Selected quad for the lemma: book_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	call_v	canonical_a	scripture_n	2,660	5	5.8456	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A13964	The trial of trueth or a treatise vvherein is declared vvho should be iudge betvvene the Reformed Churches, and the Romish in which is shewed, that neither Pope, nor Councels, nor Fathers, nor traditions, nor succession, nor consent, nor antiquitie of custome: but the onely written worde of God, ought to determine the controuersies of religio[n]: wherin also is declared which is the true religion, and Catholick church. Written for the pleasure of the Popes, Cardinalles, prelates, abbots, monkes: and speciallie the Iesuites, which of late were driuen out of Transyluania, by the states there. Published in Latine by a certaine Hungarian, a fauourer of the trueth: and translated into English by Richard Smith.; Oratio de constituendo iudice controversiorum religionis. English.	Smith, Richard, tr.	1591 (1591)	STC 24274; ESTC S100745	49,352	68

Christ But from Sluester the first vnto Sabinianus Thuscus there were thrée and thirtie mytired Bishops who although they were not the woorst yet by traditions and constitutions they prepared a seate for the great Antichrist All the rest euen vnto this present Pope they call Antichrists yet so that nine and thirtie of them from Boniface the third and fourth vnto Leo the fourth are reckoned to be in the Kingdome of the great beast one and thirtie of them from Iohn the eight to Iohn the eightéenth are numbred in the Kingdome of the great whore nine and thirtie of them vntill the time of Celestine the fourth belong to the Kingdome of the Dragon And from Innocentius the fourth vntill the present Pope that now is about threescore and foure of them are counted in the Kingdome of Locusts according to the order of the Prophecie which God would haue to be expressely set downe concerning the Kingdome of Antichrist Loe what force and authoritie succession hath Will agreement then in publick doctrine and outward woorship shew which is indéed the catholicke Church why if méer agréement did proue the true Church doubtles neyther the Iewes nor the Turkes nor Hereticks or Heathen of any other such litter would be kept out from the title of the true Church sith we sée that euen they also doo marueloustie agrée amongst themselues And we sée that oftentimes great men in the church haue fallen into hoat contentions amongst themselues Between Barnabas and Paule there arose such strife that they brake of companye one from another So Peter of Alexandria and Meletius so Epiphanius and Chrisostome so Ierome Augustine and Ruffinus So finally Cyrill Iohn of Antioch and Theodoret were at open variance and iarres one with another And in déed Clemens Alexandrinus writeth that the Iewes did vpbraid the Christians with their dissentions amongst themselues By all which it is moore cleare than the noone dayes that as a bare agréement and vnitie cannot prooue the truth of Religion so neither doe all dissentions proue a Religion to be false so that the foundation be not broken by the discorde Can the common Custome then of many ages direct vs where to séeke the true church Nay but God hath forbidden the faithful to suffer his euerlasting truth to be ouer ruled by any compasse of yeares any custome or at a word by any conspiracie of the whole world So Noye with his small family when he sawe that the whole world had conspired and agréed to the same wickednes confirmed by the custome of many ages before past yet chose rather to ioyne with a fewe in the true doctrine of God than to take parte with the whole world in wickednes Shall the Church then decide these controuersies of the Church yea but wee must first seuere the true Church from the Synagogue of the Malignant which can be done by no other meanes but by the word of God Shall then the holie scriptures be Iudge in this controuersie of heires at variance So in déede the Gospellers would haue it For they affirme with Austine Chrisostome and other of the Fathers that all things are contained in the written word of God that might suffice for the saluation of them that beléeue For as Augustine saith in another place To the bookes of the holy Scriptures onlye which are now called canonicall doo we owe this reuerence and honour that we assuredly beléeue that none of the writers therof could erre at all in writing them but as for others we so reade them that how excellent soeuer they be either for holines or learning we doo not therfore think it true because they thought so but because they haue béen able to assure vs therof either by the said Canonicall Scriptures or by probable reason notdisagréeing from the trueth Therfore saith he in an other place to the holy Scriptures alone doo we consent without gainsaying from other writings we may dissent but