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A15510 A direction to be observed by N.N. if hee meane to proceede in answering the booke intituled Mercy and truth, or charity maintained by Catholiks &c. Knott, Edward, 1582-1656. 1636 (1636) STC 25777; ESTC S101801 13,980 42

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A DIRECTION TO BE OBSERVED By N. N. If hee meane to proceede in Answering the Booke intituled Mercy and Truth or Charity Maintained by Catholiks c. For I say by the grace that is giuen me to all that are among you not to be more wise then behoueth to be wise but to be wise vnto sobrietie Ad Roman 12. v. 3. When we treate of religion that is of the worship and knowledge of God they are least to be followed who promising most liberally proofes by reason forbid vs to belieue S. Aug. De vtil Cred. cap. 12. Permissu Superiorum 1636. A DIRECTION TO BE OBSERVED By N. N. If he meane to proceede in Answering the Booke intituled Mercy and Truth or Charity Maintained by Catholiks c. IN regard that hee who pretends to be answering the Booke intituled Mercy and Truth or Charity Maintained by Catholicks c. Is strongly reported to be a Socinian before I giue him his charge it will be requisite to open in brief what kinde of people they be who haue appeared of late vnder the name of Socinians For by this meanes it will be seene whether his true intention be to defend Protestantisme or couertly to vent Socinianisme It will also appeare whether all his paines be taken to any purpose For Charity Maintained hauing been written against Protestants not intermedling with the Doctrine of Socinians he will neuer by thought to speake one word to the purpose against that Booke if he answer out of Principles which Protestants themselues will professe to detest no lesse then Catholicks doe CHAP. I. Of Socinianisme SOcinians take their name from one Fanstus Socinus an Italian Apostata that is vpon the matter an Atheist For they are strangers to that wise and gallant Nation who imagine they can by of any Religion if they will not be Catholicks The maine and capitall doctrine of perfect Socinians is rather Negatiue and destructiue of all Faith and Religion then positiue or Affirnsatiue of any one The Summe of all is this Nothing ought or can be certainly belieued further then it may be proued by euidence of naturall reason into which they resolue all Christian (a) Irenaeus Philalethes lib. cui titulus Disquisitio breuis c. S. Aug. Do vtil Cred. cap. 1. Nostī enim Honorate non aliam ob causam nos in tales homines Manichaeos incidisse nisi quod se dicebant terribili authoritate separata mira ac simplici ratione cos qui se audire vellent introducturos ad Deum errore omni liberaturos Faith Out of this vniuersall ground they doe and must if they will speake as they thinke and thinke according to their owne principles reiect all infallible supernaturall infused Faith which they reduce to meere humane knowledge or opinion And this the Answerer as I am told professes and endeauours to proue They must then affirme that Faith is not donum Dei an especiall gift of God but only the common light of Reason or habits acquired by a mans owne abilitie and industrie Diuine Faith being excluded the other two Theologicall infused vertues Hope and Charitie cannot subsiste All infused Reuelations and Prophecies all Illuminations and Inspirations of the Holy Ghost all preuenient concomitant subsequent and in a word all kind of whatsoeuer supernaturall Grace is derided by this gracelesse Sect. And as they denie all supernaturall Faith so doe they laugh at the beliefe of all obiects that are beyond the sphere of naturall discourse And therfore they vtterly denie (b) Ioan. Volkelius de vera Religione lib. 5. c. 9.10.11.12.13 the most Blessed Trinity the Incarnation of the Sonne of God the Godhead of our deare Sauiour Christ his satisfaction for the sinnes of men and his (c) Idem ibid. c. 20.22 merit and to proue this they bring the same arguments which Protestants were wont to vrge against the merits of iust men and works of supererogation the Diuinitie of the (d) Id. vbi supra cap. 14. Holy Ghost and Originall (e) Id. ibid cap. 15. sinne Eternall supernaturall Felicitie in Heauen for the Iust and endlesse punishment in Hell for the wicked they all must according to their Principles some of them doe roundly denie And they cannot place their last Happines in any thing except some such poore imaginarie good as old Pagan Philosophers dreamed of but could neuer attaine nor so much as agree among themselues wherin it