send spiritual wickednesses, and the transgressing and apostate angels, with all ungodly, unrighteous, lawless and blaspheming men into everlasting fire; but grant life to all righteous and holy men, that keep his commandments and persevere in his love, some from the beginning, others after repentance, on whom he confers immortality, and invests them with eternal glory.' This faith,' he says 33, was the same in all the world; men professed it with one heart and one soul: for though there were different dialects in the world, yet the power of the faith was one and the same. The Churches in Germany had no other faith or tradition than those in Iberia or Spain, or those among the Celtæ, that is, France, or in the East, or in Egypt, or in Libya, or in the middle parts of the world, by which he means Jerusalem and the adjacent Churches, which were reckoned to be in the midst of the earth. But as one and the same sun enlightened all the world; so the preaching of this truth shined all over, and enlightened all men that were willing to come to the knowledge of truth. Nor did the most eloquent ruler of the Church say any more than this; (for no one was above his master;) nor the weakest diminish any thing of this tradition for the faith being one and the same, he that said most of it could not enlarge it, nor he that said least take any thing from it.'

The reader will easily perceive, that Irenæus by this one faith did not mean the express form of words now used in the Apostles' Creed; for his words differ much in expression from that, though in sense and substance it be the same faith,

33 Ibid. c. 3. (p. 46. 1.) Τοῦτο τὸ κήρυγμα παρειληφυῖα καὶ ταύτην τὴν πίστιν . . . . ἡ ἐκκλησία, καίπερ ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ κόσμῳ διεσπαρμένη, ἐπιμελῶς φυλάσσει, ὡς ἕνα οἶκον οἰκοῦσα· καὶ ὁμοίως πιστεύει τούτοις, ὡς μίαν ψυχὴν καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν ἔχουσα καρδίαν, καὶ συμφώνως ταῦτα κηρύσσει, καὶ διδάσκει, καὶ παραδίδωσιν, ὡς ἓν στόμα κεκτημένη· καὶ γὰρ αἱ κατὰ τὸν κόσμον διάλεκτοι ανόμοιαι, ἀλλ ̓ δύναμις τῆς παραδόσεως μία καὶ ἡ αὐτή· καὶ οὔτε αἱ ἐν Γερμανίαις ἱδρυμέναι ἐκκλησίαι ἄλλως πεπιστεύκασιν, ἢ ἄλλως παραδιδόασιν, οὔτε ἐν ταῖς Ιβηρίαις, οὔτε ἐν Κελτοῖς, οὔτε κατὰ τὰς ἀνατολὰς, οὔτε ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ, οὔτε BINGHAM, VOL. III.

ἐν Λιβύῃ, οὔτε αἱ κατὰ μέσα τοῦ κόσμου ἱδρυμέναι· ἀλλ ̓ ὥσπερ ὁ ἥλιος, τὸ κτίσμα τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ κόσμῳ εἷς καὶ ὁ αὐτός· οὕτω καὶ τὸ κήρυγμα τῆς ἀληθείας πανταχῇ φαίνει, καὶ φωτίζει πάντας ἀνθρώπους τοὺς βουλομένους εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν ἀληθείας ἐλθεῖν· καὶ οὔτε ὁ πάνυ δυνατὸς ἐν λόγῳ τῶν ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις προεστώτων ἕτερον τούτων ἐρεῖ· οὐδεὶς γὰρ ὑπὲρ τὸν διδάσκαλον· οὔτε ὁ ἀσθενὴς ἐν τῷ λόγῳ ἐλαττώσει τὴν παράδοσιν· μιᾶς γὰρ καὶ τῆς αὐτῆς πίστεως οὔσης, οὔτε ὁ πολὺ περὶ αὐτῆς δυνάμενος εἰπεῖν ἐπλεόνασεν, οὔτε ὁ τὸ ὀλίγον ἠλαττόνησε.

Ll

The Creed

and that which was then preached and taught over all the Churches.

2. There is another such form of apostolical doctrine colof Origen. lected by Origen in his Books of Christian Principles 34, where he thus delivers the rule of faith: The things which are manifestly handed down by the apostolical preaching, are these. First, that there is one God, who created and made all things, and caused the whole universe to exist out of nothing; the God of all the just that ever were from the first creation and foundation of all; the God of Adam, Abel, Seth, Enos, Enoch, Noe, Sem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the twelve Patriarchs, Moses, and the Prophets and that this

God in the last days, as he had promised before by his prophets, sent our Lord Jesus Christ, first to call Israel and then the Gentiles, after the infidelity of his people Israel. This just and good God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, gave both the Law and the Prophets, and the Gospels, being the God of the Apostles, and of the Old and New Testament. The next article is, that Jesus Christ, who came into the world, was begotten of the Father before every creature, who ministering to his Father in the creation of all things, (for by him all things were made,) in the last times made himself of

