Selected quad for the lemma: church_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
church_n	apostle_n	bishop_n	priest_n	6,450	5	6.6355	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A43681	The spirit of popery speaking out of the mouths of phanatical-Protestants, or, The last speeches of Mr. John Kid and Mr. John King, two Presbyterian ministers, who were executed for high-treason and rebellion at Edinburgh, August the 14th, 1679 with animadversions, and the history of the Archbishop of St. Andrews his murder, extracted out of the registers of the Privy-Council, &c. / by an orthodox Protestant.	Hickes, George, 1642-1715.; Kid, John, d. 1679.; King, John, d. 1679.	1680 (1680)	Wing H1874; ESTC R6348	165,592	93

Christians forsaking or falling off from Christ or the Christian Religion is Metaphorically called a Scandal a Stone of Stumbling and a Rock of Offence and any man even our blessed Redeemer who spoke did or suffered any thing that accidentally deterred others from believing in Christ or that gave him occasion to desert him or his Doctrine is said to have offended or Scandalized them or given them offence in which sense 1 Cor. 1. 23. Christ is said to be a Scandal or Stumbling-block to the Jews and Luk. 7. 23. saith our Saviour Blessed is he that shall not be offended in me i. e. who shall not take occasion to disert or deny me at the time of my Sufferings see also Matth. 17. 27. 18. 6. 26. 31. 33. Therefore this Basphemer here applyes to himself the very words of the Apostle speaking of Christ crucified nay the very words of Christ himself to induce the poor People to believe that the very cause of the Covenanters is the very cause of Christianity and so deter them upon the Execution of the Rebels from quitting the cursed Rebellious cause Stone of Stumbling or a Rock of Offence and blessed is he that shall not be offended in Christ and his poor Followers and Members because of being Condemned by the World as evildoers As for those things for which Sentence hath passed against me I bless the Lord my p Is not this in effect to assert with the Jesuits That a good intention or meaning doth hallow a bad Action heart doth not Condemn me Rebellious I have not been neither do I judge it to be Rebellion for me to have indeavoured in my capacity what possible I could for the born-down and q He means by Episcopacy and Supremacy with respect to the former of which the Interest of Christ was universally ruined from the time of the Apostles till the French-Reformation and with respect to the latter from the time of Constantine the first Christian Emperour till the time when the Popes under the pretended Vicarship of Christ the King of Sion Subjected the Empire unto the Church And therefore good Christian People is not this a blessed cause which must have obliged Christians to separate from the Catholick Church in the purest times the age of the Apostles for they were Bishops and the age next unto them and to have rebelled under a pretence of Religion and defending the Interest of Christ against the first Christian Emperors to whom the Greek and Latin Churches attributed as much Supremacy in Ecclesiastical Matters and over Ecclesiastical Persons as the English and Scottish do to the King They a 1 Con. Nicen. by Constant. 1 Con. Constantinop by Theodos. Sen. Con. Eph. by Theodos. Junior Con. Chalced by Marcion convocated general Councils fat in them among the Patriarchs Bishops and Presbyters made b Syn. Oecumen Octava Where are the Speeches and Subscriptions of Basilius the Emporor and Leo. Or●tions upon Ecclesiastical matters to them and by their c Syn. Oecumen Octava Where are the Speeches and Subscriptions of Basilius the Emporor and Leo. Subscriptions consented to and confirmed what was determined therein And Councils wherein they did not sit used always to beseech them to d Epist. Concil Constantinop 1. ad Theodosium ratify their Decrees 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They had power to e Can. 12. and 16. Concil Chalced. Balsam in 16. can Concil Carthag erect new Bishopricks to abolish old ones to f As Theodosius in the Election of Nectarius dispense with the Ecclesiastical Canons and to order many things in Church-Matters which were not defined therein as is plain out of the Code and Novelles and the Capitularia of the ancient French Kings They were Priviledged to come to the g 69. Can. Concil Sexti in Trullo Altar when all other Laies were forbidden and the Clergy to shew how sacred their Persons were and that the concerns of the Church ought to be their chief care h Grot. de imperio summar potest c. 2. 7. called them Priests and Bishops which in these days would pass for Episcopal tantivies as the traiterous Author of the Appeal thinks he wittily speaks There consent was requisite to the Election of Bishops nay they often nominated the Persons to be Elected and had power to i Novil 3. c. 1. Sancimus igitur The reason which the Emperor Justinian gave for that Law was the excessive number of the Clergy which was disproportionate to the Places and Revenue of the Church The Law and the Preface to it deserves to be considered by the Right Reverend and worthy Fathers of our Church forbid the Bishops to Ordain which by the leave of the Romish and Kirk-Writers I take to be a Privative power Lastly They had a power to suspend † Novil 123. c. 1. Sancimus igitur quoties Episcopum opus fuerit ordinari sed etiam illum qui praeter hoc persumpserit ordinare segregari uno anno a sacro ministerio Bishops and Presbyters and also to k Cod. l. 1 Tit. 1. 