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I.
--Of Faith in the Holy Trinity
There is but one living and
true God, everlasting, without body or parts, of infinite power, wisdom, and
goodness; the maker and preserver of all things, visible, and invisible. And
in the unity of this Godhead there are three persons, of one substance,
power, and eternity--the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
II.--Of the Word, or Son of
God, who was made Very Man
The Son, who is the Word of
the Father, the very and eternal God, of one substance with the Father, took
man's nature in the womb of the blessed Virgin; so that two whole and
perfect natures, that is to say, the Godhead and manhood, were joined
together in one person, never to be divided, whereof is one Christ, very God
and very man, who truly suffered, was crucified, dead, and buried, to
reconcile His Father to us, and to be a sacrifice, not only for original
guilt, but also for. the actual sins of men.
III.--Of the Resurrection
of Christ
Christ did truly rise again
from the dead, and took again His body, with all things appertaining to the
perfection of man's nature wherewith He ascended into heaven, and there
sitteth until He shall return to judge all men at the last day.
IV.--Of the Holy Ghost
The Holy Ghost, proceeding
from the Father and the Son, is of one substance, majesty, and glory with
the Father and the Son Very and eternal God.
V.--The Sufficiency of the
Holy Scripture for Salvation
The Holy Scriptures
contain all things necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read
therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man that it
should be believed as at article of faith, or be thought requisite or
necessary to salvation. In the name of the Holy Scriptures, we do understand
those canonical books of the Old and New Testament, of whose authority then
never was any doubt in the Church. The names of the canonical books are:
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,
Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua Judges, Ruth, The First Book of Samuel, The
Second Book of Samuel, The First Book of Kings, The Second Book of Kings,
The First Book of Chronicles, The Second Book of Chronicles, The Book of
Ezra, The Book of Nehemiah, The Book of Esther, The Book of Job, The Psalms,
The Proverbs, Ecclesiastes of the Preacher, Cantica or Song of Solomon, Four
Prophets the Greater, Twelve Prophets the Less.
All the books of the New
Testament, as they are commonly received, we do receive and account
canonical.
VI--Of the Old Testament
The Old Testament is not
contrary to the New; for both in the Old and New Testament everlasting life
is offered to mankind by Christ, who is the only Mediator between God and
Man. Wherefore they are not to be heard who feign that the old fathers did
look only for transitory promises. Although the law given from God by Moses,
as touching ceremonies and rites, doth not bind Christians, nor ought the
Civil precepts thereof of necessity be received in any commonwealth; yet,
notwithstanding, no Christian whatsoever is free from the obedience of the
commandments which are called moral.
VII.--Of Original or Birth
Sin
Original Sin standeth not in
the following of Adam (as the Pelagians do vainly say), but it is the
corruption of the nature of every man that naturally is engendered of the
offspring of Adam, whereby man is very far gone from original righteousness,
and of his own nature inclined to evil, and that continually.
VIII.--Of Free Will
The condition of man after the
fall of Adam is such that he cannot turn and prepare himself, by his own
natural strength and works, to faith, and to calling upon God; wherefore we
have no power to do good works, pleasant and acceptable to God, without the
grace of God by Christ assisting us, that we may have a good will, and
working with us, when we have that good will.
IX.--Of the Justification
of Man
We are accounted righteous
before God only for the merit of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ by faith,
and not for our own works or deservings. Wherefore, that we are justified by
faith only is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort.
X.--Of Good Works
Although good works, which are
the fruits of faith, and follow after justification, cannot put away our
sins, and endure the severity of God's judgments; yet they are pleasing and
acceptable to God in Christ, and spring out of a true and lively faith,
insomuch that by them a lively faith may be as evidently known as a tree is
discerned by its fruit.
XI.--Of Works of
Supererogation
Voluntary works, besides,
over, and above God's commandments, which are called works of
Supererogation, cannot be taught without arrogance and impiety. For by them
men do declare that they do not only render unto God as much as they are
bound to do, but that they do more for His sake than of bounden duty is
required: Whereas Christ saith plainly, When we have done all that is
commanded of you, say , We are unprofitable servants.
