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	pillar_n	1,970	5	10.4442	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A11464	A relation of the state of religion and with what hopes and pollicies it hath beene framed, and is maintained in the severall states of these westerne parts of the world.; Europae speculum	Sandys, Edwin, Sir, 1561-1629.	1605 (1605)	STC 21716; ESTC S966	125,256	184

he seeketh to perfect If then without faith there is no possibly of Salvation this surely must needes be the hie way to perdition Now seeing christianitie to be a doctrine of faith a doctrine whereof all men even children are capable as being grosse and to be beleeved in generall The high vertue wherof ●s in the humility of vnderstanding and the merite in the readinesse of obedience to imbrace it for these have beene alwaies the true owners of faith And seeing the outward proofes are no other than probable and of all probable proofes the Church testimonie is most probable what madnesse were it for any man to tire out his soule and to waste away his spirites in tracing out all the thorhy paths of the controversies of these daies wherein to erre is no lesse easie than dangerous what through forgery abusing him through Sophistrie transporting him and not rather to betake himselfe to the right path of trueth whereunto God and Nature Reason and Experience doe all give witnesse and that is to associate himselfe to that Church whereunto the custody of this heavenly and supernaturall trueth hath beene from heaven it selfe committed to weigh discretely which is the true Church and that beeing once found to receive faithfully and obediently without doubt or discussion whatsoever it delivereth Nowe concerning the first point some doubt might be made if there were any Church Christian in the world to be shewed which had continued from Christs time downe to this age without change or interruption this only excepted But if all other have had their end or decay long since or their beginning but of late if theirs bee founded by the Prince of the Apostles with promise by him That hel gates should not prevaile against it but that himselfe would be assisting to it vntill the consummation of the world which hath continued on now to the end of a thousand sixe hundred and foure yeares with an honourable and certaine line of two hundred and fortie Popes all beeing Successours of Saint Peter both Tyrants and Traitors both Pagans and Heretiques in vaine wrestling raging barking and vndermining if all the lawfull Councels that ever were in the world being the general Senates of Gods officers and Ministers have from time to time approved obeyed and honored it if God have so miraculous●y blessed it from above as that so many sage Doctors should in●ich it with their writings such armies yea millions of Saints with their holines of Martires with their blood of Virgins with their puritie should sanctifie and seale it if their Church have beene a ruine alwaies to them that opposed against her a stay repose and advancement to all her followers if even at this day in such difficulties of rebellions and revolts of her neerest children yet she stretcheth out her armes to the vttermost corners the world embracing whole Nations into her bosome If lastly in all other opposite Churches whatsoever ther be nothing to be found but inward dissention and contrarietie chāge of opinions vncertaintie of resolutions robbing of churches robellion against Governors confusion of orders nothing to be attended but mischefe subversion and destruction which they have well deserved and shall assuredly have whereas contrary in their Churches the vnitie vndivided the obedience vnforced the resolvtions vnalterable the most heavenly order reaching from the height of all power to the very lowest of all subiection with admirable harmonie and vndefective correspondēcie al tending to the same way to the effecting of the same worke did promise no other than continuance increase and victorie Let no man d●●bt to submit himselfe to this glorious spouse of God ●● whose head is the blessing of God in whose hand is the power of God vnder whose feet are the enemies of God to whom round about do service all the creatures of God This then being accorded to be the true Church of God it followeth that shee be reverently obeyed in all things without further inquifition having this warrant That whoso heareth her heaeth Christ and whosoever heareth her not hath no better place then a Publican or a Pagan And what folly were it to receive the Scripture vpon the credit of her authority and not to receive the interpretation also vpon her authority and credite And if GOD should not protect his Church alwaies from error and peremptorily command all men to obey her then had hee made but slender provision for the Salvation of mankinde to whome errour in matter of faith is certaine damnation which conceipt of God whose care of vs even in all thinges touching this transitorie life is so plaine and evident were vngratefull and impious And hard were the case and meane had beene his regard of the vulgar people whose wants and difficulties in this life will not permit whose capacities will not suffice to sound the deepe and hidden mysteries of divinity to search out intricate controversies if there were not other whose authority they might rely on Blessed therfore are they which beleeve and have not seen the ●●erite of whose religious humilitie and obedience doth exceede perhaps in honour and acceptation before God the subtill and profound knowledge of many other And lastly if any man either in regard of his vocation or reason of his leasure list to studie the controversies let him take heede he come not with a doubtfull minde vnto thē for diffidence is as the sinne of rebellion let him be stedfast in faith let him submitt his owne reason to the Churches authoritie being the house of God the pillar and ground of truth let him be fast and immoveably built vppon that foundation and let his end onely bee this to furnish and arme himselfe in such sort as to bee able to withstand and overthrow those heretiques when they shall at any time chose or chance to encounter This is the maine course of of their perswading at this day whereby they seeke to re-establish that former foundation In the vnfolding whereof I have beene the longer because triall hath taught mee that not by some mens private election but as it should seeme by common order direction or consent they have relinquished all other courses and doe hold them to this as the most effectuall meanes by the way of perswasion to worke this designe In considering whereof there commeth to my minde that diversity which a wise Philosopher hath intimated in the wits of men That some are of so sharpe deepe and strange discourse that they yeelde not their assent vnto any thing vntill they have found out either some proper demonstration for it or some other certaine proofe whereon to ground it ●suredly Others are so shallow and weake in that faculty that they feare alwaies errour and therefore doe more willingly accord to whatsoeuer some of account for wisdome doe barely affirme then to any thing which this reason alone which they suspect inferreth Now these latter exceeding the other as farre in number as in worthynesse and honour of nature they

