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	religion_n	true_a	2,786	5	4.8010	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A02913	Obiections: answered by way of dialogue wherein is proved by the Law of God: by the law of our land: and by his Maties many testimonies that no man ought to be persecuted for his religion, so he testifie his allegeance by the Oath, appointed by law.	Helwys, Thomas, 1550?-1616?, attributed name. aut; Murton, John, attributed name. aut	1615 (1615)	STC 13054; ESTC S117349	47,923	88

any one Iustice of peace within whose comissiō or power any such person or persons shall at any time hereafter be or to whome complaint shall bee made shall vpon notice there off require such person or persons to take the said oath And that if any person or persons being of thage of 18. yeres or above shal refuse to take the said oath duely tendered vnto him or hit according to the true intēt meaning of this statute that thē the persons authorized by this lawe to give the said oath shall may commit the said offender to the comon jayle c. where wee see that if any take the said oath at their first apprehension they are not to be comitted or if they being comitted take the said oath at the next open Court they are to bee set at libertie if they will not take the said oath to bee in premunire as is at large in the statute declared as is daylie practiced with Papists others A. The Kings Majestie requireth your allegeance to be testifyed by your cōming to Church C. I pray let me demaund this questiō doth the K require my coming to C to worship and serve God or to worship and serve the K if to worship and serve the K I am ready to obey if to worship and serve God which none can do but of conscience the King himself saith he never intended to say any thinge to the charge if any for cause of conscience ād this coming to Church being a cause of conscience if not he why do you lay any thinge to my charge for the same And therefore you wronge his Ma tie in thus affirming For his highnes requireth onely my faithful allegeance to bee testified by the a fore said oath and therefore hath ordeyned it as I shal shewe by his highnes own testimony If I should come to Church and not of consciēce but for other respects as many Papists and other Hipocrits do to God it were most abhominable and what faithfulnes can be hoped for in such towards his Majesties person and state can any Godly wiseman thinke that he that playeth the dissembling hipocrite with God that he will do lesse with men and wil not worke any villany if it were i●●●● power ād therefore herein you compelling 〈◊〉 by tyrannie to bring my bodie wherevnto my spirit cannot be brought you cōpel me to hipocrisie with God and man for if my hart were not faithfull in sincerity to his Majesties Crowne and dignitie as I take God to witnes before whome I must be condemned or justified it is these courses would rather harde my hart to worke villany then otherwise Now for his Majesties many Testimonys in his wrytings they are worthy to bee recorded with thākefulnes to the highest for guiding his hart and pen to write such thinges In his Apology for the oath of alegeāce pag. 4. he saith Speaking of such Papists as tooke the oath of allegeance And I gave a good proofe that I intēded no persecution against them for conscience cause but onelie desired to bee secured off them for evil obedience which for conscience cause they were bound to performe pag 60. Speaking of Blackwel the Arch-Preist he saith I never intēded to lay any thinge to the said Arch Preists charge as I have never done to any for cause of cōsciēce pag. 127. he saith First for the cause of their punishmēt I do constātly maintaine that which I said in my Apologie that no man either in my time or in the late Queens ever died here for his conscience For let him be never so devout a Papist nay though he professe the same never so constantly his life is in no dāger by the lawe if he breake not out into some outward act expreslie against the words of the law or plot not some dangerous or vnlawfull practice or attempt c. Where wee may 〈◊〉 short what is the whole some that he req 〈…〉 And in his Majesties speach at the last Session off Parliament Anno Domini 1609. where he saith he sheweth his subjects his hart he saith thus I never found that blood and too much severity did good in matters off Religion for besids It is a sure rule in divinity that God never loves to plant his Church by violence and bloodshed natural reason man even perswade vs and dayly experience proves it true that when Men are severely persecuted for religion the gallantnes off many Mens Spirits and the wilfulnes off their humors rather then the justnes of their cause makes them to take a pride bouldly to endure any torments or death it selff to gaine thereby the reputation off marterdome though but in a false shadowe A most vndoubted truth which iff it bee as most manifest it is by the Testimony of the Holy Ghost throughout Christs Testament as before is proved then how cursed are al the ranke off you that continewally breake this sure rule off God thus confidently acknowledged by his Majestie planting your Church by violence and bloodshed forceing many thousāds against their consciences to bee off our Church and to receive your Sacraments by all the persecutions that would followe if they did not yeild and those that feare God more then Men and dare not yeild casting them into noysome Prisons amongst most wicked Blasphemers off God to the wounding off their soules Deviding them from their Wives Children and Families and from their callings