Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	call_v	faith_n	word_n	1,876	5	4.4042	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A47125	The arraignment of worldly philosophy, or, The false wisdom its being a great hinderance to the Christian faith, and a great enemy to the true divine wisdom / by George Keith.	Keith, George, 1639?-1716.	1694 (1694)	Wing K143; ESTC R1585	27,083	30

of Men nor by the holy Scriptures is best to leave among the secrets of God till he be pleased further to reveal it seeing it is confessed generally on all hands that the Spirit of God was sufficient to work the true Faith in them without an Outward Ministry who worketh when where and how he pleaseth who can and doth no doubt preach to them born deaf and dumb whose ways are above our ways and his thoughts above ours as the Heavens are above the Earth The 2d question is this What is the true Divine Philosophy how distinguished from the Worldly Philosophy which the Apostle Paul bid the believing Colossians beware of saying Beware lest any spoil you thro' Philosophy and vain Deceit Col. 2. Ans The true Divine Philosophy is a measure of the Divine Wisdom and Knowledg whether of things Divine or Natural which the Mind of Man receiveth by Divine Illumination Revelation and Inspiration that cometh from the Spirit of Christ Jesus the which Spirit of Christ Jesus as it is a sanctifying Spirit sealing to Men their Adoption and is therefore called the Spirit of Adoption all true and sincere believers receive from the Man Christ Jesus through true Faith in him and from God the Father through Christ and this was that Spirit in the Prophets and Apostles that taught them their knowledge of God and of things both Divine and Natural and which not only revealed to them and in them the glorious Attributes and Perfections of the Great Creator and the great mysteries of his Divine Wisdom Counsel and Will but also shewed and taught them many things of the Creation and opened unto them the book of the Creatures as is largely to be seen by such as are spiritually minded in the holy Scriptures how excellently the Prophets as Moses David Isaiah and many others were taught in the knowledge of the Creation as well as of the Creator by his Divine Spirit and Light in them And this Divine Philosophy and Wisdom is distinguished from the worldly Philosophy which Paul bid the Colossians beware of chiefly and principally in this that the Divine Philosophy is after Christ that is to say the Spirit of Christ doth teach it to all the sincere Lovers and Professors thereof But the worldly Philosophy excepting some Fragments of Truth that some of these called Heathen Philosophers had from the common Divine Illumination which was in them and in all men but which they little heeded or regarded did proceed from the spirit of the world which is a spirit of error and leadeth its followers into all error as the spirit of Truth leadeth into all Truth and therefore the worldly Philosophy or Wisdom is called in Scripture the fleshly Wisdom that is enmity to God And as Paul called the Doctrines of some false Teachers that professed Christianity in his Day the Doctrines of Devils so well may the false Doctrines of them called Heathen Philosophers be called the Doctrines of Devils being so directly opposite to the true Christian Doctrine and Faith taught by Christ and the holy Prophets Evangelists and Apostles recorded in the holy Scriptures for indeed most or rather all the Heresies and gross Errors of the false Teachers pretending to Christianity since the days of the Apostles had their Rise and Original from the Errors of the Heathen Philosophers that went before them as the Heresies of the Arians Nestorians Eutychians Sabellians Macedonians Pelagians the Manichees and Gnosticks and many others as might be at large demonstrated if it were necessary And as the Divine Philosophy or Wisdom differeth from the worldly Philosophy in their Rise and Original as is above said so in their greatly differing effects The Divine Wisdom and Philosophy teacheth the pure Truth without any mixture of Error or Falshood the Worldly Philosophy or Wisdom teacheth nothing but Error Untruth and Falshood for what things were or are true that are found in the Sayings or Writings of the Heathen Philosophers do not properly belong to the worldly Philosophy but to that little Seed of Truth and Light which did at times shine in them but very obscurely or glimmeringly because of the great Darkness that did for most part prevail in them the which Truth they did generally hold in unrighteousness as Paul hath declared Again the Divine Philosophy or Wisdom maketh her Lovers pure peaceable meek and humble and full of good fruits but the worldly Philosophy being of an Opposite Nature hath the contrary effects maketh her followers impure wrathful contentious and proud and notwithstanding that many of the Heathen Philosophers pretended to great humility and purity and other Vertues and I cannot be so uncharitable as to conclude universally That none of them had not some real Vertues yet for most part as the History of their Lives do sufficiently prove they had more a shew of these Vertues than any real possession of them for such as their Wisdom was such were their Vertues but their Wisdom as Paul hath defined it was a shew or talk of Wisdom 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Col. 2 23. and so were their Vertues for most part And in their feigned humility they would not call themselves 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. wise men as some of their Ancestors were called but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Lovers of Wisdom Pythagoras being the first that so called himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Philosopher i. e. a Lover of Wisdom But the Apostle Paul being taught by the Divine Wisdom telleth us what their Wisdom and Profession of it amounted unto professing themselves to be wise they became fools Rom. 1. 22. and therefore in order to mens attaining the true Wisdom he taught That men must first become fools That is to deny the Wisdom of this World even as Christ taught That for Judgment he came into this World that they that see might be made blind and they that are blind might see And now for a Conclusion I give this Warning and Caution That as the Errors of them called Philosophers whether Ancient or Late led men to oppugn the True Faith of Christ so have the ignorant vain false and foolish Reasonings of some men which they borrow from none of them called Philosophers but supposing Themselves to be able enough to find out Reasons to prove or disprove things they either like or dislike without any true Cause or Ground They are oft bold to bring forth their crooked and perverse Reasonings and make use of them against the holy Doctrines and Principles of the Christian Faith and Religion And none I find more ready by corrupt and false Reasons to contend against the Truth than such who in words cry out against Reason like whorish women that cry out against chaste women and most unjustly charge them with the Vice whereof they themselves are most guilty Therefore let all be warned from giving way to false and corrupt Reason or from making use of it to fight against any Doctrine or Principle of the Christian Faith or from medling to interpret any part of holy Scripture by their bare carnal human Reason as too many presume to do who instead of truly interpreting it do pervert it to their own Destruction But let their Human Reason be subjested unto the Obedience of Faith and let the spiritual Weapons be made use of which are mighty to pull down strong Holds casting down Imaginations the Greek hath it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Reasonings and every High Thing that exalteth itself against the knowledg of God and bringeth into Captivity every Thought to the Obedience of Christ 2 Cor. 10. 45. THE END

