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<DATE>2009-07-06</DATE>
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<NAME>Pip Willcox</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<EEBO>
<IDG S="marc" R="OX" ID="A27341">
<STC T="W">b1788</STC>
<BIBNO T="oclc">11711911</BIBNO>
<VID>48287</VID>
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<TEXT LANG="eng">
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<DIV1 TYPE="letter">
<PB N="1" REF="1">
<HEAD>The Belief of the <HI>ATHANASIAN CREED</HI> not required by the Church of <HI>England</HI> as nece&s;&s;ary to Salvation.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">In a Letter to a Friend.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>My worthy and dear Friend;</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>SIR, You cannot but remem|ber, that when I was late|ly in your good Company, there was a Di&s;cour&s;e con|cerning the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity, as delivered in the Creed call'd <HI>Athana&s;ius</HI>'s; and that there was a Per&s;on pre&s;ent who decla|red his Opinion to be, that the Church of <HI>England</HI> did not re|quire the Belief of that Doctrine as nece&s;&s;ary to eternal Salvation, and the Rea&s;ons he gives for that his Opinion are briefly the&s;e, <HI>viz.</HI></P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. Becau&s;e (&s;aith he) no Per|&s;ons are by the Church of <HI>Eng|land</HI> (nor I verily think by any Church) ever baptized into the Faith, as contained in that Creed, but in the Apo&s;tles Creed.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. As Per&s;ons are admitted by the Church of <HI>England</HI> into her Communion without the Belief of that Creed, &s;o in her Office of the Vi&s;itation of the Sick they are not examined in it, but upon a Declaration of &s;tedfa&s;t Faith in all the Articles of the Apo&s;tles Creed (in which I could never yet find any thing of an <HI>Athana|&s;ian</HI> Trinity) Ab&s;olution is grant|ed; and in the Office for Burial that Per&s;on is owned to be a Chri|&s;tian Brother: and in the la&s;t Clau&s;e of the Exhortation, imme|diately preceding the Apo&s;tles Creed, in that Office of Vi&s;itation 'tis plain, that he that believes the Articles of the Apo&s;tles Creed, doth believe as a Chri&s;ti|an Man &s;hould. And,</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. Becau&s;e in the Exhortation, almo&s;t at the End of Office of Publick Bapti&s;m, he that hath de|clared his Belief of the Articles of the Apo&s;tles Creed, is &s;aid to be|lieve in God; and in the &s;ame Exhortation the Child (as to
<PB N="2" REF="2">Faith) is chiefly to be taught the Creed, which I pre&s;ume was ne|ver under&s;tood of the <HI>Athana&s;ian</HI> Creed.</ITEM>
<ITEM>4. Look upon the third An|&s;wer in the Church-Catechi&s;m, where the Child is taught to an|&s;wer, that his Godfathers and Godmothers did promi&s;e that he &s;hould believe all the Articles of the Chri&s;tian Faith, which Arti|cles the Child being required to rehear&s;e, <HI>Que&s;t.</HI> 5. is directed, and &s;ays the Apo&s;tles Creed; and it is al&s;o evident by the Office of Bapti&s;m, no other can be under|&s;tood in the Bapti&s;mal Vow.</ITEM>
