Selected quad for the lemma: conscience_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
conscience_n	day_n	holy_a	sabbath_n	1,012	5	9.4280	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A20769	Certaine treatises of the late reverend and learned divine, Mr Iohn Downe, rector of the church of Instow in Devonshire, Bachelour of Divinity, and sometimes fellow of Emanuell Colledge in Cambridge. Published at the instance of his friends; Selections	Downe, John, 1570?-1631.; Hakewill, George, 1578-1649.	1633 (1633)	STC 7152; ESTC S122294	394,392	677

the best hand Games are but matters of Recreation I answere and first to the Maior negatiuely For although in Extraordinary lots wherein there is an expectation of Gods immediat providence for direction it is fit by prayer to craue the same of God yet in those Ordinary lots wherein it is not materiall which way they fall and no notable inconvenience can ensue thereof it is not necessary so to doe The confirmation which you bring for your Maior is authority negatiuely in point of Fact which is a meere Sophisticall Elench of no validity Wherein also you take for granted that which cannot bee yeelded without much folly nor demanded without much impudence namely that whatsoever the Saints did is recorded in Scripture which wee haue shewed to be farre otherwise Vnto the Minor and the proofe thereof I say no more but this that as all other our actions so our Gaming also is sanctified vnto vs by Prayer Not that at the commencement of every act a man is bound to put himselfe on his knees and to make his particular addresses vnto God for the morning sacrifice through the acceptation of God is sufficient to that end and stretcheth it sel●e to all the daies actions Although I deny not but as at our meales so also in the beginning and closing vp of our play wee may with short eiaculations both craue a blessing vpon our recreation and praise him for the same But as touching the fall of the lot in our games because it is like hearb Iohn in a pot of broth doing neither good nor harme I hold it as inconvenient to pray for it as it is to pray for good successe at a match of bowles For as for those who adventure at play more then they can well spare without disabling themselues they passe beyond their bounds and offend against the rule of moderation in play Yet if such a one finding his rashnesse and sincerely resoluing not to commit such an errour againe shall in his heart entreat God to free him from the present danger I thinke such prayer should not be vnlawfull to him N. N. Fiftly a Lot is a thing that belongs to the art of Divinity and can be defined no where but there nor handled by any other way Wee may as I thinke sport our selues with any thing that belongs to any other art or recreate our selues in iest by any rules of any other art But thus wee must not doe with any thing or rule that belongs to Divinity we may not meddle with Divine things in light matters the Majesty of God and them requires more respect at the hands of Creatures The King nor any of his Lawes may not bee dallied with by the Subiect how much more is the Creature being but sinfull dust and ashes bound to his Creator being a consuming fire which wicked men make light of yea make sport with oathes vowes prayer the Sabbath the Sacraments and the Word of God For they will sweare vow pray without serious consideration they will for their pleasures sake breake the holy day of the Sabbath they vse the Sacraments as a matter of custome and fashion not of Conscience else the Dog would not so soone turne againe to his vomit And as for the Word of God he is commended for the best wit that can breake the most savory iests in the repeting of some phrase of Scripture We say it is no iesting with edgtooles and all say non est bonum ludere cum Sanctis yet what is wicked mens practise else with any Divine thing To follow whose example is farre vnbeseeming the humility and gravity of Gods professed servants DEFENCE Your reason is to be reduced into this forme or syllogisme That which belongs to the art of Divinity and can no otherwhere bee defined or handled may not bee sported withall or medled with in light matters But a lot belongs to the art of Divinity and can no otherwhere bee handled or defined Ergo it may not be sported withall or medled with in light matters In the proofe of the Maior you enlarge your selfe very much discoursing of the Maiesty of God and divine things and what respect is due to them from the creatures Then with many words you inveigh against all those wicked ones who make a Game of Oaths Vowes Prayer Sacraments Sabbath Scripture and what not In all which I readily joyne with you and had you prest it much farther and with more vehemence you could never haue offended mee The only thing that I dislike is that you bestow so much paines in maintaining that which no man denies and spare it there where it greatly needed I meane vpon the confirmation of your Minor What Did you thinke you should be taken for another Pythagoras Or that your owne bare 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 