Selected quad for the lemma: church_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
church_n	ordination_n	power_n	presbyter_n	3,665	5	10.0489	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A19460	A iust and temperate defence of the fiue books of ecclesiastical policie: written by M. Richard Hooker against an vncharitable letter of certain English Protestants (as they tearme themselues) crauing resolution, in some matters of doctrine, which seeme to ouerthrow the foundation of religion, and the Church amongst vs. Written by William Covel Doctor in Diuinitie, and published by authority. The contents whereof are in the page following.	Covell, William, d. 1614?	1603 (1603)	STC 5881; ESTC S120909	118,392	162

Ecclesiasticall work is for the maner of performāce ordered by diuers ecclesiastical lawes prouiding that as the sacrament it self is a gift of no mean worth so the ministerie thereof might in all circumstances appeare to bee a function of no small regarde The ministerie of the things diuine is a function which as God did himselfe institute so neither may men vndertake the same but by authority and power giuen them in lawfull manner That God which is no way deficient or wanting vnto man in necessaries and hath therfore giuen vs the light of his heauenly truth because without that inestimable benefit we must needes haue wandred in darknesse to our endles perdition and who hath in the like aboundance of mercies ordeined certaine to attend vpon the due execution of requisite parts and offices therein prescribed for the good of the whole world which men therunto assigned doe hold their authority from him whether they be such as himselfe immediately or else the Church in his name inuesteth it being neither possible for all nor for euery man without distinction conuenient to take vpon him a charge of so great importance and therfore very fitly the Church of England affirmeth that it is not lawfull for any one to take to himselfe the office of preaching publikely or administring the Sacraments in the Church except he be first lawfully called to doe th●se things For God who hath reserued euen from the first beginning of the world vntill the end therof a Church vnto himselfe vpon earth against which the gates of hell shall not preuaile hath likewise appointed a perpetuall ministery for the seruice therein which though for outward calling hath not bin euer the same yet continually it was limited in those bounds as a thing most vnmeet and vnlawfull for any man to vndertake that was not called For as it is Gods infinite mercie when he could either saue vs without the ministry of any or by the ministry of Angels yet then to honor man with this dignity to make him a coadiutor dispenser and cohelper in so great a worke so it is his wisdome to appoint both for the auoiding of confusion and vnfitnesse such persons as are truly allotted to so honorable an office which neither before vnder or after the law was euer lawfull without any calling to vndertake The enemies to this religious order of the Church haue bin certaine louers of confusion which vnder pretence of the calling of the spirit haue ouerboldly intruded themselues into those holy functions for which lawfully they had neuer warrant Such were the Enthusiasts Anabaptists Schwenkfeldians who being enemies to all order vnder pretence of a calling from the Holy-ghost which others wanted haue made a passage contrary to that restraint of the Apostle Let no man take vpon him that honor to himselfe but he that is called of God without expectation of lawfull warrant to those duties that in the Church are greatest for in the time before the law it was not permitted to take the office of priesthood vnlesse he either were or had the prerogatiue of the eldest brother This was for the sinne of Ruben deriued to the tribe of Louie first for their zeale in that great idolatry and was after confirmed vnto him in the sedition of Corah and yet not to all of that family either to serue in that tabernacle or to teach throughout all Israel Neither were all ages equally fit vnto this calling it being neither lawfull before fiue and twenty nor after fifty to be admitted to it As also those that were admitted had a speciall consecration for a personall difference from the rest of that family to let them vnderstand that although they and only they of that tribe were to be imployed in those functions yet it was not lawfull to vndertake it without a calling this afterward whē better notes of eminencie gaue that allowance which before birth did was with greater reuerence to be expected and to be obserued with a greater care by those whom the Church had inuested with authority to call vnto that charge To these persons because God imparted power ouer his mysticall bodie which is the society of soules and ouer that naturall which is himselfe for the knitting of both in one a worke which antiquity doth call the making of Christs body the same power is in such not amisse both tearmed a kind of marke or Character and acknowledged to be indeleble For ministeriall power is a marke of separation because it seuereth them that haue it from other men and maketh them a speciall order consecrated vnto the seruice of the most high in things wherewith others may not