3. How many Creeds are recognized by the Church; and what are their characteristic differences and titles?

The Church of England, and indeed most Churches, recognize three Creeds, of which the first is a simple declaration of faith; the second, a rational exposition of that faith; and the third, a defence of it against a particular heresy. These Creeds are the Apostle's, the Athanasian, and the Nicene.

4. Is the Apostle's Creed so called with reference to authorship or doctrine; are there any passages in the New Testament, or in the early Fathers, which prove the existence of the several articles of this Creed, or of a rule of faith in accordance with them, in the Apostolic age; and from what dates may it be shewn to have existed in its present form, and to have had a place in the early English Liturgies?

There is no evidence to support the tradition that the Apostle's Creed was compiled by the Apostles themselves, assembled in council at Jerusalem; but there is no doubt that it is a brief and comprehensive summary of the doctrines which they taught. Such a Creed, perhaps orally delivered, was certainly required to be repeated from memory by candidates for baptism; and it was doubtless that which is spoken of in the Apostolical writings as the form of doctrine once delivered, i. e. once for all, or from the beginning, delivered to the saints (Rom. vi. 17. Jude 3.). It was the form of sound words, committed to faithful men, who were instructed to teach others also (2 Tim. ii. 2.); of which most of the articles are found in St. Peter's address contained in the first chapters of the Acts of the Apostles, and in the Epistles of Ignatius; and which may be traced in all the primitive Churches, substantially the same, though slightly varied, till it appears precisely as it stands in our Liturgy, in the works of Ambrose and Rufinus, who flourished in the fourth Century. About the end of the fifth Century, it was ordered to be repeated on every occasion of public worship; and it is found in all the Liturgies of the Saxon Church.

5. What was the state of things which gave occasion to the Athanasian Creed?

As heresies arose in the Church and unsettled the faith, it became necessary to require from catechumens a more explicit statement of their belief on essential points, and more especially on that great fundamental doctrine of Christianity, the Trinity in Unity. Hence, among other different modes of expressing the same orthodox rule of Faith, the symbol called the Athanasian Creed was drawn up in the early part of the fifth Century.

6. Was Athanasius the author of it; and, if not, whence was his name attached to it; and where, and by whom was it probably composed?

It is very generally admitted that Athanasius was not the author of this Creed; but that his name was at length attached to it, from the fact that it embodies the arguments by which he established the doctrines of the Trinity, and the Incarnation of Christ, and from his opinion, expressed in the damnatory clauses, that the reception of the Catholic faith is necessary to Salvation. Gregory Nazianzen (Orat. 21.) affirms that Athanasius presented it as a royal gift to the Emperor Jovinian; but Dr. Waterland argues with great ingenuity, and much probability, that it was written for the use of the Church in Gaul, by Hilary, bishop of Arles, about a. D. 430.

7. When was it admitted into the offices of the English Church; and how do you account for the manner in which it is repeated, verse by verse alternately by minister and people?

It was received into the offices of the English Church, during the ninth Century, with the title of the Psalm Quicunque vult; and this will account for the manner in which it is repeated, like other Psalms, verse by verse alternately.

8. Did the reformers act wisely in retaining it; and by what considerations is its use instead of the Apostle's Creed regulated?

From the fact that the tenets against which it was originally directed have been frequently revived, under different forms and modifications, and are still maintained by existing sects, its retention in our Liturgy cannot be reasonably disputed; and it is accordingly directed to be used on those festivals which are more immediately connected with the manifestation of the Trinity, together with so many additional Holydays as may ensure, on an average, its monthly repetition.

9. Shew that the damnatory clauses cannot be reasonably deemed uncharitable?

The damnatory clauses cannot be uncharitable, inasmuch as they are Scriptural; the Scriptural anathema being ever more direct and forcible than that of the Creed. Compare Mark xvi. 16. John iii. 18. Now the saving faith of which our Lord speaks is plainly a baptismal faith; the faith professed in baptism has always been a belief in the ever-blessed Trinity; and therefore both our Lord and the Creed agree in condemning those who deny this fundamental doctrine. At the same time the Church, in adopting this Creed, does not pronounce a judgment but a warning; and surely it is anything but uncharitable to warn the unbeliever of the perdition which he risques.

