Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	church_n	great_a	schism_n	1,418	5	9.7695	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A62285	A serious inquiry into the means of an happy union, or, What reformation is necessary to prevent popery and to avert God's judgments from the nation written upon the occasion of the fast, and humbly offered to the consideration of the Parliament by William Saywell.	Saywell, William, 1643-1701.	1681 (1681)	Wing S805; ESTC R25119	28,144	52

declare to the world as one that believes a Judgment to come that upon the most diligent search and careful inquiry into this matter I cannot find any plea sufficient to justifie in point of conscience the present Separation from the Church of England If there be no sufficient plea to justifie the Separation then these that by their Separation break the peace of our Church are guilty of a sin as great and dangerous as Murder in the opinion of this Reverend Person And thence we may conclude it will cry aloud for vengeance in the ears of God as Bloud doth But the Learned Dean out of his abundant desire of Union and Compassion towards Dissenters does make some Proposals of Accommodation with the soberest of them The particulars are many and not to be considered in this short Discourse In general therefore I do readily agree with the Learned Doctor Pag. 82. that the use of the Sacraments in a Christian Church ought to be most free from all exceptions and they ought to be so administred as rather to invite than discourage scrupulous persons from joyning in them and therefore I would have nothing made as a Condition of Communion but what was most clear and undoubted in the practice of the Ancient and Catholick Church or evidently deduced from the Word of God and generally held lawful by the greatest part of sober Divines in all Ages But I do not see we can agree to the taking away of the ancient Constitutions and Ceremonies of the Primitive Catholick Church without great scandal to many sober Christians and weakning of out cause and giving great advantage to the Adversaries of the Roman Church which the Reverend Dean does very excellently set forth pag. 4. of his Preface It is of mighty consequeuce for preventing the return of Popery that men rightly understand what it is For when they are as much afraid of an innocent Ceremony as of real Idolatry and think they can worship Images and adore the Host on the same grounds that they may use the sign of the Cross or kneel at the Communion when they are brought to see their mistake in one case they will suspect themselves deceived in the other also For they who took that to be Popery which is not will be apt to think Popery it self is not so bad as it was represented and so from want of right understanding the differences between us may be easily carried from one extreme to another For when they find the undoubted practices of the ancient Church condemned as Popish and Antichristian by their Teachers they must conclude Popery to be of much greater Antiquity than really it is and when they can trace it so very near the Apostles times they will soon believe it settled by the Apostles themselves For it will be very hard to persuade any considering men that the Christian Church should degenerate so soon so unanimously so universally as it must do if Episcopal Government and the use of some significant Ceremonies were any parts of that Apostacy Which is a matter so incredible that those who can believe such a part of Popery could prevail so soon in the Christian Church may be brought to believe that many others did So mighty a prejudice do the Principles of our Churches enemies bring upon the Cause of the Reformation And those who forgo the testimony of Antiquity as all the Opposers of the Church of England must do must unavoidably run into insuperable difficulties in dealing with the Papists which the Principles of our Church do lead us through For we can justly charge Popery as an unreasonable innovation when we allow the undoubted Practices and Government of the ancient Church for many ages after Christ The use of the Cross and Surplice and other Orders of the Church being then of undoubted Antiquity in the Christian Church to take them away to satisfie our Dissenters who count them Popish and Superstitious is to undervalue the Piety of the primitive Fathers and will expose us to the just reproaches of the Church of Rome and harden the Dissenters in their former belief Whereas if the Testimony of Antiquity be of so great moment to uphold the Authority of our Church we ought rather to be immovable in adhering to ancient Customs that we may teach the Papists that 't is Novelty not Antiquity that we reject in them and to root out of the minds of the Dissenters that foolish persuasion that signficant Ceremonies are superstitious which can never be done otherwise than by shewing that they must condemn the Catholick Church in the purest Ages upon the same account and expose our Religion to the extravagant Fancies of every conceited Humorist and so drive away many sober men from our Communion To keep up then the Reverence of Antiquity and preserve the Honour of the Reformation we must not take away the use of the Cross and Surplice and other Orders of our Church which are of such undoubted Antiquity and universal practice in the Catholick Church And as for Toleration the same Reverend Author does say pag. 79. It will be found impossible to root out Popery where Toleration is allowed which he does there shew with demonstrative reasons But because some are apt to think a limited Toleration of some sort of men may be granted without any harm It is to be considered First if Schism be such a grievous crime as to be as great and dangerous as Murder how can Toleration be granted to so great a sin without bringing the guilt of the Bloud of Souls upon our Nation Secondly if Schism be a sin of so heinous a nature what a dangerous thing will it be to lay such a stumbling block before the common people as to grant a Toleration of those Preachers who are Masters of Insinuation to seduce the weak and ignorant into such a destructive Separation Therefore when all is done the onely probable way of an Happy Union is by setting aside all thoughts of Toleration or Comprehension upon any other Principles than the Word of God as it has been interpreted by the Rules and Customs of the Ancient and Catholick Church and in them all sober Protestants and devout Christians when they come to understand them will readily agree For this was the principle upon which Luther and the Protestants in Germany began the Reformation witness the Augustane Confession chap. 21. We do not despise the consent of the Catholick Church neither is it our intention to bring into the Church any new Opinion unknown to the Holy Church neither will we patronize any wicked or seditious Opinions which the Catholick Church has condemned For we were not led to embrace this Doctrine by any evil concupiscence but compelled to it by the Authority of the Word of God and of the ancient Church And what these Rules are concerning our present Circumstances the foregoing Discourse will clearly shew but will more fully appear in my former Treatise of The Original of all Plots

