Christ, and turneth them from the power of Satan unto God; whereupon they are joined to Christ the Head, and into the holy catholic church, which is his body, consisting of all true believers, and are freely justified and made the sons of God, and a sanctified, peculiar people unto him, and do love him above all, and serve him sincerely in holiness and righteousness, loving and desiring

1 Tim. ii. 6; Eph. ii. 16; 1 Cor. xv. 3, 4; Luke xxiii. 43; Psalm xvi. 10; 1 Pet. iii. 18, 19; 2 Tim. i. 10; Heb. ii. 14; Acts ii. 24, 29, and iii.; Rom. ix. 5; Heb. vii. 24; Acts ii. 36, and x. 36; Heb. viii. 2, and x. 21; Acts iii. 23, and v. 31; Heb. vii. 25; Rom. viii. 34; Eph. iv. 8, 11–13; Rom. viii. 9; 1 Thess. v. 12.

* Heb. ix. 15; John i. 12, and iii. 16; Acts xxvi. 18; Gal. v. 6; Acts xi 18; iii. 19, and xx. 21; Rom. viii. 1, 13; Mark iv. 12; Rom. viii. 16, 17; Gal. iv. 6; John iii. 6; 1 Cor. vi. 17; Rom. viii. 9; Eph. ii. 18, 22; Rev. ii. and iii.; Col. i. 22, 23; Heb. iv. 1; Mark xvi. 16; John iii. 3, 5, 36; Heb. xii. 14; 2 Thess. i. 8, 9, aud ii. 12; Luke xiii. 3; Matt. xxviii. 19; Mark xvi. 15, 16; 2 Cor. v. 19; John vi. 37, and x. 28, 29.

Johu xiv. 26, and xv. 26; 1 Pet. i. 10-12; 2 Pet. i. 21; 2 Tim. iii. 16; John xi. 13; Eph. iii. 3, 5, and ii. 20; Isa. viii. 20; Rev. xxii. 18, 19; 1 Tim. vi. 14; Luke xvi. 29, 31; Acts ii. 22; v. 32, and xix. 11, 19; Heb. ii. 3, 4 ; Gal. iii. 1-3; John xiv. 12, and iii. 2; 1 Cor. xiv.

the communion of saints, overcoming the flesh, the world, and the devil, and living in hope of the coming of Christ, and of everlasting life.t

8. At death, the souls of the justified go to happiness with Christ, and the souls of the wicked to misery; and at the end of this world the Lord Jesus Christ will come again, and will raise the bodies of all men from the dead, and will judge all the world, according to the good or evil which they have done; and the righteous shall go into everlasting life, where they shall see God's glory, and, being perfected in holiness, shall love, and praise, and please him perfectly, and be loved by him for evermore, and the wicked shall go into everlasting punishment with the devil."

II. According to this belief, we do, deliberately and seriously, by unfeigned consent of will, take this one God, the infinite Power, Wisdom, and Goodness, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for our only God, our reconciled Father, our Saviour, and our Sanctifier, and resolvedly give up ourselves to him accordingly; entering into his church, under the hands of his ministers, by the solemnisation of this covenant, in the sacrament of baptism. And in prosecution of this covenant, we proceed to stir up our desires, by daily prayer to God, in the name of Christ, by the help of the Holy Spirit, in the order following: 1. We desire the glorifying and hallowing of the name of God, that he may be known, and loved, and honoured by the world, and may be well pleased in us, and we may delight in him, which is our ultimate end: 2. That his kingdom of grace may be enlarged, and his kingdom of glory, as to the perfected church of the sanctified, may come; that mankind may more universally subject themselves to God, their Creator and Redeemer, and be saved by him: 3. That this earth, which is grown too like to hell, may be made more like to the holy ones in heaven, by a holy conformity to God's will, and obedience to all his laws, denying and mortifying their own fleshly desires, wills, and minds: 4. That our natures may have necessary

