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 THE CREED EXPLAINED- 
 
 OR, 
 
 AN EXPOSITION OF CATHOLIC DOCTRINE. 
 
Philippus Cochlan, C.P., 
 
 Censor Deputatu*. 
 
 Imprimatur. 
 
 DANIEL GILBERT, 
 
 Vicar. Capitul. Westmonast. 
 
 Die 28 Aprilis, 1892. 
 
THE CREED EXPLAINED; 
 
 OR, 
 
 Hn lEyposition of Catbolic Doctrine, 
 
 ACCORDING TO 
 
 THE CEEEDS OF FAITH 
 
 CONSTITUTIONS AND DEFINITIONS OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 BY THE 
 
 REV. ARTHUR DEVHSTE, 
 
 Passionist, 
 Author of "Convent Life" and "History of the Passion. 
 
 SECOND 
 
 
 IE ABBEY OF 
 
 
 E. WASHBOUENE, 
 
 18 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON. 
 
 Dublin : M. H. GILL & SON, 50 Upper O'Connell Street. 
 
 BENZIGER BROS. : New York, Cincinnati and Chicago. 
 
 1897. 
 
tftiWlOL 
 
 rteAN-$*AC£ 
 
PREFACE. J^^j 
 
 THE following work, which I am now giving to the public, 
 has for its object to promote Catholic truth by explain- 
 ing Catholic doctrine as contained in the " Creeds," and as it is 
 denned and interpreted by the Church. 
 
 It contains the summary and substance of lectures and 
 instructions which for several years I have been accustomed 
 to give to students and pupils ; and in it I have endeavoured to 
 explain the twelve Articles of the Creed, as well as the more 
 recent definitions and declarations of the Church on matters of 
 faith as contained in the decrees of the Vatican Council, and 
 the constitutions of the Sovereign Pontiffs. 
 
 I have not thought it necessary to make the work in any 
 sense a controversial one, because I believe that a clear and 
 accurate exposition of Catholic doctrine is the best means of 
 promoting its knowledge, and the best remedy against misrep- 
 resentations, and the dishonest criticisms of our adversaries ; 
 and also the best refutation of the many false theories of 
 Christianity against which we have to contend, in order to 
 guard the true doctrine of Christ, and make it known to the 
 people. 
 
 In the manner of treating the subject, I first give an 
 introductory treatise on the virtue of faith, together with the 
 full text of all the " Creeds n that are approved by the Church, 
 and professed by the faithful. Afterwards, I give the text of 
 the " Apostles' Creed " and of the " Nicene Creed " at the head 
 of each Article as the subject of the instructions and expla- 
 nations which follow. In the explanation of the Articles I 
 state the doctrine, explain its meaning, and then give the 
 proofs of its truth, taken from the usual Theological sources — 
 Sacred Scripture, Tradition, the definitions of the Church, the 
 authority of Fathers and Theologians, and reason. 
 
 I ' 581 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 Article IX of the Creed, which embraces all that con- 
 cerns the Church and the Sovereign Pontiff, has demanded 
 several chapters in order to deal with it fully, and to explain 
 in detail all the points of doctrine that affect Catholic claims, 
 Catholic policy, and Catholic teaching and authority. There 
 are therefore separate chapters in this Article on the 
 Church:— The Primacy of St. Peter; the Sovereign Pontiff and 
 his infallibility ; General Councils and their authority ; and a 
 concluding chapter on the legislative authority of the Church, 
 and her relations to civil society. It would have saved much con- 
 troversy and misunderstanding at the time of the publication 
 of Mr. Gladstone's " Expostulation on the Vatican Decrees," 
 had the doctrine of the Church been better known and under- 
 stood by the English public on the question of Catholic 
 allegiance, Catholic policy, and Catholic teaching, which the 
 Expostulation attacked with such vehemence and severity. 
 Men who were then disturbed by the controversy may now, 
 with calm and dispassionate reason, read and understand the 
 sense in which all these questions are held and taught in the 
 Catholic Church, without any fear of their believing that " the 
 Church of Borne is arrogant in her claims, dishonest in her 
 policy, shallow and ignorant in her teaching." (a) 
 
 From this outline of the work, it will appear that it covers a 
 large field of study, common to ecclesiastical students, to 
 teachers in schools, colleges and convents, to whom I hope it 
 may be specially useful in their religious studies and examin- 
 ations ; and many a hard worked priest may find it a con- 
 venient hand-book for the subject-matter of his pastoral ser- 
 mons and instructions. 
 
 On the part of the Catholic laity, there is always to be 
 found amongst them an earnest and laudable desire to read 
 and to study doctrinal works, as they deem it necessary, in the 
 midst of their Protestant friends and relations, to be well in- 
 structed in their Creed, in order to be able to assign a reason 
 
 (a) Dean Nevill's " Comments on the Expostulation." (Page 6.) 
 
PREFACE. Vll 
 
 for the faith that is in them, and to instruct others in the 
 Christian doctrine when required. 
 
 And it seems that amongst the people of this Country in 
 general there is a sincere and ever increasing spirit of research 
 and inquiry into religious truth and doctrine, as is evident from 
 the publication and large circulation of numerous works, even 
 of fiction, all tending in this direction, as for example " Robert 
 Elsemere," and others of a like class. 
 
 For these reasons I am led to hope that the work, which 
 I now publish, may find a place in the religious and doctrinal 
 literature of the day. It is intended as a help to Catholic 
 students and teachers ; as a safe and secure guide to the laity 
 in matters of Catholic belief ; and as a convenient hand-book 
 for priests, on the mission, for the preparation of their sermons 
 and instructions. And all non-Catholics may learn from it a 
 correct knowledge of the Christian doctrine as held and taught 
 in the Catholic Church. To these individually we must give 
 the full benefit of the excuse derived from invincible ignorance 
 with regard to the truths of faith which they do not know, or 
 which they are prevented from knowing through no fault of 
 theirs. At the same time, we must remember the words of 
 the prophet Isaias, which St. Jerome applies to the Catholic 
 Church: — And in the last days the mountain of the house of 
 the Lord shall be prepared on the top of mountains, and it shall 
 be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow into it. (a) 
 The Church of Christ is therefore as a city placed on the top 
 of a mountain, which cannot be hidden from view, and which 
 can be seen by all, as expressed in the words of St. Augustine : — 
 Extat Ecclesia cunctis clara atque conspicua, quippe civitas, 
 quae abscondi non potest supra montem constituta. (b) 
 
 Throughout the work, I have taken many quotations and 
 extracts from various authors whenever I have found that they 
 expressed my meaning clearly and correctly ; and I have en- 
 fa) II. 2. (6) Lib. 2., Contra Creson, C. 36. 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 deavoured to acknowledge my obligation to them in the several 
 places in which the references are given. 
 
 From amongst Protestant works, I have used in many in- 
 stances that of Pearson on the Creed, (a) and I consider it, to a 
 great extent, the work of a man who has carefully studied and 
 followed the teaching of Catholic Theology. In the narrative 
 of the events of our Saviour's life, sufferings and death, I 
 have made much use of the publications under the title of the 
 " Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges," on account of 
 the clearness and brevity with which these events are narrated, 
 and the Scriptural knowledge and erudition carefully acquired, 
 and evidently possessed, by the authors of these manuals. 
 
 Apart from these, throughout the whole work I have used 
 and followed the usual standard works of Catholic Theology ; 
 and in all the various subjects of which I treat I have endeav- 
 oured faithfully to follow and to adhere to the teaching of that 
 science, as it interprets the doctrine of faith and morals. 
 After having spent most of the years of my life in its study 
 and teaching, I have learned to love it for its own sake, and to 
 esteem it as the highest, the most excellent, and the most 
 useful of all sciences. 
 
 St. Joseph's Eeteeat, 
 
 Highgate, London, N. 
 
 Feast of the Assumption, 1892. 
 
 (a) M Analysis of Pearson on the Creed," by Rev. J. Gorle, M.A. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 Introductory Treatise on Faith. 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PIOES 
 
 Faith, its Definition and Division. 1. Faith, its various mean- 
 ings. — 2. Its definition as a supernatural virtue. — 3. The 
 virtue of faith resides in the intellect. — 4. It is the first of 
 Supernatural virtues, but not the first grace. — 5. The 
 division of faith. — 6. The difference between divine faith 
 and divine-Catholic faith 1—4 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The Object and Motive of Faith. 1. — The primary object of 
 faith. — 2. The formal object of faith, or the motive of faith. 
 — 3. The material object of faith. — 4. The Decree of the 
 Vatican Council as to the object of faith. — 5. The Summary 
 of the truths that are the object of divine- Catholic faith. — 6. 
 Propositions and conclusions deduced from revealed truths.— 
 7. The rule by which we may know whether such conclusions 
 belong to the object of faith or not 5 — 9 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Certitude and Obscurity of Faith. 1. The two-fold certi- 
 tude of faith. — 2. God cannot reveal anything false. — 3. 
 What is false cannot be the object of faith.— 4. The subjective 
 certitude of faith. — 5. The assent of faith more certain and 
 firm than the assent of science. — 6. Obscurity of faith, its 
 meaning. — 7. The object of faith essentially obscure. — 8. 
 Two acts, one of faith, and one of science, may be elicited 
 about the same truth, but one and the same act cannot be 
 one of faith and of science. — 9. The acts of mental know- 
 ledge which precede faith.— 10. The obscurity of faith 
 illustrated 10—13 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Tee Necessity of Faith for Salvation. 1. The necessity of 
 means (necessitas medii) and the necessity of precept (necessitag 
 prcecepti) in the matter of salvation. — 2. Faith necessary as 
 a means to salvation. — 3. The four dogmas necessary to be 
 believed by explicit faith. — 4. The precept of faith negative 
 and affirmative, and the obligations arising from it. — 5. The 
 precept in regard to the external profession of faith. — 6. The 
 application of the doctrine concerning the necessity of faith... 14 — 18 
 
Xll CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTEE V. 
 
 The Liberty of Faith. 1. The assent given to the truths of 
 faith is voluntary and free. — 2. The freedom of faith illus- 
 trated, and shown from the object and obscurity of faith. — 3. 
 No one can be forced to believe 19 — 21 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The Integrity or Faith. 1. What is meant by the integrity of 
 faith. — 2. A former habit or inclination of heresy is not 
 necessarily and all at once destroyed by the virtue of faith. — 
 3. Any act of formal heresy destroys entirely and immediate- 
 ly the virtue or habit of faith in the soul. — 4. A heretic 
 cannot elicit an act of divine or supernatural faith in any 
 revealed truth. — 5. A man who rejects or denies even one 
 truth of faith, cannot elicit an aot of true faith in any dogma 
 whatever 22 — 25 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 On Heresy. 1. Heresy here referred to as the principal sin 
 against faith amongst Christians. — 2. What is meant by 
 heresy. — 3. Heresy objectively taken, or an heretical pro- 
 position. — 4. Heresy subjectively taken or considered as a 
 sin in the soul.— 5. Ignorance excuses from formal heresy ... 26-29 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The Credibility of Faith, and the Motives of its Credibility. 
 1. The fact of revelation ; and Catholic dogmas are evident- 
 ly credible. — 2. The same amount of knowledge of the 
 motives of credibility is not required in all. — 3. In order to 
 accept revealed religion, the motives of credibility should be 
 examined. — 4. Prophecy, its nature and object. — 5. The 
 three conditions required for a true prophecy. — 6. Prophecy 
 is possible. — 7. God alone is the Author of prophecy. — 8. 
 The rules by which we may distinguish true from false pro- 
 phecies. — 9. Prophecies are motives of the credibility of the 
 Christian religion. — 10. Miracles, their nature and the con- 
 ditions of a true miracle. — 11. The possibility of miracles. — 
 12. God alone is their efficient cause. — 13. The divinity of 
 the Christian religion proved by miracles. — 14. Especially 
 by the miracle of Christ's resurrection 30 — 10 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 The Articles and Creeds of Faith. 1. What is meant by an 
 • Article of Faith. — 2. The conditions required for an Article 
 of Faith as understood in the " Creeds." — 3. The reason 
 why the truths of faith are divided into Articles. — 4. In 
 what sense have the Articles of Faith increased ? — 5. Tbe 
 " Creeds," the meaning of a Creed or Symbol of faith. — 6. 
 The Apostles' Creed : why so called.— 7. The reason why 
 the Apostles composed it. — 8. The division of the Creed : its 
 twelve Articles. — 9. The Feasts of the Church, on which 
 certain Articles of the Creed are commemorated. — 10. The 
 obligations of Catholics in regard to the " Creed " 41 — 48 
 
CONTENTS. xiii 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 The Other Creeds of Faith. 1. The Nicene Creed — its his- 
 tory, and its additions to the Apostles' Creed. — 2. Its 
 introduction into the Liturgy of the Mass, and why recited 
 on certain days. — 3. The full text of the Nicene Creed. — 4. 
 The Athanasian Creed — its object, its authorship, and its use 
 in the Church. — 5. The full text of the Athanasian Creed. — 
 6. The Profession of Faith of Pope Pius IV.— 7. A Shorter 
 Form of Profession of Faith 49 — 57 
 
 The Apostles' Ckeed. 
 
 ARTICLE I ... 58 
 
 SECTION 1. (ARTICLE I.) 
 
 Thb Name op God and His Nature or Essence. 1. The Name 
 of God. — 2. The Nature of God. — 3. Three revelations 
 regarding the nature of God.— 4. Errors condemned by the 
 Vatican Council in regard to the existence and nature of God 59 — 63 
 
 SECTION 2. (ARTICLE I.) 
 
 The Existence of God. 1. Human knowledge can come with 
 certainty to the knowledge of the existence of God. — 2. The 
 proofs of the existence of God are a posteriori arguments, 
 that is, from the effects to the cause. — 3. The first argument 
 may be taken from the fact that things exist. — 4. The 
 second argument is from motion : existing things move. — 5. 
 The third is taken from Life. — 6. The fourth from the order 
 which we observe in the Universe.- -7. Three arguments in 
 favour of the existence of God taken from the spiritual order, 
 namely, intelligence, heart and will. — 8. No one can be in- 
 vincibly ignorant of the existence of God. — 9. The pro- 
 positions containing the doctrine of faith in regard to the 
 existence of God 64 — 69 
 
 SECTION 3. (ARTICLE I.) 
 
 The Perfections and Attributes of God. 1. The common 
 notion of the Deity, and the particulars in which it consists. 
 — 2. The perfections of God, and what is meant by them. — 
 3. Three sorts of perfections. — 4. The difference between 
 perfections as applied to creatures and to God, and the man- 
 ner in which all perfections of creatures are contained in God. 
 — 5. The first of the divine perfections, namely, Aseitas or 
 self-existing.— 6. The Attributes of God, and how are they 
 distinguished ? — 7. The unity of God, and why God is one. — 
 8. The simplicity of God, and the sense in which God is said 
 to be simple. — 9. Errors opposed to the simplicity of God... 70 — 74 
 
 SECTION 4. (ARTICLE I.) 
 
 Intelligence, Love and Life in God, and other Absolute Attri- 
 butes. 1. The Intelligence, Love and Life in God. — 2. The 
 Divine intellect, and the extent of the knowledge of God.— 3; 
 
XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGES 
 
 What is meant by Love as attributed to God, and what is its 
 object ? — 4. God does not love all things equally ; and His 
 love for intelligent beings is different from that which He 
 has for His other creatures. — 5. Life as attributed to God, 
 and the sense in which God is Life.— 6. What is meant by im- 
 mutability ?— 7. God is immutable.— 8. The special diffi- 
 culty in regard to the immutability arising from the work of 
 God, viz-, Creation. — 9. God is eternal. — 10. The idea 
 which we form of eternity, and how it is distinguished from 
 aevum and tempus. — 11. What is meant by immensity, and 
 how distinguished from Omnipresence. — 12. God is immense 
 and everywhere present ; and in a special manner present : 
 (a) in the souls of the just ; (6) in the humanity of Christ ; (c) 
 in His temples and Churches ; (d) in the assemblies of the 
 faithful ; (e) the three Divine Persons present to each other 
 by circuminsession ... ... ... 75 — 82 
 
 SECTION 5. (ARTICLE I.) 
 
 The Relative Attributes op God. 1. The relative Attributes 
 of God — goodness, power and providence. — 2. The sense in 
 which God is free to create or not to create. — 3. Goodness in 
 its three-fold sense — natural, moral and relative. — 4. This 
 three-fold goodness is in God in the highest degree. — 5. The 
 answer to the difficulty : why it is that so many evils exist, 
 God being infinitely good ?— 6. The meaning of God's Omni- 
 potence. —7. The meaning of the word Almighty, and the 
 extent of God's dominion over all His creatures. — 8. Why 
 God is called Omnipotent, and the object of His Omnipotence. 
 — 9. What is meant by the Providence of God ? — 10. God 
 disposes and governs all things by His Providence. — 11. The 
 special Providence of God for rational beings, and the answer 
 to the difficulty, why the just are afflicted, and the wicked 
 prosper in this world ? 83 — 89 
 
 SECTION 6. (ARTICLE I.) 
 
 The Holy Trinity. 1. The dogma of the Holy Trinity as ex- 
 pressed in the Athanasian Creed : what is meant by it ? — 2. 
 No clear idea can be formed of this Mystery, although we 
 - have some imperfect representations of it in creatures. — 3. 
 The most accurate representation of the Blessed Trinity is 
 to be found in our own soul. — 4. This Mystery is also 
 ineffable ; the example of St. Augustine. — 5. It is the prin- 
 cipal Mystery, and the foundation of the Christian faith. — 6. 
 We obtain the knowledge of this Mystery by revelation. — 7. 
 Proofs of the Holy Trinity taken from the Old Testament. — 
 8. Proofs from the New Testament. — 9. Proofs from Tra- 
 dition. — 10. This Mystery is not opposed to reason, but 
 above it. — 11. The knowledge which the Jews had in the Old 
 Dispensation of this Mystery, and the reasons of its obscurity 
 then. — 12. The obligation of believing explicitly in the Holy 
 Trinity in the New Law. — 13. The Holy Trinity as the basis 
 of all revealed religion, and the centre of all devotion ... 90 — 97 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XV 
 
 SECTION 7. (ARTICLE I.) 
 
 God the Father: The First Person of the Blessed Trinity. 
 
 I. The three names proper to the First Person of the Holy 
 Trinity : Father, Principium and Vnbegotten. — 2. The sense in 
 which God is called our Father, and the sense in which He 
 is called the Father of His only begotten Son. — 3. The 
 difference between the Divine Sonship, and that arising from 
 
 human generation 98 100 
 
 SECTION 8. (ARTICLE I.) 
 
 The Creation op the World. 1. God considered in His exter- 
 nal works, that is, in the works of His creation.— 2. Three 
 questions in regard to the origin of the world. — 3. Pantheism, 
 its meaning, its most celebrated advocate. — 4. The world is 
 not and cannot be God, —5. Spinosa's definition of substance, 
 and the sense in which it is false. — 6. The opinion that the 
 world was made by chance, or by a necessity of nature and 
 its advocates. — 7. The reasons why the world could not come 
 into existence by chance, or the fortuitous combination of 
 atoms. — 8. The world is not the result of necessity. — 9. 
 The true doctrine of the origin of the world. — 10. The 
 world was not made from matter, eternal and unproduced. — 
 
 II. God made the world out of nothing by creation. — 12. 
 The time of the world's creation : (a) the world is not from 
 eternity, but created in time, (b) the question of the possibility 
 of eternal creation. — 13. The question as to the age of the 
 world and the age of the human race. — 14. Three opinions 
 
 as to the age of the world 101 — 111 
 
 ARTICLE II m , M 112 
 
 SECTION 1. (ARTICLE IT.) 
 
 Christ's Name and Sonship. 1. The additions made in this 
 Second Article in the Nicene Creed. — 2. Jesus is Our Lord's 
 name, Christ is Our Lord's title. — 3. The three great offices 
 to which men were anointed : Prophet, Priest and King. — 4. 
 Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God.— 5. The Divine 
 Processions, their nature and division. — 6. The Procession 
 of the Son is called generation, and not the Procession of the 
 Holy Ghost. — 7. What is meant by generation ; and why is 
 the Procession of the Son called generation, and not the Pro- 
 cession of the Holy Ghost. — 8. His eternal Sonship 112 — IIP 
 
 SECTION 2. (ARTICLE II.) 
 The Divinity op Christ. 1. The meaning of the word consub- 
 stantial. — 2. The Son the Second Person is consubstantial 
 with the Father.— 3. Scriptural proofs of the Divinity of 
 Christ : (a) To Him divine powers and rights are attributed. 
 - (6) To Him divine honours are to be given, (c) Christ affirm- 
 ed His Divinity by His words, (d) The disciples and Jews 
 understood the words of Christ as asserting His Divinity. — 4. 
 The Divinity of the Word 6 Aoyos as proved from the first 
 portion of the Gospel of St. John ... 119—124 
 
XVI CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGES 
 
 ARTICLE HI 125 
 
 SECTION 1. (ARTICLE III.) 
 
 The Incarnation. 1. The meaning of the Incarnation. — 2. 
 Jesus Christ is truly God. — 3. Christ is really and truly man. 
 — 4. Christ has a true imman Doay. — o. v^rist, the Word 
 of God, took to Himself a true human soul. — 6. The Person- 
 al or Hypostatic union of the two natures in Christ, and in 
 Christ there are these two natures, Divine and human. — 7. 
 There is only one Person in Christ ; to wit, the Person of the 
 Son of God. — 8. Nestorius, his heresy, and its condemnation. 
 — 9. Eutyches, his heresy, and its condemnation. — 10. The 
 doctrine of one Person and two natures in Christ as expressed 
 in the Creed of St. Athanasius. — 11. The Communicatio 
 Idiomatum : its meaning. — 12. It is defined as a dogma of 
 faith that the blessed Virgin is the Mother of God.— 13. The 
 rules to be observed in speaking of Christ according to the 
 Communicatio Idiomatum ... ,.. 125 — 133 
 
 SECTION 2. (ARTICLE III.) 
 
 The Conception op Christ or the Manner of His Incarnation. 
 1. — The Gospel narrative of the Conception or Incarnation 
 of Christ. — 2. An Angel announces the Mystery. — 3. The 
 doctrine of Mary's Virginity revealed ; or proved from the 
 definition of the Church and the explicit testimony of Holy 
 Scripture, and from congruous or becoming reasons.— 4. The 
 detestable heresy of Helvidius and the reasons of its con- 
 demnation. — 5. Three objections against the perpetual 
 virginity of the Blessed Virgin answered. — 6. Mary's ques- 
 tion, and the answer given by the Angel : ** The Holy Ghost 
 shall come upon thee," dec. — 7. The threefold work which was 
 accomplished in one and the same instant, in the Mystery 
 of the Incarnation. — 8. The action of Mary and of the Holy 
 Ghost in the accomplishment of this Mystery. — 9. At the 
 instant the Blessed Virgin gave her consent in the words, 
 "Behold the handmaid of the Lord," dbc. ; the word became 
 flesh and dwelt among us. — 10. The Blessed Virgin, in the 
 Conception of Christ, received a new and singular perfection 
 of sanctity 134—142 
 
 SECTION 3. (ARTICLE III.) 
 
 Christ Born of the Virgin Mary. 1. The signification of the 
 name Mary : and its application to the Blessed Virgin.— 2. 
 Mary's condition and the special title by which she is known. 
 — 3. The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin : its 
 definition and meaning. — 4. The Dogma of the Immaculate 
 Conception proved from Scripture, by tradition, and by 
 reason. — 5. Mary's Maternity, or Mary's function in regard 
 to the Conception and the Birth of Christ.— 6. The divine 
 Maternity considered physically. — 7. The divine Maternity 
 morally considered. — 8. Mary intercedes for us in heaven ; 
 and the difference between her mediation and that of her 
 
CONTENTS. xvii 
 
 Divine Son. — 9. The sense in which she may be said to co- 
 operate with Christ in the work of Redemption. — 10. The 
 title of Queen of heaven as applied to Mary. — 11. The sense 
 in which devotion to the Mother of God may be said to be a 
 sign of salvation. — 12. The special question in regard to 
 those who wear the Scapular of the Blessed Virgin explained. 143—152 
 
 SECTION 4. (ARTICLE III.) 
 
 Born op the Virgin Mary. 1. Bethlehem, the birth-place of 
 Christ. — 2. The decree of Augustus that all the world should 
 be enrolled. — 3. Joseph and Mary went up from Nazareth to 
 Bethlehem. — 4. The date of the Christian era. — 5. The 
 birth of Christ in the stable at Bethlehem. — 6. The vision 
 of the Shepherds and their visit to the Babe of Bethlehem. 
 — 7. The circumcision of Christ on the eighth day 153 — 158 
 
 ARTICLE IV 159 
 
 SECTION 1. (ARTICLE IV.) 
 
 Suffered Under Pontius Pilate. 1. The reason for the transit- 
 ion in the Creed from the Birth of Christ to His sufferings. 
 2. Pontius Pilate : the reason why his name is recorded in 
 the Creed. — 3. The promised Messiah was to suffer. — 4. 
 The sufferings of Christ were agreed upon by Him and the 
 Father : they were revealed to the Prophets and delivered to 
 the Church. — 5. The reason why the Messiah came in a 
 state of suffering. — 6. All the sufferings agreed upon, reveal- 
 ed to th6 Prophets, and delivered to the Church, were 
 endured by Jesus of Nazareth. — 7. The sufferings of Christ 
 considered in His Person. — 8. What Christ suffered for us 
 in His human nature, {a) in His body, (b) in His soul. — 9. 
 The occasion and intensity of His sufferings. — 10. Lessons 
 to be learned from this Article ... ... ... 159 — 167 
 
 SECTION 2 (ARTICLE IV.) 
 
 The Passion of Christ. 1. The types of Christ crucified. — 2. 
 The Crucifixion foretold by the Prophets. — 3. The chief 
 sufferings of Christ. — 4. The Agony and Sweat of Blood.- -5. 
 The Betrayal, which includes (a) the traitor's kiss; |&) the 
 arrest ; (c) Malchus. — 6. The Jewish or Ecclesiastical trial 
 of Jesus. — 7. Jesus before Annas. — 8. The first trial before 
 Caiphas. — 9. St. Peter's denial. — 10. The derision of Jesus. 
 — 11. The third Jewish trial, or the second trial before 
 Caiphas. — 12. The remorse and despair of Judas 168 — 177 
 
 SECTION 3. (ARTICLE IV.) 
 
 The Passion of Christ. — Continued. 1. The first trial of Jesus 
 before Pilate.— 2. The trial before Herod. — 3. The second 
 trial of Christ before Pilate. — 4. Barabbas. — 5. The message 
 of Pilate's wife.— 6. The choice of the people between Jesus 
 and Barabbas. — 7. The scourging. — 8. The crowning with 
 thorns : (a) the scarlet cloak, (&) the crown of thorns, (c) the 
 reed.— 9. The Ecce Homo.— 10. Jesus is sentenced to death 178 -186 
 
 A2 
 
xvm 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 SECTION 4. (AKTICLE IV.) 
 
 The Crucifixion and Death op Christ. 1. The carrying of the 
 Cross — (a) the Cross itself ; (b) Simon of Cyrene ; (c) the veil 
 of Veronica ; (d) the women of Jerusalem. — 2. Calvary. — 3. 
 The Vinegar and Gall. — 4. The fastening Him to the Cross. 
 — 5. The title on the Cross. — 6. The parting of His garments 
 and the seamless garment. — 7. Christ is mocked on the 
 Cross. — 8. The last words of Christ from the Cross. — 
 9. The friends of Jesus who stood round the Cross. — 10. 
 The darkness. — 11. The words Eli, Eli, lama Sabacthani : 
 My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me. — 12. The 
 fifth word, I thirst. — 13. The sixth word, Consummatum est'. 
 It is finished. — 14. Christ dies 
 
 187—196 
 
 SECTION 5 (AKTICLE IV.) 
 
 What Happened at the Death op Christ : His Burial. 1. The 
 veil of the Temple. — 2. The earthquake. — 3. The Centurion. 
 —4. The taking down from the Cross ; (a) the breaking of 
 the legs of the two robbers ; (b) the opened side, and the 
 blood and water. — 5. The question as to the physical cause 
 of the death of Christ. — 6. St. John's final testimony to 
 Christ. — 7. Joseph of Aramathea and Nicodemus. — 8. The 
 Body of Jesus is taken down from the Cross. — 9. The Burial 
 of Christ. — 10. The lessons inculcated by our belief in Christ's 
 Burial 197- 
 
 ARTICLE V 
 
 204 
 
 SECTION 1. (ARTICLE V.) 
 
 1. When the " Descent of Christ into hell " was introduced into 
 the Creed. — 2. The meaning of this part of the Article.— 3. 
 The meaning of the words— Hell, Gehenna, Hades, and Para- 
 dise, in the Jewish sense. — 4. The purpose of Christ's 
 descent into Limbo. — 5. Dr. Lingard's notes on the descent 
 of Christ into Limbo. — 6. The Resurrection of Christ on 
 Easter Sunday ; why called Easter. — 7. The meaning of a 
 Resurrection. — 8. Christ truly and properly rose from the 
 dead. — 9. The Resurrection of Christ attested ; (a) By his 
 various apparitions ; (6) By His enemies ; (c) By Angels. — 10. 
 What Christ effected by His Resurrection. — 11. The Resur- 
 rection, the greatest of Christ's miracles 
 
 SECTION 2. ARTICLE V.) 
 
 The History of the Resurrection. 1. The time of the Resur- 
 rection. — 2. The conduct of the guards. — 3. The earthquake, 
 and the apparition of Angels, and apparent discrepancies 
 accounted for. — 4. Mary Magdalene and two other holy 
 women come to the tomb. — 5. The two Apostles, Peter and 
 John, run to the tomb. — 6. The apparition to Mary 
 Magdalene.— 7. Explanation of the words Touch me not. — 8. 
 The other holy women go to the tomb and find not Jesus, 
 but two Angels appear to them. — 9. His apparition to the 
 
 204—211 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XIX 
 
 holy women. — 10. The soldiers are bribed.— 11. Other 
 apparitions of Christ : (a) To Peter ; (b) to the disciples going 
 to Emmaus ; (c) to the Apostles assembled together, Thomas 
 being absent ; (d) to the Apostles eight days after, Thomas 
 being present ; (e) to the seven on the sea of Tiberias ; (/) 
 the apparitions mentioned by St. Paul to as many as 500 
 assembled together.— 12. The Apostles could not have been 
 deceived as to the fact of the Kesurrection. — 13. The qualities 
 of the resuscitated Body of Christ. — 14. The Wounds of His 
 Passion retained in His glorified Body.— 15. The effects of 
 Christ's Kesurrection 212—221 
 
 AKTICLE VI. 
 
 1. The Ascension forty days after the Kesurrection. — 2. The 
 term of forty days a remarkable scriptural period, and Christ's 
 work during that period. — 3. The Ascension represented in 
 figures and foretold by the Prophets. — 4. The circumstances 
 of the Ascension as to time, place, and persons present. — 5. 
 His last blessing. — The apparition of Angels and their words. 
 — 7. Those who accompanied Christ in His Ascension. — 8. 
 What is meant by Heaven. — 9. The reasons of Christ's 
 Ascension. — 10. The second part of the Article : sitteth at 
 the right hand of God the Father Almighty, explained ... 222 — 227 
 
 AKTICLE VII. 
 
 1. Christ shall come again. — 2. The manner of His second 
 coming. — 3. The purpose of His coming, and proofs of the 
 future judgment. — 4. Those who are to be judged the Living 
 and the Dead. — 5. Those things that are to fall under judg- 
 ment. — 6. The final sentence and description of the last 
 judgment. — 7. The execution of the sentence. — 8. The par- 
 ticular judgment at the death of each one. — 9. Some of the 
 signs that are to precede the General Judgment :— (a) the 
 falling off from the faith, —(b) Satan let loose on the earth. — 
 (c) The Anti-Christian empire. — (d) Antechrist. — (e) Enoch 
 and Eiias will return to earth. — (/) The Church will be 
 victorious.— (g) The sign of the Son of Man will be seen in the 
 heavens. — (h) Christ will be seen coming in the cloud* of 
 heaven .i8 -C36 
 
 AKTICLE VIII ... 237 
 
 SECTION 1. (ARTICLE VIII.) 
 1. When this mystery is commemorated. The meaning of the 
 words Penticost ; Holy Ghost. — 2. The Holy Ghost is a Person 
 and not a mere virtue or power of God. — 3. The objections 
 of the Socimans to the Personality of the Holy Ghost answer- 
 ed. — 4. The Holy Ghost is God and Lord, that is, consub- 
 stantial with the Father and the Son.— 5. He is the Life- 
 giver. — 6. The Procession of the Holy Ghost : proofs of the 
 Procession of the Holy Ghost from the Father and the Son. 
 — 7. The addition of the Filioque to the Nicene Creed. — 8. 
 The reason why He is called the third Person 237—243 
 
XX 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 SECTION 2. (ARTICLE VIII.) 
 
 The Coming op the Holy Ghost and His Office. 1. The Office 
 attributed to the Holy Ghost by the words : Wlw spoke by the 
 Prophets. — 2. Mission understood as applied to the Divine 
 Persons. — 3. The Father or First Person cannot be said to 
 be sent. — 4. The Son and the Holy Ghost are sent (a) By an 
 invisible mission ; (6) by a visible mission. — 5. feutecost. 
 (a) The injunction given to the Apostles ; (/>) the upper room 
 where they awaited the coming of the Holy Ghost ; (c) the 
 names of the Apostles assembled there ; (d) their manner of 
 preparation; (e) the significance of the mention of the holy 
 women and Mary the Mother of Jesus. — 6. The description 
 of the descent of the Holy Ghost : (a) The sound from 
 heaven ; (b) the parted tongues as it were of fire ; (c) those 
 who received the gifts of the Holy Ghost ; (d) divers tongues. 
 — 7. Dr. Lingard's Notes on this Mystery. — 8. The Mission 
 of the Holy Ghost in the Church. — 9. The Seven Gifts of the 
 Holy Ghost.— 10. The twelve Fruits of the Holy Ghost.— 11. 
 The gratiae gratis datae (or graces gratuitously given) of the 
 Holy Ghost 
 
 ARTICLE IX 
 
 244—255 
 256 
 
 SECTION 1. (ARTICLE IX.) 
 
 The Institution or Establishment of the Church. 1. The 
 meaning of the word Church : and what is included in its 
 general meaning. — 2. The Church militant defined. — 3. The 
 institution of the Church and its first Apostles, with St. Peter 
 at their head. — 4. The Church to last for all time. — 5. The 
 Church teaching (docens) and the Church believing (credens or 
 discern).— §. Christ instituted or founded the Church. — 7. 
 The Church compared to a human being with body and soul. 
 — 8. The Church considered as to its soul. — Who are in the 
 soul of the Church ?— 9. The Church considered as to its 
 body, and who are they that belong to the body of the Church. 
 The question as to (a) Occult heretics ; (b) infants and those 
 not baptized ; (c) Catechumens ; (<J) Apostates ; (e) the chil- 
 dren of heretics; (/) those excommunicated. — 10. The 
 Church a necessary society. — 11. The meaning of the pro- 
 position: " Out of the Church there is no salvation," and its 
 truth. — 12. The distinction between fundamental and non- 
 fundamental Articles of Faith cannot be admitted in the 
 Protestant sense 
 
 SECTION 2. (ARTICLE IX.) 
 
 The Visibility of the Church and Her Perpetuity. 1. Visibility 
 in itself , and as applied to a society in its material and formal 
 sense. — 2. What we are to understand by the visibility of 
 the Church. — 3. The visibility of the Church proved from 
 Scripture. — 4. Protestant theories in regard to the visibility 
 of the Church. — 5. The Church's perpetuity : its meaning 
 and truth 
 
 256—264 
 
 265—268 
 
CONTENTS. XXI 
 
 SECTION 3. (AKTICLE IX.) 
 
 The Notes or Marks of the True Church. 1. The meaning of 
 a Note or Mark of the Church, and its conditions. — 2. The 
 true Church of Christ must have some Notes or Marks. — 3. 
 The four Notes of the Church — Unity, Sanctity, Catholicity, 
 and Apostolicity, — 4. These four have the conditions required 
 for a true Note of the Church — 5. Unity, a true Note of the 
 Church, and the reasons why the Church must be one, and 
 the sense in which she is one. — 6. Sanctity, a true Note of 
 the Church, and the sense in which the Church is holy. — 7. 
 Catholicity as a Note of the Church (a) as to place, (b) as to 
 time, (c) as to doctrine. — 8. Apostolicity as a Note of the 
 Church. — 9. These four Notes flow from the original con- 
 stitution of the Church, and each has the characters of a 
 true and distinctive sign. — 10. Positive and Negative Notes — 
 their meaning. — 11. The manner in which the Notes of the 
 Church are applied as negative and positive. — 12. Neither 
 the preaching of the pure Word of God, or the administration of 
 the Sacraments, can be called a Note of the Church 269—278 
 
 SECTION 4. (ARTICLE IX.) 
 
 The Application of the Notes to the Catholic Church. 1. The 
 Catholic Church is one ; (a) in government; (6) in faith ; (c) in 
 worship. — 2. The Sanctity of the Catholic Church. The 
 meaning of sanctity, its division, its degrees. — 3. The 
 Catholic Church is holy (a) in her doctrine ; (6) in the means 
 of holiness which she possesses ; (c) in the fruits of sanctity 
 within her. — 4. Catholicity applied to the Church. The 
 meaning of the word Roman Catholic, the signification 
 of the word Catholic, and the various kinds of Catholicity. 
 — 5. The sense in which the true Church is Catholic. — 
 6. The Apostolicity of the Catholic Church, (a) She has 
 her origin and doctrine from the Apostles. (6) She has the 
 succession of Pastors uninterrupted from their time. — 7. 
 She has the succession (a) of Orders and (b) of Jurisdic- 
 tion. — 8. Summary, (a) The Roman Catholic Church 
 possesses the Note of Unity, (6) She possesses the Note of 
 Sanctity, (c) Of Catholicity, and (d) of Apostolicity. — 9. 
 False Churches wanting (a) in Unity ; (6) in Sanctity ; (c) in 
 Catholicity, and (d) in Apostolicity 279 — 288 
 
 SECTION 5. (ARTICLE IX.) 
 
 The Properties of the Church. 1. The other chief properties 
 of the Church. — 2. The Indefectibility of the Church, and 
 the sense in which she is indefectible. — 3. The errors of 
 heretics in regard to the Indefectibility of the Church. — The 
 Infallibility of the Church. — 5. The three propositions of 
 faith in regard to the Infallibility of the Church. — 6. Proofs 
 of the Church's Indefectibility and Infallibility.— 7. Further 
 
XXU CONTENTS. 
 
 proofs of the Infallibility of the Church.— 8. The object of 
 Infallibility and the dogmas to which it extends.— 9. The 
 Subject of Infallibility 289—295 
 
 SECTION 6. (ARTICLE IX.) 
 
 Dogmatic and Moral Facts. 1. The meaning of Dogmatic and 
 Moral facts.— 2. An enumeration of the principal Dogmatic 
 and Moral facts, — 3. The approbation and condemnation of 
 books. — 4. The authority of the Church in declaring whether 
 a doctrine contained in a book is true or false. —5. The 
 authority of the Church in the Canonization of Saints. — The 
 meaning of Canonization and beatification, and the difference 
 between them ; the difference between public and private 
 worship (cultus). — 6. The Church's infallibility in the Canon- 
 ization of Saints proved. — 7. The authority of the Church 
 in ruling or in her government. — 8. The meaning of the 
 power of Order and Jurisdiction. — 9. The meaning of the 
 Divine Hierarchy of the Church , ... 296 — 304 
 
 CHAPTER 2. (ARTICLE IX,) 
 
 The "Roman Pontiff. 1. The signification of the word Pope. — 2. 
 Christ, the invisible Head of the Church, appointed a Vicar, 
 or visible Head of the Church on earth. — 3. What is meant 
 by the Primacy of honour and of jurisdiction.— 4. The 
 Catholic doctrine regarding the Primacy of St. Peter and his 
 successors. — 5. Scriptural proofs that Christ conferred the 
 Primacy on St. Peter, (a) from St. John i. 42. (b) from St. 
 Matt. xvi. — the text explained, (c) from St. John xxii. 22. — 
 6. St. Peter exercised this power, and it was acknowledged by 
 the other Apostles.— 7. Dr. Lingard's Note on the subject... 305 — 311 
 
 SECTION 2. (ARTICLE IX.) 
 
 The Peimacy of the Roman Pontiff. 1. The Office was not 
 personal to Peter, but was to pass to his successors. — 2. 
 Christ wished the primacy to continue in His Church. — 3. 
 The primacy conferred on St. Peter continues in the Roman 
 Pontiff.— 4. The Roman Pontiff by divine right is the suc- 
 cessor of St. Peter. — 5. An objection against the supremacy 
 of the Roman Pontiff, and its answer ,., 312 — 316 
 
 SECTION 3. (ARTICLE IX.) 
 
 The Infallibility of the Roman Pontiff. 1. The Infallibility of 
 the Pope is the consequence of his Primacy. — 2. The question 
 as to whether the Roman Pontiff h&apaasive Infallibility, that 
 is whether his faith is infallible. — 3. The Infallibility of the 
 Pope in teaching and as defined by the Church. — 4. When 
 the Pope may be considered as speaking ex cathedra, — 5. The 
 Decree of the Council of the Vatican on the Papal Infallibility. 
 
CONTENTS. XX111 
 
 — 6. The Papal Infallibility proved from Scripture. — 7. 
 The Papal Infallibility proved from tradition. — 8. No Pope 
 has ever erred when speaking ex cathedra. — 9. Facts quote ^ 
 against the Papal Infallibility answered : — (a) the fall of 
 Peter, (6) the fall of Liberius, (c) the case of Pope Honorius... 317—324 
 
 SECTION 4. (ARTICLE IX.) 
 
 The Papal Infallibility. — Continued. 1. The conditions required 
 that a Papal definition be infallible. — 2. The assistance of 
 the Holy Ghost, as distinguished from Inspiration or Revela- 
 tion. — 3. The distinction between faith purely divine, and 
 divine-Catholic faith. — 4. The Magisterium of the Church — 
 special and ordinary. — 5. The objections of the heresiarch 
 Dollinger against the Papal Infallibility answered. — 6. The 
 four propositions of the Gallican convention held in 1682. — 
 
 7. Arguments from reason in favour of the Papal Infallibility 325 — 331 
 
 CHAPTER 3. (ARTICLE IX.) 
 
 Bishops and General Councils. 1. The divine institution of 
 Bishops. — 2. The meaning of a Council and the various 
 kinds of Councils. — 3. The distinction between a General and 
 an Ecumenical Council. — 4. The necessity and utility of 
 Councils.— 4. Conditions required that a Council be Ecu- 
 menical (a) in its convocation. (6) In its celebration, (c) In 
 its conclusion. — 5. The definitions of an Ecumenical Council 
 are Infallible.— 6. The confirmation of decrees of an Ecu- 
 menical Council. — 7. The names and dates of the General 
 and Ecumenical Councils of the Church. — 8. The authority 
 of Councils *. .„ 332—340 
 
 CHAPTER 4. (ARTICLE IX.) 
 
 The Exercise of the Legislative Authority of the Church, and 
 Her Relations to Civil Society. 1. In what consists the 
 authority of the Church ? — 2. The object of this authority. 
 — 3. The conditions required for its exercise. — 4. The 
 independence of the Church. — 5. The rights of the Church : 
 (a) To propagate her teaching, (b) To establish a hierarchy, 
 (c) Free communication with the Sovereign Pontiff, (d) 
 To train and educate her clergy, (e) To teach not only 
 Theology but all the other Sciences. (/) To determine the 
 conditions of marriage. (g) To possess both moveable and 
 immoveable goods. — 6. The obligation of Society to be 
 Christian. — 7. The duties of the State towards religion. — 
 
 8. The teaching of the indifference of the Civil power 
 towards religion, or the separation of Church and State not 
 to be admitted. — 9. Tolerance, as regards religion, properly 
 understood. — 10. The most strenuous opponents of a 
 Christian State are they to whom the alliance of the 
 
XXIV 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Civil power with the Church is intolerable. — 11. The Tem- 
 poral power of the Pope, (a) Its origin, (b) Its lawfulness, 
 (c) Its necessity. — 12. Summary of conclusions drawn irorn 
 the teaching of the Church in regard to the temporal do- 
 minion and the temporal power of the Pope 3 11- 
 
 page s 
 
 -357 
 
 CHAPTER 5. (ARTICLE IX.) 
 
 The Communion of Saints. 1. "What is meant by the Com- 
 munion of Saints. — 2. The states of the Church militant, 
 suffering, and triumphant. — 3. Who are they that are included 
 in the Communion of Saints ? — 4. Are sinners included in 
 this Communion ? — 5. Are those outside the Church to be 
 included? — 6. The Communion of Saints extends to the soals 
 in Purgatory, and to the Blessed in heaven. — 7. That in 
 which this Communion consists — (a.) Communion of the 
 Saints with God and with the three Persons of the Blessed 
 Trinity, (b) Communion between the Saints and Angels. 
 (c) Communion with each other, {d) Communion of the 
 Saints in heaven with the souls in Purgatory, and the faithful 
 on earth, (e) Communion of the faithful on earth with the 
 souls in Purgatory. (/) The Communion of the faithful on 
 earth with each other.— 8. The external manifestations of 
 spirits in this world. — 9. These spirits that can and do 
 appear. — 10. Rules by which true and good visions may be 
 distinguished from those that are false or diabolical. — 11. 
 Difference between the teaching of Ascetical Theology and 
 Modern Spiritualism, in regard to communication with spirits 
 and departed souls. — 12. Spiritualism a dangerous and un- 
 lawful practice. — 13. Exhortation of Bishop Milner on the 
 subject of the invocation of Saints 
 
 CHAPTER 6. (ARTICLE IX.) 
 
 Puf.gatory. 1. What is Purgatory? — 2. The doctrine of Pur- 
 gatory as defined by the Council of Trent, and the proofs of 
 the doctrine from Sacred Scripture. — 3. The doctrine of 
 Purgatory proved from tradition, and the reasons for this 
 doctrine. — 4. The Place of Purgatory. — 5. The pains of 
 Purgatory. — 6. The duration of the sufferings of the souls 
 in Purgatory. — 7. The state of the suffering souls. — 8. 
 Prayers for the Dead. — 9. The tradition of the Church in 
 regard to prayers for the Dead. — 10. Suffrages to be offered 
 for the souls in Purgatory.— 11. The suffrages of the living 
 can benefit the dead. — 12. The manner in which the souls 
 in purgatory can help themselves and others by prayer. — 
 13. Motives for devotion to the souls in Purgatory 
 
 ARTICLE X ... 
 
 358—367 
 
 368—379 
 380 
 
 SECTION 1. (ARTICLE X.) 
 
 TnE Forgiveness of Sins. 1. The forgiveness of sins 
 ing.— 2. 
 
 its mean- 
 Christ gave the power of forgiving sins to the 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XXV 
 
 Apostles and their successors : whose sins you shall forgive 
 they are forgiven them, and ivhotse sins you shall retain they are 
 retained. — 3. The means of forgiveness, the Sacraments of 
 Baptism and Penance. — 4. Sin — its definition and meaning. 
 — 5. The guilt and stain of sin. — 6. The distinction of sins 
 as to their species or kind, and as to their number. — 7. The 
 division of sins according to their specific and numeric dis- 
 tinction. — 8. Sins are not all connected together, and they 
 are not all equal. — 9. The causes of sin — internal and 
 external ... 
 
 380—388 
 
 SECTION 2. (ARTICLE X.) 
 
 Original Sin. 1. Original Sin — its meaning. — 2. The existence 
 of original sin as defined by the Church. — 3. The manner in 
 which original sin is transmitted.— 4. Those who contract 
 original sin. The Blessed Virgin exempt from it. — 5. In what 
 consists the essence of original sin. — 6. The effects of origin- 
 al sin in this life. — 7. The effects of original sin in the 
 next life 
 
 389—394 
 
 SECTION 3. (ARTICLE X.) 
 
 Actual Sin and the Deadly Vices, &c. 1. Actual sin— its 
 definition and the conditions required for it. — 2. The 
 division of sin into mortal and venial, and how they may be 
 distinguished. — 3. The various ways in which sins may be 
 regarded as mortal and as venial.— 4. What is meant by light 
 and grave matter in regard to sin. — 5. Conditions that 
 diminish the guilt of sin, and that aggravate its guilt. — 6. 
 Seven circumstances that may cause a venial sin to be 
 grievous. — 7. The Capital Sins or Deadly Vices : (a) Pride, 
 (b) Avarice, (c) Luxury, (d) Envy, (e) Gluttony, (j ) Anger, 
 (g) Sloth.— 8. The six sins against the Holy Ghost. — 9. 
 The four sins that cry to heaven for vengeance. — 10. The 
 different ways in which one may be answerable for the sins 
 of another .„ 
 
 395—400 
 
 ARTICLE XI. 
 
 What is meant by the Resurrection of the Body ? — 2. The 
 Resurrection of the Body proved from Scripture — (a) from 
 the Old, (b) from the New, Testament. — 3. Pledges of the 
 future Resurrection. — 4. The dogma of the Resurrection of 
 the flesh demonstrated by reason. — 5. Objections of ration- 
 alists to the dogma, and their refutation. — 6. All men shall 
 rise again. — 7. The Time of the Resurrection. — 8. The 
 state or condition of men in the Resurrection. — 9. The 
 age, size, and sex of resuscitated bodies. — 10. The four 
 qualities or gifts of a glorified body ; and the corresponding 
 defects or penalties inflicted on the damned 
 
 401— 40S 
 
XXVI CONTENTS. 
 
 ARTICLE XII 
 
 CHAPTER 1. (ARTICLE XII. 
 
 1. The meaning of this Article.— 2. The difference of State 
 between the just and the wicked in the future life. — 3. The 
 meaning of the word hell.— 4. The doctrine of faith as to 
 the existence of hell. — 5. The place of hell. — 6. The pains 
 of hell : (a) the pain of loss, (b) the pains of the damned 
 not equal, (c) the fire of hell, (a) the worms, the weeping 
 and the gnashing of teeth. — 7. The eternity of the pains of 
 hell. — 8. St. Thomas' reasons showing the equity of the 
 duration of the torments of the damned. — 9. The sense in 
 which those pains may be said to be infinite. — 10. The state 
 of the lost souls as to intellect and will. — 11. Objections to 
 the eternity of torments refuted. — 12. The punishment of 
 children who die without Baptism in a state of original sin... 410- 
 
 SECTION 2. (ARTICLE XII.) 
 
 Heaven. 1. What is meant by heaven. — 2. The vision of God 
 in heaven. — 3. No created intellect can naturally see God as 
 He is Himself. — 4. A created intellect, aided supernaturally, 
 can see God as He is in Himself. — 5. The light of Glory. — 
 6. The inequality of the Beatific Vision. — 7. The cause 
 and the result of this inequality. — 8. Whether the Blessed 
 comprehend God. — 9. The object of the Beatific Vision. — 
 10. The accidental Beatitude of heaven. — 11. The aureolse 
 of glory. — 12. The vision, love and fruition of God by the 
 Blessed. — 13. The inhabitants of heaven : (a) Human 
 beings, (b) Angels, (c) The Immaculate Mother of God, (d) 
 Christ in His Sacred Humanity. — 14. The essential Beati- 
 tude of heaven. — 15. The eternity of heaven, and the ever- 
 lasting life of the Blessed ... „* ^ ^ »*, ... 422- 
 
THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY TREATISE ON FAITH. 
 
 CHAPTEB I. 
 
 FAITH, ITS DEFINITION AND DIVISION. 
 
 1. Faith, its various meanings. — 2. Its definition as a Supernatural virtue. 
 — 3. The virtue of faith resides in the intellect. — 4. It is the first 
 of Supernatural virtues, but not the first grace. — 5. The division of 
 faith. — 6. The difference between divine faith and divine-Catholio 
 faith. 
 
 Before explaining the Articles of our faith as contained in 
 the Apostles' Creed, I think it necessary to give an explanation 
 of the faith itself, and the Catholic motives of credibility, so that 
 all may be able to give a reason for the faith which is in them. 
 
 1. Faith as used in Holy Scripture has many significations : — 
 
 (a) It signifies confidence :* Let him ask in faith nothing 
 
 wavering. 
 
 (b) Fidelity to promises :f For what if some of them have not 
 
 believed? shall their unbelief make the faith of God 
 without effect ? God forbid. 
 
 (c) Conscience :J For all that is not of Jaithis sin. 
 
 (d) The doctrine and object of faith :§ And thou holdestfast 
 
 my name and hast not denied my faith. 
 
 Here, however, I take the word faith in its strict sense, 
 namely, for the assent or belief which we give to truths on the 
 authority of another. If the authority is divine, the faith is called 
 divine ; if human, the faith is only human. 
 
 Faith is different from science, because what we know and 
 
 *S. James i. 6. ^Romans xiv. 23. 
 
 •f Romans iii. 3. §Apoc. ii. 13. 
 
THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 assent to by science rests on intrinsic evidence, and what is 
 known and believed by faith rests on external authority. 
 
 2. Here there is question of divine and supernatural faith ; 
 and this faith is defined in the Catechism : " A supernatural gift 
 of God, which enables us to believe without doubting whatever 
 God has revealed." Or it may be defined more fully : " A super- 
 natural virtue, inclining the intellect to assent to the truths 
 revealed by God, because of the authority of God revealing 
 them." 
 
 It is described by the Vatican Council : "A supernatural 
 virtue, by which, through the grace of God inspiring 
 and helping us, we believe as true all that God has revealed, 
 not on account of their truth as perceived by natural reason, but 
 on account of the authority of God revealing them* ■ Who can 
 neither deceive nor be deceived.' " 
 
 Hence the question and answer in the Catechism : " Why 
 must you believe whatever God has revealed ?" " I must believe 
 whatever God has revealed, because God is the very truth, and 
 can neither deceive nor be deceived." 
 
 This faith is called supernatural, inasmuch as it is a virtue 
 infused into the soul by God, and cannot be acquired by our own 
 natural powers ; and, also, because it is supernatural in its 
 motive, that is, it must rest on the authority of God revealing. 
 This is the only true divine faith, that faith which is necessary 
 for justification. 
 
 We have to believe that neither this salutary faith, nor even 
 its beginning, can be obtained without the grace of God. This 
 was defined in the Council of Orange against the Pelagians and 
 the Semi-pelagians ; and in the Council of Trent, f Faith is 
 therefore the gift of God, and the beginning of all true belief 
 must be through the grace of God. 
 
 Some of the objects of faith are said to be supernatural, 
 not only in the sense that they are believed on the authority of 
 God, in which sense all the objects of faith may be considered 
 supernatural; but, also, because we could never come to 
 their knowledge without the supernatural medium of revelation. 
 Such, for example, are the dogmas of the Holy Trinity and the 
 Incarnation. 
 
 3. The virtue of faith resides in the intellect as in its sub- 
 ject ; because to believe is immediately the act of the intellect, 
 
 "Const, dog. de fide Catholica. Cap. iii. 
 t-Sess. vi. Can. 3. 
 
INTRODUCTORY TREATISE ON FAITH. 
 
 inasmuch as its object is truth, which belongs to the intellect. 
 It is, however, the will that moves the intellect to elicit an act of 
 faith, and to assent to truths which, in themselves, are not 
 evident. Hence the assent of faith is a free act of the will, as 
 we shall explain more fully later on. 
 
 4. Faith is the first of all the virtues in the supernatural 
 order, and hence it is called by the Council of Trent,* the 
 beginning of human salvation, the foundation and root of all 
 justification. 
 
 Some natural virtues, such as humility removing the pride of 
 intellect, and other such virtues, may exist before it, but in the 
 natural order. 
 
 Faith is not the first grace, because that grace which moves 
 the will before the assent of faith must precede the faith itself. 
 This is of course actual grace ; but the state of sanctifying, or 
 habitual grace, cannot be found in a soul without faith, as this 
 virtue is the foundation of all the supernatural qualities of the 
 soul. 
 
 The light of faith does not give a vision of the object, but 
 only a certain knowledge of it on the testimony of God. 
 
 5. The division of faith. Faith may be (a) habitual or 
 actual, (b) internal or external, (c) explicit or implicit. Explicit 
 faith is that which is given to a truth which, in itself, is proposed 
 to the mind. Implicit faith is that which is given to a truth 
 which is contained in another truth, and not in itself proposed to 
 the mind or known to it. Thus, he who explicitly believes that 
 there are two natures in Christ, implicitly believes that there are 
 in Him also two wills and two operations ; and again, he who 
 explicitly believes all that the Church teaches as of faith, implic- 
 itly believes in the Seven Sacraments, although he may not 
 know them. 
 
 (d) Faith is either formata, that is, united with Charity and 
 sanctifying grace ; or informis, that is, faith without sanctifying 
 grace, (e) Living or dead. Living faith is that which is accom- 
 panied with good or salutary works. Dead faith is that which 
 is not accompanied by good works, which does not produce them, 
 or does not produce them in the proper way. This division 
 does not differ much from the preceeding, namely, faith formata 
 and informis ; there is, however, some difference, for dead^ faith 
 can exist with a certain spiritual languor, which does not imme- 
 diately and of necessity expel grace, and yet does no good. 
 
 . vi. c. 8. 
 
THE CREED EXPLAINED 
 
 (/) Faith is divided into divine and divine-Catholic faith. Divine 
 faith is that which is given to truths revealed by God, even though 
 not yet proposed by the Church to all to be believed. Divine- 
 Catholic faith is that which is given to truths revealed by God, 
 and proposed by the Church to all to be believed. 
 
 6. The only difference between these two is, that what is 
 simply revealed by God is believed by divine faith, and if a truth 
 revealed by God be proposed by the Church to all to be believed, 
 it is called divine-Catholic faith. Thus, the Immaculate Con- 
 ception of the Blessed Virgin, and the Papal Infallibility, were 
 believed by divine faith, and were of divine faith always ; but it 
 was only after they were defined to be so, that the faithful were 
 obliged to believe them, and that they were numbered among the 
 Church's dogmas as the objects of divine- Catholic faith. This 
 distinction between divine and divine- Catholic has reference 
 only to the manner in which the word of God is made known to 
 man, and the difference in the faith is only accidental, yet it is 
 of great importance to know it, as it serves to explain Catholic 
 doctrine and practice ; and I shall have reason to refer to it more 
 fully later on. 
 
INTRODUCTORY TREATISE ON FAITH. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 THE OBJECT AND MOTIVE OF FAITH. 
 
 1. — The primary object of faith. — 2. The formal object of faith, or the 
 motive of faith. — 3. The material object of faith. — 4. The Decree 
 of the Vatican Council as to the object of faith. — 5. The Summary 
 of the truths that are the object of divine-Catholic faith. — 6. 
 Propositions and conclusions deduced from revealed truths.— 7. The 
 rule by which we may know whether such conclusions belong to the 
 object of faith or not. 
 
 Pastors of souls are obliged to teach the people not only 
 •what they are to believe, but also the why or reason of their 
 belief. We have, therefore, to explain the object of our faith 
 and its motive, that is, the reason why we give our assent to the 
 truths of faith. 
 
 1. The primary object of faith is God Himself, considered 
 as the Deity. Faith primarily intends or regards the knowledge 
 of the true God as He is in Himself, and all the other truths of 
 revelation are ordained to the more perfect knowledge of God. 
 Hence, as St. Paul says, " Actedentem ad Deum opertet credere 
 quia est": "He that cometh to God must believe that He 
 is."* 
 
 2. The formal object of faith, or that which we may call 
 the motive of faith, is the veracity of God, arising from His 
 infinite knowledge and wisdom. It is the authority of God 
 which consists in His infinite wisdom, through which He cannot 
 be deceived ; and in His infinite veracity and truth, through 
 which He cannot deceive us. Hence the answer in the Catechism 
 to the question, " Why must you believe whatever God has 
 revealed?" " I must believe whatever God has revealed because 
 God is the very truth, and can neither deceive nor be de- 
 ceived." 
 
 There is, therefore, no other answer to be given by a 
 Catholic for his belief in general, or the belief in any particular 
 dogma, than the reason — because God has said it or revealed it. 
 If a Catholic is asked, Why do you believe in the Catholic 
 
 *Heb. xi. 6. 
 
THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 Church ? Why do you believe in the Incarnation of Christ ? or, 
 Why do you believe in the Blessed Eucharist, or in the Papal 
 Infallibility? the answer to all such questions is one and the 
 same : I believe on the authority of God, and because God has 
 said or told me these things by revelation or inspiration. He 
 has revealed or inspired tnem to His Church, and hence I believe 
 them because He is the very truth, and can neither deceive nor 
 be deceived. 
 
 3. The material object of faith is all and every truth 
 revealed or inspired by God. That anything be believed by faith, 
 two conditions are required : (a) That it be revealed or inspired 
 by God ; (b) That it be certainly known to be revealed or in- 
 spired. 
 
 That about which something is believed may be called the 
 subject of faith in an objective sense. Thus the Church is the 
 subject about which we believe unity, infallibility, &c. The 
 primary subject of all faith in this sense is God Himself. 
 
 4. The Vatican Council dedares,* "Fide divind et Catho- 
 licd ea omnia credenda sunt, quae in verbo Dei Scripto vel tradito 
 continentur, et ab Ecclesia, sive solemni judicio, sive ordinario et 
 universali magisterio, tanquam divinitus revelata proponunt'ir ": 
 " By divine and Catholic Faith are to be believed all those 
 things which are contained in the Word of God, written or 
 handed down by tradition, and proposed by the Church as 
 divinely revealed, either by her solemn judgments, or by her 
 ordinary and universal teaching." 
 
 It may be asked, What are the truths that we must receive 
 as revealed by God, and as proposed by the Church, and that 
 we have to believe by divine- Catholic faith ? 
 
 5. These truths may be classed under the following 
 heads : — 
 
 (a) All those truths that are so clearly contained in Sacred 
 
 Scripture that no one can doubt or mistake their 
 meaning, viz., the Nativity of Christ, His death and 
 resurrection, &c. 
 
 (b) The truths that are obscurely contained in the Sacred 
 
 Scriptures, but declared by the Church to be therein 
 contained, such as the definition or declaration of the 
 true sense of any text of Scripture. 
 
 (c) Those truths that are expressly defined by>the Church 
 
 to be of faith, or whose contradictories are condemned 
 
 •Const, de fide. Cap. iii. 
 
INTRODUCTORY TREATISE ON FAITH. 
 
 as heretical, viz., That there are Seven Sacraments 
 of the New Law ; That we cannot merit beatitude or 
 perform salutary works without the aid of God's 
 grace. 
 (d) The truths that are handed down to us by divine tradi- 
 tion, and which the Church has always held and 
 declared, or manifested by her doctrine and practice, 
 such as her doctrine regarding Guardian Angels, 
 Infant Baptism, the Canonical Books of Scripture, 
 &c. 
 All the truths contained under these heads are revealed or 
 inspired by God, and declared or denned by the Church ; and, 
 therefore, to be believed by divine-Catholic faith. It is not 
 necessary to have an explicit definition of the Church for every 
 text of Scripture, and for those portions of the Sacred Scriptures 
 whose sense can be clearly known to any one who reads them ; 
 neither is there need of an explicit definition in regard to those 
 truths which are known to all as handed down by divine tradi- 
 tion. When a doubt has arisen with regard to any proposition, 
 as to whether it is contained in Scripture or tradition, the 
 Church, through the divine assistance, defines the truth of its 
 revelation, or condemns it if it is opposed to revelation. This she 
 has done whenever she has judged it necessary for the preser- 
 vation of the deposit of faith committed to her by her Divine 
 Founder. She has defined what we have to believe as divinely 
 revealed, and condemned errors opposed to revealed doctrine 
 whenever this was necessary for the preservation of faith and 
 morals. 
 
 6. How are we to regard propositions that are deduced 
 from revealed premises, and that are,- therefore, necessarily 
 connected with our faith and its preservation ? For example : — 
 (a) Propositions or Conclusions drawn from two revealed 
 premises by evident reasoning, viz. : All the Apostles 
 received the Holy Spirit; but St. John was an 
 Apostle, therefore St. John received the Holy Spirit. 
 (&) Propositions or Conclusions deduced from one premise 
 revealed, and the other only evident to reason, viz. : 
 A baptized child is sanctified ; but this child is bap- 
 tized, therefore this child is sanctified. Or again : 
 A consecrated host is to be adored ; but this host is 
 consecrated, therefore this host is to be adored. Or 
 again : Whatever is defined by an Ecumenical 
 Council is to be believed ; but the Council of Trent 
 
THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 was an Ecumenical Council, therefore its definition 
 are to be believed. 
 
 Are these conclusions to be considered as coming under the 
 object of faith ? And again, what are we to hold in connection 
 with the object of faith, with regard to singular propositions 
 contained in revealed universal propositions, or propositions 
 virtually contained in revealed truths ? 
 
 A conclusion as such is not an object of faith, but merely the 
 result of human reasoning. And a proposition, to be of faith, 
 must be immediately revealed by God, and received on His 
 authority. Propositions or conclusions such as are here given, 
 may be said to be more certain than the conclusions arrived at 
 by mere natural science, because they are founded on and 
 deduced from revealed dogmas ; and they have, therefore, a 
 certain amount of divine authority, as they are so closely 
 connected with revealed truths. 
 
 7. A rule is laid down for deciding whether a conclusion of 
 this kind belongs to faith or not, namely : If the conclusion be 
 formally and immediately contained in the premises, or in the 
 premise which is of faith as a part is contained in the whole or 
 a singular in a universal, and if the deduction be only a further 
 explanation of the premises, and does not introduce any new 
 idea into the definition, such a proposition or conclusion would 
 be the object of faith, and is to be believed as such. If it be not 
 formally, but only virtually contained in the premises as an effect 
 in a cause, the conclusion is not to be believed by divine faith 
 because it is not the object of faith, but a deduction of reason. 
 It is, however, often said to belong to faith indirectly, in as 
 much as by denying a conclusion of this kind the revealed 
 premises from which it is deduced are indirectly denied. 
 
 Other propositions, which are not clearly and immediately 
 revealed by God, or which are not deduced by reason from divine 
 truths, but are taught by the Fathers and Theologians as certain 
 and true, are said to be received on ecclesiastical faith. They 
 are not the objects of divine faith, and they are received by 
 something more than mere human faith, and may be said, there- 
 fore, to be believed by a certain ecclesiastical faith. This 
 faith is sometimes called divine (though in reality it is not 
 divine), because its act may proceed from the divine virtue 
 which is in us, and the dispositions which it creates in the 
 soul. 
 
 As to these few questions which I have here introduced, 
 we have no definition of the Church, and I only state the received 
 
INTRODUCTORY TREATISE ON FAITH. 
 
 teaching of Theologians on such points for the purpose of meet- 
 ing captious objections, after the manner of Dr. Littledale's 
 " Plain Eeasons," that may, from time to time, be urged against 
 the Catholic faith and doctrine. For this purpose, it is necessary 
 to explain even critical questions from a Catholic point of view 
 that the enemies of the Church may not be credited with 
 inventing objections that she has long ago considered and 
 rejected, and thereby do harm to the faithful and others.'" 
 
 *Private revelations do not appertain to the Catholic faith, and no one 
 need believe them except the person who is certain of having received them 
 
10 
 
 THE CEEED EXPLAINED. 
 
 CHAPTER m. 
 
 THE CEETITUDE AND OBSCUEITY OF FAITH. 
 
 1. The two-fold certitude of faith. — 2. God cannot reveal anything false. — 
 3. What is false cannot be the object of faith. — 4. The subjective 
 certitude of faith. — 5. The assent of faith more certain and firm 
 than the assent of science. — 6. Obscurity of faith, its meaning. — 
 7. The object of faith essentially obscure. — 8. Two acts, one of 
 faith, and one of science, may be elicited about the same truth, but 
 one and the same act cannot be one of faith and of science. — 9. The 
 acts of mental knowledge which precede faith. — 10. The obscurity 
 of faith illustrated. 
 
 1. The certitude of faith may be two-fold : (a) The object- 
 ive certitude of faith, (b) The subjective certitude of faith. By 
 the objective certitude of a dogma or proposition is meant its truth. 
 
 Concerning this certitude two things may be stated : 
 
 2. (a) God cannot reveal anything false, as this would be 
 against His infinite perfection and veracity ; and, in the words 
 of St. Paul, " It is impossible for God to lie."* 
 
 3. (b) Falsehood cannot come under faith. That is, a man, 
 by virtlae of divine faith, cannot believe falsehood ; or, in other 
 words, that which is false cannot be the object of divine faith. 
 This is clearly affirmed in the 9th Chapter of the VI. Sess. of the 
 Council of Trent. Even though a particular person might think 
 that which is false to be a revealed truth, it could not be believed 
 by the virtue of faith. For example : A man who would consider 
 every priest speaking from the pulpit as infallible as the Pope, 
 and would bring himself to believe it, does not do this by virtue 
 of his faith, nor does the act of belief proceed from the habit or 
 virtue of divine faith which is in him ; because this virtue only 
 reaches that which is true and divinely revealed ; and falsehood 
 cannot be attained by it, or in any sense come under it, or become 
 its object. 
 
 The assent, however, which is given in such cases, in as 
 much as it proceeds from a good pious intention of the soul, may 
 be praiseworthy and even meritorious. 
 
 *Heb. vi. 
 
INTRODUCTORY TREATISE ON FAITH. 11 
 
 4. The subjective certitude of faith. This is the certitude of 
 faith as it exists in the soul. It is the firm adhesion of the mind 
 to the object proposed to it, through a sufficient and proper 
 motive. If it were an adhesion without a sufficient reason or 
 motive, it should be called pertinacity rather than certitude. 
 
 Innocent III. condemned a proposition which stated that 
 " The assent of faith, which is supernatural and useful (or necess- 
 ary) for salvation, can remain with a knowledge of revelation 
 which is only probable, or even with a fear that God has not 
 revealed or spoken." From which condemnation, it follows (a) 
 that probable revelation is not sufficient for supernatural and 
 salutary faith, the facts of revelation must be certain ; and (b) 
 a doubtful assent is not sufficient for faith, it must be firm and 
 certain. The assent which is not firm is not the assent of divine 
 faith ; and, such is the nature of faith in the present order or dis- 
 pensation of divine things, that God will not accept a faith which 
 is not firm and certain. 
 
 5. This assent of faith should also, in a certain sense, be more 
 firmly given, and held with greater certainty than the assent 
 given to scientific truths ; inasmuch as the knowledge of faith 
 should be more certain and firm than any scientific knowledge, 
 or any knowledge received through the senses in the natural 
 order. This may need some further explanation. It means that 
 the assent of faith, at least in appreciation or in estimation, can 
 and ought to be above and more firm than any other assent. It 
 can be so through God's supernatural grace, by which it is given, 
 and ought to be so by reason of the truths revealed, and the 
 motives of credibility. 
 
 The faithful, however, are not obliged or advised to make 
 comparisons ; and, in fact, it is impossible to have real com- 
 parisons, as the one is in the supernatural, and the other in the 
 natural order. We know that natural and supernatural truths 
 cannot in any way be opposed to each other, as they have one 
 and the same Author. 
 
 Faith may be real, even though it be weak, provided that the 
 assent be without doubt, and no comparison be made in respect 
 of other truths ; and, it may be well to remember that the assent 
 to faith may be more certain and firm in itself (quoad se), but 
 not in the impression which it makes upon the mind (quoad 
 nos). 
 
 It may also be said that we can profitably give the assent of 
 divine faith to a truth which we may already know by natural 
 reason, or on human authority. 
 
12 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 The Obscurity op Faith, or of the Truths op Faith. 
 
 6. That is said to be obscure which is not known by 
 intrinsic evidence. That is, any truth which cannot be demon- 
 strated by reason, may be said to be obscure. 
 
 Obscurity in the matter of faith may be two-fold : Absolute 
 (simpliciter) and mixed (secundum quid). The former is in regard 
 to those truths which can be known only by authority, viz., the 
 Mystery of the Holy Trinity, and of the Incarnation of the Son 
 of God. The latter is in regard to those truths which, although 
 known by and believed on the authority of God, may also be 
 known by natural reason, and demonstrated ; such as " the 
 existence of God," the " Immortality of the Soul," &c. 
 
 7. The object of faith as such is essentially obscure, as 
 expressed in the words of St. Paul : " No w faith is the substance 
 of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things that appear not."* 
 Besides, an assent given on account of evidence is an assent of 
 science, and not of faith, which must be the assent of the mind, 
 because of the authority of the person who speaks or tells us the 
 truth. 
 
 Obscurity in regard to faith does not enter into its intrinsic 
 nature, but is only a condition required for it, without which an 
 act of faith cannot be made. 
 
 As to whether a man can, by two distinct acts, elicit an act 
 of faith and of science about one and the same truth, viz., the 
 existence of God, or the immortality of the soul, is not certain. 
 One School of Doctors (the Thomists) hold that this is not 
 possible. 
 
 8. According to the teaching of some recent authors, it 
 may, however, be asserted that this can be the case, and I see 
 no contradiction or impossibility in eliciting two acts of this kind. 
 I know the reasons that prove the existence of God, and the 
 Immortality of the Soul ; but I also believe these truths with a 
 firmer conviction of faith than human reason or human know- 
 ledge could create. Faith and science are in two different 
 spheres, and one need not necessarily exclude the other. It is, 
 however, denied by all that one and the same act can be at the 
 same time an act of faith and an act of science. 
 
 9. It may be well here to enumerate the acts of knowledge, 
 or of the mind, which usually precede faith. They are the 
 following : — 
 
 *Heb. xi. L 
 
INTRODUCTORY TREATISE ON FAITH. 13 
 
 (a) The perception and the knowledge of the truth itself 
 
 which is proposed to be believed together with the 
 motives of credibility. 
 
 (b) An examination of the motives of credibility to the 
 
 extent of understanding their force and value. 
 
 (c) A judgment formed as to the credibility of the truths, 
 
 and the obligation of believing them. 
 
 (d) The authority of the will determines the intellect to give 
 
 its assent. From which authoritative motion of the will 
 
 (e) The intellect elicits an act of faith. 
 
 10. The obscurity of faith may be illustrated in the following 
 manner : An unbeliever said to a priest one day, " Sir, I believe 
 nothing but what I can understand." u Then," replied the 
 priest, " you do not believe that light shines ; that fire burns ; 
 that the wind blows ; for these are things that you cannot fully 
 comprehend." "Yes," he replied, "but I see and feel these 
 things." The priest said, " Even if you did not see or feel them 
 they would be no less true." That night the man had a dream, 
 in which it appeared to him that he was in a lovely forest, and 
 there met a man who was born blind. Speaking to the man 
 who had never seen the light of day, he told him about the sun, 
 and the beauties of nature. The blind man said, " I do not 
 understand, but I believe all that you say ; I believe that 
 the sun is beautiful and ravishing, &c. If I should refuse to 
 believe you because I do not understand or comprehend all that 
 you see, you would think me very unreasonable." Then the 
 blind man seemed to change his countenance, and to say to him 
 in a tone of authority, " You should follow my example, and 
 know that there are many things most excellent, and most 
 wonderful which surpass our vision and understanding, that are 
 none the less true and desirable although we can neither 
 comprehend or imagine them.' 
 
 It is by no means unreasonable to believe the mysteries of 
 faith. " If you place," says Bourdaloue, " a blind man before a 
 mirror, and explain to him the phenomena which he produces : 
 that in that glass there is another blind man just like him, who 
 does not occupy any space there, and who imitates all his move- 
 ments, would not the blind man be astonished at hearing these 
 things ? He might stretch out his hand to touch the other man, but 
 would only feel the glass ; he would not be able to understand it ; 
 but being a man of common sense, he would not refuse to believe 
 what you tell him. We are in the position of that blind man 
 with regard to the mysteries which God has revealed.'' 
 
14 THE CEEED EXPLAINED. 
 
 CHAPTEB IV. 
 
 THE NECESSITY OP FAITH FOR SALVATION. 
 
 1. The necessity of means (necessitas medii) and the necessity of precept 
 (necessitas prcecepti) in the matter of salvation. — 2. Faith necessary 
 as a means to salvation. — 3. The four dogmas necessary to be be- 
 lieved by explicit faith. — 4. The precept of faith negative and affirm- 
 ative, and the obligations arising from it. — 5. The precept in regard 
 to the external profession of faith. — 6. The application of the 
 doctrine concerning the necessity of faith. 
 
 1. Necessity in the work of salvation is two-fold : necessity 
 of means (necessitas medii), and necessity of precept (necessitas 
 praecepti). The first is that necessity without which the end 
 cannot be attained. That is, a thing is said to be necessary as a 
 means of salvation, when without it salvation cannot possibly 
 be obtained. The necessity of precept is that which is ordained 
 by the command of a Superior as necessary to be fulfilled in 
 order to attain the end. Thus, in the matter of salvation, that 
 is necessary by the necessity of precept which God has com- 
 manded us under sin to fulfil. Salvation may, absolutely speak- 
 ing, be obtained without fulfilling the precepts, inasmuch as 
 this may be morally, or physically, impossible ; and under such 
 circumstances, precepts do not oblige. 
 
 2. Faith is necessary for salvation both by the necessity 
 of means and by precept. 
 
 It is necessary as a means to salvation for all men : Habitual 
 faith for infants and for those who have never attained the use 
 of reason ; actual and habitual for adults. Faith, considered as 
 a habit or virtue, is called habitual ; as it is an act or the assent 
 of the mind, it is called actual. By this obligation, it was 
 always necessary to believe in God, and that He is the Eemun- 
 erator, that is, that He will reward the good hereafter in heaven, 
 and punish the wicked in hell, according to the words of 
 St. Paul : " But without faith it is impossible to please God. For 
 he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and is the rewarder 
 to them that seek Him."* 
 
 *Heb. xi. 6. 
 
INTRODUCTORY. TREATISE ON FAITH. 15 
 
 That faith is the gift of God, and that it is necessary for 
 salvation, may be clearly proved from several places of Holy 
 Scripture : " For by grace you are saved through faith, and that 
 not of yourselves, for it is the gift of God."* " Think of the Lord in 
 goodness, and seek Him in simplicity of heart. For He is found 
 by them that tempt Him not ; and He sheioeth Himself to them that 
 have faith in Him."\ H He who believeth not shall be condem- 
 ned.'^ 
 
 It is also clear from the Scriptures that some faith in Christ 
 was always necessary ; thus : (a) " And in thy seed shall all the 
 nations of the earth be blessed." § (b) " No one cometh to the Father 
 except through Me."° (c) "Neither is there salvation in any other. 
 For there is no other name under heaven given to men whereby we 
 must be saved."** (d) "But knowing that man is not justified by 
 the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ." || (e) " Who 
 is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus 
 is the Son of God r+* 
 
 3. In the Christian dispensation, and under the New Law, 
 it is necessary to have explicit faith in the following four 
 dogmas : — 
 
 (a) That there is one God. 
 
 (b) That in this one God there are three divine Persons 
 
 (the Trinity). 
 
 (c) That God the Son, the Second Person of the Blessed 
 
 Trinity, became Man, and died on the Cross to 
 redeem and save us. 
 
 (d) That God will reward the just, and punish the 
 
 wicked 
 
 In the New Law, these four truths have to be believed ex- 
 plicitly as a means of salvation ; that is, no one who is ignorant of 
 them can be saved. This is the opinion to be followed in prac- 
 tice, and which is certainly the safest. At the same time, many 
 Theologians hold it, as a probable opinion, and some, as the 
 more propable, that explicit faith in the Trinity and the Incar- 
 nation is not so absolutely necessary, and that some may be 
 ignorant of these mysteries through no fault of theirs. 
 
 The doctrine of the necessity of faith by reason of precept, 
 may be summed up in the following propositions : — 
 
 *Ephes. ii. 8. °St. John xiv. 6. 
 
 fWisdom i. 1, 2. **Acts iv. 12. 
 JSt. Mark xvi. 16. ||Gal. ii. 16. 
 
 §Gen. xxii. 18. t*l St. John v. 5. 
 
16 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 4. The precept of faith is two-fold ; to wit, affirmative and 
 negative. 
 
 (a) The negative precept, that is, the precept of not rejecting 
 or disbelieving any dogma sufficiently proposed to the 
 mind, binds all sub gravi ; that is under a grave obli- 
 gation, and, as Theologians say, semper and pro 
 semper ; that is at every moment of their lives. This 
 negative precept urges always, and at every mo- 
 ment. 
 
 (o) By the affirmative precept, all are obliged to believe 
 implicitly all the truths revealed by God. 
 
 (c) By the affirmative precept, all are obliged to know and 
 
 to believe explicitly, not only those truths which are 
 necessary necessitate medii, but also the following : 
 (1) All the articles of the Apostles Creed; (2) the 
 commandments of God and of the Church ; (3) the 
 Lord's Prayer; (4) the Sacraments necessary to be 
 received, namely, Baptism, the Holy Eucharist, and 
 Penance, and the other Sacraments when they are to 
 be received. 
 This portion of the Christian doctrine must be known to all 
 who have an opportunity of being instructed, at least in its sub- 
 stance, but not necessarily as to all the words of the Catechism, 
 or any other set form of words. 
 
 (d) By reason of the affirmative precept, all those to whom 
 
 the faith has been sufficiently proposed are obliged 
 per se, that is, by the very precept itself, to make an 
 explicit act of faith (1) when they attain the use of 
 reason ; (2) at the hour of death ; (3) sometimes 
 during life. As to how often this precept binds per se 
 during life, Theologians do not agree. Cardinal Lugo 
 says, " That he who has once embraced the Christian 
 faith (and it may be added, lives in a Christian way, 
 at least by complying with his Easter duty), need not 
 doubt but that he has satisfied the precept of faith ; 
 and the same is to be understood of the precept of 
 hope."* 
 At the same time we are all admonished and exhorted fre- 
 quently to make acts of the Theological virtues. Benedict XIV. 
 has attached many Indulgences to the recital of these acts, and 
 has declared that each person may, in their recital, make use of 
 
 *St. Alph. Homo Apostolicus, tract 4, num. 13. 
 
INTRODUCTORY TREATISE ON FAITH. 17 
 
 any formula of words he pleases, provided that in it the special 
 motives of each of the Theological virtues be expressed. 
 
 Per acoidens ; that is, by reason of some other precept or 
 obligation, all are obliged to make an act of faith {a) when strong- 
 ly tempted against faith, or tried by any temptation which they 
 cannot overcome except by an act of faith ; (6) when some othei 
 precept has to be observed which requires faith, such as the pre- 
 cept of confession and communion ; (c) after one has fallen into 
 heresy, and denied the faith, it is necessary to make an act of 
 faith in order again to turn to God, and to receive back His gift 
 of faith. 
 
 5. As to the external profession of faith, St. Thomas teaches 
 that it is not necessary for salvation to profess our faith always 
 and in every place, but in some place and time ; that is, when the 
 omission of such a profession would take away from the honour 
 due to God, or be injurious to our neighbour ; as for example, if, 
 when interrogated about the faith by one in authority, a person 
 should remain silent under circumstances in which it would be 
 thought that either he had no faith, or that his faith was not 
 true or real ; and when others, by reason of his silence, might be 
 turned away from the faith ; then the profession of faith would 
 be necessary for salvation ; and it would be a grave sin not to 
 make that profession. 
 
 The negative precept, that which is binding always and at 
 all times, prohibits three things which are unlawful in every place 
 and at every time, namely, (a) to deny the faith, (6) to profess a 
 false religion, and (c) to simulate a false religion. Sometimes it 
 is lawful to conceal or hide one's faith ; for example, by using the 
 garments and other external signs of infidels that are merely 
 profane, or in accordance with the national customs or usages in- 
 dependent of their religion ; as, for example, a man living in 
 Turkey dressing as a Mohammedan. But it would not be lawful 
 to use those things which are specially characteristic of their 
 religion, and which those only use who belong to the false religion. 
 
 To fly in the time of persecution is quite lawful of itself, but 
 by accident it might be unlawful in case the faithful would be 
 scandalized, or God dishonoured ; it might also be obligatory to 
 fly, when a priest would be required to preserve his life for the 
 sake of others. 
 
 6. The doctrine of the necessity of faith may be applied in 
 the following manner : 
 
 " All men are bound to believe whatever they know to have 
 been in any way revealed by God." 
 
 
IS/ THE CBEED EXPLAINED. 
 
 Some men have only the light of reason to guide them ; but 
 even these, by the grace of Him " Who enlighteneth every man 
 that cometh into this world,"* may know at least that God is, and 
 that He is the Eewarder of good and evil. 
 
 Others, as those brought up amongst Jews and heretics, may 
 have reason and grace (a) to believe in detail many revealed 
 truths that are plainly taught in the Scripture, and (b) to believe 
 many more truths implicitly, if they believe that whatever Scrip- 
 ture teaches is true. 
 
 Such men as these are bound to believe according to their 
 knowledge ; and they are also bound to increase their knowledge 
 as soon as they become conscious of their defectiveness. 
 
 And, lastly, those who have means of knowing that the 
 Christian Church is the divinely appointed teacher of truth, are 
 bound to believe that all things whatsoever pertaining to salva- 
 tion, which God has made known to the Church, either by direct 
 revelation, as the mystery of the Incarnation, or by natural means 
 providentially employed, as the facts of sacred history are true. 
 
 And they are bound to know and believe those truths in 
 detail, one by one, so far as they need to know them in order to 
 do God's will and to save their souls. 
 
 The obligation of faith is not difficult to comply with, for 
 faith is the gift of God. That is to say, all men are moved and 
 assisted by grace to believe what God has taught. And especially 
 to Christians there is given at their Baptism a permanent power, 
 disposition, and inclination to believe, which is called the infused 
 virtue of faith. And the virtue of faith remains in the soul until 
 it is destroyed by some contrary mortal sin, as for example, 
 wilful doubt or disbelief, "f 
 
 •St. John i. 9. 
 t See a work entitled " Facts of Faith," compiled by the Rev. A. Bromley 
 Crane., pp. 7, 8. 
 
INTRODUCTORY TREATISE ON FAITH. 19 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 THE LIBEETY OF FAITH. 
 
 1. The assent given to the truths of faith is voluntary and free.— 2. Tha 
 freedom of faith illustrated, and shown from the object and obscurity 
 of faith. — 3. No one can be forced to believe. 
 
 1. By the liberty of faith I mean that it is in our power to 
 receive or to reject the faith — that the assent to faith is voluntary 
 and free. Not that we are, moraiiy speaking, free to believe or 
 not, to receive or reject the truth of faith at will. On the other 
 hand, no one is forced to believe against his will, and those who 
 have the faith are not under any physical necessity, but entirely 
 free in their acts either of faith or infidelity. In this sense we 
 are exposed to the danger of committing sins against faith as 
 we are exposed to the danger of other sins, and the will may 
 consent to them as in the case of other sins. 
 
 This freedom may be proved from Holy Scripture : " Go ye 
 into the whole world," says our Saviour, " and preach the Gospel 
 to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved ; 
 but he that believeth not shall be condemned."* And again : " He 
 that believeth in Me is not judged. But he that doth not believe is 
 already judged, because he believeth not in the name of the only 
 begotten Son of God." 
 
 As no one can be rewarded or punished according to the 
 designs of God, unless for voluntary and free acts, it follows that 
 our faith is free in the sense I have explained, as we are to be 
 rewarded or punished in the next life as believers or unbelievers. 
 We have also to bear in mind that the obligation of faith is 
 imposed upon us by command or precept ; and a command is 
 given only in regard to things that depend upon our free will, 
 inasmuch as it would be useless to command that which of 
 necessity must be. 
 
 2. The freedom of faith may be illustrated from the sixth 
 chapter of St. John's Gospel, f When Christ had taught or 
 
 •St. Mark xvi. 15, 16. tVerses 6-8. 
 
20 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 announced the mystery of the holy Eucharist, and many of the 
 Jews had left Him on that account, He turned to the twelve and 
 said, " Will you also go away ?" He thus signified that they had 
 full freedom to go or stay, to believe or not, but that they must 
 take the consequences both here and hereafter. 
 
 This freedom of will, in regard to faith, may be further 
 explained from what has already been said in regard to the 
 object and the obscurity of our faith. Its object is not evident ; 
 the mysteries and truths of faith are obscure. Neither is the 
 fact of revelation itself evident, therefore the human mind is not 
 necessarily drawn, by any intrinsic evidence, to assent to the 
 truths of faith ; nor is it forced by extrinsic evidence, namely, the 
 motives of credibility. These motives do not remove the ob- 
 scurity of faith. Although they rest on a first principle that is 
 metaphysically certain, yet their connection with that principle 
 is a moral and not a physical one, and only begets evidence in 
 the moral order of things; that is, from the consideration of 
 various facts, relations and principles, we are shown that things 
 are so, and that they cannot be otherwise in the present state of 
 human nature, although, absolutely speaking, they could be 
 otherwise under another hypothesis or in another state. Thus, 
 the nature of the evidence is moral, and, as such, cannot of 
 necessity compel the mind to assent to it, as in the case of 
 metaphysical evidence, viz., " the same thing cannot at the same 
 time be and not be, exist and not exist ;" M the whole is greater 
 thau its part " where the mind is obliged to give its assent, and 
 cannot refuse it. 
 
 In matters of faith and in the divine order of things we must 
 not look for, or expect to find, metaphysical evidence. This is 
 not possible here on earth, and we must be satisfied with moral 
 evidence of the motives of credibility which lead us up to faith. 
 
 3. It follows, therefore, from this teaching, that people 
 cannot be compelled to embrace the faith ; and no amount of 
 human influence and industry can make a man believe against 
 his will ; and that the assent given to the Catholic faith must be 
 voluntary and free. 
 
 It follows also that evil passions and inclinations may over- 
 come us in the duty of faith, as in the duties imposed by other 
 virtues. The mind may be drawn away from the examination 
 and consideration of divine truths and the obligations of religion, 
 and our judgment maybe misled by false and erroneous opinions. 
 Hence, the virtue of faith may be lost after it has been received 
 and professed even for years ; or it may be rejected and refused 
 
INTRODUCTORY TREATISE ON FAITH. 21 
 
 altogether, as in the case of those who wilfully remain in error. 
 Of this our Lord Himself complained when He said, " The light 
 is come into the world, and men love darkness rather than the light, 
 for their works were evil. For everyone that doth evil hateth the 
 light, and cometh not to the light, that his works may not be 
 proved."* 
 
 Everyone is conscious of this freedom within himself not- 
 withstanding the grave obligation of faith. There is, therefore, 
 no danger whatever of anyone being forced or deceived into 
 embracing the faith ; and no one can be received into the 
 communion of the faithful unless they willingly receive, and freely 
 profess, that true Catholic faith which is necessary for salvation. 
 
 St. John iii. 19,20. 
 
THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE INTEGRITY OF FAITH. 
 
 I. What is meant by the integrity of faith. — 2. A former habit or inclination 
 of heresy is not necessarily and all at once destroyed by the virtue of 
 faith. — 3. Any act of formal heresy destroys entirely and immediately 
 the virtue or habit of faith in the soul. — 4. A heretic cannot elicit 
 an act of divine or supernatural faith in any revealed truth. — 5. A 
 man who rejects or denies even one truth of faith, cannot elicit an 
 act of true faith in any dogma whatever. 
 
 1. That is entire which is one and unbroken ; and by the 
 integrity of faith, I mean, that it cannot be mixed with heresy or 
 unbelief, and it must not exclude any revealed truth. 
 
 On this subject it will be sufficient to examine the three 
 following questions : (a) Whether the habit of faith, and the 
 habit of heresy, can exist at the same time in a soul? (b) 
 Whether every sin of heresy expels the habit of faith? (c) 
 Whether a heretic can elicit an act of divine faith in any one 
 revealed dogma, say, the Divinity of Christ, for example ? 
 
 2. The meaning of the first question is whether one who 
 has been a heretic, or a non-Catholic, on his conversion to the 
 faith, loses entirely the habit of mind or inclination towards 
 heresy or his former errors? It must be answered that the 
 former habit or inclination is not necessarily, and, all at once, 
 destroyed by the virtue of faith. Like all other vices and evil 
 habits, it may remain for a time with its former aversions and 
 inclinations. This may be perceived in the case of some converts 
 who retain many of their former tendencies and inclinations 
 after their reception into the Church ; and some never entirely 
 get rid of all the former habits and dispositions. It is for this 
 reason that the Church has ordained that neophytes should not 
 be admitted to Sacred Orders, or to the exercise of ecclesiastical 
 functions. There is reason to fear about their perseverance, 
 because of their propensity to, and habit of, unbelief, which, as I 
 have said, is not always entirely eradicated. It is also advisable 
 that, after conversion, they should not immediately begin to 
 preach, and to teach, and, I might add, to write and publish. 
 
INTRODUCTORY TREATISE ON FAITH. 23 
 
 Let them remain in silence and solitude, as far as their religious 
 opinions are concerned, for some years, unless called upon by the 
 proper ecclesiastical authority to speak. They have much to 
 learn as to the Church's practices, and they have to give them- 
 selves time to acquire Catholic ways of thinking and acting. It 
 is unnecessary to publish the reasons of their conversion to the 
 world, or to write a book on some point of doctrine, new, indeed, 
 to them, but which every Catholic is familiar with since the time 
 of their first Communion, or first Confession. These publications, 
 as a rule, do very little good. Eecent converts are not trusted 
 by the members of the sect which they have abandoned, because- 
 of what is regarded as their ungrateful desertion ; and they are 
 not yet qualified as safe guides and teachers of Catholic doctrine. 
 
 I know there may be exceptions, in which cases the Church 
 dispenses with neophytes, and permits them to receive Sacred 
 Orders ; and, in cases where talent and grace supply for time and 
 experience, such converts render invaluable help ; and by their 
 influence and example, become the instruments through which 
 many others are gained over to the true faith. Neither should 
 we forget the sacrifices which such souls make in renouncing 
 their errors, and becoming Catholics, and their self-denying and 
 zealous labours amongst us ; but in all cases it will, I believe, be 
 better for themselves, and without any great injury to others, 
 if they remain quiet, hidden, and unknown to the world at large, 
 for at least a few years after their reception into the Church. 
 
 Not only is it true of faith, but also of the infused virtues of 
 hope and charity, that they do not always, and immediately, 
 extinguish the natural habits and inclinations contrary to them, 
 which have been previously acquired and retained. 
 
 3. Second question, namely, whether every act of heresy 
 destroys entirely the virtue or habit of faith in the soul? To 
 this question, it may be answered, that any one act of heresy 
 expels from the soul immediately the divine virtue of faith. This 
 is the opinion of all Theologians against Durandus. And it is so 
 certain, according to the learned Suarez, that it cannot be denied 
 without error. As to the manner in which it expels the habit of 
 faith, whether physically or by a positive decree of God, we do 
 not know, and no definite opinion can be given on the point. 
 
 4. The Third question, that is, whether a heretic can elicit 
 an act of divine faith in any revealed dogma ? This must be 
 answered in the negative. This question is implied in the pre- 
 ceding one, and it comes into the question as to whether a person 
 denying wilfully one article of faith, can have any faith as to the 
 
24: THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 others? It is certain that any one who rejects or denies one 
 dogma of faith, cannot have the habit of faith, or make an act 
 of divine faith in any other revealed truth. Thus, those that 
 deny the supremacy of the Pope, or his infallibility, as denned 
 by the Church, cannot believe with true and Catholic faith the 
 mystery of the Incarnation, or the resurrection of the body, or 
 any other revealed truth. The reason of this is, because the man 
 who wilfully denies even one truth of faith thereby denies and 
 rejects the authority of God, which is the one sole motive of 
 divine faith. There is only one and the same authority for all 
 the truths of faith, aud that authority once questioned or denied, 
 the foundation of faith is destroyed. It must be all or none, as 
 far as the truths of faith are to be received on the authority of 
 God. I do not say that a man may not have natural faith and 
 human and imperfect faith in some other truths after he has 
 rejected one ; but in such a case there can be no divine faith 
 whatever. 
 
 Besides, as I have already stated, divine faith ought to be 
 appreciatively, or in estimation, the highest ; that is, it should be 
 received with the will, entirely and absolutely subjecting our 
 judgment and mind to the divine authority, and receiving all the 
 divine truths when sufficiently proposed to us. If we believe with 
 our whole heart, as it is written in the Acts of the Apostles,* this 
 must be with the will of accepting entirely all that God has said 
 or revealed when it is sufficiently proposed and known to us. 
 How, for example, can John be said to believe with absolute and 
 entire faith in Peter, if he denies some of the things which Peter 
 tells him, or some statements which he knows have been made 
 by Peter? In the same way, how can there be absolute and 
 entire faith in God when some of His truths are rejected by one 
 professing to believe the others? In such a case, it is in our own 
 selection of the truths we place our faith, and we may be said to 
 believe in ourselves rather than in the Word of God, or by the 
 authority of God. 
 
 In further illustration of this doctrine, let us take the example 
 
 of a formal heretic, K , who nevertheless professes to be a 
 
 Christian, and to believe in the Divinity of Jesus Christ. The 
 faith which he has in the one dogma is not divine, but human. 
 He believes in this one dogma of the Divinity of our Lord, either 
 on the authority of his parents, or teachers, or pastors ; or 
 because he has had it impressed on his mind from childhood ; or 
 
 ■viii. 37. 
 
INTRODUCTORY TREATISE ON FAITH. 25 
 
 because he has studied the question ; or on the testimony of God, 
 but not with the assent which is entire and supreme. He cannot 
 receive entirely and with perfect assent the testimony and 
 authority of God in this case whilst he rejects that authority in 
 other things, and therefore rejects the motive or formal object of 
 faith, which is the veracity of God, or the truth of God in 
 speaking. 
 
 The Council of Trent* has declared — "That the grace of 
 justification is lost, not only by infidelity, by which faith itself is 
 lost, but also by any mortal sin, even though faith itself be not 
 lost." 
 
 5. If a heretic or infidel could elicit an act of faith, it would 
 not be said absolutely by the Council of Trent that faith is lost 
 by infidelity ; infidelity understood, in this place, as the sin of 
 denying an article of faith. 
 
 I may therefore conclude by stating that a person who 
 rejects or denies one truth of faith, cannot elicit a true and 
 perfect act of divine faith in any dogma, and by this denial the 
 virtue or habit of faith is entirely expelled from the soul. This is 
 a conclusion certain, according to the common opinion and consent 
 of Theologians, and founded on the declaration of the Council of 
 Trent, as already given. 
 
 Durandus, as stated by Dr. Murray, seems to have held an 
 opinion that a person denying one dogma of faith could make an 
 act of divine faith in other dogmas. Durandus is not a safe 
 authority to follow on many points of Catholic doctrine. His 
 opinions are often erroneous, and on the very verge of heresy. 
 
 vi., c. 15. 
 
26 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ON HERESY. 
 
 1. Heresy here referred to as the principal sin against faith amongst 
 Christians.— 2. What is meant by heresy. — 3. Heresy objectively 
 taken, or an heretical proposition. — 4. Heresy subjectively taken or 
 considered as a sin in the soul. — 5. Ignorance excuses from formal 
 heresy. 
 
 1. There are many sins against faith which maybe explained 
 more in detail under the First Commandment. 
 
 Here, it is only necessary to refer to the sin of infidelity ; or 
 rather to the species of it, called heresy. I have used the word so 
 frequently in explaining the nature and qualities of faith, that I 
 consider it necessary to explain the nature of the sin of heresy 
 itself. A clear understanding of the meaning of heresy will be a 
 great help to secure right ideas as to our faith, and a protectiou 
 
 nst error. 
 
 I must call attention, in the first place, to the distinction given 
 above, between divine faith and divine- Catholic faith. We give 
 divine faith to every truth revealed by God ; but that it may be 
 the object of divine- Catholic faith, it must be proposed by the 
 Church to be believed by all as the word of God. 
 
 2. Heresy is an error against divine-Catholic faith, as it 
 consists in the denial of some truth revealed by God and pro- 
 posed by the Church. Thus, for example, Gallicans who denied 
 the Papal Infallibility before the definition of the Vatican 
 Council, were not guilty of heresy, because, although that truth 
 was revealed by God, and could be believed by divine faith, it bad 
 not been defined or proposed by the Church as the object of faith. 
 Any one wilfully denying or disbelieving in the truth since its 
 definition, becomes guilty of the sin of heresy, as the Papal In- 
 fallibility as defined in the Vatican Council is now the object of 
 divine- Catholic faith. 
 
 3. Heresy objectively taken. An heretical proposition is 
 that which is directly opposed to a dogma of Catholic faith ; thus 
 the proposition, " Christ is not man,'' is heretical because it is 
 directly opposed to the dogma, " Christ is truly man." 
 
INTRODUCTORY TREATISE ON FAITH. 27 
 
 If a proposition be only indirectly opposed to a dogma of 
 faith, it is not to be considered heretical, but it may fall under 
 some other ecclesiastical censure, such as proximate to heresy or 
 erroneous. 
 
 The malice of an heretical proposition, as distinguished from 
 other censured and condemned propositions, consists in this, that 
 being directly opposed to divine revelation, it expressly denies 
 the word of God, and immediately destroys Catholic faith as it 
 exists in the soul of one who, up to that time, has believed with 
 true faith. 
 
 It is necessary to impress upon the minds of the faithful the 
 two things that are required for a Catholic dogma, namely, that 
 it be revealed by God, and that it be proposed by the Church to 
 be believed by all. All who are Catholics must hold that such a 
 dogma is truly revealed, and that it is necessary to believe it 
 with divine and Catholic faith. 
 
 These dogmas are made known by the Church (a) by the 
 definitions of Ecumenical Councils, confirmed by the Pope; 
 
 (b) by the definitions of the Pope himself teaching ex cathedra '. 
 
 (c) by the manifest faith of the Church, as held and taught by 
 her pastors; in such a manner, that any one who should dare to 
 deny the particular truth thus universally held, would imme- 
 diately be regarded by all as a heretic, as in the case of Nestorius; 
 
 (d) by the manifest sense of the Sacred Scriptures and divine 
 tradition, as universally admitted and received in the Catholic 
 Church. If the sense of a particular passage of Sciipture, or 
 some teaching of tradition, be not clear, or if disputed amongst 
 Theologians, the matter thus disputed, or not clearly manifested, 
 would not be the object oi faitn, inasmuch as it is not yet pro- 
 posed by the Church to be believed by all. 
 
 The proposition of the Church, in one or other of the fore- 
 going ways, is necessary that a dogma may be the object of 
 Catholic faith, and that its opposite may be heretical, because 
 the whole body of Catholic doctrine, revealed through Christ and 
 His Apostles, was entrusted to the Church and to her teaching, 
 and to her alone. She was instituted in this world by our divine 
 Lord, that she might preserve, diffuse, teach and incultate that 
 doctrine until the end of time. 
 
 It is therefore the Church, and she alone, that can authori- 
 tatively and infallibly teach what is and what is not revealed 
 truth, and what is injurious to, or at variance with, the doctrine 
 of Christ. 
 
 It is certain that it would be heresy to deny, not only a 
 
28 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 revealed truth proposed by the Church, but even to deny the 
 fact of its revelation after the Church's definition. It generally 
 happens that a man who denies a revealed truth, denies at the 
 same time the fact of its revelation, but not necessarily ; for a 
 man might admit that Moses worked miracles, and that Christ 
 was truly man, and yet deny that these were revealed truths. 
 In such a case, by the very fact of denying that the dogma is 
 revealed, he denies that it is to be believed by faith and on 
 divine authority, and that, therefore, it can be rejected without 
 injury to, or taking away from, the divine authority; which would 
 be a heretical assertion or proposition. 
 
 4. Heresy subjectively taken. Heresy in this sense is a volun- 
 tary error of a Christian against some truth of Catholic faith. 
 That, therefore, a Christian may be called a heretic it is necessary 
 (a) that he err, (b) that he err in faith, and (c) that he err in 
 faith knowingly and willingly. 
 
 (a) Error is contained in the judgment, hence an act of 
 
 judgment is required for an act of heresy. As to 
 doubt, if the doubt be positive, viz., u perhaps our 
 Lord was not born of a virgin " ; it is heretical, in- 
 asmuch as one thereby judges that a truth which 
 God has revealed is not certain. If the doubt be 
 negative, that is, without affirming or denying any- 
 thing either by word or thought, it is not heretical, 
 because there is no act of judgment formed. 
 
 (b) The error must be in those things which belong to faith ; 
 
 that is, those things that are contained in the Word of 
 God, written or unwritten^ and which are proposed to 
 us by the Church to be believed as explained 
 already. 
 
 (c) The error must be known and wilful ; that is, the per- 
 
 tinacity of the will is required for formal heresy. 
 
 5. Therefore one who errs through ignorance, even vincible 
 ignorance, is not a formal heretic. If the ignorance is vincible, 
 the man has sinned against the precept of learning his faith ; but 
 his error is not heretical, as it is not accompanied by that per- 
 tinacity of will which belongs essentially to an act of heresy ; so 
 that, Christians outside the Church, and living in ignorance of the 
 truth, cannot individually be called heretics, or pronounced guilty 
 of heresy, even if the ignorance be vincible, and even if it be so 
 grave as to be what Theologians call affectata. Although they 
 may be sinners, they cannot be called heretics as long as they are 
 in a state of ignorance. Those who are in invincible ignorance. 
 
INTRODUCTORY TREATISE ON FAITH. 29 
 
 and live according to their conscience, are not only free from 
 heresy, but even from sin in their errors. 
 
 That a man incur the excommunication of the Church, as 
 the penalty inflicted for the sin of heresy, it is necessary that he 
 manifest externally his error by some human act, either in word 
 or deed. If, thinking of the mystery of the Holy Eucharist, he 
 should disbelieve the real presence in his mind, he would be guilty 
 of the sin of heresy ; but, if he should express that by saying 
 " I do not believe that Christ is really present in the Blessed 
 Sacrament ", he would incur the penalty of excommunication, 
 and this, even though no one might be present to hear the ex- 
 pression. 
 
30 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE CREDIBILITY OF FAITH, AND THE MOTIVES OF ITS 
 CREDIBILITY 
 
 L The fact of revelation ; and Catholic dogmas are evidently oredible.- 
 2. The same amount of knowledge of the motives of credibility is not 
 required in all. — 3. In order to accept revealed religion, the motives 
 of credibility should be examined. — 4. Prophecy, its nature and 
 object.— 5. The three conditions required for a true prophecy. — 6. 
 Prophecy is possible. — 7. God alone is the Author of prophecy. — 
 8. The rules by which we may distinguish true from false prophecies. 
 — 9. Prophecies are motives of the credibility of the Christian 
 religion. — 10. Miracles, their nature and the conditions of a true 
 miracle.— 11. The possibility of miracles. — 12. God alone is their 
 efficient cause. — 13. The divinity of the Christian religion proved by 
 miracles. — 14. Especially by the miracle of Christ's Resurrection. 
 
 That is said to be evidently credible, that is, morally speak- 
 ing and excluding all rational doubt, which is proved by trust- 
 worthy witnesses, signs, and other extrinsic arguments. 
 
 1. The fact of revelation, and Catholic dogmas are evidently 
 credible. 
 
 This, according to the learned Saurez, is an assertion which 
 no Catholic can doubt or call in question. Faith is reasonable, 
 and therefore a man's assent is not given to its truths unless on 
 reasonable grounds of credibilitj'. The motives of the credibility 
 of our faith are distinct from the motives of faith itself, and the 
 two must not be confounded. 
 
 The Psalmist has said, " Testimonia tua credibilia facta sunt 
 nimis" — " Thy testimonies are become exceedingly credible."* 
 
 According to the ordinary Providence of God, and putting 
 aside a miraculous intervention, it is required that the motives 
 of credibility be perceived and understood, and that a firm 
 judgment be formed as to the credibility of the dogmas, before 
 the assent of faith be given to them. 
 
 2. The same amount of knowledge of these motives is not 
 to be expected from the simple and illiterate people as from the 
 learned and wise. The former can depend on the tradition of 
 the Church, as known in their midst, as a sufficient motive for 
 the credibility of their faith. They hear of the Christian religion 
 and its tenets from their pastors, their teachers, and their 
 
 * xcii. 5. 
 
INTRODUCTORY TREATISE ON FAITH. 31 
 
 parents, &c. ; and they hear that it has been divinely confirmed 
 by prophecies, miracles, and examples of sanctity, &c. ; and these 
 proofs, in respect of such people, are sufficient to make the 
 Christian doctrine evidently credible to them. For the learned 
 and more intelligent, a wise and careful examination of the 
 motives of credibility is required, and they ought to be satisfied 
 and sufficiently instructed on this head before admitted into the 
 communion of the faithful. 
 
 God can, in an instant, in an extraordinary manner, en- 
 lighten the mind of a person, so that, without any of our motives 
 of credibility, or with them, but without any external means 
 proposing them, revelation and the whole Christian doctrine may 
 become immediately evident, or rather evidently credible, as in 
 the case of St. Paul. 
 
 3. In order to accept revealed religion, the motives of credi- 
 bility must be examined. These motives are numerous. Some of 
 them are intrinsic, arising out of the very nature of the truths 
 themselves, that is the excellence of the doctrine ; and some of 
 them are extrinsic, as the witnesses of revelation. There are 
 also supernatural motives or signs, or rather facts and signs in 
 the supernatural order, that claim our special attention ; these 
 are prophecies and miracles, on which two subjects some explan- 
 ation may be needed. 
 
 Prophecies. 
 
 4. Prophecy is derived from the Greek word npocprjTeia, which 
 signifies foretelling. It is defined as " The certain foretelling of 
 a future contingent event which cannot be foreseen from any 
 natural cause." 
 
 The prediction ought to be certain and precise, and not a 
 vague, hazardous, and equivocal conjecture. 
 
 The object of the prophecy ought to be a future event, free 
 and contingent, and depending on the will of God or the will of 
 men. 
 
 We cannot regard as prophecies the predictions of the 
 natural effects either of physical or moral causes, such as the 
 approach of a storm, the crisis of a malady, a political revolution. 
 
 In the physical order, these things may be predicted with 
 certainty, as judgments formed from certain phenomena, which, 
 as known by experience from the principles of induction, usually 
 produce such effects. 
 
32 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 In the moral order, as it is subject to the free will of men, 
 there cannot be the same amount of certainty. When one 
 knows the character of a man, the customs, the inclinations, and 
 the morals and ideas of a people, one can form a judgment as to 
 this man and this people, but only in a general way, and without 
 being able to decide upon anything precisely, or with any 
 certainty. 
 
 When future events depend for their cause on the Divine 
 liberty, or human liberty, they are beyond the knowledge of every 
 created intelligence. The demon, whose knowledge of things is 
 more perfect than ours, may conjecture better than we can, and 
 make superhuman predictions, but he cannot tell with any 
 certainty future contingent events, for he does not know the will 
 of God, and he has not power over our free will. 
 
 5. There are, therefore, three conditions required for a true 
 prophecy : (a) That it be certain, and not a mere conjecture ; 
 (b) that it be of a future contingent event ; (c) that what is 
 predicted cannot be foreseen from any natural cause. 
 
 6. Prophecy, as it is here understood, is possible, because 
 it is not impossible either on the part of God or on the part of 
 men. God knows future contingent events, and He can manifest 
 them to men. That He knows such events is certain from His 
 Omniscience. The knowledge of God is perfect and infinite. It 
 embraces in an adequate manner all that can be known, all that 
 exists or can exist, all that i3, and all that will be. If God were 
 to know things simply after the manner of our knowledge, His 
 intelligence would not be perfect ; it would be subject to suc- 
 cession and mutation, which is contrary to the very nature of an 
 Infinite and Supreme Being. 
 
 Furthermore, the Providence of God, in this supposition, 
 would be almost annihilated, as it would not be possible for Him 
 to dispose or ordain to their proper end, infallibly and for eter- 
 nity, the free actions of man. 
 
 As God necessarily knows the future, He can communicate 
 that knowledge to man, either by revelation or inspiration, or by 
 vision, or by exterior signs or apparitions. 
 
 The possibility and the fact of prophecies are shown also 
 by the belief of mankind. Not to speak of Jews and Christians, 
 whose books contain so many prophecies, there have been no 
 people, in any age of the world, who did not believe in the divine 
 foreknowledge of things, and make use of some means to discover 
 that knowledge. Hence the consultation of oracles, divinations, 
 by necromancy, auguries, astrologies, &c. 
 
INTRODUCTORY TREATISE ON FAITH. 33 
 
 7. God alone is the Author of prophecy. This is certain 
 from the fact that God alone can know future contingent things, 
 that is, those things that depend on the free will of man. This 
 is admitted by the common consent of Jews and Christians, and 
 even of Pagans and Mohammedans. In the Sacred Scripture we 
 find that prophecy is given as a proof of divine knowledge. " Shew 
 the things that are to come hereafter, and we shall know that ye are 
 gods. 7 '* And again : u Bemember the former age, for I am God, 
 and there is no God beside, neither is there the like to Me. Who 
 shew from the beginning the things that shall be at last, and from 
 ancient times the things that as yet are not done."\ From the 
 fact that God alone is the Author of prophecy, it follows that 
 prophecies form a conclusive argument in favour of divine reve- 
 lation.! 
 
 8. We must, however, know how to distinguish true from 
 false prophecies. The truth of a prophecy may easily be proved 
 by applying the conditions required, namely : (a) that it be of 
 some future event ; (6) that the event afterwards take place in 
 the manner foretold ; and (c) that it cannot be known from 
 natural causes. 
 
 Prophecies are certainly true if confirmed by miracles ; and, 
 also, if the effect takes place at the time and in the manner in 
 which it was foretold. The prediction, and the realization of the 
 event, are sensible facts to which one can apply the ordinary 
 rules of historical criticism ; and by the examination of the cir- 
 cumstances in connection with them, one can easily judge whether 
 the prevision, or foreknowledge, could be obtained by natural 
 means, or whether the effect takes place by accident or chance. 
 
 Prophecies are certainly false that have not the above con- 
 ditions ; and, also, if they are proved to be false by contrary 
 miracles, and when opposed to true doctrine. 
 
 They are to be suspected (a) if put forth by unworthy men ; 
 (b) if they are ambiguous and obscure in every respect ; (c) if the 
 prophet, at the time of ennunciating his prediction, is without 
 the use of reason or liberty. 
 
 St. John Chrysostom says that it is the sign of a false prophet 
 when the mind is disturbed, when the man who predicts is agi- 
 tated, and behaves in any way like a lunatic or senseless person ; 
 
 *Isa. xli. 23. *Isa. xlvi. 9, 10. 
 
 t Prophecy in the sense here explained, is in the intellectual order a true 
 miracle. It can come only from God ; and as a miracle in the physical order, 
 it is an invincible argument in favour of the truth and divinity of a doctrine. 
 D 
 
84 THE CKEED EXPLAINED- 
 
 on the other hand, a true prophet is always self-possessed, 
 temperate, modest, and knows what he is saying. 
 
 9. Prophecies are therefore motives of the credibility of the 
 Christian religion. By the prophecies of the Old Testament, it is 
 proved that Christ is the true Messiah, especially by the prophe- 
 cies of Jacob,* of Daniel, + of Aggeus,J and of Malachias§, all 
 of which, speaking of the Messiah, were verified in Jesus of 
 Nazareth. 
 
 The prophecies which predicted the abrogation of the law of 
 Moses were fulfilled in Christ Jesus, as were also all the pro- 
 phecies concerning the nativity, family, and the circumstances of 
 the life and death of the Messiah, and His exaltation after death. 
 
 Christ Himself made many prophecies, all of which have 
 been clearly verified before the world. 
 
 (a) He predicted many things about Himself. || 
 
 (b) He predicted many things about His disciples which 
 
 came to pass, viz., the betrayal of Judas, the fall of 
 Peter, the descent of the Holy Ghost, &c. 
 
 (c) He predicted the obstinacy of the Jews, and the calami- 
 
 ties that befell them afterwards. 
 
 (d) He predicted the spread of the Gospel throughout the 
 
 whole world. 
 
 All these prophecies prove the divine origin of the Christian 
 religion, and are therefore the motives of the credibility of our 
 faith. For, we conclude, that as Christ made true prophecies, He 
 must have been God or one filled with the spirit of God ; there- 
 fore He must necessarily be believed when He tells us that He 
 was sent by His Father, and in all His other words and deeds. 
 
 With the prophecies are closely connected the Death and 
 Resurrection of Christ, which are the foundations of our faith. 
 
 Miracles. 
 
 10. A miracle, according to St. Thomas, is that which 
 is produced by God outside the established order of created 
 nature. It is a supernatural act or fact caused immediately by 
 God, in the place of a natural fact. When I say, immediately 
 caused by God, it must not be understood that God, in the work- 
 ing of miracles, does not use the instrumentality of His creatures ; 
 
 *Gen. xlix. }Ag. ch., if 
 
 tDan. ch., ix. §Mal. oh., iil. 
 
 |]St. Matt. xvi. 17, 20, and 36. St. Mark x. St. Luke xvii. 
 
INTRODUCTORY TREATISE ON FAITH. 35 
 
 but these, in miraculous facts, act only as instruments in the 
 hands of God. 
 
 There are four conditions required for a true miracle : 
 
 (a) That it be a sensible work, or a work that can be per- 
 
 ceived by the senses. 
 
 (b) That it be a work which cannot be done by any created 
 
 cause. 
 
 (c) That it be out of the ordinary course of nature, or not a 
 
 thing that usually happens. 
 
 (d) That it lead us to God, or be ordained for this purpose. 
 Miracles are divided into miracles quoad substantiam, quoad 
 
 subjectum et modum. They are likewise divided into those that 
 are wrought above, beside, and contrary to nature (supra, prceter, 
 et contra naturam)* 
 
 11. The possibility of miracles. A miracle is possible if it 
 is not repugnant to our nature, to the nature of things, or to God. 
 
 A miracle is not repugnant to our nature, because in every 
 age mankind believed in miracles. This belief is proved (a) by 
 prayer, which supposes that God interferes directly in the govern- 
 ment of the universe, and that He rules all the powers of nature 
 which He can direct as He judges fit, either in their usual course 
 or in another way. (b) By the great number of prodigies narrated 
 in the Sacred Scriptures, and handed down by religious traditions. 
 If miracles were impossible, this belief would be inexplicable. It 
 may be said that humanity is credulous and superstitious, and 
 admits a great number of false miracles, but this does not weaken 
 the authority of miracles ; because, as Pascal says, instead of 
 concluding that there are no true miracles because false ones are 
 admitted, we should rather conclude that, from the fact that 
 there are so many false ones, there must have been true ones. 
 
 Miracles are not repugnant to the nature of things. This 
 would be the case if the physical order of things were necessary ; 
 but God, having freely created the world, and freely ordained its 
 laws, can, in His wisdom and power, change these laws. 
 
