Selected quad for the lemma: duty_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
duty_n	according_a	church_n	law_n	1,084	5	4.5241	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A78469	Certain desires for the settlement and improving of ministers meanes. In two letters: the first, resolving how ministers meanes should be raised, whether by tythes, the peoples benevolencie, or a certain set stypeud [sic] from the publike. The second, shewing how ministers meanes might be leavied, and gathered without any trouble or charge to them, equally distributed to their and the peoples content, & much improved without any wrong or injustice done to any. Published for the common good.		1646 (1646)	Wing C1699; Thomason E357_1; ESTC R201143	9,186	16

meanes may be remedied and a better proportion set out and observed least some should have all and others nothing 8 That Ministers by this meanes will truly be freed from all worldly cares and troubles have more liberty to wait on the Ministery of the word not unlike the motion of the Apostles Act. 6.2.4 9 That the revenues of the Church may by this meanes be encreased and the people by authority constrained to pay fully and truly that which oft they with-hold from the Ministers who dare not be so exact and strict in their own right least they should seeme to be exacting and covetous as commonly they are slandered when they will not let their people have all things at their own prise 10 That Ministers being publike persons should have their meanes from the Publike without beeing beholding immediately to particular persons from whom they can can hardly get their dues without losse or strife or discontent 11 That this is the justest way of providing for Ministers to receive their means proportionably to the time they have served if once a Quarter they should be paid Whereas now it seemeth to be most unjust that if a Minister hath served all the Year long and should dye afore the Harvest or afore the Corn be tythed he loseth that whole Years prosit and his Successour inneth one Years profit afore he hath served one moneth and many times one Week 12 That this is the practise of most reformed Churches and found to be the most convenient way for Minister and People 13 That many godly Ministers and Christians in this Kingdome groan and long after it would thank God for ir if it might be brought to passe 14. That this would be a meanes to reconcile the two other Opinions and make us all of one mind and judgment as we should be of one heart and affection But it may be objected 1. That it is out of the civil Magistrates Sphere to meddle with Church-Affaires and that wee must live by the Gospel not the Civill Law 2. That it may be prejudicious to the Church if Civill Magistrates should have power to dispose of Church-mens lands that upon pretence of inevitable Necessities they may alienate all or part of them and employ it in secular affaires and bring the Ministery to want and poverty 3 That there may be great partiality in the allowance of Ministers and the assignation of set stipends to certaine persons and places according as they have friends in high places 4 That under Officers and Collectors may be unfaithfull and deceive the Ministery in the gatheeing of their meanes or paying of them 5 That great sums of money must necessarily be taken from the Churches means for the wages of such collectors or treasurers which will impaire the Ministers competency 6 That it will be as great nay a greater trouble to Ministers to get their pension from those collectors or civil Officers then from the People 7 That the people would bee more unwilling to pay their dues to those civill Officers then to Ministers some out of Conscience who are loath to pay tythes to Impropriators because they think they have no right to them some out of Covetousnesse because then they will be more narrowly lookt unto and will not have such opportunity and power to deceive these collectors as they did their Ministers 8 That Ministers will be long detayned in their payment if the collectors are negligent and have not made their money of their commodities they receive or if they are froward and will not pay Ministers at the times appointed 9 That it is far more convenient for Ministers to have their severall commodities in kind for the present use of their Families then to have their pension in money and to buy every bit they eat many times at a dear rate 10 That Ministers will be deprived of a great deale of recreation and refreshment when they have nothing to do in the field and are lockt up as prisoners in their studies which will much annoy their health Thus you have the conveniencies and inconveniencies of these several Opinions represented to you as near as may be Your next question I know now will be which of these three Opinions I think the best and most convenient for the Ministers of the Gospel I confesse the matter is not only difficult but odious and which way soever I chuse I shall encurre the censure if not the ill-will of some which are of a contrasy opinion But this we must look for in all not only indisterent but the best things especialy in this age where there are commonly tot sententiae quot capita And to tell you my mind freely though I will condemn none of the other Opinions yet I doe now encline to the third Opinion which doth seeme to obserue a Me dium goeth a middle way between the other two extreams and may be a meanes to reconcile them both in time I wil trouble you with no more reasons then were alleadged above And concerning the objections against it they seeme to me of no such force and consequence as to make me stagger or chang my mind For 1. suppose the civil Magistrate have nothing to doe properly with meere Church affaires in points of faith and doctrine but onely to be Custosveritatis and the defender of the faith established according to the word of God in the Churches of Christ yet the care to provide for the Ministers maintenances safety belongs to them as a duty of their civil power as it was proved above We do live by the Gospell that is not as they seeme to inferre by those meanes which the Church thinke good to assigne to the Ministers for their subsisting as popish priests preteud right to the tithes by vertue of the Churches or the Popes authoritie but by those means which by publike authority of the civil Magistrates or with their consent by the liberality of the people is assigned to the Ministery for the preaching of the Gospel 2. The feare of having the Churches allowance diverted to secular uses is groundlesse because such order must and will be taken by Act of Parliament that the Receivers or Treasurer of Ecclesiasticall revenues which are to be established for the payment of Ministers may be secured from all such secular encroachments and invasions and obliged by death to employ those Church revenues onely for the use appointed notwithstanding all commands or orders from any power whatsoever And this we know duely practised and observed in divers Reformed Churches and Dominions beyond the sea wherein the greatest necessities of the Sate the Church revenues were not touched unlesse the Sate did perhaps borrow a part of the overplus of Church revenues that was left over and above the full payment of all Ministers which yet was faithfully repayed with the first commodity And If we feare the Parliament might repeale such Lawes and Acts or for the present connive to the breach of them

