Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	apostle_n	church_n	pillar_n	3,742	5	10.1590	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A07781	A notable treatise of the church in vvhich are handled all the principall questions, that haue bene moued in our time concerning that matter. By Philip of Mornay, Lord of Plessis Marlyn, gentleman of Fraunce. And translated out of French into English by Io. Feilde.; Traicté de l'église. English	Mornay, Philippe de, seigneur du Plessis-Marly, 1549-1623.; Fielde, John, d. 1588.	1579 (1579)	STC 18159; ESTC S107520	167,479	400

both the name the person the which our text plainely sheweth vs the which he would neuer haue done if it ought to haue bene vnderstoode of Peter not of the confession of Peter Againe I leaue it to the iudgement of euery Christiā whether it be more agreeable to the faith more healthful for the Church either that the Church be founded vpon Christ or vpon Peter vpon the Sonne of the liuing God whom Peter cōfessed or vpon Peter who a litle while after denyed the sonne of the liuing God vpon him that vanquished Satan or vpon him whom Christ himselfe in the very same Chapter calleth Satan himselfe vpon him who is called the chiefe corner stone of the building or vpon him who was an offēce vnto him that is to say a stone of great stumbling None sayth S. Paul can laye any other foundation but that which is layde which is Christ Also S. Peter saith You are as liuing stones built vpon the chiefe corner stone in whom whosoeuer beleeueth he shal not be confounded that is to saye in that confession of Christ which he called the rocke and foundation of his Church It appeareth then by this place that Christ hath builded it vpon himselfe not vpon Simon Peter and vpon the confession of fayth which Peter made and not vpon the fayth of Peter which was too much wauering and vnstedfast And in very deede where Saint Iohn recyteth this story he resteth wholly vpon Peters confession But to the ende they abuse not the people vnder the visard of antiquitie we must see what the auncient Doctors haue taught vpon this place Chrysostome vpon Saynt Matthewe Vpon this stone that is to saye vpon the fayth of this confession Also he hath sette our feete vpon the rocke that is to saye vpon fayth For fayth in Christe by good right is called a rocke that cannot be broken and therefore when Saint Peter had confessed Thou art Christ the sonne of the liuing God Christ added Thou art Peter vpon this rocke that is to say vpon this fayth which thou hast cōfessed c. Saint Ambrose Iesus Christ hath sayd vnto Peter and vpon this rocke c. that is to say vpon the confessiō of the Catholike faith I will establish the faythfull vnto euerlasting life Saynt Augustine Peter was founded vpon the rocke to the ende he should suffer death for the loue of him whom through feare he had thrise denyed Also the Church likewise is founded vpon the rocke whereof also Peter had his name For a rocke or stone commeth not of Peter but rather Peter of the rocke as Christian commeth of Christ and not Christ of Christian And because Peter had sayde Thou art Christ c. Our Sauiour added vpon this rocke which thou hast confessed will I build my Church Christ then is the rocke vpon which S. Peter himselfe was founded builded For none can lay any other foundatiō then that which is already layd to wit Christ Againe he wil not say vpō this Peter I wil build my Church but vpon this faith vpon that which he had saide Thou art Christ the sonne of the liuing God c. Here vpon this rocke saith he I wil found my Church Also Vpon this rocke which thou hast cōfessed vpō this stone which thou hast acknowledged wil I build my church I wil build my Church vpō me not vpō thee but thee vpō me The mē that will build vpō men they wil say I hold of Cephas that is to say of Peter of Paul and of Apollo but they who wil not be builded vpon Peter but vpon the rocke they wil say I holde of Christ This is the interpretatiō of S. Augustine repeated in many places of his bookes of the citie of God euery where where he handleth this matter Saint Hierome vpon this place By the rocke we vnderstande Christe whom Peter confessed For if we take Peter for a stone of the foundation all the Apostles shall be alike according to that which we see in the Apocalypse And this is the verie opinion of Cardinall Cusan in his booke of the Catholike Concorde presented to the counsell of Constance who proueth it euen by the Canon lawe it selfe and maintaineth it against the Pope Saint Bernard The rocke is in heauen In the same is stedfastnesse and assurance And in deede where else can it be but in our Sauiour The world roareth the flesh oppresseth me the world doggeth and hangeth vpon me and yet for all this I fall not for I am founded vpon a sure rocke To be short let them reade their owne common glose Super hanc Petram vpon this rocke that is to say vpon Christ in whom thou beleeuest and the interlineall glose Thou art Peter but frō me which am the rocke and alwaies in such sort as I reserue to