Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	effect_n	good_a	work_n	5,591	5	6.3844	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A55818	A discourse for the vindicating of Christianity from the charge of imposture Offer'd, by way of letter, to the consideration of the deists of the present age. By Humphrey Prideaux, D.D. and arch-deacon of Suffolk.	Prideaux, Humphrey, 1648-1724.	1697 (1697)	Wing P3412A; ESTC R219515	81,417	183

will but consider these following Particulars 1. Miracles are works done which are strange and amazing to us as being brought to pass out of the ordinary road and in a manner which we cannot comprehend and these are of two sorts 1. Such as exceed only the Power of Man to effect them and these we call signs or wonders And 2. Such as exceed the Power of any created Being whatsoever and these only are properly Miracles 2. Where-ever such Miracles are wrought as are of this last sort God alone must be the Author of them and therefore where-ever such are found they manifestly prove the Power of God co-operating with the Persons at whose word they are done and with whomsoever it doth thus cooperate it necessarily demonstrates their Mission from him and puts such an Authentick Seal to the Truth of the Doctrines which they teach as cannot be denied 3. Where-ever a creating Power is necessary to the effect produced or the stated Laws of Nature are altered there it is certain none but God himself can be the Author of the Work done For he alone is able to create and he having created all things according to his infinite Wisdom and given to each their proper Essence and Operations he allows none but himself to alter the Natures of them or change that Course which he hath put them into 4. But within the Laws and Powers of Nature there are abundance of things which exceed the Power of Man to effect and therefore seem as Miracles to us which may be produced by other created Beings and these are evil spirits as well as good 5. To the producing of these effects evil spirits as well as good are enabled two manner of Ways 1. By their greater Knowledge of the Powers of Nature And 2. By the greater Agency which they have to apply them to effect For 6. There are a multitude of things in Nature that those Spirits know the Nature of which we do not For their Abilities of knowing are vastly above ours as not working by the dull Tools of Earth and Clay as we do and their Experience exceedingly greater as having known the Works of God from the beginning and by long Observation pried deep into the Secrets of them If a Chymist or a Mathematician by his Skill in the Powers of Nature can do many things which to the ignorant and unlearned shall seem as Miracles as we often find how much more can those knowing Spirits do so whose Knowledge of the Powers of Nature is vastly more above all ours put together than the highest and perfectest of ours is above that of the most ignorant that lives among us But 7. As those Spirits have a vastly greater Knowledge of the Powers of Nature than we can have so also have they a vastly greater Power to apply them to effect For they are of a much greater agility in their motion of a much finer substance to penetrate into things and actuate them into operation and also of a much stronger agency or power to work than we have and which no doubt they are endowed more or less with according to the different orders and degrees in which God hath created them and by both these together that is their greater Knowledge of natural Causes and their greater Power to apply them to effect can they do a great many things within Nature's limits which exceed all the Powers of Men to effect and seem as miraculous and wonderfull unto us when ever brought to pass 8. Good Spirits never work those Miracles but in subserviency to the divine Will as they are necessary for the effecting of those things which God hath ordained by their Ministry to bring to pass And to them those Miracles mentioned in Scripture which exceed not the Power of such created Beings may be referred as the immediate Authors of them it not being likely that God would interpose his immediate Power excepting only in such cases as where there was need of it For why should the Lord himself put his hand to that work which may as well be discharged by the Ministry of his Servants 9. Evil Spirits having in a great measure the same Knowledge of Natural Causes as the good and the like Power to bring them to effect can also work the like wonders and by God are often permitted so to do both for the trial of Men and also for other good Causes which to him of his infinite Wisdom seem fitting and we have a plain instance of it in the Case of Job 10. Evil Spirits have not only this Power of working the like Wonders which Good Spirits do but also another which Good Spirits will never make use of that is by juggle delusion and deceit to imitate those true and proper Miracles which none but God himself can really effect And thus by the delusion of the Devil was a cheat put upon Saul in the raising of Samuel to him from the dead For really to raise Samuel from the dead none but God could and therefore that appearance which Saul saw was no more than a false appearance contrived by the Devil to put a cheat and delusion upon him And of this same sort may we reckon the Miracles which Jannes and Jambres wrought in imitation of Moses For to turn a Rod into a Serpent and Water into Blood or to cause Frogs to come up upon the Land in which three Particulars they did the same thing by their inchantments that Moses did by the hand of God are Works which if really done require the creating Power to bring them to effect which none but God hath and therefore in this case the Devil acted for them not by his effecting but only by his deluding Power And such Miracles the Scripture calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Lying or false Miracles which are not really wrought but only made so to appear by the juggle and delusion of Satan 11. Those cheats and delusions of the Devil whereby he imitates the true and real Miracles of God which he cannot work are only in transient Effects like those of Jugglers upon a Stage never in such as are lasting and permanent And where the Effect is totally transient God's Works are often so far above the Devil's Imitation that even in these there will be still a multitude of Particulars wherein he can have no power as much as by juggle or delusion to do any thing like unto them 12. Whatsoever signs or wonders are wrought by Magicians or false Prophets must be referred to one of these two Heads that is that they are either the Devil's Works or the Devil's Delusions and the Scriptures which tell us of Magicians and false Prophets working such signs and wonders do in many places referr them hereto 13. Those signs or wonders which are really wrought by the Devil and his Evil Spirits are to be distinguished from those which are wrought by the Power of Angels or Good Spirits by these following Marks 1. That Angels

