Selected quad for the lemma: christian_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
christian_n	bind_v	church_n	communion_n	1,436	5	9.0889	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A59898	A vindication of a passage in Dr. Sherlock's sermon preached before the honourable House of Commons, May 29, 1685 : from the remarks of a late pretended remonstrance, by way of address from the Church of England, to both Houses of Parliament.	Sherlock, William, 1641?-1707.	1685 (1685)	Wing S3369; ESTC R202693	19,865	30

are bound to believe it and I readily grant him all this but do still averr That it is the Doctrine of the present Church of Rome which is all that I intend to prove for I never thought it was the Doctrine of the true Catholick Church or that any Christian ought to believe it As the Church of Rome is distinguished from other Communions of Christians we have no other way to learn what she teaches but from Popes and Councils who are the highest Authority in that Church and they teach the Deposing Doctrine and therefore those who live in Communion with that Church and own its Authority must own it too Those who disown this Doctrine so far disown the Authority of the Church of Rome and may be the better Subjects for being the worse Papists which I think is no great Commendation to that Religion 3. Now since Popes and Councils have decreed and thereby defined the Deposing Doctrine and this Answerer does and must believe the Church of Rome to be the Catholick Church I desire to know how he can avoid that Inference That this Deposing Doctrine ever since it has been decreed by Popes and Councils has been the Doctrine of the Church For is not the Church of Rome the Church still since it decreed the Deposing Doctrine and is not a General Council the Representative of the Church of that age wherein this Council is held And are not the Decrees of such a Council then the Doctrine of the Church No says our Answerer I do not understand how the Church can be engaged unless she proceeds on those Grounds on which alone a Church as a Church or Congregation of Faithful can proceed Which he there tells us is a revelation by Christ preserved by an uninterrupted and uniform practice of the Faithful that is by that exploded Oracle of Infallible Tradition But If any or all of those who make the Church believe not or act on other grounds than these I conceive they believe and act not as a Church or as faithful but as Men or Scholars or in some other Capacity The truth is when Councils leave their proper work defining and declaring to Posterity the Faith received from their Ancestors and fall to discoursing or rather acting on discourses formerly made they are not in strict formality Councils I mean in that propriety in which they are held to be Infallible but men assembled to be a Council and proceeding now not as a Council but as so many men And must this pass for good Catholick Doctrine that all the men in the Church may err and yet the Church cannot err which preserves Infallibility in the Church by as great a Miracle as the species of Bread and Wine in the Sacrament without a Subject But I beseech you When are General Councils Infallible When they decree and define what is Infallibly true Right And thus the Convocation of the Province of Canterbury or York are as Infallible as any General Council Nay any private Christian is as Infallible as either if he adhere to Infallible Tradition But I thought it had been Catholick Doctrine That a General Council are no longer to be considered as men but as the Church representative which is under the Conduct and Influence of an Infallible Spirit to secure them from Error But it seems even a General Council may err only then they err not as a Council but as Men but how shall we know when they are a Council and when they are Men Truly this is not to be known till they have made their Definitions and Decrees and then if they be agreeable to Catholick Tradition they acted as a Council if not they were only Fallible Men. But who shall be Judge of this Who is the Keeper of this C●tholick Tradition Why every Man must judge for himself It is the sence written in the hearts of the Faithful and appearing in their Actions The Writing foretold by the Prophet Jerem. 3. in the bowels and hearts of the house of Israel And thus I hope in time our Quakers may be good Catholicks The Sum then of his Argument whereby he proves That the Deposing Doctrine is not taught by the Church though it be taught by Popes and General Councils is this That the Pope is not Infallible at least that his Infallibility is but a probable Opinion That General Councils are not the Church but Fallible Men when they err and Infallible only when they do not err That though Popes and Councils and all the Men in the Church teach this Doctrine yet the Church does not teach it Now Whether these Propositions be true or false I enquire not but desire all good Catholicks to observe That they must renounce the Infallibility and Authority of the Popes and General Councils of the Church of Rome or acknowledge the Deposing Doctrine to be the Doctrine of the Church This Distinction between the Church and the Men of the Church destroys all the Visible Authority of the Church and leaves every man at liberty to judge for himself What is Catholick Tradition which is so loose a Principle that a Doctor of the Church of England would be ashamed of it let them no more talk of a Visible Church if the whole Visible Authority of the Church be not the Church if all those men in whom the teaching and governing Authority of the Church resides whether Popes and Councils may teach such Doctrines and yet the Church not teach them does the Church cease to be a Church when it teaches any thing contrary to Catholick Tradition Then it seems there was no Church during all the time of those Popes and Councils which taught the Deposing Doctrine nor is there any Roman Catholick Church to this day wherein these Doctrines are still taught and will be so till those Decrees of Popes and Councils be repealed which teach these Doctrines Or are they a Church and yet the Church not teach what they who are the Church teach with all the Authority of a Church Or are they a Church and no Church at the same time Is not the Sentence which a Judge pronounces by the Authority of a Judge a Judicial Act though it be contrary to Law And by the same reason Are not the Decrees of the Council which is the Church representative the Acts of the Church though they be contrary to Catholick Faith and Tradition Does a Judge cease to be a Judge or the Church to be the Church when they pronounce false And if not Are not such false Judgments or erroneous Decrees the Acts of the Judge or of the Church still Let him but tell me Whether he will have a Church or no Church and he shall find me very civil in granting either but how this Doctrine will relish with good Catholicks I cannot guess In short these men who will not allow the Deposing Doctrine to be the Doctrine of the Church of Rome though they acknowledge it to have been decreed by Popes

