Linguistic DNA - Concept Modelling Demonstrator

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
kingdom_n	church_n	city_n	king_n	1,919	5	3.5266	3	false

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A09952	The iudgement of a most reuerend and learned man from beyond the seas concerning a threefold order of bishops, with a declaration of certaine other waightie points, concerning the discipline and gouernement of the Church.	Bèze, Théodore de, 1519-1605.; Fielde, John, d. 1588.	1585 (1585)	STC 2021; ESTC S120819	15,412	46

with all the ancient good lawes prouidyng for the resisting of the gouernyng by some few had bene in their former force agayne But besides that the state of the world being quite changed experience of so many ages doeth teach vs too well that vnlesse this roote also be plucked vp it wil come to passe that the same fruite will sprout and bud forth again Finally seing the Lord hath so ofteÌ„ decided this coÌ„trouersie of superiority among his own disciples that he shut it cleane out seing the rule both for doctrine good order of the Church is to bee sought for out of the very writings of the apostles it is manifested the churches theÌ„ prospered wheÌ„ all this authoritie of one man ouer the rest yet was not but as that grew vp so al things fell to decay Finally seeyng where the remnants of this gouernment by a few are not cleane taken away the woorke of the Lord is openly hindered Our iudgement is that after the chasing away of this deuise of man the churches shall be wel prouided for if they may be repaired according to the writynges of the Apostles And the reformation as it semeth to vs consisteth herein that first the whole kingdome is to bee deuided into regions Agayne the regions into parishes either of Cities or countrey townes that in places most fit and of greatest assembly be placed pastors beyng lawfully propounded by the company of their owne elders to the kinges christiaÌ„ maiestie or the deputies therof and allowed of all Lastly beyng receyued of their own people ouer whoÌ„ they are to be set they be placed promulgation hauing gone before and that in euery parish the pastour may haue with hym fit men to assist him who also may beyng watchfull salue vp the offences not so waighty leauyng the other of greater importance to the whole eldership Also that eldership made of the pastors of parishes both of citie cuntry and a sufficient number of men approoued for their godlines wisedom lawfully also chosen as is aforesayd bee placed in most fitte places who assemblyng at a certaine tyme and place may determine of the Church-affayres of their owne gouernment accordyng to the prescript lawes first set downe in a generall councell and afterward confirmed by the authoritie of the soueraigne maiestie In this company let there be chosen by common voyces one first in order not superior in authoritie who shall be thought most fit and that without making choyse of any certaine place but for a certaine tyme. After the expiryng whereof either let another bee chosen or els the same man is to be established agayne for another tyme by a new consent whose office is to make report of the common affaires to the company to demaund their iudgements and to giue sentence by the iudgement of the eldership hauing no authority giueÌ„ him ouer his felows to whoÌ„ rather he is most subiect In this assembly let nothyng be debated of besides maters of conscieÌ„ce that by the word of god the lawes of church discipline established drawen out of the worde of God not one whit medling with the authority of the ciuil magistrate And let the soueraign maiesty the lawfull magistrate thereby appointed be keepers of this order the punisher of those that seditiously rage against it But if any shal imagin that this sodain abolishing of both these bishops will minister occasion of new stirres although we see not with what conscieÌ„ce the bish may so chalenge to themselues the goods of the church or els call theÌ„selues bishops liue like princes of this world yet for to keep the coÌ„mon peace the soueraigne maiesty may leaue vnto theÌ„ which are now bishops their reuenues whole for their lyfe tyme so they trouble not the well made order of the Church with prouiding there be none chosen into their place when they bee dead As for the frowardnes of the people it may be kept downe better a great deale by other reynes then by the authoritie of a false named bishop as by preaching of the word of God by censures of the church and the authoritie of the magistrate of the cuntry agaynst the open troubles of the publike state either ecclesiastical or ciuil The Churches may very wel be visited at set times without any great cost and bishoplike pride by theÌ„ whoÌ„ euery eldership hath chosen vnder the K. maiesties authority which wil not be alwais necessary if the elders do rightly execute their office This sitting of the bish with the authority of the voice in the publike estates of the kingdom came in with a manifest abuse coÌ„trary to the word therfore in our mind is to be vtterly abolished For the bish hath nothing to do in ordring of meer ciuil affairs yet forasmuch as in such assemblies especially some things many times happen belonging to the establishing of the estate order of the churches the kepers wherof the godly magistrates ought to be not the ouer turners as we are taught by the exaÌ„ple of holy kings It is very necessary that as often as the meetinges of the land are proclaymed intelligence thereof be giuen to the chiefe elders who may bee present in the behalfe of their seignories yet not sittyng as iudges but dealing about matters of the church onely with the estates of the land as their elderships haue giuen them in charge except the states thinke good vpon extraordinary occasion that they aske counsell of God about some other affaires also If also the kinges Maiestie thinke good to admit into counsell amongest the pastors or elders one who shall bee thought to be wise and experienced in things he may admit him though not as a pastor or elder yet as a citizen And it were iniurious to remooue from their office in the Church the pastours and much lesse the Elders and Deacons otherwise laymen froÌ„ that degree which they hold as citizens either in the common wealth or in the assemblies But the kings maiesty and all the Princes Lordes are to be exceedyng wary that they make not courtlike gouernours of their pastors to the great endamagyng of the Church as we haue a faire example in Eusebius of Nicomedia in the court of Constantine As for the right of the patronage least some man should say that it was gotten for himselfe Our iudgement is that it may be concealed but not without some conditioÌ„s namely that he which shall be chosen by the free voyces of the eldership should bee offred by the Patrone to the kings maiestie beyng also to set vpon his charge after the consenting of his flocke The second question After that religion is reformed it hath bene a receiued custome that the bishops and of the ministers pastors elders so many as should be sent of the bishops should assemble themselues that they together with the chiefe Barons and nobles which professe the true religion might make enquirie after the doctrine and maners of euery one

