Selected quad for the lemma: duty_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
duty_n	law_n	nature_n	precept_n	1,292	5	9.1116	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A27214	Some observations upon the apologie of Dr. Henry More for his mystery of godliness by J. Beaumont ...	Beaumont, Joseph, 1616-1699.	1665 (1665)	Wing B1628; ESTC R18002	132,647	201

his Tub he thinks himself fit to direct the whole Christian Church and sutably inscribes the 19th Chapter of the 6th Book of his Mystery Advertisements to the Guides of Christendom but though he be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God be thanked he is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 none of those whom it concerns to manage the Government for this belongs to the Bishops not to him or to the People Which being notorious and clear doth the Doctor fear that these Governours themselves will so overscrupulously examine the outward form of the Government as to disturb thereby the Peace of the Church Logi He proceeds And again in the same page at the end in this parag reaching also into the following page That the first and chief point is to make a right choice of the Object of this Church-discipline which is to comprehend nothing but what is sound and purely Apostolical that is The indisputable Truths of our Religion such as we are sure to be the minde of Christ and his Apostles namely The generally acknowledged Articles of the Christian faith and plain and indispensable Duties of life For these are such as deserve to be held up with all possible care and strictness Other things so gently recommended that no conscientious Man may be pinched thereby If the Reader here ask The first and chief point of what he may guess if he can for the Doctor tells him not either here or in his Preface He cannot reasonably mean The first and chief point of Church-discipline for the Object of that Discipline must be made choise of and fixed by the Authour of that Discipline before the Discipline it self can be exercised and is therefore in the nature of the thing precedent to the Discipline it self Yet what else he should mean who can divine But what if he asks also Who should make the right choise of the object of Church-discipline I see not upon the Doctors grounds what possible Answer he could give without first supposing That the Church was for some time without Government and Discipline and in that time was to deliberate what Object to choose for till she had an Object of Government resolved on she could have no Government Indeed by the obvious sense of the Doctors words one would think that when he wrote them the choise of this Object was not made or not made aright But whether the Doctor knows or will know so much or no the Christian Church never stood at a gaze or muse touching the Object and the right Object of her Government and Discipline Yet let us hear from this Oracle what that Object must be he saith It must comprehend nothing but what is sound and purely c. i. e. The generally acknowledged Articles of the Christian Faith and plain indispensable Duties of life What he means by Articles of Faith generally acknowledged who can tell If he means such as were received by all Churches and Councils reputed sound Members of the Church Catholick he should have done well to have expressed it But he hath so ordered his words that if it may serve his turn at a pinch hereafter he can notwithstanding what he writes here wave or deny any such Articles when the Church shall require his Assent because some Hereticks or other have opposed them and so they were not Generally acknowledged As for indispensable duties of life which is the second part of his object it is but just to ask him what are such or how there can be any such for if as he lays for a Principle the main End of Church-Government and Discipline be the countenancing and promoting the Christian Life in an holy Observation of such Precepts of Christ as do not make men obnoxious to the secular Power by transgressing them Then in case a secular Princes Laws shall lay hold of a Christian by reason of any one or of all Christs Precepts the main end of the Church-Governours Office makes it not their duty to countenance and promote the Observation of any such of Christs Precepts And is not this in effect to make all the Precepts of Christ dispensable upon occasion Could the prime Visier now perswade the Emperors Subjects to imbrace this Doctrine it would much easier bring the grand Signiours designe to pass then all his Armies Now I can devise no imaginable Evasion for the Doctor but in that word the main end Whence perhaps he will pretend that one end though not the main of Church-Government is to promote the Observation of Christs Precepts whether they make men obnoxious to the secular Power or no. But will he dare to stick to this Will he profess that to promote the Observation of Christs Precepts is a petty end of Church-Government and by the by If he doth yet even this fetch will not clearly carry him off For First He makes a distinction of such of Christs Precepts as render men obnoxious to the secular Power from such as do not Secondly In respect of the later sort of Precepts he teacheth that it is the main end of Church-Government to promote their Observation Thirdly Therefore he necessarily leaves the former sort in a looser condition and dispensable by the Governours For certainly what is indispensable belongs to the main end of their Government But if they may take their liberty touching those costly and dangerous Precepts of Christ and be not indispensably bound to promote and press their Observation and that so they are not bound the Doctor signifies by his Distinction it follows that they may in this case dispense and leave the people to save their skins or purses by making bold with Christs Precepts Well but however the Doctor grants the ground of the Objection to be truly alledged onely he would perswade us that this overthrows not all Authority in things Indifferent For Sect. 7. he saith The premised passages administer matter for a due solution And then he adds That in saying the object of Church-Discipline is to comprehend nothing but what is sound and purely Apostolical viz. the generally acknowledged Articles of the Christian Faith and plain indispensable Duties of Life His meaning is That we should not make the lesser things and the more dispensable and such as are but of humane Institution and Determination the main object upon which Church-Discipline is exercised but the general acknowledged Articles of the Christian Faith and plain and indispensable Duties of Life such as we are exhorted to by Christ and his Apostles For this is really for the Glory of the Gospel the security of mens souls in the conduct of them to Heaven and also for their comfortable abode here upon earth Is not this pretty His Position was That the Object of Church-Government must comprehend nothing but the generally acknowledged Articles of Faith and indispensable Duties of Life Doth not this apparently exclude all things else Yet he professeth here that he meant onely That those should be the Principal and main Object So he said

