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XXV. 19.| _ THE SECOND BOOK. | 965 
matter of belief and truth of opinion, and matter of ser- 
vice and adoration; which is also judged and directed by 
the former: the one being as the internal soul of religion, 
and the other as the external body thereof. And there- 
fore the heathen religion was not only a worship of idols, 
but the whole religion was an idol in itself; for it had no 
soul, that is, no certainty of belief or confession: as a 
man may well think, considering the chief doctors of their 
church were the poets: and the reason was, because the 
heathen gods were no jealous gods, but were glad to 
be admitted into part, as they had reason. Neither did 
they respect the pureness of heart, so they mought have 
external honour and rites. 
20. But out of these two do result and issue four main 
branches of divinity; faith, manners, liturgy, and govern- 
ment. Faith containeth the doctrine of the nature of 
God, of the attributes of God, and of the works of God. 
The nature of God consisteth of three persons in unity of 
Godhead. The attributes of God are either common to 
the Deity, or respective to the persons. The works of 
God summary are two, that of the creation and that of 
the redemption; and both these works, as in total they 
appertain to the unity of the Godhead, so in their parts 
they refer to the three persons: that of the creation, in 
the mass of the matter, to the Father; in the disposition 
of the form, to the Son; and in the continuance and 
conservation of the being, to the Holy Spirit. So that 
of the redemption, in the election and counsel, to the 
Father; in the whole act and consummation, to the Son; 
and in the application, to the Holy Spirit; for by the 
Holy Ghost was Christ conceived in flesh, and by the 
Holy Ghost are the elect regenerate in spirit. This work 
likewise we consider either effectually, in the elect; or 
