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The same Irenæus in his third book chap. 4 writes thus
[calls the Creed the old tradition of the Apostles &sets down
the substance of]
oporteret in anitquissimas recurrere Ecclesias in quibus Apostoli conversati
sunt & ab eis de præsenti quæstione sumere quod certum & re liqui
dum est? Quid autem si ne
nobis, nonne oportebat
The s
Thus far Irenæus concerning the Creed delivered down by univer
sal tradition from e
was not lawfull for any man to enlarge diminish or alter it: ffor
no man is above his master & by the institution of Christ & his Apo
stles it conteins that one ffaith by ch
were admitted into e
the Gospel. Polycarp was the disciple of Iohn the Apostle &
was the disciple of Polycarp, & therefore in reciting the
tive Creed & telling us that
& their disciples deserves to be credited
The same Irenæus in the 4th Chapter of his third book writes
thus of the Creed. If a dispute should arise concerning any small
question ought we not to have recourse to the most ancient Chur
ches in chch
certain & manifest concerning the present question? And if the
Apostles had left us nothing in writing, ought we not to follow the
order of tradition ch
the churches? To chassent ving in Christ give their assent, having salvation written witten without
paper & ink by the spirit in their hearts & diligently keeping the
old Tradition, beleiving in one God the maker of heaven & earth
& of all things in them, by Christ Iesus the son of God, who out of
his ex most eminent love towards his work, underwent the being born
of a Virgin, uniting man to God by himself, & suffering under Pontius
Pilate & rising again & being received with bightness into glory, shall
come the saviour of those that are to be saved & the judge of those ch
are judged, sending into eternal fire the corrupters of the truth & the
contemners of his father & of his coming. This faith they who have
beleived th
opinion & custome practise & conversation, by reason of the faith are
most wise & please God conversing in all justice & chastity & wisdome.
To whom if any man sp they would
presently shutting their ears, fly far away not enduring to hear the
blasphemous discourse. Thus by
they do not so much as admit into their thoughts the monstrous speeches
of the heretics. Hitherto Irenæus by
may so many all several
of the Greeks & Latines nor had the scriptures translated into their language ch
Without having any written scriptures, [or being obliged to beleive And as the
in any set forms of ceremonies in the use of any cere
monies or to receive or any other truths then those conteined in the
doctrine of the Creed, as necessary to salvation &the
catholick.]ir faith by ch
remembred without writing so did the practise after the ser They were admitted
into ecom
according to e
of r
with speci hymns
commemorated his death in the breaking of breadThey They commemorated the creation of the world by keeping the sabbath, the resurrection of Christ by keeping the morning of the Lords day before sunrise & the passion by breaking of bread & were They comthey com & avoid [sorcery chThese things done ceremonies outwardfo buts actions but
for putting us in mind of from time to time of worshipping God with & of la
us king saviour & king& & begetting in us a lively hope e
dead by his death & resurrection from the dead.And And all this with su might be thfor
encouraging piety & particularly encouraging piety & releiving the poor doing ju& encouraging piety admitting prose
lites & excommunicating admonishing or injurious to their
neighbour &
communion to evil men
evil men or expelling them from communion without amongst the barbarous nations mentioned by Irenæus without having the scriptures or any thing else in writing.And as Irenæus tells us
that the whole Christian religion was practised & propagated down
oral tradition without paper & ink, in many barbarous nations, so the thingshere mentioned [ There are indeed many truths of a higher nature contein the whole body of divinity faith & practise of the are so few &
Christian religion &]
very capable of being propagated down by oral tradition without setting
pen to paper.ch
Paul compares to strong meats for men of ripe age, but these are not to be necessary to communion. Men may learn as much of them as they
can in their private capacity,
with disputes about them. The strong in the faith must bear th
& the weak must not
Conformable to these Creeds of Irenæus is a Creed recited by
Tertullian in his book est omnino est sola immobilis et irreformabilis
credendi scilicet in unicum Deum mundi conditorem, & filium ejus
Iesum Christum natum ex virgine Maria, curifixum sub Pontio
Pilato, tertia die resuscitatum a mortuis, receptum in cælis, seden
tem nunc ad dexteram Patris, venturum judicare vivos & mortuos
per carnis etiam resurrectionemHe omits And in his book
leiving in the Holy ghost as Irenæus does in his second Creed but adds
it in his book de
paraphrases the Creed in this manner.
esse, nec alium præter mundi conditorem qui universa [de nihilo] produx
rit per Verbum suum primo omnium productum demissum: Id Verbum
filium ejus
Virginem Mariam, carnem factum in utero ejus, & ex ea natum egisse
Iesum Christum, exinde prædicasse novam legem & novam promissionem
regni cælorum, virtutes fecisse, fixum cruci, tertia die resurrexisse
in cælos ereptum sedisse ad dextram Patris, misisse vicariam vim spiritus
sancti qui credentes agat, venturum cum claritate ad sumendos sanctos
in vitæ æternæ & promissorum cœlestium fructum & ad profanos adjudi
candos igni perpetuo, facta utrius
habet quæstiones apud nos quæstiones nisi quas hæreses inferunt &
quæ hæreticos faciunt.Thus far Tertullian. And again, in his book sets down the Articles of the Creed in this words
manner
quam œconomiam dicimus ut unici Dei sit et ffilius sermo ipsius qui
ex ipso processerit per quem omnia facta sunt & sine quo factum est
nihil. Hunc missum a patre in Virginem & ex ea natum hominem &
Deum, filium hominis et filium Dei, & cognominatum Iesum Christ
hunc passum, hunc mortuum & sepultum secundum scripturas
& resuscitatum a patre & in cœlos resumptum sedere ad dexteram secundum promissionem suam Patris, venturum judicare vivos & mortuos,
qui exinde miserit, secundum promissionem suam, a Patre spiritum sanct
sanctum Paracletum,
& filium et spiritum sanctum. Hanc Regulam ab initio Evangelij decur
risse, etiam ante priores quos
num, probabit tam ipsa posteritas omnium hæreticorum, quam ipsa
novellitas Praxeæ hesterni.
