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	pope_n	prince_n	1,488	5	5.9235	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A43978	De corpore politico, or, The elements of law, moral and politick with discourses upon severall heads, as of [brace] the law of nature, oathes and covenants, several kinds of government : with the changes and revolutions of them / by Tho. Hobbs of Malmsbury.	Hobbes, Thomas, 1588-1679.	1652 (1652)	Wing H2221; ESTC R41339	83,707	190

himselfe to no greater then Humane Authoritie Nor can a man bee said to submit himselfe to Holy Scripture that doth not submit himselfe to some or other for the Interpretation thereof Or why should there bee any Church Government at all instituted if the Scripture it selfe could doe the Office of a Judge in Controversies of Faith But the Truth is apparent by continuall Experience that men seeke not onely Liberty of Conscience but of their Actions nor that onely but a farther Liberty of perswading others to their Opinions nor that onely for every man desireth that the Soveraign Authoritie should admit no other Opinions to bee maintained but such as hee himselfe holdeth 14. The difficulty therefore of obeying both God and Man in a Christian Common Wealth is none All the difficulty resteth in this Point Whether hee that hath received the Faith of Christ having before subiected himselfe to the Authoritie of an Infidell bee discharged of his Obedience thereby or not in matters of Religion In which case it seemeth reasonable to thinke that since all Covenants of Obedience are entred into for the preservation preservation of a mans life if a man be content without Resistance to lay down his life rather then obey the commands of an Infidel in so hard a Case he hath sufficiently discharged himself thereof For no Covenant bindeth farther then to endeavour and if a man cannot assure himself to perform a iust Duty when thereby he is assured of present Death much less it can be expected that a man should perform that for which he believeth in his heart he shall be damned eternally And thus much concerning the Scruple of Conscience that may arise concerning Obedience to Humane Lawes in them that interpret the Law of God to themselves It remaineth to remove the same scruple from them that submit their controversies to others not ordained thereunto by the Soveraign Authority And this I refer to the Chapter following CHAP. VII 1. The Questions propounded who are the Magistrates in the Kingdome of Christ 2. The Questions exemplified in the Controversies between Moses and Aaron and between Moses and Corah 3. Amongst the Jews the Power Temporal and Spiritual in the same Hand 4. Parallel of the Twelve Princes of Israel and the twelve Apostles 5. Parallel of Seventy Elders and Seventy Disciples 6. The Hierarchy of the Church in our Saviours time consisted in the Twelve and in the Seventy 7. Why Christ ordained not Priests for Sacrifices as Moses did 8. The Hierarchy of the Church in the Apostles time Apostles Bishops and Priests 9. The Preaching of the Gospel was not commanding but perswading 10. Excommunication Soveraignes immediate Rulers Ecclesiasticall under Christ 11. That no man hath any just Pretence of Religion against Obedience to Common-VVealth God speaketh to Man by his Vicegerents IN the former Chapter have been removed those difficulties opposing our Obedience to Humane Authority which arise from misunderstanding of our Saviours Title and Lawes in the former whereof namely his Title consisteth our Faith and in the latter our Justice Now they who differ not amongst themselves concerning his Title and Lawes may neverthelesse have different opinions concerning his Magistrates and the Au●hority he hath given them And this is the cause why many Christians have denyed Obedience to their Princes pretending that our Saviour Christ hath not given this Magistracy to them but to others As for example some say to the Pope universally some to a Synod Aristocratical Some to a Synod Democraticall in every several Common VVealth and the Magistrates of Christ being they by whom he speaketh the Question is Whether he ●peak unto us by the Pope or by Convocations of Bishops and Ministers or by Them that have the Soveraign Power in every Common-Wealth 2. This Controversie was the cause of those two Mutinies that happened against Moses in the Wilderness The first by Aaron and his Sister Miriam who took upon them to censure Moses for marrying an Ethiopian woman And the state of the Question between them and Moses they set forth Numb. 12.2 in these words VVhat hath the Lord spoken but only by Moses hath be not spoken also by us and the Lord heard this c. and punished the same in Miriam forgiving Aaron upon his Repentance And this is the case of all them that set up the Priest-hood against the Soveraignty The other was of Corah Dathan and Abiram who with two hundred and fifty Captains gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron The state of their Controversie was this Whether God were not with the Multitude as well as with Moses and every man as holy as he For Numb. 16.3 thus they say You take too much upon you seeing all the Congregation is holy every one of them and the Lord is amongst them wherefore then lift ye your selves above the Congregation of the Lord And this is the case of them that set up their private Consciences and unite themselves to take the Government of Religion out of the hands of Him or Them that have the Soveraign Power of the Common Wealth which how well it pleaseth God may appear by the hideous punishment of Corah and his Complices 3. In the Government therefore of Moses there was no power neither Civil nor Spiritual that was not derived from him Nor in the State of Israel under Kings was there any Earthly Power by which those Kings were compellable to any thing or any Subiect allowed to resist them in any case whatsoever For though the Prophets by extraordinary calling did often admonish and threaten them yet they had no Authority over them And therefore amongst the Jews the power Spirituall and Temporall was alwayes in the same Hand 4. Our Saviour Christ as he was the rightful King of the Jewes in particular as well as King of the Kingdome of Heaven in the ordaining of Magistrates received that form of Policy which was used by Moses According to the number of the Children of Jacob Moses tooke unto him by the appointment of God Numb. 1.4 twelve men every one of the chief of their Tribe which were to assist him in the Muster of Israel And these twelve vers. 24. are called the Princes of Israel Twelve men every one for the house of their Fathers which are said also Numb. 7.2 To be heads over the Houses ●f their Fathers and Princes of the Tribes and ●ver them that were numbred And these were every one equall amongst themselves In like manner our Saviour tooke unto him Twelve Apostles to be next unto him in Authority of whom he saith Matth. 19.28 When the Son of Man shall sit in the Throne of his Maiesty ye shall follow me in the Regeneration shall sit also upon Twelve Thrones and iudge the Twelve Tribes of Israel And concerning the equality of the Twelve Apostles amongst themselves our Saviour saith Matth. 20.25 Ye know that the Lords of the Gentiles have Domination over them c. vers. 26. But

