Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	church_n	communion_n	schism_n	2,198	5	10.4367	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A70260	Several tracts, by the ever memorable Mr. John Hales of Eaton Coll. &c. Viz. I. Of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. II. Paraphrase on St. Matthew's Gospel. III. Of the power of the keys. IV. Of schism and schismaticks, (never before printed by the original copy.) V. Miscellanies	Hales, John, 1584-1656.; Hales, John, 1584-1656. Tract concerning sin against the Holy Ghost.; Hales, John, 1584-1656. Tract concerning schisme.	1677 (1677)	Wing H276A; Wing H280; ESTC R14263	61,040	260

the imperfection of his Art might not appear by comparison with Nature so men willing for ends to admit of no fancy but their own endeavour to hinder an inquiry into it by way of comparison of somewhat with it peradventure truer that so the deformity of their own might not appear But howsoever in the common manage Heresie and Schism are but ridiculous Terms yet the things in themselves are of very considerable moment the one offending against Truth the other against Charity and therefore both deadly where they are not by imputation but in deed It is then a matter of no small importance truly to descry the nature of them that so they may fear who are guilty of them and they on the contrary strengthen themselves who through the iniquity of men and times are injuriously charged with them Schism for of Heresie we shall not now treat except it be by accident and that by occasion of a general mistake spread throughout all the writings of the Ancients in which their names are familiarly confounded Schism I say upon the very sound of the word imports Division Division is not but where Communion is or ought to be Now Communion is the strength and ground of all Society whether Sacred or Civil Whosoever therefore they be that offend against this common Society and Friendliness of men and cause separation and breach among them If it be in civil occasions are guilty of Sedition or Rebellion if it be by occasion of Ecclesiastical difference they are guilty of Schism So that Schism is an Ecclesiastical Sedition as Sedition is a Lay Schism Yet the great benefit of Communion notwithstanding in regard of divers distempers men are subject to Dissention and Disunion are often necessary For when either false or uncertain Conclusions are obtruded for Truth and Acts either unlawful or ministring just scruple are required of us to be perform'd in these cases Consent were Conspiracy and open Contestation is not Faction or Schism but due Christian Animosity For the further opening therefore of the nature of Schism something must be added by way of difference to distinguish it from necessary Separation and that is that the causes upon which Division is attempted proceed not from Passion or Distemper or from Ambition or Avarice or such other Ends as humane folly is apt to pursue but from well weighed and necessary Reasons and that when all other means having been tryed nothing will serve to save us from guilt of Conscience but open Separation So that Schism if we would define it is nothing else but an unnecessary Separation of Christians from that part of the visible Church of which they were once Members Now as in Mutinies and Civil Dissentions there are two Attendants in ordinary belonging unto them one the choice of one Elector or Guide in place of the General or ordinary Governor to rule and guide the other the appointing of some publick place or Rendezvous where publick Meetings must be celebrated So in Church Dissentions and quarrels two Appurtenances there are which serve to make a Schism compleat First The choice of a Bishop in opposition to the former a thing very frequent amongst the Ancients and which many times was both the cause and effect of Schism Secondly The erecting of a new Church and Oratory for the dividing Party to meet in publickly For till this be done the Schism is but yet in the Womb. In that late famous Controversy in Holland De Predestinatione Auxiliis as long as the disagreeing Parties went no further than Disputes and Pen-combats the Schism was all that while unhatched but as soon as one party swept an old Cloyster and by a pretty Art suddenly made it a Church by putting a new Pulpit in it for the separating Party there to meet now what before was a Controversy became a formal Schism To know no more than this if you take it to be true had been enough to direct how you are to judge and what to think of Schism and Schismaticks yet because in the Ancients by whom many Men are more affrighted than hurt much is said and many fearful Dooms are pronounced in this case will we descend a little to consider of Schisms as it were by way of Story and that partly further to open that which we have said in general by instancing in particulars and partly to disabuse those who reverencing Antiquity more than needs have suffered themselves to be scared with imputation of Schism above due measure for what the Ancients spake by way of censure of Schism in general is most true for they saw and it is no great