Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n
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A26211
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The judgment of the learned and pious St. Augustine concerning penal lavves against conventicles : and for vnity in religion : deliver'd in his 48th epistle to Vincentius.; Epistolae. Number 48. English
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Augustine, Saint, Bishop of Hippo.
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1670
(1670)
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Wing A4210; ESTC R4058
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8,337
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19
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the earth shall serve our Lord Christ by thus curing the Diseased and healing the Weak He is not alwayes our Friend who spares us nor he alwayes our Enemy who strikes us Better are the wounds of a Friend then the kisses of an Enemy Prov. 27.6 It is better to love with Severity then to deceive with Lenity It is better to take the Bread from the hungry if feeding him makes him neglect Righteousness then to give him Bread to continue him unjust He that binds a Mad-man and awakens a Lethargick is troublesome to both but loves both Who can Love us more then God does yet he does not only teach us kindly but also profitably terrifies us To his gentle Lenitives adding the bitter Medicament of Tribulation He exercised the Pious and Religious Patriarchs with hunger the stubborn People with greater Pains He takes not from the Apostle the Thorn in the Flesh though Thrice intreated that he might perfect Strength in Weakness Let us Love our Enemies for this is just and Gods Command that we may be like our Heavenly Father who makes his Sun to shine upon the good and bad But as we commend his Gifts so let us think of his Stripes wherewith he scourges every Son whom he loves Think you that no man ought to be Compell'd to Goodness when you read how the Father of the Family sent out his Servants to Compel them to come in whom they found Luke 17.23 When you read of Saul afterwards Paul compell'd by Christ himself with great violence to receive and defend the Truth Is Money dearer to Men then the sight of their Eyes yet Christ strook him blind and did not restore him to his sight till he was Incorporated into Holy Church and Do you think that there is no Force to be used to Free Men from Dangerous Errors when you see God who loves us no one better by diverse Instances doing the same and hear Christ saying No man comes to me unless the Father drawes him which is done in the hearts of all who turne to God for fear of his displeasure Have ye not sometimes known a Thief scattering Meat before the Sheep to draw them away and steal them and a Shepheard with his Rod driving back the stragling Sheep to the Fold We read of Sarah Chastising her stubborn servant Hagar expelling her and her Son and yet St. Paul sayes That as then Ishmael he that was after the Flesh persecuted him that was after the Spirit Gal. 4. So it is now By which you may understand that the Church rather suffers Persecution by the Pride and Wickedness of Carnal Men whom she endeavours to amend by Temporal Punishments and Corrections Whatsoever therefore the TRUE MOTHER does in this Case though it may seem harsh and bitter she does not render evil for evil but endeavours by wholesome Discipline to expel Sin not out of hatred or desire to hurt but out of a love to heal When good and bad Men doe and suffer the same things they are to be differenced not by their Deeds or Sufferings but by their Causes Pharaoh exercised the People of God with hard Labour Moses Chastised the same People when they did wickedly These did both the same things but they did not aime alike at the Peoples good in one it was Domineering Pride in the other Pure Charity Jezabel kill'd the Lords Prophets Elias slew the false Prophets I suppose the Merits of the Doers were as diverse as those of the Sufferers View the times of the New Testament when Meekness and Charity were not only to be kept in the Heart but are to Shine before Men when Peters Sword by Christs own order was Commanded into the Sheath and we thereby Taught that the Sword must not be drawn no not for Christ yet there we read God delivered up his Son to Death The Son gave up Himself to Death And it said of Judas That Satan entered into him that he should deliver him to be Crucified Why is God good and jâ—st and Man guilty and sinful in this Act but because in the same thing which they both did there was not the same cause for which they did it There were three Crosses in the same place on one hung the Thief that was to be saved on another the Thief who was to be damned Christ in the midst who was to save one and condemn the other What more like then these three Crosses What more unlike then the three that hung thereon Paul was delivered to Prison to be bound 1 Cor. 5. St. Paul Delivers a man to Satan worse then any Jaylor for the destruction of his Flesh that the Spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord. Let us learn to Discern Difference or Intentions in the same Actings nor let us shut ouâ— eyes and Slander and Accuse Good Men for Persecutors 1 Tim. 1.20 when the same Apostle sayes That he delivered some to Satan that they might learn not to Blaspheme Did he render evil for evil Did he not rather Judge it a good Work to amend Ill Men by the Evil One If it were alwayes Praise-worthy to suffer it had been enough for