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	particular_a	pastor_n	2,231	5	9.9163	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A86352	A breif [sic] enquiry into the ground, authority, and rights, of ecclesiastical synods; upon the principles of Scripture and right reason occasion'd by a late book, intitul'd, Municipium ecclesiasticum: &c.	Hill, Samuel, 1648-1716.; Hill, Samuel, 1648-1716. Municipium ecclesiasticum, or, The rights, liberties, and authorities of the Christian church.	1699 (1699)	Wing H2005B; ESTC R178160	16,608	46

not from the Laws of God and that general design which he by the Principles of Reason and more fully by Revelation has made known unto us 't is certain that he forbids them not but leaves them at their own liberty to form themselves into such Civil Communities and to erect such Forms and Schemes of Government among themselves as they in their own prudence shall think fit to agree upon In like manner that the Church is a Society Instituted by Christ for the promoting of God's Glory and the Salvation of mankind That He has given divers Laws and Directions to this Society And that for the better observing and enforcing of these Directions and Laws Order and Government is necessary in the Church are things by no means to be denyed or gainsaid But that God has laid down any compleat and exact model of Ecclesiastical Government either for the whole Church in general or for the parts of it as Nations or Kingdoms in particular is what I can no where find But should be very glad if it be really so to see such clear and evident proof thereof as may safely be relied on Altho' therefore it may be granted that all Christians in general and in particular the Bishops and Pastors of the Church are under an Obligation as they have opportunity and as occasion shall call upon them to deliberate and consult about such things as may most conduce to the promoting of the great end and design of Christianity and in order thereunto to have such Meetings as they apprehend may be most serviceable to this purpose to which therefore every good Christian ought for his part to consent and as much as lies in him to concurr yet how any certain Form or Prescript of Ecclesiastical Synods either General National Provincial or Diocesan duly invested with Authority can from hence be inferred without any farther human appointment I cannot in the least imagine And however a man may put a specious and plausible gloss upon the matter yet to affirm that Ecclesiastical Synods are of Divine Institution without assigning any Law or Command of God either immediately or else by good consequence to make good those particulars that I have but now denyed § 5. must I think upon a through examination be found most absurd and unreasonable 8. But it may be it will be farther objected that it is beyond dispute that the Apostles did hold Ecclesiastical Synods And therefore we may well presume that there was a Command for this altho' we do not find it recorded expresly in the holy Scriptures To which I answer that I do indeed allow that the Apostles with some Others did sometimes meet together for the determining and setling of some things which related to the good of the Church and Benefit of Religion Act. 1.15 and 6.2 and 15.6 And therefore I will not say but that they did or might have held Ecclesiastical Synods But why must we suppose that they had a particular Command from God for the doing of that which common Prudence and natural Reason must needs suggest to all sober men in the like circumstances Or if they had any special Command from God for the holding any of those Meetings which yet is more than we can tell I cannot see how such an unrecorded and Unknown Command can ever be reckoned as a standing and perpetual Rule to the Church 9. Secondly Altho' there is no manner of Divine Institution Properly speaking Yet I freely allow that in the Law of God and the Reason of things there is a very good prudential Foundation for Ecclesiastical Synods That is to say that such things are suggested unto us partly by God's Law and partly by natural Reason as must needs convince every sober and thinking man that it is highly convenient that upon some occasions Ecclesiastical Synods should be convened and holden For as the Law of God obliges every man to do as much good as he is able in his place and station and to promote the honour of God and the Salvation of all men as far as he has or can procure opportunities for so doing so does our own Reason sufficiently assure us that these things may upon many occasions be expedited and set forward and free from such obstructions and impediments as too often do arise much better by the joint and unanimous endeavours of many wise and good men concurring together than by the distinct and separate labour of each of those men severally and apart As also that no men ordinarily can be supposed to be more fit to handle judge and determine whatever relates to matters of this Nature than they who have made these very things their chiefest care and Business that is to say than the Bishops and Pastors of the Church Whenever therefore any doubt or difficulty arises about any thing wherein the Glory of God and the Salvation of Men are concerned which cannot more readily or easily be assoiled and removed Nothing I think can be more proper and rational than that a convenient number of the Bishops and Pastors of the Church should be assembled together in order to consult and declare their Sense and Judgement in the Case And because such Assemblies would signifie little or nothing if every Man were still left at his Liberty either to give or refuse Submission to their Determinations It is therefore very proper that all those Men for whose sake and upon whose account the Assembly meets should be under some obligation to acquiesce in and be obedient unto such things as are there Concluded upon and Decreed The ground and extent of which Obligation shall be inquired into in its proper place And this I take to be a fair and rational Account of and Foundation for the Assembling and holding of Ecclesiastical Synods But by no means to denominate them of Divine Institution any more than Parliaments or any other Assemblies which are held for the promoting of the temporal welfare and happiness of men to the forwarding of which every man is as really tho' perhaps not as highly obliged by the Law of God as he is to advance the glory of God or promote the Salvation of others 10. Thirdly altho' I will not take upon me to determine whether the Apostles had any immediate Command from God for the holding of any of those Assemblies or Synods as some will have them to be of which we but just now were speaking § 8. which for ought I know they might or whether therein they followed only the Dictates of common prudence which as far as I can judge is altogether as probable as the other Yet untill I shall see some better reason to the contrary I cannot but think that From the time of the Apostles downwards All the Ecclesiastical Synods that ever have been held in the Church have been purely and altogether of human Institution Altho' as I have said in the preceeding Section there may have been a prudential Foundation for them in the

