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A64373 A sermon concerning the folly of atheism preached before the Queen at White-Hall, February 22, 1690/91 / by Tho. Tenison ... Tenison, Thomas, 1636-1715. 1691 (1691) Wing T715; ESTC R9856 9,461 38

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PUBLISHED By Her MAJESTIES Special Command A SERMON Concerning the folly of Atheism Preached before the QUEEN AT WHITE-HALL FEBRUARY 22. 1690 1. By THO. TENISON D. D. Chaplain in Ordinary to THEIR MAJESTIES LONDON Printed for Ric. Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-Yard M DC XC I. A SERMON CONCERNING THE Folly of Atheism PSALM XIV 1. The fool hath said in his heart There is no God They are corrupt they have done abominable works there is none that doth good THOUGH the Being of a God is in Religion the first and most fundamental Article yet it may be prov'd by some foregoing Principles of Natural Reason This may be done but the attempt seems unnecessary in a Christian Congregation where the Members profess not only That there is a God who made them but also That there is a Messiah who redeem'd them Taking it therefore here as a confessed Principle That God is I shall make it my business to represent to you these Two Things 1. The Folly of those who live without God in the world 2. The Vileness   For these two Remarks are here offer'd by the Royal Psalmist in the Text The fool hath said in his heart There is no God they are corrupt they have done abominable works there is none that doth good Holy David does here In the 1st place Take notice of the Folly of those who live without God in the world They can never be without his Essential Presence nor always without an in ward sense of it there is no worldly Charm that can perpetually keep the Conscience from such reflections but whilst they remain insensible of a God their way is their Folly And 1st They want Knowledge and Judgment 2dly They want Wisdom and Discretion Ist. They want Knowledg and Judgment and commit wonderful mistakes about Principles common to Mankind For as a natural Fool may sometimes speak a shrewd and seasonable thing so an irreligious one tho he has in other respects ability of mind as Judas and Demas themselves had being wise in their generation yet with reference to the Existence of a Deity he is guilty of gross and palpable Errors None deserve those Epithetes more than these that sollow viz. That there is an Effect without a Cause That an insufficient Cause can produce a perfect and sufficient Effect That something without an Almighty Power can come out of nothing They are to be derided rather than confuted who shall have the confidence to say That a House had no Builder that all the Materials fell into that useful Order by Accident and that the Master of the House Sprung at last out of the very Frame of it The Atheist does not say this in terms but he maintains that which is equally absurd For seeing the Heavens and the Earth are imperfect beings and did not could not make themselves he that denies that a God or a First and absolutely perfect Being was the Maker of them does by consequence set before us imperfect Causes and Effects existing without a Cause And seeing all things are made in Number Weight and Measure either he shews his stupidness in not discerning the Footsteps of Wisdom in the wonderful frame of Nature which appears the more regular the greater portion a man has of the knowledg of the Lines and Figures of Bodies and the Rules of Motion or he ascribes all this to Chance which yet is a word he ought not to use who makes all Causes necessary and maintains that Confusion is the most wise Parent of Order Seeing also he makes the Soul to be the Temper of the Body and the substance and the modese and motions of it are as distinct from Understanding as is the matter and movement of any other Engine from a reasoning mind he makes Nothing to be the Spring of Something that is the Constitution of the Body which hath no thought nor any thing from whence it can possihly come to be the Cause of Thought of Judgment of Wisdom of Conscience But as one of that sort of men has written in one of his Intervals 'T is very hard to believe that to produce all the several and curious Organs of Sense and Memory could be the work of any thing that had not Understanding And he might have added Much more of the Understanding it self And this Error is still the more gross because the Godless person holds it to be an Error whilst he denies the Creation of the World out of nothing and then sees not that it is one when he speaks of the Original of the Soul out of that which hath nothing of Soul in it Such Inconsistence is a plain indication of want of judgment and ungodly men are in many more particulars at variance with themselves As for example In Health they are Atheists and in Sickness Superstitious They say all we do is necessary and yet blame some Actions and commend others They have no Faith about Divine Prophecies even those which have been evidently fulfill'd in the Coming and Death of Christ and the precise times of them yet they can put their trust in Astrology which is not so much as good guessing They scoff at Good men and yet cannot but wish that their latter end were like heirs They mock at the Being of Ghosts in the light and dread them in the dark In company they deny the Existence of Evil Spirits and fear to be all alone in the night lest Evil Spirits should fetch them away In fine men that live without God are so destitute of Knowledg that they are a riddle to themselves Nay even whilst they think they have asserted their Liberty and that they are perfect Masters of themselves they are led captive by the Devil at his will for he rules in the hearts of the disobedient This shews that part of their Folly which consists in want of Knowledg and steddy Judgment And there is 2dly A great deal that gives us demonstration of the other part of it their want of Wisdom even that of the Serpent the doing of things for their own benefit safety and comfort For 1st They use means contrary to their ends 2dly They run an infinite hazard upon inconsiderable motives 1st Those who say in their hearts There is no God manifest their want of Wisdom and Discretion by using means contrary to their End For one great pretended End of Atheism and Unbelief is a deliverance from fear the making of the mind easie in all a man's thoughts and words and actions by freeing it from that terror which is struck into it by the apprehension of a God as an Observer a Judg and an Avenger as one that will call them to a severe account for whatsoever they have done in the flesh whether it be good or evil But the Fear which hath Torment cannot otherwise be wholly prevented than either by Innocence or Repentance and Application to God and for the Expedient of the Epicureans it brings into the