Selected quad for the lemma: earth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
earth_n	bind_v	key_n	loose_v	3,794	5	10.2737	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A47424	An enquiry into the constitution, discipline, unity & worship of the primitive church that flourished within the first three hundred years after Christ faithfully collected out of the extant writings of those ages / by an impartial hand.	King, Peter King, Lord, 1669-1734.	1691 (1691)	Wing K513; ESTC R6405	208,702	384

not the Bishop without the People nor the People without the Bishop but both conjunctly constituted that Supreme Tribunal which censured Delinquents and Transgressors as will be evident from what follows All the Power that any Church-Court exerted was derived from that Promife and Commission of Christ in Matth. 16. 18 19. Thou art Peter and upon this Rock will I build my Church and the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it And I will give unto thee the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and whatsoever thou shalt bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven whatsoever thou shalt loose on Earth shall be loosed in Heaven Now this Power some of the Ancients mention as given to the Bishops Thus Origen writes That the Bishops applyed to themselves this Promise that was made to Peter teaching That they had received the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven from our Saviour that so whatsoever was bound that is condemned by them on Earth was bound in Heaven and whatsoever was loosed by them was also loosed in Heaven which says he may be Orthodoxly enough applyed to them if they hold Peter's Confession and are such as the Church of Christ may be built upon And so also says Cyprian The Church is founded upon the Bishops by whom every Ecclesiastical Action is governed Others of the Ancients mention this Power as given to the whole Church according to that in Matth. 18. 15 16 17 18. If thy Brother shall trespass against thee go and tell him his Fault between thee and him 〈◊〉 if he shall hear thee thou hast gained thy 〈◊〉 but if he will not hear thee take with thee one or two more that in the mouth of two or three Witnesses every Word may be established and if he shall neglect them tell it unto the Church but if he neglect to hear the Church let him be unto thee as an Heathen and a Publican Verily I say unto you Whatsoever ye shall bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven and whatsoever ye shall loose on Earth shall be loosed in Heaven By the Church here is to be understood the whole Body of a particular Church or Parish unto which some of the Fathers attribute the Power of the Keys as Tertullian If thou fearest Heaven to be shut remember the Lord gave its Keys to Peter and by him to the Church And Firmilian The Power of remitting Sins is given to the Apostles and to the Churches which they constituted and to the Bishops who succeeded them Now from this different attribution of the Power of the Keys we may infer this That it was so lodged both in Bishops and People as that each had some share in it The Bishop had the whole Executive and part of the Legislative Power and the People had a part in the Legislative tho' not in the Executive As for the Executive Power by which I understand the formal Pronunciation of Suspensions and Excommunications the Imposition of Hands in the Absolution of Penitents and such like that could be done by none but by the Bishop or by Persons in Holy Orders Deputed and Commission'd by him as the Sequel will evince But as for the Legislative Decretive or Judicatorial Power that 〈◊〉 both to Clergy and Laity who conjunctly made up that Supreme Consistorial Court which was in every Parish before which all Offenders were tried and if found Guilty sentenced and condemned Now that the Clergy were Members of this Ecclesiastical Court is a thing so evidently known and granted by all as that it would be superfluous to heap up many Quotations to prove it so that I shall but just confirm it after I have proved that which may seem more strange and that is That the Laity were Members thereof and Judges therein being Sharers with the Clergy in the Judicial Power of the Spiritual Court And this will most evidently appear by the consideration of these following Testimonies The first shall be out of that place of Clemens Romanus where he writes Who will say according to the Example of Moses If Seditions Contentions and Schisms are hapned because of me I will depart I will go wheresoever you please and I will do what are enjoyned me by the People so the Church of Christ be in Peace So Origen describes a Criminal as appearing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Before the whole Church And Dyonisius Bishop of Alexandria in his Letter to Fabius Bishop of Antioch speaks of one Serapion that had fallen in the Times of Persecution who had several times appeared before the Church to beg their Pardon but no one did ever take any notice of him But Cyprian is most full in this matter as when two Subdeacons and an Acolyth of his Parish had committed some great Misdemeanors he professes that he himself was not a sufficient Judge of their Crimes but they ought to be tried by all the People And concerning Felicissimus the 〈◊〉 he writes to his People from his Exile that if it pleased God he would come to them after Easter and then that Affair should be adjusted according to their Arbitrement and Common Counsel And in another place he condemns the rash Precipitation of some of his Presbyters in admitting the Lapsed to Communion because of some Pacificatory Libels obtained from the Confessors and charges them to admit no more till Peace was restored to the Church and then they should plead their Cause before the Clergy and before all the People And concerning the same matter he writes in another Letter to the People of his Parish That when it should please God to restore Peace to the Church and reduce him from his Exile that then it should be examined in their Presence and according to their Judgment So that the Consistory Court was composed of the People as well as of the Bishop each of whom had a negative Voice therein On one side the Bishop could do nothing without the People So when several returned from the Schism of Fortunatus and Bishop Cyprian was willing to receive them into the Churches Peace he complains of the unwillingness of his People to admit them and the great difficulties he had to obtain their Consent as he thus describes it in his Letter to Cornelius Bishop of Rome O my dear Brother if you could be present with me when those Men return from their Schism you would wonder at what pains I take to perswade our Brethren to be patient that laying aside their Grief of Mind they would consent to the healing and receiving of those that are sick I can scarce 〈◊〉 yea I extort a Grant from my People that such 〈◊〉 received to Communion And on the other side the People could do dothing without the Bishop as when one of the three Bishops that 〈◊〉 Ordained Novatian came back to the Church and desired admission the People alone could not receive him without the Consent of the Bishop 〈◊〉 for else they would

