Selected quad for the lemma: church_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
church_n	heathen_a	let_v	publican_n	2,742	5	10.9981	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A09061	An ansvvere to the fifth part of Reportes lately set forth by Syr Edvvard Cooke Knight, the Kinges Attorney generall Concerning the ancient & moderne municipall lawes of England, vvhich do apperteyne to spirituall power & iurisdiction. By occasion vvherof, & of the principall question set dovvne in the sequent page, there is laid forth an euident, plaine, & perspicuous demonstration of the continuance of Catholicke religion in England, from our first Kings christened, vnto these dayes. By a Catholicke deuyne.	Parsons, Robert, 1546-1610.	1606 (1606)	STC 19352; ESTC S114058	393,956	513

Church and such as had cheife spirituall authoritie therin from time to time of whome Christ meant when he said Dic Ecclesiae denounce it to the Church and againe If he heare not the Church let him be to thee as a heathen or publican so in like manner must we say in these daies nor haue we any other reasonable answere why we beleeue any one booke of the new or old Testament to be scripture that is to saie to containe doctrine of the holie ghost and not of man but for that the gouernours of our Church which haue spirituall power among vs doe tell vs so 4. Yea all Sectaries likewise of what sorte or sect soeuer are forced to follow the same rule for that whatsoeuer they admit to be scripture they admit the same either vpon the credit of our Church and gouernours therof or of their owne or of both but especially indeed of their owne which is seen by their doubting or reiecting of any parcels of scripture doubted of or reiected by their owne leaders though admitted by ours As for example the booke of vvisedome of Toby Iudith Ecclesiasticus the first and second of Machabees and other parcels of the old Testament reiected by Luther and Lutherans as also the Epistle of S. Iames the second and third of S. Peter the Apocalips and other peeces of the new testament which our Church admitteth simply But Caluin and Caluinists though expreslie they reiect them not with the Lutherans as appeareth by our English Church where they are left to stand in the Bible yet is their admission so could and conditionall as it may rather seeme a curteous dimission then any way a faithfull or confident acceptation 5. And the same may be said of any other particular point or points of doctrine of any Religion or sect whatsoeuer the leaders or gouernours that are presumed to haue cheife authoritie must iudge and discerne distinguish expound and determine what is to be beleued or not what is to be held and taught or reiected and finallie what is to be done and practised what Sacraments what Ceremonies what Customes are to be vsed hovv where and when And last of all this second part of power and authoritie rule order gouerment and iurisdiction is that which giueth light direction and life to euerie religion And for so much as there can be but one true that can bring vs to saluation it followeth that whersoeuer this true spirituall power and iurisdiction is found there is the onlie true religion also which a man may securelie follow yea that vnder paine of eternall damnation he is bound to follow for that this authoritie will lead him to life euerlasting Christ hauing giuen the keies of heauen thervnto that is to say full power to shut and open heauen by binding or loosing sinnes vpon earth and that in such sort saith S. Chrysostome and all other ancient Fathers with him that the Courte or Tribunall of heauen standeth expecting vvhat is done vpon earth to confirme the same there for so much as euer since this admirable vniuersall and dreadfull authoritie was giuen say they by Christ vpon earth vnto the Gouernours of his Church nothing is done in that Court of heauen but by presidence and predetermination of that which is done or sentenced in the Tribunall of the militant Church on earth that is to say he that is here absolued is absolued there he that is here condemned is condemned there without remission VVherof also the said Fathers do inferre that to find out this authoritie and to follow the same and the direction therof is the only sure way to saluation And that the erring herin either wilfully or of ignorance is the most certaine path to damnation for that by no other ordinary means since this Commission giuen and authoritie instituted among Christians is any grace fauour pardon light direction or other spirituall benefit to be receiued from God but by way of this subordination of spirituall authoritie appointed in his Church 6. VVherfore al hope of life depēding as you see of this soueraigne point so as whosoeuer erreth in this erreth in al ech man wil easilie cōsider how much it importeth him to looke well thervnto and to stand attentiue and vigilant in the discussion therof to see whence and how and by what means and from what sourge and fountaine this authoritie and spirituall Iurisdiction is deriued In which point the three professors of different religions before mentioned doe principally differ and distinguish themselues The Protestāt deducing this spiritual power from the