propheticall Spirit as some pretend that Dauid and Salomon and Iosias did But as belonging to their function Royall by the light of Nature Wherein if any shall say That seruitude is the punishment of sinne and so this proceedeth out of nature corrupted not pure I answere Peccatum seruitutem fecit Natura subiectionem induxit Sinne brought in tyrannie and slauerie Cursed be Cham a seruant of seruants shall he be But order of superioritie and subiection is the instinct of purest nature For in heauen there is order among blessed Angels and some are higher and some lower and they obey one another if not ex praecepto yet ex consilio if not by precept and command yet by counsell and direction And in the state of innocencie there was superioritie and subiection not onely betweene man and all other creatures but betweene man and woman and had they liued in Paradise till they had bene father and sonne there should haue bene patria potestas and being many families there must necessarily haue bin Regia potestas Else the best and most happy life must haue beene without the greatest happinesse of life and that is Order And this superioritie and subiection remained not onely in the prophane and wicked but also in the line of the godly and the Church vntill the Law of Nature which was dayly adulterated and corrupted by the affections and traditions of men was written by Moses in Tables of stone which is the second precept of this subiection And this Law of Moses did renue the Law of the kingdome and ordained that the King should haue a booke of the Law written by the Priests and deliuered him at his Coronation in which he is commaunded to reade all the dayes of his life that hee may learne to feare the Lord his God and to keepe all the words of this law and these ordinances to do them And in this law there bee many Precepts that concerne the King as hee is a man and many that concerne him as a King And in this ordinance the king is made Custos legis Diuinae The guardian of Gods Law and the whole Law is committed to his charge The first Table that concernes Gods worship and causes Ecclesiasticall as well as the second Table that concernes ciuill conuersation and causes secular By vertue of which Commission when the kingdome Priesthood were diuided in Moses and Aaron Moses the ciuill Magistrate exercised a Supremacie ouer Aaron the high Priest in causes Ecclesiasticall whom hee reprooued for making the golden calfe and in his time the breach of the Sabboth by gathering of sticks was punished by the Ciuill sword Ioshua a Prince and no Priest as Moses is said to be succeeded Moses in this charge and by this Commission he circumcised the sons of Israel erected an Altar of stone read the Law did execution on him that concealed the things dedicated to Idoles caused the people to put away strange gods and renued the couenant betweene God and the people And these are causes Ecclesiasticall Dauids whole study was for causes Ecclesiasticall after he had freed Israel from all enemies then did he compose Psalmes to be sung by Asaph and his brethren then did hee set orders for the Temple appointed Priests Leuites singers and other inferior seruitors and assigned to them their dignities courses and offices Salomon by this Cōmission built the Temple and dedicated it he deposed Abiathar the high Priest and placed Zadok in his roome I hope this is a matter and argument of great supremacy Asa tooke away the Altars of strange gods the high places and groues hee put downe his mother because shee had made an Idoll he tooke an oath of Iuda and Beniamin that whosoeuer would not serue the Lord should bee slayne This was sharpe Law in a cause meerely Ecclesiasticall Iehosaphat sent his Princes to teach in the Cities of Iuda and with them Leuites and Priests himself went from Beersheba to moūt Ephraim and brought al the people againe to the God of their fathers hee set of the Leuites and Priests and chiefe of the families of Israel for the iudgement and causes of the Lord and this is as a Kings high Commission Ezechias seruice in this kinde is famous he opened the doores of the House of the Lord and brought the Priests and Leuites in hee commanded them to sanctifie themselues to offer burnt offrings which they did according to the Kings commandement Here Priests are obedient to the Kings commaund in their owne duties and charge Hee commanded the Leuites to praise God with the words of Dauid there he enioyned a Liturgie He commanded all Israel and Iuda to keepe the Passeouer here is omnia cum Imperio He appointed the courses of Priests and Leuites by turnes hee tooke away the hie places broke downe the Images and brake the brasen Serpent made by Moses because the people burnt incense vnto it Manasses