Selected quad for the lemma: book_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	authority_n	old_a	testament_n	2,803	5	7.9085	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A39248	A catechism wherein the learner is at once taught to rehearse and prove all the main points of Christian religion by answering to every question in the very words of Holy Scripture : together with a short and plain discourse useful to confirm the weak and unlearned in his belief of the being of a God and the truth of Scripture / by Clement Ellis ...	Ellis, Clement, 1630-1700.	1674 (1674)	Wing E550; ESTC R15049	47,017	128

God Why did that eternal Man leave Children so unlike himself of so short a Life Or what is now become of him If he was eternally he had eternally a power to be and live and did chuse to dye and be no more and not leave the least notice to the World that ever he was Did that first man begin to be He gave not his beginning to himself for before he began to be he was not he had it from no other man for he was the first man did he spring out of the Earth Shew what power the Earth had to prodcue so noble a Creature and if it had that power did it spend it all at once that it should never before or since bring forth another man or any thing like him I know men may dream of strange ●hings and tell their dreams so often that they may forget they were dreams and begin to think them Truths and because wicked man is afraid of God he is willing to set hi● phansie a● work to hatch pretty conceits which he may play and sport with and divert himself from hearkning to his Conscience and fom all thoughts of God which disturb his quiet and imbitter his delights with fears of Judgment but he shall never be able by reason to satisfie himself that there is no God 3. The content of the whole World perswades me that it is at least a very great unadvisedness and arrogance hastily to dis-believe a God the whole frame and order of Nature convince me that it is very reasonable and highly satisfactory to the mind of man to believe there is a God but far greater satisfaction yet a man may receive from those clearer evidences which God hath given to the World of himself in Prophesies and Miracles Let a Man therefore thus reason with himself First Things have been fore-told many hundred years before they came to pass and these things have come to pass exactly in all circumstances of time place and manner as they were fore-told For my own part I know that I cannot tell what shall be to Morrow or the very next hour and others who have ventured to fore-tell such things have miserably befool'd both themselves and all that gave credit to them onely those few who pretended that they came from God and gave sufficient evidence to the world that they spake by God's Command have been so happy as to gain credit to the God from whom they came as the true God and to themselves as his true Prophets by a timely and evident fulfilling of those things which they did foretel Now seeing that there have been men who have foretold the the things which afterwards came to pass in all circumstances as they were fore-told and such things as did not depend upon the constant course of Nature and such as no man else could foresee and seeing that these men did profess they knew not these things by their own Art or Study nor by any natural means but only by the revelation which they had from God and seeing it is unconceivable how any should know such things but he alone who governs and orders all things I cannot but believe there is a God who sent these men and spake by them 2. Works have been done which not only exceed the power of man to do but are clearly above the power and against the course of nature these are truly called Miracles wonderful works The Fire hath refused to burn them that were cast into it the Waters have stood up like Walls on each hand whilst men have passed dry-foot through the midst of them the Sun hath been made to stand still for a time and the dead have been raised to life with a word these and the like things I am sure man hath of himself no power to do nor can any man imagin by whom they could be done but by him alone who hath the command of nature These things were done by men onely who said they came from God and to witness to the world that they said truly and all to perswade the world to acknowledge God to fear worship and obey him and therefore I cannot but believe that there is a God who sent these men and wrought by them If any man now ask how we know there have been such things as these he will receive a fuller answer in that which now follows to shew what reason we have to believe the Scriptures to be true wherein these things are recorded It is very reasonable to believe that if there be a God he expects some homage and duty from us and because we can of our selves but guess at most what duties they be which we are to pay unto him and so may be mistaken it is farther yet very reasonable to believe that God hath given us some notice of his will and pleasure and some rule to direct us how we may acceptably serve and honour him and that he should therein make known unto us so much of himself as may beget in us an honuorable esteem and reverend thoughts of his Majesty and so much of his works as to convince us that we came from him and do depend upon him and so much of his goodness and bounty as may encourage us to serve him cheerfully and lastly such demonstrations of his truth as may satisfie us that all this is real and no guile or deceit in it The reasonableness of believing this upon supposition onely that there is a God will make it still more reasonable to believe there is a God when we see that there is something which men do receive and own as a rule sent from God to teach us how we are to honour him and that it hath all those things in it which we suppose it reasonable that such a Rule should have Now we have in our hands a book called the Bible or book and the Scripture or Writing by way of excellency and it is believed that in this Book we have the Word of God whereby he hath revealed himself and his will unto us to teach us both what we are to believe and what we are to do and what we are to hope for That then which we are now to be satisfied in is how it appears that this Book doth indeed contain the Word of God Now this Book being made up of two parts the Old and the New Testament and the Writers of the New Testament bearing witness to the Writers of the Old Testament that they came from God it will certainly follow that if the Writings of the New Testament be true and from God the Writings of the Old are so too Therefore a man need do no more but satisfie himself in the truth and Divine Authority of the New Testament And here let a man thus reason with himself 1. I see that we have these Books and I see whose names they bear I see that the men who writ these Books pretend that they spake from God and that we ought to