meddle Their difference therfore from other men is in that they are a distinct order and I call it indeleble because they which haue once receiued this power as Maister Hooker saith may not thinke to put it off and on like a cloake as the weather serueth to take it reiect and resume it as oft as themselues liste of which prophane and impious contempt these latter times haue yeelded as of all other kinds of iniquity and apostasie strange examples But let them know which put their hands to this plough that once consecrated vnto God they are made his peculiar inheritance for euer Suspensions may stoppe and degradations vtterly cutte off the vse or exercise of power giuen but voluntarily it is not in the power of man to separate and pull asunder what God by his authority coupleth Neither neede there a reordinatiō for such as were consecrated by the Church in corrupter times for out of men indued with gifts of the spirit the Church chose her ministers vnto whom was giuen ecclesiasticall power by ordination which they could neither assume or reiect at their owne pleasure Of these without doubt the Apostolick Churches did acknowledge but three degrees at the first Apostles in stead whereof are now Bishops Presbyters and Deacons for there is an error as Maister Hooker saith which beguileth many who much entangle both themselues and others by not distinguishing seruices offices and orders Ecclesiasticall the first of which three and in part the second may be executed by the laity whereas none haue or can haue the third namely order but the clergie Catechists Exorcists Readers Singers and the rest of like sort if the nature only of their labour and paines be considered may in that respect seeme clergie men euen as the fathers for that cause tearme them vsually Clerks as also in regard of the end whereunto they were trained vp which was to enter into orders when yeeres and experience should make them able notwithstanding in as much as they no way differed from others of the laity longer then during that work of seruice which at any time they might giue ouer beeing thereunto but admitted not tyed by irreuocable ordination we finde them alwaies exactly seuered from that body whereof those three before rehearsed orders alone are naturall parts

This will appeare more fully howsoeuer you mislike it ●f we consider but a little those seruices and duties about which they were imployed The first were doorekeepers for we omitte the first tonsor which was not any order but a preparation whose office was as Maister Caluin noteth to open and to shut the doores of the temple we agree in this with the Church of Rome our diffrenece is for the ordination of them The second were readers the duty of these as Zanchy saith was only to reade the Bible without any exposition in a pulpit or place more eminent then the rest so that in the compasse of a whole yeere it was fully finished and read ouer this was to make the people who could not read more familiarly acquainted with the holy scriptures Of this duty S. Cyprian in his Epistles hath written most as of one Aurelius beeing made a Reader of one Satur●s as also of Celerinus which afterward was a Martyr The difference betwixt vs in this point and the Church of Rome is that they make it a certaine degree and order which Maister Caluin doth not which in my opinion is no material difference seeing vndoubtedly the Church by speciall ordination without Ecclesiasticall order appointed those whom she vsed in those places The next were exorcists with vncleane spirits but this was rather doubtlesse a peculiar gift then any ordinary office in Gods Church The next were disputers which were appointed with all commers to defend the religion against the heathen The next were Acolouthi attendants vpon the Bishops with whom these had for their learning and reuerend behauiour that familiarity that they were thought fittest to succeede in the place of Bishops This as it was an imployment of great respect so it is retained in the Church of Rome at this day with too meane a regard for so reuerend a place The next were Singers for it was thought vnfit that a Bishop a Presbyter or Deacon should doe this The last which we wil reckon was the Catechists whose office was to teach children and others conuerted the summe of Christian doctrine This dutie was referred to learned men sometimes Presbyters Doctors or Deacons but not euer For though Origen and Clemens were both Doctors and Catechists in Alexandria yet all that were Catechists and so allowed to expound and teach the Scriptures were not of necessitie admitted to holy orders and so consequently as the word is properly taken by Maister Hooker none of the Clergie I say properly for Clergie is a general name for all those whose lot and portion is the Lord More specially for those who are students in diuinity after are to enter into holy orders Of these there were Colledges after the Apostles as before Colledges of the Prophets And out of these were taken such as the Church without Ecclesiasticall ordination vsed in those seruices which before are mentioned Out of all which it is most apparant that from the Clergie in respect of ministeriall power these are iustly seuered This is that which you mislike esteeming it a thing vnfit