Selected quad for the lemma: scripture_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
scripture_n	believe_v	church_n	tradition_n	10,027	5	9.5895	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A54125	The continued cry of the oppressed for justice being a farther account of the late unjust and cruel proceedings of unreasonable men against the persons and estates of many of the people call'd Quakers, only for their peaceable meetings to worship God : presented to the serious consideration of the King and both Houses of Parliament : with a postscript of the nature, difference and limits of civil and ecclesiastical authority, and the inconsistency of such severities with both, recommended and submitted to the perusal of Cæsar's true friends / by the author of England's present interest, &c.	Penn, William, 1644-1718.	1675 (1675)	Wing P1270; ESTC R18856	19,683	36

would entreat Caesar to consider the sad Conseq●ence of Imp●sition and remember both that God did never ask Man Leave to Introduce Truth or make further Discoveries of ●is Mind to the World and that it hath been a wof●l Snare to those Governments that have been drawn to employ their Power against his Work and People 10thly This Way of Proceedure endeavours to stiffle or else to punish Sincerity for Fear or Hopes Frowns or Favour prevail only with base Minds So●ls degenerated to the third and fourth Generation every Spark of Integrity must be extinguisht where Conscience is sacrificed to Worldly Saf●ty and Preferment so that t●is Net holds no Temporizers Honest Men are all the Fish it catches but one would t●ink they should make but an ill Treat to such as reckon themselves generous Men and what is more Christians too but that which renders the Matter more unjustifiable is the Temptation such Severity puts upon Men not hardy enough to suffer for Conscience yet strongly perswaded they have Truth on their Side to desert their Principles and smo●her their Convictions which in plain Terms is to make of sincere Men Hypocrites whereas it is one great End of Government by all laudable Means to pre●erve Sincerity for without it there can be no Faith or Truth in Civ●l Society nor is this all for it is a Maxim worthy of Caesar's Notice NEVER TO THINK HIM TRUE TO CAESAR THAT IS FALSE TO HIS OWN CONSCIENCE besides raped Consciences treasure up Revenge and such Persons are not likely to be longer Friends to Caesar then he hath Preferm●●ts to a●lure them or Power to deter them from being his most implacable Enemies 11thly There is not so ready a Way to 〈…〉 eism as this of extinguishing the Sense of Conscience for Worldly Ends destroy that Internal Rule of Faith Worship and Pract 〈…〉 t●wards God and the Reason of my Religion will be Civil Injunctions and not Divine Convictions consequently I am to be of as many Religions as the Civil Authority shall impose however untrue or contradictory this Sacred Tye of Conscience thus broken farewell to all ●eavenly Obligations in the Soul Scripture-Authority and ancient Protesta●t Principles Christ may at this Rate become what the Jews would have had him and his Apostles be reputed Turners of the World upside down as their Enemies represented them and the godly Martyrs of all Ages so many Self-Murderers for they might justly be esteemed Resisters of Worldly Authority so far as that Authority concerns it self with the Imposition of Religion because they refused the Conformity commanded even to Death And it may not be unworthy of Caesar's Consideration if from these Proceedings People are tempted to infer there is nothing in Religion but Worldly Aims and Ends because so much Power is abus'd under the Name of Religion to vex and destroy Men for being of another Religion that he hazards the best Hold and Obligation he hath to Obedience which is Conscience for where they are taught to obey for Interest Duty and Conviction are out of Doors By all Means let Conscience be sacred and Virtue and Integrity the under dissenting Principles cherisht Charity is more powerful then Severity Perswasion then Penal Laws Lastly To the Reproach of this Course with wise Men it hath never yet obtain'd the End desired for instead of Compliance the Difference is widened the Sufferers are pitied by Spectators which only helps to increase the Number of Dissenters for whoever is in the wrong few think the Persecutor in the Right This in all Ages having been the Issue of severe Prosecution of Dissenters for Matters of Religion what a Cruel Troublesom Thankless Succesless Office is it for Caesar to be employed in may he take better Measure of his Authority and use his Power to the Encouragement of all the Virtuous and Industrious and Just Punishment of the Lazy and Vicious in all Perswasions so shall the Kingdom Florish and the Government Prosper For