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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

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A43640	The third part of Naked truth, or, Some serious considerations, that are of high concern to the ruling clergy of England, Scotland, or any other Protestant nation and also a discovery of the excellency of the Protestant religion as it stands in opposition to papistical delusions, being a representation of what is the true glory of Protestants, and what are the base, contemptible and ridiculous principles, on which those that are called Roman Catholicks do build, as upon the sand being very necessary for all Protestant families in this present juncture of time.; Naked truth. Part 3	Hickeringill, Edmund, 1631-1708.	1681 (1681)	Wing H1830; ESTC R2673	42,995	50

he presumeth the Church also to be a thing altogether Holy and such as neither hath Erred nor can Err for should he question this he must question the whole of his Religion it self opposite to which Character we shall now consider The Character of a Protestant But the Protestant Church on the other hand having separated from the Church of Rome not only upon the Supposition that she hath actually Erred but that she hath been grosly corrupted as well in Manners as in Faith And the Protestant Church having for the better Justification of her own Practice both in the matter of Worship and in all things relating to Doctrine and Faith SET UP The Scriptures as the Sole and Soveraign Rule of Gods Mind and Will to his Church As she cannot challenge the Exercise of any Authority therefore that is beyond that of the Scripture or any that is not subordinate to the said Scripture it self So it is expected that all the Duties which she requires and all those Articles or Points of Faith which she at any time recommends to such as are the Members of her should always be enforced from those Arguments properly and only which are drawn from the Scripture Because it is this which she her self hath appealed unto and this only which she challengeth to justifie her A Protestant then that understands the Grounds of his Religion or that hath been at all instructed in the Rise or Principles of the Reformation taking this for the very first Article of his Faith That a Church may Err and may have Corruption in it and may in its Worship possibly swerve and depart from the pure Mind Word and Wisdom of God And laying that no less firmly as the Foundation of his Belief on the other hand viz. That the Scripture cannot Err nor can be other than the unalterable and incorruptible Rule of Gods Law and of his Will and Mind to his People he cannot possibly hold the Authority of the Church to be Divine any further or otherwise than as it appears to be clearly grounded upon the Scriptures as the Word of God And therefore the Tye or Obligation which he hath to obey the Church so far as it relates to the Conscience and binds the Conscience ariseth out of no other Ground than from the Conformity which he seeth or is perswaded that the said Church hath in her Laws Orders and Doctrines to the said Word and if this Conformity doth or shall once cease in the said Church a Protestant as a Protestant cannot but judge his Tye or Obligation to her as a Church ought to cease also with it And this being the true State of that Radical or Essential Difference that is between the Principles of a Protestant and the Principles of a Papist as a Papist It will hence follow That if a Church that professeth her self to be Protestant or the Ruling Clergy of a Protestant Church shall not much consider or regard the justifying of what Laws and Orders she makes by the Consonancy they expresly have to the Law or Mind of God in his Word which is his Rule to the Church nor shall much concern it self to clear and inforce the Faith and Doctrine which she holds by the Evidence of its Truth or by the Authority of it as sufficiently grounded upon that Word that is absolutely Divine But shall on the contrary in whatever she Commands or in the things she Teacheth constrain or exact an Obedience from her Members to her self and to her own Authority as absolute and as unsubordinate to the Word of God and therefore to her Authority as it is a distinct thing from the said Word That Church or the Clergy rather that are the Rulers of it so far as she doth this in any Doctrine or in any Law that she makes indispensable doth so far cease in her Principles and Practice to be Protestant and doth so far disclaim not only a main and chief Ground of her Separation from the Church of Rome but the very Principle it self upon which she pretends to guide her self in her Reformation For it cannot be denyed that these were the great and the main Causes of our Separation from the Church of Rome viz. First Because she had made her self Absolute and had set up an Authority in the matters of Worship and Faith above that of the Scriptures as the only Word of God And Secondly Because she did not barely excommunicate men but did also persecute them and did deprive them both of their Estates Liberties and Lives upon a Principle as contrary to humane Reason as it was contrary to humane