Selected quad for the lemma: authority_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
authority_n	church_n	doctrine_n	tradition_n	2,974	5	9.2119	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A48116	A letter of advice to a young gentleman of an honourable family, now in his travels beyond the seas for his more safe and profitable conduct in the three great instances, of study, moral deportment, and religion : in three parts / by a True son of the Church of England.	True son of the Church of England.	1688 (1688)	Wing L1566; ESTC R7895	45,890	138

they are not yet agreed amongst themselves where to fix this Infallible Judgment whether in the Pope alone or Council or the Pope and his Council and therefore their Church and Pope for any thing they have yet prov'd or determin'd are erroneous and fallible in the first Principle of their New Creed and monstrous Doctrin of Infallibility The the Pope is the Supreme Head and Christ's chief Vicar in and has an Unlimited Jurisdiction over the whole Catholick Church that he has power to dispense with the Laws of God and can set up Laws of his own devising which obliges all Men's Consciences to pay him the Tribute of Fealty Obedience as will more fully appear afterwards This is a grand Usurpation upon the Rights and Priviledges of Kings Emperours and all other Christian Bishops two parts of Christendom having rejected his Authority and that upon most reasonable and just grounds For the Jurisdiction of the Bishops of Rome was limited for the five first Centuries to the Suburbiarion Regions and had only a Primacy of Order not Jurisdiction over his Fellow Bishops See Hammond's Fundament Dr. Barrow upon the Supremacy and Dr. Fulwood's Roma ruit Which Usurpation do's also directly overthrow Christ's Kingly Office. Council of Trent Sess 13. Chap. 1. Canon 1. That the Bread and Wine in the Eucharist is transubstantiated into the real Body and Blood of Christ which was sacrificed for our Sins upon the Cross at Hierusalem the Colour and other accidental Qualities of the Elements only remaining without their Substance This violates the Truth of Christs Human Nature which themselves do confess is in Heaven and yet according to their Hypothesis must be in a thousand places on Earth at the same time contradicts the holy Scripture Man's best Reason common Sense and the Nature and Design of the Sacrament of Christs holy Supper Lib. 6. p. 465. Hist Council Trent That there is no real difference between Christ on the Cross and Christ in the Mass it is the very same in both only differing in the Reason of Offering For on the Cross he offer'd himself immediatly in the Mass he offers himself by the Ministry of his Vnder-Priests Which Doctrin of the Popish Mass is one of the greatest Idols that ever was invented in the World For a piece of Bread is made the Saviour of Mankind and a proper Sacrifice for the pardoning all Sin is worshiped as God and of singular benefit not only for the Living but the Dead And this they are bound to believe tho the Apostle has told them in express terms That there remains no more Sacrifice for Sins because Christ once appear'd to put away sin by the Sacrifice of himself Heb. 9.26 Council of Trent Sess 6. Chap. 16. Canon 3. That Good Works are meritorious of Grace and eternal Life which are not so much given of God freely and out of liberality as out of debt Which Doctrin destroys Justification by Faith and the Merits of Christ Jesus who came down from Heaven on purpose to redeem us from all Iniquity and tells us when we have done the best we can we are unprofitable Servants deserving nothing but Hell and Damnation every hour Decret Council Flor. about 200 Years ago That there 's a certain place call'd Purgatory wherein as in a Prison Souls are purged after this Life that were not fully purged here to the intent they may enter pure into Heaven Which Article of their New Creed destroys the Satisfaction of Christ and his meritorious Intercession with the Father for Vs makes good Men afraid to die being a terrible thing as their Priests represent it to enter into Purgatory and bad Men less careful to prepare for Death because a great part of their business may be done by other hands when they are gone Council of Trent Sess 8. Canon 9. That if any say that the Clergy who have received Holy Orders or Regulars who have sosemnly professed Chastity may contract Marriage and that such Contract notwithstanding the Ecclesiastical Law and their own Vow is valid and that the contrary Assertion is no other than to condemn Marriage and that all altho they have vowed Chastity may contract Marriage that do find they have not the Gift of Continency let him be accursed Forasmuch as God will not deny this Gift to those who rightly seek it neither will he suffer Us to be tempted above what we are able Now this Doctrin is expresly contrary to the Word of God which saith That Marriage is honourable in all c. Heb. 13.4 See also 1 Cor. 9.5 Tit. 1.6 1 Tim. 3 2 4 5 11 12. 