<ITEM>5. In the Office of Confirmati|on, the fir&s;t Que&s;tion and An|&s;wer, the Per&s;on to be confirmed doth declare in the Pre&s;ence of God and the Congregation, that he doth renew the &s;olemn Pro|mi&s;e and Vow that was made in his Name at Bapti&s;m, which was to believe the Articles of the A|po&s;tles Creed; and neither the Church of <HI>England,</HI> nor yet any other ever dared yet to impo&s;e the <HI>Athana&s;ian</HI> Creed as a Condi|tion of Bapti&s;m, no more than <HI>Pius</HI> IV. and his Council of <HI>Trent,</HI> dared to impo&s;e their novel Faith as a Condition of the &s;ame, but content them&s;elves (as we do) with that which bears the Name of the Apo&s;tles, as containing the Ab&s;tract of all Primitive Chri&s;tia|nity. See Dr. <HI>Ford</HI>'s Sermon be|fore the Lord-Mayor, <HI>June</HI> 5, 1692. p. 18. And by &s;uch Pra|ctice 'tis apparent, as the Doctor there clearly argues, that what|&s;oever Men may talk, yet they do not believe tho&s;e Articles to be <HI>de fide,</HI> and nece&s;&s;ary to Salva|tion, without the Profe&s;&s;ion of which they admit by Bapti&s;m Pro&s;elytes into the Church; and con&s;equently that Men cannot ex|clude tho&s;e from their Church, for not believing tho&s;e Articles that they dare not impo&s;e, no nor mention to tho&s;e they admit to be Members of their Church.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<P>But I find 'tis commonly ob|jected, that the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity, as delivered in the <HI>Athana&s;ian</HI> Creed, is contained in the 39 Articles; and that every Clergy-man that holds any Place of Profit in the Church, is bound to &s;ub&s;cribe them, and give his unfeigned A&s;&s;ent and Con&s;ent to the &s;ame. To which may be an|&s;wered;</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM><HI>1&s;t.</HI> That tho&s;e 39 Articles are not Articles of Faith but Peace, as &s;everal of her mo&s;t learned Bi|&s;hops have plainly declared. See Archbi&s;h. <HI>Bromhal</HI>'s <HI>Schi&s;m guard|ed,</HI> p. 396. Which Pa&s;&s;age is both cited and approved by the excel|lent Bi&s;hop <HI>Fowler,</HI> in his <HI>Free Di|&s;cour&s;e.</HI> And the Bi&s;hops <HI>Laud, Taylor, Sander&s;on,</HI> have expre&s;&s;ed them&s;elves to the &s;ame purpo&s;e. And in a word, the Title of the Articles &s;ays as much.</ITEM>
<PB N="3" REF="2">
<ITEM><HI>2dly.</HI> Becau&s;e, if the 39 Arti|cles were Articles of Faith, the Church would baptize into them.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>3dly.</HI> If the 39 Articles became Articles of Faith by &s;ub&s;cribing them, then it would follow that the Clergy would have more Ar|ticles of Faith than the Laiety, and then further there would be more than one Faith, which is contrary to the expre&s;s Words of Holy Scripture.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>4thly.</HI> Becau&s;e in the &s;ixth Ar|ticle the Church declares that all things nece&s;&s;ary to Salvation are contained in the Holy Scriptures; and thereto nothing is to be ad|ded, nor from it any thing to be dimini&s;hed; the Canonical Books of the Holy Scripture are in that 6th Article named, &amp; thereby the 39 Articles are excluded, other|wi&s;e than agreeable with them. But I find it's further objected,</ITEM>
</LIST>
<P><HI>Object.</HI> That the 8th Article re|quires that the <HI>Nicene, Athana&s;i|an</HI> and Apo&s;tles Creeds be tho|rowly received and believed; and hence it &s;eems evident, that the Church impo&s;es the Belief of the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity, as delivered in the Creed called <HI>A|thana&s;ius</HI>'s.</P>
<P><HI>Sol</HI> To this it may be an&s;wer|ed, (1) 'Tis not &s;aid as nece&s;&s;ary to Salvation. (2) In that very 8th Article the Church doth not ab&s;olutely require the Belief of it, but for that, or &s;uppo&s;ing it may be proved firmly from the Holy Scripture: And that this is the Meaning of the Church of <HI>Eng|land</HI> doth appear, <HI>1&s;t.