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	papist_n	protestant_n	3,430	5	8.0447	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A20000	Dialogicall discourses of spirits and divels declaring their proper essence, natures, dispositions, and operations, their possessions and dispossessions : with other the appendantes, peculiarly appertaining to those speciall points, verie conducent, and pertinent to the timely procuring of some Christian conformitie in iudgement, for the peaceable compounding of the late sprong controuersies concerning all such intricate and difficult doubts / by [brace] Iohn Deacon, Iohn Walker...	Deacon, John, fl. 1585-1616.; Walker, John, preacher.	1601 (1601)	STC 6439; ESTC S323	312,434	405

perpetuall continuace of the miraculous faith or grant now at length that the same was long since determined Exorcistes I will neuer acknowledge the determination thereof before it be better and more directly prooued vnto me Orthodoxus Why man Christ hath put a finall end to the miraculous faith as I tolde you before and in ending the same he hath also establisht for euer the faith of hearing Yea and which more is the last miracle of all for confirmation of that faith to the worlde was the death and resurrection of Christ This his last miracle the Apostles they sawe and testifie vnto vs so that now there onely remaines a true faith in hearing and beleeuing their testimonie with a promised blessing of eternall saluation Besides all this of those onely true miracles which be purposely and truely put downe by the blessed Euangelists were and are euermore fully and finally sufficient to confirme a true sauing faith to the world then all other your supposed miracles since they are that way meerely superfluous but the first is true and therefore also the later Moreouer if the working of miracles had beene truelie esteemed and reputed necessarie indeed for any one Church succeeding the Apostles age then more especially necessarie for those new-sprong visible Churches wherein the Gospell ouerwhelmed with ignorance was to be newly reuiued through the extraordinarie preachings of some speciall persons raised vp by the Lord to that speciall busines as of Zuinglius Hus Oecolampadius Luther and Caluine But the working of miracles it was not in vse at all in anie one of those visible Churches wherein they conuersed and preached as the papists report and your selfe shall neuer be able to gainesay therefore the working of miracles it is not perpetually necessarie for any the visible Churches of God In like manner if the vse of miracles had for any supposed respect beene necessarilie required in any one age of the world since the daies of Christ and his owne disciples then more especiallie necessarie for the Churches next and immedidiately succeeding the Apostles themselues and thereupon also the Apostle Saint Paul he would vndoubtedly haue deliuered some Apostolicall canon or Councell at least concerning the perpetuitie and orderly obseruation of that the supposed necessarie vse But neither in his Epistle to Timothie or Titus where he purposely handleth all offices and matters any way concerning the ecclesiasticall discipline doth he make mention of one Canon or Councell concerning the vse of miracles therefore the vse of miracles is not now necessarilie required at all for the Churches of God Furthermore if the continua●ce of miracles might possibly be prooued in any the protestant churches since the Apostles daies then that one maine argument of the papists against our religion for not beeing confirmed by miracles were merely superfluous for they do flatly affirme that not one among vs can work any miracles Besides that if the working of miracles be stil continued with the churches of Christ in these daies of the Gospel then one principall marke for discerning the Antichristian churches from the true churches of Christ would be mightely obscured yea euen vtterly extinguished for the Scriptures doe aduisedly and purposely put downe the admirable effecting of false signes and woonders as an essentiall and vndoubted true marke to discerne aright the one from the other Moreouer if the doctrine of Christ and his owne Apostles be now sufficiently able to make the man of God absolute perfect to euerie good worke without the working of miracles then the working of miracles for that purpose is meerely superfluous But the first is vndoubtedly true and therefore also the latter In like maner if the admirable effecting of miraculous actions be a spirituall gift successiuely continued in the true Church of Christ then it is verie probable the same gift woulde haue beene purposely imposed vpon the pastor and Doctour as an extraordinarie support to their ordinarie ministerie and so the said gift would haue beene carefully recorded among those other qualities and properties which purposely