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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
work_n	doctrine_n	faith_n	justification_n	11,083	5	9.1802	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A56100	The Protestants letter concerning the re-union of the two religions to the Assembly of the clergy of France, held at Paris, May, 1685 humbly offered to the consideration of all Protestants in England, as an expedient for reconciling the great differences in religion now among them.	Kidder, Richard, 1633-1703.; Catholic Church. Assemblée générale du clergé de France.	1690 (1690)	Wing P3851; Wing K409_CANCELLED; ESTC R882	28,330	38

shall not mark out which those Articles are which might be abandoned to you because we are not sufficiently authorised thereunto a full Assembly would be requisite to discuss an Affair of such importance But that which we can assure you of is this that this Maxim would save you almost all the exterior part of your Religion so that you might make a Reformation of the Church without fearing the Revolt of those People who are concerned for nothing but the outside thereof But yet nevertheless Sirs you ought not to put into the number of those things to which we might accommodate our selves out of Complaisance those external Ceremonies which go to the rendring of a Religious Service to the Creature for we have told you that is a thing our Consciences can never endure Our Fifth and Sixth Principles do amount unto thus much That in the things which should by mutual agreement be retrenched for the edification of the Church or tolerated for the benefit of Peace and for a Re-union neither Party should be obliged either to abjure the Errors and the Worships which should be so retrenched or to subscribe to the Opinions which should be tolerated This is also Sirs an Article which would be entirely unto our advantage for if your Charity and your Complaisance did carry you to retrench for Example sake the Invocation of Saints the Adoration of Images and that of the Sacrament of the Eucharist as things which might be laid aside we should not press you to condemn as Criminals the Practices which you should have renounced but waiting until God should illuminate you to make you know the true Character of those Worships and their true Name we should suffer you to say that you had retrenched out of Complaisance Worships which in themselves were not evil and by which means you should not be obliged to condemn your Ancestors nor to impeach your Church But it would be just that we should also enjoy the privilege of this Maxim and that in the things which we did tolerate you should not oblige us to any abjuration of our Sentiments nor unto a Confession of yours If for Example sake we did agree to tolerate the Opinion of the Real Presence it would not be just to oblige us to the Abjuration of the Real Absence or to the Confession of the Real Presence for that alone would be an invincible Obstacle to a Re-union A Man may well enough tolerate an Error but he ought never to betray the Truth If it should be agreed upon to tolerate the Opinion of Purgatory you ought not to oblige us to subscribe to it nor yet to conceal our proper Sentiments and by the same Reason you might not retain all those Worships and all those Devotions which are founded upon that Opinion of Purgatory for if you do retain those Worships they will become our Worships and our Devotions by Virtue of that Union into which we are entred with your Church We should confess and establish that Purgatory which we did in the mean while renounce with our Hearts and which we did condemn by our Words which would be to put a Christian into a State of Contradiction and oblige him to establish and to destroy one and the same thing a Conduct entirely opposite unto Christian Sincerity Our Seventh and last Principle is That in an Accommodation of Re-union Truth ought to be interessed as little as possibly can be in such sort that the generality and particular Persons ought to be left to their own liberty to instruct themselves by the Word of God and by amicable Conferences upon those Points which should be released on both sides for it would not be convenient to make a Form of Confession of Faith which all should be obliged to subscribe and to hold unto It was not so that the Apostolical Church did persevere in their Union notwithstanding that great diversity of Sentiments which was between the converted Jews and the Pagans which were turned Christians you know Sirs that that diversity was very great all the converted Jews were Zealots for the Law as St. Luke doth expresly tell us in the 21 Chap. of the Acts they did believe that the observation of the Law was necessary unto those who did embrace the Gospel St. Paul and all the converted Pagans held that such observation of the Law was pernicious Now they did not patch up a Confession of Faith in general and ambigious Terms to content both the Parties but each of them kept their own Sentiments and yet for all that they did continue united You have Sirs in your own Church a great diversity of Opinions in Things of exceeding great importance wherein every Party hath a right to search out the Truth and to endeavour to make it known unto others without any prejudice to the Union The same course ought to be used in respect of Opinions which it shall be thought fit to tolerate in favour of a general Re-union There is good reason to believe that God will bless the endeavours of those who make search after Truth without Passion and in the Spirit of Peace and that both Parties being re-united they would quickly come to an universal agreement as well in respect of Doctrines as of Worship These several Principles which we have here established and applied unto divers Articles might be also applied unto a great many more There are Points of Faith and there are Points of Discpline there are Controversies purely speculative as those of Predestination Free-Will Grace Justification Merit by Works It is not this sort of things that can put any Obstacle to a Re-union because these do rarely come so far as the People who are the most interessed in this Affair and a Toleration might easily be granted in those very differences wherein Men of each Communion do already bear with one another There are other Controversies which respect the Worship and they will be easily terminated by applying unto them the precedent Principles Finally there are some Controversies which relate unto Government and Discipline wherein our fourth Principle will give you huge advantages It is not for us Sirs to take upon us to descend into a more particular retail of those things wherein we might give our selves a liberty but yet I dare assure you that there is scarcely any thing which we should not do for Peace the Glory of God and our Consciences in the first place being well secured We desire you moreover Sirs to consider that the Relaxations which we desire of you do no way interest your Honour nor your Glory those false Maxims of Worldly Glory ought to have no place or consideration in Religion They who make the greatest advances for Peace do get the greatest Glory You have begun those advances by the Pastoral Letter which your late Assembly did address unto all our Flocks we will gladly look upon it as an effect of you Charity but that same Charity which carries you to invite us to a