Selected quad for the lemma: church_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
church_n	cause_n	just_a	separation_n	3,235	5	9.9864	5	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A47144	A Farther account of the great divisions among the Quakers in Pensilvania, &c. as appears by another of their books lately come over from thence, intituled, Some reasons and causes of the late separation, that hath come to pass at Philadelphia, betwixt us, called by some of the seperate meeting, and others that meet apart from us : more particularly opened, to vindicate and clear us and our testimony in that repsect, viz. : that the seperation lieth at their door, and they, and not we, are justly chargeable with it : with an apology for the present publication of these things.	Budd, Thomas, 1648-1699.; Furnis, Henry.; Keith, George, 1639?-1716.	1693 (1693)	Wing K166; ESTC R16901	19,794	24

the Spirit of Truth in our Hearts that as such Men immediately guilty of these vile Errors some of which no Protestant Christian Society would tolerate neither Episcopal Presbyterian nor Baptist are to be turned away and seperated from so that Society is to be turned away from whoever they be that doth uphold and tollerate them and bring them not to due Conviction and Condemnation after due and sufficient notice is given unto them as there hath been a long time from one Meeting to another as concerning some of them now many Months since past and nothing done effectually to bring them to any Conviction but that it seemeth they are resolved still to support or tollerate them Now the Scriptures that warrant us in this Separation altho' as is said first made by them are these following 2 Cor. 6.14 15 16 17. 1 Tim. 6 3 4 5. 2 Tim. 6.2 3 4 5. Tit. 3.10 Rev. 18.4 2 Thess 3.6 Rom. 16.17 Rev. 2 14 15 20. and the same is expresly confirmed by the Doctrine delivered by R. Barclay in his said Book well approved by good Friends who expresly saith p. 52. We do safely conclude that where a People are gathered into a Belief of the Principles and Doctrines of the Gospel of Christ if any of that People go from their Principles and assert things false and contrary to what they have already received such as stand and abide firm in the Faith have Power by the Spirit of God after they have used Christian endeavours to convince and reclaim them upon their Obstinacy to Seperate from such § 6. p. 52. and § 4. p. 33. he saith The Escapes Faults and Errors of such who own believe and profess the same Doctrine and Principles of Faith with us and go under the same Distinction and Denomination may by our Adversaries justly be imputed unto us if not seasonably and Christianly reproved reclaimed or condemned And therefore we judge that we have equal Ground and Cause of Seperation as well from that whole Society that doth not condemn these Men for their gross Errors in Fundamental Doctrines as we have to seperate from these particular Men seeing they who tollerate them both by Scripture and R. B's Book are guilty with them and the Errors of these Men may be justly imputed to them Note That whereas it hath been said by some That they would have dealt with these Men who have been guilty of those Errors but that G. K. would not go forth being desired to withdraw at the Meeting at R. E 's and at the Quarterly Meeting To this it is answered That G. K. had good reason not to withdraw at both these times because at both these times these who did take upon them to be Judges were his manifest Parties against him and so could not be in Justice his Judges but at the Yearly Meeting he did withdraw at the Meeting 's Desire and yet they did nothing to bring W. S. to Conviction besides it was not G. K. but the Truth it self that the Difference was concerning and they have had sufficient time since to have done it but nothing that we can hear of is done But it is very strange what some have said That no Error in Doctrin or Trespass whatsoever of particular Persons though tollerated by a Society that we were joyned with in the Possession of Truth can be any just cause of Seperation doth equally blame all our Friends in their Seperation from the respective Societies they were formerly joyned in Profession with as some in their Seperation from the Church of Rome others from the Episcopal others from the Presbyterian and Baptists and doth equally blame the Separation of the faithful Martyrs in Q. Mary's days from the Popish Worship in England yet well approved generally by our Friends And surely for People of contrary Principles and Spirits and having a contrary Faith and Perswasion in Fundamental Doctrines to be united together in one Worship would make the greatest Confusion imaginable and be incomparably more like Babylon than the true Church of Christ and so to affirm is contrary to all common Sense of any that hath the least true Notion of a Church that ought to be as a Field or Garden as clean of Weeds as possible for tho' the Tares are to be suffered to grow in the Field of the World yet they are not to remain in the Church according to Christ's Doctrine But at this rate the Weeds shall remain with the good Corn and Herbs in the same Garden yea and exceed them that cannot but greatly hurt the good Corn and Herbs Besides how can the Gardner delight in such a Garden that is full of Weeds and no care to seperate the good Herbs from the Weeds And tho' it hath been said by some That as the Faithful stand in the Power of God they shall have Dominion over the Unfaithful But we find no warrant or promise that God will give them Dominion if they obey not his Command which is To Seperate and withdraw from such and not to remain in Fellowship with them for what part hath a Believer with an Infidel 2 Cor. 6.15.17 POSTSCRIPT WE have seriously considered how that of late Years especially many are crept into a bare out-side Form of the Profession of the People of God called in Scorn Quakers and have assum'd or suffered themselves to be called by that Name and have frequented not only their publick Meetings but also their Men and Womens Meetings and some have presumed to Preach and Pray therein that to our certain knowledge by manifested Evidence of Words and Works are not worthy to be reputed Members of a Christian Society or Church of Christ because of their great Ignorance and Unbelief in the first Principles of the Doctrine of Christ whereof some here-away of late have given sufficient proof to the great Scandal of our holy Profession by their plain and express words uttered before divers credible Witnesset and sometimes by their unsound Doctrine published and gross Perversions of Scripture to the Observation of many who are but of weak understanding and some of them have been detected of scandalous Conversation and have not given any convincing Evidence of their true Repentance and that there hath been too much forbearance used by some toward such for their hardning and emboldning themselves against the Truth and faithful Friends and Brethren that by the marvellous Providence of God that hath suffered such things to come to light some have discovered their woful Ignorance Unbelief and gross Errors by their late words without all shame or fear and that some others have appeared too manifestly inclined to cloak excuse and support them which giveth us too great occasion to suspect them guilty of the same or the like things and that things are come to that pass of late that contrary Testimonies are born in Meetings by one against another and yet both pretending to the Spirit of Truth and great Disputes and Contentions have

