Certain disputations of right to sacraments, and the true nature of visible Christianity defending…

For the explaining and resolving whereof, I shall first show you what that Profession is which we require, and shall be satisfied in: and secondly I shall prove the Affirmative of the Question.

For the explaining and resolving whereof, I shall first shew you what that Profession is which we require, and shall be satisfied in: and secondly I shall prove the Affirmative of the Question.

And for the first, I shall first show you what Profession is in general, and the formal nature of the thing, and the requisites thereto. Secondly, I shall show you what this Profession must be in specie, as it is specified from the subject matter of it.

And for the first, I shall first shew you what Profession is in general, and the formal nature of the thing, and the requisites thereto. Secondly, I shall shew you what this Profession must be in specie, as it is specified from the subject matter of it.

And first Profiteor, is but palam fateor, in the common acception of the word. In civil cases, prositeri est publice & apud acta aliquid ultro denunciate, ut Calv. More especially, professio is sometimes, ad interrogata responsio, and sometimes sponsio; and in military affairs, it is nomen dare. Ours in question hath something of all these conjunct. It is a solemn voluntary declaration (expression or confession) of our faith in God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; (in answer, usually, to the Interrogation of the Minister) with a giving up our name to God, by solemn sponsion, and renouncing the Flesh, the World, and the Devil (or in general, all inconsistent ways) Profession is a relative action, and hath in it somewhat Material, viz. the Action; and somewhat Formal, viz. the Relation, which must be distinctly considered of. For Profession is a signification of a mans mind concerning the thing professed. The Action, which is the Matter of the sign, is not necessarily one and the same thing in all and at all times. The common action is by word of mouth: Where that cannot be had, (as from the dumb) it sufficeth that they express by writing: where that cannot be had, the lifting up of the hand, or motion of other part of the body, or any thing that is apt to signify what is in the mind, may be a just Profession. And if word, writing, and