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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	christian_n	evident_a	great_a	136	3	2.0711	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A40453	The dolefull fall of Andrew Sall, a Jesuit of the fourth vow, from the Roman Catholick apostolick faith lamented by his constant frind, with an open rebuking of his imbracing the confession, contained in the XXXIX Articles of the Church of England.	French, Nicholas, 1604-1678.	1674 (1674)	Wing F2178; ESTC R6915	151,148	496

againe can say to Protestants that wee are noe way obliged to prove our Church is the true Church and our Keligion the true Religion though wee can evidently prove both It is enough to tell the Protestants the Roman Catholick Church whilest evidences coms not against it stands firme upon its ancient right of Possession OLIM POSSIDEO PRIOR POSSIDEO This long and lawfull Possession proves the Church Orthodox and frees us from all Obligation of disputing the reason above hinted is that the Protestants Protestants because Agressors are obliged to prove theire charge and claime are the Actors and Agressors and therfore it s theire taske to prove ours only to defend which is easy If you marke how strangely in vaine they make theire attempts against us observe it After our Church had stood a thousand years and more in the quiet Possession of truth they accuse it of Error After soe many thousands of learned and vertuous men that lived holily and dyed happily in it ye and had eyes as quick Iudgments as profounde and wills as good to find out these Errours had any beene as the best of Sectaries yet found none they forsooth espy them After this Church had its Purity The Churchss Purity and Innocency and Innocency signed and sealed by the blood of innumerable Martyrs evidenced by undoubted Miracles manifested by soe many glorious Conversions wrought on Aliens drawne to Christ and finally demonstratively proved by all these illustrious marks of truth wherof wee treated aboue our Protestants rise up and Calumniate this great Society of Christians lay the foule Aspersion of Heresy on it Are not they think you as Actors obliged in Iustice to make theire charge good against us by evident proofes And are not wee exempted from all farther Obligation Proued by a long Possession of pleading then only to stand upon our ancient blameless and quiet Possession Beleeve it This OLIM POSSIDEO PRIOR POSSIDEO is warant sufficient and our Wall of defense against such weak Aggressors And yet wee strengthen our hold with Canon proofe it is evident reason alsoe And eviden● reason alsoe Nemo praesumitur malus nisi probetur No Man upon vaine presumption ought to bee accounted naught unless reason prove him a delmquent For Example Give mee a loyall Subject that hath done wonders and great service for his Prince that hath An Instance enlarged his Kingdome gained him Frinds defeated his Enemyes and yet is struggling to doe him more Service Whose repute was neuer stayned nor fame blemished c. Suppose now That a smale knot of unknowne men should offer at some small or inconsiderable proofs And with these endeavour to impeach him of treason would not the Prince think you either require evidences to be brought in against soe worthy a subject or reject these Accusers as unworthy of credit yes most assuredly This is our case though noe Instance taken from private men can parrallel the fidelity of the Church towards Christ the Roman Catholick Church The Church evidently hath proved her fidelity to Christ I speak of noe other for there is none hath faithfully done great Service for the King of Kings Christ Iesus it hath dilated his empire far and neer it hath defeated his Enemys perfidious heathens gained him Frinds and innumerable Servants It yet struggles Maugre all attempts against it to promote his honour and gaine him more It has beene of an unspotted same Hither toe of unspotted and accounted pure without blemish till now at last a smale inconsid●rable knot of Protestants Impeach it of Treason and make it a Rebell against the King whome fame before Sectaries Impeachment it hath served soe long and faithfully What then doth our Lord Iesus and all Iustice too require of these Accusers but Evidence Yes and if possible more then Evidente is Necessary to make theire charge good against this Church It hath evident proof enough of its fidelitity Iustice in this charge requires evidence not unproved Cavills by its faithfull long Service by its hitherto irreprehensible Purity allowed for a thousand years and upwards and therfore cannot bee supposed a delinquent upon meer Cavils or for things which look like proofs but when examined are noe sooner weighed then cast away as weightless For all this wee Catholicks find it noe hard matter to prove the Roman Catholick Church the only true Orthodox Church out of which there is noe Salvation and to prove this by an undubitable Principle which cannot bee shaken even this short Argument will doe it Christ Iesus founded a Catholick Church which as hee promiseth should never faile Et por●ae inseri non praenalebunt adversus eam And therfore Math. cap. 16. could never bee forsaken by him Take the reason for no Monarch that lays