Selected quad for the lemma: christian_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
christian_n	call_v	church_n	congregation_n	1,735	5	9.2238	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A47813	The casuist uncas'd, in a dialogue betwixt Richard and Baxter, with a moderator between them, for quietnesse sake by Roger L'Estrange.	L'Estrange, Roger, Sir, 1616-1704.	1680 (1680)	Wing L1209; ESTC R233643	73,385	86

Disobedience to their Guides and of Schism and doing much more to the hurt of the Church a very great Sin Peter Lot and 't is like David did oft commit greater Sins R. B's Five Disdutes of Right to Sacraments P. 329. But a man must be guilty of more sins then Peter was in denying and forswearing Christ that is notoriously ungodly yea then Lot was who was drunk two nights together and committed Incest twice with his own Daughters and that after the miraculous destruction of Sodom of his own wife and his own miraculous Deliverance Nay a man that is notoriously ungodly in the sense in hand or Unsanctify'd must be a greater sinner then Solomon was with his Seven hundred Wives three hundred Concubines and gross● Idolatries P. 326.327 Mo. And are These the Saints Gentlemen that you are afraid should be cast out for Schismatiques They must be of your own Canonizing then for I assure you I finde no such Saints in our Kalendar But let me hear I beseech you whom we are to keep out and whom to take in Ri. We must either Tolerate All men to do what they will which they will make a matter of Conscience or Religion and then some may offer their Children in sacrifice to the Devil and some may think they do God service in killing his Servants c. Or else you must Tolerate no Errour or fault in Religion and then you must advise what measure of Penalty you will Inflict Church-Divis P. 363 364. Mo The two great Difficulties will be to say what Errours are Tolerable and what not and then to bring the Magistrate and the People to an Agreement upon the matter Ri If no Errour were to be a Tolerated no men were to be Tolerated and the Wisest in the World must be numbred with the Intolerable as well as the rest Church Divis. P. 348. Ba. But some People make those things to be Duties which are no Duties and Sins which are no Sins calling Evil Good and Good Evil and having made a Religion of their own confidently think that it is of God valuing all men that they have to do with according as they are nearer or further off from This which they account the way of God chusing a Church or Party to joyn with by the Test of This Religion which their Pride has C●osen Church Divis. P. 11. Thus they divide the Kingdom and Family of Christ destroying first the Love of Brethren and Neighbours in themselves and then labouring to destroy it in all Others by speaking against those that are not in their own way with Contempt and Obloquy to represent them as an Unlovely sort of Men and if the Interest of their Cause and Party require it perhaps they will next destroy their Persons And yet all this is done in zeal of God and as an Acceptable service to him Ibid. P. 12. And they think it a resisting of the Spirit to resist their Judgment P. 13. I have known too many very honest-hearted Christians especially Melancholique Persons and Women who have been in great doubt about the Opinions of the Millenaries the Separatists the Anabaptists the Seekers and such like and after earnest Prayer to God they have been strongly resolved for the way of Errour and Confident by the strong Impression that it was the Spirits Answer to their Prayers and thereupon they have set themselves into a Course of Sin Ibid. P. 162. And In truth it is very Ordinary with poor phancyfull Women and Melancholy Persons to take all their deep Apprehensions for Revelations Ibid. P. 167. Mo. Well but these people all this while take themselves to be in the right Ba. But as for that which is Contrary to Scripture I am sure it is contrary to the Will of God Church Divis. P. 166. Mo. Out of all doubt but what if They expound the Scripture One way and You Another Ba. Why if they believe That themselves which they can give you no reason to believe they must be content to keep their belief to themselves and not for shame perswade any other to it without proof If they say that God hath revealed it to them tell them that he hath not revealed it to You and therefore That 's nothing to You till they prove their Divine Revelation If God reveal it to them but for themselves they must