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	word_n	write_a	3,171	5	10.6412	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A26860	An answer to Mr. Dodwell and Dr. Sherlocke, confuting an universal humane church-supremacy aristocratical and monarchical, as church-tyranny and popery : and defending Dr. Isaac Barrow's treatise against it by Richard Baxter ; preparatory to a fuller treatise against such an universal soveraignty as contrary to reason, Christianity, the Protestant profession, and the Church of England, though the corrupters usurp that title.	Baxter, Richard, 1615-1691.	1682 (1682)	Wing B1184; ESTC R16768	131,071	189

Clergy will but forbid them See I beseech you worthy Country-men what sort of men and Doctrine you have to do with § 52. And why doth the man talk only against different practice Doth he not know that Government commandeth duty as well as forbiddeth the contrary Is not Omission against Government as well as Commission If the King command Taxes Military service c. may we disobey and call it Passive obedience What if the Bishops only forbid us to confess Christ to come to Church to Pray to give Alms to do any good May we forbear sobeit we do not the contrary Doubtless if Gods Word and Authority may not be pleaded for any duty which God commandeth and the Prelates forbid neither may it be pleaded for the Omission of any Villany commanded by Prelates no not Inquisition Torments or Massacres which God forbids But this man hath the Gramatical skill to call Omissive obedience by the name of Passive § 53. It 's like he will next say that I make odious suppositions That the supreme Church-power may command any Villanies and forbid Christian duties Ans. 1. I despair of getting any of these designers to tell me which is the Supreme Universal Church-power so as to be well understood I never heard of any pretenders but Pope and General Councils and as Bishop Guning holds the Colledg of all the Bishops in the world And certainly Pope and Councils have set up Heresies and decreed even the exterminating of all that will not dis-believe all their senses and deny Bread to be Bread and Wine to be Wine They have decreed deposing Kings absolving Subjects from their Allegiance adoring Images c. And what is it that yet they may not do If they say with Peter If all men deny thee I will not how shall I know that they say true Doth not the Church of England tell us that Councils have erred c § 54. And be not these very honest Sons of the Church of England that affirm it irreconcilable to Government to alledg Divine Authority of any different practices without exception and at the same time to Subscribe to Art 21.19.6.18 of the sufficiency of Scripture That the Churches of Jerusalem Alexandria Antioch Rome have erred in matters of Faith That the Church may not Ordain any thing contrary to Gods Written Word That General Councils may err and have erred and that things Ordained by them as necessary to salvation have neither strength nor Authority unless it may be declared that they are taken out of the holy Scripture And those are accursed that presume to say that every man may be saved by the Law or Sect which he professeth And why not if he must do all that the Governours require or nothing divers to them § 55. My Reason forbids me to trace such a Writer as this any further To tell men of every vain Harangue and confident discourse that 's full of gross error or false report is work unworthy of time and labour but I will a little more open the Coar of his deceit CHAP. V. Wherein Mr. Dodwell's deceits and the danger of them do consist § 1. AS to his Method of disputing that you may detect his fallacies he hath got this absurd ptetence p. 90. That there is but one sense of all Terms which Causes oblige men to mean and that every one ought to know who pretends to have skill in Causes Ans. Would you have thought that ever a man should publickly use such a Cothurnus among the Learned What a man is obliged to mean is one thing and what he doth mean is another And is there any one that knoweth what humane Language is that knoweth not that almost all words have various significations Doth he not know by how good reason the Schools oblige Disputants first to explain their Terms And what need there is of Definition to explain them He instanceth in the words Bishops and the Church of England And might have added the Catholick Church And doth he not know that it is the species of Bishops that we differ about and will the general name here explain each parties sense When we are for one sort of Bishops and against another And is it not such fraud as souls should not be abused by to refuse wilfully to define the Episcopacy that he meaneth and then plead that all should understand him And why is it not as much ignorance in him not to understand me as in me not to understand him when I use distinct explication which he obstinately refuseth And doth not Dr. Stillingfleet's case shame what he saith of the Church of England who was hardly brought to explain it and at last denieth the very being of the Church in Mr. Dodwell's sense which of you was to blame to meddle with the