Selected quad for the lemma: conscience_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
conscience_n	good_a	pure_a	unfeigned_a	2,187	5	10.9762	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
B04702	An antidote against a careless indifferency in matters of religion. Being a treatise in opposition to those that believe, that all religions are indifferent, and that it imports not what men profess. / Done out of French. With an introduction by Anthony Horneck, D.D. Chaplain in ordinary to their Majesties.; Traité contre l'indifférence des religions. English	Pictet, Benedict, 1655-1724.; Horneck, Anthony, 1641-1697.	1694 (1694)	Wing P2153; ESTC R181787	77,076	145

of Monsieur Justel by which every one is left at his liberty whether he will embrace the Christian Religion or not I could also quote several Emperors For example The Emperor Constantine who had desir'd that all his Subjects might be Christians without constraining any body The Emperor Jovian who is applauded for that he gave every body leave to profess what Religion he pleas'd The Emperor Valentinian who set forth Laws by which he gave Liberty to every body to profess the Religion wherein he was bred The Emperor Marcian who in the Letter which he wrote to the Archimandrites and the Monks of Jerusalem We will not hale says he or drag any Person whoever he be into the way of Truth either by T●reats or by Violence and the Emperor Constant in Pogonatus who in his Letter to the Bishop of Rome upon occasion of the Sixth Universal Council which he call'd at Constantinople expresly says We could invite and exhort all the W●rld to amend themselves and unite with the Christians but we will constrain no body 'T is true that Charlemaigne us'd violence towards the Saxons but his Conduct is blam'd be Ale●…n● his Tutor as was also that of King Chilperic by Gregory the First and that of King Sisebut in Spain by the Council of Toledo Lastly I could cite the Pagans themselves who have been of the same Opinion That no body has Right over the Conscience and that the Will is not to be forc'd as appears by what was written by an Indian Philosopher to Alexander Thy Friends advise thee to offer violence to the Indian Philosophers Thou mayst remove their Bodies from one Place to another but thou canst never force their Minds c. There is no Prince or King that can make us do any thing against our Will This is a most certain Truth and they who are of another Opinion talk against the Light of their Understandings Thus M. Le B●et Counsellor of State in his Treatise of the King's Sovereignty discussing the Question Whether it be Lawful sometimes to disobey the King Answers That in matters of Religion there is no wavering to be admitted between the Fear of God and Man And he also maintains That in austere and harsh Proceedings the Minister of the Prince's Cruelties participates of his Crime and that a Judge who pronounces an unjust Sentence resolving upon Injustice and condemns the Innocent upon privy Signet Letters transgresses in his Obedience because that being a Messenger of Justice he never ought to abuse it to colour over the Fury and Iniquity of a Prince who borrows the Formalities of it What think ye was the meaning of St. Paul when he teaches us that we ought to submit to Princes not only for Wrath but also for Conscience sake No other without question but that we ought to submit to the Higher Powers in things which are not forbid by the Law of God not only for Wrath that is to say because there is no resisting 'em without punishment and without incurring their Indignation but also for Conscience sake that is because the word of God binds our Consciences to it For if we allow any greater Latitude to the words it must be said that St. Paul meant that we should sacrifice to false Gods if we liv'd under a Prince that should c●mmand it Which is that which no Man dares presume to say Since no Man can be ignorant of the Opinion of that faithful Servant of God in this particular We say no more of it here because we have already spoken concerning it CHAP. XX. Against those who believe it sufficient to live according to the Rules of Moral Honesty THere are many People who believe it to be sufficient to live well but that 't was no great matter what they believ'd that it was enough to reform their Manners but that there was no necessity of tormenting a Man's self about his Belief and that he may be Sav'd in all S●cts provided he abstains from those Vices which the Law of God and right Reason condemn But they who are of this Opinion are grosly mistaken nor will it be a difficult