Selected quad for the lemma: judgement_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
judgement_n	abraham_n	command_v	lord_n	1,416	5	4.7446	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A37430	A Letter to a member of Parliament, shewing the necessity of regulating the press chiefly from the necessity of publick establishments in religion, from the rights and immunities of a national church, and the trust reposed in the Christian magistrate to protect and defend them : with a particular answer to the objections that of late have been advanced against it.	Defoe, Daniel, 1661?-1731.	1699 (1699)	Wing D837; ESTC R4998	24,778	72

that he will command his Children and his houshold after him and they shall keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment Gen. 18. 19. And truly since both Prince and Parent have the Impress of Divine Authority upon 'em and there is such a strict Affinity and Correspondence between 'em from the original frame of things if the Character of a Parent extends to a Religious as well as Civil Capacity it cannot well be disputed but that of a Prince carries the same extent and latitude And therefore it may safely be concluded that it was a point of Duty in the Magistrate antecedent to any positive Oeconomy of Religion to promote the Interests if not execute the Spiritual Functions of Religion as well as advance the Welfare of the State And very probably it was a Divine Institution as ancient and primitive as Government it self And certainly the Model of all Heathen Governments confirms the Notion It 's well known the Egyptian Monarchs Famous in the earliest Records bare the Character of Priest as well as King The Chinese to this Day look upon the Priesthood to bear so near a Relation to that of the Empire that the most Solemn Mysteries of Religion are still a Prerogative peculiar to the Sovereign Religion in the Eastern and Western parts of Europe was always so much the Business of Government that if the publick Acts and Offices of Religion were not immediately perform'd by the Magistrate they were constantly directed and enforc'd by him If the publick Defence of a Countrey where its Territories were enlarged and extended diverted him from attending the Altar it was his special Care to constitute a Priesthood and regulate the Affairs of Religion by publick Laws and Sanctions these are such known and allow'd Truths and so well attested in the Learning of the Greeks and Latins that I shall not now appeal to Authors and they are all convincing Evidences that one End of Government in the original Frame and Model of it was to inspect the Conduct of Mankind in the Affairs of Religion Thus far not only the Duty but Prerogative of the Magistrate discovers it self in a State of Nature antecedent to Revelation SECT II. It remains that we consider it under a positive Oeconomy of Religion And first under that of the Jews Now tho' GOD thought fit upon the first positive Establishment of Religion to institute an Order of Men and separate them from the rest of the People to attend at his Altar to offer for themselves and the sins of others yet it 's manifest he did not exempt the Civil Magistrate from inspecting the Affairs of Religion No it was his special Duty to protect and defend the True Religion to punish and suppress Idolatry Seducers and Falle Prophets and to make such wholesom provisions as served the cause of Religion in the enforcement of its Publick Acts and Offices and in the Advancement of its Ends and Designs The Sacred Writings have delivered so many Instances and Rules of this Nature that it is wholly needless to enlarge in an express Citation It 's well known he often directed the Building of places of Religious Worship enjoyn'd Fasts and in a word interpos'd in most of the Circumstantials of Religion Now it 's certain these were not bare Arbitrary Offices and the product of a Voluntary Zeal but they were either the immediate Instruction of Heaven or the effects of some General Precepts and consequently were intended as standing Instances of Duty If we examine the oeconomy of the Gospel we must conclude That as we have not the least hint that any ways abridges the Rights and Authority of the Civil Magistrate further than they were exercised under the Law so we do not find the least Exemption from any Moral point of Duty in the Affairs of Religion to which they were antecedently bound Now it cannot be deny'd but that the Nature and State of the Christian Church is frequently describ'd in the Writings of the Prophets And among those various Descriptions the Character of Christian Kings and Princes recorded by the Prophet Isaiah is as glorious as it is remarkable And Kings shall be thy nursing Fathers and their Queens thy nursing Mothers