Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	call_v	church_n	see_v	1,558	5	3.3758	3	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A26752	A discourse on my Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury's and my Lord Bishop of London's letters to the clergy touching catechising, and the sacrament of the Supper with what is required of churchwardens and ministers in reference to obstinate recusants : also a defence of excommunication, as used by the Church of England against such : preached March the 9th and 16th in the parish church of St. Swithins / by William Basset ...	Basset, William, 1644-1695.	1684 (1684)	Wing B1052; ESTC R9117	26,279	41

sins if he eats and sins if he lets it alone for the one is an abuse the other a contempt of this Ordinance Canst thou plead thou art unprepared to send thy Children and Servants to be Catechised yet observe it the same Men that neglect the one do neglect the other Which gives me to presume that this is but a Pretence not a real Cause and that thou think'st thy self not so much unmeet for the Ordinance as the Ordinance unmeet for thy self Let men comply with their Duty in all things but this and then I shall have some Charity for such a Plea 2. Object If it be never so much a Duty in it self yet it is not so to them because their Consciences are not satisfied and whatever is not of Faith is Sin Answ If it be thy Conscience it is such an one as brings thee into a Necessity of Sin For if thou eatest thou sinnest against thy self if thou eatest not thou sinnest against God and the King Now God never brings any man into a Necessity of Sin therefore this is not a Conscience according to Godliness as some speak but an Erroneous one Therefore such men ought to use all the means of Information that they may come without prejudice to this Duty And in the mean time must be content to suffer For they must not think their Dissatisfactions may supersede the Laws For if so all Laws would be made useless and no man would suffer for any thing which they please to plead Conscience for It is but few years since the Parliament by way of Iest imposed the Sacrament c. upon all Persons in Places of Trust or Profit which Act is still in force and was promoted especially by the late Lord Shaf and Presbyterian Party under Pretence of discovering and removing Papists But not a man then cried out of Compulsion and Impositions on the Consciences of Men nor were any excused from these Pleas that they are not prepared or that it is against their Consciences Whence they lay that upon others which they reckon a grievance themselves And would not be done by as themselves do to others Down from late Representatives to Magistrates and Common Councils even to the Petty Offices and Places of the Kingdom I have scarce yet met with a man but what for the gaining his Point could allow of an Occasional Communion but when there is nothing but plain Duty in the case we have noise about Compulsion and Tender Consciences are clog'd with Cases and Scruples and hear nothing but touch not tast not handle not Which renders the sincerity of this Plea much suspefuspected And because some will never be wrought upon we come 2. To what is required of the Church-wardens and that is to Present such as obstinately refuse They are sworn to do the Duties of Church-wardens which Duties are contain'd in the Book of Articles to that purpose where the Presenting such is expresly required No man will presume that the Fathers of our Church will exact that of you which is not your undoubted Duties and was it put upon issue whether this be so or not no man will doubt which way the tryal would go Church wardens are the Guardians of the Church whose Obligations reach not only to the Vtensils of it but to Loiterers and Disturbers of the Congregation to all Contemners and Depravers of the Liturgie to all obstinate Neglecters of Publick Prayers Catechising and Sacraments c. Whence they are call'd the Bishops Eyes by whom he sees the State and Condition of every Parish within his Jurisdiction all which they are Sworn to do they have given their Faith and the Oath of God is upon 'em and how they may satisfie their Consciences without performing the Matter of that Oath needs a good Casuist to tell us In this case Pity and Charity to others is the greatest Cruelty and Injustice to your selves Such Favors are downright Perjuries And there is no man that desires you to commit this Sin for his sake that would willingly bear the Punishment of it in your stead 3. It is requir'd of us that in case of failure we should Present the Church-wardens and such as obstinately refuse at once The Law saith they shall but we may Present we have the Power but they the Necessity Yet how far the Duty of obeying every Ordinance of Man and the Oath of Canonical Obedience may oblige us in this particular and how far the word obstinate is to be taken seems worthy our Considerations And because that term obstinate seems a limitation restraining this Duty of Presenting to some Neglecters only that we shall present not all but such I purpose in a day or two to present every Family in both Parishes with a Copy of these Discourses that they may peruse and weigh 'em at leisure whereupon I hope that all under Obligation will either receive this Easter or give me the reasons of their delayes that we may be able to judge whether they be Obstinate or not and be capable of shewing our selves both Sober and Honest The Punishment then of obstinate refusals is Excommunication which some men do incourage themselves to the hazard and contempt of by pleading 1. That it was not used anciently as now upon light Causes as differences in the mere Circumstantials of Religion We answer Differences may be little in themselves but if they lead to Separation they are not to be accounted little because they then destroy Vnity Charity and Peace Therefore it was decreed of old that if any keep Separate Meetings the Presbyter shall be deposed and the People Excommunicate and there be instances of several that have suffered accordingly The Infancy and Persecutions of the Church not only hindered her Order and good Government but kept many things practised in those times from our knowledge If there is uncertainty as to the Succession of Bishops and that in the most famous Churches then in the World as Rome Jerusalem Antioch and Alexandria we must not expect an account of all the Uses and Reasons of Excommunication in those times What notices we have are sufficient though there was much more done than recorded Nor is this Punishment beyond the Merits of the Cause For Schism is directly contrary to the Nature and designs of the Gospel which is to Unite us in one Body to bring us into one Sheepfold c. And hath a more direct and immediate tendency to the Confusion and Ruine of Church and State than Lusts of the Flesh have 2. They plead that as Excommunication is called a delivering to Satan so such Persons were tormented in Body or Mind or both but now we see no such things whence say they it is not regular or not done upon due and sufficient Causes among us We answer That Miracles were wrought for the more powerful Conviction of the Gentiles and the more the Gospel obtain'd the less frequent they grew till they ceased in the Third Century unless in some rare

