words, that at the name of Jefus every knee should bow*. But this is no ancient notion; and the generality of judicious commentators allow it not to be the meaning of the place; a more exact translation of which would be, that in the name of Fefus every knee should bow, that is, every one should pray; according to that other paffage of St. Paul, I bow my knees snto the Father of our Lord Jefus Chrifl, that he would grant you, ct. However, it is a practice of fome antiquity, and, whatever a few over-fcrupulous people have imagined, furely a harmless one; for nobody means to worship the found, but the person whom it denotes. And thongh we confefs, there is no more reason to worship the Son of God, by bowing to him, than the Father, nor to worship him on hearing the name Jefus, than the name Cbrift; yet it is not good to be contentious about an innocent custom t, which alfo may help attention, and increase devotion. Befides, it is authorised by the 18th canon of our church, which directs, that when, in time of divine fervice, the Lord Jefus fhall be mentioned, due and lowly reverence fhall be done by all perfons prefent, as it hath been accuftomed. Poffibly thefe laft words may be defigned to intimate, that fear of giving offence by leaving off the cuf tom, was a principal motive to the injunction. And if fo', in proportion as that danger abates, the injunction grows less important. Accordingly, they who are intrufted with the execution of the canons, have not lately, if ever, enforced it, or laid stress upon it. And indeed, as the greater part of moft congregations difregard it, except in the creed, they ought not to judge hardly of thofe who omit it then alfo; however proper they may think it, for themfelves, to diftinguish that part of their belief, which peculiarly belongs to them as Christians, from the preceding, by this gefture. Having explained the apoftles creed at large, in feveral lectures on the catechifm, I fhall add nothing more concerning it here. But there will be need to take fome notice of another, sppointed to be rehearsed in its ftead, on the principal festivals, and several other holidays, and called the creed of St. Athanafius; not that he was the author of it, though it was probably made pretty near, if not in his time, who lived 1400 years A 2 Phil. ii. 10. Eph. iii. 14, 1 Cor, xi. 16. years ago; but because it expreffes that faith in the Trinity, of which he was a principal defender. And as the Romanifts threw on the reformers of our church all manner of calumnies that they could, fo it would have given them a great handle against us, had this creed, which they repeat every Sunday, been rejected or altered by us. Many indeed have argued against the use of it, and some with ftrange vehemence; partly from the doctrines which it teaches; but chiefly from the condemnation which it pronounces on all who difbelieve them. Now the doctrines are undeniably the fame with those that are contained in the articles of our church, in the beginning of our litany, in the conclufions of many of our collects, in the Nicene creed, and, as we conceive, in that of the apoftles, in the doxology, in the form of baptifm, in numerous paffages of both teftaments; only here they are fomewhat more diftinctly set forth, to prevent equivocations. Any one, who examines into the matter, will eafily fee it to be fo. Accordingly our diffenting brethren, after they had long objected to other parts of our liturgy, confented readily to fubfcribe this creed; the articles of which are the common faith of the Catholic Church, or by immediate confequence deducible from it, and little or nothing more. There are indeed feveral things in them, beyond our comprehenfion, as to the manner; but the fcripture hath the fame. There are expreffions, which may feem liable to exception; but it must be for want of understanding them, or admitting fair interpretations of them. The affertion, that there is one Father, not three Fathers, and fo on, may appear to the ignorant, needlefs and trifling; but was levelled against herefies then in being, which took away all diftinction between the three perfons. That none is before or after other, means, (as the following words, but the whole three perfons are coeternal, prove) that none is fo in point of time, not that none is fo in the order of our conceptions; for the fcripture directs us to confider the Father, as first. That none is greater or lefs than another, is reconciled to our Saviour's affertion, The Father is greater than I*, by what follows in the creed, equal as touching his Godhead, inferior as touching bis * John xiv. 28. bis manhood. That he is one, altogether, not by confufion of fubflance, but by unity of perfon, means, (for fo the next words explain it,) that as each of us is one man, not at all by blending the foul and body into one fubftance, for they are still diftinct, but altogether, by a mysterious union of the two: fo he is one Chrift, not at all by blending the divine and human nature into one fubftance, but altogether, entirely and folely, by an union of them, yet more myfterious than the former is. The condemnation, contained in two or three claufes of this creed, belongs, (as the moft zealous defenders of our faith in the holy Trinity agree, and as every one who reads it confiderately, will foon perceive), not to all, who cannot understand, or cannot approve, every expreffion in it; but only to fuch, as deny in general the Trinity in Unity, or three perfons, who are one God. This alone is faid to be the Catholic faith. The words, that follow after, For there is one perfon of the Father, and so on, are defigned only to fet this forth more particularly. And the conclufion from the whole