Of faith, where the Apostles' creed is explained€¦ · 216 INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION order to be devoted to Him as His servants, so that they may glory with all His people

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Reading Description: Calvin, J. (2009). Of faith, where the Apostles' creed is explained. In Institutes of the

Christian religion : 1541 French edition (E. A. McKee, Trans.) (pp. 215-270). Grand Rapids, MI : W. B. Eerdmans.

Reading Description Disclaimer: (This reference information is provided as a guide only, and may not conform to the required referencing standards for your subject)

Of Faith, Where the Apostles' Creed Is Explained a1s

that they have neither made nor received nor even known of any other confession than the first and most simple which had been given to all the churches from the time of the apostles.

Such moderation by this holy person ought to warn us not to condemn too easily those who do not want to subscribe to all our words. But the ignorant must be taught by what necessity we are constrained to speak in this way, and be accustomed little by little to our way. They must also be warned in friendly manner, that where it is a question of defending against Arians on the one hand and Sabellians on the other, if they put obstacles in the way of doing this they may arouse some suspicion that they favor these errors. Arius indeed said that Christ is God; but in secret he equivocated that He had been created and had had a beginning. He confessed that Christ was one with the Father but he whispered afterward in the ears of his disciples that He was united to the Father as the other faithful are, even though in fact it was a special privilege for Him. Let us say that He is of one same substance with the Father and you cut off such wicked speaking without adding anything to scripture. Sabellius said that the names Father, Son, and Holy Spirit do not signify any distinction in God. Let us say that there are three things in God: he will cry out that they want to make three gods. Let us say that there are a trinity of persons in only one divine essence; so we will explain simply what scripture teaches and close the mouth of this heretic. If there are some who are held back by such superstition that they cannot bear these words, nevertheless no one can deny that, when we hear scripture declare that there is only one God, they must not fail to understand unity in the divine essence; when scripture names three, they must not fail to consider three diverse characteristics. When that is admitted simply and without deceit, we do not need to worry about the words. Now then let us come to the explanation of the creed.

THE FIRST PART

I believe in God the Father almighty

Now we must first note the form of speaking. For to believe in God means the same as to say that we accept and avow Him as our God in order to cling to Him and His word. For it is a way of speaking taken from the Hebrew language, which takes "to believe in God" for "to believe God" and to have faith in Him, although it means something higher by speaking this way. So here the faithful give witness that they accept and recognize God as their God in

216 INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION

order to be devoted to Him as His servants, so that they may glory with all His people in saying: "You have been our God from the beginning; we will therefore not die" (Hab. 1[12)). For when we have Him as our God, we have life and salvation in Him. To confirm this confidence, the name "Father" is joined with "God" here. For by means of His beloved Son on whom His good pleasure rests (Matt. 3[17]), He has made known that He is our Father and that is why He receives us to Himself, establishing a spiritual relationship "from which all relationships in heaven and on earth are named;' says St. Paul (Eph. 3[14)). At once then, when faith is raised to God, it has Him as Father since it cannot grasp Him without His Son, by whom such a great good is communicated to us. Now ifHe is like our Father, we are like His children, and if we are His children, we are at the same time His heirs (Rom. 8 [ 17];

2 Cor. 6[18]).

We ascribe to Him all power; not as the sophists imagine, futile, extinguished, and passive, but full of effectiveness and action. For God is called "almighty" not because He can do all things and yet remains in repose, but because He holds everything in His hand, governs heaven and earth by His providence, makes and arranges all things according to His counsel and will (Ps. 115[3]). For if He does whatever He pleases and there is nothing hidden from His providence, it follows that all is done by His power and commandment. But we touch on this matter briefly for the moment because we will defer a fuller treatment to another place.14 Now faith arms itself with a double comfort in God's power, first since it knows that He has fully enough ability to do good, to promote the salvation of the faithful, since His arm extends to ruling and governing all things; that heaven and earth are His possession and lordship; that every creature depends on His pleasure. Secondly, since faith sees that there is sufficient reassurance in His protection because all things which could harm us are subject to His will, and the devil with all his schemes is restrained by His will as by a bridle. In short, that all that can go against our salvation is subject to His commandment.

Creator of heaven and earth

Although simply by looking at the world the mind of the wicked is constrained to recognize the Creator, nevertheless faith has a special way of contemplating God the Creator of heaven and earth (Heb. n[3]). For that reason the apostle says that by "faith we understand how the world has been made

i4. See chapter 8.

Of Faith, Where the Apostles' Creed Is Explained 217

by God's word:' Truly we cannot understand except by faith what it means to call God "Creator of the world;' although it seems that we grasp Him in our minds and confess Him in our words. For the mind of our flesh, after it has once conceived God's power in the creation, stops there; and when the fleshly mind goes quite far indeed, it only considers the power and wisdom which He used to do such a work. Next, the fleshly mind grasps some general action of preserving and directing the things which He created and ascribes the movement of all creatures to that.

But faith rises higher. For after having understood that God is the Creator of the world, it recognizes Him also as Preserver and perpetual Governor. And this, not by some universal movement by which He guides the universal edifice of the world as well as all the parts; but faith grasps His special providence by which He maintains, preserves, and gives life to all the things He created, all the way to the smallest birds of the air. Although the difference between these positions does not seem great, human wisdom never rises as high as this reflection which David pursues in Psalm 104, chiefly in the conclusion where he says: "All things wait for you, Lord, and you give them food in their time. When you give it to them, they gather it; when you open your hand, they are filled with all goods; if you withdraw your face from them, they are terrified; if you turn away your Spirit, they perish and return to ashes; if you send your Spirit, everything rises again and the face of the earth is renewed" (Ps. 104(27-30]). Similar sayings are found throughout scripture; as when it is said that we live and move and have our life in God (Acts q[28]); that from His hand the dew and the rain are scattered to water the fields; that by His command the heaven becomes hard like iron; that from Him come peace and war, life and death, light and darkness, plagues and health, abundance and famine, and all other things, as it pleases Him to demonstrate His goodness in doing good or to make known the strictness of

His judgment by severity.15

Now from this the faithful conscience receives a special comfort: if He distributes and gives food to the little ravens who beg for His help [Ps. 147:9],

how much more will He give nourishment to us who are His people and the sheep of His flock [Ps. 79:13]). If a little sparrow does not fall to earth except by His knowledge and will [Matt. 10:29], how much more will He watch over our salvation and care for it since He promises to preserve us like the apple of His eye (Zech. 2[8]). If a person does not live by bread alone but rather by the power of the word which comes from the mouth of God (Matt. 4[4]; [cf.

is. [The Latin marginal note says: This is found] throughout the law and prophets.


Deut. 8:3)), it should be quite enough for us that He promises us that His help will never fail us since His help alone is enough to provide for our needs! On the other hand, when the faithful person sees some barrenness, famine, or contagious disease, he will recognize God's wrath rather than ascribing that to fortune. Lastly, understanding that He is our Creator, our Protector, and our Nourisher, the faithful person will conclude that we are His and not our own, that we must live by His will and not our own, that it is to Him that our life and all its actions should be referred since our life in its entirety rests firmly on His grace.

Now in order that no one may be disturbed that the glory of the creation of all things is here particularly ascribed to the Father (as if by that the Son and the Holy Spirit were excluded), we must note that this has to be understood according to the personal characteristics which are in God, as we have explained. For since the beginning of everything is ascribed to the Father, properly speaking, we say that He makes everything; but it is in His Wisdom and by His Spirit. 16 So if we want usefully to recognize God the Creator of heaven and earth and Father almighty, we must rely on His providence, consider His mercy and paternal kindness in our heart, and magnify Him with our mouths, honor, fear, and love such a good Father, devoting ourselves completely to His service, accepting all things from His hand gladly, even those which seem to us the most contrary to our benefit, believing that His providence does this for our salvation when we suffer adversities and afflictions. That is why, whatever happens, we must never doubt that He is favorable to us and that He loves us and has the advancement of our salvation at heart, because the first part of the creed was made to instruct us in such confidence.

THE SECOND PART

And in Jesus Christ, His sole Son, our Lord

What we have said about Jesus Christ being the proper goal and object of our faith is plainly evident from the fact that all the parts of our salvation are here listed and included in Him. For, as the prophet says: "The Lord came forth to save His people" (Hab. 3[13]), to save the people He came forth with

16. Here a section of text found in the Latin (1536-39) is omitted; it includes a marginal reference to Gen. 1[26]. This is not the only omission but it is one of the few biblical citations not in French.


His Christ, for by Christ's hand He fulfilled the work of His mercy, that is, the redemption of His people.

First, our Redeemer is called "Jesus;' the name given to Him by the mouth of the Father because He was sent to save His people and to deliver them from sin (Matt. 1[21]). In Him, then, and nowhere else, we will find salvation. For it was not by chance or human caprice that this name was given to Him, and it was not without cause that the angel called Him this by God's order; but this was done so that, being drawn back from all fantasies of seeking our salvation elsewhere, we might hold Him alone as our Savior. Therefore scripture declares that "there is no other name given to people under heaven in which they may find salvation'' (Acts 4[12]). This name, then, signifies to all the faithful that they should seek salvation in Him alone, and reassures them that they will find it there.

The title "Christ;' that is, Anointed, is added to "Jesus:' Although this "anointed" is ascribed to others with some reason, nevertheless it pertains to Him with a special privilege, for the Lord anoints all those on whom He pours out the graces of His Spirit. Now it is certain that there never was one of the faithful who was not anointed with this spiritual anointing, from which it follows that all the faithful are God's anointed. The prophets also had their anointing, and the kings and priests also - not only the external ceremonial anointing which the Old Testament mentions but a spiritual anointing. For it is fitting for a prophet who must be God's messenger among people to be endowed with special graces by the Holy Spirit; likewise a priest who is called "an angel of the living God"; lastly, kings, who bear God's image on earth. That is why the physical oil with which the prophets and priests as well as the kings were anointed in order to be set apart for their offices was not an empty sign and something of no importance, but it was a sacrament of the true spiritual anointing.

Nevertheless, all such anointings are nothing by comparison with that of our Savior, for all the other people received different portions of grace according to the measure which God was pleased to distribute to them [Rom. 12:6], such that none of them had all graces together except Christ alone, who had the fullness of them. For St. John, in explaining more plainly what had been predicted about Him, that God should anoint Him with the oil of joy above all His companions (Ps. 45[7]), says that "the Father gave Christ His Spirit without measure" (Jn. 3[34]), and he adds the reason: "in order that we may all draw from His abundance as from a well and receive grace upon grace" [Jn. 1:16]. For this reason the other prophet had predicted that the Spirit of the Lord would rest upon Him - not to confer on Him one


grace only but to arm Him with wisdom, understanding, strength, counsel, knowledge, and piety (Isa. 11[2]). That prophecy was visibly confirmed when the Spirit appeared at His baptism, descending on Him and resting on Him (Jn. 1[32]). Therefore it is quite right that the title "Christ" is ascribed par excellence to our Savior.

Now there is good reason why the Spirit of God is called "anointing" and His graces are called "oil;' since if we are not watered by Him we are lacking, because in ourselves we are only barren and dried up and devoid of all strength of life. The Spirit of God, then, having been poured out in complete fullness on Jesus, chose His soul as His proper seat in order to pour out on us from that soul as from a unique fountain. That is why the pouring out of the oil of the Holy Spirit on all the faithful is done only by participation in Jesus, and each one also receives from it inasmuch as he has shared in or communicated with Him. Here we have in a few words the difference between our Savior's anointing and our own. That is, our Lord has poured out fully on Him all the treasures of His spiritual riches, without measure; from those He distributes to each of us some portion. Moreover, He made His whole Spirit rest on Him so that He might be our source, the source from which He would afterward distribute to us, so that we might all draw from His abundance as from a well and, being associated with Him, might participate in the graces of the Holy Spirit by that sharing and communion.

Besides that, by this anointing Jesus Christ was ordained King by His Father, in order to subject every power in heaven and on earth to Himself, as the Psalmist teaches us (Ps. 2[8]). Likewise, He was consecrated as Priest to carry out the office of intercessor with His Father. These things are very important to confirm and help our faith. As for the kingdom, it is not carnal or earthly and so not subject to corruption; but it is spiritual and therefore belongs instead to the life to come and to the heavenly kingdom. Moreover, the way that He reigns is not so much for His benefit as for ours; for He arms and strengthens us with His power, He adorns us with His magnificence, He enriches us with His goods; in short, He raises and exalts us to the majesty of His kingdom. For by means of the communication by which He is joined together with us, He makes us kings, arming us with His power to fight against the devil, sin, and death; clothing and adorning us with the vestments of His righteousness in hope of immortality; filling us with the riches of His holiness to make us fruitful for God by good works.

As for His office of making sacrifice, we have no less benefit from it; not only because He makes the Father favorable to us by His intercession, in the power of the eternal reconciliation which He accomplished by His death but,


since He receives us into association and participation with that sacrifice, having Him for our Intercessor and Mediator we can offer to the Heavenly Father prayers, thanksgivings, ourselves, and all that comes from us. Therefore what our Lord promised long ago to His people, that they would be kings and priests (Exod. 19[6]), is fulfilled for us today in our Savior who alone gives us entrance into the kingdom of righteousness and into the holy tabernacle of God. In summary, by the name "Jesus" we are confirmed. in confidence of redemption and salvation, by the name "Christ" we are invited to receive the communication of the Holy Spirit and the fruit of sanctification which comes from Him, since He sanctified Himself for us, as He declares by His own mouth (Jn. 17[19]).

Then next He is named "Son of God;' not by adoption and grace like the other faithful, but true natural Son of God and for this reason unique, in order to be distinguished from all others. For in scripture God gives to all of us who are regenerated the honor of calling us children of God. Nevertheless He ascribes especially to Jesus Christ alone that He is called the true and unique Son. How would He be true and unique among such a great multitude of brothers unless He possessed by nature what others have as a gift? We must be on guard about agreeing witli some people who confess tliat Jesus Christ is the unique Son of God in such a way that, if they are pressed closely about what they mean, you will find that they only confess that because He was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the virgin's womb - as long ago the Manicheans imagined people to be of the substance of God because we read that God breathed the spirit of life into Adam. On the contrary, scripture shows us that the Son of God is His Word, begotten of Him before all the ages.

It is indeed true that such people bring this testimony to defend their error: that God did not spare His own Son (Rom. 5[8, 10] and more than a few passages), that the angel declared that the one born of the virgin should be called Son of God (Lk. 1[32]). But in order that they may not be too puffed up in such objections, let them consider a little with me what that means. For if it is a good proof that Jesus Christ began to be Son of God at the time of His conception in the virgin's womb because He, being conceived in her, is called the Son of God, it will follow also that He began to be the Word of life when He was manifested in flesh since St. John says that he is proclaiming the Word of God whom human hands have touched and human eyes have seen (1Jn.1[1]). Likewise if they want to follow this way of arguing, how will they explain what is said by the prophet: "You, Bethlehem, in the land ofJudah, you are small among the multitude ofJudah; nevertheless


from you I will cause to be born a Captain who will rule my people Israel, One whose coming is from the beginning of days of eternity" (Mic. 5[2)).