concerne their ordinarie elections But no such gift is either required or recorded in any Ecclesiasticall Canon that essentially concernes the ordinarie elections of pastors and doctours in these daies of the Gospell therefore no such spirituall gift is now successiuely continued in the true Churches of Christ. Furthermore if the working of miracles be such a spirituall gift as is necessarilie required in some one or a fewe for the further edification and comfort of the whole Church of Christ then the Apostle Paul he woulde vndoubtedly haue exhorted the Corinthians among other like spirituall gifts to haue laboured likewise for that But he maketh no mention of that gift at all and therefore that is no such spirituall gift as is now necessarilie required in any for the further edification and comfort of the whole Church of Christ. Againe the miraculous expelling of spirits and diuels was but a temporarie and personall priuiledge and is purposely raunged among those selfesame personall priuiledges which by the foreseeing wisedome of God were long since determined and therefore it is a follie of follies for any to imagine that the miraculous expelling of spirits and diuels should not in like maner be determined long since as well as the rest Brieflie the vniforme consent of all Christian Churches and the approoued iudgement of soundest Diuines doe generallie accord and conclude that the working of miracles is ceased long since By al the premisses I hope you may see it apparantly prooued that the working of miracles was ceased long since and therefore I doubt not at all but that the verie force of your owne enlightned conscience will compell you foorthwith to subscribe to the determination thereof Exorcistes Let me heare the iudgement of your sound Diuines concerning this matter Orthodoxus With verie good will And because the night is farre spent I will affoord you the testimonie of some fower or fiue in stead of the rest 1 First therefore Augustine telleth you thus Vnlesse you see signes and woonders you will not beleeue Heerein saith he the Lord endeuoureth to lift vp the mindes of the faithfull so farre beyond the visible view of all mutable things as hee would not haue them so much as once to enquire after the externall contemplation of any true miracles notwithstanding they should be wrought by the Lord himselfe 2 In another place he saith thus These miraculous actions they are not permitted to any in these daies of the Gospel least the mind should be alwaies enquiring after visible things and for feare that men should grow cold by the continued custome of those selfesame admirable matters whose onely nouelties at the first did set them on fire 3 Chrysostome he saith thus There be some in our daies that aske why signes and woonders are not now also effected by Christians

the selfesame cause So then it is not the martyrdome it selfe but the cause of the martyrdome that maketh a martyr You are not therefore simply to reioice in suffering but in suffering especially for righteousnesse sake And who is it I pray you that can harme you at all if only you follow the thing that is good On the other side what praise is it vnto you if when you be iustly buffetted for your owne faultes as herein you haue been you take it patiently But if when you do wel which vndoubtedly you should do in yeelding submission if then I say you suffer euil vndeserued by vndergoing with patience the cynical censures of some giddy conceitours this is thankworthy and acceptable before the Maiesty of our eternall God And therefore this your primary respect for not submitting your selfe it is you see very fond and preposterous Exorcistes Yea but by this my submission I should giue our aduersaries great occasion to insult ouer the brethren afresh in farre better causes then this as we found by experience how highly they triumphed ouer the intended discipline of late by reason of Hackets Arthingtons and Copingers seductions Orthodoxus If your owne dealings in these your preposterous courses doe as deepely discredit the holy ordinance of praier and fasting as Hackets seduction disgraced in the iudgement of some the entended church discipline I hope then you will neuer account much lesse entitle them aduersaries to sincere religion howsoeuer opposite to these your practises that shal seeke by due meanes to suppresse the irregularity of your intemperate humour Otherwise if these your disordered attempts haue ministred iust occasion for any to insult ouer the brethren as you say afresh in far better causes then this when you see such fearfull effects to follow your fooleries you may neuer blame the insulters themselues but your owne indiscretion Howsoeuer I do aduise you in all loue to reckon this late-giuen occasion as the very principall among the rest of your sins and make it a perpetuall meanes to your better humiliation