INSTITUTES CHRISTIAN RELIGION. ?>- JOHN CALVIN. TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL LATIN, AND COLLATED WITH THE AUTHOr's LAST EDITION IN FRENCH, BY JOHN ALLEN. Non tamen omnino potuit mora invida totum Tollere Calvinum terris ; leterna raanebunt Ingenii monurnenta tui : et livoris iniqui Languida paulatim oum flamma rescderit, omnes Rellgio qua pura nitet se fundet in oras Fania tui Buchanan. THIRD AMERICAN EDITION, REVISED AND CORRECTED. y ■^u IN TWO VOLUMES VOL. I. PHILADELPHIA: PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION. JAMES RUSSELL, PUBLISHING agent. 184 1. ADVERTISEMENT. The Presbyterian Board of Publication, in introducing to the public a new edition of the inimitable " Institutes of the Chris- tian Religion," do not wish to be regarded as adopting all the sentiments and forms of expression of the venerated writer ; ahhough they agree with him in his general views, and admire the skiU and learning Avith which he has pointed out the rela- tive positions and bearings of the great doctrines of revelation. Calvin was better quaUfied thau any of his contemporaries, to pre- sent revealed truth in a connected and systematic form. His great natural abihties, his profound erudition, his weU balanced and discriminating judgment, and his habits of diUgent inves- tigatiou, eminently iitted him to prepare such a work as the " lustitutes," in which the doctrines of the gospel are so clearly developed and harmonized, that the system has been closely associated with his name, from the period of its pubUcation until the present time. The honour of Calvin consisted, not in suggesting ingenious theories and speculations, but in his general accuracy in inter- preting the Holy Scriptures, and in detecting and pointing out the connection of Scripture doctrines, which, instead of being insulated, were shown to occupy their respective places in forming a complete and perfect system of Divine truth. The doctrines embraced in the formularies of the Presbyterian Church are termed Calvinistic, from their general accordance with Calvin's interpretation of scriptural truth ; but the admis- sion of this term, as explanatory of their generai character, is not understood as by any means implying an eutire coincidence in the views of Calviu, or a submission to his authority as an umpire in theological controversies. Although a learned and piousj he was a faUible man ; and his opinions, ahhough de- serving of profound respect, are not to be bUndly foUowed. While admitting that the " Institutes," consideriug the times and circumstances in which they were written, form an inva- luable body of divinity, stiU it must be acknowledged, that some of the doctrines therein maintained have been more himinously set forth in modern times. We would especiaUy mention as an instance the doctrine of justification through the 4 ADVERTISEMENT. imputed righteousness of Christ. Some of the expressions of Calvin on the subject of reprobation may be regarded as too un- qualified, and vve can no further endorse them than as they are incorporated in the Presbyterian Confession of Faith. The most decidedly objectionable feature in the "Christian Institutes," is to be found in the explaiiation of the Fourth Commandment, where the autlior asserts the abrogation of the Sabbath. In Calvin's view, this ordinance was a mere type of better bless- ings, and, with the types and ceremonies of the old dispensa- tion, was done away by the introduction of a new and better dispensation. In this opinion there can be no doubt that he greatly erred ; and so universal is the conviction of the Church on the perpetual obligation of the Sabbath as a moral institu- tion, that no danger is to be apprehended from a contrary view, even under the sanction of so great a name as that of Calvin. In justice to his opinion on this subject, however, it should be stated, that he distinctly recognized not only the propriety but the necessity of a consecration of stated days for pubHc reU- gious services, without which regulation, he declares that "it is io far from being possible to preserve order and decorum, that if it were abolished, the Church would be in imminent danger 3f immediate convulsion and ruin." It is much to be lamented that so great a mind should have been led astray on so im- portant a point by attempting to avoid an opposite extreme. The Board of Publication have been induced to undertake this edition, by the very generous otfer of the First and Se- cond Presbyterian Churches in BaUimore, of which the Rev. John Backus and the Rev. Dr. R. J. Breckinridge are respec- tively Pastors, to defray the expense of stereotyping the work. Under the direction of the Executive Committee of the Board, the translation has been dihgently compared throughout with the original Latin and French, and various corrections have been made to convey the meaning of the author more dis- tinctly and accurately. This laborious duty has been per- formed by a member of the Publishing Committee. The intrinsic excellence of the work, taken in connection with the attractive style, and comparative cheapuess, of the present edition, induces the Committee to hope, that it may be widely circulated and carefully studied, both by the clergy and laymen of the Presbyterian Church. lu behalf of the Executive Committee, WILLIAM M. ENGLES, Editor. TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. The English Reader is here presented with a transla- tion of one of the principal theological productions of the sixteenth century. Few persons, into whose hands this translation is Hkely to fall, will require to be informed that the Author of the original work was one of an illus- trious triumvirate, who acted a most conspicuous part in what has been generally and justly denominated The Re- FORMATioN. Of that importaut revolution in ecclesiastical affairs, so necessary to the interests of true religion, and productive of such immense advantages even to civil so- ciety, Luther, Zuingle, and Calvin, were honoured, by the providence of God, to be the most highly distinguished instruments. It is no degradation to the memory of the many other ornaments of that age, to consider them as brilHant satelhtes in the firmament of the Church, revolving round these primary luminaries, to whom they were in- debted for much of that lustre which they diffused over the earth ; while they were all together revolving around one and the same common centre, though, it must be confessed, with considerable varieties of approximation, velocity, and obhquity in their courses; yet all deriving more or less copious communications of light from the great Sun of the moral system, the true Light of the world. Differing in the powers of their minds, as well as in the temperament of their bodily constitutions, placed in dif- ferent circumstances, and called to act in different scenes, these leading Reformers, though engaged in the same com- mon cause, displayed their characteristic and pecuHar ex- TRANSLATOR S PREFACE. cellences ; which, it is no disparagement of that cause to admit, were likewise accompanied by peculiar failings. It is not the design of this preface to portray and discriminate their respective characters. Thej ahke devoted their lives and labours to rescue Christianitj from the absurdities, superstitions, and vices bj which it had been so deplorably deformed, mutilated, and obscured, and to recall the atten- tion of mankind from the doubtful traditions of men to the unerring word of God. But while they were all distin- guished Reformers, Calvin has been generallj acknowledged to have been the most eminent theologian of the three. Such vvas the saperioritj of the talents and attainments of Calvin to those of most other great men, that the strictest truth is in danger of being taken for exaggeration. It is impossible for anj candid and intelhgent person to have even a slight acquaintance with his writings, without ad- miring his various knowledge, extensive learning, profound penetration, soHd judgment, acute reasoning, pure moralitj, and fervent pietj. His CoMMENTARiES ou the Scripturcs have been cele- brated for a juster method of exposition than had been exhibited bj anj preceding writer. Above a hundred jears after his death, Poole, the author of the Sjnopsis, in the preface to that valuable work, sajs, " Calvin's Com- mentaries abound insohd discussionsof theological subjects, and practical improvements of them. Subsequent writers have borrowed most of their materials from Calvin,and his interpretations adorn the books even of those who repaj the obligation bj reproaching their master." And nothingcan more satisfactorilj evince the high estimation to which thej are still entitled from the biblical student, than the follow- ing testimonj, given, after the lapse of another centurj, bj the late learned Bishop Horslej : " I hold the memorj of Calvin in high veneration: his works have a place in mj librarj ; and in the studj of the Holj Scriptures, he is one of the commentators whom I frequentlj consult." TBANSLATORS PREFACE. But perhaps, of all the writings of Calvin, none has ex- cited so much attention as his Institutes of the Chris- TiAN Religion. His original design in commencing this work is stated by himself, in the beginning of his dedication, to have been to supply his countrymen, the French, with an elementary compendium for their instruction in the principles of true rehgion. But we learn from Beza that, by the time of its completion, existing circumstances furnished the Author with an additional motive for sending it into the world, during his residence at Basil, whither he had retired to avoid the persecution which was then raging in France against all the dissentients from the Church of Rome. Francis the First, king of France, courted the friendship of the Protestant princes of Germany ; and knowing their detestation of the cruelties which he employed against his subjects of the reformed rehgion, he endeavoured to excuse his conduct by alleging that he caused none to be put to death except some few fanatics ; who, so far from taking the word of God as the rule of their faith, gave themselves up to the impulses of their disordered imaginations, and even openly avowed a contempt of magistrates and sovereign princes. Unable to bear such foul aspersions of his bre- thren, Calvin determined on the immediate pubhcation of this treatise, which he thought would serve as an answer to the calumnies circulated by the enemies of the truth, and as an apology for his pious and persecuted country- men. The Dedication to Francis is one of the most masterly compositions of modern times. The purity, elegance, and energy of style ; the bold, yet respectful, freedom of ad- dress ; the firm attachment to the Divine word ; the Christian fortitude in the midst of persecution ; the trium- phant refutation of the calumnies of detractors ; with other quaUties which distinguish this celebrated remonstrance, will surely permit no reader of taste or piety to withhold 8 tbanslator's preface. his concurrence from the general admiration which it has received. The Author composed this treatise in Latin and French ; and though, at its first appearance, it was Httle more than an outhne of what it afterwards became, it was received with uncommon approbation, and a second edition of it was soon required. How manj editions it passed through during his Hfe, it is difficult, if not impossible, now to as- certain ; but it obtained a very extensive circulation, and was reprinted several times, and every time was further improved and enlarged by him, till, in the year 1559, twenty-three years after the first impression, he put the finishing hand to his work, and published it in Latin and French, with his last corrections and additions. The circulation which it enjoyed was not confined to persons capable of reading it in the languages in which it was written. It was translated into High Dutch, Low Dutch, Italian, and Spanish. Soon after the pubHcation of the Author's last edition, it was translated from the Latin into Enghsh. In this language it appears to have reached six editions in the Hfe of the Translator. A reflection on the small number of persons who may be supposed to have had inclination and ability to read such a book at that period, compared with the number of readers in the present age, may excite some wonder that there should have been a demand for so many editions. But no surprise at this circumstance will be felt by any person acquainted with the high estimation in which the works of the Author were held by the vene- rable Reformers of the Church of England, and their immediate successors, as well as by the great majority of religious people in this country. This is not a question of opinion,but an undeniable fact. Dr. Heyhn, the admirer and biographer of Archbishop Laud, speaking of the early part of the seventeenth century, says, that Calvin's " Book oflnstitutes was,for the most part,the foundationon which TRANSLATOR S PREFACE. the young divines of those times did build their studies." The great Dr. Saunderson, who was chaplain to King Charles I., and, after the restoration of Charles II., was created Bishop of Lincohi, says, " When I began to set myself to the study of divinity as my proper business, Calvin's Institutions were recommended to me, as they were generally to all young scholars in those times, as the best and perfectest system of divinity, and the fittest to be laid as a ground-work in the study of this profession. And, indeed, my expectation was not at all deceived in the reading of those Institutions." * The great changes which have taken place in our lan- guage render it difficult to form a correct opinion of the me- rits of Mr. Norton's translation, which was first pubhshed about two hundred and fifty years ago. It must give rather a favourable idea of its execution, that it was care- fully revised by the Rev. David Whitehead, a man of learning and piety, who, in the reign of Henry VIII., was nominated by Archbishop Cranmer to a bishopric in Ireland, and, soon after the accession of Queen Elizabeth, was solicited by that Princess to fill the metropolitan see of Canterbury, but dechned the preferment. But, what- ever were the merits or defects of that translation at its first appearance, it has long been too antiquated, uncouth, and obscure, to convey any just idea of the original work, and abounds with passages which, to the modern English reader, cannot but be altogether unintelligible. The intrinsic excellence of the book, its importance in the history of theological controversy, the celebrity of the * It is not uncommon, among persons of a certain class, to represent the leading principles of Calvin as unfavourable to practical religion, and to Ihat kind of preaching which is adapted to affect the heaits and consciences of the hearers. A reference to the most able and intelligent theologians and preachers who have held those principles, and upon whom they may reasonably be concluded to have exerted tlaeir genuine and fullest influence, will amply evince the inaccuracy of this representation. Of the excellent divine quoted above, King Charles I. was wont to say, that " he carried his ears to hear other preachers, but his conscience to hear Mr. Saunderson." VOL. I. 2 10 translator's preface. Author, the application of his name to designate the leading principles of the sjstem he maintained, and the frequent coUision of sentiment respecting various parts of that sys- tem, combine with other considerations to render it a matter of wonder, that it has not long ago been given to the EngHsh pubhc in a new dress. The importance of it has also been much increased by the recent controversy respect- ing Calvinism, commenced by Dr. TomHne, the present Bishop of Lincoln, in which such direct and copious re- ference has been made to the writings of this Reformer, and especially to his Christian Institutes. These cir- cumstances and considerations have led to the present translation and pubhcation, which, from the very respect- able encouragement it has received, the Translator trusts will be regarded as an acceptable service to the rehgious pubhc. Among the different methods of translation which have been recommended, he has adopted that which appeared to him best fitted to the present undertaking. A servile adherence to the letter of the original, the style of which is so very remote from the English idiom, he thought would convey a very inadequate representation of the work ; such extreme fidehty, to use an expression of Cowper's, being seldom successful, even in a faithful transmission of the precise sentimeuts of the author to the mind of the reader. A mere attention to the ideas and sentiments of the original, to the neglect of its style and manner, would expose the Translator of a treatise of this nature to no small danger of misrepresenting the meaning of the Author, by too frequent and unnecessary deviations from his language. He has, therefore, aimed at a medium between servihty and looseness, and endeavoured to follow the style of the original as far as the respective idioms of the Latin and Enghsh would admit. After the greater part of the work had been translated, he had the happiness to meet with an edition in French, translator's preface. 11 of which he has availed himself in translating the re- mainder, and in the revision of what he had translated before. Every person, who understands any two lan- guages, will be aware that the ambiguity of one will sometimes be explained by the precision of another ; and, notwithstanding the acknowledged superiority of the Latin to the French in mostof the qualities whichconstitute the excellence of a language, the case of the article is not the only one in which Calvin's French elucidates his Latin. The scriptural quotations which occur in the work, the Translator has given, generally, in the words of oiir com- mon Enghsh version ; sometimes according to the readings in the margin of that version; and, in a few instances, he has literally translated the version adopted by the Author, where the context required his peculiar reading to be pre- served. Almost all the writers of that age, writing chiefly in a dead language, were accustomed to speak of their ad- versaries in language which the polished manners of the modern times have discarded, and which would now be deemed ilhberal and scurrilous. Where these cases occur, the Translator has not thought himself bound to a literal rendering of every word, or at Hberty to refine them en- tirely away, but has adopted such expressions as he appre- hends will give a faithful representation of the spirit of the Author to modern readers. Intending this work as a complete system of theology, the Author has made it the repository of his sentiments on all points of faith and practice. The whole being distri- buted into four parts, in conformity to the Apostles' Creed, and this plan being very different from that of most other bodies of divinity, the Translator has borrowed from the Latin edition of Amsterdam a very perspicuous general syllabus, which will give the reader a clear view of the original design and plan of the treatise. He would not be understood to represent these Institutes as a perfect summary of Christian doctrines and morals, or 12 translator's preface. to profess an unqualified approbation of all the sentiments they contain. This is a homage to which no uninspired writings can ever be entitled. But the simplicity of the method; the freedom from the barbarous tcrms, captious questions, minute distinctions, and intricate subtilties of many other Divines ; the clearness and closeness of argu- ment ; the complete refutation of the advocates of the Romish Church, sometimes by obvious conclusions from their professed principles, sometimes by clear proofs of the absurdities they involve ; the intimate knowledge of eccle- siastical history; the intimate acquaintance with former theological controversies ; the perspicuity of scriptural in- terpretation ; and the uniform spirit of genuine piety, which pervade the book, cannot escape the observation of any judicious reader. It has been advised by some persons that the translation should be accompanied by a few notes, to elucidate and enforce some passages, and to correct others; but, on all the consideration which the Translator has been able to give to this subject, he has thought it would be best to content himself with ihe humble office of placing the senti- ments of Calvin before the reader, with all the iidelity in his power, without any addition or limitation. He hopes that the present publication will serve the cause oftrue religion, and that the reputation of the work itself will sustain no diminution from the form in which it now appears. LoNDON, May 12, 1813. CONTENTS. The Author's Preface to the edition published in 1559 p. 17 Dedication 20 GeNERAL SVLIiABUS 41 BOOK I. Chap. I. The connection between the knowledge of God and the knowledge of ourselves. Chap. II. Tlie nature and tendency of the knowledge of God. Chap. III. The mind of man naturally endued with the knowledge of God. Chap. IV. This knowledge extinguished or con-upted, partly by ignorance, partly by wickedness. Chap. V. The knowledge of God conspicuous in the formation and continual government of the world. Chap. VI. The guidance and teaching of the Scripture necessary to lead to tlie knowledge of God the Creator. Chap. VII. The testimony of the Spirit necessary to confirm the Scripture, in order to the complete establishment of its autliority. The suspension of its authority, on the judgment of the Church, an impious fiction. Chap. VIII. Rational proofs to establish the belief of the Scripture. Chap. IX. The fanaticism which discards the Scripture, under the pretence of resorting to immediate revelations, subversive of every principle of piety. Chap. X. All idolatrous worship discountenanced in the Scripture, by its exclusive opposition of the true God to all the fictitious deities of the heathen. Chap. XI. Unla^vfulness of ascribing to God a visible furm. All idolatry a defection froni the true God. Chap. XII. God contradistinguished from idols, that he may be solely and supremely worshipped. Chap. XIII. One Divine essence, containing three persons, taught in the Scrip- ture since the beginning. 14 CONTENTS. Chap. XIV. The true God distinguished in the Scripture from all fictitious ones, by the creation of the world. Chap. XV. Tlie state of man at his creation ; the faculties of the soul, the Divine image, free-will, and the original purity of his nature. Chap. XVI. God's preservation and support of the world by his power and his government of every part of it by his providence. Chap. XVII. Tlie proper application of this doctrine to render it useful to us. Chap. XVIII. God uses the agency of the impious, and inclines their minds to execute his judgments, yet without the least stain of his perfect purity. BOOK II. Chap. I. The fall and defection of Adam the cause of the curse inflicted on all mankind, and of the degeneracy from their primitive condition. The doc- trine of original sin. Chap. II. Man in his present state despoiled of freedom of will, and subjected to a miserable slavery. Chap. III. Every thing that proceeds from the corrupt nature of man worthy of condemnation. Chap. IV. The operation of God in the hearts of men. Chap. V. A refutation of the objections commonly urgud in tlie support of free-will. Chap. VI. Redemption for lost man to be sought in Christ. Chap. VII. The law given not to confine the ancient people to itself, but to encourage their hope of salvation in Christ, till tlie time of his coming. Chap. VIII. An exposition of the moral law. Chap. IX. Christ, though known to the Jews under tlie law, yet clearly re- vealed only in the gospel. Chap. X. The similarity of the Old and New Testaments. Chap. XI. The difference of the two Testaments. Chap. XII. The necessity of Christ becoming man, in order to fulfil the office of Mediator. Chap. XIII. Christ's assumption of real liumanity. Chap. XIV. The union of the two natures constituting the person of the Me- diator. Chap. XV. The consideration of Christ's three offices, prophetical, regal, and sacerdotal, necessary to our knowing the end of his mission from the Father, and the benefits which he confers on us. Chap. XVI. Christ's execution of the office of a Redeemer to procure our sal- vation ; his death, resurrection, and ascension to heaven. Chap. XVII. Christ truly and properly said to have merited the grace of God and salvation for us. CONTENTS. 15 BOOK III. Chap. I. What is declared concerning Christ rendered profitable to us by the secret operation of the Spirit Chap. II. Faith defined, and its properties described. Chap. III. On repentance. Chap. IV. The sophistry and jargon of tlie schools concerning repentance, very remote from the purity of the gospel. On confession and satis- faction. Chap. V. The supplements to their doctrine of satisfactions, indulgences, and purgatory. Chap. VI. The life of a Christian. Scriptural arguments and exhortations to it Chap. VII. Summary of the Christian life. Self-denial. Chap. VIII. Bearing the cross, which is a branch of self-denial. Chap. IX. Meditation on the future life. Chap. X. The right use of the present life and its supports. Chap. XI. Justification by faith. The name and thing defined. Chap. XII. A consideration of the Divine tribunal necessary to a serious con- viction of gratuitous justification. Chap. XIII. Two tliings necessary to be observed in gratuitous justifi- cation. Chap. XIV. The commencement and continual progress of justifica- tion. Chap. XV. Boasting of the merit of works equally subversive of God's glory in the gift of righteousness, and of the certainty of salvation. Chap. XVI. A refutation of the injurious calumnies of the Papists against this doctrine. Chap. XVII. The harmony between the promises of the law and those of the gospel. Chap. XVIII. Justification from works not to be inferred from the promise of a reward. Chap. XIX. On Christian liberty. Cliap. XX. On prayer, the principal exercise of faith, and the medium of our daily reception of Divine blessings. Chap. XXI. Eternal election, or God's predestination of some to salvation, and of others to destruction. Chap. XXII. Testimonies of Scripture in confirmation of this doctrine. Chap. XXIII. A refutation of the calumnies generally, but unjustly, urged against this doctrine. Chap. XXIV. Election confirmed by the Divine call. The destined destruc- tion of the reprobate procured by themselves. Chap. XXV. The final resurrection. 16 CONTENTS. BOOK IV. Chap, I. The true Church, and the necessity of our union with her, being the mother of all the pious. Chap. II. The true and false Church compared. Chap. III. The teachers and ministers of the Church, their election and office. Chap. IV. The state of the ancient Church, and the mode of government prac- tised before the Papacy. Chap. V. Tlie ancient form of government entirely subverted by the Papal tyranny. Chap. VI. The primacy of the Roman see. Chap. VII. The rise and progress of the Papal power to its present eminencc attended with the loss of liberty to tlie Church, and the ruin of all mode- ration. Chap. VIII. The power of the Church respecting articles of faith, and its licentious peiTersion under the Papacy, to the corruption of all purity of doctrine. Chap. IX. Councils ; their authority. Chap. X. The power of legislation, in which the pope and his adherents have most cruelly tyrannized over the minds, and tortured the bodies of men. Chap. XI. The jurisdiction of the Church, and its abuse under the Papacy. Chap. XII. The discipline of the Church ; its principal use in censures and excommunication. Chap. XIII. Vows ; the misery of rashly making them. Chap. XIV. The sacraments. Chap. XV. Baptism. Chap. XVI. Peedobaptism perfectly consistent with tlie institution of Christ, and the nature of the sign. Chap. XVII. The Lord's supper and its advantages. Chap. XVIII. The Papal mass not only a sacrilegious profanation of the Lord's supper, but a total annihilation of it Chap. XIX. The five other ceremonies, falsely called sacraments, proved not to be sacraments ; their true nature explained. Chap. XX. On civil government. AUTHOR'S PREFACE AN EDITION PUBLISHED IN THE YEAR 1559, WITH HIS LAST CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS. In the first edition of this work, not expecting that siiccess which the Lord, in his infinite goodness, hath given, I handled the subject for the most part in a superficial manner, as is usual in small treatises. But when I understood that it had obtained from almost all pious persons such a favourable ac- ceptance as I never could have presumed to wish, much less to hope ; while I was conscious of receiving far more attention than I had deserved, I thought it would evince great ingrat- itude, if I did not endeavour at least, according to my humble abiUty, to make some suitable return for the attentions paid to me — attentions of themselves calculated to stimulate my in- dustry. Nor did I attempt this only in the second edition ; but in every succeeding one the work has been improved by some further enlargements. But though I repented not the labour then devoted to it, yet I never satisfied myself, till it was arranged in the order in which it is now published ; and I trust I have here presented to my readers what their judg- ments will unite in approving. Of my dihgent application to the accompUshment of this service for the Church of God, I can produce abundant proof. For, last winter, when I thought that a quartan ague would speedily terminate in my death, the more my disorder increased, the less I spared myself, till I had finished this book, to leave it behind me, as some grateful re- VOL. I. 3 18 author's preface. tiirn to such kind solicitations of the religious public. Indeed, I would rather it had been done sooner ; but it is soon enough, if well enough. I shall think it has appeared at the proper time, when I shall find it to have been more beneficial than before to the Ch.urch of God. This is my only wish. I should indeed be ill requited for my labour, if I did not con- tent myself with the approbation of God alone, despising equally the foohsh and perverse judgments of ignorant men, and the cakunnies and detractions of the wicked. For though God hath wholly devoted my mind to study the enlargement of his kingdom, and the promotion of general usefuhiess ; and I have the testimony of my own conscience, of angels, and of God himself, that, since I undertook the office of a teacher in the Church, I have had no other object in view than to profit the Church by maintaining the pure doctrine of godliness ; yet I suppose there is no man more slandered or cahimniated than myself. When this Preface was actually in the press, 1 had certain information, that at Augsburg, where the States of the Empire were assembled, a report had been circulated of my defection to popery, and received with unbecoming eager- ness in the courts of the princes. This is the gratitude of those who cannot be unacquainted with the numerous proofs of my constancy, which not only refute such a foul calumny, but, with all equitable and humane judges, ought to preserve me from it. But the devil, with all his host, is deceived, if he think to overwhelm me with vile falsehoods, or to render me more timid, indolent, or dilatory, by such indignities. For I trust that God, in his infinite goodness, will enable me to per- severe with patient constancy in the career of his holy caUing ; of which I afford my pious readers a fresh proof in this edition. Now, my design in this work has been to prepare and quahfy students of theology for the reading of the divine word, that they may have an easy introduction to it, and be enabled to proceed in it without any obstruction. For I think I have given such a comprehensive summary, and orderly arrange- ment of all the branches of rehgion, that, with proper attention, author's preface. 19 no person will find any difficulty in determining what ought to be the principal objects of his research in the Scripture, and to what end he ought to refer any thing it contains. This way, therefore, being prepared, if I should hereafter pubhsh any expositions of the Scripture, I shall have no need to in- troduce long discussions respecting doctrines, or digressions on common topics, and therefore shall always compress them within a narrow compass. This will reheve the pious reader from great trouble and tediousness, provided he come previous- ly furnished with the necessary information, by a knowledge of the present work. But as the reason of this design is very evident in my numerous Commentaries, I would rather have it known from the fact itself, than from my declaration. Farewell, friendly reader ; and if you receive any benefit from my labours, let me have the assistance of your prayers with God our Father. Geneva, Ist August, 1559. DEDICATION. To His Most Christian Majesty, Francis, King ofthe French, and his Sovereign, John Calvin wisheth peace and salvation in Christ. When I hegan this work, Sh'e, nothing was further from my thoughts than writing a book which would afterwards be pre- sented to your Majesty. My intention was only to lay down some elementary principles, by which inquirers on the subject of religion might be instructed in the nature of true piety. And this labour I imdertook chiefly for my countrymen, the French, of whom I apprehended multitudes to be hungering and thirsting after Christ, but saw very few possessing any real knowledge of him. That this was my design, the book itself proves by its simple method and unadorned composition. But when I perceived that the fury of certain wicked men in your kingdom had grown to such a height, as to leave no room in the land for sound doctrine, I thought I should be usefully employed, if in the same work I deUvered my instructions to them, and exhibited my confession to you, that you may know the nature of that doctrine, which is the object of such un- bounded rage to those madmen who are now disturbing the country with fire and sword. For I shall not be afraid to ac- knowledge, that this treatise contains a summary of that very doctrine, Avhich, according to their clamours, deserves to be punished with imprisonment, banishment, proscription, and flames, and to be exterminated from the face of the earth. I well know with what atrocious insinuations your ears have been filled by them, in order to render our cause most odious in your esteem ; but your clemency should lead you to con- sider that, if accusation be accounted a sufiicient evidence of guilt, there will be an end of all innocence in words and aC' tions. If any one, indeed, with a view to bring an odium upon the doctrine which I am endeavouring to defend, should DEDICATION. 21 allege that it has long ago been condemned by the general consent, and suppressed by many judicial decisions, this will be only equivalent to saying, that it has been sometimes violently rejected through the influence and power of its ad- versaries, and sometimes insidiously and fraudulently op- pressed by falsehoods, artifices, and cahimnies. Violence is displayed, when sanguinary sentences are passed against it without the cause being heard ; and fraud, when it is un- justly accused of sedition and mischief. Lest any one should suppose that these our complaints are unfounded, you yourself, Sire, can bear witness of the false cahimnies with which you hear it daily traduced ; that its only tendency is to wrest the sceptres of kings out of their hands, to overturn all the tribu- nals and judicial proceedings, to subvert all order and govern- ments, to disturb the peace and tranquillity of the people, to abrogate all laws, to scatter all properties and possessions, and, in a word, to involve every thing in total confusion. And yet you hear the smaUest portion of what is alleged against it ; for such horrible things are circulated amongst the vulgar, that, if they were true, the whole world would justly pronounce it and its abettors worthy of a thousand fires and gibbets. ' Who, then, will wonder at its becoming the object of public odium, where credit is given to such most iniquitous accusations ? This is the cause of the general consent and conspiracy to condemn us and our doctrine. Hurried away with this im- pulse, those who sit in judgment pronounce for sentences the prejudices they brought from home with them ; and think their duty fully discharged if they condemn none to be pun- ished but such as are convicted by their own confession, or by sufficient proofs. Convicted of what crime ? Of this con- demned doctrine, they say. But with what justice is it con- demned? Now, the ground of defence was not to abjure the doctrine itself, but to maintain its truth. On this subject, however, not a word is allowed to be uttered. Wherefore I beseech you, Sire, — and surely it is not an un- reasonable request, — to take upon yourself the entire cognizance of this cause, which has hitherto been confusedly and care- lessly agitated, without any order of law, and with outrageous passion rather than judicial gravity. Think not that I am 22 DEDICATION. now meditating my own individual defence, in order to cffect a safe return to my native country ; for, though I feel the af- fection which every man ought to feel for it, yet, under the existing circumstances, I regret not my removal from it. But I plead the cause of all the godly, and consequently of Christ himself, which, having been in these times persecuted and trampled on in all ways in your kingdom, now lies in a most deplorable state ; and this indeed rather through the tyranny of certain Pharisees, than with your knowledge. How this comes to pass is foreign to my present purpose to say ; but it certainly lies in a most afflicted state. For the ungodly have gone to such lengths, that the truth of Christ, if not van- quished, dissipated, and entirely destroyed, is buried, as it were, in ignoble obscurity, while the poor, despised church is either destroyed by cruel massacres, or driven away into ban- ishment, or menaced and terrified into total silence. And still they continue their wonted madness and ferocity, pushing violently against the wall already bent, and finishing the ruin they have begun. In the mean time, no one comes forward to plead the cause against such furies. If there be any persons desiroifs of appearing most favourable to the truth, they only venture an opinion, that forgiveness should be extended to the error and imprudence of ignorant people. For this is the lan- guage of these moderate men, calliug that error and imprudence which they know to be the certain truth of God, and those ig- noraut people, whose understanding they perceive not to have been so despicable to Christ, but that he has favoured them with the mysteries of his heavenly wisdom. Thus all are ashamed of the Gospel. But it shall be yours, Sire, not to turn away your ears or thoughts from so jnst a defence, es- pecially in a cause of such importance as the maintenance of God's glory unimpaired in the world, the preservation of the honour of divine truth, and the continuance of the kingdom of Christ uninjured among us. This is a cause worthy of your attention, worthy of your cognizance, worthy of your throne. This consideration constitutes true royalty, to acknowledge yourself in the government of your kingdom to be the minis- ter of God. For where the glory of God is not made the end of the government, it is not a legitimate sovereignty, but a DEDICATION. 23 usurpation. And he is deceived who expects lasting prosperity in that kingdom which is not ruled by the sceptre of God, that is, his holy word ; for that heavenly oracle cannot fail, which declares that "where there is no vision, the people perish," (a) Nor should you be seduccd from this pursuit by a contempt of our meanness. We are fuUy conscious to ourselves how very mean and abject we are, being miserable sinners before God, and accounted most despicable by men ; being (if you please) the refuse of the world, deserving of the vilest appellations that can be found ; so that nothing remains for us to glory in before God, but his mercy alone, by which, without any merit of ours, we have been admitted to the hope of eternal salva- tion, and before men nothing but our weakness, the sUghtest confession of which is esteemed by them as the greatest dis- grace. But our doctrine must stand, exalted above all the glory, and invincible by all the power of the world ; because it is not ours, but the doctrine of the living God, and of his Christ, whom the Father hath constituted King, that he may have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth, and that he may rule in such a manner, that the whole earth, with its strength of iron and with its splendour of gold and silver, smitten by the rod of his mouth, may be broken to pieces like a potter's vessel;(6) for thus do the prophets foretell the magnificence of his kingdom. Our adversaries reply, that our pleading the word of God is a false pretence, and that we are nefarious corrupters of it. But that this is not only a malicious cakimny, but egregious impudence, by reading our confession, you will, in your wis- dom, be able to judge. Yet something further is necessary to be said, to excite your attention, or at least to prepare your mind for this perusal. PauPs direction, that every prophecy be framed "according to the analogy of faith," (c) has fixed an invariable standard by which all interpretation of Scripture ought to be tried. If our principles be examined by this rule of faith, the victory is ours. For what is more consistent with faith than to acknowledge ourselves naked of all virtue, that we may be clothed by God ; empty of all good, that we may (a) Prov. xxix. 18. (b) Dan. ii. 34. Isaiah xi. 4. Psalm ii. 9. (c) Rom. xii. 6. 24 DEDICATION. be filled by him ; slaves to sin, that we may be liberated by him ; blind, that we may be enlightened by hini ; lame, that we may be guided ; weak, that we may be supported by him ; to divest ourselves of aU ground of glorying, that he alone may be eminently glorious, and that we may glory in him ? When we advance these and similar sentiments, they interrupt us with complaints that this is the way to overturn, I know not what blind Hght of nature, pretended preparations, free will, and works meritorious of eternal salvation, together with all their supererogations ; because they cannot bear that the praise and glory of all goodness, strength, righteousness, and wisdom, should remain entirely with God. But we read of none being reproved for having drawn too freely from the fountain of hving waters ; on the contrary, they are severely upbraided who have " hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water." [d) Again, what is more consistent with faith, than to assure ourselves of God being a propitious Fa- ther, where Christ is acknowledged as a brother and Mediator ? than securely to expect all prosperity and happiness from Him, whose unspeakable love towards us went so far, that " he spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us ? " (e) than to rest in the certain expectation of salvation and eternal life, when we reflect upon the Father's gift of Christ, in whom such treasures are hidden ? Here they oppose us, and com- plain that this certainty of confidence is chargeable with arro- gance and presumption. But as we ought to presume nothing of ourselves, so we should presume every thing of God ; nor are we divested of vain glory for any other reason than that we may learn to glory in the Lord. What shaU I say more ? Review, Sire, all the parts of our cause, and consider us worse than the most abandoned of mankind, unless you clearly dis- cover that we thus '^ both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the Hving God," (/) because we beheve that '' this is Hfe eternal, to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent." {g) For this hope some of us are bound in chains, others are lashed with scourges, others are carried about as laughing-stocks, others are outlawed, others are cruelly {d) Jer. ii. 13. (c) Rom. viii. 32. (/) 1 Tim. iv. 10. {g) John xvii. 3. DEDICATION. 25 tortured, others escape by fiight ; but we are all reduced to extreme perplexities, execrated with dreadful curses, cruelly slaudered, aud treated with the greatest indiguities. Now, look at our adversaries, (I speak of the order of priests, at whose will and directions others carry on these hostiUties against us,) and consider a little with me by what principles they are actuated. The true religion, which is taught in the Scriptures, and ought to be universally maintained, they readily permit both themselves and others to be ignorant of, and to treat with neglect and contempt. They think it unimportant what any one holds or denies concerning God and Christ, pro- vided he submits his mind with an implicit faith (as they call it) to the judgment of the Ciiurch. Nor are they much af- fected, if the glory of God happens to be violated with open blasphemies, provided no one Kft a finger against the primacy of the Apostolic See, and the authority of their holy Mother Church. Why, therefore, do they contend with such extreme bitterness and crueUy for the mass, purgatory, pilgrimages, and similar trifles, and deny that any piety can be maintained with- out a most expUcit faith, so to speak, in these things ; whereas they prove none of them from the Word of God ? Why, but because tlieir belly is their god, their kitchen is their reUgion ; deprived of which they consider themselves no longer as Christians, or even as men. For though some feast themselves in splendour, and others subsist on slender fare, yet aU Uve on the same pot, whicli, without this fuel, would not only cool, but completely freeze. Every one of them, therefore, who is most soUcitous for his beUy, is found to be a most strenuous champion for their faith. Indeed, they universaUy exert them- selves for the preservation of theu- kingdom, and the repletion of their beUies ; but not one of them discovers the least indi- cation of sincere zeal. Nor do their attacks on our doctrine cease here ; they urge every topic of accusation and abuse to render it an object of hatred or suspicion. Tliey caU it novel, and of recent origin, — they cavil at it as doubtful and uncertain, — they inquire by what miracles it is confirmed, — they ask whether it is right for it to be received contrary to the consent of so many holy fathers, and the custom of the highest antiquity, — they VOL. I. 4 26 DEDICATION. iirge us to confess that it is schismatical in stirring up opposi- tion against the Church, or that the Church was wholly extinct for many ages, during which no such thing was known. — Lastly, they say all arguments are unnecessary ; for that its nature may be determined by its fruits, since it has produced such a multitude of sects, so many factious tumults, and such great hcentiousness of vices. It is indeed very easy for them to insult a deserted cause with the credulous and ignorant mul- titude ; but, if we had also the hberty of speaking in our turn, this acrimony, which they now discover in violently foaming against us with equal licentiousness and impunity, would pres- ently cool. In the first place, their calling it novel is highly injurious to God, whose holy word deserves not to be accused of noveky. I have no doubt of its being new to them, to whom Jesus Christ and the Gospel are equally new. But those who know the antiquity of this preaching of Paul, " that Jesus Christ died for our sins, and rose again for our justification," (A) will find no novelty among us. That it has long been concealed, buried, and unknown, is the crime of human impiety. Now that the goodness of God has restored it to us, it ought at least to be allowed its just claim of antiquity. From the same source of ignorance springs the notion of its being doubtful and uncertain. This is the very thing which the Lord complains of by his prophet ; that " the ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib," (i) but that his people know not him. But however they may laugh at its uncer- tainty, if they were called to seal their own doctrine with their blood and Uves, it would appear how much they vahie it. Very different is our confidence, which dreads neither the ter- rors of death, nor even the tribunal of God. Their requiring miracles of us is aUogether unreasonable ; for we forge no new Gospel, but retain the very same whose truth was confirmed by all the miracles ever wrought by Christ and the apostles. But they have this peculiar advantage above us, that they can confirm their faith by continual miracles even to this day. But the truth is, they allege miracles which are calculated to unsettle a mind otherwise well estabhshed, they (h) Rom. iv. 25. 