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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
act_n	age_n	defend_v	great_a	31	3	2.0807	3	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A56660	A friendly debate betwixt two neighbours, the one a conformist, the other a non-conformist about several weighty matters / published for the benefit of this city, by a lover of it, and of pure religion.; Friendly debate between a conformist and a non-conformist	Patrick, Simon, 1626-1707.; Wild, Robert, 1609-1679.	1668 (1668)	Wing P798; ESTC R41393	117,976	250

use of it N. C. Some think it is a sufficient cause to separate in that there are such sinful mixtures tolerated among you and that your Congregations are miscellaneous Companies of all Gatherings and all sorts are admitted even to Sacramental Communion C. That 's the very Objection which your Ministers and Elders saw framed against them by the Separatists And what they answer to them we return to you First That this Charge is not true the Rule of the Church of England being as full and strict for Church-Members that shall come to Communion as that of the Assembly there cited pag. 133. which is this That they must be visible Sainst such as being of age do profess Faith in Christ and obedience to Christ according to the Rules of Faith aud Life taught by Christ and his appostles Secondly Suppose there were some sinful Mixtures say they at our Sacraments yet we conceive this is not a sufficient ground of a Negative much less of a Positive Separation The Learned Author forementioned tells us that Corruption in Manners crept into a Church is not a sufficient cause of Separation from it This he proves from Math. 23.2 3. and he adds also this Reason for it Because in what Church soever there is Purity of Doctrine there God hath his Church though overwhelm'd with Scandals And therefore whosoever separates from such an Assembly separates from the place where God hath his Church which is rash and unwarrantable The Church of Corinth had such a profane Mixture at their Sacrament as we believe few if any of our Congregations can be charged withal and yet the Apostle doth not perswade the Godly party to separate much less to gather a Church out of a Church N. C. What do you tell me of the Doctrine of a Forreign Divine C. They have made it theirs by approving what he says in their Book And besides they tell you there were many Godly and Learned Non-conformists of the last Age that were perswaded in their Conscience they could not hold Communion with the Church of England in receiving the Sacrament kneeling without Sin yet did they not separate from her Indeed in that particular act they withdrew but yet so as that they held Communion with her in the rest being far from a Negative much more from a Positive Separation from her Nay some of them mind the words even then when our Churches were full of sinful Mixtures with great Zeal and Learning defended them so far as to write against those that did separate from them who these Good and Learned men were they tell you in the Margin Mr. Cartwright Mr. Dod Mr. Hildersham Mr. Bradshaw Mr. Ball. N. C. Then we shall communicate with men in their sin● and we must not be led to that by the greatest Examples C. To prevent that they will advise you that if any Brother offend you you are not to separate from him for this is not the way to gain but to destroy his Soul but to tell him of it privately and in an orderly way to bring it to the Church And when you have done your Duty you have freed your Soul and may safely and comfortably communicate in that Church without Sin N. C. I perceive you are read in our Writers And trely you have now told me so much from them that I shall not have so hard an opinion of you as I had before And I hope this will preserve me from being guilty of the sin of Schism because the Nature of that consists in an open breach of Christian Love C. This will not serve your turn but you must come and joyn in Communion with us again For they tell you that as he who denies a Fundamental Article of the Faith is guilty of Heresie though he add not Obstinacy thereto to make him an Heretick So he that doth unwarrantably separate from the true Church is truly guilty of Schism though he add not Uncharitableness thereunto to denominate him a compleat Schismatick You may read the words if you will pag. 137. And afterward they tell you that to make a Rupture in the Body of Christ and to divide Church from Church and to set up Church against Church and to gather Churches out of true Churches and because we differ in some things therefore to hold Church-Communion in nothing this we think hath no warrant out of the word of God and will introduce all manner of confusion in Churches and Families and not onely disturb but in a little time destroy the power of Godliness Purity of Religion Peace of Christians and set open a wide Gap to bring in Atheism Popery Heresie and all manner of wickedness Thus they And how fast all this is a doing by your means who now will have no Communion with us in any thing because we differ in some things is apparent to all the world For the love of God and of the Church nay of your own Families consider of it in time and repent that so they may not be brought to utter Confusion but the Gap may be stopt which you have opened too wide already to Atheism Irreligion and all the rest of the Wickedness which comes powring in it self upon us Do not continue that Separation any longer which you have rashly begun lest you be found guilty of that very thing your selves which you condemned so much in others and profess is by all good men to be abhorred Read what I have now said over and over again and seriously lay it to heart lest your own Books be opened at the day of Judgement and Sentence be pronounced against you out of them Nay desire your Ministers to read it and to expound the reason to you why they should ssparate now more than Mr. Dod Mr. Hildersham Mr. Ball and such like did heretofore Intreat them to let you know how they excuse thewselves from the guilt not only of withdrawing themselves from our Communion which they call Negative Schism but also of making an head against us and drawing themselves into a distinct and opposite Body and setting up a Church against a Church which they call Positive and Schism by way of Eminency Ask them which of the four Causes of Separation they alledge to make their Departures from us necessary What we have done that should make it unlawful for them to communicate with us or rather How we have separated our selves from Jesus Christ and made him disown us If they be not able to give you very good satisfaction in this and in all the rest I hope you see what you are to do according to their own Advice and Counsel N. C. I suppose they will say that they are persecuted which will justifie their separation C. I cannot imagine what they should pretend unless it be this But bid them shew you what hath befalen them that should deserve that name And likewise shew that the Persecution is grievous nay intolerable for else they have told you it will not warrant

