Selected quad for the lemma: sense_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
sense_n	church_n	father_n	word_n	3,081	5	4.2090	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A47321	A rational, compendious way to convince, without any dispute, all persons whatsoever, dissenting from the true religion. By J.K.	Keynes, John, 1625?-1697.	1674 (1674)	Wing K393; ESTC R200380	33,446	158

A RATIONAL Compendious way TO CONVINCE Without any DISPUTE All Persons whatsoever Dissenting from the TRVE RELIGION By J. K. PSAL. IV. 7. Signatum est super nos lumen vultus tui Domine Printed in the Year 1674. THE PREFACE THE variety of Sects which daily swarm here in England has forced me upon this way of ending Controversies in Religion No body can confute in particular the proper Tenets of each Sect unless he be first well informed what they are and our Sects are so numerous and so various that to be well informed of the particular Tenets of each one of them a mans life is not sufficient Yea even Those who do profess to be all os the same Religion are many times so different one from another that we can scarce find Two among them who do perfectly agree in the Articles of their Faith Several Religions retain only the name of what they were when first broached and should one be perfectly acquainted with the proper Tenets of the Sects which are now in Vogue within a short time he would be to seek when other new Heresies come into fashion Besides it is one thing to convince a man that he is in a wrong way which we may do by refuting the particular Errors of the Religion he professes and another thing to shew him which is the True way which cannot be done but by demonstrating unto him the True Religion Wherefore I have endeavoured without taking notice of the particular Errors of each Sect to find out a Method whereby to evidence to all persons whatsoever the True Religion For this being once evidenced unto them whoever strayes from it may clearly see not only that he is in the wrong but also how he may put himself in the right-Certain it is that if there be a True Religion in the world as we shall evince there is it may be found out by all such as are concerned therein and consequently by all persons whatsoever For they are all concern'd in finding out the True Religion since they are all bound to save their Souls Nor can they save their Souls unless they please God nor please God unless they embrace the True Religion which is only able to teach them what they are to do to please God Sine Fide impossibile est placere Deo Heb. 11.6 Nor finally embrace the True Religion unless they can find out and be convinced which it is And if all persons whatsoever may find out which the True Religion is there must needs be some way whereby they may find it out and this way also must be such that it may be found out For what matters it that there be a way to find out such a thing if no Body can find out which that way is My endeavour therefore was to find out This way of Convincing all persons whatsoever concerning the True Religion Now Natural Reason and Experience teaches us that it is not possible to convince any one by discourse but out of what the person with whom we deal does admit For all conviction by discourse must be grounded upon premises and nothing can be convinced or concluded out of premises unless they be granted If every Thing is to be proved we shall never finish the proof of any Thing The art therefore of convincing a person consists in discovering such premises granted by him whence is inferred what we pretend to convince him of And if the premises be not only granted by our Adversary but also True in themselves they may be effectual both to convince our Adversary and evince the Truth too But if they be not True in themselves yet granted to be so they may convince him but can never evince the Truth And such Arguments are commenly stiled Argumenta ad hominem Since therefore my design was not only to convince the persons but to evince the Truth also and to convince all persons whatsoever concerning the True Religion I further resolved to seek out Principles True in themselves pertinent to prove the intent and such as no person whatsoever could deny or question But where shall we meet with such Principles especially since we live in an Age wherein a good wit and a bold wit are accounted Synonima's and those are held to be most ingenious who can deny most If we apply our selves to the several Writers of each respective Sect thinking to convince the professors of such Sects by the Testimonies of their own Doctors we shall find that some Fancy one Author some another though they all profess themselves to be of the same Religion Neither will they stand to all the Author whom they Fancy asserts but to what they please only and in what sense too they please to interpret it Yea though they promise many times at the Beginning to stick to what such a Doctor to whom they are devoted does affirm in reference to such a Debate yet when they are press'd they flie off and say That they will not pin their Faith upon the sleeve of Luther Calvin or any other particular Doctor of the Protestant Church If we make our address to the ancient Fathers of the Church endeavouring to evidence by their Testimonies the Truth of ours and the Falshood of our Adversaries Religion this Topick is obnoxious to the same flaws as the former For our Adversaries admit among the ancient Fathers only whom they fancy and of him only what they fancy and this only in what sense they fancy and though to amuse the people they often vapour that the Fathers for the first 600 years after Christ did stand for them yet when they are pinched with clear Testimonies produced out of them destructive to their particular Sentiments they plainly confess that even the chiefest of the ancient Fathers were infected with Non-fundamental Errors and such Errors only they ascribe to Bellarmin and other Writers of the Roman Church and with several Superstitions of Popery or they come to slight them all saying with some German Lutherans that one Kemnitius is worth a thousand Austins or with their grand Patriarch Luther that they do not value a Thousand Cyprians a Thousand Austins nay nor the whole Universal Church worth a straw The same may be said of Tradition For they admit the Tradition only of such men and in such matters as they think fit or when they are urged they slight it If we appeal to the General Councils of the Church shewing that by their Canons our Tenets are established and the Errors of our Adversaries condemned of eighteen General Councils they admit only four Nay they do not afford any absolute assent to the Definitions of any General Council whatsoever but only a conditional viz. as far only as they guided by their own private Spirit do judge that what the Council defines is agreeable to Scripture And sure they will not deny such an assent even to what the Council of Trent has defined If we betake our Selves to Scripture producing thence many

