Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	body_n	matter_n	soul_n	1,472	5	5.2309	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A07407	The iustification of man by faith only: made and vvritten by Phylyp Melanchton. and translated out of the Latyn in to this oure mother tonge by Nicholas Lesse of London An apologie or defence of the worde of God, declaringe what a necessary thynge it is, to be in all mennes handes, the want wher of is the only cause of al vngodlienes committed thorowe the whole earth, made by the sayde Nicholas Lesse	Melanchthon, Philipp, 1497-1560.; Lesse, Nicholas. Apologie or defence of the worde of God. aut	1548 (1548)	STC 17792; ESTC S104245	86,618	204

iustice Men of ●ower agaynst cōscience and right care nat a beane what wrong and iniury they do to the meane sorte if that eyther house or lande pastures or woddes doth lie commodiously for theyr purpose and specially when it ioyneth to any part of theyrs Such as doth thus haue nat red the blessing in the olde Testament conteyned with the reward prepared for them which do ioyne house to house felde to felde farme vpon farme some one mā .xx. some .xxx. some .xl. scant xx good mē which shuld be able to serue theyr prince at nede maynteyned where in tymes past hath nat ben so fewe as .v. hundred as by experience in places nat long dayes paste was almoste founde to true As for fynes and incoms with reysinge of theyr rentes they be so importable so tedious and so heuy that the pore tenantes or theyr yeres be halfe expyred shall be glad to lay the keye vnder the dore and runne theyr wayes ¶ Such is the pitie we haue of our christian bretherne so lytle is the feare and loue of God among vs ye which professeth the Gospell which thinge makethe wel for the Papistes to the sclaunder of the worde of God As for the office of a iudge Iudges what man can saye but it is moste iustly executed vpright without parcialitie nat fauouringe of one man more than an other nat prolonging of sutes in the fauor of the ryche to the vtter vndoing of the pore nat takyng of gyftes worthy to be compared to the courte of the Ariopagittes which to auoyde percialitie iudged al causes by night darkling If it be any otherwise thā I haue declared it is to be ascribed and imputed to none other thing more nay to nothīg so much as to that they be nat in feare of the iudgement of the lorde which doth commaunde with these wordes Iudge and ministre right iudgement you sons of men There is no man that can fynde fault with those kind of men which are occupiers Occupyer● liuing by theyr laborius venter and trauayle so vpeight is theyr dealinge so iust so indifferent that almoste no faith no truth no trust no confidence is to be giuen to theyr othe muche lesse to theyr worde and bare promise Theues What Thefe wolde steale and robbe to be hanged on a gallow if he were toched with the feare and loue of the lorde Murther● Who wold be so stony harted to quel and sley his brother for whom Christ did suffer and shedde his bloude Aduouter persons What man wold be an aduouterer a fornicatour a committer of rapt if he had but one sperkil of the feare and loue of God knowinge that they which do so shall nat inherite the kingdome of heauen iudged by sentence diffinitiue without helpe of appellation to euerlastinge sorowes excepte there be in this lyfe or they departe a true and perfect repentance with truste in the mercy promised for Christe sake Traytors What causeth so many ranke traytours and rebelions againste theyr moste lawfull kinges and gouerners constituted immediatly vnder God and by God ouer them to kepe them in a good rule quietnes peace and tranquillitie but that they do want and lacke the fear and loue of the lorde the hygh king and gouernour ¶ The want wherof the more and greater it is the more ranke and poysonous are the treasons which are wrought Adam ¶ Howe great an euyll this is howe huge and foule a monster of howe innumerable calamities and sorowes which we haue and do susteyne this is a moste wicked mother what thinge can better set forth or paynt as it were in a table or in a glasse before your eyes more euidently more lyuely than the great fall of Adam beinge for lacke of the feare and of the loue of the lorde which broughte vs into thraldome bondage and captiuitie of the Deuyl For if he had loued him for his benefites bicause he was created by him a heauenly creature like vnto his owne image or if he had feared him for feare to displease him whom he found so good a lord or for feare of breaking of his commaundement as of hys heade and mayster for he that is commaunded is vnder him that doeth commaunde he wold nat haue transgressed whose transgression is our transgression whose fall is our fall Oure sinfull lyfe and corrupt maners beinge the relyques dregges and remenaunte of hys olde sore Cayn ☞ What caused cursed Cayn to slee so cruelly Pharao and vnnaturally his owne brother What caused Pharao to persecute the children of Israel Dauyd What made kynge Dauyd to commyt abhominable aduoutry nat contented with one mischeuous dede but also to ioyne and adde bloudy murdre