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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
power_n	authority_n	church_n	key_n	4,079	5	9.8284	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A91906	The royal nursing-father; discoursed in a sermon preach'd at the cathedral in Norwich, on the 29th of May [B]eing the day of his Majesties birth, and happy return to his kingdoms. By Charles Robotham, batchelour of divinity, in Norfolk.	Robotham, Charles, 1625 or 6-1700.	1680 (1680)	Wing R1729C; ESTC R229944	25,565	82

furtherance and edification of the whole This Is that Power which Kings of old for their part exercised in the Government of the Synagogue as you may see at large in the Chronicles in the reforming of Religion 2 Chr. 29. 15. Ver. 3. 5. Verse 21 24 25 30. Ch. 30. 2 5 Ci. 31. 2 4. in purging the Temple in re-inforcing the Passeover in commanding and ordering the Priests and Levites in reducing and re-engaging the People unto the Law and to the Covenant causing all that were found in Israel and Benjamin to stand to it 2 Chron. 34. 32. And again making all that were present in Israel to serve even to serve the Lord their God The like Power we find without scruple practised by the first Christian Monarchs and Sovereigns within the Limits of the Gospel-Church of their Dominions After that the Empire was cast into the Lap of the Church and Christianity advanced to sit at the Helm and Stern of Government 't is sufficiently known how far even the first Christian Emperours interposed their Authority in Church-matters In hearing Complaints in receiving Appeals in taking cognizance of Causes etiam post duplex Judicium Episcopale in redressing of Ecclesiastical disorders in electing of Bishops in convening of Councels in examining and ratifying of Canons in passing and setting forth Laws and Edicts for the establishing of Truth Order and unity and for the healing or extinguishing of Schism and Heresy As may be seen at large by any that will read both in the Eastern and Western Records in the Acts of Constantine and Theodosius in the Code and Novels of Justinian and in the Capitulars of Charles the Great So true was that of Socrates in his Preface to the fifth Book of his Ancient-Church-History 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ever since that Kings and Emperours became Christians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the affairs or matters of the Church have hung the whole weight of them hung and depended upon them i. e. upon their authority concurrence and interposal for of that he speaks in the next words And thus have I shewn the first thing that is implied in the Phrase of Nursing-fathers the Power and Interest of the Prince in and over the Church as Guardian as Governour There is but one thing more to be considered in the Text and I shall then draw towards a Conclusion and that is The nature and quality of this Power or if I may so speak and I crave humble leave to speak it The Bounds and Limits of it Princes they have indeed Power and Authority in Church-matters but 't is as Fathers still not as Masters They are not stiled Domini but Nutritii not Lords of our Faith but Nurses Protectors Defenders of the Faith The whole Right of Secular Powers in matters Ecclesiastical is not Destructive but Cumulative Mr. Thorndikes Right of the Church c. 4. 'T is not to change or abolish but to establish what they find the Church by the Act of God possessed of and vested in from the beginning We may not therefore so far extend the Phylacteries of the Princes Power as to think or say That he may devise new Recté illud dicitur non esse principum aut civilium Magistratuum Leges novas de cultu Dei conscientiis ferre aut propria Sacerdotum munia obire Casaub exercitationes Epist dedicat Articles of Faith or appoint new Sacraments new Instruments of Grace or introduce or enjoyn new parts of Worship No these are Christi Regalia the Royalties of Christ In things of this nature we call no Man Master upon Earth for one is our Master even Christ Mat. 23. 10. There are as the Apostle speaks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The things of Christ Phil. 2. 21. And there are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The things that are Gods evidently distinguish'd by our Saviour from the things that are Caesars Mat. 22. 21. As being things of Divine Immediate and absolute appointment And though the Christian Magistrate has Imperium circa Sacra a Power of ordering even about these things as to Time and Place and matter of form and whatsoever else relates to the due and decent and regular performance of these things yet he has no power super haec over the substance of the things themselves either to add to them or diminish from them In a word we must know there are in the Church of God Immota quaedam Divina certain sacred and unchangeable Points as namely The common Faith and Christianity the Rule and Sum of Christian Faith the Parts and Duties of Christian Worship the Offices of Christianity wherewith God will be served in the Communion of his Church the Means and Instruments of Grace