Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	authority_n	bishop_n	church_n	2,934	5	4.3576	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A58394	Reformation no enemie, or, A true discourse betweene the bishops and the desirers of reformation wherein is plainely laid open the present corrupt government of our church, and the desired forme of government plainely proved by the word of God.; Hay any worke for Cooper	Marprelate, Martin, pseud.; Penry, John, 1559-1593.	1641 (1641)	Wing R741; ESTC R34566	39,052	59

to mirth I tooke that course I might lawfully doe it I for jesting is lawfull by circumstances even in the greatest matters The circumstances of time place and persons vrged me therevnto I never profaned the word in any jest Other mirth I vsed as a covert wherein I would bring the truth into light the Lord being the Author both of mirth and gravity Is it not lawfull in it selfe for the truth to vse either of these wayes when the circumstances doe make it lawfull My purpose was and is to doe good I know I have done no harme howsoever some may iudge Martin to mar all They are very weake ones that so think In that which J have written J know vndoubtedly that I have done the Lord and the state of this Kingdome great service Because I have in some sort discovered the greatest enemies thereof And by so much the most pestilent enemies because they wound Gods religion and currupt the State with Atheism and loosenesse so call for Gods vengance vpon vs all even vnder the colour of Religion I affirme them to be the greatest enemies that now our state hath for if it were not for them the truth should have more free passage herein then now it hath All states thereby would be amended and so we should not be subject vnto Gods displeasure as now we are by reason of them Now let me deale with these that are in authority I doe make it knowne vnto them that our Bishops are the greatest enemies which we have For they doe not onely goe about but they have long since fully perswaded our state that they may lawfully procure the Lord to take the Sword in hand against the state if this be true have J not said truly that they are the greatest enemies which our state hath The Papists worke no such effect for they are not trusted The Atheists have not infected our whole state these have The attempts of our forraine enemies may be pernicious But they are men as wee are But that God which when our Bishops have and doe make our Prince and our governours to wadge war who is able to stand against him Well to the point many have put his Maiestie the Parliament and counsell in mind that the church officers now among vs are not such as the Lord alloweth off because they are not of his owne ordaining They have shewed that this fault is to be amended or the Lords hand to be looked for The Bishops on the other side have cried out vpon them that have thus dutifully moved the state They with a loud voyce gave out that the magistrate may lawfully maintaine that church government which best fitteth our estate as living in the time of peace What doe they else herein but say that the magistrate in time of peace may maime and deforme the body of Christ his church That Christ hath left the government of his own house vnperfect and left the same to the discretion of the Magistrate whereas Moses before whom in this point of government the Lord Christ is justly preferred Heb. 3 6. made the government of the legall policy so perfect as hee left not any part thereof to the discretion of the Magistrate Can they deny church Officers to bee members of the church they are refused by the expresse text 1 Cor. 12. will they affirme Christ to have left behind him an vnperfect body of his Church wanting members at the least wise having such members as were onely permanent at the Magistrates pleasure Why Moses the servant otherwise governed the house in his time And the sonne is commended in this point for Wisedome and faithfulnesse before him Heb. 3.6 Either then that commendation of the sonne before the servant is a false testimony or the sonne ordained a permanent government in his Church If permanent not to be changed What then doe they that hold it may be changed at the Magistrates pleasure but advise the Magistrate by his positive lawes to proclaime that it is his will that if there shall be a Church within his dominions he will maime and deforme the same hee will ordaine therein what members he thinketh good He will make it knowne that Christ vnder his government shall be made lessefaithfull then Moses was That he hath left the placing of members in his body vnto the Magistrate Oh cursed beasts that bring this guilt vpon our estate Repent Caitifes while you have time you shall not have it I feare when you will And looke you that are in authority vnto the equity of the controversie betweene our wicked Bishops and those vho would have the disorders of our Church amended Take heed you be not carryed away with slanders Christs government is neither Mar-prince Mar. state Mar-law nor Mar-magistrate The living God whose cause is pleaded for will be reuenged of you if you give eare vnto this slander contrary to so many testimonies as are brought out of his word to prove the contrary He denounceth his wrath against all you that thinke it lawfull for you to maime or deform his church he accounteth his Church maimed when those Offices are therein placed which hee hath not appointed to bee members thereof he also testifieth that there be no members of this appointment in the Church but such as hee himselfe hath named in his word and those that he hath named man must not displace for so he should put the body out of joynt Now our Bishops holding the contrary and bearing you in hand that you may practize the contrary doe they not drive you to provoke the Lord to anger against your owne soules And are they not your enemies they hold the contrary J say for they say that his Maiestie may alter this government now established and thereby they shew either this government to be vnlawfull or that the magistrate may presume to place those members in Gods Church which the Lord never mentioned in his word And I beseech you marke how the case standeth betweene these wretches those whom they call puritans 1 The puritans falsely so called shew it to be vnlaw full for the Magistrate to goe about to make any members for the body of Christ 2 They hold all officers of the Church to be members of the body Rom. 12 6.1 Cor. 12.8 28. 3 And therfore they hold the altering or the abolishing of the offices of church government to be the altering abolishing of the members of the Church 4 The altering and abolishing of which members they hold to be vnlawfull because it must needes be a maime vnto the body 5 They hold Christ Iesus to have set downe as exact and as vnchangeable a Church government as ever Moses did Heb. 3.6 These and such like are the points they hold let their cause be tryed and if they hold any other points in effect but these let them be hanged every man of them Now I demand whether they that hold the contrary in these points and cause the

