The Works of Wm Chillingworth

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 AUTHOR OF CHARITY MAINTAINED, r .I . . HIS PREFACE TO THE READER. me leave (good reader) to inform thee, by way of preface, of three points: the first concerns D. Potter's Answer to Charity Mistaken. The second relates to this Reply of mine. And the third contains some premonitions, or prescriptions,...
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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 AUTHOR OF CHARITY MAINTAINED, r .I . . HIS PREFACE TO THE READER. me leave (good reader) to inform thee, by way of preface, of three points: the first concerns D. Potter's Answer to Charity Mistaken. The second relates to this Reply of mine. And the third contains some premonitions, or prescriptions, in case D. Potter, or any in his behalf, think fit to rejoin. 2. For the first point, concerning D. Potter's Answer, I say in general, reserving particulars to their proper places, that in his whole book he hath not so much as once truly and really fallen upon the point in question; which was, whether both catholics and protestants can be saved in tfeeir several professions? and therefore Charity 'Mistaken, judiciously pressing those particulars, wherein the difficulty doth precisely consist, proves in general, that there is but one true church; that all Christians are obliged to hearken to her; that she must be ever visible and infallible; that to separate one's self from her communion is schism; and to dissent from her doctrine is heresy, though it be in points never so few, ornever so small in their own nature; and, therefore, that the distinction of points fundamental and not fundamental, is wholly vain, as it is applied by protestants. These (I say) and some other general grounds, Charity Mistaken handles; and out of them doth clearly evince, that any the least difference in faith cannot stand with salvation on both sides. And, therefore, since it is apparent, that catholics and protestants disagree in very many points of faith, they both cannot hope to be saved without repentance; and, consequently, as we hold that protestancy unrepented destroys salvation, so must they also believe, that we cannot be saved, if they judge their own religion to be...