1 Cor. xv. 3, 17. (i) Isaiah i. 3. DEDICATION. 27 are so frivolous and ridiculous, or vain and false. Nor, if they were ever so preternatural, ought they to have any weight in opposition to the truth of God, since the name of God ought to be sanctified in all places and at all times, whether by mirac- ulous events, or by the common order of nature, This fallacy might perhaps be more specious, if the Scripture did not apprize us of the legitimate end and use of miracles. For Mark informs us, that the miracles which followed the preaching of the apos- tles were wrought in confirmation (k) of it, and Luke tells us, that (l) "the Lord gave testimony to the word of his grace," when '' signs and wonders " were " done by the hands " of the apostles. Very similar to which is the assertion of the apostle, that "salvation was confirmed " by the preaching of the Gos- pel, " God also bearing witness with signs, and wonders, and divers miracles." (m) But those things which we are told were seals of the Gospel, shall we pervert to undermine the faith of the Gospel ? Those things which were designed to be testimonials of the truth, shall we accommodate to the con- firmation of falsehood ? It is right, therefore, that the doctrine, which, according to the evangehst, claims the first attention, be examined and tried in the first place ; and if it be approved, then it ought to derive confirmation from miracles. But it is the characteristic of sound doctrine, given by Christ, that it tends to promote, not the glory of men, but the glory of God. (n) Christ having laid down this proof of a doctrine, it is wrong to esteem those as miracles which are directed to any other end than the glorification of the name of God alone. And we should remember that Satan has his wonders, which, though they are juggling tricks rather than real miracles, are such as to dehide the ignorant and inexperienced. Magicians and en- chanters have always been famous for miracles ; idolatry has been supported by astonishing miracles ; and yet we admit them not as proofs of the superstition of magicians or idolaters. With this engine also the simpHcity of the vulgar was anciently as- sailed by the Donatists, who abounded in miracles. We there- fore give the same answer now to our adversaries as Augus- tine (o) gave to the Donatists, that our Lord hath cautioned us against these miracle-mongers by his prediction, that there (fe) Mark xvi. 20. (/) Acta xiv. 3. (m) Heb. ii. 3, 4. (re) John vii, 18. viii. 50. (o) In Joan. tract. 13. 28 DEDICATION. should arise false prophets, who, by varioiis signs aiid lying wonders, " should deceive (if possible) the very elect." (p) And Paul has told us, tliat the kingdom of Antichrist would be "with all power, and signs, and lying wonders." {q) But these miracles (they say) are wrought, not by idols, or sor- cerers, or false prophets, but by saints ; as if we were ignorant, that it is a stratagem of Satan to " transform " himself " into an angel of light." (r) At the tomb of Jeremiah, (s) who was buried in Egypt, the Egyptians formerly offered sacrifices and other divine honours. Was not this abusing God's holy prophet to the purposes of idolatry ? Yet they supposed this venera- tion of his sepulchre to be rewarded with a cure for the bite of serpents. What shall we say, but that it has been, and ever will be, the most righteous vengeance of God to " send those who receive not the love of the truth strong dehisions, that they should believe a he " ? {t) We are by no means without miracles, and such as are certain, and not liable to cavils. But those under which they sheUer themselves are mere ilhisions of Satan, seducing the people from the true worship of God to vanity. Another cahimny is their charging us with opposition to the fathers, — I mean the writers of the earher and purer ages, — as if those writers were abettors of their impiety ; whereas, if the contest were to be terminated by this authority, the victory in most parts of the controversy — to speak in the most modest terms — would be on our side. But though the writings of those fathers contain many wise and excellent things, yet in some respects they have suffered the common fate of mankind ; these very dutiful children reverence oiily their errors and mistakes, but their excellences they either overlook, or conceal, or cor- rupt ; so that it may be truly said to be their only study to collect dross from the midst of gold. Then they overwhehn us with senseless clamours, as despisers and enemies of the fathers. But we do not hold them in such contempt, but that, if it were consistent with my present design, I could easily support by their suffrages most of the sentiments that we now maintain. But while we make use of their writings, we always remember that " all things are ours," to serve us, not to have (/)) Matt. xxiv. 24. (q) 2 Thess. ii. 9. (r) 2 Cor. xi. 14. (s) Hierom. in preef. Jerem. (t) 2 Thess, ii. 10, 11. DEDICATION. 29 dominion over us, and that "we are Chrisfs " (?;) alone, and owe him universal obedience. He who neglects this distinction will have nothing decided in religion ; since those holy men were ignorant of many things, frequently at variance with each other, and sometimes even inconsistent with themselves. There is great reason, they say, for the admonition of Solomon, "not to transgress or remove the ancient landmarks, which our fathers have set." (lo) But the same rule is not applicable to the bounding of fields, and to the obedience of faith, which ought to be ready to *' forget her own people and her father's house." (.r) But if they are so fond of allegorizing, why do they not explain the apostles, rather than any others, to be those fathers, whose appointed landmarks it is so unlawful to remove ? For this is the interpretation of Jerome, whose works they have received into their canons. But if they insist on preserving the landmarks of those whom they understand to be intended, why do they at pleasure so freely transgress them themselves ? There were two fathers, (y) of whom one said, that our God neither eats nor drinks, and therefore needs nei- ther cups nor dishes ; the other, that sacred things require no gold, and that gold is no recommendation of that which is not purchased with gold. This landmark therefore is transgressed by those who in sacred things are so much delighted with gold, silver, ivory, marble, jewels, and silks, and suppose that God is not rightly worshipped, unless all things abound in exqui- site splendour, or rather extravagant profusion. There was a father (z) who said he freely partook of flesh on a day when others abstained from it, because he was a Christian. They transgress the landmarks therefore when they curse the soul that tastes flesh in Lent. There were two fathers, (a) of whom one said, that a monk who labours not with his hands is on a level with a cheat or a robber ; and the other, that it is unlaw- ful for monks to Uve on what is not their own, notwithstanding their assiduity in contemplations, studies, and prayers ; and they have transgressed this landmark by placing the idle and distended carcasses of monks in cells and brothels, to be pam- (v) 1 Cor. iii. 21, 23. (ic) Prov. xxii. 28. (x) Psalm xlv. 10. (y) Acat. in lib. 11. cap. 16. Trip. Hlst. Amb. lib. 2. de Off. c. 28 (z) Spiridion. Trip. Hist. lib. 1. c. 10. (a) Trip. Hist. lib. 8. c. 1. August. de Opere Mon. c. 17. 30 DEDICATION. pered on the substance of others. There was a father (6) who said, that to see a painted image of Christ, or of any saint, in the temples of Christians, is a dreadful abomination. Nor Avas this merely the sentence of an individual ; it was also decreed by an ecclesiastical council, that the object of worship should not be painted on the walls. They are far from confining themselves within these landmarks, for every corner is fiUed with images. Another father (c) has advised that, after having discharged the ofiice of humanity towards the dead by the rites of sepulture, we should leave them to their repose. They break through these landmarks by inculcating a constant solicitude for the dead. There was one of the fathers {d) who asserted that the substance of bread and wine in the eucharist ceases not, but remains, just as the substance of the human nature re- mains in the Lord Christ united with the divine. They trans- gress this landmark therefore by pretending that, on the words of the Lord being recited, the substance of bread and wine ceases, and is transubstantiated into his body and blood. There were fathers (e) who, while they exhibited to the nni- versal Church only one eucharist, and forbade all scandalous and immoral persons to approach it, at the same time severely •censured all who, when present, did not partake of it. How far have they removed these landmarks, when they fill not only the churches, but even private houses, with their masses, admit all who choose to be spectators of them, and every one the more readily in proportion to the magnitude of his contribution, how- ever chargeable with impurity and wickedness ! They invite none to faith in Christ and a faithful participation of the sacra- ments ; but rather for purposes of gain bring forward their own work instead of the grace and merit of Christ. There were two fathers, (/) of whom one contended that the use of Chrisfs sacred supper should be wholly forbidden to those who, content with partaking of one kind, abstained from the other ; the other strenuously maintained that Christian people ought not to be refused the blood of their Lord, for the confession of whom they are required to shed their own. These landmarks also (h) Epiph. Epist. ab. Hier. vers. Con. Eliber. c. 36. (c) Amb. de Abra. lib. 1. c.7. {(1) Gelas. Pap. in Conc. Rom. (e) Chrys. in 1 Cap. Ephes. Calix. Papa de Cons. dist. 2. (/) Gelas. can. Comperimus de Cons. dist. 2. Cypr. Epist. 2. lib. 1, de Laps. DEDICATION. 31 they have removed, in appointing, by an inviolable law, that very thing which the former punished with excommunication, and the latter gave a powerful reason for disapproving. There was a father (g) who asserted the temerity of deciding on either side of an obscure subject, without clear and evident testimonies of Scripture. This landmark they forgot when they made so many constitutions, canons, and judicial determinations, with- out any authority from the word of God. There was a fa- ther(/i) who upbraided Montanus with having, among other heresies, been the first imposer of laws for the observance of fasts. They have gone far beyond this landmark also, in es- tabhshing fasts by the strictest laws. There was a father (i) who denied that marriage ought to be forbidden to the minis- ters of the Church, and pronounced cohabitation with a wife to be real chastity ; and there were fathers who assented to his judgment. They have transgressed these landmarks by en- joining on their priests the strictest celibacy. There was a fa- ther who thought that attention should be paid to Christ only, of whom it is said, " Hear ye him," and that no regard should be had to what others before us have either said or done, only to what has been commanded by Christ, Avho is preeminent over all. This landmark they neither prescribe to themselves, nor permit to be observed by others, when they set up over themselves and others any masters ratlier than Christ. There was a father (k) who contended that the Church ought not to take the precedence of Christ, because his judgment is always according to truth ; but ecclesiastical judges, hke other men, may generally be deceived. Breaking down this landmark also, they scruple not to assert, that all the authority of the Scripture depends on the decision of the Church. AU the fa- thers, with one heart and voice, have declared it execrable and detestable for the holy word of God to be contaminated with the subtleties of sophists, and perplexed by the wrangles of logicians. Do they confine themselves within these land- marks, when the whole business of their Hves is to involve the simphcity of the Scripture in endless controversies, and worse (g) August. lib. 2. de Pec. Mer. cap. ult. (h) ApoUon. de quo Eccl. Hist. lib. 5. cap. 11, 12. (i) Paphnut. Trip. Hist. lib. 2. c. 14. Cypr. Epist. 2. lib. 2. (k) Aug. cap. 2. contr. Cresc. Grammatic. 32 DEDICATION. than sophistical wrangles ? so that if the fathers were now restored to life, and heard this art of wrangling, which they call speculative divinity, they would not suspect the dispute to have the least reference to God. But if I would enumerate all the instances in which the authority of the fathers is insolently rejected by those who would be thought their dutiful children, my address would exceed all reasonable bounds. Months and years would be insufficient for me. And yet such is their con- summate and incorrigible impudence, they dare to censure us for presuming to transgress the ancient landmarks. Nor can they gain any advantage against us by their argu- ment from custom ; for, if we were compeiled to submit to cus- tom, we should have to complain of the greatest injustice. Indeed, if the judgments of men were correct, custom should be sought among the good. But the fact is often very different. What appears to be practised by many soon obtains the force of a custom. And human affairs have scarcely ever been in so good a state as for the majority to be pleased with things of real excellence. From the private vices of multitudes, there- fore, has arisen public error, or rather a common agreement of vices, which these good men would now have to be received as law. It is evident to all who can see, that the world is in- undated with more than an ocean of evils, that it is overrun with numerous destructive pests, that every thing is fast ver- ging to ruin, so that we must altogether despair of human affairs, or vigorously and even violently oppose such immense evils. And the remedy is rejected for no other reason, but because we have been accustomed to the evils so long. But let public error be tolerated in human society ; in the king- dom of God nothing but his eternal truth should be heard and regarded, which no succession of years, no custom, no con- federacy, can circumscribe. Thus Isaiah once taught the chosen people of God : " Say ye not, A confederacy, to all to whom this people shall say, A confederacy ; " that is, that they should not unite in the wicked consent of the people ; "nor fear their fear, nor be afraid," but rather " sanctify the Lord of hosts," that he might " be their fear and their dread." (l) Novv, therefore, let them, if they please, object against us past ages and present examples ; if we " sanctify the Lord of hosts," (/) Isaiah viii. 12, 13, DEDICATION. 33 we shall not be much afraid. For, whether many ages agree in similar impiety, he is mighty to take vengeance on the third and fourth generation ; or whether the whole world combine in the same iniquity, he has given an example of the fatal end of those who sin with a muhitude, by destroying all men with a dehige, and preserving Noah and his small family, in order that his individual faith might condemn the whole world. Lastly, a corrupt custom is nothing but an epidemical pestilence, which is equally fatal to its objects, though they fall with a muhitude. Besides, they ought to consider a remark, somewhere made by Cyprian, (m) that persons who sin through ignorance, though they cannot be whoUy exculpated, may yet be considered in some degree excusable ; but those who obstinately reject the truth offered by the Divine goodness, are without any excuse at all, Nor are we so embarrassed by their dilemma as to be obliged to confess, either that the Church was for some time extinct, or that we have now a controversy with the Church. The Church of Christ has hved, and will continue to live, as long as Christ shall reign at the right hand of the Father, by whose hand she is sustained, by whose protection she is defended, by whose power she is preserved in safety. For he will undoubt- edly perform what he once promised, to be with his people "even to the end of the world." (71) We have no quarrel against the Church, for with one consent we unite with all the company of the faithful in worshipping and adoring the one God and Christ the Lord, as he has been adored by all the pious in all ages. But our opponents deviate Avidely frora the truth when they acknowledge no Church but what is visible to the corporeal eye, and endeavour to circumscribe it by those hmits within which it is far from being inchided. Our controversy turns on the two fonowing points : — first, they contend that the form of the Church is always apparent and visible ; secondly, they place that form in the see of the Roman Church and her order of prelates. We assert, on the contrary, first, that the Church may exist without any visible form ; secondly, that its form is not contained in that external splendour which they fool- (m) Epist. 3. lib. 2. et in Epist. ad Julian. de Hceret. baptiz. (h) Matt. xxviii. 20. VOL. 1. 5 34 DEDICATION. ishly admire, but is distinguished by a very different criterion, viz. the pure preaching of God's word, and the legitimate ad- ministration of the sacraments. They are not satisfied unless the Church can always be pointed out with the finger. But how often among the Jewish people was it so disorganized, as to have no visible form left ? What splendid form do we suppose could be seen, when Elias deplored his being left alone ? (o) How long, after the coming of Christ, did it remain without any external form? How often, since that time, have wars, seditions, and heresies, oppressed and totally obscured it ? If they had lived at that period, would they have believed that any Church existed ? Yet Elias was informed that there were "left seven thousand " who had " not bowed the knee to Baal." Nor should we entertain any doubt of Chrisfs having always reigned on earth ever since his ascension to heaven. But if the pious at such periods had sought for any form evident to their senses, must not their hearts have been quite discouraged ? Indeed it was already considered by Hilary in his day as a grievous error, that people were absorbed in foolish admiration of the episcopal dignity, and did not per- ceive the dreadful mischiefs concealed under that disguise. For this is his language : (p) " One thing I advise you — beware of Antichrist, for you have an improper attachment to walls ; your veneration for the Church of God is misplaced on houses and buildings ; you wrongly introduce under them the name of peace. Is there any doubt that they will be seats of Anti- christ ? I think mountains, woods, and lakes, prisons and whirlpools, less dangerous ; for these were the scenes of retire- ment or banishment in which the prophets prophesied." But what excites the veneration of the multitude in the present day for their horned bishops, but the supposition that those are the holy prelates of religion whom they see presiding over great cities? Away, then, with such stupid admiration. Let us rather leave it to the Lord, since he alone " knoweth them that are his," (q) sometimes to remove from human observa- tion all external knowledge of his Church. I admit this to be a dreadful judgment of God on the earth ; but if it be deserved by the impiety of men, why do we attempt to resist the right- eous vengeance of God ? Thus the Lord punished the ingrati- (o) 1 Kings xix. 14, 18. (p) Contr. Auxent. {q) 2 Tim. ii. 19. DEDICATION. 35 tude of men in former ages ; for, in consequence of their resist- ance to his truth, and extinction of the hght he had given them, he permitted them to be bhnded by sense, deluded by absurd falsehoods, and immerged in profound darkness, so that there was no appearance of the true Church left ; yet, at the same time, in the midst of darkness and errors, he preserved his scat- tered and concealed people from total destruction. Nor is this to be wondered at ; for he knew how to save in aU the con- fusion of Babylon, and the flame of the fiery furnace. But how dangerous it is to estimate the form of the Church by I know not what vain pomp, which they contend for ; I shall rather briefly suggest than state at large, lest I should protract this discourse to an excessive length. The Pope, they say, who holds the ApostoHc see, and the bishops anointed and conse- crated by him, provided they are equipped with mitres and crosiers, represent the Church, and ought to be considered as the Church. Therefore they cannot err. How is this ? — Because they are pastors of the Church, and consecrated to the Lord. And did not the pastoral character belong to Aaron, and the other rulers of Israel ? Yet Aaron and his sons, after their designation to the priesthood, fell into error when they made the golden calf. (r) According to this mode of reason- ing, why should not the four hundred prophets, who Hed to Ahab, have represented the Church ? (s) But the Church remained on the side of Micaiah, sohtary and despised as he was, and out of his mouth proceeded the truth. Did not those prophets exhibit both the name and appearance of the Church, who with united violence rose up against Jeremiah, and threatened and boasted, " the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet " ? (t) Jeremiah is sent singly against the whole multitude of prophets, with a denunciation from the Lord, that the " law shall perish from the priest, counsel from the wise, and the word from the prophet." (v) And was there not the hke external respecta- biUty in the council convened by the chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees, to consuh about putting Christ to death ? (r^) Now, let them go and adhere to the external appearance, and thereby make Christ and aU the prophets schismatics, and, on the other (/•) Exod. xxxii. 4. (s) 1 Kings xxii. 6, 11—23. (t) Jer. xviii. 18. (v) Jer. iv. 9. (w) Matt. xxvi. 3, 4. 36 DEDICATION. hand, make the ministers of Satan instruments of the Holy Spirit. But if they speak their real sentiments, let them answer me sincerely, what nation or place they consider as the seat of the Church, from the time when, by a decree of the council of Basil, Eugenius was deposed and degraded from the pontificate, and Amadeus substituted in his place. They can- not deny that the council, as far as relates to external forms, was a lawful one, and summoned not only by one pope, but by two. There Eugenius was pronounced guilty of schism, re- belHon, and obstinacy, together with all the host of cardinals and bishops who had joined him in attempting a dissokition of the council. Yet afterwards, assisted by the favour of princes, he regained the quiet possession of his former dignity. That election of Amadeus, though formally made by the au- thority of a general and holy synod, vanished into smoke ; and he was appeased with a cardinaPs hat, like a barking dog with a morsel. From the bosom of those heretics and rebels have proceeded all the popes, cardinals, bishops, abbots, and priests, ever since. Here they must stop. For to which party will they give the title of the Church ? Will they deny that this was a general council, which wanted nothing to complete its external majesty, being solemnly convened by two papal bulls, consecrated by a presiding legate of the Roman see, and well regulated in every point of order, and invariably preserving the same dignity to the last ? Will they acknowledge Eugenius to be a schismatic, with all his adherents, by whom they have all been consecrated ? Either, therefore, let them give a difFer- ent definition of the form of the Church, or, whatever be their number, we shall account them all schismatics, as having been knowingly and vohintarily ordained by heretics. But if it had never been ascertained before, that the Church is not confined to external pomps, they would themselves afford us abundant proof of it, who have so long superciliously exhibited them- selves to the world under the title of the Church, though they vvere at the same time the deadly plagues of it. I speak not of their morals, and those tragical exploits with which all their lives abound, since they profess themselves to be Pharisees, who are to be heard and not imitated. I refer to the very doc- trine itself, on which they found their claim to be considered as the Church. If you devote a portion of your leisure, Sire, DEDICATION. 37 to the perusal of our writings, you will clearly discover that doctrine to be a fatal pestilence of souls, the firebrand, ruin, and destruction of the Church. Finally, they betray great want of candour, by invidiously repeating what great commotions, tumults, and contentions, have attended the preaching of our doctrine, and what effects it produces in many persons. For it is unfair to charge it with those evils which ought to be attributed to the malice of Satan. It is the native property of the Divine Avord, never to make its appearance without disturbing Satan, and rousing his opposi- tion. This is the most certain and unequivocal criterion by which it is distinguished from false doctrines, which are easily broached when they are heard with general attention, and re- ceived with applauses by the world. Thus, in some ages, when all things were immerged in profound darkness, the prince of this world amused and diverted himself with the generality of mankind, and, lilie another Sardanapakis, gave himself up to his ease and pleasures in perfect peace ; for what would he do but amuse and divert himself, in the quiet and undisturbed possession of his kingdom ? But when the light shining from above dissipated a portion of his darkness — when that Mighty One alarmed and assaulted his kingdom — then he began to shake olf his wonted torpor, and to hurry on his armour. First, indeed, he stirred up the power of men to sup- press the truth by violence at its first appearance ; and when this proved ineffectual, he had recourse to subtlety. He made the Catabaptists, and other infamous characters, the instru- ments of exciting dissensions and doctrinal controversies, with a view to obscure and finally to extinguish it. And now he continues to attack it in both ways ; for he endeavours to root up this genuine seed by means of human force, and at the same time tries every effort to choke it with his tares, that it may not grow and produce fruit. But all his attempts will be vain, if we attend to the admonitions of the Lord, who hath long ago made us acquainted with his devices, that we might not be caught by him unawares, and has armed us with sufficient means of defence against all his assaults. But to charge the word of God with the odium of seditions, excited against it by wicked and rebellious men, or of sects raised by impostors, — is not this extreme malignity ? Yet it is not without example in 38 DEDICATION. former times. Elias was asked whether it was not he " that troubled Israel." {x) Christ was represented by the Jews as guilty of sedition. (y) The apostles were accused of stirring up popular commotions. (z) Wherein does this differ from the conduct of those who, at the present day, impute to us all the disturbances, tumults, and contentions, that break out against us? But the proper answer to such accusations has been taught us by EHas, that the dissemination of errors and the raising of tumults is not chargeable on us, but on those who are resisting the power of God. But as this one reply is sufficient to repress their temerity, so, on the other hand, we must meet the weakness of some persons, who are frequently disturbed with such offences, and become unsettled and waver- ing in their minds. Now, that they may not stumble and fall amidst this agitation and perplexity, let them know that the apostles in their day experienced the same things that now be- fall us. There were " unleamed and unstable " men, Peter says, who " wrested " the inspired writings of Paul " to their own destruction." (a) There were despisers of God, who, when they heard that " where sin abounded grace did much more abound," immediately conchided, Let us ''continue in sin, that grace may abound." When they heard that the faithful were " not under the law," they immediately croaked, " We will sin, because we are not ander the law, but under grace." (b) There were some who accused him as an en- courager of sin. Many false apostles crept in, to destroy the churches he had raised. " Some preached " the gospel " of envy and strife, not in sincerity," maliciously " supposing to add affliction to his bonds." (c) In some places the Gospel was attended with Httle benefit. " All were seeking their own, not the things of Jesus Christ." (d) Others returned " like dogs to their vomit, and like swine to their wallowing in the mire." (e) Many perverted the liberty of the spirit into the Hcentiousness of the flesh. Many insinuated themselves as brethren, who afterwards brought the pious into dangers. Various contentions were excited among the brethren them- selves. What was to be done by the apostles in such circum- stances ? Should they not have dissembled for a time, or (x) 1 Kings .xviii. 17. (i/) Luke .xxiii. 2, 5. (z) Actsxvii. 6. .xxiv. 5. («) 2 Pet. iii. 16. (b) Rom. v. 20. vi. 1, 14, 15. (c) Phil. i. 15, 16. (f/) Pliil. ii. 21. (c) 2 Pet. ii. 22. DEDICATION. 39 rather have rejected and deserted that Gospel which appeared to be the nursery of so many disputes, the cause of so many dangers, the occasion of so many oflences ? But in such dif- ficuhies as these, their minds were relieved by this reflection, that Christ is the " stone of stumbling and rock of offence," (/) "set for the fall and rising again of many, and for a sign which shall be spoken against ; " (g-) and armed with this con- fidence, they proceeded boldly through all the dangers of tumults and oflences. The same consideration should support us, since Paul declares it to be the perpetual character of the Gospel, that it is " a savour of death unto death in them that perish," (h) although it was rather given us to be the " savour of life unto hfe," and " the power of God to " the " salvation " of the faithful ; (i) which we also should certainly experience it to be, if we did not corrupt this eminent gift of God by our ingratitude, and pervert to our destruction what ought to be a principal instrument of our salvation. But I return to you, Sirc. Let not your Majesty be at all moved by those groundless accusations with which our ad- versaries endeavour to terrify you ; as that the sole tendency and design of this new Gospel — for so they call it — is to furnish a pretext for seditions, and to gain impunity for all crimes. " For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace ; " (A*) nor is " the Son of God," who came to " destroy the works of the devil, the minister of sin." (l) And it is unjust to charge us with such motives and designs, of which we have never given cause for the least suspicion. Is it probable that we are meditating the subversion of kingdoms ? — we, who were never heard to utter a factious word, whose lives were ever known to be peaceable and honest while we lived under your government, and who, even now in our exile, cease not to pray for all prosperity to attend yourself and your kingdom ! Is it probable that we are seeking an unlimited license to com- mit crimes with impunity ? in whose conduct, though many things may be blamed, yet there is nothing worthy of such severe reproach ! Nor have we, by Divine Grace, profited so little in the Gospel, but that our life may be an example to our detractors of chastity, liberality, mercy, temperance, patience, (/) 1 Pet. ii. 8. (A) 2 Cor. ii. 15, 16. (k) 1 Cor. xiv. 33. (g) Luke ii. 34. (i) Rom. i, 16. (/) 1 John iii. 8. Gal. ii. 17, 40 DEDICATION. modesty, and every other virtue. Tt is an undeniable fact, that we sincerely fear and worship God, whose name we de- sire to be sanctified both by our hfe and by our death ; and envy itself is constrained to bear testimony to the innocence and civil integrity of some of us, who have suffered the pun- ishment of death for that very thing which ought to be ac- counted their highest praise. But if the Gospel be made a pretext for tumuUs, which has not yet happened in your king- dom ; if any persons make the hberty of divine grace an ex- cuse for the hcentiousness of their vices, of whom I have known many, — there are laws and legal penahies, by which they may be punished according to their deserts ; only let not the Gospel of God be reproached for the crimes of wicked men. You have now, Sire, the virulent iniquity of our ca- himniators laid before you in a sufficient number of instances, that you may not receive their accusations with too credulous an ear. — I fear I have gone too much into the detail, as this preface ah'eady approaches the size of a fuU apology ; whereas I intended it not to contain our defence, but only to prepare your mind to attend to the pleading of our cause ; for, though you are now averse and ahenated from us, and even inflamed against us, we despair not of regaining your favour, if you will only once read with cahnness and composure this our confes- sion, which we intend as our defence before your Majesty. But, on the contrary, if your ears are so j^^reoccupied with the whispers of the malevolent, as to leave no opportunity for the accused to speak for themselves, and if those outrageous furies, with your connivance, continue to persecute with imprison- ments, scourges, tortures, confiscations, and flames, we shall indeed, hke sheep destined to the slaughter, be reduced to the greatest extremities. Yet shall we in patience possess our souls, and wait for the mighty hand of the Lord, which un- doubtedly wiU in time appear, and show itself armed for the dehverance of the poor from their affliction, and for the pun- ishment of their despisers, who now exuU in such perfect se- curity. May the Lord, the King of kings, estabhsh your throne with righteousness, and your kingdom Avith equity. Basil, Ist August, 1536. GENERAL SYLLABUS. The desigii of the Author in these Christian Institutes is twofold, relating, First, to the knowledge of God, as the way to attain a blessed immortality ; and, in connection with and subservience to this, Secondly, to the knowledge of ourselves. In the prosecution of this design, he strictly follows the method of the Apostles' Creed, as being most familiar to all Christians. For as the Creed consists of four parts, the first relating to God the Father, the second to the Son, the third to the Holy Spirit, the fourth to the Chm'ch ; so the Author distributes the whole of this work into Four Books, correspond- ing respectively to the four parts of the Creed ; as will clearly appear from the following detail : — I. The first article of the Creed relates to God the Father, and to the creation, conservation, and government of all things, which are inchided in his omnipotence. So the first book is on the knowledge of God, considered as the Creator, Preserver, and Governor of the universe at large, and of every thing contained in it. It shows both the nature and tendency of the true knowledge of the Creator — that this is not learned in the schools, but that every man from his birth is self-taught it — Yet that the depravity of men is so great as to corrupt and extinguish this knowledge, partly by ignorance, partly by wickedness ; so that it neither leads him to glorify God as he ought, nor conducts him to the at- tainment of happiness — And though this internal knowledge is assisted by all the creatures around, which serve as a mirror to display the Divine perfections, yet that man does not profit by it — Therefore, that to those, whom it is God's will to bring to an intimate and saving knowledge of himself, he gives his written word ; which introduces observations on the sacred Scripture — That he has therein revealed himself; that not the Father only, but the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, uni- VOL. I. 6 42 GENERAL SYLLABUS. tedj is the Creator of heaveii and earth : whom neither the knowledge innate by nature, nor the very beautiful mirror dis- played to us in the world, can, in consequence of our depravity, teach us to know so as to glorify him. This gives occasion for treating of the revelation of God in the Scripture, of the unity of the Divine Essence, and the trinity of Persons. — To prevent man from attributing to God the blame of his own vohmtary bUndness, the Author shows the state of man at his creation, and treats of the image of God, free-will, and the primitive integrity of nature. — Having finislied the subject of creation, he proceeds to the conservation and government of all things, conchiding the first book with a full discussion of the doctrine of divine providence. II. But since man is fallen by sin from the state in which he was created, it is necessary to come to Christ. Therefore it follows in the Creed, " And in JesusChrist, his only Son our Lord," &c. So in the second book of the Institutes our Author treats of the knowledge of God as the Redeemer in Christ ; and having shown the fall of man, leads him to Christ the Mediator. Here he states the doctrine of original sin — that man pos- sesses no inherent strength to enable him to dehver himself from sin and the impending curse, but that, on the contrary, nothing can proceed from him, antecedently to reconciliation and renovation, but what is deserving of condemnation — Therefore, that, man being utterly lost in himself, and incapa- ble of conceiving even a good thought by which he may re- store himself, or perform actions acceptable to God, he must seek redemption out of himself, in Christ — That the Law was given for this purpose, not to confine its observers to itself, but to conduct them to Christ ; which gives occasion to introduce an exposition of the Moral Law — That he was known, as the Author of salvation, to the Jews under the Law, but more fully under the Gospel, in which he is manifested to the world. — Hence follows the doctrine of the similarity and ditFerence of the Old and New Testament, of the Law and Gospel. — It is next stated, that, in order to the complete accomphshment of salvation, it was necessary for the eternal Son of God to be- come man, and that he actually assumed a real human nature : — it is also shown how these two natures constitute one per- GENERAL SYLLABUS. 43 son — That the ofRce of Christ, appointed for the acquisition and application of complete salvation by his merit and efficacy, is sacerdotal, regal, and prophetical. — Next follows the man- ner in which Christ executed his office, or actually performed the part of a Mediator, being an exposition of the Articles re- specting his death, resurrection, and ascension to heaven. — l^astly, the Author shows the truth and propriety of affirming that Christ merited the grace of God and salvation for us. III. As long as Christ is separate from us, he profits us nothing. Hence the necessity of our being ingrafted into him, as branches into a vine. Therefore the doctrine concerning Christ is foUowed, in the third part of the Creed, by this clause, " I believe in the Holy Spirit," as being the bond of union between us and Christ. So in the third book our Author treats of the Holy Spirit, who unites us to Christ — and consequently of faith, by which we embrace Christ, with his twofold benefit, free righteous- nes-, which he imputes to us, and regeneration, which he commences within us, by bestowing repentance upon us. — And to show that we have not the least room to glory in such faith as is unconnected with the pursuit of repentance, before proceeding to the fuU discussion of justification, he treats at large of repentance and the continual exercise of it, which Christ, apprehended by faith, produces in us by his Spirit. — He next fuUy discusses the first and chief benefit of Christ when united to us by the Holy Spirit, that is, justification — and then treats of prayer, which resembles the hand that ac- tually receives those blessings to be enjoyed, which faith knows, from the word of promise, to be laid up with God for our use. — But as all meii are not united to Christ, the sole Author of salvation, by the Holy Spirit, who creates and pre- serves faith in us, he treats of God's eternal election ; which is the cause that we, in whom he foresaw no good but what he intended freely to bestow, have been favoured with the gift of Christ, and united to God by the effectual call of the Gospel. — Lastly, he treats of complete regeneration, and the fruition of happiness ; that is, the final resurrection, towards which our eyes must be directed, since in this world the felicity of the pious, in respect of enjoyment, is only begun. IV. But as the Holy Spirit does not unite all men to Christ, 44 GENEBAL SYLLABUS. or make them partakers of faith, and on those to whom he im- parts it he does not ordinarily bestow it without means, but employs for this purpose the preaching of the Gospel and the use of the sacraments, with the administration of all discipHne, therefore it follows in the Creed, " I beheve in the Holy Cath- olic Church," whom, though involved in eternal death, yet, in piursuance of the gratuitous election, God has freely reconciled to himself in Christ, and made partakers of the Holy Spirit, that, being ingrafted into Christ, they may have communion with him as their head, whence flows a perpetual remission of sins, and a full restoration to eternal Hfe. So in the fourth book our Author treats of the Church — then of the means used by the Holy Spirit in effectually calHng from spiritual death, and preserving the church — the word and sac- raments — baptism and the Lord's supper — which are as it were Chrisfs regal sceptre, by which he commences his spir- itual reign in the Church by the energy of his Spirit, and car- ries it forwards from day to day during the present Hfe, after the close of which he perfects it without those means. And as poHtical institutions are the asylums of the Church in this Hfe, though civil government is distinct from the spir- itual kingdom of Christ, our Author instructs us respecting it as a signal blessing of God, which the Church ought to ac- knowledge with gratitude of heart, till we are cahed out of this transitory state to the heavenly inheritance, where God will be aU in all. This is the plan of the Institutes, which may be comprised in the following brief summary : — Man, created originaUy upright, being afterwards ruined, not partiaUy, but totaUy, finds salvation out of himself, wholly in Christ ; to whom being united by the Holy Spirit, freely be- stowed, without any regard of future works, he enjoys in him a twofold benefit, the perfect imputation of righteousness, which attends him to the grave, and the commencement of sanctifica- tion, which he daily increases, till at length he completes it at the day of regeneration or resurrection of the body, so that in eternal Hfe and the heavenly inheritance his praises are cele- brated for such stupendous mercy. INSTITUTES CHRISTIAN RELIGION. B O O K I. ON THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD THE CREATOR. ARGUMENT. The first book treats of the knowledge of God the Creator; but, this being chiefly nianifested in the creation of man, man also is made the subject of discussion, Thus the principal topics of the whole treatise are two — the knowledge of God, and the knowledge of man. In the first chapter, they are considered together ; in the following chapters, separately ; yet some things are introduced, which may be referred to either or both. What respects the Scripture and images may belong to the knowledge of God ; what respects the formation of the world, the holy angels, and the devils, to the knowledge of man; and what resj^ects the manner in which God governs the world, to both. On the first of these topics, the knowledge of God, this book shows, First, What kind of knowledge God himself requires — Chap. II. Secondly, Where it must be sought — Chap. III. — IX., as follows : 1. Not in man ; because, though the human mind is naturally endued with it, yet it is extinguished, partly by ignorance, partly by wickedness — Chap. III. IV. 2. Nor in the structure of the world ; because, though it shines there with the brightest evidence, testimonies of that kind, however plain, are, through our stupidity, wholly useless to us — Chap. V. 3. But in the Scripture — Chap. VI. — IX. 46 ARGUMENT. Thirdly, What kind of a being God is — Chap. X. Fourthly, The impiety of ascribing to God a visible form, with obsev- vations on the adoration and origin of images — Chap. XI. Fifthly, The reasonableness that God alone should be supremely wor- shipped — Chap. XII. Lastly, The unity of the Divine Essence, and the distinction of three Persons — Chap. XIII. On the other of these topics, the knowledge of man, it contains, First, A dissertation on the creation of the world, and on the good and evil angels, all which relate to man — Chap. XIV. Secondly, Proceeding to man himself, an examination of his nature and powers — Chap. XV. But, in order to a clearer illustration of the knowledge of God and man, the three remaining chapters treat of the government of all human actions and of the whole world, in opposition to fortune and fate, stating the pure doctrine, and shovving its use ; and conclude with proving that, though God uses the agency of the wicked, he i^ pure from all pollution, and chargeable with no blame. CHAPTER I. THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD AND THE KNOWLEDGE OF OURSELVES. True and substantial wisdom principally consists of two parts, the knowledge of God, and the knowledge of ourselves. But, while these two branches of knowledge are so intimately connected, which of them precedes anc] produces the other, is not easy to discover. For, in the first place, no man can take a survey of himself but he must immediately turn to the con- templation of God, in whom he " lives and moves ; " (a) since it is evident that the talents which we possess are not from our- selves, and that our very existence is nothing but a subsistence in God alone. These bounties, distilling to us by drops from heaven, form, as it were, so many streams conducting us to the fountain-head. Our poverty conduces to a clearer display of the infinite fulness of God. Especially, the miserable ruin, into which we have been phmged by the defection of the first man, compels us to raise our eyes towards heaven, not only as hungry and famished, to seek thence a supply for our wants, (ff.) Acts xvii. 2. BOOK I.