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	faith_n	lord_n	3,927	5	4.0454	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A91794	The necessity of toleration in matters of religion, or, Certain questions propounded to the Synod, tending to prove that corporall punishments ought not to be inflicted upon such as hold errors in religion, and that in matters of religion, men ought not to be compelled, but have liberty and freedome. Here is also the copy of the edict of the Emperours Constantinus and Licinius, and containing the reasons that inforced them to grant unto all men liberty to choose, and follow what religion they thought best. Also here is the faith of the Assembly of Divines, as it was taken out of the exactest copy of their practise, with the non-conformists answer why they cannot receive and submit to the said faith. / By Samuel Richardson.	Richardson, Samuel, fl. 1643-1658.; Constantine I, Emperor of Rome, d. 337.; Westminster Assembly (1643-1652)	1647 (1647)	Wing R1409; Thomason E407_18; Thomason E407_19; ESTC R203392	10,835	16

that time upon that occasion that Dioclesianus and Maximinianus our Progenitors commanded the Assemblies and meetings of Christians to be cut off so that there were many of them spoiled and robbed Euseb ilb 9. cap. 10. Fix Act Mo●ib 1 pag. 113. least our Subjects should be spoiled of their goods and sustance which thing chiffly to prevent is our onely indeavour c. which thing was very well taken and highly allowed of the Romans and wisemen By reason of these Edicts great tranquility followed and long continued persecution ceased so as Fox declares that the Church continued without any open slaughter for a thousand yeers together till Anno 1300. and the burning of Iohn Huss and Ieremy of Prague for Hereticks by the Counsell of Constance caused the Bohemians to raise an Army against the Authors of their death and God was so with the Bohemian Army under Zisca that they always Conquered so that God hath caused much evil to come upon them who have compelled men in matters of Religion That Religion ought to be free 1. Because it is Gods way to have Religion free and only to flow from an inward principle of Faith and love neither would God be worshipped of unwilling Worshippers Ioh. 4. 4. 2. It is Gods Prerogative only to force to Religion by working Faith in mens hearts for though Religion be natural yet true Religion is supernatural and proceeds from the Spirit of God 3. Because the end why God hath a Church is that he might have a people separated from others in the world to glorifie him in a holy conversation to the convincing of those that are out of the Church therefore there must be a world before whom the Church must walk to whom such as walk disorderly are to be cast by Excommunication and the Church is to wait for their Repentance 4. Because if there should be an established Law for all persons to submit unto it would tend to the wounding of the souls and undoing the bodies of very many that could not submit to any one way because their judgements so much differ also if there should be any defect in the established Law as it is possible to be as we know by woful experience the godly shall suffer oppression for conscience of the truth against that defect by the execution of that Law which I suppose would be a grief to honest hearts seeing we finde that when Laws are made concerning Religion such as make conscience are catched as Daniel and the three children were 5. Because it is the best for the publick peace to give every one content for if there be set up an Order in Religion for a Law and thereby please one sort of people another sort will be displeased who it may be have as many good reasons for that they would have as the others and such as like not a Toleration it is to be feared they are not rightly principled themselves and so are not competent Judges And as for those who think otherways I desire they would seriously consider and answer these questions by the Scriptures Questions propounded to the Synod and all honest hearted and conscientious people whether Corporal punishments ought to be inflicted upon such as hold Errors in Religion QUEST 1. WHether corporall punishment can open blinde eyes and give light to dark understandings 2. Whether carnall punishments can produce any more then a carnall repentance and obedience 3. Whether the destroying of mens bodies for errors be not a means to prevent their conversion seeing some are not called untill the eleventh hour and if they should be cut off for their errors the seventh how should they come in Mat. 20. 6. 4. Whether those who would force other mens consciences be willing to have their own forced 5. Whether it be wisdome and safe to make such sole Judges in matters of Religion who are not infallible but as liable to erre as others 6. If a Father or Magistrate have not power to force a virgin to marry one she cannot love whether they have power to force one where they cannot believe against the light and checks of their own consciences 7. Whether the Scripture makes the Magistrate judge of our faith 8. If the Magistrate may determine what is truth whether we must not beleive and live by the Magistrates faith and change our Religion at their pleasures And if nothing must be preached nor printed nor allowed to passe unlesse certain men please to approve and give their allowance thereto under their honds whether such do not by this practice tell God that unlesse he wil reveale his truth first to them they will not suffer it to be published and so not to be known and whether the Licencer setting his hand to the booke to licence it he being a Priest by his ordination and from the Pope be not the mark of the Beast spoken of Revel 13. 