Selected quad for the lemma: doctrine_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
doctrine_n	church_n	england_n	popery_n	4,865	5	10.4033	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A40420	Free thoughts of the penal laws, tests, and some late printed papers touching both in a letter from a person of quality.		1688 (1688)	Wing F2123; ESTC R33793	11,219	18

FREE THOUGHTS of the PENAL LAWS TESTS and some Late Printed Papers touching Both. In a Letter from a Person of Quality SIR I HAVE carefully perused all your Private Reasons as well as the Publick Prints you sent to convince me of the present Expediency if not Necessity of Repealing the Penal Laws As to the Prints I cannot but stand amazed to see such inveterate Malice and open-fac'd scorn as most of those Papers carry in them so confidently walk abroad and that sent forth by Men of pretended Sanctity Orthodoxy and pure Christian Zeal for such the Protestant Dissenters claim to be and indeed I have known not a few of them for the main very exemplary in all those qualities It is prodigious to think that men so implacably and upon rational grounds many of them set against the Corruptions of Rome men who hold it as firmly as any part of their Creed That the Papal Power and Church is the great Antichrist who but as yesterday were with one mouth exclaiming and writing against many of the Church of England as Apostates from the Doctrine of the Reformation for otherwise interpreting the Prophesies touching Antichrist who since that seeing the Constancy and Strength of the Church of England's Testimonies against Popery have professed their sorrow for their late overcharging her Clergy as too nearly allied to Rome and Popishly affected who have some of them confessed the Episcopal Church to be the great Bulwark against the Power of Rome It is prodigious I say to think that those men should in a moment turn tail and with such Zeal and Indignation at the poor Church of England offer themselves unanimously to join with Rome to pull down their forsaken Mother professing more liking of a Publick Toleration of the just-now abhorred Popery than of the English Constitution and thereby verifying what they have so long complained was falsly and injuriously laid to their charge that they were the People which would bring in Popery if ever it came in The incredibility that these men should act thus makes me I confess rather believe that these Papers are generally writ by some Crafty men of another perswasion in their Writings if not otherwise also personating Protestant Dissenters and that perhaps amongst other ends to possess the world there is even in the best sort of the Dissenters more Rancor and Uncharitableness than ever most of their Adversaries conceived to be in any of them This the A-la-mode Smartness of the Stile the Relish of the Arguments the want of a Sense of Religion and the waving good Conscience throughout the whole management together with several Marks which I will not now name in most of the Papers further induce me really to believe Upon which belief I shall take no further notice of them hoping all sober Nonconformists are sensible how abominably themselves are wronged by such dealing and if I am in an Error touching them that they accepting my Charity will pardon my mistake I chuse to err on the best side only this I must say of those Prints which I have seen Besides Bitterness and shameless Calumnies against the poor Church of England there is little of moment in them for me to take notice of or answer There is not one writ with any tolerable Temper nor can certainly the Blessing of Peace or of any tolerable good success on their side attend such virulent and unpeaceable Writings Dominus increpet As to your private Arguments they are God be blessed quite of another vein and for my own particular Sentiments I had thought you well knew much less Argument needed to have perswaded me how unmeet a Motive to Christianity any kind of Compulsion is I ever was of the mind not only that Faith ought not to be compelled but that it cannot You know my constantly avowed Maxim It is not in mens powers to believe what they will Penalties may make a man a Hypocrite they can never of themselves make him a Believer or good Christian Nor does it at all satisfie me that some say Men are only forced to the means of Faith as to go to Church to hear Sermons and the like but not to Faith itself for besides First That this Plea is false to Swear Abjure take the Sacrament c. are the most solemn kind of Professions of Faith assignable and not at all means to convince a man of Truth Besides this I say Secondly Even to come to Church it self that is to be present and by Presence seeming to be communicable in the Liturgy is what many judg in their Conscience unlawful or are not satisfied of the Right thereof it is therefore contrary to their Faith or a kind of act professing to believe what is not believed The case is the same if for Faith I had put Conscience for Conscience as it cannot be supposed subject to the attempts of force being nothing but an inward sense or perswasion of the lawfulness or unlawfulness of Human Actions differs little or nothing from Faith in the acceptation wherein I have above used the name And so in truth neither can Conscience be forced tho a man may be forced to act against his Conscience which as it is a sin of the most hainous nature in him who does it so do I not see how we can excuse him from the breach of the Law of Charity who compels it Nor are generally the Authors or Maintainers of Penal Laws I suppose ignorant of this for all such Laws allow unto men the Option of Suffering or the choice of the Penalty which the Law inflicts in case of non-performance of its positive part by which choice men may preserve their Consciences inviolate And forasmuch as there is and will be to the end of the world different Judgments amongst men that is all mens Consciences touching the several Rites or Modes of Worship and other controverted Points in Religion will never agree Whether therefore the Civil Government and common Peace can be preserved by leaving all sorts of men to the free exercise of their Conscience without some Laws to restrain some of them which Laws if effectual to the aforesaid Ends of Peace and Government must be Penal is the great Question upon the resolving of which the having or not having Penal Laws must be determined And that which encreaseth the difficulty of resolving this Question as some would have it resolved is That Faith and Conscience signifying things invisible and not to be known but by the Searcher of all hearts it is impossible always to discern between them and the pretences of them Now Factious Turbulent and Wicked Men tho they may be and commonly are Atheists having indeed no Faith or Conscience yet they never will want most specious Pretences of both and those suitable and accommodate to their own ends From whence it follows that tho it should be possible to preserve Peace and Government allowing Liberty to the Exercise of Conscience truly so called yet it will be