Selected quad for the lemma: church_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
church_n	act_n	apostle_n	word_n	2,889	5	3.8195	3	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

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

majus aliquid homine in C●r●sto agnovisse hoc quidem tempore constanter nec sine magnis argumentis negant Scriptores antiqui Grot. in Mat. 4.3 Grotius not without good Grounds denied the Devil to have known any thing at first of the great Mystery of the Incarnation will not for this passage condemn Ignati us of Ignorance 3. The Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippiaus is a very valuable Monument of Antiquity containing nothing in it unworthy the Character of so great a Father * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euseb Hist l 4. c. 14. ex Irenaeo Irenaeus calls it a most compleat Epistle out of which they that are careful of their own Salvation may learn what was the Belief of that Apostolical Man and what the form of sound Doctrine which he delivered in his Preaching 4. The Pastor of Hermas is a Book full of very excellent Moral Instructions delivered for the the most part in easie and natural Similitudes and these also explained at large to the apprehension of the meanest capacities For which reason though it was not received into the Canon of Scripture yet as Eusebius testifies it * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euseb Hist l. 4. c. 3. was judged by the Ancients a most necessary Book especially for those who were to be instructed in the first Principles of Religion and was therefore accordingly read in Churches And Origen who was far from being an ignorant Man judges it to be a * In Rom. 16 14. most useful Book But Mr. T. saith it is the silliest Book in the World Why he should think so I cannot apprehend unless it be because there are here and there some few odd Passages scattered in it very different from our modern way of Writing which perhaps he can single out and expose And so there is hardly any Book extant in the World which a witty Man may not turn into ridicule All the Objections which I think have been hitherto made to this Book are these That * Libri fabulosi sunt in quibus contra Apostolicum consensum adstruitur Liberum Arbitrium una Paenitentia Solitudo Monastica quod memoratu dignum purgatorium ab anu quâdam in visione tertiâ prosertui Scultetus de Script Apoch it contains fabulous Visions That it makes too much for Free-will That it assigns to every Man two Angels That it favours the Novations in allowing but one Repentance That it favours Monkish Solitude and that it speaks of Purgatory The three first of these Objections we shall consider immediately But the three latter are so directly false that one would wonder how prejudice could possibly be so strong as to make Men see in any Author those things of which there is not the least syllable or hint in the whole Book That the Visions contained in it are fabulous we ought not to say unless we be sure either that God never afforded any Visions to the first Christians or that these Visions have some particular Circumstances which prove that they could not come from God But if it were so yet taking that which is used in this Book to be no other than a Parabolical way of Writing wherein the Church is introduced as representing its own Doctrine and Discipline to a Person in a Vision it ought not to be stiled fabulous any more than * Parable of the Pilgrim of the Prodigal c. other Books of that kind which are written in our Age. That maintaining the freedom of Mans Will in the sense that Hermas asserts it is a good Objection against a Book I suppose neither Mr. T. nor any Man else at this time of day will contend That Hermas assigns to every particular Man two Angels if the Titles of the Chapters were of any Authority could not indeed be questioned But in the Book it self there is no such thing expresly affirmed All that the Author there says is only in general That * Duo sunt nuntii cum homine unus aequitatis unus iniquitatis Mandat 6. there are two Angels with Man one of Righteousness the other of Iniquity and that when good thoughts arise in a Mans heart then the Angel of Righteousness that is some good spirit is with him and when evil thoughts arise in his heart then the Angel of Iniquity that is some evil spirit tempts him Which perhaps is no more than what all Christians believe So that Cotel●rius in his Notes upon the place might have spared the pains of proving other Fathers to have been of the same opinion with Hermas till he had shown that these words do necessarily signifie that Hermas himself was of that Opinion That Hermas by allowing but One Repentance for great and scandalous Crimes favours the Novatians whose Heresie consisted in allowing no other Repentance at all than that of Baptism is so far from being true that he in express words opposes his One Repentance to Baptism and says more for the validity and efficacy of that after-Repentance for Crimes committed by Baptized Christians in this one little Book than perhaps is to be found in all the other Wrirers of the three first Centuries put together insomuch that Tertullian after he turned Montanist and had embraced the Opinion of the Novatians * Cederem tibi si scriptvra Pastoris quae sola maechos amat non ab omni concilio Ecclesiarum inter Apocrypha falsa judicaretur adultera ipsa inde patrona sociorum De Pudicitia exclaims with all imaginable bitterness against this Book for that very reason because it was more favourable than any other Book then extant in allowing Repentance to Adulterers after Baptism which the Novatians denied That this Book favours Monkish Solitude is also so far from being true that on the contrary it even expresly allows † Mandat 4. Second Marriages which was more than most Writers of that Age were willing to do Lastly So far is this Writer from establishing the Doctrine of Purgatory that there is not one syllable about it in the whole Book All the places where he speaks of Mens undertaking many hardships and so purging themselves from their sins being as plainly meant of the Penances to be gone through according to the then established Discipline of the Church as 't is possible for any thing to be expressed by words 5. The Epistle of Barnabas was very much esteemed among the Antients And though it must indeed be confessed that it contains some very strange and allegorical Interpretations of Scrigture yet he that considers how much that manner of Interpretation was antiently in use among the Jews in their Targums and how many important truths were that way conveyed so that the Apostles themselves in their arguing with the Jews did often make use of it as we see in their uncontroverted Writings I say whosoever considers these things will rather chuse modestly to suspend his Judgment than rashly to upbraid this Author with the Terms of foolish and