Selected quad for the lemma: power_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
power_n	authority_n	law_n	sovereign_a	5,620	5	9.6808	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A59467	The great law of nature, or, Self-preservation examined, asserted and vindicated from Mr. Hobbes his abuses in a small discourse, part moral, part political and part religious.	Shafte, J.	1673 (1673)	Wing S2888; ESTC R21245	35,879	106

them as the only remedy that they should chuse one or more to administer Justice and to sit as sole Arbitrator of all Causes and that they should unanimously agree to submit themselves to his or their judgment and determination in all their concerns who is by mutual Covenant to see Justice impartially executed But because such Judge or Judges so constituted cannot execute their charge without a Power able to force obedience in the disobedient and refractory it is also necessary that all agree to give to such Judge or Judges such Power as is necessary to bring Offenders to just punishment and defend the Common-wealth from violence and this Power is thus transferred to the Supreme Authority chosen viz. by Promise Covenant or Oath express or implicit to assist him or them with the hazard or life and estate to the utmost of each mans power in all things necessary for the executing Justice and defence of the Commonwealth of which necessity the Supreme Power to be Judge and not the Suject And this Supreme Power is not only to be Judge of what is just betwixt one of his Subjects and another but also of what is just betwixt himself and any of them or all of them together yet are not all his actions therefore just nor any of them just any further then they are conformable and consentaneous to the Law of Nature or Reason whereby he is obliged to assume to himself no greater liberty of Command over his Subjects Persons and Estates then is necessary for the accomplishing those ends for which he is constituted their Prince viz. execution of Justice and defence of the Commonwealth and if he assume any greater he is absolutely unjust unless that liberty be granted to him by the general consent of the people for though the people transfer to their Soveraign so much of their power and right as is necessary to execute Justice yet this Authorizing him to be Judge and obliging themselves to adhere to his Decrees doth not make those Decrees of his to be all just for then were it impossible in this sense for any Judge or Arbitrator to do an act of injustice which is contrary to what hath been already proved and therefore we conclude that when any Prince or Power in Authority Soveraign acts contrary to the Laws of Nature viz. Justice c. he doth wickedly and unreasonably in regard such actions tend to the destruction both of himself and people though for any such acts done he is not accountable to any Earthly Power for if you give his Subjects Authority to call him to account for his actions you must suppose the Commonwealth dissolved in so doing the Minister of Justice being disabled to execute his duty because under check and restraint and in the power of others And thus far we have argued only upon those principles which Mr. Hobbes makes use of and which are before the constitution of a Commonwealth both natura and tempore viz. equality amongst men and self-preservation And this I have done and shall do not because it is my own opinion that there are no other grounds or foundations of good and evil but this Principle of Self-preservation and Equality but to shew out of these Principles granted by Mr. Hobbes that those Eternal Laws of Justice Charity Temperance Reward Vertue c. which he by the same Principles seems to destroy or make the Daughters only of Civil Government are the Mothers and the Foundation of it and grounded in the very nature of man so as to oblige him to act according to them though there were no Civil Magistrate in the world or though the Magistrate positively command the contrary Now Reason will dictate to us another Principle from whence and the same Rules of Equality and Self-preservation already laid down the same things may be deduced and confirmed more strongly and effectually viz. that Justice and Injustice Right and Wrong Good and Evil are not consequents only of a Civil Government so as to leave no place for any Evasions to any man that will acknowledge that he ought to govern himself by the rules of reason and this principle is That there is a God which may be proved and is evident 1. From the order of causes in the world it being to every mans indifferent judgment that hath any apparent and clear that there must be a first cause 2. From the order and method of the Universe it self and the admirable frame of it and the Creatures therein which shews that they were not the effects of Chance but of some wise and skilful Architect 3. From the general consent of all men in all Nations and of the wisest men and greatest Masters of Reason that have been in the world and that which the most part of all and the most part of the wisest agree to at least is most probably true If therefore Reason tell us we ought to believe that there is a God the first Cause Creator and Architect of the Universe the same Reason will also tell us that whatsoever perfection we perceive in our selves or in the Universe besides we must conclude to be in the Creator and Giver in a far higher degree then in our selves or the Creatures for nothing can give to another what it hath not in it self Let us therefore consider what things we esteem the greatest perfections and excellencies Now above all others we set the highest value upon Power therefore in the first place we call God Omnipotent and attribute to him all Power and because Power without goodness may be idle or hurtful as we finde by experience in the second place we denominate him Good which we see verified in that he hath made use of his Power in creating us and giving us whatsoever we have that we can call good and also because Power without Knowledge or Wisdom may erre in its Operations therfore in the third place we denominate God Wise or Omniscient and in these three Attributes or Perfections are contained all others for he that hath Power and is thereby able to do all things and Wisdom and thereby knows what is best to be done and how best to do it being also Good we are not to doubt but that we are to expect from him all things that are the results of Power Wisdom and Goodness co-operating Hence therefore you may conclude that he is Eternal True and Just the Opposites of which viz. Finite False and Unjust are all contrary to the Attributes of Omnipotent Good and Omniscient It being thus demonstrated that every man according to the Rule of Right Reason must acknowledge that there is a God and that this being supposed we must necessarily believe that he is owner of all Perfections and that those Attributes afore-mentioned viz. Omnipotency Omnisciency and Goodness c. are the greatest perfections and therefore his and we being all by the right of Creation and Dominion his Subjects we ought according to the rule of reason to