Selected quad for the lemma: doctrine_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
doctrine_n	believe_v	church_n	infallible_a	2,870	5	9.5232	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A26596	A moral discourse of the power of interest by David Abercromby ...	Abercromby, David, d. 1701 or 2.	1690 (1690)	Wing A83; ESTC R6325	62,955	218

great encouragements they meet with from the Papists For if a Protestant be not well vers'd in his own principle and able to confute the Popish Errours a not extraordinary Preferment a Sum of Money the Favour of a Prince either hop'd for or enjoyed will prove convincing Arguments to him of the Truth of Popery and of the falshood of the Protestant Doctrine The Popish Priests in King James's Reign observing how impossible 't was to make the people believe the being of an Infallible Visible Judge of Controversies in the Church since no such thing is countenanc'd either by the Scriptures or by General Councils as likewise that they could not work them into the belief of the strange Mystery of Transubstantiation destroying the very Foundation of all Humane Certitude the Testimony of our Sences and consequently the Fundamental Proofs of Christ's Passion Death Resurrection Ascension yea and of his being real Flesh and Blood if the constant Testimony of Seeing Feeling Touching Tasting deceive us as the Papists tell us they do in the Consecrated Bread and Wine The Priests I say having learned by Experience how blunt their Arguments were against understanding Protestants betook themselves to the only method they could hope success from viz. to the proposing of great Rewards from King James upon the first occasion and from both King and Pope by the Mediation of his Nuncio then residing in London in case they had to do with Church-men And 't was generally observ'd that such as went that way to work were more successful than those who undertook to argue the case with their Adversaries because their Arguments being generally meer Sophisms laid always open the Weakness of the Arguer as well as of the Argument But many more yeilded to the stronger Reasons from Interest Worldly Grandeur and such other advantages as the Churchmen of Rome are us'd to propose to hook men into the bosome of their Church And indeed I often wonder how it comes to pass that they make so few voluntary Converts since they propose so great advantages to such as come over to them upon what account soever But on the other hand if I knew not by my own Experience the almost irresistible impression of Divine Grace and the great force of the discovered Truth I should far more wonder that a Roman Catholick could ever resolve to turn Protestant because new Converts are generally either coldly receiv'd by Protestants or seemingly mistrusted by such as having nothing but the out-side of the Christian Religion are disposed to think others as great Hypocrites as they know themselves to be So that if an understanding and learned Roman Catholick turn from Popery to Protestancy his Conversion to be sure is sincere because he is not allured to our side by any Temporal Advantages to be expected from us who commonly take so little notice of new Converts that we let them often want Necessaries if they cannot do for themselves But if a knowing Protestant surrenders himself to the weak Popish Arguments I question not in the least but that he has some considerable Interest in prospect For why should we think that a man would pull out his Eyes lay aside the use of his Reason submit to an implicite Faith and turn a Fool for just nothing ARTICLE XXIII 1. The mean and irregular Conduct of some Persons of Quality 2. The Design of their Intimacy with some Men. 3. The Ingratitude of Tradesmen To say no more of this matter though a great deal more might be said of it let us consider in this place another kind of Irregularity occasion'd in some Nations and particularly in this very Kingdom we live in by the influence of Riches and Money upon some mens minds who by reason of the great Fortunes they are born to should have the less value for what they possess so much of or at least should not behave themselves so meanly as to make their Equals and familiar Companions such as have no other thing to recommend themselves to the World but what they have got by very injust and shameful means as Dicing Carding Cheating Swearing to say nothing worse if worse can be said Do they not give us just grounds to think they keep such Men Company in hopes of getting from them the ill gain'd Penny by the same methods it was at first got For what other end can they propose to themselves in courting them in a manner at the rate they usually do They cannot sure be in love with their Ingenuity unless we reckon Swearing Cursing Damning Sinking c. pieces of real Wit They can pretend no kindness to them neither upon the account of their civil and obliging behaviour since there is no rudeness but such men are commonly guilty of nor upon the account of their Noble Extraction because having generally sprung out of the lowest Tribe of Mankind without either Friend or Allie better than themselves They buoy themselves up into the world by an inexhausted stock of Impudence which they should rather be undervalued than esteem'd for They must then be fond of conversing with such Men so often and so familiarly upon some other accounts as either because they are able to pay largely their share in pulick Entertainments to the lessening of the charges of the Company or in order to bring them back to their first low condition again by gaining from them what they before had sharp'd from others and when this is done his Lordship knows no more his Old Friend and inseparable Companion in Gaming Feasting Drinking c. whom a little before he was wont to salute kiss and hug in every corner as his Bosome-Friend and Equal but now the case being altered he becomes on a sudden like most men upon such occasions not much fond of the Company they can get no more by The Lawyers Physicians and generally all Tradesmen behave themselves much after the same manner for their own ends all attending courting and omitting no kind of respect towards such as they hope to draw in to be their Customers Yea the proudest Dealer knows how to bow cringe and flatter if by this smooth way so contrary to his unhewed Temper he hopes to hook you into an unreasonable price for his Goods glorying at the same time and boasting of his Wit or rather Wickedness to make perhaps an Hundred Pound at the Years end of every Fool 's Penny For some silly Tradesmen take sometimes the liberty to lend this Character to such as thinking them honest men trust to their Words or pay them small Sums without taking their Receipts wherein they are not so much in the wrong as one would imagine at first for considering their daily knavish and deceitful proceedings with honest and well-meaning men 't is the height of Folly to deal with them but upon a supposition of their being all what some of 'em really are down right Knaves whatever may be their pretences to and reiterated Protestations of Honesty Sincerity and fair

