Selected quad for the lemma: scripture_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
scripture_n	apostle_n	bishop_n	presbyter_n	3,386	5	10.4987	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A49780	Marriage by the morall law of God vindicated against all ceremonial laws of popes and bishops destructive to filiation aliment and succession and the government of familyes and kingdoms	Lawrence, William, 1613 or 14-1681 or 2.	1680 (1680)	Wing L690; ESTC R7113	397,315	448

Authority from them and that they were chosen and called by their several Congregations or what is all one Cities or Parishes and not by the Emperor or Prince till Constantine to corrupt them under pretence of prevention of Schisms and Heresies which he thereby encreased took away the free Election of the People of their Pastors which they had always before enjoyed to make them Pensioners and the Christians Mercenaries to Fight all their Quarrels Right or Wrong That Presbyters were only Parochial and not Provincial is not doubted That Bishops were all one with Presbyters and therefore were Parochial and not Provincial A Bishop and a Presbyter all one is proved first by the Authority of Jerome who saith ad Tit. Cap. 1. That a Bishop and Presbyter was all one And that it may not depend solely on humane Authority this is proved by the words of Paul to the Philippians Chap. 1. 1. Paul and Timotheus the Servants of Jesus Christ to all the Saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi with the Bishops and Deacons Grace be unto you and Peace Now Philippi is one of the Cities of Macedonia and in one City there could not be many Bishops unless they were Parochial and not Diocesan or Provincial and the same the Presbyters were Acts 20.17 It is said Paul from Miletum sent to Ephesus and called the Elders of the Church and verse 27. he saith to them For I have not shunned to declare unto you the whole Counsel of God Take heed therefore unto your selves and to all the Flock over the which the Holy-Ghost hath made you Bishops to feed the Church of God which he hath purchased with his own Blood For I know this that after my Departing shall grievous Wolves enter in among you not sparing the Flock Here appears that the same Persons whom Paul first verse 17. calls Elders Presbyters of Ephesus he after in the same Chapter verse 27. calls Bishops or Overseers And 1 Pet. 5.1 The Elders which are among you I Exhort who am also an Elder and a Witness of the sufferings of Christ and also a partaker of the Glory which shall be revealed Feed the Flock of God taking the oversight thereof not by constraint but willingly not for filthy Lucre but of a ready mind Neither as being Lords over God's Heritage but being Examples to the Flock From which Scripture appears 1. That the great Apostle Peter himself from whom the Bishop of Rome pretends his Succession to Imperial Supremacy Bishops ought not to be Lords calls himself no more than an Elder or Presbyter and that he had other Co-presbyters with him 2. That these Presbyters who are now call'd Bishops ought not to be Lord Bishops for the words are they are not to be Lords of Gods Heritage In one Chapter of Mahomets it is forbidden to all Persons of what Quality soever to call themselves in any sort Lords except the great Caliph or great Bishop the Successor of Mahomet who at the first was the only Lordly Monarch and Lord of all giving unto Kings and Princes their Principalities and Kingdoms during pleasure untill that the Ottoman Princes the Cundes and the Kings of the higher part of Asia and Africk by little and little Exempted themselves out of their Power by Reason of the Division between them and the Anti-Caliphs Bod. 203. 3. That they ought not to have Temporal Baronies for they are not to take charge of Souls for filthy Lucre but of ready mind 4. That they ought neither to Counterfeit a Nolo Episcopare when they take Baronies nor to Refuse the Charge of Souls when they have none for the words are not by constraint but willingly Cranmer That Bishops were Presbyters and chosen by the Parish And it is likewise acknowledged by that Pious Protestant Martyr Arch-Bishop Cranmer though he were a Provincial and chosen by the King himself yet That amongst the Primitive Christians the Bishops were chosen by the Congregations and were all one with Presbyters From all which Premises these Sequels follow 1. That if a Bishop were chosen by his City or Parish he came not in Jure Divino but by human Election and was only a Servant and not a Lord of the City or Parish 2. That he had no Sign of Mission from God unless he had a Gift of Miracles 3. That he could not Excommunicate any of his own Parish for