> [[js-cm-08|← A Short Regulation of Life]] | [[the-carmelite-manual-toc|TOC]] | [[js-cm-10|Christian's Rule of Life →]] # Articles of Faith Explained ## I. Of the Creeds Approved by the Church THE Nicene Creed, St. Athanasius's Creed, and what is commonly called the Apostles' Creed, form the ground-work of Christian faith-and, together with the creed of Pope Pius the Fourth, which is an extract of the decrees of the Council of Trent, are received by every member of the Catholic Church, as the substance of the faith revealed to her by Jesus Christ. ## II. Of the Certainty of Faith IT is not to be imagined that the knowledge we receive by faith, is less certain, because the objects proposed to our belief are not evident. For, altho' that Divine light, by which we perceive them, does not exhibit them with physical perspicuity, yet it leaves us no room for doubt. Because God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, himself shines in our hearts, that the gospel may not be hidden from us, as it is from those who perish. It follows therefore, of course, that he who has been instructed in the heavenly knowledge of faith, must banish all curious inquiry. For when God commanded us to believe, he never intended that we should search into his Divine judgments, or that their design and object should be examined by any one. The immutability of faith prescribes, that the mind quietly rest in the knowledge of eternal truth. And really if the Apostle has declared that God is true, but every man a liar, if it be arrogant and imprudent not merely to refuse credit to a grave and wise man, but moreover to insist that he establish what he affirms, by arguments and proofs: what must be his temerity and folly who, hearing a revelation of God, shall curiously scrutinize his heavenly word? It is our duty to believe therefore, not only without doubting, but even without seeking an explanation of the mystery. ## III. Of the Mystery of the Trinity THE mystery of the Holy Trinity, which comprises the essence of God, is of course far beyond our intellectual powers. Unable, adequately, to conceive the works of God, such as the creation of the universe, how can we comprehend the nature of their infinite and Almighty Author. To whoever curiously inquires into this adorable mystery, the words of the wise man therefore may be well applied: he that is a searcher of Majesty shall be overwhelmed with glory. We indeed confess one Divine essence and substance in God, in a distinct Trinity of persons; but in saying that the Father is the first person, it is not to be supposed that there is anything in the Trinity, first and last, or greater and less: since the Christian religion preaches but one and the same eternity, glory and majesty in each of the three persons. - The Father, however, is called the first person, because the Son proceeds from him; and the Holy Ghost is distinguished as the third person, because he proceeds from the Father and the Son. ## IV. Of the Incarnation of the Word GOD the Son and second person of the Trinity (in scripture called the WORD), from all eternity devoted himself to the salvation of man. For which purpose he in time assumed to himself that human nature of the Holy Virgin Mary, which he presented to the divinity, a willing victim to redeem fallen man. Thus his wisdom made use of his divinity to merit and atone and of his humanity to suffer and die for our salvation. ## V. Of His Descent into Hell BY the word HELL is not meant the grave, in which the body of Jesus was buried, nor that place where the devils and the reprobate are confined, and shall be eternally tormented-but by adding after dead and buried, he went down into hell (Psal. xv. 10.), the scripture means that his soul descended into the mansions of the blessed dead, and held communication with them. (1 Pet. iii. 19.) ## VI. Of the Resurrection of All Flesh As Jesus Christ rose from the dead and appeared again to his disciples, with bones, flesh, and all the other appurtenances of human nature, so we are to believe that in the same manner, at the last day of the world, all mankind will rise, and clothed in human flesh, will again, in those same bodies in which they had lived, be publicly judged by Jesus Christ. After which the just will be eternally separated from the wicked. ## VII. Of the Supreme Authority of the Church THE supreme authority of the church is, for teaching and governing the faithful, lodged by Jesus Christ in the chief-bishop* of Rome, who is his Vicar on earth, and the bishops of the church. It speaks difinitively in council: and decrees in matters appertaining to revealed doctrine, to morals, and to ecclesiastical discipline; and in decisions on faith and morals is • He is called chief-bishop, because he is primate of the whole church. specially assisted