Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	holy_a	john_n	word_n	6,977	5	4.1585	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A79926	A sermon preach'd at St. Michan's Church in Dublin, February the 23d, 1700. Upon receiving into the communion of the Church of England, the Honble Sir Terence Mac-mahon, Knt & Barnet and Christopher Dunn, converts from the Church of Rome. : Wherein is an account also of a late controversie, betwixt the author and some Romanists. / By John Clayton, Præbendary of St. Michan's.	Clayton, John, 1657-1725.	1700 (1700)	Wing C4609A; ESTC R37725	14,592	24

A SERMON PREACH'D At St. Michan's Church in Dublin February the 23d 1700. Upon Receiving into the Communion of the Church of England The honble Sir Terence Mac-mahon K nt Bar net and Christopher Dunn CONVERTS From the CHURCH of ROME Wherein is an Account also of a late Controversie betwixt the Author and some Romanists By Iohn Clayton Praebendary of St. Michan's DUBLIN Printed by Joseph Ray and are to be Sold at his Shop in Skinner-Row over against the Tholsel To His GRACE NARCISSUS Lord ARCH-BISHOP OF DUBLIN MY LORD I Presume to Dedicate This to Your Grace upon many Accounts As having received my First Education at the University of Oxford under Your Lordship's Care and am now again Happy in having Your Grace for my Metrapolitan It was Your Lordship that did me the Singular Honour to recommend Sir Terence Mac-mahon to my Instruction when my Lord Inchiquin brought him to Your Grace And it is Your Lordship's Great Learning that can best Protect Aid and Assist Me and Secure the Cause that it Suffer not through my Defects and Infirmities if any Subtile Adversary should Assail me This is Printed at the Request of several Persons of Quality and Others that were my Auditors and perswade me that it may be Useful to the Publick and therefore having after all Your Lordship's Approbation I could not deny to gratifie Them when thereby also I might make an open acknowledgement of Your Graces Great and Manifold Favours Who am Your Graces Most Humble and Devoted Servant John Clayton A SERMON On Matth. XVI Vers xviii And I say unto Thee that Thou art Peter and upon this Rock I will baild my Church And the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it I Having this Day Receiv'd into Our Church Two Persons Converts from the Roman Communion wherein they were Brought up The Occasion seems to require and claim a Discourse that has some Reference thereto And I do not doubt but that it is expected from all here that I should expose some of the Errors and Falsehoods of the Romish Doctrine To shew how reasonable this their Renunciation is and both to confirm them and others in the true Faith But it may be fruitless and in vain to offer Rational Arguments on this Head till one main Point be Establish'd As Whether we are to be guided by Scripture and confirm'd by the Practices of the most Primitive Christians and be govern'd by clear Arguments of Reason deduced from thence or no For if I must give up my Religion and Reason absolutely and intirely to the Church of Rome simply to be govern'd in Matters of Faith and Fundamental Doctrines according to their Pleasure and Directions * This is a common Preface to the Decre●s of the Councel of Trent Sacrosancta Oecumenica generalis Tridentina ●ynodus in Spiritu Sancto ligitime congregata And then some of them end thus Quap●opter cunctis Christi fide●ibus interd●cit ne post hac de ijs aliter vel credere vel docere vel predicare audeant quam est his Drecetis explicatum atque definitum vid. Concil Trent Sess 13. C. 1. Sess 21. C. 1. c. Upon this Principle That that Church is Infallible and cannot Err. It is such a Subterfuge for Error and Ignorance as stops all Controversie and invalidates all Proofs and the clearest Conviction of Reason This therefore I take to be one of the most material and leading Points and that which ought to be first discussed This is as the main Fortification that surrounds their whole Camp and if I can break in upon them and force this Intrenchment the rest will be an easie Conquest when we are got once within them and come to a fair Engagement having cut off their common Retreat and Coverture Indeed the Affirmative being on their part the Proof lies on their side which should be clearly fully and infallibly Demonstrated by them otherwise it is the most precarious Principle of all others being only establish'd on its own Authority And according to their Tenents it cannot be built on any other For if this be the only Infallible Guide and all other things Fallible unless we allow the Authority of its own Assertion it can have no other then a fallible Proof and Testimony and it follows then that they may be deceived and mistaken and that their Church may not be Infallible unless it demonstrate its own veracity by a continued series of Infallible Truths And upon this score it is that the Controversy enters betwixt us about the Certainty or Incertainty of this Infallibility Which it is requisite to examine by such matters of Fact as may give the fullest demonstration thereof that the nature of the thing will admit And yet before we come to this part they commonly take us up with several delusive Arguments and spend time about some Expressions that have a surprising Sound as if they favour'd their Assertion but when they come to the Test have no reference to any such matter We allow and hold the Scriptures to be the undoubted Word of GOD and therefore an Infallible Word of Truth If therefore they can prove by Scripture an Infallibility conferr'd on their Church it is a sufficient Refutation as to us nor would I Cavil about the various Contradictions it meets with in the rest of their Principles For I am fairly for the Truth and would have all Trifling laid aside And hereupon then as to this point I dare Engage the whole Body of their Clergy and of all the Roman Party They use then Three sorts of Arguments brought from Scripture to prove their Infallibility Either from such Words as are here contained in my Text that refer as they call it to the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven being conferr'd in particular on St. Peter and so on his Successors in the Church of Rome Or from Words more generally spoken as Matthew 28. 