Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	abandon_v	church_n	superior_n	12	3	9.8556	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A09086	The seconde parte of the booke of Christian exercise, appertayning to resolution. Or a Christian directorie, guiding all men to their saluation. Written by the former authour. R.P.; Booke of Christian exercise. Part 2.	Parsons, Robert, 1546-1610. Christian directory.; Parsons, Robert, 1546-1610. First booke of the Christian exercise.	1590 (1590)	STC 19380; ESTC S110194	217,337	475

possibly walke awry therein but may thinke himselfe a good Christian for thys first poynt which is for matters of beleefe The seconde part of this Chapter THere followeth the second part of Christian profession concerning life manners which is a matter of so much more difficultie then the former by how many more waies a man may be ledde from vertuous life then from sincere fayth wherein there can be no comparison at all seeing the pathe of our beleefe is so manifest as hath beene shewed that no man can erre therein but of inexcusable wilfulnes Which wilfulnesse of error the holy Fathers of Christes primatiue Church did alwaies refer to two principall and originall causes that is to pride ouerweening in our owne conceits and to malice against our Superiors for not giuing our selues contentation in the thinges that we desire Of the first doe proceede newe opinions newe glosing expounding applying of the Scriptures preferring our own iudgement before all other past or present the contempt and debasing of holy Fathers and Councels and whatsoeuer proofe standeth not with our owne liking and approbation Of the second fountaine are deriued other qualities conformable to that humor as are the denying of iurisdiction and authoritie in our Superiours the contempt of Prelates the exaggeration of the faultes and defects of our Gouernours the impugnation of all Bishoplike dignities or Ecclesiasticall eminencie and especially of that rule whereunto appertaineth the correction of such lyke offenders and finally for satis-fying thys deuillish and pernicious venime of malice those wicked reprobates doe incite and arme the people against theyr spirituall Pastors they kindle factions against Gods faithfull Ministers they deuise a new Church a new forme of Gouernment a new kingdom and Ecclesiasticall Hierarchie vpon earth wherby to bring mē in doubt or staggering what or whom to beleeue or whereunto to haue recourse in such difficulties as doe arise These two maladies I say of pryde and malice haue beene the cause of obstinate errour in all Heretiques frō the beginning as full wel noted that holy auncient Martyr Saint Cyprian when hee sayde so long a goe These are the beginnings and originall causes of Heretiques and wicked Scismatiques first to please like well of thēselues and then beeing puffed vp with the swelling of pride to contemne theyr Gouernors and Superiors Thus doe they abandon and forsake the Church thus doe they erecte a prophane Aulter out of the Church against the Church Thus doe they break the peace and vnitie of Christ and doe rebell against Gods holy ordination Nowe then as these are the causes eyther onely or principally of erring in our beleefe most facile and easie as wee see to be discerned so of errour in lyfe and manners there are many more occasions causes ofsprings and fountaines to be found That is to say so many in number as wee haue euill passiōs inordinate appetites wicked desires or vnlawfull inclinations within our minde euery one whereof is the cause oftentimes of dysordered life and breach of Gods commaundements For which respect there is much more sette downe in Scripture for exhortation to good life then to fayth for that the errour heerein is more ordinary easie and more prouoked by our owne frailtie as also by the multitude of infinite temptations Wherefore we reade that our Sauiour Christ in the very beginning of his preaching straight after hee was baptised and had chosen vnto him S. Peter and S. Andrewe Iames and Iohn and some other fewe Dysciples went vp to the Mountaine and there made hys most excellent famous and copious Sermon recited by S. Matthew in three whole Chapters wherein he talketh of nothing els but of vertuous life pouertie meekenes iustice puritie sorrow for sinne patience in suffering contempt of riches forgiuing of iniuries fasting prayer repentance entering by the straight gate and finally of perfection holines and integritie of conuersation and of the exact fulfilling of euery iote of Gods Lawe and commaundements He assured his Disciples with great asseueration that he came not to breake the Law but to fulfill the same consequentlie whosoeuer