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	see_v	2,875	5	3.5208	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A67467	The life of Dr. Sanderson, late Bishop of Lincoln written by Izaak Walton ; to which is added, some short tracts or cases of conscience written by the said Bishop.	Walton, Izaak, 1593-1683.; Sanderson, Robert, 1587-1663. Judgment concerning submission to usurpers.; Sanderson, Robert, 1587-1663. Pax ecclesiae.; Hooker, Richard, 1553 or 4-1600. Sermon of Richard Hooker, author of those learned books of Ecclesiastical politie.; Sanderson, Robert, 1587-1663. Judgment in one view for the settlement of the church.; Sanderson, Robert, 1587-1663. Judicium Universitatis Oxoniensis. English.	1678 (1678)	Wing W667; ESTC R8226	137,878	542

of Obedience to our known Governours which is Debitum justitiae also and therefore more Obligatory than the other doth not impose that necessity upon us as hath been already shewn 2. Besides Arguments drawn from scandal in things neither unlawful nor setting the reason of Scandal aside inexpedient as they are subject to sundry frailties otherwise so they are manifestly of no weight at all when they are counterpois'd with the apparent danger of evil consequents on the other side For in such cases there is commonly equal danger if not rather something more of Scandal to be taken from the Example the quite contrary way We may see it in debating the point now in hand It is alledged on the one side That by laying aside the use of the Common Prayer men that are over scrupulous will be encourag'd to take a greater liberty in dispensing with the Laws to the despising both of Laws and Governours than they ought And why may it not by the same reason be as well alleg'd on the other side That by holding up a necessity of using the Common Prayer men that have tender Consciences may be induc'd to entertain scruples to their utter undoing and to the destruction of their people when they need not 3. But that in the third place which cometh up home to the business and taketh off the Objection clearly is this That in judging Cases of scandal we are not so much to look to the event what it is or may be as to the cause whence it cometh For sometimes there is given just cause of Scandal and yet no Scandal followeth because it is not taken Sometimes scandal is taken and yet no just cause given and sometimes there is both cause of Scandal given and Scandal taken thereat But no man is concern'd at any Scandal that happeneth to another by occasion of any thing done by him neither is chargeable with it farther than he is guilty of having given it If then we give Scandal to others and they take it not the whole guilt is ours and they are faultless If we give it and they take it we are to bear a share in the blame as they and that a deep share Vae homini Wo to the man by whome the offence cometh Matth. 18.7 But if they take offence when we give none it is a thing we cannot help and therefore the whole blame must lie upon them Wherefore if at any time any doubt shall arise in that case of Scandal How far forth the danger thereof may obligue us to the doing or not doing of any thing propos'd The Resolution will come on much the easier if we shall but rightly understand what it is to give Scandal or how many ways a man may become guilty of scandalizing another by his Example The ways as I conceive are but these four 1. When a man doth something before another which is in it self evil unlawful and sinful In which case neither the intension of him that doth it nor the event as to him that seeth it done is of any consideration For it matters not whether the doer hath an intention to draw the other into sin or not the very matter and substance of the action being evil and done before others is sufficient to render the doer guilty of having given Scandal though neither he had intention himself so to do nor was any other person actually scandaliz'd thereby because whatsoever is in its own nature evil is of it self and in its own nature scandalous and of ill Example Thus did Hophni and Phineas the Sons of Eli give Scandal by their wretched prophaneness and greediness about the Sacrifices of the Lord and their shameless abusing the Women And so did David also give great Scandal in the matter of Vriah 2 Sam. 12. 14. Here the Rule is Do nothing that is evil for fear of giving Scandal 2. The second way is when a man doth something before another with a direct intention and formal purpose of drawing him thereby to commit sin In which case neither the matter of the action nor the event is of any consideration For it makes no difference as to the sin of giving Scandal whether any man be effectually entic'd to commit sin or not thereby neither doth it make any difference whether the thing done were in it self unlawful or not so as it had an appearance of evil and from thence an aptitude to draw another by the doing of that by imitation which should be really and intrinsecally evil The wicked intention alone whatsoever the effect should be or what means soever should be us'd to promote it sufficeth to induce the guilt of giving Scandal upon the doer This was Ieroboam's sin in setting up the Calvos with a formal purpose and intention thereby for his own secular and ambitious ends to corrupt the purity of Religion and to draw the people unto Idolatrous Worship For which cause he is so often stigmatiz'd with it as a note of Infamy to stick by him whilst the World lasteth being scarce ever-mention'd in the Scripture but with this addition Jeroboam the son of Nebat which made Israel to sin Here the Rule is Do nothing a good or evil with an intention to give Scandal 3. The third way is when a man doth something before another which in it self is not evil but indifferent and so according to the Rule of Christian Liberty lawful for him to do or not to do as he shall see cause yea and perhaps otherwise commodious and convenient for him to do yet whereas he probably foreseeth that others will take Scandal and be occasioned thereby to do evil In such a case if the thing to be done be not in some degree prudentially necessary for him to do but that he might without very great inconvenience or prejudice to himself or any third person leave it undone He is bound in Charity to his Brother's Soul for whom Christ died and for the avoiding of Scandal to abridge himself in the exercise of his Christian Liberty for that time so far as rather to suffer some inconvenience himself by the not doing of it than by the doing of it to cause his Brother to offend The very Case which is so often so largely and so earnestly insisted upon by St. Paul See Rom. 14.13,21 Rom. 15.1 3. 1 Cor. 87 13. 1 Cor. 9.12 15 19 22. 1 Cor. 10.23.33 Here the Rule is Do nothing that may be reasonably forborn whereat Scandal will be taken 4. The last way is when a man doth somthing before another which is not only lawful but according to the exigencies of present Circumstances pro hic nunc very behoofful and even prudentially necessary for him to do but foreseeth that the other will be like to make an ill use of it and take encouragement thereby to commit sin if he be not withal careful as much as possibly in him lieth to prevent the Scandal that may be taken thereat For Qui non prohibet

