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A66427 A short discourse concerning the churches authority in matters of faith shewing that the pretenses of the Church of Rome are weak and precarious in the resolution of it. Williams, John, 1636?-1709. 1687 (1687) Wing W2734; ESTC R7663 18,741 33

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A SHORT DISCOURSE Concerning the Churches Authority IN MATTERS of FAITH Shewing that the PRETENSES OF THE Church of Rome ARE WEAK and PRECARIOUS In the Resolution of it LICENSED March 8. 1686. LONDON Printed for Randal Taylor near Stationers-hall 1687. THE PREFACE FInding that in our Modern Controversies with the Church of Rome which are Printed and in Discourses with those of that Communion they make their Retreat almost upon all Accounts to the Churches Authority either as a Point that may be most Colourably defended or which lazy and weak Heads most readily take up with I was induced to examin it Safety and Certainty are things very valuable not only because they carry a delightfull correspondency to our Minds but also for the respect they have to the Time before us which in Prudence we must provide for no Condition being so uneasy and disgracefull as when a Man comes to proclaim his own Folly by saying Who thought of this Such as our Interest at stake is such ought our Care to be that we may not be imposed upon by Pretences It argues a degenerous Mind that rests it self upon that which comes next hand But not to inlarge this Preface I will only say a very few Things concerning Faith for which Church-Authority is pretended as a Ground Faith is often in Scripture put to signify Religion and in that Sense it implies not only those Things which a Christian must know and believe but also the applying the Mind to them in all Obedience and Humility not excluding the assistance of Grace which subdues the perversness of our Wills and thus with a particular Propriety it may be styled the Gift of God. But in this following Discourse as sometimes in Scripture Faith more especially means that Act or Operation of the Mind whereby it imbraces those Things which are sufficiently Proposed to it And as Truth is more or less apparent so the Mind is more or less firmly united to it Not that the Object of our Faith has in it any Vncertainty but that our Prejudices and Passions our Interests and Pleasures by which our Wills are warped and made stubborn hinder the Mind from apprehen●ing Truth These false Biasses too often ●●nfound our Reason●ngs and misguide our Minds And he●ce it comes to pass as the Scripture observes that Faith in some is Weak in all capable of Increase 'T is manifest the Mind may discern Truth so as to be certain of it but still a Corrupt Will may as it were unhinge the Judgment and make its adherence less firm This was well enough observed by him that lately wrote the History of the Life of Christ That Faith which springs from the Evidence of Sense or from clear Demonstration must needs be of small Esteem and Reward with God. St. Thomas was Checked for not believing without it and the Parable tells us if Moses and the Prophets could not Convince neither would they be perswaded though one rose from the Dead Now if the Churches Authority be that which our Faith may resolve into the Assent of the Mind would in all Points be equally Firm and Clear and so Faith would be Equal in all annd capable of Improvement in none Plain it is that the design of Religion is to bring Men to a right apprehension and belief of God and to ingage them to a holy and vertuous Life in conformity to such an Idea of that pure and perfect Being He that has not a Mind so disposed will never be influenced by an Infallible Guide and he that has an humble Mind and teachable Spirit will need none However I am sure he that will not be satisfied without one must go farther than Rome to find him But this grows too fast for a Preface therefore I will only tell you that I have purposely avoided a multitude of Citations because they have more or less Authority as People please but I have proceeded by the weights and moments of Reason which are equally valuable to all A SHORT DISCOURSE Concerning the Churches Authority IN MATTERS of FAITH IT is a fundamental Maxim and of unquestionable Authority in Nature That Truth is always and every where one and the same So that among the various Opinions in the World but one of them can be right Upon which account Schism with its ill Consequences is on all sides much lamented whilest every body thinks he has the Truth and Peace and Unity in pretence at least much desired But the misery is all would have them upon their own terms and that frustrates their desires Controversies therefore still depending and the Points under debate being of such importance that the Party which affirms them makes the believing them to be a necessary Condition of Catholick-Communion and damns them that refuse them while the Party that denies says they run a manifest hazard that imbrace them It cannot be thought unfit for any Man to inquire after a method which may bring these Disputes to an issue or that may keep in Peace and Quietness the Minds and Consciences of Christians while Pride Interest or Prejudice shall keep open the Breach or maintain the Quarrel Nothing is more Natural and Congenial to Mankind than Truth and the desire of it is implanted in the hearts of all Men an impartial search after it therefore is what all Men are bound to And as Salvation is the End in Common aimed at by all so it highly concerns-every Christian to examin the way by which he goes toward that End and he ought to inquire the more Cautiously and Diligently for that the ways proposed for attaining Salvation are Many and Different And those that go one Way will hardly allow Safety to them that take another And this at present is the Case between the Papists and the Protestants which invite Men to each others Communion as safer and better for attaining Eternal Happiness Every Man has a Soul to be saved and what must be done to inherit Eternal Life is an Enquiry every one in the World ought and I hope most Christians do make for themselves For since our first Parents by their Disobedience incurred Death to themselves and their Posterity Salvation is what by Nature we could neither Claim nor Expect But that the Devil might not triumph in an absolute Conquest over so glorious a part of the Creation as Mankind God of his infinite Mercy was pleased to enter into a Second Covenant with Men in order to their Salvation but this upon Condition of Faith and Repentance on our parts to answer the Salvation proposed and offered on his Now this Covenant being an Act of meer Grace issuing purely from the good Pleasure of God it is very plain Mankind can know no more of this Covenant nor of the Conditions of it than God himself has been pleased to Reveal and Discover So that all Questions and Disputes about our Common Salvation must be brought to this one as the Standard of all viz. Whether it be the