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 47 but, aroused with fear, to learn humility. For, since man is subject to a world of miseries, and has been spoiled of his divine array, this melancholy exposure discovers an immense mass of deformity : every one, therefore, must be so impressed with a consciousness of his own infeUcity, as to arrive at some knowledge of God. Tlius a sense of our ignorance, vanity, poverty, infirmity, depravity, and corruption, leads us to per- ceive and acknowledge that in the Lord alone are to be found true wisdom, solid strength, perfect goodness, and unspotted righteousness ; and so, by our imperfections, we are excited to a consideration of the perfections of God. Nor can we really aspire toward him, till we have begun to be displeased with ourselves. For who would not gladly rest satisfied with him- self? where is the man not actually absorbed in self-compla- cency, while he remains unacquainted with his true situation, or content with his own endowments, and ignorant or forgetful of his own misery ? The knowledge of ourselves, therefore, is not only an incitement to seek after God, but likewise a con- siderable assistance towards finding him. II. On the other hand, it is plain that no man can arrive at the true knowledge of himself, without having first contem- plated the divine character. and then descended to the consid- eration of his own. For, such is the native pride of us all, we invariably esteem ourselves righteous, innocent, wise, and holy, till we are convinced, by clear proofs, of our unrighteousness, turpitude, folly, and impurity. But we are never thus con- vinced, wbile we confine our attention to ourselves, and regard not the Lord, who is the only standard by which this judgment ought to be formed. Because, fiom onr natural proneness to hypocrisy, any vain appearance of righteousness abundantly contents us instead of the reality ; and, every thing within and around us being exceedingly defiled, we are delighted with what is least so, as extremely pure, while we confine our reflections within the limits of human corruption. So the eye, accustomed to see nothing but black, judges that to be very white, which is but whitish, or perhaps brown. Indeed. the senses of our bodies may assist us in discovering how grossly we err in estimating the powers of the soul. For if at noon-day we look either on the ground, or at any surrounding objects, we conclude our vision to be very strong and piercing ; but when we raise our eyes and steadily look at the sun, they are at once dazzled and confounded with such a blaze of brightness, and we are constrained to confess, that our sight, so piercing in viewing terrestrial things, when directed to the sun, is dimness itself. Thus also it happens in the considera- tion of our spiritual endowments. For as long as our views are bounded by the earth, perfectly content with our own 48 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK I. righteousness, wisdom, and strength, we fondly flatter our- selves, and fancy we are little less than demigods. But, if we once elevate our thoughts to God, and consider his nature, and the consummate perfection of his righteousness, wisdom, and strength, to which we ought to be conformed, — what before charmed us in ourselves under the false pretext of righteous- ness, will soon be loathed as the greatest iniquity ; what strangely deceived us under the title of wisdom, will be de- spised as extreme foUy ; and what wore the appearance of strength, will be proved to be most wretched impotence. So very remote from the divine purity is what seems in us the highest perfection. III. Hence that horror and amazement with wliich the Scripture always represents the saints to have been impressed and disturbed, on every discovery of the presence of God. For when we see those, who before his appearance stood secure and firm, so astonished and affrighted at the manifestation of his glory, as to faint and ahnost expire through fear, — we must infer that man is never sufficiently affected with a knowledge of his own meanness, till he has compared himself with the Divine Majesty. Of this consternation we have frequent ex- amples in the Judges and Prophets ; so that it was a common expression among the Lord's people — " We shall die, because we have seen God."(6) Therefore the history of Job, to humble men with a consciousness of their poUution, impotence, and folly, derives its principal argument from a descri])tion of the Divine purity, power, and wisdom. And not without rea- son. For we see how Abraham, the nearer he approached to behold tlie glory of the Lord, the more fuUy acknowledged himself to be but " dust and ashes ; " (c) and how Ehas {d) could not bear his approach without covering his face, his ap- pearance is so formidable. And what can man do, all vile and corrupt, when fear constrains even the cherubim themselves to veil their faces? This is what the prophet Isaiah speaks of — " the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign : " (e) that is, when he shall make a fuller and nearer exhibition of liis splendour, it shall ecli|)se the splendour of the brightest object besides. But, though the knowledge of Godand the knowledge of ourselves be intimate- ly connected, the proper order of instruction requires us first to treat of the former, and then to proceed to the discussion of the latter. {h) Judg. xiii. 22. (d) l Kings xix. 13. (c) Gen. xviii. 27. (e) Isaiah vi. 2; xxiv. 23. CHAP. II.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 49 CHAPTER II. THE NATURE AND TENDENCY OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD. By the knowledge of God, I intend not merely a notion that there is siich a Being, but also an acquaintance with whatever we ought to know concerning Him, conducing to his glory and our benefit. For we cannot with propriety say, there is any knowledge of God where there is no rehgion or piety. I have no reference here to that species of knowledge by which men, lost and condemned in themselves, apprehend God the Redeemer in Christ the Mediator ; but only to that first and simple knowledge, to which the genuine order of nature would lead us, if Adam had retained his innocence. For tliough, in the present ruined state of human nature, no man will ever perceive God to be a Father, or the Author of salvation, or in any respect propitious, but as pacified by the mediation of Christ ; yet it is one thing to understand, that God our Maker supports us by his power, governs us by his providence, nour- ishes us by his goodness, and follows us with blessings of every kind, and another to embrace the grace of reconciliation pro- posed to us in Christ. Therefore, since God is first manifested, both in the structure of the world and in the general tenor of Scripture, simply as the Creator, and afterwards reveals him- self in the person of Christ as a Redeemer, hence arises a two- fold knowledge of him ; of which the former is first to be considered, and the other will follow in its proper place. For though our mind cannot conceive of God, without ascribing some worship to him, it will not be sufficient merely to appre- hend that he is tlie only proper object of universal worship and adoration, unless we are also persuaded that he is the fountain of all good, and seek for none but in liim. This I maintain, not only because he sustains the universe, as he once made it, by his infinite power, governs it by his wisdom, preserves it by his goodness, and especially reigns over the human race in righteousness and jndgment, exercising a merciful forbearance, and defending them by his protection ; but because there can- not be found the least particle of wisdom, hght, righteousness, power. rectitude, or sincere truth which does not proceed from him, and claim him for its author : we should therefore learn to expect and supphcate all these things from him, and thank- fuhy to acknowledge what he gives us. For this sense of the divine perfections is calculated to teach us piety, which pro- duces religion. By piety, I mean a reverence and love of God, VOL. I. 7 50 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK 1. arising from a knowledge of his benefits. For, till men are sensible that they owe every thing t,o God, that they are sup- ported by his paternal care, that he is the Author of all the blessings they enjoy, and that nothing should be sought inde- pendently of him, they will never voluntarily submit to his authority ; they will never truly and cordially devote them- selves to his service, unless they rely upon him alone for true fehcity. 11. Cold and frivolous, then, are the speculations of those who employ themselves in disquisitions on the essence of God, when it would be more interesting to us to become acquainted with his character, and to know what is agreeable to his na- tnre. For what end is answered by professing, with Epicu- rus, that there is a God, who, discarding all concern about the world, indulges himself in perpetual inactivity ? What benefit arises from the knowledge of a God with whom we have no concern ? Our knowledge of God should ruther tend, first, to teach us fear and reverence ; and, secondly, to instruct us to implore all good at his hand, and to render him the praise of all that we receive. For how can you entertain a thought of God without immediately reflecting, that, being a creature of his formation, you must, by right of creation, be subject to his authority ? that you are indebted to him for your hfe, and that all your actions should be done with reference to him ? If this be true, it certainly follows that your hfe is miserably cor- rupt, unless it be regulated by a desire of obeying him, since his will ought to be the rule of our conduct. Nor can you have a clear view of him without discovering him to be the fountain and origin of all good. Tliis would produce a desire of union to him, and confidence in him, if the human mind were not seduced by its own depravity from the right path of investigation. For, even at the first, the pious mind dreams not of any imaginary deity, but contemplates only the one true God ; and, concerning him, indulges not the fictions of fancy, but, content with beUeving him to be such as iie reveals him- self, uses the most diiigent and unremitting caution, lest it should fall into error by a rash and presumptuous transgression of his will. He who thus knows him, sensible that all things are subject to his control, confides in him as his Guardian and Protector, and unreservedly commits himself to his care. As- sured that he is the autiior of all blessings, in distress or Avant he immediately flies to his protection, and expects his aid. Persuaded of his goodness and mercy, he relies on him with unlimited confidence, nor doubts of finding in his clemency a remedy provided for all his evils. Knowing him to be his Lord and Father, he concludes that he ought to mark his gov- ernment iu all tliings, revere his majesty, endeavour to promote CHAP. III.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 51 his glory, and obey his commands. Perceiving him to be a just Judge, armed with severity for the punishment of crimes, he keeps his tribunal always in view, and is restrained by fear from provoking his wrath. Yet he is not so terrified at the ap- prehension of his justice, as to vvish to evade it, even if escape were possible ; but loves him as much in punishing the wicked as in blessing the pious, because he believes it as necessary to his glory to puiiish the impious and abandoned, as to reward the righteous with eterual life. Besides, he restrains himself from sin, not merely from a dread of vengeance, but because he loves and reveres God as his Father, honours and worships him as his Lord, and, even though there were no hell, would shud- der at the thought of olfending him. See, then, the nature of pure and genuine religion. It consists in faith, united with a serious fear of God, comprehending a voluntary reverence, and producing legitimate worship agreeable to the injunctions of the law. And this requires to be the more carefully remarked, because men in general render to God a formal worship, but very few truly reverence him ; while great ostentation in cer- emonies is universally displayed, but sincerity of heart is rarely to be found. CHAPTER III. THE HUMAN MIND NATURALLY ENDUED WITH THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD. We lay it down as a position not to be controverted, that the human mind, even by natural instinct, possesses some sense of a Deity. For that no man might sheUer himself under the pretext of ignorance, God hath given to all some apprehension of his existence, (/) the memory of which he frequently and insensibly renews ; so that, as men universally know that there is a God, and that he is their Maker, they must be condemned by their own testimony, for not having worshipped him and consecrated their Uves to his service. If we seek for ignorance of a Deity, it is nowhere more Hkely to be found, than among tribes the most stupid and furthest from civihzation. But, as the celebrated Cicero observes, there is no nation so barbarous, no race so savage, as not to be firmly persuaded of the being of a God. (g) Even those who in other respects appear to differ but httle from brutes, always (/) Rom. i. 20. (g) Cicer. de Natur. Deor. lib. i. Lactant. Inst. lib. iii. cap. 10. 52 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK 1. retain some scnse of veligion ; so fully are the minds of men possessed with this common ])riiici|ile, which is closely inter- woven with their original composition. Now, since there has never been a country or family, from the beginning of the world, totally destitute of rehgion, it is a tacit confession, that some sense of the Divinity is inscribed on every heart. Of this opinion, idolatry itself furnishes ample proof. For we know how rehictantly man would degrade himself to exalt other creatures above him. His preference of wor- shipping a piece of wood or stone, to being thought to have no god, evinces the impression of a Deity on the human mind to be very strong, the obHteration of which is more difficult than a total change of the natural disposition ; and this is cer- tainly changed, whenever man leaves his natural pride, and voluntarily descends to such meannesses under the notion of worshipping God. II. It is most absurd, then, to pretend, as is asserted by some, that rehgion was the contrivance of a few subtle and designing men, a pohtical machine to confine the simple mul- titude to their duty, while those who inculcated the worship of God on others, were themselves far from beheving that any god existed. I confess, indeed, that artful men have intro- duced many inventions mto rehgion, to fiU the vulgar with reverence, and strike them with terror, in order to obtain the greater command over their minds. But this they never conld have accomphshed, if the minds of inen had not previously been possessed of a firm persuasion of the existence of God, from which the propensity to rehgion proceeds. And that they who cunningly imposed on the iUiterate, under the pre- text of rehgion, were themselves wholly destitute of any knowledge of God, is quite incredible. For though there were some in ancient times, and many arise in the present age, who deny the existence of God, yet, in spite of their re- luctance, they are continually receiving proofs of what they desire to disbeheve. We read of no one guiUy of more audacious or unbridled contempt of the Deity than Cahgula ; yet no man ever trembled with greater distress at any instance of Divine wrath, so that he was constrained to dread tlie Di- vinity whom he professed to despise. This you may ahvays see exemphfied in persons of similar character. For the most audacious contemners of God are most alarmed, even at the noise of a fahing leaf. Whence arises this, but from the ven- geance of the Divine Majesty, smiting their consciences the more powerfuhy in proportion to their efforts to fly from it ? They try every refuge to hide themselves from the Lord's presence, and to efll^ace it from their minds ; but their attempts to ehide it are all in vain. Though it may seem to disappear CHAP. III.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 53 for a moment, it presently returns with increased violence ; so that, if they have any remission of the angnish of conscience, it resembles the sleep of persons intoxicated, or subject to fren- zy, who enjoy no placid rest while sleeping, being continually harassed with horrible and tremendous dreams. The impious themselves, therefore, exemphfy the observation, that the idea cf a God is never lost in the human mind. III. It will always be evident to persons of correct judgment, that the idea of a Deity impressed on the mind of man is in- dehble. That all have by nature an innate persuasioti of the Divine existence, a persnasion inseparable from their very con- stitution, we have abundant evidence in the contumacy of the wicked, whose fuiious struggles to extricate themselves from the fear of God are unavailing. Though Diagoras, and others like him, turn to ridicule what all ages have believed of re- ligion ; {h) though Dionysiusscoffat the judgment of Heaven, — it is but a forced laughter, for the worm of a guilty conscience torments them within, worse than if they were seared with hot irons. I agree not with Cicero, that errors in process of time become obsolete, and that religion is increased and ameliorated daily. For the world, as will shortly be observed, uses its ut- most endeavours to banish all knovvledge of God, and triesevery niethod of corrupting his worship. I only maintain, that while the stupid insensibility which the wicked wish to acquire, to promote their contempt of God, preys upon their minds, yet the sense of a Deity, which they ardently desire to extinguish, is still strong, aud frequently discovers itself. Whence we in- fer, that this is a doctrine, not first to be learned in the schools, but which every man from his birth is self-taught, and which, though many strain every nerve to banish it from them, yet nature itself permits none to forget. Now, if the end for which all men are born and live, be to know God, — and unless the knowledge of God have reached this point, it is uncertain and vain, — it is evident, that all who direct not every thought and action of life to this end, are degenerated from the law of their creation. Of this the heathen philosophers themselves were not ignorant. This was PIato's meaning, when he taught that the chief good of the soul consists in similitude to God, when the soul, having a clear knowledge of him, is wholly trans- formed into his likeness. {i) The reasoning also of Gryllus, in Plutarch, is very accurate, when he afhrms, that men entirely destitute of religion, not only do not excel the brutes, but are in many respects far more wretched, being obnoxious to evil under so many forms, and always dragging on a tumultuous (A) Cicer. de Nat. Deor. lib. 1 Sc 3. Valer. Maxim. lib. 1, cap. 1. (i) In PhtEd. & Theajt. 54 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK and reslless life. T thing which renders aspire to immortaUty and restless life. The worship of God is therefore the only thing which renders men superior to brutes, and makes them CHAPTER IV. THIS KNOWLEDGE EXTINGUISHED OR CORRUPTED, PARTLY BY IGNORANCE, PARTLY BY WICKEDNESS. While experience testifies that the seeds of religion are sown by God in every heart, we scarcely find one man in a hundred who cherishes what he has received, and not one in whom they grow to maturity, much less bear fruit in due season. Some perhaps grow vain in their own superstitions, while others revolt froni God with iutentional wickedness ; but all degenerate from the true kiiowledge of him. The fact is, that no genuine piety remains in the world. But, in saying that some fall into superstition through error, I would not insinuate that their ignorance excuses them from guilt ; because their bUndness is always connected with pride, vanity, and contu- macy. Pride and vanity are discovered, when miserable men, in seeking after God, rise not, as they ought, above their own level, but judge of him according to their carnal stupidity, and leave the proper path of investigation in pursuit of speculations as vain as they are curious. Their conceptions of him are formed, not according to the representations he gives of him- self, but by the inventions of their own presumptuous imagina- tions. This gulf being opened, whatever course they take, they must be rushing forwards to destruction. None of their subsequent attempts for the worship or service of God can be considered as rendered to him ; becaase they worship not him, but a figment of their own brains in his stead. This depravity Paul expressly remarks : " Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools." (k) He had before said, " they became vain in their imaginations." But lest any should exculpate them, he adds that they were deservedly bUnded, because, not content within the bounds of sobriety, but arrogating to themselves more than was right, they wilfuUy darkened, and even infatuated themselves with pride, vanity, and perverse- ness. Wlience it foUows, that their foUy is inexcusable, which originates not only in a vain curiosity, but in false confidence, and an immoderate desire to excecd the Umits of human knowledge. (k) Rom. i. 22. CHAP. IV.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 55 II. David's assertion, that " the fool hath said in his heart, ^There is no God," (/) is primariiy, as \ve shall soon see in an- other place, to be restricted to those who extinguish the light of nature, and wilfully stupefy themselves. For we see many, become hardened by bold and habitual transgressions, striving to banish all remembrance of God, which the instinct of nature is still suggesting to their minds. To render their madness more detestable, he introduces them as expressly denying the existence of God ; not that they deprive him of his being, but because tliey rob him of his justice and providence, shutting him up as an idler in heaven. Now, as nothing would be more inconsistent with Deity, than to abandon the government of the world, leave it to fortune, and connive at the crimes of men, that they might wanton with impunity, — whoever ex- tinguishes all fear of the heavenly judgment, and indulges himself in security, denies that there is any God. After the impious have wilfully shut their own eyes, it is the righteous vengeance of God upon them, to darken their understandings, so that, seeing, they may not perceive. (m) David is the best interpreter of his own meaning, in another place, where he says, " The wicked have no fear of God before their eyes ; " (n) and again, that they encourage themselves in their iniquities with the tlattering persuasion that God doth not see them. (o) Though they are constrained to acknowledge the existence of God, yet they rob him of his glory, by detracting from his power. For as God, according to the testimony of Paul, " cannot deny himself," (^) because he perpetually remains like himself, — those who feign him to be a vain and lifeless image, are truly said to deny God. It must also be remai'ked, that, though they strive against their own natural understand- ing, and desire iiot only to banish him thence, but even to an- nihilate him in heaven, their insensibility can never prevail, so as to prevent God from sometimes recalling them to his tribunal. But as no dread restrains them from violent opposi- tion to the divine will, it is evident, as long as they are carried away with such a blind impetuosity, that they are governed by a brutish forgetfulness of God. III. Thus is overthrown the vain excuse pleaded by many for their superstition ; for they satisfy themselves with any at- tention to religion, however preposterous, not considering that the Divine Will is the perpetual rule to which true religion ought to be conformed ; that God ever continues like hiraself ; that he is no spectre or phantasm, to be metamorphosed according to the fancy of every individual. It is easy to see how super- stition mocks God with hypocritical services, while it attempts (/) Psalm xiv. 1. (?») Isaiah vi. 9. (n) Psalm xxxvi. 1. (o) Psalm X. 11. (p) 2 Tim. ii. 13. 56 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK I. to please him. For, embracing only those things which he declares he disregards, it either contemptuously practises, or even openly rejects, what he prescribes and declares to be pleasing in his sight. Persons who introduce newly-invented methods of worshijjping God, really worship and adore the creature of their distempered imaginations ; for they would never have dared to trifle in such a manner with God, if they had not first feigned a god conformable to their own false and foohsh notions. Wherefore the apostle pronounces a vague and unsettled notion concerning the Deity to be ignorance of God. " When ye knewnot God, (says he,) ye did service unto them which by nature were no gods." {q) And in another place he speaks of the Ephesians as having been " without God," (r) while they were strangers to a right knowledge of the only true God. Nor, in this respect, is it of much im- portance, whether you imagine to yourself one god or more ; for in either case you depart and revolt from the true God, and, forsaking him, you have nothing left you but an execrable idol. We must therefore decide, with Lactantius, that there is no legitimate religion unconnected with truth. IV. Another sin is, that they never think of God but against their inchnations, nor approach him till their reluctance is over- come by constraint ; and then they are influenced, not by a voluntary fear, proceeding from reverence of the Divine Ma- jesty, but by a servile and constramed fear, extorted by the divine judgment, which they dread because it is inevitable, at the same time that they hate it. Now, to impiety, and to this species of it alone, is apphcable that assertion of Statius, that fear first made gods in the world. (s) They, whose minds are ahenated from the righteousness of God, earnestly desire the subversion of that tribunal, which they know to be estabhshed for the punishment of transgressions against it. With this disposition, they wage war against the Lord, who cannot be deprived of his judgment ; but when they apprehend his irre- sistible arm to be impending over their heads, unable to avert or evade it, they tremble with fear. That they may not seem altogether to despise him, whose majesty troubles them, they practise some form of rehgion ; at the same time not ceasing to polhite themselves with vices of every kind, and to add one flagitious act to another, till they have violated every part of God's holy law, and dissipated all its righteousness. It is certain, at least, that they are not prevented by that pretended fear of God from enjoying pleasure and satisfaction in their sins, practising self-adulation, and preferring the indulgence of their ovvn carnal intemperance to the saiutary restraints of the (^) Gal. iv. 8. (r) Eph. ii. 12. (s) Statii Tliebaid. lib. 3. CHAP. V.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 57 Holy Spirit. Bnt that being a false and vain shadow of re- ligion, and scarcely worthy even to be called its shadow, — it is easy to infer the wide difference between such a confused notion of God, and the piety which is instilled only into the minds of the faithful, and is the source of rehgion. Yet hypocrites, who are flying from God, resort to tlie artifices of superstition, for the sake of appearing devoted to him. For whereas the whole tenor of their hfe ought to be a perpetual course of obedience to him, they make no scruple of rebeihng against him in almost all their actions, only endeavouring to appease him with a few paltry sacrifices. Whereas he ought to be served with sanctity of hfe and integrity of heart, they invent frivolous trifles and worthiess observances, to con- ciliate his favour. They abandon themselves to their im- purities with the greater iicentiousness, because they confide in being able to discharge all their duty to him by ridiculous expiations. In a word, wliereas tlieir confidence ought to be placed on him, they neglect him, and depend upon themselves or on other creatures. At length they involve themselves in such a vast accumulation of errors, tliat those sparks which enable them to discover the glory of God are smothered, and at last extinguished by the criminal darkness of iniquity. That seed, which it is impossible to eradicate, a sense of the existence of a Deity, yet remains ; but so corrupted as to pro- duce only the vvorst of fruits. Yet this is a further proof of what I now contend for, that an idea of God is naturally en- graved on the hearts of men, since necessity extorts a confes- sion of it, even from reprobates themselves. In the moment of tranquillity, they facetiously mock the Divine Being, and with loquacious impertinence derogate from his power. But if any despair oppress them, it stimulates them to seek him, and dictates concise prayers, which prove that they are not alto- gether ignorant of God, but that what ought to have appeared before had been suppressed by obstinacy. CHAPTER V. THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD CONSPICUOUS IN THE FORMATION AND CONTINUAL GOVERNMENT OF THE WORLD. As the perfection of a happy life consists in the knowledge of God, that no man might be prechided from attaining fehcity, God hath not only sown in the minds of men the seed of re- VOL. I. 8 58 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK I. ligion, already mentioned, but hath manifested himself in the formation of every part of the world, and daily presents him- self to public view, in such a manner, that they cannot open their eyes without being constrained to behold him. His es- sence indeed is incomprehcnsible, so that his Majesty is not to be perceived by the human senses ; but on all his works he hath inscribed his glory in characters so clear, unequivocal, and striking, that the most ilhterate and stupid cannot exculpate themselves by the plea of ignorance. The Psahnist therefore, with great propriety, exclaims, " He covereth himself with hght as with a garment ; " (t) as if he had said, that his first appear- ance in visible apparel was at the creation of the world, when he dis[)layed those glories which are still conspicuous on every side. In the same place, the Psalmist compares the expanded heavens to a royal paviUon ; — he says that " he layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters ; maketh the clouds his chariot ; walketh upon the wings of the wind ; " and maketh the winds and the lightnings his swift messengers. And be- cause the giory of his power and wisdom is more refulgently displayed above, heaven is generally called his palace. And, in the first place, whithersoever you turn your eyes, there is not an atom of the world in which you cannot behold some brilhant sparks at least of his glory. But you cannot at one view take a survey of this most ample and beautiful machine in all its vast extent, without being completely overwhehned with its infinite splendour. Wherefore the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews elegantly represents the worlds as the man- ifestations of invisible things ; (v) for the exact symmetry of the universe is a mirror, in which we may contemplate the otherwise invisible God. For which reason the Psalmist (w) attributes to the celestial bodies a language universahy known ; for they aiford a testimony of the Deity too evident to escape the observation even of the most ignorant people in the world. But the Apostle more distinctly asserts this manifestation to men of what was useful to be known concerning God ; " for the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are inade, even his eternal power and godhead." (:v) II. Of his wonderful wisdom, both heaven and earth con- tain innumerable proofs ; not only those more abstruse things, which are the subjects of astronomy, medicine, and the whole science of physics, but those things wliich force themselves on the view of the most illiterate of mankind, so that they cannot open their eyes without being constrained to witness them. Adepts, indeed, in those hberal arts, or persons just (0 Psalm civ. 2. (r) Heb. xi. 3. (lo;) Psalm xix.1,3. (z) Rom. i. 20. CHAP. V.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 59 initiated into them, are thereby enabled to proceed much fm-ther in investigating the secrets of Divine Wisdom. Yet ignorance of those sciences prevents no man from such a survey of the workmanship of God, as is more than sufficient to excite his admiration of the Divine Architect. In disquisitions concern- ing the motions of the stars, in fixing their situations, measur- ing their distances, and distinguishing their pecuhar properties, there is need of skill, exactness, and industry ; and the provi- dence of God being more clearly revealed by these discoveries, the mind ought to rise to a sublimer elevation for the contem- plation of his glory. But since the meanest and most illiterate of mankind, who are furnished with no other assistance than their own eyes, cannot be ignorant of the excellence of the Divine skill, exhibiting itself in that endless, yetregular variety of the innumerable celestial host, — it is evident, that the Lord abundantly manifests his wisdom to every individual on earth. Thus it belongs to a man of preeminent ingenuity to examine, with the critical exactness of Galen, the connection, the sym- metry, the beauty, and the use of the various parts of the hu- man body. But the composition of the human body is univer- sally acknowledged to be so ingenious, as to render its Maker the object of deserved admiration. III. And therefore some of the philosophers (y) of antiquity have justly cailed man a microcosm, or world in miniature ; because he is an eminent specimen of the power, goodness, and wisdom of God, and contains in him wonders enough to occupy the attention of our minds, if we are not indisposed to such a study. For thisreason, Paul, having remarked that the bhnd " might feel afler God and find him," immediately adds, that " he is not far from every one of us ; " (z) because every man has undoubtedly an inward perception of thc celestial goodness, by which he is quickened. But if, to attain some ideas of God, it be not necessary for us to go beyond ourselves, what an unpardonable indolence is it in those who will not descend into themselves that they may find him ! For the same reason, David, having briefly celebrated the wonderful name and honour of God, which are universally conspicuous, immediately exclaims, " VVhat is man, that thou art mindful of him ? " (a) Again, " Out of the moutlis of babes and suck- lings thou hast ordained strength." Thus declaring not only that the human race is a clear mirror of the works of God, but that even infants at the breast have tongues so eloquent for the publication of his glory, that there is no necessity for other orators ; whence he hesitates not to produce them as fully (y) Macrob. lib. 2. de Soinn. Scip. c. 12. Boet. de Defin. Arist. lib. l. de Illst. Aninial. (:) Acts xvii. 27. («) Psahii viii. 2, 4. 60 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK I. capable of confuting the madness of those whose diabohcal pride would wish to extinguish the name of God. Hence also what Paul quotes from Aratus, that '' we are the offspring of God;"(6) since his adorning us with such great excellence has proved him to be our Father. So, from the dictates of common sense and experience, the heathen poets called him the Father of men. Nor will any man freely devote himself to the service of God, unless he have been allured to love and reverence him, by first experiencing his paternal love. IV. But herein appears the vile ingratitnde of men — that, while they ought to be proclaiming the praises of God for the wonderful skill displayed in their formation, and the inestima- ble bounties he bestows on them, tliey are only inflated with the greater pride. They perceive how wonderfully God works within them, and experience teaches them what a variety of blessings they receive from his hberality. They are con- strained to know, whether wilhngly or not, that these are proofs of his divinity : yet they suppress this knowledge in their hearts. Indeed, they need not go out of themselves, pro- vided they do not, by arrogating to themselves what is given from heaven, smother the hght which iUuminates their minds to a clearer discovery of God. Even in the present day, there are many men of monstrous dispositions, who hesitate not to pervert all the seeds of divinity sown in the nature of man, in order to bury in obhvion the name of God. How detestable is this frenzy, that man, discovering in his body and soul a hundred vestiges of God, should make this very excellence a pretext for the denial of his being ! Tliey will not say that they are distinguished from the brutes by chance ; but they ascribe it to nature, which they consider as the author of all things, and remove God out of sight. They perceive most exquisite workmanship in all their members, from the head to the feet. Here also they substitute nature in the pkice of God. But above all, the rapid motions of the soul, its noble faculties, and excellent talents, discover a Divinity not easily concealed ; unless the Epicureans, like tlie Cyclops, from this eminence should audaciously wage war against God. Do all the trea- sures of heavenly wisdom concur in the governmeut of a worm five feet in length ? and shall the universe be destitute of this privilege ? To state that there is in the soul a certain ma- chinery corresponding to every part of the body, is so far from obscuring the divine glory, that it is rather an illustration of it. Let Epicurus answer; what concourse of atoms in the con- coction of food and drink distributes part into excrements and part into blood, and causes the several members to perform (i) Acts xvii. 28. CHAP. V.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION, 61 their difFerent offices with as much diligence as if so many souls by common consent governed one body ? V. Biit my present concern is not with that sty of swines : I rather address those who, influenced by preposterous subtil- ties, would indirectly employ that frigid dogma of Aristotle to destroy the immortahty of the soul, and deprive God of his rights. For, because the organs of the body are directed by the faculties of the soul, they pretend the soul to be so united to the body as to be incapable of subsisting without it ; and by their eulogies of nature do all they can to suppress the name of God. But the powers of the soul are far from being hmited to functions subservient to the body. For what concern has the body in measuring the heavens, counting the number of the stars, computing their several magnitudes, and acquiring a knowledge of their respective distances, of the celerity or tar- diness of their courses, and of the degrees of their various dec- hnations ? I grant, indeed, the usefuhiess of astronomy, but only remark that, in these profound researches relating to the celestial orbs, there is no corporeal cooperation, but that the soul has its functions distinct from the body. I have proposed one example, whence inferences may readily be drawn by the readers. The manifold agihty of the soul, which enables it to talce a survey of heaven and earth ; to join the past and the present ; to retain the memory of things heard long ago ; to conceive of whatever it chooses by the help of imagination ; its ingenuity also in the invention of such admirable arts, — ajre certain proofs of the divinity in man. Besides, in sleep, it not only turns and moves itself round, but conceives many useful ideas, reasons on various subjects, and even divines future events. VVhat sliaU we say, but that the vestiges of immortal- ity impressed upon man are absohitely indehble ? Now, what reason can be given, why man, who is of divine original, should not acknowledge his Creator ? ShaU we indeed, by the judg- ment with which we are endued, discern right from wrong, and shaU there be no judge in heaven ? ShaU we, even in our sleep, have some remains of inteUigence, and shaU there be no God to govern the world ? ShaU we be esteemed the invent- ers of so many useful arts, that God may be defrauded of his praise ? Whereas experience abundantly teaches, that aU we have is variously distributed to us by some superior Being. The clamour of some, about a secret inspiration animating the whole world, is not only weak, but ahogether profaue. They are pleased with the celebrated passage of Virgil — " Know, first, a spirit, with an active flame, Fills, feeds, and animates Ihis mighty frame ; Runs through the watcry worlds, the fields of air, ^ The ponderous earth, the deptlis of heaven ; and there > Glows in the sun and moon, and burns in every star. j 62 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK I. Thus, mingling with the mass, the general soul Lives in the parts, and agitates the whole. From that celestial energy began The low-browed brute, th' iniperial race of man, The painted birds who wing tii' aerial plain, And all the rnighty monsters of tlie niain ; Tlieir souls at lirst from high Olympus came," &c. (c) Jiist as if the world, which is a theatre erected for displaying the glory of God, were its own creator ! For thus writes the same poet in another place, foUowing the common opinion of the Greeks and Latins — " Led by such wonders, sages have opined, That bees have portions of a lieavenly niind ; That God pervades, and, like one common soul, Fills, fceds, and aniniates the world's grcat whole ; Tliat flocks, herds, beasts, and men, from him receive Their vital breatli ; in liim all move and live ; Tliat souls discerpt from him shall never die, ~i But back resolved to God and heaven sliall fly, > And live for ever in the starry sky." (d) j See the efRcacy of that jejune speculation concerning a universal mind animating and actuating the world, in the pro- duction and encouragement of piety in the human heart. This more fully appears also from the profane expressions of the filthy Lucretius, which are deductions from the same princi- ple. (e) Its true tendency is to set up a shadowy deity, and to banisii all ideas of the true God, the proper object of fear and worship. I confess, indeed, that the expression, that nature is God, may be used ina pious sense by a pious miiid ; but, as it is harsh and inconsistent with strict propriety of speech, nature being rather an order prescribed by God, it is dangerous in matters so momentous, and demanding pecuhar caution, to confound the Deity with the inferior course of his works. VL Let us remember, then, in every consideration of our own nature, that there is one God, who govcrns all natures, and who expects us to regard him, to dircct our faith to him, to worship and invoke him. For nothing is more preposterous than to enjoy such splendid advantages, which proclaim within us their divine origin, and to neglect the Author who bounti- fuUy bestows them. Now, what ihustrious specimens of his power have vve to arrest our attention ! unless it be possible for us not to know what strength is required to sustain with his word this immense fabric of heaven and earth ; now by his mere nod to shake the heaven with roaring peals of thunder, to consume whatever he choose witli Hghtnings, and set the atmospliere on fire with the flame ; novv to disturb it with (f) ^neid vi. Pitt's Translation. (d) Georg. iv. Warton's Translation. (e) De Rerum Natur. lib. l. CHAP. V.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. QS tempests in varioiis forms, and immediately, if he please, to compose all to instantaneous serenity ; to restrain, suspended as it were in air, the sea, which, by its elevation, seems to threaten the eartli with continual devastation ; now raising it in a tremendous manner, by the tumuhuous violence of the winds, and now appeasing the waves to render it calm. To this purpose are the numerous praises of tlie power of God, drawn from the testimonies of nature, particulariy in the book of Job, and in the prophecies of Isaiah ; which I now pur- posely omit, as they will be more suitably introduced, when I discuss the scriptural account of the creation of the world. Only I wished at present to hint, that this way of seeking God, by tracing the lineaments which, both above and below us, ex- hibit such a lively adumbration of him, is commdn to aliens, and to those M-ho belong to his family. His power leads us to the consideration of his eternity ; because he, from whom all things derive their origin, must necessarily be eternal and self- existent. But if we mquire the reason that induced him first to create all things, and now to preserve them, we shall find the sole cause to be his own goodness. But though this be the only cause, it should be more than sufficient to attract us to love him ; since, according to the Psalmist, (/) there is no creature that does not participate in the effusions of his mercy. VII. In the second species of his works, such as happen out of the ordinary course of nature, the proofs of his perfections are equally clear. For he so regulates his providence in the government of human society, that, while he exhibits, in innu- merable ways, his benignity and beneficence to all, he likewise declares, by evident and daily indications, his clemency to the pious, and his severity to the wicked and ungodly. For no doubt can be entertained respecting his punishment of flagi- tious crimes ; inasmuch as he clearly demonstrates himself to be the guardian and avenger of innocence, in prospering with his blessing the life of good men, in assisting their necessi- ties. assuaging and comforting their sorrows, alleviating their calamities, and providing in all things for their safety. Nor should it perplex or eclipse his perpetual rule of righteousness, that he frequently permits the wicked and guilty for a time to exult in impunity ; but suffers good men to be undeservedly harassed with much adversity, and even to be oppressed by the iniquitous malice of the ungodly. We ought rather to make a very different reflection ; that, when he clearly mani- fests his wrath in the punishment of one sin, he hates all sins ; and that, since he now passes by many sins unpunished, there will be a judgment hereafter, till whicli the punishment is de- (/) Psalm cxlv. 9. 