In the fourth Century they began to insert new Articles into the
Creed, & Church Catholick inserted by Alexander
bishop of Alexandria in this manner. & qui a nullo co
—— et
one Lord Iesus Christ the only begotten son of God — —— – &
fess also one Holy Ghost as the holy scriptures teach us– – & one only Ca
tholick Church Apostolick Church ch[We acknowledge the resurrection of the dead the first fruits of ch
taken of the God-bearing Mary, & in the end of ages that he might take
away sin came to man-kind, was crucified & died, but without detriment
to his divinity, rose from the dead, was taken up into heaven & sits at the
right hand of majesty]
And hence
Ierusalem ch
the father Almighty maker of heaven & earth &
& invisible. And in the Lord Iesus Christ the only begotten son of God
begotten
whom all things were made, who was incarnate & made man crucified &
buried rose again from the dead the third day & ascended into heaven
& sitteth at the right hand of the father & shall come to judge the
quick & the dead, of whose kingdom there shall be no end. And in the
Holy Ghost the Comforter who spake by the Prophets, & in one Holy
Catholick Church & in the resurrection of the flesh &
The same Article crept also into the Creed of the City Hippo in Africche
maker of heaven & earth & in Iesus Christ his only rincarnate conceivedborn of esuffered was & buried rose again ee
shall come to judge the quick & the dead I beleive in the Holy Ghost, the Holy
Catholick Church, the forgiveness of sins & the resurrection of the flesh.
The next new article was the consubstantiality of the father & son.
Eusebius of Cæsarea in the Council of Nice produced a Creed which
to ethat chhe was he had received from his ancestors & into which he
had been baptized, & it runs I b We beleive in one God the father omnipotent almighty, creator of all things visible & invisible: & in one
Lord Iesus Christ, the Word of God, God of God, light of light Life of
life, the only begotten son, the first begotten of every creature, begotten
of his father before all worlds, by whom all things were made, who for
our salvation was incarnate & conversed among men, who suffered &
rose again the third day, & ascended to his father, & shall come again
with glory to judge the quick & the dead. We beleive also in one h
Ghost. This Creed was approved by
Council composed this Creed. We beleive in one God, the father Almi
ghty, the maker of all things visible & invisible: & in one Lord Iesus
Christ the son of God, the only begotten of his father, that is, of the sub
stance of his father: God of God, light of light, very God of very God,
begotten not made; consubstantial to the father, by whom all things
were made ch
salvation descended,
the third day; ascended to heaven, & shall come to judge the quick
& the dead: & in the Holy Ghost. In this Creed by the word con
substantial they understand that the father & son are two substan
ces of the same nature. For the greek the latin consubstantial,
wordare al were always by the Greeks & Latines
taken for two substances of the same
corporeal things they signify two substances taken out of the same
mass, when to incorporeal ones they signify two substances of as like
one another as if they had been taken out of the same mass. And
therefore they do not Epiphanius tells us that they do not say that e
son is e
of e
as touching his Godhead & consubstantial to us as touching his man
hood. And in this Creed the
of the substance of his father: w Which would be improper if the
substance of the father was the substance of the son. ebegotten for so the son would be begotten of his own substance.
Creed declared to be the substance of the father so the son is the substance
of the Son & the Holy G therefore according to this Creed the substance of
the son was begotten of the substance of the father. And it is further obser
vable that the Greeks called
persons are taken for or substances In this sense the Latines ch& . And tho these persons have been since taken
by the Latines for something else then substances
took persons till the dark ages came on & edconverse to understand any thing of
with the Greeks &the their
to take persons these pe Hypostases or personal substances
Some another arti the worship
of the Holy Ghost was inserted into the Creed e
tinople in these words. I beleive in one God, the father Almighty, maker
of heaven & earth & of all things visible & invisible. And in one
Lord Iesus Christ the only begotten son of God, begotten of the father
before all worlds,
God, begotten not made, Consubstantial to the father, by whom
all things were made, who for us men & our salvation came descended
down from heaven
of the Virgin & was made man & crucified for us under Pontius
Pilate & buried & rose again the third day
sitteth on the right hand of the father & shall come again in glory
to judge e
And in the Holy Ghost the Lord & giver of life, who proceedeth from
the father, who with the father & son together is worshipped &
glorified, who spake by the Prophets: And in one catholick & Apostolic
Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins &
look for the resurrection of the dead & the life of the world to come.
Henceforward the father son & holy ghost were accounted three substances
of one & the same like as Peter Iames & Iohn are three individual persons of one species. For that this was the r Cudworthr Cudworth
& Curcellæus have proved at large beyond any possibility of exception cavill doubting.
Another new Article inserted into the Creed was the descent of
Christ intoHades Hell the infernal regions. as in this Creed of to their Creed chth Aquileia
into ch
tem et in Christum Iesum unicum filium ejus Dominum nostrum: qui
natus est de spiritu sancto ex Maria Virgine, crucifixus sub Pontio
Pilato & sepultus, descendit in inferna, tertia die resurrexit a mortuis,
ascendit in cœlos, sedet ad dexteram Patris: inde venturus est judicare
vivos et mortuos: et in spiritum sanctum, sanctam ecclesiam Catholi
cam, remissionem peccatorum, hujus carnis resurrectionem.I eVulgar Creed calle usually called the Apostles Creed, the word Hades or Hell being there put for the infernal regions.
Another new Article was the Communion of Saints as in the
Creed of the Roman Church commonly called the Apostles Creed ch
thus. I beleive in God the father Almighty maker of heaven & earth &
in Iesus Christ his only son r
born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified dead
& buried, descended into Hell, the third day rose again from the dead, ascended
into heaven, sitteth on ee
the quick & the dead. I beleive in the Holy Ghost, the holy Catholick Church
the communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the bodythe life everlasting. The descent into the infernal regions called
Hell was added for asserting that Christ had a humane soul, & the
communion of saints for asserting that e
held communion with the Church & knew our
affairs heard our prayers & were able to do us good or hurt. & ffor so Austin
therefore were to be invoked & honoured.p
explains it in his commentary on this Creed explains it
Now if all these Creeds be compared with one another & plainly appear that the tradition of faith handed from ch
down from the Apostles & into ch
hundred years were baptised admitted into the Church consisted in & a
these articles. I beleive in one God, the father Almighty, the maker
of heaven & earth & of all things therein visible & invisible: And in
one Lord Iesus Christ r
carnate by the Holy Ghost, crucified under Pontius Pilate
the third day he arose from the dead, ascended into heaven
at the right hand of God the father; from whence he shall come
to judge the quick & the dead also the dead raised again to life in the body
their bodiesof whose kingdom there shall be no endpreached these things by [& whom the Son sent from the father to assist & comfort his disciples] [& whom the son sent from the father to assist his disciples]the whole fu all the funda
mental points of faith requisite chth
Church & all other truths of an abstruser nature, of chmany in the Christian religion may be learnt after baptism by such as
study endeavourr
the three first centuries of the Christian religion. For tho there be many
other truths in the Christian religion, yet those may being
ry to salvation may be learnt after baptism, such as are the creation
of the world by Iesus Christ, then were not generally required to baptism
from eought were not to be imposed in after ages as necessary
but might be learnt during the three first centuries of the Christian religion, the other truths of an during the three first Centuries of the Christian religion. For the Creation of the world by Iesus Christ of the eastern & might be learnt after baptism as well as before of the eastern & therefore might be learnt as well ch& comm in the first ages of the Christian religion could not be made necessary afterwards by any power on earth. None of the strong meats were to be given to cnildren
the fourth Century took the liberty of inserting many new articles
into the Creed chseditions about religion ch
century & part of the next.