Society and Quiet viz. not for any evil in their Conversations in their Morals or in their Lives But meerly for obeying what they sincerely judged to be the Law Mind and Will of God And meerly for believing that his whole Law Will and Mind to his Church as a Church especially relating to the Worship of himself was contained in his Word Thirdly Because by this persecution as it was extended to the extreme Punishment of Persons both in their Liberties and Goods and sometimes in their Lives by stinking Prisons and want of Necessaries she did unavoidably draw upon her self the Guilt of mens Apostacy Hypocrsie and Dissimulation who durst not but obey and comply with her Commands meerly out of fear And did as unavoidably draw upon her the Guilt of all that Suffering Cruelty and Blood whatever it were she spilt and did inflict upon those persons who withstood her Commands and who were otherwise in all things blameless both as to their Morals Lives and Conversations I say if it be matter of Fact and that which cannot be denyed that these three things were some of the Main and Principal Causes for which we separated from the Church of Rome and for which our first Reformers themselves called her Antichristian and sometimes Bloody and sometimes the Scarlet Whore And if these three things when at any time mentioned with reference to the Church of Rome are still acknowledged to be evil and so stiled to this day so far as it concerns her Yea if these three things are at this very present in our Controversies with that Church not only charged upon her but cast in her teeth among many other things by way of reproach and to set forth the just ground that we even as the Church of England as well as other Churches have both of exception against and hatred of her MUST NOT these three things be MUCH MORE EVIL in a Protestant Church who after she hath condemned all these things not only as evil but as Antichristian in the Church of Rome and after she hath pretended to separate from the said Church for them doth nevertheless give her self leave to practise them without condemning her self at all in them And MUST NOT This Practice cast a manifest Blemish and Reproach upon on her own Reformation and evidence to the world that she doth not either believe the Principles

Heart smote him And some things he was about to do for the prevention of which he gave solemn thanks to God For we find that Davids Heart smote him after he had numbered the people and after he had but cut off the Skirt of Sauls Garment 2 Sam. 24.10 and 1 Sam. 24.5 And he gives solemn Thanks for Abigails being an Instrument to prevent him from shedding Blood 1 Sam. 25.32 For if the Church of Rome do punish others really and indeed upon the Principle of Disobeying her Authority though she dare not pretend this openly lest her Cruelty and Blood-Guiltiness being for no other Cause should be so manifest that it would never be able to admit of a competent Apology Colour or Excuse And therefore leaving this she insists upon the Ground of Her Persecution as it is for Herefie only But if we on the other hand punish others not only with loss of Goods but with loss of Liberty Banishment and perpetual Imprisonment which is far more Cruelty than Immediate Death it self and would be more willingly chosen by most men and do all this for a Non-conformity and Disobedience to the Orders and Rites of the Church without so much as a pretence to any Guilt of Heresie Then Where is the difference between these two sorts of Persecutors unless the Ruling Clergy of our Church have done it more daringly and more Broad-facedly than the Church of Rome doth But which is more to be considered and laid to heart If the Church of Rome do not punish those that acknowledge her to be a True Church but those only that condemn her as a false Church and who do under this Notion professedly separate from her as from that Babylon mentioned in the Revelations And if we on the other hand punish those that own not only the same Faith and Doctrine But the very same Principles of Reformation with our selves and who therefore give no just Provocation nor use any such reproachful Language to our Church as the Protestant Churches generally do to the Church of Rome Where then is the difference unless it be that she renders evil to her professed Enemies who cannot but openly own a Hatred and Contempt for her We inflict all manner of Evil upon our Brethren that supplicate for Peace with us and would be glad not to separate from us and which of these two then is the more ingenious But which is yet more If we as we are Protestants cannot but grant that there is to be a Subordination of the Church not only immediately to the Lord Jesus Christ himself but to HIS Word and that we utterly deny that he hath any such One as a Vicar upon the Earth and utterly deny that any man whatever hath any power to dispence with the Commands of our Lord Jesus Christ so far as they appear to be clear to us from his Word wherefore if we notwithstanding we make these things to be the very Profession of our Faith yet shall never punish any But such as keep exactly to all and every of these Principles and shall observe them conscientiously and