to stynkynge aduoutry in sleying the husbande of the woman with the most lamentable distruction of many mo Iudas What caused Iudas to be a traytor to his most louing mayster To be truely certayned and assured there was nothinge elles in the cause but the want of the feare and of the loue of the lorde O cruel and dampnable mischiefe comminge from the bottomlesse pytte of Hell What remedy and salue is to be founde for this foule sore what is the cause that it reygneth so much among vs christiās euery where that almost no feare nor loue of the lord is found in any place nay rather open contempt and blasphemy and dishonor to his most blessed and holy name what man can expresse the cause therof that this plage more to be feared than any pestelence hath so infected the ayre thorowe al the worlde that no man hygh nor lowe what state degree or dignitie so euer he be hath escaped it Iob. The foule botches and sores of Iob did neuer stinke so sore to the nose of man as thꝭ maketh vs to be abhorred of god stopping his heuenly nose and turninge his merciful visage frome vs. Among our earthly phisicions which do take cure of bodyly deseases only which bodies being neuer so wel healed shall at the last go to corruption the cause of the disease and sicknesse knowen being the chefe point of theyr sciēce the parth which is sicke is halfe cured and holpen alredy For lykewyse as in ministration of medecines the cause of the bodily infyrmitie nat knowen perfectly they do kyl sley and murdre nat with knife but with poyson the party which seketh after helpe and remedy So the cause and rote of the sicknes perceyued the medycation is made therafter to the helpe and comfort of him that complayned and lamented his grefe and infyrmitie Euen so agayne of our spirituall infyrmities and sicknes which kylleth nat the body ye oftentymes doth sende both body and soule to the whorlpole of hell paste remedy and helpe if he commeth ones into that place speaking our Heuenly mayster and doctor and spirituall phisicion Christ whiche knoweth all our waters a litle better than we do our selfes to whom al our diseases and maladies are thorowly knowen which

beholde the cleare glistering bryghtnes of his Godheade and partly bicause they shulde nat delude deceyue and blinde thē selfes with none outwarde apparance and similitude of thynges to auoyde the great incouenyence of Idolatry to be committed vnder any spiritual or godly colour ¶ With this worde were all the Prophettes and godly kinges illumined and set a fier with the loue and knowlege of God vnto the tyme of the son of God be comming man which declared thꝭ word by mouthe and myracle that therby he might be knowē perfectly what he was and is in dede This worde had the disciples and Apostles committed vnto thē with a speciall cōmandement to declare this worde nat theyr owne phantasies or imaginations the worde I say of preching the Gospel to al creatures that is to say Repentance and remissiō of synne for Christ sake the hope of our saluatiū by Christ only and his merites This word the holy most vertuously disposed Apostles moste faythfully putting in writing did leue behind them to our discipline and saluation as witnesseth Paull sayinge the Gospell is the power of God to saluation of all them that beleueth commaunding also vnder the payne of bytter curses neyther to minisshe or plucke awaye neyther to adde nor ioyne one worde or tytle to this worde as Iohn in the last of his reuelation sayeth If thou wylt be so bold to enlarge his worde adding any thyng to this boke of lyfe wherto nothing can or may be ioyned more than it is or els to plucke any thinge from it I do beare witnesse sayeth he the lord shal encrease on the the plages conteyned and written in this boke and for his boldnes to take away any thing from this boke the lorde shal take away from him his parte and portion out of the boke of lyfe oute of the holy eytye neuer to be partaker of any thing cōteyned in this boke Against this worde our mortal enmy hath continuall warre and battayle this is the castel which he goeth about to vndermine coueting to ouerthrowe it if he myght At fewe worde the euerlasting being of God without begynnynge al his power as muche as maye be perceyued by man that he created the world with al thing there in conteyned that he sent downe his only begotten son moued with compassion of our imprisonment and captiuitie to set vs at liberty with ful saluation and what is there els that is nat knowen by this worde Considerynge then that lykewise as in our corporal bodies corruption and putrefaction commeth of corrupt matter as sometyme the cause of corruption beinge without vs by the corrupte infection of the ayre and poisonous sauours doth cause the inwarde partes to be infected and corrupted sometyme the cause beinge within the body as raw and indigested humors comming of yll dyet of surfetinge with other kindes of vnhonest and inordinate ordre of lyfe so proceding from corruption to putrefaction from putrefaction to mortification and sleynge of the matter which is fyrst corrupted Euen so the cause why we lacke the loue