Selected quad for the lemma: duty_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
duty_n	church_n	good_a	holy_a	1,129	5	4.2899	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A40102	A vindication of the Friendly conference, between a minister and a parishioner of his inclining unto Quakerism, &c. from the exceptions of Thomas Ellwood, in his pretended answer to the said conference / by the same author.	Fowler, Edward, 1632-1714.; Ellwood, Thomas, 1639-1713.	1678 (1678)	Wing F1729; ESTC R20275	188,159	354

wholly by the Spirit If he do believe him not Par. I shall not be so ready hereafter to believe pretences as I have been But to your other instance of Saint Iohn writing to the Elect Lady c. T. E. answers Who she was and in what relation John stood to her or how far her temporal power might extend do's not appear ibid. Min. He is in the right The relation he stood to her in do's not appear therefore a Title may be given where there is not even so much as an appearance of any relation Par. Lady he says signifies no more than Mistress or Dame ibid. Min. Mistress Dame and Lady are all exprest by the Latin word Domina and by the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 though in common usage they be distinguisht But suppose it no more than Mistress or Dame the Quaker will gain little by the plot For Saint Iohn was her guide and Instructer and surely that great Apostle stood in no relation of servitude to her and had no temporal Office under her If so then you may collect from hence that according to this Quaker its lawful without the appearance of such relation he talks of to call a Woman Mistress but not a Man Master Par. I pray you seeing T. E. trades so much in Beza Has he no note upon this place Min. Yes having translated it Domina he adds thisingenuous Note For ne ither do's the Christian Religion reject such lawful Titles as far as it is just and equal So that it is as if he had written TO THE LADY OF EMINENT DIGNITY Par. St. Iohn writing to Gaius T. E. says He do's not call him Rabbi or Mr. Gaius but simply says The Elder to the well beloved Gaius ibid. Min. I never heard that Gaius was one of the Rabbies or a Person of Quality above the Common people If so no wonder St. Iohn gave him no Title Par. But he concludes his remarks upon St. Iohn thus If therefore the Priest will have it that John gave the Title of Lady in Complement only let him prove it ibid. Min. By his good leave the Priest neither writ nor thought any such thing The Priest believes that St. Iohn gave the Title in truth and sincerity as answerable to her Quality But is this ingenuous of the Quaker from a supposition of his own making to put me upon proving what I never affirmed Par. You said Sarah was commended not only for obeying Abraham but calling him Lord To this he answers Abraham had a Lordship or Power over her as he was her Husband here was Government and subjection for Lord or Master which imports the same was a relative title to it p. 48. Min. If he means the Husband hath such a Despotick power over his Wife as to make her stand in the same relation to him with his Servants This will not be granted for the subjection of the Wife is of a more ingenuous sort Indeed the Jewish Doctors affirmed Men to have a real Lordship over their Concubines because they took them without the solemnity of Law as our Quakers do their Women who yet are still in worse circumstances for thereby their children are incapable of inheriting their Fathers Estates and themselves of having any advantage by Dower or Alimony Let this suffice for a Caveat to Women how they adventure on Quakers As f●… his reflexions upon the Government and Polity of our Church with which he concludes his Chapter of Civil Respects I shall in his own terms tell you that it is an old and over-worn objection long since baffled and confuted by the Learned pens of the incomparable Mr. Hooker and Bishop Sanderson and of late by the Author of the Friendly Debates and by Mr. Falkner in a good Book call'd Libertas Ecclesiastica to which I shall refer you for satisfaction Now I shall leave it to the consideration of all sober men Whether of these two is more Christian To add a Title to a Name or an Adjunct A Title to express our Civility and Charity or an Adjunct to express malice revenge and bitterness CHAP. IV. Of Confession PAR. T. E. tells his Readers that from contending for empty Titles you come to Confession of sin and that in his own opinion not without reason because you defend such vain flattering and untrue words as he says Titles are p 50. Min. I doubt not but the unprejudic'd Reader who has observ'd how this Quaker has proved himself truly guilty of that whereof he unjustly accuses me will judge it more reasonable for him than me to come to Confession if his pride would suffer him but he is so far from it that he writes against it as if he were one that needed no repentance Par. Yet he owns it the duty of every humble Penitent to confess his sins p. 51. Min. Either then T. E. is no humble penitent