Selected quad for the lemma: doctrine_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
doctrine_n	affirm_v	church_n	faith_n	2,636	5	5.3322	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A26942	The judgment and advice of the Assembly of the Associated Ministers of VVorcester-shire held at Worcester, Aug. 6th 1658 concerning the endeavours of ecclesiasticall peace, and the waies and meanes of Christian unity, which Mr. John Durey doth present, sent unto him in the name, and by the appointment of the aforesaid Assembly / by Richard Baxter ...	Associated Ministers of Worcester-shire. Assembly (1658 : Worcester, Worcestershire); Baxter, Richard, 1615-1691.; Dury, John, 1596-1680.	1658 (1658)	Wing B1288; ESTC R5355	8,546	8

Propagation of that truth which all profess And for the first of these which the rest depend upon What can we require more of one another then a Profession of the Christian Faith That which we require to prove a single person fit to be a Member of the Church i● it that we must require of whole Churches and with which we must be satisfied which can be nothing but a profession of Christianity not nullified by contradictory professions or practices And I hope we are before this agreed what Christianity is and what are the Essentials of the Faith All these Essentials we do all profess We all profess to believe the Articles of Faith contained in the Creeds and Confessions of the Churches by what Test soever a Christian or a Church was known for man●●undred Years after Christ till Papists and Hereticks enlarged or depraved the Creeds by the same do we all offer our selves to be tryed and may easily be known to be professed Christians and being united with our Pastors for holy Communion to be true Churches of Christ We all take the holy Scriptures for the Rule of our Faith and Lives and believe it to be the infallible Word of God In this Scripture all the Essentials of Christianity and the Integrals too are plainly expressed This rule is Divine and so our Faith is Divine Had we but a humane Rule we could have but a humane Faith If any would know our Religion it is hither that we send them Our Confessions are but to satisfie men of our understanding the sense of passages of Scripture And they are written according to the Occasions of their writing and therefore with Diversity though not contrariety in any neccessary point at least speaking most to the Points that contentions call us to speak most to we make none of our Confessions the Rule of our Faith Nor do we take any thing in them to be infallible and unalterable further then it agreeth with the Scripture which is our Rule It hath been the running design of the Papists Vt in conventu Thorumi saepissime to draw us to own some other Test of our Religion and then they think they may freely dispute against it and charge it with falsity novelty c. which they dare not charge on the Word of God And they think by this to set us altogether by the Ears while one is for one Confession and others for another Whereas in the Scripture we are United The great cause of our uncharitable censures and divisions hath been our departing from the Antient simplicity of Faith and also from the sufficiency of the holy Scriptures to be the Rule and Test of our Faith And till we return to this Scripture sufficiency and antient simplicity there is no hope of the antient Christian Unity and Charity while proud men must thrust their own Opinions into the Churches Creed or un-Church all that hold not such Opinions our peace with them must be by calming them and bringing them to themselves and bearing as far as may be with their Infirmity but not by doing as they do in lacerating the Churches We know it is here objected by the Papists and too many more that many Hereticks will subscribe to all that is in the Scriptures while they misinterpret them and what 's the consequent Therefore a plainer Confession is necessary for men to own that will be accounted Orthodox We deny the consequence The Scripture is a Rule both plain and perfect A Heretick may misinterpret the words of any other Confession as well as the words of Scripture The sense of the counsell of Trent is not yet agreed on among the Papists The remedy for Heresie is not to impose another Rule of Faith then Scripture as if this were insufficient and we could mend it but to exercise Church Government carefully and if any be proved to teach any Doctrine contrary to the Scripture that Magistrates and that Pastors do their parts to correct such and restrain them We might not make new Confessions or Laws when ever wicked men will misinterpret or violate the old Ones the perfectest Law may be broken and the perfectest confessions misinterpreted We conclude therefore that all that subscribe to the holy Scriptures and particularly to all contained in the Antient Creeds of the Church and in the Lords Prayer and Decalogue do make so full a Profession of Christianity that none may reject them till they prove by some inconsistent contradiction that indeed they hold not what they do profess And yet we deny not but to teach the People to direct young Ministers to stop the mouths of slanderous adversaries the Confessions of the Churches are usefull and to be approved And ex abundanti to cure the jealousies of disseased mindes we are all ready in every Protestant Church to give men a full account of our Faith in plain Confessions but with this Protestation that only the holy Scripture is the Rule of our Faith and the Test of our Religion and that all that is contained in our severall Confessions is not Essentiall to a Christian or a Church nor will we justifie every Term or Method of these Confessions as perfect and inculpable but as we are certain in the Essentials and other points that are plain in Scripture so for the lesser dark points we are ready to alter any thing of them that can be proved contrary to the Scripture which is our Rule The 39 Articles were lately the Confession of our Churches here in England but now because of too or three Articles for Ceremonies and Prelacy this Confession is laid by and not imposed upon any And what have we therefore changed our Religion or are the Churches in England other things and of another Faith No such matter Who will affirm it that knows what Christianity is We have the same Christ and the same Rule of Faith and Test of our Religion still and hold the same Doctrine which those Articles express though we be not all of a mind in Ceremonies A Papist Polydore Virgill truly saith of the Protestants that they are therefore called Evangelici quod haud ullam asseverent recipiendam esse Legem quae ad animarum salutem pertineat nisi quam Christus aut Apostoli dedissent De Invent Rer. l. 8. c. 4. p. 410. By the great mercy of God we are all agreed in the authority and verity of the Scriptures and that 's enough in point of Profession to prove us to be of a sound belief but if we think to centre in any Confessions that are not plainly thence extracted we attempt a difficult and needless work Nothing thefore can be pretended against our Faith the rule being so perfect and unquestioned unless it be that we nullisie this Profession by contradictions and believe not the Scripture while we think we do believe it but they that will condemn any Church on such an accusation must first produce their proose which must not be from the words