Selected quad for the lemma: ground_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
ground_n	apostle_n	church_n	true_a	1,505	5	5.2874	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A62589	A sermon lately preached on I Corinth. 3.15. By a reverend divine of the Church of England	Tillotson, John, 1630-1694.	1685 (1685)	Wing T1226; ESTC R219312	14,236	17

it and had constant recourse to it for the determining of differences and yet that that very Church which hath enjoyed and used it so long should now be at a loss where to find it Nothing could fall out more unluckily than that there should be such differences among them about that which they pretend to be the only means of ending all differences There is not the least intimation in Scripture of this priviledge conferr'd upon the Roman Church nor do the Apostles in all their Epistles ever so much as give the least directions to Christians to appeal to the Bishop of Rome for a determination of many differences which even in those times happened among them And it is strange they should be so silent in this matter when there were so many occasions to speak of it if our Saviour had plainly appointed such an infallible Judge of Controversies for this very end to decide the differences that should happen among Christians It is strange that the Ancient Fathers in their disputes with Hereticks should never appeal to this Judge nay it is strange they should not constantly do it in all cases it being so short and expedite a way for the ending of Controversies And this very consideration to a wise man is instead of a thousand arguments to satisfy him that in those times no such thing was believed in the whole world Now this Doctrine of Infallibility if it be not true is of so much the more pernicious consequence to Christianity because the conceit of it does confirm them that think they have it in all their other errors and gives them a pretence of assuming an Authority to themselves to impose their own fancies and mistakes upon the whole Christian world 2. Their Doctrine about Repentance Which consists in confessing their sins to the Priest which if it be but accompanied with any degree of Contrition does upon Absolution received from the Priest put them into a state of Salvation though they have lived the most lewd and debauched lives that can be imagined than which nothing can be more destructive of a good life For if this be true all the hazard that the most wicked man runs of his Salvation is only the danger of so sudden a death as gives him no space for Confession and Absolution A case that happens so rarely that any man that is strongly addicted to his Lusts will be content to venture his Salvation upon this hazard and all the arguments to a good life will be very insignificant to a man that hath a mind to be wicked when remission of Sins may be had upon such cheap terms 3. The Doctrine of Purgatory By which they mean a state of temporary punishments after this life from which men may be released and translated into Heaven by the Prayers of the Living and the Sacrifice of the Mass. That this Doctrine was not known in the Primitive Church nor can be proved from Scripture we have the free acknowledgment of as Learned and Eminent men as any of that Church which is to acknowledge that it is a superstructure upon the Christian Religion And though in one sense it be indeed a building of Gold and Silver upon the foundation of Christianity considering the vast Revenues which this Doctrine and that of Indulgences which depends upon it brings into that Church yet I doubt not but in the Apostles sense it will be found to be Hay and Stubble But how groundless soever it be it is too gainful a Doctrine to be easily parted withal 4. The Doctrine of Transubstantiation A hard word but I would to God that were the worst of it the thing is much more difficult I have taken some pains to consider other Religions that have been in the world and I must freely declare that I never yet in any of them met with any Article or Proposition imposed upon the belief of men half so unreasonable and hard to be believed as this is And yet this in the Romish Church is esteemed one of the most principal Articles of the Christian Faith though there is no more certain Foundation for it in Scripture than for our Saviours being substantially changed into all those things which are said of him as that he is a Rock a Vine a Door and an hundred other things But this is not all This Doctrine hath not only no certain Foundation in Scripture but I have a far heavier charge against it namely that it undermines the very Foundation of Christianity it self And surely nothing ought to be admitted to be a part of the Christian Doctrine which destroys the reason of our belief of the whole And that this Doctrine does so will appear evidently if we consider what was the main Argument which the Apostles used to convince the world of the truth of Christianity And that was this That our Blessed Saviour the Author of this Doctrine wrought such and such miracles and particularly that he rose again from the dead And this they proved because they were eye-witnesses of his Miracles and had seen him and conversed with him after he was risen from the dead But what if their senses did deceive them in this matter then it cannot be denied but that the main proof of Christianity falls to the ground Well! We will now suppose as the Church of Rome does Transubstantiation to have been one principal part of the Christian Doctrine which the Apostles preached But if this Doctrine be true then all mens Senses are deceived in a plain sensible matter wherein 't is as hard for them to be deceived as in any thing in the world For two things can hardly be imagin'd more different than a little bit of Wafer and the whole Body of a Man So that the Apostles persuading men to believe this Doctrine persuaded them not to trust their Senses and yet the Argument which they used to persuade them to this was built upon the direct contrary principle that mens Senses are not to be trusted For if they be not then notwithstanding all the evidence the Apostles offer'd for the Resurrection of our Saviour he might not be risen and so the Faith of Christians was vain So they that represent the Apostles as absurdly as is possible viz. going about to persuade men out of their Senses by vertue of an Argument the whole strength whereof depends upon the certainty of Sense And now the matter is brought to a fair issue If the testimony of Sense be to be relied upon then Transubstantiation is false If it be not then no man is sure that Christianity is true For the utmost assurance that the Apostles had of the truth of Christianity was the testimony of their own Senses concerning our Saviours Miracles and this Testimony every man hath against Transubstantiation From whence it plainly follows that no man no not the Apostles themselves had more reason to believe Christianity to be true than every man hath to believe Transubstantion to be false And we who