Catholique divinity: or, The most solid and sententious expressions of the primitive doctors of the Church. With other ecclesiastical, and civil authors: dilated upon, and fitted to the explication of the most doctrinal texts of Scripture, in a choice way both for the matter, and the language; and very useful for the pulpit, and these times. / By Dr. Stuart, dean of St. Pauls, afterwards dean of Westminster, and clerk of the closet to the late K. Charles.

Qui peacat quatenus peccat, sit seip so detetion.

Clem. Alex.

IN every sin a man falls from that degree which himself had before. In every s•• hee is dishonoured, hee is not so good a man as hee was; impoverished, hee hath not so great a portion of grace as hee had; infa∣tuated, hee hath not so much of the true wisdome of the fear of God as hee had; dis••armed, hee hath not that interest, and confidence in the love of God that hee had; and deformed, hee hath not so lively a representa∣tion of the image of God as before. In every sin wee become prodigals; but in the habit of sin wee become bankrupts, afraid to come to an ac∣count. A fall is a fearful thing, that needs a raising, a help; but sin is a death, and that needs a resurrection; and a re••••rection is as great a work as the very Creation its self. It is death in semine in the root, it pro∣duces, it brings forth death; it is death in arbore, in the body, in its self; death is a divorce, and so is sin; and it is

death in fructu, in the fruit thereof; sin plants spiritual death, and this death produces more sin obduration, impenitence, and the like.