by the holy spirit, who has promised to remain with his church, and to bring all things to her remembrance whatsoever Jesus had taught her. (John xiv. 16.) Thus, her infallibility results from a special assistance of the Holy Ghost, by which the church is so guided, as never to deviate from the doctrines delivered by our Redeemer as ascertained by the ordinary means of written and oral evidence, or original mass of traditions carefully preserved. ## VIII. Of Apostolical and Ecclesiastical Traditions JESUS CHRIST laid the foundation of his church by preaching, the Apostles followed his example. Hence the unwritten word was the first rule of christianity; and when the writings of the New Testament were added, it was to confirm or explain what had previously been preached; nor did the unwritten word on that account lose its authority. This makes us receive with equal veneration, all that was ever taught by the Apostles, whether by writing, or by word of mouth, as St. Paul himself has expressly commanded (2 Thess. ii. 24.); and it is a most certain sign that a doctrine comes from the Apostles, when it is universally embraced by all Christian churches, without any possibility of shewing its beginning. So that whatever is established after this manner, must be received with the submission due to Divine authority. Hence we are careful to gather together all the fathers have left us, and to preserve the depositum of tradition as well as the scriptures. Every sect of Christians appeals more or less to the rule of tradition; and by that principle have set aside many of the ordinances of the written word, particularly those of John 13, 14, and Acts 15, 15, 29. Even the Quakers, on the pure authority of tradition, keep the Lord's day on the first instead of the seventh day of the week. ## IX. Of Ecclesiastical Observances and Canons THE constitutions of the church, otherwise styled canons, are those laws and regulations which she has, at different times, enacted for the discipline and conduct of her community. These canons have been formed either by general, national, or provincial councils, and their authority is in proportion. Most of the present observances of the church are grounded upon ancient canons, or have been handed down to us from immemorial tradition. ## X. Of the Holy Scriptures THE holy scriptures, composed by men, spe specially assisted by the Holy Ghost, are, undoubtedly, to be read as the word of God. Designed to be testimonies or testaments of what the Almighty has, at different times, revealed to his servants, they are histories of his dispensations, yet do not contain all that we are bound to know and practice, as is evident from themselves. (John xxi. 25.) Neither are they a perfect rule of faith for mankind. The learned misinterpret and many Christians cannot possibly get access to their contents, from inability to read and understand them. The names of those books which the Catholic church has pronounced to be canonical, are Genesis. Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, 1st Book of Paralipomenon; or, Chronicles, 2nd Book of Paralipomenon; or, Chronicles, 1st Book of Esdras; or, Nehemias, Joshua, Judges, 2nd Book of Esdras; or, Ruth, Nehemias, 1st Book of Kings, Tobias, 2nd Book of Kings, Judith, 3rd Book of Kings, Hester, 4th Book of Kings, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Canticles, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Isaias, Jeremias, Baruch, Ezechiel, Daniel, Osee, Joel, Amos, Abdias, Jonas, Michæas, Nahum, Habacuc, Sophonias, Aggeus, Zacharias, St. John, The Acts of the Apostles, by St. Luke, The Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans, 2 Ditto to the Corinthians, The Epistle of St. Paul to the Galatians, Ditto to the Ephesians, Ditto to the Philippians, Ditto to the Colossians, 2 Ditto to the Thessalonians, 2 Ditto to Timothy, Ditto to Titus, Ditto to Philemon, Ditto to the Hebrews, The Epistle of St. James the Apostle, 2 Ditto of St. Peter the 3 Ditto of St. John the The Epistle of St. Jude Malachias, Apostle, 1st Book of Macchabees 2d Book of Macchabees, Apostle, The Gospel according to St. Matthew, the Apostle, St. Mark, St. Luke, John the Apostle. The Apocalypse of St. ## XI. Of the Old and New Law THE old and the new law are so little in contradiction with each other, that the new law is but the old in an advanced stage of perfection. They are to each other as shadow and substance; or, as the state of infancy compared with manhood. The old law may be called, in the words of the apostle, the first elements of the words of God. (Heb. v. 12.) ## XII. Of the Interpretation of the Scriptures COULD scripture interpret itself, it would always be explained in the same manner, and men would never be divided about its sense; which however is contrary to fact. Satan