Selected quad for the lemma: scripture_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
scripture_n	rule_n	tradition_n	unwritten_a	2,845	5	12.5918	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A17308	Truth's triumph ouer Trent: or, the great gulfe betweene Sion and Babylon That is, the vnreconcileable opposition betweene the Apostolicke Church of Christ, and the apostate synagogue of Antichrist, in the maine and fundamentall doctrine of iustification, for which the Church of England Christs spouse, hath iustly, through Gods mercie, for these manie yeares, according to Christs voyce, separated her selfe from Babylon, with whom from henceforth she must hold no communion. By H.B. rector of S. Mathews Friday-Street.	Burton, Henry, 1578-1648.	1629 (1629)	STC 4156; ESTC S107077	312,928	398

Spirit of zeale and piety vpon all the Ministers of thy Word and Sacraments especially vpon the reuerend Arch-Bishops Bishops that standing in the place of Pillars in thy Temple of the salt of the earth of the light of the world they may strongly support thy true Religion season and lighten those places which are dark and vnsauory and all for want of faithfull Ministers thus shall they highly magnifie their office and discharge their stewardship by prouiding and sending painfull labourers into euery corner of thy field Inspire and inflame them Lord with that zeale of thine own wherewith thou didst purge thy Temple from profane merchandize that so they may with the whip-cords of sound Doctrine and wholesome Discipline chase out of thy Church all Herefie and Idolatry Why should the world O Lord complaine and cry Where is the spirit of those a●cient Bishops and Martyrs and 〈…〉 Champions of thy truth as of Cranmer ●●●mer Hooper Bucer Peter Martyr Iewel and other faithfull witnesses whose eyther bloud hath beene the seed or preaching and writing the watering of this thy noble Vineyard O keepe farre from vs the spirit of cowardise and lukewarmnesse of ambition and loue of the world lest these infeebling and infatuating our soules wee should proue a generation of peruerse and foolish children pulling downe what our religious fore-fathers with such care and paines mature iudgement and sound knowledge in the truth haue built Stirre vp O Lord the noble hearts of the two honourable Chancellors of our Vniuersities that with the ayde of soueraigne authority they may zealously set themselues to preserue those Fountaines and Nurceries from the mudde of Heresie and the bitter root of Impiety Infuse the spirit of courage zeale vprightnesse and hatred of couetousnesse in aboundance vpon all the reuerend Iudges and Iustices of the Land that they may duely execute the Lawes by freeing the poor innocent from the potent oppressor by cutting downe sinne and cutting off the traiterous ring-leaders to Idolatry Thus thy Church being purged Iustice executed Religion maintained sinne reformed our Couenant with thee renewed our vowes of better obedience and thankfulnesse performed and we through thy merits reconciled to thy Father of mercies thou the great Captaine and Lord of Hosts mayst againe take thy peoples part turne the edge of thy Sword against thine enemies and fill our mouthes with a new song of praise thank●giuing to thee which sittest vpon the Throne with the Father and the Holy Ghost God blessed for euer Amen The Preface to the Reader CHristian Reader loe here the two great mysteries laid open the one of Godlinesse the summe where of is Christ beleeued on in the World the other of Iniquity the head whereof is Antichrist beleeued on of the World Two Mysteries incompatible as light and darknesse They are the two bounders disterminating Ierusalem from Babylon This Mysterie of iniquity I meane the Romish doctrine of Iustification is the head-doctrine or source whence all their meritorious satisfactions doe flow And Bellarmine with other Pontificians confesseth Iustification to bee the maine Cardo or hinge whereon hangeth the whole body of controuersies betweene them and the Pretestants Nor was it for nothing that the Councell of Trent so improued all their skill and strength to oppose and oppresse the true Catholicke doctrine of Iustification as whereby the Papall magnificence and the gaine of the Romish Craftsmen for their Diana was endangered So that this their Abortiue was a hatching for seuen moneths so long was this Babylonish Ra●●●● wherewith they would force heauen gates a hammering in the Trent-forge so as the History noteth that the most expert in the Church affirmed That if all the 〈…〉 assembled from the Apostles times to that were summed vp together they could not make vp so many Articles as the Trent-Fathers had amassed together in this one sixt Session of that Synod the best part whereof also they were beholden to Aristotle for And no maruaile they were so puzzled for they were to encounter sundry difficulties as first the euidence of Scriptures secondly the concent of ancient Fathers thirdly the powerfull preaching and writings of Luther fourthly the dissent of their Schoolemen and fiftly the diuision of the Councell it selfe some being Thomists some Scotists some Dominicans some Franciscans To satisfie and reconcile all which was more than an Herculean labour But what could be difficult to the Papall