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A47136 Divine immediate revelation and inspiration, continued in the true church second part. In two treatises: the first being an answer to Jo. W. Bajer Doctor and Professor of Divinity, so called, at Jena in Germany, published first in Latine, and now in English. The second being an answer to George Hicks, stiled Doctor of Divinity, his sermon preached at Oxford, 1681. and printed with the title of, The spirit of enthusiasm exorcised; where this pretended exorcist is detected. Together, with some testimonies of truth, collected out of diverse ancient writers and fathers, so called. By G.K.; Divine immediate revelation and inspiration, continued in the true church. Part 2. Keith, George, 1639?-1716. 1685 (1685) Wing K158; ESTC R218958 105,601 220

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the habit of their mind because these are rules of righteousness but it is manifest their minds are unrighteous note where then are these rules writ where he who is unjust knoweth what is just where he understandeth that he ought to have that which he hath not Where are they therefore writ but in the Book of that Light which is called the Truth whence every just Law is described and is transferred into the Heart of Man who worketh Righteousness not by motion as from one place to another but by impression as the Image passeth from the Seal into the Wax and yet leaveth not the Seal Thus Augustine Again In this same Paragraph he blameth R.B. for saying That the General Revelation doth suffice unto Salvation although the Special doth not come nor be adjoyned thereunto But granting that he who hath faithfully obeyed and followed the General Revelation be in a safe state as to the present and hath a firm and sure hope of future happiness yet this doth not hinder but in order to obtain a more perfect state through Christ of Eternal Life the Special Revelation is necessary as is plain in the example of Cornelius to whom the Apostle Peter behoved to be sent who was to Preach unto him words concerning Christ by which as the Angel said Acts 11.14 He and his House were to be saved CHAP. IV. IN his Seventh and Eighth Paragraphs he saith little or nothing more than what he had formerly delivered concerning the state of the Controversie to wit whether Immediate Divine Revelations be the Principle of knowing God and Divine Things in respect of all men and for all times But divers other things remain as necessary to be opened for the more clear stating the Controversie First as to the Principle of Knowledg which is either Primary or Secundary or which is to the same effect Principal or Subordinate Now as concerning the Subordinate and Secundary Principle we deny not but that the Scriptures are a subordinate and secundary Principle of knowing Divine Doctrines and Truths as concerning God and Christ but still we contend for the Holy Spirit Inlightning Inspiring and by its Life giving Vigour and Vertue effectually working in the souls of men as the Principal or Primary And let the Adversary tell me seeing he doth acknowledge that the inward illumination and operation of the Holy Spirit is absolutely necessary to the obtaining any Saving Knowledge of God whether he doth not believe that the Holy Spirit inwardly operating and inlightning the Minds of Believers is the Primary Principle of Divine Knowledge Or will he say that the Scriptures are the Primary Principle and that the Holy Spirit is but the secundary and subordinate which last as being too absurd and offensive to Christian ears I hope he will abhor to affirm Secondly As concerning the term of inward Revelation the strife or controversie is to be removed for why should we contend in meer words if we be agreed in the same sence as to the verity of the thing First he doth acknowledge that the inward Illuminations of the Holy Spirit are absolutely necessary to beget the saving knowledge of God and Divine Things in Mens minds Secondly He granteth that these inward Illuminations of the Holy Spirit are not only effective but also that they are objective as being real objects proposed to the Mind and moving it to the assent of Truth For so he doth in his Thirty Second Paragraph expresly affirm That God or the Spirit revealing doth not only work efficiently on the Intellectual Faculty to bring forth or produce the Act of Believing but doth also move the Mind objectively or by a formal representation of an object determine the Vnderstanding to assent Thus He. Wherein so far as I can understand or reach he doth acknowledge that the inward Illumination of the Holy Spirit is Revelation properly so called For by inward Revelation we do not understand any other thing than that the Holy Spirit works not only efficiently or as an Efficient Cause upon our Understanding to beget in us True Divine Knowledge and Faith but that he also moves objectively or by a formal representation of the Object determines our Understanding to Assent For what is it in general to Reveal but to propose the Object revealed to our perceptive Faculty and so in particular he who doth propose the outward visible Objects to my sight he is properly enough said to reveal unto me these Visibles and the same is to be understood of the Objects of the other outward Senses And surely according to Scripture phrase the inward illustrations and illuminations of the Holy Spirit produced in the hearts of the faithful are called Revelations in respect of which the Holy Spirit in Scripture is called The Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation Eph. 1.17 as he doth illustrate and illuminate the hearts of the Faithful And Paul writing of the state of his Conversion affirmeth that God had revealed his Son in him the which in some manner and degree may be said