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cause_n bishop_n church_n true_a 1,534 5 4.9891 4 false
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ID Title Author Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) STC Words Pages
A58605 A mirrour of truth, of the highest concern to all sorts of people, noble and ignoble, rich or poor, soveraigne or subject B. P. S. 1672 (1672) Wing S12; ESTC R13638 16,798 48

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the Truth indeed ●bserve this ●ruth vvell If we interpret Scripture according to our own humane sense and understanding and accordingly believe it ●e must ●●me to true ●isdom by 〈◊〉 Misterious ●●orance ●●d to be in ●●reated ●●ght by ●indness we thereby make our beleife humane conceit and not divine Faith which must have nothing in it but the pure Revelation of God and Proposition of the Church guided infallibly by his holy Spirrit To speake Truth I know nothing by which People are more deceived then in taking that to be Faith which is merely humane Conceipt and the Invention of Man having nothing Divine but only a gloss and colour of Holy Scripture which truly examined proves but Dross and Counterfeit as by what hath been said doth manifestly appeare to all that are not willfully blind Hereupon St. Augustine saith of such as Obstinately and perversly obtrude and thrust their understandings into these divine Mysteries to which they cannot by such means reach That instead of the right Worship of God and Truth A golden sentence vvorthy to be vvritten in every Man's Heart And besides that it is Augustines it is most venerable for the certain Truth of it they worship their own Vnderstanding and adore their own Errours These are his very words Homini extra Ecclesiam Religio sua est cultus phantasmatum suorum et Error suus Deus suus A Man's Religion who is out of the Church is the worship of his own Phansies and his Errour is his God I wish with all my soul All men would consider and ponder well with true Indifferency and earnest desive to know the truth this solid Truth of St. Augustine That those who are in the Church guided ●y the infallible Spirit of God may conti●ue subject to it in true humility without ●y pride of their own understanding ●nd those who are not may unbeguile themselves and acknowledge their errour submitting to her and truly captivating heirunderstandings in Obedience to Faith proposed by her by whose mouth we must heare it not otherwise to be learned and unless we do this by hearing and believing the Church the Evangelist passeth thi● cleare and definitive sentence upon us that we should be esteemed as Heathens and Publicans Neither can we ever hope to have God for our Father unless we take the Church for our Mother Much may be said in this matter And the holy Writers Fathers and Saints of God out of their great Zeal to this Fundamental Truth have written abundantly thereof to ground all upon this firm Rock which shall never fail Much I say may be said to prevent Errors and declare the truth of our Faith but this little onely which I have gathered out of them may suffice and will firmly establish us if sincerely practised That is once againe in 〈◊〉 word to suppress the curious itching of ou● understanding from medling with these Mysteries of Faith with which it hath no thing to do by way of searching but mus● simply believe it 's divine light from th● Churches proposing through God's Revelation The understanding therefore having nothing to do with Faith but only simply to receive it and propose it to the will to practice upon it It cannot err about it and so as to all Errors in matter of Eaith the understanding by this means is debarred and the proud comb of it cut and these Errors can creep in no other way God keep them alwaies out and us in the Truth and true Faith The Mysteries whereof because we cannot discern them in themselves we must simply believe them as revealed by God and proposed by the Church without further discussion That we may not mistake the true Church of God There are certain infallible \Marks Signs Notes or Proprieties which be inseparable from It and agree with None but it as natural light may evidently discern if considered and duly weighed even by the simplest Man living and supernatural light confirms them so that there can be no mistake of the true Church and consequently of the true Faith if we observe these visible Notes and Marks For none either remayns Infidel or becoms Heretick but who either does not or will not observe them They are such as St. Augustine made choice of to direct himself Heare what he saith and follow his example These worthily saith he keep me in the lap of the Church UNITY THE CONSENT OF NATIONS AUTHORITY BY MIRACLES BEGUN HOLYNES NOURISHED BY HOPE BY CHARITY INCREASED BY ANTIQUITY MADE FIRM AND SURE SUCCESSION THERE KEEPS ME THE SUCCESSION OF PRIESTS FROM THE VERY SEE OF PETER THE APOSTLE to whom our Lord after his Resurection committed the feeding of his Sheep EVEN TO THIS BISHOP THAT NOW IS There KEEPS ME FINALLY THE VERY NAME OF CATHOLICK CATHOLICK which not without cause amongst so many Heresies the true Church alone hath obtained You perceive St. Augustine stuck fast to the Churches Faith after his being an Heretick and all his bickering with Errors through the Motive of these infallible Marks which are proper to it alone and relied not on his own Judgment or wit as great and as strong as it was the like to which perchance was never or ever will be which he found to be too shallow to dive into these high Mysteries of Faith If any one think his wit deeper and sounder then this great Saint's was And that these reasons were not sufficient Motives I will not contest with his over-weened conceipt of himself but let him runn headlong whither the spirit or rather sprite of pride will drive him I know as the Apostle tells me Every Man hath not Faith and that there must be Heresies But woe to them that are infected with them They are blind and obstinate and Condemned by their own Judgments There is no End of disputing with them and so I leave them and come to propose those Marks which may serve any well minded Man to finde out the true Church Mother of all true Faith and Religion These are the Marks or Signes of the true Church of Christ THe Church of Christ must be One ONE That the true Church of Christ and the Religion professed by it be but One is most necessary for since the Divine Providence governs the Church we must needs grant that the Government thereof is the best of all being the chiefe of all as ordered by him by whom Kings raign and govern And the best Government of a Multitude is Monarchical That is when One Head and Chief governs the whole multitude This is manifest by the End and Scope of Government being the Peace Vnion of the Subjects which is most excellently enjoyed when One governs the whole Church for by that means all Occasion of Schisme is taken away Moreover the true Militant Church which is a Company of Faithful Believers under One chief Pastour is so much the Perfecter by how much more like it is to the Triumphant What the
