Selected quad for the lemma: authority_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
authority_n	ancient_a	bishop_n	church_n	2,902	5	4.2373	3	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A36251	Reflexions on a pamphlet entitled, Remarks on the occasional paper, numb. VIII relating to the controversy betwixt Dr. Hody and Mr. Dodwell and on another entitl'd A defence of the vindication of the depriv'd bishops, some time since seiz'd and suppress'd by the Government, and now reprinted : with an answer to a third call'd historical collections concerning church affairs.	Dodwell, Henry, 1641-1711.; Hody, Humphrey, 1659-1707.	1698 (1698)	Wing D1816; ESTC R9160	29,610	34

placed the last of all and after Gregory who stands in his proper place because he was a Patriarch only de jure and not in Possession And here I shall transcribe those words which Dr. Hody observes of the Learned Annotator on P. Gregory's Epistles Non satis hoc advertere videntur qui ad summos juris apices de re qualibet decernentes Schismatibus contentionibus viam parant zelo PRAECIPITI NEC SATIS CAUTO The Doctor 's History adds that when St. Martin Bishop of Rome was violently Depos'd by the Emp. Constance because of his adherence to the Orthodox Faith his Successor Eugenius was receiv'd by all as a true Pope And tho' he was put into the place of one so Depos'd and who never had given up his Right yet he 's honour'd by the Church as a Saint A Saint is Depos'd and a Saint accepts of his place And so far was that holy Man St. Martin from thinking it unlawful for his Clergy and People to submit to another Bishop that when he heard that there was another constituted in his Room he offer'd up to God his prayers both for Him and his People that their hearts might be established in the Orthodox Faith To these he adds many more Examples of the following Ages to shew that this was universally the Practice of the Catholick Church He shews how great and how worthy a Person the Patriarch Photius was who accepted of Ignatius's See whom the Emp. Michael had unjustly Depos'd And observes that the Metropolitans of the Province of CP tho' they own'd that Ignatius was unjustly depriv'd and had still a great honour for him and desired he might be restor'd yet because the Emperor would not suffer it to be done they peaceably yielded to Necessity and submitted to the present Possessor Such as these are those Sacred Instances with which Dr Hody has oblig'd us He has also shewn us that the same was the practice of the Antient Church whensoever any Bishop was unjustly Depriv'd by an Uncanonical or Heretical Synod if their Sentence was enforced by an uncontroulable Authority of the Secular Power By this time you see what those some Men are who to get or keep their Preferments were guilty of such Compliances Let us hear now what is said by a very great Prelate of our Church concerning this History of the Drs and the Instances he has given Dr Hody says he has fully ended the Argument that he had begun from the Practice of the Church and that in so convincing a Manner that matter of Fact seem'd not capable of a clearer proof But the not answering his Book is now excus'd upon this pretence Because he had promised another Treatise Of the Power of the Magistrate in such Cases which he has not thought necessary to enter upon till he sees what is said to his Book in which he has ●ully concluded the Argument upon which the Dispute fi●st began And the not publishing this is made an excuse for their not answering the other We know the true Reason why it is not answered is because it cannot be answered M●n may wrangle on eternally in Points of Speculation but Matters of Fact are severe things and do not admit of all that Sophistry ' In another place says the same great Man We challenge them to shew us where ever a Schism was formed upon the Lay-Deprivation of a Bishop even when the grounds that it proceeded on were visibly unjust if the Faith of the Church was not pretended to be concerned in the Matter The Intruders into the High-Priesthood under the Iewish Dispensation and the many Instances in Church-History that Dr. Hody has cleared beyond a possibility of denying the Matter of Fact are so express and full on our side that their avoiding to answer them is plainly a giving up the Cause Their leaving the general Argument from the constant and uninterrupted Practice of the Church and betaking themselves to the Methods of Slander and Defamation is such an evident indication of a bad Cause and of a worse Management that it is not possible but that the generality of indifferent Men will soon discern how weak their Reasons and how strong their Passions are They have in all their other Writings built too much on the Authority and Practice of the Church to be able with any shame to reject this Argument and to say that they ought to be govern'd by Rules and not by Examples We must here take our leave of the Remarker and return again to the Learned Mr. Dodwel It is certain that these Words of the Bishop of Sarum and the challenge he gives them to Answer Dr. Hody's Book was that which awakened him and put him upon publishing