Selected quad for the lemma: faith_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
faith_n	believe_v	scripture_n	tradition_n	5,694	5	9.4692	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A78018	Conformitie's deformity. In a dialogue between conformity, and conscience. Wherein the main head of all the controversies in these times, concerning church-government, is asserted and maintained; as without which, all reformation is headlesse, and all reconciliation hopelesse. Dedicated by Henry Burton, to the honour of Jesus Christ, as the first-fruits of his late recovery from death to life; as a testimony of his humble and thankfull acknowledgement of so great a mercy: and published for the service of all those, that love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity ...	Burton, Henry, 1578-1648.	1646 (1646)	Wing B6160; Thomason E358_20; ESTC R201164	26,532	40

not endure to hear of this King of the Jews So the Heathen Emperour Domitian out of jealousie of his Empire sought to root out the whole Race of CHRISTS Kindred until two of them were brought before him that got their living hardly in the husbanding of a few acres of land and understanding of Christs kingdom that it was altogether spirituall and not of this world he dismissed them and ceassed his persecution An example sufficient to shame thousands that glory in the Name of Christians and contrary to this Heathen cannot endure to hear of Christs kingdom to be spirituall but under some fair colourable pretences of Spiritualty and Clergy and I know not what endeavour nothing more then to set up a worldly kingdom which yet they must forsooth call Christs kingdom when in nothing it is spirituall but as it is a Tyranny set over mens consciences souls and spirits But sir before I proceed any further with you let me also crave your name Conf. Sir my name is Conformity Consc Conformity Sir if you be the man I know none more ready to raise slanders upon me then your self and may I not say truly of thee that thou art one of the greatest troublers of Israel For what can more trouble the world then when thou Conformity would'st force all mens consciences to dance after thy Pipe Conf. Why Mr. Conscience do not ye think that I have a conscience as well as you should I therefore be an enemy to Conscience But indeed I confesse my conscience is not so strict or strait-laced or self-willed as obstinately to stand upon mine own singular opinion in opposition to the generall judgement of most meh and those not only learned but pious too so far as I can judge Consc It seems then that every conscience by your verdict must be strait-laced and self-willed that will not follow the multitude seeing you ground your conscience upon men for their number learning piety making them the rule of your conscience and not Gods Word alone Conf. Sir I hold this the safest way for I may misunderstand the Scripture which many learned cannot so easily do Consc This indeed is a good plea for Popery who boast of their Universality Learning Councels Synods and therefore besides the Popes infallible Oracle not easily subject to mis-understand the Scriptures Or you are like those Jewes who would not believe in Christ unlesse the Rulers did know indeed that he was the very Christ Or as the Pharisees said Have any of the Rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him Thus do you not pin your faith and so your souls upon mens sleeves when you will believe as most believe or as the Church or Nation believes Conf. But sir I put a great difference between a Councel of learned Papists or a Synedrion of Jewish Priests and a Synod of learned Protestants Consc Indeed the very names of Papist and Protestant import no small difference although a Papist and a Protestant at large are at no great odds in matter of Faith Conscience Religion only such a Protestant is apter to turn Papist then a Papist Protestant And take your Protestants at the best call a Synod of the learned est and highest esteem in the world yet even such a Synod may in some things and those fundamentall too possibly run into and wrap themselves in foul errours Conf. How sir shew me any one instance hereof that ever any learned Protestant Counsel or Synod hath erred in any fundamentall of faith or much lesse hath maintained such an Error or Heresie and I will not henceforth be so confident in depending and resting upon mens judgements be they never so learned godly or many Consc Seeing you thus put me to it what think ye of Jesus Christ Is not he a prime fundamentall Conf. No doubt for he is the only foundation For other foundation can no man lay Consc Is not Christ then as well in his three Offices as he is King Priest and Prophet as in his two natures united in one Person of the Eternal Son of God a fundamentall of faith so as as well he that denieth any one of his three Offices as * he that denieth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is an Antichrist and grand Heretick as overthrowing a principall foundation of faith Conf. I conceive this cannot well be denyed Consc Nay of necessity it must be believed For the Papists in joyning their Traditions with the Scripture deny Christs Propheticall office and in equalling their Satisfactions with Christs merits they deny his Priestly Office and in exalting their Hierarchy call it Papall or Prelaticall or Sacerdotall * over the Temple of God mens consciences they deny Christs Kingly Office All which Offices together or any one of them being denied is * with Antichrist to deny that Jesus is the Christ seeing the Christ is he that is anointed King Priest and Prophet of which to deny any one is to deny that Jesus is the Christ Do ye not believe this Mr. Conformity Conf. I confesse there appears to me a truth to be in all this But yet Mr. Conscience I hope you do not go about to ensnare me with mine own confessions Consc Why Master Conformity are you conscious to your selfe that while you confesse the truth the truth should ensnare you Certainly the bonds of * truth willingly taken upon us become the robes and livery of our true freedome Conf. Sir take me not at the worst I would not willingly utter words to my prejudice Consc Speak the words of truth then and fear nothing Conf. Well sir proceed then to what you have more to say Consc I say then that to deny any one of Christs Offices as afore is to overthrow a Foundation of faith Conf. I grant it Consc Hereupon I inferre that it is possible for a learned Synod of Protestant Divines to deny one of these three Offices and so to overthrow a foundation of faith Conf. Though it be possible yet it is not probable But sir remember what ye undertook namely to prove by instance that a Protestant Synod of Orthodox Divines hath thus erred Consc Nay stay Mr. Conformity remember your self well Did I say a Protestant Synod of Orthodox Divines For how Orthodox if they overthrow a foundation of faith then they cease to be Orthodox Conf. Well however yet they might in other fundamentals be Orthodox Consc But in any one fundamentall to be Heterodox is to cease to be Orthodox and obstinately persisting is hereticall Conf. I confesse that any one Heresie maintained makes a man a Heretick hold he otherwise never so many truths and so he overthrows the faith as those did who * denyed the Resurrection though all other truths they held But sir all this while I expect your proof or instance that a Synod of Protestant Divines should fall into any such foul errour or heresie as should overthrow the foundation Consc Mr. Conformity for

