Propositions and Principles of Divinity Disputed, Section 41
PRINCIPLES CONCERNING THE CONCEPTION OF IESVS CHRIST. XLI.
SEING WE HAVE SVFFICIENTLY SPOken of the perſon and office of Chriſt, and alſo of the Lawe, which bringeth vsus vntounto Chriſt: we thinke it meet now, particularly to handle thoſe things, out of the Creed of the Apoſtles, which Chriſt in the performance of his office hath done for vsus, beginning with his conception in the wombe of the Virgine.
1 BY Conception wee vnderſtande, that which was made within the Virgin; namely, that in deed, & eſſentially ſhe ſhould beginne to beare in her wombe, that Sonne of God which was true God and true man.
2 Neither was that man formed, any ſpace of time before the perſon of the word was vnited vntounto him: but that Man began to bee at the one and the verie ſame moment, that it was perſonallie aſſumed by the aeternall word.
3 This humanity was, and ſhal continue for euer, a true and a perfect humaine nature, in regard both of the bodie and ſoule, beeing then made, when as it was conceaued in the wombe of the Virgine, and not before.
4 That aeternall perſon alſo of the word, or of the Sonn of God, Coeſſentiall with the Father, is the true perſon of the Sonne of God.
5 In this conception, which was a beginning in time of that perſonall vniting; the one nature did not ſimplie aſſume the other, but the perſon of the Sonne, tooke vppon him the nature of man in that one particular man, and did preferre it vntounto the dignitie of the perſon of the Deitie: Wherein, notwithſtanding doe remaine, both the very natures, & alſo their proprieties, wherby they are that which they are, diſtinguiſhed without anie confuſion or ſeparation.
6 Whereas DAMASCEN then, doth call the perſon of Chriſt wholie conſidered, a compound perſon, becauſe hee is God and man, his words are warily to be taken: For the partes concurring togeather, for the making of ſome third thing, which of it ſelfe is not, (as the ſoule and the body in the making of a man) doe of them ſelues exiſt before the third thing made of them is exiſtent. But in the perſon of Chriſt, the Deitie of the worde, doth not onelyonly ſuſtaine the conſideration of the one nature: but euen of the whole perſon, attributing this vntounto that man, that hee doth ſubſiſt in the very Sonne of God, and is not man alone of him ſelfe: For otherwiſe there ſhould be one perſon of the Son of God, and another of the Sonne of man, neither wherof could of him ſelfe be the Mediator.
7 The parts furthermore, that properlie make vpp the whole, are compounded togeather: But the Deity can admit no compoſition, ſeeing it is moſt perfect; and therefore in this conception, it did preferre that man vntounto the dignitie of the diuine perſon: but ſo as nothing was added thereby vntounto the worde, but rather, that that man did receiue this perſonall dignitie from the word, whereby, it is come to paſſe, that (as wee hauehave ſaid) he is exalted aboue the Angels, the natures yet remaining.
8 Therefore Chriſt was rightlie ſaid by the Fathers to be greater then himſelfe, and leſſer then himſelfe.
9 Nowe this aſſumed bodie, was made out of the ſubſtaunce of the Virgin Marie, according vntounto the promiſes made by the Prophets, in which reſpect, he the very ſame, who is the Sonne Coeternall and Coeſſentiall with the Father, is trulie the Sonne of ADAM, out of the ſtocke of ABRAHAM and DAVID, Coeſſentiall alſo with his Mother.
10 This conception, the effect whereof, was the perſonall vnion of the word; and that man, could not posſiblie be wrought by the power of any Creature.
11 Furthermore, Chriſt is ſaid in the beliefe, according vntounto the Scriptures, to bee conceaued of the holie Ghoſt, which is as the Angell GABRIEL doth expound, the power of the moſt high, and the third perſon in the Deitie.
12 Yet cannot Chriſt bee ſaid therefore, to be the Son of the holy Ghoſt: for in this conception, the holy Ghoſt, doth not ſuſtaine the conſideration of the Father, who begate of his owne ſubſtance, but of a cauſe forming the fleſh out of a matter taken els-where.
13 Yet is this Conception the worke of the whole Trinitie, but diſtinctlie conſidered; for the Father doth ſend his Son into this fleſh, the Sonne is conceaued in this fleſh, the holy Ghoſt dooth forme this fleſh out of the ſubſtance of the Virgin.
14 Although that that Virgine, bleſſed aboue all women, was yet the daughter of ADAM, and therfore infected of her ſelfe, with that vniuerſall contagion of all mankind; whereof alſo vndoubtedly ſhe brought forth ſome fruits: Yet notwithſtanding, the fleſh of Chriſt, was in no wiſe poluted with that contagion; but as the Angell witneſſed, he remained from the very moment of his conception, a moſt pure conſubſiſting habitation of the eternall Sonne.
15 For the holie Ghoſt, when hee tooke the ſubſtance the Virgin, did altogeather cleanſe the ſaid ſubſtance from all corruption, before ſuch time as hee turned the ſame into the ſeed of mans fleſh.
16 In this moſt pure fleſh, was placed alſo a moſt holie, and a moſt pure ſoule, that Chriſt alone ſhuld be that true holie one of the Lord, making holie all his members for euer; of whome, the Leuiticall high Prieſt was onelyonly a Type.
17 Wee condemne therefore the Samoſatenians, who will hauehave Chriſt to be a bare man.
The Arrians and Seruetians, who gaine-ſay his Coeſſentiall and Coeternall Deitie.
The Marcionites and the Manichaees, who change the fleſh of Chriſt into a bare ſhew.
The Schuengfeldians, who attribute vntounto Chriſt a heauenlie bodie.
The Appollinariſts, who affirme, that the WORD was in ſtead of a ſoule, vntounto the fleſh that was aſſumed.
The Neſtorians, who deuide the perſon.
The Eutychians, who both confound the natures, and mingle togeather their Eſſentiall properties.
The Monophyſits, who in ſteade of the vnitie of the perſon, did place the vnity of the natures.
The Vbiquitaries, who with EVTICHES do define the perſonall vnion, by a Reall effuſion of the properties of the Deitie into the humaine nature, and with NESTORIVS, doe define the ſame by the Co-operation of the natures, and with the Monothelites, to be onelyonly a power proceeding as it were from God and man.
The Papiſts, who affirme the Virgine Marie to hauehave bene conceiued without originall ſinne, (and in mainetaining Tranſubſtantiation) do ouerthrow, whatſoeuer they holde aright concerning the trueth of the fleſhe of Chriſt, and the perſonal vnion.
And their doctrine alſo, who placing here vponupon earth an eſſentiall Conſubſtantiation vnderunder bread and wine, do ſtrike vponupon the ſame rocke of confuſion.
Defended by DAVID PIOTAEVS of Lions.