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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
authority_n	believe_v	certain_a	church_n	2,305	5	5.2354	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A69765	Some reflections on that part of a book called Amyntor, or, The defence of Milton's life, which relates to the writings of the primitive fathers and the canon of the New Testament in a letter to a friend.	Clarke, Samuel, 1675-1729.	1699 (1699)	Wing C4560A; ESTC R15286	14,145	50

SOME REFLECTIONS On that part of a Book called AMYNTOR OR THE Defence of Milton 's Life Which relates to the WRITINGS of the Primitive Fathers And the CANON of the New Testament In a Letter to a Friend LONDON Printed for James Knapton at the Crown in St. Paul's Church-yard 1699. SIR THE Design which the Author of the defence of Milton's Life professes that he had in writing that part of his Book which relates to the Writings of the Primitive Fathers and the Canon of the New Testament was only to vindicate himself from the Charge of denying the Scripture and declaring his doubt that several pieces under the name of Christ and his Apostles recieved now by the whole Christian Church are supposititious by shewing that what he had said in the Life of Milton concerning the spuriousness of several pieces under the name of Christ and his Apostles was meant not of those Writings which are now received by the whole Christian Church but of those Apocryphal Pieces which were in many places received and approved in the Primitive Times This is what the Author professes to be the only design of this part of his Book And though for his own sake I cannot but heartily wish it were really no other yet because there are several Passages wherein he either so expresses the very slight esteem that he has for the Primitive Fathers as seems to reflect upon our Religion it self or raises such doubts about the authority of the Canon of the New Testament as Hereticks to use his own words may draw mischievous inferences from and by which Scruples may be put into the minds of Sincere Christians I have therefore sent you such short remarks as upon reading the Book have occurred to me and as I hope may be of some use to others on this Occasion The Principal Propositions which our Author maintains and which I thought most to deserve consideration are these three First Pag. 38 39. That the Books ascribed to the Disciples and Companions of the Apostles which are still extant and at this time thought genuine and of great Authority such as the Epistle of Clemens to the Corinthians the Epistles of Ignatius the Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians the Pastor of Hermas and the Epistle of Barnabas for about the rest which he mentions there is no great Controversie are all very easily proved to be spurious and fraudulently imposed upon the credulous Secondly pag. 38. That 't is the easiest task in the world to shew the ignorance and superstition of the Writers of these Books pag. 45. That Barnabas has many ridioulous passages and by saying that the Apostles before their Conversion were the greatest sinners in nature robs us of an argument we draw from their integrity and simplicity against Infidels That the Pastor of Hermas is the silliest Book in the World And that Ignatius says pag. 46. the Virginity of Mary was a secret to the Devil which I suppose he cites as a ridiculous saying Thirdly That they who think these Books genuine ought to receive them into the Canon of Scripture since the reputed Authors of them were the Companions and fellow-labourers of the Apostles as well as St. Mark or St. Luke which is the only reason he ever heard of why these two Evangelists are thought Inspired pag. 48. For to say that these Books ought not to be received now into the Canon because the Ancients did not think fit to approve them is but a mere evasion since many Books now received as Canonical were not approved by the Ancients pag. 57. and some received by the Ancients are now rejected b● the Moderns and Mr. Dodael owns pag. 73. that anciently no difference was put by the Church between the Apocryphal and Canonical Books of the New Testament and besides no stress can be laid on the Testimony of the Fathers pag. 80. since they not only contradict one another but are often inconsistent with themselves in their relations of the very same facts were divided into various Sects pag. 56. who in those early days did like us condemn one another for damnable Hereticks used to reason precariously p. 50 51. as Irenaeus the famous Successor of the Apostles argues from the four Regions of the World and the four Winds that there cannot be more nor fewer than four Gospels and give hard names to those who contemn such precarious reasoning These are the principal Assertions of our Author which because they seem to me not only to be salse but also to be proposed with too bold a liberty of passing censures upon the judgment both of the ancient and modern Church I shall therefore in answer to them and for a Vindication of the Primitive Fathers and Modern Doctors of the Christian Church with submission advance these three Propositions First that though we are not infallibly certain that the Epistles of Clemens Ignatius Polyearp and Barnabas with the Pastor of Hermas are Genuine yet that they are generally believed to be so upon very great Authority and with very good Reason Secondly That therefore though they are not received as of the same Anthority with the Canonical Books of the New Testament yet they ought to have a proportionable Veneration paid to them both with respect to the Authors and to the Writings themselves Thirdly That neither the Belief of the Genuiness of these Books nor the Respect paid to them as such does in the least diminish from the Authority of the New Testament or tend to make the number of the Canonical Books Vncertain or Precarious I. First That though we are not infallibly certain that the Epistles of Clemens Ignatius Polycarp and Barnabas with the Pastor of Hermas are Genuine yet that they are generally believed to be so upon very great Authority and with very good Reason 1. The Epistle of Clemens to the Corinthians a * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euseb Hist l. 3. c. 16. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Id. l. 3. c. 38. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Id. l. 5. c. 6. ex Irenaeo l. 3.3 c. 3. great and wonderful Epistle saith Eusebius was unanimously and without any controversie received by the antient Church and † 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Id. l. 3. l. 16. read publickly in most Churches both antiently and in his time And that the Epistle now extant is the same with that which was so commended by the Antients has not been questioned by any Learned Man these many years and has been lately proved at large by the Learned Doctor Wake in his Genuine Epistles of the Apostolical Fathers and by Grabius in his Spicilegium p. 261. whom I shall not now transcribe 2. That Ignatius wrote several Epistles * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euseb Hist l. 3. c. 36. one to the Ephesians one to the Magnesians one to the Trallians one to the Romans one to the Philadelphians one to the Smyrnaeans and one to Polycarp Eusebius expresly testifies quoting

force with Mr. T. 4. Fourthly Therefore and which is a direct decision of this Question I add that the true reason why such a certain and determinate number of Writings are received as the Canon of Scripture that is as an Authoritative Rule of Faith and Manners is because they were written by the Apostles themselves who are acknowledged to have been guided by an infallible Spirit or which is all one were dictated reviewed and approved by them or some of them All the Books of the New Testament except the Gospels of St. Mark and St. Luke and the Acts of the Apostles are therefore received as Canonical because the Church upon undoubted Grounds believes them to be written immediately by the Apostles themselves and these three Books are therefore received as Canonical likewise because we believe them to have been dictated reviewed and approved by some of the Apostles And this is a plain and direct reason though Mr. T. is so modest to say he never heard of it pag. 48. why the Writings of St. Mark and St. Luke who were only Companions of the Apostles are received among the Canonical Writings of the Apostles and yet the Epistles of Clemens and Barnabas who were Fellow-labourers with the Apostles are not And that this is indeed the true reason why some Books are received as of infallible Authority and others not may be sufficiently proved to any unprejudiced person from what we find in the Ancients concerning this matter That all Books acknowledged to be written by the Apostles were always received as of unquestionable Authority is evident The Question concerning any doubted Book being not whether the Writing of an Apostle should be received as of good Authority or not but whether that Writing said to be an Apostle's were indeed the Writing of him whose name it bore That the reason why the Writings of St. Mark and St. Luke were always received as of certain Authority was not because they were Contemporaries with the Apostles for so were Clemens and Hermas and Barnabas but because their Writings were particularly approved and authorized by the Apostles is plain from Eusebius who tells us expresly that St. Peter received and approved the Gospel of St. Mark and that * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l. 2. c. 15. it was this approbation that authorized it to be received by the Churches In like manner † 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l. 3. c. 2● That St. John reviewed all the Gospels and confirmed the truth of them Irenaeus likewise tells us * Marcus discipul●s interpres Pe●ri quae à Pet●● annunciata era●t edidit lib. 3. cap. 1. that what St. Mark wrote was dictated by St. Peter and that † Lu●as s●cta●or Pauli quod ab illo pr●●licabatur Evangeli●●n in ●●bro condidit Ibid. the Gospel of St. Luke was only a Transcript of St. Paul 's Preaching St. Paul himself plainly refers to it 1 Cor. 15.5 where declaring unto the Corinthians the Gospel which he had before Preached he puts them in mind how that Christ rose from the dead according to the Scriptures and that he was seen of Cephas c. which appearance of our Saviour to Peter is no vvhere mentioned but in Saint Luke's Gospel Luke 24.34 And in the first Epistle to Timothy 5.18 he quotes it with the express Title of Scripture The Scripture saith The Labourer is worthy of his Hire which words are no where found in Scripture but in St. Luke's Gospel Luke 10. v. 7. So that 't is without great reason that Learned Men have judged it to be St. Luke's Gospel which the Apostle calls his own Gospel 2 Tim. 2.8 and elsewhere And then for the Acts of the Apostles 't is plain they are an Account of St. Paul's Travels * Baron ad ann 61. written before his Death so that they are with all reason believed to have been approved by him and if they were not yet * Sunt enim Acta 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ejus operis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cuius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ipse suum agnoscit Evangelium Acta postea ab Evangelio divulserunt quibus commodius visum ob locorum saciliorem expeditioremque invicem