I beleive in one God the father Almighty, maker of heaven & earth
& in Iesus Christ his only son who was born by y. (M.T. & P.C)ee
How this unwritten tradition was thus t
Creeds of the first ages of Christianity & comparing them together to see
how far they agree. For tho the several Creeds propagated down to
posterity differ happen to differ in some modes
of expression yet they all undisputed
of the words thrule of faith
tradition. And this tradition is thus recorded by Irenæus.
— according to his humanity. And the faith of this Council was confirmed
by the 5t 6t 7th & 8th General Councils
several Bi Popes as abcd
Article of t that here recited was professed by Iohn Bishop of Antie
och Cyrill bishop of Alexandria & Flavian bishop of Constantinople before e
Council & preached by Leo bishop of Rome]
And its further observable that Iohn Bishop of Antioch thsome other of those composed a presently after the third General Council this in chWe confess that our Lord Iesus Christ the o nly begotten Son of God is perfect God & perfect Man of a reasonable soul & a body [consisting] born of
Deity, & in the last times for us & r
ing to his humanity: e
to us e
natures, by reason whereof we confess one Christ one Son one Lord. In this
sense of that that e
This profession of faith was approved by Cyrill bishop of Alexandria,
& by Flavian bishop of Constantinople & those Ch &
Council of Chalcedon [ ch
630 Bishops]thch
this Council consisted of 630 bishops collected out of all parts oft 6t 7th General
Councils & some other Councils of less note & several Church psps[Popes, as by Pope Leo the great who by his Legates presided in it & by
subscribed it & by & e
first.]ewas e
of God being God e& was
the flesh consubstantial to his mothere
tis Domini.by st
were zealus for the faith of this Council.] And by consequence it was the
general opinion of the 5t 6t 7th & 8th & 9th centuries, especially in
the Greek Churches, that the paccording to his humani
to e
manhood. And notIn what sence they understood him to be
father is sufficiently explained in the latter part of the sentenceeessence nature & species of sub
stance. And in the same sence the vulgar Creed commonly called the Creed the God of the substance of the
father & man of the substance of his mother, that is, substance of
substance. If the father had not a substance proper to himself the son
could not be called God of the substance of the father. One of the prin
cipal arguments made used of in eth Century to prove e
consubstantial to enot otherwise
natural son of the father as one man is the true son of another, &
this argument would
substance. A The Greekstherefore ed the father son &
Holy Ghost three Hypostases & one usia that is
one in nature Hypostasesnumber Hypostases came[And when the Latines ffor the by three Persons & one called the father son & holy G.
three persons & one substance & by the Greeks were called Sabellians for
this language]Hypostasis proper signifies a substance & etook Hypostasis in the in the Council of Serdica
took Hypostasis in ethusia in & the Greeks ne & the Greeks never distinguis & so did those Greeks who
said there was but one Hypostasis in the Deity. And
were three Hypostases & one thre su three substances
in number & one in the Latines Athanasius upon examining
some of the Latines declared that they meant the same thing by three
Persons & one substance] And these Latines who said there were three
Persons & one substance thpersonal substantial persons or perso
nal substances in number & one in nature, untill the dark ages came on
& the Schoolmen
have called the father & son two hypostases nor
of the son to e4 fourth & fift Centuries&
generally interpreted the Nicene faith consubstantiality of two substances in
number & one in nature, as r
Cudworth out of the writings of Athanasius, Hilary, Epiphanius, Basil,
Greg. Naz. Greg. Nyss. Ambrose, Chrysostom, Ierome, Austin
Maximus, Cyrill of Alex. Marius Victorinus, Anastasius Theopolitanus,
Iohn Damascene, & Euthymius Zygabenus.
The Greeks by calling the ffather & Son two hypostases [understood them to be two]understood them to be two like substances & so the
by ir consubstantiality God the ffather
understood them to be two like substances, & therefore they ed
hypostases. ee
substance, it is because
He beleived also
but also in number, as I gather a
beleived with Eusebius of Cæsarea that there were two usias. & from his translating
rather then by
As the heathens derived – – – – – resurrection of the body. This was the doctrine of Simon
as you have heard above, & Menander held the same opinions th
ninus – – – – – – purgatory.
The Christians a
As the Iews tolerated the Saducees who denyed the resurrection &
except Moses, so the first Christians allowe were
nions chch
the law & upon the Gentiles were tolerated among the Iews. So the
first Gnosticks separated themselv might have staid in communion longer then they
did if they had not separated themselves. They went out from us saith Iohn be
cause they were not of us for if they had been of us they would have
continued with us. And Iude: These are they that separate themselves. ② So
also they that
above continued in communion till after the days of Iustin Martyr. For Iustin
gives us this account of them.
– – – – sententia sunt dixerint.eytat said t
knew nothing of the Logus & by b but
the latter end of the 2d century. For there Epiphanius places the beginning of
the heresy of the A Alogj Alogi. ③ But in fourth the days of e
Theodotus the Tanner was excommunicated for this opinion by Pope Victor
mas soon after in the East in the days of his for this opinion. And thenceforward
their disciples complained
ancient Christians & the truth of the doctrine conserved in
Victor, but from the days of his successor Zepherine was adulterated. They Iustin lets us know that they were but few in his days & by consequence that
their opinion was only tolerated
days of Pope Zepherine. After those days this opinion was constantly accounted
heretical being condemned in Noetus, in those that held the Logus to be not a person
Photinus. [If they All these Logus was said that Iesus was actuated by a ch
was actuated was not a person, they were condemned as making Iesus a mere
but if they said that the Logus was a person, I do not find that they were exco
denyed communion tho that they made the Logus an And therefore]
held that the Logus chth Iesus was actuated was not a person. But
they that said
man & stillstill to continue in communion: whereby they propagated
theirLogus nature of the Logus & his incarnation. And by that means they were enabled to propagate theirs silently in the churches
Alexander & Arius. about the nature of the Logus
In this state things continued till d century when Theodotus ein the days of Pope at Rome & soonthe bishops began to meet in Councils & against
hereticks & condemned first the Montanists the tanner & soon afterin the west & Arte
mas in the east for this opinion. And this gave occasion complain
their opinion . . . . . . was only tolerated in the Churches till [about eBut And from thchChrist Noetus Praxeas Noetus Sabellius Paul Eustathius Marcellus & Photinushenceforward excommunicated chChrist Iesus a mere man, but continued
affli in a state of oppression & c dispersion & captivity is
So then the Gnosticks & Manietes who were a sort
& the
chees made the Lo WordGod the father.
