Selected quad for the lemma: sin_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
sin_n	great_a	mortal_a	venial_a	3,197	5	11.4523	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A61294	A discourse concerning the devotions of the Church of Rome, especially, as compared with those of the Church of England in which it is shewn, that whatever the Romanists pretend, there is not so true devotion among them, nor such rational provision for it, nor encouragement to it, as in the church established by law among us.	Stanley, William, 1647-1731.	1685 (1685)	Wing S5244; ESTC R1838	44,628	70

that the Confessor to save a Kingdom dare not reveal or discover it Thirdly Their Doctrine concerning the Nature of several Sins is such as must needs rather incourage Men to continue in Sin than deliver us from it and will spoil all true Devotion to God and that due regard that we ought to have to his Commandments They tell us there is a vast number of Sins in their own Nature Venial Escobar Tract 2. Exam. 1. cap. 4. which are so very inconsiderable that an infinite number of them altogether will not deprive a man of the Grace and Favour of God or make up one Mortal Sin and for the Pardon of which there is no need or occasion for the Mercy of God And yet they have no certain Rules to discover whether a Sin be Mortal or Venial so that men are in wonderful danger of being cheated in a matter of so great Moment as their Eternal Salvation They tell us also Escobar Tract 2. Exam. 1. cap. 2. that an Habitual Sin is only a Stain left by former voluntary Sins and a Deprivation of habitual Goodness but hath nothing else that is evil in it From which Doctrine it necessarily follows that a man is guilty only of those Sins which created this Habit and that there is not an habitual Repentance or Course of Life required to get pardon for habitual Sins but a few or perhaps one single Act of Contrition will serve So that the more a Man sinneth the better he may and it is a piece of true Prudence to get an Habit of all Sin betimes for a Man is accountable only for those Sins which preceded the Habit all the Sins which follow it will pass under the name of Inadvertencies and as such can be esteemed only as a kind of Venial Sins And they not only allow the Church Power to command what doth not belong to her in many Cafes but give such Authority to her Commands as to make the Disobedience to them the greatest of all Sins and make way for the breaking of the Laws of God that they may keep those of the Church So Marriage hath been adjudged a greater Sin in a Priest than Fornication because the Priests are oblig'd to Celibacy by the Laws of the Church and their own Vow as if they were not by the Laws of God and their Vow of Baptism more obliged to abstain from Fornication and accordingly for Marriage a Priest is excommunicated or deposed but for Fornication he is only obliged to confess it secretly among his other Sins and the Guilt and Irregularity of it is done away by Absolution Indeed they bring almost all Sins under the Head of Discipline not only by pretending to give Pardon and Dispensations for most Sins that can be committed but also when they compare Sins they are always most earnest against such as transgress the Commands of the Church So v.g. when Escobar asks the Question What if I communicate unworthily at Easter He answers That by so doing I fulfil the Command of the Church which is what I am immediately bound to And passeth over the Duty of Self-examination and Preparation so strictly enjoyned by St. Paul as not worthy to be considered And so in innumerable other Cases by which means indeed they create a great Veneration for the Church or for that which they call the Church but thereby make the Commands of God of none effect Fourthly Their very Doctrine concerning their Prayers and Devotions and their Practise consequent on it is such as is altogether inconsistent with the Nature of true Devotion For according to the Church of Rome the outward Act will suffice in many Cases though nothing of the Mind go along with it particularly as to Prayers Escobar from Coninch and Durandus affirms that neither an actual nor vertual Attention is required when a man prayeth and they give an excellent Reason for what they say viz. Because the Church hath no Power in hidden Cases but only in the Case of Auricular Confession As if in Prayer only the power of the Church and Obedience to its Commands were to be regarded And he confirmeth his Assertion with this other most cogent Comparison That an outward Act of Devotion or Prayer only with the Mouth is a true Act of Prayer tho without the Intention as an outward Act of Adoration of an Idol though without the Intention is a true Act of Idolatry So that for a man to mind what he doth when he is at Prayers or to be earnest in his Desires of that which he prayeth for though it may possibly be a Commendation and Accomplishment yet it is not necessary either to the pleasing of God or satisfying of his Duty according to the Church of Rome Nay it is a praise for a man to draw nigh with the Mouth and honour him with the Lips though the Heart be far from God notwithstanding that our Saviour after the Prophet Isaiah blamed the Jews for so doing Indeed such a kind of superficial Christians will this Doctrine make that a Pharisee would have been an excellent Man if he had lived in these days And pursuant to this Doctrine of the No necessity of Attention at Prayers they take care that the people shall not be able to attend to what is done and therefore provide that the publick Prayers and the Scripture it self shall be only in a Language unknown to the people and are so desperately found of this Device of keeping the people ignorant of what is prayed for that their Casuists have defined that a Man may say his Office privately in other Languages besides the Latin as in Hebrew or Greek but not in the Vulgar Language at the same time keeping the people in Ignorance and discouraging them in their Devotions and exercising their Authority over them in the most dangerous manner that can be 6. Their ascribing spiritual Effects to several things which are purely of their own Invention is much to the Discouragement of true Devotion towards God And yet they have very many things of this Nature As Holy Water by the being sprinkled with which they believe the Devil shall have less power over them Agnus Dei's Swords and Medals which they wear to preserve them from Dangers which being consecrated according to the Rules of their Church have through the Devotion of the Persons and the power of the Church a wonderful good effect though indeed God never promised any such thing To this Head I may refer also their Rosary which is nothing else but an odd Combination of Pater-noster's and Ave Mary's Several short Prayers to the saying of which thousands of years of pardon of Sins are annext Their carrying the Image of St. Genovefa in Procession at Paris and other Images in other Places to obtain Rain c. and innumerable other such like Practices on which Men are taught to relie and to expect great good by though they have neither any natural force or efficacy that way nor

