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NATIONAL

THE

COVENANT;

OR, THE

CONFESSION OF FAITH;

Subscribed at first by the King's Majesty and his houfbold in the year 1580; thereafter by persons of all ranks in the year 1581, by ordinance of the lords of fecret council, and acts of the general affembly: Subfcribed again by all forts of perfons in the year 1 590, by a new ordinance of council, at the defire of the general assembly; with a general bond for the maintaining of the true Chriftian religion, and the king's perfon; and, together with a refolution and promife, for the caufes after-expressed, to maintain the true religion, and the king's majesty, according to the forefaid Confeffion and acts of parliament, fubfcribed by barons, nobles, gentlemen, burgesses, minifters and commons, in the year 1638: Approven by the general assembly 1638 and 1639; and subscribed again by perfons of all ranks and qualities in the year 1639, by an ordinance of council, upon the supplication of the general assembly, and act of the general assembly : ratified by an act of parliament 1640; and subscribed by king Charles II. at Spey, June 23d 1650. and Scoon, January 1ft 1651,

W

E all and every one of us underwritten, proteft, That, after long and due examination of our own confciences in matters of true and false religion, we are now throughly refolved in the truth by the word and fpirit of God: and therefore we believe with our hearts, confefs with our mouths, subscribe with our hands, and constantly affirm before God and the whole world, that this only is the true Christian faith and religion, pleafing God, and bringing falvation to man, which now is, by the mercy of God, revealed to the world by the preaching of the bleffed evangel; and is received, believed, and defended by many and fundry notable kirks and

realms,

realms, but chiefly by the kirk of Scotland, the king's majefty and three estates of this realm, as God's eternal truth, and only ground of our falvation; as more particularly is expreffed in the Confeffion of our Faith, established and publickly confirmed by fundry acts of parliaments, and now of a long time have been openly profeffed by the king's majesty, and whole body of this realm both in burgh and land. To the which confeffion and form of religion we willingly agree in our confcience in all points, as unto God's undoubted truth and verity, grounded only upon his written word. And therefore we abhor and deteft all contrary religion and doctrine; but chiefly all kind of papistry in general and particular heads, even as they are now damned and confuted by the word of God and kirk of Scotland. But in fpecial we deteft and refuse the ufurped authority of that Roman antichrift upon the scriptures of God, upon the kirk, the civil magiftrate, and confciences of men: all his tyrannous laws made upon indifferent things against our Chriftian liberty: his erroneous doctrine against the fufficiency of the written word, the perfection of the law, the office of Chrift, and his bleffed evangel: his corrupted doctrine concerning original fin, our natural inability and rebellion to God's law, our juftification by faith only, our imperfect fanctification and obedience to the law; the nature, number, and ufe of the holy facraments: his five bastard facraments; with all his rites, ceremonies and false doctrine, added to the miniftration of the true facraments without the word of God: his cruel judgment against infants departing without the facrament: his abfolute neceffity of baptifm: his blafphemous opinion of tranfubftantiation, or real presence of Christ's body in the elements, and receiving of the fame by the wicked, or bodies of men: his difpenfations with folemn oaths, perjuries, and degrees of marriage forbidden in the word: his cruelty against the innocent divorced: his devilish mafs: his blafphemous priesthood: his profane facrifice for Lins of the dead and the quick: his canonization of men; cal

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ling upon angels or faints departed; worshipping of imagery, relicks and croffes; dedicating of kirks, altars, days; vows to creatures his purgatory, prayers for the dead; praying or speaking in a strange language; with his proceffions and blafphemous litany, and multitude of advocates or mediators: his manifold orders, auricular confeffion: his defperate and uncertain repentance: his general and doubtfome faith; his fatisfactions of men for their fins; his juftification by works, Opus operatum, works of fupererogation, merits, pardons, peregrinations, and stations: his holy water, baptizing of bells, conjuring of spirits, croffing, fayning, anointing, conjuring, hallowing of God's good creatures, with the superftitious opinion joined therewith: his worldly monarchy, and wicked hierarchy: his three folemn vows, with all his fhavellings of fundry forts: his erroneous and bloody decrees made at Trent, with all the fubfcribers or approvers of that cruel and bloody band, conjured against the kirk of God. And finally, we detest all his vain allegories, rites, figns, and traditions brought in the kirk, without or against the word of God, and doctrine of this true reformed kirk; to the which we join ourselves willingly, in doctrine, faith, religion, difcipline, and use of the holy facraments, as lively members of the fame in Christ our head: promifing and fwearing by the great name of the LORD our GOD, that we shall continue in the obedience of the doctrine and difcipline of this kirk †, and fhall defend the fame, according to our vocation and power, all the days of our lives; under the pains contained in the law, and danger both of body and foul in the day of God's fearful judgment.