and fear of the lord is the want of the knowlege of God spiritually wherby we shulde glorifie God as Paul wytnesseth to the Romains Yet muste there folowe an other cause why we knowe nat the lorde and that truly is bicause we embrace nat him with our armes in his word bicause we do nat make muche of him in his worde bicause we kisse him nat with the mouth of our herte earnestly and hartely in hys most blessed worde and so to folow him in lyfe with al purenesse and godlynesse of liuinge What is the occasion of all these our spiritual infyrmities that we may lerne and know the original cause and fountayne that hereafter we may be preserued from this most poyson and pestiferus infectiō the better being as the prouerbe sayeth ons warned and so half warned ☞ He that was sometyme an Aungell the father of pryde the olde enmy of god and man Sathā the chyld of euerlasting wrath and dampnation he I say whiche made to our sauiour many great promises and gay if the lorde wolde haue fallen downe and worshipped him of whom Sathan knew wel his head shuld be broken he worketh al this mischiefe al our sorowes he enuieth vs to be the chyldren of God he wolde fayn haue vs to be as he is in extreme miserie he plucketh from vs the lyuely and most holsō fode of the soul he knoweth that as our bodies beinge destitude of bodily sustenance can nat chose but dye so the bodye of the soule being without the heuenly and most comfortable fode of the worde of God of pure necessitie must perysshe As Christ the ryght scholemaister of helth answered Breade is nat only c. Thys is our aduersary wel ware of he knoweth hꝭ power very weke and feble where the worde of God is in place ❧ Some Antechrist therfore lyke to him selfe muste he styrre vp and ordeyne as he knowethe what makethe for his purpose making and constituting hym as god in earth lorde ouer al the worlde felowe and chekmate with God forgyuer and holder of sinnes hauing the keies of Heuen and of Hell nat beinge vnder any ▪ but holding the heades of al princes vnder his gyrdle crowned with the crownꝭ nat of glory as he wolde haue them betaken but with the crown of the world of the flesshe and of the Deuyl aboue all potentates in power hauing his power in euery kyng his dominiō more strōge than the most natural and lawful kingꝭ them selfe and for none other cause but to remoue frome the hertes of men thys stomblinge blocke the worde of God by his power threatening and cursyng the rowe his most wicked ministers which shulde be the vpholders and defenders of this most holy and blessed worde puttynge into princes heades that it is nat lawful for the lay and common people to meddle with the Gospels with the secretes of God to knowe the wyl of god to knowe by whom they are created by whom they do obteyne saluation and remission of sinnes declaring many more greate inconuenyences and hurtes that wyl folowe therof if they be suffered to haue it at lybertye ascribing and imputing to the knowlege and redinge of the worde of God those thinges and vyces which are clene contrary to the nature of the worde of God making the magystrates and rulers beleue that it wyll cause sedition tumultes and insurrections in the common welth O most cruel sect of vipers whiche doeth shut vp the kingdome of Heuen from men neyther wyllynge to enter in your selfes nor cōtent that any els shal most lyke vnto bādogges which lye tyed at the maunger nat feding of the hay that therin is nor yet sufferinge the pore Oxe or Horse to eate and fed of it to theyr sustenaunce What thing doth teache peace but the word of God What preacheth tranquillitie in feldes townes cytyes and realmes ye thorowe all the worlde but the worde of God What meanethe these wordes

house to dwel in or a shyp to sayle with or that he shuld make an ende and finishe his worke All men truly myghte most iustly laughe hym to skorne Lykewise howe long tyme shulde that man lyue or that any kynde of vertues shulde take any rote in him whiche endeuoreth all that he may to make the Scriptures for his owne purpose of lyfe and nat rather framinge his lyfe to the Scriptures Howe great blasphemye is it to Goddes worde when we go about to flatter our owne selfes in our most detestable vices by the exāple of the falles of godly men which by fraylnes of this flesshe after they haue fallen didde nat long lye styl but with sorowfull repentaunce and perfect confidence in the only mercy of God by the helpe of the holy spirite did rise vp māfully agayn This is the lacke both of the feare and of the loue of god This lacke of fear and loue is thorowe out al the earth begynnyng at them which haue the keys delyuered to them of the opening of the Scripturs vnto the very lowest and most to seme to vyle and abiect person that lyueth Bysshoppes What a great nombre of soules are committed to the cure and charge of the Bisshoppes to be fedde and made fatte with the pregnant worde of God What great liuinges haue they gyuen to them for none other cause but that they shulde be diligent therin What rentes what fees haue they more lyke Earles and Dukes than pore spirituall pastors of Christ hꝭ shepe