for any man to preach that hath not a ministerial calling Neither doth Maister Hooker determine how fit it is that this should be performed by men who are not entred into orders but that this hath sometimes beene the practise of the Church howsoeuer now performed by men of another calling there is no man of anie reading can possibly doubt Neither is the practise in some Colledges of diuines at this day altogether vnlike where men are admitted euen for exercise or triall to interpret expound the Scriptures which are not as yet but hereafter may be consecrated to an Ecclesiasticall function Now whereas you scoffe at the word Character as if there were no stamp at al which made a difference betwixt the Clergie and the Laity know that where there is a chāge of estate with an impossibility of returne there we haue reason to account an indeleble character to bee imprinted This faith the Church of Rome is in Baptisme Confirmation Order Of the last of which we only contend at this time For any thing that I reade Saint Austin was the first that vsed the word in this sense and no doubt of it in Baptisme there is that mark stamped vpon vs in that we are baptized that there is a passiue power as the Schoolemen call it which maketh a man in time fit to receiue the rest which they cal Sacraments and without which they are truly accounted void This forme figure impession or character is called indeleble because that is not to be reiterated frō whence it commeth The character of Order is an actiue power as the Schoolemen speake which giueth an abilitie publikely to administer the Sacramēts vnto those whō the church hath esteemed fit From whence proceedeth the second great exception which you haue taken in this Article namely that Maister Hooker seemeth to grant a libertie as for Cat●chists to preach who are no Ministers so also for women in cases of some necessitie to Baptise contrary say you both to that most Reuerend Archbishop and others who constantly affirme that God wel ordred Churches forbid women all dispensation of holy mysteries Wee are not to dispute what lawes giue allowance to the performance of this office nor what care ought to make restraint from too vsuall a libertie of doing it without great necessitie seeing weaknesse is commonly bold and boldnesse a presumptuous intruder where it hath least cause But this we say which M. Hooker hath pro●ed already that Baptisme by women is truly Baptisme good and effectual to those that haue it neither doe all those exceptions of sexe qualitie insufficiencie or whatsoeuer serue to frustrate such as the Church of her indulgence is willing to admit from being partakers of so great a benefit To make women teachers in the house of God were a grosse absurditie seeing the Apostle hath said I permit not a woman to teach and if any from the same ground exclude them frō other publike offices in the Church wee are not much against it But to womens Baptisme in priuate by occasion of vrgent necessitie the reasons that concerne ordinarie Baptisme in publike are no iust preiudice neither can we by force thereof disproue the practise of those Churches which necessity requiring allow Baptisme in priuate to be administred by women We may not from lawes that prohibite any thing with restraint conclude absolute and vnlimitted prohibitions For euen things lawfull are well prohibited when there is feare least they make the way to vnlawful more easie it may be the libertie of Baptisme by women at such times doth sometimes embolden the rasher sort to do it where no such necessity is But whether of permission besides law or in presumption against law they do it which now is no part of the question in hand it is not hereby altogether frustrate void

meanes those blessings which are incomprehensible Seeing therfore that grace is a consequent of Sacraments a thing which accompanieth them as their end a benefit which he y t hath receiueth from God himselfe the author of Sacraments not from any other natural or supernatural quality in them it may be heereby both vnderstood that Sacraments are necessary and that the manner of their necessity to life supernaturall is not in al respects as foode vnto naturall life Because they containe in themselues no vitall force or efficacie but they are duties of seruice and worship which vnlesse we performe as the author of grace requireth they are vnprofitable For all receiue not the grace of God which receiue the Sacraments of his grace Neither is it ordinarily his will to bestowe the grace of Sacraments vpon any but by the Sacraments Which grace also they that receiue by Sacraments or with Sacraments receiue it from him and not from them That sauing grace which Christ originally is or hath for the general good of his whole Church by Sacramēts he seuerally deriueth into euery mēber therof They serue as instruments the vse is in our hands the effect is his And this made the Schoolemen and the rest which you are affraide to graunt to say that the Sacraments were not only signes but causes of our iustification Now agent causes we know are of two sorts principall which worketh by the vertue and power of his forme as fire maketh hotte and thus nothing can cause grace but God himselfe Grace being a participation of the diuine nature