Selected quad for the lemma: order_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
order_n	apostle_n	church_n	pastor_n	2,152	5	8.8085	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A41774	The Baptist against the papist, or, The Scripture and Rome in contention about the supream seat of judgment, in controversies of religion together with ten arguments or reasons, discovering the present papal church of Rome to be no true church of Christ : wherein it is also evinced that the present assemblies of baptized believers, are the true church of Jesus Christ / by Tho. Grantham ...	Grantham, Thomas, 1634-1692.	1663 (1663)	Wing G1527; ESTC R40005	55,798	108

aside the Commandments of God you hold the Tradition of men THO. GRANTHAM THE BAPTIST AGAINST THE PAPIST The FIRST PART sheweth the SCRIPTURE and ROME to be in Contention about the SUPREAM SEAT of JUDGMENT in Controversies of RELIGION THe first of all Controversies is founded upon this Query What is the authoritative Judge of Controversies And indeed till there be some agreement in this point there can be no expectation of any fruitful issue of any Controversie Now all Controversies amongst the sons of men are reduceable to one of these two heads namely things humane or things divine things precisely pertaining to this life or things which only pertain to that which is to come concerns of a secular consideration or concerns of a religious consideration And according to the nature of these Controversies such ought the Judge for decision thereof to be Concerning this Judge of Religious Controversies there are divers opinions Some say that the Light or that of God in Every Man is this only infallible Judge of all Religious Controversies But if this be admitted a multitude of inconveniences must needs follow of which this is not the least That there can be no end of Controversies because if every man have this Judge of all Debates in himself and he aver that what he saith and doth is according to the voice of this Judge or that of God in him no man can take in hand to judge contrary thereunto without becoming the Judge's Judge and so violate the Rule proposed For this opinion refers not doubtful matters to that of God in some men or a select number of men but to that of God in every man There is another Opinion which saith That amongst all men which pretend to own Christ and challenge to themselves the title of his Church and yet do deny each other to have an interest in that title That amongst all such parties of the sons of men the only infallible and authoritative Judge of their Controversies about Religion is the LORD Himself as he speaketh by his Spirit in the holy Scriptures together with right Reason or thus which is all one The Apostles and Prophets as they speak in their holy Writings are the onely infallible authoritative Judge in these Controversies Yet three things are in this Opinion allowed first That the living voice of the Pastors with the Church in their respective Ages wherin they live are of great importance in order to the terminating strife in the Church as a Church Secondly That Records of Antiquity are of some usefulness for the resolving some Controversies and for the better discovery of some Errors yet not so absolutely necessary but that the Church may sufficiently resolve her Controversies without them Thirdly That there is a Judgment of Science to be allowed every man as touching all things which he chuseth or refuseth in matters of Religion to be used with moderation and discreet subjection And this is the Opinion to which for my part I do adhere There is another Opinion which saith That the Papal Church of Rome is the Supream Judge and Catholick Moderatrix of all Disputes in matters of Faith and that All are bound to hear and obey her Voice under pain of Damnation and that the Scriptures as taken in the second Opinion is not the Judge of Controversies Now this is the Opinion which at this time I am to examine which in much seriousness I humbly purpose to do and leave it to the sober consideration of all men And for the better discharge of this duty it is meet we should understand what the Papists mean by the Church of Rome And this I find that under that title they would involve the whole Church of Christ from the Apostles dayes until this present time at least all the Faithful since the time that Paul declares the Roman Church to have been famous as Rom. 1. 8. But this is the very thing denied by us for though we willingly grant that there was a very famous Church at Rome when Paul wrote his Epistle to them yet it followeth not that there is such a Church there now or that all that ever from that time to this have walked in the steps of true Faith must needs be supposed to have been Members of the Roman Church or rather of the Church of Rome so called especially since it was Papal So that in this Controversie they must be content to define the Church of Rome on this wise viz. All that in any Age since Christ was of the same Faith and Practice in things religious which is at this day found in the Papal Church of Rome and those only are the persons of whom the Papal Church of Rome doth consist And indeed this is as much as they can reasonably desire for if those holy men who lived in times past were of a Faith and Practice contradistinct to that which Rome hath now received Then may not the present Papal Church without wrong challenge them to be of their Church As for example Paul who bore witness for Christ at Rome and the Christians there in his dayes was of the Church of Christ at Rome yet we deny that they were any part of the Papal Church of Rome The Church of Rome therefore defined as before I do deny to be the infallible authoritative Judge of all Controversies about matters of Faith or Religion And I do further say That the Scriptures and right Reason as laid down in the second opinion much more deserves to be received for this supream Judge of Controversies than the Papal Church of Rome and that there is not an other Umpire that can so effectually decide the Controversies of Religion which depend between such parties of men as lay claim to the Title of Christ's Church and yet deny each other to have an interest therein And how far forth the truth in this Point hath been evidenced in that pro and con Discourse so far as it relateth to the first of them which hath been occasioned by the writing of the Seven Queries I have before spoken of is here offered to the Consideration of all sober men that profess to own the Glorious Gospel of the blessed God and our Saviour Jesus Christ The first Query of the Seven was this propounded by the nameless Papist PAPIST Whether we are to resolve all differences in point of Religion only out of the written Word of God BAPTIST To which Question these ensuing Answers were given before I received the Adversaries last Paper which with the Answers thereunto I will transcribe verbatim I say the Answers were That the word Controversies being understood of such Controversies only as depend between those parties of men who deny each other to be the Church that then there is no other way whereby WE can resolve those Controversies but by the assistance of God's Spirit speaking to us through the undoubted Prophets and Apostles and Primitive Churches in the lively Oracles of God the Scriptures of