keep it to themselves Ibid. P. 166. If they say that the spirit hath told Them the meaning of the Scripture say as before that it is not told to you which is not proved to you Ibid 167. But if we do through weaknesse or perversnesse take lawful things to be unlawfull That will not excuse Us in our disobedience Our Errour is our Sin and one Sin will not excuse another R. B's Five Disput. P. 483. He that mistakingly thinks any thing is good or bad Duty or Sin which is not so will be zealous in persute of his Mistake if he be serious for God Cath. Theol. Pref. It is an Ill sign when your zeal is beyond the proportion of your Understanding And your Prudence and Experience is much lesse then other mens as your zeal is greater Church Divis. P. 123. Beside that the more weak and worthlesse and Erroneous any ones Judgment is usually the more furious are they in the prosecution of it as if all were most certain Truth which they apprehend These are the boldest both in Schisms and persecutions Ibid. 357. Mo. But you will say that in cases where the common people may be imposed upon by Cred●lity Phancy or Weaknesse they may repair to their Teachers to set them right Ba. Even the most of Teachers take abundance of things for true and good that are false and evill and for false and bad which are true and good Much more are godly vulgar people Ignorant and consequently erre in many things Cath. Theol. Pref. And I my self was mistaken in my Aphorisms of Iustification and the Cov●nants as I have acknowledged in the same Preface Mo. You have had very ill luck Sir with your Aphorisms Ri. I must confess that when God had first brought me from among the more Ignorant sort of people and when I heard Religious Persons pray without Form and Speak affectionately and seriously of Spiritual and Heavenly things I thought verily that they were all undoubted Saints till e're long of those whom I so m●ch honoured one fell of to Sensuality and to Persecuting Formality and another fell to the foulest Heresy and another to disturb the Churches Peace by Turbulent Animositys and Divisions Church Divil P. 23.24 c. Ri. I thought once that all the talk against Schisme and Sects did but vent their Malice against the best Christians u●der those Names But since Then I have seen what Love-killing-Principles have done I have long stood by while Churches have been divided and Subdivided one Congregation of

the Division labouring to make the other Contemptible and odious and This called the Teaching of Truth and the purer Worshiping of God Church-Divisions Pref. Ba. When so great a man as Tertullian was deceived by Montanus and his Prophetesse When such a one as Hacket could deceive not only Coppinger and Arthington but abundance more when David George in Holland Iohn of Leiden in Munster c. could deceive so many persons as they did when the pretended Revelations of the Ranters First and the Quakers After could so marvellously transport many Thousands of professors of Religion in this Land I think we have fair warning to take the Counsell of St. Iohn Believe not every Spirit but try the Spirit whether they be of God Church Divis. P. 164. Alas how common was this in the Army to set up and Pull down do an undo own and disown as by the Spirit of God! There was Mr. Erbery Mr. Saltmarsh Mr. Dell Mr. William Sedgwick who as from God wrote one week to the Army against their putting the King to Death and the next week wrote to them quite on the other side and that set London by a Prophecy or Vision on looking for the day of Judgement on a set day Second Admon to Bagshaw P. 68. Vavasor Powell at Clifton upon Thame in Worcestershire quickly after Worcester Fight said in his Sermon that he would tell them these things as from God that they should have no more Kings nor any more Taxes nor pay any more Tithes Ibid. P. 69. Mo. Pray'e do but consider now if your particular Pastors disagree among themselves if you your self Mr. Baxter have been mistaken in your Judgement as well of Truth in Notion as of Persons If those that you took for Saints proved Schismaticks and Persecutors those that you took for Conscientious Professors are we not much better in the hand of a known and Impartiall Law that cannot deceive us then at the Mercy of a wilde Multitude Unknown and Prepossess'd who in all probability will impose upon us Ri. A Fear of sinning is necessary in all that will be Obedient to God and will be saved It is that Fear of God which is the beginning of Wisdom It is