held some gross errors and had very dark and Obscure Notions and Conceptions about God and Divine Things and spoke not very certainly and clearly of the Felicity of souls of Good Men after Death altho they did generally profess to believe the souls immortality and future rewards and punishments but not one of them believed the Resurrection of the Body as the Scriptures hold it forth for they generally believed the body was the soul's prison or grave and so it would be no Felicity to the soul to be re-united to it not understanding how the body at the Resurrection is so refined and dignified yea glorified that it shall be no Prison nor Grave to the Soul but a most beautiful Palace and Throne such as it was to Adam's Soul before he sinned and which at the Resurrection shall be enriched with greater Beauty and Glory than it then had Also both Plotinus and Porphirius were great Enemies to the Christians and wrote against them which plainly enough shews they were but dark men and had at best at that time but little acquaintance with the divine illumination in their experience notwithstanding their high profession of it as it is with too many at this day who profess the divine Light and talk much more of it than they walk in it for if either Plotinus or Porphirius had been faithful to that divine illumination given to them in common with all mankind it would have led them to befriend and not to oppose the Christians in that time when Christianity did flourish a great deal more in the Purity and true life and power of it than it did in after-ages And thus I have in 20 divers instances discovered the great hurt of the Worldly Philosophy its being a great hinderance to the Christian Faith and a great enemy to the Divine Wisdom and true divine Philosophy by which Worldly Philosophy I understand not only that taught by these called ancient Philosophers but even that lately and at present taught by many called Christians that containeth more hurtful errors than any thing which may happen to be taught by them of truth do profit So that to pass a free and impartial Judgment upon all that called commonly Philosophy both ancient and modern of all the sorts and sects of them called Philosophers it consisteth of a great mixture of error and falshood containing many dangerous and hurtful Opinions but mingled with some true Notions of things that lie so obscure and veiled under the clouds of their many great and dangerous errors that until it be better resined reformed and purged from the great dross filth and poyson of these many hurtful errors wherewithal it doth abound it seemeth to me as well as to many more that are impartial Judges in the case that the study of it in this state of so great mixture is rather hurtful than really profitable And to spend time in turning over the many Volumes of that called Philosophy to find the pure Truth either of Things Natural or Divine is not only to lose time but to expose the mind to the great danger of being leavened and corrupted with gross and hurtful errors tending to overthrow the Christian Faith and to beget in the mind of him that is studious in it a deep prejudice and enmity against the True Divine Philosophy and the Truth as it is in Jesus But the pious endeavour of some late Writers is greatly to be commended who have attempted to correct and reform the vulgar errors in that called Philosophy as the Author of the book called Enchiridion Physicae restitutae and the lately deceased and worthily esteemed Esq Boyl and others And here before I come to a conclusion of my intended matter I think to answer 2 weighty questions and that very briefly The first is What is the chief cause or reason that men generally professing to seek after the True Philosophy Wisdom or Knowledge of Things both Divine and Natural have so greatly miss'd it and instead of the pure Truth have embraced Error for the greatest part Ans The chief cause or reason is their too much relying upon their Humane Understanding and the bare exercise of Human Reason which they generally made the Rule and measuring Line to find out all Truth or True Knowledg in natural things even as Christians so called too generally do the same at this day and I wish they did not so do in the search of Divine Truth also and in the enquiry after the Knowledg of Divine Things Hence it is that some derive the Etymology of the word mens in Latin that signifieth the Mind in English from the Latin word metiri to measure as if the bare mind or humane understanding of man were the measure of all truth at least in the knowledg of natural things And because they did either wholly or for most part rely upon their humane understanding and bare exercise of humane Reason thence it came to pass that the divine gift of God even that divine principle of Light wherewithal Christ the eternal word had enlightned them was neglected and like the unfaithful and slothful servant this divine Talent wherewithal they ought to have occupied and traded they buried in the earth and thus professing themselves wise they became Fools And tho what was to be known of God had been in some measure made manifest in them God having shewed it unto them by the divine illumination of the eternal word yet as Paul declareth when they knew God they glorified him not as God nor were they thankful And because they did not like to retain God in their knowledge but held the Truth in unrighteousness therefore their foolish hearts were darkened and they were given up to vile affections and this was the more general state of them call'd Heathen or Gentile Philosophers yet I will not judg so hardly or uncharitably of them universally because the more sober and humble minded Gentiles did not profess so much but practised more and better and might be and I believe were in a better state and condition towards God And tho I shall be far from concluding that they are perished yet whoever of them are saved with eternal salvation it is not by any works of Righteousness which they had done in their meer Gentile state or by any Obedience to any Law or Light whatsoever without Faith in Christ Jesus but by Faith in Christ Jesus all who ever have been or shall be saved from the beginning of the world to the end of it have and shall obtain eternal Life and Salvation as Paul hath largely declared and proved in his Epistles to the Romans and Galatians and in his Epistle to the Ephesians he telleth them That by grace they were saved through faith and not by any works they had performed before faith was given them and wrought in them But how the true Faith of Christ was wrought in them in those days when it was not outwardly preached to them by the Ministry