64 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK 1. ferred. So, also, what ample occasion he suppHes ns for the consideration of his mercy, while, with nnwearied benignity, he pursues the miserable, calhng them back to himself with more than paternal indulgence, till his beneficence overcomes their depravity ! VIII. To this end the Psalmist, (g) mentioning that God, in desperate cases, suddenly and wonderfully succors, beyond all expectation, those who are miserable and ready to perish, either protecting from beasts of prey such as are wandering in deserts, and, at length, reconducting them into the right way, or supplying with food the needy and hungry, or deUvering captives from dreary dungeons and iron chains, or bringing the shipwrecked safe into port, or heahng the diseases of some who are ahiiost dead, or scorching the earth with excessive heat and drought, or fertihzing it with the secret showers of his mercy, or elevating the mcanest of tlie vulgar, or degrading nobles from their dignified stations, — the Psalmist, I say, having proposed such examples as these, infers from them that what are accounted fortuitous accidents, are so many proofs of his heavenly providence, especially of his paternal clemency ; and that hence the pious have cause to rejoice, while the mouths of the impious and reprobate are stopped. But, since the majority of men, immersed in their errors, are bhnd amidst the greatest opportunities of seeing, he accounts it a rare instance of sin- gular wisdom discreetly to consider these works of God ; (h) from the sight of which, some, who, in other instances, discover the greatest acuteness, receive no benefit. And, notwithstand- ing aU the displays of the glory of God, scarcely one man in a hundred is really a spectator of it. His power and wisdom are equally conspicuous. His power is illustriously manifested, when the ferocity of the impious, universaUy deemed insuper- able, is quehed in an instant, their arrogance subdued, their strongest fortresses demohshed, their weapons and armour broken in pieces, their strength diminished, iheir machinations confounded, and they faH by their own exertions ; when the audacity, which exalted itself above the heavens, is thrown down to the centre of the earth ; when, on the contrary, " the poor are raised out of the dust, and the needy out of the dung- hill ; " (i) the oppressed and afflicted extricated from distress- ing extremities, and the desperate restored to a good hope ; when the unarmed are victorious over those who are armed, the few over the many, the weak over the strong. But his wisdom is eminently displayed in ordering every dispensation at the best possible time, confounding the greatest worldly sagacity, "taking the wise in their own craftiness," (/;) and (g) Psalm cvii. (i) Psalm cxiii. 7. (A) Psalm cvii. 43. (k) 1 Cor. iii. 19. CHAP. V.] CHRISTIAX RELIGIOX. 65 finally disposing all things according to the dictates of the highest reason. IX. We see that there is no need of any long or laborious argumentation, to obtain and produce testimonies for iUustra- ting and asserting the Divine Majesty ; since, from the few which we have selected and cursorily mentioned, it appears that they are every where so evident and obvious, as easily to be distinguished by the eyes, and pointed out with the fingers. And here it must again be observed, that we are invited to a knowledge of God ; not such as, content with empty specula- tion, merely floats in the brain, but such as will be solid and fruitful, if rightly received and rooted in our hearts. For the Lord is manifested by his perfections : perceiving the influence and enjoying the benefits of which, we must necessarily bo more acutely impressed with such a knowledge, than if we imagined a Deity of whose influence we had no perception. Whence we conclude this to be the right way, and the best method of seeking God ; not with presumptuous curiosity to attempt an exaraination of his essence, which is rather to be adored than too curiously investigated ; but to contemplate him in his works, in which he approaches and famiHarizes, and, in sonie measure, communicates himself to us. To this the Apostle referred, when he said, that he is not to be sought far ort', since, by his attribute of omnipresence, lie dwells in every one of us. (l) Therefore David, having before confessed his greatness inetiable, after he descends to the mention of his works, adds, that he will " declare this greatness." (m) Where- fore it becomes us also to apply ourselves to such an investiga- tion of God, as may fiU our understanding with admiration, and powerfully interest our feehngs. And, as Augustine some- where teaches, being incapable of comprehending him, and fainting, as it were, under his immensity, we must take a view of his works, tliat we may be retreshed with his goodness. (n) X. Now, such a knowledge ought not only to excite us to the worship of God, but likewise to awaken and arouse us to the hope of a future hfe, For when we consider, that the specimens given by the Lord. both of his clemency and of his severity, are only begun, and not completed, we certainly should esteem these as prekides to greater things, of which the manifestation and full exhibition are deferred to another hfe. When we see that pious men are loaded with afliictions by the impious, harassed with injuries, oppressed with cahimnies, and vexed with contumehous and opprobrious treatment ; that the wicked, on the contrary, flourish, prosper, obtain ease and dignity, and all with impunity, — we should immediately con- (?) Acts xvii. 27. (m) Psalm cxlv. 6- («) Aug. in Psal. cxliv. VOL. I. 9 QQ INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK I. clude, that there is another Hfe, to which is reserved the ven- geance diie to iniquity, and the reward of righteousness. Moreover, when we observe the faithful frequently chastised by the Lord's rod, we may conckide, with great certainty, that the impious shall not always escape his vengeance. For that is a wise observation of Augustine — " If open punishment were now inflicted for every sin, it would be supposed that nothing would be reserved till the last judgment. Again, if God now did not openly punish any sin, it would be presumed that there was no divine providence." (o) It must therefore be confessed, that in each cf the works of God, but more especially in the whole considered together, there is a bright exhibition of the divine perfections ; by which the whole human race is invited and alkned to the knowledge of God, and thence to true and complete fekcity. But, though those perfections are most kmiinonsly portrayed around us, we only discover their prin- cipal tendency, their use, and the end of our contemplation of them, when we descend into our own selves, and consider by what means God displays in us his kfe, wisdom, and power, and exercises towards us his righteousness, goodness, and mercy. For, though David justly complains that unbekevers are fools, because they consider not the profound designs of God in the government of mankind, ( jd) yet there is much truth in what he says in another place — that the wonders of Divine Wisdom in this respect exceed in number the hairs of our head. (q) But as this argument must be treated more at large in due course, I at present omit it. XI. But, notwithstanding the clear representations given by God in the mirror of his works, both of himself and of his everlasting dominion, such is our stupidity, that, always in- attentive to these obvious testimonies, we derive no advantage from them. For, with regard to the structure and very beau- tiful organization of the world, how few of us are there, who, when kfting up their eyes to lieaven, or looking round on tlie various regions of the earth, direct their minds to the remem- brance of the Creator, and do not rather content themselves with a view of his works, to the total neglect of their Author ! And with respect to those things that daily happen out of the ordinary course of nature, is it not the general opinion, that men are roHed and whirled about by the bknd temerity of for- tune, rather than governed by the providence of God ? Or if, by the guidance and direction of these things, we are ever driven (as aU men must sometimes be) to the consideration of a God, yet, when we have rashly conceived an idea of some deity, we soon skde into our own carnal dreams, or depraved (o) De Civit. Dei. lib. l, cap. 8. (p) Psalm xcii. 6. (q) Psalm xl. 12. CHAP. V.] CHRISTIAJSr RELIGION. 67 inventions, corrupting by our vanity the purity of divine truth. We differ from one another, in that each individual imbibes some pecuharity of error; but we perfectly agree in a univer- sal departure from the one true God, to preposterous trifles. This disease aflects, not only the vulgar and ignorant, but the most eminent, and those who, in other things, discover peculiar sagacity. How abundantly have all the philosophers, in this respect, betrayed their stupidity and folly ! For, to spare others, chargeable with greater absurdities, Plato himself, the most re- Hgious and judicious of them all, loses himself in his round globe. (r) And what would not befall others, when their prin- cipal men, wliose place it was to enhghten the rest, stumble upon such gross errors ! So also, while the government of human actions proves a providence too plainly to admit of a denial, men derive no more advantage from it, than if they be- lieved all things to be agitated forwards and backwards by the uncertain caprice of fortune ; so great is our propensity to vanity and error ! I speak exclusively of the excelient of man- kind, not of the vulgar, whose madness in the profanation of divine truth has known no bounds. XII. Hence that immense flood of errors, which has deluged the whole world. For every man's understanding is hke a labyrinth to him ; so that it is not to be wondered at, that the diiferent nations were drawn aside into various inventions, and even that ahuost every individual had his own particular deity. For, amidst the union of temerity and wantonness with igno- rance and darkness, scarcely a man could be found who did not frame to himself some idol or phantasm instead of God. Indeed, the immense midtitude of gods proceeding from the mind of man, resembles the ebulUtion of waters from a vast and ample spring, while every one, with an extreme licentious- ness of error, invents one thing or another concerning God himself. It is not necessary here to compose a catalogue of the superstitions which have perplexed the world ; for it would be an endless task ; and, without a word more being said, the horrible bHndness of the liuman mind sutiiciently appears from such a multiplicity of corruptions. I pass over the rude and unlearned vulgar. But among the philosophers, (s) who at- tempted with reason and learning to penetrate heaven, how shameful is the diversity 1 In proportion to the vigour of his natural geniu^, and the polish acquired by art and science, each of them seemed to give the more specious colouring to his own opinion ; but, on a close inspection, you will find them all fading colours. The Stoics said, in their own opinion very (r) Plut. de PhiloBoph. placitis, lib. 1. Plato in Timreo. Cic lib. l,de Natur. Deor. (s) Lactant. Institut. div. 68 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK I. shrewdly, that from all the parts of nature may be collected various nanies of God, but yet that the one God is not therefore divided;(<) as if we were not ah-eady too much inchned to vanity, without being further and more violently seduced into error, by the notion of such a various abundance of gods. The mystical theology of the Egyptians also shows that they all sedulously endeavoured to preserve the appearance of reason in the midst of their folly. (v) And any thing apparently probable might at first sight, perhaps, deceive the simple and incautious ; but there never was any human invention by which rehgion was not basely corrupted. And this confused diversity imboldened the Epicureans, and other gross despisers of piety, to reject aU idea of God. For, seeing the wisest of men contending with each other for contrary opinions, they hesitated not, from their dissensions, and from the frivolous and absurd doctrines maintained by the difierent parties, to infer, that it was vain and fooUsh for mcn to torment them- selves with investigations concerning God, who does not exist. And this they thought they might do with impunity, supposing that a compendious denial of any God at aU would be better than feigning uncertain gods, aud thereby occasioning endless controversies. They reason very ignorantly, or rather en- deavour to conceal their own impiety behind the ignorance of men, which not at aU justifies any encroachment on God. But from the general confession, that there is no subject pro- ductive of so many dissensions among the learned as weU as the unlearned, it is inferred, that the minds of men, which err so much in investigations conceruing God, are extremely bUnd and stupid in celestial mysteries. Others commend tlie an- swer of Simonides, (w) who, beiug asked by Hiero the Tyrant what God was, requested a day to consider it. When the tyrant, the next day, repeated the inquiry, he begged to be aUowed two days longer; and, having often doubled the number of days, at length auswered, " The longer I consider the subject, the more obscure it appears to me." He prudently suspended his opinion on a subject so obscure to him ; yet this shows that mcn, who are taught only by nature, have no cer- tain, sound, or distinct knowledge, but are confined to con- fused principles; so that tliey worship an unknown God. Xni. Now, it must also be maintained, that whoever adul- terates the pure reUgion, (which must necessarily be the case of aU who are influenced by their own imagination,) he is guiUy of a departure from the one God. They wiU profess, indeed, a diflerent intention ; but what they intend, or what (t) Senoca, lib. 4, de bencf., &c. (v) Plutarch. lib. 1, de Isid. & Osirid. Cic. lib. 1, de Nat. Deor. (i«) Cic. lib. de Nat. Deor. CHAP. V.j CHRISTIAN KELIGION. 69 they persuade themselves, is of little importance ; since the Holy Spirit pronounces ali to be apostates, who, in the dark- ness of their minds, substitute demons in the place of God. For this reason Paui declares the Ephesians to liave been " without God " (:r) — tili they liad learned from the gospel the worship of the true God. Nor sliould tiiis be restricted to one nation only, since, in anotlier piace, he asserts of men in general, that they '• became vain in their imaginations," {y) after tiie majesty of the Creator had been discovered to them in the structure of tiie worid. And therefore the Scripture, to maice room for tiie oniy true God, condemns, as faise and lying, vviiatever was formeriy worshippod as divine among the Gentiies, {z) and ieaves no Deity but in Mount Sion, where flourished the pecuiiar linowiedge of God. Indeed, among the Gentiies, the Samaritans, in the days of Christ, seemed to approach very nearly to true piety ; yet we liear, from tiie moutii of Christ, that they " worshipped tiiey l<new not what ; " (a) whence it follows, tiiat tiiey were under a vain and erroneous deiusion. In fine, thougii they were not ali tiie subjects of gross vices, or open idolaters, there was no pure and approved religion, their notions being founded oniy in common sense. For, though there were a few uninfected with the madness of the vulgar, this assertion of Paul remains un- sliaken, that " none of tiie princes of this worid knew tiie wis- dom of God." (6) But if the most exaited have been involved in the darkness of error, what must be said of tiie dregs of tiie peopie ! Wherefore it is not surprising if the Hoiy Spirit re- ject, as spurious, every form of worship which is of iiuman con- trivance ; because, in tiie mysteries of heaven, an opinion ac- quired by iiuman means, tiiougii it may not aiways produce an immense mass of errors, yet aiways produces some. And though no worse consequence foiiow, it is no triviai fauit to worship, at an uncertainty, an unknown god ; of wliich, how- ever, Christ pronounces ail to be guiity who have not been taught by the iaw what god they ought to worship. And indeed the best iegislators have proceeded no further tiian to deciare reiigion to be founded upon common consent. And even Socrates, in Xenophon, (c) praises tiie answer of Apoiio, wliicii directed tiiat every man shouid worsliip the gods ac- cording to the rites of his country, and tiie custom of his own city. But whence had mortals tiiis right of determining, by their own authority, wiiat far exceeds aii the world ? or wiio could so acquiesce in the decrees of tiie ruiers or tlie ordinances of the peopie, as without liesitation to receive a god delivered (z) Ephes. ii. 12. (v) Rom. i. 21. (r) Hab. ii. 18, 20. («) John iv. 22. (b) 1 Cor. ii. 8, (c) Xenoph. de Dicl. et Fact. Socrat. lib. 1. Cic. de Lcgib. lib. 2. 70 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK I. to him by the authority of man ? Every man will rather abide by his own judgment, than be subject to the will of another. Since, then, the following of the custom of a city, or the consent of antiquity, in divine worship, is too weak and frail a bond of piety, it remains for God himself to give a rev- elation concerning himself from heaven, XIV. Vain, therefore, is the light afforded us in the for- mation of the world to ilhistrate the gh^ry of its Author ; which, though its rays be diffused all around us, is insufficient to conduct us into the right way. Some sparks, indeed, are kindled, but smothered before they have emitted any great degree of Hght. Wherefore the Apostle, in the place before cited, says, " By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God ; " [d) thus intimating, that the invisible Deity was represented by such visible objects, yet that we have no eyes to discern him, unless they be iUuminated through faith by an internal revelation of God. Nor does Paul, where he observes, that "that which may be known of God is manifest" (e) in the creation of the world, design such a manifestation as human sagacity may comprehend ; but rather shows, that its utmost extent is to render men inexcusa- ble, The same writer also, though in one place (/) he denies that God is to be traced far otf, seeing he dwells within us, yet teaches, in another place, {g) the consequences of such a proximity. God, says he, " in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways. Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, fiHing our heai-ts with food and gladness." {h) Though the Lord, then, is not destitute of a testimony concerning himself, while with various and most abundant benignity he sweetly aUures mankind to a knowledge of him, yet they persist in follovving tlieir own ways, their pernicious and fatal errors. XV. But whatever deficiency of natural abihty prevents us from attaining the pure and clear knowledge of God, yet, since that deficiency arises from our own fault, we are left without any excuse. Nor indeed can we set up any pretence of ig- norance, that will prevent our own consciences from perpetually accusing us of indolence and ingratitude. Truly it would be a defence worthy to be admitted, if a man should plead that he wanted ears to hear the truth, for the publication of which even the mute creatures are supplied with most melodious voices ; if he should allege that his eyes are not capable of seeing what is demonstrated by the creatures without the help (d) Heb. xi. 3. (e) Rom. i. 10. (/) Rom. i. 20. {g) Acts xvii. 27. (/t) Acts xiv. 16, 17. CHAP. VI.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 71 of the eyes ; if he should plead mental imbecihty, while all the irrational creatures instruct us. VVherefore we are justiy exchided from aU excuse for oiu* uncertain and extravagant deviations, since all thiugs conspire to show us the right way. But, however men are chargeable with sinfuhy corrupting the seeds of divine knowledge, which, by the wonderful operation of nature, are sown in their hearts, so that they produce no good and fair crop, yet it is beyond a doubt, that the simple testimony magnificently borne by the creatures to the glory of God, is very insufiicient for our instruction. For as soon as a survey of the woiid has just sliown us a deity, neglecting the true God, we set up in his stead the dreams and phantasms of our ovvn brains ; and confer on them the praise of righteous- ness, wisdom, goodness, and power, due to him. We either obscure his daily acts, or pervert them by an erroneous esti- mate ; thereby depriving the acts themselves of tlieir glory, and their Author of his deserved praise. CHAPTER VI. THE GUIDANCE AND TEACHING OF THE SCRIPTURE NECESSARY TO LEAD TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD THE CREATOR. Though the hght which prcsents itself to all eyes, both in heaven and in earth, is more than sufficient to deprive the in- gratitude of men of every excuse, since God, in order to involve all mankind in the same guilt, sets before them all, Avithout exception, an exhibition of his raajesty, delineated in the creatures, — yet we need another and bettcr assistance, properly to direct us to the Creator of the world. Therefore he hath not unnecessarily added the light of his word, to make himself known unto salvation, and hath honoured with this privilege those whom he intended to unite in a more close and familiar connection with himself. For, seeing the minds of all men to be agitated with unstable dispositions, vvhen he had chosen the Jews as his peculiar flock, he enclosed them as in a fold, that they might not waiider after the vanities of other nations. And it is not without cause that he preserves us in the pure knowledge of himself by the same means ; for, otherwise, they who seem comparatively to stand firm, would soon fall. For, as persons who are old, or whose eyes are by any means be- come dim, if you show them the most beautiful book, though they perceive something written, but can scarcely read two 72 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK I. words together, yet, by the assistance of spectacles, will be- gin to read distinctly, — so the Scripture, collecting in our minds the otherwise confused notions of Deity, dispels the darkness, and gives us a clear view of the true God. This, then, is a singular favour, that, in the instruction of the Church, God not only uses mute teachers, but even opens his own sa- cred mouth ; not only proclaims that some god ought to be worshipped, but at the same time pronounces himself to be the Being to whom this worship is due ; and not only teaches the elect to raise their view to a Deity, but also exhibits himself as the object of their contemplation. This rnethod he hath observed toward his Church from the beginning ; beside those common lessons of instruction, to alTord them also his word ; which furnishes a more correct and certain criterion to dis- tinguish him from all fictitious deities. And it was undoubt- edly by this assistance that Adam, Noah, Abraham, and the rest of the patriarchs, attained to that faraihar knowledge which distinguished them from unbehevers. I speak not yet of the pecuhar doctrine of faith whicii iUuminated them into the hope of eternal life. For, to pass from death to hfe, they must have known God, not only as the Creator, but also as the Redeemer ; as they certainly obtained both from his word. For that species of knowledge, which related to him as the Creator and Governor of the world, in order, preceded the other. To this was afterwards added the other internal knowledge, which alone vivifies dead souls, and apprehends God, not only as tlie Creator of the world, and as the sole Author and Arbiter of all events, but also as the Redeemer in the person of the Mediator. But, being not yet come to the faU of man and the corruption of nature, I also forbear to treat of the remedy. Let the reader remember, therefore, that I am not yet treating of that covenant by which God adopted the children of Abraham, and of tiiat point of doctrine by which behevers have always been par- ticuiarly separated from the profane nations, since that is founded on Christ ; but am only showing how vve ouglit to learn from the Scripture, that God, who created the world, may be certainly distinguished from the whole muhitude of fictitious deities. The series of subjects wiU, in due tinie, lead us to redemption. But, though we shall adduce many testi- monies from the New Testament, and some also from the Law and the Prophets, in which Christ is expressly mentioned, yet they will all tend to prove, that the Scripture discovers God to us as the Creatorof the world, and declares what sentiments we should form of him, that we may not be seeking after a deity in a labyrinth of uncertainty. II. But, whether God revealed himself to the patriarchs by oracles and visionS; or suggested, by means of the ministry of CHAP. VI.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 73 men, what should be handed down by tradition to their pos- terity, it is beyond a doubt that their minds were impressed with a firm assurance of the doctrine, so that they were per- suaded and convinced that the information they had received came froni God. For God always secured to his word an un- doubted credit, superior to all human opinion. At length, that the truth might remain in the world in a continual course of instruction to all ages, he determined that the same oracles which he liad deposited with the patriarchs should be commit- ted to pubHc records. With this design the Law was promul- gated, to which the Prophets were afterwards annexed, as its interpreters. — For, though the uses of the law were many, as will be better seen in the proper place ; and particularly the intention of Moses, and of all the prophets, was to teach the mode of reconcihation between God and man, (whence also Paul calls Christ " the end of the law,") («) — yet I repeat again, that, beside the pecuhar doctrine of faith and repentance, which proposes Christ as the Mediator, the Scripture distin- guishes the only true God by certain characters and titles, as the Creator and Governor of the world, that he may not be confounded with the multitude of false gods. Therefore, though every man should seriously apply himself to a consid- eration of the works of God, being placed in this very splendid theatre to be a spectator of them, yet he ought principally to attend to the word, that he may attain superior advantages. And, therefore, it is not surprising, that they who are born in darkness grow more and more hardened in their stupidity ; since very few attend to the word of God with teachable dis- positions, to restrain themselves within the hmits which U prescribes, but rather exult in their own vanity. This, then, must be considered as a fixed principle, that, in order to enjoy the hght of true rehgion, we ought to begin with the doctrine of heaven ; and that no man can have the least knowledge of true and sound doctrine, without having been a disciple of the Scripture. Hence originates all true wisdom, when we em- brace with reverence the testimony whieh God hath been pleased therein to deliver concerning himself. For obedience is the source, not only of an absohitely perfect and complete faith, but of all right knowledge of God. And truly in this instance God hath, in his providence, particularly consulted the true interests of mankind in all ages. III. For, if we consider the mutabihty of the human mind, — how easy its lapse into forgetfulness of God ; how great its pro- pensity to errors of every kind ; how violent its rage for the perpetual fabrication of new and false religions, — it will be easy (i) Rom. X. 4. VOL. I. 10 74 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK I. to perceive the necessity of the heavenly doctrine being thus committed to ^vriting, that it might not be lost in obHvion, or evaporate in error, or be corrupted by the presumption of men. Since it is evident, therefore, that God, foreseeing the in- efficacy of his manifestation of himself in the exquisite struc- ture of the world, hath afforded the assistance of his word to all those to whom he determined to make his instructions effectual, — if we seriously aspire to a sincere contemplation of God, it is necessary for us to pursue this right way. We must come, I say, to the word, which contains a just and Hvely de- scription of God as he appears in his works, when those works are estimated, not according to our depraved judgment, but by the rule of eternal trutii. If we deviate from it, as I have just observed, though we run with the utrnost celerity, yet, being out of the course, we shall never reach the goal. For it must be concluded, that the light of the Divine countenance, which even the Apostle says " no man can approach unto," ( /) is hke an inexphcable labyrinth to us, unless we are directed by the hne of the word ; so that it Avere hetter to halt in this way, than to run with the greatest rapidity out of it. Therefore David, inculcating the necessity of the removal of snperstitions out of the world, that pure religion may tiourish, frequently introduces God as " reigning ; " {k) by the word " reigning," intending, not the power which he possesses, and which he exercises in the universal government of nature, but the doc- trine in which he asserts his legitimate sovereignty ; because errors can never be eradicated from the human lieart, till the true knowledge of God is implanted in it. IV. Therefore the same Psalmist, having said, that " the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handy-work ; day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night shovveth knowledge," (Z) afterwards proceeds to the mention of tlie word : " The law of the Lord is perfect, con- verting the soul : the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple : the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing tlie heart : the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes." For, though he also comprehends otlier uses of tlie law, yet he suggests, in general, that, since God's invitation of all nations to him by the view of heaven and earth is ineffec- tual, this is the peculiar school of the children of God. The same is adverted to in the twenty-ninth Psahn, where the Psalmist, having preached the terrors of the Divine voice, which in thunders, in winds, in showers, in whirlwinds, and in tempests, shakes tlie earth, makes tlie mountains tremble, and breaks the cedars, adds, at lengtli, towards the close, " in (j) 1 Tim. vi. 16. (/0 Fs. xciii. xcvi., &c. (/) Ps. xix, 1, &c. CHAP. VII.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION, 75 his temple doth every one speak of his gloiy ; " becaiise iinbe- lievers are deaf to all the voices of God, which resound in the air. So, in another Psalm, after describing the terrible waves of the sea, he conchides thus : " Thy testimonies are very sure : hohness becometh thine house, O Lord, for ever." {711) Hence also proceeds the observation of Christ to the Samaritan wo- man, that her nation and all others worshipped they knew not what ; and that the Jews were the only worshippers of the true God. [n) For, since the human mind is unable, through its imbecihty, to attain any knowledge of God without the as- sistance of his sacred word, all mankind, except the Jews, as they sought God without the word, must necessarily have been wandering in vanity and error. CHAPTER Vn. THE TESTIMONY OF THE SPIRIT NECESSARY TO CONFIRM THE SCRIP- TURE, IN ORDER TO THE COMPLETE ESTABLISHMENT OF ITS AU- THORITY. THE SUSPENSION OF ITS AUTHORITY ON THE JUDG- MENT OF THE CHURCH, AN IMPIOUS FICTION. Before I proceed any further, it is proper to introduce some remarks on the authority of the Scripture, not only to prepare the mitid to regard it with due reverence, but also to remove every doubt. For, when it is admitted to be a declaration of the word of God, no man can be so deplorably presumptuous, unless he be also destitute of common sense and of the com- mon feelings of men, as to dare to derogate from the credit due to the speaker. But since we are not favoured with daily oracles from heaven, and since it is only in the Scriptures that the Lord hath been pleased to preserve his truth in perpetual remembrance, it obtains the same complete credit and au- thority with behevers, when they are satisfied of its divine origin, as if they heard the very words pronounced by God himself. The subject, indeed, merits a diffuse discussion, and a most accurate examination. But the reader will pardon me, if I attend rather to what the design of this work admits, than to what the extensive nature of the present subject requires. But there has very generally prevailed a most pernicious error, that the Scriptures have only so much weight as is conceded to them by the suffrages of the Church ; as though the eternal (m) Ps. xciii. 5. (w) John iv. 22. 76 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK I. and iiiviolable truth of God depended on the arbitrary will of men. For thus, with great contempt of the Holy Spirit, they inquire, Who can assure us that God is the author of them ? Who can with certainty affirm, that they have been preserved safe and uncorrupted to the present age ? Who can persuade us that this book ought to be received with reverence, and that expunged from the sacred number, unless all these things were regulated by the decisions of the Ciiurch ? It depends, therefore, (say they,) on the determination of the Cliurch, to decide both what reverence is due to the Scripture, and what books are to be comprised in its canon. Thus sacrilegious men, while they wish to introduce an unlimited tyranny, under the name of the Church, are totally unconcerned with what absurdities they embarrass themselves and others, pro- vided they can extort from the ignorant this one admission, that the Church can do every thiiig. But, if this be true, what will be the condition of those wretched consciences, which are seeking a sohd assurance of eternal hfe, if all the promises extant concerning it rest only on the judgment of men ? Will the reception of such an answer cause their fluctuations to subside, and their terrors to vanish ? Again, how will the impious ridicule our faith, and all men call it in question, if it be understood to possess only a precarious au- thority depending on the favour of men ! II. But such cavillers are completely refuted even by one word of the Apostle. He testifies that the church is " built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets." (o) If the doctrine of the prophets and apostles be the foundation of the Church, it must have been certain, antecedently to the exist- ence of the Church. Nor is there any foundation for this cavil, that though the Church derive its origin from the Scri{> tures, yet it remains doubtful what writings are to be ascribed to the prophets and apostles, unless it be determined by the Church. For if the Christian Church has been from the be- ginning founded on the writings of the prophets and the preaching of the apostles, wherever tliat doctrine is found, the approbation of it has certainly preceded the formation of the Church ; since without it the Church itself had never existed. It is a very false notion, therefore, that the power of judging of the Scripture belongs to the Church, so as to make the cer- tainty of it dependent on the Churcii's will. Wherefore, wlieii the Church receives it, and seals it with her suftrage, slie does not authenticate a thing otherwise dubious or controvertible ; but, knowing it to be the truth of lier God, performs a duty of piety, by treating it witli immediate veneration. But, with regard to the questioii, How shall we be persuaded of its divine (o) Eph. ii. 20. CHAP. VII.] CHRISTIAN RRLIGION. 77 original, nnless \ve have recourse to the decree of the Church ? this is just as if any one should inquire, How shall we learn to distinguish hght froni darkness, white from black, sweet from bitter ? For the Scripture exhibits as clear evidence of its truth, as white and black things do of their colour, or sweet and bitter things of their taste. III. I know, indeed, that they commonly cite the opinion of Augustine, where he says, " that he would not beUeve the Gospel unless he were influenced by the authority of the Church."(p) But how falsely and unfairly this is cited in support of such a notion, it is easy to discover from the con- text. He was in that contending with the Manichees, who wished to be credited, without any controversy, wlien they affirmed the truth to be on their side, but never proved it. Now, as they made the authority of the Gospel a pretext in order to estabhsh the credit of their Manichffius, he inquires what they would do if they met with a man who did not be- heve the Gospel ; with what kind of persuasion they would convert him to their opinion. He afterwards adds, " Indeed, I would not give credit to the Gospel," &c., intending, that he himself, when an ahen from the faith, could not be prevailed on to embrace the Gospel as the certain truth of God, till he was convinced by the authority of the Church. And is it sur- prising that any one, yet destitute of the knowledge of Christ, should pay a respect to men ? Augustine, therefore, does not there maintain that the faith of the pious is founded on the authority of the Church, nor does he mean that the certainty of the Gospel depends on it ; but simply, that unbehevers would have no assurance of the trutli of the Gospel, that would win them to Christ, unless they were influenced by the consent of tlie Church. And a httle before, he clearly con- firms it in these words : " When I shall have commended my own creed, and derided yours, what judgment, think you, ought we to form, what conduct ought we to pursue, but to forsake those who invite us to acknowledge things that are certain, and afterwards command us to beheve things that are uncertain ; and to follow those who invite us first to beheve what we cannot yet clearly see, that, being strengthened by faith, we may acquire an understanding of what we believe ; our mind being now internahy strengthened and illuminated, not by men, but by God himself ? " These are the express words of Augustine ; whence the inference is obvious to every one, that this holy man did not design to suspend our faith in the Scriptures on the arbitrary decision of the Church, but only to show (what we all confess to be true) that they who (/>) Contr. Epist. Fundam. cap. 5. 78 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK 1, are yet nnillumiaated by the Spirit of God, are, by a reverence fo-r the Chnrch, bronght to snch a docility as to submit to learn the faith of Christ from the Gospel ; and that thus the au- thority of the Chnrch is an introduction to prepare us for the faith of the Gospel. For we see that he will have the cer- tainty of the pious to rest on a very different foundation. Otherwise I do not deny his freqnently nrging on the Man- ichees the nniversal consent of the Churcli, with a view to prove the truth of the Scripture, which they rejected. Whence his rebuke of Faustus, " for not submitting to the truth of the Gospel, so founded, so established, so gloriously celebrated, and delivered through certain successions from the apostoHc age." But he nowhere insinuates tliat the anthority which we attribute to the Scriptnre depends on the definitions or de- crees of men : he only produces the universal judgment of the Chnrch, which was very nseful to his argument, and gave him an advantage over his adversaries. If any one desire a fuller proof of this, let him read his treatise " Of the Advantage of Believing ; " where he will find, that he recommends no other facility of beheving, than such as may afford us an introduc- tion, and be a proper beginning of inquiry, as he expresses hiraself ; yet that we should not be satisfied with mere opin- ion, but rest upon certain and solid trnth. IV. It must be maintained, as I have before asserted, that we are not established in the belief of the doctrine till we are indubitably persuaded that God is its Autlior. The principal proof, therefore, of the Scriptures is every where derived from the character of the Divine Speaker. The prophets and apos- tles boast not of their own genius, or any of those talents which conciliate the faith of the hearers ; nor do they insist on arguments from reason ; but bring forward the sacred name of God, to compel the submission of the whole world. We nnist now see how it appears, not from probable supposition, but from clear demonstration, that this use of the divine name is neither rash nor fallacious. Now, if we wish to consult the true interest of our consciences ; that they may not be unstable and wavering, the subjects of perpetual doubt ; that they may not hesitate at the smallest scruples, — this persuasion must be sought from a higher source than human reasons, or judg- ments, or conjectures — even from the secret testimony of the Spirit. It is true that, if we were inclined to argne the point, many things might be adduced which certainly evince, if there be any God in heaven, that he is the Author of the Law, and the Prophecies, and the Gospel. Even though men of learn- ing and deep judgment rise up in opposition, and exert and display all the powers of their minds in this dispute, yet, un- less they are wholly lost to all sense of shame, this confession CHAP. VII.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 79 will be extorted from them, that the Scripture exhibits the plainest evidences that it is God who speaks in it, which manifests its doctrine to be divine. And we shall soon see, that all the books of the sacred Scripture very far excel all other writings. If we read it with pure eyes and sound minds, we shall immediately perceive the majesty of God, which will subdue our audacious contradictions, and compel us to obey him. Yet it is acting a preposterous part, to endeavour to produce sound faith in the Scripture by disputations. Though, indeed, I am far from excelhng in pecuhar dexterity or elo- quence, yet, if I were to contend with the most subtle de- spisers of God, who are ambitious to display their wit and their skill in weakening the authority of Scripture, I trust I siiouid be able, without difficulty, to silence their obstreper- ous clamour. And, if it were of any use to attempt a refutation of their cavils, 1 would easily demohsh the boasts which they mutter in secret corners. But though any one vindicates the sacred word of God from the aspersions of men, yet this will not lix in their hearts that assurance which is essential to true piety. Religion appearing, to profane men, to consist wholly in opinion, in order that they may not believe any thing on foolish or slight grounds, they wish and expect it to be proved by rational arguments, that Moses and the prophets sjxike by divine inspiration. But I reply, that the testimony of the S[pirit is superior to all reason. For, as God alone is a suf- ficient witness of himself in his own word, so also the word will never gain credit in the hearts of men, till it be confirmed by the internal testimony of tlie Spirit. It is necessary, there- fore, that the same Spirit, who spake by the mouths of the prophets, should px^netrate into our hearts, to convince us that they faithfully delivered the oracles which were divinely in- trusted to them. And this connection is very suitably ex- pressed in these words : " My Spirit that is upon thee, and my word which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, for ever." {q) Some good men are troubled that they are not ahvays prepared with clear proof to oppose the impious, when they murmur with iinpunity against the divine word ; as though the Spirit were not therefore denominated a " seal," and " an earnest," for the confirmation of the faith of the pious ; because, till he illuminate their minds, they are perpetually fluctuating amidst a multitude of doubts. V. Let it be considered, then, as an undeniable truth, that they who have been inwardly taught by the Spirit, feel an ('/) Isaiali lix. 21. 80 INSTITUTES OF TIIE [bOOK I. entire acquiescence in thc Scripture, and that it is self-authen- ticated, carrying with it its own evidence, and ought not to be made the subject of demonstration and arguments from reason ; but it obtains the credit which it deserves with us by the tes- timony of the Spirit. For though it concihate our reverence by its internal majesty, it never seriously affects us till it is confirmed by the Spirit in our hearts. Therefore, being il- luminated by him, we now beheve the divine original of the Scripture, not from our own judgment or that of others, but we esteem the certainty, that we have received it from God's own mouth by the ministry of men, to be superior to that of any human judgment, and equal to that of an intuitive percep- tion of God himself in it. We seek not arguments or proba- bilities to support our judgment, but submit our judgments and understandings as to a thing concerning which it is impossible for us to judge ; and that not hke some persons, who are iii the habit of hastily embracing what they do not understand, which displeases them as soon as they examine it, but because we feel the firmest conviction that we hold an invincible truth ; nor like those unhappy men who surrender their minds cap- tives to sLiperstitions, but because we perceive in it the un- doubted energies of the Divine power, by which we are at- tracted and inflamed to an understanding and vokmtary obedience, but with a vigour and efficacy superior to the power of any human will or knowledge. With the greatest jnstice, therefore, God exclaims by Isaiah, (r) that the prophets and all the people were his witnesses ; because, being taught by prophecies, they were certain that God had spoken without the least fallacy or ambiguity. It is such a persuasion, there- fore, as requires no reasons ; such a knowledge as is supported by the highest reason, in which, indeed, the mind rests with greater security and constancy than in any reasons ; it is, finally, snch a scntinient as cannot be produced but by a revelation from heaven. I speak of nothing but Avhat every behever experiences in his heart, except that my language falls far short of a just exphcation of the subject. I pass over many things at present, because this subject will present itself for discussion again in another place. Only let it be known here, that that alone is true faith which the Spirit of God seals in our hearts. And with this one reason every reader of modesty and docihty will be satisfied : Isaiah predicts that " all the children " of the renovated Church " shall be taught of God." (s) Herein God deigns to confer a singular privilege on his elect, whom he distinguishes from the rest of mankind. For what is the beginning of true learning but a prompt alac- (r) Isaiah xliii. 10. (s) Isaiah liv. 13. CHAP. VIII.