1 Cor. 7.1 2 8 9. Besides the Prohibition of Priests Marriage has been the cause of much Lewdness and Villany as Adultery Fornication Incest Sodomy Murder c. Council of Trent Sess 9. That the Saints reigning with Christ and offering up their Prayers for Men it is good and profitable humbly to invocate them and that we may obtain Benefits of God thro his Son Jesus Christ our Lord who is our only Redeemer and Saviour to have recourse to their Prayers Aid and Assistance c. This Doctrin has no Foundation in nor Warrant from God's Word For there 's not one Precept nor Example of praying to Saints in the whole Bible nor Promise that such Prayers shall be heard and accepted but the contrary is every where evident Besides this Practice is irrational and absurd For the Saints and Angels are neither omnipresent nor omnipercipient and therefore they cannot hear Us. Cassand de Merit Intercess Sanct. And they do also solemnly invocate and worship many of their reputed Saints whose Saintship nay whose Existence says one of their own celebrated Authors is very questionable Not to trouble you with Citations at large there are several other known and received Doctrins of their Church which bear the same Impression and Character but those I have mention'd already being the most considerable the rest will either stand or fall by ' em Yet their Doctrin of Oral Tradition which I had almost omitted deserves its place amongst the rest For this vilifies the Holy Scripture destroys its Authority and Sufficiency by a certain Dependance upon the Church whereby they make our Saviour's Prophetical Office a meer Nullity in saying no less than that He has not sufficiently reveal'd the Will of God to the Sons of Men but all the World must be beholden to the Church of Rome for their Oral Tradition In a word all their Pardons Confessions Indulgences Satisfactions Merits c. do expresly contradict the great End and Design of our Saviours Incarnation and set up the Pope and Priests in his stead These are the New Articles of Popery which as incredible and absurd as they are the Subjects of that Communion are bound to believe under the pain and peril of the Pope's Anathema And indeed they are all New you may see the Original of 'em in Dr. Comber's Advice

administred according to our Blessed Saviours own Institution We worship God viz. the One Divine Essence and Trinity of Persons in Spirit and Truth in and thro' Christ without the Mediation of Saints and Angels We hope for and believe the Remission of Sins and Salvation of our Souls and Bodies by the Merits of Christ alone thro' the Mercies of God and upon the condition of a sincere and unseigned Repentance Which Repentance in the Judgment of our Church implies a true Sight and Confession of hearty arrow for and the hatred and forsaking of all our former Sins with a stedfast Resolution never to return to them again with any consent delight or approbation and the use of all possible Endeavours to put these Resolutions in practice even to our Lives End So that if we shall at any time fall into the commission of the least Sin or the neglect of any Duty either wilfully or by infirmity and surprize we do again seriously and solemnly renew our Repentance and are never at peace with our Selves and in our Consciences till we be again reconciled unto God or our Neighbour whom we have offended And this we do as well after as before our Conversion not daring to continue in any one sin unrepented of unreformed When we have thus renounced and abandon'd Sin the World and the Devil as our deadly Enemies we think our selves further oblig'd to magnifie and adorn our Profession by the Works and Fruits of Piety and true Holiness Justice and Charity Purity and Sobriety Tit. 2.12 and to perform all and every one of these Duties both to God and Man without Partiality without Hypocrisie This is a short Specimen of the Doctrin and Fundamentals of our Religion which in all and every particular are warranted and recommended to Us by God's infallible Word and the concurrent Suffrages and Confessions of all the Churches of Christ in the Primitive and Purest Ages of the Gospel And as the Doctrin of our Church is Sound and Orthodox so Secondly Our Worship and Discipline is truly Antient and Apostolical For there 's not one single Passage in our Liturgy and Church Service and Circumstantials of Worship our most rigid Adversaries