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	council_n	pope_n	2,932	5	6.5678	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A35021	The legacy of the Right Reverend Father in God, Herbert, Lord Bishop of Hereford, to his diocess, or, A short determination of all controversies we have with the papists, by Gods holy word	Croft, Herbert, 1603-1691.	1679 (1679)	Wing C6966; ESTC R1143	85,065	144

said before and yet the Divine and Humane Natures are not so extreamly opposite as the Spirit of God and the spirit of the Devil May we not then in all humility desire to hea to see narrowly observe yea and handle with our hands some fi●m Evidence of this Union of the Spirit of God and the spirit of the Devil in the heart of Pope Alexander the sixth guilty of Rapine Murther Incest and all other Abominati●ns imaginable Let then the Papists shew us from St. Iohn or some other Apostle some such full Evidence as this of St. Iohn for this incredible Union and I shall submit but certainly never till I hear see and handle it let them believe what they please Having thus as I suppose given you sufficient reasons to take you off from so long a Journey as to Rome to consult his infallible Holiness the Pope Perchance you will ask me to whom then you are to make your address for the determination of such doubts and disputes as may arise in matters of Religion Hath God left his Church without any Head to guide and govern it No certainly we have a Head and Guide Infallible Christ Jesus our Lord. But he is in Heaven we cannot ascend thither nor must we expect miraculous Voices from thence to answer us I grant it for there is no need Hearken to St. Paul Rom. x. 6 7 8 9. Say not in thine heart who shall ascend into Heaven that is to bring Christ down from above Or who shall descend into the deep that is to bring up Christ again from the dead But what saith it The Word is nigh thee even in thy mouth and in thy heart that is the Word of faith which we preach That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Iesus and shalt believe in thine heart That God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved You have Christ s Word at hand God be blessed for it 't is daily before you If thou shalt confess with thy mouth and believe with thy heart what is there plainly set forth thou shalt be saved You have God's Word for it in several places as I have shewed you and that there is nothing more necessary to be believed and if you will not believe God's Word in this you will not believe though one rose from the dead nor though an Angel descended from Heaven And as for doubts and disputes there is no need lay them by nay there is hurt in them for they gender strife of words from whence cometh envy railings evil surmisings 1 Tim. vi 4. I have often told you What is necessary is plain without disp●te But you will say The common people do not understand half no● 〈◊〉 quarter of the Scripture as it there lies What then Then 't is necessary to instruct them further In the Name of God do so make them understond as much as you can of Scripture the more the better though not necessary And I dare affirm That whoever believes explicitely as much as he understands of Scripture though it be not the hundredth part of it and believes all the rest implicitly that is believes all the rest to be true because God spake it and also practises according to that he doth understand that man shall be saved And this I will undertake to make good against all the Wise and Disputers of the World But if any man will be contentious we have no such custom nor the Churches of God 1 Cor. xi 16. T is probable you may Object It often happens that Disputes do arise both among the People and among the Priests also and though the things disputed be not necessary yet 't is necessary to have some of Authority to determine and compose them otherwise great Disorders and Tumults may follow No doubt but restless and perversespirited men will raise Disputes and Troubles where there is no ground for them yet there will be no need to determine the truth on either side but rather to compel both Parties to peace and quiet that neither cause disturbance to Church or State and this belongs to the Civil Magistrate and his Authority For 't is not the determination of Priests or Pope will keep such busie-bodies quiet they will as readily dispute their determination Was it not so in the Arian dispute which was determined by that famous Council of Nice yea and confirmed also by the Emperor's Decree yet all without effect the Arians stifly maintaining their Opinion hundreds of years after We see then that Determinations are as fruitless as needless But in the first three hundred years of Christianity there was no 〈…〉 of Faith but the Scripture alone neither did any Man or any Assembly of Men after the Apostles take upon them to determine any new matter of Faith though there were several Heresies started in those days The Pastors of the Church only preached the Scripture and required Men's Obedience to that they that refused were excluded the Congregation and Society of the Faithful and they proceeded no farther If it be answered That all the Princes of the World were then Heathens by reason whereof no General Councils could be called to determine more though ever so requisite I answer let us then see when that great General Council of Nice was called under Constantine a Christian Emperor what they determined The Church then had three hundred years experience to find out what was wanting and composed another Creed for all the World yet added no new Article of Faith to that called the Apostles Creed but only explained some things in that more fully and whoever believed and subscribed to that Creed passed for an Orthodox a true believing Christian. Doubtless so many Learned and Godly Bishops would not omit any thing necessary to Man's Salvation Let us then hold fast to that for now I hope all was compleated The Bishop of Rome as well as other Bishops approved and subscribed to this We all profess that Nicene Creed and if that Creed was sufficient to save all Christians then sure it will save all Christians now Why then do they require us now to believe more Purgatory praying to Saints and a thousand other things whereof there is no mention in the Nicene Creed or Council The Papists will answer Because many oppose them now but nobody opposed them before the Council of Nice They answer most truly no man opposed them before and why because no man professed them before These are new matters of a later hatching no man in these days so much as dream't of such things But 't is not at all to our purpose whether any then professed them or any opposed them for be they true or be they false there is no necessity to believe them This is true or else all the Bishops of that Council were fowly to blame in not putting them into their Creed from whence 't is evident they thought them not necessary then and so may we safely think now But the