a root and the effect vastly above the efficiency of such a cause ever to produce it For can it possibly be imagin'd that a wicked Man could either have inclination to do so much for the promoting of that Righteousness which all his passions and desires so violently run counter unto or if he would that such an one could ever be so well acquainted with all the ways thereof as so exactly to prescribe them If it be so difficult for such an one to conceal his inclinations in his expressions if it be so hard for him when he vents himself into Words or Writings not to let loose something in them of what he really is as I have already shown how can any copy be drawn from such a Mind but what must in some feature or other resemble the Original or any thing at all proceed from thence but what must carry with it some savour of the iniquity thereof Set but such a one to write a Letter and he will scarce be able to do it without putting so much of his passions and his temper into it as that we may read from thence what he is as every Man's experience may tell him that corresponds with such and how much more then may we be assured will he lay himself open when he hath the large scope of a Book to express himself in and especially when that book is of such a nature as gives him the fullest occasion and the most inviting opportunity so to do And what book can be more such than that which is to propose a new Law to Mankind In the writing of such a book if ever certainly the wicked Man will show himself and in the same manner as Mahomet did conform his Laws to his own inclinations and prescribe such rules of living to others as may best justifie him in those which he himself follows And although he should not intend any such thing though he should not design so to do and it is hard to imagine of such a Man that he should not yet at least the prevailing bent of his passions and the corruption of his judgment which always follows therefrom must necessarily lead him thereinto it being morally speaking altogether impossible but that the wicked Man must appear in what the wicked Man doth and the deeds words and writings which proceed from such an one must in some measure savour of what he is And therefore if there be nothing in the Law of our holy Religion as I hope I have fully shown that there is not which can make the least discovery of any such thing nothing that can afford the least pretence for such a charge against it where so large a scope is given for it this sufficiently proves that neither the first Founder of the Christian Religion nor those who first wrote it in the Books of the New Testament in which we now have it could possibly be wicked Men and consequently not such Impostors as you would have them to be But here I know it will be objected that there is no necessity that all Impostors should be as wicked as Mahomet and therefore though Jesus Christ and his Apostles were no such wicked Persons yet however they may be still Impostors for all that For first it hath hapned that very just and good Men have had recourse to Imposture to bring to pass and establish their most commendable designs as we have an instance in Minos King of Crete and another in Numa King of Rome both which to give the greater authority to their Laws pretended to have had them by divine Revelation And secondly you will say it 's possible a Man may be an Impostor by Enthusiasm and mistake and falsely impose things for divine Revelation not out of a wicked design to deceive others but that he is really deceived herein himself And if in these two Cases a Man that is not wicked may be an Impostor you will urge That though Jesus Christ and his Apostles were not wicked Men yet this will not prove them not to have been Impostors because it 's possible that in one of these two Cases they might have been such In order to the clearing of the first of these Objections I desire you would consider these Three following Particulars 1. That in every Religion there are these two Parts to be observed very distinct from each other 1. The Religion it self And 2. The Means whereby it is promoted and propagated among Men. 2. When the Imposture is only in the former of these two and a true Religion or at least one that is really believed to be such is promoted by means of Imposture that is by feigning a divine Revelation where there is none or by counterfeiting Miracles or by any other such means tending to deceive Men thereinto this amounts to no higher than a pious fraud which out of an over-hot and inconsiderate zeal some Men have made use of for the promoting of the best Ends. And such Men for the sake of such Ends may still be denominated good and righteous in the main how much soever they may have been out in making use of such means to promote them 3. When the Imposture is in the End as well as in the Means and not only the Revelation pretended but also the Religion it self is all false counterfeit and feigned this amounts to such an Imposture as is totally wicked without any mixture of good therein In the former Case where the Imposture is only in the Means there is a good End designed and therefore something still from whence the person using it may be denominated Good but where the Imposture is in both it is Wickedness all over without any thing at all in it to exempt him from being perfectly wicked that maketh use thereof Which Particulars being premised my Answer to the Objection is as followeth 1. I do acknowledge it to be related by Authors of good credit that Minos King of Crete when he first framed the Laws of his Country to give them the greater authority used to retire into a Cave on Mount Dicta and from thence to bring them forth to his Cretans as if they had been there delivered to him by Jupiter And that Numa when he founded the Laws of Rome practised the same art pretending to have received them from the Nymph Egeria that so he might procure them to be received by the Romans with the greater veneration And by this device they both obtained there End in bringing very rude and barbarous People to submit to those good Orders and Rules which they prescribed for their living civilly peaceably and justly together But this although it were a fraud in the Means yet as far as it related only to a political End belongs to another matter and doth not at all fall within that argument of Religion which we are now treating of 2. As to the Laws of Numa I acknowledge that they reached not only Matters of State but those of