to the canonicall Scriptures euery man must yéeld euery man must subscribe whether he be Layman or teacher or King or Emperour let him giue place to the holy Scriptures then the which there is nothing in this world set foorth more deuine and more necessary What can be more religious what more cléer then these testimonies of Augustine And if the Gospellers can obtain thus much once that God may be iudge of the controuersies of religion by his woord comprehended in the writings of the Prophets and Apostles why then they doo not stick to admit either councels or Fathers or miracles or other such like for sworne witnesses so that first the true Church be distinguished from the Sinagogue of Sathan Fathers of sound credit from fond fellowes and heretickes lawfull councels from tirannicall couenticles right Bookes from counterfeits true miracles from coyned and forged ones the succession of Doctrine from the disguised succession of persons true agréement from obstinate conspiracie and finally the traditions of the Apostles from the inuentions of men Yea but saith the See of Rome how can this be doone by the written woord of God sith there is no heretick that doth not alleadge the Scriptures for himselfe The Gospellers aunswere that heretickes wresting the the Scriptures cannot be better confuted then by the written word of God which onelie is able to decyde all controuersies For Augustine sayd verie well that we in no case presume to iudge the bookes of the Prophetes and Apostles but y ● by them we iudge all other writtings both of Christians and Paganes So Christ by the Scriptures confuted the Phariseis Sadduces yea and the deuill him selfe 〈…〉 isalledging the Scriptures So Stephen and Apollos confounded the Iewes and Philippe conuinced the Eunuke of Quéene Candace by the Scriptures So the Apostles confirmed the Gospell by the writinges of the Prophetes The Iewes of Berea examined Paules doctrine by the doctrine and writing of the Prophetes So finallie the Councell of Nice cut downe Arrius the Councell of Constantinople Macedonius the Councell of Chalcedone Eutiches the Councell of Ephesus Nestorius Augustine Pelagius Tertullian Praxeas and all the Catholicke authours fanstaticall fellowes with the sword of the word of God Wherfore as Augustine saith let no man in controuersies too proudly obiect the writinges either of Fathers or of Councels bycause we take them not as Canonicall but rather examine them by the Canonicall writinges and that which in thē agréeth with the authoritie of the holy Scriptures we receiue with their commendation that which agréeth not we reiect with their leaue But say they the Scripture is heard darke doubtfull Augustine aunswereth that mē walke farre more safely by the Scriptures then by traditions which being ouershadowed darkned with figuratiue spéechs whē we go about to search out either let that be collected thence which is out of question or if it be in questiō let it be defined by testimonies gottē and

Pope thirtie thousand men of warre that might doe seruice in the field without any hinderance to their church-seruice But amongst other orders the Franciscans and Domicanes are taken to excell whereof the former beside other fables conteyned in the booke of conformities are not ashamed to call vpon their Captaine with this verse O Frances Iesus typicall or second Christ the guide Of Minorites who rulest them that they g●e not aside Graunt vs in heauen euermore with thee still to abide And the later doe not sticke not onely to compare their Dominick with our sauiour Christ but also to prefer him before him in many points There be published the legends of the Saints and sundrie other bookes of the lying counterfette miracles of Stanislaus Adelbert and other men Which bookes because the popes haue authorized and exhibited them to all Christendome to be imbraced with as great reuerence as the Scriptures hereby they also iudge them to be giltie of impietie The second cause for which the Gospellers denie that they will acknowledge the popes for their Iudges they alledge to be the sinne of tirannie vsurped ouer the Church For first he séeketh to be intituled the head husband and vniuersall Bishop of the Church which it is most certain agréeth to none but Christ Secondly in that they haue chalenged vnto themselues dominion ouer the whole world and all ciuil magistrates for as for the donation of Constantine wherby they cōfirm their soueraign authoritie besides that Antoninus bishop of Florēce N. Cusanus L. Valla Volateranus AEneas Siluius and other writers moe which in other pointes were great proctors for the papacie were not afraid some late hundred yeares since to disproue it the Gospellers auouch that they can also conuince it of forgerie by these reasons For sith no approued writer maketh mention of this donation sith Eusebius and others doe witnes that