Selected quad for the lemma: christian_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
christian_n	apostle_n	church_n	creed_n	1,331	5	10.2664	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A86678	The divine right of government: [brace] 1. naturall, and 2. politique. More particularly of monarchie; the onely legitimate and natural spece of politique government. VVherein the phansyed state-principles supereminencing salutem populi above the Kings honour: and legitimating the erection of polarchies, the popular elections of kings and magistrates, and the authoritative and compulsive establishment of a national conformity in evangelical and Christian dutyes, rites, and ceremonies, are manifested to be groundlesse absurdities both in policy and divinity. / By Mich: Hudson.	Hudson, Michael, 1605-1648.; Stent, Peter, fl. 1640-1667, engraver.	1647 (1647)	Wing H3261; Thomason E406_24; ESTC R201931	147,691	220

afforded us many laudable presidents to this purpose in many Creeds and briefe formes of Confessions purposely composed by the Fathers and Councels of those times to the end that a professed Uniformity of Faith and Doctrine in such Fundamentals might preserve the peace and unity of the Church and by consequence of the Common-wealth And therefore there wants neither reason nor authority to warrant the exercise of Regall power in matters of Faith and Doctrine Sol. This Uniformity of Faith and Religion is more to be desired then hoped for for Saint Paul hath expresly declared the necessity of such a dissonancie amongst Christians in the principles of Faith and Religion as shall also introduce divisions and discords amongst them 1 Cor. 11.18 19. in which Text the Apostle alledgeth the providence of God to be the ground thereof who thereby provides for the manifestation of the sincere and faithfull and also for their better information and knowledge in matters of faith And surely the Gospell had never beene so perfectly radicated in the mindes of Christians without oppositions and disputes concerning the same and therefore it proceeded from the wisdome providence and goodnesse of God towards his children that these divisions should be the fruits and effects of the Gospel as Christ himself did forewarne his Disciples for Christians are alwayes best principled in those points which are most controverted for the disputes concerning Jewish Ceremonies in the times of the Apostles concerning the Trinity in the times of the Fathers concerning the nature of Justification of the Sacraments and other points of Popery of later times and concerning formes of Worship Government and Discipline of the Church in these present times hath begotten a more exact understanding in Christians in all these points then ever they had in probability attained unto if Satan had not sowed these seeds of discord amongst them As for the dangers and inconveniencies to Church and Common-wealth pretended for the necessity of the exercise of a Regall power in these matters it is but a piece of Jeroboam's policy in erecting golden Calves to secure his kingdome for to pretend a necessity of unwarrantable meanes for the security of Church or State is but to appeale from God to the Devill for succour which will certainly bring our feares upon us For it is just with God to powre downe those judgements upon the true Professours which are due to such Hereticks when the former sort out of diffidence of Gods wisdome power and goodnesse will anticipate his Justice in the latter and out of a precipitate zeale to Gods honour obtrude their undesired and therefore unwelcome help and assistance upon him Whereas if wee could but let them alone as Christ exhorteth Mat. 15.14 and waite Gods time with patience the Lord will not faile to root out such spurious plants which are not of his owne planting but of the Devils as all such Heresies most undoubtedly are Yet I deny not but the Magistrate both may and ought to exercice his power for the restraine and punishment of those divisions which are the fruits and effects of these erroneous and Hereticall opinions when they come to be of Politicall Cogni●●n●● i. e. a●●● of violence and injustice disturbing the peace of the Common-wealth but the errours themselves which are the causes and productives of these mischiefes in State are not at all of Politicall but of another higher Cognizance As for the concise formes of Faith and Confession mentioned in the latter part of the Objection I doe acknowledge such short Creeds as that of the Apostles of the Nicene Councell of Athanasius and many other Orthodox Creeds devised some by Councels some by particular Fathers against such particular Heresies as raigned in their times to be of admirable use and expediency for the Churches edification but for any Magistrate to constraine his Subjects by virtue of any Law or Statute to sweare the truth of these Creeds or of any other Article of Faith of the truth whereof the deponent