Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	believe_v	church_n	infallible_a	2,836	5	9.7883	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A27001	The Quakers catechism, or, The Quakers questioned, their questions answered, and both published for the sake of those of them that have not yet sinned unto death and of those ungrounded novices that are most in danger of their seduction / by R[i]chard Baxter.	Baxter, Richard, 1615-1691.	1655 (1655)	Wing B1363; ESTC R28362	39,590	58

almost only of This Inward Light In which I perceived 1. That you falsly intimate that we deny the necessity of an inward light when as we maintain that the external light of the Word alone is not sufficient without the inward light of the Spirit 2. You there intimate to us a supposed sufficiency of the inward light that every man in the world hath Concerning which I shall say more anon and now only demand of you 1. Whether you mean it is sufficient to leave men without excuse That we maintain as well as you or is every mans light sufficient to his salvation If so Q. 2. Was it sufficient before Christ preached the Gospel and sent his Apostles Or is it now sufficient to all that never heard the Gospel If so Is not the Gospel a vain and needlesse thing or are you Christians that dare so affirm Q. 3. If the world have sufficient light what need they your teaching or discourse or conviction Q. 4. If all have sufficient light within them what need there any converting grace Q. 5. Then why did Christ send Paul to open mens eyes and to turn them from darknesse to light if they had sufficient light before Act. 26. 18. Q 6. I pray you do not disdain to tell me when you have rub'd your eyes if all men have sufficient light within them Why you got up into the Judgement seat and pronounced me so oft to be in darknesse and to be void of the light and to have none of the Spirit If all have it why may not I have it But let me tell you further in your ear that we that you so frantickly bawl against have read Bellarmine and other Papists so oft that we cannot be ignorant who are your Teachers though your selves are ignorant We know how earnestly the Jesuites would perswade us that there is a light in every mans conscience which if he improve and husband well God is bound to give such additions as shall make it become saving and that by the good use of natural light men may certainly get supernatural and that it is in mens own power what light soever they have to improve it to salvation Your 11th Query is Whether we have seen Gods face Ans. Whether these be Learning or Teaching or quarrelling or doting Questions I leave to your consideration but what Call you had to propound them to such Serpents Dogs and Children of the devil as you call us I know not But however I 'le answer you truly 1. By the eye of reason I have seen that there is a God and that he is infinite incomprehensible most great and most good c. 2. The same I have seen more cleerly by the eyes of faith 3. But I never saw God by the eye of flesh for none can so see God and live Nor hath any man seen God at any time saving the only begotten Son who is in the bosome of his Father he hath declared him 4. Nor have I seen him in glory intuitively or as the glorified in heaven do If you say you have seen more I shall not be very forward to beleeve you till I see better fruits of it I also therefore demand of you Whether he that hath seen God do not abhor himself as Iob did in dust and ashes and whether the true knowledge of God do not ever abase the soul and make a man very mean in his own eyes And then is it likely that ever those men had the true knowledge of God who make it their businesse to exalt themselves as having the Spirit and beign perfect without sin and to revile and bedung other men with their reproaches as being all the Children of the devil and of darknesse that be not of their strain and rave not as they do The Pharisee that thanked God he was not as other men nor as the Publicane spoke humbly and modestly in comparison of you and yet was he counted a proud self-justifier If ever you come to the least saving sight of God it will mightily change the proud strain of your spirits and make you abhor the thoughts of your present evil waies Your 12. Query is Whether we have the same infallible Spirit as the holy men of God had that spoke forth the Scriptures Ans. Why must you know this Are all Dogs and Serpents with you that have not that Infallible Spirit But we hear the croakings of your Papist guides in that word Infallible that's the pillar of their Kingdom and the master-point of their New Religion That their Church is infallible For denying which Knot the Jesuite against Chillingworth and a late ●otable gawdy Orator S. W. against Dr Hammond and others of them would fain perswade us that we subvert Christianity and are little better then Infidels because we are not Infallible But I will answer you and your Masters together in a word 1. The Prophets and Apostles had infallible Inspirations of new matters of divine verity not before revealed because they were to be Gods penmen and Messengers of such New Revelations I have none such that I know of 2. The Prophets and Apostles were guided infallibly in the manner as well as the matter so that every word that they wrote to the Churches was infallibly true I have no such Infallibility nor your Grandfather the Pope neither He may erre while he pretendeth to the greatest Infallibility in deciding Controversies 3. What man soever he be in the world that beleeves any Truth he doth infallibly believe it For he that is in the right is not deceived so far and he that is not mistaken is so farre infallible which is no more then non fallitur 4. But if by Infallibility you should mean the clearnesse and subjective Certainty as distinct from the objective and the bare truth of our conceptions then I say that 's another thing then Infallibility and not to be so called and of that Certainty men have different degrees All true Christians are certain of their Fundamentals yet sometime with some doubting so that they may finde cause to say with the Apostles Lord Increase our Faith or We beleeve help thou our unbelief But in lesser controverted Points which Salvation dependeth not on the best man on earth may erre much more be uncertain So that in a word Every Church in sensu composite while a Church is infallible in the essentials of Christianity and so is every true Christian And also they know infallibly every other truth that indeed they know because Truth is Truth whether they know it or not and when they do know it they are not deceived But in many things we all erre because we know but in part and so farre are deceived Well I say still Fair fall the honest humble Christian that will confesse with Paul that we know but in part For I shall never like pretenders to un-erring Infallibility more I know but two such pretenders and they are both the most abominable deceivers and deceived

