to Anaftafius.-No regard was had to any thing not comprised in thefe; and the French ftill maintain the rights of the Gallican church to confift in their not being obliged to admit any thing elfe; but to be at liberty to reject all innovations made in the canonical jurifprudence fince that compilation, as well as all papal decrees before Sircius.

Indeed, between the eighth and eleventh centuries, the canon law was mixed and confounded with the papal decrees from St. Clement to Sircius, which till then had been unknown: this gave occafion to a new reform or body of the canon law, which is the collection ftill extant under the title of the Concordance of the Difcarding Canons, made in 1151, by Gratian, a Benedictine monk, from texts of fcripture, councils, and fentiments of the fathers in the feveral points of ecclefiaftical polity. This work he divided according to the order of matters, not of times and councils, as had been done before; fo that, upon the appearance of this, all the ancient collections immediately funk.-It is divided into three parts; the firft into an hundred and eight diftinctions;" the fecond into thirty-fix caufes, and the third into five diftinct parts: the fecond part of the canon law confifts of the decrees of the popes from 1150, to pope Gregory IX. in 1229.

In 1297, pope Boniface continued the papal decrees as far as his time: this part the French make particular exception to, by reafon of that pope's differences with their king, Philip the Fair. To these pope John XXII. added the Clementines, or the five books of the conftitutions of his predeceffor Clement V. And to all thefe were after added twenty conftitutions of the faid pope John, called the Extravagantes; and fome other conftitutions of his fucceffors.

All these compofe the body, or corpus, of the canon law, to this time, which, including the comments, makes (three volumes in folio) the rule and meafure of church government*. There are a variety of other collections of

Chambers's Dictionary.

the

the canons and decrees of councils, which make up the body of the canon law; which canons and ecclefiaftical laws it is the business and profeffion of the canonifts, or ecclefiaftical lawyers, to study, explain, and apply with great exactnefs; and to vindicate their authority, and maintain an inviolable regard to them, by all the fanctions annexed to them.

But befides thefe ecclefiaftical laws and canons, which' are the bulwark of the conftitution of the Romish church," there are other inftitutions of that church more efpecially calculated for preferving an uniformity of faith among Chriftians. Thefe formularies or creeds are chiefly three, viz. that called the Apostles, of which we have given account, p. 30; the Nicene, p. 41; and the Athanafian, p. 56, of which a repetition is unneceffary. I shall only observe, that the Nicene creed has been ever held in great efteem by that church, and conftitutes the firft twelve articles of that ultimate rule of their faith and practice, pope Pius IV. creed,

The creed itfelf contains the fubftance of the decrees and canons of the council of Trent, and being ufually divided into twenty-four articles, is fo plaufible as to exprefs the first twelve in the very words of that creed called the Nicene, the greateft part of which moft proteftants profess to believe and acknowledge: but there is this great difference, as was before obferved, between the manner wherein the Nicene creed is impofed in popish countries, and wherein they, who adhere to true proteftant principles, receive it, or any part of it; that the one require it to be received upon an equal footing with the holy fcriptures; the other believe and acknowledge the things contained in it, not because the fathers of the Nicene'council fo believed and fo decreed; but because they apprehend, that the things themfelves are contained in the holy fcriptures, and fo far only as they are therein contained; fo that their faith is ultimately refolved, into the word of God, and not into the commandments of men: herein they affert their liberty as becomes protes

tants

Burroughs's View of Popery, p. 7.
K 4

But

But this, it feems, was not enough for a creed of the church of Rome: there must be some form of faith, whereby, as by an authentic act, papifts muft for ever be distinguished from proteftants. Twelve new articles are therefore added, which are all truly Romifh, and built not upon the authority of scripture, but folely upon tradition and human authority, viz. principally the

council of Trent.

The papists profefs to believe the creeds themfelves, from the authority of tradition, or of those councils that made or confirmed them.

The orthodox faith does not depend upon the fcriptures confidered abfolutely in themselves, but as explained by catholic tradition. The faith was comprized and preferved in creeds, handed down from one orthodox bishop to another, whofe bufinefs it was to keep this facred depofitum pure and undefiled, and to deliver it to his fucceffor.-It is the most compendious way to orthodoxy to study the tradition of the church*.

