Selected quad for the lemma: conscience_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
conscience_n	law_n	sin_n	transgression_n	2,525	5	10.8527	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A19065	Christian offices crystall glasse In three bookes. First written in Latine, by that famous and renowned Father, Saint Ambrose Bishop of Millane. Whereunto is added his conuiction of Symmachus the Gentile. A worke tending to the advancement of vertue, and of holinesse: and to shew how much the morality of the Gentiles, is exceeded by the doctrine of Christianity. Translated into English by Richard Humfrey ...; De officiis. English	Ambrose, Saint, Bishop of Milan, d. 397.; Humfrey, Richard.	1637 (1637)	STC 548; ESTC S100171	335,831	469

prayer used in the Church Ad te nostras rebelles compelle propitius Preces voluntates This cuts the throat of that misconceived opinion misleading too many of universall grace standing upon it that they are able to make it good that God openeth the eyes of all to see and the eares of all to heare the mysteries of salvation if they will when they cannot will without some speciall motion of Gods spirit The more this their acute position is sifted the more braine is found in it The finest wits go a wooll-gathering sometimes as did Plato when hee would not bee drawne from this perswasion of his that vice was not voluntary when it is well known to bee cleane against divine truth testifying Gen. 6.5 8.21 Mat. 15.19 Iob 15.16 Psal 62.4 36 4. Rom. 3.15 Es 59.7 every where that it is willingly committed and with delight in the unregenerate And had hee understood of the fall of our first parents who fell willingly hee would easily have yeelded Yea had hee considered the pleasure that is taken in sinne breaking out of our corrupt nature hee would never have maintained it That of the Philosopher reason to bee not only a lampe to guide the understanding and a Queene to moderate the will but attributing to it power perfectly to governe it selfe to seeke after the best things to avoide offence is no lesse erronious when in truth it not only comprehendeth not what true piety is but remaineth uncapable of many things incident to this life Who seeth not that humane reason openeth her mouth even against the Rom. 3.5 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 righteousnesse of God it selfe invents some obloquie alwayes against his sacred truth Grace hath need of nature Luminis naturalis ductum repellere non modò stultum est sed impium Aug. de Trinit l. 4 C. 6. her light and guidance cannot be denied to be necessary yet in Rom. 1.21.23 discerning of things spirituall starke blind her science darknesse Let it bee granted that it is exact and absolute in it selfe yet in comparison of that great luminary of divine grace it is as nothing No humane reason can reach unto that maine principle whereupon our Christian faith dependeth that the sacred bookes are the oracles of God Neither can this bee so effectually proved by any other motives and inducements neuer so strong and consonant to reason as by the testimony of the spirit All the powers of naturall reason joyned with experience and science are not available to worke faith are not able to see much lesse to feele what the speciall grace of the holy Ghost is cannot inlighten for that only comes from Gods spirit the understanding and as for the donation of grace it concurres solely in the study of the word of God accompanying no other and the gift of sanctification is so peculiar to it that it is appropriated and the proper passion thereof Such a tye goes with it as with no science beside as to be believed what is Hebr. 11.12 contrary to common reason and sense it selfe first to Es 7.9 2 Chr. 20.20 beleeve afterward to learne and Chrisostome affirming no inquirie must be made of it but subscription and obedience tendered Summes 2.2 q. 10. Art 14. Aquinas interpreting that of the Rom. 14.23 Apostle whatsoever is not of faith is sinne saith this may be thus understood that the life of Infidels cannot bee without sinne when sinnes are not taken away without faith whereunto he addeth that it followeth not from hence infidels to sinne in every worke when in them that naturall goodnesse of reason which exhorteth to the best things is not altogether extinct and abolished Wee grant it to bee so concerning the substance of worke sinne in it selfe and civill actions but concerning Sapientia simpliciter est cognitio divinarum rerum Aug. de Trinit spirituall to bee so wee utterly deny and that upon sure warrant of the holy Ghost testifying that Rom 8.7 Hic observemus hominis voluntatem Divinae voluntati per omnia adversari Calv. all wisdome of the flesh is enmitie against God The adversarie Sophists restraine it to sensuality but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is not of the sense but of the reason Whereby it appeareth that the reasonable part with the will as well as the sensuall is averse from God And so much doth the ordinary Omnis infidelium Vita peccatum est glosse intimate and so doth Lib. 6. Annotat. 25● Anselm Ambros l. 1. de vocat Gent. speake to this sense Sixtus Senensis a learned man of their owne side Lib. 5. Cap. 6. Bellarmine seeing these streights slips by it and falls upon another Lib. Arb. place interpreting faith there to be the conscience affirming all the Fathers to expound it so Rom. 14.23 But whether yee take without faith concerning that of the Infidell or weake Christian though they both want it yet are they not without conscience And as for the Fathers they affirme that faith there is the knowledge of Christian libertie which more particularly concerneth conscience then generally to understand the same according to his sence whatsoever is without faith that is without conscience is sinne The truth is whatsoever we enter upon unlawfully under the guilt of conscience and under the knowledge of the breach of Christian liberty is sinne And therefore the law of God written in the consciences of the infidell Gentiles accuseth them when they sinne against it and convinceth them of transgression Wherefore to grant Bellarmine what he desireth that whatsoever is against conscience not whatsoever is against Christian liberty which is the orthodox exposition is sinne he hath gained nothing I resolve the point then with In Cap. 1. Iob. Origen That I may speake briefly and boldly all things whatsoever men shall doe either in virginity or abstinency or in the chastity of the body or in the distribution of their goods they doe all in vaine if they shall not doe it in faith For all severity all justice which any man shall use without a true inward faith hee useth it to no purpose it shall nothing profit him in the day of perdition nothing helpe him in the day of wrath Thus farre of differences in a triplicity Now in a duplicity some few more which stand betweene the Christian and Ethnick For these our points of morality they have spoken wonderfull well and if any shall say otherwise he shall wrong them Christianitie then hath this in common with them and her sonnes disdained not to Eustathius a Bishop commenting upon Homer Aug. Lact. Iren. Cyp. Hil. reade their bookes for their goodly documents but yet so that it selfe hath gone a great deale farther That of Plato before specified wee are not borne for our selves c. is much short of Pauls rule charitie seeketh not her owne and of our Saviour we must love our neighbour as our selves He goes to country parentage friends and there leaves now what becomes of the poore These if they had not