Selected quad for the lemma: power_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
power_n	bind_v	heaven_n	loose_v	4,825	5	10.6036	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A48309	A discovrse concerning Puritans tending to a vindication of those, who unjustly suffer by the mistake, abuse, and misapplication of that name.	Parker, Henry, 1604-1652.; Ley, John, 1583-1662.	1641 (1641)	Wing L1876; ESTC R212712	47,271	67

not alwayes the most knowing in all Ecclesiasticall cases neither are they at all indifferent and impartiall in many which concerne their owne honour and profit as the world feeles to his regret therefore for jurisdiction they are not the most competent But be they of what use soever they may still remaine subordinate and at the Princes election and admitted of ad consilium solum not ad consensum and it had beene happy for all Christians these many hundred yeares by past if they had not been further hearkned to The Sacerdotall function is not at all disparaged by this subordination for whether the order of Princes be more sacred then that of Bishops or not it is all one to Priests for an obedience they owe and must pay be it to the one Order or the other Our Bishops at this day stand much upon their Divine right of Jurisdiction and they refer their style to the providence of God immediatly not to the grace of the King and though in words they acknowledge a Supremacie of power to remain to the King yet indeed I thinke they mean rather a priority of order Whatsoever Supremacie they meane if it be not such as makes them meerely subordinate and dependent so that the King may limit alter or extinguish their jurisdiction as far as He may to his civill Judges they derogate much from his Kingly office Bishops for their claime of Jurisdiction ought to prove that they alone did exercise it over all in all causes from our Saviours dayes till the entrance of Christian Princes and that being cleared they must further prove that those times also are leading and precedentary to ours In both these their proofes are lame especially in the latter for neither is the power of the Keyes the same thing as Iurisdiction nor is jurisdiction now as it was in the Apostles dayes nor is the State of the times now the same as then In those dayes either Christians were to implead one another before Infidel Magistrats whatsoever the case were criminall or civill spirituall or temporall or else they were to erect some tribunall in the Church or else they were to await no justice at all and because some judicature within the Church was most fit therfore Christ himselfe according to the exigence of those times did endow his Church with a divine Oeconomy which was partly miraculous and of use then but not now The Spirit of God did then internally incite such and such men at such times to reside and preside in such such places and some of the Apostles at some times could judge by inspiration without proofs and allegations and could execute sentence of death or other spirituall punishment upon secret hypocrites not intrenching upon temporall authority but in these times this discipline is uselesse and therefore decayed Whatsoever the offence then was what injury or trespasse soever betwixt brother and brother the onely remedy was Dic Ecclesiae and yet that precept serves as strong for temporall as spirituall trespasses so that it cannot be enforced now to continue unlesse wee meane to drowne all temporall authority As for the extent also of spirituall power in those dayes I will onely cite a learned Politician of the Popish religion who admitting it seemed that the keyes of heaven were given to Saint Peter alone and his Successours and not to all Bishops and Ministers whatsoever thus proceeds By the keyes given to S. Peter many Holy Fathers mean the one of knowledge and the other of power and that that power ought not to be understood universally but only concerning the Kingdome of Heaven which is spirituall for the Civill Royall and Temporall power is expresly forbidden him by Christ Even so that also of knowledge it is not to be understood of naturall politike or morall things but as Saint Paul saith of Christs mysteries only Wherefore in matters of faith Ecclesiasticall authority may approve and Secular cannot condemne but in matters of policy what all the Prelates in the World approve Temporall authority may condemne It is a great wrong to pretend because Christ hath given Saint Peter the cognizance and power of the Kingdome and forbidden him the earthly contrary to this precept to extend spirituall things to temporall Saint Augustine often saith That Grace doth not destroy any thing in Nature but leaveth her all her owne adding moreover divine perfection The Temporality hath of its owne nature power to forbid all things repugnant to publike quietnesse and honesty and Christ came not to take away this authority from Magistrates He onely addes power to his Ministers in matters of faith not knowne by nature but revelation For ought wee know this power of opening or shutting Heaven of binding and loosing sinnes was miraculous and so but Temporary but admit it in this Catholike Writers sense yet we plainly see it is no prejudice at all to limit Secular Princes thereby The same learned Papist writes That the Easterne and Westerne Churches continued in unity and charity for the space of nine hundred yeares after Christ and this peace was easily kept because the Supreme power was then in the Canons to which all Churches acknowledged themselves equally subject Ecclesiasticall Discipline was then severely maintained in each Country by its owne Prelates not arbitrarily but absolutely according to Canonicall rigour none of them intermedling in anothers government No Pope of Rome did pretend to conferre Benefices in other Bishops Diocesses or to get money out of others by way of Dispensations and Buls but when Rome began to shake off all subjection to Canons then notwithstanding any ancient order of the Fathers Councels or Apostles themselves in stead of her ancient Primacy she brought in an absolute Dominion free from any Law or Canon and this made the division Neither could any re-union bee brought to passe within these 700 yeares because this abuse which caused the Division is not remedied Whilst the union held Saint Pauls doctrine was joyntly observed that Every one should be subject to Princes no man pretended to be free from punishment Nay and after the division the same opinion remained that every Christian in temporall businesses is subject to the Prince And nothing is more temporall then offence because nothing is more contrary to the Spirit Amongst the Greeks also it is still held that Bishops ought to judge what opinion is sound what Hereticall but to punish those of hurtfull opinions belongeth to the Secular The State of Venice as well as other Catholike Kingdomes walks between two extreams betweene Protestants which have no other ayme but to diminish Ecclesiasticall authority and the Court of Rome which hath no other aime but to encrease it and to make the Temporall her servant Those of the Court of Rome making use of Religion for worldly ends and respects under a spirituall pretense but with an ambitious end and desire of worldly wealth and honour would free themselves from obedience due to the Prince and take away