of every converted man As yet therefore we agree well enough as I suppose in forming the state of the Controversie It remaineth then Thirdly that we discuss or consider this term Immediate a little more fully wherein alone almost the strife of the Controversie seemeth to be placed the which although at first view it may seem great yet afterwards laying aside prejudice it may appear to be little if any That it may therefore be more clearly understood what is signified by this term Immediate I desire the Reader to take notice that Immediate doth signifie two very different things One is the absence of all means or medium's in the producing any effect Hence God the Great Creator is rightly said to have produced or created his creatures immediately because there was no medium or mean existing save only his Word and Spirit whereby to create them But this signification of the word or term Immediate is too strait and narrow and perhaps agreeth to no other operation than to the Creation and Conservation of the World by God that infinite and supreme Cause unless we add those Divine Miracles and other marvellous things which God did of old and yet doth without the use or concurrence of means The second or other signification of the word Immediate doth not import the absence of the mean or medium but the intimate application or concurrence of the principal and primary Cause unto the secundary together with the mean or means in the operation Again the medium or mean is either continued or discontinued The continued mean I call that mean which is continued or continually and closely is conjoyned in working with the Cause both principal and subordinate But the discontinued mean is that which is not continued or conjoyned in the working with the primary and principal Cause but either works nothing at all or worketh only with the secundary Cause while as the principal and primary Cause worketh nothing with the
which reacheth to the outward Senses but that it leaneth or doth rely upon God himself inwardly exerting or showing his power in the Mind by an inseparable or undivided operation through that which is outward and determining or moving the Vnderstanding to elicit or bring forth the act of knowledg whence we deny not saith he the inward testimony in the hearts of those who have the outward Revelation Thus he But let the impartial Reader judge if he doth not here act the Enthusiast and plainly give up unto us the chief thing in controversie for which we contend For this concession of his being once granted the controversie betwixt him and us so far as concerneth Immediate Revelation as seemeth unto me is almost none at all In his Thirty Second Paragraph he doth again plainly act the Enthusiast agreeing with us and saying That God or the Spirit which revealeth note doth not only work effectively upon the intellectual Faculty to produce the act of believing but also doth move objectively or by way of object and formal representation of the same doth determine the Vnderstanding to assent And a little after in the same Paragraph That God when he saith or revealeth any thing by the outward voice of the Preacher or by the holy Scriptures doth concur with that saying or Revelation and as the principal moving cause doth effect it that men from an inward and supernatural motion or witnessing made within their minds but which doth exert it self by the outward act of Divine Revelation and reflecteth on God the speaker as its cause may understand that it is God himself who saith it whether by the voice of the Preacher or the Scripture what that Revelation saith or manifesteth But this is it which the Teachers and Preachers in Britain and many other places among the Protestants do commonly object unto us for Enthusiasm because indeed we say that this objective Illumination or that which is by way of object no less than the effective is given to all the faithful for which principally we believe the Scriptures Now there is this only difference betwixt the Adversary and us that he doth continually tye or bind up the operation of the Holy Spirit to the outward signs but we do not so although we do affirm that the Illumination of the Holy Spirit is frequently joyned by an undivided operation with the holy scripture and that it doth exert it self in the hearts of the faithful through the same And whether the inward operation of the Spirit be continually tyed to the holy scripture or left free though we do still affirm it is not so tyed it is all one as to the state of the Controversie concerning Immediate Revelation for in both cases the Illumination and Communication of the Spirit is immediate as I have oft already made appear In his Paragraph Twenty Three he seemeth to blame R. B. that he doth render the outward Revelations to be fallacious and uncertain and more lyable to delusion than the inward But R. B. hath not affirmed that outward Revelations are fallacious for these which are true and come from the God of Truth cannot deceive but R. B. doth plead that the outward Revelations however true and certain they are in themselves yet they are not clear and evident of themselves to be Divine Revelations but that they principally derive their clearness and evidence from the inward Revelations witnessing to them and therefore these inward Revelations are more clear and evident having a self-evidence and clearness in themselves And there is this difference betwixt our outward Senses which perceive the outward Revelation and those Divine inward Senses supernaturally formed in us that our outward Senses may be deceived at sometimes and in some cases but these inward Divine Senses Divinely begot and formed in us can never be deceived For although a mans imagination and inward thought may deceive him yet that Sense which a man hath