6. Anathematizamus Nestorium 2. Eutychetem 3. Apollinarium Anathematize Hereticks which signified a power of pronouncing them rightly and duly Anathematized and of doing many other things with respect to the Church-matters and Church-men and because the two Sister-Churches and their Clergy assert as much power to be due to the King in such Causes as the Kings of Judah and the Christian Emperors had therefore the Kirk-Preachers call them l The Author of the Apology Episcopal-Erastian Churches and their Ministers and Bishops Court-Parasites and when they argue from the example of the best Judaean Kings and the most Pious Christian Emperors m Calder-Woods altare Dam●scenum Naturâ insitum est omnibus regibus odium in Christum The same is to be found in Rutherfords Lex Rex They can tell them by Authority that in all Kings there is a natural enmity against Christ nay they tell the People that the Bishops and their Clergy have ruined the Interest of Christ and that if they will have Christ for their King they must rise up to destroy the Idol of Supremacy and Antichristian Prelacy which supports it and therefore this miserable Wretch being conscious to himself of so good a Cause saith His heart did not condemn him of Rebellion for having endeavoured in his poor capacity to uphold the born-down and ruined Interest of Christ. I once had the diversion to hear a Kirk-Disciple rail at the Rescinding Act and Act of Supremacy which gave me occasion to shew what great power the Greek and Latin Churches granted to be due to the Christian Emperors in Church-matters to which he answered me That it was always natural to Clergy-men to flatter Kings and Emperors and great men just as I have read in one of the Letters which Mr. sent to all the Bishops of Scotland That Pride was always a natural sin to the Clergy which he spoke upon the

ye will all give me now your Charity being within a little space to stand before my Judge and I pray the Lord That he may forgive them that did so misrepresent me but I thank the Lord whatever men have said of me concerning this that on the contrary I have been often dissuading from such Ways and Practices and of this my Conscience bears me Witness but here I would not have you mistake me as if I did approve of Ways and Practices contrary to the Word of God and that of our Covenanted and Reformed Religion and as I ever abhorred Division and Faction in the Church as that which tends to its utter ruine if the Lord prevent it not so I would in the Bowels of my Lord and Master if such a feckless one as I may presume to exhort and perswade both Ministers Nor in the Faith or Profession of the Apostles who both Taught and Practised the contradictions to the fore-mentioned Doctrines and whereof some for † See Rom. 16. 7. Eph. 4. 11. Gal. 1. 19. Rev. 2. 2. 2 Cor. 8. 23. Phil. 2. 25. there were more Apostles than Barnabas and Paul and the Twenty two especially so called were Bishops fixed to particular Diocesses as St. a Euseb. lib. 3. c. 23. John at Ephesus St. b Hierom. de Script Eccles. in Tit. c. 1. Mark at Alexandria c Euseb. lib. 3. c. 4. Titu● in Cr●te James called the d Compare Matth. 13. 55. 27. 56. Marc. 15. 47. with John 19. 25. Lords Brother Son of Cleopas at e See the Authors quoted in Spalat l. 2. c. 2. 16. Hegesip apud Euseb. l. 2. c. 23. Hierom de Script Eccles. Gal. 2. 18 19. Acts 12. 17. Gal. 2. 12. Acts 21. 18. Acts 15. All which places shew That James was resident in Jerusalem and had some singular Ecclesiastical Authority and Presidency there Jerusalem not to mention f Euseb l. 3. c. 4. Hierom de Script Eccles. Timothy the first Bishop of Ephesus and the Angels of the Seven Churches in the Revelations whom universal Tradition hath delivered for Bishops of the Seven Asiatick Churches and Professors if there be any Fellowship of the Spirit any Consolation in Christ if any comfort in Love if any Bowels of Mercy that ye be like-minded having the same Love being of one accord of one mind in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself Phil. 2. 1. 3. Harmoniousness and Oneness in the things of God can never enough be sought after and Harmony and Unitedness in things that tend to the 3 He means the Presbyterian Government which according to them is Christs Interest Dignity Crown Kingdom Scepter Government and Royal Prerogative by which he Reigns as King in Sion Prejudice of Christs Interest can never enough be avoided and fled from And as I am willing to lay down my Tabernacle so also I Dye in the 4 Not in the Faith of the holy Scriptures which command every Soul to be Subject to the higher Powers and which neither teach directly nor indirectly That the Episcopal Government is an Antichristian or the Presbyterian by Kirk-Sessions Presbyteries and Synods a Divine Institution or that the Magistrate hath no privative Power