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	militant_a	triumphant_a	4,249	5	10.5933	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A42726	An answer to the Bishop of Condom (now of Meaux) his Exposition of the Catholick faith, &c. wherein the doctrine of the Church of Rome is detected, and that of the Church of England expressed from the publick acts of both churches : to which are added reflections on his pastoral letter.	Gilbert, John, b. 1658 or 9.	1686 (1686)	Wing G708; ESTC R537	120,993	143

has read the many convincing evidences throughout that whole Book on which M. Daille grounds himself should urge against him only a bare improbability of his understanding the sentiments of foregoing Ages without the least confutation of the things on which he grounds himself So neither is it directly to the question for this does not necessarily suppose that M. Daille should know the sentiments of foregoing Ages better than they for they might know their sense well enough and yet embrace opinions which themselves thought probable and not presently apprehend wherein they contradicted the sentiments of their Predecessors As for that he says to make it still less credible that M. Daille has quoted in his Book several express Texts by which it 's shewn that they pretended in Praying to Saints to follow the example of their Predecessors It 's idle either to expect a satisfactory answer to such an uncertain Discourse or to hope to gain belief when he has not given us the particulars by which only it can be judged how far it does conclude But now the advantage he takes at present from this consent of this being in use in the fourth Age is only this That he hopes those of M. Daille's Communion will have more respect to these Men than with him in derision to give them the name of Reliquarists and that as they dare not accuse those of Idolatry by Praying to Saints or of destroying that trust which Christians ought to put in Jesus Christ so he hopes henceforwards that they will not cast the like reproaches on the Church of Rome when they consider they cannot do it without accusing at the same time those excellent Men. This he may promise himself that we shall not shew any thing like derision of those excellent Men nor give them reproachful names But what he further aims at depends upon the truth of his supposition that by accucusing the Church of Rome as Idolatrous in this respect we cast the same reproach on those famous Men A thing that he who knows the mighty difference we plead between the practice first growing into a custom and those gross extravigancies to which it is since encreased should not have supposed without shewing the practises to be the same Which how they first began and by what degrees encreased to their present height as First From Mens desires to one another to be mindful of them after-their departure Secondly From an opinion that some help was communicated to the Church from the fellowship between the Militant and the church-Church-Triumphant grounded upon a supposition that if Souls departed were mindful of any thing they bore the same affection to their Members as when on Earth and so would intercede with God for them which Thirdly Begun to be more confirmed by some miraculous effects which God was pleased to work in places where the memory of the Martyrs was had in Reverence Which Fourthly Gave occasion to those Prayers which were made upon a faint supposition of their knowing things below which Prayers were rather Wishes than Prayers as Cassander Vtinam Sancti orent And so grew by degrees as Men willing to justifie themselves in what they had gave entrance to persuaded themselves more of the probability by framing suppositions to themselves of God's wanting not means to make known their desires to them 'till it came at last to be received that God really did make them known by ways best known to himself which is now made matter of Faith and the practise thus encreased absolutely commanded Those who are willing to see particular information I refer to that excellent Book of Bishop Vsher's Answer to the Jesuits Challenge and for the degrees by which the publick Forms now in use got possession in the Liturgies to Dr. Chaloner's Progress of Heresie This Digression in me I hope is pardonable since M. Condom himself led me out of the way with whom I now return to follow the design SECT IV. Concerning Invocation of Saints HEre in the first place he acknowledges That the Church of Rome does teach them that it is profitable to pray to Saints Now this the Church of England declares to be 39 Articles of the Church of England Article 22. unprofitable and a vain invention not grounded upon any Warrant in Scripture but rather repugnant to the Word of God But he goes on and says The Church of Rome teaches them to pray to Saints in the same spirit of charity and according to the same order of fraternal society which moves us to demand assistance from our brethren here on earth whence their Catechism concludes that if Christ's mediatorship receive no prejudice from the intercession made to the faithful who live with us neither does it from the intercession made to the Saints But here we must take leave to observe that if the ground upon which they found this Doctrine be as he intimates that Relation and Fellowship which Saints departed have with the Church here as we the living members have one with another as I confess may be implied in the instances given in that Catechism of Job's praying for his friends c. mention'd before it insers the conclusion here spoken of yet it cannot be said that this Church teaches men to pray after no other manner to the Saints than to their brethren that are living nor with no Concil Trid. Sess 25. Dec. de Invocat greater confidence of success since the Council expresly decrees for the Invocation of them and also for Mental Supplication and M. Condom acknowledges a peculiar acceptableness of these with God upon account of their virtues p. 9. and their Catechism Cat. Rom. de Culen Inv. expresly teaches that God confers many benefits upon us for their sake and merit He passes on to shew us from their Catechism the difference between their imploring the aid of Saints and the assistance of God that they pray to Saints to undertake their cause with God but to God to give them the things they ask and therefore their Forms are different that where they are not the intention of the Church reduces them all to this difference Not denying for the present but the intention of the Church may be to reduce them to this distinction yet it shall remain questionable whether it may lawfully use such Forms as according to their nature are proper only to God and by which themselves express desires that ought to be peculiar to him to the Saints with a different intention For a further confirmation of the sense delivered he produces the injunction of the Council to the Bishops what they ought to teach the people concerning Invocation of Saints That the Saints who reign with Jesus Christ offer up to God their prayers for men that it is good and profitable to invocate them after an humble manner and to have recourse to their prayers aid and assistance to obtain of God his benefits through our Lord Jesus Christ his Son who is our sole Saviour