But one passage alone from St. Paul could resolve all such equivocation, when he says that he "was set apart for God's gospel which He had promised by the prophets regarding His Son, who was made of the seed of David according to the flesh and declared Son of God in power" (Rom. 1[1-4)). For what purpose would he say explicitly "Son of David according to the flesh;' and on the other hand "declared Son of God" unless he wanted to indicate that this distinction had been made without consideration of the flesh? Certainly this saying is so clear that to reject it would not be ignorance but obstinacy. Nevertheless one must not deny that He was Son of God in the flesh which He took on but instead, if we want to speak in a way that edifies our faith, when we call Him "Son of God" we must understand not only the eternal Word of God in Himself, but with the Word we must understand the humanity with which He is clothed, as will be more clearly explained soon.

Finally, the title "Lord" is given to Jesus Christ since He is ordained by the Father to be our Lord, King, and Law-giver. Also, on the other hand, when He made His Son visible in flesh He declared that it was He by whom He wanted to rule and govern. "That is why;' says the apostle, "we have only one God from whom all things exist, and we are from Him, and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom all things exist, and we by Him" (1 Cor. 8[6)). Now by that it is signified not only that He is our Teacher and Master to whom we must listen and whose teaching we must follow, but also He is our Chief and Prince, to whose power we must submit, whose pleasure we must obey, to whose will we must direct all our works. For the Father gave Him the right of first born in His house in order that He might rule over His brothers with power and might distribute the goods of His inheritance according to His will.

Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary

Because the mystery of the incarnation blinds the understanding of the ignorant by its great brightness and also disturbs them and makes them labor if it is not rightly understood, we must explain it a little before we go on. For the first point, it was indeed necessary for us that the One who should be our Mediator be true God and [hu]man. 17 For because our sins set an obstacle between God and us and alienated and distanced us from the kingdom of

17. See following note.


heaven and turned God away from us, there was no one who could be the means of our reconciliation except One who might reach all the way to Him. Now what creature could reach to God? Could one of the children of Adam? But all, from their first father, were terrified of appearing before His face. Could one of the angels? But all of them also needed a chief by whom they might be perfectly joined to their God. What then? Certainly the matter would have been totally hopeless if God's majesty had not descended to us since it was not in our power to mount up to it. For this reason, it was necessary for the Son of God to be made Immanuel for us, that is, God with us, and in such a way that as He joined together His divinity with us so He also joined our humanity together with His divinity. Otherwise there would not be a union close enough or strong enough to be able to give us hope that God might dwell in us and help us: such is the difference between our smallness and the greatness of Divine Majesty!

That is why, in offering Him as our Mediator, St. Paul explicitly calls Him "man"18 (1 Tim. 2(5)). He could also well have said "God" or, at least, he could have left off the name "man" without talking about it, as he leaves out the name "God" in that passage. But he recognized our weakness. In order, then, that no one might be tormented and hesitating about where he should seek this Mediator or by what path he should come to Him, St. Paul adds next that He is "man;' as ifhe said that He is our close neighbor and belongs to us since He is our flesh. Paul wanted to signify what is more fully made known elsewhere, that is, that we do not have a Priest who cannot have compassion on our weaknesses, since He has been tempted in everything and everywhere as we are, but without sin (Heb. 4(15)).

What we have said will be clearer if we consider that the office of Mediator is not a common thing - that is: to restore us to God's grace in such a way that we are made His children, we who were the children of people; to make us heirs of the heavenly kingdom, we who were heirs of hell. Who could have done that unless the Son of God had been made Son of man and had taken our condition so as to transfer to us what was His properly by nature, making it ours by grace? So we have confidence that we are God's children, having the guarantee that the natural Son of God took a body from our body, flesh from our flesh, bone from our bone, to be united with us. What was properly ours, He accepted into His person in order that what was properly His might belong to us, and thus He had in common with us that He was Son of God and Son of man. For this reason we hope that the heavenly inheritance is ours, be-

18. Here and in the following instances homme in French, homo in Latin (not vir).


cause the unique Son of God who completely deserves it, has adopted us as His brothers. Now if we are His brothers, we are His co-heirs.

There is another reason why the One who should be our Redeemer necessarily had to be true God and man. It was for Him to swallow up death. Who could do that except Life? It was for Him to conquer sin. Who could do that except Righteousness? It was His office to subjugate the powers of the air who are devils. Who could do that except a Power superior to the air and the world? Now in whom do Life, Righteousness, and the Power of heaven rest except in one God alone? That is why, when He wanted to ransom us, the Lord by His great mercy made Himself our Redeemer.

The other article of our redemption was that people, who were lost and brought to destruction by disobedience, might by obedience wipe out their shame, satisfying God's judgment and suffering the punishment owed to their sin. The Lord Jesus then came forth, clothed Himself in the role of Adam, and took his name in order to offer obedience to the Father for Adam; in order to show our humanity as satisfying God's judgment; in order to bear the punishment for sin in the same flesh which had committed it (Rom. 5[12ff]). Lastly, since as God alone He could not experience death, and as man alone He could not overcome it, He joined divinity with humanity in order to undergo the weakness of the one and bear the punishment of death, and by the power of the other to fight against death until He obtained victory. So those who despoil Christ of either His divinity or His humanity not only blaspheme against His greatness and obscure His goodness, but also do great harm to people whose faith they overturn by doing this - faith which cannot rest firmly except when supported on this foundation.

To delay longer to prove His divinity would be, I believe, superfluous. The truth of His human nature was attacked by Manicheans as well as Marcionites, who tried to overturn it. The Manicheans imagined that He brought a spiritual body from heaven. The Marcionites believed that He did not have a true body but only a phantom or illusion and appearance of a body. Now there are more than a few testimonies of scripture to oppose these two errors firmly. For long ago the blessing was not promised through a heavenly seed or the mask of a man, but in the seed of Abraham and Jacob (Gen. 17[7, 16] and elsewhere). The eternal throne was not promised to a person made of air but to the Son of David and to the fruit of his body (Ps. 132[11]). For that reason when He is manifested in the flesh He is called the Son of Abraham and of David (Matt. 1[1]}, not because He was born of the virgin as ifHe had first been created in the air, but since accordfog to the flesh He was formed from the seed of David, as St. Paul explains (Rom. 1[3], 9[5]). In another place


St. Paul also testifies that He is descended from the Jews [Gal. p6]. That is why He Himself, not being content to be called "man;' calls Himself "Son of man:' wishing to signify that He is a man engendered of human seed. Since the Holy Spirit expressed this by different speakers, so often, so carefully, and with such simplicity, would any reasonable person have expected that there could be people so audacious as to equivocate about this matter?

However, we have still other testimonies to overcome such slanders, such as St. Paul's that "God sent His Son, created of a woman" (Gal. 4[4]), and countless passages by which it is clear that He was made subject to cold, heat, and hunger, and other weaknesses of our nature. But we must choose those which can edify our hearts in true confidence - as when it is said He did not give such honor to the angels as to take their nature, but "He took our nature in order that in our flesh and blood He might by death destroy the one who had the lordship over death" (Heb. 2[14, 16]}. And that by means of this sharing He regards us as His brothers; and that "it was necessary that He be like His brothers to be the faithful Intercessor and inclined to mercy" (Heb. 2 [ 11, 17]). And that "we do not have a Priest who is not able to have compassion for our weaknesses since He has been tempted by them" (Heb. 4[15]}; and other similar texts. The heretics are very inept when they twist to their fantasies the passages which they use to confirm their errors. Marcion and his companions said that Christ has taken a phantom or illusion instead of a body, because it is said somewhere that He was made in human likeness and found in human form. But Marcion deceived himself in that he did not consider what St. Paul means in that passage. For the apostle did not want to explain what body Jesus Christ took but he only exhorts that, although Jesus Christ could have ascribed to Himself the glory of the divine majesty, He behaved like a man, humbling Himself in external appearance (Phil. 2[6-8]}. The Manicheans made for Him a body from air because He is called the second, heavenly Adam, coming from heaven. But in that passage the apostle is not speaking of a heavenly essence but of the spiritual power which had been given to Him to give us life. On the contrary, the saying which the faithful maintain about the true human nature of Jes us Christ is very well confirmed in that passage. For if He had not had the same nature with us, the argument which St. Paul pursues so strongly would be unreal. That is, that since Jesus Christ has risen from the dead, we will rise, and if we did not rise, it would follow that Christ had not risen (1 Cor. 15[16ff]).

Now when it is said that the Word was made flesh [Jn. 1:14], this should not be so understood as if it had been changed into flesh or mixed up in a


confused way, but it means that from the virgin's womb the Word took a human body as a temple in which the Word would dwell. The one who was Son of God was made Son of man, not by confusion of substance but by unity of person, that is, He joined together and united His divinity with the humanity which He took in such a way that each of the two natures retained its characteristic, and nevertheless Jesus Christ did not have two distinct persons but only one.

If one could find something similar to the mystery (of the two natures in Christ), the metaphor of a person would seem proper, for the latter is composed of two natures which nevertheless are not so mixed with each other that each does not retain its characteristic, for the soul is not body and the body is not soul. That is why one says particularly of the soul what cannot be fitting for the body, and likewise of the body what cannot be fitting for the soul; and of a person what cannot be fitting for either part of him. Lastly, the things which are particular to the soul are transferred to the body, and mutually, those particular to the body are transferred to the soul, yet the one who is composed of these two substances is one person and not several. Such a way of speaking signifies that in a person there is one nature composed of two things joined together but nevertheless there is a difference between the two.

Scripture indeed speaks in this way about Jesus Christ. For sometimes it ascribes to Him what can only be related to humanity, sometimes what is fitting particularly to divinity, sometimes what is suitable to both natures joined together and not to one alone. It even expresses this union of the two natures in Jesus Christ so carefully that it communicates to one what pertains to the other; this form of speaking has been called by the early church doctors "communication of properties:' When I have proved all these things by good testimonies of scripture, it will be found that I do not say anything of myself. What Jesus Christ said about Himself that He was before Abraham was created (Jn. 8[58]), could not be understood of the humanity because He was not made man until some centuries after Abraham's death. When He is called "first-born of all creatures, who was before everything, and by whom all things rest firm'' (Col. 1[15-17]), that cannot fit the man. Such praises and similar ones, then, are proper to the divinity. When He is called "servant of the Father" (Isa. 43[10]), when it is said that "He grew in age and wisdom toward God and people" (Lk. 2[52]), when He confessed that He is less than the Father, that He is not seeking His glory, that He does not know when the last day will be (Matt. 24[36] ), that He does not speak from Himself, that He does not seek His own will, that He can be seen and touched - all that is suitable for His humanity. For inasmuch as He is God, He is equal to the Fa-

-


ther and cannot grow in anything, and does all things of Himself, nothing is hidden from Him, He does everything according to His pleasure, and He is invisible and cannot be touched. There is communication of characteristics in what St. Paul says, that "God obtained His church by His blood" (Acts 20[28]), and "the Lord of glory was crucified" (1 Cor. 2[8]). Certainly God does not have blood and does not suffer. But because Christ, who was true God and true man, was crucified and shed His blood for us, by an inappropriate form of speaking which is nevertheless reasonable, what was done in His humanity is transferred to His divine nature. It is the same example as what St. John says, that God gave His soul or life for us (1 Jn. 3[16]), for in Christ He communicated to the humanity what is proper to the divine nature. On the other hand, Christ said that no one has mounted up to heaven except the Son of man who was in heaven (Jn. 3[13]), though then He was not in heaven in the body; but because He was God and man, because of the union of His two natures He ascribed to one what was suitable to the other.

But we cannot better understand the true substance of Christ than by the passages which conceive both natures together, of which there are more than a few in the Gospel of St. John. For the things which are said there fit neither His humanity nor His divinity specifically, but they fit His person inasmuch as He is God and man. That is: the authority given to Him by the Father to forgive sins, to raise those whom He wished, to give righteousness, holiness, and salvation [Jn. 5:27; 10:18; 17:12]; the fact that He is ordained Judge of the living and the dead in order that He might be honored like the Father [Jn. 5:22-23]; that He is the Light of the world [Jn. 1:9; 8:12], the good Shepherd [Jn. 10:11, 14], the only Door and the Vine [Jn. 10:7, 9; 15:1, 5]. For He received these privileges when He was manifested in flesh, privileges which He possessed of Himself before the creation of the world. Now it is certain that they cannot fit a man who only has humanity. We must take in the same sense what we have in St. Paul: that He must hand over the kingdom to God His Father after having made judgment (1 Cor. 15[24]). Certainly the reign of the Son of God which had no beginning, also can have no end. But as He was somewhat hidden under the humanity of the flesh and had made Himself nothing, having taken the form of a servant and externally put aside His majesty in order to obey the Father (Phil. 2 [7] ); and as, after this subjugation He was crowned with glory and honor and, being exalted, received a Name above all names before which every knee must bend (Phil. 2[9]); so also likewise He will then submit to His Father this crown of glory, as well as all that He received from Him in the flesh, so that one God might be all in all.

I.


This reflection will be of great use to make short work of many scruples. For it is amazing how some ignorant people torment themselves when such forms of speaking are proposed to them, forms where things are ascribed to Christ which are not fitting for either His humanity or His divinity, because such people do not consider that these are suitable for His Person in which He has been manifested as God and man. Indeed, one can see how all the aforesaid things harmonize well, provided we reflect on such a mystery with the reverence due to its greatness. But there is nothing that delirious and demented spirits do not upset. They take what is properly fitted to the humanity of Jesus Christ to destroy His divinity, and what is about His divinity to destroy His humanity, and what is said about both the two together to overturn both. Now what else is that except to wish to argue that Christ is not a man inasmuch as He is God, and that He is not God inasmuch as He is man, and that He is not God or man inasmuch as He contains both natures in Himself? We conclude then that Christ, because He is God and man, composed of two natures united and not confused, is our Savior and true Son of God, even according to His humanity, although not simply because of the humanity. For we must fear and abhor the heresy of Nestorius, who divided rather than distinguished the natures of Jesus Christ, imagining thus a double Christ. On the contrary, we see that scripture sings out loudly and clearly that the one who should be born of the Virgin Mary will be called Son of God, and that this virgin is the mother of our Lord (Lk. 1[35, 43]).

