Selected quad for the lemma: sense_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
sense_n	doctrine_n	scripture_n	tradition_n	1,725	5	9.4842	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A41816	The separation of the Church of Rome from the Church of England founded upon a selfish and unchristian interest. By a presbyter in the Diocess of Canterbury. Febr. 28. 1689/90. Imprimatur, Z. Isham, R.P.D. Henrico Episc. Lond à sacris.	Grascome, Samuel, 1641-1708?	1691 (1691)	Wing G1578A; ESTC R218847	114,589	226

Tridentines under pretence of Tradition have Enlarged the Canon of Scripture contrary to the Tradition of the Church of God in all Ages even to their own time Thus when Modern Mens bare word must be allowed a sufficient Authority to Vouch a Tradition a Pretence of Tradition is set up against the truth of it and so Tradition it self rendred doubtful or useless And therefore I shall not trouble my self to pursue those many particular shuffling pleas which they use to Justify themselves in offering violence to the Sacred Canon But if you would know the true Reason which it was their Business to Conceal I believe Spalato hath Hit on it Suas non poterant Naenias ex Sacrâ Scripturâ verè Canonicâ probare ideoque noluerunt permittere uc sibi aliae Scripturae etiam non Canonicae eriperentur quo suas qualescunque haberent pharetras unde spicula desumerent ac praeterea viderent ac praeterea ne viderentur re in aliquâ Protestantibus cedere aut consentire maluerunt etiam falsa tueri definire de Repub. Ecc. lib. 7. cap. 1. Num. 28. XLIV He that doth believe the Scriptures to be the Word of God must of course believe their Sufficiency or that they contain all Matters necessary to Salvation for they give this Testimony to themselves And he that believes them to be the Word of God must believe the Testimony they give either of themselves or others St. Paul saith They are able to make Man wise ●● 〈◊〉 2 Tim. 3. 15. 16. But that cannot be so unless they cont●in at least all things necessary thereto But though the Scriptures be thus sufficient and contain a certain Sense in themselves yet by reason of the distance of tim● when they were Wrote through Unskilfulness in Oriental Customes and Phrases ●h●re they were Wrote through Ignorance of some parti●ular T●ners which ●ome Argumentative part of Scripture is Levelled against and such like C●use● But above all through the Pervers●ness of evil Men and Seducers it so falls out That those Scriptures which are of a certain Sense yea plain in themselves are made obscure to us and we eith●r become doubtful of th●ir Meaning or follow a wrong Meaning for what is or can there be so plain and easie which some wicked Men have not or cannot render int●icate and p●●piex●d especially to weak Judgements and facile Tempers Now for the Discovery of the true Sense of Scripture in this Case true and genuine Tradition is possibly the best He●p and surest Resuge and to Wrest the Scriptures out of the Hands of Here●icks and Restore the Rule to its true Force right Use and proper Meaning perhaps there is not a surer nor more ●ffectual way for our Llessed Saviour Himself Wrote nothing or at least nothing which he designed to be a perpetual Standard and Rule to all his Followers It is said indeed John 8. 6. That He Wrote with his Finger on the Ground But what that was no Body can t●ll Eus●bius indeed Records an Epistle of his to Agbarus but if the Story be true and I have no mind to derogate from the Reputation of so Learned and Industrious an Historian yet it was to a particular Person in Answer to a pa●ticular Request And the principal Contents are a Promise That after his Death o●e of his Disciples should come and both Cure and Instruct Him Nor was it ever Accounted as any part of Canonical Scripture The Apostles indeed being Led by the Spirit into all Truth not only t●ught it to the then present Age but Committed it to Writing for the benefit of ●●sterity But then they Wrote nothing contrary or disagreeing with what ●h●y preach'd and taught both before and after they wrote And there is no doubt but that those Doctrines which they Comprized summarily in the S●ripture were expounded more fully in their daily Conversation a●d con●●n●ed discharge of their Ministerial Function If there o●e any doubt or Controversie did Arise concerning the Meaning of Scripture there could be no better way to determine it then by enquiring in what Sense those Churches understood it which the Apostles had planted St where upon all Occasions they at large Explained themselves for it is certain That the Apostles ●est knew their own Meaning And when they were no longer living to tell