Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	ancient_a	church_n	faith_n	1,854	5	5.2308	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A33215	A paraphrase with notes upon the sixth chapter of St. John with a discourse on humanity and charity / by W. Claget.	Clagett, William, 1646-1688.	1693 (1693)	Wing C4389; ESTC R24224	72,589	201

but produce this Text for themselves against our Usage and Doctrine saying That if our Lord had not treated of receiving the Sacrament in these words he would not have distinguished between eating and drinking least of all between eating the Flesh and drinking the Blood but since he so accurately distinguisheth between these things he insinuates his Discourse to be concerning the reception of the Eucharist c. But says the Cardinal these things are easily thrown off by observing that in this very Chapter Jesus said not long before He that cometh to me shall never hunger and he that believeth in me shall never thirst For in these words which 't is plain do not belong to the Sacrament of the Eucharist our Lord plainly distinguishes Hunger from Thirst which is equivalent to his distinction between eating and drinking For Hunger refers to eating and Thirst to drinking Therefore from the distinction between eating and drinking no solid Argument can be drawn to infer the Discourse to be of the Sacrament of the Eucharist In like manner the distinction between Flesh and Blood availeth nothing to their purpose but rather against them because the Flesh is not distinguished from the Blood after any sort but only as they are separated as Meat from Drink But 't is evident that the real separation of the Flesh and Blood of Christ in the Sacrament is represented only But in the Death of Christ it was actual and according to the thing it self And if it be urged that the Flesh and the Blood are here discoursed of under the Notion of Meat and Drink and not according to what they were in their own Nature and that for this reason the Discourse runs upon the Flesh in the Sacrament and the Blood in the Sacrament separated one from another The Answer to this is afforded by what has been already said viz. that our Lord had spoken of himself before as of one that takes away Hunger and of one that takes away Thirst and yet 't is not also inferred from hence that he spake of himself as under that species of the Sacrament whereby he takes away Hunger and that species of the Sacrament whereby he takes away Thirst For he discourses of the Flesh and Blood † Partibus mortis suae which are parted at his Death as they are to be embraced by the Mind being the Meat and Drink of the Soul Because unless our Spirit be sustained by the Death of Christ as by Meat and be delighted with it as with Drink there is not the Life of the Spirit in us And now Sir having given you so large an Account of this great Man's Opinion in his own Words I shall content my self to say in general that if it were needful others might be produced for the same even Popes Cardinals Bishops and Doctors who as far as I can discern were for number as well as quality not inferiour to those who maintained the contrary side before the Council of Trent Nay that Council it self would have better informed those that told you the Church has still understood this part of the Chapter as treating of the Eucharist There were warm Discourses in the Congregation between the Divines concerning the Interpretation of these Passages But at last it was concluded neither to affirm or deny them to be meant of the Eucharist but it was agreed however to deny that the necessity of communicating in both kinds could be inferred supposing that the Eucharist was meant that is to say it was carried by the Majority And to gratifie those that thought it was not meant it was to be acknowledged that they had Fathers and Doctors of their Opinion For the Matter all things considered was accommodated as well as it could be in these words (u) Sed neque ex Sermone illo apud Jo●nnem sexto recte coligitur utriusque spe●●i communionem à Domino Praecepram esse ●●cunque juxta varias sanctorum Patrum Doctorum Interpretationes inteliigatur Conc. Trid. Sess 21. cap. 1. Nor from that Discourse in the 6th of St. John is it rightly gathered that the Communion of both kinds was enjoined by our Lord however that Discourse be understood according to the various Interpretations of the Holy Fathers and Doctors I doubt I have said more than enough upon your short intimation of that Pretence that the Church has always interpreted these places of the Eucharist But I hope you will make this construction of it that I am one of those who bear a due regard to the Authority and Tradition of the Universal Church as I believe you to be another For which Reason I thought it more needful to remove so great a Prejudice out of your way as the belief of the foresaid Insinuation would have been And I am confident you now see that in maintaining the Eucharist not to be intended by our Saviour in any part of this Chapter any more than other parts of Christianity I am not obliged to encounter the Authority of All the Ancients or of the whole Church nay that in this matter I do not so much as entrench upon the Authority of the Council of Trent it self Indeed that Council would have me to believe that not one of the various Interpretations of the Fathers and Doctors makes against the Communion in one kind But I hope I may be excused if I can believe that which several Men of high Rank in their own Church were not able to believe And as for that Doctrine that Christ is properly eaten in the Eucharist I ought to be excused too if I can by no means believe it or else those Fathers must be condemned who believed the Capernaites to be a perverse sort of Men for turning our Saviour's words in this Chapter to so inhumane and absurd a sense as if he had exhorted them to eat a Man's Flesh according to the propriety of those words For no Man can say that this is either inhumane or absurd who believes the Doctrine of Transubstantiation and that Christ is properly eaten in the Eucharist So that for what I can see this Chapter of St. John instead of affording a solid Argument for that Conclusion when it comes to be well considered upon the Grounds of Reason and Authority does at last yield a Terrible Objection against it I have thought of all these Things with the liberty of one that loves Truth not without due regard to the Ancient Doctors of the Church Our common Master hath taught me to call no man Master upon Earth yet I never refused the help of his Ministers to guide me into the knowledge of this Truth And since I have been able to use that help I have still valued in the first place that assistance which is offered me from the Primitive Bishops and Fathers And this Liberty I have been encouraged to use in the Church of England not only for judging of Points which she has not determined but those also which she has

