Selected quad for the lemma: diversity_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
diversity_n	gift_n	miracle_n	teacher_n	556	5	9.5967	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A15127	An ansvvere to a certen libel intituled, An admonition to the Parliament, by Iohn VVhitgifte, D. of Diuinitie	Whitgift, John, 1530?-1604.	1572 (1572)	STC 25427; ESTC S122025	173,998	302

worde béeing as you saye distincte offices will you thus dallie with the Scripture and make it a nose of waxe as the Papistes terme it to wrest and writhe it whiche waye you liste Here you muste néedes confesse eyther contradiction in your selues or falsification In the .1 Cor. 12. Sainct Paule sayeth that God hath ordeyned in the Churche firste Apostles then Prophetes thirdly teachers then them that doe miracles after that the giftes of teaching helpers gouernours diuersities of toungs here is not one worde of the office of Seniors neyther yet of their names For this worde gouernours teacheth vs that Christe hath ordeyned in his Churche some to beare rule and to gouerne but whether one in euery congregation or mo whether ministers of the worde or other whether magistrates or Seniors it is not here expressed howsoeuer it is it maketh nothing for your purpose I knowe that in the primatiue Churche they had in euery Churche certaine Seniors to whom the gouernement of the Congregation was committed but that was before there was any christian Prince or magistrate that openly professed the Gospell and before there was anye any Churche by publique authoritie established or vnder ciuile gouernement both the names and offices of Seniors was extinguished before Ambrose tyme as hée himselfe dothe testifie writing vpon the fift of the first to Timo. I tolde you before that the diuersitie of tyme and state of the Churche requireth diuersitie of gouernement in the same It can not be gouerned in tyme of prosperitie as it is in tyme of persecution It maye not be gouerned vnder a christian Prince which doth nourish and maynteyne it as it maye bée vnder a tyrant when it is constrayned to flée and séeke corners It can not bée gouerned in a whole Realme as it may be in one little Citie or towne it can not be gouerned when it is dispersed thorough many places as it maye be when it is collected into some one narrow and certaine place To bée shorte it can not be gouerned when it is full of hypocrites Papists Atheists and other wicked persons as when it hath very fewe or none suche As commonly it hathe not in tyme of persecution when the golde is as it were by fyre tryed from the drosse He that according to thys diuersitie of the forme state and tyme of the Churche doothe not allowe a diuersite of gouernemente dothe confounde and not edifye I praye you what Seniors coulde you haue in moste parishes in Englande fitte for that office But wyse not wilfull men haue to consider this God hath giuen the chiefe gouernement of his Churche to the Christian Magistrate who hath to consider what is moste conuenient and wée must therwith be content so that nothing be doone agaynst faythe and the commaundement of God. Admonition In steade of these Seniors in euery Church the Pope hath brought in and yet we maintein the lordship of one man ouer sundry Churches yea ouer many shires Answere You alledge in the margent in these words in the .12 to the Ro. he that exhorteth let him wayte on exhortation he that distributeth let him doe it with simplicitie hee that ruleth with diligence hee that sheweth mercye with cheerefulnesse To proue that in steade of these Seniors in euery Churche the Pope hath broughte in and wée yet maynteyne the Lordship of one man ouer many Churches c I knowe not howe this geare hangeth together or to what purpose you shoulde alledge that place It neyther proueth that in euery Churche there was Elders neyther that in place of them the pope hathe broughte in the Lordship of one man ouer many Churches I haue proued before in my aunswere to youre thirtéenth and fourtéenth reason that this Lordshippe of one man as you terme it but in deede lawfull iurisdiction ouer sundrye Churches was not the inuention of anye Pope but of great antiquitie in the Churche of Christe allowed by that famous Councell of Nice and practised since of moste godly and learned fathers In the nynth Cannon Concil Anno. it is thus written Per singulas regiones Episcopos conuenit nosse Metropolitanum Episcopum solicitudinem totius Prouinciae gerere propter quod ad Metropolim omnes vndique qui negotia videntur habere concurrant vnde placuit eum honore praecellere nihil amplius praeter eum caeteros Episcopos agere