is not first fully satisfied in his conscience but doth either beleeve or doubt the same to be false must needs be an offence of a very high nature in any Magistrate because he doth not onely render himselfe accessary to the perjury of him that sweares but guilty also of a sacrilegious intrusion and usurpation upon those sacred prerogatives which God hath reserved entire unto himselfe viz. of the power and command over the conscience which God never imparted unto any Creature Man or Angell neither of whom how great and glorious soever is able to pacifie an injured incensed and wrathfull conscience The third Reason is taken from the inefficacy of compulsive meanes to plant the faith of Christ manifested in Saint Pauls exhortation to Timothy concerning his demeanour towards those who should oppose themselves against the truth and Gospell of Christ not onely of infirmity and ignorance but of obstinacy and maliousnesse 2 Tim. 3. towards whom he exhorteth Timothy to be gentle and instruct them with meeknesse 2 Tim. 2.24 25. And yet wee know that Saint Paul did not want experience of the efficacy and vertue of compulsive and violent courses to force a conformity in others to his owne faith belief and profession and therefore surely he would never have so carefully prescribed this rule to Timothy if he had found persecution and the exercise of secular power to be a better expedient to convert men to the faith of Christ or to convince an erroneous conscience the incongruity of which meanes also the Lord himselfe hath further manifested by rendring all such inordinate endeavours not onely fruitlesse and inefficacious for the eradication of Heresies but also advantageous to confirme them in the parties persecuted and to multiply the professours of the same Hereticall opinions as the Histories of the Primitive Persecutions doe sufficiently declare For there is so much disproportion betweene an immateriall conscience and a materiall sword that the weakest judgements are apt to conclude that those who make use of such absurd and improper arguments to convince the consciences of others are not provided of better grounds and reasons whereupon to build their owne Faith and Religion And hee that consulteth the Narratives of the Spanish proceedings in the Conversion of the Indians shall finde that Saint Peter added more soules to the Church of Christ by one Sermon then the Spaniards were able to doe by seven yeares persecution although it was not defective in any point of savage and inhumane cruelty Ob. Many perverse natures have beene converted to the faith of Christ by rigorous meanes upon whom perswasions and argumentations could have no such influence and we find by daily experience that correction and stripes are a meanes to infuse documents into some children in whose soules the most rationall instructions with meeknesse could make no such impression Sol. Balaams Asse spoke when shee was beaten three times with a staffe and yet a man would esteeme him an Asse that should

the manner of his production naturall either by Creation or generation but supernaturall and Mysticall by an incomprehensible O●●mbration of the Holy Ghost And as the person and conception of Christ did transcend the knowledge both of men and Angels so likewise did the offices of Christ and all his Acts of Mediation and all those Divine Graces viz Faith Hope Charitie which invest it with a reall Right and interest therein And therfore there was never one sillable so much us muttered by any heathen Philosopher or other prophane writer concerning any of these nor is it possible to attaine the least glimps of knowledg concerning them by any other meanes then the Immediate revelations of the spirit of God Quaere It may be demanded how these meer naturall gifts and blessings in heathens should be a meanes of salvation seeing no man by them can possibly attaine the knowledge of Christ the sole fountaine of life And therefore why heathen men should be damned to whom God never since the publication of that Generall pardon by Christ Imparted the meanes to be saved Sol. Though these naturall gifts and blessings in heathens be not the direct and Immediate meanes to attaine the knowledge of Christ yet they are the Remote and occasionall meanes because they are sufficient lights to discover unto men the insufficiencie of their owne abilities to performe those duties which the Law of God and nature exacteth And by that meanes to occasion to seek for life and Salvation elsewhere as the Aethiopian Eunuch did and the converted Thiefe who acknowledging his own unrighteousnesse sought to Christ for refuge and according to the rule of Petenti Dabitur obtained what he sought though he never knew the Scriptures And therefore it is but justice that those heathens who doe not rightly imploy that one talent which S. Paul affirmeth they have received from God Rom. 1. should receive their wages with the evill and sloathfull