the a man the son of the Virgin God & in one person, what that chchValenti Montanists rds that the N made no further Ebionites Nicolaitans ma ancienter hereticks made between used to
more lasting, but not of a different kind.) The Logus ing
spirit doth in good men, without mixture alteration or mixture of substances of s
And when they called them one person, they meant onlyoutward appearance, but not in substance & life & will & power of thinking one in name & two in nature.as the
bad
In words they professed an union, such an union as the ancienter hereticks (according to as the ancienter hereticks did
Irenæus) made between but without writenbut united them &
in nothing rea
called them one person they meant only in outward form & appearance without any unity in but not in substance, life, will, understanding,
substanceor power, ch
The Logus d ling t
The Logus accordingthey meant only th
what they said: for they accounted the Logus immortal & impassible
really born & suffered. And for eluding the force of the scripture And again if they said that Iesus did miracles they ch
made flesh & that he is a liv
the man but the Word. Iust as the Nicolaitans gave the common name of Iesus Christ to
the composition of Iesus & Christ Christ the Logus
to eare Ni held the doctrine
of the Nicolaitans. ffor by the Logus they meant what the ancienter Nicolaitans meant by
Christ. The difference is only in words & therefore they
as the ancienter Nicolaitans denied that the Iesus was the Christ or that Christ came in the
flesh
seem to have been the same with the opinion of the Patripassians Praxeas Hermogenes
Noetus & Sabellius
Ierome speaking of the Montanists saith:
personæ angustias cogunt.Montanists & followers of Æschius
Praxeas held held such an union of the Logus thwas passible suffered diedas The man sufferedqua& e
to the man Iesus who alone was really passible. allowed
that ofthemaking them one personin saying the Logus com blasphemchcame the name of tho they did
not affirm that the father suffered or was It was a The name was their enemies their enemies by way of an ar as a consequence of their opinion
argues thus against Praxeas:
vos filium non blasphemamus in Dominum Deum: non enim ex divina sed ex humana substan
tia mortuum dicimus, – – – – – – blasphemavit ——— Times dicere passibilem quam dicis compassibilem.
Sabellius Noetus Epigothis heresy was first
invented by Epigonius, & propagated by Cleomenes, & renewed by Noetus. Now Sabellius like Valentinus derived the Son from the father by made the superstit efflux
father son & H.G. . . . . . . . . . . . as Simon did. Alexander of Alexandria
the son was begotten not of nothing but of the substance of the father, not after the
manner of bodies by incisions & efflux arising from divisions as seemed to Sabellius & Valen
tinus, but after an inexplicable manner. Which imports that Sabellius like the
Valentinians derived the Son from the father by an efflux of substance
separation not of the Son from the father but of the parts of subst chch
actuated with no other life then that of the father. Or that as
are three distinct substances & yet by conjunction compose but one person. — that as Valentinus
derived his Æons from the father by an efflux or dilatation
of bodies, with some separation not of the parts: so also did Sabellius derive the son from the
father by an efflux of substance & separation not of the sonch
not flow out,
notwithstanding he made a connection between eson & as the term is corre &
distinct substances & yet compose but one person
begotten & then born, & that the supreme Iupiter was both male &
female & that was being the first con & Bacchus out of his
ception of his mind according to Simon magus
thigh, & Ennoea
& his followers & so the f feigned that the Son of God
was begotten be world began & born when God said e
father. And as further; as the Gnosticks feigned that the Logus was
first conceived in Gods mind as his &
then emitted as it were out of his mouth & thereby generated into as his a by speakingthe Montanists entertained the s the son of God: so Montanists
taught that the Logus was first conceived then thenby eructationit were by eructation by eructation.
– – – – – sermonem optimum.
was first conceived as it were in Gods womb before the creation in order
to contrive the univers & then born
God had conceived in his mind. And whereas And so the SMo Theology of the
Montath
the ermaphroditical
Gnosticks & the son of this Iupiter. And whereas the Gnostick And this son was And this son of Iupiters brain was both male & female like Minerva& Logus
making but one Æon of Sophia
all ch
of Ideas were feigned to do. And for the unity of this Trinity the Montanists alledged the text in
the first epistle of Iohn: There are three that beare record the water the spirit the water & the blood
& wate spirit the spirit were symbols represented the
father son & h.g. the spirit signifying the father (Iohn 4.24) the water the holy g. (Iohn 7.38, 39) & the blood e
son.
And tho the Montanists for per reconciling their opinion heresy to the monarchy of the
father, made the son inferior to him, yet in some respects they made him equal. ffor e
text of Paul to wh they interpreted alledged for an equality, taking chthth
an adverb of similitude.
And thi it is further observable that they made Christ to be a part of the fathers substance
not by juxta-position after the manner of bodies, but by
schoolmen speak per coincidence & common presence
& the father in the son by both of them being every where present to the otherby common presence of their subst or circumincession
as the schoolmen speakch
Non est separatio ista, sed dispositio divina. Cæterum scimus Deum etiam intra abyssos esse
& ubi& &c
And this Word Logus the God, the Montanis
tanists feigned to be every where present & her
they by mixture of substance they would become a third sub thing, one substance God & man flesh & spirit,chto to dy yet it is only by rea thech
th
If from the th day of Month Elull neare end of theth year of Artaxerxes
gates set up che
4 months before the birth of Christ beginning of the vulgar Æra. And then was
Christ born: supposing that he was just 30 years old when he came to Iohns baptism [&
that Iohn began to baptise in eth year of Tiberias & Iesus in the summer time when
of that year when
or at the most but 31. years old And the covenant that the Iews should be his
& [he]his father hethey kep he the Annointed untill then the Iews werereject ion& calling of eabout seven years after his chappointing of
a wekk the & upon ffor the war by ch
begining in spring A.C. 67 & ending the
62 weeks it [the captivity] shall return & the street shall be built & the wall: but [this
shall be, not in a flourishing state of things like the seven weeks, but] in troublesome times &
the Iews as their Prince but] be cut off & it [the city or people or kingdom or domi
nion] shall not be his, but the people of a Prince that shall come [the Romans]
shall destroy the city & the Sanctuary & the end thereof shall be with a flood &
unto the end of the war desolations Nero Vespasian Trajan & Hadrian]he sha [before they
to be his people] he shall keep the covenant with many [the multitude of or nation of
the Iews] for one week. And in
fice & oblation to cease & upon a wing of abominations overspread the land
& untill the consummation [that ch[or upon the desolator, & [tch
He that has not the son has not the father but is an Idolatery & by
that has not the holy Ghost has not the son. And therefore he that forsakes this faith is an Idolater & denyes his God tof the law Thou shalt love the lord thy God: And he that violates the rule of Charity breaks the
second great article. Those chThou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self. And this second Article is like unto the first: for he that loveth not his brother by this we know that we love him if we keep his
whom he hathts
that loveth h not his brother whom he hath not seen how shall he love God whom
he hath not seen. The Christian religion was preached to bring men over from e
Creed conteins what men were to b the truth ch
for this end
covenant, & on the contrary the violation of this faith & practise
covenant & returning into the state of a heathen or publican & therefore
deserves excommunionBut erring in such other opini But to men other & do not
amount to a breach of the holy covenant is uncharitable is to your
[& breaks the first & great te
Lord. A He that worships another God hath not the father t
Thou shalt love ets
upon ch
seen how shall he love God whom he hath not seen?
