Selected quad for the lemma: authority_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
authority_n	bring_v	enlarge_v	zion_n	14	3	8.9698	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A12800	Cassander Anglicanus shewing the necessity of conformitie to the prescribed ceremonies of our church, in case of depriuation. By Iohn Sprint, minister of Thornbury in Glocester-shire, sometimes of Christ-Church in Oxon.	Sprint, John, d. 1623.	1618 (1618)	STC 23108; ESTC S117795	199,939	306

CASSANDER ANGLICANVS Shewing THE NECESSITY OF CONFORMITIE TO THE PRESCRIBED CEREMONIES OF OVR CHVRCH In Case of Depriuation By IOHN SPRINT Minister of Thornbury in Glocester-Shire sometimes of Christ Church in Oxon. MATTH 12. 7. I will haue mercie and not sacrifice LONDON Imprinted by IOHN BILL ANNO M. DC XVIII TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFVL Mr. DOCTOR GOODWIN Deane and to the Canons of the Colledge of CHRIST-CHVRCH in Oxon. FOr dedication of this booke to you R. w. I had direction frō the Riuers who Eccles 1. 7. empt themselues into the Seas from whence they came To you by whose Reuerend praedecessors I was in common consent chosen scholler into Christ-Church by whom that small modell of Learning which I haue if I haue any thing in mee which may be called Learning was deriued to me and by whom I was of free donation without bribe or sute first placed in my pastorall charge Then you I haue no greater patrones for you I haue no greater gift And this I offer to your view your censure your memoriall God euer graunt you so to blesse the Colledge of Christ-church by your free elections and elocations that the Church of Christ may euer blesse God for you and your selues may feele the comfort of your well-doing in this life and find the fruit thereof in the life to come London 27 of April M. DC XVIII Who am euer at your seruice in CHRIST IO. SPRINT TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFVLL Mr. SAMVEL BVRTON Archdeacon of the Diocesse of Gloucester SIR AS it pleased you to appoint mee a certaine time to giue answere of my purpose or refusal of Conformitie So I haue at last resolued to offer it vnto you in these my Letters Confessing ingenuously for some respects seeming weighty to my poore iudgement my vnwillingnesse thereto if by any meanes I might auoide it Howbeit seeing I see the sway of Authoritie ouer-ruling and inforcing thereunto partly in obedience to it and partly for other more important reasons swaying my Conscience I giue you to vnderstand that I am resolued to Conforme To the which resolution I confesse I was the rather drawen by the mixture of your discreete proceedings yet not so much driuen thereunto by your publike authoritie as drawen by your priuate lenitie and kindnesse and vndeserued respect vnto my meannesse I being well acquainted with the common condition of mans will which may be induced when it cannot be inforced And I trust with equall good conscience and successe to proceede and continue in seruice vnto God and to his Church in this my Conformitie as before I did in not Conforming And I heartily wish that in the like case all others did the like This I can say that my indeauours haue not beene wanting to perswade others wherein I haue preuailed with not a few And I am perswaded that if my reasons of this point might see the light authoritie giuing way thereunto it would more preuaile to induce men of contrarie iudgement then many other bookes penned to that purpose Not for any worth of Art or reading that is in them more then others my selfe being the meanest of many thousands for a matter of this nature But partly in respect of the qualitie of the penner which haue beene I confesse a Non-conformitan and partly because of the conclusion prooued which inforceth the imputation of a sinne vpon the sufferers of silencing for not conforming a matter which of all things the Ministers of this kinde will least indure And partly also for the sufficiency of the Truth presented in those reasons Now if any shall thinke the booke vnfit to bee published because it reacheth not home to prooue the conueniency or necessitie of the Ceremonies themselues they may bee pleased to consider that this position of mine being onely proposed by way of presupposall concludeth nothing to crosse that I haue endeauoured to prooue this others whose knowledge and dexteritie is greater haue libertie to prooue further if they please But this I may more then probably affirme that the very most of not conforming Ministers will hearken vnto this when I am assured they will not vnto that My reasons I offer to your Learned view and correction of authoritie If any thing bee found