Selected quad for the lemma: love_n
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A56411
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The fire's continued at Oxford, or, The decree of the convocation for burning the Naked gospel, considered in a letter to a person of honour
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Parkinson, James, 1653-1722.
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1690
(1690)
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Wing P494; ESTC R1197
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18,231
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16
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whose honour the Writer professeth to advance and upon this account they think it more reasonable that those Expressions which exalt our Savior's Person to an Equality with the Father should stoop to those which speak him Inferior than that those which speak him Inferior should be strained up to those which speak him Equal And however this is the safer Way since it will lead us to such a Belief as will suffice for that end for whose sake alone Belief it self is required pag. 59. of the Interpolated Edition ' To this Question Whether any promise of God does necessarily import a restitution of the same numerical matter ' He answers That the Words of St. Paul Thou fool that which thou sowest c. plainly deny the Resurrection of the same numerical particles ' To another Question Whether it be more honorable to God and more serviceable to the design of the Gospel that we believe the Contrary ' He answers That it is the same as to ask Whether it be more honorable to salve all his Perfections or to robb one that we may clothe the other Answ To this and the other two following Paragraphs I answer That they relate to the Differences of those Times wherein the hot Bishops on both sides eagerly contended with one another to the unspeakable Detriment of the Church and Disturbance of the Empire But wise and stay'd Men such as the Emperor Constantine and those Bishops that were his Counsellors had such an esteem of those Controversies as our Author But 2. as to our Times and the Question about the Athanasian Creed I see not but that they who hold it so stiffly and persecute their Brethren on that score have no mind to remove Occasions of Difference and Separation but to continue them which one may be tempted to believe they would not do but for the sake of some secular and base Interest See more in the Judgment of one of our most eminent Bishops summing up that Letter of Constantine which this Author pressed Infra p. 14. This Persecution of the Author of the Naked Gospel and the manner of it is so threatning both to those of the National Church and the Dissenters from her that a fiercer Persecution may reasonably be expected than any we have seen in the late Reigns The Example is clear in those that being of the Church have any thing to lose pertaining to it And for Dissenters the Burners and other their Brethren do well know that none of 'em can give assent to the Athanasian Creed except some Presbyterians and non-assent let 's loose all the Penal Laws hungry Chancellors peevish or bigotted Justices and rascally Informers against them Is this the Temper that was promised If it should come to this How much worse would the Protestant National Church of England deal with her Children than the Papal Church of Rome This prohibits 'em to read the Bible and so prevents the occasion of questioning her Doctrines but that gives us the Scripture to read but will persecute us if we believe not and profess more than or contrary to what is therein contain'd contrary to the common Principle of Protestants and most expresly of this Church her self in her Sixth Article which saith ' The Holy Scripture containeth all things neeessary to salvation so that whatsoever is not read therein nor can be proved thereby is not to be required of any one to to believed as an Article of Faith or of necessity to Salvation If they do not mean by proved thereby proved to the satisfaction of every sober Man the Church of Rome will prove all her Articles in the same way and manner Thus Sir I take the freedom of telling you my thoughts upon this occasion but now I must return and ask you whether the Learned Assembly of Burners have proved that the Naked Gospel does not only deny the Godhead of our Lord Jesus Christ but ostentui habet as their Phrase is expose him to scorn or make a shew of him Do all their Exscriptions prove any part of their horrid Charge As for his denying the resurrection of the same numerical Particles you know that since the newer Philosophy got Credit that Doctrine is often taught in our Pulpits and I am inform'd even at St Mary's in Oxford too besides in divers learned Mens Writings Good God! when shall the Spirit of Persecution be cast out when will Christians learn to be just as Men not to say loving and tender-hearted as Brethren They boast of the truth of their Faith but it is not such as worketh by Love What is it to honour Christ in their Words and dishonour him in their Lives Fourteen Hundred Years experience has taught the World that Men contend for Opinions and Speculations in Religion for the gratification of their Pride Covetousness Revenge and the like worldly Interests Though my Letter has been so long I 'le venture still to entertain you Sir with something considerable about Dr. Bury the supposed Author of the Naked Gospel of which I am credibly inform'd To have a Book condemn'd long after 't was printed nay when its Author and his Colledg were strugling against heavy Oppression in their Rights and Priviledges will put the World upon enquiring into the Reasons and Motives of such an Action as well as the Life and Conduct of the Author The Rector of Exeter Colledg then having done what lay in his Power for his King was expell'd from his Fellowship for refusing to submit to the Visitors in 1648 and the only Person who had courage to read the Prayers of his then distress'd Mother the Church of England in the Colledg when extempore Ones were in fashion for which he was led by a Fileof Musqueteers to the next Port turn'd out and forbid entrance again upon pain of Death and he never after ran counter to so good a beginning Would not one think Sir this sufficient to procure him the respect and veneration of those who are his worst Enemies Had any of them fallen into Circumstances less troublesome what out-cries I sancy would there have been what writing of Letters what trumpeting of Praises what noise of Loyalty and past Sufferings not a Figure in Rhetorick but must have been drawn dry by one Wit or other and had that fail'd the World must have been hector'd into a good Opinion After he was made Rector he never did any thing that look'd as if he had forgot his first Loyal Principles but led a quiet sober and unblameable Life given very much to good Works as may be prov'd by his Buildings in the Colledg his large Contributions to the Company for Relief of Clergy-mens Widows and Orphan besides other less visible Instances not fit to be mentioned while he 's alive All which none indeed can deny that will not basely wrong him He was so strict an observer of what he thought the Will of his Founder that he would have declar'd his own Son's Fellowship void staying some time longer
