,---·------------------------- ~96 Of the Amhority pf the Creed. &-elhe Ap· rendixto my Re{ormeJPa– flor. The Age;:da in the time of ba.ptifin that make us Chrillians, are l· The ;;dual 11cditioJt, refigna– tic:m or dt:dication of our felvcs, to God the 1-'ather, Son and Holy Ghofi in thtfe Rdatiom. 2 , A Promife m Vow to mdeavour failhfully to Jive according to our undertaken relations (though nGt in pnfeClion) ; that is, as Creatures to their Creator, and their Reconciled God and Father ; as Cluifiians to their Rrdecmcr, their Tea!=hcr, their Ruler, i.nd their S.iviour:, And as willing Receivers of 1he SanC\ifying ond Comforting opeutions of the Holy Spirit. 11. The ObjeC\< tell you what the Acts mofl be on our put, I· With the Underflanding, to know and bcliet•e:, 2, With the Will to lovt, choofe, defire and rtfolvt; and 3· PraCl:ically to deliver up our fclves for the prefeMt, and to premife for the' rime to come. Tht.fc arc the EtTentia.ls of the ChriOian Religion. 8. The Crtcd is a larger explication of the Credcnda, and the ]:ortfs Prayer of the Diligtnda, or things 10 be v.:-illcd, defired and l1oprd for; and the Decalogue of the.Na.rural part of rhc Agenda . 9· SuifLr not your own Ignorance, or the Papifis Che:us to confound the Q!.tfiion, about FHnda. nzcntals, as ro the /Y(.Jtter, and as to the e:cprcffing words. It is one thing to ask, TFhat inht Matter Effcntial toCbrijli.Jnity? And another, JYhat T-Yordr, Symbols or Stnlt1tcu are Effinti:JI to it l To the tuft, 1have now an{Wered you. To the fecond I fay, I· Taking tht. Chrilhan Religion as it is an Extrinjick._Dollri11e inJignis, fo the Etfcnce of it is, fYj)rd1 an~ Signr exprtffillt or Jignificant of tbt M4~ uriill Effo:ce. That thy be {:tcb i;z fptcir is all th'it is dftntial. And it they fay, But which bethoft TVordJ? I anfwer, 2· That no particular Wordr in the w01ld are cffi.ntial to the Chrifiian Religion. for, r. No one Language is cffmtial to ic. It is not ne,tJrary to fa1vation, that you be baptized, or learn the <;rel'd or Scriptures, in Hebrew, or Greek, or Latin, or EnglHh, fo you learn it in any Lan– guage.: undertlood. 2. It is nor neceffary to falv2.tion that you ufc the fame wortl1 in the fame Lan~ g~tage, iS long <JS it hath more words than one w exprefs the f•me thing by. 3• lt is notneceffuy io fa\v.,tion, that we u{C: the fame, ( or any one fingle) form, me1hod or order of words, as they are in the Creeds without alteration. And therefore while the Antients did tenacioufly cleave to the [,me Symbol or Crt:ed, yet tht:y ufed vari6us words to exprcfs it by. (As may be feen in Iren.tM, T.tftulli-~.n, Orif!.m and Ruffiit clfewhere ciud by me ; fo that its plain, that ~y tile fame Symbol they memr. the fa_mc M.ttter, though exprefl: in fomc variety of words) Though they avoided Cuch vari~ ety as mi~ht introduce variety of fenfe and matter. 10. 1Y~>rds being needful, I• To m•ke a Learner underfiand, 2. To tell another what he under– flandeth, it fo\lowcth that the great variety of mens capacities mak.t:th a great variation in the nCcclJicy ofWo,dJ o' FormJ, An Englifhman mufl have th(m in Englifh, and a Frenchman in french. An~·· derflanding man may receive all the Etfentials in a few words; But an IgnoraHt mtJn mull haye many word, to make him undcrfiand the matter. To him that Vnderftande~h them, the word, ofthe Bap· ti[mal CovEHant cxprefs aD tht Effentials ofCbriftianity : But to him that umlerftands' '~!m not, the CrwJ is nccdfary for the explication : And to him that Nndcrflandttb not tb:zt , a Catecbi[m or larger ExpoJition is nccdfary. This is the plain explicati9n of this quetlion , which many PapiO~ fecm lqth to underlland. Qyell:. 139· What is the tlfe and Aut/,ority of the [reed? .-/nd is it ofthe Apo' ftles framing or not? A11d is it the Word ofGod, or not? A11[~·· t· THe Ufe of the Creed is, to be a plain explication of the Faith profetfed in the Baptifiml Covenan•: r. For the fuller inflruciion of the duller (ort, and thofe that had not preparatory knowledge, and could not fufficiem1y undi!rlland the meaning of the three A.rtides ot the Covenant, what it is to believe in God the Father, Son and Holy Ghofi without more word!. 2 , And for the fatisfaCtion of the Church thac indeed men under1\ood what they did in baptifm, and profctfcd to believe. 2 , The Cmd is theWurd of Gad, as to all the DeUrine or Mattcr.of it, what ever it be as to the order and compofitinn of words. 3· That is oft by the Antienrs called the Apoftle~, which containcth the mqJitr derived by the Afofilt:s, though not ht a form cf words compiled by them• .d 1 .. W 4- It is certain that all the words now in our Creed, were not put in by the Apofiles, I• Becaufe :,?,0;·1~1de· fome of them were not in, till IQng afrer their dayes. 2· Bccaufe the amient formlll£ agree not in SJmboliJ. rPords among themfclves. . . . • . il:j> 5· it is not to be doubted of, but the Apolllcs d1d appomt and ufe a Creed commonly in thm daycs. And 1hat it is the fame with that which is now called 1he Apoftlts and the Nictne in the main ; buc not juft the lime compofure of words, nor had they any fuch prccife compofure as can be proved : But this much is cafily provable, ,, Th1t Chrifi Compofed a Creed when he made ltis Covenant, and inflitured Baptilln, Mmh.2S. ·~· 2· That in the J,wifh Church, where men were edu1ated in the knowledge of the Scriptures, and expectation
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