Instrumentall which worketh not as the other by vertue of his owne proper forme but only by that motion which it hath from the principall and first agent Thus doe Sacraments worke and therfore saith Saint Austin the Sacraments are finished performed and passe away but the vertue of God that worketh by them or with them remaineth Thus for the vse of them the Church hath Gods expresse commandement for the effect his conditionall promise so that without our obedience to the one there is of the other no apparant assurance as contrariwise where the signes and Sacraments of his grace are not either through contempt vnreceiued or receiued with contempt we are not to doubte but that they really giue what they promise and are what they signifie For we take not the Sacraments as it seemeth you doe for bare resemblances or memorials of things absent neither for naked signes and testimonies assuring vs of grace receiued before but as they are indeede and in truth for meanes effectual whereby God when we take the Sacraments deliuereth into our hands that grace auaileable vnto eternall life which grace the Sacraments represent or signifie And yet we acknowledge as Hugo saith that the Sacraments being as he calleth them vessels of grace they cure not of them selues no more then glasses doe the sick but the potions contained in them Neither doth any man say no not the Church of Rome although they be so accused by some of vs that the Sacraments worke of themselues by a vertue resigned vnto them without God meerely of the worked on actiuely but that God worketh by them as by instruments powerfull and thought in his wisdome fittest For doubtles the Church hath authority to vse the word and the Sacraments as powerfull meanes of regeneration both hauing by a diuine ordination a force and vertue to beget faith and therefore iustly amongst all the treasures that God hath left vnto his Church we honor and admire most the holy Sacraments not respecting so much the seruice which we do vnto God in receiuing them as the dignity of that sacred and secret guift which we thereby receiue from God And therfore when our Church saith that Sacraments are not only markes of Christian profession but rather certaine testimonies and effectuall signes of Grace and of the goodwill of God towards vs by which God worketh inuisiblie in vs we thereby conceiue how grace is indeed the very end for which these heauenly mysteries were instituted and besides sundry other properties obserued in them the matter whereof they consist is such as signifieth figureth and representeth their end For surely sacraments are the powerfull instruments of God vnto eternall life For as the naturall life consisteth in the vnion of the body with the soule so the spiritual life in the vnion of the soule with God And for asmuch as there is no vnion of God with man without that meane betweene both which is both nor this participated to vs without the sacraments the vertue must needs bee great that God by these imparteth vnto his Church For they are signes not only signifying but as M. Zanchie saith exhibiting also inuisible grace For God directly affirmeth that he giueth that with the signe which by the signe he representeth In the Sacraments wee acknowledge three things The Word the Element the thing signified by the word and represented by the element and all these vnited yet not by any reall or physicall vnion that one cannot bee receiued without the other but in these the vnion is sacramentall and the order mysticall betwixt the signes and the things signified by an institution from God Whereby it commeth to passe that heauenly and spirituall things by signes bodily and earthly are signified offered and by the vertue of the holy Ghost really exhibited and performed vnto the elect Thus if either the signes or the thing signified be wanting it ceaseth truly to bee a sacrament Neither is grace necessarily tied euer to the externall sacrament for we giue the one and God giueth the other and when both are giuen then is the sacrament faithfully receiued Thus God iustifieth by the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the holy Ghost for this being the effect of his promise the sacraments apply it vnto vs by thus giuing it faith by thus receiuing both being as instruments For God doth iustifie by the sacraments man by faith but God one and the same maketh righteous by both he being the author from whence they both come Therefore it is a branch of beleefe howsoeuer you scoffe at it as omitted in our Creed that sacraments are in their place as Maister Hooker saith no lesse required then beleefe it self For when our Sauior promiseth eternall life it is with this condition as health to Naaman the Syrian Wash and be cleane But you are afraid to say that the Sacraments beget faith although you confesse that they do increase it Surely this is a feare like to the disposition of some melancholie humour where fancie growing strong forceth an auoidance of things oftentimes that are without daunger for to make Sacraments and the word to be ioyned with faith both in his generation and in our iustification is neither to rob faith of his proper office nor to ascribe more vnto the Sacraments then of right belongeth For we are not in anie doubt to affirme