Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	faith_n	word_n	work_n	3,143	5	6.0877	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A26887	The certainty of Christianity without popery, or, Whether the Catholick-Protestant or the papist have the surer faith being an answer to one of the oft canted questions and challenges of the papists, sent to one who desired this : published to direct the unskilful, how to defend their faith against papists and infidels, but especially against the temptations of the Devil, that by saving their faith, they may save their holiness, their comfort and their souls / by Richard Baxter.	Baxter, Richard, 1615-1691.	1672 (1672)	Wing B1213; ESTC R5291	42,876	122

Question to which an Answer was challenged CHAP. I. Of the Quality of this Question and Challenge p. 1. CHAP. II. The Explication of some Terms in it A Scheme of Divine Revelations What matter of Fact is Of several senses and sorts of Certainty of Principles Media Determinations Unity of Faith p. 5. CHAP. III. The briefest and summary Answer to the Confused Question p. 13. CHAP. IV. The many Questions confounded in his one Quest. 1. What are the Revelations of God in controversie p. 22. CHAP. V. Quest. II. Whether the Papists grant all Divine Revelations to be true p. 25. CHAP. VI. Quest. III. What Certainty we have what is a real Revelation of God Where the Nature and Conditions of Objective and Subjective Sensible and Intelligible Certainty are opened p. 30. CHAP. VII Quest. IV. What Certainty have we of the Copies p. 43. CHAP. VIII Quest. V. What Certainty have we of the Canonical Book p. 45. CHAP. IX Quest. VI. What Certainty have we of the truth of Translations p. 48. CHAP. X. Quest. VII What Certainty have we of the true sense of the Text. p. 51. CHAP. XI Quest. VIII What Vnity of Faith may be expected to be conserved by these Certainties p. 54. CHAP. XII Quest. IX What Determination is necessary to this Certainty and Vnity p. 57. CHAP. XIII What the Papists ascertaining Medium or Determination is and why we cannot trust our souls on it Where are fourty Reasons briefly named for the use of them that seek for Truth proving not only the utter uncertainty but the notorious falshood of this Determination which is cried up as the only proof of Certain faith But I doubt not but many Papists that fear God indeed do practically build their faith on better ground however this be cried up by Disputers p. 60. ERRATA Page 23. line 21. read bulk p. 47. l. 7. r. did but. p. 64. l. 16. r. by Clemens p. 98. l. 18. r. Superiour p. 107. l. 2. r. Certainty p. 109. l. 9. r. be is CHAP. I. Of the Quality of this Question SIR § 1. YOU may see by this Paper with the ordinary disputing of this sort of men that it is not without cause that we have suspected the hand of the Papists in many of the defences of the Infidel cause and questionings of the foundations of the Christian faith which this age is troubled with They have so long plaid the Infidels in jeast till they have made such a swarm of serious Infidels as will prove neither the honour nor comfort of such seducers in the end I know that this Paper it self hath a more modest aspect but the tendencie of it is the same as of the rest But I hope God will turn all their endeavours to our advantage and teach Christians bet-better to consider the foundations of their faith that they may not only be able to defend it against an Infidel or Papist but which is of more universal and frequent necessity to defend it against the inward suggestions of Satan the enemy of Christ and us § 2. Therefore I think it most profitable to answer this Question in such a manner as shall tend not only to silence the Caviller but as may best satisfie such as doubt and stablish men about the cause it self and therefore to be larger than this Imposer desireth that I may be plain § 3. The fraud which this Quaerist is guilty of is manifold and manifest to any discerning Reader 1. In the choice of his subject For he knoweth for it 's easily known that it hath not pleased God to make the mysteries of our faith so evident as things sensible are and that the difficulties which are in and about the Christian cause are such as give advantage to carnal unbelievers to find many words to say against it and that maketh it the hardest work of Preachers to convince unbelievers or else the Gospel had been received by more than the sixth part of the world before this day Now these juglers would lay all the difficulties which are in the Christian cause as such upon the Reformers cause alone as if all this were nothing to them but the cause of Popery were wholly free from them or at least they could answer such questions better than we can do And so when such a fellow as Hobbs or Benedictus Spinosa in his Tractatus Theologico-politicus shall stretch their wits to disgrace the Scripture and the Christian cause all this shall seem only to fall upon the Protestants whereas if we could not better defend Christianity than the present principles of Popery enable them to do we must confess that the Infidel were far hardlier answered than any Sectary that we have to deal with § 4. 2. And his next fraud lieth in casting all the positive defence and proof on us that he may have nothing to do but assault Religion and manage the Infidels objections against us He offereth not to tell you himself what their uniting certainty of Divine Revelations is and to make it good but to put you upon the proving task § 5. 3. And his fraud is evident in the multitude of Questions which he thrusteth together into one which any man of wit knoweth cannot have one answer but must have many as the Questions are many § 6. 4. And yet he will oblige the Answerer to avoid tedious discourses that so if his many questions have not one short answer he may have the evading pretence that It is a tedious discourse § 7. 5. And there is evident fraud in his ambiguous terms As his opposing matter of fact only to matter of right and so making many heterogeneals to fall under matter of fact His confused and unexplained use of the terms Principle Medium determinining Certainty Vnity in faith c. § 8. 6. Lastly There is much fraud in his many insinuated suppositions As 1. That the Truth of this proposition that Whatsoever God saith is true c. is a matter of meer right as distinct from the rest mentioned as matters of fact 2. That the sense of the words is a matter of fact as the truth of them is not 3. That Papists agree with us that every Revelation of God is most certainly true 4. That the Ebionites Valentinians c. who questioned the Scripture books were Christians 5. That these matters have here a final determination 6. That this is necessary to Certainty and Unity in the faith By all which it appeareth that this Question is intended or used at least as a Soul-trap and a Fool-trap CHAP. II. The Explication of some Terms § 1. THat he may be satisfactorily answered these Terms must be necessarily explained and distinguished of 1. Revelation 2. Matter of fact 3. Certainty 4. Principle 5. Medium 6. Determining 7. Unity in faith § 2. I. Either he taketh Revelation generally as containing natural and supernatural Revelation 2. Or specially for supernatural Revelation only Because he distinguisheth not we must suppose him to take it

