Selected quad for the lemma: conscience_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
conscience_n	eat_v	idol_n	weak_a	2,180	5	9.3570	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A70803	A decad of caveats to the people of England of general use in all times, but most seasonable in these, as having a tendency to the satisfying such as are not content with the present government as it is by law establish'd, an aptitude to the setling the minds of such as are but seekers and erraticks in religion an aim at the uniting of our Protestant-dissenters in church and state : whereby the worst of all conspiracies lately rais'd against both, may be the greatest blessing, which could have happen'd to either of them : to which is added an appendix in order to the conviction of those three enemies to the deity, the atheist, the infidel and the setter up of science to the prejudice of religion / by Thomas Pierce ...	Pierce, Thomas, 1622-1691.	1679 (1679)	Wing P2176; Wing P2196; ESTC R18054	221,635	492

Sacrifice unto Idols which yet we cannot eat lawfully if in the Presence of a Brother who hath either a condemning or doubting Conscience We must beware that this our Liberty become not a Stumbling-block to them that are weak And therefore He that had knowledge in the Times of the Apostle was not in reason to sit at meat in the Idol's Temple for fear that he who had none should be imboldned to eat of things offer'd unto Idols even against his over weak and erroneous Conscience So that although not to abstain for another man's sake when we need not for our own cannot be said to be a Sin through any unlawfulness in the Object indulged to yet 't is a Breach of that Rule which was set by S. Paul for all to walk by That no man put a Stumbling-block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way Rom. 14. 13. Which Rule cannot extend to those things Indifferent which being such but antecedently are consequentially Necessary in as much as they are under the Obligation of a Command and a Command from That Authority which God has commanded us to obey And this Parenthesis being premis'd for the preventing of Mistakes I proceed to give an Instance of the Case but now mention'd For Thus the Liberty to fly for the escaping of a shamefull and painfull Death though very lawfull as to its nature may be unlawfull as to its use in regard of many Circumstances wherewith the Case may be apparell'd For first however it is lawfull it may be highly inexpedient as to the scandal it may give to our weaker Brethren concerning which I have spoken enough already And next however it is lawfull it may be scandalously indecent as to the Gravity of a man's Age and the Dignity of his Calling In each of which cases That which is lawfull in it self is notwithstanding not allowable in the Circumstances propos'd because inconsistent with two main Virtues to wit with Charity in the first Instance and with Prudence in the second An Example we have of Both in the renowned Eleazer 2 Macc. 6. Who being sentenced to the Torments for refusing to eat of unlawfull Meats would not basely save his life no not by eating such Meat as was lawfull for him And for this his Resolution he gave two reasons First he argued from the Indecency and again from the Danger of it 'T would be indecent to Himself and as dangerous to others who straight would follow his Example as well of Cowardize as of Courage by whichsoever of the two he should chance to lead them First he would not bring flesh of his own Provision and make as if he did eat of what was commanded by the King as his old Friends at Court would fain have had him v. 21. because he was told by his Discretion that 't was not sutable to the honour of his reverend Gray-head v. 23. and He would shew himself such as his Age required v. 27. Again He would not save his Life by such an appearance of Impiety as the eating of what was lawfull in lieu of what was unlawfull because he was prompted by his Charity not to indanger many young Persons their being betray'd by that Artifice to think that old Eleazer when he was Fourscore years and Ten had at last gone away to a strange Religion v. 24 25. Whereas 't was very fit for Him who was one of the Principal of the Scribes v. 18. to leave a notable Example of Sincerity and Courage and of Daringness to die for the Laws of God v. 28. and 31. Thus there are very many things which though lawfull to us as Christians are yet unseemly for us as Men and do dishonour our Vocation even then when they do not defile our Conscience For how many Trades are there very lawfull in themselves which yet by us of the Clergy cannot lawfully be driven And therefore Abstinence from These is to be reckon'd as a Duty at least to our Quality and our Rank if not precisely to our Religion Abstain we therefore as much as may be from all that carries any appearance or shew of Evil And as from all that is Expedient unless it appears to be lawfull too so from all that is lawfull but not expedient § 17. Again Abstain from those things which though not evil in themselves are yet Incentives or Occasions or Introductories to evil and however not formally yet effectively such For as it is not onely said Thou shalt not steal but over and above Thou shalt not covet so the way not to covet is not to see not to tast not to touch such an Object as is naturally apt to inchant the Senses Our Saviour tells us of Adultery in the Heart And the Apostle S. Peter of Adultery in the Eye And Moses pressing his Congregation to an effectual Abstinence from the Evil which Corah and others had newly done said Depart from the Tents of these wicked men and Touch nothing of theirs Depart from all suspected Persons and Places too For he that toucheth Pitch shall be defiled therewith And he that loves danger shall perish in it Whatsoever is born of the Flesh is Flesh Joh. 3. 6. Nor does the Wax with more Aptness take an Impression from the Seal than the Flesh from the Bait of an ill Affection Insomuch that some parts of the holy Scripture were in the Times of Cassianus not intrusted to the Ears of the younger Christians Ne noxiae Titillationis stimulus excitaretur He that hopes to be Safe whilst he converseth with Incentives to any Sin is thought by Solomon as Irrational as if he should walk on hot Coals and hope his feet will not be burnt or take fire into his Bosom in a confidence that it will not consume his cloths Prov. 7. 27 28. Nay S. Bernard was of opinion That to be conversant with a Woman and yet be innocent in converse is a difficulter work than to raise the Dead And then the Hebrew Wise men could not be righteous overmuch when they prohibited all discourse betwixt Man and Woman excepting onely That of an Husband with a Wife both in regard of the Scandal and Danger of it the possible scandal unto others and actual Danger unto Themselves § 18. How very nearly it does concern even the gravest and the most safe to abstain from all Occasions and Opportunities of evil may be collected from the Examples both of Andreas Bishop of Fundo and of the exemplary Martinian a famous Hermit Whereof the former was fain to banish an holy Matron out of his House because he found he could not safely injoy her sight nor be protected by her Innocence from the great Hazard of his own The Later finding he could not otherwise be exempted from the Occasions and Baits of Sin threw Himself first into the Fire for the refining of his Desires and after That into the Water whereby to drown them Nay

