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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
heaven_n	chapter_n	dwell_v	verse_n	2,501	5	10.2016	5	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A61130	A treatise partly theological, and partly political containing some few discourses, to prove that the liberty of philosophizing (that is making use of natural reason) may be allow'd without any prejudice to piety, or to the peace of any common-wealth, and that the loss of public peace and religion it self must necessarily follow, where such a liberty of reasoning is taken away / translated out of Latin.; Tractatus theologico-politicus. English	Spinoza, Benedictus de, 1632-1677.	1689 (1689)	Wing S4985; ESTC R21627	207,956	494

know that God was Omniscient and that Human Actions were govern'd by his Decrees for tho' God told him Exod. chap. 3. v. 8. That the Israelites would hearken to his Voice yet Moses doubted and said in the 1 st verse of the 4 th chapter What if they will not believe me nor hearken to my Voice And therefore God was revealed to him as indifferent and ignorant of Mens future Actions for he gave unto him two Signs and said Exod. chap. 4. v. 8 9. And if it shall come to pass they will not believe thee nor hearken to the Voice of the first Sign they will believe the Voice of the latter Sign but if they will not believe the latter Sign then take of the Water of the River c. And indeed if a Man will without prejudice consider the Opinions of Moses it will clearly appear that Moses thought God a Being that always was is and ever shall be and therefore called him Iehovah which in Hebrew expresseth those three times of existing but of his Nature he declared no more then that he was very merciful kind and very jealous as appears in many Places of the Pentateuch He believed and taught also that this Being was so different from all other Beings that he could not be exprest by the likeness of any other visible Thing that he was invisible not because he thought beholding him was in it self impossible but only in respect of Human Frailty he thought also that this Being was in regard of his own Power single and but one he allow'd that there were other Beings which by the Order and Command of God were God's Substitutes and Vicegerents that is Beings to whom God gave Power and Authority to govern Nations to provide for and take care of them but Moses declared the Being which the Iews were bound to worship to be the most high God that is in the Hebrew Phrase the God of all Gods therefore Moses in his Song Exod. chap. 15. v. 11. saith who is like unto thee O Lord amongst the Gods and Iethro Exod. chap. 18. v. 11. saith Now I know that the Lord is greater then all Gods that is I must acknowledge with Moses that Iehovah is greater then all Gods and of Singular Power but whether Moses believed that the Beings which were God's Vicegerents were created by God may be doubted since he said nothing that we know of their Creation or Original Another of Moses's Doctrines was that this being out of a Chaos Gen. chap. 1 st v. 2. brought this Visible World into Form and Order furnished Nature with the Seeds of all things and therefore hath absolute Power and Authority over all things as it is Deut. chap. 10. v. 14 15. And by that absolute Power chose the Iewish Nation for himself and appointed a Particular Place of the Earth for their Habitation Deut. chap. 4. v. 19. and chap. 32. v. 8. But other Nations and Countries he left to the care of other Gods substituted by him and therefore God was called the God of Israel and the God of Ierusalem 2 d. Book of Chron. chap. 32. v. 19. And other Gods were called the Gods of the Nations For this Reason the Jews believed that the Country which God chose for them required a particular and different worship of God from that of other Countries nor would they suffer the worship of other Gods or any worship proper to other Countries to be exercised amongst them it was believed that the People whom the King of Assyria brought into the Country of the Iews were devoured by Lyons because they knew not the manner of the worship of the God of the Land 2 d. Book of Kings chap. 17. v. 24 25. It is the Opinion of Aben Ezra that Iacob upon this Ground when he was about returning into his own Country commanded his Sons to put away the Gods of the Land in which they were and prepare themselves for a new Way of Worship Gen. chap. 35. v. 23. David told Saul because he was by Persecution compell'd to forsake his Country that he was driven out from the Inheritance of the Lord and sent to serve other Gods 1 st Book of Sam. chap. 26. v. 19. Lastly Moses believed that God had his Habitation in the Heavens Deut. chap. 33. v. 26 Which was a frequent Opinion among the Heathen Now if we carefully observe the Revelations of Moses we shall find them fitted and suited to those Conceptions and Opinions which he had of God because he believed that God's Nature was Gracious Merciful Longsuffering c. Therefore according to this Opinion and these Attributes was God revealed to him Exod. chap. 34. v. 6 7. Where it is declared why God appeared to him also Exod. chap. 20. v. 4 5. In