The Articles of the Christian Faith Contained in the Apostles' Creed

by Henry Bullinger

Table of Contents

THE APOSTLES' CREED, Art. 1-4

Article 1 - I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.

Article 2 - And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.

Article 3 - Which was conceived by the Holy Ghost; born of the virgin Mary.

Article 4 - He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried: he descended into hell.

THE APOSTLES' CREED, Art. 5-8.

Article 5 - The third day he rose again from the dead.

Article 6 - He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty.

Article 7 - From there he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

Article 8 - I believe in the Holy Ghost.

THE APOSTLES' CREED, Art. 9-12.

Article 9 - The holy catholic church, the communion of saints

Article 10 - The forgiveness of sins.

Article 11 - The resurrection of the flesh.

Article 12 - And life everlasting.

THE APOSTLES' CREED, Art. 1-4.

OF THE FIRST ARTICLES OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH

CONTAINED IN THE APOSTLES' CREED.

IN my two last sermons I treated true faith and its effects; and among the rest, in one place I said that the articles of the Christian faith are a brief summary of true faith, as it were. Therefore, I think it is not beside the purpose now, and it is part of my duty, to lay before you those TWELVE ARTICLES of our belief. For they are the substance and matter of true faith, in which faith is exercised. Because it is the ground of things hoped for, it is plainly and briefly declared in these articles, what things are to be hoped for. But let no man at present look for the busy and full discourse of the articles of our faith from my hand. I will go through them only briefly, touching only the most necessary points. They are handled more at large in another place, by its several parts. Pray with me to the Lord, that he will grant to show to us his ways, to guide and preserve us in them, to the glory of his own name, and to the everlasting salvation of our souls.

First, I have to say something touching the common name by which the articles of our faith are usually called the Symbol or Creed of the Apostles. A symbol is the same as a conferring together, or a badge.  The articles are called a conferring together because, by laying together the apostles' doctrine, they were made and written to be a rule and an abridgement of the faith preached by the apostles, and received by the catholic or universal church. But what he was, who first disposed and wrote these articles, is not known, nor is it left in writing by the holy scriptures. There are some who attribute it to the apostles themselves and therefore they call it by the name of the Apostles' Creed. St. Cyprian, the martyr, in his exposition of the Apostles' Creed, says,

"Our ancestors have a saying that, after the Lord's ascension, when by the coming of the Holy Ghost the fiery tongues sat upon every one of the apostles — so that they spoke both diverse and sundry languages, whereby there was no foreign nation nor barbarous tongue to which they did not seem sufficiently prepared to pass by the way — they had a commandment from the Lord to go to all nations to preach the word of God.

When they were therefore ready to depart, they laid down among themselves a platform of preaching for them all to follow, lest perhaps, being severed from one another, they preached different things to those who were converted to the faith of Christ. Therefore, being there all together, and replenished with the Holy Ghost, they gathered everyone's several statements in one, and made that breviary (as I said) to be a pattern by which to frame all their preachings, appointing it as a rule to be given to those who would believe."

This is what Cyprian says. But whether they were of the apostles' own making or not, or others made them (the apostles' disciples), it is yet very well known that the very doctrine of the apostles is purely contained and taught in them. These twelve articles are also called a badge, because by that sign, as if it were a badge, true Christians are discerned from false.

Now I will declare what order I will use in expounding them to you. This whole breviary, or abridgement of faith, may be divided into four parts; so that the three first parts make manifest the mysteries of the three Persons in one Godhead; and the fourth part lays out the fruits of faith, that is to say, what good things we look for by faith, and what good things God bestows on those who put their trust in Him.

And yet, notwithstanding, I will proceed orderly in this, so that the twelve articles are placed or set down.

Article 1

THE FIRST ARTICLE of Christian faith is this: "I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth." And this first article of the Creed contains two especial points. For first we say generally, I believe in God; and then we descend particularly to the distinction of the Persons, and add, the Father Almighty. For God is one in substance, and three in Persons. Therefore, understanding the unity of the substance, we say plainly, I believe in God. And again, keeping and not confounding the Persons, we add, In the Father Almighty, In Jesus Christ his only Son, and in the Holy Ghost. Let us therefore believe that God is one, not many, and pure in substance; but he is three in Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. For in the law it is written, "Hearken, Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord." Deu 6.4 And again, in the gospel we read that the Lord says, "Baptize them in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Mat 28.19

By the way, this is singularly to be marked by us: that when we pray, we say, "Our Father which is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread;" but when we confess our belief, we do not say, We believe, but "I believe." For faith is required of every one of us, for every particular man to have without dissimulation in his heart, and to profess it with his mouth without double-meaning. It was not enough for Abraham to have faith for all his seed; nor will it avail you anything for another to believe, if you yourself are without faith. For the Lord requires faith of every particular man for himself. This is why, as often as we confess our faith, every one of us by himself says, "I believe." But I have declared already in my fourth sermon, what it means to believe.

It follows in the confession, "I believe in God." God is the object and foundation of our faith, as He that is the everlasting and chief goodness, never weary, but always ready at our need. We therefore believe in God — that is to say, we put our whole hope, all our safety, and ourselves, wholly into his hands, as the One who is able to preserve and bestow on us all things that are requisite for our benefit.

Now it follows that this God, in whom we rest, and to whose tuition we all commit ourselves, is "the Father Almighty." Our God is therefore called Father, because from before all beginning he begat the Son like himself. For the scripture calls God, "the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." The apostle says, "He is the brightness of the glory of God, and the living image of the substance of the Father: to whom he said, You are my Son, this day I have begotten you." And again, "I will be his Father, and he shall be my Son." Heb 1.3, 5

Also, God is called Father in respect to the likeness that he has with our earthly father — namely, because of our creation, the favour, love, good-will, and carefulness with which He is affected towards us. For God has created us, God loves us, God regards our affairs, and is careful for us — yes, and more exceedingly than any earthly father. For David says, "Even as the father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear him: for he knows our estate, remembering that we are but dust." Psa 103.13-14

Isaiah also, in his 49th chapter, says, "Can a woman forget her own infant, and not pity and be glad over the son of her own womb? But admit it, she forgets; yet I will not forget you." In this, God's good-will is declared toward us. And we, confessing that God is our Father, also profess that God is both gentle, liberal, and merciful to us; He wishes us all things that are available for our health; and He purposes nothing toward us but that which is good and wholesome; and last of all, that from His hand we receive whatever good we have, either bodily or spiritually.

God is called Almighty, because by his might he can do all things; because he is Lord of all things, and has all things subject to his commandment. For the same cause also, He is called the Lord of hosts. Heaven, earth, and whatever is in them — stars, all elements, men, angels, devils, all living creatures, all things created — are in the power of the most high and everlasting God. Whatever he commands, they do: nothing is able to withstand his will.

What he wills, must of necessity be done; and he also uses these things even as his own will and pleasure is, and as his justice and man's salvation require. First we confessed that God wills us well; and now we acknowledge that whatever he wills, he is able to bring that to pass. For we say that God is Almighty. That is, there is nothing he cannot do, which is profitable and necessary for us, as he is Lord of all and our strong helper.

But that God is our good Father — liberal, gentle, merciful, strong, almighty, Lord of all, and our defender and deliverer — is to be seen by his wonderful works. For he is the "maker of heaven and earth." And in the making of heaven and earth, he has declared the great love that he bears toward mankind. For when as yet they were not, nor were able, with deservings and good turns, to provoke God to do them any good, then God — first, and of his own mere and natural goodness — made heaven and earth a most excellent and beautiful palace, and gave it to them to dwell in, putting under man's dominion all the creatures of this whole world. But how great the power was that he showed in making all these things, is evident by this: "He spoke the word, and they were made; He commanded, and they were created." If you were to break into parts, and severally examine what he made in those six days — in what order, with what beauty, to how great a commodity of mankind, and finally, how almost with no labour at all, he brought them all forth, as it is written at large by Moses in the first chapter of Genesis — you would be compelled to be amazed at the good will and power of God. And yet, by the way, we must think the Creator of all things, to be such a one that by his Son — that is, by his eternal Wisdom — he has created all things both visible and invisible; Col 1.16 yes, and that was from nothing too. And moreover, at this very time he sustains, nourishes, rules, and preserves all things by his everlasting Spirit, without which everything would presently fall to ruin, and come to nothing. Therefore, in this we also confess the providence of our eternal God, and his exceedingly wise government.

And thus in this first part, I have declared to you that which is proper to the Father. For he is a Father; indeed, he is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our Father also, being Lord of all things, maker of heaven and earth, governor and preserver of all things, by whom all things are, and in whom all things consist; who from before all beginning begot the eternal Son, equal with the Father, being of one substance, power, and glory with the Father, by whom also he made the world. From both of them proceeds the Holy Ghost, as David witnesses, and says, "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all the host of it." Psa 33.6

Now follows the second part, in which are contained all the mysteries of Jesus Christ our Lord, the Son of God.

Article 2

For THE SECOND ARTICLE of the Christian faith is thus word for word: "And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord." This article also comprehends two things: the first is that we believe in the Son of God; the second, what the Son of God is. For we confess that we believe; that is, we put our whole hope and confidence of life and salvation in the Son as well as in the Father. And therefore we say plainly, "I believe in Jesus Christ," even as before we said, "I believe in God," etc. For the Lord Jesus himself, in the fourteenth chapter of John, says, "Let not your heart be troubled: you believe in God, believe also in me." Again, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent." Joh 6.29 And again, "This is eternal life, to know you, the only true God, and him whom you have sent, Christ Jesus." Joh 17.3

Moreover, in the gospel of St, John, we read that the Lord said, speaking to the blind man whose eyes he opened, "Do you believe in the Son of God?" And the blind man, having received his sight, replied, "Who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him?" To this the Lord replied, "You have seen him, and it is he that talks with you." And then, again, the blind man said, "I believe, Lord;" and with that, he worshipped him. Joh 9.35-38

Therefore let us also believe and worship; let us believe that Jesus is the very Son of God the Father, being of one power with the Father, although in Person he differs from the Father. Testifying of this, David says, "The LORD said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand," etc. Psa 110.1

But if we declare at large, who that Son of God is, in whom we believe, then we must note three things especially. The first is that he is called the only Son. If he is the Son indeed, and the Son of God too, then his nature and substance are a divine nature and substance. For in this signification the apostle calls him, "the brightness of the glory of the Father, and the living image of His substance." The holy fathers say very well, therefore, that the Son is of the same substance and being with the Father. To which this belongs: that he is called the only Son: and in another place, the only-begotten and first-begotten Son. For we also are called sons, not by participation of nature, or likeness of substance, or naturally, but by adoption. And therefore the Jews were not offended because he called himself the Son of God, in the sense that all the faithful are called (and are) the sons of God — but because they perceived that he more extolled himself in saying that he is the natural Son of God, equal to God, and God himself. For thus we read in the fifth chapter of John, "Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Jesus; not only because he had broken the sabbath, but he also said that God was his Father, and made himself equal with God." Joh 5.18 Again, where the Lord said in the tenth chapter, "I and my Father are one; then the Jews took up stones to stone him with. But Jesus answered, Many good works I have done for you; for which of them do you stone me?" To which the Jews replied, "For your good works' sake we do not stone you, but for your blasphemy, and because you, being a man, make yourself God." Joh 10.32-33 These are most evident testimonies of the natural Godhead of Christ, which whoever does not believe, he does not have the Father. 1Joh 2.23 For he that honours the Son, honours the Father; Joh 5.23 and he that is without the Son does not have the Father: and unless the Son were God by nature, he could not be the Saviour of the world.

