Selected quad for the lemma: saint_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
saint_n	article_n	church_n	creed_n	1,359	5	10.1652	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A41074	Lex talionis, or, The author of Naked truth stript naked	Fell, Philip, 1632 or 3-1682.; Gunning, Peter, 1614-1684.; Lloyd, William, 1627-1717.	1676 (1676)	Wing F644; ESTC R20137	30,835	44

LEX TALIONIS OR THE AUTHOR OF Naked Truth STRIPT NAKED LONDON Printed for Henry Brome at the Gun at the West End of St. Pauls MDCLXXVI Imprimatur G. Jane R. P. D. Hen. Episc. Lond. à Sacris Domesticis LEX TALIONIS OR The Author of Naked Truth stript naked To the Chapter concerning the Articles of Faith I Have perused the Pamphlet which you sent of Naked Truth and whereas you require me to give you my opinion of it though I might refer you to the Printed Discourse of that worthy Person who has animadverted upon it yet because this would look like an Artificial excusing of pains and seem only more civilly to disobey I will trouble you with the cursory reflections which I made upon a hasty view of the aforesaid Book wherein I shall chiefly aim at two things not particularly designed in the Printed Answer First to shew that this humble Moderator as he stiles himself who pretends in his Title to give the true state of the Primitive Church is utterly ignorant of Ecclesiastical Antiquity and grosly mistaken in the representations he makes thereof And then secondly whereas he boldly avers to the Lords and Commons to whom he has the confidence to dedicate his Libel that there is nothing therein contained which is contrary to the known Laws of the Land I shall evidence that several things therein contained are as contrary to the known Laws as his Printing without Licence confestly was and that the Book is pernicious and tending to the disturbance of the establish'd constitution of the Church and State As to the Book considered in the gross my first reflexion about it was whether it could be the work of the same person several things being so well and more so very ill said Therefore if it hapned to have one single Author it either seem'd the exercise of Wit of some Sceptic and Atheistical derider of Religion who desired to make sport with holy things and say pro and contra all that occurr'd to his mind Or else that it was wrote in the different intervals of a craz'd Enthusiast and therefore not unseasonably introduced by a declaration of being the product of Fasting and Prayer and seeking of God venerable words which have not left off to abuse the World Or lastly which seems most probable that it was wrote by some ambitious discontented Person of the Church of England who not preferred according to his merit or what may be greater than that his expectation his mind being leaven'd with spite and anger cavils at the present Constitution of the Church and he having in ill humour left off studying writes out of memory imperfect shreds of Antiquity and yet not able to cast away at once the Principles formerly imbib'd sometimes speaks in favour to Conformity and quarrels the disobedience of Dissenters But to pass from Conjectures to that which is more certainly before us At the first setting out our Author tells us That the Primitive Church received the Apostles Creed as the sum total of Faith necessary to Salvation And then disputes Why is it not now so Which involving an intimation that in the Church of England it is not thought so can only tend to sedition being an odious suggestion and absolutely false And it is known that scarcely any thing is more particularly insisted on by our Church against the Papists than their making new Articles to the Creed But it seems the fault will rather lie upon us that with the Primitive Church we think the whole Creed necessary For we are bid remember and observe That the Treasurer to Candace his Creed was only I believe that Iesus Christ is the Son of God and no more that this purch●sed the Kingdom of Heaven c. That is the Articles of the Death of our Saviour his Resurrection and Ascension at least those of the Catholick Church the Communion of Saints the Forgiveness of Sins and Resurrection of the Body are if not superfluous yet unnecessary speculations How well this sutes with the close of the Athanasian Creed our Author would do well to consider If it shocks it then he must confess that he has said something contrary to the known Laws of the Land The Liturgy of which that makes a part being confirmed by several Acts of Parliament and in particular the late one of Uniformity Moreover the Statute of Primo Eliz. which established the Oath of Supremacy determining the limits of Heresie to be not only what has been ordered or judged to be so by the Authority of the Canonical Scriptures but also by the first four General Councils or any of them he may bethink himself whether the System of what is to be held de fide by the Law of the Land is so narrow as is here pretended But our Author says Philip required no more ●of the Eunuch than this short Confession that I believe that Iesus Christ is the Son of God and that there is no assurance nor great probability that he was more fully instructed which is plainly to contradict the Text of S. Luke who tells us that Philip from the place of Isaiah which the Eunuch was reading began at the same Scripture and preached unto him Jesus which certainly expresses a greater compass of particularities than is in the short System here proposed Yet farther it would be considered whether our Authors Argument be good Philip required no more but baptized him on this and had the Eunuch departed this life in the same instant that Philip parted from him I believe I have better assurance that thi● Faith would have saved the Eunuch than any man hath that he was ever taught more therefore that Confession here required is a sufficient Summary of Faith For sure there is more required as necessary to be known of a Man than of a Child in Christ. Such a knowledge as perswades to the undertaking the Covenant and duties of the Gospel may entitle unto Baptism but yet neither involves the knowledge of the whole Gospel nor supersedes the necessity of it As to the Event of the Eunuchs condition had he departed this life immediately after Baptism it is as much to the purpose as if one should say that if an Infant immediately after Baptism should depart this life he would be saved even without the Eunuchs Creed therefore even that may well be spared But after a complaint of the mischiefs arising from the establishment of new and many Articles of Faith and requiring all to assent unto them which let them who are guilty of doing answer for it the Author goes on to say That for his part he thinks nothing can be more clearly deduced from Scripture nothing more fully expressed in Scripture nothing more sutable to natural Reason than that no man should be forced to believe Whereby he means or else he can mean nothing for what appears not is as if it were not that no man should be forced to declare his belief of any thing Now since the