Selected quad for the lemma: church_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
church_n	doctrine_n	rome_n	transubstantiation_n	3,441	5	11.1236	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A13839	A synopsis or compendium of the fathers, or of the most famous and ancient doctors of the Church, as also of the schoolmen Wherein is clearely shewed how much is to be attributed to them, in what severall times they lived, with what caution they are to be read, and which were their perfections, which their errors. A treatise most necessary, and profitable to young divines, and delightfull to all such whose studies in humanity take from them the leisure, though not the desire of reading the fathers; whose curiosity this briefe surveigh of antiquity will in part satisfie. Written in Latin by that reverend and renowned divine, Daniel Tossanus, chiefe Professor of Divinity in the University of Heidelberge, and faithfully Englished by A.S. Gent.; Synopsis de patribus. English	Tossanus, Daniel, 1541-1602.; Stafford, Anthony.	1635 (1635)	STC 24145; ESTC S118496	31,571	108

not of much lesse Authority but in which almost nothing but the Decrees of the former Councels were establisht as that of Constantinople the fourth and sixth about the yeere 680. which condemned the errors of the Monothelites who averred that the Deity Humanity of Christ had onely one will and operation But Gregory the first Bishop of Rome erred who lib. 2. epist 10. writeth thus Quatuor Synodos sanctae universalis Ecclesiae sicut quatuor libros sancti Evangelii recipimus Wee receive the foure Synods of the holy universall Church as wee doe the foure Evangelists Gratianus writeth somewhat better in Decreto Canon 3. Sancta Romana Ecclesia post veteris et novi Testamenti Scripturas quas regulariter suscipit etiam quatuor Synodos suscipi non prohibet The holy Roman Church saith hee after the Scriptures of the old and new Testament which it regularly receives doth not forbid the admittance of the foure Synods Moreover these rules are to be observed concerning those foure Oecumenicall Councels Wee must beleeve the Scriptures for themselves because they have never erred in matters words or sentences but we beleeve the Councels not for themselves but for the Scriptures The certainety of the Symbols and confessions of Faith made by those Councels doth not consist in the authority of the men or the places but in the perpetuall consent of the whole Church from the time of the Apostles Councels have no power of making new Articles of Faith but onely to explaine them by Scripture and produce them against Hereticks Councels may bee ex●mined and searched what is in them agreeable to the Divine Word and what not For if to those of Beraea it were lawfull to examine the Doctrine of Saint Paul and conferre it with the Scriptures why may not wee examine the Councels since many of them contradictone another as the Nicene and the Ariminensian the Chalcedonian and the second Ephesian the sixt at Constantine-Poole touching the pulling down of Images and the second Nicene under Irenes against the defacers of Images Also many have erred as that of Carthage before the Nicene of the re-baptizing of Heretickes the Nicene concerning warfare the second Ephesian in defending Euryches although some great and famous men were present Leo Bishop of Rome epist 30. 31. saith that hee doth approve of the decrees of the Chalcedon Synod as farre as they concerne Doctrine but not those which were acted with Anatholius And the saying of Saint Austin lib. 3. cont Maximinus is very remarkeable Nec ego tibi Nicoenum Concilium nec tu mihi Arimin●●●e tanquam praeiudicaturus proferas nec ego huius authoritate nec tu illius detineris Scripturarum authoritatibus non quorumlibet propriis sed utrisque communibus testibus certemus res cum re ratio cum ratione decertet Neither saith hee will I with prejudice urge against thee the Nicene Councell neither doe thou prejudice against mee the Ariminensian neither am I tyed to the Authority of the one nor thou of the other Let us both submit our selves to the Authority of the Scriptures witnesses not proper to one but common to both Let one matter one reason contest with another But some Councels deliberated onely upon those things which appertained to the Ecclesiasticall policy as that of Spain and the Laodicenian Other Councels decreed partly some things holy partly many impious as the Lateran celebrated at Rome under Innocent the third where the prophane Doctrine of Transubstantiation was ranked with the Articles of our faith And so in the following Councels the state of the Church alwayes declining many Idolatries were established so that not without cause the Evangelical Churches have rejected their Authority and have appealed from them to the Antiquity of the Apostolicall Age. CHAP. III. Of the private Writings of the Fathers BEfore the Nicene Councell there flourished in the Church the two Disciples of the Apostles Polycarpus and Ignatius in their youth Auditors of Saint Iohn the Apostle But of these there are no writings extant except certaine fragments of the Epistles of Ignatius To them succeeded Irenaeus Bishop of Lions and Iustinus the Philosopher surnamed Martyr in the reigne of Antonius the Emperour Hierom in his Catalogue of the Ecclesiasticall Writers