Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	authority_n	church_n	infallible_a	2,088	5	9.4927	5	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