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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	christian_a	church_n	religion_n	1,433	5	5.5815	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A05066	A short apologie for Christian souldiours wherein is conteined, how that we ought both to propagate, and also if neede require, to defende by force of armes, the Catholike Church of Christ, against the tyrannie of Antichrist and his adherentes: penned by Stephanus Iunius Brutus, and translated into English by H.P. for the benefite of the resolution of the Church of England, in the defence of the gospel.; Vindiciae contra tyrannos. Part 4. English	Languet, Hubert, 1518-1581.; H. P., fl. 1588.; Mornay, Philippe de, seigneur du Plessis-Marly, 1549-1623, attributed name.	1588 (1588)	STC 15207; ESTC S105564	11,591	32

A SHORT Apologie for Christian Souldiours wherein is conteined how that we ought both to propagate and also if neede require to defende by force of armes the Catholike Church of Christ against the tyrannie of Antichrist and his adherentes penned by Stephanus Iunius Brutus and translated into English by H. P. for the benefite of the resolution of the Church of England in the defence of the Gospel O Israel if thou returne returne vnto mee and if thou put away thine abhominatiōs out of my sight then shalt thou not remoue Ierem. 4.1 LONDON Printed by Iohn Wolfe for Henry Carre 1588. THE QVESTION VVhen the Subiects of anie Prince are either afflicted for Religion or oppressed with tyrannie it is lawfull for the Princes inhabiting about them to send them ayde THis Question requireth more conscience to be vsed than learning if we will determine any certaine thing thereof for it is such a one the which if charitie in these our dayes were not become colde were altogether néedlesse But as the maners of men are in these dayes the course of the world is come to this point that there is nothing among vs either of greater price or of smaller prayse than charitie and therefore it is a very necessarie question to be determined of those which are tyrannous Princes and cruell to their subiects as to their soules to their bodies to the church of God to their cōmon wealth to their owne kingdome may lawfully be resisted for the benefite of the church of Christ for the encrease of the same But because that either the craftie dealing of tyrants is such or the simplicitie of the subiects so much that the one is not knowen before he haue spoyled his people and the other perceiueth it not before they be brought to present daunger and into such narrowe streights as that they are cōpelled to craue the aide of other Princes The question is demaunded whether it be lawful for other Princes adioyning to send them ayde they either defending their religion or their common wealth or the kingdome of Christ or their owne countrey Many there are which thinke it lawefull whose couetous minde is such as they thinke by ayding thē to encrease greatly their owne substance For so did the Romanes so did Alexander the great and many other which vnder the pretence of expugning the cruell dealings of tyrantes haue often enlarged their owne liuings And we haue séene but of late dayes and example hereof in Henry the second king of Fraunce who vnder a pretence of defending the protestāts and reducing them from seruitude into libertie and to preserue the Princes of the Empire made warre against Charles the fift But if at any time it happen that either the gaine is small or the daunger great then we sée many Princes content to make it a great question and to dispute doubtfully whether it be lawfull or no. And as the one doth couer his ambition and desire of gaine vnder the cloke of pietie so the other doth pretende iustice and equitie for his excuse when as in déede neither pietie doth depart the one nor iustice detaine the other both of which vertues or rather diuine qualities séeking altogether those things which may benefite their Christian brethren and the church of Christ Therefore let vs first enquire in the cause of religion what pietie and iustice do exhorte vs vnto It is manifest that the church of God is one that Christ is the head of the church whose members are so knitte and ioyned together that the least of them cannot suffer violence but that the whole must also gréeue and sorrowe with it and therefore the church is compared to a bodie The bodie doth perish many times by a wound receiued not only in the arme or in the thigh but euen in the least member thereof And therefore it is in vaine for a man to say that he is carefull for the church of Christ when as he suffereth her to be rent asunder and be torne in pieces in whose power it is to saue her Furthermore the church of Christ is compared to a building and a building if it be vndermined in any place it falleth to the groūd a building in what ioynte or tenant soeuer the fire cōmeth it is wholy in daunger and therefore he may well be laughed at who because he dwelleth in the sellar or some lower part of the house hath no care to remoue the fire from the toppe of the house or when the enemy vndermineth one part hath no regarde