Selected quad for the lemma: authority_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
authority_n	church_n	holy_a	word_n	6,788	5	4.3458	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A42899	A sermon of St. Peter preach'd before Her Majesty the Queen-Dowager, in her chappel at Somerset-House, on the twenty ninth of June, 1686 : being St. Peter and St. Paul's Day / by Thomas Godden ...	Godden, Thomas, 1624-1688.	1686 (1686)	Wing G920; ESTC R21804	17,094	44

down their Names as it were in a List one after another without any Particle to signifie Precedency in one before another and only adds the Title of Primus to Peter 't is a manifest Indication that the Word was us'd by him to signifie Peter to be not only the First in Order nor yet in Place but the Chief also in Dignity and Authority among them as when we say of a Foundation which S. Peter was that it is the First thing in a Building the meaning is not that it is so only in Precedency of Time or Place but in regard of the Preeminence it hath of Firmness and Solidity in order to the rest of the Building which is to be sustained by it And this is yet farther confirm'd from another remarkable Circumstance in the aforesaid Catalogues which is that whereas the other Apostles are never nam'd in order but differently not only by different Evangelists but by one and the same For Example Andrew next after Peter by S. Matthew James by S. Mark and both James and John by S. Luke Acts 1. 13. before Andrew whom he had plac'd before them in his Gospel And so in like manner Thomas and Bartholomew before Mathew Acts 1. whereas in his Gospel Bartholomew and Matthew are nam'd before Thomas yet Peter is every where set in the Head of the Catalogue and preferr'd before them all which certainly cannot be imputed to Chance or the Will of the Writer for then his Name might have been put sometimes in one place and sometimes in another as well as those of the other Apostles but to the particular Direction of the Holy Ghost and the Appointment of Christ himself which no Evangelist could change or alter Hence it is that when S. Paul says of himself Gal. 1. 18. that he went to Jerusalem on purpose to see Peter S. Ambrose or the Author of the Commentaries upon the Epistles of S. Paul commonly ascribed to S. Ambrose and as ancient if not ancienter than He and of whose Authority S. Austin makes use upon occasion gives this Reason for it Because he was Primus inter Apostolos cui delegaverat Salvator curam Ecclesiarum The First among the Apostles to whom our Saviour had committed the care of the Churches The same Reason also is given by S. Chrysostom and others Because he was the Mouth and Prince of the Apostles And S. Austin says of him That he represented the whole Church Propter primatum Apostolatus by reason of the Primacy or Preeminence of the Apostleship which was conferr'd on him So that if the Judgment of these Fathers who speak the Sense of the Church in those Primitive Times S. Austin being the youngest of them be to be taken when S. Matthew in reciting the Names of the Apostles says Primus Simon The First Simon who is called Peter his meaning was not that He was so in Order only or Place but that He was Princeps or Chief or as S. Hierom calls him Maximus the Greatest of the Apostles in Dignity and Authority in like manner as S. Paul says of himself that he was Peccatorum Primus the First of Sinners non tempore as S. Austin expounds it sed malignitate not in order of Time but in the Greatness and Enormity of his Offence But that which must needs weigh down the Scale in this matter with all impartially-considering Men is the solemn Promise and no less solemn Performance which our Saviour made to St. Peter and to him alone that he would give to him the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven Tibi dabo Claves Regni Coelorum To thee will I give the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven And what was this but the Supreme Power and Authority of Governing his Church For the word Keys being a metaphorical Expression is frequently us'd in the Holy Scripture to signifie that Superiority or Supreme Power with which a Person is invested to Govern a Family a City or a Kingdom and therefore when a City is surrendred 't is the usual Custom to deliver up the Keys to the Prince or Principal Person in acknowledgment of his Power and as a sign of Subjection to it Our Saviour then when he promis'd to give to Peter the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven that is of his Church upon Earth at the same time design'd him to be that Faithful and Prudent Servant or Steward whom he would set over his Houshold to feed and govern it And however we read that the Power of binding and loosing which is an Effect of the Keys was promis'd to all the Apostles in common Matth. 18. 18. yet it was not till after the Keys had been promis'd to Peter Matth. 16. 19. Nor is it any where read in Scripture that the Keys themselves the proper Token and Badge of the Supreme Stewardship over the Church were promis'd to the rest but to Peter alone And when did our Lord perform this Promise but when a little before his Ascension into Heaven being now to withdraw his own Visible Presence from his Church after a second Examination or as Origen calls it Confession how much he lov'd him and this in the presence of the rest of the Disciples he deliver'd to him as the same Origen expresses it in his Fifth Book upon the Sixth Chapter to the Romans which St. Hierom thought worthy his translating Summam rerum de pascendis ovibus the Supreme Charge or Superintendency of things in order to the feeding of his Flock not only of his Lambs but of his Sheep in which Expressions all the Faithful of what Degree or Preeminence soever are included And to take away all suspicion as if he meant not to give him an Authority above that of the rest of his Brethren he ask'd him not only if he lov'd him but if he did not love him more than They manifestly declaring by the Excess of Love he requir'd from him a proportionable Excess or Superiority in the Power he committed to him Nor was this any way inconsistent with their being All Equal as they were Apostles in which regard it is that S. Cyprian S. Hierom and others affirm them to have been so But on the contrary it was necessary that one should be endow'd with a Preeminence of Authority above the rest for the preservation of Vnity and consequently of the Church its Safety consisting in Vnity its Ruin in Division according to the known Saying of our Saviour Every Kingdom divided against it self shall be brought to destruction and every City or House divided against it self shall not stand And this is the Reason which S. Hierom gives with whom the rest of the Fathers agree why One meaning Peter was chosen among the Twelve Vt capite constituto Schismatis tollatur Occasio viz. That a Head being constituted the Occasion of Schism might be taken away And now to advance one step farther and so draw to a Conclusion If

