Selected quad for the lemma: tradition_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
tradition_n	christian_n	church_n	scripture_n	1,902	5	5.9310	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A47133	The deism of William Penn and his brethren destructive to the Christian religion, exposed and plainly laid open in the examination and refutation of his late reprinted book called, A discourse of the general rule of faith and practise and judge of controversie, wherein he contendeth that the Holy Scriptures are not the rule of faith and life, but that the light in the conscience of every man is that rule / by George Keith.	Keith, George, 1639?-1716.	1699 (1699)	Wing K156; ESTC R6589	71,572	164

needs only pretend a Revelation for that and all the other Matters in Controversie betwixt Protestants and Papists to justifie him and prove him to be no Changeling And at this rate of W. P's arguing not only all the peculiar Doctrines of Christianity are wholly uncertain and Papists Socinians and Arians and other the worst of Hereticks that oppugn the Christian Doctrine and Faith may happen to be in the right and these called the Orthodox to be in the wrong but the great Fundamental of the Quakers is overthrown and rendred uncertain also yea this very Position that he laboureth so much to establish That not the Scriptures but the Light in every Man's Conscience is the Rule of Faith and Life to every Man For this Position of his is not literally and expresly in the Scripture so that according to W.P. not the Scripture but his and his Brethrens Interpretation must determine this Controversie and this cannot be done without extraordinary Revelation it being none of those things that fall within the ordinary Discoveries of Men to wit that the Light in every Man's Conscience is Christ and God for then Christ would be God and the Socinians would be Blasphemers that deny him so to be By all which it evidently appears that this Argument of W.P. not only renders all the peculiar Doctrines of Christianity meer Scepticism and Uncertainty but the great Fundamental of the Quakers as concerning the Light being Christ in them and the Rule of their Faith to be equally Scepticism and Uncertainty But that he saith Christ's Divinity is left undetermin'd in Scripture literally and expresly is false for it is in several places literally and expresly affirm'd that Christ is God and that and many other Truths suppose not literally and expresly mentioned in Scripture yet by good and necessary Consequences without all extraordinary Revelation from plain places of Scripture can be certainly inferred And if he will not allow that there is any certainty by arguing from the Scriptures by Consequences of true Reason his whole Discourse in this his Book that I am now answering is disallowable for he has not brought one place of Scripture that literally and expresly saith the Scripture is not the Rule of Faith or that the Light in every Man's Conscience is and he doth not pretend to extraordinary Revelation in the Case and if he did of shall he must give us leave to distrust him until he bring sufficient Evidence for it which I believe he will never be able to do Yea the Falsity of his Reasonings by way of Consequence to prove his Position That not the Scripture but the Light in every Man's Conscience is the Rule of Faith and Life is evidently apparent from the answers already given And suppose he should pretend to extraordinary Revelation in the case and that that is the ground of his Certainty and Rule of his Faith even that Pretence destroyeth his Fabrick for seeing all Men have not that extraordinary Revelation it cannot be a general Rule If he say The common discovery that every Man hath teacheth him sufficiently without either Scripture or extraordinary Revelation That the Light in every Man's Conscience is the Rule of Faith I answer How can that be unless it were a self-evident Proposition as that the whole is greater than the part and if it be a self-evident Proposition why hath W.P. taken so great pains to prove it Men commonly think it needless to prove any self-evident Proposition and properly speaking it is impossible to be proved But if his said Position has no self-evidence of the Truth of it how shall it be proved not from Scripture for that would make the Scripture the Rule nor from Humane Reason for that would make Humane Reason the Rule which W.P. seems not to set up for the Rule It is granted that the Light in every Man's Conscience in respect of some Moral Principles of Justice and Temperance has a Self evidence and so far is a Rule but that it is the Rule of Faith to Christians is denied and by whatever Medium he proveth it that must be his Rule by his manner of arguing which runs him into the like vitious Circle as the Papists are run into when they prove the certainty of Tradition by the Church and the certainty of the Church by Tradition so W.P. proves that the Light within is the Rule of Faith by the Scripture and the certainty of the Scripture by the Light within Section 20. His Proposal of the way to determine all Controversie destructive to the Christian Religon le ts in Deism and Heathenism to overspread the World a Remedy worse than the Disease His misrepresentation of sound Protestants and false and uncharitable Judgment of them Several Scripture places that prove the Doctrine of the Holy Scriptures to be the Rule of Faith and Life to all Christian People I Confess he hath one very notable and plausible Answer to an Objection made by himself P. 44. were it as true as seemingly fair and plausible The Objection is this How will this determine Controversie viz to cast away the Scriptures from being the general Rule of Faith and Life and to set up the Light in every Man's Conscience according to the general Discoveries it gives to all Mankind and allay the Fury of Debates that are on foot in the World He answereth roundly Nothing like it if Men adhere to it But first were it true it would have this mischievous and yet most necessary Consequence that the Christian Religion would be utterly lost so far as it hath any peculiarity or peculiar Dignity Worth and Advantage above Deism or Paganism A rare Cure indeed that W.P. here prescribes to all Christendom to heal their Breaches and end the Disputes and Controversies betwixt the worst sort of Hereticks and the most Orthodox Christians and betwixt Papists and Protestants such a Remedy here prescribed by him is worse than the Disease He saith Most Perswasions he should have come out more plainly with his Expedient saying most Hereticks Arians Nestorians Sabellians Eutychians and them of the opposed side called Orthodox yea Papists and Protestants agree in his general Rule of Faith and Life that is they own the common and general Dictates of the Light in the Conscience and so doth the civilized part of the whole World of Mankind and agree about what he makes the absolute Necessaries viz That God is that he is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek him that the way of God is a way of Purity Patience Meekness c. without which no Man shall see the Lord. Now all Hereticks commonly few I think excepted own these Generals and many of them have Moral Lives Is this enough to their eternal Salvation though they deny the Lord that bought them with his precious Blood as he outwardly suffered on the Cross on this pretence that their general Rule set up here by W.P. teacheth them nothing of any such Lord that bought them