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born blind or deaf, but yet has the perfect use of reason and of all his other senses. If I speak to this blind man of colour, it is a thing which he does not understand, and of which he has had no experience; it is a mystery to him; still he would be clearly mistaken if he refused to believe on the testimony of those who can see. Again, if by means of signs we were able to give the deaf man an idea of sound, he would not understand us. He possesses no faculty by which he can judge of sound; and, as he has had no experience of any thing of the kind, he might imagine it was contrary to his reason and his senses to admit the existence of such a phenomenon. In such a case we see clearly he would be wrong in supposing sound was something contrary to his reason and senses, and in disbelieving the testimony of competent authority on the subject. So, too, is it with mysteries. They are truths of which we can form no judgment, so long as we are deprived of the light of faith. But still our assent to these hidden truths rests on a solid foundation. We have no evidence of the same kind as we require in a mathematical demonstration to establish the truth of mysteries; but we have abundant evidence to prove the fact that God has revealed them, and we know that what God has revealed must of necessity be true.

CHAP. VII. Of the Creeds sanctioned by the general use of the Church.

THE last chapter having been occupied with the general questions touching faith, the next thing is to treat in detail of the truths which faith teaches. The doctrines of the Catholic Church have been at different times collected together in an abridged form for the use of the faithful. Some of these formularies of faith have either been expressly drawn up by the Church, or have received the sanction of her infallible authority, and therefore deserve a particular notice introductory to the explanation of the Apostles' Creed.

1. The most ancient summary of the doctrines of the

Catholic Church is that which is known as the Apostles' Creed. It is believed that the Apostles, before separating into different parts of the world to preach the Gospel, composed the Creed known by their name. In this way the faithful could be more easily instructed; the unity of the faith throughout the world would be more clearly manifested; the disciples of our Lord by this outward declaration of their belief would be distinguished from unbelievers; and the faith of the simple and ignorant preserved inviolate. Some have supposed that St. Paul alludes to the Apostles' Creed in his exhortation to Timothy: "Hold the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me in faith, and in the love which is in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim. i. 13). St. Irenæus, whose master, St. Polycarp, was a disciple of St. John, speaks of the Apostles' Creed in the following terms: "The Church dispersed through the whole world has received that faith from the Apostles, and their disciples, which is in one God, the Father Almighty," &c. (S. Iren. Adversus Hæreses, lib. i. cap. 10).

2. Ás heresies arose which, while they accepted the words of the Apostles' Creed, yet denied some of the truths of faith, it became necessary to introduce a summary of the doctrines of the Church, which should contain, in clear and unmistakable language, the articles which began to be controverted. Thus when Arius began to propagate his heresy, denying the Divinity of Jesus Christ, a General Council was held at Nice, in the year 325, in which Arius was condemned, and the Creed composed, which is thence called the Nicene Creed. After expressing the belief of the Church in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible, it proceeds thus to speak of the doctrine which had been called in question: "And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, born of the Father,"-that is, of the substance of the Father," born, not made; consubstantial with the Father, by whom all things were made, which are in heaven or on earth. Who for us men, and for our salvation, came down, and was incarnate and made He suffered, and rose again the third day, and as

man.

cended into heaven. And He will come again to judge the living and the dead. And in the Holy Ghost."

After the Divinity of Jesus Christ and His consubstantiality with the Father had been vindicated in the Council of Nice, another General Council was held at Constantinople, A. D. 381, to proclaim the Divinity of the Holy Ghost, against the heresy of the Macedonians and Eunomians. In this Council a few verbal explanations were introduced into the Nicene Creed; and after the words above cited, "And in the Holy Ghost," were added, "the Lord and the life-giver, proceeding from the Father, and together with the Father and the Son to be 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." On account of the additions which were made on this occasion, the Nicene Creed thus enlarged is sometimes called the Creed of Constantinople. Finally, the same reason which made these additions and explanations necessary induced the Church to make a few further additions, (the principal of which was the declaration of the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son,) before this Creed assumed the exact form of words which are now read in the Mass.

