Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	point_n	zeal_n	zealous_a	21	3	9.1630	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A50326	A sermon preach'd before the honourable Company of Merchants trading to the Levant-Seas at St. Peter-Poor, Dec. 15. 1695 by Henry Maundrell ...	Maundrell, Henry, 1665-1701.	1696 (1696)	Wing M1356; ESTC R19829	14,143	34

Advancement But from hence results the Excess which men are led into in this point They are not contented to be soberly and temperately zealous and to promote their Religion by such Rules and Measures as that Religion it self prescribes to them but they run mad with an Excess of Zeal and Bigotry for it Their Cause they are confident is the only righteous one and then conclude that they can never be over-righteous in the promotion of it All other Persuasions are very Dagons to them and must fall down at the feet of their Ark. All the Engines of Fury and Persecution must be set on foot for the service of so meritorious a Cause And such Mischiefs and Barbarities must be executed for its sake as are a Reproach not only to Religion but even to Humanity it self These are effects of an inordinate Zeal which have been more or less evidenced in all Parties of men and in all Religions For indeed the very Christian Religion that Mild and Peaceable Institution has not escaped these flames of a mad and outragious Zeal But on the contrary that blessed Instructer of Gentleness and Love has been by the abuse of its Professors perverted into an Incentive of the fiercest Cruelty and Persecution The Prince of Peace has been made a Herald of Contention and too many that pretend to be of Christ's Flock have turn'd themselves into ravening Wolves worrying and devouring one another What Flames what Confusions what Massacres what Devastations have been occasion'd by an over-righteous Zeal for that merciful Religion which disclaims nothing more than such Unchristian Barbarities And we have too many Instances even at our own doors in the several Sects and Divisions of the Reformation it self which if they do not present us with any such Tragical Scenes as those beforementioned yet cannot they be thought on without affording a sad and evident demonstration how possible it is in the Nature of the thing and how pernicious in its Effects for men even in the best of Causes to be over-righteous But How unworthily do men treat the Christian Religion when they make it the occasion of such Rage and Animosity Christianity was never intended to kindle such a fiery and passionate Zeal amongst its Votaries The Spirit which that inspires is a Spirit of mutual Forbearance and Condescension to one another A Spirit which for its visible Representation chose the Shape of a Dove to appear in that Emblem of Love and Meekness and Innocence a Spirit which allows us indeed to join the Serpent's Wisdom to its Dove-like Innocence but in all cases utterly abhors his Sting and his Poyson 'T is such an amicable Spirit which as it is the genuine Fruit and the distinguishing Badge of the Christian Religion so it is the most effectual Preserver of the Disciples and Church of Christ But as for that contrary Spirit of over much Zeal and Bigotry it can tend to nothing but that fatal end which the Wise man here denounces as the just and natural Consequence of it namely That by it we shall destroy our selves For what else can be the product of an Intemperate Zeal and Rigor and Contention amongst Christians It may pull down but it can never edify It can convert neither side it may destroy both It is the healing Spirit of Meekness and Forbearance which best promotes the Happiness and Safety both of Single men and of Societies This has the Blessing both of God and Man attending it Men bless it by rendring back a Reciprocal Love and Favour towards it and God blesses it by his gracious Promises declaring That the Meek shall inherit the Earth the Meek shall find rest to their Souls But on the other hand a Spirit of fierce Zeal and Bigotry subverts the Peace and Safety both of private Persons and of Communities and chiefly of those very men who are most possessed and acted by it For no man can exercise a furious Heat and Rigor in opposition to others without provoking them to mete out the same Measure back again into his own Bosom Thus he kindles a Fire and perishes himself in the same Conflagration the Mischief which he set on foot comes home to his own door and he verifies the Wiseman's Denunciation which he would not take for his Admonition By an Over-righteous Zeal he destroys himself And thus much of the first Caution suggested in my Text Be not Righteous Over-much that is Let not thy Zeal for Religion be Immoderate and Furious And that we may be the better enabled to observe this first Caution Let us proceed to the second the consideration of which will most effectually conduce to that end for the chief ground and occasion of such inordinate Zeal for Religion arises most commonly from an Over-wise and curious search into the Mysteries of it which is the excess forbid by Solomon in these words Make not thy self Over-wise that is Let not thy Enquiry into the Knowledge of Religious Mysteries be too Curious and Presumptuous Wisdom is indeed the Natural desire and thirst of our Souls The Water-Brooks are not so fiercely long'd after by the Panting Hart as this is by the mind of Man nor when tasted do they afford so great a Refreshment and Satisfaction This is that Endowment whereby our Nature exceeds that of the Beasts that perish and imitates in some Measure the Perfection not only of Angels but even of God himself Justly therefore may Men's minds Gasp and Pant after those living Waters and so long as their desires and endeavours to be wise are Moderate and Humble they act according to the Prerogative and Propriety of their reasonable Natures But the desire of Wisdom is oftentimes too strong and imperious to submit to those confinements which Modesty and Sobriety would prescribe to it for where men's thirst is so great they are apt to be intemperate in the Gratification of it They content not themselves with such competent Portions of Knowledge as God allows them and the Edification of their own Souls require but they Launch out into the boundless Ocean of Divine Mysteries striving to make themselves over-wise They pretend to define the Incomprehensible Nature and Properties of the Deity they rifle all the secret Cabinets of his Counsels and Providences they invade the most private Recesses of his inscrutable Wisdom and would leave him no reserve of Knowledge to himself They despise the most useful parts of Religious Wisdom as low and vulgar Contemplations and that Knowledge they account but a poor and contemptible Attainment which is sufficient to make 'em serviceable in their Generation and to direct them safe to Heaven hereafter The Eyes of these Men's Understandings delight not as the Eyes of the Body always do in such Prospects as are Light and Clear and beautifully terminated but on the contrary they love either to be ever looking into such dark Caverns and Abysses of Knowledge where they can discern nothing at all or else to survey such Infinite Spaces where