17 And whether it be not worse then any of our former Patents before the Parliament is not this a Spirituall wickednesse in high places which strikes at the truth are they fit to be Licencers of the truth who when the truth hath been tendered to be licensed they have confessed the truth of it as they have been free to licence it but refused because they durst not And whether it can be made appeare that Gon hath revealed his truth first to these Ministers of England and so the first spreaders of it Instance who opposed the Prelats the Ministers or the people first And so of the rest 9. Whether it be not the command of Christ that the tares those that walk in lies and the wheat those that walke in the truth should be let alone and the blinde led in a false Religion which are offended at the declaring of the truth should be let alone Mat. 13. 30. 38. Mat. 15. 15. 10. Whether he was not reproved that would have fire from heaven to devour those that reject Christ Luke 9. 54. 55. 11. Whether the servants of the Lord are not forbidden to strive but to be gentle towards all 2 Tim 4. 2. 12 Whether the Saints weapons against errors be carnall or no 2 Cor. 10. 4. 13 Whether it was not Christs command that his Disciples when they were persecuted they should pray if cursed bless 14. Whether the Scriptures declare that the Saint should persecute others and whether the gentle lambs of Christ will or can serve the Wolves so seeing he sent his as sheep among wolves and not as wolves among sheep to kill and imprison Matth. 10. 16. 15. Whether Christ hath said He will have an unwilling people compelled to serve him 16. Whether ever God did plant his Church by violence and bloud-shed 17. Whether tares may not become wheat and the blinde see and those that now oppose and resist Christ afterwards receive him and he that is now in the Divels snare may get out and come to repentance and such as are idolaters as the Corinthians were

civill State upon the Apostles preaching there followed uprores and Tumults and uprores at Iconium at Ephesus at Ierusalem Act. 14. 4. 19. 29. 40. Act. 21. 30 31. 47. Whether Jesus Christ appointed any materiall Prisons for Blasphemers of him Whether notwithstanding the confidence of the truth they have to which they would force others whether the Bishops their Fathers have not been as deeply mistaken for now they see and say they are Antichristian 48. Whether it be not a naturall Law for every man that liveth to worship that which he thinketh is God and as he thinketh he ought to worship and to force otherwise will be concluded an oppression of those persons so forced 49. And whether it be best for us to put out our eyes and see by the eyes of others who are as dim-sighted In my judgement your judgment is a lye will ye compell me to believe a lye compell ye a man to be present at a worship which he loathes or will ye force my tongue to speake that which my hears cannot affect 50. Whether it be in the power of any man to believe what he will and as he will the minde of man being perswaded with great reasons is captivated will he nill he I am fully perswaded of the truth of the Religion I profes if I should follow your Religion I should deceive men and go contrary to my conscience but I cannot deceive God 51. Whether the Ordinance against preaching is not the onely way to insnare the choysest men but it cannot catch the worst who shall judge what is error and what is truth I answer if our enemies must judge we must alwayes be persecuted and abused by the worst of men for they will judge it fit to persecute us they will call fruth error and error truth and sometimes truth shall be esteemed no lesse then blasphemy and that which one man shall do as his duty in conscience to Gods Command may be called obstinacy though unjustly so that if any demand who is the most orthodox and sound man and freest from errors the answer is now if you will put it to the vote it s the major voice the strongest side that side that hath the authority to back it so that we must follow a multitude Once a King being sick it was demanded of him who should succeed him in the Crown he answered he that had the longest Sword so it is now and if truth hath but a few followers it must be esteemed error and rejected 52. If the Magistrate as a Magistrate have a power from Christ to punish such as he is perswaded in his conscience are erroneous and hereticall or because he differs in Religion from the Magistrate then Queen Mary and her Parliament did well in burying the Martyrs for differing from her established Religion they being as contrary to her R●ligion as any are now in the Magistrates eyes 53. Either the Civill or the spirituall State must be supream which of these must judge the other in spirituall matters if the Magistrate then he is above the Church and so the head of the Church and he hath his power from the People to govern the Church whether it will not follow that the People as a People have originally as men a power to governe the Church to see her do her duty to reforme and correct her and so the Spouse of Christ the wife of Christ must be corrected according to the pleasure of the world who lie in wickednesse 1 Iohn 5. 