Selected quad for the lemma: scripture_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
scripture_n	faith_n	point_n	propose_v	2,735	5	10.3332	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A41623	Pulpit-sayings, or, The characters of the pulpit-papist examined in answer to the Apology for the pulpits and in vindication of the representer against the stater of the controversie.	Gother, John, d. 1704.	1688 (1688)	Wing G1347; ESTC R18623	55,138	78

by his Church to own the Scripture as the Word of God and obliged to assent to all therein deliver'd as of Divine Authority and of necessity to be believ'd with a Divine Faith whilst for Legends tho' he may read them if he pleases as he do's other Histories yet he is not bound by his Church or Religion to give assent to or believe any one Passage in any Legend whatsoever This the Apologizer understood very well pag. 23. where he proves out of Bellarmine and Canus that according to our own Principles all these things contain'd in the Lives of Saints tho' mention'd even in the Canonization depend upon Human Testimony as to particular Matters of Fact and consequently are subject to Error And therefore no sufficient ground for any Point of Faith which can be built on nothing less than Divine Authority And tho' some of these are inserted into our Offices yet they are not there propos'd as likewise Particular Revelations as the Scripture is to wit as matter of Faith but only as a Relation of some History in the Reading of which some Spiritual Advantage may be reap'd as is at large discours'd above Which is very different from what the Preacher says that he changes Scripture into Legends 2. How do's he change the Sacraments into Shows when in his Church the Sacraments are not only Shewn but likewise care taken that they be duly Administred to all her Members The Apologizer pretends the Charge to be True because the Cup is shew'd to the People which they don't partake of and the Host elevated at Mass and carry'd in Procession And might not a Jew here step in and with this Argument pretend that Christ Crucifi'd was another Show upon Calvary while he was there expos'd for some hours upon the Cross to the view of the World But all this is nothing but a Method to teach Atheists how to make the greatest Mysteries of Christianity Ridiculous We know the Benefit of that Oblation Christ made of his Body and Blood upon the Cross and likewise of that he Instituted at his Last Supper where he gave his Body and Blood after an Unbloody manner under the Forms of Bread and Wine for the Remission of Sins and which is now daily repeated in the Church according to the Command of Christ which he gave to his Apostles when he said to them DO THIS in Remembrance of me We know the Benefit there is in this Continual Remembrance And those who make a Show of this are within one Step of those Vnbelieving Jews who made a Show of Christ in his Passion when 't was said to them Behold the Man. 3. As for the Third of Preaching Purgatory instead of Repentance 't is absolutely False inasmuch as in the plain import of the words it imprints this Notion in the Hearers viz. That the Papists don 't Preach Repentance to the People but instead of this they Preach Purgatory This I say is False and so evidently that the Apologizer dares not vindicate the Preacher in so foul a Calumny and therefore instead of what the Preacher asserts the Vindicator minces the matter and pretends only that the Doctrin of Purgatory invalidates that of Repentance Which too is False in it self since we see Catholics both in their Lives their Books and Sermons urge the Necessity of Repentance as much and as effectually as Protestants And 't is much more False as to Preaching since amongst so many Sermons I have been at both Abroad and in our own Country I have heard Repentance so often press'd to the People and Purgatory never so much as mention'd unless it were to shew the insufferable Torments of the Place and how great the hazard is even of getting thither And amongst the Printed Sermons of Spaniards French Portuguese c. that are extant in Latin I challenge the Apologizer to find one that so sets out Purgatory to the People as to make them neglect Repentance and if he do's I 'll be bound to shew him a Hundred for his One that enforce the Duty of Repenting without the least hint of Purgatory or their considing in it 4. He says We Preach Faction instead of Faith c. This the Preacher said of the Papists at a time when the Church of England had been assisting a Faction about Four Years with all the help the Pulpit could give them in Consecrating their Villanies and finding Arguments to gain them Credit for the deluding the People And tho' they cannot be Advis'd to be more Cautious for the future without an Apology appearing in their behalf yet I hope 't is not without some Sense and Shame especially since they have seen the Cart and Pillory so often appearing in Confutation of those Truths that were then so often Dispens'd to the People with the Gospel As for the Faction they can discover in Our Preaching let them do their best to find even half so much we freely give them a Thousand Years to review for to match these Four of theirs Let them take in likewise the Sermons that are now Preach'd in our Chappels throughout the Kingdom I hope they 'll all appear Instructive as to Faith and Manners but free from Faction Can the Church of England say as much of theirs at present in which there are so many unworthy Reflections made upon the Religion of their Prince so much Animosity blown up Fears and Jealousies insinuated into the People and the Government made to them uneasie even in the very Method that dispos'd them heretofore to Rebellion and ended not but with the Murder of their Sovereign I can't imagine them to intend the like Mischief at present neither did they I believe heretofore when they made way for it by their Indiscreet Preaching But when they have seen so lately the People exasperated to that degree by the Pulpits against Popery as even in an Unnatural Rebellion to take up Arms against their Prince and never leave pursuing him under the Pretext of his being a Papist till they had brought his Royal Head to the Block under the same Notion Methinks such as are truly Loyal and boast themselves the Best Subjects in the World should be more Tender of their Sovereign than to venture upon the same Method with the Son which prov'd so Fatal to the Father and so Dangerous to the Brother But I fear the Excess of Jealousie for their Religion puts them upon being too Bold with their Prince and that by a Just Judgment of Heaven they are blindly practising the very Principles they have so often charg'd upon the Papists Making their Church's Interest the Center of their Religion Preaching Faction instead of Faith Esteeming everything Conscientious that makes for the Cause And not minding the Lawfulness of the Means provided the Thing be but done Twelfth Character of a Pulpit-Papist THERE is a great noise of Alms made in his Church but the Scope they too often vainly aim at is the Blessing of a Dr. Tenison ibid. Presumed