Omnipotencie who could send his holy Ghost post from Rome to Trent in a Cloake-bagge which loosed all knots and decided all doubts Nor had the Pope wanting in that Councell the most pregnant wits in the Pontifician world be●●aes a numerous multitude of new titular Bishops as titular for learning as liuing to lay on load of down right voyces to conclude and ratifie whatsoeuer the Pope with his Cardinals in their Conclaue at Rome and his dextrous instruments in the Councell had with no lesse sweat than artifice contriued For the first maine obstacle the euidence of Scripture they are faine to collegue and speake it faire and borrow from it certaine broad Phylacteries wouen with Scripture phrases wherewith the Babylonish where partly decks her shamelesse forehead and partly adornes the cobwebbe Robe of her counterfeit selfe-Iustification as Coelestis Pater Iesus Christ the Sun of righteousnesse the author and finisher of our faith The Father of mercies and God of all consolation sent his sonne to redeeme Iewes and Gentiles and that all might receiue adoption of sonnes Him hath God sent forth to be apropitiation for our sinnes in his bloud for this Redemption we ought to giue thanks And ch 7. The Me●itorious cause of our Iustification is our Lord Iesus Christ c. O holy Councell Will any suspect the Serpent to lurke vnder such flowers of Paradise Or that they goe about to betray Christ with H●yle Master But in this their profound hypocrisie lyeth the whole Mysterie of Iniquity Sitamen hypocrisis dici debet quae iam latere prae abundantia non valet prae impudentiâ non quaerit as Bernard saith of Romes Clergy in his time If that may be called hypocrisie which neither for the abundancy of it can nor for the impudencie of it cares to conceale it selfe Thus by egregious hypocrisie Arrius deluded the Councell of Nice confessing Christ to be God of God yet denyed his consubst●ntiality with the Father Thus the second Councell of Nice summoned to decree the erection and veneration of Images makes a goodly Preface giuing thankes to God that they were deliuered from Idols Thus Augustine confesseth how he was seduced by the Manichaean hypocrisie Thus dealeth the Trent Councell And besides her hypocrisie her impudencie displayes it selfe while in this Councell Rome alters the Rule of Faith addes her Traditions Decretals and Canons as a party and equall rule with Scripture guelds the Scriptures of their mas●uline authoritie and genuine sense closing vp all in the Cabinet of the Popes breast where

lodgeth his Infallibilitie And thus the sacred Scriptures which till that Idolatrous Councell of Trent were held the sole and entire Catholicke Canon and rule of Faith must now draw in the Popes yoake with his sophisticat● Traditions Now the pure gold and siluer of Gods word must goe no longer for currant vnlesse it be stamped in the Popes owne Mynt and subiect also to be abased or inhansed at his pleasure Now the waters of life are of noforce vnlesse distilled through the Popes Limbeck nor those riuers of Paradise medicinable if they flow not from the sacred Minerals of the Romish Mountaines Thus in effect the Romish Amazon cuts off the right pap of Scripture which yeelds the sincere milke reseruing only the left to suckle her Paplings withall as that Lupa did Romes founder Romulus or at least the right Pap is so patched to that slepmothers breast as it yeelds no other milke but such as relisheth of the corrupt complexion of the Popes infallibility Thus the first Rubbe is remoued the Scriptures which are made cock-sure for the Pope 2 For Luther they could easily hisse him out for an arch heretick and blast and brand with Anathema those euident truths by him deliuered So that hard it was to iudge whether fared worse Luther for the truths sake or the truth for Luthers 3 For the consent of ancient Fathers the most they stand vpon is S. Augustine who indeed writ more of this diuine mysterie than all the rest put together But the Councell could easily euade him saying as Catarinus about Predestination that S. Aug. his opinion therin was nouel neuer heard of before his time or that S. Aug. was drawn to speake many things awry through heat of disputation against the Pelagians or as Vega Non necesse est c It is not necessary to beleeue all S. Aug. his arguments to be demonstratiue or altogether to stand in force Thus all the Fathers corne though growing from the field of Scriptures proues but chaffe comming once to be sisted in the mysticall if not Satanicall sanne of this actiue Councell 4. 