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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	holy_a	read_v	scripture_n	8,342	5	5.9261	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A22897	A little pamphlet entituled the ladder of paradise Very worthy and needful to be read of every Christian that is willing to tread the steps which lead to heauen.; Scala paradisi. English.	Augustine, Saint, Bishop of Hippo, attributed name.; Guigo II, d. 1188, attributed name.; T. W., fl. 1573-1595.	1580 (1580)	STC 937; ESTC S115844	15,368	46

¶ A LITLE Pamphlet of Saint Augustine entituled the Ladder of Paradise Very woorthy and needful to be read of every Christian that is willing to tread the steps which lead to Heauen Imprinted at London for Edward Aggas dwelling in Paules church yard at the signe of y e red Dragon and are there to be solde NEC TEMERE NEC TIMIDE To the right worshipfull Ladye the L. Fane true felicitie with the increace of God his moste excellent blessings IT is not rare but vsuall to see gifts brought vnto a ritch mā and many presents geuē to him that lacketh not verifying that in things earthly vvhich properly is spokē of the minde To him that hath it shall be giuē he shall haue abundāce euen so the abundance of Gods good gifts the humblenes of minde the loue of vertue and zeale of seruing God vvhich I haue hard and seene in your Ladyship hath long since geuen me great desire by vvryting somvvhat to ad some good thing vnto the heap of those good vertues But finding in my selfe nothing vvhervvith to ansvvere my desire as being voide of learning or vvisdome vvorthy to be heard I became cleerely resolued to folovve any purpose no further and to end vvith prayer vnto God that he vvould blesse his gifts in you to the encreace of an hundreth folde yet spending some time as my leisure did serue me in turning the leues of that anncient father AVGVSTIN I sound this litle Pamphlet an apt pecco as me thought for that purpose and a I evvell vvorthy to be vvorne not about the neck but about the hart of the greatest Lord or Lady in this vvorld namely a ●●●aier of stayres or a ladder of pure golde so artificially vvrought that vvho so listeth to goe there on shall be sure to come safely vp into the presence chamber of Gods euer lasting glory and in so small roume this I uell is cōtriued that it may vvel be placed in the least of all the christian harts yea and the lesse the hart is the more aptly it may be hidden therin vvhich also for the antiquitie is a boue eleuen hundreth yeere olde and for excelencie the litle vvoorke dooth so praise it self that a far better pen thē myne adding somevvhat to the praise therof should rather blemish then beutisie it by saying● much lesse or much vvorse then the same dooth say for it selfe hauing therfore as I haue said nothing in me to further the loue of vertue ād zeale of christianitie vvich God hath geuen you I haue thus obtained this olde father saint AVGVSTINE to doo it for me vvhom if it shall please your ladyship to hear vvith good affectiō attētiuely the paine shall sure be much les thē the profit and you shall not fail to reap great fruit vvith small trauaile yea the labour shall soōe be gone and the profit long remaine Novv vvhat so euer therfore in this litle treatis is spoken I humbly beseech your ladiship allvvay to remember It is not I but the ancient and excellent father Saint AVGVSTINE that speketh It is he that saith reading meditation prayer and contemplation are the steps of that ladder that leadeth to heauen It is he that expounding the vvoords of Christe saith seeke by reading and ye shall finde by meditation knock by praying and it shall be opened vnto you by contemplation It is he that saith reading dooth as it vvere apply substāciall meat vnto the mouth meditatiō dooth chovve it break it prater obtaineth the svveetnes of it contemplation is the svvetnes it self It is Saīt AVGVSTINE that saith reading vvith out meditation is saples meditation vvith out reading is erronius And lest some fond body should imagī that this reding vvhich hee so oft speaketh of should be the reading of any other thing but of Scripture only and that vvith these vvords reading saith he is a looking vpon the scripture vvith a diligent entention of the minde and in the tenth chapter he saith these foure steps are so linked togither that they vvhich goe before vvithout them vvhich folovve can profit litle or no thīg they vvhich folovv vvithout them that goe before doo profit seldōe or neuer To conclude the vvhole somme effect