that had set vp Altars groues and Images before his captiuitie after his repentance and returne he tooke away the strange gods and the Image that hee had put in the house of the Lord and the like and restored the worship of God and there hee commanded Iuda to serue the Lord. The last example I will trouble you with is Iosias he purged Iuda and Ierusalem from high places groues and Images he gathered all Israel reade the Law renewed the Couenant and caused all Israel to stand to the Couenant and hee compelled them to serue the Lord he kept the famous Passeouer and reduced the Priests and Leuites to their courses set by Dauid and Salomon These and many more are the Actes of famous Kings in the time of the Law done by their Royall authoritie not at the appointment and command of the Priests that had bene onely Potestas Facti non Iuris A power of Execution and not a power of Iurisdiction if the Priests had first commanded the King and then the King had commaunded the people But the Kings did make Orders and Decrees and commanded the Priests as well as the people and reformed the Priests as well as the people Yea Salomon did depose Abiathar the high Priest and they forced and compelled both Priest and people to serue the Lord and to abolish idolatrie and superstition And therefore this is a power of Iurisdiction ouer persons Ecclesiasticall in causes of Religion If it be said that these Kings did this by the direction of the Prophets and most of these Kings had their peculiar Prophets and Seers this is nothing to the question for no man euer denyed direction to Kings They haue Counsailers for causes Ciuill and Prophets Priests and Bishops for causes of the Church And the question is not Quâ directione but quâ authoritate Not by what direction they must direct themselues by their best helpes but by what Authoritie not a deriued or
delegated Authority from the Priest but by that originall Commission Necessitate praecepti by the necessitie of the precept in which they are made guardians of the whole Law If it be further said these Kings did this by an extraordinary and Propheticall power which is but onely said and neuer prooued the confutation is ready If this had beene done by a Propheticall power why are those Kings registred as glorious and good Kings that walked in the wayes of Dauid and tooke care of Gods Religion And on the other side those Kings that omitted these duties of Religion not onely noted and disgraced but condemned for the omission of that which according to this opinion concerned not their office Had the supreme care of Religion in these Kings beene onely a Counsaile and no Precept no man should haue been disgraced and condemned for it for no man is to bee condemned for the omission of a Counsaile And therefore the Scripture condemning many Kings for the omission of this dutie and registring Nahuchodonosor Darius and the King of Nineue for their great care in this charge this is not a Counsaile but a precept in the Lawe that Kings must take charge of the whole Law and causes Ecclesiasticall as well as Temporall When the Donatists pleaded that Kings were to meddle with Ciuill causes of the second Table and not with Ecclesiasticall causes of the first Optatus held it to be a madnesse in Donatus Ille solito furore accensus in haec verba prorupit Quid Imperatori cum Ecclesiâ Donatus enflamed with his accustomed furie brake foorth into these words What hath the Emperour to doe which the Church But sayth Optatus the Apostle taught vs to pray for Kings Non enim est Respublica in Ecclesia sed Ecclesia in Republica i. in Imperatore Romano The Commonwealth is not in the Church but the Church is in the Commonwealth that is in the Romane Emperour And S. Augustine reiecteth the plea as ridiculous Nolite curare in regno vestro à quo tueatur vel oppugnetur Ecclesia Take you no care in your Kingdoms who oppugneth the Church and who defendeth it who is religious and who sacrilegious This is as much as if you should say Take no care who is chast and who is vnchast Cur enim adulteria legibus puniuntur sacrilegia permittuntur As if adulteries were to be punished and sacriledge permitted The force of the Argument is this If the King be to punish by Ciuill punishment in the second Table murther theft adulterie and the like much more in the first Table Atheisme Idolatrie Sacriledge Heresie Schisme and the like else these sinnes must goe vnpunished in this life But it will be said Indeed the kingdome was aboue the Priesthood in the Law but in the Gospel the Pristhood is aboue the kingdome And therefore though kings in the Law medled with Ecclesiasticall persons and causes necessitate praecepti yet in the Gospel their authoritie is confined onely to causes Ciuill