Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	faith_n	ground_n	pillar_n	2,365	5	9.9071	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A61810	The peoples right to read the Holy Scripture asserted in answer to the 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th chapters, of the second part of the Popish representer.	Stratford, Nicholas, 1633-1707.	1687 (1687)	Wing S5938; ESTC R9008	62,942	97

the Church of Rome doth And tho Protestants never refuse to yield assent to all such Doctrines as the Church truly Catholic hath in all Ages taught yet they can see no reason to pin their Faith upon the Church of Rome there being as vast a difference between the Church of Rome and the Church Catholick as between the Church of York and the Church of England But St. Paul Heb. 13. 17. commands all to obey and submit to those that are over them 'T is true and I grant that by those that are over them he means Ecclesiastical Superiors But does not the same St. Paul command Children to obey their Parents and Servants to obey their Masters Would he therefore have all Children and Servants to take their Faith upon trust from their Parents and Masters He also commanded every Soul to be subject to the Higher Powers and yet I am pretty confident that his meaning was not that every Christian should then believe as the Roman Emperor did But he commands to obey and submit not only as to External Government but as to Truth and Belief Then those who had Arian Bishops as a great part of the Church for some time had were bound to believe that Christ was not God and those who had Donatist Bishops were bound to believe that the Church of Rome was so far from being the Catholick Church that it was not so much as a Part of it But how does the Representer prove That the People ought absolutely to submit their Faith to those that are over them because the Apostle says v. 7. whose Faith follow And does he not say Chap. 6. 12. Be ye Followers of them who through Faith and Patience inherit the Promises Are we therefore bound to believe as every deceased Christian hath believed In both places the Apostle speaks of Christians departed this Life in the later of Christians indifferently in the former of Christian Bishops And the words should be render'd Remember them which have had the Rule over You which have spoken to You the Word of God such for instance as James Bishop of Jerusalem who had witness'd the Faith by his Death whose Faith follow And the meaning is this Imitate them in their Constancy and Perseverance in the Christian Profession and Practice notwithstanding all the Persecutions you meet with in the World. The Pillar and Ground of Truth 1 Tim. 3. 15. may relate either to Timothy himself or to that Summary of Christian Doctrine that follows But suppose it relate to the Church that particular Church was primarily meant in which Timothy was directed how to behave himself and I think no Romanist says That a Man is bound to believe as every particular Church believes The words of Christ Matth. 18. 17. If he hear not the Church let him be unto thee as an Heathen Man and a Publican are also impertinent because he speaks there not of Matters of Faith but of Fact and directs what course is to be taken for the ending of private Quarrels between Man and Man tho had he spoken of Matters of Faith they would not have been to the purpose because by the Church can be meant no other than that particular Church of which the offending Brother was a Member I need say no more to shew how unconcluding those Reasons are by which he would perswade us to abandon our Reason and to take the sense of Scripture upon trust from his Church CHAP. IV. I Proceed now to the fourth and last Head viz. The false Constructions as the Representer calls them which the Protestants make of this Practice of the Church of Rome or the wrong Inferences they deduce from it Which are these three 1. That the Vulgar Papists are deprived of the Word of God. 2. That they take up all their Belief upon trust 3. That the Reason why they are not permitted to read the Bible is for fear lest they should discover the Errors of their Religion Whether these are Misconstructions or no I shall leave the impartial Reader to judg after I shall have consider'd those Reasons by which he endeavours to prove that they are so SECT I. The first Protestant Inference is That the Vulgar 〈…〉 Papists are deprived of the Word of God of the Food of their Souls (i) Chap. 6 p. 43 44 4● To prevent Cavils and Evasions I premise this The Protestant does not say that the Vulgar Papists have nothing of the Scripture allow'd them He very well knows that some shreds of it are now and then given them in Sermons and some small parcels in their Catechisms and Manuals of Devotion But what then Will it hence follow that it is false to say they are deprived of the Scripture Will not every Man say That he is deprived of his Father's Will who is allowed no more than the sight of