The Online Library of Liberty

A project of Liberty Fund, Inc.

• Introduction.
• The Truth of Faith Manifested By the Triumph of the Cross.
• Book I.
• Prologue.
• Chapter I.: How By Means of Visible Things We Arrive At the Knowledge of Such As Are Invisible.
• Chapter II.: How the Triumph of Christ Testifies to the Truth of Our Faith.
• Chapter III.: Containing Certain Fundamental and Irrefragable Principles.
• Chapter IV.: Answers to the Objections Which May Be Brought Against the Foregoing Propositions.
• Chapter V.: The Mode In Which Our Argument Must Be Conducted.
• Chapter VI.: The Existence of God.
• Chapter VII.: God Is Not a Body, Nor the Form of a Body, Nor Is He a Complex Substance.
• Chapter VIII.: God Is the Perfect and Supreme Good, and Is of Infinite Power; He Is In Every Place; and He Is Immutable and Eternal.
• Chapter IX.: God Is One.
• Chapter X.: God Knows All Things Perfectly, and Acts of His Own Will, and Not From Natural Necessity.
• Chapter XI.: The Providence of God Extends Over All Things.
• Chapter XII.: The End to Which Man Is Guided By Divine Providence.
• Chapter XIII.: Man’s Last End Cannot Be Attained In This Present Life.
• Chapter XIV.: The Soul of Man Is Immortal.
• Book II.
• Method Observed Throughout This Book.
• Chapter I.: Some True Religion Exists In the World.
• Chapter II.: Religion Is Both Interior and Exterior.
• Chapter III.: No Better Life Can Be Found Than the Christian Life.
• Chapter IV.: The End Presented to Us By the Christian Religion Is the Best Which Can Possibly Be Conceived.
• Chapter V.: A Christian Life Is the Best Possible Means For Attaining to Happiness.
• Chapter VI.: The Christian Life Is a Most Sure Means of Attaining to Beatitude.
• Chapter VII.: The Faith of Christ Is True, Because It Causes Men to Lead a Perfect Life.
• Chapter VIII.: The Doctrines Taught By Christianity Are True, and Come From God.
• Chapter IX.: The Truth of the Faith Proved By Arguments Founded On the Prayer and Contemplation of Christians.
• Chapter X.: Proofs of the Truth of the Christian Religion Founded On Its External Forms of Worship.
• Chapter XI.: The Truth of Christianity Evidenced By Its Effects On the Interior Life of Christians.
• Chapter XII.: The Truth of Christianity Manifested By Its Visible Effects On the Lives of Christians.
• Chapter XIII.: The Truth of the Faith Demonstrated By the Wonderful Works of Christ, Especially Those Which Pertain to His Power.
• Chapter XIV.: The Truth of Christianity Shown By Arguments Based On the Wisdom of Christ.
• Chapter XV.: The Truth of Christ’s Teaching Is Proved By His Goodness.
• Chapter XVI.: The Truth of Christianity Is Proved By the Power, Wisdom, and Goodness of Christ, Considered Collectively.
• Book III.
• Method Observed Throughout This Book.
• Chapter I.: God Contains Within Himself, and Can Perform, an Infinite Number of Things Surpassing Human Understanding.
• Chapter II.: An Examination of Certain Articles of the Christian Creed Which Exceed the Limits of Human Understanding.
• Chapter III.: The Mystery of the Trinity Is Neither Unreasonable Nor Incredible.
• Chapter IV.: The Christian Doctrine of Creation Is Neither Incredible Nor Unreasonable.
• Chapter V.: The Christian Teaching Concerning the Sanctification, Glory, and Resurrection of Rational Creatures Contains No Article Which Is Either Impossible, Or Unreasonable.
• Chapter VI.: The Doctrine of the Damnation of the Wicked Is One Befitting Christianity.
• Chapter VII.: The Doctrine of the Incarnation of the Son of God Is, In No Sense, Incredible, Unseemly, Or Unreasonable.
• Chapter VIII.: The Belief In the Virginal Birth of Christ Is Consistent With Reason, and His Life Befitted, In All Respects, His Dignity.
• Chapter IX.: The Christian Doctrine of Original Sin Is Neither Unreasonable Nor Incredible.
• Chapter X.: Our Belief In the Passion of Christ, In the Other Mysteries of His Humanity, and In All the Articles Defined By the Church, Is Strictly Consistent With Reason.
• Chapter XI.: The Christian Religion Most Prudently Establishes the Two Precepts of Charity, As the Foundation of Our Whole Moral Life.
• Chapter XII.: The Excellence of the Moral Teaching of the Church.
• Chapter XIII.: The Perfect Reasonableness of the Christian Constitution and Code of Judicial Law.
• Chapter XIV.: The Sacraments of the Church Have Been Instituted By Christ, and Are Admirably Adapted to the Needs of Mankind.
• Chapter XV.: The Number of the Sacraments Is Reasonable.
• Chapter XVI.: The Rites Used In the Administration of the Sacraments Are Both Reasonable and Seemly.
• Chapter XVII.: Answers to Certain Objections Brought Against the Doctrine of the Blessed Eucharist.
• Chapter XVIII.: The Reasonableness of the Ceremonies of the Church.
• Book IV.
• Introduction. Method Observed Throughout This Book.
• Chapter I.: No Religion Except Christianity Can Be True.
• Chapter II.: The Defective and Erroneous Religions Taught By Heathen Philosophers.
• Chapter III.: The Futility and Superstition of the Traditions of Astrology.
• Chapter IV.: Idolatry Is of All Things the Most Vain.
• Chapter V.: A Refutation of the Jewish Perfidy and Superstition.
• Chapter VI.: The Malicious Untruthfulness of Heretics.
• Chapter VII.: The Utter Irrationality of the Mahometan Religion.
• Chapter VIII.: The Christian Religion Will Remain True and Unwavering Unto the End.
• Chapter IX.: Epilogue.