 Amongst all the laws of nature there is this great law, that 
 all things be subject in their existence and movement to the 
 Supreme power ; and a miracle is only the execution of this law. 
 
 In rejecting the possibility of miracles, we should have to 
 admit the absolute independence of nature, and, in the place of 
 Providence, an inexorable fatality. There would be nothing to 
 believe, or nothing to hope for from the Supreme Judge ; there 
 
 * Benedict XIV., de beat, et Oanoniz. Sancta., bib. iv. p. 1., c. 1. et seq. 
 
36 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 would be no moral responsibility, and no distinction between 
 good and evil. In fact, the negation of miracles would imply 
 Atheism. 
 
 Miracles are not repugnant to the nature of God. It is not 
 repugnant to His power to work a miracle, because, as St, Thomas 
 says, God has not limited or enchained His power by creation 
 in such a way that He cannot depart from and act outside the 
 usual course of things. It is not repugnant to His wisdom, that 
 is to say, His love of order, for He can have, and always has, very 
 wise and good reasons for working miracles. It is not against 
 the immutability of God, for as God is a pure act, and essentially 
 One, He places the exception at the same time that He makes 
 the rule, and the particular departure at the same time that He 
 establishes the general law. The miracle which He works in time 
 He has foreseen and ordained from eternity. There is, therefore, no 
 change in His will when He acts outside the usual course of 
 nature.* God is the Author of nature, and rules over its species 
 and genera, and also over individuals. He makes the laws, and 
 can therefore make the exceptions. 
 
 12. He alone is the efficient cause of miracles, as is clear 
 from the very definition of a miracle. This is also evident from 
 proofs of Scripture : " Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who 
 alone doth wonderful things "\ " God also bearing them witness 
 by signs and wonders, aud divers miracles, and distributions of the 
 Holy Ghost according to His own will."l This has been the 
 belief of all nations, and is admitted by the common consent of 
 mankind. 
 
 The force of miracles as an argument, or a motive of credibility 
 in favour of a doctrine or creed, may be understood from what 
 has been said in this explanation. 
 
 A miracle, having God for its Author, demonstrates directly 
 the marvellous order of nature, the power, the wisdom, the 
 goodness, and sometimes the justice of God. Indirectly, when 
 it is worked in favour of a doctrine, it manifestly demonstrates 
 the truth of that doctrine, for it is not possible that God would 
 work a miracle to favour imposture or error. A miracle does 
 not make revealed mysteries comprehensible, and does not 
 assign a reason for the divine precepts imposed upon men ; but 
 it makes us accept these mysteries and these precepts as coming 
 from God and from Him alone. It is the seal which He im- 
 
 * Demonstration de la diviniU du Catholicisme par l'Abbe Moulin. 
 tPsalm lxxi. 18. JHeb. ii. 4. 
 
INTRODUCTORY TREATISE ON FAITH. 37 
 
 presses upon His revelation, the letter which He entrusts to His 
 ambassadors.* 
 
 13. The divinity of the Christian religion is proved by the 
 miracles of Christ. He worked many miracles, as the Evangelists 
 narrate many wondrous works performed by Him, which 
 surpass all the powers of nature ; viz., He turned water into 
 wine, opened the eyes of one born blind, multiplied bread, raised 
 the dead to life, &c. 
 
 He worked these miracles in proof of, or in confirmation of, 
 His doctrine, according to the words of our Saviour, given by 
 St. John : " But I have a greater testimony than that of John : for 
 the works which the Father hath given me to perfect : the works 
 themselves which I do, give testimony of me that the Father hath 
 sent me."\ And again : " If 1 do not the works of my Father, 
 believe me not. But if I do, though you, do not believe me, believe 
 my works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in 
 me, and 1 in the Father." I 
 
 The Apostles, during the lifetime of Christ, and after His 
 death, worked miracles in confirmation of the Christian doctrine, 
 as may be proved from innumerable places in the Acts of the 
 Apostles, in which many particular facts are narrated, as well as 
 the general statement : " Multa prodigia et signa per Apostolos in 
 Jerusalem fiebant ": " Many wonders also, and signs, were done by 
 the Apostles in Jerusalem." 
 
 Miracles in the Moral Order. 
 
 Besides the miracles in the physical order, which are used 
 as motives of the credibility of the Christian religion, we have 
 also to consider the miracles in the moral order, that have been 
 manifested to the world in confirmation of that religion. 
 
 By miracles in the moral order, I mean those extraordinary 
 events, which, considering the manners and customs of men, 
 and the natural course of things, could not happen but by the 
 divine power. The arguments of this kind in proof of the 
 Christian religion may be briefly enumerated. 
 
 (a) The wonderful propagation of the Gospel. This was a 
 wonderful miracle, whether we consider the rapidity 
 with which the faith was spread, the difficulties in 
 the way of its propagation by reason of the habits 
 
 *See Demonstration de la divinity du Catholicisme par l'Abb6 Moulin. 
 tSt. John v. 36. JIbid. x. 37, 38. 
 
THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 and lives of men, the nature of the doctrine itself, or 
 the means that were used for its propagation. 
 
 (b) The great efficacy of the Christian doctrine in changing 
 
 the morals of men. 
 
 (c) The fortitude and the constancy of the martyrs. 
 
 (d) The cessation of oracles. 
 
 (e) The effusion of the gifts of the Holy Spirit on the first 
 
 Christians, and their continuation in the Church 
 afterwards. 
 (/) The punishment of God falling upon the Jews, and the 
 
 preservation of these people still in the world. 
 (g) The death of persecutors. 
 
 (h) The constant stability of the Christian religion. 
 (i) To these may be added the argument of "the safer 
 way," that is, according to the wise rule of Moralists 
 in things regarding salvation Tutior pars est eligenda ; 
 it is safer to be a Catholic than anything else. 
 Amabius and Pascal have used this argument, but it 
 requires some explanation to be taken and used in a 
 Catholic sense. 
 14. There is one miracle to which I think it well, even in 
 this place, to draw special attention, as it is the foundation of 
 our faith, and of our hope in the future resurrection of the dead, 
 according to the words of St. Paul : " But if there be no resurrec- 
 tion of the dead, then Christ is not risen again. And if Christ be 
 not risen again, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also 
 
 vain. 
 
 Our argument from the resurrection may be thus framed : 
 "If Christ rose from the dead, His religion and His doctrine 
 are divine; but Christ rose again horn the dead, therefore His 
 religion and doctrine are divine." 
 
 The first of these propositions is true ; because, if Christ rose 
 from the dead, it must have been by His own power, or by the 
 power of God ; if by His own power, by that very fact He would 
 prove Himself God ; if by the power of God, this would prove 
 beyond doubt His divine mission. God could not, by such a 
 miracle, approve the sayings and doctrine of an impostor. 
 Christ, during His life, foretold that He would rise again, 
 so that it might be known to all that He came forth from 
 God. 
 
 The second proposition, namely, but Christ rose again, only 
 
 *1 Cor. xv. 13, 14. 
 
INTRODUCTORY TREATISE ON FAITH. 39 
 
 asserts one of the most certain historical facts ; and one whose 
 witnesses bould not be deceived themselves ; would not be deceived 
 even if they could ; and could not be deceived even if they would. 
 These were the witnesses of the Resurrection. There could be no 
 deception in the matter ; for Christ, after His Resurrection, 
 showed Himself resuscitated from the dead, in broad daylight, to 
 many, viz., to 500 at one time.* This He did often to His 
 disciples and friends, and in close proximity to them, so that He 
 eat and conversed with them, and allowed Himself to be touched 
 by them.t 
 
 The Apostles were unwilling to be deceived, for they could 
 have no reason to wish for such a deception, and every reason to 
 protect them against it. By such a lie and imposture, they could 
 not hope to gain any advantage either from God, or from Christ, 
 or from men, from whom they had nothing to expect but con- 
 tempt and persecution even to death. Everything was against 
 such a deception : the honest character of the Apostles them- 
 selves ; the difficulties and dangers of the situation ; the nefarious 
 nature of such a fraud, and the impossibility of creating it. 
 Besides, because of the guard and the precautions taken by the 
 Jews, the body of our Lord could not be stolen from the tomb if 
 the Apostles had wished it. And had the Resurrection not 
 really happened, how could the Apostles have persuaded the 
 whole world of its truth, and confirmed it by miracles ? 
 
 "The Resurrection of Christ," says the Abbe Moulin, "is the 
 miracle par excellence ; the miracle of His power, for He resusci- 
 tated Himself ; the miracle of His goodness, for His Resurrection 
 is the cause and model of the glorious resurrection of those who 
 have believed in Him ; the miracle of His wisdom, for He has 
 made it as it were the corner-stone of Christianity. It is on the 
 fact of the Resurrection that our faith, our hope, our worship, 
 and our history rest." 
 
 This miracle is the object of the attacks of all the incredulous, 
 for this once admitted, no one could deny the divine Mission and 
 the Divinity of Jesus Christ. 
 
 The Apostles, according to these, were either impostors or 
 men labouring under hallucinations ; but one or other of these 
 hypotheses would be as extraordinary a miracle as could be 
 conceived. But suppose that the Apostles were deceived, or 
 wished, as our enemies say, to be deceived, would it not have 
 
 *1 Cor. iv. 
 fActs i. 3, 
 
40 THE CBEED EXPLAINED. 
 
 been easy for the enemies of Christ to refute that lie, and such 
 folly, by exhuming, and presenting before the people, our Lord's 
 body, which, they said, was risen from the dead ? Will they say 
 that the Apostles stole the body, or concealed it ? Admitting 
 even this unlikely and impossible hypothesis, will they explain 
 how a small band of false deceivers would dare to affirm the fact 
 of the Eesurrection ; how they could make millions of men 
 believe in that fact, and found upon it a religion which alone is 
 worthy of the respect and the love of mankind ? 
 
INTRODUCTORY TREATISE ON FAITH. 41 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE AETICLES AND CEEEDS OF FAITH. 
 
 1. What is meant by an Article of Faith. — 2. The conditions required for 
 an Article of Faith as understood in the " Creeds." — 3. The reason 
 why the truths of faith are divided into Articles. — 4. In what sense 
 have the Articles of Faith increased ? — 5. The " Creeds," the mean- 
 ing of a Creed or Symbol of faith. — 6. The Apostles' Creed : why so 
 called. — 7. The reason why the Apostles composed it. — 8. The divis- 
 ion of the Creed : its twelve Articles. — 9. The Feasts of the Church, 
 on which certain Articles of the Creed are commemorated. — 10. The 
 obligations of Catholics in regard to the " Creed." 
 
 1. Article is derived from the Greek, and means a little joint 
 It gives the idea of small parts, that, united together, go to make 
 up a whole body. Hence, those things which we have to believe 
 are distinguished by Articles, inasmuch as they are divided into 
 parts that fit into one another, and thus compose one whole 
 Creed, or body of faith. 
 
 The Catechism of the Council of Trent tells us, that the 
 sentences of the " Creed M are called articles by a sort of compar- 
 ison frequently used by our forefathers ; for as the members 
 of the body are divided by joints (articulis), so in this profession 
 of faith, whatever is to be believed distinctly and separately from 
 anything else, is appositely called an article. 
 
 2. Theologically speaking, not all the truths of faith are 
 divided into Articles (although commonly speaking, any revealed 
 truth may be called an Article of Faith), but only those which 
 have the following two conditions : (a) That they primarily and 
 principally appertain to faith, as are those truths of which we 
 shall have the vision in heaven, and through which we may 
 obtain the Beatific Vision, (b) That they have some special and 
 distinct difficulty in beiag believed. Thus, that Christ died and 
 rose again from the dead forms two articles. It is a distinct 
 difficulty to rise again after dead ; whilst, suffered under Pontius 
 Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried, is only one article, because 
 no distinct difficulty arises between the different propositions. 
 
 If a man be crucified he will naturally die, and the natural 
 consequence of death is burial. In the same way, He ascended 
 into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father 
 
42 THE ORBED EXPLAINED. 
 
 Almighty, is only one Article, although it contains two pro- 
 positions ; but yet we have between the two no distinct difficulty, 
 because the proper and natural place for Christ in His Father's 
 Kingdom, after His Ascension, is at the right hand of God the 
 Father Almighty. An Article of Faith may therefore be defined : 
 "A Catholic proposition primarily appertaining to faith, and 
 having some special difficulty in being believed." 
 
 3. It is most useful and convenient to have the truths of 
 faith divided into Articles, as has been done by the Apostles and 
 by Councils, (a) It facilitates the instruction of the faithful, (b) 
 It preserves uniformity of faith amongst us. (c) It enables us to 
 have a profession of faith in readiness against tyrants and 
 heretics. 
 
 The twelve Articles of the Apostles' Creed are those that are 
 in common use, and the best known amongst the faithful. 
 
 Concerning the Articles of Faith, it may be asked whether 
 they have increased with time, or whether they have been 
 multiplied ? 
 
 4. Increase in matters of this kind may be two-fold, (a) By 
 the revelation of a new truth ; or (b) by the clearer manifesta- 
 tion of a truth already revealed. This manifestation may be 
 (a) by interpretation; (b) by application; or (c) by the propo- 
 sition of the truth which the Church has made from time to 
 time to meet the errors of different ages and different 
 places. 
 
 Now, in answer to the question, it is necessary to distinguish 
 the various ages of the world. From Adam to Christ the two 
 principal Articles, namely, that God is, and that He is the Re- 
 munerator of the good and bad, did not increase in substance, 
 but they did in explanation and application. The dogmas of the 
 Trinity and the Incarnation were made more clearly known, 
 especially in the life-time of our Lord. 
 
 Other Articles of Faith increased as often as new revelations 
 were made. New revelations were made to the Prophets and 
 Apostles, and by Christ. 
 
 Since the time of the Apostles, although the Articles of Faith 
 have increased by reason of their clearer manifestation in the 
 above three-fold manner, they have not increased as to sub- 
 stance ; inasmuch as no new Article has been revealed to the 
 Church since the time of the Apostles. This is proved from the 
 words of Christ, given in St. John's Gospel : a I will not now call 
 you servants ; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doth ; 
 but I have called you -friends, because all things whatsoever I have 
 
INTRODUCTORY TREATISE ON FAITH. 43 
 
 heard of my Father I have made known to you"* And again: 
 " But when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will teach you all 
 truth. For He shall not speak of Himself ; but what things soever 
 He shall hear He shall speak : and the things that are to come He 
 shall show you."\ 
 
 The same is also proved by the authority of the Council of 
 Trent, as it clearly teaches, in its 4th and 6th Sessions, that the 
 Catholic doctrine is contained in the Sacred Scriptures and tradi- 
 tion. Thus the definitions of the Church, from time to time, are 
 the declarations and explanations, or applications of truths con- 
 tained in the deposit of faith ; and the notion that these definitions 
 are of the nature of divine revelation or inspiration is not in 
 accordance with Catholic teaching. 
 
 The Creeds or Symbols of Faith. 
 
 5. The chief things which God has revealed, and the truths 
 of salvation, are contained in an abridged form in the formula 
 of faith composed by the Apostles. 
 
 This formula is called a Creed or Symbol. It is called Creed 
 from the Latin word Credo, I believe, and inasmuch as it con- 
 tains the principal Articles of our faith or belief. It is called the 
 Symbol from the Greek word 2v/*/3oAov, a sign or mark. The 
 recital of the Symbol of the Apostles, like the sign of the Cross, is 
 the mark of a Christian, and the pass- word of a soldier of Christ. 
 The word Symbol also signifies a collection, an assemblage or 
 reunion, and, in this sense, it is rightly used to signify the 
 abridged formula of our faith, that is, a collection of the principal 
 truths which every Christian should know and believe. 
 
 11 A Creed may therefore be defined as a summary or rule of 
 faith made up of various Articles of faith, and proposed to the 
 faithful as a sign of their profession." 
 
 According to Benedict XIV., the Symbol of faith is a certain 
 sign by which the faithful are discernable from infidels ; the simile 
 being taken from the military sign by which soldiers of different 
 countries are distinguished. 
 
 The Apostles' Creed. 
 
 6. The first Creed or Symbol of faith is that of the Apostles. 
 It is called the Apostles 1 Creed because it was composed by the 
 Apostles before their dispersion, and attributed to them by the 
 
 • St. John xv. 15. f Ibid. xvi. 13. 
 
44 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 whole Church (some say ten years after our Saviour's Passion, 
 but they were dispersed long before that time). That we have 
 the Creed from the Apostles may be proved, first, from the Sacred 
 Scripture. We fiud in the Epistles of St. Paul passages which 
 clearly refer to the Creed. He writes in his Epistle to the 
 Bomans : M But thanks be to God, that you were the servants of 
 sin, but have obeyed from the heart unto that form op doctrine 
 unto which you have been delivered."* And in his Epistle to 
 Timothy he tells him to " Hold the form of words which thou 
 hast heard from me in faith, and in the love which is in Christ 
 Jesus."} 
 
 St. Paul, in his first Epistle to the Corinthians, gives a short 
 outline of the Creed in the words : " For I delivered unto you first 
 of all which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins 
 according to the Scriptures ; and that He was buried, and that He 
 rose again the third day according to the Scriptures." '{ 
 
 Also I may notice from the Acts of Apostles, that St. Philip 
 required a profession of faith from the Ethiopian before he 
 admitted him to Baptism: " And Philip said, if thou believest 
 with all thy heart, thou mayst (be baptised). And he answering 
 said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.''§ 
 
 There was, therefore, a formula of faith in use in the time of 
 the Apostles, and used by them, which we hold ; and this must 
 have been the same as the Apostles 1 Creed, which, tradition tells 
 us, the Apostles composed and agreed upon as the formula of 
 faith before their dispersion. 
 
 It has been in use from the very time of the Apostles even 
 to our own day. St. Clement, Pope and Martyr, and disciple 
 of the Apostles, tells us that the Apostles composed the Creed 
 which the faithful had to profess in his day. St. Irenaeus, an 
 Apostolic man, who lived near the time of the Apostles, and was 
 taught by the immediate disciples of the Apostles, cites the Creed 
 and the arrangement of its Articles as the work of the Apostles ; 
 and Tertullian speaks of it as the rule of faith common to all 
 Christians, and says, that this divine work has preceeded all 
 heresies. 
 
 St. Cyprian, St. Ambrose, St. Jerome, and St. Augustine, 
 and all the Fathers and Doctors of the Church after them, regard 
 it as a fact, established by the clearest and most invincible tradi- 
 tion, that the Apostles assembled, and, full of the Holy Spirit, 
 
 *Rom. vi. 17. U Cor. xv. 3, 4. 
 
 t 2 Tim. i, 13. § Acts viii. 37, et seq. 
 
INTRODUCTORY TREATISE ON FAITH. 45 
 
 composed this summary or formula of Christian doctrine, which 
 has been taught in the Church ever since. 
 
 It is not, however, certain that each of the Apostles composed 
 a separate and single Article, as for example, St. Peter, the first ; 
 St. Andrew or St. John, the second ; St. James, the third ; and so 
 on. This, as I have said, is not known with any certainty, and 
 it is not a matter of much importance. What is of importance 
 is, that which we know for certain ; viz. : that the Creed is 
 the work of the Apostles, and that we can consider it the work 
 of God Himself, as the Apostles were inspired by God, and the 
 truths were interiorly dictated by the Holy Spirit, the Teacher 
 of all truth ; those same truths which they had heard from Jesus 
 Christ Himself, and learned from His teaching. 
 
 7. This Creed was composed by the Apostles for the follow- 
 ing reasons : (a) That they might have one and the same rule of 
 faith to propose to the people ; (b) that the faithful, individually, 
 might have a short form of faith which they could learn by heart, 
 and remember ; (c) that the faithful might be preserved from 
 false teachers, who would try to pervert the faith. 
 
 „ The Division of the Creed. 
 
 8. Cardinal Bellarmine divides the Apostles' Creed into 
 two parts. In the first, he places the eight Articles which 
 regard God; and in the second, the four which regard the 
 Church. 
 
 Most other authors, in imitation of the Catechism of the 
 Council of Trent, divide the Creed into three parts, referring 
 each part to one of the Three Persons of the most Holy Trinity. 
 According to this division, the first part treats of the Eternal 
 Father, His Divinity, His Omnipotence, the creation of the world 
 and of mankind, and all things visible and invisible. The second 
 part treats of God the Son, and the marvellous work of 
 Eedemption, the Incarnation of this divine Person, His 
 Birth, His Passion, His Death, His Resurrection, and Ascension 
 into heaven, and His coming at the end of time to judge the 
 world. 
 
 The third part treats of the Holy Ghost, and the works 
 which He performs through His Spouse, the Church, which are 
 principally these : the Communion of Saints, the Forgiveness 
 of sins, and the Eesurrection of the body; all these in order to the 
 possession of Life Everlasting. 
 
46 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 The Apostles' Creed is also divided into twelve Articles, as 
 follows : — 
 
 I. I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of 
 heaven and earth. 
 II. And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord ; 
 
 III. Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the 
 
 Virgin Mary, 
 
 IV. Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and 
 
 buried. 
 V. He descended into hell ; the third day He rose again 
 
 from the dead ; 
 VI. He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right 
 
 hand of God the Father almighty; 
 VII. From thence He shall come to judge the living and 
 the dead. 
 VIII. I believe in the Holy Ghost, 
 IX. The Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints, 
 X. The forgiveness of sins, 
 XI. The resurrection of the body, and 
 XII. Life Everlasting. Amen. 
 
 9. " The following Articles of the Creed are commemorated 
 by the Church on special Festivals, viz. : — 
 
 Christmas Day. Art. III. Who was conceived by the Holy 
 
 Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, 
 Good Friday. Art IV. Suffered under Pontius Pilate, 
 
 was crucified, dead and buried ; 
 Easter. Art. V. He descended into hell ; the third 
 
 day He rose again from the dead ; 
 Ascension Day. Art. VI. He ascended into heaven, and 
 
 sitteth at the right hand of God the 
 
 Father almighty ; 
 Advent. Art. VII. From thence He shall come to 
 
 judge the living and the dead. 
 Whit Sunday. Art. VIIL I believe in the Holy Ghost, 
 All Saints Day. Art. IX. The Holy Catholic Church, the 
 
 Communion of Saints."* 
 
 *I have taken this arrangement from Gill's Church Catechism. 
 
introductory treatise on faith. 47 
 
 The Obligations or Duties op Catholics with regard 
 to the Creed. 
 
 10. Our duties in regard to the Creed are (besides the 
 obligation of believing firmly the truths it contains, and profess- 
 ing them), to know it, and to recite it often. 
 
 (a) We should learn the Creed and know it. The Apostles 
 composed it in order that the faithful might learn and know it. 
 The Church has on this account ordered, all along, that her 
 children should be instructed in the Creed, that her Pastors should 
 explain it, and that parents should teach it to their children. 
 
 All are therefore obliged to learn and know the Creed. 
 St. Leo says that no one is allowed to be ignorant of it. St. 
 Maximus, in his day, reckoned amongst the greatest enemies of 
 the faith, those amongst the baptized who were ignorant ; and, 
 in our day, we may reckon amongst the greatest enemies of the 
 faith, Catholics who, without any excuse, are ignorant of the 
 doctrine of their religion. 
 
 St. Thomas regards, as a mortal sin, wilful ignorance of the 
 Creed. St. Charles Borromaeo considered a person ignorant of 
 the Articles of -the Creed, at least as to their substance, unworthy 
 of absolution. 
 
 (b) We should recite the Creed often, in order to keep it 
 impressed upon our memory, to nourish and strengthen our 
 faith, to profess our faith, and preserve it against dangers and 
 temptations. It forms part of our morning and evening prayers. 
 
 It is said by priests and religious in the Divine Office before 
 Matins and Prime in the morning, and after Complin in the 
 evening. 
 
 St. Ambrose exhorts his sister to recite the Creed often. 
 He advises her to say it every morning and every evening ; and 
 to look into it, as into a mirror, often during the day, that she 
 may therein see her faith, and know whether she be truly faithful. 
 
 St. Augustine, in addressing his Catechumens, says to them, 
 u Eeceive, my dear children, this rule of faith which we call the 
 Symbol or Greed ; engrave it on your hearts ; carry it about 
 always with you that it may be your defence, and that your 
 memory may be an open book wherein you can read it con- 
 tinually." 
 
 The custom of saying the Creed frequently is the means of 
 preserving the faith amongst the people. I believe it was one 
 of the great means which the people of Ireland used, for the 
 
48 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 preservation of their faith in the days of persecution. The Creed 
 is said amongst her people more often than amongst any other 
 people. They generally say it either before or after the Eosary, 
 and in some places both before and after ; and the Creed forms 
 a part of all their public devotions, and the private and family 
 devotions which are said by the people in their own homes. 
 
 Besides the Apostles' Creed, the Church makes use of three 
 other Creeds, or Professions of Faith — namely, the" Nicene Creed, 
 the Athanasian Creed, and the Profession of Faith, edited by 
 Pope Pius IV. Of these we shall speak in the next chapter. 
 
1WTR0DUCT0RY TREATISE ON FAITH. 49 
 
 CHAPTEE X. 
 
 THE OTHER CREEDS OF FAITH. 
 
 1 The Nicene Creed — its history, and its additions to the Apostles' Creed. 
 — 2. Its introduction into the Liturgy of the Mass, and why recited 
 on certain days.— 3. The full text of the Nicene Creed.— 4. The 
 Athanasian Creed — its object, its authorship, and its use in the 
 Church. — 5. The full text of the Athanasian Creed.— 6. The Profession 
 of Faith of Pope Pius IV.— 7. A Shorter Form of Profession of Faith. 
 
 The Nicene Creed. 
 
 1. Arius denied the divinity of the Word, and taught that 
 Christ, the Son of God, was only a creature. Against this heresy 
 a General Council was held at Nice in Bithynia, a.d. 325, a*; which 
 there wore 318 bishops present. They resolved to draw up a 
 Creed to determine, and explain more fully, the faith of the Church 
 with regard to jbhe Second Article of the Apostles' Creed, and 
 in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord. The Council expressed 
 clearly the Catholic faith by these words : We believe in one 
 Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, born of the 
 Father before all ages, God of God, Light of Light, true God 
 of true God, begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father ; 
 by Whom all things were made. This was the principal addition 
 made by the Council of Nice. 
 
 To the profession of faith of the Council of Nice, another 
 addition was made by the first Council of Constantinople, a.d. 
 381. In this the error of Macedonius, who was bishop of 
 Constantinople, and who denied the divinity of the Holy Ghost, 
 was condemned, and the doctrine of the Church in regard to the 
 Holy Ghost was more clearly defined and explained in the 
 following terms : We believe also in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and 
 Life-giver ; Who proceedeth from the Father and the Son, Who 
 together with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified; 
 Who spoke by the Prophets. The Nicene Creed, on this account, 
 is sometimes mentioned as the Creed of Constantinople. 
 
 After the Councils of Nice and Constantinople, all 
 Catechumens were required to recite this Creed in the Eastern 
 Church before they were admitted to Baptism 
 
50 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 2. About the middle of the fifth century it was introduced 
 into the Liturgy of the Mass in the Eastern Church. In the 
 Western Church it was established as part of the Liturgy of 
 the Mass in the Pontificate of Benedict VIIL, a.d. 1014, although 
 for many years before that date it was used in the churches of 
 Spain and France. It was not introduced before this time in 
 all the "Western Church, for the reason that there was no 
 pressing necessity for it, as the Western Church was not invaded 
 by these heresies up to that time. It is now said in the holy 
 Sacrifice of the Mass after the Gospel, but not on all days. 
 
 The reasons for saying the Creed on some days are assigned 
 as three ; namely, mystery, doctrine, or celebration. By reason 
 of the mysteries of our religion, it is said on all the festivals of 
 our Lord, and of His blessed Mother ; by reason of the doctrine 
 of the faith delivered to us by scripture and tradition, it is said 
 on all the Feasts of the Apostles and the Doctors of the Church ; 
 and by reason of celebration, it is said on the Feasts of Patrons 
 and other Feasts of the first and second class, when the people 
 are supposed to attend Mass in greater numbers. These are the 
 general rules laid down by Liturgists as to when the Creed has 
 to be said at Mass. 
 
 3. The following is the full text of the Nicene Creed : — 
 
 " I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of 
 heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. 
 
 " And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of 
 God, and born of the Father before all ages ; God of God, Light 
 of Light, true God of true God, begotten, not made ; consubstan- 
 tial to the Father, by Whom all things were made. Who, for us 
 men, and for our salvation, came down from Heaven, and became 
 incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made 
 man.* He was crucified also for us, suffered under Pontius 
 Pilate, and was buried. And the third day He rose again, 
 according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven ; sitteth 
 at the right of the Father ; and He is to come again with glory, 
 to judge both the living and the dead ; of Whose Kingdom there 
 shall be no end. 
 
 " And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, Who 
 proceedeth from the Father and the Son ; Who together with the 
 Father and the Son is adored and glorified ; Who spoke by the 
 prophets. And One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. I con- 
 fess one Baptism for the remission of sin3. And I expect the 
 
 ♦All kneel at these words, in reverence of Christ's Incarnation. 
 
INTRODUCTORY TREATISE ON FAITH. 51 
 
 resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. 
 Amen/' 
 
 The Athan asian Creed. 
 
 4. This is the Creed attributed to St. Athanasius, and bearing 
 his name. He was the great Bishop of Alexandria, and the great 
 defender of the faith against all the heretics of his day, especially 
 the Arians. It contains a wise, clear and profound exposition of 
 the doctrine of the Holy Trinity and of the Incarnation, and 
 admirably states the doctrine of the one Person and the two 
 natures in Christ. It is called the Creed of St. Athanasius, not 
 that it was composed by that holy bishop, but because it pro- 
 pounds the truths which he so heroically defended, and because 
 it is taken from the writings of this Father. It is generally 
 believed that it is the work of a bishop of Tapse, in Africa, called 
 Vigilius. But some say that it was composed in Latin by 
 Hilary of Aries in Gaul, a.d. 429. At a Council held at Autun 
 in Gaul, in the year 800, we find it mentioned. By Ay ton, 
 bishop of Bale, it was prescribed to be said at the Office of Prime 
 by the Clerics.- Ratherius, bishop of Verone, desired all the 
 priests of his diocese to learn by heart, not only the Apostles' 
 Creed and the Nicene Creed, but also the Creed of St. Atha- 
 nasius. Nowadays it forms part of the divine Office, to be said 
 by priests and religious at the Office of Prime on all Sundays. 
 
 5. The following is the full text of the Athanasian Creed : — 
 •* Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary 
 
 that he hold the Catholic faith. 
 
 " Which faith, except every one do keep entire and inviolate, 
 without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. 
 
 " Now the Catholic faith is this : that we worship one God 
 in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity. 
 
 " Neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the 
 substance. 
 
 "For there is one Person of the Father, another of the 
 Son, another of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 "But the Godhead of the Father and of the Son and of 
 the Holy Ghost is all one ; the glory equal, the majesty co- 
 eternal. 
 
 " Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the 
 Holy Ghost. 
 
 " The Father uncreate, the Son uncreate, the Holy Ghost 
 uncreate. 
 
52 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 "The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, 
 and the Holy Ghost incomprehensible. 
 
 "The Father eternal, the Son eternal, the Holy Ghost 
 eternal. 
 
 " And yet they are not three eternals, but one eternal. 
 
 " As also they are not three uncreates, nor three incom- 
 prehensibles ; but one uncreate, and one incomprehensible. 
 
 " In like manner, the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, 
 and the Holy Ghost almighty. 
 
 "And yet they are not three almighties, but one almighty. 
 
 11 So, the Father is God, the Son God, and the Holy Ghost 
 God. 
 
 " And yet they are not three Gods, but one God. 
 
 " So, likewise, the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, and the 
 Holy Ghost is Lord. 
 
 " And yet they are not three Lords, but one Lord. 
 
 " For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity to 
 acknowledge each Person by himself to be God and Lord : 
 
 " So we are forbidden by the Catholic religion to say there 
 are three Gods, or three Lords. 
 
 " The Father is made of none, neither created nor begotten. 
 
 " The Son is from the Father alone, not made, nor created, 
 but begotten. 
 
 " The Holy Ghost is from the Father and the Son, not made, 
 nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding. 
 
 " So there is one Father, not three Fathers ; one Son, not 
 three Sons ; one Holy Ghost, not three Holy Ghosts. 
 
 " And in this Trinity there is nothing before or after, nothing 
 greater or less ; but the whole three Persons are co-eternal to- 
 gether, and co-equal. 
 
 " So that in all things, as is aforesaid, the Unity is to be 
 worshipped in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity. 
 
 " He, therefore, that will be saved, must thus think of the 
 Trinity. 
 
 " Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting salvation that 
 he also believe rightly the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 "Now the right faith is, that we believe and confess that 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is both God and man. 
 
 " He is God of the substance of His Father, begotten before 
 the world ; and He is man of the substance of His Mother, born 
 in the world : 
 
 "Perfect God and perfect man; of reasonable soul and 
 human flesh subsisting. 
 
INTRODUCTORY TREATISE ON FAITH. 53 
 
 "Equal to the Father according to His Godhead ; and less 
 than the Father according to His manhood. 
 
 " Who, although He be both God and man, yet He is not two, 
 but one Christ : 
 
 " One, not by the conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but 
 by the taking of the manhood unto God. 
 
 " One altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by 
 unity of person. 
 
 " For as the reasonable soul and the flesh is one man, so God 
 and man is one Christ. 
 
 " Who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose 
 again the third day from the dead. 
 
 " He ascended into heaven ; He sitteth at the right hand of 
 God the Father Almighty ; from whence He shall come to judge 
 the living and the dead. 
 
 "At Whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies, 
 and shall give an account of their own works. 
 
 "And they that have done good shall go into life 
 everlasting ; and they that have done evil, into everlasting 
 fire. 
 
 " This is the Catholic faith, which except a man believe 
 faithfully and steadfastly, he cannot be saved. 
 
 " Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy 
 Ghost. 
 
 "As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be 
 world without end. Amen." 
 
 The Profession of Faith of Pope Pius IV. 
 
 6. This Profession of Faith or Creed was published during 
 the Pontificate of Pius. IV., on the 9th Dec, 1564, a short time after 
 the conclusion of the Council of Trent. This Creed, similar to 
 the Nicene Creed in its articles, solemnly expounds the doctrine 
 of the Church against the heresies of those times, those of Luther, 
 Calvin, &c, and their followers. 
 
 According to the injunction of the Council, the following 
 persons are required to make this Profession of Faith, namely, 
 all those who are promoted to the Episcopate, to Canonship, to a 
 Benefice to which is attached the cure of souls, or to the govern- 
 ment of a monastery ; also all Lectors and Professors are obliged 
 to make this Profession of Faith ; and all converts from the Greek 
 Church, and from Protestantism, have to recite this Creed on 
 
54 THE CBEED EXPLAINED. 
 
 being admitted into the Catholic Church.* The following is the 
 text of this Creed. 
 
 " I, N. (Christian name), with a firm faith believe and profess 
 all and every one of those things which are contained in the 
 Creed which the Holy Eoman Church maketh use of, namely : — 
 I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and 
 earth, of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord, Jesus 
 Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, born of the Father before 
 all ages. God of God ; Light of Light ; true God of True God ; 
 begotten, not made, consubstantial to the Father ; by Whom all 
 things were made. Who, for us men, and for our salvation, came 
 down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the 
 "Virgin Mary, and was made man. He was crucified also for us, 
 under Pontius Pilate, He suffered and was buried, and the third 
 day He rose again according to the Scriptures. He ascended 
 into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father ; and He 
 shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead : 
 of Whose Kingdom there shall be no end And I believe in the 
 Holy Ghost, the Lord and Life-giver, Who proceedeth from the 
 Father and the Son, Who, together with the Father and the Son 
 is adored and glorified ; Who spoke by the Prophets. And I 
 believe One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. I confess one 
 Baptism for the remission of sins ; and I look for the resurrection 
 of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.f 
 
 " I most steadfastly admit and embrace the Apostolical and 
 Ecclesiastical Traditions, and all other observances and constitu- 
 tions of the same Church. 
 
 " I also admit the Holy Scriptures, according to that sense 
 which our holy Mother the Church has held, and does hold, to 
 whom it belongs to judge of the true sense and interpretation of 
 the Scriptures ; neither will I ever take and interpret them other- 
 wise than according to the unanimous consent of the Fathers. 
 
 " I also profess that there are truly and properly seven 
 Sacraments of the New Law, instituted by Jesus Christ our 
 Lord, and necessary for the salvation of mankind, although not 
 all of them necessary for every one; namely, Baptism, Con- 
 firmation, the Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Order and 
 Matrimony ; and that they confer grace ; and that of these, 
 Baptism, Confirmation, and Order, cannot be repeated without 
 
 * A few supplementary words were added by Pope Pius IX. to this Creed, 
 
 referring to the Supremacy and infallibility of the Roman Pontiff. 
 
 t So far this is word for word the Nicene Creed. 
 
INTRODUCTORY TREATISE ON FAITH. 55 
 
 the sin of sacrilege. I also receive and admit the received and 
 approved ceremonies of the Catholic Church used in the adminis- 
 tration of the aforesaid Sacraments. 
 
 " I embrace and receive all and every one of the things which 
 have been denned and declared in the holy Council of Trent, 
 concerning original sin and justification. 
 
 " I profess likewise, that in the Mass there is offered to God a 
 true, proper, and propitiatory Sacrifice for the living and the 
 dead ; and that in the most holy Sacrament of the Eucharist, 
 there is truly, really and substantially, the Body and Blood, 
 together with the Soul and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 and that there is made a conversion of the whole substance of 
 the bread into the Body, and of the whole substance of the wine 
 into the Blood ; which conversion the Catholic Church calls 
 Transubstantiation. I also confess, that under either kind alone, 
 Christ is received whole and entire, and a true Sacrament. 
 
 " I steadfastly hold that there is a Purgatory, and that the 
 souls therein detained are helped by the suffrages of the faithful. 
 Likewise that the Saints reigning together with Christ are to be 
 honoured and invocated ; and that they offer prayers to God for 
 us, and that their relics are to be held in veneration. 
 
 "I most firmly assert that the images of Christ, of the 
 Mother of God ever Virgin, and also of other Saints, ought to be 
 had and retained, and that due honour and veneration are to be 
 given them. 
 
 " I also afiirm that the power of granting Indulgences was 
 left by Christ in the Church, and that the use of them is most 
 wholesome to Christian people. 
 
 " I acknowledge, the Holy, Catholic, Apostolic, Roman 
 Church for the mother and mistress of all Churches ; and I 
 promise true obedience to the Bishop of Eome, successor of St. 
 Peter, Prince of the Apostles, and Vicar of Jesus Christ. 
 
 M I likewise undoubtingly receive and profess all other 
 things which the Sacred Canons and General Councils, and 
 particularly the holy Council of Trent, and the Ecumenical 
 Vatican Council, have delivered, defined, and declared, and in 
 particular, about the supremacy and infallible teaching of the 
 Boman Pontiff. And I condemn, reject, and anathematize all 
 things contrary thereto, and all heresies which the Church has 
 condemned, rejected, and anathematized. 
 
 "I, N. (Christian name), do, at this present, freely profess 
 and sincerely hold this true Catholic Faith, out of which no one 
 can be saved; and I promise most constantly to retain and 
 
56 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 confess the same entire and unstained, with God's assistance, to 
 the end of my life." 
 
 7. We have now in use a shorter form of Profession of 
 Faith, authorised by the Holy See, for the whole of Christendom, 
 and which is the form used constantly in Eome for the reception 
 of Protestants and Schismatics into the Catholic Church. 
 
 The following is the text of this short form of Profession of 
 Faith. 
 
 " I, (name), son (or daughter) of (name and surname of the 
 father), born in (place of birth, and whether married or single), 
 kneeling before you, Eev. Father, duly authorized by the Bishop 
 of (name), having before my eyes the holy Gospels which I touch 
 with my hand, and knowing that no one can be saved without 
 that faith which the Holy, Catholic, Apostolic, Eoman Church 
 holds, believes, and teaches, against which I grieve that I have 
 greatly erred, inasmuch as I have held and believed doctrines 
 opposed to her teaching. 
 
 " I, now enlightened by divine grace, profess that I believe 
 the Holy, Catholic, Apostolic, Eoman Church to be the only true 
 Church established on earth by Jesus Christ, to which I submit 
 myself with my whole heart. I believe all the Articles that She 
 proposes to my belief, and I reject and condemn all that 
 She rejects and condemns, and I am ready to observe all that 
 She commands me, and especially I profess that I believe — 
 
 " One only God, in three Divine Persons, distinct from, and 
 equal to, each other, that is to say — the Father, the Son, and the 
 Holy Ghost ; 
 
 " The Catholic doctrine of the Incarnation, Passion, Death, 
 and Eesurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Hypostatic 
 (personal) union of the two natures, the divine and the human ; 
 the divine maternity of the Most Holy Mary, together with her 
 Immaculate conception and most spotless virginity ; 
 
 "The true, real, and substantial presence of the Body, 
 together with the Soul and Divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ in 
 the most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist ; 
 
 " The seven Sacraments instituted by Jesus Christ for the 
 salvation of mankind ; that is to say — Baptism, Confirmation, 
 Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Order, Matrimony ; 
 
 " Purgatory, the Eesurrection of the Dead, Everlasting life ; 
 
 11 The Primacy, not only of honour, but also of jurisdiction 
 of the Eoman Pontiff, successor of St. Peter, Prince of the 
 Apostles, Vicar of Jesus Christ ; 
 
 " The veneration of Saints and of their images ; 
 
INTRODUCTORY TREATISE ON FAITH. 57 
 
 " The authority of the Apostolic and Ecclesiastical Traditions, 
 and of the Holy Scriptures, which we must interpret and under- 
 stand only in the sense which our Holy Mother, the Catholic 
 Church, has held and holds ; 
 
 " And everything else that has been denned and declared by 
 the Sacred Canons, and by the General Councils, especially by 
 the Council of Trent, and by the Ecumenical Vatican Council. 
 
 " With a sincere heart, therefore, and with unfeigned belief, 
 I detest and abjure every error, heresy and sect, opposed to the 
 said Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Eoman Church. So help me 
 God, and these, His holy Gospels, which I touch with my hand." 
 
 The Author of " Catholic Belief " proposes a short Form or 
 Profession of Faith to be used only in cases of very grave and 
 urgent necessity ; as Theologians teach, that in case of an urgent 
 necessity, as of grave illness, a short comprehensive Form may be 
 used in receiving Converts into the Church. This Form may be 
 as follows : — 
 
 "I, (name), do sincerely and solemnly declare that, having 
 been brought up in the Protestant Eeligion (or other Religion as 
 the case may be), but now, by the grace of God, having come to 
 the knowledge of the Truth, I firmly believe and profess all that 
 the Holy Catholic and Eoman Church believes and teaches,, and 
 I reject and condemn whatever she rejects and condemns." 
 
58 THE CBEED EXPLAINED. 
 
 TEE APOSTLES' CREED. 
 
 I shall give for the explanation of the Creed, the text of the 
 Nicene Creed together with that of the Apostles' Creed. 
 
 AETICLE I. 
 
 Apostles' Ceeed. Nicene Creed. 
 
 " I believe in God the Father " I believe in one God, the 
 
 Almighty, Creator of heaven Father Almighty, Maker of 
 and earth." heaven and earth, and of all 
 
 things visible and invisible." 
 
 By this Article we profess our faith in one God, and in the 
 three Divine Persons, one of whom is named in particular ; and 
 we also profess that this Almighty God, of His own power, has 
 created (that is, made out of nothing) heaven and earth and all 
 things that are in them. 
 
 In this Article we do not say, " I believe in a God," or " I 
 believe God,'' but, " I believe in God" ; because to believe in a 
 God is simply to believe that there is a God. which the devils do, 
 and tremble. To believe God is simply to believe His words, and 
 submit our understanding to His. To believe in God means not 
 only that there is a God, and that we believe His Word and 
 submit to Him our intellect, but it means likewise to give Him 
 our whole hearts, and offer our entire beings to Him in the 
 words of the Psalmist, " Lord, tvhxit have 1 in heaven, and besides 
 Thee what do I desire upon earth ? Thou art the God of my heart 
 and my portion for ever."* 
 
 •Psalm lxxii. 25, 26. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 59 
 
 SECTION 1. (ARTICLE I.) 
 
 THE NAME OF GOD AND HIS NATURE OR ESSENCE. 
 
 1. The Name of God.— 2. Tbe Nature of God.— 3. Three revelations 
 regarding the nature of God. — 4. Errors condemned by the Vatican 
 Council in regard to the existence and nature of God. 
 
 The Name of God. 
 
 1. God, properly speaking, can have no name ; for as He is 
 one, and not subject to those individual qualities which distinguish 
 men, and on which the different names given to them are found- 
 ed, He needs not any name to distinguish Him from others, or to 
 mark a difference between Him and any, since there is none like 
 Him. Hence, when Moses asked His name, He answered : I am 
 who am : He said, Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel, 
 He who is, hath sent me to you.* The names, therefore, which we 
 ascribe to Him, are descriptions or epithets which express our 
 sense of His divine perfections, in terms necessarily ambiguous, 
 because they are borrowed from human life and conceptions, 
 rather than true names which justly represent His nature.! 
 
 God is in English the common name for the Supreme Being. 
 It is derived from the German Gott, which is allied Wiihgut — good. 
 
 The Hebrews designated God by various names, such as El, 
 which means might or strength', Eloah or Elohim, which signifies 
 lord and master. Elohim is the plural of Eloah, and is more fre- 
 quently used, for which reason some understand it to include the 
 Trinity in its meaning ; but it is used here for the purpose of 
 enlarging and intensifying the idea expressed in the singular. It 
 is the plural of magnitude. Taken in its full meaning, Elohim 
 designates God as the infinitely great and glorious One, having in 
 Himself all divine perfections in their manifold variety of powers 
 and operations. 
 
 Adonai, the Hebrew word for Lord, is frequently substituted 
 for the name of God in the Hebrew Scriptures. 
 
 * Exod. iii. 14. t See Calmet's Dictionary. God. 
 
60 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 Jehovah is the name of God in most frequent use in the 
 Hebrew Scriptures. Both Adonai and Jehovah are translated in 
 the English Bible as Lord. 
 
 Jehovah is the ineffable and mysterious name of God by 
 which He revealed Himself to Moses. It means the self-existent, 
 and He who gives being and existence to others. This name was 
 pronounced only by the high-priest, and that, once a year, when 
 he entered into the Holy of Holies. 
 
 It is said by Calmet that " the Jews, after the captivity of 
 Babylon, out of superstitious respect for this holy name, ceased 
 to repeat it, and forgot its true pronunciation." He also is of 
 opinion that the LXX, or seventy Interpreters or Translators, 
 were not accustomed to pronounce it, since they generally render 
 it Kvpios, as our English — the Lord. 
 
 The modern Hebrews affirm that Moses, by virtue of the 
 word Jehovah engraven on his rod, performed all his miracles ; 
 and that Christ also, while in the temple, obtained this ineffable 
 name, and performed all His miracles through it. They add, that 
 we might do as much as they did, if we could attain the perfect 
 pronunciation of that name ; and they flatter themselves, that the 
 Messiah, whom they erroneously expect, will teach them this 
 secret. 
 
 The same author gives us the characteristics of this name, 
 to show its full import and signification : (a) Although it signifies 
 the state of being, yet it forms no verb, (b) It never assumes a 
 plural form, (c) It does not admit an article, or take an affix. 
 (d) Neither is it placed in a state of construction with other words, 
 though other words may be in construction with it. It seems to 
 be a compound of essence, and always existing ; whence the word 
 eternal appears to express its import ; or as it is rendered in its 
 full meaning, He who is, and who was, and who is to come ; that is 
 eternal, as the Schoolmen speak, both a parte ante and a parte 
 post. 
 
 The Nature op God 
 
 2. In answer to the question in the Catechism : " What is 
 God?" it is said, " God is the Supreme Spirit, who alone exists 
 of Himself, and is infinite in all His perfections." 
 
 We therefore understand by God a Spiritual Being, existing 
 of Himself f»om all eternity, everywhere present, of infinite 
 power, knowledge, and holiness; Creator of heaven and earth, 
 and Sovereign Lord of all things. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 61 
 
 The nature and the essence of God is beyond the power of 
 our mind. He is incomprehensible. For this reason St. Paul 
 says : Who only hath immortality, and inhabiteth light inaccessible, 
 whom no man hath seen or can see.* 
 
 But if we cannot, ourselves, speak of God in a just and 
 worthy manner, let us hear how God speaks of Himself in the 
 Holy Scriptures ; and let us direct our thoughts and our language 
 by the revelations which He has made to us. 
 
 3. We have principally three revelations concerning the 
 nature of God. 
 
 The first was made to Moses, when this great legislator 
 received from God the commission to lead the Children of Israel 
 out of Egypt into the land of Canaan. When Moses asked what 
 answer he was to give, should the Children of Israel demand by 
 what authority he acted ; Lo, he says, I shall go to the Children 
 of Israel, and say to them, the God of your fathers hath sent me to 
 you. If they should say to me, What is His name ? what shall I 
 say to them ? God said to Moses, I am who am. He said, Thus 
 shalt thou say to the Children of Israel : He who is hath sent 
 me to you. 
 
 This revelation tells more than any other, that in which the 
 essence of God consists, namely, His asseity (self existence) or His 
 being of Himself — a se. He always was, He is, and always will 
 be. It is this which we first apprehend in God, and which 
 cannot flow from any of His other perfections. It is that from 
 which all other perfections flow, and are more easily understood 
 as belonging to Him ; and it is that which primarily and essen- 
 tially distinguishes God from every other being : God is of Him- 
 self self -existent ; all others are from Him. 
 
 The divine essence may therefore be said to consist in the 
 asceitas, or His being ase (self -existent), rather than in any other 
 perfection. It is true that God is infinite, but infinity belongs to 
 all His perfections, and is rather the mode of their being than 
 anything constituting them. Again, God is the highest intelli- 
 gence, but He must be before He can be thought of as under- 
 standing or exercising intelligence. Hence, in the words, I am 
 who am, God makes known to us that which primarily constitutes 
 His divine essence after our manner of knowing Him. 
 
 The second revelation, by which God manifests His nature, 
 is included in that which Christ refers to in St. John's Gospel 
 (cap. xiv. 6.) when He says I am the life. This revelation is not 
 
 * 1 Tim. vi. 16. 
 
THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 made, in words, at the first creation, but God makes it by a very 
 significant act in the formation of man : " And the Lord God formed 
 man of the slime of the earth ; and breathed into his face the breath 
 of life ; and man became a living soul."* From this we form the 
 notion that God is Life. We, as well as other men, live, but we 
 are not life, we have only a breath of life in us, a life which is not 
 our own, but which we have received from God. 
 
 The third revelation of the nature of God is that given by 
 our divine Saviour, in His conversation with the Samaritan 
 woman, at the fountain or well of Sichar. God is a spirit, He 
 says.t 
 
 We thus learn that God has no body, nor the form, size, 
 colour, or any other qualities of bodies, and, therefore, He cannot 
 be seen. He is pure intelligence, and in no sense composed of 
 parts ; and hence, the Council of the Vatican declared — " The 
 Holy, Catholic, Apostolic, Eoman Church believes and professes 
 
 that there is One true and living God Who, being a spiritual 
 
 substance, One absolutely simple and immutable, must be re- 
 garded as really and essentially distinct from the world." 
 
 Dr. Lingard, in his Catechism says : " We are not to question 
 His existence because we see Him not. Matter alone is the 
 object of sight ; and yet we continually believe in the existence 
 of immaterial, and therefore invisible beings. When I speak to 
 another man, it is not to his body, or to any visible part of his 
 body, that I address myself, but to something invisible, which I 
 believe to dwell in that body, though I cannot see it. That 
 something is the soul, which, being a spirit, is invisible. In the 
 same manner, God, being a Spirit, cannot be seen with the eyes 
 of the body." 
 
 4. In accordance with this explanation of the nature of 
 God, and in confirmation of the doctrine, we have the following 
 errors condemned by the Vatican Council : 
 
 " If any one deny that there is one true and only God, 
 Creator and Lord of all things, visible and invisible : let him be 
 anathema. 
 
 " If any one dare to affirm that there is nothing outside 
 matter : let him be anathema." I 
 
 " If any one say that there is only one and the same sub- 
 stance of God and all the other things : let him be anathema. 
 
 " If any one say that finite things, whether corporal or 
 
 *Gen. ii. 7. tSt. John iv. 24. \Const. Dei Filius, c, 1. 
 
THE APOSTLES CBEED. 
 
 spiritual, or at least spiritual, are emanations of the divine sub- 
 stance : let him be anathema. 
 
 " Or that the divine essence, by its own manifestation or 
 evolution, becomes all things — 
 
 " Or in fine, that God is the universal and indefinite Being, 
 Who, in determining Himself, constitutes the universality of 
 things in genus, species and individuals : let him be anathema"* 
 
 This, then, is the faith of the Church in regard to the nature 
 of God : He is a Spirit, subsisting and existing by and of Himseli 
 and distinct from all other things. 
 
 We shall be able to learn more of the nature and essence of 
 God from the explanation of His attributes and perfections. 
 After explaining the meaning of His name, and what that name 
 implies, we come to the consideration of the existence of God ; 
 namely, that such a Being exists. 
 
 *Gonst. Dei Films, o. 1. n. 1-4. 
 
64 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 SECTION 2. (AETICLE I.) 
 THE EXISTENCE OF GOD. 
 
 1. Human knowledge can come with certainty to the knowledge of the 
 existence of God. — 2. The proofs of the existence of God are a 
 posteriori arguments, that is, from the effects to the cause. — 3. The 
 first argument may be taken from the fact that things exist. — 4. 
 The second argument is from motion : existing things move. — 5. The 
 third is taken from Life. — 6. The fourth from the order which we 
 observe in the Universe.— 7. Three arguments in favour of the 
 existence of God taken from the spiritual order, namely, intelligence, 
 heart, and will. — 8. No one can be invincibly ignorant of the existence 
 of God. — 9. The propositions containing the doctrine of faith in 
 regard to the exstence of God. 
 
 1. The human reason, by the consideration of created 
 things, can come, with certitude, to the knowledge that there 
 is one true and only God. God has so manifested Himself in 
 the works of nature, that every nation and people, even the 
 most savage, have ever and always acknowledged a divinity to 
 whom they owed worship. 
 
 The proofs of the existence of God are very numerous, and 
 it would, in some sense, be impossible to give them all. The 
 multiplicity of proofs in regard to a well-known truth of this 
 kind would only cause inconvenience, ana engender weariness 
 and confusion in our minds. I shall therefore confine myself to 
 a few of the principle arguments or proofs. 
 
 In proving the existence of God, by the light of reason, I 
 have first to note that demonstration is two-fold, one called a 
 priori, that is, proving the effects by the cause ; the other is 
 called a posteriori, that is, proving the cause by the effects. The 
 existence of God cannot be proved by a priori arguments, 
 inasmuch as God has no cause, and His existence is absolute and 
 necessary, and not an effect flowing from any cause. 
 
 2. Our arguments, therefore, in proof of the existence of 
 God, must all be taken a posteriori, that is, deriving from the 
 effects a knowledge of their cause. Having in mind the truth of 
 faith expressed by St. Paul, Without faith it is impossible to 
 please God : for he that cometh to God must believe that 
 
THE APOSTLES CREED. 65 
 
 He is, and is a reicarder to them that seek Him,* we may, for 
 the sake of order, arrange the proofs of the existence of God as 
 they may be derived (a) from the material, and (b) from the 
 spiritual world. 
 
 In the material world or order of things, we can consider 
 these proofs as taken from existence, motion, life, and order. 
 
 Existence. 
 
 3. Matter exists composed of indivisible elements called 
 atoms. These atoms have neither life, intelligence, or liberty. 
 If we suppose them existing of themselves, no one could limit 
 them, and they would have all perfections. They depend, there- 
 fore, on some one who made them, and this one Being who gave 
 them existence is no other than God, Who exists of Himself, 
 and who is infinitely perfect. 
 
 Under this head may also be considered the necessity of a 
 first cause of all things, and this first cause can be no other than 
 God. Also the existence of a necessary Being, inasmuch as 
 contingent things exist. The first cause of all things is God ; 
 because a first cause is infinite, and cannot be limited. A 
 necessary Being is also God ; because such a Being is infinite, 
 and cannot be destroyed or diminished, because it is necessary. 
 
 Motion. 
 
 4. Matter cannot put itself in motion, and it requires a 
 motive power to bring about its movements from the state of 
 inertness. To explain the forces and motions which take place 
 in the Universe, it is necessary to refer them to some first all- 
 powerful Agent, to a first universal Mover, Who remains Himself 
 immovable, and such a Being is the infinite and supreme Lord 
 of all things. We see everything changing and moving ; and 
 there could be no motion whatever were it not that there exists 
 a first Mover Who is immovable. Because, in motions or move- 
 ments, we cannot have an infinite series, as the infinite cannot 
 be passed over ; and we could not therefore ever arrive at any 
 present motion were the series before it infinite. The first 
 Mover must be a pure act, or reality, and an absolutely perfect 
 being, because if He were capable of acquiring or losing anything, 
 He would thereby be capable of motion itself, and not the first 
 Mover immovable. 
 
 *Heb. xi. 6. 
 
66 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 Life. 
 
 5. The most perfect bodies are those that are living, such 
 a& plants, animals, and man. But these bodies cannot live of 
 themselves. It is necessary that there be a principle of life 
 distinct from the atoms which constitute these bodies, other- 
 wise all bodies would be alive, stones as well as plants. But 
 that which puts the principle of life into certain bodies must be 
 the fountain of all life, and the first living Being, who is essentially 
 Life, and this is no other than God, Whose existence can be 
 proved from the leaves of the trees, the birds of the air, the 
 beasts of the field, and from the body and soul of man. 
 
 The Order or the Argument from Design. 
 
 6. In the whole Universe, and in each of its parts, a won- 
 derful order is established and preserved. All is done according 
 to wise laws, and nothing is left to chance or hazard. The same 
 causes, in the same circumstances, always produce the same 
 effects. Thus, the heat of the sun on the surface of the earth, 
 draws from water the vapours that form the clouds, which, after- 
 wards, send down the rain upon the earth. Plants and animals 
 are produced from the like germs and kind. 
 
 Each being has a fixed and determined end, and means 
 proportionate to the attainment of that end. The human body, 
 for example, is a marvellous machine, whose organs are adapted 
 for life, for motion, and for the perception of external things. 
 There is more art in one work of nature than the skill of men 
 can ever equal or reproduce. 
 
 The Universe, including this earth and the heavenly bodies, 
 in their movements and revolutions, supposes a pjan, a design. 
 "Who has conceived and executed this design ? It can be no other 
 than an infinite, intelligent cause. As to chance or accident 
 bringing about this admirable order of things, is a matter tbat is 
 unworthy of consideration. Who would think of the Crystal 
 Palace, with its grand original exhibition, being a work of the 
 fortuitous accumulation of atoms? Or who could suppose an 
 ordinary globe, either of the earth or of the heavens, to be the 
 work of accident or chance ? 
 
 7. In the spiritual order of things we can consider argu- 
 ments taken from intelligence, heart and will, in order to raise 
 our minds up to God, and to realise His existence. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 67 
 
 Intelligence. 
 
 (a) Men have always agreed upon certain truths, as for 
 example, that the whole is greater than its part ; everything that 
 is, must have a cause ; that it is good to be faithful to one's word, 
 and bad to break a promise, &c. This proves that there is a 
 Supreme Intelligence, who communicates His own light to 
 reasonable beings, and makes them admit these principles. The 
 very light of reason, therefore, through which the human mind 
 thinks and acts, brings to it the knowledge of a higher intelligence, 
 and a more perfect Being : of that Being who is infinitely perfect 
 and intelligent. 
 
 The Heart. 
 
 (b) All men aspire to some perfect good, which they cannot 
 find here on earth. They have desire3 which cannot be satisfied 
 by any created or finite thing. They conceive an ideal truth, an 
 ideal beauty, an ideal good, the possession of which would render 
 them completely happy. Who has put this love into their heart 
 but God — infinite Truth, infinite Beauty, infinite Goodness? 
 There is, then, some Being who has implanted in us this desire 
 of eternal life, this capacity tending towards an object which is 
 infinite, and which alone can satisfy the human heart. 
 
 The Will. 
 
 (c) All men acknowledge that they are bound by a moral 
 law, which commands some things, and forbids others. When 
 they obey this law, they are at rest and happy ; when they vio- 
 late it, they are filled with remorse and interior trouble. There 
 is, therefore, a universal and supreme Legislator, Who obliges the 
 human will to do good, and avoid evil ; there is, therefore, a 
 Witness to all our actions, an infallible and inevitable Judge, Who 
 recompenses, or punishes us by peace or torment of conscience. 
 This is God. To this the Royal Prophet alludes when He says : 
 " The light of Thy countenance, O Lord, is signed upon us : Thou 
 hast given gladness in my heart."* 
 
 The hand of God, which has engraven on all creatures the 
 name of their Author, has impressed this in an indelible manner 
 on the heart of man. The first thing which we discover in our- 
 
 *Ps. iv. 7. 
 
68 THE CEEED EXPLAINED. 
 
 selves, is this intimate and natural persuasion which we have of 
 God's existence. Tertulian calls it the testimony of a soul na- 
 turally Christian : Testimonium anima naturaliter Christian®. I 
 feel and know that there is a God. All the reasoning in the 
 world could not change or shake this conviction. This conclusion 
 is in my very nature. I have received these principles in my 
 infancy, and have them preserved in more advanced years. No 
 one can shake them off, and if any one should be found without 
 this knowledge or feeling of God's existence, he should be regarded 
 as a monster, and not a natural human being. 
 
 We are able to explain everything with God ; without God 
 we can account for nothing. Those who deny God, if they 
 believe what they say, are no better than senseless creatures. 
 But it is very rarely that they are sincere ; and it is vice and 
 iniquity that make them blaspheme.* 
 
 8. From the above proofs and explanations of the existence 
 of God, it follows, that no one can be invincibly ignorant of this 
 dogma. Besides, if you could suppose a man invincibly ignorant 
 of this point, such a man could not sin ; because an action is sinful 
 only, inasmuch as it is against God and His eternal law ; and how 
 could a man, invincibly ignorant, sin against Him of whose 
 existence he knows nothing ? 
 
 Atheists. 
 
 Those who deny the existence of God are called Atheists 
 (A0eos, a man without God). The term Atheist is applied to men 
 who have risen up against God, and deny His very existence. 
 Those who live as if there was no God, are called practical 
 Atheists ; and no one doubts about the existence of men of this 
 kind. They sin, and continue in sin and neglect of religious 
 duties as if there was no God. As to speculative and dogmatic 
 Atheists, namely, those who deny the existence of God by their 
 words and teaching, it is a question whether such men could 
 ever bring themselves, even by the perversity of their wills to be 
 invincibly ignorant of the existence of God. Some think that it 
 is not possible for a man to bring himself to that state, whilst 
 others think it possible. The intellect is subject to the authority 
 of the will, and a perverse will may prevent the mind thinking of 
 God ; but I do not believe that those who call themselves Atheists 
 
 *The above order of proofs is taken from the *' Exposition Elementaire 
 de la Doctrine Gatholique," par l'Abbe Moulin. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 69 
 
 are sincere ; and, in any ease, should a man of this description 
 ever be found, he would certainly not be a fit associate or com- 
 panion for any human being. 
 
 9. In concluding the explanation of this subject, I give the 
 following propositions, which contain the doctrine of faith in 
 regard to the existence of God : 
 
 (a) It is a dogma of Catholic Faith that God is ; and it is 
 
 the primary truth of faith, according to the words 
 of St. Paul : "For he that cometh to the service of God 
 must believe that he is.*'' 
 
 (b) It is also a dogma of faith that God is by absolute 
 
 necessity; in other words, that He is a necessary Being, 
 so that to be, or to exist, belongs to Him of necessity. 
 This is signified by the words, I am who am ; and by 
 the name he applies to Himself, He who is. 
 
 (c) It is of faith that God exists of Himself, and does not 
 
 receive existence from another. 
 
 (d) It is in accordance with faith that the existence of God 
 
 can be demonstrated by natural reason ; and to deny 
 this would be temerarius, and bordering on error 
 (errori proximiim) , because such denial would be 
 against the common opinion of the Fathers.! 
 
 *Heb, xvi. 6. 
 
 tVide Suarez, lib. 1, de essentia Dei : — 
 
 " Obj. 1. Dei existentia est fidei articulus ; sed articulus fidei non 
 potest demonstrari, cum fides sit obscurorum et non apparentium ; ergo, 
 etc. Respondet 1. St. Thomas, negando majorem. ' Deum esse, et alia 
 hujusmodi, quse per rationem naturalem nota possunt esse de Deo, ut 
 dicitur Rom. i. non sunt articuli fidei sed prceambula ad articulos. Sicenim 
 fides prsesupponit cognitionem naturalem, ut gratia naturam, et ut 
 perfeotio perfectibile. Nihil tamen prohibet illud, quod secundum se est, 
 demonstrabile, et scibile, ab aliquo accipi ut credibile, qui demonstratio- 
 nem non capit. (Sum. Theol. 1 P. q. 2. a 3, ad 1.) 
 
 Kespondet 2, Dist. maj ; Dei existentia est etiam fidei articulus, cone. ; 
 est tantum fidei articulus, et non etiam objectum rationis, atque fidei 
 prseambulum, neg. et neg. minor. Scientia quippe et fides, juxta proba- 
 bilem sententiam possunt stare simul ; et licet objectum sitobscurum at- 
 que non apparens, quatenus subjacet fidei ; quoad tamen ratione attin- 
 gitur, potest evidentia claritate illustrari... 
 
 Obj. 3. Prima Veritas non demonstratur ; at que Deus prima Veritas 
 est ; ergo. R. dist. maj. Non demonstratur prima Veritas, quae est prima 
 in ordine logico, seu cognitionis nostras, et, ut aiunt, in cognoscendo ; hoc 
 est, primum cognitionis principium cone. ; prima Veritas in ordine onto- 
 logico seu, ut aiunt in essendo, non demonstratur, saltern ab effectibus 
 nego. Deus autem est prima Veritas in essendo, non autem, quoad noa, 
 
70 THE CKEED EXPLAINED. 
 
 SECTION 3 (Akticle I.) 
 
 THE PERFECTIONS AND ATTRIBUTES OF GOD. 
 
 1. The common notion of the Deity, and the particulars in which it consists. 
 — 2. The perfections of God, and what is meant by them. — 
 3. Three sorts of perfections. — i. The difference between perfections 
 as applied to creatures and to God, and the manner in which all 
 perfections of creatures are contained in God. — 5. The first of the 
 divine perfections, namely, Aseitas or self-existing. — 6. The Attri- 
 butes of God, and how are they distinguished ? — 7. The unity of 
 God, and why God is one. — 8. The simplicity of God, and the sense 
 in which God is said to be simple. — 9. Errors opposed to the simpli- 
 city of God. 
 
 1. God, as we have said in the proceeding Sections, is des- 
 cribed as, He who is ; that is to say, He is self-existing, and 
 cannot but exist. He is necessary. He has the plenitude of 
 being. He is infinite, that is, without limits. He is perfect, that 
 is, wanting in nothing. In God there is no shadow, even of im- 
 perfection, for He possesses all perfections in an infinite degree. 
 Deus est id quo magis aut melius cogitari non potest ; God is that, 
 than which a greater or a better cannot be thought of. (St. 
 Anselm.) 
 
 Before explaining the Attributes of God, it is necessary to 
 understand what is meant by saying that God is infinitely per- 
 fect. This means that God, in an infinite degree, possesses all 
 imaginable perfections. 
 
 The Perfections op God. 
 
 2. The word perfection excludes the idea of imperfections 
 and faults of any kind, and includes the idea of gifts or qualities. 
 
 In a general way, that is said to be perfect which is com- 
 
 in cognoscendo. Nam, ut ait St. Thomas (1 P. q. 88, a 3). * Deus non 
 est primum quod a nobis cognoscitur sed magis per creaturas in Dei cog- 
 nitionem pervenimusV (a). Lafosse, tr. de Deo. q. 1. a. 1. ; et Schouppe 
 
 \pnl Tinn. t,r. K— fia.n. L n. 39 et 44. 
 
 niLionem pervemmus . {&). juaiosse, tr. ae jl 
 Elementa Theol. Dog. tr. 5., cap. 1. n. 39 et 44. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CBEED. 71 
 
 plete, and has all that its nature requires. In this sense, some 
 created things may be said to be perfect ; as, for example, a man 
 whose body is entire and without spot or mark, and whose soul 
 has all its faculties sound and healthy, may be said to be perfect, 
 inasmuch as he has all that his nature requires or demands. 
 
 Since, however, God is the absolute Being, and exists of 
 Himself, and is the Being from whom all others proceed as from 
 their first cause, in order that He be perfect, it is necessary that 
 He should have all the perfections and all the realities that can 
 be thought of in creatures. 
 
 3. There are three sorts of perfections, according to our way 
 of understanding them. The first are those which involve no 
 imperfection in their concept, and are better to have than not to 
 have ; these are called by Theologians simpliciter simplices. The 
 second are called pure simplices ; and those do not involve in their 
 notion any imperfection, but their possession does not make one 
 being better than another, nor their non-possession make one 
 being worse than another, Such are the relations which exist in 
 the three Divine Persons. The third' (secundum quid simplices) 
 are those which, in their notion, involve an imperfection, and are 
 opposed to a greater perfection ; thus, seeing, hearing, reasoning, 
 &c. , may be said to be perfections of this kind. It would be better 
 for some beings to have them than not to have them ; but not 
 for every being, inasmuch as they would be an obstacle to greater 
 perfection. 
 
 4. Perfection in creatures is not the same as their essence 
 and nature, but something superadded to that nature. But as 
 God is a Being absolute and of Himself, whatever is in Him is 
 God, and His perfections are not really distinct from His nature, 
 but one and the same with it. Hence, the perfection of God is 
 one and indivisible, namely, the Divine nature itself. But as our 
 limited capacity cannot understand this one perfect Divine nature, 
 we consider separately, and distinguish from one another the 
 Divine perfections and attributes, that thus we may obtain a 
 better knowledge of our Lord and Creator. 
 
 As to the manner in which God possesses the perfections of 
 His creatures, we must remember the distinctions between the 
 perfections that involve no imperfection, and those that do. The 
 former are in God formally and really, but in a more eminent 
 manner than they are to be found in creatures ; as, for example, 
 goodness, wisdom, &c. The latter, namely those that involve 
 an imperfection, are not really in God as they are in creatures ; 
 but they are in Him virtually, inasmuch as He produces them a3 
 
VI THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 their first cause, and in a higher and more eminent way He does 
 what these perfections enable creatures to do. Thus, the Eoyal 
 Prophet has said: " Qui plantavit aureum non audiet ? aut qui 
 finxit oculum non consideret ? "* " He that planted the ear, shall 
 He not hear ? or He that formed the eye, shall He not consider ? And 
 St. Augustine conveys the same truth by the words Intelligamus 
 Deum sine loco, ubique totum, sine tempore sempiternum, &C. " Let 
 us understand that God is everywhere without place, and eternal 
 or everlasting without time." 
 
 5. The first divine perfection, according to our manner of 
 speaking, and that which sustains and includes all the others, 
 and which represents the nature of God, is Self-existence, Aseitas, 
 ens a se — a Being necessarily existing of Himself. This name 
 gives to the infinite Being that which is proper to Him, and to 
 Him alone, namely, that He exists of Himself, by Himself, and 
 by virtue of His own essence.! 
 
 The Attributes of God. 
 
 6. The attributes of God are the perfections which are 
 attributed to Him, as if they were proper to Him, and hence 
 chey are called also, Divine properties, 
 
 After the Aseitas, the principal attributes of God may be 
 divided into absolute and relative, as they regard things outside 
 God, or have no reference to, or connection with them. 
 
 The following are the absolute attributes which we select 
 out of innumerable others, as to explain in detail the attributes 
 of God would be an endless labour : Unity, Simplicity, Inte.li- 
 gence, Love, Life, Immutability, Eternity, Immensity. 
 
 The Unity op God. 
 
 7. Although the unity of God is included in the words, I 
 believe in God, as expressed in the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene 
 Creed expresses it more explicitly in the words, 1 believe in one 
 God. 
 
 *Ps. xcii., 9. 
 t Aseitas et intellectualitas actualis simul requiruntur ad conceptum seu 
 constitutionem essentia divinse. (Schnell. part 1, p. 16.) Etenim essentia 
 metaphysica seu metaphysicum constitutivum ex communi sententia quatuor 
 haec complectitur, necesse est. 1. Ut sit quidpiam intrinsicum enti. 2. Ut 
 ipsum ab quolibet secernat. 3. Ut primo concipiretur. 4. Ut caeterarum 
 omnium perfectionum spetari possit veluti fons et origo. Jam vero quatuor 
 in aseitate reperiuntur. Perrone, Tr. de Deo Uno, p. 1, c. 3. 
 
THE apostles' cbeed. 73 
 
 Oneness may be taken in a twofold sense, (a) One means 
 that which is undivided in itself, and distinct from everything 
 else. In this sense, every individual man is one, but there are 
 others. The sun is one, and there is no other ; but there might 
 have been another, (b) One may be taken exclusively to signify 
 a being which cannot be numerically multiplied, and which 
 excludes the existence of another equal to itself. It is in this 
 exclusive sense that God is one. There is one true and only God, 
 and there cannot be more Gods than one. 
 
 No other being can have existence but from God ; and 
 anything that receives its existence from another cannot be God. 
 
 There is only one God. This is the first dogma of the Mosaic 
 and of the Christian revelation. It is the first commandment of the 
 law : " I am the Lord thy God; thou shalt not have strange Gods 
 before me,"* " Hear, Israel : the Lord thy God is one God." f 
 
 This is also clear by reason, (a) That which is Supreme, or 
 the Infinite Being, cannot have an equal or a superior, (b) That 
 which is a simple and pure act cannot be communicated to 
 another, (c) It is manifested by the unity and order of worldly 
 or created things. Those things which are opposed and different 
 could not be directed to one end and order unless guided by some 
 one Being. God is a God of order, and therefore a God of unity. 
 (d)He is the First Cause of all things, and their Last End. Two 
 first causes are unimaginable. It is a contradiction to say that 
 all things depend on One, and yet that more than one inde- 
 pendent Being exists. If there were more Gods than one, then 
 all perfection could not be in One. 
 
 The two Pagan systems of Dualism (two Gods or first princi- 
 ples) and Polytheism (many Gods) are opposed to this attribute of 
 God. Those who taught the former were chiefly the Manicheans ; 
 the arguments that refute Dualism serve as a refutation of 
 Polytheism. 
 
 The Simplicity of God. 
 
 8. God is absolutely simple ; that is to say, without any 
 composition. He is not made up of parts. 
 
 Composition is threefold, metaphysical, physical and logical. 
 Metaphysical is that which is made up of power (potentiality) 
 and act (actuality, potentia et actus), essence and existence, 
 nature and personality. Physical is that which is made up of 
 parts really distinct, such as that which results from matter and 
 
 ♦Exod. xx. 2, 3. tDeut. vi. 4. 
 
74 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 form, substance and accident. Logical is that which arises from 
 genus and differentia (specific difference). 
 
 Now we cannot admit composition of either kind in God. 
 Physical composition is not in God, because it belongs only to 
 bodies, and God is a pure spirit. " God is a spirit, and they who 
 adore Him must adore Him in spirit and truth."* 
 
 Metaphysical and Logical compositions do not belong to 
 God.f In the Sacred Scriptures God is said to be wisdom, 
 justice, the way, the truth, and the life ; and these abstract names 
 are given to Him as subsisting things. It is not said that God 
 has wisdom, justice, &c, which would be required for metaphy- 
 sical and logical compositions. 
 
 This truth may also be proved from the nature of God, and 
 from His attributes. As to His nature. God being (a se) of 
 Himself, and a necessary being, is essentially whatever He is. 
 Every composite thing is such, after a certain manner, by accident 
 and by participation. Hence, according to the saying of the 
 Fathers, God is all or whatever He has ; that is, whatever is in 
 God, is God. Again, whatever is composed of parts is imperfect, 
 for the parts composing a thing, in mutually perfecting each other, 
 must be supposed in themselves imperfect. In man, for example, 
 the soul has need of the body, and the body of the soul. Neither 
 is the soul perfect without the body, nor the body without the 
 soul ; and hence man, the composition which results from these 
 two imperfect things, is not completely or entirely perfect. God 
 is absolutely perfect, and must therefore be a pure spirit. 
 
 God is the first Being, but a composite being would be after 
 its component parts. Hence the Council of Lateran says : M The 
 essence of God is one substance or simple nature" 
 
 9. Against the simplicity of God, all those err who attribute 
 to God a corporeal nature. These are all idolaters, as those who 
 worship the sun, the moon, or heavenly bodies. Also a sect of 
 men called Anthropomorphites, who affirmed that God has a 
 human corporeal form, with the head, hands and feet like us, and 
 that it was in this sense, namely, as to His body, that man was 
 made to the image and likeness of God. Also, those who place 
 a real distinction between the essence and the attributes of God, 
 or between the attributes themselves. And the Pantheists, who say 
 that God is this visible universe, or at least has come forth from it. 
 
 •St. John iv. 24. 
 tSt. Thomas and the Scholastics expressed this briefly by saying, that 
 in no created thing are essence and existence the same ; and, that every 
 created thing is composed of essence and existence, or of potentiality and 
 actuality. (Potentia and actus). 
 
THE APOSTLES CREED. 75 
 
 SECTION 4 (Article I). 
 
 NTELLIGENCE, LOVE AND LIFE IN GOD, AND OTHER 
 ABSOLUTE ATTKIBUTES. 
 
 1. The Intelligence, Love and Life in God. — 2. The Divine intellect, and 
 the extent of the knowledge of God. — 3. What is meant by Love 
 as attributed to God, and what is its object ?— 4. God does not love 
 all things equally ; and His love for intelligent beings is different from 
 that which He has for His other creatures. — 5. Life as attributed 
 to God, and the sense in which God is Life. — 6. What is meant by im- 
 mutability ? —7. God is immutable.— 8. The special difficulty in 
 regard to the immutability arising from the work of God, viz., Cre- 
 ation. — 9. God is eternal. — 10. The idea which we form of eternity, 
 and how it is distinguished from aevum and tempus. — 11. What is 
 meant by immensity, and how distinguished from Omnipresence. — 
 12. God is immense and everywhere present ; and in a special 
 manner present : (a) in the souls of the just ; (6) in the humanity of 
 Christ ; (c) in His temples and Churches ; (d) in the assemblies of 
 the faithful ; (e) the three Divine Persons oresent to each other by 
 circuminsession. 
 
 1. Man is endowed with understanding and will. He is 
 capable of knowing truth and loving good ; and, it is in this 
 knowledge and in this love that his intellectual life consists. 
 God, who is the Author of man's existence, eminently possesses 
 these attributes. He is in the highest degree Intelligence, Love 
 and Life. "He knows Himself in an infinite manner as the 
 infinite truth. He loves Himself infinitely as the infinite good. 
 He loves all things that it pleased Him to create, and He lives 
 the moat perfect and happy spiritual life."* 
 
 The intelligence in God, which is the same as the divine 
 Intellect, is nothing else than the divine knowledge, one, infinite 
 and eternal. In this divine knowledge, no memory is required, 
 for all things are present to Him ; and reasoning or reflection is 
 not required, for this would imply an imperfection in the manner 
 of knowing. Holy Job tells us : " With Him is wisdom and strength, 
 he hath counsel and understanding. "f 
 
 ♦l'Abbe A. B. Moulin, Premier Article du Symbole, 
 tJob xii. 13. 
 
76 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 2. His divine intellect is most perfect and infinite, and, 
 therefore, He has a certain, evident, and immediate knowledge of 
 all things. He knows all possible things, as well as the past, the 
 present, and the future, whether necessary, contingent or free : 
 vocat ea quce non sunt lanquam ea quce sunt. " He knows all and 
 each of His creatures, for he beholdeth the ends of the world, and 
 looketh on all things that are made under heaven."* 
 
 He knows all the actions of His creatures, and all the thoughts 
 of men, according to the words of the Psalmist : " For the Lord 
 knoweth the way of the just, and the way of the wicked shall 
 perish "\ This is clearly expressed in our Catechism : " God 
 knows and sees all things, even the most secret thoughts of the 
 heart." 
 
 This universal and minute knowledge of God is distinctly 
 expressed in the words of Ecclesiasticus : " And he knoweth 
 not that the eyes of the Lord are far brighter than the sun, behold- 
 ing round about all the ivays of men, and the bottom of the deep ; 
 and looking into the hearts of men, into the most hidden parts. For 
 all things were known to the Lord God before they were created ; so 
 also after they were perfected he beholdeth all things." I 
 
 Love, 
 
 3. This is the act of the divine will, and one and the same 
 thing with it. It is the act by which God, in the highest 
 possible sense, loves Himself. His will loves that good which is 
 known to His infinite Intelligence. God is the highest and the 
 greatest good, and therefore He loves Himself in an infinite 
 sense. Other things He wishes and loves for Himself, and on 
 account of His own goodness, and they are all directed to His 
 glory according to His own will, as expressed in the words 
 of the Wise Man : " God hath made all things for Himself." \\ It 
 is through this same divine love that God wishes the> salvation of 
 all men, that Christ died for all, and that He gives grace to all 
 sufficient for their salvation. 
 
 Love is the motion or inclination of the will to good. It is 
 in God, according to the words of St. John : Deus charitas est — 
 " God is love." The will of God is always inclined to good. God 
 wishes not only His own goodness, but also all other good which 
 exists in His creatures. 
 
 Joy and delight, inasmuch as they are affections connected 
 with love, and do not in their notion involve any imperfection, 
 
 *Job xxviii. 24. f^s. i. 6. JEcclea, xxiii. 23, 29. ||Prov. xvi. 4. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 77 
 
 may be applied to God in the same sense as love, although they 
 are, in a way, distinguished from it. Love tends to good abso- 
 lutely, abstracting from the fact of its possession or non-possession. 
 Joy or pleasure is quies in bono possesso — rest in the possession of 
 good. Delight is applied to the good which we have intrinsically 
 united to us; joy or pleasure maybe applied to any external good. 
 God delights in His own internal perfection, and rejoices over 
 the good which He communicates to us His creatures. "For thou 
 lovest all things that are, and hatest none of the things which Thou 
 hast made."* 
 
 4. God does not love all things equally. The love of God 
 is the cause of goodness in things ; and as all things are not 
 equally good, so His love for all is not equal. Some things are 
 better than others because God wishes them more good, and, 
 therefore, they are more loved by Him. 
 
 We have to distinguish the love of God for His intelligent 
 creatures from that which He has for the irrational creatures. 
 The former may be called the love of friendship, and may be 
 mutual ; that is, a return of love on the part of His creatures, 
 and only intelligent beings are capable of this return of love. 
 
 The love for irrational creatures is a love of complacency ; 
 that is, a love of them because they are useful, and serve to 
 manifest God's goodness, without any possibility of a return of 
 love on their part. It is in this sense, also, that our love is 
 directed towards inanimate things and irrational beings. 
 
 Life. 
 
 5. When speaking of the Divine nature, I explained the 
 sense in which we understand the Life of God. This may be 
 numbered also amongst His perfections. He is the way, and the 
 truth, and the life. The difference between a living being and 
 one without life is, that the former can move itself, and act by 
 itself, and the latter requires to be moved by another, and does 
 not act of itself. Inasmuch, therefore, as a being acts of itself, 
 so much the more perfectly does it live. Now God not only acts 
 and moves, but is the first Mover and pure Act, and, therefore, 
 the most perfect life belongs to Him. 
 
 The Immutability of God. 
 
 6. When we say that God is immutable, we mean that He 
 cannot change. Because He is infinitely perfect, there is nothing 
 
 *Wisdom xi. 25. 
 
78 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 which can be acquired by Him ; and because He is a necessary- 
 Being, He cannot lose anything which He has ; hence, He cannot 
 change. 
 
 Mutation may be in a three-fold way : (a) By passing from 
 non-existence to existence, or by beginning to be, or exist, or by 
 ceasing to exist, (b) By receiving or losing some perfection, 
 (c) By operation. 
 
 7. God, in this three-fold respect is immutable; for, as He 
 has Himself said, " I am the Lord, and I change not."* 
 
 He cannot change as to nature or existence : I am who am. 
 From all that has been said concerning the nature of God, we 
 may easily conclude that He is not only immutable in nature as to 
 His existence, but in every other respect. He is a pure act, and 
 the first Mover of all things. He is of Himself, and necessarily 
 exists, and, therefore, cannot pass from non-existence to exist- 
 ence, or vice versa. He is infinitely perfect, and, therefore, no 
 change can be effected in Him either by acquiring or by losing 
 any perfection. Neither can He change as to His operations, or 
 His actions, or the reasons of them. Every change of judgment 
 or counsel would imply an imperfection in God, because it would 
 be a sign of inconstancy, or levity, to revoke decrees once made 
 without having some new reason or motive for doing so ; but no 
 new motive or reason can come to Him who knows all things 
 from eternity. 
 
 8. There may be a special difficulty in regard to the work 
 of God. The creation of the world is an act of God ; and, it may 
 be asked, was this action in God from eternity ? It is certain 
 that the world was created in time, and it is certain that God 
 is immutable, and cannot receive into Himself any new action, 
 as this would be against His simplicity. To explain the difficulty, 
 we may regard, or view, creation (a) inasmuch as it is the action 
 of God ; and in this light it is identified with His omnipotence, 
 and is, therefore, not distinct from God Himself, and is as eternal 
 as His own nature, (b) As to its termination, inasmuch as out 
 of that creative action, and through it, all things began to be. In 
 this sense creation is attributed to God in time, namely when 
 things began to be. But, because of this, no new perfection can 
 be attributed to God, He would be the same infinite and perfect 
 Being even though he had never created or caused anything else. 
 The title of Creator is given to Him in reference to time, because 
 the termination of His creative action is in time. 
 
 *Mal. iii. 6. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 79 
 
 The immutability of God is defined as a dogma of faith by the 
 Council of Nice, as quoted by St. Ambrose,* and also by the Council 
 of Lateran, f in whose profession of faith God is asserted immutable. 
 
 This attribute is incommunicable, and, in a strict sense, 
 belongs alone to God, because all other things are made by Him, 
 and depend upon Him for their existence. All other things are 
 contingent and finite, and may, therefore, absolutely speaking, 
 receive new perfections, or lose those which they have ; and, as 
 they are not gifted with immensity, they may be changed from 
 place to place. 
 
 The Eternity op God. 
 
 9. God is eternal, that is to say, He has no beginning or 
 end, or succession of instants in His life. If God could have a 
 beginning or end, He would not be a necessary Being ; and if any 
 succession of instants could be in His life, He would not be 
 immutable. In His divine life there is neither past, nor future, 
 but all is present, and always the same. By the mouth of the 
 prophet, He has said : " I, the Lord, I am the first and the last." I 
 And St. Peter, in his Epistle, signifies this truth : "But of this one 
 thing be not ignorant, my beloved, that one day with the Lord is as 
 a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."% And St. Paul, 
 in his Epistle to Timothy, says of God : "WJw only hath immor- 
 tality." \\ The eternity of God is expressed in the Athanasian 
 Creed : " The Father eternal, the Son eternal, the Holy Ghost 
 eternal; and yet there are not three eternals, but one eternal." 
 
 10. Let us endeavour to form some correct idea of eternity. 
 It is defined by the Philosopher Boetius : Interminabilis vitce tota 
 simul et perfecta possessio — " An entire, and at once a perfect 
 possession of endless life." This definition is generally admitted, 
 although there are authors who say that eternity is successive 
 duration, or infinite time ; but the idea of time and infinitude 
 exclude each other, and the terms are contradictory. 
 
 Eternity is duration, because duration is nothing else than 
 the permanence of a thing in being or existence. This perma- 
 nence or duration is three-fold : (a) As to being or existence and 
 operation, which belongs to God alone. And this is the duration 
 which, properly speaking, is called eternity, (b) Permanence 
 as to being or existence, but subject to change as to operation. 
 This permanence is called cevum, and it belongs to our souls and 
 
 *De Fide., Lib. 1. o. 18, n. 120. fCap. firmiter. {Isa. xli. 4. 
 
 §2 St. Peter iii. 8. ||1. Tim. vi. 16. 
 
80 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 to the Angels. It is the same as their immortality. Mvum is 
 also said to be in regard to beings who have a beginning and will 
 have no end. (c) The succession of things, rather than any per- 
 manence as to their being and their operations, as in material 
 substances, and especially in accidents. This succession or dura- 
 tion is called time. 
 
 Eternity is therefore to be distinguished from cevim and time, 
 not only because it has neither beginning nor end, but because it 
 is not subject to mutation. It is tota simul et perfecta possessio. 
 Eternity is infinite, because it is the duration of an infinite being. 
 It is simultaneous and in act always present, because it is the 
 duration of an immovable and immutable God. It contains 
 eminently and surpasses all the duration of time, and is present 
 to every moment of it. No before or after in eternity. It is 
 wholly and entirely present to every part of time, without ceas- 
 ing to be present wholly to every other part. 
 
 God alone is eternal. As St. Augustine says : " He alone has 
 no beginning." Other things are said to be eternal, because they 
 are immortal, and participate in everlasting life. But because 
 they may be changed or destroyed by God at any moment, they 
 cannot, strictly speaking, be said to be eternal. Although soma 
 things may be, as to their substance, immortal, inasmuch as they 
 will never have an end or cease to live, nevertheless they ail 
 had a beginning except God, Who alone is eternal. 
 
 The Immensity of God. 
 
 11. The immensity of God is that attribute by which He is 
 substantially present in each and everything ; as the human 
 soul is whole in the entire body, and whole in each part of it. If 
 God were not present everywhere, He would be circumscribed 
 by limits, and would therefore be deprived of one of His infinite 
 perfections. 
 
 This immensity, as defined by Theologians, is the aptitude 
 or perfection by which God, of His own nature, is intimately 
 present in everything by His essence. 
 
 Immensity is not exactly the same as Omnipresence or 
 Ubiquity. God was immense before He created ; but after Crea- 
 tion, by His Immensity, He is present in everything and in 
 every place. His immensity therefore signifies more than His 
 omnipresence. 
 
 12. God may be considered present in many ways, (a) God 
 is everywhere by His power, as a King in his kingdom, (b) He 
 
THE APOSTLES' CEEED. 81 
 
 is everywhere by His presence, as a King in his court or hall. 
 (c) He is everywhere by His substance, as a King on his throne. 
 He is substantially present in everything, without being circum- 
 scribed by any space. He is whole in everything, in every place, 
 and yet without place. 
 
 Besides His general presence with all His creatures, God is 
 in a special manner present to some : 
 
 (a) God, as a friend, is present by His grace in the souls of 
 
 the just. " If any one love Me, the Father will love him ; 
 and we shall come to him, and take up our abode with 
 him."* 
 
 (b) He is specially present in Christ by reason of the hypo- 
 
 static or personal union ; and according to the words 
 of St. Paul: "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of 
 the Godhead corporally . y \ 
 
 (c) In some places He is specially present, as in His temples. 
 
 Thus Jacob spoke after his vision : " Indeed the Lord is 
 in this place ; and I knew it not. And trembling, he 
 said, How terrible is this place I this is no other but 
 the house of God, and the gate of heaven.'' I He is 
 present in a more special manner in heaven, accord- 
 ing to the words of Isaias : " Heaven is my throne, and 
 the earth my footstool." '§ 
 
 (d) He is also present, in a special manner, by His assis- 
 
 tance at the assemblies of the faithful in prayer, at 
 the Councils of the Church, and with the Sovereign 
 Pontiff when teaching the whole Church. 
 
 (e) The three divine Persons are most intimately present 
 
 with each other, by a special in-dwelling called cir- 
 cuminsession ; according to the words of Christ : " I 
 am in the Father , and the Father in me." 
 
 God is present, in these several ways, with particular persons, 
 and in particular places, and by particulars means ; but by 
 His immensity He is everywhere. " Shall a man be hid in secret 
 places, and I not see him, saith the Lord ? Do not I fill heaven 
 and earth, saith the Lord ?"= " That they should seek God, if 
 happily they may feel after Him or find Him, although He be 
 not far from every one of us. For in Him we live and move and 
 
 •St. John. fl Coll. ii. 9. 
 
 JGen. xxviii, 16, 17. §Isa. lxvi. 1. 
 
 = Jer. xxiii. 24* 
 
82 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 have our being."* Immensity is a perfection of the Deity alone. 
 All things depend on the Will of God ; all things are governed by 
 His direction ; by His power hey are moved. Therefore He 
 must be intimately present with them, as the power of God and 
 His operation are not distinct from His substance or essence. 
 
 *Aots xvii. 27, 28. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 83 
 
 SECTION 5 (Article I.) 
 THE KELATIVE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD. 
 
 1. The relative Attributes of God — goodness, power and providence.— 
 
 2. The sense in which God is free to create or not to create.— 
 
 3. Goodness in its three-fold sense — natural, moral and relative. — 
 
 4. This three-fold goodness is in God in the highest degree. — 5. The 
 answer to the difficulty : why it is that so many evils exist, God being 
 infinitely good ?— 6. The meaning of God's Omnipotence. — 7. The 
 meaning of the word Almighty, and the extent of God's dominion over 
 all His creatures. — 8. Why God is called Omnipotent, and the object 
 of His Omnipotence. — 9. What is meant by the Providence of God ? 
 — 10. God disposes and governs all things by His Providence. — 
 11. The special Providence of God for rational beings, and the 
 answer to the difficulty, why the just are afflicted, and the wicked 
 prosper in this world ? 
 
 1. After explaining the absolute Attributes of God; namely, 
 those divine attributes that are thought of in Him, without any 
 reference to creatures, I have now to explain some of the relative 
 attributes, or those divine perfections which have reference to 
 creatures. Of these, I select the following : The goodness of God, 
 His power and His providence. 
 
 God has in Himself the ideal of all things. His essence can 
 be represented in His creatures, and His creatures are all formed 
 according to the designs which He has of them in His divine 
 mind : as an artist has in his mind the model of those things 
 which he afterwards reproduces in his works. 
 
 2. God is under no necessity to realize any of these ideas 
 outside Himself. Being in Himself infinitely perfect and in- 
 finitely happy, He is sufficient for Himself, and, therefore, He 
 has no need of things other than Himself. He is and was free 
 to create or not to create. We must give that perfect freedom 
 to God in His external works, for we cannot deny to Him full 
 liberty, which is a perfection we ourselves enjoy. By the liberty 
 of God is meant, that His Will is perfect and independent. It 
 is independent, because God acts of Himself, and is not necessi- 
 tated or influenced by any external cause. It is perfect, because 
 
84 TBE CEEED EXPLAINED. 
 
 whatever is in God is perfect. The freedom of His Will must 
 not be extended to those things that would be against the per- 
 fections of God, and, therefore, He is not free in His internal 
 actions, which are one and the same thing as God Himself ; and 
 there is not in Him the power of evil, or of doing what is wrong, 
 as this does not belong to liberty, but rather implies something 
 wanting. All His external actions are free, although His decrees 
 in regard to them are eternal. As we do not know fully the 
 nature of human liberty, we must not pretend to know all about 
 the freedom of God in His actions, and, therefore, it is sufficient 
 to bear in mind that God's Will is perfect and independent, and 
 also perfectly free, according to the doctrine of faith : " The Lord 
 is the God to whom revenge belongeth; the God of revenge hath 
 acted freely."* 
 
 The Goodness op God. 
 
 God's goodness determined Him to create, in order to mani- 
 fest His perfections through His creatures. Created things 
 participate, more or less, of the divine perfections, according to 
 the degree of entity and goodness that He has impressed upon 
 them. He has made them, as it were, copies or pictures of His 
 own beauty, more or less perfect, according to the designs of His 
 wisdom. 
 
 3. Goodness is three-fold. It may be natural, moral, and 
 relative. Natural goodness consists in the very nature and per- 
 fection of a thing, by which it is desirable (quod est appetibile). 
 
 Moral goodness consists in the conformity of the will with 
 right reason, or with the law of God, viz. : A man who lives 
 according to the dictates of right reason and the law of God, is 
 called good. This goodness is to be found only in rational 
 creatures, and those gifted with a will. In God, it is His incom- 
 parable Sanctity. 
 
 Belative goodness is the inclination or desire to impart good 
 to others, and to raise them up to a state of perfection. In God, 
 it is His will for the salvation of men, and to render them blessed 
 and happy. This goodness is known by different names, accord- 
 ing to the various ways in which it is manisfested. When it 
 imparts good to creatures who cannot of themselves merit it, it is 
 called grace ; when it is extended to the wretched and the needed, 
 it is called mercy ; and when it tolerates evil, and punishment is 
 withheld from evil-doers, it is called patience or longanimity. 
 
 *Ps. xoiii. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 85 
 
 4. This three-fold goodness is in God, and in the highest 
 degree : therefore God is good. " Give glory to the Lord, for He 
 is good, for His mercy endureth for ever. "* " Thou art just, 
 Lord, and thy judgment is right."\ " None is good but God 
 alone." '} And St. James says: " Every best gift, and every 
 perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, 
 with Whom there is no change, nor shadow of alteration."*^ 
 
 God's goodness follows from what we have said about His 
 perfection ; and it is unnecessary to develop more in detail the 
 ways in which He communicates goodness to His creatures. 
 
 5. In connection with the goodness of God, it may be asked, 
 Why it is, as God is infinitely good, that so many evils exist ? To 
 this, the usual answer may be given : Evil is nothing else than the 
 want {carentid) of good, or of some perfection ; and because it is 
 nothing positive, but a want of something, it is not from God, 
 but it arises from the very nature of created things. Finite and 
 contingent things cannot have all perfections j and inasmuch as 
 they have wants or defects, they may be said to be bad, as the 
 whole reason of evil consists in a defect or want. Moral evils are 
 the works of men ; and their malice arises from their defect or 
 want of conformity to right reason, and the law of God. 
 
 Physical evils, inasmuch as they indicate a defect, flow from 
 the natural condition or state of created things. Inasmuch as 
 they are positive things, they are good; and inasmuch as they are 
 troublesome to human nature, they are not evils, but salutary 
 penalties for sins, and indications of God's goodness and clem- 
 ency ; for He afflicts those whom He loves. 
 
 This short explanation ought to suffice to account for the 
 origin of evil. We cannot, as the Manicheans imagined, have 
 two principles of things : one of good, and the other of evil. All 
 things are good as to their entity, and have God for their Author ; 
 evil is of its own nature a nothing and a defect* and cannot, 
 therefore, be attributed to God as such, but to the imperfections 
 of His creatures. 
 
 The Omnipotence of God. 
 
 6. God is Almighty and all-powerful, that is, He can do all 
 that is possible, as His power is as infinite as His essence. He 
 works or acts with independence, and does not stand in need 
 either of matter, or of any instrument. The beings He wishes 
 
 *Ps. cvi. 1. fPs. cxviii. 137. 
 
 J St. Luke xviii. §St. James i. 17. 
 
$6 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 to produce, He takes not out of His own substance, or out of any 
 other substance, but out of nothing ; He makes them from 
 nothing, that is, by a simple act of His Will He causes them to 
 come into existence from a state of pure possibility.* 
 
 7. We may include under this head the dominion which 
 God has over all ; and the power by which He can do all things. 
 The word Almighty is sometimes interpreted, The Lord of Hosts. 
 This power of God may be considered (a) as the right of making 
 and framing anything which He wills, and in the manner He wills; 
 (Jb) the right of having and possessing all things so made by Him, 
 as His own, properly belonging to Him as their Lord and Master, 
 by virtue of direct dominion. This right is (1) independent both 
 in its origin, for God receives no authority from any, because He 
 has all power originally in Himself, and has produced all things 
 by the authority of His free will alone ; and in its exercise, as 
 being liable to no direction or regulation by any other, nor to the 
 exaction of any account of His administration as He is unlimited, 
 absolute and supreme, and the fountain whence all dominion is 
 derived. (2) This right is infinite in its object, as shown by those 
 names attributed to God : Lord of heaven, Lord of the wJwle earth, 
 Lord of heaven and earth, King of kings, and Lord of lords. 
 Infinite in the manner in which He possesses that power in 
 Himself, that is, subjectively considered ; and infinite in duration, 
 which must be eternal as things are immortal. (3) He has the 
 right to the use of all things in His possession, and this, by 
 virtue of His absolute dominion over them. God, indeed, is 
 all-sufficient and infinitely happy in, and of Himself; and He 
 cannot receive any real benefit from the creature; yet, He 
 rejoiceth at the effects of His wisdom, power and goodness, 
 and taketh delight in the works of His hands. Thus doth He 
 order and dispose of all things, to His own glory, which redounds 
 from the demonstration of His attributes. 
 
 8. Besides dominion, we have to consider the power of the 
 Almighty. God is called Omnipotent, (a) because all power 
 whatsoever, in any creature, is derived from Him ; (b) because 
 there can be no resistance made to His power, no opposition to 
 His Will ; and, (c) because His own active power, as I have said 
 above, extends itself to all things ; nor is there anything imagi- 
 nably possible which He cannot do. 
 
 The object of God's power is whatsoever is simply and 
 absolutely possible in itself, such that it may be ; and so possible 
 
 «TAbb6 Moulin. 
 
THE apostles' creed. 87 
 
 is everything which does not imply a contradiction. Again, 
 whatever implies a contradiction is impossible. For, that is said 
 to imply a contradiction which, if it were, it would necessarily 
 follow that the same thing would be and not be at the same time, 
 and in the same respect ; which is impossible, and consequently 
 not within the power of God, because impossibility is a contra- 
 diction of all power : (a) In respect to the object that implies a 
 contradiction which, plainly and in terms, signifies a repugnancy, 
 and so destroys itself, viz., as for the same thing to be or not to 
 be, to have been and not to have been, (b) In respect to the 
 agent, that implies a contradiction which is repugnant to His 
 essential perfection ; for since every action flows from the essence 
 of the agent, whatsoever is totally repugnant to that essence must 
 involve a contradiction as to the agent ; viz., God cannot sleep, 
 want, die, being essentially spiritual, all- sufficient, self-existent. 
 Nor can that be a diminution of His omnipotence, the contrary 
 whereof would be a proof of His impotence. Thus, it is im- 
 possible for God to lie, because a lie is repugnant to the perfection 
 of veracity, which is essential to God, as necessarily following 
 from His infinite knowledge. That knowledge cannot be deceived, 
 and His infinite sanctity which cannot deceive. It being, there- 
 fore, manifestly contradictory to say that God can lie, it is no 
 derogation from His omnipotence that He cannot. " Whatsoever 
 God cannot do, only shows that the rest of His attributes and 
 perfections are as essential to Him as His power, and as His 
 power suffers no resistance, so the rest of His perfections admit 
 no repugnance. 
 
 " Thus, God is omnipotent, and God alone. For if the 
 power of all things beside God be the power of God, as derived 
 from, and subordinate to Him, and His own power can be subor- 
 dinate to none, none can be omnipotent but God."* 
 
 The Providence of God. 
 
 9. This means the divine superintendence. The Providence 
 of God is defined by St. Thomas : The reason of the order of things 
 towards their end, as it exists in the divine mind. It is applied 
 at the same time to the intellect as well as to the will of God. 
 Order belongs to and proceeds from the intellect, and the end of 
 things is intended by the will. 
 
 In a wide sense, Providence signifies the care which God has 
 over all things ; whether this be viewed as His government of 
 
 *See an Analysis of Pearson on the Creed, Arts. & vi. 
 
THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 things, or the reason of all things as He intended it from eternity. 
 Strictly speaking, however, Providence is distinguished from 
 government, in the same way as cause and effect are distin- 
 guished from each other. Providence expresses the reason of 
 order as it exists in the divine mind, and is sanctioned by the 
 divine Will. The execution or carrying out of this ordination, 
 by which things are superintended and guarded, is called 
 government. 
 
 10. God disposes and governs all things by His providence. 
 Thus the Wise Man speaks : " Thy providence, Father, govemeth 
 it (a sailing vessel), for Thou hast made a way even in the sea, and 
 a most sure path amony the waves."* And in another place it is 
 said of Wisdom, which is applied to divine providence : " She 
 reacheth from end to endmightly, and order eth all things sweetly "\ 
 And in Ecclesiastes,t speaking as to caution in words, it is 
 enjoined not to speak against providence : Say not before the 
 angel there is no providence ; lest God be angry at thy words, and 
 destroy all the works of thy hands. 
 
 The providence of God is proved also from reason : God is an 
 intelligent Being, therefore providence belongs to Him as an 
 attribute ; because an intelligent being always ordains his actions, 
 according to reason, towards some end. God also is the great 
 and good Artificer of all things ; and, as such, He takes care of 
 those things which He has made. St. Ambrose says : Quis 
 operator negligat operis sui cur am ? — " What workman would 
 neglect the care of his own work ? " 
 
 Divine providence extends itself to all things. It is eternal 
 and infinite, and therefore extends over everything, to the hairs 
 of our heads, to the most minute animals, to the herbs of 
 the fields. The Atheists, whose sentiments were refuted by 
 Solomon, in the Book of Ecclesiastes ; and the Sadducees, who 
 arose afterwards, denied this providence, and maintained that 
 men are the only cause of their own happiness or misfortune, 
 according to the good or evil use which they make of their 
 liberty. 
 
 Democritus and Epicurus said that the world was made by 
 chance. Others said, that incorruptible things only were guarded 
 by providence, and that corruptible things were governed, not as 
 individuals, but only as to species, because as such, namely, as 
 to species, they were incorruptible. And, therefore, they have 
 thought that Providence does not act in the moving of a leaf, or 
 
 ♦Wisdom xiv. 3. j Wisdom viii. 1. JEccl. v. 6. 
 
THE apostles' cbeed. 89 
 
 in the production of a worm. All such systems are false, inas- 
 much as they deny God's providence. God can take care of all 
 things, and it is not unworthy of Him to do so ; and, no matter 
 how insignificant and miserable the thing may be, it takes away 
 nothing from the dignity of God to have it under His care ; on 
 the contrary, it rather amplifies the idea of His greatness and 
 dignity. In the Gospel we are told of our heavenly Father's 
 care over the lilies of the fields and the birds of the air. This 
 universal providence is apparent, from the order observed amongst 
 the heavenly bodies and the other works of creation. The divine 
 efficiency and power extend to all things, and, therefore, all things 
 are subject to His providence. 
 
 11. Although this providence extends to all creatures, we 
 must remember that God has special care over rational beings. 
 Because His providence is according to the most perfect order, it 
 is extended to things according to their nature and condition, 
 and the condition of rational creatures is higher that that of 
 others. Besides, rational beings are gifted with liberty, and 
 therefore they need a special providence. 
 
 There is a common difficulty suggested against God's provi- 
 dence by the unthinking and the unhappy. They say, if God 
 Who is all-wise, provides for everybody, how is it that the just 
 are afflicted and the wicked are permitted to prosper ? There 
 are many answers to this difficulty. In the first place, it is not 
 true that the just are, generally speaking, more unfortunate than 
 the wicked. In the second place, God sometimes permits the 
 good to be punished in this life, that they may be the better 
 prepared for the next. Lastly we have to consider, that God 
 lets no good go without its rewards, as He leaves no evil unpun- 
 ished. The faults of the good are therefore punished by tem- 
 poral evils here ; and the natural moral good acts of the wicked, 
 as they are not to have a supernatural reward, are remunerated 
 by temporal prosperity and temporal gifts. God reserves for the 
 future the true rewards or punishments, according to the merits 
 or demerits of our immortal souls. 
 
90 THE CEEED EXPLAINED. 
 
 SECTION 6 (Aeticle L) 
 THE HOLY TRINITY. 
 
 1. The dogma of the Holy Trinity as expressed in the Athanasian Creed : 
 what is meant by it ? — 2. No clear idea can be formed of this Mys- 
 tery, although we have some imperfect representations of it in crea- 
 tures.— 3. The most accurate representation of the Blessed Trinity is 
 to be found in our own soul. — 4. This Mystery is also ineffable ; the 
 example of St. Augustine.— 5. It is the principal Mystery, and the 
 foundation of the Christian faith. — 6. We obtain the knowledge of 
 this Mystery by revelation.— 7. Proofs of the Holy Trinity taken from 
 the Old Testament.— 8. Proofs from the New Testament. — 9. Proofs 
 from Tradition. — 10. This Mystery is not opposed to reason, but above 
 it. — 11. The knowledge which the Jews had in the Old Dispensation of 
 this Mystery, and the reasons of its obscurity then. — 12. The obli- 
 gation of believing explicitly in the Holy Trinity in the New Law. — 
 13. The Holy Trinity as the basis of all revealed religion, and the 
 centre of all devotion. 
 
 After considering God in His nature and in His attributes, 
 we have to pass to the Mystery of the Holy Trinity, which is 
 implicitly signified by the words, The Father Almighty. We 
 have afterwards, in the Creed, explicit belief expressed in God the 
 Son, and in God the Holy Ghost. Under each Article that ex- 
 presses the Persons of the Blessed Trinity, we can consider what 
 belongs to each Person, or what is attributed to each, and their 
 relations to one another. Here, however, is the proper place to 
 explain the faith of the Church as to the dogma of the Holy 
 Trinity, and the considerations to be made regarding this 
 Mystery. 
 
 1. We have this dogma distinctly expressed in the words of 
 the Athanasian Creed : Now, the Catholic faith is this, that we 
 worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity. Neither con- 
 founding the Persons, nor dividing the substance. For there is one 
 Person of the Father, another of the Son, another of the Holy 
 Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, and of the Son, and of 
 the Holy Ghost is all one ; the glory equal, the majesty co-etemal, 
 &c. 
 
 The Mystery of the Trinity, therefore, means one and the 
 same individual divine essence in three Persons really distinct — 
 
THE APOSTLES' CBEED. 91 
 
 the Father unbegotten, the Son begotten, and the Holy Ghost 
 proceeding from the Father and the Son. 
 
 2. This is the dogma of the Holy Trinity ; but, as to the 
 idea we have to form of this Mystery, it is necessary to reflect, 
 that it so far surpasses our understanding that no clear notion of 
 it can be formed in this life. There are many representations of 
 the Holy Trinity to be found in created things, but none of them 
 perfect. Nevertheless, they are used to enable us to form some 
 notion of this Mystery ; thus, for example, the sun, which is at 
 the same time fire, light, and heat ; a plant is formed of root, 
 stem, and branches. The symbolic triangle, or the mysterious 
 union of three angles, presents an image of the Holy Trinity ; 
 and also the arithmetical sum 1x1x1= 1. 
 
 3. That figure or image which better than all others 
 represents the Trinity, is to be found in our own soul, which is 
 created to the image and likeness of God. 
 
 God is a pure act, a being entirely simple, the highest intel- 
 ligent Being. Now, every intelligent being understands, and 
 this act is called an act of intelligence (intelligentia). This act is 
 either a substance or an accidens. There can be no accidens in 
 God, therefore it is a substance. If a substance, it cannot be 
 distinct from the divine substance or nature itself. Which sub- 
 stance f as understanding (intelligens), is called the Father ; and as 
 understood (intellecta), is called the Son; which are two of the 
 Persons of the Holy Trinity distinct from each other, and one 
 with the essence. 
 
 St. Thomas observes, that in every intelligent being there is 
 a will ; and we have seen that in God there is a Will, which is 
 one and the same thing with the divine nature ; the action of 
 the Will is love, that is, the action of the Will of God ad intra. 
 God, therefore, loves His own (intelligentia) act of intelligence, 
 or the product of that act by which He understands. The act 
 by which God loves is not distinct from Himself, or from His 
 substance, and therefore it is God Himself; but inasmuch as it is 
 the relation between the Person understanding (intelligens), and 
 the Person understood (intellecta) , the connexion, as I might 
 say, between the Father and the Son, it is called the Holy 
 Ghost, the third Person of the Holy Trinity, really distinct from 
 the Persons of the Father and the Son, and one with them in 
 essence. Thus, in the human soul, which is capable of under- 
 standing and of loving, we find that which represents, better 
 than any other image, the Holy Trinity. 
 
 4. This Mystery, as it is above the capacity of our minds, 
 
THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 is also ineffable ; so that we cannot represent it by words ; and 
 in this we need not be discouraged when we call to mind what 
 happened to St. Augustine, as he was preparing himself to 
 explain this Mystery to the people. It seemed to him that he 
 was walking by the shore of a vast ocean, and was contemplating 
 its mysterious and unfathomable depth. Suddenly, he seemed 
 to see at his feet a little child amusing himself by boring a hole 
 in the sand and pouring into it from a shell the water of the 
 ocean. On being asked why he did this, the child replied that he 
 was going to empty the ocean into that small hole. "But, how 
 can that be ? '' said the holy Father. The child answered, " It 
 is as easy for me to do this, as for you to undertake to explain 
 the Mystery you are proposing to lay before your people. As 
 well can this little hole contain the ocean, as the mind of man 
 can take in the great mysteries of God." And St. Ambrose, 
 the master of St. Augustine, exclaims, when speaking of this 
 profound Mystery of the Blessed Trinity : " It is impossible to 
 know this secret ; the mind fails, the voice is silent ; and not my 
 voice only, but that of Angels. It is above the Powers, it is 
 above the Angels, above the Cherubim and Seraphim : it passeth 
 all understanding."* 
 
 And St. Bonaventure, speaking of the Blessed Trinity, says : 
 " Sed Mysterium Mud curiose scrutari temeritas est, credere pietas 
 est, nosse vita ceterna est" — "To scrutinize this Mystery out of 
 curiosity is temerity ; to believe it, is piety ; to know it, is eternal 
 life." 
 
 5. At the same time, we have to reflect that it is the prin- 
 cipal Mystery, as it is the foundation of the whole Christian 
 faith. "Take away this," says a learned Theologian,! " and 
 there will be no Incarnation of the Word, no satisfaction of Christ, 
 no Eedemption of man, no effusion of the Holy Spirit, no giving 
 of grace, no virtue or efficacy of Sacraments ; the whole work of 
 salvation is destroyed." 
 
 6. We come to the knowledge of this mystery by revelation. 
 With us there are two orders of knowledge ; one, the order of 
 natural things; the other, the order of supernatural things. By the 
 order of natural things we can ascend to the knowledge of the 
 existence of God, His power, wisdom, &c. ; because natural things 
 proceed from the power of God, inasmuch as He is one. But 
 to the knowledge of the Trinity we cannot come, except by the 
 means of the supernatural order of things, so that it may be said, 
 
 *De fide, lib. 1, c. 10. fLieberman, Theol. Dog. lib. 13, p. 1. De trinitate. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 93 
 
 that God descends to us by revelation, rather than that we 
 ascend to God by reasoning. Therefore, for the proofs v>I this 
 Mystery, we depend entirely on the words and revelation of 
 God. 
 
 I may here subjoin a summary of the Scripture proofs of the 
 Holy Trinity, taken from the Old and the New Testaments. This 
 Mystery was only obscurely revealed in the Old, but clearly re- 
 vealed in the New Testament. 
 
 7. From the Old Testament we take the following texts : — 
 
 (a) "In the beginning God created heaven and earth . . . and 
 
 the spirit of God moved over the waters."* 
 
 (b) "And He said : Let us make man to our image and like- 
 
 ness." f 
 
 (c) "And he said : Behold Adam is become one of us, knowing 
 
 good and evil. I" 
 
 (d) "Come ye, let us go down and there confound their 
 
 tongues."§ 
 
 (e) "And the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrha brim- 
 
 stone and fire from the Lord out of heaven." \\ 
 (/) "May God, our God bless us ; may God bless us, and all 
 
 the ends of the earth fear Him."** 
 (g) "And they cried one to another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, 
 theLord God of hosts, all the earth is full of His glory, "\\ 
 " What," says St. Ambrose, " could the three-fold 
 repetition of sanctity under one name mean, but that 
 the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are one in 
 holiness ?'' 
 
 8. From the New Testament, in which the Holy Trinity is 
 clearly made known to us, we may give the following texts : — 
 
 (a) "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with 
 God, and the Word was God." II 
 
 (6) "Going therefore, teach ye all nations ; baptizing them in 
 the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
 Ghost." §§ 
 
 (c) "And the Angel answering said to her, The Holy Ghost 
 
 shall come upon thee, and the power of the most High 
 
 shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy 
 
 which shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of 
 
 God."H 
 
 * Gen. i. 1, 2. t Ibid, verse 26. J Gen. iii. 22. 
 
 § Ibid xi. 7. II Gen. xix. 24. ** Pa. lxvi. 7-8. 
 
 tf Isa. vi. 3. £} St. John i. 1. et seq. §§ St. Mate, xxviii. 19. 
 
 M St. Luke i. 35. 
 
94 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 (d) "In that same hour He (Jesus) rejoiced in the Holy Ghost, 
 
 and said : I confess to Thee, Father, Lord of heaven 
 and earth."* 
 
 (e) "And I will ash the Father ; and He shall give you another 
 
 Paraclete, that He may abide with you for ever."\ 
 Finally, we have the explicit words of the first Epistle of St. 
 John : "And there are three who give testimony in heaven, the 
 Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. And these three are one"% 
 After enumerating the scriptural texts, in reference to the 
 Blessed Trinity, I may refer to the divine tradition, which also 
 proves to us this fundamental doctrine of religion. 
 
 9. The first document handed down by tradition is the form 
 of Baptism used in the Church ever since our Saviour's time, and 
 according to His commandment : "Go ye and teach all nations," &c. 
 Secondly, the public worship and adoration of the Blessed 
 Trinity. This adoration, in ancient times, is witnessed in the 
 writings of Justin, Irenaeus, and of the early Fathers of the 
 Church. Justin Martyr, in his second apology for the Christians, 
 says: " We worship and adore the Father, and He who comes 
 from Him — the Son, and the Holy Ghost." 
 
 Then we have the doxology, or Gloria Patri, &c, handed 
 down to us from the age of the Apostles ; and we have the three- 
 fold repetition of the Kyrie in the Mass, in honour of each of the 
 divine Persons. 
 
 Finally, there is the argument from prescription. The 
 dogma of the Holy Trinity was taught and believed in the 
 Church, when the Sabellians were condemned in the third cen- 
 tury ; the Arians in the fourth century ; the Socinians and others 
 in the sixteenth century. It exists to-day as from the beginning — 
 the same faith, and the same doctrine of the Church, as expressly 
 declared in all our Creeds. 
 
 These are some of the proofs of this doctrine taken from the 
 fountains of revelations, namely Scripture and tradition. As far 
 as human reason is concerned, we must be satisfied to know that 
 the Mystery of the Trinity is not against reason, but only above 
 reason. 
 