We confess then that He is born of the Virgin Mary, in order to be known as the true Son of Abraham and David, as the one promised by the law and the prophets. From that, faith receives a double usefulness. That is, it sees that because He has taken our flesh, the Son of God is prepared to perfect human salvation, since by taking our flesh He has called us into society and communion with Himself and all His goods and, desiring to overcome the devil and death, He was clothed in our role, in which He wanted to conquer and triumph in order that the victory and triumph might be ours. The other fruit of this faith is that, in tracing the lineage of Jesus Christ back to David and Abraham (Gen. 17[16], 22[17-18); Ps. 132[17]), we have a greater certainty that our Redeemer is the One who had been foretold by God so long before.

Following that it is said that He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, because it was not fitting that the One who had been sent to purify the others should have an impure and contaminated origin. That is why it was not reasonable that the human body which the essence of God took for His dwelling place should be polluted with the universal human corruption. So the


Holy Spirit has worked here and overcome the ordinary law of nature by His amazing and, to us, incomprehensible power. For He made Jesus Christ not to be spotted with any stain or carnal pollution, but He was born with perfect holiness and purity. By that, then, faith is taught surely to seek all holiness in Jesus Christ and in Him alone, since He and no other was exempted from human corruption in His conception.

Next follows how He fulfilled our redemption, for which He had been made a mortal man. For because God had been provoked to wrath by human disobedience, He made repayment by His obedience, making Himself subject to the Father to the point of death. That is why making the ransom for our salvation, we must give chief respect to His obedience, as St. Paul says: "Just as by the transgression of one, all were constituted sinners, so also by the obedience of one, more than a few have been regarded as righteous" (Rom. 5[18]). So in that consists the summary of our salvation: that the Son of God, being given to us and leaving His will behind, not only devoted His life to the good pleasure of His Father, but also did not refuse to suffer the horror of death when He was commanded to do that, in order to pacify His majesty which had been angered by our rebellion. It happened then, by the merit of this obedience, that the heavenly Father was reconciled to the human race which He previously wholly hated. For Christ by His death offered to the Father a fragrant sacrifice to satisfy His righteous judgment and obtain for His faithful eternal sanctification. He shed His sacred blood as the price of our redemption in order to put out the flame of God's rage which had been kindled against us, and to purify our sin.

That is why, when it is a question of seeking reassurance of salvation, we must come to this redemption by which God has been made favorable to us, the opening which has been made for us in heaven, and the righteousness which has been obtained for us. For scripture does not teach anything more often than this: that by the power of His sacrifice, Christ earned for us God's good will in which lies the principal guarantee and confidence of our life; that the filth and stains of our sins (by which God's will is turned away and alienated from us) have been washed and cleansed by His blood, as the saying of St. John indicates, that His blood purifies us of all sins (1Jn.1[7]). Here, then, is the summary of our redemption: that, being delivered from the bonds of sin by Christ's satisfaction, we are restored to righteousness and holiness and reconciled to God who does not hate anything in us except our sin.

He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified


Here is expressed the name of the judge by whom He was condemned as well as the kind of death He suffered, not only to confirm the truth of the history but because that pertains to the mystery of our redemption. For as it was necessary that sins be wiped out by Christ's death and the damnation which follows from sin be taken away, it would not have been enough for Him to suffer any other kind of death. But to fulfill rightly all the parts of our redemption, a certain kind of death had to be chosen by which, transferring onto Himself our condemnation and the repayment due to God's wrath, He

might deliver us from both. First, then, He suffered under the governor of the province, being con

demned by sentence of the judge in order to deliver us from damnation before the judicial throne of the sovereign Judge. If robbers had cut His throat, if He had been murdered in a riot by the hands of particular individuals, there would not have been in such a death any appearance of satisfaction. But when He is led before the judicial power to be indicted, when He is accused by witnesses, condemned by the mouth of the judge, by that we can see that He took on the role of an evildoer. Here we must consider two things which had been foretold by the prophets and which bring a special comfort to our faith. For when we hear that Christ was led from the Consistory to death, hung between robbers, in that we have the fulfillment of the prophecy which is cited by the evangelist: "He was put in the ranks of evildoers" (Isa. 53[9]); [Lk. 22:37]. Why? In order to fulfill the punishment which sinners deserved, and to put Himself in their place; since in truth, He did not suffer death because of justice but because of sin. On the contrary, when we hear that He was absolved by the same mouth by which He had been condemned (for Pilate was constrained several times to give public witness to His innocence, Jn. 18[38], 19[4]), we should remember what was said by another prophet, that He has paid for what He had not stolen (Ps. 69[4]). Thus we will contemplate the role of a sinner and evildoer represented in Jesus Christ, and at the same time by His innocence we will know that He was burdened with the sins of others and not His own. So He suffered under Pontius Pilate, condemned by the judicial sentence of the governor of the land as an evildoer, and nevertheless He was not so condemned that He was not also pronounced righteous, since Pilate said that he found no cause of condem

nation in Him. Moreover the kind of death is not without mystery. The cross was

cursed, not only by human opinion but by the decree of God's law (Deut. 21[23]). So when Christ was affixed to a cross He made Himself subject to the curse. It was necessary that this be done: that the curse which we de-


served and which was prepared for our sins be transferred to Him, in order that we might be delivered from it. That had been previously done as a figure in the law. For the victims which were offered for sins were called by the same name "sin'' [Lev. 4:1-5:13; 16]; by that name the Holy Spirit wanted to signify that these victims accepted all the curse due to the sin. What was done then by representative figure in the Mosaic sacrifices was fulfilled in truth by Jesus Christ, who is the substance of the figures. That is why, in order to obtain our redemption, "He made His soul a sacrifice for sin;' as the prophet says, in order that all the curse which we deserved as sinners, being cast back on Him, might no longer be imputed to us (Isa. 53[10, n]). The apostle declares this more clearly when he says that "the One who had never known sin was made sin for us by the Father, in order that in Him we might obtain righteousness before God" (2 Cor. 5[21]). For the Son of God, being pure and clean of every vice, took and clothed Himself with the shame and ignominy of our sins and, on the other hand, covered us with His purity. This is also shown in another passage of St. Paul where it is said that sin was condemned as sin in the flesh ofJesus Christ (Rom. 8[3]). For the heavenly Father destroyed the strength of sin when its curse was transferred to the flesh of Jesus Christ. It is clear now what this sentence of the prophet means, that "all our sins were placed on Him" (Isa. 53[6]), that, desiring to wipe out the stains of sins, He first accepted them in His person in order that they might be imputed to Him. So the cross was a sign of that; when Jesus Christ was affixed to the cross He delivered us from the curse of the law (as the apostle says) by being made a curse for us (Gal. 3[13]). For it is written: "Cursed be the one hung on a tree" [Deut. 27:26; Gal. 3:10]. Thus the blessing promised to Abraham was poured out on all peoples. Nevertheless we must not understand that He took our curse in such a way that He was covered and crushed by it, but on the contrary, in receiving it He brought it down, broke it, and tore it in pieces. That is why, in the damnation of Christ faith lays hold on absolution, and in His curse it lays hold on blessing.

Dead and buried

Here one can see how from beginning to end He submitted Himself to do our duty for us, to pay the price of our redemption. Death had bound us under its yoke; He gave Himself over into death's power to draw us back from it. That is what the apostle means when he says that "He tasted death for all" (Heb. 2[9]). For in dying, He made it so that we would not die or rather (which means the same thing) by His death He obtained life for us. Now He

i'

INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION

died in a different way from us; He entrusted Himself to death as though to be swallowed up in it, but nevertheless not to be completely devoured but instead to devour death, in order that it might no longer have power over us as it did before. He allowed Himself to be as if subjugated by it, not to be crushed and killed but instead to overturn the rule which death exercised over us. Lastly, He died in order that "by dying He might destroy the one who has the lordship of death, the devil, and might deliver those who throughout their lives were in bondage through fear of death" (Heb. 2[14-15]). That is the first fruit that His death brings to us.

The second is that by its power death mortifies our earthly members so that from now on they may no longer continue their practices, and it kills the old person in us in order that he may no longer have power or produce fruit of himself (Rom. 6 [ 6]). The burial ofJesus Christ also tends toward this goal: that, being associated with His burial, we are buried to sin. For the apostle says that "we have entered into the likeness of Christ's death, we are buried with Hirn in death to sin" (Rom. 6[4]), that "by His cross the world is crucified to us and we to the world, we died with Hirn" (Gal. 6[14], 2[19]).

When he says this, not only is he exhorting us to imitate the example of His death (Col. 3[3]); but he is showing that the efficacy in His death ought to appear in all Christians if they do not want to make the death of their Redeemer useless and unfruitful. That is why there is a double grace offered to us in the death and burial of Jesus Christ: deliverance from death and the mortification of our flesh.

He descended into hell

Although it might seem from the books of the early church doctors who explained the creed that this phrase was not at all fixed among the churches, I believe nevertheless that it must not be omitted since it expresses a great and superior mystery. There are indeed some early church fathers who do not leave this out, by which we can conjecture that it was added soon after the time of the apostles but that little by little it came into use. However that may be, it is not doubtful that it was taken as one of the things which all true faithful must hold and feel. For there is none of the early fathers who does not make note of the descent of Jesus Christ to hell, although they may understand it in different ways. Now it is not a matter of great importance to know by whom and in what time this sentence was inserted into the creed. Rather we must consider that we have here a full and complete summary of our faith in which nothing is lacking and in which there is nothing said

~ . ~'~l Of Faith, Where the Apostles' Creed Is Explained 233

which is not taken out of God's word. As for this article, it will soon be seen that it is of such importance for the accomplishment of our salvation that it must not at all be omitted.

There are various explanations. For some do not think that anything new is said here but only that what had been said before about the burial is repeated in different words since the word "hell" is often taken for "grave:' With regard to what they claim about the meaning of the word, I confess that it is true that the word "hell" is often taken for "grave;' but there are two reasons against their opinion which seem to me sufficient to overcome it. For it would have been something very careless if, after having clearly and in familiar words shown something which is not in itself difficult, one then repeated it with much more obscure words. For when one joins two expressions together to mean the same thing, it is fitting that the second be an explication of the first. Now what explanation will there be here if we explain what Jesus Christ's grave is by saying that He descended into hell? Moreover, it is not likely that in this summary where the principal articles of our faith are comprised briefly and in few words, the early church would have wanted to put something superfluous and without purpose, which would have been out of place in a much longer treatment. I do not doubt that those who will examine the matter closely will agree with me.

By this word "hell" others understand some place under the earth which they call "limbo;' where they think that the fathers who lived under the Old Testament were enclosed as in a prison, and they say that Christ went there to deliver them as He broke the doors of bronze and the bolts of iron. This story, although it has great authors and is maintained as truth still today, nevertheless is only a fable. What they cite from Zechariah and St. Peter serves no purpose to support their idea. For when the prophet says that "the Lord delivered the prisoners from the pit where there was no water by the blood of the covenant which He made with Zion" (Zech. 9[11]), he is not talking about the dead or about limbo; but by "the pit without water" he means the gulf and abyss of misery where all sinners are, and by "the prisoners" he means the people who are held caged in the worst calamity and suffering. When St. Peter says that "Jesus Christ came and preached to the spirits who were in prison" (1 Pet. 3[19]), he means only that the power of the redemption effected by Jesus Christ was made known to the spirits of those who had died beforehand. For the faithful who had always hoped for salvation in Hirn then fully, and as if visibly, knew His corning and His presence. On the contrary, the reprobate, since He alone was the salvation of all the world and they were excluded from it, were made more clearly certain that


there remained no hope for them. That St. Peter puts the righteous and the unbelieving in prison without making a distinction ought not to be taken as if the righteous had been caged in some strict captivity before Jesus Christ came. But because they saw their redemption from afar and as if in an obscure shadow, their waiting for it is compared to a prison, since waiting could not be without care.

So we must seek a more sure explanation for this article. Now God's word shows us one, not only good and holy but full of great comfort. For it would have been nothing if Jesus Christ had only paid with a physical death, but He also had to feel the severity of God's judgment in order to intercede, and as if prevent, God's wrath from falling on us by satisfying it. To do this, it was necessary for Him to fight as if hand to hand against the powers of hell and the horror of eternal death. The prophet says that "the punishment required for our peace was placed on Him; He was struck and beaten by the Father for our crimes and afflicted for our sins" (Isa. 53[4-5]). By that he means that He was substituted in place of sinners as guarantor or rather as principal debtor, to receive the punishments which should have been imposed on them. There is no other difference except that He could not be kept and subjugated by the suffering of death (Acts 2[24]). It is no wonder then if it is said that He descended to hell, since He endured the death which was imposed on evildoers by God's wrath.

In order to understand this more easily, consider: is it not a terrible and miserable abyss to feel oneself abandoned by God, not to receive help when one calls on Him, not to expect anything except that He has planned to destroy us? Now we see that Jesus Christ came to that point, that He was forced - so much did the suffering press upon Him - to cry out: "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?" [Matt. 27:46]. For the explanation some people give, that He said that according to other people's feelings rather than His own, is not likely, since it was dearly seen that this word came from a deep bitterness of heart. 19 However we do not want to infer from this that God was ever either the adversary of or angry with His Christ. For how could the Father be angry with His beloved Son, with whom He said that He was completely pleased [Matt. p7; Mk. 1:11; Lk. 3:22]? Or how could Christ pacify the Father toward people by His intercession if He had angered the Father against Himself? But we say that He bore the weight of God's punishment inasmuch as He was beaten and afflicted by His hand and experienced all the signs that God shows to sinners in being angry with them and pun-

19. Cyril [Bishop of Alexandria], On the True Faith, book 2 (2.16.11).


ishing them. That is why St. Hilary says that "by the death of Jesus Christ we have obtained this good, that death has now been destroyed:' In other passages he is not far from our idea, as when he says that "the cross, death, and hell are our life:' And: "the Son of God is in hell but people are exalted to heaven:'20 In summary, Jesus Christ, fighting against the power of the devil, the horror of death, and the suffering of hell, has obtained the victory and has triumphed in order that we might no longer fear in death the things which our Prince has destroyed.

The third day He rose from the dead

Because in Christ's cross, death, and burial only weakness was visible, faith must go beyond that to be fully strengthened. That is why, although we have the complete accomplishment of salvation in His death since by it we are reconciled to God, His just judgment has been satisfied, the curse has been destroyed, and we have been freed from all the punishments which we deserved, nevertheless it is not said that we have been raised to living hope by His death but by His resurrection (1Pet.1[3]). For as in rising from the dead He showed Himself the victor over death, so the victory over our death rests firmly on His resurrection. St. Paul's words will better show what that means, when he says that "He died for our sins and was raised for our righteousness" (Rom. 4[25]), as if he said that by His death sin has been taken away and by His resurrection righteousness has been re-established. For how could He deliver us from death by dying, if He had been conquered by it? How would He have obtained the victory for us if He had been defeated in battle? That is why we divide the substance of our salvation between Christ's death and His resurrection in such a way that we say that sin was destroyed and death was wiped out by the death, and righteousness was established and life given from above by the resurrection, so that it is by means of the resurrection that death was wiped out.