the worst of Crimes upon such poor Grounds such weak Evidence and after the evident Falsity of some of these Charges and the great Improbability of others still go on and in some manner assert them over again in Print I question not but they so far indeed get their Ends in all this as to make us Contemptible and Odious but I think the Actors and Promoters of such Vnchristian Methods are still more Injurious to themselves and that whilst they endeavor to defame the Religion of their Neighbors by Calumnies they at the same time prove themselves to be no Christians Certainly these Men are to be pitied And I wish they would consider that if their Livelihood comes in by Preaching or Writing Controversie there are many other Honest Ways of getting a Livelihood and no necessity of taking this There 's a late Adversary of mine who has had some serious thoughts upon this Subject and being convinc'd I suppose of the Unchristian Effects of such Proceedings he makes this free Declaration for himself in these words I will here take occasion to say a good word of Answ to Repr Restect upon the State of the Controv. p. 27. my self and that is That rather than prevaricate in things of this nature I would make very hard Shifts If it were too late to apply my self to Handicraft Trades yet may be I could Dig or the like But if I could not Dig I would not be asham'd to Beg. Perhaps I might get something by turning my Pen another way and writing of things where I had more liberty as by writing Almanacks or any such thing where Mistakes will be committed in abundance and are forgiven in course and will be sure to do no body any hurt but to impose upon Men in Books that treat of Divinity or to accuse Men from the Pulpit he should have added of the greatest Villanies upon vain Reports weak Presumptions or light Probabilities is one of the last Dishonest things I would take to I should think of that and taking a convenient Stand near the Town much about the same time and the reason why he that do's the one do's not the other is because all Mens Abilities do not lie the same way Thus this Good Man Meditates and Resolves with himself 't is pity he had not thought of this before for certainly he 's so far in the right that Digging Begging or making Almanacks are much more Innocent Employments than Deluding of Souls and however Murthering Men in their Reputation has been so Divine a thing of late Years yet certainly those who have their convenient Stands near the Town are not concern'd in so Extensive a Mischief And I don't question but those Few who have seriously consider'd the weight of this Crime and the blackness of the Guilt are so far from going on in that kind of Divinity that they could wish all that Pains so employ'd had been spent in Digging or Begging or making of Almanacks tho' this it may be had never turn'd to so good an Account However Mending is never out of Season and I cannot but commend these good Resolutions tho' late of our good Friend who by his requiring nothing more than a Good Example to follow I perceive is sufficiently sensible of his Guilt Fourth Character of a Pulpit-Papist THE Papists have their Emissaries up and down to Preach Good Advice to Pulp Caut. 5. Schism and Sedition into Peoples Ears By such Arts as these they insinuate themselves among the poor deluded People of our Separate Congregations and joyning with them in their Clamours against the Church of England crying it down for Superstitious and Popishly affected they pass for Gifted Brethren and real Popery is carry'd on by such Disguises Here again the Papists are set forth in a Sermon before the Honorable Judges as great Hypocrites Religious Cheats and Impostors Qualities black enough to make them Odious and Detestable For certainly tho' Dissimulation and Delusion be abominable every where yet never more than in Spiritual Matters and Concerns of the Soul there being no Impiety possibly greater than that of Preaching Schism and Sedition under the Cloak of Sanctity and Religion and thus in Sheeps Clothing to play the Wolves Yet this is from the Pulpit made to be the Character of Papists and the Judges are persuaded that the Jesuits under the Disguise of Dissenting Teachers Preach to the Separate Congregations and by this Imposture put them upon the greatest of Evils both in Church and State. A Foul Crime and if True sufficient to cast the Papists out of the number of Christians but if False and not as is here set out as sufficient on the other side to bring the Pulpits under that as black Character of Misrepresenting This Accusation was set down in the Advice to the Pulpits and all the Return that is made to it in the Answer is as above That Answ to Good Advice p. 7. we must consult the Authorities the Preachers went upon in urging this Charge against the Papists Now who would not have expected that any Answerer zealous in acquitting the Pulpits would have not only produc'd the Authorities but likewise have spent a few Lines in making good such Authorities and proving them to be Authentic beyond exception The Pulpits must needs be sensible that the Crime laid to the Papists is of the blackest Dye and that Men who pretend to Conscience and to Reforming Consciences too ought not to spread Reports of their Neighbor in a Matter of the highest Scandal but upon substantial Grounds and an Evidence of the Guilt and that 't is the Concern of their Reputation thus to make good all their Proceedings in this kind This an Apologizer for the Pulpits should have done But instead of this he sends us to consult the Quaker Vnmask'd the New Discovery and in want of these a Book call'd Foxes and Firebrands He might likewise have added the Preface to Dr. Tenison's late Account of a Conference with A. P. for as far as I can learn the Quaker Vnmask'd Foxes and Firebrands and Dr. Tenison's Gubbards are much of a Piece Good God! that Men should pretend to teach their Auditory the Gospel and expound to them the Truth of God's Word and when They are thus Challeng'd in a Particular of this moment then to fly to Foxes and Firebrands and laying by the Scripture take refuge in Libels and Street-Pamphlets This is a most surprising way of making Apologies for the Pulpits of such Pulpits too from whence there has been so many fierce Declamations made against reading of Legends believing the Inventions of Men and trusting to Idle Stories the Dreams of Melancholy Recluses Upon these Topics are the Papists run down by the Pulpits derided and expos'd as Men of a light Faith who exchange the Scripture for these empty Fables And when a Preacher is warm upon this Subject then out come the Miracles of the Great Xaverius the Wonderful Life of St. Mary Magdalen de