Selected quad for the lemma: christian_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
christian_n	church_n	member_n	society_n	2,075	5	9.3482	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A52290	The advantage of a learned education being a sermon preached at the cathedral Church of St. Paul on St. Paul's day 1697/8, before the gentlemen educated at that school, upon the reviving their antient anniversary meeting / by W. Nicholls, D.D.	Nicholls, William, 1664-1712.	1697 (1697)	Wing N1090; ESTC R19888	10,752	30

with the Love of God 4. Nor was he less remarkable for his Courage and Sincerity Vertues which are particular Qualifications in doubtful and perilous times What an instance of his Christian Bravery and Resolution was it to Preach the Gospel so publickly at Jerusalem where he had so many enraged Enemies when his Friends told him and he himself could not but expect to be sacrificed for it And when the Great St. Peter was afraid to disoblige the Judaizing Faction and was contriving for their sakes an odd sort of Comprehension or Medly betwixt Judaism and Christianity our brave Apostle withstood him to the Face and defended the simplicity of our Saviour's Religion against all the opposition of so great an Adversary 5. But besides all this the indefatigable Labours of his Preaching and the large Conversions to Christianity he effected in all Parts almost of the Gentile World is enough to raise the Honour of him far above the rest of his Apostolick Brethren whose Conversions were in no ways comparable to his Most of the Churches of Asia Minor those in the Islands and Provinces of Greece those in Thrace and Dalmatia in Spain and Italy were founded by this same St. Paul And the most Learned Bishop Stillingfleet in his Origines Britannicae has made it very probable that we of this Nation did receive Christianity likewise from this Apostle for the Story of Joseph of Arimathea is too Modern and too Monkish to be credited And now what a vast Tract of Ground is this for this one Apostle to spread the Gospel over How incredible almost is it that so many different Nations should enjoy the blessed Effects of his Ministry for give me leave to say that the Roman Arms themselves were hardly more victorious or farther extended than the Plantation of the Gospel by this one Apostle I come now in the second place to shew II. That the Reason of this Eminency of St. Paul was because of his Learned Education And to make out this I shall not tye my self strictly to shew how his Learning was the cause of those particular Qualifications I have already made appear he was Excellent in but shall shew that which will equally prove the same viz. That a Learned Education does best qualifie a Man for discharging all the Duties which are incumbent on him throughout all the Progress of Humane Life or in any Trust whatsoever Now the many and different Characters which belong to Mankind in their diverse Capacities may all be reduced to these Three 1. As they are Private Men or Members of Society 2. As they are Magistrates or in publick Capacity 3. As they are Christians or Members of God's Church Now I shall shew that a Learned Education does best qualifie a Man to discharge his Duty in all these several Capacities I. A Learned Education does best qualifie a Man to discharge his Duty as a private Person or Member of Society 1. It renders a Man more agreeable in Neighbourhood and Conversation Most of your little Animosities and Quarrels are to be found chiefly amongst uneducated People and tho' we find too much of them among Men who have been better bred yet they are seldom guilty of that roughness and hard Language which is common among others Nay the obliging and endearing Airs of Conversation are in the greatest Heigth and Perfection to he seen only in those Gentlemen who have had the advantage of the most Learned Education For as for all the other little Arts of Popular Talk and Refin'd Address they lie but thin spread over a Man like Varnish and every untoward Accident makes him lyable to discover his inward Imperfections I will not say that an Education perfectly Bookish where Genius and the Life and Brightness of Nature and a competent knowledge of the World are deficient I will not say this does render a Man more agreeable in Conversation but if Men would take care to talk as they ought to do and would be improving their Minds upon all occasions they would find more Satisfaction in the useful tho' unpolish'd Discourse of such a Person than in all the Circle of fine Jests and Tales that are requisite to furnish out an empty Wit 2. A Learned Education does commonly endow Men with more than ordinary Principles of Generosity The Company which they are Educated among are Persons who are generally Men of Honour and who value their Reputation and scorn a base thing and therefore if they fall into such Actions they must sort out to themselves a new Acquaintance for they will be abandon'd by all their former Friends who are Lovers of Honour and Vertue Besides their Minds have been habituated to such generous Vertues during their whole Series of Education that they cannot without a great force upon their Inclinations stoop to sordid Vices and a base Covetousness dishonest Dealing or Treacherousness and such other shameful Vices and rarely incident to Men of such an Education Their very Reading in Philosophy and History affords them such excellent Rules and Examples which so tinctures their Souls with these noble Ideas as makes it no easie matter for them to be tempted to do an unworthy thing The vulgar and illiterate have very little Sense of Fame and Honour and do many scandalous things when they may be advantageous but Men of a Liberal Education have for the most part such a spark of Honour within their Breasts as is a guard to them against the Commission of any enormous Crimes at least and oftentimes is the last stake of Vertue within them when all true Piety and Religion have taken their flight A spark which sometimes by God's Grace kindles again into a bright flame of Piety and true Religion when others live on senseless and stupid Sinnners to the last 3. A Learned Education does render a Man more Eminent in his particular Calling A Previous knowledge in any part of Literature does qualifie a Man for the understanding of any kind of Business far better than one who is destitute of all It opens and clears one's Head for a ready preception of whatever shall be proposed to us for the more the Mind is used to thinking and contemplation the more quick and perceptive it is and is discernable even in those that have been very little used to it A Lad that has but gone thro' a Form or two in a Grammar-School that has had Thoughts but a small matter exercised about the propriety of Speech and the congruity of Terms with one another only in the Grammatical way of Concord shall have a far greater facility in Learning any Art than one taken from the Plough or any other who all his time has liv'd by pure Sense without any manner of abstracted Thought or Meditation But a farther progress in a well managed course of Studies gives a kind of new Genius to the Soul and oftentimes quickens the slowest Natures so that when Learning and a noble stock of natural Parts meet together they