Selected quad for the lemma: ground_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
ground_n	believe_v	church_n	true_a	2,638	5	5.6069	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A33507	The whore unvailed, or, The mistery of the deceit of the Church of Rome revealed being a brief answer to a book entituled, the reconciler of religions, or, A decider of all controversies in matters of faith, written by a professed Roman Catholick who subscribes his name A.S. in which he endeavoured to prove the Church of Rome to be the true church ... / by a servant of the Lord, Josiah Coale ; whereunto is added the 14th Chap. of A.S. his book in which he declares the Protestant ... not to be true preachers ...	Coale, Josiah, 1632?-1668.	1665 (1665)	Wing C4760; ESTC R37745	41,902	55

of Rome are baptized and sanctified in Christ and that all her Institutes and Cerimonies c. are holy and therefore she is holy Answ I deny i● and he cannot prove it for all who are baptized into Christ and are sanctified in him have put on Christ Gal. 3.27 and doth live holy and have the mind of Christ 1 Cor. 2.16 But the Church of Rome hath not the mind of Christ neither doth she live holy as afore proved Therefore she is not holy And as concerning her Institutions and Ceremonies as Bowing to Images and Altars and such things we never read that the holy Church in the Primitive times did practice such things therefore we have no ground to believe they are holy 3. That the true Church is Catholick or Universal I shall not go about to deny but I do deny that the Universality of the Church of Rome is a sufficient Argument to prove her to be the true Church for consider 1. What Church is more universal then the great Whore the false Church who hath a name written MISTERY BABYLON THE GREAT THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATION OF THE EARTH Rev. 17.5 Who sits upon the many waters which are Nations Kindreds Tongue● and Peoples Rev. 17.15 And did not the Whole world wonder after the beast that carries the Whore Rev. 13.3 And did she not sit as a Queene over them all with her fair profession or golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthinesse of her fornication Rev. 18.7 and 17.4 And did not all the inhabitants of the earth and the Kings of the earth drink of the wine of her fornication and commit fornication with her Rev. 18.3 17.2 Mark how universal was this great Whore the false Church and how confident she was for she said in her heart that she should see no sorrow Rev. 18.7 And did she not glor●fie her self and reign over the kings of the earth Rev. 17.18 mark this thing Is not this the very state of the Church of Rome now at this day doth she not reign over the Kings of the earth and over the inhabitants of the earth and hath she not so done long even for many ages Witnesse Fox his Acts and Monuments the first Volume which copiously relates the Authority she hat● exercised over Kings and how Pope Aarian made Fredricus the Emperour hold his stirrup while he got up his horse yea and shent him for his pains because the poor Emperour not being us'd to that work held his stirrup on the wrong side of his horse And again Did not the gre●t Whore which John sp●ke of drink the blo●● of the Saints and Martyrs of Jesus Rev. 17.6 And was she not to have blood given her to drink And hath not the Church of Rome drunk the blood of many thousands of the Saints and Martyrs of Jesus Surely the Histories of many generations past will testifie she hath Therefore she is not the true Church but the Whore And have not many Nations gone into her and committed fornication with her and doth she not sit upon many waters the Peoples Kindreds Tongues and Nations and this kind of universality she makes use of as an argument to prove that she is the true Church which may be truly said to be a part of her witchcrafts and sorceries with which she hath long bewitched the Nations even all this long night of Apostacy in which Antichrist hath reigned who hath blinded the invisible eye in people and with this same pittiful shallow stuff she would fain still blind that eye which God hath opened in us But blessed be the Lord the day is dawned which makes all things manifest Secondly And farther consider what a slender or blind Argument it is to plead universality to prove the Church of Rome to be the true Church Surely A.S. did not consider that they are many who goes in the bro●d way that lead● to destruction and that the whole world wondred af●e● the bea●● that carries the Whore the false Church neither did he consider that they are but few who finds and walks in the straight way which leads unto life ●or had he considered these things he would have been ashamed to have produced such an Argument to prove the Church of Rome to be the true Church But it s clear that the universal Church of Rome sits upon the many waters and reigns over the Kings of the earth and goes in the broad way Therefore she is not the true Church but the Whore Fourthly Again That the true Church is Apostolick and built upon the foundation of the holy Apostles and Prophets Eph. 2.20 and was propagated through the world by the Apostles that I acknowledge but that the Church of Rome is Apostolick or had her beginning in Christ and his Apostles as A.S. affirmeth or that she was propagated through the world by the Apostles in that discipline Ceremonies worshipping of Idols or Images Murthering the people of God c. in which she now stands that I doe deny and its abomination in A.S. to affirm it For consider First When or where did Christ or his Apostles begin the practice of bowing to Images or worshipping Idols or when did any of them bow to an Altar of wood or pray with a string of beads or pray to Saints or carry a silver or wooden Crosse about with them or murther any because they were not of their Faith The Church of Rome cannot prove that ever Christ or his Apostles began or practised any of these things nor that they were in being in their dayes we defie them but they are inventions set up in the false Church in the dark night of Apostacy that hath been over the Nations since the Apostles dayes and are practised in the Church of Rome to this day Therefore she is not Apostolick but Apostate like Fifthly That the true Church or the Members of it is visible I shall not deny and that she is the Light of the world I do confesse but that the Church of Rome is the true Church or the Light of the world because she is visible that I do not acknowledge but deny for although the true Church or the Members of it is visible yet so is the Whore also But then some will say How are they the● to be distinguished First I answer By the●● fruits as Christ said men do not gather grapes of thorns nor figs of thistles Matth. 7. ●6 neither can one 〈◊〉 send forth bi●ter water and sweet James 3.12 nor a good tree 〈◊〉 b●ing forth bad fruit But the visible Church of Rome bring● forth bad fruits and sends forth bi●●er waters as the Cruelties exercised by her and the Murthers she hath acted for ages past testifieth and as the Idolatries exercised in her to this day as before mentioned witnesseth For such things was never exercised by nor in the true Church in Christs nor the Apostle● dayes therefore though the Church of Rome be visible yet her fruits testifieth that