Law of God and the reason of things As indeed there is for Parliaments or such sort of Assemblies in the State as well as for Synods in the Church For if no other Rule or Law can be found excepting only first the voluntary Agreement of the Church it self and afterwards the Laws of Civil States when they became Christian either first for the calling of any such Assemblies at all Or the appointing of time or place for their meeting Or secondly for prescribing and determining who and what Persons shall compose them Or Thirdly for the empowering them to Act or obliging others to submit to them Then it must follow that they are purely and altogether of Human Institution According to what I have laid down § 4. But no other Law or Rule for any of these things did ever yet appear to me upon the most impartial search that I have been able to make And therefore I cannot judge them to be of any other Institution than what I have already said And let thus much suffice for the first Enquiry 11. As to the Second Enquiry viz. What right Ecclesiastical Synods have to meet and Act antecedent to the Laws of each Kingdom and Commonwealth By a right to do any thing I understand not only a Natural but such a Moral Power of performing such an Action as that it would be unlawful for another man to hinder or obstruct the same Thus every man has a Right to make use of those things which he has honestly gotten for the preserving and sustaining of his own Life And also to worship God according as he has appointed in order to his own Salvation Nor can it at least ordinarily be Lawful for any man to debar or prohibit another in or from the doing of either of these things Let us then but set our Selves to enquire how far and in what cases it may be either Lawful or Unlawful for any Persons to hinder an Ecclesiastical Synod from Acting or Meeting And this will lead us to an exact knowledge of their Right to Meet and Act together with the just extent and measure of it 12. In the first place then Where any Persons meet together in order to do good And it also sufficiently appears that there is no probability of any evil Consequence of their meeting Such an Assembly as this ought not upon any account or by any one either to be prohibited or disturbed For as every man is under an obligation himself to do all the good which he has an opportunity for so ought he not by parity of Reason to be any hindrance to any other men in their doing whatever good may lie in their power 13. But Secondly Wherever there is a just and well grounded Suspicion that such a Meeting or Assembly will prove in the end to be of Evil Consequence However well it may perhaps by some be designed As far as any Person or Persons lie under an Obligation to prevent the Evil that is so justly beforehand suspected so far are they obliged to hinder as much as they can the Convening of such an Assembly I mean upon a supposition that the Evil Consequence is not by any other way to be avoided This I take to be as plain as any thing almost can be And therefore if the Civil Magistrate according to the best of his Understanding foresees and believes that the meeting of any Assembly altho' upon the design and business of Religion will probably create feuds and animosities among the People or keep up and heighten those which are already rais'd which in the end may tend to Faction or Division in the Church or State As he is obliged by the Trust reposed in him to preserve and maintain Peace and quietness and good order in the Commonwealth so will it Consequently be his Duty as far as he is Invested with Lawful Power for it to prevent and put a stop to any such Meetings 14. Thirdly Altho' any number and of any men whatsoever may Lawfully assemble together whensoever it is for a good end and no evil Consequence of such a Meeting is foreseen or justly to be suspected Yet even The Bishops and Presbyters of the Church have no right to meet together as an Ecclesiastical Synod That is to say they can have no Authority so to transact matters as to lay an Obligation upon others § 1. Except they have a Lawful Power and Commission for their so doing For whosoever in any case Acts without a sufficient Commission may undoubtedly be Opposed by every man who is any way concerned in the matter and may justly be obstructed and hindered in their proceedings by those who have Lawful Authority over them 15. Here then for the full and final determination of this Second Enquiry let this Question be proposed viz. From whence does an Ecclesiastical Synod derive its Power and Authority to sit and Act as a Synod In answer to which I take it First to be very plain from what I have said § 5. that Ecclesiastical Synods do not derive their Power and Authority immediately from God For if they did they must be of Divine Institution And Secondly as for the Civil Magistrate our very Enquiry supposes him as yet to have no hand in the matter Thirdly then it must remain that Ecclesiastical Synods do immediately derive their power and Authority Antecedently to the Civil Laws only from the Church its self Immediately I say For that all Lawful Power and Authority whatsoever is Mediately and Ultimately derived from God I freely grant For neither can we find any other person from whom immediately to fetch the Power of such Synods Nor is it to be doubted but that By virtue of that Power which God has given to all men over themselves the Church may in some Cases Invest a Synod with an Authority over its self as well as the People in their Civil capacity may do the same thing by a Parliament 16. The Sum then is this that as Ecclesiastical Synods are of Human Institution so antecedently to the Civil Laws their Power and Authority is immediately derived only from the Church As the Power of a Parliament is from the People in their Civil capacity And whenever a Synod is duly appointed by the Church it has a right to sit and Act Nor ought it to be therein hindered or obstructed by the Civil Magistrate except he has just ground to believe that some ill consequence will unavoidably follow from their Sitting and Acting which it is his duty to prevent And let this suffice for the Second Enquiry 17. The Third Enquiry contains two distinct Questions viz. First In what things And Secondly Over what Persons may an Ecclesiastical Synod have Authority But still antecedent to the Civil Laws And here I shall lay this down as a fundamental proposition viz. That as no Assembly can have greater Authority than what is Originally lodged in those Persons by whom they are appointed and empowered so neither can

