Selected quad for the lemma: book_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	according_a	see_v	write_v	2,153	5	4.9786	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A52138	Plain-dealing, or, A full and particular examination of a late treatise, entituled, Humane reason by A.M., a countrey gentleman.	Marvell, Andrew, 1621-1678.	1675 (1675)	Wing M876; ESTC R23029	77,401	164

to pay obedience to them upon this pretence that he is to be guided only by his own Reason I appeal to this Author himself whether he would be satisfied with this answer or whether he would not if it lay in his power turn such a refractory Fellow out of his society unless he did conform himself to the Orders and Statutes of it If not it would be impossible for him to maintain the Society if he would expel him he clearly proves that the Principle on which he seems to build his whole Book is not to be allowed to any person that is subject to the Laws of any Society If he shall say that therefore he added those limitations if it take such directions as it ought and may do c. I would fain know in any Society who shall be Judge whether or no every Member of it doth rightly limit his Reason shall the Person himself or the Governour of the Society If the Person himself then the limitations signifie nothing and the Society would soon signifie as little if the Governour must be so far Judge as to punish those Actions that are done contrary to the Statutes and Orders of the place then why should not the Governours of the Church be allowed the same power I cannot see any Reason at all unless we are arrived at that madness to think it indifferent whether the Church be dissolved or up held or whether we have any Religion in our Nation or none at all I would not be one of that number who should dispute against the power and priviledges of Humane Reason for no man loves Reason better then my self nor would I assert any such Priviledge to exempt men from Laws or from the publick exercise of Religion For I think nothing can be more unreasonable and yet I am deceived if I have not proved that this Assertion which is the whole sum of our Authors Book is of that nature But he hath one killing Argument that like a two-edged Sword doth execution both ways with which he strikes all dead that dare oppose him And this it is page 3. They that dispute most against Reason do it because their own Reason perswades them to that belief c. This is just such a mortal Argument as the Papists use to prove that the Church is the onely Rule of Faith For say they whoso denies this and asserts the Scripture to be the Rule of Faith can have no Authority nor Ground for their belief of the Scripture but the Authority of the Church and therefore we ought to believe as the Church teacheth us and not as the Scripture But the Answer is not very hard to be made to the Romanists It is true indeed the reason why we believe the four Gospels and the Epistles to be the Writings of those Divinely-inspired persons whose Names they bear must be this because they have been so received by the Church in all Ages and the reason why we believe those Miracles were done as they are related in Scripture must be from the constant Testimony of the Universal Church and from these Miracles we are sure they were written by persons inspired by God and consequently that they are the Rule by which we are to walk Thus the Authority of the Church onely leads us to the Scriptures as an infallible Rule and leaves us there to be guided by them and not by the Church any further then her Commands are agreeable to the Commands of God contained in the Scriptures Neither is the Answer much different nor much more difficult to our Authors dead-doing Demonstration for though Reason must direct us to a Rule by which we are to act yet when we have once found out such a Rule as our Reason assures us is Infallible we then ought to govern our selves no longer by our bare Reason but by our Reason guided by that Rule and to act those things not that Reason onely doth direct us but such things as our Infallible Rule commands us So that we see Reason is so far from being our onely Guide that it directly leads us to the Scriptures and leaves us to be directed by them by which it confesseth that it self ought to be guided If the Author shall now say that I have mistaken his Notion and that his intention in this Book was onely to bring Men into their right wits and make Men consider the reasonableness of the Religion of the Church of England and consequently conform themselves to it I shall say no more then this to him that I wish he had made this Design more apparent that our Dissenters might not have joyn'd in the mistake of his Book and have construed it to the countenancing all Divisions and that he had not given by the whole contrivance of his Book so just cause of this scandal to them For the Book hath in most parts a double face that like Janus his looks two directly contrary ways at once and therefore we may justly suspect a double mind and some double dealings in the Author but this I must needs say for him that he hath ingeniously contrived it for like an armed Amazonian beauty it casts a pleasing look and seems to smile upon every one that looks on it and yet it bears about it the instruments of death I onely make this my request to him if he writes again that he would shew the World more of his honesty though less of his ingenuity by speaking plain truth but not Oracles that may be interpreted to comply with contradictions and lest he should mistake my Design I will deal plainly and tell him what it is viz. to do the duty of an honest English Gentleman and a good Christian by doing my endeavours according to my small abilities to preserve the Unity of the Church of England into which I was baptized I shall therefore endeavour to free the minds of all impartial Readers from those mistakes that might arise from this Book I am now examining To which end because some may perhaps be drawn into a maze by reading it as the Author was in writing it I shall endeavour to shew them the way out of it by walking along with them step by step and so letting them see the way back again by the same steps as they were at first led into it And now to my Task The Gentleman foreseeing as well he might that many Objections would be raised against him in the first place applies himself to ward them off Pag. 3. 4. Object 1. He thus proposeth That many of the greatest Wits have by following their own Opinions encreased the Catalogue of Heresies To this he answers That these men either followed not their own Reason but their Wills or first hood-winkt their Reason by interest and prejudice or passion c. All this I easily grant is truth but now I appeal to this Author himself whether he doth not believe that the number of those that follow their Wills more then their