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	pope_n	rome_n	4,587	5	6.8117	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A17511	A briefe treatise, conteynynge a playne and fruitfull declaration of the Popes vsurped primacye, written in Greeke aboue. vij. hundred yeres sens, by Nilus, an ancient archbyshop of Thessalonia and newly tra[n]slated into englyshe by Thomas Gressop student in Oxforde. Pervsed and allovved accordyng to the Quenes maiesties iniunctions; Peri tēs archēs tou papa. English	Cabasilas, Nicolaus, 14th cent.; Gressop, Thomas.	1560 (1560)	STC 4325; ESTC S107398	21,793	62

it ¶ In the leafe of C. the .xii. page the. xxvi lyne for names reade canons A TREATISE OF the Popes primacie by Nilus Archbishop of Thessalonia THe adherentes of the Romishe churche affirme Fyrst that S. Peter was made chiefe of thapostles by Christ hym selfe and therefore had the keies of heauen worthily deliuered vnto hym and that the churche was buylded on hym agaynst the whiche the gates of hell shulde not preuaile forasmuche as Christ had praied for his faith and had commanded him bothe to strengthen his bretherne and also to feede his shepe They heape togither also muche more wherby they thynke that the primacie of Peter may be proued Secondarily they hold that the Pope is Peters successour and that he hath by succession all his preeminence and therfore may doo in matters of religion all thynges after lyke sorte and fashion as he might haue doone And therfore they saye that it is vnpossible for the Pope to falle frome the true faith for if that shuld happen the christen religion and the whole church whyche is buylded vppon hym muste needes perisshe To the prose whereof they alledge a testimonie of their own out of Pope Agathon whiche in a certaine Epistle affirmeth that the churche of Rome was neuer entangled with any erroure neyther hathe any tyme swarued frome the true waie of veritie And therfore they say that the Pope hath had his supremacy always sence the Apostles tyme. Also they saye lykewyse that other Metropolitanes and Archebyshoppes are subiecte to hym in lyke maner as the Byshoppes and Prelates whyche are vnder the Arcebyshop of Constantinople are subiect to the sayd archbyshoppe Theu they saye that the Pope hathe appellation They affirme moreouer that he may iudge all menne and that none maye iudge hym neyther in his manners neyther in faythe or doctrine Besydes this they hold that the pope is byshop of no certayne place neither is he so called as other are but simply without circumscription he is named a Bishoppe To the profe wherof they brynge the Pope hymselfe to wytnes who neuer in his letters termeth hym selfe Byshop of Rome Also they affyrme that Rome onely hathe been called the sea Apostolike because that Peter the Apostle bothe ledde his lyfe there a longe tyme and also dyed there Item they affirme that the Pope only hath authoritie to call a counsell Their last assertion is that no lawe can be made without the consent of the pope neither any thynge ordeyned in the churche Then they conclude that the Pope hath all the aforesayde rightes and priuiledges of Peter and that therfore all men owe hym obedience and no man ought to gaynesay any of his commandementes All these thynges the adherentes of the Romysshe churche alledge for the mayntenaunce of the popes dominion and authoritie Vnto the whiche assertions of theirs I nothynge doubte what to aunswere but afore whom I may pleade For yf I should make answere before the Latins themselues and adherentes of the Romishe church what rightful iudgement myght I loke for in submyttyng my selfe to the iudgement of myn enemies But yf I shuld pleade afore our Grekes then myght the Latines haue iuste cause to complayne of me where as I make the Grecians iudges ouer them whom they thinke to be their aduersaries in matters Ecclesiasticall What then must we doo verily Gods truthe ought not to be buried vp in silence euerlastyng but rather we ought to speake freely hauynge good confidence and wishing that those to whom this Booke shall come desire nothyng more than the truthe For surely suche as fauour the truthe shall hereby also profyte somewhat FYRST therfore concernyng the primacy of Peter after what sorte he was chiefe of that holy congregation or what priuilege was geuen or ought vnto hym I thinke it not now so nedeful to be reasoned of For be it after suche sorte and so great yea as it lyketh any man to deuyse yet neuer truely shall it therby be proued that the Pope hath suche right of Peter where by he may rule all other byshops whiche is our aduersaries seconde position For concernyng the Pope two thynges must be consydered the one That he is Byshop of Rome by the whyche title the sacred Synodes terme hym The other that he would be chiefe and hyghest of all byshops The fyrst truely he hathe of Peter that is to wete the byshoprike of Rome But the other his primacie he hath of certayne fathers and kynges whiche for desyre of good order gaue it hym many yeares after thapostles tyme. And to proue this to be true I wyll bryng forth wytnesses not two or three or twise so many but sire hundred and thirty yea and chose holy fathers Rede the xxviii Canon of the fourth holy Synode or councell of Calcedonia where are these woordes We folowyng the decrees of the fathers and waying the Canon euen now rehersed of the. 150. Byshoppes gathered togyther at Constantinople called newe Rome in the tyme of the moste holye Emperour Theodosius the same also doo we ordeyne decree concernyng the honoures and prerogatiues of the said church of Constantinople or new Rome For vnto the sea of old Rome the Fathers gaue worthyly the chiefe honour and primacy bycause that Citie then ruled all the worlde the same cause moued the. 150. foresayd byshops to geue the lyke honoure and preeminēce to the sea of new Rome iudgyng it reasonable that this Citie condecorate with the empire and senate imperiall and equal in dignitie with the old imperiall seate should as muche excell in matters ecclesiasticall seyng that it is the next vnto it Then what may we lerne hereby Verily nothyng els but that the Superioritie ouer other churches was geuen to the pope not by the Apostles but by the fathers and that for no greater or iuster cause then that the citie of Rome at that tyme had dominion ouer the whole world For the Canon sayeth playnely That the primacie or superiour dygnitie was geuen to the sea of Rome by the fathers So that the pope hath therfore the Superioritie geuen hym of the Fathers bycause in tymes paste the Citie of Rome had the Empire Then he hath it not as Peters successour neither as geuen hym of the Apostles But for the more apparaunt truthe let vs reade the hundreth newe decree of Iustinian to the ende that it maye appeare that the truthe hath wytnesses on euery syde We ordeyne sayth he accordynge to the Decrees of the Synodes that the moste holy Byshop of olde Rome is the chiefe of all priestes and that the moste blessed byshop of Constantinople or newe Rome is nexte vnto hym and aboue all other Do you not heare that the Emperoure sayeth That the primacye of the Pope of Rome is gyuen hym by the Decree of holye Councelles If that the Pope dooe holde his Supremacye onely by the Decree of Councelles I beseeche you howe may it be trewe that somme menne affyrme that he hath it by succession