N20568:11545
The new and complete book of martyrs; or, An universal history of martyrdom: being…
The new and complete book of martyrs; or, An universal history of martyrdom: being Fox's Book of martyrs, revised and corrected, with additions and great improvements. : Containing an authentic account of the lives, persecutions and sufferings of the holy martyrs; and the many dreadful persecutions against the Church of Christ in all parts of the world, by pagans, Jews, Turks, papists, and others, from earliest ages of the church to the present period. ... The whole forming at once a general Christian martyrology, and a complete history of persecutions. / By the Rev. Mr. John Fox, M.A. late of Magdalen College, Oxford. ; Now revised, corrected and improved, with many additional articles, relating to the acts and monuments of the church. By Paul Wright, D.D. ; Embellished with forty elegant copper plate engravings. ; In two volumes. Vol. I[-II].The new and complete book of martyrs; or, An universal history of martyrdom: being Fox's Book of marytrs, revised and corrected, with additions and great improvements. : Containing an authentic account of the lives, persecutions and sufferings of the holy martyrs; and the many dreadful persecutions against the Church of Christ in all parts of the world, by pagans, Jews, Turks, papists, and others, from earliest ages of the church to the present period. ... The whole forming at once a general Christian martyrology, and a complete history of persecutions. / By the Rev. Mr. John Fox, M.A. late of Magdalen College, Oxford. ; Now revised, corrected and improved, with many additional articles, relating to the acts and monuments of the church. By Paul Wright, D.D. ; Embellished with forty elegant copper plate engravings. ; In two volumes. Vol. I[-II].
New-York: printed by William Durell, 1794
Title page typeset from the transcription.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
LETTER V. From Mr. WHITTLE to his dear Brethren, Mess. FILLS and CUTHBERT.
LETTER V. From Mr. WHITTLE to his dear Brethren, Mess. FILLLS and CUTBERT.
MY dear and well beloved brethren in Christ, […] and Cuthbert, I wish you all […] of soul and body. Where to the soul is repentance of sin, faithful assistance in Christ Jesus, and a godly life. Welfare to the body is the health of the same, with all necessary things for this life. The soul of man is immortal, and ther• fore ought to be well kept, lest immortality of joy should turn to immortality of sorrow. As for the body, be it ever so well kept and made much of, yet shortly by nature will it perish and decay: but those that are ingrafted and incorporated into Christ by true faith, feeling the motion of God's holy Spirit as a pledge of their election and inheritance, exciting and stirring them not only to seek heavenly things, but also to hate vice, and embrace virtue, will not only do these things, but also if need require, will gladly take up their cross and follow their captain, their king, and their Saviour Jesus Christ (as his poor afflicted church of England now doth), against that false and antichristian doctrine and religion now used, and especially that blasphemous mass, wherein Christ's supper and holy ordinance is altogether perverted and abused, contrary to his institution, and to Paul's proceedings: so that that which they have in their mass, is neither sacrament of Christ, nor yet sacrifice for sin, as the priests falsely pretend. It is a sacrament, that is, as St. Augustine saith, a visible sign of invisible grace, when it is administered to the communicants according to Christ's example, and as it was of late years in this realm. And as for sacrifice, there is none to be made now for sin: "For Christ with one sacrifice hath perfected for ever those that are sanctified."
MY dear and well beloved brethren in Christ, 〈…〉 and C•t•ert, I wish you all of soul and body. Where to the soul is repentance of sin, faithful assistance in Christ Jesus, and a godly life. Welfare to the body is the health of the same, with all necessary things for this life. The soul of man is immortal, and ther fore ought to be well kept, lest immortality of joy should turn to immortality of sorrow. As for the body, be it ever so well kept and made much of, yet shortly by nature will it perish and decay: but those that are ingrafted and incorporated into Christ by true faith, feeling the motion of God's holy Spirit as a pledge of their election and inheritance, exciting and stirring them not only to seek heavenly things, but also to hate vice, and embrace virtue, will not only do these things, but also if need require, will gladly take up their cross and follow their captain, their king, and their Saviour Jesus Christ (as his poor afflicted church of England now doth), against that false and antichristian doctrine and religion now used, and especially that blasphemous mass, wherein Christ's supper and holy ordinance is altogether perverted and abused, contrary to his institution, and to Paul's proceedings: so that that which they have in their mass, is neither sacrament of Christ, nor yet sacrifice for sin, as the priests falsely pretend. It is a sacrament, that is, as St. Augustine saith, a visible sign of invisible grace, when it is administered to the communicants according to Christ's example, and as it was of late years in this realm. And as for sacrifice, there is none to be made now for sin: "For Christ with one sacrifice hath perfected for ever those that are sanctified."