would be happy for us but hence comes our misery that instead of practising what we understand we fall to disputing of that we understand not and so we grow into passion from passion into faction from faction into schisms and heresies Were our passion laid aside there would be no need of laying aside the Scriptures but we should read them to our edification whereas we now read them to our destruction and confusion and thus the word of Eternal Life becomes unto us the savour of Death unto Death Wherefore my beloved when you take the Scriptures into your hands to read let your main intention be to observe the Instructions there given for your behaviour and course of life and then labour to stir up your affection and desire to practise it As for matters of belief as much as is necessary will quickly be attained but for practice that will require the whole study of a mans life Neither doth this consist so much in reading as in meditating on what we do read and striving to subdue our hearts in obedience to it and sending up also short but fervent ejaculations to Almighty God for the powerful assistance of his holy spirit to enable us to perform that is the end of all to perform This do and thou shalt live And if we thus read the Scriptures they will be unto us as the words of Eternal Life and the power of God to our Salvation Which God of his infinite mercy grant THE THIRD SERMON ON JOHN V. Ver. 39. Search the Scriptures for in them ye think ye have Eternal Life THE last thing we were upon in handling this Text was that the Scriptures wherein we say we have Eternal Life tells us that we are to hear the Church and he that will not hear the Church let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican Mat. xviii 17. Here say the Papists we have a plain easie and safe rule to guide all in matters of Faith both learned and unlearned this cuts off all disputes and prevents all errors Hear the Church what the Church believes we must belieue and if we will not hear the Church we are hereticks heathens If this be the safe and only way to heaven what man in his right wits would not take this safe and easie way Doubtless a very easie way and truly I think that is the reason why many so much incline to it most men love an easie way to Heaven and few are found willing to take much pains for it And those few that are conscientious in their way are often scrupulous also and fearful and being wearied with anxieties and disputes in their melancholy moods may be willing to lie down on this specious bank not considering Latet anguis in herba the lurking Adder that there lies concealed For certainly this way is as dangerous as easie far from safe Can any man think it a safe way to forsake the God of truth and his holy word and hearken to vain erroneous men and their doctrines whereof our Saviour bids us beware No Let God be true and every man a liar Rom. iii. 4. But you will say what the Papists here urge is not the Doctrine of men but the Word of God Hear the Church I grant 't is the Word of God but strangely abused by the interpretation of men and wrested very far from the clear meaning of the Text as I shall now shew you Look I pray you a few verses before and see what is the business here treated of and to what this saying relates V. 15. If thy Brother shall trespass against thee go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone if he shall hear thee thou hast gained thy Brother V. 16. But if he will not hear thee then take with thee one or two more that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established V. 17. And if he shall neglect to hear them tell it unto the Church but if he neglect to hear the Church let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican I beseech you what is this to our purpose to the determination in matters of Faith Are trespasses matters of Faith No but they will prove from hence by necessary consequence That if you are to hear the Church in matters of fact such as trespasses much more are you to hear the Church in matters of faith They will prove I thought we had laid aside all proofs and consequences for they produce this Text as a clear evident rule to cut off all doubts and disputes a plain and safe way for all men learned and unlearned What is proposed as a plain rule to clear all doubts and determine all controversies ought in it self to be as clear as the Sun so that whosoever is not stark blind must needs see it and then doubtless I am stark blind for I cannot see one word here tending to matters of faith But they will argue thus If we are to hear the Church in temporal matters much more in spiritual matters for the Church being a spiritual body hath more to do in spirituals than temporals As blind as I am I plainly see as gross a mistake here in the word Church as before in the word Trespasses Did not I fully shew you the other day that this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Text which we in English translate Church never in Scripture signifies the Clergy but the Congregation of the people the assembly of the faithful though we in English use the word Church very variously which is often the cause of great mistakes and therefore I pray you remember it well that in Scripture it still signifies the Congregation of the People And would the Papists have the Congregation of the People be our Infallible Guide to give rules of Faith and determine all controversies If so I see a sure and fatal consequence to their Infallible Head the Pope he and his triple Crown would soon be tumbled from his Throne to the ground and all his power under foot But put the case we would take the word Church here for the Clergy as the Papists would have us yet this gives no commission farther then to determin trespasses And as for their consesequences 't is very absurd to infer that because God leaves unto men to determin the small matters of this world therefore men may determin matters of that infinite weight as the eternal salvation of Souls For though the Church that is the Congregation should make a wrong judgment in the case yet the party suffering may if he please make great advantage by it for the patient suffering the loss for peace sake as God hath required he shall gain a hundred fold in Heaven but the party that forsakes Gods W●●d and hearkens to the wrong determination in matters of Faith shall suffer a hundred fold damage in Hell This therefore God reserves to himself and his Holy word unto which we are