him from discovering that from the beginning of the 7th Chapter to the 10th this Author speaketh only as a Commentator upon the. Letter of the great Emperor Constantine wherein he equally condemneth both Parties for troubling the Peace of his Empire with such a Question wherein it was not disputed whether Christ were God or not for therein both sides agreed but in what manner he was begotten or wherein he agreed or differ'd from the Father There is a Passage which I find in the last Impression which perhaps is not in many Hands and little notice taken of it in which the Author by closing that Discourse displayeth his meaning in it which though it be somewhat long I think fit to transcribe Pag 48 49. AND what is all this to BELIEVING IN CHRIST Yea what is it to the PERSON of Christ Had freedom from Persecution suffered a Controversy to have sprung three or four Ages before between some that then believed Christ to be God and others that believed Jesus to be the Christ but a Man born of Men as we heard from Justin Martyr the importance of such a Controversy would have justified the Heat wherewith it should be persecuted But here it was quite otherwise The Difference at first appeared very slight and afterward none at all For the Confession of Arius after his condemnation was so like the Nicene that neither the Emperor himself nor a Council found any defect in it The angry Bishop indeed found a word wanting but such a word as proved too unweildy even for those who would not dispence with it This word Arius omitted as no less needless than intractable But he and his followers acknowledged Christ to be the only begotten Son of God begotten before all Worlds God of God Light of Light very God of very God Was not this so believe in him Is it not enough to believe that as he created the World so he governeth it that as he promised everlasting Life to his Believers so he is able to perform it that he now seeth and will hereafter reward every one according to his Works Doth not this answer all the Designs of Faith Love Thankfulness Obedience c. Can none be Believers but Metaphysicians only Nor all they neither but only such as fully comprehend the new-coin'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and can so nicely apply them to the Person of Christ as to salve all Difficulties The Parties themselves did not think so The leading Bishops in the midst of their Heats allowed Toleration to the Dissenters and all of both sides during the Persecution under Julian communicated in die same Churches and in all good Offices both of Devotion toward God and Charity toward each other they mutually comforted and strengthned one another in defence of the Christian Faith By this it appeareth they did not judg one another to be Infidels and consequently that the Faith to which Eternal Life is promised was not concern'd in the Controversy An Evidence concurring with greater to prove that the Creed which weareth the Name of Athanasius was not his Issue nor Contemporary And where is that Church-of England-Man who doth not so distinguish the Doctrines of that Creed from its Censures as to retain the former in their full import but pull out the String of the latter by such an Interpretation as leaves uncancell'd our Saviour's Patent of Eternal Life to whosoever believeth in him These are the words of the Author wherein he summeth up the Design of all he had said concerning Faith toward the Person of Christ and whereby are rendred inexcusable any that charge him with Arianism Socinianism or any other hard Character No! his Heresy lay not in the Book but the Conclusion The Conclusion was so unlucky as not only to contradict the Purposes but the very Speech of those Leaders of that Convocation In the days of Hen. 3. the Bishops moved the Temporal Lords to suit the Law of England to the Canon Law by legitimating Children born before Wedlock The Temporal Lords answered Nolumus Lâ—ges Augliae mutari quia huc usque usu approbatae sunt The former half of these words the Noble Bishop of London took for the Motto of his Standard wherein there was neither need nor place for the later half and it is well known who with equal Wit Wisdom and Gratitude threw it in his Face in that Convocation Could any thing more provoke such a Man's spleen than a Discourse so cross both to the Determination and the Reason as for this very Reason to prove a Change ought to be made because Experience had proved those Laws unhappy in succeeding Ages which were wisely and charitably instituted for that Age wherein they were first established This was an Affront never to be digested but for its sake the whole Book must be condemned and the Author prosecuted From this general Apology for the Author's Innocency I will now proceed to take a short view of the particular Propositions whereby the Burners prove the equity of their Sentence and Execution ' That Mahomet profess'd all the Articles of the Christian Faith Answ By the first step we may see whither they are going They quote the Words of the Author as the Devil did Scripture by halves Had they gone on as a Faithful Witness should do it must plainly appear that the Author meant not to equal Mahomet's Belief with the Christians but to shew the Design and Success of his Pretences For thus he proceeds ' Mahomet profest all the Articles of the Christian Faith and declared himself not an Apostate but Reformer pretending to purify it from the Corruption wherewith it had be'n defiled and perfect it with Additionals he framed such a Jargon as appeared most serviceable to his Ends and most suitable to his Lust And sure their Malice must have be'n too hard for their Memory if they had forgotten what had be'n said ' That the Author of the Alcoran was no other than a leud brain-sick Scoundrel and his Doctrines as far as they are his no better than extravagant Whimsies or leud Panders to Lust And again that the Asian Churches had their Candlestick removed by the Sword of a base Slave and his few Followers and by Doctrines weak as That Sword when first unsheathed and leud as those Rogues that managed it But alas this would have spoil'd the first most Heretical and Impious Proposition and the Author must have scap't without that severe Character of being a Friend to Mahomet and a Favourer of the Alcoran which any one will think him to be with a Witness who shall read this so just Decree and never view the. Book it self Do you not blush Sir at the Ingenuity of that Person who drew out this abominable Proposition And are you not almost afraid that the Learned Condemners took it upon trust without too laborious an Examination And so much for this strong firm and laudable Foundation Let us proceed to the rest