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 81 rity to hear the voice of God ? By the mouth of Moses he demands our attention in these terms : " Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven ? or, Who shali descend into the deep ? The word is even in thy mouth." {t) If God hath determined that this treasury of wisdom shall be reserved for his children, it is neither surprising nor absurd, that we see so much ignorance and stupidity among tiie vulgar herd of mankind. By this appellation I designate even those of the greatest talents and highest rank, till they are incorporated into the Church. Moreover, Isaiah, observing that the pro- phetical doctrine would be incredible, not only to aUens, but also to the Jews, who wished to be esteemed members of the family, adds, at the same time, the reason — Because the arm of the Lord will not be revealed to all. {v) Whenever, therefore, we are disturbed at the paucity of believers, let us, on the other hand, remember that none, but those to whom it was given, have any apprehension of the mysteries of God. CHAPTER VIII. RATIONAL PROOFS TO ESTABLISH THE BELIEF OF THE SCRIPTURE. WiTHOUT this certainty, better and stronger than any human judgment, in vain will the authority of the Scripture be either defended by arguments, or estabhslied by the consent of the Church, or confirmed by any other supports ; since, unless the foundation be laid, it remains in perpetual suspense. Whilst, on the contrary, when, regarding it in a different point of view from common things, we have once rehgiously received it in a manner worthy of its excellence, we shall then derive great assistance from things wliicli before were not sufficient to es- tabhsh the certainty of it in our minds. For it is admirable to observe how much it conduces to our confirmation, atten- tively to study the order and disposition of the Divine Wisdom dispensed in it, the heavenly nature of its doctrine, which never savours of any thing terrestrial, the beautiful agreement of all the parts with each other, and other similar characters adapted to concihate respect to any writings. But our hearts are more strongly confirmed, when we reflect that we are constrained to admire it more by the dignity of the subjects than by the beauties of the language. For even this did not happen with- out the particular providence of God, that the subhme mys- {t) Deut. XXX. Rom. x. {v) Isaiah liii. 1. VOL. I. 11 82 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK I. teries of the kingdom of heaven should be communicated, for the most part, iu a humble aud contemptible style ; lest, if they had been iUustrated with more of the splendour of eloquence, the impious might cavil that their triumph is only the triumph of eloquence. Now, since that uncuUivated and ahnost rude simplicity procures itself more reverence than all the graces of rhetoric, what opinion can we form, but that the force of truth in the sacred Scripture is too powerful to need the as- sistance of verbal art ? Justly, therefore, does the apostle argue that the faith of the Corinthians was founded, " not in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God," because his preaching among them was, " not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power." (x) For the truth is vindicated from every doubt, when, unassisted by foreign aid, it is sufficient for its own support. But that this is the pecuhar property of the Scripture, appears from the insufficiency of any human compositions, however artificially poHshed, to make an equal impression on our minds. Read Demosthenes or Cicero ; read Plato, Aris- totle, or any others of that class ; I grant that you will be at- tracted, dehghted, moved, and enraptured by them in a sur- prising manner ; but if, after reading them, you turn to the perusal of the sacred volume, whether you are wiUing or un- wiUing, it wiU affect you so powerfuUy, it wiU so penetrate your heart, and impress itself so strongly on your mind, that, compared with its energetic infiuence, the beauties of rhetori- cians and philosophers will almost entirely disappear ; so that it is easy to perceive something divine in the sacred Scriptures, which far surpasses the highest attainments and ornaraents of human industry. II. I grant, indeed, that the diction of some of the prophets is neat and elegant, and even spleridid ; so tliat they are not inferior in eloquence to the heathen writers. And by such examples the Holy Spirit hath been pleased to show, that he was not deficient in eloquence, though elsewhere he hath used a rude and homely style. But whether we read David, Isaiah, and others that resemble them, who have a sweet and pleasant flow of words, or Amos the herdsman, Jeremiah, and Zecha- riah, whose rougher language savours of rusticity, — that majesty of the Spirit, which I have mentioned, is every where con- spicuous. I am not ignorant that Satan in many things im- itates God, in order that, by the faUacious resemblance, he may more easily insinuate himself into the minds of the sim- ple ; and has therefore craftily disseminated, in unpoUshed and even barbarous language, the most impious errors, by which (7-:) 1 Cor. ii. 4. CHAP. VIII.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 83 multitudes have been miserably deceived, and has often used obsolete forms of speech as a mask to conceal his impostures. But the vanity and fraud of such affectation are visible to all men of moderate understanding. With respect to the sacred Scripture, though presumptuous men try to cavil at various passages, yet it is evidently replcte with sentences vvhich are beyond the powers of human conception. Let all the prophets be examined ; not one will be found, who has not far surpassed the ability of men ; so that those to whom their doctrine is insipid must be accounted utterly destitute of all true taste. III. This argument has been copiously treated by other writers ; wherefore it may suffice at present merely to hint at a few things which chiefly relate to the subject in a general view. Beside what I have already treated on, the antiquity of the Scripture is of no small weight. For, notwithstanding the fabulous accounts of the Greek writers concerning the Egyptian theology, yet there remains no monument of any rehgion, but what is much lower than the age of Moses. Nor does Moses invent a new deity ; he only makes a declaration of what the Israehtes had, through a long series of years, re- ceived by tradition from their forefathers concerning the eternal God. For what does he aim at, but to recall them to the covenant made with Abraham ? If he had advanced a thing till then unheard of, it would not have been received ; but their hberation from the servitude in which they Avere detained must have been a thing well known to them all ; so that the mention of it immediatel^/' excited universal attention. It is probable also that they had been informed of the number of four huudred years. Now, \ve must consider, if Moses (who himself preceded all other writers by such a long distance of time) derives the tradition of his doctrine from so remote a beginning, how much the sacred Scripture exceeds in antiquity all other books. IV. Unless any would choosc to credit the Egyptians, who extend their antiquity to six thousand years before the creation of Ihe world. But since their garruhty has been ridiculed even by all the profane writers, I need not trouble myself with refuting it. Josephus, in his book against Appion, cites from the most ancient writers testimonies worthy of being re- membered ; whence we may gather, that the doctrine contained in the law has, according to the consent of all nations, been renowncd from the remotest ages, ahhough it was neitlier read nor truly understood. Now, that the mahcious might have no room for suspicion, nor even the wicked any pretence for cavilhng, God hath provided the most excellent remedies for both these dangers. When Moses relates what Jacob had, almost three hundred years before, by the spirit of inspiration 84 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK I. pronounced concerning his posterity, how does he disgrace his ovvn tribe ! He even brands it, in the person of Levi, with perpetual infamy. " Simeon," says he, "and Levi, instru- ments of cruehy are in their habitations. O my soul, come not thou into their secret : unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united." [y) He certainly might have been silent on that disgraceful circumstance, not only to spare his father, but also to avoid aspersing himself, as well as all his family, with part of the same ignominy. How can any suspicion be entertained of him, who, vohmtarily pubhshing, from the in- spiration of the Holy Spirit, that the first of the family from "which he was descended was guilty of detestable conduct, neither consuhs his own personal honours, nor refuses to incur the resentment of his relations, to whom this must undoubtedly have given offence ? When he mentions also the impious murmurings of Aaron, his brother, and Miriam, his sister, {z) shall we say that he spake according to the dictates of the flesh, or obeyed the command of the Holy Spirit ? Besides, as he eujoyed the supreme authority, why did he not leave to his own sons, at least, the office of the high-priesthood, but place them in the lowest station ? I only hint at a few things out of many. But in the law itself many arguments will every where occur, which challenge a full behef, that, without controversy, the legation of Moses was truly divine. V. Moreover, the miracles which he relates, and which are so numerous and remarkable, are so many confirmations of the law which he dehvered, and of the doctrine which he pub- hshed. For that he was carried up into the mountain in a cloud ; that he continued there forty days, deprived of all hu- man intercourse ; that, in the act of proclaiming the law, his face shone as with the rays of the sun ; that hghtnings flashed aU around ; that thunders and various noises were heard through the whole atmosphere ; that a trumpet sounded, but a trumpet not blown by human breath ; that the entrance of the tabernacle was concealed from the view of the people by an intervening cloud ; that his authority was so miraculously ^vindicated by the horrible destruction of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and aU their impious faction ; that a rock smitten with a rod immediately emittcd a river ; that manna rained from heaven at his request ; (a) — are not aUtheseso many tes- timonies from heaven of his being a true prophet ? If any one object that I assume, as granted, things which are the subjects of controversy, this cavil is easily answered. For, as Moses pubhshed aU these things in an assembly of the people, what room was there for fiction among those who had been eye- {])) Gen. xlix. 5. (2) Num. xii. 1. (a) Exod. xxiv. 18 ; xxxiv. 29 ; xlx. 16 ; xl. 34. Num. xvi. 24, &-c. ; xx. 11 ; xi. 9. CHAP. VIIT.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 85 witnesses of the events ? Is it probable that he would make his appearance in public, and, accusing the people of infideUty, contumacy, ingratitude, and other crimes, boast that his doc- trine had been confirmed in their sight by miracles which they had never seen ? VI. For this also is worthy of being remarked, that all his accounts of miracles are connecled with such unpleasant cir- cumstances, as were calculated to stimulate all the people, if there had been but the smallest occasion, to a pubhc and pos- itive contradiction ; whence it appears, that they were induced to coincide with him only by the ample conviction of their own experience. But since the matter was too evident for profane writers to take the hberty of denying the performance of miracles by Moses, the father of hes has suggested the cahimny of ascribing them to magical arts. But by what kind of conjecture can they pretend to charge him with having been a magician, who had so great an abhorrence of that su- perstition, as to command, that he who merely consuUed magicians and soothsayers should be stoned ? (6) Certainly no impostor practises such jugghng tricks, who does not make it his study, for the sake of acquiring fame, to astonish the minds of the vulgar. But what is the practice of Moses ? Openly avowing that himself and his brother Aaron are noth- ing, (c) but that they only execute the commands of God, he sutficiently clears his character from every unfavourable as- persion. Now, if the events themselves be considered, what incantation could cause manna to rain daily from heaven suf- ficient to support the people, and, if any one laid up more than the proper quantity, cause it to putrefy, as a punishment from God for his unbeUef ? Add also the many serious ex- aminations which God permitted his servant to undergo, so that the clamour of the wicked can now be of no avail. For as often as this holy servant of God was in danger of being destroyed, at one time by proud and petulant insurrections of all the people, at another by the secret conspiracies of a few, — how was it possible for him to ehide their inveterate rage by any arts of deception ? And the event evidently proves, that by these circumstances his doctrine was confirmed to all suc- ceeding ages. VII. Moreover, who can deny that his assigning, in the person of the patriarch Jacob, the supreme power to the tribe of Judah, proceeded from a spirit of prophecy, (d) especiaUy if we consider the eventual accompUshment of this prediction ? Suppose Moses to have been the first author of it ; yet after he committed it to writing, there elapsed four hundred years (h) Lev. XX 6. (c) Exod. xvi. 7. (d) Gen. xlix. 10. 86 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK I. in which we have iio mention of the sceptre in the tribe of Judah. After the inauguration of Saul, the regal power seemed to be fixed in the tribe of Benjamin. When Samuel anointed David, what reason appeared for transferring it ? Who would have expected a king to arise out of the plebeian family of a herdsman ? And of seven brothers, who would have conjectured that such an honour was destined for the youngest ? And by what means did he attain a hope of the kingdom? Who can assert that this unction was directed by human art, or industry, or prudence, and was not rather a completion of the prediction of heaven ? And in like manner do not his predictions, although obscure, concerning the ad- mission of the Gentiles into the covenant of God, which were accompHshed ahnost two thousand years after, clearly prove him to have spoken under a divine inspiration ? I omit other predictions, which so strongly savour of a divine inspiration, that all who have the use of their rcason must perceive that it is God who speaks. In short, one song of his is a clear mirror in which God evidently appears. (<?) YIII. But in the other prophets this is yet far more con- spicuous. I shall only select a few examples ; for to collect all would be too laborious. When, in the time of Isaiah, the kingdom of Judah was in peace, and even when they thought themselves safe in the alUance of the Chaldeans, Isaiah pub- hcly spake of the destruction of the city and the banishment of the people. (/) Now, even if to predict long before things which then seemed false, but have since appeared to be true, were not a sufficiently clear proof of a divine inspiration, to whom but God shall we ascribe the prophecies which he ut- tered concerning their deliverance ? He mentions the name of Cyrus, by whom the Chaldeans were to be subdued, and the people restored to hberty. (g-) More than a century elapsed after this prophecy before the birth of Cyrus ; for he was not born till about the hundredth year after the proph- et's death. No man could then divine, that there would be one Cyrus, who would engage in a war with the Babylonians, who would subjugate such a powerful monarchy, and release the people of Israel from exile. Does not this bare narration, without any ornaments of diction, plainly demonstrate that Isaiah dehvered the undoubted oracles of God, and not the conjectures of men ? Again, when Jeremiah, just before the people were carried away, hmited the duration of their cap- tivity to seventy years, and predicted their hberation and return, must not his tongue liave been under the direction of the Spirit of God ? (A) Wliat impudence must it be to deny (f) Dcut. xxxii. (ff) Isaiah xlv. 1. (/) Isaiah xxxix. 6. («) Jer. xxv. 11, 12. CHAP. VIII.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 87 that the authority of the prophets has been confirmed by such proofs, or that what they themselves assert, in order to vin- dicate the credit due to their declarations, has been actually fulfiUed! " Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new tliings do I declare : before they spring fortli, I tell you of them." (i) I shall not speak of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, who, living in distant countries, but prophesying at the same time, so exactly accord in their declarations, as though they had mutually dictated the words to each other. What shall we say of Daniel ? Has not he prophesied of the events of nearly six hundred years in such a connected series, as if he were composing a history of transactions aheady past and universally known ? If pious men properly consider these things, they will be sufficiently prepared to curb the petulance of the wicked ; for the demonstration is too clear to be liable to any cavils. IX. I know wliat is objected by some clamorous men, who would ostentatiously display the force of their understanding in opposing divine truth. For they inquire, Who has assured us that Moses and the prophets actually wrote those books which bear their names ? They even dare to question whether such a man as Moses ever existed. But if any man should call in question the existence of Plato, or Aristotle, or Cicero, who would deny that such madness ought to receive corporal pun- ishment ? The law of Moses has been wonderfully preserved, rather by the providence of heaven than by the endeavours of men. And though, through the negligence of the priests, it lay for a short time concealed, since it was found by the pious king Josiah, it has continued in the hands of men through every succeeding age. (k) Nor, indeed, did Josiah produce it as a thing unknown or new, but as what had always been public, and the memory of which was then famous. The protograph had been appointed to be kept in the temple, and a transcript of it to be deposited in the royal archives ; (l) only the priests had discontinued their ancient custom of publishing the law, and the people themselves had neglected their wonted reading of it : yet there scarcely passed an age in which its sanction was not confirmed and renewed. Were they, who had the writings of David, ignorant of Moses? But, to speak of all at once, it is certain, that their writings descended to posterity only from hand to hand, (so to speak,) through a long series of years trans- mitted from the fathers, Avho partly had heard them speak, and partly learned from others who heard them, while it was fresh in their memory, that they had thus spoken. X. With regard to what they object from the history of the (0 Isaiah xlii. 9. (k) 2 Kings xxii. 8. (/) Deut. xvii. 18, 88 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK I, Maccabees, to diminish the credit of the Scripture, nothing could be conceived more adapted to establish it. But lirst let us divest it of their artificial colouring, and then retort upon them the weapon which they direct against us. When Antiochus, say they, commanded all the books to be burned, whence pro- ceeded the copies which we now have ? I, on the contrary, inquire, where they could so speedily be fabricated. For it is evident, that, as soon as the persecution subsided, they immediately appeared, and were, without controversy, acknowledged as the same by all pious men ; who, having been educated in their doctrine, had been famiharly ac- quainted with them. Nay, even when all the impious, as if by a general conspiracy, so wantonly insuUed the Jews, no man ever dared to charge them with forging their books. For, whatever be their opinion of the Jewish religion, yet they confess that Moses was the author of it. What, then, do these clamorous objectors, but betray their own consummate impudence, when they slander, as supposititious, books whose sacred antiquity is confirmed by the consent of all histories? But, to waste no more useless labour in refuting such stale cal- umnies, let us rather consider how carefully the Lord preserved his own word, when, beyond all hope, he rescued it from the fury of the most cruel of tyrants, as from a devouring fire ; — that he endued the pious priests and others with so much con- stancy, that they hesitated not to redeem this treasure, if ne- cessary, with their Hves, to transmit it to posterity ; and that he frustrated the most clihgent inquisition of so many governors and soldiers. Who is there but must acknowledge it to have been an eminent and wonderful work of God, that those sacred monuments, which the impious had flattered themselves were utterly destroyed, were soon pubHc again, as it were, fully re- stored to mankind, and, indeed, vvith far greater honour ? For soon after followed the Greek Translation, which published them throughout the world. Nor was God's preserving the tables of his covenant from the sanguinary edicts of Antiochus, the only instance of his wonderful operation, but that, amidst such various miseries, with which the Jewish nation was di- minished and laid waste, and at last nearly exterminated, these records still remained entire. The Hebrew language lay not only despised, but ahnost unknown ; and surely, had not God consuUed the interest of religion, it had been totally lost. For how much the Jews, after their return from captivity, departed from the genuine use of their native language, appears from the prophets of that age ; which it is therefore useful to observe, because this comparison more clearly evinces the antiquity of the law and the prophets. And by whom hath God preserved to us the doctrine of salvation contained in the law and the CHAP. VIII. J CIIRISTIAN RELIGION. 89 prophets, that Christ might be manifested in due time ? By his most inveterate enemies, the Jews ; whom Augustine therefore justly denorainates the librarians of the Christian Church, be- cause they have furnished us with a book of which themselves make no use. XI. If we proceed to the New Testament, by what solid foundations is its truth supported ? Three Evangelists recite their history in a low and mean style. Many proud men are disgusted with that simplicity, because they attend not to the principal points of doctrine ; wlience it were easy to infer, that they treat of heavenly mysteries which are above human ca- pacity. Tliey who have a spark of ingenuous modesty will certainly be ashamed, if they peruse the first chapter of Luke. Now, the discourses of Christ, a concise summary of which is comprised in these three EvangeKsts, easily exempt their wri- tings from contempt. But John, thundering from his sublimity, more powerfuUy than any thunderbolt, levels to the dust the obstinacy of those whom he does not compel to the obedience of faith. Let all those censorious critics whose supreme plea- sure consists in banishing all reverence for the Scripture out of their own hearts and the hearts of others, come forth to pub- lic view. Let them read tlie Gospel of John : whether they wish it or not, they will there find numerous passages, which, at least, arouse their iiidolence ; and which will even imprint a horrible brand on their consciences to restrain their ridicule. Similar is the method of Paul and of Peter, in whose writings, though the greater part be bJind, yet their heavenly majesty attracts universal attention. But this one circumstance raises their doctrine sufliciently above the world, that Matthew, who had before been confined to the profit of his table, and Peter and John, who had been employed in fishing-boats, — all plain, unlettered men, — had learned nothing in any human school which they could communicate to others. And Paul, from not only a professed, but a cruel and sanguinary enemy, being converted to a new man, proves, by his sudden and unhoped for change, that he was constrained, by a command from heaven, to vindicate that doctrine which he had before opposed. Let these men deny that the Holy Spirit descended on the Apos- tles ; or, at least, let them dispute the credibility of the history ; yet the fact itself loudly proclaims, that they were taught by the Spirit, who, though before despised as some of the meanest of the people, suddenly began to discourse in such a magnifi- cent manner on the mysteries of heaven. XII. Besides, there are also other very substantial reasons why the consent of the Church should have its weight. For it is not an unimportant consideration, that, since the publication of the Scripture, so many generations of men should have VOL. I. 12 90 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK I. agreed in voluntarily obeying it ; and tliat hovvever Satan, to- gether with the whole world, has endeavoured by strange methods to suppress or destroy it, or utterly to erase and obht- erate it from the memory of man, yet it has always, hke a palm- tree, risen superior to ah opposition, and remained invincible. Indeed, there has scarcely ever been a sophist or orator of more than common abihties, who has not tried his strength in opposing it ; yet they have aU availed nothing. AU the powers of the earth have armed themselves for its destruction ; but their at- tempts have aU evaporated into smoke. How could it have so firmly resisted attacks on every quarter, if it had been supported only by human power ? Indeed, an additional proof of its Di- vine origin arises from this very circumstance, that, notwith- standing aU the strenuous resistance of men, it has, by its own power, risen superior to every danger. Moreover, not one city, or one nation, only, has conspired to receive and embrace it ; but, as far as the world extends, it has obtained its authority by the holy consent of various nations, who agreed in nothing besides. And as such an agreement of minds, so widely dis- tant in place, and so completely dissimilar in manners and opinions, ought to have great inlluence with us, since it is plain that it was eflected only by the power of heaven, so it acquires no smaU weight from a consideration of the piety of those who unite in this agreement ; not indeed of all, but of those, who, it hath pleased the Lord, should shine as hmiinaries in his Church. XIII. Now, with what unhmited confidence should we sub- mit to that doctrine, which we see confirmed and witnessed by the blood of so many saints ! Having once received it, they hesitated not, with intrepid boldness, and even with great alacrity, to die in its defence : transnhtted to us with such a pledge, how should we not receive it with a firni and unshaken conviction? Is it therefore no smaU confirmation of the Scrip- ture, that it has been sealed with the blood of so many martyrs? especiaUy when we consider that they died to bear testimony to their faith, not through intemperate fanaticism, as is sometimes the case with men of erroneous minds, but through a firm and constant, yet sober zeal for God. There are other reasons, and those neither few nor weak, by which the native dignity and authority of the Scripture are not only maintained in the minds of the pious, but also completely vindicated against the subtleties of cahminiators ; but such as alone are not sufficient to produce firm faith in it, tUl the heavenly Father, discovering his own power therein, places its authority beyond aU controversy. Wherefore the Scripture wiU then only be elfectual to produce the saving knowledge of God, when the certainty of it shaU be founded on the internal persuasion of the Holy Spirit. Thus CHAP. IX.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 91 those human testimonies, which contribute to its confirmation, will not be useless, if they foUow that first and principal proof, as secondary aids to our imbecility. But those persons betray great folly, who wish it to be demonstrated to infidels that the Scripture is the word of God, which cannot be known without faith. Augustine therefore justly observes, (m) that piety and peace of mind ought to precede, in order that a man may un- derstand somewhat of such great subjects. CHAPTER IX. THE FANATICISM WHICH DISCARDS THE SCRIPTURE, UNDER THE PRETENCE OF RESORTING TO IMMEDIATE REVELATIONS, SUBVER- SIVE OF EVERY PRINCIPLE OF PIETY. Persons who, abandoning the Scripture, imagine to them- selves some other way of approaching to God, must be con- sidered as not so much misled by error as actuated by fren- zy. For there have lately arisen some unsteady men, who, haughtily pretending to be taught by the Spirit, reject all reading themselves, and deride the simpHcity of those who still attend to (what they style) the dead and kilhng letter. But I would ask them, what spirit that is, by whose inspiration they are elevated to such a subUmity, as to dare to despise the doctrine of the Scriptnre, as pnerile and mean. For, if they answer that it is the Spirit of Christ, how ridiculous is such an assurance ! for that the apostles of Christ, and other be- lievers in the primitive Church, were iUuminated by no other Spirit, I think they wiU concede. But not one of them learned, from his teaching, to contemn the Divine word ; they vvere rather fiUed with higher reverence for it, as their writings abundantly testify. This had been predicted by the mouth of Isaiah. For where he says, " My Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shaU not de- part out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, for ever," (n) he does not confine people under the old dispen- sation to the external letter, as tliongh they were children learning to read, but declares, that it will be the true and complete felicity of the new Church, under the reign of Christ, to be governed by the word of God, as well as by his Spirit. (rn) Lib. de Util. Credond. (n) Isaiah lix. 21. 92 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK I. Whence we infer, that these persons are guilty of detestable sacrilege, in disjoining these two things, which the prophet has coiniected in an inviolable union. Again ; Paul, after he had been caught up into the third heaven, did not cease to study the doctrine of the law and the prophets ; as he also exhorted Timothy, a teacher of more than common excellence, to " give attendance to reading." (o) And worthy of remem- brance is his eulogium on the Scripture, that it " is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in right- eousness ; that the man of God may be perfect." ( ja) How diabohcal, then, is that madness which pretends that the use of the Scripture is only transient and temporary, which guides the sons of God to the highest point of perfection ! I would also ask them another question — whether they have imbibed a different spirit from that which the Lord promised to his disciples ? Great as their infatuation is, I do not think them fanatical enough to hazard such an avowal. But what kind of Spirit did he promise ? One, truly, who should " not speak of himself," (q) but suggest and instil into their minds those things which he had orally dehvered. The office of the Spirit, then, which is promised to us, is not to feign new and unheard of revelations, or to coin a new system of doctrine, which would seduce us from the received doctrine of the Gos- pel, but to seal to our minds the same doctrine which the Gospel deiivers. II. Hence we readily understand that it is incumbent on us dihgently to read and attend to the Scripture, if we would re- ceive any advantage or satisfaction from the Spirit of God ; (thus also Peter (r) commends those who studiously attended to the doctrine of the prophets, which yet might be supposed to have retired after the Hght of the Gospel was risen ;) but, on the contrary, that if any spirit, neglecting the wisdom of the word of God, obtrude on us another doctrine, he ought justly to be suspected of vanity and falsehood. For, as Satan transforms himself into an angel of light, what authority will the Spirit have with us, unless we can distinguish him by the most certain criterion ? We find hiin clearly designated, in- deed, in the word of the Lord ; but these unhappy men are fondly bent on dehision, even to their own destruction, seeking a spirit rather from themselves than from him. But they plead, that it is unworthy of the Spirit of God, to whom all things ought to be subject, to be made subject to the Scripture ; as though it were ignominious to the Holy Spirit to be every where equal and uniform, in all things invariably consistent with himself. If he were to be conformed to the rules of (o) 1 Tim. iv. 13. (q) John xvi. 13. (p) 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17. (/) 2 Pet. i. 19. CHAP. IX.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 93 men, or of angels, or of any other beings, I grant he might then be considered as degraded, or even reduced to a state of servitude ; but while he is compared with himself, and con- sidered in himself, who will assert that he is thereby injured ? This is bringing him to the test of examination. I confess it is. But it is the way which he has chosen for the confirma- tion of his majesty among ns. We ought to be satisfied, as soon as he communicates himself to us. But, lest the spirit of Satan should insinuate himself under his name, he chooses to be recognized by us from his image, which he hath impressed in the Scriptures. He is the author of the Scriptures : he cannot be mutable and inconsistent with himself. He must therefore perpetually remain such as he has there discovered himself to be. This is not disgracefnl to him ; nnless we esteem it honourable for hini to alter and degenerate from himself. HI. But their cavilling objection, that we depend on " the letter that killeth," shows, that they have not escaped the pun- ishment due to the despisers of the Scripture. For it is suf- ficiently evident, that Paul is there contending against the false apostles, (s) who, recommending the law to the exclusion of Christ, were seducing the people from the blessings of the New Covenant, in which the Lord engages to engrave his law in the minds of believers, and to inscribe it on their hearts. The letter tlierefore is dead, and the law of the Lord slays the readers of it, where it is separated from the grace of Christ, and only sounds in the ears, without affecting the heart. But if it be efficaciously impressed on our hearts by the Spirit, — if it exhibit Christ, — it is the word of life, " converting the soul, making wise the simple," &c. (t) But in tlie same place the Apostle also calls his preaching " the ministration of the Spirit ; " (v) doubtless intending, that the Holy Spirit so ad- heres to his own truth, which he hath expressed in the Scrip- tures, that he only displays and exerts his power where the word is received with due reverence and honour. Nor is this repugnant to what I before asserted, that the word itself has not much certainty with us, unless when confirmed by the testimony of the Spirit. For the Lord hath established a kind of mutual connection between the certainty of his word and of his Spirit ; so that our minds are fiUed with a solid rever- ence for the word, when by the light of the Spirit we are enabled therein to behold the Divine countenance ; and, on the other hand, Avithout the least fear of mistake, we gladly receive the Spirit, when we recognize him in his image, that is, in the word. This is the true state of the case. God did (s) 2 Cor. iii. 6. (t) Psalm xix. 7. (v) 2 Cor. iii. 8. 94 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK I. not publish his word to mankind for the sake of momentary ostentation, with a design to destroy or annul it immediately on the advent of tlie Spirit ; but he afterwards sent the same Spirit, by whose agency he had dispensed his word, to com- plete his work by an efficacious confirmation of that word. In this manner Christ opened the understanding of his two disciples ; (w) not that, rejecting the Scriptures, they might be wise enough of themselves, but that they might understand the Scriptures. So when Paul exhorts the Thessalonians to " quench not the Spirit," (x) he does not lead them to empty speculations independent of the word ; for he immediately adds, " despise not prophesyings ; " clearly intimating, that tlie light of the Spirit is extinguished when prophecies fall into contempt. What answer can be given to these things, by those proud fanatics, who think themselves possessed of the only vahiable ilhimination, when, securely neglecting and for- saking the Divine word, they, with equal confidence and temerity, greedily embrace every reverie which their distem- pered imaginations may have conceived? A very different sobriety becomes the children of God ; who, while they are sensible that, exchisively of the Spirit of God, they are utterly destitute of the hght of truth, yet are not ignorant that the word is the instrument, by which the Lord dispenses to be- lievers the ilhimination of his Spirit. For they know no other Spirit than tliat who dwelt in and spake by the apostles ; by whose oracles they are continually called to the hearing of the word. CHAPTER X. ALL IDOLATROUS WORSHIP DISCOUNTENANCED IN THE SCRIPTURE, BY ITS EXCLUSIVE OPPOSITION OF THE TRUE GOD TO ALL THE FICTITIOUS DEITIES OF THE HEATHEN. BuT, since we have shown that the knowledge of God, which is otherwise exhibited without obscurity in the structure of the world, and in all the creatures, is yet more familiarly and clearly unfolded in the word, it will be useful to examine, whether the representation, which the Lord gives us of him- self in the Scripture, agrees witli the portraiture which he had before been pleased to delineate in his works. This is indeed an extensive subject, if we intended to dwell on a particular (w) Luke xxiv. 27, &c. (x) 1 Thess. v. 19. CHAP. X.] CHRISTIAN RELIGIOlf. 95 discussioii of it. But I shall content myself with suggesting some hints, by which the minds of the pious may learn vvhat ought to be their principal objects of investigation in Scripture concerning God, and may be directed to a certain end in that inquiry. I do not yet aUude to the pecuhar covenant which distinguished the descendants of Abraham from the rest of the nations. For in receiving, by gratuitous adoption, those who were his enemies into the number of his children, God even then manifested himself as a Redeemer ; but we are still treat- ing of that knowledge which relates to the creation of the world, without ascending to Christ the Mediator. But though it will be useful soon to cite some passages from the New Testament, (since that also demonstrates the power of God in the creation, and his providence in the conservation of the world,) yet I wish the reader to be apprized of the point now intended to be discussed, that he may not pass the hmits which the subject prescribes. At present, then, let it suffice to under- stand how God, the former of heaven and earth, governs the world which lie hath made. Both his paternal goodness, and the beneficent incHnations of his will, are every where cel- ebrated ; and examples are given of his severity, Avhich dis- cover him to be the righteous punisher of iniquities, especially where his forbearance produces no sahitary effects upon the obstinate. II. In some places, indeed, we are favoured with more ex- plicit descriptions, which exhibit to our view an exact repre- sentation of his genuine countenance. For Moses, in the description which he gives of it, certainly appears to have in- tended a brief comprehension of all that it was possible for men to know concerning him — " The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long suffering, and abundant in good- ness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin, and that will by no means clear the guihy ; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the chil- dren, and upou the children's children." {y) Where we may observe, first, the assertion of his eternity and self-existence, in that magnificent name, which is twice repeated ; and sec- ondly, the celebration of his attributes, giving us a description, not of what he is in himself, but of what he is to us, that our knowledge of him may consist rather in a hvely perception, than in vain and airy speculation. Here vve find an enumera- tion of the same perfections which, as we have remarked, are iUustriously displayed both in heaven and on earth — clemency, goodness, mercy, justice, judgment, and truth. For power is comprised in the word Elohim, God. The prophets distin- {y) Exod. x.xxiv. 6. 96 nNSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK I. giiish him by the same epithets, wheii they intend a complete exhibition of his holy name. But, to avoid the necessity of quoting many passages, let us content ourselves at present with referring to one Psalm ] (z) which contains such an ac- curate summary of all his perfections, that nothing seems to be omitted. And yet it contains nothing but what may be known from a contemplation of the creatures. Thus, by the teaching of experience, we perceive God to be just wliat he declares himseh' in his word. In Jeremiah, where he an- nounces in what characters he will be known by us, he gives a description, not so full, but to the same effect — " Let him that glorieth glory in this, that he undcrstandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord, which exercise loving-kindness, judg- ment, and righteousness in the earth." («) These three things it is certainly of the highest importance for us to know — mercy, in which alone consists all our salvation ; judgment, which is executed on the wicked every day, and awaits them in a still heavier degree to eternal destruction ; righteousness, by which the faithful are preserved, and most graciously sup- ported. Wlien you understand these things, the prophecy de- clares that you liave abundant reason for glorying in God. Nor is tliis representation chargeable with an omission of his truth, or his power, or his holiness, or his goodness. For how could we have that knowledge, which is here required, of his righteousness, mercy, and judgment, unless it were supported by his inflexible veracity? And how could we believe that he governed the world in judgment and justice, if we were ignorant of iiis power? And whence proceeds his mercy, but from his goodness ? If all his ways, then, are mercy, judgment, and righteousness, holiness also must be conspicuously dis- played in them. Moreover, the knowledge of CJod, which is afforded us in the Scriptures, is designed for the same end as that which we derive from the creatures : it invites us first to ihe fear of God, and then to coufidence in him ; that we may learn to honour him with perfect innocence of life, and sincere obedience to his will, and to place all our dependence on his goodness. IIL But here I intend to comprise a summary of the gen- eral doctrine. And, first, let the reader observe, that the Scripture, in order to direct us to the true God, expressly ex- cludes and rejects all the gods of the heathen ; because, in almost all ages, religion has been generally corrupted. It is true, indeed, that the name of one supreme God has been universally known and celebrated. For those who used to worship a multitude of deities, whenever they spake according (z) Psalm cxlv. («) Jcr. ix. 24. CHAP. XI.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. ' 97 to the genuine sense of natiire, used simply the name of God, in the singular number, as though they were contented with one God. And this was wisely remarked by Justin Martyr, who for this purpose wrote a book On the Monarchy of God, m which he demonstrates, from numerous testimonies, that the unity of God was a principle universally impressed on the hearts of men. TertuUian also proves the same point from the common phraseology, (b) But since all men, without ex- ception, have by their own vanity been drawn into erroneous notions, and so their understandings have become vain, all their natural perception of tlie Divine unity has only served to render tliem inexcusable. For even tiie wisest of theni evidently betray the vagrant uncertainty of tlieir minds, when they wish for some god to assist tliem, and in their vows call upon unknown and fabulous deities. Besides, in imagining the existence of many natures in God, though they did not entertain sach absurd notions as tlie ignorant vulgar concern- ing Jupiter, Mercnry, Venus, Minerva, and the rest, they were themselves by no means exempt from the delusions of Satan ; and, as we have already remarked, whatever subterfuges their ingenuity has invented, none of the philosophers can exculpate themselves from the crime of revolting froni God by the cor- ruption of his truth, For this reason Habalvkuk, after con- demning all idols, bids us to seek " the Lord in his holy tem- ple," (c) that the faithful might acknowledge no other God than Jehovah, who had revealed himself in his word. CHAPTER XI. UNLAWFULNESS OF ASCRIBING TO GOD A VISIBLE FORM. ALL IDOLATRY A DEFECTION FROM THE TRUE GOD, Now, as the Scripture, in consideration of the ignorance and dulness of the human understanding, generally speaks in the plainest manner, — where it intends to discriminate between the true God and all false gods, it principally contrasts him with idols ; not that it may sanction the more ingenious and plausible systems of the philosophers, but that it may better detect the folly and even madness of the world in researches concerning God, as long as every one adheres to his own speculations. That exclusive definition, therefore, which (b) Lib. de Idolol. Vid. Aug. Epist. 43 et 44. (c) Hab. ii. 20. VOL, I, 13 98 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK I. every where occurs, reduces to nothing whatever notions of the Deitj' men may form in their own imaginations ; since God alone is a sufficient witness concerning himself. In the mean time, since the whole world has been seized with such brutal stupidity, as to be desirous of visible representa- tions of the Deity, and thus to fabricate gods of wood, stone, gold, silver, and other inanimate and corruptible materials, we ought to hold this as a certain principle, that, whenever any image is made as a representation of God, the Divine glory is corrupted by an impious falsehood. Therefore God, in the law, after having asserted the glory of Deity to belong ex- clusively to himself, when he intends to show what worship he approves or rejects, immediately adds, " Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any Hkeness." In these words he forbids us to attempt a representation of him in any visible figure ; and briefly enumerates all the forms by which superstition had ah-eady begun to change his truth into a he. For the Persians, we know, worshipped the sun ; and the fool- ish heathen made for themselves as many gods as they saw stars in the heavens. There was scarcely an animal, indeed, which the Egyptians did not consider as an image of God. The Greeks appeared wiser than the rest, because they wor- shipped the Deity under the human form. (d) But God com- pares not idols with each other, as though one were better or worse than another ; but rejects, without a single exception, all statues, pictures, and other figures, in which idolaters imagined that he would be near them. II. This it is easy to infer from the rcasons which he an- nexes to the prohibition. First, in the writings of Moses : " Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves ; for ye saw no manner of similitude, on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb, out of the midst of the fire : ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no simiHtude ; lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure," &c. (e) We see ho w expressly God opposes his " voice " to every " manner of simihtude," to show, that whoever desires visible representations of him, is guilty of departing from him. It will be sufficient to refer to one of the Prophets, Isaiah, (/) who in- sists more than all the others on this argument, that tlie Divine Majesty is dishonoured by mean and absurd fiction, when he that is incorporeal is hkened to a corporeal form ; he that is invisible, to a visible image ; he that is a spirit, to inanimate matter ; and he that fills immensity, to a log of wood, a small stone, or a lump of gold. Paul also reasons in the same man- ner : "Forasmuch, then, as Ave are the offspring of God, we (d) Maximus Tyrius, Plat. Serm. 38. (e) Deut. iv. 15. (/) Isaiah xl. 18; xli. 7, 29; xlvi. 5, &c. CHAP. XI.