Selected quad for the lemma: church_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
church_n	scripture_n	tradition_n	unwritten_a	5,821	5	12.7929	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A93062	The sinfulnesse of evil thoughts: or, a discourse, wherein, the chambers of imagery are unlocked: the cabinet of the heart opened. The secrets of the inner-man disclosed. In the particular discovery of the numerous evil thoughts, to be found in the most of men, with their various, and severall kinds, sinful causes, sad effects, and proper remedies or cures. Together with directions how to observe and keep the heart; the highest, hardest, nad most necessary work of him that would be a real Christian. / By Jo. Sheffeild Pastor of Swithins London.	Sheffeild, John, d. 1680.	1650 (1650)	Wing S3064A; Thomason E1863_1	165,696	337

for us How slightly do they speak of God Who is the Lord And what can he do for us So in Zephany The Lord will neither do good nor evill These men Zeph. 1. 11. are settled on their lees and dregs of impiety and irreligion whereas it is the language of the Godly Who is like unto thee O Lord Who is like the God of Israel And Ex. 15. 11. Psal 89. 8. Deut. 33. 26. hereby do the Godly know they have been spirituall in their duties if they rise up in the duty to or depart from the duty with higher more raised admiring and exalting thoughts of God in their hearts and more low and self abasing thoughts of themselves CHAP. VIII Of Atheisticall thoughts HAving before spoke of severall kindes of Atheists I shall here speak of the Atheisticall thought A thought so black Irrationall Bruitish and horrid as can be thought A thought which may be darted and haply glance at a gracious heart but can onely find footing and stick with a heart altogether gracelesse To shew the heinousnesse and hatefullnesse whereof I may boldly say five things 1. That it cannot possibly be received but where the man hath first worne out his conscience and all principles of religion It doth ipso facto unsaint a Saint upon its first admission Some other Errors possibly may stand with grace this entertained cannot 2. Nor doth it ever stick but where the man hath lost his reason and his braines too as well as his conscience It is not onely against the light of Scripture but nature even corrupted nature and doth consequently not onely un-saint the Christian but un-man the man Some other Errors have some seeming reason on their side This utterly none It is the fool onely who saith that is imagineth in his heart There is no God And have they no knowledge saith he afterwardes No indeed none Psal 14. 1. and 4. at all either spirituall or so much as naturall The whole Host of heaven and earth and all the creatures animate and inanimate combine together to bear witnesse against this folly and impiety They are all Gods witnesses and say to man if thou denyest a God thou art a lyar or if thou doubtest thou art a fool and we will prove it For who could make these visible heavens but the invisible Deity Who could make the eye but he who is all eye and give the understanding but he who is all understanding Though many of the creatures are mute and cant speak another word they all plainly pronounce this one word A God a God This is the sound of the harmony of the heavens and the note of the whole universe there is no speech nor language where this voice is not heard So much Divinity at least is received for Orthodox among all Nations established not by particular nationall or general Counsells convened as some other points but by the Oecumenicall counsell of mankind though never convened together and subscribed to man by man all the world over and hath gained universall consent in all ages and places as the first if not onely principle of naturall beliefe and our mother natures Creed Some Nations have one Creed some another some have altered their present Creeds this was never altered but received by all without dispute or contradiction There be some people that admit of some books of holy Scripture onely as the Samaritans of old and the Turk at this day of the five books of Moses Some receive the Old Testament entirely as the Jowes Some receive the old and New Testament both as the sound Christian Churches Some admit the Apocrypha and unwritten Traditions too as the Papists Some reject all the whole Bible and have no written Scripture But all have this Scripture written in their hearts the most ancient Scripture in the world before there were any penman of holy Writ And this is universally received and read in all nations in their mother Tongue and expounded in their several and different the most corrupt exercises of religion and worship There have been several Sorts of Philosophers in the world one opposing and thwarting anothers Axiomes there have been several sects of Hereticks in the Church all opposing other truthes and rejecting the soundest Creeds There have been oppositions in all sciences disputes against every thing said or practised in all arts trades professions But all sorts of Philosophers hereticks of all arts trades professions and sciences have unanimously concurred in this when nothing else There is a God However People are divided by Lands and Seas dissonant in their Language and complections more different in their lawes customes manners apparell yet in this all Nations by a divine instinct harmoniously agree there is and of force must be acknowledged There is a God And a little reason will serve to prove it for as when I see a son I must needs yeeld this child had a Father so when I see the creatures I must needs grant a Creator who is the Lord. Therefore hold this fast 3. This is the most Destructive thought and error in the world Some errors are about the Superstructure this a fundamentall error some fundamentall errors impugne some one article of faith or principall doctrine This is destructive of all Religion destroyes all divinity and humanity too it leaves us never an article of faith never a command in the Decalogue and never a point of doctrine It leaves not a stone upon a stone but pulls down all This smites the glorious Statute of Body of Religion upon his feet and breaks all to pieces and brings it down to the ground destroying piety civility humanity curtesy and the improvements of common reason as that stone which smote that Image in Daniel so that Gold Dan. 2. 24. silver brasse iron and clay all crumbled in pieces and became like the chaffe in the summer threshing-flore 4. This Atheism in the thought is a Mother sin a big-bellied monstrous sin having in its womb all manner of impiety and like Babylons Cup is full of all manner of abominations Atheism never goes alone Therefore it is added Psal 14. 1 2. The fool said there was no God Corrupt are they and have done abominable works c. 5. The fifth and last thing I shall observe is that there is so much Irrationallity in this thought that it is banished the world and excluded the society of man and so much of Impiety in it that it is not onely excluded heaven but this of all other sins is excluded out of hell too There is no Atheism to be found in hell there is blasphemy malice envy c. no Atheisme The Atheist goes to hell Atheisme doth not Nullus in Inferno est Atheos ante fuit And is not this a mad and monstrous impiety which can be harboured in the heart when neither heaven earth or hell it self will own it The devils and damned are herein sounder then thou art they believe and tremble And