enough in their Descants upon as plain words as those And therefore why they should forbear to say any thing there I cannot imagine unless it were a fear of displeasing the Parliament and many of their partakers For as for themselves I believe many of them would not have had the Lands sold but imployed to their use and benefit N. C. Well is this all C. No there is another remarkable place in the Book of Joshua Chap. 6.19 where God commands all the Gold and Silver c. which should be taken in Jericho to be consecrated to him and put into the Treasury Notwithstanding which we read that Achan purloined 200 shekels of Silver and a wedge of Gold to his own private use and was therefore severely punished nay all the Congregation troubled for his offence till he suffered for it Josh 7.21 And yet these men say not a syllable of this Sin in their Notes on either of those verses though all other Divines are wont from thence to shew how dangerous it was then to rob God and take a way what was separated to his uses In other places I am sure they oft make large Declamations against some Sins and in a manner preach against them and therfore why they should not have a syllable to say here about this matter is a great Mystery unless I have discovered the cause of it As for that place Gen. 47.22 I know you will say they were Idolatrous Priests whose Land Joseph sold not But methinks they needed not have made an excuse as they there do for Joseph's not selling them as if it had been an act of greater Virtue if he had And methinks they should have told the world pretty smartly that if Pharaoh had such a respect to the Aegyptian Priesthood as not to sell their Land Christian Princes Governours should not be more unkind if not unjust in these days nor expose to sale those Lands which have been sertled upon the Priests of the most High God But above all I wonder at their profound silence in their Notes upon Ezek. 48.14 where one would think at last they would have broken it especially since they might have done it pretty securely in such an obscure place which few read There the Lands of the Levites are again forbidden to be sold And by Levites according to their own Principles we are to understand the Ministers of the Gospel whose Lands therefore ought not to be sold I prove it clearly thus In the beginning of their Explication of this Vision they lay down this for a Foundation of their Exposition Chap. 40.2 that herein was represented the ample and flourishing estate of Christ's Church under the Types of the Re-building of the Temple Restauration of the Levitical Worship and Service nad the Repossession and Inhabitation of the whole Land Which they repeat again Chap. 43.1 and in sundry other places If this be true as they believed it to be then according to their own Rules the assigning of Land for the Levites must signifie the care that ought to be taken to settle a Maintenance for the support of the Gospel-Ministery and Service and the prohibition against selling the Levites Lands must denote the pleasure of God that the portion of Land or other things settled upon the Evangelical Priesthood or Ministery should never be alienated from them Now I pray you tell me why would they not open their mouths at last in so plain a case as this What should be the cause that they do not so much as name this Sin much less bid the World beware of it and still much less pass any sentence upon it Do you think they did not know what is wont to be said on these places Did they not understand well enough that if they would write consequently to their own principles before laid down they must either tax that Sin in this place of Ezekiel or else say just nothing Why did they chuse the later and pass it over with a word but only referring us to two or three places of Scripture nothing to the purpose N. C. Truly I know not what to say C. I 'll tell you then The most probable conjecture is that which I have made already That they were afraid in the least to displease their masters who set them on work The Parliament would have taken it very ill and all the good people too who to save their own purses were content the Churches Lands should be sold to carry on the War which they had illegally begun N. C. I hope better and that you will not now take occasion from the mention you make of the War to fall into a Declamation against the other Sin of Rebellion C. Since you love not to hear any thing of it I am content to be as silent as your Minsters were wont to be only let me tell you I have observed several other things which they forbear not because they think it is their Duty but for fear of displeasing a party N. C. What do you mean C. I mean it was for this reason that they seldom or never some of them used the Lora's Prayer because the people had been taught on a sudden to abhorr Forms without remembring them that the Lord's prayer was a Form It was not fit to tell them that for fear they should have continued to like other Forms of prayer for its sake I observe also that still they will by no means give the title of Saint to one of the Apostles or Evangelists of our Lord though I think they will call them Holy which is the same no not when they reade a Text out of their Writings For which I can conceive no other reason but their good Dames and Masters do not like it They are afraid that it is Popish And rather than these Men-servers will be at the pains of convincing them of their errour or to speak more properly rather than venture the danger of losing them for many might in a passion fly off if they heard the name of Saint given to any but themselves they will not offend their tender ears by naming that abominable word And were it not that I am loath to try you I could instance in a great many other things wherein they are meer Slaves to the humours of the people and serve the time not daring to say those things or to use those words which they know are fit to be said and to be used meerly because many people will run away from them N. C. There is no danger of that Whither should they run C. To our Ministers whom perhaps they forsook upon such little accounts and so may return to them when they see others do like them N. C. Hold you content Neighbour They will never return to one that is an Apostate and hath forsaken his Principles And that I am sure you will grant your Minister hath done though you will not have him call'd a Time-server C. You have a company of the