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 church_n reason_n 1,519 5 4.9993 4 false
View all documents for the selected quad

Text snippets containing the quad

ID Title Author Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) STC Words Pages
A60320 A sermon preached at Christ-Church in Dublin before the Lord Lieutenant and Council, the fifth day of July, 1674 by Mr. Andrew Sall ... Sall, Andrew, 1612-1682. 1674 (1674) Wing S392; ESTC R32075 51,081 162

There are 2 snippets containing the selected quad. | View lemmatised text

distinction very few certainly When they bow down to an Image the Image it self down-right they worship Then generally they commit Idolatry in this practice or at least a sin in exposing themselves to a danger of committing it But what of the inconveniences of this practice one comes to a Church or Chappel loaden with Images and before he can recollect himself and think of God his imagination and eyes run upon those pictures and he returns home more full of Figures than of Spirit Inveration of Saints Now to the Fourth Their invocation of Saints is contrary to God's Ordinance Rom 8.34 who hath appointed his Son Jesus to make intercession for us who is more compassionate better able and more willing than any of the Saints or Angels to help us Joh. ● 16. And himself assureth us that whatsoever we ask the Heavenly Father in his Name Acts 4. ●2 he will give it us Contrary to this and the declaration of St. Peter that there is not salvation in any other and that there is no other name under Heaven given among men whereby we must be saved The Romish Church teacheth her children to call the blessed Virgin Mary their life and hope vita dulcedo spes nostra their Redeemer and Savioress Reparatrix Salvatrix desperantis animae their comfort and giver of spiritual grace irroratrix largitrix spiritualis gratiae with other extravagancies certainly unwelcome to that glorious Mother of Christ and true humble soul who in that her famous canticle acknowledgeth her very lowliness to be the motive of God's high favours to her Luke 1.46 for he hath regarded the lowliness of his Hand-maiden The like exorbitancies they preach and teach of other Saints As I was considering this Point came to my hands a paper of my own censuring the doctrine I heard in a Sermon preached where I was present in the City of Palencia in Spain the year 1661. by a Fryer of a certain Order upon the Festivity of one of their Saints saying of him that he was incapable of erring in his doctrine that his doctrine was of equal authority with the Bible that whatsoever such a Saint did say though false in it self he saying it must be true The proofs he brought for these desperate positions were as mad as the positions themselves and so ridiculous that dare not relate them in this grav Auditory though I have them in writing Let not malice gather by this discourse that I revile the Saints or repine at their glory I rejoyce at it and bless God for so rewarding his Servants What I reprehend is the blasphemous abuses committed in the worship of them unpleasing certainly to the Saints A facetious expression of a Spanish Preacher may be a serious proof of this being so Preaching upon the Festivity of a Saint Founder of a certain Order he feigned that studying his Sermon he had an extasie or dream wherein finding himself in Heaven he saw that Saint he preached of behind the door hiding himself and being questioned why he did so answered He came there being ashamed to hear the mad expressions of his Fryer's in praising and extolling him upon such days And certainly if the Saints living in glory were capable of shame and sorrow they would grieve and be asham'd at the proceedings of their wild worshippers Of this I made grievous complaints to the Inquisitor General of Spain crying against exorbitancies of that kind repugnant to all Christianity being commissioned by himself to give him account of what doctrine I found censurable Even then and in that Countrey I cried against these exorbitancies but how succesful my good intention to that purpose was I do not know for this malady groweth still The way of getting the credit of a sound Catholick with the blind Vulgar is to exceed in this Practice as to spight the Jews and seem true Christians they will eat more Pork than their stomach can bear so to spight Protestants they will run beyond all measure even of their own principles in advancing Saints For one Church dedicated to our Saviour you will see an hundred dedicated to divers Saints for one Pater noster ten Ave Maries for one discourse or praise of God a thousand of their respective Saints Whereof I often saw to my deep grief sad experiences A person of Quality lyes dying in comes a Fryar of this Order and falls with all his Rhetorick to exhort him to devotion towards the Saints of his own Order to take the habit scapulary or cord of it Then comes one of another Order and falls likewise a commending the Saints and habit of his Order and so each one as they come Among them all little or no mention of our Saviour Jesus his Passion to rely upon Would you think it is the good of that soul or the honour of the Saint they are zealous for or rather the interest of the Convent judge it you and let others of more liberty speak it Have pity O good God of souls left to such Instruction Half Communion Touching the fifth point of denying the Chalice to the Laity I think it an injury to our cause to seek after any farther proof of it than their own Confession that our Saviour Jesus did institute and the Primitive Church did practise the administration of the blessed Sacrament under both kinds to the people as it is used in the Church of England But the Roman Church thought fit to do otherwise This confession is their greatest confusion and too too sufficient confutation It was to me a horror to see the boldness of the Council of Constance confessing the foresaid and coming down with a non obstante That Concil Const●n l●ss 13. notwithstanding Christ's institution and the practice of the Primitive Church therein the Council prohibited all Priests under pain of Excommunication to administer the Communion under both kinds to the Laity For causes they do not express neither do we need to labour in searching after them it being sufficient for our purpose to know that they can find or pretend causes to alter Christ's institutions and introduce others contrary to them The onely reason they give for their Decree herein is the Authority of the Church and some preceding Popes or Fathers and yet acknowledging that Christ ordained the contrary Is not this to transgress the commandment of God by your tradition Ma● 15 3. is not this to agree with that attribute of Antichrist who opposeth and exalteth himself over all that is called God The Pope would seem to clear himself from that imputation bearing for title Servant of the Servants of God Gen 27 22 The voice is Jacob 's voice but the hands are the hands of Esau The Pope's speech in calling himself Servant of the Servants of God is Christian but his Deed in preferring his own Law and Institution to the Institution of Christ is Antichristian They cry Antiquity and Authority of the Church for this practice
