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	day_n	sabbath_n	1,769	5	9.9938	5	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A34262	The Confessions of the faith of all the Christian and Reformed churches which purely profess the holy doctrine of the gospel in all the kingdoms, nations, and provinces of Europe, with the order of time when they were written, and an exact table of the principal articles of faith, which in every confession is debated : wherein the obsure and difficult places are explained, and those things which may in shew seem to contradict each other, are plainly and modestly reconciled, and such points as yet hang in suspence, are sincerely pointed at : freely submitted to all Reformed Churches, as a means to knit and unite all the churches of Christ in one bond of love, for the avoiding of hereafter, discords and schismes in these dangerous time.		1656 (1656)	Wing C5803; ESTC R16415	482,755	587

Chapt. touching Prayers did appertaine to the 15. Sect. if they might fitly have been separated most holy works and such as doe very much beseeme Christians whereunto our Preachers doe most diligently exhort their hearers For true fasting is as it were a renouncing of this present life which is alwaies subject to evill lusts and desires and a meditation of the life to come which is free from all perturbation And prayer is a lifting up of the minde unto God and such a familiar speech with him as no other thing can so greatly set a man on fire with heavenly affections and more mightily make the minde comformable to the will of God And though these exercises be never so holy and necessary for Christians yet seeing that a mans neighbour is not so much benefited by them 1 Cor. 13. as man is prepared that he may with fruit and profit have regard of his neighbour they are not to be preferred before holy doctrin godly exhortations and admonitions and also other duties whereby our neighbour doth presently receive some profit Whereupon we reade of our Saviour that in the night time he gave himselfe to prayer and in the day time to doctrine and to heale the sicke For as love is greater then faith and hope so to beleeve those things which come neerest unto love to wit such as bring assured profit unto men are to be preferred before all other holy functions whereupon S. Chrysostome writeth that Among the In Matth. Hom. 48. whole companie of vertues fasting hath the last place Of the commanding of Fasts CHAP. 8. BVt because that no mindes but these that be ardent and peculiarly stirred up by the heavenly inspiration can either pray or fast aright and with profit we beleeve that it is farre better after the example of the Apostles and the former and more sincere Church by holy exhortations to invite men hereunto then to wring them out by precepts such especially as do binde men under pain of deadly sin the which thing the Priests that were of late tooke upon them to doe when as then the order of Priests had not a little degenerated But we had rather leave the place time and manner both of praying and also of fasting to the arbitrement of the holy Ghost then to prescribe them by certaine laws especially such as may not be broken without some sacrifice of amends Yet for their sakes that be the younger and more imperfect sort our Preachers doe not dislike that there should be an appointed time and meanes both for prayer and also for fasting that as it were by these holy introductions to exercises they might be prepared hereunto so that it be done without binding of the conscience We were induced thus to thinke not so much for that all compulsion being against a mans will is repugnant to the nature of these actions but rather because that neither Christ himselfe nor any of his Apostles have in any place made mention of such kinde of precepts and this doth Chrysostome also witnesse saying Thou seest that an upright life doth helpe more then all other things Now I tearme an upright life not the labour of In Matth. Hom. 47. Fasting nor the bed of haire or ashes but if thou doest despise money no other wise then it becommeth thee if thou burne with charitie if thou nourish the hungry with thy bread if thou overcome thy anger if thou doest not desire vain glory if thou be not possessed with envie for these be the things that he teacheth for he doth not say that he will have his fast to be followed howbeit he might have proponed those fortie dayes unto us but he saith Learne of me because I am meeke and lowly in heart Yea rather on the contrary side saith he eate all that is set before you Moreover we doe not read that any solemne or set fast was enjoyned to the ancient Church but that fast of one day For those fasts which as the Scripture doth witnesse were ordained of Prophets and of Kings it is certaine that they were no set fasts but enjoyned onely for their time to wit when as evident calamities either hanging over their heads or presently pinching them did so require it Seeing therefore that the Scripture as Saint Paul doth affirme doth instruct a man to every good work and yet is ignorant of these fasts which are extorted by precepts we doe not see how it could be lawfull for the successours of the Apostles to overcharge the Church with so great and so dangerous a burthen Truly Ireneus doth witnesse that in times past the observation of fast in Churches was divers and free as it is read in the Ecclesiasticall historie lib. 8. cap. 14. In the same booke Eusebius maketh mention that one Apollonius an Ecclesiasticall Writer among other arguments used this for one to confute the doctrine of Montanus the heretike Because he was the first that made lawes for fasts Thereupon Chrysostome saith in a certaine place Fasting is good but let no man be compelled thereunto And in another place he exhorteth him that is not able to fast to abstaine from dainties and yet affirmeth that it doth not much differ from fasting and that it is a strong weapon to represse the furie of the Devill Moreover experience also it selfe doth more then prove that these precepts concerning fasts have been a great hinderance to godlinesse Therefore when we saw it very evidently that the chief men in the Church did beside the authoritie of the Scripture take upon themselves this power so to enjoyne fasts as to binde mens consciences under paine of deadly sinne we did loose the consciences out of these snares but by the Scriptures and chiefly by Pauls writings which doe with a singular endeavour remove these rudiments of the world from the necks of Christians For we ought not lightly to account of that saying of Paul Let no man condemne you in meat and drinke or in respect of an holy day or of the new Moone or of the Sabbath daies And again Therefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world why as though ye lived in the world are ye burdened with traditions For if Saint Paul then whom no man at any time did teach Christ more certainly doe earnestly affirme that through Christ we have obtained such libertie in outward things that he doth not onely not give authoritie to any creature to burden those which beleeve in Christ no not so much as with those ceremonies and observations which notwithstanding God himself appointed and would have to be profitable in their time but also denounceth that they be fallen away from Christ and that Christ shall nothing at all profit them who suffer themselves to be addicted thereunto what shall we then thinke of those commandements which men have devised of their owne braine not onely without any oracle but also without any example worthy to be followed and which are therefore made

