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
A41015	Roma ruens Romes ruine : being a svccinct answer to a popish challenge concerning the antiquity, unity, universality, succession, and perpetuall visibility of the true church even in the most obscure times, when it seemed to be totally eclipsed in the immediate ages before Luther / by Daniel Featley ...	Featley, Daniel, 1582-1645.	1644 (1644)	Wing F592; ESTC R4369	68,281	80

most part taken in the latter sense as in the creed of Athanasius whosoever will be saved must hold the catholike faith that is the orthodox faith which he there setteth down for at that time when he wrote that creed of his was not catholike in the first sense that is generally and u●●versally received if that be true which Vincentius writeth the p●…son of the Arrians did not infect only a portion of the church but 〈◊〉 a manner ●ain●ed the whole world insomuch that almost all the la●●n bishops being surprised by fraud or by force had a mist cast before their eys In neither of these two senses of the word can either your church or your faith or your persons be termed catholike Not your church for Dr. Reynolds hath long ago demonstrated in his second Thesis tha●… present Roman church is neither the catholike church of Christ nor a sound member thereof not your faith for that as I said before so farre as it differs from ours is patcht up of many heresies not your persons for they are singular or individuall and therefore cannot be catholikes that is ●●iversall Here you use to alledge for your selvs a passage out of Pacianus christian is my name and catholike is my sirname But what is this to you unlesse you could prove that Pacianus held your Trent faith when you prove that I will immediatly turn Roman catholike till you shew some affinity between your faith and his you cannot challenge his sirname catholike As for his meaning in this his elegant motto christian is my name and catholike is my sirname he alludeth evidently to the manner of the Romans and some other nations who used to give their children two names at least one common as Marcus or Cneius or Caius the other proper as Cicero or Crassus or Anthony or Pompey and the sense his words carry is this christian is a name which I have in common with all that in any sort beleeve the gospel and are neither Jews not Paynims but catholike is my proper name whereby I am distinguished from divers sorts of christians to wit all those who professe christianity in generall yet not purely but with mixture of some heresie or schismatically sever themselvs from the communion of the catholike that is the universall church and truly the name catholike in his days as also in the days of S. Austin when the hereticks were but a handfull and lurked but in corners here and there was a distinctive term for then the hereticks in regard of their paucitie could not with any colour pretend to the name catholike but afterwards when heresies became catholike that is spread over the whole face of the church and the orthodox christians were far fewer in number the title catholike ceased to be a note of distinction and the word orthodox was used in stead thereof to distinguish true beleevers from all miscreants hereticall or schismaticall PARAG. II. Concerning the attributes of our christian faith true divine and infallible Challenge That there is always one and but one true divine and infallible faith professed by the church of Christ without which none can please God or attain to salvation c. Answer When I read your preface and compared it with that which followeth I could not but think of Oretes pots sent for a present to Polycrates in which there was a little gold laid on the top and under it nothing but trash for after these two golden assertions of the unity and immutability of the true divine and infallible faith laid as it were in the top of your discourse there is nothing to be found under them but lead and trash as shall appear hereafter in the gaging it I grant there is one and but one true divine and infallible faith but you should have explicated how but one and in what sense Divine and infallible faith hath been always and is one for substance though not for circumstance all beleevers even from Adam were though not in name yet in truth christians Christ and his meritorious actions and passions were the object of their faith as well as ours but they beleeved in Christ to come we in Christ that is come we and they resemble the spies that carried the bunch of grapes on their shoulders the former who went before looked backward the latter who went behind looked forward on the grapes they looked forward with the eys of their faith on the incarnation passion resurrection and ascension of Christ to come we look backward on these as past they saw Christ in foregoing types we in succeeding sacraments Yea but it may be objected that many new articles of faith are daily declared and many new theologicall conclusions found out else how should knowledge encrease How then is the faith of the church always one For answer hereunto I will borrow Vincentius his decision what saith he is there no profiting in Christs school no growth in faith and the knowledge of salvation Yes very great but provided always that this progresse be a going forward in the same way to heaven not a turning out of the way an improvement of faith no change that is holding the same principles of faith we may and ought daily by the studies of scriptures deduce new conclusions but such as are vertually contained in those principles not such as are any way repugnant to them so long as we mutilate not our creed by dis-beleeving or mis-beleeving any article of it and whatsoever we offer farther to be beleeved we cleerly and evidently conclude from scriptures or other prime and fundamentall articles of christian religion the faith of the church is still one Secondly this faith is said to be divine in a three-fold regard 1. Of the object which is God 2. The efficient which is the spirit of God 3. The motive which is the word of God or the authoritie of the speaker which is divine and because God cannot deceive nor be deceived hence it followeth that the faith which is grounded upon his word is infallible and such is the faith of the reformed church of England one divine and infallible whereas on the contrary your romish faith is neither one nor divine nor infallible Not one for you differ one from another in many substantiall points of faith as is proved Paragraph the X. Nor divine for the last resolution of your faith is unto the church a company of men subject to error Nor is it infallible for it is partly grounded upon unwritten traditions which vary partly upon the decrees of Popes and councels which contradict one the other the generall synod held at Ariminum contradicted the first of Nice in the point of Christs deity the councell at Frankeford contradicted the second councell of Nice in the point of images the generall councell held at Lateran contradicted the generall councell at Basil in the point of supremacie and I could with a wet finger produce divers decrees of Popes out

