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
A91314	A vindication of foure serious questions of grand importance, concerning excommunication and suspention from the sacrament of the Lords Supper, from some misprisions and unjust exceptions lately taken against them; both in the pulpit, by a reverend brother of Scotland, in a sermon at Margarets Church in Westminster, before the Honourable House of Commons, at a publike fast there held for Scotland, on the 5th of September last: and in the presse, by three new-printed pamphlets, by way of answer to, and censure of them. Wherein some scripture texts, (commonly reproduced for excommunication, and bare suspention from the Lords Supper onely,) are cleared from false glosses, inferences, conclusions wrested from them; ... / By William Prynne of Lincolns Inne, Esquire.	Prynne, William, 1600-1669.	1645 (1645)	Wing P4124; Thomason E265_5; ESTC R212424	79,558	71

Pulpit to Pulpit where they freely and boldly vent their errours seismes to seduce poore ignoran● people and preach against our Church-worship Doctrine Ministers calling the Parliaments Synods authority in setling Church government c. declaiming outright against our Church Ministers as Antichristian and the like without apprehension censure or controle driving on their own s●ism●ticall designes under pretext of doing God and the Parliament service Thirdly the permission of Ministers and Sectaries of all sorts contrary to the lawes of God and the Realme openly to gather and set up private Independent Churches and Conventicles of their owne seperate from the publike and to meet freely boldly at them without the least interruption With the toleration of such to hold constant private meetings and consultations together every day week or moneth at least how to advance and strengthen their party in all places and get the greatest power and places of trust into their hands Now will excommuncation or suspension from the Sacrament or the setling of Church discipline prevent or redresse all these true causes of our seismes Certainly no Not the first nor last of them and the second but in part For those who thus voluntarily separate themselves from our Churches Ministers and will not joyne in any Church communion with us will not care a straw but deride and je●re u to our faces if we should excommunicate them from our S●c●aments Churches Assemblies of which they professe themselves no Members and from which they have already excommunicated suspended themselves but only when they creep up into our Pulpits of purpose to preach against ●s and seduce the people to sever from us and seperate to them whenas they will not permit any orthodox Ministers of ours to preach much lesse to preach against their wayes errours in their separate Congregations The only wayes therefore to remedy this dangerous mischiefe for the present and prevent it for the future are these e●suing which answer to these causes of them First for our own Ministers to labour to discerne and then publikely to retract and unteach the people by word and writing their erronious grounds scismaticall doctrines touching the Sacrament of the Lords Supper unmixt communions and suspension from the Sacrament and then none will separate when they are better taught and the false grounds of separation and scism formerly pressed on them through ignorance or in●ogitancy be as constantly preached and written against as they have been formerly asserted in the Pulpit and Presse Secondly for our Magistrates conscionably to convent question and people to informe against all Ministers or others who runne about and vent scismaticall erronious new Doctrines or whimseys in their own or others Pulpits seriously to admonish cheek them for what is past and enjoine them for time to come to prea●h nothing but Christ crucified o● doctrines of edification and to avoid all ●nnecessa●y controversies concerning Church government in which some now place all Religion snd all erronious doctrines contrary to those established among us and in case they shall afterwards offend in the like kind to debarre them from stepping up into other mens P●lpits and suspend them from their owne till they shall reforme their erros scisms and promise never to offend in like kind againe And withall carefully to suppresse the printing and dispersing of all hereticall erronious or scismaticall books by inflicting severe punishments on the Authors Printers dispersers of them for which the good lawes and ordinanc●s already made and in full force are sufficient were they but duly executed Thirdly to prohibit suppresse by strict publike lawes and ordinances the gathering of any particular Churches or Congregations without publike authority together with all private conventicles of Ana●aptisticall sectaries wholly separating from and standing in direct opposition against our publike Church-meetings together with all their private cabinet-councels consultations to foment and augment their party And in case they will not be reclaimed by lenity and friendly christian proceedings but continue