Selected quad for the lemma: authority_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
authority_n	apostle_n	church_n	prove_v	3,145	5	6.1841	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A29086	The victory of truth for the peace of the Church to the king of Great Britain to invite him to embrace the Roman-Catholick faith / by Monsieur de la Militiere, counsellour in ordinary to the King of France ; with an answer thereunto, written by the right reverend John Bramhall, D.D. and Lord Bishop of London-Derry.	La Milletière, Théophile Brachet, sieur de, ca. 1596-1665.; Bramhall, John, 1594-1663.	1653 (1653)	Wing B4097A; ESTC R34379	76,867	210

but that you may perceive the sin whereof it is the off-spring that you may draw your self from the one and from the other by the knowledge which he gives you of the horrour you should have for the Cause by the grief you resent by its Effect You shall see it Sir clearly enough by the consequents of the Maxims upon which the Authors of the Reformation which your Fathers embraced have laid their Foundations The Foundations of the Reformation of Calvin are laid upon these two Maxims which he and all those which have forsook the Church as himself hath delivered as indubitable to the People which have followed him The first is That the Church was fallen into ruine and desolation by Errour in its Faith by Idolatry in its Service and by Tyrannie in its Government The second That to reform and re-establish it ●…n its Original Purity the Faith of its Doctrine of its Service and of its Government was to be reduced to the onely precepts of the Scripture ' of the sense whereof every Believer ought to be Judge for his own proper salvation by the light of the Holy Ghost which conducts him They saw that if they did not suppose these Maxims for the causes of their Reformation they could not pretend any which might oblige them to forsake the Church which they had a mind to leave that they might frame a Contrary Party and make war against her For they could not deny the Church from which they separated the Title of the True Church but in accusing of it as they have done of Errour Idolatry and of Tyrannie And if we suppose this accusation for true they could not bring in the necessity of a Separation to make their Reformation but in excluding the Authority of Tradition and the Judgement of the Church and by reducing the rule of the Reformation to the Scripture it self interpreted by every mans Judge●…ent Your Majestie Sir shall now see that of those Maxims which the Bishops of your Realm already become Schismaticks receiv'd for the causes of the Reformation which they admitted there was first of all Formed the Sect of Puritan-Presbyterians against the Protestant-Episcopalians who could not subsist against them upon the Foundation of these Maxims And that at length the Brownists the more Reformed Puritans did raise themselves upon the same Foundations who have since begot the Independents for the ruine of the Presbyterians by the same reasons by which the others had ruined the Protestants and Episcopacy and with Episcopacy Royalty it self In such sort that all this dreadful disorder which makes your Kingdoms to be a Chaos of lamentable disorder in which your authority finds it self put out comes from these Principles of Reformation which are the natural source thereof That this is so your Majestie Sir may clearly perceive it When the Bishops consented to these Principles of Reformation they abandoned by them the Faith of the Catholick Church concerning the Sacrifice of the Mass concerning Transubstantiation in the holy Eucharist concerning the number and vertue of the seven Sacraments concerning Justification real and inherent in the faithful and of their Merits and the Invocation of Saints concerning Prayer for the Dead and of Purgatory concerning the Authority of the Pope and of the adhering of all the Faithful to the See of St. Peter at Rome But they retain nevertheless the Episcopal Dignity and Authority with a part of the Liturgie and Ceremonies of the Catholick Church But the Puritan-Presbyterians have cast away all Form of Hierarchy and community of the Liturgie and Ceremonies with the Church of Rome as pernicious remainders of the Papal Tyrannie and Idolatry as they call them That they might oppose both Parties according to the first Maxim of their Reformation they brought in a Form of Government altogether novel and composed a Form of Service altogether new Upon which they have had so much advantage against the Protestants in combating them with the reasons of their common Principles and in stirring up the People heated with the zeal of Reformation that it was impossible for them to subsist if the Puritans could but once be supported by the Authority of Parliament against the Authority of the King who onely did support the Protestant Cause not by arguing but by command For Controversy by their Principles was all for the Puritans against the Protestants Could they without Tradition and by the holy Scripture alone interpreted by the judgement of every one find Episcopal Dignity and its Authority with distinction and superiority of power above the other Pastors and Ministers They could certainly without doubt by the Authority of the