my selfe the dignitie of the foundation of the Church Beholde then that by the interpretation of the auncient fathers none neede to dashe against this stone Nowe if our aduersaries reply that some of the auncient fathers interpret it as they doe and namely Saint Augustine in some place I aunswere that if a man reade those places he shall finde that it was but by the way and as it were in handlying another thing And in deede Saint Augustine in his booke of retractations hath retracted it in these wordes It fell out that I sayd in a certaine place that in the Apostle Saint Peter the Church was buyled as vpon a rocke but for the most part I haue expounded it of him whome Peter confessed I was abused by an Hymne of Saint Ambrose common ynough where he saith that at the crowing of the Cocke the rocke wept This is a Poeticall maner of speaking and therefore Christ saide not vnto hym Tu es Petra but Tu es Petrus For the rocke is Christe whome Simon had confessed Besides he is so farre of from taking Peter for the foundation of the Church that in another place he sayeth that Iames Peter and Iohn seemed to be the pillars of the Church but that in trueth they were not And Saint Hierome sayth that the Apostles are pillars of the Church principally Peter Iames and Iohn but that all they which ouercome the Deuill by fayth may be so aswell as they But here they run to their ordinary distinction That it is certayne that Christ is the essentiall head of the Church but yet that Peter is the Ministeriall head that is to say that he is likewise called so by reason of his ministerie But we demaunde in what place either of the Scriptures or of the fathers them selues they finde this And we haue alreadie proued that there can be had no ministeriall head which is the selfe same thing But againe let them answere vs whether Peter had any other Ministerie besides his Apostleshippe If he had any other let them take it and shewe

dwell there for euer And therefore the priests had no other answere to all the Propheres that reproued them but this The Temple the Temple the Temple of the Lorde But see what the Lorde him selfe answereth vnto them Goe saith he see Shiloh I haue chosen it from the beginning for my house Now see what I haue done vnto it for the wickednes of my people I wil do euen so to the place which I haue giuen vnto you and to your fathers But if you will that I dwell there amende your wayes turne from your euil deedes Nowe if he haue forsaken his owne temple for the iniquitie of the priests besides which he had none erected in the whole world must we tye our selues to the Church of Rome or to any other place seeing that al the Elimates of the world are equally his temple Concerning the succession of persons that is no lesse friuolous then the other In all estates cōmō weales there is one perpetual sequele of magistrates either by succession or by election Nowe if there be any questiō of reforming the estate according to the lawes there is no way so ill as to vse these argumentes I am a magistrate as was my predecessour or from the father to the sonne ergo the cōmon wealth hath not to make any reformation None euer douted but that Nero was a tyrant although he was descended from Augustus neither would any man affirme that Commodus was a good prince although Marcus Aurelius was his father In like maner euery one will accord that Manasses defiled the church violated al iustice albeit he was the sonne of good Ezechias and Iosias he reformed the Church the lawes who was the sonne of Manasses himself And the ciuil lawiers themselues which make two sorts of tyrantes the one sort without title the other of exercise that is one sort vniust vsurpers the other vniust gouernors so we also make two kinds of Popes playing the tyrantes ouer the Church one sort which they call intruders which are thrust in there vnlawfully the other abusers abusing their authoritie shewing thereby that that which may fall out in the successiō of magistrates in the common wealth may also fall out in the succession of prelates in the Church Furthermore if euer any might alledge the succession of pastors they were the Iewes for they were of the house of Aaron from the father to the sonne besides them none might sacrifice Moreouer to them it was promised that they shoulde so continue for euer And hereof it was that when the Prophets exhorted them to reformation they had no other thing in their mouth The lawe shall not perish from the Priest nor the councell from the wise nor the worde from the Prophete But the spirite of the Lorde aunswered them Say not We are wise the lawe of the Lord is with vs For it is in vaine that the pen is made and that there is a scribe The wisemen are confounded And seeing that they haue reiected the worde of the Lord what shal be their wisedome any more Likewise when they boasted to Iesus Christ that they were the seede of Abraham I knowe it well saith he but the deuil is your father And in very deede this successiue hereditarie wisedome crucified Christ and reiected it