Constantine did deuide the thrée coastes of the world to his thrée sonnes sith the instruments or deeds of grant set forth by Volateranus and in the decretals doe far differ and their stile is much vnlike sith it is ridiculous that Peter Paul should appeare to Constantine in a dreame and that he should worship thē for gods sith Cōstantine neuer had the leprosie neither was he baptized at Rome by Siluester but at Hicomedia by ●usebius sith it is wicked to say that the hand of god was seen of Constantine sith he could not geue greater iurisdiction to the pope then he had himselfe neither could geue him autoritie ouer the patriarck of Constantinople there being then no such citie and finally sith those giftes which in that euidence are saide to be geuen to the pope by Constantine are the badges of Antichrist By al these seueral and those most forcible demonstrations it is cōcluded that y e same donation was not granted by Constantine but forged by the popes Now in those words which Christ spake to Peter other ministers of the word that they should féed his shéep he appointeth to them not a ciuil iurisdiction but a church-ministerie for in another place he nippeth and beateth back the pride ambition of the apostles desiring superiority when he saith The kings of the natious beare rule but it shal not be so with you Yea the Canons also haue expresly forbidden the Bishop of Rome to be called The chief Bishop or the vniuersall head of the church Wherfore they say y t they are conquered with their own weapons sith they claime to thē selues this dominion by diuers those also contrarie titles The third cause why the Gospellers refuse to stand to the iudgemēts of the popes they alledge to be this that they haue corrupted Religion and haue most grosselie erred not onelie in mane●s but also in doctrine For there are decrées extant concerning the popes that they are not men but Gods that they may not bée iudged by any mortall man y t they may dispense against the Apostle chaunge the nature of things make some what of nothing make righteousnes of vnrighteousnesse But in the meane space how true these things are the matter it selfe doth shew For the Lord himselfe witnesseth y t there is but one forme of Religiō namelie that which is recorded in the writings of the Prophets and Apostles whereunto nothing may be added or taken away no not by an Angell But the pope teacheth that y e order of the church consisteth in the traditions of our forefathers of the which sort are Agnus Deis christening of belles prayers of Saints single life of priests as they call them the taking away of the cup in the Lordes Supper the vsing of a straunge toung the Masse pardons and other such stuffe the which although they affirme to ha●e bene conuayed ouer to them from the Apostles by tradition yet that most of them were inuented by them selues the recordes of auncient stories doe plainlie proue For pope Innocent forbad the cup in the Lordes Supper by the decrée of the Coūsell of Laterane and instituted the Easter-Communion But Eugenius the fourth decréed the contrarie Innocentius the third and Honorius the third ordained that the Sacramentall bread should be curiouslie kept in the church for sundrie vses But pope Clement would not suffer it to be reserued to the next day Vitellianus the second and Agatho the first appointed the Masse to be said in Latin Nicolaus the first suffered the Slauonians and Polonians to haue Masse said in their own tongues Alexander the second decréed that Masse said by a priest that kept a cōcubine should not be heard But Lucius the third allowed it Siricius Pelagius the second and diuers others condemned the mariage of priests But Pius the second hath left in writing to this effect that it seemed there was great reason to debarre the priests from mariage but there was greater reason for the restoring of it againe Leo the first Gregorie the second third many others allowed the worshipping of Images But Iohn the 22. did mortallie hate Images Pictures Boniface the 4. graunted the Monckes authoritie to preach baptise and absolue Gregory tooke it from them Iohn the 24. held for sound articles of faith that the Apostles neuer vowed pouertie and single life Pius the second said that Friers were the deuils bondslaues in this double verse The deuill of hell himselfe dare not that thing to enterprise Which shameles Moncke beldame old with craft fraught will deuise Pelagius y e first ordained that clerkes should bestow euerie day seuē houres in Canonicall prayers Gregorie y e first commaunded that they should giue themselues not to chaūtings but to preaching Calixtus decréed y t it was not lawfull to dissent from the church of Rome Fabianus affirmed the contrarie Bonifacius the 8. commaunded that the yeare of Iubilie should be kept the hundreth yeare Clemens the 6. brought it to the fiftith Boniface the ninth to