Selected quad for the lemma: authority_n
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A45675
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The Minster of Cirencester's address to the dissenters of his parish occasion'd by the death of their preacher : together with the answer that was made thereto and his reply to that answer : to which is prefixed a letter relating thereto from the Right Reverend Father in God Edward Lord Bishop of Gloucester.
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Harrison, Joseph.
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1698
(1698)
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Wing H899; ESTC R28524
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45,184
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52
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own and study to honour God by abstaining from these things by which he never said that he was dishonoured O that all tender Consciences would seriously consider this for they would soon discern that your Ministers by forbidding those things now in dispute lay greater Burthens upon the Consciences of their Brethren and clog them with more duties than God hath laid upon them Whereas we who think those things may be done lay no other Burthen upon the Conscience than what God himself hath laid which is to obey our Governours in all things wherein he himself hath not bidden us to do the contrary ANSWER I shall only touch of Additions in the Service Book there are added three whole Verses to the Fourteenth Psalm and one Verse to the Thirteenth Psalm REPLY If it be granted that there are those Additions he speaks of yet it was not the Mistake of the Common Prayer Book but of the Translations which the Common Prayer followed viz. the Septuagint and Vulgar But I wonder how he came to be so cautious as not to call these Additions to Scripture for that certainly was his meaning The Additions to the 14th Psalm are accounted for in one of the old Bibles by this Note That of this 14th Psalm the 5th 6th and 7th Verses which are put into the Common Translation and may seem unto some to be left out in this are not in the same Psalm in the Hebrew Text but are rather put in more fully to express the manners of the wicked and are gather'd out of the 5th 140th and 10th Psalms the 59th of the Prophet Isaiah and the 36th Psalm and are alledged by St. Paul and placed together in the 3d to the Romans But the saying that there is a Verse added to the 14th Psalm is a notorious Falshood there are only these words I will praise the Name of the Lord most Highest which are in the seventh Psalm and the last Verse What then can this Man be thought to mean Would he insinuate that these Additions are Inventions of our own or that they are inserted by the Church upon some wicked selfish design I hope it appears that they were not nor we upon the score thereof obnoxious to the Penalty of Deut. 4.2 before quoted by him But I would fain know whether they are not deeply guilty of the Crime they charge us with who teach That nothing is to be used in the Worship of God but what is prescribed by God himself for if that be not a Scripture Truth then what an Addition is this Do not they who teach this for a Scripture-Rule and Precept impose upon Mens Consciences as much as Papists and like them and the Pharisees of old teach the Traditions of Men for the Doctrines of God Nay is not this directly contrary to the Gospel it self which tells us that Sin is the Transgression of a Law and that where there is no Law there is no Transgression And thus you all along see with how keen an edge those Weapons turn upon you which you make use of in fighting against us ANSWER In a word I may say of all the Ceremonies in the Service Book as one of your own Church saith of the Succession of Church-Officers and in particular that of Bishops He tells us That our English Bishops received their Orders in the Communion of the Church of Rome and ergo they had as good Orders as any of the Church of Rome they must needs be as good when they are the same But 't is but a weak Proof for the Succession of their Bishops when they must go to Rome for it REPLY One would think it were high time for you to have done with this old Accusation of Popery and that you should have more Prudence than to give us Occasion to upbraid you with your fawning upon and sneaking to it in the late Reign while the Bishops and Clergy of our Church made such a brave and vigorous Defence against it even to the hazard of their ALL. If indeed it be true that our Bishops received their Orders in the Church of Rome then his ergo is good and the only good one he has made in this Paper and the Argument is a good one against the Papists and no weak one neither for the Succession of Church-Officers against you if you pretend to impugn it which if you do it lies at your door to prove a failure in their Succession since our Bishops are in possession of their Authority He ought to have quoted his Author for a Reason before mention'd But what if it be true is therefore Episcopacy unlawful or the Succession of our Bishops not good He may as well argue that the Water is not good or comes not from the Fountain-head because the Conduit thro' which it is convey'd is faulty But since this Man questions the Succession of our Bishops and upbraids us with having our Orders from the Church of Rome it is but reasonable to demand Whether your Preachers have any Orders at all and if they have Whence they had them and thro' what Channel they were convey'd down to them and whether you have any Arguments to urge for the Validity of Their Orders which we cannot with much more reason make use of to prove the Goodness of Ours But we may see how far Envy and Malice will sometimes make People overshoot themselves This Man rather than not send forth his Bolt at our Bishops and Clergy will strike at the whole Reformation and call in Question the Validity of the Orders of all the Reformed Churches of Luther and Calvin himself nay even the Authority of their own Ambassadors As for our Ceremonies tho' they be superstitiously abused by the Papists yet that is no Argument against the present use of them in the Church of England who retains them not because they are of Rome but of an Ancienter date than that now corrupted Church and if they are therefore unlawful because they are used by her then every thing done in that Church is so which I suppose you will not say We only reformed from the Errors and Corruptions of that Church and not from what was Apostolical Primitive and Innocent because they used it And whatever Opinion these People would have others entertain of them yet their admired Mr. Calvin declares in express words that He would not have any Man think him so Austere or bound up as to forbid a Christian without any Exception to accommodate himself to the Papists in any Ceremony or Observance for says he further it is not my Purpose to condemn any thing but what is clearly evil and openly vicious But for a full Answer to all you Object against us upon this score I refer you to the Case of Symbolizing with the Church of Rome by Dr. Eowler our present Bishop where he quotes those very words of Mr. Calvin ANSWER Sir we desire not Separation but Reformation for I hope we have all of us so tender
