Selected quad for the lemma: christian_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
christian_n	church_n	part_n	universal_a	2,451	5	9.1017	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A61101	A Protestants account of his orthodox holding in matters of religion at this present in difference in the church, and for his own and others better confirmation or rectification in the points treated on : humbly submitted to the censure of the Church of England.	Spelman, Henry, Sir, 1564?-1641.; Spelman, John, Sir, 1594-1643.	1642 (1642)	Wing S4940; ESTC R12772	24,078	35

from the concurrent Judgement of all the Prophets of that Church to which they ought to submit their judgements so ought the concurrent Judgement of all the Prophets of every particular Church to be received of that Church untill it appear that it is contrary to the Judgement of the Church Universall But then as the Universall Church must be heard before the particular so must the Universality of the particular before any particulars of that particular Church for God saith Saint Paul is not the author of confusion And therefore he not onely obiects against the refractory particulars of Corinth We that is the Church of Corinth have no such Custome But lest they should alleadge errour also in that particular Church he justifies their practise by the practice of the Universall Neither saith he have the Churches of God By which it appears private men are tyed to submit to the judgement of their particular Church and that unto the judgement of the Universall But if any ask what is the Catholique Church when and how is her judgement to be had The Catholique Church properly so called is the whole number of Christians in all places Universally professing Christ And this since the Apostles times never was nor can be assembled into one to give sentence upon any thing But as in the Politique Body of Civill States the reall assembling of all the Members personally being unnecessary inconvenient and almost impossible some persons representative of the whole being by intimation of the superiours from all parts delegate to give the common suffrage of the whole do by the Laws of God and man give the binding sentence of the whole Body Universall So in the mysticall Body of the Church the Ecclesiasticks which are the onely authorized Members for discerning and judging matters that depend upon the Word of God because that to them and to them alone were the promises of the holy Ghosts assistance made they I say either all assembling themselves together or at least in their severall Diocesses chosing and delegating from among themselves trusty men to do the office of the Clergy in that point do truely and properly give the entire Vote of the whole Catholique Church And in this way we have many sentences and Decrees thereof remaining to us which being from age to age successively received do stand in force and speak unto this very present against which whosoever shall in practice or doctrine attempt any thing to the prejudice of what is so established shall apparantly declare himself an insolent and schismaticall exalter of himself and of his own private judgement against the judgement of the whole Catholique Church and in the same way that the Church Catholique speaketh in the same also if need be speaketh every particular Church This being the extraordinary way wherein the Church speaketh not but upon extraordinary occasions she hath also for ordinary occasions a continuall constant voyce in an ordinary way The Church considered in it self is not nor cannot be lesse than the whole Body of it but considered in the actions of it any part by which it duely worketh as to that work onely which it so intendeth is truely and properly enough called the Church If we speak of a man as of his being as that he lives is in health young lusty c. we mean by the man no lesse than the whole man with all his members but if we speak of the particular actions of the man as that he did hear see speak take c. we do not then intend that every distinct member of his body did actually hear see speak take c. but that the man performed those actions by the proper members respectively ordained for the doing of them and that neverthelesse the office of each member so ministring was the proper act of the whole man so that though the eyes of the man onely saw his ears heard his tongue spake and his hands handled yet is the whole man said truely to hear see speak and handle As then in the body naturall so in the Body mysticall the Church though the Church in her being comprehend all members as well Lay as Clergie yet in her work and actions she worketh not promiscuously by all but by her proper and ordained members for if every one were an eye to see a head to judge or a mouth to give sentence then were they all but one equipotent member and where then were the body saith S. Paul therefore though in the question of circumcising the believing Gentiles the letters of Ordinance went in the name of the Apostles Elders and Brethren yet plainly the Brethren had no vote in the decision of the question but as the Apostles and Elders are onely said to have come together to consider of the matter so the debate and decision there is onely theirs and the Decrees thereupon are in the 16 Chapter called onely the Decrees that were ordained of the Apostles and Elders and if we will have the Brethren to have been named in the Apostles Letters to shew that Lay-men have authority to vote in matters of Religion then must we also confesse that Lay-men aswell as the Man of God have authority to judge in matters of Doctrine also for they that writ the Letters say of the point of Doctrine We gave no such Commandment Therefore plainly the judgement of the Apostles and Elders was in that matter the judgement of the Brethren and of the whole Church there by their unanimous submission and agreement unto them And when all is done the voting of Apostles Elders and Brethren together is a thing farre differing from the voting of Lay-men onely and from Lay-mens choosing of the votes In the same manner the voyce of the ordayned Governours and Ministers in every particular Church in those things that are committed to their Care and Charge is the voice of the Church it self and the voyce of that particular Church not being repugnant to faith nor the declared judgement of the Catholique Church is as to the Members of that Church the voice of the whole Church Catholique so that he that refuseth to hear the voice of the Governours of his particular Church refuseth to hear his particular Church and not that Church onely but the whole Church Catholique Again as in the body the most usefull members thereof the eyes the ears the tongue the hands the feet would not onely be uselesse but make a confused deformity if they were every one annexed immediately to the grosse of the body and not joyned by the mediation of some noble limb the eyes the ears and tongue by the head the hands by the arms and the feet by the legs so would it be in the Church Catholique if every particular Member should hold it self immediately to depend on it and not on the noble and mediating limb of his particular Church that so by a usefull and decent subordination of the Members under the head The

