A Commentary on the Apostles' Creed.

 A Commentary on the Apostles’ Creed.

 My mind has as little inclination for writing as sufficiency, most faithful Bishop( Papa ) Laurentius,

 2. Our forefathers have handed down to us the tradition, that, after the Lord’s ascension, when, through the coming of the Holy Ghost, tongues of flam

 3. I Believe in God the Father Almighty.

 4. “I Believe in God the Father Almighty.”

 5. Now whereas we said that the Eastern Churches, in their delivery of the Creed, say, “In one God the Father Almighty,” and “in one Lord,” the “one”

 6. Next there follows, “And in Christ Jesus, His Only Son, Our Lord.” “Jesus” is a Hebrew word meaning “Saviour.” “Christ” is so called from “Chrism,”

 7. When you hear the word “Son,” you must not think of a nativity after the flesh but remember that it is spoken of an incorporeal substance, and a s

 8. Then further it is to be observed that no creature can be such as its Creator. And therefore, as the divine substance or essence admits of no compa

 9. “Who Was Born by (de) The Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary.” This nativity among men is in the way of dispensation,

 10. Starting from this point you may understand the majesty of the Holy Ghost also. For the Gospel witnesses of Him that when the angel said to the Vi

 11. These things, since they are asserted upon the warrant of the Prophetical Scriptures, may possibly silence the Jews, infidel and incredulous thoug

 12. But they say, perhaps, If it was possible to God that a virgin should conceive, it was possible also that she should bring forth, but they think i

 13. But there is another consideration which we must not leave out in the solution of this question, namely, that the substance of God, which is wholl

 14. He Was Crucified Under Pontius Pilate and Was Buried: He Descended into Hell. The Apostle Paul teaches us that we ought to have “the eyes of our u

 15. Moreover,—to touch briefly some of the more recondite topics,—when God made the world in the beginning, He set over it and appointed certain power

 16. But perhaps some one is alarmed at hearing us discourse of the death of Him of Whom, a short while since, we said that He is everlasting with God

 17. It is with no loss or disparagement therefore of His Divine nature that Christ suffers in the flesh, but His Divine nature through the flesh desce

 18. They who have handed down the Creed to us have with much forethought specified the time when these things were done—“under Pontius Pilate,”—lest i

 19. First of all, then, we must know that the doctrine of the Cross is not regarded by all in the same light. It is one thing to the Gentiles, to the

 20. But, if it does not weary you, let the point out as briefly as possible, specific references to prophecy in the Gospels, that those who are being

 21. But, says some one, “Are these things to be understood of the Lord? Could the Lord be held prisoner by men and dragged to judgment?” Of this also

 22. It is related that when Pilate would fain have released Him all the people cried out, “Crucify Him, Crucify Him!” This also the Prophet Jeremiah f

 23. It is written that when the side of Jesus was pierced “He shed thereout blood and water.” This has a mystical meaning. For Himself had said, “Out

 24. It is written that in our Lord’s passion there was darkness over the earth from the sixth hour until the ninth. To this also you will find the Pro

 25. The Gospel further relates that the soldiers parted the garments of Jesus among themselves, and cast lots upon His vesture. The Holy Spirit provid

 26. It is related also that vinegar was given Him to drink, or wine mingled with myrrh which is bitterer than gall. Hear what the Prophet has foretold

 27. Next it is written that “He gave up the ghost.” This also had been foretold, by the Prophet, who says, addressing the Father in the Person of the

 28. That He descended into hell is also evidently foretold in the Psalms, where it is said, “Thou hast brought Me also into the dust of the death.” An

 29. The Third Day He Rose Again from the Dead. The glory of Christ’s resurrection threw a lustre upon everything which before had the appearance of we

 30. It is said then in the Psalms, “I laid me down and slept, and rose up again, because the Lord sustained me.” Again, in another place, “Because of

 31. He Ascended into Heaven, and Sitteth on the Right Hand of the Father: from Thence He Shall Come to Judge the Quick and the Dead. These clauses fol

 32. To sit at the right hand of the Father is a mystery belonging to the Incarnation. For it does not befit that incorporeal nature without the assump

 33. That He shall come to judge the quick and the dead we are taught by many testimonies of the divine Scriptures. But before we cite what the Prophet

 34. Now let us shew briefly, if you will, that these things were foretold by the Prophets. You will yourself, since you are so minded, gather together

 35. And in the Holy Ghost. What has been delivered above somewhat at large concerning Christ relates to the mystery of His Incarnation and of His Pass

 36. “The Holy Church The Forgiveness of Sin, the Resurrection of This Flesh.” It is not said, “ In the holy Church,” nor “ In In In In In in in in in

 37. Of the Old Testament, therefore, first of all there have been handed down five books of Moses, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy T

 38. But it should be known that there are also other books which our fathers call not “Canonical” but “Ecclesiastical:” that is to say, Wisdom, called

 39. We come next in the order of belief to the Holy Church. We have mentioned above why the Creed does not say here, as in the preceding article, “ In

 40. As to the Forgiveness of Sins, it ought to be enough simple to believe. For who would ask the cause or the reason when a Prince grants indulgence?