holy Scripture assisted by Tradition which declares the lawful sense But in doing this the victory which it gives them obligeth them to consent likewise to the Authority and Primacy of the Pope for the Government of the Universal Church as founded in the Primacy St. Peter receiv'd in the College of the Apostles as well for the Form of the Government of the Universal Church as of every particular Church from whence every Bishop derives his Authority Then thus it must be either that the Protestants abandon Episcopacy as a seed of Tyrannie and become Presbyterians or in retaining it to enter again into the Communion of the Pope and Bishops who adhere to him Though there be no need to speak here that their sole Division makes it impossible for them to subsist by the reason which the great Bishop and Martyr St. Cyprian represents to all Bishops in declaring the obligation they have strongly to retain the Unity of the Church by the not to be divided Unity of Episcopacy whereof every one doth solidly possess his share Upon which he admonisheth them that if any one goes to separate himself it shall happen unto him as to a Beam drawn from the body of the Sun which shall have no more part through its division in the unity of the light which continues in the body As to a Bough broken from the Tree which shall spring no more having no more share in the sap which remains in the body and in the root of the Tree Even like a Rivolet cut off from the Fountain which will dry up having no more to do with the course of the water which runs from the Spring This is that also Sir which your Bishops cannot avoyd It must be that being separated from the Mother-Church they should be extinguished and should vanish away as it s come to pass It must be that their very pain ●…as the proper work of the cause of ●…hier errour That their Reformation made them lose their Form But if the Puritans have had this advantage upon the Protestants by the Common Principles of their Reformation that which the same Principles have given the Brownists to withdraw themselves from the Puritans of the Genevian Discipline in the more exact purity which their spirit Interpreter of the sense of the Scripture suggests unto them is yet more great Behold

uncertain or fallible rule the more dangerous is the error So our right foundation purgeth away our error in superstruction And your wrong foundation lessens the value of your truths and doubles the guilt of your errors I will by your leave requite your demonstration and turn the mouths of your own Cano●…s against your self That Church which hath changed the Apostolical Creed the Apostolical Succession the Apostolical Regiment and the Apostolical Communion is no Apostolical Orthodox or Catholick Church But the Church of Rome hath changed the Apostolical Creed the Apostolical Succession the Apostolical Regiment and the Apostolical Communion Therefore the Church of Rome is no Apostolical Orthodox or Catholick Church They have changed the Apostolical Creed by making a new Creed wherein are many things inserted that hold no Analogie with the old Apostles Creed The Apostolical Succession by ingrossing the whole succession to Rome and making all other Bishops to be but the Popes Vicars and Substitutes as to their Jurisdiction The Apostolical Regiment by erecting a visible and Universal Monarchy in the Church And lastly the Apostolical Communion by excommunicating three parts of the holy Catholick Apostolick Church Again That Church which resolves its Faith not into divine Revelation and Authority but into Humane infallibility or the Infallibilitie of the present Church without knowing or according what that present Church is whether the Virtual or the representative or the essential Church or a body compounded of some of these hath no true faith But the Church of Rome resolves its Faith not into divine Revelation and Authority but into the Infallibility of the present Church not knowing or not according what that present Church is whether the Virtual Church that is the Pope or the Representative Church that is a general Council or the Essential Church that is the Church of B●…lievers diffused over the world or a body compounded of some of these that is the Pope and a General or Provincial Council Therefore the Church of Rome hath not true faith The greater number of your Writers is for the Pope that this infallibility is fixed to his Chair But of all other Judgements that is most fallible and uncertain for if Simony make a Nullity in a Papal Election we have great reason to doubt that that Chàir hath not been filled by a right Pope these last hundred years These are no other but your own Mediums Such luck you have with your irrefragable demonstrations In case his Majesty will turn Roman Catholick you promise him restitution to his Kingdoms Great undertakers are seldom good performers when you are making your Proselytes you promise them golden Mountains but when the work is done you deal with them as he did with his Saint who promised a Candle as big as his Mast and offered one no bigger than his finger Do you however think it reason that any man should change his Religion for temporal respects though it were for a Kingdom Jeroboam did so you may remember what was the success