temporall Prince or rather Princesse vnder Q. Elizabeth The Puritane from the people The Catholicke from the succession of Bishops from Christs time downe wards and especially from the highest which they hold to be S. Peter and his successours And which part soeuer of these three hitteth right goeth happely securelie the other two doe run to euerlasting perditiō 7. The Protestant for his ground hath those sayings of scripture That all orderly authoritie is from God That vve must giue to Cesar that vvhich is Cesars That Princes are to be honoured and obeyed for God and Kings as highest in dignitie and that he vvhich resisteth lavvfull authoritie resisteth Gods ordination and therby incurreth damnation c. All which the other two parties granting doe affirme to haue byn vnderstood of temporall authoritie only for gouerning the Commonwealth and not of spirituall for gouerning of soules which they proue for that all Kings and Princes were then infidels and especially the Roman Emperours of whom this was principally meant who by these places of scriptures cannot be said to haue receiued Commission to gouerne the Christian Church which was in their times and vnder their dominions but onlie in temporall matters and Ciuill affaires And that the spirituall power and iurisdiction wherof we talke was at that time in another sorte of men to wit in the Apostles and their successours which were Bishops according to the testimonie of S. Paul in the Acts of the Apostles speaking vnto them and saying The holie Ghost hath placed you Bishops to gouerne his Church vvhich he hath purchased vvith his ovvne bloud 8. The Puritanes or rigid Caluinists haue for their ground certaine elections made by the people and recorded as well in the Acts of the Apostles as in other histories of the Primitiue Church as for example when they chose two in the place of Iudas to wit Ioseph and Matthias to bee determined by lot which of them should be And when afterward they chose S. Stephen six others to supply the place of Deacons many times afterward in the primitiue Church we read that the people did choose or name their Bishops But to this the other two parties doe answere that in the first two examples out of the Acts of the Apostles it is euident by the Text that those elections or nominations

his flocke Pasce oues meas pasce agnos meos c. 13. This Spirituall and Ecclesiasticall Power then which Christ hath left for gouerning his Church though it be to be exercised heere vpon earth and by men yet is it iustlie called by holie fathers not humane Power but diuine and heauenlie both for that it was giuen immediatelie and exercised also by Christ himself that came from heauen and for that it tendeth to heauen and is approued in heauen yea to vse the Phrase of S. Chrisostome and other Fathers directeth and commaundeth the verie Tribunall of heauen which heauenlie Power on earth S. Paul as an Apostle extraordinary hauing extraordinarilie also receiued not by man but by Iesus Christ as himself doth signifie did so much glorie of as he wrote to the Corinthians If I should glorie some what of our Power which Christ hath giuen vs to edification and not to destruction I would not blush at it And a litle before in the same Chapter he saith Nam arma militiae nostrae non carnalia sunt sed potentia Deo c. For the armour of our warrfare are not carnall or wordlie armes but are power from God In promptu habentes vlcisci omnem inobedientiam c. hauing speedy means to reuenge all inobedience And yet further to the said Corinthians within two Chapters after Quoniam si venero iterum non parcam If I come vnto you againe I will not spare to punish And a little after in the same place Ideo absens scribo vt non durius agam secundum potestatem quam Dominus dedit mihi I doe write vnto you absent to the end that when I shall come and be present with you I be not forced to deale more roughly according to the Power which our Lord hath giuen me 14. Beholde the dreadfull Spirituall Power which S. Paul affirmeth to be giuen to him by Christ as well to punish as to instruct and direct and according to this Power he writeth againe to the said Corinthians Quid vultis in virga veniam ad vos an in charitate spiritu mansuetudinis what will you haue mee doe shall I come vnto you in the power of the rodd or in loue and spirit of mildnes As who would saie choose which you will And note that heer the Power of correction giuen to the Apostles their successours is called the rodd in respect of strikinge as before in the words of Christ it was called the key of the kingdome of heauen and the power of binding and loosing sinnes in regard of the dreadfull shutting or opening heauen or hell gates vnto vs. And accordinge to this power S. Paul afterward exercised iudgment gaue sentence in a certaine grieuous case of Incest among the said Corinthians in these words Ego autem absens corpore praesens autem spiritu iam iudicani vt praesens eum qui sic operatus est I though absent in body yet present with you in spirit haue giuen iudgment vpon him that hath committed this sinne as though I were present in body And the same Apostle writinge to his scholler Timothie doth tell of another sentence and iudgment pronounced by