Now the second thing to be marked is that the name of the only-begotten Son of God is revealed, and he is called "Jesus Christ." The name is expressly set down, that we may know who it is in whom we believe, lest perhaps we might be deceived in the person. It is Jesus. This name was given to him by God's appointment from heaven, even as it was prefigured in duke Joshua and in Jesus the high priest.

The angel says in the gospel of St. Matthew, instructing Joseph, "Mary shall bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. For he shall save his people from their sins." Mat 1.21 So then, this Son of God, Jesus, is the Saviour of the world, who forgives sins, and sets us free from all the power of our adversary the devil — which truly he could not do unless he were very God. He is also called Christ, which is the same as saying, Anointed. The Jews call him Messiah; this word is a title proper to a kingdom or priesthood. For those of old usually anointed their kings and priests. They were anointed with external or figurative ointment or oil. But very Christ was anointed with the very true ointment, that is, with the fulness of the Holy Ghost, as seen in the first and third chapters of St. John. Most properly, therefore, this name Christ is attributed to our Lord. For, first, he is both King and Priest of the people of God. Then the Holy Ghost is poured fully, by all means and abundantly, into Jesus from whom, as if he were a living fountain, it flows into all the members of Christ. For this is like Aaron, upon whose head the oil was poured, "which ran down to his beard, and the furthermost skirts of his garment;" Psa 133.2 for "of his fulness we have all received." Joh 1.16

The last thing that is to be noted now in this second article, is that we call the Son of God "our Lord." The Son of God truly is properly called our Lord for two causes: first, in respect to the mystery of our redemption. For Christ is the Lord of all the elect, whom he has delivered from the power and dominion of Satan, sin, and death, and has made them a people of his own getting, for himself. 1Pet 2.9 This similitude is taken from lords, who with their money buy slaves for their use; or who in wars reserve captives whom they might have slain; or who deliver condemned men from present death. So by this, then, lords are deliverers, redeemers, or saviours as it were.

Truly, Paul alludes to this where he says, "You are bought with a price: do not become (therefore) the servants of men." 1Cor 7.23 And St. Peter says, "You are redeemed, not with gold and silver, but with the precious blood of the unspotted Lamb." 1Pet 1.18-19 Moreover, Christ is called Lord in respect to his divine power and nature, by which all things are in subjection to the Son of God. And because this word "Lord" is of a very ample signification, as that which contains both the divine nature and majesty, we see that the apostles use it very willingly in their writings. Paul says to the Corinthians, "Although there are many lords, we have but one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom all things are, and we by him." 1Cor 8.5-6

Article 3

THE THIRD ARTICLE of Christian faith is this: "Which was conceived by the Holy Ghost; born of the virgin Mary." In the second article we have confessed that we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our Lord. In this we have confessed in a shadow as it were, that we believe assuredly that God the Father has given his Son to the world for us and our salvation, to be a Saviour and Redeemer; for those names Jesus and Lord belong to this. Now, therefore, in this third article I have to declare the manner and order of how he came into the world: namely, by INCARNATION. This article contains two things: the conception of Christ, and his nativity. I will speak of both these in order, after I have briefly declared to you the causes of the Lord's incarnation.

Men were in a miserable taking, and all mankind should utterly have perished for sin, which we have all drawn from the first man Adam: for the reward of sin is death. And for that cause, we who were to be cast into hell, could not enter into heaven, unless the Son of God had descended to us, and becoming "God with us,"  had drawn us into heaven with himself. Therefore, the chief cause of his incarnation is to be a Mediator between God and men, and by intercession, to join or bring into one, those who were severed. For where there is a mediator, there must also be discord and parties. The parties are God and men; the cause of discord is sin. Now the office of the mediator is to bring the disagreeing parties to agreement.

Truly, this cannot be done unless that sin, the cause of this variance, is taken clean away. But sin is neither cleansed nor taken away, unless blood is shed and death follows. Paul testifies to this in his ninth chapter to the Hebrews. The mediator should therefore take on himself our flesh and blood, that he might both die and shed his blood. Furthermore, it is needful that this advocate or mediator, be indifferently common to both the parties whom he has to reconcile. This is why our Lord Christ ought to be very God and very man. If he had been God alone, then he would have been terrible to men, and would have stood them in little stead; if he had been mere man, then he could not have had access to God, who is a consuming fire. Thus our Lord Jesus Christ, being both God and man, was a fit Mediator for both the parties. Witnessing to this, tyhe apostle says, "One God, and one Mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself, the price of redemption for all." 1Tim 2.5-6

The same apostle, in the second and ninth chapters to the Hebrews, says many things belonging to this place. And in the second chapter, repeating another cause of Christ's incarnation, he says, "It became him in all things to be made like his brethren, that he might be merciful and a faithful High Priest in things concerning God, to purge the people's sins. For in that he himself was tempted, he is able to succour those who are tempted." Heb 2.17-18 Another cause for which our Lord was incarnated, was that he might instruct us in all godliness and righteousness; and finally, that he might be the light of the world, and an example of holy life. For Paul says, "The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to us, teaching us to renounce ungodliness, and to live holily." Tit 2.11-12

To conclude: he therefore became one with us by the participation of nature — that is to say, it pleased him to be incarnate for this cause: that he might join us again to God — we who were separated from God for sin — and receive us into the fellowship of himself, and all his other goodness beside.

The next thing for us to declare is the manner of his incarnation. This article of faith stands on two members. The first is, "He was conceived by the Holy Ghost." All we men, Christ excepted, are conceived by the seed of man, which of itself is unclean; and therefore we are born sinners; and Paul says, "We are born the sons of wrath." Eph 2.3 But the body of Christ our Lord, I say, was not conceived in the virgin Mary by Joseph, nor by any seed of man, but by the Holy Ghost. It is not that the Holy Ghost was in place of the seed; for nothing is begotten of the Spirit except what is spiritual. Nor does our Lord have a phantastical body, but a very true body, and of the same substance with us. So then, our Lord was conceived in the womb of the virgin by the Holy Ghost. For the Holy Ghost by his eternal power, brought to pass that the virginity of the mother being uncorrupted, she was made with child, I say, conceived of her blood; and she gave a pure and very human body to the Son of God, as declared at large by the angel Gabriel in the first chapter of St. Luke. I mean to speak of this place more largely elsewhere; for now, I pass it over untouched.

God himself, immediately after the beginning of the world, foretold that such would be the manner of that conception. For he did not say, The seed of the man will tread down the serpent's head, but "the seed of the woman." Gen 3.15 Moreover, the Lord says by the prophets, "I will raise up seed to David." Moses' law for raising up seed for the departed brother is well known. For if the brother died without issue of children, his brother, remaining alive, was compelled to marry the deceased brother's wife, and to beget children by her. These were called and accounted, not by the name of the brother who was living, but by the dead brother. Deu 25.5-6

This is why, when there was not to be found a man of David's line who was sufficiently fit to beget from the virgin the Son of God, the Saviour of the world, God himself raises up seed to David, and by his Holy Spirit, He makes the virgin with child.

Even though she was not with child by a man of David's line, yet because she was a daughter of David's stock, and because God was working it so, she gave substance to the Son of God from her own substance. Thus her child Christ both is, and is called, the Son of David. That argues, moreover, for what David says in Psalm 110.3, "In the mighty power of holiness, the dew of your birth is to you of the womb of the morning;" or "The dew of your birth is to you of the womb of the morning in the mighty power of holiness." That is to say, you shall be born by a certain mighty power of holiness, and marvellous means. For your birth shall be like the engendering of the dew, which comes of the pure morning, as it were, a child born of the womb. For as in the daytime the sun draws a vapour out of the earth, which because of the smallness of the heat which draws it upward, is drawn down again by the coldness of the temperate night-evenings, and resolved into water; so God — that is the Sun of righteousness — took blood from the earth, that is, from the body of the untouched virgin Mary, and by a wonderful means, holily and purely brought to pass, that from her unspotted womb should be born and conceived the most holy Son of God.

The reasons why this conception of the Son of God in the womb of the holy virgin is most pure, are these: He that is conceived in the womb of a virgin, is God; but God is a consuming fire, which cannot take or permit any uncleanness in itself. Another cause is this: God came to cleanse our uncleanness, that is, the uncleanness of men. He truly ought to be exempt from all original spots, and be most holy in all points to the end that, being the only unspotted sacrifice offered up for the sins of the whole world, he might take all the sins of the world clean away. For that which is itself defiled cannot cleanse the defiled thing; rather, the spot or filthiness doubles its uncleanness by coming to that other unclean thing.

The second member of this third article is: He was "born of the virgin Mary." The Lord was born of Mary his mother, yet she was a virgin still. He is therefore very man, who is born of woman. Moreover his birth is pure: for he was born of the virgin, so that together, she was a mother and yet a virgin too.

For Isaiah says, "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bring forth a son." Isa 7.14 A virgin, he says, shall both conceive and bring forth; so that she may nevertheless remain a virgin still. The birth of the Son of God, therefore, is most pure. Also his birth is a true birth, truly and indeed. For he takes flesh from the substance and womb of the virgin. In this signification also, our Lord Jesus Christ is called the Son of David. He could not be called David's son, unless he had taken true human substance from Mary, a maid or daughter of the stock of David. That the apostle John might most properly signify and express this, he says, "The Word was made flesh." Joh 1.14 And the apostle Paul says, "Nowhere does he take on himself the angels, but the seed of Abraham."  And in the same place again, he affirms that the Lord "was made like his brethren in all things, sin excepted." To the Philippians he says, "While he was equal with God, he made himself of no reputation, taking on himself the form of a servant, and made in the likeness of men, and found in figure as a man." Phi 2.6-8 Again the apostle John bears witness and says, "Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, is of God; and every spirit which does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, is not of God." 1Joh 4.2-3 Luke, in his second chapter, has set forth at large the manner of his nativity; and I mean to speak of it elsewhere in full. Let us therefore confess that Jesus Christ was "conceived by the Holy Ghost, and born of the virgin Mary."

Article 4

THE FOURTH ARTICLE of Christian faith is this: "He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried: he descended into hell." In this fourth article is declared the end, use, and chief commodity of the Lord's incarnation. For he became man, that he might suffer and die; and by dying and suffering, he might redeem us from eternal death and the torments of hell, and make us (once cleansed) heirs of life everlasting. For this is the end of the Lord's death, as I will later show you, and as Paul at large declares in the ninth chapter to the Hebrews. This article also is divided into parts.

First, we confess that our Lord suffered indeed, and not phantastically in appearance only; and that he truly suffered the calamities and miseries of this world; and after that, again the torments of the slaughter-men, and of death itself in most bitter pangs. He suffered therefore both in soul and body; yes, and that too in many fashions. For Isaiah says, "He is a man of sorrows, and has felt calamities. He bears our infirmities, and has carried our sorrows." Isa 53.3-4 For the Lord himself also said in the gospel, "My soul is heavy, even unto death." Mar 14.34 But truly he suffered all this for us; for in him there was neither sin, nor any other cause why he should suffer.

Secondly, the time is noted in this article, with Pontius Pilate as the judge under whom the Lord died and redeemed the world from sin, death, the devil, and hell. He therefore suffered during the monarchy of the Romans, under the emperor Tiberius, when (as now) according to the prophecy of Jacob, father of Israel, the Jewish people obeyed foreign kings, because there were no more kings or captains of the stock of Judah to rule over them. For he foretold that the Messiah would come then. Gen 49.10-11 Moreover, what may be thought of this: that the Lord himself, more often than once in the gospel, foreshowed that he would be delivered into the hands of the Gentiles, and be put to death by them?