would be of sufficient authority Verily either it was great dimnesse of sight if you foresaw not the Assumption would be denied or if you foresaw it extreame negligence or weaknesse that you endeavoured not to proue it Your Assumption therefore I deny That a Lot belongs to the art of Divinity and is there to be defined handled If you aske a reason of the deniall you may know I am not bound to render it your place is not to aske questions but to proue what you affirme Neverthelesse the reason is this because the termes of the definition belong not vnto Divinity Not the Genus which is a Chance or Casuall event for that belongs vnto the Metaphysicks as also doth Necessity Not the Forme which is the applying of the chance to resolue a doubt for that belongs vnto Pollicie or Morality If you foist any other thing into the Definition whatsoever it be it is superfluous and impertinent But why should any man thinke that it pertaines to a Divine to define a lot Is it because there is in them a Divine providence So is there also in Chesse Bowles and all other things whether serious or lusory yet are they not therefore Theologicall Is it because there is in them an immediat providence So indeede you dreame but wee haue already clearly demonstrated the contrary Is it then because they haue beene vsed in holy and religious businesses So is bread and wine and water also vsed yet I hope you will not say that the Definition of these things is proper to Divinity or that wee may not play with them and vse them in light matters Every applying of a creature vnto a holy end is not by and by an appropriating thereof vnto that end neither doth God by his Extraordinary vsing of a thing barre vs ever after from the Ordinary and naturall vse thereof And thus you see that as good reason may be rendred to the contrary so iust reason for it you can render none why the defining of a lot should be so confined to Divinity Yet one word more with you ere I leaue this point For I must entreat leaue to plucke you by the eare

the dispenser whereof is this great iudge of the whole world who nor can nor will doe otherwise then right In that day saith the Scripture shall the Lord himselfe come downe from heauen with a shout and a throne shall bee set in the clouds and the auncient of daies shall sit thereon whose garment is white as snow and the haire of his head like the pure wooll his throne is like the firy flame and his wheeles as burning fire a fiery streame shall issue and come forth before him thousand thousands shall minister vnto him and ten thousand thousands stand before him the iudgement shall be set and the bookes opened Then shall the Archangells trumpet sound and the dead shall rise and the Angells shall goe forth and gather both good and bad together and we all must appeare before the tribunall of Christ that every man may receiue the things done in the body according to that he hath done whether it be good or evill and the wicked shall goe into everlasting paine and the righteous into life eternall Goe too now yee Epicures yee Stoicks yee Philosophers that are so wise in your owne conceit and account the preachers of iudgement no better then Bablers goe too yee mockers and scoffers of this last time who say where is the promise of his comming For since the Fathers died all things continue alike from the beginning of the Creation non alium videre paeres aliumue nepotes the world which our ancestors saw of old is the same which wee their posterity see now Goe to I say eate drinke make you merrie crowne your heads with rose buds before they be withered delight your selues in the tab●et and harpe enioy the pleasures that are present let not the flower of life passe by walke in the waies of your owne heart and in the sight of your owne eyes but yet know that for all these things God will bring thee to iudgement I remember that a gallant of this stampe some time said vnto a reverend Prelate what if there bee no iudgement to come are you not then a very foole to barre your selfe from the pleasure of this present life to whom the Prelate and what if there be a iudgement to come are not you then a very foole for the short pleasures of this present life to barre yourselfe from those eternall ioyes of the life to come Thou vaine man art thou infallibly certaine thou shalt not come to iudgement is there no scruple no doubting remaining in thee to the contrary I know thou wouldest faine haue it so that thou maist sinne withall impunity howbeit I am sure thy Conscience doth so counterchecke thee that thou canst not but doubt thereof In a case so doubtfull vnto thee what folly nay what madnesse is it for time to hazard eternity and for a few fading pleasures to adventure thy selfe vpon endles woe and misery The wise heathen could say Longum illudtempus cum non ero magis me movet quam hoc tam exiguum the long time which shall be after this life doth more affect me then this short life If it bee possible let it affect thee also if not sit still in the chaire of scorners scoffe on thy fil and seeing thou wilt