of Heresie for she never can have an heretical Faith if nothing can be the Faith of the Church but what is Catholick which indeed is the only expedient I know of in the World to prove the Church of Rome not to be guilty of Heresie but then it will justifie all other Churches as well as the Church of Rome I thought all different Churches or Communions of Christians had been distinguisht from each other by their Articles of Faith and Ecclesiastical Policy their Canons or Laws of Discipline and if I would know what is the Doctrine Government or Discipline of the Church of Rome or of the Church of England I must not enquire either what the Scripture teaches or what was taught many Ages since by the Primitive Fathers but must examine the Authentick Records of these Churches the Decrees of Popes and Councils their Articles and Canons for it is impossible to know what is believed and practised in the Church of Rome or England at this day but by such Records What is the true Catholick Faith and what is the Faith of the Church of Rome or of the Church of England are two very different Questions and must be proved different ways we must learn the Catholick Faith of the Church from the Doctrine of the Scriptures or the Writings of the Primitive Fathers but we must learn the Faith of the Church of Rome or England or any other Church by their own Writings confirmed by the highest Authority that is in such a Church And therefore as we must learn the Doctrine of the Church of England from our Articles and Canons so we must learn the Doctrine of the Church of Rome by the Definitions Decrees Constitutions Canons of Popes and Councils whose Authority is received and acknowledged in the Church of Rome and as he who renounces the 39 Articles or any of them does so far separate from the Church of England and renounce its Authority and Communion so do those who renounce the Decrees and Definitions of Popes and Councils so far forth renounce the Church of Rome the Doctrine Government and Discipline of it And as it would be absurd to say That the Church of England does not renounce Transubstantiation because this Author thinks it is a Catholick Doctrine so it is equally absurd to say That this Doctrine of Deposing Princes is not the Doctrine of the Church of Rome though taught by Popes and Councils that is by the highest Authority of that Church because this Author believes That notwithstanding what Popes and Councils say it is not the Doctrine of the Universal Church in all Ages which is a good reason indeed to prove That we ought not to receive such Doctrines though taught by the Church of Rome but is no proof that this is not taught by the Church of Rome Thus it is nothing to the purpose as far as we are concerned in this Controversie Whether Popes or Councils be Fallible or Infallible Whether what they decree be an Article of Faith or not Whether it be true or false for if the Popes and their Councils be the highest Authority in the Church of Rome we must learn from them What is the Doctrine of the Church of Rome be it true or false as we do what the Doctrine of the Church of England is from the Articles and Canons agreed on in Convocation though we do not pretend that the Convocation is Infallible or that what they determine must be true because they determine it All the little not to say senceless Distinctions which this Answerer uses tend only to prove That what is decreed by Popes and Councils is not therefore the Doctrine of the Church that is of the Universal Catholick Church unless it have the confirmation of Catholick Tradition which I will easily grant him but yet it may and must be the Doctrine of the present Church of Rome if it be determined by all the Authority that is in that Church For that is the Doctrine of any Church which is agreed on and determined by the highest Authority in it and I know no greater Authority in the Church of Rome than that of Popes and Councils and therefore the Deposing Doctrine being defined and decreed by Popes and Councils as he himself acknowledges must be the Doctrine of the Church of Rome 2. No says this Answerer Councils have made a Canon for the Deposing heretical Princes but have not defined That the Pope or Council have Authority to do it Councils use to define those things which they intend we should be obliged to believe To make a Canon is one thing to define is another Decreeing and Supposing are plainly not defining and therefore this Deposing Doctrine is no Article of Faith in the Church of Rome nor are they bound to beleive it because though it has been decreed it has not been defined in any Council An admirable Apology for the Church of Rome The Council of Lateran says this Answerer made a Decree concerning Deposition the Council of Lyons assented to an actual Deposition therefore they were both perswaded they or the Pope had power to depose I for my part see not what more can be made of it And for my part I see not what more need be made of it to justifie the Doctor or any one else who charges the Church of Rome with the Deposing Doctrine He may dispute with his Adversary if he pleases Whether such a Deposing Canon prove the Deposing Doctrine to be an Article of Faith but I think it is much at one Whether a Prince be deposed by an Article of Faith or by a Decree or Canon If that Canon which decrees the Deposing of Princes and Absolving their Subjects from their Allegiance teaches Subjects to rebel and the Church of Rome has made such a Canon as evidently they have if Roman Catholick General Councils be the Representative of that Church I think it does not mend the matter much whether the Deposing Doctrine be an Article of Faith or not And yet I am not satisfied but that to decree what shall be done includes a virtual Definition of that Doctrine on which that Decree is founded To decree that an heretical Prince shall be Deposed signifies something more than a bare Definition that an Heretical Prince may be deposed and I believe all mankind who have not lost common sense by Metaphysical Subtilities have always taken it for granted That a Decree includes a Definition Nay to decree without a Definition supposes the Deposing Doctrine whereon the Decree of Deposition is founded to be so universally received and acknowledged that there was no need of an express Definition which I think ties it as hard upon the Church of Rome as any Definition could do The Sum is this This Answerer acknowledges That Popes and Councils have decreed the Deposing Doctrine but will by no means grant that this is the Doctrine of the Church there by meaning the Universal Church of all ages nor that they