And nat vnworthy forsoth but ryght wel bestowed if they wolde declare them selfe no lesse desyrous of the helth of theyr flocke than they be gredy in gatheringe of theyr reuenewes and rentes God forbyd al shulde be of that mynd Some Byshops without doubt I knowe of the contrary mynde and study whom I pray the Lord preserue and cōtinue in theyr good purpose I thinke verely and you may say and affyrme also that theyr be but some nat many the lesse the nombre the more to be lamēted The thynge it selfe euery where declareth and openly testifieth howe slacke and loose they be in doyng of theyr duety As though to be a Byshop were nothing els but to be mytred to be promoted with great rentes and knyghtes fees and fynally to be called my lorde Bysshop These glorious tytles many naye the most part do gape on both sides for they wyl nat lese one ●ote of theyr dignitie they wyl nat part with one locke of wolle to the comforte and succoure of theyr shepe ye though any of them of whom they had the wolle of shulde perysh for colde They wyl lyue of the profites and commodities of the aulter but they wyl do no seruyce to the alter they wyl eate corne with the Oxe but they wyll nat tread it forth of the strawe with the Oxe They wyl finally haue al thynge but they wyl do nothinge ¶ Yet me thynketh to be a thyng reasonable that they shuld do some thyng for theyr great liuinges otherwise they appeare to be consumers and deuourers of those liuinges which by most godly and noble prynces were prouided and ordeyned for good mē which wold be glad to do theyr duties They do thīke but they are deceyued that they haue done theyr duty sufficiently if ones or twyse in the yere they do go about on visitatiō whē the pore creatures were better to haue them away than among them For the Euangel or Gospel of god is nat a whit the more preferred nor set forth the repentance for sinne the truste and confydence of mercy for Christ sake only nat so often as ones mencioned The commandementes are nothing taught how they shulde be kept They do no more but seke and serche if a fewe of mannes traditions be thorowly obserued and kepte that the infringers and breakers therof myght be with most rygor and al extremytie punished They do rebuke no vyces as whordom aduoutry fornication blasphemy agaynste the name of god extorcion neglect of the holy blessed word of god as thynges perteyning nothing to theyr offyce And at theyr departing they do leue ouer the pore flock beinge neuer the better for theyr comming suche pastors and shepeherd as to whom for theyr knowledge and lerning and muche lesse wytte and muche worse conuersation of lyfe a wise man wolde be lothe to commytte the kepinge of his Swine more mete to be scourers of foul masers than to haue the cure of soules These be no curates but gaylers and tormenters keping the consciences souls of men laden downe with yrons of their owne traditions keping them in greate famyn and hungre as leane as rakes perishing for lacke of the heuēly fode and cryeng out to your good lordship meate meate for pore prisoners nat of Newgate but of the Pope his foule stinking and darke dungel being by most gracyous pardō quite and our fees payed and yet for al that kept in most cruel durāce lieng and rotting in colde yrons that no man is able to abide the sauour O that your good lordshippe mighte with your merciful eyes se and beholde howe pitifully howe bare and leane they loke howe they be eaten with vermine for lacke of kepinge there is no doubte but your good lordship wolde take pitie and compassion on them wolde se them sette at large And the lorde whiche doethe se your compassion on them for his sake wyll a thousande folde rewarde you agayne that you shulde nat thynke youre labour yll bestowed What is the cause of al these miserable calamities whiche the pore soules do abyde and susteyne what is the cause the Bisshops Persōs and Curates do nat theyr dueties Forsoth the lacke and want both of the fear of the loue of the lord whosmost high maiestie if they had in feare eyther for his threateninges and curses considering al the woes conteyned in the olde and newe Testament for theyr negligēt administration or els if they had hym in loue for his great and vnspeakable goodnes declared vnto vs al they wolde be sore ashamed ones to be espied with so great a fault But they feare neyther God nor the Deuill They loue him nat for his great goodnes nor yet they do feare him for his threateninges I feare me that there be many I pray god that there be none which do thinke the speaking of God and of the Deuyll to be as it were but an olde wyues tale or fable inuented by the policie of man and natural reasō to kepe men in an ordre while they be in this lyfe as did thinke manye of the blynd Philosophers the Epicurs thinking none other lyfe after this present Epycures did de liue in al kinde of delites and plesures I trust in the lorde that he hath sent an angel among vs with a two handed swerde to cut away cleane these discordes and abuses to his glory eternal What nede I speake of men of power which by theyr power and strength by no equitie nor