here and there a Line transcrib'd from it Or that a Man's Inheritance is detain'd from him who has no more than a small Pension given him out of it One may a little wonder that this should be reckon'd a false Inference What! are they not depriv'd of the Word of God who are not suffer'd to read it or so much as to have it in a Language they understand No says the Representer The Vulgar of our Communion have more of this Holy Food than those of any other Perswasion whatsoever (k) P. 45. This is yet more wonderful That they should not be permitted to have it and yet that they should have more of it than those who have the whole of it in their Hands and daily read it How shall we unriddle this Why They are taught it by their Pastors Be it so Does it thence follow that they have more of it than those of other Perswasions who are taught it by their Pastors as well as they For whereas he presently suggests That the Protestants are for leaving their Pastors that they may teach themselves that 's a Calumny Tho the Protestants read the Scriptures themselves yet they do not reject their Pastors They do not think the use of the one does render the other needless now any more than it did in the first Ages of the Christian Church when they both went together and were both thought necessary But that they who are taught it by their Pastors only should have more of it than those who are both taught it by them and have the whole of it in their own possession is as true as that a part is more than the whole But the Representer will say Their Pastors teach them all that is necessary for them to know How shall the Vulgar know this We can tell them of Pastors who have concealed from their People some of the most necessary Points of the Christian Faith but I need not name them to the Representer But how are the People assur'd that what they teach them is indeed the Word of God and not their own Inventions when they are not suffered to examine

denied to the Vulgar yet when they are charged with it by Protestants they either take the confidence plainly to deny it or if they own the Charge as the Representer doth they endeavour to put such glosses upon it as to make their denial of the Scripture to be in effect but a better way of granting it For since it is not the words of the Bible but the sense and meaning of the words that is properly the Word of God while they withhold from them the Letter they provide means to acquaint them with the Spirit or the true sense of Scripture and so deliver it to them with much more advantage than People of any other Perswasion have it What others have formerly written for their Vindication in this Matter it is needless now to examine since it is not to be supposed but that the Representer hath said as much to the purpose as any of those who have gone before him I shall therefore confine the ensuing Discourse to what he hath said in his 6th 7th 8th 9th and 10th Chapters And that it may be the more clear and satisfactory I shall shew these four Things I. What is the Practice of the Church of Rome in this Matter II. That this Practice is plainly contrary to the Will of God to the Reason of the Thing and to the Practice of the Christian Church for more than a thousand Years after Christ III. The insufficiency of those Reasons by which the Representer endeavours to justify it IV. Vindicate those Inferences the Protestants draw from it All that is said by the Representer may I think be reduced to one or other of these Heads CHAP. I. THough some may think it needless to insist upon the first of these since what the Protestants charge the Church of Rome with in this Matter is freely enough owned by the Representer himself * Chap. 6. p. 45 46. Chap. 7. p. 52. Chap. 9. p. 57. yet because some of that Communion here in England who for prudential Reasons are not so straitly tied up do confidently deny it it may not be amiss for their information to give some short account of it from better Authority than that of the Representer For which we need go no further than the fourth Rule of the Trent Expurgatory Index which is this Since it is manifest by experience that if the Holy Bible be promiscuously permitted in the vulgar Tongue by reason of the rashness of Men more Loss than Profit will thence arise In this Matter let the Judgment of the Bishop or Inquisitor be stood to that with the advice of the Parish Priest or Confessor they may grant the reading of the Bible in the vulgar Tongue translated by Catholick Authors to such as they shall understand can receive no hurt by such reading but increase of Faith and Piety Which Faculty let them have in writing But he that without such Faculty shall presume to read or to have the Bible he may not receive Absolution of his Sins except he first deliver up his Bible to the Ordinary If any Man shall say That this Rule hath not the force of a Law Monsieur de Maire Counsellor Almoner and Preacher to the King of France in a Book published by