Selected quad for the lemma: ground_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
ground_n	believe_v	reason_n	scripture_n	1,987	5	6.3322	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A52138	Plain-dealing, or, A full and particular examination of a late treatise, entituled, Humane reason by A.M., a countrey gentleman.	Marvell, Andrew, 1621-1678.	1675 (1675)	Wing M876; ESTC R23029	77,401	164

to pay obedience to them upon this pretence that he is to be guided only by his own Reason I appeal to this Author himself whether he would be satisfied with this answer or whether he would not if it lay in his power turn such a refractory Fellow out of his society unless he did conform himself to the Orders and Statutes of it If not it would be impossible for him to maintain the Society if he would expel him he clearly proves that the Principle on which he seems to build his whole Book is not to be allowed to any person that is subject to the Laws of any Society If he shall say that therefore he added those limitations if it take such directions as it ought and may do c. I would fain know in any Society who shall be Judge whether or no every Member of it doth rightly limit his Reason shall the Person himself or the Governour of the Society If the Person himself then the limitations signifie nothing and the Society would soon signifie as little if the Governour must be so far Judge as to punish those Actions that are done contrary to the Statutes and Orders of the place then why should not the Governours of the Church be allowed the same power I cannot see any Reason at all unless we are arrived at that madness to think it indifferent whether the Church be dissolved or up held or whether we have any Religion in our Nation or none at all I would not be one of that number who should dispute against the power and priviledges of Humane Reason for no man loves Reason better then my self nor would I assert any such Priviledge to exempt men from Laws or from the publick exercise of Religion For I think nothing can be more unreasonable and yet I am deceived if I have not proved that this Assertion which is the whole sum of our Authors Book is of that nature But he hath one killing Argument that like a two-edged Sword doth execution both ways with which he strikes all dead that dare oppose him And this it is page 3. They that dispute most against Reason do it because their own Reason perswades them to that belief c. This is just such a mortal Argument as the Papists use to prove that the Church is the onely Rule of Faith For say they whoso denies this and asserts the Scripture to be the Rule of Faith can have no Authority nor Ground for their belief of the Scripture but the Authority of the Church and therefore we ought to believe as the Church teacheth us and not as the Scripture But the Answer is not very hard to be made to the Romanists It is true indeed the reason why we believe the four Gospels and the Epistles to be the Writings of those Divinely-inspired persons whose Names they bear must be this because they have been so received by the Church in all Ages and the reason why we believe those Miracles were done as they are related in Scripture must be from the constant Testimony of the Universal Church and from these Miracles we are sure they were written by persons inspired by God and consequently that they are the Rule by which we are to walk Thus the Authority of the Church onely leads us to the Scriptures as an infallible Rule and leaves us there to be guided by them and not by the Church any further then her Commands are agreeable to the Commands of God contained in the Scriptures Neither is the Answer much different nor much more difficult to our Authors dead-doing Demonstration for though Reason must direct us to a Rule by which we are to act yet when we have once found out such a Rule as our Reason assures us is Infallible we then ought to govern our selves no longer by our bare Reason but by our Reason guided by that Rule and to act those things not that Reason onely doth direct us but such things as our Infallible Rule commands us So that we see Reason is so far from being our onely Guide that it directly leads us to the Scriptures and leaves us to be directed by them by which it confesseth that it self ought to be guided If the Author shall now say that I have mistaken his Notion and that his intention in this Book was onely to bring Men into their right wits and make Men consider the reasonableness of the Religion of the Church of England and consequently conform themselves to it I shall say no more then this to him that I wish he had made this Design more apparent that our Dissenters might not have joyn'd in the mistake of his Book and have construed it to the countenancing all Divisions and that he had not given by the whole contrivance of his Book so just cause of this scandal to them For the Book hath in most parts a double face that like Janus his looks two directly contrary ways at once and therefore we may justly suspect a double mind and some double dealings in the Author but this I must needs say for him that he hath ingeniously contrived it for like an armed Amazonian beauty it casts a pleasing look and seems to smile upon every one that looks on it and yet it bears about it the instruments of death I onely make this my request to him if he writes again that he would shew the World more of his honesty though less of his ingenuity by speaking plain truth but not Oracles that may be interpreted to comply with contradictions and lest he should mistake my Design I will deal plainly and tell him what it is viz. to do the duty of an honest English Gentleman and a good Christian by doing my endeavours according to my small abilities to preserve the Unity of the Church of England into which I was baptized I shall therefore endeavour to free the minds of all impartial Readers from those mistakes that might arise from this Book I am now examining To which end because some may perhaps be drawn into a maze by reading it as the Author was in writing it I shall endeavour to shew them the way out of it by walking along with them step by step and so letting them see the way back again by the same steps as they were at first led into it And now to my Task The Gentleman foreseeing as well he might that many Objections would be raised against him in the first place applies himself to ward them off Pag. 3. 4. Object 1. He thus proposeth That many of the greatest Wits have by following their own Opinions encreased the Catalogue of Heresies To this he answers That these men either followed not their own Reason but their Wills or first hood-winkt their Reason by interest and prejudice or passion c. All this I easily grant is truth but now I appeal to this Author himself whether he doth not believe that the number of those that follow their Wills more then their