 10. " Many truths which are known, and therefore are in- 
 telligible to more learned persons, are unintelligible to the less 
 learned. And as no human mind is perfectly wise, and can un- 
 derstand everything, it follows that there is something unin- 
 telligible to every man. As God is greater than man, and as the 
 
 * St. Luke x. 21. f St. John xxiv. 16. J 1 St. John v. 7. 
 
THE APOSTLES* CREED. £5 
 
 idea of God outmeasures the mind of man, there is something 
 in God which man cannot comprehend ; and so we expect to 
 find Mystery in Him. St. Paul, therefore, says, that His judg- 
 ments and ways are incomprehensible and unsearchable. A 
 being who could be perfectly understood and measured by the 
 mind of man, would not be God. For he would not be greater 
 than man, inasmuch as the mind of man cannot measure what is 
 greater than itself. But in the Mystery of the Trinity, nothing 
 is taught that is against reason. Is it against reason (for this is 
 the point on which it may appear that there is a contradiction) 
 that the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is 
 God ; and yet there is but one God, and not three Gods ? No. 
 For what we believe is this, that the Father is God, and the Son 
 is the same God, and the Holy Ghost is the same God ; and, there- 
 fore, all having the same Godhead, there are not three Gods, but 
 only one God. Kemember the principle that the Trinity is in the 
 Persons, the Unity in the essence and Godhead. But must it 
 be that, if there are three Persons, we cannot conceive anything 
 else but three Gods ? No, not at all ; unless you assume what 
 is quite false — that substance and Person mean the same, which 
 they don't mean. To show you this, I will only show you 
 yourself. You have two substances, which form in you but one 
 person. Your body is one substance, a material substance ; 
 your soul is another distinct substance, a spiritual substance. 
 Yet, you are but one person ; therefore it does not follow that 
 there must be the same number of substances and Persons in 
 God, as there are not the same number in yourself. You can 
 understand this in yourself, perhaps ; you cannot understand it 
 in God. You are not called upon to understand it, you are only 
 called upon to believe it, because there are three that give testimony 
 in heaven. Grant that God can understand Himself, as well as 
 you can understand yourself, and you will admit that the Trinity 
 is incomprehensible to you, but not to Him."* 
 
 11. The Jews of to-day deny that the Trinity of Persona 
 has been revealed. In olden times, before the coming of Christ, 
 the chief dogma of the Jews was that there is one God ; and as 
 to their belief in the Holy Trinity, we have to distinguish 
 them into three classes. 1st. The Prophets and the just of the 
 Old Law. 2nd. The crowd or common people of the Jews. 
 3rd. The interpreters of the Law. All agree that the common 
 multitude of the Jews had only a very confused knowledge, or, 
 
 "Lectures on Gatlwlic Faith and Practice, by the Eev. J. N. Sweeney, 
 O.S.B., Leo. xi. 
 
S6 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 perhaps, no knowledge at all, of the Holy Trinity. The Patriarchs 
 and Prophets, and many of the just, had a knowledge of the Holy 
 Trinity, according to the words of our Saviour : "Many Prophets 
 and just have desired to see what you have seen and have not seen."* 
 Those who belonged to the third class, namely, the Legisperiti, or 
 interpreters of the law, seem to have a middle place between the 
 multitude and the Prophets. They knew this Mystery better 
 than the people in general, as it was their duty to expound the 
 Scriptures. And, as we have seen, the Trinity, at least obscurely, 
 is made known in the Old Testament. They had not the same 
 clear revelation of it as was imparted to the Patriarchs and 
 Prophets. 
 
 The following reasons are assigned for the obscurity which 
 surrounded this Mystery in the time of the Old Dispensation. 
 
 (a) That its open and clear declaration might be reserved 
 
 to the Son, who was the expected of nations, and who 
 was to fulfil all things. 
 
 (b) That the New Testament might be more excellent than 
 
 the Old, in its more full and explicit revelations. 
 
 (c) That all danger of idolatry might be removed from the 
 
 Jewish nation and people, who were so prone to 
 this crime. 
 (rf) The reason of St. Augustine : That gradually, and as 
 it were insensibly, the weakness of men might be 
 brought to the highest knowledge of things. 
 12. I have already explained, when treating of faith, that 
 all Christians are obliged to know explicitly this Mystery, and to 
 elicit an act of faith in it. This, according to many, is necessary 
 as a means to salvation, though others hold, as a probable opinion, 
 that it is not necessary as a means, but only by the necessity of 
 precept, for salvation. But it is certain that, except in case of 
 necessity, such as danger of death, one ignorant of this Mystery 
 cannot lawfully be absolved in the Tribunal of Penance. 
 
 The Mystery of the Trinity is not a mere speculative 
 doctrine, it is the basis of all revealed religion, and the centre of 
 all our devotions. 
 
 (a) " It tells us of the Hidden Life of God ; and furnishes us 
 with thoughts now, which will be the nourishment of 
 our happiness hereafter. Well does the Church, in 
 the Office of the Blessed Trinity, feel and express 
 this, when she exclaims : ' We invoke Thee, we praise 
 
 •St. Matt. xiii. 
 
OBEBD. 97 
 
 Thee, we adore Thee, O Blessed Trinity ! Our hope, 
 our Salvation, and our Honour, O Blessed Trinity ! '" 
 
 (b) " The Incarnation, which is the source of all grace and 
 
 blessing to us, is inconceivable without the Trinity..." 
 
 (c) "The Church, which is the continuation of the Incar- 
 
 nation, is existing and ever working through this 
 Mystery. Our dearest Saviour dwells so often upon 
 the efficacy of the working of the Church, when it 
 should have become perfected by the Holy Ghost, 
 whom the Father will send in my Name. The work of 
 the Church is to secure for us, and increase within 
 us, that grace which links us to the Trinity j for it 
 makes us children of the Father, joint-heirs with the 
 Son, and temples of the Holy Ghost." 
 
 (£) "In prayer, we frequently invoke the Trinity. Our 
 Litanies begin and end with this invocation. Our 
 Collects conclude with the assurance that we present 
 all our petitions through Jesus Christ the Son, who 
 with the Father and the Holy Ghost, liveth and 
 reigneth one God for ever and ever. In the begin- 
 ning and end of your prayers you sign yourself with 
 the sign of the Cross, and profess your faith in the 
 Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
 Ghost. As you enter the Church, you take the holy 
 water in the same Name. You end your Psalms and 
 Hymns by singing Glory to the same three Divine 
 Persons ; and, as again you leave the Church to enter 
 once more into the distractions of the world, you go 
 forth signing yourself in that Name, by which every 
 good work is commenced and completed.''* 
 
 (e) All the Sacraments of the Church are administered in 
 the Name of the Holy Trinity, and, at length, when 
 passing out of this world, the last words and prayers 
 of the priest who attends us will be in the words of 
 the Bitual : Depart, Christian soul, out of this world, 
 in the name of God the Father Almighty, who created 
 thee ; in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living 
 God, who suffered for thee ; in the name of the Holy 
 Ghost, who sanctified thee. 
 
 'Rev. J. N. Sweeney's Lectures. 
 
THE CBEED EXPLAINED. 
 
 SECTION 7 (Akticle I.) 
 
 GOD THE FATHER: THE FIRST PERSON OF THE BLESSED 
 
 TRINITY. 
 
 1. The three names proper to the First Person of the Holy Trinity : Father , 
 Principium and Unbegotten. — 2. The sense in which God is called our 
 Father, and the sense in -which He is called the Father of His only 
 begotten Son. — 3. The difference between the Divine Sonship, and. 
 that arising from human generation. 
 
 Aeter treating of the Trinity in general, we naturally come 
 to consider separately the three divine Persons. Our belief in 
 each one of them is expressed in different Articles of the Creed ; 
 and in the first Article we express our explicit belief in God the 
 Father : I believe in God the Father Almighty. 
 
 We have in this Section to reflect on the doctrine which we 
 are taught concerning the First Person of the Blessed Trinity, 
 and in what sense He is called the Father. 
 
 1. In the first place, there are three names proper to God 
 the Father, viz., Father, Unbegotten, and Principium — beginning 
 or origin, (a) He is the principium, because the other two 
 Persons proceed from Him, and He does not proceed from any 
 other ; and that is called the principium, or origin, from which 
 another proceeds in whatsoever way. 
 
 Although the First Person is called in Latin principium, He 
 is never called by the name cause, as applied to Him in contra- 
 distinction to the Son and to the Holy Ghost, because these two 
 Divine Persons cannot be said to proceed from Him as from a 
 cause, inasmuch as this would make them subordinate in nature 
 to Him, whilst the three have one and the same divine nature. 
 Besides, cause and effect are correlative in the sense that where 
 there is a cause there is an effect, and the divine Persons cannot 
 be called effects, because They are not made, (b) Then, cause 
 is not given as the proper name to the first Person, lest heretics 
 should take occasion from this to declare that the Son and the 
 Holy Ghost are only creatures, they having God the Father as 
 Their cause. God is, properly and strictly speaking, the cause of 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 99 
 
 all creatures ; but the Sou and the Holy Ghost are not creatures, 
 and, properly speaking, have no cause of their being, but a prin- 
 ciple from which they proceed. 
 
 Father is a name proper to the first Person, because it dis- 
 tinguishes Him from the other Persons. The same may be said 
 of unbegotten, because He is unbegotten Who is not from another, 
 either by generation or in any other way. 
 
 The First Person is therefore called (a) a principle (or prin- 
 cipium), without a principle or origin, because the two other 
 Persons proceed from Him, and He proceeds from no other, (b) 
 Unbegotten, because He is entirely and in every conceivable 
 manner, unproducible. (c) The Father, because He has a Son. 
 Ipse invocabit me, Pater mens es tu* 
 
 2. I wish to dwell more at length on this name Father. 
 God is our Father, and He is the Father of His only-begotten Son. 
 God is our Father, — 
 
 (a) On account of creation and conservation. 
 
 (b) On account of redemption. 
 
 (c) On account of adoption and regeneration by grace. 
 
 (d) On account of the glory and beatitude which His saints 
 
 enjoy. 
 
 As our Father, therefore, He is entitled to our filial fear, 
 honour, and obedience. It is after this manner Christ has taught 
 us to pray to God, beginning with Our Father. As His children, 
 we should have Christian patience under the sufferings that our 
 Father sends to purify and chastise us. We ought to prove our- 
 selves His children by loving one another, and especially our 
 enemies. And, above all, act according to the admonition given 
 in St. Luke's Gospel : Be ye merciful as your heavenly Father is 
 merciful.} 
 
 But the most proper explanation of God's paternity is, that 
 He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. As we find one 
 Person, in a most special manner, the Son of God, so we must 
 look on God as, in a special manner, the Father of that Son. 
 
 The disparity between our filiation and that of Christ is 
 very great, as He, being the true and proper Son of God, has the 
 highest kind of filiation. There is one degree of filiation, or Son- 
 ship, founded on creation — the lowest, as belonging to all, good 
 and bad ; another, higher, grounded on sanctification and 
 adoption, belonging to the faithful in this life ; a third, above 
 the rest, founded on the resurrection and eternal beatitude, 
 
 *Ps. lxxxviii. fSt. Luke vi. 36. 
 
100 THE CBEED EXPLAINED. 
 
 belonging to the Saints in heaven. And there is another, of a 
 greater eminence, and far exceeding all these, which belongs to 
 the true Son of God alone, Who, amongst all, has received the 
 title of His Own Son* and a testimony from heaven : This is My 
 beloved Son ; t even in the presence of John the Baptist ; and of 
 Moses and Elias (certainly sons of God by the other three degrees 
 of filiation) ; and therefore He could call God in a real and true 
 sense His own Father (7raT€pa8ioy).] And thus we come to the 
 most singular and eminent paternal relation unto the God and 
 Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. § 
 
 " God may in several ways be called the Father of Christ. 
 
 (a) As He was begotten by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary. 
 
 (b) As He was sent by Him with special authority as the King of 
 Israel, (c) As He was raised from the dead, and made heir of all 
 things, (d) In the more eminent and special manner, as He ever 
 was, and ever is, with God and God. And according to this 
 Paternity, by generation totally divine, we believe in God as the 
 Eternal Father of an Eternal Son. As always God, so always 
 Father, and that in a far more proper manner than any creature." 
 
 3. " For (a) the condition of human generation, and of the 
 relations thence arising, is so fluctuating that the same person, 
 now a son, may become a father, and then cease to be either son 
 or father, losing both relations by death ; whereas, in the God- 
 head these relations are fixed, the Father having never been a 
 Son, the Son never becoming a Father. And (b) God hath 
 begotten a Son of the same nature and essence with Himself, 
 not only specifically but individually. If a man begetteth a son 
 in his own likeness, after his own image, || i.e. of the same nature, 
 of the same substance with himself, and thus obtaineth the name 
 of father because of the similitude of his nature — with which 
 similitude many accidental disparities may exist in the son — 
 •how much more proper is the name to God Himself, Who hath 
 begotten a Son of a nature and essence, the perfect identity 
 whereof admits not the least disparity. ''** 
 
 * Eom. viii. 32. f St. Matt. iii. 17, & xvii. 5. + St. John v. 18. 
 
 §2 Cor. xi. 31. || Gen. v. 8. 
 
 ** An Analysis of Pearson on the Creed. Art. 1, 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 101. 
 
 SECTION 8. (AETICLE I.) 
 
 THE CREATION OF THE WORLD. 
 
 S. God considered in His external works, that is, in the works of His 
 creation. — 2. Three questions in regard to the origin of the world. — ■ 
 3. Pantheism, its meaning, its most celebrated advocate. — 4. The 
 world is not and cannot be God. — 5. Spiuosa's definition of sub- 
 stance, and the sense in which it is false. — 6. The opinion that the 
 world was made by chance, or by a necessity of nature and its advo- 
 cates. — 7. The reasons why the world could not come into existence 
 by chance, or the fortuitous combination of atoms. — 8. The world is 
 not the result of necessity. — 9. The true doctrine of the origin of the 
 world. — 10. The world was not made from matter, eternal and un- 
 produced. — 11. God made the world out of nothing by creation. — 
 12. The time of the world's creation : (a) The world is not from 
 eternity, but created in time, (b) The question of the possibility of 
 eternal creation. — 13. The question as to the age of the world and 
 the age of the human race. — 14. Three opinions as to the age of the 
 world. 
 
 In the preceding Sections we have studied God, His nature, 
 His attributes, and His own life. We have seen that He exists, 
 that His nature is self -existent of itself ; that His attributes com- 
 prehend all possible perfections, and that therefore He is an 
 infinitely perfect Being : That, as Father, He has an only 
 begotten Son, Who is eternal and equal to Him in all things ; 
 and that from the Father and the Son proceedeth the Holy 
 Ghost as a third divine Person ; and thus in the mystery of the 
 Holy Trinity we have the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, three 
 distinct Persons, but one God having one and the same divine 
 nature. 
 
 1. Now we come to consider God in His external action, 
 that is to say, in the works which have effect distinct from 
 Himself — His creation, of which we men are a part. 
 
 We express our faith on this point when we say in the words 
 of the Apostles' Creed : I believe in God . . . Creator of heaven 
 and earth. And more fully in the words of the Nicene Creed : 
 Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. 
 
 2. The Catholic doctrine, as to the origin of the world, 
 may be treated under three questions, (a) Whether the world is 
 
102 THE CBEED EXPLAINED. 
 
 God ; and what is to be thought of Pantheism ? (b) Whether the 
 world could be made by chance, or be the effect of natural 
 necessity ? (c) How and when did the world come into existence ? 
 
 3. Whether the world is God, and what is to be thought of 
 Pantheism. 
 
 Pantheism is derived from two Greek words irav — all, and Oeos 
 — God. It signifies that " God is all things," or " that God is the 
 whole universe," "never begotten, never to perish," as Pliny 
 says. The most celebrated author of the system of Pantheism 
 was Spinosa, who was born in Amsterdam in the year 1632. His 
 parents were Jews, and he was a Jew in his earlier years, but he 
 died an Atheist in the year 1677. He taught, (a) that in the 
 nature of things there was only one substance, which of itself 
 and necessarily exists, which is God. (b) That by the name of 
 substance, is to be understood a being that exists in itself, and is 
 conceived by itself. (Id quod existit in se etper se concipitur.) 
 
 4. A substance existing of necessity, and of its own nature, 
 would be indeed God ; but such a universal substance, embracing 
 all others in itself, does not exist ; and therefore we have to hold 
 against the Pantheists that the world is not, and cannot be, God. 
 
 This can be proved from the unity, the simplicity, and the 
 immutability of God ; and also from the fact that God must be a 
 Being of infinite intelligence. 
 
 God is one, and this the Pantheists themselves admit ; but 
 the world is not one, either in genus, or species, or in individuals, 
 therefore it cannot be God. 
 
 God is entirely simple. No composition in Him. The world 
 is not simple, but composed of parts, and has extension ; there- 
 fore the world is not God. 
 
 ^ God is immutable, because He is all perfect ; but the world is 
 subject to various and continuous changes, as is evident from the 
 series of generations and corruptions which daily take place in it. 
 
 Lastly, God is an intelligent Being ; but the corporeal 
 world is material, and therefore non-intelligent ; therefore the 
 the world is not God, neither are all things in it God. 
 
 5. Spinosa understood the definition of substance in a 
 wrong sense. Substance is that which exists in itself, and is con- 
 ceived by itself ; may be understood in a two-fold sense. Its true 
 sense is when we understand existing in itself as not needing 
 another in which to inhere, as is the case in regard to accidents. 
 And in this sense no Pantheism can be deduced from the defini- 
 tion. If by existing in itself we have to understand a being that 
 exists of itself, or a self -existent being, and that this is the nature 
 
THE apostles' ceeed. 103 
 
 of a substance, then Spinosa and his definition are wrong ; and his 
 argument is begging the question ; for a being that would exist 
 of itself would certainly be God ; but created substances do not ex- 
 ist of themselves, and therefore the definition is false in the sense 
 of its application to all substances, or to any substance but God 
 alone. The same explanation applies to the clause per se con- 
 cijpitur — conceived by itself. 
 
 We have to bear in mind that God contains in Himself all 
 the perfections of His creatures ; that He is intimately and sub- 
 stantially present in all things, and that nothing can be or act 
 without His power and efficiency ; for all things depend upon 
 Him for their existence and their preservation. 
 
 6. Whether the world was made by chance or by necessity 
 of nature ? 
 
 There were some who said that the world was made, or put 
 together rather, by a whole lot of minute particles of matter, 
 which by chance and confusion formed various combinations, 
 until, at last, they constituted the order which we see in things. 
 The authors and supporters of such a system were Leucippus, 
 Democritus, and Epicurus, and all those who denied the existence 
 of a Supreme Being. 
 
 7. Against these, we say that the world could not exist by 
 chance, or by the fortuitous combinations of particles of matter — 
 
 (a) Because that nature, which in many things always acts 
 
 in the same way, cannot be the effect of chance or 
 accident ; but the course of nature, and of the world, 
 and the bodies of the Universe, always act in the 
 same way, according to physical and natural laws ; 
 therefore this cannot be the result of chance, which 
 only takes place occasionally, and in a few things, 
 and not after any rule or order. 
 
 (b) Order could not arise out of chance except by accident ; 
 
 but in the world we observe, even in those things 
 that are contrary to each other, the most wonderful 
 order and regularity ; and these cannot be the effect of 
 accident, as they are most certain and most constant. 
 
 (c) The particles of matter could not move themselves, as they 
 
 are material ; and motion is not essential to matter ; 
 nor, as the false system supposes, are they moved by 
 God ; He cannot in any case be the Author of dis- 
 order and confusion ; therefore, they could not bring 
 about the present world or the present natural order 
 of things. 
 
104 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 The disciple in Graveson's Ecclesiastical History* is repre- 
 sented as answering this question. If any one could be so stupid 
 as to assert, with the Epicureans, that this world is nothing else 
 than a heap of small bodies, without life, without providence, 
 without reason, but brought together by chance and blindly ; such 
 an erring man would be at once refuted by the admirable struc- 
 ture of this world and its parts, and the most wise disposition or 
 arrangement of all things in it. This cannot be attributed to the 
 chance and rash accumulation of stupid and lifeless atoms ; and 
 it can be only the work of the highest intelligence, which pre- 
 ordains all things according to order and knowledge. 
 
 8. As to the second part of the question, whether the world 
 is the result of necessity, we have to note a few things. 
 
 That God made the world through a necessity of nature, 
 was an opinion held by the Stoics of old. The same was held 
 by Peter Abelard, and in more recent times by a J. B. Robinetus, 
 who renewed the old error, and stated that the world was the 
 necessary effect of the nature of God. Against this error, we 
 assert that the world was made by God, not through any neces- 
 sity, but by His free-will. This can be proved by many reasons. 
 
 (a) The world is not the result of chance as we have seen, 
 
 therefore it is ordained to some end. But an agent 
 who acts for an end, must act by intellect and will, 
 and not by necessity ; God, therefore, by intellect and 
 will created the world, and not by the necessity of 
 nature. 
 
 (b) He who acts through necessity, cannot prescribe his 
 
 own end or purpose, because he is determined to one 
 end ; therefore that end must be determined by some 
 other for him ; but it cannot be that God, who is the 
 first Agent, should be determined or regulated by 
 another. Therefore God does not act outside Him- 
 self through necessity. 
 
 (c) There are many things made by God, and many more 
 
 possible things. Of the things that are possible, some 
 He made, and some He has not made, according to 
 the choice of His free-will, and not through any 
 necessity. God, therefore, in creating the world, 
 acted according to His own free choice and Will. 
 The opposite opinion is Pantheistic, as, in that supposi- 
 tion, the world would be necessary, and therefore God. 
 
 *Vet. Test. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 105 
 
 9. After referring to the false systems, which have been in- 
 vented to account for the origin of the world, we have now to 
 state the true doctrine, namely, that the world received its 
 existence from God. 
 
 To explain this, we have two things to consider : (a) the 
 mode in which the world received its existence; and (b) the 
 time in which it was brought into existence. 
 
 The Manner or Mode of the World's Existence. 
 
 Here we have one more error to refute, the error of those 
 who assert that God made the world out of pre-existing matter, 
 and that it is not immediately from God, although He formed 
 it. Some attribute this opinion to Plato. The Stoics held the 
 theory of the eternity of matter ; and the Manicheans admitted 
 the theory of matter being eternal and unproduced. 
 
 10. The world was not made from matter, eternal and un- 
 produced, because such matter would not depend upon God, or 
 be subject to Him ; therefore He could not give it its form. As 
 Lactantius says : " God does not need pre-existing matter in order 
 to create, as He is omnipotent." St. Thomas teaches that 
 matter eternal and unproduced is impossible. Such matter 
 would have to be necessary, a pure act, immutable and most 
 perfect. But none of these things can belong to matter, inasmuch 
 as it is essentially subject to so many changes. Therefore, 
 matter cannot be eternal and unproduced, but it must come from 
 some other being who can produce it. It is not, however, against 
 sound doctrine to hold that God made or formed the world out 
 of matter first created by Himself. 
 
 11. God made the world out of nothing by creation. This 
 is proved by the narrative given in the first Chapter of Genesis, 
 which is, at the same time, the Theological and an historical 
 argument for the creation of the world. 
 
 The same may be proved from reason. All things that are 
 in the world have received existence from another, and not from 
 themselves, and this other can be no one else but God. For, 
 since those things that have not had existence from themselves, 
 have their being by participation, they must have their cause in 
 that Being who essentially exists. Therefore, all things have 
 their existence from God, and are made out of nothing, because, 
 as I have already shown, they are not produced from pre-existing 
 matter ; and God alone is the only self-existent and essentially 
 
106 THE CBEED EXPLAINED. 
 
 necessary Being ; therefore, all things are from Him, and depend 
 upon Him for their existence. 
 
 The maxim, universally received, that nothing can be made 
 out of nothing (ex nihilo nihil fit), has to be understood of cor- 
 poreal generations, or with respect to natural and inferior 
 agencies that cannot produce matter, and it was first framed in 
 regard to the works of art and nature. Thus, in the works of 
 art, no artificer can give any specimen of his art without 
 materials ; and in the natural order of generation, we see plants 
 proceed from seeds, fish from spawn, fowls from eggs. This 
 could not have been so at first. The maxim then is true only in 
 regard to the continuing of creatures, by successive generation, 
 which could not have been begun or continued without a being 
 antecedent to all such succession. 
 
 I may here note that there are two kinds of creation. 
 (a) Proper — of things made out of nothing immediately ; such as 
 immaterial substances, all angels and human souls, and the 
 elemental bodies — as the earth, water and air, &c. (b) Improper 
 — of things made mediately, that is, out of something formerly 
 made out of nothing, as animals and vegetables ; and, in regard 
 to the human body, we are told that God formed man of the 
 dust of the earth. 
 
 The Time op the World's Creation. 
 
 12. Three questions are to be examined with respect to the 
 time of creation, (a) Whether the world was created actually 
 in time, or from eternity, (b) Whether eternal creation is 
 possible, (c) Is the age of the world known to us. 
 
 (a) Against the ancient Philosophers, Aristotle and Plato, 
 and against materialists and naturalists in all ages, we have 
 to hold that the world is not created from eternity, but produced 
 in time. The world is not a necessary effect from God, but 
 depends entirely on His free-will, and therefore it need not 
 necessarily be eternal. The narrative of creation is given in 
 the first Chapter of the book of Genesis : "In the beginning God 
 created heaven and earth." In Proverbs, it is said in regard to 
 wisdom : " The Lord possessed me in the beginning of His ways, 
 before He made anything from the beginniiig."* And our divine 
 Lord in His prayer to His Father, says : " And now, glorify 
 
 *Prov. viii. 22. 
 
THE apostles' ceeed. 107 
 
 *Thou me, Father, with Thyself, with the glory which I had before 
 the world was, with Thee."* 
 
 The doctrine, as to the fact of creation, is clearly defined in 
 the Council of Lateran (cap. firmiter), in the words : " God, from 
 the beginning, made out of nothing the creature, Angelical and 
 worldly, spiritual and corporal, and then human composed of 
 both." It is therefore to be held as of faith, that the world is not 
 eternal, but produced or created in time. And its truth is proved 
 also by the constant traditions both of Jews and Christians. 
 
 It cannot be urged against this teaching, that creation in 
 time would be an argument against the immutability of God, 
 because the creative action was always in God and one with His 
 nature, but it was ordained to have its effect in time ; and, 
 although it be true that there is an instant assignable before 
 which God could not have made the world, yet we are assured 
 by the inspired Word of God that whatsoever possibility of an 
 eternal existence of the creature, by the free determination of 
 God's will may be imagined, the world actually had a temporal 
 beginning. 
 
 The Possibility op Eternal Creation. 
 
 (b) This may seem to be an entirely Academic question, 
 yet we must bear in mind that very many of the speculative 
 questions of the Schools may be used for or against religion ; and, 
 therefore, against the tendency of many modern works to under- 
 mine religious truth, it is important to know that our Christian 
 teachers have forestalled all modern error, and that too on their 
 own intellectual or scientific grounds. 
 
 For intelligence and reason, claimed by the opponents of 
 Christianity, are the weapons to be used against them, and they 
 must know that we fear not the use of such weapons ; therefore 
 I have often introduced questions that appear to be purely 
 speculative. Catholic Doctors are not agreed as to the possibility 
 of the eternal creation of the world. Some, such as St. Thomas 
 and Suarez, maintain that the world could have been created 
 from eternity, had God so willed it ; although, actually, God 
 willed to create it in time. This, they maintain, is repugnant 
 neither on the part of God or on the part of the world, nor on 
 the part of the creative action. Not on the part of God, for He 
 always possesses the same eternal power and creative action ; 
 
 *St. John. xvii. 5. 
 
108 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 and it is not necessary that a cause should be in time or duration 
 before its effect, provided it be by nature prior to it, as the sun 
 in respect to its light. It is not repugnant on the part of the 
 world, for, as creations, such as our souls, can last for ever, so 
 they could be from eternity ; nor would the world, even though it 
 had always been, be called eternal in the same sense as eternity 
 applies to God, namely, by essence, but only in its own duration 
 a parto ante, as scholastics say, in the same way as some creatures 
 are to exist for ever, and have therefore eternity a parto post, 
 but not in the same way as God Himself. Nor is it repugnant 
 on the part of the creative action, for creation can be in an 
 instant, and does not depend upon time ; and it is not necessary 
 that a thing be post nihil — after nothing, but ex nihil — from or out 
 of nothing. 
 
 Albertus Magnus, St. Bonaventure, Petavius, and other 
 recent authors, maintain, on the contrary, that the world could 
 not by any possibility be eternal, as this would imply a contra- 
 diction. They say, — 
 
 (a) That which is made must have the beginning of its 
 
 duration ; and, therefore, as the world was made by 
 God, it must have a beginning of its duration. 
 
 (b) If the world were from eternity, we should attribute 
 
 eternity to it ; and eternity is proper to God, and 
 belongs to Him alone. 
 
 (c) If the world had always been, there must be an infinite 
 
 series of days in the past ; and as what is passed is 
 finished, so in this case the infinite would be passed 
 over, which is impossible. Had there been an infinite 
 series before to-day, we should never have seen to-day, 
 the world would never have arrived at it. And even 
 supposing that this day did arrive, other days would 
 follow, and be added to the infinite ; and an addition 
 or increase superadded to that which is infiuite, 
 destroys at once the very notion of infinitude as we 
 apprehend it. 
 
 Is the Age op the World Known? 
 
 13. This is the third question which we have to treat in 
 connection with the creation of the world. In consulting the 
 Sacred Scriptures on this point, we find given in them the chron- 
 ology of the human race as comparatively recent ; but as to the 
 
THE APOSTLES* CREED. 1 09 
 
 chronology of the world itself, all that the Sacred Scriptures say 
 is that " In the beginning God created heaven and earth? There 
 is great liberty of opinion given on the question of the age of the 
 world, so that, as far as Holy Scripture is concerned, the world 
 may have existed 1,000 or 1,000,000 years before man; and 
 there may have been plants and animals in it as Geologists of 
 our day suppose. The Church not only tolerates this opinion, 
 but some of her eminent Doctors and Theologians openly teach 
 it. We can, however, come to some definite knowledge as to the 
 age of the human race, as computed by commentators from the 
 Holy Scriptures. The age of the human race is nowhere in the. 
 Sacred Writings explicitly and accurately stated ; but from various 
 data and facts of Sacred History, by computation, we can calcu- 
 late the number of years from Adam to Christ. That whole 
 series of years may be divided into two parts : (a) from the 
 creation of the world to the call of Abraham ; and (b) from the 
 call of Abraham till the coming of Christ. As to the last interval 
 the difference of Chronologists is very slight ; and we may say 
 that they are substantially of one opinion, that the number of 
 years in this period can be computed at 2,000. 
 
 As to the period from Adam to the call of Abraham there is 
 a great difference of opinion amongst Chronologists. This diver- 
 sity of opinion has arisen from different readiug of the ancient 
 versions of the Sacred Scriptures, and could have arisen, in 
 part, from the manner of computation. The Genealogy from 
 Adam to Noe, and from Noe to Abraham, is computed from 
 the number of generations from father to son, viz. : Adam 
 lived a hundred and thirty years, and begot a son to his own 
 image and likeness, and called his name Seth. And the days of 
 
 Adam, after he begot Seth, were eight hundred years And all 
 
 the time that Adam lived came to nine hundred and thirty years, 
 and he died, &c, and 'so on to Abraham. Abraham, however, 
 was seventy-five years when he received the call of God ; and in 
 thi3 way, the number of years from Adam to the call of Abraham 
 is counted. The more ancient versions of the Pentateuch, now 
 extant, are the three known as the Hebrew, the Samaritan, and 
 the Septuagint ; and in these three we find a great difference in 
 the enumeration of the years from Adam to Christ, and 
 especially in the period from Adam to the call of Abraham ; so 
 that, in the whole period up to Christ, we find a difference of 
 1,500 years as to the age of the human race. We can, however, 
 even with this difference taken into consideration, learn from 
 Scripture and tradition that the age of the human race, from 
 
110 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 Adam to Christ, does not exceed 6,000 years, and is not less than 
 4,000 years, and if we add to that 1,892 years, we can conclude 
 from data given in the Bible that the present age of the human 
 race is contained within the space of 6,000 and 8,000 years. 
 
 We have, however, to note (a) that this age of the human 
 race, is not determined by the Bible, but only made out by 
 calculations from it ; (b) that according to many modern writers, 
 some of them Catholics and men of great authority, the age of • 
 the human race, is not the same as the age of the world, or this 
 orb of the world. 
 
 14. As to the age of the world, or of this earth which we 
 inhabit, we have three opinions. The first opinion places an 
 indetermined period between the creation of heaven and earth, 
 and the work of the six days of creation. The second opinion 
 supposes each day of the six to represent an indefinite period of 
 time. The third opinion, which may be said to be the opinion 
 of the Fathers and of the older Theologians, except St. Augustine, 
 makes the age of the world correspond to the age of the human 
 race, and takes the six days of creation as six natural days of 
 24 hours each, formed as now by the earth turning on its axis. 
 
 Neither of the two opinions first stated have ever been 
 demonstrated with certainty up to the present, but neither of 
 them is against the text of Scripture. The text of the first 
 Chapter of Genesis admits of various interpretations. Eeceno 
 scientific investigations in Geology are much in favour of these 
 opinions. It appears certain that the Bible narrative admits of 
 an interpretation that the age of the world may have gone on for 
 an indefinite period before the creation of man, and this is all 
 that modern Catholic Geologists require. 
 
 I hope I may not be considered too antiquated if I say that 
 the old opinion may yet be regarded as being as well-founded as 
 either of the two others. The recent theories are not yet esta- 
 blished with sufficient certitude to remove all doubts or suspi- 
 cions that they may be altogether false. One thing is certain, 
 that - we must not stretch the proofs of modern science too far, 
 and lead them beyond their object. The age of the world, like 
 the age of the human race, is an historical fact, and rests there- 
 fore more on Authority than on Geology. It is true that the 
 world would require many more years than what is ordinarily 
 given to grow, and to evolve geologically, in order to arrive at its 
 present state of rocks and strata, if it did grow or evolve ; but 
 that is just the question, and a question which can be settled by 
 no science with certainty unless it can first be known what the 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. HI 
 
 world was like immediately on its creation, when it came from 
 the hands of its Maker. This no one can know but God Him- 
 self, and those to whom He may reveal it. God acts in a 
 uniform way in His ordinary Providence, and according to the 
 laws of nature ; but very likely, in the first creation of things, the 
 world, like Adam, was made by God in a perfect state, that is in 
 its full and perfect magnitude. 
 
 And as no one would hold that Adam must be 21 years 
 old on the day of his creation, because, according to the laws of 
 the growth of children, so many years would be required to 
 arrive at perfect manhood ; and it is commonly admitted that 
 Adam did not grow in the ordinary way, but was created in his 
 full stature ; so we may reasonably enough suppose that the 
 world also may have come forth from the hands of God in its full 
 state of formation, and this opinion may be reasonably held until 
 supplanted by some more certain and better established cne. 
 
A 12 
 
 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 ARTICLE II 
 
 Apostles' Creed. 
 
 "And in Jesus Christ, His 
 only Son, Our Lord." 
 
 Nicene Creed. 
 
 "And in one Lord Jesus 
 Christ, the only-begotten Son 
 of God, begotten of the Father 
 before all ages, God of God, 
 Light of Light, True God of 
 True God, begotten, not made, 
 consubstantial with the Father ; 
 by Whom all things were made." 
 
 SECTION 1. (Article II.) 
 CHRIST'S NAME AND SONSHIP. 
 
 The additions made in this Second Article in the Nicene Creed. — 2. 
 Jesus is Our Lord's name, Christ is Our Lord's title. — 3. The three 
 great offices to which men were anointed : Prophet, Priest, and King. 
 — 4. Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God. — 5. The Divine 
 Processions, their nature and division. — 6. The Procession of the 
 Son is called generation, and not the Procession of the Holy Ghost. — 
 7. What is meant by generation ; and why is the Procession of the 
 Son called generation, and not the Procession of the Holy Ghost. — 8. 
 His eternal Sonship. 
 
 1. We may notice that great additions were made in the 
 Nicene Creed. These additions were made as a declaration of 
 the true faith against the heresy of Arius and his followers, who 
 denied the Divinity of Christ. 
 
 2. Jesus is our Lord's name. It is the Greek equivalent 
 (Jehosua F^o-ovs) of the Hebrew Joshua (J ah or Jehovah, Hosea 
 — Saviour) and means Jehovah, the Saviour ! "Thou shalt call His 
 name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins."* 
 
 * St. Matt. i. 21. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 113 
 
 This name was given to our Lord at His Circumcision : "And 
 after eight days were accomplished, that the Child should be cir- 
 cumcised, His name was called Jesus, which was called by the 
 Angel before He was conceived in the womb." * 
 
 Christ is our Lord's title. It is the Greek equivalent of the 
 Hebrew Messiah, and means anointed. To anoint ordinarily 
 means to pour oil on the head. 
 
 3. Among the Jews, men were anointed to three great 
 offices : Prophet, Priest, and King. 
 
 (a) Prophet. Eliseus "thou shalt anoint to be prophet 
 
 in thy room."\ This was the direction given by the 
 Lord to Elias. 
 
 (b) Priest. When Moses was consecrating Aaron to the 
 
 priesthood, he poured oil upon his head, and anointed 
 and consecrated him. J 
 
 (c) King. When David was anointed King ; " Samuel 
 
 took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of 
 h?s brethren ; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon 
 David from that day forward." || 
 These three offices were united in Jesus as the Christ. 
 
 (a) Prophet. "The Lord thy God will raise tip to thee a 
 
 Prophet of thy nation and of thy brethren like unto 
 me (Moses) ; Him thou shalt hear." § 
 
 (b) Priest. According to the words of St. Paul : "Where 
 
 the forerunner Jesus is entered for us, made a High- 
 Priest for ever according to the order of Mel- 
 chizedechy^ 
 
 (c) King. In the words of the Angel addressed to the 
 
 Blessed Virgin, at the time of the Incarnation : "And 
 the Lord shall give to Him the throne of David His 
 father ; and He shall reign in the house of David 
 for ever. And of His Kingdom there shall be no 
 end?'** 
 Our Lord was anointed with the unction of the Holy Spirit 
 
 at His Baptism, when the Spirit of God descended like a dove and 
 
 lighted upon Him. 
 
 That Jesus was the Christ, He Himself distinctly told the 
 
 woman of Samaria, when He said : "I am He who am speaking 
 
 with thee."\\ 
 
 * St. Luke ii. 21. f 3 Kings xix. 16. 1 Lev. viii. 12. 
 
 I) 1 Kings xvi. 13. §Deut. xviii. 15. II Heb. vi. 20. 
 
 ** St, Luke i. 32, 33. ft St. John iv. 26. 
 
 T 
 
114 THE CEEED EXPLAINED. 
 
 Jesus Chbist His only Son. The only-begotten Son of God. 
 
 4. That Christ is the Son of God is clearly proved from 
 many places of the Holy Scripture. Thus, Nathaniel answered 
 and said, "Babbi, Thou art the Son of God, Thou art the King of 
 Israel."* Martha expresses her faith in the words, "Yea, Lord, I 
 have believed that Thou art Christ the Son of the living God."\ 
 In the history of the Passion we read that the High-Priest said 
 to our Saviour : "I adjure Thee by the living God, that Thou tell us 
 if Thou be the Christ the Son of God." I St. Peter expresses the 
 faith of the Apostles in the lifetime of our Lord when he says : 
 "Thou art Christ the Son of the living God."% And again : u Lord, 
 to whom shall we go ? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And 
 we have believed and have known that Thou art the Christ the Son 
 ofGcdr\\ 
 
 Thus the Christ and the Son of God are always inseparable 
 in Scriptural language, which clearly conveys to us the truth that 
 Christ is the true Son of God. 
 
 Before speaking of Christ as man, which belongs more to 
 the next Article of the Creed than to this, we have to consider 
 how Christ is the Son of God, and the peculiarity of His genera- 
 tion. 
 
 To explain how Christ is the Son of God, involves the ques- 
 tion of the Divine Processions and Relations. 
 
 The Divine Pbooessions. 
 
 5. By Procession, we mean the coming forth or emanation 
 of one thing from another. 
 
 Procession is two-fold (a) ad intra or immanens, that, whose 
 term remains in the principle from which it proceeds, and does 
 not go beyond it ; (b) ad extra or transient, which is that, whose 
 term or effect goes outside the principle from which it proceeds ; 
 thus our words, and the productions of nature, are examples of 
 procession ad extra. 
 
 It is either perfect or imperfect. "Perfect, when the term or 
 that which proceeds subsists, and is the same as the subject 
 from which it proceeds. Imperfect, when the term or effect 
 either does not subsist, as in the example of the thoughts of the 
 mind, or is not the same as its principle or fountain head, such 
 
 * St. John i. 49. + St. John xi. 27. J St. Matt. xxvi. 63 
 
 § Ibid xvi. 16. || St. John vi. 69, 70. 
 
THE APOSTLES* CREED. 115 
 
 as in created things ; a son is not the same individual nature as 
 his father. 
 
 In every procession we have three things to consider, 
 namely, the action, the principle, and the term. The principle is 
 that from which the term proceeds. The action is the very act of 
 the principle wnich produces the term, it is the way to the 
 term, and the term or result is that which is produced. 
 
 That there are Processions in God no one has denied, 
 except those who have denied the Mystery of the Holy Trinity. 
 It is also clear from the Sacred Scriptures, and from the definit- 
 ions and declarations of the Councils of Nice and Constanti- 
 nople. 
 
 The reason for this arises from the fact, that there are three 
 Persons in God, really distinct in one and the same divine 
 nature. And this cannot be unless there be Processions. There 
 cannot be three Persons unless there be some opposition or 
 difference between them by which one can be distinguished from 
 another. But, in the divine Persons there can be no opposition,* 
 except what is called relative opposition, and the relations are 
 founded on the divine Processions, and therefore there must be 
 Processions in God. 
 
 According to Scripture, and the Creeds of faith, there are two 
 Processions (ad intra) in God. There are only three Persons — 
 the Father unbegotten, the Son begotten, and the Holy Ghost 
 proceeding. Therefore, there are two and only two Processions, 
 namely, the Procession of the Son from the Father, and of the 
 Holy Ghost from the Father and the Soh. The reason of this is, 
 because we have to admit Procession in God according to His 
 internal actions, or the actions that remain in Himself, and these 
 are two and two only — the act of the intellect, and the act of the 
 will, virtually distinct from one another. 
 
 6. Now we have to consider the question of the Sonship ; 
 that is, that the Procession of the Son is called generation, and 
 not the Procession of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 As we have explained, there are in God two Processions : 
 the Procession of the Son from the intellect ; and of the Holy 
 Ghost from the Will. In regard to these, some things are of 
 faith ; and these I shall state before introducing those on which 
 the opinions of Theologians differ, 
 
 It is of faith that the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity 
 is the Son and the only begotten Son of God ; and, therefore, it is 
 
 ♦Opposition is here used in its technical Theological sense. 
 
116 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 of faith that the Procession of the Son is a generation, but the 
 Procession of the Holy Ghost is not a generation. 
 
 Hence, it follows that the Son proceeds from the Father by 
 generation ; the Holy Spirit does not proceed by generation, but 
 by simple procession from the Father and the Son. 
 
 This doctrine is proved from Scripture, for the reason that, 
 in holy Scripture, the Second Person is called the Son, and said 
 to be begotten, and the only begotten, whilst the Holy Ghost is 
 never called Son, and never said to have been begotten, but 
 simply proceeding, as is expressed in the Athanasian Creed : 
 " The Son is from the Father alone, not made, nor created, but 
 begotten. The Holy Ghost from the Father and the Son, not 
 made, nor created, but proceeding." 
 
 7. In further elucidation of this doctrine, it is necesssary 
 to understand what is meant by generation. 
 
 Generation is two-fold, the generation of animate and in- 
 animate things. The generation of inanimate, or not living 
 things, is the change effected by bringing them from the state of 
 non-existence into existence, or their production from nothing, 
 the same as creation ; or from something else, from which they 
 are produced by some external agency. Amongst living things 
 generation is denned : Origo viventis a vivente conjuncto in sim- 
 ilitudine natures specificce : " The origin or coming forth of a 
 living being from another, in the similitude of its specific 
 nature;" in other other words, generation means " a substantial 
 production, by virtue of which the being produced is made like 
 in nature to the being that produces it." Thus a man produces a 
 man, a horse a horse, and so on, because these, by virtue of 
 their production, are made in the same nature as their progenitors. 
 Notice the words " by virtue of the production or the procession ;" 
 because Eve proceeded, or was made, from the rib of Adam, and 
 this, although it was the origin or substantial production of one 
 living being from another in the likeness of nature, yet that 
 similitude was not by virtue of the production, because any other 
 species of creature might be produced from the rib of Adam in 
 the same way : and it was not by virtue of her production that 
 Eve was a human being, hence her procession was not a genera- 
 tion, and she was not a child of Adam. 
 
 The procession of the Word in the divine nature is a real 
 generation. It is the procession of a living being from a living 
 being, namely, from the divine intelligence, and joined or united 
 with its principle; for the action by which the Son proceeds 
 does not proceed outside God, but remains in Him by the 
 
THE APOSTLES* CREED. 117 
 
 most intimate union. And He proceeds in the likeness of nature, 
 because the concept of the intellect is the likeness of the thing 
 understood, and existing in the same nature, because in God 
 to be and to understand are one and the same thing. 
 
 As to the reason why the procession of the Son is called 
 generation, and not the procession of the Holy Ghost, there are 
 various opinions. St. Augustine assigns it as the reason, because 
 the Son proceeds from one. No Son proceeds from two Fathers. 
 Vasques and others say, that it is because the Son proceeds as 
 the Image of the Father. Others, because the Son has from the 
 Father a nature by which He can produce another, namely, the 
 Holy Ghost, Who proceeds from the two. Lastly, the reason 
 assigned by St. Thomas and his followers is, that the Son pro- 
 ceeds from the divine intellect, which of itself assimulates to 
 itself that which it produces ; and the Holy Ghost proceeds from 
 the divine Will which does not assimulate by its own act, or 
 make its object like to itself. Although the Holy Ghost is in 
 all things equal to, and like to the Father and the Son, this 
 likeness is hy reason of the Divine Nature which is common to 
 the Three, and not by reason of the Procession. 
 
 For the rest, let us be satisfied to confess with St. Gregory 
 Nazianzen, the generation of the Son, as well the procession of 
 the Holy Ghost, is rather to be honoured than investigated, as 
 the Mystery is ineffable. 
 
 It is in this eternal generation of the Son that we express 
 our faith when we say the Creed. He is the Son of God under 
 many lesser titles ; because He was conceived by the Holy Ghost ; 
 because sent by the Father ; because of the resurrection as the 
 first-born of the children of men ; because of His actual possession 
 of the inheritance of the Kingdom of heaven ; but in a way above 
 all these, in a way peculiar to Himself, and in a way in which no 
 other Son can have any share or similitude, He is the only-be- 
 gotten Son of God by eternal oeneraiion. 
 
 8. He was before John the Baptist according to the 
 testimony of St. John himself: " This is He of whom I spoke : 
 He that shall come after Me is preferred before Me, because He was 
 before Me."* 
 
 He was before Abraham, which speaks a longer time than 
 John the Baptist : " Jesus said to them : Amen, amen, I say to you, 
 before Abraham was made I am.\ 
 
 Christ's existence extends to a far longer period according to 
 
 * St. John i. 15. \ St. John viii. 58. 
 
118 THE CEEED EXPLAINED. 
 
 the words of St. Peter : "Because Christ also died once for our sins, 
 the Just for the unjust, that He might offer us to God, being put to 
 death indeed in the flesh, but enlivened in the Spirit. In which 
 also coming He preached to those spirits that were in prison. Which 
 had been sometime incredulous when they waited for the patience of 
 God in the days of Noe when the Ark was a-building."* From 
 which it appears, that Christ certainly preached by His same 
 divine spirit, by which He afterwards raised Himself from the 
 dead, to the souls in Limbo in the days of Noe, and while the 
 ark was being prepared.! 
 
 Finally, He existed at the beginning of the world, for He 
 created it as the Scriptures tell us. Hence St. Paul in his Epistle 
 to the Hebrews tells us, (God) "in these days hath spoken to us by 
 His Son, Whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by Whom 
 also He made the world." I 
 
 There remain two other expressions in the Nicene Creed, 
 which belong to the explanation of this Article of Faith : namely, 
 Consubstantial to the Father, and, By Whom all things were t^dde. 
 
 * 1 St. Peter iii. 19, 20. f Pearson, Art. ii. ♦ Heb. i. 2. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 119 
 
 SECTION 2. (Aeticle II.) 
 
 THE DIVINITY OF CHEIST. 
 
 1. The meaning of the word consubstantial. — 2. The Son the Second 
 Person is consubstantial with the Father. — 3. Scriptural proofs of 
 the Divinity of Christ : (a) To Him divine powers and rights are 
 attributed, (b) To Him divine honours are to be given, (c) Christ 
 affirmed His Divinity by His words, (d) The disciples and Jews 
 understood the words of Christ as asserting His Divinity.— 4. The 
 Divinity of the Word 6A6yos as proved from the first portion of the 
 Gospel of St. John. 
 
 Consubstantial. 
 
 1 This word means having one and the same substance. 
 It may be two-fold : (a) Individual consubstantiality, and (b) 
 Specific consubstantiality. That is, it may mean one and the 
 same individual ; or one and the same only in species. 
 
 Individual consubstantiality of the three Persons of the Holy 
 Trinity is the Catholic doctrine. Merely consubstantiality in 
 species would mean three Gods, the same as Peter, James, and 
 John signify three men, although they have the same specific 
 human nature. If the three divine Persons were one only in 
 species, they could be said to have three individual natures and 
 to be three Gods, which is Polytheism. 
 
 If the Son and the Holy Ghost be God, in the same way as 
 the Father, there is in them only one and the same divine nature, 
 one and the same individual divinity. Here we have to confine 
 ourselves to the Son, the Second Person of the Trinity ; as we 
 have our faith in the Holy Ghost expressed in another Article of 
 the Creed. 
 
 The Person of the Son is Consubstantial with the Father. 
 
 2. The proofs for this truth may be taken from the different 
 places of the Sacred Scriptures, which prove at the same time 
 the divinity of the Word and the divinity of Jesus Christ. The 
 first regard the Word in Himself, and the second the Word in- 
 carnate 
 
120 THE CBEED EXPLAINED. 
 
 3. This truth is denned clearly in the Council of Nice, and 
 expressed clearly in the words of the Creed. I shall here confine 
 myself to the Gospel revelations concerning the divinity of Jesus 
 Christ, and place the texts in the order in which they are given 
 by the Abbe Moulin.* 
 
 (a) "To Jesus Christ is attributed divine powers and rights.' 1 
 
 1. "Amen, amen, I say unto you .for what things 
 
 soever He (the Father) doth, these the Son also doth in 
 like manner." \ 2. He recommends us to practice 
 virtue in His name. J 3. He declares that He has 
 the power to forgive sins. || 4. This power He exer- 
 cises in His own Person, and communicates to His 
 disciples. § 5. He announces Himself as the Supreme 
 Judge of the living and the dead. IT 6. He disposes 
 of the rewards, and the places of the Kingdom of 
 heaven, as His own inheritance : " The Son of man 
 shall send his Angels, and shall gather together His elect 
 from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth 
 to the uttermost part of heaven. And every one that 
 hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or 
 mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My name's 
 sake, shall receive a hundred-fold, and shallpossess life 
 everlasting."** "He that eateth My flesh and drinketh 
 My blood hath everlasting life ; and I will raise him up 
 at the last day."|||| 
 (6) To the same Jesus Christ is attributed divine honours. 
 1. "That all men may honour the Son, as they honour 
 the Father. He who honoureth not the Son, honoureth 
 not the Father who hath sent Him." XX 2. "He that 
 loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of 
 Me ; and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me 
 is not worthy of Me." \\ 3. "If any one love Me, he 
 will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and 
 We will come to him and make our abode with him."%% 
 Together with faith and love, Jesus Christ commands ador- 
 ation, (a) This is proved from the example of the blind man in 
 the Gospel, to whom Jesus said : "Dost thou believe in the Son of 
 God ? He answered and said, Who is he Lord, that I may believe 
 
 * Demons, de la divinite du Catholicisme, 2 Partio. Cap. iv. 
 t St. John v. 19. X St. Matt. x. 32 et seq. || St. Luke v. 24. 
 
 § St. John xx. 23. M St. Matt. xxv. ° St. Mark xiii. 27. 
 
 ** St. Matt. xix. 29. || || St. John vi. 55. } + St. John v. 23. 
 
 ft St. Matt. x. 37. §§ St. John xiv. 23. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 121 
 
 in Him? And Jesus said to him, Thou hast both seen Him, 
 and it is He that talketh with thee. Then the blind man said, I 
 believe Lord. And falling down, he adored Him. 7 '* The holy 
 women and the disciples adored Christ also. And when St. 
 Thomas threw himself at His feet exclaiming, " My Lord and 
 my God /" Jesus Christ approved of it, and said to him, ''Because 
 thou hast seen, Thomas, thou hast believed ; blessed are they wJw 
 have not seen and have believed.''^ 
 
 (c) From these revelations we see that Jesus Christ affirmed 
 
 His divinity by His manner of acting. He affirmed 
 it still more explicitly by His words. He declared 
 Himself to be Christ the Son of God, equal to the 
 Father, and one with Him and the Holy Spirit. 1. 
 "I and the Father are one.'*\ 2. ''Though you will not 
 believe Me, believe the works ; that you may knoio and 
 believe that the Father is in me and I in the Father."^ 
 3. (t I am the light of the world." § 4. "I am the way, 
 the truth, and the life." 5. "He that seethMe, seeth the 
 Father also."= 6. "All things which the Father hath 
 are mine.'*** 7. "And no man hath ascended into heaven 
 but He that descended from heaven, the Son of man who 
 is in heaven." tt 
 
 (d) In these revelations on the part of Jesus Christ, we find 
 
 clear formal statements of His divinity. The disciples 
 and the Jews were not deceived. Both the one and 
 the other understood that Jesus Christ, in calling 
 Himself the Son of God, did not signify merely a just 
 man, or a friend of God, but that He meant the Divine 
 Word, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the 
 eternal and only-begotten Son of God, God the same 
 as the Father and the Holy Ghost. Thus, (1) when 
 He asked His Apostles, "But whom do you say that I 
 am ? Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art 
 Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answer- 
 ing said unto him, "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona, 
 because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but 
 my Father who is in heaven." \ \ (2) And " she ('Martha) 
 saith to Him, Yea, Lord, I have believed that Thou 
 
 * St. John ix. 35, 38. t St. John xx. 29. $ St. John x. 30. 
 
 || St. John x. 38. § St. John viii. 12. °St. John xiv. 6. 
 
 m St. John xiv. 9. ** St. John xvi. 13. ft St. John iii. 13. 
 
 || St. Matt. xvi. 15, 17. 
 
122 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 art Christ, the Son of the living God, who art come into 
 the world."* 
 
 St. John commences his Gospel by proclaiming the divinity 
 of Christ. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was 
 with God, and the Word was God." Later on I shall explain his 
 words more fully. Other Evangelists and Sacred writers are no 
 less explicit in their statements. Holy David, before them, pro- 
 claimed the eternal generation of Christ in the bosom of the 
 Father. And Isaias salutes Him as i( God the powerful, the Father 
 of the world to come, the Prince of peace.'' 
 
 The incredulous Jews understood the assertions of Jesus 
 Christ regarding His divinity in the sense here explained. When 
 Christ on one occasion asked them why they wished to stone 
 Him. "The Jews answered Him: For a good work we stone Thee 
 not, but for blasphemy ; and because that Thou, being a man, 
 makest Thyself God."\ And when on the day of His Passion 
 Caiphas exclaimed : "I adjure Thee by the living God tell us if 
 Thou be Christ the Son of God V* Jesus answered: Tu dixisti. 
 Thou hast said it ; in other words, I am. And Pilate, when he 
 said he could find no cause for the condemnation of Christ, the 
 Jews answered him, "We have a law, and according to the law He 
 should die, because He made Himself the Son of God." I 
 
 Jesus Christ is therefore truly God. Friends and enemies 
 listened to and heard this doctrine from Himself and from His 
 Apostles, and for 1900 years the Christian world has believed in 
 the divinity of Jesus Christ. 
 
 Jesus Christ, Who is truly God, is also called Our Lord. 
 
 The word Lord is that name of God which is expressed in 
 the Hebrew by Jehovah (in Greek Kvptos). And this was dis- 
 tiDctly applied to Christ by the Angels at His birth: "For this 
 day is born to you a Saviour, Who is Christ the Lord, in the City 
 of David."§ St. Thomas calls Him : My Lord and my God. 
 
 This is also the title of King or Euler ; and so Christ is 
 "King of kings and Lord of lords. God hath subjected all under 
 His feet, and hath made Him head over all the Church." \\ And in 
 the Acts of the Apostles it is said, "Therefore let all the house of 
 Israel know ?nost certainly, that God hath made both Lord and 
 Christ, this same Jesus whom you have crucijied."** 
 
 Christ therefore, the only-begotten Son of God, is our Lord, 
 because He is the Lord of all things and of all persons, which 
 
 * St. John xi. 27. t St. John x. 33. J St. John xix. 7. 
 
 § St. Luke ii. 2. || Eph. i. 22. *• Acts ii. 36. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 123 
 
 He must be, Who, as God made all things, and to Whom all 
 power is given as Man. He is our Lord, not only because we are 
 created by Him, but also, as we shall see afterwards, because of 
 His Eedemption, and the manner in which He purchased our 
 sanctification and salvation. 
 
 As a connecting link between this Article and the next, I 
 may quote the first portion of the beginning of St. John's Gospel, 
 which contains the dogmatic description of the Person of Jesus 
 Christ under the name of the Word (6 Adyos). 
 
 4. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with 
 God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with 
 God. All things were made by Him ; and without Him was made 
 nothing that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light 
 of men. And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness did 
 not comprehend it. There was a man sent from God whose name 
 was John. This man came for a witness, to give testimony of the 
 light, that all men might believe through Him. He was not the 
 light, but was to give testimony of the light. That was the true 
 light, which enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world. 
 He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the 
 world kneiu Him not. He came unto His own, and His oiun receiv- 
 ed Him not. Btit as many as received Him, He gave them power 
 to be made the Sons of God, to them that believed in His name. 
 Who are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the 
 will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt 
 among us (and we saw His glory as it were of the only-begotten of 
 the Father) full of grace and truth."* 
 
 In this portion of the Gospel of St. John we have the doc- 
 trine concerning the Person of the Word clearly delivered. His 
 eternity, personality, and divinity ; His relation to His creatures, 
 and His life-giving Incarnation. 
 
 In the beginning was the Word. (6 Adyos). Only St. John, of 
 all the writers of the New Testament, makes use of this expres- 
 sion to signify the Person of Christ, although St. Paul, by the 
 words (6 Aoyosrov Qeov) " the Word of God is living and effectual,'' 
 signifies the hypostatic Word of God. 
 
 The attributes of the Word as signified in this chapter 
 are: — 
 
 (a) His Personality. It is said that the Word was with God ; 
 that all things were made by Him ; that He came unto 
 His own ; that He gave them power to become the 
 
 * St. John i. 1-14. 
 
124 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 sons of God ; that He dwelt amongst us. It is identi- 
 fied with Jesus Christ, Who is certainly a Person. 
 
 (b) His Eternity. He was in the beginning ; that is, before 
 
 all time. 
 
 (c) His distinction from the Father. He was with God the 
 
 Father. 
 
 (d) His Divinity and consubstantiality with the Father. 
 
 And the Word was God. 
 
 (e) His creative power. Of all things that were made by Him, 
 
 nothingis excepted from the creative power of the Word. 
 
 (/) He was the light and the life of men. That is, the essen- 
 tial and divine life in the Word, and its participation 
 in created things by the natural life which they have 
 received ; and, more especially, it signifies the super- 
 natural life of grace here, and of beatitude hereafter ; 
 
 because that life is called the light of men which 
 
 the darkness did not comprehend, and which gave 
 them power to become the sons of God. He is called 
 the Life, inasmuch as He is at the same time the effi- 
 cient and meritorious cause of that life in us. That 
 He was the light of men, follows from His being the 
 life. He was the supernatural light by faith and 
 revelation here, and by the vision of God in heaven, 
 because to no man has that light ever come except 
 (intuitu meritorum Christi) through Christ. 
 
 (g) His divine and only-begotten Sonship. And the Word 
 was made flesh, &c. This reveals the great mystery, 
 the manner in which the Word came unto His own. 
 Made flesh, that is, made man according to a hebraism. 
 The Evangelist uses flesh instead of man (caro instead 
 of homo) against the false teachers of his day, who 
 denied the humanity of Christ on the ground that the 
 flesh came from an evil principle. And dwelt among 
 us. That is, He lived and conversed with us men on 
 earth in the flesh, and not only as a visible man, but 
 as the only-begotten Son of God, full of grace and 
 truth. The Word, by His superabundant communi- 
 cation of His gifts to His creatures, shows Him to us 
 full of grace, inasmuch as every grace and gift in the 
 supernatural order comes through the Word to us ; 
 and full of truth, inasmuch as He, the Divine Word, 
 teaches us the way of salvation, and opens to us the 
 secrets of the divinity both in time and eternity. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 125 
 
 ARTICLE III. 
 
 Apostles' Creed. Ntcene Creed. 
 
 " Who was conceived by " Who for us men, and for 
 
 the Holy Ghost, born of the our Salvation, came down from 
 Virgin Mary." heaven, and became incarnate 
 
 of the Holy Ghost of the 
 Virgin Mary, and was made 
 man." 
 
 SECTION 1. (Article III.) 
 
 THE INCARNATION. 
 
 1. The meaning of the Incarnation. — 2. Jesus Christ is truly God. — 
 3. Christ is really and truly man. — 4. Christ has a true human 
 body. — 5. Christ, the Word of God, took to Himself a true human 
 soul. — 6. The Personal or Hypostatic union of the two natures in 
 Christ, and in Christ there are these two natures, Divine and human. 
 — 7. There is only one Person in Christ ; to wit, the Person of the 
 Son of God. — 8. Nestorius, his heresy, and its condemnation. — 9. 
 Eutyches, his heresy, and its condemnation. — 10. The doctrine of 
 one Person and two natures in Christ as expressed in the Creed of St. 
 Athanasius. — 11. The Communicatio Idiomatum ; its meaning. — 12. 
 It is denned as a dogma of faith that the blessed Virgin is the Mother 
 of God. — 13. The rules to be observed in speaking of Christ according 
 to the Communicatio Idiomatum. 
 
 1. This Article asserts the doctrine of the Incarnation. 
 
 This word means Christ taking upon Him our human nature. 
 By it the Son of God became the Son of man. Eemaining 
 perfect God, He became perfect man of a rational soul and a 
 human body subsisting. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt 
 among us. 
 
 In the preceding Article we have seen that Christ is truly 
 God, and the proofs of His divinity are there given. We have 
 now to establish His humanity, that He is true man as well as 
 
126 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 true God. And for this purpose I must proceed with some 
 further explanation of the mystery of the Incarnation before 
 speaking of Christ's conception and nativity. The Incarnation 
 means that 'God the Son, the second Person of the Blessed 
 Trinity, became man. 
 
 He was God from eternity, and He became man in time, so 
 that we believe Jesus Christ to be true God and true man. True 
 God and true man means that Jesus Christ has two natures, the 
 nature of God and the nature of man ; but these two natures are 
 united in one divine Person, namely, the Person of God the Son. 
 Hence, our Lord has only one Person ; for as the Athanasian 
 Creed expresses it, " As the rational soul and the flesh is one 
 man, so God and man is one Christ." Our Lord says : " I and 
 the Father are one ;" and again, " The Father is greater than I." 
 In these texts the same Person I speaks of Himself both as God 
 and as man.* 
 
 In this doctrine we have to include the (a) divine nature of 
 Jesus, (b) the human nature of Christ, (c) the Personal union of 
 the two natures in Christ, and (d) the oneness or unity of the 
 Person of Jesus Christ. These four points may now be explained 
 in order. 
 
 The Divine Natuee of Cheist. 
 
 2. That Jesus Christ is truly God, consubstantial with the 
 Father, that is one and the same substance with the Father, is 
 fully explained in the preceding Article ; and from this it follows 
 that Christ has the nature of God, and that He is one and the 
 same eternal Being as God the Father. This is shown by His 
 words, and by His works ; and for nineteen centuries Jesus Christ 
 has been adored, loved, and obeyed as God by millions of human 
 beings. A countless number of Martyrs have given their lives 
 rather than deny Christ to be God. How can this faith, and 
 this love, be explained if Christ be not God ? As well might we 
 assert that the earth has been enlightened and heated without 
 the sun to give it light and heat.f 
 
 The Human Natuee op Cheist. 
 
 3. Christ is really and truly man, as He is perfect God. 
 He has a rational soul and a human body like us ; "for,'' in the 
 words of St Paul, " By a man came death, and by a man the resttr- 
 
 * Companion to the Catechism. t l'Abbe Moulin. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 127 
 
 rection of the dead." From which we conclude that Christ was 
 as much a man as the first Adam. He is, therefore, called the 
 Son of man ; and in man's nature He was promised from the 
 beginning. To Eve it was said, "And in thy seed." Then to 
 Abraham, next to David and his son, and thus we have the 
 genealogy of Christ as given by St. Matthew. The Son of 
 David, the Son of Abraham, &c, consequently of the same nature 
 with them. And we, therefore, are His brethren, descending 
 from the same father Adam : " Wherefore it behoved Him in all 
 things to be made like unto His brethren, that He might become a 
 merciful and faithful High Priest before God, that He might be a 
 propitiation for the sins of the people. 3 '* 
 
 4. As man consists of two parts, body and soul, so doth 
 Christ. Christ's body is true and real, not a mere shadow or 
 phantasm. It was an earthly body formed of the substance of 
 Mary, His mother, and not a body brought down from heaven. 
 
 He assumed a body, at His conception, of the Blessed Virgin. 
 "Therefore because the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He 
 also Himself in like manner hath been partaker of the same, that 
 through death He might destroy him who had the empire of death, 
 that is to say the devil." \ 
 
 The verity of His body stands on the truth of His nativity ; 
 and the actions and sufferings of His life show the nature 
 of His flesh. He was first born with a body prepared for 
 Him, of the same appearance with those of other infants ; He 
 grew up by degrees, and came eating and drinking, and when He 
 did so suffered hunger and thirst. Those executioners, who 
 ploughed upon His back and made long furrows, the thorns which 
 pricked His temples, the nails which penetrated His hands and 
 feet, and the spear which pierced His side, testify the natural 
 tenderness and reality of His flesh. And lest His miraculous 
 fasting, and walking on the water, and His sudden standing in 
 the midst of His disciples when the doors were shut, should raise 
 an opinion that His body was not truly flesh, He confirmed first 
 His own disciples (and all others after them) by His action as 
 narrated in the Gospel: "See My hands and My feet that it is I 
 myself; handle and see ; for a spirit hath not flesh and bone as you 
 see Me to have.''\\ The reality of Christ's body is also confirmed 
 by the words of St. John: "Every spirit which confesseth that 
 Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is of God. And every spirit which 
 dissolveth Jesus is not of God. v § 
 
 * Heb. ii. 17. t Heb. ii. 14. || St. Luke xxiv. 39. § Epb. iv. 2, 3. 
 
128 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 Christ, who is both God and man, was as soon denied by 
 unbelievers to be man as God. Simon Magus was the first to 
 deny this, and after him a sect called the Docetae, who imagined 
 that Christ was man only in appearance.* 
 
 That the Word took to Himself a true human body, and not 
 a mere phantom-like appearance, is also proved by the words of 
 St. John : Et verbum caro factum est — "And the Word was made 
 flesh " ; the Evangelist speaks of real and true flesh, and 
 therefore a real and true body. 
 
 5. The Word took to Himself a human soul. "Jesus 
 increased in wisdom and age and grace before God and man"\ 
 Wisdom and grace belong not to the flesh, or the body, but to 
 the soul ; and God's wisdom or knowledge cannot increase. 
 
 As we read in St. John's Gospel, Christ said, "I lay down 
 My life for My sheep." And again : " Therefore doth the Father love 
 Me because I lay down My life that I may take it again.'' These 
 words cannot be understood merely of the body, because in no 
 place is the body called life or soul ; nor can they be understood 
 of the Divinity, which the Incarnate Word cannot lay down and 
 take up again ; therefore, they must be understood of some kind 
 of soul. That soul was (a) sensitive because it was capable of 
 sadness, dread, disgust, &c. "He began to grow sorrowful and to be 
 sad." I "And Hebegan to fear and to be heavy, and He saith to them, 
 My soul is sorrowful even unto death." § "And there appeared to 
 Him an Angel from heaven strengthening Him."\\ That soul was a 
 rational soul according to the words: "Jesus therefore, when He 
 had taken the vinegar, said, It is consummated ; and bowing His 
 head, He gave up the ghost."** And those others : " Father, if Thou, 
 wilt, remove this chalice from Me ; but yet not My will but Thine be 
 done."\\ And again : " And Jesus crying with a loud voice, said, 
 Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit. And saying this, 
 He gave up the ghost" \\ As His death was the separation of His 
 soul from His body, so did His life, as man, consist in the 
 union of that soul with that body. This particular truth must 
 be maintained against the false teachers, who, in olden times, 
 taught that Christ assumed human flesh, but that the Word 
 or His Divinity was to that body in place of an informing 
 soul. 
 
 * Pearson, Analysis of Art. iii. t St. Luke ii. 53. % St. Matt. xxvi. 37 
 § St. Mark xiv. 33-34. || St. Luke xxii. 43. ** St. John xix. 30. 
 
 tt St. Luke xxii. 42. J} St. Luke xxiii. 46. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 129 
 
 The Personal Union of the Two Natures in Christ. 
 
 6. The divine nature and the human nature are quite 
 distinct in Christ. The one is not the other ; neither is one 
 changed into the other. Each has its own operations. The 
 divine nature has its divine intelligence and divine will ; and the 
 human nature has its human intellect and human will. This 
 doctrine is proved from the Scriptures, wherein Christ is very 
 often said to be true God and true man ; and this could not be 
 said unless Christ has a double nature, divine and human, distinct 
 and unconfused. 
 
 This union is called hypostatic, that is to say, personal, be- 
 cause both the divine operations and the human operations in 
 Jesus Chiist belong to one and the same Person. 
 
 By this hypostatic union, neither is the form or nature ot 
 God changed, nor the form or nature of man, nor does any third 
 or new production result from the connection of the two, for then 
 Christ would be neither God nor man. 
 
 Although the two natures are distinct they are not separated, 
 for, by the hypostatic union, the human nature is joined to the 
 "Word by a most intimate, real, and physical union. The Word 
 unites the humanity to Itself immediately, and by Itself without 
 any medium coming between them ; because, as St. Thomas 
 says, "Immediate et per se terminat, complet et perficit humanam 
 naturam." 
 
 In Christ there are, therefore, two natures, divine and 
 human, distinct and unconfused. This clearly follows from the 
 proofs of Christ's divinity, and His humanity. 
 
 One Person in Christ, and that Divine. 
 
 7. There is, however, only one Person in Christ, and that 
 the Divine Person of the Son of God. In holy Scripture one and 
 the same Christ is constantly brought before us as the Son of 
 God and the Son of man. But Christ is not thus brought before us 
 as God and man on account of the identity of the divine and 
 human nature, as is clear, but on account of the identity of 
 Person ; and, therefore, in Christ there is only one Person, and 
 that the Divine, united in two natures, truly, really, and sub- 
 stantially. 
 
 The reason of this is that God truly became man, according 
 to the express testimony of St. John and other inspired writers 
 K 
 
130 THE QREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 above quoted. But God did not become man by the change of 
 the Divinity into flesh, or into human nature, or vice versa, nor 
 by a mere moral or accidental union with man ; therefore by 
 what is known as the hypostatic or personal union. Not by the 
 change of the Divinity into humanity, for God's nature cannot 
 admit of such a change or transformation ; not by a mere moral 
 or accidental union such as exists between two friends, because, 
 however close that union may be, it can never be said that one 
 is or becomes the other ; and it can be said of the Divine Word 
 that He became flesh or man. Moreover, all the just are united 
 to God by this moral union, and the moral union of just souls 
 with God is common to the three Divine Persons, and not 
 proper in any singular or peculiar way to the second Person. 
 
 Far otherwise is the union of the Word with our nature, 
 for in consequence of this union the Word is said to be made 
 man ; to have annihilated Himself ; to have taken the form of a 
 servant, and therefore the union with human nature is physical, 
 personal, or hypostatic. 
 
 8. Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople, and his followers, 
 asserted that there were two persons in Christ, and this heresy 
 was condemned in the Council of Ephesus, the third General 
 Council of the Church, in 431. 
 
 9. Eutyches, the Superior of a Monastery in Constantinople, 
 and his followers, asserted that there was only one nature in 
 Christ. This heresy was condenmed in the Council of Chalcedon, 
 which is the fourth General Council, in the year 451. 
 
 10. And the Faith of the Church in regard to the doctrine 
 of one Person, and two natures in Christ is distinctly expressed 
 in the Creed of St. Athanasius, " For the right faith is that we 
 believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is 
 God and man. 
 
 " God of the substance of the Father, begotten before the world ; 
 and man, of the substance of His Mother, born in the world. 
 
 " Perfect God and perfect man : of a reasonable soul and 
 human flesh subsisting : equal to the Father as touching His God- 
 head, and inferior to the Father as touching His manhood. 
 
 V Who altlwugh He be God and man, yet He is not two, but 
 one Christ. 
 
 " One not by reason of conversion of the God-head into flesh, 
 out by taking of the manhood into God. One altogether, not by 
 confusion of substance, but by unity of Person. 
 
 "For as the rational soul and flesh is one man, so God and 
 Man is one Christ." 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 131 
 
 COMMUNICATIO IDIOMATUM, 
 
 11. Literally this is the communication of idioms, and it 
 means that the attributes and properties of the divine and 
 human natures may be mutually predicated or asserted of each 
 other ; so that we can say, God is Man, and Man is God, in 
 speaking of Christ, and also that God suffered and died for us 
 upon the Cross. 
 
 Nestorius and those who denied the personal union of the 
 two natures in Christ, denied the Commitnicatio Idiomatum, as 
 this is founded on the hypostatic or personal union. Eutyches 
 and those who confounded the two natures into one, erred in the 
 Communicatio Idiomatum in various ways ; and to this class the 
 Ubiquists of more recent times may be said to belong. These 
 held the real communication of the divine attributes to the 
 human nature of Christ, so that, after the Incarnation, they held 
 that His human nature was everywhere, together with the 
 divine nature, and that it has immensity ; while our faith tells 
 us that Christ's human nature is only in heaven and in the 
 Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. 
 
 It is of faith that in Christ the Communicatio Idiomatum is 
 to be admitted. This is proved from Holy Scripture, which in 
 many places ascribes divine attributes to man, and human 
 attributes to God. Thus St. John says, "And the Word was 
 made flesh." And St. Paul, in his Epistle to the Philippians and 
 elsewhere, speaks of the Son of God being born of a woman, 
 and of the Lord of Glory being crucified. 
 
 12. This was defined in the Council of Ephesus, when it 
 declared it to be a truth of faith, that the Blessed Virgin is the 
 Mother of God. All the arguments and reasons that prove 
 Christ to be both God and man, serve also to prove this Com- 
 munication. When two forms are found in one substance they 
 can in the concrete be mutually predicated of each other, such as 
 we can say, in speaking of a blazing fire, what is red is hot ; and 
 again, we can predicate of man the properties of either soul or 
 body. He is tall or stout, intelligent, good or bad, as the case 
 may be, all predicated of the one person, marn. Thus, in what 
 may be called an expository syllogism, it may be said, Christ is 
 Man, and Christ is God; therefore Man is God, and God is 
 Man. 
 
 It is also of faith, that there is no real communication of 
 attributes, for all the gifts that human nature can have must be 
 
132 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 finite and created, and therefore distinct from the uncreated 
 divine perfections of God. 
 
 The divine perfections cannot in reality be communicated 
 to the humanity, because they are infinite, and because it_ is 
 impossible to communicate one of them without communicating 
 all the others. It is needless to say, that finite perfections, as 
 they exist in creatures, are repugnant to God, because He can 
 have nothing by participation, or nothing which is imperfect in 
 any way. 
 
 In speaking, therefore, of Christ, it is necessary for the sake 
 of accuracy and correct doctrine to remember : — 
 
 (a) It is of faith that one nature in Christ cannot be 
 
 predicated of the other in the abstract — that is, we 
 cannot say that the humanity is the divinity, because 
 the two natures remain distinct and unconfused in 
 Christ ; and in the abstract, they signify two distinct 
 natures, and one is not therefore the other in this 
 sense. 
 
 (b) It follows from the preceding, and it is of faith, that 
 
 the properties or perfections of the divinity cannot 
 either in the abstract or in the concrete be predicated 
 of the humanity. For it is defined that the properties 
 of both natures remain distinct and unconfused, and 
 incommunicable to each other. 
 
 (c) For the same reason, and with the same certainty, we 
 
 have to believe that the properties of the humanity 
 can not either in the abstract, or in the concrete, be 
 predicated of the divinity taken in the abstract. 
 
 (d) From these it follows that the divinity in the abstract 
 
 cannot properly and formally be predicated of man ; nor 
 can humanity and its properties in the abstract be 
 predicated of God.* 
 13. I may lay down the following rules to be observed, in 
 
 speaking of the God Man, according to the Communicatio Idio- 
 
 matum. 
 
 Eule 1. — God and His attributes can be predicated of Christ 
 
 and of man by a true and correct predication, e.g., It is of faith 
 
 that thi3 man, viz., Christ, is God; therefore He is omnipotent, 
 
 eternal, omniscient, &c. 
 
 Divinity and humanity are abstract terms, and signify the divine and 
 human natures. God and man are concrete terms, and signify the Person 
 who terminates both natures and unites them in Himself. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 133 
 
 Eule 2. — Whatever is said essentially of God, and whatever 
 is said essentially and personally of the Son of God, can be 
 absolutely predicated of this man, Christ. 
 
 Eule 3. — Although the divine attributes can be simply and 
 absolutely predicated of Christ, this cannot be done with limita- 
 tion (reduplication) as to His humanity. Hence this proposition 
 is not true. Christ, inasmuch as He is man, is God. 
 
 Eule 4. — Whatever is essentially said of man can be ab- 
 solutely predicated of God, in the person of Christ. 
 
 Eule 5. — This predication, though made of God absolutely, 
 would not be correct with the limitation or reduplication to the 
 divinity, so that we could not say that God, as such, was born 
 and died. 
 
 Eule 6. — There are some expressions that require a human 
 or created person in order to be verified, and these cannot be 
 predicated either of Christ, or of the Word, or of God, e.g., Pure 
 man. 
 
 From the above doctrine, and the fact that the human 
 nature in Jesus Christ belongs to the Person of the Son of God, 
 it follows : — 
 
 (a) That that nature is adorable by reason of the divine 
 
 Person to whom it is united. 
 
 (b) That for the same reason the human operations of 
 
 the Man God are of infinite value. 
 
 (c) That the Blessed Virgin Mary is the Mother of God. 
 
 We adore the humanity in Jesus Christ, because it is 
 the humanity of the Son of God. The operations or 
 works of this humanity are of infinite value, because 
 they are the operations or works of the Son of God, 
 who is infinite. Mary is the Mother of God, because 
 she is the Mother of Jesus Christ, who is God. 
 
134 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 SECTION 2, (Article III.) 
 
 THE CONCEPTION OF CHKIST OR THE MANNER OF HIS 
 INCARNATION. 
 
 1. — The Gospel narrative of the Conception or Incarnation of Christ.— 2. 
 An Angel announces the Mystery. — 3. The doctrine of Mary's 
 Virginity revealed; or proved from the definition of the Church and 
 the explicit testimony of Holy Scripture, and from congruous or be- 
 coming reasons. — 4. The detestable heresy of Helvidius and the 
 reasons of its condemnation. — 5. Three objections against the per- 
 petual virginity of the Blessed Virgin answered.— 6. Mary's question, 
 and the answer given by the Angel : " The Holy Ghost shall come upon 
 thee," &c. — 7. The threefold work which was accomplished in one 
 and the same instant, in the Mystery of the Incarnation. — 8. The 
 action of Mary and of the Holy Ghost in the accomplishment of this 
 Mystery. — 9. At the instant the Blessed Virgin gave her consent in 
 the words, "Behold the handmaid of the Lo?d," &c. ; the word became 
 flesh and dwelt among us. — 10. The Blessed Virgin, in the Con- 
 ception of Christ, received a new and singular perfection of sanctity. 
 
 The Incarnation means that God the Son took to Himself 
 the nature of man, according to the words of St. John : " The 
 Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." 
 
 We are told in the Creed how the Son of God took to Him- 
 self the flesh and nature of man. He was conceived by the 
 Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary. 
 
 He was conceived. " When the fulness of time was come, God 
 sent His Son, made of a woman.'' * 
 
 1. Now that woman was a virgin. "For the Angel 
 
 Gabriel was sent from God to a virgin whose name luas 
 
 Mary. And the Angel said to her, Thou shalt conceive in thy 
 
 womb, and bear a Son And Mary said, How shall this be 
 
 done, because I know not man. The Angel answered, The Holy 
 Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall 
 overshadow thee ; and therefore the most holy one that shall be born 
 of thee shall be called the Son of God. } '\ Thus was accomplished 
 the prophecy of Isaias, " Behold a virgin shall be with child, and 
 shall bear a Son."\\ As, originally, God by His Almighty power 
 made the first man of the slime or dust of the earth, so tha 
 Divine Spirit, by the same Almighty power, formed the body of the 
 
 * Gal. iv. 4. f St. Luke i. 26-38. II St. Matt. i. 23 
 
 °Gen. ii. 17 
 
THE APOSTLES CREED. 135 
 
 Saviour in the womb of the Virgin, and enabled her, contrary to 
 the order of nature, to perform the office of a mother. "If," 
 eays St. Ambrose, bishop of Milan, " you will not believe this 
 doctrine of the priests, believe at least the oracles of Christ — 
 believe the sayings of the Augels — believe the Apostles' Creed, 
 which the Eoman Church possesses and preserves pure and 
 unadulterated.''* 
 
 In explanation of this Mystery, all that is required is to 
 dwell upon the Gospel narrative. 
 
 2. God sent an Angel to announce this Mystery. 
 
 The Angel Gabriel was sent by the power and the authority 
 of God. He belougs to the order of Archangels, as he was sent 
 to announce great and wonderful things. ' As a bad Angel was 
 the cause of the ruin of the human race, so a good Angel is now 
 employed to aunounce the reparation of mankind. 
 
 This Angel's name was Gabriel, the fortitude or strength of 
 God ; and he is supposed to watch over the wars and battles of 
 men. The announcement of the Incarnation therefore belonged 
 to his office, as by the advent of Christ the power of Satan was 
 to be overcome, and victory obtained over that power in favour 
 of the human race. 
 
 He was sent into a city of Galilee called Nazareth. It was 
 there the Blessed Virgin lived at the time. 
 
 He was sent to a Virgin, who was espoused to a man whose 
 name was Joseph. 
 
 3. Here we have the doctrine of Mary's virginity clearly 
 revealed. It is a dogma of faith that the Mother of God was 
 always a virgin, both before the conception, in the conception of 
 Christ, and ever afterwards. 
 
 Many Councils of the Church define and suppose this, the 
 Creeds of faith affirm it, and it is proclaimed by all the Fathers 
 of the Church by unanimous consent. Thus, in the 3rd Canon of 
 the Council of Lateran held under Martin I., it is said: "If any 
 one refuse to confess according to the Holy Fathers, properly and 
 according to the truth, that the Holy Mother of God, the immaculate 
 
 Mary ever Virgin did conceive without a human father, of the 
 
 Holy Ghost the Word of God, who was born of the Father before 
 all ages, and did bring forth or beget Him without corruption, her 
 virginity after His birth remaining ever aftenvards ; let him be 
 condemned." 
 
 And Paul IV. in his constitution, Cum quorundum, a.d. 
 
 St. Ambose apud Dr. Lingard. Catechism. Art. III. 
 
136 THE CItEED EXPLAINED. 
 
 1555, amongst other heresies enumerates the errors of those who 
 assert, dogmatize or believe, that our Lord Jesus Christ was not 
 conceived according to the flesh, in the womb of the most blessed and 
 ever Virgin Mary, of the Holy Ghost, but, as other men toas con- 
 ceived, of the seed of Joseph or that the same blessed Virgin Mary 
 
 ivas not the true Mother of God, or that she did not always preserve 
 her virginal integrity, before the conception and birth of Christ, in 
 His conception and birth, and after His birth. 
 
 This singular privilege of the Mother of God rests not only 
 on tradition but ou the explicit testimony of Holy Scripture. 
 
 According to the Prophets, it was certain that the Messiah 
 was to be born of a Virgin : that He was to be born miraculously, 
 and be the Son of a woman, not of a man. (a) ** The seed of the 
 woman shall crush the serpent's head."* (b) According with this 
 promise is the prediction of Jeremias. "For the Lord hath 
 created a new thing upon the earth : A woman shall compass a 
 MAN.f" The neio thing is that creation which was wrought in a 
 woman only, without a man. And when the Jews would force 
 the phrase of compassing a man to anything else than a conception, 
 they contradict the first part of the promise neither new as com- 
 mon to all men, nor a creation as an easy natural production. 
 (c) Then, we have the words of the Prophet Isaias, "Therefore 
 the Lord Himself shall give you a sign ; Behold a virgin shall 
 conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel," \ 
 which, as St. Matthew adds, || " being interpreted, is God wich us." 
 
 " It is evident that Mary, the Mother of Jesus, was a virgin 
 when she bore Him, and when she brought forth her first-born 
 Son, and she was a virgin when and after she was espoused to 
 St. Joseph ; (a) the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a virgin 
 espoused, &c. She was a virgin also after the angel's salutation. 
 She asks, (b) "How shall this be done, because I know not man?" 
 Also after her conception by the Holy Ghost ; (c) " For when his 
 mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she 
 was found with child of the Holy Ghost, (d) Also when she had 
 brought forth she remained a virgin, according to St. Matthew's 
 application of Isaias : A virgin shall conceive and shall bring forth 
 a son.'' 
 
 The congruous reasons, assigned by St. Thomas, for the 
 perpetual virginity of the Mother of God may be arranged in the 
 following manner : — 
 
 It was congruous and reasonable that Christ should be 
 
 Gen. iii. 15. f Jer. xxxi. 22. + Isa. vii. 14. St. Matthew i. 23. 
 
THE apostles' cbeed. 137 
 
 conceived of a virgin : (a) To preserve tbe dignity of God the 
 Father, who sent our Saviour into the world. He was the natural 
 and true Son of God, and, therefore, it was incongruous that He 
 should have any other Father but God, or that the dignity of 
 Father should be transferred to another, (b) This was becoming 
 the Son who was sent. He is the Word of God. The word of 
 the mind is conceived without any corruption of the heart. On 
 the contrary, the corruption of the heart interferes with the 
 perfect conception of the word. Therefore, because flesh was 
 assumed by the Word of God in such a manner that it became 
 His flesh, it was therefore conceived without the corruption of 
 His mother, (c) It was becoming to the sacred humanity which 
 Christ assumed ; because sin could not be found in that by which 
 the sin of the world was to be removed or blotted out. He was 
 not therefore conceived in that manner by which, according to the 
 common law of God, original sin is propagated, (d) The end of 
 the Incarnation required this manner of Christ's coming, namely, 
 being conceived and born of a virgin. He came that men might 
 be born again to God, not by the will of the flesh, nor the will of 
 man, but of God, that is, by the power of God. 
 
 There are three reasons assigned for the preservation of 
 Mary's virginity in the birth of Christ, (a) It became the Word 
 of God to be thus born, because the Word is not only conceived 
 without corruption, but it also proceeds from the heart without 
 corruption ; and, therefore, it was becoming that the body of the 
 Word of God should be born of the unsullied womb of a virgin. 
 (b) The effects of the Incarnation required that the virginity of 
 Mary should be preserved in the birth of Christ, inasmuch as He 
 came to remove all our stains, (c) This was due to the Mother 
 of God that she might suffer no diminution of her honour. 
 
 4. The error of Helvidius is to be utterly detested, namely, 
 that the Mother of Christ lost her virginity after the birth of 
 Christ, and had other children, (a) This would be derogatory 
 to the perfection of Christ, for, as by His divine nature, He was 
 the only-begotten Son of the Father, so, according to His human 
 nature, He should be the only Son of His Mother, (b) This 
 error does an injury to the Holy Ghost, whose Sanctuary was 
 the virginal womb in which He formed the body of Christ, and 
 hence this sanctuary was not to be profaned by any unworthy 
 carnal contact, (c) It is derogatory to the dignity and sanctity 
 of the Mother of God, because it would seem to show her as fi 
 most ungrateful soul in not being content with such a Son, and 
 to suffer the loss of her virginity after its miraculous preservation, 
 
138 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 in the conception and birth of Christ, (d) This would impute 
 the greatest presumption and dishonour to St. Joseph, inasmuch 
 as he was made aware by the message of an angel that Mary was 
 of child by the Holy Ghost, and that He who was born of her 
 should be called the Son of God. 
 
 For these reasons holy writers generally apply to her in the 
 figurative sense the words of the Prophet, This gate shall be 
 shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall pass through it, 
 because the Lord, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, and it 
 shall be shut.* 
 
 5. Against the perpetual virginity of the Blessed Virgin 
 three objections are commonly quoted. 
 
 (a) From St. Matthew's testimony,! Joseph knew not 
 
 Mary until she had brought forth her first-born Son : 
 they would infer that afterwards he knew her. But 
 the negation anteccding "until" is no affirmation 
 following it. Thus, in Genesis, J when God said to 
 Jacob, " I will not leave thee until I have done 
 
 that ,"it follows not that when that was done He 
 
 left him. 
 
 (b) From Christ being termed the first-born Son of Mary, 
 
 they infer she must have had a second ; but might as 
 well conclude that wherever there is one there must be 
 two. For in this particular the Scripture notion of 
 priority excludes an antecedent, but infers not a con- 
 sequent. Sanctify unto me, saith the Lord, all 
 the -firstborn. This was a fixed law obliging imme- 
 diately on the birth. A sacrilegious Jew might keep 
 back this offering till a second offspring appeared, if 
 the first-born had included a relation to a second. 
 Our Saviour was brought to Jerusalem to be presented 
 to the Lord according to the Law of the Lord : every 
 male child that openeth the womb shall be called holy 
 to the Lord, From which, it is evident, that He was 
 called the first-born of Mary in the sense of the law 
 of Moses ; and, consequently, that title proves not 
 the mother to have any other offspring. 
 The third objection is that we read in the Scripture of the 
 brethren of Our Lord. Is not this the carpenter's son ? Is not 
 His mother called Mary, and His brethren James and Joseph, 
 
 xliv. 2. t St. Matthew i. 25 
 
 + Gen. xxviii. 15. ? ii. 22, 23. 
 
THE apostles' cbeed. 189 
 
 Simon and Jude ? * and elsewhere Our Lord's brethren are 
 
 :en of. 
 
 There are two ways of accounting for these being called the 
 brethren of Christ, (a) Joseph might possibly have had children 
 before Mary was espoused to him ; and then, as he was reputed and 
 called our Saviour's father, they might be accounted and called 
 His brethren. So the ancient, especially the Greek, Fathers 
 answer, (b) We need not assert that Joseph ever had any off- 
 spring, for the language of the Jews includes in the name of 
 brethren the wider relations of consanguinity. We are brethren, 
 said Abraham to Lot.f Jacob told Eachel that he was her 
 father's brother, whereas he was his nephew. J The kindred of 
 the Blessed Virgin might thus be called the brethren and sisters 
 of her. only Son. James, Joseph, Simon, and Jude were not the 
 sons of Mary, the mother of Jesus, but the sons of Mary, the wife 
 of Cleophas, who was a near relation to our Blessed Lady.H 
 
 6. We have now to explain what is included in the con- 
 ception by the Holy Ghost. The Blessed "Virgin, hearing the 
 announcement of the Angel Gabriel, was surprised, and conscious 
 of her own virginity, naturally asked the question, How shall this 
 be done, because I know not man ? The Angel then told her how 
 this mystery was to take place without the loss of her virginity, 
 in the. words of the Evangelist : The Holy Ghost shall come upon 
 thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee : And 
 therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called 
 the Son of God. That is, the Holy Ghost shall descend from 
 heaven, and impart that most happy fecundity without detriment 
 to thy virginity : and the power of the Most High, &c. ; because 
 this can only be effected by the special power of God, that a 
 woman who is a virgin, should conceive and bring forth a Son. 
 Both clauses of the sentence signify the same thing, namely, the 
 supernatural operation of the Holy Ghost in this mystery. And 
 as a consequence of the supernatural conception, the Angel adds : 
 And therefore the Holy which shall be bom of thee shall be 
 called the Son of God. The Holy, that is Holy in His con- 
 ception as well as in His birth ; holy because the principle from 
 which Christ comes is holy ; holy because conceived by the Holy 
 Ghost ; holy because filled with sanctifying grace ; holy because 
 He is sanctity itself ; and, therefore, that Son, on account of His 
 eternal generation of the Father, will be called the Son of God. 
 
 * St. Matthew xiii. 55. f Gen. xiii. { Gen. xxix. 12. 
 H See Analysis of Pearson on the Greed, Article iii, Section 3. 
 
140 THE CEEED EXPLAINED. 
 
 7. To understand this mystery better, it is necessary to 
 remark that two works were performed in it at one and the same 
 instant. The lirst belonged to the humanity. The body of Chris', 
 had to be formed and organized out of the most pure blood of the 
 Blessed Virgin, into which body the soul — which was immediately 
 created by God alone — was infused and united. Aud this work, 
 which in other human beings is effected by both parents, was 
 effected in the Blessed Virgin by the power of the Holy Ghost, 
 together with the concurrence of Mary in fulfilling the functions 
 of a mother. The other work belongs to the divinity of Christ, 
 and consists in this : that the humanity, in the very same 
 moment it is constituted, is united to the divinity in the Person 
 of the Word, or of the Son ; or, the Person of the Son is com- 
 municated or joined to the humanity in such a way that one and 
 the same Person is in the two natures — Divine and human. And 
 this is the work of the incarnation of the Son — a work of the great- 
 est power, and effected by God without Mary's co-operation ; for as 
 God alone, without man's co-operation, created the soul which 
 informs the body, so God alone, without the work of the Virgin, 
 unites the divine person of the Word to that human nature. 
 
 Hence, in the announcement of the Angel, both these opera- 
 tions are included, for both the generation, the conception and 
 birth, are terminated not only in the nature but in the Person, and 
 therefore the Angel concludes, The Holy that is bom of thee 
 shall be called the Son of God. This explanation suffices to 
 determine the action of the Holy Ghost in the incarnation. 
 
 8. Mary being truly the Mother of Christ, there is no reason 
 to deny her in respect of Him whatsoever is given to other 
 mothers in relation to the fruit of their womb ; and, therefore, as 
 regards the action of the Holy Spirit, no more need be attributed 
 to it than what is necessary to cause the Virgin to perform the 
 actions of a mother. 
 
 " We acknowledge in the generation of Jesus Christ, that He 
 was made of the substance of His mother, and according to this 
 sense He was called the Son of David and of Abraham. But He 
 was not made of the substance of the Holy Spirit, whose essence 
 cannot be made. And, because the Holy Ghost did not beget 
 Him by any communication of His essence, He is not the Father 
 of Him, though He (Christ) was conceived by Him. Nor did the 
 Holy Ghost form any part of Christ's flesh of any other substance 
 than of the Blessed Virgin."* 
 
 * See Analysis of Pearson, Art. iii. Sec. 2. 
 

 THE APOSTLES' CREED. 141 
 
 Hence we have to reject the error of the Sociniaus, who will 
 not acknowledge Christ the only-begotten Son of God, and who 
 invented a strange conjunction in His nature, one part received 
 from the Virgin, and consequently from David and from Abraham, 
 by which He was the Son of man ; another conjoined with it, 
 framed by the Spirit, by which He was the Son of God. 
 
 Mary, believing the words of the Angel, and consenting to his 
 promises, said : Behold the handmaid of the Lord ; be it done to 
 me according to thy word. These are words of the greatest 
 humility and obedience. The Blessed Virgin offers herself to God 
 ready and prepared to do His Will; as if she had said, I am the 
 handmaid, He is the Lord, whose authority it behoves me to 
 obey, who of His own omnipotent right can do with me what He 
 wills. 
 
 9. And immediately that the Blessed Virgin signified her 
 consent, The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us. It is 
 commonly asserted by holy Writers that the Blessed Virgin con- 
 ceived in her womb the Divine Word before the Angel went away. 
 She certainly did not conceive before she gave her consent. The 
 Word was certainly not incarnate when the Angel said, Thou 
 shalt call His name Jesus ; The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, 
 &c, as these words are spoken in the future tense. As soon, 
 however, as she gave her consent, nothing more remained to be 
 done but the accomplishment of the great act of the Incarnation. 
 This conception was begun and accomplished at the same time. 
 It was begun when the Angel was senc to Mary ; and the Holy 
 Ghost, who began the work then, immediately accomplished and 
 perfected it when Mary's consent was given. Hence the pious 
 Suarez concludes : "Let us congratulate, with holy and spiritual 
 gladness, the Holy Virgin because of the many and great blessings 
 which she has received, that she might be rendered worthy to be 
 the Mother of God. Let us invoke her aid and intercession with 
 confidence, for she is raised to such a height that she can with 
 the greatest confidence intercede for us with her divine Son."* 
 
 We celebrate the Feast of the Annunciation on the 25th of 
 March, nine months before Christmas, when we celebrate the 
 feast of Christ's nativity. 
 
 As to the hour of the Annunciation we know nothing for 
 certain, as the holy Fathers are silent on this point. We may, 
 however, with the pious Suarez, form a conjecture that it was at 
 the same hour as that in which Jesus was born, namely, mid- 
 
 •1. c. D. 9. S. 4. 
 
142 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 night, so that He dwelt for nine entire months in the womb oi 
 His mother. And to this, as well as to the Nativity of Christ, we 
 may apply or accommodate the words of Wisdom : For while all 
 things were in quiet silence, and the night was in the midst of her 
 course, Thy Almighty Word leapt down from heaven from Thy 
 royal throne, as a fierce conqueror, into the midst of the land of 
 destruction.* It is more properly said that the Word came down 
 from heaven by His Incarnation rather than by His Nativity. 
 
 Speaking of the time and moment in which, after the entire 
 faith and consent of the Blessed Virgin, the Word was made 
 flesh in her, it is not difficult to believe that her mind was in a 
 way elevated so as to transcend the state of a viator or a way- 
 farer in this world. And that she was able to see and understand 
 this Mystery, and, therefore, God as He is in Himself and as 
 united to our humanity. Learned authors teach that this 
 privilege was granted to our Lady during her mortal life, and 
 there was no more opportune time for the granting of this favour 
 than the moment of the Incarnation. This is a pious and 
 probable opinion, but uncertain. 
 
 10. It is, however, commonly asserted by Theologians that 
 the Blessed Virgin, in her own conception, received her first sanc- 
 tification without any merit or any sacramental grace, but by a 
 special privilege ; so, in the conception of her Son, without any 
 merit she received a singular perfection of sanctity by reason of 
 the new and wonderful manner of the presence of the Word 
 within her : The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, &c. 
 
 When our Lady visited St. Elizabeth, by the presence of 
 Christ, John Baptist was sanctified, and Elizabeth filled with 
 grace ; it is therefore reasonable to suppose that the divine Word, 
 on entering the womb of the Blessed Virgin, sanctified her in a 
 new and special manner. 
 
 * Wisdom, xviii. 14. 15. 
 
THE APOSTLES CREED. 143 
 
 SECTION 3. (Article III.) 
 CHKIST BOKN OF THE VIRGIN MARY. 
 
 1. The signification of the name Mary : and its application to the Blessed 
 Virgin. — 2. Mary's condition and the special title by which she is 
 known. — 3. The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin : its 
 definition and meaning. — 4, The Dogma of the Immaculate Concep- 
 tion proved from Scripture, by tradition, and by reason. — 5. Mary's 
 Maternity, or Mary's function in regard to the Conception and the 
 Birth of Christ.— 6. The divine Maternity considered physically. — 
 7. The divine Maternity morally considered. — 8. Mary intercedes 
 for us in heaven ; and the difference between her mediation and that 
 of her Divine Son. — 9. The sense in which she may be said to 
 co-operate with Christ in the work of Redemption. — 10. The title of 
 Queen of heaven as applied to Mary. — 11, The sense in which devo- 
 tion to the Mother of God may be said to be a sign of salvation. — 
 12. The special question in regard to those who wear the Scapular of 
 trhe Blessed Virgin explained. 
 
 Under this portion of the Article we have to consider three 
 things, (a) The Name of Mary, (b) Her condition, (c) Her 
 action or function in regard to Christ, that is, her Maternity. 
 
 Mary's Name. 
 
 1. According to Ven. Bede, Mary in the Hebrew means 
 Stella Maris — Star of the Sea. In Syriac it means Lady. 
 It was a name imposed on our Lady by divine authority, 
 as is supposed by many, in the same way as the name of Isaac 
 was revealed to Abraham, and the name of John the Baptist was 
 revealed to Zachary and Elizabeth. It was certainly blessed and 
 sanctioned by heaven according to the revealed words of St. Luke : 
 And the name of the Virgin was Mary. This name was com- 
 mon to many even in our Lord's time : Mary Magdalene, Mary 
 of Oleophas, and Mary of Salome. And in the Old Testament 
 we have special mention of Miriam, which is the same as Mary. 
 She was the sister of Moses, and a prophetess. She was a type 
 of the Blessed Virgin ; because, as she was called to be one of 
 those who brought the people of God out of the Egyptian bondage, 
 so was this Mary to become the mother of that Saviour who 
 hath wrought a redemption for us, of which that was but a type. 
 
144 THE CEEED EXPLAINED. 
 
 No surname is given in Holy Writ for the Blessed Virgin ; 
 and, as St. Thomas says, she is usually mentioned in the 
 Gospels with the surname signifying her dignity, which is the 
 Mother of God, or the Mother of Jesus. Mary the mother of Jesus 
 was there. Is not this the carpenter's son ; and is not his mother 
 called Mary ? 
 
 This name has always been held in great veneration by the 
 faithful ; and the Church has instituted a Feast for its celebration, 
 on the Sunday within the octave of the Nativity of the Blessed 
 Virgin. 
 
 Her Condition. 
 
 2. As special characters are given to special persons 
 by which they are distinguished from others of the same name, 
 thus, Jacob is called Israel ; Abraham, the friend of God ; 
 so Mary is designated by the title or character of the Virgin. 
 Born of the Virgin Mary, because, in the purity and quality of her 
 virginity, she is above all others. 
 
 On the Virginity of the Blessed Virgin I have written in the 
 preceding section j and here I may confine myself to referring to 
 some of her other perfections, which are closely connected with 
 her virginal purity, and which remind us of her condition, by 
 which she was made worthy to become the Mother of God. 
 
 3. It is of faith that the Blessed Virgin was preserved from 
 original sin. This was denned by Pius IX. on the 10th of 
 December, 1854, in the Solemn Constitution which begins 
 Ineffabilis Dei ; in which it is declared that it is a truth revealed 
 by God, and therefore t'obe firmly and constantly believed by all 
 the faithful ; that the most Blessed Virgin from the moment of 
 her conception was, by the special privilege of God and by virtue 
 of the merits of Christ, preserved free from the stain of original 
 sin. 
 
 The sense of this Decree may be made more clear by dividing 
 it into the following two propositions : 
 
 (a) The Blessed Virgin in the first instant of her conception 
 
 was preserved free from the stain of original sin. 
 
 (b) This was effected by a special giace and privilege of 
 
 God, and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ. 
 In the first of these are included (a) immunity from every- 
 thing which belongs to the nature, or involves the reason of 
 original sin, namely, the stain of the sin, and the guilt and pun- 
 ishment. The whole {ratio) or nature of original sin consists in 
 
THE apostles' ceeed. 145 
 
 the guilt or stain, and the punishment attached to it. (b) Immu 
 nity from the effects and consequences of original sin, namely, 
 from concupiscence and all inordinate desires and inclinations to 
 sin. With this we may connect that which is included in the 
 decree of the Council of Trent,* namely, that the Blessed Virgin 
 was never guilty of any, even the least, venial sin during her 
 whole life, (c) Immunity, in the first instant of her conception, 
 in such a way as that she was not before she was holy. The words 
 in the first instant exclude every distinction between before and 
 after in this matter, and we have to conclude that her body was 
 not before it was animated, and it was not animated before it was 
 sanctified ; and her pure soul, like the soul of our first parents, 
 came forth into existence free from, and unstained by, the sin of 
 Adam. 
 
 In the second proposition are included, (a) that the Blessed 
 Virgin was preserved free from sin, not as the condition of her 
 nature, but by the special grace of God. (b) This was not accord- 
 ing to the common law, but by special privilege, (c) This did not 
 take place without reference to the merits of Christ, but by virtue 
 of Christ's merits, so that Jesus is the meritorious cause of the 
 Immaculate conception, and of the sanctification and salvation 
 of His mother, as He is of all others. 
 
 This doctrine is founded on the authority of Scripture. No 
 argument from Holy Writ can be assigned against it. Those 
 texts that are cited in proof of the propagation of original sin do 
 not affect Mary's privilege, and she is not included in the decree 
 of the Council of Trent, which declares the doctrine of original 
 sin. 
 
 4. One or two of the texts quoted in proof of the doctrine 
 are, (a) I will place enmity between thee and the woman, and thy 
 seed and her seed. She shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in 
 wait for her heel.\ These words were addressed to the serpent, or 
 evil spirit, who tempted our first parents. The seed of the woman 
 is Jesus, and th Q , woman is Mary, who was never by sin under 
 the power of Satan, but was always his adversary, in the same 
 manner and sense as the fruit of her womb, (b) The Angelical 
 Salutation calls her full of grace, blessed amongst women, (c) 
 In the Apocalypse, I that woman clothed with the sun, and the 
 moon under her feet, is interpreted of the Blessed Virgin, the 
 Immaculate Mother of God ; and this is used especially as a type 
 or figure of her Immaculate conception, (d) Many texts of the 
 
 vi. o. 23. f Gen. iii. 15. t Apoo. zii. 
 
146 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 Old Testament, especially from the Books of Psalms, Wisdom, 
 and the Canticle of Canticles, are applied to our Blessed Lady by 
 the Fathers of the Church, all of which signify her Immaculate 
 perfection. To these we may add the hymn or Antiphon, which 
 the Church accommodates to Mary in the office of the Immaculate 
 Conception : To ta pulchra es Maria, &c. 
 
 The same doctrine is proved by tradition, which we obtain 
 from the eulogies of the Holy Fathers, and all the liturgies and 
 hymns of the Church which proclaim our Lady's sanctity and 
 purity. Finally, we have the voice of the Universal Church both 
 teaching and believing, that is, both of pastors and people pro- 
 claiming and receiving this doctrine as a truth of faith, which 
 was denned ex cathedra by the Head of the Universal Church. 
 In the same Constitution in which this doctrine is denned, the 
 following reasons are assigned : "It behoved that the Venerable 
 mother to whom God the Father wished so to give His only Son, 
 whom He had begotten equal to Himself, and whom He loved 
 as Himself, that He might be naturally one and the same Son of 
 God the Father, and of the Virgin ; and whom the Son selected 
 to be substantially His mother ; and of whom the Holy Ghost 
 wished and operated that through which the Son, from Whom 
 He proceeded, should be conceived and born ; it behoved, I repeat, 
 that such a mother should always shine forth with the splendour 
 of the most perfect sanctity, and, being free from all stain of 
 original sin, should have the most complete triumph over the 
 ancient serpent." 
 
 Her Maternity. 
 
 5. That is Mary's function in regard to the conception and 
 birth of Christ. 
 
 The word bom of the Virgin Mary, signifies not only the 
 nativity of Christ, but also the conception and generation. When 
 the conception is attributed to the Holy Ghost, and the nativity 
 to the Blessed Virgin, it is not to be understood as if the Spirit 
 had conceived Him, but the Blessed Virgin by the operation of 
 the Spirit. 
 
 Mary is therefore the mother of our Saviour (a) by con- 
 ception, by which she conceived of her own substance the real 
 substance of our Saviour. A Virgin shall conceive* Thou 
 shalt conceive in thy womb.\ He is termed also the fruit of her 
 
 *Isa. vii. 14. t St. Luke i. 31. 
 
THE APOSTLES CBEED. 14:7 
 
 womb* by St. Elizabeth, (b) By Nutrition of our Saviour's body, 
 after it was conceived, by the true substance of her own ; by 
 which she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. She is des- 
 cribed as great with child, and thus pronounced happy : Blessed 
 is the womb that bore Thee f (c) By Parturition, whereby Christ 
 was properly born by a true nativity. As we read, Elizabeth's fit I 
 time came that she should be delivered, and she brought forth a son ; 
 so is it said of Mary, when the days were accomplished that she 
 should bring forth a Son, and she brought forth her first-born Son. 
 We must therefore acknowledge the Blessed Virgin truly and 
 properly the mother of our Saviour, because He that was born of 
 her was the Son of God. She is defined by the Church as the 
 Deipara, which in the Greek is 0eoTOKos,and means in English the 
 Mother of God. She is frequently styled by the Evangelists the 
 Mother of Jesus ; and by St. Elizabeth the Mother of our Lord. } 
 
 6. The divine maternity may be considered physically and 
 morally. 
 
 Physically considered, it signifies (a) That the Blessed Virgin 
 truly and properly concurred informing Christ's body, (b) That 
 some of Mary's substance, of which the body of Christ was 
 formed and constituted in the beginning, and afterwards nourished 
 by her blood and milk, was hypostatically united to the Word. 
 And as God is in all creatures by essence, by presence, and by 
 power ; and, in the just by sanctifying grace, He is in Mary alone 
 by communication of substance, inasmuch as the flesh and blood 
 of Jesus and Mary are the same. It is by reason of this that 
 He may be said to be our brother and our flesh. And, although 
 the body of Christ is exalted by the glory of the Eesurrection, 
 and raised above all the heavens by the power of the Ascension, 
 it remains always the same body that was formed in the womb 
 of the Blessed Virgin, (c) Finally, by reason of the divine 
 maternity, a real relation is established between the Mother and 
 Christ the Man- God. 
 
 This divine maternity is the cause and foundation of all the 
 other gifts that were bestowed upon the Blessed Virgin, from the 
 moment of her Immaculate Conception until her exaltation in 
 heaven over all the Angels and Saints. It is the first of Mary's 
 perfections, and that from which, and on account of which, all 
 her other perfections follow. 
 
 Hence, we can explain why the Evangelists give a rather 
 
 * Ibid, verse 42. t St. Matt. xi. 27. 
 
 J St. Luke i. 43. See Analysis of Pearson, Art. in. 
 
X 18 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 long account of St. John the Baptist, and of some of the Apostles, 
 and seldom mention the Blessed Virgin. For it is enough, and 
 contains all that can be said of her, when they write of her de 
 qua natus est Jesus. This is her full and entire history. If God 
 enriched His ministers and servants with the abundance of His 
 graces, how much more would He raise up and perfect her whom 
 He had chosen before all, and loved abo* T e all, as His spouse, and 
 the Mother of His divine Son ? 
 
 The dignity of the divine Maternity raises her above all the 
 Saints, and, by reason of it, the honour which we give her is 
 special and superior to that honour which we give to the Angels 
 and Saints. Because we honour her, not only on account of the 
 degree of sanctifying grace with which her soul was enriched, 
 which is the species of honour called dulia, given to the Saints, 
 but we honour her by reason of her Maternity, and, therefore, by 
 a higher kind of honour than that which is paid to any other 
 creature. This is called by St. Thomas and by Catholic authors 
 in general Hyperdulia. 
 
 7. The divine Maternity considered morally, tells us the 
 exalted dignity of the Mother of God. The dignity of the Mother 
 of God is distinct from, and above any other dignity of a pure 
 creature, because it belongs to the order of the hypostatic union. 
 It is intrinsically connected with it. Hence, so great is this 
 dignity, that it can be called in a certain sense, infinite. St. 
 Thomas says : The humanity of Christ, by reason of its being 
 united to God ; created Beatitude because this is the fruition of 
 God; and the Blessed Virgin, because she is the Mother of God, 
 receive a certain infinite dignity from the infinite Good, Who is 
 God ; and in this respect, nothing can be made better or greater 
 than they, inasmuch as nothing can be better than God ; so there 
 could not be a better or more exalted mother than the mother of 
 God. 
 
 We may, then, from this doctrine conclude the Blessed 
 Virgin is the Mother of God, therefore, she is more excellent than 
 all the Angels, the Seraphim and Cherubim ; she is the Mother of 
 God, therefore, she is most pure and most holy, so that under 
 God there cannot be purer or holier. She is the Mother of God, 
 therefore, whatever privilege is conceded to any of the blessed 
 belongs also to her, that is, in the order of grace and glory, 
 because in this she is raised above all others. 
 
 It remains that I explain another point which accounts for 
 and shows the reason of our Catholic devotion to the Mother of 
 God, that is, Mary's power and intercession. 
 
THE apostles' cueed. 149 
 
 8. It is certain that the Blessed Virgin prays and intercedes 
 for us in heaven. If others intercede for us in heaven, as it is 
 clear from the Sacred Scriptures that the Angels and Saints do, 
 how much more is this true of her, who, in grace and favour with 
 God, and in charity towards men, surpasses all others. 
 
 This intercession can in no way be to the injury of Christ, 
 on the contrary, it will be to His greater glory. It is true that 
 Christ is the primary Mediator between us and God, for there is 
 no other mediator before Him ; He is a necessary mediator, be- 
 cause without Him there is no salvation ; He is a universal 
 mediator, whom all the just, and even the Blessed Virgin need ; 
 lie is a mediator of infinite power, who has strength and efficacy 
 in Himself, and from whom all other intercession receives its 
 value or power. The Angels and Saints are in a certain way 
 mediators, but through Christ, because with Him and by Hin 
 they intercede for us; and in like manner, the Blessed Virgin 
 asks in His name when she prays for us, and through Him obtains 
 whatever she asks for. For whatever all men — and amongst 
 them the Blessed Virgin — obtain from God, is obtained through 
 the merits of Christ. Wherefore, her prayer and intercession is 
 not offered for us in the sense that it is absolutely necessary, as 
 if the prayers and merits of Christ were wanting in anything, or 
 not sufficient for us, but because Christ so wills it that His merits 
 may be applied to us in a manner convenient and pleasing to 
 Him, and according to the order established by Him ; and this 
 application of His merits, after the manner ordained by Him, 
 conduces not only to our advantage, but to the honour of the 
 Saints, and especially to the honour of Mary His Mother. Since 
 the Blessed Virgin knows all that goes on here below, and knows 
 also our necessities, sne prays tor us not only in general, but in 
 particular. Her intercession is most efficacious. "I believe," 
 says the pious and learned Suarez, " that the Blessed Virgin, in 
 this power and efficacy, surpasses not only all the Saints taken 
 singly, but the whole court of heaven." Hence, we may conclude 
 that the Blessed Virgin is to be invoked and prayed to by us, 
 which is of faith according to the common usage of the whole 
 Church, and her constant tradition ; but she is to be invoked and 
 prayed to before all the Saints ; because (a) her mediation, if not 
 absolutely necessary, is of the greatest utility. She is our media- 
 trix immediately after Christ. Hence, we do not apply to any of 
 the Saints to intercede with others of their number for us, because 
 they are all in the same order ; but we can make them intercessors 
 for us with our Lady as the Queen of heaven. (0) Because she 
 
150 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 is the most powerful mediatrix for us after Christ. We have in 
 her a universal advocate, inasmuch as she can obtain all things 
 from her Omnipotent Son. Wherefore holy Church invokes her 
 in more venerable titles, calling her our hope, our life, our comfort, 
 and Mother of Mercy, and also prays to her more frequently and 
 more constantly than to the other Saints. There is no day in 
 which She does not offer up public prayers to her in the divine 
 office, and in the holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Three times a day, 
 by the Angelus bell, She gives a signal that all the people may 
 offer up a prayer to Mary ; and She has dedicated to her, in each 
 year, many Feast Days, (c) She is, after Christ, the most univer- 
 sal mediatrix, inasmuch as through her Christ bestows His favours 
 upon His creatures ; although this does not mean that we cannot 
 obtain any grace unless we first pray to the Blessed Virgin. 
 Even when we do not pray to her, she is present by her 
 prayers and her assistance ; and, as through her, we received 
 Christ Himself, the Author of all grace, it is not unreasonable to 
 suppose that He bestows in His ordinary providence, through her 
 intercession, His graces upon His creatures. 
 
 9. The mediation of the Blessed Virgin in the work of re- 
 demption, is not only that of intercession, but also of co-operation. 
 For she, in giving her consent to the message of the Angel, by a 
 moral causality influenced the work of the redemption of the 
 human race. Moreover, by ministering her substance to Christ 
 cur Eedeemer, she nourished and preserved Him for us, and at 
 length willingly offered Him up for us on the altar of the Cross ; 
 wherefore, as the Son loved us and delivered Himself for us, so the 
 Mother loved us and delivered her Son for us. The Fathers, as 
 they make a comparison between Adam and Christ, also make a 
 comparison between Eve and Mary. As Adam was the cause of 
 our perdition, Christ is the cause of our salvation. And as Eve 
 co-operated in the prevarication of our first parent, so Mary 
 co-operated in the work of redemption. 
 
 10. That we may fully understand Mary's power, we find it 
 necessary to refer to one other of her titles, that of Queen of 
 heaven, which all Christians have ever given to her. It is not an 
 empty title, but it signifies that Mary has that special dominion 
 in heaven, which properly belongs to a Queen. This dominion 
 arises from the union and affinity that exists between God and 
 the Blessed Virgin. Because Christ is King and Lord, the 
 mother who brought Him forth, is Queen and Mistress. This 
 dominion is similar to that which belongs to a wife or mother, by 
 reason of their connection with a king. Although she has not 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 151 
 
 the supreme power of commanding, she has that which belongs 
 to a queen above all other subjects ; and thus a higher honour is 
 due to her than to the other Saints. She alone, under Christ, 
 occupies a place in heaven above all the Choirs of Angels and 
 Saints, as is becoming the Mother of the King, and the Queen of 
 all the heavenly inhabitants. 
 