Authority shall give him an Answer This Rule saith he is founded in Ecclesiastical Right and no Man can transgress it without contradicting that Obedience which he owes to the Church and the Holy See from which it hath received its Confirmation Forasmuch as this Rule was not made but in prosecution of the Decree of the Council of Trent c. no Man can deny but that it hath been approved by the Holy Sea and authorized by the Bulls of Pius IV and Clement VIII who after they had view'd and diligently examin'd it publish'd it to the World with Order that it should be obey'd (b) Enfin je maintiens que cette Regle est fondeé en droict Ecclesiastique et qu' on ne la peut violer sans choquer l'obeïssance qu' l'on doit à l'Eglise c. Le Sanctuaire serme aux Profanes part 3. c. 1. p. 335 336. If says he there be any thing that can hinder this Rule from having the Force of a Law it must be either because it hath not been published or being published hath not been received but neither the one nor the other can be said since it is evident that this is the old Quarrel we have with our Hereticks that this is that which our Church hath always been upbraided with by the Enemies of the Faith this is that which is the Subject of their most outragious Calumnies this is that which hath been acknowledged by 〈◊〉 wise Men that which hath been earnestly maintained by all the Defenders of Catholick Truths c Ce que personne n' ignore ce que tout le monde publie n' y aiant point de creance plus commune ny plus generale parmy les fidels c. Ibid. that which no Person is ignorant of that which the whole World publishes there being no Point of Belief more common nor more general among the Faithful than this of the Prohibition to read the Bible without permission And this Belief so common is says he a certain Proof not only of the publication but of the reception of this Rule It cannot be denied but that it hath been received by all those Nations by which the Decrees of Trent were universally received And so they were as Pallavicino tells us d Pallav. l. 24. c. 9 11 12 13. in Italy Spain Sicily Portugal Poland the greater part of Germany and many other Countries But suppose this Rule were not received as imposed by the Council of Trent yet in all Popish Countries they have made it a Law to themselves It is not indeed observed in France upon the Authority of the Council but they have set it up and established it as a Law by their own Authority as is manifest by the Mandates of their Archbishops and Bishops the Decrees of their Provincial Councils and the Edicts and Arrests of their Kings and Parliaments e La Bible Deffendue au Vulgaire Part. 3. c. 1 4. Collectio Auctor Versiones Vulg. damnant It is true there is a little more latitude in France for granting a Licence for not only the Bishop and his Vicar-General but the Penitentiary or a Man 's own Parish Priest may grant it f Mandeuent de Monseigneur L' Archevesque de Paris portant defense de lire la Bible en Langue Vulgaire sans permission Fait le 2 Septembre 1650. But then to make an amends for this in other Countries the Rule is made stricter than it was at first by the Trent Fathers for that does not forbid the Vulgar Bible but only the reading it without a Licence whereas the 5th Rule of the Spanish Index prohibits the Bibles themselves in the Vulgar Tongue and all Parts of them too and that not

so slippery so weak various wavering changeable inconstant as you see the private Reason of the Learned is to be rely'd on by them as their Guide in expounding of Scripture How can you imagine it possible for all Christians to concur in the same Belief while the Learned who read and expound the Scripture give differing and contrary interpretations of it For as long as the Scripture is no otherwise in their Heads and Hearts than by the interpretation they make of it their Faith must necessarily be as various as their Interpretation And is not the Story of the Manna which follows as applicable to the Learned For was not the taste of the Manna as different to the Priests as it was to the People Did it not relish according to that kind of Meat that was most grateful to every Priest's Palate Now if the Priests in Canaan had receiv'd a Command of bringing forth that sort of Meat whose taste should be like that of the Manna they ate in the Desert was it possible they should all agree in their Dish Since tho the Manna was the same they all fed on yet the Relish was as different as their Tempers and Palats Don't you therefore see that Men will never be of one Spirit and one Mind until the reading of the Scripture be prohibited to the Learned and not to some but to all his Holiness as Infallible only excepted For if it be allow'd to the Cardinals notwithstanding their Eminences above others together with his Holiness they will never agree in the sense of it For I can tell you of many Cardinals who have differ'd from his Holiness and among themselves too about the sense of it