And seeing that many are stirred up of Satan and that Roman antichrift, to promife, fwear, subscribe, and for a time ufe the holy facraments in the kirk deceitfully, against their

+The Confeffion which was fubfcribed at Halyrud-houfe, the 25th of February 1587-8. by the King, Lennox, Huntly, the Chancellor, and about 95 other Perfons, hath here added, agreeing to the Word. Sir John Maxwell of Pollock hath the original Parchment.

Own

own confcience; minding hereby, firft, under the external cloke of religion, to corrupt and fubvert fecretly God's true religion within the kirk; and afterward, when time may ferve, to become open enemies and perfecutors of the fame, under vain hope of the pope's difpenfation, devised against the word of God, to his greater confufion, and their double condemnation in the day of the Lord Jefus: we therefore, willing to take away all fufpicion of hypocrify, and of fuch double dealing with God and his kirk, proteft, and call the Searcher of all hearts for witnefs, That our minds and hearts do fully agree with this our confeffion, promife, oath, and fubfcription; fo that we are not moved with any worldly refpect, but are perfuaded only in our confcience, through the knowledge and love of God's true religion imprinted in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, as we fhall anfwer to him in the day when the fecrets of all hearts fhall be disclosed.

And because we perceive, that the quietnefs and ftability of our religion and kirk doth depend upon the fafety and good behaviour of the king's majefty, as upon a comfortable inftrument of God's mercy granted to this country, for the maintaining of his kirk, and ministration of justice amongst us: we protest and promife with our hearts, under the fame oath, hand-writ, and pains, that we fhall defend his person and authority with our goods, bodies and lives, in the defence of Chrift his evangel, liberties of our country, miniftration of justice, and punishment of iniquity, against all enemies within this realm or without, as we desire our God to be a strong and merciful defender to us in the day of our death, and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: to whom, with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, be all honour and glory eternally. Amen.

LIKEAS many acts of parliament, not only in general do abrogate, annul, and refcind all laws, ftatutes, acts, conftitutions, canons civil or municipal, with all other ordinances, and practique penalties whatfoever made in prejudice of the

true

23.

true religion and profeffors thereof; or of the true kirk, dif cipline, jurifdiction and freedom thereof; or in favours of ido latry and superstition, or of the papistical kirk: As, A& 3. A&t 31. Parl. 1. A& Parl. 11. A&t 114. Parl. 1 2. of king James VI. That papistry and superstition may be utterly fuppreffed, according to the intention of the acts of parliament, repeated in the 5. A&t, Parl. 20. king James VI. And to that end they ordain all papists and priests to be punished with manifold civil and ecclefiaftical pains, as adversaries to God's true religion, preached, and by law established within this realm, Act 24. Parl. 11. king Ja. VI. as common enemies to all ChriA& ftian government, Act 1 8. Parl. 16. king Ja. VI. as rebellers and gainftanders of our fovereign lord's authority, A& 47. Parl. 3. king Ja. VI. and as idolaters, Act 104. Parl. 9. king Ja. VI. But alfo in particular, by and attour the confeffion of faith, do abolish and condemn the pope's authority and jurifdiction out of this land, and ordains the maintainers thereof to be punished, A&t 2. Parl. 1. A&t 5 1. Parl. 3. A&t 106. Parl. 7. A&t 114. Parl. 12. king Ja. VI. do condemn the pope's erroneous doctrine, or any other erroneous doctrine repugnant to any of the articles of the true and Christian religion, publickly preached, and by law established in this realm; and ordains the spreaders and makers of books or libels, or letters or writs of that nature, to be punished, A& 46. Parl. 3. A& 106. Parl. 7. A&t 24. Parl. 11. K. Ja. VI. do condemn all baptifm conform to the pope's kirk, and the idolatry of the mafs; and ordains all fayers, wilful hearers, and concealers of the mafs, the maintainers and refetters of the priests, jefuites, trafficking papifts, to be punished without any exception of reftriction, Act 5. Parl. 1. Act 1 20. Parl. 12. A&t 164. Pari 13. A& 193. Parl. 14. A&t 1. Parl. 19. A&t 5. Parl, 20, K. Ja. VI. do condemn all erroneous books and writs, containing erroneous doctrine against the religion prefently profeffed, or containing fuperftitious rites and ceremonies papistical, whereby the people are greatly abused; and ordains the home-bring

ETS

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