matter to see so much that unadvisedly and upon fancy to break the knot of Union betwixt man and man especially amongst Christians upon whom above all other kind of men the tye of Love and Communion doth most especially rest was a crime hardly pardonable and that nothing Absolves a man from the guilt of it but true and unpretended Conscience yet when they came to pronounce of Schisms in particular whether it were because of their own interests or that they saw not the Truth or for what other cause God only doth know their Judgments many times to speak most gently are justly to be suspected Which that you may see we will range all Schism into two ranks For there is a Schism in which only one party is the Schismatick for where cause of Schism is necessary there not he that separates but he that occasions the separation is the Schismatick Secondly There is a Schism which both parts are the Schismaticks For where the occasion of separation is unnecessary neither side can be excused from the guilt of Schism But you will ask who shall be the Judg what is necessary Indeed that is a Question which hath been often made but I think scarcely ever truly answered not because it is a point of great depth or difficulty truly to assoil it but because the true solution carries fire in the tail of it For it bringeth with it a peice of Doctrine which is seldom pleasing to Superiors To you for the present this shall suffice If so be you be Animo defoecato if you have cleared your self from froath and grownds if neither sloth nor fears nor ambition nor any tempting Spirits of that nature abuse you for these and such as these are the true Impediments why both that and other Questions of the like danger are not truly answered if all this be and yet you see not how to frame your resolution and settle your self for that doubt I will say no more of you than was said of Papias St. John's own Scholar you are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 your abilities are not so good as I presumed But to go on with what I intended and from which that interloping Question diverted me that you may the better judge of the nature of Schisms by their occasions you shall find that all Schisms have crept into the Church by one of

these three ways either upon matter of Fact or matter of Opinion or point of Ambition For the first I call that matter of Fact when something is required to be done by us which either we know or strongly suspect to be unlawful So the first notable Schism of which we read in the Church contained in it matter of Fact For it being upon Error taken for necessary that an Easter must be kept and upon worse than Error if I may so speak for it was no less than a point of Judaism forced upon the Church upon worse than Error I say thought further necessary that the ground for the time of our keeping that Feast must be the rule left by Moses to the Jews there arose a stout Question Whether we were to celebrate with the Jews on the fourteenth Moon or the Sunday following This matter though most unnecessary most vain yet caused as great a Combustion as ever was in the Church the West separating and refusing Communion with the East for many years together In this fantastical Hurry I cannot see but all the world were Schismaticks neither can any thing excuse them from that imputation excepting only this that we charitably suppose that all Parties out of Conscience did what they did A thing which befel them through the ignorance of their Guides for I will not say their malice and that through the just judgment of God because through sloth and blind obedience Men examined not the things which they were taught but like Beasts of Burthen patiently couched down and indifferently underwent whatsoever their Superiours laid upon them By the way by this you may plainly see the danger of our appeal unto Antiquity for resolution in controverted points of Faith and how small relief we are to expect from thence For if the discretion of the chiefest Guides and Directors of the Church did in a Point so trivial so inconsiderable so mainly fail them as not to see the Truth in a Subject wherein it is the greatest Marvel how they could avoid the sight of it can we without imputation of extream grosness and folly think so poor spirited persons competent Judges of the Questions now on soot betwixt the Churches Pardon me I know not what Temptation drew that Note from me The next Schism which had in it matter of Fact is that of the Donatist who was perswaded at least so he pretended that it was unlawful to converse or communicate in holy Duties with Men stained with any notorious Sin For howsoever Austin and others do specify only the Thurificati Traditores and Libellatici and the like as if he separated only from those whom he found to be such yet by necessary proportion he mustrefer to all notorious Sinners Upon this he taught that in all places where good and bad were mixt together there could be no Church by reason of Pollution evaporating as it were from Sinners which blasted righteous Persons who conversed with them and made all unclean On this ground separating himself from