Selected quad for the lemma: faith_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
faith_n	catholic_n	church_n	visible_a	4,689	5	9.3932	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A33770	Theophilus and Philodoxus, or, Several conferences between two friends the one a true son of the Church of England, the other faln off to the Church of Rome, concerning 1. praier in an unknown tongue, 2. the half communion, 3. the worshipping of images, 4. the invocation of saints / by Gilbert Coles.	Coles, Gilbert, 1617-1676.	1674 (1674)	Wing C5085; ESTC R27900	233,018	224

distinction So you have in Saints worship and Image worship 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Supreme and inferior religious worship composeth the difference So Christ is the Invisible head of the Church Catholick and the Pope the visible and Ministerial So the works of the Law do not justify together with faith but good works do So you may hold two principles with the Manichees For altho God be the only Author and Creator of good things there may be any other first principle of evil things And thus we can have no standing rule and measure of Truth and Religion as long as the wit of Man shal adventure to delude them by the subtlety of a distinction Phil. How can you attain to any true knowledg of things if you take away the use of distinguishing Theoph. Not the use but the abuse of distinguishing is our greivance when subtle men elude the most evident Testimonies of the Scripture and the Fathers against them which distinctions minted in their own brains and only serving to their present purpose Phil. Our Doctors excellently distinguish in this work of Mediation Namely That Christ is the Mediator between God and Man and the blessed Saints are Mediators between us and Christ a 3 Sent. Dist. 3. qu. 2. So Bonaventure of the Blessed Virgin She is the Mediatrix between us and Christ as Christ is Mediator between us and God b l. 9. Moral Just. c. 10. Sancti apud Christum c. And so Azorius asserts of all the blessed Saints The Saints are our Advocates and Patrons with Christ and Christ with God And some of our Doctors give an excellent reason of this distinction They say Christ is not only an Advocate but also a judge examining the Merit of the supplicant and how shall a poor Sinner come unto him without an Intercessor to find Acceptance so the c Antonius 4. sum titulo 15. Deus providet nobis c. Arch-Bishop of Florence and therefore saith he God hath furnish'd us with an Advocatrix who is gentle and sweet without any mixture of sharpness according to that notable saying of S t Bernard which Antonius cites O man thou hast a secure access to God where the Mother stands before the son and the son before the father the Mother shewing her Breast and Paps and the son his Side and the Wounds unto his Father Theoph. This is a new Model of Divinity to the purpose we had thought the Love of Christ towards poor Sinners could find no paralel That the good Shep-heard needed no solicitation and mediation of others to bring home the lost sheep he came down from Heaven to save it We find he has gratiously invited the weary and heavy laden to come unto him do ye find where he puts them from him since the work of our Redemption is perfected The Apostle tells us he can have compassion of our infirmities and be touched with a fellow feeling being in all points Tempted like as we are yet without Sin And therefore we may come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain Mercy Feb. 4 15. 16. That we have a Merciful and Faithful High Priest to make Reconciliation for the Sins of the People Heb. 2. 17. That he is able to save them to the uttermost that come to God by him seeing he ever liveth to make Intercession for them Heb. 7. 25 All this and much more we Read to our unspeakable Comfort but nothing of his severe Inquisition and Judging them that come to him before his second coming unto Judgment And yet I must tell you you have bin too favouroble in the discovery this Mystery of Iniquity works higher then you have Represented The blessed Virgin must not only intreat but command her Son It is a Notorious form of Praier among you d O Felix Puerpera Jure Matris impera O happy Mother upon a Mothers autority command thy Son And altho e Ibin c. 16 Qui● nostrum hoc dicit Bellarmin askt who used that Form as tho he were ignorant thereof yet as being conscious he immediately after Exenses and justifies the Praier a Si Josh 10. dicitur obedire c. For saith he if it be said Joshua the 10. The Lord obe●'d the voice of a Man why may not after some sort the Son of God be said to obey his Mother Theoph. Aliquo modo Your Doctors can make any thing good but in the first place it is not there said That the Lord obei'd the voice of Man So indeed your vulgar Translation renders it but according to the Original we read it thus b That the Lord hearkened unto the voice of a Man Josh 10. 