a false Religion for the promoting of their own interest as that interest must have appear'd in the contexture of the Religion it self and in those Books in which it is written so also must their wickedness For Words and Writings being the outward expressions of our inward conceptions there is that connection between them that although the former may often disguise the latter they can never so totally conceal them but every accurate observer may still be able through the one to penetrate into the other and by what a man utters whether in speech or writing see what he is at the bottom do what he can to prevent it There are indeed some that can act the Hypocrite so cunningly as to dissemble the greatest wickedness under words writings and actions too that speak the quite contrary But this always is such a force upon their inclinations and so violent a bar upon their inward passions and desires that nature will frequently break through in spight of all art and even speak out the truth amidst the highest pretences to the contrary And there is no Hypocrite how cunningly soever he may act his part but must this way very often betray himself For wickedness being always uppermost in such a Man's thoughts and ever pressing forward to break forth into expression it will frequently have its vent in what that Man speaks and in what he writes do what he can to the contrary the care caution and cunning of no Man in this case being sufficient totally to prevent it Furthermore there is no Man thus wicked that can have that knowledge of Righteousness as thoroughly to act it under the Mask with that exactness as he who is truly righteous lives and speaks it in reality His want of experience in the practice must in this case lead him into a great many mistakes and blunders in the imitation And this is a thing which generally happens to all that act a part but never more than in matters of Religion in which are many Particulars so peculiar to the Righteous as none are able to reach them but those only who are really such And supposing there were any that could yet there will ever be that difference between what is natural and what is artificial and between that which is true real and sincere and that which is false counterfeit and hypocritical that nothing is more easie than for any one that will attend it to discern the one from the other And therefore were Jesus Christ and his Apostles such persons as this charge of Imposture must suppose them to be it 's impossible but that the Doctrines which they taught and the Books which they wrote must make the discovery and the New Testament would as a standing Record against them in this case afford a multitude of instances to convict them hereof That the Alcoran doth so as to Mahomet nothing is more evident a strain of Rapine Bloodshed and Lust running thorough the whole Book which plainly proves the Author of it to be altogether such a Man as the charge of Imposture must necessarily suppose him to be And were the first Founder of our holy Religion or the Writers of those Books in which its Doctrines are contained such Men as he both their Doctrines and their Books would as evidently prove it against them But here I must again challenge you and all other the Adversaries of our holy Religion to shew us any one particular in it that can give the least foundation to such a charge any one word in all the Books of the New Testament that can afford the least umbrage or pretence thereto Let what is written in them be tried by that which is the Touchstone of all Religions I mean that Religion of Nature and Reason which God hath written in the hearts of every one of us from the first Creation and if it varies from it in any one particular if it prescribes any one thing which may in the minutest circumstance thereof be contrary to its Righteousness I will then acknowledge this to be an argument against us strong enough to overthrow the whole Cause and make all things else that can be said for it totally ineffectual to its support But it is so far from having any such flaw therein that it is the perfectest Law of Righteousness which was ever yet given unto Mankind and both in commanding of Good as well as in forbidding of Evil vastly exceeds all others that went before it and prescribes much more to our practice in both than the wisest and highest Moralist was ever able without it to reach in speculation For 1st As to the forbidding of Evil it is so far from indulging or in the least allowing us in any practice that savours hereof that it is the only Law which is so perfectly broad in the prohibition as adequately to reach whatsoever may be Evil in the practice and without any exception omission or defect absolutely fully and thoroughly forbids unto us whatsoever may have but the least taint of corruption therein and therefore it not only restrains all the Overt-acts of iniquity but also every imagination of the heart within which in the least tends thereto and in its Precepts prohibits us not only the doing or speaking of Evil but also the harbouring or receiving into our Minds the least thought or desire thereafter whereby it so effectually provides against all manner of iniquity that it plucks it up out of every one of us by the very roots and so makes the Man pure and clean and holy altogether without allowing the least savour of Evil to be remaining in him and every one of us would be thoroughly such could we be but as perfect in our Obedience to this Law as it is perfectly given unto us And 2dly As to the commanding of Good its prescriptions are That we imploy our Time our Powers and all other Talents intrusted with us to the best we are able both to give Glory unto God and also to show Charity unto Men and this last not only to our Friends Relations and Benefactors but in general to all Mankind even to our Enemies and those who despightfully use us and persecute us and hereby it advanceth us to that highth of perfection in all holiness and goodness as to render us like the Angels of Light in our Service unto God and like God himself in our Charity to Man For it directs us in the same manner as the Angels to worship and serve our God to the utmost ability of out nature and in the same manner as God to make our goodness to Men extend unto all without exception or reserve as far as they are capable of receiving it from us And can any Man think it possible that a Religion which so thoroughly and fully forbids all Evil and in so high and perfect a manner prescribes us all Good could ever be the product of a wicked mind The fruit is too good to proceed from so corrupt