Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	civil_a	judge_n	matter_n	1,515	5	5.7205	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A09869	Want of charitie iustly charged, on all such Romanists, as dare (without truth or modesty) affirme, that Protestancie destroyeth salvation in answer to a late popish pamphlet intituled Charity mistaken &c. / by Christopher Potter ...	Potter, Christopher, 1591-1646.	1633 (1633)	STC 20135.3; ESTC S4420	135,510	274

say it is in jeast to shew the Sorbonists the iniquity of their censures As if Iesuiticall Libells and Pamphlets were to bee parallel'd with the Apostles Creed or this as justly censurablea as the other God in justice may giue ouer these men to Atheisme in earnest who dare so prophanely dally with the Capitall Principles of our faith By the profession of this faith and by the bond of loue wee are linked in communion with the Catholike Church and all her true members in the world and doubt not of Gods mercy in Christ if to our holy faith we adde an holy conversation For the Church of Rome in those Catholique truths which shee maintaines we are not at oddes with her nor need any reconciling for that masse of errours and abuses in iudgement and practise which is proper to her and wherein she differs from vs wee iudge a reconciliation impossible and to vs who are convicted in conscience of her corruptions damnable Hitherto the Mistaker hath declamed for the Charity of his party Hee will now declare the truth of his assertion that no Protestant can be saved Vpon examination wee shall finde as little truth in the substance of his discourse as there is in the designe of it little judgement or conscience or modesty Charity mistaken Cap. 3. 4. 5. 2 VNtrue The former iudgement proceeds not from lacke of Charity but from truth Which may appeare by these grounds of truth which follow 1 Almighty God hath founded but one Church and ordained but one religion wherein he will be served and out of the communion of this one Church there is no salvation This vnity of the Church is proued by many testimonies of Scripture and by the consent of the Fathers of the East and West And it is likewise proued by the same authorities that out of the communion of this one Church salvation cannot bee obtained wherefore all Heretiques Schismatiques being out of this Church and Communion must needs eternally perish Answere Sect. 2. OF the Vnity of the Church Wherein it consists How it is violated Each discord in opinion dissolues not the vnity of Faith The communion of the Church in what sense and how farre necessary TO the first ground No Protestant denyes the Catholique Church to bee one They all deny the present Romane to be that one Catholique If the Mistaker could proue this his paines were to some purpose But his labour is lost in prouing the vnity of the Catholique Church where of there is no doubt or Countrouersie Wherefore we might passe ouer this impertinent discourse but that some things are here and there intermingled which merit our consideration That place of a Deut. 17. 8 9. Deut. 17. alleaged by the Mistaker makes little for the vnity of the Church and much lesse for the Popes pretence of soueraigne power All Controuersies ciuill or ceremoniall are there referred not to the high Priest alone as the Mistaker thinkes but to the great Tribunall called the Sanhedrim mixt of Priests and Iudges in which all harder causes Ecclesiasticall and Ciuill should be determined without further appeale And therefore in respect of the two kindes of causes there were ordained two sorts of men to heare them Ecclesiasticall and Ciuill the Ciuill meant by the Iudge and the Ecclesiasticall by the Priest And though sometimes amongst the Iewes both the offices did meet in one person as in Eli yet this was very rare and extraordinary Ordinarily they were distinct and in the place which we haue in hand many learned b Oleaster Lyra. Cajeta apud Bonfrer in loc Sigon de Rep. Heb. libr. 6. cap. 7. The Dowists in their Marginall note on 2 Chron. 19. vers 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Romanists affirme that by the Iudge is meant the ciuill Magistrate who is directly distinguished and seuered from the Priest both in the c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 originall Hebrew and in the d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Septuagint And by the Priest not the high Priest alone but as may appeare by this e Deut. 17. 9. Text and another f Deut. 2. 1. 5. parallell to it the Priests the sonnes of Leui. It is true amongst those Priests there was one Chiefe in this matter of highest judgement in doubtfull causes So also was there one principall among the Iudges in g 2 Chron. 