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	church_n	pope_n	2,079	5	6.4952	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A26266	The axe at the root of the innovation of singing in the worship of God lately sprung up to the trouble of many, and the defiling of others. Or, some brief queries; with an introduction proposed to the singers in the popular way of singing Psalms, as translated, and tunes as invented, and as now sung together by the professor and prophane, as an ordinance of God. Designed for the preservation of right worship, especially in the churches of Christ, that have upon the declaration of their faith been baptized. By a Baptist.	Awdeley, Lewis.	1696 (1696)	Wing A4279A; ESTC R213577	5,490	13

The Axe at the Root OF THE Innovation OF SINGING In the Worship of God Lately sprung up to the trouble of many and the defiling of others OR Some brief Queries with an Introduction proposed to the Singers in the popular way of singing Psalms as translated and Tunes as invented and as now sung together by the Professor and Prophane as an Ordinance of God DESIGNED For the Preservation of Right Worship especially in the Churches of Christ that have upon the declaration of their Faith been Baptized By a Baptist In vain do they Worship me teaching for Doctrine the Commandments of Men Matth. 15.9 LONDON Printed in the Year 1696 To all Christians of the Baptized Congregations Salutation Dearly Beloved in our Lord Jesus Christ HAVING been conversant amongst you for Forty years past I cannot be supposed ignorant of your Practises in Matters of Worship and am well assured notwithstanding some Differences in Matters of lesser moment you have maintained the Essentials of Salvation and Church Communion to your great commendation But of late there hath arisen amongst you certain Persons who have troubled the Peace of the Churches and have occasioned Divisions to the Grief of many by innovating a Form of Worship never practised as I find in all Histories by any of your Brethren before you Nor indeed in the World by any other till about the time of Beza and Calvin in the last Century And that is to sing in Rhyme by a set Form and that by all the People together whether Saints or Sinners Members or no Members whether they are Young or Old understand or not understand what is sung For the Reverend Ri. Watson Doctor of Divinity in his Book printed at London Anno 1684. about this Subject Pag. 19. saith thus The Original of this Device viz. of turning the Psalms of David into Rhime and Metre was not in England but first taken up by one Clement Marrot a Groom of the Bed-chamber to the French King Francis the First and having told us how he made Songs for the King to sing He adds Pag. 20. That he was prevailed with by Fr. Vetablus to relinquish his trifling Doggerel and to turn David 's Psalms into French Metre and he did the first 30. and that the King sung them as he had done his former Ballads And as he afterwards tells us He went to Geneva and was incouraged by Beza and Calvin and that afterwards he turned 20 more into Rhyme by their means and procurement and that the Papists were strangers to and Enemies against this Novel Practice is plain For that the Doctors of the Sorbon complained of it to the King and procured an Edict against the use thereof But he went to Geneva and there it was imbraced Now to know about what time this was we may guess by an Eminent Passage in History That disturbance given to the Duke of Guise by those who sung Marots Psalms Anno 1562. and for that Marot was with Calvin at Geneva and the other is noted as hapning quickly after they began to put these Rhymes of his into Practice It must have its Original from or about that time Therefore we may infer from thence as we usually do on another Subject We say that seeing our Adversaries cannot prove from Scripture or any Authentick History that any Infant was Baptized in the first two Centuries it was because the same was not commanded by Christ nor taught by his Apostles And surely the case will hold good here also seeing that 1500 years past since our Saviours time and no instance to be given of any Church of Christ that ever sung in Rhyme Now were there no other Objection against it than only the form of its performance it is not a matter so slightly to be passed over because your selves deny Sprinkling to be Baptism purely from a wrong Form used in the manner of applying the Water to the Person that is to be Baptized Besides the Learned among you know That it could not be the Practice of the Jewish Church to sing in Rhyme because neither the Song of Moses Deborah nor the Book of Psalms as they are in the Hebrew are any of them in Rhyme but all in Prose And yet certainly they must acknowledge the Jews had as great an Obligation upon them to perform it in that mode as any now in case it had been an essential part of Singing Moreover the Jews amongst us at this day do believe they sing and in the same manner their Fore-fathers did and yet all they do is in Prose not in Rhyme And I am as certain there is no such Form of Singing expressed in the New Testament to be practised by Christ or his Apostles or the Primitive Churches Nor as yet have I met with any of our Brethren of a contrary Persuasion who have asserted it altho their Practice indeed is otherwise for they all sing in Rhyme And when it hath been demanded of them why they sung in a Form different from the Church of the Jews of old and also from that of the Primitive Christians They have Answered because they knew not how to sing otherwise I might make some Reflections upon this which might not be very pleasing but I design Truth and not Division and therefore shall forbear As to the other parts which belong to this Controversy I find the Assertors of it are divided among themselves some having pleaded for it as a Duty simply Moral and so no need of a Gospel Precept Others they have pleaded for it in both senses and therefore think themselves at liberty to argue either And others in the latter only as a Gospel Institution and some as partly Legal and partly Evangelical viz. The singing it self in the latter but the Form of doing it and the Persons performing it they take from the former viz. the Law And therefore till they are better agreed in the State of the Controversy I shall refer the whole matter to the Answer which shall be given to the following Paper which in my Opinion comprehends the true state of the Case And if our Brethren will please to answer these Queries it may be great satisfaction to the Doubting Whereas if they must go without a particular and due Answer they will serve to keep me and others in our present and antient Practice and we ought not to be blamed by our Brethren for refusing to admit any thing into the Church as an Ordinance which we have not a sufficient Authority for from the New Testament because some of them cannot but know that all those Corruptions that are found in the Church of Rome were not brought in at once but by degrees Yea even the Mass it self was brought in by divers Popes at more than 12 several times as for instance one he appointed the Confiteor another the Introitus another the Kyrie Eleyson another the Gloria in Excelsis another the Gradual another the Offertorium another the Canon another the Memento