for that body I pray you in what place of the body would you have them placed If our Saviour Christ hath left behind him a perfect body surely he hath left therein no place or no vse for members of the Magistrates making and invention if an vnperfect and maimed body I am well assured that the magistrate is not able to perfect that which he left vnfinished But I hope T. C. that thou wilt not be so mad and wicked as to say that our Saviour Christ left behind him heere on earth an vnperfect and maimed body If not then where shall these offices namely these members invented by the Magistrate be placed therein Would you have the naturall eyes put out as your brethren the bishops have done in the church of England euer since Iohn of Canterbury vrged his wretched subscription and vnnaturall squint gogled eyes put in their stead when the body cannot see with any eyes but with the naturall eyes thereof displace them howsoever you may seeme to helpe the matter by putting others in their stead yet the body shall be still blind and maimed What say you T. C. may the Majestrate out of the true and naturall legges and hands of the body of Christ under a pretence to put woodden in their stead I hope you will not say that he may How then commeth it to passe T. C. that you hold Iohn of Cauterbury his office and Iohn Mar●elmes to be true and naturall members of the body that is true officers of the Church and yet hold it lawfull for his Majesty to displace them out of the church J cannot tell brother what you hold in this point Me think J have disturbed your sences Doe you thinke that the maiestrate may displace the true members of the body of Christ and place woodden in their stead Why this is to hold it lawfull for the Maiestrare to massacre the body Doe you thinke he may not Then may not her Maiesty displace Iohn of Canterburies office out of our church if shee may not displace his office then either he by vertue of his office is a lawfull Pope aboue all civill magistrates or else the Church government is so prescribed in the word as it is not lawfull for the magistrate to alter the same But Iohn of Canterbury as the Puritans themselves confesse is no Pope Then either the church government is so prescribed in the word as it may not be altred or else the maiestrate may abolish a lawfull church government and place another in stead thereof If the Church government be so prescribed in the word as it cannot be altered then either our government is the same which was therein prescribed or our Church government is a false Church government If outs be the same which is mentioned in the word Then Paul and Peter were either no true Church governours or else Paul and Peter and the rest of Church governours in their time were Lords for all our Church governours are Lords But Paule and Peter c. were no Lords and yet true church governours Therefore our church government is not that which is prescribed in the word and therefore a false and vnlawfull church government If you thinke that the Magistrate may displace the lawfull Offices of the body then as I said before you hold it lawfull for the Magistrate to maime or deforme the body Because whatsoover hee pulleth in the roome of the true and right members must needs be a deformitie and what place soever he leaveth vnfurnished of a member must needes bee a maime And this is the onely and sole office of Christ onely to place and displace the members of his body to wit the Officers of his Church he may lawfully doe it so cannot man And therefore the sots of which number you T. C. and you Iohn Whitgift and you Deane Iohn and you D Coosins and you D. Copcot with the rest of the ignorant and wretched defenders of our corrupt Church government are to be accounted which thinke that the Offices of Pastors Doctors Elders and Deacons or the most of them may be aswell now wanting in the Church as the Offices of Apostles Prophets and Evangelists doe notably bewray their vile ignorance but the cause they doe no hurt For the beasts doe not consider that the Offices of Apostles Evangelists and Prophets were removed out of the church not by man but by the Lord The Apostles chese men in stead of Iames being beheaded as they did in steed of Iudas Act. 1 which they would have done if the Apostolicall calling had beene permanent because he in his wisdome did not see any vse of such members in his body after the time of the first planting of the Church I say they were removed by the Lord himselfe and not by man because partly the gifts wherewith they were endued partly the largenesse of their commission with certaine other essentiall properties to them belonging were by him abrogated and taken away which no man could doe againe the Apostolicall Evangelicall and Propheticall callings were either lawfully or vnlawfully abolished out of the Church if lawfully then they were abolished by the Lord and therfore they are neither to be called backe vntill he sheweth it to be his pleasure that it should be so neither can the church be truly said to be maimed for want of them because he which could best tell what members were fit for his Church did abolish them If vnlawfully then those callings may bee lawfully called backe againe into the Church and the Church without them is maimed that is wanteth some members For if their callings were injuriously abrogated they are as iniuriously kept out of the Church and being members of the church the church is maimed without the vnlesse the Lord hath shewed that the time of their service in the body is expired But they are not injuriously kept out for so his Maiestie should be said to injury the Church vnlesse hee would see Apostles prophets and Evangelists planted therein neither can the church be said to bee maimed for want of them because the Lord by taking them away hath declared that now there can be no vse of them in the body therefore the Lord abrogated them Therefore also they may be wanting and the Church neither mained nor deformed thereby Whereas the keeping out of either of the former offices of Pastors Doctors elders and Deacons is a maiming of the Church the placing of others in their stead a deforming Now reverend T. C. I beseech you entreat mistresse Cooper to write to M D. Day sometimes of Magdalius that he may procure D. Cooper to know of him that was the last Thomas of Lincolne whether the now B. of Winchester be not perswaded that Reve. rend Martin hath sufficiently proved it to be vnlawfull for the civill Magistrate to abolish any lawfull church Officer out of the church Because it is vnlawfull for him to maime or deforme the body of Christ by displacing