Selected quad for the lemma: doctrine_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A81923
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A memoriall concerning peace ecclesiasticall amongst Protestants. By John Dury.
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Dury, John, 1596-1680.
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1641
(1641)
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Wing D2872; Thomason E156_11; ESTC R377
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6,539
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16
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and will onely represent my earnest wishes and humble requests unto you as they are briefly set downe in the Petition hereunto annexed and as now by this writ this shall bee more particularly explained and declared for the opening of my meaning therein Be pleased then to consider that my constant suit to all Protestants is that they would live in the Communion of Saints one towards another for seeing they all beleeve that there is a Communion of Saints and that every one in particular thinketh himselfe interessed therein as being sanctified by one and the same Spirit therefore I suppose that none may or will be unwilling chiefly when he is called upon to communicate the fruits of his spirituall talents towards the building up of truth and of righteousnesse in his fellow-saints Now I take the ground of holy Communion which ought to be made manifest amongst Protestants to be this First That they joyntly attained unto the acknowledgment of the same saving faith as it is revealed in the forme of sound words and Doctrine which the holy Scriptures teach renouncing thereby all Popish all Socinian and other whatsoever heresies and errours which overthrow the ground of our salvation Secondly That they have submitted themselves unto the same rule of life and obedience in all actions towards God and man to be joyntly directed therein by the will of God revealed in the same holy Scriptures renouncing consequently thereby all Popish idolatry all humane traditions and all superstitious constitutions as no wayes binding in respect of conscience or to bee imposed as observable in the worship of God Seeing then all Protestants appeal only unto the word of God and reject all doctrines practices as untrue unwarrantable which have no ground in the same therefore I conceive them to be really brethren in Christ And although the more weak and lesse knowing party as commonly it falleth out is unwilling to acknowledge the other for a Brother yet neverthelesse because there is a commandement of God bidding us that are strong to beare with the infirmities of the weak and forbidding us to please our selves and injoyning both Rom. 15. 1. 1bid v. 7. them and us to receive one another as Christ received us unto the glory of God Therefore I find that wee are bound to labour to gaine our erring brethren with all meeknesse alluring and drawing them on towards more knowledge towards moderation and towards godlinesse and brotherly love To which effect we should indeavour to rectifie in them those mistakes for which they shew their spirits to be averse from us and to give them also occasion to rectifie in us those sinister thoughts for which we conceive our spirits justly alienated from them For indeed it is for the most part almost nothing but mistakes on both sides and mis-interpretations of each others meanings and actions which make the division These mistakes and mis-interpretations therefore should be taken out of the way on both sides which may bee done if that wherein both Churches fully doe agree betwixt themselves and disagree from Papists were brought into a summe and meanes used to cause that summe to be acknowledged by common consent as a testimony of their unity in the faith and practice of true Christianity Now to make such a summe a Symboll of their agreement in faith and obedience as it is not difficult to be done so it may be effectuall to rectifie their mistakes and bind up their hearts in brotherly love if the publick Confessions of all the Churches were compared together in things necessary and usefull for unity and mutuall edification whereof the consent being gathered and approved by us then afterward it might be insinuated with countenance of authority unto forraigne Protestant States to make them willing to propose the same unto their Ministery to move them to approve of it in like manner as of a testimony of a spirituall unitie This I say is no hard matter to bee done and yet would bee a sufficient means to unite all our spirits together take away the hurtfull scandall of our divisions This being done needlesse disputes and curious Schoole questions which have bred much strife might in the second place bee cast out from the Pulpits and other profitable though high and sublime mysteries of godlinesse might be regulated by common consent to oblige ordinary Preachers to handle the same without curiosity prudently and plainly as may be answerable unto vulgar capacities for popular edification Thus it is conceived that controversies might be made lesse in number and in weight Which being done a course could be setled to entertaine correspondencie in spirituall things belonging unto the advancement of the kingdom of God towards those that either know or as yet know not his name To which effect these things should be taken into consideration First How and by what means answerably to the will of God scandals heresies and breaches of brotherly love and unity should be prevented betwixt the Churches in time to come Secondly How the increase of knowledge which daily is enlarged in some places this way and in other places that way according to the different gifts of Gods Spirit diversly bestowed and alwaies profitable in severall persons may become profitable in common to all and be communicated without grudging or envie or danger of disturbance to any arising from preposterous contradictions and disputations And to bring this to passe thoughts have beene long agoe entertained and some indeavours used to procure the meanes of true Christian learning and holy knowledge The first is a full body of practicall Divinity which in stead of the ordinary Philosophicall-jangling-School-Divinity might bee proposed to all those that seeke the truth which is after godlinesse and especially to the young Schollers of Theologie in the Universities The second is a substantiall explication of the literall and materiall sense of the Text of the holy Bible to be a help unto all both learned and unlearned in matters of doubt which ought to bee decided by the word of God The third thing belonging to the advancement of Gods Kingdome which may and ought to bee consulted upon is how to propagate the truth and light revealed unto Protestants towards others that such as are yet in darknesse and deadly ignorance may be drawne unto the light of life which shineth in the Gospel These are the objects of my sollicitation and endeavours amongst Protestants whereunto not only many have given their consent and decalred a ready minde for concurrence but some also have really and effectually put to their hand to labour in the work with us others are more and more comming on and no doubt by your example most of them will be raised and stirred up from that accustomed drowsinesse and slacknesse in resolution wherewith our flesh and bloud is clogged when wee intend spirituall matters But hee that is able to waken the dead and raise them up out of their graves and who will once bring us