The Sethians called the father of all things the first man & Ennœa the son of man
& emakin
water darkness the Abyss & Chaos upon ch
her the first & second man generated
a second woman called Prunicos & Sophia & she emitted seven sons the first
of chth
the help of Ialdabaoth emitt sent forth two emissions one into Elizabeth
the other into Mary whence were born Iohn the baptist & Iesus, & that
Christ descended through the seven heavens putting on the likeness of their
by the operation of God was born of a Virgin & was more wise pure & just
then all men & so was composed
did miracles cured diseases & revealed the unknown father, & manifested
himself to be the son of the first man. At ch
conspired against him, & when he was led to death, Christ & his mother
departed & Iesus was crucified, & rose again & sits at e
father Ialdabaoth. Irenæus l. 1. c. 34 And some at l of them (the Ophites) say
that Sophia became a serpent. ib.
Cerinthus & Carpocrates & the Ebionites said that Iesus was the son
of Ioseph & Mary.
The Gnosticks who are from Valentinus say that world was made
not by the Word of God but by the Demiurgus, & that the Salvator Iesus the
inferior Christ who was from all the Æons was not incarnate nor suffered but
descended like a Dove upon Iesus & when he had declared the unknown father reascended
to his pleroma & some say that Iesus (
suffered, who, they say, passed through Mary as water through a tube. Others
say that edescendit
who is from above descended upon him being without flesh & impassible.
[Iren. l. 3. c. 11.p. 219.] And Christ
opinions, being either manifested by a
or descending like a Dove upon Iesus the son of Mary.
Simon Christ
man & Simon & the three first that he only appeared to suffer, the
fourth that Simon of Cyrene suffered in his room while he
by in the form of Simon & derided the Iews. Iren l. c. 10, 21, 22, 23.
The Nicolaitans, & Sethians, & Ophites
their followers said that Christ descended upon Iesus. The former heresy
was founded by Simon this by Nicolas.
Apelles said that Christ had a real body of flesh & blood & re
ally suffered on the cross but was not born of the virgin but formed his disso resolved his body into elements of ch
& left it where he found it.
Valentinus said that Iesus upon whom Christ descended took
not flesh & blood of the Virgin but
through a pipe, & suffered, his body being visible palpable & passible
>The Sethians [a sect of the Nicolaitans] said that Iesus was a true
man born of the Virgin by the power of God & that Christ with his
sister Sophia descended upon him & thereby he became Iesus t
③ The Gnosticks making the their Gods either male or female
or both taught that they generated by emission of substance as animals
generate or as the heathens supposed their Gods to generate & thence
accounted them consubstantial. Sa D For Simon thAn Archangels & Angels & all of them his Gods
to be consubstantial to one another & also to humane souls. first invisible æternal
Bythus, after immense ages of rest & quiet emitted a prolation as seed, into e
womb of Ennœa called also Charis & Sige, & that she
brought forth Nus calle like & equal to his father, & by conse that is
consubstantial to him
Monogenes &
Alethea who being impregnated by Nus brought forth Logus & Zoe & these two
& Anthropus & Ecclesia
generations being performed
of substance from ew must be
must be recconned
signification of the word as all the ofspring of Adam & Eve are
consubstantial to their parents & to one another. And this being
the Philosophy of the Gnosticks we need not wonder if they some
times applied the word consubstantiall to these genera
tions. For that they did so is manifest out of Irenæusto to their e
Æons. So For that they did so is manifest out of Irenæus [l. 1. c. 1. sect. 9, 10. & e
works of Clemens Alexandrinus. The
Æons into spiritual & animal said that the spiritual were
stantial to the spiritual & the animal to e& Epiphanius said that
& Colarbasus [H & some of the followers of Colarbasus saide
when he emitted any thing, the truth when he declared the truth
he appeared in this earth. [Iren l. 1. c 6, 7
The Gnostick Gnosticks den were guilty of denying one
God & one Lord, T & eluding the incarnation & the passion of the son
of God. They denyed one God . . . . . . . . . doth in a good man. And in opposition to
these opinions Iohn saith: He is Antichrist . . . . . . . also in the Apocalyps.
① The Christian religion is founded in beleiving one God & one Lord &
Lord by distinguishing them into more then one & giving away their
worship to fals Gods & fals Lords; as when they derived several Æons
from the first God & tell us that one of those Æons was the creator
of heaven & earth, another was the father of Christ, one was Christ
another was the Saviour
the incarnation & the passion by saying either that Iesus Christ had a
phantastical body or that Christ or the Saviour
us that all heresies deny or say there is one God; but by an evil opinion change
him, being ungrateful to him who made them as the gentiles were ungrateful
by their Idolatry. [Iren. l. 1. c. 19]. And again: They blaspheme also the Son
our Lord, dividing Iesus from Christ & Christ from the Lord & Saviour &
the Saviour from the Word & the Word from the Only begotten [Lib. 4 in Proæ-Quid e All the hereticks aforesaid
one Iesus Christ yet they deride themselves, thinking one thing & saying
another [Lib. 3. c. 18] And again
impassible, one was born the other descended on him who was born & after
wards left him, they are
They understand Christ to be one & Iesus to be another & teach not one
Christ but many, & if they say that they were united, yet they shew that
one suffered the other remained impassible Lib. 3. c. 2
Christ was made flesh according to none of the opinions of the hereticks
ffor if any one search the rules of them all, he will find that the
Word of God & the Christ chproposed by all the hereticks
induced without flesh & impassible. For some think that he was
manifested
born nor incarnate. Others, that he did not so much as assume the
figure of a man, but descended as a dove upon Iesus who was born
of Mary. [Lib. 3. c. 11.] Therefore Iohn e
those were fals witnesses, saith: And the Word was made flesh & dwelt among us. [Lib. 3. c. 11.] These opinions therefore
of the Apostles, & as Iohn condemned
in his Epistles saying: He is Antichrist . . . . . . . also in the Apocalyps. & called & are called by eche
forehead of the Whore of Babylon ch
continue till Christ at his second coming should destroy them with fight against them with the sword of his mouth
the breath
destroy the man of sin with the breath of his mouth & the bright
ness of his coming.] whom Christ should destroy with the breath of his mouth
& the brightness of his coming.] whom Christ should destroy with the breath of his mouth
& the brightness of his [second] coming. ffor the ere
Christ should come & fight against them th
16 & 19.15, 21.
