Selected quad for the lemma: scripture_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
scripture_n	apostle_n	holy_a	place_n	3,411	5	4.1535	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A53661	Remarks on a sermon, about corrupting the word of God preach'd by Tho. Gipps Rector of Bury, on a publick occasion, July 11, 1696, wherein the dissenters are fully vindicated against his vnjust accusations / by J.O., Minister of the Gospel at Oswestry.	Owen, James, 1654-1706.	1697 (1697)	Wing O709; ESTC R6175	33,441	32

cannot learn This State of Cambridge was communicated to me by the Learned and Judicious Mr. Francis Tallents who was a Student then in 38. By this it appears what a ridiculous Story it is that the Vniversities were running into the same Excess of Riot with Scotland in 1638. But I proceed to his 2d Argument viz. Argument II. The Corruption in appearance favours the Dissenters and their Design against Episcopacy If then any they may be suspected for being willing to have it at least continued and propagated I Answer 1. He durst not say the Corruption favours the Dissenters for he knows the contrary but he slily says it does in appearance favour ' em This appearance is only to himself for I believe no Dissenter ever thought of it 2. I know no Principle of any sober Dissenters that is favoured by this Corruption It is the profest Principle of the Presbyterians That no man ought to take upon him the Office of a Minister of the Gospel until he be lawfully called and Ordained thereunto by the Presbytery See the Directory for Ordination Both Presbyterians and Congregational-Men whom he disjunctively accuseth have declared their United Judgment about the Ministry in the Heads of their Agreement Printed at London 1691 in which they Unanimously declare for the Election and Ordination of such as undertake the Ministerial Office the former they ascribe to the People the latter to the Elders or Pastors Chap. 2. Of the Ministry This then is the pernicious Principle which he fancies the Dissenters would support by corrupting Act. 6.3 viz. that Ordinarily the People have power to choose their own Ministers This I confess is asserted by the Vnited Brethren And cou'd they be under any Temptation to corrupt a Text of Scripture to assert a Principle that may be justified by express Scripture and is asserted in this very place without any corrupt Reading Act. 6.3 Wherefore Brethren look ye out among you Seven Men of honest report full of the Holy Ghost and Wisdom whom we may appoint over this business Here the People choose the Deacons the Apostles by Imposition of Hands and Prayer Ordain or Appoint the Persons so chosen The Rector himself in another Mood allows this p●wer to the People or Multitude of Believers For thus he speaks The Apostles commanded the People to choose seven men Act. 6.3 So St. Peter exhorted them to choose one * Tent. Novum p. 4. Again The choice of the Persons to be p●esented unto the Apostle was made by the People † p. 3. Whether the Rector of Bury were acco●ding to this Apostolical practice chosen by the People he himself best knows and the good People of Bury may do well to consider Behold here our Accuser asserts the very Principle in favour of which he pretends the Presbyterians or Corgr●gational Men for he knows not which have corrupted the Word of God Now suppose a peevish Recriminator should retort the Charge upon him and say there is shrewd suspicion that the Rector of Bury hath contributed to the corrupting of Act. 6.3 at least to the continuance and encrease of it § Serm. p. 23. because it is done in favour of the Popular Principle he maintains what can the Rector say for himself He stands condemned out of his own Mouth If his Argument be good against the Dissenters it 's good also against himself For he allows the People as much Power in making their Ministers as the Dissenters do Either then let him honestly acquit his Brethren or condemn himself They are conscious to their own innocency let him who is acquainted with the secret practices of the Press come off as well as he can 3. The altering of we into ye in Act. 6.3 cannot be imputed to the Dissenters or to any Design of theirs to assert the Peoples power of setting up their own Ministers p. 25. because the Seven Deacons in Act. 6 3. were no Ministers of the Word and Sacrament in the Judgment of the Dissenters They have all along pleaded That the Deacons in Act. 6. were Ministers of Tables and not of the Word Is it likely they should corrupt a Text to assert the Peoples Power in making Gospel Ministers which in their Opinion speaks not of