Linguistic DNA - Concept Modelling Demonstrator

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	church_n	rome_n	separation_n	2,430	5	10.6947	5	true

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A03586	A learned discourse of iustification, workes, and how the foundation of faith is overthrowne. By Richard Hooker, sometimes fellow of Corpus Christi College in Oxford	Hooker, Richard, 1553 or 4-1600.; Jackson, Henry, 1586-1662.; Spenser, John, 1559-1614.	1612 (1612)	STC 13708; ESTC S121045	45,591	98

see the truth and his mouth to renounce all heresie and error any wise opposite therevnto this one opinion of merits excepted he thinketh God will require at his hands and because he wanteth therefore trembleth and is discouraged It may be I am forgetfull and vnskilfull not furnished with things newe and olde as a wise learned scribe should bee nor able to alleage that wherevnto if it were alleaged hee doth beare a minde most willing to yeeld and so to be recalled as well from this as from other errors And shall I thinke because of this only error that such a man toucheth not so much as the hemme of Christs garment If he doe wherefore shoulde not I haue hope that vertue may proceede from Christ to saue him Because his errour doth by consequent overthrow his faith Shall I therefore cast him off as one that hath vtterly cast of Christ one that holdeth not so much as by a slender threed No I wil not be afraid to saie vnto a Pope or Cardinall in this plight be of good comfort we haue to doe with a mercifull God rather to make the best of a little which we hold well and not with a captious sophister which gathereth the worst out of everie thing wherein wee erre Is there any reason that I should be suspected or you offended for this speech Is it a dangerous thing to imagine that such men may finde mercy The house may come when wee shall thinke it a blessed thing to heare that if our sins were the sins of the Popes and Cardinals the bowels of the mercie of God are larger I do not propose vnto you a Pope with the neck of an Emperour vnder his feet a Cardinall riding his horse to the bridle in the blood of Saints but a Pope or Cardinal sorrowful penitent disrobed stript not only of vsurped power but also delivered and recald from errour Antichrist converted and lying prostrate at the foote of Christ and shall I thinke that Christ will spurne at him And shall I crosse and gainesaie the mercifull promises of God generally made vnto penitent sinners by opposing the name of a Pope of a Cardinal What difference is there in the world betweene a Pope and a Cardinall and Iohn Style in this case If wee thinke it impossible for them after they be once come within that ranke to be afterwards touched with anie such remorse let that be graunted The Apostle saith If I or an Angell from heaven preach vnto c. Let it bee as likely that Saint Paule or an Angel from heaven should preach heresie as that a Pope or a Cardinall should be brought so farre forth to acknowledge the truth yet if a Pope or a Cardinall should what finde wee in their persons why they might not bee saved It is not the persons you will saie but the errour wherein I suppose them to die which excludeth them from the hope of mercie the opinion of merits doth take awaie all possibitie of salvation from them What if they hold it onlie as an error although they hold the truth truelie and sincerelie in all other partes of Christian faith although they haue in some measure all the vertues and graces of the spirite all other tokens of Gods elect children in them although they be farre from having anie prowde presumptuous opinion that they shall be saved by the worthynesse of their deedes although the onelie thing which troubleth and molesteth them bee but a little too much deiection somewhat too great a feare rising from an erroneous conceipt that God will require a worthynesse in them which they are grieved to finde wanting in themselues although they bee not obstinate in this perswasion although they be willing and would be glad to forsake it if any one reason were brought sufficient to disproue it although the only let why they doe not forsake it ere they die be the ignorance of the meanes by which it might be disproued although the cause why the ignorance in this point is not removed bee the want of knowledge in such as should be able and are not to remoue it Let me die if ever it be proved that simply an error doth exclude a Pope or a Cardinall in such a case vtterly from hope of life Surely I must confesse vnto you if it be an errour that God may bee mercifull to saue men even when they erre my greatest comfort is my errour were it not for the loue I beare vnto this errour I would never wish to speake nor to liue 36 Wherefore to resume that mother sentence whereof I little thought that so much trouble would haue growne I doubt not but that God was mercifull to saue thousands of our fathers living in Popish superstitions in as much as they sinned ignorantly alas what bloodie matter is there coÌ„tained in this sentence that it should be an occasion of so many hard censures