Selected quad for the lemma: religion_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
religion_n	church_n	faith_n	teach_v	4,044	5	6.3549	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A76020	A treatise of adhering to God; written by Albert the Great, Bishop of Ratisbon. Put into English by Sir Kenelme Digby, Kt. Also a conference with a lady about choyce of religion.; De adhærendo Deo. English	Albertus, Magnus, Saint, 1193?-1280.; Digby, Kenelm, Sir, 1603-1665.	1653 (1653)	Wing A876; Thomason E1529_2; ESTC R25226	62,177	159

side all other Christian Churches among us that pretend reformation having no certaine and common rule of faith but every particular man governing himselfe in this matter by the collections of his owne braine and by his owne private understanding and interpretation of Scripture which onely he acknowledgeth as the entire rule of faith it must consequently follow that according to the variety of their tempers and judgements there must bee a variety and difference of their opinions and beliefes which difference of temper happening for the most part betweene every two men that are it likewise followeth scarce any two should in all particulars of their opinions agree together And accordingly wee see by experience that scarce any two authors out of the Roman Church that have written of matters of faith have agreed in their tenets but rather have dissented in fundamentall doctrine and have inveighed against one another in their writings with great vehemence bittesnes Whereas on the other side the Doctors of the Roman Church in al times in all places and of all tempers have agreed unanimously in all matters of faith although in the mean time severall of them have in divers other points great debates against one another and pursue them with much sharpnesse which strongly confirmeth the ground upon which we frame this observation But to insist a little further upon this materiall and important consideration it is evident that the proceeding of the reformers openeth the gate to all dissension schisme irreverence pride of understanding heresie ruine of Christian Religion for to justifie the new births of their rebellious braines the first stroake of their pen must be to lay a taint of ignorance error upon the whole current of ancient fathers and Doctors of the Church and generall Councells and to blast their authority which is so precisely contrary to their doctrine whose names and records ought to be sacred with posterity Which when they have done to settle a constant and like beliefe in all men they give no generall and certaine rule but leaving every man to the dictamens of his owne private judgement according to the severall tempers and circumstances as wee said before that sway every single man in particular there must result which we see by experience as great a variety of opinions as those are different And lastly since they quarrell at Catholickes beliefe in those points where they differ from them because they captivate their understandings with reverence to what the Church proposeth and teacheth and thereby admit into their beliefe articles which may seeme absurd to common sense they may as well with presumptuous hands graspe at and seeke to pluck up the very foundations of Christian Religion as namely the Doctrine of the Trinity and of the incarnation of Christ and of the resurrection and state of life of the future world since there are greater seeming contradictions in them especially in the two first then in those mysteries the reformers cavill at In the next place we may consider that as infallibility is pretended by the Roman Church alone so it is apparently entayled upon it for we have proved that no meanes or circumstance either morall naturall or supernaturall is wanting in it to beget infallibility in matters of faith Whereas on the other side from the reformers owne position we inferre by consequence that their doctrine cannot be hoped even by themselves to be infallible and therefore they that shall submitt their understanding to their conduct though they believe without controversy all they say must needs even by reason of what is taught them floate alwaies in a great deale of incertitude and anxious apprehension and feare of error For they looking upon the Church but with pure humane consideratiōs and as an ordinary company of men will have it lyable to mistaking according to the naturall imbecillity of mens witts and understandings and of humane passions and negligence and other such defects and weaknesses which every man is by nature subject unto Against which they produce no antidote to preserve and secure themselves from the infection taint they lay upon the Church For if they will have the conferences of severall passages of Scripture to be that which must give light in the severall controverted obscurities what eminency have these few late reformers shewne either in knowledge of tongues insight into antiquity profoundnesse in sciences and perfection and sanctity of life which hath not shined admirably more not to taxe them here of the contrary in multitudes of the adverse party And none will deny but these are the likelyest meanes to gaine a right intelligence of the true and deepe sence of Scriptures And besides we may observe that the reason why they deny the severall articles wherein they differ from the Catholicke Church is because it teacheth a doctrine which is repugnant to sence and of hard digestion to philosophy both which are uncompetent judges of divine and supernaturall truths And whosoever steereth by their compasse cannot hope for infallibility in a matter that transcendeth their reach Thirdly we may consider that the universality of the Church in regard of place which is necessary to the end that all mankind may have sufficient meanes to gaine knowledge of the true faith can be attributed to none but to the Roman Catholick Church which onely is diffused throughout the whold world whereas all others are circled in with narrow limits of particular provinces And even within them the professors scarce agree among themselves in any point of doctrine but in opposing the Roman Church And yet further besides this want of vniversality in regard of place the Religion taught by the reformers hath yet a greater restriction then that for even in its own nature it is not for all sorts of persons and for all capacities whereas the true saving faith to bring men to beatitude ought to be obvious to all mankind and open as well to the simple as to the learned For since they lay the Scriptures as the first and highest principle from whence they deduce all to that ought to be believed And that in all arts and sciences the primary and fundamentall principles therof ought to bee throughly known by them that aspire to the perfect knowledge of those sciences it followeth that one must have an exact knowledge of the learned tongues to examine punctually the true sense of the Scriptures and that one must bee perfectly versed in logick to bee able to reason solidly and to deduce true consequences from certaine principles for want of which we find by experience that great controversies arise daily among the learnedst men which would not bee if the force of consequences were of their owne nature easily discernable and one must be throughly skilled in naturall philosophy and Metaphysickes since unto appearing contradictions in subjects of those sciences they reduce most of their arguments against the supernaturall truths that Catholickes believe And lastly one must be indowed with