 11. There is one other question that seems to require some 
 explanation, namely, in what sense can it be asserted that 
 devotion to the Blessed Virgin is a sign of salvation, and a mark 
 of predestination ? It is an error to state that it is impossible 
 for a client of Mary to be lost, in the sense that every one who 
 is devout to the Blessed Virgin will infallibly rise from sin, or 
 infallibly persevere to the end in grace. To no one, no matter 
 how devote to Mary, can such a promise be made without a 
 special revelation from God. It is, however, true that devotion 
 to Mary is of the greatest importance, and that there can be a 
 strong hope entertained that no one who piously perseveres in 
 her service, will miserably perish. And, according to the teach- 
 ing of the Fathers, even holding as we do the uncertainty of 
 predestination, we may admit some regular and likely signs of 
 final perseverance ; and one of these is a special devotion to the 
 Blessed Virgin, inasmuch as Mary turns with affection to those 
 who love her, and uses, in their behalf, her all-powerful inter- 
 cession with her Son ; and thus she acts towards her clients, 
 and takes root in an honourable people, and in electis Dei radices 
 mittit, 
 
 12. As to the special question, in regard to the certainty of 
 the salvation of those who wear the Scapular, I must repeat 
 that it is a dogma of faith, that no one here on earth can be 
 certain of grace or predestination without a special revelation, 
 which we have not received in the case of those who wear the 
 Scapular. We may, however, admit piously the general revelation 
 in favour of the salvation of such souls, if all other conditions, 
 both general and particular, be observed. The general conditions 
 are the fulfilment; of the Commandments and ail Christian duties. 
 The particular conditions are those rules prescribed for the mem- 
 bers of the Sodality. The wearing of the Scapular is then a sign 
 of salvation and predestination, in the sense that it is an emblem 
 or token of a special protection by the Blessed Virgin, by which 
 the members of the Sodality may be enabled more securely to 
 keep the Commandments, and more safely to obtain their eternal 
 beatitude. No more than this is meant when it is said that 
 wearing the Scapular is a sign of salvation, or a pledge of pre- 
 
152 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 destination. Then, it will be said, that there is nothing very 
 extraordinary or special in it, if it is only a promise that the 
 members of the Sodality will be saved if they keep the Com- 
 mandments, and piously live a good life, as all Christians who do 
 this can be saved without the Scapular or the aid of any Sodality. 
 Although this is quite true, we must, at the same time, remember 
 and conclude that we obtain a special privilege by being enrolled 
 in Mary's Scapular, inasmuch as this is a sacred badge and 
 pledge of her special protection, which she imparts to her clients, 
 to enable them to keep the Commandments, to live a holy life, 
 and to die well. And this is the special virtue which we attribute 
 to the wearing of the Scapular, according to the promise made 
 by our Lady to St. Simon ; and which may be extended to all 
 those who have enrolled themselves in her congregations and 
 confraternities as Children of Mary. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 1-53 
 
 SECTION 4. (Article III.) 
 
 BORN OF THE VIRGIN MARY. 
 
 1. Bethlehem, the birth-place of Christ.— 2. The decree of Augustus that 
 all the world should be enrolled. — 3. Joseph and Mary went up from 
 Nazareth to Bethlehem. — 4. The date of the Christian era. — 5. The 
 birth of Christ in the stable at Bethlehem. — 6. The vision of the 
 Shepherds and their visit to the Babe of Bethlehem. — 7. The Cir- 
 cumcision of Christ on the eighth day. 
 
 1. The Feast of our Lord's Nativity is celebrated on the 
 25th of December. The Prophet Micheas, 700 years before, had 
 prophesied that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, a small 
 town of Judea, about six miles distant from Jerusalem. 
 
 The Emperor Augustus had ordered that a census should be 
 made throughout the Eoman Empire, and all the kingdoms allied 
 to it. In consequence of this, Joseph and Mary came from 
 Nazareth to Bethlehem, their native place, or the city of their 
 family ; as the Jews were obliged to have themselves enrolled in 
 their native place. 
 
 The time had come when Mary was to bring forth to the 
 world the Incarnate Word. As there was no room for the Holy 
 Family in the Inn, they sought shelter in a cave which was used 
 as a stable. The birth of the Son of God was as miraculous as 
 His conception. Mary brought forth her only-begotten and first- 
 born Son without pain or sorrow. He came forth from the womb 
 of Mary as the rays from the fire, as the perfume from the flower, 
 and in the same manner as He afterwards came forth from the 
 tomb, without breaking the seal which closed it. 
 
 Mary, adoring the Infant Saviour, wrapped Him in swaddling 
 clothes and laid Him in a manger ; that same manger which is 
 still preserved and venerated in Eome, in the Church of St. Mary 
 Major. 
 
 The birth of our Saviour, according to the Eoman marty- 
 rology, took place in the year 5199 after the creation of the 
 world ; 2015 after the birth of Abraham ; 1302 after the conse- 
 cration of King David. This was in the 752nd year after the 
 
154 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 foundation of Roine, and in the 36th year of the reign of the 
 Emperor Augustus. 
 
 The account of the birth of Christ, and the circumstances 
 attending it, are given in St. Luke's Gospel.* St. Luke narrates 
 the generation of Christ according to the flesh, as St. John gives 
 us His divine and eternal generation ; and hence the Gospels read 
 in the Masses of Christmas Day are taken from these two Evange- 
 lists. 
 
 2. St. Luke begins the narrative of our Saviour's birth, 
 from the going forth of the decree of Caesar Augustus that all the 
 world should be enrolled. 
 
 The proper name of this Emperor was Octavius or Octa- 
 vianus. He was called Caesar after Julius Caesar, who had 
 adopted him ; and Augustus, because in his reign the Eoman 
 Empire was enlarged, and became more illustrious and celebrated 
 than it had ever been.f A decree went forth that the whole world 
 should be enrolled, St. Luke mentions this decree in order to 
 show the reason, and the occasion, that brought Mary and Joseph 
 to Bethlehem at that particular time. 
 
 3. According to the decree every one had to be enrolled in 
 his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the 
 city of Nazareth into Judea, to the city of David, which is called 
 Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David : to 
 be enrolled ivith Mary his espoused wife, who was with child. I 
 
 Bethlehem in Hebrew signifies a house of bread. Christ is 
 the living bread that came down from heaven. It is a small 
 town six miles from Jerusalem. It was the scene of the death 
 of Rachel, of the story of Ruth, and of the early years of the life 
 of David. 
 
 Thus was fulfilled the prophecy of Micheas : And Thou, 
 Bethelem Ephrata, art a little one among the thousands of Juda ; 
 out of thee shall He come forth unto me that is to be the ruler of 
 Israel ; and His going forth is from the beginning from the days of 
 eternity. § 
 
 * St. Luke ii. 1-14. 
 t Augustus ; i.e. August or honourable, as a compliment to his own greatness ; 
 and from him the month August which was before called Sextilis, 
 received its name. He was proclaimed Emperor of Borne B.C. 29 ; 
 and died a.d. 14. He had received the name Caedar from Julius 
 CsBsar by adoption, and by that name were called three of the family 
 of Augustus, afterwards the heirs of the Empire ; and finally the 
 Emperors themselves. 
 
 X St. Luke ii. 4 « § Mic. v. 2. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 155 
 
 Joseph did not go alone, but was accompanied by Mary his 
 espoused wife. It is uncertain whether her presence was obliga- 
 tory or voluntary. But it is obvious that, at so trying a time, 
 and after what she had suffered by reason of former suspicions, 
 she would cling to the presence and protection of her husband. 
 It is also probable that she saw in the providential circumstances 
 a fulfilment of prophecy. St. Thomas holds that the place, and 
 the time, and other circumstances of the Nativity, were revealed 
 beforehand to Mary and Joseph, because they were the first to 
 shew Christ reverence and obedience, and be prepared for His 
 Nativity, and His appearance in this world. 
 
 4. "There is a reasonable certainty that our Lord was 
 born B.C. 4 of our era; and it is probable that He was born, 
 according to the unanimous tradition of the Christian Church, in 
 the Winter. There is nothing to guide us as to the actual day of 
 His birth. It was unknown to the ancient Christians. Some 
 thought that it took place on May 20th, or April 20th. There is 
 no trace of December 25th earlier than the fourth century, but 
 it is accepted by SS. Athanasius, Jerome, Ambrose, and the 
 universal Church."* 
 
 5. And when the days were accomplished that she should be 
 delivered. That is, the ordinary time of pregnancy, the space of 
 nine months, from the day of the Incarnation, which took place on 
 the Feast of the Annunciation, the 25th of March. She brought 
 forth her first-born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and 
 laid Him in the manger. She brought Him forth without any 
 pain, or sorrow, or stain ; and she laid Him in the manger, the 
 most suitable place to be found for Him in that stable wherein 
 He was born. 
 
 The ox and the ass that are traditionally given in represen- 
 tations of the Nativity are mentioned in the apocryphal Gospel 
 of St. Matthew, and they were suggested by the words of the 
 prophet Isaias : The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his 
 masters crib, but Israel hath not known Me, and My people hath 
 not under stood. \ 
 
 St. Ignatius of Loyola, in his meditation on the Nativity, 
 represents our Lady on the journey carried by an ass, and Joseph 
 driving the ox, that he might be able to pay the tribute imposed 
 upon all the people by the edict of Caesar after his arrival in 
 Bethlehem ; and St. Yincent of Leirns says, that Joseph brought 
 with him an ass to carry his pregnant wife, and an ox to sell at 
 
 * Cambridge Bible for Schools. St. Luke, in loc. cit. t Isaias i. 3. 
 
158 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 Bethlehem, where there was a great concourse of people, and 
 thus pay the expenses of his journey. 
 
 Christ hidden in humility and poverty is manifested and 
 glorified by Angels sent to the Shepherds. 
 
 6. And there were in the same country Shepherds. These 
 were Bethlehemites, natives of the little village Beth-zur. They 
 were feeding their flocks in the fields from which David was 
 called to be anointed King over Israel by the prophet Samuel. 
 The sheep used for daily sacrifice, and the lambs to be offered at 
 the Passover, were pastured in the fields of Bethlehem. The 
 shepherds were the first to whom the new-born Saviour was re- 
 vealed. These were keeping the night watches over their flock; 
 which does not prove, as some have supposed, that the Nativity 
 took place in Spring, for, in some pastures in Palestine, the shep- 
 herds to this day watch over their flocks by night in the Winter, 
 that they may not be killed by wolves, or stolen by robbers. 
 The nights were divided into four parts called watches. 
 
 And behold an Angel of the Lord stood by them, and the 
 brightness of the Lord shone round about them. The Angel ap- 
 peared to them in human form. The brightness of the Lord 
 dispelled the darkness of the night, that they might understand 
 the divine mission of the Angel. Naturally, at this unusual 
 vision and divine manifestation, the shepherds were terrified 
 until the Angel's message re- assured them. Fear not. There is 
 no cause for fear, but cause for great joy, for behold, said the 
 Angel, I bring you tidings of great joy, that shall be to all the 
 people. Not only to the Jews, but to all the nations and people 
 of the world. Christ is born to all, and, therefore, there is reason 
 that they and all should rejoice ; For this day is bom to you a 
 Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David.* 
 
 Now, the Messiah so long promised, for so many ages ex- 
 pected, has come : Christ the Anointed One, the Lord of all the 
 anointed prophets, kings, and priests. He is born in the city of 
 David, thus fulfilling the promise made to David long before. 
 The Angel continues his instructions to the shepherds : And this 
 shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the Infant wrapped in 
 swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger. You will find the 
 Infant, Who is the Word that was in the beginning, by Whom 
 all things were made, Who came unto His own, and the world 
 knew Him not, and His own received Him not. But the 
 heavenly Spirits celebrated the event : And suddenly there was 
 
 * St. Luke 4. 10, 11. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 157 
 
 with the Angel a multitude of the heavenly army praising God, and 
 saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of 
 good-will. These words are both assertive and optative. Glory 
 to God in the highest, i.e., all the heavens glorify and should 
 glorify Him, because God the Father sent His Son into the 
 world for the salvation of men. And on earth peace, that is, 
 peace between men and God, to whom Christ came to reconcile 
 th' m ; according to these words of St. Paul : Because in Him it 
 hath 10 ell pleased the Father that all fulness should dwell. And 
 through Him to reconcile all things unto Himself, by making peace 
 through the blood of the Cross, both as to the things that are on 
 earth, and the things that are in heaven* Peace was announced 
 on earth but to men of good will, to those, who, with a good 
 will, should believe in this new-born Saviour, and embrace Him 
 with love. 
 
 St. Luke continues the narrative, and gives an account of 
 the advent of the Shepherds to the Infant Jesus, and their 
 return from Him to their watching : And it came to pass, after 
 the angels departed from them into heaven, the shepherds said one 
 to another, Let us go over to Bethlehem, and let us see this Word 
 that has come to pass which the Lord hath shown to us. And they 
 came ivith haste ; and they found Mary and Joseph, and the Infant 
 lying in the manger. And seeing, they understood of the word that 
 had been spoken to them concerning this child. And all that heard 
 wondered ; and at those things that were told them by the shepherds. 
 But Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart. And 
 the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all things 
 they had heard and seen, as it ivas told unto them.\ 
 
 Having heard the glad tidings of the Angel, the Shepherds % 
 immediately encouraged each other to undertake the journey, 
 saying, Let us go over to Bethlehem ; and the reason assigned is, 
 that we may see the Word that has come to pass, that we may 
 see this new and wonderful thing which God has first revealed to 
 us, and given us the sign by which we may recognise our born 
 Messiah. " For, unless we who are invited and called by Angels 
 go and see and adore Him who is born to us, and first revealed to 
 us, we shall be ungrateful to God, to the Angels, and to Christ ; 
 and enemies to ourselves by neglecting such a great favour and 
 grace. It is certain, that the Angels who spoke externally to the 
 
 * Coloss. i. 20. + St. Luke ii. 15-20. 
 
 I Tradition asserts that Matthias, the Apostle chosen in the place of Judas, 
 was one of these Shepherds. That some of them became afterwards 
 of the number of Christ's disciples is probable. 
 
IbS THE CBEED EXPLAINED. 
 
 Shepherds, also spoke to them interiorly, and enlightened their 
 minds to know that Christ was God and their Eedeemer, and 
 they were therefore moved to go to Him, to love and to adore 
 Him. For this reason the Shepherds went immediately to the 
 manger, and there, with all humility and reverence, adored 
 Christ. There is no doubt but at that moment they were justi- 
 fied, and if justified before, they then received a great increase of 
 justice and holiness.* The Shepherds came with haste, and seeing 
 Mary and Joseph and the Infant lying in the manger, they knew 
 the truth of all that the Angel had told them of the Child ; and 
 what they saw they announced to others ; and all who heard 
 wondered at these things which were told them by the Shepherds, 
 so that these Shepherds became the first Christian preachers. 
 
 St. Luke adds that Mary kept all these words, pondering 
 them in her heart. This brings us in thought again to Mary. 
 She kept all these things, viz., Christ's conception, His birth, the 
 visit of the Shepherds, pondering them in her heart. Thus she 
 gives us a singular example of silence, of prudence and modesty. 
 She did not at once proclaim them to the world, but kept them in 
 her heart until the day came when she communicated them to the 
 Apostles and Evangelists (and especially to St. Luke), and through 
 them to the whole world. t 
 
 Having seen and worshipped the Infant Jesus they returned 
 to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all the things they 
 had heard and seen. 
 
 7. On the 8th day after the Nativity, the divine Infant was 
 circumcised according to the prescription of the law, and His 
 name was called Jesus, which He was called by the Angel before 
 He was conceived in the womb. 
 
 * Cornelius a Lap. in hoc loco, 
 t On another occasion we have, His mother kept all these sayings in her 
 heart. This is one of our guarantees that they are true. Mary kept 
 them in memory, and the Evangelist appeals to her memory for them. 
 That he derived them from her lips is certain from his assertion that 
 she stored all these particulars in her memory, and that is how he is 
 able to give them. Baring Gould. The Birth oj Jesus : the Shepherds. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CBEED. 1,59 
 
 AETICLE IV. 
 
 Apostles' Cbeed. Nicene Creed. 
 
 M Suffered under Pontius Pilate, " Was crucified also for us 
 was crucified, dead, and buried." under Pontius Pilate, He 
 
 suffered and was buried." 
 
 This Article, although one, has several parts which we may 
 divide into separate sections. 
 
 SECTION 1. (Article IV.) 
 
 SUFFEKED UNDER PONTIUS PILATE. 
 
 1. The reason for the transition in the Creed from the Birth of Christ to 
 His sufferings.— 2. Pontius Pilate : the reason why his name is re- 
 corded in the Creed. — 3. The promised Messiah was to suffer. — 4. 
 The sufferings of Christ were agreed upon by Him and the Father. 
 They were revealed to the Prophets and delivered to the Ciiurch. — 
 5. The reason why the Messiah came in a state of suffering. — 6. All 
 the sufferings agreed upon, revealed to the Prophets, and delivered to 
 the Church, were endured by Jesus of Nazareth. — 7. The sufferings 
 of Christ considered in His Person. — 8. What Christ suffered for us 
 in His human nature, (a) in His body, (b) in His soul.— 9. The 
 occasion and intensity of His sufferings. — 10. Lessons to be learned 
 from this Article. 
 
 This Article of our Creed is commemorated by the Church 
 on Good Friday. 
 
 1. No notice is taken in the Creed of the years between 
 our Lord's Birth and His Crucifixion, because our Lord took our 
 nature that He might suffer and die for us ; He took our flesh in 
 order that He might give that flesh for the life of the world. 
 And, although He lived that He might set us an example of a 
 holy life, that we might walk in His footsteps, yet the great ob- 
 ject of the Incarnation was our redemption ; that He might die 
 for our sins, and rise again to impart to us His risen life. 
 
1$0 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 2. Pontius Pilate. His name is recorded in the Creed — 
 
 (a) To mark the time when our Saviour suffered. 
 
 (b) To remind us of the innocency of our Lord ; for Pilate 
 
 said, I find no fault in Him. 
 
 (c) To account for the manner of His death ; for crucifixion 
 
 was a Koman, not a Jewish, form of punishment. 
 Pontius Pilate was the Eoman Procurator, or Governor, of 
 Judeea, from a.d. 27-37, He was hated by the Jews on account 
 of his tyrannical and unju9t conduct, and they appealed to the 
 Eoman Emperor against him. Accordingly, Pilate was deposed 
 and banished to Vienne in Gaul, where he is supposed to have 
 committed suicide.* 
 
 The Promised Messiah was to Suffer. 
 
 3. In this truth, both before and after His death, Christ 
 instructed His Apostles It is written of the Son of man that 
 He must suffer many things and be despised. \ After His resur- 
 rection He enlightened the two disciples on the way to Emmaus 
 on this very point : Ought not Christ to have suffered these things 
 and so to enter into His glory? And again appearing to His 
 disciples, He opened their understandings that they might know 
 the Scriptures. And He said to them : Thus it is written, and thus 
 it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise again from the dead on the 
 third day. J 
 
 The 53rd Chapter of Isaias is a description of a suffering 
 Messiah. Who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm 
 of the Lord revealed? And He shall grow up as a tender plant 
 bef re Him, and as a root out of a thirsty ground : there is no 
 beauty in Him, nor comeliness ; and we have seen Him, and 
 there was no sightliness in Him that we should be desirous of Him. 
 Despised, and the most abject of men ; a man of sorrows, and ac- 
 quainted with infirmity ; and His look was as it ivere hidden and 
 despised, whereupon we esteemed Him not. Surely He hath borne 
 our infirmities, and carried our sorrows : and we have thought of 
 Him as it were a leper, and as one struck by God and afflicted. 
 But He was wounded for our iniquities, He was bruised for our 
 sins : the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and by His 
 bruises we are healed. All ive like sheep have gone astray, every 
 one hath turned aside into his own way ; and the Lord hath laid 
 on Him the iniquity of us all. He was offered because it was His 
 
 * Oxford and Cambridge Church Catechism. Art. iv. 
 t St. Mark ix. 12. { St. Luke xxiv. 26, 46. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 161 
 
 own will, and He opened not His mouth ; He shall be led as a sheep 
 to the slaughter, and shall be dumb as a lamb before his shearer, 
 and He shall not open His mouth. He was taken away from 
 distress and from judgment ; who shall declare His generation ? 
 Because He is cut off out of the land of the living : for the wicked- 
 ness of my people have I struck Him. And He shall give the un- 
 godly for His burial, and the rich for His death ; because He ha'h 
 done no iniquity, neither was there deceit in His mouth. And the 
 Lord luas pleased to bruise Him in infirmity ; if He shall lay down 
 His life for sin, He shall see a long lived seed, and the will of the 
 Lord shall be prospered in His hand. Because His soul hath 
 laboured, He shall see and be filled ; by His knowledge shall this 
 My servant justify many, and He shall bear their iniquities. 
 Therefore will I distribute to Him very many ; and He shall divide 
 the spoils of the strong, because He hath delivered His soul unto 
 death, and was reputed with the wicked ; and He hath borne the 
 sins of many, and hath prayed for the transgressors* 
 
 The person here treated of was certainly the Messiah, as is 
 confessed by the most ancient Jews, and manifest from the place 
 itself. For no man's soul can be made an offering for our sins 
 but our Saviour's ; on no other man hath God laid the inqiuity of 
 us all : on no other could the chastisement of our peace lie) with 
 
 no stripes but His could we be healed It was He who bore 
 
 our griefs and carried our sorrows. 
 
 Notwithstanding this clear prophecy, the Jews resolved to 
 expect a Messiah only glorious, and invented another to suffer; 
 but the Scriptures never mention any Messiah but the one the 
 seed of the woman and the Son of David, who is the one 
 Meditator, who suffered and died for our redemption. 
 
 4. Tbes-e sufferings which the Messiah had to endure were 
 agreed upon by Him and the Father according to the words of 
 the Acts. For of a truth there assembled together in this city, 
 against the holy child Jesus, ivhom thou hast anointed, Herod and 
 Pontius Pilate, 101th the Gentiles and the people of Israel, to do 
 what thy hand and thy counsel decreed to be don&.\ Christ 
 accepted this Covenant as expressed in the words of the Psalmist : 
 Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written 
 of me) to do Thy will, Lord. 
 
 The determined sufferings were divinely revealed to the 
 Prophets, and delivered to the Church in types, and acted in 
 sacrifices. Hence, St. Paul could say, But being aided by the 
 
 * Iaaias liii. f Acts iv. 27, 28. 
 
162 .THE CREED EXPLAINED 
 
 help of God, I stand unto this day, witnessing both to small and 
 great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and 
 Moses did say should come to pass, that Christ should suffer.* 
 
 " The prophets said so in express terms ; Moses said so in 
 the ceremonies instituted by his ministry. When he caused the 
 Passover to be slain, he said the Shiloh was the Lamb slain before 
 the foundation of the world ; when he commanded, the sacrifice 
 for sin, he said, without blood-shedding there was no remission, 
 and therefore the Son of God must die for the sins of men ; when 
 he appointed Aaron to go into the Holy of Holies on the day of 
 Atonement, he said that Christ, our High Priest, should never 
 enter the highest heavens to expiate for us but by His own 
 blood. "t 
 
 5. The reason or cause of the sufferings of the Messiah, and 
 of His coming in a state of suffering, and shedding His blood for 
 our redemption, may be accounted for by the very nature of the 
 sacrifice which He came to offer. 
 
 " If mankind had never sinned ; if we had been born into the 
 world as innocent and as holy as Adam was before the fall, 
 nothing less than sacrifice could have satisfied the debt we owe 
 to God as to the Author of our being, the All-holy, Almighty, 
 Eternal God. By the destruction of the offering, men showed 
 that they owed all to God, and were as nothing in His sight. 
 But the shedding of blood is something more. An unbloody 
 sacrifice, for instance, a sacrifice of corn and wine, is such as an 
 innocent creature might make to his Creator. But we were no 
 longer in that blessed state ; when Adam fell, we lost our inno- 
 cence ; when Adam sinned we became sinners ; we all sinned in 
 him, and, as sinners, became subject to death, the punishment of 
 sin. A bloody sacrifice is therefore the offering of sinful creatures 
 to their offended God. Our state was changed; before, we owed 
 to God the homage of our being ; now we owe to Him the ad- 
 ditional penalty of death. Not only so, we had incurred a debt 
 which nothing we had to give could satisfy. God was angry 
 with us ; we were guilby in His sight ; we stood in need of forgive- 
 ness and reconciliation. How were they to be obtained ? In 
 His love and mercy God provided a remedy. At the very moment 
 when He pronounced upon our first parents the sentence of 
 punishment, He told them of a Deliverer to come, for Whose 
 sake He would pardon them and their children. This Deliverer 
 was none other than our Saviour Jesus Christ, the Second Person 
 
 * Acts xxvi. 22. t Analysis of Pearson on the Creed, in looo. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 163 
 
 of the adorable Trinity, who was to become man, and die 
 for us."* 
 
 6. We have now to consider that all these sufferings that 
 were agreed upon, that were revealed by the prophets as the 
 sufferings of the true Messiah, were undergone by Jesus of 
 Nazareth. 
 
 On the approach of His death, Christ said to His Apostles : 
 All things shall be accomplished which were written by the pro- 
 phets concerning the Son of man. f When He delivered to them 
 the Blessed Sacrament He said, The Son of man indeed goeth 
 according to that which is determined. J After His resurrection 
 He rebuked the two disciples, foolish and slow of heart to be- 
 lieve in all things which the prophets have spoken: ought not Christ 
 to have suffered these things, and so to enter into His glory ? § And 
 after the Ascension St. Peter proclaimed before the Jews, who 
 had received the prophecies, and saw Christ's sufferings : Those 
 things which God before had showed by the mouth of all the prophets 
 that His Christ should suffer, He hath so fulfilled. \\ 
 
 It seems scarcely necessary to give these proofs or details, 
 but the Creed itself enters into details concerning the death of 
 our Saviour, in refutation of the heresy of the Docetes and Fan- 
 tastics, Sectarians of the first ages, who sprang up under the very 
 eyes of the Apostles. These, more or less, denied the reality of 
 the sufferings, death, and burial of Jesus Christ, and held that 
 these events took place in appearance only. It is necessary also 
 to be reminded of these details, that we may understand better 
 how much our redemption cost, and how Christ merited and 
 satisfied for us by His Passion and death. 
 
 We have now to consider how Christ suffered. He suffered 
 (a) in His Person, and (b) in His human nature. 
 
 Christ Suffered in His Person. 
 
 7. I here quote again at some length from Pearson's Analy- 
 sis, as his words clearly contain my meaning : " On looking back 
 at the Second Article, as connected with this through the third, 
 we find the Person here stated to have suffered, there named Jesus, 
 and described as the only Son of God : whom we have already 
 shown to be truly called only -begotten, because from all eternity 
 
 * Explanation of the Sacrifice of the Mass, by a Priest, pp. 30, 31. 
 
 + St. Luke xviii. 31. % St. Luke xxii. 22. ' § St. Luke xxiv. 25, 26. 
 
 II Acts iii. 18. 
 
164 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 generated of the substance of the Father, therefore as the eternal 
 Son, so also the eternal God. Wherefore, by the immediate co- 
 herence of the Articles it plainly appears that the eternal Son 
 
 of God, God of God, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, 
 dead and buried. The Princes of this world... crucified the Lord of 
 Glory* And God purchased His Church with His own blood, f 
 That Person which was begotten of the Father before all worlds, 
 and so was really the Lord of glory, and most truly God took on 
 Him the nature of man, and in that nature, being still the same 
 Person He was before, did suffer. When our Saviour fasted forty 
 days, there was no other person hungry than the Son of God who 
 made the world. When He sat down weary by the well, when 
 He was buffetted and scourged, there was no other person 
 
 thirsty, &c When He was crucified and died, there was no 
 
 other person who gave up the ghost but the Son of Him, and so 
 of the same nature with Him, Who only hath immortality .% 
 The Person who suffered was God the Son. 
 
 The same author continues to explain how Christ suffered 
 not in His divine, but in His human nature : " The divine nature 
 is of infinite and eternal happiness, never to be disturbed by the 
 least degree of infelicity. Wherefore, while we profess that the 
 Son of God suffered for us, we must deny that the divine nature 
 of our Saviour suffered. For since the divine nature of the Son 
 is common to the Father and the Holy Ghost, if that had been 
 the subject of His Passion, then must the Father and the Holy 
 Ghost have suffered also. Wherefore, as we attribute the Passion 
 to the Son alone, so must we attribute it to that nature which is 
 
 His alone, i.e., the human The Son alone is man, and so 
 
 capable of suffering. Christ suffered for us in the flesh, in the 
 nature of man which He, the eternal Word, took upon Him. Thus 
 the proper subject of our Saviour's Passion was that nature 
 which He took from us. The conjunction with humanity could 
 put no imperfection on the Divinity. We must not conceive the 
 Divine nature capable of any diminution, must not imagine the 
 essence of the Word subject to the sufferings of the flesh He took, 
 nor yet harbour so groundless an estimation of the great mystery 
 of the Incarnation as to make the properties of one nature mix 
 in confusion with the other. These wild collections of the Ariau 
 and Apollinarian heretics the Church hath long silenced with the 
 sound assertion that all the sufferings of our Saviour were sub- 
 jected in His human nature." 
 
 * 1. Cor. ii. 8. f Acta xx. 28. 
 
 X 1. Tim. vi. 16. § I Peter iv. 1 
 
THE APOSTLES' CEEED. 165 
 
 By reason, however, of the communication of idioms as above 
 explained, it can be rightly said that God suffered, that God died 
 for us and our salvation, inasmuch as He who suffered and died 
 for us was both God and man, and because the one Person of the 
 Son of God had human nature, and in that human nature suf- 
 fered and died, and was buried. 
 
 8. It now remains for us to consider what Christ suffered 
 for us in His human nature. 
 
 Christ suffered before He suffered under Pontius Pilate. He 
 suffered during His whole life. He was always the Man of sorrows 
 and acquainted with infirmity. He suffered in the two elements 
 or parts of His human nature, (a) In His body, (b) In His soul. 
 
 (a) In His sacred body our Blessed Lord suffered from : — 
 
 Hunger. In the wilderness (St. Luke iv. 2) ; and at 
 
 the fig-tree (St. Mark xi. 12). 
 Thirst. At Sycar (St. John iv. 7) ; on the Cross (Si. 
 
 John xix. 28). 
 Want. He had no money; worked a miracle to pay the 
 
 tax (St. Matthew xvii. 24-27; Cf 2 Corinthians viii. 9). 
 Weariness. When He sat by the well (St. John iv. 6) ; 
 
 and fell asleep in the boat (St. Mark iv. 38). 
 Exposure. Foxes had holes, and the birds of the air 
 
 had nests, but He had not where on to lay His head 
 
 (St. Matthew viii. 20; St. Luke xxi. 37). 
 All the bodily pains of His cruel death. Head — the 
 
 crown of thorns ; face — blows and spitting ; back — 
 
 the scourging ; hands and feet — the nails. 
 
 (b) He suffered in His soul from : — 
 
 Temptations. After the forty days' fast : He himself 
 hath suffered, being tempted. He was in all things 
 like us save sin (Hebrew ii. 18 ; iv. 15). 
 
 Contact with sin. He endureth such opposition from 
 sinners against Himself (Heb. xii. 3). 
 
 Contact with suffering. He took our infirmities, and 
 bore our diseases (St. Matt. viii. 17). He sighed and 
 wept at the sight of sorrow and suffering (St. John 
 xi. 33, 35 ; St. Luke xix. 41). 
 
 Unkindness and ingratitude. One disciple betrayed 
 Him (St. Luke xxii. 48) ; another denied Him (St. 
 Luke xxii. 61) ; all forsook Him (St. Mark xiv. 50).* 
 
 This arrangement of the sufferings is taken from the Manual of 
 Catechising, in loco. 
 
166 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 The bitterness and intensity of these sufferings we may learn 
 from the words of the Evangelist : He began to be sorrowful and to 
 be sad. The English does not express all that is contained, even 
 in the Latin words, Caepit pavere, tcedere y contristari et maestus 
 esse — He began to fear, to grow weary, to be sorrowful and sad. 
 Thus pressed down by the weight of His grief, and tormented by 
 anxiety and affliction of spirit, He said to His disciples, My soul 
 is sorrowful even unto death. The same dereliction and sorrow 
 is conveyed in the words of His prayer to His heavenly Father, 
 Father, 'if it be possible, let this chalice pass from Me. Finally His 
 bitter anguish of soul caused Him to fall into an agony ; and being 
 in 'an agony, He prayed the longer) and His sweat became as drops 
 of blood trickling down upon the ground. 
 
 The Occasion of His Sufferings. 
 
 9. Inasmuch as He came to satisfy for our sins and the 
 sins of all mankind, God laid upon Him the iniquities of us 
 all. And as we are obliged to be sorry for our particular sins, 
 so was He grieved for the sins of us all. If then we look on 
 the perfection of His knowledge, His understanding of all 
 the sins of men — all the guilt, offence, ingratitude, contained 
 in them ; His absolute conformity to the Will of God, love 
 of Him, and zeal for His glory ; His exceeding love for the 
 sons of men ; His knowledge that their sins were sufficient to 
 bring on them eternal destruction ; His consideration of them 
 whom He so loved as lying under the wrath of God, whom He so 
 truly worshipped ; His own exceeding abhorrence of sin from the 
 infinite graces diffused through His soul ; we cannot wonder at 
 that His sorrow. If the true contrition of one sinner for his own 
 iniquities, not all known to himself, cannot be performed without 
 great bitterness of remorse, what bounds can we set to the anguish 
 proceeding from a full apprehension of all the transgressions of so 
 many sinners ? Add, moreover, the immediate hand of God 
 pressing on Him at once all this load of all the sorrows which can 
 befall any of the saints of God ; that He, being touched with the 
 feeling of our infirmities, might be a merciful High-Priest, able 
 and willing to succour them that are tempted.* Thus may we 
 behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto that sorrow which 
 was done unto Him, wherewith the Lord afflicted Him in tJie day 
 of His fierce anger A 
 
 * Heb. ii. 17, 18 ; iv. 15. t Lam. i. 12. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 1G7 
 
 10. From this Article we may learn the following lessons :— 
 
 (a) The truth (reality) of Christ's human nature, without 
 
 which He could not be man, or suffer, or redeem us. 
 
 (b) The redemption of the human race, and the reconciliation 
 
 of men with God. By His suffering He made full 
 satisfaction to the injured Majesty of God, and made 
 an expiation, atonement, and propitiation for all our 
 sins. 
 
 (c) He merited for us, and purchased the eternal happiness 
 
 of heaven for His faithful here on earth. Ought not 
 Christ to suffer, and so to enter into His glory ? And doth 
 He not by the same right confer that glory on us ? 
 
 (d) That we may learn that we are to suffer, and how we 
 
 are to suffer. There was a moral heresy, as well as 
 
 a dogmatical heresy, in connection with the sufferings 
 
 of our Eedeemer. The dogmatical heresy is extinct, 
 
 as I have already said, but the moral one still exists, 
 
 and is likely to exist for ever among men. It consists 
 
 in denying, openly or tacitly, the necessity of suffering, 
 
 bearing our Cross, dying or descending into the 
 
 grave. To deny the obligation imposed upon all 
 
 Christians of suffering, of crucifying their flesh with 
 
 its vices and concupiscences, of putting on the new man 
 
 who, according to God, is created in justice and holiness 
 
 of truth," is to renew the disedifying errors of those 
 
 who abolished abstinence, fasting, and all works 
 
 painful to the flesh, as injurious to the merits of 
 
 Christ, and as a useless interference with Christian 
 
 liberty. 
 
 " If God spared not His natural Son, how shall He spare 
 
 His adopted sons, best known to be His children because 
 
 chastised ? As surely as if Christ be risen, we shall also rise ; so if 
 
 Christ hath suffered, we must expect to suffer. And He alone hath 
 
 also left us an absolutely perfect pattern to direct us in our 
 
 sufferings ; even He who taught us in all our afflictions the 
 
 exercise of admirable humility, perfect patience, and absolute 
 
 submission to the will of God."f 
 
 * Ephes. iv. 22, 24, f Analysis of the Creed, Pearson. 
 
1C8 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 SECTION 2 (Article IV.) 
 
 THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 
 
 1. The types of Christ crucified. — 2. The Crucifixion foretold by the 
 Prophets. — 3. The chief sufferings of Christ. — 4. The Agony and 
 Sweat of Blood. — 5. The Betrayal, which includes (a) the traitor's 
 kiss; (b) the arrest; (c) Malchus.— 6. The Jewish or Ecclesiastical 
 trial of Jesus. — 7. Jesus before Annas.— 8. The first trial before 
 Oaiphas. — 9. St. Peter's denial. — 10. The derision of Jesus. 11. — 
 The third Jewish trial, or the second trial before Caiphas. — 12. The 
 remorse and despair of Judas. 
 
 The Crucifixion of the Messiah was represented by Types 
 and Figures in the Old Law, and foretold by prophecies. 
 
 1. The Types of Christ crucified were : — 
 
 (a) Isaac. The only sou, offered up by his father, bore the 
 
 wood on which he was offered, as Jesus, the only- 
 begotten Son of God, given by His Father for the 
 ransom of mankind, bore His Cross to the place of 
 Crucifixion. 
 
 (b) The Brazen Serpent. And as Moses lifted up the ser- 
 
 pent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up * 
 that whosoever believeth in Him may not perish ; but 
 may have life everlasting* 
 
 (c) The Paschal Lamb. Not a bone of which was to be 
 
 broken, plainly typified the Lamb of God who taketh 
 away the sins of the world. 
 
 2. The crucifixion was foretold in prophecies : — 
 
 They shall look upon Me whom they have pierced. 
 
 (Zach. xii. 10). 
 They gave Me also gall for my food, and in My thirst 
 they gave Me vinegar to drink. (Psalms lxviii. 22). 
 They divided My garments amongst them, and upon my vesture 
 they cast lots. (St. Matt, xxvii. 35 ; Ps. xxi. 19). 
 
 It is easy to show how all these prophecies were fulfilled in 
 the Passion and Crucifixion of Christ. 
 
 It will be well to give a short account of the events of the 
 
 * St. John iii. 14, 15. 
 
THE apostles' ceeed. 169 
 
 Passion that led up to the crucifixion, in explanation of the 
 answer to the question : What were the chief sufferings of Christ ? 
 
 3. The chief sufferings of Christ were, first, His agony and 
 His sweat of blood in the garden ; secondly, His being scourged 
 at the pillar, and crowned with thorns ; and thirdly, His carrying 
 the cross, His crucifixion, and His death between two thieves. 
 The sufferings of our Lord make up what is called the Passion of 
 Christ. 
 
 Let us consider these sufferings one by one. 
 
 4. His agony and sweat of blood, to which maybe added the 
 betrayal of Judas. 
 
 After the last supper, and the institution of the blessed 
 Eucharist, Jesus went forth ivith His disciples over the brook 
 Cedron, where there was a garden, into which He entered with His 
 disciples.* 
 
 This brook Cedron is called also the ravine of Kedron, or of 
 the Cedars. Its name is derived, according to some, from the 
 black-green colour of the cedar trees that once grew there ; and 
 according to others, from the dark colour of its water and the 
 gloom of the valley itself. It is a winter torrent, and even in 
 winter there is very little water in the Cedron. Across this 
 brook David passed in his flight from His rebellious son Absalom. 
 
 Our Saviour descended this valley or ravine, crossed the 
 brook, and ascended up the green slope beyond it into the Mount 
 of Olives, where there was a garden or orchard, or an enclosed 
 piece of ground. This garden was called Gethsemani, which 
 means oil-press. Olive trees abound there, and mark the tradi- 
 tional site of the agony, and of the betrayal. 
 
 Jesus, leaving eight of His disciples to sleep under the trees, 
 withdrew into the interior of the garden with Peter, James, and 
 John. These three had witnessed His transfiguration, and they 
 were now to witness the sufferings of His sacred heart. He said 
 to them, My soul is sorrowful even unto death, and He told them : 
 Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation. He then 
 withdrew from them about a stone's throw, probably farther, into 
 the shadow of the ancient olive trees, that He might pass His 
 darkest hour alone. 
 
 Here He offered His threefold prayer to His Father, saying, 
 Father if it be possible let this chalice pass from me, nevertheless 
 not my will but thine be done. After repeating this prayer three 
 times, He came each time to His disciples, and found them 
 
 * St. John xviii. 1. 
 
170 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 asleep. During three long hours He suffered in His soul 
 all the torments of death ; the deepest sorrow for all the sins of 
 the world, so much so, that He fell into an agony, and His sweat 
 became as drops of blood flowing down upon the ground. 
 
 His agony was not the mere shrinking from death and pain, 
 which even inferior natures can overcome, but the mysterious 
 burden of the world's guilt, the shrinking of a sinless being from 
 the depths of satanic hate and horror through which He was to 
 pass. And His sweat became as drops of blood. Such a thing as 
 a " bloody sweat '' seems not to be wholly unknown under abnor- 
 mal pathological circumstances. The blood of Abel cried to 
 heaven for vengeance ; but this blood, speaking better than that 
 of Abel, cries to heaven for mercy and forgiveness. St. Luke 
 does not, however, use the term bloody sweat, but says that the 
 dense sweat of agony fell from Him as drops of blood do from a 
 wound. 
 
 An Angel from heaven appeared to comfort Him ; as an angel 
 came to Him after His temptation. 
 
 The Betrayal. 
 
 5. This includes the traitor's kiss ; the Arrest ; Malchus. 
 And Judas who betrayed Him knew the place, for Jesus often 
 went thither to pray. He came therefore with a band of soldiers, 
 composed of Levitical guards and Eoman soldiers, who, at 
 this time were sent to Jerusalem to prevent a tumult or uproar 
 amongst the thousands of pilgrims assembled to keep the Pass- 
 over. The band elsewhere is called a cohort, which means the 
 tenth part of a legion. The soldiers of the Jews were under their 
 general, and the cohort, or part of a cohort, from the Fort Antonio, 
 were under a Roman tribune. They brought with them lanterns 
 and torches, which was the ordinary equipment for night duty, 
 which, as it would appear, the Paschal moon would not render 
 useless ; besides, to their minds it was probable that dark woods 
 or buildings would have to be searched. 
 
 (a) And he that was called Judas, one of the twelve, went 
 before them, and drew near to Jesus for to kiss Him. 
 And Jesus said to him, Judas, dost thou betray the Son 
 of man with a kiss ? * Judas had before given them a 
 sign, saying, He whom I shall kiss that is He. He 
 exclaimed, Hail Rabbi ! and he kissed Him with the 
 
 * St. Luke xxii. 47. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 171 
 
 words, "peace to Thee" ; but received no "peace to 
 thee" in reply. Overacting his part, he not only 
 kissed his Lord, but kissed Him fervently (deosculatus 
 est). 
 
 (b) The Arrest. As soon as Judas had kissed our Lord he 
 
 fell back with the crowd of soldiers and others. Then 
 
 Jesus went forth and said to them, Whom seek ye ? 
 
 Jesus went forth from the shade into the light, and 
 
 from the circle of His disciples and the interior of the 
 
 garden, to meet death. 
 They answered Him, Jesus of Nazareth, or the Nazarene 
 
 — a comtemptuous expression. Jesus saith to them, 1 
 
 am He... 
 The u He " is not expressed in the Greek version ; and 
 I am, to Jewish ears, was the name of Jehovah. Judas, if not 
 the chief priests, must have noticed the significant words. There 
 is nothing in the narrative to show that either the whole company 
 were miraculously blinded, or that Judas in particular was blinded 
 or paralysed. 
 
 As soon therefore as He said to them, 1 am He, they went back- 
 wards and fell to the ground. Whether this was in mockery and 
 derision, or the strange effect of guilt meeting with absolute 
 innocence, or a supernatural effect wrought by Christ, is a ques- 
 tion which we have not the means of determining. The result 
 proved, both to the disciples and His foes, that His surrender was 
 entirely voluntary. Once before, the majesty of His words had 
 overwhelmed those who had come to arrest Him ;* and it would 
 have been so now had not He willed to be taken. He asked them 
 again, Whom seek ye ? Their first onset had been baffled ; He 
 Himself therefore gives them another opening ; and they repeat 
 the terms of their warrant that they have been sent to arrest 
 Jesus of Nazareth. Then our Saviour answered : I have told you 
 that I am He. If therefore you seek Me let these go their way: This 
 is your hour and the power of darkness. 
 
 (c) Malchus. (Mt) Then they came up and laid hands on 
 
 Jesus and held Him. And behold, one of them that 
 were with Jesus (Simon Peter, as St. John tells us) 
 stretching forth his hand, drew out his sword, and 
 striking the servant of the High Priest (whose name 
 was Malchus), cut off his ear (his right ear). (L) But 
 Jesus answering, said, " Suffer ye thus far." And 
 
 * St. John vii. 46. 
 
172 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 when He had touched his ear He healed it. (Mt) Then 
 
 Jesus saith to Peter, Put up again thy sword into its 
 
 place ; for all that take the sword shall perish with the 
 
 sword. (J) The chalice which My Father shall give Me, 
 
 shall I not drink it ? (Mt) 2 hinkest thou that I cannot 
 
 ask My Father, and He will give me presently twelve 
 
 legions of angels f How then shall the Scriptures be 
 
 fulfilled, that so it must be done. 
 
 Then turning to the chief Priests, who had evidently kept in 
 
 the background till all possible danger was over, Jesus said to 
 
 them : (Mt) You are come out as it were to a robber, with swords 
 
 and clubs to apprehend Me. I sat daily with you, teaching in the 
 
 Temple, and you laid not hands on Me. Now all this was done 
 
 that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Thus He 
 
 reproaches them for their cowardice and secrecy, as if He had 
 
 said, " If I had really done wrong, how is it that ye did not arrest 
 
 Me in the Temple?" Then the disciples, all leaving Him, fled. 
 
 Then the band, and the tribune, and the servants of the Jews, took 
 
 Jesus and bound Him, 
 
 The Jewish or Ecclesiastical Trial of Christ. 
 
 6. Before Christ was handed over to Pontius Pilate, the 
 Eoman governor, He was condemned by the Jewish Sanhedrin, 
 and by the Jewish people. We may subjoin the order of the 
 events of this portion of the Passion. 
 
 (a) From the garden of Gethsemane Jesus was taken to 
 
 Annas ; thence, after brief questioning,* 
 (6) To Caiphas, either in another part of the sacerdotal 
 palace, or to a residence of his own, where some 
 members of the Sanhedrin had hastily met ; and the 
 first irregular trial of Jesus took place at night. f 
 
 (c) Early in the morning a second and formal trial was held 
 
 by the Sanhedrin. This is related by St. Luke, and 
 is mentioned by SS. Matthew and Mark. 
 
 (d) The trial before Pontius Pilate, consisting of two parts 
 
 (1) a preliminary examination for which there is a 
 technical legal phrase in St. Luke.§ (2) A final trial 
 and sentence to death. 
 
 * St. John xviii. 19-23. f SS. Matthew, Mark, and Luke. 
 § St. Luke xxiii. 14. 
 
THE apostles' creed. 173 
 
 (e) The remission to Herod between the two Eoman trials 
 (1) and (2) recorded only by St. Luke. 
 
 The question is sometimes asked, Was the trial of Jesus fair 
 and legal according to the rules of Jewish law ? The answer 
 must be that the proceedings against Jesus violated both (a) the 
 spirit, and (b) the express rules of Hebrew jurisprudence, the 
 general tendency of which was to extreme clemency. 
 
 (a) The Talmud says : " The Sanhedrin is to save not to 
 
 destroy life." No man could be condemned in his 
 absence, or without a majority of two to one ; the 
 penalty for procuring false witnesses was death ; the 
 condemned was not to be executed on the day of his 
 trial. This clemency was violated in the trial of 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 (b) But even the ordinary legal rules were disregarded in 
 
 the following particulars : — (1) The examination by 
 Annas without witnesses. (2) The trial by night. 
 (3) The sentence on the first day of trial. (4) The 
 trial of a Capital charge on the day before the Sabbath. 
 (5) The suborning of witnesses. (6) The direct in- 
 terrogation by the High Priest.* 
 
 Jesus before Annas. 
 
 7. Whether Annas was ■ Chief ' of the priests, or president, 
 or vice-president of the Sanhedrin, we have no information ; cer- 
 tainly he was one of the most influential members of the hierarchy, 
 as is shown by his securing the high-priesthood for no less than 
 five of his sons, as well as for his son-in-law Caiphas, after he 
 had been deposed himself. He held office a.d. 7-14, his son 
 Eleazar, a.d. 16 ; Joseph Caiphas, a.d. 18-36 ; after him four sons 
 of Annas held the office, the last of whom, another Annas, a.d. 
 o2, put to death St. James the first bishop of Jerusalem. 
 
 The high-priests at this time were often mere nominees of 
 the civil power, and were changed with a rapidity that must have 
 scandalized serious Jews. He was father-in-law to Caiphas, and 
 therefore Caiphas would be sure to respect the results of a pre- 
 liminary examination conducted by him. Possibly the chief 
 priests thought that Annas was a safer man than Caiphas, and, 
 the father-in-law having taken the lead they wanted, the high- 
 priest would be compelled to follow. This examination before 
 Annas is given us by St. John only, who tacitly corrects the 
 
 * See Cambridge Bible for Schools. 
 
174 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 impression that the examination before Caiphas was the only- 
 one.* 
 
 According to St. John's narrative three things happened in 
 the house of Annas : (a) St. Peter denies our Lord the first time. 
 (b) Christ is interrogated concerning His disciples and His doc- 
 trine, (c) He receives a blow on the face from the servant of the 
 high-priest. 
 
 The First Trial Before Cadphas. 
 
 8. Annas had simply tried to entangle Jesus by insidious 
 questions. The course of the trial before Caiphas was different. 
 The priests on that occasion sought false witnesses, but their false 
 witnesses contradicted each other in their attempt to prove that 
 He had threatened to destroy the Temple. Since Jesus kept 
 silence, Caiphas rose in the midst of the assembly and adjured 
 Him by the living God to say whether He was the Christ the Son 
 of God. So adjured, Christ answered in the affirmative ; and 3 n 
 Caiphas rent his garments and appealed to the assembly, who, 
 most illegally, by setting aside the need of any further witnesses, 
 shouted aloud that He was a man guilty of death, that is, deserv- 
 ing of capital punishment. The high-priesb rent his garments and 
 said, He blasphemeth. The Sanhedrin do not pass sentence of 
 death on Him, but merely re-affirm their foregone conclusion, 
 and endeavour to have sentence passed and judgment executed 
 by the Procurator. 
 
 Two other particular sufferings of that night remain to be 
 mentioned, namely, (a) St. Peter's denial, (b) The derision of 
 Christ. 
 
 St. Peter's Denial. 
 
 9. Peter followed afar off to see the end. This was an un- 
 wise exposure of himself to temptation. His admission into the 
 courtyard of the High-Priest's house was due to the influence of 
 St. John. They had kindled a fire in the midst of the courtyard, 
 as the spring nights at Jerusalem are often cold, and the soldiers 
 and officials were seated at the fire. Peter sat down amongst the 
 servants of the High-Priest ; in the midst of a group ofmen who 
 had just been engaged in the arrest of his Lord. 
 
 A certain maid, probably the portress, who had been mean- 
 while relieved, and who, after a fixed gaze, recognised Peter as 
 
 * Cambridge Bible for Schools, St. John. 
 
THE apostles' ceeed. 175 
 
 the man whom she had admitted, exclaimed, This man was also 
 with Him. (This account is given by St. Luke. The accounts 
 given by the Evangelists of these denials of St. Peter are various, 
 but not contrary.) St. Peter answered and denied our Lord the 
 first time with the words : Woman I know Him not ; or, I know not 
 the Man. 
 
 After a little while. The trial before the sacerdotal Committee 
 naturally took some time, and they were awaiting the result. 
 St. Peter, after the first denial before them all, probably hoped to 
 shake off this dangerous curiosity ; and, perhaps, as his guilt was 
 brought more home to him by the crowing of the cock the first 
 time, stole back out of the light of the brazier, where he had been 
 sitting with the servants, to the gate or vestibule. Of his second 
 denial St. John says, They said to him ; and as the portress was 
 sure to have gossipped about him to the girl who relieved her at 
 her post, the second denial was due to his being pointed out by 
 the second maid to the group of idlers who were hanging about 
 the doors, one of whom was prominent in pressing the charge 
 against him. And Peter again denied, saying, Man, I am not. 
 Snowing his displeasure by his manner. 
 
 About the space of an hour after this — to St. Peter it must 
 must have been one of the most terrible hours of his life — the 
 charge was made a third time against him. Here again the main 
 charge was prominently made by one, a kinsman of Malchus, who 
 had seen Peter in the garden, and was known to St. John from 
 his acquaintance with the High-Priest's household. But others 
 came up and joined in it, and they added, for even thy speech be- 
 trayeth thee. Peter was discovered by his use of. the Galilean 
 dialect. The Galileans were unable to pronounce the gutturals 
 distinctly, and they lisped, pronouncing sh like th. Peter then 
 denied again, and began to curse and to swear that he knew not 
 the Man, and immediately the cock crew. It crew for the second 
 time, verifying the words of Christ uttered in warning to St. Peter : 
 Before the cock crow twice thou shalt deny Me thrice. 
 
 St. Luke then tells us our Lord turned and looked on Peter. 
 Jesus must have looked on His erring Apostle either from the 
 chamber in which He was being tried, or else at the moment 
 when the trial was over, and He was being led across the court- 
 yard amid the coarse insults of the servants. And Peter went out 
 and wept bitterly. He went out into the night, and to meet the 
 morning dawn, and wept, not merely shed tears, but wept aloud, 
 and continued weeping. 
 
176 THE CBEED EXPLAINED. 
 
 St. John gives both the prophecy and its fulfilment concern- 
 ing St. Peter's fall, »to prove our Saviour's foreknowledge of it ; 
 and it is to be noticed in St. John's account, that he mentions 
 most what may lessen the fault of his brother Apostle : that servants 
 and officers were about him ; that in the second ease he was 
 pressed by more than one ; and that on the last occasion a kins- 
 man of Malchus was among the accusers, which may greatly 
 have increased Peter's terror. Moreover, this instance of human 
 frailty in one so exalted, is given us with fourfold emphasis, that 
 none may presume and none dispair. 
 
 The Derision. 
 
 10. Jesus, after He was declared a blasphemer, and one 
 guilty of death by the Sanhedrin, is left in the hands of the 
 soldiers ; and St. Luke tells us how they treat Him. And the men 
 that held Jesus mocked Htm and smote Him, And when they had 
 blindfolded Kim they struck him on the face, and asked Him saying, 
 Prophecy who is it that struck Thee. And, blaspheming, many other 
 things they said against Him. No less than live forms of beating 
 are referred to by the Evangelists in describing this pathetic scene. 
 
 The Third Jewish Trial, or the Second Trial before 
 
 Oaiphas. 
 
 11. As soon as it was day. The oral law decided that the Sanhe- 
 drin could only meet by daylight. The ancients of the people, the 
 chief priests and the scribes, came together. Here we have the three 
 constituent parts of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was the 
 successor of the Great Synagogue which ended with Simon the 
 Just. "Where they met is uncertain. It was either in the Paved 
 Hall or Hall of Squares, or in the Temple Synagogue, a chamber 
 which abutted on the middle wall of partition ; or in the shops 
 or booths founded by the house of Hanan to sell dove3, etc., for 
 the temple."* 
 
 They brought Him into their Council, namely, the Sanhedrin. 
 Formerly this tribunal gloried in its justice and mildness, but it 
 was now an extremely degenerated body, and unworthy of its 
 earlier traditions. The Jewish authorities had lost the power of 
 inflicting death, they couldonly pass sentence of excommunication, 
 and hand over to the secular power. 
 
 * Cambridge Bible tor Schools, St. Luke. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 177 
 
 They ask our Saviour : Art Thou the Christ ? Jesus: If I tell 
 you you will not believe ; and if I also ash you you will not answer 
 me nor let me go. Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right 
 hand of the power af God. Then said they all : Art Thou the Son 
 of God? Who said: You say that I am. And they said, 
 what need we any further testimony, for we ourselves have 
 heard it from Sis own mouth. And the whole multitude rising up, 
 led Him to Pilate. 
 
 12. Here follows the account of the remorse and horrible 
 end of Judas, given by St. Matthew. 
 
 How that Judas, seeing that He was condemned, repented 
 himself. His repentance was not one that brought about a 
 change of heart or life, but merely remorse or regret. He return- 
 ed the thirty pieces of silver for which he sold our Lord, and cast 
 them down in the temple, and went and hanged himself with a 
 halter. 
 
 But the chief-priests, having taken the pieces of silver, said, It 
 is not lawful to put them into the corbona (the treasury) because it 
 is the price of blood. And after they had consulted together they 
 bought with them the potter's field, to be a burying place for stran- 
 gers. For this cause that field was called haceldama, that is, the 
 field of blood, even to this day. 
 
178 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 SECTION 3. (AETICLE IV.) 
 THE PASSION OF CHKIST— Continued. 
 
 1. The first trial of Jesus before Pilate.— 2. The trial before Herod.— 3 
 The second trial of Christ before Pilate. — 4. Barabbas. — 5. The 
 message of Pilate's wife. — 6. The choice of tne people between Jesus 
 and Barabbas. — 7. The scourging. — 8. The crowning with thorns : 
 (a) the scarlet cloak, (&) the crown of thorns, (c) the reed. — 9. The 
 Ecce Homo. — 10. Jesus is sentenced to death. 
 
 The First Trial Before Pilate. 
 
 1. Then they led Jesus from Caiphas to the Governor's Hall, 
 and it was morning. This hall of judgment was at Pilate's house 
 or palace, the official residence of the Procurator. It is probable 
 that Pilate occupied a part of the fortress of Antonio. It was 
 early in the morning. A Eoman court might be held directly 
 after sunrise ; and as Pilate had probably been informed that an 
 important case was to be brought before him, delay in which 
 might cause serious disturbance, there is nothing improbable in 
 his being ready to open his court between 4.0 and 5.0 a.m. 
 
 The chief Priests and the accusing Jews would not enter the 
 hall that they might not be denied. Pilate, because they would 
 not enter, went out to them, and, true to the Eoman sense of 
 justice, refused to confirm the sentence of the Sanhedrin, and 
 determined to try the case himself. He asked them : What 
 accusation bring you against this man ? They bring three distinct 
 charges against Christ, which, being political, Pilate must hear. 
 (a) Perverting the nation, (b) Forbidding tribute to Caesar, (c) 
 Saying that He Himself is Christ, a King. 
 
 Pilate, on hearing their accusation, returns to the hall where 
 Jesus was, and addressing himself to our Lord, asked Him, Art 
 Thou the King of the Jews ? The answer of Jesus, and His ex- 
 planation to Pilate of the Kingdom of God, are given at length in 
 St. John's Gospel* : Jesus answered, sayest thou this of thyself or 
 have others told it thee of Me ? Pilate answered, Am I a Jew ? 
 (Is it likely that I, a Eoman governor, have any interest in these 
 
 ♦St. John xviii. 33—37. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 179 
 
 Jewish questions). Thy own nation and the chief Priests have 
 delivered Thee up to me. What hast Thou done t (What didst 
 Thou do to make Thy own people turn against Thee ?) Jesus 
 answered, My Kingdom is not of this world ; if My Kingdom were 
 of this world, My servants would certainly strive that I should not 
 be delivered up to the Jews ; but now My kingdom is not from hence. 
 Pilate therefore said to Him, Art Thou a King then ? Jesus an- 
 swered, Thou say est that I am a King ; for this was I born, and for 
 this came I into the world that I should give testimony of the truth, 
 Every one who is of the truth, heareth My voice. Pilate saith to 
 Him, What is truth ? And when he said this he went out again to 
 the Jews, and said to them, I find no cause in Him. "When, there- 
 fore, Pilate came out again to the Jews he had Jesus with him. 
 And he said to the chief Priests and the multitude, I find no cause 
 in Him. That is, I find no crime in this case for which this man 
 should be put to death. 
 
 The Jews hearing this outside the hall, began more and more 
 to accuse Jesus. Pilate, who was with Jesus on the platform of 
 the hall, again asked him, saying, (M) Answer est Thou nothing ? 
 Behold in how many things they accuse Thee. But Jesus still 
 answered nothing, so that Pilate wondered. (L) But they were 
 more earnest, saying, He stirreth up the people, teaching throughout 
 all Judea, beginning from Galilee to this place. But Pilate, hearing 
 Galilee, asked if the man were of Galilee. And when he understood 
 that He was of Herod' s jurisdiction, he sent Him away to Herod, 
 who was also himself at Jerusalem in these days. 
 
 The Trial before Herod. 
 
 2. St. Luke alone gives this interesting incident of the 
 Passion. He seems to have had special information about 
 Herod's Court. Pilate's object may have been (a) to get rid of 
 the responsibility — or at least to divide it — by ascertaining Herod's 
 opinion ; (6) to do a cheap act of courtesy, which might soothe 
 the irritation which Herod, as well as the Jews, felt against him. 
 
 Herod, as well as Pilate, was at Jerusalem at this time, 
 although the former lived usually at Tiberias, and Pilate at 
 Csesarea. During the immense assemblage of the Jewish feasts, 
 the two rulers had come to Jerusalem, Pilate to maintain order, 
 Herod to gain popularity among his subjects by a decent sem- 
 blance of conformity to the national religion. At Jerusalem 
 Herod occupied the old palace of the Asmonaean princes. 
 
180 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 Herod hoped to see our Lord perform some miracle. He 
 asked Him many questions, but Christ answered him nothing. 
 No ; a murderer of the Prophets, who was living in open and 
 flagrant incest, and who had no higher motive than mean curiosity, 
 deserved no answer. Our Lord used of Herod the only purely 
 contemptuous word which He is ever recorded to have uttered.* 
 
 The Jews vehemently accused our Lord before Herod. They 
 were bent on securing their purpose, and, perhaps, feared that 
 Herod's well-known weakness and superstition might rob them 
 of their prey ; especially as he was much less afraid of them than 
 Pilate, having strong influence in Eome. 
 
 And Herod with his army {i.e., his soldiers) set Him at nought, 
 and mocked, putting on Him a white garment (probably a white 
 festal garment), and sent Him bach to Pilate. This involved a 
 second acquittal of our Lord from every political charge brought 
 against Him. Had He in any way been guilty of either (a) per- 
 verting the people ; (b) forbidding tribute to be paid to Caesar ; 
 or (c) claiming to be a King; it would have been Herod's duty, 
 and still more, his interest, to punish Him. His dismissal of the 
 case was a deliberate avowal of His innocence. 
 
 And Herod and Pilate were made friends that same day, for 
 before they were enemies to one another. This is the first type of 
 Judaism and Heathenism leagued together to crush Christianity, f 
 
 The Second Trial of Christ Before Pilate. 
 
 3. After Christ was brought back to Pilate, he, the governor, 
 made a formal speech to the chief Priests and the people. 
 
 (L) You have presented unto me this man as one that perverteth 
 the people, and behold, I, having examined Him before you can find 
 no cause in this man in these things wherein you accuse Him ; no, 
 nor Herod either. For I sent you to Him, and behold nothing 
 worthy of death is done to Him. I will chastise Him, therefore, 
 and release Him, 
 
 "Now was the golden opportunity which Pilate should have 
 seized, in order to do what he knew to be right ; and he was 
 really anxious to do it, because the meek majesty of the Lord 
 had made a deep impression upon him, and because, even while 
 seated on the throne, he was shaken by a presentiment of warn- 
 ing conveyed to him by the dream of his wife. But men live 
 
 * St. Luke xiii. 32. 
 fSee Cambridge Bible for Schools. St. Luke. 
 
THE APOSTLES* CKEED. 181 
 
 under the coercion of their own past acts, and Pilate, by his 
 cruelty and greed, had so bitterly offended the inhabitants of 
 every province of Judea, that he dared not do anything more to 
 provoke the accusation which he knew to be hanging over his 
 head, fie declares that he has found no fault in Him. Pilate's 
 word is a direct contradiction of that of the high Priest. The 
 I is emphatic. You bring a charge, I, after a public examination, 
 find it to be baseless. I will therefore chastise Him. This was 
 the point at which Pilate began to yield to the fatal vacillation 
 which soon passed into guilt, and made it afterwards impossible 
 or Him to escape. He had just declared the prisoner absolutely 
 nnocent. To subject Him, therefore, to the horrible punish- 
 ment of scourging merely to gratif} the pride of the Jews, and to 
 humble Him in their eyes, was an act of disgraceful illegality, 
 which he must have felt to be most unworthy of the high Roman 
 sense of justice. The guilty dread which made Pilate a weak 
 man, made him also the unconscious fulfiller of prophecy."* f 
 
 After this follows the narrative of three events, (a) The 
 proposition to release one of the prisoners on the occasion (of 
 the Passover) ; and Pilate asked them, Whom will ye that I release 
 unto you: Barabbus or Jesus, who is called the Christ? (b) The 
 message of Pilate's wife, (c) Barabbas preferred to Jesus. 
 
 4. It was a custom to release a prisoner on the occasion of 
 this Festival of the Passover. No trace of this custom is found 
 in the Talmud. But the release of prisoners was usual at certain 
 festivals at Borne, and at Athens ; during the Panathenaic festival 
 prisoners enjoyed temporary liberty. It is not, therefore, im- 
 probable that Herod the Great, who certainly familiarised the 
 Jews with other usages of Greece and Borne, introduced this 
 custom, and that the Boman governor, finding the custom 
 established, and gratifying to the Jews, in accordance with 
 Boman practice, retained the observance of it. 
 
 Barabbas or Bar-Abbas, son of Abba (father), son of a (dis- 
 tinguished) father. At this stage of the trial Barabbas may 
 have been led out, and the choice offered them between Jesus 
 Bar- Abbas, and Jesus, who is called Christ, as they stood on the 
 pavement side by side. 
 
 St. John adds : Now Barabbas was a robber. There is a 
 tragic impressiveness in this brief remark. The robber is the 
 bandit, or brigand, who is more dangerous to persons than to 
 property, and sometimes combines something of chivalry with 
 
 Isaiah liii. 3. f Cambridge Bible for Schools. St. Luke. 
 
182 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 his violence. In the case of Barabbas, we know, from St 
 Mark and St. Lnke, that he had been guilty of insurrection and 
 consequent bloodshed rather than of stealing ; and this was verj 
 likely the case also with the two robbers crucified with Jesus. 
 Thus, by a strange irony of fate, the hierarchy obtain the release 
 of a man guilty of the very political crime with which thev 
 charged Christ — sedition. The people, no doubt, had some 
 sympathy with the insurrectionary movement of Barabbas, and 
 on this the priests worked. 
 
 The Message op Pilate's Wife. 
 
 5. Pilate was sitting on the tribunal to ascertain the popular 
 decision. At thispoint he was interrupted by his wife's messengers. 
 The message she sent to Him was : Have thou nothing to do with 
 that just man, for I have suffered many things in a dream because 
 of Him. This dream of Pilate's wife is recorded by St. Matthew 
 only. Claudia Procula, or Procla, was the woman's name, and 
 according to Cornelius a Lapide she is venerated as a Saint 
 amoDgst the Greeks. It is most probable that this vision came 
 from God, to proclaim the innocence of Christ before the unjust 
 sentence of His condemnation is pronounced. 
 
 The Choice op the People. 
 
 6. While Pilate was engaged with the messengers, the chief 
 Priests employed themselves in persuading the people to demand 
 Barabbas rather than Christ. When the messengers had left, 
 Pilate said to them (L) Whether will you of the two to he released 
 unto you ? But the lohole multitude cried out : Away with this 
 man, and release unto us Barabbas. Pilate said to them : (Mk) 
 What will you then that I do to the King of the Jews ? But they 
 cried out, Crucify Him. And Pilate saith unto them. Why, what 
 evil hath He done ? (L) I find no cause of death in Him ; I will 
 chastise Him therefore, and let Him go. (Mt) But they cried out 
 the more, saying, Let Him be cruciHed. 
 
 There is no further question of a show of legality or justice ; 
 the traditional clemency is quite forgotten ; the fanatical crowd, 
 pressing round the doors of the Praetoriurn, which they cannot 
 enter, join with excited gesticulation in one loud and furious cry 
 for the blood of Jesus. 
 
 Pilate, seeing that he gained no advantage, but excited more 
 the multitude, (Mt) taking water, he washed his hands before the 
 
THE APOSTLES 7 CEEED. 183 
 
 people, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just man, you look 
 to it. And the whole people answering, said, His blood be upon us 
 and upon our children. In washing his hands Pilate followed a 
 Jewish custom which all would understand. The terrible cry of 
 the Jews : His blood be upon us and upon our children is peculiar 
 tc St. Matthew. St. Peter finds as the sole excuse for his fellow- 
 countrymen, I ivot that through ignorance ye did it as did also 
 your rulers* The prayer of Jesus on the Cross for His murderers 
 was meant for these as well as for the Eoman soldiers. All 
 these things took place outside the Praetorium ; we come now to 
 consider what happened inside the Praetorium, namely, the 
 scourging and mockery by the soldiers. 
 
 The Scoukging. 
 
 7. " Because the attempt to release Him in honour of the 
 Feast had failed, Pilate now trieswhether the severe and degrading 
 punishment of scourging will not satisfy the Jews. In Pilate's 
 hands the boasted justice of Eoman law ends in the policy: 
 What evil did He do ? I find no cause of death in Him : I will 
 therefore chastise Him and let Him go. Scourging was part of 
 Eoman capital punishment ; and had we only the two first Gospels 
 we might suppose that the scourging was inflicted immediately 
 before Crucifixion ; but this is not stated, and St. John, combined 
 with St. Luke, makes it clear that scourging was inflicted as a 
 separate punishment, in the hope that it would suffice. The 
 supposition of a second scourging as part of the execution is 
 unnecessary and improbable. Pilate, sick of the bloody work, 
 •and angry at being forced to commit a judicial murder, would 
 not have allowed it ; and it may be doubted whether any human 
 frame could have survived a Eoman scourging twice in one day. 
 One infliction was sometimes fatal, t 
 
 " We can only obtain from all the four Evangelists, and 
 especially from St. John, a full conception of the earnestness 
 with which Pilate strove to escape from the necessity of what he 
 felt to be a needless crime. If he was not, as Tertullian says, 
 jam pro conscientia sua Christianus, he was evidently impressed, 
 and the difficulty of doing right must have come upon him as 
 a terrible Nemesis for his past sins. It is noteworthy that he 
 took step after step to secure the acquittal of Jesus, (a) He 
 emphatically and publicly announced His perfect innocence. 
 
 ♦Acts iii. 17. t Cambridge Bible for Schools. St. John. 
 
184 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 (b) He sent Him to Herod, (c) He made an offer to release 
 Him as a boon, (d) He tried to make scourging take the place 
 of crucifixion, (e) He appealed to compassion. St. John shows 
 still more clearly how, in successive stages of the trial, he sets 
 aside (a) the vague general charge of being an evil-doer ; (b) of 
 being in any seditious sense a King ; (c) of any guilt in His reli- 
 gious claims. He only yields at last through fear, which makes 
 him release a man guilty of the very crime for which he delivers 
 Jesus to a slaves's death. The fact that Pilate's patron, Sejanus, 
 had probably by this time fallen, and that Tiberius was executing 
 all connected with him, may have enhanced Pilate's fears. He 
 knew that an accusation of High Treason (under the Lex 
 Majestatis) was generally fatal." 
 
 The Crown of Thorns ; and Jesus Mocked by the 
 Roman Soldiers. 
 
 8. Herod and his troops had set an example which the 
 Eoman soldiers were ready enough to follow. Pilate counte- 
 nanced the brutality as aiding his own plan of satisfying Jewish 
 hatred with something less than death. The soldiers had inflicted 
 the scourging, for Pilate, being only Procurator, would have had 
 no lictors. St. Matthew narrates this incident as well as St. John. 
 Then the soldiers of the Governor, taking Jesus into the hall, 
 gathered together unto Him the whole band. And stripping Him, 
 they put a scarlet cloak about Him, and platting a crown of thorns 
 they put it upon His head, and a reed in His right hand. And bowing 
 the knee before Him, they mocked Him, saying : Hail, King of the 
 Jews. And spitting upon Him they took the reed and struck His 
 head." 
 
 The hall, into which they led our Lord, was the Praetorium, 
 a part of the residence of the Governor. 
 
 (a) The scarlet cloak. St. Mark calls it purple. Purple, 
 
 with the ancients, was a vague term for bright, rich 
 colour, and would be used of crimson as well as of 
 violet. The robe was a military chlamys, or paluda- 
 mentum. One of Pilate's cast-off cloaks. The garment 
 in which Herod had mocked Jesus was white. The 
 scourging and mockery were very possibly visible to 
 the Jews. 
 
 (b) The Grown of Thorns. The context seems to show that 
 
 this was in mockery of a royal crown rather than the 
 - victor's wreath. The plant is supposed to be of a 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 1 85 
 
 thorny nabk with flexible branches and leaves like ivy, 
 abundant in the Jordan valley and round about 
 Jerusalem. 
 (c) The Beed in the Bight Hand was in mockery of the 
 sceptre of a king. The Hail King of the Jews : like 
 the Procurator, the soldiers mock the Jews as well as 
 their victim. 
 
 The Ecce Homo, and the Last Scene of the Trial 
 before Pilate. 
 
 9. This took place outside the Praetorium, and it includes 
 Pilate's appeal — Behold the man ; and the Jews' rejoinder, He 
 made Himself the Son of God. I here subjoin St. John's narra- 
 tive, that needs no note or comment : Pilate took Jesus, and 
 iv ent forth again, and saith to them: Behold, I bring him forth 
 unto you, that you may know that I find no cause in Him. {Jesus, 
 therefore, came forth wearing the crown of thorns and the purple 
 garments.) And he saith to them, Behold the man. When the 
 chief priests, therefore, and the servants had seen Him, they cried 
 out, saying, Crucify — crucify Him ! Pilate saith to them : 
 Take Him you and crucify Him, for I find no cause in Him. The 
 Jews answered him : We have a law, and according to the law He 
 ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God. 
 
 When Pilate therefore had heard this saying, he feared the 
 more. And he entered into the hall again, and said to Jesus, 
 W hence art thou ? But Jesus gave him no ansiuer. Pilate there- 
 fore saith to Him : Speakest Thou not to me? Knoivest Thou not 
 that I have power to crucify Thee, and I have power to release Thee. 
 Jesus answered : Thou shotildst not have any power against Me, 
 unless it were given to thee from above ; therefore, he that hath 
 delivered Me to thee hath the greater sin. And from henceforth 
 Pilate sought to release Him. But the Jews cried out, saying : If 
 tho u release this man, thou art not Ccesar's friend. For whosoever 
 maketh himself King, speaketh against Ccesar. 
 
 Pilate, hearing these words, feared lest he should be ac cused 
 of enmity and perfidy towards Caesar ; and, on the other band, 
 he was unwilling to condemn Christ, Who had said that He was 
 a King, but that His kingdom was not of this world. Doubtful, 
 therefore, and hesitating, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in. 
 the judgment seat, in the place which is called Lithostrotos, and in 
 Hebrew Gabbatha. Literally, this means stone-paved. Josephusn 
 
186 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 says that the Temple mount, on part of which the fortress of 
 Antonio stood, was covered with a tesselated pavement. It was, 
 we may conclude, from its having a Hebrew name, a fixed spot, 
 and not the portable mosaic work which Roman generals some- 
 times carried about with them. 
 
 And it was the Parasceve op the Pasch, about the 
 Sixth Hour. 
 
 10. Pilate, wishing to try a last experiment, pointing to 
 Jesus, Whom he brought out with him, with his finger, and 
 prompted by divine inspiration according to some of the Fathers 
 of the Church, he saith to the Jews : Behold your King. But they 
 cried out : Away with Him ! away with Him I Crucify Him. 
 Pilate saith to them, Shall I drucify your King ? The chief priests 
 answered, We have no King but Ccesar. Sooner than acknowledge 
 that Jesus is the Messiah, the chief priests proclaim that a heathen 
 emperor is their king. And their baseness is at once followed by 
 Pilate's ; sooner than meet a dangerous charge, he condemns the 
 innocent to death. Then, therefore, he delivered Him to them to be 
 crucified. And they took Jesus, and led Him away. St. Luke 
 says that Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they required* 
 The two technical formulae for the sentence of death would be — 
 to the prisoner, Ibis ad crucem (Thou shalt go to the cross) ; to 
 the attendant soldiers, I miles expedi crucem (Go, soldiers, get 
 ready the Cross). 
 
 * xxiii. 24. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 187 
 
 SECTION 4. (Article IV.) 
 
 THE CRUCIFIXION AND DEATH OF CHRIST. 
 
 1. The carrying of the Cross — (a) the Cross itself ; (b) Simon of Cyrene ; 
 (c) the veil of Veronica; (d) the women of Jerusalem. — 2. Calvary. 
 — 3. The Vinegar and Gall. — 4. The fastening Him to the Cross. — 5. 
 The title on the Cross. — 6. The parting of His garments and the 
 seamless garment. — 7. Christ is mocked on the Cross. — 8. The last 
 words of Christ from the Cross. — 9. The friends of Jesus who stood 
 round the Cross. — 10. The darkness. — 11. The words, Eli, Eli, lama 
 Sabacthani : My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me. — 12. 
 The fifth word, I thirst. — 13. The sixth word, Consummatum est : It 
 is finished. — 14. Christ dies. 
 
 Under this head we have to consider (a) The carrying of 
 the Cross, (b) The Crucifixion and the three hours' agony, (c) 
 The death, and the events that followed immediately on the 
 death of Christ. 
 
 The Carrying of the Cross, or Jesus led forth to 
 Crucifixion. 
 
 1. The Jews having, by clamour and threats, obtained the 
 condemnation of Christ (J) took Jesus and led Him forth, that is, 
 from the tribunal to the praetorium, where (Mt) they took off the 
 cloak from Him, and put on Him His own garments, and led Him 
 away to crucify Him. (J) And bearing His own Cross, He went 
 forth to that ^lace which is called Calvary, but in Hebrew Gol- 
 gotha, where they crucified Him. (Mt) And going out (of the city) 
 they found a man of Cyrene, named Simon, coming out of the 
 country, (M) the father of Alexander and Buf us: (Mt) him they forced 
 to take up the Cross. (L) And they laid the Cross on him to carry 
 after Jesus. And there followed Him a great wmltitude of people, 
 and of women, who bewailed and lamented Him. Jut Jesus, turn- 
 ing to them, said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not over Me, but 
 weep for yourselves and your children. For, behold, the days- will 
 come wherein they will say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs 
 that have not borne, and the paps that have not given suck. Then 
 
188 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall upon us ; and to the 
 hills, Cover us. For if in the green wood they do these things, 
 what shall be done in the dry ? And there were also tioo malefactors 
 led with Him to be put to death. 
 
 It was about nine o'clock in the morning when Jesus was 
 condemned to death. Sb. John tells us, it was the Friday of 
 the Passover ; it was about the sixth hour. 
 
 Pilate delivered Him unto them to be crucified. And they 
 took Jesus, and led Hiin away. The eternal Son is given by 
 the Father, comes to His own inheritance, and His own people 
 received Him not. The Incarnate Son is given up by Pilate to 
 His own people, and they receive Him to crucify Him. The 
 glorified Son will come again to His own people to receive them 
 unto Himself. 
 
 And bearing His own Cross he went forth to that place called Cal- 
 vary, and in Hebrew, Golgotha. Christ, on taking the Cross, may be 
 represented in the words of the hymn of the Church, as saying 
 in salutation of that Cross : Salve, crux pretiosa, diu desiderata, 
 sollicite amata, sine intermissione quaesita, et aliquando cupienti 
 animo prcsparata, 
 
 (a) The Cross on which our Saviour suffered was such as 
 is usually shown in pictures, the crux immissa T, or 
 Latin Cross, as distinguished from the crux commissa 
 T, or the crux decussata X, the form of the Cros3 on 
 which St. Andrew suffered. The length of the Cross 
 was fifteen feet, and the transverse beam was seven 
 or eight feet long. A projecting rest was fastened to it 
 to support the feet of the sufferer when nailed to the 
 Cross, The following particulars of what happened 
 on the way to Calvary are mentioned by the Evange- 
 lists. A man of Cyrene helped to carry the Cros3 ; a 
 great company of people, and of women, followed 
 Christ ; His touching address to the women of 
 Jerusalem ; the last warning of the coming sorrows ; 
 the leading of two malefactors with Him. Tradition 
 hands down to us two other events ; namely, the 
 meeting with His Blessed Mother, and St. Veronica 
 wipes His face with a veil or towel. As Mary was 
 present on Calvary when Christ was crucified, the 
 tradition is well founded that tells us of her meeting 
 her divine Son on the way to Calvary. 
 The following was the first remarkable incident which in 
 recorded in connection with the carrying of the Cross. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 189 
 
 (b) Simon of Gyrene. This man is said to be coming out 
 
 of the country, and that he was the father 
 
 of Alexander and Eufus. It has been thought 
 
 that the fact of his coming out of the country 
 
 implies that Simon was returning from work, and 
 
 hence that it cannot be the actual day of the Feast. 
 
 Simon was probably coming into the city for the 
 
 Feast, like so many others. Some infer that Simon 
 
 was already an adherent of Christ, and it is said that 
 
 he may have been one of those Men of Cyrene who 
 
 preached, afterwards, the word to the Greeks when 
 
 others preached to the Jews only. 
 
 Cyrene was a city in north-eastern Africa, famous for the 
 
 beauty of its position. A large colony of Jews had settled there, 
 
 as in other African and Egyptian cities, to avoid the oppression 
 
 of the Syrian Kings. He was forced or compelled to carry the 
 
 Cross. It is not certain whether they made Simon carry the entire 
 
 Cross or merely part of the burden. From this, various Gnostic 
 
 Sects devised the fable that Simon was executed by mistake for 
 
 Jesus ; a fable which, through Apocryphical legends, has found its 
 
 way into the Koran. 
 
 (c) The tradition as to the veil of St. Veronica i3, that this 
 
 holy woman, moved with love and compassion towards 
 Jesus suffering under the weight of His Cross, made 
 her way through the crowd and soldiers, and wiped 
 the perspiration and dust from His face with a veil 
 or towel ; and, as a reward or acknowledgment of 
 this service, Jesus imprinted on the veil the image 
 of His sacred countenance. The real name of 
 this woman was Bernice, but after thi3 event she 
 was called Veronica, which means literally a true 
 image. 
 
 (d) In the meantime the other women of Jerusalem had 
 
 assembled and wept for Him, that is, they were 
 
 bewailing and beating their breasts in compassion for 
 
 Him. 
 
 Jesus addressed to them the only words recorded between 
 
 His condemnation and His Crucifixion. He calls them daughters 
 
 of Jerusalem, and therefore these wailing women were not His 
 
 former Galilean followers. He tells them to weep (a) for them- 
 
 selves ; for some of them at least would survive till the terrible 
 
 days of the siege of Jerusalem ; (b) for their children, reminding 
 
 them of the terrible imprecation of the Jews themselves : His 
 
190 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 blood be upon us and upon our children. Then His warning words 
 continue, Blessed are the barren; which words received their 
 most painful illustration in the incident of the siege, which had 
 long been foretold in prophecy, that women were driven even to 
 kill and eat their own children. The " Blessed " showed an 
 awful reversal of the proper blessedness of motherhood. 
 
 They will cry to the mountains, Fall upon us. Hundreds of 
 Jews at the end of the siege hid themselves in subterranean 
 recesses ; and no less than two thousand were killed by being 
 buried under the ruins of these hiding places. We cannot fail to 
 see in these events something of what St. John calls the wrath 
 of the Lamb.* Even a terrible destruction is entreated as a relief 
 from yet more horrible calamities. For if in the green wood they 
 do these things, what shall be done in the dry ? This proverb can 
 only mean either, (a) If they act thus cruelly and shamefully 
 while the tree of their natural life is green, what horrors of crime 
 shall mark the period of its blighting ? or, (6) If they act thus 
 to Me, the Innocent and the Holy, what shall be the fate of these, 
 the guilty and false ? For the historical fulfilment, in the horrors 
 of a massacre so great as to weary the very soldiers, see Josephus. 
 B. J. vi. 44. 
 
 The two other malefactors conducted with Christ to the 
 place of Crucifixion were, perhaps, followers of the released 
 Barabbas. They were robbers, or brigands, and are called thieves 
 in our translation of the Testament. 
 
 Calvary. 
 
 2. The place of public execution appears to have been 
 situated north-west of the city. It was outside the gate, 
 and yet nigh unto the city. Calvary is no where in the Scripture 
 called a hill ; and it was certainly not, in any sense, a steep or 
 lofty hill. The only grounds for speaking of it as a hill are (a) 
 tradition and (b) the name. Golgotha, according to some, in 
 the Hebrew means a hill, or is derived from a hill ; or, according 
 to others, it is derived from the Hebrew word which signifies 
 death. Calvary is the Latin form for Golgotha, and means a 
 skull. The name has led to the legend about Adam's body being 
 buried there, and his skull lying at the foot of the Cross, which 
 is so often introduced into pictures. The name is also thought 
 to be derived from the shape and appearance of the hillock or 
 mound on which the crosses were reared. 
 
 *Apoo. vi. 6. 
 
THE APOSTLES* CREED. 191 
 
 3. Before nailing Him to the Cross they offered Him 
 vinegar, mingled with gall or myrrh, to drink. The potion was a 
 stupefying draught given to criminals to deaden the sense of 
 pain. Jesus refuses this alleviation of His sufferings. 
 
 4. The Lamb of God, Who is then offering Himself in 
 Sacrifice, is extended on the Cross. His hands and feet are 
 fastened to it by nails. The Cross is raised and planted in the 
 ground with Jesus hanging upon it crucified, and with Him are 
 crucified two thieves, one on the left and the other on the right 
 hand side, and Jesus in the midst. The Crucifixion took place 
 about mid-day, which St. Mark calls the third hour and St. John 
 the sixth, according to the different mode of reckoning which 
 they each followed or adopted. The hour of Crucifixion is com- 
 monly admitted to be noon, or twelve o'clock. 
 
 The Title on the Cross. 
 
 5. It was common to put on the Cross the name and crime 
 of the person executed, after making him carry it round his neck 
 to the place of execution. St. John tells us that Pilate wrote 
 the title himself, and, according to the same Evangelist, the 
 writing was Jesus op Nazareth, the King op the Jews. 
 The other three give the inscription thus : — (St. Matthew) This 
 is Jesus, the King of the Jews. (St. Mark) The King op 
 the Jews. (St. Luke) This is the King op the Jews. 
 
 The writing was in Hebrew, in Greek, and in Latin, the three 
 representative languages of the world at that time ; the languages 
 of religion, of empire, and of intellect. Thus did they proclaim 
 among the heathen that the Lord is King, or that the Lord 
 reigned from a tree.* 
 
 The chief Priests of the Jews objected to His being called 
 the King of the Jews, Pilate answered them, What I have written 
 I have written. His answer illustrates the mixture of obstinacy 
 and relentlessness, which Philo says was characteristic of him. 
 His own interests are not at stake, so he will have his way ; 
 when he had anything to fear or to gain he could be supple 
 enough. A shrewd, practical man of the world, with all a Eoman 
 official's contemptuous impartiality, and all the disbelief in truth 
 and disinterestedness which the age had taught him, he seems 
 to have been one of the many whose self-interest is stronger 
 than their convictions, and who can walk uprightly when to do 
 so is easy, but fail in the presence of danger and difficulty. f 
 
 * Ps. xcvi. 10. f Cambridge Bible for Schools. St. John. 
 
192 the creed explained. 
 
 The Parting op His Garments, and Casting Lots for 
 His Coat, 
 
 6. The garment which they divided was the loose, outer 
 garment, or toga, with the girdle and fastenings. This was large 
 enough to be worth dividing, and they divide it into four parts, 
 corresponding to the quarternion of soldiers in charge of the 
 prisoner. As a rule, the prisoner has to be guarded and kept 
 alive, so that four quarbernions mount guard in turn, one for each 
 turn. The clothes of executed criminals were the perquisite of 
 the soldiers on duty. 
 
 The Seamless Garment. 
 
 This was the inner garment, or coat ; it fitted somewhat 
 close to the body, reaching from the neck to the knees or ankles. 
 In our Saviour's case it was without a seam, and Josephus tells 
 us that that of the High Priest was seamless, whereas, in other 
 cases, this garment was commonly made of two pieces. For this 
 tunic the soldiers cast lots, thus verifying the words of prophecy : 
 They parted My garments amongst them, and upon My vesture they 
 cast lots. 
 
 Christ is Mocked by Words op Blasphemy and Hatred. 
 
 7. If Thou be the Son of God, come down from the Cross, and 
 then we will believe in Thee. He saved others, Himself He cannot 
 save. Vah / Thou that destroyest the Temple of God, and in three 
 days rebuildest it, save Thy own self. 
 
 Christ our Lord, who is the Master and Teacher of all, speaks 
 from His Cross, and by His words teaches the whole world. 
 
 8. The Words op Jesus from the Cross are : — 
 
 (a) The prayer for the murderers, Father, forgive them 
 
 for they know not what they do. (St. Luke xxiii. 34.) 
 
 (b) The promise to the penitent. Amen, I say to thee, this 
 
 day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise. (St. Luke 
 xxiii. 43.) 
 
 (c) The commendation to His Mother and St. John : 
 
 Woman, behold thy Son. (Son), behold thy mother. 
 (St. John xix. 26.) 
 
THE APOSTLES* CREED. 193 
 
 (d) Eli, Eli, lama sabacthani ? that is, My God / My God / 
 
 why hast Thou forsaken me ? (St. Matthew xxvii. 46 ; 
 St. Mark xv. 34.) 
 
 (e) The sole expression of human agony : I thirst. (St. 
 
 John xix. 28.) 
 (/) It is consummated ; or, It is finished. (St. John xix. 30.) 
 (g) Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit. (St. Luke 
 
 xxiii. 46.) 
 Thus His words from the Cross refer to His enemies, to 
 penitents, to His mother and disciple, to the agony of His soul, 
 to the anguish of His body, to His work, and to His heavenly 
 Father. 
 
 9. The friends of Christ who stood by the Cross, as men- 
 tioned by St. John, were His mother, and His Mother's sister 
 Mary, of (the wife of) Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene, and the 
 disciple whom Jesus loved. 
 
 The Greek, like the English, leaves us in doubt whether we 
 have two women or one in His mother's sister, and Mary of 
 Cleophas ; whether, altogether, there are four women or three. 
 The former is much the more probable alternative, (a) It avoids 
 the very improbable supposition of two sisters having the same 
 name (b) St. John is fond of parallel expressions, "His mother 
 and His mother's sister," Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene 
 are two pairs set one against the other, (c) St. Mark mentions 
 Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less, and 
 Salome. Mary Magdalene is common to both narratives, Mary 
 the mother of James the Less is the same as Mary of Cleophas ; 
 the natural inference is that Salome is the same as His mother's 
 sister. If this is correct (d) St. John's silence about the name 
 of His mother s sister is explained. She was his own mother, 
 and he is habitually reserved about all connected with himself. 
 He never mentions his own name, nor his brother's, nor that of 
 the Blessed Virgin. 
 
 The Darkness. 
 
 10. Now there was darkness on the face of the earth from 
 the sixth to the ninth hour, that is, from twelve to three o'clock 
 in the afternoon. This darkness was not that of an eclipse, for 
 it was the time of the Paschal full moon, but a miraculous dark- 
 ness, symbolic of that solemn hour, and veiling the agonies of 
 the Son of Man. when human soul and body alike were enduring 
 
 o 
 
194 THE CREED EXPLAINED 
 
 the extremity of anguish and suffering for sin. It is not certain 
 that the darkness was universal, that is, over the whole world ; 
 although Origen and St. Jerome appeal to two heathen historians 
 — Phlegon and Thallus— for a proof of this. During the three 
 hours' darkness no incident is recorded, but we can trace a 
 deepening sense of remorse and horror in the crowd. 
 
 11. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud 
 voice, Eli, Eli, lama sabacthani. These are the Armaic words 
 exactly as they were pronounced by Jesus. Their translation, 
 " My God 1 My God I " is also given, and the repetition gives a 
 deeply pathetic force to the expressions. It is an expression of 
 utter loneliness and desolation, the depths of which it is not for 
 men to fathom. It is going beyond Scripture to say that a sense 
 of God's wrath extorted that cry ; for to the last breath He 
 was the well-beloved of the Father ; and the repeated My God ! 
 My God ! is a witness even then to His confidence in His 
 Father's love. This was the fourth word from the Cross. 
 
 12. The fifth— I thirst. At this moment they putting a 
 sponge full of vinegar about hyssop, put it to His mouth. The 
 hyssop probably was the reed used to reach His mouth. The 
 hyssopus of St. John is the same as the arundo of St. Matthew, 
 and the calamus of St. Mark. The vinegar was near the place 
 of execution ; it served the soldiers as a cooling drink when 
 mixed with water, but it would increase the sufferings of Christ 
 at that moment. Christ had refused the stupefying draught 
 before His Crucifixion, as it would have clouded His faculties. 
 He accepts the drink now offered Him, which will revive His 
 faculties for the effort of a willing surrender of His life. 
 
 13. When Jesus had received the vinegar He said, Con- 
 summatum est : It is finished. Just as the thirst was there before 
 He expressed it, so the consciousness that His work was finished 
 was there before He declared it. The Messiah's work of re- 
 demption was accomplished; His Father's commandment had 
 been obeyed ; types and prophecies had been fulfilled ; His life 
 had been lived, and His teaching completed; His last earthly 
 tie was severed, and the end had come. The final wages of sin 
 alone remained to be paid, 
 
 His Death. 
 
 14. (L) Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said : Father, 
 into Thy hands I commend My spirit. (J) And bowing His Jiead 
 He gave up the Ghost. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 195 
 
 Two of the Evangelists mark with special clearness that the 
 death of the Messiah was entirely voluntary. St. Matthew says, 
 Yielded up the Ghost. St. John, He gave up the Ghost. St. 
 Luke and St. Mark have the same manner of expression : He 
 gave tip the Ghost. None of the four say He died ; and St. Luke 
 more clearly shews that the surrender of His life was a willing 
 one by the words : Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit. 
 No one taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. It was 
 the one thing which Christ claimed to do of Himself. St. John 
 omits the loud voice which all the Synoptists give as immediately 
 pi seeding Christ's death. It proved that His end was voluntary, 
 and not the necessary result of exhaustion. 
 
 M Dead then our Saviour was upon the Cross ; and, being a 
 truly and properly mortal man, He underwent a true and proper 
 death in the same manner as we die. Now, since we are properly 
 said to die when we cease to live, since life consists in the union 
 to the body of the soul, whence flow motion, sensation, and 
 whatsoever vital perfection we have ; death can be nothing else 
 but the solution of that vital union, or the actual separation of 
 the soul united before to the body. When, therefore, we read 
 that Christ our Saviour died, we must conceive it a true and 
 proper death, consequently that His body was bereft of His soul, 
 and of all vital influence from the same. 
 
 "That the unspotted soul of Christ was thus actually 
 separated from His body, that His body from that soul's 
 separation was bereft of natural life, appears moreover by His 
 own resignation : Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit ; 
 and by the Evangelist's expression, Having said thus, He gave up 
 
 the Ghost So the eternal Son of God did properly and truly 
 
 die on the Cross. 
 
 " To declare in what the nature and condition of the death 
 of a Person so totally singular peculiarly consisted, we have to 
 remember that there were two different substantial unions in 
 Christ : one of the parts of His human nature to each other, the 
 other of His natures human and Divine, (a) The union of the 
 parts of His human nature was (as already shown) dissolved on 
 the Cross, and as far then as Humanity consists in that union, so 
 far the Humanity of Christ on His death did cease to be ; but 
 (b) the union of the . natures remained still as to the parts, nor 
 was the soul or body separated from the divinity, but still sub- 
 sisted as before, by the subsistence of the Second Person of the 
 Trinity. 
 
 " The truth of this assertion appears from the language of 
 
196 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 this very Creed, according to which the same Person (i e., the 
 eternal Son of God as before proved) Who was conceived, born, 
 and suffered, also was burled in respect of His body, and descended 
 into hell in respect of His soul ; so that neither His body, nor 
 His blood, nor His soul, had lost their hypostatical union with 
 the Word. 
 
 " Again, as God redeemed us by His own blood, so hath it 
 been the constant language of the Church that God died for us ; 
 which cannot be true except the soul and body, in the instant of 
 separation, were united to the Deity. 
 
 " Indeed, since God never substracts His grace from any 
 
 without their abuse of it we cannot imagine the grace of 
 
 union to be taken from Christ, Who never offended, and 
 that too in the highest act of His obedience ="* 
 
 * Analysis of the Creed. Pearson. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 197 
 
 SECTION 5 (Article IV). 
 
 WHAT HAPPENED AT THE DEATH OF CHKIST : HIS BUKIAL. 
 
 1. The veil of the Temple. — 2. The earthquake. — 3. The Centurion. — 
 4. The taking down from the Cross ; (a) the breaking of the legs of the 
 two robbers ; (b) the opened side, and the blood and water. — 5. The 
 question as to the physical cause of the death of Christ. — 6. St. John's 
 final testimony to Christ. — 7. Joseph of Aramathea and Nicodemus. 
 — 8. The Body of Jesus is taken down from the Cross. — 9. The 
 Burial of Christ. — 10. The lessons inculcated by our belief in 
 Christ's Burial. 
 
 The events that followed the Crucifixion and death were — 
 (a) The veil of the Temple rent, (b) The earthquake, (c) The 
 Saints arise, (d) The remorse of the Centurion and the spec- 
 tators, (e) The watching of the women. 
 
 The Veil of the Temple. 
 
 1. And behold the veil of the Temple was rent in two from 
 the top even to the bottom. The veil meant, is that which separ- 
 ated the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place : the inner veil, 
 which was very heavy and splendid with embroidery. The 
 obvious significance of the portent was the departure of the 
 Sheckinah or Presence of God from His own now deserted 
 Temple. This particular event is (naturally) not mentioned by 
 the Jews, but we may have a reference to it in the various omens 
 of coming wrath which they say occurred forty years before the 
 destruction of the Temple. 
 
 The rending of the veil signifies that henceforth there is 
 free access for man to God the Father through Jesus Christ. 
 
 2. The earthquake, and the other particular incidents, are 
 thus mentioned by St. Matthew : And the rocks were rent. And 
 the graves were opened ; and many bodies of the saints that had 
 slept arose, and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection 
 came into the holy city and appeared to many. 
 
198 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 Now the Centurion and they that were with him watching 
 Jesus, having seen the earthquake, and the things that were done, 
 were sore afraid, saying, Indeed, this man was the Son of God. 
 
 3. The Centurion was in command of the guard of soldiers 
 who watched the Crucifixion. St. Luke, as well as St. Matthew, 
 mentions this incident. Now the centurion seeing what was done, 
 glorified God, saying : Indeed, this was a just man. And all the 
 multitude of them that were come together to that sight, and saw 
 the things that were done, raturned, striking their breasts. 
 
 The remark that He w&sajust man might have been drawn 
 forth by the silent majesty and holiness of the Sufferer. After 
 the earthquake he added : Indeed this man was the Son of God. 
 The Centurion had twice heard our Lord pray to His Father, 
 and he, like Pilate, had been overpowered by the awful dread 
 that He was something more than man. And all the people 
 returned, smiting their breasts. The people had not acted 
 spontaneously in this matter of the Crucifixion, but had been 
 goaded on by the Priests. 
 
 And all His acquaintance, and the women that had followed 
 Him from Galilee, stood afar off beholding these things. 
 
 There is, perhaps, in the afar off a sad allusion to the words 
 of the Psalmist : They that were near me stood afar off* 
 
 The Taking Down from the Cross, and the Burial. 
 
 4. After the death of Jesus the Jews brought their petition 
 to Pilate that the bodies should not remain on the Cross on the 
 Sabbath ; they besought him that their legs might be broken, and 
 that they might be taken away. The Jews here, as elsewhere, 
 show themselves to be among those who strain at a gnat and 
 swallow a camel. In the midst of deliberate judicial murder they 
 are scrupulous about the ceremonial observances. Even after 
 the death of our Lord they continue their relentless hostility. 
 They do not know whether any of the three sufferers are dead or 
 not ; their request shows that — in order to save the Sabbath, 
 and, perhaps, also to inflict still further suffering — they ask 
 Pilate for this terrible addition to the punishment of Crucifixion. 
 
 (a) The breaking of the legs, or the crurifragium, like 
 crucifixion, was a punishment commonly reserved for 
 slaves. The two were sometimes combined as here. 
 Lactantius says : His executioners did not think it 
 
 * Psalms xxxvii. 12. 
 
TEE APOSTLES' CREED. 199 
 
 necessary to break His bones, as was their prevailing 
 
 custom; which seems to imply that to Jewish 
 
 crucifixions this horror was commonly added, perhaps, 
 
 to hasten death. For even without a Sabbath to 
 
 make matters more urgent, corpses ought to be 
 
 removed before night-fall ; * whereas the Eoman 
 
 custom was to leave them to putrefy on the cro3S, 
 
 like our obsolete custom of hanging in chains. 
 
 The soldiers, therefore, came in consequence of the fresh 
 
 oider from Pilate which the Jews would bring. And they broke 
 
 the legs of the two thieves, and when they came to Jesus they 
 
 saw that He was dead, and they did not break His legs ; (b) but 
 
 one of the soldiers, with a spear, opened His side, and immediately 
 
 there came out blood and water. 
 
 He opened His side to make sure that He was dead. 
 The blood and water are symbolical. Blood symbolizes the 
 work of redemption which had just been completed by His 
 death; and water symbolizes the birth from above, with its 
 cleansing from sin, which was the result of His death, and is the 
 means by which we appropriate it, or by which His satisfactions 
 are applied to our souls. From the pierced heart of Jesus a 
 stream of blood and water flows, from which the Sacraments 
 draw their value ; and, as St. Ambrose remarks, from which the 
 Church herself came forth. The redemption of mankind was 
 already achieved, the formation of the New Covenant was already 
 established, and Jesus had said that all things were accomplished. 
 But there were still a few drops of blood gathered in His heart. 
 These He also gives. He gives all that He has for the love of 
 us, according to His words : If a man give all the substance of his 
 house for love he shall regard it as nothing, t 
 
 5. There has been much discussion as to the physical cause 
 of Christ's death ; and those who investigate this try to frame an 
 hypothesis which will at the same time account for the effusion 
 of blood and water. Two or three such hypotheses have been 
 put forward ; but it may be doubted whether they are not 
 altogether out of place. It has been seen how the Evangelists 
 insist on the fact that our Lord's death was a voluntary surrender 
 of life, not a result forced upon Him. Of course it may be that 
 the voluntariness consisted in welcoming causes which must 
 prove fatal. But it is more simple to believe that He delivered 
 up His life before natural causes became fatal. No one, either 
 
 * Deut. xxi. 23. t Cant. viii. 7. 
 
200 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 Jew or Eoman, took it from Him by any means whatever : 
 He lays it down of Himself. And if we decline to investigate the 
 physical cause of the Lord's death, we need not ask for a physical 
 explanation of what is recorded here. St. John assures us that 
 he saw it with his own eyes, and he records it that we may 
 believe ; i.e., he regards it as a sign that the corpse was no 
 ordinary one, but a body that even in death was Divine. 
 
 6. And he that saw it hath given testimony, and his testimony 
 is true. And he knoweth that he saith truth, that you may also 
 believe. It may be asked, Why does St. John attest thus earnestly 
 the trustworthiness of his narrative on this particular point? 
 Four reasons may be assigned. This incident proved (a) the 
 reality of Christ's humanity against Docetic views ; and these 
 verses, therefore, are conclusive evidence against the theory that 
 the fourth Gospel is the work of a Docetic Gnostic, (b) The 
 reality of Christ's divinity, against Ebionite views : while His 
 human form was no mere phantom, but flesh and blood, yet He 
 was not therefore a mere man, but the Son of God. (c) The reality 
 of Christ's death, and therefore of His Resurrection, against Jewish 
 insinuations of trickery, (d) The clear and unexpected fulfil- 
 ment of two Messianic prophecies. For these things were done 
 that the Scripture might be fulfilled : You shall not break a 
 bone of Him. And again another Scripture saith : They shall 
 look on Him Whom they pierced. 
 
 Joseph of Aramathea, Nicodemus. The taking down from the 
 Cross, and the Entombment. 
 
 Mention is made by the Evangelists of two remarkable men, 
 who saw to the last offices or duties towards the body of Christ 
 after His death. These were Joseph of Aramathea and 
 Nicodemus. 
 
 7. Joseph of Aramathea was a rich man, a member of the 
 Sanhedrin, a good and just man, who had not consented to the 
 counsel and deed of them. It is remarkable that Joseph is the 
 only Sanhedrist of whom this exception is recorded. Like Simon 
 and Anna, he waited for the Kingdom of God, and had become 
 a disciple of Christ. 
 
 Nicodemus. He was also a member of the Sanhedrin. He 
 was the same that came to Jesus at night, and whom our Lord 
 addressed as a Master in Israel, and to whom He said, Unless a 
 man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter 
 into the Kingdom of Heaven* His acquaintance with Joseph of 
 
 * — — ■ — - 
 
 * St. John iii. 10. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 201 
 
 Aramathea is thus explained. They were both members of the 
 Sanhedrin, and, in secret, disciples of Christ. It would seem 
 that Joseph's unusual courage at this time had inspired 
 Nicodemus also. We are not told whether Nicodemus had con- 
 sented or no to the counsel or deed of the Jews in condemning 
 Christ to death. 
 
 Joseph went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus, 
 This was a bold, and might even have proved to be a perilous, 
 request. Pilate seems to have granted the request without delay, 
 and without any bribe. He was surprised to hear of the rapid 
 death of Jesus, and at all he heard from the centurion as to the 
 details of that death. St. Matthew tells us that Pilate com- 
 manded the body to be delivered, after having ascertained that 
 Jesus was dead. Usually, those who suffered crucifixion lingered 
 for days upon the Cross. By Eoman law the corpse of a crucified 
 person was not buried except by express permission of the 
 Emperor. A concession was made in favour of the Jews, whose 
 law did not permit a man to hang all night upon a tree.* " The 
 readiness of Pilate to grant Joseph's request is quite in accord- 
 ance with his anxiety to release Jesus, and his displeasure against 
 the Jews. If Joseph had not made this request, the body of 
 Jesus would have been placed in one of the common burying 
 grounds appointed by the Council."! 
 
 Nicodemus had brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about 
 a hundred pound weight for the burial rites. Myrrh and aloes 
 are both aromatic substances, and the purpose of this large 
 quantity was probably to cover the body entirely. The hundred 
 pound weight would be 1200 ounces. It is a rich man's proof of 
 devotion, and possibly of remorse for a timidity in the past which 
 now seemed irremediable ; his courage had come too late. 
 
 8. They took doivn the Body of Jesus, and bound it in linen 
 cloths with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. 
 
 The clothes seem to refer to the bandages which kept the 
 whole together, and there was, as well as these bandages, the 
 large linen winding sheet which Joseph had brought. The manner 
 of the Jews as regards the embalming of bodies was different 
 from that of the Egyptians. These, in all cases, removed part of 
 the intestines, and steeped the body in nitre. 
 
 9. Now there was in the place where He was crucified a 
 garden, and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein no man yet 
 had been laid. There, therefore, because of the parascene of the 
 Jews, they laid Jesus, because the sepulchre was nigh at hand. 
 
 * Deut. xxi. 23. f Jjightfoot, H. Heb. 
 
202 THE CKEED EXPLAINED. 
 
 The garden probably belonged to Joseph, and St. Matthew 
 tells us that the sepulchre was his. As to the sepulchre, St. Matthew 
 states that it was new, and St. Luke that no one had ever yet 
 been laid in it, and it was hewn in a rock. The mouth of these 
 rocky tombs was closed with a large stone, called by the Jews 
 Golal, which could only be rolled there by the labour of several 
 men. Joseph and Nicodemus, with the aid of some others, rolled 
 a great stone to the door of the monument, and then went away. 
 10. " The belief in Christ's burial teaches us : (a) the truth 
 both of Christ's Death and Eesurrection. Pilate required to be 
 satisfied that our Saviour was dead before he would give his body 
 to be interred. That we might believe Christ truly risen from 
 the dead, we must be as sure that He died, of which we can have 
 no greater assurance than this, that His body was delivered by 
 His enemies from the Cross, and laid by His disciples in the 
 tomb, (b) To work within us a correspondence with His 
 burial. We are buried with Him in Baptism* buried with Him 
 by Baptism into death, that, like as Christ was raised up from 
 the dead by the glory of the Father, we also may walk in the 
 newness of life, according to the words of St. Paul : For we are 
 buried together with Him by baptism into death; that, as Christ is 
 arisen from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also may 
 walk in newness of life.} (c) That we might for ever learn what 
 honour is fit to be given and received at our Christian funerals. 
 When Christianity began to increase, the Greek and Roman 
 custom of burning the bodies of the dead ceased ; and after a few 
 Emperors had received baptism, there was not a body burnt in 
 the Eoman Empire. For the first Christians wholly abstained 
 from burning bodies, and followed the example of our Saviour's 
 funeral, making use of precious ointments for the dead, which 
 they refused while they lived. The description of the persons 
 who interred Christ, and the enumeration of their virtues, and 
 the everlasting commendation of her who broke the box of 
 precious ointment for His burial, have been thought sufficient 
 grounds for the decent sepulture of Christians ; as natural reason 
 teaches us to give some kind of respect to the dead bodies of 
 men in reference to the souls which before inhabited them, so 
 much the more the followers of our Saviour, looking on our bodies 
 as living temples of the Holy Ghost, and bought by Christ to be 
 one day made like unto His glorious body, thought them not to 
 be neglected after death, but carefully to be laid up in the ward- 
 
 •Coll. ii. 12. tRom. vi. 4. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 2Q£ 
 
 robe of the grave, with such due respect as might bseome the 
 honour of the dead and the comfort of the living. And thus this 
 decent custom, by God's providence, proved very effectual in the 
 conversion of the heathen."* 
 
 'Pearson's Analysis. 
 
204 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 AETICLE V. 
 
 Apostles' Ceeed. Nicene Creed. 
 
 " He descended into hell ; " And the third day He 
 
 the third day He rose again rose again according to the 
 
 from the dead." Scriptures." 
 
 SECTION 1. (Article V.) 
 
 1. When the " Descent of Christ into hell " was introduced into the Creed. 
 — 2. The meaning of this part of the Article. —3. The meaning 
 of the words — Hell, Gehenna, Hades, and Paradise, in the 
 Jewish sense. — 4. The purpose of Christ's descent into Limbo. — 5. 
 Dr. Lingard's notes on the descent of Christ into Limbo. — 6. The 
 Resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday ; why called Easter. — 7. 
 The meaning of a Eesurrection. — 8. Christ truly and properly rose 
 from the dead. — 9. The Resurrection of Christ attested ; (a) By His 
 various apparitions ; (6) By His enemies ; (c) By Angels. — 10. 
 What Christ effected by His Resurrection. — 11. The Resurrection, 
 the greatest of Christ's miracles. 
 
 This Article contains two parts ; namely, the Descent of 
 Christ into hell, and His Eesurrection. 
 
 1. The former part is not to be found in the oldest Creeds. 
 It first occurs in the Creed of the Church of Aquileia 
 about 400 a.d. After that it came into the Creed of all 
 the Churches, and has been acknowledged ever since as part of 
 the Apostles' Creed. Although not expressed in the Creed, the 
 doctrine which it contains always belonged to the Creed of Faith, 
 and was professed ever since the days of the Apostles, according 
 to the words of St. Peter : * speaking of Christ (Who) being put 
 to death indeed in the flesh, but enlivened in the spirit, hi which 
 also coming He preached to those that were in prison ; and those 
 others of the Acts referring to the prophecy of David concerning 
 our Lord : Because Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, nor suffer 
 Thy Holy One to see corruption. \ 
 
 2. This part of the Article signifies that as soon as Christ 
 
 * 1 Peter iii. 19. t Acts ii. 27. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 205 
 
 died on the Cross His soul descended into hell, or the lower 
 place (descendit ad inferos), to that place which we call Limbo. 
 It was there that the souls of the just were detained, expecting 
 the day of redemption, when heaven would be opened to them. 
 The soul of Christ, at the same moment, without doubt, mani- 
 fested its power in hell proper, and in purgatory ; in hell proper, 
 to convict the demons and the lost souls of their malice and 
 incredulity ; in purgatory, to console the suffering souls therein 
 detained, and to announce the time of their speedy release, and 
 their admission into heaven. 
 
 It was, however, only in the abode of the just that He 
 appeared substantially present, and where it is probable His soul 
 remained as long as His body remained in the tomb. There His 
 soul, remaining united to the Divine Word, manifested its glory 
 to the innumerable souls, from that of Adam to the good Thief, 
 who were ready to enter their beatitude, or the enjoyment of the 
 beatific vision. There Christ conversed with them, and 
 preached to them, and gave them the joyful assurance that very 
 soon they would accompany Him in His glorious Ascension into 
 heaven. 
 
 3. The word Hell is derived from the Anglo-Saxon helan 
 — to hide, and, therefore, according to its etymology, means the 
 hidden place : the abode of departed spirits. 
 
 There are two words in the Greek Testament translated into 
 the English w r ord hell. 
 
 (a) Gehenna, signifying the hell of torments ; taking this 
 
 signification from the Valley of Hinnom, where human 
 sacrifices were offered to the idol god, Moloch : And 
 whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of 
 hell fire (gehenna.)* And again : Than having two 
 eyes to be cast into hell fire {gehenna)\ where their worm 
 dieth not, and the fire is not extinguished. 
 
 (b) Hades, or the place of departed spirits, called in the 
 
 Hebrew Sheol. And the rich man died, and was 
 buried in hell {Hades) ; and lifting up his eyes when he 
 was in torments, he saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus 
 in his boso?n.l 
 Paradise was the Jewish name for that part of Hades in- 
 habited by the spirits of the just. It was also known by the 
 Jews under the names of : — 
 (a) The Garden of Eden. 
 
 * St. Matthew v. 22. t St. Mark ix. 27,28. J St. Luke xvi. 22, 23. 
 
20t) THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 (b) Under the throne of Glory. 
 
 (c) Abraham's bosom. 
 
 To us it is known as Limbo : the place of rest, where tks 
 souls of the just, who died before Christ, were detained. Not 
 purgatory itself, nor the hell of torments, but the place of the 
 just souls from the first ; namely, the soul of Abel to the soul of 
 the Good Thief. 
 
 4. The purpose of Christ's descent into Limbo was : — 
 
 (a) That He might proclaim these glad tidings of His 
 
 victory ; and, so Peter tells us, that He preached, or 
 rather made proclamation, unto the spirits that were 
 in prison. 
 
 (b) That, by the virtue of His descent, He might liberate 
 
 the soul of the saints from that state in which they 
 were detained, and translate them to the far more 
 glorious state of beatitude in His heavenly Kingdom. 
 Not that Christ merited by His descent, for our 
 redemption by way of merit and satisfaction was 
 effected on the Cross. 
 
 5. Dr. Lingard gives the following notes on the descent of 
 Christ into hell, and the purpose of that descent : 
 
 " At the present day, usage has confined the name of hell and 
 its representatives in the dead languages, to the habitation of the 
 wicked after death ; but m former times it was employed in a 
 wider sense, for the abode and state of all departed souls, 
 whether they were in suffering, or punishment, or not. Now 
 Jesus, in consequence of His having taken the nature of man, was 
 tempted and tried in all things according to His likeness to us 
 without sin* He died as we die ; His body was deposited in 
 the grave like the bodies of other men ; and His soul, like those 
 of others, descended to the general abode of departed souls. 
 This is plainly indicated by St Peter when, applying the words 
 of the Psalmist to the Eesurrection of our Saviour, he says: God did 
 not leave His soul in hell — the abode of souls — nor suffer His holy 
 one to see corruption ; t that is, suffer His body to moulder away 
 in the grave. 
 
 * 'Heaven was not open to man till after the resurrection 
 and ascention of Jesus. The disobedience of Adam had closed 
 heaven against all his posterity ; it was thrown open to man by 
 the obedience of Christ who took away the sins of the world,\ and 
 
 * Hebrew iv. 15. + Acts ii. 27. \ St. John i. 29. 
 
THE apostles' ceeed. 207 
 
 was a propitiation for the sins of the whole world* Hence it was 
 the doctrine of the ancient Church that the souls of the patri- 
 archs, prophets, and of good men, were detained in some other 
 abode till Christ had paid their ransom by His death ; and then, 
 ascending up on high. He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto 
 men\\ that is, He delivered the captives from confinement, and 
 allotted to them their respective portions in heaven. 
 
 "We are told that Christ preached the gospel, that is, the 
 doctrine of redemption through His death, whilst He was in 
 Limbo. There is a remarkable passage in the first Epistle of 
 St. PeterJ which appears to refer to this subject. Being indeed 
 'put to death in the flesh, but quickened in the spirit, in which more- 
 over He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who once had 
 been incredulous, when the patience of God waited in the days of 
 Noah. There can be no doubt that the Apostle alludes to some 
 historical fact of ancient times, well known to those to whom he 
 directed his Epistle, but which has been permitted to fall into 
 oblivion. But whatever that fact may have been, we may fairly 
 draw from his words the following inferences : (a) That the 
 spirits in question were the souls of men who had lived in the 
 days of Noah, (b) That through disobedience and obstinacy they 
 had not profited by some benefit, offered to them by the patience 
 of God. (c) That they were on that account detained in con- 
 finement, and suffering punishment ; which is plainly indicated by 
 the word prison coupled with their incredulity, (d) That to them 
 the spirit or soul of Christ went, and ministered some kind of 
 instruction, for He is said to have preached to them, (e) That 
 this happened when He had been put to death in the flesh, but was 
 quickened in the spirit, evidently between His death and resur- 
 rection. 
 
 " But what was the instruction which He preached to them ? 
 We may discover it in another passage of the same Epistle fol- 
 lowing the former. After mentioning the judgment of the living 
 and the dead, the sacred writer adds : for this end was the gospel 
 preached to the dead, that having been judged according to man in 
 the flesh, they might be saved according to God in the spirit. \\ Now, 
 though there may be some doubt with respect to the correct 
 rendering and meaning of this passage, there can be none with 
 respect to the fact, so plainly stated, of the gospel having been 
 preached to the dead, and preached to them to the end that they 
 
 * 1 St. John ii. 2. + Eph. ii. 8. 
 
 1 1 St. Peter iii. 18-20. '| 1 St. Peter iv. 6. 
 
