Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n
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A26061
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A defence of The plain-man's reply to the Catholick missionaries being a further examination of the pretended infallibility of the Church of Rome / by the author of The plain-man's reply to the Catholick missionaries.
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Assheton, William, 1641-1711.
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1688
(1688)
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Wing A4029; ESTC R9811
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15,098
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50
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our Blessed Saviour was condemned as a Blasphemer was it a just and Legal Sentence or was it not If not Then the Jewish Church which pronounced it was not Infallible And consequently this Argument so triumphantly repeated is utterly lost But if this Missioner dares pretend That the Sentence of the Sanhedrim was a Legal Sentence and that the Holy Jesus was justly condemn'd as a Blasphemer let him take heed least contending for Infallibility he forfeits his Christianity However for Arguments sake suppose it were granted That the Jewish Church was Infallible Must it thence be inferr'd That the Christian Church hath the same Priviledg Yes doubtless think 's this Missioner For to her hath been given a Covenant with better Promises True But was Infallibility any of those Promises This ought not be supposed but proved But now let it be further granted That the Christian Church is Infallible What 's this to the Church of Rome Is there no other Church besides the Roman Or Is she only the true Church of Christ Let the Missioner prove this And I shall most willingly hear him Missioners Answer p. 15. Secondly He fills up his Pages with several other Places out of the Old Testament Which I shall only transcribe and then it will sufficiently appear they are nothing to his purpose He tells us The Church shall be like a Mountain upon the top of Mountains Isa 22. Like a Tabernacle seated in the Sun Ps 18. 4. That all Nations shall flow unto her That Kings shall be her Nursing Fathers and Queens her Nursing Mothers Isa 49. 23. That all the ends of the Earth shall remember and turn unto the Lord and all the Kindred of the Nations shall worship before him Psal 22. 27. Besides these plain Prophecies which speak not one word of the Infallibility of the Church of Rome but only shew the Visibility Universality and Durance of the Christian Church which are not now the Dispute and therefore shall be consider'd when occasion is offered I say besides these we are told that in this House of the God of Jacob he himself will teach us his ways and will judg amongst the Nations Isa 2. 3 4. And then certainly we shall neither be taught an Error nor have a wrong Sentence Missioners Answer p. 12 13. That 's granted God will certainly teach us Truth And we shall never err Provided that we follow his Instructions Now all extraordinary ways being ceased the Divine wisdom ordinarily doth instruct us only by the Scriptures Which as St. Peter hath admonished us are a more sure word of Prophecy then a voice from Heaven Whereunto ye do well that ye take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place 2 Pet. 1. 19. These Holy Scriptures are the good old way By walking in which the way-faring men though fools shall not err Isa 35. 8. Missioners Answer p. 12 21 22. For the Testimony of the Lord is sure and giveth wisdom unto the simple Psal 19 7. But now if the Church of Rome for instance shall leave this good old way of Truth to wander in By-paths of her own If she shall neglect vilify and forsake the Holy Scriptures to follow her own blind Traditions 'T is not her confidence that she is in the Right that can keep her out of the Ditch or secure her from falling He tells us moreover That God will not be wroth with his Church neither shall his kindness depart from her nor the Covenant of his peace be removed That all her Children shall be taught of the Lord That she shall be established in righteousness That whosoever shall gather together against her shall fall for her sake And that every Tongue that shall rise against her in judgment shall be condemned by her This is the Heritage of the Servants of the Lord and their righteousness is of me saith the Lord Isa 54. Furthermore he tells us that God hath made a Covenant with his Church That his Spirit shall be upon her and his words which he hath put into her mouth shall not depart out of her mouth nor out of the mouth of her seed nor out of the mouth of her seeds seed saith the Lord from henceforth and for ever Isa 59. 20 21. You see here a promise to the Church in all Ages that she shall speak the very words which God shall put into her mouth and therefore no Errors pag. 13. To all this flourish I briefly Reply in the words of Mr. Chillingworth If the Church of Rome be Zion and they that turn from iniquity in Jacob they may have Title to this Covenant If not They must forbear and leave it to the Jews after their Conversion To whom it is appropriated by a more Infallible Interpreter than the Pope I mean St. Paul Rom. 11. 26. And it seems the Church of Rome also believes as much For otherwise why does she in the Margent of her Bible send us to that place of St. Paul for an Exposition Addit Discourses p. 36. Out of the New Testament he hath cited several Texts which I shall set down in their order with short remarks upon them Math. 16. 18. Vpon this Rock I will build my Church and the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it pag. 13. This Text hath been so often and so fully Answer'd that I admire the confidence of this Missioner who at this time can pretend to urge it In short This Text is a Promise of the Perpetuity of the Catholick Church But not of the Infallibility no nor the Perpetuity of the Roman Church Matth 28. 20. And I am with you alway even unto the end of the World. Amen What You only You of the Church of Rome Are there no other Pastors and Teachers besides You in the Church of Christ But doth Presencâ— signify Infallibility Hath he not promised Where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them Matth 18. 20. And are all such Assemblies Infallible John 14. 16. I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter that he may abide with you for ever V. 17. even the Spirit of Truth whom the World cannot receive V. 26. He shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you Ch. 16. V. 13. When he the Spirit of truth is come he will guide you into all truth for he shall not speak of himself but whatsoever he shall hear that shall be speak and he will shew you things to come What hath the Church of Rome to do with these Scriptures Did the Church of Rome ever hear the Sermons and Discourses of our Blessed Saviour If not How can they be brought to her Remembrance Is it not therefore evident from several Passages in both those Chapters that these Promises do belong only to the Apostles who personally conversed with our Saviour As being made to those To whom he had many more things to say