the Church that was gouerned 300. yeeres before any king was Christian hath no need of their supremacy there is no precept of obedience in the Gospel which imposeth this necessitie Indeed if the Gospel were either a Reuocation or limitation of their Commission granted in the Law it were somewhat But when the rule holdes that Euangelium non tollit praecepta naturae legis sed perficit The Gospel doth not take away the precepts of nature and the morall Law but perfect them The cōmission of Kings granted in the Law standeth good to the worlds end And Christ came vt tolleret peccata non iura mundi not to take away the Lawes and societies but the sinnes of the world And hee renued the precept Date quae sunt Caesaris Caesari Giue to Caesar the things which are Caesars by the Law of Nature and Moses And the Apostles doe often and almost euery one of them in their writings double the precept As Saint Peter and Saint Iude and Saint Paul in many Epistles One place shal serue for all 1. Tim. 2. he ordeineth that Christians shall pray for Kings and men in Authority The reason is That wee may liue a quiet and peaceable life vnder them And the compasse is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in all godlines and honestie Therefore godlines and honestie belongeth to the Kings charge And so the same precept with the same extent remaineth in the Gospel that was giuen in the Lawe In the 2. Psalme it is prophesied that Christian kings should serue the Lord Christ in feare and reioice to him in reuerence and they must serue him not onely as men but as kings and kings as they are kings saith S. Augustine out of this place serue the Lord if in their kingdomes they command that which is good prohibite that which is euill Non solùm in ijs quae pertinent ad humanam societatem verùm etiam in ijs quae ad Diuinam religionem Not onely in things pertaining to humane societie but also in matters concerning Diuine worship And Esai prophecied that in the Gospel Kings should bee noursing fathers and Queenes shoulde bee noursing mothers of the Church and they must nourish by their milke and internall milke of the worde and Sacraments they cannot giue they can neither preach the worde nor administer the Sacraments no more then Vzziah could burne incense or offer sacrifice to God Neither can they giue commission or power to any man to preach or minister the sacraments which is an authoritie deriued from God by imposition of hands Ite praedicate Permittere licentiam dare possunt non authoritatē Their authority is a permission or licence to preach in their dominions not a power of mission or ordination And therefore since they cannot giue the internall milke of the word and Sacraments they must giue the externall milke of discipline and gouernement And although the Church were gouerned for the first three hundred yeeres before any Emperour or king became a publique professed Christian yet as S. Augustine saith Aliud fuit tunc tempus omnia suis temporibus aguntur The times were different and all things haue their time And therefore assoone as Constantine became a Christian he assumed this supremacie he put downe idolatry hee established Christian religion composed differences of Bishops suppressed heresie and Schismes called Councels and gaue his suffrage in them hee heard causes of religion iudged them in his owne person he made lawes decrees edicts and orders for religion And this saith Eusebius hee did tanquam communis Episcopus à Deo constitutus as a common Bishop or ouerseer ordeined of God And concerning these that boldly and vnaduisedly were inflamed with the memorie and prayse of those Arrian Bishops pestium illarum is Constantines words those plagues and firebrands of the Church Illius statim audacia ministri Dei hoc est mea executione coercebitur The
A SERMON PREACHED AT Hampton Court before the Kings Maiestie On Tuesday the 23. of September ANNO 1606. By IOHN BVCKERIDGE D. of Diuinitie ¶ IMPRINTED AT London by ROBERT BARKER Printer to the Kings most Excellent Maiestie A SERMON PREACHED AT Hampton Court before the Kings Maiestie on Tuesday the 23. of September 1606. ROM 13.5 Quapropter necesse est subijci non solùm propter iram sed etiam propter conscientiam Wherefore you must needs be subiect not onely for wrath but also for conscience THese wordes are a conclusion of this discourse of the Apostle concerning the obedience of Christians towards their superiors The processe of which Scripture is grounded vpon many reasons 1. ab Authore from the first founder and Author of all power Omnis potestas est à Deo All power is of God to whom in himselfe and in his ordinance all creatures must be subiect wherein although it sometime happen That Potens the Ruler is not of God as the