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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	canonical_a	scripture_n	write_v	2,879	5	5.9738	4	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A58740	The Sincere popish convert, or, A Brief account of the reasons which induced a person who was some years since seduced to the Romish Church to relinquish her communion, and return into the bosom of the Church of England wherein the Holy Scriptures are clearly proved to contain all things which are necessary to be believed and practiced by Christians in order to their salvation, and are justly vindicated from those odious imputations, which the papists profanely cast upon them : with an epistle to the reverend and learned Dr. Stillingfleet, dean of St. Paul's.	T. S.	1681 (1681)	Wing S184; ESTC R33969	49,068	54

Faithful themselves and if the Faithful then must it have Preheminence before the Church it self which is nothing else but the Congregation of the Faithful Thus the Church of Rome will evidently fall short of that Prerogative she so presumptuously arrogates of being both Before and Above the Scripture Again a Rule consisting in Indivisibili as we say i. e. being of that Nature that it is not to be inlarged or diminished how guilty are they who either make Additions to or Substractions from it Both which the Roman Church practiseth as de facto will be manifest in the Sequele of this small Tract In Fine they hold the Word of God written to be that one infallible entire Rule whereby all men Learned and Unlearned may in all necessary and fundamental Points of Faith and Manners be sufficiently instructed what is to be embraced for True and Good That it is a Rule most Certain Plain Universal Impartial not addicted to one Side more than another which neither Pope Conclave nor Councel can so much as pretend to of Power and Authority able to convince the Consciences of such as use it and from which there can be no Appeal And the only Cause why any miss of the True Faith is because they do not sincerely seek and find out this infallible Rule or having found it will not with an obedient Mind captivate their Understanding but have Access to it with Pride Curiosity Prejudice or some other unmortifyed Lust or Impediment More especially the Church of England besides that high Veneration that she her self hath for these sacred Books labours to confirm and root the same in the Hearts of her obedient Children by her Devout Practice For to omit the Frequent Laborious and Judicious Preaching and Expounding of them in this Church she hath so prudently disposed of her publick Liturgy that every day some Part and Portion of both Testaments is appointed to be read The whole Book of Psalms is gone through once a Moneth the Old Testament once and the New thrice every year with other most excellent Exercises of Piety at which even the Romanists themselves can take no just Exception and a very great Author affirms that a modern Pope would have approved the whole Service-Book had his Authority but been acknowledged which discreet Course cannot but afford much heavenly Instruction and Consolation to the constant Attenders on such Blessed Opportunities But what saith the Church of Rome all this while in this Business In her Tridentine Council Sess 4. Can. 1. She expresly Decrees that unwritten Traditions are of equal Authority with the written Word that they are to be received with the same Reverence and Affection And Cardinal Hosius who was one who in the Popes Name presided at that Council defends that most Blasphemous Speech of Wolfangus Hermannus that the Scripture is of no more Authority than Esop's Fables but for the Churches and Popes Approbation lib. 3. de Authorit Script The Council of Basil would fain perswade us that the Churches Acts and Customs must be to us instead of the Scriptures Instar habeant Sacrarum Scripturarum for that the Scripture and Churches Customs both require the same Affection and Respect Indeed I find the Romish Doctors in nothing more fluent than in degrading and vilifying the Scriptures Our Country man Dr. Stapleton positively affirms that the Church hath Authority to put into the Number of Books of Scripture and to make Canonical the Writings of Hermes and Constitutions of Clemens two famous Counterfeits and that then they would have the same Authority which other Books have canonized by the Apostles themselves Some call them a Nose of Wax to be wrested any way Cardinal Cusanus blushes not to write that the Scriptures are fitted to the time and variously understood the sense thereof being one while this and another while that according as it pleases the Church to change her Judgment Some teach that the Scripture is not simply necessary that God gave it not to the