of the canon law flat repugnant one to the other but others have done it to my hand and saved me this labour PAR III. Concerning the immutability of divine faith CHALLINGE This one true faith generally preached through the world was not to cease with the Apostles and their immediate hearers but was by Christs promise to continue unchanged to the worlds end For so it is said Mat. 28. 20. I am with you alway unto the end of the world Joh. 14. 26. the comforter whom the father will send in my name he shall teach you all things Answer Neither of these places commeth home to prove that which you intend viz. that the christian faith is to continue unchanged and may not by any addition or detraction be altered Why did you not produce to that purpose Rev. 22. 18 19. I testifie to every man that heareth the words of the prophesic of this book if any man shall add unto these things God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book and Gal. 1. 8 9. but though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you then that which you have received let him be accursed Upon which words S. Austin thus paraphraseth whether it be saith he concerning Christor the Church or any thing else which belongeth to faith and our life I will not say if w● who are not to be compared to him that said it but if an angel from heaven preach unto you any thing besides that which you have received in the scriptures of the law and the gospel let him be accursed With whom accord St. Hilary St. Cyrill St. Theophilus of Alexandria St. Basil and S. Athanasius St. Hilary I admire thee in this my lord Constantine that thou requirest of us that our faith be restrained to scriptures only S. Cyril of Jerusalem we may not determin or appoint any thing no not the least without the authority of scriptures St. Theophilus of Alexandria it comes from a di●ellish instinct to follow the sophisms of me●s wits and to conceive any thing to be divine without the authority of scriptures St. Basil the great it is a manifest falling away from faith to bring in to our christian beleef any thing that it not written And S. Athanasius what exceeding folly is it in you to speak things that are not written It is the manner of Marcion and other hereticks not to walk within the bounds of the gospel but to speak out of their private fancies and you Sabellians walking in their steps go about to pervert the unstable by speaking things that are not written But you thought fit to balk those texts of scripture with the fathers glosses upon them and deductions from them though very pertinent to prove the immutability of our christian faith because they have no good meaning to your unwritten traditions As for the two texts you here alledge of Saint Matthew and Saint Iohn they are to singular purpose but not to yours they are two deep wells of salvation out of which we may draw abundance of water of comfort for if Christ be always with us we are always sure of protection if his spirit will reach us all things we shall be sure of instruction But what is this to the imimmutability of our faith or unvariablenesse of the doctrine and sacraments of the church God was always with the chosen of Israel under the law and his spirit taught them all things needfull to salvation yet was the priesthood thereof changed and the law also and a new covenant made upon new conditions and with new promises so it might be also under the gospel if God in his word revealed in scripture had not declared the contrary namely Psal. 1104. the Lord sware and will not repent thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedeck whence the apostle inferreth Heb. 7. 24. this man because he continueth over bath an unchangeable priesthood and 1 Cor. 11. 26. as oft as ye eat this bread and drink this cup ye shall shew the death of the lord till he come that is the second time to wit to judge the quick the dead the lords supper therefore shall continue till we are bid to the marriage supper of the lamb in heaven and Apoc. 14. 6. I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach to them that dwell on the earth and to every nation and kindred and tongue and people if the gospel preached unto us be everlasting no new gospel shall succeed it and if no new gospel no new faith The celestiall lights often turn their shadows and give to the inhabitants of the earth divers denominations of per●scii amphiscii and heteroscii but with the father of light● there is no shadow of change Jam. 1. 17. It was true before all time and shall be after all time when heaven and earth shall passe away when the whole world shall be changed into a second chaos and that chaos shall be re-changed into a new world ego Deus non mutor Mal. 3. 6. I am the Lord I change not As God is so it his essence and as his essence is so are his attributes and as his attributes are so is his word and as his word so is our faith grounded upon it immutable Nothing is more unsteady than the needle in a dyall or compasse shaking and quivering continually yet if it be touched with a loadstone and set to the north it resteth unmoveable in like manner though nothing be more variable and unsteady than our assent to mysteries above reason and nature yet if it be touched by the spirit and fixed to the word of God it remaineth unmoveable and the church of Christ ever holding and embracing this faith may truly use the motto of the Phoenix of her age Queen Elizabeth semper eadem always the same PARAG. IV. Concerning the propagation of the christian faith to all ages by pastors and teachers lawfully sent CHALLENGE This divine truth once established to the cud it might continne was to be derived to posteritie not by angels sent to teach particular persons nor by illuminated brethren of Amsterdam still pretending new light but by a continued succession of known visible pastours and bishops lawfully ordained and sent to preach it perpetually in desp●ght of all new sectaries and novellers whatsoever Answer Of angels sent to particular persons since the time of the apostles and the fathers of the primitive church I read no where but in your golden Legend and for fanatick and phantastick spirits at Amsterdam if any of that mad brood still remain you well know that we build our faith no more upon these illuminated brethren of Amsterdam pretending speciall revelation than upon your inspired fathers of Rome pretending infallible direction and a kind of appropriation of the holy Ghost The differences of the two o●●●les both bragging of infallible assistance is this they are