34 Пepì 'Apx@v, in Præfat. t. 1. p. 665. (t. 1. p. 47 c.) Species vero eorum, quæ per prædicationem apostolicam inanifeste traduntur, istæ sunt. Primo, quod unus Deus est, qui omnia creavit atque composuit, quique ex nullis [al. cum nihil esset] fecit esse universa; Deus a prima creatura et conditione mundi omnium Justorum, Deus Adam, Abel, Seth, Enos, Enoch, Noe, Sem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, duodecim Patriarcharum, Moysis, et Prophetarum. Et quod hic Deus in novissimis diebus, sicut per Prophetas suos ante promiserat, misit Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum, primo quidem vocaturum Israel, secundo [vero] etiam Gentes post perfidiam populi Israel. Hic Deus justus et bonus, Pater Domini nostri Jesu Christi, Legem et Prophetas et Evangelia [ipse] dedit, qui et ApostoJorum Deus est, et Veteris et Novi

Testamenti. Tum deinde quia Jesus Christus ipse, qui venit, ante omnem creaturam natus ex Patre est: qui, cum in omnium conditione Patri ministrasset, (per ipsum enim omnia facta sunt,) novissimis temporibus seipsum exinaniens homo factus est: incarnatus est cum Deus esset, et homo [factus] mansit, quod Deus erat. Corpus assumpsit nostro corpori simile, eo solo differens quod natum ex virgine de Spiritu Sancto est. Et quoniam hic Jesus Christus natus, et passus est in veritate, et non per imaginem [al. phantasiam] communem hanc mortem [sustinuit] vere mortuus [est]; vere enim a mortuis resurrexit, et, post resurrectionem conversatus cum discipulis suis, assumptus est. Tum deinde honore ac dignitate Patri et Filio sociatum tradiderunt Spiritum Sanctum, &c.

no reputation and became man: he who was God, was made flesh, and when he was man, he continued the same God that he was before. He assumed a body in all things like ours, save only that it was born of a virgin by the Holy Ghost. And because this Jesus Christ was born and suffered death common to all, in truth, and not only in appearance, he was truly dead; for he rose again truly from the dead, and after his resurrection conversed with his disciples, and was taken up into heaven. They also delivered unto us, that the Holy Ghost was joined in the same honour and dignity with the Father and the Son.'

Thus far Origen speaks of the principal articles of the Christian faith, as handed down by the Church from the preaching of the Apostles. And there goes another book under his name, written by way of Dialogue against the Marcionites, where 35 he more succinctly delivers the Catholic faith in opposition to the false principles of those heretics: 'I believe there is one God, the Creator and Maker of all things; and one that is from him, God the Word, who is consubstantial with him and co-eternal, who in the last times took human nature upon him of the Virgin Mary, and was crucified, and raised again from the dead. I believe also the Holy Ghost, who exists to all eternity.' It is true, learned men are not certainly agreed who was the true author of those Dialogues; Wetstenius 36, who first published them in Greek, ascribes them to Origen: but Huetius 37 makes one Maximus the author, who lived, as he conjectures, in the time of Constantine. But whoever was the author, they contain a form of a very orthodox Creed, for which reason I have given it a place in this collection. 3. Next after Origen we find some parts of the ancient The fragCreed in Tertullian 38, who speaks of it as the rule of faith

35 Dialog. 1. (p.815. t.2. Ed. Latin. Basil. 1571.) Credo unum omnium Conditorem esse et Opificem : et qui ab illo est, Deum Verbum, consubstantialem juxtaque perennem; eumque extremis temporibus hominem ex Maria assumpsisse, et in crucem actum, et excitatum a mortuis. Credo etiam Spiritui Sancto, qui in omnem æternitatem exsistit. [Ed. Bened. De Recta in Deum Fide. s. 1. (t. 1. p. 804 c.) "Eva Ocòv

Kai KTɩσTηv Kai dŋμiovρyòv tŵv åπáv-
των εἶναι πεπίστευκα, κ. τ. λ. ED.]

36 [John Rodolph Wetstein; Notæ
ad Originis Dialogum contra Mar-
cionitas, &c. Basil. 1678. 4to.

37 Vid. Origenian. 1.3. c. 9. (Oper. Origen. t. 4. p. 326 c.) Dialogum de orthodoxa fide, qui et Contra Marcionitas inscribi solet, &c. ED.]

38 De Virgin. Veland. c. 1. (p. 173 a.) Regula quidem fidei una omnino est, sola immobilis et irreformabilis,

ments of the Creed in Tertullian.

common to all Christians. There is,' says he, 'one rule of faith only, which admits of no change or alteration, that, which teaches us to believe in one God Almighty, the Maker of the world; and in Jesus Christ his Son, who was born of the Virgin Mary, crucified under Pontius Pilate, the third day arose again from the dead, received into heaven, and sitteth now at the right hand of God, who shall come again to judge both the quick and the dead, by the resurrection of the flesh.'