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 99 ought not to thiiik that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device." (g-) Whence it fol- lows, that whatever statues are erected, or images painted, to represent God, they are only displeasing to him, as being so many insuhs to the Divme Majesty. And why should \ve won- der at the Holy Spirit thunderiiig forth such oracles from heav- en, since he compels the blind and wretched idolaters to make a similar confession on earth ? Well known is the complaint of Seneca, which is cited by Augustine : " They dedicate (says he) the vilest and meanest materials to represent the sacred, im- mortal, and inviolablc gods ; and give them some a human form, and some a brutal one, and some a double sex, and dif- ferent bodies ; and they confer the name of gods iipon images which, if animated, would be accounted monsters." Hence it further appears that the preteiice set up by the advocates for idols, that they were forbidden to the Jews because they were prone to superstition, is only a frivolous cavil, to evade the force of the argument. As if truly that were pecuHarly apphca- ble to one nation, which God deduces from his eternal existence, and the invariable order of nature ! Besides, Paul was not ad- dressing the Jews, but the Athenians, when he refuted the error of making any similitude of God. ni. Sometimes indeed God hath discovered his presence by certain signs, so that he was said to be seen " face to face ; " (A) but aU the signs which he ever adopte.d, were well calcula- ted for the instruction of men, and afforded clear intimations of his incomprehensible essence. For " the cloud, and the smoke, and the flame," (?) though they were symbols of celestial glory, nevertheless operated as a restraint on the minds of all, to pre- vent their attempting to penetrate any further. Wherefore even Moses(to whom he manifested himself more famiharly than to any other) obtained not by his prayers a sight of the face of God, but received this answer : " Thou canst not see my face ; for there shall no man see my face and live." (k) The Holy Spirit once appeared in the form of a dove ; (l) but, as he presently dis- appeared again, who does not perceive that by this momentary symbol the faithful are taught that they should believe the Spirit to be invisible ? that, being content with his power and grace, they might make no external representation of him. The appear- ances of God in the human form were prehides to his future manifestation in Christ. Therefore the Jews were not per- mitted to make this a pretext for erecting a symbol of Deity in the figure of a man. " The mercy seat " (m) also, from which, under the law, God displayed the presence of his power, was so constructed, as to suggest that the best contemplation of the (s) Acts xvii. 29. (*) Deut. iv. 11. (/) Matt. iii. 16. (A) Exod. xxxiii. 11. (/c) Exod. xxxiii. 20. (m) Exod. xxv. 17, 18, &c 100 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK 1. Diviiie Being is wlien the mind is transported beyond itself with admiration. For " the cherubim " covered it with their extended wings ; the veil was spread before it ; and the place itself was sufficiently concealed by its seckided situation. It is manifestly uureasonable therefore to endeavour to defend im- ages of God and of the saints, by the example of those cher- ubim. For, pray, what was signified by those Httle images but that images are not calculated to represent the Divine mysteries ? since they were formed in such a manner as, by veihng the mer- cy seat with their wings, to prevent not only the eyes, but all the human senses, from prying into God, and so to restrain all temerity. Moreover, the Prophet describes tlie seraphim whom he saw in a vision, as having " tlieir faces covered ; " (w) to signify, that the splendour of the Divine glory is so great, that even the angels themselves cannot steadfastly behold it ; and the faint sparks of it, which shine in the angels, are concealed from our view. The cherubim, however, of which we are now speaking, are acknowledged by all persons of sound judgment to have been pecuUar to the old state of tutelage under the le- gal dispensation. To adduce them, therefore, as examples for the imitation of the present age, is quite absurd. For that pu- erile period, as I may call it, for which such rudiments were -ap- pointed, is now past. And, indeed, it is a shameful considera- tion, that heathen writers are more expert interpreters of the Divine law than the papists. Juvenal reproaches and ridicules the Jews for worshipping the white clouds and Deity of heaven. This language, indeed, is perverse and impious ; but in denying that there was any image of God among them, he speaks with more truth than the papists, who idly pretend that there was some visible figure of him. But as that nation frequently broke out into idolatry, with great and sudden impetuosity, resembhng the violent cbuUition of water from a large spring, hence let us learn the strong propensity of the human mind to idolatry, lest, imputing to the Jews a crime common to all, we should be fas- cinated by the aUurements of sin, and sleep the sleep of death. IV. To the same purpose is that passage, " The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men's hands; " (o) for the Prophet conckides, from the very materials, that they are no gods, whose images are made of gold or of silver ; and takes it for granted, that every conception we form of the Deity, merely from our own understandings, is a fooksh imagination. He mentions gold and silver rather than clay or stone, that the splendour or the vakie of the materials may procure no rever- ence for the idols. But he concludes in general, that nothing is more improbable, than that gods should be manufactured (n) Isaiah vi. 2. (o) Psalm cxxxv. 15. CHAP. XI. j CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 101 from any inanimate matter. At the same time he insists eqiially on another point — that it is presumption and madness in mortal men, who are every moment in danger of losing the fleeting breath which they draw, to dare to confer npon idols the honour due to God. Man is constrained to confess that he is a creature of a day, and yet he will have a piece of metal to be worshipped as a god, of the deity of which he is the au- thor : for whence did idols originate, but in the will of men ? There is much propriety in that sarcasm of a heathen poet, who represents one of their idols as saying, " Formerly, I was the trunk of a wild fig-tree, a useless log ; when the artificer, after hesitating whether he would make me a stool or a deity, at length determined that I should be a god." (p) A poor mortal, forsooth, who is, as it were, expiring almost every moment, will, by his workmanship, transfer to a dead stock the name and honour of God. But as that Epicurean, in his satirical eflusions, has paid no respect to any religion, — leav- ing this sarcasm, and others of the same kind, we should be stung and penetrated by the rebuke which the Prophet^^') has given to the extreme stupidity of those, who, with the same wood, make a fire to warm themselves, heat an oven for baking bread, roast or boil their meat, and fabricate a god, before which they prostrate themselves, to address their humble supplications. In another place, therefore, he not only pronounces them trans- gressors of the law, but reproaches them for not having learned from the foundations of the earth ; (r) since, in reality, there is nothing more unreasonable than the thought of contracting the infinite and jncomprehensible God within the compass of five .eet. And yet this monstrous abomination, which is manifestly repugnant to the order of nature, experience demonstrates to be natural to man. It must be further observed, that idols are fre- quently stigmatized as being the works of men's hands, unsanc- tioned by Divine authority ; in order to establish this principle, thatall modes of worship which are merely of human invention, are detestable. The Psalmist aggravates this madness, foras- much as men implore the aid of dead and insensible things, who are imbued with understanding to know that all things are directed solely by the power of God. But since the corrup- tion of nature carries all nations in general, and each individual in particular, to such an excess of frenzy, the Spirit at length thunders out this direful imprecation : " Let those that make them be like unto them and every one that trusteth in them." (s) Let it be observed, that all similitudes are equally as much for- bidden as graven images ; which refutes the foolish subterfuge of the Greeks ; for they think themselves quite safe, if they (p) Hor. Sat. lib. 1, 8. (r) Isaiah xl. 21. (q) Isaiah xliv. 9—20. (s) Fsalm cxv. 8. 102 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK I. make no sculpture of Deity, while in pictures they indulge greater hberty than any other nations. But the Lord prohibits every represcntation of him, whether made by the statuary, or by any other artificer, because all simiUtudes are criminal and insulting to the Divine Majesty. V. I know that it is a very common observation, that images are the books of the iUiterate. Gregory said so ; but very dif- ferent is the decision of the Spirit of God, in whose school had Gregory been taught, he would never have made such an assertion. For, since Jeremiah pronounces that " the stock is a doctrine of vanities," (t) since Habakkuk represents "a mol- ten image " as "a teacher of hes,"(y) — certainly the general doctrine to be gathered from these passages is, that whatever men learn respecting God from images is equally frivolous and false. If any one object, that the Prophets only reprehended those wlio abuse images to the impious purposes of super- stition, — that indeed I grant ; but affirm also, what is evident to every one, that they utterly condemn what is assumed by the papists as an indubitable axiom, that images are substitutes for books. For they contrast images with the true God, as contraries, which can never agree. This comparison, I say, is laid down in those passages which I have just cited ; that, since there is only one true God, whom the Jews worshipped, there can be no visible figures made, to serve as representations of the Divine Being, without falsehood and criminahty ; and all who seek the knowledge of God from such figures are mider a miserable dehision. Were it not true, that all knowledge of God, sought from images, is corrupt and fallacious, it would not be so uniformly condemned by the Prophets. This at least must be granted to us, that, when we maintain the vanity and fallaciousness of the attempts of men to make visible represen- tations of God, we do no other than recite the express declara- tions of the Prophets. VI. Read hkewise what has been written on this subject by Lactantius and Eusebius, who hesitate not to assume as a certainty, that all those whose images are to be seen, were mortal men. Augustine also confidently asserts the unlawful- ness, not only of worshipping images, but even of erecting any with reference to God. Nor does he advance any thing different from what had, many years before, been decreed by the Ehbertine council, the thirty-sixth chapter of which is as follows : " It hath been decreed, that no pictures be had in the churches, and that what is worshipped or adored be not painted on the walls." But most remarkable is what Augus- tine elsewhere cites fiom Varro, and to the truth of which he (0 Jer. X. 8. (v) Hab. ii. 18. CHAP. XI.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 103 sabscribes — " That they who first introduced images of the gods, removed fear and added error." If this had been a mere assertion of Varro alone, it might have perhaps but little authority ; yet it should justly fill us with shame, that a heathen, groping as it were in the dark, attained so much light as to perceive that corporeal representations were un- worthy of the Divine Majesty, being calculated to diminish the fear of God, and to increase error among mankind. The fact itself demonstrates this to have been spoken with equal truth and wisdom ; but Augustine, having borrowed it from Varro, advances it as his own opinion. And first he observes that the most ancient errors concerning God, in which men were involved, did not originate from images, but Avere in- creased by them, as by the superaddition of new materials. He next explains that the fear of God is thereby diininished, and even destroyed ; since the foohsh, ridiculous, and absurd fabrication of idols would easily bring his Divinity into con- tempt. Of the truth of this second remark, I sincerely wish that we had not such proofs in our own experience. Who- ever, therefore, desires to be rightly instructed, he must learn from some other quarter than from images, what is to be known concerning God. VII. If the papists have any shame, let them no longer use this subterfuge, that images are the books of the ilhterate ; which is so clearly refuted by numerous testimonies from Scripture. Yet, though I should concede this point to them, it would avail them but little in defence of their idols. What monsters they obtrude in the place of Deity is well knovvn. But what they call the pictures or statues of their saints — what are they but examples of the most abandoned luxury and obscenity? which if any one were desirous of imitating, he would deserve corporal punishment. Even prostitutes in brothels are to be seen in more chaste and modest attire, than those images in their temples, which they wish to be account- ed images of virgins. Nor do they clothe the martyrs in habits at all more becoming. Let them adorn their idols, then, with some small degree of modesty, that the pretence of their being books of some holiness, if not less false, may be less impudent. But even then, we will reply, that this is not the method to be adopted in sacred places for the instrnction of the faithful, whom God will have taught a very ditierent doctrine from any that can be learned from such insignificant trifles. He hath commanded one cornmon doctrine to be there proposed to all, in the preaching of his word, and in his sacred mysteries ; to which they betray great inattention of mind, who are carried about by their eyes to the contemplation of idols. Whom, then. do the papists call illiterate, whose ig- 104 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK I. noraiice will sufFer them to be tanght only by images ? Those, truly, whom the Lord acknowledges as his disciples ; whom he honours with the revelation of his heavenly philoso- phy ; whom he will have instrncted in the healthful mysteries of his kingdom. I confess, indeed, as things are now cir- cumstanced, that there are at present not a few who cannot bear to be deprived of such books. But whence arises this stupidity, but from being defrauded of that teaching which alone is adapted to their instruction ? Iii fact, those who pre- sided over the churches, resigned to idols the office of teach- ing, for no other reason but because they Avere themselves dumb. Paul testifies, that in the true preaching of this gospel, Christ is " evidently set forth," and, as it were, "crucified before our eyes." (tv) To what purpose, then, was the erec- tion of so many crosses of wood and stone, silver and gold, every where in the temples, if it had been fuUy and faithfuUy inculcated, that Christ died that he might bear our curse on the cross, expiate our sins by the sacrifice of his body, cleanse us by his blood, and, in a word, reconcile us to God the Father ? From this simple declaration they might learn more than from a thousand crosses of wood or stone ; for perhaps the avaricious fix their minds and their eyes more tenaciously on the gold and silver crosses, than on any part of the Divine word. VIII. Respecting the origin of idols, the generally received opinion agrees with what is asserted in the book of Wis- dom;(.z-) namely, that the first authors of them were persons who paid this honour to the dead, from asuperstitious reverence for their memory. I grant that this perverse custom was very ancient, and deny not that it greatly contributed to increase the rage of mankind after idolatry ; nevertheless, I cannot con- cede that it was the first cause of that evil. For it appears from Moses, that idols were in use long before the introduction of that ostentatious consecration of the images of the dead, which is frequently mentioned by profane writers. When he relates that Rachel stole her father's idols, (y) he speaks as of a common corruption. Wlrence we may infer, that the mind of man is, if I may be allowed the expression, a perpetual manufactory of idols. After the dehige, there was, as it were, a regenera- tion of the world ; but not many years elapsed before men fabricated gods according to their own fancy. And it is prob- able, that while the holy patriarch was yet ahve, his posterity were addicted to idolatry, so that, with the bitterest grief, he might, with his own eyes, behold the earth which God had lately purged from its corruptions by such a dreadful judgment, («)) Gal. iii. 1. (x) Wisdom xiv. 15. (y) Gen. xxxi. 19. CHAP. XI.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 105 again polliited with idols. For Terah and Nachor, before the birth of Abraham, were worshippers of false gods, as is asserted by Joshiia. (z) Since the posterity of Sliem so speedily de- generated, what opinion must we entertain of the descendants of Ham, who had ah-eady been cursed in their father? The true state of the case is, that the mind of man, being fnll of pride and temerity, dares to conceive of God according to its own standard ; and, being sunk in stupidity, and immersed in profound ignorance, imagines a vain and ridiculous phantom instead of God. These evils are followed by another ; men attempt to express in the work of their hands such a deity as they have imagined in their minds. The mind then begets the idol, and the hand brings it forth. The example of the Israehtes proves this to have been the origin of idolatry, namely, that men beheve not God to be among them, unless he exhibit some external signs of his presence. " As for this Moses," they said, " we wot not what is become of him ; make us gods which shall go before us." (a) They knew, indeed, that there was a God, whose power they had experienced in so many miracles ; but they had no confidence in his being present with them, unless they could see some corporeal sym- bol of his countenance, as a testimony of their Divine Guide. They wished, therefore, to understand, from the image going before them, that God was the leader of their march. Daily experience teaches, that the flesh is never satisfied, till it has obtained some image, resembhng itself, in which it may be foohshly gratified, as an image of God. In almost all ages, from the creation of the world, in obedience to this stupid propensity, men have erected visible representations, in which they beUeved God to be presented to their carnal eyes. IX. Such an invention is immediately attended with adora- tion ; for when men supposed that they saw God in images, they also worshipped him in them. At length, both their eyes and their minds being wholly confined to them, they began to grow more stupid, and to admire them, as though they pos- sessed some inherent divinity, Now, it is plain that men did not rush into the worship of images, till they had imbibed some very gross opinion respecting them ; not, indeed, that they beheved them to be gods, but they imagined that something of Divinity resided in them. When you prostrate yourself, therefore, in adoration of an image, whether you suppose it to represent God or a creature, you are already fascinated with superstition. For this reason the Lord hath prohibited, not only the erection of statues made as representations of him, but also the consecration of any inscriptions or monuments to (zj Joshua xxiv. "2. (a) Exod. xxxii. 1. VOL. 1, 14 106 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK I. stand as objects of worship. For the same reason, also, another point is annexed to the precept in the law concerning adora- tion. For as soon as nien have made a visible figure of God, they attach Divine power to it. Snch is the stupidity of men, that they confine God to any image which they make to rejiresent hira, and therefore cannot but worship it. Nor is it of any importance, whether they worship simply the idol, or God in the idol ; it is always idolatry, when Divine lionours aj'e paid to an idol, under any pretence whatsoever. And as God will not be worshipped in a superstitious or idolatrous manner, whatever is conferred on idols is taken from him. Let this be considered by those who seek such miserable pre- texts for the defence of that execrable idolatry, with which, for many ages, true rehgion has been overwhelmed and sub- verted. The images, they say, are not considered as gods. Neither were the Jews so thoughtless as not to remember, that it was God by whose hand they had been conducted out of Egypt, before they made the calf. But when Aaron said that those were the gods by whom they had been hberated from Egypt, they boldly assented ; (h) signifying, doubtless, that they would keep in remembrance, that God himself was their dehverer, while they could see him going before them in the calf. Nor can we beheve the heathen to have been so stupid, as to conceive that God was no other than wood and stone. For they changed the irnages at pleasure, but always retained in their minds the same gods ; and there were many images for one god ; nor did they imagine to themselves gods in pro- portion to the multitude of images : besides, they daily con- secrated new images, but without supposing that they made new gods. Read the excuses, which, Augustine says, (c) were aheged by the idolaters of the age in which he hved. When they were charged with idolatry, the vulgar rephed, that they worshipped, not the visible figure, but the Divinity that invisibly dweU in it. But they, whose rehgion was, as he expresses himself, more refined, said, that they worshipped neither the image, nor the spirit represented by it ; but that in the corporeal figure they beheld a sign of that which they ought to worship. What is to be inferred from this, but that all idolaters, whether Jewish or Gentile, have been guided by the notion which I have mentioned? Not content with a spiritual knowledge of God, they thought that they should receive more clear and famihar impressions of him by means of images. After they had once pleased themselves with such a preposterous representation of God, they ceased not from being dehided with new faUacies, till they imagined that God (b) Exod. xxxii. 4 — 6. (c) In Psalm cxin. CHAP. XI.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 107 displayed his power in images. Nevertheless, the Jews were persuaded that, iiiider such images, they worshipped the eternal God, the oiie true Lord of heaven and earth ; and the heathen, that they worshipped their false gods, whom they pretended to be inhabitants of heaven. X. Those who deny that this has been done in time past, and even within our own remembrance, assert an impudent falsehood. For why do they prostrate themselves before images? And when about to pray, why do they turn themselves to- Avards them, as towards tlie ears of God ? For it is true, as Aii- gustine says, (d) " That no man prays or worships thus, look- ing on an image, who is not impressed with an opinion that he shall be heard by it, and a hope that it will do for him as he desires." Why is there so great a difference between im- ages of the same god, that one is passed by with httle or no respect, and another is honoured in the most solemn manner ? Why do they fatigue themselves with votive pilgrimages, in going to see images resembling those which they have at home ? Why do they at this day fight, even to slaughter and destruction, in defence of them. as of their country and religion, so that they could part with the only true God more easily than with their idols ? Yet I am not here enumerating the gross errors of the vulgar, which are ahnost infinite, and occupy nearly the hearts of all ; I only relate what they themselves allege, when they are most anxious to exculpate themselves from idolatry. " We never," say they, "call them our gods." Nor did the Jews or heathen in ancient times call them their gods ; and yet the Prophets, in all their writings, were constantly accusing them of fornication Avith wood and stone, only on account of such things as are daily practised by those who wish to be thought Christians ; that is, for worshipping God, by corporeal adoration before figures of Avood or stone. XI. I am neither ignorant, nor desirous of concealing, that they evade the charge by a more subtle distinction, which will soon be noticed more at large. They pretend that the rever- ence which they pay to images is si^wXo^ouXgia, (service of im- ages,) but deny that it is siStjjXoXarpsia (worship of images. ) For in this manner they express themselves, when they main- tain, that the reverence which they call dulia, may be given to statues or pictures, without injury to God. They consider themselves, therefore, liable to no blame, while they are only the servants of their idols, and not worshippers of them ; as though worship were not rather inferior to service. And yet, while they seek to shelter tliemselves under a Greek term, they contradict themselves in the most childish manner. For {(i) In Psalin cxiii. 108 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK I. since the Greek word Xarpsusiv signifies nothing else but to wor- ship, what they say is equivalent to a confession that they adore their images, but without adoration. Nor can they justly object, that I am trying to insnare them with words : they betray their own ignorance in their endeavours to raise a mist before the eyes of the simple. But, however eloquent they may be, they will never be able, by their rhetoric, to prove one and the same thing to be two different things. Let them point out, I say, a difference in fact, that they may be ac- counted different from ancient idolaters. For as an aduUerer, or homicide, will not escape the imputation of guik, by giving his crime a new and arbitrary name, so it is absurd that these persons sliould be exculpated by the subtle invention of a name, if they really diffcr in no respect from those idolaters whom they themselves are constrained to condemn. But their case is so far from being different from that of former idolaters, that the source of all the evil is a preposterous emulation, with which they have rivalled them by exercising their minds in contriving, and thcir hands in forming, visible symbols of the Deity. XII. Nevertheless, I am not so scrupulous as to think that no images ought ever to be permitted. But shice sculpture and painting are gifts of God, I wish for a pure and legitimate use of both ; lest those things, Avhich the Lord hath conferred ou us for his glory and our benefit, be not only corrupted by pre- posterous abuse, but even perverted to our ruin. We think it unlawful to make any visible figure as a representation of God, because he hath himself forbidden it, and it cannot be done v^athout detracting, in some measure, from his glory. Let it not be supposed that we are singular in this opinion ; for that all sound writers have uniformly reprobated the practice, must be evident to persons conversant with their works. If, then, it be not lawful to make any corporeal representation of God, much less will it be lawful to worship it for God, or to worship God in it. We conchide, therefore, that notliing should be painted and engraved but objects visible to our eyes : the Di- vine Majesty, which is far above the reach of human sight, ought not to be corrupted by unseemly figures. The subjects of those arts consist partly of histories and iransactions, partly of images and corporeal forms, without reference to any transac- tions. The former are of some use in information or recollec- tion ; the latter, as far as I see, can furnish nothing but amuse- ment. And yet it is evident, that ahnost all the images, which have hitherto been set up in the churches, have been of this latter description. Hence it may be seen, that they were placed there, not with judgment and discrimination, but from a foolish aud inconsiderate passion for them. I say nothing licre of the CHAP. XI.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 109 inipropriety and indecency conspicuous in most of them, and the wanton licentiousness displayed in them by the painters and statuaries, at which I have before hinted : I only assert, that even if they were intrinsically fauUless, still they would be ahogether unavaihng for the purposes of instruction. XIII. But, passing over that difference also, let us consider, as we proceed, wliether it be expedient to have any images at all in Christian temples, either descriptive of historical events, or representative of human forms. In the first place, if the authority of the ancient Church have any influence with us, let us remember, that for about five hundred years, while re- hgion continued in a more prosperous state, and purer doctrine prevailed, the Christian churches were generally without images. They were then first introduced, therefore, to orna- ment the churches, when the purity of the ministry had begun to degenerate. I will not dispute what was the reason which influenced the first authors of them ; but if you compare one age with another, you will see that they were much declined from the integrity of those who had no images. Who can suppose, that those holy fathers would have permitted the Church to remain so long destitute of what they judged use- ful and salutary for it ? The fact was, that, instead of omitting them through ignorance or neghgence, they perceived them to be of httle or no use, but, on the contrary, pregnant with much danger ; and, therefore, intentionally and wisely re- jected them. This is asserted in express terms by Augustine : " When they are fixed," says he, " in those places in an hon- om^able elevation, to attract the attention of those who are praying and sacrificing, though they are destitute of sense and hfe, yet, by the very simihtude of hving members and senses, they affect weak minds, so that they appear to them to hve and breathe," &c. (e) And in another place : " For that representation of members leads, and, as it were, con- strains, the mind, which animates a body, to suppose that body to be endued with perception, which it sees to be very similar to its own," &c. And a httle after : " Idols have more influence to bow down an unhappy soul, because they have a mouth, eyes, ears, and feet, than to correct it, because they neither speak, nor see, nor hear, nor walk." This indeed appears to be the reason of John's exhortation to " keep our- selves," not only from the worship of idols, but " from idols " themselves. And we have found it too true, that, through the horrible frenzy, Avhich, ahiiost to the total destruction of piety, hath heretofore possessed the world, as soon as images are set up in churches, there is, as it were, a standard of idol- (e) Epist. 49. De Civ. Dei. lib. iv. cap. 31. 110 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK I. atry erected ; for the foUy of mankind cannot refrain from immediately falling into idolatrous worship. But, even if the danger were less, yet, when I consider the use for which tem- ples were designed, it appears to me extremely unworthy of their sanctity, to receive any other images, than those natural and expressive ones, which the Lord hath consecrated in his word ; I mean Baptism, and the Supper of the Lord, and the other ceremonies, with which our eyes ought to be more at- tentively engaged, and more sensibly affected, than to require any others formed by human ingenuity. Behold the incom- parable advantages of images ! the loss of which, if you beheve the papists, nothing can compensate. XIV. The remarks ah-eady made on this subject, I think, would be sufficient, if it were not necessary to take some notice of the Council of jXice ; not that very celebrated one, which was convened by Constantine the Great, but that which was held about eight hundred years ago, by the command, and under the auspices, of the Empress Irene. For that Council decreed, not only that images should be had in churches, but also that they should be worshipped. And, notwithstanding what I have advanced, the authority of the Council would raise a strong prejudice on the contrary side. Though, to confess the truth, I am not much concerned at this, as I am to show the reader their extreme madness, whose fondness for images exceeded any thing that was becoming in Christians. But let us despatch this point first : the present advocates for the use of images, allege the authority of that Nicene Council in their defence. There is a book extant, written in refutation of this practice, under the name of Char- lemagne : which, from the diction, we may conckidc was com- posed at the same time. In this work are recited the opinions of the bishops who attended the Council, and the arguments they used in the controversy. John, the delegate of the Eastern churches, said, " God created man in his own image ; " and hence he inierred that we ought to have images. The same prelate thought that images were recommended to us by this sentence : " Show me thy face, for it is glorious." An- (ither, to prove that they ought to be placed on the aUars, cited this testimony : " No man hghteth a candle, and putteth it under a bushel." Another, to show the contemplation of ' these to be usefiil to us, adduced a verse from a Psahn : " The Hglit of thy countenance, O Lord, is sealed upon us." Another pressed this comparison into his service : " As the patriarchs used the sacrifices of the heathen, so Christians ought to have the images of saints, instead of the idols of the heathen." In the same manner they tortured that expression, " Lord, I have loved the beauty of thy house." But the most ingenious CHAP. XI.] CHniSTIAN RELIGION. 111 of all was their interpretation of this passage : " As we have heard, so have we seen ; " that therefore God is known, not only by the hearing of his word, but by the contemplation of images. Similar is the subtlety of Bishop Theodore : " God is glorious in his saints." And in another place it is said, " In the saints that are in the earth : " therefore this ought to be referred to images. But their impertinencies and absurdities are so disgusting, that I am quite ashamed to repeat them. X.V. When they dispute concerning adoration, they bring forward Jacob's worshipping of Pharaoh, and of the staff of Joseph, and of the inscription erected by himself ; although, in this last instance, they not only corrupt tlie sense of the Scripture, but allege what is novvhere to be found. These passages also, " Worsliip his footstool ; " " Worship in his holy hill ; " and, " All the rich of the people shall supphcate thy face ; " they consider as apposite and conchisive proofs. If any one wished to represent the advocates for images in a ridiculous point of view, could he possibly ascribe to them greater and grosser instances of folly ? But, that iio doubt of this might remain, Theodosius, bishop of Mira, defends the propriety of worshipping images from the dreams of his arch- deacon, as seriously as if he had an immediate revelation from heaven. Now, let the advocates of images go and urge upon us the decree of that Council ; as though those venerable fa- thers had not entirely destroyed all their credit by such puerile treatment of the sacred Scriptures, or such impious and shame- ful mutilation of them. XVI. I come now to those prodigies of impiety, which it is wonderful that they ever ventured to broach ; and more won- derful still, that they have not been opposed with universal detestation. It is right to expose this flagitious madness, that the worship of images may at least be deprived of the pretence of antiquity, which the papists falsely urge in its favour. Theodosius, bishop of Amorum, denounces an anathema against all who are averse to the worship of images. Another imputes all the calamities of Greece and the East to the crime of not having worshipped them. What punishments, then, did the Prophets, Apostles, and Martyrs deserve, in whose time images were unknovvn? They add further, If the image 'of the emperor be met by processions with perfumes and in- cense, much more is this honour due to the images of the saints, Constantius, bishop of Constance, in Cyprus, professes his rev- erence for images, and avows that he will pay tliem the same worship and honour as is due to the Trinity, the source of all hfe ; and whoever refuses to do the same, he anathematizes and dismisses with the Manichees and Marcionites. And, lest you should suppose this to be the private opinion of an 112 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK I. individual, they all declare their assent to it. John, the dele- gate of the Eastern churches, carried by the fervour of his zeal to still greater lengths, asserts it to be better to admit all the brothels of the world into one city, than to reject the worship of images. At length it was unanimously decreed, that the Samaritans were worse than all heretics, and that the adversaries of images were worse than the Samaritans. But, that the farce might not want its usual plaudit, they add this clause : " Let them rejoice and exult, who have the image of Christ, and offer sacrifice to it." Where is now the distinction of latria and dulia, with which they attempt to deceive both God and men ? For the Council gives the same honour, with- out any exception, to images and to the hving God. CHAPTER XII. GOD CONTBADISTINGUISHED FROM IDOLS, THAT HE MAY BE SOLELY AND SUPREMELY WORSHIPPED. We said, at the beginning, that the knowledge of God consists not in frigid speculation, but is accompanied by the worship of him. We also cursorily touched on the right method of wor- shipping him, which will be more fully explained in other places. I now only repeat, in few words, that whenever the Scripture asserts that there is but one God, it contends not for the bare name, but also teaches, that whatever belongs to the Deity, should not be transferred to another. This shows how pure rehgion differs from idolatry. The Greek word su(fsQsia certainly signifies right worship, since even blind mortals, gro- ping in the dark, have always perceived the necessity of some certain rule, that the worship of God may not be involved in disorder and confusion. Although Cicero ingeniously and correctly derives the word religion from a verb signifying " to read over again," or "to gather again ; " yet the rea- son he assigns for it, that good worshippers often recollect, and dihgently reconsider what is true, is forced and far-fetched. I rather think the word is opposed to a hberty of wandering without restraint ; because the greater part of the world rashly embrace whatever they meet with, and also ramble from one thing to another; but piety, in order to walk with a steady step, collects itself within its proper hmits. The word super- stition also appears to me to import a discontent with the method and order prescribed, and an accumulation of a super- CHAP. XII.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 113 fluous mass of vain things. But to leave the consideration of words, it has been generally admitted, in all ages, that religion is corrupted and perverted by errors and falsehoods ; whence we infer, that when we allow ourselves any thing from incon- siderate zeal, the pretext alleged by the superstitious is alto- gether frivolous. Although this confession is in the mouths of all, they betray, at the same time, a shameful ignorance, neither adhering to the one true God, nor observing any dis- crimination in his worship, as we have before shown. But God, to assert his own right, proclaims that he is"jealous," and will be a severe avenger, if rnen confound him with any fictitious deity ; and then, to retain mankind in obedience, he defines his legitimate worship. He comprises both in his law, where he first binds the faithful to himself, as their sole legis- lator ; and then prescribes a rule for the right worship of him according to his will. Now, of the law, since the uses and ends of it are various, I shall treat in its proper place : at present, I only remark, that it sets up a barrier to prevent meri turning aside to corrupt modes of worship. Let us remember, what I liave already stated, that, unless every thing belonging to Divinity remain in God alone, he is spoiled of his honour, and his worship is violated. And here it is necessary to ani- madvert more particularly on the subtle fallacies of supersti- tion. For it revolts iiot to strange gods, in such a manner as to appear to desert the supreme God, or to degrade him to a level with others ; but, allowing him the highest place, it sur- rounds him with a multitude of inferior deities, among whom it distributes his honours ; and thus, in a cunning and hypocrit- ical manner, the glory of Divinity is divided among many, in- stead of remaining wholly iii one. Thus the ancient idolaters, Jews as well as Gentiles, imagined one God, the Father and Governor of all, and subordinate to him a vast multitude of other deities ; to whom, in common with the supreme God, they attributed the governmcnt of heaven and earth. Thus the saints, who departed out of this life some ages ago, are exalted to the society of God, to be worshipped, and invoked, and celebrated like him. We suppose, indeed, the glory of God not to be sullied with this abomination ; whereas it is, in a great measure, suppressed and extinguished, except that we retain some faint notion of his supreme power ; but, at the same time, deceived with such impostures, we are seduced to the worship of various deities. II. On this account was invented the distinction of latria and dulia, as they express themselves, by which they con- ceived they might safely ascribe divine honours to angels and deceased men. For it is evident, that the worship which pa- pists pay to the saints, differs not in reality from the worship VOL. I. 15 11 i INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK I. of God ; for they adore God and theni promiscuously ; but when they are accused of it, they evade the charge with this subterfuge, that they preserve inviolate to God what belongs to him, because they leave him Xarpsia. But since the ques- tion relates to a thing, not to a word, who can bear their care- less trifling on the most important of all subjects ? But, to pass this also, they will gain nothing at last by their distinction, but that they render worship to God alone, and service to the saints. For Xarpsia, iri Greek, signifies the same as cxdtus \\\ Latin, [and worship in Enghsh ;] but ^ouhsia properly signifies servitus, [service ;] and yet, in the Scriptures, this distinction is sometimes disregarded. But, suppose it to be a constant dis- tinction, it remains to be incpnred, what is the meaning of each term. Aarpsia is worship ; SouXsia is service. Now, no one doubts, that to serve is raore than to vvorship or honour. For it would be irksome to serve many persons, whom you would not refuse to honour. So unjust is the distribution, to assign the greater to the saints, and leave to God that which is less. But many of the ancients, it is urged, have used this distinction. What is that to the purpose, if every one per- ceives it to be not only improper, but altogether frivolous ? III. Leaving these subtJeties, let us consider the subject itself. Paul, when he reminds the Galatians what they had been before they were ihuminated in the knowledge of God, says, that they " did service to them which by nature were no gods."(/) Though he mentions not Xarpsia, (worship,) is their idolatry therefore excusable ? He certainly condemns that perverse superstition, which he denominates ^ouXsia, (service,) equally as much as if he had used the word Xa<rpeia, (worship.) And when Christ repels the assault of Satan with this shield, " It is written, Tliou shalt worship the Lord thy God," (g) the word Xarpsia came not into the question ; for Satan required nothing but 'tporfxuvoffiff, (prostration, or adoration.) So, when John is reprehended by an angel, for having fallen on his knees before him, (h) we must not understand that John was so stupid as to intend to transfer to an angel the honour due ex- clusively to God. But since all worship, that is connected with rehgion. cannot but savour of Divine, he could not (Tpotfxuvsiv) prostrate himself before the angel, without de- tracting from the glory of God. We read, indeed, frequently, of men having been worshipped ; but that was civil honour, so to speak ; rehgion has a difl*erent design ; and no sooner is rehgion connected with worship, or homage, than it produces a profanation of the Divine honour. We may see the same in Cornehus, who had not made such a small progress in piety, as not to ascribe supreme worship to God alone. When (/) Gal. iv. 8. (g) Matt. iv. 10. (A) Rev. xix. 10 ; xxii. 8, 9. CHAP. XIII.