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truth_n church_n religion_n true_a 7,548 5 5.1593 4 true
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ID Title Author Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) STC Words Pages
A52090 A copy of a letter written by T. M. in the year, 1699 T. M. 1699 (1699) Wing M81A; ESTC R223719 6,902 16

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A COPY of a LETTER WRITTEN BY T. M. In the Year 1699. My LORD WAS it ever known that the Doctrine of a Persecuting Church was True Did St. Paul order any Corporal Punishment meerly for Opinion in Religion Did it ever destroy Truth And doth it not rather establish an Error A Fallen Brother at first at least ought to be restor'd in the Spirit of Meekness 'T is Worldly interest and blind Zeal brought in Perfection I have receiv'd an Answer from Hicks's 〈◊〉 to my Question of a Definition of a Sa●●●g Faith which I propos'd to Mr. P Mr. Mr. whom I am inform'd you ●●●er'd to Discourse me but they flatly de●●d to do it in Writing The Ignorance of Natural Men or Menot taught of the Holy Ghost have charged Three things against my Book viz. 1st That it promotes Sin 2ly That it is Seditious 3dly That 't is Blasphemy As to the first or the Promotion of Sin THE very same Consequence that Natural Men drew from St. Paul's Preaching in those days you your selves draw now from my Doctrine for when Paul said As Sin had abounded so Grace did super-abound they retorted Let us commit Sin that Grace may abound they not knowing the Mystery of these things Whereby they made God's Mercy ungratefully the cause of Sin Doth not Paul also say Let the Mercies of God move you to please him the more The greater the Mercy then the greater the Love and they to whom much is forgiven they love much Hence the Doctrine of the Salvation of all Men may be made a means to love God which Love rooted in the Heart is the Fountain of good Works But the Doctrine of Hell-Fire can't be made a Means to love God for threatning to Burn me can't make me Love and Hell-fire is often the means of hard thoughts of God Despair and Self-Murder But this might strike the World Dumb if they did but seriously consider that Means signify nothing in themselves excep● Grace apply those Means Hence a good Consequence or an ill Consequence may be drawn from the same Doctrin as from St. Paul's Doctrine of Mercy before Whereby we see ill Consequences drawn from a Doctrine proves not the Doctrine to be Erroneous And what then have I to do with the ill Consequences of this Doctrine My Doctrin it self ought to be prov'd from Scripture True or False Vain then is that Expression of J. P viz. If all Men are Sav'd we 'll live as we please Upon that Consequence he judg'd my Merciful Doctrine Erronious and Seditious If Mr. P or others shall bring any Evidence that my Doctrine is the promotion of Sin in some to whom Grace is not given I question not besides what I have said before but to ballance that with sufficient proof of such that have been drawn from Despair and Murdering themselves and not only so but hate Sin through love to God much more than when they were ignorant of my Book Certainly Self-Murder is accounted one of the worst of Sins and in this Particular that it can admit of no Repentance for it on this side the Grave which is never the effect of a Merciful Doctrine But if I hold Free-will and Hell-fire and yet by Experience I find not a sufficient Free-will to save me being of a tender Conscience I fall into Despair as Thousands for ought I know have done And many Ministers of such a Doctrine have Destroy'd themselves through Despair But we 'll suppose I deny Free-will as doth the Common-Prayer Book and Articles of the Church of England and yet own a Hell-fire I am in as bad a condition for this renders God to me Tyrannical I don't say such a Doctrine is Blasphemous yet it hath the same effects as the other viz. Despair and Self-Murder Pray My Lord judge Impartially whose Doctrine then promotes Sin the most yours or mine Or whose promotes the greatest Sins Or whose Doctrine then is most Seditious When Men of my Judgment also are as ready not so much fearing Death to venture their Lives cheerfully in his Majesty's Service And the more there are of this Judgment the more and better Subjects his Majesty will have in that this Doctrine as it doth not diminish from Loyalty so it adds to Valour Dr. Tillotson late Arch-Bishop of Canterbury his Book comes very little short of mine in this Saying That Hell-fire may be Threatned and not Intended So that this Great Prelate being not sure of a Hell-fire is a sufficient Argument for me to enquire whether you my Lord are certain there is such a Place which you ought to be sure of otherwise another cannot be safely Persecuted for disowning that which your Church Doubts of The next Charge against my Book is SEDITION I have said enough to this in proving that the ill Consequences Men draw from a Doctrine proves it not Erronious and so not Seditious The Doctrine then itself ought to be Disputed by the union of the Scriptures All Doctrines we find are Seditious one to another but may not be to the King and Government It was not the Doctrine of the Apostles that was Seditious but the Ignorance of the People made it so and said If we suffer these things the Romans will come and take our Land from us And now how can my Doctrine be prov'd Seditious when Men of my Judgment own it their Duty to be obedient to the Powers that are knowing All Power is of God And the more there are of this Judgment the more and better Subjects his Majesty will have in that this Doctrine as it doth not diminish from Loyalty so it adds to Valour I know Men say that many commit Sin the more freely because of my Book but it may be in their Hearts if not in Act they have committed the same Sins or at least loved those Sins before which is Sin and so cannot be said but to be guilty of those Sins before as our Saviour said He that lusteth after a Woman commits Adultery in his Heart If for fear of Punishment only as every ●n carries its own Punishment with it they have avoided the committing in Act those Sins yet it they lov'd those Sins and would commit them but only for fear of Punishment may be in the sight of God as guilty of them as he that actually commits them 'T is not from Love to God but only from Self-love that he acts them not to avoid Punishment and such Service is not worth accepting 'T is Love or the Heart the Lord delights in and what Service proceeds from that adopts us to the title of Sons and not Slaves But whilst I thus Argue my best Plea is that Means in themselves signify nothing for the avoiding of Sin except Grace apply the Means Nor can any thing be made a Means for the commission of Sin where Grace preserves not forgetting my Doctrine excells others in this that it can't be made a means for Despair and Self-Murder and its Service is the more