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	nature_n	power_n	3,155	5	5.1866	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A29845	A letter in answer to a book entitled, Christianity not mysterious as also, to all those who set up for reason and evidence in opposition to revelation & mysteries / by Peter Browne ...	Browne, Peter, ca. 1666-1735.	1697 (1697)	Wing B5134; ESTC R19095	82,171	238

and what it is for a small quantity of Bread to be encreas'd to a mighty bulk but as to the manner how this was perform'd we are wholly ignorant of it thô we know well how Corn is encreas'd in the ordinary way of nature But he will object here as he did concerning the Doctrines viz. That at this rate All the Phenomena of Nature are miraculous for we know not the true manner of any one of them And this is the main drift of this Chapter to give us a wrong notion of a Miracle viz. That it is nothing more than the dextrous management of second causes and not any immediate effect of Almighty God and therefore in the close he tells us That Miracles are wrought according to the laws of Nature thô above it's ordinary operations which are therefore supernaturally assisted And this is the reason of that bold and arrogant expression of his That could he tell how a Miracle was wrought he believes he might do as much himself For there is nothing more in it than in a Chymical Operation and if he were Philosopher enough he would work any Miracle of them all But the true notion of a Miracle is that it is An operation wrought by the immediate power of God not by Assisting only but Over-ruling the laws of Nature not only by hastning and accelerating it's Operations but sometimes by an instantaneous production of what was never to be effected by the united force of all natural causes As to instance in the Raising a Body from the Dead all the united force of nature with the most dextrous management wou'd not be able to effect this all the E●tracting Mollifying Mixing Infusing Consolidating c. And the ministry not only of Thousands but of Millions at once wou'd not be able to unite a Soul and Body again when once they are seperated nothing less than the Almighty immediate act of God is able to effect this and that without the concurrence of any natural cause Again there are some Miraculous Operations which are so far from being according to the laws of nature that they are contrary to them As that of the Sun 's going back or standing still all the laws of nature are dispos'd for it's motion or at least for the motion of our Earth which makes it seem to us to move Again The making Iron to swim Were this effect produc'd by Mollifying Consolidating c. or any Operation which shou'd convert the substance of Iron into that of Wood then we could not say that Iron swam but something else or if the water were condensed to support it then it wou'd be Ice and not water and if any thing of this nature were don of a sodain●t wou'd however be miraculous but not contrary to nature But for a solid piece of Iron while it remains such to swim in Water no way condens'd this is not only above but contrary to the laws of nature And so likewise for Fire not to burn is contrary to nature Indeed if there were nothing more in it than what this man supposes that it is don by repelling the heat and keeping off the flames then it might be according to the laws of nature and there are many things which by an instantaneous application might extinguish the Fire But to hinder fire from burning while it remains such and combustible matter actually in it this is contrary to the laws of nature But all those Miracles which are not so directly contrary to nature can't however be said to be according to the laws of nature And I take these two expressions to be directly opposite Which he makes the same Miracles are according to the laws of nature And they are above the operations of it For to instance in the first Miracle our Saviour wrought that of Turning Water into Wine The production of Wine according to the laws of nature must have been by accelerating the growth of the Vine and ripening the Grape sodainly by application of all those things in nature which could forward it but to turn Water immediatly into Wine without any of these methods was to produce it afer a manner wholly different from all the laws of nature Upon his Principles we have no way from the nature of the thing of distinguishing between the Delusions of the Divel those celebrated Feats of Goblins and Witches and Conjurers which he speaks of and those which are wrought by the Finger of God For without doubt the Divel is a great Philosopher and can manag● second Causes so as to produce Effects according to the laws of nature which shall appear very strange to us But we are sure nothing less than that power which is the Author of Nature can work any real effect contrary to it or above it The Divel indeed may delude mens senses so as to make them think that Real which is only an Appearance as it is likely he did to mimick that miracle of turning Aarons Rod into a Serpent for that of the Magicines was not a real Conversion but effected by their Enchantments or as 't is in the original by their Wiles and Jugling For we find when they endeavour'd to imitate Moses in the instantaneous production of any real thing with Life there the Divel fail'd them and they were forc'd to own it was the Finger of God And thus we see plainly how this Man strikes at the foundation of all Reveal'd Religion by undermining one of the main Pillars on which the Faith and Credit of it is founded You see his drift all along in every thing he says is to take away all Operations above the Laws of Nature and all Doctrines above the reach of Reason and then all the Religion of Men is consequently resolv'd into Infidelity an Heathenism So that any one who wishes Christianity to be true must hope at least that this Mans Principles are false since they are so utterly inconsistent 2. But 2dly As miracles being in a great degree Mysterious is an unanswerable objection against him so they are altogether useless and impertinent upon his Principles He owns that God does not work them at random but for some end and this end he owns is for the confirmation of some Divine Doctrine But why for the confirmation of a Doctrine for he hath told us over and over that it is only the Evidence or immediate knowledg of the Doctrine it self can perswade us That Faith is nothing more than the knowing what is beleiv'd c. And therefore all Miracles for the confirmation of any Doctrine are needless and superfluous If they are so evident to our Senses or our Reason that we know them to be true what necessity is there of farther conviction if a thing be so evident to m● Senses or Reason that I know it to be true nothing can make me surer of it So that we see the reason of Miracles is that they may be a proof of something that we cannot