some an hundreth myles and more vtterly consuming that substance they have which sustaineth the blood of them their wives and Children seldome or never affording them release but either by yeilding to you against their Consciences or els by con●uming their bodies to death in prisō banishment or the like leaveing them and their wives to horrible temptations of adultery in parting them their wives ād to al manner of evill in takeing them from their callings ād so leaveing them in continuall Idlenes Is Gods Church thus planted or do Christs Disciples thus plant I. Oh I● this spirituall power is little inferior in cruelty to the Romish spirituall power I pray how or whi was this set vp C. Henry the 8. casting of Pope Clement the 7. and so the Popes power Anno 1534. set vp this Spirituall power vnder him see Act. and Mo pag 1201. etc. I. I pray you shewe the likenes betwene these two spirituall powers C. I wil doe my best endeavor which is but smale First the Romish spirituall power doth make lawes to the conscience and compel al therevnto by excomunication imprisonment banishment death and the like This spiritual power doth the like vpon the like pennalties as al knowe The Romish power doth give Titles to his Ministers which are the Titles off God and Christ as spiritual lords great Bishope ād many more This Spirituall power doth the like as all knowe The Romish power doth set vp Lords over their brethren in spiritual thinges vnto whome they comaund honor and great liveings to

vntill they had promimised that they would goe with their brethren to the Lords worke and would not returne to their houses till they had accōplished the same And the Angel of the Lord doth say Curse ye Meroz curse the inhabitants thereof because they came not to help the lord to help the Lord against the Mightie Iudg. 5.23 Also because the men of Iabesh Gilead came not up to the Lord to help their brethren against the wicked men of Gibeah all the men were destroyed and all the women that had lien by men Iudg 21. No excuse whatsoever could serve Did God thus respect his worke and people then as all must put to their helping hand and none must withdrawe their shoulder least others were discouraged is there no regard to be had thereof now but any occasion as feare of a little imprisonment or the like may excuse any both from the Lords work the help of their brethren that for want of their society and comfort are exceedingly weakened if no overcome If answer be made they performe their duty in both that they doe the Lords worke the Pastor feeding hys flock and the people walking one towards another I demaund doth the Lord require no more worke of them doth he not requyre that they should help to cast downe Babell If reply be made they doe it by their bookes I answere that may be done and their lights shine by their mouthes and conversations also among the wicked which is the greatest meanes of converting them and destroying Antichristes kingdome They overcame not by flieing away by the blood of the Lambe and by the word of their testimonie and they loved not their lives unto the death Rev. 13.11 Gods people are the lights of the world a Citie set on a hil a Candle set on the candlestick giving light to all that come in Mat. 5. and therefore must shine by their persons more then by their ●ookes And great help and encouragement would be to Gods people in affliction of imprisonment and the like to have their brethrēs presence to administer to their soules or bodies and for which cause Christ will say I was in prison and ye visited me in distresse and ye comforted me and vnto those that doe not so according to their abilitie Goe ye cursed Mat. 25. If men had greater love to Gods cōmaunds or the salvation of thousand of ignorant soules in our Nation that for want of instruction perish then to a little temporal affliction they would neither publish nor practise as they do in this thing Thus have I in short shewed you my poore abilitie in these things And for all other things we hold as the lawfulnes of magistracie Gods blessed ordināce Of Christ our Saviour taking his flesh of the virgine Mary vy the wonderfull work of the holy Ghost c. You may see them in our confession in print published 4. yeres ago I. Many that he called Annabaptists hold the contrarie and many other strange things C. Wee cannot but lament for it so did many in Christ Churches in the primitive times hold strange opinions as some of the Corinth● denyed the resurrection and in many of the 〈◊〉 churches were greevous things which the L. by his servants warned them of vpon payn of his displeasure removing of his presence from them neverthelesse others professing the same generall cause of Christ were cōmended A. Well you will yet be called Annabaptists because you deny baptisme to infants C. So were Christiās before vs called Sects And so they may Iohn Baptist Iesus Christ himself and his Apostles Annabaptists for we professe and practise no otherwise herein 〈◊〉 they namely the baptising of such as confesse with the mouth the beleefe of the hart And if they be Anabaptists that deny baptisme where God hath appointed it they and not we are Annabaptists But the Lord give them repentance that their sinnes may be put away and never layd to their charge even for his Christes sake Amen Thus have wee in this Dialogue according to our poore ability answered such objections as hetherto in our poore and unworthy testimony have bene objected against any of vs concerning persecution for religion as also with good consciences pointed at the principal things of Mr Robinsons late book till further time FINIS