should breake the least of his Commaundements and should teache men so to doe that is shoulde perseuere therein without repentaunce and so by his example draw other men to doe the like should haue no place in the kingdome of heauen Again he exhorted thē most earnestly to be lights and to shine by good works to al the world and that except theyr iustice did exceed the iustice of the Scribes and Pharises which was but ordinarie and externall they could not be saued He tolde them plainelie they might not serue two maisters in thys life but eyther they must forsake God or abandon Mammon He cryed vnto them Attendite stand attent and consider well your state and condition and then againe seeke to enter by the straight gate And lastly hee concludeth that the onely tryall of a good Tree is the good fruite which it yeeldeth wythout the which fruite let the tree be neuer so fayre or pleasant to the eye yet is it to be cutte downe and burned And that not euery one that shall cry or say vnto him Lorde Lorde at the last day shall be saued or enter into the kingdome of heauen but onely such as did execute in deedes the wyll commandements of his Father in thys lyfe For want whereof he assureth them that many at that day who had not onely beleeued but also doone myracles in his name should be denied reiected and abandoned by him Which long lesson of vertuous life being the first that euer our Sauiour gaue in publique to his Disciples then newly gathered together as Saint Matthewe noteth hauing treated somewhat before of poynts of fayth and by some miracles preaching shewed himself to be the true Messias doth sufficiently teach vs that we must not onely beleeue in his name and doctrine but conforme our liues and actions also to the prescript rule of his commaundements For albeit in Christian Religion faith be the first and principall foundation wheruppon all the rest is to be stayed grounded Yet as in other materiall buildings after the foundation is layd there remaineth the greatest labour time cost cunning and dilligence to be bestowed vpon the framing and furnishing of other parts that must ensue euen so in thys celestial edifice or building of our soule hauing layde on the foundation and grounde of true beleefe the rest of all our life tyme labor and studies is to be imployed in the perfecting of our life and actions as it were in raysing vppe the walles and other parts of our spirituall building by the exercise of all vertues and diligent obseruation of Gods commandemēts without the which it will be to no more purpose for vs to bragge of our knowledge in the Scriptures or to say wee haue fayth and looke to

The first what infinite multitudes of all states conditions sexe qualities and age did suffer dailie for testimonie of this trueth The second what intollerable and vnaccustomed torments not hearde of in the worlde before were deuised by Tyrants for afflicting thys kinde of people The thyrde what inuincible courage and vnspeakable alacritie the Christians shewed in bearing out these afflictions which the enemies thēselues could not attribute but to some diuine power and supernaturall assistance And for thys later poynt of comfort in theyr sufferings I wil alleage onely this testimonie of Tertulian against the Gentiles who obiected that wicked men suffered also as well as Christians whereto thys learned Doctor made aunswere in these words Truth it is that many men are prone to ill and do suffer for the same but yet dare they not defende theyr euill to be good as Christians doe theyr cause For that euerie euill thing by nature dooth bring wyth it eyther feare or shame and therefore wee see that malefactors albeit they loue euill yet would they not appeare so to the world but desire rather to lye in couert They tremble when they are taken and when they are accused they denie all and doe scarse oftentimes confesse their dooings vpon torments And finally whē they are condemned they lament mone and doe impute their hard fortune to destinie or to the Planets But the Christian what doth hee like to this is there any man ashamed or doth any man repent him whē he is taken except it be for that hee was not taken rather If hee be noted by the enemie for a Christian hee glorieth in the same yf he be accused he defendeth not himselfe if hee be asked the question hee confesseth it willingly if he be condemned hee yeeldeth thanks What euill is there then in the Christian cause which lacketh the naturall sequel of euill I meane feare shame tergiuersation repentaunce sorrowe and deploration What euil I say can this be deemed whose guiltines is ioy whose accusation is desire whose punishment is happines Hetherto are the words of learned