thing to evince ' em First if it be sufficient to lead an Innocent Life without ever troubling our selves what we ought to believe 't is a wonderful thing that Faith should be so often recommended to us and that the Holy Men of God should declare that without it there is no Salvation Amend your Lives says Christ but at the same time believe in the Gospel If thou believ'st said Philip to the Eunuch and he Answer'd I believe that Jesus is the Son of God If thou confess with thy Mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God has rais'd him from the dead thou shalt be sav'd But without Faith it is impossible to please him Heb. 11.6 He that believeth in him is not condemn'd but he that believeth not is already condemn'd because he has not believ'd in the name of the only begotten of God And this Faith is distinguish'd from good Works as you may find in the Epistles to the Roman● the Glatians and in other Places I confess that Faith alone without Charity is not sufficient to Save Thô I should speak with the Tongue of Men and Angels if I have not Charity I am become as sounding Brass or a Tinkling Cymb●l And thô I have the Gift of Prophecy and Vnderstand all Misteries and all Knowledge and thô I have all Faith that I could remove Mountains and have no Charity I am nothing 1 Cor. 13. I confess also that without Sanctification we cannot see God Heb. 12. But I averr in the First place that there is no Sanctification where there is no Faith 'T is Faith that purifies the Heart Secondly That Faith ought to have Charity for its foundation it ought to proceed saith St. Paul 1 Tim. 1.5 From a good Conscience a pure Heart and a Faith unfeigned Faith is dead without Charity but there is no true Charity without Faith II. If it be sufficient to live morally well I cannot conceive wherefore St. John 1 Epist cap. 4. would have us try the Spirits with so much care to avoid the receiving all Doctrines that are Taught us Beloved says He Believe not every Spirit but try the Spirits whether they are of God And for fear lest Men should think that examination of the Spirits was recommended to 'em only to try whether they taught a strict or loose Morality the Apostle adds That every Spirit that confesseth not that Iesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God but this is that Spirit of Antichrist c. If no Man then can be of God unless he confess Christ come in the flesh certainly it cannot be sufficient to live morally well to be sav'd unless Men think they can obtain Salvation without being of God Moreover whence comes it that the same Apostle in his Second Epistle forbids the Faithful to receive into their Houses or

they study Human Sciences Let 'em consider 1. That the dispute is not here about a Thing of little Importance since it concerns their being Eternally Miserable if they are deceiv'd as we shall make appear in this Treatise 2. Let 'em not reject what we shall say under pretence of meeting with Reasons that are not fully convincing For thô there were but one good Reason in a Chapter 't were enough to oblige 'em to return from their Wandrings 3. That they ought not to despise the Arguments under pretence that they have heard 'em several times but let 'em carefully examine 'em and lay aside their Prejudices 4. Lastly That it is not enough to find some petty fault to reject the Reasons which are produced for that there is nothing so easie as to oppose some little Sophisms to good Arguments But let 'em consult their own Consciences I most Heartily beseech Almighty God to give a Blessing to my weak Endeavours ERRATA PAge 18. Line 18. for Sees read Seems page 30. l. 32. dele All. p. 31. l. ult for in r. with p. 34. l. 12. for no Confusion r. nothing but Confusion pa. 42. l. 33. for King r. Kind pa. 46. l. 22. for the first him r. us pa. 56. l. 31. for Proportions r. Propositions pa. 66. l. 19. for subscribe r. prescribe pa. 69. l. 12. for wearing r. drawing for upon r. from pa. 71. l. 2. for of her r. other pa. 74. l. 6. for has r. is pa. 77. l. 8. Insert Not. pa. 79. l. 18. for Animosity r. Animality pa. 89. Chap. XV. for they make r. they may make pa. 90. l. 8. after strong insert they pa. 93. l. 4. for long r. come pa. 94. l. 26. for the things of Consistence r. Remorce of Conscience pa. 130. l. 32. for assert r. asserts A TREATISE Against those that believe that all Religions are Indifferent CHAP. I. Wherein after we have suppos'd that there is a God we shew that God is most perfect That he is the Author of all the Good which is in the Creatures and that we ought to Fear and Honour him THE Being of a God is a