And first of all, that our Church doth not require an explicite beliefe of all the Articles of Athanasius his Creed as absolutely necessary to Salvation, is evident from her formes of Baptizing both infants and adult persons. For she there admits both sorts to baptisme (and consequently to the hopes of Salvation) upon the profession of the A­postles Creed, which is not so explicit as that of Athanasius. The strength of which argument will more fully ap­peare, if we consider the opinion the Church of England hath of Baptisme, which is that it renders the baptiz'd person a ‘Seeing now dearly beloved bre­thren that this Child or these Per­sons are regenerate and grafted into the body of Christs Church.’ Forme of Baptizing Infants and those of riper years. Child of God (and where the force of it is not voided by actuall sin) an ‘It is certaine by Gods Word that Children which are baptiz'd dying before they commit actuall sin are undoubtedly sav'd’ Rubr. of Pub­lique Baptisme, &c. undoubted Heire of Heav'n. For if it admits even adult persons to the participation of that Baptisme (which it acknowledgeth to make them the Children of God, and Heires of Eternall Glory) and that too upon [Page 3] their profession of their beliefe of the Apostles Creed; then doth it not require an explicit beliefe of Athana­sius his, as absolutely necessary to Salvation. For as it is certaine, that the Apostles Creed is not so explicit as that of Athanasius; so is it no lesse, that no adult person can be a Child of God and an Heire of Heav'n, without believing all those things that are absolutely necessary to Salvation. Let it therefore remaine as an undoubted truth, that our Church doth not require an explicite beliefe of all the Arti­cles of Athanasius his Creed as absolutely necessary to Sal­vation. But

Secondly, Neither doth she require such a beliefe of all things in the Apostles Creed, though that be the more simple and receiv'd by all that professe themselves Christians; the Church of England proposing it not in all and every Article as absolutely necessary to be believ'd, but as the Condition of that Communion into which she admits us upon the pro­fession of it. For

• 1. She requires not any such assent in the foremention'd formes of Baptisme, as wil be evident to any that shall consult them.
• 2. If she thought all those Articles absolutely necessary to be believ'd, she could not make any distinction between them as to the necessity of believing them; because there can be none in those Articles which are absolutely necessary to be believ'd: But the Church makes such a distinction between the seve­rall Articles of the Apostles Creed, calling some [Page 4] principall and others not: The Minor is evident from the Church-Catechisme, where after the reci­tation of the Articles of the Apostles Creed, she there demands of the Catechumen what he doth chiefly learn in the Articles of his beliefe. And the Answer that is return'd is no other than this,
  • First I learn to believe in God the Father who hath made me and all the world.
  • Secondly in God the Son who hath redeemed me and all mankind.
  • Thirdly in God the Holy Ghost who sanctifieth me and all the elect people of God.
• 3ly, She allowes of severall interpretations of some Articles, and those too quite different from one ano­ther, and cannot therefore be suppos'd, to propose all the Articles as absolutely necessary to be believ'd. For that which is such, must beare the same sense to all persons, because all men have the same concern­ments in what is absolutely necessary to be believ'd: But those Articles which may be receiv'd with different interpretations, cannot bear the same sense to all persons, and cannot therefore be thought to be propos'd as absolutely necessary to be believ'd. I instance in the Article of Christs descent into Hell, which it is notorious the Church of England al­lowes men to receive in severall senses; the most Considerable members thereof having deliver'd diffe­rent [Page 5] interpretations; and that too without any censure from the Church for so doing. Thus the late Learned D ^r Hammond in his Practicall Catechisme understands by Christs descent into Hell, his conti­nuance for some time in the state of the dead, and D ^r Pearson his descending into the common recepta­cle of departed Souls: whilst others understand it of his descent into hell properly so call'd, either to triumph over infernall spirits as some, or as others for other reasons; and yet all of them agreeably enough with the third Article of our Church, which only makes his descent into hell distinct from his death and bu­riall. I conclude then that Christs descent into hell, is not propos'd to us to be believ'd as absolutely ne­cessary to salvation; for if it were, it cannot be thought the Church would allow of so many inter­pretations, and receive those into her communion who accept the Article in any one.
• 4ly, and lastly, There are many things in the Creed, which are but circumstances of the Articles; as Christs suffering under Pontius Pilate, and rising the third day. For though those circumstances are set down so clearly in Scripture, that no man can doubt of them, and the beliefe of them may be therefore exacted of us as the condition of our com­munion; yet can they not be thought to be abso­lutely necessary to be believ'd. Because the not-believing of what is such, must necessarily damne [Page 6] us, which I suppose no man yet did ever affirme of the not believing those circumstances; provided the person not believing them, did believe the Articles themselves, and was utterly unacquainted with those circumstances through no fault of his at all. 'Tis true, it is hard to suppose any such ignorance among Christians; but the supposition however is not impossible, and for ought I know there may have bin such ignorance in the late licentious times, when the Apostles Creed was turn'd out of the Church, and the Scripture seldome read in the Assemblies. The circumstances then of the Articles are not absolutely necessary to be believ'd; and no man can think, this or any other Church ever pro­pos'd them as such: especially if he consider, that the Papists themselves are not so great imposers, and accept their weak disciples upon an implicit faith of their determinations.