which they themselves take in a figurative sence And our Saviour's own comment upon this matter Ioh. vi declares it ought to be taken spiritually and figuratively But notwithstanding all this put the case that we were mistaken and they were in the right as to this yet certainly our case is far safer than theirs for they cannot deny that we have great probability of Scripture for us nothing directly against us so that we have a fair plea to God for our belief though erroneous whereas they have no plea not one tittle of Scripture or Reason for their erroneous Sacrilegious dismembring this Holy Sacrament flatly against Christ's Institution and Command reiterated again by St. Paul Their case then is apparently damnable If they answer They have the Command of their Pope and Church I reply That if their Pope and Church have power to reverse any one part of Scripture the same power may reverse another and another and in sum All. This is such high Phanaticism as it were as great madness in us as in them to discourse longer with them But I hope they are not all so mad and therefore I shall proceed farther to gain such and knowing that they are great admirers of the Doctors and Fathers of the Church especially the more ancient though our Faith is built wholly on Scripture without them and therefore I did not intend to make use of their Authority at all yet I shall here produce enough to give any moderate Papist full satisfaction That their Transubstantiation is against the belief of the Ancient Fathers of the true Catholick Church First then I lay this ground Their Transubstantiation plainly and necessarily infers Christ's Body to be really and corporally present in many thousand places at once in all Parts of the World where they celebrate Mass. Now if I can bring clear proof from any one eminent Father of the true Catholick Church that Christ's Body cannot be in many distinct places at once this Father clearly proves Transubstantiation cannot be St. Austin an eminent Bishop and Father was always held not only Orthodox but of great authority in the Church cited frequently in the Papists Schools to this very day And his great Piety and Modesty was a great cause of his great Authority for he bore a singular Reverence and Submission to Scripture still captivating his understanding to that nor was ever known to begin or countenance Novelty but always reverenced the Doctrine of the Primitive Church and therefore most worthy to be hearkened to This famous Bishop and Doctor of the Church in his 57 Epistle to Dardanus discourseth at large of this point An quia ubique Deus sit hominem quoque illum qui in Deo sit ubique diffusum dicere possumus Whether or no we may affirm that God being every where so the Man Christ being in God is also every where or confin'd to a certain place So that the Man Christ cannot be affirm'd to be both in Heaven and on Earth at the same time And in the discussion of this matter he sets down this for a rule Cavendum est nè ita divinitatem adstruamus hominis ut veritatem corporis auferamus We must take heed that we do not so establish the Divinity of the Man Christ as to destroy the truth and reality of his Body which cannot be in several places at once nor so much as in two places at once in Paradise and on Earth though his Divinity fill all places at once and is every where and therefore concludes thus Christum ubique totum praesentem esse non dubites tanquam Deum in loco aliquo coeli propter veri corporis modum Doubt not but that Christ is wholly present every where as God but yet is in some certain place in Heaven by reason of the reality of his Body And as Saint Austin denies that the Body of Christ being a real humane Body can be in several places at once so doth he affirm that the Body of Christ must possess a place suitable to the largeness and dimensions of the Body with length and breadth in proportion to every limb Cum corpus sit aliqua substantia quantitas ejus est in magnitudine molis ejus distantibus partibus quae simul esse non possunt quoniam suum quaeque spatium locorum tenent minores minora majores majora A Body being a substance with quantity this quantity consists in the bulk of it with parts distant one from the other and not confusedly all together but each one possesseth a proper place to it self the lesser parts a lesser space the greater a greater because amplior est quantitas in amplioribus partibus brevior in brevioribus in nulla parte tanta quanta per totum Because the quantity of the longer parts is longer of the shorter parts shorter so that the bigness of the whole must needs exceed the bigness of any part and consequently the space which the whole Body possesseth must needs be greater than the space of any one part Spatia locorum tolle corporibus nusquam erunt quae nusquam erunt nec erunt The proportion and bigness of space is so necessary to the proportion and bigness of a Body with its parts that if you take away this just space from Bodies they cannot be said to be in any place and to say a Body is not in any place is in effect to say it is not at all Now you must understand that all this discourse of Saint Austin in this place is concerning immortal Bodies and even Christ's Body now glorious in Heaven For the Question which Dardanus made and to which Saint Austin answers was concerning the being of Christ's Body now immortal Whether that could be in several places at once or is confin'd to one certain place And to shew that Saint Austin thus understands this Question his words declare saying Nam ipsum immortale corpus minus est in parte quàm in toto c. For that immortal Body is less in a part than in the whole c. and gives his reason Cùm corpus sit aliqua substantia c. as before I shall endeavour to make all this a little plainer to lower Capacities The difference between a Body and a Spirit is this A Body possesses a space according to the quantity and bigness of the Body each part of the Body filling a space sutable to the proportion of it A Body of five foot long and a foot broad takes up the room of five foot in length and a foot in breadth and cannot be contain'd in a less space each limb of this Body filling its proper place the Head in one place the Arm in another the Leg in another and so the rest so that two Bodies can't be in the same place nor two parts of the same Body in one place But a Body having many hollow parts in it as the Belly and the Head and in the most fleshy parts