vert the world both Jewish and Pagan; when they formally received any one a member into the Christian church by baptism, they did then particularly demand his assent to the Christian faith, and a declaration of his belief thereof: An example whereof we have in the eighth of the Acts; where, after the conference be tween the Eunuch and Philip the evangelists when the Eunuch testified his desire to be bap tized, Philip told him, "that if he did believe with all his heart, he might;" unto which, when the Eunuch replied, "that he did believe Jesus Christ to be the son of God," then Philip baptized him, but not before. From which single instance it is manifest, that the apostles and first preachers of the gospel required the assent of all persons at baptism to some of the particular articles of the Christian faith, which were the platform and model of the creed,. since that time, always used at baptism. Which of the particular articles of our present creed were inserted therein by them, I shall more largely shew in their particular order, wherein they are disposed in the rule of faith; it is suf ficient in this place to say, that they were the articles of the existence of God; the trinity; that Jesus was Christ, or the saviour of the world; the remission of sins; and the resur-, rection.

Now as for these apostolic demands, they might not always be exactly the same, nor still confined to the forementioned particulars, in every church, and at every season, they might not mention the very same particulars without either addition or diminution, but allow themselves the liberty of expression according as they saw occasion, and so in this respect they might sometimes vary and alter; although, as to the fundamentals of Christianity, that Jesus of Nazareth was Christ the Messias, and the like, they never omitted them: and the form of their expression, and delivery of their confessions of faith, was generally the same, near the method and order of our present creed; for had it not been so, it is almost impossible to conceive, how all churches should so harmoniously agree in the general form and order of their respective creeds, when yet they all disagree in the words and expressions used therein.

This apostolical system professed at baptism, was not committed to writing, but observed by, or left with the governors of every church to use it on the like occasion, whose duty it was to preserve it undefiled and incor◄ rupt, and to make it the terms of christianity: and admission to their communion; unto which, some think St. Paul might have an eye,

when he exhorted Timothy "to keep that which was committed to his trust," and "to hold fast the form of sound words:" but whether he had or no, I shall not here enquire. This is certain, that not only Timothy, but the apostolical churches, and all others who received it from them, were solicitous and careful to preserve those articles and that form of faith, which was delivered unto them by the apostles; and as the apostles, so they in imitation of their example, did always at baptism require the assent of the person to be baptized, unto the creed, or articles of the christian faith; which is a thing so universally known, as that it may seem almost needless to produce any quotations for the proof of it: Thus Ruffinus relates, that in his days," the ancient custom was retained at Rome, for persons to be baptized, publicly to recite the creed:" and Salvian, that "at baptism the christians profest their faith in God the father almighty, and in Je sus Christ his son;" according unto which, Vigilius Tapsensis, or whosoever else was the author of those books concerning the trinity to Theophilus, extant amongst the works of Athanasius, writes, that "those who came to the sacred laver of regeneration, confessed, saying, I believe in God the father almighty, and in Jesus Christ his only son, and in the

holy ghost;" and long before any of these Justin Martyr assures us, that “none were baptised unless they did first declare their assent to the doctrine and faith of the gospel."

Not long after the apostles days, and even in the apostolic age itself, several heresies sprung up in the church, subversive of the fundamentals of christianity; to prevent the malignant effects whereof, and to hinder such heretics from an undiscernible mixing themselves with the orthodox christians, as also to establish and strengthen the true believers in the necessary truths of the christian religion, the christian verities opposite to those heresies, were inserted in the creed; and together with those other articles, which had without any intermission been constantly used from the time of the apostles, were proposed to the assent and belief of all persons who came to be baptized: the governors of the church judging this a prudent and an effectual course, to preserve the fundamentals of religion from being undermined and overthrown by cunning and subtle heretics; which is the second way by which the creed was composed, viz. The doctors and governors of the church did add unto those of the apostles, other articles, in opposition to gross and fundamental heresies

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and errors, as they appeared and grew up, as Ruffinus informs us; "that whereas it was in the beginning of the Roman creed, I believe in 'God the father almighty," there were some other clauses added thereto in the creeds of several churches, occasioned by certain heretics to exclude the sense of their new doctrine; as particularly in the Aquileian creed, "to the word almighty was subjoined invisible, impassible, in contradiction to the heresy of the Sabellians, or Patripassians, that the father was born of the virgin, and so became both visible and passible." But, there is no need of any farther testimonies to prove this point at present, seeing a great part of the ensuing treatise will be an abundant confirmation thereof.

I would not be here mistaken, as if I did mean, that none of those articles which were introduced into the creed, and settled there in opposition to heresies, were ever used before, or demanded at baptism by the administerer thereof: but my meaning is, that every church being at liberty to express the fundamental articles of the christian faith in that way and manner, which she saw fit pro re natą, or as occasion offered; it is not improbable, but that before damnable heresies sprung up, they