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	will_n	3,297	5	6.8462	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A37989	A discourse concerning the authority, stile, and perfection of the books of the Old and New-Testament with a continued illustration of several difficult texts of scripture throughout the whole work / by John Edwards.	Edwards, John, 1637-1716.	1693 (1693)	Wing E202; ESTC R29386	927,516	1,518

〈◊〉 had from the Inspired Writings learn'd that f●●● her sprang all the Miseries and Calamities of t●●● Life and even Death it self As for Original Sin the early Corruption 〈◊〉 Depravation of Man's Nature which was t●● Fruit of our first Parents Transgression we c●● not but observe that it is taken notice of by t●● Gentiles of old who call it the. Congenite S 〈…〉 the Domestick Evil of Mankind the Nat 〈…〉 Repugnancy of Man's Temper to Reason and fo● Pythagoreans quoted by Iamblicus stile it a 〈◊〉 a Mortal kind of Life a many-headed Be●●● c. The Moralists are full of such Notions 〈◊〉 complain of the Infirmity of Nature that it is very much vitiated and hurt that the Fountains a●● polluted the Springs defiled and that Man is propense to all Evil and averse to what is good and vertuous The Greek and Roman Philosophers do all complain of the low and degenerate Condition of Man but this is chiefly done by the best of them as the Stoicks and Platonists sen●●● to mention no other of the first of these f●●● quently in his Epistles and other Discourses ●nowledges and sadly reflects upon the Lapse of Man's Nature And as for the other Sect of Phi●o●ophers they abundantly lament this degenerate ●tate of Man Three of them especially talk most passionately and feelingly of the Defect of a former Innocency of the Departure of Souls from God of the strong Propensities of Humane Nature to Evil by a detrusion into terrestrial Bodies I speak not this as if I did not think they might partly have these Notions from the inward Sense they had of this Innate Evil but from what I have suggested and shall afterwards it seems probable to me that there was a Tradition among them concerning the First Cause and Author of this Evil. Plato himself speaks very sensibly of this Loss of the first State of Purity and Happiness and relates the Defection of Man from his Primitive Condition from whence he saith flowed all Mischiefs into the World And I propound it to be thought of whether his Doctrine of Pre●xistence was not a way used by him to disguise the Fall of Man This Philosopher held that Mens Souls were created Happy and that afterwards they Apostatized for which they were ever after imprisoned in Bodies Now this I say that from Moses's Writings with which he was acquainted he might learn the Story of Man's Fall and then wrapp'd it up in this obscure manner which was a ●sual way with him as his Writings shew It was as I conceive his knowledg of the Apostacy of our first Parents that gave rise to his Doctrine of the Preexistence of Souls That is the thing which is couched in this Ingenious Hypothesis of his which afterwards so prevail'd among those of 〈◊〉 Sect. The meaning of his Opinion is that M●● kind was fallen and their Souls were become d●●generate and that they were punish'd for wh●● Adam their Representative did long ago If we enquire further we shall find that 〈◊〉 Gentile World was not ignorant of the seve● 〈◊〉 Circumstances of Man's Fall as first that it was by the Devil's means It was an antient Tradition among the Pagans that a sort of Malignant Spirits Malicious Daemons envied Mens Happines● and did what they could to molest them and 〈◊〉 hinder them of Felicity The Pythagorean a●● Platonick Philosophers speak often of these Envio 〈◊〉 and Mischievous Spirits the Original of which we can conceive to be no other than what Moses's History saith of the Devil 's tempting our first Parents Gen. 3. 1 c. This is couched in another Opinion which prevail'd among some of the Pagans viz. the Notion of Two Principles the one the Cause of all Good the other of all Evil 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they were stiled by the Mani ●hees who had it from Manes their Founder a Persian and he received this Opinion from his Countreymen the Persians who were Gentiles These two Opposite Principles the one for conferring of Good the other for procuring as also the averting of Evil were called by that People Oromasdes and Arimanius and were both worshipp'd by them as Diogenes Laertius and others assure us But this was not only the Persuasion and Practice of the Magi who were the Philosophers of Persia but Plutarch shews the Antiquity and almost Universality of this Opinion of Two Different