Selected quad for the lemma: scripture_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
scripture_n	acknowledge_v	church_n	faith_n	2,659	5	5.1512	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A66115	Remarks of an university-man upon a late book, falsly called A vindication of the primitive fathers, against the imputations of Gilbert Lord Bishop of Sarum, written by Mr. Hill of Killmington	Willes, John, 1646 or 7-1700.	1695 (1695)	Wing W2302; ESTC R11250	29,989	42

plain that his Lordship believes the contrary by what he has urged in Defence of our Lord's Divinity that the Jews never objected Idolatry to the Christians which certainly they would have done had they not expected their Messias should be God Nor does his Lordship assert the former as is plain by what he adds That if this be true all the Speculations concerning an Eternal Generation which is a Doctrine he seems every where to maintain are cut off in the strict Sense of the Words And therefore our Vindicator has no reason to say That his Lordship has left this Doctrine in suspense whether it be true or no. His last Criticism is upon his Lordship's Saying That it may be justly questioned whether by these they have made it better to be understood or more firmly believed or whether others have not taken advantage to represent these Subtilties as Dregs either of Aeones of the Valentinians or of the Platonick Notions And it being long before these Theories were well stated and settled it is no wonder if many of the Fathers have not only differ'd from one another but even from themselves in speaking upon this Argument To this says our Critick after he has emptied himself of his foul Language which he every where abounds with That all these traduced Theories of Faith are universally professed and received in the whole Church of God and have but a very few Adversaries To this it may be answered that the Doctrine of the Trinity has been and is universally receiv'd nor does the Bishop deny it but that all those Theories about the Modes and the Explanations of it which some of the Fathers have left us are not may be very easily evinc'd Nor do I think it is any great Blemish to the Fathers or any Scandal cast upon their Authority which may be of dangerous Consequence to the Searchers into Antiquity as our Vindicator would insinuate to say that the Fathers could not search into the depth of that Mystery and that they were often at a loss in their Explanations of it though they might believe it as firmly and after the same manner as the Church Catholick now does For though perhaps most of us believe that great Article according to the true Sense of the Church yet probably if we went to explain it we should all follow different Methods and have far different Idea's from each other Which may serve to convince us how insufficient the most Rational and Thinking of us are to form any distinct Notions of those things which are so far above our Comprehensions I shall say nothing upon his Reflection upon Dr. Burnet's Remarks upon the Strong-Box Papers for as I have them not by me so I find a great deal of Reason to mistrust our Author's Integrity in every one of his Quotations which I have shewn have been very foul and unjust often took by halves and as often perverted to a wrong Sense directly contrary to the Author's meaning And now it may be asked Why one that has no Knowledge of the Bishop no more than from his Works or of Mr. Hill should engage himself in a Dispute in which he is no way concerned To this I can only answer That I had no other Inducement to it than the Indignation I had against such an indecent and unchristian way of Writing and such false Reasoning as the pretended Vindication is made up of I could scarce believe that a Clergy-man had he not told us he was one in the Title Page could have been guilty of so much Uncharitableness as I every where find in his Book And I must confess that I had much rather be guilty of an Error in my Judgment than offend in the Breach of so great a Duty which is so expresly laid down in Scripture and which ought to be one of the greatest Characteristicks of a Christian especially of those who are to instruct others in such Fundamental Duties both by Doctrine and Practice Because those who can't find out an Errour in our Judgment can easily discover those in our Practice which every one that can read may see too openly prostituted in our Author's Vindication At the horrour and just detestation of which I leave him to the Great Judge of all the Earth who will recompence every Man according to his Works and to the Censures of those who have the power here committed to them to punish the wrong-doers Who I hope for the Churches sake as well as for the sake of that right Reverend and Learned Person whom our Author design'd to cast a Blot upon will never suffer so much breach of Charity so much malice and ill nature such groundless Falsities and such Unchristian Temper to escape unpunished unless prevented by as full and publick a Recantation as his Offence hath been notorious POSTSCRIPT AFter I had sent this up to London I received a particular or two from a Gentleman who assured me he had it from the Bishops own mouth relating to the present Dispute which I thought might be proper to insert One is that the true reason why he avoided repeating of the word Person is this that he was to instruct his Clergy how to deal with Socinians who acknowledging no Authority but Scripture they must be only dealt with according to that Concession Therefore every thing was to be avoided that was not in terminis in Scripture Now when this Article is once proved then the use of the Terms Essence Persons Hypostasis and Consubstantial are to be justified both by shewing that they are not contrary to the Scripture but agreeing with it and also by shewing that it is in the power of the Church when no new Doctrine is pretended to be added to the Christian Faith to make use of such terms as may be thought fit to prevent and discover all Equivocations And since even the Name Persona in Latin may signifie a Vizar or Representation if Hereticks had owned a fraudulent meaning in receiving this it was in the power of the Church to have chosen another So that tho' the Church can add no new Doctrine to that which is revealed yet she may use stricter terms when she finds an abuse in the use of larger ones As for the reason that led him to give an account of the different ways used by the Ancients in explaining this Mystery it was only this that the answer to the Dean of St. Paul's was writ in so particular a Style that it was much read He feared this might be carried far to raise a fire in the Church and to give the Enemies of the Faith a pleasant Entertainment So tho his Lordship was not of the Dean of St. Paul's Opinion yet he thought it was fit as well as just to shew that great Authorities from the Ancients might be brought for it His chief intent being to lay that heat and to shew the inconvenience of going too far or too positively in Explanations So he mention'd only so much

