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	good_a	know_v	2,974	5	4.2147	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A14363	A fruteful treatise of predestination, and of the deuyne prouidence of god as far forth as the holy scriptures and word of god shal lead vs, and an answer made to all the vain and blasphemous obiections that the epicures and Anabaptistes of our time canne make. Set forth dialoge wise, by Ihon Veron.; Fruteful treatise of predestination, and of the devyne providence of god.	Véron, John, d. 1563.	1561 (1561)	STC 24680; ESTC S119102	83,266	305

the first born is For who wold beleue the whosoeuer is promoted to the dignity of the first born he is also ordaivnto lyfe euerlasting PHILA Answer In dede there be some whiche in thys thynge do neuer a whytte spare Paule as thoughe he dothe wrast the scriptures into a wronge sence in aledging those authorities But I answer that the blessed Apostle S. Paule did nether mistake nor yet misuse the same authorities of the holy scripture For he did see whiche thynge they wil neyther marke nor consider that God wold declare and bring to light with an earthly token the spiritual election of Iacob which elsse was hidden in the secreates of his iudgemēts For except we do refer that right of the first born which was graūted him vnto the worlde to come that is to say excepte the ryght of the fyrste born which Iacob did bie of his brother Esau Gen. xxv did pertaine to a better life al the blessing wherof here in this world he did receiue nothynge elsse but affliction trouble and aduersity must nedes be vain and folishe Seinge then that the Lorde had by thys outward blessing testified and declared what manner of blessynge he hadde prepared for his seruaunt Iacob in his kingdome he dyd not sticke to grounde his argument vpon it whereby he wente aboute to proue the spirituall election of the holy Patriarche Iacob then is chosen and Esau is refused and all by the mere predestination of god when they had yet done nether good nor euill And if ye will knowe the causes whye The cause of oure election reprobation Rom. ix Ex. xxxiii Saint Paule doth aunswer that it was done because that it had bene said vnto Moses I wil shew mercy to whome I shew mercy and wyll haue Compassyon on whome I haue compassion Wher the Lorde doth plainlye declare that he fynedeth no manner of thynge in vs wherefore he shoulde do vs good but that he taketh occasion to do vs good of his mercye onlye And that therfore our saluation is hys owne woorke and not oures Sithe then that God doth appoynt thy saluation none other where but in hym self only why shouldest thou come down to thy self Syth that he doth assigne vnto thee his mercy onlye why shouldest thou runne to thine owne merites Contente thy selfe with his mercy and set al thy workes a side Obiectiō ALBION Yet for all this both Ambrose Origene and Hierome were of opinion that God dyd dispose and deuide his grace amōg men as he did for se that they shuld vse it PHILALETHES I doe not denye it Answer Li. retract i. Cap. i. Episto ad sextum cix yea I say furthermore that S. Augustine was of the same opinion also But after that he had profited better in the knowledge of the scriptures and word of God he did not only reuoke it but also dyd moste mightelye confute it as false and erroneus Yea after his retraction rebukinge the Pelagians because that they continue still in the same errour he saith plainlye these wordes Against the Pelagiās who woulde not meruaile that the Apostle shoulde haue wanted this witty vnderstanding For when he hadde set forthe a matter which was to be wondred and meruailed at touching them that were not yet borne Rom. ix and had made an obiection to him selfe sayinge What then is there any vnrighteousnesse with God he had occasiō to answer that god had forsene the merites of them both yet he did not so but did flie to his iudgementes and mercy And in an other place when he had taken awaye all the merites before our election Home in Ioa. 8. he saith Here truelye the vaine reasoning of them canne take no place whiche do defend the foreknowledge of God against his grace and therfore do say that we wer chosen afore that the foundacions of the world wer made because that God did forsee that we would be good and not that he hym selfe should make vs good He sayth not so that saythe Ye haue not chosen me but I haue chosen you For if he had therefore chosen vs because that he had forsene that we would be good he shuld also haue knowne before that we woulde haue