therefore Authority consider'd in the Revealer is the only grounds of my assent to the substance of this Proposition But to make this plainer we must consider that all natural Truths which do not necessarily require Revelation need no other ground of perswasion but Evidence but those which do have both these grounds of perswasion Evidence and Authority as will appear if we distinguish the three things in every relation 1. The meaning of the words 2. The relation it self or the very act of revelation 3. The substance of the thing intended by the Revelation As to the meaning of the words and truth of the revelation in any proposition Evidence is the ground of perswasion for why do I believe this Proposition When Christ appears we shall be like him Because I know the meaning of the words and because there is an evidence in my Mind of its coming from God from those proofs to my Senses and Reason which argue the Divine Mission of the Person who relates it and consequently the Divinity of the relation it self But as to the Substance of that Proposition Authority is the only ground of Perswasion as indeed it is in all relations whatsoever And therefore 't is now plain how Divine and Human Authority differ as well in degrees of Perspicuity as of Certitude And why because when a meer man relates any thing to me thô I allow the veracity of the man yet it is impossible for him to give such proof to my Sences and my Reason of the reality and substance of what he relates as God can And therefore can't raise so great a degree of Evidence in my Mind Though I suppose this mans relation to be true so that this relation of his and one of God's shall be upon equal Terms as to certitude being both alike true yet this assent of mine to what the man relates is more precarious and worse founded than my faith of any divine proposition because this is more clear and distinct as having a degree of Evidence in the mind which the other wants I shall make this plain by an instance A man tells me that Rome is swallow'd up by an Earthquake I have such an opinion of the veracity of the Man that I give my assent to it and believe it firmly Let us suppose afterwards that God reveals this same to me As yet there is the same degree of perspicuity allowing the ability and veracity of the man for then both God and he tell truth in this But if God confirm the relation by a Miracle this shall raise an Evidence or degree of knowledge in my Mind beyond any thing the man is able to effect and consequently the revelation of the same thing from God makes it clearer and gives it a greater degree of perspicuity than it had before But it will be yet more clear That Authority is a ground of Perswasion if we consider that all Evidence in the Mind proceeds from Evidence in the Thing Now all Truths in themselves are equally evident but in respect of us they are not so for some we are capable of knowing distinctly and some we are not because they are not suited to our present capacities In respect of those divine truths or of that part of them which is suited to our present capacities Evidence is the ground of perswasion but in respect of that part of it which is not suited to our Capacities as we have seen Authority is And thus we see how we may give our assent to many propositions for the substance of which we have no Evidence in the mind Why then says he a man shall believe what he doth not know and that is giving his assent to nothing But this is a quibble and to remove it effectually let us take up the same propositions again The three angles of a Triangle are equal to two right ones 'T is plain a man who knows what a Triangle is and what it is for one Angle to be equal to another may give his assent to this proposition though perhaps it may be utterly impossible ever to beat the demonstration into his head And though he doth not comprehend it yet he can't be said to be ignorant of it And the only ground of his assent is the Authority of some person who is able to demonstrate it And thus it is with a divine proposition When Christ appears we shall be like him Any one who knows what it is for a body to be rais'd and for one thing to be like another may give his assent to this proposition though it be impossible for him to know wherein this likeness will consist or to demonstrate that it will certainly be so And therefore the Authority of God is the only grounds of perswasion in this proposition and no Evidence is necessary any farther than to understand the meaning of the words and the truth of the revelation it self So groundless is that main principle of his that a man can give his assent to nothing but what he comprehends whereas the contrary is as clear as the light from what hath been said But farther from this supposition of his that Authority is only a means of Information and Evidence the only ground of Perswasion these two absurdities will directly follow 1. That a man can never be deceived in any thing for if Evidence in the Mind be the only ground of Perwasion a man can never give his assent but where there is this Evidence for if there be but one only cause the effect can never proceed but from that cause and what is evident i e what is truly known can never deceive He hath no way of evading this but by saying that the cause of error is the giving assent where there is none or not sufficient Evidence in the Mind which destroys every thing he says upon this head for this supposes that there may be some other cause of assent besides Evidence But if we suppose Evidence to be the only cause of assent then it must vary in degrees together with it's cause so that a clear Evidence shall have a firm assent and the least degree of Evidence shall have but the least degree of assent so that still a man can never be deceiv'd in any thing or in any degree And for him to say that we may think we have this Evidence when we have it not is still supposing that there is some other ground of assent Nay worse 't is supposing that a thing may be Evident to us and not Evident at the same time 2. It will follow that no Person either God or Man can be believ'd on their word For what they relate is evident to the Mind or it is not If it be then they give their assent to that Evidence and not to the Person who relates it If it be not evident i e according to him if he doth not know it perfectly he must utterly reject it And thus in a few words he destroys