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
A59898	A vindication of a passage in Dr. Sherlock's sermon preached before the honourable House of Commons, May 29, 1685 : from the remarks of a late pretended remonstrance, by way of address from the Church of England, to both Houses of Parliament.	Sherlock, William, 1641?-1707.	1685 (1685)	Wing S3369; ESTC R202693	19,865	30

are bound to believe it and I readily grant him all this but do still averr That it is the Doctrine of the present Church of Rome which is all that I intend to prove for I never thought it was the Doctrine of the true Catholick Church or that any Christian ought to believe it As the Church of Rome is distinguished from other Communions of Christians we have no other way to learn what she teaches but from Popes and Councils who are the highest Authority in that Church and they teach the Deposing Doctrine and therefore those who live in Communion with that Church and own its Authority must own it too Those who disown this Doctrine so far disown the Authority of the Church of Rome and may be the better Subjects for being the worse Papists which I think is no great Commendation to that Religion 3. Now since Popes and Councils have decreed and thereby defined the Deposing Doctrine and this Answerer does and must believe the Church of Rome to be the Catholick Church I desire to know how he can avoid that Inference That this Deposing Doctrine ever since it has been decreed by Popes and Councils has been the Doctrine of the Church For is not the Church of Rome the Church still since it decreed the Deposing Doctrine and is not a General Council the Representative of the Church of that age wherein this Council is held And are not the Decrees of such a Council then the Doctrine of the Church No says our Answerer I do not understand how the Church can be engaged unless she proceeds on those Grounds on which alone a Church as a Church or Congregation of Faithful can proceed Which he there tells us is a revelation by Christ preserved by an uninterrupted and uniform practice of the Faithful that is by that exploded Oracle of Infallible Tradition But If any or all of those who make the Church believe not or act on other grounds than these I conceive they believe and act not as a Church or as faithful but as Men or Scholars or in some other Capacity The truth is when Councils leave their proper work defining and declaring to Posterity the Faith received from their Ancestors and fall to discoursing or rather acting on discourses formerly made they are not in strict formality Councils I mean in that propriety in which they are held to be Infallible but men assembled to be a Council and proceeding now not as a Council but as so many men And must this pass for good Catholick Doctrine that all the men in the Church may err and yet the Church cannot err which preserves Infallibility in the Church by as great a Miracle as the species of Bread and Wine in the Sacrament without a Subject But I beseech you When are General Councils Infallible When they decree and define what is Infallibly true Right And thus the Convocation of the Province of Canterbury or York are as Infallible as any General Council Nay any private Christian is as Infallible as either if he adhere to Infallible Tradition But I thought it had been Catholick Doctrine That a General Council are no longer to be considered as men but as the Church representative which is under the Conduct and Influence of an Infallible Spirit to secure them from Error But it seems even a General Council may err only then they err not as a Council but as Men but how shall we know when they are a Council and when they are Men Truly this is not to be known till they have made their Definitions and Decrees and then if they be agreeable to Catholick Tradition they acted as a Council if not they were only Fallible Men. But who shall be Judge of this Who is the Keeper of this C●tholick Tradition Why every Man must judge for himself It is the sence written in the hearts of the Faithful and appearing in their Actions The Writing foretold by the Prophet Jerem. 3. in the bowels and hearts of the house of Israel And thus I hope in time our Quakers may be good Catholicks The Sum then of his Argument whereby he proves That the Deposing Doctrine is not taught by the Church though it be taught by Popes and General Councils is this That the Pope is not Infallible at least that his Infallibility is but a probable Opinion That General Councils are not the Church but Fallible Men when they err and Infallible only when they do not err That though Popes and Councils and all the Men in the Church teach this Doctrine yet the Church does not teach it Now Whether these Propositions be true or false I enquire not but desire all good Catholicks to observe That they must renounce the Infallibility and Authority of the Popes and General Councils of the Church of Rome or acknowledge the Deposing Doctrine to be the Doctrine of the Church This Distinction between the Church and the Men of the Church destroys all the Visible Authority of the Church and leaves every man at liberty to judge for himself What is Catholick Tradition which is so loose a Principle that a Doctor of the Church of England would be ashamed of it let them no more talk of a Visible Church if the whole Visible Authority of the Church be not the Church if all those men in whom the teaching and governing Authority of the Church resides whether Popes and Councils may teach such Doctrines and yet the Church not teach them does the Church cease to be a Church when it teaches any thing contrary to Catholick Tradition Then it seems there was no Church during all the time of those Popes and Councils which taught the Deposing Doctrine nor is there any Roman Catholick Church to this day wherein these Doctrines are still taught and will be so till those Decrees of Popes and Councils be repealed which teach these Doctrines Or are they a Church and yet the Church not teach what they who are the Church teach with all the Authority of a Church Or are they a Church and no Church at the same time Is not the Sentence which a Judge pronounces by the Authority of a Judge a Judicial Act though it be contrary to Law And by the same reason Are not the Decrees of the Council which is the Church representative the Acts of the Church though they be contrary to Catholick Faith and Tradition Does a Judge cease to be a Judge or the Church to be the Church when they pronounce false And if not Are not such false Judgments or erroneous Decrees the Acts of the Judge or of the Church still Let him but tell me Whether he will have a Church or no Church and he shall find me very civil in granting either but how this Doctrine will relish with good Catholicks I cannot guess In short these men who will not allow the Deposing Doctrine to be the Doctrine of the Church of Rome though they acknowledge it to have been decreed by Popes