Assemblies as those must be whereinto every man may enter at his pleasure there is no means any waies to deliberate and give Councel what to do but by long and set Orations whereby to every man there is more or less hope given to incline sway the Assembly to their own Ends In a multitude of speakers therefore where alwaies either one is eminent alone or a few being equal amongst themselvs are eminent above the rest that one or few must of necessity sway the whole Insomuch that a Democracy in effect is no more then an Aristocracy of Orators interrupted sometimes with the temporary Monarchy of one Orator 6. And seeing a Democracy is by Institution the beginning both of Aristocracy and Monarchy we are to consider next how Aristocracy is derived from it When the particular Members of the Common Wealth growing weary of attendance at publick Courts as dwelling far off or being attentive to their private Businesses and withall displeased with the Government of the People assemble themselves to make an Aristocracy there is no more required to the making thereof but putting to the Question one by one the Names of such men as it shall consist of and assenting to their Election and by plurality of Vote to transfer that power which before the People had to the number of men so named and chosen 7. And from this manner of erecting an Aristocracy it is manifest that the Few or Optimates have entred into no Covenant with any of the particular Members of the Common VVealth wherof they are Soveraign and consequently cannot do any thing to any private man that can be called Injury to him howsoever their act be wicked before Almighty God according to that which hath been sayd before Sect ● Farther it is impossible that the People as one Body Politick should covenant with the Aristocracy or Optimates on whom they intend to transfer their Soveraignty For no sooner is the Aristocracy erected but the Democracy is annihilated and the Covenants made unto them void 8. In all Aristocracies the Admission of such as are from time to time to have Vote in the soveraign assembly dependeth on the Will and Decree of the present Optimates For they being the Soveraign have the nomination by the 11. Section of the former Chapter of all Magistrates Ministers and Counsellors of State whatsoever and may therefore chuse either to make them elective or hereditary at their pleasure 9. Out of the same Democracy the Institution of a Political Monarch proceedeth in the same manner as did the Institutio● of the Aristocracy to wit by a Decree of the Soveraign People to passe the Soveraignty to One Man named and approved by Plurality of Suffrage And if this Soveraignty be truly and indeed transferred the Estate or Common-Wealth is an absolute Monarchy wherein the Monarch is at liberty to dispos● as well of the Succession as of the Possession and not an Elective Kingdome For suppos● a Decree be made first in this manner Tha● such a One shal have the Soveraignty for hi● life and that afterward they will chuse a new In this Case the Power of the People is dissolved or not if dissolved then after the Death of him that is chosen there is no man bound to stand to the Decrees of them that shall as Private men run together to make a new Election and consequently if there be any man who by the advantage of the Raign of Him that is dead have strength enough to hold the multitude in Peace and Obedience he may lawfully or rather is by the Law of Nature obliged so to do if this power of the people were not dissolved at the chusing of their King for life then is the people Soveraign still and the King a Minister thereof only but so as to put the whole Soveraignty in Execution A Great Minister but no otherwise for his time then a Dictator was in Rome In this case at the death of him that was chosen they that meet for a new Election have no new but their old Authority for the same For they were the Soveraign all the time as appeareth by the Acts of those Elective Kings that have procured from the People that their children might succeed them For it is to be understood when a man receiveth any thing from the Authority of the people he receiveth it not from the People his Subiects but from the people his Soveraign And farther though in the Election of a King for his life the People grant him the Exercise of their Soveraignty for that time Yet if they see cause they may recall the same before the Time As a Prince that conferreth an Office for life may nevertheless upon suspition of Abuse thereof recall it at his pleasure in as much as Offices that require lobour and care are understood to passe from him that giveth them as Onera Burthens to them that have them the recalling whereof are therefore not Injury but Favour Nevertheless if in making an Elective King with Intention to reserve the Soveraignty they reserve not a Power at certaine known and determined times and places to assemble themselves the reservation of their Soveraignty is of no effect in as much as no man is bound to stand to the Decrees and Determinations of those that assemble themselves without the Soveraign Authortiy 10. In the former Section is shewed that elective Kings that exercise their Soveraignty for a Time which determines with their Life either are Subjects or not Soveraigns And that it is when the people in Election of them reserve unto themselves the right of Assembling at certaine times and places limited and made known Or else Absolute Soveraigns to dispose of the Succession at their Pleasure and that is when the people in their Election have declared no time nor place of their meeting or have left it to the power of the Elected King to assemble and dissolve them at such times as he himselfe shall think good There is another kind of Limitation of time to him that shal be elected to use the Soveraign Power which whether it hath been practised anywhere or not I know not but it may be imagined and hath been obiected against the Rigor of Soveraign Power and it is this that the People transfer their Soveraignty upon Conditions As for Example for so long as he shall observe such and such Lawes as they then prescribe him And here as before in elected Kings the Question is to be made whether in the Electing of such a Soveraign they reserved to themselves a right of Assembling at times and places limited and known or not if not then is the Soveraignty of the People dissolved and have neither power to iudge of the Breach of the Conditions given him nor to command any Forces for the Deposing of him whom on that Condition they had set up but are in the Estate of war amongst themselves as they were before they made themselves a Democracy and consequently