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cause_n	church_n	faith_n	good_a	1,446	5	3.4167	3	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A60211	The origine of atheism in the popish and Protestant churches shew'n by Dorotheus Sicurus, 1648 ; made into English, and a preface added by E.B., Esquire.; Origo atheismi in pontificia et evangelica ecclesia. English	Crenius, Thomas, 1648-1728.; E. B., Esquire.	1684 (1684)	Wing S3756; ESTC R6868	23,279	40

Spend-thrifts and Gamesters so many Citizens contaminated with all manner of Villany and Wickedness but from this one fountain of the ill and perverse Education and Government of Children for they that attribute the debauchery of the Age to the Reformation do without doubt need Physick That loose and impious Education and ill discipline which is now in use added to the negligence and dissoluteness of the Magistrates who are more intent upon their own private and domestick advantages than the publick good that I may make no complaints against the Princes of the World must certainly bear the blame of all this Wickedness Thus you have the first and principal cause of the present Atheism in my opinion XII And now I come to the next which is the contempt of the Clergy and Church-men I will not at large inquire into the Causes of this nor whether many of them have not brought this disesteem upon themselves by their own faults tho' it is not possible that our Clergy should not be vile in the eyes of men while they see how basely and poorly they seek Church Functions and Preferments how careless they are of their people and unconcern'd for the Glory of God Now I say when men see all this is it possible that they should not despise those who seek their own and not the things of Jesus Christ And the very Clergy too observe at time the small esteem the people have of them as appears by their frequent complaints in their Pulpits tho' they either know not or are pleased to dissemble their knowledge of the Cause as if they abhorred the remedy more than the disease I will only add this that the contempt of the Person for the most part brings with it a contempt of the Office Now how deep this is rooted in the minds of the men of this Age no man can be ignorant I remember I heard a person of no mean consideration at Amsterdam use these words That he valued his Cat as much as he did his Minister Thus did an Evangelical hearer speak of an Evangelical Pastor If any that were not of the Established Church had thought a little under valuingly of them it might have been born provided it had not been attended with publick scandal because they have nothing to do with them as S. Paul bore with the Athenian Philosophers who call'd him Babler and a setter forth of strange Gods but when the Auditors who are committed to his care despise his Admonitions and Doctrine as if they were too good and learned in the Scriptures to be instructed by such a man as it does not seldom happen that those who have wealth and power in the world will hardly submit themselves to the Church-discipline and instruction there I say the contempt is not to be indured because attended with the contempt of the Ministery and tending to the great damage of the hearers And to this purpose is that of the Apostle let no man despise thee For I cannot allow the Exposition of Chrysostom and others who think that Titus was admonished to behave himself so both as to his Doctrine and Life as not to deserve to be despised For altho' it is most certain that integrity of manners does add to the Authority of the Teacher and render his Doctrine more acceptable and that a good life as Primasius saith makes the Doctrine of more Authority yet the very sound and sense of the words shew that the Apostle here does not prescribe what Titus should do but what others should not do Joh. Crocius upon this place take it that the Apostle did not here speak to Titus but to the whole Church of Crete and ordains that seeing Titus was commanded to encounter with their vices and errors and to defend the Truth and Religion no man should be so prodigal of his Salvation as to despise either his Person or his Office or prefer himself before him as better or more worthy For the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here used as is observed by S. Hierom. Witteberg and Fr. Baldwin Comm. p. 1501. B. signifies thus much When any one being confident of himself that he is better than another despiseth him whom he thinks beneath him And as being above him in wisdom thinks the inferiour person worthy to be despised Therefore this is to be imprinted in the first place in the minds of all that belong to the Church of what Order or Dignity soever they are of that they ought to be subject to their Minister because all are sinners who stand in need of Instruction Exhortation reproof and Consolation all which are administred by the Ministers of the Church by the word of God commended to them therefore they are to be heard of all as the Ministers of Christ and Stewards of the Mysteries of God But if there be any that will not hear as the greatest part of the men of this Age will not that they are not to be connived at but to be rebuked with all Authority As the Apostle directs in the last cited place out of Titus that they may understand saith the grave Balduinus the Authority of the Ministery excells all worthly Power We have already the heavy sentence revealed against these despisers Luk. X. 16. Matth. X. 40. Joh. XIII 20. But if there be any Drones and unworthy of the Ministery let them be driven out of the Hive But as to those who teach the true Doctrine and Religion and Catechise in publick and in private and serve Christ and their people faithfully without any vain hopes