quoted scripture in his attempt upon Christ: and sectaries in all times have rested their errors upon its authority. The Catholic Church alone, therefore, is the true and faithful interpreter of the scriptures: and surely, independent of faith, it would be an excess of presumption in any one, to reject her collective traditionary interpretation, in preference to a private explanation. Yet so far is the Catholic Church from constituting herself an arbitrary mistress of faith, that she has done all that is possible to exclude and deprive herself of all the means of innovation. Therefore, not only submits herself to the holy scriptures, but that she might for ever banish those arbitrary interpretations which make men's imaginations pass for scripture, has bound herself to interpret them, in what relates to faith and morals, according to the sense of the holy fathers, from which she professes never to depart; declaring in all her councils, and in all the professions of faith she has published, that she does not receive any doctrine, which is not conformable to the tradition of all preceding ages. Justly, then, does she bind her members, to what she has bound herself. ## XIII. Of the Sacraments THE sacraments of the new covenant are not mere sacred signs to represent grace, nor seals to confirm it; but instruments of the Holy Ghost, which serve to apply it to us, and which confer it upon us by virtue of the words pronounced, and the exterior action performed, in case we put no impediment thereto, by a defective disposition. By annexing so great a grace to exterior signs, which have not of their own nature any proportion with so admirable an effect, God shews us clearly, that besides all we can do interiorly of ourselves by our good disposition, there must necessarily intervene before we can be justified, that special operation of the Holy Ghost, and a peculiar application of the merits of our Saviour, which are conveyed to us by the sacraments. We acknowledge seven such sacred signs or Sacraments established by Jesus Christ, as the ordinary means for the sanctification and perfection of man. These divine institutions appear in the holy scripture, either by the express words of Jesus Christ, who established them, r by the grace which which, according to the same scripture, is annexed to them, and necessarily imports a divine institution. or XIV. Of Baptism. SEEING little children cannot supply the want of baptism by the desire to receive this sacrament, we believe that if they do not really receive it, they do not belong to the Church; and therefore, dying in Adam, they have not any part in Jesus Christ. We believe that in the ordinary course, all sin must be remitted by the medium of the sacraments. Original, and actual sin, committed before baptism, must be forgiven by baptism. "Unless a man be born again of water, and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven." XV. Of Confirmation, THE imposition of hands practiced by the apostles to confirm the faithful against persecutions, having its principal effect in the interior descent of the Holy Ghost, and the infusion of his gifts, ought not to be rejected by our adversaries, under the pretense that the Holy Ghost descends now no more visibly upon us. All Christian Churches, since the apostles' times, have religiously retained it, making use also of holy chrism, to shew the virtue of this sacrament, by a more express representation of the interior unction of the Holy Ghost. (Acts viii. 15.) ## XVI. Of the Holy Eucharist THE celebration of the Lord's Supper in the Mass, presents to us two mysteries, a sacrifice and a sacrament. The sacrifice which is commonly called the Mass in Latin, and Liturgy in Greek, is not merely a figurative, but moreover, a substantial memorial of Christ's sacrifice on the cross, being in essence the self same sacrifice, and differing only in the manner of offering the one being bloody, after the manner of Aaron's sacrifices; the other unbloody, after the manner of Melchisedech's. The sacrament is the mysterious presence of Jesus Christ in his human and divine natures, under the elemental signs of bread and wine: under hoth, or either of which forms he is received in communion by those who eat or drink. (1 Cor. xi. 27.) ## XVII. Of the Oblation of Christ on the Cross CHRIST, by one oblation, paid a superabundant satisfaction for the sins of the whole world; and there is no other satisfaction by which we can obtain forgiveness. But he has so regulated the application of this satisfaction, that it must depend upon our own voluntary cooperation; and though this oblation is never to be repeated, still he has ordained that it shall be continued on earth to the end of the world. ## XVIII. Of Penance, or Sacramental Confession We believe that Jesus Christ has been pleased to ordain that those who submitted themselves to the authority of the Church by baptism, and have since violated the laws of the gospel, should with contrite hearts, come and submit themselves to the judgment of the same Church, in the tribunal of penance, where she exercises the power delegated to her, of remitting and retaining sins. (Matt. xviii. 