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	unity_n	1,522	5	9.2638	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A26295	Vox clamantis, or, An essay for the honour, happiness and prosperity of the English gentry, and the whole nation in the promoting religion and vertue, and the peace both of church and state. / by P.A. ...	Ayres, Philip, 1638-1712.	1684 (1684)	Wing A4314; ESTC R32826	52,049	117

to be much wondered at among Heathens that know not God yea many of them that worship the Devil But for those that own the Christian Religion a Gospel of Peace to abound herein is the greatest scandal possible to our holy Christian Profession The Almighty calls therefore aloud to us all to return to the Primitive Purity and Integrity of our Religion and if so then there would be neither place for Papal pride Tyranny Uncharitableness and Cruelty on the one hand nor for Pride Peevishness ignorant Confidence Factions Divisions Hatred and Variance on the other hand Alas Quis non vita etiam sua redimat subrotum istuc infinitum dissidii scandalum was the saying as I have read of the worthy Martin Bucer It is therefore Gentlemen a work very well becoming you to set your selves against all Faction and Division earnestly to promote the peace of the Church and State that we may be all united at home And in the next place promote the Peace and Unity of Christendom a brave and noble work if it were possible to be effected to unite all Christians together in Christendom which wise and good men of all sides have thought possible but if in this respect you can do little yet let us all wish and pray for the peace happiness and unity of the Christian world in the Language of our Church That God would inspire continually the Vniversal Church with the Spirit of Truth Vnity and Concord and grant that all they that do confess his holy name may agree in the truth of his holy word and live in Vnity and Godly love And however as to such who although they deny the Infalibility of the Papacy yet will every one claim it to himself that affirm they are every one guided by the Spirit and that adhere strongly to those tenents which are inconsistent with Government Order and Peace of the world if ever you would preserve peace and Unity these must be looked on as Religious Lunaticks and so to be dealt with kept from doing of mischief Consider our holy Profession enjoyns us nothing more than Unity and Peace to speak the same things to be all of one mind to study peace to keep the unity of the Spirit in the Bond of of Peace to love one another by which we should properly distinguish our selves to be the Disciples of Christ which our Fanaticks will nevertheless contradict and gainsay although it be to reproach God himself for they will confidently affirm that this which God requires of us is impossible and that it is as possible to make all faces alike as all Christians to speak one and the same thing and to be united And that to endeavour this is to do as Procrastes did with those that lay in his Bed with horrid cruelty to bring all men to the size thereof When in truth they herein plead but for their Lusts and Vices and because they be unwilling to bring their lives to the rule God hath given they would wickedly pervert the Rule and make it sute with their Lusts. For the great hinderance of this Unity Peace and Love arises from our Pride and Self confidences our Peevish Tempers our Lusts and Passions which we ought to mortify and subdue if we would be Christians as we profess our selves to be this excellent design of Unity and Peace among all Christians might meet with its desired effect I have read of St. Ambrose that he should say Si virtutem finis ille maximus sit qui plurimorum spectat profectum moderatio omnium pulcherima est if that end of Vertues be the greatest that looks at publick good moderation is of all the most beautiful And it is said of the Thebans that they made Harmonia a Goddess they accounted her the Defender of their City and surely she may be well accounted the Upholder of the Universe for by Order Agreement and Peace the whole world subsists and God in Scripture is styled the God of Order Therefore as one says well Harmonious Dispositions that are for Order and Government Unity and Peace have much of God in them there is a Nobleness in such hearts And doubtless those Principles Doctrines and Designs which most promote the great end and design of Christianity viz. The making men really good and vertuous and for the uniting us all together in mutual Love and Charity as Brethren all of one great Family of which Christ is the head will own God their Author So likewise all those that are of Dividing and Schismatical Principles and Practices whose very end and natural tendency is disturbance to order Government and Peace in the world are certainly from the Devil that Abaddon and Apollion the great Destroyer whatever their Pretences otherwise may be And now I think these truths which I have presented before you are worthy of our most serious thoughts and considerations and that it is high time when Gods dreadful Judgments are