of lucre out of love these I say ought to have obedience liberality and reverence shewn towards them lest if we act otherwise by the just judgment of GOD we should be left so far to our selves as to maintain Seducers Hypocrites mercenary men those that are covetous of great Revenues carnal men who are totally unfit for that spiritual work idle bellies indeed of the Ministers of Christ and such as wallow in the very mire of Pleasures and Riches which hath already hapned not only to our forefathers but to some of the most flourishing Churches of these times as we see with sorrowful hearts XIII The ill tho' frequent way of Preaching gives us the third cause of Atheism The first duty of a Preacher is to set forth the Power and Nature of Religion and the second is to perswade men to Faith and good works as all agree who know what it is For it is in vain to exhort those men who are ignorant of the force and nature of true Positive Divinity and Religion But a great sort of our Preachers having only lightly touched or rather for the most part totally neglected their Text fall presently to the exhortation which whoever does prosecute without the knowledge of Faith and true Religion does but play the Philosopher instead of preaching Christ as Philip Melancthon has plainly pronounced in this affair I would not have the latter omitted

that can betide a man on this side Hell is to be given up by God to vile and base Affections and that which the Apostle calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the hatred of God which is the forerunner of Atheism is the worst and basest the most devilish affection that can take possession of a man but yet is too frequently the effect of Debauchery Schism Inconstancy and neglect of the Service of God and therefore it is the interest of all those that have any spark of Goodness or Virtue left to desert the paths that lead to this Precipice to abhor all that company that may lead them insensibly into this Gulf of eternal Ruine and destroy all their Reputations and temporal happiness into the bargain 2. That it is the interest of all that are exalted to any places of Power and Profit that have any share in the Government to be as tender of Religion as of the Apple of their Eye to discountenance Debauchery and Immorality and especially Atheism Blasphemy Perjury common Swearing c. to the utmost of their powers and however never to employ or trust men of infamous lives or wicked Principles 3. That it is the interest of all men to endeavour to put an end to our Factions in Religion by all the Lawful means that can be thought of 4. Seeing all these miseries I have expressed have sprung from the abuse of Liberty and want of the execution of good Laws and that we see whither a licentious freedom will at last lead us let us heartily submit to the necessary restraints of Discipline and Government and dread no slavery like that of being the bondmen of Lust and the drudges of the Devil And as to our Dissenters I desire they would seriously consider the State of the Churches beyond the Seas of which this Author hath given so exact an account and then reflect upon the little good they have got or done by all their oppositions to that Religion which God by his Providence has established amongst us how many horrid sins they have been guilty of under the mask of Religion and perhaps more out of ignorant Zeal than intentional Wickedness and lastly how deeply they are concern'd in the Guilt of all the Debauchery and Atheism of the present Age by weakening the force and abating the reverence that is due and in all probability would otherwise have been paid to our Civil and Ecclesiastical Governours And because the very root of all our Divisions is a quarrel about our Ceremonies I desire they would reflect seriously upon the last Section of this discourse and if they cannot be satisfied with the proceedings of their Superiours yet at least to abate somewhat of their hitherto inflexible stubbornness And because the sence of Foreigners is like to be more prevalent with them than that of English men who are suspected to be interested I will give them for a Conclusion the sense of a Learned French Protestant in the same case The person I mention is the Author of the History of Calvinism and Popery in Parallel or an Apology for the Reformers and Reformation written against M ur Maimbourg's History of Calvinism part 1. chap. 20. It is fit to be known in the first place that We saith he would not enter into a Schism with a Church nor make any great controversie for a small number of Ceremonies which being of no great use do yet do no great injury to Religion and for this Cause we cannot but be concerned to see a number of good and devout people beyond the Seas out of an excessive Zeal for the simplicity of Worship divorce themselves from the Religion Established by the Prince and State because of a few Ceremonies of small importance the use of which they will not endure Schism is the greatest of all evils and if it were true that these Ceremonies did some harm yet they can never do so much mischief as the scandal of Separation and Division do But yet after all this I believe these Ceremonies are innocent and that these men are very imprudently offended at them This Gentleman is no friend to Ceremonies as appears by this and in what follows is very importunate with our Governours to lay them aside in favour of the Dissenters and yet he cannot but call the Separation made on that account a Schism and an imprudent and scandalous one too and pronounce our Ceremonies innocent which is enough to condemn our Dissenters and make them liable to answer to God and Man for all the misery sin and bloudshed that have already hapned in this quarrel