14. And so the septuagint and if God did obey the voice of a Man yet we do not read that Joshua did command the Lord but only the Sun and Moon Sun stand thou still in Gibeon and Thou Moon in the vally uf Asalon and therefore c Jure Matris impera vpon the authority of a Mother command thy Son it was Intolerable to say so when Christ was in the Flesh and subject to his Parents much more now he being ascended into Glory You do not read that the Blessed Virgin laid any command upon her Son on Earth Phil. You may take these as high Expressions of a devout Soul manifesting her confidence in the blessed Mother to obtain any thing of her Son and Saviour Theoph. Such extatic devotion hath led many of your Church beyond all reason and Religion in their superstitious addresses to the Saints and upon this occasion given I will insist more upon your Extravagancies in the Invocation and worship of our Lady You salute Her the Queen of Heaven and Mother of Mercies and so your Doctors have assigned unto Her more then half the Kingdom with the Father As the great King Abassuerus promist unto Queen Ester d Gabriel Biel Supra Canon Missae lect 80. c. One of your Schoolmen tells us That God reserving the execution of Justice to himself hath granted to the Virgin Mother the dispensation of Grace and Mercy e Bernardinus in suo Mariali c. By another we are taught to appeal from the Bar of Gods Justice unto the Throne of Mercy of the Blessed Virgin And whereas the Apostle exhorts to come boldly unto the Throne of Grace that we may obtain Mercy The Arch-Bishop of Florence tels us That f Mariah est thronus Christi c. Mary is this throne wherein Christ rested and that it is necessary all such should be Justified and saved unto whom she turnsher favorable countenance and for whom she proves an advocate and Bernardinus further ● 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 assures us That a In Christo tanquam in capite influente in Mariâ tanquam c. as Grace is in Christ as in the head and fountain so is it in Mary as in the neck transmitting So that no Grace can descend from

half Communion IN THE CHURCH of ROME Theoph. SIR I am much obliged to you for your kind and civil Entertainment and much more for that freedom of Discourse which your great Moderation hath allow'd me when somtimes in the defence of Truth and through a flaming Zeal that you should recover it I have neglected the Ceremonies of Friendship to hold the substance I have not sought so much to please as to convince you Phil. Truth is a Jewel which all are concern'd to purchase and hold fast but where this Tresure is to be found is the great Question I have bin diligent in the search and the Providence of God as I believe hath not been wanting in conducting me unto the Catholic Church the great Repository of Divine Truths Theoph. Doubtless the Holy Catholic Church is so the Truth it self hath promis'd to be with her unto the end of the World The Catholic Church will alwaies hold the Catholic Faith and by this Rule we judg particular National Churches to be true Members of the Church Catholic as they hold the Catholic Faith Phil. I mean the Roman Catholic Church whose Faith as Peters cannot fail and which hath alwaies laid a just claim to be the Catholic Church wherein the Truths of God and Eternal Life are conserv'd as her peculiar Tresure and none who do not communicate with her can share in them Theoph. That which you call a just claim will in its due place appear a most intolerable Usurpation and such as make the Catholic Church and the Roman Church to be reciprocal terms of the same amplitude and extent have forfeited their Logic and their Reason together The Church of Rome at best was a part and Member of the Church Catholic and now since thro her manifold Corruptions she hath well-nigh forfeited that Interest lo with an unparallel'd Insolence she flies at all and prescribes to the name of Catholic more solicitously perhaps out of a jealousie the Catholic Church should totally exclude her and out of a consciousness she hath deserv'd it But this digression would usher in a large Controversie besides our present purpose and I design first to insist upon the manifold Errors of your Church one after another as our occasions will permit and then if you please we will dispute the Point Whether the Church of Rome can be the only true Catholic Church which has so many ways departed from the Catholic Doctrine Phil. Your confidence Theophilus is no proof Theoph. I hope it shall appear to you and to the World that my Reasons and my Proofs have made me confident You may remember a second obvious Exception which I propos'd against the practice of the Church of Rome was her half Communion in the Sacrament of the Lords Supper Her denying the Cup unto the Laiety If you please we will now take it into Consideration Phil. Most willingly For I find a great noise and clamor is rais'd about it and the Grand Sacrilege of the Church of Rome is proclaim'd out of the Pulpit and the Press and from some appearances of Truth your severe Imputations and Calumnies pass for currant with the undiscerning multitude Theoph. These appearances of Truth as you are pleas'd to call them are no less then Demonstrations carrying so much Light and Evidence in them that even the