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	separation_n	2,767	5	10.7643	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A00664	An ansvvere to VVilliam Alablaster [sic] his motiues. By Roger Fenton preacher of Grayes Inne	Fenton, Roger, 1565-1616.; Alabaster, William, 1567-1640.	1599 (1599)	STC 10799; ESTC S101956	37,337	52

which that ancient writer so approued by you doth auere Solus sufficit ad omnia satis superque all reformations of the Church whatsoeuer haue been since or hereafter shalbe must come vnder the name of meere restitutions without addition not instituting any new doctrine but restoring the ancient not creating a new Church as you fondly imagine but reducing the old vnto the primitiue Therefore in this kind there is no need of miracles or prodigious signes seeing our reformers bring no new reuelations of their owne but only make appeales to the iudgement of the primitiue Church desire credit of others no further then they giue euidence of argument drawne from such grounds as be receiued of all hands Then seeing their proceedings be ordinarie what extraordinarie wonders are to be expected Neither was it their desire motion in this reformatiō that the present visible Church should fly the world and leaue her kingdome royaltie but onely this y t it should be purged because reason telleth vs experience hath proued it that the visible Church is not al spirit but some flesh though she be informed by the holy Ghost in her holy and generall assemblies yet she consisteth likewise of earthly fraile sinful men therfore she must of necessity gather some dust in time grow corrupt if she do not clense refine her selfe Wherupon motion was made to the commanders of the Church for the reformation of certaine abuses which being crept in had gotten a head and were growne to that pitch that they became burdensome to the consciences of religious men This complaint being not harkened vnto they perswaded themselues that the backwardnes of their brethren could not be to them a sufficient excuse not to reforme themselues For this cause they protested a separation from their fellowship and communion in those points vntill such time as it should please God to moue their minds so to refine themselues from those corruptions as there might insue conformitie a thing wished and praied for with sighes not to be expressed So that the strength of this your Motiue which makes Martin Luther his fellowes seeme so odious vnto you is resolued into these two questions First whether in his time there were abuses in the Church that required a reformation Secondly reformation being denied vnhoped for whether they were abuses of that nature degree as did bind the conscience of true catholikes not to cōmunicate with others in them Which two points if they be true they cleer our reformers frō all slander suspitiō either of heresy or schisme vntil you haue proued them false this the like generall motiues to this purpose be mere shadows without substance of no value or force at all THE SIXTH MOTIVE AS the cause is the paterne of the effects vpon which ground Saint Paul from the vnitie of Gods Church buildeth the vnitie of faith so may we go backwards from the defference of effects to denie the affinitie of the cause and from the impossibilitie of vnion in faith take away the possibilitie of dependance vpon God Such is the religion of the protestants which hath no certaine principle of vnitie and therefore lacketh the cognisance whereby true religion is knowne For where there is not an infallible authoritie which doth iudge and decide controuersies by remouing all actions of doubt and reply and vnto which absolute obedience is tied there must needs be varietie of iudgements and opinions which cannot be tied in one knot For all vnitie in particulars proceedeth from the vnitie of some cause wherein all agree But there is no such infallible authoritie the iudge of controuersies besides the voice of the Church which the protestants either put altogether to silence or else obey so farre as they please For the scriptures whom they haue erected to be iudges as rebels that put downe all iudges and pretend to be ruled onely by the law cannot alone supply this place to take away all occasionof controuersies And if there were no other argument their owne irreconcilable quarrels in so manifold differences among themselues might suffice to stop their mouthes herein For as diuers parcels of silke of deeper or lighter ground dipped by the Dyar in the same liquour drink in a seuerall tincture of colour according to their former varietie so they that diue in the letter of the holy scripture according as their iudgements are before stained with preiudice of one or other opinion come forth againe not in vnity of minds but in the same differences as they went in more or lesse Or as in the miracle of tongues giuen to the Apostles when many auditors of diuers languages came to heare them although the same men could speake no more but one idiome at once yet the seuerall auditours comprehended them as if they had spoken in the proprietie of their speech so when many of diuers languages in religion come to heare some one of the Apostles speaking in the scripture although