secundum antiquam à patribus nostris regulam constitutam nisi ea tantum quae ad suam Dioecesim pertinent c. It behoueth the Bishoppes in euery countrey to knowe theyr Metropolitane Bishop to haue care ouer the vvhole Prouince and therefore all suche as haue any businesse must come to their Metropolitane Citie vvherfore it pleaseth this Councell that hee also excell in honoure and that the other Bishoppes doe nothing vvithout him according to the aunciente rule prescribed by our forefathers but those thinges onely vvhiche perteyne to his owne Dioces c. Thys Councell was aboute the yeare of our Lorde 345. Admonition These Seniors then bicause their charge was not ouer muche did execute their office in their owne persons without substitutes Our Lorde Byshops haue their vnder officers as suffraganes Chauncelors Archdeacons Officials Commissaries and such like Answere You barely affirme without any proofe that these Seniors then did execute their offices in their owne persons without substitutes But your bare worde is not of sufficient credite although I thinke you wyll make a great difference betwixt Seniors and Byshops For they whome you call Seniors had no authoritie to preach or to minister the sacraments as Byshops haue That Byshops might haue substitutes and had so it is manyfest in the .13 Cannon Anc●rani concilij whiche was about the yere of our Lorde thrée hundred and eight and before Nicene councell where we reade on this sorte Vicarijs Episcoporum quos graeci coepiscopos vocant non licet vel presbyteros vel diac●nos ordinare sed nec presbyteris Ciuitatis sine Episcopi praecepto amplius aliquid ordinare nec sine authoritate literarum ei●● in vnaquaque parochia aliquid agere It is not lawfull for Byshops substitutes whom the Gretians do call felow Byshops or coadiutors to order either priests or deacons neither is it lawfull to the priests of the Citie without the Byshops authoritie to commaunde any thing else or without the authoritie of his letters to do any thing in any parishe It is manyfest hereby that Byshops then had Deputies whether you will call them Chauncellors Commissaries c. the matter is not great To contend for the name when the thing is certayne is a note of a contentious person Admonition Touching Deacons though their names be remaining yet is the office fouly peruerted and turned vpside downe for their duetie in the primatiue Church was to gather the almes diligently and to distribute it faythfully also for the sicke impotent persons to prouide painfully hauing euer a diligent care that the charitie of godly men were

house The finall ende of this discipline is the reforming of the disordered and to bring them to repentaunce and to bridle such as would offende The chiefest parte and last punishment of this discipline is excōmunication by the cōsent of the Church determined if the offender be obstinate whiche how miserably it hath bene by the Popes proctors is by our Canonists abused who seeth not In the primatiue Church it was in many mēs hāds now one alone excōmunicateth In those days it was the last censure of the church neuer wēt forth but for notorious crymes Nowe it is pronounced for euery lighte trifle Then excommunicatiō was greatly regarded and feared Nowe bycause it is a money matter no whit at all esteemed Then for great sinnes seuere punishmēt and for small offences litle censures Nowe great sinnes either not at all punished as blasphemy vsurie c or else sleightly passed ouer with pricking in a blāket or pinning in a sheete as adulterie whoredome dronkennesse c. Answere Where you speake truly and vprightly there I ioyne with you In deede excommunication whiche is the last and greatest punishmente in the Churche bycause it is commonly vsed and in euery trifling matter it is also commonly neglected and contemned I pray God it may be restored agayne to the first puritie But that excommunication was then in many mens hands the place by you alledged out of the 1. Cor. 5. proueth not as I haue before declared And although there be some defecte in the Churche touching this parte of discipline yet is not the church voide of al discipline for besides diuers profitable and godly lawes made for the correction of diuers vices there is a Commission for causes ecclesiasticall whiche both hath done and being accordingly vsed will do singuler much good in this common weale But it pleaseth not you one whit Admonition Againe such as are no sinnes as if a man cōform not himself to popish orders ceremonies if he come not at the whistle of him who hath by Gods word no authoritie to cal we meane Chauncelors Officials Doctors al that