Acts of Worship as Prayers Sacraments Hearing the word c. are performed by us as Members of the Catholic Church And therefore we are obliged to Communicate in these Duties not only with our own National Church but also if our occasions do call us abroad with any other Church in the world Provided that we may do it upon Catholic Terms and Conditions These things premised we are now prepared to Determine How far the Catholic Church spread over the face of the whole world is in Communion with the Bishop of Rome Which will easily be decided by observing That there is a Twofold Communion 1. Of Co-ordination or Friendship 2. Subordination or Subjection As to the former we may safely affirm All the Churches in the world are thus far in Communion with the Bishop of Rome That they may own him for a Christian Bishop as acknowledging the Church of Rome to be a true Church though indeed a very corrupt Church And if they do not Communicate further with him it is his own fault But this it it seems will not satisfie this Missioner Who most vainly fancy 's that there is no Communion without Subjection And that no Church can be in Communion with the Church of Rome without submitting to her Authority When therefore it is affirmed That the Catholic Church is thus Subject to the Bishop of Rome If this Missioner pleads That de facto all other Churches are actually thus Subject we then deny it for the greater part of Christendom doth protest against the Errors and oppose the Usurpations of the Bishop of Rome But if he contends that de jure they ought so to be and that this Subjection is their Duty then let him prove it What I have now said is sufficient to convince this Missioner of his mistaken Notion of the Church of Rome Which if he thinks fit to Defend he must then prove 1. That the Church of Rome is the Catholic Church i.e. He must convince us Either 1. That she is the whole Church and that there is no other Church besides her or else 2. That she is the only true and Orthodox Church 2. That the Bishop of Rome is the Supream Pastor of the Church of Christ Which when he hath proved I shall then grant him 3. That the Catholic Church spread over the face of the whole world is in Communion with i. e. is Subject to the Bishop of Rome And here should I now hold my Pen and proceed no further in my Reflections I have given this Missioner work enough But if he will be so modest as to confess his mistake I 'le help him to a better Definition of the Church of Rome and less liable to exception By the Roman Church we do not understand the particular Diocess of Rome but we understand that vastly extended Community of Christians which hold Communion with the Church of Rome submitting themselves to the Bishop of Rome as to their Head so that whatsoever he Decrees with a General Council they embrace as the Definition of the true Church which they hold Infallible Question of Questions Sect. 17. p. 373. Had this Missioner been so prudent as to have consulted this Author whom he was pleased to recommend for the Plain-mans Satisfaction we might then make short work on 't and without further diversion might have proceeded to the Second Inquiry viz. 2. What is meant by Infallible Which he thus explains By the word Infallibility we do not mean only Indefectibility and Duration but an unerring Direction in necessary points of Faith. So that when we say the Church of Rome is infallible we mean that Almighty God hath given an Authoritative Power to the Church of Rome to declare in case of Differences which is the Faith which was once delivered to the Saints Jude 3. So that in case of Differences about the sense of Scripture or any divinely revealed Truths the Church of Rome is to decide the Difference and end the Controversie And to perform this we say she is assisted by the Spirit of Almighty God who as he hath ordained her for our Direction so he secures her from erring whilst she Directs Which assistance we call Infallibility Missioners Answer p. 10. This he endeavours to confirm by inquiring Thirdly 3. From whence had she the Church of Rome this Authority of unerring Guidance p. 11. To which he gives us this Answer You must not think that the Church of Rome has this power from her self for we know that all men may fail All Communities and Assemblies are subject to error and mistakes where then is the Infallibility of Oral Tradition But she has it from God himself who is faitful and true to his Promises Ibid. But 4. How doth it appear that the Church of Rome is thus Infallible and that God hath made her these Promises of unerring Guidance Ibid. This he tells us is evident from the plain Testimonies of Holy Scripture both Old and New Testament Ibid. Thus far I do readily Subscribe That if the Church of Rome is Infallible She must have this Priviledg from God himself And if there is such a Promise of unerring Guidance it must be found in the Holy Scriptures Let it therefore appear from those Sacred Writings that God hath promised such an unerring Guidance to the Church of Rome and I shall then Dispute no further but submit to her Direction Now to prove this Infallibility this Missioner hath cited Twenty Places of Scripture which the Question of Questions tells him are in the Bible But how little they are to his purpose I do thus endeavour to convince him by examining them in their order His First Text is that noted Place Deut. 17. 8. c. From whence the Argument is this The Jewish Church was Infallible Therefore The Church of Rome is Infallible To which I thus Answer Both Propositions Antecedent and Consequent are false And First it doth not appear from this Place of Scripture nor indeed from any other That the Jewish Church was Infallible From what Circumstance in this Text will the Missioner infer such a Conclusion Was it 1. Because in that Church there was a Supream Court of Judicature from whence there was no Appeal Or 2. Because the Priests the Levites and the Judg were to give Sentence Or 3. Was it because the contemner of this Sentence was to be put to Death Now if these Passages do prove Infallibility there was 〈◊〉 Infallibility in the State as well as in the Church in the Judg the Civil Magistrate no less then the Priest and â—n every Inferior Priest as well as the High Priest But I need not insist on these Suggestions since there is no arguing against matter of Fact. If therefore it doth appear in any instance That the Jewish Church or the Roman hath actually erred 't is too late to pretend that she is Infallible To convince him that she hath erred I Demand of this Missioner The Sentence of the Sanhedrim whereby