of it You propose this as the readiest means to restore him Others who penetrate deeper into the true state of his affairs look upon it as the readiest way to ruin his hopes by the alienation of his friends by the confirmation of his foes and in some sort the justification of their former feigned fears Do you think all Roman Catholick Princes desire this change as earnestly as your self Give them leave first to consult with their particular Interests A common Interest prevails more with Confederates than a common faith The Sword distingu●…sheth not between Protestants and Papists But what is the ground of this your great Confidence no less than Scripture Seek ye first the kingdom of God and the righteousness of it and all other things shall be added unto you You say the word of God deceives no man True but you may deteive your self out of the word of God The Conclusion alwaies follows the weaker part such as this are commonly your mistaken grounds when they come to be examined The text saith Seek the kingdom of God You would have his Majesty dese●…t the kingdom of God The promise is of all things necessary or convenient you will be your own Carver and oblige God Almighty to Kingdoms and particular conditions The promise is made as all tempral promises are with an implicite exception of the Cross un●…ess God see it to be otherwise more expedient for us He that denies us gold and gives us patience and other graces more precious than Gold that denies a temporal Kingdom to give an eternal doth not wrong us T●…s was out of your head That the Scots had an antienter Obligation to fidelity towards his Majesty and that Royal Family than the English is a truth not to be doubted or disputed of I think I may safely adde than any Nation in Europe or in t●…e known world to their Prince his Majesty being the hundred and tenth Monarch of that line that hath swayed the Scepter of that Kingdom successively The more the pitty that a few treacherous Shebas and a pack of bawling seditious Orators under the vizard and shadow of pure Religion to the extreme scandal of all honest professors should be able to overturn such an antient fabrick and radicated succession of Kingly Government But take heed Sir how you beleeve that any ingagement of the Presbyterian faction in Scotland proceeded either from conscience or gratitude or fidelity or aimed at the resetling of his Majesty upon his throne No no their hearts were double their treaties on their parts were meer treacheries from the beginning I mean not any of those many loyal patriots that never bowed their knees to Baal-berith the God of the Covenant in that Nation Nor yet any of those serious converts that no sooner discove●…ed the leger de main of a company of canting impostors but they sought to stop the stream of Schism and sedition with the hazard of their own lives and estates Nor even those whose eyes were longer held with the Spirit of slumber by some stronger spels of disciplinarian charmers but did yet later open their eyes and come in to do their duties at the sixth or ninth hour All these are expunged by me out of this black Roll. Let their posterities enjoy the fruit of their respective loyalties And let their memories be daily more and more blessed But I mean the obstinate Ring-leaders and Standard-bearers of the Presbyterian Covenant of both robes and the setters up of that mishapen Idol It is from these I say that no help or hope could in reason be expected They who sold the Father and such a Father were not likely to proove loyal to the Son They who hanged up one of the most antient Gentlemen in Europe the gallant Marqu●…ss of Montrose being then their lawful Vice-roy like a dog in such base and barbarous manner together with his Ma●…esties Commission to the publike dishonour of

gifts of Enemies are no gifts If such as these are all your courtesies you may be pleased to take them again Our first Reformers might safely swear upon any Gospel old or new that they meant no such thing And we may as securely swear upon all the books of God old or new that there is no such thing But why our Gospel should be younger or newer than Sixtus Quintus his Gospel or Clemens Octavus his Gospel passeth my understanding and yours also Comparisons are odious therefore I will not say that the true English Protestant standing to his own grounds is the best subject in the world But I do say that he is as good a subject as any in the wortd and our principles as Innocent and as auxiliary to civil Government as the maxims of any Church under Heaven And more than yours where the clashing of two Supreme Authorities and the exemption of your numerous Clergy from the Coercive power of the Prince and some other novelties which I forbear to mention do alway threaten a storm Tell me Sir if you can what Church in Europe hath declared more fully or more favourably for Monarchy than the poor Church of England That the most high and sacred Order of Kings is of Divine Right being the Ordinance of God himself founded in the prime Laws of Nature and clearly established by express Texts both of the old and new Testament Moreover that this power is extended over all their Subjects Ecclesiastical and Civil That to s●…t up any Independent coactive power above them