all whom he list to suspect he gave out that the Church was no where to be found but in him and his Associates as being the only Men among whom wicked Persons found no shelter and by consequence the only clean and unpolluted Company and therefore the only Church Against this Saint Augustine laid down this Conclusion Unitatem Ecclesiae per totum Orbem dispersae propter nonnullorum peccata non esse deserendam which is indeed the whole sum of that Fathers Disputation against the Donatist Now in one part of this Controversie betwixt St. Augustine and the Donatist there is one thing is very remarkable The Truth was there where it was by meer chance and might have been on either side any Reasons brought by either party notwithstanding For though it were de facto false that pars Donati shut up in Africk was the only Orthodox Party yet it might have been true notwithstanding any thing Saint Austine brings to confute it and on the contrary though it were de facto true that the part of Christians dispersed over the Earth were Orthodox yet it might have been false notwithstanding any thing Saint Austine brings to confirm it For where or amongst whom or amongst how many the Church shall be or is is a thing indifferent it may be in any Number more or less it may be in any Place Country or Nation it may be in All and for ought I know it may be in none without any prejudice to the definition of the Church or the Truth of the Gospel North or South many or few dispersed in many places or confined to one None of these either prove or disprove a Church Now this Schism and likewise the former to a wise Man that well understands the matter in Controversie may afford perchance matter of pity to see Men so strangly distracted upon fancy but of doubt or trouble what to do it can yield none For though in this Schism the Donatist be the Schismatick and in the former both parties be equally engaged in the Schism yet you may safely upon your occasions communicate with either so be you flatter neither in their Schism For why might it not be lawful to go to Church with the Donatist or to celebrate Easter with the Quartodeciman if occasion so require since neither Nature nor Religion nor Reason doth suggest any thing to the contrary For in all publick Meetings pretending Holiness so there be nothing done but what true Devotion and Piety brook why may not I be present in them and use Communication with them Nay what if those to whose care the execution of the publick Service is committed do something either unseemly or suspicious or peradventure unlawful what if the Garments they wear be censured as nay indeed be superstitious what if the Gesture of adoration be used at the Altar as now we have learned to speak What if the Homilist or Preacher deliver any Doctrine of the truth of which we are not well perswaded a thing which very often falls out yet for all this we may not separate except we be constrained personally to bear a part in them our selves The Priests under Eli had so ill demeaned themselves about the daily Sacrifice that the Scriptures tell us they made it to stink yet the People refused not to come to the Tabernacle nor to bring their Sacrifice to the Priest For in these Schisms which concern Fact nothing can be a just cause of refusal of Communion but only to require the execution of some unlawful or suspected act For not only in Reason but in Religion too that Maxim admits of no release Cautissimi cujusque Praeceptum quod dubitas ne feceris Long it was ere the Church fell upon Schism upon this occasion though of late it hath had very many For until the second Council of Nice in which conciliable Superstition and Ignorance did conspire I say untill that Rout did set up Image-worship there was

committed To him therefore in the first place Satisfaction is due by submission and acknowledgment since there remains no other way of composition with God But there are some sins committed against God some committed against God and Men. In the former it is sufficient if we pacifie God alone in the latter our Neighbour against whom we have trespast must receive Satisfaction for the wrong done him at least if it be in the power of the Trespasser Your Primer of Sarum will tell you That not to make restitution if you be able and not to pardon unavoidably exclude from the Kingdom of Heaven Now might the Doctrine of Confession and acknowledgment in case of Offence given have been permitted to run fair and clear as it descends from God and good reason the first Fountains of it There needed no more to be said in this argument than I have already told you But I know not what intempestive foolish Ambition hath troubled the stream and it hath past now for a long time till the Reformation altered it for a general Doctrine in the Church That in all kind of sins whether against God or our Neighbour there can be no reconciliation betwixt the parties offending and offended but by interposition of a Priest a thing utterly besides all reason and common sense that you should open your private imperfections to one whom they concern not for it is granted that all Parties concerned in an