those that Minister in Gospel Mysteries It belongs not to the Office of Deacons saith the Westminster Assembly to Preach the Word or administer the Sacraments but to take special care in distributing to the necessities of the Poor See their Advice to the Parliament concerning Church-Government in the Directory Argument III. On the contrary it cannot saith our Accuser with any colour of reason be imagined that the Episcopal Party design'd to corrupt this place p. 24. Answer This proves nothing against the Dissenters nor do they charge the Episcopal Party with any design of corrupt●ng it tho the Press was in their hands and strictly guarded against the Puritans when it was first done if it was in the Year 1638 as he supposes Nor will any one of sence adds he believe that the Episcopal Party were willing to have that thrust out of the Scripture upon which their Church Government seems to be built or to substitute in its room what in appea●ance overthrows their Polity ibid. I never understood before that the Episcopal Government was built on this Act of the Apostles in ordaining Deacons Doubtless the Episcopal Party will reckon themselves highly obliged to this Master-Build●r who hath supported the Foundations of their Go●●rnment by so strong an Argument as is here proposed viz. The Ap●stles Ordained Dea●●●s to se●●●●ables therefore the Church ought to be govern'd by Bis●ops But he spoils all 〈◊〉 ●y s●●ing That th●ir Church Government seems to be built on this Scripture which in ●lain E●g●●sh is as much as if he had said it is not really built upon it This overthrow● 〈…〉 P●●son That it was their interest not to corrupt it so that their Cause not being really s●●●orted by this Text they might be the Authors of the Corruption according to the R●cto●'s way of arguing Thus the Episcopal Party are more obliged to the Charity of the Dissenters in acquitting 'em from a designed Corruption of this place than to the strength of the Rector's Argument Argument IV. That Party ought in all Reason to be suspected of Foul-Play herein who under colour of this new Text of Scripture assert and support the new Popular Government of the Church as some of the Presbyterians do at this day For Pro●f of this he tells us a Memorable Story as he calls it of a Cameronian one of the most rigid Sects of the Scotch Presbyterians who Preaching some Years since concerning the Peoples Power of setting up their own Teachers urged this corrupt Reading for Proof Answer 1. It is a pretty way of proving that the English Presbyterians assert the Popular Government of the Church from this Text because a Scotch Cameronian has done so some Years since 2. I expected he would have instanced

evidently points at them When Mr. B. cites the Words of Scripture he does it in a different Character as may be seen in that very Page in 1 Cor. 11.19 which he there quotes in Italick Letters but he refers to Acts 15.28 without changing the form of the Letters by which 't is apparent he did not design to transcribe the very words of the Text. It 's ha●d measure to Charge a Man who only refers to a Text of Scripture or gives the sense of it with corrupting the Word of God because he has not transcribed the whole ●ose 2. It would have look'd more generous in this Criminator to have answer'd Mr. B's Argument from this place against unnecessary Impositions than to blemish the Reputation of a dead Man But it 's easier to revile a Man than to confute him 3. I have reason to suspect the Rector took up this Calumny at second hand from Dr. Hook to whom he refers in the Margin and never examin'd the truth of it For thus he begins the Charge In the Dissenters Petition for Peace above years since He could not tell how many years since and therefore left a blark to be filled up by any body that would do him that kindness Had he perus'd the Petition it self it would have cured his Ignorance concerning the distance of time Besides he cites the Text out of the Petition thus To lay upon you no greater burden than necessary things Whereas if he had taken the Words out of the Petition it self he must have exhibited them as I have above to lay upon them no greater burden One may see by this what little trust is to be given to this man's Accusation who takes up any silly Calumny and reports it again for truth without once examining whether it be so or not But that is inconsistent with the Design he had in hand which was to Calumniate stoutly in hopes something might stick 4. But since the Rector so roundly Charges others with corrupting the Word of God it will not be amiss to take notice how he treats it