Selected quad for the lemma: book_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	scripture_n	tradition_n	word_n	2,934	5	4.8289	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A35974	A discourse concerning infallibility in religion written by Sir Kenelme Digby to the Lord George Digby, eldest sonne of the Earle of Bristol.	Digby, Kenelm, Sir, 1603-1665.; Bristol, George Digby, Earl of, 1612-1677.	1652 (1652)	Wing D1431; ESTC R8320	74,300	238

regard both their cases are the very same And to speake plainely the rule common to both these and to all others who proposing Scripture for their rule do afterwardes prefixe particular opinions to their Church neither is nor can be any other then a heady pride and wilfulnesse to bind all other men to their not knowledge but guessing Now if such guessing can be iudged a sufficient meanes for themselues and others to be assured of those thinges without the doing whereof mankinde must be eternally miserable these men may pretend to Christianity But for my part I can entertaine but a very meane estime of it I know ●●euerall of them are held for learned men And that not onely in their owne opinions but by many others besides How iustly they deserue that title will appeare if we consider what true learning and knowledge in any science is I take it to be an assurance of the nature of the thinges that are treated of in that science Such Mathematicians haue in their profession such the masters of all the artes that belong to mans life Such Philosophers haue or should pretend to haue though some vnworthy the name of Philosophers do content themselues with probable opinions and much more deuines ought to haue such assurāce of what concerneth their profession seeing that any mistake therein exposeth men to eternall ruine and misery Now the learning of these men that would passe for so great deuines wherein doth it consist They pretend to no other then to know that hath bin said by others Which others are God and men to witt what hath bin sayd by God in Scripture and by men in their bookes If they rightly vnderstood all this they might with reason ha●●e a good conceipt of themselues But let vs examine how they behaue themselues in their proceeding with both these As for Scriptures I haue already touched how their penetrating into the sense of them is but a meere guessing Yet were it something if they could make it appeare that they guesse fairely I will allow them so much if they can shew how any of their deuines in any one question hath faithfully paralleled the places of Scripture vsed to be brought on each side and hath fairely compared and weighed them in the ballance one against the other and hath giuen each of them their full weight and then hath pronounced an orderly sentence in this sort that by reason of plurality of places propriety of wordes efficacity of texts and the like the aduantage falleth to this side rather then to that If they should pretend they are able to do this which I am sure they neuer haue as yet performed I would entreate them to shew me a learned logike of wordes out of which they had extracted the rules whereby the sense of wordes may be pondered and whereby one may be certaine when their sense is demonstratiuely knowne and when but probably and by what weights one probability appeareth greater then an other And after all this paines I would tell them and they can not deny it that as long as both senses are probable the lesse probable may peraduenture be the true one And so all their labour is lost But lett vs examine if their learning be any greater in humane writers The depth of it is to boggle att any darke place of History or of fathers and by it persuade such men as are not conuersant in antiquity to frame a iudgement coutrary to the publicke practise of the Church of those ages As for example what can be more publicke and notorious then the succession and authority of Bishops then the being of Monkes and Nunnes then the principality of the Bishop of Rome then the practise of the Masse Sacrements and ceremonies then the custome of praying for the dead then the vse of Crosses and of pictures And euen for all these they make it their labour and for which they pretend the title of subtile and deepe schollers to persuade you out of some not fully declared sentence of a father speaking vpon the by that there were no such thinges as these in antiquity Yet had our contryman more sincerity then this who in his translation of S. Augustines confessions professeth plainely that he had left out many thinges because S. Augustine had erred in them So the Centurists and Luther and Caluin and all Nouellists whiles there remained any ingenuity among them confessed that the opinions which they reiected were auncient errors of the fathers But now all their learning consisteth in belying of antiquity and in pinning a false maske vpon the venerable face of it How then can men deserue the name of learned who take not the course to know any thing att all Neuerthelesse they must passe for great deuines when peraduenture they are all together ignorant what diuinity is Diuinity signifyeth a science that followeth out of faith or out of the discipline of saluation in such sort as Euclides Elements do follow out of the definitious and axiomes which he hath prefixed as groundes for his bookes and that he hath supposed before them In like manner faith must be supposed to diuinity But in s●●eed of doing so these men who terme themselues deuines do spend all their paines and employe all their schollership in opposing the receiued tenets of faith So that they are such eminent deuines as he would be a Geometrician who in steed of studying throughly Euclides Elements should neuer goe beyond the first leafe but should busy himselfe many yeares and write great volumes to proue that his definitions are ill contriued and that this axiomes are false And yet must such seely aequiuocation so pusse them vp and persuade their followers they are so great Clerkes that all Antiquity all the latter and present ages and common sense it selfe must be deserted to adhere to these learned Masters Whereas those who are truly deuines are beyond common Christians and do begin their science and employment att the height of those notions which belong to common Christians Whiles these whom the Protes●●ants terme deuines do neuer attaine to the knowledge that the simplest Christians are imbued with by relying vpon tradition and vpon the authority of the Church But enough of this since it seemeth that God himselfe hath taken it to his taske to ruine them wheresoeuer they appeared to haue power THE XVI CHAPTER The Socinians and the Independents excluded from hauing the true doctrine of Christ THESE two being reiected from holding the rule of Scripture whatsoeuer they may pretend there remaine yet two other families who lay clayme to that rule namely the Independents and the Socinians Their difference I take to be this That the Independent acknowledgeth the booke we call the Bible to be truly the word of God and accordingly maketh it his precise study to know what is sayd in this booke All that no lest findeth there he holdeth for most certaine and holy He bindeth others no further then to acknowledge the letter