men though he cannot be so much a fool to follow it himself viz. the relying on our naked reason so far as to exclude other more necessary helps especially in such matters as these of History concerning which Reason alone can be no competent Judge But yet this Gentleman is so confident positively to affirm pag. 26. that They that build their Faith upon past or present Ages are in much greater danger of being drawn from the Christian Faith then those who remit the judgment of these things wholly to their own Reason Whereas if he had considered things aright he must needs have seen that the main cause why our Reason will dictate to us that Christianity is the true Religion must be from the constant Tradition of the former Ages of the Church For from hence it is that we believe the Gospel to be the Writings of the Apostles from hence it is that we believe the Historical part of it and by consequence from hence it must proceed that we believe the Doctrines contained in it But let us hear his Reason for this bold Assertion it is nothing else but this that There hath been the Authority of an hundred to one against Christianity and that backed with the Universal Agreement of three thousand years before Certainly it is not possible for him to believe that this is any thing of a satisfactory Argument For did ever any body reckon the Tradition of the Heathens and Jews for the ground of the Christian Faith Does he not know that by Tradition every Christian that knows what he saith means the Tradition of the Church of Christ Can this then be any Reason against it that the Heathens and Jews did not assert it I am altogether of his Opinion that Reason will demonstrate the Christian above any other Riligion but still the Authority of the Christian Church together with the Gospel must acquaint us what Christianity is otherwise meer Reason could never know it So that let Reason alone though it be never so well followed with constancy diligence and sobriety it can demonstrate nothing of Christianity if it is not backed with the Authority of the Church Now I appeal to the Author himself to know how it is possible that the Universal Tradition of the Christian Church should lead us into such Errours as should cause us to deny Christ Was there ever any Age of Christians which did generally fall into the denial of Christ How could they then be called Christians who renounced the very essence of Christianity Now because this Author hath not told us what Helps and Directions a Christian must make use of to inform his Reason in matters of Religion I shall lay him down such a Rule as can never fail him in his main end his future happiness unless he be false to his Rule The Rule in general is this The Scriptures rightly interpreted To the interpretation of which is necessary a due meditation and apprehension of the scope and coherence of the words with a knowledge of the Original Languages and the peculiar Idioms of them together with the knowledge of the Customs of those times and places in which those things were done spoken and written which makes all Judaick and Ecclesiastical Authors especially Historians to be very requisite especially as to the understanding the New Testament For many things are but cursorily mentioned in the Gospel and therefore are best explained by the Writings of those that were conversant with the Apostles and their Successors who did converse with them and so on which calls in the assistance of all Antiquity especially the ancient Fathers of the three first Centuries and the four first General Councils and after all a sound rational Soul as necessary to lay these together where they agree and to judge which is most to be relied on where they differ and to draw well grounded consequences from them together with the Divine assistance concurring with all these means so that the common people that have not these advantages though they may have as good and sound rational Faculties as the greatest Scholars and can exercise them as judiciously in other things in which they have had convenience rightly to inform themselves are no more fit to interpret Scripture then they are to Comment on Euclid or Archimedes For that they have not those helps which are necessary for such a Work But what then must they do they must use the best means that God hath given them i. e. the Directions of the Church and of those Persons whom the Church hath by Gods Commission ordained over them to be their Guides and Instructers And though perhaps by their Guides unskilfulness or the corruption of the Church they are members of though this last cannot be supposed in the Church of England because it is free from all corruption in Doctrine they may be led into Errours yet since they have made use of the best means God hath given them he doth not require impossibilities at their hands and therefore will not impute those Errours to their Faults which he hath never given them power to help Whereas on the contrary if every one of the common people must be left wholly to the guidance of his own Reason they must necessarily run into as many Religions as there are men and worship a several Deity not onely every day of the week but every hour of the day and by thinking themselves as wise as their Teachers come to despise and contemn them and to trample under foot all Order and Decency to scorn the Laws of their Magistrates and in a word to run themselves into all confusion danger and wickedness This some men see well enough to be the natural consequence of this Opinion and therefore they who have a mind to make divisions amongst us do nothing else but cry up Conscience and every mans own Reason For if they can but thus separate the Sheep from the Shepherds they will soon make them stray so far till they get them into their own Pound These are the mighty advantages that the most of men would obtain by following no other Guide but their own Reason The next advantage of his Opinion is the great charitableness of it viz. That It sets the Gate of Heaven so wide open that all persons whatsoever may enter This is Charity indeed with a Witness to fill Heaven like Noab's Ark with all sorts of Beasts both clean and unclear But I am afraid there 's something else in the case besides altogether Charity that prompts the Author to this opinion he tells us so himself and therefore we may believe him that the humble consideration of his own weakness was another strong motive to him It seems the Gentleman begins to think that if there be no entrance into Heaven for Jews Turks Heathens and Atheists he himself shall scarce ever come there As for his Opinion that all these are in an equal possibility of salvation with the unerring Christian certainly