our Lord to have said â—lessed are they who suffer he needed not to have added for Righteousness sake If it were alwayes a Fault to make any man suffer it would never be Just to inflict Punishment Sometimes therefore he is Unjust who suffers and he Just who afflicts Certainly at all times have the Evil persecuted the Good and the Good punisht the Wicked those unjustly to hurt these to amend by Discipline Those Cruelly these Mercifully those serving their Lust these their Charity For he that Kills considers not how he Butchers but he that Cures takes heed how he Cuts the former aimes at destruction the other at health and recovery Wicked Men kill'd the Prophets and the Prophets put some Men to death The Jews whipt Christ and Christ whipt the Jews The Apostles were delivered to the Secular Powers and the Apostles delivered some to the Power of Satan In all these we must consider who Suffers for the TRUTH who for INIQUITY who Afflicts to Hurt who afflicts to amend Nebuchadnezzar made a Decree That whosoever would not worship his Idols should be put to death he made another Decree afterward That whosoever should Blaspheme the God of Shedrac c. should be put to death The first was a wicked Law punishing the Godâ—y the second was a Pious Law Correcting the ungodly Who of us nay Who of you does not Commend the Lawes of Emperours made against the Heathen Sacrifices yet there the Penalty was Capital But in the Lawes against Schismaticks such moderation was used that the Lawes seem'd rather to Admonish then Punish you For perhaps it may be said of you what St. Paul said of the Jewes Rom. 10. I bear them witness that they have a Zeale of God but not according to knowledge for they being ignorant of Gods Righteousness and going about to establish
their own have not submitted to the Righteousness of God For What do you else but establsh your own Righteousness when you say None can be Godly but those of your own Pâ—rty you are altogether alike except those amongst you who know the Truth and yet out of Stomack and Crossness fight against the Plain truth the wickedness of these perhaps is worse then Idolatry But this cannot easily be prov'd for this lodges in their own breast therefore all are Prosecuted with the like gentle Correction You who are called Donatists from Donatus seem milder then some other Sects for you do not Rage and Range about with Troops of Cruel Souldiers plundering But no Beast is called tame if he hurts no body because he wants Teeth or Clawes You say You would not hurt I think you cannot you dare not with your small numbers attempt the strength of your Adversaries I am sure that Sect which you were of formerly have severely executed the Lawes of the Emperours against Schismaticks and Hereticks against you and other Sectaries this we can prove upon Record Nay you were not separated from them when in their Petition to Julian they said That with him nothing but Justice prevail'd whom yet they knew to be an Apostate and Idolater so that they must confess that either they did shamefully Lye in saying so or else that Idolatry was Justice But suppose there was a Mistake in the word What think you of the Fact if nothing which you call unjust must be desired of Princes Why did you then ask of Julian that which the World counted unjust But you may say you Petition the Emperour for the recovery of your own you must not accuse any or desire to restrain their Liberty because we find no Example amongst the Apostles for this And Where do you find any President amongst them for the former When your Predecessors Accused Caecilian Bishop of Carthage as a Criminous Person before the Emperour you did not then Petâ—tion for your lost Goods but you slander'd an Innocent as we think and the event proved Then this What could be more wicked but if you did deliver a Criminal indeed to be Punish'd by the Secular Powers Why do you blame us for doing that which you your selves did before and we doe not blame you for doing it but for doing it Malitiously to ruine an Innocent not to Correct a Guilty one We justly complain of you who account it a Crime in us to Complain to a Christian Emperour of the Enemies of our Communion when as your Predecessors put in a Libel to the Emperour Constantine against Caecilian and contrary to the Canons of the Church You Complain'd of him to the Emperour before he had been Convicted by his Collegues The Emperour proceeding more Regularly Remitted the Cause back to the Bishops but you would not then submit but appeal'd to the Emperour again accusing not Caecilian only but all the Bishops whom the Emperour had appointed Judges of the Cause and when the Emperor had determined ye would not then yield to Truth and Peace What could Constantine determine against Caecilian and his Party had they been Convicted by their Accusers but the same that he did determine against those his Accusers who fail'd in the Proof of their Accusations He determined in the Cause That the Goods of those who were Convicted of False Accusation should be Confiscate If this Sentence had been past against Caecilian upon your Accusation and Proof of of the Crimes laid against him you would have been call'd Friends of the Church Defenders of Peace and Unity but when this Sentence is past against you who falsly accus'd the Bishop and would not be entreated to submit to the Unity of the Church you cryed out of Persecution You Contend That no man ought to be Compel'd to the Communion of the Church We must not return evil for evil Was it not well said of you long since What we Will is