Selected quad for the lemma: authority_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
authority_n	bishop_n	church_n	jurisdiction_n	5,357	5	9.3309	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A17864	An examination of those plausible appearances which seeme most to commend the Romish Church, and to preiudice the reformed Discovering them to be but meere shifts, purposely invented, to hinder an exact triall of doctrine by the Scriptures. By Mr Iohn Cameron. Englished out of French.; Traicté auquel sont examinez les prejugez de ceux de l'église romaine contre la religion reformée. English	Cameron, John, 1579?-1625.; Pinke, William, 1599?-1629.	1626 (1626)	STC 4531; ESTC S107409	97,307	179

Popes no Cardinalls no Patriarches no not Archbishops and Bishops after the Romish fashion All the Apostles in respect of the power of the keyes and authority of the Apostleship were equall If there were any difference betweene them it was not in respect of their function For it they were all ioynt tenants immediately to the supreme Apostle the Prince of Apostles the Lord Iesus From him they all immediately receiued the same commission to teach all nations the same power to forgiue sinnes Their names were equally written vpon the twelue foundations of the high Ierusalem they are placed vpon twelue thrones not subalternate but coordinate in the same pitch eminēcie of the same dignitie even as the twelue tribes They are said Constantine the great in the Councell of Nice twelue pillars not then vnderpropped by one another but which being ioyned together bare vp the edifice of the Church Be it that the Lord hath promised the keyes of the kingdome of heauen to St. Peter he hath bestowed the same power vpon the other Apostles be it that he hath prayed that his faith might not faile he hath prayed also for all the faithfull be it that he hath exhorted him thrice to feede his sheepe this was because he had denied him thrice A triple deniall wanted a three-fold reestablishment he which had stumbled thrice was to be lifted vp thrice Shall any extraordinary priuiledge be allowed him because of this reestablishment Must those seruants which are most frequently and earnestly put in minde of their duties for this be supposed to be in greater auctority shall they be placed in a degree aboue the other Nay they themselues interpret it on the contrary and take it for an angrie dislike their superiours haue of them they are vexed for it with St. Peter and if their Masters could see in to their hearts as his could they would say with him Thou know'st that I loue thee thou know'st that I desire to serue thee Finally be it that the Lord hath said vnto him Thou art Peter and vpon this rocke will I build my Church The most ancient and most renowned amongst the fathers teach that Christ vnderstood not the the person but the confession of St. Peter not Peter viz the rocke which cōfessed but the rocke by him confessed viz Iesus Christ our Lord. Howbeit wee willingly confesse that the Church hath beene built vpon St. Peter but not vpon him onely He is one of the foundations of the Church but not the onely foundation of it one of the twelue pillars one of the twelue Iudges of the twelue tribes Israell but not the foundation of these foundations the pillar of these pillars the Iudge of these Iudges but a collaterall foundation a collaterall pillar a collaterall Iudge with the other Apostles his companions Furthermore St. Peter vndertooke not to depose Kings or to vsurpe any such authority contrarily he hath ioyned these two duties together Feare God honour the king how heathenish a tyrant soeuer and Persecutor of the Church the Emperour at that time was He had no dominion likewise ouer the other guides of the Church whome he calleth his companions in office Now albeit St. Peter should haue had that authothority which is attributed to the Pope at this day yet they are still to proue that it died not with him And if his authority of Apostle-ship suruiued him not how much lesse that of being the Prince of the Apostles If the other Apostles in regard of their Apostle-ship haue not left themselues successours how should he leaue his iurisdiction ouer them behind him He had the gift of doeing miracles to whom hath he particularly bequeathed this faculty Can the Pope doe any miracles He was the Apostle of the circumcision is the Pope the Apostle of the Iewes These offices of the Apostles were extraordinary like that of Moses which was extinguished in his person and did not outliue him As then the Bishop of Ephesus should idely haue challenged to himselfe the authority of Iohn the Euangelist the Bishop of Alexandria that of St. Mark albeit that tradition report that these two Apostles had bishops for their successors St. Iohn at Ephesus St. Mark at Alexandria Even so the Popes vnreasonably vsurp the authority of St. Peter vnder pretence that tradition maketh them his successors So that in this respect the Papall Monarchie hath no Apostolicall succession seeing that not only it hath not had its originall in the times of the Apostles but also this kind of soveraigntie was a long time after vnknowne in the Church St. Cyprian calls Cornelius Bishop of Rome his collegue and Co-Bishop and the other