consisted They denie the Resurrection of our Bodies and teach that our Soule is to be ioyned with a Celestiall or spirituall substance of a nature essentially different from these our earthlie bodies and that our Blessed Sauiour in Heauen hath such a Celestiall (f) Volkel l. 3. c. 35. Bodie That the world was created in time by the free decree of God not from Eternitie by a necssarie emanation from him they belieue no more then can be proued by euidence of naturall demonstration And I know some of them hold directly against holie Scripture that it was from all eternitie by such a necessarie resultancie as that They make small reckoning of Sacraments as being according to them neither signes nor seales nor causes of of grace which grace they hold to be a meere fiction Yea they teach that it is an abuse of the word Sacrament to apply it to (g) Volkel l. 4. cap. 22. holy rites And as for the Eucharist in particular one of their ring leaders teacheth that it is no (h) Ibid. Sacrament that for the matter thereof if one cannot drinke wine hee may vse (i) Ibid. water without changing the substance of the Lord's Supper as he speakes and that it may be administred by Lay (k) Ibid. Persons and receaued euen by such as are not (l) Lib. 6. cap. 14. Baptized The same prime Socinian denies Baptisme to be a Sacrament and teacheth that all are not obliged to receaue it but that some may be enrolled amongst the number of Christians without it that the Church may either leaue it off or at least can compell none to receaue it and in a word that it is a a thing but adiaphorous or indifferent with other wicked (m) Vide Volkel lib. cap. 6. c. 14. per. totum absurdities which I let passe Concerning holie Scripture to such persons as they hold not fit to be intirely trusted by them they will acknowledge them all before other more confident friends they reiect diuers parts of holy Scripture receaued euen in the Protestant Church of England and with men who are fully acquainted with their Principles they must hold not any one Book Chapter or line of the whole Old and New Testament to be the word of God or written by the infallible assistance inspiration and direction of his holy Spirit For naturall reason which with them is the sole Rule of Faith Iudge of all Controuersies cannot possibly demonstrate these things They may belieue by a kind of Humane Faith that
the Books of holy Scripture were written by such particular men as they belieue the Workes of Plato Tullie Linie to be theirs but that those men were endued with an vniuersall infallibilitie euen in writing Scripture they neither doe nor can affirme but rather reach the (n) Volk l. 5. c. 5. contrarie Neither yet doth their impietie stay here but one of them dares (o) Io. Crellius lib. de Deo Attributis eius c. 24. affirme that God could not know from Eternitie futura contingentia such things as doe proceede from Free-Will and election which is in effect to take away all infallible predictions prophecies of voluntarie free actions And out of this grosse errour some other more open Socinian will proceed to the deniall of God himselfe For how can God be and be God ans yet be ignorant of any thing that is possible past present or to come If you aske these men what they meane by the true Church they must answer that there is no other true Church but all Mankinde as it agrees in the light of naturall reason and that there is no other authoritie to which a man is obliged to submit If againe you inquire in what Heresie doth indeed consiste they replie that it consistes only in opposing the dictamen or iudgement of a man 's owne reason They might as well say in plaine termes There is no such thing as Christians are wont to call Heresie For it is impossible that a man iudge contrarie to that which he iudgeth Intellectus non est hypocrita Our vnderstanding cannot play the hypocrite with it self A man's hands lookes words or writing may belie his thoughts and make him deserue the name of dissembler falsifier hypocrite But it implies a manifest contradiction that our internall thoughts should tell vs at the same time that a thing is both so and not so and therefore according to their large definition there can be no Heresie at all And their assertions tending to practice are agreable to this their speculation For they teach that no man ought now to be punished either spiritually by (p) Iren. Philalethes lib. cui titulus Dissertatio de Pace Fcclesia Excommunication or (q) Volkel lib. 6. cap. 15. temporally with the losse of goods imprisonment or death as long as he followes