same profession are ashamed off and do loath their very naming and that with just reason The Crafty Fox shews it fully in his Acts and Monuments by which he hoped to have erected the Glory of his braynsick Martyrs and doting Confessors That by which and whose Professors never any Miracle was Wrought or ever can be No Miracles That which hath no religious Orders No religious Orders or peoplei professing a peculiar perfect state of life through Poverty Chastity and Obedience That which is destitute of all wholsome Laws for the Direction of the Ministers and People towards God and his holy Service No Canon Laws That which professeth the large Libertinisine and broad way leading to Perdition granting Libertinisme to the highest degree of wickedness in One Kind or Other to all Its followers That into which whosoever enters forsaking the true Wickedness of life begins presently to leave all goodness and becomes an outcast and Scumm of the earth as to all wickedness and prophaness That which enjoyes no true Spirituality ●ut brainsick Phancy No solid true Spirituality as being void of all true Humility and Mortification the only sound groundwork and foundation of all true Spirituallity and interior correspondence with God and this appears most evidently by the fruits The divine Book of the Following of Christ For never any sound spiritual Book hath been written by them but excellent Ones written by those of the true Religion corrupted by them They have the Lord indeed much in their Mouth but their hearts are farr from him Mat. 19.8 I wish therefore with all my Soul that all such as have an Interiour Propension would seriously ponder this Motive if they desire to satisfy such their Interiour Propension as they must needs be inclined to do thereby to discern A good advice and shun these Sectaryes and to embosome themselves in the true Catholick Church as they love the real and otherwise impossible true satisfaction of their Propension And they shall receive and experience a more beautifying kind of spirituality then ever they have done or could do out of the true Church Remember this again and again you who are called Puritans and pretend to be spiritual and come the right way home to your selves That whose publick and common service is without all Ceremony Publick service and Majesty no Commemorations of the mysteries of our faith no Ceremonies in administration of the Sacraments or much more truly no Sacraments at all and most of all to be noted no true real propitious Sacrifice no honour to the Saints That lastly though much more may be said of the wickedness thereof which by reason of its wicked Obstinacy and libertinsme brings all the professors thereof to disobedience Rebellion and disobedience and Rebellion to their Princes and Superiors takes away all neighbourly Love and just dealing one with another and hereby brings Ruin and Confusion upon all Common-wealths yea Kingdoms and Ecclesiastical power where such sway and domineer To all which give evident Testimony the late bleeding Experience of our own miserable Country and the General History of former Ages Read Monarchomachia or Jerusalem and Babel a Book so called printed in London 1653. and then give Credit The Church of God as it is One and Holy so must it be Catholick THe true Church must be Catholick that is Universal Catholick sprend over the whole world since by it all must be saved The sound of it must Come to all Mens Eares of what Nation Rom. 10.17 and Country soever For Faith coms by hearing And therefore beginning at Jerusalem river-like through the length of her Course hath ever more encreased and spread it self from time to time even to this hower and shall do for ever till it poure it self forth into the triumphant as the records of all Nations and Ages and the approbations of 18. General Councils the highest Consistories upon Earth and Oracles of the greatest infallibility as being the sentence of all the most learned in the Christian world and assisted by the holy Ghost bear evident witness And this is so palpable and Visible that He must be most blind deaf void of all sense and a stupid block who cannot discern it Look upon the whole world at this present and behold if this One holy Church be not Catholick that is spread over the whole world a being in Italy Spain France Germany Poland Portugal China the east and wes● Indyes and infinite Other Places of the World which are governed by no other Religion but this and all consent i● One and the same Now as St. Augesti● said very well if any thing be done by the whole Church to call that in Question is insolent Madness What Madness i● it then in this Iland of England and Scotland I must not include Ireland a little corner of Europe to question no● only some things done but the very Fundamental Religion of the whole world besides O insolent Madness to be thus singular and peculiar which must bring upon our Country singular and peculiar Misery before we can Enjoy the blessing and true happiness which always wait on the true Catholick Faith This Note Mark is so proper to the Church that no heretical Congregation sect or Company could ever obtain it though they have endeavoured much for it and at this present do but fail of their enterprise Wherefore what St. Augustin said of old we may now with truth say and it will ever with Truth be said If any ask to go to the Catholick Church they dare not shew their Conventicles Congregations Churches or houses And therefore saith be the very Name of Catholick which not without cause the only true Church hath obtained keeps me in her Bosome This Name Catholick no heresy could ever obtain let them labour never so much for it and Justly For how can they be called so since their Congregations or Churches are neither One or holy And therefore cannot be Catholick True it is Heresies may be spread over the world then you may call them Epidemical that is a general Plague but not Catholick a general union holiness or Blessing No no their names are very proper for them which they assume and stile themselves withal and are so known and called by Others to wit Lutherans Calvinists Protestants Puritans Brownists Anabaptists Armenians Socinians Independants black and white with an infinite rable besides Lutherans you shall find few out of Germany Swedland and Denmark Calvinists in Geneva some places of France Scotland England is not wholly subject to them Prelatical Protestants no where but in England Brownists Anabaptists Armenians Socinians c. are individui vagi wanderers sculking in every Corner but the sink of all and Confusion of Babel is at Amsterdam in Holland Judge then if there be any Religion Catholick but One true and Holy● And hereupon Cyrillus Jerosolomitan●● said very Learnedly and to the