* Acts xxvi. 17, 18; Rom. viii. 9-11; Acts xvi. 14; John vi. 44; Ezek. xxxvi. 26; Gal. v. 22; Col. ii. 19; Eph. v. 30-32, and iii. 17; 1 Cor. xii. 12, 13, 27; Rom. iii. 24, and iv. 24; John i. 12; Tit. ii. 14; Rom. v. 5; Matt. x. 37; 1 Cor. vi. 11; Luke i. 75; 1 John iii. 14; 1 Pet. i. 22; Acts xxiv. 2; Gal. v. 17, 24; 1 John ii. 15; 1 Cor. i. 7; 2 Pet. iii. 11, 12; Tit. i. 2, and iii. 7; Luke xxiii. 43, and xvi. 22; 2 Cor. v. 1, 8; Phil. i. 23; 2 Pet. iii. 19; Luke xvi. 28; Acts i. 11.

u 1 Cor. xv.; John v. 22, 29; Matt. xxv.; 2 Cor. v. 10; Matt. xxv., and xiii 41, 42, 43; 2 Tim. iv. 8, 18; 2 Thess. i. 8-10, and ii. 12; John xvii. 24.

support, protection, and provision, in our daily service of God,
and passage through this world, with which we ought to be
content: 5. That all our sins may be forgiven us, through our
Redeemer, as we ourselves are ready to pardon wrongs: 6. That
we may be kept from temptations, and delivered from sin and
misery, from Satan, from wicked men, and from ourselves:
concluding our prayers with the joyful praises of God, our
Heavenly Father, acknowledging his kingdom, power, and glory,
for ever. *

III. The laws of christian practice are these: 1. That our
souls do firmly adhere to God, our Creator, Redeemer, and
Sanctifier, by faith, love, confidence, and delight; that we seek
him by desire, obedience, and hope; meditating on himself,
his word and works of creation, redemption, and sanctification,
of death, judgment, heaven, and hell; exercising repentance,
and mortifying sin, especially atheism, unbelief, and unholiness,
hardness of heart, disobedience, and unthankfulness, pride,
worldliness, and flesh-pleasing; examining our hearts, about
our graces, our duties, and our sins; watchfully governing our
thoughts, affections, passions, senses, appetites, words, and
outward actions; resisting temptations, and serving God with
all our faculties, and glorifying him in our hearts, our speeches,
and our lives. y

2. That we worship God according to his holiness, and
his word, in spirit and truth, and not with fopperies and
imagery, according to our own devices, which may dishonour
him, and lead us to idolatry.

3. That we ever use his name with special reverence,
especially in appealing to him by an oath; abhorring pro-
faneness, perjury, and breach of vows and covenants to God.

* Luke xv. 21; Acts ii. 37, and iii. 19; Rom. viii. 13; Luke xiv. 33; 1
Thess. i. 9; Exod. xx. 3; Deut. xxvi. 17; Josh. xxiv. 16, 26; 2 Cor. viii. 5;
John xvii. 3; 1 Cor, viii. 6; 2 Cor. vi. 17, 18; 1 John i. 3; Eph, iv. 5, 6;
John xiv. 6; Luke v. 14, and xiv. 26; Acts ix. 6; Rom. vi. 13, 16; Luke xix.
27; John iii. 10; Matt. xxviii. 19; Eph. ii. 18, 22, and i. 13, 14, 18; Rom.
viii. 9, 13, 16, 26; 1 Cor. ii. 10; Eph. ii. 18, 22, and iii. 5, 16; 2 Cor. i. 22, and

v. 5;

See the Lord's Prayer.

Isa. xliv. 3-5; Rom. xv. 6.
The Ten Commandments. Jude 21; Gal, v. 22; Luke x. 27; 1 Tim. iv.
7; Isa. Ixiv. 7; Acts xxiv. 16; Col. iii. 5; Rom. viii. 13; Heb. iii. 11, 13;
Matt. xv. 18, 19; Luke xii. 15; Rom. xiii. 13, 14; 1 Cor. iii. 18; 2 Pet. i. 10;
2 Cor. xiii. 5; Gal. vi. 3, 4; Psalm iv. 4; civ. 34; i. 2, and cxix. 97, 99; Gen.
̧xxiv. 63; Eph. iii. 18, 19; Psalm xc. 12; Luke xii. 36; 2 Pet. iii. 11, 12;
Luke xxi. 36; Psalm cxli. 1; 1 Cor. x. 12; Psalm xxxix. 1; Prov. iv. 23; Eph.
vi. 10, 19; 1 Pet. v. 9; Jam. iv. 7; Psalm xxxiv. 3, and cxlv. 2; 1 Thess. iii.
17; Phil. iv. 6.