Selected quad for the lemma: church_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
church_n	earth_n	heaven_n	militant_a	4,766	5	11.7120	5	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A03882	A treatise concerning the properties and offices of the true Church of Christ VVritten in Latin, by the reuerend Father Iames Gordon Huntley of Scotland, Doctour of Diuinity, of the Society of Iesus. And translated into English, by I.L. of the same Society. The first part of the second controuersy; Controversiarum epitomes. English. Selections	Gordon, James, 1541-1620.; Wright, William, 1563-1639.	1614 (1614)	STC 13997; ESTC S118148	27,620	62

true Church is not the true Church but the false which implieth a contradiction 12. The fift argument is deduced out of those things which our Aduersaries do graunt vnto vs. For the common doctrine of our Aduersaries is as we will shew hereafter that the sincere preaching of the word of God and lawfull administration of Sacraments are the markes and signes of the true Church without which it cannot consist therfore it necessarily followeth that they must also admit that the true Church cannot erre in fayth and in the true preaching of the word of God For that Church cānot sincerely preach the word of God who fouly erreth in points of fayth and in the true preaching therof Caluin also out of diuers places of Scripture doth proue that it is a false Church and not a true which erreth in the principall points of fayth and ●he acknowledgeth that the true Church cannot erre therein they being necessary to saluation Beza in like manner writeth that the true Church cannot erre in the chiefe poyntes of fayth albeit he saith that it erreth in lesser matters the which distinction of poynts of fayth he hath takē out of Caluin The Church therfore cānot erre at the least in chiefe points of faith euē in our Aduersaries iudgmēts 13. Our Aduersaries heape togeather a great many of arguments but they are such as may easily be answered For wher● as they know that their arguments are but weake and almost nothing wor●h they endeauour by the multitude thereof to oppresse the truth or at the least to obscure ●ide it Many of them when they manifestly see that it is impossible that the true Church can consist or be without faith they craftily feygne that the Controuersy betwixt vs is not of this matter but of some other far different that is to say of that vvhereof none euer doubteth so dealeth Caluin with vs. For when he had confessed that to be the false Church and not the true which erreth in principall poynts of fayth consequently that the true Church cannot erre herein as out of his owne words we haue already declared at the last he feigneth that the controuersy in this matter is not whether the Church can erre or no but whether she may erre if she take not for her companion the word of God and that we affirme that whatsoeuer she shall decree eyther without or besids the word of God that the same is to be accounted as a most certayne oracle of God But that he and his affirme that therefore the Church cannot erre because it permitteth it selfe to be directed and gouerned by the sayd word of God and because it teacheth nothing but out of the word of God But this is a meere slander F●or there can no Catholike be found who doth not acknowledge that the Church permitteth it selfe to be directed in all things by the word of God seing that the sole word of God is the obiect of ●aith as we haue sayd be●ore wherfore the true Church proposeth nothing els vnto vs to be belie●ued with a Catholike fayth but the most sincere and true word of God But in this matter only is the controuersy betwixt vs and our Aduersaries that they acknowledg only the written word of the holy Scripture to be the true word of God but we not only acknowledge the written word but also that which was preached and deliuered vnto vs by Christ and his Apostles Wherof we haue said inough in the precedent disputation 14. Some others by friuolous distinctions endeauour to hyde this their error and to obscure and darken most cleare perspicuous matters wheras notwithstanding in very truth they can say nothing els but that which we haue already taught For they inuent and imagine a twofold Church the one pure the other impure wherein they place euen Heretikes themselues this which is impure say they erreth in faith but not that which is pure But we acknowledge only one holy Catholik Church of Christ with the Creed of the Apostles that of the Councel of Nice we willingly yield vnto them their impure Church wherin the Heretikes are For none doubteth but that such a Church may erre But as this is a false not the true Church of Christ so of it is not this present Controuersy but only of the true and pure Church of Christ. 