not say as much concerning the Trinity I desire to lie under no better an Imputation than our Author has very justly deserv'd of stating other Mens Doctrines falsly and by halves according as the Byas of his present Inclinations turn'd him I could not imagine that ever Prejudice or Ill Nature should so far blind and mislead a Man as to hurry him into wilful Errors against the clearest Convictions both of Sense and Reason Don't we say every Day that there are so many Opinions about the first Origin of Things the Aristotelick Epicurean Christian c. and yet after all we acknowledge that the Christian is the only true Doctrine God forbid that every Man that mentions Opinion after that manner should commit a Sin For if he does I know none that can pronounce themselves Guiltless Our Vindicator after this spends a Page or two in shewing the difference between Faith and Opinion which Paper I think might have been better spared since it is nothing to his purpose For I know no where that the Bishop asserts Opinion to be Faith and if he had he might have been better and more clearly convinc'd of his Error by a few Pages in Bishop Pearson on the Creed than in a dark obscure Author But after all our Vindicator acknowledges that his Lordship sometimes calls it Doctrine but this term says he is Equivocal and agrees as usually to the Opinions of the Philosophers But here I must desire to know of our Critick whether ever he met with the Word Doctrine when it was applied in a Divinity Discourse to the Tenets of the Church to be meant of a Philosophical Opinion or when a Man is talking of the Doctrine of the Trinity of the Incarnation and Divinity of Christ he can at the same time refer it to the Opinions of Aristotle Plato Epicurus or Cartesius But it is the Fate of some of our over-grown Criticks to catch at Shadows when they can't lay hold of the Substance and to make themselves appear in their own Colours rather than say nothing In the next Place our Critick finds fault with the Bishop for saying That we believe Points of Doctrine because Pag. 6. that we are persuaded they are revealed to us in Scripture which he says is so languid and unsafe a Rule that it will resolve Faith into every Man's private Fancie and contradictory Opinions Now I had thought hitherto that the Scripture had been the adequate Measure and Rule of Faith and that whatsoever we were persuaded was really contain'd in the Scriptures we were oblig'd to believe it And though I am beholden to the universal consent of the Church for my Belief that those Books are the same that were delivered to us from the Apostles and Inspired Pen-men yet I am oblig'd to believe nothing as an Article of Faith but what I am persuaded is revealed in Scripture And certainly 't is much more safe to rely upon the pure Word of God for the Truth of any Doctrine if I am convinc'd that it was Divinely Inspired than as our Author would advise us to depend upon the best Tradition and most unanimous Exposition in the World Since at length I must recur to the Scriptures to examine that Tradition by and am no farther concern'd to believe this than I find it agreeable to the other 'T is true that it is every Man's Duty to submit to the unanimous Sense of the Church rather than to his own private Interpretation but yet it is no farther than he can find that Consent agreeable to the revealed Will of God And if this be not admitted as true Doctrine I can't imagine how we could ever have arriv'd at this Happy Reformation which we are now persuaded was absolutely necessary since it could never have been effected unless every Man has the Liberty of judging the Doctrine he professes by the Testimony of the Scriptures Nor are we to interpret the Scriptures so much by the Judgment of the Fathers and the Church as we try these by their Harmony and Consent with the former And hence it will follow that as we are not obliged to believe any thing which we think is contrary to Scripture so whatsoever we do or ought to believe as an Article of Faith we do it because we are fully and clearly persuaded that it is revealed to us in the Scriptures Else what shall those do who have no notion of Tradition and have no other Rule to guide them but the plain and direct Authority of God's Word And though every Man is not to be his own Interpreter yet he is to judge whether the received Interpretation is agreeable to Scripture or not If Mr. Hill had not here forgot the express Words of the Sixth Article of our Church which tells us That the Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary for Salvation So that whatsoever is not read therein nor may be proved thereby is not to be required of any Man that it should be believed as an Article of the Faith or be thought requisite or necessary to Salvation he could not have run out so odly from it or rather against it it was the Foundation upon which the whole Reformation was built If Universal Tradition in the Third Fourth and Fifth Centuries was a good Argument in it self then why was not Universal Tradition in the Thirteenth Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries as good a one If the Authority of a Doctrine lies in the Tradition of it then all Ages must be alike as to this Therefore tho' it is a noble Confirmation of our Doctrine that we can appeal to the first Six Ages of the Church yet if the Corruption that happen'd after the Sixth Century had begun as early as the Third this had not at all chang'd the Nature of things And I believe it will be found a more simple and just way of interpreting Scripture by other places of it more easily and plainly express'd than by any other Method that can be found out for that purpose For if I am to judge of the Sense of Scripture only by Tradition and the Authority of the Fathers I shall be often at a loss and it will be as difficult to me to find out their Sense and meaning as it was that of the Text I was to enquire after But of this enough When I read this Criticism of our Vindicator's I was inclin'd to think he was though perhaps unwittingly set a work by the Papists as I before imagin'd he was by the Socinians to make Divisions and Schisms in the Church And this I take to be Mr. Hill's Orthodox Doctrine But let us carry him to his next Criticism His Lordship Pag. 8. says he is not clear in the point of Incarnation because he tells us that by the Union of the Eternal Word with Christ's Humanity God and Man truly became One Person Now here says our Authour we are not taught whether there were three or any one Person in the Godhead before the