the foundation of a kingdome and obliges himselfe to take care of it can without iniustice abandon it unless a contrary power or great negligence deprive him of his right none can bee more powerfull then Christ and I hope those Protestants of the English Church will not make him guilty of negligence or Iniustice ergò hee still defends the militant Church a most deare Kingdome which hee establisht with his owne bloud Take this other Argument A Church which hath converted whole Author of Protestancy without Principles c pa. 409 Kingdoms and Nations from infidelity to Christ by working Miracles casting out of Deuills great austerity of life and efficacy of Doctrin evident and convincing Arguments of truth and drawne innumerable Soules from a tepid life to pennance and mortification from the contents of the world to a contempt of it from selfe-love to a perfect self-abnegation must either bee deseruedly named the true Church of Christ or else the Apostolicall Church was not the Church of Rome only hath by the assistance of God done those wonders therfore it is the true Church or there was never any true upon earth Deny these Conversations made by our Catholick Society and you deny what is most evident grant them and you subscribe to Popery Ergò This Learned Author after severall Arguments and considerations makes the ensuing inferences The Roman Catholick Church was once the true Church Sectarys confesse it once it was built on Christ once it taught Christian verityes without errour once it was owned by Christians for Christes School once it evangelized the word of God purly Therfore if God bee yet as favourable unto Soules as hee was anciently if hee substract not meanes from us Necessary to saluation if his gifts bee unchangable if his intention of settling truth for ever amongst Christians alter not if hee blest his owne Society as well with truth as with the consolation of Grace this Catholick Roman Church and noe other once true was is and shall ever be soe for the future Ecclesia invicta res est they are knowne words of agreat Doctor etsi Infernus ips● Commoveatar The Church is Invincible and continues

thing to be examined by you to know the Author matters nothing I desire not that Athist●● read my writings such as 〈◊〉 not in God can make no 〈◊〉 fit of Godly things for my part I make more Esteem of a Pagan that adores stocks an● stones thinking there is a Deit ● in them then of A●hises Ne●ther is it my ayme tha● Maho metans or Jewes read this worke the first not believing Christ to be the Sonn of God though they hold him to be a holy Prophet and borne of a Virgin the other believe not the Mesias is yet come whose Fathers Crucify'd him when hee was borne and came among them and made Evident by wonders and miracles that hee was the true Sonne of God and the now living Jewes as blinde and obstinate as theire Fathers tred theire stepps spitting on the Crucifix and whipping it in theire Chambers and stobbing with poyniards the H. Sacrament with horrour and extream Malice wherof there are Many Authentique Histories My wish is this Book be only read by Roman Catholicks and by Protestants the first will likely be well satisfyed with this my endevours and from the protestant reader I only pray that hee will be pleased with atention and without prejudging to read all and after to speak with God alone about the state of his owne Soule and what Religion hee will Chuse for his eternall salvation The argument I doe not handle Scholastically conceiving not that the better way to haue my sence rightly understood I am for the way of fact declareing ingeniously what happen'd in England upon the comming in of both Religions what kinde of men were instrumentall in bringing them in what theire manners vertues or vices who of them were of Sanctity and who not who of them wrought Miracles which are Evident signes of true Religion which was brought into all Kingdoms Countrys and Provinces by Sanctity and Miracles I deny what Sall falling from his faith who gave me the occasion of writing afirms to witt That the Roman Catholick Religion is repugnant to humaine reason It were to make Religion fabulous and foolish to say it is contrary to wisdome and reason for what can be oppositt to wisdome and reason but folly and fables As Scripture by which soly many Protestants will haue Religion try'd excluding tradition even Apostolicall it selfe though it be Verbum Dei non Scriptum is the Word of God supernaturall written in paper with the hands of his holy scribes by Revelation so is Reason Gods naturall Word and Gods truth written by his owne hand in our soules Signatum est super nos Lumen vultus tui Domine Doth not all this prove a great agreableness between Religion and reason whereby is clearly evinced that Religion is not repugnant to humaine Reason Haue not Pagan Philosophers even by the light of reason without any other teaching perceiued in many things what is honest and what dishonest what just and what uniust what vertue what vice this is that light in mans soule which S. Basill calls Iudicium quoddam naturale per Bas homilia a●● populum quod ab iniquis bona facile discerni●us And S. Augustin accounted soe much of reason that hee said Recta ratio vertus est And