abroad that shake the Foundations of Christendom to leave off Jesting and Drolling with God and Religion Sharpness of Wit as a Learned Author hath observed hath commonly with it Pride and Levity two ill Companions therefore take heed and consider truly that wit and wisdom are far different things it is true that wit well improved by sound Study by time and experience improves into wisdom at last for wisdom is not born with us into the world yea wisdom is a solid and serious thing it teacheth us to consider truly and fully of all things to look beyond the surface or first representation and appearances of things and if Gentlemen and Scholars will not study and consider things truly if they become careless and lay aside consideration what use will all the Pious and Learned Books in the world be for any more but to be consumed and destroyed and the Religion of Mahomet to be speedily expected among us for that will best befit an inconsiderate age given up wholly to their sensualities to gratify their carnal appetites for nothing will certainly please more such sensualities than a Mahumetan Paradice But I hope better things and that Gentlemen will yet be like Gentlemen Knowing Learned and Wise and let every one of you argue with your selves thus What although I am descended of a Noble of a Gentile Family and am possest of a fair Estate enjoy the fulness of all earthly felicities have a numerous train and live in great Pomp and State yet hath not the wisest Mortal that ever lived even wise Solomon after he had experienced the fulness of all these things in a greater measure then ever any before or since hath done and being inspired with wisdom from God concluded thus that Vanity of Vanities all is Vanity and Vexation of Spirit And shall I be so unwise as to put any other value or esteem upon all these far less injoyments that possibly I may possess Is not that a prudent Saying Si tibi Pulchra Domus si splendida mensa quid inde

VOX CLAMANTIS OR AN ESSAY FOR THE Honour Happiness and Prosperity OF THE English Gentry And the whole Nation In the promoting Religion and Vertue and the Peace both of Church and State By P. A. Gent. Verbum sat ' Sapienti LONDON Printed by Iohn Playford in Little-Brittain for Benjamin Tooke at the Ship in St. Paul's Church Yard 1684. TO THE Honoured Sir Iohn Moore Kt. one of the Aldermen of the City of London Worthy Sir COnsidering that good and honest designs sute best with Good men and are most acceptable to them and that they are most worthy the countenance and protection of persons in power and authority I could not well propose to my self a fitter person to whom I might dedicate the ensuing Discourse than Sir John Moore the name of Moore hath been highly honoured heretofore in the famous Sir Thomas Moore sometime Lord Chancellor of England which now you have made more illustrions by your being the Grand Instrument in one of the best designs ever attempted and effected in our days next the Miraculous and Happy Restoration of his Sacred Majesty even the Suppression of Fanatiscism and Disloyalty that Pest and Plague of both Church and State by your seasonable and resolute steming that Tide and putting a stop to that Impetuous Current which threatened to overwhelm the Nation whereby you may well be reputed to be in truth not only Maleus Fanaticorum but also the happy instrument and means of preservation both of Church and State the Glory and Happiness of your anciently Renowned City and one of the Loyalist Subjects this Age hath produced May the best of Blessings ever attend the Royal Throne with all the Royal Family so long as the Sun and Moon endures And may their Enemies he be ever cloathed with shame and confusion Be pleased Sir to pardon my great boldness in this Dedication the goodness of the end must plead for the unworthiness of the performance and with my Prayers for all Health and Happiness to you and yours suffer me to subscribe my self Sir Your very Humble and devoted Servant P. A. Nov. 20th 1683. VOX CLAMANTIS CHAP. I. Of the Nature and Kinds of Drunkenness and Excess and the prevalency of it in the World c. AS the happiness and perfection of man principally consists in his being endowed by God with a rational Soul so in the use and exercise of that noble faculty of Reason must doubtless consist his Felicity and to follow the true and clear Dictates thereof and therefore he that makes the greatest use of Reason by sober and serious consideration is without doubt most like himself is most a man From whence it must needs follow therefore that all such things as prejudice clog or interrupt the Soul of Man in the Exercise and Use of his Reason ought as he tenders his own welfare to be shunned and avoided by him with all possible care and diligence as all Riot and Excess whatsoever But more especially when the Supream Wisdom the Divine Laws hath prohibited the same and under pain of Damnation Now Gluttony and Drunkenness and all Excess whatsoever being so frequently and so sharply reprehended by the holy Christian Doctrine and the Contraries thereto viz. Sobriety Temperance and Moderation