inwardly begot in his heart by the Lord can no wise deceive him In his Twenty Fifth Paragraph he alledgeth that R. B. doth contradict himself while he teacheth that the outward Revelation of the Scriptures is the formal object of the Saints faith and yet not the formal cause or reason of believing But if the Adversary had carefully considered R. B. his words following in his Apology he had not imputed unto him such a contradiction For R.B. saith that the secret testimony of the Holy Spirit is the principal object of the Saints faith and the original and consequently unto this that the Scripture is the secundary and subordinate And therefore when R. B. saith that the outward Revelation of the Scripture is not the formal cause or reason of believing he did clearly enough signifie his mind to wit that the Scripture was not the principal and original cause of believing and therefore if it be granted that the outward Revelation of the Scripture doth contain in it self some secundary reason of believing for this cause it may be called a secundary formal object of faith but the primary formal object is the inward Revelation which distinction of the formal objects is expressed by R. B. in other words into the formal object quod i. e. which to wit the secundary and the formal object quo i. e. for or by which to wit the primary But because these terms of the formal object into quod i. e. which and quo i. e. for which are borrowed from Logicians and the simple and plain truth can be easily enough explained without these terms I shall not stay any more to explain or defend them For the substance of the thing is clearly enough confessed by the Adversary to wit that Saving Faith doth not stay or rely on the meer naked outward Revelation of the Scripture but reacheth beyond that unto God himself inwardly moving and objectively or by way of object witnessing by his Spirit to the truth of the Scripture And because that inward objective testimony of the Spirit is somewhat really distinct from the outward testimony of the scripture although not contrary unto it nor separate therefrom as the Adversary saith therefore he holdeth of necessity a two-fold object to wit the one outward the other inward and whether of these he holdeth to be the primary he hath not in words expressed although it may be said consequentially enough to his Principles that the inward object is the primary and the outward secundary wherein he doth very well agree with R. B. and us Moreover Seeing he granteth a two-fold object of Divine Faith and Knowledge one outward of the Letter another inward of the Spirit joyned together and inseparate because they are really distinct I suppose he will not deny but they may be separate one from another if God so pleased Let it then be supposed only upon a possible supposition that the inward be separate from the outward so that the outward being removed the inward object may remain which is proposed by the
God in whom we live and move and have our being is most present in all his Creatures in Heaven and Earth and below the Earth and that he doth impart unto them all his Immediate concurrence and influence according to the exigence of every one of them In the Mineral and Metallin region he works immediatly with the minerals and mettals in the vetegable with the herbs flowers and trees and in the Animal he works immediatly with all the living Creatures to feed and nourish them Also he feedeth and nourisheth man not with Bread alone but with every word that cometh out of his Mouth And if this be true in respect of the natural and animal life how exceedingly true is it in respect of the Spiritual and supernatual which after a peculiar manner is called in Scripture the life I do not therefore understand how our adversary can reject this term Immediate from the inward divine Illumination or light of God that operates in the hearts of the faithful But parhaps he will say he doth not reject the term Immediate as the said Immediate concurse and influence of God is joyned with the means having an excellent consistency harmony and concord with them but that he denyeth such an immediate concourse of God as excludeth all means and the use and necessity of them in regard of the common and ordinary way of Gods working or at least doth not require them as necessary Now if this be the mind of our adversary he ought to have explained it in his dissertation and not to have rejected the term Immediate without all distinction and limitation But I answer moreover that we are so far from rejecting any true Means in order to the attaining the true and saving knowledge of God that we most gladly receive all means both inward and outward and both the book of the Scripture and the book of the Creatures as blessings and gifts of God We do also acknowledge that in respect of the more special Heads and Doctrines of the Christian Religion the Scripture is necessary both by necessity of precept and also of means and in what cases the Scriptures are not absolutely necessary yet they are very profitable unto all even unto the most spiritual and perfect And therefore the use of the Holy Scripture is not to be rejected or laid aside by none so long as this Mortal life endureth and this upon the matter R. B. hath sufficiently granted and that it may be the better known in what special Doctrines of the Christian Religion we hold the use of the Scripture to be necessary unto us we grant first that the whole History of the Creation and of all the ages from Adam unto Christ and of all the great works of God in building preserving nourishing and encreasing his Church in all those ages unto Christ and unto the end of the age of the Apostles is made known unto us by benefit of the Scripture of the Old and New Testament the inward divine Revelation and