Selected quad for the lemma: scripture_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
scripture_n	church_n	doctrine_n	err_v	2,659	5	9.5755	5	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A61294	A discourse concerning the devotions of the Church of Rome, especially, as compared with those of the Church of England in which it is shewn, that whatever the Romanists pretend, there is not so true devotion among them, nor such rational provision for it, nor encouragement to it, as in the church established by law among us.	Stanley, William, 1647-1731.	1685 (1685)	Wing S5244; ESTC R1838	44,628	70

A DISCOURSE CONCERNING THE DEVOTIONS OF THE Church of Rome Especially as compared with those of the CHURCH of ENGLAND In which it is shewn That whatever the Romanists pretend there is not so true Devotion among them nor such rational Provision for it nor Encouragement to it as in the Church established by Law among us LONDON Printed for Benj. Tooke at the Ship in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1685. ERRATA P. 13. l. 18. r. Monkery p. 16. l. 29. r. Assistance p. 25. l. 20. r. Seale for Seat p. 37. l. 25. r. Rev. 19.10 p. 40. l. 10. r. destroy for remove p. 45. l. 31. r. punished for promised p. 46. l. ult r. depending p. 47. l. 30 31. r. Decisions for Devisions p. 48. l. 29. r. severe for secure p. 50. l. 31. r. for p. 51. l. 21. r. loth for loath p. 63. l. 22. r. especial for especially p. 64. l. 27. r. and for or p. 65. l. ult r. Camere for Camaerae A DISCOURSE Concerning the DEVOTIONS OF THE Church of Rome c. IT is certainly one of the greatest Commendations that can be given of any Church or Body of Christians that a man can with Truth affirm of it that the Doctrines which they profess the Rules and Orders under which they live that the Frame and Constitution of the Church tendeth directly to make men more pious and devout more penitent and mortified more heavenly minded and every way of better Lives than the way and profession of other Christians For to work men up to this holy Frame and Disposition was one of the main designs of the Gospel of Christ which intends to govern mens Actions and reform their Temper as well as to inform their Understandings and direct their Belief And in this particular it differs much from all the Ethicks of the learned Heathen For whereas they design'd especially to exalt the Passions and to raise up the Mind above it self by commending the high and pompous Vertues thereby to stir men up to great Designs and to appear bold and braving in the affairs of this Life the Gospel is most frequent in commendation of the humble lowly and mortifying Vertues which would reduce the Mind to it self and keep Men within due Bounds and teach them how to behave themselves towards God and to live in a due regard to another Life Now there is scarcely any thing which the Church of Rome doth more often urge for her self or with greater Confidence pretend to excel the Church of England in than by endeavouring to perswade that the Frame of their Church is more fitted for the exciting of Devotion and a good Life than ours is And so they will boast of their Severe Rules and Orders the Austerities of their Fasts and Penances the strict and mortifyed Lives the constancy and incessancy of Devotions used among them and would thence inferre that that must needs be the best Religion or way of serving God in which these Practises are enjoyn'd and observed That the Tree must needs be good by such excellent Fruits and that if all other Arguments fail yet they say they have this to show for themselves that in their Communion there is at least somewhat more like that great Self-denial and Mortification so often made necessary under the Gospel than is to be found in the Reformed Churches or particularly in the Church of England Now laying aside all Disputes concerning Points of Doctrine in controversie between them and us in which it hath been abundantly shewn that they err in matters of Faith and that in what they differ from us they differ also from the Scripture and the true Church of Christ in all the best Ages I 'll confine my self to examine their Pretence to Devotion where I doubt not but it will sufficiently appear that they are as much deficient also in Regularity of Practice that there is not that true Foundation laid for such Devotion as God accepts nor that strict Provision made for it nor that real Practice of it which they would make us believe but that even the best which they pretend to is such as doth by no means befit a truly Christian Spirit I 'll discourse in this Method 1. I 'll instance in the several Expressions of Devotion the Motives to it or Assistances of it which the Church of Rome pretends to and on which she is used to magnifie her self 2. I will alledge the just Exceptions which we have against such their Pretences 3. And then show that they are so far from encouraging true Devotion that many things both in their Doctrine and Discipline directly tend to the Destruction of it 4. I 'll shew what excellent Provision is made in the Church of England for the due exercise of all the parts of Devotion and what Stress is laid on it and on a good Life among us First Though Devotion is properly and chiefly in the mind a due sense of God and Religion yet it is not sufficient if it stop there For there are certain outward Acts which are either in themselves natural and proper Expressions or else are strictly required of us by God as Duties of Religion and Evidences of the devout temper of our Minds and these are called Acts of Devotion And all the Commendation that can be given of any Church on Account of Devotion must be either that there is a true Foundation laid for it in mens Minds or constant Provision made for the due Exercise of it all necessary Encouragement given to it and a suitably strict and regular Practice of it observable among them And there are several things which are not at all insisted on by us which they of the Church of Rome boast of as serving to some or all of these purposes which I shall represent as fairly as I can that we may see what there is in that Church that doth answer such great pretences For it is observed that they of the Church of Rome oftentimes instead of dispute endeavour to work on our People and too often prevail by appealing to matters of Practice visible to every ones Eye an Argument to which men need not use their Reason but their Sense and this will say they sufficiently convince any of the excellency of our way For here are several things used as Instances and Expressions of Devotion very acceptable to God and suitable to a good Christian Temper which are either not at all used in the Church of England or at least not in that Degree and Measure and yet all those that are used in the Church of England say they are used among us For we not only enjoyn and practise constant use of Prayers public and private together with Reading and Preaching of the Word Sacraments and what ever is used in the Church of England but we have besides several things which are as well proper Expressions of Devotion as Helps and Assistances which are not used among the Protestants The Principal things which they urge are