208 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 might be saved. But when was it preached to the dead ? On no 
 other occasion, as far as we know, than that when our blessed 
 Lord went and preached to the spirits in prison. Hence it is 
 reasonable to infer that redemption through His death was the 
 doctrine which He announced to them, the sum of what is meant 
 by the gospel or good tidings." 
 
 In other words, Christ descended into Limbo, to bring the 
 souls there imprisoned the glad news that the price of their re- 
 demption had beed paid — that He for Whom they had so ardently 
 longed, was now come to deliver them — in fine to comfort them 
 and set them free. 
 
 The third day He rose again prom the dead. 
 
 6. The Kesurrection is commemorated by the Church on 
 Easter Sunday. The Spring was called Easter by our ancestors 
 from the prevalence of easterly winds at that season. Hence, 
 because the feast of the Besurrection was the principal festival 
 during the Spring, that feast was called Easter Sunday ; in the 
 same manner as, according to Bede, they had, whilst they were 
 idolaters, applied the same epithet to a feast kept at that time 
 in honour of one of their false deities.* 
 
 We have first to consider what is the meaning of a true re- 
 surrection and its essential characters. 
 
 7. A resurrection means a substantial change, by which what 
 iv as before and was corrupted (or destroyed) is reproduced the same 
 thing again, (a) A change ; not a second or a new creation, as if 
 a man or angel were annihilated, and made again out of nothing 
 (b) A substantial change; not an accidental alteration as from 
 sickness to health, (c) A change of what was before and was 
 corrupted ; (1) things incorruptible cannot be reproduced ; and 
 (2) of things corruptible, some such as the forms of inanimate 
 bodies, and all irrational souls, when corrupted cease to be ; conse- 
 quently, even if such were reproduced out of the same matter, 
 there would not be a restitution of the same individual, only'of 
 the same species, by another individual. But when a rational 
 soul is separated from its body, which is the corruption of a man, 
 that soul still exists, and is capable of reunion with the body ; 
 and if these two be again united by an essential and vital union, 
 from which life necessarily flows, then the same man lives who 
 lived before, and consequently this reunion is a perfect and proper 
 resurrection from death to life.f 
 
 * Lingard's Catechism. \ Pearson, Analysis in loco. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 209 
 
 8. Christ truly and properly rose from the dead in this 
 sense ; as is certain from the fact (a) that our Saviour possessed 
 a real body after His Eesurrection, as proved by His own words : 
 Handle Me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see 
 that I have* (b) It was the same body which He had on earth, 
 and which had been nailed to the Cross. Look at my hands and 
 My feet, for it is I myself ; and as He said this He showed them His 
 hands and His feet.} (c) This body was animated with a human 
 soul, for He conversed with His Apostles, and interpreted the pas- 
 sages respecting the Messiah in the whole Scripture. \ (d) That 
 soul was the same which animated His body before death : for He 
 adds : these are the ivords which I spoke to you whilst I was with 
 you. It was then the same body and the same soul. It was the 
 same soul that remained always united to the Divinity, and testi- 
 fied that Divinity after the Eesurrection by the miracle of catching 
 the fishes ; by breathing on the Apostles the Holy Ghost ; by 
 ascending iuto heaven ; and thus showing, since the Divinity 
 never was so united to any human soul but only in that Person, 
 that this was the same soul with which He lived and wrought 
 all the miracles before. 
 
 He rose again ; God raised Him up on the third day, and 
 openly, not unto all the people, but unto witnesses chosen beforehand 
 of God, unto us who did eat and drink with Him after His 
 resurrection || 
 
 9. The Eesurrection from the dead of Christ is attested : — 
 (a) By His appearance to His Apostles and Disciples. 
 
 1. To His Blessed Mother according to tradition, and 
 
 for many congruous reasons. 
 
 2. To Mary Magdalene, who at first took Him for the 
 
 gardener. (St. John xx. 11-18.) 
 
 3. To the ministering women, whom He bade tell His 
 
 disciples to go into Galilee, where they should 
 see Him. (St. Matthew xxvm\ 9, 10.) 
 
 4. To the two disciples journeying to Emmaus, to 
 
 whom He was revealed in the breaking of 
 bread. (St. Luke xxiv. 13-33.) 
 
 5. To St. Peter : The Lord is risen indeed, and hath 
 
 appeared to Simon. (St. Luke xxiv. 34.) 
 
 6. To the ten Apostles (Thomas being absent). (St. 
 
 Luke xxiv. 3648 ; St. John xx. 24.) 
 
 * St. Luke xxiv. 39. flbi'd, verses 39, 40. 
 
 \ Ibid., verse 27. 1! Acts x. 40, 41. 
 
 p 
 
210 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 The above six appearances all occurred on the day of 
 
 His Resurrection. 
 7. To the eleven Apostles, when Thomas was present. 
 
 (St. John xx. 26-29.) 
 S. To the seven Apostles fishing in the Lake of Galilee. 
 
 The second miraculous draught of fishes. (St. 
 
 John xxi. 1-14.) 
 9. To the eleven Apostles, and probably the 500 
 
 brethren in Galilee, on the appointed mountain 
 
 when He gave the great Commission. (St. 
 
 Matthew xxviii. 16-18.) After that, He was seen 
 
 of above five hundred brethren at once. (1 Cor. 
 
 xv. 6.) 
 
 10. To James : After that, He was seen of James. (1 
 Cor. xv. 7.) 
 
 11. To the Apostles at the Ascension. (St. Luke xxiv. 50.; 
 
 (b) By His enemies. Behold some of the guards came into 
 
 the city, and told the chief priests all things that had 
 been done. (St. Matthew xxviii. 11.) 
 
 (c) By the Angels; who said unto the women when they 
 
 visited the tomb : Why seek you the living ivith the 
 dead ? He is not here, but is risen. 
 
 10. Chris t by His Resurrec tion — 
 
 (a) Fulfilled Prophecy. Thou wilt not leave My soul in hell 
 (Hades) ; nor wilt Thou give Thy holy one to see cor- 
 ruption. (Psalms xv. 10.) 
 
 {b) Justified His own predictions , viz., That they should kill 
 Him, and the third day He should rise again. (St. 
 Mathew xxviii. 22.) 
 
 (c) Gave the clearest proof of His Godhead. Who icas pre- 
 
 destined the Son of God in power, according to the 
 spirit of sanctification by the Resurrection of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ from the dead. (Romans i. 4.) 
 
 (d) Gave us the sig?i of the acceptance of the Sacrifice He 
 
 offered on the Cross. Who was delivered up for our 
 sins, and rose again for our justification. (Romans iv. 
 25.) 
 
 (e) Gave us an earnest and pledge of our Resurrection. But 
 
 now Christ is risen from the dead; the first fruits of 
 them that sleep. For by man came death, and by a 
 man the resurrection of the dead. And as in Adam all 
 die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive, (1 Cor. 
 xv. 20-22.) 
 
THE APOSTLES* CREEt). 211 
 
 The Third Day. 
 
 " Christ was buried on Friday, and was thus in the tomb 
 part of that day, the whole of Saturday (the Jewish Sabbath), 
 and part of Sunday (the first day in the week). Thus He rose 
 on the third day of His burial. Christ foretold this by the sign 
 of the prophet Jonas. For as Jonas was in the whale's belly three 
 days and three nights, so shall the Son of Man be in the heart of 
 the earth three days and three nights.* 
 
 " This is in keeping with the method of expressing time by 
 the Jews, who were accustomed to speak of any part of the day 
 as a whole day."t 
 
 11. The Resurrection is the greatest of Christ's miracles. 
 It is a miracle of His power, for He rose of Himself ; a miracle 
 of His goodness, for His Resurrection is a pledge of the glorious 
 resurrection of those who believe in Him ; a miracle of His 
 wisdom, for it is as it were the corner stone of Christianity ; it 
 is the fact of the Resurrection on which our faith, our hope, our 
 worship, and our history rest, according to the words of St. Paul : 
 And if Christ be not risen again, then is our preaching vain, and 
 your faith is also vain. \ 
 
 This miracle has, therefore, been the objsct of the attacks 
 of all unbelievers, who very well understand that if the fact of 
 the Resurrection be once admitted, they cannot deny the divine 
 Mission, and the Divinity of Jesus Christ. 
 
 The Apostles, according to these, were impostors, or were 
 under a hallucination, as M. Renan expresses it. Either of 
 these suppositions would argue the most extraordinary miracle 
 that ever the world heard of. Even in the supposition that the 
 Apostles were deceived, or wished to deceive others by such an 
 incredible invention, could not the enemies of Christ easily have 
 confounded their folly by exhuming the body of Christ and 
 exposing it to the people ? But they say the Apostles had taken 
 it away and hidden it. Admitting this incredible hypothesis ; 
 how could a small band of poor and illiterate men convince them- 
 selves of this falsehood so as to lay down their lives by martyrdom 
 for its truth ; cause myriads of men to believe in it, and found 
 upon this fact a religion so worthy of the respect and love of 
 mankind, that it will last to the end of time ? 
 
 * St. Matthew xii. 40. t Gill's Church Catechism, in loco. 
 
 \ Cor. xv. 14. 
 
212 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 SECTION 2 (Article V). 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE RESURRECTION. 
 
 1. The time of the Resurrection.— 2. The conduct of the guards.— 3. The 
 earthquake, and the apparition of Angels, and apparent discrepancies 
 accounted for.— 4. Mary Magdalene and two other holy women come 
 to the tomb. — 5. The two Apostles, Peter and John, run to the tomb. 
 —6. The apparition to Mary Magdalene. — 7. Explanation of the 
 words, Touch me not.— 8. The other holy women go to the tomb 
 and find not Jesus, but two Angels appear to them.— 9. His appari- 
 tion to the holy women. — 10. The soldiers are bribed. — 11. Other 
 apparitions of Christ : (a) To Peter ; (6) to the disciples going to Em- 
 maus ; (c) to the Apostles assembled together, Thomas being absent ; (d) 
 to the Apostles eight days after, Thomas being present ; (e) to the seven 
 on the sea of Tiberias ; (/) the apparitions mentioned by St. Paul to 
 as many as 500 assembled together. — 12. The Apostles could not 
 have been deceived as to the fact of the Resurrection. — 13. The 
 Qualities of the resuscitated Body of Christ. — 14. The Wounds of 
 His Passion retained in Hip glorified Body. — 15. The effects of 
 Christ's Resurrection. 
 
 1. On the third day after His doath, which was the first day 
 of the week (our Sunday), early in the morning, Jesus, by an act 
 of His divine omnipotence, reunited His soul to His body, and 
 came forth alive from the tomb, without displacing the stone that 
 closed up the door of the Sepulchre. This was at the rising of 
 the sun, or, properly, when the sun had risen. Althought St. John 
 says, while it was yet dark, it would appear that he refers to the 
 time that Mary Magdalene set out to come to the Sepulchre, 
 though the sun began to rise before she and the others reached it. 
 
 2. The guards did not see Him rise or go forth from the 
 tomb ; but the earth trembled at the same moment. An Angel 
 of the Lord descended from heaven, and removed the stone from 
 the door of the Sepulchre, and sat upon it. And the face of the 
 Angel shone as lightning, and his garments were white as snow. 
 Struck with fear, the guards became insensible and as it were 
 dead ; as soon as they recovered they went into the city, and re- 
 counted to the chief -priests all that had happened to them whilst 
 they kept watch at the tomb. 
 
 3. The earthquake is peculiar to St. Matthew in the account 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 9-13 
 
 of the Resurrection. He tells us there was a great earthquake at 
 that moment. St. Matthew says : The Angel of the Lord descended 
 from heaven. St. Luke : Two men stood by them in shining gar- 
 ments. St. John mentions : Two angels in white, sitting. 
 
 To reconcile these statements as to the Angels, let it suffice 
 once for all to say that there must have been thousand of Angels 
 about, and that now one was seen and again two, and sitting or 
 standing as the apparition appeared to them, and that therefore 
 it is useless to attempt to shew any discrepancy in the accounts 
 which the Evangelists give of these angelical manifestations.* 
 
 St. Matthew tells us that the Angel rolled back the stone from 
 the door and sat upon it. All four Gospels note the displacement 
 of the stone ; St. Mark alone notes the placing of it, and St. Mat- 
 thew the sealing. 
 
 For fear of this Angel, whose countenance was as lightning, 
 whose raiment white as snow, it is no wonder that the keepers did 
 shake, and became as dead men. 
 
 4. In the meantime, Mary Magdalene and two other holy 
 women were directing their course towards the sepulchre, bring- 
 ing with them the spices and aromatics which they had prepared 
 for the anointing of His body. As they were ignorant of the 
 presence of the guard, and of the sealing of the stone, they said 
 among themselves on their journey : Who will remove the stone 
 from the door of the sepulchre ? On their arrival, however, they 
 found the sepulchre open. Magdalene ran in haste to tell Peter 
 and John. They have taken away, she said, the Lord out of the 
 tomb, and, ive know not where they have laid Him. 
 
 5. The two Apostles ran and ascertained the fact. St. 
 John outran Peter and arrived first, but St. Peter was the first to 
 enter the sepulchre, and saw the place where the body of Jesus 
 was laid, and on the right the napkin that covered His head. 
 St. John followed him into the tomb, and ascertained that the 
 body of Jesus was not there, and then both Apostles returned to 
 Jerusalem, and apparently did not then remember that Jesus 
 had predicted His Eesurrection. For as yet they knew not the 
 
 * On the mention, omission, and numbers of these Angels, Van Oosterzee 
 quotes a very striking remark from Leasing — "Cold discrepancy, 
 mongers, do ye not see that the Evangelists do not count the Angels ? 
 ... There were millions of them. They appeared not always one and 
 the same, not always the same two ; sometimes this one appeared, 
 sometimes that; sometimes on this place, sometimes on that ; some- 
 times alone, sometimes in company ; sometimes they said this, some- 
 times they said that." 
 
214 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.* St. John notes 
 the careful arrangement of the grave-cloths, when he tells us that 
 when St. Peter entered the tomb, he saw the linen cloths lying ; 
 and the napkin that had been about His head, not lying with 
 the linen cloths, but apart, wrapped up into one place. This 
 careful arrangement of the grave-cloths proved that the body had 
 not been taken away in haste as by a foe, and friends would 
 scarcely have removed them at all ; and it is evident, that the 
 empty and orderly tomb made a deep and lasting imprecision 
 upon this Apostle's mind. 
 
 6. When the two Apostles had departed, Mary stood at the 
 sepulchre, without, weeping. Now, as she was loeeping, she stooped 
 doiun and looked into the sepulchre, and she saw two angels in 
 white, sitting, one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body 
 of Jesus had been laid. They say to her, Woman, why weepest 
 thou ? She saith to them, Because they have taken away my Lord ; 
 and I know not where they have laid Him. Mary Magdalene had 
 returned to the sepulchre, after the hurrying Apostles, and she 
 stood there by it after they had gone away. Her words, They 
 have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid 
 Him, represent her relationship with Christ, and her loss as 
 personal, and the burden of her thoughts since she first saw that 
 the stone had been removed. " The extreme simplicity of the 
 narrative reflects something of the solemn majesty of the scene."! 
 
 At this moment a man appeared to her, and said to her, as 
 the Angel had said : Woman ; why weepest thou ? whom seekest 
 thou t She, thinking that it was the gardener, said to him ; Sir, 
 if thou hast taken Him hence, tell me where thou hast laid Him, 
 and I will take Him away. 
 
 It was Jesus, and He said to her : Mary ! At the sound of 
 His voice she knew Him at once and cried out : Babboni ! (which 
 is to say Master), and at the same time she threw herself at His 
 feet, and Jesus said to her : Do not touch Me, for I am not yet 
 ascended to My Father ; but go to My brethren, and say to them: 
 I ascend to My Father and to your Father, to My God and to your 
 God. Mary made haste and went and told the sad and dis- 
 heartened disciples : I have seen the Lord, and these things He 
 said to me. 
 
 7. The passage Touch me not, &c, " is one of well-known 
 difficulty. At first sight the reason given for refraining from 
 touching would seem to be more suitable to a permission tc 
 
 * St. John xx. 9. t Westcot in loco. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 215 
 
 touch. It is perhaps needless to enquire whether the for reiers 
 to the whole of what follows, or only to the first sentence : I am 
 not yet ascended to the father ? In either case the meaning would 
 be, that the Ascention has not yet taken place, although it soon 
 will, whereas Mary's action assumes that it has taken place. If 
 for refers to the first clause only, then the emphasis is thrown on 
 Mary's mistake ; if for refers to the whole of what is said, then 
 the emphasis is thrown on the promise that what Mary craves 
 shall be granted in a higher way to both her and others very 
 soon. The translation touch me not is inadequate and gives a 
 false impression. The verb (haptesthai) does not mean to touch 
 and handle with a view to seeing whether His body was real ; this 
 Christ not only allowed but enjoined;* rather it means to hold on 
 to and cling to. Moreover it is the present (not aorist) imperative, 
 and the full meaning will therefore be : Do not continue holding 
 Me, or simply : Hold Me not. The old and often interrupted 
 earthly intercourse is over ; the new and continuous intercourse 
 with the Ascended Lord has not yet begun ; but that Presence 
 will be granted soon, and there will be no need of straining eyes 
 and clinging hands to realize it."f 
 
 8. In the meantime the other women who had followed 
 Jesus from Galilee had arrived at the sepulchre, the sun being 
 now rising, and going in they found not the body of the Lord 
 Jesus. And as they were astonished in their mind at this, be- 
 hold, two men stood by them in shining apparel. And as they 
 were afraid and bowed down their countenance towards the 
 ground, they said unto them : Why seek you the living with the 
 dead? He is not here, but is risen. Remember how He spoke unto 
 you when He was yet in Galilee, &c.J And going guickly tell ye 
 His disciples [and Peter) that He is risen ; and, behold. He will go 
 before you into Galilee; there you shall see Him, Lo, I have fore- 
 told it to you.§ 
 
 The women found not the body, and even advanced sceptics 
 admit this circumstance as indisputable, nor has one of them 
 been able to invent the most remotely plausible explanation of 
 the fact by natural causes. 
 
 ." It is hardly possible for us even to conceive the overwhelm- 
 ing joy that the conviction of this truth must have brought to 
 these holy women, whose recollection of the divine words and 
 looks, and love-inspiring sweetness of character, would be quick- 
 
 * St. Luke xxiv. 39. t Cambridge Bible for Schools, St. John, 
 
 X St. Luke, § St. Matt. 
 
216 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 eued by the painful watching, and the passionate sorrow for their 
 seeming loss."* 
 
 They were instructed to go and tell the disciples; and St. Mark 
 makes special mention of Peter. He more than the rest would 
 be longing for the Lord's return. St. Peter's fall was probably 
 known, and also his deep repentance : he is still the chief of the 
 Apostels, and as such the first to be consulted. 
 
 9. The Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, 
 joined the other holy women, and were going to bring the great 
 news of all they had seen and heard to the Apostles. On the 
 way Jesus appeared to them and saluted them. They kissed His 
 feet and adored Him. Then Jesus said to them : Fear not. Go, 
 tell my brethren, that they go into Galilee, there they shall see Me. \ 
 
 Jesus had already appeared to Mary Magdalene alone. We 
 must suppose that she was now joined by the other Mary, and 
 perhaps by Salome, Joanna and others ; and whilst these were 
 going to announce the great news to the rest of the disciples 
 (Peter and John already knew), the Lord Jesus met them. His 
 words of salutation were : All hail. Literally, rejoice ; the Greek 
 salutation, both on meeting and parting. He called his disciples 
 His brethren, as being Himself a man, and their kinsman accord- 
 ing to man's nature. Now that Christ had clearly manifested 
 the power of the godhead, there was special need of reminding 
 His disciples that He was still man, and that they were brethren. 
 Mary Magdalene and the holy women recounted to the Apostles 
 all that they had seen and heard, but St. Luke tells us that these 
 were incredulous. Their words seemed to them idle tales, and they 
 believed them not. This persistent incredulity on the part of the 
 Apostles was permitted by God, that their testimony afterwards 
 might have greater force and authority. 
 
 10. The chief priests paid attention to what the soldiers, 
 who guarded the sepulchre, narrated to them. St. Matthew tells 
 us how the Roman guards were bribed. And they (the chief 
 priests) being assembled together with the ancients, taking counsel, 
 gave a great sum of money to the soldiers, saying : Say you His 
 disciple" came by night, and stole Him away, when we were asleep. 
 And if the governor shall hear of this we will persuade him and 
 secure you. So they, taking the money, did as they were taught : 
 and this word was spread abroad among the Jews even unto this 
 day. I 
 
 * Cambridge Bible for Schools. St. Matt. t St. Matt, xxviii. 10. 
 
 J St. Matt, xxviii. 13-15. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 217 
 
 The penalty for their sleeping would be death. They re- 
 ceived evidently many pieces of silver as a bribe, and the soldiers 
 might readily believe that Pilate was open to the same induce- 
 ment, which persuaded them. St. Matthew found it specially 
 necessary in his day to narrate the true facts of the case. 
 
 11. The first Apostle to whom our Saviour appeared on the 
 day of His Eesurrection was (a) St. Peter ; (b) on the evening of 
 the same day He manifested Himself to the two disciples going 
 to Emmaus, who at last recognised Him in the breaking of 
 bread. His apparition to the disciples at Emmaus is narrated 
 by St. Luke alone. These two disciples were not Apostles, one 
 was called Cleophas, of whom we know nothing, unless he was 
 the same as Alphaeus. The other is unknown, and no conjecture 
 can be made concerning him. It is not probable that it was 
 St. Luke himself. The town of Emmaus was distant from Jeru- 
 salem sixty furlongs, that is 6£ miles. The disciples did not 
 know Jesus ; neither did Mary Magdalene at first recognise Him, 
 nor the disciples on the lake, which served only to indicate that 
 after the Eesurrection the Body of our Lord was a glorified Body, 
 of which the conditions transcended those of ordinary mortality ; 
 as He could take different forms from that which He had worn 
 when on earth. 
 
 (c) When all the Apostle ,3, with the exception of Thomas 
 Didymus, were that night assembled in the Cenacle, the doors 
 being closed, Jesus appeared in their midst, and said to them : 
 Peace be to you ; it is I, fear not. But they being troubled and 
 frightened supposed that they saw a spirit. And He said to them : 
 why are you troubled, and why do thoughts arise in your hearts ? 
 See My hands and feet, that it is I Myself \ handle, and see ; for a 
 spirit hath not flesh and bones, as you see Me to have. And when 
 He had said this, He showed them His ha.nds aud His feet. But 
 ivhile they yet believed not, and wondered for joy, He said: Have 
 you here any thing to eat ? And they offered Him a piece of a 
 broiled fish, and a honey-comb. And when He had eaten before 
 them, taking the remains, He gave them to them, &c. 
 
 This is one of the most remarkable apparances of the Risen 
 Christ. His intercourse with them on this occasion consisted of 
 a greeting, a reproach and consolation (St. Luke xxiv. 36-38. ; 
 St. Mark xvi. 14.) ; a demonstration of the reality of His person 
 (St. Luke xxiv. 39-43 ; St. John xx. 20.) ; an opening of their 
 understandings (St. Luke xxiv. 44-46) ; an appointment of the 
 Apostles to the ministries of remission and forgiveness (St. Luke 
 xxiv. 47-48 ; St. John xix. 21-23) ; a promise of the Holy Spirit, 
 
218 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 for the rulfilment of which they were to wait in Jerusalem. (St. 
 Luke xxiv. 49). At the close of this great scene He once more 
 pronounced the benediction of peace, and breathed on them with 
 the words: Beceive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall for- 
 give they are forgiven ; and whose sins you shall retain, they are 
 retained. (St. John xx.) 
 
 As soon as Thomas, who is called Didymus, joined the com- 
 pany of the other Apostles, they said to Him : We have seen the 
 Lord. But he said to them : Except I shall see in His hands the 
 prints of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails , 
 and put my hands into His side, I will not believe. The test which 
 Thomas selects has various points of contact with the surround- 
 ings. The wounds had been the cause of all his melancholy 
 sadness since the Crucifixion ; it is they that must reassure him. 
 The print of them would prove beyond all doubt that it was 
 indeed His Lord that had returned to him. Moreover, the ten 
 had no doubt told him of their own terror and hesitation, and how 
 Jesus had invited them to handle and see, in order to convince 
 themselves. This would suggest a similar proof to Thomas. 
 
 (d). After eight days Jesus appeared again under similar 
 circumstances to the Apostles, Thomas being this time present. 
 Jesus said to him : Put in thy finger hither, and see My hands, 
 and bring hither thy hand and put it into My side ; and be not 
 faithless, but believing. Thomas answered and said to Him : My 
 Lord and my God. Jesus saith to him : Because thou hast seen 
 Me, Thomas, thou hast believed ; blessed are they that have not 
 seen and have believed. 
 
 This happened eight days after the Resurrection, that is eight 
 days including both extremes, according to the Jewish method. 
 This was therefore the Sunday following Easter Sunday. We are 
 not to understand that the disciples had not met together during 
 the interval, but that there is no appearance of Jesus to record. 
 The first step is here taken towards establishing Sunday as ' the 
 Lord's day ' as the Christian weekly festival. The Passover is over, 
 so that the meeting of the disciples has nothing to do with that. 
 
 (e). There is one other manifestation of Jesus recorded, 
 namely His manifestation to the seven Apostles, when they had 
 gone out fishing on the Sea of Tiberias, when Christ caused the 
 miraculous draught of fishes to be taken, and when He gave 
 St. Peter the Commission to feed His sheep and His lambs, by 
 which He conferred upon him and his successors the power over 
 the whole flock of Christ, both pastors and people. On that oc- 
 casion He also predicted St. Peter's death. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 219 
 
 (/). Jesus appeared also on many other occasions before 
 His Ascension that are not recorded, and St. Paul mentions that 
 He appeared at one time to as many as five hundred assembled 
 together. 
 
 12. The Apostles therefore could not be deceived as to the 
 fact of the Resurrection, and it was not possible for them to in- 
 vent and propagate the falsehood, had the Body of our Lord been 
 taken away, as the chief priests sought to persuade the people, 
 through bribing the guards. How, it may be asked, could the 
 Apostles, by such a trick or lie, convert the world and establish 
 the Christian religion with all its divine characters or marks? 
 Jesus therefore is risen from the dead, and as we have just seen 
 in the foregoing narrative, He rose again on the third day accord- 
 ing to the Scriptures ; words added by the Council of Constanti- 
 nopel to the Creed, because the absolute necessity of the mystery 
 of the Resurrection is taught in such an emphatic manner by the 
 Apostle when he says : If Christ be not risen again, then is our 
 preaching vain, and your faith is also vain, for you are yet in your 
 sins* And St. Augustin, speaking of this Article, says : " It is of 
 little moment to believe that Christ died ; this the Pagans, Jews, 
 and all the wicked believe ; in a word, all believe that Christ 
 died ; but that He rose again from the dead is the belief of the 
 Christian, and this we deem of great moment." 
 
 Before concluding the instruction on the mystery of the Res- 
 urrection, it may be useful to give a short explanation of the 
 qualities of the Body of Christ after the Resurrection, and the 
 effects of His Resurrection. 
 
 The Qualities of the Resuscitated Body op Christ. 
 
 13. In going forth from the tomb, the Body of Christ pos- 
 sessed four glorious qualities, which are called — brightness, incor- 
 ruptibility, agility, and subtilty. (a) Brightness or clearness. That 
 is to say, the Body of Christ had in a high degree transparency 
 with a shining brightness like the light ef the sun, the splendour 
 of which was seen in His apparitions. 
 
 (b) Incorruptibility. That is to say, the Body of Christ 
 was unalterable, impervious to suffering or pain, and 
 immortal. 
 
 (c). Agility. That is to say, the Body of Christ could move 
 
 * 1 Cor. xv. 14-17. 
 
220 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 from place to place with the rapidity of light, or the 
 quickness of thought. 
 (d) Subtilty. That is to say, the Body of Christ could 
 penetrate other bodies without experiencing any re- 
 sistance whatever. Thus it came out of the sealed 
 tomb, and stood in the midst of the Apostles, the doors 
 being shut. 
 The glorified Body of Christ was of incomparable beauty. It 
 
 bad a grace and majesty of which nothing in this world can give 
 
 an idea. 
 
 14. Jesus wished to retain in His glorified Body the wounds 
 of His Passion. This He did (a) to convince His Apostles of the 
 truth of His Eesurrection ; (b) for His own glory, in as much as 
 these wounds are as rays of light that add to the beauty and the 
 glory of His humanity in heaven ; (c) that He may continually 
 show them to His Father in supplication for us and our salvation. 
 These are the Wounds by which He redeemed us ; (d) that He 
 may confound the wicked on the last day, those who will not 
 seek a place of rest in those Sacred Wounds which their crimes 
 have opened. 
 
 The Effects of the Eesurrection. 
 
 15. The Eesurrection is the foundation of our faith, the 
 model of our spiritual life, and the cause of our future resur- 
 rection. 
 
 (a) Among all the religions of the world none but the 
 
 Christian can say : The wicked put to death my 
 Founder, but He came forth from the tomb as He had 
 predicted. He was therefore God, and all that He 
 taught is true. It also shows that faith in Jesus 
 Christ and in His Church is so certain and reasonable, 
 since it is proved by a fact of history, which no one 
 ( an doubt or deny. 
 
 (b) Jesus Christ died for our sins, but He died only once. 
 
 Being risen from the dead He no more dies, but lives 
 for God and in God. This also a Christian ought to 
 do. By Baptism he has been buried with Christ in 
 His death, in as much as he dies to sin. From that 
 he should rise and live a life truly divine in conformity 
 with Jesus Christ risen from the dead. If he should 
 lose the grace of Baptism, that may be restored by 
 
THE apostles' ceeed. 221 
 
 penance, so that the stains of sin may be removed, 
 
 and he may continually die to sin, and live to God in 
 
 Christ Jesus our Lord. 
 
 (c) Jesus Christ, the Word Incarnate, arose in His own 
 
 flesh. By this He has communicated to all flesh the 
 
 privilege of resurrection. As Jesus, says St. Paul, rose 
 
 from the dead, we also will arise with Him and as He 
 
 rose from the dead. 
 
 " From the resurrection of Christ, therefore, we should derive 
 
 two impoitant lessons of instruction : the one, that after we have 
 
 washed away the stains of sin we should begin to live a new life, 
 
 distinguished by integrity, innocence, holiness, modesty, justice, 
 
 beneficence and humility ; the other, that we should so persevere 
 
 in that newness of life, as never more, with the divine assistance, 
 
 to stray from the path of virtue on which we have entered. 
 
 " Nor do the words of the Apostle prove only that the re- 
 surrection of Christ is proposed as the model of our resurrection : 
 they also declare that it gives us power to rise again ; and im- 
 parts to us strength and courage to persevere in holiness and 
 righteousness, and in the observance of the Commandments of 
 God,"* 
 
 Catechism of Council of Trent. 
 
222 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 ARTICLE VI. 
 
 Apostles' Creed. Ntcene Creed. 
 
 " He ascended into " He ascended into 
 
 heaven, and sitteth at the heaven, and sitteth at the 
 
 right hand of God, the Father right hand of the Father." 
 Almighty." 
 
 1. The Ascension forty days after the Eesurrection. — 2. The term of forty 
 days a remarkable scriptural period, and Christ's work during that 
 period. — 3. The Ascension represented in figures and foretold by the 
 Prophets. — 4. The circumstances of the Ascension as to time, 
 place, and persons present — 5. His last blessiDg. — 6. The appari- 
 tion of Angels and their words. — 7. Those who accompanied Christ 
 in His ascension. — 8. What is meant by Heaven. — 9. The reasons 
 of Christ's Ascension. — 10. The second part of the Article : sitteth 
 at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, explained. 
 
 1. In commemoration of the Ascension, the Church cele- 
 brates Ascension Day, which occurs on the fortieth day after 
 Easter. 
 
 " He ascended into Heaven forty days after His Eesurrec- 
 tion, and in the presence of His Apostles, as related by St. Luke. 
 The difference between the Eesurrection and the Ascension is 
 very noticeable. No witnesses were needed to the Eesurrection, 
 because Christ's appearances afterwards showed that He had 
 risen. But when He ascended, when it was of the utmost 
 importance that men should be assured that He had really gone 
 up to heaven, then, in the presence of many witnesses He 
 ascended into heaven as if it were the natural close of His divine 
 life on earth."* 
 
 After His Eesurrection, Jesus remained forty days on the 
 earth, appearing to His disciples and speaking to them of the 
 Kingdom of God. By the Kingdom of God it is necessary to 
 understand, in the first place, the Kingdom of heaven, into which 
 
 •Gill's Church Catechism. 
 
THE APOSTLES* CREED. 223 
 
 He was soon to enter for the joy and glory of those who would 
 believe on Him. The Kingdom of God also signifies the Church 
 militant on earth, of which, after Christ, the Apostles were the 
 founders. He had to instruct them in all that concerned that 
 Church, the administration of the Sacraments, the government of 
 the Church, its mission, the persecutions which it would have to 
 undergo, and the triumphs it should gain through His assistance, 
 and according to His promise. Behold I am with you all days, 
 even to the consummation of the world. 
 
 2. The term of forty days is a remarkable scriptural period : — 
 (a) The flood was forty days upon the earth. (Gen. vii. 17.) 
 (6) Moses was with Jehovah on Mount Sinai forty days. 
 
 (Deut. ix. 19.) 
 (c) Elias went in the strength of that meat forty days and 
 
 forty nights unto Horeb, the Mount of God. (1 Kings 
 
 xix. 8.) 
 The term of forty days occurs three times in the life of Christ. 
 
 (a) Between His Birth and Presentation in the Temple. 
 
 (St. Luke ii. 22.) 
 
 (b) Christ fasted forty days in the desert. 
 
 (c) The period between His Eesurrection and His ascension 
 
 into heaven. 
 During this period our Lord expounded the Scriptures, and 
 instructed His Apostles in all that concerned His Church — or the 
 Kingdom of God — and He gave them His last commission : Go 
 and teach all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, 
 and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.* 
 
 3. The Ascension was represented in figures, and foretold by 
 the prophets, and also by our Divine Saviour Himself. 
 
 The High Priest under the Law, an express type of the 
 Messiah, when making the typical atonement representing the 
 propitiation made by Christ for the sins of the world, waa to enter 
 himself, alone, and only once in the year, into the Holy of Holies, 
 thereby showing that the High Priest of good things to come, by a 
 greater . . . tabernacle . . . was to enter into the Holy place, having 
 obtained eternal redemption for us.\ " The Jews all believed that 
 the tabernacle signified this world, and the Holy of Holies the 
 highest heavens ; wherefore as the High Priest, having slain the 
 Sacrifice, passed with the blood thereof through the rest of the 
 tabernacle into the Holy of Holies, so the Messiah, here offering 
 
 •St. Matt, xxviii. 19. fHeb. ix. 11, 12. 
 
224 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 Himself, and slain, was to pass through the courts of this world 
 below, and with His blood to enter the highest heavens."* 
 
 The Ascension was declared prophetically by the Psalmist. 
 Thou hast ascended on high, Thou hast led captivity captive ; Thou 
 hast received gifts for men .t And it was foretold by our Lord 
 Himself : I ascend unto My Father, and your Father, and to My 
 God and your God. } 
 
 The account of the Ascension is given in St. Mark's Gospel 
 (xvi. 14-20), St. Luke's (xxiv. 50-52), and in the Acts of the 
 Apostles (i. 7-12J. From these sources we learn the following 
 particulars and circumstances, as to the time, place, persons, and 
 the manner of His Ascension. 
 
 4. Our Lord's Ascension took place, as I have said, on the 
 fortieth day after His Eesurrection, the fifth day of the week (or 
 Thursday) which, according to a probable opinion, fell on the 25th 
 of May. The disciples had all assembled from Galilee at Jeru- 
 salem, and when they were gathered together in the Cenacle or 
 Supper Room, where Christ had eaten with them the last Supper, 
 and instituted the Blessed Sacrament, He appears in their midst. 
 After He had eaten, and conversed in a loving manner with them, 
 especially concerning the coming of the Holy Ghost, about 
 one o'clock in the day, He went forth with His Apostles, and other 
 disciples also, to the number of about 120, and He led them to 
 Mount Olivet (which was the scene of His Agony) in the direction 
 of the town of Bethany ; or probably He led them round by 
 Bethany, where they would be joined by the Magdalene, her 
 sister, and Lazarus. We may reflect on the last colloquies be- 
 tween Jesus and His Blessed Mother on this occasion, and also 
 on the last embraces and farewell between the Lord and His 
 disciples, although no mention is made of them in the Holy 
 Scripture. 
 
 5. The traditional scene of the Ascension is the central 
 summit of the Mount of Olives (Jebel-el-Tur). Having arrived 
 at the place, our Saviour, with upraised hands, blessed them, 
 namely the Blessed Virgin and the Apostles, invoking many 
 favours and graces to be bestowed upon them, and using probably 
 words similar to those used on a former occasion : That they may 
 be one, as thou, Father, in Me and I in Thee : that they also may 
 be one in Us : that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me.§ 
 He raised His hands either in the form of a Cross extended 
 
 •Pearson. Analysis. fPsalm Ixviii. 18. 
 
 $St. John xx. 17. § St. John xvii. 31. 
 
THE APOSTLES* CREED 225 
 
 towards heaven as Moses did ; or He made the sign of the Cross 
 over them, after the manner in which the blessings of the Church 
 have been imparted ever since. 
 
 Whilst He blessed, and as they were looking at Him, He was 
 raised up from the earth towards heaven ; and as the disciples 
 still continued gazing in wonder at the mysterious Ascension, a 
 cloud, glorious and resplendent, received Him out of their sight j 
 and, whilst enveloping Christ with its heavenly brightness and 
 splendour, it showed forth to all the spectators the majesty of 
 the triumphal entrance of Christ into His heavenly Kingdom. 
 
 6. And whilst they were beholding Him going up to heaven, 
 behold two men stood by them in white garments. Who also said : 
 Ye men of Galilee, why stand you looking up to heaven ? This 
 Jesus who is taken up from you into heaven shall so come as you 
 have seen Him going into heaven. These are called men, but 
 they are evidently angels : the expressions clothed in white (St. 
 John xx. 12), two men in shining garments (St. Luke xxiv. 4.), 
 a man in bright clothing (Acts x. 30), was the Jewish manner of 
 signifying Angels, or heavenly messengers. 
 
 7. Those who accompanied our Lord in His Ascension, were 
 all the just who were in the Limbo of the Fathers, and those who 
 in Purgatory had finished the period of their temporal punish- 
 ment. Some have thought that the bodies of the Saints that had 
 arisen at the Resurrection of Christ, being clothed with their 
 glorified qualities, were also in that heavenly company according 
 to the words of the Psalmist : Ascending on high He led captivity 
 captive. As to the Angels, there is no doubt but they all came 
 forth to meet Christ in His Ascension, to receive Him and to 
 conduct Him above all the heavens to the right hand of the 
 Father. Of Christ as the King of Angels it is written : Adore 
 Him, all ye His Angels.* And again : Lift up your gates, ye 
 ■princes, and be ye lifted up, eternal gates : and the King of glory 
 shall enter in.\ 
 
 As to what is meant by heaven, we must remember that the 
 name may be taken in various senses. The clouds are called 
 the clouds of heaven, but that heaven is the first, and our Saviour 
 certainly went higher than that, and ascended at least as far as 
 St. Paul, who was caught up into the third heaven. It means 
 therefore the highest heaven, that far off land where God mani- 
 fests His glory. It means that Christ in His Sacred humanity, 
 body and soul, ascended to that place where the Majesty of God 
 
 Pa. xcvi. 7. t Ps. xxiii. 7. 
 
226. THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 is most resplendent, that the flesh of our flesh is above all the 
 Angels at the right hand of God the Father : it means that what- 
 soever heaven there is higher than all the rest called heavens, 
 into that place did He ascend in His humanity, where in the 
 splendour of His Deity He was before He took our human nature 
 upon Him. 
 
 Some modern scientific men originated an objection in regard 
 to the Ascension on the ground of the conditions of the Solar 
 system. If He ascends out of this world He is above to some, 
 He is below to others, and how can He be stationary and we ever 
 moving ? To all this we have only to answer, that He is exalted 
 into the sphere of the Deity. He is now in a condition far above 
 the condition of our space, and whatever region of the earth 
 people live in, they can look up towards that far off heavenly home 
 above them, that really existing place in which Christ's Sacred 
 Humanity resides, which is known as the Heaven of Heavens. 
 
 9. The reasons why Christ thus ascended into heaven are : — 
 (a) In order to confirm His doctrine and to prove that it is a 
 heavenly doctrine, (b) That He might open the gates closed by 
 Adam's sin. (c) That He might shew that His Kingdom was not 
 an earthly or temporal, but a heavenly one ; according to His own 
 words : My kingdom is not of this world, (d) That with His 
 glorified Body He might occupy His own proper throne of glory. 
 Heaven is the proper dwelling place for a glorified body, (e) That 
 He might rejoice the Angels by His appearance and adorn heaven 
 by His glory : for the Lamb is the lamp thereof* (/) That He 
 might send the Holy Ghost, and continually plead our cause with 
 the Father through His five Sacred Wounds, (g) That from His 
 throne in heaven He may rule and direct His Church and the 
 whole world. 
 
 Dr. Lingard says in his note on the Ascension of Christ : 
 " With His ascent into heaven our Saviour closed His earthly 
 pilgrimage, He ascended before the eyes of His disciples : and 
 this visible ascent was calculated, 1st, not only to confirm them 
 in the belief of His Mission, but to disabuse their minds of the 
 notion that His was an earthly Kingdom, a notion which they 
 had cherished to that very moment. 2nd, To show that the place 
 which He was going to prepare for His faithful servants (that where 
 He was they also might be) was not on earth but in heaven ; and 
 3rd, tc lay a firm foundation for our hopes ; since we now must 
 
 *Apoc. xxi. 23. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 227 
 
 know, that we have for our advocate with the Father, one Who 
 ever liveth to make intercession for ws.* And that as God hath 
 quickened us together with Christ, and hath raised us up together, 
 so He will make us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.\ 
 
 10. The second part of the Article : Sitteth at the right hand 
 of God the Father Almighty. This does not mean that God the 
 Father has hands. He is a spirit — but that Christ, in His human 
 nature, is raised to a seat in heaven above all created beings. 
 
 Sitteth — remaineth. This word does not signify our Lord's 
 posture of Body, for St. Stephen declared he saw Christ standing 
 on the right hand of God. By sitting is signified the occupation 
 or continuance in a permanent state. It signifies also that our 
 Saviour, after His great work here on earth of our redemption, 
 enjoys an immutable rest in eternal beatitude : that He is there 
 as King and Judge, King of kings, and Judge of the living and 
 the dead ; and as a King He is seated on His throne, and as 
 Judge on the tribunal of Justice. 
 
 The right hand of God. This is also a metaphorical expres- 
 sion which signifies the place of highest honour, power and glory 
 in heaven. And the Lord Jesus after he had spoken to them was 
 taken up into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God. \ And 
 St. Peter says of Christ: Who is gone into heaven, and is on the 
 right hand of God. § And this is also the fulfilment of the pro- 
 phetic words of David : The Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou at 
 my right hand, until I make thy enemies thy footstool.** 
 
 At the right hand of His Father, Christ is in heaven our 
 Advocate and Mediator. We are not to think of Him there as 
 though His sitting at the right hand of the Father implies a state 
 of inactive rest. In the highest heavens He exercises the two- 
 fold functions of Priest and King : Ring according to the words : 
 This m,an offering one sacrifice for sins, for ever sitteth on the right 
 hand of God. From henceforth expecting (waiting) until His 
 enemies be made His footstool. ft Priest. If any man sin, we have 
 an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Just ; and He is the 
 propitiation for our sins.\\ And St. Paul says, that Christ Jesus : 
 Who is on the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for 
 us.%% 
 
 *Heb. vii. 25. fEph. ii. 6. JSt. Mark xvi. 19. 
 
 §1 St. Peter iii. 22. ** Psalm ex. ffHeb. x. 12, 13. 
 
 %\ 1 St. John ii, 1, 2. §§ Rom. viii. 34. 
 
228 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 AETICLE VII. 
 
 Apostles' Creed. Nicene Creed. 
 
 " From thence He shall " And He shall come again 
 
 come to judge the living and with glory to judge the living 
 the dead." and the dead ; of Whose King- 
 
 dom there shall be no end." 
 
 1. Christ shall come again. — 2. The manner of His second coming. — 
 
 3. The purpose of His coming, and proofs of the future judgment. — 
 
 4. Those who are to be judged the Living and the Dead. — 5. Those 
 things that are to fall under judgment. — 6. The final sentence and 
 description of the last judgment. — 7. The execution of the sentence. — 
 8. The particular judgment at the death of each one. — 9. Some of 
 the signs that are to precede the General Judgment : — (a) the falling 
 off from the faith: — (b) Satan let loose on the earth.— (c) The Anti- 
 christian empire. — (d) Antechrist. — (e) Enoch and Elias will return 
 to earth. — (/) The Church will be victorious. — (p) The Sign of the 
 Son of Man will be seen in the heavens. — (h) Christ will be seen 
 coming in the clouds of heaven. 
 
 The Church commemorates this hope of the second coming 
 of Christ by the Season of Advent. 
 
 This Article contains four assertions : 
 (1). That Christ shall come again. 
 (2). That He shall come from heaven. 
 (3). That the purpose of His coming is to judge. 
 (4). That the persons whom He shall judge are all men, 
 whether dead before His coming, or then alive. 
 
 Christ Who is gone from us shall come again. 
 
 1. (1) This the Angel testified : This Jesus Who is taken up 
 from you into heaven shall so come as you have seen Him going 
 into heaven .* (b) This Christ promised : And if I shall go, and 
 prepare a place for you; I will come again, and will take you to 
 My self. \ 
 
 * Acts i. U f St. John xiv. 8. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 229 
 
 This Coming of Christ is represented under various images 
 
 (a) The Master returning to His household. (St. Matt. 
 
 xxiv. 45-51.) 
 
 (b) The Nobleman returning from a long journey. Parable 
 
 of the Pounds. (St. Luke xix. 12-23.) 
 
 (c) The Bridegroom returning or coming for His Bride. 
 
 Parable of the Ten Virgins. (St. Matt. xxv. 1-13.) 
 
 (2). He shall come from heaven, from thence, that is from 
 
 the highest heaven ; where, having thither ascended, He now 
 
 sitteth on the right hand of God, shall Christ come hereafter to 
 
 judge both the living and the dead. 
 
 2. The manner of the Second coming of Christ shall be : 
 
 (a) In the same body : This same Jesus Who is taken up from 
 
 you into heaven shall so come as you have seen Him 
 going into heaven. 
 
 (b) His coming loill be sudden and unexpected. We know 
 
 not the day nor the hour. He shall come as a thief 
 in the night ; watch ye, therefore, because you know not 
 the day nor the hour. (St. Matt. xxv. 13.) 
 
 (c) His coming will be glorious and terrible according to the 
 
 words : — Hereafter you shall see the Son of Man sitting 
 on the right hand of the power of God, and coming in 
 the clouds of heaven. (St. Matt. xxvi. 64.) 
 And when the Son of Man shall come in His majesty, and all 
 the Angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the seat of His ma- 
 jesty. (St. Matt. xxv. 31.) 
 
 (d) He shall come accompanied by angelic hosts. For the 
 
 Lord Himself shall come down from heaven with 
 commandment, and with the voice of an Archangel, 
 and with the trumpet of God : and the dead who are 
 in Christ shall first rise. Then we who are alive, who 
 are left, shall be taken up together with them in the 
 clouds to meet Christ, &c. (1 Thess. iv. 16.) 
 
 3. The purpose of Christ's coming is to judge. 
 
 (3). That there is a judgment to come is one of the dogmas 
 of our faith which is demonstrated by the testimony of conscience, 
 and may be demonstrated from the supreme dominion of God 
 over us and all His creatures. 
 
230 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 " There is in the soul of man a conscience which gives testi- 
 mony to this truth. The antecedent or directive conscience tells 
 us what to do. The subsequent or reflective conscience warns 
 us as to what we have to receive. Looking back on the actions 
 we have done, it either approves or condemns them ; and if it 
 did no more it would only prove a judgment in this life, and every 
 man his own judge. But because it also, in reference to our good 
 actions, creates in us a complecency, confidence, &c, and in re- 
 ference to our evil actions accuses us and breeds in us fearful ex- 
 pectation, &c, and all this apart from anything to be enjoyed or 
 suffered in this life ; therefore it is not so much a judge as a wit- 
 ness, bound over to testify for or against us at some judgment to 
 be passed on us after this life. For all men are a law unto them- 
 selves their conscience also bearing witness, and their 
 
 thoughts the meanwhile accusing or excusing one another in the 
 day when God shall judge the secrets of hearts."* 
 
 This can also, as I have said, be demonstrated from God's 
 dominion and His providence over all His creatures : God is a 
 just and righteous Lord, and therefore in the end He will mani- 
 fest that justice. To us, as the affairs of the present world are 
 ordered, the justice of things does not now appear : rewards do 
 not correspond to virtues, nor punishments to the sins of men, 
 therefore there must be a judgment to come in which God will 
 show a perfect demonstration of His justice, and to which every 
 man shall in his heart bear an undeniable witness. 
 
 The divine words also persuade us of this truth : It is ap- 
 pointed unto men once to die, and after death judgment — the one is 
 as certain as the other. The testimonies of the Law and the 
 Prophets, the predictions of Christ and His Apostles, are so many 
 and so well-known that they need not be repeated. There is 
 nothing more certain in the Word of God, no doctrine more clear, 
 than that of eternal judgment. \ 
 
 Dr. Lingard, speaking of the judgment at the last day, says : 
 
 u When all the objects which God had in view in the creation 
 of man shall have been fully accomplished, then will our blessed 
 Lord put an end to the present order of things on our earth, and 
 at the same time will satisfactorily solve the apparent anomalies 
 in the ways of divine Providence, by summoning the whole human 
 race before Him in judgment, and allotircg to each individual ac- 
 cording to his previous conduct in this world, an everlasting in- 
 heritance of weal or woe in another. For God hath appointed a 
 
 * 1 Kom. ii, 14-16. Pearson's Analysis in loco. t Heb. vi. 2. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 231 
 
 day in which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man 
 whom He hath appointed, whom He hath raised from the dead.* To 
 whom the Father hath given authority to execute judgment because 
 He is the Son of Man. f So that Christ in His sacred humanity 
 will be the judge of the living and the dead." 
 
 4. Those who are to be judged are the Living and the 
 
 Dead. 
 
 (4). This is not limited to the interpretation as referring 
 only to all who are dead before Christ's coming, or then alive : 
 because all are to die first ; and even those alive up to that day of 
 General Judgment will, by some means or other, have to depart 
 this life, their souls must be separated from their bodies by death 
 before the judgment. 
 
 By the living is therefore meant the just, who leave this 
 world in a state of grace, that is to say, alive with the divine 
 principle of charity which causes us to love God about all things, 
 and our neighbour as ourselves. By the dead is meant those who 
 appear before God in sin or devoid of charity. They are dead to 
 the spiritual life of grace : as it is written, He who loves not 
 abideth in death. J Our divine Lord gives us to understand the 
 same thing, when in His anticipated account of the General 
 Judgment He mentions works of charity alone : I ivas hungry, I 
 was thirsty, &c, and you gave Me to eat, to drink, &c. Come, 
 ye blessed of My Father, &c. I was hungry, I was thirsty, &c, and 
 you gave Me not to eat and drink, &c. Go, ye cursed, &c. 
 
 5. This judgment will be according to men's works, extend- 
 ing to 
 
 (a) Our thoughts. Therefore judge not before the time; until 
 
 the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden 
 things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels 
 of the heart ; and then shall every man have praise from 
 God. (1 Cor. iv. 51.) 
 
 (b) Our words. But I say unto you that every idle word that 
 
 man shall speak, they shall render an account for it in 
 the day of judgment. (St. Matt. xii. 36.) 
 
 (c) Deeds. And they were judged every one according to their 
 
 works. (Apoc. xx. 13.) For we must all be manifested 
 before the judgment seat of Chris:, that everyone may 
 
 * Acts xvii. 31. t St. John. v. 27. t 1 st - John "*• 14 - 
 
232 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 receive the proper things of the body, according as he 
 hath done, lohether it be good or evil. (2 Cor. v. 10.) 
 
 The Sentence which will be final. 
 
 6. We have a description of the last Judgment, given by St 
 Mathew, in the simile of the sheep and goats, in which he also 
 gives us the last sentence referred to already. 
 
 And when the Son of man shall come in His majesty, and all the 
 angels with Him, then shall He sit on the seat of His majesty. 
 And all nations shall be gathered together before Him, and He shall 
 separate them one from another, as the shepherd separateth the sheep 
 from the goats. And He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but 
 the goats on His left. Then shall the King say to them that shall 
 be on His right hand : Come, ye blessed of My Father, possess you 
 the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 
 For I was hungry, and you gave Me to eat ; I was thirsty, and you 
 gave Me to drink ; I was a stranger, and you took Me in : Naked, 
 and you covered Me ; sick, and you visited Me ; I was hi prison, 
 and you came to Me. Then shall the just answer Him, saying • 
 Lord, when did we see Thee hungry, and fed Thee ; thirsty, and 
 gave Thee drink ? And when did we see Thee a stranger, and took 
 Thee in f or naked, and covered Thee ? Or when did we see Thee 
 sick and in prison, and came to Thee ? And the King answering 
 shall say to them : Amen, 1 say to you, as long as you did it to one 
 of these My least brethren you did it to Me. Then He shall say to 
 them also that shall be on His left hand : Depart from Me, ye 
 cursed, into everlasting fire which ivas prepared for the devil and 
 his angels. For I ivas hungry, and you gave Me not to eat ; I zuas 
 thirsty, and you gave Me not to drink. I was a stranger, and you 
 took Me not in ; naked, and you covered Me not ; sick and in prison, 
 and you did not visit Me. Then they also shall answer Him, saying • 
 Lord, when did we see Thee hungry or thirsty, or a stranger, or 
 naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to Thee f Then 
 He shall answer them saying : Amen, I say to you, as long as you 
 did it not to one of these least ones, neither did you do it to Me. And 
 these shall go into everlasting punishment ; but the just into life 
 everlasting * 
 
 St. John also in the Apocalypse gives us a description of the 
 last judgment : And I saio a great white throne, and one sitting on 
 it, from whose face the earth and heaven fled away, and there was 
 
 • St. Matt. xxv. 31-46. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 233 
 
 no place found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, 
 standing in the presence of the throne, and the books ivere opened; 
 and another book was opened which is the book of life ; and the dead 
 were judged by those things that were written in the books, accord' 
 ing to their works. And the sea gave up the dead that were in it, 
 and death and hell gave up their dead that icere in them. And they 
 were judged, everyone according to their works. And hell and death 
 were cast into the pool of fire. This is the second death. And who- 
 soever was not written in the book of life was cast into the pool of 
 fire/'' 
 
 From the above description we can form some idea of the 
 judiciary process of the last judgment. 
 
 (a). There is described a throne of judicature on which the 
 Son of Man shall appear as judge. In the regeneration the Son of 
 Man shall sit on the throne of His majesty. \ 
 
 (b). There is to be a personal appearance of all men before 
 that judgment seat. I saw the dead standing before the throne of 
 God. All nations shall be gathered before Him. 
 
 (c). The thoughts, words and actions of all men, thus 
 brought before Cbrist's judgment seat, shall appear. He will 
 bring to light the hidden things of darkness. To this end the books 
 were opened, and the dead were judged out of those things that were 
 written in the books according to their works. 
 
 (d). According to their thoughts, words and actions, a final 
 3entence will be passed on all men. Here note the two sentences 
 side by side, and the correspondence between them : — 
 
 Sentence op the Just. Sentence of the Wicked. 
 
 Come, ye blessed of My Depart from Me, ye cursed, 
 
 Father, possess the King- into everlasting fire, prepared fo? 
 
 dom prepared for you from the devil and his angels, 
 the foundation of the world. 
 
 Observe that the words ye blessed of My Father in contrast to 
 ye cursed. Of My Father is not added to the curse, as it is to 
 the blessing, because the blessing comes from God, the curse is 
 brought by the sinner himself. Observe also the words Kingdom 
 prepared for you, as addressed to the just, and the fire prepared, 
 not for men, but for the devil and his angels : for though men 
 were not, or were not sinners, that fire would still burn for the 
 devil and his angels. 
 
 •Apoo. xx. 11-15. t St. Matt. xix. 28. 
 
234 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 The execution op the sentence. 
 
 7, And these shall go into everlasting punishment, but the just 
 into life eternal. 
 
 And hence the Nicene Creed adds the words : Of Whose 
 Kingdom there shall be no end. This is to refute those who taught 
 that after the judgment Jesus would return to the bosom of His 
 Father, and cease to have a distinct human (personal) existence.* 
 
 Besides the general judgment, we must know that in this 
 Article of the Creed we also profess our faith in the particular 
 judgment. The Christian Eeligion teaches that two judgments 
 await us : the particular judgment, which will decide the fate of 
 each individual the moment he quits this life ; and the general 
 judgment, which will take place at the end of the world. 
 
 It is of faith that all who die in a state of mortal sin are im- 
 mediately condemned to everlasting torments ; and on the other 
 hand, it is of faith that the just, who die in God's grace, and who 
 have nothing to atone for in Purgatory, are immediately after 
 death received into eternal beatitude ; therefore there must be the 
 judgment for each soul as soon as it leaves the body. No punish- 
 ment can be justly inflicted, and no reward granted, before judg- 
 ment, and as God is most just, the particular judgment must 
 therefore precede the granting of rewards or punishments. Hence 
 it takes place the very moment that the soul leaves the body. 
 Besides, there is no reason for the delay of this judgment or for 
 deferring the sentence. God being omnipotent, omniscient and 
 most merciful and just, does not require any period of time to 
 examine the cause or to execute the sentence. And on the part 
 of the soul, when once it has passed out of this life it ceases to 
 merit or to demerit. It has reached the end of its way, of the 
 weary journey of life, and were, it to remain a hundred or a 
 thousand years in that other state, it would have no more 
 thoughts, words or actions, that could fall under judgment, or for 
 which it would be either rewarded or punished. 
 
 8. Every one is judged in particular at his death, according 
 to the words : It is appointed for men once to die, and after 
 that the judgment. \ 
 
 Some have pretended that the souls of the departed remain 
 in the deep sleep of death, in a state of utter insensibility till the 
 
 * The Parables illustrating the Second Advent of Christ and the Judgment 
 are :— 1. The ten Virgins (St. Matt. xxv. 1-13.)— 2. The Talents (St. 
 Matt. xxv. 14-30.)— 3. The Pounds (St. Luke xix. 12-27). 
 t Heb. ix. 27. 
 
THE APOSTLES* CREED. 235 
 
 day of resurrection. But this is irreconcilable with the promise 
 of our Saviour to the thief who confessed Him on the Cross, that 
 he should be with Him that day in paradice (St. Luke xxiii. 43.) ; 
 and with the early expressed wish of St. Paul to depart and be 
 with Christ (Phil. 1. 23.) ; and with the universal belief of the 
 ancient Christian writers, which must have been derived from the 
 Apostles. 
 
 Hence we admit a particular judgment of each individual on 
 the separation of the soul from the body. The steward must 
 render an account of his stewardship, when he can be steward 
 no longer : and to such judgment should be referred those pas- 
 sages of Scripture which teach that after death cometh judgment : 
 that we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, and must 
 every one render an account of himself to God. 
 
 We know that this judgment takes place at the moment of 
 death, but our Saviour has never revealed the time of His Second 
 Advent, or the Day of general Judgment. He has only given 
 signs by which we can know when the end of time approaches. 
 
 9. Amongst these signs we may enumerate the following :— - 
 
 (a) There will be a great falling off from the faith : and it 
 
 will be as in the days of Noe. Men will seek for plea- 
 sure and riches. They will not receive the truth which 
 will save them ; God, says St. Paul, will leave them to 
 the spirit of error, that is, through their own fault He 
 will withhold His efficacious graces from them. 
 
 (b) Satan, the father of lies, will be let loose upon the earth : 
 
 and multiply all his wiles and deceits to seduce men 
 and to cause them to sin. 
 
 (c) There will be formed a formidable anti-Christian empire 
 
 composed of men of whom the continental Free- 
 masons are an image. 
 
 (d) At the head of this Empire will be Antichrist, the most 
 
 impious and perverse man that the world has ever 
 seen ; whom St. Paul calls a man of sin, the son of 
 perdition. Aided by diabolical forces he will proceed 
 so far as to make himself pass for God, and to be 
 adored. Those who refuse will be massacred, and the 
 blood of martyrs will again flow in torrents. Satan 
 in appearance will imitate so well the divine power 
 as to seduce if possible even the elect. In the midst 
 of this terrible confusion God will not abandon His 
 faithful people. The heroes and defenders of the faith 
 will perform greater wonders than those of Antichrist. 
 
236 THE CKEED EXPLAINED. 
 
 (e) Enoch and Elias, who have been taken out of this world 
 without dying, will return in those latter days and 
 sustain the Church in the last terrible conflict. The 
 first, representing the primitive religion, the second the 
 Mosaic religion, and both uniting to bear testimony to 
 the divinity of Jesus Christ, Enoch will preach re- 
 pentance to the nations. Elias will bring back the 
 Jews to the true faith. The Conversion of the Jewish 
 people is given by St. Paul as a sign of the end of the 
 world. 
 (/ ) The church will be victorious, and will enjoy her triumph 
 for some time ; the good will live united to Christ, and 
 preparing themselves for His coming ; the wicked will 
 continue to deceive themselves, to indulge their pas- 
 sions, and to give way to a false security. 
 (g) When all of a sudden, as the lightning comes forth from 
 the East, and reaches even to the West, will be seen 
 the Sign of the Son of Man in the heavens. The 
 trumpet of the judgment will sound and be heard from 
 pole to pole ; all the dead, from Adam to the last man, 
 will rise, the bodies of the just glorious and bright as 
 stars, those of the wicked dark and hideous to behold. 
 (h) Then Jesus Christ will appear in the clouds surrounded 
 by all His angels, and preceded by a large brilliant 
 Cross. The just risen from the dead will raise them- 
 selves in the air, and advance to meet Him. They 
 will be separated from the wicked as the sheep from 
 the goats. 
 Then will take place the judgment of the living and the dead, 
 that is, the good and the bad. 
 
 In this judgment the Apostles will be the companions and 
 assistants of our Lord. The Angels and demons will be there as 
 witnesses : the first will receive an increase of joy at the salvation 
 of those men whom they helped to practice virtue : the latter will 
 have their anguish redoubled at the condemnation of those whom 
 they have led into sin. 
 
 When the judgment is over, the Sovereign Judge will pro- 
 nounce sentence in the manner already described, and the exe- 
 cution of the sentence will follow immediately. 
 
 After which this earth will be purified and renovated, and 
 there will be a new heaven and a new earth, in which justice shall 
 dwell. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 237 
 
 AETICLE VIII. 
 
 Apostles' Creed. Ntcene Creed. 
 
 " I believe in the Holy Ghost." " And I believe in the Holy 
 
 Ghost, the Lord and Lifegiver, 
 Who proceedethfrom theFather 
 and the Son, Who together with 
 theFather and the Son is adored 
 and glorified, Who spoke by the 
 Prophets." 
 
 SECTION 1. (Article VIII.) 
 
 1. When this mystery is commemorated. The meaning of the words Penti- 
 cost; Holy Ghost. — 2. The Holy Ghost is a Person and not a mere 
 virtue or power of God. — 3. The objections of the Socinians to the 
 Personality of the Holy Ghost answered. — 4. The Holy Ghost is God 
 and Lord, that is, consubstantial with the Father and the Son.— 
 5. He is the Lifegiver. — 6. The Procession of the Holy Ghost : proofs 
 of the Procession of the Holy Ghost from the Father and the Son. — 
 7. The addition of the Filioque to the Nicene Creed.— 8. The reason 
 why He is called the Third Person. 
 
 1. The Church commemorates the descent of the Holy Ghost 
 on Whit Sunday, the Feast of Penticost, that is, forty days after 
 Easter, and ten days after Our Blessed Bedeemer ascended into 
 heaven. 
 
 The word Holy Ghost is applied to the Third Person of the 
 Blessed Trinity. Holy because He sanctifies or makes holy : 
 Ghost or Spirit from the Anglo-Saxon Gast, which signifies spirit 
 or breath as opposed to body. Hence the expression, our ghostly 
 father, that is, our spiritual father. 
 
 Analysing, or rather dividing, the Article as expressed in the 
 Nicene Creed, we have the following propositions : — 
 
 (a). The Holy Ghost is a Person. 
 
 (b). The Holy Ghost is the Lord, or God. 
 
 [c). He is the Life-giver. 
 
 <d). He proceedeth from the Father and the Sod. 
 
 v e). He spoke by the Prophets. 
 
238 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 Let us examine each of these propositions separately. 
 
 2. The Holy Ghost is a Person and not a mere virtue or 
 perfection of God. 
 
 (a) I will send HIM unto you. (St. John xvi. 7.) 
 
 (b) He is called by our Lord the Comforter, that is, the 
 
 strengthener or supporter. But the Comforter Who is 
 the Holy Ghost. (St. John xiv. 26.) 
 
 (c) He is said to come to men : If I go not away, the Para- 
 
 clete, or Comforter, will not come to you. (St. John 
 xvi. 7.) 
 
 (d) He is said to speak to men, and to bid men do things. 
 
 The Holy Ghost said to them, separate Me Barnabas 
 and Saul for the work whereunto I have taken them. 
 (Acts xiii. 2.) 
 
 (e) He is said to give gifts to men. To one is given by the 
 
 Spirit the word of wisdom, &c. (1 Cor. xii. 8.) 
 
 (/) He is said to intercede for men : For the Spirit Him- 
 self askethfor us with unspeakable groanings. (Rom. 
 viii. 26.) 
 
 (g) He is said to love men : I beseech you therefore, brethren, 
 through our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the charity of 
 the Holy Ghost, that you help me in your prayers for 
 me with God. (Rom. xv. 30.) 
 
 (h) He can be grieved : And grieve not the Holy Spirit, 
 whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption. 
 (Eph. iv. 30.) 
 
 From all these it is evident that Scripture expressions attri- 
 buted Personality to the Holy Ghost. 
 
 3. The Socinians who deny the Personality of the Holy 
 Ghost bring against the doctrine two objections. 
 
 First, they say, that it is ordinary in Scripture to find per- 
 sonal expressions given to things that are not persons ; as, for 
 example, Charity is said to be long-suffering, Charity is kind and 
 humble, &c. These actions are attributed to Charity, because 
 the person who has that virtue is kind and humble, &c. ; and in 
 the same way personal actions are attributed to the Holy Ghost, 
 Who is no Person but a virtue, a power or efficacy of God the 
 Father of our Lord Jesus Christ : because God the Father per- 
 forms those actions by that virtue in Himself which is called the 
 Holy Ghost. 
 
 To this we may answer, that many of the personal actions 
 attributed in Scripture to the Holy Ghost cannot be ascribed to 
 God the Father or to the Son : Thus the Spirit maketh inier- 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 239 
 
 cession. When the Paraclete is come, Whom I will send unto you 
 from the Father. When He the Spirit of truth is come, He will 
 guide you into all truth; for He shall not speak of Himself f but 
 whatsoever He shall hear that shall He speak. Therefore that 
 Person sent by the Father to men, and sent by the Son also, is 
 not a power, but one Who is to speak and teach them all truth ; 
 and by no figure of speech can such personal actions be attributed 
 to a mere virtue or efficacy. 
 
 Secondly, they say that there are attributes or expressions in 
 Scripture of the Holy Ghost which cannot belong to a Person as 
 such ; that the Spirit is given, that it is given sometimes in mea- 
 sure and sometimes without measure, that men drink of it ; that 
 it is doubled and distributed. 
 
 To this we answer, that the Holy Ghost is given by God to 
 those who obey Him, and that a person can be given : e.g., Unto 
 us a Son is given : God so loved the world as to give, or send His 
 only-begotten Son. The other expressions refer to the operations 
 or effects of the Spirit, Who is the cause of them. And since to 
 that Spirit, or the cause, those attributes are given which can 
 agree to nothing but a Person, we conclude, against the Socinians 
 and Jews, that the Holy Ghost is not a quality but a Person. 
 
 4. TheXHoly Ghost is God and Lord, that is, consubstantial 
 with the Father and the Son : and therefore together with the 
 Father and the Son is adored and glorified. 
 
 (a) The Father eternal, the Son eternal, the Holy Ghost 
 
 eternal. (Athan. Creed.) 
 
 (b) He is omniscient, that is, knoweth all things : For the 
 
 Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of 
 
 God So the things also that are of God no man 
 
 knoweth, but the Spirit of God. (1 Cor. ii. 10, 11.) 
 
 (c) He is associated with God in the act of creation. The 
 
 Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 
 
 (Gen. i. 2.) 
 id) To sin against Him is to sin against God. Ananias, in 
 
 lying to the Holy Ghost, is declared to have lied to 
 
 God. (Acts v. 3, 4.) 
 (e) In His name we are baptized : Go ye therefore and teach 
 
 all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father 
 
 and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. (St. Matt. 
 
 xxviii. 19.) 
 (/) He is called God and Lord. (Acts v. 3. et seq.) Thus 
 
 the Angels cried out : Holy, Holy, Holy, the Lord God 
 
 of hosts, all the earth is full of Thy glory. (Isa. vi. 3.) 
 
240 THE CKEED EXPLAINED. 
 
 The Holy, Holy, Holy, signifies the three Persons, 
 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, in one God. Hence the 
 Nicene Creed calls Him the Lord. 
 5. He is also the Life- giver. 
 (a, He gives natural life. (1) He helped in the work of 
 creation. The Spirit of the Lord moved upon the face 
 of the waters. (Gen. 1. 2.) (2) He raises the dead. He 
 that raised up Jesus Christ from the dead shall quicken 
 also your mortal bodies, because of His Spirit that 
 dwelleth in you. (Kom. viii. 11.) 
 (b) He gives spiritual life. (1) Unless a man be bom again 
 of water and the Holy Ghost he cannot enter into the 
 Kingdom of heaven. (St. John iii. 5.) (2) Beceive ye 
 the Holy Ghost ; whose sins you shall forgive they are 
 forgiven, and whose sins you shall retain they are re- 
 tained.* 
 We have already instructed on the plurality and consubs- 
 tantiality of Persons in the Blessed Trinity, when treating on the 
 Mystery of the Holy Trinity in the first Article of the Creed, to 
 which place I refer the reader. 
 
 Here we have to refer to the special doctrine concerning — 
 
 The Procession op the Holy Ghost. 
 
 6. The Greek Schismatics bring two well-known accusations 
 against the Catholic Church, (a) That She teaches that the Holy 
 Ghost proceeds from the Son as well as from the Father, (b) That 
 She ha3 added to the Creed of faith of Constantinople the words 
 Filioque. 
 
 Hence we have to examine two questions which affect the 
 Catholic teaching in regard to the Holy Ghost. 
 
 1st. His Procession from the Son. His Procession from the 
 Father is admitted by all who believe in the Trinity according to 
 the words of St. John : But, the Paraclete, the Holy Ghost, Whom 
 the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, &c. 
 (xiv. 26.) We have therefore only to prove His Procession from 
 the Son against the Greek Schismatics, or rather heretics, for 
 such they are by the very fact of denying the Procession of the 
 Holy Ghost from the Son. 
 
 There are three Scriptural proofs of the Procession of the 
 
 * This summary of proofs, common in every manual, is put down according 
 to the arrangement of Gill's Church Catechism. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 24] 
 
 Holy Ghost from the Son. (a) That He, the Holy Ghost, re- 
 ceives of the Son. (b) That the Son sends Him. (c) That He 
 is called the Spirit of the Son. 
 
 (a) When one of the divine Persons receives of another, He 
 may be said to proceed from that other ; because, in the Divine 
 Persons, one cannot receive from the other except something sub- 
 stantial and by a substantial act, which is no other than Proces- 
 sion. And in the Gospel of St. John it is said. He (the Holy 
 Ghost) shall glorify Me ; because He shall receive of Mine, and 
 shall show it to you.* 
 
 In His prayer to His Father Christ says : All Mine are 
 Thine, and Thine are Mine.\ These words mean that whatever 
 the Father has, that the Son also has, unless where the relative 
 opposition intervenes. The Father has the vis spirandi, or that 
 from which the Holy Ghost proceeds, therefore the Son also has 
 that same power, in as much as no relative opposition exists be- 
 tween that power in the Father and the Son. 
 
 (b) The Son sends the Holy Gho-st : Whom I shall send from 
 the Father. But the Holy Ghost is not sent by the Son as from 
 a superior, by command ; or from a more wise person, by counsel ; 
 therefore He can be said to be sent in no other way but by reason 
 of His procession from the Son. 
 
 (c) In the same manner the Holy Ghost is called the Spirit 
 of the Son, as He is called the Spirit of the Father. And the 
 Spirit of Jesus suffered them not. (Acts. xvi. 7.) Now if any 
 man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of us. (Kom. viii. 9.) 
 And because you are sons ; God hath sent that Spirit of His Son 
 into your hearts. (Gal. iv. 6.) 
 
 Therefore the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Son in the same 
 way that He proceeds from the Father. 
 
 The Procession of the Holy Ghost from the Son was expressly 
 declared and defined in the IV. Council of Lateran, under Inno- 
 cent III. ; the II. Council of Lyons, under Gregory X. ; and also 
 in the Council of Florence. 
 
 The Procession of the Holy Ghost from the Son necessarily 
 follows from the doctrine of the Trinity. One Person could not 
 be consubstantial with another unless he proceeded from Him, as 
 it is by Procession that the relationship exists between the Divine 
 Persons : that is, that by which they are consubstantial with each 
 other, and yet distinct persons. 
 
 Again, if the Holy Ghost did not proceed from the Son, He 
 
 * St. John xvi. 14. t St. John xvii. 10. 
 
 B 
 
24:2 THE CBEED EXPLAINED. 
 
 could not be distinguished from Him ; because the distinction of 
 Persons is founded on relations when relative opposition is estab- 
 lished between them, such as between Paternity and Filiation, 
 Active and Passive Spiration ; and there would be no relative 
 opposition unless one have the relation of principle, or fountain, 
 or that from which Procession originates, to the other. 
 
 The Scotists do not admit this reason, although the Council 
 of Florence uses it against the Greeks. 
 
 We need not enter further into this difficult discussion more 
 than by quoting the definition of faith as given by the Council of 
 Florence : " We define that the Holy Ghost proceeds eternally 
 from the Father and the Son, as from one sole principle, and by 
 one and the same Spiration." (Spiratio.) 
 
 The second accusation brought against the Church by the 
 Greeks is that She added the words Filioque (and horn the Son) to 
 the Creed. 
 
 7. The words Filioque — and from the Son — are not found in 
 the Nicene Creed, though they have been adopted by the Catholic 
 Church. Their use was one of the causes that gave rise to the 
 great schism between the East and the West (a.d. 1053) ; the 
 Eastern or Greek Church refusing to use an expression which had 
 not been sanctioned by a General Council. The Greek Schis- 
 matics still refuse to use the expression and from the Son. 
 
 The Church, rightly and wisely, has added these words to 
 the Creed of Constantinople. She has a perfect right to make an 
 addition of the kind to the Creed whenever she judges it necessary 
 to do so for illustrating a truth of faith, or for vindicating the 
 truth against new errors. She has done this in the Nicene Creed, 
 and in the Creed of Pope Pius IV. And this addition was 
 necessary in order to guard against the false interpretation given 
 by the Greeks to the words Who proceedeth from the Father, as, 
 from the omi-ssion of the word Filioque, they asserted the heresy 
 that the Holy Ghost did not proceed from the Son, which is 
 against faith. Wherefore the Council of Florence declared this 
 addition legitimate in its definition of faith, to which all the 
 Greeks, as well as the Latins, subscribed. " Definimus ajunt 
 Patres explicationem illo-um verborum, Filioque, veritatis declar- 
 an ae gratia, et immenente tunc necessitate licite ac rationabiliter 
 symbolo fuisse appositam." 
 
 " We define that the explanation by the words Filioque, for 
 the sake of declaring the truth, and in the urgent necessity of the 
 time, was wisely and rightly added to the Creed." 
 
 We have proved the Procession of the Holy Ghost from the 
 
THE apostles' cbeed. 248 
 
 Son, and in the words of St. Gregory Nazianzen : Si ila 
 credendum cur non ita dicendum. 
 
 The General Council of Nice had only : I believe in Ike Holy 
 Ghost. The General Council of Constantinople, against Mace- 
 donius, who made the Holy Ghost a created power, added The 
 Lord and Life-giver who proceedeth from the Father. The words 
 Filioque, and from the Son, were afterwards added by the Western 
 Church, and adopted by Greeks and Latins in the definition of 
 the Council of Florence. 
 
 The Holy Ghost is therefore a Person, He is consubstantial 
 with the Father and the Son, and one God with them ; He is a 
 distinet Person from the Father and the Son, and proceeds from 
 them as from one principle. 
 
 8. He is the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity, and it 
 may be well to give a word of explanation of the order first, second, 
 and third, as applied to the three Divine Persons. 
 
 " As there is a number of Persons in the Trinity, by which 
 the Persons are neither more nor less than three, so is there also 
 an order by which, of these Persons, the Father is the first, the 
 Son the second, and the Holy Ghost the third ; an order nod 
 arbitrary but necessary. The Godhead was communicated from 
 the Father to the Son, and not from the Son to the Father, eter- 
 nally icdeed, therefore admitting no priority of time ; yet must 
 there be acknowledged a priority of order, by which the Father, 
 not the Son, is first ; and the Son, not the Father, second. Again 
 the same Godhead was communicated by the Father and the Son 
 to the Holy Ghost ; eternally, therefore admitting no priority of 
 time, yet that of order must be observed, so that the Spirit re- 
 ceiving the Godhead from the Father, the first Person, cannot be 
 the first ; — from the Son, the second, cannot be the second ; 
 therefore must be the third. Both the number and order are 
 signified by the Apostle : There are three that give testimony in 
 heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three 
 are one* And the same number is sufficiently declared, and the 
 order expressly mentioned in the baptismal institution. 
 
 " The Holy Ghost, the third Person, Who proceeds from the 
 Father and the Son, is the most high and eternal God, of the 
 same nature, attributes, and operations with the Father and the 
 Son, as receiving the same essence from the Father and the Son 
 by proceeding from them both."t 
 
 * 1 St. John v. 7. t Analysis of the Creed. Pearson. 
 
244 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 SECTION 2. (Article VIII. 
 THE COMING OF THE HOLY GHOST AND HIS OFFICE. 
 
 1. The Office attributed to the Holy Ghost by the words : Who spoke by the 
 Prophets. — 2. Mission understood as applied to the Divine Persons, — 
 3. The Father or First Person cannot be said to be sent. — 4. The 
 Son and the Holy Ghost are sent (a) By an invisible mission ; (b) By 
 a visible mission. — 5. Pentecost. (a) The injunction given to the 
 Apostles ; (b) The upper room where they awaited the coming of the 
 Holy Ghost ; (c) The names of the Apostles assembled there ; (d) Their 
 manner of preparation ; (e) The significance of the mention of the holy 
 women and Mary the Mother of Jesus. — 6. The description of the 
 descent of the Holy Ghost, (a) The sound from heaven; (b) The 
 parted tongues as it were of fire ; (c) Those who received the gifts of 
 the Holy Ghost ; (d) Divers tongues. — 7. Dr. Lingard's Notes on this 
 Mystery— 8. The Mission of the Holy Ghost in the Church,— 9. The 
 Seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost.— 10. The Twelve Fruits of the Holy 
 Ghost.— 11. The gratiae gratis datae (or graces gratuitously given) of 
 the Holy Ghost. 
 
 1. In the Nicene Creed it is said of the Holy Ghost, as 
 designating His Office : Who spoke by the Prophets. 
 
 Let us understand first, that no prophecy of Scripture is made 
 by private interpretation. For prophecy came not by the will of 
 man at any time; but holy men of God spoke, inspired by the Holy 
 Ghost. 
 
 It may be useful for the purpose of understanding better this 
 lesson to give some explanation of the meaning of the Mission of 
 the Divine Persons : as we are familiar with the expressions, the 
 Internal Mission of the Holy Ghost, and the External (Temporal) 
 Mission of the Holy Ghost.* 
 
 2. Mission as it applies to a divine Person imports on the one 
 side the origin of the Person sent from the Person sending ; and on 
 the other, a new way or manner of existing in something else. 
 And as two of the Divine Persons originate one from another, and 
 begin to exist in a new way in some creature, the term Mission 
 can be applied to them. Hence we have expressions such as the 
 following : As the living Father hath sent me. I am not alone, but 
 I and the Father Who sent me. When the Paraclete shall come, 
 
 * Titles of Cardinal Manning's two books. 
 
THE APOSTLES'CREED. 245 
 
 Whom I shall send from the Father ', the Spirit of truth. And if 1 
 go I shall send Him to you. 
 
 The Mission, or giving, as applied to the Divine Persons is 
 only verified, or applied, in time : because the Mission, or send- 
 ing, implies that the Divine Person is now in that creature 
 to whom he is sent, and is possessed by that creature to whom 
 he is given. And the existence in a new way of a Divine Person 
 in any creature, and His being received and possessed by thaG 
 creature, are always something temporal, or that must take place 
 in time : thus when the plentitude of time came God sent His 
 Son. 
 
 The invisible Mission of a divine Person is explained by 
 sanctifying grace in the soul. It is in this manner, and by this 
 means, that a divine Person exists in a new manner in a creature ; 
 because it is by the effect which he produces in the creature 
 through his operation ; and no effect brings the divine Person in 
 a new manner into the souls of His creatures here on earth, 
 except sanctifying grace. 
 
 3. The Father, or first Person of the Most Holy Trinity, 
 cannot be said to be sent — because Mission in the divine Persons 
 involves procession by origin ; and the Father in no way proceeds, 
 or has His origin, from another ; according to the words of the 
 Creed of St. Athanasius : " The Father is made of no one, neither 
 created, nor begotten. The Son is from the Father alone, not 
 made, nor created, but begotten. The Holy Ghost is from the 
 Father and the Son, not made, nor created, nor begotten, but 
 proceeding." 
 
 4. The Son and the Holy Ghost are sent (a) by an invisible 
 Mission. The Mission of a divine Person, as I have said, signi- 
 fies two things, viz : — a new mode of existence and of dwelling 
 in a creature, and origin from another divine Person. And in the 
 Son and the Holy Ghost we find both these things : their origin, as 
 in the Mystery of the Trinity, and their indwelling in creatures by 
 sanctifying grace, according to the words of St. John : If any one 
 love Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and 
 We will come to him, and luill make Our abode with him.* 
 
 The invisible Mission of the divine Persons takes place in all 
 souls who are participators of grace, and who are living in the 
 state of love and friendship with God. 
 
 (b) The divine Persons are also sent visibly, because it is 
 becoming that the invisible Mission of the divine Persons be made 
 
 St. John xiv. 2a. 
 
246 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 manifest externally to men, for thus they are led by visible signs 
 to acknowledge and to receive the invisible things of God. 
 
 The Incarnation and the mysteries of the life, sufferings, 
 death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, tell us of His earthly 
 and visible Mission to men in order to effect their redemption, and 
 to lead them to their sanctification and salvation. The Holy 
 Ghost also descended in visible forms. This He did at the Bap- 
 tism of Christ in a form of a dove.* In the form of a luminous 
 cloud at the Transfiguration.! And in the form of tongues of 
 fire on the day of Pentecost. J 
 
 Pentecost. The greatest manifestation of the Holy Ghost was 
 given fifty days after the Eesurrection of our Lord ; the day on 
 which the Jews celebrated their Penticost in memory of the 
 promulgation of the Law on Mount Sinai. 
 
 On ascending into heaven Jesus told His disciples not to de- 
 part from Jerusalem, but to expect or await there the promise of 
 the Father; according to the words of St. Luke : And 1 send the 
 'promise of My Father upon you; but stay you in the city till you 
 be endued with power from on high. \\ You shall receive (He said) 
 the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you ; and you shall be 
 witnesses unto Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, 
 and even to the uttermost part of the earth.§ 
 
 (a). The injunction not to depart from Jerusalem is only 
 given by St. Luke. It was important that they should 
 keep together until the Holy Ghost was given. It 
 would thus be made more manifest that, though here- 
 after scattered abroad, their inspiration was supplied 
 from one common source. To the Jews, to whom the 
 Apostles were first to preach, this would appeal, be- 
 cause their own prophet had said : Out of Zion shall 
 go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jeru- 
 salem.** 
 On the day of the Ascension, the Apostles and disciples re- 
 turned to the upper room, in Jerusalem, where they prepared 
 themselves for the coming and reception of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 Then they returned to Jerusalem, from the Mount that is called 
 Olivet, which is nigh Jerusalem, within a Sabbath day's journey. 
 And when they were come in they went up into an upper room, where 
 abode Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, 
 Bartholemew and Matthew, James and Alpheus, and Simon Zelotes, 
 
 • St. Matt. iii. t St. Matt. xvii. + Acts ii. 
 
 U St. Luke xxiv. 49. § Acts i. 8. ** Isa ii. 3. 
 
THE apostles' crtved. 247 
 
 and Jude the brother of James. All these were persevering with one 
 mind in prayer, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, 
 and with His brethren* 
 
 (b) The upper room is probably the same as that mentioned 
 
 by St. Mark (xiv. 15), and St. Luke (xxii. 12), which 
 was used by our Lord and His disciples for the Pass- 
 over feast. The same as that in which He instituted the 
 Blessed Eucharist, and appeared to His Apostles after 
 His Resurrection. It was some large room in Jeru- 
 salem, which could be spared by the owners, and 
 which was let or lent to the followers and disciples of 
 our Saviour. It is related that, when the Emperor 
 Adrian came to Jerusalem, he found the whole city 
 utterly destroyed, and the Temple of God laid waste, 
 excepting a few small houses, and a Church of God, 
 diminutive in size, which was erected, as he (the Em- 
 peror) asserts, on the return of the disciples after the 
 Saviour's Ascension from Mount Olivet, in the district 
 of Zion. We have it also on the authority of Nice- 
 phorus, that St. Helena, the mother of Gonstantine, 
 there raised a magnificent temple, the vestibule of 
 which was on the very site of the house into whose 
 upper room the Holy Ghost descended. 
 It is probable that the eleven Apostles were the tenants of 
 
 that room, to which the disciples resorted for conference and 
 
 communion. 
 
 (c) The names of the Apostles are given, though they had 
 
 been already recorded in the Gospel. f Perhaps 
 
 because it seemed fitting that the names of those who 
 
 are now to be the leaders of the new teaching should 
 
 be recited at the outset, that each one may be 
 
 known to have taken his share in the labours ; and 
 
 also, as all the twelve had fled before the Crucifixion, 
 
 this enumeration of them, as again at their posts, may 
 
 show that there had been in all of them, except Judas, 
 
 only weakness of the flesh, and not unwillingness of 
 
 the Spirit. 
 
 " It may be noticed that, whereas in the list of Apostles given 
 
 in St. Luke's Gospel, the name of Andrew stands second in 
 
 the first group of four, and next after Peter, in this repeated list 
 
 Andrew is placed fourth. History gives no reason for this change ; 
 
 * Acts i. 12-14. f St. Luke vi. 14. 
 
24:8 THE CUBED EXPLAINED. 
 
 but we see in the Gospels, when important events occurred iy 
 Christ's ministry, such as the raising of the daughter of Jairus, 
 the Transfiguration, and the Agony in Gethsemane, that the 
 three disciples chosen to be present with Jesus are Peter, James 
 and John, but not Andrew. Whatever may have been the reason 
 for such an omission, the fact may, in some degree, explain the 
 altered position of Andrew's name in the list of the twelve."* 
 (d). These all continued in prayer with the women, and 
 Mary the Mother of Jesus. Prayer was the most 
 fitting preparation for the gift they were expecting. 
 They prayed with one accord for the descent of the Holy 
 Ghost. For although He was promised, and promised absolutely, 
 nevertheless when God gives a promise, no matter how distinct, 
 no matter how seemingly absolute, it still lies upon us that we 
 should pray for its fulfilment earnestly and continuously, till we 
 receive it. Thus Daniel knew by books that the time was come 
 for the restoration of Israel, but instead of waiting for that re- 
 storation with folded arms, he set his face unto the Lord to seek it 
 by prayer and supplication, with fasting .f 
 
 (e) The women here mentioned were some of those who 
 during the lifetime of Jesus had ministered to Him of 
 their substance, and had been at the Cross, and at 
 His grave. The frequent mention of these and other 
 women in the course of Christ's ministry is a note- 
 worthy feature of the Gospel story, and bespeaks more 
 consideration shown by Him for women than was 
 usual among His nation or with other great teachers. 
 Almost all commentators notice the presence of the women 
 as being one especial mark of the new state of things. In the 
 Temple, God's house of prayer, which was soon to be destroyed, 
 the women prayed apart ; here in the new and better house of 
 prayer they prayed as part of the Church, as on an equality with 
 men. We may notice also the circumstances or conditions that 
 accompanied the prayers of that assembly, because they remind 
 us of the conditions on which God hears our prayers ; namely, 
 unanimity, that is united in charity; perseverance ; and with Mary, 
 the Mother of Jesus. 
 
 Mary, the Mother of Jesus, would naturally remain with 
 St. John, to whose care she had been confided by Jesus at the 
 Crucifixion. This is the last mention made of her in the New 
 Testament, and thus the Scripture leaves her on her knees in 
 
 * Camb. Bible for Schools Acts. In loco. f Dan. ix. 2, 3. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CKEED. 249 
 
 prayer and intercession for us, her children. She is mentioned 
 apart from the other women as having a more deep interest in 
 all that concerns Jesus than the rest had ; and her position, her 
 action and power in the Church, were dt signed by God Himself. 
 The only other remarkable event mentioned in connection 
 with the ten days spent by the Apostles in prayer, awaiting the 
 coming of the Holy Ghost, was the election of the Apostle Mat- 
 thias in the place of Judas Iscariot. 
 
 6. On the tenth day, about 9 o'clock in the morning it is 
 supposed, there came suddenly a sound from heaven, as of a mighty 
 rushing wind coming, and it filled the whole house where they were 
 sitting. And there appeared to them parted tongues as it were of 
 fire, and it sat upon every one of them. And they were all filled 
 with the Holy Ghost, and they began to speak in divers tongues, 
 according as the Holy Ghost gave them to speak* 
 
 This was the Day of Pentecost, which was the second of the 
 three great Jewish feasts. The Passover being the first, and the 
 third the feast of Tabernacles. Penticost is the Greek name of 
 the feast, derived from Pentecostes — fiftieth ; because it was kept 
 on the fiftieth day after the Passover- Sabbath. The counting of 
 the fifty days began from the end of the 16th Nisan, which hap- 
 pened in tha year in which our Lord was crucified on a Saturday ; 
 the fiftieth day from it would fall on a Sunday. This feast was 
 also, as I have said above, the celebration or commemoration of 
 the giving of the Law from Sinai, and so wag peculiarly fitted to 
 be the day of the promulgation of the new and better law of faith 
 and grace. 
 
 When they were all together in one place; that place was 
 not one of the chambers of the Temple, as some have supposed, 
 as they would not be allowed to occupy one of them on account 
 of their connection with Jesus. St. Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem, 
 preaching in Jerusalem, speaks of the Holy Ghost : " Who on the 
 day of Pentecost descended on the Apos. 'es in the form of fiery 
 tongues, here in Jerusalem, in the upper Church of the Apostles." 
 (a) The verb used to express the sound from heaven, announc- 
 ing the coming of the Holy Ghost, is used by St. Peter, 
 of the voice which came from heaven at the Trans- 
 figuration ; also of the gift of prophecy, and the motion 
 of the prophets by the Holy Ghost. It is to be re- 
 membered that there was no violent storm ; in all 
 probability perfect stillness of the air ; and yet there 
 
 * Acts ii. 2 et seq. 
 
250 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 suddenly came an awful sound as of a spirit passing ; 
 the violence of the sound representing the energy, the 
 irresistible force of the Spirit, which, as the hurricane, 
 carries all before it. 
 
 (b) The parted tongues as it were of fire, need not be under- 
 
 stood of real fire. The appearance is not called fire, 
 
 but only compared to fire. The idea conveyed by the 
 
 description is that flame-like tongues were distributing 
 
 themselves throughout the assembly, and the result is 
 
 expressed by what follows : and it sat upon each one 
 
 of them. 
 
 Just as the sound of wind was not occasioned by an actual 
 
 wind, but came from heaven, so these tongues were not any 
 
 natural fire, much less electricity, but a supernatural light, the 
 
 outward and visible sign of the presence of the Spirit, just as was 
 
 the dove upon the'head of our Lord. The intention of the writer 
 
 is to describe something far more persistent than meteoric light, 
 
 or flashes of electricity. The sound which is heard fills the 
 
 house, and the flames rest for some time on the heads of the 
 
 disciples. 
 
 The verse here referred to describes a great miracle, and its 
 simplicity of statement marks it as the record of one who felt that 
 no additional words could make the matter other than one which 
 passed the human understanding. 
 
 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they began 
 to speak with divers tongues as the Holy Ghost gave them to speak. 
 St. Ohrysostom supposes that these all are the hundred and 
 twenty, and not only the twelve Apostles. 
 
 (c) Cornelius a Lapide extends the gifts of the Holy Ghost, 
 
 then bestowed to the hundred and twenty there assem- 
 bled, and especially to our Blessed Lady. This would 
 not make them all Apostles or priests, for it was not 
 then, but before, that the Apostles were ordained 
 priests, and consecrated bishops ; and even by admit- 
 ting that all who were present did then receive the gifts 
 of the Holy Ghost, no argument could be drawn there- 
 from contrary to the Apostolic succession, or the posi- 
 tion assigned by our Lord to His twelve Apostles. 
 The Spirit at Pentecost was not given as the power of 
 order, or of jurisdiction, or of office, but by the diffu- 
 sion of the gifts of the Holy Ghost, especially those 
 gifts known as the graces gratis datae, which are be- 
 stowed primarily for the good of others, and the 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 251 
 
 propagation and confirmation of the faith. These 
 gifts are enumerated by St. Paul in his first epistle to 
 the Corinthians.* However this may be, it seems 
 that it was the Apostles only who spoke in divers 
 tongues, as the people, when they heard the several 
 languages spoken, exclaimed : Are not all these who 
 speak Galileans ? 
 (d). This gift was a power given to them for spreading the 
 Gospel. The Lord had said to the twelve : Go ye 
 and teach all nations. Go ye into the world, and 
 preach the Gospel to every creature. " How were they, 
 ignorant Galileans, the most of them we must suppose 
 in mature life, to learn the languages of the nations? 
 We cannot suppose that such a commission, couched 
 in such general terms, really meant nothing but : 'Go 
 ye to those who speak Syriac and to those who speak 
 Greek,' but unless a miracle was performed it would 
 amount to this. In all probability they only knew 
 sufficient Greek for the purposes of trade or necessary 
 intercourse upon matters which strangers would have 
 in common. But for such a miracle they would have 
 been utterly unable to speak an intelligible word re- 
 specting salvation, or grace, or resurrection, or eternal 
 life, to any poor uneducated Arab or Egyptian, or 
 Mesopotamian or Persian ; i.e., to any man of the bord- 
 ering nations. 
 " Unless there had been some such miracle, sceptics might 
 have, with good reason, drawn attention to the extraordinary 
 anomaly that persons totally without linguistic training or leisure 
 for it, were sent to all nations, as if they knew all languages. "- 
 Thus was fulfilled the promise of our Lord, to send the Para 
 clete or the Comforter. 
 
 I here subjoin Dr. Lingard's Notes on this Mystery. 
 7. " The Comforter. I will ash the Father, and He will give 
 to you another comforter, that He may abide with you for ever, the 
 spirit of truth. I Now the Apostles were not to remain in the 
 world for ever, but only for a few years. Hence we infer that 
 this promise of the Spirit of truth was made not to them only, 
 but also to those who should believe in Him through their word:§ 
 that is, the Church unto the end of time in conformity with the 
 
 * Ch. xii. f Acts of Apostles. Bv M. F. Sadler, in loco. 
 I St. John xiv. 16. § St. John xvii. 20. 
 
252 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 prediction of the prophet Isaias : My spirit that is in thee, and 
 My words that I have put into thy mouth, shall not depart out of 
 thy mouth, nor out of the n ou'h of thy seed, nor out of the mouth 
 of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever." 
 
 li Tongues of fire. The Holy Ghost descended on our Saviour 
 in the form of a dove, a fit emblem of that peace, that recon- 
 ciliation between God and man which Christ was about to ac- 
 complish by His death. The same Holy Spirit descended on the 
 disciples in the visible form of fire, an emblem of that super- 
 natural change which He was about to work in their hearts by 
 the purification of their feelings and aspirations from the dross 
 and feculence of sensual notions and affections. I am come, said 
 our Lord, to send fire upon the earth, and what do I will but that 
 it be kindled. \ He, says the Baptist, shall baptize you with the 
 Holy Ghost and with fire. 
 
 " The chief work attributed to the Holy Ghost is the foun- 
 dation of the Church. 
 
 " Foundation. It was on the feast of Pentecost, immediately 
 after the descend of the Holy Ghost, that the Christian faith was 
 for the first time announced to the world. The Apostles, as long 
 as our Saviour remair (d upon earth, seem to have been incapable 
 of understanding His doctrine : I have yet, He said, many things 
 to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit, when He, 
 the Spirit of truth is come, He shall teach you all truth.\ At the 
 appointed time that Spirit came ; the minds of the Apostles were 
 instantly opened to the knowledge of the truth, and from that 
 moment they acted as the authorized and infallible teachers of 
 religious doctrine. They were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and 
 began to speak with divers tongues, according as the Holy Ghost 
 gave them to speak. 
 
 "Then Peter, being filled with the Holy Ghost, spoke to the 
 people ; and the men who, during three years, had closed their 
 ears to the discourses, their eyes to the miracles of Jesus, were 
 now pricked in their hearts, and said unto Peter and the rest of the 
 Apostles : Men and brethren, what shall we do ? And the same day 
 there were added unto them about three thousand souls. % 
 
 Thus by the Holy Spirit, through the ministry of the Apost- 
 les, was laid the foundation of the Christian Church, first in 
 Jerusalem, and afterwards in the different countries which they 
 visited : And the wall of that city had twelve foundations, and in 
 them the twelve names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb ° 
 
 ♦ Isa. lix 21. f iSt. Luke xii. 40. % St. John xvi. 12. 
 
 § Acta ii. 37-41. ° Apoc. xxi. U, 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 253 
 
 " The preservation of the Church. This follows from the 
 promise of our Saviour already noticed. For if the Spirit of truth 
 is to be with the Church for ever, the consequence of His pre- 
 sence must be to preserve it frcm doctrinal error." 
 
 The Mission of the Holy Ghost in the Church. 
 
 8. Before the coming of Christ, the Holy Ghost spoke by 
 the prophets, and inspired the sacred writings. From the com- 
 mencement of the world He was the life of the society of the 
 children of God. On the day of Pentecost He became the living 
 principle which animates and directs the Church which Christ 
 came to found. He was with that Church in the beginning by 
 revelation, or the manifestation of things unknown or future ; by 
 inspiration, moving the Sacred writers to write, and telling them 
 what to write, and saving them from error in the act of writing ; 
 and all along He remains with her by His special assistance, by 
 which she is infallible in her teaching in all matters of faith and 
 morals, And He remains with her for ever, according to the 
 promise of our Saviour, to keep her invincible in the midst of her 
 enemies, and fruitful in good works and in saints. 
 
 The Holy Ghost also works in the life of each particular 
 soul as in the life of the Christian Community. Hence He is 
 called the Spirit that vivifies. He lives in the souls of the just, 
 and vivifies by His grace. 
 
 With sanctifying grace the Holy Ghost communicates His 
 gifts so that souls may more easily, and more perfectly, act accord- 
 ing to His movements and inspirations. 
 
 9. The gifts of the Holy Ghost are seven : Wisdom, Under- 
 standing, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety ', and the Fear of the 
 Lord according to the words of the Prophet Isaias. The spirit of 
 wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and fortitude, the 
 spirit of knowledge and of Godliness. And he shall be filled with 
 the spirit of the fear of the Lord* 
 
 Wisdom. To choose the one thing needful ; that is to love 
 the things of God, such as prayer, the Word of the Lord, and the 
 Sacraments. 
 
 Understanding. To know how to attain the one thing need- 
 ful. It is a gift which manifests to us, with clearness, the secret 
 mysteries of religion, as far as our souls are capable of receiving 
 it. 
 
 Counsel. The habit of seeking guidance fiom God. It is also 
 
 * Isa. xi. 23. 
 
254 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 a gift which makes us know what we should do, or avoid, especi- 
 ally in cases of doubt and difficulty. 
 
 Fortitude. Which means strength to follow where He, the 
 Spirit, shall lead us. It is a gift which enables us to gain the 
 victory over ourselves, the devil, and the world, and to triumph 
 over all evil. 
 
 Knowledge. That we may learn to know God : this gift 
 teaches us to judge rightly of all things, and delivers us from illu- 
 sions and prejudices dangerous to our salvation. 
 
 Piety. That knowing God we may become like Him. It is 
 a gift that makes us love God with a filial affection, and inspires 
 us with sentiments of affection towards those who are near to 
 God, His Angels, and Saints, and the poor, who are specially 
 dear to God. 
 
 The fear of the Lord ; meaning reverence and adoration. 
 This is a gift that inspires a horror for sin, because it offends God, 
 and renders us amenable to the punishment of divine justice. The 
 beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. 
 
 These seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are symbolized by the 
 seven lamps of the golden candlesticks, seen by Zacharias.* 
 And the seven lamps of fire, burning before the throne (which are 
 the seven spirits of God) seen by St. John.f 
 
 10. The seven gifts produce in the souls of the just twelve 
 principle fruits, which St. Paul enumerates as the fruits of the 
 Holy Spirit ; namely, Charity, Joy, Peace, Patience, Benignity, 
 Goodness, Longanimity, Faith, Mildness, Modesty, Continency and 
 Chastity. I These precious fruits are virtues and graces which 
 the Divine Spirit causes to spring up in our hearts. 
 
 " Longanimity means long-suffering for Christ's sake, or a 
 disposition to endure long under trials and difficulties. Benignity 
 means the goodness of heart which disposes us to relieve the 
 wants of others, and to bear with, and compassionate their weak- 
 nesses ; and continency means the restraint which a person im- 
 poses upon his desires and passions. According to St. Anselm, 
 continency is in struggling — in combat, chastity in peace . . . con- 
 tinency is chastity militant, and exercised by temptation." § 
 
 Besides these seven interior gifts, common to the souls of the 
 just, there are seven other gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are 
 called gratis datae — gratuitously given. These are only commu- 
 nicated to a small number of persons, in exceptional cases, and 
 for the sanctification of others. 
 
 * Zac. iv. 2. t Apoc. iv. 5. J Gal. v. 22, 2& 
 
 § Companion to the Catechism. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CEEED. 255 
 
 11. These are the gifts of Prophecy, of Miracles, of Healing, 
 of Banishing Devils, the gift of Tongues, and of Tears, according to 
 the words of St. Paul : And the manifestation of the Spirit is given 
 to every man unto profit. To one indeed, by the Spirit, is given the 
 word of wisdom ; and to another the word of knowledge according 
 to the same Spirit ; to another faith, in the same Spirit ; to another 
 the grace of healing in one Spirit ; to another the working of miracles; 
 to another prophecy ; to another the discerning of spirits ; to another 
 diverse kinds of tongues ; to another the interpretation of speeches. 
 But all these things one and the same Spirit worketh, dividing to 
 every one according as He will,* 
 
 * 1 Cor. xii. 7, et seq. 
 
256 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 ARTICLE IX. 
 
 Apostles' Creed. Nicene Creed. 
 
 " The Holy Catholic Church, " And (I believe) One, Holy, 
 the Communion of Saints." Catholic and Apostolic Church." 
 
 Chapter I. 
 
 SECTION 1. (Article IX.) 
 
 THE INSTITUTION OR ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 1, The meaning of the word Church : and what is included in its general 
 meaning. — 2. The Church militant defined. — 3. The institution of 
 the Church and its first Apostles, with St. Peter at their head. — 
 4. The Church to last for all time. — 5. The Church teaching (docens) 
 and the Church believing (credem or discern). — 6. Christ instituted or 
 founded the Church.— 7. The Church compared to a human being 
 with body and soul. — 8. The Church considered as to its soul. — Who 
 are in the soul of the Church ? — 9. The Church considered as to its 
 body, and who are they that belong to the body of the Church, The 
 question as to (a) Occult heretics ; (b) Infants and those not baptized ; 
 (c) Catechumens ; (d) Apostates ; (e) The children of heretics ; (/) Those 
 excommunicated. — 10. The Church a necessary society. — 11. The 
 meaning of the proposition : "Out of the Church there is no salvation," 
 and its truth. — 12. The distinction between fundamental and non- 
 fundamental Articles of Faith cannot be admitted in the Protestant 
 
 1. Our Lord Jesus Christ has founded on earth a universal 
 Society which is called His Church. The Greek word EKxA^sia, 
 used by the Apostles, signified a calling forth in its origin, and by 
 usage came to signify a congregation of men or a company as- 
 sembled. Our English word Church is derived from the Greek 
 Kvpcos = Lord, Oi/aa = house. The Lord's house, and may be 
 applied to the building or the congregation. The meaning of the 
 word is that given in the Catechism : namely, " the union of the 
 faithful under one head." 
 
 According to this definition it embraces the saints in heaven, 
 the souls in purgatory, and the faithful upon earth ; and on this 
 account, and according to this general acceptation of the word, 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 257 
 
 we Lave the Church in its threefold states, i.e., Triumphant in 
 heaven, Suffering in purgatory, and Militant upon earth. 
 
 It is of the Church in this last state or condition that we 
 now treat : that is the Church of the faithful on earth. 
 
 2. This Church may be defined : " The congregation of all 
 the faithful, who, being baptized, profess the same faith, partake 
 of the same sacraments, and are governed by their lawful pastors, 
 under one visible head on earth."* Or, in fewer words, the true 
 Church is " the congregation of the faithful who profess the true 
 faith and acknowledge the authority of the Pope." 
 
 3. Christ founded or instituted the Church. Before leaving 
 this world He appointed over His flock visible heads, who should 
 be their doctors, their pontiffs, and their legislators. Their doc- 
 tors to teach and instruct them ; their pontiffs as intermediaries 
 between them and God, through whom, as instruments, the sacra- 
 ments were to be administered, and the life of grace communi- 
 cated ; legislators, to direct them by laws to their eternal destiny. 
 
 The first chiefs or heads of the Church were the Apostles. 
 Jesus Christ gave them power to teach as doctors : Go, teach all 
 nations, that they may learn and guard all that I have commanded. 
 He gave them the power to sanctify souls as pontiffs : Baptize 
 all nations ; whose sins you shall forgive they are forgiven. He gave 
 them the power to make laws as legislators : Whatsoever you shall 
 bind upon earth shall be bound also in heaven. To bind here must 
 be understood to oblige by a law to do or to omit something. 
 
 To the end that He might give to His Church the unity of 
 monarchy, Jesus Christ placed at the head of the Apostles one of 
 themselves, Simon, son of Jona, and to him He gave the new 
 name of Peter. He made him the visible head of the whole 
 Church, and conferred on him the supreme power to teach and 
 to govern. 
 
 This is the import of the words addressed by our Lord to St. 
 Peter. Thou art Peter, and upon thh rock I will build my Church : 
 To thee will I give the keys of the kingdom of heaven ; whatsoever 
 thou shalt bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven ; and what- 
 soever thou shalt loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven ; 
 confirm thy brethren (in the truth). Feed my lambs, feed my sheep 
 (that is to say the faithful and their pastors). 
 
 4 As the Church of Jesus Christ was instituted to subsist 
 ior all time, the doctrinal and legislative power conferred on St. 
 Peter and the Apostles was not to die or expire with them, because 
 
 * Maynooth Catechism. 
 
258 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 it was not for them but for the Church that Christ instituted it, 
 It must therefore reside in their successors. 
 
 Now the successors of St. Peter are the Eoman Pontiffs, and 
 the successors of the Apostles are the bishops appointed by the 
 Supreme Head of the Church, over different provinces or dioceses. 
 The successor of St. Peter, namely the Euman Pontiff, or the 
 Pope, possesses ecclesiastical authority, principally and absolutely; 
 and the bishops, the successors of the Apostles, possess it in con- 
 junction with, and depend ance on the Pope. 
 
 5. The Church, as embracing the Eoman Pontiff, and the 
 bishops, represents ecclesiastical authority, or the Church teach- 
 ing ; but it embraces also the simple priests and the body of the 
 faithful, that is the Christian society which is subject to the 
 bishops, and above all, to the Pope, who is the vicar of Christ on 
 earth. 
 
 Hence we have the distinction between the Church teaching 
 (docens) and the Church (discens or credens), learning or believing. 
 The former is constituted by the Pastors, with the Eoman Pontiff 
 at their head ; the latter is made up of all the faithful who live 
 under the authority of their lawful Pastors. 
 
 6. Christ instituted, or founded, a Church of the kind here 
 denned and explained. Thi3 proposition may be proved from the 
 Scripture as shown in the following texts : 
 
 Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, 
 and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it* And the same 
 Evangelist, St. Matthew, speaking of fraternal correction, says : 
 And if he (thy brother) will not hear them, tell the Church. And 
 if he will not hear the Church, let him be to thee as the heathen and 
 the publican.^ 
 
 The same is proved from the words of St. John's Gospel, 
 where Christ speaks of Himself as the Good Shepherd, and ex- 
 presses His will that there may be onefold and one shepherd.\ 
 
 It is also proved by tradition ; for in all the Creeds of faith 
 we have the words : I believe in the Holy Catholic Church ; and 
 the very existence in every age of that Church, which takes its 
 name from Christ, is a proof of its divine origin. 
 
 It is also clear to reason that a Church was required for the 
 preservation of the Christian religion, and the salvation of the 
 faithful. He who wishes the end must wish the means necessary 
 for obtaining that end. Christ certainly wished that His, the 
 Christian religion, should always be preserved, or last in the world, 
 
 * St, Mutt. xvi. 18. fSt. Matt, xviii. 17. J St. John x. 16. 
 
THE APOSTLES* CREED. 259 
 
 and that the faithful should have the means of salvation. And 
 the end for which He founded the Church was for the conserva- 
 tion of the Christian religion, and the salvation of men. 
 What kind of Church did Christ institute ? 
 
 7. Christ instituted His Church after the model of a human 
 individual, as He wished it to be a society, and as it were, amoral 
 person. And as a human being is made up of body and soul, so 
 the Church is made up of body and soul. 
 
 This division of the Church into body and soul is very ancient, 
 most useful and necessary, in order to discern who belong to the 
 Church, and of those who belong to her, to know whether they 
 are in the body only, or in the soul of the Church. 
 
 The Church considered as to its Soul. 
 
 8. Sanctifying grace, faith, hope, and charity, with the 
 gifts annexed to them, are those things which constitute, or place 
 us, in the soul of the Church. 
 
 The Church, considered as to its soul, may be defined : "the 
 society of those who are called to the faith of Christ, and who are 
 united to Christ by supernatural gifts and graces." According to 
 this, strictly speaking, all and only the just belong to the soul of 
 the Church, those, namely, who are endowed with sanctifying 
 grace. Since, however, faith is the foundation of all justification, 
 sinners who retain faith may be said to belong in a certain sense, 
 and in an imperfect way, to the soul of the Church. Inasmuch 
 as they still retain faith and hope, they have in their souls the 
 seeds of the supernatural life, by which, through God's assistance, 
 they recover the grace and charity which they have lost. 
 
 From this it follows : — (a) That not all the elect, or predes- 
 tined, are actually in the soul of the Church ; for it may be that 
 many of the elect are at the present moment without grace, and 
 even without the gift of faith, as was St. Paul before his conver- 
 sion, (b) That not all who are in the soul of the Church are elect 
 or predestined, because many of those who are now just may 
 become sinners ; and many who are now heretics and sinners, 
 were once faithful and just, (c) That those belong to the soul of 
 the Church, who, although outside her body, are nevertheless 
 adorned with those graces by which they are made just and 
 acceptable in the sight of God : as for example, Catechumens who 
 are inflamed by the charity of God ; also material heretics and 
 schismatics, who are in invincible ignorance, and who are other- 
 
260 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 wise obedient to the law of God, and possess their souls in grace 
 and charity. 
 
 The Church as to the Body. 
 
 9. The Church, as to its body, is the society of those who 
 profess the true faith of Christ ; whether they be just or sinners. 
 The true Church of Christ, as to its body therefore, may be de- 
 fined : "The society of the baptized united in 1he profession of 
 the same Christian faith, in the participation of the same Sacra- 
 ments, under the one head Jesus Christ, and His vicar upon 
 earth." 
 
 (a) All and ouly those belong to the body of the Church 
 
 who are admitted into it by Baptism, and who have 
 not been separated from it by heresy or schism or 
 excommunication : all those, and only those, are to 
 be considered members of the Church's body, who are 
 not infidels, (that is, unbaptized), catechumens, public 
 heretics, schismatics or excommunicated. 
 
 (b) The question as to whether occult heretics may be said 
 
 to belong to the body of the Church is disputed among 
 Theologians. 
 
 Heretics are those who fall away from the faith by denying 
 some Catholic dogma, and pertinaciously adhere to a perverse 
 opinion. They are either public or occult, external, or internal 
 only. Schismatics are those who separate themselves from 
 Catholic Unity and obedience to the Holy See. 
 
 The question in dispute concerns occult heretics and not 
 merely internal heretics : Some deny that these belong to the 
 body of the Church. (1) Because the Church is the society or 
 congregation of the faithful, and occult heretics cannot be said 
 to be amongst the faithful. (2) The Church is a body having not 
 only external union but internal union of its members amongst 
 themselves and with the head; but occult heretics cannot be 
 said to have any internal union either amongst themselves or with 
 the head of the Church, which is Christ Jesus ; for faith is the 
 first bond of union, and the foundation of all external as well as 
 internal union. 
 
 To make this matter clearer, let it be understood that by the 
 Church, as to its body, is meant a society of Christian men who 
 are united by the profession of the same faith, and the participa- 
 tion of the same Sacraments under legitimate Pastors, whose 
 Primate in honour and jurisdiction is the Roman Pontiff. The 
 body or visible part of the Church is made up of these. Hence 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 261 
 
 it follows — (1) That infidels, or non-baptized persons, are not in, 
 or do not belong to, the body of the Church, because they have not 
 the character of Baptism, that Sacrament which is called by the 
 Council of Trent — the Janua Eccleciae, or door of the Church* 
 (c). Catechumens do not belong to the body of the Church, 
 but they may be said to belong to the soul, inasmuch 
 as they have the desire of Baptism — Baptismus in voto, 
 and at the same time possess the Theological virtues 
 of faith, hope and charity. 
 (d). Apostates, whether heretics or schismatics, when they 
 are public, are certainly cut off, or cut themselves off, 
 from the body of the Church. When they are occult, 
 then the question is the same as occult heretics, dis- 
 puted ; although many grave authors hold that they 
 do not belong to the body of the Church for the 
 reasons given above, many others hold that they do ; 
 and that occult heretics not only internal, but also 
 external, are members of the Church, although dead 
 members. Others again, whilst admitting that in- 
 ternal heretics are members of the body of the Church, 
 deny it of all external heretics. We may say in con- 
 clusion, and in reconciliation of all the various 
 opinions — (1) It is certain that occult heretics do not 
 belong to the soul of the Church, for they have lost 
 their faith. (2) They do not belong to the body of 
 the Church in the same way as the faithful, even 
 though thev be sinners : and in regard to those occult 
 heretics who are regarded oy all as faithful Catholics, 
 we can say that they belong to the Church by external 
 appearance only. 
 (e). The children of heretics, that is of parents who belong 
 to an heretical sect, are members of the Church if they 
 are validly baptized, and they remain such, at least 
 until they come to the use of reason, but after they 
 reach the age in which they become capable of the 
 sin of heresy and schism, and if they remain in in- 
 vincible ignorance, and are only material heretics or 
 schismatics, it is doubtful whether they have to be 
 considered members of the Church or not. 
 (f). As to the question of those who are excommunicated, 
 it is not certain whether they are entirely cut off from 
 
 ♦ Trid. Sess. 14. c. 2. 
 
262 THE CJREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 the Church so as not to be numbered as her members. 
 It is certain that the Church has the power of expel- 
 ling from her communion not only heretics and schis- 
 matics, but also other great sinners, but whether it is 
 her intention to cut off entirely those who are ex- 
 communicated is doubtful. 
 It is more probable that the excommunicated, who are what 
 are called tolerated, and not to be avoided, remain members of the 
 Church. In the case of the non- tolerated, and those to be avoided, 
 the words, or terms, in which the sentence of excommunication is 
 inflicted, have to be examined, and the case has to be judged 
 according to the sentence, whether it be or be not a total separa- 
 tion of communion with the body of the Church. 
 
 We have now a second proposition as to the constitution or 
 foundation of the Church to explain, namely : — 
 
 10. Christ instituted His Church as a necessary Society. 
 This means that all are bound to belong to the Church and to 
 enter her fold. 
 
 This is proved clearly from the following texts of Holy Scrip- 
 ture : — 
 
 (a) In St. Matthew and St. Luke the kingdom of heaven, 
 
 that is the Church, is compared to a King who made 
 a marriage feast for his son ; and when those who were 
 invited were unwilling to come, the master of the 
 house, being angry, said that none of those men that 
 were invited shall taste of my supper.* 
 
 (b) And he said to them (the Apostles) go ye into the whole 
 
 ivorld, and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that 
 believeth and is baptized shall be saved ; but he that 
 believeth not shall be condemned^ 
 
 (c) And if he will not hear the Church, let him be to thee as 
 
 the heathen and the publican. J 
 The reason of all this is that the Church is one with Christ. 
 She is His spouse, His mystical body as St. Paul tells us. It is 
 through her that He is always visible, always speaking, and 
 always acting in the world. It is through her that He continues 
 to instruct men, that He causes them to live a life of grace, and 
 leads them to their eternal happiness. He has founded her, that 
 through her He may apply to mankind the fruits of His Kedemp- 
 tion to the end of time. 
 
 11. Hence it follows that the following proposition is true. 
 
 * St. Matt. xxii. St. Luke xiv. t St. Mark xvi. 15. { St. Matt, xviii. 17, 
 
THE APOSTLES* CREED. 263 
 
 Out of the Church there is no salvation. " No one,'* says St. 
 Augustine, il can be saved who has not Christ for his head, and 
 no one can have Christ for his head who does not belong to His 
 body, which is the Church." 
 