good and holy It is not unreasonable to believe That Constantines Decree against your Ancestors is of force against you and that all Princes especially the Christian ought to follow that Pattern when ever your Obstinacy compells them to it It is better to be urged to the Embracing of the Truth by the fear of losing your Earthly Possessions then to be suffer'd by the Temptation of Vain-glory to resist the Truth It is no Persecution to be Compel'd to that which is good It is true no man can be made good against his will but the fear of Suffering may make him leave off his Animosity against the Truth or make him willing to receive the Truth which he formerly knew not and persist in it when he knowes it This would perhaps be said to you in vain if we could not make it evident by many examples We know many not single persons only but whole Citties that were Donatists and Separatists now become good Catholick Christians heartily Detesting their Devillish Schisme and as heartily loving the Unity and Communion of the Church All which were made such Converts through the fear which you dislike of the Emperours Lawes made by Constantine and continued even to our present Emperour These Examples propounded to me by my Collegues made me to change my Opinion for I was first of that Opinion That no man ought to be Compel'd to the Unity of Christ That this was to be done only by Argument and Force of Disputation That Men were to be Convict by Reason not Compel'd by Lawes for this I thought could do nothing but make open Hereticks or Schismaticks Hypocritical and Counterfeit Catholicks but this Opinion I was Convinced to be an Error not so much by strength of Argument as by Experience and Example Mine own City which was formerly wholly Schismatical of Donatus Party is now Converted to the Unity of the Church by the fear of the Imperial Lawes and do so perfectly detest their former stubborness that you can hardly believe them ever to have been guilty Many other Cities more I knew so Converted that I found by experience in this Cause the truth of that which is written Prov. 9. Give Instruction to a Wise Man and he will be yet wiser For How many do we know who had a mind to return to the Churches Vnity being sufficiently satisfied of their duty but deferr'd their return onely out of fear of displeasing their own Party How many are hardened against the Truth by long Custome and Continuance in Error How many have therefore thought their Party to be the True Church because Security hath made them slothful and careless to know the Truth How many have been hindered from Communion with the Church by false Reports and Slanders of the Holy Service and our Governours How many continue in their several Schismes upon this Opinion That it is indifferent of what Party they be so long as they Profess Christianity if they were born and bred up in Donatus Party there they continued and thought that they ought not to be compell'd to the Unity of the Church To all these the Terror of the Imperial Lawes hath been so profitable that now some ingeniously confess We had a mind to return to the Church before God be thanked for these Lawes which have given us occasion to do it speedily and cut off all our former delayes Others say We believed the Church to have the Truth but old Custom detained us in our Error God be thanked who hath thus broken those Bonds and brought us to the Bond of Peace Others say We knew not the Truth nor had we any mind to learn it but the fear of these Laws hath made us inquisitive after it least by a foolish perseverance in our errors we should lose our Temporal estates without any recompence in another World God be thanked who hath thus quickned our negligence by the Terror of the Law and made us sollicitous to seek what formerly we did not care to find Others say We were Affrighted by false Rumours from entring into the Church which we should never have known to be false if we had not come to Church and we should never have come to Church if we had not been compell'd God be thanked who hath cast out this Fear by the fear of the Law and taught us by experience to see what foolish and vain stories LYING FAME Casts out upon the CHURCH Hencâ— we believe That what the Authors of this Sect Accused the Church of was false since we see their Posterity hath Feigned Things more False and VVorse Others say VVe thought it had been no matter where we Profest the Faith of Christ but God be Thanked that we have been Compell'd to the Unity of the Church and brought from our Schism to serve the one God in Vnity Should I oppose the Execution of these Good Laws and deprive the VVorld of so much Benefit and Advantage No Let the Kings of the Earth serve Christ by making LAVVES for Christ The Terror of Temporal Powers when it Opposes the Truth is to the Patient Sufferer a Glorious Tryal to the VVeak a dangerous Temptation but when it Presses the Truth upon those who are in Error it is to the VVife and Sincere a Profitable Admonition to the Senceless and Regardless an unprofitable Affliction CONSTANTINE the first Christian Emperor finding the Church Disturbed by several Schismes made a LAVV against all CONVENTICLES by which LAVV the Memory of Hereticks and Schismaticks was Destroyed Historiae tripartitae lib. 3. c. 11. Sozomen Eut. Histor lib. 2. c. 30. GRATIAN the Emperour gave LIBERTY to all to Communicate in what RELIGION they pleas'd which divided the Churches again which he could not Quiet but by a Law against Hereticks and those who Divided from the Church Hist Tripart l. 9. cap. 5. 7. FINIS