those Papers which were casually seized and are now Reprinted It was necessary they saw that something should be published that at least might be called an Answer and they knew that that Name alone would do at least some good since the greatest part of Men look no deeper than the Title The challenge is to Answer the History and yet not a word in Mr. Dodwel's Answer concerning those Instances of the Practice of the Church which the Dr. principally insists on As I have already said he does not so much as pretend to Answer it And what is this avoiding to Answer it after such a challenge from so great a Man but more plainly a giving up the Cause Mr. Dodwel's Talent is History And if a Man of his Learning and Diligence is forced to give up the Cause as it plainly appears that he is we know not from whom to expect it As St. Austin says of St. Ierome Quod Hieronymus nescivit nullus mortalium unquam scivit so say I of the worthy Mr. Dodwel What he cannot do in a matter of History and after so long a time it is now somewhat more than five Years since The Case of Sees Vacant was published the rest of the Party tho' they are some of them Men of great Abilities and Learning will not think it a disparagement to themselves if we conclude it cannot be done I cannot but take notice that He is so far from undertaking to Answer the Dr's History that he presumes to tell the World that the Dr himself does not look upon those Instances which he has produced to be of any considerable Authority that the Dr. himself does not value ' em What The Dr himself not value the Instances which he has produced This must needs have been great News to him Lest you should suspect I might possibly mistake Mr. Dodwel's meaning I shall give you here his own words The Dr. says he professes beforehand his own unwillingness to be concluded by such Instances as himself has produced tho' they should appear to be against him Why so if there had been any reason that he should have been concluded by them Why so if he did not thereby own that the Reasons given by the Vindicator against the Argumentativeness

accounted a Heretick was designed his Successor That the same Simplicius writing afterwards to the Patriarch Acacius concerning the Deprivation of the Heretical Bishops desires him to intercede with the Emperor That either the rejected Orthodox Bishops might be restored or at least new Orthodox Bishops created Whether old ones or new ones was to him upon the matter indifferent provided they were Orthodox That P. Felix III in his Synodical Epistles to the Emperor and Acacius concerning Mongus's his Promotion takes no notice at all of his being put into the place of one whom the Imperial Authority had depos'd but only complains of his Heresie That the same P. Felix in another Epistle in which he Excommunicates the Patriarch Acacius gives this as the chief Reason for it because he communicated with the Heretick Mongus And tho' at the same time he charges him with other Crimes yet he does not obj●ct it to him as a Crime That he Communicated with one who was put into the place of another Unsynodically depriv'd Lastly That Talaias himself did not think it Unlawful for the People and Clergy of Aegypt to acknowledge another for their Patriarch provided he were a Professor of the Orthodox Faith He fled says Evagrius to Rome and raises there very great stirs affirming what not that another could not be own'd in his stead because he had not been Synodically depriv'd but that it was for his defending the Council of Chalcedon that he had been depos'd and that he that was put into his place was an Enemy of that Council He observes that Calendion the Patriarch of Antioch being depos'd without any Synod by the same Emperor they that refus'd to acknowledge Gnapheus his Successor pleaded nothing at all for their so doing but his Heresie He shews that Macedonius the Patriarch of C P. being violently depos'd by the Heretical Emperor Anastasius because he refused to condemn the Council of Chalcedon his Succsseor Timotheus was by all that did not reckon him a Heretick acknowledg'd as a true Patriarch as particularly by the two great B shops and Saints Elias and Flavianus Patriarchs of Ierusalem and Antioch tho' at the same time they declared Macedonius his Deprivation to be null and invalid and could not be induced by any Threats of the Emperor to subscribe to it That the Orthodox Party of C P. Communicated generally with him and that he was acknowledged by the Orthodox Monks of Palestine no less than 10000 in number tho' they too at the same time condemn'd what was done against Macedonius as invalid That the great Abbot of Studium refused to be consecrated by him whilst he thought him a Heretick but assoon as he had an assurance that he was not so without the least scruple concerning the Unjust and Unsynodical Deprivation of his Predecessor he readily yielded to be consecrated by him He further observes that Flavianus Patriarch of Antioch being violently depos'd by the same Heretical Emperor the only Reason assigned by the Orthodox Party why they would not communicate with his Successor Severus was his being an Enemy to