is, not that in all things, which are aforefaid, by the use of every term above mentioned, but in all things, AS IS aforefaid, the Unity in Trinity is to be worshipped; meaning, that as at firft it was faid, that in all acts of faith we are to believe in each person, so here it is added, that in all acts of worship we are to adore each; never confidering one, even while addreffed diftinctly, as feparated or feparable from. the other two. Now this Trinity in Unity we apprehend to have been, ever fince it was fully revealed, a fundamental article of the Chriftian faith. And yet thofe, who believe not even fo much, the creed no otherwife teaches cannot be faved, or fhall without doubt perish, than as our Saviour teaches concerning the whole of the gofpel: He that believeth, and is baptized, fhall be faved; but he that believeth not, fhall be damned *. Our condemnation is no more hard and uncharitable, than his.. And neither is fo; becaufe both are to be interpreted with due exceptions and abatements. Suppofe a collection of Chriftian duties had been drawn up; and it had been faid, in the beginning or at the end of it, This is the Catholic practice, which except a man observe faithfully, he cannot be faved; would Mark xvi. 16. would not every one underftand, that allowance must be made for fuch things as a man through involuntary ignorance mistook, or through mere infirmity failed in, or was truly forry for, as far as he knew he had caufe? Why then are not the fame allowances to be understood, in fpeaking of doctrines? For when the creed fays, that Whoever will be faved, before all things it is neceffary that he hold the Catholic faith; it doth not mean, that true faith is more necessary, than right practice; but that naturally it precedes it, and is to be first learnt in order to it. The intention therefore of the creed, as well as of our Lord in the gofpel, is only to fay, that whoever rejects the doctrine of it, from prefumptous felf-opinion, or wilful negligence, and doth not afterwards repent of these faults, particularly if he is made fenfible of them, or if not, at least in general, amongst his unknown fins, the cafe of fuch a one is defperate. But if want of information, weakness of apprehenfion, or even excufable wrongness of difpofition, should make him doubt or difbelieve any or the main part of this creed; nay, which is vastly a worse cafe, the whole revelation of Christianity; though we pafs judgment on his errors without reserve, and, in general, on all who maintain them; yet perfonally and fingly we prefume not to judge of his condition in the next world. To his own mafter be ftandeth or falleth*. Much less would we think un favourably of any one, who takes thefe condemning clauses in too rigorous a fenfe, and therefore only is afraid, from a spi rit of charity and humility, to join in them. Indeed, for the fake of fuch, it may feem pity, but either they had been ori, ginally omitted; (fince though defenfible, they are not neces fary to be inferted in a profeffion of faith;) or the limitations, with which they are to be understood, had been fignified in two or three comprehenfive words. After our creed, we go on to our petitions. In thefe, the minister and people first recommend each other to our bleffed Redeemer, in terms of fcripture, which a council, held near 1200 years agot, affirms to be used for this purpose by the direction of the apostles, and may certainly well be used fo Rom. xiv. I † Conc. Bracarense 1 A. D. 563. Can. xvi. fo without it; The Lord be with you*: And with thy Spi rit †: Then we make a direct application to him, under the names of Lord and Chrift, repeating it thrice, as a mark of our earnestness, that he would have mercy upon us: Words often addreffed to him, when on earth: often folemnly reiterated by the whole ancient Church, and fpoken by the Latin, Church in the original Greek of the New Teftament, Kug sind I, but much more prudently tranflated by ours into English. This done, as before we fubjoined the Lord's prayer to our confeffion, to obtain the confirmation of our pardon; so now we prefix it to our requests, as a fummary of our defires. And furely saying it again at such a distance, and with so different a view, cannot be thought a vain repetition §. After these general prayers, we exprefs to God diftinctly, in fhort fentences, the several heads of the fupplications, which we are about to offer up more at large, for peace, and grace, for the king, the clergy, and the people. And all these sentences are conceived in words taken from the pfalms; excepting one, Give peace in our time, O Lord; which hath a reafon added to it, by fome thought improper: Because there is none other that fighteth for us, but only thou, O God; whereas, fay they, we often have others to fight for us; and if we had Him alone, why fhould we defpond, and immediately pray for peace upon it? But thefe objectors utterly miftake our meaning; which is, that whatever help we have befides, we look upon it as nothing, without that of the Almighty; whom therefore we beg, in the words which they unjustly blame, when we are in peace, to continue it, by reftraining fuch as would disturb it; and when we are not, to reftore it, by turning the hearts, or overthrowing the attempts, of those who have infringed it. In confequence of thefe preparations, the petitions themfelves follow; not in one long prayer, but feveral fhort ones; which method is certainly as la ful as the other; and, we think, more expedient. It reminds us oftener of the Attributes of God, and merits of Chrift, which are the ground of our afking in faith ||; and by the frequency of faying, Amen, it 2 Theff. iii. 16. t2 Tim. iv. 22. Matth. xv. 22. XX. 30, 31. |