under Sixteen but Persons of all Ages whatever that have not received Confirmation and the Sacrament may not in strictness be required to this Exercise The Rubrick obliges all Children Servants and Apprentices who have not yet learn'd the Catechism without determining the Age but because the Law obliges those above Sixteen to receive the Sacrament therefore it is presum'd these Servants are under Sixteen and accordingly our Orders command those above to the Sacrament and consequently those called to be Catechised must be presumed under that term 3. The Persons required to prepare and send 'em are Parents Masters or Mistresses And the Reasons are because you have both a commanding Power over 'em and also a trust reposed in you that way it being your Duties not only to feed and cloth their Bodies but to provide things wholsom and necessary for their Souls too Parents and Masters stand as Priests to their own Families where they are to perform all the Duties and Offices of Christian Religion those only excepted which are restrain'd to the Publick Ministry as Preaching Administration of Sacraments c. Though they be yours yet they stand related to God he saith you have born 'em to him Ezek. 16. 20. and v. 21. thou hast slain my Children Whence he aggravates the Sin of ill Education and abuse of 'em from this very Topick the relation they stood in to him Thou hast taken thy Sons and thy Daughters whom thou hast born unto me and these hast thou Sacrificed these hast thou debauched by wicked Opinions and Prophaness of Life Or left disposed to every evil way and work for want of better Principles As they are committed to your care so he will require what you have done with that Depositum as one calls it which he hath put into your hands Whence Joshua undertakes both for himself and Family Chap. 24. 15. as for me and my house we will serve the Lord. For which causes as well as for the Perswasive Arguments from Natural Affections even Constantine the Great as Eusebius relates De Vitâ Constant lib. 4. cap. 51. not only divided his Empire amongst his three Sons but took care to inrich 'em with a better Portion viz. of Divine and Spiritual things being a Tutor and Example to 'em himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 walking before 'em in the Paths of Virtue and Religion and he adds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He provided 'em the best Masters and Tutors You are as Kings and Priests to 'em having the Power to Command Teach and Excommunicate those that are stubborn and impure whence both God and Man require that at your own Peril you see those under your Charge do perform those Duties that do lye upon themselves For which cause David did resolve Psal 101. 7. that not a wicked man should dwell in his house And indeed they that do not do so fall short of that great Duty Prov. 22. 6. of training up a Child in the way he should go And Eph. 6. 4. of bringing them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Such are worse than the very Heathen who sent their Children to Isocrates and others to be taught Moral Wisdom which was their Divinity and fall short of a Plutarch who hath left us a Tract 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 about the right Education of Children Such leave 'em unable to judge of Doctrines whether they be of God and therefore lyable like the Apostles Children to be toss'd to and fro and carried about with every wind of Doctrine And this is one reason as some think why the Church of Rome loses few but gains many Proselytes viz. because she is more careful than others to Catechize and settle Youth in her Faith and Principles Therefore we have here an Ordinance from the most Reverend Fathers of our Church that commands only an antecedent Duty a thing founded on Eternal Reason on Scripture and the Laws of the Land A Duty so plain and so Natural to train up Children in Virtue and all laudible Knowledges that the very Heathen did Court and Practise it and as Plutarch hath it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A good Education out-lives Death travels beyond the Grave and abides with us through all the Tracts of Eternal Ages and therefore being the greatest and most lasting good we can do 'em even common Nature prompts us to it There can be therefore no objection against the thing it self the Matter lies only in reference to that Catechism injoyn'd by the Church Which some object against upon the account it supposes Children baptized with Sureties which they cannot away with This Point we will fully answer and then consider the Parts of the Catechism it self 1. They plead that Sureties undertake more than they can perform therefore they can neither make use of them nor teach a Catechism which supposes their use We Answer That the Primitive Christians whose Faith and Martyrdoms were famous in the World thought no such Matters for then Infants had their Sponsores or Susceptores and Susceptrices Undertakers or Sureties and because 't was thought there was a Spiritual Relation arising between the Parents and Sureties therefore the Child called 'em God-father c. that is Father-in-God and the ancient Saxons Godsibs by corruption Gossips Sib signifying akin implying that they were akin in God Now these answered in behalf of the Child the very same Questions that are used by our Church viz. Doest thou renounce the Devil c. DoEst thou Believe in God the Father the Son the Holy Ghost This was the Universal Practice in the time of Tertul. Now those Men who for a good Conscience suffered so cruel Persecutions that Lactan. de Just cryes out Quis Caucasus Quae India What place the most fruitful in Monsters ever bred such cruel and savage Beasts as their Persecutors were yet never censured this part of Baptism as a sinful addition or corruption of this Institution But because some Men have cheap thoughts of Antiquity I will consider the thing it self and argue from the very Nature of it as 1. What it is they Undertake and 2. For how long 1. They undertake that the Child shall renounce the Devil and all his works and believe God's Holy Word and keep his Commandments Whence it follows Doest thou in the Name of this Child renounce the Devil c. Doest thou believe in God c. Wilt thou be Baptized c. Wilt thou obediently keep God's Holy Will and Commandments c. Which is but the first Matter explain'd and put into the form of Questions Whence the Child saith in the Catechism that they did Vow Three things in his Name viz. 1. That he should renounce the Devil c. 2. That he should believe the Articles of the Christian Faith 3. That he should keep God's Holy Will and Commandments c. The meaning of which is only this that the Child shall be brought up a Christian and not a Jew or Heathen