Bishops coepiscopos or the fellow Bishops of Cornelius he blameth him for hauing receiued those which the other Bishops whom hee calleth the fellow Bishops of Cornelius had excommunicated hee sets before him the statute of the discipline of those times inioyning that the cause should be iudged where the crime was committed a statute which he groundeth vpon iustice and equitie vpon the commission giuen to all Pastours and the power which euery one of them hath by vertue of his Commissiion ouer that portion of the flocke which is assigned him of which he is to giue account vnto the Lord. Likewise he sharpely reprehendeth Stephen also Bishop of Rome teaching that as there is but one Church through out the whole world deuided into many members viz particular Churches so there is but one Bishopricke diuided into many particular Bishopricks He attributeth the same authority to the other Apostles with St. Peter although to denote vnitie it was said to St. Peter I will giue thee the keyes of the kingdome of heauen It is not then to the person of St Peter but to Peter as representing the vnity of all the Apostles Of which mind also are St. Hierome and St. Austen The synod of Alexandria addresseth their synodall epistle not to the Bishop of Rome in particular but to him conioyntly with the other without the interposition of any distinction betweene them Athanasius neuer calleth him otherwise then his Co-bishop and Comminister his fellow Bishop and fellow Minister Hosius subscribed first to the Canons of the Nicene Councell not as representing the Bishop of Rome but generally the Westerne Churches after the same manner as the Bishop of Alexandria those of Egypt Lybia Pentapolis c. Hosius was not there then to represent the vniuersall Bishop of the Church but to represent the Churches of the West as every of the other Bishops Churches of a particular circuit or iurisdiction as it may more amply be seene by their subscriptions Lastly that which hapned vnto the Pope in the sixt Councell of Carthage puts all out of doubt and admitteth of no reply A certaine lewd companion named Appiarius deposed from his Ministeriall function and preferment by the Bishops of Africa repaired to

Zosimus then Bishop of Rome who hauing reinstituted him and deeming this a fit occasion to enlarge the bounds of his dominion graspeth it fast and posteth this Appiarius reconfirmed with his Embassadours to the Councel of Carthage giuing them moreover in commission to demand that the vniversall authority of the Pope should bee acknowledged by the Councell alleaging to that purpose a Canon of the Nycene Synode Vpon these passages Zosimus dying Eulalius is chosen in his place by the greater part of the Clergy and people but he gaue place to the violence of Boniface who out of his ambition prosecuted that which Zosimus had demanded touching the acknowledgement of his primacy The Councell flatly denied that there was any thing in the records of the Nicene Synode which might favour his pretended primacie and in the mean time sent Commissaries to the Patriarchs of Constantinople and Alexandria to haue a sight of the authenticke copies of the acts of the Councell which were kept by them Vpon this Pope Boniface died Celestine succeeded him who also with the like heat claimed the approbation of his fained authority But the Councell having already discouered by the report of their Commissaries that the authenticke copies of the Nicene Synod contained no such matter as the proud Bishops of Rome required blamed their fraud checked their insolencie and adiured them to receiue no more appeales adding this notable reason that the grace of the holy spirit would not bee wanting to any Province vnlesse some man imagined that God could inspire iustice to one only and that he would withhold it from an infinite number of Bishops Now this history maketh it appeare vnto vs that vntill that time the Churches of Africa had not acknowledged the Pope So that if at this day there were any in those parts of the world which did acknowledge him they should not be their successours in this If the Pope hath beene from the beginning vniversall Bishop how happened it that at that time he was not vniversally obeyed by the Church But it is no lesse remarkable that the Popes which required this acknowledgement from the Councell sent not men to expostulate with that assembly by authority much lesse to excommunicate them vpon their refusall as schismatickes as also that they alleaged no Scripture for the primacie but onely the Canon of a Councell Yet they vsed a strange boldnesse in daring to falsifie the Canons of the Nicene Synode A fraud yet of which their successours seeme to haue beene ashamed For in the decrees of the Nicene councell as we haue received them from them there is nothing extant which maketh for the primacy but in them the other Patriarches are rather equalised to the Bishop of Rome Lastly the harsh censure with which this councell entertained the Pope which neverthelesse was but provinciall witnesseth it not that at that time his authority was new This being so seeing that succession must drawe its line from the first and that the first Romane Bishop had not that authority which he hath that now raigneth it