Selected quad for the lemma: life_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
life_n	believe_v	eternal_a	see_v	6,178	5	3.7252	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A76286	Planes apokalypsis. Popery manifested, or, the Papist incognito made known by way of dialogue betwixt a Papist priest, Protestant gentleman, and Presbyterian divine. In two parts. Intended for the good of those that shall read it by L. B. P.	Beaulieu, Luke, 1644 or 5-1723.	1673 (1673)	Wing B1574B; ESTC R232440	78,493	144

Papist Incognito made known By way of DIALOGUE between a Papist Priest a Protestant Gentleman and a Presbyterian Divine The First Part. P. SIr your humble servant I come to wait you upon a double account to give you thanks for the Civilities I have heretofore received from you and to spend in the best Company I can that short time I am allow'd to stay in England G. I protest Master it grieves me that contrary to our inclination we should be forc'd to be thus severe against you for to secure the peace of the kingdom And were it not that your Religion stands in opposition to the good and peaceable intentions which I believe some of you may have I do protest that I my self would heartily intercede for your staying and living quietly with us However you are very welcome P. Sir I know you to be of a very sweet nature by a long experience and I will requite your kindness by praying heartily for your conversion to the true Catholic Faith G. Master I thank you for your good will but I believe if your Prayers be heard I shall never be of your Religion for if it hath the truth yet therewith ye have mixt so many false Doctrins particular to your own Church that it can never be justly call'd The true Catholic Faith P. Sir you speak as you have been taught but did you well understand those things as you call false Doctrines I am sure you would be of another mind G. Well we are entred ab abrupto upon a Subject that will help us to pass away the time therefore I desire you my good Friend for our old acquaintance sake to let me know positively the truth of what your Church believes in the chiefest things we differ from you as it is taught and recorded by your most approved Doctors P. I will with all my heart as far as I am able and that you may not think I disguise any thing or speak my private Opinions I will bring the very words of the Council of Trent or Bellarmin or Stapleton as the Authentic Proofs of the truth of what I shall say ask you what you have a mind to know G. First let me enquire of what you believe concerning the Holy Scripture for we make it the Ground and the Rule of our Faith being persuaded that it conteins all things necessary to Salvation P. We are much of another mind for we hold that the Scripture doth not expresly contein all that is necessary to be believed or to be done i.e. Bellar. de Verbo Dei l. 4. c. 3. that its Doctrine is defective in what concerns Faith and Morality Nos asserimus in Scripturis non contineri expresse totam doctrinam necessariam sive de fide sive de moribus G. That 's very plain and I believe more than you dare say to those you endeavour to make your Proselytes P. Nay Sir before we proceed I must tell you that I expect you would render me like for like and cite the words of Cranmer or Calvin or whatever Authors they are you have your Doctrine from that it may be seen which of us hath the better Authorities for our several Opinions pray who taught you that all things necessary to salvation are contein'd in Scripture G. Our Blessed Saviour who approved the Jews opinion of believing that by the Scriptures they might have eternal life and therefore commanded them to search them John 5.39 Search the Scriptures for in them ye think ye have eternal life and they are they which testifie of me And more expresly S. Paul who affirms that they are able to make us wise unto salvation 2 Tim. 3.15 c. being inspir'd by God These two Texts are of more weight with me than the contrary affirmations of twenty Cardinals And as for the Authors of our Religion we own none besides Christ and his blessed Apostles Those Doctrines of our Church which are positive are plainly contein'd in Scripture and the best Records of the Primitive Church and are own'd and believ'd by you also and the negatives which are against your Innovations can neither be disprov'd by Scripture nor the Antient Fathers but are generally included in the positive All this is to be seen in the learned labours of many of the Reformed Doctors I will not make our Discourse so tedious as to rehearse what they have said upon that subject therefore I desire you to be contented with a few plain Scriptures which I will bring to authorize our denying those Articles of your Roman Faith we have rejected P. Well do so if you will but let me tell you that Scripture is not to be the judge of Differences in Religion 'T is the Pope and Council must decide all Controversies and declare the true sense of Scripture Bellar. de Verbo Dei l. 3. c. 3. Judicem dicimus veri sensus Scripturae omnium Controversiarum esse Ecclesiam id est Pontificem cum Concilio G. I don't believe it for I find that God sends his People to the Law and to the Testimony to examin the Doctrine of the Prophets Isa 8.20 and I hope the Gospel may as well have the Privilege that by it we should examin the Doctrin of the Pope Christ tells the Saducees that they creed because they knew not the Scriptures Mar. 12.24 Luke 16.29 It is said in the Parable of Dives They have Moses and the Prophets let them hear them And it is recorded to the praise of the people of Berea that they searched the Scriptures daily to see whether those things were so Acts 17.11 In all these the Scripture is made Judge of Controversies and by it the Doctrin of S. Paul himself is tried and examined P. But for all that the Scripture is very obscure and harder to be understood than the Notions of Metaphysic Bellar. de Verbo Dei l. 3. c. 1. Certe si scientia Metaphysicorum difficilior quomodo non obscurissima erit Scriptura quae de rebus longe altioribus agit And if the People should read it it would do them more harm than good for 't would be an occasion of their falling into error about those Doctrines that concern Faith and a good Life Et ibid. l. 2. c. ●5 Populum non solum non eaperet fructum ex Scripturis sed etiam caperet detrimentum acciperet enim facillime occasionem errandi tum in doctrina fidei tum in praeceptis vitae morum Therefore all men ought to follow the Decisions of Popes and Councils that they may be guided in the truth G. Nay I would have the people follow the judgment of the Church they live in but I would have them to make use of their Rationality to chuse the Communion of the purest Church according to the Word of God and if they have learning enough according to the four first General Councils and the Primitive Christians and not deny their Reason and the plain

