that Being which is originally and eternally of itself, and on which all other beings do essentially depend: that by the right of emanation of all things from him, he hath an absolute, supreme, and universal dominion over all things as God: that as the Son of Man he is invested with all power in heaven and earth; partly economical, for the completing our redemption, and the destruction of our enemies, to continue to the end of all things, and then to be resigned to the Father; partly consequent unto the union, or due unto the obedience of his passion, and so eternal, as belonging to that kingdom which shall have no end. And though he be thus Lord of all things by right of the first creation and constant preservation of them, yet is he more peculiarly the Lord of us who by faith are consecrated to his service for through the work of our redemption he becomes our Lord both by the right of conquest and of purchase; and making us the sons of God, and providing heavenly mansions for us, he acquires a farther right of promotion, which, considering the covenant we all make to serve him, is at last completed in the right of a voluntary obligation. And thus I believe in Christ our Lord.

ARTICLE III.

Which was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the virgin Mary.

THESE words, as they now stand, clearly distinguish the conception of Jesus from his nativity, attributing the first to the Holy Ghost, the second to the blessed virgin: whereas the ancient creeds made no such distinction; but without any particular express mention of the conception, had it only in this manner, "who was born by the Holy Ghost of the virgin Mary;" or "of the Holy Ghost and the virgin Mary;" understanding by the word born, not only the nativity, but also the conception and generation. This is very necessary to be observed, because otherwise the addition of a word will prove the diminution of the sense of the article. For they who speak only of the operation of the Holy Ghost in Christ's

conception, and of the manner of his birth, leave out most part of that which was anciently understood under that one term of being born of the Holy Ghost and of the virgin Mary.

That therefore nothing may be omitted which is pertinent to express the full intent, and comprehend the utmost signification of this article, we shall consider three Persons mentioned, so far as they are concerned in it. The first is he who was conceived and born; the second, he by whose energy or operation he was conceived; the third, she who did conceive and bear him.

For the first, the relative in the front of this carries us clearly back to the former article, and tells us that he which was thus conceived and born was Jesus Christ, the only Son of God. And seeing we have already demonstrated that this only Son is therefore called so, because he was begotten by the Father from all eternity, and so of the same substance with him; it followeth that this article at the first beginning, or by virtue of its connexion, can import no less than this most certain, but miraculous truth, that he who was begotten by the Father before all worlds, was now in the fulness of time conceived by the Holy Ghost, and born of the virgin Mary. Again; seeing by the conception and birth is to be understood whatsoever was done toward the production of the human nature of our Saviour; therefore the same relative, considered with the words which follow it, can speak no less than the incarnation of that person. And thus even in the entry of the article we meet with the incarnation of the Son of God, that great mystery wrapt up in that short sentence of St. John, "the Word was made flesh."

Indeed the pronoun hath relation not only unto this but to the following articles, which have their necessary connexion with and foundation in this third; for he who was conceived and born, and so made man, did in that human nature suffer, die, and rise again. Now when we say this was the Word, and that Word was God, seeing whosoever is God cannot cease to be so; it must necessarily follow, that he was made man by joining the human nature with the divine. But then we must take heed lest we conceive, because the divine nature belong

eth to the Father, to which the human is conjoined, that therefore the Father should be incarnate, or conceived and born. For as certainly as the Son was crucified, and the Son alone; so certainly the same Son was incarnate, and that Son alone. Although the human nature was conjoined with the divinity, which is the nature common to the Father and the Son; yet was that union made only in the person of the Son. Which doctrine is to be observed against the heresy of the Patripassians, which was both very ancient and far diffused, making the Father to be incarnate, and becoming man to be crucified. But this very Creed was always thought to be a sufficient confutation of that fond opinion, in that the incarnation is not subjoined to the first, but to the second article; we do not say, I believe in God the Father Almighty, which was conceived, but in his only Son, our Lord, which was conceived by the Holy Ghost.