Principles among the rest of the Philosophick Tribe It prevail'd among the antient Grecians whose two distinct Principles were Iupiter Olympius and Hades The Egyptians too had their Typho the Evil Principle and Isis or Osir●● the Good one The Chaldeans had the same Notion of a Contrary Cause of Good and Evil holding some Planets which were their Gods to be productive of all the Good others of all the Evil among them This antient Tradition of the Pagans so generally received was I suppose derived from what is recorded in the first Entrance of the Bible viz. that God was the bountiful Author of all Good to Man not only creating him of nothing and giving him his Being but placing him in a State of Happiness and conferring all Felicity upon him but on the contrary the Devil was the first Author of Evil tempting our first Parents to Sin whereby they lost all their Happiness and fell under a Curse and were expell'd out of Paradise and afterwards all Evils and Mischiefs came upon the World for their sake Hence arose among the deluded Heathens that Twofold Principle God and Daemon or rather Two Opposite Gods for the true Tradition was corrupted into an absurd and irrational Opinion among the Gentiles of two Anti-Gods There was also this Circumstance of the History of Man's Fall among the Heathens that the Devil appear'd in the likeness of a Serpent Preparatory to which is that which Plato saith as he is quoted by Euscbius that in Saturn's days the Folks could talk and hold discourse with Beasts as well as Men which is an Allusion to the noted Colloquy between Eve and the Serpent and her Seduction by en●●●●taining Discourse with him I should guess th●● Eve is disguised under the Fable of Pro●erpina 〈◊〉 Daughter of Iupiter whom Plato stole away ●●●ravished or as others tell us whom Iupiter 〈◊〉 in the form of a Serpent The plain meaning 〈◊〉 which is that Satan in the likeness of a Serpe●● deceived Eve The Devil 's taking the Shape 〈◊〉 this Animal and his circumve●ting thereby 〈◊〉 first Parents is intimated by the Heathens in th● obscure Writer Pherecydes where 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is th● Title of that Great one who opposed Saturn Th● Truth which lies at the bottom of that fabulo● Story is that the Apostate Angels or Devils o●●posed God at the beginning of the World t●● Ring-leader of which Cursed Spirits was he th●● in the shape of a Serpent assaulted our first Parents this was that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉

exercis'd in Business by a large Experience of things and by seeing what hath been heretofore he may gather what shall be hereafter A skilful Historian who hath diligently perused the Transactions of former Ages and digested the Methods of Government and scann'd the Manners and Customs of Countries can do this But this Foresight of things to come is Conjecture rather than Knowledg for we can have no certain Foreknowledg of what depends on the Freewill of Man Or if we will pretend to any Measure of it we must deal only in Generals as for Particular and Personal Events they are far beyond our reach And as for the particular Timing of them especially if they be far off there is no Prospect at all of it Or where the Causes and Effects are Extraordinary and Preternatural there we must confess our utter Blindness and Ignorance they are no more to be discerned by us than the Antartick Pole is to be seen by us in our Hemisphere We know not what such Events will be we are not able to foretel them of our selves they can be discovered by Revelation only And that is the Case which is now before us the Predictions which we read in Scripture are concerning those things which no humane Understanding or Foresight could possibly attain to To foreknow and foretel things that should happen to the Jewish and Christian Church two or three thousand Years before they came to pass to predict the Deliverance of the Israelites from their Slavery in Egypt four hundred Years before it happened to mention Iasias and his Religious Acts three hundred Years before he was born to describe the future Monarchies of the World and some of the most remarkable Passages belonging to them to foretel almost two hundred Years before-hand that there shall be such an Emperour as Cyrus and to particularize his Actions these are such things as no Wise Philosopher no Learned Physician no Pr●●dent Statesman no Prying Historian is able to foresee and discover for they are not general bu● particular and personal Events they were at a vast distance and not near at hand and the punctual Time of some of them was exactly assigned If we respect second Causes they were such Occurrences