the parties we may easily deduce several Attributes of God For God is the Best of all Things in all kind of Perfections Because as there is one better than another in Wisdom Goodness Power and other Perfections so there must be something the Best of all in All kind of Perfections which we term God If God be the Best of all in Wisdom Power Goodness and in all kind of perfections it follows that he is Free from all kind of imperfections For an imperfection in any kind whatsoever consists in a defi●iency from what is best in that kind and therefore imperfection is commonly defined Defectus a summo Since therefore it is impossible That what is the Best in all kind of perfections should be deficient from being the Best in any kind we conclude that God is free from all imperfections whatsoever and if so then he is infinitely perfect in all kind of perfections For all limitation in perfection must proceed from some imperfection in that kind If therefore God be free from all imperfection in what kind soever it necessarily follows that he is infinitely and without limitation perfect in all kind of perfections and consequently that he is not constituted of Things imperfect and hence may be inferred the simplicity of the Divine Essence Moreover since one thing is better than another because it comes nearer that which is the Best and since 't is impossible that any thing should come nearer that which is the Best than what really and by identity is the Best we conclude that what is the Best cannot increase and what cannot increase is infinite For whatsoever is finite and limitated may increase Notwithstanding it is not necessary before we have found out the True Religion that we should know any other Attributes of God or any other properties of the True Religion besides Those only the knowledge whereof is precisely requisite for the Discovery of the True Religion and are admitted by such as we deal with the rest the True Religion will teach us If one desire to know why should one Thing be said to be better than another because it comes nearer what is the best rather than because it goes further from what is the worst the reason is because perfection consists in Positives imperfection in Negatives and according to the Natural Order of Things Negatives are to be explicated by their Positives and not on the contrary as Darkness is expounded by Light and not Light by Darkness So that the worst is rightly expounded by the greatest distance from the Best whereas the Best is explained by the Greatest conjunction with that which contains all perfection Yea if there must be something the worst of all Things why must there not he something the Best of All Things and consequently a True God which is what we pretended to prove in the First point And because we desire to deal fairly and freely with our Adversaries when we Dispute with such as profess themselves to be Christians we give them leave to assign any solid inducement whatsoever why they are Christians with the Advertisement insinuated Point the fifth I do not ask them what it is to be Christians but why they are so and sure no Christian will be ashamed to tell any one what inducement he has to be a Christian And to propose this question to them may contribute much to ground them well in Christian Religion For there are Christians who have scarce ever reflected not only what it is to be Christians but neither why they are so Some will tell us that they are Christians because they were bred and born amongst Christians or because they live under a Christian Prince But these Motives are frivolous For though such circumstances have been the occasion why many are Christians yet they cannot be a prudent Motive why they are so For a Turk who is born a Turk and lives under the Turkish Government has the same reason to be a Turk Others who have never reflected why they are Christistians ask me what inducements I have to be a Christian and though this be not to answer the question themselves but to have me answer for them yet to satisfie them I may propose the forementioned miraculous propagation or some other solid Reason which being once approved of by them may easily be applied to Catholck Religion Others will say That they are Christians and this is the common answer of Protestants because such Books which they believe to be the Word of God interpreted in such a sense as they believe they are to be interpreted in inform them of the Divinity of our Saviour and of other Mysteries of Christianity But a Jew has the same reason to be a Jew because such Books which he believes to be the Word of God interpreted in such a s●nse as he believes they are to be interpreted in tell him that Christ is not God nor the Messias Besides it cannot be a good rule to arrive to the right sense of Scripture to interpret it according to each ones private reason For if it were a good rule who ever should adjust himself thereunto would interpret Scripture in a right sense which is manifestly false For Two who interpret Scripture in contradictory senses may Both follow their own private reason as is evident and yet it is certain that either the one or the other of these Two would not interpret Scripture in a right sense For it is impossible that Two Contradictory senses should Both be right and intended by the Holy Ghost who cannot contradict himself and that only is the true sense of Scripture which was intended by the Holy Ghost We challenge therefore our Adversaries to produce any solid inducements for one to be a Christian which does not prove that he should be a Catholick So that with Truth we may say No Catholique No Christian Wherefore my main Task in this work is to shew that what proofs are alledged for Christian Religion may be alledged for Catholick Religion and by consequence that we have the same inducements to be Catholicks as to be Christians and that what Objections are made against Catholick Religion are or may be made against Christian Religion and accordingly that we have the same Motives to be No Christians as to be No Catholicks And it would be absurd to say That we ought not to urge Sectaries upon this Topick for fear lest they should deny Christian Religion to be true rather than grant the Truth of Catholick Religion For in the like manner they might say That we ought not to urge Sectaries out of Scripture or any other Principle granted by them for sear lest ●hey should deny Scripture ra●her than assent to the Tenets of our Church By Christian Religion I understand the Religion preached by Christ and his Apostles which among other Things taught as an Article of Faith that it would continue to be the true Religion till the worlds end and consequently if it was ever true