followeth that there is no succession in the Pope-ship and by consequent not in the whole state of the Papacie CHAP. XXVII That the Cardinalls Patriarchs Archbishops Bishops Priests Deacons Monkes and Nunnes of the Romish Church are not of Apostolicall institution AFter we haue examined the succession of the supreame degree of authoritie in the church of Rome come wee now to the inferiour orders and first to the Cardinalls Who is so ignorant at this day as to thinke or so impudent as to affirme that their institution was in the times of the Apostles or that their office such as it is at this day was in the church a good while after the age of the Apostles The church increasing there were created by the principall churches Presbyteri Cardinales that is to say principall or chiefe Elders Diaconi Cardinales principall or chiefe Deacons Their office was limited within the iurisdiction of the church where they were created if at Rome within the iurisdiction of the church of Rome if at Carthage within the iurisdiction of the church of Carthage Their charge was a superintendency over the common Elders and common Deacons The Cardinalls at this day haue nothing of it but the name their charge is quite of another nature their institution is altogether different They are now the electours of the Pope which they were not anciently except those of the citie of Rome as making a part of the Clergie Now they take care of the affaires of all those churches which are obedient to the Pope anciently their charge was bounded within the circuit of one church alone Howsoever it 's true indeed that by hypocrisie they beare now adaies certaine titles which seeme to assigne and to binde them to certaine parishes in Rome to the end that they may retaine if not the truth yet the name of what they were anciently Anciently their authority allowed them not any degree aboue Bishops now they are as it were Princes of the bloud in the church next to the triple crowne So then the Cardinalls haue no succession deriued from the Apostles and by consequence neither the church of Rome in respect of this part of her policy As for the Patriarchs there were none of them also in the times of the Apostles nor a long time after Only we read in the decrees of the Nicene councell that their iurisdiction is called an ancient custome a tearme very different from an Apostolicall tradition Moreover the Patriarchs were supreame and equall to the Bishop of Rome in iurisdiction he was but their companion albeit he were first in order All the other Patriarchs haue long since renounced the communiō of the Roman church the Pope also will no longer be accoūted a Patriarch The Patriarchs which are at this day in the Romish church are elected by the Pope who hath no power to choose thē seeing that at their first institution which howsoever was not Apostolicall they were his fellowes in authoritie So the Patriarchs of the Romish church haue no lawfull succession their beginning being not not from the true beginning the times of the Apostles yea not from the primitiue institution of Patriarches The Romish Archbishops and Bishops at this day are nothing like those ancient primitiue ones I say not onely in respect of their manners but also in respect of their authority Their authority at this day dependeth barely of the Pope anciently it was not subiected but to the Companie of Bishops They might not be deposed but by the common consent They were not bound to runne to Rome for their election But they gaue their mutuall aduice one to another both in the election and deposition of a Bishop Anciently they had no such authority ouer the magistrate as they at this day vsurpe It 's worth the observation to see how matters are changed Their authority in respect of the Pope is become slauish in respect of the magistrate

they added to this truth their lyes to this spirituall bread their leauen then they sate in their owne chaire they were to be heard no farther then the true church stopt her eares against them the false she listned to them Thus we answer to this importunate questixon How may this be By the same reason also we are not perplexed for an answer when they aske vs what is become of our forefathers This interrogatory proposed by the Pagans to the first Christians extorted from them an answer odious in the mouthes of children speaking of their parents that God was marvellous in his waies but in all likelihood they were damned Thankes be to God we are not driuen to such straites In Paganisme there was nothing which might saue no word of grace and mercy in the doctrine published in the church of Rome there was something to be● chosen and they who picked it out carefully and applyed it to their vse were saued Why should wee doubt but that many thousands of our fathers did it God hath knowne how to preserue a church to himselfe in the midst of the most horrible Apostacies confusions and desolations happening vnder the old Testament since Malachie Should his arme be shortned vnder the new No but Eternall as he is he is alwaies like himselfe Now then let the importunate curiosity surcease those questions framed only to distract the simple Where was your Church Where were your Pastours Our church was in Babylon and her Teachers