the love of obedience the sense and feeling of thy necessity the eye of singleness and sincere meaning guide thy footsteps and thou canst not slide You see what it is to ask and seek the next is Knock. There is always in every good thing which we ask and which we seek some main wall some barr'd gate some strong impediment or other objecting it self in the way between us and home for removal whereof the help of stronger hands than our own is necessary As therefore asking hath relation to the want of good things desired and seeking to the natural ordinary means of attainment thereunto so knocking is required in regard of hindrances lets or impediments which are doors shut up against us till such time as it please the goodness of Almighty God to set them open In the mean while our duty here required is to knock Many are well contented to ask and not unwilling to undertake some pains in seeking but when once they see impediments which flesh and blood doth judge invincible their hearts are broken Israel in Egypt subject to miseries of intolerable servitude craved with sighs and tears deliverance from that estate which then they were fully perswaded they could not possibly change but it must needs be for the better Being set at liberty to seek the Land which God hath promised unto their Fathers did not seem tedious or irksome unto them This labour and travel they undertook with great alacrity never troubled with any doubt nor dismayed with any fear till at the length they came to knock at those brazen gates the barrs whereof as they have no means so they had no hopes to break asunder Mountains on this hand and the roaring Sea before their faces then all the forces that Egypt could make coming with as much rage and fury as could possess the heart of a proud potent and cruel Tyrant In these straits at this instant Oh that we had been so happy as to die where before we lived a life though toylsom yet free from such extremities as now we are fallen into Is this the milk and honey that hath been so spoken of Is this the Paradise in description whereof so much glosing and deceiving eloquence hath been spent have we after four hundred and thirty years left Egypt to come to this While they are in the midst of their mutinous cogitations Moses with all instancy beateth and God with the hand of his Omnipotency casteth open the gates before them maugre even their own both infidelity and despair It was not strange then nor that they afterward stood in like repining terms for till they came to the very brink of the River Iordan the least cross accident which lay at any time in their way was evermore unto them a cause of present recidivation and relapse They having the Land in their possession being seated in the heart thereof and all their hardest encounters past Ioshua and the better sort of their Governours who saw the wonders which God had wrought for the good of that people had no sooner ended their days but first one Tribe than another in the end all delighted in ease fearful to hazard themselves in following the conduct of God weary of passing so many strait and narrow gates condescended to ignominious conditions of peace joyned hands with Infidels forsook him which had been always the Rock of their Salvation and so had none to open unto them although their occasions of knocking were great afterward moe and greater than before Concerning Issachar the words of Iacob the Father of all the Patriarchs were these Issachar though bonny and strong enough unto any labour doth couch notwithstanding as an Ass under all burthens He shall think with himself that rest is good and the Land pleasant he shall in these considerations rather endure the burthen and yoke of tribute than cast himself into hazard of war Gen. 49. We are for the most part all of Issachar's disposition we account ease cheap howsoever we buy it And although we can happily frame our selves sometimes to ask or endure for a while to seek yet loth we are to follow a course of life which shall too often hem us about with those perplexities the dangers whereof are manifestly great But of the Duties here prescribed of asking seeking knocking thus much may suffice The Promises follow which God hath made 2. Ask and receive seek and find knock and it shall be opened unto you Promises are made of good things to come and such while they are in expectation have a kind of painfulness with them but when the time of performance and of present fruition cometh it bringeth joy Abraham did somewhat rejoyce in that which he saw would come although knowing that many Ages Generations must first pass Their exultation far greater who beheld with their eys and imbraced in their arms him which had been before the hope of the whole world We have found that Messias have seen the salvation Behold here the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world These are speeches of men not comforted with the hope of that they desire but rap'd with admiration at the view of enjoyed bliss As oft therefore as our case is the same with the Prophet Davids or that experience of God's abundant mercy towards us doth wrest from our mouths the same acknowledgments which it did from his I called on the Name of the Lord and he hath rescued his servant I was in misery and he saved me Thou Lord hast delivered my soul from death mine eyes from tears and my feet from falling I have ask'd and received sought and found knock'd and it hath been oopened unto me Can there less be expected at our hands than to take the Cup of Salvation and bless magnifie and extoll the mercies heaped upon the heads of the sons of men Ps. 116. Are we in the case of them who as yet do any ask and have not received It is but attendance a small time we shall rejoyce then but how we shall find but where it shall be opened but with what hand To all which demands I must Answer Use the words of our Saviour Christ quid hoc ad te what are these things unto us Is it for us to be made acquainted with the way he hath to bring his counsel purposes about God will not have great things brought to pass either altogether without means or by those means altogether which are to our seeming probable and likely Not without means lest under colour of repose in God we should nourish at any time in in our selves idleness not by the meer hability of means gathered together through our own providence lest prevailing by helps which the common course of nature yieldeth we should offer the Sacrifice of Thanksgiving for whatsoever prey we take to the Nets which our singers did weave than which there cannot be to him more intolerable injury offered Vere absque dubio saith St. Bernard