Selected quad for the lemma: church_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
church_n	epistle_n	paul_n	timothy_n	2,910	5	10.4803	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A30329	A collection of papers against popery and arbitrary government written by G. Burnet.	Burnet, Gilbert, 1643-1715.	1689 (1689)	Wing B5769; ESTC R32598	57,102	50

A Collection of PAPERS AGAINST POPERY AND Arbitrary Government Written by G. BVRNET D. D. Printed at Amsterdam and sold by J. Robinson in London MDCLXXXIX A Letter containing some Remarks on the two Papers writ by his late Majesty King Charles the Second concerning Religion SIR I thank you for the two Royal Papers that you have sent me I had heard of them before but now we have them so well attested that there is no hazard of being deceived by a false Copy you expect that in return I should let you know what Impression they have made upon me I pay all the reverence that is due to a Crown'd Head even in Ashes to which I will never be wanting far less am I capable of suspecting the Royal Attestation that accompanies them of the truth of which I take it for granted no man doubts but I must crave leave to tell you that I am confident the late King only copied them and that they are not of his composing for as they have nothing of that free Air with which he expressed himself so there is a Contexture in them that does not look like a Prince and the beginning of the first shewes it was the effect of a Conversation and was to be communicated to another so that I am apt to think they were composed by another and were so well relished by the late King that he thought fit to keep them in order to his examining them more particularly and that he was prevailed with to Copy them lest a Paper of that nature might have been made a crime if it had been found about him written by another hand and I could name one or two Persons who as they were able enough to compose such Papers so had power enough over his Spirit to engage him to Copy them and to put themselves out of danger by restoring the Original You ought to address your self to the learned Divines of our Church for an answer to such things in them as pussle you and not to one that has not the honour to be of that Body and that has now carried a Sword for some time and imploys the leasure that at any time he enjoyes rather in Philosophical and Mathematical Enquiries than in matters of Controversy There is indeed one Consideration that determined me more easily to comply with your desires which is my having had the honour to discourse copiously of those matters with the late King himself and he having proposed to me some of the particulars that I find in those Papers I having said several things to him in answer to those Heads which he offered to me only as Objections with which he seemed fully satisfied I am the more willing to communicate to you that which I took the liberty to lay before his late Majesty on several occasions the particulars on which he insisted in discourse with me were the uselesness of a Law without a Judge and the neecssity of an infallible Tribunal to determine Controversies to which he added the many Sects that were in England which seemed to be a necessary consequence of the Liberty that every one took to interpret the Scriptures and he often repeated that of the Church of Englands arguing from the obligation to obey the Church against the Sectaries which he thought was of no force unless they allowed more Authority to the Church than they seemed willing to admit in their Disputes with the Church of Rome But upon this whole Matter I will offer you some Reflections that will I hope be of as great weight with you as they are with my self I. All Arguments that prove upon such general Considerations that there ought to be an Infallible Judge named by Christ and clothed with his Authority signify nothing unless it can be shewed us in what Texts of Scripture that nomination is to be found and till that is shewed they are only Arguments brought to prove that Christ ought to have done somewhat that he has not done So these are in effect so many Arguments against Christ unless it appears that he has authorised such a Iudge therefore the right way to end this dispute is to shew where such a Constitution is authorised So that the most that can be made of this is that it amounts to a favorable presumption II. It is a very unreasonable thing for us to form Presumptions of what is or ought to be from Inconveniences that do arise in case that such things are not for we may carry this so far that it will not be easie to stop it It seems more sutable to the infinite Goodness of God to communicate the knowledge of himself to all Mankind and to furnish every Man with such assistances as will certainly prevail over him It seems also reasonable to think that so perfect a Saviour as Iesus Christ was should have shewed us a certain Way and yet consistent with the free Use of our Faculties of avoiding all sin nor is it very easy to imagine that it should be a reproach on his Gospel if there is not an Infallible Preservative against Errour when it is acknowledged that there is no infallible Preservative against Sin for it is certain that the one Damns us more Infallibly than the other III. Since Presumptions are so much insisted on to prove what things must be appointed by Christ it is to be considered that it is also a reasonable Presumption that if such a Court was appointed by him it must be done in such plain terms that there can be no room to question the meaning of them and since this is the hinge upon which all other matters turn it ought to be expressed so particularly in whom it is vested that there should be no occasion given to dispute whether it is in One Man or in A Body and if in a Body whether in the Majority or in the two thirds or in the whole Body unanimously agreeing in short the Chief thing in all Governments being the Nature and Power of the Judges those are always distinctly specified and therefore if these things are not specified in the Scriptures it is at least a strong Presumption that Christ did not intend to authorise such Judges IV. There were several Controversies raised among the Churches to which the Apostles writ as appears by the Epistles to the Romans Corinthians Galatians and Colossians yet the Apostles never make use of those passages that are pretended for this Authority to put an end to those Controversies which is a shrewd Presumption that they did not understand them in that sense in which the Church of Rome does now take them Nor does St. Paul in the directions that he gives to Church-men in his Epistles to Timothy and Titus reckon this of submitting to the directions of the Church for one which he could not have omitted if this be the true meaning of those disputed passages and yet he has not one word sounding that way which is very different from the directions