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
A51914	Th' encænia of St. Ann's Chappel in Sandgate, or, A sermon preached May 3, 1682 before the right worshipful, the mayor, aldermen, sheriff &c. of the town and county of Newcastle Upon Tyne upon their erecting a school and a catechetical lecture for the instruction of poor children and such as are ignorant / by John March.	March, John, 1640-1692.	1682 (1682)	Wing M579; ESTC R27548	16,204	38

Th' ENCAENIA Of St. Ann's Chappel in Sandgate OR A SERMON Preached May 3. 1682. Before the Right Worshipful the Mayor Aldermen Sheriff c. Of the Town and County of Newcastle upon Tyne Upon their erecting a School and a Catechetical Lecture for the Instruction of poor Children and such as are ignorant By JOHN MARCH B. D. and Vicar of St. Nicholas in Newcastle upon Tyne Non sunt contemnenda quasi parva sine quibus magna constare non possunt Hierom. Ep. ad Laetam de Institut filiae Sic erudienda est Anima quae futura est Templum Dei nihil aliud discat audire nihil loqui nisi quod ad timorem Dei pertinet Ibid. From a Child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto Salvation through Faith which is in Christ Jesus 2 Tim. 3. 15. LONDON Printed for Richard Randal and Peter Maplisden Book sellers at the Bridge-foot in Newcastle upon Tyne MDCLXXXII TO THE Right Worshipful and Worshipful Timothy Robson Esq Mayor Sir Robert Shafto Knight Recorder Sir Ralph Carr Kt. Alderman Sir Ralph Jennison Kt. Alderman Sir Nathanael Johnson Kt. Alderman Henry Maddison Esq Alderman Henry Brabant Esq Alderman Timothy Davison Esq Alderman Robert Roddam Esq Alderman Matthew Jeffreyson Esq Alderman George Morton Esq Alderman Nicholas Fenwick Esq Alderman To John Squire Esq Sheriff And to the rest of the Common Council of the Town and County of Newcastle upon Tyne Right Worshipful and Worshipful THis famous Town over which you preside has always been esteemed a place of very great importance In the year of our Lord 1139. when David King of Scots had taken it by Surprize King Stephen saith one of our a Historians redeemed it with a considerable ransome So considerable saith another that he gave all Cumberland and the Earldome of Huntingdon in exchange for it And as it was thus considerable in those early days so since that time it has grown to such an height as to receive from our great Anti●●ary this very honourable Character ●…bs portu nobilis commerciorum frequentia opibus florentissima Now a Town of this importance as it well deserves so in such times of distruction as we live in it may justly challenge the greatest care and vigilance of those that are intrusted with the Government of it And I do heartily rejoice that I need not fear the least imputation of flattery whilest I proclaim to the World that as there is not any Town which can equal it for Trade Populousness and Wealth so there is none that does surpass it and but very few that equal it in point of Loyalty and Conformity This Happiness and Glory we owe in great measure to that Loyalty and Conformity which shine forth in your own Examples partly also to that great encouragement you give unto the Loyal and Orthodox Clergy of the place but chiefly to the due 〈…〉 your Authority in suppressing Conventicles those n●…rious Seminaries of Popery Schism and Rebellio●… N●● are you only careful to preserve Loy●… and Conformity for this present Generation but willing also to propagate these rare Vertues to posterity you have erected a School and a Catechetical 〈◊〉 for the instructing poor ignorant people in the principles of Piety Loyalty and Conformity And indeed catechizing is the surest foundation of future Loyalty and the best expedient to secure the Protestant Religion both against Papists and Sectaries Those of the Church of Rome 〈◊〉 long ago 〈◊〉 thus much This Age say they is sadly sensible what mischief Protestants have done this Church especially by those little Books which they call Catechisms And it is as fairly acknowledged by one of note among the Puritans that the shameful neglect of Catechizing gave birth to those numerous and dangerous Sects which were spawn'd in the late times of Anarchy and Confusion If this plain discourse which you have commanded to the Press shall prove any wise serviceable to these Pious and Loyal designs it will afford no small satisfaction to him who is with all sincerity Right Worshipful and Worshipful Your most humble and most obliged Servant John March PSALM XXXIV xi Come ye Children hearken unto me I will teach you the fear of the Lord. SInce all Scripture is given by Divine Inspiration since it is profitable for Doctrine and able to make men wise unto Salvation it well deserves to be accounted the choicest treasure of Christians and ought to be valued by them as it was by Holy David more than Gold yea than much fine Gold But though all Scripture be of unspeakable worth and excellency yet some parts of Scripture are more excellent than others This Book of Psalms out of which I have chosen my Text has always been allowed precedence of the rest of the Bible Every part of Scripture saith St. Ambrose breathes Divinity but the Book of Psalms transcends all the rest for sweetness Athanasius styles it the Epi●… of Scripture and Luther a little Bible St. Basil goes yet higher when he calls it the common store-house and treasury of Souls out of which every Sex every Age all sorts and degrees of men may furnish themselves with such instructions such as will be most suitable to their respective conditions These are high Titles and very honourable Characters this excellent Book hath received from Holy men but it is not possible for the tongues of Men or Angels to invent a greater 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or put more honour on it than it has already receiyed from the Blessed Jesus For as the Learned Hammond observes Christ though he had the Spirit without measure though he spake as never man spake yet he chose to conclude his Life to entertain himself in his greatest Agony and at last to breath out his Soul in the words of this Book of Psalms rather than his own And as this Book of Psalms surpasses other parts of Scripture for its excellency so among these Psalms themselves some are more excellent and more useful than others It seems it pleased the Holy Ghost that the Sacred Pen-man of these Psalms should take more pains and shew more Art and Skill in the composition of some than in the composition of others and sure where more Art is used and more pains taken there may we very well expect to find greater excellency Now Learned men observe that these seven Psalms 25 37 111 112 119 145 and this 34 are contrived with more Pains and Art than others They are called by St. Austin Abecedarian Psalms as being composed according to the Hebrew Alphabet each Verse like Acrostick Poems beginning with the Letters thereof And it is a tolerable reason which is given by St. Ambrose who tells us they were contrived so that they might be a better help for memory and that Children and young Learners might with their first elements of other Learning have an Alphabet of

