Selected quad for the lemma: duty_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
duty_n	apostle_n	master_n	servant_n	1,864	5	7.1466	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A70046	Reason and judgement, or, Special remarques of the life of the renowned Dr. Sanderson, late Lord Bishop of Lincoln together with his Judgement for setling the church, in exact resolutions of sundry grand cases very seasonable at this time.	D. F.; Sanderson, Robert, 1587-1663. Judgment in one view for the settlement of the church.	1663 (1663)	Wing F10; ESTC R224352	48,079	100

For to make all restraint of the outward man in matters indifferent an impeachment of Christian liberty what were it else but even to bring flat Anabaptisme and Anarchy into the Church and to overthrow all bond to subjection and obedince to lawful authority I beseech you consider wherein can the immediate power and authority of Fathers Masters and other Rulers over their inferiours consist or the due obedience of inferiours be shewn towards them if not in these indifferent and Arbitrary things For things absolutely necessary as commanded by God we are bound to do whether humane Authority require them or no and things absolutely Vnlawful as prohibited by God we are bound not to do whether humane Authority forbid them or no. There are none other things left then wherein to express properly the Obedience due to superiour Authority then these Indifferent things And if a Father or Master have power to prescribe to his Child or Servant in indifferent things and such restraint be no way prejudicial to Christian liberty in them Why should any man either deny the like power to Church-Governours to make Ecclesiastical-constitutionr concerning indifferent things or interpret that pow●r to the prejudice of Christian Liberty And again Secondly Men must understand that it is an errour to think Ceremonies and constitutions to be things meerly in different I mean in the general For howsoever every particular Ceremony be indifferent and every particular constitution arbitrary and alterable yet that there should be some Ceremonies it is necessary Necessitate absoluta in as much as no outward work can be performed without Ceremonial circumstances some or other and that there should be some Cinstitutions concerning them it is also necessary though not simply and absolutely as the former yet ex hypothesi and necessitate covenientiae Otherwise since some Ceremonies must needs be used every Parish nay every man would have his own fashion by himself as his humour led him whereof what other could be the issue but infinite distraction and unorderly confusion in the Church And again thirdly to return their weapon upon themselves If every restraint in indifferent things be injurious to Christian liberty then themselves are injurious no less by their negative restraint from some Ceremonies Wear not Cross not Kneel not c. then they would have the world believe our Church is by her positive restraint unto these Ceremonies of wearing and crossing and kneeling c. Let indifferent men judge nay let themselves that are parties judge whether is more injurious to Christian Liberty publick Authority by mature advice commanding what might be forborn or private spirits through humorous dislikes forbidding what may be used the whole Church imposing the use or a few Brethren requiring the forbearance of such things as are otherwise and in themselves equally indifferent for use or for forbearance But they say our Church makes greater matters of Ceremonies than thus and preferreth them even before the most necessary duties of preaching administring the Sacraments in as much as they are imposed upon ministers under pain of Suspension and Deprevation from their Ministerial Functions and Charges First for actual Deprivation I take it unconforming Ministers have no great cause to complain Our Church it is well known hath not alwayes used that rigour she might have done Where she hath been forced to proceed as far as deprivation she hath ordinarily by her fair and slow and compassionate proceeding therein sufficiently manifested her unwillingness thereto and declared her self a Mother every way indulgent enough to such ill-nurtured Children as will not be ruled by her Secondly those that are suspended or deprived suffer it but justly for their obstinacy and contempt For howsoever they would bear the world in hand that they are the only persecuted ones and that they suffer for their consciences yet in truth they do but abuse the credulity of the simple therein and herein as in many other things jump with the Papists whom they would seem above all others most abhorrent from For as Seminary Priests and Jesuits give it out that they suffer for Religion when the very truth is they are justly executed for their prodigious Treasons and felonious or teacherous practises against lawful Princes Estates So the brethren pretend they are persecuted for their consciences when they are indeed but justly censured for their obstinate and pertinacious contempt of lawful authority For it is not the refusal of these Ceremonies they are deprived for otherwise then as the matter wherein they shew their contempt it is the contempt it self which formerly and properly subjecteth them to just Ecclesiastical censure of Suspension or Deprivation And contempt of authority though in the smallest matter deserveth no smal punishment all authority having been ever sollicious as it hath good reason above all things to vindicate and preserve it self from contempt by inflicting sharp punishments upon contemptuous persons in the smallest matters above all other sorts of offenders in any degree whatsoever Thus have we shewed and cleared the first and main difference betwixt the case of my Text and the case of our Church in regard of the matter the things whereabout they differed being every way indifferent ours not so The determination of Superiours may and ought to restrain us in the outward exercise of our Christian liberty We must submit our selves to every Ordinance of man saith St. Peter 1 Pet. 2.13 and it is necessary we should do so for so is the will of God Ver. 15. Neither is it against Christian liberty if we do so for we are still as free as before rather if we do not so we abuse our liberty for a cloak of maliciousness as it followeth there ver 16. And St. Paul telleth us we must needs be subject not only for fear because the Magistrate carryeth not the Sword in vain but also for Conscience sake because the powers that are are ordained of God This duty so fully pressed and so uniformly by these two grand Apostles is most apparent in private societies In a family the Master or Pater familias who is a kind of petty Monarch there hath authority to prescribe to his Children and servants in the use of those indifferent things whereto yet they as Christians have as much liberty as he The servant though he be the Lords free-man yet is limited in his dyet lodging livery and many other things by his master and he is to submit himself to his Masters appointment in these things though perhaps in his private affection he had rather his Master had appointed otherwise and perhaps withall in his private judgement doth verily think it fitter his Master should appoint otherwise If any man under colour of Christian liberty shall teach otherwise and exempt servants from the obedience of their masters in such things St. Paul in a holy indignation inveigheth against such a man not without some bitterness in the last Chapter of this Epistle as one that is proud and