or neglects his duty Par. But he says the question is whether a constant course of Confession be a duty ibid. Min. No good man ever made a question of it Indeed those Hereticks the Pelagians and Donatists did And you shall hear what answer they had from the Holy Fathers of the Church Confess always saith St. Augustine for thou hast always matter to confess He is taught that he sins daily who is commanded to pray daily for the remission of his sins saith St. Cyprian on the Lords Prayer who lived 250 years after Christ. Therefore thou must daily say this Prayer saith St. Ambrose that thou may'st daily ask pardon for thine Offences And that the publick Prayers of the Primitive Christians had always a Form of Confession in them is what all the Ancient Liturgies do manifest This is according to the practice of the Servants of God in all Ages David was far from the temper of a Quaker who professes that he will declare his iniquity and be sorry for his sin Ps. 38. 18. And confesses that his sins are more in number than the hairs of his head Ps. 40. 15. The lower a Christian is in his own thoughts the higher he is in God's favour Let then this Perking Pharisee tell God that he is not as other men are and that he has no sin to confess unless he belie himself God grant I may follow the example of the humble and penitent Publican in my Prayers to God to be merciful to me a sinner Par. But T. E. says a constant course of confession implies a constant course of Sinning ibid. Min. I answer 1. Confession of sins past implies no such thing Some Authors report that St. Peter rose betimes every Morning to weep for the denial of his Master 2. A constant general confession of our being sinners implies no wilful course of sin but the quite contrary in them that do it sincerely viz. a constant sight and sense of it a constant sorrow for it a constant desire and endeavour to reform it This we deny not that such Confession implies

the Ministry I should be glad to understand the form and manner of it Min. To satisfy you that all care imaginable is taken by the wisdom and piety of our Church to prevent the admission of scandalous Persons into holy orders and to promote the honour and ends of our sacred Function You are to understand First that there are certain times appointed for Fasting and Prayer to invoke God to guide the Bishops and Pastors of his Flock faithfully and wisely to make choice of fit persons to serve in the sacred Ministry of his Church and this is according to the primitive Practice Acts 13. 3. Then due care is order'd to be taken for the examination of the Abilities of such persons as come to be ordain'd Then Certificates and Testimonials must be produced concerning their Life and Conversation When they are presented to the Bishop for Ordination he in most solemn manner charges the Arch-Deacon to take heed whom he presents c. And if the people have any thing to object against any of them they are required to come forth in the name of God and to shew what the Crime or Impediment is After Prayers and the reading of such Scriptures as are chosen for the occasion the Bishop in a solemn speech publickly exhorts them in the name of our Lord Iesus Christ to have in remembrance into how high a Dignity and to how weighty an office and charge they are called that is to say to be Messengers Watchmen and Stewards of the Lord c. Then he bids them have it printed in their remembrance how great a treasure is committed to their charge that is the sheep of Christ which he bought with his death and for whom he shed his blood And if the Church or any member thereof take any hurt c. by their negligence he reminds them of the greatness of the fault and the horrible punishment which will ensue And that they may be excited to the greater care and diligence they are put in mind not only of the end and excellency but of the difficulty also of their Office as well to shew themselves dutiful and thankful unto that Lord who hath placed them in so high a dignity as also to beware that neither they themselves offend nor be occasion that others offend Next he tells them they cannot have a mind and will thereto of themselves for that Will and Ability is given of God alone and therefore that they ought and have need to pray earnestly for his holy Spirit And be their Learning never so great and their Testimonials never so credible yet are they not to be ordain'd till they have given engagement in the presence of God and the Congregation for the faithful exercise of their duty and Function by solemn promises and positive answers to several Questions propounded to them by the Bishop First Whether they trust that they are inwardly moved by the holy Ghost to take upon them that Office to serve God for the promoting his Glory and the edifying of his Church to which each of them answers I trust so Then he enquires of them Whether they unfeignedly beleive that the holy Scriptures contain all Doctrines necessary to salvation And for the time to come Whether they are determin'd to teach nothing as