18; John xx. 23.) ## XIX. Of Extreme Unction THE Holy Ghost having, according to the testimony of St. James, (v. 14.) annexed an express promise of remission of sins and comfort of the sick to Extreme Unction, nothing is wanting to make this sacred ceremony a true sacrament. It is only to be remarked, that according to the doctrine of the council of Trent, (Sess. xiv. c. 1.) the sick are more relieved in respect to the soul than the body; and that as the spiritual profit is always the principal object of the new law, so it is that also, which we ought absolutely to expect from this holy unction, if we be rightly disposed for it. ## XX. Of Orders THE imposition of hands, which the administrators of sacred things receive, being accompanied with so sensible a virtue of the Holy Ghost, and so full an effusion of his grace, it is to be placed among the number of the sacraments. (1 Tim. iv.; 2 Tim. i.) ## XXI. Of Marriage WHEN we consider how Jesus Christ has given a new form to marriage, reducing it to the holy society of two persons immediately and indissolubly united; and when we see that this inseparable union is a sign of his eternal union with his Church, having no difficulty to comprehend that the marriage of the faithful is accompanied by the Holy Ghost, and by grace, we shall praise the divine bounty for having been thus pleased to consecrate the origin of our birth. (Matt. xix. 5; Eph. v. 32.) ## XXII of Religious Ceremonies THE ceremonies of religion employed by the Church to assist in fixing the attention of the faithful, and exciting their devotion, have all a mystical reference to some particular mystery of our redemption. Those which are immediately employed in the administration of the sacraments are deserving of the greatest veneration, and are to be regarded as an apostolical tradition. The sign of the cross-the sprinkling of blessed waterand prostrations before the altar, &c. are to be made account of, viewed, and respected as helps to the worship of the true God. ## XXIII. Of Original sin OUR first parents, created in a state of perfect justice and innocence before God, were to him objects of delight and benediction. By sinning, however, they became mortal, that is, sentenced to die; and forfeited for themselves and posterity the inheritance of eternal happiness. Thus we are all born with the sin of Adam, and bear the consequences of his crime in our nature, which is what we understand by original sin. ## XXIV. Of Justification OUR sins are freely forgiven us by the Divine mercy, for Jesus Christ's sake, and thus we are truly justified gratis, because none of those acts which precede justification, whether faith or good works, can of themselves procure that grace. Yet as the scripture sometimes tells us, that God covers our sins and sometimes that he takes them away and blots them out by the grace of his holy spirit, we believe that to form a perfect idea of the justification of the sinner, we must join these expressions together. For which reason we believe that our sins are not only covered, but also entirely washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ and by the grace of regeneration: so that the justice and merit of Jesus Christ are not only imputed, but actually communicated to the faithful by the operation of the holy spirit; insomuch that we are not only reputed, but rendered just and worthy of reward by his grace. ## XXV. Of the Merit of Good Works At the same time that the precepts, exhortations, promises, threatenings, and reproaches of the gospel, shew clearly enough that we must work out our salvation by the co-operation of our wills, with the grace of God assisting us, we are also to believe that free-will can do nothing conducing to eternal happiness but inasmuch as it is moved and excited by the Holy Ghost. So that notwithstanding prayer, fasting, alms-deeds, and other good works, dispose God to deal favourably with us, still the pardon of our sins, our righteousness before God, and title to eternal happiness, happi are the pure gratuitous effect of the passion of Jesus Christ, and must be absolutely imputed to him. God, it is true, has been pleased to promise an eternal reward to good works, but as St. Austin says, "in rewarding them he crowns his own gifts." "We," says the council of Trent (Sess. 14. 