54. Whether every man doth not venter his Soule upon the truth of his Religion which in his conscience he is perswaded of the truth of it 55. Whether this Kingdome have any sufficient ground to believe they shall injoy their outward rights and liberties so long as any one Religion is set up and men forced under great penalties to be subject to it 56. Whether it be not a horrible thing that a free division of England may not have so much liberty as is permitted to a Turk in this Kingdom who although he denies Christ yet he can live quietly amongst us here and is it not a great ingratitude of this Kingdom to deny this liberty to such as are friends and have been a meanes in their persons and estates to save this Kingdome from distruction and desolation Oh England England Oh that thou wert wise to know the things that belongs to thy prosperity and peace before it be too late the hand of God is against the how have we slaine one another and who knowes but this is come upon us for troubling undoing dispising banishing the people of God into so many Wildernesses 57. Whether men are bound in Conscience to be persecuted when they can help it for omitting of that they judge sinfull and whether a man may not take that which is his right or use meanes to take it by force in case they who should give it denie it and he cannot have it otherwise thus I would keep my Estate my liberty my life by force if I can and cannot keep it otherwise 58. Whether there be any man that judgeth his own judgement erroneous 59. Whether if any man will take upon him to punish men for errors it be not fit he shew his authority from God to warrant his practice and if one man is to be punished for error must it not of necessity follow that all men are to be punished because all men have errors no man is free from them and therefore all men are to be punished with corporall punishments for their errors either more or lesse so that if Luther and Calvin and other good men were now amongst us they should be punished for the errors they held as well as others are for the truth 60. Whether the Priests of England in assuming to themselves to be Christs Ministers and the Apostles successors and a godly reformed Presbytery be not a cunning trick and a meer chea●e to deceive the simple 61. Whether the Priests practice be not contrary to the Apostles practice take one instance the Apostles diped viz. baptized persons after they believed and confessed their faith whereas they sprinkled persons before they believe yea before they can speak they baptized persons in a River Asts 2. and 8. Mat. 3. these sprinkle water upon their faces yet if you will believe them they are the successors of the Apostles and follow their step 62. Wherefore do the Priests of England assume to themselves the title of Divine is it because they are exercised in Divine truthes or because they partake of the Divine nature or both if so then many Tradesmen may as well have the title of Divine given them as well as they because they partake of the Divine nature and are as much exercised in matters Divine as the most of them but it is a question whether the title Divine is to be given to any man but onely to God whose being is onely Divine 63. Whether the name of setling Religion be not a fine pretence to establish error and tyranny we desire not liberty of conscience of any man let us injoy our right our liberty of persons and Estates we will give them leave to hang our Religion and consciences too if they can they desire not our Religion nor can they see nor reach our conscience as Ques 28. and I am perswaded that the hand of God and man will be against England and Scotland till they cease troubling of men for matters of Religion 64. Whether ever any that are contrary to the Synod did ever sue the Parliament to have the Presbyters punished for any of their errors though in them they abound and whether some of them do not tend to the destruction of the State if they might have their willes 65. Whether it be not a great error to slight and disgrace the holy Scriptures and whether the Synod are not guilty of this error in that they do not make the Scriptures the ground and rule of what they do and this appeares 1. in that what they affirme in not in the Scrirtures 2. in that they keepe not the forme of sound words as the Scriptures require we cannot read it in the Scripture what they impose upon others nor can wee finde the substance of that they impose upon others in the whole Scriptures 3. neither do they alleadge the words nor texts of Scripture to prove what they maintaine as appeares by their Directory what is their authority above the Scriptures if they think so it is no small error 66. Whe●her it doth not appeare that the Priesthood for the most part do hate and dispise the suffering Saints of Christ and this appeares 1. because they speake not for them but 2. speak against them 3. they preach against them 4. they persecute them and cause others to persecute them 5. when they are in prison they do not vifit them 6. nor allow them any meanes when they are in want to maintaine them 67. Whether it doth appeare that the Priests oppose errors and Sects out of conscience or out of bye and selfe ends it appeares to be the later because they write and preach and bend their strength against those truthes that oppose their profit honour ease as tithes false ministery and cousoning of people but as for errors indeed as to deny the Resurrection of the body the truth of the Scriptures to deny Christ to be God and the like which of them hath written on sheet against any of these errors notwithstanding they have wrote volume against good men for doing that Christ commanded them 68. Whether those Priests are not false Priests in prophesying in their Pulpits that London should be plundered and their wives c. ravished when Sir Thomas his Army came into London you see apparantly they prophesie the vision of their owne hearts so they say thus saith the Lord when he hath nor spoken unto them Whether the Priests were not the cause of the burning of the booke entituled the Bloudy Tenant because it was against persecution and whether their consciences would not have dispensed with the burning of the author of it which I wish they would seriously consider Dells Booke of Right Reformation 70. Whether mens eyes are not so opened the Priests deeds so manifest that it is but in vaine for them to think that ever all men will be led by them more