order to Church-Communion as the Word of God hath not required but on the contrary forbidden Prov. 30.6 Add thou not unto his words lest he reprove thee and thou be found a Lyar. Deut. 4.2 Ye shall not add unto the Word I command you neither shall ye diminish ought from it What will ye then say for your selves when God shall say unto you Who hath required these things at your Hands Sure I am to do more in the Service of God than He hath required will but Vndo us therefore the Wise Man exhorts Be not righteous overmuch why shouldst thou destroy thy self Remember Corah Dathan and Abiram and their Company who for doing what was not required were all consumed the Earth opened her Mouth and swallowed them up REPLY Now he speaks out And tho' the things you mainly scruple at such as the Cross and Surplice are more properly Instances of Obedience to Human Authority than Terms of Church-Communion which may be held by a Lay-Person in the more constant Services of Prayers and Preaching without joyning in those things he dislikes yet if it be true that the things imposed in our Liturgy are forbidden by God then I own that the fault of the Schism lies in us and that you have very good reason for your separating from us And if this Assertion were but as well proved as 't is confidently asserted I would never again read the Service-book But if you think me duly qualified for so great a Work will Preach to and Pray for you in the Mault-house tho' I have hitherto most affectionately loved the Habitation of God's House and the Place where his Honour dwells and was alwaies glad when they said unto me We will go into the House of the Lord. Let us therefore well examine the Proofs he produces for an Assertion deliver'd with so much Confidence to say no worse of it He alledges two Texts of Scripture which are useless and impertinent till it be proved that we make real Additions to the Word of God Those he mentions in the Psalms shall be consider'd by and by That which I presume he here means is that the things enjoyn'd in our Service-book being not commanded by God in his Word are Additions to it and that therefore these two Texts of Scripture are an undeniable Proof of the Unlawfulness of them this must be his meaning if he has any at all in what he says and I think I have represented it with all the Advantage he can desire But now if We are guilty of making Additions to the Word of God we either do what that forbids or Appoint somewhat else instead of what God hath appointed or We add such Expositions to the Commandment as the End of it is thereby frustrated or we make that which is not the Word of God to be of equal Authority with that which is or else we give the same Efficacy to Humane Institutions as God does to His But he can never charge us with any of these and how then can he charge us with Additions to the Word of God for adding is adding to the Substance and making the thing added of the nature of the thing it is added to but when the Substance remains entire as much after this Humane Appointment as it was before it it cannot be called an Addition to it in the sence the Scripture takes that word in But to the Argument which these Men draw from Deuter. iv 2. Dr. Fowler our present Bishop a great while ago replied That if they be not mistaken in the Sense of these words they will prove more than is intended to be proved or than they would have true namely that nothing is to be done out of as well as in the Worship of God but what is expresly and particularly commanded But Episcopius who may be listen'd to in this matter because no Episcopalian hath shewed that these words Ye shall not add unto the Word which I command you neither shall you diminish ought from it are no new Precept but only signifie Ye shall not transgress the Commandments of God by doing any thing contrary to them which is to Add or by omitting any thing Required by them which is to Diminish And therefore tho' ignorant People may be scared with the improper Application of that of Isa 1.12 yet it cannot belong to us who place no farther Religion and Acceptableness in our Prayers and Services than as they are accompanied with that Sincerity Faith Repentance and Obedience without which God told the Jews He had no delight in their Sacrifices tho' they were of his own appointing nor had required them to tread his Courts without these divine Qualifications But if We must Answer to that Question Who hath Required these things at your Hands then I tell You for God knows it and we are not afraid to appear before him upon that account that forasmuch as these things are no where forbidden We comply with them in Obedience to that Word which requires us to obey them that have Rule over us and to submit our selves to every Ordinance of Man for the Lord's sake And if this be the Word of God how comes this Man so uncharitably to pronounce the Sentence of Damnation upon us and tell us we shall be But undone as if that were not Punishment enough for doing more in the Service of God than He hath requir'd Why he grounds it upon Eccles 7.16 Numb 16. As for the Exhortation of the Wise Man if the best Commentators I have seen understand it right 't is the best Advice I can give to you it being interpreted of Heat and Zeal more than needs without Reason and Discretion which as it makes all the Schisms in the World so produces a great many other Evils I appeal to the whole World whether it is not properly Returned upon you who are transported into an excessive Zâ—â—l and Rage against innocent Ceremonies and meer Circumstances of Worship and which are declared to be so and no way Essential to Religion by that Church which uses them And to this you must give me leave to add the other part of the Verse which he left out neither make thy self over-wise Do not without some better Grounds oppose your private Opinion to the Judgment and Authority of a whole Nation And in particular of as Pious and Learned a Clergy as any the whole World can shew Consider that it is possible you may be mistaken and that it does not become you to Assume that Infallibility to your selves which you deny to the Church of Rome As for the Example of Corah Dathan and Abiram if it be well consider'd our Case cannot be made Parallel to it But it highly deserves your Consideration whether you are not in some measure guilty of the like Crime which did not consist in doing what was not required but in Actual Rebellion against Moses and Aaron the Ministers of God and therefore against God himself What a