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A40076 Dirt wipt off, or, A manifest discovery of the gross ignorance, erroneousness and most unchristian and wicked spirit of one John Bunyan ... which he hath shewed in a vile pamphlet publish'd by him, against The design of Christianity ... Fowler, Edward, 1632-1714. 1672 (1672) Wing F1701; ESTC R8698 59,846 88

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another thing in p. 70. that I 'le bestow two or three lines upon He there tells Mr. F. that he will have a little touch upon his Principle of Freedom which saith he you in p. 9. call an Understanding and Liberty of Will Observe his non-sense again But what is it Mr. F. there saith that offends this man 'T is this that he supposeth men indued with Understanding and Liberty of Will Now proceeds he there is no such thing in man by nature as liberty of will or a principle of freedom in the saving things of the Kingdom of Christ. But 1. Mr. F. saith never a word of liberty of will as to those things but only supposeth this in general that man is indued with liberty of will And this he himself supposeth in denying it only as to the Saving things of Christ's Kingdom 2. He limits that too and saith there is no such thing in man by nature as to those things will he therefore acknowledge there is such a thing in man by grace If he will not that limitation is ridiculous but if he will he is never like to have Mr. F. for his Adversary in this point nor any of his judgment He hath declared in the book several times cited p. 239. that the men of his judgment hold no free will that is opposite to free grace and acknowledgeth in the next page the necessity not only of assisting but also of preventing grace And now let the Reader judg whether Mr. F. hath written the least tittle contrary to any one of the 39 Articles of the Church of England and particularly to those there concerning Free-will Iustification and Works before Faith which in general terms he hath charg'd him with without shewing wherein he hath done it though I acknowledg if he hath not abused Mr. F's Book that his accusation is no slander But he is to his perpetual infamy most sensibly demonstrated to have bewrayed most woful ignorance and notorious dishonesty and ill nature besides the foulest erroniousness in what he hath published against The Design of Christianity But 't is pleasant to observe that this wretch who abominates any thing if one may judg by his rude behaviour that bareth the name of the Church of England should cite three of her Articles as main Orthodoxy's in order to the more effectual defaming of Mr. Fowler This is just like the Devils making use of Scripture to assist him in his malicious designs against our Saviour Lastly He falls to compare Mr. F's Doctrine with Campian's the Jesuite and Pen's the Quaker and makes a parallel between several of his Sayings with Seven of the former and Eight of the latter By the way take notice that this lamentable piece of work is the labour of more clumsy Brains than this poor I. B's For First How should he come by Sayings out of Campian but Secondly which is more considerable he hath a company of Terms and Phrases that he was never in a capacity of understanding as Commixed Radicals Abstract Replication c. derived from the Latin Again Characteristical Diametrical Parenthesis Paragraph c. borrowed from the Greek Language And he is up with his arguing from a thing to a thing habit and act which smell of one whose name hath had the honour to stand a little while in a Colledge Buttery Book and that had the luck sometimes to hear his Masters chopping Logick together For I 'le warrant him who ever was I. B's fellow-labourer in this worthy performance is a fellow that never was under a much higher dispensation And 't is he I presume that hath helpt our Author to his after-conclusions p. 9. as if there were fore-conclusions Thirdly The whole is a motly thing piec't and patch't together as if it were the product of not so few as two but a Club of Wise-akers But yet all that understand I. B's manners ability and temper will accuse me as injurious should I rob him of the honour of the down-right non-sense knavery Calumnies and vile language which make a very great if not the far greater part of the Pamphlet But to our business that is to the parallel between Mr. F's doctrine and a few Sayings of the Papist and Quaker set down by him to which I reply in a few words I know not whether this I. B. hath not as falsly represented these mens Sayings as it hath been proved he hath done many of Mr. F's I have neither of the Books to examine the matter nor have I ever read either and therefore I cannot accuse him but he hath been proved so very notoriously dishonest in this particular that he ought never more to be trusted upon his own word But suppose he hath not too favourably represented any of them the Reader will see if he compares them with the Sayings of Mr. F. set under them that he abuseth most of these in making a parallel between them as I would particularly shew but that it will take up too much time and any man of understanding that hath his book will immediately perceive that I charge him truly But Mr. F. I am sure will not stick to acknowledge that there may be put upon most of them such a sense as may speak them good and true sayings As where Campian saith that Faith justifies but not faith only this is no other than what S. Iames affirms in express words chap. 2. 24. And Mr. F's doctrine is that faith if it be taken for a mere relyance on Christ's Righteousness which is but one act of faith doth not only justifie but if it be understood so as to include the receiving of Christ according to all his offices or for an obediential faith so it doth only justifie That is as hath been shewn again and again not as a meritorious cause but as a condition He abhors to assert with the Papists the merit of works nor doth he affirm that works are a necessary condition of justification but as they are virtually in faith for he every where makes a true and sincere willingness to obey Christs precepts which is implyed in Faith the necessary condition of justification There is not an Heretick in the world but hath some good Sayings this I. B. himself as grosly erroneous as he is is not out in every thing And no wise man will love truth one jot the worse for hearing it from the Devils mouth And I freely declare that if the Papists and Quakers did assert no worse things than those I. B. hath cited and withal understood them as he by his parallel makes them to do I would as heartily defend the principles of both as I now oppose them Every body knows that understands these men that this I. B. and his Brethren joyn hands both with Quakers and Papists in not a few Opinions and Practices as they are enemies to the Church of England but doth he think himself and them one jot the more hereticks upon that account
