Selected quad for the lemma: book_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	apostle_n	authority_n	church_n	1,814	5	4.2729	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A33918	A second defence of the Short view of the prophaneness and immorality of the English stage, &c. being a reply to a book, entituled, The ancient and modern stages surveyed, &c. / by Jeremy Collier ...; Short view of the immorality and profaneness of the English stage	Collier, Jeremy, 1650-1726.	1700 (1700)	Wing C5262; ESTC R20776	75,081	146

of God passing his Pardons and presiding in his Worship these Privileges he says were peculiar to the Apostles Survey p. 348. But his Affirmation apart the Holy Scriptures teach us That the People are to seek the Law at the Priest's Mouth for he is the Messenger of the Lord of Hosts Malach. 2. 72 Art 37. And the Church of England in her Form of Ordination gives the Priest Authority to preach the Word of God and to Minister the Holy Sacraments St. Joh. 20. 21 23. And which in her Articles she denies to belong to the Supream Civil Power And as for the Power of Passing Pardons and giving Absolution 't is founded upon that Solemn Commission given by our Saviour As my Father hath sent me even so send I you whosesoever sins ye remit they are remitted unto them and whosesoever sins ye retain they are retain'd And can any one imagine that Words so plain in the Expression and so solemn in the Occasion are void of Weight and Signification Not to mention the right they imply of Admitting into the Church and Excluding from it Not to mention this they must amount to this Meaning at the lowest That those who neglect this Ordinance of God and refuse to apply for Absolution to Persons thus Authoriz'd shan't have their Sins forgiven tho otherwise not unqualified And thus to put a resembling Case a Malefactor can't have the benefit of the Prince's Pardon unless it passes the Seals and runs through the Forms of Law And that this Power was not peculiar to the Apostles but design'd for a standing Advantage and settled upon the Successions of the Hierarchy is plain by the Doctrine and practice of our own Church For at the Ordination of Priests the Authority of Remitting and Retaining Sin is confer'd in the same Words Whosesoever Sins ye remit c. And in the Office for the Visitation for the Sick the Priest making express mention of his Authority from our Saviour absolves the Penitent from all his Sins in the Name of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost And as this Authority of the Priest is thus fully maintain'd by the Church so 't is no less acknowledg'd by the State 1 Eliz. For the Book of Common Prayer 14 Car. 2. with the Form of Ordination c. stands upon a bottom of Law and has Two Acts of Parliament to defend it For tho the Spiritual Privileges of the Priesthood are independent of the Civil Magistrate yet the Statutes above-mention'd imply an Assent to the Charter deliver'd by our Saviour and are a fair Acknowledgment of the Power And thus the Surveyor to make a Blow at the Clergy has charg'd through Gospel and Law contradicted the Bible and the statute-Statute-Book and fallen foul upon the Highest Authority both in Church and State But still he questions Survey p. 348. whether the Commission of every Christian Priest be of equal extent and validity with that of the Apostles I grant the first part of his Proposition That the Apostles had peculiar Advantages in their Authority and that their Jurisdiction was larger than that of succeeding Priests or Bishops either is not denied But tho their Commission was larger 't was not more valid than that of the present Priesthood For this stands upon the Authority of the New Testament upon the Credit of undoubted Succession and the known Practice of Christendom for almost Seventeen hundred years together What tho they are not call'd immediately by God himself Ibid. nor endued with Supernatural and Miraculous Faculties does this affect the Credibility of their Credentials I suppose Princes are the Ministers of God and deputed to Govern under him And must the Proof of their Commission depend upon Miracles and immediate Designation Must they be proclaim'd from the Clouds and Anointed by an Angel from Heaven And are not their Subjects to own them till they can make out their Title by Supernatural Evidence by the Gift of Tongues and raising the Dead The absurdity of these Consequences may inform the Surveyor that there 's no need of a Miraculous Credential to prove a Delegation from Heaven The Surveyor in stating the Difference between the Ordinary Priests and the Apostles makes several Mistakes And were he in the right the Dispute is foreign to the Controversy He affirms the Apostles Doctrine had no other Evidence than their own Affirmation and Survey p. 349. the Works that they did Yes They had moreover the Completion of Prophecies and the Agreement of the Old Testament And these Corroborating Circumstances were extreamly considerable He goes on and alledges in abatement of the present Priesthood That Persons of this Order have no natural Gifts above other Men to warrant a Pretence to an extraordinary Mission P. 349 350. Is the Bounty of God then confin'd to Privilege● of Nature Or Is he not at liberty to chuse what Officers he pleases I conceive the Surveyor won't deny this Had the Apostles then any of these Advantages above others so far from that that they seem rather to fall short of the common Standard Their Apprehensions at first were very heavy and their Reason check'd by a low Education And which is more they were rather chosen for these Disadvantages For this made their Doctrine the more unquestionable and the Evidence of their Inspiration the greater To see such unpromising Persons so Wise in their Discourse so Wonderful in their Actions and so Unusual in their Success must needs convince the World that God was with them And thus the Surveyor's Assertion is false both in Fact and Reasoning His saying That this Commission of the Apostles and their Successors expir'd upon the Conversion of Princes to Christianity is a great mistake The Church is still Independent her Authority unalterable neither is she in Things purely Spiritual subordinate to the Civil Power This Truth I have elsewhere proved at large Moral Essays Office Chap. and thither I refer the Reader The Surveyor in speaking to the Importance of the Priests Office would not allow him to preside any more in Gods Worship than a Clerk in Parliament presides over the House Survey p. 352. because be reads the Bills and Petitions to them It seems then the Relation of the Priest and the Congregation is the same with that of the Clerk to the Parliament What would this Author be at Does he mean that when the Priest reads the Bible the People may Debate whether it shall pass or not and divide into Yeas and Noes about saying Amen to the Lord's Prayer One would think by his worthy similitude that the People went to Church to be Worship'd and that the Liturgie was only a Parcel of Humble Petitions put up to the Parish The Surveyor is extreamly desirous to have Survey p. 356. a Religious Character expos'd on the Stage Defence from p. 66 to p. 8● But against this Liberty I have given my Reasons at large which when the