Propositions and Principles of Divinity Disputed, Section 42
PRINCIPLES CONCERNING THE NATIVITIE, CIRCVMCISION, AND BAPTISME OF CHRIST. XLII.
IN THE FORMER PRINCIPLES WE HAVE doone with the conception of Chriſt: now wee are briefly to deale with his Natiuitie.
1 EVen as theſe words of the Creed of the Apoſtles, (conceiued by the holy Ghoſt,) do ſet forth the purifiyng of the ſeed of the Virgin, to the end, that the bodie of Chriſt might bee purely formed thereof: So theſe wordes [Borne of the Virgin Marie] doe declare vntounto vsus, the bringing forth of Chriſt into the world by the ſaid virgin, and ſo his Natiuitie.
2 Wee ſay that Chriſt was borne, (when as the vſuall tearme of Child-bearing, common vntounto all other men being fulfilled) the Virgin brought forth Chriſt that word of the Father, and the Sonne of DAVID.
3 For hee which was conceiued, was alſo borne; The Virgin Marie therefore is juſtly called the mother of God; though ſhe be not the mother of the Deitie: And wee doe juſtlie condemne NESTORIVS, who made a vaine diſtinction between the mother of Chriſt, and the mother of God; as being things oppoſite the one to the other.
4 Of the ſure perſwaſion of this Natiuitie, wee reape a double profit; the one, that hence we learne, that the word (yet without the laying a ſide of his diuine nature, or anie conuerſion or mixture of the ſame) hauing taken vppon him our fleſh, our ſoule and our minde, that in all thinges, (ſinne excepted) he might be made like vntounto his brethren; began to be God and man.
The Arrians therfore are to be condemned, who denie our Sauiour Chriſt to hauehave had an humaine ſoule; and the Appollinariſtes, who deny him to hauehave had an humaine mind.
5 The other, that by this meanes wee might be aſſured, that Chriſt according vntounto the fleſh, is from thoſe Fathers, of whome Mary came, that is from ADAM, ABRAHAM and DAVID, vntounto whom it was peculiarlie promiſed, that the Mesſias ſhould come of their ſeed.
6 Hee was alſo borne (as it muſt needs bee) according vntounto the fore-telling of the Prophets, of a Virgine that was vnknown of man, becauſe otherwiſe he could not be borne a pure man, and ſo he himſelfe ſhould hauehave ſtood in need of a Mediator.
The Iewes therefore are to be condemned, who holde againſt the Chriſtians, that it was not needfull, that the Mesſias ſhould be borne of a Virgine, but that he ſhould be the Son of ſome King or of ſome Prophet.
7 The virginitie of Marie after her Child-bearing, to wit, that as it is moſt certaine, that before her Childe-bearing, ſhe was vnknowen of man; ſo alſo ſhe remained a Virgin after the ſame vntounto her dying day, is religiouſlie beleeued: yet there is nothing expreſlie found concerning this point in the holie Scriptures, neither doth it belong anie-wiſe vntounto the myſterie of our ſaluation.
8 In this place, we do not onelie refuſe, but vtterlie deteſt, all filthie queſtions, and ſuch as are moſt vnagreeable vntounto ſo holy a birth.
9 Chriſt beeing an infant, and bound in his ſwaddling bands after the maner of all other men that are borne, cried in his ſwathes, as alſo he did trulie ſucke milke: it behoued alſo, that his bodie and his humaine wiſdome (though it made greater growth in him then in other men) and his experience did grow as he did increaſe in yeares; in ſo much as, God would not hauehave the lawes of nature to bee broken in theſe things.
10 Chriſt therefore, at that time had a Childes bodie, and afterward a mans, finite, and hauing the inſtrumentall parts thereof, and therefore circumſcribed in a place, the which eſſentiall qualities of a true bodie, hee neither did at any time, nor euer will caſt of.
They err therfore, who teach, that the bodie of Chriſt can be euerie where, and yet his humanitie remaine ſtill vnuiolated; neither doth it followe thence, that the natures are ſeparated.
11 That bodie euen vntounto his death, was ſubject vntounto humaine infirmities, and ſo of it ſelfe ſubject vntounto corruption, though it neuer felt the corruption of the Graue: but after his reſurrection, he laid aſide all thoſe infirmities that were brought vponupon man for ſin, and euen the naturall life it ſelfe.
Whence MANES is conuinced with MARCION, and thoſe whome they call DOKITAE, who teach, that Chriſt in deede neuer did, or could ſuffer any thing, and that he did onelyonly beare men in hand that he ſuffered.
12 This Natiuitie was the beginning of the open humiliation of Chriſt, whereby, he made himſelfe of no reputation; namely, when taking vponupon him the form of a Seruant, he trulie came into this world, euen as his death and buriall was the laſt part of the ſame.
13 Furthermore, in that he was circumciſed, …nd baptized, it was not done therfore, becauſe he in himſelfe needed to be made cleane by them, as though before he were poluted; but that we ſhould learne.
14 Firſt, that the whole force, both of the circumciſion of the Fathers did, and of our Baptiſme dooth depend vppon him, as beeing hee, by whome the Sacraments are trulie made the ſigns of our reconciliation with God.
15 Secondly, that hee was the Sauiour, and the Mediator, both of the Fathers that were circumciſed, and alſo of vsus that now are vnderunder Baptiſme.
16 Thirdly, that he came therefore into the world, not to breake, but to performe the law, and perfectlie to fulfill it, euen in the leaſt points.
17 Fourthly, that he is the knot & the band of both the couenants, although he abrogated the olde by the new.
18 We then condemne their blaſphemy, who thinking that Chriſt was born a bare man, do teach that in his baptiſme, hee was firſt of all made pertaker of the holy Ghoſt, and therefore, that he is called God onelie in name.
Defended by DANIEL CHAMERIVS Occitanus.