imperfections from which neither the wisest nor perfectest have beene free what doe they but propose them as matter of scorne and abhorring whome God hath as it were marked out for patternes of honor to immitate Yea this age hath brought out those curst and these accursed wittes who by culling out the errours and shews of error by formalizing the contrarieties misinterpreating the ambiguities intangling the obscurities which in the most renowmed Authors for humane wisedome that were ever in the world their envious and malitiously fine braines could search immitating him therein who by his Labours of the very same nature though with lesse and no ground at all against the sacred Bible purchased the infamous name of the enemy of Christianity have doone that hurt vnto the studies of learning which nothing but the vtter extinguishing of their vnlearned works can expiate 31 The last meanes I will heare speak of were vsed in setting forward this reformation of religion was the deligent compiling the histories of those times and actions and especially the Martyrologie of such as rendered by their deaths a testimonie of that trueth which was persecuted in them These memories and stories presenting generally to the world the singlenesse and innocencie on the one parte the integritie of their lives the simplicitie of their devises the zeale of their desires their constancie in temptations their tolleration in torments their magnanimitie celestially inspired courage and comfort in their very agonies and death yeelding their bodies with all patience to the furious flames and their soules with ioy to the handes of him that made them On the other side representing a serpentine generation wholy made of fraud policies and practises men lovers of the world and haters of truth and godlinesse fighters against the light protectors of darkenesse persecuters of marriage and patrons of brothelles abnegators and dispencers against the lawes of God but tyrannous importunators and exactors of their own men false in their promises treacherous in their pretences barbarous in their executions breathing nothing but cruelty fire and sword against mē that never offended them save in their desire to amend them which they could not endure and much of this sett out in sundry places with pictures to imprint thereby a more lively sence of commiseration of the one parte and detestation of the other bred in mens minds a strong cōceit that on the one side Truth and Innocencie was persecuted on the other violence and deceit persecuting that the one part cōtrarie to al humane probabilitie being nourished with the only dew of divine benediction flourisht in the flames as camamile spread abroad being troad vnder feet the other notwithstanding al humane and infernall devises yet cursed from above faded not vnlike to come to ruine The Papacie being netled extreamly with these proceedings hath resolved to give over the kindling any more of those vnfortunate fiers save in some secure places to maintaine the vsage of that law the ashes of which they have perceived to have beene the seede of their adversaries but rather by secret making men away in their Inquisitions and by general massacres to extinguish them Then to affront them in the same kinde of Martyro●ogies and Histories they have first caused stories to be written also in their favour making in them a representation of authority and iustice proceeding by pollitick execution of Lawe in the necessarie defence of God Church and of all Catholike States and Princes against a company of base rebelles of vow-breaking-Friars of Church-robbing polititians Church-raizng souldiers of infected and infecting both Schismatiques and heretiques innovators of orders vnderminers of government troublers of states over-turners of Christendome against whom if they have not yet sufficiently prevailed it is to be attributed only to the force of popular fury and not to any strength and goodnesse of their cause much lesse to any celestiall and divine protection Next for Martirologies they have England for their field to triumph in the proceedings wherein against their late Papists and complices they aggravate to the height of Neroes and Dioclesians persecutions and the sufferers of their side both in merites of cause in extreamitie of torments in constancy and patience to the renowned Martyres of that Heroicall Church age whereof besides sundry other bookes they have published a great volume lately to the world in Italian compiled with great industrie approved by authoritie yea some of their bookes also with pictures illustrated in summe wanting nothing save onely trueth and sinceritie An easie thing it is without growing to the extreame impudency of palpable lying by leaving out the bad on the one side and the good on the other by inforcing and florishing all circumstances and accidents which are in our favour and by elevating and disgracing of all the contrarie by sprinkeling the termes of honour wholy on the one part and of hatred and ignomie on the other to make their tale turne which way shall please the teller But writers of histories should know that there is a difference betweene their profession and the practise of advocates pleading contrarie at the barre where the wisedome of the Iudge pickes the truth out of both sides which is intire perhaps in neither 32 And verily in this kinde both the Protestants and Papistes seeme generally in the greatest part of their stories to be both too blame though both not equally having by their passionate reports much wronged the truth abused this present age and preiudiced posteritie insomuch that the onely remedie now seeming to remaine is to read indifferently the stories on both parts to count them as advocates and to play the Iudge betweene them But partiallity seemeth to be the chiefe fault of the Protestant love dislike sometimes dazeling his eyes drawing him from an Historiographers into an Orators profession though some of them have carried themselves therin with commendable sinceritie even as some also of the other part have discharged themselves nobly But surely the Priests and Friars which have written in that kinde have strangely behaved themselves and disclosed how small reckoning they make of truth in any thing their devising their forging their facing their peecing their adding their paring having brought not onely their modesty but their wits also in question whether they forget not what it was they vndertooke to write a worke of storie or of poetry rather which Artes though like yet ought they to know are different And for these Martyrologies to speake of England as they doe let the trueth of Religion be indifferent on whether side vnlesse difference be made betweene men who suffer for their consciences onely their very adversaries having no other crime to obiect against them and those who eyther in their owne particular persons or at least wise in their directors whom they have chosen to follow and vowed to obey are convinced to have attempted against the Prince and state and to have practised the alteration and ruine of both If