Selected quad for the lemma: doctrine_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
doctrine_n	interpret_v	reason_n	use_v	12,109	5	11.0961	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A45419	Of fundamentals in a notion referring to practise by H. Hammond.	Hammond, Henry, 1605-1660.	1654 (1654)	Wing H554; ESTC R18462	96,424	252

him that hath that guilt upon him to reform the sins that contract that guilt he which is supposed not guilty cannot be so obliged and 't is hard to imagine what possible consideration what messenger from the dead should be able to perswade him to repent till he hath deposited that premature perswasion of his being in Christ § 9. One special ground of the Fiduciaries mis-perswasion is the Doctrine of God's giving Christ for all the Elect and for none but them all others being supposed to be left by God in a state of absolute destitution and dereliction upon no other foreseen demerit but only the guilt of Adam's sin imputed to them and not removed by Christ § 10. And upon that Doctrine imbibed 1. it is not unreasonable or difficult for him that is thus perswaded that supposes his danger to flow from no real sin or guilt of his own but only that which being committed by another is imputed to him to believe that there is nothing required of him neither repentance nor good works but only a full assurance of his own being elected and rescued in Christ i. e. a believing his own wishes an aerial magical faith to work his deliverance for him § 11. 2dly What should make it necessary for him to repent and amend who either without respect to any degree of amendment is supposed to be elected to eternal blisse or without respect to sin to be irreversibly reprobated i. e. to any person thus considered either as elect or left reprobate and non-elect in the whole masse of lapst mankinde § 12. Nay I might adde what obligation can lie on any man so much as to believe whatsoever the notion of faith be even to believe he shall be saved when 't is supposed by him to be certainly decreed that he shall be saved without foresight of or respect unto this Faith of his § 13. Upon these premises it cannot be unreasonable to conclude and useful farther to take notice in the next place that these two doctrines 1. of Christ's dying for none but the Elect 2. of God's absolute irrespective decrees of Election and Reprobation are inconvenient interpositions which are most apt to obstruct and hinder the building of good life even where the Foundation thereof is received intirely and not questioned in any part thereof Of which I shall therefore farther treat in the two next Chapters § 14. Mean while as an appendix to this Chapter it will be just to take notice that some men have thought it necessary in the definition of Faith to change the Full Assurance into a milder style of Relyance which if it be not joyned with other changes in that doctrine as in that particular of the Priority of Faith before Repentance 't is certainly 1. as erroneous 2. as liable to the charge of obstructing good life as that other doctrine of Assurance hath appeared to be § 15. For the first where there is no divine Promise on which to relie as to the unreformed sinner remaining such the whole Bible affordeth none there what is reliance but presumption reliance on a broken reed a building without a foundation Whereas on the other side if any promise were producible whereon it were safe to relie what scruple could the Christian there make against entertaining the fullest assurance for that without question will be supported abundantly by such a promise § 16. For the second 't is visible He that continues unreformed and impenitent in his course of sin and is by the preacher induced to Relie on Christ for his salvation and is farther taught that this Reliance is that Faith by which he is justified and the one thing that is required of him to his salvation what necessity can be imagined to lie on that man to reform or amend any vice or to doe any thing but relie on Christ for the pardon of it for justification and salvation 'T is superfluous to pursue this any farther which so discernibly falls under the inconveniences that have been shewed to belong to Assurance and are mention'd in the former part of this Chapter too largely to be here repeated CHAP. XIV Of Christ's dying for none but the Elect. § 1. NOW for that doctrine of Christ's dying for none but the Elect i. e. according to the opinion of those which thus teach for a small remnant of the world As it is asserted without any pretense or colour of scripture-proof nay in opposition to as plain distinct affirmations as can be produced for any Article in the Creed so is it of very ill consequence to the superstructing of good life § 2. That Christ's dying for all is the expresse doctrine of the scripture is elsewhere manifested by the phrases of the greatest latitude used in this matter 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the world which is a word of the widest extent and although it be sometimes used more restrainedly yet never doth nor can in any reason be interpreted to signifie a farre smaller disproportionable part of the world Secondly All which word though it be sometimes restrained by the matter and doth not alwaies signifie every person or thing yet generally it must be extended as farre as the matter is capable of and must not be restrained without some considerable reason for doing so Thirdly Every man a form of speaking which excludes all exceptions of which some general phrases are oft capable Fourthly those that perish those that are damned those that deny Christ and purchase to themselves swift damnation which being added to the number of those which are saved by his death and acknowledged by all opposers to be so make up the whole unlimited number of all mankinde Fiftly as many as are fallen in Adam and dead through him which phrase is by all but Pelagius and his followers supposed to comprehend every son of Adam every branch of his progenie § 3. And accordingly though the Apostles Creed make no other mention of this then is contained in styling Jesus Christ our Lord i. e. the Lord by title of Redemption of us all indefinitely and particularly of every person who is appointed to make that confession of his faith i. e. every one that is admitted to baptisme yet the Nicene Creed hath inserted some words for the farther explication of that Article Who for us men and for our salvation came down which signifie all mankinde to have their interest in it § 4. Nay if it be observed in the Apostles Creed that the two first articles are corresponding and proportionable one to the other to God in the first Article Jesus Christ in the second to Father almighty in the first his only son in the second to maker of heaven and earth in the first our Lord in the second we shall have reason to inferre that as heaven and earth in the first Article signifie in the greatest latitude all and every creature in the world to have been created by that