Did I say that thousands of our fathers might be saved I haue shewed which way it cannot be denied Did I say I doubted not but they were saued I see no impiety in this perswasion though I had no reason for it Did I say their ignorance doth make me hope they did find mercy and so were saved What hindreth salvation but sinne Sinnes are not equall and ignorance though it doth not make to be no sinne yet seeing it did make their sinne the lesse why should it not make our hope concerning their life the greater We pittie the most and doubt not but God hath most compassion over them that sinne for want of vnderstanding As much is confessed by sundry others almost in the selfe same words which I haue vsed It is but only my evill hap that the same senteÌ„ces which savor veritie in other mens books should seeme to bolster heresie when they are once by me recited If I bee deceived in this point not they but the blessed Apostle hath deceived me What I said of others the same hee said of himselfe I obtaine mercy for I did it ignorantly Conster his words and you cannot misconster mine I speake no otherwise I meant no otherwise then hee did 37 Thus haue I brought the question concerning our Fathers at the length vnto an end Of whose estate vpon so fit an occasion as was offred me handling the weightie causes of separation betweene the Church of Rome and vs and the weake motiues which are commonly brought to retaine men in that society amongst which motiues the examples of our Fathers deceased is one although I saw it convenient to vtter that sentence which I did to the ende that all men might there by vnderstand how vntruely we are said to condemne as many as haue beene before vs otherwise perswaded then we our selues are yet more then that one sentence I did not thinke it expedient to vtter iudging it a great deale meeter for vs to haue regard to our owne estate then to sift over curiously what is become of other men And fearing least that

Satan as the blessed divine speaketh For although this be proofe sufficient that they doe not directly deny the foundation of faith yet if there were no other leaven in the whole lumpe of their doctrine but this this were sufficient to proue that their doctrine is not agreeable vnto the foundati-of ChristiaÌ„ faith The Pelagians being over great friends vnto nature made themselues enimies vnto grace for all their confessing that men haue their soules and all the faculties thereof their wils and all the abilitie of their wils from God And is not the Church of Rome still an adversarie vnto Christs merits because of her acknowledging that we haue received the power of meriting by the blood of Christ St Thomas More setteth downe the oddes betweene vs and he Church of Rome in the matter of works thus Like as wee graunt them that no good worke of man is rewardable in heaven of his owne nature but through the meere goodnesse of God that list to set so high a price vpon so poore a thing and that this price God setteth through Christs passion and for that also they bee his owne workes with vs for good workes to God-ward worketh no man without God worke in him and as we grant theÌ„ also that no man may be proud of his works for his imperfect working and for that in all that man may doe he can doe God no good but is a servant improfitable doth but his bare dutie as we I say graunt vnto them these things so this one thing or twaine do they grant vs againe that men are bound to worke good workes if they haue time and power and that who so worketh in true faith moÌ„st shall be most rewarded but then set they thereto that all his rewards shall be given him for his faith alone nothing for his workes at all because his faith is the thing they say that forceth him to work well I see by this of St Thomas More how easie it is for men of the greatest capacitie to mistake things written or spoken as well on the one side as on the other Their doctrine as hee thought maketh the worke of man rewardable in the world to come through the goodnesse of God whom it pleaseth to set so high a price vpon so poore a thing and ours that a man doth receiue that eternall and high reward not for his workes but for his faiths sake by which he worketh whereas in truth our doctrine is no other then that we haue learned at the feet of Christ namely that God doth iustifie the beleeving man yet not for the worthinesse of his beleife but for the worthines of him which is beleeved God rewardeth abundantly every one which worketh yet not for any meritorious dignity which is or can be in the worke but through his meere mercy by whose commandement hee worketh Contrariwise their doctrine is that as pure water of it selfe hath no savour but if it passe throug a sweet pipe it taketh a pleasant smell of the pipe through which it passeth so although before grace received our works do neither satisfie nor merit yet after they do both the one and the other Every vertuous action hath then power in such to satisfie that if we our selues commit no mortall sinne no hainous crime wherevpon to spend this treasure of satisfaction in our owne behalfe it turneth