not beleeue that fire is hot vntill it burne thee thou shalt one day be convinced that there is a iudgement when thou shalt feele the intollerable torments of those flames that never shall be quenched In the meane season let vs who haue better learned Christ and know the terror of the Lord let vs I say prepare our selues against this great dreadfull day of the Lord giuing all diligence that we may be found of him in peace without spot and blamelesse And to this end let vs alwaies haue it in mind and with Saint Hierom ever be meditating therevpon Quoties diem illum considero saith he toto corpore contremisco siue enim comedo siue bibo siue aliud facio semper videtur tuba illa terribilis sonare in auribus meis Surgite mortui et venite ad iudicium as often as I thinke of that day I tremble every limbe for whether I eate or drinke or doe any thing me thinkes I heare that terrible trumpet sounding in mine eares arise yee dead and come to iudgement If any thing in the world will make a man sober and keepe him within his bankes it is the consideration hereof Thinke of this I beseech you and thinke of it seriously all yee that heare me this day Yee Iudges of the land be yee wise and learned serue the Lord and kisse the sonne doe right to the poore and fatherlesse deliver the poore and needy and saue them from the hand of the wicked doe nothing vniustly accept no mans person execute iustice without bribery and partiality for your selues must come vnto iudgement and as you iudge so shall yee be iudged Yee lawyers and advocates see that yee entertaine none but good causes sell not breath only for your fees spin not matters out at such a length for your owne advantage in every cause deale conscionably and honestly for your selues shall need an advocate in that day to speake for you quando plus valebunt pura corda quam astuta verba when a good heart shall farre more availe then cunning and plausible words Yee Priests and Levites of the Lord feed yee diligently the flocke whereof the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers strengthen the weake heale the sicke binde vp the broken bring againe that which was driven away seeke that which is lost be instant in season out of season thrice happy are you if your Lord when he cometh finde you so doing for you shall stand in iudgement and hauing iustified many yee shall shine as the starres for ever and ever And yee the rest of my brethren whatsoeuer whether gentle or vngentle rich or poore take heed to your selues also and for these outward vanities of birth and wealth see that yee neither despise nor envy one another In that day not the first but the second birth will be regarded and a good conscience will bee more esteemed then a full purse Watch therefore be sober flee vngodlinesse and worldly l●sts and follow after righteousnesse piety faith loue patience meekenesse doe good and be rich in good workes laying vp in store a good foundation for your selues against the time to come that ye may obtaine eternall life Then shall yee not need with guilty reprobates to hang downe your countenances and to request the hills to cover you from the wrath of the terrible iudge for ye shall earnestly long for his speedy comming and at his appearance shall yee lift vp your heads for ioy knowing that your redemption draweth neere and that now is to bee pronounced that more then ioyfull sentence Come yee blessed of my father inherit yee the kingdome

much strengthens and confirmes you I. D. By Catholike you still meane Roman for Catholike Roman are now growne convertible tearmes a mystery that the Primitiue Church never so much as dreamed of But what No outward face in England for so many hundred yeares together but Roman What face then I pray was it which it bare some 650 yeares since when the Saxon Homilie of A●lfrick Abbot of Malmsbury not only agreeing with Bertram in this matter of the Sacrament but also for sundry passages expresly translated out of him was publikely appointed to be read vnto the people vpon Easter day before they receaued the Communion Or when the Bishops at their Synods deliuered vnto their Clergie the same doctrine out of two other writings of the same Aelfrick the one whereof saith thus That housel is Christs body not bodily but spiritually Not the body which hee suffered in but the body of which hee spake when he blessed the bread wine to housel the night before his suffering and said by the blessed bread this is my body and againe by the holy wine this is my blood c. The other likewise saith thus The Lord which hallowed housel before his suffering and saith that the bread was his owne body and the wine was truely his bloud halloweth dayly by the hand of the Priest bread to his body and wine to his blood in spirituall mystery as we read in bookes And yet notwithstanding that liuely bread is not bodily so nor the selfe-same body that Christ suffered in nor that holy wine is the Saviours bloud which was shed for vs in bodily thing but in spirituall vnderstanding Both bee truely that bread his body and that wine also his blood as was the