of the Father referring to the several hypostases in the one eternal indivisible divine nature and the eternity of the Sons generation and his coeternity and consubstantiality with the Father when he came down from heaven and was incarnate c. for us men peculiarly not for Angels and for our salvation and lastly the perpetuity of his kingdome added in the close all these are assertions equivalent to those which had been before comprised in the antient more simple uncompounded article but were usefull to be thus enlarged and explicated when the Arians opposed the Apostolick tradition and by corrupting detorted the words of scripture to their sense § 6. This is elswhere more largely shewed in the note on 1 Joh. 5.7 And all that will opportunely here be added is onely this that they which according to the Apostles depositum or doctrine in every Church believed the descent and incarnation of the eternal God on purpose to rescue mankinde from all impurities to reveal the whole divine will for the regulating mens lives to attest it by his death and evidence it by his resurrection c. and at last to come to judge the world according to this determinate rule had all those branches of Christian faith which were required to qualifie mankinde to submit to Christ's reformation And 't is the wilfull opposing these more explicite articles the resisting them when they are competently proposed from the definition of the Church and not the not-believing them thus explicitly when either they are not revealed or not with that conviction against which he cannot blamelesly and without pertinacy of his will hold out that will bring danger of ruine on any § 7. That which is added of the holy Ghost the Lord and giver of life who proceedeth from the Father and the Son supposing with the Western Church that the Filióque was found in the first copies and acts of that Councel who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified who spake by the Prophets is in like manner an enlargement and explication of the more brief Apostolick form and the substance thereof was comprised formerly in that uncompounded style fitter then for the belief and memory of all but was afterward prudently enlarged for the repelling and preventing the poyson of heretical invaders the Montanists and Macedonians c. § 8. And so likewise that addition of the one Baptisme prefixt to the Remission of sins was on purpose design'd against the Novatians whose pretensions were considered and condemned in the Councel of Nice The practises of the Churches in receiving those that had fallen into gross sins after baptisme had been somewhat different in some parts milder as in the Church of Rome in others more rigid The Church of Rome had given some liberty for the great offenders murtherers adulterers and such as had fallen to Idol-worship in time of persecution viz that after many years penance they might be restored to the Communion and peace of the Church without any new baptisme such as was used in admitting heathens only by imposition of hands or absolution extending the virtue of baptisme formerly received to the washing away of these sins committed after baptism in case of sincere repentance and forsaking of them This the Novatians disliked and thereupon brake off and made a schisme in the Church And the Councel of Nice taking cognizance of the matter judged against Novatus and his followers that there was place for a second repentance and not only for that first before Baptisme as appears by the Canons of that Councel And this was it that was referred to in this more enlarged passage of their Creed and the use of it thought very considerable for the reducing of lapst Christians as the Apostolical article of remission of sins indefinitely had been for the attracting heathens And this and all the former additions being thus setled by the Vniversal Church were and still are in all reason without disputing to be received and embraced by the present Church and every meek member thereof with that Reverence that is due to Apostolick truths that thankfulness which is our meet tribute to those sacred champions for their seasonable and provident propugning of our faith with such timely and necessary application to practise that the holy Ghost speaking to us now under the times of the New Testament by the Governours of the Christian Churches Christ's mediate successors in the Prophetick Pastoral Episcopal office as he had formerly spoken by the Prophets of the Old Testament sent immediately by him may finde a cheerful audience and receive all uniform submission from us § 9. And this is all that is here necessary to be said of this second Creed CHAP. X. Of the Athanasian Creed § 1. OF the Athanasian Creed as it is usually called two things will be briefly considerable 1. The doctrine of it 2. The curses and damnation denounced against those who doe not entirely maintain it without the corruptions and mixtures of the hereticks § 2. The Doctrine is well-nigh all of it the asserting the Vnity of the Divine nature and the Trinity of hypostases whether subsistences as the Greek Church called it or as the Latine personae persons in it and that in opposition to several novel propositions which had by hereticks been introduced in the Church and so as the vices of men suggest lawes occasioned such explications and enlargements And of these again much more then of the Nicene superadditions it may be reasonably affirmed that being the explications of a Father of the Church and not of a whole Vniversal Councel or of the Church representative they were neither necessary to be explicitly acknowledged before they were convincingly revealed nor simply and absolutely imposeable on any particular man any farther then he was a member of some Church which had actually received Athanasius's explication as it is apparent the Western Churches did or then it appeared concordant with the more authentick Vniversal Confessions as every doctrinal proposition of it will be found to doe § 3. As for the Censures annext 1. in the beginning that except a man keep the Catholick faith of which this is set down not as the entire form but an explication or interpretation of some parts of it whole and undefiled he shall doubtless perish everlastingly 2dly in the middle he that will be saved must thus think and it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also believe rightly in the incarnation c. and 3dly in the end this is the Catholick Faith which except a man believe faithfully he cannot be saved I suppose they must be interpreted by their opposition to those heresies that had invaded the Church which were acts of carnality in them that broached and maintained them against the Apostolick Doctrine and contradictory to that foundation which had been resolved on as necessary to bring the world to the obedience of Christ and were therefore to be anathematized after