Selected quad for the lemma: doctrine_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
doctrine_n	father_n	scripture_n	tradition_n	2,440	5	8.9807	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A52371	No popery, or, A catechism against popery wherein the heretical doctrins, idolatrous worship, and superstitious practices of the Roman Church are briefly yet plainly refuted, and the Protestant principles proved by testimonies of Holy Scripture, and evidence of reason / by a minister of the Gospell.	Minister of the Gospell.	1682 (1682)	Wing N1187; ESTC R19866	57,846	152

combated Satan Matth. 4. He proved the Resurrection from the dead to the Saducees Matth. 22.23.29 31 32. And showed to his Disciples the necessity of his Death and of his Resurrection Luke 24.46 By them John Baptist proved his Mission Matth. 3.3 And by them the Apostles overcame the Jews and shewed powerfully that Jesus was the Christ Acts 9.22 and Acts 18.28 Q. Hath God commanded us to consult the Scriptures as our Judge A. The Prophet Esay 8.20 sends to the Law and to the Testimony and if they speak not according to this word it is because there is no Light in them And Jesus Christ commands the Jews to search the Scriptures because they testified of him John 5.39 and Luke 16.29 They have Moses and the Prophets let them hear them And St. Peter after having mentioned the voice from Heaven This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased adds We have also a more sure Word of Prophesie whereunto ye do well that ye take heed 2 Pet. 1.17 18.19 Q. But when there is a difference about the interpretation and sense of the Scripture is it not necessary to have a Judge who can judge Infallibly and with Authority of the meaning of the Scripture and declare it to us for our agreement A. God hath not given this power to any in the world but Scripture must Interpret Scripture one passage must be Interpreted by another as they did in the time of Esra who made them understand the Law by Reading of the Scripture Nehem. 8.8 Q. How can you decide matters of Faith by the Scripture since it is obscure A. If our Gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost of whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds even Unbelievers 2 Cor. 4.3.4 But it is not obscure to them who have received the Spirit of God that they might know the things that are freely given to us of God 1 Cor. 2.12 And to accuse the Scripture of obscurity is to accuse it falsely for David Psal 119.105 says Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my paths Q. Yet St. Peter says in the 2 Epistle 3.16 That in the Epistles of St. Paul there are some things hard to be understood A. I grant there are many obscure places in the Scripture to exercise the Faith of Believers and keep the most Learned humble but God hath so ordered that all things necessary to Salvation are clear and easie to be understood Q. But since St. Paul would have Believers to judge of his Doctrine 1 Cor. 10.15 I speak as to wise men judg ye what I say Why should not the Church assembled in Council hvve that Authority A. There are two kinds of judgment one is a judgment of Authority the other of discretion by which particular Believers ought to try the Spirits whether they be of God and discern the true Doctrine of Christ from lies and of this judgment Paul speaks when he says judge ye what I say but for the judgment of Authority God hath not given it to any Mortal man not to the Councils themselves which have no power to make any Canons or Decisions to oblige the Consciences of any but so far as they are conform to the word of God Jesus Christ only hath Soveraign Authority in the Church as the well beloved Son that the Father hath commanded us from Heaven to hear Matth. 3.17 and John 5.22 Jesus Christ says that the Father hath given all judgment to the Son SECT IV. Of the Perfection of the Scripture Q. IS the Scripture the perfect Rule of our Faith A. Yes Because all the Articles of Faith and Doctrines necessary to Salvation are contained therein and therefore St. Paul 2. Tim. 3.15 says That the Holy Scriptures are able to make wise unto Salvation through Faith which is in Christ Jesus Q. St. Paul speaks there only of the Books of the Old Testament for the New was not then writ so it follows by your reason that the New Testament is superfluous since the Old is sufficient for to instruct us to Salvation A. Upon the contrary St. Paul speaking of the Books of the Old Testament only fortifies strongly our reason for the sufficiency and perfection of the Scripture for if the Books of Moses and the Prophets were sufficient to make the Church wise unto Salvation Why may not the Scripture be sufficient now since to Moses and the Prophets God hath added the Evangelists and the Apostles Besides it follows not that because the Books of the Old Testament were sufficient for the Church then that the New is Superfluous since God hath pleased to give it us to manifest the Doctrine of Salvation more clearly and fully as 2 Tim. 1.10 Paul says That Jesus hath brought Life and Immortality to light through the Gospel Q. Is all Tradition to be Condemned A. No for this word Tradition signifies nothing but a Doctrine given from hand to hand the Scripture it self is a Tradition and the Doctrine of Salvation before it was written was a Tradition and hath been called Scripture since it was put into Writing and St. Paul calls the Doctrine of the Gospel Tradition which is written 1 Cor. 15.3 I have given unto you that which I have received viz. That Christ dyed for our Sins according to the Scriptures Q. What Traditions then are to be condemned A. All Traditions of men wherewith they pretend to bind the Consciences of men and give them for Articles of Faith which S. Paul Colos 2.8 would that we should take heed of Beware lest any man spoil you through Philosophy and vain deceit after the Traditions of men after the Rudiments of the World and not after Christ Such were the Traditions that the Pharisees added to the Law which Christ condemns Matth. 15.3 Why do ye transgress the Commandement of God by your Tradition applying to them what God says of Hypocrites Esay 29.13 In vain they do Worship me teaching for Doctrines the Commandements of men Such are the Traditions which the Roman Church hath added to the Gospel as Worshipping Images and Praying to Saints which tho' they have no foundation in the Scripture but are formally condemned therein yet the Council of Trent hath commanded them to be received with the same Devotion and Piety that the Scripture is Q. Nevertheless St. Paul 2 Thess 2.15 Commands the Thessalonians to hold the Traditions that they had been Taught by Word or Epistles and 2 Tim. 2.2 He recommends to Timothy to commit to faithful men the things which he had heard in presence of many Witnesses A. I Answer that those Traditions and Instructions of St. Paul are not Traditions of men but the Word of God as he himself says 1 Thess 2.13 And the Instructions he gave Believers by Word and Living Voice are the same he hath writ in his Epistles and that we may be assured that his Doctrine is not Traditions of men he protests to the Jews Acts 26.22