either Papal or popular either directly or indirectly is to undermine their great royal Office and cunningly to overthrow that most Sacred Ordinance which god himself hath established That for their subjects to bear Arms against them Offensive or defensive upon any pretence whatsoever is to resist the powers which are ordained of God And why do you call our Reformation Calvinistical contrary to your own Conscience contrary to your own confession That in our Reformation we reteined the antient Order of Episcopacy as Instituted by divin●… authority and a Liturgy and Ceremonies whereby we preserved the face or Image of the Catholick Church And that for this very caus●… the disciplinarians of Geneva and the Presbyterians did conceive an implacable hatred against the King for the Churches sake and out of their aversion to it Did they hate their own Reformation so implacably If these things be to be reconciled reddat mihi minam Diogenes He that looks more in disputation to the Advantage of his party than to the Truth of his grounds had need of a strong memory We reteined not onely Episcopacy Liturgy and Ceremonies but all things else that were conformable to the Discipline and publick service of the Primitive Church rightly understood No Sir we cannot pin our faith upon the sleeve of any particular man as one used to say We love no nismes neither Calvinism nor Lutheranism nor Jonsenianism but onely one that we derive from Antioch that is Christianism We honour Learning and Piety in our fellow servants but we desire to wear no other badge or Cognizance than that we received from our own Master at our Baptism Bucer was as fit to be Calvins Master as his Scholar So long as Calvin continued with him in Germany he was for Episcopacy Liturgy and Ceremonies and for assurance thereof subscribed the Augustane Confession and his late learned Successor and assertor in Geneva Monsieur Deodate with sundry others of that Communion were not averse from them Or why do you call Reformation blind It was not blindness but too much affectation of knowledge and too much peeping into controverted and new fangled Questions that hath endamaged our Religion It is you that teach the Colliers Creed not we Howsoever you pretend to prove that our Reformation was the ruin of the Church and Common-wealth wee expect you should endeavour to prove it You cannot so far mistake your self as to conceive your authority to be the same with us that Pythagoras had among his Scholars to have his Dictates received for Oracles without proof what did I say that you pretend to prove it That 's too low an expression you promi●…e us a demonstration of it so lively and evident that no reason shall be able to contradict it Are you not afraid that too much expectation should prejudice your discourse by diminishing our applause Quid tanto dignum feret hi●… proneissor hia●…u Do you think of nothing now but Triumphs Lively and evident demonstration not to be contradicted by reason is like the Phenix much talked of but seldom seen Most men when they see a man strip up his sleeves and make too large promises of fair dealing do suspect jugling No man proclameth in the Market that he hath rotten wares to sell And therefore we must be careful notwithstanding your great promises to keep well Epicharmus his Jewel Remember to distrust By your permission your glistering demonstration is a very counterfeit not so valuable as a Bristol Diamond when it comes to be examined by the wheel Sometimes nothing is more necessary than Reformation Never was house so well builded that now and then needed not reparation Never Garden so well planted but must sometimes be weeded Never any order so well instituted but in long tract of time there will be a bending and declining from its Primitive perfection and a necessi●…y of reducing it to its first principles Are your Houses of Religion which are Reformed therefore the less Religious Why then did all the Princes and Common-wealths in Europe Yea the Fathers themselves in the Council of Trent cry out so often so earnestly for a Reformation yet were forced to content themselves with a vain shadow for the substance as Ixion embraced a Cloud for Juno or Children are often stilled with an empty bottle But Reformation is not agreable to all persons Judas loved not an Audit because he kept the Bag. Dull Lethargick people had rather sleep to death than to be awaked and mad phrenetick Bigots are apt to beat the Chirurgion that would bind up their wounds but none are so a verse from Reformation as the Court of Rome where the very name is more formidable than Hannibal at the Gates yea than all the five terrible things No mervail they are afraid to have their Oranges squeesed to their hands if they were infallible as they pretend there was no need of a Reformation we wish they were but we see they are not On the other side it cannot be denyed that Reformation when it is unseasonable or inordinate or excessive may do more hurt than good when Reformers want just Authority or due information or have sinister ends or where the remedy may be of worse consequence than the abuse or where men run out of one extreme into another therefore it is a rule in prudence Not to remove an ill custom when it is well setled unless it