an end to such Discords and prevent those evils which thereby tho' at some distance threaten the Civil State And altho ' he has no Power by Virtue of his Civil Authority to determine Controversies in Religion Yet he may very Lawfully And by his Office he is obliged to over rule and suppress all such dissentions about it as are any way likely to prove injurious to the welfare of that Society which is committed to his Care and Charge Secondly Whereas it is very possible that Governours of the Church may assume to themselves more Power than what really belongs to them and by degrees encroach upon the Authority of the Civil Magistrate as has actually been done by the Church of Rome It is Lawful for the Magistrate in such a case to make such Laws as may effectually keep and restrain the Church within the proper bounds and Limits of it's own jurisdiction For to say that the Supreme Magistrate has not sufficient Authority to assert and maintain his Lawful Power against all Encroachments whatsoever is in effect to take away his Supremacy and so to make him Supreme and not Supreme at the same time Thirdly If the Supreme Magistrate be a Christian and a Professor of the true Religion It will be his duty to make use of that Authority in which he is vested as much as he can for the Encouragement of that Profession of which he himself is For he that has great Opportunities of doing good and yet neglects to make use of them is accountable to God for burying that Talent which he ought to have employed in his Masters Service Altho' therefore he ought not to Persecute even a False Religion as long as it teaches nothing which is Injurious to Civil Society Yet he may and he ought both to defend and encourage the true one Which cannot as I conceive sufficiently be done without making some Laws concerning Ecclesiastical affairs as well for the supporting of the Churches Authority by the Civil Power as also for the Correcting and restraining those who are Unruly and Disorderly and under the pretence of Religion would embroil the Church And perhaps the State too And cannot be kept in Order by her Discipline and Censures And if the chief Stations in the Church should happen to be filled with such Men as should oppose the making of any such Laws as really would tend to the Security Peace and Advantage of Religion I see no reason why the Civil Legislative Power If in the hands of Christians may not even without the consent of the Church enact such Laws and enforce them with such proper penalties as they are fully convinced would be really useful and serviceable to so good an end 24. But here it may perhaps be demanded suppose the judgement of the Civil Magistrate and that of the Church should in this point differ one from the other which of them ought to take place And put the case that the Church should think it at any time to be absolutely necessary for the Glory of God and the good of Religion to hold an Ecclesiastical Synod and the Civil Magistrate at the same time should refuse his consent or directly forbid them so to do And that upon a strong persuasion that the meeting of such a Synod would in such a juncture be of very dangerous Consequence either to the Church it self or to the State or it may be to both What must in this case be done Must the Church convene a Synod in Obedience to the Conviction which she has of the necessity thereof And must the Civil Magistrate yield unto it against his own judgment Or must the will of the Magistrate be obeyed and the Church act contrary to her own perswasion To which I am able to give no other answer but this That every man who is honest and sincere will always act according as he is fully convinced to be his duty as he shall answer for the same before the Tribunal of God And if the different and contrary perswasions of men do sometimes occasion some clashing and opposition between them I know not how in this world it is to be avoided But considering how both Reason and Scripture do enforce Obedience to the Civil Powers upon the Conscience of every man I think the case ought to be Exceeding plain before Subjects should offer upon any account to act contrary to the Laws of the Land And when even their most necessary duty to God Obliges them so to do yet still it ought to be with all the respect and deference to the Civil Magistrate that the case will possibly admit of that all just reason of offence may be avoided and that the World may be throughly satisfied that it is pure Conscience alone and not any discontent or turbulent humour which moves them to proceed in such a manner And so much for the Fourth and Last Enquiry FINIS Books Printed for Richard Sare at Gray's-Inn-Gate in Holbourn THE Authority of Christian Princes over Ecclesiastical Synods in answer to a Letter to a Convocation Man Octavo An Appeal to all the True Members of the Church of England in behalf of the King's Supremacy Octavo The Principles of the Christian Religion Explained in a Brief Comentary on the Church Catechism Octavo A Practical Discourse against Profane Swearing Twelves These Four by the Reverend Dr. Wake Essays on several Moral Subjects Octavo A short View of the Profaness and Immorality of the English Stage Octavo A Defence of the said View Octavo These Three by the Reverend Mr. Collier Maxims and Reflexions on Plays in Answer to a Discourse Printed before a Play call'd Beauty in Distress Written in French by the Bishop of Meaux with an Advertisement concerning the Book and Author By Mr. Collier Octavo A Gentleman's Religion in Three Parts Twelves Humane Prudence or the Art by which a Man may raise himself and Fortune to Grandeur The Seventh Edition Twelves