Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	ecclesiastical_a	king_n	temporal_a	3,017	5	8.3913	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A41074	Lex talionis, or, The author of Naked truth stript naked	Fell, Philip, 1632 or 3-1682.; Gunning, Peter, 1614-1684.; Lloyd, William, 1627-1717.	1676 (1676)	Wing F644; ESTC R20137	30,835	44

Scripture under the severest penalties requires the confession of Christ before men it is not sure contrary to Scripture that Persons should be forced to declare their Belief and if so will not be thought unsutable to natural Reason neither But now let us see whether this Assertion of our Author be not contrary to the Law of the Land notwithstanding the assurance we have from him who tells us there is not a word in his discourse against it The Oath of Soveraignty enjoyned by the Statute before mentioned Primo Eliz. commands the Subject to testifie and declare in his conscience that the Kings Majesty is the only Supreme Governour of this Realm and of all other his Highness Dominions and Countries as well in all Spiritual or Ecclesiastical things or causes as Temporal c. So likewise the other Tertio Iacob I truly and sincerely acknowledge profess testifie and declare in my conscience before God and the World c. And the Act of Uniformity commands the Abjuring of the Covenant and assenting and consenting to every thing contained in the Liturgy And after this let my Author consider with what duty and good manners he concludes Thus you see how impertinent how irrational how impious it is to require a man to believe that is profess his belief of any thing more than is clearly contained in Scripture The truth is we dull as we are do not at all see this impertinence and unreasonableness notwithstanding the beautiful illustrations of the Eye and the Candle the hammer and the beating out the brains St. Paul hath taught us that Heresie is a work of the flesh and we know Pride and Prepossession and Interest are of more concernment therein than want of faculties and apprehension The thing complained of is that men turn away their faces shut their eyes and will not lay their heads to consider what is set before them And if the immorality of error be once cured there will be a speedy account of its misadventures in Speculation and Theory The Will of man has an higher pretence to freedom than the Intellect Tyranny can make me suffer but cannot oblige me to approve much less to chuse and yet it is not impertinent or irrational to require men to will and what is more than that actually to perform their duty Nor can any sufficient cause be rendred why perverse and stubborn men should not be made to learn it and consider it too which plainly is their duty and previous to the performance of it The Scripture indeed commands to speak the truth in love to instruct the Brother in the spirit of meekness and the same Scripture has made the greatest Christian Monarch and his meanest Vassal brethren but notwithstanding that he bears not the Sword in vain and in love and meekness and with the greatest kindness and charity is obliged to cut off the evil doer The question To what purpose is force would indeed do well in the mouth of a Ranter or Anabaptist and I might answer thereto that it is ordained by God to punish the rebellion of such a question by sharp severities but I shall content my self to repeat the Apostles words just now recited The Magistrate bears not the Sword in vain there is a purpose why fo●ce should be used and all sober men understand it though our Author knows not of it What is added of the Scripture rule of Faith being compleat and full is seriously to be considered But he who straitens the credenda into one short Proposition of the Eunuchs Creed may in likelihood be as blameable in diminishing from it as any can be by adding to it Though by the way our Author is to know that the explication of Faith is not the extending or making new Articles of it And what he says of requiring men to believe with Divine Faith what they add to the Scripture is to make their words equal with God● If this refer to the Church of England first he proceeds on a false supposal that there is somewhat added when there is not any thing added And secondly it is notorious they have never pretended that any thing ought to be believed as Scripture or with Divine Faith but Scripture So that the exaggerations of impertinent irrational and impious fall to the ground unless they may chance to rest upon the head of him who to seditious and uncharitable purposes produces them The next Paragraph desires it may be soberly considered that the Trinity Incarnation Resurrection are things far above the highest reason yet believed because God who cannot lie hath declared them And that it is strange that any one should take upon him to declare one tittle of them more than God hath declared But I desire to be allowed to put in a caveat that men should not be suffered to declare several not tittles but Articles less than God hath declared that our Authors direction concerning the quashing the whole debate of the Omoo●sios and Omoiousios may not be admitted and for quietness sake we may not be Latitudinarian Arians and Theists pretend to admit the Scripture-Doctrines in our own extravagant sense and therefore to be liable to no controul or farther rendring a reason of the Faith that is in us It is easie to say that the Bishops who contended in this great Controversie were more zeal●us th●n dis●re●t But they who have read the History of those times which it is plain our Author never did know very well that the Orthodox if they were defective in any thing offended in permitting by their lenity Arius to infect the World and form his party before ever they took notice of him And the discreet advice here given by silence to prevent the Malice Rancor Persecution and War which fell upon the Orthodox might as well have been given to the Christians during the ten Persecutions and doubtless might have preserved many thousand lives and damned as many souls The instance here mentioned of the Resurrection falls very pat to the purpose the Scripture hapning to afford a Parallel of what our Author thinks so adviseable The Resurrection he tells us whereby men shall rise with the same body when one body may be eaten and converted into several bodies is far above the highest reason and sharpest understanding yet was believed by Hymeneus and Philetus because God had declared it Yet they by keeping within the bounds which God had declared and referring it to that which was perfectly true the first Resurrection from the death of sin destroyed the faith of some And it is to be hoped that St. Paul was not more zealous than discreet because he was so earnestly concerned against them There is no Arian nor Socinian who professes not to believe in Jesus Christ the Son of God or allows him not to be God but our Author must hold us exc●sed if we expect farther satisfaction in so weighty a concern and examine how these Gentlemen stand affected to the tenure by which he holds his