20. And Lo I am with you always even unto the End of the World So John 14. 26. But the Comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my Name he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you And John 16. 13. When the Spirit of Truth is come he will guide you into all Truth And so likewise the last Words of my Text singly and by themselves apply'd are brought to Chime in amongst the rest And the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it Or Thirdly from a parity of Reason betwixt theirs and the Jewish Church * This Argument the Papist Misrepresented and Represented makes use of and ●o do most of their Authors Belarmine urges he●eupon Exod. 28 Jubet Dominus in Rationali Pontificis summi pom Doctrinam veritatem D●ute●on 17. Qui indicabunt tibi judicij veritatem Bel. De. Romano Pont. L. 4. C. 3. which they say was Infallible and would prove it from Matth. 23. 2. Where say they for

St. Paul found him in a great Error when he met him at Antioch and withstood him Gal. 2. 11. to the face because he was to be blamed And indeed he was so great an indulger of that Error and Faction which the Grand Apostolick Council was called to Reform and Correct that he may be said to be one of the Principle Ring-leaders thereof till God shew'd him a particular Vision to reveal to him his Error a little before that Council was held It is certain they have been much at a loss where to fix this Infallibility and therefore have invented these several Positions to place it sometimes in the Pope sometimes in the Council sometimes in the Pope and Council all which I think I have proved absolutely False and that this Uncertainty is because it is really no where So that the Doctrine of Infallibility instead of being so advantagious to their Church as they pretend is the greatest distracting Principle imaginable it is the Mother of Error a Cloak for Ignorance an Abuse and Cheat and only an Artificial Contrivance to deceive and captivate silly poor Souls and never was started thought on contrived or heard of in the World for above a Thousand Years after Christ's time This was the Purport of what I gave in Writing and it was shew'd as I understand to several of the Roman Clergy in this Kingdom And all the Answer that I got in some Months time was That they were the Crabbedest or Knottiest Instances could have been pitch'd on and that they had not the conveniency of Books to Answer them It was then sent for England as I was inform'd and after a long time came a most tedious Answer which I could never get a Copy of I had indeed the Perusal of it and made Answer it would be too great an Avocation for me that have so great a Cure to reply to every thing I thought Faulty therein and would too much distract the Dispute that the Conclusion would not be so evident But If they would pitch upon any one Instance that would clearly decide the Controversie I would be bound to be Determined thereby thereupon the first Instance was chosen that I was urged to make a Reply to that about Vigilius The Answer owned That there was such a Council or Assembly and according a Constitution or Decree Extant made by them and Vigilius which contain'd Erroneous Doctrines in points of Faith but said this was made when Vigilius was a Pseudo-Pope And gave an Historical Account of Vigilius out of Platina or some of their Authors telling how Vile a Person Vigilius was at first and laid on him a load of Infamy telling by what corrupt Dealings and by what profane Interest in the Empress Theodora he Usurp'd the Seat of Pope Sylverius and got to be Pope during whose Life-time he was therefore a Pseudo or false Pope and it was then that he made this Decree I shall make no Reply to this Obloquie being therein they only vomit forth their own Shame But says the Answer after Sylverius ' s Death the Spirit of God came upon him he immediately receded from his former Election till he was chosen again and then became a true Pope and a Holy Father of the Church This I suppose was added to insinuate what a Divine Inspiration of Infallibility there is at the time of their Accession to the Chair when they are duely and regularly made Popes But to be short and come to the stress of the Point in Debate which was laid herein Whether this Constitution was made before Sylverius ' s Death or no That is Whether it was made whilst Vigilius was a false or a true Pope It is a plain single Point and I will venture the whole upon it For If I do not prove that this Council was call'd and held and the Decree made several Years after Sylverius ' s Death I 'le turn Papist if my Adversary will but as fairly engage to turn Protestant if I prove it very fully * Datum pridie Idus Maij imperante Domino nostro J●stiniano perpetuo Augusto Anno 27. post Consulatum Viri clarissimi Anno 12. in Constantinopolitana Civitate The Date then of this Decree runs thus Constituted the 14th Day of May in the 