the Word and Sacraments together with the Power of Orders and the Keys of Doctrine and Discipline These and the like they are Res Dei the Things of God that is of his immediate absolute perpetual appointment and constitution They are Dona Christi the Donatives of Christ and of his Spirit They are Dos jura Ecclesiae the Dowry and Birth-right of the Church as it is a Society of Gods immmediate founding subsisting not by Mans Law but by Gods Charter not to be null'd or alter'd by Man In these things as St. a L. 5. Orat. contra Auxentium Ambrose said of old Bonus Imperator est intra Ecclesiam non supra And again b Ambr. Ep. 33. Item L. 5. c. 33. Noli te gravare Imperator ut putes te in ea quae Divina sunt imperiale aliquod jus habere Think not O Emperour thou hast any Power Imperial over things Divine i. e. over things which God and Christ have setled in the Church by their own immediate Act. The Christian Church it is and was from its beginning a Religious Corporation founded by the Act of God for the Communion of its Members in the Faith Worship and Service of God By vertue of which Foundation from God it has its proper and internal Rights and Powers distinct from the Civil though limitable in the exercise of them by the Civil These Rights were vested in the Church long before any State became Christian and are so to remain after as standing upon a distinct Ground Gift and Original And therefore the Prince or State in becoming Christian gains no Power no Sovereignty over these things so as to innovate or alter them but rather an obligation to uphold and maintain them according to the prime intent of their institution This being the declared Will of God That Christian Monarchs or Sovereigns by entring into the Church act as Nursing-fathers Mr. Thorndikes Right of the Church c. 4. P. 167 168. and that by vertue of their Christianity they hold themselves obliged to the maintenance of all the several parts of Christianity i. e. of whatsoever is of Divine Right in the profession and exercise of Christianity And thus have I at length pass'd through the several

Heathenism vanish out of Towns and Cities and betook it self ad pagos paganos from whence the Name of Pagans says Vossius Christianity being seated in the Prince it ran down amain as the Oyntment from the Head of Aaron to the Skirts and Borders of his Garment That 's the first way wherein or whereby Kings do become Nursing Fathers to the Church by the meer influence of their Example The next and second which is the main follows and that is by the use and exercise of their Power and Authority That is when they do employ the utmost of their Princely Power for the defence and protection of the Church for the support and maintenance of the Church for the conservation of the rights and properties of the Church for the due and well management of the Affairs of the Church When Laws are made and Acts passed by Authority in the behalf of the Church when publick and effectual care is taken for the great concerns of the Church for the soundness of its Faith for the purity beauty and comeliness of its Worship for the order and regularity of its Government for the efficacy of its Discipline for the preservation of its Peace Unity and Tranquillity in and through the Communion of the whole This this is the Benefit of Nursing-fathers this is the Milk that comes out of the Breast of Kings the establishing of Religion by the Sovereign Power in all the publick concerns of it When Christianity is by their means engrafted into the State and is made the Religion of the State when the profession of it is not only own'd but ratified with the Seal of Authority fenced and strengthned with the provision of Laws guarded with Penalties encouraged and advanced with Priviledges This is that Singulare quiddam a regibus requisitum says Calvin upon the Text That special and singular Service expected yea and bespoken from the Hands of Kings for Christ Psal 2. 10 11. Be wise O ye Kings be instructed ye Rulers of the Earth Serve the Lord with fear What Lord why the Lord Christ as Acts 4. 25. appears by the 2d and 7th Ver. And how are they to serve him not only in their Hearts and Lives but in their Power and Place with their Crowns and Scepters serve him as Kings Excellently St. Augustine Epist ad Bonifacium to this purpose Aliter servit qua homo aliter qua Rex Kings serve the Lord Christ as they are Men one way as they are Kings another As Men they serve him vivendo fideliter by living up to the Faith and Precepts of Christ but In quantum reges as Kings they serve him Leges sanciendo Leges ferendo pro Christo by making Laws for Christ Cum ea faciunt ad serviendum Epist 48. ad Vincentium Epist ad Bonifacium illi quae non possunt facere nisi reges when they do those things for Christ by the advantage of their Power which none but Kings can do And again Cum Aug. contra Cresconium l. 3. cap. 51. in regno suo bona jubeant mala prohibeant when in their respective Dominions they command what 's good and forbid what 's evil not only in relation ad Societatem Humanam to Humane and Civil Peace and Society but also says he in