Illumination of the Holy Spirit working together with the Scripture and begetting in our minds and hearts the saving knowledge and faith of all these things Secondly all these most excellent Prophecies both and that especially concerning Christ his coming in the Flesh and his Spiritual Kingdom in the hearts of the faithful and also concerning many other things very necessary to be known and believed are made known unto us by the help of the Scripture the foresaid inward divine Revelation and Illumination of the Holy Spirit working with the Scripture and begetting in us the saving knowledge and belief of those things and here the holy Spirit is the principal cause and the Scripture a means and instrument Thirdly the knowledge of those most excellent examples of the vertues and vertuous and holy living of the Saints that greatly conduce by the working of the Holy Spirit to frame and fashion us after the same Manner and to ingraft and implant in us the same divine vertues and graces Fourthly the knowledge of many mysteries as of Christ his being both God and Man his being born in the Flesh of a Virgin his being crucified and becoming a Propitiatory sacrifice for our sins his Resurrection Ascension and Glorification and pouring out of his Spirit and the fulfilling of all these things many ages ago as they were foretold also the Mysterys of Election Vocation Justification and of the Regeneration of the Saints and of their spiritual ingrafting into Christ through the same and the Mystery of the Resurrection of the Body and its Glorification at the last day with many other secrets and hidden things of the Christian Religion Fifthly the knowledge of diverse Gospel precepts leading and carrying on the true travellers into a Gospel and Spiritual Life until he arrive at a perfect Man Sixthly the knowledge of diverse Gospel promises wherby we become partakers not only of the divine life and nature in this World but shall injoy most abundantly everlasting Happiness and felicity in the World to come I say the knowledge of all these things and of many more which to recite all one by one were too long is conveyed unto us by the Scriptures Testimony as we are exercised in reading and hearing and meditating on them the foresaid inward divine Revelation and Inspiration working as is said together with the Scriptures which can only beget in us the saving knowledge and belief of all these things It may now be asked what remaineth to be revealed by the Holy Spirit inwardly inspiring and Illuminating us the Scriptures not concurring so much as means and instruments at least immediatly and formally in the very act of knowledge as touching the things revealed I answer The experimental and sensible knowledge of God that is no ways obvious to the outward senses but to the inward and spiritual whereby God himself in Christ and Christ himself in his Life Light Vertue and Spirit is most inwardly felt seen and heard and a most sweet tast of him is received above all that the natural man can conceive of him and this is that most inward Magisterie or teaching of the inward Master of which Augustin makes mention lib. 14. de Trinit cap. 15. And it is that also of which the Apostle Paul said Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard nor hath it entred into Mans heart to conceive the things which God hath prepared for them who love him but God saith he hath revealed them to us by his Spirit This is that hidden Manna and white-stone which no Man knoweth save he who hath it And for the more full and clear understanding of this thing let the Reader take notice that there is a twofold knowledge of things whether natural and visible or of spiritual divine and invisible There is one knowledge of things which is not received by the things themselves but by the signs of them and such a knowledge is abstractive remote and mediate and therefore is very obscure another knowledge
to the second interpretation of the word Galilee its signifying Revelation it is to be understood of Christ not in the form of a Servant but in that wherein he is equal to the Father which he promised in John to such as loved him when he said I shall love him and show my self unto him to wit not according to what they then saw and as after his Resurrection he appeared with the prints of his wounds both to be seen and touched but according unto that ineffable light whereby he doth enlighten every man that cometh into the World according to which he shineth in darkness and the darkness doth not comprehend him Where let the Reader notice how that Augustine believed that Christ did go before the outward Preaching of the Gospel with his Divine Grace and Revelation in the hearts of the Gentiles And if God be not present to his Creature to supply the defect of outward means and yet damn the Creature is not this to render God unmerciful and a hard Master and unjust who is yet most merciful meek just and benevolent to all his Creatures I thought these called Lutherans who are so zealous against the Calvinistical decree of absolute Reprobation had been more humane and merciful towards Mankind but now so far as I can gather from the words of our Adversary they are fallen into the same pit with the Calvinists or at least as bad For if so many thousands who want the outward means be damned eternally for the want of them this so miserable a case should seem to proceed from want of Love in God towards them and because he did not love them therefore he did reprobate and reject them I know not how the Adversary can save himself from falling into the deep ditch of the Calvinistical Doctrine of Absolute Reprobation But hath not Christ died for all men If so he hath then dyed for those who want the outward means and what hath Christ gained for them by his death if nothing of his