He that is condemned and bound by the Church on Earth remains bound none in Heaven unloosing him § 6. No wonder then that Men in their right Senses were affrightned at the tremendous Misery of an Excommunicated Condition and that when through their corrupt Natures and wicked Practices they had incurred that Sentence they never left Fasting Watching Weeping and the endurance of the severest Courses of Mortification till they were absolved from it and reinstated in God and the Churches Favour Which brings me in the next place to search into the Course that Offenders took to be received into the Church again the usual Method whereof seems to have been thus All those that desired to be delivered from that miserable state in the first place in a most penitent and humble manner came weeping and crying unto the Church-doors where they lay groveling on the Ground prostrating themselves at the Feet of the Faithful as they went into Church and begging their Prayers to God for them The Behaviour of these Men is thus elegantly express'd by the Clergy of the Church of Rome in a Letter to Cyprian Let them say they knock at the Church-doors but not break them let them come to the Threshold of the Church but not pass over it let them watch at the Gates of the Celestial Tents but armed with Modesty by which they may remember they were Deserters let them resume the Trumpet of their Prayers but not to sound an Alarm to Battle let them arm themselves with the Darts of Modesty and retake that Shield which by their Apostacy they lost that so they may be armed not against the Church which grieves at their Misery but against their Adversary the Devil a modest Petition a bashful Supplication a necessary Humility and an Industrious Patience will be advantagious to them let them express their grief by their Tears and their sorrow and shame for their Crimes by their Groans So Tertullian in the same manner describes one in this state by lying in Sackcloth and Ashes by having a squalid Body and a dejected Soul by fasting praying weeping groaning and roaring night and day by throwing himself at the Clergies feet and kneeling before the Faithful begging and desiring their Prayers and Pardon § 7. If the Ecclesiastical Court thought their Repentance to be real and those external Expressions of Sorrow and Grief to proceed from suitable Affections of Heart then they began to encline to some Terms of Remission and Reconciliation and gave the Delinquents some hopes of it by admitting them to come into the Church and to stay at some part of Divine Service but not at the whole of it to communicate with the Faithful till they had for a long space of time which they then imposed on them by their humble and modest Carriage gave good Proofs of their Sorrow and Repentance This fixed Time of Tryal was called the Time of Penance during which the Penitent as he was now called appeared in all the Formalities of Sorrow with a course Habit and a dejected Countenance continually fasting and praying lamenting and bemoaning the greatness and aggravations of his Sin and Wickedness as may be seen in sundry places of the Fathers all which to transcribe would be very tedious wherefore I shall content my self with Translating a few Elegancies pertinent to this purpose out of Cyprian's Book De Lapsis wherein he thus inveighs against those who in a state of Penance indulged themselves in the Delights and Enjoyments of the Flesh Can we think that that Man weeps with his whole Heart and with-Fastings Tears and Sighs beseeches God who from the very first day of his Offence daily frequents the Baths who indulging to his gluttonous Appetite this Day vomits up his undigested Crudities the next day and does not communicate of his Meat and Drink to the Necessities of the Poor He that goes gay and jocund how doth he bewayl his Death Does that Woman weep and mourn who spends her time in putting on splendid Garments and does not think upon the Garment of Christ which she lost Who seeks after precious Ornaments and rich Jewels and does not bewail the loss of the Heavenly and Divine adorning Altho' thou puttest on exotick Garbs and silken Garments thou art naked altho' thou beautifiest thy self with Gold and Pearls without the Beauty of Christ thou art deformed And thou who dyest thine Hair now leave it off in this time of Penance and thou who paintest thine Eyes wash it off with thy Tears If thou shouldst lose any one of thy dear Friends by Death thou wouldst sorrowfully weep and howl and express the greatness of thy Sorrow by thy disregarded Face mourning Garments neglected Hair cloudy Countenance and dejected Visage Why O Wretch thou hast lost thy Soul and wilt not thou bitterly weep and continually lament Now therefore pray and supplicate more earnestly pass the Day in weeping the Night in watching and crying both Night and Day in Tears and Lamentations prostrate your selves upon the Ground roll your selves in dust and ashes after having lost the Garment of Christ have no cloathing here having tasted the Devil's Meat chuse now to fast § 8. How long these Penitentiary Stations were cannot be defined since they differed according to the Quality of the Offence and the Offender according to the Circumstance of Time and the Will and Pleasure of the 〈◊〉 Court who imposed them some were in the state of Penance two Years some three some five some ten some more some even to their Lives ends but how long and rigorous soever their Penance was they were patiently humbly and thankfully to endure it the whole time being not absolved till they had undergone the legal and full time of Satisfaction It is true indeed that in some extraordinary Cases the Prudence of the Church saw fit to dispense with the usual length and Severity of their inflicted Discipline as in Case of Death of an approaching Persecution or when a great multitude and eminent leading Persons were cencerned in the same Offence as in the case of Trophimus which may be seen in the 52d Epistle of Cyprian Besides these the Confessors claimed the Privilege of restoring Penitents before the usual time which irregular and unreasonable Practice of theirs caused great Disturbances to the Church of Carthage in the Days of Cyprian which may be seen at large in several Epistles extant in the beginning of his Works But laying aside these unusual Circumstances the fixed Period of Penance was never anticipated but how long and severe soever it was the Penitent chearfully submitted to it When the appointed Time of Penance was ended the Penitent applyed himself to the Ecclesiastical Court for Absolution who examined his Demeanours and Actions which if they approved and liked they then proceeded to the formal assoyling of him of which in the following Sections § 9. On the appointed Day for Absolution the Penitent or he that was now to