Selected quad for the lemma: authority_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
authority_n	acknowledge_v	church_n	scripture_n	3,085	5	6.3603	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A66898	The late proposal of union among Protestants, review'd and rectifi'd being a vindication of the most reverend father in God, Edwin, Lord Arch-Bishop of York, and the reverend Dr. Tillotson, Dean of Canterbury, from the misprisions of an apocryphal proposer : with a full answer to his proposal, presented to the Parliament.	Womock, Laurence, 1612-1685.	1679 (1679)	Wing W3345; ESTC R20318	24,189	16

holy Scriptures To which I answer That we have nothing establish'd in our Church but what God hath set up by general directions and a just authority nor have we any thing in use and practice amongst us but what is in the root and ground of it as old as the Apostles nor is any thing imposed upon Ministers or People but what hath such sufficient footing and warrant in the Holy Scriptures That the Church hath power to institute external Rites prescribe Forms to make Canons and Constitutions to assist her Children and regulate their Practice in the publick Worship and Service of God is not onely the unanimous Confession of all Protestant Churches of any creditable denomination but is exactly consonant to the mind of God revealed to us in his holy Scriptures where he gives the Church a charge to do all things to edification and to his glory To this end he enjoyns her to perform all her holy Offices decently and in goad order This is God's express command in general but his Word hath no where determined the particulars wherein that decency or order does or shall consist it follows therefore undeniably that the Word of God or the Holy Scriptures do suppose or establish a Power in the Church to institute Rules prescribe Forms and make Canons to that purpose For a clearer Demonstration hereof let us seriously reflect upon these Considerations 1. That Christ and his Apostles intended Unity and to obtain and preserve that Unity they enjoyned Order and Uniformity in the Churches Christ's intent is evident in his ardent Prayer that his Disciples might a Joh. 17. be one and made perfect in one And we may read the great Apostle's aim in his earnest conjuring them b Eph. 4.1 to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace c Rom. 16.17 For there is one body and one spirit one Lord and one Faith one Baptism one Hope of our calling And elsewhere he is no less vehement Now I beseech you Brethren 1 Cor. 4.17 mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned and avoid them That Order and Vniformity are enjoyned to preserve this Vnity is no less evident d 1 Cor. 14.40 Let all things be done decently and in order Order is the Parent of Decency and to observe the same Rule is to follow Order Hence the Apostle exhorts the Philippians e Phil. 3.16 Let us walk by the same rule let us mind the same things And this is the onely way to keep out Schism whereupon he useth this Observation to the Corinthians f 1 Cor. 1.10 Now I beseech you Brethren by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that ye all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions amongst you but that ye be perfectly joyned together in the same mind and in the same judgment And he tells us to what end he requires this viz. That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorifie God Rom. 15.6 even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ And upon this account their Order in the Church of Coloss was a Prospect of so much pleasure to him Col. 2.5 For though I am absent in the flesh yet am I with you in the spirit joying and beholding your order and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ For when men begin to break order they presently grow loose in their Faith both to God and Man 2. Consider that the Apostles at their first Preaching of the Gospel did not presently establish that Order which the state of the Church did afterward require The Church was to be gathered first and afterwards Orders prescribed how it should be governed This is evident not onely from those Decrees made in the first Council at Jerusalem but from the express resolution of S. Paul Acts 15. 1 Cor. 11.34 the rest will I set in order when I come 3. Consider that the Apostle expected such a Settlement should be made by such as were intrusted with the Government of the Church This is clear from his advice and command to Titus For this cause left I thee in Crete that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting or left undone From whence two things may be inferr'd irrefragably 1. That at his first Preaching of the Gospel S. Paul left some things undone which in his own judgment were afterwards fit to be done 2. That he expected the performance thereof from the care of Titus 4. Consider that the Apostle gives certain general rules or Canons to direct the Governours of the Church Instit l. 3. c. 19. sect 15. in making such Establishments such are these Let all things be done to the glory of God Let all things be done to edification Let all things be done decently and in order Hereupon Mr. Calvin does