testifieth Irenaeus to have written many things but now there is only one Volume remaining consisting of five bookes against the Heresie of Valentinus and the like wherein there are excellent sayings of the cunning Arguments of Heretickes as also of the authority and consent of the Ecclesiastical Doctrine Among others this saying is very rife lib. 3. cap. 21. Christum pro nobis passum requiesconte verbo at crucifigi et mori posset The Word resting Christ suffer'd for us that he might be crucified and dye Irenaeus anno 70. was set forth at Geneva with the notes of Nicholas Gelasius who hath explained certaine things unfitly spoken as that in his third Booke Filium hominis commixtum verbo Dei The sonne of man is mixt with the word of God Also Mariam sibi et universo generi humano factam causam salutis Mary was made the cause of salvation to her selfe and all mankind which to say is blasphemy unlesse we consider her as the Organ through which our Saviour passed into the world There are extant both deserving and learned writings of Iustinus Martyr in Greeke Questions and Answers against the Gentiles about true faith and an Apology for the Christians to Antoninus In the second booke there is a memorable place of the Liturgy of the Ancient Christians out of which may bee proved how much the Papists degenerate from the custome of the ancient Church for thus hee saith Die qui Solis dicitur omnes tum qui in opidis tum qui in agris morantur in unum convenimus et ex Commentariis Apostolorum et Prophetarum Scriptis recitatur quantam licet Deinde ubi destitit qui recitat antistes orationem habet quae admonet hertaturque ad pulchrarum illarum rerum imitationem Postea omnes una surgimus et precamur Postquam autem à precibus destitimus profertur panis et vinum et aqua Tum antistes rursus precatur et gratias agit quanta potest contentione populusque acclamat dicens Amen et iis super quibus actae sunt gratiae unusquisque participat On the day called Sunday wee assemble together as well they which are in the Townes as those that dwell in the fields when as much as is convenient is recited out of the Commentaries of the Apostles and writings of the Prophets When the Reciter hath ended the chiefe Priest maketh an Oration which admonisheth and exhorts to the imitation of those faire things After this we rise altogether and pray prayers being ended there is brought forth bread wine and water Then the chiefe Priest prayeth againe and gives thankes with as great ardency as he can and the people cry Amen Then every one participates of

the Fathers or other men were injustice and contumely against the holy Ghost himselfe especially since our Faith doth not consist in wisedome or in the words of men but in the power of God or in the evident proofes of the holy Ghost 1 Cor. 2. 8. Wherefore Saint Austine writeth thus against the Donausts lib. 2. cap. 3. Quis nescit sanctam Scripturam Canonicam tam veteris quam novi Testamenti omnibus posterioribus Episcoporum literis ita praeponi ut de illa omnino dubitari et disceptari non possit Episcoporum autem literis quae post confirmatum Canonem vel scriptae sunt vel scribuntur a doctioribus libere reprehendi et particularia Concilia a plenariis et haec quoque a posterioribus emendari Who knoweth not the holy Scripture Canonicall as well of the old as New Testament so farre to excell all the writings of the later Bishops as that there needs no doubt or dispute thereof and that the workes of Bishops which have beene or are now written after the confirmed Canon may bee freely reprehended by the more learned and that particular Councels may be amended by Generall and these also by the Successive 9. Moreover Whereas many complaine of the obscurity of the Scriptures wee ought to make no scruple thereof there being greater obscurity lesse purity and certainety in the writings of men as plainly manifest the almost infinite Commentaries upon Peter Lombard and not a few animadversions of the Sorbonists upon him Cum it a sit temperata Scripturae obscuritas they be the words of Saint Austine lib. 3. de Doct. Christ ut facile quis se possit expedire modo cum similibus et apertioribus locis Scripturae locum obscuriorem conferamus et imprimis oculos a scopo non dem●veamus et quod in uno idiomate non intelligimus ex alio cognoscere studeamus Whereas the obscurity of the Scriptures is so temper'd that wee may easily explaine it if we conferre the obscure place with places more open and perspicuous especially if wee move not our eyes from the scope and what wee understand not in one tongue wee study to know by another 10. Lastly the Fathers have often erred as also the Schoolemen as the Papists themselves confesse but that the Scriptures are voyd of all error no Christian doubteth 11. It is enquired therefore whether there bee any need of reading the Fathers and ancient Doctors and if it bee needfull how much wee ought attribute to them 12. To read the Fathers profitably no man forbiddeth but it is not necessary to reade them all neither are they promiscuously to bee read by all persons neither to the same proper end that wee read the Scriptures 13. They are not presently to bee accounted the writings of the Fathers that are fathered on them As for example Some things passe under the name of one Dionissius Areopagita others under that of Origen