rable are greeuously punished not onely by excōmunication suspension depriuation other as they terme it spirituall coercion but also by banishing imprisoning reuiling taunting and what not Answere Here you are iudge in your owne cause and therefore you make of a mite an elephant It is méete that suche as contemne the good orders and lawes of that place where they dwell suche as make schismes factions and contentions in the Churche suche as can not or wyll not be subiecte and obedient to their superiours shoulde be by discipline either refourmed or remoued You muste not looke to liue as you liste and be without check Chauncelors Officials Doctours haue no authoritie in respect of their offices to banishe or to imprison and therfore here you nippe as you thinke some greater persons You make muche of a little too muche lenitie maketh you so wanton and so ready to cast off the yoke of due obedience How you are punished the world séeth although you and your fautors can brute abroade that you are persecuted cruelly delt with when as in very déede you haue much more fauour shewed vnto you than you deserue As for reuiling taūting it is vsual to none so muche as it is to the Papists and your selues Admonition Then the sentence was tempred according to the notoriousnesse of the facte Now on the one side either hatred agaynst some persons carrieth men headlong into rashe and cruell iudgement or else fauour affection or money mitigateth the rigour of the same and all this commeth to passe bicause the regiment lefte of Chryst to his Churche is committed into one mans hands whome alone it shall be more easie for the wicked by bribing to peruert than to ouerthrow the fayth and pietie of a zelous and godly company for suche maner of men in deede should the Seniors be Answere If in iudgement either hatred or fauour money or affection beare the stroke it is méete suche Iudges were either reformed or remoued And if you know any suche you shal do very wel in detecting of them else we muste thinke that you haue a slaunderous toung and that you speake onely of malice I suppose that you are not able to charge all Chauncelours Archedeacons c. And if these faults be not common to all but peculier to some then is it no sufficient reason you vse to condemne their offices and kind of gouernement no more than you may condemne a kingdome the authoritie of a Prince ouer a whole Realme bycause diuers kings be tyrants wicked and gouerne yll or any other office or authoritie in the common wealth which is or may be by some abused You say all this commeth to passe bicause the regiment left of Christ to his Church is cōmitted vnto one mans hands and for the proofe of this you note in the Margent the ▪ 18 of Mathew the .xij. of the first to the Corinth the .12 to the Rom. the .5 of the first to Timothie the .15 of the Acts which places béeing examined let the discrete reader iudge how aptly they serue for your purpose In the .18 of Mathew Chryst saith on this sort If thy brother trespasse agaynst thee go and tell him his faulte betweene him and thee alone c. In the which place it is by the consent of al interpreters manyfest that Christ prescribeth a rule of correcting priuate and secret sinnes and not of suche as be open and knowne to others For he would not haue priuate secret sinnes blased abroade and publikely reprehended before the partie offending be in this order first priuately admonished this maketh nothing for your purpose it taketh away authoritie of iudging and condemning from priuate men and not from publike magistrates In the .12 of the .1 to the Corinth vse .28 these be the words of the Apostle And God hath ordeyned some in the church as first Apostles secondly Prophets thirdly teachers then them that do myracles after that the gift of healing helpers gouernors diuersitie of toungs How can you gather of these words that all this commeth to passe that is hatred fauoure corruption by money and affection in iudgemente bycause the regymente lefte of Chryste to hys Churche is committed to one mans hands In these wordes the Apostle declareth that Chryst hath lefte in his Churche gouernours and thereof you may well conclude that in the Church there muste be some which shoulde haue authoritie ouer the rest The Apostle dothe not here say that in euery particuler congregation Chryst hath left many gouernours no more than he sayth that he hath lefte many pastors for one flocke but in his Churche he hath ordeyned gouernours The gouernement of the whole vniuersall Church is not by Chryst committed to one byshop or one Prince nor the gouernement of the whole worlde to one Emperour for