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 115 lie " fell down " before Peter, therefore, it certainly was not with an intention of worshipping him instead of God : (i) yet Peter positively forbade him to do it. And why was this, but because men never so particularly distinguish between the worship or homage of God, and that of the creatures, as to avoid transferring to a creature what belongs exclusively to God ? Wherefore, if we desire to have but one God, let us remember, that his glory ought not, in the least, to be dimin- ished ; but that he must retain all that belongs to him. Therefore Zechariah, when speaking of the restoration of the Church, expressly declares, not only that " there shall be one Lord," but also " that his name shall be one ; " (k) signifying, without doubt, that he will have nothing in common with idols. Now, what kind of worship God requires, will be seen, in due course, in another place. For he hath been pleased, in his law, to prescribe to mankind what is lawful and right ; and so to confine them to a certain rule, that every individual might not take the liberty of inventing a mode of worship according to his own fancy. But, since it is not proper to burden the reader, by confounding many subjects together, I shall not enter on that point yet ; let it sufRce to know, that no religious services can be transferred to any other than God alone, without committing sacrilege. At first, iudeed, superstition ascribed Divine honours either to the sun, or to the other stars, or to idols. Afterwards followed am- bition, which, adorning men with the spoils of God, dared to profane every thing that was sacred. And although there re- mained a persuasion, that they ought to worship a supreme God, yet it became customary to offer sacrifices promiscuously to genii, and inferior deities, and deceased heroes. So steep is the descent to this vice, to communicate to a vast multitude that which God particularly challenges to himself alone ! CHAPTER XIII. ONE DIVINE ESSENCE, CONTAINING THREE PERSONS, TAUGHT IN THE SCRIPTURES FROM THE B^GINNING. What is taught in the Scriptures concerning the immensity and spirituality of the essence of God, should serve not only to overthrow the foolish notions of the vulgar, but also to refute the subtleties of profane philosophy. One of the ancients, (/) (i) Acts X. 25. (k) Zech. xiv. 9. (/) Seneca, Prief. lib. 1. QuKst. Nat. 116 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK I. iii his own conception very shrewdly, said, that Avhatever we see, and whatever we do not see, is God. But he imagined that the Deity was diffused through every part of the world. Bnt, ahhough God, to keep us within the bounds of sobriety, speaks but rarely of his essence, yet, by those two attributes, which I have mentioned, he supersedes all gross imaginations, and represses the presumption of the human mind. For, sure- ly, his immensity ought to inspire us with awe, that we may not attempt to measure him with our senses ; and the spirituahty of his nature prohibits us from entertaining any earthly or car- nal speculations concerning him. For the same reason, he re- presents his residence to be " in heaven ; " for though, as he is incomprehensible, he fills the earth also ; yet, seeing that our minds, from their duhiess, are continually dwelHng on the earth, in order to shake off our sloth and inactivity, he properly raises us above the world. And here is demolished the error of the Manichees, who, by maintaining the existence of two original principles, made the devil, as it were, equal to God. This cer- tainly was both dividing the unity of God, and limiting his im- mensity. For their daring to abuse certain testimonies of Scripture betrayed a shameful ignorance ; as the error itself evidenced an execrable madness. Tiie Anthropomorphites also, who imagined God to be corporeal, because the Scripture fre- quently ascribes to him a mouth, ears, eyes, hands, and feet, are easily refuted. For who, even of the meanest capacity, under- stands not, that God lisps, as it were, with us, just as nurses are accustomed to speal^; to infants ? Wherefore, such forms of expression do not clearly explain the nature of God, but ac- commodate the knowledge of him to our narrow capacity ; to accomplish which, the Scripture must necessarily descend far below tlie height of his majesty. II. But he also designateshimself by another peculiar charac- ter, by which he may be yet more clearly distinguished ; for, while he declares himself to be but One, he proposes himself to be distinctly considered in Three Persons, without apprehending which, we have only a bare and empty name of God floating in our brains, without any idea of the true God. Now, that no one may vainly dream of three gods, or suppose that the simple essence of God is divided among the three Persons, we must seek for a short and easy definition, which will preserve us from all error. But since some violently object to the word Person, as of human invention, we must first examine the rea- sonableness of this objection. When the Apostle denominates the Son the express image of the hypostasis of the Father, he undoubtedly ascribes to the Father some subsistence, in which he difters from the Son. For to understand this word as sy- nonymous with Essence, (as some interpreters have done, as CHAP. XIII.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 117 though Christ, like wax impressed with a seal, represented in himself the substance of the Father,) were not only harsh, but also absurd. For the essence of God being simple and indivisi- ble, he who contains all in himseh', not in part, or by derivation, but in complete perfection, could not, without impropriety, and even absurdity, be called the express image of it. But since the Father, ahhough distinguished by his own peculiar property, hath expressed himself entirely in his Son, it is with the great- est reason asserted that he hath made his hypostasis conspic- uous in him ; with which the other appellation, given him in the same passage, of " the brightness of his glory," exactly corresponds. From the words of the Apostle, we certainly conchide, that there is in the Father a proper hypostasis, which is conspicuous in the Son. And thence also we easily infer the hypostasis of the Son, which distinguishes him from the Father. The same reasoning is applicable to the Holy Spirit ; for we shall soon prove him also to be God ; and yet he must, of necessity, be considered as distinct from the Father. But this is not a distinction of the essence, which it is unlawful to represent as any other than simple and undivided. It foUows, therefore, if the testimony of the Apostle be credited, that there are in God three hypostases. And, as the Latins have ex- pressed the same thing by the word person, it is too fastidious and obstinate to contend about so clear a matter. If we wish to translate word for word, we may call it subsistetice. Many, in the same sense, have called it suhstance. Nor has the word person beeii used by the Latins only ; but the Greeks also, for the sake of testifying their consent to this doctrine, taught the existence of three "Trporfwira (persons) in God. But both Greeks and Latins, notwithstanding any verbal difference, are in perfect harmony respecting the doctrine itself. III. Now, though heretics rail at the word pcrson, or some morose and obstinate men clamorously refuse to admit a name of human invention ; since they cannot make us assert that there are three, each of whom is entirely God, nor yet that there are more gods than one, how very unreasonable is it to reprobate words which express nothing but what is testified and recorded in the Scriptures ! It were better, say they, to restrain not only our thoughts, but our expressions also, within the limits of the Scripture, than to introduce exotic words, which may generate future dissensions and disputes ; for thus we weary ourselves with verbal controversies ; thus the truth is lost in altercation ; thus charity expires in odious contention. If they call every word exotic, which cannot be found in the Scriptures in so many syllables, they impose on us a law which is very unreasonable, and which condemns aU interpretation, but what is composed of detached texts of Scripture connected 118 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK I. together. But if by exotic they mean that which is ciiriously contrived, and superstitiously defended, which tends to conlen- tion more than to edification, the use of which is either unsea- sonable or unprofitable, which offends pious ears with its harsh- ness, and seduces persons from the simphcity of the Divine word, I most cordiaUy embrace their modest opinion. For I think that we ought to speak of God with the same religious cau- tion, which should govern our thoughts of him ; since all the thoughts that we entertain concerning him merely from our- selves, are foolish, and ail our expressions absurd. But there is a proper medium to be observed : we should seek in the Scriptures a certain rule, both for thinking and for speaking ; by which we may regulate all the thoughts of our minds, and all the words of our mouths. But what forbids our expressing, in plainer words, those things which, in the Scriptures, are, to our understanding, intricate and obscure, provided our expres- sions rehgiously and faithfully convey the true sense of the Scripture, and are used with modest caution, and not without sufficient occasion ? Of this, examples sufficiently numerous are not wanting. But, when it shall have been proved, that the Church was absohitely necessitated to use the terms Trinity and Persons, if any one then censures the novelty of the words, may he not be justly considered as offended at the hght of the truth ? as having no other cause of censure, but that the truth is explained and ehicidated ? IV. But such verbal novelty (if it must have this appella- tion) is principally used, when the trutli is to be asserted in opposition to malicious cavillers, who ehide it by crafty eva- sions ; of which we have too much experience in the present day, who find great difficuhy in refuting the enemies of pure and sound doctrine : possessed of serpentine lubricity, they escape by the most artful expedients, unless they are vigor- ously pursued, and held fast when once caught. Thus the ancients, pestercd with various controversies against erroneous dogmas, were constrained to express their sentiments with the utmost perspicuity, that they might leave no subterfuges to the impious, who .availed themselves of obscure expressions, for the concealment of their errors. Unable to resist the clear testimonies of the Scriptures, Arius confessed Christ to be God, and the Son of God ; and, as though this were all that ^vas necessary, he pretended to agree with the Church at large. But, at the same time, he continued to maintain that Christ was created, and had a beginning like other creatures. To draw the versatile subtlety of this man from its concealment, the ancient Fathers proceeded further, and declared Christ to be the eternal Son of the Father, and consubstantial with the Father. Here impiety openly discovered itself, when the Arians CHAP. XIII.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 119 began inveterately to hate and execrate the name oiiooJaioe, (con- substantial.) But if, in the first instance, they had sincerely and cordially confessed Christ to be God, they would not have denied him to be consubstantial with the Father. Who can dare to censure those good men, as quarrelsome and conten- tious, for having kindled such a flame of controversy, and dis- turbed the peace of the Church on account of one httle word ? That httle word distinguished Christians, who held the pure faith, from sacriiegious Arians. Afterwards arose SabelUus, who considered tlie names of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as Httle more than empty sounds ; arguing, that they were not used on account of any real distinction, but were different attributes of God, whose attributes of this kind are numerous. If the poiiit came to be controverted, he confessed, that he believed the Father to be God, the Son God, and the Holy Spirit God ; but he would readily evade all the force of this confession, by adding, that he had said no other than if he had called God potent, and just, and wise. And thus he came to another conchision, that the Father is the Son, and that the Holy Spirit is the Father, without any order or distinction. The good doctors of that age, who had the interest of religion at heart, in order to counteract the wickedness of this man, maintained, on the contrary, that they ought really to ac- knowledge three peculiar properties in one God. And, to defend themselves against his intricate subtleties, by the plain and simple truth, they affirmed, that they truly subsisted in the one God ; or, what is tlie same, tliat in the unity of God there subsisted a trinity of Persons. V. If, then, the words have not been rashly invented, we should beware lest we be convicted of fastidious temerity in rejecting them. I could wish them. indeed, to be buried in obhvion, provided this faith were universally received, that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are tlie one God ; and tliat nevertheless the Son is not the Father, nor the Spirit the Son, but that they are distinguished from each other by some pe- cuhar property. I am not so rigidly precise as to be fond of contending for mere words. For I observe that tlie ancients, who otherwise speak on these subjects with great piety, are not consistent with each other, nor, in all cases, with tliemselves. For what forms of expression, adopted by councils, does Hilary excuse ! To what extremes does Augustine some- times proceed ! How different are tlie Greeks from the Latins ! But of this variation, let one example suffice : when the Latins would translate the word o/aoojctioc:, they called it ('onsuhstantial, signifying the siihstance of the Father and the Son to be one, and thus using siihstance for esse?ice. Wlience also Jerome. writing to Damasus, pronounces it to be sacrilege 120 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK I. to say that there are three siibstafices in God. Yet, that there are three siibstances in God, you will find asserted in Hilary more than a hundred times. But how perpiexed is Jerome on the word hypostasis ! For he suspects some latent poison in the assertion, that there are three hypostases in God. And if any one uses this word in a pious sense, he refrains not from calHng it an improper expression ; if, indeed, he was sincere in this declaration, and did not rather knowingly and wilfully endeavour to asperse, with a groundless cahniiny, the bishops of the East, whom he hated. He certainly discovers not much ingenuousness in affirming that, in all the profane schools, oJtria (essence) is the same as WorfTarfis, (hypostasis,) which the trite and common use of the words universally contradicts. More modesty and liberahty are discovered by Augustine, who, though lie asserts that the word hypostasis, in this sense, is new to Latin ears, yet leaves the Greeks their usual phra- seology, and even peaceably tolerate^ the Latins, who had im- itated their language ; and the account of Socrates, in the sixth book of his Tripartite History, seems to imply, that it was by ignorant men that it had first been improperly applied to this subject. The same Hilary accuses the heretics of a great crime, in constraining him. by their wickedness, to expose to the danger of human langnage those things which ought to be confined within the religion of the mind ; plainly avowing that this is to do things unlawful, to express things inexpressible, to assnme things not conceded. A httle after, he largely ex- cuses himself for his boldness in bringing forvvard new terms ; for, when he has used the names of nature, Father, Son, and Spirit, he immediately adds, that whatever is sought further, is beyond the signification of language, beyond the reach of our senses, beyond the conception of our understanding. And, in another place, he pronounces that happy were the bishops of Gaul, who had neither composed, nor received, nor even known, any other confession but that ancient and very simple one, which had been received in all the churches from the days of the Apostles. Very simiiar is the excuse of Augustine, that this word was extorted by necessity, on account of the poverty of human language on so great a subject, not for the sake of expressing what God is, but to avoid passing it over in total silence, that the Father, Son, and Spirit are three. This moderation of those holy men should teach us, not to pass such severe censures on those who are unwilhng to sub- scribe to expressions adopted by us, provided they are not actuated by pride, perverseness, or disingenuous subtlety. But let them also, on the other hand, consider the great necessity which constrains us to use such language, that, by degrees, they may at length be accustomed to a useful phraseology. CHAP. XIII.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 121 Let tliem also learn to beware, since we have to oppose the Arians on one side, and the SabeUians on the other, lest, while they take oHence at both these parties being deprived of all opportunity of evasion, they cause some suspicion that they are thernselves the disciples either of Arius or of Sabellius. Arius confesses, " that Christ is God;" but maintains also, " that he was created, and had abeginning." He acknowledges that Christ is " one with the Father ; " but secretly whispers in the ears of his disciples, that he is " united to him," like the rest of the faithful, though by a singular privilege. Say that he is consuhstantial, you tear oflf the mask from the hypocrite, and yet you add nothing to the Scriptures. Sa- bellius asserts, " that the names Father, Son, and Spirit, are expressive of no distinction in the Godhead." Say that they are three, and he will exclaim, that you are talking of " three gods." Say, " that in the one essence of God there is a trinity of Persons," and you will at once express what the Scriptures declare, and will restrain such frivolous loquacity. Now, if any persons are prevented, by such excessive scrupulousness, from admitting these terms, yet not one of them can deny, that, when the Scripture speaks of one God, it should be un- derstood of a unity of substance ; and that, when it speaks of three in one essence, it denotes the Persons in this trinity. When this is honestly confessed, we have no further concern about words. But I have found, by long and frequent ex- perience, that those who pertinaciously contend about words, cherish some latent poison ; so that it were better designedly to provoke their resentment, than to use obscure language for the sake of obtaining their favour. VI. But, leaving the dispute about terms, I shall now enter on the discussion of the subject itself, What I denominate a Person, is a subsistence in the Divine essence, which is re- lated to the others, and yet distinguished from tliem by an in- communicable property. By the word suhsistence we mean something ditFerent from the word essence. For, if the Word were simply God, and had no peculiar property, John had been guilty of impropriety in saying that he was always with God. (l) When he immediately adds, that the Word also was God, he reminds us of the unity of the essence. But because he could not be with God, without subsisting in the Father, hence arises that subsistence, which, although inseparably con- nected with the essence, has a peculiar mark, by which it is distinguished from it. Now, I say that each of the three sub- sistences has a relation to the others, but is distinguished from them by a peculiar property. We particularly use the word (0 John i. 1. VOL. I. 16 122 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK I. relatio7i, (or comparison^) here, becaiise, when mention is made simply and indefinitely of God, this namc pertains no less to the Son and Spirit, than to the Father, But whenever the Father is compared with the Son, the property pecnhar to each distinguishes him from the other. Thirdly, wliatever is proper to each of them, I assert to be incommunicable, be- cause whatever is ascribed to the Father as a character of distinction, cannot be apphed or transferred to the Son. Nor, indeed, do I disapprove of the definition of TertuUian, if rightly nnderstood : " That there is in God a certain distribution or economy, whichmakes no change in the unity of the essence." VII. But before I proceed any further, I must prove the Deity of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ; after which we shall see how they ditfer from each otlier. When the Scrip- ture spcaks of the Word of God, it certainly were very absurd to imagine it to be only a transient and momentary sound, emitted into the air, and coming forth from God himself ; of which nature were the oracles, given to tlie fathers, and all the prophecies, It is rather to be understood of the eternal wisdom residing in God, whence the oracles, and all the prophecies, proceeded. For, according to the testimony of Peter, {m) the ancient Prophets spake by the Spirit of Christ no less than the Apostles and all the succeeding ministers of the heavenly doctrine, But, as Christ had not yet been man- ifested, we must necessarily nnderstand that the Word was begotten of the Father before the world began. And if the Spirit that inspired the Prophets was the Spirit of the Word, we conckide, beyond all donbt, that the Word was truly God. And this is taught by Moses, with sufficient perspicnity, in the creation of the world, in which he represents the Word as acting such a conspicuons part. For Avhy does he relate that God, in the creation of each of his works, said, Let tliis or that be done, but that the unsearchable glory of God may resplen- dently appear in his image ? Captious and loqnacious men wonld readily evade this argument, by saying, that the Word imports an order or conmiand ; but the Apostles are better in- terpreters, who declare, that the worlds were created by the Son, and that he " npholds all thmgs by the word of his power." {n) For here we see that the Word intends the nod or mandate of the Son, who is himself the eternal and essential Son of the Father. Nor, to the wise and sober, is there any obscurity in that passage of Solomon, where he introduces Wisdom as bogotten of the Father before time began, and pre- siding at the creation of the world, and over all the works of God. For, to prctend that this denotes some temporary ex- (m) 1 Pct. i. 11. {n) Heb. i. 2, 3. CHAP. XIII.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 123 pression of the will of God, were foolish aiid frivolous ; where- as God then intended to discover his fixed and eternal counsel, and even something more secret. To the same purpose also is that assertion of Christ, " My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." (o) For, by aflirming that, from the beginning of the world, he had continually cooperated with the Father, he makes a more exphcit declaration of what had been briefly glanced at by Moses. We conchide, therefore, that God spake thus at the creation, that the Word might have his part in the work, and so that operation be common to both. But John speaks more clearly than aU others, when he represents the Word, who from the beginning was God loith God, as in union with the Father, the original cause of aU things. For to the Word he both attributes a real and permanent essence, and assigns some pecuUar property ; and plainly shows how God, by speaking, created thc woiid. Tlierefore, as aU Divine revelations are justly entitled the ivord of God, so we ought chiefly to esteem that substantial Word the source of aU re- velations, who is liable to no variation, who remains with God perpetually one and tlie same, and who is God himself. VIII. Here Ave are intcrrupted by some clamorous objectors, who, siiice they cannot openly rob him of iiis divinity, secretly steal from him his eternity. For they say, tliat tlie Word only began to exist, wlien God opened his sacred mouth iii the cre- ation of the world. But they are too inconsiderate in imagin- ing something new in the substance of God. For, as those names of God, which relate to his external works, began to be ascribed to him after the existence of those works, as when he is caUed the Creator of heaven and earth, so piety neither ac- knowledges nor admits any name, signifying that God has found any thing new to happen to himself. For, could any thing, from any quarter, efFect a change in him, it would contra- dict the assertion of James, that " every good gift and every per- fect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of Hghts, with whom is no variableness or shadow of turning." [p) Nothing, then, is more intolerable, than to suppose a beginning of that Word, which was always God, and afterwards the Cre- ator of the world. But they argue, in their own apprehension most acutely, that Moses, by representing God as having then spoken for the first time, implies also, that there was no Word in him before ; than which nothing is more absurd. For it is not to be concluded, because any thing begins to be man- ifested at a certain time, that it had no prior existence. I form a very dilFerent conchision ; that, since, in the very instant when God said, " Let there be light," {q) the power of the Word (o) Johii V. 17. {p) James i. 17. (</) Gen. i. 3. 124 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK I. was clearly manifested, the Word must have existed long before. But if any one inquires, how long, he will find no beginning. For he limits no certain period of time, when he himself says, " O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was." (r) Nor is this omitted by John ; for, before he descends to the creation of the world, he declares that the Word " was in the beginning with God." (s) We therefore conchide again, that the Word, conceived of God before time began, perpetually remained with him, which proves his eternity, his true essence, and his divinity. IX. Though I advert not yet to the person of the Mediator, but defer it to that part of the work which will relate to re- demption, yet, since it ought, without controversy, to be believed by all, that Christ is the very same Word clothed in flesh, any testimonies which assert the Deity of Christ, will be very prop- erly introduced here. When it is said, in the forty-fifth Psahii, " Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever," the Jews endeav- our to evade its force, by pleading that the name Elohim is ap- plicable also to angels, and to men of dignity and power. But there cannot be found in the Scripture a similar passage, which erects an eternal throne for a creature ; for he is not merely called God, but is also declared to possess an eternal dominion. Besides, this title is never given to a creature, without some addition, as when it is said that Moses should be " a god to Pharaoh." (t) Some read it in the genitive case, " Thy throne is of God," which is extremely insipid. I confess, indeed, that what is eminently and singularly excellent, is frequently called Divine ; but it sutficiently appears from the context, that such a meaning would be uncouth and forced, and totally inappli- cable here. But, if their perverseness refuse to yield this point, there certainly is no obscurity in Isaiah, where he introduces Christ as God, and as crowned with supreme power, which is the prerogative of God alone. " His name," sayshe, " shah be called the Mighty God, the Father of eternity," &c. (v) Here also the Jews object, and invert the reading of the passage in this manner : " This is the name by which the mighty God, the Father of eternity, shall call him," &c. ; so that they wonld leave the Son only the title of Prince of peace. But to what purpose would so many epithets be accumulated in this passage on God the Father, when the design of the prophet is to distinguish Christ by such eminent characters as may estab- hsh our faith in him ? Wherefore, there can be no doubt that he is there denominated the Mighty God, just as, a httle before, he is called Immanuel. But nothing can be required plainer than a passage in Jeremiah, that this should be the name (r) John xvii. 5. (s) John i. 2. (t) Exod. vii. 1. (r) Isaiah ix. 6. CHAP. XIII.] CHUISTIAN RELIGION. 125 whereby the Branch of David shall be called " Jehovah our righteousuess." (w) For siuce the Jews themselves teach, that all other names of God are mere epithets, but that this alone, which they caU iueliable, is a proper name expressive of his Essence, we conchide, that the Sou is the one eternal God, who declares, in another place, tliat he '' wih not give his glory to another." (.r) This also they endeavour to evade, because Moses imposed this name on an altar which he built, and Ezekiel on the city of the uew Jerusalem. But who does not perceive, that the altar was erected as a mouument of Moses having been exaUed by God, and that Jerusalem is honoured with the name of God, only as a testimony of the Diviue presence ? Por thus speaks the prophet : " The name of the city shah be, Jehovah is there." (y) But Moses exj^jresses himseh' thus : He "buih an altar, aud cahed the name of it Jehovali-nissi," (my exaha- tion.)(z) But there is more conteution about another passage of Jeremiah, where the same title is given to Jerusalem iu these words : " Tliis is tho name wherewith she shaU be called, Je- hovah our righteousness." (a) But this testimony is so far from opposing the truth which we are defending, that it rather coufirms it. For, haviug before testified that Christ is the true Jehovah, from whom righteousuess proceeds, he now pro- nounces that the church wiU have such a clear appreheusion of it, as to be able to glory iu the same name. In the former place, then, is shown the original cause of righteousness, in the latter the efi"ect. X. Now, if these thiugs do uot satisfy the Jews, I see not by what cavils they can evade the accounts of Jehovah haviug so frequeutly appeared iu the character of an angel. An angel is said to have appeared to the holy fathers. He claims for him- seh' the name of the eternal God. If -it be objected, that this is spoken with regard to the character which he sustains, this by no means removes the difficuhy. For a servant would never rob God of his houour, by permitting sacrifice to be offered to himself. But the angel, refusing to eat bread, commauds a sacrifice to be offered to Jehovah. He afterwards demonstrates that he is really Jehovah himself. Therefore Manoah and his wife conchide, from this evidence, that they have seen, not a mere augel, but God himself Hence he says, " Wfe shaU surely die, because we have seeu God." Wheu his wife repKes, "If the Lord were pleased to kiU us, he would not have received " a sacrifice "at our hauds," (b) she clearly acknowledges him to be God, who before is caUed an angcL Moreover, the reply of the angel himself removes every doubt : " Why askest thou after my uame, seeing it is wonderful ? " So much the more detes- (?«) Jer. xxiii. 6. (y) Ezek. xlviii. 3.5. («) Jer. xxxiii. 16. (x) Isaiah xlii. 8. (2) Exod. xvii. 15. (/>) Judges xiii. 22, 23. 126 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK 1. table is the impiety of Servetus, in asserting that God never appeared to Abraham and the other patriarchs, but that they worshipped an angel in his stead. But the orthodox doctors of the church have truly and wisely understood and taught, that the same chief angel was the Word of God, who even then be- gan to perform some services introductory to his execution of the office of Mediator. For though he was not yet incarnate, he descended, as it were, in a mediatorial capacity, that he might approach the faithful with greater famiharity. His fa- mihar intercourse with men gave him the name of an angel ; yet he still retained what properly belonged to him, and con- tinued the ineffably glorious God. The same truth is attested by Hosea, who, after relating the wrestling of Jacob with an angel, says, " The Lord (Jehovah) God of hosts ; Jehovah is his memorial." (c) Servetus again cavils, that God employed the person of an angel ; as though the prophet did not confirm what had been delivered by Moses, — " Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name ? " And the confession of the holy pa- triarch, when he says, "I have seen God face to face," (<Z) sufficiently declares, that he was not a created angel, but one in whom resided the fuhiess of Deity. Hence, also, the repre- sentation of Paul, that Christ was the conductor of the people in the wilderness ; because, though the time of his humiliation was not yet arrived, the eternal Word then exhibited a type of the office to which he was appointed. Now, if the second chap- ter of Zechariah be strictly and coolly examined, the angel who sends another angel is immediately pronounced the God of hosts, and supreme power is ascribed to him. I omit testimonies in- numerable on which our faith safely rests, although they have little influence on the Jews. For when it is said in Isaiah, " Lo, this is our God ; we have waited for him, and he will save us ; this is Jehovah ; " (e) all who have eyes may perceive that this is God, who arises for the salvation of his people. And the emphatical repetition of these pointed expressions forbids an application of this passage to any other than to Christ. But still more plain and decisive is a passage of Malachi, where he proph- esies, that "the Lord, who was then sought, should come into his temple." (/) The temple was exchisively consecrated to the one Most^High God ; yet the prophet claims it as belonging to Christ. Whence it follows, that he is the same God that was always worshipped among the Jews. XI. The New Testament abounds with innumerable tes- timonies. We must, therefore, endeavour briefly to select a few, rather than to coUect them all. Though the Apostles spake of him after he had appeared in flesh as the Mediator, (c) Hosea xii. 5. (c) Isaiah xxv. 9. {(i) Gen. xxxii. 29, 30. (/) Mal. iii. 1. CHAP. XIII.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 127 yet all that I shall adduce will be adapted to prove his eternal Deity. Iii the first place, it is worthy of particular observa- tioii, that the apostle represents those things which were pre- dicted concerning the eternal God, as either ah-eady exhibited in Christ, or to be accomphshed in him at some future period. The prediction of Isaiah, that the Lord of Hosts would be " for a stone of stumbhng, and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel," {g) Paul asserts to have been fuIfiUed in Christ. (A) Therefore he declares, that Christ is the Lord of Hosts. There is a similar instance in another place : " We shall all stand," says he, " before the judgment-seat of Christ. For it is written, As I hve, saith the Lord, every knee shaU bow to me, and every tongue shaU confess to God." U) Since God, in Isaiah, {k) declares this concerning himself, and Christ actuaUy exhibits it in his own person, it foUows, that he is that very God, whose glory cannot be transferred to another. The apostle's quotation from the Psahiis also, in his Epistle to the Ephesians, is evidently apphcable to none but God : " VVhen he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive : " {l) understanding that ascension to have been prefigured by the exertions of the Divine power in the signal victories of David over the heathen nations, he signifies, that the text was more fuUy accomphshed in Christ. Thus John attests that it was the glory of the Son which was revealed in a vision to Isaiah ; v/hereas the prophet himself records that he saw the majesty of God. (m) And those praises which the Apostle, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, ascribes to the Son, beyond aU doubt most evidently belong to God : " Thou, Lord, in the begin- ning, hast laid the foundation of the earth ; and the heavens are the works of thine hands," &c. Again, " Let all the angels of God worship him." (;t) Nor is it any misapplication of them, when he refers them to Christ ; since all that is pre- dicted in those Psalms has been accomplished only by him. For it was He who arose and had mercy upon Zion ; it was He who claimed as his own the dominion over all nations and islands. And why should John, after having affirmed, at the commencement of his Gospel, (o) that the Word was always God, have hesitated to attribute to Christ the majesty of God ? And why should Paul have been afraid to place Christ on the tribunal of God,(^) after having so publicly preached his Divmity, when he called him " God blessed for ever ? " (9) And, to show how consistent he is with himself on this sub- ject, he says, also, that " God was manifest in the flesh." (r) (g) Isaiah viii. 14. (/) Eph. iv. 8. Psalm Ixviii. 18. . (p) 2 Cor. v. 10. 0i) Rom. ix. 33. {in) John xii. 41. Isaiah vi. 1. {q) Rom. ix. 5. (j) Rom. xiv. 10, 11. (rt) Heb. i. 6, 10. (r) 1 Tim. iii. 16. {k) Isaiah xlv. 23. (o) John i. 1, 14. 128 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK I. If he is " God blessed for ever," he is the same to whom this apostle, in another place, affirms all glory and honour to be due. And he conceals not, but openly proclaims, that, " being in the form of God," he " thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation." (s) And, lest the impious might object, that he is a sort of artificial God, John goes further, and affirms, that " This is the Irue God, and eternal Hfe ; " (t) althougli we ought to be fully satisfied by his being called God, espccially by a witness who expressly avers that there are no more gods than one ; I mean Paul, who says, " though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth ; to us there is but one God, of whom are all things." (v) When we hear, from the same mouth, that " God was manifested in the flesh," that " God hath purchased the Church with his own blood," — why do we imagine a second God, whom he by no means acknowledges ? And there is no doubt that all the pious were of the same opinion. Thomas, hkewise, by pubhcly confessing him to be " his Lord and God," declares him to be the same true God whom he had always worshipped. (iv) XII. If we judge of his Divinity from the works which the Scriptures attribute to him, it will thence appear with increas- ing evidence. For when he said, that he had, from the be- ginning, continually cooperated with the Father, the Jews, stupid as they were about his other declarations, yet perceived, that he assumed to himself Divine power ; and, therefore, as John informs us, they " sought the more to kill him ; because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, niaking himself equal with God." (x) How great, then, must be our stupidity, if we perceive not this passage to be a plain assertion of his Divinity ! To preside over the world by his ahnighty providence, and to govern all things by the nod of his own power, (which the Apostle attributes to him,) (y) belongs exckisively to the Creator. And he participates with the Father, not only in the govern- ment of the world, but also in all other offices, which cannot be coramunicated to creatures. The Lord proclaims, by the prophet, " I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions, for mine own sake." (z) According to this declaration, when the Jews thought that Christ committed an injury against God, by undertaking to forgive sins, (a) he not only asserted in express terms, tliat this power belonged to him, but proved it by a miracle. We see, therefore, that he hath not the min- istry, but the power of remission of sins, which the Lord de- (s) Philip. ii. 6. (?ti) John xx. 28. (2) Isaiah xliii. 25. (t) 1 John V. 20. (/) John v. 18. (u) Matt. ix. 6. (v) 1 Cor. viii. 5, 6. (y) Heb. i. 3. CHAP. XIII.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 129 clares shall never be transferred from hiniself to another. Ts it not the prerogative of God alone to examine and penetrate the secret thonghts of the heart ? Yet Christ possessed that power ; which is a proof of his Divinity. XIII. But with what perspicuity of evidence does it appear in his miracles ! Though I grant that the Prophets and Apostles performed miracles similar and equal to his, yet there is a considerable difference in this respect, that they, in their ministry, dispensed the favours of God, whereas his miracles were performed by his exertions of his own power. He sometimes, indeed, used prayer, that he might glorify the Father; but, in most instances, we perceive the manifest displays of his own power. And how should not he be the true author of miracles, who, by his own anthority, committed tlie dispensation of them to others ? For the Evangehsts relate, that he gave his Apostles power to raise the dead, to heal the leprous, to cast out devils, &c. (6) And they per- formed that ministry in such a manner, as plainly to discover, that the power proceeded solely from Christ. " In the name of Jesus Christ," says Peter, "arise and walk." (c) It is no wonder, therefore, that Christ should bring forward his mir- acles, (d) to convince the increduhty of the Jews, since, being performed by his own power, they afforded most ample evi- dence of his Divinity. Besides, if out of God tliere be no sal- vation, no righteousness, no hfe, but Christ contains all these things in himself, it certainly demonstrates him to be God. Let it not be objected, that hfe and salvation are infused into him by God ; for he is not said to have received salvation, but to be himself salvation. And if no one be good but God alone, (e) how can he be a mere man who is, I vvill not say good and righteous, but goodness and righteousness itself? Even from the beginning of the creation, according to the testimony of an Evangelist, " in him was life ; and the life " then existed as " the light of men." Supported by such proofs, therefore, we venture to repose our faith and hope on him ; whereas we know that it is impious and sacrilegious for any man to place his confidence in creatures. He says, " Ye be- lieve in God, believe also in me." (/) And in this sense Paul interprets two passages of Isaiah — " Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed." Again, " There shall be a root of Jesse, that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles ; in him shall the Gentiles trust." (g) And why should we search for more testimonies from Scripture, when this declaration occurs so fre- quently, " He that believeth on me hath everlasting life " ? (h) (b) Matt. X. 8, Mark iii. 15. (c) Acts iii. 6. (d) John v. 30; x. 37. (e) Matt. xix. 17. (/) Jolin xiv. 1. (g) Isaiah xxviii. 16 ; xi. 10. Rom. x. 11 ; xv. 12. (h) John vi. 47. VOL. I. 17 130 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK I. The invocation, arising from faith, is also directed to hini; which, nevertheless, pecuharly belongs, if any thing pecuharly belongs, to the Divine majesty. For a prophet says, " VVho- soever shall call on the name of the Lord (Jehovah) shall be delivered." (i) And Solomon, " The name of the Lord is a strong tower : the righteous runneth into it, and is safe." (k) But the name of Christ is invoked for salvation : it follows, therefore, that he is Jehovah. Moreover, we have an example of such invocation in Stephen, when he says, " Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." (l) And afterwards in the whole Chiirch, as Ananias testifies in the same book : " Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints — that call on thy name." (wi) And to make it more clearly understood, that " all the fuhiess of the Godhead dvvelletli bodily in Christ," the Apostle confesses that he had introduced among the Corinthians no other doctrine than the knowledge of him, and that this had been the only subject of his preaching. (/«) What a remarkable and important consid- eration is it, that the name of the Son only is preached to us, whereas God commands us to glory in the knowledge of him- self alone ! (o) Who can dare to assert that he is a mere creature, the knowledge of whom is our only glory ? It must also be remarked, that the salutations prefixed to the epistles of Paul implore the same blessings from the Son as from the Father ; whence we learn, not only that those things, which our heavenly Father bestovvs, are obtained for us by his in- tercession, but that the Son, by a commimion of power, is himself the author of them. This practicai knowledge is unquestionably more certain and solid than any idle specula- tion. For then the pious mind has the nearest view of the Divine presence, and almost touches it, when it experiences itself to be quickened, illuminated, saved, justified, and sanc- tified. XIV. Wherefore the proof of the Deity of the Spirit must be derived principally from the same sources. There is no ob- scurity in the testimony of Moses, in the history of the crea- tion, that the Spirit of God was expanded on the abyss or chaos ; (p) for it signifies, not only that the beautiful state of the world which we novv behold owes its preservation to the power of the Spirit, but that, previously to its being thus adorned, the Spirit was engaged in brooding over the confnsed mass. The declaration of Isaiah bids defiance to all cavils : " And now the Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me." (7) For the Holy Spirit is united in the exercise of supreme (j) Joel ii. 32. (m) Acts ix. 13, 14. (p) Gen. i. 2. (k) Prov. xviii. 10. (") 1 Cor. ii. 2. (q) Isaiali xlviii. 16. (0 Acts vii. 59. (o) Jer. ix. 24. CHAP. XIII .] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 131 power iii the mission of Prophets, which is a proof of his Divine majesty. But the best confirmation, as I have re- marked, we shall derive from familiar experience. For what the Scriptures ascribe to him, and what we ourselves learn by the certain experience of piety, is not at all apphcable to any creature. For it is he who, being universally diffused, sus- tains and animates all things in heaven and in earth. And this very thing exchides him from the number of creatures, that he is circumscribed by no Hmits, but transfuses through all his own vigorous influence, to inspire them with being, life, and motion : this is clearly a work of Deity. Again, if regeneration to an incorruptible life be more important and excellent than any present life, what must we think of him from whose power it proceeds ? Bat the Scripture teaches, in various places, that he is the author of regeneration by a power not derived, but properly his own ; and not of regen- eration only, but hkewise of the future immortality. Finally, to him, as w^ell as to the Son, are applied all those offices which are peculiar to Deity. For hc " searcheth even the deep things of God," (r) who admits no creature to a share in his councils. He bestows wisdom and the faculty of speech ; (s) whereas the Lord declares to Moses, that this can only be done by himself (t) So through him we attain to a, participation of God, to feel his vivifying energy upon us. Our justification is his work. From him proceed power, sanctification, truth, grace, and every other blessing we can conceive ; since there is but one Spirit, from whom cvery kind of gifts descends. For this passage of Paul is worthy of particular attention : " There are diversities of gifts, and there are differences of administrations, but the same Spirit ; " (ti) because it represents him, not only as the principle and source of them, but also as the author ; wjiich is yet more clearly expressed a little after in these words: '• All these worketh that only and the self-same Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will." For if he Vv^ere not a subsistence in the Deity, judgment and volnntary determination would never be ascribed to him. Paul, therefore, very clearly attributes to the Spirit Divine power, and thereby demonstrates him to be an hypostasis or subsistence in God. XV. Nor does the Scripture, Avhen it speaks of him, refrain from giving him the appcllation of God. For Paul concludes that we are the temple of God, because his Spirit dwelleth in us. (v) This must not be passcd over without particular notice ; for the frequent promises of God, that he will choose us for a temple for himself, receive no other accomplishment, than by (r) 1 Cor ii. 10, 16. (s) 1 Cor. xii. 8. (t) E.xod. iv. It. (m) 1 Cor. xii. 4, &c. (i-) 1 Cor. iii. 10; vi. 19. 2 Cor. vi. 16. 132 INSTITUTES OF TUE [bOOK I. the inhabitatioii of his Spirit in us. Certaiiily, as Augnstine ex- cellently observes, " If we were commanded to erect to the Spirit a temple of wood and stone, forasmuch as God is the sole ob- ject of worship, it would be a clear proof of his Divinity ; how much clearer, then, is the proof, now that we are commanded, not to erect one, but to be ourselves his temples ! " And the Apostle caUs us sometimes the temple of God, and sometimes the temple of the Holy Spirit, both in the same signification. Peter, reprehending Ananias for having '4ied to the Holy Ghost," told him that he had " not Hed unto men, but unto God." (w) And where Isaiah (x) introduces the Lord of hosts as the speaker, Paul (y) informs us that it is the Holy Spirit who speaks. Indeed, while the Prophets invariably declare, that the words which they utter are those of the Lord of hosts, Christ and the Apostles refer them to the Holy Spirit ; whence it follows, that he is the true Jehovah, who is the primary author of the prophecies. Again, God complains that his anger was provoked by the perverseness of the people ; Isaiah, in refer- ence to the same conduct, says, that "they vexed his Holy Spirit." (z) Lastly, if blasphemy against the Spirit be not for- given, either in this world or in that which is to come, (a) whilst a man may obtain pardon who has been guilty of blas- phemy against the Son, this is an open declaration of his Divine majesty, to defame or degrade which is an inexpiable crime. I intentionally pass over many testimonies which were used by the fathers. To them there appeared much plausibihty in citing this passage from David, " By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth ; " (6) to prove that the creation of the world was the work of the Holy Spirit, as well as of the Son. But since a repetition of the same thing twice is common in the Psahns, and in Isaiah " the spirit of his mouth " means the same as " his word," this is but a weak argument. Therefore I have deter- mined to confine myself to a sober statement of those evidences on which pious minds may satisfactorily rest. XVI. As God afforded a clearer manifestation of himself at the advent of Christ, the threc Persons also then became bet- ter known. Among many testimonies, let us be satisfied with this one : Paul connects together these three, Lord, Faith, and Baptism, (c) in such a manner as to reason from one to another. Since there is but one faith, hence he proves that theie is but one Lord ; since there is but one baptism, he shows that there is also but one faith. Therefore, if we are initiated by baptism in- to the faith and rehgion of one God, we must necessarily suppose (?p) Acts V. 3, 4. (x) Isaiah vi. 9. (y) Acls xxviii. 