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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
word_n	rule_n	scripture_n	tradition_n	4,192	5	9.5355	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A45738	A discourse against purgatory	Hartcliffe, John, 1651-1712.	1685 (1685)	Wing H965; ESTC R9914	22,914	41

their Prayers and thereby make God himself our Debtour for he that giveth to the Poor lendeth to the Lord. Lastly The Champions for Popery alledge for Purgatory 1 Pet. 3.19 20. By which also he went and preached to the Spirits in prison by which they undrstand the Descent of Christ into Purgatory to loose some Souls there from their Torments But 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by which relates to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Spirit that is set down just before it by which Spirit in Noah who is called a Preacher of Righteousness Christ Jesus is said to Preach to the Generation of Men immediately before the Floud whose Souls are now shut up in Hell for their Disobedience For this Preaching was not performed by an immediate act of the Son of God as if he personally had appeared on Earth and actually Preached to the Old World but he did it by the Ministry of a Prophet for to doe any thing by another that is not able to perform it without him as much demonstrates the existence of the principal cause as if he did it of himself without any intervening instrument But if Purgatory be intended in these words we must be mightily mistaken in our conceptions about a future state then the days that follow after Death do afford opportunities of obtaining a better Life then may Men rise from a life of torments to a life of joy whereas the Angels had one Instant either to stand or fall eternally what that Instant was to them that this Life is to us for after Death immediately follows Judgment the Soul at its departure from the Body knows its doom and what it must trust to for ever The Schoolmen labour all they can to destroy the true Belief of Christians in this matter and have the face to propose it as a matter of Faith that Christ delivered the Souls of the Saints from the very suburbs of Hell which they call Limbus of the Fathers It is pity but the wits of these Men had been better employed than in building such Castles in the Air or in filling Mens thoughts with imaginary Ideas of strange places in the other World that have no foundation in Scripture which is our surest guide against all such Notional wandrings opens our eyes to perceive the reality of things and clears the brain not onely from Darkness but form false and useless Light especially the Ignis fatuus of Purgatory which serves onely to mislead Men out of the way and so lose them in the bogs or woods of perpetual errour which teaches us to believe quite otherwise than the Papists do for such as these are the instructions of the Holy Spirit Joh. 5.24 Verily verily I say unto you he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life he shall not come into condemnation but is passed from death to life Mat. 18.8 Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee cut them off and cast them from thee it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed rather than having two hands and two feet to be cast into everlasting fire Mat. 19.29 And every one that hath forsaken houses or Brethren or Sisters or Father or Mother or Wife or Children or Lands for my names sake shall receive an hundredfold and shall inherit everlasting life Mat. 25.46 And these shall go into everlasting punishment but the righteous into life everlasting In the sixteeth Chapter of St. Luke's Gospel from the nineteenth to the one and thirtieth Verse we reade how the Rich Man was cast into Torments and the Poor Man lodged in Abraham's Bosome between the places of both these Men there was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Wide Gulph never to be passed insomuch that Dives did despair of any relief out of his misery when the gift of a drop of water to cool his tongue would not be granted him If we can assent to what the Papists say they have paved a large Caus-way over this wide Gulph and have opened a very easie passage from a life of torments to that of eternal happiness For by virtue of some prayers oblations and indulgences they have made the way broad to Heaven and narrow to Hell a Man that hath money in his pocket cannot be damned and a Camel may as soon pass through the eye of a needle as a poor Man be saved But granting that the written word of God hath nothing of Purgatory in it the Romanists will tell you that Tradition will defend them in the belief thereof which word Tradition they are wont to alledge to give a colour to most of their present innovations Wherefore in the second place I am to shew how they are mistaken in this case of Tradition also and to declare for what reasons the Fiction of Purgatory was first set on foot The Traditions we receive as good and authentick are the Doctrines which we now reade in the holy Scriptures but I have proved Purgatory to be none of these therefore those of the Romish Perswasion must mean some other Tradition that is not to be found written in the word of God But here we ought to observe that the Scripture in this case aswell as in all others is the onely rule of Faith therefore Traditions Councils and Fathers are onely to be used as helps to understand the Scripture better but not to be entertained as any rule of Faith in which case we are bound to be of the Apostle's mind If I or an Angel from Heaven preach any other doctrine than that which we have delivered let him he accursed For this reason we cannot receive those Doctrines for truth which the Church of Rome presses upon our Belief upon the account of Tradition especially when we consider with what strategems of force and fraud this Church hath laboured to keep the People in ignorance for the sake of her New Doctrines that they may be swallowed the more glibly which is an artifice to enslave Mankind by disabling them either to see or know what she is a-doing whereas if we would keep up the honour and privilege of Humane nature if we would preserve our Bibles from being sequestred into Hucksters hands if we have any regard to God's pure and undefiled Religion we must resolve against the Novelties of Popery For in the true Religion there is nothing which the reason of Mankind can challenge wherein the judgments of Men may not have so good an account as to receive full and ample satisfaction And to speak the truth I do not understand that there is among Protestants what more is to be found among the Papists is accommodated to serve some bye-ends and purposes For this reason a great Abbat in the Roman Church was wont to say that he did greatly suspect his Religion must needs fail being not built upon so firm a Rock as was supposed because there was so little Ground for many Tenents of it in the Word of God I may add that there is