Selected quad for the lemma: world_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
world_n	apostle_n	church_n	successor_n	2,259	5	9.0758	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A41074	Lex talionis, or, The author of Naked truth stript naked	Fell, Philip, 1632 or 3-1682.; Gunning, Peter, 1614-1684.; Lloyd, William, 1627-1717.	1676 (1676)	Wing F644; ESTC R20137	30,835	44

were from Heaven and stand upon that Scripture Basis of As my Father sent me so send I you by vertue whereof the Bishops during the first ten Persecutions governed their Flocks in despight of all Secular opposition and retaining part of their administration to themselves disposed of some to Priests and Deacons which is as notorious in fact as any thing in the world The Bishops may do tolerably well with this new word Commission instead of the old of Order Especially since in the close it is confest by our Author that in this order the Apostles left the Church at their death and in this order their Successors continued it as in duty sure they ought from time to time near 1500 years without any interruption wherefore for any to alter this way of Government or to take upon them to ordain not being chosen this way to it they would be guilty of great rashness and high presumption Nor will it be in my Authors power to kick all this down again as he endeavours in the following period by making the orders given by Priests though irregular yet firm and valid for if this power be from Heaven and separate from all Secular Authority as to its Nature and Original though limited by it in its Exercise and Application no man upon any pretence can take this honour to himself or confer it on others but they who were called of God as was Aaron But let us see how well our Author confutes the distinction of Order between Bishops and Priests T is ridiculous says he that the Priesthood which is capable to do the greatest things to Consecrate the Souls of men by Baptism and the Lords Supper yet forsooth cannot Consecrate Oil and Cups I desire to know whether a Deacon cannot Consecrate the Souls of men by Baptism and the Preaching of the Gospel or if they can whether they are of the same Order with Priests Or whether a Judg who has power of Awarding Life or Death which is the greatest thing may also make a Knight which is a less and if therefore a Judg and a King be of the same Order This word ridiculous is very unlucky and commonly returns on him who is most busie with it But since we are faln upon the instance of a King for farther illustration of this matter let us consider the Monarchs of the East who permitted the whole Administration of their Affairs to their Favorites as we read of Pharaoh that he pulled his Ring off his hand and said to Ioseph without thee no man shall lift up his hand or foot in all the Land of Egypt and according to thy word shall all my People be Ruled but for all this Pharaoh and this his Minister of State were not of the same Order for in the Throne he was greater then he Though the King had stript himself of the whole Execution of his Power and put it into the hand of his Favorite yet so long as the Origination of it continued with him he was as absolute and the other as subject as ever T is true the Bishops power is in itself Subordinate and Ministerial he must not Lord it over the Inheritance of God but as to the dispensing of it to the inferior Orders the Parallel will hold they all Act in Subordination and dependence upon him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saies Ignatius No Priest or Deacon for several Centuries ever did it without particular leave given by the Bishop nay the Lector or Reader did not so much as Read the Gospel till first he had brought the Book to the Bishop and had his permission to go to the Ambo or Reading Pu● with it and though the Licence with us be not no● every day renewed yet the dependence is still owned in th● very Form of our Ordination where the Bishop says to the person Ordained take thou Authority to Read the Gospel in the Church of God and Preach the same when thou art thereunto Licenced by the Bishop himsel● But a farther Argument is taken from the promiscuous use of the name of Bishop and Presbyter to prove they are of the same Order which sure is one of seeblest ways of proving any thing the whole force of it amounts to this St. Peter and St. Iohn call themselves Presbyters but were also Bishops therefore Presbyters and Bishops are all one which is as much as to say that his Maj●sty is King of Great Britain and Knight of the Garter therefore to be King of Great Britain and Knight of the Garter is all one Nay St. Paul stiles himself a Deacon as well as an Apostle therefore to be a Deacon and an Apostle is all one but if our Author be not satisfied with this let him Read the Thirteenth Chapter of the most Learned Bishop of Chester's Vindiciae Ignati● and he will see how accurate the first Christian Writers were in distinguishing the three Orders of Bishop Deacon and Priest We will go on and attend him in his Talent of Book Learning wherein he has been hitherto so unfortunate and see how in his following expedition he mends the matter And here he tells us that Aerius whom by the way he constantly calls Arius was not a Heretick upon the account of his introducing a parity between Bishops and Priests but only for being an Arian That is Epiphanius made a List not of several Heresies but a Catalogue of several Arians and the 69. Heresie being assigned to Arius it passes the Muster again in the 75. Heresie under the auspice of A●rius It is agreed on all hands that discontent made Aerius a Heretick for that Eustathius whom he thought a worse man then himself was preferred before him and being in power though formerly his particular Friend considered him no farther then to make him Master of an Alms-house We are then to believe that out of discontent Aerius turned Arian but as ill luck would have it Eustathius was of that Sect and if he had a mind to quarrel with him nothing could have been so proper as to have turned Orthodox in spight It is manifest he was originally an Arian and the prime part of his Heresie was what his malice naturally dictated and all Writers agree it to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. He entertained a mad opinion beyond what a man would receive saying What is a Bishop better than a Priest There is no difference between th●m there is but one order the same honour and dignity Since our Authors Greek reading fares no better let us go on to consider his Latine and there is no missing St. Ieroms Epistle to Evagrius which is so clear in the point that without more ado it converted our Author who it seems was once an Episcopal man into that errant Presbyterian that now he is Withal it makes him wonder and if the Reader understand Latine he will wonder to see men have the confidence to quote any thing out of it for the distinction between Episcopacy and