Selected quad for the lemma: doctrine_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
doctrine_n	catholic_n	church_n	primitive_a	2,203	5	9.2806	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A67270	Baptismōn didachē, the doctrine of baptisms, or, A discourse of dipping and sprinkling wherein is shewed the lawfulness of other ways of baptization, besides that of a total immersion, and objections against it answered / by William Walker ...	Walker, William, 1623-1684.	1678 (1678)	Wing W417; ESTC R39415	264,191	320

use dipping and it is more agreeable to the mystery to use it three times and that so the Ancient Church understood it therefore these things are a sufficient warrant to acquit us from the obligation of the contrary custom because a custom against which there is so much probability and in which there is no necessity and no advantage is to be presumed unreasonable The reason if I may presume to guess was partly because he saw the Doctor 's dispute lay not against the unlawfulness but obligatoriness of the contrary custom And he might see that as the probability against it was not so great as the Doctor fancied so the necessity of it was sometimes so much and the advantages in cases of necessity and charity so considerable as that it could not be presumed unreasonable but on the contrary ought to be judged very rational Partly it was because the Doctor doth in the very next words in the former clause of the same period assert that because there is even in sprinkling something of the analogy of the mystery as is rightly observed by Aquinas and Dominicus à Soto and because it is not certain that the best representation and the most expressive ceremony is required therefore the Church upon great cause may lawfully do either Which he was unwilling any of his Party should know And thus much for Dr. Taylor § 67. From this Champion of our own Church we are next called to receive a charge from a brisk Champion of the Church of Rome nay from the Church of Rome it self as Mr. D. words it The Church of Rome saith he confesseth by a Learned Pen the Marquis of Worcester in his Certam Relig. That she changed dipping the Party baptized over Head and Ears into sprinkling upon the Face § 68. Mr. D. should rather have said as I think a Learned Pen of the Church of Rome confesseth For not the writing of every Learned Man is presently the Confession of the Church he is of for when so Learned Men of the same Church are of contrary judgments and write contrary things then the Church they are of must be judged to be so too and that is to speak her a Church of no judgment And the Church of Rome will not endure that Nor would Mr. Danvers's Church I believe be willing to espouse all his assertions as her Confessions But that is to be taken for the Confession of a Church which is professed by her in her publick Writings compiled by Persons authorized thereunto confirmed by the Subscription of her Ministers and made authentick by the attestation of her Supreme Magistrates § 69. But what is it that the Marquis saith she did That she changed dipping into sprinkling This cannot signifie that before that change there was no sprinkling at all in that Church but that it wholly left off to dip which had been the publick and solemn way of baptizing in that as well as in other Churches and in stead thereof even in the publick and solemn baptizings as well as in the private baptisms upon cases of necessity she baptized by way of sprinkling § 70. And what was the change in this respect made Dipping all the whole Body under the water into sprinkling upon the Face The Marquis even as Mr. Danvers quotes him saith not so but dipping the Party baptized over Head and Ears That may mean no more but dipping his Head only all over and by a Pleonasm of speech his Ears too under water and not his whole Body And that such a way of baptizing has been in use in the Western Church I have shewed before Ch. 10. And if that were the Church of Romes meaning in what she confesseth here by her Learned Pen then Mr. D. gets nothing to his Cause by her Confession But if not yet still what change soever she made therein she did no more than she lawfully might being invested with the same power in such cases as other Churches have and the thing it self being no substantial part but only an accidental circumstance of that Sacrament wherein Churches have power to continue or alter as they shall see best conducing to order decency and edification and proceed upon grounds of necessity charity or great conveniency § 71. But I am of opinion it was not the Church of Rome that made this Change but a Church that had more power than that Church ever had even the Catholick Church which Rome is not any more than any other particular National Church is even so far as she holds union and fellowship with the Church Catholick in truth of Doctrine Essentials of Worship and Substantials of Discipline And this appears because the Church the Marquis there speaks of is that Church that could deposite the observation of the Jewish Sabbath and introduce the observation of the Christian Lord's Day which sure was not done by that particular Church but by the whole Catholick Church throughout the World And that Church indeed that could do that could without doubt change the dipping over Head and Ears in Water into a little sprinkling upon the Face by reason of some emergencies and inconveniencies occasioned by the differences of Seasons and Countries as the Marquis there adds and may upon the like occasion accordingly dispose of the manner of her administration of her Sacraments For sure to deposite the observation of a day expresly commanded to be kept holy and to introduce the like observation of another day touching the keeping of which holy never any Command was given as none that we know of was ever given for its sanctification though in all probability it was founded in Apostolical Practice partly intimated in the Scriptures and further notified by Tradition implies a power as great as if not greater than to change a Rite in a Sacrament not more commanded than the Sanctification of the Sabbath day nor so much as that if it were ever at all under any command which is denyed by Learned men as in those Papers is shewn § 72. So then if there were no change made then we are as we were at first And if there were a change made it was made by a Church whether the Catholick or Roman that had power to make it Either way will serve our turn For which way soever it be our practice will be free from guilt either as being it self Primitive and Apostolick or as being taken up into use instead of somewhat that then was used by a Church that had power to make that change § 73. Though after all I shall not grant any change made herein other than what I have already said from a practice but privately used in case of necessity to become the general practice even where Baptism is administred with greatest solemnity § 74. Having done with the Marquis he goes on to tell us that until the Third Century we find not any that upon any consideration did admit of Sprinkling and that the first we meet with is Cyprian To