necessary to salvation but what they shall be perswaded may be proved from thence Whether they will be faithful always to minister the Doctrine and Sacraments and discipline of Christ as the Lord hath commanded c. Whether they will be ready with all faithful diligence to banish and drive away all erroneous and strange Doctrines contrary to God's word and use both publick and private Exhortations as well to the sick as to the whole within their Cures c. Whether they will be diligent in prayers and reading the holy Scriptures and in such studies as help to the knowledg of the same laying aside the study of the world and the flesh Whether they will be diligent to frame and fashion themselves and families according to the doctrine of Christ and to make themselves wholsome examples and patterns to the flock of Christ Whether they will maintain and set forward as much as in them lies quietness peace and love among all Christian people c. And lastly Whether they will obey the Godly admonitions of their Ordinary and other chief Ministers to whom is committed the charge and Government over them To all these they answer and promise They will so do the Lord being their helper Then are they by Prayer and Imposition of hands according to the Apostolical rule and practice ordained into their respective Functions Now judg what reason this bold man had to besplatter so wise and pious a Constitution and by Consequence to affront the King and Parliament who have so conscientiously establisht it by Law But let me advise you to read the Office it self where you will be still more fully informed Par. I have given you great attention and I must freely confess from what you have already told me that this form of your ordination is a most solemn serious and pious service far beyond what I ever knew or imagin'd of it And now I begin to blame my self for taking things so much upon trust and for believing every tale that others have told me as if this Church were an enemy to the power of Godliness For not weighing things impartially I became very much prejudic'd against it and when I heard others rail I learnt by their example to do so too Min. Therefore I hope hereafter you will be more just to examine things before you censure them And for this end I have been so express in particulars lest you should neglect to read and still go on as many do to speak evil of those things which you * know not Here you may note how unjust and disingenuous our Adversaries are who designedly conceal the excellency of our Constitution while they exasperate ignorant people against it And I hope hereafter you will beware of them Par. Your counsel is very reasonable only I am thinking it will be said that the faults of scandalous Ministers are the more aggravated by their walking contrary to such principles and engagements Min. The Sin of these men will lie at their own doors I am not justifying any such but or Mother the Church of England from whom you see they learn no such thing And though there be some bad as there ever were and will be in the purest Churches after the greatest care is taken yet does it detract nothing at all from the honour of those other of the Clergy who give all faithful diligence to live up to their excellent Principles and to Act according to their Promises and Engagements Par. Whereas you affirmed to me that they who make the Efficacy of the divine Ordinances to depend on the Worthiness of the Persons concerned in them are worse than the Papists and

to preserve us from falling into sin again For this is that saith St. Bernard which makes it necessary for us to be solicitous with fear and trembling and always humbling our selves under the Mighty hand of God since though we can know in part what we are yet it is utterly impossible for us to know what we shall be Finally then since our sin is certain our pardon conditional our Enemies vigilant and we frail whatever Ellwood thinks of himself We think we ought to call and esteem our selves Miserable sinners till God upon our perseverance hath sealed our absolute pardon Par. Is there but one Lesson says T. F. for all degrees p. 53. Min. Yes there are several Lessons for several States of Men but this Lesson suits them all This Confession like those of the Primitive Church being design'd for the publick where are Men of all degrees Children young men and Fathers is made in such general terms that all may joyn in it The particulars we leave to every Mans Conscience and to his Closet to supply But since we all agree in this to live together in a miserable sinful World and we all have sinned and as T. E. acknowledges we all may sin therefore it is not unreasonable we should all agree to confess that we are miserable sinners If this will not suffice Let Ellwood use his captious question to St. Paul O Paul dost thou say thou art the chief of sinners thou wast so at thy first coming into this School What No proficiency no improvement No going forward After thou hast spent thy Age in this School if we measure thee by thine own Confession