Moreover, as we have explained above that the mortification of our flesh depends on sharing Christ's cross, so we must understand that there is another fruit which corresponds to that, coming from His resurrection. "For;' says the apostle, "we have been engrafted into the likeness of His death in order that, being participants of His resurrection we may walk in newness of life" (Rom. 6[4]). That is why in another place, as he is treating the proof that, "having died with Christ, we must put to death our members on earth;'

20. Hilary, On the Trinity, book 4; book 2; and book 3 (2.16.11).

'r 1:


he also draws the conclusion that, "being raised with Christ, we must seek the things of heaven'' (Col. 3[1]). By these words he not only exhorts us to newness of life according to the example of the resurrected Christ, but he teaches us that it is by His power that we are regenerated in righteousness.

There is a third usefulness of this resurrection for us: as a guarantee of our resurrection. We are made more certain of our resurrection since Christ's resurrection is its foundation and substance.

In passing, we must also note that He is said to be raised from the dead (1Cor.15[20 ]); in that the truth of His death and resurrection is indicated, as if to say that He has suffered the same death as other people and He has received immortality in the same mortal flesh which He took.

He ascended into the heavens and is seated at the right of God the Father almighty

Although Christ began to magnify His glory and power by rising from the dead, having cast aside the lowliness of His mortal nature and the shame of the cross, nevertheless He then truly exalted His rule when He ascended to heaven, which the apostle shows when he says that "He ascended to fulfill all things" (Eph. 4[10]). For we see how much more widely He poured out the graces of His Spirit, how much more fully He expanded His majesty, how much further He made His power known, by helping His own as well as by crushing His enemies. Being then received in heaven, He indeed took the presence of His body from our sight, not in order to stop helping His faithful who are still living on earth, but to govern the world by a power more present than before. Indeed His promise to be with us to the end of the age was fulfilled by this ascension in which, as His body was raised above all the heavens, so His power and effectiveness have spread beyond all the limits of heaven and earth.

That is why the apostle adds at once that He is seated at the right of the Father (Eph. 1[20]). This likeness is taken from the practice of kings whose lieutenants, to whom they give the duty of governing, are like their assistants. So Christ, whom the Father wanted to be exalted and by whose hand He wanted to exercise His lordship, is said to be seated at the right of the Father. By that word we must understand that He has been ordained Lord of heaven and earth, and that He has solemnly taken possession of them, and not only that He took it once but that He will continue to hold it until He descends for the judgment day. For this is how the apostle explains it, when he says that "the Father established Him at His right hand, above every principality and


power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the next; and that He has put all things under His feet and has made Him head in the church over all things" (Eph. 1[21-22]). We see the direction toward which this is going when it says that Jesus Christ is seated, that is, that all creatures, heavenly as well as earthly, honor His majesty and are ruled by His hand, obey His pleasure, and are subject to His power. When the apostles mention this so often (Acts 2[33], 3[21]; Heb. 1[3]) they mean the same: that all things are entrusted to His command. That is why those people are deceived who think that this word simply means the blessedness into which Jesus Christ has been received. Now, it is not important that in Acts St. Stephen witnesses that he saw Him standing up (Acts 7[56]), for here is not a question of the way the body is positioned but of the majesty of His power, so that "to be seated" means only to preside on the heavenly throne.21

From this teaching come various benefits for our faith. For we understand that by His ascension to heaven the Lord Jesus has made an opening there for us (Jn. 14[2-3]), where Adam had closed it. For since He entered heaven in our flesh and as if in our name, there follows what the apostle says: "already in some way we are seated with Him in the heavenly places" (Eph. 2[ 6]), that is, since we do not have a bare hope but already have possession in our Head. Moreover, we know that His residing with the Father is not without great good for us. For having entered the sanctuary which is not made with human hands, He appears there continually as our Advocate and Intercessor (Heb. 9[11], 7[25]), turning the eyes of the Father to His righteousness so that He turns them away from looking at our sins; reconciling the Father's heart to us so that He gives us access to the Father's throne by His intercession (Rom. 8[34]); making ready grace and mercy for us there and causing the Father not to be terrifying to us, as He must be to all sinners.

Thirdly, in this phrase we conceive of Jesus Christ's power in which is found our strength and power, our help, and the glory which we have against hell. For in ascending to heaven He led His adversaries captive and, having despoiled them, He enriched His people and is enriching them with spiritual graces from day to day (Eph. 4[7ff]). So He is seated on high in order that from there, pouring out His power on us, He may give life to us in spiritual life and sanctify us by His Spirit, in order to adorn His church with a number of precious gifts; in order to preserve it against every harm by His protection; in order to destroy and confound all the enemies of His cross and of our salvation by His power; lastly in order to obtain all power in heaven and

21. Augustine, On Faith and the Creed, chap. 7 (2.16.15).


on earth until He has conquered and destroyed all His enemies (Ps. 110[1],

who are also ours) and has made His church perfect.

From there He will come to judge the living and the dead

From now on the servants ofJesus Christ have enough signs to recognize the presence of His power. But since His kingdom is still obscured and hidden under the lowliness of the flesh, it is not without reason that faith is here directed to His visible presence which He will manifest at the last day. For He will descend in visible form as they saw Him ascend (Acts 1[11]) and will appear to all with the inexpressible majesty of His kingdom, with the light of immortality, with the infinite power of divinity, in the company of His angels. We are commanded to await our Redeemer from heaven on the day He will separate the sheep from the goats, the elect from the reprobate (Matt. 25[31ff]), and there will be no one, living or dead, who can escape His judgment. For the sound of the trumpet will be heard to all the ends of the world, the trumpet by which all people will be called and cited before His judgment throne, those who will be then alive as well as those who have previously died (1 Thess. 4[16-17]).

There are some who explain "the living and the dead" as the good and bad. Indeed, we see that some of the early church fathers hesitated about how they ought to explain these words. But the first meaning is much more suitable, since it is more simple and less constrained and is taken in the customary manner of scripture; and does not contradict what the apostle says, that it is ordained for all people to die once (Heb. 9[27]). For although those who are in this mortal life when the judgment comes will not die in the natural way; still, because the change they will undergo will be very similar to death it is not unreasonably called death. It is certain that not everyone will rest for a long time, what scripture calls "sleeping;' but everyone will be changed and altered (1 Cor. 15[51-52]). What does that mean? That their mortal life will be destroyed in a moment of time and transformed into a new nature. No one can deny that such a destruction of the flesh is death. Nevertheless it always remains true that the living and the dead will be cited before the judgment. For the dead who are in Christ will be the first to rise; next those who are still alive will come before the Lord in the air, as St. Paul says (1 Thess. 4[16-17]). Indeed, it is probable that this article of the creed was taken from the sermon of St. Peter in the tenth chapter of Acts [Acts 10:42], and from St. Paul's remarkable entreaty to Timothy where the living and the dead are explicitly discussed (2 Tim. 4[1]).


From this we receive a special comfort when we hear that the power to judge has been given to the One who has ordained us to carry out judgment, as participants in His honor - so little did He ascend His throne to condemn us! For how would a Prince of such great mercy destroy His people? How would the Head break in pieces His members? How would the Advocate condemn those whose defense He has undertaken? If the apostle dares to glory that there is no one who can condemn when Jesus Christ intercedes for us (Rom. 8[34]), it is still more certain that Christ, being our Intercessor, will not condemn us since He took up our cause and promised to support us. It is certainly not a small reassurance to say that we will not appear before any judgment seat except that of the One who is our Redeemer, from whom we expect salvation. 22 Moreover, here we have it that the One who now promises us eternal blessedness by His gospel will then ratify His promise in judging. Thus the Father has so much honored His Son by ascribing to Him the authority to judge {Jn. 5[22, 27]), that in so doing He has provided a means to comfort the consciences of His servants, who could be trembling with terror of judgment if they did not have a sure hope.

Now, because we see that the whole summary and all the parts of our salvation are comprised in Jesus Christ, we must guard against transferring the least bit of it anywhere else. If we seek salvation, the name of Jesus alone teaches us that it is in Him (Acts 4(12]). If we desire the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we will find them in His anointing. If we seek strength, it is in His lordship. If we are concerned about purity, it is offered to us in His conception. If we want to find gentleness and kindness, it is presented to us by His birth by which He was made like us in order to have compassion on us (Heb. 2[17], 5[2]). If we ask for redemption, His passion gives it to us. In His damnation, we have our absolution. If we want the curse taken away from us, we obtain that blessing in His cross. Satisfaction, we have in His sacrifice; purification, in His blood; our reconciliation is effected by His descent into hell. Mortification of our flesh is in His burial; newness oflife, in His resurrection in which we also have the hope of immortality. If we seek the heavenly inheritance, we are assured of it by His ascension. If we seek help and comfort and abundance of all good things, we have them in His kingdom. If we desire to await the judgment in safety, we have that good also in the fact that He is our Judge.

In summary, because the treasury of all good things is in Him, we must draw it from Him as from a well, and not from elsewhere. For those who, not

22. See Ambrose, On Jacob [and the Blessed Life], book 1, chap. 6 (2.16.18).


content with Him, wander about here and there with different hopes, even when they have their principal attention on Him, do not hold to the right way since they turn a part of their thought elsewhere - although this distrust cannot enter into our mind when we have indeed once known His riches.

THE THIRD PART

I believe in the Holy Spirit

Next follows faith in the Holy Spirit, which is indeed required in the accomplishment of our salvation. For what has been said about seeking our washing and sanctification in Jesus Christ cannot be obtained unless He is communicated to us by the Holy Spirit. The apostle indicates this by saying that we have been washed and sanctified in the name of Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God (1 Cor. 6[11]), as ifhe said that the graces ofJesus Christ are imprinted in our consciences by the Holy Spirit. That is why, after faith in the Father and the Son, there is rightly added faith in the Holy Spirit, by whom the fruit of the divine mercy, and the grace obtained by Jesus Christ are confirmed to us.

Now when we hear the name "Spirit" we must remember all the offices which scripture ascribes to Him, and expect from Him the benefits which come from Him according to the testimony of scripture. For it teaches us that all God's grace is the work of His Spirit, since the Father does all things in the Son by Him. By the Spirit He creates, maintains, gives life, and preserves all His works. By the Spirit He calls and draws to Himself all the faithful, justifies them, sanctifies them in new life, enriches them with different kinds of graces, strengthens them with His heavenly power until they have arrived at their goal. That is why, when He lives in this way in us, the Holy Spirit is the one who illumines us with His light to make us understand what generous gifts of God's goodness we possess in Jesus Christ: so that one can rightly call Him a Key by which the treasures of the heavenly kingdom are opened for us, and His illumination the eye of our understanding by which we are able to contemplate them. For that reason He is sometimes called Guarantor and Seal (2 Cor. 1[22], 5[5]; [Eph. 1:13]), since He seals the certainty of God's promises in our hearts. Sometimes He is called the Master of truth, Author of light, Fountain of wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. It is He who, cleansing us of all filth, sets us apart as holy temples for God, adorning us with His holiness so that we are made dwelling places of God. It

Of Faith, Where the Apostles' Creed Is Explained

is He who by watering us makes us fruitful to produce the fruits of righteousness. For that reason, He is often called "water;' as in these passages of the prophet: ''All you who are thirsty, come to the water" (Isa. 55[1]). And: "I will pour out water on the barren earth and rivers on the dry earth" (Isa. 44[3]). It is to this that Christ's saying is related, where He calls all those who thirst to draw from the living water (Jn. 7[37]). However, sometimes He is called "water" because of the efficacy of purifying and cleaning, as in Ezekiel, where the Lord promises clear waters to purify His people (Ezek. 36[25]). It is He who refreshes us with His drink, who distills the strength of life; that is why He is called "oil" and "anointing." It is He who burns up and consumes the vices of our evil desires, kindles our hearts with love/charity; that power is why He is called "fire:' It is He who breathes the divine life into us so that we may live no longer for ourselves but may follow His moving and His guidance. That is why if there is any good in us, it is all done by His grace and power. On the contrary, what we have from ourselves is only blindness of spirit and perversity of heart.

Now it is clear how beneficial and necessary it is for us that our faith be directed to the Holy Spirit, since in Him we find the illumination of our soul, our regeneration, the communication of all graces and especially the effectiveness of all the good things which come to us from Jesus Christ.

THE FOURTH PART

I believe the holy catholic church, the communion of saints

We will speak elsewhere more fully about the church. 23 For now we will touch on those things that faith ought to contemplate in order to receive comfort. First, it is not without reason that we say "believe the church" rather than "in the church:' I well know that the second way of speaking is more customary today, and that it was in use in the days of the early church; and even the Nicene Creed, as it is recounted in the Ecclesiastical History, says "believe in the church:' Nevertheless it is also clear from the books of the early church fathers that to say "believe the church" and not "in the church" was accepted without difficulty. For St. Cyprian and St. Augustine not only speak so but even teach that the phrase would be inappropriate if one added the "in" and prove their opinion by a reason which has weight. For we testify that we "believe in God" because our hearts trust in Him as truthful and our

23. See chapter is.


confidence rests in Him. That would not be fitting for the church any more than for the forgiveness of sins and the resurrection of the flesh. That is why, although I would not want to fight over words, nevertheless I would rather follow the propriety by which the thing is well said than use forms of speech

which lead to needless obscurity. Now we must remember what we warned previously, that up to this

point the matter, the foundation, and the cause of our salvation have been shown; now follows the effect. For the one who understands God's power and paternal goodness, Christ's righteousness and the efficaciousness of the Holy Spirit, has the cause of his salvation. But he does not yet see how salvation is accomplished in people unless he comes down to the church, the forgiveness of sins, and life eternal. So after having been taught that God is the Author oflife for us, it follows good order if we go from that to recognize His

work which is done in us. First the church is here proposed to us to be believed in order that we

may believe that all the multitude of Christians is joined by the tie of faith and gathered into one people of whom the Lord Jesus is the Prince and Captain; and especially that the church is united in one body of which Christ is the Head, as God eternally elected all His own in Christ in order to gather them into His kingdom (Eph. 1[4, 21]; Gal. 3[28]). Now it is clear to us how necessary it is for us to believe the church, since for us to be regenerated into eternal life the church must conceive us as a mother conceives her children; for us to be preserved, the church must maintain and nourish us in her bosom. For the church is the mother of us all, to which our Lord has committed all the treasures of His grace in order that it may be their guardian and distribute them by its ministry. That is why, if we want to have the entrance into the kingdom of God, we must recognize the church by faith. Now that means not only to conceive in our mind the number of the elect, but to recognize such a unity of the church as we may not doubt that we are introduced into it. For we can have no hope of the heavenly inheritance unless first we join ourselves to Jesus Christ our Head by this communion with all His members, since scripture affirms that there is no salvation outside this unity of the church. That is how we must understand the prophecies that there is salvation in Zion and Jerusalem (Isa. 2[3]; Joel 2[32]). Therefore when the Lord wants to declare eternal death to some, He says that they will not be in the company of His people and they will not be enrolled among the children of Israel (Ezek. 13 [9]).