—— And most probably the Iewish hereticks had it from the old fables of the Iews,
& the Gentile hereticks added the names of Bythos & Sige. ffor the Sephiroths of e
Cabbalists are named after Gods attributes. And
tans was the same th
Nus of the Nicolaitans was the sam &
were the same with Nus the son of Ennœa & Logus the son of Nus according to
Basilides.
③ The Gnosticks after the manner of the Platonists & Cabbalists consi
thoughts or objects of Ideas or intellectual objects seated in Gods mind as real
Beings or substances, & supposed them to be male & female & to generate
by emission of substance as animals generate or as the heathens supposed
their Gods to generate & thence accounted them consubstantial
– – – – – – – but not the spiritual to the animal.
If Iosephus reccon isthe first Passover in his reign (ch
was the way of recconing among the th Chaldæans &said Herod might reign
17 years complete & some months over: Christ might be born a year later & so be just
30 years old at his baptism.
The host of Heaven is the Church people of God & the usually called his Church, of God of Princes&
Host ch
Goat called in the Apocalyps the synagoge of Satan
not. And the Prince of the host is the head of the Church of God. And because the
little horn magnified himself up to heaven & up to the Prince of the host or up against
heaven against the Prince of the host
Antichrist.
silence preceded the Word & thence
called Ennœa by the name of Sige: Irenæus tells these Gnosticks that
Logus & Sige could not be in Bythus at one & the same time, no more
than light & darkness. And tadd b that this
ἐνδιάθετοςch
therefore
opinions of these Gnosticks & argue against them.
The doctrine therefore that the was or Word
of God was the eemitted & was exerted or emitted as it were by speaking & thereby generated
emitted
into a Son before the world began came from the Gnosticks Basilides
& Valentinus & their disciples Secundus Ptolomæus fgderive the Æons from Nus & Logus from Sige derived Nus & Logus
nander the common master of Saturninus & Basilides & disciple of Simon.
ffor Irenæus tells us that Valentinus had his opinions h
his masters & k
& the Gnosticks in general for pretending to know the genera
tion of eendeavouring to explaining it by comparing it to
a word spoken by a man. And this opinion seems to have
been as old as the days of the Apostles. For l
tells us that Marcellus in making Quiet to precede e
said that atheistically There was God & Silence.
And m
Simon & his followers said that the Simons & the
Marcions & the Valentines & the Basilideses &
Cerdons & Cerinthuses & Carpocrateses & all their
trifles & juggling tricks were delivered
tells the Magnesians that they should not be seduced with forreign doctrines [of observing the Law] nor with vain [Iewish] fables w, & in opposition to those ch
fables subjoins that the Word did not proceed out of silence. And Nus or Monogenes the first emission of Ennœa,was by the father Logus wasthe first emission of Ennœa, Ialdabaoth,
that is Iah El the God of speeches
the potent God of speeches or the speaking God &[ ffor chchLogus Word chch
were by speakingbreaking silence made said that Logus was the son
of Nus, & that Nus was& gave the name of Nus
Ialdabaoth that is, the son of Ialdabaoth]And
word spoken & silence preceding, or Sige the mother & Logus the son & Sige the
mother. [ffor breaking silence & uttering a word are phrases for speaking. And accordingly Ialdabaoth was [& Son of Sige] was Ialdabaoth.
② As the Sephiroths of & affections a his Wisdom
first & supreme emanation conteining all the other sepiroths in it self
his Prudence, his Magnificence, his Power, his Beauty, his Eternity, his Glory, his supporting
same kind. Simon said that the Ennœa or Prunicus
of his mind & made her the mother Th The
Nicolaitans & Cerinthus [& Basi gave the names of They called him also Monogenes & Ialdabaoth& Mongenes
of Ennœa or Prunicus & that of Logus to the next emission
the son of Monogenes.
nesis, that is Min the Mind or Idea of IdeasWord, th Reason or Wisdom Prudence: ch
names resemble those of ch
called the first God Bythus & Megethos, Profundity & Magnitude meaning without
bounds & this answers to his Cabbalistical name En-soph the Infinite. And from
him & Sige he derived Nus & Alethea the Mind & Truth & from these two
Logus & Zoe the Word & life. And that these Gnosticks by their Æons
understood the powers & affections operations & Ideas of the supreme God is
manifest by what Epiphanius cites out of their writings in these Words. In the beginning, say they, he who of himself is the father conteined all things w [Æn-soph] thchchupon those who are from Magnitude, but others more truly call her Sige Silence because by cogitation without the use of speech Magnitude , call the Man
[Adam Kadmon & Arich Anpin] because he bears the likeness of the Vnbegotten. Afterwards Sige & the Man being conjoyned by their will brought forth [Alethea Truth in the likeness of Sige. This Man chthey
& Arche. e
two wives Ennœa & Thelesis, Vnderstanding & Will & called them the affections
of the unknown father & said that the Vnderstanding was the older wife
because the understanding precedes the will, & that Ennœa thought of an
emission but could not emitt it till the power of the Will came to her
assistance, & then she emitted Nus & Alethea. And whereas the Gnosticks
made Nus the son of Ennœa, Irenæus tells them
have made Ennœa the daughter of Nus because Nus the Mind, is the
fountain of thinking & Ennœa, Thinking, is the motion. The first
motion of Nus the mind he IreneusEnnœa & if it persevere it is called Enthymesis &
after much perseverance & becoming perfect it is called perception & at length
it becomes Council & council by persevering with motion is deliberation & delibe
ration at length becomes reason & from reason emitted a word or speech
several degrees & have place only in the mind of man. They err therefore
in describ ascribing to God the affections & passions of men & making him a
compound. For God is not as man, nor are his thoughts like ours. He is simple
& not compound. He is all like & equal to himself, all sense all spirit, all
perception all Ennœa, all chch
can be emitted from any thing else. Thus does Irenæus represent & confute
the Metaphysicks of the Gnosticks. And whereas, after the Apostle Iohn had
said In the beginning was the Word & the Word was with God, the Gnosticks called Nus & God the father Proarche & Bythos & took the Word for the
– – Hesiod. ffor the Theoglianscame from Egypt being & Egypti colonies of Egyptians & Phenicians in the days of Cecrops,
Cadmus, & Sesostris The mothers of Orpheus as anth
Plato travelling into Italy & Egypt theology about And And
And in descrbing the Theology ch
Beings Ideas or formal causes or causes by ch
– The mothers of Musæu Linus & Orpheus were Egyptians two weomen
the disciple of Orpheus taught
αναλύεσθαι
Plato
For this doctrine was brought into Greece before the days of those ancient Greek by colonies of Egyptians & Phœnicians in the days of Cecrops Cadmus &
Poets
Sesostris. The mothers of Linus & Orpheus were Egyptian singing weomen & Musæus the disciple of Orpheus taught – – – – – into one. Plato travelling & the first emanation of the supreme being was by Orpheus called
& Orpheus travelled into Egypt & there learnt his Theology sacred mysteries music
& poetry wherein he excelled all the Greeks & Musæus the disciple of Orpheus
taught – – – – – into one.