for want of better were the Teachers of Babylon Concerning that which they trouble vs farther with why therefore we haue not imitated our forefathers example why we are come out of Babylon if they were saved in it We will giue reasons for it hereafter in their proper place CHAP. XXV Of the true succession of the Church what it is that it dependeth not of succession either naturall or Politicke NOw because they mainely oppresse vs with the preiudice which they make against vs about Succession which they say is of great moment and pretend moreover that they haue it and that we haue it not that they haue continued alwaies that we are lately come in by the by crossing their line of succession let vs consider what strength this pretence for them exception against vs may haue Now that the ambiguitie of the word may not intangle vs we must knowe what kinde of succession they meane If it be a naturall succession from father to sonne from generation to generation we say that the succession of the Church dependeth not of such a succession It was and is still the prerogatiue of the obstinate Iewes that they are the successours of the Patriarches and Prophets in respect of carnall and naturall generation yet they are farre enough from being the true Church They haue succeeded their religious Ancestors in being men this succession is naturall They haue not succeeded them in being faithfull men this succession is spirituall If they vnderstand a politicke succession in respect of the place and auctority one succeeding another in order and without out interruption we affirme that the Church is not fastned to such a succession How often doe the Prophets complaine that the people of Israell their kings and Priestes were all gone out of the way and quite disordered by idolatry albeit their kings were successours of good kings and their Priests of good Priests The Scribes and Pharises enioyed not they this kind of succession which we call Politicke Were they for all that the true Church yea were they not seducers of the people corruptors of the Law sworne and deadly enemies of the Lord and his doctrine Now against this truth so evident it is impossible they should reply any thing but it will be very friuolous If it be said that Malachie prophesieth that the Priests lips shall preserue knowledge that the people shall seeke the law at his mouth wee answer that in that place there is not contained a prediction of an after euent but a declaration of a duty For indeede presently after the Prophet accuseth the Priest for hauing gone out of the way for causing the people to stumble A manifest proofe that these words the lips of the Priest shall preserue knewledge haue no other emphasis thē to signifie that the lips of the Priest ought to preserue knowledge There is nothing more frequēt in Scripture thē to propose a duty in the future tense Almost all the commandements of God runne in this forme Thou shalt haue no other Gods before me Thou shalt not make to thy selfe any graven image Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vaine c. He that should inferre vpon these formes of speech that these Cōmandements shall never bee broken would hardly proue himselfe a reasonable creature So the true succession of the Church is not alwaies ioyned to this politicke succession which of it selfe without the succession of piety is like to the succession of darknesse to light of sicknesse to health of an infectious aire to a wholesome of barrennesse to frui●●ullnesse of a Tyrant to a good Prince That ought to be accounted the true succession which is the su●cession of truth To haue the same minde and opinion is to haue succession of the same seate not to haue the same opiniō is to be contrary in respect of the seat The succession of the seate hath but the name of succession the succession of opinion hath the truth of it said Nazianzane and in saying so hath taught vs in what sense the Lord would haue the Scribes and Pharises to be heard as sitting in Moses chaire to wit when they tought like Moses so farre as they are the successors of Moses in doctrine But that hindreth not but that he hath commanded also to take heed of the leauen of the Pharises when they sit not in his Chaire but vpon a stoole of their owne making But what hath the Church of God then no certaine succession on earth Yea the Lord hath said that as the substance of the oke and Teyletree is in that which they cast so the holie seed shall be her substance But this succession is not tyed either to the naturall or to the politicke succession but it dependeth onely of the free disposition of him who turneth riuers into a wildernesse and the water springs into drie ground A fruitfull land into barrennesse for the wickednesse of them that dwell therein who turneth the wildernesse into a standing water and drie ground into water springs CHAP XXVI That the Popes authority is not originally deriued from the Apostles BVt to come nearer to this matter the Romish Church hath no kind of lawfull succession not that of gouernment and policie not that of rites and ceremonies no not the succession of persons least of all that of doctrine Shee hath not that of the policie of the ancient Church for in the ancient Church there were no