People but to the Doctors and Pastors and that we must live more according to the Dictates of the Church than the Scripture Eckius the great Antagonist of Luther would make us believe that Christ never gave any Command to his Apostles to write any thing Which yet seems very odd when such an express Injunction was lay'd on S. John to write that mystical Book of the Apocalypse which certainly is not more conducing to the Churches Edification than our B. Saviour's Sermon on the Mount and the many other practical Discourses both of himself and his Disciples In a word the most ingenuous and civil among their Writers think they have pay'd all due Respect to Holy writ when they term it a Dumb Judge Dead Ink or Ink shaped into various Forms and Characters Notwithstanding which I humbly conceive that let an Indifferent Person open the Bible and the Canons of the Council of Trent together and he will receive at least as clear and full Satisfaction from the Bible as from the other unless we will impiously deny Almighty God the Faculty of expressing his holy Will and Pleasure as intelligibly as frail Men can theirs or without any shew of Reason affirm with a late Divine that Religion it self was never fully setled till that upstart Conventicle Conformable to the Sentiments are the Practices of that Church in keeping the Bible lock'd up in an Unknown Tongue from the Use of the Vulgar Clement the Eighth very strictly orders all Vulgar Translations to be put into the Index of Prohibited Books And in Italy and Spain and wherever the Inquisition hath the least Jurisdiction the very keeping of them is a Crime no less than Capital It is true where the Reformation hath got any footing Faculties are sometimes granted to read a Translation but clog'd with so many Proviso's and various Cautions and their Spiritual Guides give so small Encouragement to it that it seems rather a Trick to stop the Mouthes of their Adversaries when they Object the Prohibition of Reading Scripture than any real Intention of Promoting so Pious an Exercise among their Devotes Besides their other Forms of Devotion Rosaries or saying over the Beads after divers Methods our Ladies Office Prayers for the Dead Manuals the long Litanies of Saints hearing of Masses reading of Legends c. are in so great Vogue and take up so considerable a Time that I scarce see how any can be allotted for that contemned Employment of studying Gods Word which ought to be the Meditation of every good Christian Day and Night Indeed this neglect to say no worse of Holy Scripture is so notorious among and so peculiar to those of that Way and the Ignorance not only of the Laity but of divers of the Clergy in that kind of Learning especially is so gross that it would be a Work of Supererogation to attempt the proof of it Their Doctors generally pretending Translations of Scripture to be the cause of all Heresies and Phanaticism

the Famous Navar hath written a whole Tract in Defence of Equivocation and Mental Reservation and takes upon him the Defence of the Noble Society of Jesus as he calls them for Universally teaching it and to my knowledge practising it It were very Easy to collect these Corollaries out of the Canon Law and the Decretal of Boniface the VIII That Emperors and Kings are the Popes Subjects that they may be Deposed for Heresie and any great Sin that the Pope hath power over the whole World in Spirituals and Temporals and that he hath this Temporal power in a more worthy Superior and perfect manner than Temporal Princes that Statutes made by Lay Men do not bind the Clergy that it is necessary to Salvation to be subject to the Pope and he who affirms the contrary is no Christian without any hope or possibility of Salvation A most Pious and Charitable Rhapsody of Canonical Theology Now you must understand that this Canon Law is approved received and obeyed in that Church as The Rule of Justice in All their Courts and Consistories In this we further learn that the Holy Church by her frequent Authority absolves Subjects from their Oaths to Superiors and it exemplifies in Pope Zachary who deposed the King of France not so much for his Iniquity as for his Unprofitableness And Cardinal Turrecremata in his Comment on this Canon proves that Subjects if they have the Popes Consent may Depose their Kings The Bulls of many Popes against the Princes both of our own and other Nations are too well known and may at any time be seen in the Roman Bullary To draw to a Conclusion in this Odious Matter Our Country Man Creswell the Jesuite in his Philopater sect 2. affirms That it is the Opinion of All Catholicks that Subjects are bound to Depose an Heretical King that they are obliged by the Law of God by the most strict bonds of Conscience and utmost peril of their