Moreover this society is called "catholic" or universal because there are not two or three churches but on the contrary all God's elect are so united


and tied together in Christ that, like those who depend on one Head, so also they are incorporated into one body, sharing together well like true members. In truth, they are indeed all made one since they live from the same Spirit of God in the same faith, hope, and love/charity [Rom. 12:5; 1 Cor. 10:17, 12:12-13; Eph. 4:4], and are called not only to the same inheritance but to the same communion and sharing in God and Jesus Christ.

In addition the church is called "holy:' For all who have been elected by God's providence to be incorporated into it are sanctified by God by spiritual regeneration [Jn. 17:17ff]. That is why St. Paul puts this order in God's mercy: "those whom He elected He calls, those whom He has called He justifies;' in order to glorify them some day (Rom. 8[30]). Thus our calling and justification are nothing else than a testimony of divine election inasmuch as the Lord introduces into the communion of His church those whom He had preordained before they were born. For this reason, sometimes scripture does not consider any people to be part of the church except those to whom the Lord has in such a way proved His election. For it is necessary that the children of God be described in a way that our understanding can grasp them: that they are led by God's Spirit. However we must consider well what holiness there is in the church. For if we are willing to consider as "the church" only one which is perfect from one end to the other, we will not find any such church. What St. Paul says is indeed true: that Jesus Christ gave Himself for the church in order to sanctify it, and that He purified it by the washing of water in the word of life to make His spouse glorious, without any spot or wrinkle (Eph. 5[25-26]). But this saying is not less true: that the Lord works day by day to erase the wrinkles and cleanse the spots. From that it follows that the church's holiness is not yet perfect.

So the church is holy in such a way that daily it improves and does not yet have its perfection; daily it advances but has not yet come to the goal of holiness, as will be explained more fully elsewhere. 24 That is why what the prophets foretold about Jerusalem - that it will be holy and that strangers will not pass through it, and that the temple of God will be holy in such a way that none of the unclean will enter there (Joel 3[17]) - must not be understood in such a way as if there is no spot on the members of the church but, because the faithful aspire with true affection of heart to complete holiness and purity, the perfection which they do not yet have is ascribed to them by God's goodness. Now although often it may happen that one does not perceive great signs of this sanctification among people, we must never-

24. See pp. 249ff.


theless hold it as fixed that, from the beginning of the world there was never an age in which the Lord did not have His church, and there will never come a time that He will not always have it (cf. Ps. 89[28-29], 132[11, 17]). For although from the beginning of the world all the human race was corrupted by Adam's sin, still He never failed to sanctify instruments of honor from this corrupt mass, so that there is no age which has not experienced His mercy. He has testified this by sure promises, as when He says: "I have ordained a covenant for my elect. I have vowed to David my servant that I will preserve his seed eternally; I will establish his seat in eternal descent" (Ps. 89[28-29]). And: "The Lord has elected Zion, He has chosen it for His habitation; it is His eternal resting place" (Ps. 132[13-14]). And: "See what the Lord says, the Lord who made the sun for the day and the moon for the night: 'When this order fails, then will the seed oflsrael perish and not before"' (Jer. 31[35-36]).

The article which follows, "the communion of the saints;' has commonly been left out by the early church fathers; it should not, however, be disdained. For as it is necessary for us to believe the church, so it is not superfluous to know what it is that we believe her to be. That is why I think that this part of the phrase is a declaration about the church which signifies to us what its nature and character are: that joining together in which Jesus Christ unites His faithful is of such importance that they communicate together in all good things. By that word, however, we must not understand that each one does not have different graces, since St. Paul says that the gifts of the Spirit are different (1Cor.12[4]). We must also not think that the political order, in which each one possesses what is his own, ought to be overturned, since it is necessary that lordships and possessions be individually distinguished during this mortal life in order to preserve peace and tranquility among people. But we understand such community as fits with this division of goods and graces. For it is fitting to make others participants of all that you have received from God's hand, even if these things were given to you individually and not to others (1 Cor. 12[11]); as among the members of the body there are indeed different abilities and different offices and nevertheless there is such unity that each one serves the others. For, as St. Paul exhorts the Corinthians and the Ephesians, the grace which each one has received should be related and contributed to the common use of the church because our Lord desires that application (1 Cor. 12[7ff, 18, 24ff]; Eph. 4[11ff]). Also in another place he argues that callings are different because the communion which we have together should be ordered according to the diversity of graces (Rom. 12[4-6]).

Now because we believe the holy church and its communion on the


condition that, by means of faith in Christ we have confidence that we are members of it, it is necessary to consider what fruit comes to us from that. Now it is not a small matter to know that we are called into the unity of the church which has been elected and set apart by the Lord God to be the body and fullness of Christ, the pillar and foundation of truth, and the permanent dwelling place of His divine majesty (Eph. 1[4, 23], 2[22]; i Tim. 3[15]; Ps. 46[-45], 87[1ff]; Joel 3[17]; and elsewhere). For when we have that, our salvation is upheld with such a firm support that if all the frame of the world were undermined, our salvation would remain firm and unshaken. First, it is founded in God's election and cannot fail unless His eternal providence were to break in pieces. Moreover, it is confirmed because Christ must remain in His wholeness; He will not allow His faithful to be separated from Him, nor will He allow His members to be torn in pieces. Besides, we are certain that, inasmuch as we remain in the bosom of the church, truth remains with us. Lastly we understand that those promises pertain to us, where it is said that God will remain always in Jerusalem and will never move from its midst (Ps. 46[5]). Such power does the unity of the church have that it can hold us in God's company.

Likewise the word "communion" can greatly comfort us. That is, because all the graces which our Lord has conferred on His members and ours belong to us, our hope is confirmed by all the good things which they have. For the rest, in order to keep in the unity of that church it is not necessary that we see one church with our eyes or be able to touch it with our hands. Rather, since we must "believe the church;' by that is signified that we must not recognize it less when it is invisible than if we clearly see it. And our faith is no worse when it recognizes the church that our understanding cannot grasp, since here we are not commanded to distinguish the elect from the reprobate (that belongs to God alone and not to us), but to have this certainty in our hearts: that all those, who by the mercy of God the Father and the power of the Holy Spirit have come to participation in Christ, are set apart as the proper inheritance of God; and since we are among their number, we are heirs of such a grace.

Now it is time to speak about the visible church which we can grasp with our senses, to show what judgment we should have about it. For the Lord has marked His church with certain signs and marks for us insofar as it pertains to us to recognize it. It is indeed true that the privilege of knowing who are His own belongs to Him alone, as St. Paul says [2 Tim. 2:19; cf. Num. 16:5]. Indeed, in order that human rashness may not go so far as that, He has set up a good order there, warning us daily by experience how His


secret judgments go beyond and above our senses. For on one hand those who seem completely lost, who were held to be without hope, are brought to the right way. On the other hand, those who seemed to be firm indeed, stumble, and God is the only one who sees which ones must persevere to the end, which is the chief point of our salvation [Matt. 24:26, 16:16]. However, because the Lord thought it was for us expedient to know whom we ought to consider His children, He accommodated Himself to our capacity in this matter. Since the certainty of faith is not necessary here, He put in its place a judgment of love/charity, according to which we should recognize as members of the church all those who by confession of faith, by good example oflife, and participation in the sacraments profess the same God and same Christ with us.

From that it is easy for us to perceive what the church is. For everywhere that we see the word of God purely preached and heard and the sacraments administered according to Christ's institution, we must not doubt at all that the church is there, since the promise which He has given us cannot fail: "Wherever two or three are gathered in my name, I will be in the midst of them'' (Matt. 18[20]). But, to understand well the summary of this matter, we must proceed by the following steps: that the church universal is all the multitude which accepts God's truth and the teaching of His word, of whatever nation they may be or whatever place, since it is united by the tie of religion. Under this universal church are comprised the churches which are distributed in each city and village in such a way that each one has the title and authority of church, and the persons who are accepted to be part of each one by profession of faith, although in truth they are not part of the church, nevertheless are counted to belong to it until they are rejected by public judgment.

However there are different ways to evaluate churches and individuals. For it can happen that, because of the common agreement of the church which allows and bears with them still as the body of Christ, we must treat as brothers and accept as faithful those whom we do not think worthy to be in that number. So we will not approve such people as members of the church as far as our private thought goes, but we will leave them the place they hold among the people of God until it is taken away from them by lawful means. With regard to a crowd, we must proceed differently. For if it has the ministry of the word and honors it, if it retains the administration of the sacraments, it must without doubt be recognized as church because it is certain that the word and sacraments cannot be without fruit. In this way we will preserve the unity of the church universal which diabolic spirits have always tried to break in pieces, and we will not take away the authority which be-


longs to the ecclesiastical assemblies, which are found in each place because of human need.

We have set as marks of the church the preaching of the word of God and the administration of the sacraments. For these two things cannot exist without producing fruit and prospering by God's blessing. I do not say that everywhere that there is preaching the fruit at once appears; but I mean that it is not received any place where it has a sure place or seat, without producing some effect. However that may be, everywhere that the preaching of the gospel is reverently heard and the sacraments are not neglected, there one cannot doubt that a sure form of the church appears for the time, and it is not lawful to condemn the authority of that church or despise its warnings or reject its counsel or mock its rebukes. Much less is it allowed to separate from it or to break its unity. For God regards the communion of His church so highly that He considers one who distances himself from some society of Christians in which there is the ministry of His word and His sacraments, a traitor to Christianity. He so highly commends the authority of the church that when it is violated He says that His own authority is violated. That is why we must carefully hold to the marks named above, and esteem them according to God's judgment.

For there is nothing that Satan schemes more to do than to lead us to one of these two points: that, by destroying or erasing the true signs by which we can distinguish the church, he takes away from us every true distinction; or indeed he induces us to cause them to be scorned in order to separate us and make us rebel against the community of the church. It is because of his trickery that the pure preaching of the gospel has been hidden for many years; and now, by the same malevolence, he strives to overturn the ministry which Jesus Christ ordained in His church, so that if this ministry is crushed the edification of the church perishes (Eph. 4(11-13]). What a dangerous (or rather a wanton) temptation it is when it comes into the heart of a person to separate himself from a congregation in which there appear the marks which our Lord considered sufficient to point out His church! We see how necessary it is to be on guard on both fronts. For in order that we may not be deceived under the title of church, we must examine every congregation which claims the name "church" by the test which God offers us, as one tests gold by the touch stone. That is, if it has the order which our Lord set in His word and His sacraments it will not deceive us, so we can surely give it the honor which belongs to the church. On the contrary, if it wants to be recognized as church without the word of God and His sacraments, we must be on guard against this deceit no less than we avoid rashness on the other hand.

I


As for our saying that the pure ministry of the word and the pure way of administering the sacraments are a good pledge and guarantee to reassure us that there is a church in all the societies where we see both of them: that ought to have such weight with us that we should not reject any assembly which maintains both, even though it may be subject to more than a few vices. What is more, there can be some vice, either in the teaching or in the way of administering the sacraments, which should not at all alienate us

from the communion of a church. For all the articles of God's teaching are not of the same kind. There are

some which are so necessary to know that no one should doubt them any more than they doubt the principles of Christianity. As, for example, that there is one God, that Jesus Christ is God and Son of God, that our salvation rests firmly on His mercy alone, and other such teachings. There are others, which are disputed among the churches and nevertheless do not break their unity. To give an example: if it happens that one church holds that when souls are separated from the body they are transferred to heaven at once, and another, without daring to determine the place, thinks simply that they live in God, and such a difference exists without quarreling or obstinacy, why should they separate from each other? These are the words of the apostle: "If we want to be perfect, we must have the same feeling; for the rest, if we have some differences, God will reveal what is in them to us" (Phil. 3[15]). Does he not show us by this that if Christians have any disagreement about matters which are not very necessary, it should not cause trouble or rebellion among

them? It is indeed true that the principal thing is to agree in everything and ev-

erywhere. But since there is no one who is not tangled up in some ignorance, we must either have no church left to us, or we must pardon those who are ignorant in things about which one can be ignorant without peril to salvation and without violating religion. I do not mean here to uphold any errors, even the least, and I would not like them to be nourished by pretense and flattery. But I say that we must not because of disagreement lightly abandon a church in which the principal teachings of our salvation and the sacraments are kept in their entirety, as our Lord ordained. Meanwhile if we try to reform what displeases us in the church, we are only doing our duty. The saying of St. Paul leads us to that, where he says: "Let the one who has a better revelation rise to speak, and let the first speaker be silent" (1 Cor. 14[30]). For by that it is clear that each member of the church is given the task of edifying the others according to the measure of grace which is in him, provided that this is done decently and in order: that is, that we do not reject


the communion of the church and also, remaining in it, that we do not upset the polity or the discipline.

As for the imperfection of morals, we should allow a great deal more. For it is easy to stumble in this area and the devil has amazing schemes to seduce us. There have always been some who, pretending that they have a perfect holiness as if they were some angels of paradise, have disdained any association with people in whom they have perceived some human weakness. Such were those long ago who were called Cathars, that is, the pure, and also the Donatists who were close to their madness. Today there are some similar Anabaptists, that is, those who want to seem the most able, and who think they have made more progress than the rest. There are others who sin more by an unconsidered zeal for righteousness than by such presumption. For when they see that, among those to whom the gospel is announced the fruit does not correspond to the teaching, at once they judge that there is no church there. As for their being offended, that is quite right and certainly we give them too much occasion, and we cannot at all excuse our accursed laziness which God will not leave unpunished - as He has already begun to punish it with terrible rods. Woe then to us who, by our disordered license, cause weak consciences to be wounded and scandalized by us!

However, those of whom we are speaking here also fail on their part since they go beyond proper measure. For where our Lord asks that they practice mercy, they leave it behind and give themselves wholly to rigor and strictness. For in believing that there is no church except where they see a perfect purity and holiness of life, under pretext of hating vices they depart from God's church, thinking they are leaving the company of the wicked. They allege that the church of Jesus Christ is holy. But they must hear what He Himself says about it: that it is a mix of good and bad. For the parable where He compares the church to a net which draws in all kinds of fish, which are not divided until they come to the bank, is true (Matt. 13[47-48]). Let them hear what He says about that in another parable: that the church is like a field which, after being sown with good wheat, is also ravaged with weeds which cannot be separated from the good harvest until it is brought to the barn (Matt. 13[24ff]). Because our Lord declares that His church will be subject to this unhappiness until the judgment day, and be always burdened with bad people, it is futile for them to seek a church completely pure and clean.