the dictamen of his owne Conscience though otherwise he denie Articles belieued by all good Christians as for example concerning the most Blessed Trinity the Diuinity of Christ our Lord Originall sinne c. But why doe I specifie particulars which would be infinite For whatsoeuer our Sauiour Christ his holy Apostles the Catholicke Church Councels Fathers Doctours Diuines Christians propose to be belieued aboue humane reason or with a supernaturall infallible assent is to these men no other then a fiction an imposture an impossibilitie Diuinity with them can be nothing but Philosophie Reason alone is Faith Sanctitie consistes only in Moralitie Plato or Aristotle or any other must be as soone belieued as the testimonie of our deare Sauiour vnles he proue what he saith by better reason thē other do (r) Si autem Christo etiam credendum negant nili indubitata ratio reddita suerit Christiani non sunt Nam id aduersus nos Pagani quidam dicunt stultè quidem sed non sibi aduersi nec repugnantes Hos vero quis seratad Christum se pertinere prositeri qui nisi apertissimam rationem stultis de Deo protulerint nihil credendum esse contendunt S. Aug. De vtil Cred. cap. 14 What Christian can heare these infidelities without detestation What Church can tolerate them and yet pretend zeale in Religion Neuertheles this vngodlie sect spreades it selfe being cunningly obtruded by some and by the Answerer in particular greedily swallowed by many and duly punished by none although I ought not to dissemble but doe gladly acknowledge and deseruedly publish in this occasion for a patterne to other in this Realme the care of the chiefest Prelare in England in prohibiting the sale of Bookes tending to Socinianisme Let men in the meane time speake their pleasure against the vigilancie of Prolats in Catholicke Countries against the seueritie of Ecclesiasticall Canons against forbidding to reade pernicious bookes against the Index Expurgatorius and against the holie Office of Inquisition in Italie and some other places Sure I am through want of such hole some meanes Heresies Infidelities and Atheismes are hatched receaue growth and innumerable soules eternally perish And because the Reader may well remaine in wonder how so very absurd errours can possibly finde entertainement among Christians it will not by impertinent though besides my first intention to set downe some reasons thereof as they now present themselues to my minde And they may serue for the argument of the ensuing Chapter CHAP. II. Some reasons why so many embrace Socinianisme TO omit that this Heresie giue full scope to euerie man's vnderstanding to belieue as his fancie shall dictate and for his will to sinne without feare of eternall punishment yea and not to belieue that there is a God if some licentious impe can obiect against the Diuine Existence Prouidence Iustiee Mercie Wisdome or other Artributes an argument which he cannot solue and maister the wit of whatsoeuer Atheist I will for the present touch only foure reasons drawne first from the doctrine of Protestants secondly from the practise of the Church of England ioyned with the disposition of Socinians thirdly from the personall qualitie of Protestant Diuines fourthly from some circumstances of persons time and place First then I say that the verie Doctrine of Protestants if it be followed closely and with coherence to itself must of necessitie induce Socinianisme S. Aug. De vtil Cred. c. 16. Sola est authoritas quae commouet stultos vt ad sapientiam festinent Quandiu intelligere syncera non possamus authoritate quidem decipi miserum est sed certè miserius non moueri Si enim Dei prouidentis non praelid●● rebus humanis nibil est de religione satagendum Sin vero species rerum omnium quam profecto est aliquo verissimae pulchritudinis fonte manatire credendum est interiori nescio quae conscientiae Deum quaerendum Deoque seruiendum meliores quosque animos quasi publicè priuatimque hoteatur non est desperandum ab codem ipso Deo authoritatem aliquam constitutam qua velut gradu certo innitentes attollamur in Deum This I say confidently and euidently proue by instancing in one errour which may well be tearmed the Capitall and mother Heresie from which all other must follow at ease I meane their heresie in affirming that the perpetually visible Church of Christ descended by a neuer interrupted sucession from our Sauiour to this day is not infallible in all that it proposeth to be belieued as reuealed truths For if the infallibilitie of such a publicke Authoritie be once impeached what remaines but that euerie