In the third point of this article, we expressly declare the manner of his death. For we add, "He was crucified," and died on the cross. But the death of the cross, just as it was most reproachful, so it was also most bitter or sharp to be suffered. And yet he took that kind of death upon himself, that he might make satisfaction for the world, and fulfil that which was prefigured from the beginning — that he should be hanged on the tree. Isaac was laid on the pile of wood to be offered up in sacrifice. Moses also stuck the serpent on a stake of wood, and lifted it up to be beheld. And the Lord himself said, "When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to me." Joh 12.32 Finally, he died on the cross, giving up his ghost to God. For he died truly and indeed, as you will immediately perceive where I briefly declare to you what the fruit of Christ's death is.

First, we were accursed because of sin. He therefore took our curse upon himself, being lifted up on the cross, to the end that he might take our curse away, and that we might be blessed in him. Then also, the heritage bequeathed to us by will, could not come to us unless the one who bequeathed it died. Heb 9.16 But God bequeathed it: who became man that he might die, and died according to his human nature, to the end that we might receive the heritage of life. In another place, Paul again says, "Him that knew no sin, God made sin for us, that by him we might be made the righteousness of God." 2Cor 5.21 Our Lord therefore became man, by the sacrifice of himself to make satisfaction for us, when all the sins of the whole world were gathered together and laid on him, as upon a goat for a sin-offering; and by his death he took away and purged them all. So that now, the sole sacrifice of Christ has satisfied for the sins of the whole world. And this truly is the greatest commodity of Christ's death taught everywhere by the apostles of Christ. Next after that, also, the death of Christ teaches us patience and the mortification of our flesh. Yes, Christ works in us by his Spirit, by the participation of himself, so that sin may not reign in us. Touching this, the apostle Paul teaches many things in the sixth chapter to the Romans. The Lord in the gospel says, "If any man would follow me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." Mat 16.24 These, and a few more, are the fruits of the Lord's passion, or the death of Christ, our Lord.

Fourthly in this article is added, "He was buried." For our Lord died truly and indeed upon the cross. The very truth of his death was proved by the soldier, who thrust him through the side. After that, he was taken down from the cross and laid in a sepulchre. In the gospel are expressed the names of those who buried him, Joseph and Nicodemus. There is also shown the manner of how they buried him. The Saviour himself has taught the fruit of this burial in these words: "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless the seed of corn cast into the earth dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it brings forth much fruit." Joh 12.24

Whereupon the apostle exhorts us to be buried with Christ in his death, that we may rise again in the newness of life; Rom 6.4 yes, that we may live and reign with him forevermore. If, therefore, our bodies are also buried at any time, let us not therefore be troubled in mind; for the faithful are buried, that they may rise with Christ again.

The fifth part of this fourth article some put severally by itself, for the fifth article of our faith. For my part, I see no cause why it should be plucked from that which goes before; nor why it should be made a particular article of our faith by itself. The words are these: "He descended into hell." Touching this, there are sundry opinions among the expositors of the holy scriptures. Augustine, in his book De Fide et Symbolo,  neither places these words in the rule of belief, nor yet expounds them. Cyprian says thus: "It is to be known truly, that in the creed of the Latin church, this is not added, He descended into hell; nor yet is this clause received in the churches of the east. Yet the sense of that clause seems to be the same as where it is said, He was buried." This is what he says. So then, Cyprian's opinion seems to be that to descend into hell is nothing other than to be laid in the grave, according to that saying of Jacob: "You will bring my grey hairs with sorrow to hell, or the grave."

But there are some who think this assertion is without lawful proof. For it is not likely that they would wrap a thing that is already plainly spoken once, immediately after in a darker kind of speech. Rather, as often as two sentences are joined together that both signify one thing, the latter is always an exposition of the first.

But in these two statements, "He was buried," and "He descended into hell," the first is plainer, and the latter more intricate. In his ninety-ninth epistle to Evodius, Augustine toils pitifully in this matter.  He writes to Dardanus, de Dei Praesentia, that the Lord went into hell, but that he felt no torment. We would seem to understand this article more agreeably to the truth, if we think the virtue of Christ's death flowed even to those who were dead, and profited them too. That is to say, that all the patriarchs and holy men who died before the coming of Christ, were preserved from everlasting death by the death of Christ; as St. Peter also mentions that "the Lord went in the Spirit, and preached to the spirits who were in prison." 1Pet 3.19

For truly, by the death of Christ they were made to know the sentence of condemnation justly pronounced against them, because when they lived, they did not believe with Noah and those who were with him, in the Saviour who was to come. Or otherwise, by the lower parts, or by hell, we do not understand it to mean the place of punishment appointed for the wicked, but for the faithful who are departed; just as by the higher parts, we understand those who yet remain alive. This is why the soul of Christ descended into hell; that is to say, it was carried into Abraham's bosom, in which all the faithful already departed were gathered together.

Therefore, when he said to the thief who was crucified with him, "This day you shall be with me in paradise," Luk 23.43 he promised him the fellowship of life and of the blessed souls. Touching Abraham's bosom, our Lord spoke at large in the sixteenth chapter of the gospel of St. Luke. For although the Lord is said to have descended, that is just a way of speaking. For otherwise it is evident by Luke, that Abraham's bosom is a place separated a great way from hell, and placed aloft. But to inquire or reason over-curiously about these things, is the point of a curious fool rather than a godly-minded man. We confess in this article, that the souls are immortal, and that immediately after bodily death, they pass to life, and that all the saints from the beginning of the world, being sanctified by faith through Christ, in Christ, and by Christ, they receive the inheritance of life everlasting.

I would add the fifth article to these, but the hour is now already spent. We will therefore defer it to the next sermon. And now let us all together pray to God, our Father who is in heaven, that he will grant us his Spirit to inspire us with that true and quickening faith which is in the Father and Son — in the Father, as the maker of all things; in the Son, as the Saviour of the whole world, who therefore came down from heaven, and was incarnate in the womb of the most holy virgin Mary, to the end he might be the Mediator between God and men, and reconcile or make them one again between themselves; and that he might therewith make an oblation to appease God's justice, and to purge our sins which he bore on his body, indeed, which he took away, and made all the faithful, heirs of life everlasting.

Let us now give praise to the grace of God, and thanks to the Son of God, to whom alone all honour and glory is due for ever and ever. Amen.

THE APOSTLES' CREED, Art. 5-8.

OF THE LATTER ARTICLES OF CHRISTIAN FAITH

CONTAINED IN THE APOSTLES' CREED.

LET us first of all pray to our God, that he will grant us a happy, speedy, and very fruitful proceeding in the declaration of the other articles of Christian belief.

Article 5

THE FIFTH ARTICLE of our belief is: "The third day he rose again from the dead." And this article of our belief, truly, is in a way the chief of all the rest. Neither are the apostles so busily occupied in declaring and confirming the others, as they are in this one. For it would not have been enough if our Lord had only died, unless he had also risen from the dead again. For if he had not risen from the dead, but had remained still in death, who would have persuaded us that sin was purged by the death of Christ, that death was vanquished, that Satan was overcome, and hell broken up for the faithful by the death of Christ? Yes, truly, we have foolish fellows who would never cease to blaspheme the true God, to mock our hope, and say, "Tosh, who ever returned from the dead to tell us whether there is life in another world after this or not, and what kind of life it is? Therefore, because we cannot find any man who ever returned from the dead, it is to be doubted what these babblers tattle, touching the life of the world to come." That the Lord might therefore declare to the whole world, that after this life there is another, and that the soul does not die with the body, but remains alive, he returned the third day to his disciples, alive again. And at that instant, he showed them that sin was purged, death disarmed, the devil vanquished, and hell destroyed. For the sting of death is sin, or the reward of sin is death — the devil has the power of death,  and he shuts men in hell for sins.

Now therefore, in Christ rising alive again from the dead, death could have no dominion over him. And because death is broken by allowing the Lord to pass, it must follow that the devil and hell are vanquished by Christ; and lastly, that sin, the strength and power of them all, is purely purged. It is evident, therefore, that the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, certifies and by seal assures us of our salvation and redemption, so that now we cannot doubt it any longer.

We therefore confess in this article, that our Lord Jesus Christ is risen again, and that he is risen again for our benefit; that is to say, that he has wiped away our sins, and for us he has conquered death, the devil, and hell, according to the saying of the apostle:

"God has saved us, and has called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and favour, which was given to us through Jesus Christ before all beginning, but is declared openly now by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who has truly put out death, and brought forth life, light, and immortality by the gospel." 2Tim 1.9-10

There are many more like this in the fourth chapter of his epistle to the Romans, and in the fifteenth chapter of first Corinthians. For the Lord also says in the gospel of St. John, "I am the resurrection and the life: he that believes in me, although he is dead, shall live; and everyone that lives and believes in me shall not die forever." Joh 11.25-26

Now also let us thoroughly consider every word of this article severally by itself. We confess the Lord's resurrection. But a resurrection means to rise again. That rises, which falls. The body of Christ fell; therefore the body of Christ rises; yes, it rises again — that is to say, the very same body of Christ which both lived and stirred before it fell, now rises again; I say, it both lives and stirs again. For Tertullian said truly about the resurrection of the flesh, that "this word resurrection is not properly spoken of anything, except what first fell. For nothing can rise again except what fell. For we say the resurrection is made by rising again, because it fell; this syllable 're' is never added except when a thing is done again."

This is why the women in the gospel, when they went to anoint the body of the Lord which hung upon the cross, heard the angel of the Lord say, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen," etc. Luk 24.5-6 This history of the Lord's resurrection is set forth in the twenty-fourth chapter of Luke, and the sixteenth chapter of Mark. Peter the apostle, in the second chapter of the Acts, Act 2.25f also affirming the Lord's resurrection by the testimony of David, expressly shows that the Lord is truly risen again.

According to this, we again say that he is risen out of or from the dead; this expresses the truth both of his death and resurrection. For the body or flesh dies, or is destroyed; but being dead, it is raised up again: this body, or flesh, is therefore raised up again. It is as though someone confessing his belief were to say, Our Lord died in the very same condition of nature that other mortal men die; but he did not tarry, nor stick fast among the dead. For the very same mortal flesh which he had taken to himself, and had laid aside by dying, he now takes up again, immortal — as David foretold saying: "You will not leave my soul in hell, nor permit your Holy One to see corruption." Psa 16.10 For Christ is the first-begotten of those who rise again; that in him, as the head, there should be declared what sort of resurrection all Christ's members will have in the day of judgment.

And we confess that this resurrection was made the third day; I mean the third day after his death. For upon the day of preparation Mar 15.42 he is taken down from the cross and carried into a sepulchre, where his body rests the whole sabbath-day. About the beginning of the first day of sabbaths, Joh 20.1 which, I say, is the first day of the week (called Sunday among us today), in the morning, he arose again from the dead.

i.143

In the twelfth chapter of the gospel of St. Matthew, we read that the Lord said, "As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights." Yet notwithstanding, in the sixteenth and twentieth chapters, expounding himself as having spoken that by synecdoche, he says, "I must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the scribes and elders, and be killed, and be raised up again the third day."

Article 6

THE SIXTH ARTICLE of our faith is: "He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty." That body, which is of the same substance as our bodies, taken out of the virgin Mary, and taken truly from the substance of the virgin, and which hung upon the cross, and died, and was buried, and rose again — the very same body, I say, ascended into the heavens, and sits at the right hand of God the Father. For after the span of forty days, our Lord had abundantly enough instructed his disciples touching the truth of his resurrection and the kingdom of God, and was taken up into heaven.

