THE CREED.

SYMBOLUM.

I believe in God the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth;

Credo in Deum Patrem omnipotentem, creatorem cœli ac terræ; et

our Lord; who' was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell:* the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.

* i. e., Continued in the state of the dead, and under the power of death, until the third day.

cum, Dominum nostrum ; qui conceptus est e Spiritu sancto, natus ex Maria Virgine; passus sub Pontio Pilato, crucifixus, mortuus et sepultus; descendit ad inferos :* tertio die resurrexit a mortuis: ascendit in cœlum, et sedet ad dextram Dei patris omnipotentis: unde venturus est ad judicandum vivos et mortuos. Credo in Spiritum Sanctum: Sanctam ecclesiam catholicam: Sanctorum communionem: remissionem peccatorum, resurrectionem corporis et vitam æternam. Amen.

* i. e., Permansit in statu mortuorum et sub potestate mortis usque ad diem tertium.

[See addition on p. 704.]

So much of every Question both in the Larger and Shorter Catechism, is repeated in the Answer, as maketh every Answer an entire Proposition, or sentence in itself: to the end the Learner may further improve it upon all occasions, for his increase in knowledge and piety, even out of the course of catechising, as well as in it.

And albeit the substance of the doctrine comprised in that Abridgment commonly called, The Apostles' Creed, be fully set forth in each of the Catechisms, so as there is no necessity of inserting the Creed itself, yet it is here annexed, not as though it were composed by the Apostles, or ought to be esteemed Canonical Scripture, as the Ten Commandments, and the Lord's Prayer (much less a Prayer, as ignorant people have been apt to make both it and the Decalogue), but because it is a brief sum of the Christian faith, agreeable to the Word of God, and anciently received in the Churches of Christ.

CORNELIUS BURGES, Prolocutor

pro tempore.

HENRY ROBOROUGH, Scriba. ADONIRAM BYFIELD, Scriba.

E quæstione qualibet utriusque catechismi repetitum dedimus in responsione quantum responsionem quamlibet reddat propositionem integram, sive sententiam absolutam. Eo nempe consilio ut discenti ulterius utilis esse possit, quoties occasio tulerit, ad cognitionis ac pietatis incrementum, vel extra catechisandi ratio

nem.

Et quamvis in alterutro Catechismo substantia doctrinæ in compendio illo (Symbolo apostolico vulgo dicto) comprehensæ plene ac perfecte exhibeatur, adeo quidem ut nulla supersit necessitas symbolum ipsum inserendi: nihilominus tamen hic illud subnectendum esse duximus; non perinde quasi aut ab ipsis Apostolis fuerit concinnatum, aut pariter cum decalogo, ac oratione Dominica pro Scriptura canonica haberi debeat: (nedum certe pro oratione, quo nomine ignara plebecula cum illud tum decalogum in proclivi fuit ut usurparet), verum quod sit fidei Christianæ breve compendium, verbo Dei consentaneum, ac in Ecclesiis Christi antiquitus receptum.