Selected quad for the lemma: sense_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
sense_n	catholic_n	church_n	communion_n	2,595	5	9.8911	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A23658	Catholicism, or, Several enquiries touching visible church-membership, church-communion, the nature of schism, and the usefulness of natural constitutions for the furtherance of religion by W.A.	Allen, William, d. 1686.	1683 (1683)	Wing A1055; ESTC R502	134,503	424

Catholicism Or Several ENQUIRIES TOVCHING Visible Church-membership Church-Communion The Nature of Schism And the Vsefulness of National Constitutions For the furtherance of RELIGION By W. A. LONDON Printed by M. C. for Walter Kettilby at the Bishops head in St. Pauls Church-yard 1683. THE PREFACE TO THE READER ONE would think any thing should be acceptable to dissenting Brethren which has a true tendency to deliver them from those mistaken notions of things which do expose them to much trouble from Men and from the Laws themselves and by means of which they are an occasion of trouble and danger to the Nation And it is but reasonable to expect that things of this nature should be consider'd by them now at such a time as this tho' neglected during the time in which those Opinions put them to no trouble The hope of which and the sorrow to see Christian Brethren to suffer great inconveniencies to themselves needlesly has been a motive to me to make these sheets publick at this time as not doubting but that if judiciously and impartially weighed they with other writings of like nature may be of good use to discover to them their mistakes Their Separation from parochial Communion which does expose them to trouble does proceed principally from their mistakes as I conceive them to be either about that which makes men members of the visible Church or that which gives them Right to the external Priviledges thereof or about the external manner of publick worship There are many of the Dissenters whose notion of the visible Church and of Mens Right to Communion in the external Priviledge of it seems much narrower than the Scriptures represent those things to be They make that to be necessary to visible Church-member-ship and Communion which is but necessary to Invisible Church-Communion And then they make this qualification necessary not only by way of Duty but of Condition also without which in humane judgement persons ought not to be admitted into Church fellowship or unto Communion in the external priviledges of the Church Which notion and correspondent practice of theirs I have endeavored to discover to be plainly contrary to the whole current of the Scriptures touching these matters both of the Old Testament and of the New both as to doctrine and matters of fact That which hath betrayed them into this mistake seems to have been the want of distinguishing between the internal and external state of the Church for want of which they confound them and make that which is but necessary to the Being of the Church as invisible to be so likewise to the Being of it as it is visible The Church being described in Scripture but as a little flock and that as our Saviour says there are but few which find the narrow way which leads to Life and enter in at the strait gate and because the qualification of those of the invisible Church who shall be saved as described in Scripture seems to agree but to a few of those who profess the Christian Religion and because the Church is but One hereupon they come to be persuaded that none are really and truly of the Church but such whose qualification agrees with their description to whom Salvation is indeed promised But as for others they esteem them no more to be true and real Members of the Church than wooden Legs and glass Eyes are Members of the Body of a Man But then there are Scriptures which must be considered likewise which have foretold of the coming of many whole Nations into the Church both Kings and their People and of the numerous increase of it when a little one shall become a thousand and a small one a strong Nation when the stone cut out of the mountain without hands shall fill the wole Earth when for number they shall say the place is too strait for me give place to me that I may dwell and the like for there are many such Predictions in Scripture Now unless they will say that whole Nations and those vast numbers forementioned are all of the Church as invisible which is more then they will or can say they must of necessity admit of a distinction of a two-fold state of one and the same Catholick Church the one external and visible the other internal and invisible And if this distinction be admitted then these Predictions concerning the vast extent of the Church will be fairly reconcileable to those other Scriptures which speak of it in a more contracted and limited sense without which they seem irreconcileable For what some Scriptures speak touching the paucity or fewness of Church-members and what others say touching a far greater number of which the Church doth and will consist are both true in different respects the one in respect of the Internal and Invisible state of the Church the other in respect of that which is external and visible And this distinction is fairly justified by what our blessed Saviour hath said more than once to wit that many are called but few are chosen And if any should fancie that this twofold state of Church-members implies two Churches the one visible the other invisible there is no ground for it since those who are of the Church as invisible are the same Persons which are in external and visible Vnion and Communion with those who are of the Church only as visible and so make one Church with them But we cannot say they make one Church with these and another by themselves for then there would be two Churches indeed and yet of the same persons for a considerable part Considering then this twofold state of the Church it will not be difficult at all to conceive how and why a participation in the external priviledges of the Church does belong to all that are externally and visibly of it when yet a participation in the internal and invisible priviledges of it belongs only to those who are of the Church in respect of its invisible as well as visible state As there are different qualifications of persons of the same Church so there are different priviledges which belong to them accordingly external ones to them who are only externally qualified and both external and internal ones to them who are qualified for both Now this different state of the Church being so apparent as it is in Scripture as also that those who have but common grace and yet Baptized are really and truly of the visible Church I say the consideration of these things hath enclined me to touch upon several things which seem to render it very improbable at least that the Apostles should admit none into the Church by Baptism but such as they judged to believe so effectually as to be thereby Regenerate before they would Baptize them To what is said in my inquiries into these matters I shall here add a little more for our better Vnderstanding that case or question The question is whether it be probable that the Apostles admitted none into