</HI> By the &s;e|cond Que&s;tion, and An&s;wer in the Form of ordering Prie&s;ts and con|&s;ecrating Bi&s;hops, &s;et forth by Authority, where it is apparent that the Per&s;on to be ordained Prie&s;t is directed by that Form to declare, that he is per&s;waded that the Holy Scriptures contain &s;uffi|ciently all Doctrines required of Nece&s;&s;ity to Salvation; and that he hath determined to teach no|thing (as required of Nece&s;&s;ity to eternal Salvation) but that which he &s;hall be per&s;waded may be con|cluded and proved by the H. Scrip|ture. You may &s;ee the like in the Form of con&s;ecrating Bi&s;hops, the &s;econd Que&s;tion and An&s;wer, and by the fourth Que&s;tion and An|&s;wer, in the publick Form of or|dering Prie&s;ts: The Prie&s;t is to promi&s;e to drive away all erroni|ous and &s;trange Doctrines, con|trary to God's Word: Now I pre&s;ume that every erronious Do|ctrine is to be look'd upon as &s;trange, and that we mu&s;t not re|tain an erronious Doctrine, be|cau&s;e it has been of long &s;tanding.</P>
<P>And further, in the fourth Que|&s;tion and An&s;wer, in the Form of con&s;ecrating Bi&s;hops: The Bi&s;hop to be con&s;ecrated doth promi&s;e to drive away all erronious and &s;trange Doctrine contrary to God's Word, and both privately and publickly to call upon others to do the &s;ame.</P>
<PB N="4" REF="3" MS="y">
<P>But to end, &s;uppo&s;ing but not granting that the Church of <HI>Eng|land</HI> had required the Belief of the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity, as delivered in the Creed call'd the <HI>Athana&s;ian.</HI></P>
<P N="1">1. She doth not a&s;&s;ume the Pri|vilege of Infallibility, for then &s;he would be guilty of that which &s;he charges (and that ju&s;tly) as a Crime on the Church of <HI>Rome.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. In Article 20 the Church of <HI>England</HI> &s;ets forth what Authori|ty it is &s;he claims in Matters of Faith, or rather di&s;claims what Authority &s;he hath not.</P>
<P N="1"><HI>1&s;t.</HI> It's not an Authority to impo&s;e any thing contrary to the written Word of God. Nor,</P>
<P N="2"><HI>2dly.</HI> An Authority to expound one Place of Scripture that it may be contrary to another; plainly that as the Church ought not to decree any thing contrary to the &s;ame, &s;o be&s;ides the &s;ame &s;he ought not to decree any thing to be believed for Nece&s;&s;ity of Sal|vation.</P>
<P>Now from what hath been &s;aid it &s;eems to follow, that the Church of <HI>England</HI> doth not re|quire the Belief of the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity as delivered in the <HI>Athana&s;ian</HI> Creed as nece&s;|&s;ary to Salvation. For,</P>
<P>If &s;he baptizeth not into that Faith, if he is &s;aid to believe as a Chri&s;tian Man ought to believe, that declares his Belief of only the Apo&s;tles Creed, and is there|upon owned as a Chri&s;tian Bro|ther; if thereby he is &s;aid to be|lieve in God; to believe all the Articles of the Chri&s;tian Faith; if the Per&s;on to be confirmed re|news only a Promi&s;e to believe the Apo&s;tles Creed; if the Do|ctrine of the Holy Trinity is not to be believed by being in the 39 Articles, or by their being &s;ub&s;cribed to, they being no Ar|ticles of Faith, as by the Title of them and Preface before them is evident, no Per&s;on being baptized into them. And the &s;ixth Arti|cle being a Key to all the re&s;t, and &s;hewing us very plainly how far they are to be believed; and if what&s;oever el&s;e is before a&s;&s;erted is evidently to be &s;een, it appears for tho&s;e Rea&s;ons, that the Do|ctrine of the Trinity, as &s;et down in the <HI>Athana&s;ian</HI> Creed, is not &s;uch an Article of Faith, in the Opinion of the Church, as is ne|ce&s;&s;arily to be believed in order to eternal Salvation. Thus, Sir, according to my mean Ability, I have faithfully and con&s;cientiou&s;|ly di&s;charged my Promi&s;e, and beg the Favour of a Line, if this come &s;afe to your Hands. I am,</P>
<CLOSER><SALUTE>Sir,</SALUTE>
<SIGNED>Yours,</SIGNED></CLOSER>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
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