Selected quad for the lemma: religion_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
religion_n	church_n	true_a	visible_a	7,129	5	9.3865	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A10380	A warning to come out of Babylon, in a sermon preached by Master Andrew Ramsay, minister at Edinburgh; at the receiving of Mr. Thomas Abernethie, sometime Jesuite, into the societie of the truely reformed Church of Scotland	Ramsay, Andrew, 1574-1660.	1638 (1638)	STC 20657; ESTC S115617	27,981	57

houre of the birth by the mercie of God and wisdome of that Prince of blessed memorie Bee wise therefore O Kings and be not inebriat with the cup of the fornications of that whoor Neither bear they rule over the lives of men but also over their soules after this life imprisoning them in Purgatorie and inlarging them when they will and in this life the deepest thought and most inward secret of their soul must be revealed unto them that if they be sinfull or inclining to sin they upon their Confession may receive pardon and except all even their most hid sins be confessed to the priest and pardoned by him they can have no mercie from God nor hope of salvation By this fond perswasion as if they dwelt in the breasts of all men and women they are made privie to their thoughts and actions and nothing is hid from them what hath beene done thought or spoken By this their fraud also and craft they dominier and beare rule over the consciences of men ascribing to themselves a power of making lawes to binde and louse the conscience at their arbitriment And least their deceit should bee knowne they have musted up the Word of God in an unknowne tongue and leade their blinded disciples whether they will And this is their craft and policie whereby they reigne over the lives moyens secrets and consciences of men But God who catcheth the craftie in their craftinesse and delivereth the upright and sincere will catch with the nets of his justice these deceitfull workers of iniquitie in Babylon Therefore come out of Babylon least being partakers of her sins yee partake of her plagues These former three vices Pride Crueltie and Craft have ever been esteemed to be badges and marks of a false and corrupt religion The Pharisees for crueltie are called by Christ murtherers for craft serpents for pride to walk in long robes to covet the first salutations in markets and first seat at tables Of these three pride is not the least and demonstrative of a false worship because that where it is God is robbed of his glory Eusebius speaking of Samosatenus an heretick mentioneth his pride and arrogancie Augustine the Monk sent from Rome to induce England to the obedience of the Romane church not daining himself to rise being saluted For his pride was esteemed of the beholders not to be sent of God Optatus Milevitan●●s a learned and godly Bishop brandeth with pride Donatus that archschismatick that he was not so much called Donat bishop of Carthage as out of pride Donat of Carthage that is stylo novo lord of Carthage With this leaven of pride the doctrine of the Romane church is heeven up by their merit of condignitie works of supererogation possibilitie of fulfilling the Law with perfection of Faith and hope in this life Notwithstanding these three former are only outward characters bewraying a counterfeit religion but idolatrie and heresie are deadly diseases destroying the soul and life of Gods true worship● with both these the Romish kirk is deeply infected Her idolatrie is visible to all whose eyes are not blinded For idolatrie is an idole-worship or a false worship and worship is made up of three of the estimation of the minde subjection of the will and reverend gesture of the body When these are either given to a false God or to the true God and an idole or when the true God is not worshipped truely according to the prescript of his Word the worshippers are guiltie of idolatrie with all these sorts of idolatrie the church of Rome is stained But I in a more popular manner will discover her whooredomes and idolatries both in respect of the Creator and of the creature As to God the Creator of all they show themselves vile idolaters representing GOD the Father in the similitude of an old man GOD the Son in the similitude of a lamb GOD the holy Ghost in the similitude of a dove And in so doeing they are no better but rather worse than the idolatrous Gentiles who as the Apostle sayeth did transforme the glory of the incorruptible GOD into the similitude of corruptible things as of beasts foules and creeping things wherefore the Lord gave them up to unnaturall lusts and finally to a reprobate minde And it is just with GOD so to do with the Romane church being guiltie of the like idolatrie As to the creature they are in many respects idolatrous for they worship the images of the Trinitie and crosse with a Divine worship and although some would excuse it to be a Divire accidentall analogick or r●ductive worship yet their prime schoolemen who are canonized as Saints and followed by many attribute to them a divine proper worship And so it appeareth to be by their prayers directed unto the Crosse for grace and par●on in these words O crux ave spes unica auge piis justi●iam r●isque da veniam that is Haile Crosse our only hope give to the godly r●ghteousnesse and to the guiltie pardon What greater worship would they give to God then this Do they not also honour with divine worship the blessed Virgine The Heretiques called Collyridiari did offer cakes unto her and so do the Romanists this day Hath not Bonaventura transformed the Psalterie of David to the honour of the Virgine Marie changing GOD in goddesse and Lord in Lady And where it is said by David Praise the Lord by him it is praise the Ladie and for trust in the LORD trust in the Ladie And in his 35. Psalme are these words Incline the countenance of GOD upon us and compell him to have mercie upon us Sutable unto this is the Crown composed by him where this is one of his orations that is prescribed to be said O Empresse and our most kinde Ladie by the authoritie of a mother command thy most beloved Son our Lord Jesus Christ that hee would vou●hafe to list up our mindes from the love of all earthly things unto heavenly desires O blasphemous speaches But whose speaches are these Are they not the speaches of their doctor exalted by them to the Seraphick order of angels a place not fit for an idolater In adoring the Pope their head they are no lesse transcendent idolaters in acknowledging his power not only to dispense with the law of God but also to repeale the same as likewise in ascribing the finall and last resolution of their faith to his determination What bee their idolatrous absolute subjection to the Pope who so like to know may read it in Bellarmine his fourth book de Pont. Rom. 2. chap. where he averreth impudently That the Pope ought to bee heard with obedience whether hee erre or erre not And not only impudently but blasphemously hee affirmeth in the fifth chapter of the same book towards the end that if the Pope did erre commanding vice forbidding vertue the Church should be bound to believe vice to