By that ascension of his, he declares to the whole compass of the earth, that He is Lord of all things, and that all things that are in heaven and on earth are subject to him; that he is our strength, the power of the faithful, and the one of whom they have to boast against the gates of hell. For, ascending into heaven, he has led captivity captive; Eph 4.8 and by destroying his enemies, he has enriched his people on whom he daily heaps his spiritual gifts. For he sits above, so that by pouring his virtue from there into us, he may quicken us with spiritual life, and deck us with sundry gifts and graces, and lastly, defend the church against all evils. For God is our Saviour, King, and Bishop. Upon this, as once the Capernaites were offended because the Lord had called himself the bread of life that came down from heaven to give life to the world, he says, "Does this offend you? Then what if you were to see the Son of man ascend there, where he was before?" John 6.61-62

It is as though he said, Then truly you will gather by my quickening, resurrection, and glorious ascension into the heavens, that I am the bread of life, brought down from heaven, and now taken up again into the heavens, there to remain the Saviour, Life, and Lord of heaven and earth. Moreover, St. Peter the apostle in the Acts says, "Let all the house of Israel know for a surety, that God has made the same Jesus, whom you have crucified, Lord and Christ." Act 2.36

Furthermore, he not only rose again from death, and came to his disciples, but he also ascended into heaven as they beheld and looked at him, to the end that we might thereby be assuredly certified of eternal salvation. For by ascending, he prepared a place for us, he made ready the way — that is, he opened the very heavens to the faithful. God has placed in heaven the very humanity that he took of us. This is indeed a living and unreproveable testimony that all mankind shall at the last be translated into heaven also. For the members must be made conformable to the head. Christ, our Head, is risen again from the dead; therefore we, his members, shall also rise again. And even as a cloud took the Lord away from the sight of his disciples, so we who believe, shall be carried in the clouds to meet the Lord, and be whole in soul and body, and forever dwell in heaven with our Head and Lord, Christ Jesus. And John evidently teaches this in his fourteenth chapter, where the Lord says, "I go to prepare a place for you, and will come again to you, and take you to myself, that wherever I am, you may also be." Paul the apostle also witnesses and says, "We who live, and are remaining at the coming of the Lord, shall be carried in the clouds together with those who are raised up from the dead, to meet the Lord in the air." 1The 4.17

We confess in this article, therefore, that Jesus Christ, being taken up into heaven, is Lord of all things, the King and Bishop, the deliverer and Saviour of all the faithful in the whole world.

We confess that in Christ, and for Christ, we believe the everlasting life which we will have in this body at the end of the world, and in soul as soon as we have departed out of this world.

But, by the way, we must now weigh the specific words of this article. We say, "He ascended." I ask, "Who ascended?" He that was born of the virgin Mary, who was crucified, dead, and buried, who rose again from the dead: he (I say) ascended truly, both body and soul. But where did he ascend? Into heaven. Heaven in the scriptures is not always taken in one signification. First, it is put for the firmament, and that large compass that is over our heads, in which the birds fly to and fro, and in which the stars are placed; they are called the furniture and host of heaven. For David says, "God is clothed with light as with a garment: he spreads out the heaven as if it were a curtain." He also says, "I see your heavens, the work of your fingers, and the moon and stars which You have laid." And again, "Who covers the heaven with clouds, and prepares rain for the earth." And again, "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows forth the works of his hands." Then also, heaven is taken for the throne and habitation of God. And lastly, it is taken for the place, seat, and receptacle of those who are saved, where God gives himself to be seen and enjoyed by those who are his. For David says, witnessing again, "The Lord has prepared his seat in heaven." Psa 103.19 Upon this the Lord says in the gospel, "Do not swear by heaven; for it is God's seat." Mat 5.34 And the apostle Paul says, "We know that if our earthly mansion of this tabernacle is destroyed, that we have a dwelling-place forever in heaven, built by God, not made by hands." 2Cor 5.1 And therefore, in this signification, heaven is called the kingdom of God, the kingdom of the Father, joy, happiness, and felicity, eternal life, peace and quietness. And although God is not indeed shut up in any place (for he says, "Heaven is my seat, and the earth is the footstool of my feet" Isa 66.1), yet because the glory of God shines in the heavens most of all, and because he lets himself be seen in heaven and enjoyed by those who are his (according to that saying, "We shall see him even as he is;" 1Joh 3.2 and again, "No man shall see me and live," says the Lord Exo 33.20), God is therefore said to dwell in heaven.

Moreover, Christ our Lord, touching his divinity, is not shut up in any place; but according to his humanity, once taken on, which he drew up into heaven, he is in the very local place of heaven; nor meantime is he here on earth and everywhere bodily. But being severed from us in body, he remains in heaven. For he ascends — which means, leaving what is below, he goes to what is above. Christ therefore, leaving the earth, has placed a seat for his body above all heavens. Not that he is carried up beyond all heavens; but because, ascending above all the circles into the utmost and highest heaven, he is taken, I say, into the place appointed for those who are saved. For Paul the apostle, speaking plainly enough to be understood, says, "Our conversation is in heaven, from where we look for the Saviour to come," etc. Phi 3.20 In the same manner also, Luke the evangelist says, "And blessing them, he departed from them, and was carried into heaven." Luk 24.51

But why do I make so much ado about expounding what is most evidently declared in the very Creed, by that which follows? For the next statement is, "He sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty." By this we understand what kind of place heaven is, and what our Lord does in heaven. Surely it is not for our frailty, to over-narrowly seek out or discuss the secrets of heaven; and yet it is not against religion to inquire about what is taught to us in the scriptures, and to perfectly remember it as it is taught to us. Our Lord is simply said to sit; and that too, is to sit at the right hand of the Father Almighty. Let us therefore see what the right hand of the Father is, and what it means to sit at the right hand of the Father.

The right hand of the Father in the scripture has two significations. First, the right hand of God is the place appointed for those who are saved, and their everlasting felicity in heaven.

St. Augustine set this down to be marked long before us. In the twenty-sixth chapter of his book de Agone Christiano, he writes that "the right hand of the Father is the everlasting felicity given to the saints; even as the left hand is most rightly called the continual misery allotted to the ungodly — not that by this means (as to what I said) the right or left hand is to be understood in respect to God himself, but in respect to his creatures' capacity."  And St. Augustine spoke this according to the scriptures. For David says, "The path of life You shall make known to me: the fulness of joys is in Your sight; and at Your right hand is gladness forever." Psa 16.11 What else is this, if not to say, You will bring me into life, I say, into the very heavens, where I will be filled with joys, both by seeing and beholding You, and also by enjoying You — for at your right hand in eternal blessedness, are joys everlasting.

In the gospel also, we read that the sheep are placed by the Judge at the right hand, and the goats at the left. Mat 25.33 And when the right hand is taken in this sense, then "to sit" signifies to rest from all labours, and to live quietly and in a happy state. For that saying in the prophet is very well known, "A man shall sit under his vine;" Mic 4.4 as if he had said, All things will be at peace, in safety, and at quiet. So then, what I have said is meant by the right hand of the Father. And where we confess that the Son sits at the right hand of the Father Almighty, we acknowledge that our Lord, being delivered from all trouble and mortal infirmities, now in his humanity, both rests and rejoices in the specific local place of heaven, where we believe that both our souls and bodies shall be and live forever. For in the gospel, the Lord himself witnesses that there are many mansions in his Father's house, which he goes to prepare, so that they may have a place. And although he departed, yet he would return to them again, and take them to himself, that where he is, they also might be in the same place with him. Joh 14.2-3

This is why we believe that Christ is at rest in heaven, where he has prepared a place of rest for us also, to remain in joys everlasting. And because our bodies will not be in felicity everywhere, but only in the appointed place, St. Augustine therefore truly says that, "Christ our Lord, according to the measure of his body, is in some one place of heaven." St. Cyprian says, "To sit at the right hand of the Father, is the mystery of his flesh taken up into heaven."

Secondly, the right hand of God is used for the virtue, kingdom, protection, deliverance, and power of God. For David says, "The Lord's right hand is high: the Lord's right hand does mighty things." Psa 118.16 And Moses said: "Your right hand, Lord, is magnified in power: your right hand, O Lord, has broken the enemy." Exo 15.6 And when the right hand is used in this sense, then "to sit" signifies to reign, to deliver, to use power, and to do the office of a prince. For David says, "The LORD said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies your footstool." Psa 110.1 And the prophet Zechariah says, "Behold the man who is called the Branch: he will bud out of his place, and build the temple of the Lord, and sit and rule upon his throne and be a priest upon his seat." Zec 6.12-13 In this sense, the right hand of God is infinite, and not contained in any measure of place. Although we confess that our Lord "sits" at the right hand of the Father, we profess that the Son is exalted above all things, having all things subject under himself, as Paul says in his first chapter to the Ephesians. And finally, the Son, being so exalted, can do all things: he reigns in the universal church, delivers those who are his, makes intercession to the Father in heaven, and in the power of his Godhead, he is present in all places. Therefore, the Creed adds almightiness to this sitting of his, where it is said, "He sits at the right hand of the Father Almighty."

And in St. Matthew the Lord says, "To me is given all might in heaven and on earth: go therefore, and bring all nations to me." Mat 28.18-19

So then, I suppose that I have thus briefly well-declared what manner of place heaven is: namely, a place of quietness, joy, and everlasting felicity, in which the Son of God sits, dwells, and is in his humanity. And we who are the members of Christ, shall also be in the very same place without any dolour and grief, in joy forevermore. And although our Lord is delivered from all grievous business, yet we do not mean that he sits idly leaning on his elbows. For he is a King, a Priest, and very God in the very temple of God: he cannot help but choose therefore, of his natural property and office, to work salvation in the elect, and do all things that lie in his hand to do as God, king, and priest. So then, now we all know what our Lord does as he sits in heaven. Nor is it any trouble at all for him to do and to work what he does; for he does not work out of compulsion, but naturally, and of his own accord.

Thus, and not otherwise, the ancient interpreters of the holy scriptures handled this article of our belief. I will allege some of their testimonies here. St. Jerome, in his exposition of Paul's first chapter to the Ephesians, says:

"He has declared the power of God by the similitude of a man: not because a seat is placed, and God the Father sits on it, having his Son sitting there with him; but because we cannot otherwise conceive how the Son judges and reigns, except by such words applied to our capacity. And therefore, to be next to God or to depart far from him, is not to be understood according to the distance of places, but according to men's merits, because the saints are heard by him, but the sinners (of whom the prophet says, Behold, those who go against You shall perish) Isa 41.11 are removed so far as not to come near Him at all; so likewise, to be either at the right or left hand of God is to be taken in such a way, that the saints are at his right hand, and sinners at his left. As our Saviour himself also says in the gospel, affirming this, that at the right hand are the sheep, and the goats at the left.

Moreover, this very word 'to sit' argues for the power of a kingdom, by which God is beneficial to those on whom he grants to sit; insomuch as truly he rules them, and always has them in his guidance, and turns to his own beck or government, the necks of those who previously ran out of the way at random and at liberty."

St. Augustine, in his book de Fide et Symbolo, says,

"We believe that he sits at the right hand of God the Father. Yet not as though we thought that God the Father is comprehended within the limits of a man's body; so that those who think of him should imagine that he has both a right and a left side. And even though it is said that the Father sits, we must not suppose that he sits with bent hams; lest perhaps we fall into the same sacrilege for which the apostle curses those who have changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the similitude of a corruptible man.For it is a detestable thing to place God in such a likeness in a Christian church. And it is much more wicked to place it in the heart, where the temple of God is truly and indeed, if it is cleansed from earthly desires and error. We must therefore understand that at the right hand is the same as saying in greatest happiness, where righteousness and peace and gladness are; even as the goats are placed at the left hand; that is, where they are in misery for their iniquities, to their pain and torment. Although God is therefore said to sit, this does not mean placing his limbs, but his judicial power, which his majesty never lacks in bestowing worthy rewards on those who are worthy of them;" etc.