him vpon Hymenaeus and Alexander two seditions and hereticall men quos tradidi Sathanae saith he whome I haue deliuered ouer to Sathan which is as much to saie as I haue excommunicated cut them of from the Church of God wherby they come to be no more in the protection of Christ but in the power and protection of Sathan 15. And the like Spirituall Iudgment was exercised by S. Peter vpon Simon Magus when he said vnto him Non est tibi pars neque sors in sermone isto Thou hast no parte nor participation with vs in this word of God which we preach By which words of S. Peter the 30. Canon of the Apostles doth affime Simon Magus to haue bene excommunicated and cut of from the number of Christians and from all spirituall benefit belonging thervnto Which if we beleue S. Augustine was a more greiuous and dreadfull punishment than if he had been sentenced to be burned vvith fire drowned vvith vvater or pearced through vvith a temporall sworde In consideration wherof holie S. Chrysostome cryed out in his time Nemo contemnat vinculae Ecclesiastica non enim homo est qui ligat sed Christus qui nobis hant potestatem dedit Oh let no man contemne the chaines which ecclesiasticall power laieth vpon him in bindinge or loosinge his sinnes for it is not man that bindeth but Christ which hath giuen vnto vs that are Gouernours of his Church this power And S. Augustine againe Alligatur bomo amarius infaelicius Ecclesia clauibus quam quibuslibet grauissimis durissimis ferreis vel adamantini● nexibus A man is bound more bitterlie miserably by the keyes of the Church than by any most greiuous sharpe iron or adamāt bounds Wherof the holy Martyr and Bishop S. Cyprian gaue the reason before them both sayinge That in the old law vvhich vvas Carnall God gaue cōmaundement that such as were rebellious to their Priests and Iudges should be slaine vvith the sword But now in the lavv of Christ that is Spirituall proude and disobedient men are commaunded to be slaine eternallie vvith the spirituall svvord vvhich is their castinge out from the Church out of vvhich they cannot haue life 16. This then is the Spirituall and Ecclesiasticall dreadfull Power which Christ hath planted in his Church by his owne immediate commission for gouerninge the same in the affaires of our soules vnto the worlds end And heere we may note also that the same is double or of two sortes The one internall concerning mans conscience onlie by loosinge or bindinge sinnes by means of Sacraments The other is external Iurisdiction in hearing iudging and determining causes in publicke affaires that doe fall out in the Church tending to the same end and this distinction is founded in the words of Christ himself as well for binding and loosing of sinnes in respect of our conscience as also in that he addeth Si ecclesiam non audierit sit tibi tanquam Ethnicus Publicanus If he heare not the Church let him be to thee as a Heathen or Publican that is to say as holy Fathers expound let him be excomunicated cast out from the Church and then fled and auoided as one seperated by the authoritie of the said Church from all communion and fruite of Christian religion as much as if he were an Infidell or Publican Which meaning of our Sauiour S. Paul well vnderstandinge said of like men Auferte malum ex vobisipsis Take away and seperate the euill from among your selues which words S. Augustine expoundinge saith to be as much as if he had said Hominem malum pernicipsum à vobis seperate per excommunicationem Doe you seperate from your selues an

though more fitlie the same might haue byn shewed out of many Christian authors of more authoritie that this heathen Yet let M. Attorney ioyne issue with me vpon antiquitie in this our controuersie which he ought to doe as well in regard of this sentence as also for that euery where he iterateth the name and sound of the ancient and most ancient Common-lawes of England and then will the matter be quicklie decided as the proofe will afterward declare whervnto I remit me and doe end my answere to M. Attorneys Preface returning him his freindlie Farewell as also to the Reader OF THE STATE OF THE QVESTION IN GENERALL Concerning Spirituall and Temporall Povver and Iurisdiction their origen and subordination one to the other And how they stand togeather in a Christian Common-wealth CHAP. II. TO the end that the prosecution and issue of the particular controuersie we haue in hand about the Spirituall authoritie of Q. Elizabeth may be more cleere it shall not be a misse perhapes in this very beginning to set downe breiflie what Catholike Deuines and other learned men doe write and holde of Power and Iurisdiction in generall and of the origen ofspring author diuision and partes therof wherin M. Attorney is wholie silent vsing no explication or distinction at all and consequently giueth occasion therby to some confusion 2. First then our Deuines affirme that almighty God is author of all lawfull Power whatsoeuer both spirituall and temporall according to that generall proposition of S. Paul Non est potestas nisi à Deo There is no power but from God For that as it pleased his diuine maiestie to imparte with man other sparkes of his excellencyes as wisdome reason knowledge prouidence and