in them hindering the passage thereof I wish it bee censured with a Deleatur For that my intention is not rashly to thrust out any thing offensiue to authoritie but that which may bee to the profit of the Church Which I humbly desire of God in this and al other mine indeauours for his owne names sake To whose sauing grace in Christ I commend you with many thankes for your many vndeserued fauours This 21. of October 1617. Thornebury By yours humbly at command in Christ IO. SPRINT TO THE READER EVery part of Trueth is precious euen the least as the least graine of muske is sweete Because it is the Trueth Because Gods Truth and because small errors intertained against small Trueths haue often euill sometimes pernicious effects Which last appeareth in the controuersie of our Ceremonies the sparkles of which difference haue growen vnto great flames in this our Church Where the fault is as God knoweth so the day will try and God will one day iudge But difference of apprehensions hath brought foorth difference of iudgements and difference of iudgements hath brought forth difference of practise and disagreement in affection The difference of practise hath mooued Authority to silence and suppresse refusers of Conformitie The disagreement in affection hath mooued the Ministers depriued to speake euil of persons in authority and of Conformers Whereby in the euent the course of the Gospell is interrupted and of Popery enlarged the friends of Sion are grieued the enemies reioyced the Deuill gratified and God not pleased The Church is rent with Schisme the Trueth scandalized by dissention the Ministers vndone by losse of liuing and the vnitie of brethren liuing in the same house professing the same Faith and reioycing in the same Hope is pulled in pieces And this like to continue God knowes how long but all men know the longer the worse For which cause I haue vndertaken this seruice to Gods Church to vnfold the state of this question which as yet hath not been so directly and distinctly handled in my opinion as it might by any that I know The Ministers haue heretofore laboured to proue the Ceremonies euill to be vsed and fit to be abolished but they neuer went about to prooue whether in case of Depriuation they ought to haue conformed which is the question directly concerning their case This is performed in this tractate and resolued by reason drawen from God and man from Scripture and Authority of all sorts which thou good Reader mayest perceiue if thy desire allure thee or thy patience will giue thee leaue to reade The occasion of my penning it was this At The occasion of penning this Treatise first being of aduersary iudgement to the Ceremonies I laboured as men doe

807. moueth a question de veste linea of the Surplesse Si in aliqua Ecclesia Euangelica prorsus non possit omitti vsus vestis lineae seu superpelliceae absque metu Schismatis aut subreptionis haereticorum quid tum faciendum Hee answereth Praestat tum vti veste linea tanquam re adiaphorâ quàm obstinata eius reiectione excitare Schisma inter rumpere cursum veritatis doctrinae praebere occasionem haereticis occupandi Ecclesiam And of this his iudgement he giueth instance in the Apostles practise thus Exemplum est in Paulo qui circumcidit Timotheum propter Iudaeos sciebant enim omnes Patrem eius Graecum esse Act. 16. 3. Now to the answer of my first reason Which first reason of mine when my Brethren went about to answere if they would needes vnstrip out of his owne coat which I had framed and draw into a Syllogisme of their owne yet ought they not to make an argument or new reason of their owne and so to fight without an aduersary But their duetie was as they wel know faithfully to haue taken all the substance of that I set downe in the whole reason and that especially included in my Syllogisme which they haue not done pietie and sinceritie and faithfull dealing should goe together and thus they should haue laid it downe To refuse to practise such Ceremonies which the Apostles by direction of the holy Ghost and vpon reasons of common and perpetuall equity did practise themselues and caused others to practise yea aduised and enioyned as matters good and necessary to be done on others especially in a like case in sundry maine and materiall respects is a sin But to refuse conformitie with our Ceremonies in the case of depriuation is to refuse to practise such Ceremonies which the Apostles by direction of the holy Ghost and vpon reasons of common and perpetuall equitie did practise themselues and caused others to prctise yea aduised and inioyned as matters good and necessary to bee done on others and that in like case in diuers maine and