acknowledge such Ecclesiastical Constitutions to be lawful as consonant to the Word of God And Beza accounts them celestial and divine in respect of their foundation and end which is that general decorum commanded to be observed in God's Worship 5. Consider that the Apostle left it to the Judgment of Church-Governours to determine the particulars to be established in such cases For this cause left I thee Titus Titus 1.5 a single person and at least a Bishop in Crete that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting David Solomon and Jehosaphat Hezekiah Josiah and all godly Princes made Laws for the Church of God and were approved yea the Laws and Decrees of Nebuchadnezar of Cyrus and Darius were for the benefit of it And God hath promised that Kings shall be nursing fathers and Queens nursing mothers to the Church And it was truly and worthily said in Queen Elizabeths time by that Author before mentioned That Princes especially serve Christ even in making Laws for Christ L. Drios p. 162 Now let us lay these Principles together 1 That the solemn Worship and Service of God cannot be performed without Circumstances for of necessity Circumstances must cloath every action under the Sun 2. That these Circumstances are to be observed according to the rules of decency and order and that these rules are to be adjudged and determined by such as are invested with Authority to that effect it will follow unavoidably that all Subjects and Members of the Church are obliged in Conscience to obey such Determinations and Establishments For 't is most certain where some are impowered to command others are enjoyned to obey else the Power given to Superiours were given to no effect Vbi supra Hereupon Mr. Beza does acknowledge though these Ecclesiastical Constitutions be humane and mutable and do not bind the Conscience properly and of themselves yet if they be just and honest we are obliged to observe them as they contribute to the edification of the Church and that we may avoid scandal Nor want we a better Authority than that of Mr. Beza the

if they be his own he saith thus I have ever been and presently am persuaded that some of them Rites and Ceremonies be not so expedient for this Church now but that in the Church Reformed and in all this time of the Gospel wherein the Seed of the Scripture hath so long been sown they may better be disused by little and little than more and more urged This is that which the Archbishop declares and it is observable that he does not name any one of those Rites and Ceremonies but refers the particularities to the discretion of the Godly-wise What have been disused and altered since that time I shall leave to the Observation of considering men What are retain'd amongst us have been severely and minutely examined and the Godly-wise find them so far from a disposition to choak the seed of the Gospel that they approve them as congenial to the general Dictates and Directions of it and very decent in the solemn Worship and Service of God under it That our Ecclesiastical Policy in some points may be better'd that Bishop does acknowledge and so do we In the Preface to the Commination we are told of a Godly Discipline in the Primitive Church which both they and we wish heartily might be restored but this is not to be hoped for till the generality of men become more governable that is more humble more obsequious to wholesom Discipline and carry a greater veneration for the Authority of the Church But that this Reverend Archbishop was not of the mind of these Dissenters his last Will and Testament which is here produced gives us sufficient Evidence For he saith 1. That the state of a small private Church such as Geneva for example and the form of a large Christian Kingdom neither would long like nor at all brook one and the same Ecclesiastical Government 2. He saith Concerning Rites and Ceremonies by Political Constitutions authorized amongst us I am and have been persuaded that such as are set down by public Authority in this Church of England are no way either ungodly or unlawful but may with a good Conscience for order and obedience sake be used of a good Christian Are the Dissenters of this mind why then do they not conform to them and why does this their Advocate upbraid them as sinful and ungodly and charge them with an edge and sting that wounds the Conscience 3. That Reverend Archbishop tells us further I do utterly mislike even in my conscience all such rude and undigested Platforms as have been more lately and boldly than either learnedly or wisely preferr'd tending not to the Reformation but to the destruction of the Church of England What would this pious Soul have said if he had lived to see our tender consciences cloathing themselves in Arms of Steel marching with Pikes Swords and Pistols bartering down our establish'd Laws and Government with Guns and Cannons and setting up their own new models not with the noise of Axes and Hammers but with the more confused noise of Wars and Tumults and with garments rolled in bloud They have given this best of Churches the Stab made the gaping wounds yea and with their pretious balms have broken our much more precious head and