An answer to the discourse of Mr. William Sherlock, touching the knowledge of Christ,…

Unto what hath been said, I shall ⟨p. 311⟩add a few Testimonies out of the Fathers:¹ [Greek or Hebrew]! What other thing could cover our sins, but Christ's Righteousness? In whom could we lawless and ungodly be justified, but in the only Son of God! Oh sweet exchange! Thus Justin Martyr. The fulfilling of the Law by Christ the First-fruits, [Greek or Hebrew], was to be imputed to the whole lump; so Athanasius. Christ having translated the filthiness of my sins to himself, hath made me partaker of his purity, [Greek or Hebrew], communicating unto me his own beauty; so Greg. Nyssen. Non habeo unde me jactem, ²gloriabor in Christo; non gloriabor quia justus sum, sed quia redemptus sum; non quia vacuus peccati, sed quia remissa peccata; thus St. Ambrose. God sent his Son, that, assuming our flesh and obeying his Father in all things, [Greek or Hebrew], that he might justify the Nature of Man in himself; so St. Cyril of Alexandria. [Greek or Hebrew], If thou believest on Christ, thou hast fulfilled the Law, and more than it commanded; thou hast now received [Greek or Hebrew], ⟨p. 312⟩a greater Righteousness, ³that is, in Christ the end of the Law; So St. Chrysostom. Domine, memorabor justitiae tuae solius, ipsa enim et mea; nempe factus es mihi tu justitia à Deo: ⁴numquid mihi verendum, nè non una ambobus sufficiat! Non est pallium breve, quod non possit operire duos; Justitia tua in eternum me & te pariter operiet, quia largiter larga & eterna Justitia; thus St. Bernard. Many other Passages might be quoted out of the Fathers, but this Taste may suffice: This divine Truth touching imputed Righteousness, such is its Heavenly Oriency, hath extorted a confession even from its enemies; The very Schoolmen themselves, as Bishop Andrewes hath observed, whatever they are in their Quodlibets and Comments on the Sentences, yet in their Soliloquies and devotional Meditations acknowledge Jehovah justitiae nostra, Cardinal Contarenus saith, Ego prorsùs existimo, piè & Christianè dici, quòd debeamus niti tanquam re stabili justitia Christi nobis donatà; non autem sanctitate & gratià nobis inherente. And Bellarmine himselfe confesses, Propter inceritudinem propriae justitiae, & periculum inanis gloriae,