The blessed bishop Fulgentius, in his second book to king Trasimundus, says, "The Lord, to show that his humanity is local, says to his disciples, 'I ascend to my Father and to your Father, my God and your God.'" Joh 20.17 And a little after, "Declaring the incomprehensibility of his Godhead, he says to his disciples, 'Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.'"

The blessed martyr and bishop of Trent, Vigilius, in his first book against heresies, says,

"This was to go to the Father, and to depart from us; to take out of this world the nature which he took of us. You see therefore, that it was proper for the same nature to be taken away, and to depart from us, according to the words of the angels who said, 'This Jesus, who is taken up from you, shall come again, even as you see him go into heaven.' Act 1.11 For, see the miracle; see the mystery of both his properties: the Son of God in his humanity is departed from us; but according to his divinity, he says to us, Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the world. If he is with us, then how can he say,

'The time will come, when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and you will not see it'? He is both with us, and not with us; because those whom he has left and departed from in his manhood, he has not left or forsaken in his Godhead."  This is what he says.

Article 7

THE SEVENTH ARTICLE of our faith is this: "From there he shall come to judge the quick and the dead." In the former articles is set forth and confessed the divine goodness, bountifulness, and grace in Christ. Now the divine justice, severity, and vengeance that is in him is also declared. For there are two comings of our Lord Jesus Christ. First, he came basely in the flesh, to be the Redeemer and Saviour of the world. The second time, he will come gloriously in judgment, to be a judge and revenger who will not be entreated against all unrepentant sinners and wicked-doers. And he will come out of heaven, from the right hand of the Father, in his visible and very human body, to be seen by all flesh, with the incomprehensible power of his Godhead, and attended to by all the angels. For the Lord himself says in the gospel, "They shall see the Son man coming in the clouds of heaven with great power and glory, and he shall send his angels with the great sound of a trump," etc. Mat 24.30-31

But now, to "judge" is to sit in the tribunal-seat, to hear and discuss matters, to address strifes, to determine and give sentence, and lastly, to defend and deliver — and again, to chastise and punish, and by that means, to keep under and suppress injury and malice. We therefore believe that our Lord Jesus Christ in that day, will deliver all the godly, and destroy all the wicked, according to the words of the apostle, who says, "Our Lord shall be revealed from heaven with the angels of his power, with a burning flame, and shall lay vengeance on those who have not known God." 2The 1.7-8 Again, "The same just Judge shall give a crown of righteousness to all those who love his coming." 2Tim 4.8

The writings of the evangelists and apostles tell us that the manner of this judgment will be in this way: Once the wickedness of this world comes to the full, and antichrist has deceived the world, so that there is but little faith remaining, and the wicked say, "Peace and quietness;" then a sudden destruction will come. For our Lord, the Judge, will send his archangel to blow the trump, and to gather together from the four winds, all flesh to judgment. Shortly after, the Judge himself will follow, our Lord Jesus Christ, with all the host of heaven. And he will descend out of heaven into the clouds. And sitting aloft in the clouds as in a judgment-seat, he will easily be seen by all flesh. Those who are then living at the Day of Judgment, will be changed in a very prick of time, and stand before the Judge; and all the dead will rise up again in a moment. Then the Judge will divide the sheep from the goats, and according to justice, he will give judgment with the sheep and against the goats, saying, "Come, you blessed," etc., and "Go, you cursed," etc. Execution will follow shortly after. For the sheep will later be caught up into the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and will joyfully ascend with him into heaven, to the right hand of God the Father, there to live forever in glory and gladness. The bottom of the earth will gape for the wicked, and will suck them all up horribly, and send them down to hell, there to be tormented forever with Satan and his angels.

All this will be done, not by any long, troublesome, or changeable process, as is used in our courts of law, but in the twinkling of an eye. For then all men's hearts will be laid open, and every man's own conscience will accuse himself. This is set out more largely in Mat 24 and 25, Wisd. 3 and 5, 1Cor 15, 2Cor 5, 1The 4 and 5, Rom 2, 2Pet 3, etc.

Now we simply confess that the quick and the dead will be judged. Some expound this from the godly and ungodly. But the Symbol or Creed was ordained for the simplest of understanding; and simple things are most fit to teach simple men. Therefore we simply say that the dead are all those who from the beginning of the world, even until the last day, have departed out of this mortal life. And the living are those who at that day will still be alive in this world. For the apostle says, "Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed by the last trump, in a moment of time, and in the twinkling of an eye. For the trump will sound, and the dead will rise again incorruptible, and we will be changed." 1Cor 15.51-52 And again, the same apostle says in another place, "This I say to you in the word of the Lord, that we who will live and be remaining at the coming of the Lord, will not precede  those who are asleep. Because the Lord himself will come down out of heaven with a great noise, and the voice of an archangel, and the trump of God. And first the dead in Christ will rise up again; then we, who are alive and remaining, will be caught up together with them in the clouds into the air to meet the Lord. And so we will be with the Lord forevermore." 1The 4.15-17

We therefore confess in this seventh article, that we believe there will be an end of all things in this world, and that the felicity of the wicked will not endure forever. For we believe that God is a just God, who has given all judgment to his Son, to repay to everyone in that day according to his works, pains to the wicked, that will never be ended; and to the godly, joys everlasting. And so, in this article we profess that we look for a deliverance, a ceasing from troubles, and the reward of life everlasting.

For how could he destroy those who believe in him, his people and his servants? — him who in the most true gospel says, "Truly, I say to you, that you who have followed me, in the regeneration, when the Son of man sits on the seat of his majesty, you also will sit upon twelve seats judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Mat 19.28 There are most certain rewards and penalties appointed for the godly and the ungodly in the word of truth. He cannot lie who said to Isaiah: "Say to the righteous, that it will go well with him; for he shall enjoy the fruit of his study. But woe to the wicked: it will be evil with him; for he shall be rewarded according to the works of his own hands." Isa 3.10-11 And this much touching the second part of the Creed.

Now we have come to the third part.

Article 8

THE EIGHTH ARTICLE of our belief is this: "I believe in the Holy Ghost." This third part of the Creed contains the property of the third Person in the reverend Trinity. And we rightly believe in the Holy Ghost, as well as in the Father and the Son. For the Holy Ghost is one God with the Father and the Son. And faith in the Holy Ghost is rightly joined to faith in the Father and the Son. For by him the fruit of God's salvation, fulfilled in the Son, is sealed to us, and our sanctification and cleansing is bestowed on us, and derived to us from him, by the Holy Ghost. For the apostle says, "God, who anointed us, is the one who also sealed us, and has given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts." 2Cor 1.21-22 And again, "You were indeed defiled with naughtiness; but now you are cleansed, and sanctified, and lastly, justified through the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." 1Cor 6.11 The Father indeed sanctifies too, but by the blood of Jesus Christ; and He pours the same sanctification out of him into us, by the Holy Ghost. So that as it were, it is the property of the Holy Ghost to sanctify; this is why he is called Holy or the Sanctifier. Therefore, so often as we hear the Holy Ghost named, we must then think of the power in working, which the scripture attributes to him; and we must look for the benefits that flow to us from him.

For the power, operation, or action of the Spirit, is whatever the grace of God works in us through the Son; and so, of necessity, we must believe in the Holy Ghost. And in this eighth article we profess that we truly believe that all the faithful are cleansed, washed, regenerated, sanctified, enlightened, and enriched by God with diverse gifts of grace for Christ's sake; yet it is through the Holy Ghost. For without him there is no true sanctification. This is why we should not attribute these gifts of grace to any other means; this glory belongs to the Holy Ghost only, of whom I will more largely and fully discourse in my other sermons.

The hour is spent, which warns me to wrap up briefly and make an end. Therefore I exhort you all to have your faith religiously bent upon the Lord Jesus. For the heavenly Father has sent him to us, and in him He has wholly expressed and shown himself to us; and the Holy Ghost imprints him in our hearts and keeps him in our minds. And in Christ, all man's salvation and every part of it is contained; thus we must beware that we do not derive it from anything else. "It pleased the Father," says the apostle, "that all fulness should dwell in the Son," and in him to recapitulate, and as it were, to summarize all points of salvation, so that in him all the faithful may be fulfilled. For if salvation is sought, then even by his very name we are taught that salvation is in his power: for he is called Jesus, that is, a Saviour. If we desire the Holy Spirit of God and his sundry gifts, we shall find them also in the anointing of Christ. For he is called Christ, the Anointed, I say, the Holy of holies, and the sanctifier, or the anointer of us with his Spirit. If any man needs strength and might, power and deliverance, well, he has to look for it in Christ's dominion; for Christ is Lord of all.

In this same Christ we find redemption: for he has redeemed us, we who were sold under Satan's yoke. In his conception we have purity; in his nativity we have sufferance; for he became like us that he might suffer grief as we do.

For in his passion we have forgiveness of sins; in his condemnation we have absolution; in his offering or cleansing sacrifice we have satisfaction; we have cleansing in his blood; and a universal reconciliation in his descending into hell. In his burial we have the mortification of our flesh, the newness of life, or rather the immortality of the soul; and in his glorious resurrection, we have the resurrection of our bodies. We also have the inheritance of the heavenly kingdom, with the assured sealing of it, in his ascension and in his sitting at the right hand of the Father. And there he is our Mediator, Priest, and King, our safeguard and our head, our defender and most sure rest.

From there he pours into us his Holy Spirit, the fulness of all good things; and he communicates himself wholly to us, joining us to himself with an indissoluble knot. From there, with confidence and joy, we look for him to be our Judge — to be our patron and deliverer, I say — who will condemn and send headlong down into hell, all our enemies with Satan. But he shall take us and all the faithful of every age, up into heaven with himself, there to sing a new song, and to rejoice in him forever. To him be glory forever. Amen.

THE APOSTLES' CREED, Art. 9-12.

OF THE LATTER ARTICLES OF CHRISTIAN FAITH

CONTAINED IN THE APOSTLES' CREED.

LET us call to our Father in heaven, through our Lord Jesus Christ, that he will grant to pour his grace into us, that we may, to no small profit, dispatch and expound the last part of the articles of Christian belief.

Article 9

THE NINTH ARTICLE of faith is this: "The holy catholic church, the communion of saints." After the confession of our belief in the holy Trinity, and in the mystery of the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, and lastly in the Holy Ghost, the sanctifier and restorer of all — now, in the fourth part, is reckoned up the fruit and power, the effect and end of faith; and what comes to the faithful, and is bestowed on them. What comes to them is the communion of God and all saints, sanctification, remission of sins, the resurrection of the flesh, and life everlasting. I will speak of these in the order in which they lie, so far as the bountiful Lord gives me ability.

i.158

Now then, we have to repeat here out of the eighth article, this phrase "I believe." We must say, "I believe the holy catholic church." There are some unlearned, who hold the opinion that in this point of our confession we should say, "I believe in the holy church." The reason that leads them to think so, is this: because they find written this in the Constantinopolitan Creed: "And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord that gives life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who together with the Father and the Son is to be worshipped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets in one catholic and apostolic church." They so distinguish these words that, they repeat "I believe" from the premise, making this the sense of them: "I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord." Even so, they again repeat these words, "I believe," making this to be the sense, "I believe in one catholic and apostolic church."