8.) " who can do nothing of ourselves, can do all things with him who strengthens us, insomuch, that man has nothing of which he may glory, nor for which he may confide in himself, but all his confidence and glory is in JESUS CHRIST, in whom we live, in whom we merit, in whom we satisfy, bringing forth fruits worthy of penance, which draw their virtue from him, and by him are offered to his Father, and accepted of by his Father through him. Wherefore we ask all things, we hope all things, we render thanks for all things, through our Lord Jesus Christ. We confess aloud we are not acceptable to God, but in him and by him: and so completely place all the hopes of our salvation in him, that we daily make use of these words to God, in the sacrifice of the Mass: " Vouchsafe, O God, to grant to us sinners, thy servants, who hope in the multitude of thy mercies, some part and society with the blessed apostles and martyrs into whose number we beseech thee to be pleased to receive us, not looking upon OUR merits but graciously pardoning us in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord." ## XXVI. Of Works of Supererogation We believe that there are some good works of absolute precept, and others merely of council. For instance, to give very large alms, to imitate the poverty of Jesus Christ, to occupy ourselves in instructing the ignorant and preaching the gospel to heathenish nations at the hazard of our lives, &c. though good works recommended by Jesus Christ, to which he has promised a great reward, (Luke xviii. 22; Matt. x. 16.) are not, however, of precept like the observance of the commandments, (Matt. xix. 17.) and therefore we call them for distinction sake, works of supererogation. Not, however, in the sense which our adversaries give the expression, for when we have done all that human nature is capable of, we confess that we have received every thing gratis from Jesus Christ, and that we are servants, unprofitable to God, and merely profitable to ourselves, who through his merits are to have a hundred fold here in this world, and life everlasting in the next. (Matt. xix. 29.) ## XXVII. Of Free Will MAN is gifted by God with free will, to resist, or follow his graces. These graces the Almighty is disposed to offer to every individual, nor will he fail to co-operate with him in any good work. Therefore though we say we can do nothing of ourselves, yet we can do all things in him who strengthens us, if we only carry a good will. ## XXVIII. Of Predestination IN eternity there is no division of time; and with God, past, present, and future, are all as the existing moment to the will of God is his decree: in other words, for him to will, is to act. Therefore though God from all eternity predestinated some to bliss-because from all eternity he saw that only a proportion of mankind would make use of his grace, to obtain their happiness, while the rest would employ their free will in resisting his gracious designs, and though predestination is an inexplicable mystery to our understanding, because all the ways of the Deity are inscrutable; yet this ought no wise to alarm pious and religious Christians, whose salvation must depend upon their own willingness to take advantage of that divine grace, which is not refused even to the reprobate. ## XXIX. Of Election THOUGH God in his justice cannot consign any one to damnation, unless he has merited that punishment by his own free act, yet as he is Lord and master of his own gifts, he may bestow a greater share of his graces on some individuals, and thus make them vessels of election. Yet after all, as St. Peter says, it rests with ourselves, to make our calling and election sure. (2 Peter i. 10.) ## Xxx. Of Satisfaction THE Catholic Church teaches that Jesus Christ, God and man, was solely capable, through the infinite divinity of his person, of offering up to God a sufficient satisfaction for our sins: and that having satisfied superabundantly, he could apply this satisfaction to us, after two manners; either by an absolute remission, without reserving any punishment, or by commuting a greater punishment for a less; that is, an eternal pain for a temporal one. The first being the completest, and most conformable to his goodness, he makes use of in baptism-the second in the pardon he grants to those who fall after; obliged in some manner thereunto by their ingratitude; who having abused his first gifts, may be obliged to suffer some temporal pain, though the eternal one be remitted. It must not, however, hence be concluded that Jesus Christ has not fully satisfied for us; on the contrary, having obtained an absolute dominion over us, by the infinite price which he gave for our salvation, he grants us pardon upon what condition, what law, or with what restriction he pleases? Is it anything extraordinary, if men again transgress after a free pardon, that forgiveness should be made more difficult to be attained, or that some painful works should