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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	pure_a	zeal_n	zealous_a	14	3	8.4198	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A09838	Against sacrilege three sermons / preached by Maister Robert Pont ...	Pont, Robert, 1524-1606.	1599 (1599)	STC 20100; ESTC S4419	43,712	129

him hitherto to preuaile But as the byers sellers were not cast out of the Temple of Ierusalem albeit Christ with his whippe preassed diuerse times to expel them So for al the crying out and preaching of the faithful messengers of God with threatnings vsed against such persones yet they cease not bur adde daylie more and more aswell they of the nobilitie as others following their ensample to robbe spoyle buye conquest occupy the kirk-rents Herefore if the Iewes might justly be accused by the Apostle who being contented to haue a bare knowledge of the Law of God liued no better then they that lacked a law How much more we who bragge of a sincere knowledge of the Gospell as being needfull to order our liues thereby not onely liue otherwise licenciously but also many amongst vs so far as in vs lyeth stoppe and hinder the propagation of the kingdome of Christ In so farre that they holde him a man of no accounte hauing any power in these corrupted dayes who hath not polluted his handes with some spoyle of the Kirk-goods And as to the doctrine of the worde it is so become loathsome to these men that if they heare it they heare it with deafe eares are no more mooued at the rebuke of this their sacrilegious dealing nor if they were stupide blockes or Idols without al sense of hearing For they cease not still to maintaine and advance this detestable sinne And daylie inuente new practises and coloured titles of the law to augment and foster the same both in hearte and deede Notwithstanding that such deuourers of Christ his patrimonie are reckoned by the godly Fathers to be murtherers of the poore for it is a certaine kinde of murther indeed And to this purpose I will here cite certaine of the authorities of the auncientes that it may bee knowne how odious this sinne of Sacrilege was in their eies AVGVSTINE vppon IOHN speaking of IVDAS the traitour writeth this IVDAS is amongst the Sain●…es IVDAS is a thiefe yea a sacrilegeous thiefe not a thiefe of the common sorte A thiefe of purses if criminall persones of all kinde of thieft be damned in judgement more of that thieft which is called peculatus For peculatus is the thieft of publick things And thieft of priuate thinges is not so judged as publick thieft How much more detestablie is a sacrilegious thiefe to be judged Who dare be bolde to steale euen from the Kirk of God Who stealeth any thing from the Kirke from that foorth is compared to one that is lost This farre AVGVSTINE In an other place calleth the teindes the tribute of needy soules And that so manye poore as dye in default of paymente thereof by famine they that with-holde the same and apply them to their owne particular vses are to bee holden guyltie before the justice seate of God of so many murthers AMEROSE likewise willeth that the goods of the Kirke be giuen to the vse of the poore rather then the sacrilegious enemie to spoyle and carry the same away And HIEROME writeth thus To bereaue any thing from a friend is thieft but to defraude the Kirk is sacrilege To reserue that which is to be bestowed vpon the poore and hungrie is ether craftines or fearefulnes but to with-draw any thing from it is a most manifest impiety and passeth the crueltie of all robbers I might cite many auncient Cannons of councelles to this effect besides the cannons authorities of Bishops of Rome which are innumerable others mentioned in the decrees collected by GRATIAN but for shortnes I remit them that list to reade of this matter to the seuen eight Cannons of the councell called Gangrense holden about the yeare of Christ. 324. Item the Councel of Carthage-4 cap. 31. 32. And of Antioche cap. 25. Item the Councell called Agatheuse holden about the 440. in diuerse Cānons thereof with many other to the like purpose Yea the Ethnike PLATO writeth in his lawes that of all haynous doings it is to be counted on of the greatest that is done against holy things And further he saieth the sacrilegious holde one of three thinges either that God is not or that he regardeth not the thinges done by men or at leaste wilbe easily reconciled when such impietie is committed with sacrifices and such ceremonies as were vsed amongst the Gentiles But now to take vp this matter for the presente it is expedient to declare howe this Idole of sacrilegious avarice first begouth to take roote amongst vs and by what meanes it was increased and nurished And finally what great and hydeous branches it hath spred through the whole cuntrie The beginning indeede was small in respect of the increase For at the first reformation of Religion amongst vs they who tooke the worke in hand which were an few part mooued of a pure zeale to Gods glorie and advancemēt of the Gospel of Iesus Christ stood not to hazard life lands and whatsoeuer they had to promoate the good cause and according to their zeales the Lord granted them a good issue of their enterprise Yet a great many not onely of the raskall sorte but sundry men of name and worldly reputation joyned themselues with the congregation of the reformers not so much for zeale of religion as to reape some earthly commoditie and to be inriched by spoyle of the Kirkes and Abbey places And when the Preachers told them that such places of Idolatrie should be pulled downe they accepted gladly the enterprise rudely passing to worke pulled down all both Idoles places where they were found Not making difference betweene these places of Idolatrie and many Parish-Kirks where Gods word shuld haue bin preached in many parts where they resorted as in such tumultes and suddainties vseth to come to passe namelye among such a nation as we are So their persones I meane so manye of them that had more respecte to the spoyle of Kirks no●… to religion I count to haue bene the first sacrilegious amongst vs. With these I joyne an other sorte both of Gentlemen and labourers of the grounde that were put in hope to haue their ●…eindes al-to-gether discharged And in that respect rather then any zeale of religion did assiste the reformation Nowe albeit they were frustrate of their expectation yet their intention being to appropriate the Kirk rentes to their own vse they cannot be excused at leaste of a sacrilegious meaning An other thing fell out at that time which may be excused by reason of necessitie when as the Lordes and some of the Nobilitie principall enterprysers of the reformation hauing to doe with the French men and many their assisters of our owne Nation enemies to these proceedings were forced not onely to ingage their owne landes and bestowe whatsoeuer they were able to furnish of their owne patrimonie for maintenance of men of warre and other charges but also to take the Lead Belles with other Iewelles and ornaments of