he shall need no other means of obtaining Everlasting Life than to become my Disciple 36. Do not think that I take that for granted which I ought to prove for you have already seen enough to convince you that I speak the Truth But as I told you before ver 26. Signs and Miracles will not work true Faith in you so long as you follow me for Temporal Benefits and have not learned to prefer Spiritual good Things and everlasting Life above Meat and Drink and all the Enjoyments of this World whatsoever V. 36. These Persons of whom our Lord said that they believed not were those very Men who the day before having seen the Miracle which he did said This is of a truth that Prophet that should come into the World Whereby it should seem that then they believed but that their Minds were now changed tho' upon no other reason than that they now perceived his great Design was to feed their Minds with good Doctrine and not to pamper their Bodies Which is a plain Instance how great an hindrance worldly-mindedness is to True Faith since in this Case the same Evidence which convinced these Men while they took our Saviour to be a Benefactor to their Bodies had lost all its force with them when they once perceived that his great Business was to save their Souls Some also of our Lord's Disciples were of this Disposition and it had the same effect upon them as you may see v. 64. 37. So that the reason why you believe me not is because you are not prepared by a good and honest Heart to receive the Truth And now I tell you that the Father who would have all to be saved does not expect that I should give a good account of any other Persons but such as are of a towardly and teachable Disposition These he hath committed to my special care and they will learn of me and not one of them shall want means requisite for his Conviction and Instruction But though I came to save the World v. 51. I am not bound to bring those to Faith and to Salvation that obstinately set themselves against all that Evidence which is sufficient for honest Minds V. 37. It seems very reasonable to interpret these Phrases of the Fathers giving some to Christ and drawing them by what our Lord said v. 26. that these Men followed him because they did eat of the Loaves i. e. not from a sincere desire of learning the Truth and attaining Eternal Life but for worldly Ends For on the one side the Lusts of these Men were the cause of their Unbelief on the other side our Saviour says that all who are given and drawn by the Father would believe and become his Disciples and none else Therefore the Father gives those only to Christ who are prepared by an honest Heart and willingness to learn The Phrase is an Allusion to what is often seen amongst us i. e. to a Man's committing the Care of educating a hopeful and promising Child to a wise and skilful Master with the expectation of having a good account of him at last Not but that these Expressions also imply the preparations of the Heart to be from the Lord Neither does this hinder but that our Lord must be understood to have done what was fit to prepare those whom he found so averse as these Men were See Notes on v. 45. But the meaning is that if Men obstinately persisted in their sensual and worldly Prejudices against the Truth God hath provided no Remedy for such Men. And therefore as St. Chrysostome shews we must not argue in this manner If every one whom the Father draweth or giveth cometh to Christ and none else then those whom the Father giveth not are discharged of all Fault and cannot justly be accused For says he these are vain words and meer pretences since the free Choice of our own Wills must go to the effecting of this Matter For to be taught and to believe depends much upon our own chusing 38. For in this matter as well as in all others I do what is as much the Fathers Will as my own And I came from Heaven to do it and cannot depart from it Observe therefore what I say 39. It was his pleasure to commit to my care all Persons of honest and well-disposed Minds that not one of them should be lost but that I should do all things which would bring them to Faith and Repentance and should take care of their Salvation from the First to the Last even till I shall raise them from the Dead at the last Day V. 39. Although the Wicked shall be raised up at the last day by the Power of Jesus as well as the Just yet when the Resurrection is simply mentioned it is commonly understood of the Resurrection to eternal Life i. e. the Resurrection of the Just And by speaking of this Resurrection at the last Day our Lord did now put them out of doubt that he meant not to pamper their Bodies and to take care for their Pleasures in this Life but that he spake to them of a better Life after this and the means of attaining it 40. For it was his Decree also that every one who seeing the Works that I do v. 36. and attentively considering the Evidence whereby it appears that I came from God does thereupon believe and follow my Doctrine that he I say should have everlasting Life and that I should for that end raise him up at the last Day Now as my Father doth not expect that I should save any but those that believe and obey the Gospel so neither doth he expect that I should bring any to Faith but those that are of teachable Dispositions But if Men obstinately set themselves to oppose all means of Conviction and Reformation it was no part of the Trust committed to me by the Father to reclaim them notwithstanding their incorrigibleness V. 40. To see Jesus signifies the same that it does v. 36. i. e. seeing his Miracles and all other Testimones of a Divine Authority that were discernable in him Only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seems to note an attentive consideration of them which is proper to ingenuous and honest Men and will certainly produce Faith Whereas 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 v. 36. may signifie that careless and superficial sight of his Works proper to those Men in whom Prejudice so prevailed that they saw and yet believed not Now that our Saviour does here and elsewhere repeat his Doctrine concerning that inward Work of God viz. an honest and godly Disposition is an Argument that he laid great stress upon it and that indeed this was the main thing they were to take pains with themselves about For the outward Evidence was given them whether they would or not but the inward Preparation without which the outward Evidence would do them no good at all must in some part be their own Work as well as God's which was plain from