Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	father_n	truth_n	worship_v	16,055	5	9.8540	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A43790	Dissertation concerning the antiquity of churches wherein is shewn, that the Christians in the two first centuries, had no such publick separate places for worship, as the papists generally, and some Protestants also presume, and plead for.	Hill, Joseph, 1625-1707.	1698 (1698)	Wing H1999; ESTC R19760	56,800	78

thereof But that they do so still as Gregory also saith I think is a mistake I never observed it in any of their Synagogues tho I have seen several and their Worship yet I never saw any People so regardless therein as the present Generation of the Jews But why may we not pray in the same posture with the Jews of old which were Gods People and had his direction as well as in the posture of those Gentile Idolaters that worshipped the Sun Ezek. 8.16 as the Persians and many other Nations Truly if you will believe the Cardinal because this posture signifies so much more excellent things than the Jewish which he there mentions even the difference between the Gospel and Christianity from the present Religion of the accursed Jews the Enemies of our Lord Jesus Christ Here recommend me to the man that hath so strong Faith as to believe a bare posture can denote such great things to which it hath no tendency or likeness at all But if any one hath list and leisure to see a deal of dry Learning thrown away on this subject of praying towards the East they may peruse the 18th Chap. of Gregory's Notes on Zachary 6. v. 12. Who had written also a Treatise he intituled Alkibla i. e. the place toward which men worship as the Publisher of his posthumous Works acquaints us the loss whereof he laments tho for my part I think it not great Before I pass to another Argument let me set down the Opinion of Strabo in the place fore-mentioned an Author near 800 Years old when Ceremonies and Superstition were in Vogue and near their Altitude concerning the site of Churches Eastward Et quia diversitas Idololatriae diversis modis Templa extruxerat non magnopere curabant illius temporis justi quam in partem orationis loca converterent dum tantum videretur ubi eliminatae sunt Daemonum sordes ibi Deum creatorem omnium qui ubique est coli adorari And because Temples were built after divers manners according to the different ways of Idolatry The righteous men of those days did not much care which way the places of Prayer stood their consideration being only this that look where the filth and abomination of Devils were cast out of Doors there God the Creator of all who is every where might be worshipped and adored Now that by the righteous men of those times which cared not which way they converted their places or selves in Prayer to God were the times of the Conversion of the Empire from Idolatry to Christianity is plain by what preceds c. 3. where he saith After the time was come wherein the true Worshippers in Spirit and Truth not in Jerusalem only or in the Hill of Samaria that is not locally but spiritually began to worship the Father and the Doctrine of Salvation went forth into all Nations according to the commandment of the Lord the Faithful began to seek loca munda clean places which he interprets by that which follows and removed from tumults and affairs of men of carnal conversation therein to celebrate pure Prayers and the holy Mysteries and the comforts of mutual edification For tho we read in the Gospel the Disciples were with the Believers always in the Temple or in some upper room praising God and giving themselves to Fasting and Prayer yet after the coming down of the Holy Ghost upon them we read Act 1. 2d chap. that they Celebrated Prayers and the Eucharist circa domos from house to house and they met together not only within the City in some house or other but without also in secret places as at Philippi Acts 16.13 But when the number of Believers was multiplied they began to make their Houses Churches as we often read in the Legends of the Saints Oftentimes also declining the rage of Persecutors they had their meetings in Vaults under ground and in places of Burial and in Caves and desert Mountains and Valleys Then as the Miracle of Christian Religion profited more and more and the Devil loosing ground as Christ gained New Oratories were built nor so only but also the Temples of their Gods and Idols with the abominable Worship thereof being thrown away and banished were changed into the Churches of God It 's true that he dislikes not praying towards the East but gives reasons for the congruity of it yet upon consideration of the Temple at Jerusalem that the Holy of Holies was Westward and that Solomon in 's Prayer at the Dedication thereof turned his Face that way he concludes His aliis exemplis edocti cognoscimus non errasse illos vel errare qui Templis vel noviter Deo constructis vel ab Idolorum squalore mundatis