the author vse onely the voice of the truth yet euery sundrie faction doth conceiue him as speaking in the seuerall confusion of their opinions Neither can they comfort themselues with any hope to see these diuerse opinions wound vp in one confession For as the vnitie in conclusion in logick cannot be without the vnitie of the medium so they cannot meete in that middle way which should bring them into peace able cōposition vnlesse they returne to the Church For all grant there is no way to accomplish it without a councell but who shall call it when there is none whom they all obey How many factions shall assemble out of what sect shall the president be chosen what number of suffrages shall there be on euery side what rule shall bee allowed for the interpretation of the scriptures And if all this were by a dreame imagined yet the authoritie of the Canons and conclusions shall not be so authenticall but that any priuate head may refuse it if in his owne singularity he thinke it disagreeing from the scripture so desperate is the possibilitie of vnion among them that hope which imagineth impossible things cannot possibly imagine it ANSVVERE AS euery defect and imperfection tendeth vnto dissolution so the good estate of euery bodie aswell politicke and mistical as natural doth consist in the vnity of the whole harmonie of the parts amongst themselues Therfore seeing the band of vnitie knitting many members into one whole maketh an entire body that societie is of all others conceiued to be most absolute which hath attained to the greatest perfection of vnitie Which kind of reason moued the Philosopher to giue the preeminence to a Monarchy before other simple formes So the Apostle in the place whence you take your rise from the vnitie of Gods Church doth build the vnity of faith as also the vnity of spirit in the bond of peace vrging a preseruation and increase of the same as a thing most perfecting the

Counsell sought into the auncient copies thereof sent for from Constantinople Alexandria and Rome the next yeare conferred examined nothing found Whereupon the Bishops of that Counsell writ to the Pope that in the Nicen Counsell nothing was decreed tending that way but rather the contrarie to wit that he should keepe himselfe within his bounds as other Metropolitans did and therefore aduised him to content himselfe with his owne charge To this subscribed 230. fathers If you come to latter times when his ful and most complet supremacie was defined at the Lateran Counsell vnder Leo the tenth presently vpon it the Vniuersitie of Paris appealed to another Counsell and condemned that former So may ye finde other Vniuersities to haue done in the like cause as Louan Colen Uienna and the rest So in these and the like poynts concerning the externall face of the Church more conspicuous consequently more subiect to gain sayings the repugnance and reiecting of them might easily bee shewen to be ancient as the allowance of them is But there be other questions concerning faith and opinion which be of a far different kinde from the former Much like vnto those tares in the parable scattered by the enemie in the seede time of the Church the better to plead antiquite yet are they not at the first espyed though till they haue sprung vp and laid claime to the ground as well as the most pure wheate Whereof there be many causes concurring one is because they be little seedes at the first and therefore lesse regarded of men De minimis non curat lex aut ratio And not onely from little euils but euen from indifferent beginnings as the deuotions and naturall affections of men doth the enemie take occasion to bring in grosse superstition Whereof the wise man giueth instance in that grat sin of idolatrie among the heathen For when a father mourned grieuously for his sonne that was taken away suddenly he made an image for him that was once dead endeuouring after a sort to preserue him aliue in the eye and memorie of man Which affection in the father had it proceeded no further were not greatly to be misliked but after he worshipped it as a God ordained ceremonies and commaunded his seruants to sacrifice vnto it Thus sayth the text by processe of time this wicked custome preuailed and was kept as a lawe Secondly as the beginnings be small and therefore lesse conspicuous so doe they breed inwardly and take deepe roote first in the minds of men before they bee published in the Church as the seed is first couered with earth before it spring vp To this purpose doth our Sauiour compare the false doctrine of the Pharisies vnto leuen which a woman takes and hides in a barrell of meale So by this meanes a little leuen in time will sower the lumpe Thirdly as the beginnings of errors so likewise their growthes and proceedings are vnsensible because they doe not sprout vp like Ionas Gourd in a moment but like ordinarie plants by little and little Non crescere cernis frutices sed crenisse The same reason which is of the growth of error is likewise to bee applied to the decay of pure religion which being not put downe at once but mouldering away in time is not so easily perceiued For had the Figge-tree which the Disciples saw suddenly withered and flourishing ouer night dryed