III.

The third and last thing, upon which I ground my opinion, is the expresse words of one of the 39 Articles. For in the eighth of those 39, it is deliver'd in expresse termes, that the three Creeds of the Church ought therefore thoroughly to be believ'd, because they may be prov'd by most certain warrant of Holy Scripture; laying the necessity of our thoroughly believing them, not upon the absolute necessity of the things therein contain'd, but upon the certaine warrant they have from the Holy Scripture. But so is it necessary for me to believe that there was [Page 7] such a man as Solomon, and that he did sometime determine a nice case between two harlots in Judea, because there is certain warrant both for the one and the other in Holy Scripture; and yet no man did ever affirme, that a man could not be sav'd without believing them. The diffe­rence between such truths, and those that are absolutely necessary to salvation is this: without a positive beliefe of the latter it is impossible to be sav'd, whilst the not believing, yea the disbelieving of the former cannot prejudice me at all; unlesse I have bin either slothfull in the enquiry after truth, or have refus'd to give up my assent to it after it hath been duly proposed to me. Do I then say that the three Creeds contain no other truths, than what I may be ignorant of without the losse of eternall glory? Far be it from me so to affirme; for I believe the most things in each of them are absolutely necessary to salvation, such as I account the simple doctrine of the Trinity, the death and resurrection of Christ But this I say, that there are somethings in those Creeds, which are not absolutely ne­cessary to salvation; and that our Church is so tender even in those Articles it presses upon the Clergy, that it doth not distinguish between fundamentalls and others, but recommends the creeds in the grosse to be receiv'd by all her children, without acknowledging any other necessity of the beliefe of the whole, than what ariseth from the certain warrant they have in the word of God, and a due proposall of them to the understanding. The only thing that can be objected against the precedent dis­course [Page 8] is, the foremention'd passages in severall places of Athanasius his Creed, which seem to make the whole of that nature, that a man cannot be sav'd without believing it. But to this I answer,

1. That those passages are no part of the Creed it selfe, and that it cannot be thought, our Church inten­ded to burthen us with them, after so great evi­dence as I have produc'd to the contrary: It may more rationally be believ'd, that allowing the whole doctrine therein contain'd to be of very great importance, she was unwilling to put it in other termes than in those it had been transmitted to her, especially having sufficiently fortifi'd us against the harshnesse of the expressions.

2. That most things in the Creed are absolutely necessa­ry to be believ'd, and that the rest are so too after a due proposall to the understanding; which few men can say hath been wanting in this Church of ours, where the Scriptures, wherein they are not obscurely contain'd, have been so duly read and explicated. I will conclude this briefe discourse with a passage of D ^r Hammonds, and I do it the rather because he is known to have been one of this Churches greatest Champions. It is in his Treatise of Fundamentalls. c. 10. Sect. 3. ‘As for the censures annext to the Athanasian Creed, 1. in the beginning [ that except a man keep the Catholique Faith (of which this is set down, not as the entire forme, [Page 9] but an explication or interpretation of some parts of it) whole and undefiled, he shall doubtlesse perish everlastingly] 2ly, In the middle [he that will be saved must thus think] and [ it is necessary to everlasting Salvation that he also believe rightly in the Incarnation &c.] And 3ly, in the end [this is the Catholick Faith, which except a man believe faithfully he cannot be sav'd] I suppose they must be interpreted by their opposition to those Here­sies that had invaded the Church, and which were acts of carnality in them that broached, and maintained them, against the Apostolick Doctrine, and contradictory to that foundation which had bin resolv'd on, as necessary to bring the world to the obedience of Christ, and were therefore to be anathematiz'd after this manner and with detestation branded and banished out of the Church; Not that it was hereby defin'd to be a damnable sin, to faile in the understanding, or believing the full matter of any of those expli­cations, before they were propounded, and when it might more reasonably be deem'd not to be any fault of the will, to which this were impu­table.’