Selected quad for the lemma: conscience_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
conscience_n	darkness_n	light_n	shine_v	1,422	5	9.5903	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A30929	Natural theology, or, The knowledge of God from the works of creation accommodated and improved, to the service of Christianity / by Matthew Barker ...	Barker, Matthew, 1619-1698.	1674 (1674)	Wing B777; ESTC R20207	99,798	210

never felt give me Houses and Lands Corn and Wine and these good Things that mine Eye can see my Mouth can taste and my Hands can feel These Invisible Things the Syriack Version renders 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Recondita Dei The Hidden Things of God and being hidden out of mens sight they regard them not they believe them not But what O Man wilt thou believe nothing but what thine Eyes can see Are there not Spiritual Beings in the Creation as wel as Corporeal Shal we with the Sadduces deny Angels and Spirits And are not Spiritual Beings out of the reach of corporeal Sight or Sense And are not these Spiritual Beings the most perfect and excellent and therefore God being the most excellent Being he must needs be the purest Spirit and so must be thereby invisible to Sense Do we not read of Moses Heb. 11. He endured as seeing him that is invisible And of Paul 2 Cor. 4. Whilst we look not at things that are seen but at things that are not seen And of those Believers 1 Pet. 1. Whom having not seen you love And had men Faith it would be to them an evidence of Things not seen it would lead them up to that which is Invisible but being immerst in the Life of Sense they cannot reach so high and so God is to them as if he was not 10. Philosophy and State-Policy have been great Causes of Atheism I put them together that I might not multiply Particulars 1. Philosophy Though in it self it is a good Hand-maid to Divinity yet the Mistress hath been wronged by her Maid The courting of Nature hath kept many from espousing true Divinity So long as they can find a natural cause of things they will not at least heartily own a Deity And therefore it is observed that Atheism first began where Philosophy was in its highest improvement namely among the Grecians But I touched upon this before As it is said of Pliny he being inquisitive to find out the Reason of the Smoaking of Mount Vesuvius went so near to it that he was choaked in the Smoak So many by their curious enquiries into Natural Causes have choaked the Innate Notices of a Deity within their Hearts He that wrote a Discourse called Philosophia Theologiae Ancillans Baron Philosophy ministring to Divinity set Philosophy in its right place and to make the Encrease of the one the Decrease of the other is the highest abuse of it 2. State Policy The Politician seeth he shall never accomplish his Designs if he be over-awed by Conscience and Sense of a Deity He must not be a slave to his Promises or stand in fear either of making or breaking an Oath He must not be confined within the narrow Rules of Religion or Righteousness He may see it his interest sometimes to seem Religious but to be so indeed is not for his turn which is according to the advice of Machiavel to the young Prince And hence ariseth Atheism 11. It ariseth from a forgetfulness of God As the Psalmist speaks of such Psal 51. 22. Consider this ye that forget God Men do not exercise their Minds in thoughts of God and so forget him And a Person or Thing that are not in our Thoughts are forgotten and being forgotten are as if they were not Though men have additional knowledge to the Natural Notions of a Deity yet if this Knowledge be not stirred up and exercised it will not prevent the growth of Atheism in ther Hearts When men set not God in the view of their Minds look not on him either in Mercies or Afflictions and carry on their Affairs from day to day without respect to him this is forgetting him whereby they are indeed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without God in the World As we know Fire if it be not stirred or blown up will be ready to go out So will the Notices of the Being of God in the Soul if they be not daily excited in us and there is nothing Man is more apt to forget than God Whiles he remembers every thing else that concerns him he is most prone to a forgetfulness of him whom he should most of all remember Let Man but follow the natural bent of his own Heart and he will seldom have God in his Thoughts and have little or no respect to him in the Actions of his Life And so God is forgotten and is as if he was not And the great Adversary of God in the World the Devil will be sure to assist with his Temptations that mens thoughts may be diverted and alienated from the true God that he himself might reign as God in the World He is said to be the Ruler of the darkness of this World and therefore seeks to propagate darkness not only by hindring the Light of the Gospel from shining into mens hearts but by extinguishing the very Light of Natural Conscience and so to propagate his own Rule and Government Lastly Atheism ariseth from detaining the Truth of God in Unrighteousness the sin that is charged upon the Heathen Men sin against the Innate Notion of a Deity in their Hearts till at last the force of it is quite lost by giving way to fleshly Lusts against the Dictates of their Natural Light they smother it And it is at best but as a Spark covered in an heap of Ashes that doth neither give Light or Heat When men to gratifie their Lusts will debauch their Conscience they will hereby by degrees sear it For Nemo repentè fit Turpissimus And men grow up to a profligacy in sin as they by sinning against their Conscience do by degrees benum and stupifie it As it is said of the Gentiles Rom. 1. 18. they first detained the Truth that was naturally in their Hearts and then God gave them up to vile affections c. vers 24. And not following the Light of Nature were given up to sins against Nature vers 27. And Ephes 4. 18. the Apostle speaks of the Gentiles they walked first in vanity of Mind and then came to be past feeling there the Sense of a Deity is gone and then they gave up themselves to all uncleanness with greediness vers 19. Thus I have shewn some of those Causes out of which Atheism grows and is cherisht in the hearts of men And was it only found in the dark parts of the World where the Gospel shines not it was the less to be wondred at but it is found even amongst our selves and is become a spreading Leprosie in the Heads but especially the Hearts of multitudes at this day And I verily believe there is to be found less sence of a Deity upon many Christians so call'd that live in the mid'st of Gospel-Light than in any part of the World For if we look to the Heathens they all acknowledge some Deity or other so they have a Religious respect to it and have some awful impressions upon their Hearts towards it will lavish Gold out of the Bag and