undiscerning multitude in reading the Holy Scriptures are able at first sight to discover the incongruity of your Practice with the Rule how teaching for Doctrines the commandments of men you evidently transgress the commands of God Phil. This Artifice of yours and Industry to court the People into a prejudice against us is to me a Demonstration that you put no great confidence in the merits of your Cause Do not so peremtorily conclude before you have enter'd upon the Proof Theoph. I will prove your giving the Bread in the Holy Communion and not the Cup unto the People to be against the Institution of Christ the end of the Sacrament the practice of the Apostles and of the Church Catholic for twelve-hundred Years Phil. You have propos'd a good Method of Discourse and I desire you would follow it Theoph. First our Blessed Savior immediatly before his Passion instituted the Sacrament and gave it to the Disciples present in both kinds as three Evangelists record Matth. 26. 26. As they were eating Jesus took Bread and blessed it and brake it and gave it to the Disciples and said Take eat this is my Body ver 27. He took the Cup and gave thanks and gave it to them saying Drink ye all of it for this is my Blood of the New Testament which is shed for many for remission of sins So we read in Mark 14. 22 23. and he expresly testifieth of the Cup That he gave it to them and they all drank of it Saint Luke after the same manner And adds moreover the command of Christ This do in remembrance of me Luke 22. 19. Phil. I pray observe how that command is given only when the Disciples receiv'd the Bread and not when they took the Cup. The Words are these He took Bread and gave thanks and brake it and gave unto them saying This is my Body which is given for you this do in remembrance of me Likewise also the Cup after Supper saying This Cup is the New Test ament in my Blood which is shed for you ver 20. And a Tom. 3. Lib. 4. cap. 25. de Sacramento Eucharist● ut intelligeremus c. Bellarmin observes it as an instance of Gods wonderful Providence to make Heretics unexcusable And that we may understand it was the command of Christ that the Sacrament should be distributed to all under the species of Bread but not so under the species of Wine Theoph. S t Luke saith Likewise also the Cup Intimating the same Institution for one and for the other Phil. We are not much concern'd in your gloss upon the Text. Theoph. But you are in S t Pauls who declares That after the same manner he took the Cup when he had supped saying This Cup is the New Testament in my Blood 1 Cor. 11. 25. the very Words of S t Luke And then expresly adds the words of command of our Lord Christ This do as oft as ye drink it in remembrance of me Now what say you to the word of command given by Christ to do this in remembrance of him as well when he gave the Cup as when he distributed the Bread unto the Disciplos Phil. Bellarmin observes a difference b Ibid. Post panis consecrationem absolute penitur post calicem cum conditione This do in remembrance of me is put absolutely even in S t Pauls relation after the Consecration of the Bread but after the Cup it is repeated with a Condition ●his do as often as you drink it in remembrance of one not intimating that the Cup must of necessity be given or taken but if it be given or receiv'd it should be done in

Stories and Fables whereof the Reader may give himself an account in reading the History of that Council given by Binius in his 5 th Tome and there they pretend to shew how the former Council of Constantinople did impose upon many of the Bishops then present by corrupting Books and Testimonies and forcing their Votes to concur with them and this by the confession forsooth of those who had recanted and now sate in this Council to condemn and pronounce the other Accursed In the sixth Session they come close to the Point and examine the definition of that Conventicle as they are pleased to call it against Images but not in the usual way of Councils by debating particulars among them but referring all to a malapert Deacon one Epiphanius The Representative of the Arch-Bishop of Sardinia and he answers every Paragraph with Exclamation and Railing as the impartial Reader may observe To give one Instance the Council of Constantinople instead of the Picture of Christ sends us to the Holy Sacrament of the Lords Supper in commemoration of Christ and his Passion and calls the Eucharist Christ Image wherein he was best represented to his Church Here the Deacon wonderfully insults and triumphs over them and calls this fancy of theirs a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 An extreme apoplectical Madness He declares unto all the World That never any of the Apostles or Fathers of the Church before them call'd the Holy Sacrament an Image Now when we shall consider that the use of Images and Pictures is chiefly for representation and that in the Sacrament Christs death is represented and himself commemorated this Assertion of the former Council might have well pass'd without such an outragious Censure and yet withal to see how confident