Whether ever the earth bore men that did more proudly despise others in comparison of themselves and whether their language savour of the Spirit of the Lamb of God Or can he have any taste of that Spirit of Christ in himself that doth not even feel that their proud and railing language is of the devil Qu. 7. Was there ever a generation known on the earth that did more arrogantly step up into the Throne of God and censure his Servants whose faces they never saw and whom they can charge with nothing but being Preachers of the Gospel and that in a Pulpit having an hourglasse taking Tythes c. to be Ministers of the devil sons of perdition with much of the like Though Christ hath said Iudge not that ye be not judged and who art thou that judgest another mans Servant To his own Master he stands or fals Qu. 8. Was there ever a Generation of men on whom the Image of the devil was more visible then on these He is the Prince of darknesse pride and malice And the depth of Ignorance and height of pride and malice breaks out so abundantly in their carriage and discourse that all not utterly blinded may see it It is the work of the devil to be the Accuser of the Brethren and so it is the very Religion and businesse of these wretches to accuse Ministers and godly people to be hypocrites Liars children of the devil Serpents Vipers with much the like Qu. 9 Is it no kin to the blaspheming of the holy Ghost for such wretches when they have powred out the most horrid lies slanders Railings and false doctrines to professe solemnly that all this is from the Spirit of Christ within them and make God and his holy Spirit the Author and Patron of all Qu. 10. Can that man that hath one spark of grace believe that he hath no sin Can he have so little knowledge of himself And consequently of the need he hath of the Physician Dare you say to Christ we will not be beholden to thee for thy bloud to wash us any more or to thy Intercession to pard on us any more Do you not believe that In many things we offend all Jam. 3. 2. If we say that we have no sinne we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us If we confesse our sinnes he is faithfull and just to forgive us our sinnes and to clense us from all unrighteousnesse If we say that we have not sinned we make hem a lyar and his Word is not in us 1 Joh. 1. 8 9. 10. Are not all Christs Disciples taught daily to pray Forgive us our trespasses For my part I am one that is sick and have need of the Physician and dare not tell God that I will ask him pardon for no more sins nor be beholden to him for any more But O what a power hath the deceiver with these wretches that in the midst of their horrid railing flandring and other wickednesse will stand to it that they have no sin Just like the Swearer that will swear he never swore an Oath Or the Drunkard that will swear he was never drunk when he lieth drunk in the Channell Solomon saith There is not a just man upon earth that doth good and sinneth not Eccles. 7. 20. and these Quakers that Pharisaically and Papistically justifie themselves do give him the Lie Qu. 11. Whether those that deny Scripture to be Gods Word as these Quakers do and deny that there is any such Person as Jesus Christ who suffered at Ierusalem now glorified in heaven in the humane nature and only call somewhat within themselves by the Name of Christ I say whether these are not abominable Infidels having nothing to do with the name of Christians Q. 12. Is it not damnable Hypocrisie in these wretches to prate so much of Scripture and call for Scripture while they thus deny it to be Gods Word Qu. 13. Is it not damnable hypocrisie in them to call themselves Christians when they are Infidels and deny the person of Jesus Christ crucified to be in heaven Qu. 14. Is not he a Pagan and no Christian that thinks that the light which is in all the Indians Americans and other Pagans on earth is sufficient without Scripture Qu. 15. Was that light in Paul which perswaded him that he ought to do many things against the name of Jesus sufficient to convert him to the Faith of Jesus Or did Christ give him needlesly a light from heaven and by Ananias his doctrine O● had Con●lius sufficient light within him before Peter preached to him Or had all the world sufficient light within them before Christ sent abroad his Apostles to preach the Gospel to them Or did Christ send them a needlesse light by his Apostles Have those Persecutors sufficient light within them to cause them to believe in Christ who think they do God service in killing or reproaching his Ministers and people Qu. 16. If all have sufficient light within them what need you go up and down to teach or perswade them Is it needless light that you bring then or is i● hellish darknesse Qu. 17. Is it not a most sottish trick of you to go up and down prating and commanding and yet refuse to shew your Commission from God And to call Ministers to shew theirs and refuse to shew your own but say it is invisible within you are you so mad as to expect any should belive an invisible and indemonstrable Commssion And might not we as well tell you ours is invisible but that indeeed it is not Or should we beleeve every one that prates of a Commission within him or no If not why should we belive you more then others that say the like Qu. 18. Seeing you cry down our Ministry and Churches tell us which is the true Ministry and Church and when yours begun and where it hath been since Christs abode on earth till now Speak plainly and let us know whether you are indeed Papists or Pagans Qu. 19. Is not that man an Infidell and a Scorner of Christ that date say he came into the world and shed his bloud to gather onely a few raging Quakers in England 1652 years after his Incarnation If Christ have no Subjects but these he is a poor King If Christ have been till now without Subjects he was no King If without a Body he was no Head If without a spouse he was no Husband Therefore shew us what Church Christ hath had or confesse your selves Infidels Qu. 20. Did not the Spirit of the Quakers speak in Num. 16. 3. just as you do now against Magistrates and Ministers And is not God very patient that causeth not the earth to open and swallow you up quick as it did them Do you understand that the Simonians or Disciples of Simon Magus and the Nicolaitans whose doctrine and deeds Christ hateth Rev. 2. and other Gnostick Hereticks in the Apostles daies did deal by them and the Church then as you do by us now and that the second Epistle of Peter the Epistle of Iude much of 1 Iohn and 2 Iohn were written purposly against them besides many other Scriptures And have you well considered those Scriptures and applied them to your selves When you have answered these Questions I require you to have no more to do with me nor any of this Church For we renounce you as Hereticks after a first and second Admonition a●d will have no fellowship with such self-condemned persons nor receive you into our houses or bid you God speed lest we partake of your wicked deeds Tit. 3. 10. 2 Ioh. 10 11. Kederminster March 28. 1655. Richard Baxter FINIS