Ecclesiastical Authori●y or in plainer English Church-Power which makes up the other Pa●t of this Postscript it will be requisite to consult Holy Scripture wh●re we shall be informed of the Institution and Practice of it among the Ancient Ch●istians and by that Canon all People professing Christianity pretend a Willingness to be concluded CHurch-Power supposeth a Church first It will not be improper therefore to examine first What a Scripture-New-Testament-Church is and next what is the Scripture Power belonging to such a Church A scripture-Scripture-Church is a Company or Society of People believing professing and practising according to the Doctrine and Example of Christ Jesus and his Apostles and not according to the Scribes Pharisees that taught for Doctrine the Traditions of Men They are such as are Meek in Heart Lowly in Spirit Chast in Life Virtuous in all Conversation full of Self-Denyal Long-Suffering and Patience not only for giving but loving their very Enemies a People so effectually redeemed from the Impieties and Vanities of the World he that thought it no Robbery to be equal with God thought it no Disparagement to be Head to and account as his own Body It was upon a Society thus qualified that the Holy Ghost bestows these excellent Names Disciples and Friends of Christ Heirs and 〈◊〉 with Christ Christ's Brethren and Ki●d●●● A peculiar People The p●r 〈…〉 as most p●●ci●us Blood the Redeemed from 〈◊〉 Earth A Royal Priesthood 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nation The Church of the First Born Christ's Body and the Lamb's Brid which answers but Christ's own Character of himself Religion and Kingdom which is the most apt Distinction that ever can be given of the Nature of his Church and her Authority viz MY KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD which well connects with Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar 's and unto God the things that are God 's It was an Answer to a very suspitious Question for it was familiarly bruited that he was a King and came to poss●ss his Kingdom and was by some called the King of the Jews The Jews being then subjected to the Roman Empire it concerned Pilate Caesar's Deputy to understand his pretentions which upon better information he found to center in this My Kingdome is not of this World else would my Subjects fight for me As if he had said these Reports are a meer perversion of my Peaceable and Self-denying Intentions an Infamy invented by malicious Scribes and Pharisees that they might the better prevaile with Caesar to sacrifice me to their hatred and revenge I am Caesar's Friend I seek none of his Kingdom from him nor will I sow Sedition plot or conspire his Ruin no let all Men render unto Caesar the Things that are Caesar 's that 's my Doctrine for I am come to erect a Kingdom of another Nature then that of this World to wit a Spiritual Kingdom to be set up

and killing and think it may be they do God good Service b●t their Lot shall be with Unbelievers forever Nay I have so effe●●ua●●y provided against all Mastery that I expresly charged them not to be many Masters for one was their Master I told them that the greatest amongst them was to be Servant to the rest not to impose upon the rest nay that to be great in my Kingdom they must become as gentle and harmless as little Children and such cannot force and punish in Matters of Religion In fine I strictly commanded them to love one another as I have loved them who am ready to lay down my Life for the Ungodly instead of taking away Godly Mens Lives for Opinions and this is the great Maxim of my holy Religion He that would be my Disciple must not crucifie other Men but take up his Cross and follow me who am meek and lowly and such so enduring shall find Eternal Rest to their Souls this is the Power I use and this is the Power I give How much this agrees with the Language Doctrine and Example of Jesus Christ I shall leave them to consider that read and believe Scripture but some affected to present Church Power and desiring their Ruine that conform not to her Worship and Discipline will object That Christ did give his Church Power to bind and loose and bid any Person agrieved tell the Church I grant it but what Binding was that with outward Chains and Fetters in nasty Holes and Dungeous nothing less Or was it that his Church had that true Discerning in her and Power with him that what she bound that is condemned or loosed that is remitted should stand so in God's Sight and Christ's Account But tell the Church and what then observe Christ's Extent in the Punishment of the Offender If the Offender will neither receive private Admonition nor hear the Church then sayes Christ let him be to thee as an Heathen c. Here 's no Fines Whips Stocks Pillories Goals and the like