Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	evil_a	evil_n	sin_n	4,011	5	5.5536	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A04365	A treatise concerning a Christians carefull abstinence from all appearance of evill gathered for the most part out of the schoolemen, and casuists: wherein the questions and cases of conscience belonging unto the difficult matter of scandall are briefly resolved: By Henry Jeanes, Mr of Arts, lately of Hart-Hall in Oxon, and rector of the church of Beere-Crocombe in Somerset-shire.	Jeanes, Henry, 1611-1662.	1640 (1640)	STC 14480; ESTC S103351	48,005	158

before mine eyes but for mine owne part I will not invite temptations I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes as much as I can I will decline the objects examples and shewes of wickednesse doe but put fire unto flaxe and it will presently be on a flame so present wee unto our loose and corrupt natures the shows which as you have heard are also the occasions of evill and how suddenly will they take fire this Joseph knew and therefore when his Mistris sollicited him to that foule act of uncleannesse hee hearkned not unto her to lye by her or so much as to be with her Gen the 39. the 10. but fled and got himselfe out of her presence v. 12. doubting lest the very sight of her might kindle lust Nay to the shame of many secure and venterous Christians of this even Scipio an heathen souldier too was apprehensive and fearefull and therefore would not suffer certaine captive virgins though of an exquisite beauty to be brought so much as into his presence Ne quid saith Florus de virginitatis integritate delibâsse saltem vel oculis videretur That hee might not seeme to have sipt or skimmed the honour of their chastitie so much as with beholding them As Appelles then by drawing the picture of Campaspe fell in love with the pattern of his worke Campaspe her self so we frō retaining frō affecting the shew of sin will soone proceed to a delight in fin it self Some indeed are so strangely confident of their abhorrencie from sinne as they doubt not infection from appearance of it they can venture into the loosest company yet so bridle their appetite as that they feare no excesse be present at an Idolatrous masse and yet be in no danger of being affected with it unlesse it be with dislike of it Surely these men are dropt from heaven never borne in sinne or conceiv'd in iniquity for they whose originall is from men may possibly be drawne away by sinfull objects and shews but these men forsooth are above gun-shot beyond the reach of temptation Their professed hatred of sinne brings me in minde of Pigmalions aversnesse from women hee was a profest almost a sworne enemy to woman-kinde yet drawing but the picture of a woman hee fell in love with it and hee hugg'd and kiss'd it so long till at last by the power of Venus as the Poët fables it it became a woman Their case is like they professe detestation of sinne and yet delight in some things that have the appearance the resemblance thereof let them take heed they dote not so long upon these at that at length by the power of Satan the strength of their owne lusts they bee transformed into reall sinnes I will end this reason with that of Chrysostome in his fifteenth Homily unto the people of Antioch 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. It will be to us the occasion of greatest security if wee do not onely flee sinnes but such indifferent things also which are meanes whereby they doe supplant us for as hee who goeth upon the edge of a steepe and craggie rocke though he falleth not yet with feare trembleth and so falls through his trembling so hee who leaveth not sinne aloofe and a farre off but approacheth close to the brinke of it hath just cause to live in feare seeing hee hath just cause to feare to fall into it Secondly danger of being punished for sin not by God for he is an omniscient Judge therefore cannot mistake the appearance of evill for evill it selfe hee is a just Judge and therefore will not punish the appearance of evill for evill it selfe but by man by the secular Magistrate with temporall punishments by the governours of the Church with Ecclesiasticall censures and by all men generally with shame and obloquie Jehosaphat you know in the apparell of Ahab was like to have beene kild for Ahab * Plutarch Megaclis having on the cloake and armour of Pyrrhus was slaine for Pyrrhus even so many times some men for the bare appearāce of some crimes are as hardly thought of and as severely handled as if they had committed the crimes themselves * Florus l. 3. c. 14. Tiberius Gracchus was butchered by the Romans because it seemed unto them that by touching his head with his hand hee had demanded a Diadem when he thereby as a signe onely exhorted them to stand upon their defence Because the Island of Creete seemed to have favoured Mithridates for this seemings sake the people of Rome tooke revenge by the sword Favisse Mithridati videbatur Florus l. 3. c. 7. hoc placuit armis vindicare Indeed the Lord seeth not as man seeth hee looketh on the heart and thereunto squareth his judgement but man looketh on the outward appearance 1 Sam. 16.7 and according to it censureth and so hee may doe and yet oftentimes judge righteous judgement for if when there is wanting sufficient evidence of fact Judges and Juries should not sometimes proceed upon pregnant signes and strong presumptions how many villanies would passe unpunished and if Ecclesiasticall Governours should not take the same course too how could they possibly stop the spreading mischiefe of Scandals This abstinence from appearance of evill is lastly expedient in regard of our brethren to avoid scandall unto them First as it is taken by Thomas and the Schole-men for that which occasionally leads unto sinne which puts a stumbling blocke or an occasion to fall in the way of others Rom. 14.13 for so doe all evill showes and that both in the way of the weake and in the way of the wicked First in the way of the weake for they are misguided and drawne unto the practice of that evill the appearance whereof they see in us Secondly in the way of the wicked for first hereby the obdurate are heartned confirmed and comforted secondly hereupon adversaries take occasion to speake reproachfully of that holy name profession which wee beare to blaspheme the Crosse Truth and Gospell of Christ Secondly as 't is used vulgarly and commonly for forrow griefe dislike or displeasure at an action for it matters not much whether our facts be evill or beare shew of evill they equally would wound the hearts and vexe the righteous spirits of the godly and therefore are both violations of Saint Pauls precept Rom. 15.2 Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification Valerius Publicola saith Florus ne specie arcis offenderet eminontes aedes suas in plano submisit hee levell'd with the ground his high and loftie buildings lest hee should offend the people with the appearance of a cittadell and wilt not thou throw aside a vanitie an excrement some idle if not monstrous fashion rather than offend thy brother for whom Christ died with the appearance of an evill A foule shame were it that popularity should prevaile more with a Roman than charity with thee who art a Christian But some will be