15. Others distinguish the Church into visible and inuisible and they say that the inuisible Church cannot erre but the visible may erre But we haue now already declared that the true Church of Christ must needes be visible Wherfore this distinction is now sufficiently refuted And truly it importeth but a little whether that their inuisible Church can erre or not erre seing that it cannot be seene or knowne of any and consequently cannot be profitable vnto any 16. There are also some of the later Sectaries who distinguish and deuide the Church into the Church of the Saints which are in Heauen and into that which remayneth fighting heere vpon earth And they say that the Church triumphāt of Saints cannot erre in faith or in the doctrine of faith but the Church militant may erre But this is a ridiculous distinction First because the Saints haue not fayth but a cleare vision of God for as the Apostle witnesseth Fayth concerneth things which doe not appeare wherefore if at any tyme faith perished vpon earth without al doubt it could not be ●ound in heauen neyther must we expect the doctrine of fayth from heauen as the Anabaptists doe who seeke for reuelations from heauen● but we must looke to receiue it from the Church militant vpon earth Moreouer the properties and offices of the Church of Christ before alledged out of holy Scripture do not agree as is manifest to the Church triumphant of Saints but to the Church militāt vpon earth For neither is that Church of the Saints betrothed vnto Christ by fayth neyther are the Saynts those who preach vnto vs the word of God who administer the Sacramēts vnto vs who execute the other offices of the Church but men liuing vpō earth wherfore they runne in vaine to this heauenly Church wherof we do not heere dispute 17. Moreouer that is also a very weake reason wherby they thinke that they conuince that the Church militant vpon earth may erre This Church sayth he militant vpon earth is imperfect and therfore the may erre euen in explicating the doctrine of fayth for otherwise a perfect effect might proceed from an imperfect cause So he As though forsooth there could be no other imperfection in the Church besid● infidelity or error in explicating the doctrine of fayth or as though the whole perfection of the Church consisted in fayth only and in the doctrine thereof and not also in charity and other giftes of God as the Apostle declareth at large Or lastly as though this perfection of the Church

disputatiō is not properly of the auncient Church which was before Christs time but of that which ensued the promulgation of the Gospell till this our present age whereof Christ sayth Vpon this rocke I will build my Church and the gates of hell shall not preuaile against it For albeit the Church hath beene alwayes visible euen frō the beginning of the world till the cōming of Christ as Paulus Orosius Eusebius haue out of the holy Scriptures in euery age declared In this our age also Genebrard Sanders and Coccius haue briefly demonstrated the same Yet notwithstanding before the comming of Christ the whole Church of God was in a manner concluded into greater straits of persons and place according to those words of the Prophet Dauid God was knowne in Iury againe He hath not done thus to euery Nation and he hath not manifested or made knowne his iudgment vnto them But amongst the Gentils there were but a few who acnowledged and rightly worshipped God Wherefore the true Church was often reduced vnto a few persons in number but notwithstāding euer visible those very eminent in sanctity and holynesse as is declared by S. Augustins words already alledged But the state and condition of the Church of Christ is farre differēt after the promulgatiō of the Gospell frō that other for now that blessed seed of Abrahā is come wherin all the Natiōs of the earth were to be Blessed Now those prophecies of Christs inheritaūce and Kingdomes are fullfilled Aske of me thee I wil giue all Nations for thy inheritaunce and the bounds of the whole earth for thy possession Also He shall gouerne and reigne from sea to sea and from the ryuer to the end of the whole world And againe All the Kings of the earth shall adore him and all Nations shall serue him Moreouer our Lord hath prepared his holy arme in the eyes of all Nations and all the limits of the earth shall see the saluation of our Lord and God When S. Angustine had alledged this place among others against the Donatists admiring their great madnesse and ignorance who affirme the Church to be eyther inuisible or to ly lurking in some od place only brake forth into these most true words worthy of so great a Doctor who is sayth he so deafe who is so mad and who is foolish to contradict these so cleare euident testimonies but he which knoweth not what he speaketh And truly that the Church of God was farre more knowen and spread ouer the whole world after the promulgation of the Gospell euen in the Apostles tyme then it euer was in the tyme of the law those words of the Apostle do sufficiently declare But Isay haue they not heard And certes into all earth hath the sound of them gone forth and vnto the ends of the whole world the wordes of them And againe speaking vnto the Romā Church he sayth I giue thankes to my God through Iesus Christ for all of you because your fayth is renewed in the whole world 7. Moreouer from the Apostles tyme till this our present age the Church of Christ hath byn not only visible but also spread abroad knowne