for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me Isa. 44. v. 23. This Passage is unanimously interpreted of the Christian Magistrate and certainly we are not to receive it as a Prediction of a Contingent Blessing or Matter of Fact but agreeable to the Prophetick Style which often exhibits Duties under simple Predictions as carrying the Force of a Precept in it Thus we see the Magistrate is not only Pater Patrioe but Pater Ecclesioe This is his Character and his Duty and certainly if he answers the Designs of it he must not only cherisb but protect and defend the Church of Christ and in a word liberally minister to it whatever is necessary for its Support and Preservation Upon the whole then we may justly conclude That tho' GOD under the Jewish as well as Gospel oeconomy was pleased to select a peculiar Order of Men to wait on his Altar and more immediately prosecute all the Designs of Religion yet the Civil Magistrate still rightfully ministers to the same Designs in all Cases where GOD has not interposed by some Positive Rule or Precept so that he 's still the Supreme Guardian and Protector in the oeconomy of Religion as well as Civil Polity He 's Custos utriusque Tabuloe that is he 's not only entrusted to enforce the Observance of all Social Vertues upon which the Peace and Interest of Government moves as upon its Axis but a True and Orthodox Faith and a pure Worship and the Honour and Glory of that Great GOD that has made him his Vicegerent and Representative and by whose Protection and Blessing he 's enabled to answer the Designs of his Character From hence the Dis-ingenuity or rather Impiety of some late designing Positions abundantly discover themselves viz. That the care of Religion is no real Branch of the Magistrate's Office that he 's no further concerned for it than as it immediately conduces to the Civil Weal and Interest of every particular Constitution or Government and in a word That for the advance of a National Trade or Wealth he may treat all Sects of Religion with equal privileges and respect But certainly the care of Religion can now no longer be disputed to be an Indispensible Duty in the Magistrate since it appears not only that every Positive Oeconomy of Religion has expresly taught it but the very Nature Designs and Reasons of the Character dictate it But then if this be admitted we must grant that there is a True and a False Religion and an Orthodox and Heterodox Faith that the true Religion is established on certain Laws and Immunities which in the ordinary course of Providence are necessary to the Preservation of it and consequently we must conclude That it 's an Indispensible Duty in the Magistrate to have

A LETTER TO A Member of Parliament Shewing the Necessity of Regulating the PRESS CHIEFLY From the Necessity of Publick Establishments in RELIGION From the Rights and Immunities of a National CHURCH And the Trust reposed in the Christian Magistrate to Protect and Defend them WITH A Particular ANSWER to the OBJECTIONS that of late have been Advanced against it OXFORD Printed for George West and Henry Clements M. DC XCIX The CONTENTS An Enquiry into the Duty of the Magistrate in matters of Religion Sect. 1. Considered first under a state of Nature 1b Secondly under a state of Revelation Sect. 2. An Objection answered Sect. 3. An Enquiry when there are two or more Sects of Religion in any Government why the Magistrate is under an obligation of protecting or rather advancing the one more than the other Sect. 4 and 5. The Rights and Authority of a National Church considered and stated Sect. 5. The Restraint of the Press demonstrated not only as it is a necessary provision to advance the Interests of Religion but to preserve and maintain the Ends and Designs of it as professed in a National Church Sect. 6. The Necessity of Publick Establishments in Religion and the pernicious Influences which the Liberty of the Press has upon them as introductory of Scepticism Heresie and Infidelity Sect. 7 8 and 9. The Argument represented in several Instances from some late Prints Sect. 8 9. Objections answered As first That the Attempts and Mischiefs of the Press may as effectually be obviated by particular Laws and that a Restraint of the Press from the Experience of former times has not prevented'em Sect. 10. Secondly That a Restraint of the Press is a giving up of the Consciences and Judgments of Mankind to a Party and a Condemning them to an Implicit Faith and is a direct Method to involve the World in Ignorance and Error Sect. 11. The Church of England denies no Gospel means of Information Sect. 12. Thirdly That every one not only of Natural Right but in point of Charity may and ought to publish whatever appears to be Truth and consequently the Restraint