The Memoirs of Charles-Lewis, Baron de Pollnitz, Volume IV / Being the Observations He Made in His Late Travels from Prussia thro' Germany, Italy, France, Flanders, Holland, England, &C. in Letters to His Friend. Discovering Not Only the Present State of the Chief Cities and Towns; but the Characters of the Principal Persons at the Several Courts.

by Freiherr von Karl Ludwig Pöllnitz

XV. I believe, that he was conceiv’d of the Holy Ghost, and born of the Virgin Mary.

By these Words I confess, that when Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our only Lord, did for our Sakes take the human Nature upon him in the Womb of the Virgin Mary, he was not conceiv’d after the common manner of other Men, but in a supernatural way; that is to say, by the Operation of the Holy Ghost; so that the same Person being still God, as he had been from all Eternity, became Man, tho’ he was not so before. St. John says upon this Head, Chap. i. Ver. 1. In the Beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And he adds afterwards, Ver. 14. And the Word was made Flesh, and dwelt among us.

XVI. I believe, that he was conceiv’d by the Operation of the Holy Ghost. By these Words I don’t understand, that the said Person alone wrought the Mystery of the Incarnation. ’Tis true, that the Son alone assum’d the human Nature; but then ’tis as true, that the Three Persons of the most Holy Trinity, the Father, the

Son, and the Holy Ghost, equally contributed to this Mystery: Every Thing which God does, is the common Action of the Three Persons; they have all an equal Share in it, and the one never acts without the other. The only thing which is not common to them is, the Manner in which one Person proceeds from the other; the Son alone is ingender’d of the Father, and the Holy Ghost proceedeth both from the Father and the Son. Finally, I believe, that this Conception is miraculous, and I humbly adore the Mystery of it, without presuming to penetrate into it, the very Attempt of which would put me in Danger of being cast away.

XVII. I believe, that he was born of the Virgin Mary.

These Words teach me, that Jesus Christ was born as a Man is, and that I am oblig’d to honour the Virgin Mary as the Mother of God, which I do accordingly with the profoundest Respect, and with an intire Confidence, because the Protection of the Holy Virgin is the best Protection that I can chuse, next to Jesus Christ.

XVIII. I believe, that suffer’d under Pontius Pilate, that he was crucified, that he died, and that he was buried.

The Belief of this Article is of absolute Necessity; and a Person can never think of it too much, because ’tis as the Basis which supports the Catholic Faith and Religion; and really when this Article is established, all the rest is prov’d easily. For this Reason I firmly believe, that Jesus Christ was put upon the Cross for our Salvation: I believe also, that in the inferior Part of the Soul he felt all the Torments which

he was made to suffer, because he was truly Man: I believe also that he suffer’d great Pains of the Mind; such Pains as forc’d him to utter these Words in Matt. Chap. xxvi. Ver. 38. My Soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto Death. As to the Death of Jesus Christ, I believe, that he actually dy’d upon the Cross; because all the Evangelists say, he there yielded up the Ghost: Tho’ I am persuaded that his Soul was separated from his Body, I believe also, that the Deity was still united to his Body in the Sepulchre, and to his Soul in Hell. Jesus Christ died, to the end that, as the Apostle says to the Hebrews, Chap. ii. Ver. 14, 15. He might destroy him that had the Power of Death, that is the Devil, and deliver them, who, through Fear of Death, were all their Life-time subject to Bondage. But the Death of Jesus Christ was voluntary; he went himself to meet Death, and he himself determin’d the Place and Time of his Death, as is plainly prov’d by the Words of the Prophet Isaiah, And the Lord said the same Thing unto himself before he suffered. He was offer’d up, because he desir’d it, and our Lord says himself, speaking of his Passion, in St. John, Chap. x. Ver. 17, 18. I lay down my Life that I might take it again: No Man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have Power to lay it down, and I have Power to take it again.

XIX. When I say, that Jesus Christ was buried; I believe not only that his Body was buried, but also that God himself was laid in the Sepulchre. For since the Deity never abandon’d the Body of our Saviour, which was laid in the Sepulchre, we are under a Necessity of owning, that God was buried.