Selected quad for the lemma: christian_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
christian_n	christian_a	church_n	society_n	2,901	5	9.2764	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A58811	A sermon preached before the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor, and Court of Aldermen, at Guild-Hall Chappel, upon the 5th of November, 1673 in commemoration of Englands deliverance from the Gun-powder treason / by John Scott, Minister of St. Thomas's in Southwark.	Scott, John, 1639-1695.	1673 (1673)	Wing S2065; ESTC R15382	20,135	39

such principles are justly accountable for all the consequent inconveniences and punishable accordingly Thirdly That the Proposition is not be understood of our practice but of our Judgements and Opinions for every man hath a natural Right as he is a Rationable creature to judg for himself and to punish any one for so doing is the greatest tyranny in the world it being an exercise of dominion over the minds of men which are subject only to the Empire of God but as for our practice that 's liable to the restraints of humane Laws and that as well in Sacred as in Civil Affairs they cannot indeed oblige us to do what God hath forbidden us because his being the supreme Authority ought to take place against all the countermands of any inferiour power whatsoever but then there are a world of things which remain in a state of indifferency and are left undetermined both by the natural and positive Laws of God and these are all liable to the commands and determinations of humane Authority and are the proper matter of Civil and Ecclesiastical Laws to the extent of whose jurisdiction there can be no other restraint than only the countermand of a Superiour Authority and therefore if there be nothing antecedently evil enjoyned by the Laws whether Civil or Ecclesiastical we are bound to obey them and if we do not we are justly punishable for our disobedience Indeed if we believe the thing enjoyned to be evil though it be not we ought not to do it in obedience to the Supreme Authority of God which we believe hath forbidden it but yet if we mistake and the thing be not evil but in its own nature indifferent we are justly punishable for the not doing it because our mistake alters not the nature of the thing if it be indifferent it is a proper object of humane Laws whether we think it so or no and as such may justly be imposed and the imposition being just our not obeying it must needs be justly punishable In this extremity therefore we have no other redress but to seek information and get our mistaken consciences better instructed and if when we have done all we cannot alter our Opinion our meek and patient submission to the penalty will be our excuse before the Tribunal of God Fourthly And lastly that the Proposition is not to be understood of our making a publick profession of our Opinions so as to disturb the Peace of the Church with them so long as men are humble and modest in their dissent and do not go about to advance their Opinions into Factions and to divide and rend the Church in the propagation of them I see no reason why they should be punished and persecuted for them but if men openly profess their dissent to the prejudice of the publick Peace and Intrest and doat so much upon their own conceits as to phancy them necessary for all the rest of Mankind and consequently go about to vex their neighbours provoke their Rulers and unsetttle the Government for the propagation of them if through an inconsiderate Zeal for their own notions they should be active and industrious to make a Party against the Church and withdraw others from her communion they are offenders to the publck Peace and as such are justly liable to punishment for they ought to consider that unless their Opinion be of greater moment than the Churches Peace it ought to vail and give way to it and that there are no Opinions weighty enough to ballance the Churches Peace whose contraries do not undermine Christianity it self and utterly defeat the ends of Christian Society for everyman is obliged by vertue of being in Society to do his utmost to preserve the honour and intrest of it and to joyn in all acts of it so far as they tend thereunto and dissent from every thing which tends to the apparent ruine of that Society Now the main end of Christian Society being the honour of God and the salvation of souls the primary reason of mens entring into Churches or Christian Societies is to advance these ends and to joyn in all acts of the Society they are listed into so far as they tend to the advancement of them but if any thing be required of us directly repugnant to these ends we are bound to manifest and declare our dissent from them and if for so doing we are 〈◊〉 cast out of the particular Christian Society by so doing and suffering we preserve our communion with the Catholick Society of Christians but if I am never so much perswaded that such a practice or Article of the Church is an errour yet if it be not such an errour as doth defeat the great ends of Christian Society I am bound either to keep my parswasion to my self or at least not to disturb the Peace of the Church in my indeavours to propagate it to others because next to the honour of God and the salvation of souls the Churches Peace is to be valued above all things whatsoever and therefore is not to be disturbed for the sake of every little errour and trifling Opinion It is sufficient that we are allowed the liberty of opining and are not deprived of our natural right of judging for our selves and we ought not to complain though we should be restrained by Laws and penalties from making Parties against the Church and propagating our little Opinions into Factions since if we will not restrain our selves without such a restriction it is impossible there should be any Peace among Christian Societies every hot-brain'd Opinionist will be making a Party for himself and every differing Opinion will grow into a Sect and so there will be continual dividing and subdividing till the Christian world be crumbled into as many Churches as there are Opinions and as many Opinions as there are men for whilst every one is zealously propagating his little Opinion no man will let his Brother be quiet this man will be ready to burst till he hath vented himself and the other will be as impatient till he hath contradicted what he hath said and whilst both are thus zealous to proselite each other neither will be content with a single conquest but the publick must be disturbed and by the Zeal of the contending Parties rent into infinite Sects and Divisions so that you see it is indispensibly necessary that there should be some restraint though not upon mens Opinions yet upon their publick profession of them since without it the Church will be inevitably exposed to perpetual tumults and disturbances Having thus stated and bounded the Proposition you see the plain meaning of it is this That it is contrary to the Spirit of Christ and the genius of Christianity to destroy or persecute men for meer Opinions or errours in Religion that it is so I shall indeavour to prove from these following Instances I. It is contrary to that tenderness and compassion which Christianity requireth of us For our Religion enjoyns us