But this is more than is needed; indeed, they twist these words of the Creed against all godliness. For this phrase, "In one catholic and apostolic church," does not refer to the verb, "I believe," but to the Holy Ghost, because he spoke by the prophets in one catholic and apostolic church. For our meaning is, and we confess, that one and the same Spirit did all things in both Testaments, contrary to the opinion of those who imagined that there were two spirits contrary to one another.

Moreover St. Cyprian says in his exposition of the Apostles' Creed:

"He did not say, In the holy church, nor In the remission of sins, nor In the resurrection of the body. For if he had added the preposition, the force of those clauses would have been the same as the force of what went before.

For in those words in which our belief touching the Godhead is set down, we say, 'In God the Father, in Jesus Christ his Son, and in the Holy Ghost.' But in the rest, where the text is not about the Godhead, but touching the creatures or mysteries, the preposition 'in' is not added such that we would say, 'In the holy church.' Rather the holy church is to be believed, not as we believe in God, but as a congregation gathered together to God; and that the forgiveness of sins is to be believed, not that we ought to believe in the forgiveness of sins; and that the resurrection of the flesh is to be believed, not that we ought to believe in the resurrection of the flesh. So then, by this preposition 'in,' the Creator is discerned from the creatures, and that which is God's is discerned from that which is man's."  This is what Cyprian says.

St. Augustine, in his book de Fide et Symbolo, has, "I Augustine, believe the holy church," not I believe in the holy church."  Also alleged are his words in his epistle ad Neophytos, touching consecration, Distinct. 4, cap. 1: "We did not say that you had to believe in the church, as in God, but understand how we said that, being conversant in the holy catholic church, you should believe in God."

Much more evidently, Paschasius, in the first chapter of his first book de Spiritu Sancto, says,

"We believe the church, as the mother of regeneration; we do not believe in the church, as the author of salvation.

He that believes in the church, believes in man, for man does not have his being from the church, but the church began by man. Therefore, leave this blasphemous persuasion, to think that you have to believe in any worldly creature, since you may not believe either in angel or archangel. The unskilfulness of some has drawn and taken the preposition 'in' from the sentence that goes just before, and put it into the sentence that follows, adding to it also, too shamelessly, something more than is needed."

This is what Paschasius has in that book of his, which St. Gregory the Great, bishop of Rome, liked very well.

What do you say, moreover, to what Thomas of Aquinas says, reasoning about faith, in the second book, Part. ii. Artic, ix. Quest. 1?

"If we say, I believe in the holy church, we must understand, that our faith is referred to the Holy Ghost, which sanctifies the church; and so we make the sense to be thus: I believe in the Holy Spirit, that sanctifies the church. But it is better, and according to common use, not to add at all the syllable 'in,' but to simply say, the holy catholic church, even as pope Leo says."

This is what Thomas has.

So now you have heard the opinions of the ancient doctors of the church, Cyprian, Augustine, Gregory, Paschasius, pope Leo; and also of Thomas of Aquinas, who taught in the latter times. Dearly beloved, you understand by proofs taken out of the canonical scripture, that we must acknowledge and confess the holy catholic church, but not believe in the holy catholic church.

And now we have to see what that is, that is called the church, and what is called the catholic church. Ecclesia, a word which we use for the church, is properly an assembly. It is, I say, where the people are called out, or gathered together, to hear something touching the affairs of the commonweal. In this present treatise, it is the company, communion, congregation, multitude, or fellowship of all who profess the name of Christ. Catholic is the same as saying this fellowship is universal, that it is extended through all places and ages. For the church of Christ is not restrained to any corner among the Donatists in Africa. It stretches itself out through the compass of the world, and to all ages, and it contains all the faithful from the first Adam even to the very last saint that remains before the end of the world. This universal church has her particular churches — I mean, the church of Adam and of the patriarchs, the church of Moses and of the prophets before the birth of Christ, the Christian church, which is so named by Christ himself, and the apostolic church gathered together by the apostles' doctrine in the name of Christ. And finally, it contains particular churches, such as the church of Jerusalem, of Antioch, of Alexandria, of Rome, of Asia, of Africa, of Europe, of the east, of the west, etc.

And yet all these churches — members of one body under their only head Christ (for Christ alone is the head of his church, not only triumphant, but also militant) — make only one catholic church, in which there are not to be found either heresies or schisms. And for that reason, it is called the true church, namely, of the right and true opinion, judgment, faith, and doctrine. For only in the church is true faith [to be found]; and outside the church of God, there is neither any truth, nor yet salvation.

So then, in this article we confess that all the faithful dispersed throughout the whole compass of the earth, and also those who at this time live in heaven (as many, I say, as are already saved, or are born to be saved, even until the end of the world), are one body, having obtained fellowship and participation with God, and a mutual communion among themselves. And because no man can be made one with God unless he is also holy and pure, and as we believe God is holy and pure, we therefore believe the church is holy; that is, that it is sanctified by God the Father in the blood of the Son, and it is the gift of the Holy Ghost. We have heard testimonies enough in the former sermons. Therefore, this one from Paul will be sufficient, which he writes to the Ephesians: "Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it, to sanctify and cleanse it in the fountain of water through the word, to make it a glorious church for himself, not having spot or wrinkle," etc. Eph 5.25-27

By these words we understand that the church is called undefiled and altogether clean, not in respect to itself, but because of Christ. For the church of Christ is so far holy, that every day it goes forward in profiting, and is never perfect so long as it lives on the earth. And yet, notwithstanding, its holiness is most absolutely perfect in Christ. To this truly belongs that notable saying of the Lord, "He that is washed has no need but to wash his feet only, for he is wholly clean." Joh 13.10 For the faithful are purely cleansed by Christ, who washes them with his blood. Yet, because the flesh strives with the spirit so long as life remains on the earth, the godly need to wash and wipe their feet with faith, and the Holy Ghost — that is, they need to wash the relics and spots with which they are stained by their daily conversation in this world.

But now, to what does this addition belong: "The communion of saints"? These words are not to be read either in Cyprian or Augustine, nor yet expounded by them.

Therefore, it is likely that they were added for the better understanding of what went before. That it might appear that the catholic church is the fellowship or company of the faithful, he added, "The communion of saints," as if he had said, "which church is a communion of saints." Paul called saints, those who for their faith are sanctified by the blood and Spirit of God. Also, this word "communion" is very evident and comfortable. For first, its meaning is that there is a communion between God and us; that is, a fellowship and participation; and consequently, there is a sharing between us of all good and heavenly things. And then we also understand that we are fellows and partakers with all the saints who are living either in heaven or on earth: for we are members of them under one head, Christ. For the apostle John says, "That which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us, and that your fellowship may be with the Father, and his Son Jesus Christ." To this pertains that trim similitude of the body and members under one head, which the apostle Paul handles at large indeed. But who can worthily enough set forth the great goodness of God's gift and benefit, in that we are made fellow-partners of God, with whom we are most nearly conjoined, and have a part in all his good and heavenly things? What can be more delightful to our ears than to hear that all the saints, in heaven as well as on earth, are our brethren, and that we again are members, partners, and fellows with them? Blessed be God, who has so liberally bestowed his blessing on us in Christ his Son.

Here belongs the discourse on the sacraments, which (with the church) I mean to treat more fully at another time. For the present time, this is sufficient. For what I have said abundantly enough expresses and sets out the fruit of faith in the Father, the Son, and the holy Ghost: namely, that we have participation with God and all the saints; and that in this fellowship, we are sanctified from all filth or uncleanness, being cleansed and holy in Christ our Lord. Now follows,

Article 10

THE TENTH ARTICLE of our belief is, "The forgiveness of sins." The second fruit or commodity of our belief in God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, is set forth here — and that is, the remission of sins. Although it is contained in sanctification, which was spoken of in the last article, it is, notwithstanding, more lively expressed in this place. There is no salvation without the church, just as there would have been none without the ark of Noah; but in the church, I mean, in the fellowship of Christ and the saints, there is full forgiveness of all offences. That this may be better understood, I will divide it into some parts.

First of all, it is needful to acknowledge and confess that we are sinners, and that by nature and our own proper merits, we are the children of wrath and damnation. For it is not in vain, nor without a cause, that St. John calls every one a liar, who says he has no sin. 1Joh 1.8 And God, who knows the hearts of men, has commanded us even till the last gasp, to pray saying, "Forgive us our debts." Moreover, in the gospel we have two excellent examples of men openly confessing their sins to God: the prodigal son, I say, and the publican in St. Luke.

Let us therefore think that we are all sinners, as Paul also taught; yes, as he has evidently proved in the first chapter to the Romans. And with David in the 32nd and 51st Psalms, let us freely confess our sins to God, saying, "I have made my sin known to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I have said, I will confess my unrighteousness against myself; and You have forgiven the iniquity of my offence." "Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your great mercy," etc. The Psalm is well-known.

Secondly, let us believe that all these sins of ours are pardoned and forgiven by God, not for acknowledging and confessing our sins, but for the merit and blood of the Son of God; not for our own works or merits, but for the truth and mercy, or grace, of God.

For we plainly profess, saying: "I believe the forgiveness of sins." We do not say I buy, nor I get by gifts, nor I obtain by works, the forgiveness of sins — but, "I believe the forgiveness of sins." And the word "remission" or "forgiveness" signifies a free pardoning, by a metaphor taken from creditors and debtors. For the creditor forgives the debtor when he is not able to pay. Therefore, remission is a forgiving according to this saying of our Saviour in the Gospel: "A certain lender had two debtors; and when they were not able to pay, he forgave them both." Luk 7.41-42

To this also belongs that saying in the Lord's prayer: "And forgive us our debts;" for our debts are our sins. We request them to be remitted, that is, to be forgiven us. In this sense also, St. Paul says, "To him that works, the reward reckoned is not of grace, but due as of a debt; but to him that does not work but believes on him that justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness: — even as David describes the blessedness of that man to whom God imputes righteousness without works, saying, 'Blessed are those whose unrighteousnesses are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is that man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.'" Rom 4.4-8 Therefore, in respect to us who do not have the means to repay, our sins are freely forgiven; but in respect to God's justice, they are forgiven for the merit and satisfaction of Christ.

Moreover, it is not only the sins of a few men, of one or two ages, or only a few and certain number of sins, that are forgiven; but the sins of all men, of all ages, the whole multitude of sins, whatever is and is called sin, whether it is original or actual, or any others beside. In short, all sins are forgiven us. We hereby learn this, because the solitary sacrifice of Christ is effectual enough to wash away all the offences of all sinners who by faith come to the mercy-seat of God's grace. Heb 4.16 And yet we do not teach men to sin because the Lord has long since made satisfaction for all sins. But if any man does sin, we teach him to hope well, and not to despair, but to flee to the throne of grace; for there we say that Christ, sitting at the right hand of the Father, is "the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." Joh 1.29

And truly, it is expressly said in the Creed, "I believe the forgiveness of sins," and not of sin. For when we say "of sins," we acknowledge that God forgives all sins. It will be sufficient to let pass the proofs of this out of the 3rd and 5th chapters of Paul to the Romans, and those out of St. John the apostle and evangelist. In his epistle, he testifies saying, "The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from every sin." 1Joh 1.7 Look, he says from every sin. The one who says from every one, makes no exceptions, unless it is that which the Lord himself excepted — I mean, the sin against the Holy Ghost, for which the very same St. John forbids us to pray.