thou art not one step nearer thy Iourneys end no whit better than when thou camest first in and therefore worse Par. But to conclude this Subject T. E. tels us It is not the duty of any Man to propose to himself a constant and common Course of Confession because whosoever do's so must first propose to himself a constant and common course of sinning p. 54. Min. That which is lawful and fit to be used as I have proved Confession to be till we have persevered and be absolutely perfect without all infirmity is lawful to be proposed to Mens practice and may be so without any proposing to our selves a common course of sinning because the proposal of this course of Confession most properly proceeds from a con-contrary cause viz. from the consideration of our infirmity and mutability from humility a pious fear prudence and sense of duty Therefore the Quaker's Pride and Scoffing shall not make us out of love with the Medicine that God hath provided for us It may shame us says Tertullian that we sin again but to repent when we have sinned should not shame us We have another kind of Judge than Ellwood who sees our hearts and will account with him for his malicious censure of our Penitence and of the devout and Orthodox Constitutions of our Church So that my Adversary has taken much pains here to prove himself not only weak but wicked And truly I am apt to believe that in this abuse of Piety and so necessary a Duty as Confession is T. E. is too much a Socinian to please all even of his own party or any Man that is considerate And I wish the Quakers would at last open their eyes to see by what seducers they are led that at length they may withdraw from them and make choice of more upright more orthodox and safer Guides CHAP V. Of Perfection Par. WHAT Ground T. E. has lost in his Four first Chapters will surely be regained in his Fifth of Perfection a Doctrine which he says has not met with opposition from the hands of most sorts of Men since the time it was first Preacht in this later Age of the World p. 54. Min. If the oldest things in Religion be best then the newest must needs be the worst But if it will not make the Quaker too proud I will tell him that his Doctrine of Perfection is of greater Antiquity then he is willing to allow it For it was Preacht before the latter Age of the World And if it please him to look again into Goodwin's Antiquities and particularly into that instance he gives me of the seven sorts of Pharisees he will find that one sort of them were called quid debeo facere faciam illud from their boasting of a perfect power to keep the Law And that Author thinks that the young man mention'd Luk. 18. 21. was of this Order So that Elwood might have learnt that the Pharisees were Quakers in this Point yet Hypocrites in Christ's account And upon a further search into this Controversie I find this Doctrine much ancienter than I thought when we first discourst it For the Gnostick Hereticks and particularly that herd of them called the Valentinians did exalt themselves calling themselves Perfect saith Epiphanius After them the Novatians call'd themselves Cathari i. e. Pure But those who call themselves pure saith the same Epiph. are confuted by their own words for whosoever doth call himself Pure doth perfectly condemn himself that he is Impure Next after them the Pelagian Hereticks held that a Man may be without sin Which the Holy Augustine confutes by many of the same Arguments which this Quaker derides me for using And Celestinus the Pelagian used such false Mediums as his Friend Ellwood has stoln from him to justifie this Doctrine and this may be seen in that Book which he writ against him Now will this bold Quaker tell these Orthodox Fathers who opposed this notion of Perfection that some through ignorance mistook it others through interest reviled and gainsayed it as foreseeing it destructive to their Trade and profit c As he tells his Reader p. 55. Par. I perceive then this Doctrine of Perfection was condemned for Here●…ie by the Holy Fathers of the Church But did not the Quakers first broach this Opinion in these later Ages Min. Quakerism it self cannot plead the prescription of One Age. But this Doctrine was Preacht by the Popish Fryars as a Foundation for their Merits and Works of supererogation The wild Anabaptists about 140 years ago pretended also to Perfection And it 's the Socinian Doctrine that we may perfectly fulfil the Law of God But all Orthodox Protestants ever opposed these Men as much as I do the Quakers herein who may go and boast that they have the Pharisees the old Hereticks the wild Anabaptists and the Socinians on their side in this matter whilst we by Gods Grace do and will hold the constant Doctrine of the Catholick Church Par. You have said enough to make me aware of this Quaker who wonders that you should own Perfection and yet deny it to be an unsinning State Therefore he asks What kind of notion you have got of Perfection who would be perfect yet a sinner ibid. Min. Seeing I believe you sincerely desire to be inform'd