propter aliquam locorum opportunitatem in diversas plagas altaria statuerunt quia non est locus ubi non sit Deus By these and other Examples we learn that they who either in Temples nowly built for God or purged from the filthiness of Idols did according to the opportunity of places set Altars towards different Coasts did nothing erre seeing there is no place where God is not present And accordingly proceeds to shew that in the Temple built by Helena at Jerusalem upon Christ's Sepulcher and in the Pantheon at Rome converted to Christian use as also in St. Peter's Church there Altars were Erected not only towards the East but also other Quarters of the Heavens And adds Haec cum secundum voluntatem vel necessitatem fuerint ita disposita improbare non audemus So that tho he approves rather of praying towards the East yet professeth he dares not blame those who otherwise ordered the matter and that not only in case of necessity but of meer will and pleasure Concluding thus Vnusquisque in suo sensu abundet propè est Dominus omnibus invocantibus eum in veritate Let every one abound in his own sense the Lord is near to all that call upon him in Truth I must add to all these the Example of the Church of England in reading the Liturgy Ministers Prayers and Peoples practice and further shew that tho Mede joins the position of Churches and Prayers yet neither of these necessarily infer the other but I have run out too far on this Argument already The second is drawn from the Discipline of the Church which required distinct and regular places in their Assemblies for Penitents Auditors Catechumens and the Faithful which argues they had places accommodated for that purpose We had this Argument before in the middle of the Third Century where we answered the same and therefore shall be briefer here Where I shall not insist upon it That distinctions might be made in private Houses or Places tho not so well or great as in publick Churches Nor deny the authority of that obscure Epistle however called Canonical of Gregorius Neocaesariensis which was a little before alledged for this Discipline and also considered But roundly answer that no such

these are but this Conjectures for which he brings no Proof in founded upon the Piety of the Apostles who always imployed their utmost Power to propogate Religion amongst all Nations For we no where find that any of the Apostles required the erecting of Structures for Worship or Consecrating any for that end Nor the least Signification that without such Religion could not be propogated And the Renowned Sir H. Spelman p. 70. De non temevandis Ecclesiis having mentioned the Consecration of Churches in Constantines Time adds That the Christians being in Elder Ages in Persecution might hardly Build or Dedicate any Churches but were constrained to use Private Houses and Solitary Places for their Assemblies The Learned Mr. Robert Cook Viccar of Leeds in 's Censura quor Script shews Dionysius Works to be Counterfeit because he mentions several Things and particularly stately Temples after the manner of that at Jerusalem having their Sancta Sanctorum divided from the rest into which it was not lawful for the Monks and Lay People to enter Whereas there were no such Things in those Days saith Cook but Christians met together after the Manner of the Apostles Acts 1.13 and 12.12 and 20.8 in private and secret Places and there had their Prayers and Sermons Publick Temples they had none by reason of Tyrants I might bring in the like Attestations from our famous Jewel Article 3. p. 145. Willet's Synopsis Papismi sixth General Controversie Quest 6. With several others But I shall conclude all with the Testimony of a great Historian yet living of whose Acquaintance and Friendship I have the Honour to partake viz Dr. Spanhem the Honorary Professor at Leyden who in 's learned and useful Ecclesiastical Hist of the New Testament saith Loca Sacrorum Conventuum fuere saeculo secundo partim aedes privatorum caenacula balnea porticus cryptae loca abdita Partim caemeteria seu Sepulchreta Martyrum ad quae Conventus indicerent zelo accendendo his constantiae exemplis The Places of the Christians Meetings in the Second Century were partly Private Houses Dining Rooms Baths Galleries Vaults and secret Places Partly Burial-Places or Sepulchres of the Martyre which they appointed their Meetings for the inflaming their Zeal by those Examples of Constancy And afterwards shews the Manner of notifying their Conventions was by their Servants from House to House For as yet neither the beating of Wood nor sound of Bells or Brass or Voice of Cryers were used for this end lost their Assemblies should be known to the Heathens In the Third Century whether the Christians had any Temples or Churches Dedicated or Consecrated by Sacred and Christian Rites is saith He a Controversie amongst the Learned Pol. Virgil Durantus Baronius Bellarminus Ciaconius and Valcsius affirm it