 The sense of the proposition is that no one who through his 
 own fault dies out of the Church will obtain salvation. The words 
 through his own fault must be here inserted, because no adult, 
 especially of those who have received baptism,will be deprived oi 
 salvation except through hisown fault. Who will deny the pro- 
 position as thus understood ? It says no more than this : those 
 who die in mortal sin will not obtain salvation ; for those who 
 through their own fault die out of the Church, die in a state of 
 mortal sin, and those who die in that state will certainly eternally 
 perish. 
 
 The inspired writings exclude from salvation those who refuse 
 to receive the true Christian doctrine, and to enter the Church. 
 It is in this sense St. Paul speaks when he says : And though we, 
 or an angel from heaven, preach a Gospel to you, besides that which 
 we have preached to you, let him be anathema. If anyone preach to 
 you a Gospel besides that which you have received, let him be 
 anathema* And again in his epistle to Titus he says : A man 
 that is a heretic after the first and second admonition, avoid. Know- 
 ing that he, that is such a one, is subverted, and sinneth, being con- 
 demned by his own judgment. } 
 
 It is clear also from the 10th chapter of the Gospel of St. 
 John, where our Saviour speaks of himself as the Good Shepherd, 
 that the fold which He rules and directs is one in the sense that 
 all the sheep or pastors who belong to it hear His voice, follow it 
 and fly from the voice of the hireling ; and those who hear not 
 the Church, hear not the voice of its Chief Pastor, neither do they 
 follow it and turn away from the voice of the hireling. He says : 
 I am the good Shepherd ; and I know mine and mine know me, 
 
 And other sheep I have that are not of this fold ; these also 
 
 I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one 
 fold and one shepherd. J 
 
 Let no one regard this as a hard and intolerant doctrine. 
 God wishes the salvation of all men. The ordinary means which 
 He has established for their salvation is the Church. He com- 
 mands them to hear the Church, which is the chief work of His 
 power, His wisdom, and His love, for mankind. It is therefore 
 just that those who voluntarily, and through their own fault, 
 
 * Gal. i. 9. 1 1 Titus iii. 10, 11. % St. John x. 14, 16. 
 
264 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 refuse to hear the Church, should be excluded from the inheritance 
 of the children of God. 
 
 12. In connection with this doctrine we have to bear in 
 mind that the distinction between fundamental and non-funda- 
 mental Articles of faith cannot be admitted in the Protestant 
 sense. According to that teaching it would follow that there are 
 many dogmas of religious doctrine revealed or inspired by God, 
 which can be denied without daugar to salvation ; and there are 
 others so necessary that no one is allowed to be ignorant of them, 
 much less to reject them without risking his eternal salvation. 
 
 It is however repugnant to religion, and insulting to the di- 
 vine authority, to admit such a distinction between the Articles of 
 faith which belong to the same divine revelation or inspiration. 
 Hence the doctors of the Church teach that any one who denies 
 one Article of faith cannot have divine faith in any of the others ; 
 because when the formal object or motive of faith ceases, faith 
 itself vanishes. And he who denies one Article of faith loses the 
 formal object or motive of faith, which is the authority of God 
 and His veracity. If he disbelieves that authority in one, he can- 
 not retain it as the sole motive of his faith in other dogmas ; for 
 the one he denies, as well as those he holds, rests on the same 
 authority ; namely, that it is inspired by God, and proposed by 
 the Church as His revealed word. If the formal object or motive 
 of faith ceases, the faith itself ceases, as no virtue can be without 
 its formal object. 
 
 In regard to this distinction of Articles fundamental and 
 non-fundamental in the sense of Protestants it may be added : — 
 (a) That such a system can nowhere be found, and has no autho- 
 rity in the Sacred Scriptures, which Protestants regard as the one 
 and only rule of faith, (b) They do not agree, and they will never 
 be able to agree amongst themselves as to which Articles are fun- 
 damental, and which are not. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 265 
 
 SECTION 2. (Article IX.) 
 
 THE VISIBILITY OF THE CHUECH AND HER PERPETUITY. 
 
 1 Visibility in itself, and as applied to a society in its material and formal 
 sense. — 2. What we are to understand by the visibility of the 
 Church. — 3. The visibility of the Church proved from Scripture. — 
 
 4. Protestant theories in regard to the visibility of the Church. — 
 
 5. The Church's perpetuity : its meaning and truth. 
 
 There are two properties that belong essentially to the 
 Church, and follow from her very constitution, that it may be well 
 to refer to before treating of the Notes of the Church : that is, 
 the visibility and the perpetuity of the Church. 
 
 Visibility may be either material or formal. 
 
 1. Material visibility is that which we see in a thing, when 
 we attend only to its corporeal aspect. In this sense a man, as 
 to his body, is visible. 
 
 Formal visibility is when the external signs, or that which is 
 seen by the eye, conveys to the mind the invisible or interior 
 qualities of a thing. Thus man regarded as a rational animal is 
 an example of what is meant by formal visibility. 
 
 A Society is said to be visible in a material sense, when it is 
 made up of men assembled together in a congregation, without 
 attending to the object or ends that binds them together in one 
 body. They may be either Theologians, or Philosophers, or 
 Mathematicians, or members of any other body, but the material 
 visibility does not tell us what they are, but simply regards them 
 as men gathered together. The formal visibility of a society is 
 that by which we regard it, not merely as an assembly of men, 
 but an assembly of men united together for some specific object ; 
 thus we have a military society, lawyers' society, clerical 
 society, &c. 
 
 2. When we speak of the visibility of the Church, we have 
 to understand that it is not only visible in the material sense, 
 that is, a society of men who are visible to their fellow-creatures, 
 but in a formal sense, that is. that she can be seen as the society 
 
266 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 of the faithful, and that she manifests conspicuously the characters 
 of her divinity. 
 
 The question therefore to which we have to attend regards 
 not only the material visibility of the Church, but the formal visi- 
 bility, that is, her visibility as the true Church of Christ. 
 
 The Church is visible in this two-fold sense. Her material 
 visibility is self-evident, because she is composed of men here on 
 earth. Speaking of her formal visibility we say, a society, that it 
 may be visible, should manifest or show such signs or properties 
 as that it may be known to be that particular and individual 
 society, and distinct from all others : ex. gr. : The societies of 
 doctors, of soldiers, of lawyers, are not formally visible unless they 
 show distinct and visible signs, as do the armies of different 
 countries, of France, Spain, and England for example. Thus in 
 the matter of the Church ; if one Church should manifest itself 
 to the world by such signs that she may be discerned, not only 
 as some Christian Church, but as a singular and individual Church, 
 absolutely distinct from all others, then it is understood as this 
 individual and particular Church which all can know and see if 
 they wish. If there be any notes or marks which prove the 
 Church to which they belong to be not only some Christian 
 Church, but the one true Church of Christ, then such a Church 
 informally visible, inasmuch as she can be discerned from all 
 others as the one true, Christian Church. 
 
 3. That the Church is visible in this sense may be proved 
 from the following texts of Holy Scripture. 
 
 (a) Our Saviour, in His sermon on the Mount, speaking to 
 
 His Apostles, said : You are the light of the world. A 
 city seated on a mountain cannot be hid.* Therefore 
 that Church which He was to found was not to be less 
 conspicuous than a city on the top of a mountain, and 
 therefore no less visible. 
 
 (b) Christ teaching that incorrigible sinners should be de- 
 
 nounced to the Church, says : But if thy brother shall 
 offend against thee, go, and rebuke him between thee and 
 
 him alone and if he will not hear them, tell the 
 
 Church. And if he will not hear the Church, let him be 
 to thee as the heathen and the publicanA That tribunal 
 should be visible before which delinquents are to be 
 accused, and which is to pronounce a definite sentence 
 upon their conduct. 
 
 * St. Matt. v. 14. f St. Matt, xviii. 15. et seq. 
 
THE apostles' ceeed. 267 
 
 (c) St. Paul, in his first epistle to the Corinthians, writes : 
 
 For I think that God hath set forth us Apostles ; the 
 
 last, as it were, men appointed to death ; we are made 
 
 a spectacle to the world, and to Angels, and to men* 
 
 We must therefore confess that Church as visible of which 
 
 the Son of God said : tell the Church, and the Apostles wrote : 
 
 we are made a spectacle, &c. How could that be called a spectacle 
 
 which cannot be seen ? That opinion, therefore, which would deny 
 
 the visibility of the Church contradicts not only the Scripture, but 
 
 denies all the testimony of antiquity, destroys all judgment, and 
 
 would only introduce unceasing anarchy and confusion. 
 
 From the above doctrine and arguments we may conclude 
 how false and erroneous are all the Protestant theories concerning 
 the visibility of the Church. 
 
 4. These theories may be reduced to the following three : — 
 
 (a) The opinion of those who affirm that the Church is en- 
 
 tirely and essentially invisible. 
 
 (b) The opinion of those who pretend that there is a double 
 
 Church, one visible and the other invisible. 
 
 (c) The opinion of some others, who admit that the Church, 
 
 by its divine ordination was visible, but not so essen- 
 tially and indefectibly as to prevent it, in course of 
 time, from becoming obscure, and finally so obscure 
 as to be almost invisible. 
 
 5. To the visibility may be united the perpetuity of the 
 Church. On this point I shall only say a few words here, as I 
 shall have to advert to it again when treating of the indefectibility 
 of the Church. 
 
 The visible Church of Christ is perpetual, or to last till the 
 end of time. This may be proved in the first place from the 
 Apostles' Creed, which Christians will continue to say to the end 
 of the world. I believe in the Holy Catholic Church. This pro- 
 fession of faith will never be false, and a time will never come 
 when men can cease to believe in it. 
 
 It is of the Church of Christ the prophet Isaias speaks when 
 he says : And in the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord 
 shall be prepared on the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted 
 above the hills, and all nations shall flow into it.t St. Jerome un- 
 derstands these words of the Church of Christ. 
 
 The perpetuity of the Church may be proved also from the 
 promises which Christ made to her. Behold 1 am with you all 
 
 * 1 Cor. iv. 9. t Isa. ii. 2. 
 
268 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 days, even to the consummation of the world. Where one or two are 
 gathered together in My name, there am I in their midst. And from 
 the commission given to the Apostles : Go and teach all nations. 
 
 It follows also from the fact that the Church is founded as a 
 necessary society, out of which there is no salvation, in the sense 
 above explained. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 269 
 
 SECTION III. (Article IX.). 
 
 THE NOTES OR MARKS OF THE TRUE CHURCH. 
 
 1. The meaning of a Note or Mark of the Church, and its conditions. — 2. 
 The true Church of Christ must have some Notes or Marks. — 3. The 
 four Notes of the Church — Unity, Sanctity, Catholicity, and Apostolicity, 
 — 4. These four have the conditions required for a true Note of the 
 Church — 5. Unity, a true Note of the Church, and the reasons why 
 the Church must be one, and the sense in which she is one. — 6. Sanc- 
 tity, a true Note of the Church, and the sense in which the Church is 
 holy. — 7. Catholicity as a Note of the Church (a) as to place, (b) as to 
 time, (c) as to doctrine. — 8. Apostolicity as a Note of the Church. — 9. 
 These four Notes flow from the original constitution of the Church, 
 and each has the characters of a true and distinctive sign.— 10. Posi- 
 tive and Negative Notes — their meaning. — 11. The manner in which the 
 Notes of the Church are applied as negative and positive. — 12. Neither 
 the preaching of the pure Word of God, or tbe administration of the Sacra- 
 ments, can be called a Note of the Church. 
 
 1. A Note, or Mark, of the Church, may be denned as an 
 external maDifestation of an invisible property, divinely implanted 
 in the Church. A note in general of anything is that which can 
 lead us to the knowledge of that thing. 
 
 That something may be regarded as a Note of the Church, 
 two conditions are required. 
 
 (a) It ought to adhere in such a way to the Church that it 
 
 cannot be taken from it ; or that she cannot lose it, 
 that is, it should belong to her very nature and con- 
 stitution, and be planted in her by Christ. 
 
 (b) It should possess all the qualities of a true sign. As to 
 
 the first condition ; namely, it should belong to the 
 original and essential constitution of the Church, and 
 flow from her very nature ; because it should designate 
 th^ true Church, and if it is other than a property 
 f ow ng from, and essentially belonging to the very 
 natu e of the Church, it would not point to the true 
 Cbu ch but to some other. It would be just as apt to 
 point to a false Church as to the true. Hence this 
 condition is absolutely required for a Note of the 
 Church. 
 
270 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 As to the second condition ; namely, a Note should have all 
 the qualities of a distinctive sign. A sign is that which leads us 
 to the knowledge of something else, as in the Sacraments. And 
 the reason why a Note of the Church should have all the qualities 
 of a distinctive sign is, because notes which have not these quali- 
 ties, or characters, are common, and if common they cannot 
 distinguish one society from another ; therefore the Notes of the 
 Church, because they are to distinguish the true Church from all 
 others, should possess the qualities, or characters, of a distinctive 
 sign. 
 
 The Notes of the Church must therefore be (a) more known 
 than the thing signified, (b) They must be proper to that thing, 
 and not common to others ; (c) they must be obvious. 
 
 2. The true Church of Christ must have some Notes by 
 which she can be distinguished, and known as distinct, from all 
 false sects, and by which, as a society, she may be made clearly 
 visible to all. All are obliged to believe the Church, and to belong 
 to her under penalty of perdition ; and unless the Church should 
 possess such Notes by which she may be known from all false 
 sects, men could not find her out, or believe in her, or enter her 
 fold. Hence she must possess Notes or Marks. As in natural 
 things the essences are not known by themselves immediately, 
 but by certain external properties which are essential to them, 
 and distinguish them from other shings ; in like manner in super- 
 natural things, such as is the true Church, their essences are not 
 seen or known immediately ; but through certain external pro- 
 perties that make them known to us. Therefore it is necessary 
 that the Church should have Notes of this kind. 
 
 3. Four Notes of the Church are enumerated in the Nicene 
 Creed, namely Unity, Sanctity, Catholicity, and Ajpostolicity. 
 
 Unity consists in this, that all hold the same doctrine, join 
 in the same worship, and live under the same government or 
 authority. Or in the words of the Catechism : " That all her 
 members agree in one Faith, have all the same Sacrifice and 
 Sacraments, and are all united under one Head." 
 
 Sanctity considered as a Note involves two things : (a) She 
 should have all those means which can produce, conserve, and 
 perfect sanctity in her members, (b) She should in every age, 
 and at all times, produce, and show forth, the fruits of sanctity ; 
 that is, it is required that she teach a holy doctrine, offer to all 
 the means of holiness, and be distinguished by the eminent holi- 
 ness of her children. 
 
 Catholicity may be considered under the threefold aspect as to 
 
THE APOSTLES CREED. 271 
 
 doctrine, place, and time, (a) As to doctrine, that she teach all 
 those things which belong to the doctrine of Christ, (b) As to 
 place, that there be nothing in her which would impede her propa- 
 gation throughout the world, and that she be widely spread 
 throughout all nations, (c) As to time, that from her very insti- 
 tution, she never fails, or is interrupted so as to cease even for a 
 short time. Catholic or universal means that she subsist in 
 all ages, teach all nations, and be the one Ark of salvation for 
 all. 
 
 Apostolicity consists in this, (a) that she have her origin from 
 the Apostles after Christ, (b) that she profess the same doctrine 
 which they professed and taught, (c) and that she have the suc- 
 cession of her pastors in an uninterrupted course from the Apostles. 
 That is, that she hold and teach the doctrines and traditions of 
 the Apostles, and through the unbroken succession of her Pastors, 
 that she derive her orders, and her mission, from them. 
 
 4. The four Notes here enumerated have all the conditions 
 required for the true Notes of the Church, (a) They flow from 
 her original and immutable nature and constitution. (6) They 
 have all the qualities of a true and distinctive sign. 
 
 5. First, as to the Note of Unity. This belongs to the 
 original constitution of the Church, as may be proved by the in- 
 spired words of St. Paul. Exhorting the faithful to unity, he 
 says : Careful to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 
 One body and one Spirit ; as you are called in one hope of your 
 calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism. One God and Father 
 of all, who is above all, and through all, and in us all.* In this 
 text the Apostle enumerates those things in which the Christian 
 Church is one. The unity of society, one body ; unity of external 
 worship, one baptism ; internal unity, one Spirit ; one hope of your 
 calling, one faith. The same Apostle, writing to the Corinthians, 
 says : For as the body is one, and hath many members ; and all the 
 members of the body, whereas they are many yet are one body, so 
 also is Christ. For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body, 
 whether Jews or Gentiles, whether bond or free ; and in one Spirit 
 we have all been made to drink. f 
 
 Christ, in speaking of the Church which He intended to found, 
 never refers to it in the plural number, but always in the singular, 
 calling it His flock, His sheep-fold, and one over which the one 
 Pastor presides. His Kingdom — His Church : from which it 
 follows that Christ instituted only one Church, and that His 
 
 * Eph. iv. 3., et seq. 1 1 Cor. xii. 12, 13. 
 
272 THE CTR.EED EXPLAINED. 
 
 Church can be only one ; therefore unity belongs to the Church's 
 original nature and constitution. 
 
 This must also appear from the reason that the Church is the 
 society of those who profess the Christian religion ; but religion 
 is one, and can only be one, therefore that society which pro- 
 fesses the true religion must be one. 
 
 That the Church is the society of those who profess the 
 Christian religion is certain from its definition. It is certain, 
 also, that Christ brought and taught only one religion to 
 men. All religions that call themselves Christian, although 
 they differ in many points from one another, yet they all propose 
 their doctrine as that delivered by Christ, therefore we must say 
 that the Christian Eeligion proposes contradictory truths, which 
 we cannot say of divine revelation ; or there is only one of all 
 these bodies professing Christianity, which contains, and teaches 
 the entire, genuine, and pure doctrine of Christ ; therefore that 
 body, or Church, must be one, because the Church is nothing else 
 but faith, and the Christian religion as it lives, and is, as it were, 
 individualised in the faithful believing. 
 
 This unity extends itself to doctrine, to faith, to authority, to 
 the whole religion. Eeligion, as we know, comprises two things, 
 the true knowledge and worship of God as made known to us by 
 divine revelation. The principle upon which unity of faith and 
 communion depends, is that of atcthority, for without authority 
 all men could not be brought to the profession of, or to agreement 
 in, one faith, and those who might be led away by false doctrine 
 could not be recalled to the true faith. The same may be said of 
 unity of communion, for considering the nature and condition of 
 human beings, they could not all be kept in one congregation or 
 society without some centre of authority to which all should be 
 bound to submit. 
 
 Without extending our arguments further, we may now sum 
 up the preceding reasons which prove that the Note of Unity 
 flows from the original constitution of the Church. 
 
 Unity. 
 
 1st. In the profession of the same doctrine. 
 
 2nd. In the communion or participation of the same Sacra- 
 ments and rites which necessarily belong to the worship of 
 God. 
 
 3rd. In unity of body ; or of all the members under one 
 head, the result of one government and authority, by which the 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 273 
 
 people are united to their pastors, and the pastors united with 
 the one Head of the Church, who is the Vicar of Christ on earth. 
 The Note of Unity is, therefore, inseparable from the Church 
 of Christ. It has all the characters of a true sign, for where it is, 
 it becomes apparent to all. It manifests the Church to the whole 
 world by the profession of the same faith, by the same worship 
 and Sacraments, and the same ecclesiastical rule, or government. 
 
 Sanctity as a Note of the Chuech. 
 
 6. The Note of Sanctity flows, or is derived, from tho original 
 constitution and nature of the Church. This may be proved from 
 several heads. 
 
 (a) Christ, the founder of the Church, is the fountain oi 
 
 Sanctity. 
 
 (b) The doctrine of the Church is holy because it is the 
 
 doctrine of the true religion. 
 
 (c) The worship of the Church is holy because it is the true 
 
 worship of God. 
 
 (d) The Sacraments of the Church are holy because they 
 
 are instituted by Christ, as the means, or channels, ol 
 divine grace, by which men are sanctified. The Church 
 is holy in all these things by reason of her divine in- 
 stitution. 
 
 This may be shown from the consideration of the end for 
 which the Church was instituted. 
 
 The Church, as a perfect society, should have the means of 
 attaining its end ; but the end of the Church is the conservation 
 of religion, and the salvation of men ; therefore the Church should 
 have all the means that are necessary for the attainment of this 
 two-fold end. But the Church which has not the Note of Sanc- 
 tity will not have the means of sanctity, or the means that are 
 required for the conservation of religion, and the salvation of men. 
 Therefore the Church of Christ, by its very institution and end, 
 must be holy or have the Note of Sanctity. 
 
 The Church must have the means of sanctity, because she is 
 instituted by Christ to procure the salvation of men, and she 
 should therefore produce her effect and make saints, otherwise 
 men could say that she has failed in the end, or purpose, for 
 which God destined her, which would be an impious assertion. 
 For, to what purpose would she have the means of sanctity if 
 these means were not applied ; and to what purpose would they 
 be applied if no result were derived from their application ? Hence 
 
 T 
 
274 THE CEEED EXPLAINED. 
 
 the Church must be holy in the full sense above explained ; that 
 is, that she teach a holy doctrine, that she offer to all the means 
 of holiness, and that she be distinguished by the eminent holiness 
 of her children. 
 
 It appears also very clearly from Holy Scripture that the 
 Church should have the Note, or character, of Sanctity. 
 
 (a) In the Scripture the Church is called the body of Christ, 
 
 the spouse of Christ, the tabernacle of God with men, 
 the house of God, the temple of God.* 
 
 (b) Christ wished His Church to produce the fruits of sanc- 
 
 tity, and to make men holy. To this end He insti- 
 tuted the Sacrament of Baptism, according to the 
 words : but you are washed, but you are sanctified, but 
 you are justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 and the Spirit of God A The same may be said of the 
 Holy Eucharist. Let a man prove himself that he may 
 so eat of this bread, and drink of this chalice, &c. It 
 was for this purpose He gave to His Church the power 
 of forgiving sins through the Sacrament of Penance, 
 and that He instituted the other Sacraments ; and 
 finally, the whole constitution of His Church is or- 
 dained for the same end, according to the words of 
 St. Paul : And he (Christ) gave some Apostles and some 
 prophets, and other some evangelists, and other some 
 pastors and doctors, for the perfecting of the saints, for 
 the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of 
 Christ. \ 
 We may here note that some may be perfect members of the 
 Church, those who belong to her soul and to her body ; and 
 that there may be some imperfect members, who may not have 
 the life of grace, but who are externally united among themselves, 
 and with the living members by the profession of the same faith, 
 and that they may receive the same Sacraments ; although these 
 are not to be reckoned as living members of the Church, they 
 may be numbered as in the body of the Church, and belonging to 
 the faithful ; for men may be called faithful and Christians, not 
 from the virtue of charity only, but also from faith, and the pro- 
 fession of faith. 
 
 Sanctity is, at the same time, a property and a Note of the 
 Church. As a property it may be viewed in many aspects. The 
 
 •Colos. i. 24. Ephes. i. 22, 23 ; ii. 19, et scq., et Chap. v. 
 f 1 Cor. vi. 11. JEph. iv. 11 12. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 275 
 
 Church is holy (a) in its Author, (b) in its essence or const itution, 
 (a) in its end, (d) in its means, (e) in its Head, Jesus Christ, 
 (f) in its members. As a Note, it may be viewed only in its 
 body and members, and is made manifest (a) in the worship and 
 exemplary lives of the saints; and (b) by miracles and other 
 divine manifestations of the Spirit of God that works in her and 
 in her members. 
 
 Catholicity as a Note of the Church, 
 
 7. Catholicity is a true Note of the Church because it has 
 all the conditions that are required for the notes as above 
 specified. 
 
 Christ wished His Church to be Catholic or Universal. 
 
 (a) As to place: He said to them (the Apostles), Go ye into 
 
 the whole world and preach the gospel to every creature* 
 
 (b) As to time or duration : Behold I am with you all days 
 
 even to the consummation of the world. \ 
 
 (c) As to doctrine: Going therefore, teach ye all nations. . . . 
 
 teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have 
 commanded you.% 
 
 If the Church did not contain all the doctrine of religion it 
 would be imperfect; and the Church cannot be said to be 
 imperfect, because it has for its Author and Founder Christ our 
 Lord. 
 
 The Church was instituted to preserve the Christian religion 
 in its integrity, and how could that be maintained in its integrity, 
 if the Church does not retain and teach all the doctrines that 
 belong to it. 
 
 Again we may advert to the doctrine that out of the Church 
 there is no salvation. And as God wishes all men to be saved, 
 and to come to the knowledge of the truth, He thereby wished 
 all men to become members of the Church, and therefore He 
 made that Church Catholic, or Universal, into which He 
 wished all men to enter. 
 
 Moreover, the Church was instituted for the preservation of 
 religion ; and as Christ wished his religion to be perpetual, or to 
 last to the end of time ; so He instituted His Church Catholic as 
 to time and duration, to last to the end of the world. And thus 
 will be verified the words spoken of our Saviour at the time of 
 the Incarnation. And he shall reign in the house of Jacob for 
 ever\% and thus we may praise His Name in the words of Daniel 
 
 * St. Mark xvi. 15. | Bt. Matthew sxviii. 20. $ Ibid. xix. 20. § St. Luke i. 32. 
 
276 THE CIlEED EXPLAINED. 
 
 the prophet : Blessed be the name of the Lord from eternity and 
 for evermore; for wisdom and fortitude are His;* and to the 
 Church as Catholic the parable of the mustard seed is applied. 
 
 The Kingdom of God is like a grain of mustard seed, which 
 
 a man took and cast into his garden, and it grew and became a great 
 tree, and the birds of the air lodged in the branches thereof. t This 
 Note, with that of Sanctity, is the one mentioned, and which is 
 always professed in the Apostles' Creed : I believe in the Holy 
 Catholic Church. Hence St. Ignatius Martyr has said : Ubi 
 Christus est ibi est Ecclesia Catholica — Where Christ is there 
 the Catholic Church is. 
 
 Apostolicity, a Note op the Church. 
 
 8. Apostolicity of origin, of doctrine, and of succession, 
 necessarily flows from the original nature and constitution of the 
 Church ; for Christ built His Church on the foundation of the 
 Apostles ; to the Apostles He gave immediately the power of 
 teaching, of ministering and of ruling, and from them the true 
 Church of Christ derives its origin, and the lawful order and 
 succession of its pastors. 
 
 9. I have shown that all these four Notes must belong to 
 the very nature and constitution of the Church, and flow from 
 her original institution ; it only remains that I point out that these 
 four have the characters or qualities of true and distinctive 
 signs. They are (1st) more known than the thing signified by 
 them ; for they are at once apparent and fall under our eyes. 
 What can be more easily known than the form of public govern- 
 ment, the succession of pastors, the extent and duration of a 
 society ? And what can be better known than what all the 
 members of a society publicly profess and publicly acknowledge, 
 
 (2nd). They are proper or special to that which they 
 signify, for as I have repeatedly said, they belong to the nature 
 and primary constitution of the Church, and there is no other 
 society outside the Church to which they belong. 
 
 (3rd). They are obvious ; for they consist in external things, 
 which can either be seen by the eyes, or promulgated to all ; or 
 can bo learned without much laborious research from the public 
 acts and monuments of history. 
 
 Positive and Negative Notes. 
 
 10. Before treating of the application of the Notes of the 
 Church, it wi ll be necessary to introduce another distinction as 
 
 * Daii, ii. 20. t St. Luke xiii. l'J. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. $77 
 
 to the Notes of the Church, and to explain it and also to notice 
 the Protestant theory of the Church's Notes. Notes are either 
 positive or negative. 
 
 A positive note is that which directly indicates the 
 thing signified, that is, it tells us that it is such a thing. 
 
 A negative note does not tell us that it is such a thing ; but 
 that it may be. When we have a negative note, it does not 
 follow from it that a thing is such as is indicated, but where 
 a negative note is absent or wanting, it follows that the thing 
 is not that which we seek; ex. gr.: A good life is a positive 
 note of a pure heart because the heart of that man is certainly 
 pure whose life is good. On the other hand, external modesty 
 is a negative note of a pure heart ; it signifies that the heart 
 may be pure but not that it is so : but if external modesty is 
 wanting, it is a sign that the heart is not pure. To discover 
 and distinguish the true Church, negative notes are not sufficient, 
 but positive notes are required. 
 
 11. All agree in the following three points : — 
 
 (1). The four Notes above enumerated are true Notes of the 
 Church, because (a) they are proper to the true Church, and do 
 not belong to any sect or other Christian Society, (b) They are 
 more easily known than the Church itself, as they lead to her 
 knowledge, (c) They are manifest, not only to those who are of 
 the household of faith, but even to those outside her fold. 
 
 (2). All the four taken together certainly amount to a 
 positive note. 
 
 (3). Each one taken separately amounts to a negative note. 
 
 It may be asked whether each of the four taken sepa- 
 rately amounts to a positive note ? To which I may answer by 
 the following four statements : 
 
 (1). It is certain that Unity as it exists in the Catholic 
 Church is a positive note. 
 
 (2). Sanctity as it exists in the Catholic Church is, without 
 doubt, a positive note. 
 
 (3). Formal Catholicity, that is Catholicity considered not 
 only as to pure extension, but as to the extension of men as 
 forming one sacred commonwealth, or one Church throughout 
 the whole world, is & positive note. 
 
 (4). Apostolicity , inasmuch as it points out one Church 
 to be the very Church of the Apostles, continued and unchanged, 
 is a positive note. 
 
 12. Protestants assign two Notes of the Church, namely, 
 the preaching of the pure Word of God, and the administration of 
 
THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 the Sacraments, but neither of these things can be called Notes 
 of the true Church. 
 
 The preaching of the pure Word of God cannot be a Note of 
 the Church, because you have to find out the Church itself before 
 you can know whether the preaching is that of the pure Word of 
 God or not. The knowledge as to whether the preaching is the 
 pure Word or not must be obtained either from the Scripture, 
 or from private judgment, or from the authority of the Church ; 
 but this knowledge cannot be obtained from the Scripture without 
 the definition of the Church ; nor from each one's private judg- 
 ment, as is self-evident ; therefore it can only be obtained from 
 the Church; and therefore, before one can know where the preach- 
 ing of the true Word is to be found, he must find the Church. 
 
 The preaching of the pure Word cannot be a Note of the 
 Church, because all sects who propound contradictory doctrines 
 and preach them vigorously, claim for themselves by the same 
 right and title the preaching of the pure Word ; therefore such 
 preaching cannot point to the true Church. 
 
 The administration of the Sacraments is not a Note of the 
 Church — First, because the Sacraments are contained in the 
 pure or genuine Word of God ; and, secondly, because neither the 
 Sacraments themselves nor their administration can be known 
 until we know or find out the true Church. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 279 
 
 SECTION 4. (Article IX). 
 
 THE APPLICATION OF THE NOTES TO THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. 
 
 1. The Catholic Church is one; (a) in government-, (b) in faith; (c) in 
 worship. — 2. The Sanctity of the Catholic Church. The meaning of 
 sauctity, its division, its degrees. — 3. The Catholic Church is holy 
 (a) in her doctrine ; (b) in the means of holiness which she possesses j 
 (c) in the fruits of sanctity within her. — 4. Catholicity applied to 
 the Church. The meaning of the word Roman Catholic, the 
 signification of the word Catholic, and the various kinds of Catholicity. 
 — 5. The sense^ in which the true Church is Catholic. —6. The 
 Apostolicity of the Catholic Church, (a) She has her origin and 
 doctrine from the Apostles, (b) She has the succession of Pastors 
 uninterrupted from their time. — 7. She has the succession (a) of 
 Orders and (6) of Jurisdiction. — 8. Summary, (a) The Roman 
 Catholic Church possesses the Note of Unity, (b) She possesses the 
 Note of Sanctity, (c) Of Catholicity, and (d) of Apostolicity. — 9. 
 False Churches wanting (a) in Unity; (b) in Sanctity; (c) in Catholi- 
 city, and (d) in Apostolicity. 
 
 The Unity of the Catholic Church. 
 
 1. The Catholic Church is one in government, in faith, and 
 in worship. 
 
 (a) One in government. All Catholics hold the Supremacy 
 
 of the Roman Pontiff as a dogma of faith ; all his 
 commands and laws are received with obedience and 
 reverence by the pastors and the faithful, which show T s 
 the Church's Unity under one Supreme Head, and in 
 subjection to nis autnoniiy. 
 
 (b) One in faith. All who are in the Church are bound to 
 
 submit to her definitions ; so that any one who would 
 deny a definition of the Church in matters of faith or 
 morals, would thereby cut himself off from her 
 communion ; and it has never happened in the history 
 of the Church, that a man who denied even one dogma 
 of faith was regarded by the Church or her members 
 otherwise than as a heretic, and one who had 
 separated himself from the communion of the 
 faithful. 
 
280 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 (c) One in Worship. All Catholics acknowledge and receive 
 
 the same Sacraments, and believe in and assist at the 
 
 one Sacrifice of the Holy Mass. 
 
 This Unity in the threefold respect here mentioned is 
 
 granted even by her adversaries to the Catholic Church, and it is 
 
 the unity signified by the definition of the IV. Council of Lateran 
 
 (cap. fimiter), " Una est Fidelium universalis Ecclesia extra quam 
 
 nullus omnino salvatur." The universal Church is one out of 
 
 which no one can be saved. 
 
 Sanctity op the Catholic Church. 
 
 2. Sanctity in general signifies that something is clean 
 and pure before God, that is pleasing to God. 
 
 In a twofold way a thing may be called holy. First, if it be 
 consecrated to God by a certain form of consecration or bene- 
 diction, as, for example, a chalice, a church, a priest. Secondly, 
 a thing is called holy which of itself, or by reason of its end, 
 conduces to the sanctification of men, such as good works, the 
 Sacraments, &c. Here we speak of sanctity in this second 
 sense. 
 
 Personal sanctity consists in immunity or freedom from sin, 
 which in the present state has always and essentially connected 
 with it, sanctifying grace. 
 
 There are three grades of this sanctity. 
 
 (1). The lowest degree is that sanctity by which a man 
 keeps himself free from mortal sin, but is not solicitous about 
 advancing in perfection, or avoiding venial sins. 
 
 (2). The second degree is that in which a man not only 
 avoids grave sins, but endeavours to avoid all venial sins, and 
 tends towards perfection. 
 
 (3). The third degree is the heroic sanctity of the saints. 
 
 3. The Catholic Church is holy, not only in her Author and 
 Founder, Jesus Christ ; not only in her end, but also in her 
 doctrine ; in the means of sanctity which she possesses ; and in the 
 fruits of sanctity which she produces. 
 
 (a) In her doctrine. Doctrine is holy, not only inasmuch 
 as it is true, but inasmuch as it leads to sanctifica- 
 tion. The doctrine of the Catholic Church is both 
 speculative and practical. The speculative proposes or 
 teaches dogmas, the practical delivers precepts. The 
 speculative doctrine is holy because it teaches all the 
 truths revealed by God, and which concern God, and 
 
THE APOSTLES CEEED. 281 
 
 the eternal salvation of men. The practical doctrine 
 is holy, because the moral precepts taught and incul- 
 cated by the Catholic Church are those which God 
 Himself has delivered; and, besides these, she 
 exhorts her children to practice and observe not only 
 the precepts, but also the evangelical counsels. 
 (6) The means of Sanctity. The Catholic Church is holy in 
 the means of sanctity which she possesses, and of 
 which her children can avail themselves. These 
 means are proper and special to the Catholic Church, 
 and amongst them I may particularise the following : 
 (1). All the Sacraments of the New Law. 
 (2). The most efficacious means of sacramental confession, 
 and that frequent. 
 
 (3). The mortification of the body, fasts, prayers, and 
 penances. 
 
 The Catholic Church continually exhorts her children to the 
 practices of virtues, especially the virtues of humility and 
 chastity. 
 
 (4) The sanctity of the people depends in great measure on 
 the goodness of the Clergy, according to the words of the Prophet : 
 And I will give you pastors according to My own heart, and they 
 shall feed you with knowledge and doctrine.* The clergy and 
 priests of the Catholic Church show their goodness amongst other 
 things, especially in this one respect, that in all kinds of dangers, 
 of persecutions and of maladies, they have never forsaken or 
 neglected their people. 
 
 (c). The fruit of sanctity in the Catholic Church. It may 
 be said (1) that the greater part of the Church may 
 claim sanctity in its first and lowest degree ; for it 
 may be fairly supposed that most Catholics keep 
 their souls free from grievous sins ; and those who 
 fail to possess this first grade of sanctity have only to 
 blame their own malice and negligence, and not the 
 Church, which offers them so many means of sanctity, 
 if only they will accept and use them. (2) Many in 
 the Catholic Church are holy in the second degree ; 
 all those, namely, who desire perfection and tend 
 towards it, and who have consecrated their lives 
 to the service of God, especially in Convents and 
 Monasteries and Religious Houses, throughout the 
 
 * Jer. iii. 15. 
 
282 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 whole world, and in every age of the Church. (3) In 
 the histories and lives of the saints we have the ex- 
 amples of innumerable men and women who practised 
 virtue and possessed sanctity in an heroic degree. 
 These saints were members of the Catholic Church, 
 and examples of this kind make her illustrious not 
 only in every age, but in every generation, and in 
 every year, in the lives and virtues of her children. 
 Miracles are also the fruits of sanctity, and these are 
 always to be found in the Catholic Church and in her 
 alone. 
 
 The Catholicity op the Church. 
 
 4. It may be asked, what is the meaning of the word Roman 
 Catholic ? It means a Catholic in communion with the See of 
 Eome. We do not adopt that name, although we glory in our 
 communion with the See of Eome, although we may be English 
 or Irish in nationality. We do not adopt the name, because it 
 implies what we cannot admit, that a man may be a Catholic 
 without being in communion with the centre of Catholic Unity, 
 the See of Eome. 
 
 " There is nothing offensive in the appellation Roman Catho- 
 lic, as in other names with which we are frequently honoured. 
 If then we refuse to adopt it, the reason is, because it imports 
 what is irreconcileable with our principles, that churches which 
 have separated from the ancient Catholic Church may still have 
 a right to the title of Catholic."* 
 
 Catholicity may be denned : — "The wide spread diffusion 
 of the Church throughout the world, together with a large and 
 conspicuous multitude of members." 
 
 Catholicity may be either (juris) that is of right, or (facti) 
 that is of fact, actual existence. The Catholicity of fact is the 
 actual extension of the Church. Catholicity of right may again 
 be divided into two. 
 
 (a). It is the power or faculty, divine and efficacious in the 
 Church, to make and to keep itself Catholic. This 
 kind of Catholicity is the same as the Church's in- 
 defectibility of which I shall treat later. 
 
 (6) It is the power or faculty in the Catholic Church of 
 converting non-Catholics to the true faith. 
 
 Catholicity of fact is either simultaneous or continuous. 
 
 * Dr. Lingard's Catechism. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 283 
 
 Simultaneous Catholicity would be if the Church should all at 
 once and at the same time occupy all parts of the world. 
 Catholicity would be continuous or successive when by degrees, 
 and not all at once, it should spread itself throughout the world. 
 Catholicity of fact is again either physical or moral. 
 Physical is when all the parts of the world are occupied. Moral 
 when many and the principal parts of the world are occupied. 
 
 5. (a) The Church is not Catholic by what is called at the 
 
 same time physical and simultaneous. 
 
 (b) She is Catholic by Catholicity moral and continuous. 
 
 (c) Before the end of the world the Gospel will be preached 
 
 successively to all nations and peoples, so that there 
 will be no nation or people on the face of the earth 
 that will not have had at some time or other the 
 Gospel preached to it. This is the common opinion 
 of the Fathers and Theologians. 
 
 (d) It is certain that the true Church, amongst all others 
 
 calling themselves Church, excels and is conspicuous 
 for its Catholicity, not only in its successive growth, 
 but its simultaneous propagation and its permanent 
 state. 
 
 (e) The Church is Catholic by Catholicity of right, as to its 
 
 first kind, which will be shown when speaking of her 
 infallibility ; and that she is Catholic as to its second 
 species, is known to all from the whole history of the 
 Church, the propagation of the faith, and daily 
 experience. 
 The Church is Catholic by reason of her doctrine, because 
 she holds all truths, condemns all errors, and teaches none. 
 
 Finally she is Catholic in such a manner that she and she 
 aloDe was always known as Catholic ; she and she alone is called, 
 and will be called, Catholic, and known as Catholic by all, for in 
 the past all the efforts of sects have never been able to cause 
 themselves to be designated or known by this name. 
 
 The Apostolicity op the Catholic Church. 
 
 6. The Catholic Church is Apostolic, because (a) she has 
 had her origin and her doctrine from the Apostles ; (b) because 
 she has the succession of her pastors uninterrupted from them. 
 
 As to her origin from the Apostles, it is acknowledged by all, 
 even her worst adversaries, that the Catholic Church is the 
 Church of the first ages, which all confess was Apostolic. This 
 
284 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 fact is evident, as nothing can be better known than the novelty 
 of heretics and of all heresies, and the antiquity of the Catholic 
 Church. No one can state or point out any time in which the 
 Church ceased to be Apostolic. 
 
 As to her doctrine ; her doctrine, like her origin, is that of 
 the Apostles. It is the one same Catholic doctrine. Adversaries 
 have never been able to prove any change of faith up to the 
 present day, and no change can be discovered if the doctrine of 
 the Apostolic and ancient times be compared with the doctrine 
 of the Church at the present time. 
 
 7. She is Apostolic as to succession. The succession of 
 pastors comes down in an uninterrupted course from the Apostles. 
 (a) She has the succession of Orders. All acknowledge this who 
 in any sense admit the Sacrament and the power of Orders ; 
 because, if they deny this succession, they cannot regard their own 
 Orders as valid, inasmuch as they have received them from no 
 other than the Catholic Church. {b) She has the succession as 
 to jurisdiction. That Church has the succession of juris- 
 diction which has never fallen away from the Church 
 founded by the Apostles, and such is the Koman Catholic 
 Church. There is no fact of history more certain than the 
 succession of Pontiffs, from St. Peter to Leo. XIII. 
 
 The Eoman Catholic Church has therefore the three condi- 
 tions required for Apostolicity. She holds and teaches the 
 doctrine of the Apostles. She has her Orders from the Apostles, 
 and her Mission from the Apostles. Her doctrine is Apostolic, 
 as is evident from the Creeds of faith, the Sacraments, and the 
 Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Her Orders are Apostolic, as they 
 have come down in a continuous and unbroken succession of 
 Bishops and Pastors from St. Peter, to whom our Lord committed 
 the care of His faithful, to the present Pontiff, and the Bishops 
 of the Catholic Church throughout the world. Her Mission is 
 from them because she alone is governed by the lawful successors 
 of the Apostles, and teaches, as I have already written, the 
 doctrine of the Apostles. 
 
 8. The four characters or marks of the Church which prove 
 her divinity are to be found in the Eoman Catholic Church and 
 in her alone ; and, therefore, she alone is the true Church. As 
 too much importance or prominence cannot be given to this truth, 
 I wish to sum up all that refers to this doctrine as stated and 
 explained by the Abbe A. E. Moulin* 
 
 * Exposition EiemeDtaire de la Doctrine Catholique. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 285 
 
 (a) The Eoman Catholic Church possesses the Note of Unity, 
 
 for all her Children profess the same Creed, acknow- 
 ledge the same commandmeDts of God and of the 
 Church, receive the same Sacraments, and obey the 
 same Supreme Head, who is the Pope. She has no 
 variety or contradictions in her faith. She believes 
 to-day the same as she has always believed in past 
 ages. The dogmas which have been added to her 
 Creed, as for example, in our time, that of the Im- 
 maculate Conception, and the infallibility of the Pope, 
 are no new dogmas, they are taken from the Sacred 
 Scripture and tradition, and brought to light and pro- 
 claimed at the proper and opportune moment as the 
 inspired truth of God. 
 
 (b) The Eoman Catholic Church is holy, for (1) in her 
 
 dogmas, in her moral precepts, in her worship, in her 
 discipline, all is pure and irreproachable, all is of such 
 a nature as is calculated to remove evil and wicked- 
 ness, and to promote the most exalted virtue. (2) As 
 a fact, the Eoman Catholic Church has transformed 
 the world in a moral and religious point of view, in 
 making her honour virtue, and holding up before her 
 so many heroic examples of sanctity. She has exer- 
 cised the greatest influence in the world in making 
 men better and happier. She alone produces heroes 
 of holiness to whom we pay honour and respect. 
 (3) She alone has converted to the faith the barbarians 
 of the Middle Ages, and in our day, as well as in past 
 ages, converts the morals and lives of idolatrous na- 
 tions, and plants in their midst the Cross and the 
 spirit of Jesus Christ. Miracles without number are 
 worked within her fold from the time of the Apostles 
 up to the present day. All these wonders show 
 clearly that the Eoman Church is assisted by the Holy 
 Spirit. The enemies of the Church, in attacking her 
 sanctity, continually refer to the scandals and dis- 
 orders that history lays to the charge of the clergy and 
 the Catholic faithful ; because a minister of religion, 
 or a member of some religious congregation, now and 
 then has been unfaithful to his duty, or a scandal to 
 his brethren ; these take occasion therefrom to blame 
 the entire Church, and to hold her up to the public 
 indignation. To all such accusations we answer 
 
286 THE CREED EXPLAINED 
 
 (1) that exaggeration and calumny form a great part 
 of these accusations; (2) that the Church is the first 
 to condemn and repress such scandals, and far from 
 allowing vices she punishes them by the most stringent 
 laws ; (3) that it is not from her doctrine that evil 
 arises, as is the case with the theories and false doc- 
 trine of her accusers ; but from the abuse of liberty and 
 infidelity to grace ; (4) that it is the height of injustice 
 to blame the entire Church for the crimes and vices of 
 a small number ; to pass over in silence all that is 
 good in the Church, and only publish that which is 
 evil ; (5) that as the Church has not succumbed in 
 the midst of abuses, disorders and profanations, 
 which she has suppressed with such wonderful power 
 and fortitude, is one of the strongest proofs of her 
 divine institution, and that God does not cease to be 
 with her and to protect her. 
 (c) The Eoman Catholic Church possesses Catholicity, for 
 since the day of Penticost, when three thousand 
 people, representing the several countries of the world, 
 were converted by St. Peter, she has always had sub- 
 jects and faithful children in every part of the world. 
 She surpasses in her numbers all sects dissenting 
 from her, taken together ; She adapts herself to all 
 countries and to all forms of government, and well 
 deserves the name Catholic, which even her worst 
 enemies are forced to call her. 
 The Eoman Catholic Church possesses Apostolicity, for the 
 260 Popes, who have succeeded each other in the See of Rome, 
 are the successors of the Apostle St. Peter, and all the other 
 Episcopal Sees have been founded either by the other Apostles 
 in union with St. Peter, or by the Roman Pontiffs, the successors 
 of the Apostles. The Mission, which the Roman Catholic Church 
 exercises, has therefore been derived from Jesus Christ through 
 His Apostles. 
 
 The Roman Catholic Church, having all these marks, which 
 Jesus Christ has given to and planted in His Church, is the true 
 Church, and out of her thera is no salvation. 
 
 9. Before concluding this instruction, I wish to say a few 
 words about false churches. We see a number of heretical and 
 schismatical sects, who have separated themselves from the 
 Church. They are false, because they have not the notes or 
 marks of the Church founded by Jesus Christ. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 287 
 
 (a) They have no unity. The Greek Schism is divided into 
 
 about a dozen independent sects without any authority 
 to judge as a last resource in matters of doctrine and 
 discipline. In Russia they are settled by the will of 
 the Czar ; in the Musselman States matters of religious 
 difficulty are referred for final settlement to the Turkish 
 government. 
 Protestantism from its very beginning was split up into in- 
 numerable sects disagreeing from one another ; afterwards it be- 
 came more or less subject to the civil power, like the Greek sects. 
 The freedom of private opinion, the liberty left to each one to 
 form his belief from the reading of the Bible, were principles cal- 
 culated to cause divisions and variations, and prevent any kind 
 of unity in Protestant faith and doctrine. " The devil is in 
 amongst us", said Luther, " and soon we shall have as many 
 religions as there are heads." Out of this anarchy has arisen a 
 great force of infidelity and incredulity in all matters of 
 religion. 
 
 (b) There is in all separate sects an absence of sanctity. 
 
 The authors of the Greek Schism, Photius in the ninth 
 century, and Michael Cerularius in the eleventh cen- 
 tury, had no other motive in their separation than blind 
 ambition and the desire of power. The leaders and 
 founders of protestantism : Luther, Calvin, Zwinglius, 
 &c, were notorious for their vices. The historian 
 Cobbetc says of them, that there was only one point 
 of doctrine on which they agreed, namely, the inutility 
 of good works, and their lives prove how sincerely 
 true they were to this principle. 
 Amongst the Greek Schismatics the Clergy are badly pre- 
 pared for their functions, they live in a state of abjection and 
 contempt; they receive no consideration or respect from the 
 people, and they can neither spread nor fulfil the Gospel 
 teaching. 
 
 Amongst Protestants the most efficacious means of sanctifi- 
 cation have disappeared : abstinence, fasting, mortifications, 
 religious vows, devotion to the Blessed Virgin and to the Saints, 
 confession, communion, &c. 
 
 Neither the Greek Schism or Protestantism have done any- 
 thing for civilisation ; they rather obstructed it than promoted 
 it. The first has been the instrument of despotism in the East ; 
 the second covered Europe with blood and ruins in the sixteenth 
 century, and has been ever since the helper and instrument of 
 
288 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 the freemasons, who are the authors of most of the disorders and 
 revolutions of the last two centuries. 
 
 In fine, neither Protestants nor Greek Schismatics have 
 shown that the action of the Holy Spirit is with them. They 
 have given no examples of heroic virtue, no saints, no pure 
 constant and invincible zeal for the propagation of the faith, such 
 as is shown by the example and martyrdom of so many Catholic 
 missioners, and they have never been able to obtain the sanction 
 of a miracle for their work and their doctrine. 
 
 (c) There is an absence of Catholicity in the separated 
 
 sects. The Greek Church is contained within the 
 confines of a part of the East, principally in Greece, 
 Russia, and Turkey. As to Protestantism, each 
 of the principal sects is more or less circumscribed 
 within the limits of one determined place or country, 
 the Lutherans in Germany, the Calvinists in Goneva 
 and France, the Anglicans in England. All are 
 national and none Catholic. 
 
 (d) There is an absence of Apostolicity amongst them. 
 
 These are separated from the Pope, who is the heir 
 
 of St. Peter, the chief of the Apostles ; they have a 
 
 purely human, and in no sense an Apostolic, origin. 
 
 Their ministers have no lawful mission, and they 
 
 cannot say that they have been sent by Jesus Christ 
 
 to teach and baptise all nations. 
 
 Heretics and Schismatics are, therefore, out of the ordinary 
 
 way of salvation, but those amongst them who are in invincible 
 
 ignorance of the truth, and practice sincerely the Christian 
 
 religion as well as they know it, may, with God's grace, obtain 
 
 salvation. 
 
 The same observation may apply also to infidels who have 
 lived in invincible ignorance of Christianity, provided they know 
 and believe those things that are necessary — necessitate medii — for 
 salvation. 
 
THE apostles' cbeed. 289 
 
 SECTION 5. (Article IX.) 
 THE PROPERTIES OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 1 . The other chief properties of the Church. — 2. The Indefectibility of the 
 Church, and the sense in which she is indefectible. — 3. The errors of 
 heretics in regard to the Indefectibility of the Church. — The Infalli- 
 bility of the Church. — 5. The three propositions of faith in regard 
 to the Infallibility of the Church. — 6. Proofs of the Church's 
 Indefectibility and Infallibility. — 7. Further proofs of the Infallibility 
 of the Church. — 8. The object of Infallibility and the dogmas to 
 which it extends.— 9. The Subject of Infallibility. 
 
 1. Besides the four Notes or marks, the Church has many 
 other properties inherent in and essential to her. The principal 
 of these are indefectibility in being or existence ; infallibility in 
 teaching ; and authority or power in ruling or governing. These 
 three properties or attributes are denied by all non-Cabholic 
 sects, because otherwise they could not account for their exist- 
 ence, or assign any plausible reason for not belonging to the one 
 true Church. We have now to explain separately these proper- 
 ties or attributes. 
 
 Indefectibility. 
 
 2. This is a property by which the Church cannot fail ; it 
 is that by which she cannot either lose or have diminished any 
 of her divine qualities or gifts even for a short time. 
 
 The doctrine of the indefectibility of the Church may be 
 comprised in the following propositions : — 
 
 (a) The whole Church is indefectible. 
 
 (b) One part of the Church, namely, the Apostolic See, 
 
 is indefectible. 
 <e) The particular Church of this or that particular diocese, 
 
 or this or that particular nation, may fail and fall 
 
 away. 
 Perpetuity is included in indefectibility. Although, rigorously 
 speaking, unless God had ordained otherwise, the Church could 
 U 
 
290 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 be perpetual, without being in all respects indefectible; as a 
 man remains the same human being even to death, although he 
 fails in many respects, both in soul and body. Perpetuity 
 imports continuation without interruption, but indefectibility 
 imports duration and immutability as well. 
 
 Indefectibility means more than infallibility. Infallibility 
 extends only to those things which concern the Church's 
 teaching in matters of faith and morals, but it does not imply 
 that she is to continue always, or to the end of the world, bur 
 that as long as she exists, she cannot err in these matters. 
 
 3. Heretics, in regard to the indefectibility of the Church* 
 err on two points. 
 
 (1) As to the possibility of defection. 
 
 (2) As to the fact of defection. 
 
 They have held various opinions as to the possibility of 
 defection. 
 
 (a) Some have held that the whole Church can fail entirely 
 
 for a time. 
 
 (b) Some say the visible Church can fail, but not the 
 
 ■invisible Church, as if these were two distinct 
 Churches. 
 
 (c) Others affirm that, although the Church cannot fail 
 
 entirely, she can do so in part, at least for a time, 
 
 and even always by losing this or that attribute 
 
 or perfection, or retaining it, but maimed and 
 
 vitiated. 
 
 As to the fact of defection. All heretics of every sect hold 
 
 that the Church has, in some way or other, failed ; otherwise, as 
 
 I have said, they cannot assign any reason for their separation 
 
 from her ; but as to the time of her defection, they are not 
 
 agreed. On this point there are two extreme opinions. The 
 
 first dates the defection of the Church from the Council ol 
 
 Constance, in the year 1414. The second holds that defection 
 
 began in the very time of the Apostles ; in their time, they say, 
 
 and in every age since, the Church was affected by a number of 
 
 errors. This latter opinion is held by a great number of 
 
 recent Protestant writers, such as Goode, Whately, and some 
 
 Puseyites, as Palmer. 
 
 Against all these errors, Catholics hold the indefectibility of 
 the Church, as above explained, and the proofs of it, and of her 
 infallibility, may be said to be the same ; and I shall therefore 
 prove both at the same time, after I explain the nature and 
 meaning of Infallibility. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CEEED. 291 
 
 The Infallibility op the Chupch. 
 
 4. Infallibility means the gift of not erring. It may be 
 called inerrancy. 
 
 Inerrancy may be either of right (juris), or in fact (facti). 
 Inerrancy in fact may be found in one who, although he can err, 
 does not actually do so. Inerrancy of right is that which signifies 
 that one not only holds and teaches the truth, but that it is 
 impossible for him to do otherwise, that is, that one not only 
 does not actually err, but that he cannot err ; this inerrancy is 
 called infallibility. 
 
 Infallibility, as it is the gift of inerrancy, which God has 
 imparted to the Church, is either passive or active. 
 
 Passive infallibility is the gift of inerrancy, which is 
 imparted to the Church, believing (ecclesia credens) so that it 
 may never, even in the least matter, believe or profess error in 
 anything appertaining to faith. 
 
 Active infallibility is that which is imparted to the body oi 
 Pastors or Bishops, in which must be included the Chief Pastor 
 of all. It means infallibility in teaching. 
 
 5. The following three propositions are to be believed by 
 Catholic faith : — 
 
 (a) The whole Church, or the universal Church, is infallible 
 
 in believing, and in the profession of faith, so that it 
 cannot happen that all the faithful should ever believe 
 or profess a doctrine contrary to faith. 
 
 (b) The body of Pastors in which is comprehended the 
 
 Sovereign Pontiff, either assembled in Council or 
 dispersed throughout the world, is infallible in 
 teaching. 
 
 (c) The Sovereign, or Eoman Pontiff, speaking ex Cathedra, 
 
 is infallible in teaching. 
 
 Active infallibility, or infallibility in doctrine only, may be 
 defined : " A special providence or assistance of God, by which 
 the Church, in teaching or defining, is preserved from all error." 
 
 For this gift we do not require that special inspiration which 
 moved the Sacred Writers in giving us the books of Scripture. 
 Nor is immunity from error required in matters that do not belong 
 to doctrine ; and it need not be extended to the reasons and 
 explanations which accompany a definition, only to that which is 
 the defined doctrine ; and the positive motion or action of God, 
 such as is granted in inspiration, is not required for the gift of 
 infallibility. 
 
292 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 That divine assistance suffices which preserves from error. 
 But we must admit not only a negative assistance in the Church, 
 but also that when it would be needed, and as it would be 
 needed, God would give a positive assistance, but not in such a 
 way as that it could be called inspiration, in the same way as the 
 Scriptures, and divine tradition are inspired. 
 
 We may now assert the proposition, and assign the proofs 
 which are given in support of the doctrine explained in this 
 Section. 
 
 6. The Church is indefectible and infallible. Both parts of 
 this proposition are so closely connected that the reasons for 
 one prove the other ; we may, however, for the sake of order, 
 take them separately. 
 
 The Church is indefectible. This may be proved — 
 
 (a) From the promises of Christ. He promised (1) that the 
 
 gates of hell would not prevail against her.* (2) That 
 He would be with her all days, even to the consum- 
 mation of the world, &c.t From which we may 
 conclude that, should the Church fail, the promises of 
 Christ would not be fulfilled. The gates of hell 
 would prevail, and Christ would cease to be with His 
 Church. Therefore, the Church cannot be said to 
 fail, but must be indefectible. 
 
 (b) The properties and attributes which are essential to the 
 
 Church, and flow from her original constitution, 
 cannot fail, or the Church cannot lose them, or suffer 
 them to be impaired. For if in any of them she did 
 fail, or if any of them should be wanting in time, 
 then she should cease to be that Church which was 
 founded by Christ. For Christ founded His Church, 
 that in all times and places she could supply men with 
 the due means of salvation ; and, therefore, she ought 
 always to be, and to be capable of being deemed, the 
 true Church of Christ, which would not be the case 
 were she at any time to fail even in part, or lose any 
 of her essential attributes. Men might then be 
 deceived, as they would not be able to recognise any 
 longer that which is the true Church established by 
 Christ on earth. They would, therefore, be destitute 
 of those means which would guide men in that affair 
 which is the most excellent and necessary of all, 
 
 • St. Matt, xvi. t Ibid, xviii. See also St. Matt. iii. 25 ; Ephe*. tv. 18. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 293 
 
 namely, in the knowledge of the true religion. And 
 all this would be at variance with the end, which 
 Christ had in view in establishing His Church. 
 Against the fact of her defection, we can say that the present 
 state of the Catholic Church, after so many ages, is an incontro- 
 vertible argument that she possesses the prerogative of indefecti- 
 bility. "The Church," says St. Augustine, "will not be 
 conquered, nor eradicated, nor will she yield to any temptation 
 or trial until the end of the world comes.''* 
 
 The Church is infallible in the doctrine op faith and 
 
 MORALS. 
 
 7. The arguments which prove the indefectibility are equally 
 forcible for the infallibility of the Church. But besides these, 
 there are many other arguments from Scripture and the Fathers, 
 which prove the Church's infallibility. 
 
 The Scripture proofs may be taken both from the Old and 
 New Testament. In the Old Testament, Isaias speaks of the 
 joyful flourishing of Christ's Kingdom, and that in His Church 
 shall be a holy and secure way.t In the New Testament we 
 have, in the Gospel of St. Matthew, the commission given to the 
 Apostles : Going, therefore, teach all nations, baptizing them in 
 the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. 
 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded 
 you ; and, behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation 
 of the world. I And in the Gospel of St. John, in His last 
 discourse to His Apostles, Christ often speaks in terms which 
 clearly signify the infallible guidance of the Holy Spirit : And I 
 will ask the Father, and he shall give you another Paraclete, that 
 he may abide with you for ever ; § and again : But the Paraclete, 
 the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he will 
 teach you all things, and, bring all things to your mind, whatsoever 
 I shall have said to you. || 
 
 * Enarratio in Pirns, ix. n. 6. 
 t And a path and a way shall be there, and it shall be called the holy way : the 
 unclean shall not pass over it, and this shall be unto you a straight way, so 
 that fools shall not err therein. (Isa. xxxv. 8). 
 
 He that heareth you heareth me, and he that despiseth you despiseth me, 
 
 and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me. (St. Luke x. 16). 
 
 If he hear not the Church, let him be to thee as the heathen and tlie 
 
 publican. (St. Matthew xviii.). And in the Epis. to Timothy, St. 
 
 Paul calls the Church, the pillar and the ground of the truth. 
 
 I St. Matt, xxviii. 19, 20. ' § St. John xiv. 16. || Ibid. v. 26. 
 
294 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 It is evident from the Scriptures (a) that Christ wished 
 Christian doctrine to be preserved pure and free from error as 
 long as His Church should last, namely to the end of time. 
 
 (b) He wished this doctrine to be preserved pure and free from 
 error in His whole Church. Christ, wishing this, provided and 
 gave the means necessary to preserve His doctrine in its purity 
 and integrity. And considering (a) the nature and the number 
 of the Christian dogmas, (b) the Catholicity of the Church, 
 
 (c) the infirmity and malice of men, (d) their strong proclivities 
 to sects, &c. ; considering all these things, it is certain that the 
 Christian doctrine could not be protected and preserved pure and 
 free from error in this world without the special providence and 
 assistance of God, which we call the gift of infallibility. 
 
 God established His Church that she should always be one 
 in faith ; therefore that she should be incorruptible in the teaching 
 of that faith. If she could err in teaching, she might propose 
 what is false and erroneous to be believed, and in this case she 
 could no longer be one in her faith ; because she would be teach- 
 ing truth and falsehood. The connection between the truth and 
 the unity of the Church is expressly declared in St. Paul's words — 
 one Lord, one faith. And He gave some apostles, and some prophets, 
 
 and other some evangelists, and other some pastors and doctors 
 
 that henceforth we be no more children tossed to and fro, and car- 
 ried about with every wind of doctrine by the wickedness of men, by 
 cunning craftiness, by which they lie in wait to deceive.* 
 
 The object of Infallibility. 
 
 8. The object of passive infallibility is the doctrine believed. 
 
 The object of active infallibility is the dogmas of faith. This 
 infallibility extends to the following heads : 
 
 (a) In defining that something is revealed. 
 
 (&) In defining that something is not revealed even though 
 it be a sacred or supernatural truth ; as for example, 
 the number of the elect, the day of judgment, &c. 
 
 (c) In defining that something is not revealed in that sense 
 
 in which it is not, or that a truth pertains in no way 
 to sacred doctrine or revelation. 
 
 (d) In defining something to be directly opposed to a re- 
 
 vealed truth, and therefore heretical. 
 
 (e) In defining something to be indirectly opposed to re- 
 
 vealed truth. 
 
 * Ephes. iv. 11, 14. 
 
THE APOSTLES CREED. 295 
 
 ( f) In defining that the deposit of faith is preserved pure 
 and entire, so that the dogmas transmitted to the 
 Church by Christ and His apostles have been pre- 
 served, and will always be preserved, and that none of 
 them ever have been or ever will be lost.* 
 
 The subject of Infallibility. 
 
 9. By the subject of infallibility I mean that in which the 
 gift or prerogative resides, or in other words, those to whom it 
 has been promised and given. 
 
 The subject of passive infallibility is the universal Church 
 taken as a whole. 
 
 The subject of active infallibility is — (a) The body of Pastors, 
 that is of Bishops (in which the Sovereign Pontiff is included), 
 either dispersed or assembled in Council, (b) The Sovereign 
 Pontiff, when he defines ex cathedra. 
 
 The Church is at the same time the witness of doctrine, its 
 judge, and teacher, which three words signify the same thing under 
 different aspects. The Church is the ivitness, inasmuch as she 
 defines that some doctriue, v.g. t that of the Immaculate Concep- 
 tion is a dogma of faith. She is & judge, inasmuch as she settles 
 controversies ; that is amongst different opinions and teachings, 
 she judges and defines what is true and to be held, and what is 
 false and to be rejected. She is the teacher in her daily ministry, 
 by which, through her living voice, she instructs the faithful in all 
 things, and directs them in the safe doctrine of morals, as it were 
 leading them by the hand in the way of salvation. 
 
 *Apud. Murray de Eccle. D. xi. Sect. 1. 
 
296 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 SECTION 6. (Article IX.) 
 
 DOGMATIC AND MOKAL FACTS. 
 
 1. The meaning of Dogmatic and Moral facts. — 2. An enumeration of the 
 principal Dogmatic and Moral facts. — 3. The approbation and con- 
 demnation of books. — i. The authority of the Church in declaring 
 whether a doctrine contained in a book is true or false. — 5. The au- 
 thority of the Church in the Canonization of Saints. — The meaning 
 of Canonization and beatification, and the difference between them ; 
 the difference between public and private worship (cultus). — 6. The 
 Church's infallibility in the Canonization of Saints proved. — 7. The 
 authority of the Church in ruling or in her government. —8. The 
 meaning of the power of Order and Jurisdiction.— d. The meaning of 
 the Divine Hierarchy of the Church. 
 
 In connection with the authority and infallibility of the 
 Church we have to deal with dogmatic and moral facts, inasmuch 
 as these are closely connected with revealed doctrine. The faith- 
 ful may easily be deceived in regard to the Church's authority in 
 these matters, and to save them from any surprise or mistake I 
 think it must be useful to give an explanation of some of these 
 facts and the Church's authority in regard to them. 
 
 1. A dogmatic fact is & fact that is so closely connected with 
 a dogma of faith, that its knowledge is necessary in order to teach 
 the dogma or to preserve it pure and entire. 
 
 A moral fact is that which is so closely connected with mo- 
 rals that the knowledge of it is necessary in order to teach the 
 principles of morals, or to preserve from error the morals of the 
 faithful. 
 
 A fact may be closely connected with a dogma of faith and 
 with morals at the same time, and then it is both a dogmatic and 
 a moral fact. Dogmatic facts may be revealed or not revealed. 
 If revealed they are the object of divine faith, and like all other 
 rsvealed truths fall under the object of the Church's infallible 
 teaching. 
 
 2. I here subjoin the chief dogmatic, moral, and mixed facts. 
 
 (a) Whether this or that Pope, v.g., Leo XIII., is the true 
 
 Sovereign Pontiff. 
 
 (b) Whether this or that Council, v.g., the Council oi Trent, 
 
 was Ecumenical or not. 
 
THE APOSTLES CREED. 297 
 
 (c) Whether certain dogmas are expressed correctly and 
 
 more accurately by certain words and. expressions 
 than by others, such as the Divinity of the Son by 
 consubstantial, and the manner of the real presence in 
 the Blessed Sacrament by transubstantiation, or 
 whether other words are incorrect. 
 
 (d) Whether this or that book contains sound or unsouud 
 
 doctrine. The same may be said of part of a book or 
 manuscript, or of things done, for instance, at a Gen- 
 eral Council. 
 
 (e) Whether this or that system of education, whether for 
 
 the clergy or laity, is good or bad, safe or dangerous. 
 
 (/) Whether this or that Society, say the Society of the 
 Freemasons, is good or bad in itself, whether it is safe 
 or dangerous either intrinsically or extrinsically. 
 
 (g) Whether those canonized by the Church are truly Saints. 
 
 (h) Whether this or that Eeligious Order is good and useful 
 in the Church. 
 
 To illustrate the authority of the Church in these matters, 
 out of the above facts I select one or two on which in particular 
 to write. 
 
 3. Let us take the dogmatic fact of the approbation and 
 condemnation of books. The Catholic doctrine teaches that the 
 Church has, by divine right, authority not only to approve 
 particular propositions, and reject others as they may be in 
 accordance with or contrary to faith and morals, but also that 
 she can approve whole books, or any other writings, as containing 
 true and sound doctrine, or condemn them as containing false 
 and depraved doctrine. 
 
 All agree as to the Church's authority in regard to approving 
 or condemning singular or particular propositions. But the 
 question was raised by the Jansenists as to the authority of the 
 Church of condemning a whole book, on account of the false or 
 wrong doctrine contained in it ; or the right of the Church to 
 attribute to any particular book a depraved doctrine as really 
 signified and contained in it. 
 
 About a book and its sense, the question may be as to the 
 mere fact only, or the dogmatic fact. 
 
 (a) Whether the book, to which the title Angus tinus is 
 
 given, was really written by Jansenius. 
 
 (b) Whether the condemned propositions are contained in 
 
 it in so many words ; it suffices that they be contained 
 in it as to their sense. 
 
THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 (c) Whether the author of the book really held in his own 
 mind the condemned doctrine or not. As to these 
 matters of pure simple fact, the Church does not 
 judge. But as to the dogmatic fact itself, there are 
 two questions to be attended to. (1) The question of 
 right, or rather the question of doctrine, as to whether 
 it is sound or not. (2) The question of fact whether, 
 namely, this doctrine is contained in this book, or 
 that it is really contained in that book is the dogmatic 
 fact. Hence the Church, in denning that the five 
 famous propositions of Jansenius are heretical, deter- 
 mines the question of right, and defines a dogma ; 
 and in defining that these propositions are contained 
 in the book of Jansenius, she defines a dogmatic fact, 
 and in this her judgment is infallible. 
 I may here note that a proposition may be condemned either 
 (ut jacet) as it is in itself, or in the sense intended by the author. 
 In the sense intended by the author, does not mean that the 
 author had that sense really in his mind when expressing the 
 proposition, but that it is elicited from his words. 
 
 4. Now the Church has the right and the office of pre- 
 serving and protecting for the faithful the purity and integrity 
 of faith and morals, and this authority would be vain and useless 
 unless she were able to state whether the doctrine of books were 
 sound or not, and to condemn the books themselves. And we 
 must, therefore, hold that the Church has, by divine right, the 
 authority to define that a false and dangerous doctrine is 
 contained in a particular book. 
 
 The Church has always, from the very beginning, vindicated 
 to herself this right, as divinely imparted to her ; and she would 
 not have arrogated to herself, in the manner she has done, such 
 a right, unless she really possessed it. We may, therefore, 
 state that the Church, in defining that dogmatic fact, is 
 infallible. 
 
 (a) If the Church were fallible in such a sentence, it might 
 happen that she would condemn a book as heretical 
 and scandalous which contained only sound and pure 
 doctrine, and by this very act she would fail in her 
 office of keeping the faith safe. This she would do 
 in a three-fold respect, (1) by defining an erroneous 
 doctrine to be contained where alone Catholic doctrine 
 is to be found ; (2) by turning away the faithful from 
 pastures as pernicious, which, in reality, are healthy 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 299 
 
 and salubrious; (3) by teaching error to the 
 faithful. 
 
 (b) This may be proved from the words of Clement XI., to 
 
 the following effect, in his Constitution vineam 
 Domini Sabaoth. " That every occasion of error may 
 in the future be removed, and that all the children of 
 the Catholic Church may hear the Church not only 
 by silence, for the impious in tenebris conticiscunt, 
 but by interior submission, which is the true obedi- 
 ence of an orthodox man ; let them learn that we 
 decree and declare by this our Constitution to be 
 always in force, that the submission which is due to 
 the designated Apostolic Constitution is by no means 
 satisfied by obsequous silence H This Consti- 
 tution has reference to the condemnation of the five 
 famous propositions of Jansenius, as contained in the 
 book entitled Augustinus, as the Jansenists had 
 endeavoured by every means in their power to evade 
 the condemnation of the Church, and as a last resort, 
 claimed the right to remain silent as to the Church's 
 condemnation, without acknowledging her right, or 
 the justice of her sentence, or accepting it in their 
 minds. This the Constitution of Clement XI. 
 declares to be insufficient for the obedience due to the 
 authority and teaching of the Church. 
 
 (c) The Jansenists themselves admitted that the Church is 
 
 infallible in defining a book or any writing to be 
 Catholic and free from error, as the Council of Trent 
 defined concerning the Vulgate version of the Sacred 
 Scripture and the Canon of the Mass. Therefore, the 
 Church can declare the doctrine of a book to be 
 heretical. There is a parity between the two. 
 
 (d) Finally the Church has always exercised this right, as 
 
 is manifest from her public acts. The Council of Nice 
 condemned the Thalium of Arius, the Council of 
 Ephesus and Chalcedon condemned the writings of 
 Nestorius, &c. 
 All this doctrine applies to the propositions and books 
 
 condemned by Apostolic authority from time to time, a summary 
 
 of which may be found in the Syllabus of Pius. IX. 
 
 After treating of one dogmatic fact, I may take a moral 
 
 fact in illustration of the authority of the Church in regard to 
 
 these moral facts, as well as the dogmatic ones. 
 
300 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 The Canonization of the Saints. 
 
 5. Canonization is the public testimony of the Church of 
 the true sanctity and the glory of a departed soul. 
 
 A person is called a Saint who is properly canonized, that is, 
 one who, by the Sovereign Pontiff, is inscribed in the number 
 and catalogue of the Saints, publicly, solemnly, and canonically, 
 and declared and defined to be a Saint, and as such to be 
 regarded by all the faithful of Christ. 
 
 A person is called blessed, that is beatified, who, by special 
 concession of the Sovereign Pontiff, may be venerated as being 
 in heaven by public veneration in some Province, or in some 
 Eeligious Order or Orders, or in some particular place or country. 
 
 The following are the differences between Canonization and 
 Beatification : — 
 
 In Canonization, (a) A person is declared to be a Saint. 
 (b) That he is to be regarded as such by the whole Church, (c) 
 That he may be venerated by public honour in the whole Church. 
 (d) The sentence of Canonization is final and definitive, and the 
 cause is finished by it. 
 
 In Beatification, (a) The person beatified is not expressly 
 declared to be a Saint or blessed, but it is only granted that this 
 title may be given to him as in the words of Beatification : 
 " Facultatem facimus ut N.N. Beati nomine in posterum 
 appelletur."* " We grant leave that N.N. may be called in future 
 by the name Blessed." (b) He is not to be called Saint, but 
 Blessed, (a) He is not to be venerated by public honour, except 
 within the limits of those places to which the concession has 
 been made, (d) The sentence of Beatification is not final and 
 definitive. We have to explain the difference between private 
 and public worship (cultus) or honour, in connection with this 
 subject. 
 
 Private worship is not offered in the name of the Church, 
 and has not been appointed by the Church, but is that which 
 may be offered by any private individual out of devotion, either 
 in secret or in public. 
 
 Public worship is that which is offered in the name of the 
 Church, and has been appointed by the Church as such, and this 
 whether it be offered in a public place or in secret. 
 
 It is certain and of faith, or at least definible of faith, f that 
 
 * Litterae Apostolicse Pius. IX. quod juxta and ad excitandum. 1 Oct., 1852. 
 t Murray, de Ecc. D. xvii. S. v. 
 
THE APOSTLES* CREED. 301 
 
 the Church has the authority to canonize Saints. That authority 
 she has always exercised from the beginning. 
 
 Either she has that authority from God, and, as it is a spiri- 
 tual authority, it could not be otherwise than from God, or it 
 must be said that the Church has exercised from the beginning 
 an usurped authority. But this latter we cannot say ; therefore 
 the Church has this authority ; therefore she has it by revelation, 
 as that is the only way in which she could receive it from God ; 
 and therefore we may conclude that it is revealed that the Church 
 has this authority from God. 
 
 6. From this it follows that the Church is infallible in the Ca- 
 nonization of Saints. This at least is the more common and 
 more probable opinion of Theologians. The Church in Canoniza- 
 tion defines a person to be a Saint, and to be regarded as such by 
 the whole Church, and in a matter of this kind her definition must 
 be infallible. That she declares those canonized to be Saints is 
 evident from the Decrees and Eules of Canonization : as in the 
 Decree of Canonization of 27 Saints by His Holiness Pius IX. on 
 the Feast of Penticost, 8th June, 1862. Ad honorem Sanctae et 
 Individuae Trinitatis, & exaltationem fidei Catholicae, & Christi- 
 anae religionis augmentum, auctoritate D. N. Jesu Christi, Beato- 
 
 rum Apostolorum Petri et Pauli acnostra Beatos Petrum Bapt. 
 
 &c, Sanctos esse decermimus & defininimus ac sanctorum cata- 
 
 logo adscribimus; statuentes ab ecclesia universali illorum memo- 
 riam quolibet anno .pia devotione recoli debere. 
 
 " To the honour of the holy and undevided Trinity, for the 
 exaltation of the Catholic faith, and the increase of the Christian 
 religion, by the authority of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and of the 
 Blessed apostles Peter and Paul, and Our authority, we declare 
 
 and define the Blessed Peter Baptist <fcc. to be Saints, and to 
 
 be numbered in the catalogue of the Saints, determining at the 
 same time their memory to be kept by the universal Church every 
 year with pious devotion." 
 
 This was the practice of the Church in former times, as we 
 may learn from the decree of Pius II. in the Canonization of St, 
 Catherine of Sienna : "By the authority of Our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 of His Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and Our authority, we 
 declare Catherine of Sienna to have been received into the 
 heavenly Jerusalem, and to have received the crown of eternal 
 glory ; and we decree and define that she be both privately and 
 publicly venerated as a Saint." 
 
 The same truth may be proved from the Note of Sanctity in 
 the Church. The Church is holy, and were she to propose a 
 
302 THE CEEED EXPLAINED. 
 
 wicked or ungodly person to be venerated and imitated as a Saint, 
 the faithful would be deceived, and her sanctity would be im- 
 paired. 
 
 In concluding this subject it may be useful to explain the 
 quality of certitude with which the proposition of the Church's 
 infallibility in the Canonization of Saints is to be received. 
 
 Some, with Benedict XIV,* hold the proposition, which af- 
 firms the Church to be infallible in this to be of faith, but many 
 others deny this, as the same author attests. We may therefore 
 safely say — 
 
 (a) It seems that the proposition which affirms the infalli- 
 
 bility of the Church in the Canonization of Saints is 
 revealed, and therefore definable of faith, or one that 
 may be defined. 
 
 (b) It appears certain that the proposition is not of divine 
 
 Catholic faith, so that the opposite doctrine can be 
 called heretical.! For although it is certainly of faith 
 that the Church is infallible in the common doctrine of 
 morals, it is not certain with the same certitude of 
 faith that the Canonization of Saints pertains to the 
 common doctrine of morals, nor do all agree that it 
 does. There is no express definition of the Church 
 as to its infallibility in this respect being the doctrine 
 of divine faith, neither can it be gathered from the 
 usual practice of the Church. 
 Hence we believe the infallibility of the Church in the Cano- 
 nization of Saints, and those whom she has canonized to be 
 Saints, not by divine faith, nor by purely human and fallible 
 faith, but on ecclesiastical and infallible faith, founded on the as- 
 sistance given by the Holy Ghost to the Church. 
 
 Any one who should deny a canonized Saint to be in heaven, 
 would not thereby be actually a heretic, but he would be (a) teme- 
 rarius, (6) scandalous, (c) impious, and suspected of heresy. 
 
 The Authority or Power op the Church in ruling. 
 
 7. After explaining the Indefectibility of the Church as to her 
 being and existence, and her Infallibility in teaching, it now re- 
 mains that I explain what is meant by her power and authority 
 in ruling. 
 
 The notion of ecclesiastical power. Power is the faculty of 
 
 * De Canoniz. 45. 14, &c. t Benedict XIV., de Canoniz. N. 27. 
 
THE APOSTLES* CEEED. 803 
 
 doing something ; it is either physical or moral, according as it is 
 the principle of physical or moral action. 
 
 Moral power implies a right or authority to oblige other per- 
 sons. Authority may be devided : — (a) By reason of its object 
 into the power of commanding, and of binding or loosing, (b) By 
 reason of the persons possessing it it may be either paternal, 
 pastoral, or kingly, (c) By reason of Society it is either domes- 
 tic, political or ecclesiastical, (d) By reason of its origin it is 
 natural or positive, human or divine. All power is at least 
 mediately from God, according to the words of St. Paul : there 
 is no power but from God ; and those of the Psalmist : by me Kings 
 rule. 
 
 After this general reference to power and authority we have 
 to ask what is meant by the power of the Church, and how mani- 
 fold is it ? The power of the Church means a moral faculty or 
 authority divinely bestowed upon the Church, which gives her the 
 right to command and to bind and loose all her children. It is 
 three-fold : the power of teaching, of ministering, and of ruling ; 
 which three-fold power is generally signified by the power of the 
 keys, the keys of the Church. 
 
 8. This three-fold power may again be divided into the power 
 of Order and Jurisdiction. The power of Order is derived from a 
 Sacrament ; that of Jurisdiction from the Mission or being sent : 
 the one affects the power given to a man ; the other affects other 
 persons who are given to him as subjects over whom he may ex- 
 ercise that power. 
 
 Mission is three-fold, (a) Of preaching the faith : Go, teach all 
 nations, (b) Of dispensing mysteries and Sacraments : Baptizing 
 
 them the ministers of Christ and the dispensers of His mysteries. 
 
 (c) Of providing for its own conservation and government : teach- 
 ing them all things that I have commanded you and to the con- 
 
 summation of the world, 
 
 9. Christ instituted in His Church a Hierarchy of Order, 
 consisting of Bishops, Priests and Ministers. This is defined of 
 faith by the Council of Trent.* 
 
 Hierarchy means a sacred power distinct in subordinate 
 grades ; one arranged under the other. It is either heavenly or 
 earthly. With the heavenly hierarchy we have nothing to do in 
 this place, but only with the terestial one. This means inequality 
 of power and subordination, as it is established on earth between 
 the pastors and ministers of the Church. 
 
 * Sess. xiii. Can. 6. 17., cap. 4. 
 
304: THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 The hierarchy of the Church is two-fold, one of order, the 
 other of jurisdiction. The hierarchy of order is conferred by the 
 Sacrament, and consists of the seven Sacramental Orders. 
 
 That of jurisdiction is made up of various grades of dignities 
 and offices in the Church, which are, the Papacy, Cardinalate, Pa- 
 triarchate, Primatial, Archiepiscopal Prelacy, and those inferior to 
 Episcopacy. Of these some are established by divine right, and 
 some are only ecclesiastical. Those that are of divine right in 
 the hierarchy of Orders are Bishops, Priests and Ministers ; and 
 in the hierarchy of jurisdiction: The Sovereign Pontificate or 
 Apostolic Primacy, Episcopacy and Priesthood. 
 
 Of these the Church teaching is composed, and as they be- 
 long to the Constitution of the Church it will be necesrary to ex- 
 plain some of them more in detail, especially as regards the Pope, 
 the Head of the Church. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 305 
 
 CHAPTEE II. (Article IX.) 
 
 THE ROMAN PONTIFF. 
 
 1. The signification of the word Pope. — 2. Christ, the invisible Head of the 
 Church, appointed a Vicar, or visible Head of the Church on earth. — 
 
 3. What is meant by the Primacy of honour and of jurisdiction. — 
 
 4. The Catholic doctrine regarding the Primacy of St. Peter and his 
 successors. — 5. Scriptural proofs that Christ conferred the Primacy 
 on St. Peter, (a) from St. John i. 42. {b) from St. Matt. xvi. — the 
 text explained, (c) from St. John xxii. 22-6. St. Peter exercised 
 this power, and it was acknowledged by the other Apostles. — 7. Dr. 
 Lingard's Note on the subject. 
 
 1. By the word Pope is meant Father. The Bishop of 
 Eome, the successor of St. Peter, is in fact the Common Father 
 of all the faithful. Hence he is commonly called the Pope. He 
 is also called the Sovereign Pontiff, or the Vicar of Christ on earth, 
 and for this reason, in addressing him, we call him our Holy 
 Father. 
 
 The Pope is elected by the College of Cardinals, as often as 
 a vacancy occurs in the Holy See. These Cardinals are Bishops, 
 Priests, or even Deacons, which former Popes chose as their 
 Council. Their number is fixed at 70. 
 
 We have now to treat of the visible Head of the Church, and 
 the importance and utility of this question is of the greatest 
 magnitude, for as Cardinal Bellarmine says : " Our adversaries, 
 that is heretics, whilst in almost all other dogmas they differ 
 amongst themselves, all agree in opposing with all their strength 
 the prerogatives of the Eoman Pontiff. There were never any 
 enemies of Christ and of the Church who did not at the same 
 time wage war against the Chair of Peter.'' 
 
 2. That Jesus Christ in quality of Our Lord is the Head of 
 the Church will not be disputed ; for God appointed Him Head 
 over all the Church.* But, since His ascent into heaven, He is 
 invisible to us ; and the question is, whether He did not, before 
 He left the earth, appoint a Vicar or deputy to be the visible 
 Head in His place. From Sacred Scripture it is manifest that He 
 did, and that St. Peter was the person on whom He conferred this 
 high dignity. We have therefore to treat this subject in detail. 
 
 * Ephes. i. 22. 
 
S06 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 Chapter II. 
 
 SECTION 1. (Article IX.) 
 
 OF THE PRIMACY OF PETER. 
 
 3. By primacy is to be understood the pre-eminence of 
 honour and jurisdiction over the whole Church. 
 
 By the Primacy of honour is signified a certain title to which 
 is annexed certain honourable rights, such as taking the first place 
 in assemblies. 
 
 The Primacy of jurisdiction is that which gives real power to 
 a man to be exercised over others as over subjects, whom he rules 
 by laws, and calls under His judgment, and obliges by penalties. 
 It is of this primacy chiefly that there is question, when we speak 
 of the primacy of Peter and of the Pope : for the primacy of 
 honour is founded on the primacy of jurisdiction, and follows of 
 necessity from it. 
 
 4. The Catholic doctrine of the Primacy of St. Peter and 
 his successors in the Eoman See is known to all from the mani- 
 fest faith of the Church. It may be stated in the following pro- 
 position. 
 
 Christ instituted in His Church the primacy of Jurisdiction, 
 which He conferred upon St. Peter, and He wished that it should 
 last always in His Church. This is the doctrine of faith accord- 
 ing to the Decree of the Council of Florence (anno 1438) for the 
 union of the Greeks : "We define that the holy Apostolic See 
 holds the primacy over the whole earth, and that the Eoman 
 
 Pontiff is the successor of Blessed Peter and that to him, 
 
 Blessed Peter, was delivered by our Lord Jesus Christ the fulness 
 of power to feed, rule, and govern the universal Church." 
 
 It is evident from Sacred Scripture that the Church has one 
 Supreme Head. She is compared in the Scripture to a Kingdom, 
 an Army, and a Sheepfold. And these expressions indicate one 
 King, one Shepherd, and one General : In the words of St. John, 
 one fold and one shepherd. 
 
 By the divine ordinance or decree the supreme ruler of the 
 Church should be one. 
 
 The Church is one in government ; that is, all is subject to 
 one supreme government. And either this supreme power resides 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 307 
 
 in one ruler, or in many who form a combined government : but 
 this latter cannot be ; because from the beginning of the Church 
 no such form of government existed. General Councils are not 
 of this kind, for the form of government of any society should be 
 permanent and continuous ; but General Councils have been few, 
 and celebrated after long intervals of time. Moreover, all or 
 nearly all General Councils were held for the purpose of settling 
 some particular controversy, and they did not so much rule the 
 Church as form decrees of faith and morals by which she should 
 be ruled. 
 
 Before giving the Scripture proofs of the proposition above 
 stated, I have to note that all the arguments that go to prove the 
 primacy of St. Peter, equally prove the primacy of the Sovereign 
 Pontiff, inasmuch as the power conferred on St. Peter was 
 transmitted to his successors. 
 
 5. That Christ conferred the primacy on St. Peter is proved 
 (a) from St. John,* where it is mentioned that Christ changed 
 Peter's name : And he (Andrew) brought him to Jesus. And Jesus 
 looking iipon him said : Thou art Simon, the son of Jona ; thou 
 shalt be called Cephas, which is interpreted Peter, Christ did not 
 then assign the reason of this name : but on the authority of 
 Cardinal Wiseman we know that it was a custom amongst the 
 Jews, and especially the interpreters of the Law in the time of 
 our Lord, and after that time, to change the name of some who 
 amongst the disciples were more remarkable than, or excelled, 
 others in merit or learning. But there is no need of recourse to 
 the Jewish custom in this matter, as Christ Himself assigned the 
 reason of this change of name, when He promised that He would 
 build His Church on Peter, (b) This then is the second Scrip- 
 tural proof taken from St. Matthew.! Jesus came into the 
 quarters of Cesar ea Philippi, and He ashed His disciples, saying, 
 
 Whom do men say that the Son of man is? Simon Peter answered 
 
 and said : Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus 
 answering said to him : Blessed art thou, Simon Bar- Jona, because 
 flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but My Father who is 
 in heaven. And I say to thee, that thou art Peter ; and upon this 
 rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail 
 against it. 
 
 From these words we may form an argument thus : what 
 Christ promised, He fulfilled ; and He promised that He would 
 build His Church on Peter, therefore He did so. Christ conferred 
 
 * St. John i. 42. t St. Matt. xvi. 
 
308 THE CEEED EXPLAINED. 
 
 the primacy on St. Peter, and it is in this sense the foundation of 
 the Church is to be understood. The texts clearly prove the pro- 
 mise of Christ, and yet the efforts of adversaries have been used 
 for the purpose of confusing and distorting the sense of our 
 Saviour's words, hence it is necessary to notice one or two of 
 their objections. 
 
 Against our application of this text and the word Peter — rock 
 (or Petra in Latin) the objections are — (a) according to some that 
 by the rock (or petra) Christ meant Himself ; (b) others that He 
 meant the faith of Peter ; and (c) some others say that by the 
 rock He meant the whole body of the faithful. 
 
 To these objections we answer : — 
 
 (a) The rock or Petra in this place does not signify Christ 
 
 Himself, CI) because in the Syro-chaldaic language 
 there is no distinction of gender in the word, as there 
 is in Latin and Greek ; but both Petrus and Petra are 
 expressed by one and the same word, they have the 
 same sound and meaning, or object ; (2) because the 
 sentence or discourse of our Lord from beginning to 
 end was addressed to St. Peter, and Christ spoke to 
 Peter alone, face to face. 
 
 (b) The word Petra, a rock, does not mean the faith of Peter 
 
 in the abstract. That the text should bear this sense 
 it should be somewhere in it expressly stated, and in 
 nowhere, either in this text or any other, do we find 
 Petra or rock used for faith. 
 
 (c) Petra, a rock, cannot be taken to mean the body of the 
 
 faithful, because the body of the faithful is the Church 
 itself ; and the meaning of the text is not that the 
 Church would be build upon itself, which implies an 
 absurdity. Neither is Peter, a rock, the body of the 
 Apostles, as some others have imagined, for neither by 
 usage or by any institution could this word be applied 
 to the body of the Apostles. Moreover, in all this 
 discourse, no word of Christ is addressed to the 
 Apostles, but all is addressed to Peter, and to Peter 
 only. Peter is therefore the rock ; and the Latin 
 Petrus is the same as Petra. No one but Peter at the 
 time confessed the divinity of Christ. No one but 
 Peter could be called Simon Bar- Jona ; and no one but 
 Peter was called Cephas. 
 We have now to proceed with the continuation of our Lord's 
 discourse to Peter, and obtain another argument from the figure 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 309 
 
 of the Keys. And I will give to thee the keys of the Kingdom of 
 heaven. And lohatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be 
 bound also in heaven ; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, 
 it shall be loosed also in heaven* By the Kingdom of heaven is 
 here meant the Church, of which He makes express mention in 
 the preceding words. The possession, or giving up of the keys 
 of any place, house, or city, &c, was, amongst the ancients, espe- 
 cially in the East, a symbol of possession, or the giving of power 
 over such places : Scriptural usage is clear on this point, for the 
 Sacred Scripture, wherever it uses the metaphor of the keys 
 signifies real power and authority. Thus, in Isaias, when God 
 wished to signify that He gave His authority to Eliacim in the 
 hall of the King, He said : And I will lay the hey of the house of 
 David upon his shoulder ; and he shall open, and none shall shut ; 
 and he shall shut, and none shall open.\ And it is in the same 
 sense our Saviour Himself uses it, when He says : Woe to you 
 lawyers, for you have taken away the key of knowledge ; that is, as- 
 sumed to themselves the sole authority of interpreting the Sacred 
 Scriptures. And in the Apocalypse, Christ, wishing to signify that 
 He has the power of life and death, says that He has the keys of 
 death and hell. 
 
 As the Scriptures, in these and in many other places, use the 
 metaphor of the keys to signify power, it should in this place be 
 taken in the same sense ; to give the keys of the Kingdom of 
 heaven therefore means the giving of supreme power to St. Peter, 
 and constituting him the Vicar of Christ on earth. 
 
 The power of binding and loosing was afterwards conferred 
 on the other Apostles, but here it is promised in a special and 
 emphatic manner to St. Peter by himself, to show the supreme 
 power that Christ would entrust to him : whatsoever thou shalt 
 bind on earth it shall be bound also in heaven, &c. 
 
 (c) The third place of the New Testament from which we 
 conclude the primacy of St. Peter is the Gospel of St. John, J 
 where Christ, after His Eesurrection, conferred on St. Peter the 
 promised power. Three times He asked St. Peter in the presence 
 of the other Apostles whether he loved Him more than they did ; 
 and to Peter's three-fold protestation of love He subjoined the 
 three-fold command : Feed My lambs, feed My sheep. When there- 
 fore they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter : Simon, son of John, 
 lovest thou Me more than these ? He saith to Him : Yea, Lord, thou 
 knoiuest that I love thee. He saith to him : Feed My lambs. He 
 
 St. Matt. xvi. ii>. f Isa. xxii. 22. $ St. John xxi. 15 et seq. 
 
310 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 saith to him again : Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me ? He saith 
 to Him : Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith to 
 him : Feed My lambs. He saith to him the third time : Simon, son 
 of John, lovest thou Me ? Peter was grieved, because He had said 
 to him the third time : Lovest thou Me ? And he said to Him : 
 Lord, thou knowest all things ; thou knowest that I love Thee. He 
 said to him : Feed My sheep. 
 
 From this whole text it follows : (a) That our Lord gave to 
 St. Peter a special power and commission to feed not only His 
 lambs, that is the faithful in general ; but also His sheep, that is 
 the Clergy and Bishops, etc. 
 
 (b) That to St. Peter was committed the universal Church, 
 both the sheep and lambs of Christ, as embracing the whole fold 
 by the Supreme Pastor, the pastor of pastors. Therefore we con- 
 clude from the promise of Christ, the metaphor of the keys, and 
 the three-fold command to feed His lambs and His sheep, that our 
 Lord conferred on St. Peter the Primacy over the universal 
 Church on earth. 
 
 6. These arguments may be further confirmed by the fact 
 that St. Peter exercised this power, and it was acknowledged by 
 all the other Apostles. Peter, in the list of the Apostles, is always 
 placed first by the Evangelists.* And St. Matthew says ex- 
 pressly : the first Simon who is called Peter. Sometimes he alone 
 is mentioned, the others being omitted. Thus in St. Mark's 
 Gospel :f And Simon and they that were with Him followed after 
 Him. And again \\ But go, tell His disciples and Peter that He 
 goeth before you into Galilee. In the Acts of the Apostles we 
 find the same :|| But Peter and the Apostles, answering, said. And 
 in the first Chapter of the Acts we find St. Peter taking the lead : 
 In those days Peter, rising up in the midst of the brethren, said, &c. 
 
 During the lifetime of Christ Peter speaks in the name of 
 and for the other Apostles, as narrated in many places of the 
 Gospel of St. Matthew (xv. 15., xvi. 16., xvii. 4, 23., xviii. 21., 
 xix. 27.). Finally St. Peter presided at the first Council of Jeru- 
 salem, and when he spoke all the others remained silent. And 
 St. Paul, who had received the Gospel by revelation, nevertheless 
 tells us, that after three years he went to Jerusalem to see Peter, 
 and that he tarried with him fifteen days. 
 
 7. I may here give, by way of summary of the foregoing 
 proofs, Dr. Lingard's Note on this subject. 
 
 (a) " The name of this Apostle was originally Simon. The 
 
 * SS. Matt. x. 2 ; Mark. iii. 16 ; Luke vi. 14. + StTMark. i. 36. 
 
 ; St. Mark. xvi. 7. || Acts v. 29. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 311 
 
 moment he appeared before our Saviour, he received 
 from Him a new name : — Thou art Simon, the son oj 
 Jona ; thou shalt be called Cephas* 
 The true interpretation of Cephas is rock, though in the ver- 
 sion of the English Church we read stone — probably to elude the 
 argument drawn from this change of name. Now, why did our 
 blessed Lord give to him, at first sight, before Simon had done or 
 said anything to elicit it, this name of rock ? The mystery was 
 disclosed later, when, in consequence of Peter's confession, He 
 said to him : Thou art Cephas, and on this Cephas I will build My 
 Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it ;+ words in 
 Hebrew equivalent to the following : Thou art Bock, the Bock on 
 which I will build My Church. 
 
 (b) "He then proceeded thus : I will give unto thee the keys 
 
 of the Kingdom of heaven, &c. The power of binding 
 and loosing was afterwards conferred on the other 
 Apostles, but not the keys, the badge of the chief 
 office in the household. They were granted to Peter 
 alone. 
 
 (c) " At the miraculous draught of fishes, figurative of the 
 
 gathering of the nations into the Church, when Peter, 
 with his partners James and John, forsook all and 
 followed our Saviour, it was the bark of St. Peter into 
 which Jesus entered in preference ; it was Peter whom 
 He ordered to let down the net for a draught, and to 
 Peter He said: fear not; henceforth thou shalt catch 
 men;l that is, shalt be a fisher of men. From that 
 period we find him always mentioned as the first, and 
 the leader of the others ; to him is given the charge 
 that he confirm his brethren ; § and the office of feeding 
 both the lambs and the sheep. || After the Ascension 
 of our Lord we find him acting as the head of the 
 whole body at the election of Matthias (Acts i.), in 
 preaching the Gospel to the Jews (Acts ii. iii.), in re- 
 buking Ananias and Saphira (Acts v.), in the calling 
 of the Gentiles (Acts x.), and in the Council at Jeru- 
 salem (Acts xv.). All these passages and proceedings 
 demonstrate in Peter a pre-eminence in rank and au- 
 thority above the other Apostles. 
 
 * St. John i. 42. -f St. Matt. xvi. 18. J St. Luke v. 10. 
 
 § Ibid. xxii. 32. || St. John xxi. 15. 16. 
 
812 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 Chapter II. 
 
 SECTION 2. (Article IX.) 
 
 THE PKIMACY OF THE ROMAN PONTIFF. 
 
 1. The Office was not personal to Peter, but was to pass to his successors. — 
 2. Christ wished the primacy to continue in His Church. — 3. The 
 primacy conferred on St. Peter continues in the Roman Pontiff. — 
 
 4. The Roman Pontiff by divine right is the successor of St. Peter. — - 
 
 5. An objection against the supremacy of the Roman Pontiff, and its 
 answer. 
 
 1. Dr. Lingard, continuing his remarks on the Church and 
 the primacy of St. Peter, says of the succession of that authority 
 and supremacy : 
 
 " It may perhaps be supposed that the office might be per- 
 sonal to Peter, and therefore might not pass to his successors. 
 But on what grounds does such a supposition rest ? If Christ, 
 when He established His Church, gave to it a visible Head, who 
 could have authority to change that form of government after- 
 wards ? Whatever reason there might be why Peter should be 
 invested with authority over his brethren, the other Apostles, the 
 same will require that the successor of Peter should be invested 
 with authority over his brethren, the successors of the Apostles. 
 It is idle to require proof from Scripture on such matters, because 
 the Scripture does not treat of them. We may glean from the 
 inspired writers a few detached and imperfect notices of the form 
 of Church government which was established in their time ; but 
 not one of them fully describes that form, nor alludes to the form 
 that was to prevail in time to come. For such matters we must 
 have recourse to tradition ; and tradition bears ample testimony 
 to the superior authority of the successor of St. Peter. For, says 
 Irenaeus ( amiolQl) ' It is necessary that all the Church, that is, 
 the faithful wherever they are, should conform to (be in com- 
 munion with) the Church of Eome on account of her Superior 
 chiefdom.' " (Adv., Haer. 3.) 
 
 2. We may, however, state that Christ wished the primacy 
 to continue in his Church. 
 
 No one denies that Christ wished his Church to remain always 
 the same as He established it, but in its primary constitution, 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 313 
 
 and by divine institution, the primacy was established in it ; 
 therefore it is always to remain in it, according to the will of 
 Christ Himself. 
 
 Moreover, the end for which the primacy was instituted 
 always remains ; that end is the preservation of unity in faith 
 and discipline ; and that it is necessary to this end, that the 
 primacy of authority and jurisdiction should exist in the Church, no 
 one can reasonably deny. For, as we have already seen, there can- 
 not be two Christian Churches; and those who cause a division in 
 the one true Church, as to her faith and doctrine, can no longer 
 beloDg to her. The Church is of necessity, and by divine insti- 
 tution, one ; therefore she must always have a Primate or Chief 
 Pastor ; and as she is to last to the end of time, so the primacy 
 must also last, and perpetually abide in her, as it belongs essen- 
 tially to her nature and institution. This is evident from the 
 words of Our Lord, addressed to St. Peter : and the gates of hell 
 shall not prevail against her ; and this, because she is built on 
 the rock of Peter. 
 
 3. The primacy conferred on St. Peter continues in the Eoman 
 Pontiff. No other Bishop has ever claimed to be the successor 
 of St. Peter, and no other has ever been acknowledged as such 
 by the faithful, and by the Church. All the Eoman Pontiffs, 
 from St. Linus, the immediate successor of St. Peter, to the 
 present Pontiff, Leo. XIII., have acted as the successors of St. 
 Peter, have vindicated to themselves, and used that power and 
 authority which belongs to the primacy. The Fathers of the 
 Church, the Councils, and the whole Catholic world, recognised 
 and recognise the Eoman Pontiffs as the successors of St. Peter, 
 and acknowledge now, as in the past, their primacy. 
 
 The same proposition may be proved from the fact of Peter's 
 See at Eome, and his dying as Bishop of Eome, and the right of 
 succession. That Pastor has the primacy, which was granted 
 to Peter, who is the one and lawful successor of St. 
 Peter. And as this is no other than the Eoman Pontiff, 
 he has the prerogatives of Peter and his primacy over the Church. 
 According to the natural law of succession, where the prede- 
 cessor dies, and there lays down his office, in that place we have 
 to look for his successor. But Peter had his See at Eome ; he 
 did not transfer it elsewhere, and he died Bishop of Eome ; and 
 it was in Eome itself he gave up his life, and with it the primacy 
 over the Church on earth ; therefore, the Bishop of Eome only 
 can be his successor. As to the coming of St. Peter to Eome, 
 his living there, and his death in that city, it is useless to in- 
 
314 THE CKEED EXPLAINED. 
 
 stitute any discussion, as it becomes useless in the present day 
 to doubt or discuss the question as to the fact of Alexander's 
 dwelling in Greece, and Cyrus in Persia. 
 
 It would be useless to dwell on the arguments in proof of a 
 fact which is not doubted by anyone of a sound and unprejudiced 
 mind, for it may be said in all ecclesiastical history, there is no 
 fact more known, none more certain or better attested, than this. 
 But what we have chiefly to notice in regard to this question, is 
 that St. Peter placed his See at Eome, and there remained 
 Bishop until his death ; and this is also attested by the testimony 
 of all historians, and all ages. 
 
 4, There is a further question to be examined in connection 
 with this matter, namely, whether the Eoman Pontiff is not only 
 the true and certain successor of St. Peter, but his successor by 
 divine right (jure divino). This is a grave question, and we have 
 four different opinions in regard to it ; but two only of them are 
 solid and tenable. 
 
 The first is that God left St. Peter free to choose his own 
 See, and at the same time ordained that whatever See St. Peter 
 should have at the time of his death, it should ever afterwards 
 retain the primacy ; in other words, the succession in the Epis- 
 copal See which St. Petar should make his own, should have 
 connected with it, by divine right, the succession of his primacy. 
 
 The second opinion states that God not only ordained that 
 some one particular See should be chosen, but revealed to Peter 
 the See of Eome, and designed that it, in particular, should be 
 the See of Peter and his successors. These two opinions are 
 tenable, and in accordance with the decree of the Vatican 
 Council (1870), in which we have the following definition: Si 
 quis ergo dixerit non esse ipsins Christi domini institutione, seu 
 jure divino, ut Beatus Petrus in primatu super universam Eccle- 
 siam habeat yerpetuos successores ; aut Bomanum Pontificem, non 
 esse Beati Petri in eodem primatu successionem, anathema sit. 
 
 " If anyone, therefore, say that it is not by virtue of Christ's 
 institution and divine right that the Blessed Peter has perpetual 
 successors in the primacy over the Universal Church ; or that 
 the Eoman Pontiff is not the successor of Blessed Peter in the 
 same primacy, let him be anathema." 
 
 The Councils of Nice, the first of Constantinople and of 
 Ephesus, have the following statement : "St. Peter, the prince 
 of the Apostles, and the head and foundation of the Church 
 
 up to this time, and in all future times, lives and 
 
 exercises judgment by his successors." 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 315 
 
 It is, therefore, concluded from this doctrine, and according 
 to the common teaching of Theologians, that the Primacy is 
 inseparable from the See of Peter, and that Popes can indeed 
 transfer their residence elsewhere, and leave Rome to dwell in 
 other countries ; but the See, or its title, cannot be transferred, 
 and that, wherever the Pope is, he must always be the Bishop 
 of Kome, otherwise he would not be St. Peter's successor. 
 
 5. The only objection to the supremacy of the Popes is 
 that uttered by some Protestant writers, who say, that the 
 supremacy of the Popes owes its origin to the astuteness, to the 
 fraud, to the barbarity of the middle ages, and to the celebrity 
 of the City of Rome. 
 
 To this sweeping and unfounded objection we answer : 
 Astuteness and fraud cannot easily be reconciled with the sanc- 
 tity and eminent virtue of a great number of the Popes, especi- 
 ally those of the first ages, all of whom suffered martyrdom for 
 their faith. The Pontifical primacy does not date from the 
 middle ages, but from St. Peter. In the middle ages they had 
 as many able and learned men, and Theologians, and men of 
 independent spirit, as in any other epoch of the world. In the 
 middle ages, the Popes did not cease to defend the spiritual 
 authority against the claims of the civil power. If the Papacy 
 was founded in the middle ages, how does it subsist in modern 
 times ? This Papacy did not begin to flourish until the renown 
 of Rome became obscure and the city was overrun by Bar- 
 barians, and until the seat of the Empire had been transferred 
 to Constantinople. 
 
 Far, therefore, from being able to explain the Papacy by 
 natural causes, and much less by political convenience and 
 design, it is necessary to acknowledge the establishment and 
 conservation of the Papacy as a supernatural and a divine fact. 
 If it had been a human institution, the Papacy could not have 
 lasted over eighteen centuries, in the midst of so many enemies 
 who were determined on its ruin. Had she been a human 
 institution alone, her action in this world could not have obtained 
 for her the respect, the love, and obedience in every generation 
 of millions of men, many of whom were the m03t illustrious 
 for sanctity and learning that the world has ever seen. 
 
 She could not, without divine help and supernatural strength, 
 have shown such invincible patience under persecutions ; such 
 persevering courage in pursuing her work and its end, namely, 
 the salvation of souls; and such indefatigable zeal in promoting 
 the principles of true civilization. Without the intervention of 
 
316 THE CBEED EXPLAINED. 
 
 God, the Papacy would have followed the fate of all other insti- 
 tutions in the past ; they have all disappeared or perished like 
 the Patriarchate of Constantinople, which, sustained by the power 
 of the Emperors of the East, had never more than the shadow 
 of authority. 
 
 The Pope to-day, as in the first ages, is the Primate, and 
 first of all. No other is known by all ; no other is recognised by 
 all; no other influences all; and has power to influence the 
 whole body ; because he is the head and foundation of Christ- 
 ianity. 
 
 I may, therefore, sum up the doctrine of the perpetuity of 
 the primacy as continued in the Church. The primacy of juris- 
 diction, conferred on St. Peter, is to last to the end of time. For 
 it was not given or instituted for him, but for the Church. The 
 Church is a kingdom, it must, therefore, have a king ; it is a 
 house, ib therefore must have a head or master ; it is a family, 
 and must have a father ; it is a sheepfold, and must have a shep- 
 herd ; a ship, and must have a pilot ; it is a body, which must 
 have a head ; and a building, which must have a foundation. 
 
THE apostles' ceeed. 317 
 
 Chapter IL 
 
 SECTION 3. (Article IX.) 
 
 THE INFALLIBILITY OF THE KOMAN PONTIFF. 
 
 1. The Infallibility of the Pope is the consequence of his Primacy. — 2. The 
 question as to whether the Eoman Pontiff h&a passive Infallibility, that 
 is whether his faith is infallible. — 3 . The Infallibility of the Pope in 
 teaching and as defined by the Church. — 4. When the Pope may be 
 considered as speaking ex cathedra. — 5. The Decree of the Council of 
 the Vatican on the Papal Infallibility. — 6. The Papal Infallibility 
 proved from Scripture.— 7. The Papal Infallibility proved from tra- 
 dition. — 8. No Pope has ever erred when speaking ex cathedra. — 
 9. Facts quoted against the Papal Infallibility answered : — (a) the 
 fall of Peter, (b) the fall of Liberius, (c) the case of Pope Honorius. 
 
 1. The Infallibility of the Pope is a consequence of his 
 primacy. The Church which will last on earth to the end of 
 time ought to profess the true doctrine of Jesus Christ, and at the 
 same time remain united to Peter and his successors as her 
 centre, and obey them as her head and chief ; in other words, she 
 must recognise or acknowledge their supreme doctrinal and legis- 
 lative authority. For, if Peter or his successor were to ordain 
 that some doctrine be professed as the true doctrine of Jesus 
 Christ, which would not be true, or be contrary to the true doc- 
 trine, it would follow that the Church would err in faith in obey- 
 ing him ; or otherwise she would be separated from her centre, and 
 disobey her chief and supreme Pastor. But from the promises 
 of Christ we know that the Church cannot err in faith, and from 
 the institution of Christ the Church must remain united to the 
 Papacy, and therefore it is necessary to conclude that the Pope 
 is infallible. 
 
 Let us first understand what is meant by infallibility as be- 
 longing to the Pope. It is, as I have said above, the gift of in- 
 errancy ; and it is either passive or active. Passive infallibility 
 belongs to the Church believing, or the whole body of the faithful. 
 Active infallibility belongs to the Church teaching. 
 
 2. The Sovereign Pontiff may be considered as one of the 
 faithful believing, or as a doctor, or teacher, of the Church. The 
 question is not as to whether the Eoman Pontiff is infallible as 
 
318 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 one of the faithful believing ; or in other words, we do not ask 
 whether he has passive infallibility in himself. Doctors differ on 
 this point. Some deny that the Pope could fall into formal he- 
 recy, and others affirm that he could. Bellarmine holds the opin- 
 ion which denies this as probable, and Suarez thinks it the 
 more probable. 
 
 This opinion receives strength and confirmation from the 
 fact, that not one of the many Popes who have occupied the Chair 
 of Peter has ever fallen into formal heresy ; but whatever may 
 be said as to formal heresy, it is certain, and not questioned or 
 doubted by any one, that the Pope has not passive infallibility in 
 the sense that he is preserved from all material dogmatic error, or 
 from material heresy as a private man or a private doctor. As a 
 private doctor he .is not preserved from holding and teaching and 
 propagating error, and much less as a private person is he pre- 
 served from holding error and being lead into it. 
 
 3. The question that we have to deal with now is the infal- 
 libility of the Sovereign Pontiff, that is infallibility as it is "a 
 special providence and assistance of God, by which the Sovereign 
 Pontiff in teaching or defining ex cathedra is preserved from all 
 doctrinal error. " 
 
 The Pontiff can teach (a) as a private doctor, as other men 
 and Theologians, by writing and editing books, and even by writing 
 doctrinal epistles ; but it is certain that these writings have no 
 pontifical authority, and are not to be looked upon as infallible 
 documents, (b) He can teach as Pontiff, and he is considered to 
 teach as such as often as he speaks ex cathedra, or by the au- 
 thority of his primatial See. "He speaks as Pontiff," as Billuart 
 says, " when, as supreme pastor and head of the Church, he pro- 
 poses anything to the whole Church affecting faith and morals, 
 obliging all the faithful, under pain or penalty of heresy, to believe 
 it by divine faith." And this is what is to be understood by 
 speaking or teaching ex cathedra : that is, from the plenitude of 
 his power, because by the Chair is understood authority to teach 
 and to command according to the meaning of the words of St. 
 Matthew : The scribes and pharisees sit upon the chair of Moses.* 
 
 4. That the Pope be considered as speaking ex cathedra other 
 conditions are to be observed : (a) He must be free, (b) He usually 
 gives the subject mature and due examination, (c) He calls into 
 consultation his own Church of Eome, especially his Cardinals. 
 
 The reason of this diligence in examination and deliberation 
 
 * St. Matt, xxiii, 2. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 319 
 
 is, that the help of the Holy Ghost in forming definitions, presup- 
 poses industry and careful attention on the part of the Church. 
 That assistance is not given by way of inspiration ; but rather by 
 way of co-operation ; therefore it supposes that the agent himself 
 acts ; that the Church, or the Pope, uses the ordinary and neces- 
 ^ary means of ascertaining the truth. The assistance of the Holy 
 Spirit is always present with the Church, or the Pope, to preserve 
 them from error in their definitions ; and if, therefore, in any par- 
 ticular case the necessary diligence in examination be omitted, 
 the person defining would sin through his negligence, but he 
 could not err in the definition. If therefore the Pope, or the 
 Council, should have the intention of defining that which is false, 
 then God in His wisdom would save His Church in some way 
 according to His Providence, either by changing the mind of the 
 person defining, or dissolving the Council, or taking the Pontiff 
 out of this world. This last is not necessary, as God can easily 
 change the mind and heart, and we need not have recourse to the 
 supposition of either a sudden or a violent death. 
 
 All agree that the Church, or the Pope, cannot err in the 
 definition itself, but they do not agree as to whether they will 
 infallibly use the required diligence in the examination. Some, 
 as Melchior Canus, contend that the Church, or Pope, can no 
 more omit the due diligence, than err in the definition. Others 
 contend that due diligence may be omitted by the Pontiff, and 
 the omission on his part would be sinful, but the definition 
 itself would always be free from error. Hence, all agree in these 
 two things. 
 
 (a) Whether the antecedent examination infallibly takes 
 
 place or not, the Church or Pontiff cannot err in the 
 definition, and this is a dogma of faith. 
 
 (b) There is an obligation of using the previous diligent 
 
 examination, and this is certain, and admitted by all. 
 Take for example the case of the Apostles, and the 
 first Council at Jerusalem ; before the definition, not 
 only were the Apostles assembled together in Council, 
 but in that Council they held serious and careful 
 deliberation as to the matters to be defined : And the 
 Apostles and ancients assembled to consider this matter, 
 and when there had been much disputing, Peter, rising 
 up, said.* 
 5. I here subjoin the Decree of the Vatican Council on the 
 
 Infallibility of the Roman Pontiff. (1870.) 
 
 * Acts xv. 6, 7. 
 
320 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 " Therefore we, adhering faithfully to the tradition received 
 from the beginning of the Christian faith, to the glory of God, 
 our Saviour, the exaltation of the Catholic religion and the salva- 
 tion of Christian people, the Sacred Council approving, we 
 teach and define that it is a divinely revealed dogma that the 
 Eoman Pontiff, when he speaks ex cathedra, that is, when per- 
 forming the function of Pastor and teacher of all Christians, 
 by virtue of his supreme and apostolic authority, he defines a 
 doctrine of faith and morals to be held by the universal Church, 
 has through that divine assistance promised to him in Blessed 
 Peter, that infallibility with which our divine Eedeemer wished 
 His Church to be endowed, in defining a doctrine of faith and 
 morals ; and, therefore, that the definitions of the same Eoman 
 Pontiff of themselves, and not by the consent of the Church, 
 are irreformable. If anyone should presume, which God avert, 
 to contradict this, our definition, let him be anathema." 
 
 All that we have written, therefore, in explanation of the 
 infallibility of the Church, and the object of this infallibility, 
 equally applies to the Sovereign Pontiff and his infallibility, as 
 according to the definition cf the Vatican Council, he is endowed 
 with the same infallibility, and to the same extent as the 
 Church. 
 
 We can easily know when the Pope intends to define an 
 Article of faith, and to oblige the faithful. 
 
 (a) He intends to oblige the faithful when he affixes to a 
 
 proposition a theological note of condemnation, 
 especially if he condemns it as heretical. 
 
 (b) When, by his Apostolic authority, he commands that 
 
 this or that particular doctrine be held by all as of 
 faith. How clear and unmistakable are the defini- 
 tions, for example, of the Immaculate Conception of 
 the Blessed Virgin, and of the Papal Infallibility 
 itself. No one can mistake or fail to understand their 
 meaning, and the mind of the Church in these, and 
 in her other definitions, binding on the faithful. 
 6. Having given the definition of the Vatican Council on 
 the Papal Infallibility, we may now proceed to give the proofs 
 of Scripture on which this doctrine rests. 
 
 There are three principal Scriptural pronouncements by 
 which the Papal Infallibility may be proved. 
 
 The first is from St. Luke :* Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath 
 
 * St. Luke xxii. 31, 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 321 
 
 desired to have you that he might sift yon as wheat, but I have 
 prayed for thee that thy faith fail not ; and thou being once con- 
 verted, confirm thy brethren. 
 
 The second is from St. Matthew :* Thou art Peter, and upon 
 this rock I will build my Church, arid the gates of hell shall not 
 prevail against it. From these words it follows that if St. Peter 
 should err, the Church resting upon his authority and assenting 
 to it, would err also, which is repugnant to its gift of indefecti- 
 bility. 
 
 The third is from St. John: I Feed My lambs feed My 
 
 sheep : from which it follows that if the Church could reform the 
 decrees of the Sovereign Pontiff, it would not be the Pastor that 
 would feed the sheep, but the sheep the Pastor. Therefore the 
 decrees of the Sovereign Pontiff are irreformable, and therefore 
 infallible, as Christ could not subject His Church to an irreform- 
 able decree that is not true. 
 