whereof part were forged by idle Monks part were falsly attributed to those Fathers as also many Legends of Saints Neither hath every man such light and knowledge of the Scriptures as may enable him to judge of the Fathers whom wee reade not as Foundations of our Faith 14. Civitas Dei saith Austin lib. 19. de Civit Dei c. 18. dubitatîonem Academicoram tanquam Dementiam detestatur credit Scripturis sanctis veteribus et novis quas Canonicas appellamus unde fides ipsa concepta est qua justus vivit per quam sine dubitatione ambulamus The City of God detests all the doubts of the Academicks as meere madnesse She beleeves the sacred Scriptures both old and new which are called Canonicall from whence Faith it selfe is derived wherby the Just shall live by which wee walke with full assurance 15. Wherefore Christ and the Apostles when they taught did not cite the Rabins nor any Father before them but Moses and the Prophets nor was it in vaine decreed in the third Councell of Cartharge that nothing should be read in the Church but the Canonicall Scriptures 16. But the Fathers are read and are often cited in the Schooles partly that wee may see the consent of the ancient Church concerning the principall Heads of Doctrine after they were first constituted by the sacred Scriptures and partly that we may know the History of the Church and discerne her inclination who as witnesseth Eusebeus lib. 3. Hist cap. 29. after the Apostles times remained not long a Virgin nor long retained her faith incorrupted partly also that wee may accommodate to our use the many pious admonitions and consolations savouring of the very spirit of Martyrdome together with the many elegant similitudes comparisons as somewhere saith Erasmus 17. And wee reade so that wee may try all as admonisheth Saint Hierom in epist ad Minerium Meum est prepositum Antiquos legere probare singula retinere quae bona sunt et a fide verae Ecclesiae Catholicae non recedere It is my purpose to reade the Aneients to prove every particular to retaine that which is good and not to fall from the Faith of the true Catholike Church 18. The same in a manner writes Saint Austine to Bishop Fortunatianus Neque enim inquit quorumlibet Disputationes quamvis Catholicorum et laudatorum hominum velut Scripturas Canonicas habeee debemus ut nobis non liceat salva honorificentia quae illis debetur hominibus aliquid in eorum Scriptis reprobare atquerespuere si forte inveniamus quod aliter senserint quam veritas habet Talis ego sum in Scriptis aliorum tales volo esse inttllectores meorum Neither saith he ought wee to have the Disputations of any in the same esteeme with the Canonicall Scriptures although they bee men truly Catholike and praise-worthy nor to lose the freedome paying the reverence due to them of censuring their writings if wee finde any thing in them not consonant to Truth Such am I in the workes of others such would I have the understanders of mine 19. Wherefore the madnesse of them is great who without choyce would simply admit all the sayings of the Fathers which often contradict each other and as often digresse from the Truth 20. Lapsus est a fide et crimen maximae Superbiae saith Saint Basil in oration de confession fidei velle a Scripturis recedere veleas solas cum agitur de side molle admittere Christus enim ait suas oves suam vocem audire non alterius It is a falling from the faith and a crime of the highest Arrogancy to forsake the Scriptures or when Faith is our Theme not to receive them onely For Christ saith His Sheepe heare his voyce not anothers 21. Wherefore Saint Austine when Cyprians authority was urged against him concerning Baptisme of Heretickes answered that hee held not the Epistles of Saint Cyprian for Canonicall and when Saint Hierome had cited three or foure Fathers touching the reprehension of Saint Peter by Saint Paul hee replyed that hee also

those things already consecrated by prayer and thanksgiving This among other things some approve not of in Iustinus Martyr that while hee labours to convince the Gentiles out of the writings of the Philosophers hee sometimes attributes too much to the later whose subtilty certainely did not penetrate to these mysteries of the kingdome of heaven At that time flourished the Alexandrian an Schoole Commodus being Emperour and namely the famous Clemens Alexandrinus anno 195. many of whose writings are yet extant in Greeke as the adhortatory booke against the Gentiles called Protrepticos three bookes of the Schoolemaster wherein hee teacheth the Sonne of God to be our Tutor and what ought to bee the manners of Christians Commentaries of the divers and manifold literature required to institute a Christian Philosopher Lib. 3. strom hee makes mention of a Gospell according to the Egyptians wherein there is a saying of Christ to Solon Veni ad dissolvendum opera foeminae I came to dissolve the workes of the woman But they are fabulous That in his second booke of the Schoole-master seemeth to some harsh and may bee wrested to a more hard construction Duplicem esse Sanguinem Domini alterum carnalem quo redempti sumus alterum spiritualem quo uncti et hoc essebibere sanguinem Domini incorruptionis eius esse participem That there is a two-fold blood of our Lord the one carnall whereby wee are redeemed the other spirituall wherewith wee are anointed