Instruments of Cruelty to punish the Heretick for the Purport of his Words seems to be no more then this If any Member of the Church refuse thy private Exhortation and the Church's Admonition look upon such a Person to be no more of you let him take his Course thou hast done well and the Church is clear of him Well but say the Church-Fighters of our Age Did not St. Paul wish them cut off that troubled the Church in his Time Yes But with what Sword think you Such as Christ bid Peter put up or the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God Give him leave to explain his own Words For the WE APONS of our Warfare are NOT CARNAL but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong Holds casting down Imaginations and every high Thing that ex●lteth it self against the Knowledge of God and bringing every Thought into Obedience to Christ What think you of this Here are Warfares Weapons Oppositions and Conformity and not only no external Force about Matters of Religion us'd or countenanced but the most express and pathetical Exclusion and Rejection of any such Thing that could be given Now observe what Sort of Church-Government he recommends to his beloved Timothy Avoid foolish Questions and Genealogies and Contentions and striving about the Law for they are unprofitable and vain A Man that is an Heretick after the first and second Admonition reject knowing that he that is such is subverted and sinneth being CONDEMNED OF HIMSELF or self-condemned It 's very remarkable first That t●is is great Apostle instead of exhorting Timothy to stand upon Niceties and sacrifice Mens Natural Comforts and Enjoyments for Opinions of Religion injoyns him to shun Disputes about them leaving People to their own Thoughts and Aprehensions in those Matters which excellently well coheres with another Passage of his Let us therefore as many as be perfect be thus minded and if in any Thing ye be otherwise minded God shall REVEAL even this unto you he did not say you shall be FINED PILLAGED EXCOMMUNICATED and FLUNG into Prison if ye be not of our Mind 2dly That in the Apostles Definition an Heretick is a self-condemned Person one conscious to himself of Error and Obstinacy in it but that are not conscientious Dissenters for many Ten Thousands in this Nation act as they believe and dissent from the National Religion purely upon a Principle of Conscience to Almighty God and with Men of any Tenderness or common Sense their continual great Sufferings in Person and Estate and their Patience under them are a Demonstration or there can be none in the World Nor can their Persecutors disprove them unless they could search Hearts and that is a little too far for a Fallible Spirit to reach and an infallible One they deny So that the Apostle makes not the Heretick to lye upon the Side of misbelieving or not coming up to his Degree of Faith Knowledge but upon the Side of Wilfully Turbulently Obstinately and Self condemnedly maintaining inconsisting Things with the Faith Peace and Prosperity of the Church Granting us then not to be obstinate and self condemned Dissenters and you cannot reasonably refuse it us how do you prove us Erroneous in the other Part All Parties plead Scripture and that for the most opposite Principles Homousians and Arrians Calvinists and Arminians Papists Jansenists and Protestants The Scripture you see cannot determine the Sense of it self it must have an Interpreter he must either be Fallible or Infallible If the first we are worse then before for Men are apt to be more confident and yet are still upon as uncertain Grounds If the last this must either be an external or an Internal Judge If an External you know where you are without pointing for there stands nothing between you and Popery in that Principle If an Internal Judge either it is our selves or the Spirit of Christ dwelling in us Not our selves for then the Rule is the Thing ruled which cannot be and if it be the Spirit of Christ Jesus and the Apostle tells us That unless we have the Spirit we are none of Christ's then is the Neck of Imposition broken and what hast thou to do to judge me let me stand or fall to my own Master And upon this Foot went Luther Calvin Melancthon Beza abroad And Cranmer Ridly Hooper Jewel Bradford Philpot c. at home and as good Men and constant Martyrs in Ages before them But suppose Conscientious Dissenters as ill Men as the Apostle describes an Heretick to be what is the Punishment 3dly A Man that is an Heretick after the first and second Admonision reject that is deny his Communion declare he is none of you condemn his Proceedings by a publick Censure among your selves what more can be strain'd by the fiercest Prosecutors of Men for Religion out of these Words But was this the Evangelical Rule and Practice Yes that it was Oh then whence