being Judges that is either Anti-Scriptural or Sinful but do all very much conduce to Decency Order Vniformity and the Edification of its Members All which I could easily make appear to you by an Induction of Particulars insomuch that there 's not one National Church under the Cope of Heaven that 's more Orthodox than Ours in Her whole Worship and Politie Consult and examine our Liturgy Articles Homilies Canons and Constitutions Ceremonies c. and there you 'l find a truly Primitive and Apostolical Spirit in the disposition of the several Parts for the Honour and Glory of God and Advancement of his true Religion and Worship amongst Vs And for a further Testimony hereof and your own particular Satisfaction read when you can have the convenience of those Books and leisure to read 'em Hookers Ecclesiastical Politie Dr. Comber's large Volume on our Church Liturgy and Dr. Falkner's Libertas Ecclesiastica which Triumvirate are sufficiently able to answer all the Doubts and Scruples of any unbiast and unprejudiced Reader Besides I can give you a Catalogue of such Books when you please to command it as have treated so learnedly judiciously and convincingly of the Religion of the Church of England in all the Points of Faith Worship and Discipline as will furnish you with such Reasons and Arguments as neither Papist nor Phanatick were ever yet able to answer Let your Religion then and that Church into which you were admitted and initiated by Baptism and in whose Communion you have been hitherto educated be as dear to you as your Estate and Life Remit nothing of your Love and Affection Zeal and Courage to defend it when you are thereunto lawfully called For the Doctrin and Worship of our Church has been transmitted to Us by our pious Ancestors with all the Sanctions both of divine and humane Authority and as sure as there is a God the Religion which you profess came down from Heaven For the everlasting Prince of Peace has consign'd and confirm'd it to Us by the Effusion of his own precious Blood and the Suffrage of many Saints and Martyrs in this Kingdom so that you have not the least reason to scruple your Compliance with and Conformity to it If therefore an Angel or Devil or any ill Men should at any time suggest the contrary to you have no Communication with him but reject him as an utter Enemy and Impostor And when you have more leisure opportunity and experience your Curiosity may lead you to read over and consider the Canons and Constitutions of the Greek and Latin Churches wherein you 'l find the true State of Things and Times the Beginnings Proceedings Increases Encounters Yieldings and Restaurations of the Gospel and what the Primitive Fathers did and suffer'd for the propagation of the Christian Religion and the interest of the Church And herein you 'l also see the Conformity of our Church of England Men since the beginning of the Reformation to the Primitive Pattern And when you have thus made some considerable Progress in inquiring into the Fundamentals and Superstructures of our Religion you 'l be better able to judge of the Opinions and Errors of those that differ from Us. But till you have more time and convenience to inform your self as to the Particulars I shall present you Secondly With a true and brief Account of Popery or the Doctrin and Practices of the Church of Rome as to those Particulars wherein they differ from the Church of England For which cause we are forced to separate from them since we cannot communicate with them without sin nor have we departed further from 'em than they have departed from Themselves and the Truth Now for Method's sake we shall consider also First The Principles or Doctrin And Secondly The Practices of the pretended Catholicks of the Romish Church Whereby 't will evidently appear that Popery if rightly understood is no such beautiful and charming Object as to allure any Man of Reason and Conscience to fall in love with it And First For the Principles of Popery and we are obliged to call them so because they are so esteem'd and accounted by their own Church For since their Council of Trent no Man can properly be admitted into the Romish Communion however in Popish Countries but shall be censured and condemned as a damn'd Heretick unless he believes as followeth viz. That a Mortal Man as the Pope in Cathedra or as some say with his Council of Cardinals is infallible knows all things and can err in nothing that he directs informs animates and commands both in Earth and Purgatory expounds Scripture forgives Sins canonizeth Saints creates new Articles of Faith and in all these and many other of the same Stamp and Character is as absolute and infallible as his Maker But