Selected quad for the lemma: duty_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
duty_n	child_n	father_n	mother_n	5,111	5	7.8086	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A15735	A defence of M. Perkins booke, called A reformed Catholike against the cauils of a popish writer, one D.B.P. or W.B. in his deformed Reformation. By Antony Wotton.	Wotton, Anthony, 1561?-1626.; Perkins, William, 1558-1602. Reformed Catholike.; Bishop, William, 1554?-1624. Reformation of a Catholike deformed: by M. W. Perkins.	1606 (1606)	STC 26004; ESTC S120330	512,905	582

our increase in worldly riches rather then we would not serue thee But by the way let me put you in mind if you will needs haue that speech of Ieromes belong to wilful pouerty you must needs make it a commandement by your owne interpretation It is not only a counsaile but a commandement that euery man should forsake his goods rather then his profession of Christianitie or any speciall dutie to which God shall call him If any man saith our Sauiour come to me and hate not his father and mother and wife and children and brethren and sisters and his owne life also he cannot be my disciple speaker D. B. P. And if need were I could cite most of the auncient Fathers teaching those words of Christ Goe and sell all to be an heauenly counsell giuen generally vnto all S. Antonie tooke them spoken to him In vita eius apud Athanas. S. Augustine to him Ad Hilarium To omit latter religious men I will only cite S. Jerom who doth briefely both declare our Catholike doctrine and shewes also who was the Author of the Protestants opinion saying thus To that vvhich thou affirmest that they do better who vse their goods and doe by little and little distribute to the poore the profits of their possessions then others vvho selling them giue all at once not I but our Lord shall ansvvere Jf thou vvilt be perfect goe and sell all thou hast and giue it to the poore Christ speaketh to him that vvill be perfect not to the young man only vvho vvith the Apostles forsooke both Father shippe and nettes That which thou Vigilantius commendest obtaineth the second and third degree so that the first which is to sell all at once be preferred before the second and third Which is to giue by little and little the fruit of our reuenues to the poore speaker A. W. The authoritie of the antient writers is lessened by the knowledge of the ground they built vpon which was a misconceit of our Sauiours speech begun at the first by some man who did not sufficiently waigh the place and continued from one to another without any due examination till it had got such strength that it carried away the best learned who contemning the world were easily perswaded to thinke themselues to be in an estate of perfection speaker D. B. P. I might confirme this sormer argument with the example of the sore●●ide best Christians who hauing possessions and lands sold all and brought the price of them and laid it at the Apostles feete and more yet enforce it by the fact of Ananias and Saphira his wife who hauing sold all theirs presented but part of the money vnto the Apostles and reserued the rest vnto themselues Belike they were of M. Perkins his minde that it is better to giue then to receiue and therefore kept part to that purpose but they therefore were both punished with present death Which proueth inuincibly both how laudable it is to sell all and how dangerous to halte in such holy workes But to auoid prolixitie I do but point at the places And that Ananias as the ●est had promised this to God which is a Vow it appeareth in the text where it is said that he lyed not vnto men but vnto God in not per●orming his promise And here we deduce very cleerely that such a Vow is much pleasing vnto God thus That which is commended by our Sauiours owne both example and doct●ine and was practised by the Apostles and most holie Christians that may be Vowed verie laudablie but to sell all and giue it to the poore is such speaker A. W. The example of those Christians is nothing to the purpose who vpon speciall occasion made their goods common to the vse of the whole Church in Ierusalem yet is it not said of them that they sold all they had yea the contrary may reasonably be gathered by the facts of Barnabas and Ananias of whom it is recorded that they sold each of them a possession that he had and laid downe the money at the Apostles feete Now to imagin that they had no other goods and chattels but that land nor any moueables is a conceit vnwarrantable by any reason Ananias and Sapphiras mind was to make a shew of more bountie then they had any will to performe That they had made any vow or promise to God of any such sale cannot be prooued by the text but rather the contrary because the Apostle Peter saith that it was in his choyce before he sold it whether he would sell it or no and that after he had sold it it was in his owne power viz. to giue all or halfe of it as he thought good The lye he made was to say that he had brought in all the money he sold it for whereas he kept back part I haue stood the longer vpon this argument because you bring no more but this and thinke this vnanswerable Therefore also beside your custome you draw it into a Syllogisme now at the last That say you which is commaunded by our Sauiours owne example and doctrine and was practised by the Apostles and most holy Christians that may be vowed very laudably But to sell all and giue it to the poore is such Therefore it may be vowed very laudably I denie your proposition because some things haue bin commended and practised by our Sauiour his Apostles and other holy Christians of which a man may not make a vow For example both he and they haue commended and indured persecution for the Gospell yet doth it not follow that therefore a man may wilfully by a vow bring persecution vpon himselfe as by the vow of pouertie you cast your selues into a state of beggery Your assumption also is false Neither our Sauiour his Apostles nor other holy Christians I speake of the examples you bring out of the Acts haue practised any such matter as in my former answers it hath appeared To which I adde yet further that they in the Acts so gaue that they did giue that themselues had their reliefe out of it if neede required as well as any other Of the conclusion I say that it containes not the whole matter in question betwixt vs though it be rightly drawne from the premisses For though we should graunt that vowes of selling all and giuing it to the poore may laudably be made which is false yet is it not proued that a man may vow wilfull pouertie and refuse to possesse any worldly goods They in the Acts if they gaue all away which is al made in our Creation we remember nothing of it nor neuer heard speake of it by any good author not that we make or renew any Vowes when vve receiue the blessed Sacrament These be but nouelties of words and the rauing of some decayed wits speaker A. W. You vtterly mistake Master Perkins for he makes not comparison betwixt your accompt of baptisme and ours but betwixt

