Selected quad for the lemma: christian_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A60057
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A Short answer to His Grace the D. of Buckingham's paper concerning religion, toleration, and liberty of conscience
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1685
(1685)
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Wing S3561; ESTC R10573
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14,126
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40
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Minority I should suspect the Pensilvanian had Tutor'd him with this Quakeristical Divinity But whether it be so or not here are these inevitable Consequences will follow from this Position First that Reason is the sole Guide of every mans Religion Secondly that Divine Revelation is not necessary to Salvation Thirdly that it is a most horrid Sin to lead men out of the Errours to which Natural Religion and bare Reason must of necessity lead men since its depravation Fourthly That men who believe a God and follow the dictates of Reason in his Worship may be saved in any in all Religions provided they know not a better For Reason will never can never lead us to the knowledge of the belief of a Trinity the Incarnation Death Passion Resurrection Ascention or Divinity of the Son of God the Saviour of the World And how prolifick a Parent of Idolatry Superstition Will-worship and a thousand absurdities in Religion Humane Reason is all times all places all ages of the World convince us in Fact beyond the possibility of a Denial Now had I been to follow his Graces blow upon the gaining of the Postulatum of the Being of a Supreme and Perfect Power and his Justice Goodness and Mercy being such superlative Attributes of his Essence I should have sent my Enquirer another Road. And first upon his granting a God his perfections and the obligations of Humane Nature to him I should have told him that he could not but grant by the strength of his own Reason that this excellent Supreme Being ought to be worshipped and Adored as the greatest Benefactor to Mankind that his Favour was to be had at any Rate as the most Supreme degree of Happiness and Satisfaction From his Justice I should have argued that so great Goodness and Justice the Rewarder of Virtue and Punisher of Vice who loves those that love him and therefore serve him could not possibly leave that Noble Creature Man to whom he had communicated something so near a kin to his own Nature without some manifestation of his will and pleasure and how he might be served acceptably I should have sent him to inquire if any such thing were to be found and among all the variety recommended those writings which have Antiquity and the greatest agreeableness to the Divine Nature as the Genuine Results of the benignity of that just and merciful God I mean the Holy Writings of the Inspired Pen-men Patriarchs Prophets Apostles and Evangelists who give such illuminations to the Soul and such advances to Reason such Rules of Piety and Devotion as are no where else to be found and which suit so exactly with the Idea of a Pure and Perfect Being And in regard there may be some things difficult to be understood I would for the sence and meaning of those places have directed him to the Opinion of that Society of Men called Christians their universal sence and practice and to the Golden Rule of Vincentius Lirinensis Quod ubique quod semper quod ab omnibus id verè quidem Catholicum est This would have shewed him a thousand Errours of times past and as many of the present in deviating either from the Letter or Publick Interpretation of the Revealed Will of God This would have taught him to avoid the Errours of Rome in transgressing an Apostolical Canon by praying publickly in an unknown Tongue locking the door of Knowledge from the People forbidding Religious Orders to Marry which is honourable in all men denying the Cup to the Laiety against the Institution and practice of the first and best Ages of Religion and the very Letters of the Command Drink ye all of this and a many more which I shall not insist upon This would have taught him to avoid the Cruel and Inhumane Divinity of Calvinists which his Grace lashes with so much Truth and Justice and the barbarous Principles and horrid Practices of Rebelling Covenanting Associating Excluding Pretended Protestants who act so directly contrary to the Innocent Religion of those who are Christs Sheep that they are onely a Herd of Wolves and Foxes Bears and Lions and the most Savage Animals in Protestant Skins And it may be it would have led him into the Communion of the Church of England the most Catholick Society of Men in the world both in Doctrine and Practice the best Christians and the best Subjects that the Sun sees in all his Travails round the Universe and here would I leave my Inquirer as in safe hands wishing all Mankind in the same condition and capacity of attaining Salvation and the fruition of the God of love Whereas a Jew a Turk a Pagan may all according to my Lords Hypothesis be safe so long as they believe in their own either weak or obstinate Reason which must not be imposed upon for fear of Antichristianism that they are in the Right and Worship God and with his Graces pardon even Mahomet himself will lay as good a claim to Heaven at this rate of arguing as St. Peter and St. Paul and therefore I will leave this matter to his second and his better thoughts In the next place I think the Maxime concerning Persecution for Differences in Opinion concerning Religion and the fixing the Character of Antichristianism upon all such Prosecutions of Dissenters is built upon a mistake of the Reason Nature and Necessity of those Humane Laws which Dissenters call Persecuting Now first I take it to be true That punishing the Professors and Practicers of a True Religion purely for that Religion whilst they continue such by living innocently and inoffensively in all things to the Civil Government is real Persecution and truely Antichristian as being directly opposite to the Spirit of that Religion and impossible to be done by any but such as are Enemies to that Religion and thus the Heathen Emperours of Rome and their subordinate Officers were truely Persecutors and the Primitive Christians truely Persecuted But secondly I take it also to be as true that the punishing of Offenders whose Religion is false or seigned and who onely make a colour or shew of it to carry on other Designes is not onely Lawful but just and necessary May not a Christian Government endeavour by Penalties to hinder Mahometanisme or Paganisme from rooting out Christianity without being Antichristian for so doing Certainly this is a very illogical Principle and so far from overthrowing Atheism that it is the high Road to establish it And if Magistrates are to take care by vertue of their Office to support the Government of the World the Peace and Happiness of their People they must do it by Rewards and Punishments the Methods of Heaven better than which his Grace would do well if he would oblige us in shewing us others and what and wherein they consist Now if Men will set up Religions destructive of Peace Charity Order Government Obedience and the Happiness of Humane Society not onely all Religion but Society is come to its Conclamatum