saluation as also this selfe same successiō but yet only pretended worshippeth Antichrist ētertaineth it own perdition Moreouer I demaund what these alledgers of succession would haue aunswered to the Samositans Nestorians Arrians c. who had their beginning cōtinued from the first Bishops euen to thēselues namely frō Nestorius Samosatenus both which were lawfully called to the patriarchal churches the one to Constantinople the other to Antioche Also what wil they answere to the succession alledged by all the Greeke East Churches to be short to the reformed churches of Englād Denmark Swethen a great part of Almaigne c. through all which there is at this daye this succession from Bishop to Bishop frō pastor to pastor If they will alledge the Popes supremacie a man may deny it them this is another question If simply succession then they haue lost their cause If that doctrine thē we gaine this point that the simple succession of persons without the succession of doctrine is nothing worth They alledge that the auncient Doctors haue vsed this argument we deny it not But they must marke therein eyther that this was against heretikes that denyed the holy scriptures or else there was alwayes adioyning the successiō of doctrine S. Augustine enferreth it against the Manichees but they reiected the greatest part of the scriptures and manifestly the booke of the Actes of the Apostles to the end to deny the descending of the holy Ghoste and to establish Manichee in his place He alledged also vnto them miracles antiquitie c. but he addeth immediatly after You on your part alledge nothing like but onely you holde a promise of the trueth amongst you notwithstanding if you could euidently proue it I suppose it ought to be preferred before succession antiquitie miracles and al things else This is as we dispute against thē that denye the scriptures by probable reasons by authorities of prophane bookes albeit we hold them not for rules of the trueth Against the Donatists Arrians Pelagians others who accept the scriptures he disputeth by the scriptures In a certaine place he alledgeth amongst other things the succession of 39. Bishops of Rome but this was with this caueat In al this company there was not one Donatist that is there was not one that helde any such doctrine as you do Irenee sayth that they are not alwaies true priests which seeme so to be but they which keepe the doctrine of the Apostles Tertullian presseth the heretikes of his time who for the most part denyed the Scriptures to shewe that their predecessours were the Apostles or the Apostles schollers but by and by afterwards he requireth consanguinitatem doctrinae the consanguinitie or kinred of doctrine preferreth it before all succession that is to say that they onely were not the sonnes of the Apostles but also their doctrines were the daughters of the Apostolical doctrine Chrysostome sayth that the pulpit maketh not a priest but a priest the pulpit To be short a man shal not finde any which hath spoken in any other sense And nowe seeing that none can transferre that to his successour which of right doth not belong vnto him that S. Paul hath forbidden vs to heare the Apostles the Angels themselues preaching any other Gospel then his owne doth it not followe that the successors of the Apostles are reiected if they preache otherwise It followeth then that the succession neither of place nor of persons is any thing worth but onely the succession of doctrine which we haue sayd before to be the true infallible marke of

that we shoulde not knowe it And yet in meane time the counsel of Hierusalem condemned crucified the Messiah for a deceiuer the great Rabbies and Masters with an infinit nomber of the people a little while after followed that same miserable Barcosba to ruine destruction and acknowledged him for the true Messiah To the end saith our sauiour that the worde of Isai the Prophet might be fulfilled Who hath beleeued our word and to whom hath thine arme bene manifested They haue eyes but they see not They haue eares but they vnderstand not The Lorde hath blynded their eyes and hardened their heart c. And nowe I say vnto you that the selfe same is come vpon you vpon you I say who boast of the name of the Church in the knowledge of Antichrist For he is come with all the signes wonders that the spirite of God hath foreshewed vnto vs in the same place at the same time by the same way in the same apparell There is nothing that doth not agree vnto him neyther that can agree to any other but to him In meane time the Church that is to say the Romane clergie haue receiued him for their Spouse The Council of Trent haue declared him to be God in earth excommunicating al those that wil not cleaue vnto him and the princes of the earth haue lent him their armes to persecute and to murther those who woulde make him knowen to the worlde And wherfore Because this word of God must be fulfilled which he hath spoken by the mouth of his Apostles He shall sit in the Temple of God boasting himselfe as if he were god He shal