knoweth nothing as he should do but doateth about questions and strife of words c. ver 3.5 Now look what power the master hath over his servants for the ordering of his family no doubt the same at the least if not much more hath the supreme magistrate over his subjects for the peace of the Common-wealth the Magistrate being Pater Patriae as the Master is Pater familias Whosoever then shall interpret the determinations of magistrates in the use of the Creatures to be contrary to the liberty of a Christian or under that colour shall exempt inferiours from their obedience to such determinations he must blame Saint Paul nay he must blame the holy Ghost and not us if he hear from us that he is proud and knoweth nothing and doateth about unprofitable Questions Surely but that experience sheweth us it hath been so and the Scriptures have foretold us that it should be so that there should be differences and sidings and part-takings in the Church a man would wonder how it should ever sink into the hearts and heads of sober understanding men to deny either the power in Superiours to ordain or the necessity in Inferiours to obey Laws and constitutions so restraining us in the use of the Creatures Neither let any man cherish his ignorance herein by conceiting as if there were some difference to be made between Civil and Ecclesiastical Things and Laws and Persons in this behalf The truth is our liberty is equal in both the power of Superiours fo restraint equal in both and the necessity of obedience in Inferiours equal to both No man hath yet been able to shew nor I think ever shall be a real and substantial difference indeed between them to make an inequality But that stil as civil magistrates have sometimes for just politick respects prohibited some trades and manufactures and commodities and enjoyned othersome and done well in both so Churnh-Governours may upon good considerations say it be but for order and uniformities sake prescribe the times places vestments gestures and other Ceremonial circumstances to be used in Ecclesiastical Offices and assemblies As the Apostles in the fi●st Council holden at Jerusalem in Acts 15. laid upon the Churches of the Gentiles for a time a restraint from the eating of blood and things sacrificed to Idols and strangled Thus we see our Christian liberty unto the Creatures may without prejudice admit of some restraints in the outward exercise of it and namely from the three respects of Christian Sobriety of Christian charity and of Christian Duty and Obedience But now in the comparing of these together when there seemeth to be a repugnancy between one and another of them there may be some difficulty and the greatest difficulty and which hath bred most trouble is in comparing the cases of scandal and disobedience together when there seemeth to be a repugnancy between charity and Duty As for example Suppose in a thing which simply and in it self we may lawfully according to the Liberty we have in Christ either use or forbear charity seemeth to lay restraint upon us one way our weak brother expecting we should forbear and Duty a quite contrary way Authority requiring the use in such a case what are we to do It is against charity to offend a brother and it is against Duty to disobey a superiour And yet something must be done either we must use or not use forbear or not forbear For the untying of this knot which if we will but lay things rightly together hath not in it so much hardness as it seemeth to have let this be our seventh Position In the use of the creatures and all indifferent things we ought to bear a greater regard to our publike Governours than to our private Brethren and be more careful to obey them than to satisfie these if the same course will not in some mediocrity satisfie both Alas that our brethren who are contrary minded would but with the spirit of sobriety admit common Reason to be umpire in this case Alas that they would but consider what a world of contradictions would follow upon the contrary opinion and what a world of confusions upon the contrary practice Say what can be said in the behalf of a Brother all the same and more may be said for a Governour For a Governour is a Brother too and something more and Duty is charity too and somthing more If then I may not offend my Brother then certainly not my Governour because he is my brother too being a man and a christian as well as the other is And the same charity that bindeth me to satisfie another Brother equally bindeth me to satisfie this So that if we go no farther but even to the common bond of charity and relation of Brother-hood that maketh them equal at the least and therefore no reason why I should satisfie one that is but a Private Brother rather then the publike magistrate who that publike respect set aside is my Brother also When the Scales hang thus even shall not the accession of magistracy to common Brother-hood in him and of Duty to common charity in me be enough to cast it clear for the magistrate Shall a servant in a Family rather than offend his fellow-fellow-servant disobey his Master And is not a double scandal against charity and Duty both for Duty implyeth charity greater than a single scandal against charity alone If private men will be offended at our obedience to publike Govornours we can but be sorry for it We may not redeem their offence by our disobedience He that taketh offence where none is given sustaineth a double person and must answer for it both as the giver and the taker If offence be taken at us there is no woe to us for it if it do not come by us Woe to the man by whom the offence commeth and it doth not come by us if we do but what is our duty to do The Rule is certain and equitable The respect of private scandal ceaseth where lawful authority determineth our liberty and that restraint which proceedeth from special Duty is of superiour reason to that which proceedeth but from common charity Quest. Whether the King and Parliament ought to Impose any more upon us in matters of Religion than is Imposed in the Scripture or whether every one ought not to be left to serve God according to his best apprehensions out of the Scripture Answ. The Opinion is that to do any thing at all without direction from the Scripture is unlawful and sinful Which if they would understand only of the substantials of Gods worship and of the exercises of spiritual and supernatural graces the assertion were true and sound but as they extend it to all the actions of common life whatsoever whether natural or civil even so farre as to the taking up of a straw so it is altogether false and indefensible I marvel what warrant they that so teach have from the Scripture for that