19. 11. matters of the King that is in ciuill causes And therefore if the Mistaker imagine that Christians must haue one soueraigne Bishop ouer all because the Iewes had one chiefe Priest it may bee inferred by as good consequence that Christians must haue one Soueraigne Prince ouer all because the Iewes had one chiefe Iudge And as all harder causes of religion must be referred to the Pope so all ciuill matters must be referred to the Emperour And as amongst the Iewes the Priest and Iudge were resident in the place which the Lord had chosen so the Pope and the Emperour must both abide in Rome These Inferences are all of equall validitie that is of no validitie at all The Mistaker will here haue it further well considered that the whole people was to submit to the determination of the high Priest or of the Iudge as the Vers 12. Text hath it vpon no lesse then the paine of death True and there was reason for it For 1. the sentences of them that are in authority and iudge soueraignely without appeale should bee obeyed or submitted vnto though they be vniust A lawfull power though vnlawfully abused must be obeyed A man fined or censured in the Star-chamber high Commission or other Courts of Iustice may not pretend for his contempt the error or misinformation of the Iudges But though Inferiours be alwaies bound to obey the sentences of their Gouernours yet they are not bound to beleeue them alwayes to be just Those Priests and Iudges had a rule to gouerne their judgements by they were to giue sentence h Vers 11. Eze. 44. 24. according to the Lawe If they erred frō this rule as sometimes i Es 28. 7. Ier. 2. 26. 27 Ezek. 22. 26. Mal. 2. 7 8. Act. 23. 3. Vide Tirin in loc Deut. 17. they did the errour might bee obserued though the authority might not be disobeyed 2. The high Priest in cases of moment had a certaine Priuiledge from errour if he cōsulted the k Exod. 28. 30. Numb 27. 21. diuine oracle by the judgement of Vrim or by the brest-plate of judgement wherein were Vrim and Thummim whereby he had an absolutely infallible direction If any such promise frō God to assist the Pope could be produced his decisions might then justly passe for oracles without examination till then his words with vs weigh so much as his reasons no more The sinne of l Numb 16. Korah Dathan and Abiram was a rebellion yea treason against Moses the civill Magistrate as well as a schisme from Aaron the Priest That they with all their company

the Church the promises of Christ assure us But that to necessarie truths she shall adde no unnecessarie opinions for that we have no warrant either from the Scripture or any promise of God And were it otherwise the Doctors above mentioned had betrayed the Churches cause in stead of maintaining it For if in all her doctrines and definitions she be infallible why should they restraine her infallibilitie in defining unto matters necessary They should have profess'd her roundly and plainly infallible in all her determinations For to limit her infallibility in defining onely to things necessary and then to say that all defin'd by her is eo ipso necessarie because defin'd is to delude the world and seemingly to yeild something when nothing is yeilded The Romane cause at this day as it appeares by the vulgar Writers of the Popes quarter and among others by our Mistaker wholly depends on this pretended absolute infallibility All Controversies in the issue are reduced to this and decided by it And with great reason if there were any reason in it or for it For if Rome cannot erre or be deceived then without doubt all they erre and are deceived who dissent from her And therefore me thinkes learned men of that partie might do very well to ease themselves and the world of much trouble and paines in the scanning of other questions if with all their strength and witt they can but settle on the Pope or his adherents such an infallibility by any one convicting argument this will instantly and evidently conclude all our other differences No wise man will any way contradict them who cannot any way erre But surely this doctrine that the Church is infallible in all her definitions is so far from being certaine and divine that it is at the best but doubtfull and problematicall and that even by and from their owne principles The Roman Drs deliver us these Maximes concerning the Churches authority 1. r Staplet lib. 9. Princip doctr passim contr Whitak That the truth of Scripture it selfe and of all contained in it relyes in respect of us upon the testimony of the Church so as nothing is credible to us but by the Churches attestation 2. s Valent. Tom. 3. disp 1. qu. 1. pun 1. §. 