strictly Whereas the Popish Clergy on the contrary punish none but such only who deny or oppose wholly the things which their Church affirms Where then is the Reasonableness of our Punishment and the Unreasonableness of theirs and which of these two hath the greater Resemblance of Hypocrisie even in our own Judgment whether our Punishment or theirs seeing we punish men for following the Principles we allow They never punish any but for following those Principles that they totally disallow But the evil of this Persecution further appears thus for if we as Protestants say we have separated from the Church of Rome out of Conscience First because she imposed those things that were Inscriptural upon us And secondly because she was guilty of Blood and that the Characters of a false Church did for both these Reasons lye upon her and therefore that we cannot but give thanks solemnly unto God for our Deliverance out of her power And if the Ruling Clergy of a Protestant Church have nevertheless not spared to persecute unto Blood even those that have not only out of the same two Motives separated with us But by persisting constantly in the said Motives do daily justifie us How comes our Blood and Persecution to be less sinful than hers and why should it be less crying unto God for had we never so intently studied how we might have put the greatest stumbling-Block we could before our Adversaries or how we might have brought the greatest Blemish Scandal and Reproach that was possible upon our Reformation or how we might have opened the Complaints and Exclamations of men most against us What Course could possibly have been taken to all these ends that could have been more effectual than this For how can he that is thus persecuted by the Ruling Clergy of a Protestant Church give Thanks unto God solemnly for his Deliverance out of the Church of Rome's Thraldom when the very same Persons that pretend to be delivered with him Imposeth nevertheless the like Thraldom upon him Or how shall he that is thus persecuted be any way able to imagine and much less to believe that the Church which persecutes him is serious in her Profession of Thanks unto God for her own freedom when she is no sooner freed her self but she brings others into the same Hardship and Servitude that she her self did but a little while since greatly complain of and groan under But leaving these things to be most seriously considered by all Protestant Churches in these three Kingdoms and elsewhere even by all whomsoever they Concern I shall now proceed to give in this place A Description of the Absurd Ridiculous and Contemptible Grounds and Foundations on which the Papists Build Though nothing is more Evident than this that the Thraldom or Bondage of the Church of Rome doth principally consist in the disagreeableness of her Doctrines to the Rule of the Scripture yet nevertheless it is Matter of Fact That the Church of Rome doth not in plain and express Terms deny the Truth or deny the Authority of the Scripture or deny the end of them as they are appointed for the Church And if we cannot for this Cause justly charge her with any of these things Then we must necessarily grant that the said Doctrines so far as they are corrupt and have a real Inconsistency with the Scripture it self could have their Rise at first no otherwise Than by vertue of her Authority as a Church And consequently that as they had thus their Rise at first so they have had their whole Maintenance and Support ever since no otherwise than as this Authority being Absolute and Arbitrary hath defended them against whatever might be said from the Authority of the Scripture in opposition to them And therefore here we shall lay open her Shame and Nakedness and her great Absurdity that lyeth in the Manner and Method and

just ground to examine her Doctrines or Authority by it and to withdraw from her or to assert there is a necessity that divers things should be reformed in her And for this Reason it is therefore that she neither hath any Subjects nor can or will admit of any to be her Subjects whether of the Laity or Clergy who will not withdraw their Obedience immediately from the Letter of the said word and from the Authority of it and give it to her as a Church Which injury against the Authority of the Scripture or written Letter of the word of it as it is therefore knowingly wittingly and willingly committed by the Church of Rome must for this cause be much the greater But the greatness and heinousness of it is made most manifest by that Argument which the Apostle useth Heb. 2.2 3. Heb. 10.28 29. Heb. 12.25 For if the Law or Covenant of Moses how divine soever was given to the Church nevertheless by one that was no more than a Servant only in Gods house And if that the Grace and Truth which came by Jesus Christ was given us by the only Son of God who was properly the Lord himself of the House Then a Sin or Crime done purposely against the Gospel of Christ and out of a real intent or design to turn men from the express Word or Letter of that Law or Covenant which was set up by Christ must be a far greater Evil or Impiety against God than the like sin attempted against the Law of Moses with a purpose