Selected quad for the lemma: faith_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
faith_n	church_n	true_a	visible_a	19,269	5	9.3685	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A39357	A letter to the Honourable Sir Robert Howard together with some animadversions upon a book entituled, Christianity not mysterious / by Edmund Elys ...	Elys, Edmund, ca. 1634-ca. 1707.; Howard, Robert, Sir, 1626-1698.	1696 (1696)	Wing E678A; ESTC R18806	6,186	18

A LETTER To the Honourable Sir Robert Howard Together with some Animadversions Upon a BOOK Entituled Christianity not Mysterious By EDMUND ELYS sometime Fellow of Baliol College in OXFORD 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 LONDON Printed for Richard Wilkin at the Kings Head in St. Paul's Church-yard 1696. To the Honourable Sir Robert Howard SIR I Challenge the Performance of your Promise That you will not take it ill if any Man shall offer Reasons unclogg'd with Passion against any thing you have writ and that if you cannot clearly answer them you will submit and acknowledge your Error Amongst some Papers entitled Polemica Christiana publish'd before I saw the Book entitled A Twofold Vindication c. there are some Reflections on your History of Religion which if I had known to have been yours perhaps I might not have us'd some of the Expressions which you will find in those Reflections But whatever they are GOD is my Witness no Inordinate Passion but a Fervent Love of the Truth you oppose prompted me to those Conceptions which I design'd to declare by them That prodigious Huff of your Friend shall not discourage me from publishing some more of my Amimadversions upon your Book The History of Religion is a Test upon all its Readers No Man can declare his Dislike of that Book but at the same time he proclaims that he esteems the Substance of Religion to consist in that which is least to be understood that he is all for Discipline GOD knows I am not for any other Discipline but what may conduce to the Glory of GOD and the Good of Men. Yet I must declare to all the World that I dislike your Book In which p. 43. I find these Words I wish that among the most Reformed Christians these Methods of Priest-craft were not so much and violently pursued the Impositions to believe and profess unnecessary and even extravagant things where neither Reason will justifie it nor does Religion require it Here you come out of your Hole and plainly enough acknowledge that you charge the Church of England with PRIESTCRAFT as well as the Church of Rome Does not Religion require that the Profession of believing that JESUS CHRIST the Saviour of the World is the true and eternal GOD should be the principal Term of Christian Communion If you shall be pleas'd to let us know what you mean by unnecessary and even extravagant things I trust in GOD I shall be able to give you an Answer I have formerly animadverted on thesé Words p. 63. A Man must be his own Expositor Minister Bishop and Council I shall now give you some of my Thoughts upon the Words following for these will not bear his Punishment he must bear it himself Answ. Therefore a Man ought not to be his own Expositor Minister Bishop and Council because if he be so he shall bear the Punishment of Disobedience to them whom our blessed LORD by his Apostle commands him to obey Heb. 13.17 Obey them that have the Rule over you and submit your selves for they watch for your Souls as they that must give Account Those Powers and Authorities say you given to others was the Cause of making and multiplying Creeds and Rules of Faith which ever were modell'd according to the present Interests and Animosities of prevailing Parties Here you revile all Councils and consequently cut off your self from the Body of the visible Church of CHRIST 'T is evident that he cannot be a true Member of the Church of England that contemns the four first general Councils or any one of them To say that the Creeds or Forms of sound Words which were made by the Councils of NICE and CONSTANTINOPLE the two other Councils viz. Eph. and Chalc. made none were not Modelled according to Godliness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but according to the present Interests and Animosities of prevailing Parties is I think the greatest Slander that any Gentleman professing himself to be a Member of the Church of England was ever guilty of however provok'd by any Interest or Animosity I pray GOD to give you true Repentance P. 96. 'T is not reasonable say you to believe that GOD who knows our Infirmities will punish Error which is no Sin because it comes not from the Will and Intention One Man may be weaker than another and both may mistake more or less according to the difference of their Capacities but neither of them is thereby guilty because the Mistakes and Opinions proceed from their Innocence which is to say their Weakness and Ignorance This Conceit of yours is grosly erroneous that Error comes not from the Will I grant that Nescience or the not knowing of any thing which comes not from the Will is no Sin But I assert that all Error comes from the Will being a false or irregular Judgment an Assent to that which is false or a Dissent from that which is true 'T is not only possible but our absolute Duty to SUSPEND our Judgment where we have no Evidence of the Truth or Falsehood of any Proposition 'T is wisely observ'd by the Stoicks that 't is agreeable to Nature that is to right Reason that we should suspend our Judgment concerning any thing of which we have no Evidence Epict. lib. 3. cap. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Every rational Soul acting according to her Nature assents to that which is true dissents from that which is false suspends her Judgment in Matters of which she has no Evidence or Certainty All false Judgments are self-Conceits which always proceed from self-will which is the Head Spring or Fountain of all Iniquity I did not think to have taken the Libeller to task says your Friend for any other of his wild Talk about Mystery because all the common Mistakes on that Topick are so manifestly discover'd by a very great Master that I do not expect a Man of Reputation will in hast venture a Defence against him I do not pretend much to Reputation I am willing to be made as the Filth of the World and the Off-scouring of all things But I solemnly profess by the Grace of GOD to hold the MYSTERY of the Faith in a pure Conscience And I should defile my Conscience with a very soul Sin of Omission if I should not publish my Animadversions upon that very wicked Book entitled Christianity not mysterious I Beseech the only wise GOD to convince you of all your Errors and to lead you by his holy Spirit into all Truth and to give you all things which he knows to be best for you Your Servant E. E. Animadversions Upon a BOOK Entituled Christanity not Mysterious REason says this Author may be defin'd that Faculty of the Soul which discovers the Certainty of any thing dubious or obscure by comparing it with something evidently known Answ. This is no Definition of Reason but an inadequate Description of the Humane Intellect or Understanding ESSENTIAL REASON IS INFINITE WISDOM or KNOWLEDGE absolutely perfect of Being absolutely