to the benefit of other mens release on whoÌ„ it shall please the steward of the house of God to bestow it so that we may satisfie for ourselues others but merit only for our selues In meriting our actions doe worke with two hands with one they get their morning stipend the increase of grace with the other their evening hire the everlasting crowne of glorie Indeed they teach that our good workes doe not these things as they come from vs but as they come from grace in vs which grace in vs is another thing in their divinitie then is the meere goodnesse of Gods mercy towards vs in Christ Iesus 34 I fit were not a strong deluding spirit which hath possession of their harts were it possible but that they should see how plainely they do herein gaine-saie the very ground of Apostolique faith Is this that salvation by grace whereof so plentifull mention is made in the scriptures of God Was this their meaning which first taught the worlde to looke for salvation onely by Christ By grace the Apostle saith and by grace in such sort as a gift a thing that commeth not of our selues not of our workes lest anie man should boast say I haue wrought out my own salvatioÌ„ By grace they coÌ„fesse but by grace in such sort that as many as weare the diademe of blisse they wear nothing but what they haue wonne The Apostle as if he had foreseene how the church of Rome would abuse the world in time by ambiguous termes to declare in what sense the name of grace must be taken when we make it the cause of our salvation saith He saved vs according to his mercie which mercie although it exclude not the washing of our new birth the renuing of our harts by the holy Ghost the meanes the vertues the duties which God requireth of their hands which shall be saved yet is it so repugnant vnto merits that to say wee are saved for the worthines of anie thing which is ours is to denie wee are saved by grace Grace bestoweth freely and therefore iustlie requireth the glorie of that which is bestowed We denie the grace of our Lord Iesus Christ we abuse disanull and annihilate the benefit of his bitter passion if we rest in these proud imaginations that life is deservedly ours that we merit it and that we are worthy of it 35 How be it considering how many vertuous iust men how many Saints how many Martyres how manie of the ancient fathers of the church haue had their sundry perilous opinions and amongst sundrie of their opinions this that they hoped to make good some part of amends for their sins by the voluntarie punishments which they laid vpon themselues because by a consequent it may follow herevpon that they were iniurious vnto Christ shall we therefore make such dead lie epitaphes and set them vpon their graues They denied the foundation of faith directly they are damned there is no salvation for them S. Austin saith of himselfe Errare possum haereticus essemolo And except we put a difference betweene them that erre and them that obstinatlie perfist in error how is it possible that ever any man should hope to be saved Surely in this case I haue no respect of any person aliue or dead Giue me a man of what state or condition soever yea a Cardinall or a Pope whom in the extreame point of his life affliction hath made to know himselfe whose hart God hath touched with true sorrow for all his sinnes and filled with loue towards the Gospell of Christ whose eies are opened to

thought the Gospell onelie should be preached to the Jewes What more opposite to propheticall doctrine concerning the comming of Christ then the one Concerning the Catholicke Church then the other Yet they which had their fansies even when they had them were not the worst men in the world The heresie of Free-will was a milstone about the Pelagians necke shall wee there giue sentence of death inevitable against all those Fathers in the Greeke Church which being misperswaded died in the errour of free-will Of these Galatians therefore which first were iustified and then deceived as I can see no cause why as many as died before admonition might not by mercie be received even in error so I make no doubt but as manie as lived till they were admonished found the mercie of God effectuall in converting them from their error least any one that is Christs should perish Of this I take it there is no coÌ„troversie only against the salvation of them which died though before admonition yet in error it is obiected that their opinion was a very plaine direct deniall of the foundation If Paul Barnabas had bin perswaded they would happly haue vsed the tearmes otherwise speaking of the Masters theÌ„ selues who did first set that error abroach certaine of the sects of the Pharisees which beleeved What difference was there betweene these Pharisees and other Pharisees from whom by a special description they are distinguished but this These which came to Antioch teaching the necessity of circuncision were Christians the other enimies of Christianitie Why then shoulde these be tearmed so distinctly beleevers if they did directlie denie the foundation of our beliefe besides which there was no other thing that made the