Selected quad for the lemma: authority_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
authority_n	age_n	church_n	scripture_n	2,324	5	6.0450	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A34182	The bishop of London's charge to the clergy of his diocese at his visitation begun Ann. 1693 and concluded Ann. 1694.	Compton, Henry, 1632-1713.	1696 (1696)	Wing C5663; ESTC R32775	23,015	41

Intention II. And to your Doctrine Which is the other part of the Charge and is that Depositum which the Apostle so carefully minds him of O Timothy keep that which is committed to thy trust Which Trust is not only generally agreed by Commentators to be the Doctrine of the Gospel but is I think evidently so explain'd from the Words of the same Apostle to the same Person The things that thou hast heard of us among many witnesses the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also Now this is the Foundation of our whole Religion For upon this we build our Faith our Works and the whole Frame of our Righteousness By the sound Expression of this we square all our Religious Thoughts and Actions avoiding prophane and vain janglings and opposition of Science falsly so called which some professing have erred concerning the Faith Our Office for Ordaining Priests takes a just and a wise course to prevent running after every Spirit and taking up Doctrines upon too easie Terms when it exacts this Promise of those that are to be Ordained To teach nothing as required of necessity to eternal Salvation but that which you shall be persuaded may be concluded and proved by the Scripture All other Writings derive their Authority from the Author's Veracity or Judgment the former qualifies him for a good Witness and the second for a good Judge but yet so as to be Tryed by the Touchstone of the Holy Scripture The four first General Councils have a particular Weight 1. From the great Credit of those that sate in them and 2. From the Universal Deference paid to them by all Churches in all Ages Therefore our Constitutions give no Authority or Power to order determine or adjudge any Matter or Cause to be Heresie but only such as heretofore have been determined ordered and adjudg'd to be Heresie by the Authority of the Canonical Scripture or by the first Four General Councils or any of them or by any other General Council wherein the same have been declar'd Heresie by the express and plain Words of the said Canonical Scripture or such as hereafter shall be ordered judged or determined to be Heresie by the High Court of Parliament of this Realm with the Assent of the Clergy in their Convocation By which Words ye see 1. The sure Foundation our Church is built upon the Holy Scripture and what is Authoritatively delivered from it and agreeable to it 2. The just Method for Establishing any Doctrine so delivered not by the confus'd way of setting up private Spirits but according to the Mind of that God who is the God of Peace by submitting to every ordinance of man for the Lords sake whether it be to the King as supreme c. that is by the most Publick General and Authentick Consent that a Nation is capable of which with us is that of Parliament and Convocation What had the Apostles to justify St. Paul against the Complaints of the Iews but by convincing them that he walk'd orderly and kept the law However there is a Just and Decent Liberty due to all Christians whereby to Judge for themselves in the Essentials of Religion But yet such a Liberty it is as is beset on each hand with most dangerous Rocks such as threaten Shipwrack to any Vessel that shall Strike upon them For if on the one hand we run into that Popish Extreme to take away all Liberty by an absolutely blind Obedience and implicite Faith swallowing down all that is given without Tasting or Chewing upon it we act more like Beasts than Men and as easily take down Poyson as wholesom Food but on the other hand if with the Fanatick we assume to our selves an unlimited Power of following the Wild-goose-Chase of our wanton and uncertain Imaginations we shall Tear the Church in Ten Thousand Pieces and expose it to all Uncharitableness And therefore a Sober Christian tempers all his Proceedings with Modesty and Humility and has that discreet Jealousie of himself as wherever he breaks Communion to do it upon so certain Grounds that the Grievousness of the Error imposed or the Wickedness of the Fact commanded shall be Notoriously evident Otherwise in the Meekness of Wisdom he defers to the Judgment of his Neighbours rather than to his own and thinks himself in Modesty in common Discretion and in Duty bound for the sake of Peace Unity and Concord to submit to the Determination of his Superiours especially in Authoritative Assemblies For in the multitude of counsellors there is safety And we have a Proverb which is deriv'd from its Authority He that is his own adviser has a fool to his counsellor Indeed it is want either of Judgment or Honesty that makes Men give in so much to their own Opinions and so little to those of others For it is certain the chief End of our being Conversable and Sociable Creatures was that we might be Assisting one to another and the more Important and Universal the Subject is the greater regard ought to be had to its Determination So that not only in Things Indifferent where it is absolutely our Duty to submit but much more in the Weightiest Matters of the Law where our Eternal Welfare is so immediately concerned we ought with the greatest Care and Caution to Proceed and never think we can take too much Advice That Noted Mark of Catholick Truth which Vincentius Lirinensis Prescribes to Submit to that which has been believed in all places at all times and by all goes a great way with every Modest and truly Humble Christian. Because the Starting of Doubts and Questions so Confound the Apprehensions of Men oftentimes that it is very hard for them to come to a Resolution of themselves And in that Case there is no other way to come to the Acknowledgment of the Truth but by a Prudent Deference to Authority For we cannot well imagine it Consistent with the Divine Goodness and Wisdom to suffer an Error so to Prevail or rather to Reign so absolutely in his Church as to bear these three Atchievments I question whether ever any Heresie attained completely to any one of them St. Ierom ye know indeed says The World wondred to find it self become Arian But this Expression must be taken as generally such are by a Trope of the whole for the greatest or at least most Noisie Part. For it it evident from all the Accounts given us of those Days that there were many bore Witness for the Truth even to the Death and more would have done so if their Courage would have served Besides that at all Times was wanting It was an Upstart Heresie that lasted no longer than Supported by Force and Violence which bears no great Analogy with Gods Methods in Propagating the Gospel But Popery seems to lay the greatest Claim to this Character of Orthodoxy and yet when thoroughly consider'd the largest Part of it goes