Again, he also says, "If we acknowledge our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all our unrighteousness." 1Joh 1.9 The apostle did not think it was enough to say barely, "To forgive us our sins;" but that he might declare the thing as it is. Indeed, to declare it so plainly that it might be easily understood, he moreover adds this saying: "And to cleanse us from all our unrighteousness." Look, here he again says, "from all unrighteousness." Some caviller might perhaps make an objection, saying, "This kind of doctrine makes men sluggish and slow to amend; for men under the pretence of God's grace will not cease to sin." Therefore, in his 2nd chapter, John answers their objection and says, "Babes, I write these things to you, that you do not sin: and if any man sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And he is the atonement for our sins: and not for our sins only, but also for the sins of the whole world." 1Joh 2.1-2 Therefore it is assuredly true that by the death of Christ, all sins are forgiven those who believe.

Moreover, the Lord alone forgives sins. For it is the glory of God alone to forgive sins, and from unrighteous men, to make them righteous. Therefore, although men are said to forgive sins, which is to be understood of their ministry, and not of their power, the minister pronounces to the people that their sins are forgiven for Christ's sake. And in so saying, he does not deceive them: for God indeed forgives the sins of those who believe, according to that saying, "Whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven them." Joh 20.23 And this is done as often as the word of the gospel is preached — so there is no need to pretend that auricular confession and private absolution at the priest's hand, are necessary for the remission of sins.

For just as auricular confession was not in use among the saints before the coming of Christ, so we do not read that the apostles heard private confession, or used private absolution in the church of Christ. It is enough for us to confess our sins to God who, because he sees our hearts, should therefore most rightly hear our confessions. It is enough if we, as St. James teaches us, confess our faults and offences to one another between ourselves; Jas 5.16 and so, after pardon is asked, we return into mutual favour again. It is enough for us to hear the gospel, promising the forgiveness of our sins through Christ, if we believe. Let us therefore believe the forgiveness of sins, and pray to the Lord that he will grant to give and increase in us this same belief. Of old, and in the primitive church, these things were effectual enough to obtain pardon and full remission of sins. And as they were sufficient then, so they are undoubtedly sufficient today too.

Furthermore, the Lord so pardons our sins, not they should not be in us anymore, nor leave their relics behind, like a sting in our flesh, but that they should not be imputed to us to our damnation. Concupiscence sticks fast and shows itself in our flesh, striving still with the good Spirit of God, even in the holy ones, so long as life lasts on this earth. Here, therefore, we need long watching and much fasting, to draw from the flesh the nourishment of evil, and frequent prayers calling to God for aid, so that we will not be overcome by the evil. And if any man happens to fail out of feebleness, and is subdued by temptation, let him not yield himself by lying still, to be caught in the devil's net. Let him rise up again by repentance, and run to Christ, believing that by the death of Christ, this fall of his shall be forgiven him. And he will have recourse to Christ as often as he is vanquished by concupiscence and sin. All the exhortations of the prophets and apostles shoot for this end, calling on us still to return to the Lord.

Finally, the Lord so forgives our sins, that he will never once remember them again. For so he foretold us by Jeremiah, in his 31st chapter. Jer 31.34 The Lord therefore does not punish us. For he has not only forgiven the fault, but also the punishment due for the sin.

Now then, although the Lord sometimes whips us with his scourges, and whips us for our sins indeed (as the holy scripture plainly declares), he does not do it with the intent that with our affliction we should make satisfaction for the sins we have committed; for then the death of Christ would be of no effect. But the Lord chastises us with whipping; and by whipping us, he lets us understand that he does not like the sins which we have committed, and which he freely forgives. By whipping us, he also makes us examples to others, lest they sin too; and he cuts us off from all occasion for sinning; and by the cross he keeps our patience exercised. I have thus far been touching the forgiveness of sins. I have said something about this in my sermon about faith that justifies, and elsewhere.

Article 11

THE ELEVENTH ARTICLE is this: "The resurrection of the flesh." These two articles, this and the twelfth, enclose as briefly as possible, the most excellent fruit of faith, and sum of all perfection. They wrap up, I say, the end of faith, in confessing life everlasting, and the full and perfect salvation of the whole man. For the whole man shall be saved, in soul as well as body. For as by sin, man perished both in body and soul, so he ought to be restored again both bodily and spiritually. And as he ought to be, so he was restored again by Christ. The soul of man truly is a spirit, and it does not die at all; the body is earthly, and therefore it dies and rots. For this reason, many hold the opinion that the bodies die, never to be made partakers of joy or pain in the world to come. But in this article, we profess the contrary, acknowledging that those bodies of ours, and so too that flesh of ours, shall rise again and enter into life everlasting.

I have spoken of this word "resurrection," or rising again, in the exposition of this article, "The third day he rose again from the dead." But now, this word "flesh" expresses a great deal more significantly the resurrection of this flesh, than if we were to say the resurrection of the body. Cyprian says truly, that in some churches of the east, this article was thus pronounced: "I believe the resurrection of this flesh."

And Augustine also, in the tenth chapter of his book de Fide et Symbolo, says,

"We must without doubting believe that this visible thing which is properly called flesh, shall rise again. The apostle Paul seems to point at this flesh with his finger as it were, when he says, 'This corruptible must put on incorruption. When he says 'this', he puts his finger to this flesh, as it were." This is what Augustine has said.

Moreover, St. Jerome compels John, bishop of Jerusalem, to openly confess the resurrection of the flesh, not of the body only.

"Flesh has one definition, and the body another. All flesh is a body; but every body is not flesh. That which is composed of blood, veins, bones, and sinews is properly flesh. A body, although it is called flesh, is yet sometimes said to be of like substance to the firmament, or to the air, which is not subject to touching or seeing; and oftentimes, it too may be both touched and seen. A wall is a body, but it is not flesh."  This much is taken from Jerome.

Let us therefore believe that men's bodies — which are taken from the earth, and which living men bear about, in which they live and exist, which also die and turn into dust and ashes — that those bodies, I say, are quickened and will live again.

But you ask how this flesh, once resolved into dust and ashes, and so into nothing, can rise again in the former shape and substance: as when it is torn with the teeth of beasts, or consumed to nothing with the flame of fire, and when only a tiny little quantity of dusty powder is to be found in the grave?

I refer you to the omnipotence of God, which the apostle spoke of where he says, "Christ has transformed this vile body of ours, to make it conformable to his glorious body, by the power in which he can make all things subject to himself." Phi 3.21 This is why he that was in the beginning, when there was not yet a man in the world, could bring forth man out of the dust of the earth, although the same man is again resolved into that out of which he was taken — I mean, into earth, as in the saying, "Dust you are, and into dust you shall return again." Gen 3.19 Yet notwithstanding, the same God again, at the end of the world, is able to raise man out of the earth. For the Lord in the gospel says plainly, "The hour shall come in which all those who are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and shall come forth; those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment." Joh 5.28-29 And now by faith we are thoroughly persuaded, as the apostle says, that "he who has promised, is also able to perform." Rom 4.21

There are, moreover, lively examples of this matter, and most evident testimonies from the holy scripture. Jonah is swallowed up by the whale in the Syrian sea, but the third day after, he is cast upon the shore again, alive, out of the beast's entrails. This is a token that the flesh will truly rise again. This is why it is not hard to believe that in the Apocalypse  it is said that "the sea casts up her dead." Rev 20.13

The force of fire had no force to hurt the three companions of Daniel. Indeed, the rage of wild beasts (contrary to nature) abstained from biting Daniel himself. What marvel is it, then, if today neither the force of fire, nor the rage of wild beasts, is able to resist the power of God, being disposed to raise his creatures up again? Did our Lord Christ not raise up Lazarus to life again, when he had lain three days in the grave — yes, and stank too? Did he not himself, having once broken the tyranny of death, rise up again the third day from the dead? Did he not rise again in the same substance of flesh and form of body in which he hung on the cross, and being taken down from the cross, was buried? It is not without good cause that we look back to Christ, who is called the first-begotten among the dead, as often as we think in what manner the resurrection of our flesh shall be. For the members shall rise again in the same order that the Head is risen up before them. Truly, we will not rise again the third day after our death; but in our manner and order, we will rise at the last day — yes, and that too will be in the very same body in which we now live.

I will add a few testimonies to prove the resurrection of our flesh. Job, confessing his faith touching the resurrection of the dead, in his great weakness, affliction, and sickness, says, "I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the last day I shall rise out of the earth, and shall be clad again with my skin, and in my flesh I will see God: whom even I myself will see, and my eyes will behold, and no other. This hope is laid up in my bosom."  This testimony is so evident, that it needs no larger exposition.

No less evident are those testimonies out of Isaiah, chap. 26; Ezek. 37; Psalm 16; Mat 22; John 5, 6, 11. Throughout the Acts, the resurrection of the dead is often repeated. St. Paul, in the fifteenth chapter of his first epistle to the Corinthians, gives a full discourse about this resurrection. In the fourth chapter of his second epistle, he says, "We who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also might appear in our mortal flesh." 2Cor 4.11

See now, what could be spoken more plainly, than that the life of Christ shall be made to appear in this mortal flesh of ours? For a little after, he says, "We know that he who raised up the Lord Jesus, will raise us up also by the means of Jesus." 2Cor 5.14 And in the fifth chapter again: "We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ," he says, "that every man may receive the works of his body, according to what he has done, whether it be good or evil." 2Cor 5.10 Therefore, these very bodies of ours will rise again in the day of judgment.

And now, dearly beloved, I have to declare to you in what manner our bodies will rise again, and of what sort they will be in the resurrection. In the closing and end of all ages, or of this world, our Lord Jesus Christ will come to judgment with great majesty; and then, whomever is found alive that day, will be changed in a moment of time. First (I say) all those who died, from the first Adam to the last who die, shall rise up again, and stand before the tribunal-seat of Christ in their own flesh, among the living who are changed, looking for that final pronounced sentence in judgment. Paul sets this down in these words: "Look, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all truly sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment of time, in the twinkling of an eye, at the sound of the last trump: for it will sound, and the dead will rise again incorruptibly, and we will be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." 1Cor 15.51-53

By this evident testimony of the apostle, we may gather in what fashion our bodies will be in that resurrection. Truly, our bodies shall be none other in the resurrection than they are now; with only this exception: that they will be completely without corruption and corruptible affection. For the apostle says, "The dead will rise again;" and, "We will be changed." And again, pointing expressly and precisely to these very bodies which we bear about here, he says, "This corruptible," this mortal, yes, this body, I say, and no other, as Job also witnessed, "will rise again;" and that will rise again incorruptible, which was corruptible; that will rise again immortal, which before the resurrection was mortal.

So then, this body of ours in the resurrection will be set free from all evil affections and passions, from all corruption; but the substance of it will not be brought to nothing; it will not be changed into a spirit; it will not lose its own proper shape. And this body truly, because of that purification and cleansing from those dregs, yes, and rather because of these heavenly and divine gifts, is called both a spiritual body, and also a glorious and purified body.

For Paul, in the third chapter to the Philippians, says, "Our conversation is in heaven, from where we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will change our vile body, that it may be made like his glorious body." Phi 3.20 See here, the apostle does not call our resurrection from the dead a transubstantiation, or a loss of the substance of our body, but a changing. Then also, showing what kind of body that changed body is, he calls it a glorious body, not without any shape and void of fashion, but augmented in glory. Indeed, he sets before us the very body of our Lord Jesus Christ, in which he shows us what fashion our bodies will have, being in glory. For in plain words he says, "He will make our vile body like his glorious body."

