Selected quad for the lemma: soul_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
soul_n	believe_v	faith_n	word_n	6,724	5	4.6817	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A78018	Conformitie's deformity. In a dialogue between conformity, and conscience. Wherein the main head of all the controversies in these times, concerning church-government, is asserted and maintained; as without which, all reformation is headlesse, and all reconciliation hopelesse. Dedicated by Henry Burton, to the honour of Jesus Christ, as the first-fruits of his late recovery from death to life; as a testimony of his humble and thankfull acknowledgement of so great a mercy: and published for the service of all those, that love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity ...	Burton, Henry, 1578-1648.	1646 (1646)	Wing B6160; Thomason E358_20; ESTC R201164	26,532	40

not endure to hear of this King of the Jews So the Heathen Emperour Domitian out of jealousie of his Empire sought to root out the whole Race of CHRISTS Kindred until two of them were brought before him that got their living hardly in the husbanding of a few acres of land and understanding of Christs kingdom that it was altogether spirituall and not of this world he dismissed them and ceassed his persecution An example sufficient to shame thousands that glory in the Name of Christians and contrary to this Heathen cannot endure to hear of Christs kingdom to be spirituall but under some fair colourable pretences of Spiritualty and Clergy and I know not what endeavour nothing more then to set up a worldly kingdom which yet they must forsooth call Christs kingdom when in nothing it is spirituall but as it is a Tyranny set over mens consciences souls and spirits But sir before I proceed any further with you let me also crave your name Conf. Sir my name is Conformity Consc Conformity Sir if you be the man I know none more ready to raise slanders upon me then your self and may I not say truly of thee that thou art one of the greatest troublers of Israel For what can more trouble the world then when thou Conformity would'st force all mens consciences to dance after thy Pipe Conf. Why Mr. Conscience do not ye think that I have a conscience as well as you should I therefore be an enemy to Conscience But indeed I confesse my conscience is not so strict or strait-laced or self-willed as obstinately to stand upon mine own singular opinion in opposition to the generall judgement of most meh and those not only learned but pious too so far as I can judge Consc It seems then that every conscience by your verdict must be strait-laced and self-willed that will not follow the multitude seeing you ground your conscience upon men for their number learning piety making them the rule of your conscience and not Gods Word alone Conf. Sir I hold this the safest way for I may misunderstand the Scripture which many learned cannot so easily do Consc This indeed is a good plea for Popery who boast of their Universality Learning Councels Synods and therefore besides the Popes infallible Oracle not easily subject to mis-understand the Scriptures Or you are like those Jewes who would not believe in Christ unlesse the Rulers did know indeed that he was the very Christ Or as the Pharisees said Have any of the Rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him Thus do you not pin your faith and so your souls upon mens sleeves when you will believe as most believe or as the Church or Nation believes Conf. But sir I put a great difference between a Councel of learned Papists or a Synedrion of Jewish Priests and a Synod of learned Protestants Consc Indeed the very names of Papist and Protestant import no small difference although a Papist and a Protestant at large are at no great odds in matter of Faith Conscience Religion only such a Protestant is apter to turn Papist then a Papist Protestant And take your Protestants at the best call a Synod of the learned est and highest esteem in the world yet even such a Synod may in some things and those fundamentall too possibly run into and wrap themselves in foul errours Conf. How sir shew me any one instance hereof that ever any learned Protestant Counsel or Synod hath erred in any fundamentall of faith or much lesse hath maintained such an Error or Heresie and I will not henceforth be so confident in depending and resting upon mens judgements be they never so learned godly or many Consc Seeing you thus put me to it what think ye of Jesus Christ Is not he a prime fundamentall Conf. No doubt for he is the only foundation For other foundation can no man lay Consc Is not Christ then as well in his three Offices as he is King Priest and Prophet as in his two natures united in one Person of the Eternal Son of God a fundamentall of faith so as as well he that denieth any one of his three Offices as * he that denieth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is an Antichrist and grand Heretick as overthrowing a principall foundation of faith Conf. I conceive this cannot well be denyed Consc Nay of necessity it must be believed For the Papists in joyning their Traditions with the Scripture deny Christs Propheticall office and in equalling their Satisfactions with Christs merits they deny his Priestly Office and in exalting their Hierarchy call it Papall or Prelaticall or Sacerdotall * over the Temple of God mens consciences they deny Christs Kingly Office All which Offices together or any one of them being denied is * with Antichrist to deny that Jesus is the Christ seeing the Christ is he that is anointed King Priest and Prophet of which to deny any one is to deny that Jesus is the Christ Do ye not believe this Mr. Conformity Conf. I confesse there appears to me a truth to be in all this But yet Mr. Conscience I hope you do not go about to ensnare me with mine own confessions Consc Why Master Conformity are you conscious to your selfe that while you confesse the truth the truth should ensnare you Certainly the bonds of * truth willingly taken upon us become the robes and livery of our true freedome Conf. Sir take me not at the worst I would not willingly utter words to my prejudice Consc Speak the words of truth then and fear nothing Conf. Well sir proceed then to what you have more to say Consc I say then that to deny any one of Christs Offices as afore is to overthrow a Foundation of faith Conf. I grant it Consc Hereupon I inferre that it is possible for a learned Synod of Protestant Divines to deny one of these three Offices and so to overthrow a foundation of faith Conf. Though it be possible yet it is not probable But sir remember what ye undertook namely to prove by instance that a Protestant Synod of Orthodox Divines hath thus erred Consc Nay stay Mr. Conformity remember your self well Did I say a Protestant Synod of Orthodox Divines For how Orthodox if they overthrow a foundation of faith then they cease to be Orthodox Conf. Well however yet they might in other fundamentals be Orthodox Consc But in any one fundamentall to be Heterodox is to cease to be Orthodox and obstinately persisting is hereticall Conf. I confesse that any one Heresie maintained makes a man a Heretick hold he otherwise never so many truths and so he overthrows the faith as those did who * denyed the Resurrection though all other truths they held But sir all this while I expect your proof or instance that a Synod of Protestant Divines should fall into any such foul errour or heresie as should overthrow the foundation Consc Mr. Conformity for