performed and this is one reason why Catechizing at this day is more particularly enjoyned in Lent But though it be a rare thing now a days to have Adults baptized yet such as are baptized in their Infancy do seldome understand their Baptismal Vow until they are well instructed in their Catechism Hence our Church according to her wonted prudence begins her Catechism with Questions relating unto Baptism such as are fit to remind the Catechumens of that Solemn Vow which their God-fathers and God-mothers made at the Font in their names And as these Catechetical instructions are useful for the better celebration of Baptism so they are not less useful for the due celebration of the Lords Supper For this end King James of happy memory at the request and with the approbation of his Clergy appointed Bishop O●eral then D●an of Pauls to frame that very useful part of the Church-Catechism which treats of both did Sacraments Here Catech●mens are taught more fully the ●ature and design of Baptism here also they are instructed in the nature and design of the Lords Supper what is represented by the Bread and Wine what are the ends for which this Sacrament was instituted what the benefits worthy Communicants receive and what qualifications are required in worthy Communicants How necessary then must teaching and Catechizing Children be which will thus help ●o f●● them for all the ordinances of Heaven 5. The necess●●y of teaching and instructing Children will yet further appear if we consider how much it will contribute to the good and welfare of the Kingdom Kingdoms as the Great Philosopher long ago observed consist of Towns Towns of Families and Families of such as either are or were Children so that to train up Children in the fear of the Lord is the best way to make good Families good Families will make good Towns and good Towns will make a good and an happy Kingdom By Catechizing the younger sort Children will understand their duty to their Parents Servants to their Masters Subjects to their Princes and all of them that duty which they owe to God If Children be well grounded in the principles of Religion they will not easily be tossed about with every wind of Doctrine they will not easily be drawn into Schism and Heresie or be so apt as many are to disturb the peace both of Church and State By such early instructions Religion will be best preserved in the purity thereof and more safely propagated to succeeding Generations All which do so eminently conduce to the welfare of a Kingdom that Catechizing cannot but be acknowledged a most important duty Hence the Athenians when they consul●●d the Oracle How they might make their Common-wealth most happy and prosperous Were answer'd They might make it so by hanging those things which were most precious at their Childrens Ears by which was meant instructing them in the principles of Piety and Vertue Having now shown you at large the great necessity of Catechizing I come in the next place II. To enquire who those persons are that must be taught and Catechized and they are Children come ye Children This word Children is allowed some Latitude in Holy Writ and does not only signifie those that are such in respect of their age but such also as are Children in respect of understanding Hence is that exhortation of St. Paul Brethren be not Children in understanding but in understanding be men Here such as are ignorant are accounted Children by the Holy Ghost though in respect of years they may be Men. It follows therefore that all Children as soon as they are capable of Instruction and all that are ignorant whether through the neglect of their Parents and Sponsors or their own default should diligently attend upon this most profitable ordinance of Catechizing We find in the Primitive Church Adults and such as were stricken in years among their Catechumens Nay we are told that Arnobius and St. Austin wrote many pieces of Divinity when they were Catechumens and St. Ambrose was but in his Catechism when he was chosen Bishop of Millaine I the rather mention these great examples that none whether young or old rich or poor married or unmarried may deprive themselves of the great benefits of Catechizing by reason of some unwarrantable bashfulness But if there are any who will not come and answer the Questions of the Church Catechism I know nothing should hinder them from being present at the Explications of it But if men are unwilling to go so far I can only add that they may be welcome to more private Instructions whenever they shall desire them King David in the Text solemnly invites such as are ignorant to come and receive Instructions So that it is their duty to come and it will be a dangerous aggravation of their sin still to continue in ignorance when the means of knowledge are plentifully afforded them and they solemnly invited to accept of them c. I hope they will be the more ready to come when III. They are told in the third place what Children and such as are ignorant are to be taught and that saith our Psalmist is the fear of the Lord The fear of the Lord is but another name for Religion For as our Psalmist tells us elsewhere the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom a good understanding have all they that do his commandments Solomon who may pass for a good Interpreter of his Fathers mind tells us the same that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdome and as it is the beginning of Wisdome so it is the end and perfection of it too and therefore in his Book of Ecclesiastes he makes this the conclusion of the whole matter Fear God and which is the proper effect of it keep his Commandments for this is the whole duty of man Thus the fear of the Lord is but another name for Religion which like a perfect circle begins and ends with this one point King David does not invite those that are ignorant to come and learn the arts and methods of great Estates or procuring wordly honours but the fear of the Lord which will enable them to live holily in this world and happily in the next He would not have them come and hearken to a few speculative notions or some curious niceties but he would have them acquainted with the practical truths of Religion such as are able to make them wise unto Salvation Wisdom is the principal thing saith Solomon and therefore get Wisdom saith he and with all thy getting get understanding Now Behold the fear of the Lord that is wisdome and to depart from evil that is understanding The Church of England out of her pious care of all that are in communion with her has provided for those that are ignorant an exact Catechism which does contain all that is here meant by the fear of the Lord. In it you will not find any old wives