the fasting and praying of the holiest Couent Abbey or Nunnerie in the countrie As for their satisfactions they are like a broken reede which will not onely faile him that trusts to it but hurt him also I haue shewed that we neede no other satisfaction being deliuered by our Sauiour Christs sufferings and there are few or none except perhaps the begging Friers that had not more neede to satisfie for their owne idlenesse and gluttonie than ordinarily any other kinde of men whatsoeuer if wee may beleeue either the reports of trauellers or the records of your owne histories Can they be said to be obedient to their Superiours that in the very making of their vow oftentimes wilfully disobey their fathers and mothers Or may they be thought to hurt none who liue idle vpon the sweate of other mens browes and are onely a charge to the state whereof they are vnprofitable members But not to hurt is a kindnes perhaps to be commended in theeues what due praise it can haue in a state of perfection for my part I cannot see Which I speake vpon supposition that they are not so hurtfull to men and women as it is commonly thought speaker W. P. And though we mislike this vow also yet we doe it holding these conclusions First that a man may forsake all his goodes vpon speciall calling as the Apostles did when they were sent to preach the Gospell through the whole world Secondly goodes may bee forsaken yea wife children parents brethren and all in the case of confession that is when a man for the religion of Christ is persecuted and constrained to forsake all he hath For then the second table giues place to the duties of the first Mark 10. 29. II. That for the time of persecution men may withdraw themselues iust occasion offered and goe apart to wildernesses or like places Hebr. 11. 37. yet for the time of peace I see no cause of solitarie life If it bee alleadged that men goe apart for contemplation and spirituall exercises I say againe that Gods grace may as wel be exercised in the familie as in the cloister The familie is indeede as it were a schoole of God in which they that haue but a sparke of grace may learne and exercise many vertues the acknowledgement of God inuocation the feare of God loue bountifulnes patience meekenesse faithfulnes c. Nay here bee more occasions of doing or taking good then be or can be in a cloister III. That wee condemne not the old and ancient Monks though we like not euery thing in them For they liued not like idle bellies but in the sweate of their owne browes as they ought to doe and many of them were married and in their meat drinke apparrell rule vow and whole course of life differed from the Monks of this time euen as heauen from earth speaker D. B. P. After all this wast-wind M. Perkins confesseth that a man may vpon a speciall calling s●ll all his goods as the Apostles did What then good Sir shal become of your former arguments May one then Vow a curse of the Law and leaue off prayer for neither pouertie nor riches and say that it is not a blesseder thing to giue then to receiue All these arguments which were whilom of great force must now be nothing worth because it pleaseth M. Perkins the wind now sits in an other corner such weather-cockes surely are to be much respected speaker A. W. Master Perkins speakes not a word of selling all a man hath but of forsaking it when hee hath some calling from God which requireth such a course for the following of it as will not affoord a man leisure to looke to his worldly affaires But this is no wilfull casting away the care of our estate but preferring the duties especially laid on vs by God before our owne businesse Neither is it any vowing of pouertie with a fond conceit of perfection but a faithfull labouring in our necessarie calling with neglect of the world in comparison of our dutie In such a case a man must relie on Gods prouidence and vse the best meanes he can to prouide for himselfe that he may not be chargeable to other but helpfull rather not renouncing all propriety in worldly things but carefully sauing and thriftily spending that which it pleaseth God to send by any good meanes whatsoeuer This ouerthrowes no peece of any argument Master Perkins brought before speaker D. B. P. He faith further in time of persecution a man may also leaue all he should rather haue said he must leaue all or else loose all for the persecutor will not spare him Lastly he doth not condemne old auncient Monks who liued by the sweat of their browes and were married many of them as he saith but his authors cited saith not so neither shall he be able to cite one auncient allowed and approued writer who saith that the auncient Monkes liued with their wiues if perhaps they had been married before But no maruaile if fleshly Ministers thinke it no life without their fleshly mates As for labouring at vacant times it was alwaies and is to this day in practise among many religions If other do in good studies writing or teaching imploy that time of labour no doubt but they do farre better speaker A. W. He may and must leaue all if need be It was sufficient for Master Perkins purpose to shew that our goods in some cases might bee forsaken though pouertie might not bee drawne vpon vs by any proud vow of supposed perfection He doth not condemne those Monkes though he thinks many things they vsed not warrantable The report was as Zozomen saith that Ammon the Monk of Egypt by the importunitie of his friends married a wife though hee neuer companied with her Which how he might with good conscience refuse being married let them iudge that reade what the Apostle writes of this matter yet as they say he liued with her eighteene yeeres in that course before she was brought into the liking of a Monkish life But belike it was lawfull then for them to marrie and no man can excuse this Ammon of great sinne that would aduenture to marrie one of whose continencie and willingnes to conteine hee could haue no knowledge before marriage Other Monkes that were married ere they became Monkes could not vow without consent of their wiues If labouring at vacant times be in practise among many religions as indeed there is a multitude of religions among you Papists it is but a worke of supererogation aboue their calling for their profession is idlenesse But that this will not serue the turne Austin sheweth directly enioyning it as a matter of necessitie speaker D. B. P. In defence of the Catholike party M. Perkins hath not a word wherfore I will briefly supplie his want and proue it to be very gratefull to God to sell all and giue it to the poore I omit the example of our blessed Sauiour who would