to be any longer defiled with such foilies Out of the Confession of BELGIA IN the meane time we beleeve that it is in deed profitable that Artic. 32. the Elders which doe governe in Churches should appoint some order among themselves so that they doe diligently take heed that in no case they do swarve or decline from those things which Christ himselfe our onely Master hath once appointed Therefore we doe reject all humane inventions and all those laws which were brought in to be a worship of God that mens consciences should any way thereby be snared or bound and we receive those onely which are fit either to cherish or maintaine concord or to keepe us in the obedience of God And hereunto * Looke the 1. observation upon this conf●ssion excommunication is chiefly necessary being used according to the commandement of the word of God and other additions of Ecclesiasticall discipline annexed thereunto Out of the Confession of AUSPURGE Artic. 15. COncerning Ecclesiasticall rites which are ordained by mans authority they teach that such rites are to be observed as may be kept without sin and do tend to quietnesse and good order in the Church as namely set holidaies certain godly Psalmes and other such like rites But yet touching this sort of rites they teach that mens consciences are not to be burdened with superstitious opinions of them that is it must not be thought that these humane ordinances are righteousnesse before God or do deserve remission of sins or are duties necessary unto the righteousnesse revealed in the Gospel But this is to be thought of them that they are indifferent things which without the case of offence may be omitted But such as breake them with offence are faultie as those which do rashly disturbe the peace of the Churches Such traditions therefore as cannot be observed without sinne are rejected of us as the tradition of single life We reject also that impious opinion of traditions and vowes wherein they feigne that worships invented by mans authoritie doe merit remission of sins and are satisfactions for sin c. Of which like false opinions touching vowes and fastings not a few have been spread abroad in the Church by unlearned men This Article is thus to be found in another Edition COncerning Ecclesiasticall rites they teach that those rites are to be observed which may be kept without any sinne and are availeable for quietnesse and good order in the Church such as as are set holydaies feasts and such like Againe out of the 7. Article touching abuses of the same confession These words that follow pertaine to this place and the rest unto the eleventh Section Of the authoritie of the Ministers BEsides these things there is a controversie whether Bishops Here also be many things which might very fitly have been referred to the former Sect. by reason of speciall examples of meats and holy dayes here rehearsed but seeing that the title or this page is generall it could not here be pretermitted or Pastours have power to ordaine ceremonies in the Church and to make laws of meats and holidaies and degrees or orders of Ministers They that ascribe this power to the Bishops alledge this testimonie for it I have yet many things to say unto you but you cannot beare them away now But when that spirit of truth shall come he shall teach you all truth They alledge also the examples of the Apostles which commanded the Christians to abstaine from blood and that which was strangled They alledge the change of the Sabbath into the Lords day contrary as it seemeth to the morall law and they have no examples so oft in their mouthes as the change of the Sabbath They will needs have the Churches power and authoritie to be very great because it hath dispensed with a precept of the morall law But of this question our men doe thus teach that the Bishops have no power to ordaine any thing contrary to the Gospell as was shewed before The same also doe the Canons teach distinct 9. Moreover it is against the Scripture to ordaine or require the observation of any traditions to the end that we might merit remission of sinnes and satisfie for sinnes by them For the glorie of Christs merit receiveth a blow when as we seeke by such observations to merit remission of sinnes and justification And it is very apparant that through this perswasion traditions grew into an infinite number in the Church In the meane while the doctrine of faith and of the righteousnesse of faith was quite smoothered for ever and anone there were new holidaies made new fasts appointed new ceremonies new worships for Saints ordained because that the authors of such geare supposed by these works to merit remission of sinnes and justification After the same manner heretofore did the penitentiall Canons increase whereof we still see some footings in satisfactions Againe many writers imagine that in the New Testament there should be a worship like to the Leviticall worship the appointing whereof God committed to the Apostles and Bishops wherein they seeme to be deceived by the example of the law of Moses as if the righteousnesse of the New Testament were the outward observing of certain rites as the justice of the law was Like as therefore in the law it was a sinne to eate swines flesh c. so in the New Testament they place sinne in meates in daies in apparell and such like things and they hold oppinion that the righteousnesse of the New Testament can not stand without these From hence are those burdens that certaine meats defile the conscience that it is a mortall sinne to omit the canonicall houres that fastings merit remission of sinnes because they be necessary to the righteousnesse of the New Testament that a sin in a case reserved cannot be pardoned but by the authoritie of him that reserved it whereas the Canons speake onely of reserving of Canonicall punishments and not of the reserving of the fault Whence then have the Bishops power and authoritie of imposing these traditions upon the Churches for the burdening of mens consciences For there are divers cleare testimonies which inhibit the making of such traditions either for to deserve remission of sinnes or as things necessarie to the righteousnesse of the New Testament or to salvation Paul to the Coloss 2. Let no man iudge you in meat drinke or a peece of a holy day in the new moone or in the Sabbath Againe If ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world why as though ye lived in the world are ye burd●ned with traditions as Touch not taste not handle not which all doe perish with the using and are the precepts and doctrines of men which have a shew of wisedome And to Titus he doth plainly forbid traditions For he saith Not listning to Jewish fables and to the precepts of men that abhorre the truth And Christ Matth. 15. saith of them which urge traditions Let