Exod. chap. 33. v. 18. We read that Moses desired to see God but because Moses as hath been already said had formed in his imagination no Likeness or Figure of God and as I have already shewed God was not revealed to the Prophets but according to the disposition of their Fancy and Imagination therefore God appeared to him under no Image or Similitude and the Reason of it was because 't was repugnant and contrary to the imagination of Moses but other Prophets Isaiah Ezekiel and Daniel testify that they saw God. Moses was answered by God in the 20 th Verse of the 33. Chap. of Exod. thou canst not see my Face and because Moses believed that God was visible that is it imply'd no contradiction in the Divine Nature to be so else he had never made such a request therefore God also answer'd no Man shall see my Face and live giving a Reason suitable to Moses's Opinion for God did not say that his Divine Nature was in it self invisible and impossible to be seen as indeed it is but that it could not be seen because of human Weakness and Frailty After the Israelites had worshipt the Golden Calf that God might reveal to Moses the Israelites should become like other Nations God tells him Exod. Chap. 33. v. 2 3. that he would send an Angel that is a Being who instead of the supreme Being should take care of the Israelites but that he himself would be no more in the midst of them and from this Moses was to conclude that the Israelites were thenceforth not to be beloved by God any more then other Nations who were committed to the care of Angels or other Beings as appears by the 16 th Verse of the Chapter Lastly because Moses believed that God dwelt in Heaven therefore was God revealed as descending from Heaven upon Mount Sinai and Moses that he might speak with God ascended the Mount which he needed not to have done had he thought God to be in all places The Israelites knew very little of God tho' he was revealed to them as was sufficiently manifested by their bestowing on a Calf the Honour and Worship due to God and by saying to that Calf these be thy Gods

only and in respect to their Government but eternal they say that the Jews after the loss of their Government tho' so many Years dispersed and divided among all Nations still survive and are yet in being which never happen'd to any other Nation that the Scripture in many places seems to declare that God chose them to be his People for ever and that tho' they have lost their Government and Commonwealth they are still Gods Elect the places of Scripture which they think most clearly prove this eternal Election are chiefly the 36. v. of the 31 Chapter of Jerem. where the Prophet testifies that the Seed of Israel should continue Gods People for ever by comparing them with the immutable and fixed order of Heaven and Nature Thus saith the Lord 〈◊〉 giveth the Sun for a Light by Day and the Ordinances of the Moon and Stars for a Light by Night who divideth the Sea when the Waves thereof Roar if these Ordinances depart from before me saith the Lord then the Seed of Israel also shall cease from being a Nation before me for ever The second place of Scripture is Ezek. Chap. 20. from the 32. Verse onward where God seemeth to declare that tho' the Iews should willfully depart from his Worship yet he would gather them again from all Countries where they should be scatter'd and would lead them into the Wilderness of the People as he did their Fathers into the Wilderness of Egypt and after he had separated from them the Rebels and Transgressors he would bring them into his Holy Mountain where all the House of Israel should serve him there are other places of Scripture cited by the Pharisees but in answering these two I think I shall clear all others which will be easily done after I have proved by Scripture that Gods choice of the Iews was not eternal but on the same Conditions that he before chose the Canaanites who also as we have shewn had a High Priest who Religiously Worshipt God and yet were at last rejected by God for their Luxury Sloth and Idolatry Moses Levit. chap. 18. v. 27 28. warneth the Israelites that they should not pollute themselves with Incest and other Abominations as did the Canaanites least the Land spewed them out as it did the Nations before them and Moses Deut. chap. 8. v. 19 20. in express Words threatens their total Destruction I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish as the Nations which the Lord destroyeth before your Face so shall ye perish because ye would not be obedient unto the Voice of the Lord your God and to this purpose there are other places in the Law which shew that Gods Election of the Iews was not eternal if therefore the Prophets foretold them of a new everlasting Covenant of the Knowledge Love and Favour of God it is manifest that it was promised only to those that were Pious and feared God for in the forecited 20 th Chapter of Ezek. it is expresly said that God would separate from them the Rebellious and Transgressors Zeph. chap. 3. v. 11 12. God saith he would take away out of the midst of them those that were Proud and he would leave an Afflicted and Poor People and because this Election was founded only