now they call earnestly for a tender hand for a cementing healing spirit as if all the hurt had been done not by but upon themselves These Observations upon the Discourse of that Reverend Person being submitted to the Judgment of every Reader I shall proceed to the remarkable passage of that Reverend and Worthy Dean which he setteth down in these words It is not for private persons to undertake in matters of publick concernment but I think we have no cause to doubt but the Governours of our Church notwithstanding all the advantages of Authority and we think of Reason too on our side are Persons of that Piety and Prudence that fox peace-sake and in order to a firm Union among Protestants they would be content if that would do it not to insist upon little things but to yield them up whether to the infirmity or importunity or perhaps in some very few things to the plausible Exceptions of those who differ from us Before I return an account of the Sense of that Reverend and Learned Person I shall endeavour to undeceive the nameless Allegator He thinks that to some very few things these Dissenters have very plausible Exceptions Sir I am heartily glad to hear their Exceptions are but plausible and reduced to so small a number We have Exceptions against the Presbyterian Discipline and Government and against the Congregational Churches too and those not a few and much more than plausible But what Constitution what Court what Person what any thing in the world shall be allowed to stand if a few plausible Exceptions be sufficient to pull it down There have been plausible Exceptions against A House of Lords plausible Exceptions against the best of Princes and things that are most sacred When we hear of Exceptions and plausible we should well consider the Persons to whom they are so There are exceptions against the holy Scriptures but they are plausible onely to the prophane Atheist Exceptions against the eternal Son of God but they are plausible onely to Scribes Pharisees Hypocrites to Jews Infidels and Hereticks When Ignorance and Faction have made exceptions Pride and Interest will strive hard to make them plausible A thing may be very plausible which is no way just but highly inconvenient It is therefore an Argument of a light and ungenerous mind to argue in matters of so great importance from such popular and loose Topicks Prudent and Pious Persons were not wont of old to do so we may instance in Hooker Hammond Sanderson Nor must we look upon this as the Judgment of that Reverend Dean but as the fond Opinion which these Dissenters have of their own Conceptions Nor can this Allegator think that a few things will satisfie them To rectifie his Judgment herein let him peruse their Solemn League and Covenant as the Mother of all the rest their Directory their Form of Government for England and Ireland their Confession of Faith their lesser and larger Catechisms their Jus Divinum of the Presbyterian Government and since His Majesty's happy Restruration their Petition with the Review and Alteration of the Book of Common Prayer their Petition for Peace with their Reformation of the Liturgy Again this confident Allegator looks at the wrong end of the Telescope when he judges these matters to be so little For to yield up such things and upon such accounts as they demand them we must yield up a branch of truth and our own reason with some part of our Christian Liberty which is never a whit the less considerable to us because we desire not to make use of it for a cloke of Pride Malice or Disobedience Some Laws and Canons also are to be yielded up and some rays of Authority to be eclipsed if not extinguished

by this Concession Besides what is little in its own nature may be great in its consequence The Pin of a Watch is a small matter if we look upon the bulk of it yet the loss of such a Pin disorderss the whole Movement or makes the Wheels to stand still and so you lose your aim and the time or the day by it The taking away of a little Turf is but a small matter in appearance but such as are well acquainted with the Po-Dyke Law will tell you it may occasion a breach in the whole bank and let in such an Inundation as may drown a fruitful Level for which reason such a wilful Breach is made Felony by Statute But grant the things to be so little as is ordinarily imagined Deios ubi supra p. 172. for that Learned Man said very right in the days of Queen Elizabeth The Controversies wherein we differ have small weight in the matters and less in the proofs But it seems these Dissenters have no great value for Authority when it was not vested themselves that such little matters can give them occasion to quarrel with it If the matters be smell the performance is the more easie and consequently the disobedience the more intolerable And this is acknowledged by no less Authority than an Act of Parliament for in the Preface to the Book of Common Prayer under the Title of Ceremonies it is declared that Although the keeping or omitting of a Ceremony in it self considered is but a small thing yet the wilful and contemptuous transgression and breaking of a Common Order and Discipline is no small offence before God We find therefore that Instances of contempt in the smallest matters have been punished with the greater rigour To pick up a few sticks one would think no great violation of the Sabbath yet 't was so high an affront to Government the Lawgiver would not dispense with it Num. 15 32. 