or shall hereafter happen And if the little Religion that is left in the World do with so much difficulty maintain it self against the Atheism that grows upon the age now that the Established Religion is defended by Laws made venerable by a few innocent Ceremonies and the Countenance of our King and Government I leave it to all men to judge what would follow upon the breaking down our Fences and exposing it naked and without Authority to all that please to put a helping hand to the pulling it down THE ORIGINE OF ATHEISM Both in the Popish and Reformed CHURCHES Shew'n by DOROTHEVS SICVRVS Translated out of Latin HE that shall compare the Present Times with those that are Past shall hardly fall upon an Age of more solid Learning excellent discourse or ingenuous Arts than the Present But then alas we find by experience that there was never any thing so great but it left room for its own Ruine for by how much the more Learning and Arts have spread themselves into so much the narrower bounds is Piety contracted so that while the number of Learned men increaseth that of the Pious is daily diminished Not only the Jesuits but the Members of the other Orders though despised by the former in comparison of themselves do abundantly shew that the Church of Rome is replenished with many Learned men Hence many have admired how it should come to pass that this Religion which is composed with so strict superstitious and artificial a respect to the well-being and Polity of the Pope and Jesuits should not only abound with Atheists but even seem to be the source of Atheism it self Those famous men the Elegant Theophilus Spizelius the Religious Anthonius Reiserus the once most Reverend Joannes Mullerus the Zealous Gisbertus Voetius the Learned Josua Arndius though they have otherwise at large discoursed of Atheism yet they do not touch this business But to him that rightly considers it the thing will not be obscure for Italy where the Seat of the Popedom is produceth sublime and active Wits who when they grow up accustom themselves to humane Learning History Criticks Politicks and those other studies which belong to Publick affairs and the secrets of State who in the mean time despise the studies of Piety Scripture and Divinity as mean and easie things which will contribute very little to their Reputations

but I had rather they would much oftner handle the former For seeing the Gospel teacheth many things above our Reason it is not possible to know which is the true Worship of God and Religion unless we know what the Gospel teacheth Therefore he will do most good to the Church tho' he will not at first be so acceptable as an English Moralist who can best set forth the matter of Faith which many either totally neglect contenting themselves with inculcating the precepts concerning manners without delivering the summ of the Christian Religion or do only lightly touching it and yet after all we wonder whence it comes to pass that those that have so many years frequented our Sermons being asked concerning the heads of the Christian Religion can give no account of them when yet they never in all their lives heard much if any thing of them I lament the misery of these poor sheep but I shall never more wonder at the multitude of Atheists and of those that are ignorant of all Religion But in short if the truth may be spoken the greatest part of the Preachers never learned the Compendium and form of true Theologie and what more can be expected from such men But I know not how it comes to pass that no Mechanick shall be suffered to exercise a Trade who hath not spent a great time in learning of it But all are suffered to preach without distinction or choice nor do I at all regard the Certificates which are usually given to young beginners in some places for how and at what price they are purchased of the Professors is as clear as the light But Paul's precept was that the Bishop should be apt to teach And he only will be such who has a right notion of Religion and has by the assistance of the Holy Ghost had experience of the force and power of it in the various events of his life For as a builder first forms the whole building in his mind So the teachers of any Arts ought to have the whole Scheme of the Arts they profess to teach in their minds that they may be able to shew the beginning and Series or order of all the precepts But all other Arts because they may be comprehended by reason may be more easily apprehended whereas the Gospel which contains many things above and against the judgment of reason is not apprehended without difficulty and therefore the Preacher is obliged to take the more pains that he may render the most obscure things plain And he will then be able to do this when he has possessed his own mind with a comprehensive knowledge of all the Doctrine of Religion before he begins to teach others Therefore it will never be laborious or difficult to such a Preacher to invent what he should speak but rather his prudence is to be imployed in the chusing out of the great variety and plenty what may seem most profitable and useful for the whole Christian Religion is of a Divine Original and being delivered to us in writing by the Prophets and Apostles those writings are to be followed Now in this the first thing is to understand rightly those things which he has undertaken to handle for no man can clearly teach another that thing which he doth not throughly understand himself That Verse of Horace is very common Verbaque praevisam rem non invita sequentur For unforc'd words wait on a well known thing Nor does any man attain the knowledge of the holy Scriptures by study only but it is necessary that by instruction of the Holy Ghost he should feel the force of them