Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	body_n	dead_a	raise_v	5,340	5	7.2294	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A64198	The opinion of witchcraft vindicated in an answer to a book intituled The question of witchcraft debated : being a letter to a friend / by R.T.	R. T.	1670 (1670)	Wing T50; ESTC R37869	23,825	66

the impiety of saying that he permits Witchcraft If we do not deny that God suffers one man to murther another why should we not without impiety confess that he suffers Witches to do the same thing Certainly no reason can be given why it should be more impious to say that he permits one sin then another and if not I see none why this opinion should be charged with either irrationality or impiety His last objection is as malicious as it is frivolous for sayes he the opinion of Witchcraft being true no man can be able by the light of reason to know if Christ were a Witch or no. But if he had considered the difference between the miracles wrought by the Holy Jesus and the Impostures of Witches if he had considered the different ends to which they tend if he had had any regard to the life and conversation of our Blessed Saviour and that of an Impostor the holiness of the one and the wickedness of the other if he had weigh'd the words of our Saviour You shall know the Tree by it's fruit can one gather Grapes of Thornes or Figgs of Thistles he might have spared this Objection Who ever believed of all the rational assertors of VVitchcraft that an Impostor could infallibly cure all diseases by a word of his mouth or a touch of his hand That he could raise the dead to life after they had been so long buried as to stink in their Graves That he could feed five thousand with five loaves and two fishes that he could cause the Earth to tremble and the Sun to be darkened at his death The graves of dead men to be opened and their Bodies to arise to accompany him at his Resurrection finally that he could raise himself after three dayes burial and converse for some days with men and at last gloriously to ascend up to Heaven in the sight of several witnesses Methinks the manner of our Saviours Birth is enough to satisfie us in this particular that he was born of a Virgin that a glorious Star appeared over the place of his birth that a company of Heavenly Angels were sent to proclaim it as tidings of joy to the whole World and that the wise men being led by his Star which they had seen in the East came so far to worship him and bring him presents Much more might be said to shew the great difference between them but I think it is so visible to those who have read the life of our Saviour in the four Evangelists that I shall not need to insist upon it I will onely add that the sweetness of his disposition the sincerity of his Doctrine the holiness of his life and conversation his transcendent knowledge his zeal for the glory of God and the Salvation of men are infallible Testimonies to prove that he was no Imposter So that if whatever has been by the common people ascribed to Witches which seems miraculous were really true and that they had done all or more than has ever been believ'd of them yet should we have no reason to doubt of our Blessed Saviours Divinity and his faith that thinks so is but weakly grounded and in danger of being shaken by every strange Action which is beyond the reach of his understanding Our Saviour himself has told us that false Christs shall come with signs and wonders able to deceive if it were possible the very Elect which is enough to convince us notwithstanding this Authors objection that such miraculous Actions may be performed without a Divine commission as may carry with them a great shew of Divine power but he is in a deplorable condition that from thence concludes that Christ Jesus might be an Impostor Thus I have done with his objections after which he tells you his opinion of the Nature and power of Devils I believe sayes he that the Devils are aërial Creatures and though they have more skill strength and agility than men yet they act as men do by applying Natural Agents and Patients one to the other in this sublunary VVorld but as for the VVorld aetherial or coelestial I suppose they have no power there but consequently that the wind bloweth when and where it listeth and that the seasons of the year are neither promoted nor hindred by them or the fruits of the Earth To this I answer that I think it is apparent out of the first Chapter of Iob that the Devil may raise winds and Tempests but I am of his opinion that he cannot promote or hinder the seasons of the year or alter the course of the Stars and Planets as for the last touching the fruits of the Earth he himself has said enough against it in the eleventh page of his Book where he sayes that men by their well ordering the seeds of Plants may strangely promote the generation of such Plants and the ripening of their Fruits therefore he adds the Devils being more skilful than men may strangely promote the generation of several Creatures Thus having answered himself he has sav'd me the labour and I see very little or no reason that he has to tax the affirmers of Witchcraft with approaching to the opinion of the Persians of two great principles of good and evil both Almighty for by the opinion of Witchcraft nothing of omnipotency is ascribed to the Devil as he supposes and by this saying he seems not to understand what is meant by omnipotency for any one Action how strange soever it seems to us cannot be an Argument to prove an omnipotency in the doer so to say if the Devil can raise a wind he must be omnipotent is ridiculous as much as if he said I can blow with a pair of Bellows Ergo I am omnipotent I can do one thing Ergo I can do all things if the Devil raises a wind he does but Act upon natural Bodies and by natural means which requires nothing of omnipotency So if he causes Thunders or Lightnings or if he changes one Body i●to another he has still matter to work upon and so long we may suppose any thing to be done without omnipotency b●cause we know not how far the Laws of Nature are intended Now for what he quotes out of the Ancyran council it is not much to be regarded for it seems not to have been intended against the opinion of Witches in general but to shew the folly of those Witches which believ'd the illusions of the Devil to be realities and professed that in the night time they conversed with Diana or some other heathen god or goddess for they feared lest by this their folly the common people might be led to the old errour of the heathens in believing a plurality of gods this seems very plain from the words of the Council Quod quaedam sceleratae mulieres retro post sathanam conversae daemonum illusionibus phantasmatibus seductae se nocturnis horis cum Diana Paganorum Dea c. super quasdam bestias equitare