of withdrawing from the Communion of the Roman Church was just and necessary My whole Discourse upon the Text prefixed is but one Syllogism whereof the major Proposition is this That if we should find a Church or Congregation convinced of Idolatry Impiety and Cruelty in the publick established practice of it we are to forsake the Communion of it This is the doctrine of our Saviour contained in the words of our Text as appeared by the declaration and proof of it in the first Point The minor is That I found the present general practice of the Roman Church convinced of Idolatry Impiety and Cruelty The Conclusion is that the Resolution I took of forsaking it was just and necessary No Christian may deny the major it being Christ's doctrine as appeareth by our Text. If the minor be true no good Logician may deny the conclusion The truth of the minor touching Idolatry seems to be sufficiently proved by what is said concerning the Worship of of the Eucharistical bread and of Images And touching Antichristian Impiety by what is declared of their opposing and preferring the Popes Laws to the Law of God making the Pope Sole and Supreme Arbiter of Gods Law giving him the Attribute of Infallibility proper to God alone abrogating Christs Institution in the Administration of the Eucharist or Communion and Establishing another contrary to it Bereaving Christ of the title of sole Saviour and hope of human kind by calling the Virgin Mary their Saviouress and hope Advancing the honour and worship of Saints beyond that of God by dedicating more Churches and saying more prayers to them than to God Their Cruelty in the conduct of souls appeareth too much in what we have said of bereaving the Christian people of the Fruit of the blessed Sacrament of the Altar in their practice of half Communion in depriving them of the benefit of their soul having publick Divineservice in a Language not intelligible to them of the liberty of reading the word of God in his Holy Scriptures Their Tyranny over Princes in deposing them from their Crowns and dignities and moving subjects to bear arms against them Their severity used with the Irish in pursuance of their pretention herein To this may be added their Tyranny over consciences in forcing them to the belief and defence of Doctrines repugnant to their judgement and not established by Catholick Faith as may appear in their violence about forcing all to believe and declare for the conception of the virgin Mary without original sin so many clear testimonies of Scripture being against it as affirm that all men did sin in Adam that Christ was universal redeemer from sin and Saviour of all mankind And not one word to be found in favour of the Exception they pretend for the Virgin Mary besides their voluntary and very often frivolous applications of Texts never intended by the Author of them for their purpose So whatsoever is said by Solomon of the Spouse in his Canticles of wisedom in his Proverbs c. that may seem to have some sound or cadency suiting with their intention is taken up for a sure Oracle declaring the immaculate conception of the blessed Virgin But what strength is wanting to their Texts is supplied by Force and Art two Orders being engaged in that quarrel for the immaculate conception the one numerous among the people and violent in stirring them to abuse the Houses and persons of their Opposers the other prevalent with the Peers and Prelates and with the Popes to engage all in their Quarrel obtaining fearful Excommunications against Opposers of their doctrine by word or writing ordering that in Universities none may have Degrees in Churches none may preach but such as will protest publickly for the immaculate conception with other many violences used to extort such protestations Of which Protestants how many do Protest against what in their mind they judge to be truth God knoweth For my part I am slow in judging of mens thoughts but I dare judge that if their Definitions touching other Points controverted did proceed after this manner I am not obliged to take them for Infallible What of their cruel censures of their Fellow Christians not subject to the Pope of Rome excluding them and the rest of human kind not living in that Communion from all hopes of Salvation wherein they not onely oppose Truth but bely their own Principles as was clearly made out in a Treatise I was forced to pen some years ago When being questioned by some of the Nobility whether one baptized knowing the Lords Prayer the Ten Commandments and the Creed and endeavouring to live according to them ready to believe what he understands to be true Catholick Faith guilty of no obstinacy in misbelieving any Article of it Whether such an one may be saved though he be not of the Communion of the Roman Church I answered he may and was truly a Member of the Catholick Church notwithstanding any calling the Vulgar gave him And having understood I was censured for this Doctrine in absence though none opposed me in presence I penned a Treatise in Latine wherein I demonstrated by evident Testimonies of Scripture Councils Fathers Authority of Divines and Declarations of Popes that the Doctrine I delivered was Catholick Faith and the contrary of it was Heresie and Blasphemy Coppies of this Treatise were given to them of more Authority and Learning of the Romish Clergy in the Kingdom and are among them these 3. or 4. years and none yet could shew in it any thing untrue or ill grounded yet all conspired against the publishing of this said Doctrine as being prejudicial to the Romish Cause because thence followed that Protestants may be saved and that many called Hereticks would not be such indeed To which I answered that I found great conveniences in those things they represented to me for inconveniences being heartily desirous that all men should be saved and that of them called Hereticks none of all should be such in truth And come what will of my Answer I cannot but answer truth when I am questioned I replied to their complaints of that with the words of Job Jo. 13.7 Will you speak wickedly for God and talk deceitfully for him Or as the Latine Text hath Num quid Deus indiget vestro mendacio ut pro illo loquamini dolos Does God need your lyes and that you should use cheats in his cause surely he does not And so I concluded it was not the cause of God or good of souls they zealed but the Grandeur of the Roman Court and their own pretentions with it which I would not advance with telling lyes or concealing truth Let them sooth one another with those compliances as those Owls and Syrens Isaiah represents answering one another in the ruinous Houses of Babilon Respondebant ibi ululae in aedibus ejus Is 13.22 Syrenes in delubris voluptatis Odious Night-birds leud Syrens keep correspondence in Babilon But the