Plato
Diodor l 4. c. 1. Laertius l. 1 in Proæm.
– called them Æons. And Irenæus tells us that this doctrine of Æons came from
– – – – & other Greeks. And Tertullian also derives the heresies of the Greeks from
the heathen Phers
But the hereticks of the circumcision as Simon – – – – – – – – I
But the hereticks of the circumcision would as Simon Menander Nicolaus Menander Cerinthus Menander would be most apt to derive their opinions
from the Iewish Cabbala, & this I take to be the first rise of the p metaphy
sical heresies. For the Apostle in oppposition to these doctrines admonishes us
not to give heed to Iewish fables
Iewish fables he means the cabbalisticalin the Iewish Cabbala delivered down by
tradition among the Iews in their Cabbala, by opposions of science f endles gene
alogies, the genealogies of the Sephiroths & separate intellegencies in those fables
which may be multiplied to infinity, & by oppositions of science falsly so
called the disputes & contentions ch
who pretended to mende pretended to skill & understanding in this sort of Theo
logy falsly called science. These hereticks
were called Gnosticks, & gloried in the name.
The Gnosticks hereticks
cumcision, & followed either the hereticks of the circumcision or the heathen
Philosophers. Hegesippus – – – – – – – among the Gentile Gnosticks.
The Æons being generated – – – – to the animal
Some of
Irenæus tells us – – – – – – from the Nicolaitans
The Æons
The philosophical errors of the Gnostics – – – – – in the flesh.
Cerinthus was zealous for – – – – – went from him when he was let to
Pilate.
Ignatius writing against the Iewish heresies & perswading the gentiles not to have
with old fables che
law we confess that we have not received grace & then he adds that Iesus Christ is
the æternal word of God
These last words no doubt relate to that
according to the law. And therefore some of hereticks of the
They ththin Christ
The Ennoia of Simon & Menander was by some of their followers called Sige that is Abyss or Chaos & the ch
thence came the doctrine p was that some hereticks derived their Æons from B as
Valentinus & Marcus & Ptolomeus & Marcus derived the Æons from Bythos & Sige
The first God was by some of the hereticks called Bythos that is Abyss or Chaos, For they compared the
& the Ennoia of Simon & Menander. The namesproduction
projection or emission of the first Æons
or speech with a signification.
doctrine from Val former masters & blames Saturninus Basilides Valentinus &
Marcion that & the Gnosticks in general that for explaining
the son b Word by the
its
Simon & Menander. After Iohn had called Christ the Word of God, these here
ticks
original of the opinion that Christ was Verbum prolativum
κὸςAnd upon exp In op [This opinion was as old as the reign And as a man conceives a thing in his mind before he
of Trajan. ffor in opposition Ignatius tells us that to this opinion Ignatius calls it
said that Christ was
not coming out of silence.]
speaks it: so these hereticks feigned that God
& then emitted him by speaking. & thence came the opinion that the Word was
the Idea & the
eternity & at length emitted outwardly as it were by speaking, in order to
create the world. In favour of chDavid &
David according to the Septuagint:
opera sua, & ante omnes colles
So Valentinus said that Bythos & S
‡ ffor first begat begat Logos Nous & verita & veritaswith his consort veritas& by Logos conjoyned with truth & by Verbum & Vita
προφορικὸςwife Vita
the
προφορικὸςtwo wives to Bythos called Co the first was
because cogitation precedes the will. But these two wives were nothing else then
two modes of the
of Simon & Menander & their followers Ptolomæus
Marcus first silent untill she brought forth Before meditation And from these beginnings &cshe wa or action she was the Sige of
inusher a thought an Idea or thought
& thought begat the Word
but several modes of the
that faculty.
the opinion that the Word of God was first the left as Tatian, Montanus, Tertullian,
of the monstrous la& Sabellius
left of the
se inter Iudæos quasi ffilium apparuisse, in Samaria quasi Patrem descendisse,
in reliquis gentibus quasi spiritum sanctum adventasse. Helenam fæminam
Tyriam circumducebat, dicens hanc esse primam mentis ejus concepti
onem, matrem omnium per quam in initio concepit Angelos facere
et Archangelos. Hanc Ennoiam degredi ad inferiora & generare
Angelos et potestates a quibus et mundum hunc factum esse dixit.
Hanc in corpore humano inclusam fuisse et transmigrare de corpore
in corpus. Hujus mystici sacerdotes libidinose vivunt, magias perfi
ciunt, exorcismis et incantationibus
Simonis et Helenæ. Et a Simonianis, ffalsi nominis scientia accepit
initia. Irem. l. 1. c. 20.
The properly so called came fom Menander the disciple of Simon
Iren. l. 3. c. 4.
The Nicolaitans were a vulsion of the Gnosticks that is a branch of them or a sect
separated fom them.
228, 2, 34, 368, 2, 29. 430, 1, 20 & 2, 14:
oppositions of science falsly so called. By Iewish fables he means the
fables of concerning the & by
gencies & their geneal& oppositions of science the
falsly so called,Sepiroths Sephiroths &
of the Cabbalists &c
sitions of science falsly so called the contentions questions in the Gnosticks then risen
hereticks.
Irenæus tells us that Simon
all heresies had their rise from him Simon & calls him the father of all the
Gnosticism, had its rise from his followers
Menander & Epiphanius
called Gnosticks Phibionites, followers of Epiphanes, Militaries, Barbelites making d also derives the Gnosticks from
Nicolaus & his predecessors Simon & others also making
cessor of Nicolaus conjoyns the sects of the Gnosticks & Nicolaitans & d from the Nicolaitans derives the various sects of the Gnosticks called
Gnosticks, Phibionites, followers of Epiphanes, Militaries, Barbelites
Cainites, Ophites & by other names [And was alsoborrowed some opinions from the Nicolaitansof the same stamp were ]Carpocrates the father of Epiphanes & Cerinthus] They seem to
have borrowed
uncleanness from chiefly from Nico the followers of Nicolaus
Some of the Gnosticks – – – – – & Menander.
ex meta
& one Lord, &
one God tell us
derived several Æons from the first God & tell us that one of those
Æons was the creator of heaven & earth, another was the father of the another the Christ in the Word only had a phantastical body or that Christ was impassible & only
man. And these opinions were as ancient as the Apostles days being
denyeth the father & the son or that Iesus is the Christ or that
Iesus Christ is come in the flesh. And Peter that there should be fals teachers amongst tians
[Someof the Gnosticks – – – – – & Menander]
& suffered. The Gnosticks properly so called & the Valentinus &
Marcus said also that Christ descended upon Iesus in the form of
a Dove at his baptism & went from him when he was led to Pilate
[And Carpocrates was of the same opinion thChrist
from the father.] And after the writing of Iohn's Gospels,
hereticks changed the language
upon Iesus said that the Word was emitted & descended upon Iesus Christ
& dwelt in him & did th & did the divine operations. And this was the
Philosophy of the Nicolaitans.