vp in longer space it had not been so subiect to their obseruation Besides these impediments we must presume that the enemie being wise will take all fit oportunitie y t may be then since all ages haue not been alike furnished with able and vigilant pastors that also addeth some aduātage to this purpose For it is obserued that when men slept the enemie sowed tares so the darke nights of ignorance and times of securitie bee fittest to entertaine heresies without resistance But in other ages againe when it pleased almightie God to raise most glorious lights in his Church such as were most of the ancient Fathers they were presently set a worke with some graund heretike or other which so possessed them as they could not so wel intend those lesser enormities which by that meanes gathered strength more and more For they were to gather all their forces and encounter with such heresies as did aime at the soule of religion and maine pillars of christian faith some taking away the diuinitie of Christ some mangling his humanitie some confounding his natures some renting his person thus the Dragon setting vpon the Lorde of life and ready to teare in peeces the very person of our blessed Sauiour it was then no time to stand brushing his garment hauing such huge beames to remoue it was vnseasonable to pecke moates though they also hinder the eye sight and become dangerous in time to the very apple of Gods eye as the Church is called So then to conclude as in diuers questions controuersed the repugnances may be shewed to haue been auncient so there is good reason you should pardon vs for some others Thus haue I briefelie examined these few motiues not any waies extenuating so farre as I can conceiue but rather vrging them with the aduantage which if I haue in any reasonable sort satisfied my next endeuour is humble prayer to almightie God so to moue your heart as this your resolution be no more peremptorie and strong then the Motiues whereupon it buildeth are in reason able to enforce Amen FINIS Heb. 6. 1. 2. Psal. 73. 16. Luke 24. 31. Ioh. 7. 17. Stringe mētem dabit intellectum Origen D. Whit. against Camp rat 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plato in Timaeo Motiue 5. Thom 2. 2● q. 2. ar 4. Scotus in 3. sent dist 23. Caietan in locum Aquin. Durand in 3. sent dist 22 1. Ioh. 5. 10. Qui credit infillum testimonium habet in se. Thom. 2. 2ae q 2 art 4. in 3. sentent dist 22. de gra libero 〈◊〉 ●6 ca. 2. 〈◊〉 6. can 〈◊〉 Gal. 1. 8. Princ. doct l. 8. cap. 22. 1. Iohn 5 Bel. de consil author lib. 2. ca. 11. ca. 12. Ibid. Bel. Sia princ doc lib. 8. ca. 15. Bel. ibid. Bel. ibid. Bel. de cons. auct lib. 2. ca. 12. Consilia ex co per ratiocinationem deducunt conclusiones De consil autho lib 2. cap. 12. lib. 8. cap. 15. a Quo peccati genere peccant illi qui c. prin lib. 8. ca. 15. infine b Bonus ecclesiae filius docentē ecclesiam securus tutus audiet nec solicite laborans an idonea media ad doctrinam suam tradendam ecclesia adhibuerit nec curiose inquirens an in medijs ipsis debitam diligentiam impenderit c Quando de huiusmodi inquam questionibus vel consulitur vel obiter disputat ecclesia aberrare aliquādo poterit velassereado vel etiā concludendo prin l. 8. ca. 15. initio d Ea solum de causa nō assirraamus hanc propositionem side catholica esse tenendam quod authores qui contrarium sentiunt nondum videamus ab ecclesia damnatos pro Hereticis de cons. auth lib. 2. ca. 5. e ca. 2. Espencaeus in comment in Titum ca. 1. August de Doct. Christiana lib. 2. Cap. 9. Lib. 3. Cap. 27. Cap. 28. Motiue 1. Hier. Epist. 19. inter Aug. Confess Aug. in praefat ad Lect. D. Reinold against Hart. Campian rat 2. Stapl. princ doct l. 10. ca. 11. Confes. August art 20. Caluin Insti l. 3. cap. 16. Cemnitius exa Cons. Trid. ses 6. Luther lib de visit saxoni Brent catechis Bellarm. de iustificat l. 5. ca. 7. propos 3. Stapl. princ lib. 2. cap. 9. Concil Trident. sess 3. Stapl. D. princ 〈◊〉 lib. 2. Cap. 4. Cap. 2. Cap. 49. Luke 18. Vincent Lirin cap. 39. Initio Orationis In 〈…〉 Lib. de Synod aduersus Arrianos ibid. ca. 16. Stapel prin doct lib. 2. ca. 13. Cap. 6. Luke 1. 17. Esa. 40. 3. Luke 1 64. Luke 16. 16. Iohn 3. 30. Gen. 35. 2. 3. Iudg. 2. 10. Chro. 13. 3. Apoc. 22. 18. Vincent Lirin ca. 2. 41. Mark 3. 24. Nahum 1. 10. Motiue 4. Ephes. 6. 15. 16. 17. Ioh. 5. 39. Mat. 16. 18. Mat. 3. 9. Mat. 3. 1. Septa Synod Constantinop Act. 13. 2. Synod Nicaena 2. Act. 7. 3. Synod 80. Constantinop sub Adrian 2. Act. 7. Gal. 3. 7. Iohn 8. 39. Rom. 11. 19. Pasil ep 52. ad Athanas. Nazian 2. Epi. ad Procopium Propter multitudinē hereticis fauentium infaustum exitum habuerūt omnia consilia illis temporibus qualia fuerint Sel●usiense Tirense Ariminense Mediolanense Smyrnense c. Mat. 7. 15. 2. Pet. 2. 1. Mat. 24. 28. Vers. 24. Mat. 5. Mat. 19. 8. Motiue 14. Cap. 39. Dilatae inueteratae haereses nequaquam hac via aggrediedae sunt 〈◊〉 quod pro● temporum tractu longa 〈◊〉 furandae veritatis patuerit occasio Sola scripturunt authoritate Nisi paeucis desperatis perditis minor videtur esse authoritas Episcoporum in Africa c. Cap. 28. 98. 116. 123. Faustinus Philippus Asellus In fascicul rerum expetend fugiend Apeliat vniuers Parisiens à Leone decimo ad futurum consilium Wisd. 14. 14.