be enjoined us to accomplish in the spirit of humility and penance? Indeed it was the conviction of the necessity of these satisfactory works, which obliged the primitive church to impose upon penitents those penances termed canonical, the submitting to which with humility is called sacramental satisfaction. ## Xxxi. Of Purgatory PURGATORY is that place of punishment in which the soul is compelled to make good the temporal satisfaction, which she had imperfectly discharged, at her departure from this life. Because those who die in grace and charity, but indebted to divine justice, are to suffer the pains reserved in another life. This obliged the primitive Christians to offer up prayers, alms-deeds, and sacrifices for the faithful who departed in peace and in the communion of the church, with an assured faith that they would be assisted by these means: and is what the council of Trent proposes to our belief respecting the souls detained in purgatory, without either determining in what their pains consist, or many other such like things: concerning which this holy council demands great moderation, blaming those who publish what is uncertain or suspected. ## Xxxii. Of Praying for the Dead WE bellieve that as all the faithful, living and dead, are united by charity in Jesus Christ, so as brethren they are able to assist each other in their mutual necessities; and that God accepts the satisfactions which the living offer up to him for THE DEAD. But it must never be forgotten that all we are, belongs to God, and that all the love which his tenderness manifests for the faithful, who are members of Jesus Christ, is necessarily referred to their head: and certainly when we read and consider how God himself inspires his servants with a desire to afflict themselves with fasting, haircloth and ashes, not only for their own, but for the sins of other people, we no longer wonder that, being moved with the delight he has to gratify his faithful servants, he mercifully accepts of the humble sacrifice of their voluntary mortifications, in abatement of those chastisements he had otherwise prepared for all delinquents. Because it shows that being satisfied by some, he renders himself more mild towards the others; by these means honouring his Son, Jesus Christ, in the communion of his members and in the holy society of his mystical body. ## Xxxiii. Of Religious Worship THE Catholic Church teaches us that all religious worship must terminate in God alone; and that it principally consists in believing him to be the Creator and Lord of all things, and in adhering to him with all the powers of the soul, by faith, hope, and charity, as to one who alone can make her happy, by the communication of an infinite good, which is himself. This interior adoration, however, which we render to God in spirit and in truth, has its exterior marks; whereof the principal is sacrifice, and which can be offered to none but God. ## Xxxiv. Of the Invocation of Saints THE church in teaching that it is profitable to pray to saints, enjoins us to address them in the same spirit of charity, and according to the same order of fraternal society, which moves us to demand assistance of our brethren living on earth. Indeed the extreme difference there is, between our manner of imploring God's assistance, and that of imploring the aid of the saints, is evident. To God the proper manner of speaking is to say: Have mercy on us. Whereas while we only desire the saints to pray for us, we in reality obtain those benefits, received by their intercession, no otherwise than through Jesus Christ, and in his name; since these saints themselves pray in no other manner than through him, and are only heard in his name. In the same manner, all the honour we render them in sacrificing, consists in naming them, in the prayers we offer up to God, as his faithful servants, and in thanking him for the victories they have gained, whilst we beseech him that he would favour us by their intercession. ## Xxxv. Of Images and Relics THE council of Trent forbids us expressly " to believe any divinity or virtue in them, for which they ought to be reverenced; to demand any favour of them, or to put any trust in them, and ordains, that all the honour which is given to them, should be referred to the originals represented by them." (Sess. 25.) The houour we pay to images and relics is grounded on the circumstance, that as memorials of holy persons, they excite us to an imitation of them, by recalling their virtues to our remembrance. Thus in honouring the image of an apostle or martyr, the church directs us, to refer the act to that internal sensation, which the presence of the image has excited in our soul. ## Xxxvi. Of Indulgences AN​ Indulgence is a free release from the external satisfactory works of penance, in