of it because he dwelleth on the other side Moreouer the church of Christ is compared to a ship but a ship being in daunger vpon the sea is wholy in daūger that if one parte bee broken the whole perisheth And therefore they which are in the fore part are as safe as they which are in the hinder parte and they are as safe which are in the toppe as they which are vnder the hatches so that it is verified in a common prouerbe among vs that they which are in the selfe same daunger are saied to be in the same ship together So that he which is not moued with griefe of the bodie nor with the burning of the house nor with the tossing of the shippe giueth out a plaine argument that he is not of the same bodie that he is not of the same housholde and familie of Christ that he is not in the same arke or ship which is the church But he which is moued although it be neuer so little he must as well bring ayde to afflicted members of the church as to him selfe because in the church of Christ we are all one And it is our bounden dutie that euery man should aide as much as in him lieth and so much the more by how much he hath receiued riches at the handes of God which are not giuen him for his owne possession onely but also to be bestowed vpon his poore brethren being members with him according as they haue néede This church as it is one so is it committed and cōmended to the patronage of all Christian princes whatsoeuer for because it is not so safe to committe the vniuersall church to one it is against the vnitie thereof to commit to euerie one a piece therefore it pleased God to commit the vniuersall Church to euerie one and euerie part thereof to the vniuersall defence of al. And this he did not onely that we should defende it but also that we should encrease it And therefore if the Germaine Princes do defend the church of Christ in Germanie or the Prince of England in England doth not ayde the churches also in other countries but doth suffer them to be oppressed desolate they may be thought to haue forsakē the church for the spouse of Christ is one which if she be violated and defiled all Princes must set to their helping hand to deliuer her The restoring of this vniuersall church being afflicted in part as it

not helpe him he would haue him slaine in such crimes the will is specially to be respected But the offence of Christian Princes which do not helpe the afflicted in the cause of religion is the greater by howe much the nūber is greater which are slaine and by howe much the matter is more heynous to kill a brother than to kill an other to slay a good man than to slay a théefe to slay an innocent man then to slay an hereticke to slay by deceit than to slay by ignorance But concerning those which send not their ayde to the afflicted by tyrants or set not to their helping hand with those which take vpon them the defence of the commō wealth let vs also dispute what may be determined The league betwéene them is not so streight as the other nor the manner of aiding so precisely commaunded when as the cause of the Church is not handled which is one among all and which being one is vniuersally committed to all but the cause of the common wealth is decided which is one in one countrey and another in an other which is to be defended by the men power of hir owne countrey But saith Christ the Iewe is not onely neighbour to the Iewe but to the Samaritane also and to euery man and we ought to loue our neighbours euen as our selues Therefore it is not onely the dutie of a Iewe to deliuer a Iewe his owne countrey man but also to deliuer euerie straunger if he will fulfill his dutie out of the hande of his enemy Neither let any man dispute whether it be lawfull to defende an other when as he iudgeth it lawfull to defend himselfe Nay rather it is more lawfull for he is prouoked to the defence of him selfe either by anger or by reuenge or by some other perturbation of his minde so that in defending of him selfe he doth many times go farther than he ought to do but in aiding of his neighbour it is onely charitie that moueth him and in this aide and assistance the most immoderate man that is can easely obserue a meane Here in this point wee may learne of the very Ethnicks thē selues what nature and common societie requireth of vs. Cicero li. 1● Offic. ca. 3 ● For as Cicero saith because the nature of all men is one nature herselfe doth prescribe thus much vnto vs that one man should helpe an other whatsoeuer he bee euen for this onely cause because he is a man if not then take away from vs all societie all fellowship among men So that as there be two foundations of iustice the one that we hurte no man the other that we doe good to all so there is also two kindes of iniustice the one is to offer iniurie the other not to helpe him that is iniuried For he which dealeth iniustly with any mā either being moued thereunto by anger or prouoked by some other perturbation he doeth as it were violently laye his cruell handes vpon his brother and hee also which doth not defende him if he can is in as great a faulte as if he should forsake his parents his friends or his coūtrey So that which the one