Tertulian who was an eye witnesse of that hee wrote and had no small part in the cause of those that ●uffered beeing himselfe in that place and state as daily he might expect to taste of the same affliction To which combat howe readie he was may appeare by diuers places of this his Apologie wherein hee vttereth besides hys zeale and feruour a most confident securitie and certaine assuraunce of Iesus assistaunce by that which hee had seene performed to infinite other in their greatest distresses from the same Lord before So that nothing doth more acertaine vs of the diuine power and omnipotencie of Iesus then the fortitude inuinsible which aboue all humane reason force and nature he imparted to his Martyrs The fift Consideration AFter which consideration there commeth to be weighed the fift poynt before mentioned which is of the same power and omnipotencie of Iesus declared and exercised vpon the spirits infernall Which thing partly may appeare by the Oracles alleaged in the ende of the former Section wherein those spirits fore-told that an Hebrue childe should be borne to the vtter subuersion and ruine of theyr tyrannicall dominion and much more at large the same might bee declared by other aunswers and Oracles vttered after Christes natiuitie and registred in the monuments euen of the Heathens themselues Whereof he that desireth to see more ample mention especially out of Porphyrie who then was liuing let him read Eusebius sixt booke De preparatione Euangelica wher he shall finde store and namely that Apollo many times exclaimed Hei mihi congemiscite Hei mihi hei mihi Oraculorum defecit me claritas Woe vnto me lament yee wyth me woe vnto me woe vnto me for that the honour of Oracles hath nowe forsaken mee Which complaints and lamentations are nothing els but a plaine confession that Iesus was he of whom a Prophet saide diuers ages before Attenuabit omnes Deos terrae hee shall weare out and bring to beggerie al the Gods or Idols of the earth Thys confessed also the wicked spirits themselues when a● Christes appearing in Iurie they came vnto him diuers times and besought him not to afflict or torment them nor commaund thē presently to returne to hell but rather to permitte them some little time of entertainement in the Sea or Mountaines or among heards of Swyne or the like Which confession they made in the sight of all the world and declared the same afterwards by theyr facts and deedes For presently vppon Iesus death vppon the preaching of hys name and Gospell throughout the worlde the Oracles which before were aboundant in euerie Prouince and Countrey were put to silence Whereof I might alleage the testimonies of very many Gentiles themselues as that of Iuuenall Cessant Oracula Delphis All Oracles at Delphos do now cease c. That also of another Poet Excessere omnes adytis arisque relictis Dii quibus imperium hoc steterat c. That is the Gods by whom this Empire stood are all departed from theyr Temples and haue abandoned theyr Altars and place of habitation Strabo hath also these expresse words The Oracle of Delphos at this day is to be seene in extreame beggerie and mendicitie And finally Plutarch that liued within one hundred yeeres after Christ made a speciall booke to search out the causes why the Oracles of the Goddes were ceassed in hys tyme. And after much turning and winding many wayes resolued vppon two principall points as causes thereof The first for that in his tyme there was more store of wise men then before whose aunswers might stand in steede of Oracles and the other that peraduenture the spirits which were accustomed to yeelde Oracles were by length of tyme growne olde and dead Both which reasons in the very common sence of all men must needes be false and by Plutarch himself can not stand wyth probabilitie For first in his Bookes which he wrote of the liues of auncient famous men he confesseth that in such kind of wisedome as he most esteemed they had not theyr equals among their posterity Secondly in his Treatises of Phylosophy he passeth it for a ground that spyrits nor depending of materiall bodies cannot dye or wexe olde and therefore of necessitie hee must conclude that some other cause is to be yeelded of the ceassing of these Oracles which cannot be but the presence and commaundement of some higher power according to the saying of S. Iohn To this end appeared the sonne of GOD that hee might dyssolue or ouerthrow the workes of the deuil Neyther did Iesus thys alone in his own person but gaue also power and authoritie to his dysciples and followers to do the like according to theyr commission in Saint Mathewes Gospell Super omnia Demonia et spiritus immundos c. You shall haue authoritie ouer all