being such indispensible and necessary duties of the excellent Religion of the ever blessed Jesus a man must be more than sottishly brutish if insensible of the unchristianness of Christians in the Age we live in in this respect when they that are drunk are not drunk in the night only but in the sight of the Sun And how can a man but stand amazed to consider that the Institutions of that Grand Imposter Mahomet should be more carefully and exactly observed and followed by his Disciples and Followers in abstinence from Wine than the holy Christian Laws and Institutes What can it be less than the greatest reproach imaginable to us Christians that this Swinish sin should be once named among us Much more when it is grown to that height and perfection as to become the Epidemical Sin of the Nation as it were at this day Now in short to describe what this sin is I humbly conceive it may be said at least that it is a Spontaneous and Voluntary Clogging or Indisposing the Soul and Mind by Excess in Eating and Drinking whereby it becomes unable to make use of its noble faculty of Reason and Understanding for the well government and regulation of the actions of the man or rather as the late Reverend Dr. Hammond hath described it more strictly when we eat or drink to the overcharging of the body the Sobriety contrary to which is the Eating and Drinking no more than agrees with the health and good temper of it there being also another excess in quality or delicacy of Meats and Drinks viz. A studied care and pursuit of such as are most delightful and the Sobriety contrary to this is when we content our selves with that Meat and Drink which is necessary and useful to the health and strength of our bodies and neglect and despise all other Delicacies But over and besides these there is also another sort of Excess and Drunkenness that men are many times guilty of and that is being inebriated by Passion Anger or the like that Brevis insania of the Soul as the Philosopher calls it or which is worse with Pride Self-conceitedness Envy Malice Revenge and Cruelty which must needs be the worse and of far greater danger to the Soul by how much the Sober Persons in the repute of the world may herein notwithstanding be intoxicated to Excess and to be little sensible of it but let the mind be discomposed or put out of due order and frame be it with what it will that which discomposeth it is the intoxicating Liquor And if it be of this later sort it is doubtless far the worse both in its own nature and in its effects it being to be drunk with the Wine of Hell in which the accursed Spirits solace themselves so far as God permits them in their Regions of darkness But this by the by only I shall recommend this more especially to the consideration of our Phanaticks the Sober and Godly part of the Nation as they would be thought It must be granted as a late Author hath observed that most Nations under the Sun have their intoxicating Liquors and that some rather than not be drunk will swallow Opium Dutroy and Tobacco or some other intoxicating thing so great an inclination hath Mankind to be exalted as the said Author calls it Pliny complains that drunkenness was the Study of his time and that the Romans and Parthians contended for the glory of excessive Wine-drinking Historians tell us as the said Author further hath it of one Novellius Torquatus that went through all the honourable degrees of dignity in Rome wherein the greatest glory and honour he obtained was for the drinking in the presence of Tiberius three Gallons of Wine at

Example for you know that Suadet loquentis vita non Oratio and Dicta factis deficientibus erubescunt I have read of a Gentlewoman that turned Atheist upon this account that she living under a great Doctor that Preached excellently was very Learned but lived very Licentiously and this was no wonder for she saw plainly that he was but in jest when he was in the Pulpit and that he did not really believe himself what he preach'd to others and ignorance will think why should it fear where knowledge dares venture And alas Dicta factis deficientibus what do they signify But I hope I shall not be misunderstood that hereby I intend to asperse the Sacred Function in general far be it from my thoughts for I am verily perswaded that the Church of England is through the good providence of God and the wise conduct and incouragement of the Governours thereof blest at present with as Learned Able Orthodox and Pious a Ministry in general as ever possibly it had since the first Reformation of Religion My design is principally by way of Caution to our worthy Clergy against the Fanaticks of our times and that none of our Clergy might afford them any cause of advantage hreein to improve against us who are as studious to search after the slips and failings in our Ministry maliciously to asperse the Church Just as Sir Edwin Sands relates that the malicious Iews in places where they live among Christians are very curious to spy out and discover the pious frauds of the Fryers in forging of Miracles not out of Love or Design to have things reformed