rest to be no beleevers We neede go no father then S. Paules very reasoning against them for proofe of this matter seeing you know God or rather are knowne of God how turne you againe to impotent rudiments The law ingendreth servants hir children are in bondage they which are gotten by the Gospell are free Brethren we are not children of the servant but of the free woman and will yee not be vnder the law That they thought it vnto salvation necessarie for the Church of Christ to obserue daies and monthes and times and yeares to keepe the ceremonies and sacraments of the law this was their errour Yet hee which condemneth their error coÌ„fesseth that notwithstanding they knew God and were knowne of him hee taketh not the honour from them to be tearmed sonnes begotten of the immortall seed of the Gospell Let the heaviest wordes which he vseth be waighed consider the drift of those dreadfull conclusions If yee be circumcised Christ shal profit you nothing AS many as are iustified by the law are fallen from grace It had beene to no purpose in the world so to vrge them had not the Apostle beene perswaded that at the hearing of such sequels No benefit by Christ A defection from grace their heartes would tremble and quake within them and why because that they knew that in Christ and in grace their salvation lay which is a plaine direct acknowledgement of the foundation Least I should herein seeme to holde that which no one learned or godly hath done lette these words be considered which import as much as I affirm Surely those brethren which in S. Pauls time thought that God did lay a necessitie vpon them to make choise of daies and meats spake as they beleeved and could not but in wordes condemne the libertie which they supposed to be brought in against the authoritie of divine Scripture Otherwise it had beene needlesse for S. Paul to admonish them not to condemne such as eate without scrupulosity whatsoever was set before them This error if you weigh what it is of it selfe did at once overthrow all Scriptures whereby we are taught salvation by faith in Christ all that ever the Prophets did foretell all that ever the Apostles did preach of Christ it drewe with it the deniall of Christ vtterly in so much that S Paul complaineth that his labour was lost vpon the Galatians vnto whom this error was obtruded affirming that Christ if so bee they were circumcised should not profit them any thing at all Yet so far was S. Paul from striking their names out of Christs book that he commandeth others to entertaine them to accept them with singular humanity to vse them like brethren he knewe mans imbecilitie he had a feeling of our blindnesse which are mortall men how great it is and being sure that they are the sonnes of God who soever be indued with his feare would haue them couÌ„ted enimies of that wherevnto they could not as yet frame themselues to be friends but did ever vpon a very religious affection to the truth willingly reiect the truth They acknowledged Christ to be their only and perfect Saviour but saw not how repugnant their believing the necessitie of Mosaicall ceremonies was to their faith in Iesus Christ. Herevnto a reply is made that if they had not directly denied the foundatioÌ„ they might haue beene saved but saved they could not bee therefore their opinion was not onely by consequent but directly a deniall of the foundation When the question was about the possibilitie of their salvation their denying of the foundation was brought to proue that they could not be saved now that the question is about their deniall of the foundation the impossibilitie of their salvation is alleaged to proue they denied the foundation Is there nothing which excludeth men froÌ„ salvation but only the foundation of faith denied I should haue thought that besides this many other things are death vnto as many as be given to vnderstaÌ„d that to cleaue therevnto was to fall from Christ did notwithstanding cleaue vnto it But of this enough Wherefore I come to the last question whether that the doctrine of the Church of Rome concerning the necessitie of workes vnto salvation be a direct deniall of our faith 27 I seeke not to obtrude vnto you any private opinion of mine owne the best learned in our profession are of this iudgement that all the corruptions of the Church of Rome doe not proue her to deny the foundation directly if they did they should grant her simply to be no Christian Church But I suppose saith one that in the Papacie some Church remaineth a Church crased or if you will broken quite in peeces forlorne mishapen yet some Church his reason is this Antichrist must sit in the Temple of God Least any man should thinke such sentences as these to be true only in regard of theÌ„ whome that Church is supposed to haue kept by the speciall providence of God as it were in the secret corners of his bosome free from infection and as souÌ„d in the faith as we trust by his mercy we our selues are I permit it to your wise considerations whether it bee more likely that as frenzie though it selfe take

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