'T is true such Affronts may be prevented if the Law be changed by the same Authority that made it but this course in preventing one would draw on another and a much greater mischief For as that Reverend Dean observes There is no greater disparagement to a man's understanding Dr Tilloison's Sermon on 1 Cor. 3.15 no greater argument of a light and ungenerous mind than rashly to charge ones Religion Eft enim proprium viri nobilie constantem esse in re laudabili honoréque digna nec sinere se ab honesto proposito vel secundis vel adversis rebus abduci saith the Learned Zanchy This chopping and changing leaves a legible brand of unsteddiness and levity and argues want of good advisement when the Law was first established and this is the readiest way to make the gravest Councils ridiculous and their Laws contemptible This that wise and learned Prince very well understood K. JAMES and therefore in his Proclamation for the Uniformity of Common Prayer he concludes thus And last of all we do admonish all men that hereafter they shall not expect nor attempt any further Alteration in the Common and Publick Form of God's Service from this which is now established This Proclamation was printed before the old Book of Common Prayer for that neither will we give way for any to presume that our own Judgment having determined in a matter of this weight shall be swayd to alteration by the frivolous suggestion of any light spirit Neither are we ignorant of the Inconveniences that do arise in Government by admitting Innovation in things once settled by mature deliberation and how necessary it is to use Constancy in the upholding of the publick Determinations of States for that such is the unquietness and unstedfastness of some Dispositions affecting every year new Forms of things as if they should be followed in their Unconstancy would make all Actions of State ridiculous and contemptible whereas the stedfast maintaining of things by good advice established is the Weal of all Commonwealths And now Sir I shall take leave to do right to that Reverend and Worthy Dean whose Words are alleaged by this Apocryphal Writer to his own ends but with a Construction far distant from the Dean's intended sence and meaning For 1. The Dean does avouch himself to be of our Governours side but these Dissenters are professedly against them 2. The Dean tells you It is not for private persons to undertake in matters of publick concernment but whatever they have done since I am sure the Dissenters in the time of Queen Elizabeth thought it lawful to attempt any thing which they were pleased to call a Reformation by Clamour Tumult and Violence and sometimes they did act accordingly without and against Authority In evidence whereof we need produce no other than the words of that Author so often mentioned Laur. Deios in the said Discourse p. 163 164. This their Liberty saith he of those Dissenters is one of the chief Points wherein they stand Here neither Prince nor Counsellour nor Bishop nor Law must restrain them from refusing or casting off whatsoever they mislike or from taking upon them and putting in practice any thing they have determined or concluded to be done seeing according to their conceit they have sound out that Bishops and all other Officers in our Church are Popish and that the Ministery as they suppose beareth Popish Names and Marks and the Laws are Popish they will neither sue to Prince nor Council for the removing of any of these things but with all speed cast the Yoke from their own necks And seeing they have found in their fancies that an Eldership and no other Laws but the written Word is to be heard therefore they will erect these things amongst themselves And it were to be wished that the same humour did not reign incorrigibly among them at this day witness the late Practices in Scotland which agree exactly with their seditious Principles for which Ireser the Reader to a Book entituled Raviliac Redivivus and their late Declaration 3. The pious Inclination of that Reverend Dean was for a not-insisting upon a few little things These Dissenters are for a change of all viz. the Liturgy Discipline and Government of the Church 4. These Dissenters demand a change of things as sinful The Dean taken them onely for indifferent having all the advantages of Authority and Reason which he would never have alleaged if he had thought such things sinful 5. The Dean doubts not in the last of the Piety and Prudence of the Governours of the Church but he finds no such relenting melting temper in these Dissenters For after such a Condescention in our Governours as he supposes to be attainable he is still doubtful of those Dissenters Conformity and Obedience which makes him say If that would do it In short when his heart was warm with Meditation and a Discourse of Charity the Reverend Dean freely utters his pious Sentiments for peace-sake and in order to a firm union among