over Ecclesiastical Persons or in causes Ecclesiastical or that Passive Obedience to an unjust Sentence is as great a Sin as Active Obedience to an unrighteous Command c. Faith of the Holy Scriptures and in the 5 Not in the Faith of the holy Scriptures which command every Soul to be Subject to the higher Powers and which neither teach directly nor indirectly That the Episcopal Government is an Antichristian or the Presbyterian by Kirk-Sessions Presbyteries and Synods a Divine Institution or that the Magistrate hath no privative Power over Ecclesiastical Persons or in causes Ecclesiastical or that Passive Obedience to an unjust Sentence is as great a Sin as Active Obedience to an unrighteous Command c. Nor in the Faith of the Primitive Christians who looked upon the Bishops as the Successors of the Apostles who derived upon them the same Ecclesiastical Authority which they received from Christ. Every one that is but tolerably versed in the Writings of the Primitive Christians must needs confess that this was the belief of the Primitive Catholick Church but to confute the shameful assertion of this ignorant Pseudo-Minister let us descend to particular Primitive The Office of a Bishop proved to be distinct from that of a Priest and of Divine Institution Writers and see what They say upon this Subject Ignatius in his Epistles insists wholly upon the avoiding of Heresie and Schism and the Avoiding of Schism is every where inculcated by him to consist in this That without the Bishop nothing be done and all with the advice of the Presbyters Heretofore some Paraphrastical Copies of this Fathers Epistles have gone abroad in the World in which could not be found the many places which the Fathers quoted out of them at least in the same words but since the Edition of the Medicaean Greek Copy by Is. Vossius and the two old Latin Copies by Bishop Usher which differ from the former Copies and agree with one another and wherein are found all the places quoted out of them by the Fathers and in the same Expressions wherein they are quoted no tolerable reason hath been given why they should not pass for pure and genuine neither by Blundell nor Salmasius who probably had written their Books against Episcopacy before they had seen these latter Copies nor our own † See their two Answers at the Isle of Wight and the Appendix to the Jus Divinum Minist Anglican Prop. 3. pag. 108. men who still cry down these Epistles without mentioning these latter Copies or distinguishing between them and the former This Father who was Bishop of Antioch Anno Dom. 69. and contemporary with St. John in his Epist. ad Magnes saith thus Vos decet non concuti aetate Episcopi sed Secundum virtutem dei patris omnem reverentiam ei tribuere Ad Smyrnens omnes Episcopum Sequimi●i ut Jesus Christus patrem Presbyterium ut Apostolos diaconos autem revereamini ut dei mandatum Nullus sine Episcopo aliquid operetur eorum quae convenit in Ecclesiam illa firma gratiarum actio Eucharistia reputetur quae sub ipso est vel quam utique concesserit Ubi utique apparet Episcopus illic multitudo sit quemadmodum utique ubi est Jesus Christus illic Catholica Ecclesia non licitum est sine Episcopo neque Baptìzare neque Agapen facere sed quod utique ille probaverit hoc est deo beneplacitum ut stabile sit firmum omne quod agitur Honorans Episcopum à deo honoratus qui occultum ab Episcopo aliquid operatur diabolo praestat obsequium Ad Ephes. Concurrite sententia dei etenim Jesus Christus incomparibile nostrum vivere patris sententia ut ipsi

eos quos baptizaverat suos putabat esse non Christi in toto orbe decretum est ut unus de Presbyteris electus super poneretur caeteris ad quem omnis Ecclesiae cura pertinere● schismatum semina tollerentur Having now shewed that the Primitive Christians believed the Function of a Bishop to be distinct from that of a Presbyter and Superior to it and that the Bishops were the Successors of the Apostles and of Christs institution as they were I hope it is plain that this Antiepiscopal Deceiver dyed not in the Faith of the Primitive Christians as he hath the impudence here to profess From what I have here said of the Episcopal Office and Authority I may draw some Corollaries First that the Primitive Catholick Church acted in Conformity to its own Profession in declaring Aerius as an Antiepiscoparian an Heretick Secondly that Church-Government is not indifferent but that the † Episcopos esse in Ecclesiâ debere tanquam institutionem Apostolicam ac ordinationem proinde divinam contra Puritanos contraque Bellàrminum semper sensi qui negat Episcopos à deo immediatè suam jurisdictionem accepisse Sed nihil mirum à Puritanis eum stare quum Jesuitae nihil quàm Puritano-papistae ●int This was the Judgment of King James as is observed by Becanus de Prim. regn Angl. c. 7. Jacobi regis praefat Monar Episcopal is immediately of Apostolical and mediately of Christs institution and by consequence at least as unalterable as the Baptism of Infants and observation of the Lords-Day which the Presbyterians with good reason declare that the Magistrate ought not to change or take away Thirdly that it is Blasphemy to say that Episcopacy is an Antichristian usurpation over