'Necessary and sufficient faith': Jeremy Taylor, the Apostles' Creed, and Remonstrant influence

I have previously suggested that, contrary to many readings of the works of Jeremy Taylor, his 1647 The Liberty of Prophesying was no aberration but, rather, an introduction to a key enduring theme in his works - that of the influence of Remonstrant thought.  Thus, for example, Taylor's relativising of appeals to Augustine, evident in The Liberty of Prophesying, were, of course, also evident in his 1655 Unum Necessarium. At the root of this relativising of Augustine was Remonstrant thought, particularly as seen in the works of Episcopius.

This is also the case with how Taylor regards the Apostles' Creed as a sufficient declaration of saving faith. This, of course, is a key theme in The Liberty of Prophesying:

And according to the Rule and Reason of this Discourse (that it may appear that the Creed hath in it all Articles primo & per se, primely and universally necessary) the Creed is just such an explication of that Faith which the Apostles preached, viz. the Creed which S. Paul recites, as contains in it all those things which entitle Christ to us in the capacities of our Law-Giver and our Saviour, such as enable him to the great work of redemption, according to the predictions concerning him, and such as engage and encourage our services. For, taking out the Article of Christ's descent into Hell (which was not in the old Creed, as appears in some of the Copies I before referred to, in Tertullian, Ruffinus, and Irenaeus; and indeed was omitted in all the Confessions of the Eastern Churches, in the Church of Rome, and in the Nicene Creed, which by adoption came to be the Creed of the Catholic Church) all other Articles are such as directly constitute the parts and work of our redemption, such as clearly derive the honour to Christ, and enable him with the capacities of our Saviour and Lord. The rest engage our services by proposition of such Articles which are rather promises then propositions; and the whole Creed, take it in any of the old Forms, is but an Analysis of that which S. Paul calls the word of salvation, whereby we shall be saved, viz. that we confess Jesus to be Lord, and that God raised him from the dead: by the first whereof he became our Law-Giver and our Guardian; by the second he was our Saviour: the other things are but parts and main actions of those two. Now what reason there is in the world that can enwrap any thing else within the foundation, that is, in the whole body of Articles simply and inseparably necessary, or in the prime original necessity of Faith, I cannot possibly imagine. These do the work, and therefore nothing can upon the true grounds of reason enlarge the necessity to the enclosure of other Articles.

Rather than this being an example of younger, misguided Taylor, too much under the influence of Chillingworth and the Great Tew Circle, however, it remains an enduring theme in his work. Ductor Dubitantium, or the Rule of Conscience, was published in 1660. At Taylor's funeral, George Rust described it as "A Book that is able alone to give its Author Immortality". And in it, thirteen years on, Taylor again declared the sufficiency of the Apostles' Creed for saving faith:

But it is infinitely necessary that for the matter of faith, necessary and sufficient faith, we rest here and go not further. For if there can be any new necessities, then they may for ever increase, and the faith of a Christian shall be like the Moon, and no man can be sure that his faith shall not be reproved; and there shall be innumerable questions about the authority of him that is to add, of his skill, of his proceeding, of the particular article, of our own duty in inquiring, of our diligence, of our capacity, of the degrees of our care, of the competency of instruments, of chosing our side, of judging of questions: and he that cannot inquire diligently, and he that cannot judge wisely, and he that cannot discern spirits, and he that fears, and he that fears not shall all be in danger, and doubt, and scruple, and there shall be neither peace of minds nor Churches, as we see at this day in the sad divisions of Christendom; and every man almost damns all but his own sect; and no man can tell who is in the right. Men dispute well on both sides; and just and good and wise men are oppos'd to one another; and every man seems confident, but few men have reason; and there is no rest, and there can be none, but in this simplicity of belief which the Apostles recommended to all the world, and which all the world does still keep in despite of all their superinduc'd opinions and factions; for they all retain this Creed, and they all believe it to be the summary of Faith.

Such declarations of the sufficiency of the Apostles' Creed would have been well recognised by contemporaries as evidence of Remonstrant influence. It was, after all, seen in the Remonstrant Confession of 1621, written by Episcopius and "very much" commended by Taylor in 1660 in a letter to a fellow of Trinity College Dublin, to assist those seeking to "improve in the understanding of the doctrine of the church of England, so as to bee able to teach others". The Remonstrant Confession is most striking in its view of the sufficiency of the Apostles' Creed when it stated of Christian faith in the Trinity that the confession of this Creed was "sufficient for this mystery".

This Remonstrant distinctive is particularly seen in an incident which embodied such a view. In the Remonstrant apologetic The life and death of James Arminius and Simon Episcopius, a 1614 event involving Episcopius is recalled:

We will begin with that which happened at Amsterdam, in the second year of his Professorship; The story in brief in this, Episcopius being at a church in Amsterdam and (as they commonly speak) standing as a witness with others at the baptizing of his brother John's Daughter, Caspar Heydan, who then did officiate, asked him and the other witnesses, Whether they did confess that to be the true and perfect doctrine of salvation, which was contained in the old and new Testament, and in the Apostles Creed, and which was taught in that church, to wit, of Amsterdam; adding moreover these words: What say ye to these things? Episcopius, the chief among them, answered; That he did account whatsoever was taught there according to the word of God, and the Apostles Creed, to be the true and saving doctrine, as the words of the usual form, out of which the interrogation is made, do intend; Which answer, though mild and modest, so moved the spleen of Mr. Heydan, that with contempt he called him Young-man, and upbraided him as one very audacious and presumptuous in daring to speak so in the Church of God. To which Episcopius again replied, saying; That he would depart if the Preachers would not admit that limitation, comprehended in the form of Baptism, where after mention made of the old and new Testament, and the Apostles Creed, these words are added, and consequently is taught in the Christian Church.

Not only, then, was Taylor's view of the sufficiency of the Apostles' Creed an enduring theme in his work, not to be dismissed as an indiscreet and unrepresentative statement in The Liberty of Prophesying. It also quite clearly evidenced significant Remonstrant influence on his thinking as another enduring theme. When, in the 1660 letter to the fellow of Trinity College Dublin, Taylor writes "Episcopius, whose whole works are excellent, and containe the whole body of orthodox religion", the view of the sufficiency of the Apostles' Creed would have been prominent among the reasons for such a description. It also points to why Remonstrant influence on Taylor was a much more significant and central aspect of his thought than is indicated by those who use the misleading term 'Laudian' to describe him.