5. For the dissenting Schoolemen and those Dominicans and Franciscans in this Councell whereof Vega and Soto were the two Standard-bearers and bore a great sway therein it behooued the Councell to heepe good quarter with them and to vse all their witts eyther to reconcile them or with some pretty equiuocations to please all parties For this purpose Marcellus Priest intituled of the holy Crosse President of the Councell Cardinall and Apostolicall Legate à latere whose wits were as ve●satilous as his titles magnificent and various after much sweat spent in chopping and changing peecing and payring after an hundred Congregations wherein these matters were canuased Pro Con at length licked the Decrees and Canons to that forme that each side was pleased and Marcellus applauded on all hands when each Sect might from the same Delphick Oracle pick out his owne meaning Thus came these Trent Decrees to be like a curious Picture which euery one in the Roome imagineth to looke directly vpon him Or like an indented Table-Picture vpon a Wall wherein the one side of the Roome may behold the face of a man the other of a woman and they in the midst of an Owle Thus Soto and Vega who in the time of this Session writ each a Volume of this Subiect though in some smaller points different in their opinions which they grounded vpon the Decrees and dedicated to the Councell were both well pleased yet no otherwise reconciled but as Herod and Pi●ate Brethren in euill to crucifie Christ. The writing of which two Champions of Trent I haue mostly all along this Treatise confuted Thus as S. Ambrose saith Fucum faciunt qui non audent explicare quod sentiunt censoriè They do but iuggle that dare not set downe in plaine termes what they captiously conceiue And as Hierome against the Pelagian Hereticks Sola haec haeresis quae publicè erubescit loqui quod scripto docere non metuit This only is heresie which blusheth to speake that publickly that it feares not to teach secretly But as there hee saith Ecclesiae victoria est vos apertè dicere quod sentitis sententias vestras prodidisse superasse est It is the Churches victory for you to speake plainly as you think to detect your opinions is to confute them But we haue assayed to pull off Romes vizard and to make the Whore naked Her figge-leaue-righteousnesse will not salue her sinne or hide her shame Only I cannot but lament to see many of my brethren the sonnes of my mother in show to stand vp to plead for Baal Is it the symptome of this our age wherein there is so much learning and so little sound knowledge in the Mysterie of Christ or wherein the Spirit of the world is so predominant that men are so transported with an vnnaturall zeale and loue to Babylon But Wisedome is iustified of her children And now I begin to conceiue the reason why the Iesuites pennes are of late so silent surely because they see ours sopoynant in one anothers sides while our Mother-Church bleeds for it But those that be the true Ministers of Christ will say with S. Paul Wee cannot speake any thing against the truth but for the truth Now I could heartily wish that my brethren of the Ministry would imploy the greater part of their paines in preaching and pressing this maine Doctrine of Iustification It would be a maine Bulwarke to batter Babels Tower whereby she would scale heauen with her merits And for Antichrist I wonder to see such a deepe silence of him Doth the Councell of Laterans Decree dare vs not to mention Antichrists comming Otherwise to presse Iesuites with the point of Antichrist would easily stop their mouthes while they would put vs to show the vninterrupted lineall ped●gree of the Professors of our Religion from the Apostles all along downeward to Luther Alas this is but a poore shift to gaine time and to cause vs to put vp our weapons against them We can easily descry the pearles of our Religion strawed all along in the bottome of those muddy streames of Popery We can discouer the starres which haue giuen light in all ages of the Church notwithstanding all Romes mysts labouring to eclipse them And although iniury of time had consumed with fire our particular euidences yet we finde them registred in the Court-rowles of Scripture which no fire nor moth shall consume But not to detaine you too long in the Porch of this larger edifice know Christian Reader that this poore Worke hath lien by me licensed for the Presse a pretty space It was borrowed from the interrupted succisiue houres of my Court-attendance If it displease many I passe not so much if it may profite some and therein shall I prayse God This is the fruit of all my labour I seeke no reward so I may shun reproofe What can be said in

confound them all in one yet againe they shew their pregnant and fruitfull veine in distinguishing when as they diuide and subdiuide this poore Faith of theirs into so many parts as at length it comes to iust nothing Not vnlike to Cyrus King of Persia who in his expedition towards and against Babylon being to passe ouer the riuer Gyndes which afforded him no Ford to passe but by shipping one of his holy white steeds proudly assaying to swimme ouer and so being drowned hee thereupon in reuenge of his holy horse vpon that goodly riuer threatned he would so diminish and diuide this riuer as women should easily wade ouer it and not vp to their knees So hee set his numerous Army aworke for a whole yeare to diuide the riuer into three hundred and threescore branches and so being as good as his word passed on the next summer to conquer Babylon So deale the Pontificians with sauing Faith which being as a goodly riuer able to carry the fairest ships of richest fraight bound for the holy Land onely because it will not suffer their proud inherent holinesse by the vertue of its owne strength to passe ouer they doe so cut and mince it as they make it common such is their common Faith for all passengers tagge and ragge to passe through vpon their owne legs Now let vs see which of these branches of Faith Vega in the name of the Councell of Trent and