which in all its right conditions may give a man satisfactory resolving certainty of mind 4. To this is necessary I. That the Thing have intrinsecally the requisites of an Object II. That it have extrinsecally the necessary concomitant conditions § 4. I. To the Nature of a perceptible Object it is necessary 1. That it be something whose nature is within the reach of the perceiving faculty and not out of its orbe as spirits are to sense 2. That it have a perceptible degree or Magnitude For the Minima rerum are not perceptible to man 3. That it be Hoc aliquid a distinct being or unum as its called 4. That it have a special congruence to the special perceiving faculty For Light must be seen and not heard and so of the rest In a word that it be Ens Vnum Verum Bonum thus agreeably conditioned And the contraries reductively or rather the Propositions about them § 5. II. To the Accidents and Extrinsick Conditions which go to make up Evidence it is necessary 1. That the Object have a due Position or site 2. That it have a due distance neither too far off nor too near 3. And a due Medium as the air is to the sight and hearing 4. And a due abode or stay For neither sense perceiveth motion perfectly swift nor the Intellect things absolutely instantaneous that have no Time of continuance § 6. Because Objective Certainty is Relative to Subjective I must add what is necessary to that I. On the part of sense II. Of the Intellect I. To true sensible perception it is necessary 1. That the sensitive faculty of the soul intend the business Else the Organs will be as a Lute not touched as we see in hard Students that hear not the Clock at hand 2. It is necessary that the spirits which are actuated in sensation be present and sufficient for their part 3. It is necessary that the Organs be in a competent soundness 4. It is necessary that it be the proper Organ that is used which agreeth with the object not the eye to hearing c. 5. That the sense be not oppressed by Impediments II. And further to Intellective perception 1. Of things sensible It is necessary 1. That the thing be truly perceived by the sense 2. And truly Imagined and therefore that the Imagination have a Competent soundness 3. That the soul be Attentive to to the matter and not alienated 4. That the internal sense Imagination and Sensitive-memory be in a fit state of vicinity conjunction or union for the Intellect to operate on and with them 5. That the Intellect it self be in act according to its formal Virtue 2. But to the Intellection of our own Immanent Acts of Intellection and Volition there is no more necessary but that such Acts be and then we can Intuitively perceive them 3. And by easie collection the Intellect without further help of sense can gather that I that understand and will am sure I have a Power so to do For nothing doth that which it cannot do And hereby I apprehend that there are Intellective Volitive Agents and what they are § 7. It is here supposed that God hath not a Voice to speak by as man hath but yet that he can cause a voice at his pleasure either by the use of a creature that naturally hath a voice or by the motion of other creatures a thousand waies of which it is not needful for us to be acquainted § 8. When God revealeth his mind not by voice but by inward Inspiration it carrieth its own notifying Evidence with it which no man can formally conceive of but he that hath it But this is the case of Prophetical persons only and not of us § 9. In this Question How to know that a Revelation is of God It is supposed that the Revelation it self that is the notifying sign whether Voice Writing or other Act or thing be known already For we must first know that such a thing really is before we can know whence it is And this is afterward to be spoken of § 10. And here it is not enough to know that God is some way a Cause of that Act Voice or Writing For no doubt but he is a universal cause at least of all the Real beings and actions in the world But we must be sure that he is the Determining Cause of this special and individual act or thing as such so as that he may properly be called The Author of it and it be called His work § 11. And here Negatively 1. We have not sensible Evidence ascertaining us that these words or signs are the word of God Sense is not the perceiver of this as it is of light heat motion c. § 12. 2. Therefore neither doth the Intellect perceive it by the sense as it doth these sensed things forementioned § 13. 3. Nor is it the object of Immediate Intellective Intuition or known as we know the acts of the soul it self by Immediate perception as that we Think Know Will and Feel § 14. 4. Nor do we alwaies at least know it as we do self-evident Principles which a man using Reason about them cannot choose but understand § 15. 5. Nor are all the Parts of Divine Revelations notified to us with equal Certainty nor altogether by the same media nor are they all of equal necessity to be known to be Divine and so to be believed § 16. But Affirmatively 1. We know these Revelations to be Divine as we know the Truth of Conclusions by Virtue of the Evidence of their Premises 2. And this variously as the Consequence is more or less evident and certain § 17. 1. Supposing that we are Certain that there is a God whether as a self-evident Principle or as the Certainest of Conclusions and so that he is Perfect and therefore True we are certain as of a most neer and Evident Conclusion that all Gods Works are his Revelations to man which are within our reach that is That they are signs by which God Revealeth Himself and his Will to us The Glass in which he must here be seen The Divinity of this Natural Revelation is past doubt But all the doubt is of the sense of it § 18. 2. There are Naturally Evident Verities in the Scriptures which upon the first considerate hearing we may be sure are true As that there is a God that he is One that he is Infinite Perfect most Powerful Wise and Good the Beginning Governor and End of all things that he is our Owner Actor Ruler Benefactor and End That we ought to Love him Please and Obey him above all others with all our hearts and Powers The whole Body of the necessary Law of Nature is there conteined and so is known by a double Revelation § 19. 3. There are other points which are so greatly congruous to the common experience of mankind as that they have also a Certainty in the thing from that experience As the common