Alms c. 4. Above all he is free and at liberty to sin Q. Hath not an unregenerate man Free Will to Actions freely good and pleasing unto God such as Faith Repentance and Love to God A. No for Jesus Christ teaches us that Whosoever committeth s●n is the servant of sin John 8.34 and Matth. 7.18 that A corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruits And S. Paul Rom. 8.7 tells us that The carnal mind is enmity against God for it is not subject to the Law of God neither indeed can be And the same Apostle says that Men before they are savingly called are dead in their trespasses and sins Ephes 2.1 Q. What think you of the brave Actions of Pagans and the heroick Vertues which shined in them A. That they were brave and splendid Actions but that they could not be pleasing unto God because they were not moved by the consideration of his Glory but by their own Ambition and that these great men not being in Christ and being destitute of faith could not please God as the Apostle teacheth us that Without faith it is impossible to please God Heb. 11.6 Q. May not these civil Vertues which are in unregenerate men be saving dispositions to the Grace of God and merits of Congruity which may incline God to be merciful to them A. No For S. Paul says 2 Tim. 1.9 that God hath saved us and called us with an holy Calling not according to our works but according to his own Purpose and Grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began And our Lord Jesus Christ doth not refer the Cause of his Disciples being called to the knowledge of God rather than the Pharisees to any thing but God's good pleasure Matth. 11.26 I thank thee O Father Lord of heaven and earth because thou hast hid those things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes even so Father for so it seemed good in thy sight Q. What doth a man then contribute towards his heavenly Callong A. No more than one dead to his Resurrection or Adam to his Creation or a Child to his Conception and therefore Regeneration is called in the Word of God a Resurrection Col. 2.12 You are risen through the faith of the operation of God who hath raised Jesus Christ from the dead And a Creation Ephes 2.10 We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works A Generation James 1.18 Of his own Will begat he us with the Word of Truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of his Creatures SECT XXVII Of Man's Free Will in a State of Grace Quest BVT After God hath called a man from a state of Sin to a state of Grace hath be not Free Will to apply himself to that which is good A. Yes For Jesus Christ saith John 6.36 If the Son shall make you free ye shall be free indeed even as when Jesus Christ had raised Lazarus from the dead he commanded that they should untie him and let him go So after God hath raised a man from the state of spiritual death and delivered him from the bonds of Sin he walketh freely in the paths of Righteousness and with gladness of heart willingly employs himself in his Service Rom. 7.22 Q. Do you think that after God hath called a man to Salvation he leaves him to himself and to his own conduct A. No For the same Grace of God which hath begun the work will accompany us Phil. 1.6 He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ And Chap. 2.13 It is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure All the good motions of regenerate men proceed from the Grace of God 2 Cor. 3.5 Not that we are sufficient of our selves to think any thing as of our selves but our sufficiency is of God Q. This being so a regenerate man is not at liberty since it is not he properly that acteth but God in him A. This doth not follow for God worketh so in the Will of Believers that he taketh not away their liberty but on the contrary maketh it more perfect making them incline to good not constrainedly but with a willing and filial Obedience Psal 119.32 35. Q. How do you understand this Divine Co-operation A. That God doth not deal with Believers as Stones or Stocks which are moved and drawn without feeling but as with Creatures endowed with Reason he conducts and moves them to good by enlightning their Understanding and sanctifying their Will and Affections So that whereas they were refractory he makes them become obedient and by the efficacy of Grace and a force without constraint he so draws them that he makes them follow his Will and Conduct freely and with delight as the Spouse says in Cant. 1.4 Draw me we shall run after thee And the Prophet Jeremy Lament 5.21 Turn us O Lord and we shall be turned And John 6.44 Our Saviour says No man can come to me except the Father draw him We go then to Christ when it pleases the Father to draw us Q. Doth not this Doctrine make men negligent in good Works A. No On the contrary S. Paul Phil. 2.12 exhorts us to work out our Salvation c. because It is God that worketh in us to will and to do according to his good pleasure Q. Is this Free Will to do good in Believers perfect A. No For their Regeneration is yet imperfect and there remains something of their Bondage to sin which is the cause that they do not the good that they would but the evil that they would not as S. Paul speaketh of himself Rom. 7.15 Q. When is it then that Man 's Free Will shall be perfect A. When the Soul delivered from this mortal Body shall enjoy the presence of God in Heaven for ther the Soul being made perfectly holy shall be also perfectly free as the Angels are and the Spirits of the Just SECT XXVIII Of Justification Quest WHat doth this word Justifie signifie in the Scripture A. To absolve the Just and therefore it is ordinarily opposed to the word Condemn Prov. 17.15 He that justifieth the wicked and he that condemneth the just even they both are abomination to the Lord. And Matth. 12.37 By thy words thou shalt be justiised and by thy words thou shalt be condemned Q. Who is it can justifie and absolve us A. God only Rom. 8.33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's Elect it is God that justifieth Q. Wherein consisteth that Justification A. In the free Remission and Pardon of Sin which he giveth us as David says Psal 32.1 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven whose sins are covered Rom. 4.6 7. Q. Vpon what consideration doth God justifie men and pardon their sin A. Upon the account of Christ's Righteousness and full Obedience he hath rendred unto his Father which he hath particularly testified in being obedient