doth he doth it being moued with anger which continueth but a little space but that which the other doeth he doeth it of an euill minde which is a perpetuall tyrant within him and the sudden furie of the one may easely be excused but the determinate counsell of the other is no waye to be tolerated But peraduenture thou wilt say I doubt least I should by ayding the one offer iniurie to the other nay rather thou goest about to couer thy vniustice vnder the couering of iustice for if thou looke well into thy selfe thou shalt finde that it is not iustice but some other trifling cause which doeth diswade thée from doing thy dutie For either thou wilt not purchase euill wil or susteine the labour or beare the charges or els thou art many times so deteined either with thine owne busines and affaires or by sloth by negligence by sluggishnesse that many times thou sufferest him to be forsaken whom thou shouldest haue preserued And so long as thou doest pretende thine owne businesse because thou wouldest not séeme to iniurie an other thou fallest into the other kinde of iniustice for thou doest breake the cōmon societie because thou doest not spende any of thy study of thy labour of thy riches in defence of it These things haue the very Heathen Philosophers done onely by the rule of policie which many Christians sée not being ruled by the rule of Christianitie Hereof riseth the lawe among the Romains Diod. Sic lib. 2. ca. 2. that if a mans neighbour séeing him cruelly heating his seruant do not séeke to appease him hee is condemned by that lawe Hereof riseth the lawe among the Aegyptians that if one man found an other in the hands of théeues and did not deliuer him when he might he was condemned to die if he did deliuer him and yet brought not the théefe before the Magistrate he was beaten with whippes and commanded to fast thrée dayes If these things were so in priuate men refusing their ayde more lawful it is and requisite in godly princes to sende their helpe not to defende a seruant from his cruel master or a child from his angrie father but a whole kingdome against a tyrant a whole countrey against the furie of one priuate man and an oppressed people against him which is neuerthelesse a common enemy and a commō plague So that if he neglecte to doe it doeth he not deserue not onely as the other did the punishment of a théefe but rather some tormente inuented for such tyrants Thucy li. 1. Herupon speaketh Thucydides that they are not onely tyrants which bring mē into seruitude but those much rather are tyrantes which haue no regarde to represse the cruelty of tyrants and especially those which would bee called the defence of Gréece and of their countrey but refuse to ayde their countrey when it is oppressed these men be tyrants For as they do violently gette such gouernment so they are compelled to vse violence in kéeping of it because as Tyberius was wont to say Lupum auribus tenent they holde a wolfe by the eares which they can not holde without violence neither let goe without daunger Therefore to extinguish one faulte by an other they heape vp many together and they are constrained to doe other men iniurie least they should séeme to be iniurious to thē selues But that prince which standeth idlely by and beholdeth the wickednes of a tyrāt and the slaughter of the innocent taking pleasure in it as it were in a schoole of fence is worse then the tyrant him selfe by howe much he which setteth the fencers together is worse than the one that slayeth the other and by howe much his offence is more heynous which killeth a man for his pleasure than his which killed him in his owne defence

is the dutie of euerie priuate man with most earnest prayer to desire at Gods hand so it is the dutie of Magistrats by their powers by their assistance by all meanes they can to raise her vp being fallen to set her in the prosperitie she was before There is not one church of the Ephesians and another of the Colossians and of the rest but all these are parts of the vniuersall church and the vniuersal church is the kingdome of Christ which kings and princes and magistrates ought to enlarge propagate amplifie against all enemies and aduersaries of the same and for this cause was there one onely temple among the Iewes built by Salomon which did represent the vnitie of the Church that builder might be called a foolish builder which making one part of his house windtight watertight doth suffer an other to let in the rayne and the winter So likewise all Christian kings when they are admitted to the crowne they receiue the sworde expressely vpon this condition that they shall defende and mainteine the Catholike and vniuersall Church the which sworde when they haue taken into their handes they shake it to the East and to the West and to the North and to the South and to all quarters and climates of the worlde Nowe when they take vpon them the patronage and protection of the church they vnderstand no doubt the true and not the false church and in her defence they ought to imploy all their industrie force and strength Of this we haue examples in godly princes that it hath alwayes béen obserued In