such supplyes Luke 8.3 Thirdly in all commands for the provision of Ministers no certain kind or summe of dues is exprest but left to the conscience and ability of the people 1 Cor. 9.11 14. Gal. 6.6 Now the Gospel-way is the best way and in such duties wee ought to conforme rather to the Apostolical then judaical practise Fourthly it is a part of our Christian liberty not to bee brought under the bondage of any man but to do freely what we do Gal. 5.1 Fifthly the people will be more willing to doe rather above their ability than under if they were left to their liberty some in conscience some for their credit some in love to their Ministers especially if they may profit under them Sixthly Minister will find more comfort in such free-will ofterings and contributions then in all their forced tythes and set stipends and wages Seventhly it will breed more love amongst Minister and People Eighthly it will make Ministers more painfull and carefull to approve themselves to their people Ninthly it will teach Ministers in all conditions to be content and to know how to be abased and how to abound Phil. 4.11 Tenthly it will free them from many cares and troubles of the world And what shall we here desire more then food and rayment 1 Tim. 6.8 But on the other side it may be said 1 That we have no example nor command in the whole New Testament that the maintaining of Ministers was ever left meerly to the discretion of the people but rather that in the primitive Churches the people did and by reason of the Churches condition were bound to pay more then the tythes in so much that many sould their whole estates for the sustenance of Ministers and poore Acts 4.34.37 Which now a dayes such men would be loath to doe that are so unwilling to pay the tenth part not of their whole estate but onely of their yeerly encreases to the Ministers of the word 2. That in the begining of the Gospell afore Churches were settled and consirmed under Christian Magistrate there could no certaine portion to be set out for the Ministers maintenance which yet was done as soon as under Christian Magistrates the Churches were established 3 That the place of Scriptures alleageth speake of the dutie in generall that we ought to provide for Ministers not of the meanes or manner of performance whether it should be left Arbytary to the peoples discretion or be ordered by superiors Nay that those places imploy rather a certaine set proportion then an arbytrary contribution as it was shewn above 4 That is no more a breach of our Christian liberty to pay a certain portion to the Ministery then to pay certain set taxes subsidies and customes to the Magistrates which yet the Apostle teacheth they have right unto Rom. 13.7 5 That the covetousnesse and worldlinesse of men now a dayes is so great that Ministers should have little enough to live upon with their Families if they should be forced to depend upon the gratuity and discretion of the people as in some places of late it did appear to the great prejudice of Ministers and the greater shame of the people 6 That it would be very uncomfortable and disgracefull to the Ministers of God to depend wholly upon and to be beholding unto every particular member of his Congregation be he never so mean or so bad for every bit of meat he puts into his mouth though never so little which were rather to live of the Gospellors then of the Gospel 1 Cor. 9.14 7 That Ministers may find much more comfort in the allowance of God or the Magistrates then in the self-willing contribution of the People 8 That it would make Ministers cowards in the Lords Work and fearfull to offend the People and rather prone to flatter and please them in their Doctrine least they should deny them their gratuity or sparingly contribute to them 9 That it would rather increase their care to the world not knowing what recompence they shal receive then free and ease there of it 10 That it would teach Ministers to know how to want or to be abased but hardly how to abound For their People would take an order with it who thinks alwayes their Ministers have too much 11. That the same Apostle who will have us content with food and rayment 1 Tim. 6.8 will likewise have us provide for our Families or else that we deny the Faith and are worse then Insidels 1 Tim. 5.8 12 That the chiefe ground of this opinion seemeth to be either envy or covetousnesse and that the abettors of it are either loath that their Ministers should live comfortably with a sufficient competency or unwilling to part with their dear Mammon for the Gospels sake The third Opinion As it is not contrary to Law and Gospell so it is grounded upon Reason and Equity And 1 that as the Lord himself hath assigned in the Old Testament expresly and in the New Testament implicitely what kind and measure of reward his Ministers shall have So it is the duty of Magistrates to see Ministers duly recompenced for their pains and not deprived of their portion 2 That Godly Magistrates have at all times by vertue of their power both under the Law and Gospell taken care that such a set Portion was delivered to the Ministers Thus Moses took care Deut. 14.22 Hezekiah 2 Chron. 31.4 6. Nehemiah 10.35 37. And under the Gospel as soon as there was any Christian Magistrate from Constantine the Great they took care for the Ministery and tythes were confirmed though already paid afore even in Origens time about 200. years after Christ 3 Nay more that Godly Magistrates gave order whatsoever dues were allowed to the Ministery to be brought into certain treasuries and delivered to certain Commissioners by whom they were afterwards proportionably distributed so that Ministers were freed from the trouble of gathering their tithes themselves as we read 2 Chron. 31. from v. 11. to v. 17. Neh. 12.44 and 13.12.13 4 That God himself expresly commandeth this course Mal. 3.10 bring all the tithes into the Storehouse 5 That the Apostles in want of Christian Magistrates performed the same duty Act. 4.34 37. Where all the contributions were laid to the Apostles feet to be distributed proportionably as well to Ministers as the poor 6 That this is a part of the distributife Justice to be executed by the Magistrates to see that these which are good may have praise Rom. 13.3 which is most necessary in the behalf of those that labour for our greatest good even the good of our soules and consequently that such as doe most good that way or have most need of helpe might receive most proportionably those things that are fit for them which cannot bee done if every Minister taketh all the tythes of his own People where many times unworthy ones have too much and the worthiest to little 7 That by this means the great inequality of Ministers