Word till you had skill in Causes to understand it without a Definition And doth not Dr. Stillingfleet take it as the Introduction of Popery to hold a Constitutive Regent Church-Government National or Catholick and so he and Mr. Dodwell mean not the same thing by the Church Catholick nor Bishop Guning Mr. Thorndike or the Church of Rome who are all for an Universal humane Supreme power And who is he that hath read Dr. Challoners Credo Eccles. Cathol Chillingworth Bishop Mortons Grand Imposture Bishop Bilson Dr. White Dr. Whitaker Dr. Sutliffe Bishop Andrews Bishop Carlton c. Chamier Sadeel Melancthon Bucer c. who knoweth not that the Papists and Prorestants by the name of the Catholick Church do mean several things and that we deny the very being of any such Church as they call the Catholick And is this the bold and happy Disputant that will save the Schools and World the labour of explaining Terms and foreagreeing of the sense and put men on disputing where the Subj●ct is denied and fill a Book with tedious confident Harangues and then hide all the fraud by saying that there is but one sense of all Terms which Causes oblige m●n to mean and that every one ought to know who pretend to have skill in Causes When the Cause disputed is only managed by words as they signifie the minds of the Speakers about the real matters § 2. And as to the material fundamental difference between Mr. Dodwell's party and us it lyeth in these following things I. We totally differ about the nature of Gods Government of man II. And about the use of the Holy Scripture and Gods Laws III. About the nature and extent of all humane Government IV. About the form of moral good and evil V. About the essential form of the Catholick Church VI. About Gods ordinary means of saving Grace VII About the use of Preaching VIII About the duty of worshipping God in Sacred Assemblies or the Communion of Saints IX About the difference of Apostles and the office of the Bishops X. About the office of a Presbyter or Parish-Pastor XI About the Necessaries to Ministry Churches Christianity and ordinary title to Salvation XII And

about the final Judgment If all these be little tollerable differences why may not we be tollerated If not judg Reader who they be that are intollerable when you hear them plead against tolleration § 3. I. For the first we judg that there is a God who is the Governour of the World by an universal Law which is above all humane Laws or will and that he is the fountain of all power and there is none but what he giveth and limiteth and that no man is above him nor hath true authority against his Laws But Mr. Dodwell saith That it is irreconcileable to Government in this life or to due subordination of subjects to superiours to practice differently and defend it by pretending Divine authority and appealing to writings Scriptures is our word by excellency so called And so God shall be God and be obeyed if the Clergy please § 4. II. As to the second we suppose that the Holy Scriptures are Gods Laws indited and recorded by the Holy Ghost to be the first obliging Rule of Faith and holy living which all men are to be obedient to before and against all contrary Laws of men But Mr. Dodwell as aforesaid alloweth no such prime obligation as will warrant an appeal to the Word of God from the visible Church-Governours that contradict it § 5. III. And for the third we suppose that all humane Powers are derived from God and have no authority but what he giveth them and are more under him and his Laws than the Justices are under the King and his Laws and can oblige no man against the Laws of God But how far Mr. Dodwell thinks otherwise you have heard He saith not indeed that we must break Gods Laws but we must not pretend them or appeal to them against our Governours In charity I hope he meaneth no worse but that we must take our Rulers word or exposition and judg nothing to be in the Scripture contrary to their commands And whether he give them the same dominion also over the Law of Nature let him tell you Paul disclaimed dominion over mens saith and the written Law of God § 6. IV. And for the fourth We take moral good to be a conformity to Gods Law and moral evil or sin to be a breach of it But Mr. Dodwell is for measuring them by the Clergies or Governours will though Gods Law be against theirs § 7. V. And for the fifth we take the Catholick Church to have no Supreme Government but God and our Glorified Redeemer God and man and that there is no such thing as a Catholick-Church of Gods making under any other Supreme Rulers But that as God is the invisible King of this visible world and Kings are subordinate Supremes in their Kingdom but neither one of them or many conjunct in an Aristocracy Supreme over all the earth so Christ is the partly visible and partly invisible supreme Ruler of the visible Church of Christians and each Pastor is under him over his proper flock bound to keep concord and peace but none under him Supreme over all whether Monarch as the Pope or Aristocracy as Councils Cardinals or ' others But Mr. Dodwell is for a visible Society with a visible humane Supreme But who the Supreme is I