Selected quad for the lemma: religion_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
religion_n	ancient_a	church_n	father_n	2,767	4	4.9407	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A57577	Fall not out by the way, or, A perswasion to a friendly correspondence between the conformists & non-conformists in a funeral discourse on Gen. 45. 24. occasioned by the desire of Mr. Anthony Dunwell, in his last will / by Timothy Rogers ...	Rogers, Timothy, 1658-1728.	1692 (1692)	Wing R1850; ESTC R11323	41,002	128

will be composed when they arrive there and why should they now differ There Luther and Calvin and Dr. Owen and Mr. Baxter will be of all one Mind there will be no Misunderstanding of one another there Now to live in Strife and Bitterness and Wrath is a sad resemblance of Hell for that is a place of universal and perpetual Discontent and Rage there is no Peace nor Quiet there for ever there the guilty condemned Souls are always accusing and upbraiding and cursing one another there they rage against God against themselves and against all the Instruments of their Ruin and Calamity Inf. 1. How unsuitable is it for any under the name of Christian to persecute others or to force them to be of their Mind 'T is Barbarous and Inhuman and Antichristian to use violence in the Matters of Religion it is not civil nor like Men so to do How unreasonable would it appear to be if you met with such upon the Road that are resolved to Beat and Rob and Plunder all that would not say as they say nor travail their Pace It would also be an unjust Method a thing that would carry with it a brand of Eternal Shame for any Men to injure their Brethren in their Goods or Lives or Estates meerly for matters of Opinion which are Innocent and Harmless and no ways dangerous to the Civil Government To persuade gently and with mildness is the way to convince a Man if he be erroneous but Fines and Imprisonments and harsh Usage and bad Language will never make any Mortal think that such as use them are in the right way 't is a poor Cause that is forced to serve it self of such inhuman and sorry Methods to force Men to believe is a French way indeed but never was nor never will be Apostolical It savours of Hell to be violent and cruel and our Saviour never intended that Men should be Dragooned into Religion but by all the mild and gentle ways in the World be perswaded to receive it A Persecuting Spirit wherever it is is a piece of Popery 'T is the proper Character of the Romish Church to be fierce and bloody their Scarlet is dyed with the Blood of the Saints of God I have learned says the famous Mr. Chillingworth that great Ornament and Defender of the Protestante from the Ancient Fathers that nothing is more against Religion than to force Religion And of St. Paul The Weapons of the Christian Warfare are not Carnal And great reason for Human Violence may make Men counterfeit but cannot make them believe and is therefore fit for nothing but to be breed Form without and Atheism within Besides what will follow from this Method but the preservation peradventure of Unity but peradventure only of Uniformity in particular States and Churches but the Immortalizing the greater and more lamentable divisions of Christendom and the World And therefore what can follow from it but perhaps in the judgment of Carnal Policy the temporal Benefit and Tranquility of temporal States and Kingdoms but the infinite prejudice if not the desolation of the Kingdom of Christ Chillingworth's Religion of Protestants Sect. I. Ch. V. p. 228. Ed. 5. Inf. 2. How Beautiful are the feet of them that Preach the Gospel of Peace Rom. 10.15 They deserve a free and chearful Entertainment that Preach this Gospel of Peace in a peaceable and quiet manner when they do not mingle their own Passions with the Truths of God and carry that Heat and Bitterness into the Sanctuary which would be disallowed about any common things The Ministers of Christ are honourable both with respect to their Character and the Message that they are charged withal that is to persuade Men to be reconciled to God and then to one another and they have this further advantage too that they may as they ought frequently instil into the Minds of their Hearers the necessity of Peace and Quietness and Friendship and how amiable it is self and how acceptable to God such a Temper is It is the work of a Minister to be an Healer of Breaches to resolve the Doubtful and to compose Quarrels as soon as ever they begin to rise as well knowing that no Churches ever thrive where Love and Brotherly Kindness do not abound But they are very unhappy Men who are never pleased but with Invective who first kindle Fires in their own Breasts and chafe their own Spirits with eager and severe Thoughts of those whom they account their Enemies and then warm their Sermons with this Terrestrial culinary Fire and so I call it because that Heat and that Light which comes from Heaven is pure and peaceable and soft and gentle that Doctrin will certainly produce the best effect which drops as the Due its mild Influences will both profit and Delight A Minister of all Men in the World should be Meek and Compassionate and Loving to his People for he is an Ambassadour from the Prince of Peace His Sermons his Visits his Instructions his every Action should tend to promote this and upon all occasions to shew the evil of Censuring and Reviling and Backbiting and a thousand other too common Sins that have very much of the Image of the Devil in them as they are Spiritual Wickednesses and they are always highly disgraceful to Religion Woful were those times and unsuitable to their character were those Men that would turn their Sermons into so many Satyrs and Alarms their Pulpits into Drums and their Congregations into a Field of Battle Unhappy were the times when the Preacher was most hummed when he was most full of Railery and that was thought the best and most witty Sermon that was the most sharp Such Persons spoke not as if their Tongues were touched with a Coal from the Altar but as if they had been scorched with Fire from below God forgive those Men that sought by all manner of Reviling Speeches to render their Brethren odious to the Magistrates and the common People and as far as they could to exasperate both against them and may a peculiar Blessing be on their Heads who are now of the highest Rank in the Church and who were then to their Immortal Honour be it spoken Men of great Calmness Temper and Moderation of such no Church will ever have cause to be ashamed though she may blush for those who were then Sons of Coal and who increased the Flames they should have quenched Above all things a Minister must be apt to forgive private Injuries and not to quarrel with his Hearers for small matters nor on every slight occasion for this will unavoidably prejudice them against his Doctrin and render it altogether unsuccessful And if they be of my mind they 'll not care to hear a passionate and froward Man for I think he has nothing in him attractive whose greatest Gift lyes in railing at others and who by that provocation are frequently tempted to rail at him again and thus they fall out by the