Prophet saith They haue raigned and not by me And likewise modus assumendi the maner of getting kingdomes is not of God alwayes because it is sometimes by sinfull meanes yet potestas the power it selfe is euer from God The 2. à bono Ordinis from the good of Order and the Lord calls himselfe The God of Order not of confusion And Ordo est vniuscuiusque bonum Order is the good of euery creature with whom it is better not to be then to be out of order And potestates quae sunt à Deo ordinatae sunt The powers that are of God are ordeined or ordered The 3. is à malo culpae to disobey God in his ordinance is a sinne He that resisteth resisteth the ordinance of God The 4. is à malo poenae they that disobey acquirunt not onely accipiunt do not onely receiue for their deserts deseruedly but willingly pull vpon themselues damnation temporall in which God is more quicke to reuenge the wrong and Treasons committed against his Lieutenants and Viceroyes then the greatest sinnes against himselfe And also eternal as is manifest in Chore Dathan and the rest that went downe quicke to hell And non est damnatio sine peccato ther 's no damnation but for sinne The 5. is à bono societatis from the good of Peace Protection Iustice Religion and the like which man receiues by gouernment He is Gods minister for their good If he be a good Prince causa est Hee is the cause of thy good temporall and eternall If an euill Prince occasio est He is an occasion of thy eternall good by thy temporall euill Si bonus nutritor est tuus Si malus tentator tuus est If he be a good King he is thy nourse receiue thy nourishment with obedience If he be an euill Prince he is thy tempter receiue thy trial with patience so ther 's no resistance either thou must obey good Princes willingly or endure euill tyrants patiently The 6. is à signo from a signe tributa penditis or praestatis not datis You pay tribute custome and Subsidies of duetie and Iustice You giue them not of courtesie and they are stipendium Regis not praemium they are the Kings stipend or pay not his reward Ministri Dei sunt in hoc ipsum seruientes They are Gods ministers seruing for that purpose Not to take their owne ease and pleasure but to gouerne others Waking when others sleepe and taking care that all men else may liue without care All these Arguments the Apostle in the wordes of this text concludes with an Ideo Wherefore Because all powers are of God Because all powers bring with them the good of order Because it is a sinne to disobey Because iudgement and damnation temporall and eternall is the punishment of this sinne Because gouernment is the meanes to enioy all the benefits of life Because Kings are hired by tribute and custome by gouerning to serue their seruants and subiects Ideo necessitate subditiestote Therefore you must be obedient of necessitie not onely for wrath but also for conscience sake Wrath is forum externum that externall court that contaynes all outward arguments à praemio poena from reward and punishment of God and man Non sine causa gladium portat he caryes not the sword in vaine he is to reward or punish And this is the seruants and hirelings argument which keeps base affections within compasse and prepares the way to charitie it selfe Vt seta filum introducit as the needle or brissell brings in the thred wherein although he that obeyes for wrath hath not the vertue of obedience and so bene non agit quia ex voluntate non agit He doeth not well because he doeth not with his will or from the heart yet quia bonum agit timor seruilis bonus est Because the act of obedience is good and a politicall vertue this seruile feare for wrath is good proceeding sometimes from the holy ghost and of great consequence in Church and Common wealth Conscience is that forum internum that inward Court wherein God sits and either by the principles of reason or by the lawes of the holy ghost gouernes and iudges all our actions done or to be done and either accuseth or excuseth It is Iudicatorium rationale not an affectionate or wilfull but a reasonable Iudge It is Liber animae ad quem emendandum scripti sunt omnes libri It is the booke of the soule for the examining and amending where of all bookes were written In which are registred all our thoughts wordes and deeds what wee haue done what we must receiue and whither wee must goe to heauen or hell and when wee must leaue all other bookes this booke will not leaue vs but bring vs to Gods tribunall where it shall be laid open and iudge vs. Haec est priuata lex hominis this is euerie mans priuate law against which whosoeuer doeth any thing sinnes And therefore in some cases Conscientia etiam erronea ligat An erroneous conscience doeth bind The processe of this conscience is by way of