it let witty or wicked Men make never such a Bustle or fair Shew it will be very difficult to p●rswade any sober Men but that those must needs best know their Meaning to whom the Apostles themselves most amply discovered it Now it being the great Business of Hereticks to corrupt the Scriptures and wrest them to a wrong sense that they might seem to have a sufficient Authority patronizing their Errours When it so Hapned the Ancient Church usually declined the Nice Way of Cavilling and Captious Disputes and fe●● to enquire what was the Doctrine and Sense of the Apostolick Churches for it could not be but that those to whom the Apostles had preached all their days must better understand their Meaning then any Upstarts who followed their own Imaginations and were fond of New and p●stilent Notions And by this means they not only Silenced Hereticks but wr●ng the S●riptures and the Interpretations of Them out of their Hands and then turned them against them And whilst Apostolical Men were living this was a sure Way And so far as such Tradition can be proved to have been preserved genuine and true it is still a good Way And when the Romanists have endeavoured to bring the Cause to this Issue I think they have had no great Cause to boast of their Gains Witness to avoid Naming many the Controversie Managed by Bishop Jewel and Harding But then as to Tradition these Cautions would be observed 1. That this is no prejudice to the Scriptures being the only sufficient Rule of Faith for though the Apostles wrote and taught the same things and so both were alike a Rule to the then living Persons yet when those things were put in Writing it was for this very Reason That a Sure and Certain Rule might be Preserved for Posterity For Tradition might in time be mistaken forgotten or corrupted But the Scriptures would remain unalterable So that the Scriptures are the Rule to us though there are many Helps to lead us to their true Meaning of which perhaps genuine Tradition is none of the worst But this makes nothing against the perfection and sufficiency of the Scriptures which contain all things necessary to Salvation though they do not find us Eyes to see nor Ears to hear nor Brains to Consider though God doth all this and all other Helps abundantly All Arts and Sciences are supposed to be Complete in themselves and to contain Rules sufficient to instruct a Man in them And yet some of the Noblest of them can never be thoroughly Attained unless a Man be first Instructed in the Rudiments of some other Arts or Sciences preliminary and preparatory to them But the

very inconveniently and indiscreetly enjoyned in another And therefore though such Apostolical Constitutions deserve Veneration as being unquestionably b●st Fitted to the then present Churches yet it remains in the Power of Church-Governours to lay them aside upon just Occasion and Constitute Others in their Room as may be most for the good of the Churches Again some Traditions concern the Practice of the Universal Church which obtained in all places and these have their Ground and Warrant from Scripture but their particular Determination from Church-Authority which is still preserved to us by Tradition Of this we have a clear Instance in the Fasts and Feasts of the Church as Gods Signal Mercies require our Solemn Thanksgiving so our own Sins especially the publick Call on us openly to Humble our Souls before God and to give manifest Testimony of our Repentance Besides to tame our unruly Affections and Fit us for the discharge of our 〈◊〉 Acts of Mortification are very requisite To this the Scriptures direct us and thereof gives us many Instances But when this shall be done I mean publickly for as to private Thanksgiving or Mortification relating to M●ns private Concerns they may us● their ●●scretion provided that they thwart not the Orders of the Church is partly pointed out to us by the times when such Mercies were received or Evil done and partly determined by Ecclesiastical Authority And this even Natural Reason it self doth so fully teach that there never were any Men of any Religion how barbarous soever but they had their Solemn Fasts and Feasts Upon this Account I was very sorry to find a Relation in Mr. Ricaut St. of Turk to this Effect That certain Fanatical Merchants of ours Residing at S●●…rna and some other parts of the Turks Domi●ion● being observed to keep neither Fast nor Feast but to use every day alike all Persons presently esteemed them as Men of no Religion and ●ook'd on them as Persons who thought they had no God against whom they could offend nor from whom they had or might hope to receive Favours But though these Men were