S. Aug. de util Credendi Cap. 12. if Caluins Authority were worth any thing he says Semen Religionis est in mente humana But I pray you heare S. Paul telling you the Philosophers were unexcusable for not hauing made the right use they could and should haue made of the knowledg they had of Cod by the light of reason Because saith Ad Rom. Cap. 1. hee whereas they knew God they haue not glorify'd him as God or given thanks but are become vaine in theire cogitation and theire foolish hart hath bin darckned How have these Philosophers knowne God not by faith but by the light of reason and knowing him soe they should have as the Apostle teaches glorify'd him as God I shew in this Book the number of Catholick Arch-Bishops that sate upon the Chaire of Canterbury to haue bin sixty one many of these haue bin nobly borne and many of them very learned and vertuous twelve haue bin canonized saints Your number of Protestant Arch-Bishops have not as I think bin aboue six as Parker VVhitgift Grindal Branckfort Abots Laud and Sheldon all of them lowly born and as wee heare meanly Learned of theire vertues wee heard Little And could those few and less learned and vertuous know more of Gods verity and holy will then soe many Eminent Catholick Arch-Bishops what in Gods name would make any man think soe You had fifty two Catholick Monarchs of England Kings and Queens I speake nothing here of seventy small Kings when England was devided into seven Kingdoms many of these haue bin of the Gallantest Princes in Christendome as Egbert that first reduced England to a Monarchy Ina Edgar Canut William the conquerour Henry the second Edward the third Henry the fifth and Henry the seventh many of them vertuous and Godly Princes and som of them acknowledged for Saints by all the Church of God the Protestants have had but five in all the first a Child of nine ye●ars Edward the sixth the second a Woeman Queen Elisabeth a Cruell a woeman who put to death Queen Mary of Scotland the present Kings great Grandmother which was an open Murther and soe Esteemed by all the world as alsoe in the tyme of her raigne 200. Priests and Religious men soly for theire Religion A woeman druncken Ap●c Cap. 17. of the blood of Saints and of the blood of the martyrs of Iesus A woeman fitter for Brauery then devotion thee other three King James a lerrned and wise Prince his Sonne Charles a sober and good King the last our present Souveraigne King Charles the second of him let those speak that shall survive him But certain it is Protestant Historians will not preferr those Protestant Princes in vertue valor glorious atempts and magnificence to the Catholick Princes To speak of both Religions Catholick and Prorestant and which of them is safest for salvation I offer you here a remarkable reflexion and consideration as thus Ask of the Mahometan the Jew and of the Scismatick Christians as the Ruthenians Armenians and all of the Greeck Church yea and of the Lutherans and Calvinists that disagree among themselves which is the best and safest Religion they will all say after their owne the Roman is the safest which is an Evident Jugment that the Roman is the fafest of all much like that the grave Judges gave for the Lacedemonians when all the Provinces of Greece claimed for the Palm and praise in the glorious victory they obtained against the Persians Those excellent Judges before whome the cause was brought demanded of every one of them whome they thought to have deserued best after themselues and all answering that the Lacedemonians the wise Iudges gave sentence that indeed the Lacedemonians had

hand of God All which Articles saith this Doctor doth Calvin willfully corrupt in his expositions in the favour of Iewes Arians and other such enemyes of Christ which hee proveth by alleadging above forty or fifty places citing Calvins owne words and commentaryes therupon soe clearly and perspicuously against sence and expositions of all holy Fathers that if his commentaryes therin were to bee admitted those foure named points or Articles of Christian Religion can not be defended against the force and adversaryes of Christes name And is not this a brotherly agreement between Lutherans and Calvinistes in Principall points and misteryes of Religion but the Lutherans have the best of it for wheras Luther and his followers to this day condemne the Calvinists as Hereticks especially for not beleeving the Body of Christ to bee realy and substantially present in the Sacrament of the Altar the Protestants of England who are Calvinists and deny the Real-presence hold Luther for a holy man and theire Father and hold all the Lutherans theire very deare bretheren in Christ as Doctor Whitaker above cited doth averre To leave Germany and to speak of the Professors of Protestanisme in England Scotland doe not many of them entertaine quarrells and falings-out among themselves about Principall Articles of Religion doe not the greatest part by much of the Protestants in England hold the King is supreme head of the Church all of one opinion with the Bishops maintaine this as an Article of Religion in that Protestant Church but the Protestants of Geneva and all depending upon theire Doctrin in France and elswhere doe not hold this