therof is nothing els but that the reading of Scripture the meditation vpō the Scripture prayer to obtain the vnderstanding of Scripture and contemplatiō in the svveetnes of Gods promises cōtained in the Scripture is the onely gate of Heauen and the vvay to attain eternal life For the cōfirmatiō vvherof it vvere no hard matter for a man of mean knovvledge to cōpile a huge volume and to bring many hundred places out of the auncient fathers VVherin they plainly and directly confirm the same that by these steps onely none other vvay a man must goe to heauen But moste of all it ought to mooue vs that God him self by his ovvne vvord hath ratified this to be the only vvay to Heauen and that for all men vvith out any exception For vvho can haue greater priuiledge then a King or greater occasion to surceasse from the continuall excercise of this reading meditation prayer and cōtemplation And is it not expresly set dovvn by Gods cōmaūdemēt that a King ought to haue the book of Gods lavves by hī and ought to read therin all the dayes of his life vvho should sooner be exempt frō this diligent excersise of Scripture then a Souldier or Captain and that durīg the vvarres But dooth not God him self speak vnto the noble Conqueror captaī Iosua in the first ētre of his vvarres and straightly charge him saying Let not the book of this lavve departe out of thy mouth but occupy thy minde therin day night VVhere mark these precise tearmes Book mouth minde day night For vvho seeth not that vpō euery of these vvords much might be said if breuitie vvould suffer it VVhen or at vvhat time should any intermission frō the exercise of Scripture be graunted to any man if it be cōuenient for a noble man trauailing by the vvay in his iourney to read the Scriptures And did not the noble Lord Tresurer of the great Queene Cand ace trauailing by the vvay sit in his Chariot treading of Esayas the Prophet vvas not the end therof saluation of his soule Is it not also vvrittē by Saint Luke for an euerlasting commendation vnto those that vvere the noblest of birth among them of Thessalonica because vvhen Paule had preached they serched the Scriptures and that dayly to see vvhether it vvere so or not And by that meanes they vvere brought vnto the faith of Christe Yea and not noble men only but Ladies also by nāe are apoīted of God to tread these steps and they shall neuer come to heauen other vvise then by reading the scriptures by meditation of the scriptures by praier to vnderstand them contemplation in the svvetnes of them And therfore Saint Iohn vvriteth

as if he should say beholde you haue somewhat tasted how sweet I am but if you wilbe fully satisfied with this my swéetnes run after me into y t swéet sauour of myne ointments lifting vp your harts where I am on the right hand of my Father where you shal see me not in a glasse or in a riddel but face to face and where your hart shall fully reioyce and no man shall take away your ioy from you The care diligence of the soule left she should be forsaken of God Cap. 9. BVt take thou heed O Spouse how the Bridegroom turneth away him self he goeth not far of and although thou see not him yet dooth he see thee beeing ful of eyes bothe behinde and before thou canst neuer be hidden from him Hee hath also about thée his spirits beeing messengers and as it were moste sharp sighted Spies that they may looke how thou behauest thy self in y e absēce of the Bridegroome accuse thée before him if they may espy any token of wantonnes scurrilitie For this Bridegroom is ielous lest parhap thou shouldest accept some other loouer For if y u go about to please any other hee forsaketh thee and ioyneth him self to other yūg ones This Bridgroom is a daintie felow he is bothe noble and rich of passing beautie abooue all the children of men and therfore he disdaineth to haue any other but a beawtifull Spouse Yea if he sée in thee but one spot or wrinkle he straight turneth away his eyes for hee can abide no vnclennes Bee chaste therfore be shamefast and humble that so thou maist be woorthy often to be visited of thy Bridegroom I feare lest this speech hath holden vs ouer long But the matter both barren and sweet hath driuen me therunto which I haue not voluntarily prolonged but haue béene drawen against my wil with I knowe not what sweetnes therof The office and effect of euery stall or step by repetiton Cap. 10. THat these thinges then which haue been spoken more at large may the better be seene when they are vnited and ioyned togither let vs collect by rehersall the sum of the