Selected quad for the lemma: authority_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
authority_n	divine_a	faith_n	infallible_a	4,131	5	9.8328	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A13642	Keepe your text. Or a short discourse, wherein is sett downe a method to instruct, how a Catholike (though but competently learned) may defend his fayth against the most learned protestant, that is, if so the protestant will tye himselfe to his owne principle and doctrine, in keeping himselfe to the text of the scripture. Composed by a Catholike priest	Véron, François, 1575-1649. Adrian Hucher ministre d'Amyens, mis à l'inquisition des passages de la Bible de Genève. aut	1619 (1619)	STC 23924; ESTC S107525	31,396	48

would say c. or this is the meaning of such a Text c. but it sufficeth for vs to presse only the most obuious familiar and literall sense of the said Texts Now to that second part of the former Obiection where it is vrged that the Catholike insisting in Proofes drawne from Philosophie or from humane authorities of the Pope Fathers Councels and the like stands obnoxious to the same inconueniences whereunto the Protestant by vrgeing proofes of like nature is iudged in this discourse to runne I answere to this first that seeing the Catholike notwithstanding all due reuerence and honour to the Scripture acknowledgeth not the Scripture to be the sole rule or square of Faith that therefore hee may seeke to proue his articles from other testimonies then only Scripture Secondly I say that the Catholike beleeueth not any point as an article of faith because it receiueth it proofe from humane authorities since they are holden as morall inducements only of faith the Church of God being the Propounder of such diuine Mysteries and the reuelation of them made by God the true Formall and last Cause of our beliefe of them Lastly I answere that the supreme Bishop or generall Councell from whom the Catholike drawes his authoritie are not simply humane authorities but withall diuine and supernaturall Since the one is the head of the Church the other the mysticall body of Christ to both which himselfe hath (q) Mat. 16. 1. Tim. 3. giuen infallible assistance in points touching Mans saluation and hath (r) Mat. 18. threatned that they who finally shall denie this assistance shall neuer enter into the spirituall Canaan And thus much touching the solution of the former obiection Hitherto wee haue discoursed of the Method which is to be obserued by an vnexperienced Catholike with a ready and prepared Protestant Scripturist where if we deeply weigh what can be the last hope of such a Disputation we shall find that the finall resolution of all would runne to this point to wit to know what credit and affiance is to be giuen to certayne exorbitant constructions of Scripture forged against all true contexture of the passages themselues and crossed by the reuerent Antiquitie of the purest Ages by which course the Protestant stands no lesse chargeable in beleeuing of errours then in not beleeuing the truth So as this must be in all likelihood the issue of all for so long as the Protestant Minister perseuers in alleaging of Scripture so long he expects that we should reuerently entertayne that sense and construction of it which his worthy-selfe vouchsafeth with wonderfull pertinacie of iudgement the very Crisis of all Hereticall disease to impose vpon it thus making himselfe in the end sole Iudge both of the Scripture and of all Controuersies from thence to be proued For to admit our expositions of the Scripture he scornes solemnely affirming that it were openly to patronize superstition to follow the iudgements of the ancient Fathers in their interpreting of it he is no more willing since he is content to charge and insimulate though truly the said Fathers within the defending of our supposed errours And hence it is that diuers of our Aduersaries haue disgorged out of their impure stomachs most Serpentine and venimous speeches against those Lamps of Gods Church And answerably hereto we finde Luther the right hand of Satan thus to belch forth in his Inuectiues against the Fathers of the Primitiue Church saying (Å¿) Tom. 2. Wittenberg An. 1551. l. de serm arbitr p. 434. The Fathers of so many ages haue beene plainly blind and most ignorant in the Scriptures they haue erred all their life time and vnlesse they were amended before their deaths they were neither Saints nor pertayning to the Church Thus Luther Doctor Whitaker saith (t) Cont. Duraeum l. 6. p. 423. The Popish Religion is a patched Couerlit of the Fathers errours sewed together The pretended Archbishop of Canterbury (u) In his defence to the answere of the Admonit p. 473. How greatly were almost all the Bishops of the Greeke Church and Latine also for the most part spotted