therefore to be loved and cherished even when Scrupulousness mistaketh the matter Non-Con Plea 2d Part. P. 163. Ba. There 's no trusting to Scruples I have known some that have liv'd long in douhts and fears of Damnation who have turn'd Anabaptists and sodainly had Comfort and yet in a short time they forsook that Sect and turn'd to another I have known those also that have liv'd many years in timorous Complaints and fears of Hell and they have turned to the Antinomians and sodainly been comforted and others have turned Arminians which is clear contrary and been comforted and others have but heard of that Doctrine of Perfection in this Life and sodainly been past their fears as if hearing of Perfection had made them perfect And from thence they have turned Familists and at last shew'd their Perfection by Fornication and Licentiousnesse and mere Apostacy who yet liv'd very conscientiously and blamelessely as long as they liv'd in their Fears and Troubles P. 170. Chu●ch Divis. Could I have believed him that would have told me five years ago This bearing date Ian. 15. 1649. that when the * Scorners of Godlinesse were subdu'd and the bitter persecutors of the Church overthrown that such should succeed them who suffered with us who were our Intimate Friends with whom we took sweet Counsel and went up together to the House of God Did I think it had been in the hearts of men professing such zeal to Religion and the ways of Christ to draw their Swords against each other and to seek each others Bloud so fiercely Alas if the Judgment be once perverted and Errour hath perverted the Supreme Faculty whether will men go and what will they do O what a potent Instrumen● for Satan is a misguid●d Conscience It will make a man kill his dearest Friend yea Father or Mother yea the Holyest Saint and think he doth God good service by it And to facilitate the work it will first blot out the Reputation of their Holinesse and make them take a Saint for a Devil Saints Rest. P. 133. Whence can it be but for want of self-denyall that Magistrates pro●●ssing a zeal for Holynesse r●gard no more the Interest of Christ but that the Name and but the Name of Liberty a Liberty that hath neither Moral Good or Evill in it is set in the ballance against the things of everlasting Consequence and thought sufficient to over weigh th●m And that the meer pretense of this Indifferent Carnal Liberty is thought an Argument of sufficient weight for the Introduction of a wicked Damning Liberty even a liberty to deceive and destroy as many as they can and to hinder those that desire mens Salvation R. B's Self-denyal Epist. Monitory Shall every man have leave to do evill that can be Ignorant enough to think or say he thinks that he doth well And must Magistrates rule as men that are Uncertain whether there be a Christ or a Church or Heaven or Hell because some are found in their Dominions so foolish or Impious as to be Uncertain of it Ibid. Will mercyfull Rulers set up a trade for butchering of Souls and allow men to set up a shop of poyson for all men to buy and take that will yea to proclaim this poyson for Souls in Streets and Church Assemblies c. I●i● But the same Argument that tempts the sensuall to Hell doth tempt such Magistrates to set up Liberty for drawing men to Hell Ibid. Is Faith and Holynesse propagated by Perswasion and not by Force Surely then Infidelity Popery and Ungodlynesse ar● Propagated by Perswasion too Again I tell yo● self-love doth make such Rulers wiser then to grant Commission at liberty to all that will to tice the Souldiers to Mutinies and Rebellion c. Ibid. Liberty in all mat ers of Worship and of Faith is the open and apparent way to set up Popery in the Land N●●-Con Plea Pref. M● Well Mr. Richard After this frank and sensible D●claration of your self upon this Chapter do but teach me which way in the world to reconcile your Practice and your Conscience for you are a Person certainly of all men Living the most Improper Advocate for a Toleration and the most unfit Sollicitor of a Popular Petition First as your Iudgement lie● directly against the thing you pleade for Secondly as you are conscious of the danger as well as the Injusti●● of such a License Thirdly you have been a very u●happy Instrument already betwixt his Majesty and his Subjects And Lastly In demanding That over again from This King by which his Father was destroy'd you make your self suspected to have some Ill Designe For to Triumph and Rejoyce as you do after the