Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	christian_a	church_n	religion_n	1,433	5	5.5815	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A45396	Hagieā theoū krisis Iudgment worthy of God, or, An assertion of the existence and duration of hell torments, in two occasional letters, written several years since / by ... Henry Hammond ; to which is added an accordance of St. Paul with St. James, in the great point of faith and works by the same author.	Hammond, Henry, 1605-1660.	1665 (1665)	Wing H515; ESTC R15162	47,364	178

bear full consent with these which consequently have establisht the faith of this Article that it was by the Apostles of Christ enter'd into that depositum which they left in every Church where they preach'd as appears by the last words of the Apostles Creed the life everlasting which as it is expresly contrary to annihilation which is excision and determination of life in respect of duration or lasting so being subjoyn'd to the resurrection of the body must be indefinitely coextended to that and so belong to all bodies that are rais'd And that it is thus comprehensive appears more manifestly by the Athanasian Creed which to the rising and coming again of all men with their bodies and giving account for their own works which is parallel to the Resurrection of the body subjoyns as the Explication of Everlasting life this express Dogma And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting and they that have done evil into everlasting fire And this was no doubt the concordant sence of the Churches that had this depositum of Christian faith both from the Scriptures and the preaching of the Apostles and their Successors committed to them And so there remains no cause of doubt of the validity or plainness of demonstration as far as any matter of doctrine is capable of it from the testimony of Christ and of God What followes of the incredibility of this doctrine making some men desperately doubt of the truth of the whole body of Religion can have no force against the truth of it All Christ's duri sermones had that effect of his teaching them they were offended at him and the meaning of that is They forsook the whole Religion Having gone thus far in particular Reply to all that have been propos'd in favour of the Affirmative of the question I need not accommodate any Answer to the remaining fifth page of the first part The three Postulata's if all granted as they may in some limited sence will gain him nothing Not the first for the letter of Scripture favours not him as hath been shew'd death and destruction no way signify or conclude annihilation Not the second for there is no one Text clear in phrase and signification yet produc'd for the affirmative nor any that by any age or orthodox Father hath been so interpreted Not the third because in our doctrine set upon its due basis there is nothing so much as of a seeming disagreeableness to piety or the nature or Attributes of God as hath been shew'd also Then for the scandal of those disputes about Predestination c. which is thought to be allay'd by the opinion of Annihilation I answer that they which deny all irrespective decree of Reprobation or Praeterition against Supralapsarians and Sublapsarians that affirm universality of Redemption and of the gift of sufficient grace all which are maintain'd by Bishop Overall to whom the disputer professeth to encline and are known to have been maintained by concordant votes of all the Fathers of the Greek and Latin Church before St Augustin and since him by a considerable part of the Church through all Ages and the contrary never universally receiv'd as a Doctrine and so remaines to have been but a disputable question at the most cannot be imagin'd to be under any part of this scandall or consequently to receive benefit by the Allay that is spoken of And if the Doctrine of Reprobation c. have need of this Antidote to avert the ill and dangerous consequences of it and to reconcile their dictates with piety and reverence to God Almighty then it is more then time that the favourers of that Doctrine should rather change their poysons for wholsome dyet then like the Mountebank on the Stage presume to swallow the poyson in confidence of this only antidote which I have not yet heard that he believes to have any force in it In a word let us all renounce the irrespective decree of Reprobation as I professe to do and there is no more pretence for the denying of eternall torments of the Reprobates upon that account As for the punishment of personall sins and their circumstantiall abatements that hath been accounted for already The second Part. IN the Second Part the view of the places producible for Eternall Pains begins with a prejudice viz. that it is no where plainly and directly denyed that the Reprobates shall be destroy'd But that negative Argument as it is simply invalid so it is most unseasonably prefixt to the setting down of Testimonies for the perpetuity of their Torments For if one such Text be produc'd that shall really conclude their torments perpetual as certainly do the words of Christ Revel 20.10 of their being tormented Day and Night for ever and ever it is then most certainly consequent that the Reprobate shall not be destroy'd immediately after the day of Judgment and what is that but the plain and direct denial of it And to adde that it is no where said that they shall live for ever but that incorruption seems to be the priviledge of the Elect is sure but another branch of the same paralogisme for they that are tormented for ever have sence and life for ever but that being a life of misery eternal hath no semblance of the priviledge of the Elect whose Crown it is to live and reign not to live and be punisht for ever And so this yields not the least mite of advantage to the former opinion Now for the phrases 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mat. 18.8 25.41.48 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mat. 25.46 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mar. 3.29 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mar. 9.43.44 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 v. 45.46.48 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. Pet. 2.17 Jud. 13. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Revel 14 11. and the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the prophet shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever Revel 20.10 All these are endeavour'd to be evacuated first by a general Answer then by particulars accommodated to each particular phrase The general is that the phrase 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 do not alwaies signify an absolute eternity but either a long time or an irreparable estate of things or during unto the cessation of the subject And without disputing the truth of this answer it will be sufficient to my turn if either some of these phrases do sometimes signify an absolute eternity for then I shall have no reason to except against the Interpretation of the universal Church of God for so many Centuries which thus understand all unquestionably most of these places or if they here denote an irreparable state of those things that are spoken of for then the wicked being cast into fire are in that state irreparably Math. 18 8.25.4● being in eternal punishment Math. 25.41 are irreparably there and so in the rest which notion of eternal would never mind any man of the annihilation of those that are enter'd