It may here be proper to obferve the manner in which the articles of pope Pius's creed are connected with thofe of the Nicene. The Nicene creed makes mention of one holy catholic and apoftolic church; and the creed of pope Pius begins with a profeffion of admitting and embracing the traditions, &c. of the fame church; infinuating that all the traditions of the church of Rome are traditions of the one holy catholic and apoftolic church: and it is certain, that the Romanists do pretend, that all these characters belong to their church, and to that alone; they make themselves the whole church of Chrift, and exclude all others from being fo much as a part of it; they confine holiness to themselves, and confidently affirm, that their church alone is derived from the apostles +.

Burroughs's View of Popery.

+ Rhemih's Annotations on the Argument of the Epiftles. * Bishop. Hare's Difficulties, that attend the Study of the Scripture, p. 6.

† Burroughs's View of Popery, p. 8.

Thefe

These things are not indeed expressly afferted in the XIIIth article of pope Pius's creed; but fince this creed, in its XXIIId article, speaks exprefsly of the holy catholic apoftolic Roman church, as the mother and mistress of all churches, it therefore evidently confines these characters to that church:-and fince this creed, compofed by pope Pius IV. was approved and confirmed by the council of Trent, as the rule and standard of the Roman catholic church §. To this I shall pay principal regard, as it may be explained and confirmed by Boffuet, in his Expofition of the Catholic Catechism in the Breviaty-the Catechism ad parochos

§ The council of Trent was the last general council, begun by pope Paul III. Dec. 15, 1545; continued by Julius III. refumed by pope Pius IV. in 1559, and ended by him Dec. 4, 1563.

The opening of this council, together with the remarkable tranfactions of it, and its being the final council for determining all controversies relative to religion, render it the most confiderable of

any.

On the 15th of December the pope's legate, with twenty-five bishops, clothed in their pontifical habits, affembled with a great number of divines, the clergy, and the regular ambaffadors of the king of the Romans. The mafs of the Holy Ghoft was celebrated, and Cornelius Muffin made an elaborate discourse of the authority of councils, that hereby herefies were extirpated, manners reformed, fchifms extinguifhed, crufadoes decreed, and even kings depofed, &c. &c. Then the prefident of the council demanded of the affembly, to order and declare, that the holy general council of Trent do begin, and is begun, to the glory of the Holy Trinity, the increase and exultation of the faith, and the Chriftian religion, the extirpation of herefy, the union of the church, the reformation of the clergy and Chriftian people, and the depreffion and extinguishing of the enemies of the Chriftian name; to which the prelates declare their fatisfaction, by answering placet, and ordered the notaries to make a public act of it. There were twenty-five feffions, in which were prefent feven cardinals, five whereof were the pope's legates, fixteen ambaffadors from kings, princes and republics, two hundred and fifty patriarchs, archbishops and bishops, abbots and generals of orders, all divines and doctors of the civil law (a).

The proceedings and tranfactions of this council, their decrees, &c. fhew in more legible characters the defign and tendency of this council, which to ufe the words of a reverend prelate, was for no other end than to give the force of laws to the many abuses complained of, and thereby render the wound incurable.

(a) Peter Juricu. Hiftory of the Council of Trent.

-in the Catholic Chriftian Inftructed in the Sacraments, Ceremonies, and Observations of the church, by R. C.

In the modeft and true Account of the chief Points in Controverfy between the Roman Catholics and Proteftants, by N. C.-In the Profeffion of the Catholic Faith, extracted out of the Council of Trent-from a Vindication of the Roman Catholics-as alfo a piece entitled, a plain and rational Account of the Roman Catholic Faith, and fuch other of their books as have come under my notice.

Summary of the doctrine, difcipline, and ceremonies, of the church of Rome, as contained in Pope PIU S'ş Creed.

Article I. I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invifibles. The one true and living God in three perfons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghoft.

Expofition. It principally confifts in believing, that he is the Creator and Lord of all things; that it is our duty to adhere to him with all the powers and faculties of the mind, through faith, hope, and charity, as being the fole object that makes us happy by the communication of that fummum bonum, which is himself. The internal adoration, which we render unto God in spirit and in truth, is attended with external figns, whereof facrifice is the principal, as a folemn acknowledgment of God's fovereignty over us, and of our abfolute dependence on him +.

The idea of God, which nature has engraven on the minds of men, reprefents him as a being independent, omnipotent, all-perfect, the author of all good and all evils, that is, of all the punishments which are inflicted for fin l.

Pope Pius's Creed, Art. I.

Cath. Chriftian, p. 5.

+ Boffuet's Expof. of the Cath. Catechifm, p. 3.

Lamy's Introduction to the Scriptures, p. 372.

Art.