himself I will observe a few of his own Quotations which I should have over-look'd if he had not thus unjustly accused his Brethren of that which he is notoriously guilty himself Qui alterum incusat probri ipsum se intueri oportet Thou art inexcusable O Man for wherein thou judgest another thou condemnest thy self for thou that judgest doest the same things Rom. 2.1 I confess I love not recriminations but when a Man is so quick-sighted as to behold a mote in his brothers Eye 't is an act of Charity to help him to a Glass that may discover unto him some of the beam in his own Eye If he please to re-view the Scripture-Quotations in his own Sermon he 'l find many of 'em not exactly rendred He would reckon it unfair did we go about to aggravate its Oversights and charge him with poysoning the fountain-head refining upon the Word of God lying against the Holy Ghost c. He would say these were hard Words and yet this is the Language he gives the Dissenters for a litteral fault which he cannot prove upon them Instances of his careless and loose way of citing the Scriptures I. His very Text from which he takes occasion to aggravate his Charge against us of Corrupting the Word of God is corruptly rendred by him Prov. 30.6 Add thou not unto his Word so the Rector It should have been Add you not unto his Words in the pl. So it is in our English Bibles c. so it is in the Original Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 verbis ejus Here is a litteral fault and such as substitutes the singular number for the plural in our Rector's very Text. He that so grievously censures others for a litteral fault should tell by what Authority he makes bold to alter or to use his own Dialect to corrupt the very Text of his Sermon He repeat the Text in the same manner in P. 1. and 2. and therefore cannot charge the Press with this Error It 's true the variation does not corrupt the sense but allow Men a liberty of a litteral variation from the Language of the Holy Ghost the sense and meaning cannot be long secur'd II. The first Scripture that occurs after the Text and Context is 1 Cor. 10.11 written for our instruction upon whom the ends of the World are come So he reads it p. 1. but in our English Bibles it is thus written for our admonition upon whom Here he changes admonition into instruction tho the Original he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and properly render'd admonition by our Translators both here and in Eph. 6.4 Titus 3.10 III. His next Allegation is from Deut. 4.2 Ye shall not add unto the Word neither shall ye diminish ought from it It ought to be thus read Ye shall not add unto the Word which I command you neither shall ye diminish ought from it Here he leaves out the Words which I command you without which the sense is imperfect He condemns Mr. B. for leaving out the word these and himself leaves out but four Words together and those also essential to the sentence he p●oduceth IV. Having compar'd his Text with Deut. 2. and 12.32 he enlargeth his foundations and saith for which reason therefore I would read the Text thus add not thou unto his Word neither diminish ought from it p. 2. He may read it as he pleases but those Words neither diminish ought from it are an addition to that Text which saith add not Must we tack to every Text what is said in other Scriptures more fully and make that explanatory addition an essential part of the Text And when we have thus fill'd it up from parallel Scriptures shall we pretend it ought to be read thus This would create as many various Readings as there are parallel Texts Unhappy Solomon Hadst thou liv'd in our days to consult a Man wiser than thy self he wou'd have taught thee to have put this Saying in a better form and to write it thus add thou not unto his word neither diminish ought from it However thou can'st not but take ●t kindly that he supplies in Reading the defect of thy Writing Our Hebrew Bibles have several Keri's and Cethib's in which the Marginal Reading va●es from the Writing in the Text as the Masorites have observed But this new Keri or Reading escaped their Observation It 's to be hoped the Learned World will take notice of it in the next Edition of the Masora We have all read these Words neither diminish ought from it in Deut. 4.2 but a Man may sooner read out his Eyes than read the words in the Rector's Text as it lies in our Bibles And therefore to help you to the True Reading of this place you must make a Thankful Purchase of the Rectors Sermon for your Instruction V. He thus cites Isa 11.9 That the knowledge of the Lord might cover the Earth as the