he shall sit at the father's right hand ;" that is, he shall as mediator, exercise an absolute authority, and an unlimited dominion over all; which sense I do the rather chuse to put upon these words, because the word almighty is farther added in this article; wherein it is said, that he sitteth at the right hand of God the father almighty; which word, though the same with that in the beginning of the creed, both in Latin and English, yet is different from it in the Greek. In the beginning of the creed, where it is said, I believe in God the father almighty, the Greek word is Pantokrator, which properly signifies God's supreme and universal dominion; but in this article the Greek word is Pantodunamos, which in strictness and propriety of speech, denotes the efficay and irresistibleness of his power and operation, that he hath all things at his command and beck, able to dispose of them without any controul or hinderance, as he himself pleaseth according to the counsel of his will: and so in this place this attribute seems to have been superadded to the person of the father, to confirm us in the belief of his son's sitting at his right hand, or of his universal disposal and government of all things, in the execution of his regal office as mediator, because the father, who hath advanced

him to that place of dignity and rule, is al mighty, of infinite force and efficacy, whom no creature can resist, but all are infinitè weakness and imbecility in comparison of him.

Now as for the time and occasion of the in troduction and settling of this article in the creed, there is very little said concerning it in the primitive writers; it is in neither of the creeds of Irenæus.; but is first found in those of Tertullian, and since his time used in most others.

According to the interpretation which some of the ancients give thereof, it seems to have been designed for no other end, than to be a continued proof of the same point with the precedent clause of the ascension, viz. that Christ did not lose or dissolve his human boby after his resurrection, but that with the same body he not only ascended into heaven, but is also sate down at the right hand of his father, where he shall remain till the restitution of all things, when he shall come to judge the world, both the quick and the dead: according unto which, in the epistle of Damasus to Paulinus, amongst the several anathemas against the heretics of those times, there is this relation to our purpose; "if any one shall not say, that Christ in the same flesh which he assumed here, is sate down at the right

hand of the father, let him be accursed:" where it is evident, that the explication that he gave of this article was that Christ since his ascension into heaven, continues still there with the very same body that he had on earth; which exactly agrees with the explanation of the creed to the said Damasus, extant amongst the works of St. Jerome, but falsly attributed to him; wherein this article is thus unfolded, "he sitteth at the right hand of God the father, that nature of flesh remaining, in which he was born, and suffered, and also rose again."

But, inasmuch as this point was asserted by the foregoing clause of the ascension, and this of our Lord's session at his father's right hand, is first found in the creeds of Tertullian, it is not improbable, but that it was chiefly designed against another sort of persons mentioned by the said father, who did indeed own the ascension of our Saviour's human body into heaven, but "affirmed it to remain there in a stupid and unconcerned manner, void of sense, and, without Christ, as a scabbard is when it is without a sword:" which doctrine is directly condemned by this article which assures us that our mediator liveth not in a regardless and unactive temper in heaven, but that since his ascension he is sate down at his father's right

hand, having all power and authority committed into his hands, which he continually exerts for the weal of his church in the government of the whole world, and of every occurrence therein; which is not much different from the explication that Epiphanius gives of this article, which is, that Christ being ascended into heaven," sate down at the right hand of God the father, and from thence sent forth preachers, apostles and evangelists into the whole world, as Peter, James, Mark, Luke, Barnabas, Stephen, Paul, and others; the last of whom he chose out by his own voice from heaven so that he is not idle and unemployed in heaven, but is sate down at the right hand of God the father almighty; from whom he hath received all power and authority, which he constantly exercises for his own and his father's glory, and the good of his church and people, and will still continue so to do to the end of the world, when he shall come from heaven to judge both the quick and the dead;

Which is the last particular that is attributed unto the son, and comes next in order to be considered; wherein I shall give first a brief cxplication thereof, and then shew the occasion aud time of its being introduced into the creed,

Now as for the explication thereof, its sense is very plain and obvious, viz. that at the end of the world our Lord Jesus Christ shall come from heaven to judge according to their works, all mankind, both the quick and the dead; which latter words I shall a little more explain, because there was some difference in the notions of the ancients concerning them, which it may not be unnecessary to mention.

Isidore the Pelusiote, reckons up three explications of this phrase; the first whereof is, "that by the quick and the dead, may be understood the bodies and souls of men, that one shall not be separated from another, but as they have behaved themselves alike here, so they shall receive an equal reward hereafter :" according unto which interpretation Ruffinus also writes, "that by the quick may be understood souls, and by the dead bodies."

The second is "that by the quick and dead, are meant the good aud bad;" which opinion is not condemned, but judged probable both by St. Austin and Gennadius Massiliensis; the latter of whom informs us that Diodorus bishop of Tarsus, who flourished about the year 380, attributed this sense unto it, "that by the quick and dead, are signified the Godly and ungodly."