the Church Fourthly that to assert with the Covenanters that the Presbyterian-Government is of Divine institution is an Unscriptural Heretical and absurd Doctrine contrary to the Word of God and the practice and profession of the Holy Catholick Church And as this Jesuited Presbyterian died not in the Faith or Profession of the Primitive Christians so he died not in the Faith of the Reformed Churches First not of the Church of England which is Governed by Bishops like the Primitive Churches and after the warrant of their example hath Instituted Ceremonies and worships God by Liturgical Forms Nor secondly of the Reformed Church of France which submits to the regulation of the Edict of Nantes which is a pure and Secular Edict and which hath always worshipped God by a Common-Prayer-Book and observes Holy-days as Christmas Easter and Whitsunday and which reverences Protestant Bishops after the example of Calvin and Beza their first Reformers and owns Ministers Ordained by them and are never without some such in their Church And whos 's † The Kings larger Declaration pag. 75. Pastors especially those of Charenton were offended at the Solemn League and Covenant as an indelible Scandal to the Protestant Cause as also the Professors Ministers and Consistory of Geneva and their neighbour Reformed Churches as was certified to King Charles the First by his Publick Ministers abroad Nor lastly died he in the Faith of the Reformed Church of Scotland which never professed Episcopacy to be an unlawful or Antichristian Constitution c. as may be seen in the Larger and Lesser Scoticane Confession in the Harmony but I suppose he means the Covenanted Reformed Church that Schismatical Military Church which was and is the Reproach of the Protestant or Reformed Name by the mighty 9 So he calls the incurable obstination of the Presbyterian Party in Schism against the Episcopal Church and Faction and Rebellion against the State Power Goodness and Wisdom of God I bear my witness and Testimony to the Doctrine Worship Discipline and Government of the Kirk of Scotland by 10 A great * Presbyteries Tryal pag. 50. Apostle of the Covenant said in the Pulpit that the Angels and Saints of heaven if they could leave the sight of God would be glad to come down and see the admirable order of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland by Kirk-Sessions Presbyteries and Synods Which Platform being no where to be found in the Scripture made many that had cryed up the Presbyterian Discipline for a Divine Institution tu●● Independents Quakers and Atheists and condemn it as in truth it is for a meer human invention Which if Mr. Calvin had not hit upon and set up in that exigence in Geneva had never been known to the Western no more than to the Eastern parts of Christendom at least to great Britain where it hath been taught in both Kingdoms without any ground in the Scriptures or Antiquity for the sole indispensable government of the Church † King Charles his larger Declarat pag. 67. The National Covenant is that which in the Harmony is called Generalis Confessio it was first Subscribed by King James of blessed Memory and his Household 1580. and by Persons of all Ranks 1581. by an Ordinance of the Privy-Council and Act of General-Assembly It was Subscribed again by all sorts of Persons 1590. by a new Ordinance of Council at the desire of the General Assembly with a general Bond for maintaining the true Religion and the Kings Person and so far Authority permitting or commanding it all was well But then afterwards in † See the Declaration in w. on the first Speech and the Kings larger Declarat pag. 68 69 70. 1638. without the Kings Authority or Commission from his Council they imposed it again according to a new Interpretation of their own although no Authority can interpret any Oath Law or Rescript but that which made it or those whom they who made it have Constituted Interpreters and Judges thereof The new Interpretation was That this Confession was to be interpreted and understood against all the pretended Innovations as if every one of them had been expressed therein viz. The Five Articles of Perth the Service Book the Book of Canons the High-Commission and Episcopacy it self although these things were neither named nor hinted at in that Confession whereof the first Framers only abjured in it those Romish Corruptions which in their time had infected the Church Besides all this they altered the Bond which was annexed to the former Confession by adding these words without authority A mutual defence of one another against all Persons whatsoever by which what they meant the King by woful experience found The Copy of this Confession may be seen in the forecited larger Declaration of the King Kirk-Sessions Presbyteries Synods and General-Assemblies Also I bear my Witness and Testimony to our Covenants † National and Solemn-League betwixt the three Kingdoms which Sacred and Solemn Oath I believe cannot be dispensed with nor loosed by any person or Party upon earth but are fully binding these Nations and will be so ever hereafter Also I bear my Testimony to our publick Confessions of Sin and engagements to Duty and that either as to what concerns