the love and reverence due by the people to draw it to themselves To bring these things to passe they have newly invented a doctrine that talks of nothing but Ecclesiasticall greatnesse liberty immunity and jurisdiction This doctrine was unheard of till about the year 1300 then it began to be written scatteringly in some books but till 1400 there were not written above two Bookes which treated of nothing else after this such Writers increased a little but after 1560 there were scarce any Bookes printed in Italy but in diminution of Secular authority and exaltation of the Ecclesiasticall And now the people have scarce any other Bookes to read nor have the Confessors any other doctrine or need any other learning Hence comes this perverse opinion that Magistracy is a humane invention and to be obeyed for policy onely not for conscience but that every intimation of Ecclesiasticall persons is equivolent to a divine precept there want not in Italy pious learned men which hold the contrary but they are not suffered to write or print Neither are forraine Books permitted or ancient Authours left ungelded of all which serves for Temporall authority as appears by a book printed 1607 called Index Expurgatorius and Clement the Eighth in 1595 published a rule in his Index that all Catholike Writers Bookes since 1515 might be corrected not only by expunging but also by interlining and this hath beene practised though not publikely above seventy yeares Thus we finde the Court of Romes but not the Authors meaning and finally wee are sure to have no book true I have hitherto cited this egregious Politician for these purposes First That we may see how easie it is for Clergie-men to wrest all authority out of the Temporalties hands if Princes will be so easie to be hood-winkt and deluded by them and to resigne their judgements to them in such cases as concern their profit and advancement Secondly That we may take notice how far the learnedst of Papists themselves doe discover and detect the errours and tyranny of the Court of Rome and that mysticall way of deceiving whereby all hope of remedy is cut off I observe this also the rather because our Prelates in England at this day assume to themselves almost as vast and unquestionable a power of stifling and repressing all adverse disputes and of authorizing and publishing all arguments whatsoever favouring their cause as the Court of Rome does Thirdly that I might produce the same Author against himselfe in those points wherein he taxes Protestants Wee will yeeld that for the space of nine hundred yeeres the See of Rome did not usurpe over other Sees but did acknowledge equall subjection to the Canons and that the division and separation of the Easterne Churches happened when Rome arrogated above Canons but withall we must have it yeelded to us that those Canons had been composed only by Clergy-men and that in too much favour of Clergy-men and too much abridgement of Temporall Rights and Priviledges and that they did concerne matters more then meerely spirituall and speculative and things known by meere revelation So that though one Prelate did not usurpe over another yet all Prelates had usurped over the Laity from the times of Constantine almost It is true the Church had Bishops before in its times of persecution but of what power or pompe It is said of Calvin that in regard of his sway in Geneva he wanted nothing but the Name of Bishop and it may be as truly said of the Bishops before Constantine that they wanted all but the Name The power of Bishops before the installment of Christian Princes was rather like that of Arbitrators then of Judges and that held in all cases alike Civill and Spirituall but in case of disobedience they did not intrench so farre upon the Lay power as to inflict any pecuniary or corporall punishment but they did deny the Sacrament and eject delinquents out of the Congregation and this was then an abscission from Christ being done Clave non errante that is whilst God did inspire according to his promise a miraculous power of binding and loosing infallibly The Priestly function was then an Office not a jurisdiction of sacred dignity not power but the Function of a Prince was ever sacred both for honour and power for dignity and command Constantine the Great was the first Prince which tooke upon him the care and protection of the Church after that it had suffered contempt and poverty for 300 yeares and now did even that authority and protection cease and devolve into his hands which the poore persecuted Bishops had but feebly managed before but such was the extraordinary indulgence of this pious Emperour as well to religious persons as to Religion it selfe that taking little notice what the Church had gain'd by him as its Head and Governour He heaped up greater Titles and Honors upon Bishops Archbishops Patriarchs and Popes as if some other supreme Ruler more sacred and competent then himselfe were necessary Neverthelesse it is thought that this was as poyson poured into the Church and not Balme for from that very time Clergy-men began to be more glorious but lesse gracious more rich outwardly but more poore and vile inwardly Within a little space after Constantine there was just cause of complaint that excessive Honours had corrupted the Church and that Religion had prospered better in former times when it had wooden Chalices and golden Priests then now when it had golden Chalices but wooden Priests It is remarkable also that soon after Constantine the temporall power being too much restrained and abased and the spirituall as much inlarged and exalted the whole face of Christendome began to be imbroyled with wars and poysoned with heresies so that the Historians of those times have almost nothing else to write of but the forcible investing and devesting by armes of such Bishops and Patriarchs and of the oppositions of such and such Councels and Synods and of the Appeals Iars Schismes Excommunications and Commotions of such and such Priests and Monks Nay such were the ill effects of those ages which were certainly more zealous then politike that they cannot yet be wholly rectified and purged in these our latter times which are growne too too contrary being more politike then zealous Thus did the Church fare for 900. yeares till the Romane Bishops began to Empire above all and then did the greatest part of the Clergie themselves especially East from Italy make their departure and separation Neither did the Romish Vice-god after this great rent and division in the world hang his head for shame or seeke any re-union by letting fall his pompous painted plumes but audaciates himselfe rather to mount higher yet and to detrude the Western Emperour quite out of the bounds of Italy And in this his industry failes him not for after much bloud-shed in many cruell conflicts Hee gaines in Italy a Temporall and in all Europe besides a spirituall Monarchy making a triple