 Hence it follows (a) that St. Peter and His successors, by the 
 concession of Christ, have the right and power to confirm the 
 faithful, and to feed the lambs and the sheep, (b) That the judg- 
 ment of the Sovereign Pontiff is supreme and final, from which 
 there is no appeal. There are many other reasons given in re- 
 futation of Gallicanism, but the question of the Papal Infallibi- 
 lity is now defined and settled, and all are obliged not only to 
 concede it, but to hold it. 
 
 7. The Infallibility of the Pope may also be proved from 
 tradition. 
 
 The Fathers and Theologians understand and explain the 
 testimonies above cited from Sacred Scripture, to refer to the Papal 
 Infallibility. In this sense St. Agatho uses the words of St. Luke, 
 in his Epistle to the Emperor Constantine Pogonatus, which 
 was read and accepted by the Fathers of the Sixth Ecumenical 
 Council, the third of Constantinople (A. D. 680—682). 
 
 Likewise St. Leo says : "In Peter, therefore, the fortitude 
 of all is strenghtened, and the help of divine grace is so ordered 
 that the firmness, which was given by Christ to St. Peter, through 
 Peter was conferred upon the Apostles." Other Fathers have 
 taught, as universally received, that this gift (of infallibility) be- 
 longed to the Eoman Pontiffs, as it was necessary that all should 
 be in conformity with the Chair of Peter, if they desired to re- 
 main faithful Christians. 
 
 Amongst many testimonies from the early Fathers it will 
 
 * St. Matt. xvi. 18. t St. John xxi. 15. 
 
 W 
 
322 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 suffice to refer to the following : "It is in the Eonian Church 
 that the faithful have always preserved the tradition that has 
 some down from the Apostles. It is to this Church, because of 
 its superior authority, that every other Church ought bo be con- 
 formed." (St. Ireneus.) 
 
 "It is with the Chair of Peter that all should keep united." 
 (St. Optatus.) 
 
 " Know that the Eoman faith is inaccessible to heresy." 
 (St. Jerome.) 
 
 "The causes relative to faith ought to be to that place where 
 faith cannot fail. This is the prerogative of the Holy See." (St. 
 Bernard.) 
 
 Moreover we see that in every age all discussions in matters 
 of faith and morals were submitted to the judgment of the Pope, 
 and his judgment was always regarded as irreformable. 
 
 The Eoman Pontiffs themselves have very often declared 
 that there can be no appeal from their sentence, and have often 
 forbidden such appeals under penalty of excommunication. 
 
 The Councils have also borne testimony to the doctrinal in- 
 fallibility of the visible head of the Church. The Fathers of the 
 Fourth Council of Constantinople declared that, " in the Apostolic 
 See the Catholic religion had been always preserved immaculate, 
 and a holy doctrine always taught.'' 
 
 Those of the Second Council of Lyons declared that, " when 
 questions arise concerning faith, these questions should be denned 
 by the judgment of the Holy Eoman Church." The Council of 
 Florence, that " the Eoman Pontiff is the Father and Teacher of all 
 Christians." Those of the Council of Vienne, that " it belongs to 
 the Apostolic See alone to pronounce on doubts in matters of 
 faith." 
 
 We have the public facts of history in proof of this doctrine. 
 (a) All heresiarchs and innovators have been condemned by the 
 Holy See or Sovereign Pontiff, (b) All Ecumenical Councils"have 
 been approved by the Popes, (c) All the encyclicals, allocutions 
 and epistles of the Eoman Pontiffs are received as irreformable. (d) 
 All Catholics have invariably submitted to the Popes' decrees and 
 doctrinal decisions ; anJ the Gallican Church itself, up to the 
 celebrated declaration ci the year 1682, professed the same 
 doctrine. 
 
 8. All this tradition may be confirmed by the fact that no 
 Pope has ever erred when speaking ex cathedra. It is very useful 
 and indispensable, from this question, to prove the truth of this 
 assertion ; for if even one Pope ever defined ex cathedra a false 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 323 
 
 doctrine, all our arguments in favour of the Papal infallibility are 
 of no avail. If, on the contrary, it can be shown, that out of the 
 loug role of Pontiffs not one of them erred when speaking ex 
 cathedra, we have a very strong and convincing proof of the divine 
 assistance of infallibility given to the Popes. For it would be 
 almost impossible that men without a special divine assistance, 
 which we call infallibility, should make declarations in all matters 
 affecting religion without falling into any error ; and this the 
 Eoman Pontiffs have done all along up to the present day, and 
 that without heresy or error. 
 
 This argument is stated as certain, and it is the duty of our 
 adversaries, who deny it, to tell us what Pope erred, and when 
 did he err when teaching ex cathedra. To do this two things 
 must be certain. 
 
 (a) That the error is certainly against faith, and that it 
 
 does not admit any Catholic interpretation. 
 
 (b) That it is an error of a dogmatic definition, or of a defini- 
 
 tion of the Pope speaking ex cathedra. If either of 
 these two be wanting, the case cannot affect the 
 Infallibility which we attribute to the Eoman Pontiff. 
 All the facts which our adversaries can bring forward 
 against us, are wanting in one or other of these 
 conditions, and they do not, therefore, affect the 
 question. 
 
 9. There are three principal facts quoted against the Papal 
 Infallibility, (a) The fall of Peter, (b) The fall of Liberius. 
 (c) The fall of Honorius. 
 
 (a) As regards the fall of Peter, there was clearly no defini- 
 tion of faith, since neither the Church itself was 
 solemnly instituted, nor the primacy actually conferred 
 upon St. Peter, but only the promise of that, on 
 account of which he and his successors were gifted 
 with infallibility. St. Peter, although he denied 
 Christ in words, did not do so in his heart, according 
 to the more common opinion of Commentators ; and 
 even if he did in his heart deny the faith, he was not 
 yet, at that time, constituted the head of the Church, 
 nor was he teaching the universal Church in any 
 
 sense. 
 
 (b) As to the fall of Liberius, there is no difficulty. He 
 was not making any definition of faith, but he sub- 
 scribed a formula, which contained a Catholic sense, 
 but had also an heretical sense, and in itself was 
 
324 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 erroneous. Besides, it has been asserted by many 
 critics, that the fall of Liberius is entirely ficticious, 
 or, at least, so doubtful that no certain argument can 
 be concluded from it against the personal character 
 of that Pope. Dr. Dollinger, in his Ecclesiastical 
 History, speaking of Liberius, says : " It is said that 
 in 357 the above Pope renounced all communion with 
 St. Athanasius, associated himself with the Arians, 
 and subscribed one, probably the first, of the three 
 formulas that had been compiled at Sirmium. This 
 formula was so drawn up that, in the true signification 
 of the words, it was not heretical, but was of such a 
 nature that orthodox Catholics might, without diffi- 
 culty, subscribe to it." 
 (c) Honorius did not define a dogma on the occasion of the 
 fall attributed to him. On the contrary, he openly 
 and expressly asserted the two-fold operation and 
 will in Christ by reason of His two-fold nature, and 
 he uses a form of Catholic doctrine, which was 
 accepted by an Ecumenical Council. Besides, he 
 himself declared openly that he did not wish to give 
 a dogmatic definition at the time, as is clear from the 
 very loiters on account of which he is accuseds 
 
 * See Pen one, de Locis Theologicis, p. 1., s. 11. Billuart de tods, 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 325 
 
 Chapter II. 
 
 SECTION 4. (Article IX). 
 
 THE PAPAL INFALLIBILITY. (Continued), 
 
 1. The conditions required that a Papal definition be infallible. — 2. The 
 assistance of the Holy Ghost, as distinguished from Inspiration or 
 Kevelation. — 3. The distinction between faith purely divine, and 
 divine-Catholic faith.— 4. The Magisterium of the Church— special 
 and ordinary. — 5. The objections of the heresiarch Dollinger against 
 the Papal Infallibility answered. — 6. The four propositions of the 
 Gallican convention held in 1682, — 7. Arguments from reason in 
 favour of the Papal Infallibility. 
 
 1. That a definition of the Pope be considered infallible, 
 according to the Decree of the Vatican Council, the following 
 conditions are required : (a) That the Pope speaks as a public 
 doctor or teacher, and not as a private person or particular doctor 
 in a theological work, (b) That he acts out of the plenitude of 
 his power and authority, and imposes an absolute and irrevo- 
 cable obligation, (c) That he defines a doctrine as divinely 
 revealed, (d) That he defines it as a doctrine to be held by the 
 universal Church. If one or other of these conditions be wanting, 
 the sentence need not be regarded as infallible. 
 
 2. According to the same Decree, the efficient cause of the 
 infallibility of the Pope speaking ex cathedra is the divine assist- 
 ance, which preserves him from error in the exposition of truths 
 contained in the deposit of faith. It is not inspiration nor the reve- 
 lation of truths before unknown. The Pope is the interpreter of 
 truths already inspired or revealed. He only interprets them 
 and pronounces their revelation or inspiration. He does not 
 invent them or claim inspiration, but only the divine assistance 
 when teaching, as the Pastor of the Universal Church, by which 
 he is saved and preserved from error. 
 
 In order to answer the objections of modern innovators, who 
 attack the dogma of the Papal Infallibility, it is necessary to 
 refer to some things which I have already explained, when 
 treating on the infused virtue of faith. 
 
 3. Faith, as a habit, can be defined : '* A theological virtue 
 by which a man, on the authority of God, firmly assents to all 
 the truths certainly revealed by Him." 
 
326 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 This faith may be purely divine, or divine-Catholic faith. 
 The first is that which we have defined ; the other requires the 
 addition, and proposed by the Church to all to be believed. 
 
 An act of faith is " the actual firm assent of the mind given 
 to any or every truth revealed by God, on account of His author- 
 ity." Thus he believes by divine faith, who, through grace and 
 the virtue of faith, assents to a truth, because God has inspired 
 or revealed it. 
 
 Moreover, every truth revealed or inspired by God, and 
 proposed by the Church as the revealed or inspired word of God, 
 belongs to and is the object of divine-Catholic faith, because no 
 one can be in the Church who does not believe a truth of this 
 kind ; but not all revealed truths are defined by an express defi- 
 nition of the Church. There are many such truths revealed by 
 God, on which the Church has not yet pronounced any definitive 
 judgment. 
 
 A Catholic, therefore, who, by the study of Scripture or 
 tradition, would come to the certain knowledge of these truths 
 and their inspiration would be bound to believe them. The faith 
 by which such truths are believed is not human, because they 
 are not found in the words of men, but in the pure word of God ; 
 and, therefore, they are believed on the authority of God through 
 grace and the divine virtue of faith. Nevertheless, a man deny- 
 ing one of these truths would not thereby be a heretic, because 
 they are not yet proposed by the Church as revealed and to be 
 believed by all. 
 
 From the state of divine faith, to the state of divine-Catholic 
 faith, the truths to be believed pass by the virtue of the living 
 Magisterium of the Church. 
 
 4. The Magisterium of the Church is nothing else that her 
 doctrinal authority. And this is two-fold. Special and ordinary. 
 
 Her special Magisterium is exercised when the Church, in 
 reference to any dogma, solemnly pronounces a sentence, either 
 of condemnation or of definition. 
 
 The ordinary Magisterium is that authority which is daily 
 used by her pastors and doctors. By virtue of this second Magis- 
 terium, a truth can be proposed as Catholic, or such a truth 
 remaining in a state of truths of faith purely divine, may so 
 far progress as to attain almost to the state of defined truths, 
 and then it may be said to be a truth proximate to divine-Catholic 
 faith. A person denying such a truth would not thereby be a 
 heretic, but he would be proximate to heresy ; thus, for example, 
 the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, before its definition 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 327 
 
 in 1854, and the dogma of Papal Infallibility, before the definition 
 of the Vatican Council (1870), were truths to be believed by 
 divine faith ; but by the special Magisterium of the Church, they 
 are now defined and to be believed by all, so that he would be a 
 heretic who should deny either of them. 
 
 5. By these remarks we have the key to the solution of the 
 objections of the Heresiarch Dollinger, against the definition of 
 the dogma of Papal Infallibility. 
 
 The objection of the Heresiarch, which was so sharply and 
 maliciously published a little before the time of the assembly of 
 the Bishops at the Vatican Council, may be briefly stated. " By 
 such a definition," he said, " the Church will place Catholics 
 under an obligation of believing a truth which before they did 
 not believe, and which the Church never believed, nor ever 
 taught." 
 
 The Church, he says, did not believe in it, because those 
 who held it, could not be said to believe it, taking the word 
 belief in its Christian sense. There is a great difference between 
 those things which are to be believed by divine faith, and those 
 that are only perceived as probable by the human intellect. A 
 Catholic can and is bound to believe only those truths which, as 
 revealed, belong to the doctrine of salvation, and in reality are, 
 without doubt, proposed by the Church, or the opposite of those 
 which have been condemned as heretical by the same authority. 
 " But/' he continues, " no one from the beginning of the Church 
 to our day believed in the dogma of the Infallibility of the Sove- 
 reign Pontiff, that is, by the same faith by which we believe in 
 God, in the Trinity and the Incarnation, but there were many 
 who thought it probable, or at most believed on human faith, 
 that this prerogative belongs to the Pope.'' 
 
 In answer to this objection, we may refer to the above 
 remarks, and the distinction between faith purely divine, and 
 divine-Catholic faith. We deny that, before the definition, no 
 one believed in this dogma by divine faith ; but we concede that 
 it was not the object of divine-Catholic faith until it was defined 
 by the Church. The distinction has been already explained. 
 Besides, this objection would prove too much, because it would 
 follow from it that the Church herself is not infallible, and 
 that the Magisterium of infallibility does not belong to her, and 
 she could not therefore ever declare either in her Councils or out 
 of them what are, and what are not, the dogmas of faith, which 
 no Catholic ever asserted, or could assert, without falling into 
 heresy. 
 
323 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 Besides, the Church has always acted on the belief in this 
 truth, even before it was defined, and the contest with the Galli- 
 cans was, according to Cardinal Deschamps, carried on in good faith 
 by the greater number of them ; for the French School, although in 
 recent times it contradicted this truth in theory, always confessed 
 it in practice with a fidelity truly worthy of the French Clergy. 
 
 A second objection is proposed against the definition, to wiU 
 in the definition of Papal Infallibility, the Pope bears witness c£ 
 himself, because the Bishops, even in Council assembled, are 
 fallible without the Pope ; the Pope alone is infallible, therefore, 
 in defining his infallibility, he gives testimony of himself. 
 
 To this we may answer : first, that every supreme power 
 has the right and faculty of bearing testimony to or of itself, 
 and of vindicating itself. God vindicates Himself. I am who 
 am; and Christ says of Himself: I am the Alpha and Omega, the 
 beginning and the end. No one cometh to the Father except through 
 me. A king vindicates himself, and justly judges and punishes 
 those who offend against him. The same applies to the Pope, 
 who is the supreme King, the Vicar of Christ. He can give 
 testimony of himself, and declare the prerogatives conferred 
 upon Him : He is the supreme head of the Church, and he holds 
 the primacy over her. 
 
 Secondly, we can reply that the authority and infallibility 
 of a Council is not only Papal, but also Conciliary (conciliaria) f 
 by virtue of that universal authority which Jesus Christ con- 
 ferred on St. Peter, and the College of the Apostles. And, 
 although this gift belongs to the Church teaching, by reason of 
 the unity whose centre and fountain is the Sovereign Pontiff, 
 and the infallibility proceeds from him as from the head ; 
 although objectively considered the infallibility of the Pope is 
 prior to the infallibility of the Church, subjectively, however, 
 and as to us (quoad nos), the infallibility of tne Church teaching 
 with the Pope, is prior to the infallibility of the Pope alone. 
 The former was always held as a truth of divine- Catholic faith, 
 but not the latter. An argument may, therefore, lawfully 
 proceed from a truth known by divine- Catholic faith to that 
 which is known only by purely divine faith. Properly speaking, 
 it is not, therefore, the Pope that bears testimony of himself in 
 the Vatican Council, but it is the whole teaching Church in 
 conjunction with the Pope ; it is an Ecumenical Council, which 
 was always acknowledged as infallible, that declares the subject 
 of infallibility to be the Pope with the Episcopate, and the Pope 
 alone when he speaks ex cathedra. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 329 
 
 6. I may mention in connection with this question the four 
 propositions of the Gallican Convention held in the year 1682 ; 
 their sense may be briefly stated in the following terms : — 
 
 (a) That to the Eoman Pontiff belongs no power, not even 
 
 indirect, over Kings or in civil affairs. 
 
 (b) That the authority of a general Council is superior to 
 
 the authority of the Roman Pontiff. 
 
 (c) That the power of the Apostolic See may be restricted 
 
 (1) by canons already formed and consecrated by the 
 reverence of the whole world, (2) by the Constitutions 
 and institutions received by the Kingdom of France, 
 and the Gallican Church. 
 
 (d) That the judgment of the Roman Pontiff is not infallible, 
 
 unless the consent of the Church be given to it. This 
 last proposition is now heretical after the Decree of 
 the Vatican Council. It is therefore no longer asserted 
 by any Catholic, and with it Gallicanism died. There 
 is no such school or system now recognized in Catholic 
 Theology. 
 
 7. In concluding this subject I may sum up a few of the 
 arguments from reason, in favour of the Papal Infallibility. 
 
 That judgment in matters of faith is irreformable which is 
 supreme and final ; above which there is no other to which we 
 can appeal, and such is the judgment of the Roman Pontiff. 
 
 In judicial tribunals and cases, sometimes there is an appeal 
 allowed to a higher tribunal. Thus, for example, it is lawful to 
 appeal from the judgment of a Parish Priest to that of the Bishop, 
 and from the judgment of a Bishop to the Pope ; or to one of the 
 tribunals appointed and sanctioned by the Pope for the hearing 
 of Papal cases. Now the necessary condition of our appeal is, 
 that the person who appeals withdraw himself from obedience, 
 and the jurisdiction of the tribunal from which he appeals ; but 
 no Catholic can withdraw himself from the jurisdiction of the Pope 
 and from obedience to him in matters of faith. If such an appeal 
 were ever lawful it would be an appeal to a General Council ; but 
 such an appeal is not, strictly speaking, an appeal from the judg- 
 ment of the Pope ; because it belongs to the Pope to convoke a 
 General Council, to preside over it, and to confirm its decrees, 
 and these are not irreformable unless they are confirmed by Ponti- 
 fical and Apostolical authority. Besides, we must bear in mind, 
 that the Church is a perfect society, and well ordered ; therefore 
 it must have a permanent and living supreme judge. Christ made 
 sufficient provision for His Church ; and since errors, and errors 
 
330 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 in faith, rise up every day, it is necessary that there be a per- 
 manent and living judge to correct such errors, and to preserve 
 inviolate and pure the faith of the Church, and this judge is no 
 other than the Roman Pontiff ; only at rare intervals, and with 
 great difficulty, are General Councils assembled. 
 
 It is absurd to suppose that the judgment of the Roman Pon- 
 tiff is not infallible without the consent of the Church, because 
 from this it would follow (a) that the Pope would receive his in- 
 fallibility from the Church, and this cannot be said or held, 
 because the Church is founded on Peter, and it is Peter who is ap- 
 pointed to feed and to confirm his brethren. It is for this reason that 
 Pius VI., in the Bull auctorem fidei, condemned the proposition 
 which asserted that power was given by God to His Church that 
 she might communicate it to her Pastors, who are her ministers 
 for the salvation of souls, which proposition, understood in the 
 sense that the Pastors of the Church derived the power of their 
 ecclesiastical ministry and government from the communion of 
 the faithful, is heretical. It would follow (b) that the Sovereign 
 Pontiff would have no more the gift of Infallibility than the Bishop 
 of any, even the least and most insignificant, diocese. For any 
 Bishop who enunciates a dogma of faith, if to his judgment the 
 consent of all the other Bishops be added, would be infallible. 
 
 In regard to the consent of the Church, it may be further 
 asked what kind of consent must be obtained ? whether the con- 
 sent of the whole Church, or of the lesser part, or the greater 
 part of the Church. 
 
 The consent of the whole Church is certainly not required, 
 or attainable before a definition ; as in this case the dissentient 
 voice of even one, and that might be a Bishop deficient in intelli- 
 gence or learning, would be sufficient to cause the declaration to 
 be wanting in Infallibility ; and how could the consent of every 
 single one of the Bishops be obtained before any one point of 
 heretical, or depraved doctrine, could be condemned by infallible 
 authority ? 
 
 The consent of the lesser part of the Church could not make 
 the judgment of the Pope infallible ; for by what right can this 
 or that part, say one or more dioceses, or provinces, give to the 
 Pope that Infallibility which they have not got themselves. As 
 to the greater part of the Church the same question may be asked, 
 by what right can it give infallibility ? Besides, who could count, 
 or enumerate, the consenting parties throughout the world ? and 
 in such a case how could the faithful be ever sure of their faith. 
 And if the consent of the greater part is sufficient, then we have 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 331 
 
 that consent freely given against all the Gallican propositions, 
 and in favour of the Papal Infallibility in the Vatican Council. 
 
 I have only to add a word of explanation as to the expression — . 
 the personal infallibility of the Pope. This expression is equivocal. 
 As applied to the Koman Pontiff, considered as a private person, 
 it is not correct, because to him, in this capacity, infallibility is 
 not promised ; but applied to the Sovereign Pontiff as a public 
 person, and to the authority with which he is invested, it may be 
 correctly used and received in the true sense of the Papal 
 Infallibility. 
 
332 THE CREED EXPLAINED, 
 
 CHAPTER III. (Article IX.) 
 
 BISHOPS AND GENERAL COUNCILS. 
 
 1. The divine institution of Bishops.— 2. The meaning of a Council and 
 the various kinds of Councils— 3. The distinction between a General 
 and an Ecumenical Council.— 4. The necessity and utility of Councils. 
 —4. Conditions required that a Council be Ecumenical (a) in its 
 convocation, (b) In its celebration, (c) In its conclusion. — 5. The 
 definitions of an Ecumenical Council are Infallible.— 6. The confir- 
 mation of decrees of an Ecumenical Council. — 7. The names and 
 dates of the General and Ecumenical Councils of the Church. — 8. The 
 authority of Councils. 
 
 The Divine Institution of Bishops. 
 
 1. Besides the Sovereign Pontiff there exists in the Church, 
 and by divine right, pastors, who, with him and under him, teach 
 and govern the faithful. These pastors are the Bishops, the suc- 
 cessors of the Apostles. 
 
 In effect it was said to them in the persons of the Apostles : 
 Whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosened also in 
 heaven.-'' I ivill ash the Father and He will send you another 
 Paraclete, f As the Father hath sent me so I also send you\ 
 Beceive ye the Holy Ghost: whose sins you shall forgive, they are for- 
 given ; and ivhose sins you shall retain, they are retained.^ Going 
 
 therefore teach ye all nations teaching them to observe all 
 
 things whatsoever I have commanded you : and behold, Iamivithyou 
 all days, even to the consummation of the world. \\ 
 
 Catholic tradition, by the organs of the Fathers and the 
 Councils, has always interpreted these texts in the sense that the 
 episcopal body, united with the Sovereign Pontiff, possesses doc- 
 trinal and legislative authority that is required to teach and to 
 govern the Church ; what the Pope possesses primarily and abso- 
 lutely, Bishops possess secondarily, and with dependence on the 
 Pope : and thus the Pope and Bishops constitute the Church 
 teaching, which the Church hearing or learning (discens aut 
 
 * St. Matt, xviii. 18. f St. John xiv. 16. % St. John xx. 21. 
 § St. John xx. 22, 23. || St. Matt, xxviii. 20. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 333 
 
 credens), comprising simple priests and the faithful laity, should 
 obey. The result of the teaching, and the constant practice of 
 the Church is, that simple priests, even though charged as Cures, 
 or Parish Priests, with the care of souls, and who are called 
 pastors of the second order, do not fully participate in the doc- 
 trinal and legislative authority of the Church. They teach and 
 rule, under the orders of the bishops, the faithful committed to 
 their charge, but they are not judges of the faith, nor necessary 
 councillors or accessories to the Bishop in the administration of 
 the diocese. And as to lay persons, who by reason of their talents 
 may be called to defend the Church against the attacks of the 
 impious, they should always act with reserve and prudence, they 
 should ask the advice of the Bishops, and never outstep the rules 
 which may be given for their guidance.* 
 
 Councils. 
 
 2. By natural and divine right, the pastors of the Church 
 teaching have the power of assembling, for the purpose of deliberat- 
 ing and judging of matters of doctrine, and of Christian discipline. 
 An assembly of this kind is called a Council ; and this leads me 
 to speak of the nature and authority of an Ecumenical Council, 
 in connection with the constitution and authority of the Church. 
 
 A Council in general means an assembly of chosen men in 
 one place, for the purpose of deliberating on certain things. A 
 Council of the Church is an assembly of the Prelates of the Church 
 for the purpose of ordering, or regulating, the public affairs of the 
 Church. 
 
 Councils are various, and may be divided into General, or 
 Ecumenical, National, Provincial, and Diocesan. 
 
 (a) A General or Ecumenical Council is that to which all the 
 
 Bishops of the world are convoked, and over which 
 the Eoman Pontiff presides, either by himself or by 
 his Legates. 
 
 (b) A National Council, or Synod, is that in which the Arch- 
 
 bishops and Bishops of a whole Kingdom, or Nation, 
 assemble, and over which the Patriarch, or Primate, 
 presides. 
 
 (c) A Provincial Council, or Synod, is the assembly of the 
 
 * Concerning the Sacerdotal character, and the Sacrament of Order, 
 and the divine grace conferred by it, enabling Priests to offer Mass 
 and administer Sacraments, we shall speak when treating of Holy 
 Order. 
 
334 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 Bishops of one province, under the presidency of the 
 Archbishop or Metropolitan. 
 
 (d) A Diocesan Council, or Synod, is that which a Bishop 
 convokes, of the Parish Priests, and the other Priests 
 and clergy of his diocese, over which assembly he him- 
 self presides. 
 
 I must in this instruction confine myself to the General or 
 Ecumenical Council. 
 
 3. Some Theologians make a distinction between a General 
 and an Ecumenical Council. An Ecumenical Council has the 
 authority and approval of the Pope, and a General Council has 
 not. There are four General Councils that are not numbered 
 with the Ecumenical Councils. 1, Sardis (347) ; 2, Pisa (1,409) ; 
 3, Constance (1,414) ; 4, Basle (1,431-43). Councils are called 
 General (a) because all the Bishops are convoked or called to 
 them ; even though all may not attend, (b) On account of the 
 universal kind of causes which are treated of, or can come under 
 discussion, on faith, morals, and discipline, (c) Because of th6 
 universal decrees which bind all. 
 
 The necessity and utility of Councils. 
 
 4. The Jansenists affirm that it is absolutely necessary 
 sometimes to hold Councils, but all Catholics deny this. It is 
 not absolutely necessary ever to hold a Council, because : (1) 
 There is always the Pope in the Church, who is the supreme 
 judge and infallible teacher. (2} The Bishops are always ready, 
 even though dispersed tnrougnout tne world, to act with the 
 Sovereign Pontiff / 
 
 Although not absolutely necessary, it may be said to be 
 sometimes morally necessary, i.e., very useful. (1) Because by 
 them, heretics are more efficaciously condemned and silenced. 
 (2) In making laws that are binding everywhere, Bishops who 
 come from various places and countries, can better testify to the 
 wants of these countries, and judge of those things that are most 
 suitable for the welfare of the Church and the people. 
 
 The end for which Councils are held is that the unity of 
 government of the Church may be preserved and strengthened. 
 This unity would be endangered. (1) In the case of an heretical 
 Pope ; (2) in the case of a Pope suspected of heresy. (3) In 
 case of a doubtful Pope. (4) In a case when the Cardinals 
 would persistently refuse to elect a Pope, or delay too long 
 before doing so. The first and second cases have never happened 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 335 
 
 in the history of the Church. The fourth case also has never 
 happened, and the third case only once. 
 
 4. That a Council be in every respect General and Ecu- 
 menical, certain conditions are required. 
 
 (1) It must be General in its convocation. That is, it must 
 be convoked by the Sovereign Pontiff. He alone has universal 
 jurisdiction. The Bishops, without the Pope, have not perfect 
 jurisdiction. If the convocation cannot be made by the Pope, 
 then the congregation of the Bishops will be either necessary or 
 not; if not necessary, then we need nob discuss the matter, 
 as they need not assemble ; if necessary, then the congre- 
 gation, God providing, can be lawfully and validly convoked by 
 the Cardinals ; or, the Bishops themselves, moved by the 
 Holy Spirit, may assemble together. But this convocation 
 would not be a Council, except to the extent of electing a Pope 
 or causing a Pope to be elected. And apart from the election 
 of a Pope, it has no right of decreeing or defining other things 
 in regard to faibh or discipline ; and if it should make any 
 definitions of the kind, they would have no force unless after- 
 wards approved and confirmed by the elected Pope, and only 
 to the extent of his confirmation. The Roman Pontiff is 
 superior to the Bishops, even when assembled in Council. He 
 holds the primacy. He is infallible and the Chief Pastor. All 
 the Fathers in this sense affirm the supreme jurisdiction 
 of the Pope. The Bishops, without the Pope, do not represent 
 the entire Church. By the whole Church is signified the Church 
 as it in reality exists, one and entire body under one head. 
 And hence the Eoman Pontiff can dispense from the laws of a 
 General Council, or abrogate them altogether. 
 
 All Theologians agree that (1) in the supposition of a Pope 
 becoming openly a heretic, he would be subjected to a General 
 Council. It is the most common opinion that by formal and 
 public heresy, either by the very fact itself, or at least after the 
 declaration of his error, he would cease to be Pope. He would 
 cease to be a member of the Church, and a fortiori, he would 
 cease to be her head. (2) Should the Pope become a scandalous 
 sinner and contumacious, he could be admonished by a General 
 Council, but this admonition is not coercive. The Council 
 cannot oblige him to resign, or in any sense to obey it, more than 
 by advice and counsel. (3) In the case of a doubtful Pope, on 
 account of a probably invalid election; if there be many doubtful 
 Popes, they are all bound to submit themselves to the Council, 
 for this the good of the universal Church demands. In such a 
 
336 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 case there is no true Pope in the sight of the Church, and, there- 
 fore, no one is bound to obey any one of them ; and, therefore, 
 the right of electing a true Pope abides in the Church. (4) If 
 the Pope should fall into a state of permanent insanity, then by 
 divine law he would be deprived of the Pontificate. 
 
 The Members of a General Council. For various reasons, 
 and under various titles, different persons are called to Councils. 
 
 (a) Secular Princes, or their Legates, may be called in 
 
 order to protect the Fathers of the Council, and to 
 prevent sedition; thus, in the earlier ages of the 
 Church, we hear of the convocation of secular princes 
 or rulers to General Councils. 
 
 (b) Heretics and Schismatics of every condition, in order to 
 
 treat of matters affecting them, or to give an account 
 of themselves before the Council, or to be reconciled 
 to the Church. 
 
 (c) The learned, Theologians and Canonists, that they may 
 
 discuss the questions to be treated of or dealt with in 
 the Council. The Bishops of the Council usually 
 have two Theologians, or at least one each with them 
 at the Council. 
 
 (d) The Bishops, who are the proper members of the Coun- 
 
 cil. These alone, by the ordinary law, have the right 
 of suffrage in the definitions and decrees of the 
 Council. That Bishops alone are the members of the 
 Council by ordinary right, we gather from the Acts 
 of the Apostles, ;:: where it is said: Take heed to 
 yourselves, and to the whole flock, wherein the Holy 
 Ghost hath placed you bishops to rule the Church of 
 God, which He hath purchased with His own blood. 
 This is also shown from the practice of the Church, 
 which proves the Bishops alone acted as the ordinary 
 judges in all the General Councils of the Church. 
 They only are the ordinary judges in the external 
 tribunal (externo foro) of the Church ; and in General 
 Councils, not only do they treat of cases of conscience 
 and of matters regarding faith and morals, but they 
 also make laws, and appoint or determine penalties 
 such as ecclesiastical censures. 
 T have said by ordinary law, because the Pope, if he thinks 
 it expedient, may communicate to other ecclesiastics the privilege 
 
 * Acts xx. 28. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 337 
 
 of voting and taking part in a General Council. Other 
 Ecclesiastics, besides the Bishops, are capable of exercising the 
 rights and privileges required in a Council, because the acts 
 that are effected in a Council do not proceed from or require 
 episcopal consecration. The following persons usually enjoy 
 this privilege: — (1) Cardinals, who are not Bishops. (2) Abbots 
 and Generals of Beligious Orders. 
 
 The Bishops in the Councils are not merely counsellors of 
 the Pope, but they are really judges and legislators. Counsellors 
 are those who investigate matters after the manner of the 
 Doctors of the Church and Theologians, and make their comment- 
 aries on points of doctrine. The Judges are they who decree and 
 give sentence. Thus the Bishops, in signing the decrees of 
 Councils, use the formula in subscribing — I., N., defining, have 
 subscribed : (Ego N. definiens subscrijpsi) . 
 
 That a Council be General, it is required that all Catholic 
 Bishops, except any excommunicated, be called. It is required 
 that as far as possible all be called to the Council, who have the 
 right of suffrage, and that none be excluded. It is a probable 
 opinion that Bishops, in partibus infidelium, as it is expressed, 
 that is Bishops who have actually no Sees and no Jurisdiction, 
 have no right to sit in a General Council ; and that if they are 
 called to the Council, it is by custom and privilege, in the same 
 sense that Cardinals, who are not Bishops, Generals of Orders, 
 and Abbots, are called to General Councils. 
 
 (2) The second condition required in order that a Council 
 be General or Ecumenical is, that it be General in its cele- 
 bration. For this purpose it is required : — (a) That there be as 
 many Bishops present, and from as many places, as to represent 
 the entire Church. The general rule laid down on this point is 
 that some come from the greater part of the Provinces of Christ- 
 endom, (b) That the Council be presided over by the Sovereign 
 Pontiff, or his Legates. Because a Council is a well-ordered 
 meeting, and such a meeting should have a head or president, 
 and this can be no other than he who, by divine right, is the 
 Chief Pastor of all the Bishops, (c) The members must act as 
 councillors, that is, use diligence in examining causes and 
 questions before forming decrees, (d) The Council must enjoy 
 full liberty. 
 
 (3) Finally the Council should be General in its conclusion ; 
 that is, that it be confirmed by the Sovereign Pontiff. This 
 confirmation of the Pope is required, because the decrees and 
 laws of a General Council are made for the whole Clavrch. and 
 
THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 oblige all, therefore they need to be confirmed by the universal 
 Pastor. It suffices for this confirmation, if the Pope send his 
 Legales with definite instructions, and if these instructions be 
 exactly observed. Although the Pope can communicate his 
 jurisdiction to his Legates, he cannot communicate to them his 
 prerogative of Infallibility. If, therefore, the decrees of a 
 General Council are approved by the Legates, without any definite 
 instructions from the Pope on the matters defined, they would 
 need the further confirmation of the Pope to make them irre- 
 formable, and binding on all. A Council is not infallible in its 
 decrees, unless these are confirmed by the Pope. 
 
 5. It is the received and constant faith of the Church, that 
 a Council which is General or Ecumenical in its convocation, in its 
 celebration, and in its (exitu) conclusion, is infallible in its 
 definitions of faith and morals, and becomes immediately the rule 
 of faith without any further reception or approval of its decrees 
 on the part of the Church dispersed. 
 
 It is a doctrine of Catholic faith that a National Council is 
 not of itself infallible. The proposition stating this was con- 
 demned by the Constitution auctorem fidei as heretical ; under- 
 stood in the sense, that controversies regarding faith and morals, 
 whenever they should arise in the Church, might be decided by a 
 National Council, by an irrefragable judgment, as if inerrancy in 
 questions of faith and morals should belong to a National Synod. 
 Such a proposition is condemned as Schismatical and heretical. 
 
 The Confirmation op Councils. 
 
 6. Under this head we may consider three things, (a) The 
 necessity of Papal confirmation of Councils, and the manner in 
 which that may be given, (b) The number and names of the 
 General and Ecumenical Councils, (c) The authority of these 
 Councils. 
 
 (a) I have already referred to the necessity of the Papal 
 
 confirmation for the decrees of Councils. That such a 
 
 conformation is sufficient to give them force and 
 
 authority cannot now be doubted, as the infallibility 
 
 of the Pope is a dogma of faith. 
 
 As to the necessity of such a confirmation, objections are 
 
 sometimes raised to the effect (a) that a General Council, over 
 
 which the Papal Legates preside, represents the whole Church ; 
 
 ind as the whole Church teaching is infallible, the confirmation 
 
 of the Pope in such a case is not necessary, To this we answer, 
 
THE APOSTLES* CREED. 339 
 
 that the General Council, with the Papal Legates presiding, repre- 
 sents the whole Church incompletely and imperfectly only. They 
 are Legates, and not the head of the Church, and the prerogative 
 of infallibility, which belongs to the Pope, cannot be claimed by 
 the Legates. 
 
 The judgment of a General Council lawfully convoked, and 
 presided over by the Papal Legates, is irreformable, if ic defines 
 any decree according to the previous instruction of the Pope. 
 Thus the Legates may be sent with instructions to this effect ; if 
 the Council agrees to the instruction, then let the decree be made 
 and formulated ; if the Council does not agree, then let the decree 
 be suspended until the Pope be again consulted. Nevertheless, 
 even in this case, according to safe Theologians, the confirmation 
 of the Pope is necessary, not that the decrees of the Council 
 should obtain force and authority which they have already re- 
 ceived, but that the Church may know that all has been properly 
 done in Council, and in accordance with the mind of the 
 Pontiff, and that the decrees have been formed according to his 
 directions. 
 
 7. (b) In the history of the Church we find that nineteen 
 
 General or Ecumenical Councils have been held, to 
 which we now add the Vatican Council. They may 
 be known with their dates, in the following abbre- 
 viated form : 
 
 Ni (325) ; Co. (381) ; E. (431) ; Ca. (451) ; Co. 
 (553) ; Co. (680-81) ; Ni. (787) ; Co. (869-70) j La. 
 (1123); La. (1139); La. (1179); La. (1215); Lu. 
 (1245); Lu. (1274); Vi. (1311-12); Con. (doubtful 
 1414-18); Flo. (1438-9); La. (1512-17); Tri. (1545-63); 
 and Va. (1870). 
 
 8. (c) The authority of Councils. The definitions of an 
 
 Ecumenical Council in matters of faith and morals 
 
 approved and confirmed by the Pope are infallible. 
 
 But the question is, how are we to know in these 
 
 decrees those things which the Church wished to 
 
 define, and that are to be believed from those things 
 
 that are not defined ? And how are those things 
 
 which are of faith to be discerned from those things 
 
 that are not defined of faith ? 
 
 As to the first question. In General Councils, those things 
 
 only are proposed to be believed which are contained in the Canons 
 
 and decrees. The reason is, because in this only the Bishops 
 
 intend to teach definitively ; and although they teach in some way 
 
340 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 in the chapters and explanations, they do not teach by defining. 
 As to the second question. A definition is of faith, no matter 
 what form of words may be used, if it plainly signify that the 
 doctrine is revealed, or that the opposite is heretical. One way of 
 knowing this is by the form used in the canons and decrees. Si 
 quis hoc vel illud senserit aut dixerit anathema sit. " If any one 
 say or think such or such a thing, let him be anathema." 
 
 All are bound by any definition of the Church in matters of 
 doctrine, and it would be a grievous sin to oppose the judgment 
 of the Church, and maintain a proposition which she may have 
 condemned as heretical, or which she has stamped as forbidden 
 by any theological censure. Moreover, the assent which is given 
 to the definitions of the Church, either in matters of faith or other 
 points of doctrine, proceeds from the virtue of faith ; and when 
 we do not know whether a doctrine is expressly defined by the 
 Church as of Catholic faith, or only certain in some other way, it 
 suffices to submit to it, and to receive it in general as Catholic 
 doctrine. Particular Councils have only the same authority as 
 the Churches they represent. They may have great authority, 
 but never infallibility, unless solemnly confirmed, and in a special 
 manner, by the supreme authority of the Roman Pontiff. Acts of 
 Provincial and National Councils are to be sent to Eome by order 
 of Pius V., that they may be examined by the Sacred Congrega- 
 tion of the Council ; not that they may receive any positive con- 
 firmation ; but they may be corrected in case they should 
 contain anything at variance with sound doctrine, or the principles 
 of ecclesiastical law. Sometimes, at the request of the Bishop, the 
 Pope confirms the Acts for that Province, or that Church, but not 
 for the universal Church. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 841 
 
 CHAPTER IV. (Article IX.) 
 
 THE EXERCISE OF THE LEGISLATIVE AUTHORITY OF THE 
 CHURCH, AND HER RELATIONS TO CIVIL SOCIETY. 
 
 1. In what consists the authority of the Church ? — 2. The object of this 
 authority.— 3. The conditions required for its exercise. — 4. The 
 independence of the Church. — 5. The rights of the Church : (a) To 
 propagate her teaching, (b) To establish a hierarchy, (c) Free 
 communication with the Sovereign Pontiff. (d) To train and 
 educate her clergy, (e) To teach not only Theology but all the other 
 Sciences. (/) To determine the conditions of marriage, (g) To 
 possess both moveable and immoveable goods. — 6. The obligation 
 of Society to be Christian. — 7. The duties of the State towards 
 religion. — 8. The teaching of the indifference of the Civil power 
 towards religion, or the separation of Church and State not to be 
 admitted. — 9. Tolerance, as regards religion, properly understood. — 
 10. The most strenuous opponents of a Christian State are they 
 to whom the alliance of the Civil power with the Church is 
 intolerable. — 11. The Temporal power of the Pope, (a) Its origin. 
 (6) Its lawfulness, (c) Its necessity. — 12. Summary of conclusions 
 drawn from the teaching of the Church in regard to the temporal 
 dominion and the temporal power of the Pope. 
 
 There are many questions concerning the Church that are of 
 interest to Catholics, on which it is necessary to have clear 
 definite knowledge in our day. These regard the exercise of 
 her authority ; her independence ; her principal rights ; the 
 duties of the Civil rulers towards her ; her relations to the 
 Civil power ; and the temporal power of the Pope. I may 
 briefly explain her position and her tenets in regard to these 
 points, as far as they affect the constitution of the Church. And 
 for the sake of order and clearness, I shall follow the plan, and 
 also the mode of treatment of the Abbe* Moulin.* 
 
 In what consists the authority op the Church. 
 
 1. The Church being a true and perfect society, the 
 authority which she possesses must not only be a legislative 
 power, but also an executive and administrative power, and a 
 
 * Demonstration de la divinite du Catholicisme. Ch. v., Art. 11, pp. 308 
 et seq. 
 
342 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 judicial and coercive power. Ecclesiastical authority would not 
 be effective unless it could enforce the laws which it makes ; and 
 exercise judgment, and inflict penalties, on those who violate 
 them. Like her doctrinal authority, her government authority 
 is whole and entire in the hands of the Sovereign Pontiff, and 
 subordinate to his authority and directions is the authority of 
 the Bishops, each within the limits of his diocese. 
 
 The object op this authority. 
 
 2. As the proper and direct end of the Church is the 
 spiritual good and welfare of the faithful, it follows that her 
 legislative authority has, for its direct and proper object, the 
 actions of the faithful, as they are ordained towards that end. 
 As a consequence, it belongs to her to regulate all that appertains 
 to exterior religious discipline; such as the preaching of the 
 Gospel, the divine worship, festivals, sacred rites, the adminis- 
 tration and reception of the Sacraments, the appointing of the 
 ministers of the Church, vows and religious orders, fasts 
 and abstinence, canonical penalties, censures and irregularities. 
 
 The conditions required for the exercise op this authority. 
 
 3. That the Church may fully and efficaciously fulfil her 
 mission, it is necessary (a) that she have entire independence 
 in exercising the rights which she has received from Jesus 
 Christ, (b) That she be aided and protected in her work by 
 the civil power, (c) That the Pope possess temporal sovereignty. 
 These three principles, which have been specially attacked in our 
 day, should be brought to light and fully maintained. 
 
 The independence of the Church. 
 
 4. The Church is distinct from, and independent of, the 
 State. The Church is composed of men, as civil society is, 
 nevertheless, she is distinct, and differs from it : in her origin, 
 for she exists by an institution directly from God ; in her end, 
 which is to conduct men to eternal happiness ; in her means to 
 attain that end. She is also a supernatural and spiritual society; 
 and as a consequence, she is a perfect society in that sphere, 
 possessing in itself, and by itself, all the resources that are 
 necessary for its existence, and for its action. And as the end 
 towards which the Church aims is the highest and most excellent 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 343 
 
 of all, her power must be above all other power, and in no one 
 point can she be subordinate or subject to the civil power. 
 This doctrine is founded on the Gospel, on tradition, and on 
 the practice of the Church. 
 
 When Jesus Christ said : Bender to Ccesar the things that 
 are Ctesar's, and to God the things that are God's, He established 
 an essential distinction between the spiritual and the temporal 
 power, which the pagan world had confounded. Thus St. Peter 
 and the other Apostles, before the Council of the Jews, proclaimed 
 this principle courageously when they said : We must obey God 
 rather than men. They and their successors received the 
 Commission : Go and teach all nations ; to baptize them ; to teach 
 them to observe all that Jesus Christ had commanded. In giving 
 them their mission, Jesus Christ said to them : All power is 
 given to me in heaven and on earth ; go ye, therefore, and teach, 
 etc. Now Jesus Christ is independent of all earthly power ; and 
 He has communicated this independence to the Church. This 
 independence is necessary in order to preserve the unity of faith; 
 and this the Church has always, and in every place, proclaimed 
 and vindicated with invincible constancy against all tyrannies. 
 
 The following objections are proposed against this doctrine : 
 
 (a) It is said that the Church is in the State, and not the 
 
 State in the Church ; and the Church is, therefore, 
 dependent on the State. To this w T e answer : It is 
 true that the faithful who compose the Church are 
 members of some State, to which they owe allegiance 
 and obedience in civil and political things ; but it 
 does not follow from this that the Church is in the 
 State as a part in the whole. The Church being a 
 universal society, it would be more true to say that 
 the State is in the Church, or, better still, to say with 
 St. Thomas, that the Church is in the State in the 
 same way as the soul is in the body, inasmuch as it 
 gives the State moral life. 
 
 (b) It is said that we cannot deny that the State has the 
 
 right to procure social well-being. But religion is the 
 chief means of obtaining this, and that, therefore, 
 the State can lawfully regulate religious affairs. To 
 this we reply, that the end of the State being natural, 
 the civil power has the right to employ all natural 
 means to obtain its end, but in no sense has it a right 
 over Christian Society, which, although visible, is 
 nevertheless essentially a spiritual and supernatural 
 
344: THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 society. To make religion the instrument of the 
 Civil power, a means only of governing a State, is to 
 degrade it, and to paralyse its action. It is in this 
 respect, namely, in the supreme independence of the 
 Church, that tbe State obtains inappreciable advan- 
 tages for civil society. 
 (c) They say, the Church being an establishment independ- 
 ent of the State, there will result a source of 
 conflicts and of quarrels between the two powers. 
 The only means to prevent this is to acknowledge, 
 both in theory and in practice the supremacy of the 
 State. To this we answer : If the civil power confines 
 itself within its own sphere and limits, no conflict 
 will take place. It has for its principal and proximate, 
 or immediate end, to promote and protect temporal 
 interests ; the Church to procure the spiritual and 
 eternal interests of men. And as a matter of fact, 
 whenever public order has been disturbed by quarrels 
 between the two powers, the fault has always been 
 on the side of the Civil power, which, obeying the 
 dishonest inspirations of ambition and pride, has 
 outstepped its limits in order to govern with 
 tyranny. 
 There are matters which appertain both to the temporal and 
 spiritual power at the same time, such as burials, the goods used 
 for the support of religious institutions, property, &c, and which 
 may be called mixed, partly temporal and partly spiritual. It 
 is easy to regulate such matters by concordats. The Church in 
 such questions is ever ready, as far as possible, to make con- 
 cessions, and to facilitate arrangements with the State. 
 
 The Rights of the Church. 
 
 5. As a consequence of her independence the Church has 
 certain rights, the exercise of which is necessary for the attain 
 ment of her end, and whose violation by the State is an impiety, 
 an injustice, and, at the same time, a source of evil to society. 
 These rights may be enumerated as follows : — 
 
 (a) The Church has a right to propagate throughout the 
 
 world the Gospel, by preaching the faith according to 
 the command which she received from Christ. 
 
 (b) She has a right to establish, wherever the faithful exist, 
 
 a hierarchy necessary for their care and direction. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 345 
 
 (c) She has a right to claim for her Bishops, and for all the 
 
 faithful, free communication with the Sovereign Pon- 
 tiff ; the execution of her spiritual laws ; the free 
 preaching of the Gospel ; the censuring of errors, and 
 the convocation of Councils and other assemblies. 
 As a consequence the right, called in French Appel comme 
 d'abus, that is, the right to judge episcopal actions ; and the Placet 
 or Exequatur, that is, the pretension of temporal rulers that the 
 promulgation and execution of ecclesiastical acts should be sub- 
 mitted to their will and pleasure, are usurped rights. u We con- 
 demn and repobate," say the Fathers of the Vatican Council, 
 "the maxims of those who say that the communication of the 
 chief Head with the pastors and the flock may be lawfully im- 
 peded, or that it ought to depend on the secular power, pretend- 
 ing that the things established by the Apostolic See, or by virtue 
 of her authority, have no force or authority unless confirmed by 
 the sanction of the secular power."* 
 
 (d) The Church has the right to train and educate her Clergy 
 
 with absolute independence. To take from her the 
 education of the Clerics, who later on are to exercise 
 ecclesiastical functions, is to design her ruin. The 
 same may be said of measures enacted to impede their 
 vocation, and their training. 
 
 (e) Being essentially a spiritual and doctrinal society, the 
 
 Church has the right to teach, not only revealed 
 Theology, but all sciences, for there is no science but 
 has some connection and relation to Theology. Besides, 
 as she is a perfect society, and independent of the 
 State, she has a greater right even than the State to 
 open Schools, to choose teachers, to prescribe pro- 
 grammes and methods of education, and to confer 
 degrees. 
 We ought to recognize it as the right and duty of the State 
 to promote intellectual and moral education, so that fathers of 
 families may be provided with the means of bringing up well their 
 children ; and also the ngnt and duty of the State to watch over 
 the systems of instruction, to prevent or eliminate from them 
 anything opposed to honesty and justice ; but the State has not 
 the right to enforce on fathers of families, its masters or teachers, 
 its schools, its programmes and its methods. The education of 
 children belongs by natural right to the parents. The State 
 
 "4 Sess. Chap. iii. 
 
346 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 cannot interfere with this right without incurring the guilt and 
 blame of odious tyranny. And as parents are obliged to bring 
 up their children in a Christian manner, it belongs to the Church 
 to see to the fulfilment of this obligation on the part of the faithful. 
 
 (f) It is the right of the Church to determine the condi- 
 
 tions to be observed for the validity of the marriage 
 contract. It is a dogma of faith that Christ raised the 
 contract of marriage to the dignity of a Sacrament, in 
 such a way that amongst Christians the contract of 
 marriage is inseparable from the Sacrament. And as 
 the Sacraments belong to the Church, and not to the 
 State, it follows that the conditions of Christian mar- 
 riage depend, not on the civil power, but on the eccles- 
 iastical authority. The State has only the right to 
 regulate the civil effects of marriage. 
 
 (g) The Church has the right to possess goods moveable and 
 
 immoveable : and as a consequence, to acquire them, 
 and administer her temporal affairs. The right of 
 proprietorship is a natural right in every individual, 
 and much more does it belong to a Society which is 
 nothing else than a collection of individuals. Now the 
 Church is an independent Society, she has therefore 
 as much as the State itself the right to possess goods 
 and property. In order to build Churches, to sustain 
 her ministers and her worship, to propagate the faith, 
 and to succour the needy and the poor, it is necessary 
 that she should have fixed and determined means, the 
 possession and administration of which are inviolate 
 rights, and in no way belong to the civil power. Ex- 
 perience also shows that the confiscation of the goods 
 and property of the Church has been the great cause 
 of pauperism in modern nations, and that it opens a 
 road to Socialism. 
 (h) The Church has the right to establish within her own 
 communion other societies, subordinate to her, and 
 subject to her direction, in order to aid more easily 
 and more efficaciously in obtaining her end ; such, for 
 example, are Eeligious Orders. It is the natural right 
 of individuals to form amongst themselves an entire 
 society, as long as it does not interfere with public 
 order. In the State there are innumerable particular 
 societies formed, that have for their object — sciences, 
 letters, arts, industry, commerce. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 347 
 
 Why, therefore, may not the faithful be free to associate in 
 a like manner for the service of God, under the approbation of 
 the Church ? Eeligious Orders are most useful for promoting the 
 divine worship and the salvation of souls ; they are in the Church 
 a part of her sacred army, and the service which they render the 
 world in all things is immense and invaluable. When the 
 State suppresses them, or prevents their establishment or 
 development, it commits an act of injustice and of tyranny, and 
 causes great harm to itself. 
 
 Having enumerated some of the principle rights of the 
 Church, we have now to consider the chief obligations of the 
 State towards religion. 
 
 The obligation op society to be Christian. 
 
 6. If each man in particular is bound to render due 
 worship to God, because he came from Him, and should return 
 to Him, the Civil Society is bound by the same law. In effect, 
 men who are united by social ties and in social life, are no less 
 dependent on the divine power than men taken separately and 
 alone Therefore, both the individual and society are bound to 
 give thanks to God, from whom they proceed, who preserves 
 them by His providence, and bestows so many favours upon 
 them. It is for this reason that it is a crime in political 
 societies, as it is in individuals, to conduct themselves as if 
 there were no God, or to treat religion with disrespect, as if it 
 were a thing dangerous to the public good, and of no utility 
 to it whatever. As to the religion which Society is bound to 
 profess, it is not a religion of any kind, but that religion which 
 God Himself has imposed, and of which the most manifest 
 proofs show to be the true religion amongst all others. That 
 is the religion of which Jesus Christ is the author, and which 
 He has confided to his Church to guard and to diffuse. Society 
 ought then to be Christian, and recognise as its King, Jesus 
 Christ, to whom God the Father has given all Kingdoms and 
 all Nations. 
 
 The duties op the State towards religion. 
 
 7. The obligation by which the Social body is bound to 
 practice the Christian religion in its true form, which is Catho- 
 licism, evidently imposes on the Eulers of the State the duty 
 of favouring that religion, to protect it by their goodwill, to 
 guard it by the authority of the law; and to establish or 
 
348 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 order nothing injurious to it, or contrary to its action. They 
 are responsible for all this to the citizens over whom they 
 preside. In causing the true religion to be respected, they pro- 
 mote and ensure the public prosperity, of which religion is the 
 fundamental condition. In this way they discharge their 
 principal obligation. A well -regulated society is impossible 
 without religion, as Leo. XIII. says. And Pope St. Gregory, 
 a9 Bossuet tells us, writing to the pious Emperor Maurice, 
 represents to him in the following words the duties of a Christian 
 King : " Know, O great Emperor, that the Sovereign power has 
 been accorded to you from on high, to the end that virtue may 
 be aided ; that the roads to heaven may be enlarged ; and that 
 the Empire of earth may serve the Empire of heaven." It is truth 
 itself that dictated these beautiful vords : for what can be more 
 becoming than that power should be used to succour virtue? 
 That strength should be used to defend right ? And for what 
 purpose do men command and rule, unless it be to effect obedi- 
 ence to God and His law ? 
 
 8. We cannot, therefore, admit the doctrine of the in- 
 difference of the civil power in regard to religion, or the separa- 
 tion of Church and State. The separation would mean inevitable 
 war for the State, which police or soldiers could not control 
 without religion ; it would also be to the great detriment of 
 religion, and to the civil society itself. 
 
 The normal situation, according to the design of God, is 
 that Church and State be united as soul and body; that the power 
 of Christian wisdom and of divine virtue should penetrate the laws, 
 the institutions, and the manners of the people, and pervade all 
 the ranks and relations of civil society. Where religion, 
 occupying that degree of dignity which is its right, is flourish- 
 ing, society is also well organised, and gives results far superior 
 to those which are usually expected from it. "If," says 
 Leo. XIII., " Christian Europe has subjected barbarous nations, 
 and caused them to pass from ferocity to meekness, from super- 
 stition to truth, if it has repelled victoriously the invasions of 
 the Mussulman ; if civilization has taken the advantage in 
 preparing the way for the rest of the world, and in teaching it 
 all that it can know to its honour and advantage ; if it has satis- 
 fied the people with true liberty in all its forms ; if it has wisely 
 founded numbers of institutions for the comfort and solace of men 
 in their miseries and sufferings ; it must be confessed that all 
 this is greatly owing to religion, which it has as its inspirer and 
 its helper in attaining this desirable end. The world would 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 349 
 
 enjoy now all these advantages had the two powers been 
 preserved in accordance with one another ; and there would be 
 hope of greater things if the world would submit with more 
 faith, and in a more durable manner, to the counsels of the 
 Church." 
 
 It is said against this doctrine, that the theory of a Christian 
 State is a theory of absolutism, which is directly opposed to the 
 modern world. 
 
 If by absolutism is meant a system of government which 
 accepts as law the will and pleasure of the ruler, there is nothing 
 similar to it in the Christian State, whose fundamental principle 
 is submission to the divine law as taught and interpreted by the 
 Church. The essential principle of the Eoman claim was : Quod 
 pri?icipi placuit legis habet vigor em. If the King wills it, the law 
 wills it. Modern Caesarism, the King or the sovereign people, 
 cannot put this principle in force unless it separate the State 
 from the Church. So that wherever the divine law is respected, 
 there, no matter under what form of government, authority is 
 strong, and true liberty is found. 
 
 It may be said that this is an intolerant doctrine, for it gives 
 the right, and imposes the duty, on the civil power, not to 
 tolerate the enemies of the Catholic religion. 
 
 9. There are two sorts of tolerance — dogmatic tolerance 
 and civil tolerance. The first regards with indifference all 
 religions ; it places all on an equal, footing, as if they were all 
 equally good or equally bad. Such a tolerance 13 impious, 
 injurious to God, who ha3 revealed the Christian religion, and 
 obliges all men under penalty of eternal damnation to submit 
 to it. 
 
 The Church cannot admit this tolerance, for it is equivalent 
 to Atheism. But if the Church is intolerant in respect to error, 
 she is full of meekness and charity towards those who are in 
 error. She uses the greatest vigilance that no one be forced 
 against his will to embrace the Catholic faith (no priest would 
 receive into the Church an unwilling subject), and she has not 
 forgotten the wise saying of St. Augustine : " Constraint can 
 obtain everything of man, everything save the faith." This it can 
 neither give nor take away. 
 
 But it is one thing to use force to oblige men to believe and 
 to sanctify themselves ; another thing to repress exterior and 
 public impiety, which threatens the faith of the weak, and 
 carries trouble and disorder into the midst of civil and religious 
 society. We punish the attacks made on political sovereignty, 
 
350 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 the violation of the laws on which the peace and security of 
 citizens depend. Why should it be forbidden to punish those 
 who attack God, religion, morality, and fundamental truths, 
 without which society could not exist ? 
 
 It follows, therefore, that the civil power has the right and 
 duty, as far as it is possible, to make people respect the divine 
 law. In a society composed entirely of Catholics, it should be 
 used against turbulent spirits who attempt to introduce schism 
 and heresy ; for it should prevent the rupture of religious unity, 
 which is the principal foundation of social unity. 
 
 If heresy has divided nations, and obtained a sort of legal 
 existence strengthened by time, granted or accorded to them by 
 treaties or agreements, the Sovereign, whilst condemning in his 
 conscience all that is false and erroneous, may accept the 
 situation brought about by circumstances, and tolerate different 
 forms of religion in the state, in the hope that he may yet bring 
 about or promote Catholic unity or unity with Catholicism. To 
 avoid a greater evil he would be sometimes obliged to tolerate the 
 practice of different forms of religious worship. 
 
 10. We may observe that the most strenuous opponents of 
 a Christian State are they to whom the alliance of the state or 
 civil power with religion is intolerable. They labour with all 
 their strength to create an anti-Christian state, a state of 
 Freethinkers, where the government will take in hand the cause 
 of incredulity in order to establish and to spread Atheism. We 
 have seen in 1798, and we see in our own day in France since 
 1879, the anti-religious homogeneousness, which is the end and 
 object of the French Freemasonry. It is by the enforcing of 
 true religious unity that nations are rendered great and pros- 
 perous, and that men are led to respect the truth of this teaching. 
 
 But it may be further stated that modern society rests on 
 liberty of conscience and of worship, liberty of speech and of 
 the press, which liberties are irreconciliable with the principles 
 of a Christian state. 
 
 To call the above-named rights liberties is nothing less than 
 to take evil for good ; it is an odious abuse of language, the reverse 
 of all morality. Liberty, as Montesquieu says, consists in this, 
 that one should have the power of doiug what he ought to do, 
 and of not being forced to do that which he ought not to do. 
 Now if there is anything which a man, or a Society, ought to 
 wish to do, it is that which is good, namely the fulfilling of the 
 law of God. 
 
 When liberty outsteps the limits prescribed by truth and jus- 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 351 
 
 tice, it does not merit that name, it becomes licence, that is the 
 liberty of perdition, as St. Augustine says : and in that case it 
 becomes injurious to the moral and religious interests of the 
 people, and the civil power should restrict its manifestations. 
 But it may be asked, would it not be preferable, before the law, 
 to give equal liberty to truth and error ? Truth will always prevail, 
 and tolerance will gain to the Church rebellous spirits. As error 
 is of itself bad, it is unlawful to recognise any right for it or its 
 existence. All that is permitted in regard to it, is to tolerate it 
 under certain grave and necessary circumstances. To suppose 
 that truth, without support or protection, will triumph over error, 
 is to be under a strange delusion. Men are naturally prone to 
 evil, and for the most part, incapable of solving the captious 
 sophisms in which error is usually enveloped. That which flatters 
 men's passions is regarded with favour : truth is misrepresented, 
 virtue is ridiculed, and a frightful moral and intellectual perver 
 sion is produced in the masses. 
 
 This tolerance, they say, will gain to the Church rebellious 
 spirits, instead of the estrangement caused by severity. To this 
 experience gives the reply. When religious truth is not protected, 
 its enemies increase every day, faith becomes weakened, and with 
 faith the good and well-being of the people fails. In society good 
 is not practised, except under the condition that the teaching of 
 the truth be sustained by salutary fear. The citizens, on their 
 part, have a right to exact from the State that they be preserved 
 from error, and that the poisoners of the public spirit be treated 
 as pestiferous criminals. 
 
 It is also represented that the system of liberty of worship, if 
 universally recognised, will authorise the introduction of the true 
 religion into all lands, whilst the system of protection would only 
 shut it out, or expose it to persecution. 
 
 Eevealed truth alone has the right to reign in this world ; it 
 has every right of liberty. It alone presents itself with motives 
 of credibility of such a kind that every government can recognise 
 its divine origin. In consequence, a government that makes 
 itself the defender of a false religion to the exclusion of the true 
 worship, is not within its right ; it abuses shamefully the one true 
 and salutary principle. But the abuse of a thing ought not to 
 stop its usage ; because the bad persecute the good, that is no 
 reason why they should have licence to do so when they can be 
 prevented. We must therefore acknowledge that the protection 
 of the Church by the State is the only principle admissable, and 
 that it ought to be put in practice whenever circumstances permit. 
 
352 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 The Temporal Power op the Pope. 
 
 11. (a) The origin of the Temporal power. Even in the days 
 of persecution, before Consfcantine, the Papacy re- 
 ceived from the liberality of the faithful consider- 
 able means to be employed for the maintenance of 
 the Christian religion, and the relief of the poor. 
 This patrimony increased so much under Constan- 
 tine and his successors, that it served as a means to 
 propagate the faith, to build Basilicas, and to suc- 
 cour the needy of every description. 
 About the middle of the eighth century, the Roman Empire 
 perished, and Europe became covered with a host of new nations, 
 often opposed to each other, and divided in their interests ; these 
 circumstances brought about the foundation of the temporal 
 power, which was destined in the designs of Providence to pre- 
 serve and ensure the independence of the supreme Head of the 
 Church. 
 
 Rome at this epoch saw itself abandoned and illtreated by the 
 Emperors of the East, its masters. During the invasions, con- 
 tinued without ceasing, of the Huns, the Vandals, the Ostrogoths, 
 and Lombards, Rome was thrown into the arms of the Papacy. 
 The Papacy, which had exercised since Constantino a great influ- 
 ence on public affairs, took on itself the guardianship of forlorn 
 Italy, saved Rome from the terrors of Attila and Genseric, and 
 raised it up from ruin nine times. Not being able in the end to 
 defend it against the attacks of the Lombards, she appealed suc- 
 cessively to Pepin and Charlemagne, who lent her their victorious 
 arms, made the King of the Lombards restore all the towns and 
 principalities which he had taken, and extended generously the 
 dominion of the Pope by ceding to him the provinces which they 
 came to conquer. 
 
 As a fact, the temporal sovereignty of the Holy See in the 
 duchy of Rome and the exarchate of Revenna, commenced under 
 the pontificate of Gregory II. (715-731) After the grant of 
 Pepin, the Popes acted as the Sovereigns of Rome, and con- 
 sidered themselves definitely enfranchised from all dependence 
 on the Emperors of Constantinople. They have been ever 
 faithful, although the evils with which they have had to contend, 
 as well as the impotence of these Emperors in Italy, have never 
 been clearly manifested or known. 
 
 (b) The Lawfulness of the Temporal Poiver. If there is a 
 temporal power lawful and legitimate in this world, 
 
THE APOSTLES' CEEED. 353 
 
 assuredly it is the temporal power of the Popes. 
 There is nothing more sacred or more incontestihb 
 than that it rests upon the strongest titles that can 
 be assigned for temporal rights. (1) On the election 
 and the voice or wish of the people who, for- 
 saking their ancient masters, took refuge under the 
 guardianship of the Sovereign Pontiffs. (2.) On the 
 rightful conquests of Pepin and Charlemagne, and 
 the free concession of the Princess Matilda, who 
 willed at her death her patrimony to the Holy See. 
 
 (3) On the prescription of more than ten centuries. 
 
 (4) On public European right, which in all its con- 
 gresses and treaties has recognised the Pontifical 
 States. (5) On the invaluable services rendered by 
 the Popes to Italy, of which they have been so often 
 the saviours and the peacemakers ; and the salutary 
 influence which their temporal independence enabled 
 them to exercise over the whole world. 
 
 (c) The Necessity of the Temporal Poiver. If this power be 
 not of divine institution, it is at least apparent that 
 in the actual condition of the political world, it is a 
 providential means of protecting the spiritual power, 
 and of efficiently securing its honour and its liberty. 
 
 Under a strange or alien Sovereign, the Chief Pastor of the 
 Church would not enjoy that full independence which is 
 necessary for the exercise of his doctrinal and legislative 
 authority. History furnishes us with the proof. Before Con- 
 stantino, thirty Popes suffered martyrdom ; all more or less had 
 to keep secret their sovereign dignity. Later on they have been 
 imprisoned, banished from Koine, and condemned to die in exile. 
 We have always seen a troubled world when their temporal 
 sovereignty has ceased for a time. In our day, since tho 
 Piedmontese army invaded Eome (20th Sept., 1870), Popes 
 Pius IX. and Leo XIII. have on many occasions complained of 
 the intolerable situation in which they have been placed. 
 
 Heretics and impious men of every age understood full well 
 the importance of the temporal power; and so Frederick of 
 Prussia wrote to Voltaire, " There is nothing to be done but to 
 bring about the downfall of the temporal power ; the temporal 
 power once destroyed, the spiritual will become that which it 
 ought to be, and we shall come to have national Churches as we 
 have national languages." 
 
 From this we can understand the reason why the Catholic 
 
354 THE CKEED EXPLAINED. 
 
 Church vindicates so strenuously the rights of the Holy See to 
 its temporal dominions and princedom. The Council of Trent 
 declares that the temporal States of the Church are sacred 
 property, and to protect them against usurpation, it pronounces 
 excommunication against any who should dare to attack them 
 either directly or indirectly.* 
 
 Having given the Catholic views as stated by the Abbe 
 Moulin, I wish to add briefly some remarks on the temporal 
 power of the Church as they have shaped themselves in my 
 mind. 
 
 12. The first question to be asked is : Whether the Church 
 or the Pope should have any temporal power ? In answer to 
 thi3 question, I assert : (a) It is certain that the Pope has not 
 dominion over the whole world. The Lord committed only His 
 sheep to Peter. Infidels, or not baptized people, are not the 
 sheep of Christ's flock, and therefore the Pope has no power 
 over them, or to judge them according to the words of St. Paul : 
 For what have I to do to judge them that are without ?\ 
 
 Infidel and Pagan rulers are therefore true and supreme 
 princes and rulers of their territories, as dominion is not founded 
 on grace or on faith, but on reason and free will. It does not 
 descend by divine right, but by the laws of nations according to 
 which our Saviour said: Bender therefore to Ccesar the things 
 that are Ccesafs, and to God the things that are God's. 
 
 It is certain, in the second place, that the Pope has not the 
 dominion of the whole Christian world. From the Scriptures we 
 do not learn that more was bestowed on the Pontiff than the 
 Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven ; there is no mention of the 
 keys of earthly kingdoms. 
 
 It is certain in the third place that the Pope has no temporal 
 jurisdiction directly jure divino, by divine right. That is, the 
 Pope is not, by divine right, the King or Supreme temporal 
 Sovereign of any place. Christ as man, whilst on earth, received 
 no temporal dominion, therefore, the Sovereign Pontiff has not, 
 by divine right, the temporal dominion or direct temporal power 
 over any country or province. 
 
 The next question is : Whether the Pope has the Supreme 
 temporal power indirectly ? Here we must distinguish temporal 
 power from temporal dominions or possessions, under the title of 
 King or Sovereign. His temporal possessions and dominions are 
 
 * Thus far in this instruction I have quoted the Abbe Moulin. 
 {1 Cor. v. 12. 
 
THE apostles' cbeed. 355 
 
 entirely human, and of human origin, and of human duration ; 
 in the sense that they may pass away in time ; but as to indirect 
 temporal power, as connected with the spiritual power, and as 
 necessary for its exercise, we must say that, although the Pope, 
 as Pope, has not any direct temporal power, he has the power 
 for the spiritual good of the faithful, of disposing of the tempor- 
 alities of Christians, whenever this may be necessary. And he 
 h&sjure divino, by divine right, temporal power indirectly, that is 
 in so far as this is necessary for the exercise of the spiritual 
 power bestowed upon him by Christ. In the Civil State there 
 are rulers, laws, and judgments ; in like manner in the Church 
 there are Bishops, Canons, and judgments, The former have for 
 their direct object and end the temporal peace and welfare of the 
 State ; the latter, the salvation of souls. Nevertheless, for this 
 object we know that temporal power is sometimes most useful 
 and necessary, and, therefore, when necessary for the end of the 
 Church, we must suppose that it was granted to her in connection 
 with the spiritual authority. 
 
 It is further asked whether the Pope has any authority over 
 the temporal affairs of Kings ? Here we must remember that 
 the temporal end is subordinate to the spiritual, and if in 
 temporal administration spiritual good should be impeded, in the 
 judgment of all, the temporal prince would be bound to alter the 
 mode of administration. Therefore, the spiritual ruler can 
 command temporal sovereigns, that they may regulate their 
 temporal affairs, in order to the spiritual good of the faithful, as 
 every superior can command his subjects. 
 
 Although the Pope, as such, cannot command or ordinarily 
 depose secular princes or sovereigns, even for a just cause, in the 
 same way as he can remove a Bishop from his See, that is as 
 ordinary Judge, he might, however, change Kingdoms, and take 
 them away from one and give them to another, as the Supreme 
 Spiritual Pontiff, if that were necessary for the salvation of souls. 
 Otherwise, bad kings and rulers could favour heretics with 
 impunity, and overturn religion in their states. 
 
 We may ad 1 that if the Sovereign Pontiffs be selected as the 
 arbitrators of quarrels between princes and people, and between 
 kings themselves, then by human right they would obtain a 
 certain power and authority over the temporal affairs of kings. 
 And according to this right many historical facts can be properly 
 explained and understood, such as that of Alexander VI., dividing 
 the New World between the Kingdoms of Spain and Portugal. 
 
 Then it is well known that for many ages there were Superior 
 
356 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 rulers and inferior ones. The inferior rulers, although they 
 governed their Kingdoms by their own authority, were, neverthe- 
 less, subject in many things to the greater or superior Sovereigns ; 
 and the Pope was recognised as the arbitrator between them 
 and their people in all matters of dispute and of government ; 
 and especially in whatever affected the Church or religion, his 
 authority was acknowledged as supreme and unquestioned. 
 
 Bearing this distinction in mind between the direct and the 
 indirect temporal power, we have to refer again to his temporal 
 possession and dominion, because, although in this we need not 
 claim any divine right, we assert, however, that the Sovereign 
 Pontiff is capable of temporal sovereignty, and the same man 
 may be at the same time a political king and an ecclesiastical 
 Pontiff. This statement is against Calvin and Brentius and 
 others, who consider the two powers incompatible. 
 
 The union of this two-fold power in one man is in no sense 
 repugnant either to the natural, the divine, or human law. Not 
 to the natural law, because, as far as the nature of things goes, 
 there is no opposition between the two powers. 
 
 Not to the divine law, which in no place is adverse to this 
 doctrine or arrangement. On the contrary, we see the two 
 often united in Scriptural history, as in the case of Melchisedeck, 
 who was at the same time King and Pontiff. Also Moses was at 
 the same time the greatest prince and the chief priest, or Pontiff, 
 of the Jews. Both powers are good, both are from God, both are 
 praiseworthy, one helps the other j there is, therefore, no opposi- 
 tion between them, and both may be possessed by the same person. 
 
 As to the lawfulness of the temporal sovereignty of the Pope, 
 that which he claims, and of which he was robbed, there can be 
 no doubt. It originated in the most lawful manner, as is certain 
 from history. Many temporal dominions were bestowed on the 
 Holy See by Christian Kings in the very first ages, which Con- 
 stantine the Great afterwards augmented (in 330). Pepin (752) 
 gave to the Popes dominion over the exarchate of Bevenna ; 
 which Charlemagne afterwards (772) confirmed. To these were 
 added the territory of the Countess Mebhilda, which by a solemn 
 act she made over to the Holy See. 
 
 The Popes had and retained these by the best title of pre- 
 scription, or peaceful and indisputed possession, for many cen- 
 turies. From the time of Pepin and Charlemagne, even to our 
 own day, the Holy See retained dominion over the States of the 
 Church, and her right in this respect was recognised by the public 
 law of nations. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 357 
 
 Hence Pius IX. in the Syllabus condemned the following 
 propositions : 
 
 " The Church has no temporal power, either direct or in- 
 direct." 
 
 " The Church has not a natural or lawful right to acquire or 
 possess.'' 
 
 u The Sacred ministers of the Church, and the Eoman Pontiff 
 ought to be excluded entirely from all dominion over, and care of, 
 temporal things and possessions." 
 
 The civil power of the Holy See ought to be liberated and 
 preserved, because of the many advantages which it brings with it, 
 not only to the Church, but to the whole Christian world. The 
 supreme Pontiff ought not to be the subject of any king, and he 
 should be fully independent of every temporal prince and ruler, 
 that he may be able, fully and freely, to discharge his sacred 
 authority over the faithful. 
 
 In these few remarks I have endeavoured to show (a) that 
 the Church, or the Pope, has supreme temporal power only in- 
 directly, inasmuch as it is necessary for the salvation of souls. 
 (b) That the Church, or the Pope, has indirectly some authority 
 over the temporal affairs of kings, and (c) that the Pope is capable 
 of temporal authority and dominion : that the temporal and civil 
 princedom, or sovereignty of the Pope, is perfectly lawful, and tc 
 be preserved and defended 
 
358 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 CHAPTER V. (Article IX.) 
 
 THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS. 
 
 1. What is meant by the Communion of Saints. — 2. Tbe states of the 
 Church militant, suffering, and triumphant. — 3. Who are they that are 
 included in the Communion of Saints ?— 4. Are sinners included in 
 this Communion ? — 5. Are those outside the Church to be included? 
 — 6. The Communion of Saints extends to the sools in Purgatory, 
 and to the Blessed in heaven. — 7. That in which this Communion 
 consists — (a) Communion of the Saints with God and with the three 
 Persons of the Blessed Trinity, (b) Communion between the Saints 
 and Angels, (c) Communion with each other, (d) Communion of 
 the Saints in heaven with the souls in Purgatory, and the faithful on 
 earth. (e ) Communion of the faithful on earth with the souls in 
 Purgatory. (/) The Communion of the faithful on earth with each 
 other. — 8. The external manifestations of spirits in this world. — 9. 
 These spirits that can and do appear. — 10. Rules by which true and 
 good visions may be distinguished from those that are false or dia- 
 bolical. — 11. Difference between the teaching of Ascetical Theology 
 and Modern Spiritualism, in regard to communication with spirits 
 and departed souls. — 12. Spiritualism a dangerous and unlawful 
 practice. — 13. Exhortation of Bishop Milner on the subject of the in- 
 vocation of Saints. 
 
 1. According to our Catechism, by the communion of Saints, 
 we mean that all the members of the Church, in heaven, on earth, 
 *and in purgatory, are in communion with each other, as being one 
 body in Jesus Christ. 
 
 The faithful on earth are in communion with each other by 
 professing the same faith, obeying the same authority, and assist- 
 ing each other with their prayers and good works. 
 
 We are in communion with the Saints in heaven by honour- 
 ing them as the glorified members of the Church ; and also by our 
 praying to them, and by their praying for us. 
 
 We are in communion with the souls in Purgatory by helping 
 them with our prayers and good works. It is a holy and a whole- 
 some thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from 
 their sins.* 
 
 The word Communion is taken here for fellowship or inter- 
 course. 
 
 Mac. xii. 46. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 359 
 
 2. The members of the Church of Christ may find them- 
 selves in one or other of three different states. Either they are 
 engaged on the battle-field, sustaining the combat against the 
 enemies of their salvation ; or they have gained the victory in 
 this world, but gone out of it wounded, and are in a place where 
 all their wounds are being healed ; or they are already in a place 
 where they enjoy the glory of their triumph. 
 
 In the first state they form part of the Church militant, i.e., 
 fighting, because its duty is to be always in arms against sin and 
 wickedness. In the second they form part of the Church suffer- 
 ing in Purgatory ; and in the third of the Church triumphant ; 
 namely, that part of which the Apostle speaks in his Epistle, 
 and calls a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any 
 such thing * 
 
 This three-fold Church is only one, because it has only one 
 Head, who is Jesus Christ. All its members are united under 
 that one head, and in the sense of this Article of the Creed, have 
 communion with each other. 
 
 The dogma of the Communion of Saints means the fraternal 
 union of all the members of the Church, and their participation 
 in the same spiritual benefits. 
 
 The instruction on this dogma may be divided into two 
 parts, (a) Who and what kind of persons are called Saints. (6) 
 In what the nature of their communion consists. 
 
 Who and what kind of persons are called Saints. 
 
 3. By sanctity we mean holiness, and holiness in its literal 
 sense signifies separation, both (a) in regard to that from which 
 the separation is made, and (b) that to which what is separated 
 is applied. The holy things under the law were separated from 
 common use, and applied to the service of God. Thus, all persons 
 called or separated from the common condition of the world, to 
 any peculiar service or relation to God, are thereby 
 denominated holy, and in some sense receive the name of 
 Saints. 
 
 The separation from the world, and appropriation to God, 
 is under the New Law, effected by the Sacrament of Baptism, 
 inasmuch as this Sacrament is a washing away of sin ; it is a 
 sanctification and purification, and it also enriches the soul 
 
 * Eplies. v. 27. 
 
360 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 with the theological gifts of faith, hope, and charity, in which 
 true sanctity consists. 
 
 Those, therefore, may be called holy, or saints here on 
 earth, who have been baptized ; and who are sanctified in 
 Christ Jesus by the virtues of faith, hope, and charity, and who, 
 as a consequence, are holy in respect of their conversation, that 
 is their behaviour and their manner of life, according to the 
 words of St. Peter : But according to Him that hath called you, 
 who is Holy, be you also in all manner of conversation holy ; 
 because it is written '* you shall be holy for I am holy."* 
 
 From this it follows that in the Communion of Saints are 
 included : 
 
 (a) Souls that lead lives of perfection, and practice virtue in 
 
 an heroic degree. 
 
 (b) Those who only enjoy the first degree of holiness, 
 
 namely, freedom from mortal sin, or from formal 
 disobedience in matters of moment to one or more 
 commands of God or His Church, although they 
 may have slight faults, for the Scripture tells us that 
 the just man himself falls seven times. 
 
 4. It may naturally be asked whether sinners are excluded 
 from this Communion of Saints ? Sin places a soul in a state 
 of revolt against God, consequently in a state of spiritual death. 
 Yet even the sinner who has not been cut off from the body 
 of the Church by excommunication, remains attached to it as a 
 withered member, and many graces continue to flow upon Him 
 through various channels. " The instructions he hears, the good 
 examples he sees, the prayers offered for his conversion, and that 
 secret influence which a living body always possesses over even 
 its withered members, all serve as so many stimulants to urge 
 him to arise from his fallen state. He has lost Charity which 
 can never co- exist with mortal sin ; but so long as he does not 
 complete his separation by abandoning faith and hope, he still 
 possesses within him a germ of life, which at any moment, if he 
 so wills, may spring up to transform him once more into a 
 Saint." 
 
 5. It may further be asked whether, to belong to the Com- 
 munion of Saints, it is indispensable that one should belong to 
 the Catholic Church ? Yes, he must belong to the Church in one 
 of these two ways, either he must be actually aggregated to the 
 body and soul of the Church, or he must be fully disposed and 
 
 * 1 St. Peter i. 15, 16. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 361 
 
 entirely resolved to enter into her communion the very instant he 
 is satisfied that she is the true Church. 
 
 To understand this I must refer you to the fact that we must 
 recognize in the Church, or mystical body of Christ, a soul as 
 well as a body, and hence the distinction between the soul and 
 body of the Church. 
 
 The soul of the Church is the union, in different degrees, of 
 all who live in the spirit of Jesus Christ, which is a spirit of faith, 
 hope and charity. The body of the Church is the assembly of 
 all who exteriorly profess the same faith, participate in the same 
 Sacraments, and are governed by the same pastors. Hence we 
 may conclude that a person may belong to the soul of the Church 
 without being actually a member of her body, in the same manner 
 as many belong to the body without belonging to her soul. Some 
 who do not care to retain anything of communion with us may 
 call this a tardy distinction, but it is a distinction used by the 
 ancient doctors of the Church, founded on Catholic tradition, and 
 on the general principles of Christianity, according to these words 
 of our Saviour : And other sheep I have that are not of this fold; 
 them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice, and there shall 
 be one fold and one Shepherd.* 
 
 We may, therefore, include in this communion (a) all children 
 who have been validly baptized (even by a pagan) , and who die either 
 before they come to the use of reason or before they commit an 
 actual mortal sin. (b) All adults, even if externally in commu- 
 nion with some heretical or schismatical sect, who on account of 
 their entire sincerity, and the good use they make of the truths 
 which they conscientiously believe, preserve their baptismal inno- 
 cence, or recover grace after it has been lost, by works of penance 
 and charity, (c) All those men of good will who, purified from 
 the stain of original sin, and from the defilements of actual sin 
 have been reconciled to God by an act of perfect charity, which 
 always includes an implied desire of baptism, and of all the 
 regular means of sanctification. 
 
 The Communion of Saints, therefore, in the sense in which 
 we understand it, is truly Catholic, for it includes all the servants 
 of the true God, whatever the circumstances of time or place, or 
 whatever may be the moral, or social condition in which they 
 have lived, or still are living. 
 
 6. The Communion of Saints extends further. " It follows 
 its members wherever they go (as long as they do not die in a 
 
 * St. John x. 16. 
 
362 THE CKEED EXPLAINED. 
 
 state of mortal sin and final impenitence). It is in fact the ever- 
 lasting society of the friends of God, a society beginning here 
 below, on the field of battle and trial, continued in that place of 
 temporal punishment called purgatory (the temporary abode of 
 souls that depart indebted to Divine justice, which they must 
 satisfy before they can enter into the possession of the Kingdom 
 of perfect purity) ; and finally consummated in the everlasting 
 city of heaven." 
 
 These three divisions of the mystical body of Christ are, as I 
 have already said, known under the titles of the Church trium- 
 phant, the Church suffering, and the Church militant. But in 
 reality these three Churches are one. They are but one, because 
 the saints in glory, the saints in purgatory, and the saints on 
 earth, are closely united to each other under their one Hetr.d, 
 Jesus Christ, and live one common life, derived from its Head, 
 and from the sanctifying Spirit, which life is charity itself, perfect 
 in the Saints in heaven, imperfect as yet in the souls in purgatory, 
 and far more imperfect in the saints on earth ; but still in each 
 the same Divine Charity, which Jesus Christ came to enkindle on 
 earth, and which is infused into our hearts by the Holy Ghost."* 
 7. Having explained what kind of persons are called saints, 
 we may now proceed to examine the second question, namely, in 
 what does their Communion consist ? 
 
 In this communion we have to consider (a) those who differ 
 from the Saints in nature, as the angels, (b) those saints who 
 differ in person only from each other, (e) those whose condition 
 is different. 
 
 (a) We may notice by itself that the saints living in the 
 Church have communion with God, that is with the 
 three Persons of the most Holy Trinity : 
 
 With the Father — 
 And truly our fellowship may be with the Father. 
 
 With the Son — 
 And with His Son, Jesus Christ. (1 St. John iii.) 
 
 With the Holy Ghost — 
 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the charity of 
 God, and the communication of the Holy Ghost be 
 with you. (2. Cor. xiii. 13.) 
 (6) Communion between the Saints and the Angels. 
 It was an angel foretold the birth of John the Baptist, that 
 announced the conception of Christ, and sang a hymn at His 
 
 * The Philosophy of the Cath. Catch, by the Abbe Martinet;, 
 
THE apostles' ckeed. 363 
 
 Nativity, that carried Lazarus into Abraham's bosom, that 
 appeared from heaven to strengthen our Saviour in His agony, 
 that brought the Apostles out of prison. Angels will come au 
 the end of the world to separate the just from the wicked. From 
 these evidences it is certain that the Angels have a perpetual 
 relation and intercourse with the children of men. Are they not 
 all ministering spirits, sent to minister for them who shall receive 
 the inheritance of salvation* And thus there is joy before the 
 Angels of God upon one sinner doing penance. f 
 
 Then we have the Catholic doctrine of Guardian Angels, 
 which teaches that every human being has an Angel appointed 
 by God to watch over him in this life. Hence our Saviour, 
 speaking of children, said : See that you despise not one of these 
 little ones ; for I say to you that their Angels in Heaven always 
 see the face of my Father who is in heaven.% 
 
 (c) There is communion with one another Here on earth 
 the saints have some communion with men not 
 saints. We have the same Baptism, the same Creed, 
 the same means of grace, &c. And the living saints 
 in the same Church of Christ have still closer com- 
 munion with each other in grace, in charity, having 
 the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace, according 
 to the words of St. Paul : One body and one spirit, as 
 you are called in one hope of your calling. One Lord, 
 one faith, one baptism. One God and Father of all, 
 who is above all, and through all and in us all.§ 
 I shall now give the manner in which the members of the 
 Church help each other according to their various conditions, 
 whether as belonging to the Church militant, suffering, or 
 triumphant. 
 
 id) The Saints in heaven intercede for the souls in Pur- 
 gatory, and for the faithful on earth. They see in 
 God, as in a mirror, all that concerns creatures, 
 especially those related to them by the ties of family 
 and of friendship. They do not now require the 
 corporal senses — ears to hear, or eyes to see ; and 
 distance and time cannot intercept their knowledge. 
 Their charity makes them take a great interest in the 
 sorrows of the Church suffering, and in the combats of the 
 Church militant. They are aware of all the appeals that are 
 made to t heir intercession and mediation, and they supplicate 
 
 * Heb. i. 14. f St. Luke xv.10. 
 
 \ St. Matt, xviii. 10. § Ephes. iv. 45. 
 
364 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 the bounty andgoodness of God to grant the prayers of those 
 who invoke their aid. Hence the doctrine of the invocation of 
 Saints. The mystical union between Christ and His Church, and 
 between all its members, is not dissolved by death ; but true 
 holiness is improved by death, and consequently the prayers of 
 the Saints are more efficacious now than they were during 
 life. 
 
 In exchange for their good offices towards men, the honour 
 and respect and devotion of the faithful here, and of the souls in 
 purgatory, are a cause of joy to the Saints in heaven, and add to 
 their accidental glory. 
 
 (e) The faithful on earth intercede for the souls in Purga- 
 tory by praying for their deliverence and for the 
 alleviation of their sufferings. (This matter I shall 
 explain more fully in the instruction on Purgatory). 
 The souls in Purgatory, on their part, pray for the 
 faithful on earth, especially for those to whom they 
 were united here below, and for those who, moved by 
 pity and compassion, succour them by their prayers 
 and good works. 
 (/) Finally, the faithful here on earth intercede and pray 
 for one another. Fervent prayers are incessantly 
 going up before the throne of God for the conversion 
 of sinners, for the perseverance of the just, for the 
 exaltation of the Church of which we are members, 
 and for the cessation of the scourges that afflict 
 human society. 
 8. Having explained the nature of this spiritual union that 
 exists between the members of the Church, it may interest us 
 to know something of the external acts and operations and 
 appearances which are sometimes manifested to men here by the 
 spirits of another world. 
 
 That there can be some such communication is undeniable ; 
 but as to how it is brought about is not so certain. 
 
 It is clear that the spirits of the other world are either 
 Angels, devils, or departed souls ; and these are either in heaven, 
 in purgatory, or in hell. And, therefore, visions and apparitions 
 may be either of good or bad spirits, that is, they may be either 
 divine or diabolical, either from God or from the devil. 
 
 This leads me into a portion of mystical Theology that 
 requires a long and detailed treatment. Here I refer only to 
 certain propositions that are admitted by all who treat on this 
 subject. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 365 
 
 9. (a) The good Angels can assume bodily forms, and appear 
 manifest to our senses. 
 
 (b) The devils can and have also appeared to men. 
 
 (c) The souls of the blessed can also appear in visible form, 
 
 as Moses and Elias appeared at the Transfiguration. 
 
 (d) The souls in Purgatory, God permitting them, can also 
 
 appear to men for our instruction, and for the purpose 
 of obtaining the aid of our prayers. The apparition of 
 these souls is commonly made by the agency of Angels 
 in assumed bodies, especially the guardian Angels of 
 these souls. 
 
 (e) Even lost souls, as warnings of the divine justice, have 
 
 been allowed to appear visibly to men, to teach us so 
 to order our lives as not to incur like penalties. 
 (/) There is no record of an apparition of any infant, who 
 died without Baptism ; for these cannot be helped by 
 our suffrages, and no utility or example of virtue could 
 be drawn from their apparitions. 
 
 10. I shall now give some rules by which true visions can 
 be distinguished from false ones. These rules may refer either 
 (a) to what is seen, or the apparition itself, (b) The person see- 
 ing the vision, (c) The effects of such manifestations. 
 
 (a) As regards the vision itself. (1) It is not from God if it 
 announces anything contrary to faith or morals. (2) 
 If the form in which the spirit appears is deformed : 
 demons do not appear in perfect human form as a rule, 
 and Angels do not take the form of beasts or irrational 
 creatures. 
 
 (I) As regards the persons receiving the supernatural mani- 
 festations. Although Pharaoh and some other men, 
 who were not very holy, received manifestations of 
 this kind; although in themselves these supernatural 
 manifestations do not constitute an absolute proof of 
 sanctity, yet as a rule Angels do not appear to non- 
 Catholics or to sinners ; but it may happen sometimes 
 that a departed soul may give warning to such as are 
 still in the flesh, and not leading a very good life. 
 
 (c) As regards the saints who received these visions, they 
 were humble and diffident ; they did not seek them, 
 they did not of their own accord publish them to the 
 world ; and they were guided in regard to them by the 
 directions and advice of prudent and experienced 
 priests. 
 
366 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 11. All this is very different from modern Spiritualism, 
 which is only another name for vain observance and superstition. 
 Spiritualism, or Spiritism, is to seek to communicate with the 
 spirits of the departed by observances such as the following : 
 Seances : a number of people sitting in a dark room ; with hands 
 joined with an entranced medium in a cabinet ; they hear the 
 rapping and tapping of spirits ; the writings are given on slates ; 
 messages from the other world are given, and they see their dead 
 friends and relations, and hold communion with them. In all 
 this I do not deny the fact when attested by trustworthy wit- 
 nesses, because, in the matter even of divine visions, we have only 
 the word or testimony of the saint who receives them for their 
 truth ; but I do question the origin of these apparitions. Apart 
 from all the allowances that must be made for the imagination 
 and derangement of the minds of some people on certain matters, 
 these things do not stand any of the tests by which we can show 
 that they are from God or from good spirits. 
 
 12. The practice of Spiritualism is a means of seeking to 
 know hidden things by means not ordained by nature or by God 
 for that purpose, and hence it is a dangerous practise when it im- 
 ples a direct or indirect intercourse with evil spirits. Whilst 
 avioiding all these dangerous practices, I would exhort to that prac- 
 tice which is safe, good, and profitable, namely, the invocation of 
 the saints who are reigning with God in heaven. 
 
 13. I think I may appropriately conclude this instruction 
 with the words of Bishop Milner on this subject. 
 
 " You will observe that the Council of Trent barely teaches 
 that it is good and profitable to invoke the saints ; hence our 
 divines infer that there is no positive law of the Church incum- 
 bent on all her children to pray to the saints. Nevertheless, what 
 member of the Catholic Church militant will fail to communicate 
 with his brethren of the Church triumphant ? What Catholic, 
 believing in the Communion of Saints, and that the Saints reign- 
 ing with Christ pray for us, and that it is good and profitable for us 
 to invoke their prayers, will forego this advantage ? How sublime 
 and consoling ! how animated is the doctrine and practice of true 
 Catholics compared with the opinions of Protestants ! We hold 
 daily and hourly converse, to our unspeakable comfort and ad- 
 a»ntage, with the angelic choirs, with the venerable patriarchs and 
 prophets of ancient times, with the heroes of Christianity, the 
 blessed Apostles and martyrs, and with the bright ornaments of 
 it in later ages, the Bernards, the Xaviers, the Teresas, and the 
 Bales. They are all members of the Catholic Church. Why 
 
THE APOSTLES* CREED. 367 
 
 should not you (to a Protestant) partake of this advantage ? Your 
 soul, you complain, dear sir, is in trouble ; you lament that your 
 prayers to God are not heard ; continue to pray to Him with all 
 the fervour of your soul ; but why not engage His friends and 
 courtiers to add the weight of their prayers to your own ? Per- 
 haps His divine Majesty may hear the prayers of the Jobs, when 
 He will not listen to those of Eliphaz, or Baldad, or a Zophar.* 
 You believe, no doubt, that you have a guardian angel appointed 
 by God to protect you conformably to what Christ said of the 
 children presented to Him : Their angels do always behold the face 
 of my Father who is in heaven\ Address yourself to this blessed 
 spirit with gratitude, veneration and confidence. 
 
 You believe also that among the saints of God there is one 
 of supereminent purity and sanctity, pronounced by an Arch- 
 angel to be not only gracious, but full of grace, the chosen instru- 
 ment of God in the Incarnation of His Son, and the Intercessor 
 with this her Son in obtaining His first miracle, that of turning 
 water into wine, at a period when His time for appearing to the 
 world by miracles was not yet come.% It is impossible, as one of 
 the Fathers says, to love the Son without loving the Mother ; beg 
 then of her with affection and confidence to intercede with 
 Jesus, as the poor Canaanites did ; to change the tears of your 
 distress into the wine of gladness, by affording you the light and 
 Grace which you so much want. You cannot refuse to join with 
 me in the angelic salutation : Hail full of grace, the Lord is with 
 ttf*4 i nor in the subsequent address of the inspired Elizabeth : 
 Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. 
 Cast aside, then, I beseech you, dear sir, prejudices, which are 
 not only groundless, but also hurtful, and devoutly conclude with 
 me in the words of the whole Catholic Church on earth : Holy 
 Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour 
 of our death. Amen."\\ 
 
 * Job xlii. f St. Matt, xviii. 10. i St. John iii. 4. || Letter xxxvi. 
 
368 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. (Article IX). 
 
 PURGATOEY. 
 
 1. What is Purgatory ? — 2. The doctrine of Purgatory as defined by the 
 Council of Trent, and the proofs of the doctrine from Sacred Scripture. 
 — 3. The doctrine of Purgatory proved from tradition, and the 
 reasons for this doctrine. — 4. The Place of Purgatory. — 5. The 
 pains of Purgatory. — 6. The duration of the sufferings of the souls 
 in Purgatory. — 7. The state of the suffering souls. — 8. Prayers 
 for the Dead. — 9. The tradition of the Church in regard to prayers 
 for the Dead. — 10. Suffrages to he offered for the souls in Purgatory. 
 — 11. The suffrages of the living can benefit the dead. — 12. The 
 manner in which the souls in purgatory can help themselves and 
 others by prayer. — 13. Motives for devotion to the souls in 
 Purgatory. 
 
 Under this Article of the Creed, Purgatory is explained in 
 our ordinary Catechism, as it is so closely connected with the 
 Coniniunion of Saints, and the following five questions with their 
 answers are given. 
 
 What is Purgatory ? 
 
 1. Purgatory is a place where souls suffer for a time after 
 death, on account of their sins. 
 
 What souls go to Purgatory? 
 
 Those souls go to Purgatory that depart this life in venial 
 sin, or that have not fully paid the debt of temporal punishment 
 due to those sins of which the guilt has been forgiven. 
 
 What is temporal punishment ? 
 
 Temporal punishment is that punishment which will have 
 an end either in this world or in the world to come. 
 
 How do you prove that there is a Purgatory ? 
 
 I prove that there is a Purgatory from the constant teaching 
 of the Church, and from the doctrine of the Holy Scripture, 
 which declares that God will render to every man according 
 to his works; and that some will be saved, yet so as by fire * 
 
 How are we in communion with the souls in Purgatory ? 
 
 We are in communion with the souls in Purgatory by helping 
 them with our prayers and good works : It is a holy and a whole- 
 some thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from 
 their sins.\ 
 
 * St. Matt. xvi. 27 ; Apoo. xxi. 27~i~l Cor. iii. 15. f Mach. xii. 46, 
 
THE apostles' ceeed. 369 
 
 " Purgatory is a word that has been formed from a Latin 
 root, which signifies to cleanse or purify, and was gradually in- 
 troduced and adopted to express more conveniently, by one word, 
 what was previously expressed by metaphors and circumlocution. 
 In this manner many new terms have been admitted into Christian 
 Theology. Men believed in the three Divine Persons long before 
 they adopted the word Trinity."* 
 
 Purgatory is therefore a place in which the souls of the just 
 departed suffer punishment for a time. Souls after leaving this 
 world can no longer merit, nor, properly speaking, satisfy for the 
 penalty due ; but they are said to pay the debt of punishment by 
 suffering (satispatiendo), in such a way that they cannot help 
 t-hemselves, or liberate themselves from the penalties in any other 
 aray than by bearing them and suffering. 
 
 2. The Council of Trent,! in the beginning of its decrees on 
 Purgatory, defines two things of faith regarding it. (a) That 
 there is a Purgatory, (b) That the souls therein detained are 
 helped by the suffrages of the faithful, and especially by the holy 
 Sacrifice of the Mass. This same faith was professed by the 
 Greeks as well as the Latins, in the Council of Florence. 
 
 The proofs of the existence of Purgatory may be found in the 
 Old and New Testament. From the Old Testament, the first 
 proof usually quoted is that from the 2 Machabees, J where the 
 valiant soldier and Priest Judas collects and sends to Jeru- 
 salem twelve thousand drachmas of silver, for sacrifice to 
 be offered for the sins, or rather for the remission of 
 the punishment of the sins of the dead. It is therefore, 
 says this passage, a holy and a wholesome thought to pray 
 for the dead, that they may be loosed from their sins. We conclude 
 from this passage that, besides heaven and hell, there is a middle 
 state ; because as the souls in heaven require not the aid of 
 prayers, so the souls in hell can receive no benefit from them ; 
 hence there must be some third state of souls in which prayer is 
 beneficial to them. 
 
 The book of the Machabees has been recognised as a canoni- 
 cal book containing God's word from the earliest ages, and has 
 been received as such by the Councils of Florence and Trent. St. 
 Augustine (Civit. Dei. 36) says : " The Church of God has alwavs 
 acknowledged the Machabees as a canonical book." This book, 
 like some other books and portions of Sacred Scripture, has been 
 rejected by Protestants, because it contains doctrine contrary to 
 
 * Dr. Lingard's Catechism. Arch. xi. fSess. 25. £xii. 
 
 Z 
 
370 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 their errors. They only know the Scriptures which they admit 
 to be God's word on the authority of the Catholic Church, and 
 that authority declares the book of Machabees to be inspired and 
 a canonical book as well as the rest. Even admitting that it were 
 not canonical, it would, at all events, be worthy of historical 
 faith, the same as is given to profane and heathen authors ; and 
 on this account the narrative testifies to the practice amongst the 
 Jews, several years before Christ;, not only to pray for the dead, 
 but also to offer up public Sacrifices for them. That practice, 
 and the traditions of praying for the dead, continued from that 
 time up to the present, are proofs of the existence of Purgatory. 
 
 There are also other places in the Old Testament where 
 Purgatory is referred to ; as for example : A gift hath grace in the 
 sight of all the living, and restrain not grace from the dead* And 
 again : Lay out thy bread and thy wine, upon ihe burial of a 
 just man, and do not eat and drink thereof with the wickedA 
 
 The doctrine of Purgatory may be proved from many places 
 of the New Testament, (a) From St. Matt.| Whosoever speaketh 
 a word against the Son of man it shall be forgiven him ; but ivhoso- 
 ever speaketh a word against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven 
 him either in this world nor in the world to come. St. Augustine, 
 with all other commentators, draws from the passage that some 
 sins are forgiven in the next world. Now sins are not remitted 
 in heaven, for no sin can enter there ; nor in hell, for out of hell 
 there is no redemption ; therefore there must be some third place 
 where some sins, or their penalties, are forgiven. 
 
 Secondly, St. Paul, writing to the Corinthians, says : Now if 
 any man build upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, 
 wood, hay, stubble. Every man's work shall be ma?iifest, for the 
 day of the Lord shall declare it, because it shall be revealed in fire ; 
 and the fire shall try every man's work, of what sort it is. If any 
 man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive 
 reward ; if any man's work burn he shall suffer loss ; but he himself 
 shall be saved, yet so as by fire § 
 
 On this last we may remark that by the wood, hay, and 
 stubble, are meant the venial sins and imperfections that are mixed 
 up with our good works. The remainder of the passage must be 
 interpreted of Purgatory : for there can be no pain, or suffering, 
 or fire, in heaven ; nor is the fire cf hell for salvation, but damna- 
 tion ; therefore the fire which worketh unto salvation must be in 
 Purgatory. 
 
 * Eccles vii. 27. t Tobias ix. 18. 
 
 X St. Matt. xii. 32. § 1 Cor. iii. 12, et seq. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 371 
 
 3. The teaching of the Holy Fathers on this point is exem- 
 plified in the whole book written by St. Augustine, de cura pro 
 mortuis, "on the care of the dead," in which he teaches the doc- 
 trine of Purgatory, and that the souls therein detained are helped 
 by the prayers of the faithful. Not only does he teach this doc- 
 trine in his writings, but he practised it in his daily prayers for 
 the repose of the soul of his Mother, St. Monica, as he himself 
 tells us in his Confessions.! 
 
 The following reasons are assigned for this dogma : (a) When 
 the guilt of sin is pardoned, often the temporal punishment 
 remains, and must be undergone either in this world, or in the 
 next ; ex. gr. David. It may happen that persons die before 
 having paid this temporal punishment, or debt, in this life, and 
 therefore they must do it in another life. Justice requires this, 
 that those who die with little or no debt of sin, and those who die 
 with a great debt of sin, may not be equal until the latter be 
 purified and perfected. Again, it may happen that some die in 
 venial sin. In such a case, according to the teaching of St. 
 Thomas, the guilt of the sins is remitted by the perfect act of 
 charity which the just soul makes in the instant of its release 
 from the body. By this act, however, the liability to punishment 
 is not taken away or diminished ; and therefore, the punishment 
 of these sins must be endured in Purgatory. The reason assigned 
 by St. Thomas for this explanation is, that after this life the soul 
 can neither merit nor satisfy, and that the act of charity made by 
 the soul the instant after its separation from the body is not meri- 
 torious and satisfactory, and although it removes the impediment 
 of venial guilt it cannot merit the absolution or diminution of the 
 penalty of the same as it could in this life. 
 
 That there must be some place for the punishment of souls 
 after death is clear from the text of the Apocalypse,* where it is 
 so distinctly declared that nothing evil shall enter heaven. We 
 are told that even the just man falls seven times, and we must 
 admit that many will die without expiating altogether their small' 
 faults. With these they cannot enter heaven, which receiveth 
 nothing defiled ; they cannot be sent to hell, for they are, accord- 
 ing to the Scripture, just. Therefore there must be a third place 
 where these failings, of even the just man, will be expiated. It is 
 true that the Scripture says : Blessed are the dead who die in the 
 Lord, for they shall rest from their labours. Yes, thrice blessed 
 we say. But this text only alludes to martyrs, and such as die 
 
 * Cap. 13. t xxi. 27. 
 
372 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 free from all sin and debt of temporal punishment ; and such, of 
 course, require no purification. They really die in the Lord. 
 Then again, the Scripture says : As the tree falls, there it shall lie; 
 but this simply means that every man who dies is either saved or 
 lost : it may also refer to the state of the soul after the last judg- 
 ment. The moment man dies, his ultimate fate is decided either 
 for heaven or hell. 
 
 In regard to this place, after explaining the dogma and prov- 
 ing that there is a middle state, or Purgatory, the following 
 questions naturally present themselves to the mind. (a) Where 
 is this place ? (b) What are the pains of Purgatory ? (c) How 
 long will they last? (d) What is the state of the souls there ? And 
 as the Church has not deliued any doctrine of faith on these 
 questions, I shall give the more commonly received teaching in 
 my answers to them. 
 
 4. (a) As to the place of Purgatory. It is somewhere under 
 
 the earth and near hell. St. Thomas thinks that 
 some souls, by an extraordinary arrangement of 
 Providence, are purified out of that place, and under- 
 go their purgatory in various places of this world, 
 either for the instruction of the living, or as a means 
 of help to the dead, that sometimes they may appear 
 and make their wants known to the living. Thus St. 
 Gregory in his dialogues* refers to the example of 
 a certain Pascharius, who endured his purgatory in 
 the locality, or neighbourhood, of the public baths. 
 
 5. (b) The pains of Purgatory are two-fold ; namely, the pain 
 
 of loss, and the pain of sense, both temporal or 
 temporary. 
 
 The pain of loss is the delay of the beatific vision, in 
 punishment of sins. This pain is the most vivid and most severe 
 for poor souls. The knowledge which they have of God is most 
 perfect, and their love for Him most intense, which causes them 
 the most inexpressible sufferings. 
 
 The pain of sense is a physical suffering produced by fire of 
 some kind which, by a mysterious power, acts on the soul, the 
 same as if it were a body. It is commonly received that this is 
 real material fire, and hence the Church, in praying for the faith- 
 ful departed, asks for them a place, not only of light or peace, but 
 also of refrigerii, that is, of coolness from the heat of the firo 
 which torments them. This opinion as to the fire being material, 
 
 * lib. 4., chap. 40. 
 
THE APOSTLES CREED. 373 
 
 is not of faith ; for the Greeks in the Council of Florence would 
 not admit this, but only that purgatory was a place full of labour 
 and sorrows which caused the pain of sense ; and that opinion is 
 not condemned either by the Council of Florence or the Council 
 of Trent. 
 
 In respect to the intensity of these sufferings and their 
 duration, nothing is denned by the Church. St. Bonaventure 
 and Bellarmine teach that the greatest pain in Purgatory is 
 greater than the greatest pain of this life, but that the least pain 
 in purgatory is not greater than the greatest pain in this life. I 
 do not know how far the comparison applies. When we speak 
 of Purgatory we are speaking of another order of things than is 
 found here below. It is another state, and in another sphere 
 altogether, and we do not know how far the comparison can be 
 made, as things that are thus in different orders and states cannot 
 be compared. Although this matter is uncertain as far as the 
 comparison goes ; it is nevertheless certain that the sufferings in 
 Purgatory are very severe and bitter, as appears from the 
 solicitude of the Church in exhorting us to prayers and good 
 works, and to apply Indulgences for the souls of the faithful 
 departed ; also because that future state is one of retribution and 
 of punishment, and the teaching of the Fathers is very distinct 
 as to the severity and intensity of the pains of Purgatory. 
 
 It is certain that they are less severe than the pains of hell. 
 They are necessarily alleviated by the friendship of God, the 
 security as to the possession of future glory ; and by the 
 resignation of the sufferers to the most just will of God. 
 
 St. Thomas teaches that the souls in Purgatory are not 
 tormented by demons, as they have triumphed over these ; neither 
 do the good Angels inflict the punishments, because these are not 
 likely to afflict their companions and friends. 
 
 The pains and sufferings of all are not equal in Purgatory ; 
 but they are greater or less according to the debt of punishment 
 due, and this applies to both the pain of loss and the pain of sense. 
 Although the pain of loss may be said to be equal, inasmuch as 
 all are deprived of the Vision of God, it may be felt unequally. 
 
 6. (c) We do not know anything certain about the duration 
 of the punishment, or how long the souls are detained 
 in Purgatory. It would appear from the practice of 
 the faithful in the pious foundations left for Masses 
 for the souls in Purgatory, that some souls are 
 detained in Purgatory for many years ; and Alexande 
 VII. condemned a proposition which said that nor 
 
374 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 legacy left for a soul should last more than ten 
 years. 
 St. Augustine prayed for the soul of his mother for more than 
 thirty years after her death, and asked all who might read his 
 Confession to remember her at the altar. 
 
 There is no reason for saying that the souls in Purgatory are 
 kept there until their heirs make restitution, or carry out their 
 legacies or " wills," because the duration of the pains is deter- 
 mined at the moment of the particular judgment according to the 
 measure of the debt due, and is not left to the determination of 
 any one in this world. Restitution may benefit the souls departed 
 inasmuch as it is a good work, and may move the creditors to 
 prayers for their departed friends. 
 
 Souls are not all kept in purgatory an equal length of time, 
 for, as St. Thomas says, the greater the venial sin the longer will 
 it take to cleanse the soul of the debt corresponding to it. Again, 
 we can suppose that the penalty is longer or shorter, according 
 to the manner in which the habit of the sin is rooted in the soul, 
 by the greater or less attachment ; so that, according to the same 
 holy doctor it might happen that a soul might be kept longer in 
 Purgatory, and be less afflicted than another who would have 
 more intense suffering but of shorter duration. The acerbity of 
 the pains corresponds to the quantity of the fault, and their 
 duration to the greater adherence which the sin had in the soul 
 in this life. And it might happen that one might be more helped 
 by the suffrages of the living than another, and obtain its liber- 
 ation quicker and sooner. And we do know, on the authority of 
 Scripture, that the souls, whether the time be long or short, will 
 not come out of the place of suffering until they pay the last 
 farthing of the debt, according to the determination of Divine 
 justice :* Be at agreement with thy brother betimes, whilst thou art 
 in the way ivith him ; lest perhaps the adversary deliver thee to the 
 judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into 
 prison. Amen I say to thee, thou shalt not go out from thence till 
 thou repay the last farthing . 
 
 7. (d) In regard to the state of the souls whilst in Purgatory 
 we know the following few things : (1.) They are 
 certain of their salvation and entirely secure, because 
 of the revelation made to them at the particular 
 judgment ; and also because they know that they 
 have persevered in grace to the end of their lives, and 
 
 * St. Matthew v. 25, 26. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 375 
 
 Christ has said : He who shall persevere to the end 
 shall be saved. (2.) The souls in Purgatory are con- 
 firmed in grace, so that they can never lose it, or 
 ever again sin, through the special protection of God. 
 (3.) They bear their sufferings with the greatest 
 patience ; and St. Thomas, on this account, says that 
 they are not sufferings absolutely and strictly speak- 
 ing, because voluntary, inasmuch as they know that 
 they are required by the justice of God, and that 
 they cannot otherwise attain their beatitude. (4.) 
 These souls continually exercise acts of virtue, 
 especially of charity ; and also of faith, because they 
 do not yet see God clearly ; and of hope, because, 
 although they are certain of the possession of God, 
 they do not yet actually possess Him in Heaven. 
 These acts are not meritorious because these souls 
 have reached their term, and can no longer merit or 
 demerit. 
 In the prayers of the Church which are offered for the dead 
 we have expressions such as the following : That they may be 
 liberated from the pains of hell ; that darkness may not envelope 
 them ; that they may not fall into the obscure place, &c. Ut 
 liberentur de poenis inferni, ne abserbeat eas tartarus, ne cadant in 
 obscurum, &c. When these and such like expressions are used, 
 souls are considered and represented as in the act of going out of 
 the body. Such representations are usual in the Church's 
 prayers ; thus in Advent we pray : Borate Coeli desuper et nubes 
 pluant justum, representing a mystery that has taken pla'ce long 
 ago, but asking that its fruits may be now applied to us. Also 
 we have to notice that the Church in the Office of the Dead (and 
 the same may be said of the Office of any Feast or Saint) may 
 use some Psalm, or other form of prayer, on account of one or 
 more suitable verses ; and from this it does not follow that all the 
 verses of the Psalm, or expressions in the Office should be under- 
 stood as applying to the dead. The whole Psalm is recited as a 
 manner of prayer or praise to God, by which the souls departed 
 may be helped. 
 
 Prayers for the Dead. 
 
 8. It is of faith, defined in the Councils of Florence and 
 Trent,* that the souls in Purgatory can be helped by the suffrages 
 of the faithful on earth. This may be proved from the doctrine 
 
 * Sass xxii, Gap. 2, Can. 3, item initio Secreti de Pnrgatoria. 
 
376 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 of the Communion of Saints which exists between the Church 
 militant and the Church suffering, for, according to the teaching 
 of St. Paul,* members of the same body are solicitous for each 
 other, and mutually sympathise and assist each other. 
 
 The same doctrine is clear to us from the constant, perpetual 
 and universal practice of the Church. This doctrine follows from 
 the doctrine of venial sin, and the existence of Purgatory. 
 
 "As a Christian may die guilty of only venial sin, and as 
 nothing denied can enter heaven, by praying for such a Christian 
 we appease God's anger against him, and shorten the duration of 
 his sufferings in a middle state, in the same manner as we benefit 
 the living by praying for them. Purgatory exists as we have 
 already proved ; if so, then we, by praying for the dead, shorten 
 the period of their sufferings in a middle state ; we make for 
 them by prayers and oblations a satisfaction which they them- 
 selves cannot make, as they are not now in a state of merit." 
 
 9. The tradition of the Church in regard to prayers for the 
 dead is handed down from the earliest ages of Christianity. The 
 third Council of Carthage {anno 253) decreed prayers for the dead. 
 The Council of Chalons (in 579), the Council of Worms (in 829), 
 came to the same decision as the Councils of Florence and Trent. 
 The Emperor Constantino wished to be buried in a Church, that 
 the faithful might remember him in their prayers to God. St. 
 John Chrysostom (Horn. 1, Ep. ad. Cor.), says, " The tears of the 
 living are not useless to the dead ; prayers and alms relieve 
 them." St. Jerome, in his Epistle to Pammachius, remarks : " It 
 is customary to strew the graves of the female dead with flowers, 
 but you have followed a better usage in strewing the grave of 
 your wife with alms for the solace of her soul.'' I have already 
 referred to the testimony of St. Augustine, and I may now con- 
 clude that if the Church always prayed for the dead, she believed 
 the dead were in a place where prayer could be beneficial to 
 them ; this place was not heaven, nor could it be hell, therefore 
 it was Purgatory, f 
 
 10. The suffrages to be offered for the souls in Purgatory 
 are : — 
 
 (a) That specially mentioned by the Council of Trent, the 
 
 Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. 
 
 (b) The indulgences that are applied to the souls in Purga- 
 
 tory. 
 
 * 1 Cor. xii. 12 et seq. 
 t See Rev. S. Keanan's Controversial Catechism in loco. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. W"l 
 
 (c) Prayers, such as, the Way of the Cross, the Rosary, 
 
 Communion, &c. 
 
 (d) Alms, and other good works, performed through charity . 
 In saying that the prayers, alms and good works, performed 
 
 through charity, benefit the dead, I mean that they ought to be per- 
 formed by a person in a state of grace, that they may benefit the 
 Holy Souls ; because the works of a sinner are not, properly 
 speaking, either meritorious or satisfactory. The Holy Sacrifice 
 of the Mass has its own intrinsic value independently of the dis- 
 position of the priest, and it will always benefit the dead. The 
 same may be said of the prayers that are offered in the name of 
 the Church. They always avail by way of impetration, as when 
 the Office of the Dead, and the exequies, are offered according to 
 the rites and ceremonies of the Church. 
 
 11. The suffrages of the living can benefit the dead by way 
 of impetration, of satisfaction, and of congruous merit. That is, 
 we can obtain by prayers favours for them ; we can offer the 
 satisfactory part of our works for them ; and, as the friends of God, 
 it is reasonable to suppose that through His love and goodness 
 towards devout souls, He will regard their prayers and good works 
 in such a way that He will grant His relief to the souls in purga- 
 tory, which may be said to be a reward merited, not strictly, but 
 by congruity. 
 
 Good works offered for the dead are at the same time bene- 
 ficial to the person who performs them. They merit an increase 
 of grace inasmuch as they proceed from grace, and the merit of 
 having done a good work, and the reward in store for it, are in- 
 separable from the person who does it. The merits are personal 
 and cannot be given away ; but the satisfactory portion of our 
 works may be given away to others to pay the debt of their sins. 
 The suffrages therefore, inasmuch as they are satisfactory, do not 
 directly benefit the person who offers them for the souls in Purga- 
 tory, because he gives them away to the departed souls ; and the 
 same satisfaction cannot pay a two-fold debt ; if however the per- 
 son for whom the suffrages are offered does not need them, then 
 they may profit by way of satisfaction the person himself who 
 offers them. 
 