things pertaining ad Religionem Divinam to matters of Religion and Divine concerns All which may serve as a fit Comment upon the Text plainly shewing us what is that Regia Ecclesiae nutricatio as Grotius speaks L. de Imperio summarum potestatum That Blessing of Nursing-fathers That 't is no other than the maintenance and cherishing of Religion by the nurture of wholesom Laws by the publick interposal of Kings and Princes in its behalf as of Pious Guardians and as of tender Governours encharged and betrusted with the care and oversight of the Church And this indeed is the proper import of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Nursing-father in the Text and in the Hebrew It comes from the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that signifies Truth Trust or Faithfulness So that the prime and proper meaning of the word as Schinler notes is to signifie Tutorem Curatorem Fiduciarium Rad. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 qui in fidem suam recipit alterius puerum That is one that is a Guardian a Trustee one that has the care maintenance and disposal of a Person committed to his trust This I say is its first and primigenial signification and then by consequence 't is rendred sometimes a Nurse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ruth 4. 6. sometimes a bringer-up 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 even as here in the Text and in Esther 2. 7. where Mordecai is said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the nourisher or bringer up of Esther or as Schinler renders it out of some Copy of the Septuagint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Praeses Rector her Guardian and Governour for so does 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifie Curam Praefecturam So that all things considered the stile and attribute of Kings here in the Text could not possibly be better rendred than as in our Translation by the phrase of Nursing-fathers Fathers for their Power Trust and Authority and then both Fathers and Nurses for their care and tenderness So that the word it does at once instruct us in two things concerning Christian Princes First In the Interest of their Power in reference to the Church Secondly In the nature and quality of their Power 1st Here is the Interest of their Power in or towards the Church The Church as a Minor committed to their a Eorum potestati suam Ecclesiam credidit Isidor Hisp in sent c. 51. Cujus fid●i creditur ipsa Fides Sacerdotes meos tuae manui commisi Greg. Epist ad Mauritium L. 3. c. 10. charge and themselves made of God the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Mordecaies to this Esther the Guardians and Governours of it And that under a double capacity first as Sovereigns and so they have the power of stopping or suppressing all violence rage and fury intended against the outward Being Peace and Well-fare of the Church And then secondly as Christian Sovereigns And so they have the right of doing all Acts pertaining to Christian Sovereignty in Church-matters that is a supream inspection in and over all Causes and Persons that do relate to the Church a Power of setling and establishing the true Faith and Communion of the Church yea and of ordering the Affairs of the Church of reforming corruptions of redressing abuses of regulating and retrenching excesses and innovations In a word A Power of super-vising all Offices and qualities in the Church to see and provide that such as act in the behalf of the Church do their Duties and keep their Bounds that nothing be done to the prejudice not only of the common Peace but of the common Faith Order and Christianity but all unto the

even of all that are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is not only Peace and Honesty but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the due and right Service of God 1 Tim. 2. 2. I say from all these Premises we may well infer that for any to confine the Cognizance of Princes to prophane Tryals and to set the faults or matters of the first Table as it were beyond the reach of the Secular Arm or to yield them only as the secondary Object of their Power is both to abase their Authority and to abridge them of their Right And so much shall suffice for the Inferences I shall now only add few Reflections from the Text upon our selves and duties and I have done First then Is this the Right and Title of Christian Kings Are they indeed set up by God as Nursing-fathers to the Church Then let them be so owned by us both in word and deed That is let them have the dues of Nursing-fathers As first That of Honour and Reverence to their Names and Persons Mal. 1. 6. If I be a Father where is mine Honour The Christian Sovereign by his Place and Station he is Pater Patriae the publick Father of his Country and a Nursing-father to the Church Justly therefore does he claim the Tribute of our special reverence and that in a degree next to God So the Scripture places him 1 Pet. 2. 