as depended on the free Agency of Man and if we respect God they were the mere Results of his Arbitrary Will and Pleasure they were preternatural and unusual Events and therefore it was not within the compass of Man's Apprehension to discover these things the knowledg of them could not be had without Divine Assistance To this alone then we must attribute the Prediction of them The omniscient Eye of Heaven only could dive into these Secrets which were so far off and thence it is that the Scriptures which are by immediate Revelation have recorded them Secondly It is said in the Objection that Evil Spirits help some to the knowledg of future Events and therefore we cannot prove the Divinity of the Scriptures from the Prophecies which are there and which are since fulfilled I grant indeed that the Devil help'd his Followers or pretended to help them to the knowledg of some future things This commenced into an Art among the old Greek and Roman Pagans Divination which as Tully defines it is a Fore-sense and foretelling of fortuitous Events was a Science among them and that Men were very eager of knowing before-hand what should happen appears from the several ways of Divining which they used Their way of foretelling was by observing the flight and chattering the sitting and feeding of Birds by Inspection into the Entrails of these and other Animals that were sacrificed Some from the Aspects of Stars pretended to presage what should happen and the Professors of this Art were in great Esteem and Veneration Dreams also were observ'd and strange Remarks made upon them Some consulted the Dead calling up the departed Spirits and asking them concerning future Affairs The Oracles were another way of Divining and were the most celebrated of all And many other kinds of Divination and Soothsaying were in use with the Pagan World for they being mightily desirous to be acquainted with things to come and to look into Futurities ransack'd both Heaven and Earth and made use of all things above and below to inform themselves about them But all the Information they received by these different ways of Divining was either Uncertain or Casual or directly Diabolical It was Uncertain because it was grounded on unsound Principles on foolish and precarious Observances and consequently the knowledg of Events was conjectural and fallible Wherefore the wisest and soberest Men among the Pagans look'd upon it as no other and particularly 't is worth our notice that Tully who is full of Arguments for Divination in his first Book on that Subject hath as many against it in his second This Uncertainty was especially observable in their Oracles which were the most famous way of Divining among the Gentiles the Priests were forced to speak in ambiguous Terms thinking to salve their Credit by that Obscurity and Ambiguity But we find no such thing in the Sacred Oracles and Predictions of the Old and New Testament these are plain and intelligible clear and open Or if some few of them may seem not to be so yet there are great numbers of others that we cannot but acknowledg to be most evident and perspicuous and in respect of the Issue and Event of them we know and are assured that they are Certain and Infallible Or secondly their knowledg of future Events by those foresaid ways of Divining was by mere Accident Their Soothsayers by Chance told Truth as Liars sometimes do which appears from this that they very rarely hit upon an Event that came to pass Wherefore we may infer that when they did it was not by Skill but Chance But this cannot be said of the Predictions I have been treating of for there is not one of them that hath failed and I could have produced hundreds of Prophecies more and shew'd the plain Accomplishment of them Or thirdly their knowledg of future Things was Diabolical by which I mean this that it was gain'd by that Communion and Correspondence which they held with Daemons or Evil Spirits But here it will be demanded How can these Spirits know future Events And if they do know them how is our former Assertion true that the knowing and predicting of these things is from God alone I answer briefly That it is possible for the Infernal Spirits and for Men by their Assistance to attain to the knowledg of some future Occurrences but those which we read are foretold in Scripture are none of that number but are of another and higher Kind First then we grant that these Daemons as that very Name imports are Knowing and Intelligent Creatures and have a great Insight into the Nature of things and are endued with a more than ordinary knowledg of Physical Causes and Effects whence we may easily infer the possibility of their