or intent to turn men from the Letter and express Word of it There is such Force and Strength in this Argument added to what hath been already said as there needs no more to be said to manifest the abominableness of this Evil and therefore we shall herewith conclude this Discourse as with that great word of Truth which ought in this case to be most of all pondered and considered by them whom it most concerns For if it were evil in any even in him that had the name of a Prophet to turn men from the Law or from the Word of Moses who was but the Servant of God with an intent that they should rely upon another word different from it even upon his Word or upon such a Sign or Wonder as was wrought by him who did desire so to turn them from Moses and if this was such an Evil as was by Gods own Command to be punished absolutely with Death Then how much greater evil must it be in the sight of God to go about to turn men from the express Word and Law of the Lord Christ who was the only begotten Son of God with an intent that they should rely upon another Word different from it and to do this not only wilfully but avowedly and professedly by preaching to men openly that it is not their duty to rely upon the Word of Christ as it is immediately and expresly set down by the Holy Spirit but upon the Church only and what the Church shall declare to them concerning the said Word and when to effect this also the better men shall throw so great Contempt and Scandal upon the said Word as to affirm it to be so dark and confused that no certain or infallible Sence either is in it or can possibly be had from it And if this sin were the greater under the Law because of those Miracles which God had wrought by Moses to testifie him to be the Servant of himself Then it must be an aggravation of the said sin under the Gospel Because God hath not only by Miracles but even by Moses himself and by many other means and ways in his Providence born a far greater Testimony to the Lord Jesus Christ than ever he did bear unto Moses and hath abundantly manifested That he was the Only begotten Son of himself And if any man under the Law that did attempt to turn men from the word of the said Law was to be accounted as a false Prophet much more then ought he to be so accounted that doth both with all Industry and set Design indeavour to do this under the Gospel FINIS

of it OR doth not at least dare to Trust to it Wherefore if the said Church or the Clergy rather as the Rulers of it meerly upon these Grounds and only to these ends which are both thus evil in themselves and thus contrary to the very Grounds and Ends of our Reformation shall endeavour to Ingage the power of the Civil Magistrate to her Assistance which God forbid they should ever do any more in England for we have good ground to believe that several of the Ruling Clergy if not all do abhor it to their Praise be it spoken I humbly offer it to Consideration whether in moving this to a Prince especially as he is a Protestant she doth or can move him to any other purpose than That his Authority may promote the Defection she hath made from her own Principles and may Countenance her in that which she knoweth that the Rules of the Reformation and of Protestantism cannot viz. not only her Cruelty and Severity but her Exorbitancy And whether she hath or can have any Argument to the said Prince for his Countenancing of her greater than this viz Than as she knoweth that all the evil which would be charged upon HER wholly and ONLY as a Church may now through his countenancing of her be in part as well charged upon his Royal Authority and Pleasure as upon her Which Argument being really of no better a nature than this whether it be therefore reasonable in it self or whether it be so much as fit or modest for the said Church to make or whether it be agreeable to that Duty Honor and Sincerity which she as a Church professeth to owe and ought at all times uprightly to pay to her Prince I humbly leave and submit to the Judgments of all Ingenious Persons and especially when with reference to the Effect of this Motion it is matter of Fact that though twenty six private Persons would be thereby gratified some of whom are men of no Birth Interest or temporal Estate in the Nation and more than twice so many thousands are greatly grieved injured and wronged in their Persons and Estates which are equally his Majesties Subjects as well as they And many of which are every way Peers to them for Birth for Vertue for Loyalty for Temperance for Morality for Mercy for Charity for temporal Estates and even for Learning also And here it will be necessary in the next place to consider again what it is in these respects that we blame the Church of Rome for I mean What the Guilt of the Church of Rome is For either Guilt is a thing of Weight before God or it is not And either the Guilt which hath been charged upon the Church of Rome by reason of her Persecution by our Reformers first and by many worthy Men of the Church of England since is justly charged upon her or it is not But if that Guilt be Real and that it is justly charged upon the said Church It is apparently Criminal two ways First as she through her