the full injoyment of God But the foolish braine of man evanishing in fond speculations did conceive that the souls not fully purged from sin Flitting out of the tabernacles of this mortality before they did attaine to the fruition of God behooved to be purged by fire as most fit for that use Whereupon was kindled this fire of Purgatory to wast and consume the moyens of the simple and credulous and warme the kitchines of the Romane church And it is to be observed that this errour was not universally received for the Greek church to this day reject and condemne the same As to altars Bellarmine confesseth that there is no mention either of Priest or altar in scripture in the dayes of the Apostles for that whereof is spoken Heb. 13. 10. is Christ our altar in heaven upon whom we offer our prayers and Minucius Felix who lived in the 300 year of God witnesseth that Christians in his time had no altars nor images And though Tertullian who lived about that same time in the Latine Church mentioneth an altar yet it is to be understood that there was then no sacrifice of the body of Christ seeing the same author against Marcion calleth the bread a figure or representative signe of the body of Christ and that kneeling at the altar recorded by him in his book intituled Of Repentance importeth no ordinare bowing to the altar but the humble gesture of a penitent which was performed sometimes at the entrie of the church without and sometimes within With altars there came in sacrifices first representative and commemorative then subjective by faith and prayer then propitiatorie and at last the offering of Christ under the naked speces of bread and wine The Canonick Scriptures dyted by Divine inspiration were first only read in the church as is evident out of Justine Martyres apologie Origen and the councell holden at Laodicea and other councels But in the latter end of the 400 year of God the reading of Apocrypha in the kirk did open a doore to the reading of homilies and they to the reading of the acts of Martyres and thereafter the fabulous legends of Saints fictitious for the most part in stead of Gods word did sound in his church and 〈◊〉 last the reading of Apocryp●● and humane writs in the church made that these books called Apocrypha were esteemed Canonick and of no lesse authoritie then if they had beene dyted by the holy Ghost Whereby we may clearly perceive how dangerous it is to give way to wil-worship and humaine 〈…〉 such as faiars dayes crossing in baptisme images altars reading of Apocrypha in the church and the rest of the that Romishrubbish Neither only after this manner secretly but openly errours were obtruded and imposed upon the church under colour of law by a prevailing faction to the regrate and grief of many good Christians who did in private mourne and according to their power resist the same as in the corrupt councels the second of Nice Lateran these of Constans Florencs c. Besides this thirdly great way was made to superstition and idolatrie when the Gregorean liturgie by violence to the effusion of blood of many Saints was inforced upon the Christian world Tha● have I declared that the Romane antiquitie in religion is no antiquitie but noveltie as also when and how errours had their original some closely and unknown in the ●owing and spring till they came to maturitie others appearing at the first in th●●r colours were opposed by the Godly which notwithstanding by a prevailing faction were established some under pretext of law others by violence It may seeme strange that the Romane religion being contrare to grace by the presumptuous merite of man contrare to peace by anxious doubtings whereby they keep the souls of men in perpetuall suspensions being also contrare to reason and sense as to maintaine a body without dimension a subject without accidents and accidents without a subject contrare to all societie by approving lying and equivocation Contrare to the light of nature dispensing with incestuous marriage Contrare to magistracie in freeing subjects from the oath of alleadgeance their native Prince and teaching further man to scourge his body kill his King and eat his God being I say such a religion it may appear strange and admirable that men of great learning and understanding Thould be addicted and devoted thereto But there be five reasons why it so falleth out first they have transformed as I said the glorie of 〈◊〉 Eternall God into the similitude of corruptible freatures and God therefore hath infatua● and given them over unto a reprobate minde as he did the Gentiles for the like sin ● They are drunk with the cup of fornication of the Babylonish whoor and as men drunk are bereaved and spoiled of their iudgement and understanding so are they ● They worship images the worshippers whereof as saith the Psalmist by Gods iustice are made like 〈◊〉 of them and as the images have eyes and see 〈…〉 and heare not so are they ● Because the love of the Trueth is not in them as the Lord gave over the Jewws to strong delusions so hath God done with them in Romane church who are enemies to the word of God forbidding the reading use and exercise thereof Finally God fayeth by Esay because the Jewes did worship him after the precepts and traditions of men that their understanding should bee blinded that in hearing they should not heare and seing they should not see To this judgement the Romane church by their vaine inventions and traditions have made them selves lyable For 〈◊〉 therefore that we be not carried with the Current of errour to destruction it is expedient we beware of these fix rocks whereupon many have made shipwrack of their faith which are mentioned by the Apostle Coloss 1. chap. to wit Philosophie Traditions dead and unprofitable Ceremonies called the Rudiments of the world Wil-worship pretended humilitie and uncertaine speculations The church of Christ hath felt the wounds of all these and is still bleeding therewith crying for the help and hand of a pitifull and skilfull Physiciar The church was first wounded by Traditionar●s as by Papia● the first of that number and others following Then by Wilworship as festivities and holy dayes to creatures and such like Moreover by humane rites and ceremonies in the sacraments especially in baptisme as crossing spitle oyle salt c. What errours were brought in by Platonicke Philosophie in the prime antiquitie by Origen and others and in the latter ages by the Romish schoolemen what be the uncertaine speculations of the hierarchie of the Angels and pretended humilitie of worshipping of angels and mediating by them dolefull experience doth testifie Therefore let us beware of these rocks and direct our course by the compasse of GODS word which is of greater authoritie by many degrees then the voice of the church not in it self only