the Orthodox Faith He likewise shews that Elias Bishop of Ierusalem being depriv'd by the same Emperor his Successor Iohn because he prov'd to be an Asserter of the true Faith was by all the Orthodox readily acknowledged by all the People of Ierusalem tho' they extreamly hated him as looking upon him to be one of the chief Instruments in Elias's Expulsion by those two great Saints Theodosius and Sabas with the rest of the Monks and Inhabitants of Palestine by Io. Cappadox Patriarch of C P. with all the Bishops that were under him That his Name was preserved in the Diptycks of the Church together with that of Elias and that he was honoured as well as he by that Church as a Saint That Cyrillus of Scythopolis speaking of him says he was adorned with a Divine Prudence and that in the Acts of the Council Sub Mennâ he is stiled more than once Archbishop of Jerusalem of holy Memory You may see it there prov'd that tho' St. Silverius Bishop of Rome was so violently and unjustly depos'd by Iustinian's General Belisarius yet his Successor Vigilius was own'd as true Bishop of Rome by the whole Catholick Church particularly by the 5th general Council and is reckon'd by all to this day as one of the true Popes That tho' Macarius Bishop of Ierusalem was depos'd by the bare Authority of the Emperor Iustinian yet his Successor Eustochius was own'd as a true Patriarch by the same 5th general Council and the whole Church Catholick That after that when Eustochius himself was depos'd by the same Authority Macarius being restor'd was acknowledged again as a true Patriarch He shews you that tho' Eutychius Patriarch of C P. was so unjustly deposed by the Lay-power and tho' he still laid claim to the See yet his Successor Iohn was received by all the Orthodox particularly by the Clergy and People of that City tho' at the same time they exceedingly lov'd Eutychius and accounted him unjustly depriv'd That Eustratius who wrote the Li●e of Eutychius though he was a great Enemy to the Patriarch Iohn and speaks very angrily of him yet he no where reflects on any for owning him as a true Patriarch That the Emperors Iustin and Tiberius tho' they had a great Veneration for the rejected Eutychius yet they did not think themselves obliged to restore him by deposing his Successor but stayed till his Successor was dead and then restored him That Eutychius himself tho' he never gave up his Right but look'd upon himself as the rightful Patriarch yet he did not break the Peace of the Church but continued to Communicate with those that acknowledged his Successor He shews you likewise that tho' St. Anastasius was depos'd from his See of Antioch by the Emperor Iustin without any Synodical Procedure and tho' he never gave up his Right but always look'd upon himself as the Rightful Patriarch yet this Successor Gregory was unanimously receiv'd by the whole Church by four of that Age who are honour'd by the Church with the Veneration of Saints St. Symeon Stylites Saint Gregory the Great St. Eulogius Patr. of Alexandria and St. Iohn Nestutes Patr. of C P. That St. Gregory the Great communicated fr●ely with him tho' he own'd at the same time that St. Anastasius was invalidly Depriv'd and that he was still the Rightful Patriarch that he gives Anastasius the Title of Patriarch of Antioch and yet at the same time own'd his Successor Gregory to be a true Patriarch of the same See and gives him the same Title looking on the one as the Rightful Patriarch and acknowledging the other as the Patriarch in Possession He sends a Synodical Epistle to 'em both together with this Title which is very remarkable Gregorius Ioanni Episcopo C P no Eulogio Alexandrino Gregorio Antiocheno Anastasio Patriarchae Antiocheno à paribus And this is likewise observable that the Patr. Anastasius is

of such Facts were solid and concluding And how can he find in his heart to insist principally in his following Book on that very kind of Facts which he has acknowledged so unsafe to be relied on in his Preface He cannot pretend to argue ad Hominem when the Vindicator had so expresly enter'd his Exceptions against that whole Argument He cannot do it in his own Person when he professes himself unwilling to stand by the Consequences of it And how can he have the confidence to obtrude that upon us which he does not believe himself What ground in the Name of God! could he have for all this strange Talk He cites in the Margent these words out of the Dr's Preface Should our Adversaries be able to produce such an example as I think they will never be able 't will advantage their Cause but little especially if it be one of the later Ages since it is not agreeable to the Practice of the Church in general Is it really Mr Dodwel's mistake this Or did he intend to impose upon his Reader For my Life I cannot imagine how it was possible for a Man but of a common Capacity to be guilty of such a Mistake For all those Examples of the Church's peaceable Submission to the present Possessor in so many several Ages which are prov'd in The Case of Sees Vacant the Dr challenges Mr Dodwel and his whole Party and again the same challenge we here give them and desire