Grace either already given them or afterwards to be given hath he not then dyed for them in vain But doth not the Scripture say that God hath his Elect ones in every corner and part of the whole world whither he is to send his Angels to gather them together even the children of God every where dispers'd And yet the outward Preaching of the Gospel is not yet gone to all the parts of the earth And what shall become of these good and honest Gentiles such as Cornelius was before Peter Preached the Gospel outwardly to him For do not Peters words plainly imply that there were many such good and honest men fearing God and working righteousness who were acceptable unto God through Christ although they had not heard of Christ as yet outwardly Again what was to be done with that good ground which was good before the seed was cast into it and whence was it that the ground was good before the outward Preaching of the Gospel And what did Christ signifie by that good ground in the Parable but men of a good and honest heart Suppose then that some of these were prevented by death long before the outward Preaching did come to their ears which is to be supposed in many by reason of the shortness of humane life shall therefore all these good men together with the bad and wicked be damned eternally Let every pious and sober man be ashamed so to conclude In his Sixth Paragraph he seemeth in part to acknowledge R. B. his distinction between Divine General Revelation and Special but he differeth herein that he will not have that General Revelation made to the Gentiles to be supernatural but natural nor immediate but mediate beside the inward or ingrafted notions of truth importing also an acquired knowledge by the things created and outwardly presented and the information and teaching of others concurring But as concerning the latter it followeth not that that Revelation was not immediate because these Gentiles had also an acquired knowledge by the things created c. For these two are not contradictory to wit one Knowledge immediate and implanted in them and another acquired but they both consist very well together And concerning the first he doth indeed affirm that the said General Revelation is only natural and not supernatural but he hath not so much as essayed to prove it Now as to that Question whether that General Revelation be natural or supernatural it may be answered that in a different respect it is both natural and supernatural Natural in respect of the Subject of its Inherence for many things receive their denomination from the Subject of Inherence as some Vessels are called golden others silver others brass according to the diversity of their subject matter Now God hath planted or sown this General Divine Revelation or Law in the very nature of Man and it is therefore called by Iames 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the innate Word or the Word planted in our Nature which is as the Ark unto which God hath committed this Divine Law to be preserved But it is Supernatural in respect of its Original Author and Efficient Cause For from whence cometh this Law placed in all souls but from that Supreme Lord and Father of all souls and therefore it is called by Philo the Jew An infallible Law and incorruptible Printed in the immortal Mind by an immortal Nature And by Plutarch A Faith ingrasted or innate into every reasonable Creature living in the Soul and never leaving the Soul destitute of Guidance Again this Law or Revelation is deservedly to be reputed Supernatural because it is the Law of God and whoever doth transgress it he doth transgress the Will of the most High God This Law therefore is above the Soul and the Souls nature which ought to be subject unto the said Law and consequently it is Supernatural And Lastly because Mans whole Nature in the Fall is corrupted but this Law doth remain in the Soul uncorrupted therefore it proceedeth not from Mans Nature but from a more noble Original and Fountain For who can bring such a clean thing as this Law is out of that which is so unclean as Mans corrupted Nature And indeed Augustine doth well discourse on this same purpose lib. 14. de Trinit cap. 15. Man saith he is admonished to turn to the Lord as unto that Light with which he was touched when he was departed from him For hence it is that even the wicked think upon eternity and do both reprove and commend many things in the manners of men But by what rules judge they of those things but such as in which they see how every one should live although they themselves do not so live When do they see them not in their Nature seeing they see them with a mind but it is manifest their minds are changeable whereas they see that these rules are unchangeable which every one may see in them Nor yet do they see them in
he is not a dead Vessel or Machine but is a living sensible rational Vessel and is quickned strengthened and beautifyed yea and perfected thereby as the Body is by the Soul that is lodged in it So that however others who are declared Enemies to Divine Inspiration may judge we have cause to conclude That men indeed Divinely inspired are the most truly Rational Men in the World and have the truest and noblest use of all their Rational and Intellectual faculties if duly improved Several Testimonies of Ancient Fathers so called and other Ancient Writers to the Spirits Inward and Immediate Teachings and the preference of the Spirit of God in his Divine Illuminations and Operations and Inspirations to the Letter of the Scripture also the Vniversality of Divine Illumination and of the benefit of Silence and other things of Truth of the like Nature as owned by the People called in Derision Quakers IGnatius who lived in the first Century or within a hundred years after Christ and is thought that he might have