being left to the liberty of their own will, which was subject to change. Besides this law written in their hearts, they received a command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; which while they kept, they were happy in their communion with God, and had dominion over the creatures.

OF PROVIDENCE.

1. God the great Creator of all things, doth uphold, direct, dispose and govern all creatures, actions, and things from the greatest even to the least, by his most wise and holy providence, according to his infallible foreknowledge and the free and immutable counsel of his own will, to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy.

2. Although in relation to the foreknowledge and decree of God, the first cause, all things come to pass immutably, and infallibly; yet by the same providence he ordereth them to fall out, according to the nature of second causes, either necessarily, freely, or contingently.

3. God in his ordinary providence maketh use of means, yet is free to work without, above, and against them at his pleasure.

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4. The almighty power, unsearchable wisdom, and the infinite goodness of God, so far manifest themselves in his vidence, in that his determinate counsel extendeth itself even to the first fall, and all other sins of angels and men, (and that not by a bare permission,) which also he most wisely and powerfully boundeth, and otherwise ordereth and governeth in a manifold dispensation, to his own most holy ends, yet so as the sinfulness thereof proceedeth only from the creature, and not from God, who being most holy and righteous neither is, nor can be the author or approver of sin.

5. The most wise, righteous, and gracious God, doth ofttimes leave for a season his own children to manifold temptations, and the corruption of their own hearts, to chastise them for their former sins, or to discover unto them the hidden strength of corruption, and deceitfulness of their hearts, that they may be humbled, and to raise them to a more close and constant dependence for their support upon himself, and to make them more watchful againt all future occasions of sin, and for sundry other just and holy ends.

6. As for those wicked and ungodly men, whom God as a righteous judge for former sins, doth blind and harden, from

them he not only withholdeth his grace, whereby they might have been enlightened in their understandings, and wrought upon in their hearts; but sometimes also withdraweth the gifts which they had, and exposeth them to such objects as their corruption makes occasions of sin; and withal gives them over to their own lusts, the temptations of the world, and the power of Satan, whereby it comes to pass that they harden themselves, even under those means which God useth for the softening of others.

7. As the providence of God doth in general reach to all creatures, so after a most special manner it taketh care of his church, and disposeth all things for the good thereof.

THE MENNONISTS' CONFESSION.

THE CREATION OF ALL THINGS, AND OF MAN.

The same only God, who worketh all in all, him we believe and profess to be the Creator of all visible and invisible things; who within six days hath created, made and prepared the heavens, the earth, and the sea, and all what is in it; and that he yet ruleth and upholds the same and all his works, by his wisdom and might, and by the word of his power.

And when he had perfected his works, and according to his good pleasure, had ordered and prepared them good and upright, every one in its nature, being and propriety, he also created the first man, the father of us all, Adam, and gave him a body, which he make from an earthen lump, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.

So that he became a living soul from God, created in his own image and after his likeness, in sincere righteousness and holiness, unto life everlasting. And he regarded him above all other creature and adorned him with many excellent and glorious gifts, placed him in the delightful garden of paradise, gave him a command and prohibition, and took afterward from the same Adam a rib, and made a woman of it, which he brought to him, and gave her for his help, and companion, and wife; and so consequently caused that from this only first man Adam, have been procreated and descended all men living on the face of the whole earth.

THE LONDON BAPTISTS' CONFESSION.

[See under next Section.]

THE WELCH CALVINISTIC METHODISTS' CONFESSION.

OF THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD IN UPHOLDING AND GOVERNING THE

WORLD.

God, in his wise, holy, and righteous providence, upholds and governs all creatures, and all their actions. His providence, embraces every place, incident, change, and time. The dispensation of God's providence is full of eyes to perceive, and full of strength to perform; and he will make all things to work together for good to them that love him. Its over ruling government extends over the sinful actions of man; but it is neither the cause nor the occasion of sinfulness in him.

OF MAN'S FALL, SIN, AND FREE WILL.

THE LATTER CONFESSION OF HELVETIA.

OF MAN'S FALL, SIN, AND THE CAUSE OF SIN.