Apostolicall authoritie but by the authoritie of the whole Eldership neither doeth Peter doubt to call himselfe fellow elder Sunprosbuteron Nay this is so farre off from being any good remedy from staying of schismes that contrary wise there was neuer more bitter contention in the Church then about this primacie which had neuer come to passe if this preheminence aboue their fellowes had bene forbidden or rather if men had neuer brought it in Whereupon we conclude that this kind of bishop which is not of order but of superioritie was brought in of man as Hierome saith Tit. 1. by litle litle that so as he is in deede thought that the planets of dissentions might be thereby plucked vp all the care was committed to one man And whereas he sayth in the same place that it was decreed thoroughout all the world We are to vnderstand it no otherwise then of a priuy custome brought in by little little And what soeuer is found in Ignatius or other ancient Writers when the byshop of Sathan was not yet found out touching the authority of the byshops or ouerseers as Iustin speaketh is to be vnderderstood of this kind of Bishop THE BISHOP OF THE Deuill THus also we describe the bishop of the deuill that euen as that kind of bishop ordained of God degenerated by litle and litle into an humane ordinance whereof we intreated in the second place so this of the deuill against which we now labour is sprouted forth of the corruptioÌ„ of the bishop brought in by man Of this intollerable corruption there are foule most manifest and vndoubted markes Some of this kinde of bishops haue wholy singled themselues from the Elderships so that they haue nothyng to do with them Some haue wholy abolished them And that they haue chalenged vnto themselues and I knowe not to what Officials the whole guidance of the church chiefly the authoritie to elect to depose and to excommunicate so as they not onely are aboue others but as it were alone do exercise Lordship ouer Gods heritage contrary to the expresse inhibition of Peter That also they haue inuaded vppon temporall dominions contrary to the flat commaundement of Christ And that they will not onely be present but also President in causes of this lyfe and affaires of the Common wealth the coÌ„mandement of the Apostle to the contrary notwithstandyng 2. Tim. 2. 1. Cor. 6. yea and that of Christ himselfe Luke 13. 14. That also they waste in riot statelinesse agaynst conscience and al shame the goods consecrate to holy vses That also they haue tied the spirit of God to certaine places and persons as though the bishop of the more noble place must needes haue necessary giftes aboue the rest or as though hee who now is most fit must needs be so alwais And last of all that they are the image of that beast which is described Apoc. 13. as Pope Anacletus hymselfe witnesseth epist 2. in as much as they are distinguished among themselues by those their thrones and degrees according to the paterne of the Roman Empire The Apostle Act. 20. 19. foretold of this Hierarchie as they terme it of the false bishop which in tyme became an Antichristian primacie And in the 3. Iohn 9. it is most manifest that Sathan begun euen then to lay the foundation of this mysterie Now out of the history of the Nicene Councell which otherwise touching doctrine was euery where receyued it is cleare how foule dissentions were euen then of orderyng the bonds betweene the bishops the fountaines whereof they were so farre from dammyng vg that pretending auncient customes they confirmed the Patriarkship and made a way for the horrible Papacie of Rome then slidyng on and vnderlayd the seate for the harlot that sitteth vpon seuen mountaines But farre be it of that these things although they haue their auncient and great authoritie should be preiudiciall to the deuine and Apostolicall writings according to the rule whereof there is no wise man will doubt that the Councels theÌ„selues are to be squared And to what purpose should I confute that agreemeÌ„t betweene the priesthood of the Leuites of Christ which some old writers alleage to prooue this diuelish oligarche and at the length eueÌ„ playne tiranny In deede it is euident that the high priest was a figure of Christ himselfe whose second image if we graunt that the bishops are it wil folow that there are as many images of Christ as there be bishops in as much as there is none aboue him But contrarywise no bishop hath bene the image of Christ Besides bishops are not heds of the vniuersall Church but of their owne perticular Nay no heads at all in as much as the Bishops are vnder Archbishops the Archb. vnder Patriarkes and they agayne vnder the Pope that is not vnder the true figure but the counterfet figure of Christ Now seeing that our onely hed is taken vp into heauen a successor for whom liuyng for euer we are not to seeke who seeth not that the elders ordayned by the law of God come in the roume of the priestes of the lawe and the Deacons to answer to the Leuites The first question Seeyng that there are ordayned in seuerall Churches seuerall pastors and ministers and the authority of all Christes ministers in the Church seeme to be equall Whether the office of the bishops be necessary in the church to procure meetings when occasion serueth admission to the ministerie and remoouyng from the place vpon iust causes or whether all the ministers hauyng equall authoritie and not vnder the authoritie of any superiour bishop ought to chuse fit men with the consent of the Patron who enioyeth the benefice and the people theÌ„selues as also to correct remoue froÌ„ the charge And the maners of the people theÌ„selues who can hardly or not at all be kept in obedience without the bridle of the bishops authority which may runne through in visityng of the Churches of the prouince may put vs in mynd to retaine such bishops Againe so often as there shal be dealing in matters touchyng the safetie of the common wealth in the solemne assemblies of the land accordyng to the laws which the kingdome hath of a long vse and custome receiued there can be nothing established without the bishops who haue the third roume and place in the kingdome which to take away or wholy to put downe would bee very dangerous to the Common wealth The answer to the first question Where as Sathans bishop hath bene the ouerthrowe of the Church and all Christian kingdomes whose head is the Romaine Antichrist it is to be looked vnto of all handes especially of all godly princes that they at once abolish it if they minde the reformation of the Church and their owne safetie As for the bishop ordained by maÌ„ brought into the Churche by little and little whereby Sathan made him a waye for greater thinges it had beene tolerable so that