6. col 29. That the proposition of the Church is so necessary to the act of divine faith that nothing can be beleeved without it 3. That t Bellarm. lib. 4. de Pont. R. cap. 14. §. Respondeo Inprimis untill a doctrine be declared or defined by the Church so long it may be either doubted of or denyed without danger These propositions are their owne Hence wee assume But this doctrine that the Church is infallible in all her decrees and definitions was never yet declared decreed or defined by the Church no not by any Councell or by any Pope And hence we inferre Therefore it is a doctrine which may be doubted of or denyed without danger a doctrine which no man can beleeue by divine faith a doctrine whatsoever it be in it selfe to Christians not credible If any man will deny the assumption he will oblige himselfe to disproue it by a contrary instance Let it be shewed where and when and in what termes the Church hath published any such declaration And suppose which will not be granted that such a declaration had beene made it may be demanded with reason upon what warrant the Church can assume to her selfe a power so divine and boundlesse as to authorize all her decrees in so high a forme that they must be accounted divine and infallible If the promise of God in Scripture be pleaded for this power we haue already shewed how the learned among themselues haue voyded this plea and so restrained those promises that they are by much too narrow to support so wide a priviledge If it bee said that this authority of the Church is a principle admitted by all Christians without any doubt or proofe this is a saying voluntary and and groundlesse For 1. they will confesse every principle in Religion to be founded either in nature or in Scripture or in tradition or in Church definition and in none of these will they find any footing for this 2. All Christians in the world confesse the authority of Scripture to be a principle indemonstrable yet are we by them perpetually urged to proue that authority and that by Scripture 3. Dr u Princ. Doctrin l. ● c. 21. Stapleton thinkes it not onely fitting but necessary in respect of us that the Church should give testimony to her self especially thē in this point of so great importance consequence cōcerning her infallible authority wherein all Religiō is so much concerned 4. Lastly it is a great errour and vanitie to beleeue that this absolute infallibility of the Church is beleeved by all Christians especially in the sence of our Adversaries who ever by the Church intend that unsound piece which they call the Roman Catholique The Protestants and Greekes expresly accuse this Church and haue convicted her too as they thinke of many grosse and dangerous errors The w See Mr. Brierwoods Enquiries Armenians Syrians Indians Iacobites Maronites Abassines with other innumerable assemblies of Christians haue many doctrines and customes directly repugnant to those of Rome which were an unreasonable presumption and absurditie if they esteemed the Church of Rome so wholly infallible Nay within the Roman Church it selfe many Authors of great learning and judgement by name x Horum omnium testimonia legere est apud Rob. Baronium de objecto fidei Tract 5. cap. 19. Occam Cameracensis Waldensis Panormitanus Antoninus Archbishop of Florence Cardinal Cusan Nicholas Clemangis haue declared their opinion that any particular Churches and particularly the Roman any Councels though Generall any Popes may erre even to heresie and I doubt not but the best learned Romanists at this day are of the same opinion Before wee proceed it will not be from our purpose to note one thing more in passing The Church of Rome pretends that it is an office belonging onely to Her to deliver the entire rule of faith to all Christian people And she pretends further that this divine and infalliable rule is made up of three integrall parts to wit Scriptures Traditions and Church definitions If this be true she doth but loosely discharge her office very ill satisfie the obligation which she hath unto the Christian world For 1. Why hath she not yet defined that her definitions are of divine authority The late Fathers of Trent haue canonized unwritten traditions and equall'd them to Scriptures but why did they omit to canonize the decrees of all Popes Councells Why did they not adde to Traditions their Church definitions and command them both and them all to be received with no lesse devotion then the holy Scriptures 2. The same Fathers have given us an exact catalogue of all the bookes of Scripture but why did they not give