material respects Ergo To refuse to conforme in the case of depriuation is a sinne The Proposition of this argument thus proposed is sufficiently confirmed in that which is included in the second member of mine answere to the first obiectiō in these words though we may not imitate the Apostles in things peculiar to their office persons and times yet we may follollow them and are bound in conscience so to doe in matter of common equitie and generall reason for as the Apostles had warrant from the holy Ghost so haue we warrant from the Apostles examples and from the reasons for which the holy Ghost moued them to doe these things Thus if my Brethren had proposed mine argument they needed not to haue spent so many words nor sounded such a triumph before the victory viz. 1. That the proposition is false and vnsound 2. That I neuer go about to proue it which assertion of theirs they streight confute themselues by setting down my proofes of the proposition 3. That I forgot my selfe what I had vrged before 4. That I weaken my proposition and make it of no strength But let vs see what materiall shew of exceptions they bring against the proposition of mine argument Whereas I said that the Apostles did vse and inioyne the Iewish Ceremonies not onely by immediat authority from God but by reasons also and rules of common and perpetuall equity and further did giue instance of the rule of expediency and necessity out of Act. 15. 28. The answere is that though it be granted to be true yet shall they be as farre to seeke as before they were For still the question will be whether there be the same reasons now to moue vs to the vse of our Ceremonies as moued the Apostles then because they suppose there might be some speciall causes might make those Ceremonies necessary which neuer fell out before nor shall doe so againe And to this I say that there needed no such further seeking as before and the questions demanded touching common reasons with the Apostles were set downe in the selfe same place where they read the other in the words immediately following which reasons are these namely 1. To winne the more 1. Cor. 9. 19. 20. 21. 22. Now all men know that this reason should moue euery godly minister in his place and according to his parts and calling to labour the winning of soules no lesse then it did moue the Apostles for all are required to be faithfull 2. Cor. 4. 1. 2. all are alike commanded of God in the Prou. all alike are to receiue reward Dan. 12. 3. 2. To further and propagate the Gospell 1. Cor. 9. 23. which also is a common care appertaing to vs now as to the Apostles then For the commandement giuen to the the Apostles doth stretch in respect of place to all Nations Matth. 28. 19. Luk. 24 47. and in regard of time to the end of the world Mat. 28. 19. 20. Reu. 14. 6. 7. Wherefore the following might be or supposall of causes might haue well beene spared vnlesse they had been named For my Brethren doe well know that A posse ad esse non val et argumentatio Howbeit they confesse at last that the two forenamed reasons be matters of common and perpetuall equity what need then was there to seeke for that they had or question that they grant at last and yet againe they ouerwhelme them with a new supply of vnwarranted supposalls that something may be expedient for some persons and times as are not for other without a speciall calling from God But heere againe the former rule cuts them off from arguing from a naked and vnproued supposal And indeede it is but petitio principij an encroaching on the point in question Besides it is a very feeble answere that is onely affirmed without proofe so might a man argue against the practise of euery part of discipline practised by the Apostles which may be said to be proper to their function time and place Therefore it followeth by this kinde of argumentation their practise may seeme to giue vs no stronger warrant then the practise of those Ceremonies in the case of necessity vnlesse we were inspired and had immediate authority from God The like might be argued from other sundry matters 2. To the exception of the next member or allegation that namely the holy Ghost teacheth ruleth the Church by the same reason reuealed in his Word as well now as then and therefore the reasons warranting the Apostles to conforme to the Iewish ceremonies may moue vs to conforme to these in the like case It seemeth to me a palpable cauill and it may seeme probable to others that my Brethren would heere studiously not vnderstand my meaning For what need was there for me as they could possibly suppose to proue a duty of common equity by an extraordinary case or by a sentence of extraordinary