they give to their General or National Assembly supreme power not only over their Parochial Classical and Provincial assemblies but even over the Parliament it self For not only they take the power to appoint both time and place for the convening of their Ecclesiastical assemblies as 2. Book of Discipline chap. 7. But they say moreover in the same chap. For this Orders cause they may make certain Rules and Constitutions appertaining to the good behaviour of all the members of the Kirk in their vocation And this they do without the Civil Magistrate Nay more chap. ibid. They have power also to abrogate and abolish all Statutes and Ordinances concerning Ecclesiastical matters that are found noysome and unprofitable and agree not with the time or are abused by the people And again in the same book chap. 12. The National Assemblies of this Country called commonly the General Assemblies ought alwayes to be retained in their own liberty and have their own place with power to the Kirk to appoint times and places convenient for the same And all men as well Magistrates as Inferiors to be subject to the Judgement of the same in Ecclesiastical causes without any reclamation or appellation to any Judge civil or Ecclesiastical within the Realm Thus in reference to the Spiritualty or the Church they make no bones to set up in their National Assembly the same Papal power which the Pope himself claimeth over Kings Princes States Kingdoms Commonweals And Mr. Rutherford in his * Government of the church of Scotland chap. 20. p. 312. tels us That though none in this grand assembly have decisive voyces save only Commissioners yet the Acts of the Assembly oblige all the absents not present in all their members and that because whatsoever is by those Commissioners determined and concluded is matter necessary and agreeable to Gods word as being no lesse infallible then those decisions of the Apostles Act. 15. All which Conformity I commend to thee when in thy best senses And because thou art apt to be overtaken with a supine drowsines pleasing thy self with thy dreams of becomming a King when once thou art gotten up into the saddle or throne of a Kirk National-Assembly let me awaken thee by pricking thy dull sides that thou mayest be at least convinced of that spirit of Antichristian pride and tyranny of rebellion and treason in lifting up a Papal throne above the Kings and Kesars above Kingdoms and Commonweals to the enslaving of the whole Nation in their souls bodies and estates For whosoever shall not in all things conform to the constitutions of that generall Kirk assembly when once the horn is blown then ipso facto imprisonment confiscation of goods banishment and what not Now Conformity doth Gods word hold forth any such Kirk fashions What To overrule Civil States and Kingdoms What That all Kirk laws and constitutions mustneeds be such as are both necessary and agreeable to the Word of God What To set up in the Kirk an Oracle of Infallibility and a Pontifician supremacy and Antichristian tyrannie and all under the name of a Christian Presbyterian Kirk-government But because this perhaps moves thee not I will remit thee to the supreme Bar of this Kingdom there to receive thy doom in case thou dost obstinately and madly persist in thy importunate clamours to have that Presbyterian government set up and thereby our fundamental lawes priviledges and power of Parliaments liberties and freedom of all true bred English subjects brought under perpetual bondage worse then that either of Egypt or Babylon But I passe on 2. For us You may know Conformity that we are not the setters up of that Religion you charge us with but it is that which we find to be set up by Christ and his Apostles which they did without leave from the Civil power or from the Ecclesiastical or mixt Synedrion as before Secondly though the Kingdom of Christ be indeed over all the kingdoms of the world yet all the subjects of this kingdom as they are the subjects of this or that civill State so they owe civill obedience thereunto but as they belong to Christs kingdome they are free from the civil power in point of religion owing subjection only to Christ and if the civil power usurp over any of them they yield themselves to suffer with patience without resistance Conf. Conscience I like thee well for this yet But you tell us strange things of Church-assemblies Consc Not more strange then true Read their books and be wise And for our suffering which thou likest so well it is no more then what Christ and his Apostles both taught practised and wherein all the Martyrs followed them Conf. I will better consider of what you say But do you not condemn the Magistrate when you say he usurps over you Consc No I condemn him not that is for God to do who is the supreme Judge of the world Conf. Why what limits hath God set to the Magistrate Consc Read Deut. 17. 18 19. and that from v. 13. to the end of the chap. to wit the whole law of God So also what bonds and bounds their own conscience and the terror of the great Judge and their sacred oath and solemn covenant and stipulation with the people and not only Gods law but the civil lawes of the kingdome do put upon them you cannot be ignorant Conf. But what if the Civil state hath made a-law to inhibi● and restrain all men and that under severe penalty from the observation of any other form of Religion and Church government then that which it hath established by law with a necessity of uniformity and conformity thereunto imposed upon all the subjects of the kingdom Doth the Magistrate sin in seeing this law executed And without such a government what Order will you have in your Churches or what coercive power in the case either of heresie or schisme Consc Do you question the Magistrates sin when his law is against the law of God and the liberty of a Christian who is the subject of Christs kingdom For here we are to distinguish between a subject of Christs spiritual kingdom and a meer subject of the civil State He that is a meer subject of the civil state acknowledging no superior power above it his conscience though blind bids and binds him to obey but he that is a true subject of Christs kingdom being also a subject of the civil State owes a twofold obedience one to the Civil State another to Christ According to that of Christ Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesars and unto God the things that are Gods Nor doth the order or disorder in churches as churches put any difference between the having or not having of a civil power In the Apostolick churches there were both heresies and schismes 1 Cor. 11. 18 19. 1 Joh. 2. 19. whith the civil power took no cognisance of Nay it was and may be as apt to persecute the