Kingly supremacy for an Article of Faith and are not Catholicks punished by Law and somtymes put to death for denying this supremasy which would be a meer murthering of them and the greatest cruelty in the World if those that put them to death did not hold that supremecy to be an Article of Faith Now if you will be pleas'd to demaund what those Protestants in England and Scotland caled Presbiterians or Puritans say to this Article they flattly deny this supremacy to be an Article of Faith though none of them did ever suffer death for denying the same nay they are esteemed not with standing theire opinion in this to be of the Protestants communion A gaine all Protestants that follow the Bishops hold the dignity and superiority of Arch-Bishops and Bishops to be agrecable to Gods word and as the Devines speak de Iure Devino and what say the Presbiterians to this By theire Champion Martin Mar-Prelate and his mutenous moke-bates that band under his cullors cry all of them in the Name of the Lord as Thomas Rogers doth attest That the calling of Bishops is In his Sermon printed by Iohn windet 1590. pa. 13. unlawfull that they be Ministers of Antichrist worss then Fryers and Monks Deuills Bishops and Deuills In-carnate Sall you must grant mee these dissentions between Protestants and Protestants in England and Scotland about the Kings supremacy and the Order and Dignity of Bishops are not Triueall but Fundamentall and they have been now many years contending in theire Writings and Conferrences and still are about these points and others that are the very sinews and Soule of theire Religion in endless quarrells and Contensions If that were my Business I could sett downe many and great differrences quarells and contensions between these two kinde of Protestants In this place I think it pertinent to say somthing particularly of the Protestants called Presbiterians who were neuer by any act of Parlament that wee could heare of proscribed from the Communion of the Protestants that stick to the Religion of the King and the Bishops Impiety Fury and Rebellion gave beginning to this Sect and Religion in Scotland as hath been aboue said in Page 164. and 165. They had two Reformations the first was begun by Iohn Knox an Apostata Priest and though his Reformation was ungodly and unreasonable the second was farre more unreasonable and ungodly A Presbiterian that was converted to the Catholick Faith describes the Presbiterian Piety in this kinde There was among us a pretext of Piety but wee had not the substance of it wee had indeed much preaching praying fasting and such like exercises but our long preachings were nothing but continuall prayses of the Covenant the solemne League which they cry'd up to the heavens butt wee omitted as our Saviour observed of the Pharisies the weighty Matters of the Law as Iudgment Mercy and Faith Our Ministers told us wee were the happiest People of the World for they said wee only of all Nations had the honour to be Covenanters with God and that wee had the truth of the Ghospell in greater purity then Geneva it selfe that wee had soe cleare a light that the like had not shined to any Nation since the tymes of the Apostles yea one who was esteemed a principall Apostle among us did not stick to say in the pulpitt amidst the many Miserys Confusions and Troubles which then lay upon this Church and Nation That the Angells and Saints of heaven if they could leave the sight of God would be glad to come downe and see the admirable beauty of the Presbiterian Church of Scottland Soe farre this new Catholick And was not this ridiculous preacher with the beauty of his Scottish Kirck a great Hipocrite and Pharisie It was much observed that shortly after solemne fastes of Presbiterians the country and state was allways sure of some unhappy claps the puritan fast was still fatal and ordinarily a preparation to some violence or evill worke that was intended this made many understand what Queene Mary Stuart meant by that famous saying That shee was as much affraid of a fast of the Ministers as of an Army of Souldiers for experience taught her that those fasts were prognostick signes of ensuing tempests theire long prayers alsoe did not prove them to be Saints more then the like did sanctify the Pharasyes they bragged much of the spiritt but shew'd noe fruites therof these bee the fruites of the spiritt which Saint Paul recounts to the Galatians The fruite of Ad Galat. cap. 5. the spiritt saith hee is love joy peace long suffering Gentelnesse goodness Faith meekness c. This second Presbiterian ●eformation beganne with a prodigious abolishment of all holy things Mala arbor Malos fructus faci● 1. They condemned and cast downe Episcopacy this they doe whersoever they have power quite contrary to the Law of God for Episcopacy is de Iure Divino This order and degree they abhor'd as Tyrannicall and Anti-Christian yet Saint Paul writing to Timothey saith If a man desireth a Bishops Office hee desireth 1. Tim. cap. 3. a good thing The Apostle likewise affirmeth that Bishops are to Order Priests and Iudge them wherfore hee saith in his Epistle to Titus That hee left Ad Titum Cap. 1. him in Cret to Order Priestes by Cittys By this it is plaine and evident that