Let us therefore see what kind of body our Lord had after his resurrection. It was not turned into a ghost, nor brought to nothing, nor was it unable to be known by its shape and figure; for showing them his hands and feet which were easily known by the imprint of the nails with which he was crucified, he said, "See, for I am even he," Luk 24.39 — namely, clad again with the same body in which I hung upon the cross. For speaking yet more plainly, and proving that this body of his was not a spiritual substance, he said, "A spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see that I have." He therefore has a purified body, flesh and bones, and the very same members which he had when his body was not as yet purified. And for this reason, the same Lord offered his side to Thomas, Joh 20.27 and the scars of his five wounds, to be felt and handled — to the end that we should not doubt that his very body was raised up again. He both ate and drank with his disciples, as Peter in the Acts witnesses before Cornelius, Act 10.41 so that all men might know that the very self-same body that died, rose from death again.

Now, although this body is comprehended within a certain limited place, and not dispersed all over and everywhere — even though it has a just quantity, figure, or shape, and a just weight, with its own kind and nature — yet notwithstanding, it is free from every passion, corruption, and infirmity. For the body of the Lord, once raised up, was in the garden and not in the sepulchre when the women came to anoint it; it meets them by the way as they return from the sepulchre, and offers itself to be seen by Magdalene in the garden; it goes in company to Emmaus with the two disciples who journeyed to Emmaus. In the meantime, while he was with them in body, he was not among the other disciples. When the two returned to the eleven, the Lord himself is present with them at evening. He goes before his disciples into Galilee; shortly after, he comes back to Jerusalem, where his body was taken up from mount Olivet into heaven. All this proves the certain verity of Christ's body. But because this body (although it is a true and real body, of its own proper kind, place, and disposition, and of its own proper shape and nature) is called a glorified and glorious body, I will say something about that glory, which truly is incident to the true shape and substance of the body once raised up again.

First, glory in this sense is used for lightsomeness and shining brightness. For Paul says that the children of Israel, for the glory of Moses' countenance, could not behold with their eyes the face of Moses. 2Cor 3.7 So then, a glorious body is a bright and shining body. Our Lord showed a very good proof of this a little before his resurrection, when it pleased him to give his disciples a small taste of the glory to come. And for that reason, he took aside certain ones whom he had chosen, into the top of a certain hill, where he was transfigured before them, so that the fashion of his countenance shone like the sun, and his clothes were white and glistered as the light. Mat 17.2 The Lord still truly had the same bodily substance, and the same members of the body, but they were transfigured. Yet, it is manifest that this transfiguration was in the externals. For light and brightness were added, so that, the shape and substance of the countenance and body remaining as it was, the countenance and body glistered like the sun and the light.

We do not read that the body of the Lord, during those forty days in which he showed himself alive again to his disciples, made manifest and spread abroad the brightness which it had. That was because of the dispensation by which he also ate with his disciples — notwithstanding that glorified bodies do not need food or nourishment at all. Yet nevertheless, his body now shines in heaven, as John witnesses in the first chapter of the Apocalypse. And the sacred scriptures lay an assured hope before us, that even our bodies also, shall likewise be glorified in the resurrection. For the Lord himself in the gospel, alleging the words of Daniel, says, "Then the righteous will shine like the sun in his Father's kingdom." For this reason, the glorious bodies are also called clarified, from the clearness of that heavenly brightness with which they glister and are adorned.

Secondly, glory and vileness are made contraries. For Paul says, "He will change our vile body, to make it like his glorious body in fashion." Phi 3.21 In these words, vileness and glory are set one against the other. Vileness comprehends the whole pack of miseries and infirmities, passions and affections, which were laid upon the body for sin. Our bodies are purged from all of this in the resurrection of life; so that the glorious bodies are drained of the dregs of corruption, passions, and infirmities, and clad with eternity, heavenly feeling, and glory. For the apostle says, "It is sown in corruption; it rises in incorruption: it is sown in dishonour; it rises in glory: it is sown in infirmity; it rises in power: it is sown a natural body; it rises a spiritual body." 1Cor 15.42-44

Therefore, the gifts of the glorious and clarified bodies are very great and many, such as incorruption, glory, power, and the quickening Spirit. For the apostle himself, showing what he meant by the natural and spiritual body, immediately adds this: "There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body; as it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; and the last Adam was made a quickening spirit." And again, he says more plainly,

"Nevertheless, that is not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural, and then that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are those who are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are those also who are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly." 1Cor 15.45-49

So then, Paul calls that natural body an earthy body which we have from our first father Adam, whose quickening is of the soul, and by that it lives. And he calls the spiritual body a heavenly body, which we have from Christ, and it is made in the likeness of the body of Christ — which although it is a real body indeed, and its flesh is real flesh indeed, yet notwithstanding, it is quickened and preserved by the Spirit of Christ, and does not need any vegetative power.

Therefore, these real bodies and members which we now bear, shall be in heaven after the resurrection. Yet nevertheless, because they are clarified and cleansed from all corruption and feeling of the natural body, there will not truly be any natural or corruptible sense or affection, nor use of the carnal body and its members. And the Lord affirms this against the Sadducees (who dreamt of marriages in heaven, or rather, mocked the resurrection by that absurdity), where he says, "The sons of this world marry wives, and give in marriage; but those who are thought worthy of that world and of the resurrection from the dead, neither marry wives, nor give in marriage; nor can they die any more. For they are equal to the angels, and are the sons of God, as soon as they are the sons of resurrection." Luk 20.34-36 To which effect Paul also says, "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God." And lest anyone mistake his words, and think that he spoke of the substance of the flesh, he immediately adds this for interpreting it, saying, "Nor will corruption inherit incorruption." 1Cor 15.50

This is why flesh and blood, that is, the affections and lusts of the flesh, will not be in the elect who live in heaven. For the joys of heaven differ a great deal from the joys of the earth. And they are so far beyond another condition, that they cannot allow such corrupt creatures to be inheritors of them. For that cause, the corruptible bodies must first be purged from all corruption, and purely clarified by that means,. The Turks are therefore deceived, who look for earthly joys.

Moreover, the bodies of the wicked will also rise again. For Paul says in the Acts: "I believe all that is written in the law and the prophets, hoping in God that the resurrection of the dead, which they themselves also look for, will be of both the just and unjust." Act 24.15 See here, the apostle says of the unjust also. But in this resurrection, the infirmity, corruption, dishonour, and misery will not be taken out of their bodies. For even then, that very body, rising again in dishonour, will be surely shut in dishonour and corruption, and so be condemned by the judgment and power of God, forever to bear endless torments; and in death and corruption, it will neither die nor corrupt. So that, even as on earth certain bodies are found that endure even in the fire, so the cursed bodies of the wicked will not be worn out, nor be broken with any torments whatsoever. For every minute they will receive new strength to suffer, and so by continual suffering, they will abide their deserved punishments for ever and ever and without any end. For the Lord says in the gospel, "Those who have done evil shall rise again to the resurrection of damnation." Joh 5.29 — that is, to an enduring and everlasting damnation. And Daniel before him said, "And the multitude of those who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and perpetual contempt." Dan 12.2

And in the gospel, the Lord again says, "Their worm does not die, and their fire is not quenched." Isaiah used the very same words before him in his 66th chapter. Therefore, we must always have that saying of the Lord in our hearts: "Fear him who can destroy both the body and the soul in hell." Mat 10.28 So much up to here, touching the resurrection of the flesh.

Article 12

THE LAST AND TWELFTH ARTICLE of our belief, which with good luck closes the rest, is this: "And life everlasting." We have heard and understood that the souls of men are immortal, and that our bodies rise again at the end of the world.

We have confessed that this is our belief. It now follows, at the end of the Creed, where it is that the immortal soul and body, raised up again, will come. Therefore we say in our confession, "And life everlasting;" that is, I believe that I will have life, and live forever, both in body and soul. And that everlastingness is truly perpetual and it has no end, as a little before it was proved out of the holy scriptures.

Moreover, the souls are made partakers of this eternal life immediately after they have departed out of the bodies, as the Lord himself witnesses, saying, "He that believes in the Son of God shall not come into judgment, but has escaped from death to life." Joh 5.24 As for the bodies, they are buried and putrefy. And yet, notwithstanding that, they will not be without life forever. But they will then be received at length into eternal life when, being raised up, they will after the time of judgment be caught into the air, there to meet Christ, so that they may forever be with the Lord. For then the souls return out of heaven, everyone to his own body, so that the whole, perfect, and full man may live forever both in soul and body. For the soul of Christ dying on the cross, out of hand departed into paradise; and on the third day, it returned to the body, which rose again and ascended into heaven. Therefore, even as eternal life came to the Head Christ, so it shall also come to each and every member of Christ.

Now, citing Isaiah, Paul says, "What the eye has not seen, nor the ear heard, nor at any time has come into the heart of man, that the Lord has prepared for those who love him;"  I suppose truly, that if all were said touching eternal life, that might be spoken by all the men of all the ages who ever were or shall be, scarcely the least part of it has or would be thoroughly touched. For however the scripture most plainly shows the shadow of that life and those joys, with eloquent and figurative speech, with allusions and hard sentence — yet, notwithstanding, all of that is comparatively little or nothing to speak of, until that day comes in which, with unspeakable joy, we will behold God himself, the Creator of all things, in his glory; Christ our Saviour in his majesty; — and finally, all the blessed souls, angels, patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, our fathers — all nations, all the host of heaven — and lastly, the whole divine and heavenly glory.

Most truly therefore, Aurelius Augustine said in Lib. de Civitat. Dei, xxii. cap. 29, "When it is demanded of me, what the saints will do in that spiritual body, I do not answer with what I now see, but with what I believe. I say therefore, that they will see God in that spiritual body." And again, "If I were to say the truth, I do not know of what sort that action, quietness, and rest will be. For the peace of God surpasses all understanding."

To be short, we will see God face to face, we will be filled with the company of God, and yet we will never be weary of him. And the face of God is not that countenance which appears in us; but it is a most delectable revealing and enjoying of God, which no mortal tongue can worthily declare. Go to, then, dearly beloved brethren. Let us believe and live, so that when we depart from here, we may indeed experience those unspeakable joys of the eternal life to come, which we now believe.

Up to here I have declared to you, throughout the last four articles, the fruit and end of Christian faith. Faith leans upon one God — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost — who sanctifies the faithful, and purges and hallows a church for himself. This church has communion with God and all the saints; God pardons and forgives all the offences of this church; and He preserves it both soul and body. For just as the saints' souls cannot die, so God raises up their bodies again, and makes them glorious and everlasting, to the end that the whole man may forever live in heaven with the Lord — to whom be praise and glory, world without end. Amen.

-----

MONERGISM BOOKS

The Articles of the Christian Faith Contained in the Apostles' Creed by Henry Bullinger, Copyright © 2022

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Monergism Books.

ePub,.mobi & .pdf Editions September 2022. Requests for information should be addressed to: Monergism Books, PO Box 491, West Linn, OR 97068

Table of Contents

THE APOSTLES' CREED, Art. 1-4

Article 1 - I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.

Article 2 - And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.

Article 3 - Which was conceived by the Holy Ghost; born of the virgin Mary.

Article 4 - He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried: he descended into hel

THE APOSTLES' CREED, Art. 5-8.

Article 5 - The third day he rose again from the dead.

Article 6 - He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty.

Article 7 - From there he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

Article 8 - I believe in the Holy Ghost.

THE APOSTLES' CREED, Art. 9-12.

Article 9 - The holy catholic church, the communion of saints

Article 10 - The forgiveness of sins.

Article 11 - The resurrection of the flesh.

Article 12 - And life everlasting.