Persecution is the cause of all that Hypocrisie Dissimulation and Apostacy which men commit for meer fear of her and by which though out of weakness they do greatly wrong their own Conscience and greatly injure their former Profession before God and know they do so and lye oft-times under trouble of Conscience all their lives afterward for it And secondly she is equally guilty as she is the cause by reason of her Persecution of the Sufferings Distresses and great Afflictions which many particular Persons and many Families groan under by which she occasions many solemn Complaints Cries and Appeals to be made unto God which men who are conscious to themselves of their Sincerity towards God did pour out to him as the Righteous Judge of all persons And if this be The Guilt of the Church of Rome and if we as Protestants when we write against the Church of Rome do say that all the Righteous Prayers Appeals and Complaints to God against her shall be heard And that she shall answer as well for the Crimes of others as for the Oppressions and Wrongs that she hath done to others What then can be said when a Protestant Church or the Clergy rather who are the Rulers of it shall be guilty of the same manner of Persecution and upon the very same unjust or upon more unjust Grounds or Principles that the Popish Clergy are and when by the means of this Persecution the said Protestant Clergy are the occasion of many mens Hypocrisie Dissimulation and Desertion of their Principles through weakness to the extreme injury and wrong of their Consciences and are the express Cause of the Sighs Sufferings Groans and Complaints of divers others that are poured out in the very bitterness of their Souls unto God and when the said Protestant Church or the Ruling Clergy rather of it shall have no sence at all of the evil of any of these things nor seem to be in the least moved or concerned for them These things being considered the Question is whether any man that is rational can draw any other Conclusion from them but that The said Protestant Church or the Ruling Clergy of it do not believe themselves at all when they write against the Papists for these things and that notwithstanding they do threaten the Church of Rome with the Judgments of God because of their Cruelty and of their Persecutions of men for their Conscience sake yet they do indeed but laugh in their sleeves at it and do not believe any such thing as that the direful Judgments of God shall come upon any either for Cruelty or for Persecution of others for Conscience sake or for being the occasions of many mens sinning against and wounding of their own Consciences but that when they speak of the Judgments of God they speak of them but as Scare-Crows Bug-bears or Pot-Guns For would it not be an uncharitable thing or rather is it not an incredible thing for any man to think that the Protestant Clergy should do the very same things which they expresly declare and acknowledge to be heinous Offences and Crimes against God in their Adversaries the Church of Rome if they did really believe themselves in what they usually write when they threaten them with the Judgments of God upon them for the said things If to avoid this which they perhaps may look upon as some imputation or reflection upon them the said Protestant Church or rather the Ruling Clergy of it shall deny the Case to be the same and shall say that the Grounds or Principles upon which they persecute men are much different from those of the Papists or Church of Rome Let them I mean the Ruling Clergy lay down the State of it and shew us wherein the greatness of the said difference doth consist For if the Fact for which men are punished by the said Protestant Clergy be the very same or of the same nature with that for which the

have caused them to be beaten and treated after this manner singly for this Reason and no other viz. Because in worshipping the Lord Christ They chose rather strictly to observe his Mind and Will according to the best understanding they have of HIS Word I say rather than to observe any such Orders or Rites as were not SO warranted But were set down only by their fellow-Servants that were Officers of the Church above them Consequently then the Issue must needs be very short between the said Ruling Clergy and their fellow-Servants that have been thus smitten by them For either this smiting of them for this very cause here rehearsed and for no other IS very wrongful in its self as being against the very light of a mans Nature and against that Supreme and Primitive Obligation which the Conscience hath indispensably unto God above any that it can have unto man OR it is not at all wrongful And either this kind of smiting which hath been used and urged and pressed for by the Ruling Clergy of our own Church IS such a smiting as appears to have been without all Pity or Remorse to such as have been so smitten and beaten by the said Clergy OR it hath not But if the smiting we have here Instanced and Instanced as matter of Fact be such as hath been used by the Stewards and Rulers of Christs own Church and used towards their fellow-Servants but hath been used wrongfully And used without any manner of Remorse to the