Truth so Evident that no Man can deny it without combating his own Reason There 's no necessity of straining our Endeavours to believe it for that Man must put a Violence upon himself who dares to contradict it For proof of it there is no need of rommaging for Metaphysical high-flown far fetch'd Arguments scarcely within the Reach of most Men's Understanding The Consideration of this same spacious Universe expos'd to our Eyes and all the Creatures we behold within it together with the Correspondency the Symmetry and Relation of the several Innumerable parts to the Whole is sufficient to convince all people that will listen to their Reason For as for those that are not struck with the sensible Marks which the Author of Nature has imprinted on his Works they will never submit to the Force of Dispute The most Eloquent and most Learned of the * Cicero l. 2. Nat. Deorum Romans was so over-rul'd by this particular Proof that he makes no scruple to maintain after a great Philosopher that if Men should of a sudden start up from under the Earth where they had remain'd in Darkness from the Time of their Birth and all at once behold the Land the Sea and Heavens the Beauty the vast Body and wonderful Effects of the Sun they would not fail to acknowledge a Deity and to confess that the whole which they contemplated was the Workmanship of a God In short either we must believe that the Matter is Eternal or that the World is the Effect of Chance or else we must acknowledge that there is an All-powerful Being which made both the one and the other Now it cannot be said that a Dead and Insensible Mass such as was the Matter is an Eternal Being and without any Beginning because it would be the Greatest of all Absurdities to ascribe to the Vilest of all Beings the Chiefest of all Perfections which is to exist of it self Besides in regard that Motion is not Essential to the Matter tho' it should be suppos'd to be Eternal we should be still putting the Question when it began to have Motion Who it was that gave it the first Impressions Who it was that shap'd it into so many various Figures Who made this Motion so just and Regular and who it was that produc'd such an Infinite variety of Creatures out of one and the same Matter So that when all is done we must come to one Sovereign Being which we call GOD. It cannot be said that this Vast Universe is the Effect of Chance or that it was the Accidental Meeting of Certain little Bodies which produc'd it The Pagan Philosopher who maintain'd this Opinion that Nature muster'd together all the Atomes of her Wisdom to compose it seems to me no less Extravagant in this particular then He who beholding several Pictures wherein were to be observ'd all the Rules of Exact and Elaborate Painting and a great Number of Figures curiously drawn should say that it was the Workmanship of Chance or that the Colours mix'd so Artfully together of themselves What Man of sound Judgment can be so vain to think that it was Chance that made the Whole which we Contemplate the Heavens the Earth the Sun the Stars the Plants and Animals That it was Chance that in the Wombs of our Mothers form'd a Piece of Workmanship so perfect as that of our Bodies whose Structure Figure Organs Members their wonderful Symmetry and just Proportion is still the Admiration of Human Wisdom that it was Chance which produc'd our Souls that Soul which thinks which raises it self above our Sences and which corrects and govern 'em that searches after invents and finds out those things that seem'd impossible for Human Reach Lastly that it was Chance which united this Soul so perfectly with the Body that such and such motions of the Body stir up Thoughts in the Soul and such and such Thoughts of the Soul which produce variety of Motions in the Body Certainly we must no longer pretend to make use of our Reason if we once deny these to be the Works of an All-powerful most Wise All-understanding and most Perfect Being So that I shall not undertake to refute those who in defence of Epicurus adventure to bring some Examples of what Chance is able to perform For there is so little proportion between what they alledge and the Creatures which we speak of that 't is a wonder that People who pretend to Wit should employ it in such feeble Proofs I might as easily prove that because it so happens that three or four Letters may be so thrown together by chance as to form a word a Man might as easily make a Poem as accomplish'd as Virgil's Aeneads Nay thô I should grant that Chance might form some one of those Creatures which we every day admire Shall we from thence