they would take notice of it to produce him any one single Instance from the time of Aaron the first High-priest of the Jews to this very day of a High priest disown'd by the Jews or a Bishop disown'd by the generality of the Catholick Church for this Reason Because put into the place of another deposed by the Civil Authority And then he adds those words which you have read By which it is as clear as the Sun at high Noon that his meaning was no other than this That since the present Practice of the Church of England is warranted by the general Practice of the Church Catholick our Adversaries cannot be justified or excus'd by any one Instance on their side if they could produce one especially if it were one of the later and more degenerate Ages If the Dr does not look upon one Instance and that too in the more degenerate times to be conclusive against the general Practice of the Church and in the purer and more Learned Ages does he therefore not esteem the uniform Practice of the whole Church in general to be Conclusive To conclude this point and to satisfie Mr. D. how willing the Dr. is to be concluded by such a constant Vniformity of Practice in the Church I have leave to tell him That he prefers the Example of the Church which is so clearly made out in his Book to the Iudgment and Example of ten tho' I have leave to tell him yet I will not say how many Vindicators The Question betwixt Dr Hody and Mr. Dodwel is this Whether our Practice or the Practice of the Party be conformable to that of the Catholick Church in Ancient times 'T is expected that Mr. D. should either prove all the Instances which the Dr has produced to be false or produce as many and as good on his own side If he cannot do this much more if he cannot produce so much as one on his own side whatsoever he publishes with the Title of an Answer will be nothing but a Publick Declaration That they are not able to justifie themselves Time was as Mr D. well knows when the Practice and Example of the Church was of greater Authority with him When the Bishops were first depriv'd and their Sees fill'd all places that were honour'd with Mr Dodwel's presence as well publick as private rung aloud of Examples I have been often told by such as were at that time at Oxford and did themselves the honour to be often in Mr. Dodwel's company that till Dr Hody published his Baroccean Treatise Mr Dodwel constantly appeal'd to the Example and Practice of the Church It was this as I am very well assur'd that first put the Dr upon publishing that Treatise As soon as that was done then the usual Plea was quite alter'd Mr D. who before was so full of his History and Examples begins now not to esteem them And The Case of Sees Vacant when that was published made him utterly out of love with them He is now for Rules not Examples And he has good Reason for it for Rules he makes of his own but Examples he cannot When The Case of Sees Vacant first came out it was very well known that Mr D. and his whole Party presently fell upon a nice Examination of it I know my self a very intimate Friend of Mr Dodwels who examined the Quotations of a Chapter or two for him Who has freely acknowledged That he could not find any thing but what was rightly cited and fairly represented Had the History been found wrong the Examples and Precedents of the Church had been still looked upon by the Party as very good things But their great fault is They all make against them The Case is plainly this We are so much in love with our own Notions that we will not value any thing no not the Authority of the Catholick Church it self in opposition to them Of a piece with his other mistakes so I chuse to call them rather than disingenuitie● is that which he tells his Reader in several places in his last Treatise that Dr Hody owns the Invalidity of all Lay-deprivations Tho' the Dr had expresly told him in his Preface that he reserv'd the Vindication of the Authority of the Civil Power in such Cases for a particular Treatise I grant at present says the Dr that all Lay deprivations are Invalid The Learned Mr D. has it seems forgot the difference between dare and concedere It was not the Dr's business in The Case of Sees Vacant to concern himself with the Authority of the Civil Power His only business in that Treatise was to assert the Reasonableness of submitting to the present Possessor whether the other were validly depriv'd or not where the Power that depriv'd is irresistible and the Possessor otherwise unexceptionable It is easie to observe how desirous Mr D. and the Men of his side are to have another Cause call'd and to shift off that weight thet lies so pressingly upon them But to this the Dr keeps them And I think he does very well to hold them fast where he has them To what purpose should we who were not concern'd in the Deprivation of the Bishops concern our selves so much about that Question Whether it be lawful for the Civil Magistrate to deprive a Bishop or not since whether that be lawful or not this at least we know to be lawful The acknowledging the present Possessor if on all other accounts unexceptionable Whether it were the Doctrine of the