upon Piety and real Vertue it is not to be imagin'd that it was promis'd to none but those that were Godly and Vertuous amongst the Iews exclusively to all other Nations but we ought to believe that the true Prophets among the Heathen which we have shew'd all Nations had did likewise promise the same to their own People and still comforted them with it this eternal Covenant of the Knowledge and Love of God is Universal as appears Zeph. chap. 3. v. 10. from beyond the Rivers of AEthyopia my Suppliants even the Daughter of my dispersed shall bring my Offerings So that in this particular no difference is to be made between Iews and Gentiles and therefore no other Election was peculiar to the Iews but what I have declared the Prophets in their Prophesies of this Election which only had respect to vertuous living mingled many things concerning the Sacrifices and Ceremonies of the Temple and rebuilding the City and under those Figures according to the Custom and Nature of Prophesy expounded things Spiritual that they might likewise declare to the Iews whose Prophets they were that Restauration of their Government and Temple which they were to expect in the Reign of Cyrus That the Iews should still remain without any Government after a dispersion of so many Years is no wonder seeing they have separated themselves from all Nations and incur'd their hatred not only by external Rites contrary to those of other Nations but also by the sign of Circumcision which they most religiously observe that their being hated by other Nations contributes very much to their continuance is proved by Experience When the King of Spain heretofore compell'd the Iews to profess the Religion of that Kingdom or else to quit the Country many Iews turn'd Papists and because those that changed their Religion became thereby capable of the same Priviledges and Honours which natural Spaniards enjoy'd they were presently mixed with the Natives and in a short time there remain'd none of the race but the contrary happen'd in Portugal where tho' the King forced them to profess the Religion of the Country they still lived apart by themselves because they were declared incapable of all Preferments I am of Opinion that only the sign of Circumcision may be able to perpetuate the Nation and unless the Principles of their Religion Effeminate their Minds they may one time or other when they see a fair opportunity Re-establish their Government and be again chosen by God. Of the like Case the Chineses are a Famous Example who Religiously preserve a particular lock of Hair upon their Heads by which they distinguish themselves from other People and have thereby preserved themselves so many thousand Years that their Antiquity exceeds all other Nations they have heretofore recovered their lost Empire and without doubt will do so again when the Courage of the Tartars hath lain a while longer buried in Wealth Luxury and Sloth Lastly if any Man upon what ground soever will maintain that Gods Election of the Iews was eternal I will not contradict him provided he grant that their Election whether Temporal or Eternal and as it was peculiar to the Iews did only respect their Government and bodily Conveniences which alone may distinguish one Nation from another but that upon the account of Knowledge and Vertue there is no Nation distinguisht from nor any chosen by God before another CHAP. IV. Of the Divine Law. THE word Law taken absolutely signifies That according to which every individual or all or some of the individuals of the same Species do Act by one and the same determinate Rule and that Rule depends either upon the necessity of Nature or the Will and Pleasure of Men the

Veneration when Genesis was written and this must necessarily be a true and clear Answer because it is expresly said in the forecited text of Exodus that God was not known to the Patriarchs by his Name Iehovah and because also in Exod. chap. 3. v. 13. Moses desired to know God's Name which must have been known to him had it been known to the Patriarchs before him It must therefore be concluded that the faithful Patriarchs were ignorant of this Name of God and that the Knowledge of God is a Gift not a Command It is now time to pass on to the proof of the second Particular That God required from Men by his Prophets no other Knowledge of himself than the Knowledge of his Divine Justice and Love that is those Attributes which Men in a right course of living may in some measure and degree imitate which the Prophet Ieremy in express words declares for chap. 20. v. 15 16. speaking of King Iosiah he saith Did not thy Father eat and drink and do Iudgment and Iustice and then it was well with him he judged the cause of the poor and the needy then it was well with him is not this to know me saith the Lord Nor are those words less clear chap. 9. v. 24. Let him that glorieth glory in this that he understandeth and knoweth me that I am the Lord which exercise loving kindness Iudgment and Righteousness in the Earth for in these things I delight saith the Lord. We have a further proof Exod. chap. 34. v. 6. where Moses desiring to see and know God God revealeth no other Attributes to him but