the like so vouchsafed he also to make man partaker of his power and authoritie not only to gouerne all other creatures of his in the worlde but mankynde also and this both in body and soule temporall and eternall things vnder him in this world as his liestennant and substitute 3. The differences which are betweene these two Powers Iurisdictions Spirituall and Temporall Ecclesiasticall and Ciuill are diuers and sundry taken from the diuersitie of their ends obiect The end of Spirituall Power being to direct vs to euerlasting saluation both by instruction discipline and correction and of the Temporall or Ciuill by like meanes and helps to gouerne well t●e Common-wealth in peace aboundance order iustice and prosperitie And accordinge to these ends are also their obiects matter and meanes As for example the former hath for her obiect spirituall things belonginge to the soule as matters of faith Doctrine Sacraments and such other and thy latter handleth the Ciuill affaires of the Realme and Common-wealth as they appertaine to the temporall good and prosperitie thereof 4. The ancient learned Father S. Gregorie Nazianzen in a certaine Oration of his doth expresse the nature and conditions of these two Powers Spirituall and Temporall Ecclesiasticall and Ciuill by the similitude of spirit and flesh soule and sense which he saith may be considered either as two distinct Common-wealths seperated the one from the other or conioyned togeather in one Common-wealth only An example of the former wherin they are seperated may be in Beasts Angells the one hauing their Common-wealth of Sense onlie without soule or spirit and their end and obiects conforme thervnto which are the nourishment and preseruation of the body And the other Common wealth of Angells being of spirit only without flesh or body but in man are conioyned both the one and the other And euen so in the Common wealth of the Gentiles was onlie authoritie politicall earthlie and humane giuen by God to gouerne worldlie and humaine things but not spirituall for the soule wheras contrarywise in the Primitiue Christian Church for almost 300. yeare togeather none or few Kings being yet conuerted onlie spiritual authoritie was exercised by the Apostle and Christians Bishopps their successours for gouerninge the Church in Ecclesiasticall affaires without temporall accordinge to the saying of S. Paul in the Acts of the Apostles speaking to Bishops Vos posuit Spiritus Sanctus Episcopos regere ecclesiam Dei The holy-ghost hath appointed you that are Bishops to gouerne his Church 5. And this Spirituall Iurisdiction in respect of the high end and obiect therof aboue the temporall did the same Apostles by instructiō of the same Holie Ghost so highlie esteeme as the same S. Paul writinge to the Corinthians and reprehendinge them for going to law about temporall things before the heathen magistrate said that in secular matters they should appoint for iudges such as were contemptible in the Church that is to say men of meane account which was spoken by him not for that he contemned temporall Power as the heretical Anabaptists out of this place would proue for so he should be contrarie to himselfe who a litle before as you haue heard auowed that all power is from God and in other places that the King and temporall magistrate is to be honoured and obeyed as Gods minister and the like but onlie he saith this in comparison the one of the other and of their ends and obiects so different in dignitie worthines as you haue heard And this continued in the Primitiue Church to witt Spirituall Iurisdiction without Temporall vntill Constantine the Great and other Emperours and Kings after him being conuerted to the Christian faith entred into the said Church retaininge their Temporall States and Temporall Power which before they had but submitting themselues in spirituall and Ecclesiasticall matters vnto the spirituall gouernment and gouernours which they found to haue been in the same Church before their conuersion 6. Furthermore besides these differences of the end and obiects of these two Powers the forsaid Deuines doe shew another no lesse considerable then the former which is that albeit both of them be of God and doe proceed from him as the Author origen as hath been said yet far differentlie for that Ecclesiasticall authoritie is immediatlie from God and was giuen by Christ immediatlie to his Apostles and Bishops as before you haue heard out of S. Paul who addeth in the same place that Christ gaue them this Spirituall Iurisdiction ouer that Church quam acqui fiuit sanguine suo which he had bought and purchased with his bloud to make them and others in respect of this dreadfull circumstance to esteeme and respect the more this Spirituall Iurisdiction ouer soules which Iurisdiction Christ also himself God and man did exercise in person vpon earth wholie seperated from the vse of all Temporall Iurisdiction notwithstanding he was Lord of all as the same Deuines out of the Ghospell doe proue S●ewing therby and by the long continuance of his Church without the said Temporall Authoritie that Spirituall Iurisdiction is wholy independent therof and vtterlie distinct by her owne nature 7. And albeit Ciuill Power and