there being so vast a difference between those Sacraments which by virtue of our blessed Saviour's peculiar Institution are Seals exhibitive of all the promises of the Gospel and which take effect to this purpose from that Institution and others that are only means of particular graces to this or that particular effect some of which also can be hoped to take effect only in consideration of the Prayers of the Church and have no other virtue than what these Prayers can be hoped to produce Baptism About Baptism in particular I know but one material difference for the Church of England sufficiently presses its efficacy and necessity and has provided what she can that none may want it only she dares not determine it of that absolute necessity as to deny salvation to those Infants that dye without it The Romanists themselves allow the desire of it to supply the want of it to Justification in the adult and when St. Peter tells us that it is not the washing away the filth of the flesh but the answer of a good conscience towards God that saves us in Baptism why therefore they should not think the design of Christian Parents dedicating them to God's service and the profession of Christianity should not as well supply the want of it in case of necessity as it does render the washing effectual in the use of it I cannot apprehend Confirmation Confirmation is not in the least rejected by us but used with solemnity becoming such an Exercise and intended to the utmost effect that the Bishops Prayer and the Suffrages of the whole Congregation joyned with it can be hoped to procure of that grace which may enable all that come thereto both to will and to do what before their coming to that action they are taught they must then resolve upon viz. the prosession of Christianity in their own names undertaking to abide by it with their lives Penance Touching Penance we believe that Christ having committed to his Church the power of binding and loosing mens sins for edification and likewise committed to her the dispensation of the Mysteries of the Gospel Baptism and the Eucharist has given her authority as of admitting to so of casting out of the Church so that when it shall appear that any have visibly transgress'd that profession upon which they were admitted members of the Christian Church by Baptism she has full authority to call such to an account and to exclude them in part or altogether from her communion till they shall have submitted to and peformed such acts of humiliation as may both warrant her to admit them to her communion again by some assurance of their true repentance and recovery of the state of grace which alone entitles to it and likewise satisfie the Church for the scandal given by their Apostasie Likewise we believe that all who being baptized have made profession of Christianity are by that profession obliged to submit themselves to this discipline which the Church exercises for the cure of sin Further we prove that when the Church proceeds aright in the exercise of this authority excluding those from her communion who are visibly faln from the state of grace and admitting them again into it after it has wrought the cure of sin by enjoyning such acts of humiliation as have wrought a true repentance she acts according to Christs commission and what she does is valid and ratified by him to so great effect that what she binds on earth is bound in heaven and what she looses on earth is loosed in heaven We further say That God having provided this means for the procuring and assuring the pardon of sin by his Church does both teach private Christians what course they ought to take for the working in themselves a true repentance by acts of mortification and self-denial and invite them to bring their secret sins unto the Church so far as they shall be convinced within themselves that the Ministry of the Church may be beneficial to them by her Prayers or Discipline to work this effect But we declare on the other side That though we believe the Church has full authority thus to act in the cure of sin yet it has no authority to pardon sin till after it has wrought the cure so that if it shall absolve any from their sins in whom it has not first wrought a true repentance that act is null for the Church which is only ministerial to procure can have no authority to abate that condition which the Gospel requires to the remission of sins true Repentance And therefore 2ly we further declare That though the Churches Discipline be of great efficacy to procure this condition necessary to the remission of sins yet inasmuch as it is possible for men to work it in themselves without it by their earnest Prayers Humiliation and other Endeavours assisted by God's grace that the sins of such are pardoned by God without this discipline of the Church And therefore 3ly we also declare That whatever benefit may be in mens laying open their secret sins to the Church in obtaining the pardon of their sins yet there is no absolute necessity on them so to do for that their sins shall assuredly be forgiven without it so they be truly penitent Also out of a due apprehension of the exceeding usefulness of this Discipline i. e. Publick Penance in the Church of Christ and the great decay of Christian Piety sensibly fell through the want of it our Church laments its loss and the abominable abuses that crept into it of which the iniquity of the age took so great advantage as has for the present rendred it almost impracticable but to the utmost effect she can she does exercise it and to the best for the edification of her children But whilst we thus lament that this Discipline left by our blessed Saviour in his Church is in so great a measure lost and become impracticable yet there will not be so much reason to repent of our Reformation upon this account It was not the Reformation that cast off this necessary and saving Discipline but the corruptions of former ages that had brought in abuses to that excess that rendred it not possible for the Reformation at the removal of them to maintain it in the authority it ought to have had To what degree those abuses were arrived we shall be able to guess when we have considered those that are still maintained in Concil Trid. Sess 14. the Church of Rome which teaches thus 1 Cap. 1. That those who fall from grace after Baptism have need of another Sacrament to restore them and therefore our Saviour instituted this of Penance 2 Cap. 3. Can. 4. That the Form of this Sacrament consists in the words I absolve thee the matter of it is Contrition Confession Satisfaction condemning those who say Penance is no other than a Conscience terrified for its sins and faith to lay hold on Christ for forgiveness