in his own mind and so be able by his own Experience and Practice to interpret them The next things required in a good Preacher is that he have a good way and manner of interpreting or expressing himself which is delivered in those precepts by which youth is instructed in Eloquence or Rhetorick For no man can ever know the way of teaching well if he be not well instructed in Eloquence in his youth and be very much and a great while conversant with those Arts in which the precepts of Rhetorick are contained And then an Interpreter ought to know the Genius of the language for the holy Scriptures have a certain peculiar Idiom and Phrase which those that are not acquainted with it from their youth cannot understand Nor is it enough to have some degree of knowledge in the tongues but to enable a man to judge well Logick and Rhetorick are of great use Lastly if he be able to draw a summ or Compendium of the whole doctrine out of the holy Scriptures he will then endeavour that the people also may comprehend the whole Christian Doctrine The Primitive Church seems to have aimed at this heretofore when she took such care that the ignorant might be throughly instructed before they were admitted to Baptism whom she then called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Catechumens For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to Catechise doth not signifie to teach simply but to read to a person and make him repeat after the Teacher And I wish the custom were retained in the Church of exacting of every man once an account of the Doctrine for we do more diligently consider and deeply look into those things which we are bound to recite in other words without changing the sense The last cause of Atheism we fetch from the total abolition of all Ceremonies for we see that Religion was never more despised than in those Churches where there is no Ceremonies For there is an absolute necessity of some external shews which may recommend and render Religion more August and Venerable to the common people who are not able without them to see into the greatness and dignity of this thing and we ought not to undervalue that improvement which children make while they Sing the Psalms Read the Bible and repeat the Catechism aloud in the Church For if Ceremonies are not impious as they are which are instituted by the Papists for Justification and if there be any use of them such as the recommending Religion to the people and children for whose sake they were chiefly instituted and both which they retain and preserve in the word and teach I see no reason why they should be abolished O how earnestly do I desire that those who govern our Church-affairs would more deeply consider this last cause which at first sight appears so light and contemptible and that they would understand what Ecclesiastical Prudence is concerning which we conjecture Nicolaus Videlius will with the assistance of God publish something in his Elegant book of the Prudence of the ancient Church Tho' ours should at least be so unhappy as leave this thing very imperfect It is a most impious thing to think that all Ceremonies were instituted by wicked Popes There ever were some wise and holy men who throughly understood that the minds of the common people were so stupid and low that they could never apprehend the Dignity and Majesty of Religion unless their minds were fixed and detained with some outward and visible Rites till they might by that means by degrees be more and more lifted up and so learn to admire it And yet I would not have too much haste made here because Abraham Scultetus a prudent Divine otherwise in this very Age left us a Tragical example of the ill effects that followed at Prague And thus at length I have opened this putrid sore and now if the work might be acceptable and it might promote the cure of it O how great thanks should I give to our God but if the evil should happen to be only exasperated and the attempt should incense the Patients I shall comfort my self with the Conscience of my undertaking and the usual reward of a Physician FINIS Anno 1196. Lib. 1. c. 26. Quin videmus tempora ipsa in Atheismum procliviora qualia fuerunt Augusti Caesaris tranquilla fuisse Bacon de superstitione L. 16. c. 6. p. 27 Cicero de fine bon l. c. 7. Lact. de falsa relig l. 3. c. 16. Joseph Ant. L. XVIII cap. 2. Apud imperitos prodigii loco accipiebatur ipsa aquarum penuria quod in pace sors seu natura nunc fatum Ira Dei vocabatur Tact. H. l. 4. c. 26. Quibus quaestui sunt capti Superstitione Animi Liv. l. 4. Parum Philosophiae naturalis homines inclinat in Atheismum at Altiorem Scientiam eos ad Religionem circumagere Baconis Ser. fidelis XVI De falsa Sapientia l 3. c. 17. Adversae deinde res admonuerunt Religionum confugimus in capitolium ad ●eos ad sedem Jovis O. M. Liv. l. 5. Nullum crimen abest facinusque libidinis ex quo Paupertas Romana perît turpi fregerunt secula Luxu Diviti●●molles Juven Sat. 6. Rom. 1. 30. Principis est ea maximè curare quae ad Deos pertinent nam metuunt minus ne quid injusti accipiunt à talibus minus insidiantur ut Deos habenti Socios Arist Polit. l. 5. c. 11. Licentia urbium aliquando disciplinà metúque nunquam sponte considet Sen. ep 97. Europae speculum or a View or survey of the State of Religion in the Western parts of the World p. 121. This and several other passages make me think the Author was a Hollander If our Laws 〈…〉 Act. XVII 18. Tit. II. 15. 1 Cor. IV. 1. 1 Tim. III. 2. I cannot assent to my Author in this viz. that there is any thing in the Gospel against the judgment of Reason illuminated by Faith If the Rite of Confirmation were duly put in execution with us no Church can take a better and more effectual care for this than ours has done