still obstinate and incorrigible then to proceed severely against the ring-leaders of separating sects ●cismer and to keep or remove them from all Offices or places of publike trust in Church o● State wherein their continuance may prove prejudiciall to b●t● or either of them And if all o●r Magistrates Judges and Justices in City and Country would but modestly execute the good statutes and ordinances already provided against those I am certain these spreading errours sectaries scismes would be soon suppressed and we all united in one now the great stumbling block of Superstitious popish Ceremoies Altars Images with the Common prayer Book the only eye-sores heart-sores and grounds of separation formerly complained of ● conscientious people are totally removed by the Parliament together 〈◊〉 scandalous and unpreaching Ministers and Gods word more powerfully more ●ncere●y preached then in any Conventicles or segregated Congergations whatsoever where illiterate Mechanicks who may as well st●p into the Kings Throne a●d civill Magistrates Tribunall as into the Ministers Pulpit or ignorant ●●gif●ed Ministers doe usually exercise their leaden Talents and vent their dros●e straw stubble instead of the pure gold and orient Pearles of Gods sacred oracles As therefore you desire tender the redresse of this great grievanc● the speedy settlement peace unity of our distracted Church and State the long expected establishment of such an exact Church discipline as is warranted by Gods Word not built on humane fancies the advancement of Gods truth honour the avoyding of all groundlesse unwarrantable occasions of scismes or separations occasioned by some new erronious paradoxes and false notions touching this weighty subject of Excommunication and suspension from the Sacrament I shall humbly beseech and seriously adjure you in the name of Jesus Christ the o great Shepheard of his sheep and impartiall Judge both of quick and dead 〈◊〉 p you wil answer the contrary before his dreadful Tribunal at the last day avoid his q Anathema Maranatha with all good mens censures here to lay aside all self ends self interests prejudices whatsoever in this weighty controversie and with a single upright heart seriously to weigh the severall particulars her● presented to your consideration and where you find I have Scripture truth or right reason siding with me there cordially to embrace it without more co●te●●● where you shall discerne I have been mistaken in any thing as for ought I know I am in nothing there in a brotherly manner to refute it and the Lord give 〈◊〉 all sincere hearts to r Prove all things and hold fast what is good both in our judgements and practises and to rest truly thankful for the great work of Reformation already made not to murmure or repine against God and the Parliament ●s if little o● nothing were already done because that Church-Discipline of excommunication and suspension from the Sacrament which some pretend but prove not to be Christs Ordinance and Kingdom is not fully established in

from scandalous sinners because you pretend they eat drink it to their own damnation and so lapse into the self-same error in one kind as the Papists doe in another upon one the same pretence I plead not this as a meer Lawyer for any private ends or l●cre as some scandalously report since I value not my calling to which true Church-discipline will be no prejudice nor any thing in the world in comparison of Gods glory and the truth Nor yet as an Advocate for licentio●● scandalous sinners to extenuate their offences punishment or any way to encourage them in their impentiency prophanations nor out of any disaffectiō to the Presbyterian Government for which I have earnestly pleaded and suffered much reproach from Sectari●s and Independents and in which I may expect as great a share of Presbyteriall power and honour as any other but meerly out of consci●nce of love unto the truth and tender compassions to the souls of other● from whom without any punctuall Scripture warrant I would have no meanes of grace or ordinances of Christ with-held wherein they have ● right a property which may conduce to their reformation or conversion And I doubt not but many thousands now contrary minded when they have perused my grounds and reasons wil readily sub●cribe to my opinion as the truth of Christ most agreeable to his practice w●rd mind from which mee● crochets and new whimseys of conceited braines ought never to seduce us Let us n stand fast therefore in the liberty wherew●th Christ hath made us free and be no more entangled with any yoake of bondage but what himselfe hath put upon us or authorized others to impose on 〈◊〉 by his word especialy in Christs Ordinances which concern our souls from which no creatures have power justly to seclude us but in such cases where he gives them expresse commission and in such sort as he prescribes And let me suggest but one thing more unto your saddest thoughts That in the Churches of the Anabaptists and Brownists both abroad and at home where excommunication and suspension from the Sacrament