of our Countrey they were not of our Communion And we are not to Answer for th●ir ill Examples who have forsaken us chiefly for this Reason that they might take their full swinge in Running a Whoring after their own Inventions The most Ancient ●ea●ts and Fasts are Appointed by the Constitutions of our Church and 〈◊〉 by the Laws of the Land If we regard not some in the Roman Church it is because they are Apparently of later date and introduced by their own Authority which obligeth not us Besides we much doubt of the Popes Skill in discerning these later Saints but more of his power to make them such If it be observed that our own Fasts and Feasts are ill observed among us I grant it to be true but I say it is not our fault Ill Men and ill Times have been and still are too hard for us and not to Complain of the too many Obstructions of Discipline without which no Church can long stand much less flourish which is the Reason that all Parties whatsoever have unanimously combined to hinder the Exercise of our Discipline that by that means they might have opportunity upon all Occasions to make their full blow at the Church it self though our Church hath had the Laws on her side yet she hath ever had the Lawyers without whom the rest could have done nothing her Enemies who have made even the Laws themselves either insignificant or hurtful to Her I speak not of the whole Body of them for there are many Honest and Honourable Persons amongst them But there want not enough who are sworn Enemies of Church-Discipline and all Ecclesiastical Authority who lay Trains and Snares for the Governours of the Church if they execute it And if any Man be Constrained to defend the Sanctions or Rights of the Church they will encourage Parties and make Interests against Him lead him thorough all the Courts in the Kingdom till they have undone him And expose Him as if he were the vilest Man living They will neither suffer the Censures of the Church to take place nor her Rights to be gotten Nay more I will be bold to say that partly by quite discharging some Tithes and by Erecting lewd Mod●s's and upstart Customes and other Sly Tricks they have deprived the Clergy of one fourth of what the Bare-faced Church-Robbers left And if they be suffered to go on at this Rate they will in some few Generations insensibly Begger all the Livings in the Kingdom Now what can we do against these and many other powerful and inveterate Opponents whom I will not Name Our Constitutions are good We wish and endeavour what we fairly can that they may be kept They must Answer it to God Almighty who will not suffer it But to leave Complaining where we are like to have no Remedy and return to our Matter As to Traditions of Matters of Practice distinction must be made between the Matter of the Tradition and the Circumstances of it Tradition as to Circumstances may differ in different places and may be Altered by the Power of the Church Thus as to the Feast of Easter all Agreed in the Tradition that it was to be observed But divers Churches disagreed about the time of its Observation so that whilest some were Fasting and had not Compleated their Lent others had Entred upon the Feast of Easter Here the Church interposed her Authority and to prevent Disorder and Confusion reduced the Observation to a certain time though it did not take place without a great deal of trouble so tenacious are people of Ancient Usages and therefore ought Governou●s to be very tender of disturbing them without w●ighty Reasons But then as for the Matter of such Traditions which are genuine and truly primitive as of the Observation of Easter and the first day of the Week commonly called The Lords Day c I cannot perswade my self that even the whole Church hatb Power to Alter or Abrogate them What may be done in Plenitudine Potesta●ts I will not dispute because it is a thing I have no kindness for For when Persons will be judges of the Extent of their own Authority they will be sure to C●rve libera●ly for themselves And when they will be Acting to the utmost Sounds of it the odds is ten to one that they go beyond them Lastly other Trad●tions there may be whi●h relate to Doctrine but this could be nothing but what the Apostles taught and therefore must be fetch'd from those they taught it to And so must be derived from the first primitive Churches If it st●rted up after it was an Innovation not a Tradition though older then Augustine or Ambrose for there could be no Tradition but from the Apostles and wherein the Churches immediately following them unanimously Agree as to their Doctrine It serves well for the Explanation of the Sense of Scripture as hath been