The hereticks of the circumcision
Epiphanius tells us that Cerinthus was of the same opinion th
that Cerinthus introduced Iewish rites. Both made th te
Cerinthus said that Christ descended upon Iesus so Carpocrates said that
This doctrine seems to have been invented after the writing of Io the
Apocalyps & Gospel
is tinvented
of Ennoia in Sige (the first s Simon
& Menander) into Sige that of Sige sometim sometimes called Sige by the names of Ennœa & Charis, so that
as
who said that the Vnbegotten God produced produced
bum Basilides Epiphanius tells us that Basilides had it from Saturni
nus & Simon
Nicolaitans said that Christ descended upon Iesus, the Gnos
ticks who received the Gospel
the Wo the ch&
works.
opinion & the Proclus Æschines,
Praxeas,
Eustathius & Photinus. Alll these hereticks therefore held
the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, but yet th
of
a person, & that is, ath
standing & others held t as
Sabellius Paul Marcellus & Photinus held tto be e
fathers
then that of the father [& others as Proclus & Ter And again, some
tullian held him to be a person or substance with
a proper]
dwelt in Iesus
others Noetus Tertullian Noetus & Sabellius
passible. And WhenNoetus
Sabellius were called patripassians. But all agreed in
guishing& nature of Christ & called the Word, & calling
thehis humane nature or manhood
to in which
& actuated by the Word.
Tatian Iesus Christ of the heathens & followed the philosophy of the Assyrians. He bele And accordingly he heldth
the Word chfirst first
fathers substance distinguished & divided from the rest of his substance in respect of
life but not separated from it: & that as a man commmunicates his mind to another
by speaking without diminishing his own understanding an kindles ano
ther thl a distinct life &
understanding substance of son without diminishing his own life & under
standing. His words are
And accordingly he taught that the thethe Word was all things were produced out of the substance of
po seated in God from all eternity
God & that the Word waschproved all
vum
word was a part of distinguished & divided from e
of his substance in respect of life& that this God the Word His words are . . . . . . .
became a man. But in what m[He saith also that God After he had received the Æons of Valentinus
became man, but in what manner he conjoyned the th
nature I do not find explained.]
he fell in th
before he fe lapsed into the Gnostical opinions of many Æons & of the Word's
having a phantastical body.
From
He did not make the Word a mere vertue or operation but an substance emitted
tiall to the father. ffor Pope o
cum Arianis resisteretcontradiceret.
He was zealous for the consubstantiality of the Son as the
in the sense explained above
rt
Aaron to ehonour
inheriting the Priesthood from Noah, were rejected for their Idolatry by ch
notwithstanding their inheriting the Priesthood from Aaron, were rejected for denying
their Lord. And so the Christians, if they by lapsing into Idolatry
otherwise denying the father or the Son
on chmighted
the people of God & become the synagogue of Satan notwithstanding any Bisho Priests or Presbyters from the days of the Apostles He is Antichrist, saith the Apostle, who denyeth the father & the son.
— people untill practical opinionthe father or the son or both of them
become Antichristian Churches [& Synagogues of Satan.] The Priesthood of Noah was
propagated down to the the &
that of the Christians may be propagated down to the Antichristians. And yet
Heathens by idolatry denyedthe the
the Lord ceased to be his people Anti Christians by denying that Iesus is the tt
Christ died & become the synagogue of Satan & becom
Antichristians d worshipping a
false God or a false Lord they deny the true ones into a state awayof become the syagogues
of Satan Apostat
occasion they become schismatical ones ones Churches. And those opinions only ch
or schism are to be deemed heretical or schismatical. By teaching to break any of — The God of the Iews & Gentiles the
cles or promisses upon ch
become hereticks & by teaching to fall out
become schismaticks.
Athanasius had been condemned & excommunicated
a bishop of a party in Egypt called Meletians, & excommunicated & banished into
Gallia by Constantine the great & sent back into Egypt by his son Constantine
& again forced to fly by Constantius the second son of Constantine eM Emperor of the east. He fled to Iulius Bishop of Rome
Council of western bishops at Rome A.C. 342 summoned the Bishops of e
Empire to appear before him in this Council & give an account of their proceedings
against Athanasius & the rest
tentions of the Bishop of Rome to e
forward to contend for an universal jurisdiction untill he claimed it obteined it
tho he met with fra repulses for above 200 years toge before he obteined it
The eastern bishops therefore e
bishop of Rome a reprimanding letter telling him that they were his equals.
Whereupon the bishops of Italy prevaled with the western Emperor of Rome turned the crime upon the eastern Bishops for not appearing, & received
Athanasius into comm & the rest into communion, & by means of the
western Emperor Constans procured [the consent of the eastern Emperor Con
stantius] that] a Council should be called at Serdica in
of both Empires to h whe to reexamin the matter. And 80 eastern bishops being almost at were who were already arrived at Serdica & the other excommunicated persons wron two or three
& the communion of the rest whom they had exco b stood excommunicated
by them. On the oth But the
summoned the eastern bishops to come to the barr
their proceedings against Athanasius & the rest. Whereupon the eastern bishops (after some messages between them & seeing that the western bishops e
contended for a jurisdiction over them & that instead of ingththey w
were to be th sit amongst their judges, they went back; &
circulatory letters in defence of their claimed
appeals from all the world to e
justice, & declaredbecause they
& holy Ghost & the equality of the father & son & assumption of a man son to e
& his assumption of a man, & excommunicated eleven of the eastern bishops & the
eastern excommunicated Iulius Hosius & some others of the western prest endeavoured that a new profession of faith should be published for supplying what was wanting to e
the church catholick had continued united though in external commu
nion throughout all the Empire & but now inclined to a rupture between
the eastern & western churches, But th
nion. ffor whilst the eastern bishops excommunicated only a few of the western
its evident that they looked upon the western churches as in their commu
nion those few men only excepted whom they excommunicated & while
the western & Egypti bishops excommunicated only a few of the east
ern its evident that they looked upon the eastern churches as in their
communion those few men only excepted whom they excommunicated.
These things were done in the year 347 &