XlI.--Of Sin after
Justification
Not every sin willingly
committed after justification is a sin against the Holy Spirit and
unpardonable. Wherefore, the grant of repentance is not to be denied to such
as fall into sin after justification: after we have received the Holy
Spirit, we may depart from grace given, and fall into sin and, by the grace
of God, rise again and amend our lives. And, therefore they are to be
condemned who say they can no more sin as long as they live here; or deny
the place of forgiveness to such as truly repent.
XIII.--Of the Church
The visible
Church of
Christ
is a congregation of faithful men in which the pure Word of God is preached
and the Sacraments duly administered according to Christ's ordinance, in all
those things of necessity required of the same.
XIV.--Of Purgatory
The Romish doctrine concerning
purgatory, pardon, worshiping, and adoration, as well of images as of
relics, and also invocations of saints, is a fond thing; vainly invented,
and grounded upon no warrants of Scripture, but repugnant to the Word of
God.
XV.--Of Speaking in the
Congregation in such a Tongue as the People Understand
It is a thing plainly
repugnant to the Word of God, and the custom of the primitive church, to
have public prayer in the Church, or to minister the Sacraments, in a tongue
not understood by the people.
XVI.--Of the Sacraments
Sacraments, ordained of
Christ, are not only badges or tokens of Christian men's profession, but
rather they are certain signs of grace and God's good will toward us, by the
which He doth work invisibly in us, and doth not only quicken, but also
strengthen and confirm, our faith in Him.
There are two Sacraments
ordained of Jesus Christ our Lord in the Gospel; that is to say Baptism and
the Lord's Supper.
Those five commonly called
Sacraments, that is to say confirmation, penance, orders, matrimony, and
extreme unction, are not to be counted for Sacraments of the Gospel; being
such as have partly grown out of the corrupt following of the Apostles and
partly are states of life allowed in Scriptures, but yet have not the like
nature of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, because they have not any visible
sign of ceremony ordained of God.
The Sacraments were not
ordained of Christ to be gazed upon or to be carried about; but that we
should duly use them. And in such only as worthily receive the same they
have a wholesome effect or operation; but they that receive them, unworthily
purchase to themselves condemnation as
Saint Paul
saith I Cor. 11:29.
XVII.--Of Baptism
Baptism is not only a sign of
profession and mark of differences whereby Christians are distinguished from
others that are not baptized; but it is also a sign of regeneration of the
new birth. The baptism of young Children is to be retained in the Church.
XVIII.--Of the Lord's
Supper
The supper of the Lord is not
only a sign of the love that Christians ought to have among themselves one
to another, but rather is a Sacrament of our redemption by Christ's death;
insomuch that to such as rightly, worthily, and with faith receive the same,
the bread which we break is a partaking of the body of Christ; and likewise
the cup of blessing is a partaking of the blood of Christ.
Transubstantiation, or the
change of the substance of bread and wine into the body and blood of our
Lord, cannot be proved by Holy Writ, but is repugnant to the plain words of
Scripture, overthroweth the nature of the Sacrament, and hath given occasion
to many superstitions.
The Body of Christ is given,
taken and eaten in the Supper only after a heavenly and spiritual manner.
And the means whereby the body of Christ is received and eaten in the Supper
is faith.
The Sacrament of the Lord's
Supper was not by Christ's ordinance reserved, carried about, lifted up, or
worshiped.
XIX.--Of Both Kinds
The Cup of the Lord is not to
be denied to the Lay People, for both parts of the Lord's Supper, by
Christ's ordinance and commandment, ought to be administered to all
Christians alike.
XX.--Of the One Obligation
of Christ Finished Upon the Cross.
The Offering of Christ, one
made, is a perfect redemption, propitiation, and satisfaction for all the
sins of the whole world, both original and actual; and there is none other
satisfaction for sin but that alone. Wherefore the sacrifice of masses, in
which it is commonly said that the priest doth offer Christ for the quick
and the dead, to have remission of pain or guilt, is a blasphemous fable and
dangerous deceit.
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