sufferings of the said Persons whatever their sufferings be Then it must either be the very same kind of smiting with that for which the Lord Christ in this speech of his that is thus Recorded by two several Evangelists doth threaten the Rulers and Stewards of his Church that he will cut them asunder and account them as Hypocrites OR it is not the same NOR of the same kind But if it be not of the same kind Then it concerns the Ruling Clergy themselves to clear themselves and to give an instance what kind of smiting there is or hath been used by the Ruling Officers of any Christian Church that is or hath been more wrongful and more injurious than this and that is more remorsless and cruel than this which the Lord Christ doth here condemn and will certainly take vengeance for For some Case we must necessarily and unavoidably put unless we will deny or make a Mock of the Lords Christs own Words and such a one as we may give a sufficient Instance of even an Instance in a Christian Church between the Rulers and Officers of the said Church and others belonging to the same Church wherein the wrong that is to be done by the said Ruling Officers in smiting others of the said Church is to be so extremely evil and so perfectly injurious and cruel as that the Authors of it will neither merit any Mercy from the Lord nor are according to his Word to expect any Mercy from him From the Consideration of the Premises these following things are humbly presented to the Consideration of the present Ruling Clergy of our own Church some of which if not all it is to be hoped are men of tender Hearts like the good King Jesiah that trembled at the Reading of the Word of the Lord in the Book of the Law viz. That for as much as we have stated or instanced such a Case as is matter of Fact and such as cannot be denyed to be used or practised by the Ruling Clergy of our own Church towards others of the same Church and Profession of Faith with themselves And in as much as we have stated it expresly in order to the clearer evidencing of the Guilt of the said Clergy by reason of their said smiting and for Conviction consequently of the Judgments that they are without Repentance inevitably lyable unto for it We do therefore further say that If the said Ruling Clergy shall in any respect disallow the said Instance or shall think it meet to exonerate themselves from the Guilt that is by the said Instance intended to be charged upon them Then we say that They cannot avoid the instancing or stating of some other Case relating to the Rulers or Stewards of the Christian Church and to their smiting of others in the said Church and to the evil of it that must be more agreeable to what the Lord Christ here Condemns than this Instance or Case is which we have here mentioned as matter of Fact Nor can they avoid the Instancing or stating of some other Case that must merit consequently more Punishment from God and that must be in its own Nature far worse and much more injurious cruel and remorsless than the Case which we have here instanced and stated is Nor can they avoid the instancing or stating some other Case that must much more properly Relate to Babylon and to that particular and express Character or broad Mark that is set upon her by the Angel or Apostle Revelat. 17.6 than this particular Instance or Case doth which hath been instanced relating to the Ruling Clergy of our own Church which is here mentioned Or else they must say that that Vision of the Apostle is not to be regarded by us Nor can they avoid the instancing or stating of some other Case differing from what we have here mentioned that must for the nature and kind of its smiting be wholly agreeable to the Practise of the Church of Rome and to the Ruling Clergy of it and not at all agreeable to the Practice or Custom of themselves But if the Ruling Clergy of our Church cannot state any such Case relating to the smiting of others of the same Church and Faith with them which shall manifestly differ in all these four Circumstances from the particular Instance or Case we have here mentioned and which every man knoweth is Matter of Fact then these two things will be impossible to be avoided by the Ruling Clergy of our Church as First that they will never be able to shew us wherein the Grounds or Principles upon which they proceed to the Smiting Punishing or Persecuting of their fellow-Servants are not only different but far more justifiable than those upon which the Popish Clergy proceed in their Cruelty and Persecution of the Protestants And Secondly they will never be able to give us any clear Reason and much less any Cogent and Invincible Arguments why we should believe That the Judgments of God will unquestionably reach the Church of Rome for her Cruelty and Persecution of the Protestants but will not reach at all the Ruling Clergy of the Protestant Church for their Smiting and Persecution that they are guilty of against their Brethren of the same Faith and Reformation Which two things we may be assured that all the tender-hearted of the Ruling Clergy of our Church will lay to heart There being some things which that Holy Man of God even the Prophet David sometime had done for which his