men will soon be over-taken in their presumtions we read in Baronius that great Darling of the Church of Rome an account given of one Stephanus a Confessor and Martyr for Images who expostulating with Leo Isaurus for his Image-breaking b Bar. Tom. 9. Anno 765. num 9. Audi corp sang Christi Antitypa proscrib ab Ecclesiâ ut quae Imag. veram fig. tenent quae adoramus c. bids him likewise if he thought good proscribe the Antitypes of Christs Body and Blood which contain'd the true Image and Figure of Christ and were also worshipped That which was memorable in Stephanus to call the Eucharist The Image of Christ in the Council of Constantinople was abominable so partial are Men who swerve from Truth they have Mens Persons and Arguments in admiration or contemt meerly for the advantage of their Cause however the insolent Deacon was no tell-troth in saying The Council had no president for their Assertion when Stephanus one of his Martyrs for Images had before asserted the same Now the Council of Constantinople which this Deacon under the Patronage of the Council of Nice fain would baffle into a Conventicle as far as we can discern by their Definition which their Adversaries have set forth only to be confuted we given them thanks for it this Council I say designs in the Definition to lead Men from sensible things unto Spiritual shewing that in this World we must walk by Faith not by sight and if we have known Christ after the Flesh from henceforth to know him so no more That Christians thoughts should not be drawn outward and distracted with visible representations from Spiritual intendments They quote a saying of Gregory Nazianzen c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. It is an injury to have our Faith in colours not in the Heart And he adds That Picture which is engraven in the depth of the Heart is amiable to me Pictures made in colours will wash away They quote Chrysostom saying d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. We enjoy the presence of the Saints in glory by their Writings having the Images not of their Bodies but of their Souls for those things which were done by them are the representations of their noble mind They quote a saying of Amphilochius Bishop of Ieonium e We take no care to represent in Tables the fleshly visage of the Saints by colours but to imitate their virtuous conversation We 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. have no need of Pictures They shew how Eusebius Pamphilus when Consiantia Augusta desired him to send an Image of Christ to her disswaded her from it What Image saith he would you have of his God-bead that 's impossible no man hath seen God at any time of his Man-hood We believe the humane Nature of Christ to be glorified and mortality swallowed up in life and how shall we express his Glorious Body with liveless colours and shadows The Disciples being in the Mount could not behold his transfigur'd Body whilst he was in the Flesh much less can we now represent or beh●ld him after his Ascension into the highest Heavens Other Testimonies they bring but the Deacon excepts against them as spurious but these he allows as legitimate and sets himself to answer them but with very little satisfaction to the Reader Now I pray judg whether these are not more significant Testimonies against Images then the Council of Nice or any others yet have produc'd for them Now the determination of the Council of Constantinople after their confession of Faith upon the whole matter is this a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. We unanimously determin That every Image of whatsoever matter or colour made by the wicked Art of Painters or Carvers be cast out of Christian Churches as alien and abominable And in the next words they condemn the Art of Carving or Painting as an ungodly and wicked Profession and forbid every one to keep a Picture in his House The Definition of the Council of Nice follows in the seventh Action After profession of the Faith of the six general Councils before them and Anathema's denounc'd against Heresies and Heretics they declare to hold uncorrupt all Traditions of the Church written and unwritten b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. whereof they say One Tradition is the making of Images suited to the History of the Gospel for confirmation of the Faith of Christs taking flesh and therefore say they With all diligence and exactness we define That Images of the Life-giving Cross and of Christ and of the Virgin Mary and of the blessed Angels and all the Saints shall be set up in Churches and Houses and High-ways and wrought in Copes and Vestments because the oftner these Images are seen the more they bring into remembrance and imitation such as are represented by them c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. We also Decree To give Honor Salvation and Adoration to these Images not that true worship of Latria which belongs only to the Divine Nature but as to the Image of the Cross and to the Holy Gospels and that the Oblations of Incense and Tapers should be made for their honor And in the