comprehend the decidyng of them in vnfallible and plaine heads as by certayne rules like as it was done profitably in those right approoued Councels both Oecumenie perticulars against the blasphemy of the heretikes and the malipertnesse of the disordered And where as there come many questions in the seignories especially when there is dealing about mariages though there cannot be certaine rules set downe touching them out of the worde of God yet so neere as may be rules drawn out of the comparing of the scriptures are to be set downe after which they may be decided yet is neither any thing takeÌ„ from the word of God by the puttyng to of this so it be rightly done But this is rather an interpretation of the worde of God a declaring how one foloweth vpon another Agayne where the substance both of doctrine and ecclesiasticall discipline abideth whole and vnchangeable yet must the outward circumstances of the order needs be changed for the same reason of the person places abideth not alwayes For we see the Apostles loue feastes taken away the decrees touching bloud and that which was strangled The gouernors of the church are to prouide also that all may haue intelligence at what tyme place it is expedient for any thing to be done in the Church yet so as the doctrine it selfe vnder which we also comprehend the ordaining of the sacrameÌ„ts abide whole as God hath set it downe Further that in setting down the lawes of this order there be set down nothing foolish or vnprofitable much lesse any of the old customes retained which either is already stained with superstition or which may easily make a way to superstition Lastly that in all these there be a great regard of simplicitie and that the church be not loaded with a multitude of rules And for the auoyding of the diuersitie of rites it is necessary that these Canons as in olde tyme they called them be set downe in their generall counsels that any thing in the same land may be chaunged according to the tyme. But whatsoeuer shall be set downe in those counsels is to be established by the authoritie of the kings Christian maiestie as next after God the keper and defender of the churches The fourth question Whether the papistes are to be excommunicate as Apostates or vtter fallers away or to be punished with some smaller punishment To the fourth question We see not what sword of excommunication may be drawen out against those men who though they were set into the church by no vaine baptisme yet neuer entred into the fellowship of the pure church Yea the doores are alwayes to stand opeÌ„ that they may come to heare the word of God and they are carefully to be allured thether if at any tyme as the Apostle saith they may repent and get out of the snare of the deuill of whom they are holden captiue But if any shal be thought to sinne in an open contempt our iudgement is that it ought wholy to bee put ouer to the christiaÌ„ magistrate We thinke that it beseemeth a Christian magistrate to deale much by lenitie in the matter of religioÌ„ towards his subiects not being troublesome sectaries such as of knowledge blaspheme The fift question For what cause may any be excommunicated As put case one kill a man saying he did it by chaunce or of some necessitie for his owne safetie and is redy to be iudged about that matter not yet accused either of the king or of the neighbours of him that is killed Whether may the Church make inquirie of the fact whether it wer done of trecherie or by chance or of necessity compell the manslear to professe repentance openly in the church or to excommunicate him if he refuse To the fift question No man earnestly repenting is to be excommunicate but after repentaunce rather ought to bee receiued And the cause of excommunication ought to be most waighty a publike offence seing that onely the extremitie of the diseases must haue extreme remedies Yet may such men after the thing be knowen be suspended from receiuyng the Lordes supper they were woont to cal such meÌ„ restrained for whom this is thought to be a necessary remedy that for the great nes of their offence they may be an example to others or that their repentaÌ„ce doth stand in need of triall As for the present question If the magistrate put in minde of his duety doe winke at such faults and yet it be probable that none is rashly accused Wee thinke that the Eldership may call him forth