Syllogisme The proposition is framed by the Synderesis of the soule which cannot be deceiued All good is to be done all euill is to be auoyded The Assumption is the discourse of reason and therfore many times is erroneous This is good or this is euill The conclusion is the collection of cōscience Therefore this is to be done or that is to bee auoyded Wherein because the discourse of reason being erroneous makes an erroneous conscience therefore that the lawes of men be not exorbitant it shall be needfull to prescribe certaine rules or causes that must concurre in all lawes Ciuil and Ecclesiastical that they may bind the conscience First there must be materia debita a due matter that is iust and lawfull or els indifferent in it selfe for in things simply good or euill which are commanded or forbidden by God and Nature No man hath
Episcopus Romanus or Dum Presbyterium he might haue said either while Donatus the Bishop of Rome or the Presbytery one Pope or many Popes doeth extoll himselfe aboue the Emperor non verendo eum qui post Deum not reuerencing nor fearing him who next after God is reuerenced and feared of all men Theodosius Images were cast downe in Antioch whereupon Chrysostom saith Laesus est qui non habet parem super terram summitas et caput omnium super terram hominum The Emperour is wronged who hath no equall vpon earth the height and head of all men Wherein let no man mistake when wee call Emperours and Kings Supreme gouernours wee doe not extoll them aboue GOD or his Law or word Ministri Dei sunt as the Apostle sayeth they are Gods ministers and therefore subordinate to him that sent them And if they commaund any thing against GOD their authoritie comes too short in such things it is better to obey GOD then man And yet in these things though wee may not obey yet we may not resist but suffer as Iulians souldiers would not sacrifice at his command yet when he led them against an enemie they obeied most readily Distinguebant dominū temporalem à Domino aeterno tamē subditi erant propter Dominum aeternum etiam domino temporali as S. Augustin saith They made a difference betweene their temporall Lord and their eternall Lord and yet for their eternall Lords sake they were subiect to their temporall Lord for as among men if the Proconsul command thee any thing and the Emperour command the contrary thou doest well to obey the Emperour and not the Proconsul So if the Emperour command any thing and God commaund the contrary thou doest well to obey God and not the Emperour In these cases saith S. Augustin Timendo Potestatem contemne potestatem in that thou fearest Gods power feare not mans power So then they are supreame because they admitt no mortall man as superior vpon earth yet they are not supreame aboue GOD nor aboue Christ for all their authoritie is deriued from GOD and Christ And as it is à Deo from God and Christ so it is propter Deum and propter Christum for God and for Christ not against God nor against Christ for the trueth not against the trueth As Nabuchodonosors Law was to be disobeied that he made for an Idol so the Law that he made for the true GOD was to be obeyed And as in ciuill causes by all mens confession they are supreame and yet not aboue God nor Christ So in causes Ecclesiasticall they are likewise supreame on earth yet not aboue God nor Christ they are ministri Dei nō Papae non presbyterij They are Gods immediate ministers of whom they holde in Capite not mans not the Popes not the Presbyteries to draw their swords at their command Now that their authoritie is not confined to the second Table of causes Ciuill but extends it selfe to the first Table and causes Ecclesiastical wil appeare in this word Necessitate subditi estote you must of necessity be subiect for this is not Necessitas externa an externall necessitie onely of force and compulsion for wrath propter iram but also Necessitas interna an internall necessitie of loue and duety propter conscientiam And according to the Schoole there is Duplex necessitas a double necessitie There is necessitas naturae the necessitie of nature as the fire is necessarily hot by nature and if it cease to be hote it ceaseth to be fire And there is necessitas praecepti finis the necessitie of the precept and the end for all precepts are necessarily to be kept in respect of the end So that a sicke man should recouer his health it is necessarie necessitate finis that hee obserue the precepts of Phisicke and keepe a good diet So S. Paul saith Necessitas mihi incumbit A necessitie is laide vpon me and woe is me if I preach not the Gospel there is a necessity not of nature but of precept his calling and the end saluation So subiection to higher powers is necessarie in Christians Necessitate praecepti