The Works of the Most Reverend Dr John Tillotson

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Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2012 - 96 pages
Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: the things which God hath laid up for them who love jhitn heartily, and ferve him faithfully in this world. SERMON CXXI. The danger of apoftacy from Chriftianky. H E B. vi. 4, 5, 6. For it is tmpoffible for thofe who were once enlightened, and have tafted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy GhoJl, and have tafted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come; if they Jhall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; feeing they crucify to themJelves the Son of God afrejh, and put him to an open Jhame. IHefe words are full of difficulties, and the mifunderftanding of them hath not only been an occafion of a great deal of trouble, and even defpair to particular perfons, but one of the chief reafons why the church of Rome did for a long time rejeft the authority of this book; which by the way I cannot but take notice of as a demonftra- tive inftance both of the fallible judgment of that church, and of the fallibility of oral tradition; for St. Jerom more than once exprefly tells us, That ill his time (which was about 400 years after Chrift) the church of Rome did not receive this epiftle for ca- nonical: But u is plain, that fince that time, whether moved by the evidenceof the thing, or (which is more probable) by theconfent and authority of other churches, they have received it, and do at this day acknowledge it for canonical: from whence one of thefe two things will necefl'arily follow; either that they were in an error for 400 years together, while they rejefted it; or that they have fince erred for a d.onger time in receiving it. One of thefe is unavoidable -, able; for if the book be canonical now, ir was Co from the beginning; for Eellarmine himfelf confef- feth ( and if he had not confefled it, it is neverthe- ...

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