despair of getting him to acquaint us § 8. VI. And for the sixth we suppose that God sent forth Preachers to convert the world and turn them from darkness to light and the power of Satan to God and that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word preached and that whoever believeth shall be saved and the word of God is powerful to this end and sufficient to make us wise to salvation But Mr. Dodwell thinks that it is not Preaching but the delivering men the Sacraments that giveth them the first true saving grace and title to Salvation And that none in the world have this Sacrament or Covenant-title to life but those that receive it from a hand that had an Ordination by Bishops in his sense of uninterrupted succession from the Apostles by the like Ordination § 8. VII Accordingly we hold that Preaching is for the converting of souls and the means of saving faith and holiness But what he thinks it is good for I know not well nor whether he would send the Indians the Sacraments instead of Preachers § 10. VIII We take it to be our duty though men forbid us to confess Christ and assemble for Gods worship to read and hear the Scripture and to praise God But he thinks we must not practice differently from the ruling Clergies will if they forbid us nor alledg Divine authority for it § 11. IX We suppose that the office of a Prophetical Ministry bringing new Doctrines or Laws from God and the office of the Teachers and Rulers by these Laws are greatly different and must necessarily be distinguished Moses was a Prophetical Mediator in Legislation and he confirm●d his Mediation by uncontrouled Miracles The Prophets afterward came but on particular applicatory messages But the Priests and Levites as such were no Prophets nor had power to make any new additions or alterations of the Law but only to teach it the people and as guides apply it to their several cases so Christ and his Apostles commissioned to deliver and record all his Doctrines and Commands to the following ages did by the Holy Ghost Prophetically deliver to the world that body of Doctrine and Law which must rule them to the end and judg them and thus sealed and confirmed all by a multitude of uncontrouled Miracles but all following Bishops and Pastors are not to do the like nor add or alter nor are such Legislators being not Prophets nor workers of Miracles but only to teach and apply the Laws already recorded in Scripture and guide their Congregations in variable circumstances time place translations c. according to the general rules of Gods Law This is the truth But how much Mr. Dodwell equals the Bishops and Apostles and sets their words above the Scripture as to obligation you have seen before § 12. X. And as he giveth Bishops power to silence Presbyters and forbid the Preaching of the Gospel and Gods worship so how little knowledg or godliness or common sobriety or honesty he requireth to a saving Sacramenting Priest who must not be separated from you heard before contrary to Cyprian and many a Councils Canons But we know that Paul had no power to destruction but only to edification And they have no more § 13. XI We suppose that we must love honour and communicate with all such as true Ministers or Churches who have true faith and repentance and sincere obedience to Christs Laws and are able godly willing Pastors chosen or consented to by the flocks approved and ordained by senior Pastors especially in Synods where City-Pastors preside and especially if also authorized by the Christian Magistrate But he thinks if they have not also successiv● Ordination from the Apostles by Bishops

Doctrine Worship and Discipline this is essential to a partiicular Church primi ordinis of Divine Institution of which I now treat III. 1. As Christians must gather into particular Churches under their proper Bishops so these Churches must hold a certain Communion among themselves so much as is necessary to their mutual Edification and Preservation of which Synods and Communicatory Letters and Messengers are the means 2. An association of several Churches for Communion of Churches doth tota specie differ from an association of individual Christians into one Church primae speciei And it differeth in the matter end and kind of Communion 3. If these several Churches agree in the same Baptismal Covenant in the same ancient Creed or Articles of Faith and in the same love and holy desires summed up by Christ in the Lords-prayer and in taking the commands of Christ for the Rule of their conversation and receiving Gods Revelations recorded in the holy Scriptures so far as they understand them renouncing all contraries to any of this so soon as they perceive them so to be this should suffice to their loving and comfortable communion without any desires of Domination or Government over one another And though I will not do any thing unpeaceably against Patriarchs Metropolitans Archbishops or Diocesans if they govern according to the Laws of God yet I know no Divine right that any of them have to be the Rulers of the particular Bishops and Churches Though a humane presidency for order we deny not nor that junior Bishops do owe some