all means to be considered as in a fundamental error. Therefore, as a man hath received of God greater or less natural abilities, so let the number of articles to which he shall give his assent be greater or smaller; and as revelation hath been made, or information hath been given, to a man more clearh' or obscurely, in the same proportion is more or less required of him. Therefore, in our own case, we ought to be cautious of even the smallest errors, and to aim at the highest degree of knowledge in divine truths. In the case of others we ought to judge concerning them with the greatest prudence, mildness, and benevolence. Hence we see that a certain precise number of articles which shall be necessary and fundamental to ever}' man can- not be determined" (Edwards, Works, N. Y. ed., 4 vols., vol. iii, p. 545).
After Cromwell came into power in England in 1653, a committee of divines was appointed by Parliament to draw up a catalogue of " fundamentals" to be pre- sented to the House. "Archbishop Usher was nomi- nated, but he declining, Mr. Baxter was appointed in his room ; the rest w ho acted were Dr. Owen, Dr. Goodwin, Dr. Cheynel, Mr. Marshal, Mr. Reyner, Mr. Nye, Mr. Sydrach Simpson, Mr. Vines, Mr. Manton, Mr. Jacomb. Mr. Baxter desired to offer the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments alone, as containing the fundamentals of religion ; but it was objected that this would include Socinians and papists. Mr. Baxter replied that it was so much fitter for a centre of unitj' or concord, because it was impos- sible, in his opinion, to devise a form of words which heretics would not subscribe, when they had perverted them to their own sense. These arguments not pre- vailing, the following articles were presented to the House, under the title of 'The Principles of Faith, presented by Mr. Thomas Goodwin, Mr. Nye, Mr. Sy- drach Simpson, and other Ministers, to the Committee of Parliament for Religion, by way of Explanation to the Proposals for propagating the Gospel.' 1. That the Holy Scripture is that rule of knowing God and living unto him, which whoso does not believe cannot be saved. 2. That there is a God, who is the creator, governor, and judge of the world, whicli is to be re- ceived by faith, and every other way of the knowl- edge of iiim is insufficient. 3. That this God, who is the creator, is eternally distinct from all creatures in his being and bless- edness. 4. That this God is one in three persons or subsistences. 5. That Jesus Christ is the only medi- ator between God and man, without the knowledge of whom there is no salvation. 6. That this Jesus Christ is the true God. 7. That this Jesus Christ is also true man. 8. That this Jesus Christ is God and man in one person. 0. That this Jesus Christ is our Eedeemer, who, by paying a ransom and bearing our sins, has made satisfaction for them. 10. That this same Lord Jesus Christ is he that was crucified at Jerusalem, and rose again, and ascended into heaven. 11. That this same Jesus
wherein all shall appear, some to go into everlasting life, and some into everlasting condemnation. Mr. Baxter ^Life, p. 205) saj's Dr. Owen worded these ar- ticles ; that Dr. Goodwin, Mr. Nye, and Mr. Simpson were his assistants ; that Dr. Chcj'nel was scribe ; and that Mr. Marshal, a solier, worthy man, did something ; but that the rest were little better than passive. It appears by these articles that these divines intended to exclude not onlj' Deists, Socinians, and papists, but Arians, Antinoniians, Quakers, and others" (Neal, His- tory of the PitritanSj Harpers' ed., i, 131).
FuneraL Burjing was (as generallj', Cicero, Leg. ii, 22; Pliny, vii, 55) the oldest, as in all antiq- uity the customarj-, and among the Israelites the only mode of disposing of corpses (Gen. xxiii, 19; xxv, 9; XXXV, 8, 19 ; Judg. ii, 9 ; viii, 32 ; 1 Sam. xxv, 1, etc. ; John xi, 17 ; Matt, xxvii, 60, etc.). So likewise among the Eg}-ptians, Babylonians, and Persians (Lucian, Siief. 21 ; Curtius, iii, 12, 11 and 13), of which people ruins of necropolises and tombs still remain. Of burn- ing (which among the Greeks was a well-known cus- tom— although in no age altogether prevalent, see Becker, Charicks, ii, 181 sq.), the first trace occurs in 1 Sam. xxxi, 12, and even there as an extraordinary case (ver. 10). The practice has also been inferred from Amos vi, 10, where the term "iS^iCC, mesure2)ho' , "he that burneth him" (i. e. the nearest relative, who kindled the pyre; compare Gen. xxv, 9; xxxv, 29; Judg. xvi, 31), occurs ; but De Rossi, with several MSS., reads (so Hitzig, ad loc, although Rosenmiiller, ad loc, otherwise explains) iE"iw"2, alluding to the different custom of burning — not the hody itself, but — sweet spices at the funeral, as in Chron. xvi, 14; xxi, 19; Jer. xxxiv, 5 (comp. Deut. xii, 31), as confirmed bj' Josephus (Ha?-, i, 33, 9; see Geier, De litclti, vi, 2 sq. ; Kirchmann, Defunerib. p. 248 sq. ; Dougt»i Aii- alect. i, 196 sq.). After the exile the burning of dead bodies was still less an Israelitish custom, and the Talmud classes it with heathenish practices; hence even Tacitus (Hist, v, 5, 4) mentions burial as an alto- gether Jewish usage. The same conclusion is con- firmed by the ftict that combustion of the person is affixed by the Mosaic law (Lev. xx, 14; xxi, 9) as a special penalty for certain crimes (see Michaelis [who.