Enthusiasts and not the Fruit of the Spirit which is Love Joy Peace Long-suffering Gentleness Goodness Faith Meekness Temperance True Edification does consist in Love of God and our Neighbour Humility Mortification and Self-denyal and therefore the exercise of Fasting solemnly commemorating and meditating upon the blessed Examples of the Martyrs casting off all Pride Self-love and overweening their own Understandings following the instruction piety and holy conversation of the primitive Fathers and Confessors must needs be more effectual means to Edification than the ex tempore and new-fangled Devices of modern Schismaticks that set at naught the Wisdom of all former Ages Certainly they must wilfully shut their eyes that cannot discover the vanity of such wild pretences of Edification as if the Church of God in all Ages were not better able to judge than these private men who oppose her Practices as I plainly have demonstrated The last excuse they generally make is That they are Ministers of Christ and therefore necessity is laid upon them and Wo be unto them if they preach not the Gospel Well be it so but they must not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Pet. 4.15 be Busie Bodies and Bishops in another mans Charge If they think there is such a Duty lying upon them they must go to some vacant places and they will find enough amongst the Indies but there is no reason that they should steal away other mens Flocks and draw people from the obedience of their lawful Governours Besides being once Ministers is not a reason sufficient that they must always be allowed to exercise their Office for there are some whose mouths must be stopped Tit. 1.11 and 't is not for persons that are censured to be Judges in their own case there would be no peace in the world if a legal Sentence should not take place because the party condemned shall say the judgment is unjust So that all the Pleas they can make in their own defence do rather aggravate than excuse their Schism CHAP. VI. Of Ignorance THE next publick reigning sin that will bring Judgment upon our Nation is Ignorance which is a great scandal where there are so great means for to get knowledge and so many men able and willing to instruct the ignorant and misguided Christians I will not say but that many through carelesness may be wanting to themselves and perhaps the Teachers in some places have not been so industrious as they might have been but the great cause of this Ignorance is owing to our Schisms and Distractions for the Ministers have been imployed in driving away Wolves while they should feed the Lambs and to strive with the obstinate and perverse while they should be catechising the weak and ignorant And as the Ministers have been hindered in instructing by these Divisions so the people have taken occasion to run away and refuse to hear their sober information and no wonder then if they continue in ignorance and others will grow up efter them still in the like want of knowledge and unbelief and so will be indifferent to Popery or any thing that is most for their advantage Now to suffer men to go on in this ignorance without taking effectual care to bring them to the knowledge of the truth must necessarily provoke Gods displeasure against our Nation neither can any remedy be found but requiring the people both old and young diligently to attend the Publick Worship of God and and Exposition of the Catechism and Principles of Religion and strictly enjoyning the Ministers to examine and instruct young Children in the same whereby the old people also will by degrees come to understand their duty And how can this ever be brought to pass but by taking away Conventicles and compelling all Parents and Masters to send their Children and Servants to the Parish Churches And because some Parishes are so large and populous that all the people can never receive instruction or serve God in one Church care ought to be taken to divide such Parishes or to erect Chapels of Ease that all Christians may have room and opportunity to attend the Service of God without distraction But while many are favoured and winked at under the notion of having Tender Consciences and being sober Protestants and that they serve God in Conventicles others that are lazy and careless will wholly neglect all kind of Religion or thoughts about it And as for those that go to Conventicles for better instruction they are so far from finding it there that most of the great Zealots are ignorant of the common Principles of Christianity and many of them are taught to deny weighty Truths and to neglect and despise necessary Duties Unless therefore some more effectual care be taken to bring men to the knowledge of the Saving Truth we must expect Gods heavy vengeance on our Nation CHAP. VII Of Profaneness AND now I come to the last publick sin of the Nation viz. open Profaneness and against which our Hereticks and Schismaticks do much cry out but yet have been the great means to breed and uphold it This is an Epidemical Distemper that has infected all sorts of men as well knowing as ignorant Orthodox as Schismatical When and how it sprung up is easie for considering men to find out All the days of Queen Elizabeth and onward till 41 it was a Pestilence that walked in darkness and seldom durst peep out to see the Sun but ever since the Bonds of Restraint have been let loose and the Laws taken away or relaxed in favour of Tender Consciences as was pretended Atheism and Profaneness have come in like a floud upon us and will certainly continue and increase till Conventicles be suppressed and men compelled to hear sober instruction and frequent the Publick Worship of God For there is a natural self-love in the best of men which will encline them to ease and pleasure and that meeting with no check without and having all the Incentives from the Devil within will unavoidably blind the Understanding and lead the Will captive to all wickedness unless the efficacy of Gods Grace does strongly incline and assist them to overcome such Motions But such effectual Grace is not to be found but in the Church and in the use of such means as the Gospel does direct us unto These are not in Conventicles or in Taverns or at home by the Fire side in Private Houses at the time of Gods Publick Worship but in the Unity and Communion of the Church Where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them says Christ Matth. 18.20 But that is according to his will and command and not in Schism and Disobedience to their lawful Governours and Instructors Gods Grace alone upon many tempers without punishment will not work a Reformation much less punishments alone without the assistance of Gods Grace therefore God has appointed both and authorized Men to be instruments to apply them The Ministers have power