strengthen their Resolutions of amendment for it is our amendment and not our punishment which God is pleased with And we take care that all these things be performed in a due measure proportionably to the strength of the Person and the Nature and Design of the Duty but are afraid of straining them too high lest men should be altogether deterred from them or acquiesce only in the outward Action or render our selves and our Cause ridiculous by an imprudent management We have the Sacraments duly administred as our Saviour commanded them we reckon our Baptism with Water perfect without Oyl or Spittle We grutch not the Cup to the Laity nor celebrate solitary Communions nor admire whispering to God in the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ but as we have received from Christ so we teach and administer without Addition or Diminution of any thing essential or material In short in the holy Offices themselves and the behaviour which our Church requires they be celebrated with there is always a great propriety observable agreeable to the Command of God in Scripture and the Practice of the Apostles and first Ages of the Church proper to the several parts of divine Worship expressive of our Sense consonant to Reason and the use of the World especially respect being always had to the exciting of Piety and Devotion in the minds and carriage of our People Thirdly All useful Helps Motives and Occasions are here plentifully afforded and pressed on Men. For we not only have all our Service in a Language which the meanest People understand but have it so contrived by frequent Responses that every Person bears a part in that Worship which he is so much concerned in and doth not only hear the Priest speak to God Almighty but prays for himself and is required to joyn his assent to every short Prayer by a distinct Amen With us the same Service and Rules of Life are enjoyned to all all Men having the same Concern in another Life however different their Circumstances and Cocerns are in this Life We have constant Prayers in every Parish weekly at least in many dayly with the blessed Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ frequently administred nay every Sunday not only in Cathedrals but in several Colledges and private Parish Churches And we appeal to all Men whether there be any where more practical Sermons fitted to the Cases of Men without Vanity and Superstition than among us Whether good and free Learning be any where more encouraged or where better care is taken for the due Instruction of the People The Scriptures being in every one's hands with us and other excellent Books made according to the Doctrine of the Holy Scriptures instead of Legends and Lives of Saints St. Bonaventure's Psalter and other such Books which are really Libels against Christianity and yet are the principal Books which the Priests of the Church of Rome commend to their People For as for the Bible if any one of them hath happened to read in it who is not licensed to that purpose he must own it as a Sin to his Priest at his next Confession And as there are such blessed Opportunities afforded so constantly and such Prudent Provision made for all Cases Ordinary and Extraordinary so I thank God we can say that our People are generally very diligent in the use of these Means or would be more so were it not for the Divisions which they of the Church of Rome especially raise among us For they may easily perceive that we urge no more on them than their own good and the commands of God require of them though our Church knows her Power very well yet she makes use of it only to enforce the Laws of God to explain illustrate and apply them to particular Cases but never to set up her own Commands in Opposition to them as the Church of Rome doth and therefore though we teach our People to dread an Excommunication it being summum futuri Judicii Praejudicium as Tertullian calls it a foretast or forestalling of the last Judgment and not for a World to lye under it though it were inflicted only for Contempt yet we warn them in the first place to avoid the Cause and Occasion of Excommunication and therefore not to value what Censures of the Church of Rome we are under they being so very unjust and Groundless Fourthly and lastly as only the true Object of Devotion is here worshipped only proper Expressions allowed all useful Helps afforded so also the greatest stress is laid on the Practise of it agreeable to the true Nature End and Design of it The Principal ends of Devotion are to pay a Homage to God our great Creator and Benefactor to get his Blessing and to work our selves up to a better temper of Mind And to this end we are in our Service Importunate without Vanity or Impertinency long without Tediousness or Idle Repetitions Only we use the Lord's Prayer often that no part of our Service may be without that perfect form and also in Consideration of the great Comprehensiveness of it and of the Distraction of Men's Minds which seldom can attend to the full Sense of it all at one time And we teach our People that every Man must work for himself for he that prays only by a Proxy it is very just that he should be rewarded only by a Proxy too we put our People in mind that an unfeigned Repentance is absolutely Necessary and not a Verbal one only That it is out of our power and of any Man 's in the World to turn Attrition into Contrition We pretend not to dispense with any for not obeying the Command of God We have no Taxa Camaerae by which the Papists are shown how all Sins are fined in their Church for in that Book Men see at what Charge they may kill a Father or comit Incest with their Sisters But we assure all that the Wages of Sin is Death Death Eternal if indulged and not most earnestly repented of And we tell all that Devotion is necessary for all though the Church of Rome hath ways of gratifying every Inclination so as they that will not lead a strict Life need not and yet may have hopes of Salvation We own their Policy in this Contrivance but do not so much admire their Religious regard to the Salvation of Mens Souls And to conclude though we thus forcibly press all Christian Duties on all Men yet at the same time we warn them not to pretend to Merit Heaven at God's Hand but after they have done their best to confess they are unprofitable Servants Wersay of our Charity or whatever else we do in Obedience to God that of his own we give to him and we are bound to thank him both for the Will and the Ability to give The most that we pretend to is only to make a small Acknowledgment by way of Sacrifice for what we have received we beg of God to accept it as a Testimony of a grateful Mind and we know that his Goodness is so great that he will abundantly reward an honest and sincere Servant though he hath done no more than was his Duty And we hope that what we offer though mingled with many Imperfections he will be pleased to accept for the sake of Christ as if it were perfect These are the Grounds that we go on in our Devotions and whatever we do for the Honour of God and thus designing and thus acting and persisting we need not doubt but the good Providence of God which watcheth over his whole Church will in an especial manner watch over this which is so pure a Member of it that he will accept of the Devotions which are offered to him in it and hear the Prayers that are made unto him for it and defend it against all its Enemies on every side which God of his Infinite Mercy grant for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. FINIS