Selected quad for the lemma: christian_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
christian_n	bishop_n	church_n	presbyter_n	1,708	5	10.0860	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A54844	The new discoverer discover'd by way of answer to Mr. Baxter his pretended discovery of the Grotian religion, with the several subjects therein conteined : to which is added an appendix conteining a rejoynder to diverse things both in the Key for Catholicks, and in the book of disputations about church-government and worship, &c. : together with a letter to the learned and reverend Dr. Heylin, concerning Mr. Hickman and Mr. Bashaw / by Thomas Pierce ...	Pierce, Thomas, 1622-1691.	1659 (1659)	Wing P2186; ESTC R44	268,193	354

he goes on p. 179. the Church of England is not invisible It is still preserved in Bishops and Presbyters rightly ordained and multitudes rightly baptized none of which have fallen off from their profession 7. To your preposterous Demands then Especially to the E●iscopal whose sufferings have made them the more co●formable to the primitive Christians why we separate from you and refuse to go to your Communion the first and shortest Answer is this that we are passively separated because you actively are separatists We by remaining as we were are parted from you and you by your violent departure have made our Difference unavoidable We are divided by necessity and you by choice we from you our Dividers but you from us and between your selves You like Demas having forsaken us and having embraced this present world it is our lot as it was Paul's to be un●voidably forsaken It is God's own Method to turn away from his Deserters When the Times are changed by some and others are changed by the Times you must at least excuse if not commend us that we * Prov. 24. ●1 meddle not with those who are given to change For you to go from us and then to chide us for being parted is the greatest injustice to be imagin'd because it requires us to verifie the two Extremes of a contradiction A second Answer I shall give you in better words than mine own even the same which Dr. Hammond once gave the Papists S●e Dr. Hammond of Schism p. 180 181. The Night-meetings of primitive Christians in Dens and Caves are as pertinent to the justifying of our Condition as they can be of any and 't is certain that the forsaking of the Assemblies Heb. 10.25 is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our wi●ful fault v. 26. but onely our unhappy Lot who are forced either not to frequent the Assemblies or else to incourage and incur the scandal of seeming to approve the practises of those that have departed from the Church That we do not decline Order or publick communion and consequently are not to be charged for not enjoying those Benefits of it which we vehemently thirst after is evident by the extensive Nature of our persecution the same Tempe●t having with us thrown out all Order and Form Bishops and Liturgy together And to that Curstnesse of theirs not to any Obstinateness or Vnreconcileableness of ours which alone were the guilt of non-Communion is all that unhappiness of the constant Sons of the present English Church to be imputed L●y-elders condemned by such as had sworn to assert them Sect. 30. I am glad to find you thinking that unordained Elders wanting power to preach or administer the Sacraments are not Officers in the Church of God's Appointment and that as far as you can understand the greater part if not three parts for one of the English Ministers that we stand at a distance from are of this mind and so far against Lay-Elders as well as we of whom you confess your self one and Mr. Vines another p. 4. But I am not glad to find you excusing what you condemn 'T is true ye all swore when ye took the Covenant to preserve the Discipline and Government in the Church of Scotland and to reforme the Church of England in Discipline and Government according to the example of the best Reformed Churches of which the Scotish was implied to be the chief yea to bring the Churches in the three Kingdoms to the nearest conjunction and Uniformity in Church-government c. Lay-elders in Scotland were pretended to be by Divine right The Platforme of Geneva was highly magnified that I say not blasphemously for the Pattern shew'd in the Mount The Scepter of Christ and Evangelium Regni Dei were noted expressions of their Device But since you have printed your own opinion that ther● were no such Lay-elders of God's appointment you should rather have recanted your having sworn the Scotish Covenant than have tryed by all means to make the best of so bad a matter Whilst you believe a fourth part of the Presbyterians are directly against the other three in thinking Lay-elders of God's appointment you give us to hope that your Kingdom will never stand And indeed if you will read but the first 5. Chapters of Bishop Bancrofts Survey of the pretended Holy Discipline you will find that no Sect hath been more divided against it self See what is said by Dr. Gauden in his excellen● * p. 17. Dendrologia concerning the Pertness and Impertinen●y the Arrogancy and Emptiness the Iuvenility and Incompetency the Rusticity and Insolency of some Ruling and Teaching Elders too the disagreement that was found betwixt High-shoes and the Scepter of Church-government especially mark what he † p. 18. saith of the Decoy and Fallacy the Sophistry and Shooing-horn of bringing in Lay-elders by Divine Right and perhaps when you have done you will hardly excuse your own Excuses much less the manner in which you make them for to excuse the Lay-e●ders as men not preaching Sect. 31. You say A Calumny cast upon our Preachers to the sole disgrace of the Calumniator In that our Readers are much like them p. 4. And again you speak of our Ignorant Drunken Worldly Readers and Lazy Preachers that once a day would preach against doing too much to be saved p. 16. But 1. that any have so prea●hed of the regular Clergy is your ungrounded Intimation for which you are answerable to God They have commonly been accused of having preached for the doing too much to be saved Their earnest pressing for the Necessity of Universal Obedience to the Law of Christ which carries along with it all manner of good works hath very frequently procured them the name of Papists Socinians Pelagians Moralists any thing in the world to express the dislike of your Presbyterians The Antinomians are the chief men who preach against doing too much to be saved and as the Fautors of that Heresie you your self have accused both Mr. Pemble and Dr. Twisse who were not Prelatists but Presbyterians And such were they who applauded The Marrow of modern Divinity which you have shar●ly written against for the like dangerous positions Nay you your self are more liable to undergo your own censure than any Prelatist I ever heard of for teaching the people how greaf a wickedness may well co●sist with their being Godly Of this I have given so many Examples that I shall adde but one more You put the Question W●ether if men live many years in swearing or the like sin See Disp. of right to Sacram 3. p. 330. it is not a certain sign of ungodliness To which you answer in these words A godly man may long be guilty of them as 't is known some well-reputed for Godliness are in Scotland Reputation doth much with many even that are godly to make sin seem great or small With us now a swearer is reputed so great a sinner that he is