such as declare his Divine Justice and Love. Lastly How express in the point are the words of St. Iohn in the fourth Chapter of his first Epistle because no Man ever saw God he maketh God known only by Love and concludes that he knoweth God and God dwelleth in him who hath Charity We see then that Moses Ieremy and Iohn comprize that Knowledge of God which every Man is bound to have in that only wherein we say 't is comprehended namely in believing that God is superlatively just and merciful and the only pattern of a good life The Scripture doth no where give any express and positive definition of God neither doth it prescribe any other Attributes to be imitated and believed by us but those we have named nor are those expresly commended as Attributes so that from all these things we conclude that the intellectual Knowledge of God which considers God as he is in his own Nature and Essence which Nature no Man can by any certain course of life imitate or take for his pattern doth not at all teach a Man how to live well neither doth it concern a Man's Faith or revealed Religion So that a Man may be infinitely mistaken in it and yet not offend God. Let us not wonder then that God apply'd himself to the Imaginations and preconceived Opinions of the Prophets and that faithful Believers had different Opinions of God as by many Instances we have proved in the second Chapter nor let any Man wonder that the Sacred Volumes do every where speak so improperly of God ascribing to him Hands Feet Eyes Ears Mind Local Motion yea Passions of the Mind saying he is Jealous Merciful c. and sometimes set him out as a Judge sitting in Heaven on a Regal Throne and Christ at his Right hand all which is spoken according to the Capacity of the Vulgar whom the Scripture intended to make Obedient but not Learned Of these things whatever ordinary profest Divines have by Reason and Natural Light discovered to be disagreeable to the Divine Nature they will have Metaphorically Interpreted but that which is above their Capacity must be taken Litterally If all things of this kind we meet with in Scripture must be taken and understood Metaphorically then the Scripture was not written for the rude and ignorant common people but for the Learned and especially for Philosophers and if it should be sin piously and in simplicity of Heart to believe those things of God which the Sacred Volumes have in the Letter ascribed to him the Prophets considering the weakness of the common people's Understanding ought to have been very wary and careful what Phrases and Expressions they used and should have clearly and plainly which is no where done declared those Attributes of God which every Man is bound to believe No Man ought to think that Opinions considered absolutely in themselves without respect to a Man's Works have any Piety or Impiety in them but a Man is said to be Godly or Ungodly in his Faith in respect of those Opinions which incline him to Obedience or those that encourage him to Sin and Disobedience so that if a Man tho' he rightly and truly believe be stubborn and disobedient his Faith is evil and on the contrary if a Man believe that which is false and yet live well his Faith is good for the true knowledge of God is not a Precept but a Divine Gift and God never required from Men any other Knowledge than that of his Divine Love and Justice which Knowledge is necessary only to Obedience not to Science CHAP. XIV What is Faith. Who are Believers The fundamentals of Faith stated Faith distinguish'd from Philosophy or Reason TO understand truly what Faith is 't is very necessary to know that the Scripture was fitted and accommodated not only to the Capacity of the Prophets but also to the Understanding of the inconstant mutable vulgar people of the Iewish Nation of which no person can be ignorant that will but a little consider and observe the Scripture He that will take all things which are promiscuously set down in Scripture to be that universal positive Doctrine whereby God is to be known can never rightly discern what was suited to the Capacity of the Iews but not being able to distinguish between Divine Doctrine and the common peoples Opinions must take human Fictions and Fancies for Heavenly Instructions and consequently very much abuse the Sacred Scriptures Authority Who doth not plainly see that this is the cause we have so many Sectaries who maintain their different and contrary Opinions to be all Doctrines and Principles of Faith which they confirm by many Scripture proofs so that 't is become a Dutch Proverb Geen Ketter sonder letter there is no Sectary or Heretick but hath a Text of Scripture to maintain his Opinion The Sacred Books of Scripture were not all written by one person nor for the people of one Age but by divers persons of different dispositions and for the people of several Ages distant in time from one another almost two thousand years by some computations many more We do not charge these Sectaries with impiety for applying the words of Scripture to their own Opinions as heretofore they were suited to Vulgar Capacities it being lawful for every one to apply Scripture to his own Opinions if he find himself