so They do not take Men and Women that are all out of the Water and so immerse them wholly into it but of Persons that are already in part in the Water it may be up to the middle they immerse the rest which as yet is not in it And so the work is divided betwixt the Baptizer and the Baptized the Baptized first dipping one half of himself by going so deep into the water and then the Baptizer dipping the other half possibly might be consistent with Decency of baptizing utroque modo baptizari tamen convenientius aptius securius est baptizare immergendo si satis est de aqua totum corpus debet demergi si parum sufficit si sit tantum de aqua quòd immergi possit pars principalis c. Bonavent lib. 4. dist 3. Art 2. q. 2. Scias tamen quòd licèt per aspersionem vel effusionem aquae possit fieri baptismus ubi esset talis consuerudo laudabilior tamen est consuerudo ut fiat per immersionem Lynwood Constit l. 3. c. de Baptismo ejus effectu Vas. illud in Constit Edmundi and safety to the Baptized § 3. But I must also be so just as to say and I hope too that I have made it to appear that there is much to be said for the way that ye oppose Ye see it to be repugnant neither to the Word of Institution but lying within the circle of its comprehension nor yet to the Nature of that Sacrament but eminently expressing the Primary Design of it and competently the Secondary Ye see it now practised in most Churches of the world and may trace its practice through all former Ages of the Church Ye neither find it contradicted by any Scripture but countenanced by many nor condemned by any Council but left uncensured by all Among all the ancient Catalogues of Heresies ye find not the Rhantists as you are pleased to name us reckoned for any nor any Separation made from any Community on account of their being such Ye find none of the ancient Fathers disputing against it for its unlawfulness nor disswading from it upon account of its insufficiency Nor of the many baptized by Sprinkling in their Sickness do ye find any on either of those accounts baptized by Dipping after their recovery Ye find those learned and judicious Reformers who threw erroneous Doctrines and Superstitious Practices out of the Church continuing this Doctrine and confirming this Practice in it And ye see it still maintained and defended by Persons of greatest eminency both for Learning and for Judgment in the Reformed Churches In the Primitive Times the same effects were observed to be wrought on Persons baptized in Sickness and in health Non sicut scorpii serpentes c. D. Cyprian l. 4. ep 7. so at this day may ye observe Persons baptized by Sprinkling as richly furnished with all spiritual graces as any now you can tell us of baptized by Dipping In Sacramentis salutaribus necessitate cogente deo indulgentiam suam largiente totum credentibus conserunt divina compendia Id. ib. the great God that is above means and is not tyed to means working the like effect by little as by great means and as fully and effectually communicating the graces of baptism by a few drops as by a whole ocean It is a way of kindness to the weak of mercy to the sick and of safety to all It is a way agreeing with the conditions of all Times and with the tempers of all seasons It suits with the Conveniencies of all countries and with the Necessities of all places It complies with the State of all Persons and with the Constitution of all Ages It provides for the Modesties of the bashful and prevents unchastities in the Lustful In a word 't is the way which most Churches in the world after many hundred years tryal of dipping have at length in their practice and consequently in their judgments preferred before it having generally laid that down and as generally taken this up § 4. O why then should you persist in a contrariety to that which is not contrariant to the word of Institution Why should you impugn that which is not repugnant to the nature of the Sacrament Why should you quarrel that which agrees with the practice of the Catholick Church Why should you contradict that which is not contradicted by any Text of the Sacred Scriptures Why should you condemn that which never yet fell under the Censure of any Orthodox Council Why should that be unlawful with you whose lawfulness was never questioned by the ancient Fathers Why should that be a Nullity with you which was ever a Reality amongst the Primitive Believers Why should any on that account be rebaptized by you on which never any was rebaptized in any Community of Catholick Professors Why should that be turned out of the Church by you which was deliberately continued in it by our pious learned and judicious Reformers Why should that be made a Mockery of by you which hath been sealed by the communication of the graces of Gods Spirit Why should the Sentiment of your handful of illegal Conventicles that can no more pretend to extraordinary Inspiration than any other Community of Christians be preferred before the judgment of so many legally constituted national Churches Why should you retrench that liberty which hath been estated on the Church of Christ by him that was the Law-giver to it Why should you deprive weak sickly dying creatures of the benefit of that Mercy which hath been indulged to them by God the Creator of them Must no consideration be had of Countries and Places no respect to Times and Seasons no regard to Persons and Conditions but your Opinion and Practice be made a Rule and a Measure universally to all and in spite of all not only inconveniencies but even incapacities and necessities too And must all the Churches in the world and all the Christians in the world that consent not to and concurr not with you therein be unchurched and unchristned too for this Is this cause enough for you to separate your selves from the acknowledgedly best reformed Church upon earth Consider I beseech you your ways with the sad consequents of them § 5. O how great is the Guilt you contract upon your selves by your running into and continuing in a Schism upon this account even the guilt of being carnal and sensual according to (a) 1 Cor. 3.4 Jude v. 19. St. Paul and St. Jude the guilt of walking contrary both to (b) Hanc Ecclesiae unitatem qui non tenet tenere se fidem credit D. Cyprian de Vnit Eccles Faith and (c) Quam verò dilectionem custodit cogitat qui discordiae furore vesanus Ecclesiam scindit pacem turbat charitatem dissipat D. Cypr. de Vnit Eccles charity according to St. Cyprian the guilt of a crime as bad as (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