the Inferior cannot Excommunicate the Superior and Electors are Superiors to Persons Elected and the Host is Superior in his own House to the Guest and he who gives the Pension to the Pensioner Bishops cannot Excommunicate 4. That a Bishop Elected by the People cannot on Excommunication deliver any Person to Satan without the Gift of Miracles as a Sign of Mission for Nemo potest plus Juris ad alium Transferre quàm ipse habet the Electors themselves had no Power to deliver to Satan therefore Bishops Elected by them cannot without Miracle 5. Though he hath the Power of Miracles to deliver the Body to Satan he cannot deliver the Soul nor can he have any Sign of Mission to do the same for that is a Prerogative inseparable from the Person of God to send the Soul to Heaven or Hell and Inter insignia imperii which cannot be Delegated 6. That as a Bishop cannot Excommunicate a Citizen or Parishioner who Elected him so he can much less Excommunicate a King or Interdict a Kingdom who if he had any Jurisdiction at all can be no greater than within the Petty Bounds of his City or Parish and cannot extend to Empires or Kingdoms 7. That he can give no Consecration or Ordination to a Bishop or Priest for where the Office ought to go by Election of the People it cannot go by Ordination of the Bishop and where it goes by human Election it cannot go by Consecration and after the Gift of Miracles ceased both the Election by Missioners from God and Consecration and Ordination likewise ceased Subjects free from Superstition the safety of the Prince 8. That 't is a great Safety to Princes to have their Subjects well Educated and Instructed against the Superstition and Popery of Consecration Ordination and Excommunication of Bishops and Priests for by this only means we see the Grand Seignior though he Tolerates a multitude of Sects and Religions in his Empire yet he is endanger'd by none because all Mahumetan Priests are chosen by the Parish and though they are in great Reverence of the People yet they have neither Consecration nor Ordination but continue as perfect Lay-men as our Ordinary Clerks of our Parishes and much less have they Power of Excommunication or Absolution but Preach That those that Fight Valiantly and Die in the Field for their Prince and Prophet go to Paradise and who slie Cowardly go to Hell whereby none of his People are Educated in the Superstition of Pontifical Excommunication and therefore fear it not but deride it And for the Greck

John Stratford Arch-Bishop of Canterbury on whom the King likewise laid the blame of his Wants writes a proud Letter to the King and desired him and his Council without delay to deliver the said Prisoners otherwise he plainly writes That according to his Pastoral Charge he must proceed to the Execution of the Sentence of Excommunication concluding how notwithstanding it was not his Intention to include the King Queen or their Children so far as by Law they might be Excused It was well for the King he was in the head of a brave Army in France for if he had been single as his Father was they who durst Menace him amongst all his Forces in the Field if he had lost the Day as his Father did were as likely to bring him for a French Pension to as miserable a destruction as they brought his Father but by Gods Providence he proved afterward Victorious but first Replied by another Letter to the Arch-Bishop That Relying on his Council he was first put on the Action of the French and that he had promised and assured him he should not want Treasure to perform the work and that notwithstanding by the negligence and malice of the said Arch-Bishop and his Officials those Provisions Granted him by his Subjects in Parliament were in so slender proportion Levyed and with such delays sent over as he was pressed of necessity to his great Grief and Shame to Condescend to the late Truce with the French though extreme Wants charged with mighty Debts forced him to throw himself into the Gulf of the Usurers in such sort as he began to look into the Dealing of his Officers some of which upon apparant notice of their ill Administration of Justice their Corruptions and Oppressions of his Subjects he removed from their Places and others of mean Degree he Committed to Prison and there detained them to the end he might find out by their Examinations the truth of their Proceedings Then he charges the Arch-Bishop with his own Corruption and declares how himself being under Age had through his ill Council made so many Prodigal Donatives prohibited Alienations and excessive Grants and Gifts that thereby his Treasury was utterly Exhausted and his Revenues diminished and how the Arch-Bishop corrupted with