servants though theis woes shall not be equall to the woes of those Caytiffes who have mis-imployed five talents viz. 1. The talent of naturall gifts and blessings 2. The talent of Religious Education 3. The talent of Gods Word and Sacraments 4. Of Religious Magistracie 5. Of a learned Ministery Now this Jus Divinum is that which doth properly claime a place in that Government which concerneth heathen men without the bosome of the Church and Ignorant of the will of God Revealed concerning Christ the Mediator Which is the ground of Jus Divinum Immediatum 2. Immediate Divine Right is that which is grounded upon Subdivision 7 the will of God concerning the manifestation of his mercy in Christ by vouchsafing unto men the direct and Immediate meanes unto life and Salvation in the Revelations of Gods spirit concerning Christ and his merits and all other matters which relate to him And this Jus Divinum is twofold Extraordinarium Ordinarium 1. Extraordinarie Divine Right is that which is grounded upon the will of God concerning the Manifestation of his mercie in Christ by the Immediate extraordinary revelations of his spirit concerning the mystery of salvation by Christ which was the means which God vouchsafed unto Adam divers of the patriarks Prophets and Disciples of Christ and the converted Thief also before the knowledge of Christs Gospell was fully compleated in the writings of the Prophets and Apostles of which the Apostle maketh mention Heb. 1. And this Ius Divinum in regard it relateth either to particular times particular persons or particular occasions cannot properly claime a place in Government which concerneth the constant Ordering of a societie of men 2. Ordinarie Divine Right is that which is grounded upon the will of God concerning the Manifestation of his mercie in Christ by the Ordinarie Revelations of his Spirit declared in the writing of the Prophets and Apostles which we commonly call the Scriptures which were published by the speciall mercy of God for a light and guide to his visible Church in all truths requisite to Salvation by Christ And this Jus Divinum is two-fold Supernaturale Naturale Subdivision 8 1. Supernaturall Divine Right is that which is grounded upon the will of God revealed in the Scriptures concerning those Supernaturall truths which are the proper and Immediate meanes of Salvation by Christ and not attainable by any other meanes but onely by Divine Revelations And these are of two sorts 1. Such truthes wherein Christ hath expresly made any of his love to us And these againe are twofold 1. Such as are the object of Christian faith and those are such things as Christ hath done and acted for our sakes for the Reconciliation of us to God as the assumption of our nature and the offering it up againe for a sacrifice to God and all other naturall acts of Mediation which is the substance and contents of a Christians Creed 2. Such as are the object of Christian hope and those are such blessings as Christ by his act of Mediation hath made us capable of and which for his sake we expect by prayer to receive from God and those are the Supernaturall blessings and habits of Faith Hope and Charitie which enable us for the performance of our Christian duties and all those Supernaturall blessings which are the reward of those duties and these are the substance and contents of our devotions 2. The second sort of Supernaturall truths revealed in Scriptures are such wherein we retaine an expresse of our love to Christ proportionable to those blessings which we have received of his love to us And those are such truthes which are the object of our Charity and rules of Christian dutyes of which truths Christ meant when he said If you know these things happy are ye if ye do them Now these Christian duties are of two sorts viz either meerly or mixtly Evangelicall 1. Meerly Evangelicall are those which consist in the right use of Evangelical and Supernaturall gifts and blessings such as are the gifts of prophesying healing working of miracles and the like mentioned by Saint Paul 1. Cor. 12. which duties were of no use at all under the old Covenant of works but were instituted by God since the fall of man for the benefit of his Church and for helpes and furtherances to Christian men in the performance of Christian duties 2. Mixtly Evangelical duties are those which consist in the right use of Natural blessings and which received their first sanction from God in Paradise before the Apostasie of man upon which Apostasie that law of nature was absolutely abolished as to that use to be a Rule and ground for the Salvation and damnation of man For no man is now damned because he transgresseth that law of nature but because of Infidelity Despair and hatred of Christ which are the opposite vices to Faith Hope Charitie which consist in the knowledge confidence and love of Christ which that law never any way related unto But yet the same law and Rule received a