from being very intent on what they do when they are sensible they Labour only for another It countenanceth also a false and dangerous Doctrine concerning the Merit of good Works and incourageth all vicious practises in other Men who will hope to be saved tho not by their own Prayers yet by the Prayers of these holy Monks said for them So that on many accounts there is little of true Devotion to be found in that constant course of Prayers said so regularly by the Monks and Hermits Not to mention several other particulars concerning the Frame and Language of their Prayers the Object or Persons worshipped or prayed to the Persons prayed for and the like which I may have Occasion to mention afterwards which being put together do abundantly show the impropriety and the worthlessness of such Devotions Thirdly And as to the Austerities of the Lives of their Monks and Nuns the Punishments which they inflict on themselves as they profess for the sake of Religion by coarse and uneasie Garments scanty Food and Fare long and tedious Watchings frequent and cruel Whippings and Lashings and other such Course and Harsh Treatments which they use towards their own Bodies I confess I pity them but can discern little or no true Christian Devotion in them For all Severity to our Bodies is not Devotion or any part of that Self-denial which the Gospel requires nor is this of theirs though they pretend it to be for the sake of Religion but their insisting so strictly on it and valuing themselves so much on it is of very bad Consequence to Religion All Punishment which men inflict on themselves is not Religion nor commendable nor is the patient bearing of it always a Sign of a true Christian Temper Christ hath no where told us that he that can fast longest or endure most Lashes is the best Man but he that governeth himself and his Life best We have strange Instances of this Insensibleness of Pain in many of the worst Principles and most profligate Consciences The Devil hath his Martyrs as well as God and if the voluntarily inflicting Punishment on themselves be a Sign of Devotion the Priests of Baal 1 Kings 18. must have been a very devout Generation of Men. Therefore it is not any religious Commendation of a Man that he can stoutly whip or lash himself or bear it from another without flinching Such a man might have made a good Gladiator but seems not so well qualified for a Christian Nor is all Punishment which Men inflict on themselves and say they do it for the sake of God and Religion always a Sign of true Devotion For in other Cases it is not Men's Saying that they design well which will make their Actions acceptable with God but it is their doing what he hath commanded and for the ends which he designed and intended with which he is well pleased And it too often happens that men do Actions having a show of Sanctity and of great Self-denial which yet are received by God only with a who hath required this at your hands Self-denial indeed is commanded in Scripture and is necessary also to many and excellent Purposes to subdue a man's Passions and Affections and to bring him to a right understanding of himself to put a man in mind of leaving the pleasant things of this World sensibly to affect him with the Condition of those that are in Misery and always want them and to inure him to bear patiently the adverse things or whatever it shall please God to lay upon him It is necessary that a man should have a mind always ready and prepared to lose all for Christ and therefore he ought often to deny himself somewhat for the Sake of Christ that he may give full proof to himself that his mind is affected as it ought to be And by voluntary Acts of this Nature he preserves a Power over himself and is much the more fitted for all the Accidents of Life and for the Exercise of Devotion But let a man have a care that he keep within due Bounds He may exceed and transgress both in the Measure and in the End and Design of such Mortification He exceeds in the Measure of it when he inflicts such Severity on himself as shall render him unfit for the Service of God and useless in his Place God delights not in the Punishment of his Creatures but desires their Good here as far as it is consistent with their greater Good hereafter And though he requires Self-denial of us it is only in such a measure as is for our Good in order to the bettering of our Temper and to cut off the Occasions of Sin in us And therefore it is a great fault in any man on this pretence to render his Life so uneasie to himself as that he shall not be able to serve God contentedly cheerfully and without Distraction As a Man may be to blame also for his Charity when without a just Occasion he throws or gives away all For if this Course were allowed or followed the worst People and they that know least how to use an Estate well would be the richest and Owners of all and the only persons in Authority and Power And he transgresseth also in the End and Design of such Severity when he pretends to merit by it and hopes to buy Heaven which is the Gift of God with a few Lashes or a little Money And I have too much reason to undervalue and dislike the Severity of the Monks on both these Accounts They often tie themselves up to such Degrees of Strictness as are above the Measures of a man and consequently not to the purpose of Religion and Devotion And they always design to purchase Heaven for themselves or other by the Merits of such Sufferings At the same time undervaluing the Sufferings of Christ and over-valuing their own and yet making them of less worth in God's Esteem than else they would be by their own setting so high a price upon them And besides all this their insisting so strictly on these pieces of Austerity and placing such Religion and Persection in them is of very ill Consequence to other purposes It makes men to acquiesce in the means as the end to content themselves with having performed their Fasts their Number of Prayers and Lashes without ever aiming at any Reformation and Change of Temper and Practises than which nothing can be more absurd in it self or more contrary to the Design of Christianity It makes men also to esteem this or that kind of Meat and Drinke Condition or Course of Life to be unlawful or sinful which really is not which doth much harm even to Religion For it disparageth God's Creation and brings an evil Report upon the Land It necessarily makes Men querulous and censorious and is the very thing which our Saviour took such pains to correct and did so often rebuke the Pharisees of his Time for And this extraordinary pretence to Severity