Man was from the beginning created of God after his image, in righteousness and true holiness, good, and upright: but by the instinct of the serpent and his own fault, falling from goodness and uprightness, became subject to sin, death, and divers calamities, and such an one as he became by his fall, such are all his offspring, even subject to sin, death, and sundry calamities. And we take sin to be that natural corruption of man, derived or spread from those our parents unto us all, through which we being drowned in evil concupiscences, and clean turned away from God, but prone to all evil, full of all wickedness distrust, contempt, and hatred of God, can do no good of ourselves, no not so much as think of any. And that more is, even as we do grow in years, so by wicked thoughts, words,

and deeds committed against the law of God, we bring forth corrupt fruits, worthy of an evil tree: in which respect, we through our own desert, being subject to the wrath of God are in danger of just punishments: so that we had all been cast away from God, had not Christ the deliverer brought us

back again.

By death therefore, we understand not only bodily death, which is once to be suffered of all us for sins, but also everlasting punishments due to our corruption aad to our sins.

For the apostle saith, Eph. ii. We were dead in trespasses and sins, and were by nature the children of wrath, as well as others. But God which is rich in mercy, even when we were dead by sins, quickened us together in Christ." Again, Rom. v. "As by one man sin entered into the world, and by sin death, and so death went over all men, forasmuch as all men have sinned," &c.

We therefore acknowledge that original sin is in all men; we acknowledge, that all other sins, which spring hereout, are both called, and are in deed sins, by what name soever they may be termed, whether mortal or venial, or also that which is called sin against the Holy Ghost, which is never forgiven: we also confess that sins are not equal, although they spring from the same fountain of corruption and unbelief, but that some are more grievous than others, even as the Lord hath said, Matth. x. 11, that "It shall be easier for Sodom," than for the city that despiseth the word of the gospel: we therefore condemn all those that have taught things contrary to these, but especially Pelagius and all the Pelagians, together with the Jovinianists, who with the Stoics count all sins equal, we in this matter agree fully with St. Augustine, who produced and maintained his sayings out of the holy scriptures. Moreover we condemn Florinus and Blastus (against whom also Iræneus wrote) and all those that make God the author of sin: seeing it is expressly written, Ps. lxxxiv. 4. "Thou art not a God that loveth wickedness, thou hatest all them that work iniquity, and wilt destroy all that speak lies." And again, John viii. 44. "When the devil speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, because he is a liar, and the father of lying." Yea, there is even in ourselves sin and corruption enough, so that there is no need that God should infuse into us either a new or greater measure of wickedness. Therefore when God is said in the scripture, to harden, to blind, and to deliver us up into a reprobate sense, it is to be understood, that God doth it by just judgment, as a just

judge and revenger. To conclude, as often as God in the scripture is said and seemeth to do some evil, it is not thereby meant, that man doth not commit evil, but that God doth suffer it to be done, and doth not hinder it, and that by his just judgment, who could hinder it, if he would: or because he maketh good use of the evil of men, as he did in the sins of Joseph's brethren: or because himself ruleth sins, that they break not out and rage more violently than is meet. St. Augustine in his Enchiridion, saith, "After a wonderful and unspeakable manner that is not done beside his will, which is done contrary to his will, because it could not be done, if he should not suffer it to be done, and yet he doth not suffer it to be done unwillingly, but willingly neither would he, being God suffer any evil to be done, unless being also Almighty, he could make good of evil." Other questions, as, whether God would have Adam fall, or whether he forced him to fall, or why he did not hinder his fall, and such like, we account amongst curious questions, (unless perchance the frowardness of heretics, or of men otherwise importunate, do compel us to open these points also out of the word of God, as the godly doctors of the Church have oftentimes done) knowing that the Lord did forbid that man should not eat of the forbidden fruit, and punished his transgression: and also that the things done are not evil in respect of the provi dence, will, and power of God, but in respect of Satan, and our will resisting the will of God.

OF FREE WILL, AND SO OF MAN'S POWER AND Ability.

We teach in this matter, which at all times hath been the cause of many conflicts in the Church, that there is a triple condition or estate of man to be considered. First, what man was before his fall, to wit, upright and free, who might both continue in goodness, and decline to evil: but he declined to evil, and hath wrapped both himself and all mankind in sin and death, as hath been showed before. Secondly, we are to consider, what man was after his fall. His understanding indeed was not taken from him, neither was he deprived of will, and altogether changed into a stone or stock. Nevertheless, these things are so altered in man, that they are not able to do that now, which they could not do before his fall. For his understanding is darkened, and his will which before was free, is now become a servile will; for it serveth sin, not nilling, but willing; for it is called a will, and not a nilling.