3. The Athanasian Creed is another summary of faith which has been adopted by the Universal Church. Baronius, and some of the older writers, supposed it to be the production of St. Athanasius; but a more accurate criticism proves it of later date. Had it been the genuine work of St. Athanasius, it would not have omitted the word 'consubstantial,' nor would it have contained so precise and explicit a condemnation of the Nestorian and Eutychian heresies, which were not broached till after the death of St. Athanasius. It seems to have obtained its name from the fact that it has been attributed to St. Athanasius; or what is perhaps more likely, because it consists mainly of an explanation of the mysteries of the Blessed Trinity, and of the Incarnation,-doctrines which this great saint and doctor so strenuously defended. The

learned and accurate Alban Butler is of opinion that it was compiled in Latin in the fifth century.

4. The last of the great formularies of faith in general use throughout the Church, is the one which is known as the Creed of Pope Pius IV. This Creed was drawn up immediately after the Council of Trent, and consists of a repetition, word for word, of the Creed of Nice and Constantinople, followed by an enumeration of the principal doctrines defined in the Holy Council of Trent, in condemnation of the errors of the Reformers.

Although the Church uses these different Creeds, her doctrine is one and the same at all times. But as heresy is ever changing, as it sometimes attacks one and sometimes another revealed truth, it becomes necessary to warn the faithful against the particular errors which are prevalent at the time being, and to expound the truth more clearly on such points as are called in question by heretics and unbelievers, and about which the faith of the children of the Church is more likely to be endangered. But in the same way as the religious instruction which is given to children or illiterate persons varies in form and extent from that which is addressed to a full-grown and educated audience, while the truths which are taught and the duties which are enforced are the same, so the doctrine of the Church is one and the same, whether it be expressed in the brief summary of the Apostles' Creed, or in the more full and explicit declarations of the Creed of Pope Pius.

CHAP. VIII. The Apostles' Creed.

1. THE Apostles' Creed is sometimes divided into two parts, viz. the first eight articles which treat of God, and the four last which refer to the Church.

2. Again, it is divided into three parts, as it refers to the Three Divine Persons of the Blessed Trinity, and the works which are specially attributed to each of them. Thus the first article teaches us what we are to believe about the Father, or the first Person, and the work of creation, which is especially attributed to Him; the second

and following articles to the seventh inclusive, treat of the second Person and the work of the Redemption; the eighth and the concluding articles treat of the Holy Ghost, or third Person, and the works specially attributed to Him.

3. The most common division, however, is that which distributes it into twelve parts, according to the twelve distinct propositions or articles of which it is composed.

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First Article: "I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth."

When we say in common language that we believe any thing, we frequently mean no more than that we think so, or that such is our opinion; but in the Creed the words "I believe" are used to express the firm and undoubted assent of faith. We mean that we hold these doctrines as most certainly true, because God has revealed them. Our conviction is unwavering, not because the truths of religion are self-evident, like the axioms of human science, nor because we can prove their intrinsic truth by a process of demonstration, but because God, who can neither deceive nor be deceived, has told us they are true. We believe them simply on His testimony.

In this first article we are introduced to the great and fundamental mystery of the Unity and Trinity of God. By professing our belief in God, in the singular number, we proclaim that there is but one God; and when we speak of the Father, we necessarily imply the Son, and thus we arrive at the plurality of persons in God, and by implication at the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity.

1. Faith teaches us to believe in one self-existent allperfect Being, who has had no beginning and will have no end. He possesses in Himself every perfection. He is every where present, and knows and sees every thing. He is independent, and every other being is dependent upon Him for its existence, and every thing which it possesses. He is almighty, all-wise, all-just. His providence watches over every thing which He has made. He takes an exact account of all our actions, and will reward the just and punish the wicked.

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