finis by the necessitie of the ende peace and tranquillitie and Religion in this life and life euerlasting after death and by the necessitie of the precept Honour thy father and mother in which number all Kings and Fathers of Countries and Princes must haue the honour of reuerence to their Persons of obedience to their Lawes of patience to their punishments of maintenance to their Estates and of fidelitie to their Crownes Now because Gouernment and Obedience are relatiues of equall extent so farre must we obey as their commission is to gouerne And the precept of their Authoritie extends not onely to ciuill causes in the second Table but also to Religion in the first And this precept according to the difference of times is threefold Naturall Legall and Euangelicall In the Law of nature it can be no question but causes Ciuil and Ecclesiasticall belonged both to one man since the calling of King and Priest was vnited in one man The Prince of the family was both chiefe Magistrate and Priest had the supremacie in both Which Aristotle well obserued when he said Quae ad Deorum cultum pertinent commissa sunt Regibus Things pertayning to Gods worship are committed to Kings as a part of their charge In which respect he saith Imperator erat Rex Iudex rerúmque diuinarum ei cura commissa est The King was in warre an Emperour in peace a Iudge and in diuine causes an Ouerseer And this was practised by all Nations Assyrians Medes Persians Grecians Romanes Iewes and Gentiles Pagans and Christians All which did establish Religion by their publicke Lawes and maintained it by the Magistrates sword Iustinian said Nos maxima sollicitudine The true Religion of God and the honest conuersation of Priests is our greatest care Rex seruit Deo aliter quâ homo aliter quâ Rex saith S. Augustine The King doth serue God as a man and as a King As a man hee serueth God by liuing holily As a King he serueth God by making Ecclesiasticall Lawes with conuenient rigour and seueritie that shall commaund that which is iust and forbid that which is contrary His examples are Ezechias and Iosias that destroyed Idoles and reformed the worship of God And also among the Heathen first Nahuchodonosor who being instructed by the miracle of the fiery Fornace made a Law for the worshipping of Daniels God next Darius who by occasion of a like miracle made a Decree that al men should feare and tremble before the God of Daniel And last of the King of Niniuee who at Ionas preaching proclaimed a fast and commanded all the citie man and beast to fast and to cry mightily to God and to turne from their wicked wayes And these three did this not out of a
boldnesse of such Bishops and others shall be brought in order by the sword or execution of Gods minister that is my selfe And the sixt Toletan Councell speaking of Chintillanus the king saith Nefas est in dubium deducere eius potestatem cui omnium gubernatio superno constat delegata iudicio It is an hainous offence to call his power into question to whom it is apparant that the gouernement of all is delegated by the diuine Decree To reduce these things to certaine heads The first worke of this supremacy is reformatio Ecclesiae The reformation of the Church by abolishing Idolatrie superstition and heresie and placing of true Religion practised by Constantine and all the godly Emperours his successors A matter so euident both in the Law the Gospel that it needeth no proofe And they which withstand and cry downe the Supremacie of Kings were the men that first told Kings that they had a supremacie in causes Ecclesiasticall and ought to reforme the Church and make way for Gods owne kingdome and Christs owne Scepter which when they had effected by the Ciuill sword and grew potent and strong and able to stand of themselues Then these Equiuocating companions began to deale plainely and to tell Kings that they had nothing to do in causes Ecclesiastical As those that when they haue beat the child burne or cast away the rod as who vsing temporall Authority as a ladder to clime vp to the height of their ambition fling it away and breake it in pieces as if they that reformed for them might not also reforme them and bring them into Order The second worke of this Supremacie is Conuocatio Synodorum the calling of Councels and Synods as the foure first generall Councels were called by foure Emperors The Nicene Councell against Arrius by Constantine The Councell of Constantinople against Macedonius by Theodosius the elder The Councel of Ephesus against Nestorius by Theodosius the yonger The Councell of Chalcedon against Eutiches by Martian I might adde the Councell of Sardis by Constans and Constantius many more for many hundred yeeres after Christ But I note rather the weake allegation