chosen him Let this serue for them They doe alwaies a peale vnto the fathers and yet they will follow none of theyr holesome doctrine that do so gladly reast vpon the authority of the fathers But go to let it be as thoughe he had sayde nothynge at all and so let vs come to the very matter it selfe There was a very harde question moued whether God dyd iustlye or not in thys that he dyd geue hys grace to certayne men Here Paule myght haue ryd hym self wyth one word if he wold haue had any respect vnto the workes and merites For he myghte haue answered straighte that God dyd so because that he dyd foresee their merites and woorkes But why doth he not so but rather cōtynueth styll in a Communicatyon whyche is of lyke difficultye and hardnesse Shall we saye that the holy gost which spake by his mouthe was obliuious or forgetful we se that he goth not about the bush but answereth plainly that God dothe show fauour vnto his elect because that it is his will so to do and that he sheweth mercy because that hys pleasure is so For when the Lord saith I will shew mercy to whome I shew mercye and will haue compassion on whome I haue compassion Ex. xxxiii it is as much as if he shuld say that nothing doth moue him to mercye but onlye because that he wyll shew mercy that is to say that the only thinge that moueth hym to be merciful or to shew mercy and compassion is only his blessed wil and pleasure Therfore the sayinge of Saint Augustine shal remain most true Home in Ioa. 38. Episto cvi where he saith that the grace of God doth not finde vs worthy to be chosen but maketh vs worthy I do here let passe the vaine subtelties of the schole men which canne take no place among them that contente them selues with the wholesome doctrine and heauenly wisedome of Gods worde For that is very true which an olde Ecclesiasticall wryter did wryte sayinge that they which do assigne Am. de vo ca. gentium Li. 1. Ca. 1. attribute and adscribe the election of God vnto the merites of men are wyser than it behoueth ALBION But what wyll ye saye of the reprobate and damned For Question nowe I do perceyue that God doth chuse vs of his free mercy and goodnesse withoute any respecte of our owne works and deseruyngs PHILALETHES We nede to go no farther than to the example Aunswer touching reprobation that we brought fourth last For there Iacob hauinge yet deserued nothinge with his good workes is receaued ●n to fauoure and Esau reiected ●nd cast of though he had done yet 〈◊〉 maner of euil If we should flye ●nto the workes that is to saye if

ad li teram x. Chapi posset plane Cur ergo non facit Quia noluit Cur noluerit penes ipsum est Debemus N non plus sapere quam oportet That is to say God might turne the wil of the wycked into good because that he is almighty plainly he could do it Wherfore then doth he it not Because that he wil not Why he wyll not that do we leue vnto him For we ought not to be wiser than it be houeth DIDI This then is youre meaning that God is author of no mans damnation but that he doth only according to his vnsearchable and righteous iudgemente leaue them whom he hath apoynted and ordained before to be the vessels of his wrath in their owne naturall corruptiō reade more diligentely the scriptures and thou shalt ceasse to meruaile which they haue of theyr firste parent Adam But I do meruail at this that he should send hys worde vnto them whome he wyll haue to be more blinded PHI. And of this we haue many examples in the scriptures For wherfore was Moses sente so manye times vnto Pharao was it because that God had any hope that he should wyth so many messages be mollified and wonne at lengthe Yea rather er the Lorde did begin he knewe the ende of the matter and did also tell before what shoulde come to passe Go thy waye sayeth he to Moses Exo. iiii and shewe hym my mynde And I will harden his heart that he shal not obey So when he dothe raise vp Ezechiell Eze. ii xii he geueth hym warnynge that he dothe sende hym to a rebellious and froward people least perceiuyng that his preachinge did take no place he shuld waxe faynte hearted Iere. i. He dothe also warne Ieremye that hys Doctrine shall be as a hote burnynge fire wherewith the people shal be consumed and destroyed as stubble But yet the Prophecye and sayinge of Esaye the Prophet is playnest of all For Esay vi the LORD doothe send hym forth wyth these woordes Goe thy waye and tell to the Chyldren of Israel ye shal heare in deede but ye shal not vnderstande ye shall plainelye see and not perceiue Harden the hart of this