of the Press which abridges this Right must be unlawful and unjust Sect. 13. The Natural Rights of Private Persons in the Case before us stated Sect. 14. The ` Duty of Informing others stated Ib. Fourthly That the Restraint of the Press is an Invasion of the Liberty and Property of an Englishman Sect. 15. The Conclusion in an Address to the HONOURABLE MEMBER Sect. 16. A LETTER TO A Member of Parliament SHEWING The Necessity of Regulating the PRESS With a Particular ANSWER to the OBJECTIONS that of late have been advanced against it SIR YOU have been pleas'd to sollicite my Opinion in a Matter of Importance by way of Request when You might have justly lay'd Your Commands and I now present it with all imaginable Deference and Humility You have led me into a large Field of Argument and propos'd several weighty Enquiries but since they are advanced with regard to a General Design viz. The Liberty of the PRESS I shall not bind my self up to that Order they are propos'd in but shall speak to them as they will best comport with the Scheme I have projected to evince the Expediency of Restraining the Press In order to this Design I shall reduce them to three or four General Enquiries As first How far the Duty of the Civil Governing Powers extends in Matters of Religion Secondly When there are two or more Sects of Religion in any Government why the Magistrate is under an Obligation of protecting or rather advancing the one more than the other And on this Head I shall consider the Rights and Authority of a National Church Thirdly Whether the Restraint of the Press is not a necessary provision not only to advance the Interests of the true Religion but to preserve and maintain the Ends and Designs of it as profess'd in a National Church SECT I. I begin with an Enquiry into the Duty of the Civil Governing Powers in Matters of Religion And First It will be received as an indisputable Article or Proposition That every Governing Power of Duty as well as Right is so far to inspect the Affair of Religion that nothing be advanced that manifestly incommodes the Rights or Interests of the Civil Polity But whether any Government is under a further Concern or Obligation seems to be the Case under debate Now it will best be adjusted by considering the Nature and Design of Civil Government first under a state of Nature and secondly under a state of Revelation That Government in general is an Ordinance of GOD by Divine Institution as well as Allowance and consequently that there are certain Ends and Designs peculiar to it established in the same Authority are Truths that will be easily subscribed to But then if Government rests on a Divine Original and there are certain DivineEnds and Purposes appropriate to it it cannot well be imagin'd that the Civil Welfare and Conduct of Mankind is the sole and entire Province of the Civil Magistrate If Religion is the most important Concern of Mankind and if there 's Fealty Worship and Obedience due from a Creature towards a Sovereign Creator even under the most simple state of Nature why should not that Great GOD which constitutes the Civil Magistrates Superintendants over the Secular affairs of Mankind be as zealous to make them Guardians of those things that are placed more near him and them too his Honour and Glory And therefore I 'm perswaded it's neither Boldness nor Arrogance to pronounce That the Civil Governing Power or Magistrate was originally constituted for the Conduct of Mankind in all the Instances of Human Happiness and consequently in a Religious as well as Civil Capacity Indeed the inseparable Dependance and Affinity between Civil Happiness and Religion were other Arguments wanting is alone sufficient to evince it But were the Experience of Mankind and the universal Practice of all Civiliz'd Governments summoned in to decide the Controversy they must place it above Dispute or Cavil If we respect the earliests Accounts of Governments and particularly those delivered in Sacred Story we find the Characters of Prince and Priest residing in the same Person Before GOD had instituted a positive Oeconomy of Religion and a peculiar Order of Priesthood it was part of the Patriarchal province not only to instruct their People to call upon the Name of the Lord but to wait on the very Altar and perform the Priestly Function of Sacrifices As it 's highly probable from the History of the Creation the first Governments of the World had their Rise and Foundation in Fathers of Families so we are undoubtedly instructed that they obtained the Character of Patres patrioe by executing all the Offices of a Parent as well as King Abraham had no doubt his Duty represented as a Prince as well as Master of a Family under the Compliment of a Divine Confidence for I know him