Pythagoras had rather a man should throw out a Stone than a word or two rashly and at a venture yea if of every idle word Men shall give an account in the day of Judgment how much more of every evil one when falseness and rancour are cleaving to it And we read that evil Thoughts which proceed out of the Heart are especially the things that defile the Man Matth. 15. 18 19 20. A Truth discernable as by other so by this reason also That many customary Sinners may be forcibly restrain'd from their evil Actions who yet can never be restrain'd from their evil Thoughts too For as Crows from Carrion are not forced to abstain by Satiety it self but still abide upon the Place as if they could never fill their Eyes though they have their Bellies so customary Sinners when Age or Sickness hath made them innocent as to their Actions do love to think over the Sins they have not vigour enough to act They can no more cease from Sin which Custom has riveted in their Souls than Flies inured to the Shambles are able to abstain from the smell of Meat Now whether the Evil of our Thoughts be of Wilfulness or Infirmity we are to exercise our selves in abstaining from it For we must actually abstain from all wilfull evil and we must studiously abstain from all the evil of Infirmity so as to hate and to deplore and to strive against it This I say for our Humiliation But I add for our Comfort too that so long as we are striving with the utmost of our Ablility against the stream of human Frailties we are not liable to Wrath in case the violence of the Torrent prevail against us Prevail against us I mean so as in spite of all our striving to have some residence though not habitually to reign in our mortal Bodies For when we strive against That from which we cannot so abstain as to be every way sinless Then we are reckon'd to abstain so far forth as to be sincere And though a Sinlesness is not yet is a singleness or sincerity the indispensable Requisite of a Christian And in this sense at least we must abstain from all evil as well from the least as from the greatest § 14. Lastly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Abstain from all evil although it shall not at all be simply but accidentally such Many hundreds of things there are however reducible unto four or five Heads which are not absolutely Evil but yet are evil ex accidenti And what is evil but accidentally is simply Good And so there are several good things which though absolutely and simply and antecedently such yet from The same being consider'd in some Relations and Respects it is a Christian man's Duty very carefully to abstain And in consequence of This Abstain from every good thing which thy Conscience does condemn and from every good thing which thy Conscience doubts of and from every good thing by which thy Brother is made to stumble and to fall headlong into Sin and from every good thing which is comparatively evil by being heedlesly preferr'd to what is very much better and from every good Thing which strongly administers an Occasion and a Temptation unto evil I say abstain from the first sort because though there is nothing unclean in it self of all those Meats which are food for men yet to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean to Him in that Errour it is unclean Rom. 14. 14. And abstain from the second sort because he that doubteth is damn'd if he eat in that he eateth not of Faith for whatsoever is not of Faith is Sin Rom. 14. 23. And abstain from the third sort because though every kind of edable is simply Pure and so may lawfully be eaten yet it is evil for that man who eateth with offence And therefore if thou hast Faith and understandest thy Christian Liberty make a private use of it betwixt God and thy self For happy is He who condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth Rom. 14. 20 21 22. Again Abstain from the fourth sort because God hath declared He will have Mercy rather than Sacrifice Mat. 9. 13. And the saving of a Sheep on the Sabbath Day rather than the resting from bodily labour Mat. 12. 11. and rather a being reconcil'd to an injur'd Brother than bringing a Gift unto the Altar Mat. 5. 23. 24. Last of all let us abstain from the fifth sort of Objects which are simply good enough but accidentally evil because of the Precept of our Apostle in the words of my Text which though it may seem to be a rigorous is yet a mercifull Command For 't is easier whilst we are innocent to abstain from the guilt of any one act of Sin than having yielded unto one to forbear another Abstinence from evil is nothing else but an Act of Fasting And certainly He who cannot fast from the Approaches of Impiety will much less fast from the Presence of it If we cannot well abstain from conversing with the Occasions how much less from the Act of a pleasant evil or if not from the Act how much less from the Habit Aegrius ejicitur quàm non admittitur Hostis 'T is very much easier not to admit than to drive out an Enemy Very much easier to prevent than to cure a Leprosie Which our Apostle well considering was not onely of the Opinion but made it the Rule of his Practice also in his whole Ninth Chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians that to keep far enough off from doing any thing unlawfull he was to abstain from many things which were lawfull too Nor does he content himself here to say Abstain from all Habits and Acts of Evil but from all Appearance of it And so I am faln upon the means whereby our Abstinence may be completed the last Particular in the Division 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Abstain from all Appearance of Evil. § 15. And to the end that we may do so in every sense and acception the word will bear let the Caveat be extended to these two Heads First of all to those things which though not evil in themselves yet to others or to us do appear to be so Next to things which though not sinfull no not so much as in appearance do put upon us a kind of Byass and Propensity to Sin To the former I shall refer whatsoever Things are lawfull but yet uncomly or inexpedient I shall refer unto the later whatsoever Things are lawfull but of dangerous consequence not formally evil but grosly evil in the effect § 16. And first abstain from those things which if not evil in themselves yet to others or to us do appear to be so and by consequence though they are lawfull consider'd simply in their Natures yet in certain conjunctures they cannot lawfully be done As for example it is lawfull to eat of things which either are or have been offer'd in