10. In what sense is the word Amen repeated at the end of this Creed?

The word Amen does not turn these clauses into a prayer. As in the Commination service, it is simply an expression of assent to the truth of the entire Creed, including the condemnation denounced against those who reject it.

11. How does Luther speak of this Creed; and are the Clergy justified in omitting to read it on the days appointed?

Of course the Clergy are bound by their vow to read this Creed on the days appointed; and few Protestants will be disposed to think lightly of a rule of faith, which Luther (de tribus Symbolis) has designated the bulwark of the Apostle's creed, and an excellent preservative against those who are not ashamed to make a jest of the Trinity, and to ridicule the Incarnation of God.

12. Why is the Nicene Creed so called; and by what other name is it sometimes designated?

The Nicene Creed is so called because it is, for the most part, a summary of the doctrines maintained by the Council of Nice (A. D. 325.). As then drawn up, however, it concluded with the clause, I believe in the Holy Ghost; the remainder, with one exception, being added by the Council of Constantinople (A. D. 381.). Hence it is also sometimes called the Constantinopolitan Creed.

13. What, and when, was the last addition made to it?

The exception above alluded to is the addition of filioque with reference to the procession of the Holy Ghost, which was made in the fifth Century.

14. Against what errors was it directed; and what doctrines was it designed to establish?

This Creed was directed against the different branches of the Arian heresy; against which it establishes the consubstantiality (To oμοovolov) of the Father and the Son, the divinity of the Holy Ghost, and the procession of the Holy Ghost equally from the Father and the Son. [For an exposition of the three Creeds, and a more enlarged account of them, the Student is referred to the works of PEARSON, WATERLAND, and BULL.]

SECT. VII. Of the LITANY.

1. POINT out the distinct derivation and meanings of the words Liturgy and Litany; and the different senses in which they are, and have been, severally employed.

There is no similarity of meaning in the words Liturgy and Litany; and both have been used in different significations. The former (erovpyía), which is derived from an obsolete adjective

λniros, and epyov, properly denotes any public service, whether civil or religious (Arist. Polit. 11. Rom. xv. 27.); though it was applied both by Jews and Gentiles to sacred offices more particularly. Thus it is used to signify the solemnization of the rites of the Christian Church (Acts xiii. 2. Rom. xv. 16.); and thence transferred by the early Christians to the forms employed in the celebration of the Eucharist, so as to be synomymous with the Latin missa. Subsequently it was used, as at the present day, to designate the entire devotional services of the Church, including the office for the Holy Commnnion. On the other hand, the word Litany (λıraveía), from Xirn, a prayer, includes primarily all supplications and prayers, whether public or private. See Hom. Il. Y. 196. Hesiod. Theog. 469. In this general sense it seems to have been first employed in the early Church. Compare Euseb. V. Const. IV. cc. 14. 61. Afterwards, however, it came to denote a special supplication de ópynv éπɩpeρоμévŋv, and was more particularly applied to those solemn offices, which, during the fourth and fifth centuries, were performed with processions of the clergy and people, on occasions of actual or impending calamity. These offices were also called Rogations. (Sect. iv. qu. 42.).

2. In what does the Litany of the English Church differ from those of early times, and more especially from Romish Litanies?

The Litany of the English Church is not processional; and it differs most essentially from the Romish Litanies by containing none of those invocations of Saints and of the Virgin Mary, which seem to have been introduced as early as the eighth century.

3. Illustrate these latter distinctions generally; and by a striking instance in particular.

Independently of the fact that the Invocations in our Litany are addressed solely to the three Persons in the Trinity individually and collectively, there is a striking instance of this distinction in the prayer which precedes that of Chrysostom, which in the old Liturgies ran thus:-Infirmitatem nostram, quæsumus, Domine, propitius respice; et mala omnia, quæ juste meremur, omnium Sanctorum