comparationem Evangelistas separato codice complecti ab Actis secernere Dodwell Dissertat 1. in Irenaeum being anciently the same Book vvith the Gospel of St. Luke they vvere undoubtedly revievved by St. John together vvith it and their Authority vvas hardly ever that I knovv of called in question by any but † Vid. Tertull. adversus Marcion lib. 5. sub initio Marcion the Heretick Lastly That no other Books however written by the Contemporaries of the Apostles were received by the Ancients as of infallible and decisive Authority in matters of Dispute is evident Eusebius tells us expresly that the Authority of the Epistle to the Hebrews vvas questioned by some not because they doubted whether it was written in the Age of the Apostles for that they could not not but * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lib. 3. cap. 3. because the Church of Rome thought it not to be written by St. Paul The Pastor of Hermas also as † Idem ibidem the same Author tells us was esteemed so much as to be read publickly in Churches and yet never received as of infallible Authority Nay Origen goes farther thinks it to be not only a useful Book but written * Quae scriptura valde mihi 〈◊〉 videtur ut puto divinitus inspirata Origen in Rom. 16 14. even with some degree of Inspiration and yet † Si cui tamen ●criptura illa recipienda videtur Origen Hom. 8. in Nu●● imposes it not upon any one to be received as Scripture In like manner the Epistle of Clemens though the most unquestionable Piece in all Antiquity and as Eusebius Stiles it * Lib. 3. c. 38. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet it is by the same Author † Lib. 6. c. 13. elsewhere reckoned up among the Apocryphal Pieces that is as Cotelerius well observes not that any one doubted of its Genuineness or Excellency but only that they would not reckon it among the Books 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to which Eusebius there opposes it The Truth is the unquestioned Works of the Apostles were not anciently as Mr. Dodwel confesses kept in a distinct Book from the Apocryphal but read and cited promiscously with the Works of their immediate Successors But then 't is also certain that as unquestioned Works of the Apostles whenever they were cited were looked upon by all as infallible and decisive so the other Pieces whilst they were quoted and urged by some might as freely be denied or not yielded to by others Vainly therefore doth Mr. T. object That they who believe the Epistle of Clemens and the rest to be genuine cannot give any reason why they do not admit it into the Canon of Scripture And as falsly does he insinuate that the Establishment of that Canon is uncertain and precarious Could it be proved That the Epistles of James and of Peter and of Jude or any of them were not written by those whose Names they bear we should indeed be obliged to reject them And could the Preaching and Revelation of Peter be proved to be genuine we should be obliged to receive them into the Canon of the New Testament But so far is it from being true That the Preaching and Revelation of Peter were so receiv'd by the Ancients as by more than a parity of Reason to claim admission into the Canon with his second Epistle and the rest of the some time questioned Books that on the contrary these Pieces besides the arguments that may be drawn from the Writings themselves were received by so few of the Ancients as to make * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hist l. 3. c. 3. Eusebius think though in that indeed he was mistaken that they vvere never quoted by any of the Ancients at all What Mr. T. has invidiously urged about the Divisions among the Fathers and their want of exactness in their Reasonings I suppose will not move those who know that Truth is never the less such for being surrounded with a multitude of Errors and that Men did not then write in a Nice and Scholastick way but in a plain and unpolite Stile mixing Arguments Similitudes and Illustrations promiscously which is the way of representing things popularly and to mean Capacities Thus I have indeavoured to give a short Answer to the Difficulties which Mr. T. has with great freedom proposed Hoping that what I have here very briefly and with Submission hinted may give occasion to some abler and more learned Pen to treat of this Matter with that largeness and clearness with which so great a Point well deserves to be handled I am Sir Yours FINIS BOOKS sold by James Knapton at the Crown in St. Paul 's Church-Yard CApt. William Dampier's New Voyage round the World Describing particularly the Isthmus of America several Coasts and Islands in the West Indies the Isles of Cape Verd the Passage by Terra del Fuego the South-Sea Coasts of Chili Peru c. the Isle of Guam one of the Ladrones Mindanao and other Philippine and East-India Islands near Cambodia China c. New Holland Sumatra Nicobar Isles the Cape of Good Hope and Santa Hellena Their Soil Rivers Harbours Plants Animals c. Their Customs Religion Government Trade c. Vol. I. Illustrated with particular Maps and Draughts The 4th Edition Corrected His Voyages and Descriptions Vol. II. In Three Parts viz. 1. A Supplement of the Voyage round the Word describing the Countries of Tonquin Achin Malacca c. their Product Inhabitants Manners Trade Policy c. 2. Two Voyages to Campeachy with a Description of the Coasts Product Inhabitants Logwood-cutting Trade c. of Jucatan Campeachy New-Spain c. 3. A Discourse of Trade-Winds Breezes Storms Seasons of the Year Tides and Currents of the Torrid Zone throughout the World With an Account of Natal in Africk its Product Negroes c. Illustrated with particular Maps and Draughts To which is added A General INDEX to both Volumes