make drūk al the kings of the earth He shall abuse deceiue all the world because they haue not loued the truth God shal giue thē vp into a strong illusion to the end they may beleeue lies And euen lyke as the Coūcil of Hierusalē cōdemned Christ so the Coūcil of Trent haue approued Antichrist The clergie crucified saluation it selfe the clergie hath adored their perdition The great doctors of the lawe were therein blynd because Christ shewed them a spiritual kingdome in steade of the temporall that they waited for And the prelates of the Romish Church haue taken pleasure to shutte their eyes because Antichrist hath brought them a temporall kingdome wherein they intend to dwel But notwithstanding death the crosse and the conspiracies of all the worlde the spirituall kingdome of Christ was victorious ouer all the kingdomes of the earth And notwithstanding the temporall kingdome of Antichrist all his adorations and conspiracies of al the kings princes of this world which labour to vphold him it must needs be that he be destroyed by the breath of Christ his mouth and that he fall and vtterly perish They demaunde hereupon What then became of our fathers after so long time that this tyrannie of Antichrist came into the Church Of the great Rabbies and masters who aske this question I aske them what they haue done therein of them I say who had their soules in keeping and who had taken charge and who knew wel howe to heape vp great riches to builde them gaye houses I aske also againe of them what became of the poore people of all the East Churches who were farre greater then the Latines whom the Pope by his excommunications sent to hell by whole millions for the space of sixe or 700 yeeres after that To be short I may send thē to that which our Sauiour sayth that when the Sonne of man shall come to destroye Antichrist by the Spirite of his mouth it shall be as the dayes of Noah or of Lot in Sodom that there shal be no more neither fayth nor loue in the worlde But to the poore people who haue bene deceiued by Antichrist and his mayntayners I aunswere after another sorte First that this false doctrine of Antichrist came not in all at once but encreased by little and little till it grewe to his full measure and heape so as it was not so deadly in the beginning as towardes the ende thereof when it came to his strength But when it was most strong and in the greatest ruffe God alwayes reserued many in al coūtries which mourned vnder his tyrannie yea and some also that cryed out as loude as they coulde by theyr wrytynges as we haue already shewed And in deede xxv yeeres agoe one woulde haue sayde that there was not so much as one to be had in France which knewe Antichriste and his doctrine And yet notwithstanding at the first libertie which was graunted to the townes they were founde verye full of such people Secondly as our aduersaries make a difference betweene the Church and the people snatching the name of the Church onely to the prelates which should be common to all Christians so we likewise do well put a difference betweene the people cleauyng to the Churche of Rome and the faction of Antichriste betweene them who liue vnder the popedome and the vpholders and maintayners of the Pope betweene the enchanters those that are enchanted betweene the Pharises whome Christe calleth generation of vipers and that poore sicke woman whom he yet called the daughter of Abraham We saye that among that poore people which was so long tyme deceiued vnder the darknesse of Antichriste there was a parte of the bodye of the visible Church But that the Pope and his mainteyners are the bane of it which styfleth and choketh these poore people as much as lieth in it We saye that this was the Church of Christe but that Antichriste helde it by the throte to the ende that that saluation and life which floweth from Christe might not be powred vppon it That it was a flocke of Christ but gouerned partly by hyrelings and partly by woolues In the people we consider the members of the vniuersall church but in the scabbes infections which doe hide them we marke the poyson of the papacie and in their buddes the whoredomes that the church of Rome hath committed with Antichriste To be short we saye that the people were of the Christian common weale but the Pope with his faction a proud seditious Catiline to destroy and to set it on fire whom Cicero very wel calleth a plague and not a member of the common weale And in deede as of euill dyet and superfluitie there is engendred in mās body an impostume which yet notwithstanding is not the body nor any part of the body but a disease and very oftentimes the death of the body euen so sayth Salust that of the superfluitie of the common weale Catiline was bred euen so we saye that of the delightes superfluities and idlenesse of the Church of Rome Antichriste is bredde in it who yet is neyther the Church nor any part of the Church but is the disease and pestilence it selfe of the Church which had so infected and festered the whole bodie that there appeared no