First then, we believe that he who was made flesh was the Word, that he who took upon him the nature of man was not the Father nor the Holy Ghost, nor any other person but the only-begotten Son. And when we say that person was conceived and born, we declare he was made really and truly man, of the same human nature which is in all other men who by the ordinary way of generation are conceived and born. For the "Mediator between God and man is the Man Christ Jesus;" that since "by man came death, by man also should come the resurrection of the dead." As sure then as the first Adam and we who are redeemed are men, so certainly is the second Adam and our Mediator man. He is therefore frequently called the Son of Man, and in that nature he was always promised: first to Eve, as her seed, and consequently her Son: then to Abraham, "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed :" and that seed is Christ, and so the Son of Abraham: next to David, as his "Son to sit upon his throne;" and so "he is made of the seed of David, according to the flesh, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham," and consequently of the same nature with David and with Abraham. And as he was their son, so are we his brethren, as descending from the same father Adam; "and therefore it behoved him to be made like unto his bre

thren." For he laid not hold on the angels, but on the seed of Abraham; and so became not an angel, but a

man.

As then man consisteth of two different parts, body and soul, so doth Christ. He assumed a body, at his conception, of the blessed virgin. "Forasmuch as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same," Heb. ii. 14. The verity of his body stands upon the truth of his nativity; and the actions and passions of his life show the nature of his flesh.

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He was first born with a body which was prepared for him, of the same appearance with those of other infants; he grew up by degrees, and was so far from being sustained without the accustomed nutrition of our bodies, that he was observed even by his enemies to come eating and drinking," and when he did not so, he suffered hunger and thirst. Those plowers never doubted of the true nature of his flesh, who "plowed upon his back and made long furrows." The thorns which pricked his sacred temples, the nails which penetrated through his hands and feet, the spear which pierced his sacred side, give sufficient testimony of the natural tenderness and frailty of his flesh. And lest his fasting forty days together, lest his walking on the waters and traversing the seas, lest his sudden standing in the midst of his disciples when the doors were shut, should raise an opinion that his body was not true and proper flesh; he confirmed first his own disciples, "Feel and see, that a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me to have," Luke xxiv. 39. As therefore we believe the coming of Christ, so must we confess him to have come in the verity of our human nature, even in true and proper flesh. With this determinate expression was it always necessary to acknowledge him; for " every spirit that confesseth Jesus Christ come in the flesh is of God; and every spirit that confesseth not Jesus Christ come in the flesh is not of God," 1 John iv. 2. This spirit appeared early in opposition to the apostolical doctrine; and Christ, who is both God and man, was as soon denied to be man, as God. Simon Magus, the arch-heretic, first began, and many after followed him.

And certainly, if the Son of God would vouchsafe to

take the frailty of our flesh, he would not omit the nobler part, our soul, without which he could not be man. For "Jesus increased in wisdom and stature;" one in respect of his body, the other of his soul. Wisdom belongeth not to the flesh, nor can the knowledge of God, which is infinite, increase: he then whose knowledge did improve together with his years must have a subject proper for it, which was no other than a human soul. This was the seat of his finite understanding and directed will, distinct from the will of his Father, and consequently of his divine nature; as appeareth by that known submission, "Not my will, but thine be done." This was the subject of those affections and passions which so manifestly appeared in him; nor spake he any other than a proper language, when before his suffering he said, "My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death." This was it which on the cross, before the departure from the body, he recommended to the Father, teaching us in whose hands the souls of the departed are: for "when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit; and having said thus, he gave up the ghost." Luke xxiii. 46. And as his death was nothing else but the separation of the soul from his body; so the life of Christ as Man did consist in the conjunction and vital union of that soul with the body. So that he which was perfect God, was also perfect man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting. Which is to be observed and asserted against the ancient heretics, who taught that Christ assumed human flesh, but that the Word or his divinity was unto that body in the place of an informing soul.

Thus the whole perfect and complete nature of man was assumed by the Word, by him who was conceived and born of a woman, and so made a Man. And seeing the divine nature which he had before, could never cease to be what before it was, nor ever become what before it was not; therefore he who was God before by the divine nature which he had, was in this incarnation made man by that human nature which he then assumed; and so really and truly was both God and man. And thus this third article, from the conjunction with the second, teacheth