CHAPTER II.

AN EXAMINATION OF CERTAIN ARTICLES OF THE CHRISTIAN CREED WHICH EXCEED THE LIMITS OF HUMAN UNDERSTANDING.

We may divide the articles of belief peculiar to Christians, into those that pertain to the Divinity of Christ, and those that concern His Humanity.

Regarding His Divinity, we believe that there are not many gods, but one only God. This, the fundamental doctrine of Christianity, is not merely believed, but also known, by enlightened and learned men. Secondly. Together with the Unity, we believe in the Trinity of God, by which we mean, that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, are One God and Three Persons. These two articles regard the Divine Essence. The next articles refer to the Divine works. And, first, considering the works of nature, we profess that God has created all things, or made them out of nothing. Next, passing to the works which He has wrought in the supernatural order, we declare, that God alone can sanctify the creature, and that He does so, by means of supernatural gifts, in order to draw the creature to Himself. We next pass to the works of glory. Considering the glory of the soul, we profess that such as have been sanctified by God, will, after death, be glorified in beatitude and supernatural fruition, and that the body will rise again. We also acknowledge the immortality and glorification of the bodies of the just, and the damnation of the wicked.

Concerning the Humanity of Christ, we believe that Christ is true God and true Man—Son of God, and Son of the Virgin Mary, by her conceived and borne, through the power of the Holy Ghost; that for our salvation He was crucified, died, and was buried. We believe, moreover, that He went down to that part of hell called Limbo, thence to deliver the souls of the Patriarchs; that He rose again from death to glory, and ascended into Heaven, where He sits at the right hand of the Father; and that He will come again to judge the living and the dead, and to make new the whole face of the earth. Thus, our whole faith consists in these twelve articles. We also believe all that is embraced in the Holy Scriptures, and all that the holy Roman Church has defined, or shall hereafter define. We shall, therefore, proceed to discuss these twelve articles of the Creed, and to show that they contain nothing, either unreasonable, or incredible. We have not made any mention of the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar nor of the other Sacraments; but they are included under the head of the sanctification of the rational creature, and we shall further treat of them when we are explaining the ceremonies of the Church. We have already spoken of the Unity of God, in the First Article of the First Book. Therefore, we shall not treat of it now, more especially as the greatest of the philosophers, and indeed nearly all men, agree with us in admitting this truth.