Meditations upon the marks of the true Church of Christ: or, Motives of credibility in behalf of the true religion: and, the easiest way to finde it out. / By H.W.
About this Item
Title
Meditations upon the marks of the true Church of Christ: or, Motives of credibility in behalf of the true religion: and, the easiest way to finde it out. / By H.W.
Author
H. W.
Publication
Paris, :: [s.n.],
Printed, with licence. 1655.
Rights/Permissions
To the extent possible under law, the Text Creation Partnership has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above, according to the terms of the CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/). This waiver does not extend to any page images or other supplementary files associated with this work, which may be protected by copyright or other license restrictions. Please go to http://www.textcreationpartnership.org/ for more information.
Subject terms
Catholic Church -- Apologetic works -- Early works to 1800.
Cite this Item
"Meditations upon the marks of the true Church of Christ: or, Motives of credibility in behalf of the true religion: and, the easiest way to finde it out. / By H.W." In the digital collection Early English Books Online. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/A96976.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 8, 2024.
Pages
The fourth Point.
Consider lastly, what resultancies arise, and may be gathered out of these foregoing Points: Amongsts others, one is, that the Church of Rome hath been apparently visible in all ages: An other, that since Christ must have a true Church upon earth, and since one of the marks of it is (appears by the scri∣ptures) conversion of Nations, by the doctrine: and since no other Sect hath this mark, the Church of Rome (which hath alwayes had it) must be, and is Christs true Church: a third,
that when any are converted to the Roman church
descriptionPage 104
from insidelity or heresie, they amend their lives, and live more vertuously than before: But those that were Ro∣man Catholicks, when they fall, and betake themselves to any other Sect, they grow worse and worse; as we see it sals out by experience in almost eve∣ry one that revolts from the Catho∣licks to any other Sect; and the rea∣son of this is clear, because liberty and temporall ends are their motive, not any quarrel they have against the pro∣bability and truth of the Catholick Tenents: If I stay with the Catholicks, I must not onely confesse my sins and be truly sorry for them; but I must also seriously pur∣pose amendment of my life, and repair what soever dammages my neighbours same or fortune have suffered by my malignant tongue, or fraudulent dealing: Wave these obligations, and go once to Church, and by this I may evade the misery of sequestra∣tion, and live free from sears; siding with the Sect most countenanced, and cryed up, will secure me and mine: With such thoughts the wicked spirits inveagle those fraile ones, which (like unto Fishes) at first sight, lay hold on the
descriptionPage 105
bait, but mind not the hook; no effi∣cacy of doctrine moves such men: But thou, Rationalist, be thou led with motives grounded upon eternity; and let that do∣ctrine,
which all Nations have experienced to be efficacious, finde no resistance in thee, and thou heavenly Physician (who said that the healthfull had no need of such artists but the sick onely) look upon the distempers of this distracted Nation in point of Reli∣gion: England, that when time was, lent Evangelical light to so many others, sits now in darknesse, and in the shadow of death; but thou, who art the way, make her walk in thee: thou that art the truth, make her believe in thee; that since thou art life, she may live in thee, till all Nations meet in the Unity of Faith, AMEN.