25. (t) Isaiah Ixiii. 10. («) Malt. xii. 31. Mark"iii. 29. Luke xii. 10. (b) Psalm xxxiii. G. (c) Ephes. iv. 5. CHAP, XIII.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 133 him to be the true God, into whose name we are baptized. Nor can it be doul)ted but that in this solemn commission, " Baptize them in tlie name of the Father, and of tlie Son, and of the Holy Ghost," Christ intended to testify, that the perfect hght of faith was now exhibited. For this is equivalent to being baptized into the name of the one God, who hath clearly man- ifested himself in the Father, Son, and Spirit ; whence it evi- dently appears, that in the Divine Essence there exist three Persons, in whom is known the one God. And truly, since faith ought not to be looking about hither and thither, or to be wandermg through the varieties of inconstancy, but to direct its views towards the one God, to be fixed on him, and to adhere to him, — it may easily be proved from these premises, that, if there be various kinds of faith, there must also be a phiraUty of gods. Baptism, being a sacrament of faith, confirms to us the unity of God, because it is but one. Hence, also, we conchide, that it is not lawful to be baptized, except into the name of the one God ; because we embrace the faith of him, into whose name we are baptized. What, then, was intended by Christ, when he commanded baptism to be administered in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, but that one faith ought to be exercised in the Father, Son, and Spirit ? and what is that but a clear testimony, that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, are the one God ? Therefore, since it is an undeniable truth, that there is one God, and only one, we conchide the Word and Spirit to be no other than the very Es- sence of the Deity. The greatest degree of folly was betrayed by the Arians, who confessed the Divinity of the Son, but de- nied him to possess the substance of God. Nor were the Mace- donians free from a similar dehision, who would explain the term "■ Spirit " to mean only the gifts of grace conferred upon man. For as wisdom, understanding, prudence, fortitude, and the fear of the Lord, proceed from him, so he alone is the Spirit of wisdora, prudence, fortitude, and piety. Nor is he himself di- vided according to the distribution of his graces ; but, as the Apostle declares, how variously soever they are divided, he al- ways remains one and the same. (d) XVH. On the other hand, also, we find in the Scriptures a distinction between the Father and the Word, between the Word and the Spirit ; in the discussion of which the magni- tude of the mystery reminds us that we oiight to proceed with the utmost reverence and sobriety. I ani exceedingly pleased with this observation of Gregory Nazianzen : " I cannot think of the one, but I am immediately surrounded with the splen- dour of the three ; nor can I clearly discover the ^Aree, but I (rf) 1 Cor. xii. 11. 134 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK I. am suddenly carried back to the one.'" Wherefore let iis not imagine such a trinity of Persons, as inchides an idea of separa- tion, or does not immediately recall us to the unity. The names of Father, Son, and Spirit, certainly imply a real dis- tinction ; let no one suppose them to be mere epithets, by which God is variously designated from his works ; but it is a distinction. not a division. The passages ah'eady cited show, that the Son has a property, by which he is distin- guished from the Father ; because the Word had not been with God, or had his glory with the Father, unless he had been distinct from him. He hkewise distinguishes the Father from himself, when he says, " that there is another that beareth witness of him."(e) And to the same eftect is what is de- clared in another place, that the Father created all things by the Word ; which he could not have done, unless he had been in some sense distinct from him. Besides. the Father de- scended not to the earth, but he who came forth from the Father. The Father neither died nor rose again, but he who was sent by the Father. Nor did this distinction commence at the incarnation, but it is evident, that, before that period, he was the only begotten in the bosom of the Father. (/) For who can undertake to assert, that the Son first entered into the bosom of the Father, when he descended from heaven to assume a human nature ? He, therefore, was in the bosom of the Father before, and possessed his glory with the Father. The distinction between the Holy Spirit and the Father is announced by Christ, when he says, that he " proceedeth from the Father." (g) But how often does he represent him as another, distinct from himself! as when he promises that " another Comforter " (h) should be sent, and in many other places. XVHI. I doubt the propriety of borrowing similitudes from human things, to express the force of this distinction. The fathers sometimes practise tliis method ; but they likewise confess the great disproportion of all the simiUtudes which they introduce. Wherefore I greatly dread, in this instance, every degree of presumption ; lest the introduction of any thing un- seasonable should afford an occasion of calumny to the ma- licious, or of error to the ignorant. Yet it is not right to be silent on the distinction which we find expressed in the Scrip- tures ; which is this — that to the Father is attributed the principle of action, the fountain and source of all things ; to the Son, wisdom, counsel, and the arrangement of all opera- tions ; and the power and efficacy of the action is assigned to the Spirit. Moreover, though eternity belongs to the Father, (f) John V. 32; viii. 16, 18. (g) John xv. 26. (/) John i. 18. (/») John xiv. 16. CHAP. XIII. 1 CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 135 and to the Son and Spirit also, since God can never have been destitute of his wisdom or his power, and in eternity we must not inquire after any thing prior or posterior, — yet the observa- tion of order is not vain or superfluous, while the Father is mentioned as first ; in the next place the Son, as from him ; and then the Spirit, as from both. For the mind of every man naturally inclines to the consideration, first, of God ; sec- ondly, of the wisdom emanating from him ; and lastly, of the power by which he executes the decrees of his wisdom. For this reason the Son is said to be from the Father, and the Spirit from both the Father and the Son ; and that in various places, but nowhere more clearly than in the eighth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, where the same Spirit is indif- ferently denominated " the Spirit of Christ," and " the Spirit of him that raised up Christ from the dead," and that without any irapropriety. For Peter also testifies that it was the Spirit of Christ by whom the prophets prophesied ; (i) whereas the Scripture so frequently declares that it was the Spirit of God the Father. XIX. This distinction is so far from opposing the most ab- solute simplicity and unity of the Divine Being, that it affords a proof that the Son is one God with the Father, because he has the same Spirit with him ; and that the Spirit is not a different substance from the Father and the Son, because he is the Spirit of the Father and of the Son, For the whole nature is in each hypostasis, and each has something pecuhar to himself. The Father is entirely in the Son, and the Son entirely in the Father, according to his own declaration, " I am in the Father, and the Father in me ; " (k) nor do eccle- siastical writers allow that one is divided from the other by any difi^erence of essence. " These distinctive appellations," says Augustine, " denote their reciprocal relations to each other, and not the substance itself, which is but one." This explanation may serve to reconcile the opinions of the fathers, which would otherwise appear totally repugnant to each other. For sometimes they state that the Son originates from the Father, and at other times assert that he has essential Divinity from himself, and so is, together with the Father, the onc' first cause of all. Augustine, in another place, admirably and perspicuously explains the cause of this diversity, in the fol- lovving manner : " Christ, considered in himself, is called God ; but with relation to the Father, he is called the Son." And again, " The Father, considered in himself, is called God ; but with relation to the Son, he is called the Father. He who, with relation to the Son, is called the Father, is not the Son ; I? - (l) 1 Pet. i. 11. (k) Johnxiv, 10, 1]. 136 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK I. he who, with relation to the Father, is called the Son, is not the Father ; they who are severally called the Father and the Son, are the same God." Therefore, when we speak simply of the Son, without reference to the Father, we truly and properly assert hira to be self-existent, and therefore call him the sole first cause ; but, when we distinctly treat of the rela- tion between him and the Father, we justly represent him as originating from the Father. The first book of Augustine on the Trinity is entirely occupied with the exphcation of this subject ; and it is far more safe to rest satisfied with that re- lation which he states, than by curiously penetrating into tlie sublime mystery, to wander through a multitude of vain spec- iilations. XX. Therefore, let such as love sobriety, and will be con- tented with the measure of faith, briefly attend to what is use- fiil to be known ; which is, that, when we profess to believe in one God, the word God denotes a single and simple essence, in whicli we comprehend three Persons, or hypostases ; and that, therefore, whenever the word God is used indefinitely, the Son and Spirit are intended as much as the Father ; but when the Son is associated with the Father, that introduces the reciprocal relation of one to the other ; and thus we dis- tinguish between the Persons. Bat, since the pecuHar proper- ties of the Persons produce a certain order, so that the original cause is in the Father, whenever the Father and the Son or Spirit are mentioned together, the name of God is pecuharly ascribed to the Father : by this method the unity of the es- sence is preserved, and the order is retained ; which, however, derogates nothing from the Deity of the vSon and Spirit. And indeed, as we have ah'eady seen that the Apostles assert him to be the Son of God, whom Moses and the Prophets have represented as Jehovah, it is always necessary to recur to the unity of the essence. Wherefore it would be a detestable sacrilege for iis to call the Son another God different from the Father ; because tlie simple name of God admits of no rela- tion ; nor can God, with respect to himself, be denominated either the one or the other. Now, that the name " Jehovah," in an indefinite sense, is apphcable to Christ, appears even from the words of Paul : " for this thing I besought the Lord thrice ; " (/) because, after relating the answer of Christ, " My grace is sufficient for thee," he immediately subjoins, " Tliat the power of Christ may rest upon me." For it is cer- tain that the word " Lord " is there used for " Jehovah ; " and to restrict it to the person of the Mediator, would be friv- olous and puerile, sirice it is an absohite declarationj containing Q) 2 Cor. xii. 8, 9. CHAP. XIII.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 137 no comparison between the Son and the Father. And we know that the Apostles, following the custoni of the Greek translators, invariably use the word Ku|ioj, (Lord,) instead of Jehovah. And, not to seek far for an example of this, Paul prayed to the Lord in no other sense than is intended in a passage of Joel, cited by Peter : " Whosoever shall call on the iiame of the Lord shali be saved." {m) But for the pecuhar ascription of this name to the Son, another reason will be given in its proper place ; sufRce it at present to observe that, when Paul had prayed to God absokitely, he immediately snbjoins the name of Christ. Thus also the whole Deity is by Christ himself denominated " a Spirit." For nothing opposes the spirituaUty of the whole Divine essence, in which are compre- hended the Father, the Son, and the Spirit ; which is plain from the Scripture. For as we there find God denominated a Spirit, so we find also the Holy Spirit, forasmuch as he is an hypostasis of the whole essence, represented both as the Spirit of God, and as proceeding from God. XXL But since Satan, in order to subvert the very fonn- dations of our faith, has always been exciting great conten- tions concerning the Divine essence of the Son and Spirit, and the distinction of the Persons ; and in almost all ages has instigated impious spirits to vex the orthodox teachers on this account ; and is also endeavouring, in the preseut day, with the old embers, to kindle a new flame ; it becomes necessary here to refute the perverse and fanciful notions which some persons have imbibed. Hitherto it has been our principal de- sign to instruct the docile, and not to combat the obstiuate and contentious : but now, having calmly explained and proved the truth, we must vindicate it from all the cavils of the wick- ed ; although I shall make it my principal study, that those who readily and implicitly attend to the Divine word, may have stable ground on which they may confidently rest. On this, indeed, if on any of the secret mysteries of the Scnpture, we ought to philosophize with great sobriety and moderation ; and also with extreme caution, lest either our ideas or our lan- guage should proceed beyond the Hmits of the Divine word. For how can the infinite essence of God be defined by the narrow capacity of the human mind, which could never yet certainly determine the nature of the body of the sun, though the object of our daily contemplation ? How can the human mind, by its own efforts, penetrate into an examination of the essence of God, when it is totally ignorant of its own ? Where- fore let us freely leave to God the knowledge of himself. For " he alone," as Hilary says, " is a competent witness for him- (m) Joel ii. 28—32. Acls ii. 16—21. VOL. I. 18 138 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK I. self, being only known by himself." And we shall certainly leave it to him, if our conceptions of hini correspond to the manifestations which he has given iis of himself, and our in- quiries concerning liim are confined to his word. There are extant on this argument five homilies of Chrysostom against the Anomoei ; which, however, were not sutficient to restrain the presumptuous garruhty of those sophists. For they dis- covered no greater modesty in this instance than in every other. The very unhappy consequences of this temerity should warn us to study this question with more docility than subtlety, and not allow ourselves to investigate God any where but in his sacred word, or to form any ideas of him but such as are agreeable to his word, or to speak any thing concerning him but what is derived froni the sanie word. But if tlie dis- tinction of Fatlier, Son, and Spirit, in the one Deity, as it is not easy to be comprehended, occasions some understandings more labour and trouble than is desirable, let them remember that the mind of man, when it indulges its curiosity, enters into a labyrinth ; and let them submit to be guided by the heavenly oracles, however they may not comprehend the height of this mystery. XXII. To compose a catalogue of the errors, by which the purity of the faith has been attacked on this point of doctrine, would be too prolix and tedious, witliout being profitable ; and most of the heretics so strenuously exerted tliemselves to effect the total extinction of the Divine glory by their gross reveries, that they thought it sufficient to unsettle and disturb the inexpe- rienced. From a few men there soon arose numerous sects, of whom some would divide the Divine essence, and others would confound the distinction which subsists between the Persons. But if we maintain, what has ah-eady becn sufficiently demon- strated from the Scripture, that the essence of the one God, which pertains to the Father, to the Son, and to the Spirit, is simple and undivided, and, on the other hand, that the Father is, by some property, distinguished from the Son, and likewise the Son from the Spirit, the gate will be shut, not only against Arius and Sabellius, but also against all the other ancient he- resiarchs. But since our own times have witnessed some mad- men, as Servetus and his followers, who have involved every thing in new subtleties, a brief exposure of their fallacies will not be unuseful. The word Trinity was so odious and even detestable to Servetus, that he asserted all Trinitarians, as he called them, to be Atheists. I omit his impcrtinent and scurri- lous language, but this was the substance of his speculations : That it is representing God as consisting of three parts, when three Pcrsons are said to subsist in his essence, and that this triad is merely imaginary, being repugnant to the Divine unity. CHAP. XIII.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 139 At the same time, lie maintained the Persons to be certain ex- ternal ideas, which have no real subsistence in the Divine es- seiice, but give us a figurative representation of God, under this or the other form ; and that in tiie beginning there was no dis- tinction in God, because the Word was once the same as the Spirit ; but that, after Christ appeared God of God, there em- anated from him another God, even the Spirit. Though he sometimes glosses over his impertinencies with allegories, as when he says, that the eternal VVord of God was the Spirit of Christ with God, and the retiection of his image, and that the Spirit was a shadow of the Deity, yet he afterwards destroys the Deity of both, asserting that, according to the mode of dis- pensation, there is a part of God in both the Son and the Spirit ; just as the same Spirit, substantially ditfused in us, and even in wood and stones, is a portion of the Deity. What he broached concerning the Person of the Mediator, we shall cxamine in the proper place. But this monstrous fiction, that a Divine Person is nothing but a visible appearance of the glory of God, will not need a prohx refutation. For when John pronounces that the Word (Aoyos) was God before the creation of the woiid, he sufficiently discriminates him from an ideal form. But if then also, and from the remotest eternity, that Word (Aoyoj) who was God, was with the Father, and possessed his own glory with the Father, he certainly could not be an external or figurative splen- dour ; but it necessarily follows, that he was a real hypostasis, subsisting in God himself. But aUhough no mention is made of the Spirit, but in the history of the creation of the world, yet he is there introduced, not as a sliadow, but as the essential power of God, since Moses relates that the chaotic mass was supported by him. (n) It then appeared, therefore, that the eternal Spirit had always existed in the Deity, since he cherished and sustained the confused matter of the heaven and earth, till it attainod a statc of beauty and order. He certainly could not then be an image or representation of God, according to the dreams of Servetus. But in other places he is constrained to make a fuUer disclosure of his impiety, saying that God, in his eternal reason, decreeing for himself a visible Son, has visibly exhibited himself in this manner ; for if this be true, there is no other Divinity left to Christ, than as he has been appointed a Son by an eternal de- cree of God. Besides, he so transforms those phantasms, which he substitutes instead of tlie hypostases, that he hesitates not to imagine new accidents or properties in God. But the most ex- ecrable blasphemy of ah is, his promiscuous confusion of the Son of God and the Spirit with all the creatures. For he asserts that in the Divine essence there are parts and divisions, every por- («) Gen. i. 2. 140 INSTITUTKS OF THE [bOOK I. tion of which is God ; aiid especially that the souls of the faithful are coeternal and consubstantial with God ; though in another place he assigns substantial Deity, not only to the hu- man soul, but to all created things. XXIII. From the same corrupt source has proceeded an- other heresy, equally monstrous. For some worthless men, to escape the odium and disgrace which attended the impious tenets of Servetus, have confessed, iiideed, that there are three Persons, but with this explanation, that the Father, who alone is truly and properly God, hath created the Son and Spirit, and transfused his Deity into them. Nor do they refrain from this dreadfui manner of expressing themselves, that the Father is distinguished from the Son and Spirit, as being the sole pos- sessor of the Divine essence. Their first plea in support of this notion is, that Christ is commonly caUed the Son of God ; whence they conchide that no other is properly God but the Father. But they observe not, that aUhough the name of God is common also to the Son, yet that it is sometimes as- cribed to the Father (xar' i^oxn^) by way of eminence, because he is the fountain and original of the Deity ; and this in order to denote the simple unity of the essence. They object, that if he is truly the Son of God, it is absurd to account him the Son of a Person. I reply, that both are true ; that he is the Son of God, because he is the Word begotten of the Father before time began, for we are not yet speaking of the Person of the Mediator ; and to be exphcit, we must notice the Per- son, that the name of God may not be understood absolutely, but for the Father ; for if we acknowledge no other to be God than the Father, it wiU be a manifest degradation of the dig- nity of the Son. Whenever mention is made of the Deity, therefore, there must no opposition be admitted between the Father and the Son, as though the name of the true God be- longed exchisively to the Father. For surely the God who appeared to Isaiah, was the only true God ; (o) whom, never- theless, John affirms to have been Christ. (p) He hkewise, who by the mouth of Isaiah declared that he was to be a rock of offence to the Jews, was the only true God ; (q) whom Paul pronounces to have been Christ. (r) He who proclaims by Isaiah, " As I Uve, every knee shaU bow to me," (s) is the only true God ; but Paul apphes the same to Christ. (t) To the same purpose are the testimonies recited by the Apostle — " Thou, Lord, hast laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens ; " and " Let aU the angels of God worship him." (v) These ascriptions belong only to the one true God ; whereas (o) Isaiah vi. 1. (ry) Isaiah viii. 14. (s) Isaiah xlv. 23, (p) John xii. 41. (/) Rom. ix. 33. (1) Rom. xiv. 11. (v) Heb. i. 6, 10. Psalm cii. 25 ; xcvii. 7. CHAP. XIII.] CHRISTIAN RELIGJON. 141 he contends that they are properly applied to Christ. Nor is there any force in that cavil, that wliat is proper to God is transferred to Christ, because he is the brightness of his glory. For, since the name Jehovah is used in each of these passages, it follows that in respect of his Deity he is self-existent. For, if he is Jehovah, he cannot be denied to be the same God, who in another place proclaims by Isaiah, " I am the first and I am the last ; and beside me there is no God." (w) That pas- sage in Jeremiah also dcserves our attention — " The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens ; " (.r) wtiilst, on the contrary, it must be acknowledged, that the Deity of the Son of God is frequently proved by Isaiah from the creation of the world. But how shall the Creator, who gives existence to all, not be self-existent, but derive his es- sence from another ? For whoever asserts that the Son owes his essence to the Father, denies him to be self-existent. But this is contradicted by the Holy Spirit, who gives him the name of Jehovah. Now, if we admit the whole essence to be solely in the Father, either it will be divisible, or it will be taken away from the Son ; and so, being despoiled of his es- sence, he will be only a titular god. The Divine essence, according to these triflers, belongs solely to the Father, inas- much as he alone possesses it, and is the author of the essence of the Son. Thus the Divinity of the Son will be a kind of emanation from the essence of God, or a derivation of a part from the whole. Now, they must of necessity concede, from their own premises, that the Spirit is the Spirit of the Father only ; because if he be a derivation from the original essence, which belongs exclusively to the Father, he cannot be ac- coimted the Spirit of the Son ; which is refuted by the tes- timony of Paul, where he makes him commori to Clirist and the Father. Besides, if the Person of the Father be expunged from the Trinity, wherein will he differ from the Son and Spirit, but in being himself the sole Deity ? They confess that Christ is God, and yet difl^ers from the Fatiier. Some distinctive character is necessary, also, to discriminate the Father from the Son. They who place this in the essence, manifestly destroy the true Deity of Christ, which cannot exist independently of the esseuce, that is, of the entire essence. The Father certainly cannot difl:er from the Son, unless he have something peculiar to himself, which is not common to the Son. What will they find, by which to distinguish him ? If the difference be in the essence, let them tell us whether he has communicated the same to the Son. But this could not (w) Isaiah xliv. C. (x) Jer. x. 11. 142 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK I. be done partially ; for it Avould be an abomination to fabricate a demigod. Besides, this would miserably dismember the Divine essence. The necessary conclusion then is, that it is entirely and perfectly common to the Father and the Son, And if this be true, there cannot, in respect of the essence, be any diflerence between them. If it be objected that the Fa- ther, notwithstanding this communication of his essence, re- mains the only God with whom the essence continues, then Christ must be a figurative god, a god in appearance and name only, not in reaiity ; because nothing is more proper to God than To BE, according to that declaration, " I AM liath sent me unto you." {y) XXIV. We might readily prove from many passages the falsehood of their assumption, that, whenever the name of God is mentioned absolutely in the Scripture, it means only the Fatlier. And in those places which they cite in their own defence, they shamefully betray their ignorance, since the Son is there added ; from wliich it appears, that the name of God is used in a relative sense, and therefore is particularly re- stricted to the Person of the Father. Their objection, that, unless the Father alone were the true God, he would himself be his own Father, is answered in a word. For there is no absurdity in the name of God, for the sake of dignity and order, being peculiarly given to him, who not only hath be- gotten of himself his own wisdom, but is also the God of tlie Mediator, of which I shall treat more at lai'ge in its proper place. For since Christ was manifested in the flesh, he is called the Son of God, not only as he was the eternal Word begotten of the Father before time began, but because he assumed the person and oflice of a Mediator, to unite us to God. And since they so presumptuously exclude the Son from Divine honours, I would wish to be informed, when he declares that there is none good but the one God, [z) whether he deprives himself of all goodness. I speak not of his hu- man nature, lest they should object, that, whatever goodness it had, it was gratuitously conferred on it. I demand whether the eternal Word of God be good or not. If they answer in the negative, they are sufiiciently convicted of impiety ; and if in the affirmative, they cut the throat of their own system. But though, at the first glance, Christ seems to deny himself the appellation of good, he furnishes, notwithstanding, a fur- ther confirmation of our opinion. For, as that is a title which peculiarly belongs to the one God, forasmuch as he had been saluted as good, merely according to a common custom, by his rejection of false honour, he suggested tliat the goodness {ij) Exod. iii. 14. (z) Matt. xix. 17. CHAP. XIII.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION, 143 which he possessed was Diviiie. T demand, also, when Paul affirms that God alone is immortal, wise, and true, (a) whether he thereby degrades Christ to the rank of those who are mor- tal, unwise, and false. Shall not he then be immortal who from the beginning was life itself, and the giver of immortal- ity to angels ? Shall not he be wise who is the eternal Wis- dom of God ? Shall not he be true who is truth itself? I demand further, whether they think that Christ ought to be worshipped. For, if he justly claims this as his right, that every knee should bow before him, (6) it follows that he is that God, who, in the law, prohibited the worship of any one but himself. If they will have this passage in Isaiah, " I am, and there is no God besides me," to be understood solely of the Father, I retort this testimony on themselves : since we see that whatever belongs to God is attributed to Christ. Nor is there any room for their cavil, tliat Christ was exalted in the humanity in which he had been abased ; and that, with regard to his humanity, all power was given to him in heaven and in earth ; because, although the regal and judicial majesty extends to the whole Person of the Mediator, yet, had he not been God manifestcd in the flesh, he could not have been exalted to such an eminence, without God being in opposition to himself. And Paul excellently determines this controversy, by informing us that he was equal vvith God, before he abased himself under the form of a servant. (c) Now, how could this equahty subsist, unless he had been that God whose name is Jah and Jehovah, who rides on the cherubim, whose kingdom is universal and everlasting ? No clamour of theirs can de- prive Clirist of another declaration of Isaiah : " Lo, this is our God, we have waited for him ; " (d) since in these words he describes the advent of God the Redeemer, not only for the dehverance of the people from exile in Babylon, but also for the complete restoration of the church. Nor do they gain any thing by another cavil, that Christ was God in his Father. For ahhough we confess, in point of order and degree, that the Father is the fountain of the Deity, yet we pronounce it a detestable figment, that the essence belongs exclusively to the Fatlier, as though he were the author of the Deity of the Son; because, on this supposition, either the essence would be divi- ded, or Christ would be only a titular and imaginary god. If they admit that the Son is God, but inferior to the Father, then in him the essence must be begotten and created, which in the Father is unbegotten and uncreated. I know that some scorners ridicule our concluding a distinction of Persons from the words of Moses, where he introduces God thus speak- (a) 1 Tim. i. 17. (b) Phil. ii. 10. (f) Phil. ii. 6, 7. (d) Isaiah xxv. 9 144 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK I. ing : "Let us make man in our image." (e) Yet pious readers perceive how frigidly and foolishly Moses would have intro- duced this conference, if in one God there had not subsisted a phn-ahty of Persons. Now, it is certain that they whom the Father addressed, were uncreated ; but there is nothing un- created, except the one God himself. Now, therefore, unless they grant that the power to create, and the authority to com- mand, were common to the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, it will follow, that God did not speak thus within himself, but directed his conversation to some exterior agents. Lastly, one place will easily remove their two objections at once. For Avhen Christ himself declares, that God is a Spirit, it would be unreasonable to restrict this solely to the Father, as though the Word were not also of a spiritual nature. But if the name of Spirit is equally as applicable to the Son as to the Father, I conclude that the Son is comprehended under the indefinite name of God. Yet he immediately subjoins, that none are approved worshippers of the Father, but those who worship him in spirit and in trulh. (/) Whence follows another consequence, that, because Christ performs the office of a Teacher, in a station of inferiority, he ascribes the name of God to the Father, not to destroy his own Deity, but by de- grees to raise us to the knowledge of it. XXV. But they deceive themselves in dreaming of three separate individuals, each of them possessing a part of the Divine essence. We teach, according to the Scriptures, that there is essentially but one God ; and, therefore, that the essence of both the Son and the Spirit is unbegotten. But since the Father is first in order, and hath of himself begotten his wisdom, there- fore, as has before been observed, he is justly esteemed the original and fountain of the whole Divinity. Thus God, indef- initely, is unbegotten ; and the Father also is unbegotten with regard to his Person. They even foolishly suppose, that our opinion implies a quaternity ; whereas they are guilty of false- hood and calumny, in ascribing to us a figment of their own ; as though we pretended that the three Persons are as so many streams proceeding from one essence, when it is evident, from our writings, that we separate not the Persons from the essence, but, though they subsist in it, make a distinction between them. If the persons were separated from the essence, there would perhaps be some probability in their argument ; but then there would be a trinity of Gods, not a trinity of persons con- tained in one God. This solves tlieir frivolous question, whether the essence concurs to the formation of the Trinity ; as though we imagined three Gods to descend from it. Their objection, (e) Gen. i. 26. (/) John iv. 24. CHAP. XIII.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 145 that then the Triiiity would be without God, is equally im- pertinent. Because, though it concurs not to the distinction as a part or member, yet the Persons are not independent of it, nor separate from it ; for the Father, unless he were God, could not be the Father ; and the Son is the Son only as he is God. Therefore we say, that the Deity is absohitely self-existent ; whence we confess, also, that the Son, as God, independently of the consideration of Person, is self-existent ; but as the Son, we say, that he is of the Father. Thus his essence is unori- ginated ; but the origin of his Person is God himself. And, in- deed, the orthodox writers, who have written on the Trinity, have referred this name only to the Persons ; since to compre- hend the essence in that distinction, were not only an absurd error, but a most gross impiety. For it is evident that those who maintain that the Trinity consists in a union of the Es- sence, the Son, and the Spirit, annihilate the essence of the Son and of the Spirit ; otherwise the parts would be destroyed by being confounded together ; which is a fauU in every dis- tinction. Finally, if the words Father and God were synon- ymous — if the Father were the author of the Deity — nothing would be left in the Son but a mere shadow ; nor would the Trinity be any other than a conjunction of the one God with two created things. XXVI. Their objection, that Christ, if he be properly God, is not rightly called the Son of God, has aheady been an- swered ; for when a comparison is made between one Person and another, the word God is not used indefinitely, but is re- stricted to the Father, as being the fountain of the Deity, not with regard to the essence, as fanatics falsely pretend, but in respect of order. This is the sense in which we ought to un- derstand that declaration of Christ to his Father : '' This is Hfe eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." {g) For, speaking in the capacity of Mediator, he holds an intermediate station betweeii God and men ; yet without any diminution of his majesty, For, akhough he abased himself, yet he lost not his glory with the Father, which was hidden from the world. Thus the Apostle to the Hebrews, (A) though he acknowledges that Christ was made for a short time inferior to the angels, yet, neverthe- less, hesitates not to assert, that he is the eternal God, who laid the foundation of the earth. We must rcmember, therefore, that whenever Christ, in the capacity of Mediator, addresses the Father, he comprehends, under the name of God, the Divinity which belongs also to himself. Thus, when he said to his {g) John xvii. 3. (/() Heb. i. 10; ii. 9. VOL. I. 19 146 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK I. Apostles, " I go uiito tlie Father, for my Father is greater than I, " (i) he attributes not to himself a secondary Divinity, as if he were inferior to the Father with respect to the eternal es- sence. but because, having obtained the glory of heaven, he gathers together the faithful to a participation of it with him ; he represents the Father to be in astation superior to himself, just as the ilhistrious perfection of the splendour which appears in heaven excels that degree of glory which was visible in him during his incarnate state. For the same reason, Paul says, in another place, that Christ " shall deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father, that God may be all in all." (k) Nothing would be more absurd than to deny perpetual duration to the Deity of Christ. Now, if he will never cease to be the Son of God, but will remain for ever the same as he has been from the beginning, it follows, that by the name Father is intended the one sole Divine essence, which is common to them both. And it is certain that Christ descended to us, in order that, exaking us to the Father, he might at the same time exalt us to him- self also, as being one with the Father. It is therefore neither lawful nor right to restrict the name of God exchisively to the Father, and to deny it to the Son. For even on this very ac- count John asserts him to be the true God, (/)that no one might suppose, that he possessed only a secondary degree of Deity, inferior to the Father. And I wonder what can be the meaning of these fabricators of new gods, when, after confessing that Christ is the true God, they immediately exchide him from the Deity of the Father ; as though there could be any true God but one alone, or as though a transfused Divinity were any thing but a novel fiction. XXVII. Their accumulation of numerous passages from Ire- nsEUs, where he asserts the Father of Christ to be the only and eternal God of Israel, is a proof either of shameful ignorance, or of consummate wickedness. For they ought to have consid- ered, that that holy man was then engaged in a controversy with some madmen, who denied that the Father of Christ was the same God that has spoken by Moses and the Prophets, but maintained that he was I know not what sort of phantasm, produced from the corruption of the world. His only object, therefore, is to show that no other God is revealed in the Scrip- ture than the Father of Christ, and that it is impious to imagine any other ; and therefore we need not wonder at his frequently concluding, that there never was any other God of Israel than he who was preached by Christ and his Apostles. So, now, on the other hand, when a different error is to be opposed, we (0 John xiv. 28. {k) 1 Cor. xv. 24. Q) 1 John v. 20. CHAP. XIII.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 147 shall tiuly assert, that the God who appeared formerly to the patriarchs, was no other than Christ. If it be objected that it was the Father, we are prepared to reply, that, while we con- tend for the Divinity of tlie Son, we by no means reject that of the Father. If the reader attends to this design of Irenseus, all contention will cease. Moreover, the whole controversy is easily decided by the sixth chapter of the third book, where the good man insists on this one point : That he who is abso- lutely and indefinitely called God in the Scripture, is the only true God ; but that the name of God is given absohitely to Christ. Let us remember that the point at issue, as appears from the whole treatise, and particularly from the forty-sixth chapter of the second book, was this : That the appellation of Father is not given in an enigmatical and parabolical sense to one who is not truly God. Besides, in another place he con- tends, that the Son is called God, as well as the Father, by the Prophets and Apostles. He afterwards states how Christ, who is Lord, and King, and God, and Judge of all, received power from him who is God of all ; and that is with relation to the subjection in which he was humbled even to the death of the cross. And a little after he affirms, that the Son is the Creator of heaven and earth, who gave the law by the hand of Moses, and appeared to the patriarchs. Now, if any one pretends that Irenasus acknowledges the Father alone as the God of Israel, I shall reply, as is clearly maintained by the same writer, that Christ is one and the same ; as also he apphes to him the prophecy of Habakkuk : " God shall come from the south." To the same purpose is what we find in the ninth chapter of the fourth book : " Therefore Christ himself is, with the Father, the God of the living." And in the twelfth chapter of the same book he statcs, that Abraham beheved in God, inasmuch as Christ is the Creator of heaven and earth, and the only God. XXVIII. Their pretensions to the sanction of TertuUian are equally unfounded, for, notwithstanding the occasional harshness and obscurity of his mode of expression, yet he un- equivocaUy teaches the substance of the doctrine which we are defending ; that is, that whereas there is one God, yet by dispensation or economy there is his Word ; that there is but one God in the unity of the substance, but that the unity, by a mysterious dispensation, is disposed into a trinity ; that there are three, not in condition, but in degree ; not in substance, but in form ; not in power, but in order. He says, indeed, that he maintains the Son to be second to the Father ; but he apphes this only to the distinction of the Persons. He says somewhere, that the Son is visible ; but after having stated arguments on both sides, he conchides that, as the Word, he is 148 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK I. iiivisible. Lastly, his assertion tliat tlie Father is designated by his Person, proves him to be at the greatest distance from the notion which we are refuting. And though he acknowl- edges no other God than the Father, yet the explanations which he gives in the immediate context show that he speaks not to the exckision of the Son, when he denies the existence of any other God than the Father ; and that therefore the unity of Divine government is not violated by the distinction of per- sons. And from the nature and design of his argument it is easy to gather the meaning of his words. For he contends, in opposition to Praxeas, tliat altliough God is distinguished into three Persons, yet neither is there a pku'a]ity of gods, nor is the unity divided. And because, according to the erroneous notion of Praxeas, Christ could not be God, without being the Father, therefore Tertullian bestows so much labour upon the distinction. His calling the Word and Spirit a portion of the whole, though a harsli expression, yet is excusable ; since it has no reference to the substance, but only denotes the disposi- tion and economy, which belongs solely to the Persons, accord- ing to the testimony of TertuUian himself. Hence also that question, " How many Persons suppose you that there are, O most perverse Praxeas, but as many as there are names ? " So, a little after, " that they may beUeve the Father and the Son, both in their names and Persons." These arguments, I conceive, vvill suffice to refute the impudence of those who make use of the authority of Tertullian in order to deceive the minds of the simple. XXIX. And certainly, whoever will diligently compare the writings of the fathers, will find in Irenaeus nothing diifer- ent from what was advanced by others who succeeded him. Justin Martyr is one of the most ancient ; and he agrees with us in every point. They may object that tlie Father of Christ is denominated the one God by him as well as by the rest. The same is asserted also by Hilary, and even in harsher terms : he says, that eternity is in the Father ; but does this imply a denial of the Divine essonce to the Son ? On the contrary, he had no other design than to maintain the same faith which we hold. Nevertheless, they are not ashamed to cull out mutilated passages, in order to induce a belief that he patronized their error. If they wish any authority to be at- tached to their quotation of Ignatius, let them prove that the Apostles delivered any law concerning Lent, and similar cor- ruptions ; for nothing can be more absurd than the impertinen- cies which have been published under the name of Ignatius. Wherefore their impudence is more intolerable, who disguise themselves under such false colours for the purpose of decep- CHAP. XIII.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 149 tion. Moreover, the consent of antiquity manifestly appears from this circumstance, that in the Nicene Council, Arius never dared to defend himself by the authority of any approved wri- ter ; and not one of the Greek or Latin fathers, who were there united against him, excused himself as at all dissenting from his predecessors. With regard to Augastine, who experienced great hostiUty from these disturbers, his dihgent examination of all the writings of the earher fathers, and his respectftil at- tention to them, necd not be mentioned. If he differs from them in the smallest particulars, he assigns the reasons which obhge him to dissent from them. On this argument also, if he finds any thing ambiguous or obscure in others, he never con- ceals it. Yet he takes it for granted, that the doctrine wliich those men oppose has been received without controversy from the remotest antiquity ; and yet that he was not uninformed of what others had taught before him, appears even from one word in the first boolc of his Treatise on the Christian Doc- trine, where he says, tliat unity is in the Father. Will they pre- tend that he had then forgotten himself ? But he elsewhere vin- dicates himself from this calumny, where he calls