and most famous throughout diuers Kingdomes of the world as many historiographers as well Ecclesiasticall as prophane doe testify and the worthy Cardinall Caesar Boronius hath euidently declared and that not only throughout all ages but also euery yeare in so much that those who do not consent and agree heereunto are not only to be accounted Insidels but as S. Augustine speaketh very fitly and truely men out of their wittes CHAP. VI. Other arguments of our Aduersaries against the visible Church are confuted THE third argument of our Aduersaries wherby they impugne the visible Church is this the holy Scripture compareth the Church to the moone but the moone doth often tymes not appeare as it hapneth in the new moone and in the Ecclips I answere that we must not seeke for a similitude or likenesse in all thinge● betwixt the Church and the moone for otherwise the Church of Christ should neyther see nor vnderstand nor belieue and it should be altogeather without life as the moone is But in this matter that similitude or liknesse betwixt the Church and the moone is only to be sought out in which the Scripture compareth the Church to the moone but the Scripture doth not compare the Church to the moone as she is a mutable planet but as she is beautifull in her selfe Beautifull saith Salomon as the moone but in mutability the Scripture compareth a soole to the moone but not the Church A foole saith the Wisemen is changed as the moone Moreouer the Church of Christ is not compared to euery moone but only to the moone when she is in her fulnesse perfection yea to the moone which is neuer diminished nor fayleth hēce are those words of the Prophet Isar which Caluin acknowledgeth are to be vnderstood of the Church Thy sunne shall neuer more be set and thy moone shall not be diminished or as Caluin translateth it shall not be hidden Lastly S. Iohn saith that the moone is vnder the feete of the Church that therby we may vnderstād that the Church of Christ by the vertue of the sunne to wit Christ himselfe where withall she is wholy inuested and adorned is free from all mutability in matters of faith 2. The fourth argument Those thinges which we belieue by faith are inuisible but by faith we belieue there is a Catholike Church as appeareth by the Apostles Creed therefore the Catholike Church is inuisible and not visible I answere that this is a weake argument albeit Caluin also vseth it For if it were not it would proue that the holy Scripture were also inuisible because we belieue also the holy Scripture by faith yea it would also proue euen our Aduersaries Church to be as yet inuisible for they as yet belieue their Church by faith and yet they cōfesse that their Church is now visible And truely if their Church had remayned still inuisible they had neuer caused so many tumults in the Christian Common-wealth But certainly euen as in the holy Scriptures we see one thinge and belieue another we see the letters characters the which the Infidels also see but we belieue that the Scripture is most true in all thinges the which they do not belieue so we se that the Church of Christ is extant the which also the Infidels do see for Turkes Iewes do very well know that there is a Pope and that there are Bishops Princes and Christian Nations but we belieue that this Church which we see is an holy Church is gouerned directed by the holy Ghost and that she cannot erre in matters of faith all which the Infidels do not belieue 3. The fifth argument None is in the Church but by faith but faith is inuisible therfore the

which consisteth in a right fayth and a good explication of the doctrine thereof could proceede from the militant Church only and not rather from a most perfect cause to wit from the holy Ghost who continually gouerneth the Church and as the Apostle sayth helpeth her infirmity and imperfection 18. Lastly when our Aduersaries can by no places of Scripture nor other reasons proue that the Church hath erred they goe about to perswade it by many examples And heere they begin a discourse frō our first Father Adam till these our dayes For first they say that Adam ●ost his fayth and so lyke wyfe his wyfe Eue when they both eate of the forbidden fruit consequently the whole Church then erred in fayth Then they runne through all the old testament till Christs tyme and heap togeather many places which say that those who liued in the tyme of the Naturall Mosaycall Laws forsooke God Lastly out of some Historiographers who haue writtē since Christs tyme they sc●●pe togeather all such testimonies as seeme to serue to this purpose in any sort 19. But they labour in vayne For if these kinds of argumēts were good they would also proue that the Church it selfe also wholy perished and was not to be found in any place as in tymes past the Donatists contended the which euen our Aduersaries themselues acknowledge to by very absurd and against the holy Scriptures as hath beene declared before For if all haue lost their fayth then indeed the true Church could no longer be which without fayth cannot consist and thus the whole Church had perished 20. But that which they affirme