Denunciation against your over much Wickedness That it shall cause you to dye before your time And thus I have given you a brief Illustration of the Three Cautions delivered in my Text and the Arguments annex'd to them by the Wise-man I shall now crave leave only to make Application of what has been said in a short Address to the Three several sorts of Persons who are guilty of the Excesses which we are here warned against and to persuade them to yield a more dutiful Regard and Obedience to these Excellent Cautions of Wise Solomon 1. And first I shall apply my self to the over-much Righteous that is to those who are excessive and intemperate in their Zeal for Religion 'T is one of the saddest Considerations that can enter into a Christian's heart to observe the deplorable effects of such a furious and ungovern'd Zeal in our own Nation and to reflect upon that Wrath and Bitterness with which men professing the same Fundamentals of Religion do notwithstanding detest and separate from one another Even the most distant Parties of men and most disagreeing in other matters are yet all of the same mind in this Point in showing an immoderate Zeal in favour to their own Persuasions and in opposition to those of other men Nay many times you shall have such men warmest of all for the Cause of their Opinions in Religion who were it not for that Mad and Inordinate Zeal would be hard put to it to produce from their whole Life and Practice any other Proof that they are of any Religion at all Let the Members of the Party that is opposite to them be never so regular both in Belief and Practice never so careful to preserve Faith and a good Conscience yet because they dare to contradict them in some small things they burn with Zeal against them give no Quarter either to their Persons or Opinions but that single and inconsiderable difference shall efface all sense of their Agreement in greater matters and like a Gulph fix'd between them shall separate them from all Christian Charity and Commerce with one another Unreasonable men Thus to rip up the very Bowels of Christianity by an over righteous Zeal for its Cause and for the sake of such things which are but the Mint and Annise and Cummin of Religion to violate that Love and Meekness which are the weightier things of our Saviour's Law But all such fierce and extravagant Zealots of whatever Tribe or Persuasion let me admonish That the Gospel abhors such a Furious and Uncharitable Bigotry and enjoins us to let our moderation be known unto all men It commands us indeed to show a Zeal towards God But what kind of Zeal is it Is it such a blind angry and exterminating Zeal as that which these men are possessed with Nothing more contrary It is a Zeal according to knowledge a Zeal that enlightens warms and cherishes but never consumes or destroys A Zeal that ought indeed to stir us up to convince gainsayers and to put to silence the ignorance of foolish mea But how should that be done Not with fierce Oppositions Fury and Maliciousness but by the gentler methods of Love and Patience and Well-doing These are the Weapons of our Warfare A Christian Zeal must imitate that friendly and propitious River upon which this City stands and to which you are so much indebted for your Traffick and Grandeur It must proceed in a still and gentle Course and not in such an eager and rapid Torrent as can serve only to sweep all things before it and to betray the shallowness of its own Channel From the example of this Bountiful River be pleased to learn the due Moderation of your Piety And derive this double Advantage from its Waters to make it the Patern of your Zeal as it is the great Fountain of your Riches 'T is such a Calm and Even and Deep Current of Religion which alone can quench the burning Discords that are between us and Import as great an Increase of true Piety amongst us as that other does of Wealth and Splendor And have we not now in the present Posture of our Affairs the greatest reason to be of this mind considering the Subtilty and Vigilance of our Common Enemies who will be sure to take all Advantages from our Domestick Feuds and to improve them to their Interest and our Destruction How will they rejoice in Gath and triumph in the streets of Askalon to see our over-righteous Zeal against each other to look on whilst we most unnaturally do the work of their Arms by our own Animosities and give them the Pleasure of beholding our Ruin without putting them to the Trouble and Expence of procuring it Let me beseech you therefore for the sake of our Common Interest and Safety to entertain Candid Amicable Christian Dispositions towards one another And whereever we meet with a man of a truly Pious and Teachable Spirit Sound and Orthodox in the Articles of the Christian Faith and conscientiously observant of the Rules of Christian Practice let us treat such a one as a Brother and a true Disciple of Jesus Christ We may wish indeed That he were not only almost but altogether such as we are We may by the proper methods of Gentleness Good Example and Meek persuasion endeavour to make him so But if that perfect consent cannot be obtain'd if those lesser marks of distinction cannot be totally wiped out yet let 'em not be allow'd to break Friendship between us and to prejudice our Charity but when we are so far agreed Let us over-look in our private Capacities and common Conversation all differences in lesser matters and say of 'em all as Ephron did to Abraham concerning the price of his Field What is that betwixt me and thee This is the true Genius and Behaviour of a Christian Spirit and to this I exhort you all in the name of God and in the meekness and gentleness of Jesus Christ by whose name we are call'd and whose merciful temper ought to be made the subject of our faithful imitation But if the Example of Christ be not sufficient to work us into such a mild and condescending Spirit yet at least let the sense and care of our own Self-Preservation prevail with us for why should we by an over-Righteous Zeal and Bigotry destroy our selves But 2. In the next place let me address my self to those who transgress in the second excess caution'd against in my Text By making themselves over-wise that is by being too boldly Curious and Inquisitive in the Mysteries of Religion This is an Excess the practice and mischief of which is too widely and fatally spread in the present Age. In which the most Venerable Mysteries of Religion are prostituted to the most illiterate and vulgar Examination and those sacred Articles of the Trinity and Incarnation to which the most Improved Understandings of former Ages have bow'd with a profound Veneration are presumptously attempted to be unfolded by