command you Brethren in the name of our Lord Iesus Christ withdraw your selves from every brother that walketh disorderly and not after the tradition which he received of us We behaved not our selves disorderly among you For by all this ye see what weight the Apostle puts upon the Order or Discipline of the Church The measure of which is expressed by the Word Canon Let us walk by the same Rule There are two sorts of Proofs that are enough to convince any Man that the Apostle had an eye in a great measure at least to the Rites and Ceremonies of the Church when he made use of these words First The first is from Reason and that a Negative one which is the great Mischiefs that attend a remiss Conformity in You especially I. For it shakes the minds of your Flocks and either encourages them to have an ill opinion of your Constitution or at least to think very indifferently of it and to observe it accordingly II. It affords great matter of Triumph to those that are without when they find how little ye regard those very things for the retention of which too often they are separated from you III. Whoever is guilty of this Neglect and yet continues in the Communion of our Church must needs expose himself to the Censure of all sorts of Men. For what can be imagined to induce him to this Disorderliness but either that he is not satisfied in his own Mind to observe the Injunctions of the Church and is therefore a Knave for undertaking to do that which he thinks in Conscience he ought not to do or that he fears to displease some People lest their Favour and Contributions should fail whereby he becomes a Traditor in selling his Duty for a Morsel of Bread And in both Cases he is a perjur'd Person by breaking his Canonical Oath IV. But the certain effect of drawing several ways in our course of Worship will be a coldness of Affection from the difference of Minds and that soon improves into Strife and Contention For when Men set their Hearts upon any thing that meets with Opposition they are presently in a Flame as not enduring to be thought in the Wrong This is so evident through the whole Conversation of Mankind that he must wink very hard that sees it not What Heats what Animosities nay many times what Enmities what Contentions what Wars have ensued upon Differences in very Trifles Now by how much the greater the Consequence is of the Matter in debate so much the warmer prove the train of Passions raised upon it and the more in earnest a Man is the apter is he to be froward especially if he get into a Wrong way For Where envying and strife is there is confusion and every evil work Secondly The Second Proof is from Authority and such an Authority so clear and plain that one would wonder how ever it could enter into the heart of Man to question the Observation of an innocent Ceremony or Rite in Worship 1. For the Holy Scripture is so clear in this Point that even the Old Testament which is made up of Types and Figures Rites and Ceremonies and of Gods own Appointment yet admitted of Changes Additions and Alterations the Authority of which Practice our Saviour himself confirms by his own Communion with them The several Orders and Classes of the Priests and Levites appointed by the Kings of Iuda continued till that day The change of Posture in keeping the Passover was observed by him and he honoured the Feast of Dedication a new Feast with his own Presence When the Shadows were vanished away and the Substance was come then were Rites and Ceremonies no more a part of Religion but only so far in use as the necessity of Decency and Order required in the Judgment of those who had the Rule over the Church so that from a direct Obligation upon the Conscience they became only relatively so For now it is purely in obedience to our Superiours and to avoid the scandal of Irregularity and the duty of the Observation is no longer lived than the Will of Man But if ye will do your Duty throughly ye must do your diligence to keep your Flocks to the same Regularity ye observe your selves And give me leave here to make a Moral Application of some Texts which I have already made a critical use of Ye know how frequently in other words St. Paul urges this Doctrine Let all things be done decently and in order With what Earnestness I beseech you Brethren by the name of our Lord Iesus Christ that ye all speak the same things and that there be no divisions Schisms among you but that ye be perfectly joyned together in the same mind and in the same judgment For tho this cannot be observed in a Literal and Overt Sense yet in a Moral one it may by Silence and Forbearance for the sake of Peace and just deference to Authority And to what an excellent End If it be possible as much as lyeth in you live peaceably with all men To the same purpose is that Exhortation to the Hebrews Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works And that the Opportunity of doing this so necessary a Performance may not be lost this Warning is given them in the next Words Not forsaking the assembling of our selves together as the manner of some is but exhorting one another And to prevent the counterfeit Pretence of Modesty in keeping back from the Congregation till a more perfect Knowledge be attained to the Apostle St. Paul says Nevertheless whereunto we have attained let us walk by the same rule let us mind the same thing For while one says I am of Paul another I am of Apollos are ye not carnal Therefore I beseech you Brethren mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned And why is he so earnest in giving caution against such Men Because such serve not our Lord Iesus Christ but their own bellies and by fair words and soft speeches deceive the hearts of the simple And so Deceive them as to draw them into Envy and Strife For this the Apostle takes for granted to be the inevitable issue of Schism For whereas there is envying and strife and division among you For when one says I am of Paul another I am of Apollos c. And we know the constant Companions of Strife and Envying For There is confusion and every evil work But God is not the author of confusion I cannot tell that stronger Words may be given either by Admonition or from Reason than what are here alledged out of Scripture tho' much more might be drawn from the same Fountain at least as home to the same Purposes For we see how carefully the Holy Spirit directs to Union and Unanimity and with what severe Characters he stigmatizes the