come to that Supper it is easie to understand what the Apostle would have them examine themselves about in Order to their Communicating at the Table of the Lord. And it is about these things especially as I conceive viz. whether they understand the Nature of that Ordinance and for what end our Lord did Institute it And whether they are like to find themselves Affected with a sense of that great Love of Christ in dying for them which is Represented and Commemorated in that Sacrament And whether they do not judge him most worthy of their Love and Thanks for such Love of his to them And whether they do not judge it fit and reasonable that they should live unto him who dyed for them And whether and how far they do endeavour to do so And St. Paul had a little before his Exhorting them to examine themselves represented to them the Nature and End of that Ordinance according to its first Institution to the end they might examine themselves by it whether they had apprehensions sutable to it and that they might the better know how to govern and demean themselves in the use of it Now if after all this we should look into those outward Acts of unworthiness for which St. Paul greatly blames those of this Church telling them that their Communicating in that manner was not to eat the Lords Supper and for which and for not discerning the Lords Body he says that many were weak and sickly among them and many dead we shall find that Men but of common Grace may easily avoid being guilty of like abuses The first Abuse of this kind the Apostle takes Notice of was their Schismaticalness in the use of this Ordinance by which they defeated in a manner one great end of it In Chap. 11. ver 17. he charges their coming together in their Church-Assemblies to be not for the better but for the worse And this he did upon this account because when they came together in the Church there were Divisions among them ver 18. And in ver 20. he told them That this was not to eat the Lords Supper to Communicate so dividedly as it seems they did For in ver 21. he saith every one taketh before other his own Supper By which words considered with their relation to the Context several Authors have understood the Schismatical Practice of the several Parties into which that Church was divided in Communicating apart one from another For although they came together in one place to do it yet so as that one Party made an end of their Communicating before another had begun theirs I will instance in such Authors for this against which the Dissenters can have least Exception Cartwright upon the place in his Confutation of the Rhemists Translation of the New Testament delivers his sense thus There was a double Abuse among them One in their Love Feasts c. while that which should have served for the knitting the knot of Love was used to cut the Cord thereof in that every one as himself listed made choice of such as he would have to sit at Table with him the other either not tarried for or thrust out when they came especially the Root The other Abuse pulled in by the former was for that those which were Companions at one Table in the Common Feast Communicated also in the Sacred with the same Separation and severalty Dr. Mayor saith thus It seems this good Order was perverted among the Corinthians one Company being of one Sect coming before another and receiving the Lords Supper and this their own Supper in a most scandalous manner departed and then came another Company doing likewise Mr. Sam. Cradock in his Apostolical History pag. 72. delivers his sense thus In those their Feasts of Charity at the end whereof the Lords Supper was Celebrated they did not now observe the true Church Communion but every one that is every Faction or Division being come to the place of the Assembly did presently sit down to eat what they brought in company of their own Party not minding or regarding others whereupon this Holy Feast was neither Celebrated at the same time by all nor in Holy Concord contrary to the true Vnion of Christians signified thereby Unto which I might add the Dutch Annotators upon the place Own Supper that is a Supper which is not held in Common of the whole Church as the Lords Supper must be held but which is held privately by some alone Every one that is every one that held with them And St. Paul's words in ver 33 34. seem strongly to back the Interpretation and sense of these Authors His words are these Wherefore my Brethren when ye come together to eat tarry one for another that ye come not together to condemnation Now unless one Party had Feasted and Communicated together before another there would have been no occasion for this Admonition of tarrying one for another unless we could suppose that the Individuals did eat their own Supper and the Lords Supper singly and apart from all the rest which is no ways likely so long as they had those of their own Party to Associate themselves with That phrase of their coming together to eat shews they did not eat singly and apart This Sacrament by tending to awaken the sense of Christs love to all his members one as well as another by dying for them all tends to Unite and Knit them all one to another in mutual love as co-partners together in the same benefits by his death and to render them all dear one to another because they were so to him when he gave himself for them all 1 Cor. 10.17 To use this Sacrament therefore as an Instrument of division as they did was to pervert the end and use of it and to Act contradictiously to the good and benefit which our Saviour designed his People by it Considering then that their communicating thus dividedly was that which made their coming together to be not for the better but for the worse ver 17.18 and to be a coming together for condemnation ver 33 34. it highly concerns those amongst us who divide themselves in their Sacramental communion from their Brethren thorowly to review and examin the reasons and grounds upon which they do it lest their coming together should be found before God to be a coming together not for the better but for the worse and a coming together to condemnation This Factious communicating of these Corinthians the Apostle we see did insist on more than on any other their Sacramental abuses repeating this and concluding with a particular caution and admonition against it which is more than he did concerning any other of them And yet this Schismatical communicating was such as Christians by vertue of common grace may easily avoid the like as every one will grant The other abuses at their Feasts of Charity and at the Sacrament were their neglecting and despising their poor Brethren and suffering them to