are most rigidly and severely exercised pressed the sinnes and execrable scandalous crimes of heresie false doctrine spirituall pride sedition scisme disobedience to Magistrates and the higher powers envy hatred malice covetousnesse oppression extortion hypocrisie yea lying rayling uncharitablenesse slandering un●aturalnesse sometimes of sor●ication adultery fleshlinesse doe farre more abound then in many of our English Congreg●●ions where these censures are very rarely exercised or put in ●e and that the practicall power of godlinesse is generally more evidently visible and the lives of the generality of the people more strict pious lesse scandalous and licentious in our English Congregations where there hath been powerfull preaching without the practice of excom●●ication or suspension from the Sacrament then in the reformed Churches of France Germany Denmark or Scotland for which I appeal to all ●ravellors and our Independent Ministers who have lived i● the Netherlands who wil must acknowledge that in the sanctification of the Lords ●●y strictnesse of life and exemplarinesse of conversation our English Ministers and Protestants generally excell all others notwithstanding their strict discipline which really reforms very few or none and works no such miracles of reformation holinesse precisenesse in mens lives or hearts as is pr●●●nded And in popish Churches where excom●●ications suspensions Interdictions Church-censures most abound of any and are most frequently and formidably fulminated bypopish Prelats and their officers how many exorbitances and grievances they introduce how little reformation they worke in mens hearts or lives is so well knowne to all men and to our Opposites in opinion that we can have little hope● they will produce much reall sp●●dy reform●●ion in our Churches since they have hitherto wrought so little in all these especially if ●hey once grow common g●nerall and so contemp●ible Certainly the speediest best and onely way to suppresse all kind of sinnes scisme● to reforme and purge our Churches from all scandalo●s offences will be for Ministers no● to draw out the sword of excommunication and suspension against them which will doe little good but the sword of the Spirit the powerfull preaching of Gods Word and the sword of the ●ivill Magistrate which are onely able to effect this work And if our Assembly and Ministers will but diligently preach against that c●talogue of scandalous sinne● and sinners they have prese●●ed to the Parliament and the Parliament prescribe severe ●emporall lawes and p●nishments against them and appoint good civill Magistrates to see them duly executed inflicted I am confident that this would work a greater reformation in our Chu●ch and State in one halfe yeere then all the Church discipline and censures now so eagerly contested for will do in an Age and will be the only true way and speediest course to reform both Church and St●●e at once which I hope the Parliament will consider of and take care that our Ministers like the Bishops formerly may not now be taken up with ruling and governing but preaching and instructing which is work enough wholly to engrosse their ●ime and thoughts And whereas many godly true-hearted zealous Christians are now perswaded that the Parliaments deliberate for I cannot say slow proceedings in setling Church discipline and cen●ures is the maine cause of the encrease of so many heresies seismes and sects among us and that the speedy setling of that modell of Church Discipline the Assembly hath presented to the Houses will both prevent and redresse this deplorable mischiefe as is insinuated in a late printed Petition I must needs informe these wel-affected pious men whom I truly love and honour that they are much mistaken both in the cause and c●re of this malady and spreading dangerous Gangreen For first the Parliaments deliberation in debating and setling Church-discipline is no true cause of this Epidemicall disease which springs originally from other roots of which I shall informe them First from our owne Ministers late daily sowing spreading of erronious dangerous seeds of separation in their Sermons Discourses Books and maintaining ●ome Anabaptisticall and Brownisticall positions specially concerning the Sacrament of the Lords supper and suspending scandalous persons from it which I have here already recited refuted even whiles they think and beleeve they write and preach against scisme seperation Anabaptisme and errors tending t●●hem This I am confident is one maine cause if not the chiefest of this spreading grievance which some of those who most complaine against it doe out of this their ignorance and un●dvisednesse most foment Secondly our Magistrates Ministers and peoples free permission of divers Ministers Hereticks Scismatikes to vent their scismaticall erronious fancies tenents freely in our Churches Pulpits Presses under pretence of advancing the Parliaments service and being firme unto their cause some of them like so many wandring starres running up and downe from County to County City to City