say all without Exception act contrary to their own confess'd Principles For how many grant upon all occasions that no Violence is to be used in matters of Religion that nothing is so much a man 's own as his Conscience that God alone is to judge of our Thoughts and not Men that no Humane Power can call us to an account for our Thoughts though it may punish us for our manifest and visible Deeds yea the very Church of Rome it self did of old affirm That she could not extend her Power over mens inward Sentiments Ecclesia non judicat de internis Nevertheless she thought it at least her Interest as certainly 't is though not that of Jesus Christ to usurp an Arbitrary Power over mens Thoughts as well as over their Bodies else how could she think it lawful either to Dragoon men into her Bosom or to extort from them Confessions conformable to her Doctrine by the Antichristian Cruelty of her Tyrannical Inquisitions But yet if such as take the fittest measures to compass their Ends are deservedly reputed Wise and Prudent we have no great reason to think the Papists so great Fools as some call them For since 't is flatly against the clearest Evidence of Sence and Reason to believe the Mysteries they generally teach as for Instance the Mystery of Transubstantiation or that the Pope of Rome is Infallible it had been no piece of Wisdom in them to have used Arguments in order to convince us of such manifest Untruths They knew very well that nothing but the Faggot Sword or an unmerciful Inquisition could force men to an outward Profession of their belief of such strange Opinions But I need not enlarge upon this Subject since the Papists themselves confess ingenuously and maintain openly the Lawfulness of Persecution upon the account of Religion and that men are not only to be drawn in by Argument but likewise to be forc'd into the Bosome of the Church by the Dint of the Sword I cannot dissemble in this place my hearty Grief and Concern that some Protestants likewise who pretending to Meekness Clemency and Tenderness grant nothing to be more Antichristian than the persecuting of Christians upon the account of their perswasion should allow of Force in matters of Religion so far as may be judg'd necessary to make men consider seriously of our Reasons that at last after a thorough Conviction they may embrace that which we think Truth as if it were not in reality all one to force a man to change his Religion and to force him to a serious Examen of our Arguments which how weak soever will I fancy soon appear unanswerable Demonstrations to such as must suffer either Poverty Imprisonment or Death it self if they confess not themselves fully Convicted The French Persecution was no worse than this would be For that Prince I mean Lewis XIV never pretended more than to compel his Subjects to a serious Consideration of the Chief Grounds of Popery because he well knew that the weakest Argument supported by the Dragooning Sword would either convince his Subjects or at least convert them so far as to make them Hypocrites which was perhaps all the success he could hope for by this Most Christian method I wonder then that men professing upon all Occasions Meekness and Moderation should still stand up for what is worst in Popery the Spirit of Persecution as they really do when they maintain it to be lawful to use Violence in order to oblige men to consider of their Arguments which how weak soever may gather a great deal of Strength from the Force us'd But I cease to be amaz'd at such strange Proceedings when I consider how Natural 't is to all men to pursue eagerly what they think their real Interest For as we are all naturally proud and passionate Lovers of Authority and Command we are easily perswaded that we cannot compass better our ambitious designs than by maintaining our assum'd Power to force men to a serious consideration of the Reasons we ground our Opinions upon which is nothing else if narrowly look'd into but still a Claim to the Popish Infallibility though we declare upon all occasions our Abhorrence of such a groundless and Antichristian Principle ARTICLE XXXV 1. The Jesuits zealous Defenders of the See of Rome 2. And of such Princes as can best protect them 3. The Remissness of their Morals whence No Sect in the World ever pretended more to Infallibility than the Jesuits who generally hold it an Article of their Faith That not only the General Councils but the Pope likewise loquens ex Cathedra is as Infallible in some manner as God himself How men of such Sense and Learning as undoubtedly they are in their own way can be guilty of such a gross piece of Folly as this is few or none perhaps can better guess at than my self as having been once particularly acquainted with their Affairs Since then 't is to be supposed that designing men never act the Fools part but upon some wise account we need not wonder that the Jesuits having first seriously consulted together about the matter resolved to prove zealous and obstinate Defenders of that Article which would put the greatest Obligation upon the Pope viz. of his being the Infallible and Visible Oracle of the Universal Church though they could not but know the unreasonableness of this Tenet and that they might as well believe the Pope Almighty as Infallible But however they were prevail'd with by a Principle of Interest and Self-preservation to maintain this both Antichristian and Atheistical Doctrine because they being much younger than most of the other Religious Orders and upon several known Accounts hated by them all they prudently judg'd that it was impossible for them to withstand so many powerful Enemies unless they were supported by the supposed Vicar of Christ the Bishop of Rome To be sure then of the Pope's Protection upon occasion they not only declared him in their Schools and preach'd him up in their Pulpits as Infallible but by a Fourth Vow tied themselves so intirely to his Service that they are obliged upon Orders from the Pope to go whither and upon whatever Errand he pleases to command them If they thought it at their first appearing in the World their Interest and think it still to close in with the Pope they believe themselves no less concern'd now to stand up for the Princes in whose Territories they live because they are abler to protect them than the Pope himself their prudence being particularly observable in this that they are always on the strongest side which is so true that the French Jesuits of old were usually called Spaniards by the French Mob because of their presum'd Intrigues with the King of Spain the most powerful Prince then in Europe yea 't is not long since the very German Jesuits were generally thought inclinable to the French Interest though I am now inform'd that they begin to look home again because