was declared That G. K.'s Doctrine concerning Christ within and Christ without to be One Lord Jesus Christ was true and that therefore W. S. was blame worthy and yet after all this W. S. persisted in his false Charge against G. K. and hath been greatly excused and supported by many that this hath given such deep Ground of Offence to all of us with other things concurring that because to this day nothing hath been done it being now above a Year since Complaint was made against W. S. by these of the other side who meet in a Separation from us either to bring W. S. or T. F. to Condemnation but suffer them to continue to Preach and Pray in their Meetings therefore we do justly judge That the whole Meeting that meet in a Separation from us that owneth these Men and tollerateth them in their great Error and Trespasses are guilty with them and accountable for their Errors and therefore according to Christs Command recorded in the holy Scripture we ought to be separate from them altho ' as hath been sufficiently proved they began the Separation and they having begun it we cannot in Conscience unite in Meetings with them here at Philadelphia until they give satisfaction to Truth in these weighty things The Second Cause of the Separation which also we lay at their Door is That whereas in the Monthly Meeting in the first Month last a Proposition being made to change the Meetings both at the Centre and in the Town and some being for the said Change and others against it and having good Reasons why they were against the said Change yet a Party in the Meeting contrary to our declared Mind and Assent assumed a Power over them that dissented to change the said Meetings a thing we have not known formerly allowed by Friends any where in their Monthly Meetings that one Party suppose equal or greater in Number than the rest should assume a Power to appoint or change Places and Times of Meetings without the Consent of their Brethren for things of that Nature especially use always to be done with unanimous Consent and not by Plurality of Votes which is not the way of Truth and because we were not free to stand to the Arbitrary and rash Determination as to that Change therefore we met at the ordinary Meeting-place as formerly practised and they began the Separation in keeping a publick Meeting in the Afternoon at the Bank contrary to our declared Sense and Mind only some of us met at a private Family Meeting in the Evening at the House of G. K. that could be counted no seperate Meeting for that day And afterwards we finding they were resolved to continue in their way of Separation and that some had endeavoured to lock us out from Meeting at the Bank in the Forenoon this put us upon seeking a new place to meet in in case we had been disappointed of the other and tho' some of us did declare our sincere Intention and Sense that it were good but to have one Publick Meeting on first Days to end about the second hour and the remaining part to be used for private Meetings in Families yet their keeping up their publick Afternoons Meeting hath given us just occasion at present to have a Publick Afternoons Meeting as well as they for we hope they shall not have any cause to say against us that we are short of them in our Zeal for good Meetings Things being thus far advanced and the Separation being begun and carried on so far by them and justly chargeable upon them some of them having desired us to make some Proposals or Expedients for healing the Breach and uniting again as formerly after some time we sent some Proposals to them that we were satisfied in our Consciences were most equal and just and such as the Truth required of us but they are so far from being satisfied with most of them that they have the more blamed us some insinuating as if we had transgressed the Law but we are not afraid of any such thing provided true Liberty of Conscience according to the just and due bounds of it be allowed to us and for our part we are so well satisfied that all our Proposals to them in that Paper signed by Fifteen of us are just and equal that if they please we shall freely consent to their Printing of them The sum of which Proposals doth principally consist in these two things first That all such of the Ministry among them whom we can prove Guilty of the Preaching false Doctrine or of falsly accusing the Innocent or excusing and defending the Guilty and contending against some sound Principles of Truth in Meetings appointed for hearing these Differences may be brought to Cnviction and Acknowledgment of their Error and Trespasses And 2dly Seeing by a marvelous Providence that hath discovered it that our Monthly Meetings bere-away have consisted of a mixt Number of some Believers and some Unbelievers or of some Men unsound in the Christian Faith that we agree together to put Robert Barclay's Doctrine well approved of by the best of our Friends in England and particularly by G. F. and G. W. into Practice in his Book called The Anarchy of the Ranters c. see § 4. p. 32 33. and § 6. p. 48 49 which is To declare our Faith and Perswasion in certain Fundamental Doctrines of the Christian Faith and Religion that by the same as well as by a good Life and Conversation it may be known who are quallified to be Members of our Church and that every one owned to be a Member of our Church declare his Faith and Perswasion in every one of these Fundamentals which is a secondary Bond of our Union the Spirit being the principal which may be easily done by answering to some plain Questions with Yea or Nay And now a Third and main Reason that we give for this Separation well warranted both by Scripture Testimony and command of Christ Recorded in Scripture and the truth of it sealed to us by the Spirit of Truth in our Hearts that whereas there are divers of them guilty of most gross Unchristian Errors against the Fundamental Doctrines of the Christian Faith who are Publick Preachers among them and whole Ministry they sit under and some encourage them others tollerate and suffer them and that others even of their Preachers are guilty of other gross Errors and other Trespasses that render them altogether unqualified for the Ministry and to uphold or tollerate them is to bring Reproach to Truth and our Holy Prosession and to the Body of our faithful Friends with all whom we remain in dear Unity in all parts of the World hoping that Faithful Friends and Brethren that have an impartial account and information of us and do rightly and duely consider and examin the Righteousness of our Cause will encourage us therein to the Disappointment of such who affirm the contrary but we being principally supported and encouraged by