But they say that it is intolerable for vices so to reign everywhere. I concede that it would be desirable for it to be otherwise, but for answer I will put forward to them the saying of St. Paul. Among the Corinthians it was not


some small number of people who had fallen, but the whole body was practically corrupt, and there was not one kind of evil but a number of kinds [1 Cor. 3:3ff; 5:1ff]. The sins were not little but great transgressions. There was corruption not only in the morals but also in the teaching. What did the holy apostle, that is, an elect instrument of the Holy Spirit on whose testimony the church is founded, do about that? Did he seek to separate from them? Did he cast them out of Christ's kingdom? Did he pronounce on them a last curse to exterminate them completely? Not only did he do nothing of the sort, but rather he acknowledged them as God's church and company of saints and confessed them to be such. If there remained a church among the Corinthians while quarrels, sects, and discontent reigned there, while there were lots of judicial cases and quarrels, while malevolence was strong there and wickedness which would be detestable among pagans was publicly approved, while St. Paul whom they should have honored as their father was slandered, and some mocked the resurrection of the dead - a denial which destroys the whole gospel, and God's graces were serving ambition and not love/charity and more than a few things were done in dishonorable and disorderly way: if then at that time there remained a church among them, and it did so because they retained the preaching of the word and the sacraments, who will dare take away the name "church" from those who cannot be accused of a tenth of such sins? I ask you: what would those who examine present churches with such strictness have done with the Galatians, who had almost rebelled against the gospel? Nevertheless St. Paul recognizes some

church among them. The faithful must provide themselves with such weapons for fear that in

wanting to seem very ardent and zealous for righteousness they may separate themselves from the kingdom of heaven, which is the only kingdom of that righteousness. For since our Lord wanted the communion of His church to be preserved by us through maintaining public assemblies where we have His word and sacraments, whoever separates from such a society because of hatred for the wicked enters into a path by which it is very easy to separate from the communion of the saints. So let them consider that in such a great multitude there are more than a few who are truly good and innocent before God, whom they cannot perceive by the eye. Let them also consider that, of the number of the wicked, there are many who are not happy and do not flatter themselves about their vices but often, being touched with the fear of God, try to bring themselves back to a better way. Let them consider that it is not a question of judging a person for one act or two or three, since it sometimes happens that the most holy fail very seriously. Let them consider that


the word of God and His holy sacraments have more power and importance for preserving a church than the vices of some rotten members have for breaking it apart. Lastly let them consider that God's judgment should have more authority for determining where there is a church and where there is not, than human opinion.

Nevertheless if churches are well regulated they will not nourish the wicked in their bosoms, when they know the latter to be so drunk in their vices that they are pleased with them. For the Lord has prevented such rotten members from spreading their corruption through the whole body of the church by a good remedy. For this purpose excommunications are ordained, by which those who falsely pretend the faith of Christ and yet by an dishonorable and wicked life offend against His name, should be cast out and expelled from among God's people, since they are not worthy of glorying in Christ's name. That is why, when the church excludes from its society all manifest adulterers, fornicators, thieves, tricksters, robbers, kidnappers, homicides, seditious people, those who strike down others or make trouble or give false witness, sinners, drunkards, gluttons, people who waste goods, commit perjury or blasphemy, and other such kinds of people, and these people are not willing to be reformed by admonitions - when this happens the church is undertaking nothing unreasonable but only carrying out the jurisdiction which God has given to it. In order that no one may despise such a judgment of the church or consider it a small matter to be condemned by the sentence of the faithful, the Lord testified that this is nothing else than a declaration of His own sentence and that what they have said on earth will be ratified in heaven. For they have God's word to condemn the false and erring; they have the same word to receive in mercy all who are truly repentant (Matt. 18[15-18]). Those who tliink that the churches can exist over a long time without being tied and joined together by this discipline, greatly deceive themselves since there is no doubt that we cannot do without a remedy which the Lord foresaw to be necessary for us. Indeed, the usefulness which comes from it shows the better our need for it.

The first use is that people who behave wickedly may not be counted among the number of Christians to the great insult of God, as if the church were a receptacle of the wicked and those who live wickedly. For because the church is the body of Christ, it cannot be contaminated by rotten members without a part of the shame falling back on its Head. So in order that there may be nothing in the church by which God's name may be shamed, all those who cause Christianity to be defamed and dishonored by their wickedness must be excluded. The second way this teaching is useful is to keep


the good from being corrupted by the life of the wicked, as often happens. For since we are inclined to stray away there is nothing easier for us than to follow a bad example. This usefulness was noted by the apostle when he commanded the Corinthians to banish from their company the one who had committed incest; he says: "A little yeast leavens the whole dough" (1 Cor. 5[6]). The holy apostle saw such great danger in this that he forbade the good all companionship and intimacy with the wicked: "If;' he says, "one among you who calls himself 'brother' is a fornicator or avaricious or idolater or evil-speaker or drunkard or ravager, I do not allow you to eat with him" (1 Cor. 5[11]).

The third use is that those who are punished by excommunication, being confounded to their shame, may repent, and by such repentance come to change for the better. Thus it is necessary, especially for their salvation, that their wickedness be punished in order that, being warned by the rod of the church, they may recognize their sins, which they may nourish and in which they may become hardened when they are treated gently. Those who are separated from the flock of the church are not excluded from hope of salvation but are punished for temporal reform until they withdraw from their wicked life to live in a holy and honorable way. That is what the apostle means in what follows: "If someone does not obey our teaching, note him and do not mix with him, in order that he may be ashamed" (2 Thess. 3[14]). The same in another passage, when he says that "he has delivered the incestuous person in Corinth over to the devil for the destruction of the flesh, in order that the spirit might be saved on the day of the Lord" (1 Cor. 5[5]); that is, according to my view, he has punished him with a temporal condemnation in order that his spirit may be eternally saved. Some people think that this is some certain temporal torment which is done by the devil; that seems to me very uncertain, but instead I think it should be understood as I have explained it.

So we should not erase from the number of the elect those who are excommunicated, or despair of them as if they were already lost. Indeed it is lawful to judge them as strangers to the church according to the rule which I gave above; yet that ought to be done only for the time of their separation. And even if we perceive in them more pride and obstinacy than humbleness, still we should put them in God's hands and commend them to His goodness, hoping better for the future than we see in them for the present. To speak more briefly, we must not condemn to eternal death the person who is in the hand of God alone, but we should weigh the kind of works each person does by God's law. When we follow this rule we are holding ourselves to the judgment which God has made known to us rather than putting forward


our own. We must not take more license to judge unless we want to limit God's power and subject His mercy to our fantasy; whenever it seems good to Him, the most wicked are converted into good people by His mercy and strangers are accepted into the church, so that human views may be frustrated and human presumption may be reproved - presumption which always dares to ascribe to itself more than it should if it is not corrected.

As for what Christ says, that what the ministers of His word have bound or freed on earth will be bound or freed in heaven (Matt. 16[19], 18[18]): it does not follow from this that we can distinguish which people belong to His church and which do not. For this promise is repeated two times, with different meanings. In the first place, the Lord does not want to give some visible mark to allow us visibly to recognize those who are bound or absolved, but He simply testifies that those, who on earth (that is, in this life) have received by faith the teaching of the gospel by which Christ is offered to us for redemption and deliverance, will be truly unbound and absolved in heaven, that is, before God on His heavenly throne. On the contrary, those who have despised and rejected the teaching of the gospel will have in that a witness that they remain in their bonds in heaven and before God, and that in heaven they will even be more strictly bound. In the second passage where excommunication is discussed, the power to bind and to unbind is put in ecclesiastical censure by which those who are excommunicated are not cast into eternal destruction and despair but only, as their way of life is condemned, are warned that eternal damnation awaits them if they do not repent. For this is the difference between excommunication and the execration which the ecclesiastical doctors call "anathema'': in anathematizing a person one takes away from him all hope of pardon and gives him to the devil; in excommunicating a person, one instead punishes his morals. Although one may also punish his person, nevertheless that is done in such a way that in pronouncing to him his future damnation one draws him back into the way of salvation. If he obeys, the church is ready to receive him in friendship and make him a participant in its communion.

That is why, if we want to observe ecclesiastical discipline properly, although it is not lawful to keep company and have great intimacy with the excommunicated, nevertheless we should strive as much as lies in us to act so that they may be drawn back into a good way, and then back into the church's communion, whether by exhortation or teaching, or by mercy and kindness, or by our prayers to God; as also the apostle teaches us: "Do not rebuke them as enemies;' he says, "but reprove them as brothers" (2 Thess. 3[15]). He also asks that kind of gentleness in the whole church with regard to receiving


those who show some sign of amendment. For he does not want the church to practice a very harsh strictness, or proceed strictly to the end and be practically unrelenting, but rather it should come forward and present itself willingly to receive the wicked, in order that the repentant one may not be overwhelmed with too great sadness (2 Cor. 2[7]). If this moderation is not carefully guarded, there is danger that we may fall from discipline into a kind of Gehenna and that instead of reformers we may become executioners.

It has already been explained what importance the ministry of God's word and the sacraments should have among us, and how far we should carry this honor, in order to keep it as a sign and mark of the church. That is, there are no moral vices which prevent a church from existing there wherever this ministry is found in its wholeness. Secondly, that even if there are some small faults in either the teaching or the sacraments, these do not cease to have their power. Moreover, it has been shown that the errors which one ought to pardon are those which do not affect the principal teaching of our religion and do not oppose the articles of the faith which all the faithful should accept; and as for the sacraments, that the faults which one can allow are those which do not destroy or overturn the Lord's institution.

But if it happens that lies arise to destroy the first and chief points of the Christian teaching and to destroy what must be known; if the use of the sacraments is brought to nothing; then follows the destruction of the church, just as happens when a person's throat is cut or his heart is stabbed. Now since things go like this in the kingdom of the pope, one can grasp what church remains there. For the ministry of the word there is a corrupt priesthood made by lies. In place of our Lord's Supper there is an abominable sacrilege. The service of God is obscured and contaminated with countless superstitions. Practically all the teaching, without which Christianity cannot exist, is buried and trampled. The public assemblies are like schools of idolatry and impiety. That is why there is no danger that, in our withdrawing from participating in so many shameful things and sacrileges, we are separating ourselves from the church of God. For the communion of the Church is not ordained to be a tie to join us together in idolatry, impiety, ignorance of God, and other wicked things, but rather to hold us in the fear of God and obedience to His truth. But it will appear more clearly what respect we should have for the churches which are crushed by the tyranny of this idol of Rome if we compare them to the ancient church of Israel as it is figured for us by the prophets.

In the time when God's covenant was purely kept in Judah and Israel,


there was then a true church, since the things on which the church is founded appeared there. In the law they had the teaching of truth; the dispensing of this was committed to the priests and prophets. They were received into the people of God by the sacrament of circumcision. They had other sacraments as practices in order to confirm them in the faith. That is why there is no doubt that the testimonies and titles with which our Lord honored His church were fitting to them then. Afterward, having departed from God's law, they made themselves illegitimate by idolatry and superstition and began partly to lose this privilege. For who would dare take away or deny the title of church to those to whom our Lord gave the preaching of His word and the use of His sacraments? On the other hand, who will dare simply and without exception to consider as church an assembly where the word of God is openly trampled under foot or the ministry of the word, which is like the strength and even the soul of the church, is broken in pieces?

"What then?" someone will ask. "Was there no form of the church among the Jews after they declined into idolatry?" The answer is easy. If we consider the church according to what we are saying about it now: that we must revere its judgment, respect its authority, and accept its admonitions, not despise its punishments and discipline and not abandon its communion: the prophets cry aloud that we must not regard such idolatrous societies as churches but as profane and polluted synagogues. For if these had been churches, Elijah, Micah, and God's other servants would have been banished from the church since the prophets and priests as well as the people considered them more accursed than the uncircumcised. If they had been churches, it would follow that the church would not be a column of truth but a pillar of lying; it would not be a tabernacle of the living God but a receptacle ofidols (1Tim.3[15]). Nevertheless there remained there among the Jews some prerogatives and privileges which belong uniquely to the church, chiefly God's covenant, which was upheld by its own firmness in fighting against the impiety of the people rather than through being confirmed by them. That is why, because of the certainty and constancy that God keeps in His grace and goodness, the divine covenant remained firm there and its truth could not be destroyed by the disloyalty of the people. Circumcision also could not be so polluted by their impure and dirty hands as not to be a sign and sacrament of this covenant. For that reason our Lord said that the children who were born of this people were His (Ezek. 16[20-21]).

For the same reason, if someone today recognizes as churches of God those which are under the pope, which are filled (as we see) with idolatry and superstitions and wicked teachings, and ifhe thinks that he must remain


wholly in their communion to the point of making himself agree with their teaching, he will be seriously deceived. For if they are churches, the power of the keys is committed to them. Now the keys are joined together inseparably with God's word, which in those churches is excluded and cast out. Moreover, if these are churches, Christ's promise that what is bound or absolved there will be bound or absolved in heaven, has a place there. Now if all those who sincerely call themselves servants of Jesus Christ are cast out of there and excommunicated, it follows that either Jesus Christ's promise is empty and vain, or they are not churches, at least in this regard. Lastly, as for the ministry of the word: there are only schools of impiety and all kinds of errors there. That is why, either they are not churches in this regard, or there remains to us no mark to distinguish between the assemblies of the faithful and the synagogues of the Turks. Nevertheless we allow that they have the remains and appearance of church, which our Lord has left there since they were broken in pieces. First is God's covenant which cannot be broken, and baptism which is the sacrament of the covenant; the sacrament, being consecrated by the mouth of the Lord, retains its power despite human impiety.

In summary, we do not completely deny that there is a church there, and also we do not simply concede that there is; for they are churches inasmuch as our Lord preserves there the remains of His people (who are wretchedly scattered there), and also there remain still some signs of the church, chiefly those which cannot have their efficaciousness destroyed either by the tricks of the devil or by human wickedness. On the contrary, because the marks (of which we have just spoken) which are required in the church are erased there, if we seek a rightly ordered church I say that there is no lawful form of church there. The antichrist has upset and overturned everything there, so that it is a figure of Babylon rather than the holy city of God. Now if it is well known that the antichrist reigns there, from that we may infer that these are churches of God, since scripture foretells that he will be seated in God's sanctuary. But we understand that they are churches contaminated and polluted with the antichrist's abominations.

The remission of sins

The remission of sins is joined together very fittingly with the church, since it cannot be obtained except by those who are members of the church, as the prophet says (Isa. 33(24]). This heavenly Jerusalem must first be built up, in which afterward this grace takes place: that the sins of any who are its citizens are erased. Now I say that it must first be built up; not that the church


can exist in any fashion without the forgiveness of sins, but because the Lord has not promised His mercy except in the communion of the saints.