17. Fear God Honour the King As having imaginem Dei sicut Episcopus Christi says St. Austin as Augustin quaest est veteri te stamento Qu. 35. having the Print and Image of God And therefore Contempt here though but in words in the Language of Scripture is called Blaspheming of Glories Jude Verse 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Asecond Due owing to these Nursing-fathers is that of Submission Sujection to their Authority Tit. 3. 1. Put them in mind to be subject unto Principalities and Powers 1 Pet. 2. 13. Submit your selves unto the King 1 Chron. 26. 30 32. 2 Chron. 19. 8 12. as Supreme Supreme without any exception either of Causes or Persons The Romanists would fain exempt their Clergy or at least the Miter from this Subjection But what says the Scripture Rom. 13. 1. speaking of those Powers that bore the Sword Verse 4. And to whom Tribute a Si Tributum petit non negamus Agri Ecclesiae solvunt tributum Ambros Ep. 32. was paid Ver. 6 7. he says Let every Soul be subject to the higher or to the Supreme Powers This he wrote unto the Church of Rome and at such a time in such an Age when Souls were at the best and Powers at the worst And yet must every Soul be subject 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as St. Chrysostome glosses upon the Place Be thou an Apostle be thou an Evangelist or Prophet be thou whosoever thou must be subject The Command is general the Injunction universal And so St. Bernard writing to an Epist 4● ad Archiepisc Senon Arch-bishop descants upon the word Omnis Si omnis etiam vestra Quis vos excepit ab universitate c. If every Soul then yours too he that goes about to exempt you goes about to deceive you And surely they that Vide Gregorium Epist ad Mauritium L. 4. c. 76. 78. must admonish others to be subject Tit. 3. 1. much more must they be so themselves Thirdly a third Due owing to these Nursing-fathers is that of Obedience Obedience to their Orders and Commands That is a ready and willing performance of what is prescribed by their Authority and that in a Josh 1. 16 17. Obedientiam promittit populus in omnibus Grot. all things except where obedience to Man is rebellion or transgression against God Coloss 3. 10. Children obey your Parents your Fathers in all things much more our Nursing-fathers whose Authority is higher than that of the Parent and whose Power is Supreme This is that the Apostle joyns and couples with Subjection Tit. 3. 1. Put them in mind to be subject to Principalities to obey Magistrates And indeed the prime and principal part of our Subjection to Governours is Positive Obedience Conformity of Practice to the Orders and Establishments of Authority 'T is that that all Laws and Power and Government asks and looks for aims and drives at in the first place the obedience of the Subject and as for Penalties they are only for the terrifying of Disobedience The latter is but the Sanction that guards the Law the former is that alone that satisfies the demands of the Law And so much shall suffice for the Rights and Dues owing unto Nursing-fathers Unto which in the next place we must also remember to subjoyn the Dues owing unto God in their behalf the Dues of Joy and Praise Prayer and Thankfulness for the Gift and Blessing of these Nursing-fathers which brings me to that special Duty that is reflected on us at this time not only from the Text but from the Day The Day that we now celebrate 't is a Day pregnant with Mercies even the Mercies of the Text. In which respect 't is more than a single Festivity Like St Simon and Jude or St. Philip and James it comes with Twins in the Womb of it A double or rather a triple Holy-day as being the Memorial of a Triple Blessing First as it is Natalitium Regis the Birth-day of our Christian Sovereign and therefore to be celebrated by us Mos ille vetustus per se improbari non potest says Calvin of Herod's keeping of his Birth-day 'T was an ancient Custom and of it self not to be condemned For its Antiquity we find mention of it in the Kings of Aegypt Gen. 40. 20. The Birth-day of Pharaoh solemnized with a Feast to all his Subjects In the Kings of Israel Hos 7. 5. we read of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dies Regis the Kings Day i. e. of his Birth says Arias Montanus Dies natalis ejus In the Kings of Persia their Nativity was a yearly Festival even as far as throughout all Asia So Vide Brisson de Regno Perfico L. 1. p. 27. Plato in his Alcibiades 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In the Roman and Christian Emperours we read an intimation of the like Festival Et si in nostrum Ortum aut Natalem celebrandum solemnitas inciderit differatur Says the constitution of Leo and Anthemius de die dominico Yea and amongst private Christians we find the like practised even by Christian Bishops in reference to themselves 'T is evident from the Epistle of St. Ambrose unto Bishop Foelix they L. 1. Ep. 5. were wont to keep the Days both of their particular Nativity and of their particular Installment Much more then may the Birth-day of our Sovereign and Nursing-father claim this celebration at our hands Especially if we consider it in the next place as it was also Natalitium Regni 'T was not only Dies Regis but Dies Regni the Dan. 4. 36. Requisierunt me Scl.