and the passion, (3) and the resurrection from the dead, (4) and the ascension into heaven in the flesh, (6) and His parousia or appearance from heaven in the glory of the Father. The only one omitted is (5), the session at the right hand of the Father, and that is implied between the ascension and the second advent, as usually in the New Testament.

Justin Martyr was born in Samaria. He was in Ephesus (135), where he came into conflict with the Jew Trypho. He went to Rome, where he became a teacher. He wrote his Apology in 150-3, and in 155-160 his Dialogue with Trypho. Justin received his Christianity from the second generation, the converts of the Apostles. He was also familiar with the Christianity of Asia and of Rome. It is not certain that he knew the Old Roman Symbol, or knew of one at Ephesus. And yet his terminology, less so than that of Irenæus but still sufficiently, suggests such symbols; and he mentions in his writings the six saving acts.

In his Apology he says: "As many as are persuaded, and believe, that what we teach and say is true, and undertake to be able to live accordingly, are instructed to pray and to entreat God with fasting, for the remission of their sins that are past, we praying and fasting with them. Then they are brought by us where there is water, and are regenerated in the same manner in which we were ourselves regenerated. For in the name of God, the Father, and Lord of the universe, and of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, they then receive the washing of water" (61).

The candidates for baptism were thus taught the Christian Faith; and only after they professed their

faith were they baptized by the triune formula. It is evident that they were taught what Irenæus and Justin themselves had received as the Christian Faith from the successors of the Apostles; and that could have been no other than the six successive acts of salvation of Jesus Christ the Saviour. Justin gives 1, 2, 3, 4 together thrice in the same order;1 and the remaining two, 5, 6, are clearly taught elsewhere. Indeed, the emphasis upon the two advents of Jesus; the first and the second, is characteristic of the Dialogue with Trypho, and the second advent is discussed earlier and again later in this writing.

Ignatius was Bishop of Antioch in the first decade of the second century. Undoubtedly he was himself a disciple of the Apostles. He wrote his epistles on his way to martyrdom at Rome, in the second decade of the second century. There can be no doubt that he mentions every one of these six saving acts of Christ as an essential Christian doctrine in his epistles; only 1, 2, 3 in order.2

We may now go back to the New Testament itself. St. Peter in his preaching emphasized the resurrection of Christ, but also 2, 4, 5, 6, all but the Virgin Birth, which was omitted for valid reasons to be given later (Acts 121-22, 222 seq., 313 seq., 410-12, 520-21, 30-32; v. p. 67). St. Paul also regarded the resurrection as the fundamental principle of his teaching (I Cor. 151 seq.); but all of the six saving acts of Christ stand out prominently in his Epistles except the Virgin Birth, for which, however, other terms are used (v.

1 Apology, 21, 46; Dialogue with Trypho, 63.

V. Ep. Smyr., I.

p. 72). All of them are not given in any one passage. But there are several groups: 2, 3 (Rom. 64 seq., I Cor. 1534); 1, 2, 4, 5 (Phil. 25 seq.); cf. I Tim. 316 for a credal hymn. In the writings ascribed to St. John the doctrine of the Incarnation became most prominent; but the other saving acts are given either explicitly, or implicitly, though not combined in any single statement. The same is true of other New Testament writings.

There is no indication of a form of Creed in the New Testament, and probably none was formulated until after the death of the Apostles, when a simple Creed with the three Trinitarian Articles arose out of the baptismal formula and the requisition for Baptism. But the great doctrine of Faith in Christ and His salvation was so clear and distinct, that there could be no doubt what the specifications of salvation would be, so soon as any attempt was made to formulate them. If we consider the preaching of the Apostles from the beginning, and look at the Christian writers of the early second century, we get this and no other result, as we find it in the Creed.

The Incarnation implies all the others: for the entrance of the Son of God into the world implies His return to the Father, and the work of salvation for which He came into the world, the death and the resurrection. The first advent implies a second, if indeed He was the Messiah of Prophecy. The resurrection also implies all the other saving acts. Resurrection, in the usage of Paul, often stands for the

whole transfer from the grave to the throne. The enthronement is for the purpose of the reign and the second advent for judgment, in all New Testament teaching. The resurrection implies the death of the man Jesus Christ, and that, of course, His birth into the world.

These then are the six successive redemptive acts or states of Jesus, the Son of God, the Messiah: (1) Born of Mary the Virgin,

(2) Crucified under Pontius Pilate,

(3) On the third day risen from the dead, (4) Ascended into the heavens,

(5) Seated on the right hand of the Father,

(6) Thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

CHAPTER V

BORN OF THE VIRGIN MARY

THE Third Article of the Creed originally expressed faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as born of Mary the Virgin. This implied a divine agency in His conception, which was subsequently expressed by the addition of the phrase conceived by the Holy Spirit.

The Creed of the eighth century was: conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of Mary the Virgin; that of the fourth century: born of the Holy Spirit and Mary the Virgin; that of the second century simply: born of Mary the Virgin.

This is evident from Tertullian's first form: natum ex Virgine Maria (De Virginibus Vel., I).

In his second form (Adv. Prax., 2) he has enlarged the statement thus: Hunc missum a Patre in virginem, et ex ea natum, hominem et Deum, filium hominis et filium Dei. Here the birth of the Virgin is stated; but also that God, the Son of God, was sent by the Father into the Virgin to be born of her; and so, though the word conception is not used, the meaning is clear: that when Mary conceived, she conceived as a virgin, without sexual intercourse; that what she conceived was God as well as man, the Son of God, who, Himself, sent by the Father, entered her womb to be born.