The forgiveness of sins is, then, our first entrance into the church and to the kingdom of God; without it we have no covenant or right of belonging to God, as is shown by the prophet Hosea: "In that day;' says the Lord, "I will make a covenant with the beasts of the earth and the birds of the heaven. I will break the bow and lance and make every battle on earth cease, and I will make all people sleep without fear. I will make with them an everlasting covenant. The covenant will be in righteousness, in judgment, in mercy, and in compassion" (Hos. 2(18-19]). We see how our Lord reconciles us to Himself by His mercy. Likewise in another place, when He foretells that He will gather His people whom He had scattered in His wrath, He says: "I will purify them from all the sin by which they have offended me" (Jer. 33(8]). That is why we are received into the company of the church at the first entrance by the sign of washing, by which we are shown that we have no access into God's family unless first our filth is cleansed by His goodness. Now what this forgiveness of sins is, and how is it done, we will explain elsewhere more carefully. 25

Nevertheless we must note here what is shown to us by the order of the creed: that forgiveness of sins is not given to us on account of our merits but by God's grace alone. For after the creed declares that by Christ's righteousness God is made favorable to us and wants to be a good Father to us, and has talked about the Holy Spirit by whom we are sanctified to communicate and share with Christ, it finally speaks of the church, which is produced by that. Now after the church it names the forgiveness of sins, by which we are made members of the church. This order signifies that forgiveness does not come from elsewhere and does not rest firmly on any other than Christ alone, by the power of the Holy Spirit. We must not think that our Lord receives us into His church only for once by this forgiveness of sins, but He also maintains and preserves us by it. For to what purpose would our Lord give us a pardon which would be of no use to us? Now God's mercy would be futile and unsuccessful if it were given to us only once. Concerning this each of the faithful can give witness, since there is no one who does not feel guilty of many weaknesses through his whole life, weaknesses which need God's mercy. That is why, since we are always burdened with the remains of sins as long as we live, it is certain that we could not exist a single minute in the church if God's grace did not continually support us by forgiving our sins.

25. See chapter 6.


On the contrary, the Lord has called His own to eternal salvation, so they must believe that His grace is always ready to give mercy to their offenses. So we are here exhorted to believe that by God's mercy providing the merit of Jesus Christ, and by the sanctification of His Spirit, our sins have been and are being forgiven daily since we are united to the body of the church.

Now because there are some who strive to take away from the church this unique presentation of salvation, we must also confirm and strengthen consciences against this very pestilent error. The Novatians upset the early church with this false teaching, but our present age has some Anabaptists who resemble that fantasy quite well. For they imagine that God's people are regenerated to a pure and angelic life by baptism, a life which should not be contaminated with the stains of the flesh. If it happens that after baptism the persons fall away from this purity, they do not allow them to expect anything but God's relentless strictness. In summary, they give no hope of obtaining forgiveness and mercy to the sinner who has stumbled into sin after having received God's grace. For they do not recognize any other forgiveness of sins except that by which we are first regenerated. Now although no lie is more clearly refuted in scripture than this, nevertheless because such people find ignorant persons to deceive (as Novatius long ago had more than a few followers), let us briefly show how dangerous their error is, both for them and for others.

First, because by God's commandment all the saints daily practice the petition that their sins be forgiven, by that they confess that they are sinners. Those who pray this way do not ask in vain; for the Lord Jesus did not ordain for us to ask something which He did not want to give us. Indeed, having promised in general that the whole prayer which He gave us would be heard by the Father, He gives a special promise for this petition. What more do we want? The Lord wants all His saints, day by day, all their lives, to confess that they are sinners, and He promises them pardon. So what presumption it is either to deny that they are sinners or, when they have fallen, to exclude them from all grace! Moreover, whom does He want us to forgive seventy times seven (Matt. 18[22])? That is, whenever? Is it not our brothers? Why does He want that except in order that we may follow His mercy? So He pardons not just once or twice, but each time that the poor sinner, beaten down and wounded by the recognition of his sins, sighs to Him.

We may begin with examples from the beginning of the church. The patriarchs were circumcised, received into God's covenant, and there is no doubt that they had also been taught by their father to follow righteousness and integrity, when they conspired to kill their brother (Gen. 37[18] and fol-


lowing chapters). It was a loathsome crime even for the most desperate robbers in the world. In the end, being softened by Judah's admonition, they sold him, but that wa5 still an intolerable cruelty. Simeon and Levi murdered all the people of Sychar to take vengeance for their sister, which was not lawful for them and indeed was condemned by their father [Gen. 34:25ff]. Reuben committed a detestable incest with his father's wife [Gen. 35:22]. Judah, wanting to behave wantonly, went against what is naturally honorable, consorting with his daughter-in-law (Gen. 38[16ff]). Now so little were they erased from among the elect people that on the contrary they were established as heads. What will we say about David, who was the chief justice: how gravely he offended, desiring to expiate his wantonness by shedding innocent blood [2 Sam. n:15]! He was already regenerated and had even had higher testimony of that than God's other children, yet he committed a wickedness which would horrify even pagans. That did not prevent him from obtaining mercy.

So as not to delay by giving too many individual examples, consider: how many promises do we have of God's mercy toward the Israelites? How often is it shown that the Lord was always favorable to them? For what does Moses promise the people when they turn back to God after having fallen away into idolatry and abandoned the living God? He says: "The Lord will draw you back from captivity and will have compassion on you and will gather you together from among the people where you have been scattered. If you are spread to the four ends of the world, He will gather you" (Deut. 30[3-4]). But I do not want to begin an account which will have no end. For the prophets are full of such promises in which they offer mercy to the people who had committed countless sins. What sin is more serious than rebellion? That is why it is called divorce between God and His church; nevertheless it is pardoned by God's goodness. "Who is the man;' He says by the mouth of Jeremiah, "who if his wife abandons herself to wantonness, wants to take her back afterward? Now all ways are contaminated with your wanton acts, people of Judea; the earth is completely full of them. Nevertheless return to me and I will receive you. Come back to me, rebellious and stubborn people, I will not turn my face away from you; for I am Holy and my anger is not everlasting" (Jer. 3[1, 9, 12]). Certainly there could not be any other feeling in one who says that He does not desire the death of the sinner but that he may convert and live. That is why when he dedicated the temple Solomon destined it for the purpose that prayers for pardon for sins might be heard there: "When Your children have sinned (as there is no one who does not sin) and in Your wrath You have delivered them to Your enemies,


and then they have repented in their hearts and, being converted, pray to You in their captivity, saying: 'Lord, we have sinned and have lived evilly; and when pleading this way they look toward the land which You have given to their fathers and toward Your holy temple where we are, from heaven above You will hear their prayers and be favorable to Your people who have offended You and will pardon all the sins they have committed against You" (1 Kg. 8[46-50]). It is not in vain that in His law God has ordained sacrifices for sins among His people. For if He had not known that His servants are continually stained with vices, He would not have offered them this remedy.

Now I ask if, by the coming of Christ in whom all the fullness of grace has been extended, this has been taken away from the faithful? So that they dare no longer pray to obtain pardon for their sins and if, when they have offended God, they find no mercy. What else would that be but to say that Christ has come for the destruction of His own rather than for their salvation, if God's kindness which was always ready for the saints in the Old Testament is now completely taken away? But if we believe the scripture which cries loudly and clearly that God's grace and His love for people have fully appeared in Christ (2 Tim. 1[9-10 ]), that the riches of His mercy have been extended in Him (Tit. 3[5-6]) and reconciliation with people accomplished, we must not doubt that His mercy is now displayed in greater abundance, rather than abbreviated and diminished.

We also have examples of that before our eyes. St. Peter, who had heard from Jesus Christ's mouth that whoever does not confess His name before people would not be recognized by Him before the angels of heaven, denied Him three times, indeed even with blasphemy; nevertheless he was not excluded from grace (Matt. 10[33], 26[69-75], 9[13]). Those who lived in a disorderly way among the Thessalonians are punished by St. Paul in such a way that he invites them to repentance (2 Thess. 3[15]). St. Peter does not even make Simon Magus despair but rather gives him good hope, counseling him to pray to God for his sin (Acts 8[22]). What is more, were there not great sins which once possessed an entire church? What did St. Paul do in that situation except to lead all the people back into a good path rather than abandoning them with a final curse (2 Cor. 12(15, 19])? The Galatians' rebellion against the gospel was not a light sin. The Corinthians were even less excusable since they had more, equally serious vices. Nevertheless neither group was excluded from God's goodness, but on the contrary, those who had offended more seriously than the others, by wantonness, indecency, and all sordidness, are explicitly called to repentance. For the covenant that our Lord made with Christ and all His members endures and will always remain


unbreakable, when He says: "If it happens that his children depart from my law and do not walk in my precepts, if they profane my justice and do not keep my teaching, I will strike their iniquities with my rods and their sins with my chastisement, but my mercy will never depart from them" (Ps. 89[30-33]). Finally, by the order of the creed, we are shown that this grace and mercy remain and always reside in the church, because after it sets out the church it adds the forgiveness of sins next. Therefore it must take place in those who belong to the church.

Some who are a little more subtle, when they see that the teaching of the Novatians is clearly reproved by scripture, do not make every sin unpardonable but only willing or voluntary transgressions into which a person falls by his own knowledge and will. Now in speaking so, they do not think that any sin is forgiven except one committed in ignorance. But since in the law the Lord ordained some sacrifices to wipe out voluntary sins of His people, the others to purify ones done in ignorance (Lev. 6[2ff], 4[2, 13, 22, 27]), what rashness it is to leave no hope of pardon for a voluntary sin! I maintain that there is nothing more clear than this, that Jesus Christ's unique sacrifice has the power to remit voluntary sins of the faithful, since God has testified this by physical victims which are figures of Christ's sacrifice. Moreover, who will excuse David under pretext of ignorance, since it is well known that he had been well instructed in the law? Did he not know what sins adultery and homicide were, he who punished them daily in his subjects? Did the patriarchs think it was a good and honorable thing to murder their brother? Had the Corinthians profited so little in teaching that they thought unchastity, fornication, hate, and quarreling were things pleasing to God? After he had been so carefully admonished did St. Peter not know what a sin it was to deny his Master? So by our inhumanity let us not close the door to God's mercy which presents itself so freely to us.

I am not unaware that some early church doctors have interpreted the sins which are daily forgiven as light faults which happen because of the weakness of the flesh. Moreover, it seemed to them that the solemn penance which at that time was required for great offenses should not be repeated any more than baptism. That sentence should not be taken as if they wanted to cast into despair one who had fallen again after he had once been received in repentance, or to diminish the daily faults as being small in God's sight. For they well knew that the saints stumble often in some unfaithfulness, that it happens that they swear without need, are angered beyond measure - sometimes indeed to the point of clear insults, and fall into other vices which our Lord detests not a little. But they use this way of speaking in order to make a

,,


distinction between private sins and public sins or crimes which cause great scandals in the church. Moreover, the fact that they made pardon so difficult for those who had committed something which deserved ecclesiastical correction was not because they thought that it is hard for sinners to obtain pardon from God, but by such strictness they wanted to deter others, in order that they might not fall into such offenses that they deserved to be excommunicated from the church. However, God's word, which we should keep here as our only rule, requires a greater moderation and humanity. For it teaches that the strictness of ecclesiastical discipline should not go to the point that the one whose benefit they should seek is overwhelmed with sadness.

Nevertheless those who are so ignorant and relentless against voluntary sins claim the authority of the apostle who (it seems) takes away all hope of pardon in this matter. For he says that for those who have once been illuminated and received grace from heaven, having been made participants of the Holy Spirit and tasted God's word and the powers of the life to come, if they fall away again it is impossible for them to be brought back to penitence, because this is to crucify the Son of God the second time and mock Him (Heb. 6[4-6]). And in another place: "If we sin;' he says, "after having received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no sacrifice for us but a horrible expectation of judgment" (Heb. 10[26-27]). These are the passages by which the Novatians formerly troubled the church when they interpreted them wrongly. Because these are at first sight harsh, some good persons of rank have thought that this epistle was falsely ascribed to the apostle; nevertheless, it truly shows throughout an apostolic spirit. Because we have only argued with those who accept it, it is easy to show how these sentences do nothing to confirm their error.

First it is necessary that the apostle agree with his Master who certifies that every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven except the sin against the Holy Spirit, which is not forgiven either in this world or the next (Matt. 12[31-32];

Mk. 3[28-29]; Lk. 12[10]). It is certain that the apostle was satisfied with this exception, unless we want to make him an adversary of Christ's grace; from this it follows that what he says in both of these places should be understood only of the sin against the Holy Spirit. If this explanation is not enough for them, I will also show how his words come to that. To explain that better we should know what this very loathsome sin, which will not be forgiven, is. In some place St. Augustine defines it as a hardening and obstinacy lasting till death, with a distrust of obtaining grace; but this does not fit with Christ's words that it will not be forgiven in this age. For either that was said in vain or the unpardonable sin can be committed in this world, because according


to what St. Augustine says, it is only committed when there is perseverance in it up to death. Others say that to hate the graces of one's neighbor is to sin against the Holy Spirit, but I do not know on what they base this. However we must bring forward the true definition which, when it has been proven by good testimonies, will easily do away with the others.

So I say that a person sins against the Holy Spirit when, although he is so touched by the light of God's truth that he cannot claim ignorance, he nevertheless resists with deliberate malevolence only for the sake of resisting. To explain what He had said, the Lord Jesus adds next that "the one who has spoken against Him will obtain pardon, but the one who blasphemes against the Spirit will have no grace:' St. Matthew, instead of "blaspheme against the Spirit;' puts "spirit of blasphemy" [Matt. 12:31]. How can it happen that someone insults the Son of God without that recoiling on His Spirit? When in ignorance a person contradicts God's truth that he had not known, and by ignorance speaks evil of Christ, though meanwhile he nonetheless has such a feeling that he would not at all constrain God's truth when it should be revealed to him, or say a single bad word against one whom he thought to be Christ: such people sin against the Father and the Son. As today there are many who hate and reject the teaching of the gospel, which they would hold in great honor and worship with all their heart if they believed it to be the gospel. But those who are convicted in their consciences that the teaching which they are fighting against is from God, and yet they do not stop resisting it and trying to destroy it, those blaspheme against the Spirit since they fight against the light which is presented to them by the power of the Holy Spirit. There were such people among the Jews who, although they could not resist the Spirit speaking by the mouth of St. Stephen, nevertheless strove to resist it (Acts 7[55]). No doubt some were moved by unconsidered zeal for the law. But it is clear that there were others among them who raged against God from certain malevolence and impiety; that is, they raged against the teaching which they had to know came from God. Such were the Pharisees whom Jesus Christ censured who, in order to overturn the power of the Holy Spirit, slandered it as if it came from Beelzebub.