of Adā and Eue to wit that they lost their fayth by sinning is of no moment at all For to omit that they do not so much proue by that argumēt that they lost their fayth then that after their sinne there remayned neyther any fayth nor Church in the world it is truly manyfest inough that this belongeth nothing to this disputation we now handle For neyther do we heere disput of the Church of Angells nor of that which was in Paradise before the fall of our first parēts but of that only which ensued that promise made vnto all mankind after the sinne of Adam wherein God foretould that there should be perpetuall enmity betwixt the woman and the serpent that is to say betwixt the Church of Christ and Satan And wherein also God foretould that the Church should alwayes haue the victory ouer Sathan as we haue declared more at larg before Wherfore our Aduersaries must needes shew this promise to be frustrate if they desire to conclude any thing against vs. 21. But those examples which they alledge out of the old Testament are the very arguments of the Donatists and other auncient Heretikes who by them went about to proue that the true Church wholy decayed and perished wherunto we haue also sufficiently answered out of S. Augustine 22. And lastly those thinges which they haue takē out of those Authors who wrote after Christs tyme are eyther corrupted by our Aduersaries or taken out of apochriphall Authors and such as are not worthy of credit as the worthy Cardinall Baronius declareth manifestly in euery age in his Ecclesiasticall histories and the same hath Bellarmine donne before him more briefly vnto whome we refer the Reader because they do not appertaine to this present question but rather vnto that which is of the continuall duration of the Church the which now almost euery one doth acknowledge and which we haue sufficiently declared before wherefore these arguments are of so small worth that they need no longer a confutation CHAP. VIII That there is no lawfull calling of Preachers or Pastours of the Church but by the visible Church ONE of the offices of the true Church is to appoint lawfull preachers of the Ghospell and true administers of the Sacraments But because there is no small Controuersy now a dayes concerning this office we will briefely dispatch it But to the end that which is in Controuersy may the better be vnderstood heere are three thinges to be determined First that the calling of God is necessarily required to the end one may become a lawfull preacher or administer the Sacraments For those words of the Apostle are very cleare and manifest How shall they preach vnlesse they be sent And againe Neyther doth any man take the honour to himselfe but he that is called of God as Aaron So Christ also did not glorify himselfe that he might be made a high Priest but he that spake to him My sonne art thou c. Wherefore he who without this lawfull calling and mission dareth presume to intrude himself to meddle with these diuine offices preferreth himself before Christ our Lord. For Christ came not to these offices but called and sent by his eternall Father Lastly if in humane and wordly matters none dare meddle with the affaires or busynes of a Prince without his licence and consent much lesse must any deale with these supernaturall and diuine offices vnlesse he be called and sent for that purpose by God himselfe 2. The second is that there are two kinds of callings by God the one extraordinary the other ordinary The extraordinary calling is when God immediatly by himselfe calleth any in this māner God called Moyses the other Prophets Christ called his Apostles This is called extraordinary because it seldome hapneth It is tearmed also an immediate vocatiō because it is done immediatly by God himselfe The ordinary vocation is that which cōtinueth alwaies in the Church and is done immediatly by the Pastors of the Church and of God only by their meanes Hereupon also this is called a mediate vocatiō to wit in respect of God This diuision is taken out of S. Paul who writeth himselfe to be an Apostle not of men neyther by man but by Iesus Christ and God the Father For by these wordes he sheweth that some which are in the Church are called to the diuine offices by me● and some by God himselfe 3. The third is that those who are taken to Ecclesiasticall offices by the ordinary vocation they receyue their calling and authority from the Church For this ordinary vocation is not done but by the ministers of the Church But the whole Controuersy is of the extraordinary vocation For those who in this age haue brought in new opinions seeing themselues destitute of the ordinary vocation they fly vnto the extraordinary the which say they must not be subiect to the censure and approbation of the Church wherof they know themselues to be destitute But we of the other side affirme that the extraordinary vocation also must necessarily be confirmed and approued by such as haue ordinary vocation in the Church of God And we know very well that our Aduersaries haue not truly this extraordinary vocation as afterward we will declare more at large But suppose we graunt