Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	earth_n	heaven_n	life_n	8,760	5	4.3162	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A19456	The ladder of hell, or, The Protestants libertine doctrine being the broad way which leadeth the followers of it to their eternall ruine and destruction in hell / set foorth in prose and verse.	Covbridge, Cranmer.	1618 (1618)	STC 5879.5; ESTC S1685	5,617	18

THE LADDER OF HELL OR THE PROTESTANTS LIBERTINE DOCTRINE BEING THE BROAD WAY WHICH leadeth the followers of it to their eternall ruine and destruction in Hell Set foorth in Prose and Verse ISAI 5. 20. Woe vnto you who call euill good and good euill putting darknesse light and light darknesse Permissu Superiorum CRANMER COVBRIDGE MINISTER OF THE WORD IN CVMBERLAND to the zealous Protestants his Brethren concerning the Printing Title and vse of this admirable Ladder worthily called The Ladder of Hell COnsidering that this Ladder was first framed and entituled The Ladder of Hell by a Papist to the great disgrace as hee conceined of our Protestant Religion I imagine that some of you dearely beloued Brethren will wish that it had been quite suppressed and neuer seene light yet in regard it containeth nothing but a collection of certaine sentences set downe in the publike bookes of twelue principall Pillars of our Church I thought it not amisse to set it forth just as I found it vnder your protection knowing well that euery zealous Protestant can with the dexteritie of his reformed spirit turne all though neuer so plainly seeming ill to at least a seeming good sense as for example wheras the Papist called this collection of sentences The Ladder of Hell because in his judgement the beleefe and practise of it leadeth a soule directly to hell Yet one of our new learning considering that Ladders are made rather to helpe men vpward then downeward wil say it may be called The Ladder of Hell because the beleefe and practise of it will lift soules out of hell And with reason may this be said supposing one ground of our new doctrine be true to wit that Hell is no such locall place in which are fire and other torments as is said by the ancient Fathers and the Scriptures themselues to be prepared for the Diuels and other damned creatures but only a certaine terror and horror of an afflicted conscience the which may in some measure be felt euen in this world and is ordinarily felt after sin commited euen by Protestants vntill by beleeuing firmely and practising freely the points of doctrine contained in this Ladder they come by degrees to contemne all things to wit all Lawes of God and man and all scruple of minde and remorse of conscience and all feare of Death Iudgement and Hell which estate of mind it is like diuers zealous Protestants haue alreadie attained vnto esteeming themselues hereby to be not onely freed from hell but to haue attained a kind of heauen in earth Marry the doubt is whether this their heauē wil last alwayes as true heauen ought to doe or whether this hastie freeing thēselues frō the hell of care feare remorse sorrow in this life will not plung them into a most bitter feeling of remorse in the houre of death and into intollerable torments of the eternall Hell in the next life The which doubt being in the judgement of some only a Papisticall scruple I will leaue to bee discussed at better leasure It shall suffice my present purpose onely to declare the manifold vses which for the present time may be made of this excellent Ladder both by Papists and Protestants First I finde that the Papists meane to make this short Ladder serue for an answer of many long discourses made by Protestant Ministers in bookes or Sermons in which they obiect the ill liues of some Papists the which obiections the Papists doe retort more strongly against vs Protestants who cannot deny but that since the light of the new Gospell was by Luther brought into the world men are as Luther himselfe coufessed more reuengeful more conetous more vnmercifull more vnmodest and vnruly and much worse then they were in Papistry the reason whereof say the Papists is for that the very doctrine it selfe of the new Gospellers doth not onely not afford such effectuall restraints and remedies against sinne as is in the ancient Catholike Religion but also hath as appeareth by the steps of this Ladder diuers expresse principles which doe plainly open the gappe to all licentious libertie of lewde life far more then can bee imagined to bee done by any principles of the Papists doctrine Whereupon the Papists conclude that the Protestant Religion whose doctrine is so vnholy cannot be a holy Religion inspired by the holy Ghost but suggested as Luther the first Author confesseth some part of it to wit the deniall of the sacrifice of the Masse to haue beene suggested to him by Satan himselfe the enemy of all true Religion and holinesse The zealous Protestant not much regarding this or whatsoeuer other arguments made by Papists find out other vses of this Ladder as for example First it teacheth euery one of them to exercise heroicall acts of their new-found Iustifying Faith by which they beleeue that they are just holy and of the number of the predestinate not onely by hauing a good hope as the poore Papists haue when they see or feele some of those things in themselues which by the holy Scriptures they learne to be signes of true Iustice to wit repentance of sins past carefulnesse to auoid sinne in time to come diligence in doing good workes c. but also by infallible and absolute beleefe as of a chiefe article of their Christian faith euen at such times as they neither see nor feele any such signes yea euē whē they euidently see in themselues contrary signes namely euen when they actually do those works of the flesh of which Saint Paul pronounceth That they who doe such things shall not obtaine the Kingdome of God Zealous Protestants I say maugre this threat of S. Paul are taught by this Ladder to beleeue boldly that they are Saints and cannot misse saluation notwithstanding they commit neuer so many most horrible sins Secondly this Ladder teacheth them to cast away all feare of God not onely in respect of his Iustice in inflicting present or future paines for sinne which is called seruile feare but also of separation from God which feare cannot stand with our new Iustifying Faith in regard we must hold it absolutely impossible that we can bee separated from God and consequently wee must cast away this fear although neuer so much commended in Scripture Thirdly By this admirable Ladder zealous Protestants may be deliuered from all inward remorse of conscience may come to that highest perfection of our new Gospell which consisteth in a neglect of al conscience the which cannot be attained on a sudden but must be gained as Luther himselfe gained it by entering into a terrible conflict and fighting against ones owne conscience the difficulty of which combate ariseth out of three heads The first is the letter of the written word which seemeth euery where to crosse thi● liberty of conscience and to forbid the doing of any thing against conscience But our new spirituall man who judgeth all things will oppose against this killing letter of