plus quam Deus praecipit multo magis potest implere praeceptum G. Very good so say the worst of our Fanatics that they are perfect and without sin yet I confess you do not fansie your people to fansie so that privilege is granted only to some choice ones and that long after they are dead and therein you act with much discretion Contr. 3. Quaest 11. as Stapleton saith Summa cum ratione introductum fuit ut Canonizatio per solum summum Pontificem fiat For some must be more than just that the Pope may have works of Supererogation to hoord up and the people must be kept from that Perfection that he may have Chap-men to buy those sacred Wares But God's Amanuenses who had none of them to sell teach quite otherwise 1 Kings 8.46 Ps 130.3 Eccl. 7.20 that There is no man that sinneth not that If God should mark iniquities not any man could stand that There is not a just man upon earth that doth good and sinneth not In all these there is not so much as one Frier excepted So the dearest Apostle of our Blessed Saviour tells us If we say that we have no sin we deceive our selves 1 Joh. 1.8 and the truth is not in us God requires the utmost of our love whatever we do out of love is due and sure what we do upon other Motives is not meritorious in that sense as you take it Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart Matt. 22.37 with all thy soul and with all thy mind And our Blessed Lord and Redeemer hath taught all Christians even the most perfect to say in their daily Offices Luk. 11.4 Forgive us our sins P. You know how the Fox that had no tail would persuade others to cut off theirs I am sure we are told Beyrling prompt mor p. 37 that you live most unchristian lives and that ye have an irreconcileable quarrel against all Good Works Therefore ye would fain persuade us that no body can attain to Perfection here and that Good Works are not meritorious But for all you can say We will believe that they are and that not only of temporal blessings but of life eternal it self and of the highest degree of glory by their own dignity Bellar. de Justif l. 5. c. 1. Ibid. c 20. Probavimus bona opera justorum vere proprie esse merita merita non cujuscunq praemii sed ipsius vitae aeternae Nos existimamus vitam aeternam tum quoad primum gradum tum quoad caeteros reddi bonis meritis filiorum Dei G. We little regard those foul aspersions you cast upon us the first and best Christians were made as vile by the Heathen as possibly you can make us neither have we any quarrel against good Works We make them absolutely necessary to salvation and we teach according to Scripture that God will reward them with eternal life but to say that they do really and properly merit it ex condigno without respect to Christ and the Promise We dare not be so presumptuous especially because of these Scriptures The wages of sin is death Ro. ● 23 and the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. It should have been according to your Doctrin And the wages of works is eternal life Ps 143.2 Enter not into judgment with thy servant for in thy sight shall no man living be justified How much less rewarded with the highest degree of eternal glory Lu 17. ●0 When ye have done all those things that are commanded you say we are unprofitable servants We have done what was our duty to do But I forget that you can do more than all that is commanded you and belike 't is that overplus that makes the Merits of Condignity S. Paul saith 1 Cor. 6.19 20. 1 Cor 4 7. Ro. ● 18 That we are not our own because we have been bought with a price And in another place What hast thou that thou didst not receive And lastly that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall he revealed in us Let any man weigh these Scriptures and see whether they favour more your absolute Merits than our Doctrin of denying our own righteousness for to rely on Gods merciful Promises in Christ for a reward to our syncere though imperfect Services and good Works P. Well if we had no Merits of our own yet we are not left destitute Oh the happiness of those that live in the lap of the Church that good Mother will let them want for nothing if a child of hers is not furnisht with meritoriousness but hath rather many sins to answer for as it is the case of a great many yet he shall not be left without help She will make over to him the satisfactions of others who have suffered more than their sins required Bellar. de Indulg l. 1. c. 2. In bonis actibus hominum justorum duplex valor five pretium assignari potest meriti videlicet satisfactionis Opus bonum qua parte meritorium est non potest alii applicari potest tamen qua satisfactorium Extat in Ecclesia thesaurus satisfactionum Christi superfluentium ad quem pertinent etiam passiones Beatae Mariae Virginis omnium aliorum Sanctorum qui plus passi sunt quam eorum peccata requirerent Satisfactiones Christo Sanciis supervacaneae applicari possunt aliis qui rei sunt luendae paenae temporalis Ibid. c. 3. Ecclesiae pastoribus auctoritas divinitus concessa est thesaurum satisfactionum dispensandi ac per hanc indulgentias concedendi Praelati Ecclesiae dispensare possunt Christi passionem tum per Sacramenta tum per Indulgentias passiones vero Sanctorum nonnisi per Indulgentias G. Pray give me leave to English it to my thinking the Doctrin is pleasant you shall see how well I relish it that is to say That the good Works of just men have a twofold value one side of them is meritorious and the other satisfactory this last may be given to others but the first may not and that in the Church there is a treasure of the superfluous satisfactions of Christ of the Blessed Virgin and all other Saints who suffered more than in justice they ought Which treasure is disposed of by the Pastors of the Church according to that authority as God hath given them to those who are guilty of temporal pains and that with a great deal of Art and Industry for the Passion of Christ is given by the Sacraments and Indulgences but the Passions of the Saints by Indulgences only I protest you are witty folks to devise such pretty things as these no wonder if you will not be tied to the written Word when you are so good at inventing Honest Novator were I minded only to point out all the Impertinences included in this Doctrin it would confute