 41. This last article, which affirms the Resurrection of the Flesh, concludes the sum of all perfection with succinct brevity. Although on this point

 42. But unbelievers cry, “How can the flesh, which has been putrified and dissolved, or changed into dust, sometimes also swallowed up by the sea, and

 43. But let us endeavour to assist those souls which fail in their faith through reasons drawn from nature. If one should mix different sorts of seeds

 44. But that you may not suppose this to be a novel doctrine peculiar to Paul, I will adduce also what the Prophet Ezekiel foretold by the Holy Ghost.

 45. Thus much in proof of the profession which we make in the Creed when we say “The resurrection of this flesh.” As to the addition “this” see how co

 46. That the righteous shall ever abide with Christ our Lord we have proved above, where we have shewn that the Apostle says, “Then we which are alive

 47. Nor let this promise seem to you contrary to the natural structure of the body. For if we believe, according to what is written, that God took cla

 48. If then we have understood in what august significance God Almighty is called Father, and in what mysterious sense our Lord Jesus Christ is held t

39. We come next in the order of belief to the Holy Church. We have mentioned above why the Creed does not say here, as in the preceding article, “In the Holy Church.” They, therefore, who were taught above to believe in one God, under the mystery of the Trinity, must believe this also, that there is one holy Church in which there is one faith and one baptism, in which is believed one God the Father, and one Lord Jesus Christ, His Son, and one Holy Ghost. This is that holy Church which is without spot or wrinkle. For many others have gathered together Churches, as Marcion, and Valentinus, and Ebion, and Manichæus, and Arius, and all the other heretics. But those Churches are not without spot or wrinkle of unfaithfulness. And therefore the Prophet said of them, “I hate the Church of the malignants, and I will not sit with the ungodly.”152 Ps. xxvi. 5 But of this Church which keeps the faith of Christ entire, hear what the Holy Spirit says in the Canticles, “My dove is one; the perfect one of her mother is one.”153 Cant. vi. 9 He then who receives this faith in the Church let him not turn aside in the Council of vanity, and let him not enter in with those who practise iniquity.

For Marcion’s assembly is a Council of vanity in that he denies that the Father of Christ is God, the Creator, who by His Son made the world. Ebion’s is a Council of vanity since he teaches that, while we believe in Christ, we are withal to observe the circumcision of the flesh, the keeping of the Sabbath, the accustomed sacrifices, and all the other ordinances according to the letter of the Law. Manichæus’ is a Council of vanity in regard of his teaching; first in that he calls himself the Paraclete, then that he says that the world was made by an evil God, denies God the Creator, rejects the Old Testament, asserts two natures, one good the other evil, mutually opposing one another, affirms that men’s souls are co-eternal with God, that, according to the Pythagoreans, they return through divers circles of nativity into cattle and animals and beasts, denies the resurrection of our flesh, maintains that the passion and nativity of the Lord were not in the verity of flesh, but only in appearance. It was the Council of vanity when Paul of Samosata and his successor Photinus afterwards taught, that Christ was not born of the Father before the world, but had His beginning from Mary, and believed not that being God He was born man, but that of man He was made God. It was the Council of vanity when Arius and Eunomius taught as their determinate opinion that the Son of God was not born of the very substance of the Father, but was created out of nothing, and that the Son of God had a beginning, and is inferior to the Father: moreover they affirm that the Holy Ghost is not only inferior to the Son, but is also a ministering Spirit.154 Mittendarium, “Mittendarii, Palatini qui in sacro Palatio militabant, et in provincias extraordinarie mittebantur, a Principe, ut eorum mandata perferrent.” Officers attached to the Palace, who were sent into the provinces by the Emperor on extraordinary occasions, as bearers of his orders—Glossarium Manuale ex Magnis Glossariis Du Fresne, etc. Theirs also is a Council of vanity who confess indeed that the Son is of the substance of the Father, but distinguish and separate the Holy Spirit, while yet the Saviour shews in the Gospel that the power and Godhead of the Trinity are one and the same, saying, “Baptize all nations in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,”155 Matt. xxviii. 19 and it is plainly impious for man to put asunder what God hath joined together. That also is the Council of vanity which a pertinacious and wicked contention formerly gathered together, affirming that Christ assumed human flesh indeed, but not a rational soul withal, since Christ conferred one and the same salvation on the flesh, and the animal soul, and the reason and mind of man. That also is the Council of vanity which Donatus drew together throughout Africa, by charging the Church with traditorship (delivering up the sacred books), and with which Novatus disturbed men’s minds by denying the grant of repentance to the lapsed, and condemning second marriages, though contracted possibly of necessity. All of these then avoid as congregations of malignants. Those also, if such there be, who are said to assert that the Son of God does not see or know the Father, as Himself is known and seen by the Father; or that the kingdom of Christ will have an end; or that the flesh will not be raised in the complete restoration of its substance; these also who deny that there will be a just judgment of God in respect of all, and affirm that the devil will be absolved from the punishment of damnation due to him. To all these, I say, let the believer turn a deaf ear. But hold fast by the holy Church, which confesses God the Father Almighty, and His only Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, and the Holy Ghost, of one concordant and harmonious substance, believes that the Son of God was born of the Virgin, suffered for man’s salvation, rose again from the dead in the same flesh in which he was born; and, lastly, hopes that He will come the Judge of all, through Whom also both the Forgiveness of Sins and the Resurrection of the Flesh are preached.