has not sufficiently proved the Doctrins in dispute betwixt us and that if we had no more would be Authority enough for us to refuse them and depart from her since She will not receive us to Communion but upon Conditions which they cannot make out to be reasonable unless we grant that false Supposition of Infallible Authority They ask farther who is to be Judg of the Controversies and Reasonings between us I answer every Man must for himself For as every Man must believe so every Man must have a Reason why he believes and sure every one must be a Judg of his own Reason whether he be Convinced or no. We are told That then there will be Heresies and Schisms it is true there are so and for ought I see will be so still But that 's no more than the Apostle told the Corinthians must be that those which are approved may be made manifest The Church of Rome may appear yet more unequal in Her Pretences for that She advances a Doctrin which cannot be believed even by those who pay the utmost deference to her Authority and that is Transubstantiation which implies several Contradictions Some that own the Churches Infallible Authority and are resolved to rest upon it may so overrule their Minds as to keep them from considering or thinking upon that Doctrin and so for the time do not as it were disbelieve it but whenever they come to weigh it their Minds cannot imbrace it because there can be no Reason for a Contradiction For sure Church Authority cannot go on where the Power of God ceases If it be said it is only a Contradiction in appearance that comes to the same thing for 'till it can be made not to seem a Contradiction it must have the same effect upon all Mens Minds as upon ours who know it to be really a gross one And this makes me sensible That it is a greater absurdity to believe as they say implicitly or indefinitly as the Church believes when a Man considers not what that is than to Pray implicitly or in a general intention with the Church when one knows not what the Church Prays for It being absurd to say a Man believes any thing which the Mind does not particularly imbrace or apply it self to and the Mind cannot be said to imbrace that which it thinks or knows nothing of Here it must not be forgotten that I am not speaking of the Habit but the Acts of Faith. Nor do the Principles I have laid down oblige me to think every one has alwas a true ground for his Faith. I doubt not but many believe upon inducements that would if examined be found Slender and Disproportionate for such it is their good fortune if they believe aright but if they are in the wrong they must answer for not taking greater Care. But if they have used their utmost Care and Diligence and yet continue in the wrong we may leave them without any desperate apprehension to the mercy of God. Most of the Points about which we differ with Rome have been discussed in particular Treatises and so I will meddle little with them having from the first designed in chief to consider the grounds of Faith. I would here have taken leave but that I am stayed with a Pretence That the Faith which we own we had from the Church of Rome I will not here inquire into the merits of this Pretence but examin what use they make of it Suppose now we had the Scripture and the Creeds from them what follows Why then they would have us receive all the rest of their Additional Articles too Indeed if we had received all we believe upon their Churches Authority it had been a better inference But they know we did not receive any Articles upon any Authority but the Reason of them and therefore where that ends our Faith stops and we receive no more They would it seems prescribe and supposing we imbrace some Truths which they pretend to have delivered to us would have us entertain whatever else they offer This is very strange indeed If any one hearing the Devils declaring Jesus Christ to be the Son of God as the Gospel tells us they did should have believed him so and Tertullian we know made it a great Argument and appealed to the Heathens upon it when the Devils made Confession must they therefore have believed all the Devils said at any time because they saw reason to believe what they said some times 'T would have been a strange Case with Religion unless Men had been assured the Devil's inclinations to deceive should have always been overruled and they like Caiaphas should have been made to speak Truth whether they would or no. In like manner to have received some Truths from the Church of Rome can be no reason why we should believe others Thus far I have considered the Grounds of Faith and shewed the Weakness and Insufficiency of those Means which the Church of Rome takes to resolve it by I pray God by his Grace so to inlighten the Understandings and dispose the Wills of all Christians that they may heartily endeavor the Peace and Unity of the Church by an humble and impartial Enquiry after Truth the only Way effectually to bring it about Popery has of late been Expounded to a more favourable Sense and Represented in a less formidable Dress than it wore heretofore And so far am I from being angry at it that I am heartily glad hoping it may tend to the Scattering those thick Mists of Prejudice and Ignorance that have obscured the Truth and hindred many from discerning it I only wish they would manifest the Sincerity of their Representation by a Practice answerable to it They took away the Scriptures from some least in reading they should misinterpret it And I wish they would take away Images which have been horribly misunderstood since they now tell the World they think them but as Books to instruct the Ignorant and honorary Remembrances to the Learned This would be one reasonable and fair Step toward restoring Peace and healing the Schism And since we are told that no Power upon Earth can limit alter or annul any Precept of Divine Institution contrary to the Intention of the Law-giver a Position highly reasonable we expect the Cup should be given to all of the Communion seeing that our Saviour instituted and gave that as well as the Bread. And after his Institution the same Night that he was betrayed I cannot find that he made the least Alteration To say our Saviour had no Mind that should be done which he appointed would be very absurd Therefore what he once instituted must continue in force as his Mind still unless they can shew that he altered it and this would be another good Step toward our Union They have now reduced their praying to Saints departed to a desire only that the Blessed would assist them with their Prayers to God as we desire good