6

In his Book of Prescriptions against Heretics 37, he has another form not much unlike this: The rule of faith is that, whereby we believe one God only, and no other beside, the Maker of the world, who produced all things out of nothing, by his Word, which he sent forth before all things. This Word was called his Son, who at sundry times appeared to the Patriarchs, and always spake by the Prophets, and at last descended into the Virgin Mary by the Power and Spirit of God the Father, and was made flesh in her womb, and born of her, a man, Jesus Christ; who preached a new law, and a new promise of the kingdom of heaven; who wrought miracles, and was crucified, and the third day arose again, and was taken into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father; whence he sent the power of the Holy Ghost in his stead, to guide them that believe: who shall come again with glory, to take the saints into the possession and fruition of eternal life and the heavenly promises, and to condemn the profane to everlasting fire, having first raised both the one and the

credendi scilicet in unicum Deum Omnipotentem, Mundi Conditorem, et Filium ejus Iesum Christum, natum ex Virgine Maria, crucifixum sub Pontio Pilato, tertia die resuscitatum a mortuis, receptum in cœlis, sedentem nunc ad dexteram Patris, venturum judicare vivos et mortuos per carnis etiam resurrectionem.

37 C. 13. (p. 206 d.) Regula est autem fidei.... illa scilicet qua creditur, unum omnino Deum esse, nec alium præter mundi Conditorem, qui universa de nihilo produxerit, per Verbum suum primo omnium emis sum. Id Verbum Filium ejus appellatum, in nomine Dei varie visum a patriarchis, in prophetis semper

auditum, postremo delatum ex Spiritu Patris Dei et virtute in Virginem Mariam, carnem factum in utero ejus, et ex ea natum hominem et esse Iesum Christum : exinde prædicasse novam legem, et novam promissionem regni cœlorum; virtutes fecisse; fixum cruci; tertia die resurrexisse; in cœlos ereptum sedisse [al. sedere] ad dexteram Patris; misisse vicariam vim Spiritus Sancti, qui credentes agat; venturum cum claritate ad sumendos sanctos in vitæ æternæ et promissorum cœlestium fructum, et ad profanos [ad]judicandos igni perpetuo, facta utriusque partis resuscitatione cum carnis restitutione [al. resurrectione.]

other by the resurrection of the flesh.'

This rule,' he says39,

'was instituted by Christ himself, and there were no disputes in the Church about it, but such as heresies brought in, or such as made heretics. To know nothing beyond this, was to know all things.'

In his Book against Praxeas 39 he repeats the same Creed with a little variation of expression: We believe in one God, yet under this dispensation, which we call the economy, that that one God hath a Son, which is his Word, who proceeded from Him, by whom all things were made, and without whom nothing was made. We believe, that he was sent by the Father to be born of a Virgin, both man and God, the Son of man and the Son of God, and that he was called Jesus Christ. That he suffered, and was dead, and buried, according to the Scriptures; that he was raised again by the Father, and taken up again into heaven, where he sits at the right hand of the Father, and shall come again to judge the quick and the dead; from whence also he sent from his Father, according to his promise, the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, who sanctifies the faith of those that believe in the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.' This faith,' he says, 'was the rule of believing from the beginning of the Gospel, and the antiquity of it was sufficiently demonstrated from the novelty of heresies, which were but of yesterday's standing in comparison of it.'

Now it is easy to observe, that Tertullian here speaks not of any certain form of words, but of the substance of the

38 Ibid. c. 14. (p. 207 a.) Hæc regula a Christo ut probabitur instituta, nullas habet apud nos quæstiones, nisi quas hæreses inferunt et quæ hæreticos faciunt....Adversus regulam [al. nihil ultra] scire, omnia scire est.

39 C. 2. (p. 501 b.)... Unicum quidem Deum credimus, sub hac tamen dispensatione, quam œconomiam [al. olkovouíav] dicimus, ut unici Dei sit et Filius Sermo ipsius, qui ex ipso processerit, per quem omnia facta sunt, et sine quo factum est nihil. Hunc missum a Patre in Virginem, et ex ea natum Hominem et Deum, filium hominis et filium Dei, et cognominatum Iesum Christum. Hunc passum, hunc mor

tuum, et sepultum secundum Scripturas, et resuscitatum a Patre, et in cœlos resumptum, sedere ad dexteram Patris, venturum judicare vivos et mortuos. Qui exinde miserit secundum promissionem suam a Patre Spiritum Sanctum Paracletum, sanctificatorem fidei eorum, qui credunt in Patrem et Filium et Spiritum Sanctum. Hanc regulam ab initio Evangelii decucurisse, etiam ante priores quosque hæreticos, nedum ante Praxeam hesternum, probabit tam ipsa posteritas omnium hæreticorum, quam ipsa novellitas Praxeæ hesterni.-Conf. de Bapt. c. 6. p.11. (pp. 226-228.) [This last citation is indistinct according to the reference. ED.]