and there as the matter shal require to exhort him to the acknowledging of the offence which if ye shall deny he is to be left to the iudgement of God neither are the Elders to proceede any further in the hearing of witnesses The sixt question Where as in the former age much wealth hath bene giuen by princes and many other to the bishops monasteries c. vnder the name of almes so great riches seeme rather to hurt the bishops then to do them good and monasteries in the church and common wealth are vnprofitable what yet should become of such goods which were once consecrate to the church For seeing the Bishops and ministers haue sufficient of their tithes whereof they may liue well and honestly can the prince with the consent of the states of the kingdome turne the residue eyther to his priuate vse or the good of the commoÌ„ wealth especially seeyng such goods do consist not onely in tithes but of possessions both in the country the city Which question seeing it seemeth to bee rather ciuil then ecclesiasticall I purposed not to trouble you in this point But whereas many both learned godly amoÌ„gst vs are of this minde that those thinges which haue bene once vowed to holy vses cannot be giuen to prophane vses though they be publike I could not but mention the matter vnto you To the sixt question CoÌ„cerning the goods of the church First of all we suppose great heed ought to be taken that none do staine himself with handling the church goods For if God hath taken reuenge of such sacrileges euen amongst the very idolaters what trow we will his iudgement be against theÌ„ which haue spoiled his churches and haue prophaned the thinges which were set a parte for his true worship Moreouer it is euident that this turneth greatly to the reproch of the name of God and of his holy gospel as thogh forsooth papistry hath ben abandoned not for the loue of the truth but to rob the church of her goods and as though new theeues haue entered in the roume of the olde Nowe euen as aboundaunce doth ouerwhelme the Church so it is to be feared least she be brought into great straights by want whilest many now a daies are no lesse sparyng and niggardly in vpholding the true ministerie then heretofore kinges and princes themselues haue beene ouerlauishyng we thinke it needefull to keepe a meane in this poynte which so wee take will be the best if first a view be taken of the daily expences which are necessary to be made then if somwhat be laid vp for many thinges extraordinary wheras no iust reckoning can be made and both of these be accounted not sparingly or slenderly but bountifully and liberally seeyng that the Church by the goodnes of God hath plenty Therfore that number is to bee made of parishes and pastors which may very well suffise the people and euery one is to haue an honest liuing allowed Order also is to be taken for the elders who are to assist the pastors that they may conueniently discharge their duety It would be also iniurious that the widowes and childreÌ„ of the pastors which are dead should be brought to beggery who in a care of their calling were constrained to lay aside the care of prouiding for their familie Schooles also and vniuersities seing they are the Seminary of the church are not the least part of the care thereof Care also is to bee had of almes houses hospitals of churches that they be kept in reparations and new builded if need require Last of all as I say before seeyng the churches haue plenty order must be taken what shal be brought into the Church treasury yeerely from wheÌ„ce may be fetched that which may suffise in tyme of warre or famine least then it be to seeke when it should be in a readinesse When all these things shall faithfully frankly be brought by supputation into one summe still yeerely Good and sufficient men are to take order for their collecting such a way as shall be without trouble or strife That which shall be found to be ouerplus is not to be lauished out with other publike reuenues but to be layed vp by it selfe for these are of an other nature though not alwayes gotteÌ„ after the honestest sort by the couetous priests and we thinke that it may be taken bestowed for the seruice of the kingdome when the publike necessitie thereof doth require it especially if the people be so much the more eased

Selected quad for the lemma: kingdom_n

Text snippets containing the quad