with doctrines of Free-will of Merit of Inuocation of Saints and such like Beza (x) Epist Theol. epist 1. p. 5. Itaque dicere nec immerito c. I haue been accustomed to say and I thinke not without iust cause that comparing our times with the ages next to the Apostles we may affirme that they had more conscience and lesse knowledge and we more knowledge and lesse conscience So Beza Melancton (y) In 1. Cor. c. 3. Presently from the beginning of the Church the ancient Fathers obscured the doctrine concerning the iustice of Faith increased Ceremonies and deuised peculiar Worships Finally (z) L. de notis p. 476. Peter Martyr speaking of our Catholike doctrines thus saith So long as wee doe insist vpon Councels and Fathers wee shall be alwayes conuersant in the same Errours But who is more desirous to see at large how the Fathers of the Primitiue Church are first confessed by Protestants to teach euery particular article of our Catholike and Roman Faith Secondly reiected by the Protestants for teaching such doctrines Thirdly abusiuely alleaged by the Protestants for the more debasing of the said Fathers let him peruse (a) viz. tract 1. and 2. throughout that most exquisite and excellent Worke the very scourge of our moderne Heretikes stiled The Protestants Apologie of the Roman Church from which I acknowledge that I haue discerped these last few testimonies In this manner now you see wee find not only Vertue Learning and Antiquitie to be most shamefully traduced by Vice Ignorance and Innouation but also our selues consequently by reason of our refuge made to the Fathers Commentaries for the exposition of the Scripture to bee mightily wronged by our Aduersaries as if vnder the pretext of Antiquitie wee laboured to introduce Noueltie Now from all this it necessarily followeth that in the rigid censure of these seuen Iudges the ancient Fathers those Champions I meane of the true Israelites against the wicked Philistians whose pennes were peculiarly guided by God to the pursuite and profligations of future Heresies did most foulely contaminate and defile the beautie of the holy Scripture with their erroneous Commentaries since they beleeued nothing but what as they thought was warrantable at least not repugnant to those diuine writings thus distilling by their misconstruction of it to vse our Aduersaries owne phraze our Superstitious and Babylonian Religion But since it importeth much to the picking out of the true sense of Scripture alleaged by the Protestant against vs and consequently to the drift of this small Treatise to shew whether it is more probable that the Fathers whose ioynt interpretation of Scripture is euer coincident and conspires with ours should rather not erre in their exposition of it then our nouelizing Sectaries therefore I will more largely set downe which shall serue as the Catastrophe to close vp

and shall eate her flesh and burne her with fire Now how can the Whore here signifie Antichrist or his seate if at his comming she is to be ouerthrowne and demolished Next you may shew that the Expositions of the Fathers are different concerning what the Whore of Babilon here signifieth yet not any of them can bee applyed to the Pope for (q) In Psal 26. Austine (r) In hunc locum Aretas (Å¿) Ibidem Haymon and S. Bede doe vnderstand by the Whore which sitteth on seuen Hills and hath domination ouer the Kings of the earth not Rome but the vniuersall Citie of the Deuill which in the Scripture is often called Babilon and is opposed to the Citie of God which is his Church and called Ierusalem And by the seuen Hills these Fathers vnderstand the generall state of all proud Men and chiefly of earthly Kings But (t) L. contra Iudaeos Tertullian and (u) Epist 17. ad Marcell Ierome doe indeed meane by the Whore of Babilon Rome to wit Rome Ethnike as it worshipped Idols and persecuted Christians but not Rome Christian which Exposition doth nothing preiudice the Pope or vs Catholikes Heere now if your Minister will not rest satisfied with these Expositions will him to refute all or any of them from the Scripture alone as hee hath obliged himselfe by his owne doctrine to doe in acknowledging the Scripture for sole Iudge of all Religious Controuersies To conclude you may for the close of all tell your Mi-Minister that rhis and the other Text alleaged are so farre from prouing the Pope to bee Antichrist that diuers learned Protestants as holding the proofes deduced from them to be most in consequent doe maintaine that Antichrist is not yet come Of this Opinion to wit that Antichrist is not yet come and consequently that the Pope is not Antichrist is Zanchius (x) In Epist Paul ad Philip Boloss Thess p. 246. and Franciscus (y) In his Booke entituled Antichristus siue Prognostica finis mundi p. 74. Lambertus both markable and learned