"the quick and the dead, of whose kingdom there "shall be no end:

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"And in the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, who spake by the prophets: in one baptism of repent-, ance, in the remission of sins; and in one Catholic "Church; and in the resurrection of the flesh, and in everlasting life."

This Creed is neither the Nicene, nor the Constantinopolitan. It wants the words of one substance with the Father, and other titles given to the Son in the Nicene Creed. Neither is it the Constantinopolitan Creed, for Cyril's Catecheses were composed before he was made Bishop of Jerusalem, and the council of Constantinople was held thirty years after that period. It is in reality, says Bishop Bull, the ancient Creed of the Church of Jerusalem *.

The introductory part is found in the Liturgy ascribed to James, the first Bishop of this Church; and the whole of the Creed is probably one of the most ancient and authentic summaries of faith that are now extant. It teaches in the most express terms the divinity and eternal generation of Jesus Christ. We may likewise remark that in this, and other ancient Oriental Creeds, were contained many of the articles that now follow the mention of the Holy Ghost in the Apostles' Creed, such as one baptism, the remission of Sins, the resurrection of the body, and everlasting life. The communion of saints and

* Restat igitur, ut sit revera vetus symbolum ecclesiæ Hierosolymitanæ. Def. Fid. Nice.

the descent into hell, are the only articles not expressed in this Creed, which are to be found in the present Western or Apostolic Creed. In conclusion: we may observe, that even after the Nicene Council, the Churches both of the East and West, retained their ancient Creeds *.

THE NICENE CREED,

MORE PROPERLY CALLED THE CONSTANTINOPOLITAN.

From the specimens already exhibited, the less learned reader may perceive, what was the substance of the Creeds of the primitive Churches. For we have no entire form of a public Creed, before that, which was agreed upon at the first general meeting or council, consisting of Christians from all parts of the world, and held at Nice in Bithynia, A.D. 325. This council composed and established a Creed, principally in opposition to the forms adopted by the Arians. Hence it is, that the articles, which in ancient as well as in more modern Creeds, succeed the mention of the Holy Ghost, are in the Nicene Creed omitted. About these there was no controversy; and the Fathers assembled at Nice, did not recite or explain more of the Creed than was necessary to oppose the errors of the times.

Fifty-eight years after the drawing up of the

* Ecclesiæ tam orientis, quam occidentales, antiqua sua sym, bola, etiam post synodum Nicenam, retinuere. Bull. Fid. Nic. Def.

Nicene Creed, it was completed by the second general council, (held at Constantinople, A. D. 383 *,) and published in the form in which it now stands in our Communion Service, and in that of almost all the established Churches in the world. During this interval, new heresies had sprung up, respecting the belief in the Holy Spirit. In opposition to these, a few clauses were added to the Creed; as were also those other articles which formed a part of the interrogatories proposed to the candidates for Baptism; and which, as has appeared from the Creeds already cited, were commonly annexed to confessions of faith. This Creed, thus composed, is more generally distinguished by the name of the Nicene Creed, than the Constantinopolitan. The difference between the two Creeds will be sufficiently obvious, by printing in Italic, the additions made by the Fathers assembled at Constantinople, to the form originally agreed upon at Nice.

"We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, "maker of heaven and earth, and of all things vi"sible and invisible :

"And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten "Son of God, [that is, of the substance of the Fa"ther begotten of his Father before all worlds,

* At Constantinople three general assemblies of Bishops were successively held in the years 381, 382, and 383. It is the first of the Canons of the last Synod, that ratifies the Creed of the Council of Nice. Dupin.

The clauses in brackets, which form a part of the Nicene Creed, are omitted in the Constantinopolitan.

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"God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with "the Father: By whom all things were made [both "in heaven and on earth]: 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, and was crucified "also for us under Pontius Pilate: he suffered "and was buried, and the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into “heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the "Father: and he shall come again with glory to "judge both the quick and the dead; whose king"dom shall have no end.

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"And we believe in the Holy Ghost *, the Lord "and giver of life, who proceedeth from the Father (and the Son †,) who with the Father and the

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* Here the Nicene Creed ended; but it was followed by an anathema against all who should maintain, that there was a time when the Son was not, or that he was not before he was born, or that he was created.

† However true the doctrine may be, or however consonant to the opinions of the more ancient Greek Fathers, that the

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Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son," yet the words and the Son are not found in the Greek copies of the Constantinopolitan Creed. They are an interpolation originally made by the Spanish and Gallic Churches. Against them, Leo III, decreed, that no addition be made to the Creed of a General Council. But his sucessors wished to compel the Greeks to adopt that language in the Creed, which was never used by the Greek Fathers. They say, the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father by the Son.

"Son together is worshipped and glorified, who "spake by the Prophets. And (we believe *) one "Catholic and Apostolic Church; we acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; (and †) we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen."

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THE CREED OF PELAGIUS.

Pelagius, the monk of Bangor ‡, is the only writer of the more ancient British Church, that was distinguished in the Roman world. Before he fell into the erroneous opinions entertained by him, concerning original sin §, and the necessity of divine grace, (which were successfully combated by Jerom, Austin and many others, and are expressly rejected by our Church,) he had written three Books on the Belief of the Trinity, of which this Creed may be considered as an abstract. The Creed, though it

Wanting in Greek copies and Roman missals.

Not in the Creed, but in the missals.

His name in the language of his own country is supposed to have been Morgan, (Marigena) which signifies what Pelagius does in Greek and Latin, belonging to the Sea. He lived at Rome in great reputation about the end of the fourth century. He was a man of extraordinary abilities; and they who condemn his errors, in general respect his learning, piety, and virtue.

§ The term original sin is said to have been first used by Austin, in order strongly to denote the corruption of our nature, derived from the fall of our first parents. This doctrine, which was expressed in different terms by the more ancient Fathers, the Pelagians denied. See 9th Art. of Rel.

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