it be true as most certainly it is what our Saviour said that Every Kingdom divided against it self shall be brought to ruin and on the other side that The Gates of Hell shall never prevail against his Church which is his Kingdom it manifestly follows That as the Church is to continue for ever so also the Authority given to Peter was not to die with him but to descend to his Successors and to remain for ever in the Chair of Peter Of which Chair St. Austin speaking says Ipsa est Petra quam superbae non vincunt Inferorum Portae This is the Rock which the Proud Gates of Hell do not overcome And therefore S. Hierom when three unhappy Factions brake out at the same time and each endeavour'd to gain him to their Party cries out to them Si quis Cathedrae Petri jungitur meus est Let me know which of you holds Communion with the Chair of Peter and him I shall acknowledge for mine Super illam Petram aedificatam Ecclesiam scio I know the Church to be built upon that Rock I know that whosoever eateth the Lamb out of that House is Prophane and whosoever shall not be in the Ark of Noe when the Deluge comes peribit regnante diluvio shall perish in the Waters Some perhaps may think this to be a dreadful Saying and so indeed it is for as St. Austin says Nihil sic debet formidare Christianus quam separari a corpore Christi A Christian ought to dread nothing so much as to be separated from the Body of Christ which is his Church For if he be separated from the Body of Christ he is no Member of Christ And if he be no Member of Christ he is not quickned by the Spirit of Christ The Spirit quickens only the Members which are united to the Body How much then are They bound to give thanks to Almighty God whose good Lot it has been either to have been brought up from their Infancy in the Communion of this Chair upon which the Church is built or after having been bred otherwise to have been powerfully and yet sweetly drawn and incorporated into it Who can recount all the Graces and Blessings which those enjoy who are in this happy Communion and of which those remain destitute and depriv'd who are out of it I shall give a brief Account of some of them in the words of the Great S. Austin and so conclude First then by being Members of this Holy Communion it is as the same Father says that we are Inhabitants in that Holy Mountain of which David foretells in his 42. Psalm that when God has brought us into it by his Light and Truth he graciously hears the Prayers and Supplications we offer up to him in order to our own Eternal Salvation Mons Sanctus ejus Ecclesia ejus est This Holy Mountain is his Church There it is that as himself has promis'd Every one that asks shall receive Every one that seeks shall find and that knocks at the Gate of Heaven shall have it open'd to him Happy Condition to be thus assur'd of being heard when we pray for our selves And then again of being Partakers also of the Prayers and good Works of others For the Soul of all true Believers as the same S. Austin says being One Soul per unam Fidem by the Vnity of the same Faith and all the Faithful One Man by reason of the unity of the Body of Christ As the Functions of the several Parts in the Natural Body so also the Prayers and good Works of each Member of this Mystical Body redound to the benefit of the Whole Every one has a share in the Prayers and good Works of all and may say with holy David Particeps ego sum omnium timentium te I am a partaker of all those that fear thee and keep thy Commandments And this not only whilst they were labouring in this Life to gain Heaven for themselves but after that they are reigning in it with Christ Their Charity by change of State is not diminish'd but increas'd Securi says St. Cyprian de sua salute de nostra sunt soliciti Being now secure of their own Salvation they are solicitous for ours And the Prayers they offer up for us are so much more efficacious and available by how much the Saints in Glory are in greater union and favour with God Nor do we reap this benefit of partaking the Prayers and good Works of others only whilst we are in this Life but also after we are departed out of it for as the same St. Austin speaking of the Custom of the Catholic Church in his Time as in ours of Praying for those who were departed in the Communion of it says Neque negandum est It is not to be deny'd but that the Souls of the Faithful deceased are reliev'd by the Piety of their living Friends when the Sacrifice of the Mediatour that is of the Body and Blood of Christ is offer'd or Alms given for them in the Church These dear Catholic Brethren with many others too long to be insisted on at present are great Advantages which those only can be partakers of whom the Grace and Goodness of God has plac'd in this Holy Mountain his Church Quisquis praeter hunc montem erat non credat se exaudiri ad salutem aeternam Whoever Prays out of this Mountain says St. Austin let him not flatter himself with a vain belief that he shall be heard to Eternal Salvation Many who Pray out of the Church have their Petitions granted in many things as for Health Wealth Children and the like But he that will obtain Eternal Salvation for himself must Pray in this Holy Mountain if he will be heard There says he let him Worship who will be accepted there let him Pray who will be heard and there let him Confess who will obtain remission of his Sins And as those only Prayers which are offer'd in the Communion of the Church are by vertue of this Communion efficacious to Eternal Life so also those good Works only which are done in it and those Sacraments which are received in it Multi says he quasi exercent bona Opera Many exercise themselves in Works seemingly good but they belong not to that Husbandman whom our Lord calls Father because they dwell not in the Land which he Cultivates and Waters Ipsam formam habet Sarmentum c. A Branch cut off from the Vine has the same Form it had whilst it was in it But what will it avail it to have the same Form of Godliness if it live not from the Root What more glorious State of Life than that of perpetual Continency a State so high and sublime that our Saviour do's not enjoyn it to any but only exhorts to it with a Qui potest capere capiat Let him that can take it take it And yet the same holy Father