Offence must have reason at the hands of the Offender and who can no ways help you For He that is conscientious of his sin and without trouble of Conscience I think none would ever repair to his Confessor knows very well that there is no sin so great but upon submission God both can and will pardon it and none so small but pardon for it must be sought or else he hath been ill catechised And more than this what can any Priest tell him Your Pliny somewhere tells you That he that is stricken by a Scorpion if he go immediately and whisper it into the ear of an Ass shall find himself immediately eased That Sin is a Scorpion and bites deadly I have always believed but that to cure the bite of it it was a Sovereign Remedy to whisper it into the Ear of an a Priest I do as well believe as I do that of Pliny The Patrons of this Fancy for defect of reason and common congruity are fain to betake themselves to Scripture and the mischief is there is there no direct Text for it and therefore they are constrained to help themselves with a meer conjectural consequence For since it is taken for certain that there is a Power to Remit and to Retain sins how shall they who have this Power given them know how fit it is to Remit or to Retain a sin except they know the sin and know it they cannot but by Confession For answer to this First We have found and proved That the Words of Scripture must receive such a sense as from whence no such Consequence can be inferred Secondly We have indeavoured to prove That the Dispensation or Application of the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven being nothing else but the duty of saving of Souls is a Duty which pro Occasione oblatâ lies upon every Christian Which if it be true as in good faith I think it and the Clergy perceive it I think they would never go about to urge that Text although we should yield it them in their own meaning For they must needs see that it follows that you may as well make your Muletter if you have one your Confessor as your Parish Priest Tell me in good earnest if you can out of what good intent can this desire to know another mans sin which concerns you not proceed Is it to teach him that it is a sin he knew that or else he had never repaired to you to confess it Is it to tell him that he is to repent to restore to pray to give alms c. All this he knew or else he hath had his breeding under an evil Clergy Yea but how shall the Physician cure the Disease if he know it not Suppose all Diseases had one Remedy as all spiritual Diseases have and what matters it if the Patient be sick to know whether it be an Ague or the Meazels or the Pleurisie since one Potion cures them all Yea but if he know not the particulars how shall he judg of the Quantity of the Doses for the same Disease upon sundry circumstances may require Majus or Minus in the Physick This is the poorest scruple of a thousand for in the Regiment of Patients spiritually sick there can be but one mistake that is if you give too little Be sure you give enough and teach your Patients to think no sin to be little which in men spiritually sick is Error saluberrimus and you can never err For natural Physick is only Physick but spiritual Physick is both Physick and Diet and may be indifferently administred both to the sick and the sound Repentance perchance only excepted of which upon occasion assure your self you can hardly take too much What reason now can you give me why you should desire to dive into any mans Breast scire Secreta Domûs except it be that which followes in the next Verse indè teneri as I must confess I suspect it is The truth is some mistaken Customs of the ancient Church the craft and power of the Clergy the simplicity and ignorance of the Laity these begat the Tragelaphus of which we now speak It may be you take the practice of the ancient Church and the Point of Excommunication to make somewhat for you When those Cards shall come to be play'd though that of Church custom is not greatly material which way soever it looks I believe you will not find the Game you look for Indeed I was once minded to have considered something of that But I think you look for a Letter not for a Book and I perceive my self already to have gone beyond the compass of a Letter Another parley therefore if you please shall put an end to those and other scruples if any do arise And for the present give I pray you a little respite unto From my Study this 8 Day of March 1637. Yours J. H. A TRACT Concerning SCHISM AND SCHISMATICKS WHEREIN Is briefly discovered the Original Causes of all Schism By the ever Memorable Mr. JOHN HALES of Eaton-Colledge c. Never before Printed by the Original Copy Printed 1677. A TRACT Concerning SCHISM HEresie and Schism as they are in common use are two Theological 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or scar-crows which they who uphold a party in Religion use to fright away such as making inquiry into it are ready to relinquish and oppose it if it appear either erroneous or suspicious For as Plutarch reports of a Painter who having unskilfully painted a Cock chased away all Cocks and Hens that so