reason of the hope that is in them and to stop the mouths of gain-sayers but to tell them that it is for their advantage to be perswaded that for ought they know their Religion may be false is a certain way to make them for a while to believe no Religion and a probable way to render them secure and perfect Atheists for upon such a perswasion they are so far from being ingaged to live holily to pray fervently to wean themselves from the world c. as the Doctor would pretend that they are rather ingaged in the quite contrary And my reason is because all these and such like parts of piety are parts of that very Christian Religion which such men are perswaded may for ought they know be not Gods Absolute but his Permissive Command that is not True but False If it be replyed that such duties as those are taught us rather as we are Men then as we are Christians I mean by the law of Nature and right reason and that therefore our suspending our Belief of our Religion properly as Christian suspends not our Belief of being obliged to those Duties I answer First those Duties are all incorporated in the Gospel and more expressly taught us in Christs Law then in the l●… of Nature 2. As I suspend my Belief of the truth of Christs Law so I may suspend my Belief of the truth of Natures Law and suppose that this as well as that is but Gods permissive command 3. Not to be immersed in the world is to be mortified to live holily or as he expressed it before to perfect holiness in the fear of God is to be intirely spiritualized And these are properly Christian Virtues Now touching them who are not Christians the Doctor affirms that the serious use of this his Principle viz. That for ought they know their Religion is false i. e. onely Gods permissive command is the next way to turn all men to Christianity Indeed to perswade them that for ought they know their present Religion may be false is a fair step towards their i●… quiring after the true But to perswade them so upon Dr More principle viz. That their Religion may be false though it be Gods command and though their consciences be convinced that it is his Command is not the way to Christianity but to Atheism or at least to an indifferency in Religion little better then Atheism For grant the Infidel this ground and by what arguments will you press him to turn Christian the best which Dr More can suggest are I guess those which he hinted in this Section i. e. The superlative holiness and unimitable miracles of Christ voices from heaven giving testimony to him his Resurrection his Ascension his being attested by prophesies at great distance To these or any the like the Infidels answer is ready viz. Dr More hath assured me that God may be the conveyer of a false perswasion why then should I not conclude that all these strange stories you tell me of Christ may also be false for why may not you or any men whatsoever deceive me as well as God Yea but if you will purifie your self and perfect holiness in the fear of God and use free and unprejudiced reason you shall by Gods assistance find those stories to be true To this likewise his answer is at hand How know I that all you now say is not a train to convey a false perswasion into me I cannot in any reason be more assured of your Veracity then I am of Gods and your pretended Veracity here may be nothing else but Policy But whereas you tell me I shall discover the truth by Gods assistance what am I the nearer or how can I trust to that staff if God himself may be the Authour of a false perswasion and if he no less then you may in this case for ought I know exercise his policy and not his veracity The second Argument therefore which I also take from Dr More in the mentioned place must be this That Christian Religion holds perfect congruity to the exactest reason and hath nothing in it repugnant thereto To this the Infidel may thus reply if God may deceive me exactest reason may deceive me Or if your God can deceive and reason not then shall reason be my God onely I would desire you to inform me where exact reason dwells and how I may come acquainted wit it If it be that which cannot deceive I am sure it dwells not in me for I dare not think my self priviledged with that veracity which you deny to God and how you can prove that it dwells in you is past my imagination Had you told me that God cannot deceive and that he hath set up the candle of reason in mans soul I should have counted the dictates of this reason to be infallible but seeing you teach me that God the prime fountain of all things whatsoever may convey into mans minde that which is false you leave me no certain bottom to build upon And therefore I had best even at a venture be content with the Religion I have hapned to be in whether right or wrong and not trouble my self about the needless entertaining of a new one which for ought I know or you either upon this your ground may prove a false perswasion And thus the oraculous Doctor hath cleared yea and fully cleared but we want some new Dictionary to teach us what clearing signifies his first particular Disquisition Sect. 15. he thus proceeds The second was whether it be competible to the nature of God to convey a false perswasion in things practical and which religiously and conscientiously oblige the party thus perswaded to act accordingly or abstain from acting This he decides affirmatively for he adds that Ahab was thus deceived by Gods effectual permission of that lying spirit that profer'd his service in that affair for the belief of that sure success which he thought was promised him from God was plainly of that nature as to oblige his conscience to fight the Lords battels against the uncircumcised Upon supposal of his former conclusion viz. that it is competible to Gods nature to convey a false perswasion into the the minde of his Creature which conclusion I hope I have made appear to be shamefully false I will grant him that such a perswasion doth conscientiously oblige the party perswaded to act c. But I have already proved that this was not Ahabs case and that it was not God but the Divel who deceived Ahab he must therefore give us some other instance and that he doth in the very next words Moreover that example of Gods conveying that perswasion into Abraham that he would have him to sacrifice his son is beyond all exception for it is manifest that Abraham was so perswaded by both what he did in the history and what is said of him Heb. 11. 17. By faith Abraham when he was tryed offer'd up Isaac accounting that God was able