spectacle An Italian as Holerius writes by his often smelling to the hearbe Basile had a scorpion ingendred in his head even so we by our often dallying and tampering with things that carry a shew of unlawfulnesse may have Satan as I may so speake even formed in us for as then Saint Hierome saith upon Ecclesiastes the ninth Diabolus Serpens est Lubricus cujus si capiti id est primae suggestioni non resistitur totus interna cordis dum non sentitur illabitur that is the Divell is a slippery serpent and if wee doe not keepe out his head that is his first suggestions it is not to be doubted but that hee will steallingly slide into the most secret corners of the heart and so wee actuated by him shall at last proceed from things onely appearing sinfull unto the practice of most horrid and ghastly crimes Secondly the appearance of evill is an argument by which he perswades us unto what is in its owne nature evill for if a man have but slipt into such actions as the best minded judge to have a reall appearance of evill Satan forthwith will suggest unto him that hee hath by this quite crackt his credit amongst those that are accounted religious by them will he say thou art as much suspected and as deepely consured for thy seeming evill as for thy being so wert thou not better therefore be as thou seemest for they cannot think worse of thee than they doe thy shame and disgrace their jealousies suspicions and censures cannot be greater for sinne it selfe than it is already for the show of it Now this Temptation of Satan receives great advantage from our nature for we naturally are addicted to society and therefore if wee finde that upon the signes and shewes of such and such sinnes in our practice good men condemne us as guilty of the sinnes themselves thereupon begin to reserve and estrange themselves frō us refusing any lōger to reach out unto us the right hand of fellowship why then wee will presently have fellowship with the unfruitfull workes of darkenesse and couple in with loose carnal and formall men whose conversation will quickly infect us so that it will not be long ere we runne with them to the same excesse of riot And thus you see how Satan takes occasion from the appearance of sinne to draw us on unto sinne it selfe which me-thinkes should be sufficient to disswade us from them For is Satan so backward in tempting or is his invention growne so barren as that our lives and practice must put argument into his mouth is the purchase of hell and damnation so difficult as that wee must needs furnish the Divell with baites to allure us with reasons to perswade us unto our owne everlasting perdition this were folly and madnesse that would want a name But in the third place the signes and appearances of sinne are not onely a baite by which he enticeth us an argument by which hee perswades unto sinne but withall an encouragement by which he is heart'ned to goe on in tempting of us for they make him gather heart hope that wee are comming on to sin it selfe and this hope will breed diligence make him a more importunate solliciter make him to double and strengthen his assaults to ply us even thicke three-fold with temptations A dog will not run from a man as long as he throwes bread unto him and can any man suppose the divell will flye so long as he gives place unto him as long as he throwes himselfe upon temptations by practising such things as have a manifest shew of evill for though in themselves they bee never so small yet will they serve to usher in farther and greater matters being then preparatives unto sin they cannot be as some have imagined good fences against sinne seeming to be evill is not cannot be a meanes to shield us from being so no more than the opening the gates of a City can be the way to rayse the siege of it or letting goe the sluces of a river can be the course to stop its current You have seene arguments from Satans temptation● of us to sinne take next one from his temptations of us to despaire or at least discomfort for sinne a temptation of so hideous a nature as that me-thinkes our actions should not lend it any the least advantage his first labour is by the appearance of sinne to make us offend God but when he cannot proceed so farre his second endeavour will bee to make us disquiet our selves when hee cannot wound us by them hee will vexe us for them for he will wrest and misconstrue all that we have done unto the worst sense hee will swell motes into beames mole-hils into mountaines appearances of evill into realities and thunder unto us that there is not a pinne to choose betwixt those and these unto which our soules being distracted by the violent importunitie of this temptation will be over apt to give credence And for a man to be thus tossed betweene Satans powerfull suggestions and his owne feares and suspicions cannot but even crush his spirits and quite ecclipse the peace and joy of his heart Abstinence from all appearance of evill is thirdly needfull in regard of our selves for by them we may incurre a double danger a danger of being infected with a danger of being punished for sinne First a danger of being infected with sinne what Bernard spake of Eves beholding the forbidden fruit is true concerning every appearance of evill * Bren. Tract de grad humilitatis Et si culpa non est culpae tameu indicium est si culpa non est culpae tamen occasio est indicium commissae causa est committendae Although it be not in it selfe a sinne yet it is a token yet it is an occasion of sinne a token that sinne hath beene committed a cause of committing it for the future Now our natures are strongly bent to evill when this then our naturall inclination is furthered by outward occasions wee may soone bee led to the realities of sinne though the occasions of themselves are weake they working but as objects and the objective causalitie being of all most imperfect yet Satan is strong our lusts are strong these occasions are sutable to our lusts our soules therefore by a little helpe from Satan will quickly catch infection from them For this reason were the Israelites Exod. 12. in the time of the passeover prohibited not onely the eating but the very having of leavened bread in their houses For this reason too were the Nazarites forbidden to eate so much as the huskes of the grapes for if that had beene permitted they would perhaps have soone proceeded to eating of the grapes and thence to drinking of the wine it selfe hence also grew that precise resolution of David Psal 101. v. 3. I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes Well may the world and divell set wicked things