people stoppe theyr eares and shutte their eies that they see not wyth theyr eies nor hear with their eares nor vnderstande wyth their heartes least they shuld turne and be healed Beholde he sendeth hys word vnto them but that they maye be the more deafe he dothe light the candel but that they may be the blinder he doth setforth his doctrine but that they maye be the more beastish he sendeth vnto them a remeady but that they should not be healed with it And therefore Saint Ihon the Euangelist alledginge this prophecy Iohn xii doth plainlye affyrme that the Iewes coulde not beleue the doctrine of Christe because that thys maledictyon and curse of God did hange ouer them Againe this can not be denied but that God dothe setforthe hys doctrine in parables to those whome he will not haue to be illuminated least they should take any profit by it For Christ oure sauioure dothe plainly testify that he dothe therefore expound the parables vnto his Apostles because that it was geuē them Mat. xiii to know and vnderstand the misteries of the kingdome of God but not to them that wer without DIDY Wherfore shoulde GOD teache them Question of whome he wyll not be vnderstanded PHILALETHES Consider onlye whence the faut commeth Aunswer and ye shall leaue askinge For what obscuritye or darcknesse so euer is in the woorde yet there is alwaies lyghte enough for to confounde the consciences of the vngodly ALBION I woulde iudge that God dothe so because that wyth theyr vngodlines ingratitude and abhomynable wyckednesse they haue deserued the same at his hād PHILALETHES Thys is well and truelye spoken But yet sythe that the cause of this variety is not yet knowne whye some beynge broughte vnto obedience the other do styll abyde in theyr stubborne and rebellious hardenesse and contynuacye in the discussinge of the matter we shal be fayne to flye necessarely vnto that Rom. ix whiche Saint Paul doth note oute of Moses that is to say that God did from the begynninge styrre them vp for to declare by them his name throughe oute all the hole earth That therfore the reprobate do not obey the word when it is offerd vnto them we do well attribute the same vnto the malyce and peruersenesse of theyr owne hearte so that we acknowledge wyth it that they are therefore geuen vp in to thys malytious peruersnesse because that they are by the ryghteous and vnsearchable iudgement of God raysed or styrred vp for to set fourthe hys glory by theyr damnation In lyke maner i. Sam. ii when it is sayed that the sonnes of Helye woulde geue no eares vnto the wholsome counsayll that theyr father gaue them because that the Lord had determined to slaye them we do not denye but that their stubburnesse and obstinacye did come of their own malice and naughtines But we must note with it why they were left in their obstinacye and stubburnesse sith that God was able by hys almighty power to mollify and turn their hartes Forsothe because that they were once by the determinate counsaile and decree of God ordained and appoynted vnto destruction When the vngodly heare this they murmur and grudge againste God The grudgīge and murmurynge of the vngodlye as though he should with his inordinate power deale cruellye with his poore and miserable creatures But we that know that all men are so manye waies subiecte vnto the iudgemente of God that being asked of a thousand thinges they be not able to answer in one do acknowledge and confesse that the reprobate do suffer nothing vniustlye or vndeseruinglye but are most iustly condemned by the righteous iudgement of almighty God our heauēly father who as it hath ben said before did create al things for him self the vngodly agaynst the euyll daye Pro. xvi Obiectiō ALBION Why doth thē the scripture say that God hath created mā to be vndestroyed if he hathe made the vngodlye against the euyll day Again in the viii chapiter of the fourth booke of Esdras iiii Esd viii Aunswer it is sayed that it was not the wyll of God that man shoulde come to naught PHI. In so high a mater as this is I might lawfully refuse the authorities that ye aledged euen nowe For the bookes whence ye had them are not authentike nor yet canonical Howbeit I wil not do so but wyll make such an answer I trust that al they that aledge such places shal be content with it Sapi. ii The first place that ye broughte in as farre as I remembre is wrytten in the seconde chapiter of the boke of wisdom where we haue these wordes god created manne to be vndestroyed yea after the Image of his owne likenesse made he him Neuerthelesse