naturæ depravatio, qua fit ut affectus carnis, Græcè opóvημа σaρkòs, quod alii sapientiam, alii sensum, alii affectum, alii studium vocant, legi Dei non subjiciatur. Et quanquam renatis et credentibus nulla propter CHRISTUM est condemnatio, peccati tamen in sese rationem habere con-5 cupiscentiam fatetur Apostolus.

9. De libero arbitrio.

Absque gratia Dei, quæ per Christum est, nos præ"veniente ut velimus, et cooperante dum volumus, ad pietatis opera facienda, quæ Deo grata sint et accepta, 10 "nihil valemus."

66

cles is not only supported by positive testimony obtained from various quarters, but also that the strongest presumption on the other side is the mere absence of a witness, who ought to have appeared in their favour, and whose absence admits of an easy explanation. This at 15 least may be asserted, that considering the unbounded extent of the king's supremacy in church matters, the submission of the clergy as recorded in the statute 25 Henry VIII. c. 19, the great powers given by law to the crown in the framing of canons and ordinances (25 Henry VIII. c. 19. 3 and 4 Edw. VI. c. 11.) the admitted superiority 20 of the bishops over the rest of the convocation, and the evidence which the Articles certainly presented in their own favour, it was reasonable that their synodical authority should have been generally allowed.

The convocation met on the 2nd of March 1553, and was prorogued on the Ist of the month following. The king's letter requiring 25 the publication of the Catechism, and prefixed to the book to which the Articles are appended, bears date on the 20th of May, the seventh year of his reign [1553]. This book was immediately printed in its original Latin by R. Wolf in small 8vo., and in the same year appeared an English translation printed by J. Day. But the Articles were also 30 published in a separate form and in English, from the press of Grafton; and the publication of these books independently of the Catechism is a sufficient evidence that the Articles had obtained a more general circulation than the Catechism, and could not have been treated as a mere appendage to it.

It is not clear whether it was intended to obtain for them the authority of parliament; and owing to the implicit obedience which was

35

10. [De gratia.

Gratia Christi, seu spiritus sanctus qui per eundem datur, cor lapideum aufert, et dat cor carneum. Atque licet ex nolentibus quæ recta sunt, volentes faciat: et ex volentibus prava, nolentes reddat, voluntati nihilominus violentiam nullam infert. Et 5 nemo hac de causa, cum peccaverit, seipsum excusare potest, quasi nolens aut coactus peccaverit, ut eam ob causam accusari non mereatur aut damnari.]

11. De hominis justificatione.

"Justificatio ex sola fide JESU CHRISTI, eo sensu quo 10 "in Homelia de justificatione explicatur, est certissima et "saluberrima christianorum doctrina."

12. Opera ante justificationem.

Opera quæ fiunt ante gratiam CHRISTI, et Spiritus ejus

at that time required to the supremacy of the crown, it would scarcely 15 have been thought necessary. But it was certainly enjoined that they should be subscribed by the clergy generally throughout the kingdom, and this design, carried probably to some extent into execution, was only prevented from being fully accomplished by the death of king Edward, which took place on the 6th day of July 1553.

They are printed from the edition already mentioned of R. Wolf, a copy of which, formerly the property of Selden, may be seen in the Bodleian; and the peculiar marks that appear upon them, agreeably with the distinctions made in Dr. Lamb's work, denote the following particulars :

The parts printed in smaller letter were omitted in the Articles of 1562.

The parts included within inverted commas were altered.

20

25

** denote that new matter was added in those places in the Articles of 1562.

30 Comp. Fuller, Ch. Hist. cent. 16. b. 7. p. 420. Heylin, Eccl. Rest. p. 121. Wake, State of the Church, p. 599. Collier, Eccl. Hist. vol. ii. P. 325. Neal, Hist. of Pur. vol. i. p. 51. Burnet, Hist. Ref. vol. iii. p. 403. Lingard, Hist. vol. iv. p. 461. Strype, Cranm. pp. 390-421. Mem. vol. ii. P. i. p. 589. Atterbury, Rights &c. p. 205. Fox, Acts 35 and Mon. vol. ii. p. 1410.

afflatum, cum ex fide Jesu CHRISTI non prodeant, minime Deo grata sunt. Neque gratiam (ut multi vocant) de congruo, merentur: Imo cum non sint facta ut Deus illa fieri voluit et præcepit, peccati rationem habere non dubitamus.

13. Opera Supererogationis.

5

Opera quæ Supererogationis appellant, non possunt sine arrogantia et impietate prædicari: nam illis declarant homines non tantum se Deo reddere quæ tenentur, sed plus in ejus gratiam facere quàm deberent: cum aperte 10 Christus dicat, Cum feceritis omnia quæcunque præcepta sunt vobis, dicite: Servi inutiles sumus.