of Cardinall Bellarmine That all these Councels and many more were called by Emperours but authoritate Papae by the authoritie of the Bishop of Rome or the Presbyterie if there were any such thing then in being as if in those times Emperours had bene vassals to the Bishops of Rome whereas Leo magnus made supplication to Theodosius the yonger supplicationi nostrae dignetur annuere that the Emperor would call a Councell in Italy But the Emperour called it at Ephesus And the Bishops of Italy could not come in time and Eutiches hersie was there countenanced by the meanes of Dioscorus Bishop of Alexandria Then Leo made a second supplication and alledged the sighes and teares of all the Clergie for to obtaine a Councell in Italy He sollicited the Princesse Pulcheria to further his supplication to the Emperour He wrote to the Nobles Cleargie and people of Constantinople to make like supplication to the Emperour yet he could not obtaine it in the time of Theodosius When Martian succeeded by the fauour of Pulcheria a Councell was granted not in Italy but at Chalcedon Then Leo made a fresh suite That the Emperour would command the Bishops of the Councell that the faith of the Nicene Councell might stand in full force vnaltered which the Emperour did at his request And the Emperours Oration to that purpose is extant Now if supplication intercession of friendes sighes and teares of Priests be the authority of the Pope then the Pope vsed his authoritie and commaunded the Emperour to call Councels But in the subscription you shall see his authoritie Because saith Leo I must by all meanes obey your sacred and Religious will I haue set downe my consent in writing to those Constitutions Here you see it is plaine Councels were called by Emperours at the Popes supplication and entreatie And therefore when Ruffinus alleadged the Canon of a Councell against S. Hierome his answere was Doce quis eum Imperator iusserit conuocari shew what Emperour commanded this Councell to be called I will therefore ende this point with Socrates words Who giuing a reason why in his Church-story he made so often mention of Emperours saith Propterea quod ex illo tempore quo Constantini esse coeperunt negotia Ecclesiae ex eorum nutu pendere visa sunt atque adeo maxima concilia de eorum sententia conuocata fuerunt adhuc conuocantur Since Emperours became like Constantine fathers of the Church the causes of the Church haue depended vpon their will And therefore the greatest Councels haue bene and yet are called by their authoritie The third worke is promulgatio legum the promulgation of Church Lawes and Edicts commanding or forbidding things expedient or hurtful for the Churches gouernment whereof the Church stories are full Constantine made many Lawes concerning Confessors and Martyrs Christians and Heathen Eusebius mentioneth two Lawes one that abolished idolatrie images sacrifices and diuinations an other concerning building enlarging of Churches at the Emperors charge Theodosius made a Lawe against the Arrians the maner of it is worth the repeating Amphilochus Bishop of Iconium had beene a long suter in vaine at last hee vsed this stratageme hee came into the Court and saluted the Emperour but would not salute the Emperours sonne Arcadius newly created Caesar Theodosius thinking hee had not seene his sonne shewed him his sonne and bid him salute and kisse him Amphilochus answered It is enough to honour the father Theodosius interpreting it as a contempt of his sonne grew very angrie whereupon Amphilochus discouering himselfe said Art thou offended O Emperour that I reuerence not thy sonne and thinkest thou that God is not offended with the Arrians the blasphemers of his sonne The Emperour ouercome with these words Legemscribit made a Lawe presently forbidding the assemblies of the Arrians I should tire my selfe and your patience if I should enter particulars onely I must referre you to the titles of the Ciuil law De summa Trinitate fide Catholicâ de sacrosanctis Ecclesijs de Episcopis clericis de haereticis c. which were promulgated by Iustinian Theodosius Valentinian Honorius Arcadius and other godly and Religious Emperours There is a Collection of Ecclesiasticall Lawes made by Charles the Emperour Lodouicke and Lotharius gathered by Ansegisus Anno 827. Of Charles his Lawes there be 168. And of the Lawes of Lewes and Lotharius 157. In the Preface the Emperour Charles professeth Quapropter nostros missos ad vos direximus qui ex nostri nominis Authoritate vnà vobiscum corrigerent quae corrigenda essent Therefore we haue directed our Commissioners vnto you Heere you see Kings high Commissioners and visitors are ancient that shall ioyne with you to redresse those things which neede reformation