And of ours also Wower Fuller Selden and others That Churches are frequently mentioned in this Age is out of doubt At nec Temptorum illis aut Nomen aut Forma aut Splendor aut Species quaedam Aedes fuere Privatorum Domus caenacula sed plorumque caemeteria Cryptae spatiosissimae quas areas Martyrum dixere etiam latibula stabula oremi carceres agri ex Antiquis Scripporibus ox Conditione Temporum saeviente ut plurimum Persecutions Quanquam sub Al. Severo Philippis Gallieno conveniendi libertas Christianis major Hinc nulla esse Christianis Templa Quae memorantur Templa Tituli Consecrationum Ritus Sacerdotales à Baronio Ciaconio Fr. Bivario aliis ea ex Apocryphis Decretalibus ex Pontific vitis ex Flavii Dextri Chronico Supposititio id genus fontibus lutulentis hausta But they had neither the Name nor Form nor Splendor nor Shape or Kind of Temples They were the Dwellings of Private Persons Houses Dining-Rooms and for the most part Burying-places very spacious Vaults which they called the Floors of the Martyrs Also Lurking-places Stables Wildernesses Prisons Fields as from Ancient Writers and the Condition of those Times is manifest Persecution then for the most Part raging Allthough under Al. Sevetus the Philips and Gallienus greater Liberty was given for Christian Assemblies Hence we conclude the Christians yet had no Temples Those Temples Titles and Sacerdotal Rites of Consecration mentioned by Baronius Ciaconius Fr. Bivarius and others are all taken from the Apocryphal Decretals the Lives of the Popes and the Supposititious Chronicle of Flavius Dexter and such like impure Fountains Thus far that Learned Professor To draw up all in a short Conclusion We read in Eusebius of the Christians building Publick Oratories after Deeius and Valerians Days not of any built before These were by Publick Decrees commanded to be pulled down by Dioclesian and Maximus and not long after restored by Consiantine Those formerly taken from the Christians by Decius and Valerian were expressed to be Caemeteria Places of Burial in which they had their Cryptae or Vaults under-ground formerly represented So that for separate and publick Places for Worship for Two Hundred Years and more after Christs Nativity we have no Records in approved History FINIS A Catalogue of BOOKS sold by Thomas Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns in Cheap-side near Mercers-Ckappel THE Fountain of Life open'd or a Display of Christ in his Essential and Mediatorial Glory containing Forty Two Sermons on varions Texts Wherein the Impetration of our Redemption by Jesus Christ is orderly unfolded as it was begun carried on and finished by his Covenant Transaction mysterious Incarnation solemn Call and Dedication blessed Offices deep Abasement and Supereminent Advancement A Treatise of the Soul of Man wherein the Divine Original excellent and immortal Nature of the Soul are opened its Love and Inclination to the Body with the necessity of its Separation from it consider'd and Improved The Existence Operations and States of separated Souls both in Heaven and Hell immediately after Death asserted discussed and variously applied Divers knotty and difficult Questions about departed Souls both Philosophical and Theological stated and determin'd The Method of Grace in bringing home the Eternal Redemption contrived by the Father and accomplished by the Son through the Effectual Application of the Spirit unto Gods Elect being the second Part of Gospel-Redemption The Divine Conduct or Mystery of Providence its Being and Efficacy asserted and vindicated All the Methods of Providence in our Course of Life open'd with Directions how to apply and improve them Navigation spiritualiz'd or a new Compass for Seamen consisting of Thirty Two Points of pleasant Observations profitable Applications serious Reflections all concluded with so many spiritual Poems c. Two Treatises the first of Fear the second the Righteous Mans Refuge in the Evil Day A Saint indeed the great Work of a Christian A Touchstone of Sincerity or Signs of Grace and Symptoms of Hypocrisie being the second Part of the Saint indeed A Token for Mourners or boundaries for Sorrow for the Death of Friends Husbandry spiritualiz'd Or the Heavenly use of Earthly Things All these Ten by Mr. John Flavel A Funeral Sermon on the Death of that Pious Gentlewoman Mrs. Judith Hammond late Wife of the Reverend Mr. George Hammond Minister of the Gospel in London Of Thoughtfulness for the Morrow With an Appendix concerning the immoderate Desire of foreknowing Things to come Of Charity in Reference to other Mens Sins The Redeemer's Tears wept over lost Souls in a Treatise on Luke 19.41 42. With an Appendix wherein somewhat is occasionally Discoursed concerning the Sin against the Holy Ghost and how God is said to Will the Salvation of them that Perish A Sermon directing what we are to do after a strict Enquiry whether or no we truly Love God These Five by Mr. John Howe