See then that it is the spirit of blasphemy when human presumption, of deliberate purpose, tries to destroy God's glory. That is what St. Paul indicates when he says that he obtained mercy since he had been unbelieving by reason of negligence and ignorance (1 Tim. 1[13]). If ignorance joined together with unbelief caused him to obtain pardon, it follows that there is no mercy when unbelief comes from knowledge and deliberate malevolence. If you look at the passage closely you can see that the apostle speaks in this

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sense, for he directs his words against those who thought they could well return to Christianity after they had once denied it. Wanting to draw them back from this fantasy and deadly opinion, he says one thing which is quite true: that those who have once denied Jesus Christ with knowledge and of intent can never have part in Him. This means those who do not simply transgress His word by a disordered life but who of deliberate purpose reject His word completely.

So the Novatians and their followers deceived themselves in these words "to fall" or "to overturn:' For they understand that one falls who, being taught by the law of God that one must not steal, nevertheless does not refrain from stealing. But I say that here we must understand a comparison of contrary things. When he says "those who have fallen after they have been illuminated, after having tasted God's word and His heavenly grace and the powers of the life to come, and after having been illuminated by the Holy Spirit" [Heb. 6:4-6), we must understand that they have put out the light of the Spirit by deliberate malevolence, and have rejected God's word and the savor of His grace, and have alienated and distanced themselves from His Spirit. Indeed, to express more clearly that he was speaking of a malevolent and deliberate impiety, in one place he explicitly adds the word "voluntarily:' For when he says that there remains no sacrifice for those who sin with certain will or intent after having known the truth, he does not deny that Christ's is a perpetual sacrifice to wipe out the sins of the faithful (something he had treated previously in practically the whole epistle, in explaining Christ's priesthood), but he means that there remains no other sacrifice when that One has been rejected. Now we reject Him by trampling under foot the truth of the gospel with deliberate intent.

As for what some object, that it is a very great cruelty and inappropriate for God's mercy to exclude any sinner from the forgiveness of sins when he needs mercy, the answer is easy. For he does not say that God denies them pardon if they turn to Him; but he explicitly says that they never return to repentance since God, by His just judgment, strikes them with an eternal blindness because of their ingratitude. It does not contradict this when he applies the example of Esau to this purpose, saying that Esau tried in vain by tears and cries to recover the birthright he had lost (Heb. 12[16-17)); nor does the prophet contradict this when he says that when they cry the Lord will not hear them (Mic. 3[4]). For by such ways of speaking scripture does not indicate either a true repentance or true calling on God, but rather the distress by which the wicked, when they are pressed in their final calamity, are constrained to acknowledge what they had previously thought was a


mockery and mere fable: that all their good consists in God's help. Now they cannot beg for it or ask from the heart but only groan that it is taken away from them. Therefore the prophet by the word "cry" and the apostle by the word "tears" mean nothing but the horrible torment by which the wicked are tossed about in despair and affliction when they see that they have no remedy for their wretchedness except God's goodness in which they cannot trust at all.

The resurrection of the flesh; life eternal

Here we have the goal and fulfillment of our blessedness. First: we are made certain of the resurrection of the flesh, by which we enter into possession of life eternal; this is because our flesh and our blood cannot possess the kingdom of God and the corrupt is not capable of incorruption. The resurrection of the flesh is not only difficult to believe but completely incredible, if we regard it according to human reason. That is why, although more than a few philosophers have known about the immortality of the soul, nevertheless not a single one of them has had the least idea of the resurrection of the flesh. For who could imagine that the bodies which we have, some of which are rotting in the earth, some eaten by worms, others by birds, others by animals, some reduced to ashes by fire, should one day be returned to their wholeness? However the Lord has very well countered this difficulty, not only in testifying to this future resurrection by sure words, but in giving us a visible certainty of it in Jesus Christ. That is why what would otherwise seem incredible has been shown to us visibly.

So if we want to understand well what this resurrection will be, we must always look at Jesus Christ, who is the mirror and the substance of it, as also the apostle exhorts us when he calls the restoration of our body "a conforming to the glorious body of the Lord Jesus" [Phil. 3:21). As then He was resurrected in the same body in which He had suffered, which nevertheless had quite a different glory after the resurrection than before, we also will be resurrected in the same flesh that we bear and nevertheless we will also be different after the resurrection. St. Paul declares the variety of the resurrection bodies by some metaphors, for human and animal flesh is the same substance, yet the quality of the two differs. The stars are of the same essence but not the same quality. In such a way we will retain the substance of our body but the quality will be changed. That is why this corruptible body which we have will not perish in our resurrection but, leaving its corruption, it will be made incorruptible and leaving its mortality, it will be made immortal


(1 Cor. 15[41, 53]). So there is no difficulty which prevents the Lord from drawing back from corruption all those who have been consumed by death before the judgment day, by the same power which He demonstrated in resurrecting His Son. For those who are alive then will come into immortality more by a sudden change than by a natural form of death.

Now, because the prophecy where it is foretold that "death will be swallowed up in victory" will then be fully accomplished, life eternal is put at the same time as the resurrection of the flesh [1Cor.15:54]. As for the superiority of that life: when one has said everything that could be expressed in all human languages, one will scarcely have touched on the least part of it. For although scripture teaches that the kingdom of God is full of brightness, joy, and happiness, all that it says is still quite far from our understanding and practically enveloped in images until the day comes when the Lord will make Himself known to us face to face. That is why the prophets, because they could not express in words the substance of this spiritual blessedness, described it and practically depicted it under physical images. Nevertheless, because our hearts must be kindled with love and expectation of this life, we must chiefly fix on this reflection: that if God, as our living fountain, contains in Himself the fullness of all good, those who look for the sovereign good and all the parts of happiness cannot desire anything besides Him. Now St. Peter affirms that the faithful are called someday to be participants of the divine nature (2 Pet. 1 [ 4 ]). How is that? The Lord will be glorified in His saints and exalted in those who have believed His gospel (2 Thess. 1[10]). If the Lord should distribute to His elect from His glory, power, and righteousness, indeed, communicate Himself to them, we must reflect that under this grace are comprised all good things. Even when we have well profited in this meditation, we must understand that we are still at the beginning and first entrance, and that we will never come close to the grandeur of that mystery in this life.

It is no surprise that there is no mention here of the resurrection of the wicked or of the eternal death which is prepared for them. For here are set out only the things which should comfort the conscience of the faithful person and nourish and confirm his confidence in salvation. Nevertheless curious spirits must not think that the wicked will not be resurrected because there is no testimony of their resurrection in the creed. The situation of the wicked after this life is sufficiently shown elsewhere, and all that should make them tremble is sufficiently stated;26 that is why we should not look for

26. Calvin proceeds to cite relevant biblical texts.


them in the creed which contains only matter to establish and build up our faith. Does not the Lord Jesus witness to the universal resurrection clearly enough when He says that "He will gather all peoples before His face and will separate them into their places as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats" (Matt. 25(31])? And in another place: "those who have lived well will enter into the resurrection oflife, those who have lived wickedly into the resurrection of death" (Jn. 5(29]). Can we ask for anything clearer than the confession of St. Paul which he made before Felix, governor of Judea, that he was awaiting the future resurrection of the wicked as well as the righteous (Acts 24[15])? Since the universal resurrection is so well proven by so many testimonies, (even) a great number of rash spirits must not put it in doubt. The recompense of the righteous and the wicked is joined together in such a way that one involves the other, so whoever testifies that one will happen, presupposes the other at the same time. That is what the Lord indeed noted by the prophet when He said: "The day of vengeance is in my heart and the time of redemption has come" (Isa. 63[4] and more than a few times). And in another place: "You will see and your heart will rejoice and your bones will become green like the grass, and the hand of the Lord on His servants will be known, and His scorn upon His enemies" (Isa. 66[14]). Now since that only happens obscurely in this world and especially is not ever completely fulfilled here, this saying properly fits the last day of retribution on which God's judgment and righteousness will appear.

But because there is no adequate description to demonstrate how horrible the suffering of the wicked will be, the torments which they must bear are put in images of physical things, that is, darkness, tears, groans, gnashing of teeth, eternal fire, and worms constantly gnawing the heart (Isa. 66 [ 24]). For it is certain that the Holy Spirit intended by these ways of speaking to indicate an extreme horror which might move all the senses; as when He says that a deep Gehenna is prepared for them for all eternity, with blazing fire for which there is always wood ready to keep it going and the Spirit of God like a blast of air to kindle it (Isa. 30 [33] ). Although we ought to be instructed by such forms of speech in some way to conceive the wretched condition of the wicked, nevertheless we must chiefly attach our thought to this: what wretchedness it is to be separated completely from God's company. Not only that, but to sense His majesty opposed to us, which we cannot flee without it always following us. For first His wrath is like a burning fire which devours and swallows up everything by its touch. Next, all creatures serve in such a way to carry out His severity that all those to whom God has revealed His wrath sense that heaven, earth, the sea, all animals, and all other things are

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as if armed for their destruction and ruin. That is why what the apostle has said is not unimportant: that the unbelieving will be eternally punished in that the face of the Lord and the glory of His power will follow them (2 Thess. 1[9]). For if the poor conscience, finding itself in God's presence and feeling His wrath, is so torn apart, wounded, beaten down, anguished, pierced, broken in pieces, that it would be gentler to be swallowed up in a thousand pits and abysses than to bear this torment for a single minute, how much does he suffer by being closed up endlessly in God's wrath?

For the rest, the error of the Chiliasts who set the coming of Christ's kingdom and the confounding of the devil and his members at one thousand years, is so empty and childish that there is no need to refute it, nor does it even deserve that. The whole of scripture cries loudly and clearly that there is no end either to the blessedness of the elect or the torment of the wicked. Either we must accept from God's word the certainty of those things which are not visible to the eye and which cannot be understood by human reason, or we must not believe any of it at all. Those who assign one thousand years to God's children for the blessedness of the future life do not see what insult they are doing to Christ and His kingdom. For if the faithful will not be clad with immortality, it would follow that Christ (to whose glory they will be conformed) would not have been received into immortal glory. If their blessedness has some end, it follows that Christ's kingdom (where they are) is temporal. Finally, either the people who hold this idea of the thousand years are very ignorant of divine matters or they strive with great malevolence to overturn all God's grace and Christ's power - for the fulfillment of God's grace and Christ's power cannot exist unless, sin having been destroyed and death swallowed up, eternal life is fully restored. As for the fact that they fear to ascribe very great cruelty to God in saying that the wicked will be punished with eternal torment: even the blind see well what madness that is, as if the Lord did great harm in depriving of His kingdom those who by their ingratitude have made themselves undeserving of it. "But:' they say, "the sins are temporal:' I admit that; but God's majesty, which they have offended, is eternal, so it is right that the memory of their sin not perish. "But if it is so;' they say, "the measure of the correction surpasses that of the sin:' I reply that it is an intolerable blasphemy when God's majesty is of so little value to us that we consider scorning it less than the loss of a soul. So let us leave such babblers, so that it may not seem that we consider them deserving of answers against what we have said at the beginning.

Everywhere that this living faith exists it absolutely must always bear with it hope for eternal salvation, or rather engender and produce that. For if


this hope is not in us, whatever lovely babbling and fine words we may have about faith, it is certain that we do not have any of it. For if, as we have said, faith is a certain persuasion of God's truthfulness, and this truthfulness cannot lie, deceive, or be frustrated, whoever has conceived this certainty likewise expects the Lord to fulfill His promises. He considers those promises truthful so that, in summary, hope is nothing else than an expectation of the good things which faith has believed are truthfully promised by God. Thus faith believes that God is truthful; hope expects that He will reveal His truth in time. Faith believes that He is our Father; hope expects that He will reveal Himself as such toward us. Faith believes that eternal life is given to us; hope expects that we will one day obtain it. Faith is the foundation on which hope rests; hope nourishes and supports faith. For as no one can accept anything from God unless he has first believed His promises, so the weakness of our faith must be supported while it waits and hopes patiently, so that it will not fail. That is why St. Paul speaks very well when he establishes our salvation in hope which, awaiting God in silence, holds back faith so that it may not stumble because it is hurrying too much (Rom. 8[24-25); cf. Isa. 36[21]);

hope confirms faith so that it may not waver regarding God's promises or have some doubt about them; hope regenerates and comforts faith so that it may not become weary; hope guides faith to its last goal so that it may not fail in the middle of the way or even on the first day; lastly, in renewing and restoring faith day by day, hope gives it continual strength to persevere.

We will especially see more clearly how many ways faith needs to be confirmed by hope if we consider how many kinds of temptations attack those who have once received God's word. First, in deferring His promises, the Lord often keeps us in suspense more than we would like. In this situation it is the duty of hope to do what the prophet says, which is to remind us that if God's promises are slow (in being fulfilled), we should not become tired of waiting for them (Hab. 2 [3]). Sometimes also God not only allows us to languish but gives the appearance of being angry with us; in that situation hope must support us so that, following the saying of another prophet, we may be able to wait for the Lord even though He has hidden His face from us (Isa. 8[17]). As St. Peter says, "Mockers also rise up, who ask: 'Where are the promises? Where is the coming of Jesus Christ? Seeing that since the creation of the world all things go along in the same way'" (2 Pet. 3[4]). Indeed, even the flesh and the world suggest that to our minds. Here faith, supported by and resting on hope, must be fixed and completely determined to contemplate the eternity of God's kingdom, in order to count a thousand years as a day [Ps. 90:4; 2 Pet. 3:8]. Because of this likeness and relationship, scrip-


ture sometimes confounds one of these words (faith or hope) with the other, as when St. Peter says that God's power preserves us by faith until the revelation of salvation (1 Pet. 1[5]). That would be more suitably said about hope than about faith. Nevertheless this is not without reason, since we have shown that hope is nothing else than firmness and perseverance in faith.

Now it is not difficult to see how seriously the master of the Sentences deceives himself in making a double foundation for hope, that is, God's grace and the merit of works. Certainly hope can have no other goal than faith. Now we have clearly shown that the unique goal of faith is God's mercy and that it completely focuses on that and does not look around anywhere else. But it is good to hear the beautiful reason that the master of the Sentences alleges: "If you dare;' he says, "to hope for something without having merited or deserved it, it is not hope but presumption:'27 I ask you, my friends, what person will refrain from speaking evil of such beasts who think that it is rashness and presumption to believe certainly that God is trustworthy? For when God commands us to expect all things from His goodness, they say that it is presumption to rest tranquilly on this promise. But such a master deserves the disciples he has had in the schools of the sophists, that is, the Sorbonnists. As for us, on the contrary, when we see that God openly commands sinners to have certain hope of salvation, we boldly presume on His truth so much that, rejecting all confidence in our works, by means of His mercy we hope without any doubt for what He promises us.

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Of faith, where the Apostles' creed is explained€¦ · 216 INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION order to be devoted to Him as His servants, so that they may glory with all His people