27th Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord the Emperor Justinian and in the 12th Year after the Consulatship of that Renowned Man Basilius in the City of Constantinople This is Extant at the end of the Decree in the Paris Edition of the Councils at large èTypographia Regia 1644. But Binnius and some others have purposely as I suppose omitted the Date and Subscriptions though they have all the rest of the Decree at large yet at the beginning he has in the Margent set a Note that Baronius has placed this in the 553 d. Year of our Redemption 13 Years after Sylverius's Death Observe then here is a double date one that it was the 27th Year of Justinians Reign the other the 12th Year after Basilius Consulatship and what is further remarkable that I would have you Note that Basilius was the last Consul and so the Ephoca or manner of dating is altered the Year after Basilius was Consul for whereas before they Dated things from such a Year of the Emperors Reign and when such and such Persons were Consuls They then changed the method of Dating to such a certain Year after Basilius was Consul all which clearly denotes there could be no accidental mistake in the Date Let us now see then what Year Sylverius Died and for this I take their own great Author † Jesu Christi Annus 540. Vigilij Pap. Annus 1. Justiniani Imp. 14. Vitigis Reg. 4. Qui sequitur Annus Quadragessimus supra quingentessimum ascriptus fastis reperitur consulatu solius Justini tu addas Collegam Paulinum Juniorem dictum Quo Anno Sylverius Papa in Insula Palmaria releg●tus confectus aerumnis consumptusque inedia diem tandem clausit extremum Duodecimo Kalenda● Julij Quod autem aliqui nec duos Annos cjus sedi concedunt inde id evenisse liquet quod absurde admodum numerent ejus sedis tempususque ad Vigilij intrusionem tantum cum ipse Sylverius e sede expulsus est at vero usque ad consummatum Martyrium semper ipsum legitimum perseverasse Pontificem Baroni Antv●rpiae ex officina Plantiniana 1603. Tom. 7. Baronius And he places the Death of Vigilius in the 14th Year of the Emperor Justinians Reign and in the Consulatship of Justinus and Paulinus who were immediate Consuls before Basilius So then Sylverius Dying the 14th Year of Justinian and the Date of the Constitution being the 27th Year of Justinian it is plain Vigilius if ever was a true Pope and had been so 13 Years and so also by the other Date For Justinus and Paulinus being Consuls the Year before Basilius and the Date of the Constitution being the 12th Year after Basilius was Consul in like manner confirms that it was 13 Years after Vigilius was a Right Pope Nothing in the World can be more plain and positive and though I have deliver'd this in Writing above Half a Year since I hear nothing in return and therefore I shall not add any thing more hereto for if I would have Enlarged I could have shown that the greatest Share of that Story about Vigilius and the Empress is a late Invention of their Authors and Historians purposely contrived to conceal and cloak this matter Now Mortal Men have such Imperfect Reason that they may be liable to Mistakes for so only GOD is True but every Man a Liar that is they are subject to Error And therefore I do not contemn or hate any Man on that Account if I could but think he had Candor and a good Conscience that he were sincere and honest in his Principle But when Men plainly see they are in an Error to have them forge Untruths for Religion's sake to coyn New Histories forge New Inventions to deceive themselves and others it is such a Pia Fraus or Religious Cheat as is most Impious and Abominable What a strange Current there is in Men's Natures to Vice that Men should ever think to serve God with Falshood and Forgeries and be begotted to Principles that they themselves Invent for no other end but to enslave themselves with all such is an unhappy Zeal Whereas to contend for the Truth with Candor and Honesty to be Zealously affected for Righteousness with Simplicity and Singleness of Heart is true Piety and Zeal as well as hearty Religion For God loves a Tenderness of Conscience as well as a Flaming Affection but the Conjunction of one with the other makes the Blessed Temper of a Christian Let us therefore shew forth our Faith by our Works for such are the most prevalent Arguments for the greatest part cannot but be under jealous Apprehensions that we have the Truth on our sides if we had but the Testimony of good Works to Illustrate our Profession Let us therefore with Holy Lives with the confounding Evidence of Moral Principles as well as of an Orthodox Faith endeavour to Convert and Gain many more Proselites For thus God may perhaps make us the Blessed Instruments of turning many to Righteousness and to the acknowledgment of the Truth So as that they may recover themselves out of the Snare of the Devil and though we should fail of preserving theirs we may be sure to save our own Souls But Turn Thou them O Good Lord and then will they be Turned Be favourable be favourable O Lord to that People out of Thy Great and Tender Mercy For Thou art full of Compassion Long-Suffering and of great Pity nor wouldst the Death of a Sinner but rather that he should be Converted and Live Have Mercy therefore upon all Jews Turks Infidels and Hereticks and take from them all Ignorance hardness of Heart and contempt of Thy Word and so bring them home to Thy Flock that they may be saved amongst the Remnant of the true Israelites and be made one Fold under one Shepherd Jesus Christ our Lord who Liveth and Reigneth with Thee and the Holy Spirit one God World without End Amen FINIS