truth as to censure or restrain either heresie or schisme or apostacie And Christs government is sufficient in all Church-cases whatsoever Conf. But who in a Christian civil State do not acknowledge Christ as superior Consc This is sufficiently resolved before Such as conform to a State religion or a State church-government make that the supreme law and lord over their conscience and so exclude Christs supremacie Enough is said of that But you cut me off from what I was about to adde Mans nature is too prone to idolize the Power so as to make it as the shadow of the bramble in Jothams parable under which to ease themselves of the labour to search into the Scriptures and so to come to know what they believe most men pinning their Religion upon the sleeve either of the Priest as the Papists do or also of the Magistrate as our common Protestants do wrapping all up in an implicite faith and blind obedience according to your Remonstrance that urgeth conformity to the religion and government of Christ already established or which shall be set up Thus it was enough for the Pharisees to say * We have a law and by that law Christ ought to dye Thus Christ must not be God because the Roman Senate according to their law formerly made had not first motion'd it or passed their vote for it before Tiberius Caesar had commended it to them namely to admit of Christ into their Pantheon to take place among their gods And is it not even so with us Must not Christ be King of the Jews only because by an act of State as before they will not have this man to reign over them And Christ must not be God because the Roman Senate had not pre-resolved it And so Christ must not be sole Lord over the conscience nor sole Law giver of his Church nor his Word the sole rule of worship of Christs Kingly government of his spiritual kingdom in the conscience and Churches of the Saints nor indeed Christs kingdom spiritual because the Sate hath made a law which must rule the conscience in point of forms of worship and of Church-government that Christs kingdom must be worldly perpetually entaild to a whole Nation making up one Nationall Church the form whereof worldly and the materials worldly as either no Saints at all or else all Saints because all nominall Christians and all this and much more because the civill State by the instigation of men Ecclesiasticall or Civill domesticall or forein hath so ordaind it Conf. Well Conscieuce I now perceive that fame is no lyar I have now heard thee my self and much more then ever I heard before and such things as my stomack is no way able to digest but that I must needs go ease it by acquainting those whom it specially concerns with what thou hast here delivered And so farewell Consc Nay stay Conformity and this withall take with thee First I would have thee know that speaking so freely to thee I was not so simple as not to imagine thou wouldst divulge all nay in truth I have spoken all this to thee to that very purpose that thou shouldst communicate it if possible so far as the Sun shines but first to thine at home as thou sayest But thus much let me intreat of thee 1. That thou wouldst not do any thing this way in malice lest thou adde to thy sin Secondly that thou wouldst speak nothing but truth and the whole truth and that without aggravations whereof there is no need especially when thou speakest to thy friends of Conscience and much more of things of this nature too harsh for delicate ears And thirdly assure them from Conscience that what I have here spoken to thee it is out of pure zeale for the honour of Christ out of pure charity to the persons concerned out of pure piety to see my native country in such a perishing estate and the honour of England to lie in the dust out of pure hatred of hypocrisie idolatry pride covetousnes ambition treachery and treason walking up and down in long robes And in a word to deliver if no more yet mine own soul in discharge of my duty to God and my country as a poor Minister of Christ by witnessing the truth and convincing error And for a close of all Conformity If thou desirest Peace with Truth as we all should do If thou wouldest have me to hold correspondence with thee and to give thee the right hand of fellowship If thou desirest that desirable reconciliation of our differences First renounce thy name of Conformity in thy sense and conform not to this world but to Gods word let that be the Cynosure or Pole-star of that Vniformity of Churches ACCORDING TO THE WORD OF GOD as in our late Covenant And this thou shalt do if I say not if thou dost shake off the fear and favour of men the love of the world of honours pleasures riches preferments ambition of greatnesse of domination over Gods people Nor if thou castest out that old spirit of bondage under the Prelates lest it turn into a more dangerous tyrannie then that of the Prelacie as being more refined and going under the plausible name of Reformation Nor do I say if thou becommest a self denying man taking up thy crosse daily to follow Christ without all which notwithstanding thou canst not be his true disciple follower or enjoy true fellowship with him But this I say and urge as being the main Fundamental and Essential of a true right visible church of Christ If thou confessest Christ in all that he is If thou givest him his due honour in submitting thy conscience only and wholly to him with profession thereof and not to any humane power and as to the only Lawgiver of his church and kingdom to order and establish it with judgement and justice for ever and to his Word as the only law and rule of the government of that kingdom and the only Judge to appeale unto in all doubts and controversies of faith And if thou shalt confesse every church and congregation of Christ to be only and immediately under Christs jurisdiction and not subject to any other church or churches which are so many Sisters not Mistresses lest otherwise we set up the Spouse above or in stead of her husband Christ If I say thou wilt confesse and hold forth this in thy publike profession preaching and practice of it Then though thy Churches have many other defects yet if they have the beeing and constitution of true churches of Christ for matter and form I shall not scruple to hold communion with thee But otherwise so long as thou walkest not up to Christ in not acknowledging and avowing all that he is in not giving him his due honour in all things and especially in not setting him up in his Royal throne without a consort How can we entertain communion with you For * Farewell Religion where