Protestants And from hence you may tell him it proceedeth that Mr. Doue in his Sermon touching the second comming of Christ thus writeth Some Protestants make a doubt whether Antichrist bee yet reueiled or no. A point so euident that our English Puritanes in their mild defence of the silenced Ministers Supplication to the High Court of Parliament doe charge and censure most seuerely our English Protestants besides for other things disliked by them for teaching that the Pope is not Antichrist And thus farre of this second example and of the Method to be holden herein in disputing with your Minister where you are to aduertize him that seeing in his Disputes hee must relye much vpon conference of Scriptures that this course is holden most vncertaine euen in the iudgements of the Learned Protestants to wit of D. (z) L. de Eccles contra Bellar. contr 2. q. 4. p. 22. Whitakers aboue alleaged of (a) Vbi supra Beza and of Mr. (b) So vrged by Hooker in the Preface of his Eccles Politie p. 28. Hooker And here according to this method of answering I could wish the Catholke to bee well practized in the Question it selfe of the Scripture being sole Iudge when the Protestant seeketh to proue the same only from Scripture seeing this Question containeth implicitly in it selfe all other Questions and Controuersies of faith Now against this former Method of disputing and answering if it should be obiected by any that the learned Catholike when he maintaineth at any time the part of the opponent stands exposed to the same danger and so dum capit capitur to the which the Protestant in this Discourse is said to lye open since the Catholike often insisteth in consequences drawne from Scripture vrgeth Reasons deduced from Naturall or Morall Philosophy warranteth his owne Expositions of Scripture by the testimonie of Men to wit of the Pope and generall Councels and so Meteor-like in regard of Diuine and Humane Authorities hangeth betweene Heauen and Earth To this I answere that learned Catholike is not preiudiced by this my Method And first concerning Consequences drawne from Scripture though the Catholike doth freely embrace them as not holding the expresse Scripture alone to bee the rule of faith yet so farre forth as concernes only Scripture he insisteth not in them alone but he is able to produce expresse plaine and literall passages of Scripture prouing his Articles of faith without any helpe of Scripturall consequences though neuer so necessary Of which kind of proofe the Protestant is wholly depriued and therefore flyeth for refuge only to supposed illations from Scripture or to some obscure passages thereof which in expresse termes speake nothing of the Question for which they are alleaged but only are strangely detorted by his most wilfull mis-application For example of the perspicuous Texts of Scripture in defence of our Catholike faith I will insist in some few of them for some delibation and taste of the rest And first concerning the Reall Presence afore mentioned wee vrge those plaine wordes of Christ To (c) Mat. 26. wit this is my body c. This is my bloud c. In like sort for the Primacie of Peter we vrge that passage Thou (d) Mat. 16. art Peter and vpon this Rocke will I build my Church and the gates of Hell shall not preuaile against it For the not erring of the Vniuersall Church wee insist besides in the former Text in those words of the (e) 1. Tim. 3. Apostle Who calleth the Church the pillar and foundation of truth How then can the Church erre That Priests may truly forgiue sinnes we rest vpon the promise of Christ made to his Apostles who were Priests and in them to his Successours Whose sinnes (f) Iohn 20. you shall forgiue they are forgiuen them and whose sinnes you shall retayne they are retayned What more euident That Baptisme truely remitteth Originall Sinne contrary to the Protestants Doctrine wee prooue from that most perspicuous place (g) Iohn 3. Except a Man be borne againe of Water and the Spirit hee cannot enter into the Kingdome of Heauen Finally to omit infinite other passages of Scripture of the like conuincing euidency for our Catholike Articles and Religion that Workes doe iustifie and not only Faith wee produce Saint Iames saying in expresse words thus (h) Iames 3. Doe you not see that a Man is iustified by Works and not by Faith only How literally and punctually hee proues the Point controuerted In all which places we find the Catholike Conclusion it selfe for which they are vrged literally set downe and our Aduersaries therefore as acknowledging so much are forced to flie to figuratiue constructions of them Neither doe we neede to forge any strange or mysticall construction of them as the Protestant in his allegations of Scripture is accustomed to doe saying only by our owne warrant This the Scripture here