but out of Hatred to Christianity to asperse the Christians In the next place I would humbly propose this to our Clergy that according to their interest and opportunity they would mainly and principally intend the promoting of the spiritual welfare of the worthy Gentry by indeavouring to work upon their hearts and Consciences a lively sence of God and Religion by Wise Humble Affectionate Religious Exhortation Reproof Advice and Counsel together with Pious Conversations and when you have once gained them a great part of your work is done in your Parishes and Precincts make once but the Gentry and Principal Persons the affectionate Patrons of Religion and Vertue the greatest Honour and Glory they are capable of in this world and all their Tenents and Dependents will quickly follow and with great ease you will reduce all the rest under your Chatge especially as to their outward deportment and this good and honest policy you may learn from an Enemy even the wise and subtil Jesuites But I must crave your pardon thus far for what I have taken the boldness to say unto you How much better could you say it to your selves and so I hope you all either have or will do and it would be a joy to me to have humbly presented my thoughts and well wishes to you and thereby expressed my affections although you needed it not as a late worthy Author once expressed himself It will not I hope be unpleasant to you to be assured of your Friends fidelity and to accept of what proceeds from his ardent desires of your welfare and of the Peace Happiness and Prosperity of the Church of England as now by Law happily establish'd And that considering that neither Laws nor Government to Governours are sufficient to uphold and maintain this excellent Fabrick without those solid supports of true and syncere Piety and Goodness I hope you will please to excuse me thus far and let it never be said of us in this Nation That the Priest and the Prophet have erred through strong drink they are all swallowed up of Wine they are out of the way through strong drink c. Isaiah 28.7 CHAP. VI. An Exhortation to all to live answerable to our Christian Religion we profess I speak to Gentlemen to Scholars to Divines yea to all Persons we have an excellent Religion the best in the world let us I humbly beseech you live something answerable to it in our several stations if our Religion doth not sway with us and regulate us what is it good for and what are we the better for it Christians doubtless should be the best men in the world Let us all therefore cease to be as Monuments of shame and reproach to it as if the holy Pen-men of the Scriptures had brought us Vota magis quàm praecepta Think of that reproachful Proverb among the Turks when they are suspected or charged with unfaithfulness or an unworthy action and behaviour Dost thou think I am a Christian I heartily wish there were not too much occasion given them by Christians for this reflection Let us for shame live somewhat answerably to our holy and excellent Religion which we profess to believe and own or else blot out of our Bibles the precepts of Justice Righteousness Purity Chastity Temperance and Sobriety Humility Patience Loyalty c. or renounce our Christianity for Inter Christianum Gentilem non tantùm fides oportet sed etiam vita distinguere And may we be all a little serious and thus argue with our selves every one of us Am not I a Christian What is it therefore that the holy and excellent Religion of the ever blessed Jesus requires of me Is it not to love God before all things with all our Hearts with all our Souls with all our Strength and to love our Neighbours as our selves to be Just and Honest to be Sober Temperate and Chaste abounding in Love and Charity even towards our very Enemies not to swear at all in our ordinary Communication to be Dutiful and Loyal to our Prince and Governours to obey his Laws to render unto Caesar the the things that are Caesars and unto God the things that are Gods to submit our selves to those that have the spiritual rule and oversight of us that watch for our souls to abandon all Faction and Schism Errours and Heresy to love one another and to labour and endeavour after unity and peace among all Christians that so we may all live in unity and love together as Children of one and the same Father as Servants of one and the same Lord being all of one Houshold and Family of which Christ is the Head and Governour To be all of Holy and Exemplary lives to be Universally Good and Vertuous beyond the extent of the most sublimest Philosophy that ever was in the world we having the greatest and clearest light of truth the most powerful assistances of Divine Grace ever afforded to the Sons of men together with the great encouragement by the highest assurances possible of most high excellent and glorious rewards of happiness and immortality so transcendent beyond all our thoughts and imaginations such as neither eye hath seen nor ear heard nor ever entred into the heart of man to conceive If this be the Sum of the Christian Religion which I think every one of us must acknowledge let us in