before God and men As for the inconsiderate and vnchristian insultings of any ouer good and Christian causes let not their euil dealings that way make you to constant in euil Exorcistes But yet sir by this so vnseasonable a submission of mine I should scandalize the zealous professours and offend sundry honorable and noble personages both Lords and Ladies with diuerse others of good estimation who fauouring rightly the reformation haue mightely affected my cause and bountifully mainteined my person and state Orthodoxus Your conscionable reiecting of an inueterate error and your zealous entertaining of a newly reuealed truth can euer scandalize such sincere professours as are zealously and rightly religious As for offending any honorable personages or others in any account who wishing reformation haue hetherto affected your cause and mainteined your person know this and know it for truth that if those honorable personages euen in a sincere regard of some holy reformation haue hitherto affected your cause so far foorth at the least as they supposed the same to be sound and good then doubt not at all but that they wil much more affect your holy and hoped conuersion so soone especially as their enlightned iudgements shall once but soundly perceiue the infallible truth Yea and which more is they will then be much more forewards in supporting your person and state then euer before Otherwise those your maintainers they might be supposed to affect your cause and to support your person in an onelie malcontentednes rather against the persons of some in authoritie then in any true mindednes towards reformation indeed And which more is you your owne selfe by persisting as you doe in your errour you may be supposed of all as you are shrewdly suspected of some to be rather their humorist in an onely respect of their hier then anie their approoued martialist to mannage these matters in any right reuerend regard of their honours This therefore you see is but a sielie respect to hold you from such an holy submission Exorcistes Yea but by such my submission I shoulde foorthwith depriue my selfe from all Ecclesiasticall functions For this is held an vndoubted truth among the preciser sort that a man so groslie falne doth make foorthwith a flat nullitie of his former ministerie Orthodoxus Put the case that some concerning this point are much more peeuishly precise then prudently wise will you therefore in an onely regard of their itching humours refuse to do good to your selfe and manie others of more temperate spirits For tell me I praie you who is able to make a flat nullitie in any mans ministerie but he alone who enableth and calleth whomsoeuer he will to the ministerie Exorcistes Verie true as you say respecting simplie his gifts and graces there is none able to make a flat nullitie in anie mans ministerie saue onely the Lord. Howbeit respecting the orderly execution and vse of those gifts the Church she may and she ought to make a flatte nullitie in the ministerie of such are groslie falne Orthodoxus If there be none other stoppage at all to this your submission but onely the feare of forgoing your ministerie this feare I hope it may soone be remooued For if none but the Lord be able to disable your gifts then none without warrant from the Lord is able to disable the orderly execution and vse of your gifts But no such warrant haue anie from the Lord in all the Bible Besides that if the Lord bestoweth and continueth his gracious gifts in anie being orderly called before to the ministerie for the edification of others who may without warrant disanull and discontinue the orderly execution and vse of those gracious gifts in anie being orderly continued in the ministerie for the edification of others For if vnfained repentance doth set an offendour in statu quo prius in his former estate with God and man notwithstanding any his former offences why should not an vnfained repentance set a poore minister being falne by occasion in statu quo prius in his former estate with God and man for the orderly vse of his ministerie notwithstanding anie his former offences Otherwise why did not the Church in former times disanull and discontinue the orderly execution and vse of gifts in Dauid in Peter in Paul in Iohn Marke in Demas and diuers other both ordinarie and extraordinarie persons In all whom did breake foorth no lesse apparant disorders then this one of yours yet the Lord continuing in them his gracious gifts the Church still enioyed the vse of those gifts Discharge you therefore a good conscience by testifying truely your vnfained submission and then if the Ecclesiasticall gouernors vpon aduised deliberation shall deeme it conuenient to emploie you afresh in the vse of your gifts let those your preciser sort set vpon them if they please for such their imployment of one so groslie offending In the meane time