we may no more for respect of persons be they Popes or whatsoever call good evill or evill good then we may for respect of persons break the Commandments of God Nor is it more to be abhorred as a popish corruption to use the Ordinances of Popes which are not wicked Ordinances in themselves than blessing the people of in the words wherewith Balaam blessed them is to be abhorred as a Balaamish corruption for when by the names of Popish Jewish Heathenish c. we condemne any thing we all intend that the thing condemned is of the nature of those things wherein they were especially corrupt and not of the nature of their doings which were neither good nor evill and much lesse of the nature of those wherein they excelled So as to be popish simply being no argument of necessary faultinesse we must see whether our Liturgie partakes of any popish corruption or no To come readily to the matter when in all the whole Frame of our Liturgie there is no Worship nor Innovation but of the true God onely neither is he worshipped any other way than by the sole and immediate mediation of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ there first can be no Idolatrous corruption in the Liturgie Secondly It cannot be Antichristian because that contrary to the proper work of Antichrist which is to deny the Son and the Father and as God in the Temple of God to exalt himself above all that is called God the Liturgie thorowout the whole course thereof makes an exact acknowledgement adoration and exaltation above all things whatsoever and as it acknowledges them in profession so there is not any thing in it whereby they are denyed in practice So as to call it Antichristian is a malicious slander against the clear truth examined by the Light and Rule of Gods Word Lastly It cannot be superstitious neither for howsoever in the performance of it there may be some few Ceremonies brought in which rightly weighed do perhaps conduce more to worldly solemnity and ostentation in Religion than to true and necessary religious decency and reverence and therefore would be laid down yet being things otherwise indifferent introduced for decency onely and not pressed as things of any other necessity they can at the worst be but errours of Judgement mistaking what is decent and orderly they cannot be superstitious seeing they are not made matters of Religion but of decency and order without which nothing ought to be done When then according to true understanding and intention nothing is meant popish but what partakes of the superstitious corruptions of the Popes the Liturgy of the English Church must needs be acquit and discharged not onely of the infamous calumny of being Idolatrous Antichristian and suspicious but even also of that malicious aspersion of popish And then it will follow That the censures of those sinners against their own souls who in and for these things do falsly judge censure and condemn their Mother Church and renounce obedience to her and communion with her because as they suppose she is popish superstitious idolatrous Antichristian their unjust censures I say will prove the condemnation of themselves both of uncharitablenesse of self-conceit and of insolent exalting themselves against the Church of God at least if not of Antichristian persecution of it also and the more for this That while they promise liberty and freedome from superstition they themselves become slaves unto superstition making a matter of Religion not to obey the Ordinance of their Church in things indifferent and where the Word of God doth not forbid obedience but command it This briefly touching the generall exceptions Popish Superstitious Idolatrous Antichristian As for the particular exception That in our Liturgy all prayer praise and thanksgiving is in a set Form a device of mans not the command of God a muzling of the Ministers spirit a nurse of idlenesse and means of neglecting the gifts and graces of God c. We must consider 1. That there is not any expresse Scripture against set Forms of prayer and therefore the use of it is not against any expresse command of God 2. All Christian Churches thorowout the world as well the Greek and Eastern where Popery never raigned as these our Western Churches when once they attained a setled Government have in all ages served God in set Forms of Divine Service yea even the reformed Churches beyond Sea use some set Forms And for our set Liturgy if any man lift to be contentious against it we can truely say It is the Custome of our Church and also of the Churches of God and then the depravers of it will prove to be despisers of Authority and advancers of their own private judgement against the Universall Judgment of the Church Catholique 3 Under the Law there were set Forms of publike Confessions Thanksgivings Blessings c. which being no part of the Ceremoniall is warrant enough for Christians to use the like 4. The Psalms of David which as they abound with all those necessary parts of Gods publike service confession of sins prayers Praise and Thanksgiving so especially with Prayer many of them having that Title A Prayer they were not onely used publikely by both the Jewes Church and the Christians but were penned to that end and dedicated to the Priests that had the Office of praising God and were most excellent in those kindes of Musick to which they were set and the most excellent passages of praise and prayer in them had the word Selah added to them to the end that in the publike use of them those passages might be iterated and said or sung over again Also our Saviour himself having given us one Form of set Prayer which he bids When ye pray Say and not at all forbidden the use of set Forms makes it out of question that to pray in a given Form is lawfull so the Form be good And what doubt we but when John Baptist taught his Disciples to pray he did it by giving them some Form which our Saviours Apostles liking desired to have the like from him and our Saviour we see did not so much give them Precepts and Rules instructing them how to make prayers of their own though his Prayer hath that office too but gave them a perfect prayer in an exact conceived Form how much should men fear that their conscience offended at the use of set prayer without the Light of Gods Word declaring it to be unlawfull are consciences blinded with superstition afraid where no fear is and their consciences not onely darkened but their hearts also seduced with self-conceit and singularity unto perverse and affected contention with the Church 5. While they pretend to be free Ministers from a supposed restraint put upon their spirits by the use of set Forms they lay a reall restraint upon the spirits of all Congregations who being always perfect in the Contents and use of their set prayers do with prepared hearts