hundred years after Christ and if she be not now what she was then in that respect I desire to be informed where that blood-drunken Fornicatrix mentioned Revelation 17. is now to be found The Ninth Reason The present Papal Church hath not those Marks which they themselves assign as the Marks by which the true Church can only be known infallibly Therefore the present Papal Church of Rome is not the Church of Christ Those Marks are 1. ANTIQUITY 2. SUCCESSION 3. VNIVERSALITY of Time and Place 4. VISABILITY 5. SANCTITY 6. VNITY 7. MIRACLES c. These are the Principal The Ninth Reason maintained THat the present Papal Church cannot have the true Mark of Antiquity is thus evidenced viz. The Papal Church is a National Church But no Gospel Church was National in the first Age Therefore no National Church hath the true Mark of Antiquity The strength of this Argument lyeth in the clear difference of the state of the Church under Abraham and Moses to what it was under Christ and his Apostles For The Jewish Church which was to be National took its form in a National way even in the very first Family where it began as appears Gen. 17. where Parents Children and Servants too must all be brought into that Church-state forthwith or not be suffered to co-habit together Which order must be kept in all the Families of the Jews as well in respect of their Servants such as they bought with money as their Children or any other And so the Jewish Church both in its beginning and its continuance acted forth it self in a way suitable to it self But when the Gospel Church began it is very evident that it took its beginning in the division of Families and that by vertue of Christ's Doctrine who affirms That he came to send fire on the Earth not Peace but rather Division For saith he From henceforth there shall be fix●● in one house divided three against two and two against three the Father against the Son and the Son against the Father the Daughter against the Mother and the Mother against the Daughter c. and all this for the Gospel sake Here a man must leave Father Mother Wife and Children For this cause ye shall be betrayed both by Parents and Kinsfolks For this cause the unbelieving Husband will put away his believing Wife And for this cause the Servant may refuse to follow his unbelieving Master being Christ's freeman and yet dwell in his Service as a Servant notwithstanding Thus it 's evident That the Gospel-Church took its beginning in a way quite contrary to the Form of a National Church even by turning the World or Church of the Jews up-side down which caused the Jews to cry out MEN OF ISRAEL HELP This is yet more evident by that thundring Doctrine of the Baptist when he said Think not or begin not to say within your selves We have Abraham to our Father No saith Paul We meaning the Gospel-Church which are of Faith are the Seed of Abraham and Heirs according to Promise For the Promise which chiefly is enjoyed in the Gospel was not made to such as were born after the Flesh but such as are born after the Spirit Whereupon he saith We henceforth know No man after the Flesh or because he descends from the loins of Abraham or any other For if any man be in Christ so as to be a demonstrable or visible Member of his Gospel-Church he is a new-creature Old things are passed away yea the old priviledge of standing in the Church by the Father's interest though the Seed of Abraham himself is now passed behold all things in this respect are become new Whereupon Peter contributeth his sentence and saith Of a truth I perceive God is no respecter of Persons but the Persons accepted upon a Gospel-account so as to be his Church are such as in every Nation fear him and work Righteousness which no Infant can do But what Hath God rejected Infants wholly that now he will not shew them so much favour as afore-time God forbid He hath not shut up his tender Mercies from them wholly or in part For as they are such and dying in their infancy through Adam's transgression so in Christ shall they be made alive Wherefore look how far soever they fall in the first man of the Earth so far they shall be restored by the Lord from Heaven yea the Gift to them by Christ shall exceed the Loss they had by Adam But if they live to years of understanding and become actual sinners against God then the way appointed for the remission of their sins is to repent and be baptized every one of them that they may receive the holy Ghost and so be by it led into all Truth and attain at the end the salvation of their souls through Jesus Christ our Lord. Another Argument whereby it appears the Church of Christ cannot be National is this No man is bound to become a Christian under pain of corporal punishment as Death c. but living peaceably as men no man hath power to compel them to be baptized or to walk in the Christian Profession as is clear from the Texts before recited Now take away Force in matters of Religion and a National Church cannot stand in an absolute National Form this all experience can testifie Again That the Church of Christ at the first or in the first Ages was not National in the first method or way wherein a Church beginneth to be so namely by the admission of Infants into the Church is very evident because it is utterly incredible that the many thousands of Infants of such as in those dayes believed should be admitted into the Church and not so much as the whisper of such a thing to be found in all the holy Writings of the Apostles And beside I have shewed from the Testimony of Vives Augustines Commentor That the Church had not the custom to baptize Infants in old time It is likewise certain if History be true That the Gospel-Church used no compulsion in matters of Faith for more than three hundred years after Christ About which time Constantine ordained grievous punishments for such as spake against Christ and allowed the Christians to use the Unbelievers hardly But God did not bless these doings for Constantine became an Arrian Heretick and persecuted the Bishop that baptized him as also others that continued faithful Hence then I conclude That seeing the present Papal Church of Rome hath not the true Mark of Antiquity Therefore they lose at once the next three Succession Universality and Visibility For Antiquity being wanting no true Succession can be found because the Root of Succession if good must be the Antiquity of it So take Antiquity from them and then wanting that first Age they cannot be found in every Age and not being found in every Age especially the first Age then they lose Visibility as themselves propose it for a Mark of