and this is to drinke the blood of our Lord to be a partaker of his Incorruption Where the blood of Christ is improperly put for the effect or fruit thereof Origen was the Disciple of Clement under Severus the Emperour ann 200. after Christ who being from his Infancy throughly grounded in al kind of learning had also an incredible zeale in comforting the Martyrs as also industry and acutenesse in confuting the Philosophers and those Arrabians who would have soules to dye with their bodies as also Berillus the Hereticke who denyed the eternity of Christ whom at length hee reduc'd into the right way See Euseb lib. 6. cap. 2. and 4. But as the sharpest and best metled Knives easily grow dull or are broken so oftentimes the most acute wits either by too much confidence or inconstancy are soone overthrowne So it befell Origen who for his many errours as of all soules created at once of the Resurrection of new bodies according to substance of the salvation of the Divels at last of the possibility of the Law against the Doctrine of Iustification is ranked rather with the Heretickes than the Fathers Of the Origenists Heretickes see Saint Augustine cap 43. de haeresib and Epiphanius who with a strong endevour of minde opposed Origen and Hieram Tom. 6. confuteth some of his errours Yet wanteth hee not his defenders who excuse him and thinke many things to be falsly imputed to him as Pamphi●us the Priest Ruffinus and Chrysostome Some of his books are yet extant as eight bookes of Principles against Celsus and Commentaries upon Pentateucham and the Epistle to the Romans At the same time lived S. Tertullian whom the Historians make somewhat ancienter than Origen His writings are extant in Latine in a stile harsh and rough enough although in some places as the Learned affirme it is mutilated and misplaced especially in what he wrote against Marcia and Praxea He wrote many things not to be dispised of praescriptions against Heretickes of Patience of the flesh of Christ of the resurrection of Christ of the Trinity of Baptisme but above all his Apology against the Gentiles deserves prayse which as Saint Hierome affirmes containes the learning of all Ages In other of his books he is either too pure or too crabbed and severe as in his booke touching flight in persecution which hee simply dis-allowes also in his booke of Fasting of the Cloke of the Crowne of a Souldier of Virgins to be veyled But in his bookes to his Wife and of having one onely Wife Monogamy and of the exhortation to Chastity he seemes to embrace the errors of Montanus Saint Hierome thinkes Tertullian to have beene provoked to this by the Roman Clergie B. Rhenanus excuseth him thus That in the time of Persecution and the day of Judgement as most of the Ancients then thought being at hand hee judged Mariage not greatly to be desired Hee was addicted to the opinion of the Chiliasts as is collected out of his third booke against Marcio In his booke against Praxea are many dangerous phrases as Patrem tota substantia Deum esse Filium derivatione et portione aliqua Deitatis That the Father is God according to the whole substance the Sonne by derivation and some part of the God-head Saint Augustine de Genes ad literam lib. 10. cap. 25. notes also this errour in Tertullian that he beleeved the soule to be a body for no other cause saith the same Father then that hee could not thinke it to be incorporeall fearing lest it should be nothing if it were not a body Neither could hee conceive otherwise of God himselfe to whom he gave a body Which notwithstanding S. Augustine elsewhere so interprets as if he there understood by a body a Nature or Substance Yet are these Acurologiai to be avoyded These things considered who seeth not how preposterous the judgements of the Papists are who complaine of the obscurity of the Scriptures and tye us to the Fathers that is lead us from certainties to uncertainties from things simply true to doubtfull from cleare to troubled and perplexed For whether or no they did it out of weakenesse or out of policy to draw and allure the heathen to them it is incredible to be spoken sometimes how wittily and sometimes againe how simply the Fathers of those times have Philosophiz'd concerning things Divine To omit Ceremonies many of which the Papists themselves have changed as that in the time of Tertullian milke and wine were given to the Baptized that Christians abstained from Sawsiges and Puddings that they offer'd sacrifices for the dead and on birth dayes In the yeare of Christ 250. Decius and Valerianus being Emperours flourished Coecilius Cyprianus an Affrican Hee was first a Rhetorician then a Priest next a Bishop and at length a Martyr of Christ whom Lactantius commends for perspicuity and elegancy of phrase Erasmus gives him this Testimony Si omnia Cypriani opera haberemus quae magna ex parte interciderunt cum unum multorum instar haberi posse sive Eloqu●ntiam sive Doctrinam sive Apostolici Spiritus vigorem spectes If we had all Cyprians workes whereof many are lost hee alone would in value counterpoize many either in respect of Eloquence Doctrine or the vigour of the Apostolicall spirit Gratianus in 1 parte Decreti Dist 15. can 3. when he numbreth the Fathers received in the Church beginneth with Saint Cyprian Except his Epistles and some other short Tracts as