was true which he can never prove that God would not punish us for our wilful errours yet since the consequence of errours doth naturally lead us into the most damnable sins it therefore behooveth us if we tender our eternal happiness to take care to preserve our selves from errour which may be not only of dangerous but of damnable consequence to us What then is the wisest way for the most of men to guard themselves from these dangers This is a question well worth our consideration if we think we have such souls in us as are endangered by errour to be eternally lost and miserable What then must the common people here amongst us the greatest part of which have scarce reason enough to demonstrate themselves to be men do to secure themselves I answer It is the safest way for them to relie upon the Church especially in all matters of indifferency and of unnecessary disputes and upon some of those Guides which the Church hath lawfully called and authorized in all cases of conscience For since as this Gentleman tells us many nay most of men and the wisest of men have erred though they have had all the advantages to improve their reasons that this world could afford them how should any ordinary man who is void of all helps but his own natural reason dare to rely upon it alone in business of so great concern as his eternal happiness or misery Especially since he doth not think it convenient to rely upon it in business of lesser concern viz. That of his health or estate Now I appeal to all men that in difficult cases do consult their Lawyer and Physician whether they do not think it safer to rely upon their judgements then to be governed only by themselves they must say they do so else they were mad to consult them and give them mony for nothing So that this Author hath the suffrage of all wise men against his opinion when he tells us that upon the account of safety we ought to commit our selves wholly to our own reason in the search of truth Nay I will refer it to himself and challenge him upon his reputation if he hath any left to tell me whether his own practise doth not contradict his opinion that is whether or n● he consults his own reason and commits himself wholly to the guidance of it in cases that concern his life and estate or whether he is guided by the Doctor and the Barrister To this perhaps he will answer that he limits his discourse to the serch of Religious truths in which it is most safe for us to rely upon our own Reason But I pray you Sir why not then in all other can you shew me any cause of difference If you say because Religion is grounded upon probabilities I Answer so is Physick upon much more uncertainty then Religion and the Law is no less built upon uncertainties in many cases which have not been determined by presidents But suppose that religious matters are more intricate and obscure and less certain then other things since errours in Religion are no less dangerous to our Souls then errours in Law and Physick are to our Estates and Lives if we believe we have any souls We ought then to be more carefull to consult our Guides of Conscience then we are to take advice of our Lawyer or Physician But experience and practise is the best teacher Let us now suppose every private person to be wholly committed to the guidance of his own reason according to this Author's Doctrine and let us see what safety he enjoys thereby For then supposing he meets with a cunning Gentleman from Rome that hath been brought up in all advantages of Learning and Education that should baffle his reason for the defence of Protestantism then if he will act rationally he must presently turn Papist and so vice versâ The same thing would also hold if he should be baffled by any Jesuit under the disguise of any other Sectary whatsoever for he must so often change his Religion as he meets with more crafty Disputants than himself By which means he might every hour have a several religion and change so often till at last he had quitted all religion and turn'd Atheist which we see to be the ordinary consequence of frequent changes Nay further suppose he meets with some subtle Jesuit in disguise whose business it is to convert men first to debauchery then to Atheism and so by degrees to Popery who should baffle all his reasons for the practice of vertue nay for the immortality of his Soul and for the being of God as it may well be suppos'd where there is so great a difference in the advantages of the persons What then will become of him if he commits himself only to the guidance of his own reason he must then presently commence Brute and believe that he hath no more soul then his horse or any other beast and that he shall die and perish like one of them nay he must turn Atheist and not only deny the Lord that bought him but that God that made him and so be left altogether without any excuse Is not this person now very safe think you under the guidance of his own reason If therefore it be safe for us to run into Popery Heresie and Atheism let us follow our own Reasons and wholly commit our selves to our own guidance if not Let us follow the Church of England and those guides which she hath set over us in all difficult cases of which we our selves can be no competent judges and when we are press'd with any argument for a change in our religion which we are not able to answer let us repair to our own lawful Minister or to some other that shall direct us for a satisfaction of our doubts and objections And though this may seem a Paradox in this Age of Schism and Faction yet the relying on the Church is the very same direction that St. Paul gives 2 Tim. 3. 15. where he calls the Church of God The pillar and ground of truth For if so then all that are Christians ought to rely upon this pillar and to build their faith upon that which is the ground of truth But I know he there means the Universal Church But you 'l say how should I who am an illiterate person or a private Gentleman and understand not the languages in which the Scriptures and other Church writings are pen'd know what the Doctrine of the Universal Church is for I am not able to search for the Christian Doctrine my self I answer Read the Scriptures in English and practise those things that are plain and easie in them and as for difficult disputes either let them quite alone or else consult in all difficulties the directions of your own Church the Church of England by those guides which she hath set over you But may not these deceive me too as well as my own Reason I Answer It is