consideration of the sinner's internal fervour. Or it is a commutation of one satisfaction for another of a longer penance for a shorter, and hence it is styled an INDULGENCE, or favour done us. Thus an indulgence which requires that the individual be in a state of grace, has nothing to do with the pardon of sin, nor with the eternal punishments due to sin, but only with that debt of temporal penance, which the sinner has to discharge after the eternal guilt of his sin has been forgiven. The council of Trent proposes nothing else to be believed concerning indulgences, than that the power to grant them, has been given to the church by Jesus Christ, and that the use of them is very beneficial to the soul. (Sess. 25.) ## Xxxvii. Of Obtaining Salvation in Any Church or Religion As there is but one God, one' faith, one baptism, one Christ, the Messiah, so there can be but one religion. For God, who alone is the author of all true religion, cannot reveal several without contradicting himself. Consequently that only can be the true church in which this true religion is practised. ## Xxxviii. Of the Churches of Jerusalem, Alexandria, Antioch, and of Rome THE word Church signifies a collective body of people, holding spiritual communion together under one spiritual authority; which is the definition of the church of Christ. But as the parts of every whole may be distinguished by particular names, as certain parts of Great Britain are called the Isle of Wight, Wales, Scotland, &c. so writers have spoken of the church of Jerusalem, of the church of Alexandria, and of the church of Antioch, as of portions or branches of the church of Christ; and verily they continued parts or branches of the same, so long as they were joined in communion with it: moreover, as every part or portion is a whole, in respect to itself, so they were properly called churches: and therefore when these churches failed, they failed as parts and branches, and in separating from the communion of other churches, ceased to be parts of the church of Christ. Now as the church of Rome originally was, (Rom. i. 7.8.) and has never ceased to be, an integral part of the whole Catholic church, she cannot be said to have erred, in any truth or article of faith, without including in the same charge the whole church of Christ, which cannot be done without committing blasphemy. For against her the gates of hell shall not prevail. ## Xxxix. Of the Pope THE word Pope is derived from the Greek word PAPOS, signifying reverend father. Whoever fills the apostolical chair of Peter, as bishop of Rome, is Pope, or Primate, and chief-bishop of Christ's Catholic Church. So far he is our common father, and we are all his common children in Christ. (John xxi. 16, 17.) His office is to watch over the whole church; to preside in general councils; to see that all the faithful are duly instructed, and that the precepts and canons of the church are observed; and to dispense with their observance when a good cause requires it. ## Xl. Of the Queen and Civil Magistrates ALL men, whatever be their profession or religion, are subject to the civil powers under which they live: and therefore must never suppose that any spiritual authority can lawfully claim civil obedience from them in any civil matter, when such obedience would be a violation of the laws of their country. In morals and religion they must be directed by their proper pastors; but in state affairs are to own no authority but what is sanctioned by the LAW. ## Xli. Of a Christian's Oath An oath is a solemn appeal to God, and never lawful but on solemn occasions and when we are in earnest. To take an oath without the intention of faithfully keeping it, is a manifest perjury. Those are truly calumniators of truth, therefore, who say, that oaths given to a Protestant government are not binding; or that those who have taken them can be absolved from their obligations. ## Xlii. Of Anathemas As the authority of the church is strictly spiritual, so it cannot extend to matters of a temporal nature. And though some particular canons of general councils have related to subjects of a mixed nature, yet they have never been considered binding in any country till they were received and passed into a law by the civil power. We are therefore never called upon, to do more than unite with the church in condemning, rejecting, and anathematizing what is contrary to the FAITH and MORALS which she teaches. ## Xliii. Of Heresy HERESY, denounced by St. Paul, a crime which excludes from the kingdom of God, (Tit. iii. 10.) is any obstinate resistance to the solemn decrees of the church, on matters of faith, or revealed doctrine. --- ![[maps/bibliography#^biblio-spratt]] > [[js-cm-08|← A Short Regulation of Life]] | [[the-carmelite-manual-toc|TOC]] | [[js-cm-10|Christian's Rule of Life →]]