heavenly bread which we call Manna that fed forty yeares Gods people and the cleare water which did then run from the stone in the wildernesse was truly his blood as Paul wrot in one of his Epistles Thus he Tell mee now good Sir was the face of the English Church Roman when such doctrine so crosse vnto Transubstantiation was by publike authority deliuered to the Clergie and commanded to be read vnto the people or was it at that time other then a Roman face truely Catholike and Orthodoxe You haue heard I suppose of those Christians whom anciently they tearmed W●ldenses and Leonists Your Ranerius saith of them that they had beene of very long continuance even from Pope Sylvesters time or as some say ever since the Apostles so Vniversall also that there was scarce any country wherein they abounded not finally that where other Sects most fearefully blaspheamed God these made faire shew of religion liued honestly among men beleeued all things rightly touching God and all the Articles contained in the Creed onely they blaspheamed hated the Church of Rome What Was the face of this Church also Roman How so being so opposite vnto it Certainely it was rather the face of our Church For as your Poplinerius testifieth they differed very little from vs and in this point of the Sacrament they perfectly agreed with vs. It is true they were charged with many foule opinions but enviously and maliciously as appeareth by the publike Confessions of their Faith and by the testimonie of Cardinal Sadolet others who by commission were commanded to examin it It is true also that they were most barbarously and bloudily persecuted by the Roman Synagogue But what saith Michael Cesaenas who flourished some 250. yeares since There are two Churches the one of the wicked flourishing in which the Pope doth raigne the other of the godly afflicted Whence it plainely appeareth that there hath heretofore beene another face of the Church besides Roman if not visibly glorious yet at leastwise visibly persecuted You adde it is vncharitable to thinke that all this time there was no knowledge of the meaning of Scriptures and Fathers vntil Luther brought in the true light True neither is there any man that saith so Neverthelesse bee it spoken to the glory of God and the honour of the present times the meaning both of Scriptures and Fathers was never better knowne shall I say never so well knowne as now This I haue elsewhere proued both by the causes thereof and the testimonie of your owne men As for your nine hundred yeares questionles they were not the learned'st times The knowledge of languages quickly decayed and blindnesse and barbarisme crept in apace insomuch as by the testimonie of Genebrard Bellarmine Baronius there was never age more Vnlearned and vnhappy then the ninth Century wherein were no men famous either for wit or learning and whosoever studied the Mathematicks or Philosophie was presently counted a Magician Neither were some of the after times over much amended when the chiefest of their Schooles scarce knewe whether Saint Paul wrote in Greeke or in Latine as Ludovicus Vives saith and to haue skill in Greek was suspicious but in Hebrew almost heretical as Espencaeus But blessed be God who in the midst of these blindest times hath still preserued the light of his truth and though envy burst and split at it blessed be his holy name for that greater light of his Gospel which we haue receaued both by Luther and since Luther Hee was a noble champion of Christ Iesus and gat so much ground of the Papacie as I hope will never be recouered againe vntill by the brightnesse of our Lords comming it be vtterly destroyed If England in these latter times haue yeelded such learned men of your side you may be pleased to knowe that it hath afforded on our side also as learned Clarks in the knowledge of tongues all kind of literature whatsoever as any in your Church wheresoeuer if not excelling them Yea but yours were content to forgoe all their meanes and hopes for their conscience And did not ours trow you doe so also in Q. Maries daies Nay did not Archbishop Cranmer and sundry other Bishops to speake nothing of those of inferiour ranke chuse rather to loose their present honours and estates and themselues cruelly to be martyred in the fire then to perish their cōsciences by subscribing vnto the Romish Apostacy As for your vnkle whose domestical example so much confirmes you I thinke hee was a man of no great note sure I am of no great fame either at home or abroad Yet were his deserts far greater I am not vnprovided of a domesticall example able every way to match him yea and over-match him too My mothers Brother I mean that vnvaluable Iewel whose name is renowned throughout all the Churches Who being Fellow of Corpus Christi Colledge in Oxford and Bachelour in Divinitie possessed also of a Benefice neere the Vniversitie and by reason of his eminence in learning as likely to rise as any yet hee readily forsooke Fellowship Friends Benefice Hopes and all for Christs sake and put himselfe into a voluntary exile all the raigne of Q. Mary