respect and submission to the Seniors 4. Though the General Laws of Christ for concord edification c. do enable Magistrates by command or Pastors by contract to chuse and make new Officers of their own which God never particularly instituted for the determining and executing such circumstantials as God hath left to humane prudence as Presidents Moderators Churchwardens Summoners c. yet I deny 1. That any Officer of meer humane Institution hath a superior proper Ecclesiastical Power of the Keys to be a Bishop of Bishops and to govern the Governou●s of the particular Churches by Excommunications Depositions and Absolutions seeing ex ratione rei it belongeth to the same Legislator who instituted the inferiour order to have instituted the Superiour if he would have had it 2. And I peremptorily deny that any such pretended Superiour Patriarch Primate Metropolitan Archbishop c. hath any power save Diabolical to deprive any particular Churches Bishops or Christians of any of the Priviledges setled on them by Christs Vniversal Laws or to disoblige them from any duties required by Christ. IV. It belongeth to the Office of Princes and Magistrates only to Rule all both Clergy and Laity by the sword or force even to drive Ministers to do their certain duty and to punish them for sin And they are to keep peace among the Churches and as bad as the Secular Powers have been had they not kept peace better than the Bishops have done I am possest with horrour to think what a field of blood the Churches had been throughout the world since the Exaltation of the Clergy V. Christ only is as the Universal Legislator so the Universal final judg from whom there is no appeal VI. Every Christian as a Rational Agent hath a Judgment of discerning by which he must judg whether his Rulers commands be according to Christs commands or not And if they be must obey Christ in them If not must not obey them against Christ but appeal to him And if any do this erroneously it is his sin if justly it is his duty These six Particulars I take to be the sufficient means which Christ hath appointed for the concord of the Church and that the seven points of Concord mentioned by the Apostle should satisfie us herein viz. 1. One body 2. One Spirit 3. One hope of our calling 4 One Lord. 5. One Faith 6. One Baptism 7. One God and Father of all And they that agree in these are bound to keep the Unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace as knowing that the Kingdom of God consisteth not in meats and d●inks but in Righteousness peace and joy in the Holy Ghost And he that in these serveth Christ is acceptable to God and should be approved of men Rom. 14.17 18. Ephes. 4.6 7 c. Nor is it lawful for any to hate persecute silence or Excommunicate their Brethren that agree in these or to divide distract or confound the Churches for the interest of their several Preeminences or Provinces which have no higher than humane authority perhaps questionable at least unquestionably below the authority of God and null when it is against it I am sure by the Church-History of all ages since Christ the great divider of the Christian World hath been the Pride of a worldly too ignorant Clergy 1. Striving who should be greatest 2. Striving about ambiguous words 3. Imposing unnecessary things by their Authority upon the Churches to be ignorant of this is impossible to me when once I have read the History of the Church which warneth me what to suspect as the causes of our distractions for the things that had been are And how unexcusable these three evils are and how contrary to Christ these Texts do tell me I. Luk 22.24 25 26 1 Pet. 5.1 2 3 4. 1 Cor. 3.5 6 7 22. 2 Cor. 1.24 II. 2 Tim. 2.14 16 23 24 25. 1 Tim. 1.4 5 6. III. 2 Cor. 11.3 Act. 15.28 Revel 2.24 25 Mat. 15.8 9. Rom. 14 15 throughout To tell you that I am not only as you say on the destructive part I have thus told you briefly what I assert as the way to peace And now I shall destructively tell you why I differ from your Principles as truly destructive of truth unity and peace Some of the Principles which I have heard from your mouth which I dissent from are these I. That the Church must have some Ecclesiastical Governours that are absolute from whom no man may appeal to an invisible Power II. That Diocesan Churches are the first in order of Divine Institution III. That Diocesan-Bishops by consent may make other Church-forms as National Patriarchal c. And that such Churches are not made by Princes but by the consent of Prelates IV. That these Church-forms of mans making stand in a Governing Superiority over those of Gods making V. That where by such consent of Diocesans such superior Jurisdictions are once setled it is a sin for any to gather Assemblies within the local bounds of their Jurisdiction without their consent VI. That you cannot see how those that do so can be saved VII That if I preach on the account of my Ministerial office and the peoples necessity to such as else would have no Preaching nor any publick worship of God e. g. in a Parish where there are 40000 more than can hear in the Parish-Church though I must conclude that according to the ordinary way