 It is sometimes asked whether the suffrages infallibly benefit 
 the souls for whom they are applied ? It is most probable that 
 they do. There is no impediment in the way as far as the faith- 
 ful departed are concerned, and it would appear that God wills to 
 apply them for the relief of those for whom they are offered. And 
 this is also the mind and belief of the faithful. 
 
378 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 But it is not certain that they benefit the particular souls to 
 the full extent. Some say, Yes ; and some say that they always 
 lessen their sufferings ; but they do not always absolve from the 
 fall penalty, even though the suffrages be condign and redundant. 
 All this entirely depends on their application according to the 
 Will of God ; and we are not to cease offering our suffrages for 
 the departed, until we are sure that they are in heaven. 
 
 Suffrages cannot benefit the lost souls ; neither can they 
 benefit the blessed in heaven ; and therefore, when we know for 
 certain that they are saints, we should not, and cannot, offer suf- 
 frages for them. Neither are suffrages offered for children who 
 die without Baptism. 
 
 We can, however, invoke the aid of the Saints, and beg them 
 to intercede with God for the souls in Purgatory. 
 
 There is one other question that remains to be answered as 
 regards the souls in Purgatory, that is, as to their praying for 
 themselves and others. 
 
 12. Although these souls are beyond the state of meriting 
 and satisfying, they may nevertheless, by praying to God, obtain 
 some favours from Him, such as the remission of their punish 
 ment, or that the living may apply suffrages and indulgences foi 
 them. There is no reason whatever to doubt that they can praj 
 for themselves. 
 
 As to whether they also pray for us is not so certain. 
 According to the more probable opinion they do pray for us, and 
 especially for those souls who pray for them. There does not 
 appear to be any reason against this, as the souls in Purgatory 
 are with us in the Communion of Saints, and they know that we 
 need the suffrages of others. It is not necessary that they 
 should know those who pray for them, and yet they may know ; 
 for Angels may let them know, or God Himself in some special 
 way. And although they do not know in particular what goes 
 on here on earth, they know in general many of our necessities ; 
 and these they can know from the knowledge which they had in 
 their life, concerning the necessities of their families and friends, 
 and of the Church. Thus we read of Moses and Jeremias, that 
 they prayed for the people out of the knowledge which they had 
 of them here on earth. We may, with greater certainty, 
 suppose that as soon as these souls go to heaven, they will know 
 at once their friends on earth, and especially those who helped 
 them by prayers and good works when they were in Purgatory ; 
 and then these Holy Souls will be certainly able to intercede for 
 their charitable friends before the throne of God. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 379 
 
 We may invoke the aid and prayers of the souls in Purga- 
 tory, as we invoke the prayers of devout people ; although the 
 Church does not in her public prayers ask their suffrages, or 
 invoke them, because they do not know the prayers directed to 
 them, and it is not certain that they can help us. 
 
 13. There are many motives that should influence us in 
 our devotions and prayers for the souls in Purgatory. 
 
 (a) It is a duty of religion, because it is most pleasing to 
 
 God that we promote His glory in satisfying His 
 justice for those souls who are infinitely dear to Him. 
 
 (b) It is a duty of justice towards those souls who are now 
 
 suffering for the evil which we have done them in life 
 by our example or influence. 
 
 (c) It is a duty of gratitude towards those souls who have 
 
 loved us and benefited us in many ways. 
 
 (d) It is a duty of charity towards our neighbour \ for those 
 
 souls have no less a claim to our charity in their 
 present misfortune, than if they were enduring the 
 trials of this life. Their claim is stronger now, as 
 they cannot help themselves. 
 
 (e) It is a duty of charity towards ourselves. God will bless 
 
 and favour those who help the souls in Purgatory, 
 and they themselves in their gratitude will pray to 
 God for us. 
 
 "It is a great charity to pray for the souls in Purgatory, 
 whether we consider who they are, what they suffer, or how 
 easily they can be relieved by us, though they can do nothing 
 for themselves : for the night has come upon them, when no man 
 can ivorh"* 
 
 The souls in Purgatory are the beloved Spouses of Jesus 
 Christ, united to Him by grace, and secure of their eternal salva- 
 tion. Now if Christ assures us that a cup of cold water, given 
 for His sake in this life, shall not lose its reward, what reward 
 will He not give to those who, for His sake, confer such a benefit 
 on the souls in Purgatory, as to relieve their sufferings, and 
 procure for them a more speedy admission into His Divine 
 Presence ? 
 
 If we could get a look into Purgatory, perhaps we should 
 see a parent, brother, or sister, or some dead friend, crying out to 
 us in the words of holy Job : Have pity on me, have pity on me, at 
 least you my friends, because the hand of the Lord hath touched me.\ 
 
 * St. John ix. 4. t «JuD xix. 2L 
 
880 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 ARTICLE X. 
 
 Apostles' Creed. Nicene Creed. 
 
 The forgiveness of sins. I confess one Baptism for the 
 
 remission of sins. 
 
 SECTION 1. 
 
 THE FOEGIVENESS OF SINS. 
 
 1. The forgiveness of sins — its meaning.— 2. Christ gave the power of for- 
 giving sins to the Apostles and their successors : whose sins you sliall 
 forgive tliey are forgiven them, and whose sins you shall retain they are re- 
 tained. — 3. The means of forgiveness, the Sacraments of Baptism and 
 Penance, — 1. Sin — its definition and meaning.— 5. The guilt arid 
 stain of sin. — 6. The distinction of sins as to their species or kind, 
 and as to their number. — 7. The division of sins according to their 
 specific and numeric distinction.— 8. Sins are not all connected 
 together, and they are not all equal. — 9. The causes of sin — internal 
 and external. 
 
 Faith, in the remission of sins, means to believe that Jesus 
 Christ has given to His Church the power of forgiving sins. 
 
 1. To remit sins means to pardon them, to efface them, to 
 annihilate them, as if they had never been. It means the absolu- 
 tion from the guilt of sin, and the restoration of the soul to the 
 favour of God, as in the parable of the Prodigal Son.* 
 
 The power of forgiving sins belongs to God alone ; because it 
 belongs to the offended person to pardon the offence, as it belongs 
 to the creditor to remit a debt owing to him. 
 
 Jesus Christ, inasmuch as He is God, has, the same as the 
 Father, the power to forgive sins ; and, as Man, He received this 
 power from His Father. By His death on the Cross He satisfied 
 entirely the Divine Justice, and merited grace and pardon for all 
 sinners. Thus, in His life-time, our Divine Lord, in absolving the 
 man sick of the palsy, expressly mentions that they might know 
 that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins. 
 
 The grace of the remission of sins has to be applied to each 
 one individually and personally ; as it is not a grace accorded to 
 all in general, even to those who neither wish for or desire it, as 
 
 • St. Luke xv. 11-32. 
 
THE APOSTLES* CREED. 381 
 
 God will not forgive the sins of the impenitent. The sinner, in 
 order to be pardoned, must freely participate in the sacrifice of 
 redemption ; that is, the merits of Jesus Christ must be applied 
 to his soul. And as Christ has established His Church to continue 
 His mission, it is from the ministers of the Church, as represent- 
 ing Jesus Christ, that sinners must obtain the pardon of their 
 sins. As God is the Sovereign Lord, He can give the power of re- 
 mitting sins to others, and grant remission to the sinner in any 
 way He chooses. 
 
 2. In effect, on the day on which He left the tomb, He gave 
 to His Apostles, and to their successors, the power of forgiving 
 sins by the words : Receive ye the Holy Ghost : whose sins you shall 
 forgive they are forgiven them ; and whose sins you shall retain they 
 are retained* 
 
 Receive ye the Holy Ghost. The Apostles therefore received 
 the Holy Ghost .Whom Christ gave, and at the same time they 
 received the power of forgiving the sins of those who should 
 demand pardon of their sins from them. It is by the grace of the 
 Holy Ghost that the sinner is justified. By virtue of this grace, 
 sins not only cease to be imputed, but they are taken away from 
 the soul which is purified from them, becoming thereby the friend 
 of God and the temple of the Holy Ghost. The Apostles, as re- 
 gards this power, are the representatives of the future bishops and 
 priests of the Church. 
 
 Whose sins you shall forgive they are forgiven. All sins with- 
 out reserve, no matter how numerous or how grievous they may 
 be. So that the power of forgiving sins was conferred by Christ 
 on His ministers to the fullest possible extent ; they have power 
 to forgive all sins that can be repented of. 
 
 Whose sins you shall retain they are retained. The remission 
 of sins is subject to certain conditions. The minister of Christ, 
 who has delegated authority from Him, has to judge whether 
 these conditions are present or not ; and if the sinner does not 
 observe them, his sins are to be retained ; as the priest cannot 
 absolve a person who is indisposed, or does not comply with 
 what is required for the worthy reception of the Sacrament of 
 Penance. 
 
 3. It is principally by the Sacraments of Baptism and 
 Penance that the Church remits sins. The first blots out original 
 sin in the case of infants, and all sins in the case of adults. The 
 second forgives the sins committed after Baptism. The nature 
 
 * St, John xx. 22, 23. 
 
THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 and conditions of these two Sacraments are treated of in the ex- 
 planations of these Sacraments, which do not belong to this por- 
 tion of the Christian doctrine. 
 
 Besides the power of forgiving sins, the Church has also the 
 power to remit either entirely or in part the temporal punish- 
 ment due to sin, under certain conditions which She imposes on 
 the faithful. This power, known by Catholics as the power of 
 granting Indulgences, is founded on the words of Christ : what- 
 soever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosened also in heaven. 
 
 As the Catholic Church is alone the true Church of Christ, 
 She alone has received from God the power of forgiving sins, 
 and remitting the temporal punishment due to sin. Any sect 
 separated from her has no right to claim for itself this divine 
 power. It is, therefore, in the Catholic Church alone, that 
 sinners can hear the voice which declares on the part of God 
 that their sins are forgiven. 
 
 In connection with this Article of the Creed, I find in nearly 
 all Catechisms sin itself treated of and explained as to its nature, 
 its different kinds, its causes and effects, as well as its remission ; 
 and it may be well in this matter to follow the usual plan, in 
 order that this Article of the Creed may be fully explained and 
 understood. 
 
 Sin. — Its definition and division. 
 
 4. The Greek word signifying sin is afiapna — missing a 
 mark. Sin is defined by St. John as the transgression of the law ; 
 and by St. Augustine as "any word, deed, or desire against the 
 eternal law." It is, therefore, any thought, word, deed, or 
 omission against the law of God. Whosoever committeth sin, 
 committeth a transgression of the law ; for sin is transgression of 
 the law.* By the law of God is here understood, not only the 
 natural law and the divine law, but also ecclesiastical laws, and 
 the laws and commands of those who have legitimate authority 
 over us ; as far as all these are subordinate to or in conformity 
 with the law of God. Also whatever is opposed to right reason 
 is opposed to the eternal law, and hence there is no such thing 
 as a philosophical sin that is not at the same time a theological 
 sin, although it may be considered in different ways by the 
 philosopher and the theologian. God, the Author of our being, 
 in creating men and angels, gave them wills wholly free, and 
 He set before them His law as the way of happiness. His 
 
 * 1 St. John iii. 4. 
 
CREED. 383 
 
 Will is the absolute law of all created things. Both Angels and 
 men abused the freedom or" their wills, and revolted against God. 
 Satan and the bad Angels set their wills in opposition to the 
 Will of God. Adam and Eve turned away from God's Will, and 
 transgressed His commandment in one particular. Sin may, 
 therefore, be either a direct revolt against God and His Will, or 
 an indirect revolt by the transgression of His commandments, or 
 a turning to the creature in things unlawful. It is not often that 
 we have open and directly rebellious sins, yet they are to be found 
 in those who (a) profess Atheism, (b) who actually think of God, 
 and directly wish, to offend Him ; (c) who resist the known truth, 
 (d) who resist God's Church. 
 
 5. Two things may be considered as belonging to the nature 
 of sin, besides the actual revolt against the law of God. They 
 are called the effects of sin; but as they are its necessary results, 
 we must consider them with the nature of sin itself. These are 
 the stain and the gilt. The stain of mortal sin is the privation 
 of the supernatural lustre or brightness of the soul ; that is, the 
 privation of grace or charity ; the stain of venial sin is the 
 lessening of that brightness, or the privation of the fervour of 
 charity ; and the stain of both mortal and venial sin is the 
 privation or diminution of the supernatural cleanness or bright- 
 ness of the soul. 
 
 The stain contracted by sin, and remaining after the act of 
 sin in the soul until the sin is remitted, may be considered the 
 same as habitual sin, or the state of sin. 
 
 The guilt of sin is two-fold. (1) That of the fault, which is 
 the debt or obligation of repairing the injury or the offence 
 offered to God by sin. (2) The punishment or penalty, which is 
 eternal for mortal sin ; temporal, for venial sin, or for mortal sin 
 which has been pardoned as to the fault. 
 
 Penalty, properly speaking, is inflicted only for one's own 
 sins, in punishment of one's sins, and it is in this light called 
 vindictive or avenging ; satisfactory punishment may be endured 
 and offered for the sins of others as well as for our own. The 
 punishment is called medicinal when it is intended to preserve 
 the soul against future sin, or to heal the wounds and remnants 
 of past transgressions. 
 
 The distinction or division of sins. 
 
 6. Sins may be distinguished in species or kind, and in number. 
 They are specifically distinct when tney have a special and dis» 
 
384 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 tinct repugnance or opposition to the law of God, and to right 
 reason, v.g. (a) When they are opposed to different virtues, 
 such as theft and fornication, (b) When they are opposed to 
 the same virtue, but in contrary ways, such as presumption 
 and despair, (c) When opposed to the same virtue and in the 
 same way, but under a different reason, such as theft and 
 rapine. 
 
 This three-fold rule will suffice for our present purpose. 
 
 The Numerical Distinction of Sins. 
 
 Sins are numerically distinct in the same species if committed 
 (a) by many acts of the will, (b) If the same act has many 
 objects which do not coalesce in one. Acts are considered 
 different when they are disconnected, such as two distinct acts of 
 theft, or when they are morally interrupted ; that is, when re- 
 tracted by the will and then renewed. As to whether an involun- 
 tary cessation from an act caused by sleep or inadvertence is to 
 be considered a moral interruption, so that the act renewed 
 afterwards becomes numerically a distinct sin, is not quite 
 certain. All depends on the nature of the act, whether it is 
 internal or external, and on the interval of time between the 
 renewal of the act. 
 
 The same acts may have many objects, when one object is 
 distinct from another and forms no part of it, and has distinct 
 rights, as for example: different persons (a) in their corporal 
 life ; (b) in their spiritual life ; (c) in their character and repu- 
 tation. Even temporal things of fortune and the like may 
 coalesce into one property, and then we must see how many have 
 dominion or distinct rights over it in order to judge of the number 
 of sins. 
 
 7. After stating in general how we may judge of the specific 
 and numeric distinction of sins, we may give in particular the 
 divisions of sins according to their specific and numerical 
 distinction. 
 
 (a) Sins are said to be carnal or spiritual, as they are 
 
 determined by the carnal pleasure of the senses, as 
 in luxury and gluttony ; or independently of any such 
 carnal pleasure, as pride. These are certainly specifi- 
 cally different. 
 
 (b) Sins may be in thought, word, and deed. (Cordis, oris et 
 
 operis.) Sin is committed in thought when one takes 
 wilful pleasure in considering those things which he 
 
THE apostles' ckeed. 385 
 
 knows to be forbidden by the law of God. The thought 
 of evil is not necessarily sinful, for we cannot avoid 
 the knowledge of evil ; but when the will consents to a 
 thought of evil, and gives it a place in the heart, then 
 it becomes sin, and especially if it be accompanied by 
 evil wishes, and desires to do that which is sinful. 
 We sin by speech when, knowingly, words are uttered 
 either (1) contrary to truth ; (2) contrary to charity ; 
 (3) contrary to religion. Sins of thought, ivord, and 
 deed, may be only three grades of one and the same 
 sinful act. And some sins are begun in the heart and 
 consummated in word and deed. 
 
 (c) Sins may be either against God, our neighbour, or 
 
 oneself; that is, directly and specially against God, as 
 blasphemy ; against our neighbour, as injustice ; or 
 against oneself, as drunkenness. These are evidently 
 specifically distinct. 
 
 (d) Sins are either of commission or of omission, as they are 
 
 opposed either to a negative, or an affirmative precept. 
 Negative, that which prohibits, v.g., Thou shalt not 
 steal ; affirmative, that which commands, v.g., Bemem- 
 ber that thou keep holy the Sabbath Day. Sins of 
 commission are obvious, and we become guilty of them 
 when we transgress any of the commandments of God 
 in the spirit as well as in the letter. We sin by 
 omission when we omit to do those things (1) which 
 are commanded by the law of God, (2) which our 
 conscience tells us are obligatory, (3) which are com- 
 manded by lawful authority. 
 These may be of the same or a different species. 
 The internal sin of omission is committed when there is the 
 will, either direct or indirect, of omitting that which is commanded. 
 The external sin, when the time for fulfilling the precept elapses. 
 That which we do during the time of omitting an obligation is not 
 thereby sinful unless it be the cause of the omission. 
 
 The nature and species of a sin of omission must be judged 
 from the virtue by which we are obliged to do that which has 
 been omitted ; and the gravity of the sin must be judged in like 
 manner, and also according to the graver or lesser motive or 
 reason, on account of which the precept was given. 
 
 8. There are one or two other things to be remembered s.s 
 regards the nature of sins, (a) They are not all connected with 
 each other. (6) They are not all equal. They are not all 
 AA 
 
386 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 necessarily connected, because a person can commit one sin 
 without being guilty of the others. By theft, a man is not guilty 
 of murder ; but, inasmuch as mortal sins are all an aversion from 
 God, and banish His grace from the soul, and one cannot be for- 
 given without the rest, they may be said to be connected as to 
 the aversion : and it is in this sense we must understand the 
 words that a person sinning against one commandment becomes 
 guilty of all. By one mortal sin a man loses the grace of God, 
 and as long as he remains in that state, the keeping of the other 
 commandments cannot avail him to eternal life. 
 
 The Inequality of Sins. 
 
 It is of faith that all sins are not equal. And it is evident 
 that one sin may be a greater privation of rectitude than 
 another, such as one disease may be worse than another. 
 
 All mortal sins contain an infinite malice, not absolutely, but 
 in the sense that they contain, at least tacitly, a contempt of an 
 Infinite Being — namely God. He who sins mortally is thought 
 to place God beneath the creature, and turns to the creature as 
 to his last end, in which is involved contempt of the divine 
 majesty. 
 
 In general those sins are considered more grievous than 
 others that are principally and directly opposed to the more 
 noble or worthy virtues. The virtues are placed in the following 
 order of dignity : (a) Charity, (b) Faith, (c) Hope, (d) 
 Eeligion. (e) Penance. (/) Prudence, (g) Justice, (h) For- 
 titude, (i) Temperance. 
 
 In particular, as to sins against our neighbour, those sins 
 are the more grievous which do him the greatest injury. Car- 
 nal sins are less than spiritual ones, but they have deeper 
 root in the heart, and are accompanied by greater disgrace and 
 dishonour. 
 
 The will is the cause of all sins, and those motions or 
 temptations that precede the determination of the will, or that do 
 not depend upon the will, are not formal sins. There are, how- 
 ever, many causes that influence the will towards evil, and these 
 may be said to be the causes of sin. 
 
 9. We may here ask, What are the causes of sin? 
 
 Besides some sins themselves (as in the case of the Seven 
 Capital Vices) there are other causes, both internal and external, 
 that lead the soul into sin. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 387 
 
 The internal causes are four, according to the four powers of 
 the soul. These are : (a) Culpable ignorance in the intellect. 
 (b) Malice in the will, (c) Frailty in the sensitive appetite, (d) 
 The imagination. 
 
 Human frailty, that is, the weakness of our moral nature, 
 is prone to evil, and easily lead into evil through (a) the 
 violence of temptation, (b) the weakness of our resolution, (c) 
 the force of habit, or the warmth and concupiscence of the 
 
 ^ination. 
 
 The sins of malice are exemplified in the six sins against the 
 Holy Ghost, and the four that cry to heaven for vengeance. 
 
 The External Causes of Sin. 
 
 It is of faith, against the Calvinists, that God cannot be said 
 in any sense to be the author of sin, or of the deordination of any 
 act that can be called a formal sin. 
 
 The various objections brought forward to prove that God is 
 said to be the cause of sin may be answered by showing that 
 those texts of Scripture are to be understood in the sense — (a) 
 That God permits sin. (b) That He sometimes withdraws His 
 grace from sinners through their own fault, (c) That He governs 
 and exercises dominion over the wills, even the evil wills, of men ; 
 but He does not take away their freedom. 
 
 The external causes of sin are these : 
 
 (a) External objects, (b) The devil, either through jealousy 
 of men or hatred of God, goeth about like a roaring lion seeking 
 whom he may devour. The devil is the cause of sin indirectly only 
 either by interior suggestion through the phantasy or the sensitive 
 appetite, or exterior trials ; he has no direct power over our free 
 wills, and he cannot be said to be the cause of all sins, (c) Men, or 
 our fellow creatures, who endeavour to draw away our affections 
 from God, and to fix them on themselves. Those who lead* 
 others to sin, or co-operate with sinners, by counsel, command, 
 consent, &c. (d) The world which has formed its own moral 
 code. It is an easy and indulgent one, it glosses over faults and 
 permits laxity. It does not enforce self-denial, but, on the other 
 hand, encourages indulgence and extravagance; a very great 
 number of people take public opinion as their rule of life, and so 
 long as they conform their lives to what society expects and 
 demands, regard themselves as in the way of salvation. _ Now 
 the social code is well enough as far as it goes, but it is not 
 
388 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 intended to be the supreme code. The law of God is that which 
 we must obey first, and that always points out to us a higher 
 life, a purer life, and an unselfish one, whereas the world insists 
 on a life which is selfish and without any noble aims.* 
 
 Conscience and Sin." (Baring Gould.) 
 
THE APOSTLES CREED. 
 
 SECTION 2. (Article X.) 
 ORIGINAL SIN. 
 
 1. Original Sin — its meaning. — 2. The existence of original sin as defined 
 by the Church. — 3. The manner in which original sin is transmitted. 
 — 4. Those who contract origin al sin. The Blessed Virgin exempt from 
 it. — 5. In what consists the essence of original sin. — 6. The effects 
 of original sin in this life. — 7. The effects of original sin in the 
 next life. 
 
 There are two kinds of sin. Original sin and actual sin. 
 
 1. Original sin is that guilt and stain of sin which we in- 
 herit from Adam, who was the origin and head of all mankind. 
 It is the sin which we inherit from our first parents, and in which 
 we were conceived, and born children of wrath.* 
 
 The existence of original sin. 
 
 2. Agaiost the Pelagians, and modern rationalists, it is a 
 dogma of faith that there is such a thing as original sin, that is, 
 that there exists a sin truly and properly so-called, a sin proper 
 to each one, which is transmitted by our first parents to their 
 posterity by origin or generation. 
 
 This dogma was defined in the Council of Trent,} and may 
 be proved from the Scriptures, both from the Old and from the 
 New Testament. It has also been handed down to us by the 
 constant tradition of the Church, as is evident from the continued 
 custom of baptizing infants for the remission of their 
 sins : it is confirmed by the miseries of this life, both of body 
 and soul. 
 
 Many think that even without revelation, we could come 
 to the knowledge of original sin (or at least conjecture it, if we 
 could not prove it for certain), from the miseries of men in this 
 life. Their reason is that these miseries are not necessarily 
 penal, but they could be natural if God had created man in a 
 state of pure nature, as was possible. But in such a C3se, they 
 say that the miseries of life would have been much less in that 
 
 * Eph. ii. 3. f Sess. v. 
 
390 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 state than they are in our state of fallen nature. There would 
 be less concupiscence and less inclination to evil. But, once 
 having the revelation of God concerning original sin, the doctrine 
 may be confirmed and illustrated from our present miseries, and 
 from the ruins and vestiges of his primitive nobility which man 
 can study in himself. 
 
 Original sin transmitted to us, is the sin of the disobedience 
 of Adam in the eating of the forbidden fruit; containing at 
 least, as far as Adam was concerned, the deformities of pride, 
 gluttony, &c. Besides this sin, it is not certain that Adam's 
 other sins did any injury to his posterity, although it is certain 
 that they injured himself. 
 
 Original sin is a mortal sin, as the Council of Trent declares,* 
 when it calls it the death of the soul ; it is, however, less than a 
 mortal personal or actual sin, because it is not in us voluntary, 
 in the same way as our personal sins. It is, indeed, voluntary, 
 but not by the personal will which is required for our own 
 personal sins and defects in our works, but by the will of 
 another, namely, by the will of Adam, which was sufficient for 
 the sin of nature, or the sin of our whole race. And as Adam 
 was the father and representative of the human race, we all 
 sinned in him. 
 
 Original sin in us is not an actual sin, or any sinful act ; 
 but an habitual sin or a sinful state, which is, properly speaking, 
 the sin, that is, the stain consequent on Adam's actual sin which 
 is the privation of holiness and original justice. This, by the 
 decree of God, was destined for all men until Adam lost it to 
 himself and to his posterity. 
 
 Original sin cannot be said to be the actual transgression 
 of Adam, morally persevering in us, and imputed to us ; for 
 that transgression has passed away, and our original sin is a 
 sin proper to each one. The opinion that our will was 
 contained in Adam's will, is not teneable, and involves an absurd- 
 ity ; and the agreement between God and Adam, that, on his 
 fidelity the future of the human race would depend, is not to 
 be held otherwise than as a pure supposition and a groundless 
 one. 
 
 We may, therefore, conclude that original sin is a true and 
 real sin, that is, the habitual sin of Adam transfused by propa- 
 gation, inasmuch as it deprives us of that which was due to us 
 by the Divine decree : It is a sin of its own kind (not the object 
 
 * I. o. t can. 2. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 391 
 
 of repentence), because it is not committed by our will, but by 
 the will of another; hence it has effects proper to itself, especially 
 in the next life. 
 
 The manner est which original sin is transmitted. 
 
 3. It is of faith that original sin is transmitted (not by 
 imitation) but by propagation, that is natural generation. As 
 to the manner how this is done, we have no definition of the 
 Church, and we have to say that the communication of original 
 sin is a mystery. It cannot be fully explained, but we can 
 show that it is not against any rational principle. Two things 
 have to be considered in connection with original sin. (a) The 
 soul is created by God, devoid of original justice and of sanctify- 
 ing grace ; this was a gift not due to our nature. According to 
 Catholic doctrine, as to the origin of the soul, we teach that all 
 souls are immediately created by God, and infused into the body 
 at the same time that they are created, (b) This absence of 
 original justice has some relation to the sin of Adam, inasmuch 
 as the soul, although created immediately by God, when infused 
 into the body, which is by propagation descended from Adam, 
 becomes part of man, to whom original justice would have been 
 given were it not for Adam's sin. Therefore, the soul created 
 pure by God, when at the same moment as its creation it is 
 infused into the body which descends from Adam, on account of 
 the sin of Adam, suffers a privation of that gift which, by the 
 former decree of God, it should have had. 
 
 Parents, although just, do not communicate sanctifying grace 
 to their children, because this grace is a supernatural gift which 
 cannot be propagated by generation, the same as original justice, 
 which was not to descend by nature, but by the positive will of 
 God to the posterity of Adam. But parents do communicate 
 human nature to their children, and nature as descending from 
 Adam, that is deprived of original justice, in the manner just 
 mentioned, that is, nature stained by original sin. 
 
 Those who contract original sin. 
 
 4. It is of faith that all men who descend from Adam, in 
 the natural way of generation, contract original sin, unless some- 
 one, by a special privilege, be exempted from the common law. 
 
 Christ our Lord is excepted, because He does not proceed in 
 the natural way of generation, having had no man for a father, 
 and because of the hypostatic union He could not be subject to sin. 
 
392 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 The Blessed Virgin was exempted from original sin by a 
 special privilege, as it is now defined of faith by the Bull ineffabilis 
 of Pius IX. of the 8th Dec, 1854. "The Blessed Virgin, in the 
 first instant of her conception by the singular favour and privilege 
 of the omnipotent God, through the merits of Jesus Christ, the 
 Saviour of the human race, was exempt from all stain of original 
 sin." And the Council of Trent, in its fifth Session declares, that 
 it is not its intention to comprehend in its decree concerning 
 original sin the Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of God. 
 
 All the other members of the human race are subject to this 
 sin. It is our state and condition, as represented by St. Paul, 
 when speaking of himself : When we were in the flesh, the passions 
 of sin which were by the lata did work in our members to bring forth 
 
 fruit unto death For we know that the law is spiritual, 
 
 but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I work I under- 
 stand not. For I do not that good which I will : but the evil which 
 
 I hate that I do For the good which I will I do not, but 
 
 the evil which I will not that I do* It is of this original sin holy 
 Job speaks in the words — Man born of a woman, living for a short 
 time, is filled with many miseries. Who cometh forth like a flower, 
 and is destroyed, and fleeth as a shadow, and never continveth in 
 
 the same state Who can make him clean that is conceived of 
 
 unclean seed ? Is it not Thou who only art ?\ And holy David ex- 
 claims : Behold I was conceived in wickedness, and in sin did my 
 mother conceive me.\ And St. Paul, writing to the Eomans, says : 
 Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and by sin 
 death; and so death passeth upon all men in whom all have sinned. § 
 
 The Sacrament of Baptism was instituted principally as a 
 remedy for original sin. Our nature is a fallen nature, degraded 
 through the fall of our first parents ; by Baptism we are restored 
 to a state of grace and friendship with God. 
 
 5. Having explained the doctrine of original sin, we may 
 now conclude that the essence of this sin consists in the privation 
 of original justice, or sanctifying grace, inasmuch as we inherit 
 that privation through the sin of Adam. It is clear from the 
 Council of Trent that it is the death of the soul. The life of the 
 soul is its union with God by grace, or sanctifying grace itself. 
 Death is the privation of life, therefore the death of the soul is 
 the privation of sanctifying grace. This is the same as aversion 
 from God, not a positive aversion, but a defect of conversion 
 
 * Rom. vii. 5, 14, et. sea. t Job xiv. 1, et seq. 
 
 JPs. 1. 7, §Rom. v. 12, 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 393 
 
 towards God or union with Him. This privation of sanctifying 
 grace must be considered in relation to its cause, namely, the sin 
 of Adam ; otherwise it would be in us only as a mere want or 
 absence of grace, as would be the case in a state of pure nature ; 
 and it would not constitute us sinners ; wherefore not every priva- 
 tion of sanctifying grace constitutes the essence of original sin, 
 but only that privation which arises from the sin of Adam. 
 
 Original justice, of which we are deprived by sin, as to its 
 principle part, was constituted by sanctifying grace, by which the 
 reason and will were subject to God ; from this, however, as from 
 a cause, two other gifts followed, namely, the subjection of the in- 
 ferior part of the soul to the superior, and of the body to the soul. 
 Hence, when the cause was removed by the rebellion of man 
 against God, the result was a rebellion in man himself, namely, 
 that of the inferior against the superior parb of his nature, and of 
 his body against his soul. 
 
 The privation of sanctifying grace is called the form of original 
 sin ; and the two-fold rebellion consequent on it is called the 
 material of original sin, or concupiscence taken generally, which 
 is the penalty or the effect of original sin. 
 
 Protestants commonly place the essence of original sin in 
 concupiscence taken generally, that is in the deordination of all 
 the powers of the soul ; and they extend it to the taking away of 
 many natural powers, and even to a positive evil quality born 
 with man. This notion of original sin is refuted by the fact that 
 concupiscence remains after Baptism, and according to the teach- 
 ing of tbe Church, expressly declared by the Council of Trent* — 
 all that has the reason or nature of sin, properly so called, is taken 
 away by Baptism. The Council further adds that even in the 
 baptised the inclinations (fames) to sin, and the concupiscence, 
 remain ; and this concupiscence is sometimes called sin by the 
 \postle, not that it is sin in those regenerated, but because it 
 proceeds from sin, and induces to sin. 
 
 The Effects of Original Sin. 
 
 6. The effects of original sin in this life are first as to the 
 soul, (a) The enmity of God, that is the loss of the friendship of 
 God. (b) Concupiscence taken in its general sense, that is the 
 deordination of the powers of the soul. 
 
 As to whether that concupiscence, or the deordination of the 
 powers of the soul (vulnera animce), causes a real and true hurt or 
 
 * Sess. 5, can. 5. 
 
394 THE GREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 wound to our nature is controverted. Some hold that man, by- 
 original sin, is not injured in his natural powers, but that his 
 nature is despoiled of its supernatural and gratuitous gifts, and 
 left to its own natural inclinations; as it would be in a state of 
 pure nature ; only, that then it would belong to nature and be 
 the result of nature, now it is a penalty, that which suffices, and 
 gives us reason to call those natural infirmities wounds. On the 
 other hand, many hold that by original sin, not only the gratuitous 
 gifts of God are taken away, but that our natural gifts were 
 greatly impaired by four wounds, (a) Ignorance obscured the 
 brightness of man's intelligence, (b) Malice corrupted the in- 
 tegrity of his will, (c) Desire tyrannised over his concupiscible 
 appetite, and (d) weakness paralysed his irascible appetite. This 
 is illustrated by the parable of the Good Samaritan, in the exam- 
 ple of the man going from Jerusalem to Jericho, who fell among 
 thieves ; they not only stripped him, but also wounded him, and 
 left him half dead.* 
 
 It is true, the Council of Trent declares that the whole 
 man, as to body and soul, is placed in a worse state by original 
 sin, and that man's will is weakened, but it does not decide 
 whether this comes from his nature being impaired, or is the 
 result of the taking away of the supernatural gifts ; and in 
 contrast with a state of innocence man must now, no matter how 
 it happens, be regarded as weakened and impaired in his 
 natural powers. 
 
 Secondly, the effects of original sin as to the body are death, 
 diseases, sufferings, pains, and all other bodily defects. 
 
 7. The effects of original sin in the next life are : — 
 
 (a) Certainly the pain of loss, that is, the privation of the 
 
 beatific vision. 
 
 (b) It is doubtful whether also the pain of sense belongs to 
 
 it. It is the more common and probable opinion 
 
 that it does not, and St. Thomas teaches that those 
 
 who die with only original sin will be able to enjoy 
 
 God by natural knowledge and love. 
 
 In conclusion, let us not fail to remember what St. Paul 
 
 proves in the fifth Chapter of the Epistle to the Eomans, that 
 
 Christ has benefited us more than Adam injured us, and hence, 
 
 in the words of St. Augustine, the Church sings: felix culpa 
 
 quae talem ac tantum meruit habere Bedemptorem. Now, again, 
 
 supernatural grace is given, which strengthens and perfects 
 
 nature, and which renders us holy, and capable of eternal life.f 
 
 •St. Luke x. f See the Traetatus de Peccatis. Auctore, A. B. Van der Maerea 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 395 
 
 SECTION 3. (Article X.) 
 
 ACTUAL SINS AND THE DEADLY VICES, &c. 
 
 1. Actual sin — its definition and the conditions required for it. — 2. The 
 division of sin into mortal and venial, and how they may be distin- 
 guished. — 3. The various ways in which sins may be regarded as 
 mortal and as venial.— 4. What is meant by light and grave matter 
 in regard to sin. — 5. Conditions that diminish the guilt of sin, and 
 that aggravate its guilt. — 6. Seven circumstances that may cause a 
 venial sin to be grievous. — 7. The Capital Sins or Deadly Vices : (a) 
 Pride, (b) Avarice, (c) Luxury, (d) Envy, (e) Gluttony, (/) Anger, (g) 
 Sloth.— 8. The six sins against the Holy Ghost. — 9. The four sins 
 that cry to heaven for vengeance. — 10. The different ways in which 
 one may be answerable for the sins of another. 
 
 1. Actual sin is the sin which we ourselves commit. It is 
 personal to each one, and has for its principle the abuse of our 
 free will. It is that which we have already denned when speak- 
 ing of the nature of sin : any thought, word, deed, or omission 
 against the law of God. 
 
 Certain conditions are required that a man may be guilty of 
 actual sin. These are : (a) Knowledge of what is proposed to do. 
 (b) Liberty to do it or to forbear, (c) Will which determines the 
 sinful act. When any of these conditions are wanting, there can 
 be no actual sin. 
 
 2. Actual sin is of various degrees of guilt, and on thib 
 account it is usually divided into mortal sin and venial sin. 
 
 A sin is called mortal or venial as it is grievously or only 
 lightly opposed to the eternal law ; or in denning them by their 
 effects, it may be said that mortal sin causes the spiritual death 
 of the soul by depriving it of sanctifying grace. Venial sin does 
 not deprive the soul of grace, but it weakens it and disposes it to 
 mortal sin. 
 
 It is certain that some sins are only venial, and this not only 
 by reason of the condition of those sinning, or out of the divine 
 mercy, but from the very nature of things, just as in every society 
 there are slight offences that do not dissolve friendship. 
 
 Mortal sins may be distinguished from venial sins in a 
 general way by certain rules that are laid down, (a) Those are 
 
396 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 mortal which the Scriptures designate as grievous, or condemn 
 solemnly by the Wo ! or some such expression ; or io which it 
 attaches grave or everlasting punishment, (b) Tradition which 
 telJs us those sins that have always been regarded as mortal, (c) 
 The common opinion of doctors and theologians, (d) Natural 
 reason. 
 
 Outside these general rules it is difficult to decide in 
 particular what sin is morial and what is venial; and it is 
 necessary for instructors to be careful in this matter lest they 
 should convert theological opinions into Articles of faith, counsels 
 into precepts, and light obligations into grave. 
 
 We must remember that for mortal sin two things are re- 
 quired, namely, (a) The full and perfect consent of the will, (b) 
 Grave matter.* 
 
 Mortal Sins. 
 
 ' Some sins are mortal of their own entire nature, such as blas- 
 phemy ; and some may be mortal in their own kind and species, 
 as theft in a notable quantity ; and some may be mortal not in 
 themselves, but by reason of some mortal circumstance in con- 
 nection with them, such as a jocose lie, in order to do a serious 
 injury to another. 
 
 Sin may be venial, (a) because of the imperfect assent of the 
 will ; and this applies in all cases ; (b) because of light matter. 
 When it is venial, so that of its own kind it can never amount to 
 grave sin, it is called venial (e:: genere suo) of itself, as a simple lie. 
 An example of a sin venial, by reason of levity of matter, would be 
 small thefts. 
 
 4. It may be asked, what is meant by light and grave matter 
 in regard to sin. 
 
 That matter is called light which only slightly affects the love 
 of God, or our neighbour ; or the end of the law or precept. 
 Many small things may coalesce, and become grave matter when 
 they fall under the same precept, and belong, morally speaking, 
 to one continued transgression of the precept ; such as a small 
 theft, proceeding from the same uninterrupted will of stealing, may 
 accumulate into a grave injustice. There are some things in 
 
 * " So that those evil thoughts which pass through the mind to which we 
 give no consent, direct or indirect, are not sinful to us, and entail on 
 us no guilt. Living in this svil world, in the midst of sin, we cannot 
 avoid the knowledge of it ; that knowledge may, however, pass over 
 the minds, darkening momentarily, but not staining like a shadow of 
 a cloud on a hill-side." Baring Gould. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 397 
 
 which moralists do not admit levity of matter, as for example : 
 
 (a) In sins directly against God or His attributes, such as blas- 
 phemy, (b) In sins whose matter, unless gravely prohibited in 
 all cases, would lead men into the greatest sins, to their utter 
 ruin; such as sins against purity outside married life, (c) In sins 
 whose malice in any matter, great or small, would violate the 
 end of the law, or gravely injure it, such as the breaking of the 
 seal of confession, the violation of the natural fast. 
 
 5. There are conditions that diminish the guilt of sin so that 
 a mortal sin may become venial ; a^d conditions that aggravate 
 guilt so that a venial sin may become mortal. A mortal sin may 
 become venial by reason of the imperfect consent of the will, or 
 through levity of matter. The extenuating causes or circum- 
 stances on the part of the will may be : (a) excusable ignorance ; 
 
 (b) grave fear; (c) compulsion; (d) inadvertence, or excusable 
 want of attention. These are not given for the purpose of making 
 excuses for sins, but for the comfort and peace of such souls that 
 fear to fall into sins which they in their hearts hate. A venial 
 sin may become mortal when the consent of the will, from being 
 imperfect becomes full and perfect, and when light matter becomes 
 grave. 
 
 6. There are circumstances grievously sinful that may ac- 
 company some sins that are only venial of themselves. These 
 may be enumerated seven. 
 
 (a) Grave scandal, that is when a sin, venial in itself, becomes 
 
 the occasion of grave sin to another. 
 
 (b) Contempt, which means formally to despise the law or 
 
 the legislator as such, which is a grave sin against reJi- 
 gion or piety. 
 
 (c) The end proposed, that is wh:n one sets his heart on some 
 
 venial sin as his last end. 
 
 (d) The intention, when one commits a venial sin in order to 
 
 attain an end, grievously evil. 
 
 (e) When the venial sin leads one into the proximate 
 
 danger of mortal sin. 
 (/) An error of conscience, which leads a person 
 committing a venial sin to believe at the time it is 
 mortal. 
 {(f) Grave injury, which the person foresees will follow from 
 
 his act. 
 Among these various ways in which a venial sin may 
 become mortal, we do not include the multiplying of venial sins, 
 for no number of venial sins could make up one mortal sin, 
 
398 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 as no number of finite things can amount to an infinite thing. 
 But venial sins dispose one to mortal sin, and this they do 
 (a) directly in the case where sins in themselves mortal are 
 venial, only on account of the imperfect consent of the will, or 
 the levity of the matter ; (b) indirectly, inasmuch as all venial 
 sins diminish the fervour of charity, and impede actual 
 graces. 
 
 The Capital Sins, or the Deadly Vices. 
 
 7. Certain sins or vices are called Capital or Deadly, 
 because they lie at the head or source of all sin, and because 
 they mortally affect the soul. They are not called Capital as 
 if they were the greatest of all sins, or the worst, but because 
 they are the principles, or springs, out of which so many other 
 sins issue. 
 
 They are seven in number, and are as seven mothers which, 
 when taken into the heart, settle there, and produce large families 
 of sins, which are enumerated and explained by St. Thomas in 
 various places. 
 
 The Seven Capital vices, or sins, are : — (a) Pride, (b) 
 Avarice, (c) Luxury, (d) Envy, (e) Gluttony, (/) Anger, (g) 
 Sloth. 
 
 Of these, Pride, Avarice, and Envy are vices of the soul ; 
 Luxury, Gluttony, Anger, are vices of the body. Sloth is a vice 
 of the soul and of the body. 
 
 (a) Pride is an excessive love of oneself, and an inordinate 
 
 desire of being above others. There is no sin more 
 
 ancient, more grievous, or more dangerous, for it is 
 
 the sin of the fallen angels, and of the first man ; 
 
 it is the sin which we have the greatest difficulty 
 
 to preserve ourselves from, the last we overcome. 
 
 It may of its own nature be a grievous sin, and it is mortal 
 
 when a man loves his own self so much as to refuse to be subject 
 
 to God or to lawful superiors ; or, so as to contemn and oppress 
 
 his neighbour seriously. It may be only a venial sin if the 
 
 matter is light. Pride is opposed to humility. 
 
 (b) Avarice is an inordinate love and desire of riches, or 
 
 the things of this life. It may be a mortal sin of its 
 own nature when it violates justice, charity, or any 
 other virtue, when these bind under grave sin. It is 
 only a venial sin in itself when it is opposed only 
 to liberality. It is opposed by defect to liberality, to 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 399 
 
 which prodigality, in itself a venial sin, is opposed 
 by excess. 
 
 (c) Luxury, which is the desire of the sin of the flesh, that 
 
 sin which, in the words of St. Paul, ought not to be 
 so much as named among Christians.* This is of its 
 own entire nature a mortal sin, and does not admit 
 levity of matter whenever there is the full consent of 
 the will to a sin of this kind. Luxury is opposed to 
 chastity. 
 
 (d) Envy is an inordinate sadness or repining at the worldly 
 
 and spiritual good of our neighbour, or rejoicing at his 
 injury or distress. Of its own nature it may be mor- 
 tal, and is mortal when one yields intensely to this 
 vice. It makes man resemble the evil spirits who go 
 about continually to hurt us. Envy is opposed to be- 
 nignity. 
 
 (e) Gluttony is an inordinate desire either of food or drink. 
 
 Gluttony in eating and drinking, when it does not ine- 
 briate, is only a venial sin in itself ; but drunkenness 
 or inebriety is a mortal sin of its own nature. Gluttony 
 is opposed to temperance. 
 
 (/ ) Anger is a violent and inordinate motion of the heart 
 against such persons or things as displease us. It 
 leads to an inordinate desire of revenge. Of its own 
 nature it may be mortal, when it leads to a grave vio- 
 lation of justice or charity. It is only venial when 
 considered as to the manner in which one is angry. 
 Anger is opposed to patience and meekness. 
 
 (g) Sloth is a laziness or weariness, that makes us omit the 
 service of God, or perform it with neglect or indolence. 
 It may be mortal of its own nature, and is mortal 
 when it affects those things that are necessary for sal- 
 vation, or that are of grave obligation, so as to prevent 
 their fulfilment or observance. It is, however, often 
 only a venial sin. Sloth is a vice opposed to devotion 
 and piety. 
 
 Besides the Capital sins or vices, two other classes of sins in 
 particular are mentioned in our Catholic Catechisms. 
 
 8. (a) Sins against the Holy Ghost, (b) Sins that cry to 
 heaven for vengeance. 
 
 The sins against the Holy Ghost are chiefly six. (a) Despair 
 
 * Ephes. v. 3. 
 
400 THE CBEED EXPLAINED. 
 
 of salvation, (b) Presumption of God's mercy, (c) To resist the 
 known truth, (d) Envy at another's spiritual good, (e) Obstinacy 
 in sin. (/) Final impenitence. These are especially sins of 
 malice, which involve an obstinate resistance to the inspiratioDS 
 of the Holy Ghost, and formal contempt of His gifts. It is said 
 that sins against the Holy Ghost, such as the above, shall not be 
 forgiven in this world or in the world to come, in the sense that 
 it is very difficult to obtain the forgiveness of them ; for men 
 seldom truly repent of them. God and the Church, or its priests, 
 can forgive them however, like all other sins, if we truly repent. 
 All can be forgiven except fiDal impenitence. 
 
 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our 
 sins, and to cleanse us from all iniquity. 
 
 10. There are four sins that cry to heaven for vengeance ; 
 that is, sins of so great an enormity that they are often punished 
 by God even in this life. They are (a) wilful murder ; (b) Sodomy ; 
 (c) oppression of the poor; (d) to defraud workmen of their 
 wages. 
 
 10. Besides our own personal sins, we have to remember 
 that one may make himself partaker in, and guilty of, the sins of 
 another. This is the case for every one who counsels, commands, 
 consents to, or commends, the commission of sins ; he also sins 
 who provokes another to do evil by assisting him to do it, by de- 
 fending him in his wickedness, and who does not prevent him when 
 he can, or when it is his duty to do so. Hence, St. Paul tells us : 
 Who having known the justice of God, did not understand that they 
 who do such things are worthy of death ; and not only they that dc 
 them, but they also that consent to them that do them* 
 
 At the end of this Article on Sin, I may give two special 
 catechetical questions and answers. 
 
 (a) When are we answerable for the sins of others ? 
 
 We are answeiable for the sins of others, whenever we 
 either cause them, or share in them through our own fault. 
 
 (b) In how many ways may we either cause or share the 
 
 guilt of another's sin ? 
 We may either cause or share the guilt of another's sin in 
 nine ways. (1) By counsel. (2) By command. (3) By consent. 
 (4) By provocation. (5) By praise or flattery. (6) By conceal- 
 ment. (7) By being a partner in sin. (8) By silence. (9) By 
 defending the ill done. 
 
 * Rom. i. 32. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 401 
 
 ARTICLE XI. 
 
 Apostles' Creed. Nicene Creed. 
 
 The Resurrection of the Body. And I expect the Resurrection 
 
 of the Dead. 
 
 1. What is meant by the Eesurrection of the Body ?— 2. Tke Resurrection 
 of the Body proved from Scripture — (a) from the Old, (b) from the 
 New, Testament. — 3. Pledges of the future Resurrection. — 4. The 
 dogma of the Resurrection of the flesh demonstrated by reason. — 
 
 5. Objections of rationalists to the dogma, and their refutation. — 
 
 6. All men shall rise again. — 7. The Time of the Resurrection. — 
 8. The state or condition of men in the Resurrection. — 9. The 
 age, size, and sex of resuscitated bodies. — 10. The four qualities or 
 gifts of a glorified body ; and the corresponding defects or penalties 
 inflicted on the damned. 
 
 1. In the Greek and Latin forms we have " the resurrection 
 of the flesh," so that all ambiguity is avoided in relation to 
 celestial and spiritual bodies, and our earthly bodies. As by 
 flesh is understood the body of man, and no other flesh, so in 
 translating it body, we understand no other body than that of 
 man, the same body of flesh, of the same frail nature as man 
 had, before it was by death separated from his soul. 
 
 To believe in the resurrection of the body, means to believe 
 that at the end of the world, before the last judgment, all shall 
 rise with the same bodies that they had in this life. 
 
 The resurrection is the restoration to life of our bodies. 
 Although I have already explained the nature of a resurrection 
 in treating of the fifth Article of the Creed, I think it well to 
 refer again to the essential characters of a true resurrection. A 
 resurrection means a substantial change by which what was 
 before and was corrupted, is reproduced in the same thing again. 
 (a) A change, not a second or new creation, as if a man or angel 
 were annihilated and made again out of nothing, (b) A sub- 
 stantial change ; not an accidental alteration as from sickness 
 to health, (c) A change of what was before, and was corrupted ; 
 (1) thiflgs incorruptible cannot be reproduced; (2) and of things 
 corruptible, some, the forms of inanimated bodies and all irra- 
 
 BB 
 
402 THE CKEED EXPLAINED. 
 
 tional souls when corrupted cease to be, consequently, even if 
 saoh were reproduced out of the same matter, there would not 
 be the restitution of the same individual, only of the same 
 species by another individual. But when a rational soul is 
 separated from its body, which is the corruption of a man, the 
 soul still exists, and is capable of reunion with the body ; and if 
 these two be again united by an essential and vital union, from 
 which life necessarily flows, then the same man lives who lived 
 before, and, consequently, the reunion is a perfect and proper 
 resurrection from death to life.* 
 
 2. There shall be a resurrection of the body. 
 
 This is proved not only from this Article of the Creed, but 
 from many passages of holy Scripture. 
 
 (a) From the Old Testament. The heathen did not 
 
 believe in the Eesurrection of the body, although 
 many of them believed in the immortality of the soul. 
 The Jews believed in the Eesurrection of the body, 
 and in Christ's time all, except the Sadducees, believed 
 in it. Martha, we read, said to our Lord : I know 
 that he (Lazarus) shall rise again in the resurrection 
 at the last day, thus giving expression to the 
 common belief of the Jews in her day. The 
 resurrection is made known in the following revelation 
 of the Old Testament. Job says : For I know that 
 my Redeemer liveth, and in the last day I shall rise out 
 of the earth. And I shall be clothed again with my 
 skin, and in my flesh I shall see God.\ 
 Daniel says yet more plainly : And many of those that sleep 
 
 in the dust of the earth, shall awake ; some unto life everlasting, 
 
 and others unto reproach, to see it always. I 
 
 Also in the vision of the dry bones of Ezeehiel, the bones 
 
 are clothed again with flesh. § 
 
 (b) In the New Testament, Our Lord stated to the Jews : 
 That the hour cometh, wherein all that are in the graves shall 
 
 hear the voice of the Son of Man. And they that have done good 
 things shall come forth unto the resurrection of life, and they that 
 have done evil unto the resurrection of judgment. \\ 
 
 Christ refers to this doctrine of the resurrection in St. 
 Matthew's Gospel,** and in many other places : And concerning 
 the resurrection of the dead, have you not read that which was 
 spoken to you by God, saying to you: I am the God of Abraham, 
 
 * Pearson. Analysis, Article V. t Job xix. 25, 26. \ Dan. xii. 2. 
 
 § Ez. xxxvii. 8, 16—20. || St. John v. 28, 29. ** St. Matt. xxii. 31, et uf. 
 
THE APOSTLES* CREED. 403 
 
 and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob ? He is not the God 
 of the dead, but of the living. 
 
 According to St. Paul, in the whole of the fifteenth Chapter 
 of his first Epistle to the Corinthians, the resurrection is so 
 certain, that to deny it is the same as to deny the resurrection of 
 Jesus Christ Himself. But as Christ is certainly risen from 
 the dead, so is our resurrection certain. Death came by the first 
 Adam ; Christ, the new Adam, came to destroy death. 
 
 Pledges of the Eesurrection. 
 
 3. We have not only scriptural texts in proof of the resur- 
 rection, but pledges of our future restoration to life. 
 
 The Old Testament records three instances of restoration 
 to life. 
 
 (1.) The dead son of the widow of Zarephath raised by Elias. 
 (3 Kings xvii. 22.) 
 
 (2.) The child of the Sunamite woman raised by Eliseus. 
 (4 Kings iv. 32.) 
 
 (3.) The dead man who was cast into the grave of Eliseus. 
 (4 Kings xiii. 21.) 
 
 The New Testament records three miracles of raising from 
 the dead by our Lord. 
 
 (1.) The daughter of Jairus, just dead, lying in the death 
 chamber. (St. Matthew ix. 25.) 
 
 (2.) The son of the widow of Nairn on the way to the tomb. 
 (St. Luke vii. 11—15.) 
 
 (3.) Lazarus, who had been in the tomb, and had been dead 
 four days. (St. John xii. 43.) 
 
 Two miracles of this kind are recorded of the Apostles. 
 
 (1.) The raising of Tabitha, or Dorcas, by St. Peter. (Acts 
 ix. 36—41.) 
 
 (2.) The raising of the youth Eutychus by St. Paul. (Acts 
 xx. 9, 10.) 
 
 It is also recorded by St. Matthew that, after the resurrection 
 of Christ, many bodies of the saints arose, and going out of the 
 tombs, came into the holy city, and appeared to many. 
 
 But the most signal instance of all is our Lord's own 
 glorious resurrection, when He rose triumphant from the grave, 
 and showed Himself alive, after His passion, by many infallible 
 proofs. 
 
 4. Human reason suggests two principal proofs of the dogma 
 of the resurrection. 
 
404 THE CBEED EXPLAINED. 
 
 (a) The soul of man is not, as an Angel, a pure spirit ; it is 
 
 naturally destined to be united to a body. The body 
 
 is its essential complement. Hence it seeks to remain 
 
 united to it, and does not wish to be separated from 
 
 it. After death it will always retain the desire of 
 
 being united to the body, that it may not always 
 
 remain an incomplete being. This desire comes from 
 
 God, the Author of nature, and it is not a deception, 
 
 and hence the soul will again vivify the body. 
 
 (b The body is here below the natural instrument of the 
 
 soul, either for good or evil ; it is, therefore, just that 
 
 it should have its share of rewards or punishments 
 
 in the life to come. 
 
 The doctrine of the resurrection of the body has many 
 
 illustrations in nature. " (1) In every twenty-four hours the day 
 
 dies into night, next morning it revives, opening the grave of 
 
 darkness ; this is a diurnal resurrection. (2) Summer dies into 
 
 Winter j the sap is said to descend into the root, and there it 
 
 lies buried in the ground, which is crusted with frost. When 
 
 Spring appears all begins to rise; the plants, &c, revive and 
 
 grow ; this is the annual resurrection. (3) The corn, by which 
 
 we live is buried in the ground that it may corrupt, and 
 
 being corrupted may revive and multiply; our bodies are fed 
 with this constant experiment, and we continue the present life 
 by a succession of resurrections. Can we think that man, the 
 lord of all these things which thus die and revive for him, should 
 be detained in death for ever — that God should thus restore all 
 things to man, and not man to himself ?"* 
 
 5. Freethinkers say that the resurrection of the dead is 
 impossible. Myriads of dead bodies have disappeared for so 
 many ages without any trace of them to be found. Their dust 
 has gone into the composition of other bodies, and has served to 
 form plants and animals, which in their turn have undergone 
 innumerable transformations. By nutrition, it happens that some 
 human bodies are organized by the atoms of other human bodies, 
 as in the case of cannibals. How, it is asked, can living men 
 be again reconstituted out of such scattered dust ? How, in 
 the midst of so much confusion, will it be possible to restore to 
 each one what originally belonged to him ? 
 
 To all this we may answer, that He who maCe all things 
 out of nothing, can easily remake anything which He has already 
 
 * Pearson. Analysis, Art. xi. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 405 
 
 made. He is infinite in His knowledge. He knows all men who 
 ever lived, or shall live; He knows whereof all things were 
 made ; from what dust we came, to what dust we shall return. 
 He also sees and knows all ways and means by which these 
 scattered parts should be re-united. He knows how every bone 
 should be brought to its old neighbour-bone, how every sinew 
 may be embroidered on it ; what are the proper parts, and by 
 what gluten to be joined. The resurrection, therefore, cannot 
 be impossible in relation to the Agent, through any deficiency 
 of knowledge. Then His power is unlimited. There can be 
 no opposition against Him, because all power is His. All crea- 
 tures must do, as well as suffer, what He will have them. There 
 is no atom of dust or ashes, but must be where it pleases God, 
 and be applied to, and make up what, and how, it seems good to 
 Him. The resurrection, therefore, cannot be impossible in regard 
 to any deficiency of power on the part of the Agent. 
 
 On the part of the creature there is no impossibility in the 
 resurrection, as there is no contradiction in this, that he who was 
 and now is not, should hereafter be what before he was. " As 
 no creature could be made out of nothing but by Him, so can it 
 not be reduced to nothing but by the same ; though therefore the 
 
 parts of the body of man be dissolved, yet they perish not 
 
 it is no more a contradiction that they should become parts of the 
 same body of man to which they did belong, than that after his 
 death they should become the parts of any other body, as we see 
 they do. Howsoever scattered, wheresoever lodged, they are 
 within the power and knowledge of God, and can have no repug- 
 nancy by their separation to be re-united when and how He 
 pleaseth. If it be not easier, it is certainly as easy, to make that 
 to be again which once hath been, as to make that to be which 
 before was not. When there was no man, God made him out of 
 the dust of the earth, and therefore when he returns to earth, the 
 same God can make him again."* 
 
 All Men shall Rise Again. 
 
 6. This will be without any exception, unless in the case of 
 those who have already risen to a blessed life. Christ speaks 
 universally when He says : The hour cometh when all who are in 
 the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God. And they that 
 have done good things shall come forth unto the resurrection of life, 
 
 * Pearson. Analysis. 
 
406 THE CBEED EXPLAINED. 
 
 but they that have done evil unto the resurrection of judgment.* And 
 St. Paul, in his Epistle to the Eomans, says, We shall all stand 
 before the tribunal of Christ.\ And when the Psalmist says that 
 the impious will not arise in the judgment, that is they will not 
 arise to a blessed life, and they will not be able to stand, or defend 
 their cause at the judgment seat. 
 
 The Time of the Eesurrection. 
 
 7. The general resurrection is still future, and will take place 
 at the end of the world : immmediately before the general judg- 
 ment. Holy Job,] and St. John,§ speak of the future resurrection 
 as something which is to happen on the last day. And this is the 
 common belief of the faithful. There are, however, some who 
 have already risen, and who are not again to die, but who will 
 appear in their glorified bodies at the general judgment, such we 
 believe to be the privilege of the Blessed Virgin. As to the bodies 
 of the saints that arose at the time of Christ's death, some with 
 St. Ambrose and St. Hilary, hold that they arose to an immortal 
 life, but St. Augustine, Ven. Bede, and others, hold that their 
 bodies again returned to the tombs. All, both good and bad, will 
 arise at the same moment. In a moment, in the twinkling of an 
 eye, at the last trumpet. Christ is the meritorious cause of the 
 resurrection of the just ; and His Eesurrection will be the exem- 
 plary cause of their resurrection. The resurrection of all is at- 
 tributed to the voice of Christ as to the instrumental cause, ac- 
 cording to the words : And all who are in the graves shall hear 
 the voice of the Son of God, 
 
 The State or Condition of Men in the Eesurrection. 
 
 8. Each soul shall resume the same body which it had in 
 this life. This is of faith. So that a man in the resurrection will 
 have the same flesh, bones, nerves, and all the other parts of the 
 body which he had before his death. This is clear from the words 
 of Job : And I shall be clothed again with my skin, and in my flesh 
 I shall see my God. Whom I myself shall see, and my eyes shall 
 behold., and not another.^ 
 
 It is also evident on the same grounds on which we believe 
 a resurrection — because, if either the same body should be joined 
 to another soul, or the same soul to another body, it would not be 
 the resurrection of the same man. 
 
 * St. John v. 28, 29. f Rom. xiv. 5. J Job xix. 25. 
 
 § St. John vi. 40, & xi. 24. |l Job xix. 26, 27. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 407 
 
 As to the conditions and qualities of those risen from the 
 dead, we may ask, and answer the following usual questions : 
 
 Do those who, in life, or from their nativity, have been 
 maimed, or deformed, arise with the same bodily defects ? 
 
 It is certain that the just will rise again without any bodily 
 defect whatever. As to the wicked, it is not so certain ; but St. 
 Thomas holds that they also will be free from natural bodily 
 defects in the resurrection, inasmuch as the resurrection will be 
 the work of God, and the works of God are perfect. Also, after 
 the resurrection there will remain in man the power of all the 
 senses — of hearing, seeing, &c, and their use ; because this belongs 
 to the perfection of nature. 
 
 Will the Martyrs in their glorified bodies retain the wounds 
 they received for Christ's sake ? 
 
 It is certain that in the glorified body of Christ His Five 
 Wounds are retained ; but we are not obliged to admit the same 
 in regard to the wounds of the Christian Martyrs. St. Augustine 
 teaches that in the place of the wounds of the Martyrs a special 
 brightness or glory will shine forth, so that their sufferings may 
 be known. 
 
 In what Age, and Size, and State, will Men Rise Again? 
 
 9. St. Thomas teaches that men will rise again in the size and 
 form which they would have had at the age at which Christ arose, 
 about the age of 33. And the reason he assigns is that God will 
 repair a perfect nature ; but before or after that period nature is 
 more or less defective. 
 
 All will not rise in the same height or size, but each will 
 have that height or size which either he had, or would have had, 
 at the age mentioned, all defects of nature being repaired. Because 
 the restoration is not of the species but of the individual, and 
 therefore will be proportioned to our individual nature without 
 making each one a most perfect human being. 
 
 It is also Catholic doctrine to say, that the diversity of sex 
 will be preserved in the resurrection, as this belongs to the perfec- 
 tion of the individual, and the species ; but as Christ has said : 
 In the resurrection they shall neither marry nor be married ; but 
 shall be as the angels of God in heaven.* 
 
 In the resurrection all the bodies of men will be immortal, 
 according to the words of St. Paul : For this corruptible must put 
 
 * St. Matt. xxii. 30. 
 
408 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 on incorruption ; and this mortal must put on immortality .* But 
 all bodies will not rise impassible. The bodies of the just will be 
 impassible or incapable of suffering, but the bodies of the wicked 
 will be passible : they will have to suffer all manner of tormenta 
 worse than death ; always living, and as it were, always enduring 
 fjhe sorrows of death. In the words of the Apocalypse : They shall 
 desire to die, and death shall fly from them.\ 
 
 The Qualities or Gifts of a Glorified Body. 
 
 10. The bodies of the saints are to rise glorious and immor- 
 tal. J By this is meant they shall have the four qualities of i* 
 glorified body — namely Impassibility, Brightness, Agility, and 
 Subtility. These are founded on the words of St. Paul : It u 
 sown in corruption, it shall rise in incorruption. It is sown in dis- 
 honour, it shall rise in glory. It is sown in weakness, it shall rise in 
 power. It is sown a natural body, it shall rise a spiritual body. 
 
 By the quality of Impassibility is meant that the bodies of 
 the saints will be henceforth incapable of corruption or any suffer- 
 ing. It is sown (or buried) in corruption, it shall rise in incorrup- 
 tion. 
 
 By the quality of Brightness is meant, that the bodies of the 
 just shall rise in splendour which will be proportioned to each 
 one's merits. It is sown in dishonour, it shall rise in glory. There 
 is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another 
 glory of the stars ; for star differeih from star in glory. So also 
 is the resurrection of the dead.\\ 
 
 By the quality of Agility is meant, that the bodies of the just 
 will be able to pass from one place to another in an instant : It is 
 sown in weakness, it shall rise in power. 
 
 By the quality of Subtility is meant, that the bodies of the 
 saints, like the glorified Body of our Lord, shall be spiritualized ; 
 and so will be able to pass, as He did, through closed doors, hard 
 substances, &c. It is sown a natural body, it shall rise a spiritual 
 body. The Blessed, by their supernatural power, will be able 
 either to penetrate, or pass through other bodies, or resist them 
 as they may wish. 
 
 " As four glorious gifts or qualities will be bestowed on the 
 bodies of the saints in recompense of their virtues, so we may 
 naturally infer that the bodies of the damned will be punished in 
 some corresponding way. In place of Impassibility, they will be 
 
 * xv. 53. f Apoc. ix. 6. J 1 Cor. xv. 42, 45. a 1 Cor. xv. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 409 
 
 endued with a keen sensibility to pain : in place of Brightness, 
 they will appear black and hideous, having all those vioes and 
 filthy passions to which they were subject during life depicted in 
 their countenances ; and in the place of Agility and Subtility they 
 will become the prison-house of the soul, weighing down and clog- 
 ging its spiritual capabilities and energies."* 
 
 * Companion to the Catechism. 
 
410 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 ARTICLE XII. 
 
 Apostles' Creed. Nicene Creed. 
 
 The Life Everlasting. Amen. And the life of the world to 
 
 come. Amen. 
 
 Chapter I. 
 
 1. The meaning of this Article. — 2. The difference of State between 
 the just and the wicked in the future life. — 3. The meaning 
 of the word hell. — 4. The doctrine of faith as to the existence of 
 hell. — 5. The place of hell. — 6. The pains of hell; (a) the pain of 
 loss, (6) the pains of the damned not equal, (c) the fire of hell, (d) 
 the worms, the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. — 7. The eternity 
 of the pains of hell. — St. Thomas' reasons showing the equity of 
 the duration of the torments of the damned. — 9. The sense in 
 which those pains may be said to be infinite. — 10. The state of 
 the lost souls as to intellect and will. — 11 Objections to the 
 eternity of torments refuted. — 12. The punishment of Children who 
 die without Baptism in a state of original sin. 
 
 The Athanasian Creed also expresses the same dogma : 
 " And they that have done good shall go intc life everlasting ; 
 and they that have done evil into everlasting fire." 
 
 1. This life everlasting is not the same as the immortality 
 of the soul ; but it is the joint life of soul and body, after the day 
 of the Resurrection and the General Judgment. The soul never 
 dies ; there is no such thing as annihilation ; in the next world 
 soul and body, again united, will live for ever. 
 
 2. All men will not be in the same state in the world to 
 come, as the Lord the Righteous Judge shall discern, and put 
 a difference between the good and the bad. And as there shall 
 be a Resurrection both of the just and of the unjust, so the 
 Athanasian Creed says : They that have done good shall go into 
 life everlasting, and they that have done evil unto everlasting fire. 
 
 As to the state of the lost souls hereafter, the Scripture is 
 explicit. The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the people 
 that forget God.* Then shall He say unto them on the left hand : 
 
 * Ps. ix. 17. 
 
THE APOSTLES* CREED. 411 
 
 Depart from me ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the 
 devil and his angels* They shall be cast out into that outer dark- 
 ness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. 
 
 The punishment of the wicked will last for ever, for our 
 Blessed Lord Himself declares : Their worm dieth not, and the 
 fire is not quenched.\ And the second death J means not annihi- 
 lation, but separation from God : they shall be punished with 
 everlasting destruction from the face of our Lord and the glory of 
 His power. % 
 
 On the other hand, the everlasting life of the just will be 
 spent in the light and enjoyment of God's own presence. 
 They shall be His people, and God Himself with them shall be their 
 God. || And His servants shall serve Him, and they shall see His 
 face.** 
 
 In explanation of this Article of the Creed, we must dwell 
 upon this two-fold state after death and the last judgment. The 
 state of the wicked, and the state of the just — in other words : 
 Hell and Heaven. 
 
 SECTION 1. 
 HELL AND ITS PUNISHMENTS. 
 
 3. The Hebrew Sheol and the Greek A8rjs, translated into 
 English, Hell, often signify the grave, or the place of departed 
 spirits. Here was the rich man after death. The rebellious 
 angels were also cast down into hell, and delivered into chains of 
 darkness. (2 Peter ii. 4.) 
 
 The term hell is now commonly applied to the place of 
 punishment in the unseen world. It is a place in which the re- 
 probate and the demons suffer eternally. 
 
 4. The existence of hell is one of the principal mysteries or 
 dogmas of our faith. We must first of all believe in God, and 
 then that He is the remunerator ; that is, that God will reward 
 the just for ever in heaven, and punish the wicked for ever in 
 hell. 
 
 This dogma of faith may be proved from many places of the 
 Holy Scripture. In the Parable of the Marriage Feast : then the 
 King said to the waiters, Bind his hands and feet, and cast him 
 into the exterior darkness ; there shall be weeping and gnashing of 
 
 "■■ St. Matt. xxii. 41. t St. Mark ix. 44. £ Apoc. xx. 14. 
 
 § 2 Thess. i. 9. || Apoc. xxi, 3. ** Apoc. xxii. 3, 4. 
 
412 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 teeth.* Depart from me you cursed into everlasting fire, which ivas 
 prepared for the devil and his angels, t And in the Gospel of St. 
 Luke, where it is said that the rich man died and was buried in hell. 
 
 5. The place where hell is. According to the tradition of 
 the Church, the place of hell is subterraneous, which is in accord- 
 ance with the scriptural manner of speaking in regard to this 
 place of torment. Thus, in St. Luke's Gospel, it is narrated how 
 the demons asked our Lord not to command them to go down 
 into the abyss. It is not a dogma of faith that hell is in the 
 bowels of the earth, or in its centre, although it would be 
 rash and against the common notion of the faithful to teach the 
 contrary. 
 
 The gates of hell, mentioned by our Saviour, signify the power 
 of hell ; for the people of the East call the palaces of their princes 
 gates. 
 
 The Jews say there are three gates belonging to hell : the 
 first is in the wilderness, and by that Corah, Dathan, and Abiram, 
 descended into hell ; the second is in the sea, for it is said that 
 Jonas, who was thrown into the sea, cried to God out of the belly 
 of hell. I The third is in Jerusalem, for Isaias tells us that the fire 
 <tf the Lord is in Sio?i, and his furnace in Jerusalem. § (1) Earth. 
 {£) Water. (3) Fire. These are evidently three modes of death 
 or destruction. || 
 
 According to the references of the Old Testament, that place 
 is deep (Job xi. 8), and dark (Job xi. 21, 22), in the centre of the 
 earth (Num. xvi. 30; Deut. xxxii. 22), having within it depths 
 on depths (Prov. ix. 18), and fastened with gates (Is. xxxviii. 10) 
 and bars (Job xvii. 16). In this cavernous realm are the souls of 
 dead men, the Eephaim and ill spirits (Ps. lxxxvi. 13., lxxix. 48 ; 
 Prov. xviii. 14 ; Ez. xxxi. 17, xxxii. 21). In the New Testament 
 the word Hades, like sheol, sometimes means the grave, or the 
 unseen world ; but it is used of the place of everlasting torments 
 in St. Luke xvi. 23 ; St. Matt. xi. 23 ; 2 St. Peter ii. 4. And it is 
 in this sense it is commonly understood by all Christians, and 
 even Jews in the present day.** 
 
 The Pains of Hell. 
 
 6. The pains of hell are two-fold : the pain of loss and the 
 pain of sense. The pain of loss is the privation of the vision of 
 God in punishment of sin, together with an everlasting hatred of 
 good, and the greatest sadness and dereliction of spirit. 
 
 * St. Matt. xxii. 13. f Ibid. xxx. 41. X Jonas ii. 3. § Isa. xxxi. 9. 
 || Calmet's Diet. Hell. ** See explanation of the word in Article V. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 413 
 
 The pain of sense is that which is perceived by the senses, 
 and by the soul, caused by the fire, and the other physical tor- 
 ments of that state. 
 
 (a) The pain of loss is incomparably greater than any other 
 
 pain or torment of hell ; because it is the more opposed 
 
 to the greatest and the highest good ; and it is in that, 
 
 that damnation essentially consists. For with God all 
 
 other things could be endured. 
 
 It is true we have not on earth the vision of God, and its 
 
 privation here does not cost us much suffering or sorrow ; but we 
 
 must remember that it is not now due to us ; that it does not 
 
 belong to this state, but it is that which is due after death, and 
 
 destined for all men, and which the wicked will therefore feel as 
 
 a privation and a penalty : because through their own fault they 
 
 have lost so great a good, and are deprived of so much happiness. 
 
 This may be illustrated by the example of a King, who, through 
 
 his own fault, becomes dethroned and deprived of his Kingdom. 
 
 (b) The pains of the damned are not equal. All are punished 
 
 according to the measure of their demerits ; according 
 to the words of the Apocalypse,* As much as she hath 
 glorified herself, and lived in delicacies, so much torment 
 and sorrow give ye to her, because (in reference to the 
 fall of Babylon) she saith in her heart : I sit a queen, and 
 am no ividoiu ; and sorrow I shall not see. Not even 
 the pain of loss can be said to be equal ; for although 
 as a privation of the vision of God it must of itself be 
 equal, yet it can be said to be greater or less according 
 to its cause and its effects. The greater the sins of 
 any one, the greater will be the indignation and the 
 wrath of God in rejecting such a sinner from His sight ; 
 and the greater on that account will be the affliction 
 of the lost soul, according to that which is decreed by 
 the Divine power and justice, because the pain of loss 
 is a privation of the vision of God in relation to sin, 
 and to the punishments of Divine justice. 
 
 (c) The fire of hell. It was fire that consumed the burnt 
 
 sacrifice and the incense-offering, beginning with the 
 sacrifice of Noah (Gen. viii. 20), and continued in the 
 ever- burning fire on the altar first kindled from heaven, 
 and re-kindled at the dedication of Solomon's temple. 
 It was the symbol of Jehovah's presence, and the in- 
 
 * Apoo. xviii. 7. 
 
414 THE CBEED EXPLAINED. 
 
 strument of His power, in a way either of approval cr 
 destruction. (Exod. iii. 2 ; xiv. 19, et. seq.) 
 According to the common opinion of Catholics, fire will be 
 the instrument of the Divine justice in hell, and the fire of hell is 
 real, material or corporeal fire. That as to its substance it is the 
 same as our fire, but differing in its accidents and qualities. It 
 is much more severe than our fire : it penetrates to the interior 
 soul ; it is not bright but obscure ; it burns but does not consume, 
 and it does not need fuel of any kind, but is included in itself and 
 subsists by itself like the sun. St. Augustine, writing of it in his 
 Commentary on the 57th Psalm, says, that it is more terrible and 
 severe than anything which a man can endure in this life. This 
 opinion is founded on the fact that Sacred Scripture in many 
 places clearly asserts that there is fire in hell : And shall cast them 
 into the furnace of fire. Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting 
 fire, &c. Which expressions should be taken not in a metaphori- 
 cal sense, but in their true literal meaning ; as there is no reason 
 for a contrary interpretation. 
 
 From the texts of Scripture already quoted, we have to learn 
 that not only the bodies of the wicked will suffer by the action 
 of fire, but also lost souls and the demons. The fire was 
 prepared for the devil and his angels. And in the Apocalypse it 
 is said : And there came down fire from God out of heaven, and 
 devoured ; and the devil who seduced them was cast into the pool of 
 fire and brimstone, where both the beast and the false prophet shall 
 be tormented day and night for ever and ever.* 
 
 Material fire could not naturally act on a spirit, but it can 
 do so as the instrument of the divine power. Our bodies act on 
 our souls in this life ; and God, in the other life, can cause fire to 
 act immediately on the souls of the wicked and on the demons. 
 There is a special difficulty in accounting for the manner in 
 which the demons, who are often going about this world, suffer 
 from the fire of hell. It appears that they are never free from 
 its pains ; as the Angels, when they visit this world, never lose 
 sight of the vision of God in heaven It is probable that the 
 fire of hell has, by divine dispensation, the power of afflicting 
 and acting upon the demons, even when they are in the air 
 around us. Its action is not confined to the limits of hell itself, 
 but can act upon all the damned, no matter where they are, 
 according to the words : out of hell there is no redemption. Its 
 action and power is prevented by God from affecting others; 
 
 * Apoo. xx. 9, 10. 
 
THE APOSTliES' CREED. 415 
 
 and, therefore, whilst the devils around us are burning, their fire 
 cannot affect us. 
 
 (d) The worms, the darkness, the weeping and the gnashing 
 of teeth. In Isaias it is said : The tuorm shall not die, 
 and their fire shall not be quenched.* And our Saviour, 
 in St. Mark's Gospel, says : It is better for thee to 
 enter lame into life everlasting than, having two feet, to 
 be cast into the hell of unquenchable fire, where their 
 worm dieth not, and the fire is not extinguished, f 
 St. Basil, in his comments on the 35th Psalm, admits 
 the existence of real worms and serpents in hell, 
 which gnaw continually, and in an inexplicable 
 manner, the bodies of the damned, without consuming 
 them. On the other hand, St. Thomas understands 
 the worms in a metaphorical sense, and takes them 
 to mean the remorse of conscience, which is appro- 
 priately called a worm, as it is generated out of the 
 corruption of sin, and tortures the soul, as a real 
 worm would by gnawing within our body without 
 ceasing. The reason assigned by St. Thomas for 
 understanding the text in a metaphorical sense is, 
 that after the day of judgment, and the renovation of 
 the world, no such animals will exist, or mixed bodies, 
 except the bodies of men. This reason does not hold 
 with regard to the material fire, which is admitted by 
 all as the means of hell's torments. 
 There will be in that place corporeal darkness ; they will be 
 cast out into exterior darkness. This darkness, from the position 
 of hell in the centre of the earth, is naturally enough concluded. 
 That must be a dark place. But we are told that the darkness 
 there is not complete ; there will be some kind of dark sulphur- 
 ous light, so that the damned, for their greater misery and 
 punishment, may be able to see, not clearly, but in thick 
 confusion, the horrible scenes by which they are surrounded and 
 tortured. 
 
 It is not difficult in such a place to suppose weeping and 
 gnashing of teeth. Owing to the incorruptible state of the body, 
 there will not be the real shedding of tears ; so that the weeping 
 refers to moans and wails of the voices which continually go forth 
 from the midst of the torments. The gnashing of teeth will be 
 real, caused partly by the rage of the damned against God, and 
 
 * Isa. lxvi. 24. t St. Mark ix. 44, 45. 
 
416 THE CR"ED EXPLAINED. 
 
 partly from the intensity of the sorrows and pains which they 
 have to suffer. 
 
 Finally, according to the teaching of St. Thomas, every 
 kind of punishment will be found in hell, according to the differ- 
 ent kinds of sin for which men are condemned ; so that one who 
 has sinned in many things, and in many ways, will be tortured 
 by many and different kinds of punishments. It is supposed 
 that the" same fire will have the power of torturing in a variety 
 of ways : for exciting thirst in the drunkards, hunger in the 
 gluttons, &c. Sacred Scripture conveys the notion of the gener- 
 ality of these sufferings when it expresses the pains of hell by so 
 many different kinds of torments. 
 
 7. The eternity of the pains of hell. The future liberation 
 of the wicked and their purification, and the future liberation of 
 even the devils and all the lost souls out of hell, and their 
 admission into the Kingdom of heaven, after a long term of 
 suffering, is an opinion attriL ;tsd to Origen. Such an opinion is 
 contrary to faith, and abhorred by every Christian. 
 
 The pains of the damned will last for ever. This is of 
 faith, and is clearly proved from the texts of Scripture already 
 quoted : Depart from me you cursed into everlasting fire. " It 
 has been ingeniously contended that this text proves only that 
 the fire is everlasting, not that the condemned are to suffer 
 everlastingly in it. But this evasion cannot be reconciled with 
 the conclusion of the discourse, in which it is said that their 
 punishment will be everlasting : And these shall go into everlasting 
 punishment* The same is taught in other passages. The 
 smoke of their torments shall ascend for ever and ever. f Whoso- 
 ever was not found written in the book of life, was cast into the lake 
 of fire — the lake burning with fire and brimstone. This is the 
 second death.\ How can life for ever be called a Second death? 
 Because, answers St. Augustine, to live in everlasting suffering 
 is rather death than life. For no death can be worse than that 
 death which never dies."§ 
 
 The wicked, after the day of judgment, will not be consumed 
 ov annihilated, but will remai-i alive in soul and body, to endure 
 the torments to be inflicted on them by the justice of God for all 
 the sins committed by them in the body. Souls are immortal by 
 their very nature, and bodies will be rendered immortal at the 
 general resurrection. 
 
 And as the reprobate sha'l never fail to endure the torments 
 
 * St. Matt. xxv. 41—46. t Apoc. xiv. 11. + Apoo. xx. 15 ; xxi. 8, 
 
 Dr. Lingard's Notes in loco. 
 
THE apostles' creed. 417 
 
 \k3 to their sins, so the justice of God will never fail to inflict 
 t ose torments. They shall never live to pay the uttermost 
 farthing; or, rather, no payment or satisfaction at all can be 
 made there. One part of their misery is the horror of despair ; 
 and it were not perfect hell if any hope could lodge in it. The 
 favour of God is not to be obtained when there is no means left 
 to obtain it ; in that world to come there is no place for merit, 
 or satisfaction, or virtue. As the tree falls, so it lies ; no change 
 can be wrought in man within those flames, no purgation of his 
 sin, no sanctification of his nature, no justification of his person, 
 and, therefore, no salvation for him for ever. 
 
 The Scripture speaks in the same way of the duration of the 
 pains of the wicked and the glory of the just, and as this will be 
 eternal, so also will the pains of the wicked be. The same word 
 is used alike in both cases. 
 
 8. St. Thomas assigns the following reasons to show us the 
 equity of this duration of the torments of the damned : — 
 
 (a) Because mortal sin in a certain sense contains an infi- 
 
 nite malice — inasmuch as God, who is infinitely 
 good, is contemned by it — therefore it deserves to be 
 punished by a penalty at least eternal in duration. 
 
 (b) Because the guilt remains for ever ; this cannot be 
 
 remitted without grace, which is not given after 
 death. 
 
 (c) Because the person who sins mortally has the interpre- 
 
 tative will of remaining in that sin for ever, inasmuch 
 as he places himself in a state out of which he cannot 
 get without the divine assistance ; and inasmuch as 
 he prefers the creature, for whose love he sins, to 
 God. 
 
 (d) Because there is on earth a punishment for him who 
 
 sins (by high treason, say,) against his king or 
 country, for he is sometimes punished, as far as it 
 is possible, for ever ; thus by death, as St. Augustine 
 says, they are for ever cut off from the society of 
 the living. The same may be said of perpetual 
 banishment. If an exile could always live, he would 
 always remain an exile. 
 
 9. The pains of hell cannot be said to be infinite in inten- 
 sity, because God alone is capable of an infinite action ; and no 
 creature could endure infinite suffering. They may, however, be 
 said to be infinite in extent or in duration, as they are to last 
 always And the pain of loss, as well as the pain of &erse, 
 
 CO 
 
418 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 inflicted for mortal sins, will never be diminished or interrupted, 
 although the accidental pains — such as the vexations of the 
 demons, their reproaches, and the reproaches of others, can be 
 subject to change and diminution. 
 
 10. Let us consider what must be the state of the soul as to 
 its intellect and will in the midst of all these pains and horrors. 
 
 According to St. Thomas, the soul in hell will retain all its 
 natural knowledge. It will know whatever it knew here on earth. 
 It will consider the evil work which it did and for which it is con- 
 demned, and all the delightful goods it has lost ; and by the thought 
 of both it will be the more tortured. It will also know some of 
 the things which go on here on earth, as the demons will mani- 
 fest them to it ; or as God will make them known to it at the 
 particular judgment, or by some other special way. Thus the 
 rich man who was buried in hell knew that his brothers here on 
 earth were leading sinful lives. 
 
 In that state the lost souls will think of God, but only as the 
 avenger and punisher, as St. Thomas teaches ; and from this are 
 born their depraved will and their hatred of God. 
 
 The same Saint teaches that, before the Day of Judgment 
 those souls know that the blessed spirits are in a state of ines- 
 timable happiness. In the last judgment they will see the glori- 
 fied bodies of the saints, and after the judgment they will be en- 
 tirely deprived of the vision of the blessed. They will, however, 
 retain the memory of their glory, which will only serve to their 
 own sorrow out of envy for the happiness of the saints ; and 
 because they have lost the state of happiness which so many 
 others have obtained. 
 
 In regard to the wills of the damned. We have first to state 
 that the wills of the devils are entirely bad in such a way that 
 they sin mortally by every act which proceeds from their own 
 will ; they are obstinate in sin as they have reached their term, 
 in which they remain as to the same state of mind and will, 
 because in all things they act out of pride and rebellion. As to 
 men, it is held that every deliberate act of their wills is evil : 
 because they also are obstinate and confirmed in evil, and they 
 cannot desire that which is good, except through some perverse 
 motive. 
 
 Neither the one nor the other will ever repent of their sins. 
 They will hate sin because of the punishment which it has brought 
 upon them ; and when the expression " penance " is applied to 
 the lost, it must be understood of their affliction because of the 
 penalty of sin ; but no sorrow for sin itself. They will have 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 419 
 
 hatred towards God because of their punishments, and this hatred 
 will cause many of them to blaspheme Him. 
 
 Finally, as the blessed no longer merit by their good works in 
 heaven, and their essential glory is not increased by them ; *o 
 neither do the damned demerit by their sins, or deserve an increase 
 of their punishments. The reason is because both the blessed and 
 the lost are beyond the state of merit or demerit ; they have 
 reached the term of their reward or punishment, and they are no 
 longer capable of meriting or demeriting. 
 
 But the very will of the damned, and the sins committed 
 through it, are a pain and a punishment to them ; as the goodwill 
 of the blessed serves to their reward and happiness. 
 
 All the reasons assigned by infidels against an eternity of 
 punishment are of no value, and they are not new, but as old as 
 unbelief itself. 
 
 11. (a) " To say that God would condemn a poor creature 
 eternally for the sake of only one mortal sin, is it 
 not making God a cruel judge ? " 
 
 To this we answer that the number of those sins of a lost 
 soul is only an accessory thing. God pardons seventy times seven 
 times ; that is, an indefinite number of times, anyone who truly re- 
 pents. If, then, anyone be condemned to hell for only one mortal 
 sin, it is because such a one died freely in a state of final im- 
 penitence, with the knowledge and acceptance of all its conse- 
 quences. He has laughed at the justice of God ; he has contemned 
 His mercy. It is the sinner who has condemned himself, who 
 has been his own executioner. God warned him often enough, 
 but He does not interfere with the freedom of man's will, and 
 therefore He let him go where he liked ; and thus his cry of 
 despair will be for eternity, " the fault is mine ; it is my fault 
 alone ! " 
 
 (b) But is it just that a sin of an instant should be punished 
 
 by an eternity of suffering ? 
 Human justice does not take into account, and rightly so, the 
 time which it takes a criminal to commit murder : but it punishes 
 eternally by depriving the murderer of his life which he will nev^r 
 get back in this state. If an obstinate sinner should live eternally 
 here on earth, he would always remain in evil, and be always de- 
 serving the same punishment. His sin, in his intention and will, 
 is eternal ; and it is therefore just that the penalty last for ever. 
 
 (c) But is it possible that an infinitely good God would leave 
 
 His creature in suffering for ever ? 
 There would be no eternal hell were it not that God is in- 
 
420 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 finitely good, and that He loves His creatures in an infinite 
 manner. 
 
 It is this love, contemned and trampled under foot to the 
 last hour, which calls forth, on the part of God, the definite and 
 final abandonment of the soul. 
 
 (d) But could not God pardon the lost soul after it has made 
 
 sufficient expiation ? 
 God would pardon the lost soul if it would repent. The 
 damned will never repent, and they will never repent because in 
 that state they are incapable of repentance. Their will was fixed 
 in evil at death ; therein it will remain for ever, as it is no longer 
 free to turn to good. 
 
 (e) Should not God leave the damned liberty to merit, and 
 
 offer them the grace of conversion, as He offers the 
 sinner in this life ? 
 
 That is to say that God should give the damned a new trial, 
 or a new period of probation. But on this supposition, either the 
 damned will accept the grace of God, or they will refuse to ac- 
 cept it. If they accept it they will be saved, and their portion 
 and happiness will be the same as those just souls who 
 faithfully observed the law of God in this life ; and from this it 
 would follow that a man could live here on earth any kind of life — 
 he could hate both God and man, and commit all manner of in- 
 iquity, and die with blasphemy on his lips, and depend on grace 
 and repentance in the next life. Or the lost souls would refuse 
 to receive the grace of God, and again throw themselves freely 
 into a state of sin ; then, to reclaim them, a third or fourth oppor- 
 tunity should be given, and so on indefinitely, which would be 
 nothing less than' a mockery of divine justice. 
 
 It is therefore conformable to the wisdom of God to limit the 
 gift of His grace, and the time of merit and demerit, to the pre- 
 sent life, and to establish after death a definite sanction, and to 
 proclaim the evangelical maxim : as the tree falls there shall it 
 remain. 
 
 (/) God knows beforehand those that will be lost. Why, 
 therefore, does He create them ? 
 
 God has created them for eternal happiness, and has given, 
 or at least offered, them the means to obtain it. If they are lost, 
 it is solely by their own fault. God has wise reasons for tolerat- 
 ing the evil which the wicked do on earth, and the damnation 
 which is the result of it. He obtains through its toleration great 
 good ; for the elect, who are scandalized and persecuted by thp 
 wicked, a great harvest of merits ; and for Himself, a signal mam- 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 4:21 
 
 festation of His patience, His mercy, and His justice. In this 
 question, as in niany others, there are contained mysteries which 
 will be unfolded or revealed in the life to come. Both the elect 
 and the reprobate will then know and acknowledge that the judg- 
 ments of God are true and just.* 
 
 The Punishment of Children who Die Without Baptism in 
 a State op Original Sin. 
 
 12. Their state will be eternal or everlasting, and therefore 
 we have to refer to it in treating of the life everlasting. 
 
 It is of faith that children who die in original sin suffer the 
 pain of loss. This is proved from the words : Unless a man be 
 born again of ivater and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the 
 Kingdom of God* We have also to remember that every mortal 
 sin excludes from heaven, and original sin is mortal. Hence the 
 opinion is improbable which says that these children will have 
 nothing whatever to suffer either in the way of sorrow or afflic- 
 tion ; for they know that on account of that sin they are deprived 
 of eternal happiness, which must naturally cause them sorrow and 
 sadness. 
 
 There is a sharp controversy amongst Catholic authors as to 
 whether children dying with only original sin suffer the pain of 
 sense. St. Thomas teaches clearly that they do not. Punish- 
 ment, according to him, in the next life is due only to personal 
 sin. 
 
 Their state in the future life will be one of natural happiness, 
 and in it they will be able to know and love God as the author of 
 nature; but inasmuch as they will be deprived of eternal happi- 
 ness, we conclude the important and grave obligation of parents, 
 doctors, nurses, and priests, to see that children are not deprived 
 of the Sacrament of Baptism, and the guilt of those who neglect 
 to have children baptized, or through neglect permit them to die 
 without Baptism. 
 
 Expos. Elementaire de la doctrine Catholique. par L'Abbe Moulin. 
 * St. John iii. 5. 
 
422 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 SECTION 2. (Article XII.) 
 
 HEAVEN. 
 
 1. What is meant by heaven. — 2. The vision of God in heaven. — 3. No 
 created intellect can naturally see God as He is Himself. — 4. A 
 created intellect, aided supernaturally, can see God as He is in 
 Himself.— 5. The light of Glory.— 6. The inequality of the 
 Beatific Vision. — 7. The cause and the result of this inequality. — 8. 
 Whether the Blessed comprehend God. — 9. The object of the 
 Beatific Vision. — 10. The accidental Beatitude of heaven. — 11. The 
 aureolas of glory. — 12. The vision, love and fruition of God by the 
 Blessed. — 13. The inhabitants of heaven : (a) Human beings, (b) 
 Angels, (c) The Immaculate Mother of God, (d) Christ in His Sacred 
 Humanity. — 14. The essential Beatitude of heaven. — 15= The 
 eternity of heaven, and the everlasting life of the Blessed. 
 
 1. Heaven or Paradise is the place where the Angels and 
 Saints enjoy eternal beatitude. Hence they are called Blessed. 
 
 No one enters heaven who is not in a state of grace, free 
 from all sin, mortal and venial, and who has not satisfied 
 entirely the justice of God for the temporal punishment due 
 to sin. 
 
 Heaven is the recompense of fidelity to the law of God, 
 which commands us to believe in Him, to hope in Him, and to 
 love Him. This reward is God Himself, as He said to His 
 servant, Abraham, I am thy reward exceeding great. 
 
 The Vision op God in heaven. 
 
 2. There are three ways in which we can know God. (a) 
 Naturally, by abstraction, and from the effects of God's power 
 which we behold, (b) Supernaturally, by faith, (c) Super- 
 naturally, by the Beatific Vision, or by the Vision of God, which 
 the blessed possess in heaven. 
 
 We have here to consider this last mode of knowing God, 
 namely, by the Beatific Vision. In this we must reflect : — 
 
 (a) That the Vision of God is of such a nature that it 
 cannot be received by the corporeal eye. Our eyes, 
 even when glorified, will not be able to see the essence 
 of God : Whom no man sees or can see* As regards 
 
 * 1 Tim. 
 
THE apostles' ceeed. 423 
 
 corporeal vision, man sees by the act of a bodily organ ; 
 but God is entirely simple, therefore, by such a corpo- 
 real act, His essence cannot be seen, as no act can 
 go beyond the nature of the power from which it 
 proceeds. The object of the Beatific Vision is outside 
 and beyond all the objects of corporeal vision ; in 
 such a way that it would involve a contradiction to 
 suppose that the essence of God could be seen by 
 a bodily act. Such an act should be of necessity 
 spiritual, and the power from which it proceeds must 
 therefore be a spiritual one. 
 (b) A created intellect of its own natural force cannot see 
 
 God as He is in Himself. 
 3. This proposition was defined by faith in the Council of 
 Vienne, under Clement V., in the year 1311, against the Beguards 
 and the Beguins. These heretics taught (a) that a man in this 
 life could attain to such a degree of perfection that he could no 
 longer sin, or acquire any more grace, (b) That having once 
 attained this state he need not pray, nor would he be bound to 
 keep the commandments of the Church, (c) That man, even in 
 this life, could attain final beatitude in the same degree as in the 
 next life, and that every intellectual nature that has attained 
 its beatitude, is blessed in such a manner that, in order to 
 receive the Vision of God and to enjoy Him, it has no need of the 
 light of glory. 
 
 It is in the sense of the proposition stated against these 
 errors, that we understand the texts of Scripture : No one know- 
 eth the Son but the Father, neither doth any one know the Father 
 but the Son, and he to whom it shall please the Son to reveal Him.* 
 Now this is eternal life : That they may know Thee, the only true 
 God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.\ 
 
 The reason why a created intellect cannot of itself see God, 
 is because the vision of God, as He is in Himself, is Eternal 
 Glory and Supernatural Beatitude ; and it is of faith that man 
 cannot by his own power merit eternal glory, and that he cannot 
 of himself, and of his own natural power, attain beatitude. 
 Moreover, if a man cannot elicit an act of faith, hope, or charity, 
 or do any good supernatural act without the aid of God's grace, 
 it follows that he cannot elicit that supernatural act which is the 
 greatest of all, namely, the Beatific Vision, without any aid 
 from God. 
 
 * St. Matt. xi. 27. t St. John xvii. 3. 
 
424: THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 St. Thomas says that, in order that anything may be known, 
 there ought to be some proportion between the object that is 
 known, and the subject knowing it, because no power can 
 naturally go beyond its proportionate object. But between 
 God, as clearly seen, and the created intellect, there is no 
 proportion. The cognoscitive power corresponds to the 
 perfection of the being, and no created being can attain to 
 the perfection of God, or naturally see Him as He is in 
 Himself. 
 
 4. The created intellect, aided supernaturally, can see God 
 as He is in Himself, that is intuitively or clearly as to His essence 
 and nature. This is of faith defined in the Council of Florence 
 (1439), where it is defined that departed souls, entirely purified, 
 are immediately received into heaven, and there see God Three 
 in One as He is. 
 
 We have also numerous texts of Holy Scripture in proof of 
 this doctrine: Blessed are the clean in heart, for they shall see God* 
 We see now as in a dark mirror, then we shall see God face to face ,\ 
 even as He is. 
 
 It is possible for men, by the supernatural aid of God, to 
 obtain their beatitude ; but the intuitive vision of God constitutes 
 the essence of beatitude, or is at least necessarily required for it ; 
 according to the words of St. John : This is eternal life that they 
 know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. 
 
 We know that there is in us a natural desire to see God, who 
 is the first cause of all things ; and this desire cannot be empty 
 and fruitless, therefore it is right that it should be satisfied. 
 Nature does not give a desire towards that which is impossible, 
 and we should not wish naturally for beatitude if that were not 
 possible for us. 
 
 The Light of Glory. 
 
 5. As the created intellect cannot see God intuitively, of its 
 own power, and as it is of faith that men and Angels see God in- 
 tuitively in heaven, it is necessary that something be given to the 
 intellect to enable it to attain, or to receive, this vision. The 
 medium by which the created intellect is raised up to see God in- 
 tuitively is called the Light of glory. It is of faith that the Light 
 of glory is required for the Beatific Vision of God, as defined in 
 the Council of Vienne, in the condemnation of the errors of the 
 Beguards and Beguins. 
 
 * St. Matt. v. f 1 Cor. xii. 12. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 425 
 
 In Thy light, says the Psalmist, we shall see light* The 
 reason why the light of glory is required, is that a created intellect 
 is insufficient, and in itself unproportioned to the Vision of God. 
 Therefore, it is necessary that it be elevated by some power, or 
 quality, to enable it to receive that vision : and this is no other 
 than the Light of glory. 
 
 From the doctrine here laid down, it follows that no one in 
 this life can naturally see God. Christ only, during His life on 
 earth, always had the Vision of God j because He was always in 
 the enjoyment of the Beatific Vision. He was at the same time 
 a comprehensor and a viator. 
 
 As to the Vision of God, which was conceded to Moses and to 
 St. Paul, Catholic doctors are not agreed as to the nature of this 
 great privilege. Moses was the first doctor of the Jews, and St. 
 Paul the first doctor of the Gentiles, and it is clear from Scripture 
 that to them was conceded some special vision of God, different 
 from all other prophets. It was not a permanent vision, but some 
 extraordinary vision of the glory of God's Kingdom. 
 
 It follows also that in regard to the Vision of God there are 
 two things to be considered, namely, on the part of the power or 
 faculty that receives the vision, and on the part of the object, 
 which is God. On the part of the faculty, namely, the created 
 intellect, it is too weak of itself to receive the Vision of God, and 
 therefore requires the elevation and the strength given it by the 
 Light of Glory ; as far as God is concerned He is most luminous 
 and visible, but the weak minds of His creatures require the Light 
 of Glory to receive that vision, or to behold Him as He is in Him- 
 self. This vision is not natural, but proceeds from a supernatural 
 principle, as faith does in this life ; and it is entirely supernatural 
 as to its object, namely, the glory of God. 
 
 From the explanation here given we understand the Light of 
 glory to be a certain supernatural quality, or habit, or principle, 
 which strengthens and perfects the intellect in such a manner as 
 to enable it to receive the vision of God. It has three functions 
 to perform — (a) It strengthens the intellect to elicit the act of the 
 Beatific Vision, (b) It disposes it to receive the essence of God 
 under an intelligible form, (c) It enables the intellect to receive 
 the full Beatific Vision of God. All three are included in the one 
 notion or idea of that Light of Glory, namely, that it strengthens 
 and elevates the intellect to see God intuitively, face to face, even 
 as He is. 
 
 *Ps. xxxv. 10. 
 
42G THE CKEED EXPLAINED. 
 
 I may remark that in the Vision of God in heaven no created 
 species comes between the soul and God. Such a species would 
 be superfluous, because such a species is required only when the 
 object is not present to the intellect, or is not sufficiently intelli- 
 gible in itself because of its materiality. But in heaven the es- 
 sence of God is immediately present to the soul, and God is en- 
 tirely spiritual, and therefore intelligible in the highest degree, 
 because altogether immaterial. Besides, no species, either created 
 or createable, could represent God as He is in Himself. 
 
 God will by Himself unite Himself to the intellect in the 
 Beatific Vision, and therefore no species of any kind will be 
 required in this vision, as there will then be no medium whatever 
 between the soul and God. 
 
 The inequality op the Beatific Vision. 
 
 6. It is of faith that the Blessed in heaven, by reason of 
 their unequal merits, behold God, and receive His Beatitude in 
 different and unequal degrees. This is defined in the Council 
 of Florence, in Decreto Unionis, where it is defined that the souls 
 of the Saints are immediately received into heaven, and there 
 see God, intuitively One and Three, according to the diversity 
 of their merits, one more perfect than another. And the Council 
 of Trent pronounces an Anathema against any one who should 
 deny that a just man merits an increase of glory by his good 
 works. This inequality of Beatitude in heaven was taught us 
 by our Divine Lord Himself in the words : In my Father s house 
 there are many mansions ;* and St. Paul tells us : there are bodies 
 celestial, and bodies terrestrial ; but one is the glory of the celestial, 
 and another of the terrestrial. One is the glory of the sun, another 
 the glory of the moon, and another the glory of the stars. For star 
 differeth from star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the 
 dead A 
 
 It is, therefore, of faith that the Blessed behold God un- 
 equally, or in different degrees, some more perfect than others. 
 This is against Jovinian, who taught that man's merits and sins 
 were all equal, and therefore his rewards and punishments were 
 equal also. And it is against the Lutheran doctrine, which 
 asserts that as we are justified by Christ alone, irrespective of 
 any merits of our own, and as the justice of Christ is equal for 
 all, so the beatitude of the just will be equal in heaven. The 
 vision of God is the wages or reward of the good, which we do 
 
 * St. John xiv. 2. j 1 Cor. xv. £0, et seq. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 437 
 
 here through God's grace, and is bestowed according to the 
 merits of each just soul. 
 
 7. The moral cause of the inequality of glory and beati- 
 tude, is the inequality of good works and merits. 
 
 Its physical cause is the inequality of the Light of Glory. 
 The power of seeing Him more or less perfectly depends on this 
 light. All the beatific visions both in men and angels are of the 
 same species or kind. They have the same formal object, namely, 
 without any medium or species ; and the same proximate principle 
 from which the vision proceeds, namely, the Light of glory. 
 
 It does not follow from the doctrine of the inequality of 
 glory, that those who see God less clearly are not completely 
 happy and their appetite completely satisfied, because they well 
 know that this glory corresponds to their merits, and they desire 
 no more ; all are inflamed by charity, and, therefore, in perfect 
 conformity with the divine will in all things. 
 
 8. In connection with the Vision of God, the question is 
 asked whether the blessed comprehend God. Comprehend, in it,-? 
 Theological sense, has two meanings, (a) It signifies the acquir- 
 ing or the attaining to an object that is sought or desired, 
 and in this sense it is of faith that God is comprehended by the 
 blessed. It is in this sense that St. Paul speaks, when he says : 
 Know you not that they that run in the race, all run, indeed, but 
 one receiveth the prize ? So run that you may obtain.* (b) 
 Comprehension means to know and see a thing adequately, that 
 is to know it as much as it is knowable. It is the adequate 
 knowledge of an object, and applied to God, it means to know 
 His essence and all that it virtually or eminently contains. lb 
 would mean to know God as He knows Himself, in a perfect 
 and infinite manner. In this sense God is incomprehensible to 
 His creatures. Hence the prophet calls Him great in counsel, 
 and incomprehensible in thought.} And the Apostle in his Epistle 
 to the Eomans, writes : the depth of the riches of the wisdom 
 and the knowledge of God; how incomprehensible are His judgments, 
 how unsearchable His ways. The Council of Lateran (cap. fimiter) 
 says : " We believe that God is incomprehensible. The reason 
 of this is because He is infinite and immense. To comprehend 
 Him would mean to know Him inasmuch as He is knowable, 
 but no created mind could attain to such a perfect way of 
 knowing God, inasmuch as it would mean to know Him in an 
 infinite manner, which is not possible to a creature. ,} 
 
 ♦ 1 Cor. ix. 24. fr Jer. xxxii. 19. 
 
428 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 The Object of the Beatific Vision. 
 
 9. The Object of the Beatific Vision is two-fold, formal or 
 primary, and material or secondary. The formal or primary 
 object of Beatitude is that which is seen on its own account, and 
 which constitutes the essential glory of heaven, and this is God 
 Himself. The secondary object is that which is seen on account 
 of the primary, and under it are included all the creatures which 
 the blessed see. The accidental glory of heaven arises from the 
 vision of the secondary objects, as the essential glory of heaven 
 proceeds from the immediate vision of God Himself. 
 
 The accidental beatitude or glory of heaven. 
 
 10. This arises, as I nave said, from the vision or know- 
 ledge which the Blessed have of secondary objects, namely, 
 creatures. 
 
 They see and know creatures in the Divine Word, that is, 
 in the Divine Intelligence. God created all things by the Word, 
 and He understands Himself by the Word. The knowledge 
 which the blessed have is like the knowledge which God has of 
 Himself and all other things. All creatures are contained in the 
 Divine Word, as by that Word all things were made. Therefore, 
 the blessed seeing the Word, see in it all things, or at least all 
 things which relate to them in any special way. 
 
 The blessed do not see all the things which He has done or 
 can do. His power is infinite, and, therefore, what He can do 
 extends to infinitude ; and if the blessed could see all that God 
 can do, they would be able to comprehend God. Besides there 
 are special things which God has reserved to Himself, and which 
 the blessed can never know, unless God chooses to reveal them 
 to them. These are : (a) Future contingent things, that is, 
 those things which depend upon the free will of men. (b) The 
 secrets of the heart, that is, the interior thoughts of the soul, (c) 
 The day of the General Judgment. Of that day and hour no one 
 knows, not even the Angels in heaven. 
 
 The Blessed see and know concerning creatures, whatever 
 specially relates to them, because in heaven every just and honest 
 desire will be satisfied. That we may classify what specially 
 may be said to belong to the knowledge of the blessed, we have 
 to consider them (a) in the order of grace (b) as parts of the whole 
 universe, (c) as such a person, either private or public, as the 
 case may be. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CTtEED. 429 
 
 Under the first consideration the blessed will see and under- 
 stand the mysteries of faith, which were revealed, and which they 
 believed in this life, according to the words : As we have heard so 
 have we seen, in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God. 
 Thus they will understand the mysteries of the Incarnation, of 
 Eedemption, of Predestination, and all other mysteries connected 
 with the truths of faith. 
 
 Under the second consideration the blessed will see and 
 know all the different genera and species of things, and the prin- 
 cipal parts of the universe — heaven and earth, the elements, the 
 heavenly bodies, &c. 
 
 Under the third consideration the blessed will know all that 
 belongs to that state or position which they occupied when 
 on earth. Thus, those who were Popes will know all that 
 belongs to the welfare of the whole Church ; bishops, what con- 
 cerns the dioceses over which they presided ; Founders of 
 Eeligious Orders, all that concerns those Orders ; parents have 
 a knowledge of their families here on earth; relations and friends 
 know all that they desire concerning those they have left on 
 earth, and so forth. 
 
 The Blessed, besides this special knowledge which belongs 
 to them under the three-fold consideration, also know many other 
 things. Thus it is said that there is joy in heaven upon one sinner 
 doing penance ; and St. Paul says : We are made a spectacle to the 
 world, to angels and to men. 
 
 The blessed, therefore, know all the prayers that are 
 addressed to them ; and God reveals to them many other things 
 which may increase their accidental glory. 
 
 The qualities of glorified bodies. To this accidental glory 
 belong the qualities or gifts of the bodies ; to wit, Impassibility, 
 Brightness, Subtility and Agility, as explained in the Eleventh 
 Article. 
 
 The Aueeol^i of gloey. 
 
 11. Some souls will also have their accidental glory aug- 
 mented by the addition of special heavenly and supernatural 
 gifts or qualities, called the Aureolce, or small crowns of glory. 
 
 The souls in heaven retain their perfection and all their good 
 natural qualities and acquired sciences ; they retain also their 
 spiritual characters or marks of Baptism and Confirmation, and 
 in the case of ecclesiastics, that of Holy Orders. And to these 
 are added, in the case of some souls, special crowns of glory, 
 given in reward for certain victories gained through special 
 
430 THE CREED EXPLAINED 
 
 labours and sufferings here on earth. These are called the 
 Aureoles of glory. 
 
 They are three in number, namely, that of Martyrdom, that 
 of Virginity, and that of Doctorship. The crown is given to 
 Martyrs, because they obtain a victory principally over the world. 
 To Virgins, because they obtain a victory principally over the 
 flesh. To Doctors and preachers, because these obtain a victory 
 specially over the devil. The rewards are referred to in Sacred 
 Scripture. Of Martyrs, it is said, Greater love than this no man 
 hath than that he lay down his life for his friends * Of Doctors, 
 he who will confess me before men, 1 will confess him before my 
 Father who is in heaven.\ Of virgins, it is said, they follow the 
 lamb whithersoever he goeth.% By these are signified special 
 rewards to be granted hereafter for each of these victories. 
 Besides these special gifts granted to Martyrs, Virgins and 
 Doctors, there are other heavenly gifts which belong to all beati- 
 fied souls. 
 
 12. These are the vision, love and fruition of the souls in 
 heaven, which corresponds to the three Theological virtues. 
 
 The Vision of God is that which we have considered above. 
 It corresponds to faith, and implicitly includes the other two, 
 namely, love and fruition. 
 
 Love, which corresponds to and is of the same species as 
 charity ; and it is the convenience or suitableness of the vision 
 which makes it valued and cherished. 
 
 Fruition. This is sometimes taken in the sense of love, but 
 it means more than that here. It means the possession and 
 retention of the thing loved. These supernatural gifts, as I have 
 said, will belong to all the blessed. 
 
 13. Under the secondary object of beatitude we have to in- 
 clude the inhabitants of heaven. All concur in that beatitude. 
 To be numbered with the blessed will add to our accidental glory 
 in heaven. Our friends and companions there will be the in- 
 habitants of heaven, and amongst them we may consider : — 
 
 (a) Human beings, men and women like ourselves. There 
 they will be without spot or blemish, purified and 
 beatified, because now in that place into which nothing 
 defiled can enter. There brothers and sisters once 
 more meet ; there children are re-united to their 
 parents, and friends long separated by death become 
 again associated. 
 
 * St. John xv. t St. Mark viii. ; St. Luke xii. } Apoo. vii. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 431 
 
 In this class we have not only to contemplate companions, 
 friends, and relations, but all the Saints of God : Those of the 
 Old Law and those of the New, from the just Abel to the last 
 Saints ; the Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Patrons, &c. 
 
 (b) Angels. The choirs of Angels, or of so many pure and 
 
 heavenly spirits. The millions and millions, and thou- 
 sands of millions, that stand before the throne of God ; 
 and amongst them those special Guardian Angels who 
 watched over us in life. 
 
 (c) The Immaculate Mother of God. The Queen of heaven 
 
 will welcome her children and receive them into the 
 Kingdom of her Son. 
 
 (d) Christ in His Sacred Humanity, as He is at the right 
 
 hand of the Father, in that Kingdom purchased by 
 His precious blood ; where He still retains His Five 
 Sacred Wounds, which shine with greater splendour 
 and brightness than the sun. Our souls on entering 
 heaven will hear from His Sacred lips those sweet 
 words of welcome : Come ye blessed of My Father, pos- 
 sess the Kingdom 'prepared for you. 
 
 The Essential Beatitude or Glory op Heaven. 
 
 14. This arises from the Vision of God. 
 
 The blessed in heaven see God, One in essence, and Three in 
 Persons, as He is in Himself. Thi3 is of faith, as we learn from 
 the Council of Florence, in the Decree of Union. They therefore 
 see in God, His essence, the Divine Persons, and also His attri- 
 butes both relative and absolute. The attributes of God and the 
 Persons are not really distinct from the essence of God, and 
 therefore they are seen by one and the same act as the essence is 
 seen. 
 
 It is of this vision of God that St. John speaks when he says : 
 Dearly beloved, we are now the so?is of God ; and it hath not yet 
 appeared what we shall be. We know that when he shall appear, 
 we shall be like to him ; because we shall see him as he is. 
 
 The Beatific Vision corresponds to faith in this life, as it is 
 its reward ; therefore the blessed will see in heaven everything 
 which they believe here, and unless they were to see the attributes 
 of God as well as His essence, their desire would not be fully 
 satisfied ; and they would not be perfectly happy. These attri- 
 butes they know by revelation here, and therefore it belongs to 
 their happiness to behold them in heaven by the Beatific Vision. 
 
432 THE CREED EXPLAINED 
 
 According to St. Thomas the vision in heaven is intuitive, quidda- 
 tive, or essential, and beatific, therefore it includes the essence and 
 the attributes ; and moreover, as God is a pure act, when His es- 
 sence is seen, His attributes and the Divine Persons must also be 
 seen and be the object of that vision. When, in the words of St. 
 John, the blessed see God as He is, they see all, for all that is in 
 God is one. 
 
 The everlasting life of the blessed is spent in the light of 
 God's presence. They shall be His people, and God Himself shall 
 be with them.* His servants shall serve Him, and they shall see 
 His face. \ 
 
 This everlasting life is begun on earth according to the words 
 of St. John : Amen, Amen, I say unto you, that he that heareth my 
 word and believeth in Him that sent me, hath everlasting life. 
 
 It is continued and perfected in heaven. And after the Ee- 
 surrection and the Last Judgment, the whole man, body and 
 soul, will enjoy this everlasting life. Then shall the King say to 
 them on His right Hand : Come ye blessed of my Father, possess the 
 Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 
 
 This happiness arises (a) from the perfection of the body, 
 equal to the Angels, made like unto Christ, (b) from the perfec- 
 tion of the soul. There we shall know as also we are known ; and 
 become conformed to the image of His Son. (c) From the perfection 
 of the state of beatitude, for the blessed shall never hunger or 
 thirst any more ; and there will be no need of the sun or of the 
 moon to give them, light and heat ; for the Lamb is the lamp thereof. 
 God Himself, the God of love, is the fount and source of the 
 happiness of the blessed, and of His fulness we have all received. 
 
 After the last sentence, the elect will rise triumphant towards 
 heaven, singing their eternal hymn of gratitude and love ; and the 
 reprobate will sink into the depth of hell with the wicked. An 
 Angel shall close the depths of the horrible abyss, and place 
 thereon the seal of God, which shall never, never be broken. 
 Henceforth, Eternity shall everywhere reign. 
 
 While we are upon earth, standing as it were upon a narrow 
 bridge, with heaven on one side and hell on the other, it is in our 
 power to choose between the two. By freely consenting to sin, 
 we are choosing a living death in hell ; but by persevering in a 
 good and virtuous life, we are choosing life everlasting in heaven. 
 
 Life everlasting means, that if we serve God faithfully in this 
 life, we shall be happy with Him for ever in Heaven. 
 
 * Apoc. xxi. 3. and xxii. 3, 4. 
 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 433 
 
 It is called Life everlasting, to teach us that after this life 
 there is another, which will last for ever, and that the just shall 
 enjoy eternal happiness in it. 
 
 The happiness of heaven is to see, love, and enjoy God in the 
 Kingdom of His glory for ever and ever. 
 
 We cannot form a just conception of the happiness of heaven, 
 for : Eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into 
 the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love 
 Him* 
 
 Amen means so be it. 
 
 We say Amen after the Apostles' Creed to express our firm 
 belief in all that the Creed contains. 
 
 Life everlasting is not promised to faith alone, however firm 
 it may be, but to faith that worketh by charity. It is necessary, 
 therefore, that our lives be in conformity with our faith, in order 
 to attain the noble end for which God made us : To know, love 
 and serve Him here on earth ; and to see and enjoy Him for 
 
 EVER IN HEAVEN. f 
 
 The Eternity op Heaven, and the Life of the Blessed. 
 
 15. Its duration is as necessary as the life itself ; because, in 
 order that all the above-mentioned rewards amount to a true 
 felicity, there must be an absolute security of the enjoyment with- 
 out any fear of losing it. 
 
 That this life is eternal we are assured by Him Who has pur- 
 chased it for us and promised it to us. He often calls it eternal 
 life ; and it is described to us in Scripture as a continuing city, ever- 
 lasting habitations, house eternal in the heavens ; and it is ex- 
 pressed by eternal glory, eternal salvation, an eternal inheritance, 
 the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. 
 
 And this eternity is explained in terms liable to no mistake : 
 // any man keep my word he shall not see death for ever.\ And 
 everyone that liveth and believethin Me shall not die for ever. § 
 There : God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes ; and death 
 shall be no more, nor mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow, shall be any 
 more, for the former things are passed away.\\ 
 
 This life eternal was purchased for us by the suffering and 
 death of Christ : who hath destroyed death, and hath brought to 
 light life and incorruption by the Gospel.** 
 
 Let the thoughts of this eternity renew in us an earnest de- 
 
 * 1 Cor. ii. 9. t Companion to the Cat. in loco. % St. John viii. 51. 
 § St. John xi. 26. |l Apoc. xxi. 4. ** 2 Tim. i. 10. 
 
 DD 
 
434 THE CREED EXPLAINED. 
 
 sire of heaven and of heavenly things, and of the enjoyment of 
 that vision of God which alone can satisfy us ; let them with- 
 draw our inclinations from earth and earthly things, and all the 
 pleasures of this life, for we have not here a lasting dwelling-place, 
 but we seek another ; let them encourage us to take up the Cross 
 of Christ, and carry it with fidelity and perseverance, reckoning 
 that the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with 
 the glory to come, that shall be revealed in us* For that which is 
 at present momentary ', and light, of our tribulation w or keth for us 
 above measure exceedingly an eternal weight of glory. While we 
 look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not 
 seen : for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things 
 which are not seen are elernal.\ 
 
 Finis. 
 
 Eom. viii. 18, f2 Cor. iv. 17, 18, 
 
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