Church of Rome layes speciall hand on whether on the actuall or habituall acquired or infused formed or vnformed Vega shuts out all other Faith from the meaning of the Apostle in all those places where he attributes iustification vnto Faith but onely the actuall Faith All habituall Faith whether acquired or infused he peremptorily excludeth maugre all those that say the contrary of what authority soeuer Now what this actuall Faith is we haue heard by Vega himselfe that it is a credulity or perswasion firme and certaine but vneuident Note here how this Babylonish builder contradicts and confounds himselfe in one breath If this Faith of his be a firme and certain perswasion how is it vneuident and if vneuident how is it a firme or certaine perswasion Indeed this Vneuident helpes all It is like the picture of Venus drawne by Apelles who being not able to delineate and beautifie her face to the life drawes an artificiall shadow of a vaile or curtaine ouer it But what might bee the meaning of this word Ineuident Surely I finde not Vega very free to explaine himselfe in this point Onely in one place he seemeth to vnderstand by it such an assent or faith as we giue meerly for the authority of him that speaketh And so it may very well be said to be ineuident not onely in regard of any particular perswasion of good towards a mans selfe from him that speaketh but also of the particular truth to be beleeued This ineuident Faith is not vnlike the Iesuiticall blinde obedience when only the authority of the commander is respected not the equitie of what is commanded But the most commodious property of Vega's ineuidence is to leaue it as we finde it ineuident For the maine drift of the Pontificians is to fould vp Faith in a cloud that no man should know it And therefore Vega to dazell our eyes would haue vs beleeue that the Apostle Paul where hee speakes of iustifying Faith meanes not eyther Faith vnformed or Faith formed in particular but Faith in generall O miserable selfe-blinding Cardinall would you also cast a myst before the Apostles eyes that hee should not see what he said was euer impudencie and folly so yoaked together But what 's the reason that Vega will not pitch vpon one certaine and distinct Faith specially meant by the Apostle The reason is not hard to giue For if Vega should say that the Apostle meant Faith vnformed then the expresse words of the Apostle would euidently confute him where he commendeth Faith working by loue And againe if Vega should confesse that the Apostle elsewhere meant that Faith which worketh by loue then it must needes follow that Faith doth truly iustifie and not barely dispose a man to iustification as Vega would haue it But Vega hath another pretty euasion for this For he saith Aliud est c. It is one thing to say that those places of Scripture wherein our iustification is attributed to faith are to be vnderstood of Faith formed and another that they are to be vnderstood of Faith which worketh by loue For although saith he others take these two for one kinde of Faith yet we thinke these two to be most distinct and by no meanes to be confounded together Prius enim est c. For Faith working by loue goes before Faith formed by charity because saith he for this end it workes by loue that it may obtaine the holy Ghost and by it charity wherewith it may be formed O admirable subtilty surpassing all Philosophy all Diuinitie How doth Faith worke by loue before it haue charity Or what is that loue the Apostle speaketh of but charity Or is the Apostles Faith working by loue a Faith vnformed O Vega let me say that to thee truly which Agrippa falsly applyed to Paul Vega thou art besides thy selfe too much learning maketh thee madde For I am sure Vega cannot answer for himselfe as Paul did I am not madde but speake the words of truth and sobriety For Vega's wordes are meere contradictions senslesse and corrupt vnsauory salt Such is his sophisticate Sophistry and frothy wit that it may bee said to him as the Prophet saith to Babylon Thy wisedome and thy knowledge it hath peruerted thee or as the Vulgar hath it Hath deceiued thee I know their shift is to say There is a loue in man vpon the first grace disposing him to iustification wherby he beginnes to loue God aboue all things And i● not this loue the highest degree of charity that can bee If this loue be not charity it is meere vanitie But to sum vp the totall of that which Rome teacheth concerning faith in Iustification as we find it either expressed or implyed in the Councell of Trent illustrated by her most pregnant Interpreters First they allow or acknowledge but one kinde of Faith in the Scriptures common to good and bad Secondly that this is the Catholicke Faith of the Church the obiect whereof is the whole word of God written and vnwritten Thirdly that this Faith is a meere Historicall Faith which may be in the very Diuels and damned Fourthly that this Faith is formed by charity which while it hath it is a liuing faith but losing it it is dead and vnfruitfull Fiftly that this Faith euen without charity dead and fruitlesse as it is yet is sufficient to make a man a Christian and a Beleeuer Sixtly though they admit of no other Faith to Iustification yet that this Faith doth not iustifie by their owne confession but may be in