things before spoken as in the former examples it may appeere to haue been noted how the forsaid steps holde togither and how they go one before another as frō time to time the one beeing cause of th'other For reading as it were the foundation dooth first offer it self and when she hath giuen vs the substance or matter shee sendeth vs to Meditacion now Meditation very diligently enquireth what we ought to desire and as it were deluing or digging dooth finde and shew where as the tresure is But when by her self she is not able to obtain it she sendeth vs vnto Prayer Prayer lifteth vp her self with all her force whē she hath foūd the desired tresure the sweetnes of Contēplation This Contemplatiō commig to dooth fully reward y e labor of those three before nāed while she maketh the thirsty soule drnnken w t the dew of heauenly swéetnes Reading then perteineth to outward exercise Meditation to the inward vnderstanding Prayer to the desire of the minde Contemplation is aboue all feeling of humain reason The first step is of those that doo begin The second of those that doo go forward The third of those that are deuout The fourth of those which are blessed or happye These foure steps are so linckt togither and doo so by course serue one an others turn y t they which go before with out them that follow can proffit litle or nothing and they which follow without them that go before doo proffit seldom or neuer For what dooth it vauntage to spend the time in continual reading or by reading to run through the Acts and writinges of holy men except by chawing and féeding vppon the same wée drink down the ioice therof and by swalowing therof wée send it into the inner moste parte of the bart that of those things we may haue diligent consideration of our owne estate and endeuour our selues to doo y e woorks of them whose acts we often desire to read But how can we consider of these things or how can we beware least by meditating some false and vain things should passe the bounds constituted by those holy Fathers except first we be instructed about such matters either by reading or by hearing For hearing doth after a certain maner pertain to reading Wherof we vse to say that wée haue not onely read those bookes which we our selues doo read vnto our selues or to other but also those which we haue heard of our Maisters Further what dooth it profit if by Meditatiō a man doo see what things ought to be doon except by the help of prayer and the grace of God we may be made able to obtain y e same For euery good gift saith Saint Iames and euery perfect gift descendeth from aboue from the father of light Without whom we can doo nothing but be in vs dooth woork our woorks yet not altogither with out vs for wee are woorkers with God as the Apostle saith God surely wil haue vs pray vnto him and that we doo open vnto him comming and tarying at the boore the bosome of our will and that we consent vnto him This consent hée required of the woman of Samaria when he said call thy husbād I wil poure grace into thee apply y u frée choice He required prayer of her when he said If thou knewest the gift of God who it is that saith vnto thee giue me drink parhpas thou wouldst haue desired of him the water of life The woman whē she heard this béeing instructed as it were of reading she thought in her hart that it would be good and profitable for her to haue this water She then béeing kindled with a desire to obtain it turned her self vnto prayer saying O Lord giue me this vvater that I may thirst nomore neither at any time come hither again to drawe any water Beholde the hearing of the woord of the Lord and Meditation folowing ther vpon haue proucked her vnto prayer For how could she be carefully bent vn to prayer except Meditation had first kindled her And what should Meditation going before haue profited her except prayer folowing had obtained those things whiche Meditacion did shewe woorshy to be desired Therfore that Meditation may be fruteful it behooueth y t the deuocion of Prayer doo folowe whose frute and as it were the effect is the swéetnes of Contemplation All these steps or degrees are declared to be ioyned togither that they are inseperable Cap. 11. BY these we maygather that reading without Meditacion is saples Meditacion without reding is erronius Prayer without Meditation is neither hote nor colde Meditaciō without Prayer is fruteles Prayer with deuocion is it that obtaineth Contēplation The obtayning of Contemplation without Prayer is either rare or miraculous For GOD of whose power there is