excuse and pretended reason that I thinke these men may alleage who esteeme this kinde of alleaged sacrilege to be no sin at all it being so vniuersall amongst a greate multitude or at leaste not such a kinde of sinne nor so odious as I would aggrege it to be they will say therefore that giuing their intromission with such thinges as sometimes perteined to the Kirk were vnlawfull as they would not graunt it to be yet the name of sacrilege in the proper signification cannot be extended thereto For euen in the lawes which I would alleage to prooue it and by the writers there-upon we finde it is not properly called sacrilege but quasi sacrilegium or instar sacrilegij that is like vnto Sacrilege to take away any of that money or other things giuen to that immortall God for vp-hold of his Religion and seruice I aunswere this is a poore shift for the lawes giueth it as odious a name calling it crimen peculatus and crimen laesae religionis that is to say a crime and guiltinesse of stealing the publick money and a criminall offense against religion But as I said before we take sacrilege according to the meaning of the Scriptures good laws of Christiā Princes aggreable thereunto As indeede the very nature of thinges in themselues leade vs vnto this taking the argument from the lesse to the more that we must needes confesse it to bee a greater sacrilege to take from the Kirk a barrony of lande or the teinde of a whole Parish Kirk being of the valure of many chalders of victuall nor a little thing as a Silver cuppe or chalice out of a Sanctuarie or materiall Kirk For the greater the thieft or spoyle of the holy thing bee it is the greater Sacrilege And as to the place out of the which the holy thing is taken it makes not much to the matter in the law of conscience But to put it out of doubt that this kinde of spoyling the Kirk and defrauding of her right by the worde of God is properly to be called sacrilege No man can deny but to spoyle God is sacrilege Now the Prophet MALACHIE prooueth against the Iewes of his dayes that they spoyled God Because they defrauded him of his teindes and offrings and therefore were al ac●…ursed with a curse Which is the iust punishment of a Sacrilege And very nature it selfe teacheth vs here-unto For men vnderstande naturally and will confesse that to spoyle or steale any thing from a priuate man is a great offense how can they then deny that to spoyle or steale from God things dedicate to his seruice is a more high and haynous transgression and cannot be more properlie tearmed by any name then Sacrilege But yet these men will alleage that the authorities cited out of the Olde Testament to prooue our purpose serue not sufficiently to that effect For albeit in the Leviticall or Ceremoniall law of MOYSES not onely the teindes but also the landes given to the sustentation of the Priestes and Levites were separate from the common vse of men and called Holy yet that law being abrogate or at the least ceasing and taking end the substance thereof being accomplished in Christ wee are no further bounde to the obseruation thereof Therfore the argument taken frō that law concerning holy things ought not now to haue place neither concerning the teindes which are not nowe add●…tted to be payed iure diuino that is of Gods Law as the Cannonistes speake and much lesse concerning Temporall landes giuen to the Kirke in time of Papistrie the which nowe cease to bee of that nature to bee esteemed holy First before I aunswere I am well contented there be a distinction made betweene the ●…andes and Teindes leauing off to speake of the teindes till afterwardes Then I aunswere concerning these Landes or annuall rentes out of Landes delated and giuen to the Kirke that although the Leviticall Lawe with the Ceremonies thereof concerning the outwarde obseruation hath taken an ende and is fulfilled in Christ yet the substance of the policie concerning interteinement of the seruice of God and vp-hold of religion still remaines And it is no lesse necessarie that the ministerie of God amongst vs be mainteined and that sufficient prouision be made to serue other Godlie vses where-unto the Kirke-rentes ought to be applyed nor it was that the Priestes and Leuites shoulde bene vp-holden in the time of the Olde law And as to the holinesse or vnholines of these landes and reuenues albeit in their owne nature as I saide in the former sermon they be like other earthly possessiones yet in so far as they were applyed to an holy vse they may wel be called holy possessions and rents as the Kirk is holy to whose vse they are appoynted Then I say the end and firste cause wherefore these landes and rentes were giuen being therewith to vp-hold the holy seruice of God a like thing in substance aswell in the Euangelical as in the Leviticall Lawe and the same being separate dedicate and mortified as the Law speaketh to that holy vse it can no more be lawful to abstract the same from godly vses then it was in time of the Olde law the Ministers of the word not being otherwaies sufficiently provided nor other godly vses for maintenance of religion and of the poore members of Christ being duely considered and serued But yet they may make instance and say that the gift of thinges bestowed to to the Kirk of old by our fore-fathers in superstition was for a certaine cause to wit to pray for the Dead say Messe and do other superstitious Idolatrous service which nowe is not to be vsed And therefore the cause ceasing the effect should also cease And consequently things giuen for such abuses should returne to the giuers or their aires or at least to the Prince to be otherwaies employed As to that theorike of the Law the cause ceasing the effect ceases giuing it to be true I aunswere with a distinction which the Lawiers themselues make that thereby two kind of causes ar to be considered in thinges to wit the impulsiue cause as they call it and the finall cause Now albeit it be true that the final cause ceasing the effect cōmonly ceases also Yet it is not so in the impulsiue cause which al though it ceasis it makes not the effect of the finall cause which is the principall intention to cease But so it is in this case For albeit it may stand that one of the causes that mooued zealous men in time of blindnes to giue diuerse things to the Kirk and to places then called religious was to pray for the dead and to do other superstitious seruie●… being perswaded by Monkes Friers and others of their opinion that such praiers were valiable to deliuer soules out of Purgatorie which may be called the impulsiue or moouing cause Yet the principall finall cause was no doubt that they minded to serue God thereby