Souls to do this Bellarmine de Rom. Pontif. l. 5. c. 7. assures us it is the Consent of All Roman Catholicks that Heretical Princes May and Ought to be Deprived of their Dominions And the English Cardinal Allen speaking how S. Thomas defended this Position and how Cardinal Tolet expounds him adds these words of his own in his Answer to the Book of English Justice Thus doth this Notable School-man write Neither do we know any Catholick Divine of any Age to say the contrary If now the Testimonies of their Own most eminent Writers their established Laws and Canons their Authentick Papal Bulls and Decretal Constitutions the Decrees and Canons of their own General Councils the confess'd Representatives of their whole Church seconded by Actual Deposing of Emperours c. be not undeniable Evidence that this Seditious Desperate and Pernicious Doctrine is the Doctrine of the Roman Church I must humbly crave Pardon for my Ignorance in their Faith and must so far disown my self from ever having Embraced that I never understood their Doctrine and consequently never was a Roman Catholick But how Repugnant are these Positions to the Doctrine and Example of our Humble Meek Jesus and his Apostles Learn of me for I am Meek and Lowly The Son of man came not to be Ministred to but to Minister My Kingdom is not of this World Man who made me a Judge or Divider over you Luk. 12.14 If I your Lord and Master have washed your feet c. Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's And He himself paid Tribute to Caesar and made S. Peter do so too He submitted to the Power and Jurisdiction of Pilate who was Caesar's Deputy And this not quia deerant Vires because he wanted power to resist called for more than 12 Legions of Angels Nay so far was He from granting the Two Swords so much boasted of to S. Peter that he severely checks him for making Use of one And the Two Princes of the Apostles as they are styled S. Peter and Paul were perfectly of their Master's temper in this point The former would not permit a Common Centurion to fall down at his feet Act. 10.25 and his Doctrine was far different from his Successors at Rome 1 Pet. 2.13 Submit your selves to every Ordinance of man for the Lord's sake Whether it be to the King as Supreme c. Fear God Honour the King S. Paul preaches the very same Rom. 13 1. c. Let every Soul be subject to the Higher Powers c. For he bears not the Sword in vain Wherefore you must needs be subject not only for Wrath but for Conscience sake And in matter of Jurisdiction he expresly Appeals to the Judgment Seat of Nero the Emperour And till the Mystery of Iniquity had gained Head the Roman Popes themselves spake in a different Dialect from what they now use We were in hopes says Pope Leo Ep. 44. to the Emperour Marcianus that your Clemency would have condescended so far as to have deferred the Council but since You resolve it should be kept I have sent thither Paschasine Pope Stephen speaks thus to another Emperour Hath not the Roman Church sent her Legats to the Council when you Commanded it We offer these things to your Piety says Pope Hadrian to the Emperour Basilius with all Humility veluti praesentes Genibus Advoluti as if we were present before you on our Knees Having thus as briefly as the matter would permit dispatched what was chiefly in my Design of penning this Discourse and what had the greatest Influence on the satisfying my own mind I shall make much shorter work with what follows General Councils when truly so are highly venerated by Protestants and the Four first so much honoured by S. Gregory the Great are better observ'd by the Church of England than by that of Rome Nor are we so severe as S. Gregory Nazian Ep. 42. ad Procop. Who professes he had never seen any good or Happy Issue of any of them but look'd on them as the Increase rather than Remedy of the Churche's Evils Which Censure is certainly true of those Conventions which have been for diverse Ages last past No we desire nothing more than a Free General Council to conclude differences in Religion and are most ready to submit to the Determinations of it and yield the same Authority to it which the Antient Church in the days of Constantine the Great Theodosius c. and which S. Augustine did And that we may not be slandered as being our own Judges We only desire it may be Qualified according to Cardinal Cusanus his Doctrine Concord Cath. l. 2. Where he declares that a Compleat General Council consists of All the Patriarchs and Principal Governours of the Universal Church That a Council kept by the Roman Bishop and those only who are subject to him excluding others is but a particular Council That a General Council may be celebrated though the Pope refuse to concurr by his Presence and Consent That All that meet in