Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	church_n	scripture_n	word_n	10,667	5	4.6589	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A79569	Church-Levellers, or, Vanity of vanities and certainty of delusion: discovered in the pamphlet, called The vanity of the present churches, and uncertainty of their preaching. / By a friend to both true churches and preachers.	Friend to both true churches and preachers.	1649 (1649)	Wing C3995; Thomason E561_5; ESTC R206008	13,994	16

Church-Levellers OR VANITY OF VANITIES AND Certainty of Delusion DISCOVERED In the PAMPHLET called The Vanity of the present Churches AND Vncertainty of their Preaching By a Friend to both true Churches and Preachers 2 PETER 2.18 When they speak great swelling words of vanity they allure through the lusts of the flesh through much wantonnesse these that were clean escaped from them who live in errour 2 ●IMOTHY 3.9 But they shall proceed no further for their folly shall be made manifest to all men LONDON Printed by A.M. for Tho. Vnderhill at the Bible in Wood-street 1649. To the READER THe little ingenuous Licenser Theodore Jennings professing his dissent in some things few things it 's thought in the Treatise mentioned and some other few things seeming dark and doubtfull to him yet at a venture passes his Imprimatur upon it twice for failing once at the beginning and once at the end for the many plain clear evident truths in it of great use I beleeve to the present designs to destroy the Ministry and to ruine Religion He seems to me to be neer allied to John Bacheler his brother Licenser who sometime Licensed * License to M. Tombes Treat against Infan Bapt. Heteredox Books with such a caution as this Just both of them like Mountebanks who give poyson to shew their skill to Antidote it or rather as those that lay Rats-bane to destroy vermine lay a little Sugar to allure them to eat their own bane Had they been Physitians of any valu● or skill they would have separated the poyson from wholesome ingredients or have given some characters asterisks or spits to distinguish the one from the other But to passe all at a venture to the Presse without any notice what it is they dislike what seems dark or doubtfull is considering mens inclinations to suck in poysin soonest as most sugarlike to nature no better then spirituall murder of souls and the issue will be so farre from making the Saints of one minde and edifying the whole body in love that the liberty here granted not disliked by this Quacksalver is like to make as many mindes as men and as many divisions in the body as there are members One thing I cannot but observe and that a main one wherein he seems to dissent from his Author He speaks in his License of Churches of the Saints and yet at the same time passes his Licence to a Book that is throwing down and destroying all Churches his very Title being The Vanity of the present Churches And as for uncertainty of preaching or Preachers which is the other design of his Author he seems at least to comply with him when he useth his very words or at least his sense saying That one necessary thing faith which is in Jesus Christ which is by the Gospel● the power of God to salvation preached unto us so his Author speaks pag. 28. That new in our times we have no Preacher of the Gospel but the Scriptures Their meaning seems to be the same That the Gospel as the Licenser or the Scriptures as the Author are the only Preachers and we have no other and sure if we have no other Preacher but the Scripture we have no Churches at all If then the Licenser and the Author agree in these two the main businesse of the Book I know not wherein they need to dissent But seeing he conceals his opinion and jumbles truth and errour together we shall endeavour to separate them that the credulous or unlearned Reader may not be infected instead of being edified Farewell VANITY OF VANITIES AND Certainty of Delusion DISCOVERED In the PAMPHLET called The Vanity of the present Churches c. THe Author begins well in words That there ought to be a true correspondence between the heart tongue and hands An agreement between conscience profession and practice But it 's to be feared these are at a great distance in himself if he be as is not without probable grounds supposed a Jesuite disguised for such mens hearts tongues and hands consience profession and practice do seldom agree in any thing that is good to the peace of Church or State But because he adds When the discord of those is continued as well as declared to the reproach of Christianity or humane society then certainly a reproof is not only requisite but the neglect thereof a sin of an high nature Therefore I thought it good to discover a little this discord of his from himself and from the truth it self to the great reproach of both the particulars mentioned 1. The scope and intention of his whole discourse is evidently this 1. To destroy all Churches except perhaps the Church of Rome 2. To decry all faithfull preachers of the Gospel 3. To cry up Liberty of conscience for all sects and heresies so to bring all into confusion to make them all at last concenter in the Sea of Rome This seems to be the design his only vertue seems to be his impartiality for he spares neither Presbyterian nor Independent by which we may suspect him to be a Jesuite or Jesuited for all sectaries are Independents though all Independents be not properly sectaries and yet himself is holding out the largest Independency that ever was heard of that every man and woman shall have no dependence upon any Church he cries down all Churches but be his own Minister hearer officer all as more hereafter 2. And now let us see what he blames them for viz. For receding from their former judgements and declarations ●ag 2 c. for a full compleat and utmost liberty of conscience in the exercise of religion This saith he the Presbyterians whil'st persecuted by the Bishops did clearly hold forth but since practised the contrary for which the Independents did sharply reprove them accounting nothing more base and unbeseeming a Christian then to question or vex or reproach any man for his judgement and practice touching matters of religion and yet the Independents themselves have done the same thing c. This is the summe of the charge but this is a slander and deserves a sharp reproof For as for the Presbyterians they never held out any such principles of an universall liberty of conscience in the exercise of religion the difference between them and the Prelates being not in doctrinals but ceremonials they ever detested it nor have they ever persecuted any for his conscience as never having had power if they had a minde to do it And if the Independents did so hold forth or dissembled so far as some think they did to gain themselves love and respect and to multiply their Congregations and get countenance from authority they are old enough to answer for themselves they are justly to be reproved and justly rewarded in that they have taught their party to desert themselves who deserted their own pretended principles 3. He now comes to prove his first proposition The vanity of all the present Churches ●●g 5. affirming it