Is it not then as plain as Demonstration that there will be no end of Controversies as long as the Scriptures are read by any Man in the World besides the Pope And perhaps not then neither for since he is not infallible but when he speaks from his Chair which seldom happens at other times he may chance to contradict himself and give one sense of Scripture this Year another the next It were therefore most advisable could it possibly be effected that the Book it self were utterly abolished Let not any Man interpret this to the disparagement of Learning since nothing can be more evident than that the Learned have vast Advantages above the rest of Mankind for attaining to the true meaning of the more obscure Texts of Scripture provided they sincerely search after Truth and are so humble so sensible of their own liableness to mistake that they daily implore the Divine Assistance But if they be destitute of these Qualifications they are not only as subject to err but to err more dangerously than others In the beginning of the 10th Chapter the Representer talks again at the same impertinent rate so agreeable to him is this way of reasoning that he naturally falls into it in every Chapter But the Vanity of it lies so open that it need not be further exposed If any Man please to consult the place I shall leave it to himself to judg whether it be not every whit as applicable against permitting the Scripture to the Learned as the Vulgar But the Representer may say The Church of Rome does not allow the Learned to interpret Scripture according to their own private Reason For the Council of Trent has decreed That no Man presume to interpret Scripture contrary to the sense of the Church or the unanimous consent of the Fathers And has not the Church of England her Confession of Faith contrary to which she allows none of her Members to interpret Scripture Does she not admit all such Traditional Interpretations as can be derived from the Fountain And for all such Texts as are obscure and doubtful does she not direct the Vulgar to consult their Guides Tho it is true she does not command them to believe that White is Black or that Vice is Vertue if the Priest says that it is But however the Church of Rome denies them the liberty of interpreting the Scripture in their own sense it is certain that they commonly take it else how comes it that they give such different senses of the same Scripture How comes it that many of the Learned expound the sixth Chapter of St. John of the sacramental eating of Christ's Flesh and many as learned as they say that no such matter is there intended How comes it when so many tell us that these words This is my Body are so plain for Transubstantiation that he must be quite blind who does not see it that others whose sight is as good as theirs tell us they are not able to see this in them Do these Learned Men in their Exposition of the Scripture give us the sense of the Roman Church or do they not If not they follow their own private Reason if they do their Church gives contrary senses of Scripture and is as far from being one in this respect as it is from being Catholic He confesses p. 63. That some of the Protestants to keep up the Face of the Church do speculatively contend for Authority and Guides But then he says In Fact they defeat all these their Pretensions How do they in Fact defeat them Because they own no Authority so great or safe but it is to be subjected to the controul of every private Examiner They own an Authority so great as to Matters of External Government as to be subject to the controul of no Man who lives in Communion with the Church But he means an Authority so great that whatsoever the Church commands and prescribes to be receiv'd as the Truth and Faith of Christ it ought to be received But can the Church have no Authority unless Men are bound to believe without examination whatsoever she prescribes to be believed If so then had she no Authority in our Saviour's and his Apostles days no nor for several Ages after them For if any such Authority had been own'd in the fourth Century how came it to pass that after the Nicene Council the Arian Heresy spread more than it had done before If this be to open a Gate to all the Fanaticisms and Quakerisms in the World 't is certain the Protestants did not first open it but it was long before open'd by our Blessed Saviour when he gave this Command to his Disciples Call no Man Father upon the Earth for one is Your Father which is in Heaven neither be ye called Masters for one is Your Master even Christ (h) Mat. 23. 9 10. As much as to say There is none upon Earth by whose sense a Christian is to be absolutely determin'd his Faith is not to be resolv'd into any Man's Authority But by the Creed all Christians are bound to believe the Holy Catholic Church Yes That there is such a Church and that this Church teaches all Truths necessary to be known But it is one thing to believe this another thing to believe as