seen Christ in the flesh who died a valiant Martyr for the truth of Christ in his 9th Epistle writing to the Church of Philadelphia saith expressly thus 1. I have heard some saying unless I find the Gospel in Archeis publick Records or Writings I believe not Unto such I say Jesus is unto me for publick Records or Writings again he saith the publick Records or Writings ought not to be preferred unto the Spirit Observe It 's plain that by the Archea or Publick Records he meaneth the Scriptures in which sense Tertullian useth the word Archia lib. 3. against Marcion II. And in his 14th Epistle writing to the Ephesians he saith unto them expresly these words using the Holy Spirit the Rule in Greek thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Greek word signifieth a measuring Line Rule or perpendicular III. Athenagoras who lived in the 2d Century legatione pro Christianis pleading for the Christians that they lived a pure life he saith expresly of them whose life is directed unto God as the Rule the Greek words are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 most properly signifieth a Rule Amussis Regula IV. Clemens Alexandrinus who lived in the beginning of the 3d Century admonitione ad Gentes saith But that holy man Moses speaketh truly Deut. 25.13 14 15. Thou shalt not have in thy bag a weight and a weight a great and a small but thou shalt have a true and a just weight judging the weight and the measure and the number of all things to be God for the unjust and unrighteous at home and in the bag are the Idols that are hid in the unclean soul but there is one just measure who is the only true God ever equal and ever the same measuring and weighing all things in the ballance which is righteousness V. The same Clemens 1 b. 1. Stromatum towards the end saith expresly thus It is evident that Moses calleth the Lord the Testament greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saying behold I my Testament with thee for before he said the Testament or Covenant was not to be sought in the Scripture again he saith in the preaching of Peter thou shalt find the Lord called the Law and the Word or Reason VI. The same Clemens in his forecited admonition to the Gentiles expresly declareth that in all men simply or universally and especially in them who are exercised in Doctrines there is instilled a certain divine influx or influence gr 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the grace or gift of which they acknowledge even they also who are unwilling that God is one incorruptible and unbegotten or uncreated VII Again in the same he saith for as that divine Apostle of the Lord saith The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all men c. this is the New Song the appearance of the word which hath shined in us which was in the beginning and was first of all VIII And in his Poedagagus lib. 1. cap. 3. he saith there is a lovely or amiable thing in man which is called the inspiration of God gr 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 IX And writing to the unbelieving Gentiles he speaketh expresly of the inward witness which was in them calling it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 innatum testem fide dignum the innate witness worthy of faith and what is that but the same which Iames called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. the innate word born or inbred in us X. The same Clemens in his Stromata citeth testimonies for the truth out of Matthias Barnabas Clement the Apostle and out of Hermes the Pastor yea he is so far from thinking that only the Prophets and Apostles writ by Divine Inspiration that he plainly declareth that not only Plato but also many others preached and declared the only true God by his inspiration gr 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 admon ad Gentes and in the same speaking of the followers of Pythagoras he saith and these things suffice unto the acknowledging of God which are written by them by the inspiration of God This Clemens Alexandrinus was the Scholar of Pantaenus the Martyr the which Pantaenus taught School at Alexandria in Aegypt and is said to have been the first Christian School-Master in that famous School of Alexandria to whom did succeed Clemens Alexandrinus and to him Origine and others successively XI The forecited Ignatius writing to the Ephesians ep 14. saith expresly thus Let Christ speak in you as in Paul let the Holy Ghost teach you to speak the things of Christ like unto him and in his 13th Epistle writing to Heron Deacon of Antioch he saith Thou art the Temple of Christ the Instrument of the Spirit XII Tertullian who lived about the beginning of the third Century lib. 2. carminum advers Marrion saith Atque adeo non verba libri sed missus in orbem Ipse Christus Evangelium est si cernere vultis In English thus Not the words of the Book but Christ who is Into the world sent the Gospel is If ye will understand this he wrote against the Marcionists a gross sort of Hereticks XIII The same Tertullian a very approv'd Author in what he writ before he was leavened with the Doctrines of Novatus and Montanus and famous among the Christians for his Writings a great defender of the Christian faith against the Infidels In his Book of the Testimony of the Soul against the Gentiles proveth that there is in the souls of all men a testimony concerning God the judgement to come the immortality of the soul the punishment of the wicked after death the resurrection of the body c. he saith moreover thus I bring forth a new Testimony more known than all literature or letter-knowledge and cap. 5. he saith thus These testimonies of the soul how much true so much simple how much simple so much vulgar how much vulgar so much common how much common so much natural how much natural so much