the time of Ezechias the king of Iuda 2. Chro. 31 the kingdome of Israel was in seruitude to the king of the Assyrians euen from the time of Osea the king Wherefore if that onely church of God which was in the kingdome of Iuda and not the vniuersall Church was committed to Ezechias and that he had authoritie to defend the Church no farther than he had to commande tribute surely Ezechias especially in those times in which the Assyriās were masters ouer the whole worlde woulde haue kept him selfe within the limittes of the kingdome of Iuda But we reade that he did inuite by messengers the whole people of Israel the subiects of the king of Assyria to celebrate the passeouer in Ierusalē and that he did ayde the godly men in Israel in breaking downe the highe places and spoyling the powers of Ephraim and Manasses 2. Reg. 22. 2. Chr. 34. others which were in subiection to the Assyrians We reade also of Iosias the godly king that he did purge not onely his owne kingdome but also the kingdome of Israel subiect to the king of Assyria from the worshipping of Idols So that where the cause of the glorie of God and of the kingdome of Christ is touched no limits and bounds ought to abate and quench the zeale of good and godlie princes But if the force of their enemies be great let them vnderstand by the examples of these kings which did truly serue the Lorde that they may not or néede not feare any These examples of godly Princes many Christian kings haue followed whereby the Church which was onely within the limits of the lande Palestine hath béen and is spredde throughout the whole worlde Constantine and Licinius were both Emperours the one of the East the other of the West they were fellowes of like and equall authoritie It is a prouerbe that those which are equall haue no iurisdiction the one ouer the other Neuerthelesse Constantine when he sawe Licinius vnder the pretence of religion vexing killing the Christians he proclaimeth warre against him We must ●eade this aduisedly because we may not by ●he worde of God rest our own ●rince if he ●e wicked and by force of armes setteth vp the frée seruice of God to the Christians and in the ende Licinius breaking his league which he had made with him and returning to his former crueltie he caused him to be put to death at Thessalonica This did Constantine the great whose godlinesse is so much celebrated and set out by the Christians in those times that they said it might very well agree to him which was prophesied by Esaie the Prophet that kings should be nursing fathers and Queenes nursing mothers to the church When he was dead the Romaine Empire was deuided among his sonnes that they should all rule equally among which Constans did fauour the Christians and Constantius the Arrians which also droue out of Alexandria Athanasius an enemy to the Arrians If there were any account to be made of limits and bounds it were most especially betwéene brothers neuerthelesse Constans threatneth his brother that vnlesse he restore Athanasius into his place againe hee woulde come with force of armes against him If Constans doubted not to do this only for restoring of one Bishop may it not more rightly be done when a great part of the people is oppressed when they humbly require ayde and desire that they may kéepe their religion among them the nobles of their countrey being chiefe authours in this request Sozom. li. 7. ca. 18. So Theodosius being persuaded by a Bishop of Asia tooke vp armes against Chesroem king of the Persians that thereby he might rescue the Christians being all priuate men which were vexed in the cause of religiō The which thing those godly Princes which made so many lawes and had such speciall care of Iustice and equitie would neuer haue done if they had thought or iudged that they had entred into the limits or gone about to breake the lawes of their Princes in so doing To what end were so many expeditions of Christian Princes into Syria against the Saracens to what ende were so many taxes reared summes of money leuied such warre proclaimed against the Turkes and so many forces erected against them if it had not béen lawful for all Christian Princes euen for those which dwell farthest off to deliuer the church of God from tyrannie and from the yoke of seruitude And by what arguments and reasons were they vrged and stirred to take this warre in hande but onely because the church of Christ is one because Christ him selfe had cited all able men to take weapon because that common daungers were to be cut off by common ayde all which do verie well agrée to this cause wée haue in hande So that if it were lawfull for them against Mahomet and not onely lawfull but also that rewards were giuen to them which did willingly take armes and punishment to those which did detract the same why may we not do the like against the enemies of Christ And if we may do it against the Grecians besieging of Troy why may we not do it against Sinon which by setting cities and houses on fyre doth rob and spoyle To conclude if it be a godly acte to deliuer the Christians from bodily seruitude for the Turkes compell no man is it not much more acceptable