14. Nemo præter Christum, est sine peccato.

Christus in nostræ naturæ veritate, per omnia similis factus est nobis, excepto peccato, à quo prorsus erat 15 immunis, tum in carne tum in spiritu. Venit ut agnus absque macula esset, qui mundi peccata per immolationem sui semel factam tolleret: et peccatum (ut inquit Joannes) in eo non erat. Sed nos reliqui etiam baptizati, et in Christo regenerati, in multis tamen offendimus 20 omnes, et si dixerimus quia peccatum non habemus, nos ipsos seducimus, et veritas in nobis non est.

15. De peccato "in spiritum sanctum."

Non omne peccatum mortale post baptismum voluntarie perpetratum, est peccatum in spiritum sanctum et 25 irremissibile: proinde lapsis à baptismo in peccata, locus pœnitentiæ non est negandus. Post acceptum spiritum sanctum possumus à gratia data recedere atque peccare, denuoque per gratiam Dei resurgere ac resipiscere. Ideoque illi damnandi sunt, qui se quamdiu hic vivant, amplius 30 non posse peccare affirmant, aut vere resipiscentibus pœnitentiæ locum denegant.

16. [Blasphemia in spiritum sanctum.

Blasphemia in Spiritum Sanctum est, cum quis Verborum Dei manifestè perceptam veritatem, ex malitia et obfirmatione animi, convitiis insectatur, et hostiliter insequitur. Atque hujusmodi, quia maledicto sunt obnoxii, gravissimo sese ad-5 stringunt sceleri. Unde peccati hoc genus Irremissibile à Domino appellatur, et affirmatur.]

17. De prædestinatione et electione.

Prædestinatio ad vitam est æternum Dei propositum, quo ante jacta mundi fundamenta suo consilio, nobis 10 quidem occulto, constanter decrevit eos quos elegit ex hominum genere, à maledicto et exitio liberare, atque ut vasa in honorem efficta, per Christum ad æternam salutem adducere: unde qui tam præclaro Dei beneficio sunt donati, illi spiritu ejus opportuno tempore operante, 15 secundum propositum ejus vocantur: vocationi per gratiam parent: justificantur gratis: adoptantur in filios: unigeniti JESU CHRISTI imagini efficiuntur conformes: in bonis operibus sancte ambulant et demum ex Dei misericordia pertingunt ad sempiternam felicitatem.

20

Quemadmodum prædestinationis et electionis nostræ in Christo pia consideratio, dulcis, suavis, et ineffabilis consolationis plena est vere piis, et his qui sentiunt in se vim spiritus CHRISTI, facta carnis, et membra quæ adhuc sunt super terram mortificantem, animumque ad cœlestia 25 et superna rapientem, tum quia fidem nostram de æterna salute consequenda per Christum, plurimum stabilit atque confirmat, tum quia amorem nostrum in Deum vehementer accendit: Ita hominibus curiosis, carnalibus, et spiritu CHRISTI destitutis, ob oculos perpetuo versari præ-30 destinationis Dei sententiam, perniciosissimum est præcipitium, unde illos diabolus pertrudit vel in desperationem, vel in æque perniciosam impurissimæ vitæ securitatem. Deinde [licet prædestinationis decreta sunt nobis ignota,] pro

missiones [tamen] divinas sic amplecti oportet, ut nobis in sacris literis generaliter propositæ sunt: et Dei voluntas in nostris actionibus ea sequenda est, quam in Verbo Dei habemus diserte revelatam.

18.

Tantum in nomine Christi speranda est æterna salus. 5 Sunt et illi anathematizandi qui dicere audent, unumquemque in lege aut secta quam profitetur esse servandum, modò juxta illam et lumen naturæ accurate vixerit : cum sacræ literæ tantum JESU CHRISTI nomen prædicent, in quo salvos fieri homines oporteat.

19. [Omnes obligantur ad moralia legis præcepta servanda.

Lex à Deo data per Mosen, licet quòad Cæremonias et ritus Christianos non astringat, neque civilia ejus præcepta in aliqua Repub. necessario recipi debeant, nihilominus ab obedientia mandatorum quæ Moralia vocantur, nullus quantumvis Chri- 15 stianus est solutus: quare illi non sunt audiendi, qui sacras literas tantum infirmis datas esse perhibent, et spiritum perpetuò jactant, à quo sibi quæ prædicant, suggeri asserunt, quanquam cum Sacris literis apertissime pugnent.]

20. De Ecclesia.

Ecclesia CHRISTI visibilis, est cœtus fidelium, in quo verbum Dei purum prædicatur, et Sacramenta quoad ea quæ necessario exiguntur, juxta Christi institutum recte administrantur.

20

Sicut erravit Ecclesia Hierosolymitana, Alexandrina, 25 et Antiochena, ita et erravit Ecclesia Romana, non solum quoad agenda et cæremoniarum ritus, verum in his etiam quæ credenda sunt.

21. De Ecclesiæ authoritate.

Ecclesiæ non licet quicquam instituere, quod verbo 30 Dei scripto adversetur: neque unum Scripturæ locum