his supreme faculty in it's throne c. and saith that they suppose it is within the Power of a mans own soul always to keep Sin out of it self c. But can he think that these words suppose it when 1. Mr. F. makes holiness the effect of God's grace and Spirit not of a mans own power 2. When he doth deny any such thing as perfect holiness in this life p. 27. And 3. When he saith immediately after his Third description that so far forth as holiness is vigorous and predominant in men it causeth them to perform good actions and forbear the contrary All this lamentable stuff is in the two first Pages But I have something else to do than thus to trace him to the end for 't is all alike and therefore I can look for no other should I do so from all wise men than to be call'd fool for my pains I will therefore only take notice of those things that he builds most noise upon After a deal of hideous non-sense and running over the same things again and again he saith in p. 13. That this Righteousness as Mr. F. hath described it is not that which justifieth us before God Because it is our own and tells us that there is the righteousness of men and the righteousness of God But is that Righteousness our own that is wrought in us by God's Holy Spirit Is not that God's righteousness which is the effect of God's grace who sees not that it is And therefore his Citation of Phil. 3. 9. will do him no service for S. Paul meant no other there by his own Righteousness which is of the Law than that which consisted in the observance of the purely Jewish Law which he calls his own righteousness because he could obtain it by his own natural power it consisting of external performances And by the Righteousness of God by Faith in the next verse he means the righteousness of the new Creature wrought in him by God's Holy Spirit through Faith in Christ's Gospel And so the Apostle explains himself in the following words That I may know him and the Power of his Resurrection c. That is that I may know the power of his Resurrection in raising me up to newness of life and of his death in mortifying all my lusts And whereas he abuseth Rom. 10. 3. to the same purpose take notice that their own Righteousness there is no other than that the unchristian Iews gloried in as that by which alone they expected justification and eternal Salvation and 't is the same with that in the Philippians He saith The Righteousness Mr. F. hath described is the Righteousness of the Moral Law only But I say that his general Descriptions take in the Righteousness of the Gospel too 'T is said that 't is such a disposition and temper of the inward man as causeth men to be under the power of all practical principles made known by Revelation and all the Laws of the Gospel I hope are such And Mr. F. abundantly sheweth that this Righteousness is by the Faith of Jesus Christ that is by effectually believing Christ's Gospel in shewing what an admirable instrument the Gospel is to work this Righteousness And this is an answer to the text quoted out of Rom. 3. 21. Mark by the way I. B takes Faith still for nothing else but a bare relying on the merits or righteousness of Christ which any presumptious wretch may do but I will make it good against men of an hundred times his abilities if it be possible any such should be of his mind that the true Christian Faith is such a Belief of the doctrine of the Gospel as implyeth an hearty complyance with all its Precepts whereof that of relying on Christ's merits is one and but one He saith the Righteousness Mr. F. hath described can't justifie before God because of its imperfections and then follows another page within two or three lines spent in proving and Crying out of the corruption of nature in the midst of which he brings Gal. 2. 16. to prove that his assertion where he said 't is By the works of the Law shall no flesh living be justified But I have told the Reader already that Mr. F. never affirmed but absolutely denyeth justification by any thing but the Righteousness of Christ only as a meritorious cause and he holds the true living Faith to justify as a Condition without which no man by the Righteousness of Christ shall be justified And whereas the Apostle saith by the works of the law none shall be justified his meaning is that none shall be justified by the merit of them nor yet in any sence by them considered as opposed to the obedience of the Gospel He Saith the Righteousness which Mr. F. hath described can't justify because 't is not of faith This he proves from Gal. 3. 12. The Law is not of Faith The meaning of that place is the law makes no account of Faith allows no justification but on condition of legal obedience as the following words shew but he that doth them shall live in them But now the Righteousness Mr. F. hath described doth make account of faith it causing men to comply with all Divine Revelations and therefore with the Gospel He saith p. 18. that there are three things essential to Gospel Holiness of which Mr. F's Descriptions are utterly destitute The Holy Ghost Faith in Christ A new heart The Holy Ghost But Mr. F. hath shewn that this Righteousness cannot be obtained without the assistance of the Holy Ghost But 't is false and nonsense to say the Holy Ghost is of the Essence of Righteousuess and therefore that he ought to be put into the definition of it He may as well say that a man is falsly described when he is said to be a Reasonable Creature indued with a Soul and Body because God his Creator is left out of the description As for Faith in Christ I have again and again shewed that it is manifestly contained in Mr. F's descriptions And then for a new heart and a new spirit What difference is there between these and Purity of nature and a Sound complexion of Soul and a Divine or Godlike nature doth not every body know that these are but several expressions of the very same thing P. 23 He inveighs against Mr. F's saying that it was Christ's main errand to effect our deliverance out of that sinful state we had brought our selves into and so to put us again into possession of the holiness that we had lost By this you see he was not ignorant that Mr. F. asserted the corruption of nature for all his base suggestions to the contrary Now saith he I would have the Reader take notice that in this last clause to put us again into possession of that holiness which we had lost is the Summ of all his large Descriptions and the Holiness he contends for is only that which