Bribes Remitted without reasonable cause great Sums which were due unto him applying to his own Use or Persons ill deserving many Commodities and Revenues which should have been preserved for his necessary Provisions and concluded Unless he desisted from his Rebellious obstinacy he intended in due time and place more openly to proceed against him and the King before the Arch-Bishop Submitted caused a Letter to be sent to the Pope from the Parliament not to make any more Collations of Benefices in England and prohibited them on pain of Death on any that should present or admit them which Resolute slighting of Excommunication both from Arch-Bishop and Pope though in the very time of War with France made the Pride of the Arch-Bishop stoop and with much ado got himself Reconciled to the Kings favour for which the King was bound to thank God and not the Pope or Bishop who gave him that Victory and Success against the French as neither Pope or Arch-Bishop dared to Excommunicate him Against Richard the Second one of the Articles brought against him to have him deposed was That whereas the Realm is immediately holden of God after he had obtained divers Acts for his own particular Ends he obtained Bulls heavy Censures from Rome to observe and perform them contrary to the Honour and ancient Privilege of this Kingdom whereby appears That even in a time of Popery the Assistance of the Pope and Bishops which were included in it was so far from being a Protection to the King that it was Destructive to him much more is the Assistance of Bishops likely to be Destructive rather than a Safety in a time of Protestancy The Bishop likewise Concurr'd with the rest and accused him That he had taken Money Jewels and Plate from them at his going into Ireland Bishops accuse R. 2. for Trifles to Depose him so far were they from seeking to preserve the Kings Life with those Superfluities of theirs where they could keep them and their Bishopricks together that they shewed their Fidelity to their Native King by endeavouring to destroy him For such Trifles divers other Articles were laid against him in behalf of the Bishops by whose doing only the King was utterly undone Truss 46. And not one of all the Bishops in England or Ireland spoke so much as one word to preserve their Native Sovereigns Life but only one namely Thomas Mercks Bishop of Carlisle Dilemma of danger from Excommunication As to the Dilemma a Prince falls under in expecting safety of Government from the Power of Excommunication of Popes or Bishops either the greater part of his Subjects will be Religious or Superstitious if Religious they will so easily see through the Superstition of Consecration and Excommunication as it will rather Irritate and Provoke them as it did in the late unhappy Civil Wars but if Superstitious will the Pope or Bishop make Use of the great Interest and Strength they gain thereby in the People to advance their pretended Spiritual Sword above the Temporal and their own Supremacy above Temporal Kings and Princes which if Resisted by the Princes of such Subjects hazards their being Deposed and losing Kingdoms and Lives together as appears by the Examples before Recited In the same danger is a Prince who Trusts a Temporal Officer whether Treasurer or other with too much Power of Money as Theocritus Anno 518. caused Amantius an Eunuch to give Justin Amantius the General of the Army a great Sum of Money to give the Soldiers to choose Theocritus Emperour but Justin distributed it for himself and so obtained himself the Empire The Western Emperours first raised the Popes to that height as to Excommunicate the Eastern Emperours the succeeding Popes to return their Advancers due thanks Excommunicated after the Western Emperour The French Kings assisted and after raised the Popes to such height that they Excommunicated Deposed and Poisoned the Western Emperour after by the same Power the French King gave them in thanks they Excommunicated and Assassinated the French Kings The Princes of Sicily and Naples had been mighty defendors of the Papacy but when they had made it mightier than themselves the Succeeding Popes took from them their Sovereignty to themselves As to the Impossibility of Safety of Princes amongst Subjects Educated in fear of Excommunication Subjects Educated in fear of Excommunication dangerous to Princes It is to be Noted as well from the Testimony of approved Authors as from the Scripture it self that amongst the Primitive Christians those who are now called Bishops but in the Original word signifie only Overseers were Parochial Bishops or Overseers and not Provincial and that they were the same with Presbyters and differ'd not in