Selected quad for the lemma: body_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
body_n	church_n	head_n	visible_a	10,670	5	9.6541	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
B22558	The Popish labyrinth wherein is made manifest, that the Papists are entangled in the fundamental article of their faith, that the church cannot erre / written in Dutch by ... Dr. Simon Episcopius, unto which is added, The life and death of the author ; as also, The life and death of James Arminius, both of them famous defenders of God	Episcopius, Simon, 1583-1643.; Bertius, Petrus, 1565-1629. Oratio in obitum reverendi & clarissimi viri D. Jacobi Arminii. English.; Chardon de Courcelles, Etienne, 1705-1775? Short and compendious history of Simon Episcopius.	1673 (1673)	Wing E3163	56,195	122

of which they cannot rid themselves For first they cannot tell nor intelligibly declare which is that Church which they believe cannot err Secondly it is impossible for them to bring any Demonstrative Argument whereby to perswade themselves or any other impartial man I do not say the Roman but that the Church cannot err I evince these two As to the first Member I thus query with a Papist When you say the Church or the Church of Rome cannot err what do you mean by the Church Do you mean all Christians in general who take Jesus Christ for their Saviour and submit to all his holy Commands so that not so much as one of them can err Doubtless he will deny it For every one of them considered singly apart yea and all conjunctly together may err For all are Members of one Body which ought to have a visible Head from whom they ought to receive Spiritual Life Senses and holy Affections Grant it be so what then Do you think that the Cardinals Archbishops Presbyters and Doctors are the Church He will deny it again Since all and every one singly may err for the same Reason which we have shewn already Do you therefore by the Church understand a general Council consisting of all the Cardinals Bishops and Doctors as representing the whole multitude of Christians whose Head this Council is He will affirm it But granting this although it be grounded on no Reason I will ask further Do you believe then that this Council as it is the Head of the Church cannot err howsoever assembled and whatsoever shall be decreed therein In no wise he will say it ought to be lawfully convocated By whom say I he will say by the Pope of Rome Grant this though it be void of Reason and without Ground yea and they determine or judge contrary to the Practice of the first General Councils Is this Council so convocated that Church which cannot err in its Decrees and Determinations Or is there that Head of the Church to which no Errour is incident Here he will stick or demur somewhat For I will go on to query thus Put the case that this Council decree any thing without the Consent yea contrary to the Judgment and Dignity of the Pope of Rome whether or no can it err therein Here he must of necessity be wholly at a Loss For it is known that not only diverse Ancient Councils both particular and General have past Decrees against his mind and which did diminish the Pope of Rome's Dignity as appears by many Councils in Africa and also in the fourth General Council of Chalcedon and many others But further also it is evident that the General Council of Constance held in the Year 1414. and called by the Pope of Rome John the 23. or as others the 24. At which were present more than a Thousand Fathers deputed or appointed by the Church of Rome and among these above three hundred Bishops decreed with unaminous Consent that the Council was above the Pope and therefore that it was in the power of the Council to expunge Popes out of the Register of the Church and to degrade them even as by the same Council were degraded three Popes who then exercised the Office of the Popedom and among these even Pope John himself who had called this Council and that for four and fiftie or according to others seventie one nefarious Crimes among which were these two First that he had openly denyed the Immortality of Souls supposing that Men dyed like Beasts to which he also added this Second That he affirmed that there was neither Paradise nor Hell as is manifest by the 11th Session Here the Papist must say one of these two Either that such a general Council is the Church that cannot err no not even then when it determineth any thing against the Pope and to the prejudice of his Highness as was done in this Council Or that such a Council is not the true Church and therefore is capable of Errour If he say the Former he will find himself entangled in a Gordian Knot and besides he will oppose the greatest Part of the Popish Doctors especially the Jesuits who not only affirm that the Pope is above a Council but also determine that that Council of Constance is in this respect to be blamed wherein they decreed that the Pope was inferiour to a Council as is clear out of Cardinal Bellarmin and others yea further he will be forc't expresly to confess that the Pope of Rome who hath suceeeded to Peters Right and Power is not the chief or supream Head of all Churches and by Consequence that the Pope of Rome may err in Faith and swerve from the Truth If he say the latter he falls into a new Labyrinth For then he doth not only contradict Councils but also many and diverse both Churches and Popish Doctors And namely the most ancient School of the Sorbon in France which by some is called the first Daughter of the Church which with the greatest part of the French Churches defends and approves of that decree of the Council of Constance Howbeit suppose that he find no difficulty in this matter yet there he will stick that even then he knoweth not and cannot tell or shew that Church which affirms that it cannot err For if a General Council be not the Church or if it may err and doth err when it determines any thing against the Pope or without his approbation I pray what is that which makes the Church not lyable to Errour Haply he will say the Council is the Church when it agrees with the Pope and is confirmed by Him Here again is a new Labyrinth for it may fall out and it very often hath that the greatest Part of the Council may not vote with the Pope Imagine therefore that the greatest Part of the Council do judge and decree something that the Pope disallows of Or that the Pope agree with the lesser Part Which Part in this Case makes the Church Not the greatest For that is contrary to the Pope Doth then the least Part make the Church What Reason What shew of Truth What only because the Pope favours it Then the Pope is the Church For if these few make the Church because the Pope is on their Side then if they were only two who should judge against a thousand others those two with the Pope would make the Church and what speak I of two Although there were only one yea none yet the matter would come to the same Issue the Pope alone at length would be the Fore-castle and Poop and the whole Church which cannot err Although he be even the veryest Knave in the World Yea further not only a Heretick but also an Atheist who denies the Immortality of the Soul Heaven and Hell As Pope John the 23 of whom we have lately spoken of did For which Cause he was degraded by the Council of Constance with so severe a Sentence