Selected quad for the lemma: christian_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
christian_n	church_n	true_a	visible_a	6,279	5	9.0945	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A60805	Some modest reflections upon Mr. Stephens's late book, entituled, A plain relation of the late action at sea, between the English, Dutch, and French fleets, from June 22 to July 5 last with reflections thereupon, and upon the present state of the nation, &c. : with a vindication of the Church of England from what he has therein advanc'd against her / by a hearty lover of King William and Queen Mary.	Hearty lover of King William and Queen Mary.	1691 (1691)	Wing S4523; ESTC R17992	20,922	32

made a Reform among 'em before he Embark'd turning out whoever wou'd Swear or Drink or Whore Had he taken this method his Army ten to one had been less than Gideon's and he must have expected as great a Miracle to have made him Conqueror If Wars are necessary to purge the World and throw off some ill humours contracted by long Peace and Luxury as generally granted ill Men may in this case be more usefull than good at least I 'm sure they are better spared and less mist afterwards than the other It do's not belong to him he acknowledges to inquire what has been done in pursuance of the King's Letter to the Bishop of London and the other Bishops for that belongs to them to do If no Man meddled with what did not belong to him the State as well as Church wou'd be quieter than t is But to let that pass I cou d wish he had spoken more upon this point tho' less on some that go before and follow after Ought not a Writer who studies the good and prosperity of the Government he lives under to acknowledge and commend whatever is handsomely done rather than make it his business to find fault with every thing How fair an occasion had he here for a just Panegyrick But I 'm unwilling to suspect the true reason why he wou'd not inquire into what had been here done was because he sound something well done but I can't imagine how a Man that either comes near the Church or but the High-ways cou'd be ignorant of the extraordinary methods us'd in this matter Of the remarkable care of my Lord of London in Publishing the Letter it self with his own and sending it to all the Ministers in his Jurisdiction to which some time after the Acts of Parliament were also added and what Obedience was given thereto all the Pulpits in London can witness If the Ministers were not heeded I hope neither They nor the Government shall have that charg d upon 'em nor will the Author blame 'em as for want of other Apostolical Usages mentioned a few Pages after so for not converting of Thousands as they did by their Sermons as miraculous in their Effects as the Inspiration that Dictated 'em to the Speaker And what if we shou'd say so far were those in Office either Sacred or Secular from neglecting their duty in this case that some visibly over-did it and strain'd the Laws as in stopping Gentlemen on the Sabbath-day farther than ever it was intended After this and all other means which can be us'd 't is not the work of a day or year to heal those Wounds and repair those Ruins which have been industriously made in the Manners of the English for perhaps above this Age last past We have good Laws we have an excellent Example one wou'd think enough to shame us into Virtue but if in the mean time some of the inferior Officers won't do their Duty I can't imagine what the King can do more unless they 'd have him preach as well as fight or Himself turn Informer or Constable and with Harry the 8. run to the Cobler's Stall to hear him swear or the Miller's House to find him out in his cheating This I think is sufficient to wipe off all the Aspersions thrown Page 39 40. and other places upon some of the greatest and best in the Kingdom We wou'd now follow him in the same method he leads to the History of his abortive Bill and that unfortunate success it met with but referring that to the end of his Book where we shall meet with the Bill it self it may be here necessary to enquire into the great and loud Complaints he makes against the Establish'd Protestant Church of the Nation Under this Head it must be own'd that never was any particular Church since our Saviour's time tho' we take in that of the Apostles themselves without what might be amended both in Discipline and Doctrine And those who pretend to Infallibility in either or what is next kin to it and perhaps the same in other words an extraordinary Purity and Gospel-perfection above their Sister Churches both these have been not rarely confuted by easie and vulgar Experience That the Church of England as well as all other Christian Churches has a great number who pretend to be her Members in the same circumstances with those who said they were Jews and were not but were of the Synagogue of Satan too sad experience daily tells us and she her self had rather bewail than deny But that the visible Church will always consist of Hypocrites and ill Men as well as true Christians that there will be tares as well as good seed in the Field till the Angels reap the Harvest of all Mankind that great Shepherd himself has foretold us who can't be deceiv'd because his knowledge is infinite That the Discipline of our Church is not so exact as in the first Ages and as she her self desires is by her acknowledg'd in her Rubrick That it has not been taken care of since the Reformation is partly to be imputed to the almost continual hurry and struggle she has been in from one side or the other partly to the Civil Government a great many of our Law-makers being so far from giving her more power that they think she has too much already Besides all this 't will be as readily granted that we have Bigots amongst us as have ever had all the Churches in the World That we have others under the Mask of Religion who drive on a Secular Interest as there have also been the same in all Ages That moreover the Croud of Debauchees and leud persons will for the most part call themselves of the same side that 's uppermost and that all these Cases are things so common and unavoidable that they seem not to weigh so heavy in the accusation of the National Church as this good Man believes After all she is able to make it appear and I think I may modestly add has already done it unanswerably That whatever accidental defects there may be in her Model She is yet in the Essentials of her Doctrine and Discipline the most conform'd to the Primitive pattern of any in the World This in general To be now more particular and answer the severe heavy Charge in the 31 and ensuing Pages laid against her In what has been related he says we may see here That which may correct and humble us for our vain magnifying our Church above all others and despising vilifying and disturbing our Brethren who are in many respects better than our selves Speaking the truth of our Church and proving it is not vainly magnifying it Despising and vilifying our Brethren had been more proper in Heylin s time when he and the rest of his temper unchurch'd all the World beside themselves If he means our Dissenting Brethren at home it seems no such scandalous vilifying 'em as he insinuates to think there are not so many Men