the wordes be agreed vpon yet the meaning of them is disputed of And therefore seeing it is the meaning that we are to gouerne our actions by and that wordes without meaning are of no weight ●●t is euident that Tradition is a rule And that Scripture is none But why do I troble your Lordship with such scrupulous balancing of these rules one against the other since by my discourse in excluding ●●ll former pretended rules it ap●●eareth euidently that if Tradition ●●e not the light which God hath hung out to his Church whereby to know true doctrine from false when he sent his Apostles to preach and promised he would be with them that is with their preaching or with their successours in preaching vntill the end of the world We may truly conclude there is no light or certainty to guide his Church by Which is as much to say as that when he had built the world for men and had fitted them with all thinges requisite for their naturall and ciuill life in this world he failed and mistooke in the maine and chief end for which he had contriued all the rest THE XVIII CHAPTER Against the opinion of some deuines that place Tradition in the consent of fathers that haue written in their seuerall ages and against some other opinions of particular deuines As also against Naturalists and Socinians I am not ignorant that among vs there are some deuines who as they acknowledge Tradition to be the rule of faith for without doing so they could not be stiled Catholikes so they place Tradition in the consent or fathers through all ages But I conceiue I shall not wrong them if I say that in doing thus they consider onely themselues and not the Church which is composed of all sortes and of all degrees of persons simple and wise learned and vnlearned For no man is so weake as not to see that it were a wilder arrant to send the commonalty of Christians to the multitude of Fathers for their faith then to remitt them to the Scriptures It can not be doubted but that the rule of faith must be somewhat within the peoples kenning All sortes of persons are capable of discerning whither or no they are in the publike communion of those who professe they haue receiued their doctrine by a continued sequele of teachers succeeding one an other But for studying of fathers or Scripture the vniuersality of mankinde wanted for the most part capacity talents and leisure And no small difficulty will be added to this taske by our aduersaries endeauouring all they can to cast a mist before mens eyes and to obscure what of it selfe is mo●● cleare I take therefore the conse●● of fathers to be a confirmation an●● a testimony to learned men of th●● Tradition that is deliuered by handes but not to be the substance of Tradition which of its nature might haue bin if so God had pleased and would haue maintained its vnshaken inuincible force though there had bin neither writinges of fathers nor Scripture Others seeme to thinke that some points of faith are knowne by Tradition or as they call it by the vnwritten word to witt those whereof they find not sufficient proofe in Scripture but that for the maine ones we are to haue recourse to Scripture Now for these I admire att the loosenesse of their discourse when they allow Tradition to giue assurance of those pointes which are the outmost and which can not be knowne without the former and yet will not haue the former to be knowne by the same Tradition And therefore I imagine it is but a mistake in their deliuering themselues and that their meaning is that all pointes are knowne by Tradition●● but some not onely by tradition but by Scripture too And it is euident that all they who referre vnto Tradition the knowing that Scripture is the word of God and that this booke is the Canon of Scripture must needes relate all certainty of faith to Tradition euen of what they thinke they demonstrate out of Scripture Other deuines there be who adde to Tradition some power of reuealing new verities to the Church But euen they themselues do confesse that the knowing that there is such a power must rely finally vpon Tradition And then seeing it is a point not fully resolued of among our selues I conceiue it is not fitt to presse it vpon those who haue yet reluctance in digesting so much as is resolued of and is euidently true The reason why I haue mentioned these opinions of some particular deuines is because I desire that your Lordship should see that the way wherein we walke is not onely a plaine and a smooth one but an easy one to be found out which it would not appeare vnto you to be if you should be obliged to what these men would impose By my exceptions against which as well as out of what I haue formerly established I conceiue I may safely conclude That all Catholikes do take Tra●●ition for the last rule into which the certainty of all particular articles of faith is to be resolued Now were my taske performed Tradition sett in the throne of commanding Christian beliefe Did not the Naturalist and the Socinian with iointe forces endeauour to possesse Reason of that chaire Alleaging how Reason is the nature of man the sole power in him that can giue consent to any thing proposed vnto him And therefore in spight of all I haue said must be Queene and commanderesse both of his beliefe and of his actions But when they obiect this to me they do not consider how I haue beene all this while labouring to do in effect that which they require For what hath all my discourse leuelled att but to shew that reason obligeth vs to ground our beliefe vpon Tradition So that I professe Tradition hath no force to command beliefe vnlesse Reason tell vs so much and as it were deliuer vs vp to Tradition Reason telleth vs it is fitt to belieue a knowing teacher or directour in a matter wherein ones selfe is ignorant She telleth vs that she herselfe hath not principles and meanes without beleeuing some teacher to giue vs certaine information of the state of our soule in the next world and of the wayes in this whereby Beatitude is to be obtained She telleth vs that Tradition hath deriued this knowledge from a Master who was well assured of it and that she containeth within her selfe a strength of infallibility to reach vs without mistake what she learned of him And So Reason concludeth that we must barken to Tradition and follow that rule Else she renounceth vs and protesteth we goe against her sentiments that is we do vnreasonably Will not this satisfy any man that professeth to follow the conduct of Reason Yet I will say more Lett either Naturalist or Socinian produce true Reason that is demonstration against any thing that is attested by Tradition and I will graunt him we ought to leaue Tradition and